Happy Anniversary to Moby Dick!

image: Wikimedia commons (link). Click on the image to go to original, which has a "magnifying glass" feature.

November 14: On this day in 1851 appeared in print the US edition of Herman Melville's Moby Dick. The work had been previously published in England the month before (October of 1851) as The Whale, with a print run of only five hundred copies.

Melville's opus stands as a towering example of the process discussed in this essay, by which numinous truth descends from the realm of ideas, the realm of spirit, the realm of form, and clothes itself in the massy, dirty, bloody, ugly, realm of matter . . . for the purpose of rising again back to the world of spirit, dragging the material world (and us with it) along in its train.

In the vast and alien world of whaling, Melville found a canvas broad enough in which to wrestle with some of the greatest questions of human existence. The book, of course, is not about the endless details of whaling in which readers can sometimes become bogged down or overwhelmed, but rather the deeper questions towards which the physical "teaching aids" of the whaling life are constantly turned throughout the work.

For example, Chapter 60 (which can be found online, along with the rest of Moby Dick, in this Project Gutenberg edition), is entitled "The Line," and it is ostensibly an essay upon the whale-line which connects the harpoon to the whale-boat, about its characteristics, and the various ways in which it is rigged about the boats by the crews of various nationalities, and how it is attached, and the dangers it poses to life and limb as it runs out at lightning speed when a whale is struck by a harpoon and plunges into the deep in a burst of surprise, anger and pain.

But, as with everything else in Moby Dick, the intricate detail of the explanation is provided with the intention of suddenly making the leap from the physical, literal details being described, across the chasm to the realm of spirit, the realm of ideas, the realm of philosophy, where the lessons of the whale-line will suddenly be seen to be a metaphor for an aspect of human existence, and where the humble hemp will be shown to crackle with metaphysical meaning.

The final paragraphs of Chapter 60's description of "the line" illustrate this "turning the corner" or "making the leap" quite nicely, although any number of other chapters in Moby Dick could be used to illustrate the same move:

Again: as the profound calm which only apparently precedes and prophesies of the storm, is perhaps more awful than the storm itself; for, indeed, the calm is but the wrapper and envelope of the storm; and contains it in itself, as the seemingly harmless rifle holds the fatal powder, and the ball, and the explosion; so the graceful repose of the line, as it silently serpentines about the oarsmen before being brought into actual play -- this is a thing which carries more of true terror than any other aspect of this dangerous affair. But why say more? All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortal realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life. And if you be a philosopher, though seated in the whale boat, you would not at heart feel one whit more of terror than though seated before your evening fire with a poker, and not a harpoon, by your side.

Clearly, to take Moby Dick for a book about whaling, or to complain that its incessant discussion of the grimy, miserable, and often gory details of life aboard a whale-ship often gets in the way of the "adventure story" about the obsessive pursuit of the white whale by Ahab, is to completely miss the point of the book -- to take it "too literally," so to speak.

In fact, to do so is a form of getting "bogged down" in the material world, and of missing the existence of an invisible world which throbs just beneath the surface of this one, always waiting to be called forth. In many ways, it is possible to say that the recognition of this invisible world, this spirit world, in ourselves and in the world around us, is the reason we are here in the material world in the first place. Previous posts which have touched on this concept include this one, this one, and this one.

Recent interviews have also mentioned Moby Dick, including this most recent interview with Marty Leeds and this interview with David Whitehead of Truth Warrior Radio recorded last month on October 20.

Happy anniversary to Moby Dick, published 163 years ago today! If you feel inclined, read a few chapters . . . and contemplate the ability of just about everything in this material world to serve as a pointer to realms of heavenly glory.

The Undying Stars on Marty Leeds' Mathemagical Radio Hour!

Recently, it was my great pleasure to have a conversation with philosopher Marty Leeds, whose fascinating exploration of number, symbol, language, and sacred geometry (among other subjects) has led him to some incredible discoveries, which he shares through his writings, his videos, and his interviews.

Welcome to any new visitors who might be dropping by this site for the first time after hearing that conversation -- hope you'll visit often and explore some of the information that you can find here about topics that you may find to be interesting or helpful.

I really enjoyed our conversation, and I hope that you will also. We actually decided to extend the discussion beyond the first hour, so eventually you should be able to hear that as well, perhaps as part of a subscription model on Marty's site, or through a YouTube video or other method.

Even without that additional material, however, we managed to range over a wide spectrum of subjects. Below, I have put together a list of links to places where those interested can explore some of those subjects in greater depth:

• The "Star Myth Index," which has links to discussions of the celestial foundations of many different sacred stories from around the world, including many from the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament of the Bible.
• Further discussion of the ancient Greek myth in which the giants Ephialtes and Otus (two sons of Poseidon) imprison the war-god Ares in a brazen cauldron for thirteen months, until Ares is rescued by Hermes.
• An extended meditation on the vital importance of Hermes, the "trickster god."
• The "mental model" of the earth-sun model in your dining room. 
• Another "mental model" -- which I call the "earth-ship metaphor" -- which helps explain why the angle of light from the sun changes throughout the year. Another post which tries to illustrate this concept can be found here.
• The reason everyone should use the outline-system suggested by beloved children's author H. A. Rey when looking at the constellations -- and see also this post, which shows how the outlines suggested by Rey (in this case, for the zodiac constellation of Aquarius) can be critical to understanding the celestial foundations of myth -- in this case, in the Old Testament story of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
• Further discussion of the ancient Greek myth regarding the illicit affair between Aphrodite and Ares and the time they were caught in a net woven by Aphrodite's aggrieved husband, Hephaestos -- mentioned briefly in this interview. 
• The zodiac wheel, and how it forms the foundation for many mythical concepts, including the shining "upper half" of the wheel and its correspondence to heaven or paradise or a holy mountain, and the gloomy "lower half" of the wheel and its correspondence to hell or sheol or tartarus or hades or the underworld.
• The zodiac in the human body -- and the related concept of macrocosm-microcosm (see here and here and here for even more!).
• The teaching that the organs in our human body resonate with and are influenced by specific heavenly bodies.
• A discussion of the way that different forms of architecture can make us feel very differently -- and the undeniable fact that buildings in which "education" is supposed to take place in the United States often have absolutely hideous architecture, architecture so hideous one cannot help but wonder if a form of "anti-feng-shui" is being deliberately employed.
• Alvin Boyd Kuhn's exploration of the spiritual symbology surrounding Halloween and All Saints' Day, and the significance of the fact that this important dual-holiday falls forty days after autumnal equinox.
• The amazing fact that Odin's horse, Sleipnir, has eight legs -- appropriate for the fact that Odin in Norse myth is related to Hermes and Thoth and Mercury in other mythologies, and that the planet Mercury (the swiftest in our solar system) orbits the sun in a mere 88 days! This post contains an extended discussion of the fact that all these Star Myths from around the world may in fact be trying to point us towards a worldview that is shamanic in nature.

It is my opinion that Marty truly embodies the ancient concept of "the philosopher" -- as I think you will agree if you listen to an excellent show he and Greg Carlwood recorded over at The Higherside Chats this past August (and which has been quoted in this previous post). Through his curiosity, analysis, insight, contemplation, and synthesis, he has found compelling evidence that number and language and geometry and symbol were all used by ancient sages to convey profound spiritual truths to humanity. In his interviews and teaching, he explains how important it is to learn from nature, and how the book of nature is the best teacher of philosophy.

The importance of the areas that Marty explores and teaches in his books and videos is attested to by the ancient tradition regarding the sign which was said to have been posted above the entry to the ancient Academy of philosophy founded by Plato, which supposedly read "Let none who is ignorant of geometry enter here."

