LadyBabylon FAQ

We hear these all the time from people stirring the pot in bad faith, and from those unfamiliar with the source material (hint: most people are not familiar with the Greek versions of the bible - haven't actually read their own theology).

Typical sources of misinformation:

• Western consensus view (steeped in a Christian lens worldview), misguided or uninformed, repeat what they've heard.
• Bible Brothel, those with bias, where greed and power corrupt them. Fighting a propaganda war, for their own greed.
  • priests holding onto their power or lifestyle
  • politicians using faith to get votes
  • seminarians and theology professors who need to keep their tenure (more $$$).
  • youtube influencers who are selling views for money ($$$), books, mugs, and tshirts
  • businesses who are selling tickets, books, mugs, and tshirts

What follows is a FAQ to address the common misconceptions and propaganda.

• Q: I heard Dr Hillman has really strong opinions and weird ideas
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman is wrong, and I shouldn't believe him
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman is antisemitic, is that true?
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman should be canceled for his conduct while employed, as revealed by a court case I heard he brought against his university for wrongful termination
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman just loves the disgusting topics he talks about
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman just loves drugs
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman is running a cult
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman is Satanic
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman is Demonic or Maleficent
• Q: But ancient people wouldn't do drugs
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman was just saying outrageous things to sell books
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman was satire
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman just cherry picks what he wants from the lexicon
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman's wrong about that boy in the Garden of Gethsemane, and what neaniskos really means is young man.
• Q: I heard Dr Hillman got schooled by Dr Carl Ruck on the meaning of Neaniskos

Q: I heard Dr Hillman has really strong opinions and weird ideas

A: These are not his ideas, they are evidence he shows from the source texts, which he encourages you to fact-check for yourself. What might be tripping you up: It's a large complicated picture, it's different than what you were told. These things can confuse you - but take a look at the evidence, and understand.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman is wrong, and I shouldn't believe him

A: Whoever said that to you, Dr Hillman doesn't need anyone's "belief". Belief is not required. The texts will continue to say what they do. You can read them for yourself. And you are encouraged to develop the skill to read the Greek so that you can. Others are reading the texts for themselves, without your opinion getting in their way. Many are already validating his work, without your belief. See Also NoBeliefRequired

Q: I heard Dr Hillman is antisemitic, is that true?

A: Not True! Dr Hillman shows what is in the source texts related to the mystery schools, ancient priesthood, and the Christian and Old Testament Bible. Dr Hillman is anti-oppression and supports the present semitic peoples in this way, as well as the notions of freedom, liberty, knowledge, and celebrates freeing of oppressed peoples generally.

You may be confusing his discussions of:

• lack of critical thinking by today's monotheists
• his criticism of control structures supporting false or reframed narratives
• the bible brothel trying to tell you a fairy tale and control you (and make money and seed your governments)
• the capabilities of Ancient Hebrew language with 7000 words vs Ancient Greek with 1.6M, the lack of Hebrew literature or libraries, as technical evidence that tells a story.
• the evidence that the Christian Bible originates squarely in the Greek language, and references the Greek Septuagint, as Greek was the lingua franca of the Roman and earlier Greek empire region(s) the authors lived within, and of the educated priesthood and aristocracy.
• the interactions and continuities between the various ancient priesthoods, including but not limited to Oracular/Echidnaic/Pythian/Eleusinian/Medean Cult, Early Christian Mystery Cult, Early Abrahamic and Judaic Cult, Ancient Hebrew's lived culture and language, depictions of all of these parties in ancient texts from a philologist's lens, using the source texts as evidence to tell an unbiased story of what was happening.

This doesn't steal heritage, or defame anyone, we have to understand that ancient peoples were much much different than people today, and facts about ancient people do not frame our view of people today (with similar sounding cultural names, they're still very different people today than in ancient times).

Dr Hillman is showing the foundational roots of ancient Abrahamic/Christian monotheism, from a Hellenic mystery lens. He's showing evidence of Mediterranean priesthood cross pollination of ideas. He is not focusing on any one religion or cultural group, but instead focuses on the many misinterpretations from the Bible, viewed using a classical philologist's skillset.

