GLORIOUS SUN

 

The Barque of RA

Sun god of Egypt

The Sun has a special affinity with the sign Leo and in astrological terms is said to rule this sign. The Sun is hot and fiery, warming and sustaining, pleasant at the right temperature but destructive when you get too much of it. The sun fires our soul and tempers our character, guiding us to our full potential.

 

In Alchemy, gold, the metal of the Sun, is the ultimate aim of the disciple, for gold symbolises the highest attainment of human nature simply because it is the only incorruptible metal. The so called discipline of Alchemy is not really so, for it does not exist as a discipline to be studied. Alchemy is a life process and can only be lived, as the Sun rolls across the sky marking the different times of day with its changes temperatures and shadows. The endless books written on the topic are a blind for those who cannot accept the hard road of experience, which alone moulds and perfects us.

From the alchemical text ‘The Book of Lambspring’, Figure IV reads,

 

The Sages do faithfully teach us

That two strong lions, to wit, male and female,

Lurk in the dark and rugged valley.

These the Master must catch,

Though they are swift and fierce,

And of terrible and savage aspect.

He who, by wisdom and cunning,

Can snare and bind them,

And lead them into the same forest,

Of him it may be said with justice and truth

That he has merited the meed of praise before all others,

And that his wisdom transcends that of the worldly wise.

 

Throughout mythology there are many sun gods who represent several things, among which is the hero of legend, the conqueror, the leader of the way symbolised in the magnificence of a beautiful and benign but life giving Sun. One Solar Hero is called Heracles. Joseph Campbell is the well-known author who explores these myths and legends in some great works, not least ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces.’

The end and beginning of another day

SOLAR LION

 Now the Sun is in the Tropical Zodiac sign of Leo. Leo types will greet you with warmth and a generous heart. But wait – did you insult the cubs? In which case you had better duck quickly in order to avoid the swift and heavy paw across your ear, for a Leo has much pride in its offspring. This will include other creative efforts besides their babies for we are in a highly creative sector of the zodiac.

LEO the Lion

Naturally, the lion is the emblem of this sign. The proud beast of the jungle, the soft pussy-cat of the den or nest. You can tell when they are unhappy for they stop their incessant grooming and walk around lonely, dejected and dishevelled. They do need your attention and your understanding of their ways, even if they do roar a little at times. They are proud beasts and rightly so for their courage and dignity, and look quite miserable when chest fallen for lack of appreciation.

The Lion of Lyon

Leos are proud and regal, and justly so if they are living up to the highest of their nature. This is a truth when the sun occupies any sign of the zodiac, the sun in a zodiac sign indicates where a person’s highest qualities of character are and to be striven for, such qualities at their highest expression make a true and noble character of strong individuality. A Leo shunned or abused can turn into a stubborn and dictatorial creature who has no patience with the perceived ‘enemy’ and only wants to eat them!

 

The Sun has close ties to this sign and it too sends its warmth and vitality to its human children who inhabit Earth. Science measures the solar influence upon Earth as it reaches us from the regular and cyclic nature of the solar-flares or sun spots. These great outpourings of sun energy stream through space and influence Earth’s atmosphere with a direct hit of extra energy approximately every 11 years. 

 

From French history we have a fine example of a ‘Sun King’ in Louis XIV, he could dance, yet he could lead men to battle, he was majestic and dignified, yet rather self-indulgent. He built a sun palace at Versailles, called such for the amount of gold glittering around about! Although very popular, powerful and successful in his time, some say that over spending set the ball rolling towards the future ‘French Revolution’, a time when those who felt themselves neglected and abused, rebelled. Nancy Mitford has written a very nice book on the ‘Sun King’.

Louis XIV ridding his charger, before the time of motor bikes.