What is perhaps most interesting is the fact that the deep teachings he finds encoded in the very letters and numbers and words themselves are also the same teachings which I believe can be found in the stories and scriptures and texts and traditions which are in turn made up of those words and numbers! In other words, the symbolism is taking place at the "microcosmic" level inside the words and letters at the same time that it is taking place at the "macrocosmic" level of the myths or stories which are built out of those words and letters! This fact very much parallels the teaching that individual men and women themselves seem to contain and embody and reflect the entire universe -- each person is a microcosm of the infinite macrocosm of the universe.

These metaphors -- whether they be metaphors which are formed in number or in gematria letter-symbolism, or whether they be metaphors which are found in the Star Myth stories that are based on the motions of the heavenly bodies whirling across the infinite reaches of space -- all seem to be "bringing down" the invisible and ethereal world into the physical and material world where we can perhaps "wrestle with them" more easily, and in doing they point us towards that world of spirit, and in a sense "drag our consciousness" back up with them into the invisible realms.

This is a concept I have written about in an essay entitled "Clothing spirit with matter and raising it up again: How metaphor transcends and transforms the material realm." Later, when I began to read Marty's book

Peacock Tales: The Alchemical Writings of Claudia Pavonis (volume one), I was struck by this line towards the beginning of the book: "Like with any creative endeavor, the true goal is to bring the ethereal down to the material and thus lift the corporeal up to the ethereal" (19). Clearly, his book is here articulating the very same concept! 

You can see why I was so excited to have an opportunity to have a conversation with Marty on his show.

Finally, Marty ended this episode with some haunting music by Portland artist Whim. Appropriately enough for the microcosm-macrocosm theme, he chose a song called "Small Infinity," which you can listen to below. To hear more of her music, visit Whim's website here.

<a href="http://whimmusic.bandcamp.com/album/small-infinity-ep">Small Infinity - EP by Whim</a>

Thoughts on mind control and Wounded Knee

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

The massacre at Wounded Knee took place on December 29, 1890. While the sequence of specific events that initiated the actual shooting are disputed, the outcome is not disputed: cavalry troopers of the United States Army massacred hundreds (probably 200 to 300) Native American men, women and children who had been camped near Wounded Knee Creek. Just over thirty soldiers were killed during the battle which ensued. In addition to small arms, four Hotchkiss guns, breech-loading "mountain guns" which fired a 42mm round, were used by the cavalry -- three of them are shown in the image above. This is more than triple the size of a .50-cal round (a .50-cal is 12.7mm).

The officers and soldiers who perpetrated the massacre were described by many of the survivors -- including Black Elk -- as chasing down women and children to kill them. While the political situation surrounding this horrible episode may seem to be complex, in fact they are simple: chasing down and killing unarmed noncombatants is murder. It is not excused by the status of the person carrying out the murder -- wearing a uniform, or representing a government does not confer upon anyone the right to murder anyone else. 

There were many other instances in which US military forces opened fire on villages full of women and children during the decades leading up to the massacre at Wounded Knee: it was not an isolated incident. It was, however, the decisive battle which basically ended the resistance of the Plains Indians and the gathering momentum of the Ghost Dance movement.

The Lakota holy man Black Elk, whose personal story has been discussed in the previous two posts here and here, explains in his account of the tragic events of December, 1890 that he and the others in the vicinity of the Pine Ridge agency (reservation) received the news that Sitting Bull had been shot and killed in suspicious circumstances surrounding his arrest, which happened on December 15.

Crazy Horse had earlier been killed under suspicious circumstances while in custody as well. 

Sitting Bull had been leading a band of men, women and children who did not want to come in to the agencies and give up their way of life. After Sitting Bull was killed, a leader named Spotted Elk -- also referred to as Big Foot -- led about four hundred people towards Pine Ridge. Black Elk explains: 

We heard that Big Foot was coming down from the Badlands with nearly four hundred people. Some of these were from Sitting Bull's band. They had run away when Sitting Bull was killed, and joined Big Foot on Good River. There were only about a hundred warriors in this band, and all the others were women and children and old men. They were all starving and freezing, and Big Foot was so sick that they had to bring him along in a pony drag. They had all run away to hide in the Badlands, and they were coming in now because they were starving and freezing. When they crossed Smoky Earth River, they followed up Medicine Root Creek to its head. Soldiers were over there looking for them. The soldiers had everything and were not freezing and starving. Near Porcupine Butte the soldiers came up to the Big Foots, and they surrendered and went along with the soldiers to Wounded Knee Creek, where the Brenan Store is now. 253-254.

The massacre would take place the following morning. Black Elk relates a first-hand account he had from his friend Dog Chief, who was there with Yellow Bird when the shooting started:

In the morning the soldiers began to take all the guns away from the Big Foots, who were camped in the flat below the little hill where the monument and burying ground are now. The people had stacked most of their guns, and even their knives, by the tepee where Big Foot was lying sick. Soldiers were on the little hill and all around, and there were soldiers across the dry gulch to the south and over east along Wounded Knee Creek too. The people were nearly surrounded, and the wagon-guns were pointing at them. 

Some had not yet given up their guns, and so the soldiers were searching all the tepees, throwing things around and poking into everything. There was a man called Yellow Bird, and he and another man were standing in front of the tepee where Big Foot was lying sick. They had white sheets around and over them, with eyeholes to look through, and they had guns under these. An officer came to search them. He took the other man's gun, and then started to take Yellow Bird's. But Yellow Bird would not let go. He wrestled with the officer, and while they were wrestling, the gun went off and killed the officer. Wasichus and some others said he meant to do this, but Dog Chief was standing right there, and he told me it was not so. As soon as the gun went off, Dog Chief told me, an officer shot and killed Big Foot who was lying sick inside the tepee.

Then suddenly nobody knew what was happening, except that the soldiers were all shooting and the wagon-guns began going off right in among the people.

Many were shot down right there. The women and children ran into the gulch and up west, dropping all the time, for the soldiers shot them as they ran. 260-262.

There is much that could be written about this horrific episode. However, one thing that should be clear is that it should be a cause for deep and careful consideration on the ways in which military force can be used on the side of wrong, by individuals who may not even realize that what they are doing is wrong (the officers and soldiers who were there), supported by many other people who also have somehow come to believe that these actions are not wrong (the public at large). 

The process by which large numbers of people come to believe that violations of natural universal law (which prohibits physically harming others or using force for any purpose beyond stopping someone who is at that time physically harming others) are excusable can be referred to by the convenient "short-hand" term of mind control. There is a list of links to previous posts exploring this important subject in this recent previous post.

While it may be comforting to think that this was only a problem in the nineteenth century, this is not the case. We should all think carefully about this in our own lives today, whether we are in the military or not.

Walking the good red road

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

The previous post examined some aspects of the power and spiritual significance of the circle, as related by the holy man Black Elk when he decided to let his vision be written down and published for all people to share. 

This decision on Black Elk's part was very deliberate, of course, and one he obviously thought about very, very carefully: he explains at one point in the narrative that he "has lain awake at night worrying and wondering if I was doing right" by telling the full story of his vision and allowing it to be printed in a book. Then he says: "But I think I have done right to save the vision in this way, even though I may die sooner because I did it; for I know the meaning of the vision is wise and beautiful and good; and you can see that I am only a pitiful old man after all" (206).

Having explored a little of the sacred meaning of the circle, and its connection to the unending circle of life, to the sky, to the infinite and to the unseen world, we can now better understand one of the most significant aspects of Black Elk's great vision, which came to him in the summer when he was nine years old and which guided him throughout his life. That vision was extremely rich in detail and symbolism, all of which became important to him in the years ahead, but one image which he was shown in his vision which informs the entire book and to which he refers over and over again is the image of the two roads that he was shown crossing inside the sacred hoop: a black road running east and west, and a red road running north and south.

Black Elk first introduces the concept of the black road and the red road in his full description of his vision. It is shown to him and explained to him by one of the Six Grandfathers, whom he meets in the spirit world and who fill him with awe and cause him to shake with fear when he first meets them, because, as he says, "I knew that these were not old men, but the Powers of the World" (25). They are six in number because they each represent the power of a different direction: the first being the Power of the West, the second of the North, the third of the East, the fourth of the South, the fifth of the Sky, and the sixth of the Earth (25).