This is something most classists wont touch with a 10 foot pole, since it results in cancelation. Dr Hillman's suffered career difficulty as a result, so it's real.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman should be canceled for his conduct while employed, as revealed by a court case I heard he brought against his university for wrongful termination

A:

• This case and it's discovery aren't relevant to his findings from the ancient texts. And serves to distract you, by those who benefit by distracting you.
• Sounds like a personal situation between the accused and accuser, already handled by a court of law. Your own judgement would be redundant, isn't needed nor useful, nor would be right (our justice system doesn't work by individual's or mob opinion). If someone was wronged then it's for them to bring charges, not you.
• This case was about wrongful termination of Dr Hillman, by the university.
• The suit was brought by Dr Hillman against the university.
• Keep in mind the accused took measures to slander (or frame negatively) Dr Hillman in their questioning, a common legal tactic. You're missing much context.
• It's not illegal or immoral for an university employee to date a student when both are consenting adults. Some universities have code of conduct prohibiting faculty, which at the time of firing, he was not faculty (no conflict of interest).
• His moral character is strong, as viewed in his livestreams. Ignore the detractors, they're stirring the pot. Dr Hillman believes in liberty, knowledge, freedom, justice, truth, and living your experiential human life to it's potential.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman just loves the disgusting topics he talks about

A: Actually Dr Hillman hates the disgusting topic(s), which is why he is showing you that Christianity and Judaism's source texts are rooted in it! He wants you to know where your religion came from. Because many of you do not know.

• Dr Hillman is a proponent of Knowledge, Justice, Freedom/Liberty, Truth, and the principles of Democracy which hold these virtues.
• Dr Hillman sees that you're being manipulated and controlled in a false reframed narrative meant to benefit control and profit structures, and wants to help you break free of that. Those in the brothel who are selling t-shirts and mugs and seeding your governments, who take you to the back alley and tell you a fairy tale. Help you get your critical thinking back, so that you can see "the real".
• Dr Hillman likes "the real" and not "the fairy tale". He's a man of honor, of truth, and of science (cause and effect, evidence).
• Dr Hillman recognizes that there's a spectrum of utility in "drugs", which is often a nuanced conversation, from medicine to poison to spiritual experience, and finds these mentions in the ancient texts to be fascinating, as well as illuminating, to the historical human experience. We can learn about our medicinal roots, as well as the roots of religion, with ancient writings about pharmakon. Just as today we can go to the drug-store and our medicine cabinets to find remedies, see commercials on the TV for new pharma, the ancient world had a lot in common with us moderns with their marketplaces filled with remedies and potions and cures.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman just loves drugs

A:

• That's not a helpful or accurate characterization.
• Those who say this, paint a picture of a 1980's drug-fiend, addict or 1970's dirty/lazy hippie, and that's not true at all.
• Dr Hillman studies ancient pharmacology and sees evidence of drug use in medicine and temples, in ancient times. Many of us today love alcohol and caffeine and cigarettes and sometimes cannabis in certain states. Many of us love a nice calming tea. Rather than demonizing drugs as black/white good vs bad, instead, we look at how ancient cultures used drugs for enlightenment and for medicine (and sometimes for poisonings!). This is all real, people. And not that surprising.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman is running a cult

A: Dr Hillman doesn’t run a cult. He's a classical philologist educating his audience in the exploring the Ancient Greek source texts for themselves. He isn’t a religious leader and doesn’t demand following him or what to think. He may jokingly call his audience “the satanic congregation,” but in his livestreams he never promotes any religion or obedience at all.

There’s no organization beyond what you see in the livestreams, which mix engagement and education. The audience itself is diverse in politics, religion, gender, vocation, and background.

Bottom line: Dr Hillman stands for knowledge, justice, liberty, truth, democracy, and decency to oppressed peoples — not cult leadership.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman is Satanic

A: We don’t know Dr Hillman’s religion. What he does is read Greek and Latin sources with respect for pre-Christian Saturnian culture, showing what that society valued and how it functioned.

