Clearly the world didn’t end on December the 21st in an epic ‘Hollywood style’ global cataclysm. However that man in central China who spent his entire life savings building a three story ‘Ark’ to save his family from the coming Tsunami is probably carefully avoiding his wife and hoping that it is just a wee bit late!
Of course from an Astrological perspective these great changes in influence between the end of one World Era and the beginning of another don’t quite work like that do they?–as in the change over between the outgoing and incoming ocean tides–there is always a period of ‘slack tide’ before the steady march of the new incoming tide begins.
This three part article outlines–from an Astrological stand point–that there is indeed a ‘Tsunami’ of profound and significant change taking place in the world. It is rapidly eroding and washing away the long established dominant world view–driven by an in pouring of ‘cosmic’ influence and new energy, rather than the dense, H20 variety!
Although it may seem hard to believe, those thousands of books, articles, movies, documentaries, websites, blogs and talk shows produced leading up to the supposed ‘fateful date’ of December 21st, 2012, were all spawned from just two primary sources. The first being a section of Hyroglyph carved into a wall in Temple XIX at Palenque, Mexico and the second being an illustration on the last page of the ‘Dresden Codex’–one of only two original Mayan books left in existence (see illustration on right).
This now ‘infamous’ page depicts what the Mayan Priest/Astronomer/Astrologers believed would occur at the end of the Baktun Long Count Calender. Although interpreted and sensationalised in the mass media as a deluge of water (which to modern materialist thinking could only mean floods, Tsunamis and Biblically proportioned rain!) the serpent like creature in the top portion of the illustration depicts the Mayan ‘Starry Deer Crocodile’, representing the sky and celestial energies (Much like the starry bodied Goddess Nut, straddling the sky in Egyptian Temples)
Through the mystical ‘decapitation’ of this creature they were ‘breaking the skies’ and prompting the creation of a new cosmological order as the world moved into the beginning of it’s next cycle of time and growth.
Above left:Page 74 from the Dresden Codex with enlarged detail of a curious ‘Aquarian’ type figure emptying a vessel of ‘water’. Top right: Hapy, God of the Nile’s annual flood. Bottom right: Contemporary, depiction of the concept of the seasonal influence of Aquarius.
The two human figures in the illustration represent ‘Gods’ or Cosmic principles. Shown as elderly, they represent the ‘dying’ phase of the last cycle, as opposed to the youthful birth of the next. (How nice it would be to have the thousands of other erudite Mayan books that were burned by zealous Spanish Missionaries!)
The upper figure in the illustration appears very ‘Aquarian’ in character, and much like the traditional symbol of Aquarius, portrays an unseen influence pouring ‘water’ from ‘above’ into the affairs of the world.
In Esoteric tradition the symbology of water has always indicated a source of spiritual nourishment and cleansing for the troubled and thirsting ‘soul’. We see this in the Gospels for example as a deeper layer of meaning within the stories of; Baptism, washing of feet, the ‘miracle’ of turning water into wine, the ‘washing away of sins’, and even Pilate’s ‘washing of his hands’.
In Ancient Egypt, where one sees the first appearance of the Archetype of Aquarius–in the Nile God Hapy (see previous page)–we also see a figure with a pouring vessel in each hand ‘cartouched’ inside the ‘serpent’ of cosmic, spiritual life force.
Egypt, being one of the most religious and esoteric cultures to have ever existed, lived in a state of ‘two realities’, where the physical and unseen worlds were inextricably interwoven, so that anything occurring in the Cosmos was mirrored also in the material worlds and vice versa. They actually lived the principle of ‘as above so below’, even practicing medicine that prescribed unguents to be applied at particular times of the day or week to coincide with specific positions of the sun, moon and planets, which of course indicates an Astrologically aspected medicine.
When the annual deluge came each year and caused the Nile to flood– revitalising the flood plains where the food crops were grown and bringing life back to the parched desert–they felt at the same time a spiritual renewal caused by the ‘rains’ of a fresh cycle of cosmic energy.
In the Medieval world–where for most, life was still agriculturally based–we also see this perception of the ‘Winter rains’–or the ‘Man pouring water on the ground’–being connected to not just the waters soaking into the earth to bring about the next cycle of crop growth, but also to a deeper understanding that in conjunction with the material waters, Celestial energies entered into the womb of the Great Mother that would later manifest in spring as the ‘Fiery’ resurrection of all organic life.
Above:The King has life and force bestowed upon him by the Neters, Thoth and Horus
(flow of Ankhs) He is in a passive ‘receiving’ role, indicated by him having two left hands.
With Thoth being the forerunner of Hermes/Mercury and Horus the forerunner of Helios/Apollo–one wonders if the King is also recieving a ‘Sun like’ charisma of mental communication–something that might be appreciated in the Government Beehive!
It is no surprise that the Church of Rome in it’s early years would ensure that the time of the ‘Resurrection’ would be superimposed over the top of traditions celebrating this miraculous power of renewal each Spring, that had persisted in ancient traditions going back thousands of years.
This natural, intuitive way of looking at the world has mostly been lost now, due to the fact that our technologically based way of living removes us from any direct connection to the cycles and processes of Nature.
Now if you are thinking that these symbols and concepts all seem similar to the idea of the precessional ‘Age’ of Aquarius–you would be right–and there is much in this that lends further weight to that very concept.
John Major Jenkins, a recognised expert in Mayan Cosmology–having also spent many years in comparative studies of Vedic and Egyptian cosmology– maintains the firm view that the precession of the Equinoxes and the Vedic ‘Kali Yuga’ cycles of time, although not fitting exactly, do in principle both correlate with the significant global cyclic change indicated within the Mayan Calender System and illustrations of the Dresden Codex.
It is therefore more reasonable to think that what we are looking at in this illustration is an ‘Astrological’ understanding of the significance of the 21-12-2012 date. Although referenced from a very different culture in a distant time, it is in essence referring to the Aquarian concept of an influx of ‘spiritual’ waters or an inundation of ‘cosmic’ influence for a new world age, rather than the literal aquatic deluge and terrestrial cataclysms recently popularised in mass media.
One of the key reasons for the degree of misunderstanding around this ‘end date’ of the Mayan calendar is that it is difficult to appreciate from a 21st Century mind set, just how important these cycles of time and change in celestial influences were to people of these Ancient Civilisations.
The ‘divorce’ between Astrology and Astronomy is really a post Industrial Revolution phenomenon and simply didn’t exist within these older civilisations. In accordance with their religious and spiritual Cosmology, they studied the patterns of the stars and planets from the standpoint of the two realities–’seen’ and ‘unseen’–because they not only depended upon the practical knowledge of the cycles of the moon, sun and stars for successful agriculture and civic organisation, but also for the ‘food’ of their ‘higher’ aim which was to be integrated with, and live in tune with the unseen energies of creation. They believed as the Egyptians did, that life on earth was primarily a study and a preparation for the after life ‘amongst the stars’.
Evidence of just how important this was to these early civilisations was discovered by R. A. Schwaller, the Alsatian Philosopher who spent fifteen years (1936-1951) studying the Egyptian Temple of Luxor. He unearthed compelling evidence that the Ancient Egyptians actually dismantled, realigned and rebuilt key temples and buildings to ‘tune’ into and harmonise with the changing Celestial influence of each new Precessional Age.
They also believed that each successive Age was part of the organic and spiritual development of mankind, what we might call today ‘the ongoing growth of Consciousness’. In his massive two volume, 1200 page study of his findings in and around the Temple of Luxor, Schwaller found that the main purpose of the encoded art and design of the Temple was that of a ‘stone’ textbook of metaphysical knowledge for the evolution of Mankind–hence the title “Temple Le Homme”–The Temple of Man.
The sacred duty and Honour of each successive Pharaoh therefore, was to not only physically extend the temple structure, but to also encode within it the new knowledge and perception discovered within that new cycle of time.
In conjunction with this the whole style of government and religious practice would also be changed to suit, even down to the predominant symbology being used. For example with the unification of upper and lower Egypt begins the wide spread use of the symbology of the ‘twins’ Shu & Tefnut or ‘Seth & Horus’ during the age of Gemini, changing to Mentu the Bull during Taurus, followed by the proliferation of ‘Ram’ symbology during the time of Aries and finally the curious appearance of fish symbology in the building of the first ‘Coptic’ or Egyptian Christian churches moving into the age of Pisces.
Can you imagine that today? – The Mayor announcing that we all have to move out of Auckland for a few years whilst they completely dismantle it, change the style of Civic practice and re build the entire city to be harmonious with the onsetting celestial influences of the new Astrological Age!–they have enough trouble just trying to keep the traffic flowing smoothly!–however perhaps the time will soon be upon us where these lost arts may well become of vital importance once again.
Now if the world is becoming increasingly influenced by emanations from the Constellation of Aquarius and it’s ruling planets Saturn and Uranus, we should be seeing in the world signs of radical and revolutionary upheaval in the traditional way the world has gone on. Such as mass movements toward a greater liberation and freedom for humanity, the emergence of new ways of looking at things, with an openness to change boosted by a fresh energy and vitality. Perhaps above all though, a liberating new vision of the world and our greater human potential.
Sally Goerner, one of the worlds leading experts on the history and dynamics of change in human societies states, “We are in the midst of the most dramatic cultural shift in three hundred years. Great change is simmering away in all facets of our civilisation, from economics and politics to science and spirituality…our inherited concept of a machine world–the clockwork universe–is giving way and the vision of an interconnected ‘web world’ is rapidly rising to take it’s place…”
In part two of this article–we will be taking a more comprehensive look at what these important changes taking place in all fields of human endeavour actually are, with a view to seeing what they may also reveal about the possibility of a future ‘Renaissance’ for Astrology.
Hold on to your Nodes folks! – Darren Carville