It is the fourth Grandfather, of the South, who shows Black Elk the vision of the sacred hoop of the people and the two roads which bisect it into four quarters:

Then when he had been still a little while to hear the birds sing, he spoke again: "Behold the earth!" So I looked down and saw it lying yonder like a hoop of peoples, and in the center bloomed a holy stick that was a tree, and where it stood there crossed two roads, a red one and a black. "From where the giant lives (the north) to where you always face (the south) the red road goes, the road of good," the Grandfather said, "and on it shall your nation walk. The black road goes from where the thunder beings live (the west) to where the sun continually shines (the east), a fearful road, a road of troubles and of war. On this also you shall walk, and from it you shall have the power to destroy a people's foes. In four ascents you shall walk the earth with power." 29.

Black Elk refers back to these two roads many times throughout his narrative: together these two road form one of the most important themes in his entire telling of his story. 

Many years later, when Black Elk was twenty years old, he realizes that he must perform parts of his vision for the people to see, and he carries a pipe to "a wise and good old medicine man" named Fox Belly, and asks him to help him with this duty of performing the vision for the people (205). After explaining part of his vision to Fox Belly, the old medicine man tells Black Elk: "My boy, you had a great vision, and I can see that it is your duty to help the people walk the red road in a manner pleasing to the Powers" (206). Black Elk explains how the performance of the vision was prepared:

First we made a sacred place like a bison wallow at the center of the nation's hoop, and there we set up the sacred tepee. Inside this we made the circle of the four quarters. Across the circle from south to north we painted a red road, and Fox Belly made little bison tracks all along on both sides of it, meaning that the people should walk there with the power and endurance of the bison, facing the great white cleansing wind of the world. Also, he placed a the north end of the road the cup of water, which is the gift of the west, so that the people, while leaning against the great wind with the endurance of the bison, would be going toward the water of life.

I was painted red all over like the man of my vision before he turned into a bison. I wore bison horns, and on the left horn hung a piece of the daybreak-star herb, which bears the four-rayed flower of understanding. On the left side of my body I wore a single eagle feather, which was for my people, hanging on the side of the bison and feeding there. 207.

Throughout the book, one of the most heartbreaking aspects of Black Elk's story is the anguish he expresses over the fact that he sees his people walking the black road and the sacred hoop being destroyed, and his feeling that he has somehow not lived up to the vision he was given. At one point he says, in explaining his decision at the age of 23 to travel with Buffalo Bill's show to see the east coast and eventually even cross the water to England:

I looked back on the past and recalled my people's old ways, but they were not living that way any more. They were traveling the black road, everybody for himself and with little rules of his own, as in my vision. I was in despair, and I even thought that if the Wasichus had a better way, then maybe my people should live that way. I know now that this was foolish, but I was young and in despair. 215.

Later still, when he hears of the beginnings of the Ghost Dance and the fact that the holy man, whose name was Wavoka and who had the original vision for the Ghost Dance, gave people sacred red paint as part of his vision to bring back the old ways, Black Elk says:

When I heard this about the red pain and the eagle feathers and about bringing the people back to the Great Spirit, it made me think hard. I had had a great vision that was to bring the people back into the nation's hoop, and maybe this sacred man had had the same vision and it was going to come true, so that the people would get back on the red road. 234.

And finally, when he was very old, Black Elk returns to Harney Peak which was the center of the hoop in his vision, to ask the Six Grandfathers, to help his people to "once more go back into the sacred hoop and find the good red road" (274). In that final recorded prayer of Black Elk, he uses words to describe the cross inside of the sacred circle which are very significant, right at the beginning of his prayer:

Hey-a-a-hey! Hey-a-a-hey! Hey-a-a-hey! Hey-a-a-hey! Grandfather, Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and lean to hear my feeble voice. You lived first, and you are older than all need, older than all prayer. All things belong to you -- the two-leggeds, the four-leggeds, the wings of the air and all green things that live. You have set the powers of the four quarters to cross each other. The good road and the road of difficulties you have made to cross; and where they cross, the place is holy. Day in and day out, forever, you are the life of things. 272.

The deep aspects of Black Elk's vision and of the hoop and the sacred cross of the red road and the black road can be very valuable to all of us to this day, to ponder and consider and reflect upon in our own lives and in our own time. We have already seen that he felt very strongly about sharing this vision with the world before allowing it to be written down, and that he felt so strongly that others should hear it that he decided to tell his vision, even if in doing so he might somehow "die sooner because of it." We should all be very grateful to Black Elk for sharing the great vision he was given, and try to do what we can in this life to fulfill the vision he desired so strongly, of going back into the sacred hoop and finding the good red road.

It also seems that an understanding of the similarities of this symbol of the two roads in the sacred hoop to that expressed in other versions of the ancient wisdom that was given to the people of the world might help us to do that. It seems very clear that the sacred hoop with the four quarters created by the crossing of the two roads has powerful points of connection with the crossing lines within the zodiac wheel, which has been shown in previous posts to relate to the "casting down of the Djed column" (horizontal line, drawn between the two equinoxes) and the "raising up of the Djed column" (vertical line, drawn between the two solstices). Below is a depiction of the sacred hoop:

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

And below is the image of the zodiac wheel with the cross created by the line of the equinoxes and the line of the solstices:

The similarity to the east-west black road and north-south red road described by Black Elk in his vision of the sacred hoop is obvious. We have seen in previous discussions that the cross above in the zodiac wheel goes back at least as far as ancient Egypt, in which the horizontal line was clearly associated with the death of Osiris and the "Djed column cast down," with incarnation in matter (which relates clearly to Black Elk's description of the black road as "a road of difficulties" and of struggle and hardship and war), and with the "animal" aspect of our existence (note that Black Elk says that when the people are on the black road it is "everybody for himself," or as we might say "dog-eat-dog").

Note, however, that Black Elk very clearly says in the words he uses to describe these two roads at the start of his final recorded prayer, that the place where "the good road and the road of difficulties have [been] made to cross" is a place that is holy: in fact, this crossing can be seen as this material life we are in now, in which we are figuratively "crucified" on the cross of matter, spirit plunged down into bodies of clay, or encased in "coats of skins." Both roads are somehow important to us on this journey; both roads support the sacred hoop. Our experience in this world of matter and struggles and difficulties is somehow importance to our spiritual elevation as well.

The vertical line was clearly associated with the raising up again of the cast-down Djed column, with the spiritual aspect of our dual human nature (in which we are both material and spiritual), and with seeing beyond the material aspects of our existence (the ones that cause us to act in a "dog-eat-dog" manner). For blog posts which explore this symbology as it appears in many sacred traditions around the world, including ancient Egypt and also the ancient Hindu Vedas of India, see here, here, here and here for example (there are many more). 

The vertical line can also be shown to be related to the divine spark or fire hidden in our material forms of clay, and to the myth of Prometheus bringer of fire, as well as to the vertical "fire-stick" used to call forth fire out of another horizontal fire-stick, a symbol which is found in many ancient cultures but also a symbol which was used over and over by various prophets and visionaries among the American Indians, who often urged the people to go back to using fire-sticks to make fire as part of their message for bringing back the good life that was being stolen from them by the successive betrayals of the invading culture from western Europe which itself had lost touch with the same vision of this sacred cross in the hoop, long centuries before.

All of this can be shown to be related to the concept of "walking the good red road" that Black Elk so fervently desired. It is a message that involves the re-connection to the spiritual source of power and of life, of not being put into "boxes" or living in squares, and not acting in an "everybody for himself" fashion. It is a message that he desired to tell us to consider on both an individual level and a level of the greater whole, for each individual man and woman and also for all the people together. 