• In those texts, Saturnian means the natural order: knowledge, justice, liberty, truth, which evokes democracy, and decency to the oppressed. Later Christians reframed this culture as “satanic” and evil, to erase and replace it with their own system.
• By contrast, aggressive monotheism is described as the opposite: an unnatural, one-sided control structure, tied to power and money.
• Dr Hillman personally seems to align with Saturnian virtue and democracy, never with the Christian “Satan” (pure evil). When he uses the word “Satan” it is as a gadfly sting to get your attention — pointing back to Saturnian virtues, not Christian demonology, to show the truth of that historical negative reframing.

You may fear the term because you’ve been told to. But Hillman is teaching history, not inventing new interpretations. Western culture often brands monotheism as “good” by default, yet Hillman reminds us that every system — Christianity included — mixes good and evil. Humans will always find a way to corrupt a perfectly good system.

Bottom line: Dr Hillman supports knowledge, justice, liberty, truth, democracy, and care for the oppressed. He is not evil, not an advocate of the Christian Satan, and appreciates the Saturnian virtues of a just and strong society. See also Hail Satan to better understand.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman is Demonic or Maleficent

A: Spend any time watching Dr Hillman and you’ll see he values truth, justice, and virtue. He’s human, dramatic at times, but transparent and easy to read. His animated style may unsettle some, but listen to what he says.

He embraces the full human experience, so long as it doesn’t unfairly harm others.

His work reveals both:

• virtues from ancient texts — the roles of Nemesis, Saturn, the Muses, Athena, and more from the Hellenic pantheon; Notions of justice, knowledge, liberty, truth.
• detriments from ancient texts - abuse of humans, trafficking and prostitution, overuse of drugs, propaganda campaigns, tyrants and murder.

Bottom line: Dr Hillman aligns with virtue and the strength of Saturnian or Democratic society, not with evil of the Christian Satan. When he uses the term “Satan,” it’s only as a gadfly sting, pointing back to pre-Christian Saturnian ideals.

Q: But ancient people wouldn't do drugs

A: Well. Yes. Yes they would. Attested in Greek and Latin literature, religious, temple, magic and medical texts, among other languages (e.g. blue lotus and opium poppy in Egyptian hieroglyphs comes to mind).

Here's some examples to paint a quick picture:

• 10% of all Greek language literature is Galen, an ancient physician writing often about drugs and their application (as drug researchers do today).
• Dioscoredes wrote De Materia Medica outlining many herbal remedies that we would call drugs.
• Aspirin came from the willow bark during these times and was written about as coming from Beaver's glands (they ate the willow bark).
• Temple Priesthood and "Sorcerers" used drugs to heal, and to reach new mental states to gain insights.
• The cult of asclepius focused on rites for healing, with a little drugs and a little hoohah boohah (song and poetry and chanting and such).
• Markets were filled with the produce harvested from the "rootcutters".
• Drugs were called pharmakon, and were applied via christing using medicated plasters or salves or oils (like our ointments or creams).
• Witches is a pejorative term for a large number of roles - many of which applied drugs within their craft (like pharmacists or doctors would, or a priest giving communion), and served a diverse set of roles serving the community in healing or temple functions, and part of the mainstream priesthood and temple system.
• Everyone bought potions from the market for various conditions from headaches to cramps to contraception, to lovepotions for their intended lover.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman was just saying outrageous things to sell books

A: Dr Hillman's LadyBabylon is not monetized, encourages you to find his books for free download. He's about truth, and shining a light on what the Bible really says, in the original Greek.

Dr Hillman often says "greed stains your soul with the stench of ruin", and staunchly believes that monetization corrupts. Therefore, he makes his living by teaching Greek language lessons. Not through LadyBabylon. This separation makes it possible to trust he has no bias from money.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman was satire

A: Dr Hillman's very squarely NOT satire. But he does make some jokes and some drama, we're all human.

