Eventually this mystery religion spread from Babylon to all the surrounding nations. Everywhere the symbols were the same. The image of "the queen of heaven" (Semiramis - Jer.44:19, 25; compare Isa.47:5 where she is referred to as "the" or "our lady" - notre dame in French) with the babe in her arms was seen everywhere. It became the mystery religion of the seafaring Phoenicians and they carried it to the ends of the earth. It was known as Baal (Nimrod - the sun-god) worship in Phoenicia where the mother was known as Astoreth and the child as Tammuz (Tammuz Adonis). In Egypt the cult was known as that of Osiris, Isis and Horus. The mother and child were worshipped as Aphrodite and Eros in Greece, Venus and Cupid in Italy (in Rome the child was formerly called Jupiter). The Chinese called the mother goddess Shingmoo or the "Holy Mother". She is pictured with child in arms and rays of glory around her head (Hislop, p. 21). Among the Druids, the "Virgo-Paritura" was worshipped as the "Mother of God". In India, she was known as Indrani. Elsewhere in and near India, the mother and child were known as Devaki and Krishna; in Asia they were Cybele and Deoius.

They were known by many other names in other parts of the world, but regardless of her name and place - she was the wife of Baal, the virgin mother (Hebrew = alma mater), the queen of heaven who bore a child although she supposedly never conceived. The mother and child were called by different names, due to the dividing of the languages at Babel. With the passing of time, some of the rites and parts of the doctrine and story varied from place to place and cult to cult, but the essential story always remained the same.

Allied with this central mystery were countless lesser mysteries. Among them were: the teachings of purgatorial purification after death, salvation by countless sacraments such as sprinkling with holy water, priestly absolution, the offering of round (sun disks) cakes to the queen of heaven (Jer.7:16-18; 44:15-30), the dedication of virgins to the gods, and weeping for Tammuz for a period of 40 days prior to the festival of Ishtar (Easter) to commemorate Ishtar's (another name for Semiramis) having received her son back from the dead. Tammuz was said to have been ripped to pieces and slain by a wild boar (the traditional Christmas pig) and afterward brought back to life (Hislop, p. 99). The egg became a sacred symbol depicting the mystery of his "resurrection". The evergreen tree became the symbol of his never ending life and birth at the winter solstice, when a boar's head was eaten (ham on New Year's day) in memory of his conflict. The burning of a yule log always accompanied this winter celebration. In the cult teaching, the ankh - a distinctive cross - was the sacred symbol of Tammuz. As it was the first letter of his name, it signified the life-giving principle (Ezekiel 8 - the women weeping for Tammuz). It is an ancient pagan symbol and did not originate with Christianity as most suppose.

The mystery religion of Babylon, which had begun under Nimrod's direction until its dispersal at the Tower of Babel (Gen. 10 & 11; Isa. 47), continued over the centuries to flourish in the "land of Shinar". When the city of Babylon was destroyed, the high-priest fled with a group of initiates and their sacred vessels and images to Pergamos (Rev.2:12-17). There, the symbol of the serpent was set up as the emblem of the hidden wisdom. From there, many of them crossed the sea and settled in the Poe Valley of northeast Italy where the Etruscans lived. When Rome conquered the Etruscans, the Etruscans brought their Babylonian cult religion to Rome where the child was known as Mithras (the mediator). Thus, when Christianity came to Rome, the whorish cult, the counterfeit, was waiting to join in an unholy union with it. These mystery cult teachings eventually invaded the Catholic church which is still full of its traditions, the roots of which lie deep in