And it is a message and a vision that is just as urgent today as it was in the terrible and turbulent times in which Black Elk lived.

Black Elk and the sacred circle

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

The sayings of Black Elk, who walked on this earth between the years that we call 1863 and 1950, preserved in the book Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux as told through John G. Neihardt, first published in 1932, have many profound messages of great importance to individuals and society today.

Black Elk's message and his words should be pondered deeply.

This particular essay will examine only one small aspect of his message. Many, many more things are there to return to on another day. Other aspects of his message have been explored in previous discussions (see especially here).

One very important thread running through the words of Black Elk as recorded by John Neihardt concerns the sacred numbers of his people, which often appear in his visions, and which he often explains at the appropriate point in his narrative. Related to this concept is the concept of the sacred shapes which he discusses, and their meanings, especially the shapes of the circle and the square.

As an example of the importance of sacred number, Black Elk often discusses the number six as it relates to all the directions of the world: the four directions in horizontal space (which we might say relate to an X-axis and a Y-axis, as well as to the four cardinal directions of East, South, West and North), plus the two vertical directions of above and below, or up and down (and which we might also describe as including the Z-axis, and thus providing all the necessary referents for any point in space).

In addition to the number six, he also describes the importance of the number four, and relates it to the four stations of the sacred hoop which sustains all life on earth, and which he associates at some points in his narrative with the earth. The concept of the sacred hoop of the Lakotas and other American Indian nations was often expressed as a circle containing the equal lines of a cross, and it can be seen to be closely related to the outline of the zodiac wheel with its horizontal and vertical cross-lines which is discussed in many previous posts, including here and here. 

Here is a passage in which Black Elk explains these sacred numbers, which appear often in his great vision:

I sent a pipe to Running Elk, who was Standing Bear's uncle and a good and wise old man. He came and was willing to help me. We set up a sacred tepee at the center as before. I had to use six elks and four virgins. The elks are of the south, but the power that they represented in my vision is nourished by the four quarters and from the sky and the earth; so there were six of them. The four virgins represented the life of the nation's hoop, which has four quarters; so there were four virgins. Running Elk chose two of the elks, and I, who stood between the Power of the World and the nation's hoop, chose the four others, for my duty was to the life of the hoop on earth. The six elk men wore complete elk hides on their backs and over their heads. 209.

In another passage, a very poignant passage, Black Elk discusses the difference between the circle and the square, two sacred shapes which each played a very important role in his culture and in his visions. As he explains in this passage, even though the number four is related to the earth's four directions, and has an important role to play in the world, it is the circle which manifests the vitality and power of life. Note, for instance, that in the passage above, he actually associates the number four with the four quarters of the sacred hoop, preserved by the figures of the four virgins, who are connected with our life here on earth. In other words, he connects the number four to a quartered circle, rather than to a square, in the enactment of that particular vision. 

The importance of the circle takes on added meaning as Black Elk explains how it is at the heart of everything in his culture, and how he feels that his people's connection to the circle has been taken away, to their terrible detriment:

After the heyoka ceremony, I came to live here where I am now between Wounded Knee Creek and Grass Creek. Others came too, and we made these little gray houses of logs that you see, and they are square. It is a bad way to live, for there can be no power in a square.

You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, and south gave warmth, the west gave rain, and the north with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion. Everything the Power of the World does is in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our tepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children.

But the Wasichus have put us in these square boxes. Our power is gone and we are dying, for the power is not in us any more. [. . .].

We are prisoners of war while we are waiting here. But there is another world. 195 - 196.

This passage is very profound: it is like a deep pool into which we could dive and go down for a long time without ever reaching the bottom of it. One thing it tells us is that the heavenly realms are associated with the circle, for the sky itself appears round, and the heavenly beings such as the sun and moon are round themselves and also follow cycles that make endless circles: "the sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round."

Black Elk explains that the round shape of the tepee, and the arrangement of the tepees in a circle, is connected to the power of the circle, to the cycles of life, and the connection to nature (expressed in the reference to the round nests of birds). But now his people have been forced to live in squares instead of in circles.

There is much here to consider. One connection which I believe might be of value to draw out is the insights expressed in a recent interview by Marty Leeds, who has thought long and deeply on the significance of numbers and shapes and who arrives at many of the same conclusions about the numbers and shapes expressed above that Black Elk and his people seem to have known.

In this interview with Greg Carlwood of The Higherside Chats

published in August of 2014, Marty explains beginning at about 0:41:35 into the interview:

Heaven is known as a circle: it's a three; and earth is known as a four: it's a square. OK, let's break this down: the circle encapsulates the most amount of space. [. . .] So, really what you have there with the inherent or innate symbolism of the circle is you have the All or the Entirety or the Wholeness, that its you know encapsulating. 

Now, what's important about the circle is that we can never truly find its area! Why? Because we have to use Pi. We have to use Pi. And Pi, at one point, we have to approximate, as we were talking about before. So we can never, ever truly find the area of a circle. Why this is important is: why is itrelated to heaven? Because we can never truly measure the heavens! It's the infinite! Right? That makes sense -- that makes sense that it would be attributed to a circle. 

Because, you know, like I said, Pi is this infinite number, we can't see it's "tail," we look out into the heavens [. . .] where is the edge of the universe? I don't know! You know? But now, look at a square. A square is earth. Well we can measure the earth. [. . .] The square: we can always find the area of a square. Always! Because all we have to do is square something. So if the length of the side of a square is two, well two times two or two squared is four, so therefore we know the area of a square. So this is why heaven is known as a circle, and the infinite, and earth is known as a square.

Marty then goes on to relate the square and the circle to the stupa of Buddhism, which can be seen as bringing the sacred circle of the heavens down to earth, in much the same way that the tepee and the ring of tepees connected to the sacred circles of the sun and moon and cyclical motions in the passage spoken by Black Elk, above.

What I find very interesting in the Marty Leeds passage cited here is the symbolic association of the circle with the "unmeasurable," which Marty finds due to his focus on the transcendental number of Pi. He explains that Pi is a number which goes on forever, and can never be completely known, but only approximated by us, since we must at some point "cut off its tail" and thus use an approximation of Pi rather than Pi itself. Thus the circle in some sense moves beyond this material world and into the other world -- the realm which cannot be actually perceived by the five-senses, or measured with the tools used to measure things in the material realm. Pi becomes a symbol for the transcendental and the realm beyond the material.

And this connection to the realm of spirit -- and the Power that comes from that other world -- is exactly what Black Elk is lamenting when he sees that his people now live in square houses, and are cut off from their connection to the circle. The circle is a symbol of the unseen world, the spirit world: Black Elk often refers to it as the "outer world," as he does in the passage cited above. 

Elsewhere he makes very clear that, although that outer world may be invisible to our normal senses, it is very real -- and it is the source of power for those in this world. 

His message speaks to the critical importance of the spirit world, and of maintaining a connection to the spirit world. It can even be seen as a message of the importance of connecting to the other world in daily life, even in details which might at first seem mundane or unimportant (such as the shape of the dwelling in which we choose to live). 

His message also speaks to the tragedy of being cut off from the power of the other world.

This is something to think about deeply.

Literalists against the shamanic

Literalist interpretations of ancient scripture or ancient sacred tradition -- and especially the literalistic interpretations of the ancient scriptures of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible which make up literalist Christianity -- have always been inimical to the shamanic worldview and the practice of shamanism.

This can be demonstrated in history. Once literalist Christianity had taken over the Roman Empire (stamping out the more metaphorical approach to the scriptures taken by the Gnostics in the process), it turned the might of that empire against shamanic cultures in the rest of Europe, including in western and northern Europe and the British isles. 

This process continued in western Europe after the split of the Roman Empire into east and west, and after the split Empire's eventually dissolution in the west, where it was replaced by a western European system no less inimical to shamanic cultures. Below is a drawing depicting the forces of Charlemagne (who lived from the 740s through AD 814) destroying an "Irminsul," or sacred tree, which in northern Europe was used as a representation of the World Tree and which has clear shamanic connections, as discussed in this previous post on the sacrifice of Odin (and others).

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

Contemporary records from the period attest to the fact that at the same time that Charlemagne's forces were ripping down the sacred Irminsul trees, they were "converting" the Germanic peoples at the point of the sword, offering them the option of baptism into Christianity or death on the spot. This process effectively destroyed the continuance and practice of the shamanic worldview in western Europe, except for some of the very far northern reaches where shamanism continued among the Saami or Lapp people (note that throughout this article, the term "shamanism" is broadly employed to describe spirituality which can be shown to conform to a shamanic worldview which includes the belief that there is a spirit world connected to this world and that contact with and even travel to that other world is sometimes necessary in this life, and that regular contact with and travel to that other world is beneficial on an individual and societal level).

The process of deliberately destroying the shamanic worldview by western European forces dedicated to literalistic Christianity continued on the other side of the Atlantic, once western Europeans began to arrive in the Americas. The centuries-long campaign to eradicate the shamanic culture of the American Indians is well documented, and included the forced removal of children from their parents to be placed into schools where they were forced to speak only English and where they were taught literalist Christianity. This practice of the forced seizure and re-education of Native American children continued right up to the final decades of the twentieth century in some areas.

These horrible practices constitute clear violations of the universal inherent rights of individual men and women and children. It is difficult to argue that they do not represent a sustained campaign against the shamanic worldview. What is tragically ironic is the fact that literalist Christianity can be argued to be based upon a mistaken interpretation of ancient scriptures which themselves are at their core shamanic in nature!

In other words: the Bible can be shown to be composed of Star Myths, and these Star Myths can be shown to be teaching a shamanic worldview. The evidence to support these assertions is presented in numerous previous posts, as well as at greater length in The Undying Stars.

Some readers may be surprised to learn that representatives of literalistic Christianity are still engaged in attempts to convert shamanic cultures to their religion. The film clip above is an "advertisement" from an annual campaign in which members of churches are asked to pack shoeboxes with gifts appropriate for a young boy or girl, which will then be given to children in remote countries (typically countries which escaped the direct influence of the western Roman Empire or its western European descendants  and hence where the people were able to retain their indigenous forms of spirituality), accompanied by an evangelistic tract and counseling on how to convert to literalist Christianity.

These film clips are shown in churches in order to encourage churchgoers to participate in this annual worldwide effort (I know, because this particular film clip embedded abovewas shown in the church that I attended at the time, and it was very disturbing to me even then, when I still believed the Bible was intended to be interpreted literally).

The film above focuses on the people of Mongolia -- one of the regions of the world in which traditional shamanic knowledge has survived even until the present day (in fact, shamanic practitioner and teacher Michael Drake was first introduced to shamanic drumming by a shaman from the  Mongolian tradition -- you can read more about this in his books and on his excellent website here).

The film clip above begins as follows:

CHRISTIAN MAN: Mongolia has an incredibly diverse history. They've endured the rise and fall of communism, and they've been influenced by ancient religions. Through Operation Christmas Child we bring the gospel to Mongolia: a gospel of peace, of love, of a relationship with our savior, a relationship with God. During communist times, religion was forbidden, so we started seeing some small house churches, and some small churches, begin to grow. This is an incredibly new movement.

CHRISTIAN WOMAN: Shamans, like spirit-worshippers, they actually know the spirit of Christian: they know it's a different spirit, and it's greater than their spirit. And therefore they are really aghast because more and more people are coming to Christ.

This opening to what is really a very slickly-produced and conceived video betrays what can only be described as quite open disdain for and hostility towards the shamanic worldview and the shamans who practice it on the behalf of their people. The video belittles their cultural heritage, an ancient shamanic spirituality which has survived in Mongolia for so many centuries, and it belittles those who follow it. In doing so, it sets the stage for the scenes which follow and for the unstated goal of supplanting and replacing that ancient spirituality with literalist Christianity, starting with the children.

This goal is really objectionable, as is the tactic of appealing to the children using boxes of trinkets. There is, of course, nothing wrong with giving toys and necessities such as those which are typically included in these boxes, and the genuine expressions of joy and gratitude on the faces of the children in this and other videos like it shows that these items are truly needed and treasured by those who receive them, showing that these children are truly not used to having such things. I myself can attest to the incredible morale-boosting effect of receiving even a small package containing a few items such as toothpaste and soap and photographs and chewing gum while on extended field deployments in the army, and if a little box like that can have such an effect on a grown man who has spent most of his life with easy access to such things and who is only temporarily without them while out in the field, imagine what an impact it can have on a little child who is not without such comforts because of a temporary field deployment but has instead lived his or her entire life without them.

But it is one thing to want to help one's neighbor (even distant neighbors) and address their needs, and it is another thing to do so as part of an overt attempt to convert them to a foreign religion (and to do so while belittling their traditional spirituality behind their back, and snickering at their shamans).

In fact, the name of this particular organization which produced the above video takes its inspiration from the famous "parable of the good Samaritan" found in chapter 10 of the gospel of Luke, a parable which the character of Jesus relates in order to demonstrate selflessly helping one's neighbor and ministering to his or her needs, without placing any obligation on that neighbor or expecting anything in return.

In fact, the parable's dramatic tension, which would have been very clear in the cultural context in which it was first told, stems from the deep, longstanding differences between religious practice in Samaria and Judea, with the Samaritans apparently worshiping at a Temple at Mount Gerazim as opposed to the Temple at Jerusalem, differences which apparently led to widespread animosity between the two groups. And yet, in the parable, a priest and a Levite both ignore the plight of the man who has been robbed, beaten (or otherwise wounded), stripped of his raiment, and left by the roadside half dead, while a Samaritan has compassion on him and takes care of him at his own expense.

There is nothing in the parable, of course, which indicates that the Samaritan tried to convince the man that worship at Mount Gerazim was better than worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, after he had nursed him back to health. In fact, the entire thrust of the story is that compassion between human beings should overcome even the deepest differences in faith, spirituality, or religious practice.

But well-orchestrated and well-funded efforts such as those on display in the video above indicate that some practitioners of literalist Christianity are equipping a "good Samaritan" who actually wants to eradicate the religious traditions of the person or people being helped. Shamanism in Mongolia has survived, even through the oppression of communism (during which shamanic drums were outlawed): will it now be swept away as a result of campaigns such as the one show in the film above?

As was made abundantly clear when this annual campaign was being described in church, these shoeboxes are always accompanied by a gospel tract, and by classes in which the children who receive the boxes are encouraged to become Christians. While we were never actually shown these gospel tracts in person, the contents are now available for examination on the web, here. Like the videos shown above, these tracts are clearly very professionally-produced, with drawings which are reminiscent of Disney animated films and which leave no doubt as to what emotions they are intended to evoke in the reader (and remember, these are targeted at young children, and the tracts are given to the children in conjunction with lots of well-choreographed singing, dancing and clapping, as can be seen in the video above).

This website, by someone who opposes this worldwide campaign to convert children to literalist Christianity, explains that "it was something of a struggle to get hold of this booklet." But, there is absolutely no doubt that this is the booklet which is given to the children along with their gift box -- that website has a photo at the top showing a child receiving a box with this booklet clearly visible on top (you can see the colors of the shirts of the three characters -- Dad, son and daughter -- corresponding to the colors of the shirts on the color of the tract linked above, if you look to the far left of the image at the top of that website that said it was a struggle to obtain a copy).

But you don't have to squint at that rather grainy image: the tract linked above is quite plainly visible at several points during the above-linked video about evangelism in Mongolia and the "superiority" of literalist Christianity to shamanic spirituality. Here are just a few of them, in which the cover is clearly identical to that in the linked tract(of course, the tracts handed out in Mongolia and other places are translated out of English, and you can see on the covers of the tracts shown that the Roman lettering has been replaced by the Mongolian Cyrillic used in Mongolia, although the actual illustrations on the covers are obviously the same):

and

and

and even

Each of the above screenshots from the video leaves absolutely no doubt that the tract linked above is the one being given to the children in the video.

The terrible irony is that, unknown to most readers or students or even scholars of the Bible today (and for the past seventeen centuries), the stories in the Old and New Testaments can be demonstrated to be built upon celestial foundations -- the very same celestial foundations which form the foundations for almost all of the world's sacred traditions through history, from ancient Egypt to ancient Greece to northern Europe to the traditional spirituality which survived among the American Indians and other indigenous people who escaped the heavy hand of westernization right up until the twentieth century, and even those which have preserved their shamanic heritage to this day!

These celestial metaphors can be shown to teach a worldview which is probably best described by the adjective "shamanic" (or, more precisely I think, by the compound adjective that I use in my book, "shamanic-holographic").

To be fair, I firmly believe that the vast majority of literalist Christians who support campaigns such as the one shown above are not aware of the strong evidence demonstrating that the stories in the Bible were not intended to be taken literally, and that they really point to a shamanic worldview (a shamanic worldview of the very same type as the one being denigrated in such a paternalistic and condescending fashion in the video above, and of the very same type as they are undermining by trying to convert the children away from in Mongolia). The vast majority, I believe, of those who support such campaigns and make them possible are well-intentioned and well-meaning believers who want to help others, and who are genuinely inspired by parables such as the parable of the good Samaritan.

Nevertheless, I believe this campaign is gravely mistaken. I also believe that the centuries-long targeting of the shamanic worldview may indicate something else, to those who can read between the lines: it may be that someone out there does not like the shamanic, because it actually empowers individuals and cultures and enables them to gain knowledge and effect changes which cannot be accomplished within the material realm alone. This ongoing campaign against the shamanic may just indicate that the shamanic worldview actually provides the most accurate description of our reality, and that shamanic practice including contact with and journeying to the invisible world actually imparts strength to resist some of the negative forces running rampant around the globe. Indeed, the shamanic may be revealed to be the last, best hope in the ongoing "War on Consciousness."

The esoteric system of celestial metaphor underlying the world's mythologies (including the myths in the Bible) is plainly described in numerous previous posts, and in even greater length in my book.

This system has been kept secret for centuries. While some may argue that these beautiful truths should remain a secret, to be uncovered only by those who seek earnestly for them (an argument to which I am actually partly sympathetic), but there are problems with this position, obviously. First, these celestial metaphors are humanity's shared inheritance: they are not the property of any one subset or group of humanity. The stars above shine on everyone alike, and the Star Myths are found on every continent of the globe. They are not anyone's special property.

Further, it is a sad fact that keeping these truths secret has enabled the perpetration of horrible violations of the rights of countless men and women. If keeping these celestial correspondences secret enables deceit, oppression, exploitation, cultural imperialism, and even genocide, then the truth about the scriptures should be revealed so that they can no longer be used to trick people into supporting such violations.

The people of Mongolia with their traditional spirituality and traditional shamans actually already have access to the very thing that the ancient scriptures of the Old and New Testament actually teach as well. That is part of the tragic irony of the situation: those being evangelized actually have the truth which those doing the evangelizing have missed.

The scriptural stories contained in the tract being handed out can all be shown to have celestial foundations, and to teach a message that can be described as shamanic. This is the major paradigm-shifting understanding that the distributors of these tracts (and the opponents of the shamanic) seem to be missing. Since they do not understand this, their tract could use some help. Below is a re-write of them, from this very different perspective: that is to say, from the perspective of understanding that the scriptures of the Bible contain Star Myths which are in fact teaching a message which can be said to be shamanic (or shamanic-holographic).

In other words, what follows is my re-write of what these tracts should actually say, if they were written from that perspective.  Again, here is the link to the file of the tract to which I am referring (in case you want to see the pictures and follow along). You can turn to the appropriate page in the tract to see the images which go with my suggested re-written script. We'll turn past the cover and the introductory material and jump right in on page 3 of 18 (using the pagination shown in the online version linked above):

Page 3 of 18 (children tackling their Dad and demanding he read them the Bible):

DAD: OK, OK guys, if you insist, we'll read from this little booklet that's based on ancient scriptures that you're so excited about. And, I'll tell you a secret: it actually contains stories that are based on the stars! That's right, kids -- the stars! In fact, just about every single culture on our planet had Star Myths which appear to teach the same message, a message about this world we inhabit, and about our existence in these human bodies during this thing we call "life." The Bible happens to dress up the myths in the cultural settings of the people who lived in an area around the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, but the same myths can be found clothed in the characteristics of the people of ancient Egypt, of ancient Greece, of the land of the Norse, of the Pacific Islands -- even of our own ancestors (wherever in the world we may be when we receive this little gospel tract, including Mongolia)!

KIDS: Hey, I know a shaman!

DAD: That's right! Shamanism is actually the shared heritage of the entire human family! The ancient scriptures of the entire planet have a shamanic message in them. Shamans are so important because there is an unseen world that is actually the  real world that is behind this one, and contact with that unseen world is necessary in this life for our health and the health of the entire community! Unfortunately, there are a lot of places in the world where this shamanic worldview has been stamped out, in some places centuries ago. They may not even know that their ancient traditions have a shamanic message in them. Let's turn the page here . . .

Page 4 of 18 (Adam and Eve in Paradise):

DAD:Check this out, kids! Adam already knew how to shave really well -- he may have even used western shaving cream and razors!"

KIDS: Come on, Dad! You're joking, right?

DAD: All right -- just kidding, kids -- he obviously didn't grow a beard until after the Fall.

KIDS: Da-ad! Come on!

DAD: OK, sorry. But actually, I have a serious point. These are just drawings, so we shouldn't get caught up with whether or not someone draws Adam as having a beard or not, or with what color Eve's hair is, or any other physical details about them, because in fact  Adam and Eve can be seen in the sky -- they are actually constellations! These stories are actually Star Myths, to teach us that we all come down here from the spirit world to be incarnated in physical form. That's why Adam and Eve are called the 'parents of all living' -- because we are  all in one sense "children of the stars!"

KIDS: Wow! Really?

DAD: Yup! At least, that's what the ancient sacred scriptures all around the world seem to be trying to tell us -- even these scriptures from the Old and New Testaments, although they usually are not interpreted that way, sad to say. These stories are built on the motions of the stars, as well as the sun and the moon and the five visible planets, but really they are not actually about the stars either -- the stars and the starry heavens are themselves acting as a metaphor for the spirit world, the unseen world, the other realm . . . come on, let's turn the page . . .

Page 5 of 18 (Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise):

DAD: OK guys, I know this image is full of negative connotations, but don't let that alarm you or upset you kids. Remember that these are celestial metaphors designed to teach us about our existence here in the material world. Remember we said that Adam and Eve are constellations (the Serpent is too), and Paradise or Eden is the starry sky. So when it says Adam and Eve were thrown out of Paradise it means that the constellations sank down below the horizon, as the stars do each night, and as the sun does too at the end of the day. If we go out into the night sky, you two will be able to see the Serpent and Eve and then Adam all being "cast down" from Paradise as they sink into the west to "return to the dust."

KIDS: Can we go out and see that tonight?

DAD: Sure, although the constellations for the Adam and Eve story are not really visible during the night at this time of year -- in the spring it will be better for that one. Now, notice that in this drawing, Adam and Eve are shown wearing "coats of skins" -- that's another metaphorical way of saying that we ourselves are really spiritual beings who are currently dressed up in "coats of skins" in this life! The "skins" are actually our skin, because we're in a human body!

KIDS: Really? If that's really true, then how come they have to make metaphors to tell us that?

DAD: Great question! You see, one of the things this story of being thrown out of Eden is there to remind us is exactly that point: that we come from another place, a spiritual place. But we tend to forget that fact. It's like we have amnesia or something. This story is telling us that we all have a divine "spark" inside us, just like the stars are "divine sparks," in a sense -- but that this divine spark is hidden inside our "coats of skin," our incarnate bodies. One of the purposes of these metaphors is to remind us of who we are, and where we come from, so that we don't get so caught up in our physical selves that we forget that we are also spiritual beings!

KIDS: Wow! That's incredible! But how does that relate to shamanism?

DAD: Wouldn't you like to know! But you're too young.

KIDS: Daaaaaaad!!!!

DAD: OK, remember that all the stars and their heavenly realm are like a metaphor for the spirit world, because down here on earth everything is material, made out of earth and water, but up there there isn't anything that looks material, and it seems like it's just a realm of air and fire: a spirit realm. So, if these stories teach us that we have a hidden spiritual component, then we can realize that there is actually spirit hidden in everything: this entire world actually has contact with the spiritual realm. After all, we came from there, so there must be some points of contact or communication between the spirit realm and the physical realm. In fact, everything down here mirrors the world up there: that's what these stories are showing, after all. The stories are talking about the actions of stars, but they are bringing those actions down to the human realm. Well, the shamanic worldview is all about the idea that there is a hidden spirit world behind everything we see down here, and that part of our job in this life is to recognize that and work to call the spirit world out, to awaken to the spirit world and to wake up the spirit that is within everything!

KIDS: Everything including us!

DAD: Including us! And all the plants and animals too! But, let's read on . . .

Page 6 of 18 (you can ignore this page -- it is based on literalistic misinterpretations -- let's continue on)

Pages 7 through 12 of 18 (episodes from the life of Jesus as related in the four gospels):

DAD: OK, kids, there are actually a lot of additional celestial metaphors here regarding the life of Jesus, as well as some important numerical metaphors regarding the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (which also contains important zodiac metaphors), but I'm not going to lay all of those out right now, for reasons of my own. The important thing I want you to realize is that these stories involve very powerful metaphors about the hidden spark inside each and every man, woman and child. These stories show Jesus going around and opening people's eyes to that fact.

KIDS: Opening people's eyes? I don't actually see him doing that in any of these pictures.

DAD: Well, there are actually stories where that does happen, but what I'm talking about is actually opening up perception that is not one of our five physical senses -- not physical sight, or hearing, or smell, touch or taste. We don't actually perceive the reality of the unseen realm and of the hidden divine spark inside of us with our physical senses.

KIDS: Then what do we perceive it with?

DAD: Well, that's a good question. With something that is called many different things in many different places. Sometimes it's called spiritual sight, or second sight -- sometimes it's just called "consciousness." But anyway, that's why when I said "opening up people's eyes," I was using sight in a kind of metaphorical sense, even though I wasn't talking about physical sight. We can talk more about this stuff later -- as we go along, so to speak. It's actually not something that is good to talk too much about all at once. Let's turn the page and finish up for tonight -- it's getting late . . .

Page 13 of 18 (the Crucifixion):

DAD: OK, I kind of wish they wouldn't show this stuff in books that they hand out to really little kids, but you guys are old enough to discuss it a bit, I guess. Once again, these are actually metaphors, and the cross is actually a very profound metaphor about human existence in this life. We have a material or physical or animal component: that's the horizontal bar on the cross. And we have a spiritual component: that's the vertical part of the Cross. So, we're all "on a Cross" in this life, in one sense, a combination of the spiritual and the animal.

KIDS: You mean, it's kind of telling us the same thing as the "coats of skins" metaphor in the Adam and Eve story?

DAD: Izzzactly! Strong work! You kids actually have been paying attention, haven't you? I'm impressive! Yes, that's part of what's going on here -- these stories are telling us about our incarnate life, and that our spirit will "rise again" into the spirit realm after coming down here to be "crucified" in a human body, which is a kind of being "stretched out" between the material and the spiritual, and which actually looks like a Cross, if you think about it. But also, the Bible actually calls the Cross "the Tree" a lot of times -- and the Tree is a very shamanic symbol. In shamanic cultures, ascending up the Tree is often an important way to access the spirit world in order to gain knowledge that cannot be gained in the material world alone, and even to participate in actions in the spirit world which can make changes  "down here" in the material world.

KIDS: Oh yeah! I've seen shamans go up a pole or tree outside their yurts in ceremonies before!

DAD: That's right! In other mythologies, such as the Norse myths,

a god has to ascend a tree and hang there in order to gain access to wisdom that cannot be gained any other way -- and to be able to "see" with a vision that is more than just the physical sense of sight. This has to do with gaining consciousness, and it is a big part of what we are supposed to be doing here in this incarnate existence, while we are "crucified" in this human body, so to speak -- this incarnation we're all going through. In fact, it may be a big part of the reason we spiritual beings come here to this incarnate human body in the first place -- to gain consciousness that maybe we can't obtain any other way. There are a lot of ways that human life helps us to gain consciousness -- it's not just by hanging on a tree at all: that's a metaphor for human existence in this cross-shaped body that crosses matter and spirit.

Pages 14 and 15 of 18 (Resurrection and Ascension):

DAD: OK, I think by now you guys should be starting to see how these sacred stories are teaching us something about our existence here, and how they might very well be shamanic in nature. I think based on what we've discussed so far, you can figure out some of the things that are being taught here on pages 14 and 15.

KIDS: Come on, Dad! Tell us!

DAD: Nope! Not gonna do it -- you have to think about these things for yourself, you know.

KIDS: Wait, what about these other pages, at the end -- 16 through 18?

DAD: Oh, those are based on a literalistic interpretation of these stories. Some people don't know that all the world's sacred traditions are actually teaching very much the same profound truths, and so they want to try to get people to stop following one ancient teaching and exchange it for theirs, but that seems to me to be based on a big mistake in the way they are reading the stories.

KIDS: Wow! That's too bad. Do people actually stop following their ancient teachings and exchange them for these "literalistic interpretations"?

DAD: I'm afraid so. But listen, you kids have to get off to bed! You've got to get up before daybreak and chase down all the crazy herd animals while riding on your ponies like the expert little horse-men and horse-women that you are! And, while you're at it, you can check out the heliacal rising of the sun in the zodiac constellation of Virgo -- who is also a shamanic figure, by the way! Yes -- the ancient myths aren't always about male gods or deities being shamanic: Isis does a lot of things that are clearly shamanic, especially when she puts on wings and ascends like a bird, which is also something that the Norse goddess Freya was known to do quite often as well. Also, don't forget that Jupiter is really visible in the morning before sunrise, just in front of Leo the Lion right now!

KIDS: Oh, I love Jupiter! I can't wait to get up before sunrise tomorrow and ride around in the frosty morning! Thanks, Dad, for explaining this Bible tract to us!

DAD: You're welcome, kids. Hey, you know: you guys are all right! I'm glad you were so fired-up to dig into these ancient scriptures. And, I think it's safe to say that the shamanic worldview is going to continue to thrive and survive, even though people have been trying to stamp it out for ages now! After all, if it really is the truth, you can't keep it a secret forever!

And Abraham lifted up his eyes . . .

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

My recent article entitled "The Bible, the Myths, & The Zodiac Wheel," which appears in the most-recent issue of New Dawn magazine, is illustrated with a diagram of the zodiac wheel (the one found in many previous blog posts, such as this one), an image of the beautiful statue of the goddess Selket from the tomb of Tutankhamun (the same image seen at the end of this previous post), and the image of the Pythia at the Oracle of Delphi showing her connection to the important zodiac constellation of Virgo (the image seen in previous posts discussing the importance of the Pythia, such as this one and this one, and most especially the image found at the  very end of this post). 