• He's got a very non-linear thought pattern that can be hard to follow.
• He's got a sense of humor, sometimes silly. (a reason people really LIKE him!)
• That can be hard to take serious, vs other academics who are much more dry, concise, and to the point.
  • Look for the sources he shows, look for the discipline in his translation. Ignore "how" he says it, pay attention to "what" he says and "how" he translates.
  • Look for earlier livestreams where he goes in depth, if you see he's glossing over something, he's got 35 years at this, and leans on previous findings that he's published in books or livestreams.
• Dr Hillman's very serious and his sources check out if you understand Ancient Greek and how to translate.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman just cherry picks what he wants from the lexicon

A: Dr Hillman's source translations check out, if you understand Ancient Greek and how to translate. Many in the Reddit and Discord groups are doing this fact-check independently. But you have to know how to translate. How to use a lexicon word entry that lists several alternative meanings. One Common Example: Mark 14:51-52, which is an article that illustrates how context drives word meaning, showing how to disambiguate the lexicon for each word.

To select the right meaning from the lexicon:

• Use the context of the scene
• Use knowledge of what the writer would have known
• Understand that priesthood's context and the traditions they may have knowledge of, or derived from.
• Use the writer's surrounding culture at that timeperiod.
• Always be aware of bias, a major one with this topic is "Christianized reframings" that happened after 30CE, and dont just accept them blindly because 1800's LSJ victorians told you. They do have some bias, or ignorance, especially in certain areas, a product of their time and 'lens' or reality tunnel they live in.

Translating using 'lexicon disambiguation' seems random, but it's not, there's backing for every decision made there in Mark 14:51. Gain experience before judging here, or admit it's over your head. It's certainly technical.

This creates a problem: The more you know the more accurate you can translate. Those who know less, will be more confused and cry foul. This is what we're seeing. Dr Hillman has more context than most, from the medical texts, from the Hellenic mystery lens, from literature, across cultures, and from early Christian cult.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman's wrong about that boy in the Garden of Gethsemane, and what neaniskos really means is young man.

A: Careful, boy overlaps young man in age! Ages overlap. And we're not even talking about age! See Dragon Master for an analysis of Neaniskos. It's not an age, it's a biological maturity - the cusp of male pubescence. So the maturity range would fall into the age-range around 3rd to 9th grade ish depending on the individual.

But the age doesn't matter, it's the maturity.

Q: I heard Dr Hillman got schooled by Dr Carl Ruck on the meaning of Neaniskos

A: Some youtuber's REALLY mischaracterize the exchange between hillman and ruck in that "Cannabis Roots: The Hidden History of Marijuana - Dr. David Hillman"... If you go to the original lecture video. Dr Hillman CORRECTS Ruck there. Dr Hillman wasn't "schooled" by Ruck - Dr Hillman corrects Ruck. Providing nuance beyond what Dr Ruck was thinking.

Actually, both guys are RIGHT, because "boy", "kid", "youth" or "young man" are age-ambiguous!
Dr Hillman is making HIS point that it was a lot younger than we imagine.
Dr Hillman better understands the translation of Neaniskos here.
Dr Hillman did a whole episode called Dragon Master talking about this, which we have in an article so you can see for yourself.

Ruck really isn't disagreeing, but was simply citing the νεάνισκος lexicon entry's definition of "youth, young man"... Which isn't wrong, and Hillman agrees! The problem is that "young man" is very ambiguous with regard to what age it could be... Depending who says it, what they're referring to, etc. This age isn't black and white.

So, then Hillman has to clarify what's important: that it's the biological maturity of that person, an important nuance that is faithful to the texts use of neaniskos:

• "somewhere around puberty, somewhere around puberty. can be a little bit before"
• "it's about puberty, right?"

No one disagreed with this. And the ancient source text analysis in Dragon Master supports that neaniskos is all about male biological puberty or just before. Dr Hillman brought a term to light here, that was commonly misunderstood, even by Dr Ruck, initially, it happens, we're all human.

From the transcript, [video link to time]: