Let me disclose, O Gilgamesh, a matter most secret: the mystery of the Flood

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

I have encountered so much evidence that the world's ancient myths, scriptures and sacred stories are based on a common system of celestial metaphor that the conclusion is, to me, beyond doubt.

This evidence includes virtually all of the stories included in the texts commonly referred to as the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. My most recent publication, Star Myths of the Bible, stretches to 766 pages, with over 270 color illustrations, including over 130 full-color star charts related to the events and episodes described in the ancient texts -- and even at that length, I had of necessity to leave out many more Star Myths which can be found in the Biblical scriptures and can be shown to be based upon the motions of the sun, moon, stars, and visible planets.

One important episode which is explored in detail is the Deluge or Biblical Flood account, which is clearly based upon specific constellations we can still see in our night sky. The discussion in Star Myths of the Bible also makes reference to the Deluge accounts found in the ancient Mesopotamian texts, which were only re-discovered and translated in the nineteenth century (and subsequent decades).

These accounts, including the account of Uta-napishti (or Utnapishtim) found in Tablet XI of the Gilgamesh series, and the related accounts of Ziusudra in a Sumerian version and of Atrahasis in an Akkadian version, all contain very close parallels to the account of the Biblical Deluge found in Genesis, including common elements such as the reason for the Flood itself, the advanced warning given to a virtuous man who is instructed to build a box-like ark in which to ride out the flood with his family and with animals, the unleashing of waters for a certain number of days and nights (seven days and seven nights in most of the ancient Mesopotamian accounts, and forty days and forty nights in the Genesis account), the opening of a window in the ark and the release of certain birds including a dove (to see if the waters have subsided enough), and the offering of a sacrifice of thanksgiving once the Flood has ended.

There is also, in both the Genesis account and the ancient Mesopotamian accounts, an explanation that the lifespan of men and women will be limited after the Flood -- the Mesopotamian accounts actually make the reason for this element of the Flood story a little more understandable, tying it back to the reason the gods released the Flood in the first place.

The important point to observe is the abundant evidence which can be seen in both the Genesis account and the various ancient Mesopotamian parallels which indicate that the Deluge stories as they are presented in the texts are built upon celestial metaphor from start to finish.

This means that the accounts in the ancient sacred texts are not primarily intended to be understood literally, but rather that they are intended to convey some knowledge other thana record of literal and historical events.

Please note that I did not just say that I do not believe there is abundant evidence on our planet's surface to support the conclusion that the earth has experienced cataclysmic flooding: I believe this evidence is overwhelming, and have discussed it extensively in this blog. However, I am convinced by the evidence in the texts themselves that the Deluge accounts as they are presented in the ancient Mesopotamian tablets and in the Genesis account are based upon celestial metaphor -- and thus were not intended to be understood as literal and historical accounts.

In Star Myths of the Bible I present discussion and illustrations which argue that the overstepping of boundaries which precipitate the unleashing of the Flood, the "windows" or "floodgates" of heaven which are opened up, the "fountains of the great deep" which are broken up, the ark itself, the figure of Noah himself, the animals two-by-two, the "mountains of Ararat" upon which the ark comes to rest, the sending out of the birds to fly to-and-fro, and the altar with the sweet savor or pleasing aroma can all be shown to be related to specific constellations and celestial features in our night sky.

Previous posts on this blog, such as this post, as well as another chapter in Star Myths of the Bible also explore the evidence that the story of Noah and his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth (as well as Noah's vineyard) is also built upon celestial metaphor, which argues very strongly that Shem, Ham and Japheth and the act of walking backwards with the sheet to cover Noah's embarrassed condition are all celestial in nature and are not intended to be understood as literal, terrestrial history of events which took place on earth following the Flood.

But if the stories are not intended to be understood as teaching literal historical events in the ancient past, then what are they intended to convey?

I believe that the ancient Mesopotamian accounts give us a very strong clue. 

In the eleventh tablet of the Gilgamesh series, the semi-divine hero Gilgamesh has come to Uta-napishti the Distant in order to discover the secret of "the life eternal" (XI. 7). The account of the journey of Gilgamesh to Uta-napishti's abode actually takes place in Tablet X: Gilgamesh is distraught over the death of his companion Enkidu (note here the parallels to the weeping of Achilles over the death of Patroclus, and the weeping of Jesus over the death of Lazarus -- both of which I would argue to be esoteric myths intended to teach the very same thing as the story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu). 

Uta-napishti greets Gilgamesh with these words (translations are from Andrew George, found in this edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh): 

'Why are your cheeks so hollow, your face so sunken,
your mood so wretched, your visage so wasted?
Why in your heart does sorrow reside,
and your face resemble one come from afar?
Why are your features burnt by frost and by sunshine,
and why do you wander the wild in lion's garb?' X. 213 - 218. page 83.

And Gilgamesh replies:

'I look at you, Uta-napishti:
your form is no different, you are just like me,
you are not any different, you are just like me.
I was fully intent on making you fight,
but now in your presence my hand is stayed.
How was it you stood with the gods in assembly?
How did you find the life eternal?' XI. 2 - 7. page 88.

Then Uta-napishti says to Gilgamesh:

'Let me disclose, O Gilgamesh, a matter most secret.
to you I will tell a mystery of gods.' XI. 9 - 10. page 88.

Uta-napishti then relates the entire account of the Deluge, concluding with the offering which Uta-napishti makes "to the four winds" at the conclusion of the Flood (an offering which consists of incense placed at the peak of the mountain upon which his ark has come to rest -- seven flasks of incense which Uta-napishti burns upon a fire of reed, cedar and myrtle wood; XI. 157 - 160).

The text tells us that this sacrifice produces a sweet savor (the similarity to the Genesis account is very clear), after which the god Enlil, whose name means "Lord Wind," comes to Uta-napishti and his wife. Uta-napishti relates what happens:

'Enlil came up inside the boat,
he took hold of my hand and brought me on board.
He brought aboard my wife and made her kneel at my side,
he touched our foreheads, standing between us to bless us:
"In the past Uta-napishti was a mortal man,
but now he and his wife shall become like us gods!
Uta-napishti shall dwell far away, where the rivers flow forth!"
So far away they took me, and settled me where the rivers flow forth.' XI. 199 - 206. page 95.

Although there is plenty of room for debate over the interpretation of these passages, I would argue that the implication is this: Uta-napishti and his wife achieved "the life eternal, the mystery of the gods" by going through the Flood!

Now, that may not seem very helpful to you and me, since you may be saying to yourself, "Well, that's all very nice for Uta-napishti and his wife -- but I didn't go through that Flood, so it doesn't do me much good to know that."

But that is exactly where we must remember that, based upon what I would argue to be a super-abundance of evidence in the texts themselves, this Flood of which we read in the ancient Star Myths of the world is not a literal Flood!

Of course there may well have been literal flood-cataclysms in earth's ancient past -- I do not deny that and in fact would argue that the evidence for such cataclysms is undeniable. But the account of Uta-napishti in Gilgamesh Tablet XI and the account of Noah and his family in the scriptures of Genesis are esoteric celestial metaphors -- and I would argue that they are intended to teach us about an entirely different Flood: one that each of us goes through and one that in fact each of us is going through right now!

It is the very same "Flood" that Odysseus can also be shown to go through, in the Odyssey of ancient Greece, in which the hero is thrown into the ocean by the wrath of Poseidon and goes through a series of "spin cycles" which can also be shown to relate to the very same parts of the heavenly sphere which are referenced in the Uta-napishti account above. 

That place "where the rivers flow forth" which Gilgamesh Tablet XI refers to in lines 205 and 206 probably correspond to the celestial features in the vicinity of Pisces, the Great Square, and Cetus: a region of the sky which plays an important role in many of the episodes of the Odyssey as well (the adventures of Odysseus and their possible esoteric meaning are discussed at length in Star Myths of the World, Volume Two).

I would submit to the reader that the Flood through which Uta-napishti must pass, and through which Odysseus must pass, is an esoteric reference to this incarnate life through which each of us must also pass -- and through which each of us are in fact traveling right now. 

This metaphor is extremely widespread -- it can be found in the myths and sacred traditions around the world. 

In the Mahabharata of ancient India, for instance, the beautiful Draupadi cries out to Krishna during the awful humiliation at the dice-game that she is being dragged down into the Kuru sea (Krishna provides her with divine sustenance and aid during that ordeal). See for instance Mahabharata Book 2, sections 67 and 69.

Here is another previous post which discusses the same concept using some of the profound ancient knowledge that appears to be encoded within the Chinese characters that constitute one of the oldest writing systems still in use on earth today.

I am convinced that the ancient wisdom given to humanity as a precious inheritance in the Star Myths of the World has to do, at one level, with the goal of transcending the "spin cycle" of this incarnate life, and achieving the situation described in the metaphorical language of the myths as finding the life eternal, standing with the gods in assembly, becoming as the gods, and other ways of describing the integration with the divine realm.

In addition to the myths themselves, there are also ancient disciplines which have survived from ancient times which appear to have as their goal the same sort of integration and transformation, including Yoga, Tai Chi, Chi Gung and related forms of internal energy work, Tantric disciplines, shamanic practices, and the many types of meditation which are practiced around the world.

Some of these traditions also contain specific references to the development of the "light body" or the "energy body" or the "diamond body."

I believe that the ancient Flood accounts may have more to do with "crossing the sea in order to gain a light body" than they have to do with historical descriptions of a literal flood on earth -- even though I believe there is plenty of evidence for cataclysmic floods in earth's ancient history.

In fact, we might even go so far as to see a connection to the famous story of the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus as well, another story which I believe can be definitively shown to be based on specific celestial references (see discussion and video here, as well as extensive discussion in Star Myths of the Bible). As Alvin Boyd Kuhn points out in various writings, our physical human body itself contains a sort of "Red Sea," which means that the "crossing of the Red Sea" can also be understood as a metaphor referring to our sojourn within this incarnate life.

The message of Uta-napishtim to Gilgamesh -- and to us -- is that this crossing of the Flood (in which we are all presently engaged) has a very important purpose, and one which we should not be neglecting.

The purpose is not to gain immortality here in this physical body -- the remainder of Tablet XI details Gilgamesh's unsuccessful attempts to gain a plant of immortality, as well as his unsuccessful attempts to go without sleep, which Shakespeare calls "death's counterfeit" (see Macbeth II. iii, as well as a similar allusion in Hamlet).

I believe the message is that we should be paying very close attention to the wisdom in the ancient texts and sacred stories, as well as the practices preserved in some of the disciplines listed above, which give us pointers towards the "mystery of gods" which we should be focused upon as we pass through this Flood.

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

Consider beginning each day with Yoga (Sun Salutations)

I recommend beginning each day with Yoga if at all possible.

I believe that the root of most of the problems of so-called "Western civilization" (primarily influenced by the western Roman Empire) can be found in a deliberate cutting-off of the connection to the ancient wisdom entrusted to humanity -- a connection to the ancient wisdom that was not severed in most of the other cultures on the earth.

This disconnection appears to have taken place in conjunction with the rise of literalist Christianity in what we call the third and fourth centuries AD. Since that time, those cultures where the connection to the ancient wisdom was not severed have been threatened, converted, colonized, and even stamped-out by forces emanating from the Western cultures.

India was never conquered by the Roman Empire, and the stream of knowledge which stretches back to the ancient wisdom imparted to humanity was not completely cut off there (although India was, of course, colonized by the forces of the British Empire later on). The ancient wisdom is still preserved in India in the Vedic texts, in the Upanishads, and in the Yogic tradition, among other streams.

B. K. S. Iyengar opens his classic book Light On Yoga: Yoga Dipika by saying:

The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj meaning to bind, join, attach and yoke, to direct and concentrate one's attention on, to use and apply. It also means union or communion. It is the true union of our will with the will of God. 'It thus means,' says Mahadev Desai in his introduction to the Gita according to Gandhi, 'the yoking of all the powers of body, mind and soul to God; it means the disciplining of the intellect, the mind, the emotions, the will, which that Yoga pre-supposes; it means a poise of the soul which enables one to look at life in all its aspects evenly.'

[. . .]

One who follows the path of Yoga is a yogi or yogin.

In the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, which is the most important authority on Yoga philosophy, Sri Krishna explains to Arjuna the meaning of Yoga as a deliverance from contact with pain and sorrow. It is said:

'When his mind, intellect and self (ahamkara) are under control, freed from restless desire, so that they rest in the spirit within, a man becomes a Yukta -- one in communion with God. A lamp does not flicker in a place where no winds blow; so it is with a yogi, who controls his mind, intellect and self, being absorbed in the spirit within him. When the restlessness of the mind, intellect and self is stilled through the practice of Yoga, the yogi by the grace of the Spirit within himself finds fulfillment. Then he knows the joy eternal which is beyond the pale of the senses which his reason cannot grasp. He abides in this reality and moves not therefrom. He has found the treasure above all others. There is nothing higher than this. He who has achieved it, shall not be moved by the greatest sorrow. This is the real meaning of Yoga -- a deliverance from contact with pain and sorrow.'

As a well cut diamond has many facets, each reflecting a different colour of light, so does the word yoga, each facet reflecting a different shade of meaning and revealing different aspects of the entire range of human endeavour to win inner peace and happiness.

The Bhagavad Gita also gives other explanations of the term yoga and lays stress upon Karma Yoga (Yoga by action). It is said: 'Work alone is your privilege, never the fruits thereof. Never let the fruits of action be your motive; and never cease to work. Work in the name of the Lord, abandoning selfish desires. Be not affected by success or failure. This equipoise is called Yoga.'

Yoga has also been described as wisdom in work or skillful living amongst activities, harmony and moderation. 19 - 20.

The asanas of Yoga are only one of the many facets of Yoga, as B. K. S. Iyengar explains. They may seem intimidating to those who have not done them from an early age (I know they seemed that way to me). However, as Michaela Clarke explains in her very helpful and well-illustrated book Ashtanga Yoga for Beginners, performing the asanas "is not just a practice for celebrities, dancers, and sports people" (6). 

She takes the reader through a well-considered sequence of starting in to the asanas of Yoga, beginning with a discussion of safety, followed by a discussion of breathing and moving with the breath.

Then, the book provides a series of lessons, recommending each one be practices for as long as it takes before moving on to the next one. The first lessons involve the Sun Salutations, which are also shown in the video above (performed by the accomplished Ashtangi Kino MacGregor).

Note that there are two versions of the Sun Salutations, both demonstrated in the video. Michaela Clarke's book recommends performing the first version daily for as many weeks as necessary to completely memorize the movements (with the breath) before adding the second version. Note also that you still begin with about three repetitions of the first series every day, even after you have added in the second series.

The Sanskrit words for the Sun Salutations is Surya Namaskara. Several previous posts have discussed the concept of Namaste or Namaskaram, which involves the recognition of the divinity which infuses all aspects of the visible world (including oneself and everyone you meet).

Michaela Clarke recommends performing the Surya Namaskara (and later the other asanas) every day, but resting every seventh day (six days in a row followed by a rest).

You may wish to consider beginning down the path of Yoga, if at all possible for your situation, as a means of connecting with the ancient wisdom entrusted to men and women at some extremely remote point in our past.

Election 2016: legalize ganja

image: Wikimedia commons (combined and modified from images here and here)

The seemingly-interminable election season in the united states has reached its conclusion for 2016. 

Having conspired to criminally undermine the campaign of Bernie Sanders, a candidate who by most estimations could have easily defeated the Republican challenger, the Democrat party decided to run a deeply compromised candidate and lost, to the supposed astonishment of the major corporate media companies who had been lobbying non-stop for her since the primaries (and who had deceitfully announced her selection as the Democrat candidate the night before the California primary election in June).

Meanwhile, voters in both California and Massachusetts overwhelmingly chose to legalize consumption of cannabis for non-medical use (in addition to the medical use that had already been approved in previous initiatives).

This plant has a long history of use stretching back to ancient cultures -- some of which clearly employed it in conjunction with shamanic travel to the Spirit Realm.

Mircea Eliade, in the encyclopedic discussion of shamanic practice from around the world entitled Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (first published in French in 1951 and published in an English translation in 1964), explains that the use of cannabis as part of the technique for inducing ecstatic trance was known and practiced among the ancient Thracians and Scythians. 

Eliade cites passages from ancient authors such as Strabo and Aristophanes, who describe ancient shamanic practitioners known as the kapnobatai and the aerobates, a title often translated as meaning "those who walk in the clouds" but whose name should be more accurately translated (according to Eliade) as "those who walk in smoke" (390).

Later, Eliade also tells the reader that:

As we shall see, the use of hemp for ecstatic purposes is also attested among the Iranians, and it is the Iranian word for hemp that is employed to designate mystical intoxication in Central and North Asia. 395.

The word to which Eliade is referring is bhang or bangha, which he believes migrated into other cultures to designate "both the pre-eminently shamanic mushroom Agaricus muscarius(which is used as a means of intoxication before or during the seance) and [also] intoxication [itself]," showing up as pankh, panga, pang, and pongo (400 - 401).

Note that all of the above words contain the N - K sound that Alvin Boyd Kuhn identifies as relating to the concept of connecting, and which can by extension be seen as relating to the concept of connecting with the Other Realm. 

We can see that this same N - K (or N - G and also K - N) sound can be found in the words cannabis and ganja, both of which are used in modern times to refer to the same sacred plant. Note that Alvin Boyd Kuhn begins his study of this vitally-important phonetic combination by examining the ancient Egyptian word Ankh, the word corresponding to a powerful symbol of life and of eternity: this idea is especially appropriate for all related words indicating connection to the Other Realm, because the ancient wisdom tells us that the Spirit Realm is actually the source or fountain from which everything in the "ordinary" or "material" realm flows. 

For more discussion of words containing this sound-pattern, see the previous posts entitled "The name of the Ankh" and "The name of the Ankh, continued."

Although not mentioned by Eliade in his book, there is considerable evidence that the ancient Egyptians knew of and used cannabis. In fact, cannabis has been found within the wrappings of the mummy of the famous king Rameses II (as has tobacco and coca, both of which are held by conventional scholars to have been unknown outside of the Americas in ancient times). Also, the symbol of the important goddess Seshat of ancient Egypt strongly resembles a leaf of the same plant (and Seshat can be seen to have been depicted even in the very first dynasty of ancient Egyptian civilization).

Further, although the theory is also not widely or publicly accepted by mainstream academicians, there is significant evidence to argue that ancient dynastic Egypt practiced rituals and techniques which can be accurately described as being shamanic in nature -- see discussions in this previous post, as well as in my 2014 book The Undying Stars. This theory was put forth very convincingly by Dr. Jeremy Naydler in his 2004 text Shamanic Wisdom in the Pyramid Texts.

Interestingly, as Mircea Eliade emphasizes, the use of cannabis for ecstatic trance was undeniably practiced by the ancient cultures of Scythia and Iran or Persia. The image above shows an ancient Scythian man, with his distinctive short boots tied at the ankle and long jacket trimmed with fur -- and especially his distinctive pointed cap. The original drawing is a reproduction of artwork found on an ancient cup from the Crimea.

The fact that he is wearing a pointed cap points strongly to an association with the constellation Perseus, a constellation who can be seen to wear a similar pointed cap -- suggesting that the ancient Scythians recognized a special connection to that particular constellation. We recently explored a similar piece of headgear known as the Phrygian cap, and saw that King Midas (who can definitively be seen to correspond to the constellation Perseus) is also depicted as wearing this same type of pointed cap. And indeed, Perseus himself is often depicted wearing just such a cap in artwork found on ancient Greek pottery.

And remember that Eliade was connecting the cultures of ancient Scythia and ancient Iran as having used cannabis smoke to induce ecstatic trance: another name for the land in which these cultures had their home is Persia -- which also appears to argue for a connection to the figure of Perseus.

Generally, the use of cannabis (or ganja, or bhanga) as a means of inducing ecstatic travel to the realm of spirit would be categorized as "non-medical use" of this plant -- and raises the question of why a plant so widely known and used for this purpose in ancient times would ever be banned so restrictively in modern centuries. 

Such severe restriction is reminiscent of the widespread banning (as well as the seizing and burning) of shamanic drums in many cultures, largely by practitioners of literalistic Christianity. The suppression and criminalization of the use of cannabis or ganja in recent centuries may be evidence of the same long-running campaign against the shamanic worldview which appears to inform all of the ancient myths and scriptures entrusted to humanity around the world.

Thus, the lifting of this restriction in more and more parts of the united states is extremely significant (it should also have the effect of overturning the prison sentences and criminal records that have been given to those caught using cannabis in the past).

Note also that there are many ways to make contact with the Spirit Realm which do not involve the use of cannabis, or of any other external plant or substance (although there are also many ways, stretching all the way back to very ancient times, that do use external plants or substances). See for instance the discussion in the previous post entitled "How many ways are there to contact the hidden realm?" 

There is also some discussion in Eliade's Shamanism that the use of external substances is an inferior means of contacting the Other World (see page 401 for example). We appear in many ways to be positively designed to be able to make contact with the hidden realm: the realm of spirit, the realm of the gods. Perhaps this is because we ourselves are dual spiritual-physical beings -- and the more ways this knowledge is enabled and not suppressed, the better. 

Welcome to new visitors from The Higherside Chats (and returning friends!)

Big thank you to Greg Carlwood & Co for having me back over to The Higherside Chats for a conversation about Star Myths and -- just in time for Halloween, or at least for All Soul's Day-- some of the accounts of paranormal encounters at the US Military Academy at West Point.

This interview was recorded on October 18th, 2016.

Here is the link to the free version of this new show -- but I would definitely recommend subscribing to the "THC Plus" option, which costs $5 per month (a variety of subscription options are available here).

THC+ enables you to hear the full version of all the interviews, instead of the slightly shorter-duration "free version," as well as to peruse the full archives of THC goodness, with archived full-length shows going back all the way to the start of THC+ (Greg makes all the back episodes of the "free version" for free, at the archive section of the original show).

There's even a "seven-days free trial" offer, where you can use the full Plus site for seven days and then choose whether to cancel or to subscribe.

Personally, I've said many times that I believe everyone should make a habit of listening to podcasts such as THC in order to try to piece together the big picture of what's going on in this world, because there is clear evidence of the manipulation and falsification of historical "narratives" of our ancient and recent history -- very similar to what we see portrayed in the classic 1968 version of Planet of the Apes, by Dr. Zaius (who is referenced in the THC theme song; Planet of the Apes is such an important movie on so many levels that it can probably accurately be described as a sort of "Matrix before The Matrix").

For a couple of previous posts I've published about the many-layered metaphors in the original Planet of the Apes, see "Paging Dr. Zaius," "Which role are you playing?" and "Wake up Gorillas! Don't perpetrate violence."

I had the pleasure of meeting Greg through the "coincidence" of having a table next to his, way back in 2014 at the Secret Space Program and Breakaway Civilizations conference in San Mateo, California. He was selling Conspiratees shirts and promoting the show (and drinking beers, starting around 10am), and I was promoting and signing copies of The Undying Stars, which had just been published the month before.

If you're interested in checking out the first interview I did with Greg on THC back in September of that year, you can find links to that show here.

For more discussion of some of the other topics we discussed during the show, you can also check out the following links to previous posts or videos, if interested:

• This article in the West Point magazine describing the first-hand account of West Point cadet John Feeley (class of 1973), the upperclassman who encountered an apparition in Barracks 4714, when he decided to stay overnight in the room of some plebes from the company who were complaining about a paranormal visitor.
• This YouTube video containing a first-hand account from Jim O'Connor, the plebe who was there in the room that same night, and who had been one of the plebes complaining about the ghostly visitor in the first place, prompting Cadet Feeley to stay overnight in the room in order to investigate.
• A discussion of the importance of the constellation-outlining system proposed by H. A. Rey, and some illustrations of why it is so much better than the systems you often find on Wikipedia or smartphone apps.
• A "Star Myth Index" that I put together some years ago, with links to numerous Star Myths that I have discussed and illustrated on the pages of this blog.
• The "Myths" section of my newer website, which includes some additional Star Myth discussions and videos.

• Posts exploring some of the Star Myths we discussed on the show, along with some illustrations and even videos, such as the Solomon story (and video here), the Samson story (and video here), the story of Shem, Ham and Japheth, and the Mahabharata with Bhagavad Gita (and videos here and here).

• Some discussion of the evidence in fine art down through the centuries which points very strongly to the conclusion that the esoteric and celestial nature of the myths -- including the celestial nature of the Bible stories -- was known and passed down by at least some groups, even though this knowledge was kept secret. 

• A discussion of the concept of the Higher Self, which seems to be a central message of Star Myths from many different cultures.

• A discussion of the vitally important goddess Seshat.

• The discussions in "The Name of the Ankh" and "The Name of the Ankh, continued," which explore Alvin Boyd Kuhn's assertion that the "N-K" and related phonemes have to do with connecting -- and may be found in the words for both Cannabis and Ganja, among many other important words (such as Kundalini).

• Some evidence that the writer we know as Paul (formerly Saul) might well have understood the ancient texts in a gnostic and not a literalist way (see also here for evidence that "The Bible is essentially shamanic," and here for evidence that virtually all the ancient myths are part of a shared ancient shamanic heritage).

• Some discussion of the fact that the world's Star Myths provide powerful evidence of a now-forgotten, extremely ancient culture of great spiritual sophistication and probably very advanced technological sophistication of a technology perhaps very different from what we know or understand -- in addition to all the archaeological evidence we find in the great celestially-aligned stone monuments around the world (with video here).

• The "Resources" section of my website, where you can find links to online versions of important historical texts related to the Star Myths of the world (there is a "resources" link at the very bottom of every page on that Star Myth Worldwebsite).

Remember, both the blog and the Star Myth World website are fully searchable, so you can search for various search terms to find more about the topics that interest you.

I hope you will enjoy the show!

==========

Errata (The following are some "verbal typos" that I committed during the interview, which are corrected here):

• I remembered after the interview was over that the song referenced near the beginning of the interview is actually by the Exploited (link).
• The paranormal encounters described in the 1970s were in the 47th Division, which is just around the corner from the "Lost Fifties," and in fact they are all part of the same building. However, the paranormal encounter that my friend described which happened to him during our plebe year did take place in the Lost Fifties themselves. While I was a cadet, the area that I heard described as being haunted was most commonly the Lost Fifties.
• At one point in the interview while recounting that story from our plebe year, I said "boyfriend" when I meant to say "buddy." Duh.
• Fort Leavenworth is actually in Kansas, but it is right next to the river, and Missouri is right across the bridge. I actually was there at Leavenworth, however, for part of one summer for an army school (it's been awhile). 

Welcome to new visitors from the Deekast podcast (and returning friends)

Thank you to Derek Veenhof for inviting me over to his podcast, The Deekast, for a conversation about myth, stars, celestial cycles, and Halloween!

This interview was recorded on October 29th, 2016.

Here is a link to the web player where you can listen to (or download) that interview, which is also embedded above.

During our conversation, we touched on a variety of important subjects. Below are some links to previously-published blog posts discussing some of these subjects, for those interested in reading more:

• The earth-sun model using the "dining-room table" analogy.

• Some discussion of "The Samson Myth -- it's all about YOU" (and scroll down to the end of that post for a link to a video showing more about that story in a visual fashion).

• The relationship of that Old Testament story to other Star Myths from around the world, including those of Hephaestus and King Midas from ancient Greece, as well as the Old Testament story of Balaam.

• The importance of music, rhythm, and chanting (many previous posts -- see for instance here, here and here).

• The system of celestial metaphor and how it employs the solstices, equinoxes, and zodiac signs.

• And, of course, the upcoming passage of earth through the important points on its orbit which we call All Hallow's Eve and (the next day) All Souls Day.

I hope you will enjoy our conversation, and wish Derek all the best with his new podcast! (This only was episode #12 for his show -- a significant number!)

No one has the right to bulldoze sacred sites and sic dogs on men, women and children

image: Wikimedia commons (link)

The grievances of the Native Americans at Standing Rock,

over the callous disregard for their sacred heritage sites and for their federally-decreed right to be consulted over the construction of a commercial oil pipeline through land to which they have a recognized historical claim,

have not been getting the attention they deserve from many major media outlets --

with the result that the outrageous events that have been unfolding at Standing Rock as:

sacred Native sites have been bulldozed,

and as living men, women and children protesting the violation of their rights have been assaulted with dogs, mace, tasers, and other weapons of violence

have generated outrage --

but have not yet generated the level of outrage that they should be generating.
 

Today's New York Times (10/28/2016), for example, chooses to display exactly zero mention of the outrageous events taking place anywhere on the "front page" displayed on the web (a screenshot is presented at the end of this article, showing the headlines the Times chose to present to viewers instead of making any mention of the violations at Standing Rock, as of 6:17 pm). 

Some might perhaps argue that "it's an election season, and there is a lot going on" which might explain the lack of mention -- until we see the stories that the newspaper did choose to highlight for attention on the web "front page," such as "How to run across the country faster than anyone" and "how do self-tanning products change the color of skin?" as well as a reminiscence on the 1968 version of Night of the Living Dead and an article entitled "Judging others by their e-mail tics: signoffs, the well-placed emoji, the use of exclamation points (or not). It's a minefield out there" -- certainly vital issues about which readers should be more concerned, rather than the use of weapons upon the bodies of protestors standing in the way of corporations who are proceeding in violation of explicit Native American rights.

The top several lines displaying tweets on the general "home page" of Twitter right now contain no mention either, although if you scroll way down in the feed there is a cartoon mentioning it with a sardonic comparison to the Malheur Refuge acquittal -- but not in a way that calls attention to the outrageous desecration of sacred Native heritage sites or the outrageous violence that has been and continues to be perpetrated upon the protestors at Standing Rock.

Neither can the lineup of stories featured on this Twitter front page be excused as having been generated individually for me alone by things that I tend to "follow" in my Twitter account or in my browsing habits, as nothing in those top several lines has anything to do with the kinds of things I look at on the web or on Twitter. These are the stories that Twitter is choosing to promote -- and the violation of the rights of the Standing Rock Sioux is obviously not high on Twitter's list.

The Wall Street Journal, which one might suspect to be a newspaper devoted to covering important issues having to do with corporations which trade on the financial exchanges (such as the companies which own major stakes in the entity responsible for the Dakota Access Pipeline) has a seemingly endless web "front page" that similarly fails to find any reason to mention the ongoing violence against those protesting, or the reasons for the protests.

The Journal does, however, find room today to feature on its long web "front page" oversized pictures relating to:

• a story about taste-testing "candy corn," a sugary candy associated with  the Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays in North America -- ironically, candy which pays tribute to the corn or maize which is found in the Americas but not in the so-called "Old World," and which the Native Americans brought along with other bountiful foodstuffs to share with the starving Europeans at the "first Thanksgiving."

and

• a story entitled "Thankfully unexpected pie recipes for the Thanksgiving table," featuring a photograph of a delicious-looking slice of "mint grasshopper pie" -- again, grimly ironic in that the Journal sees fit to feature a story about Thanksgiving pie recipes before we even reach Halloween, but does not see fit to feature a story involving a publicly-traded limited partnership, an oil pipeline, and the emotionally-charged conflict which is taking place right now at Standing Rock, when Thanksgiving itself commemorates the generosity of Native Americans in bringing the makings of a feast to hungry settlers from Europe (settlers who, by all accounts, would not have survived had the Natives compassionately shown them some techniques to aid their survival in the unfamiliar land).

So, the major corporate ad-driven media -- which is very good at stirring up outrage and directing attention to a story when it wants to (or when those who control it want to), by putting that story in your face twenty-four hours a day -- clearly do not want to provoke outrage over what clearly should be seen as outrageous (unless you believe that siccing dogs on men, women and children, ignoring the duty to consult Native Americans regarding sensitive heritage sites, and then brazenly bulldozing those sites and destroying them is not outrageous). 

While there are obviously many issues involved in this story, to a degree that some may think it is "too hard to figure out," I would argue that at its heart this story is so  clear-cut that there should be no room for debate. 

Although there are layers of the story that involve the question of the use of petroleum, the question of fracking, the question of environmentalism in general, the question of the cost of gasoline and other fuels and the impact of their prices on the economy at large (all important issues), the bottom line is that this is a conflict that centers on the violation of the rights of a community who has seen their rights violated to a degree that is almost impossible to comprehend, a community which can be said without  the least bit of exaggeration to have experienced the horrendous crime which deserves the label of genocide(even though that word was invented later), and a community who was supposed to have been consulted before any proposed pipelines were built through lands that contained sacred heritage sites -- and they were not consulted, their wishes were ignored, and a judge callously denied their injunction to halt construction so that their side of the discussion could be heard.

They were denied their mandated consultation, then they were denied their "day in court," and then when they protested they were set upon by dogs, mace (a general term for a form of painful chemical spray which uses either tear gas or pepper spray in most cases), military directed-sound weapons, beanbag guns, rubber bullets, police batons, and other violent means.

This story in the Atlantic (from September 9th) explains that the land upon which the corporations in question want to build the pipeline was given to the Sioux nations in the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868.

Like so many other treaties made by the federal government of the united states, that treaty was shamefully disregarded and broken -- in this case, not many years later when the desire to mine the gold in the Black Hills led to the provocation of the conflicts that resulted in the battle of the Little Bighorn, a resounding defeat of Custer's forces by the combined forces of several tribes and nations, and then the retaliation by the government's forces including the criminal massacre at Wounded Knee and the cowardly murder of both Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse after they had laid down their weapons and were in the custody of the army and the police.

In order to get access to food (once they were confined to reservations and basically unable to obtain food for themselves anymore), the tribes signed new treaties conceding the lands containing the gold that the settlers and their government wanted -- even though these included some of their most sacred places (see the discussion here, entitled "The Heart of Everything That Is").

But, as the Atlantic article points out, the Supreme Court in 1980 determined that the shameful way in which these lands were wrested from the Native nations in an illegal manner, and ordered compensation to be paid to the Sioux for the lands. But, as the article explains, "the Sioux declined the payment -- which still sits in US Treasury accounts, earning interest -- because they seek possession or co-ownership of the land itself."

This alone makes their cause worthy of stopping the pipeline and finding another way to move the desired commodities to the desired refineries. The shameful history of the seizure of these lands (which has been acknowledged by the Supreme Court) in the first place argues that in cases of disputed access, extra care should be taken to ensure that the rights of the Native Americans to whom that land was ceded in the Treaty of Fort Laramie (a concession for which, of course, the Native tribes had to make plenty of reciprocating concessions of their own). No one looking at the history of the making of treaties between the Native nations and the federal government of the united states of America can have any illusions regarding which side consistently failed to honor the provisions of those agreements in the ensuing years.

Above and beyond that, as the Atlantic article also points out, there is a written requirement for any federal agency planning a project in land with which a Native nation may have a cultural or historical connection to consult with the Native nations and to do so on a nation-to-nation basis. The Standing Rock Sioux argue that this requirement to consult was not observed by the federal agency granting access to the pipeline project (the federal agency in this case being the US Army Corps of Engineers). But when they filed an injunction to stop progress on the construction project over this very requirement, that injunction was denied in court.

Not only that, but when they filed the injunction, evidence was presented of sacred heritage sites in the path of the proposed pipeline project -- including standing stones arranged in the shape of constellations, specifically the Big Dipper (called IyoKaptan Tanka by the Lakota themselves). An effigy of a powerful figure known as Bear Spirit Healer (Mato Wapiya) was also found in the area. Below is an image  of stones arranged after the heavenly patterns of the stars, presented in the court filing by an archaeologist who himself is a member of the Lakota nation, as seen on this website:

As this article entitled "Grave Matters in Pipeline Controversy," from investigative journalism site WhoWhatWhy, explains, the discovery of stones dedicated to Bear Medicine Healer and stones arranged in the outline of IyoKaptan Tanka carries tremendous significance, and probably indicates that a very highly-repected individual (probably a chief) may have been placed in this location after he died (the nations of the Great Plains typically did not bury their dead, but rather placed them on elevated scaffolds exposed to Nature), and it may also have been used for contact with the Other World during life as well. Tim Mentz, Sr., the archaeologist who presented this evidence, recalls how as a young man, he and other young adults were always admonished not to speak or make any noise around sacred sites such as these, when visiting to pay respect and offer food to the spirits of those who had gone before.

Heartbreakingly, just after this evidence was presented to the court as part of the injunction to halt further construction until the required consultations were conducted and steps could be taken to ensure no destruction or desecration of any sacred heritage sites, the private companies hired by the owners of the pipeline project began to bulldoze the sacred sites in question -- using dogs against those who tried to stop them.

Again, there is absolutely no question that if such deliberate destruction of cultural heritage is alleged by witnesses, all further progress in the area should be immediately halted and investigation should commence into actions that must be regarded as constituting a serious crime.

These actions have not been receiving the front-page headlines, and the attention-generating media coverage, that violations of this magnitude should be receiving.

Additionally, the methods used against the protestors continue to escalate, with hundreds of arrests this week, the imposition of "no-fly zones" over the protest sites in order to prevent those friendly to the cause of the protestors from gathering aerial video footage using drones in order to document what is taking place, and the use of a variety of heavy-handed tactics including the use of tasers, rubber bullets, beanbag projectiles, and military vehicles equipped with new non-lethal weapons capable of directing high-volume sound and even microwave energy at protestors.

Not only is the use of such tactics incredibly offensive given the egregious record of abuse and exploitation in the past, but it should also give people around the world a wake-up call regarding the quite open disdain by a corporate entity of any need to even pretend to listen to the needs of a particular community.

In this case, the community in question happens to be one against whom there is an unending history of abuses and violations of rights going back centuries, which makes the situation even uglier and more egregious, but the very same pattern of disdain for the rights of communities to make decisions that corporations dislike can be seen in proposed "treaties" such as the TTP, TTIP, and others along the same pattern, which award corporations the supposed right to level fees on communities that decide to vote for laws that will impair profitability (giving a supposed right to level fees on communities which pass laws such as minimum wage requirements or labeling requirements on genetically-modified ingredients, for instance).

Therefore, the Standing Rock protests -- and the outrageous treatment of the protestors -- is alarming both on its own merits, and also as an example of a new level of open disregard by a for-profit corporate entity of even the pretense of observing the rights of nations.

In a way, every moral violation we encounter in this life can be seen as a test -- will we oppose the violation, or will we tolerate it? Our response may have some impact on our karma, or our spirit body, or our soul (at least according to the ancient wisdom that can be shown to have been given to humanity at some incredibly early date, which forms the basis for the myths, scriptures and sacred stories of cultures around the world).

In this particular case, however, it may well be that the test is also a test for humanity, given by those who want to see what level of high-handed behavior they can get away with, without provoking widespread outrage. 

If such behavior can be displayed for anyone to see, without any widespread outrage, then what kind of message will that send to those who already display such open disdain for the rights of people as opposed to corporations?

Th Dakota Pipeline case is made exponentially more outrageous because of the history of abuses perpetrated against the Sioux in particular and the Native peoples of the Americas in general over the course of centuries.

If men and women around the country and around the world cannot see the reason for outrage in the violation of the rights of the Standing Rock Sioux in this particular case, then the boundary of what can be perpetrated without backlash will truly have been moved to a shocking new low.

The fact that much of the media has decided to give the issue only passing mention should also be a blaring wake-up call regarding the sorry state of the media, journalism, and "the press" in many of the biggest news organizations responsible for producing the mainstream news cycle on a daily basis.

There is also the unpleasant fact, so unpleasant that it is difficult for many people to even consider, that the deliberate desecration and destruction of sacred sites -- such as the bulldozing described in the articles linked above -- appears to be part of an ongoing pattern. In September of 2000, for example, the sacred central stone marker known as the Intihuatana or "hitching post of the sun" at Machu Picchu was damaged by a crane during the filming of a beer commercial, of all things. This article from the BBC explains that the company in question was expressly denied permission to take a crane up to the sacred site, and so they snuck the crane in at dawn anyway -- and when the crane experienced what was described as an accidental "mechanical failure," it broke the stone at the heart of the entire Machu Picchu complex.

Additional examples can be found in the deliberate destruction of the ancient paintings at the sacred stone enclosure of Painted Rock in modern-day California, paintings believed to have survived for thousands of years before being blasted by firearms at close range in the 1930s.

It is an undeniable fact of history that in previous centuries, sacred sites in the Americas (and elsewhere around the world) have been deliberately and systematically desecrated and destroyed -- primarily by organized institutions of literalist forms of Christianity. Examples of such programs of desecration and destruction stretch back to the chopping down of the Irminsul in parts of Europe, or the burning of Saami drums in the northern reaches of Scandinavia.

We tend to think that such systematic desecration and destruction is a thing of the past, confined to previous centuries. But, as the bulldozing of the sacred heritage sites last month demonstrate, such behavior still goes on -- and while there may be no connection between the use of bulldozers in North Dakota and a crane at Machu Picchu, it is also possible that there is a connection, and that some group  continues to deliberately target such sites, under the convenient "cover" of for-profit corporate activity.

As seen in the image above, and in the many videos available on the web showing the ongoing protests in the path of the pipeline, men and women are chaining themselves to drilling equipment and construction equipment -- but such gestures will only stop the construction for a short period of time. The only hope of the Standing Rock Sioux and their other allies in this situation is for their actions and their plight to arouse the slumbering conscience of those who can add their voices to the protest against the railroading of their rights in this case.

The case is clearcut -- and the violations of their rights are egregious.

But unless there is a deafening groundswell of other voices who demand that the deliberate destruction of sacred sites, the inhumane use of dogs and of weapons of violence against protestors, and the callous refusal to consult with the Native nations who have a federally-recognized right to be consulted all cease immediately, even the act of chaining oneself to a bulldozer or other heavy machinery will not bring the other party in this case to the discussion table.

They evidently feel no compunction to consult with the tribal nations, and the court system is backing up their disregard for the duty to consult.