The most dramatic illustration to accompany my article, is undoubtedly the image reproduced above, depicting the famous episode from Genesis sometimes referred to as "the temptation and blessing of Abraham." Interestingly enough, this is not actually an image which I sent along with the article, but was added by the editors of New Dawn on their own, to accompany the discussion of this crucial episode in Genesis. 

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the image that they selected, in addition to its vivid depiction of the horrifying scene, shown at the awful moment when the knife is raised in Abraham's hand and the Angel is swooping in to stay his hand at the last possible instant, is the fact that the artist who composed this 1860 print has depicted all the characters in the scene 

in postures which suggest their celestial counterparts in the sky!

I have actually discussed this particular image before, and used it as an illustration when explaining the celestial foundations of the episode of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah (see this previous post). In order to make those connections perfectly clear, let's take a look at the portion of the night sky which I believe forms the basis for this ancient story. 

Below is the image of the night sky containing the zodiac constellation of Aries, the Ram. In the episode of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22, we are told that when his had was stayed by the Angel, Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and beheld "a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son" (Genesis 22:13). The presence of a Ram as the substitute in the Bible story is a strong clue that, if we suspect that this story has a celestial foundation, we should investigate the possibility that it involves  the constellation Aries the Ram. 

In this first image the constellations are presented unmarked, so that you can see the stars that will be connected and labeled in the following image, and verify that those stars are actually there and there is no "funny business" going on:

image generated using Stellarium.org Once again, this is a good opportunity to point out the inadequacy of some of the conventional constellation-outlining systems (such as the system employed in the image above), and the superiority of the system suggested by H. A. Rey in his classic text The Stars: A New Way to See Them. 

Below, I have drawn in the outlines of the constellations involved in the Genesis 22 episode, using the  H. A. Rey outlines for those constellations. First, study once more the 1860 drawing above of the dramatic moment from Genesis 22, which the editors of New Dawn added to my discussion of that Genesis story: we see Abraham with his arm outstretched, wielding the knife. We see the Angel, flying in from the right, arm outstretched to touch Abraham and urge him to stay his hand. We see the Ram, directly underneath the Angel -- held, in fact, by the Angel's other hand, in this illustration. And, we see the smoke of the fire for the burnt offering, floating up in a vertical column very close to Abraham and the Ram.

Now look down at the sky chart below:

According to my interpretation of the celestial players, the constellation Perseus corresponds to Abraham. Both arms of the constellation are stretched out, and it does not take much imagination to envision a knife or a short sword in either of the two hands (the illustrator of the 1860 drawing above has chosen to place the knife in the "easternmost" of his two hands -- east is to the left as we look at the chart above, and west is to the right).

Flying in from the upper right is the Angel, played by the stars of the constellation Andromeda. Note how close the stars of Andromeda come to the westernmost arm of Perseus: close enough to be seen as "staying his hand," if we use our imagination. In the outline of Andromeda as envisioned by H. A. Rey, she is actually lying with her feet towards Perseus, but if you look at the image of the Angel as envisioned by the illustrator of the 1860 print, you can re-imagine the stars as outlining an Angel flying towards Perseus, with wings arching above the body and arm reaching out to stay Perseus' hand.

Directly below the Angel in the night sky is the Ram of Aries, just as the Ram in the illustration is directly below the Angel. 

Finally, the column of the Milky Way rises up like smoke from the horizon and passes right beside Perseus (he is actually partly in it). This column of smoke corresponds to the smoke of the "burnt offering" described in Genesis 22.

The Genesis 22 episode of Abraham and Isaac and the Angel and the Ram is, of course, one of the most formative and sacred stories in the entire Old Testament scripture. But understanding that it, like the other sacred stories of humanity, is founded upon a celestial metaphor does not take away its profound message: quite the contrary. For, as Alvin Boyd Kuhn has asserted, "the sacred scriptures of the world are a thousand times more precious as myths than as alleged history" (Lost Light, 24: emphasis in the original). 

The meaning of these sacred Star Myths is profound, and operates on many levels, each deeper than the one before. The full import of what I believe them to be teaching is explored in The Undying Stars, and even with hundreds of pages of examination, it can be said that we only scratch the surface of the depths of ancient wisdom contained in these esoteric stories. 

On the most general level, we can see that the act of encoding the motions of the majestic stars themselves in stories about men and women on earth is a form of "bringing the heavens down to earth," of "clothing" the stars in human flesh, so to speak . . . and this is exactly what the ancient scriptures were trying to teach about the nature of human existence: that we ourselves are in one sense "spirit beings" which have been "clothed" in human skins for a time, and that at the end of this earthly incarnation we will reascend into the spirit realm. 

The sign of Aries is located at the spring equinox, where the sun crosses back up from the "lower realm" of darkness and winter (and incarnation, in this realm below the realm of the stars), and thus was associated with transcending the physical and the material and with bringing forth the spiritual or the divine which is hidden away within the physical and the material. For the metaphorical depiction of the stars as human beings does not just bring the heavens down to earth: it then promises to bring the earthly back up with it when it rises again to the heavens.

The fact that Abraham is described in Genesis as not just a father but a father of "a multitude of nations" (see Genesis 17:4) indicates that -- like the story of Adam and Eve, who can also be shown to be celestial -- these sacred stories are trying to convey truths about the common human condition, truths that apply to all incarnate men and women, and not just to a select few. If we only take them literally, then it stands to reason that some people might be descended from Abraham through Isaac while others are not -- a message which divides humanity. 

But if -- like Adam and Eve and like Shem, Ham, and Japheth -- Abraham is a celestial figure, then the assertion that he is a "father of many nations" can be interpreted as teaching that all human beings are in a sense "descended from the stars," in that we are spiritual beings who have descended temporarily into this material realm.

There is also a profoundly shamanic aspect to the world's ancient scriptures, when they are understood to embody celestial metaphors which are designed to convey a teaching about the realm of spirit and the realm of incarnate matter. This shamanic aspect has been explained in numerous previous posts, but at its heart it involves the teaching that access to the spirit world is not only something that is important at the end of our journey through incarnation, but that such access is in fact essential throughout our life in this material realm. 

The scriptures of the Bible are filled with stories meant to teach us that "seeing into" the reality of the Other Realm which surrounds and interpenetrates the material realm is vitally important for gaining knowledge which cannot be obtained any other way, or for solving real problems in the material realm which cannot be solved any other way. Think for example of the episode of 2 Kings 6, in which Elisha and his servant are surrounded by the horsemen and chariots and a great host of warriors from the king of Syria, and Elisha prays that his servant's eyes might be opened, "that he may see" -- and we are told that when the servant's eyes were opened, "behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha" (2 Kings 6:17). In other words, the servant was enabled to see into the spirit world, which Elisha could apparently always perceive. 

This ability to suddenly see beyond the material world which we perceive with our five senses, and to gain access to a "second sight" or spiritual vision is very similar to the description given in the Norse Eddas of Odin's ascent up the World-Tree, in which he hangs for nine days and nine nights upon the Tree until his eyes are suddenly opened and he can perceive what he could not see before. Odin's ascent up the Tree can be demonstrated to be distinctly shamanic (and it has clear parallels to the New Testament description of Christ on the Cross). For further discussion of the shamanic vision at the heart of the world's sacred myths, see for instance previous posts here, here and here.

The details of the Genesis 22 episode discussed above and in the New Dawn article should be sufficient to demonstrate that the stories of the Bible, like the sacred stories of many other cultures, are built on a system of celestial allegory. Beyond the correspondences in that single episode, there are many more which can be demonstrated in other stories from both the Old and New Testaments.

The understanding that the world's myths are built upon a common celestial foundation has tremendous ramifications. One of these is that this understanding should unite humanity, and not divide us. Another is that these sacred traditions do not lose their message even if they are interpreted other than as literal history. It should be a very positive message, and one that is uplifting and empowering to all men and women from all around the globe, and one that connects us not only to one another but also to nature, to all of nature, all the way out to the stars in the infinite universe.