COSMIC SYMBOLOGY
A consideration of great astronomical epochs naturally leads to the more
comprehensive subject of Periodicity and the Law of Cycles. Some notes
in my former works have raised special points of inquiry which may very
well be dealt with in the present chapter.
What is known as the Great Year of Plato is one of those occult
statements which seem to point to the existence among Initiates of some
degree of special knowledge in cosmical facts. The observation of the
Precession of the Equinoxes is usually ascribed to Hipparchus, who lived
in the Second Century B.C. By comparison of the star positions in his
day with those of Timocharis a century earlier, it was found that while
maintaining their relative distances from one another and from the
ecliptic, the stars had altered their positions in regard to the
equinox, and a rough calculation showed that they were moving at the
rate of about 50´´ per year. Observations of particular stars, while
confirming the fact of their change of longitude, did not yield uniform
results, and this no doubt was due to the imperfection of the
instruments employed. Thus in regard to the star Spica Virginis we have
the following observations of its longitude at various dates by
independent authorities—
Timocharis, B.C. 293, Spica observed in Virgo, 22° 20´
Hipparchus, ” 145, ” ” ” 24° 20´
Menelaus, A.D. 99, ” ” ” 26° 15´
Ptolemy, ” 139, ” ” ” 26° 30´
Copernicus, ” 1515, ” ” Libra, 17° 14´
” ” 1525, ” ” ” 17° 21´
Naut. Al., ” 1820, ” ” ” 21° 20´
Thus while the fact of Precession is very clearly defined by these
observations, the amount of it is not accurately determined. Later
observations with more perfect means of measurement have enabled the
official astronomers to give a true value to the Precession of the
Equinoxes, which is 50·2453´´ plus O·0002225´´ _t_ where _t_ is the
number of years from 1850. Thus while Hipparchus and Ptolemy found it to
be 1° in 100 years, Albatani found it to be only 1° in 66 years, and
modern observations seem to point the fact that it has been accelerated
up to our own time. By taking a mean of all observations during the last
eighteen centuries, the amount appears to be 50·062´´ and by extending
the observations we can work it down to 50´´ nearly. Now if we divide
the circle of the zodiac, or 360° by 50´´ we shall arrive at the figures
25,920 comprised in the Great Year. There are two theories in existence
as to the cause of this Precession. At the point of time when the Sun
crosses the Equator and comes to the first point of Aries, let the Sun
be in line with a star in the heavens. When the Sun returns to the same
position on the Equator it is found not to be in line with that star but
50´´ in advance of it. The first theory is that this is due to the
change in the obliquity of the ecliptic, or, what is the same thing, in
the inclination of the earth’s axis to the plane of the ecliptic, a
change caused by the action of the Moon and Sun on the equatorial bulge.
The whole effect is taken to be about 50´´ as said, and of this 35´´ is
due to the Moon and 15´´ to the Sun. Various observations have shown
this change of axial inclination to be about 50´´ per century, or one
one-hundredth part of the Precession of the Equinoxes. Of this I shall
have something to say later. For the moment we may consider it as part
of the theory of Precession. The other theory is that Precession is
caused by the proper motion of the Sun through space, whereby it
completes an arc of 50´´ of its vast orbit every year. Then the gradual
increase of the Precession already noted would in terms of this theory
be due to the fact that the earth is getting nearer to the Sun and
consequently the angle of parallax would be greater. Here we may leave
the theorists with their own material and turn to the significance of
this Great Year.
As the whole Year consists of 25,920, during which the Equinoxes precess
an entire circle, there will be a period of 2160 occupied in traversing
one sign, that is to say, a twelfth part of the circle. Now this period
is 72 periods of the planet Saturn, otherwise known as Kronos, the god
of Time. From this again we derive the foundation of the great Yugas or
Ages known to the Indians and referred to in the Vishnu Purana as the
Four Ages, Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapara-yuga, and Kali-yuga. They
correspond with the four ages known as the Gold, Silver, Copper and Iron
ages. Thus—
72 × 6 equals 432 multiplied by 1000 = 432,000 years.
72 × 12 ” 864 ” ” = 864,000 ”
72 × 18 ” 1296 ” ” = 1,296,000 ”
72 × 24 ” 1780 ” ” = 1,728,000 ”
————-
Total number of years in the Maha-yuga, 4,320,000 years.
At present the Vernal Equinox is at the very end of the constellation
Aquarius, and there was a time when the equinox fell in the middle of
Taurus, and the solstices in the middle of Leo and Aquarius
respectively. Thus we find Varaha Mihira, an Indian astronomer of the
fifth century, stating that in his day the solstices fell in Katakam
(Cancer), and Makaram (Capricornus), but that according to former
shastras they were once in the middle of Aslesha (Leo) and Kumbha
(Aquarius) respectively. This tells us that some two thousand years
before Mihira’s time there were Indian observations which determined the
positions of the solstices among the asterisms, and it cannot have
failed to strike Mihira that there was such a fact as Precession, even
supposing that he had no knowledge of it from the Greek and Egyptian
astronomers. It was about this time, namely 2000 B.C., that the
Babylonian empire was at its height, and accordingly we find the
astronomical facts written in all their records and built into their
architecture. We find it in the Assyrian Bull and in the Egyptian
Sphinx, wherein the four constellations which then held the cardinal
points are found to be compounded. They comprise Taurus the Bull, Leo
the Lion, Aquarius the Man, and Scorpio (Aquila) the Eagle.
In connection with the position of the Vernal Equinox in the
constellations, there are a number of very interesting myths and symbols
which form an essential part of Occultism. We find, for instance, that
at the time when the equinox was in the constellation Taurus the worship
of the Bull as a symbol was closely associated with the Spring
festivals. The Egyptians at this time decked a white Bull with garlands
of flowers and set a golden discus between his horns to represent the
entry of the Sun into the constellation of the Bull. Later, when the
signs of the zodiac became confused with the constellations by the fact
of their coincidence, the same myths and ceremonies were transferred to
the signs, and remained associated with them in the popular use. Hence
the May Day festival, which had its origin with the Sun in the
constellation Taurus at the Vernal Equinox, came to be associated with
the entry of the Sun into the sign Taurus in the month of May.
History brings to us a curious confirmation of the astronomical basis of
the Bull ceremonials. The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt is stated
to have taken place in 1491 B.C. Now we have already seen that Mihira,
the Indian astronomer, noted the Vernal Equinox at his time to have been
coincident with the first point of the constellation Mesham (Aries),
and, as his date is fixed by calculation to have been A.D. 536, the
interval would consequently be 1491 plus 536, or 2027 years. And if we
multiply this by 50·1´´, the mean precession per year, we shall have as
result 28° 12´ 35´´, which, added to the first point of Aries, takes us
to the end of that constellation on to the verge of the constellation
Taurus. Hence we conclude that about the time of the Exodus the Equinox
was passing out of Taurus into Aries, and consequently we find the
institution of the Jewish Passover (Pasach), to have been inaugurated by
Moses who was “learned in all the lore and language of the Egyptians”
and who, as the adopted son of the Egyptian Princess, would be initiated
by the Priests of Isis into all the mysteries of the cosmos to which at
that time they had access. When, therefore, the Israelites were found to
be perpetuating the worship of the Golden Calf which they had witnessed
in Egypt, the great Lawgiver admonished them, reduced their idol into an
_aurum potabile_ by his alchemical skill and gave it them to drink.
Thereafter the symbol of the Ram became paramount in Israelitish
worship. The Pasach or transit was none other than that of the Vernal
Equinox from the constellation Taurus into Aries. Occultists have
identified the sign Taurus with the age of the Patriarchs, the age of
husbandry and the ascendancy in Egypt of the Hyksoi or Shepherd Kings.
The age of Aries marks the cycle of militarism, extending to Assyria,
Persia, Egypt and Greece, and culminating in the Roman Empire. Pisces
marks the age of Combination, culminating in the federation of the
Anglo-Saxon peoples. The present-day transit into the constellation
Aquarius is held to inaugurate the dawn of the age of Baptism, the
pouring out of the Spirit of Truth upon all flesh, and the age will
therefore be one of spiritual regeneration.
What are called the Four Fixed Signs of the zodiac, those which enter
into the composition of the Sphinx, are found to be in the forefront of
national symbolism among the ancient Chinese. The four cardinal
constellations are associated with the four colours, black, red, white
and blue. The constellation of the Lion was called by them “the Black
Warrior,” Taurus was called “the Azure Dragon,” Scorpio the “White
Tiger” and Aquarius “the Red Bird.” In the time of Wan Wang there was
built a palace whose four walls were of these colours, and we find them
represented in the heraldry of the Yellow Empire.
In both Egypt and Assyria we find the Bull used as a sacred symbol, even
as it is to this day in India. There is a connection of a subtle nature
between the Bull and the Bee—Apis. In the most ancient Mithraic monument
of Assyria there is shown in bas-relief the figure of a lion out of
whose mouth a bee is coming forth. This at once brings to mind the
riddle of Samson, himself associated with the Solar myth. He is made to
say: “Out of the eater came forth meat, out of the strong came forth
sweetness.” And when they gave him the answer: “What is stronger than a
lion, what is sweeter than honey?” the key to the symbology is supplied
in his answering words: “If you had not ploughed with my oxen (Taurus),
you had not found out my riddle.” Here there is an obvious association
of the symbol of the Bull with that of the Bee, and it is here that we
get the affiliation of the two signs Taurus and Leo. A lion trampling on
a snake and a bull in the folds of a snake are to be found among the
symbolical monuments of the past. The lion-headed man, Abraxas, is a
symbol which links the sign Aquarius to that of Leo, and is of great
antiquity: among the Persians we find this word Abraxas or Abracax
engraved on magical stones. It stands for the 365 days of the year and
the virtues corresponding to them.
But this Taurean key to the riddle of Samson is not merely a cosmical
symbolism. It is also a spiritual one. For the four Fixed Signs of the
zodiac stand for the basic elements or what are known as the Four
States, and these in their turn have analogy with human principles.
Thus—
Leo represents Fire, which stands for SPIRIT.
Aquarius ” Air ” ” MIND.
Scorpio ” Water ” ” SOUL.
Taurus ” Earth ” ” BODY.
In this paradigm we have Spirit above and Matter beneath, linked
together by the Human Soul or Mind in relations with Spirit, and the
Animal Soul in relations with Matter. The riddle of Samson therefore may
be read kabalistically thus: Out of Spirit proceeded Matter, as from
Fire the element of Earth was evolved. To which we may add the rider in
corresponding terms: Save by incarnation you could not attain to
spiritual liberation, which is equivalent to the saying: If you had not
ploughed with my oxen, you had not found out my riddle. Here we have the
process of differentiation covertly referred to by the propounder of the
riddle, showing that Matter is the ultimate expression of Spirit, its
negative pole. It stands for the female principle in Nature, and hence
the tradition involves the woman who betrayed Samson’s secret. Thus in
cosmical symbology some of the great secrets of cosmogenesis and
anthropogenesis lie concealed. The ancient wisdom conceived the two
schemes as involved in the complete arc of life, which holds good for
any planet, and for the system to which it belongs.
The Four states of matter and their corresponding evolutes may be thus
figured—
[Illustration: Figure 3.]
In a subsequent section we may profitably consider the analogy existing
between the cosmical and anthropological evolutions, and the consequent
relations of the human soul with the planet to which it is related in
the scheme of things.