[Detail from a Gobelins Tapestry reproduced in Mitford’s book]

On the 22^nd August the Sun moving from the sign of Leo to the sign of Virgo, will meet the star ‘Regulus’ of the constellation Leo. This is a royal star once used to mark one of the four corners of the celestial vault in the era of the ancient astrologers.

AAL’S LABYRINTH HISTORY An Alternative Viewpoint…..contd. #62

c585               ANAXIMANDER (c611-c547BCE) Greek scientist and Ionian philosopher, born at Miletus and successor of Thales. He is credited as the author of the first geometric model of the universe and was possibly the first person to attempt to draw a map of the inhabited earth. Anaximander taught that there was a form of matter which had not yet taken on the properties of water, fire, earth or air. This first ‘matter’ is a single universal principle and primary source of life, which he termed ‘archae’ as the starting point and origin of the cosmic process. It was something more abstract than the ‘water’ of Thales, and had the qualities of being infinite and undifferentiated, and termed ‘Apeiron’ or boundless.  Within this ‘Apeiron’ arose two opposites or polarities of energy whose constant struggle with each other produced the phenomenal world.  Anaximander also had a theory of evolution and this was stated as being that fish were primeval and all animals issued from them, that is, life originated in the sea. (19. 114)

Anaximander with sun dial

c584               ASTYAGES (r.584-549) Iranian-Aryan and last King of Media. Astyages dreams of his daughter Mandane, as lord over the whole land. The Magi confirmed this, saying that the princess was destined to achieve some great work. In response and with the intention of preventing this event occurring, the King married his daughter to what he thought to be an inconsequential Persian by the name of Cambyses I, with the purpose of creating a union of the Medes and Persians. Whilst Mandane was pregnant, Astyages dreamt of a vine growing out of the princess and covering the whole of Asia. This child will become Cyrus the Great  [Cyrus II] who will inherit the Median Empire after defeating Astyages, and thereby establish the Achaemenid Empire. (73)

Astyages Dream

15^th century French Tapestry

582                 Estimated total eclipse over Sais in ancient Egypt during the Third Intermediate Period. (240. 241)

c580              ZARATHUSTRA or Zoroaster (c628-551 BCE) possibly a second Zoroaster (see 2000 BCE) born in Medea (northern Iran/Persia). A pagan priest and prophet who reformed and gave new dimensions to the ancient polytheistic religion of Persians, a descendant branch of the Aryan Race. Known in Babylon as Zaratas, the great initiate who inaugurated the spiritual tradition of star wisdom. His new religion was based on one supreme creative principle called Ahura Mazda (wise Lord) which came out of the earlier Aryan religion of Mitra the spirit of Light. Zoroaster called Mitra the Eye of Mazda. 

                       An initiate of Zarathustra passed through 3 major grades 1. Apprenticeship. 2. Mastership. 3. Perfect Mastership. The Parsis of India are the modern descendants of Zoroastrianism. The Magi’s organisation into a graded system is reflected in the development of later occult groups (1. 102. 50a).  

Persian Magi

[photo Nickmard Khoey]

                   THE MAGI: this is a title for priests and wise men of the past. The term will become corrupted during Greco-Roman times when the magi are referred to as charlatan magicians. The original priests or magi (wise men) formulated Zarathustra’s teachings into principles of good and evil called Ohrmazd and Ahriman. Associated entities became angels or devils and eventually took on characteristics of the old gods. 

                       As a major religious authority during the Persian Empire, Zarathustra’s doctrine laid the basis for Christian and Islamic doctrines, and propagated the belief that any alternative religion was the worship of the devil. The concept of good and evil turned life after death into the familiar Hell of Christianity.

c570             JINA (599-527) Mahavira the 24th Indian teacher, who re-establishes the religion and philosophy of Jainism. This is the restoration of an ancient faith that has the severe doctrine of non-injury to all living things due to the belief that they carry soul and therefore destruction is of karmic consequence. [226. 330]

Birth of Mahavira 

MOON RHYTHMS

 The lunar orb is most associated with the sign of Cancer the Crab and indicates the fluctuation of moods of that sign when strong in an individual’s chart, or when indicated in a mundane or worldly situation it can be used to measure the cycles of nature. One of the most obvious and well known cycles is that of the sea tides which respond to the regular cycles of the Moon.

Egyptian Moon God Aah-Tehuti

The Moon is moving towards its greatest fullness in the cold winter nights for some and in the clear summer nights for others. As she does so the lunar orb will oppose the planets Uranus and Mars before reaching the opposition of the sun, which indicates its time of fullest glory before slowly waning once again until briefly disappearing from the night sky.

 

A friend asked why does the moon keep changing its shape and does its rhythmic dance affect us?

 

The Moon spins around our planet Earth once in 28 to 29 days and we see this happen in the sky by viewing the Moons changing light disc, which is really just the light reflected from the Sun. Each month there is a New Moon from which point the disk of light appears to grow bigger till it is a full disc in the sky. Then the disc of light starts to shrink back to nothing again. The cycle is called a Lunation and goes from one New Moon to the next. Our ‘month’ derives its name from this cycle of the Moon. Many calendars still use the Moon cycle of 13 months rather than the solar cycle of 12 months. In the dance of the Sun and Moon, is seen a cycle of basic life energy, the yin and yang of Chinese philosophy, the fire and water of Western Alchemical Tradition.

Cycle of the Sun-Moon

In viewing the sky, once a month, the moon, who travels faster than the sun, appears to catch up with the sun. The two orbs are then together in the sky from our perspective. This is called in astrology, a conjunction of the lights, and a ‘dark moon’. As the faster moving moon pulls away from the sun, and we see a thin crescent of the light of the moon appearing, it is called a New Moon. The sun represents our spiritual impulse and the moon its reflected light. The Moon is the communicator between the inner and outer life.

 

As the moon continues to increase its distance from the sun, following New Moon, the moon disc increases in reflected light from the sun. This is called the ‘waxing moon’. Waxing means to grow bigger or to increase.

 

The moon’s light continues to increase until it reaches a full disc of light as seen from Earth and it is then known as a ‘Full Moon’. In a general way the Moon collects and distributes cosmic and planetary energies to the Earth and all life on Earth. The Sun is the source of an impulse of energy; the Moon is the mother and nurturer of that impulse.

 

The Moon’s journey continues through a ‘waning moon’ or decreasing phase as it moves towards another conjunction with the Sun. The Moon’s refected light gradually wanes or disappears and we enter a few dark days of no moonlight. The reflecting lunar light is withdrawn.

Dance of the Sun & Moon

In the moon’s approximate 28 day journey or cycle, two points are of greater significance in the 8 phase cycle. These are the New Moon and the Full Moon phases of a Lunation, the point of meeting and the point of maximum separation; both of which indicate a time of changing currents.

 

A New Moon indicates a starting point, as in a new beginning.  As the moon grows in its waxing phase, there is indicated a growth phase of whatever was being considered at the starting point, it is a period of outward moving activity which reaches its peak or fruition at Full Moon. As the moon shrinks in its waning phase, there is indicated a phase of retreat, it a period of withdrawal and reflection as the process moves towards a new beginning indicated by the next New Moon. Each New Moon will occur in a successive sign of the zodiac, each sign indicating the activation of a different kind of energy to grow, reach fulfilment then fade away to an ending and new beginning.

 

As the Moon moves around in its monthly cycle it represents the fluctuating responses of life on Earth as seen in the sea tides or the moods and habits of people. The visible moon in its journey of changing phases indicates cycling human and cosmic energy. Dane Rudhyar in his book ‘The Lunation Cycle’ talks at length on this pulse of life. 

Sailing by moonlight on

The rhythms of the sea

CANCERIAN CRAB

 Just at the moment, the Sun is in the zodiac sign of Cancer. Cancer’s emblem is the crab, forever moving sideways and trying to avoid any assault from more assertive creatures or quickly withdrawing into its protective shell; so sensitive and shy can our Cancerian be. 

The tropical zodiac signs are not the same as the constellation zodiac. The two zodiacs are two separate wheels, one rotating within the other. The zodiac of the constellations came first and was observed by the ancients. Then some bright spark decided to divide up the ecliptic belt [pathway of the Sun] into 12 matching signs. Trouble is, due to the astronomical phenomena of ‘Precession’, the two wheels no longer align as they once did. The result is that the Tropical zodiac sign of Cancer now appears against the background of the Constellation stars of Gemini. Not to worry, as long as you know which system you are working with. Famous Indian astrologers prefer to work with the constellations.

 

Cancerians of the Tropical zodiac, on a good day are warm and fuzzy and mothering or fathering towards the world and those needing a bit of support. On a bad day they are ‘crabby’, snappy and difficult to be with because life is irritating their acute sensitivities. This may have something to do with the rhythms of the moon who has a special association with this sign. The moon of course is moody as it waxes and wanes and fluctuates in force over its monthly tour sailing the waters of the sky.

The esoteric ruler of Cancer, according to Alice Bailey, ‘Esoteric Astrology’, is Neptune, the big blue gaseous planet who is about to move from Pisces into the Tropical zodiac sign of Aries. That’s the Neptune king of the sea leaving his home territory of Pisces after thirteen years! Where have you been for the last thirteen years; dreaming, following the spiritual path or just plain muddling through the complexities of life? Consult with your Piscean friends and neighbours and compare notes. 

Neptune in astrology represents the creative and imaginative faculties of humans and which has been a shared experience over the last thirteen years as we created our own virtual worlds with the aid of new technology of the internet. 

Bast, Egyptian Moon Cat goddess

On the 4^th of July the Sun was with the bright star Sirius; isn’t that the day of American Independence – yes! it is, and it is also the start of the Ancient Egyptian Siriac calendar and of the Nile flooding, that is, before the Aswan dam was built and the natural flow interrupted.

 

Alice Bailey’s, ‘Esoteric Astrology’ can be pretty hard reading. As an introduction to the complication of her book, ‘The Labours of Hercules: An Astrological Interpretation’, is a good starting place.

AAL’S LABYRINTH HISTORY An Alternative Viewpoint…..contd. #61

 

Ezekiel’s Vision. Woodcut 1860

Julius Schnorr

c593 BCE   EZEKIEL Hebrew prophet of the ‘Old Testament’ born of priestly lineage and resident of Nippur, Sumer where the god Enlil reigns. As author of the ‘Book of Ezekiel’, he records 6 visions which he experienced during the Hebrew exile in Babylon from c593 to571 BCE, the most famous being of the Throne of God surrounded by 4 angel spirits symbolised by the 4 creatures of the fixed zodiac signs. This vision has become known as that of the ‘Divine Chariot’ or the Merkabah. It should be noted that the depiction of these winged creators has a great similarity to the winged gods of the Babylonian peoples. There may also be Hindu influence as Brahma is represented as a king with 4 heads of a similar nature. The winged heads of Ezekiel are that of a Bull, a Lion, an Eagle and a Human, conforming to the symbols of the 4 fixed signs of the zodiac, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, one for each of the alchemical elements.

                       The Book of Ezekiel was probably first commenced in his 30^th year in c652 BCE, its mystical and apocalyptic themes are believed to have influenced the development of the Second Temple built by the Hebrews on their return to Palestine from exile in Babylon.

 

                     The oft quoted Bible reference, Ezekiel:4:6 says 'I have appointed thee each day  

                   for a year'. and astrologers use this as a measurement for prediction by the stars.^[59]

Greek Temple

c590               THALES (b.c. 640-546 BCE) (RC) Born at Miletus, Greece. Thales studied with the Egyptians and Babylonians and was founder of the Ionic School of philosophy in Greece. He taught that the original element or the primary source of life was water; that one divine essence is diffused throughout all being; that the universe is a living creature; that nothing is dead; even stones have souls; and that all things are full of God. He is said to have predicted the solar eclipse of 585 BCE.

                       Thales marks the transition from Homeric mythology to Classical Greek Philosophy. In the future he will be known as the first philosopher although the term philosopher will not be coined until the time of Pythagoras (525 BCE). None of Thales writings are to survive in their original form and his work will be known through the writings of the future philosopher Aristotle (354 BCE).

               THE IONIC SCHOOL: The philosophical school of Ionia is based at the city of Miletus on the coast of Asia Minor. This school brought a new way of understanding the world in its desire for system and clarity as against the vaguer concepts of mythology. This school of thought is initiated by the philosophers Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes. Their philosophy is based on the assumption that an underlying rational unity and order exists within the flux and variety of the world, a theory that was held by the ancient Egyptians. However, in spite of this holistic view, traditional mythology now became more impersonal and based on conceptual explanations arising out of observation of natural phenomena and reasoning, rather than traditional storytelling. Through this process,  human intellectual rationalism came to dominate over the psychic life, even though maintaining some of the concepts brought over from previous ages, such as the belief that the world was one thing and had an original source which had become the manifest many. ⁽¹⁹⁾

 

586 BCE          After standing for approximately 400 years, Solomon’s Temple of Jerusalem, housing the tablets of Moses, is destroyed and its people exiled to Babylon. Some will return to Jerusalem in 538 BCE to build a second temple which will be dedicated in 558 BCE. This temple will be embellished by the future King Herod the Great, and others ,until the time of its own destruction in 70 CE. [226] Another cycle of approximately 400 years.

Plan of Solomon’s Temple

TALKING HERMES

 The planet Mercury is closely associated with the sign Gemini. We will meet Mercury once again in association with the sign of Virgo. When Mercury is ruling Virgo, his more practical qualities are emphasised. When Mercury is ruling Gemini, his energies work more on the plane of pure ideas and so more effort is needed to bring these thoughts and ideas down to the practical world of everyday living. Both Virgo and Gemini share in common the need to put their minds to work, to invent new ways of tackling old tasks, but in Virgo it is easier to see in what way the idea can be applied. Gemini may remain in the realm of theory, plans and discussion only, without making that little extra conscious effort to commit to paper!

 

Mercury is a very important planet, one whose qualities contribute to how we perceive and intellectually respond to the world around us, how we can best interrelate with people and our environment. Mercury also rules our nerve energy and so influences the way we move and speak and gesture. In Ancient Egypt the god Thoth represented these qualities. Thoth is the god of writing and recording and of spell-making. 

Thoth Ancient Egyptian god 

of writing and communication. 

By the time of the Greeks and Romans, the role of Thoth was taken over by the Greek god Hermes and the Roman god Mercury.

Hermes/Mercury [Larousse]

In Egypt, Thoth as master of writing transcribed the word of the gods so that humans could understand what was being communicated to them. The gods being represented by the other planets and acting as symbols for the different human traits such as loving [Venus] giving [Jupiter] conserving [Saturn] feeling [Moon] nobility [Sun] striving [Mars].

 

In Greece, as a descendent of Thoth, Hermes too communicated between the gods and humans; he wears wings on his heels for speedy transport between the two worlds, that of man and that of the gods. This hints at another Egyptian god who is called Anubis.  Anubis also commutes between the two worlds of the living and the dead and is known as a psychopomp or one who leads and guides the dead or the soul, into the world of the spirit or gods, when its physical term is completed.

Anubis leading a soul

To the other world. 

Reading mythology is a good introduction to the gods/goddesses but you have to look beyond the surface recording to see and feel what drives that myth. Try Robert Graves, ‘Greek Myths’.