The most effective protest, which would probably get their attention even more quickly than would inclusion in the twenty-four hour news cycle (which is happy to continue generating non-stop outrage over other matters, but not this one) would be the decision by large holders of the stock of the companies involved in the pipeline to sell those shares.

If a company were callously bulldozing orangutan habitat in Madagascar, and if enough outrage were generated to cause shareholders of that company to worry about owning the shares (or even to cause the conscience of those shareholders to awaken, and those shareholders to decide they did not want to support a company doing such bulldozing), you can believe that the company in question would rapidly take notice and alter their behavior -- and in fact, this very scenario did take place, just a few years ago, regarding habitat of orangutans in Madagascar.

If similar outrage cannot be generated over the refusal to consult with the Standing Rock Sioux and any other Native nations impacted by this pipeline, as well as the deliberate bulldozing of sacred heritage sites, as was generated over the bulldozing of orangutan habitat, then something is terribly wrong (and something has clearly been terribly wrong for centuries in this particular regard).

Would you want to own shares of a company that deliberately bulldozed sacred heritage sites?

Would you want your pension fund to own shares in such a company?

If major investment management companies and large pension funds, foundations, endowments, and mutual funds decided they did not want to own shares of those companies anymore, you can believe that the companies in question would get the message almost overnight.

The partnership that is behind this pipeline is a publicly-traded limited partnership, and a major stake in that entity is held by a publicly-traded oil company. The names and relationships and ticker symbols can all be found in this document, as well as in the public filings of those corporations.

Destroying sacred sites is not acceptable behavior by anyone.

Siccing dogs on men and women and children is not acceptable behavior by anyone.

Such behavior needs to be opposed by everyone of conscience, using peaceful methods and the firm refusal to accept such treatment of our fellow men and women on this planet, and the firm refusal to accept the destruction of sacred heritage sites.

Any organization that deliberately does these things should be legally disbanded, as well as forced to pay restitution.


==============





Below are some examples of non-media outrage from "our" media, over the outrageous events that very much have continued to escalate over the past few days:

Above: The ongoing violence against protestors at Standing Rock rates nary a mention in the New York Times web front-page this weekend (this is from 10/29/2016).

Below: Ditto for the Wall Street Journal's web front-page, although it does feature stories about just about everything else (as well as a ton of ads for turntables, even though I already own one -- you can't search for turntables without the Wall Street Journal serving you interminable turntable ads afterwards).

Descent unto Kurukshetra: this incarnate life

image: Wikimedia commons (link)

It has now been nearly forty days since our earth sped past the "crossing-downwards" point of the September equinox -- the fall equinox for our planet's northern hemisphere, where the ecliptic path traced out by the sun during the day falls below the line of the celestial equator, and the hours of darkness during each daily rotation become longer than the hours of daylight, with days growing shorter and shorter as we continue our "plunge" towards the very bottom of the year, at winter solstice.

This plunge out of the "upper half" of the year (the summer half, when days are longer than nights) down into the "lower half" (the winter half, when nights are longer than days) is depicted in ancient myth as the lower realm, the "underworld" in a sense. 

After much examination of the world's ancient myths, as well as of the arguments presented by Alvin Boyd Kuhn in writings such as Lost Light, I am convinced that the sacred stories found around the world employ this cycle of shifting from longer days (in the upper half) to longer nights (in the lower half) was seen as representative of the cycle of each mortal soul between the realm of spirit (the Spirit World, the Invisible Realm, the realm of the gods) and the realm of matter (the material realm, the mortal realm, where we find ourselves in this incarnate life).

From our perspective here in the incarnate body, we might logically assume that the "lower half" of the great cycle -- the winter half of the year, when hours of darkness dominate and days are shorter than nights -- must represent the "realm of the dead," the spirit realm, the disembodied realm where souls exist when they are not incarnate in a body.

But that assumption would be mistaken.

In fact, as Kuhn argues persuasively, and as the myths themselves confirm, the ancient system envisions the "upper half" of the year as the heavenly realm, the realm of the gods, the realm of spirit -- and they depict the "plunge" downwards across the line separating the upper half of the year from the lower half of the year, which takes place at the fall equinox during the great annual cycle, as representative of the plunge down from the spirit realm into the material realm, when we take on a human body and embark upon the difficult "lower crossing" of the underworld of this incarnate life.

This system of allegorization, Kuhn argues, also explains the ancient celebration of the festivals that take place forty days after the "crossing down" point of the fall equinox -- most commonly known as Halloween in the modern world, because of the name given to the day during the Christian era, but by many other names in many other traditions. Forty days after September 21st brings us to October 31st. Kuhn argues that the number 40 is often used as symbolic of the period of gestation (which is forty weeks), and that the celebration of Halloween thus represents an important "crossing point" of its own: the descent by spirits from the Other Realm into this incarnate realm which we now inhabit, and through which we often seem to stumble and grope as if in the darkness -- divine sparks temporarily embodied in animal forms, a unique combination of mortal and immortal. See this previous post from two years ago for more on that subject, and on Kuhn's illuminating treatise on the profound meaning of Halloween.

As we approach this special point on the calendar each year, it is not inappropriate to reflect upon the magnificent Mahabharata of ancient India, in which the entire epic descends inexorably towards the cataclysmic battle that will be fought upon the Plain of Kurukshetra, between the five heroic sons of Pandu and the massive army led by the the Kauravas, and particularly by the implacable Duryodhana, who wishes to rule over the entire world and who disregards the right order of the universe and the advice of all the gods and wise counselors who try to dissuade him from his disastrous course.

There are very good reasons for understanding this mighty conflict as representative of the very same struggle between light and darkness that takes place every year as we orbit the sun -- the progression through the equinoxes and solstices, and the interplay between days that are dominated by longer hours of darkness and days that are dominated by longer hours of daylight.

Immediately prior to the start of this awful conflict, the heroic Arjuna, pre-eminent among the five sons of Pandu (particularly because he has spent time among the celestial realms and obtained both instruction and celestial weapons from the gods and goddesses themselves), finds himself wracked by doubts, and instructs the Lord Krishna, who has volunteered to act as Arjuna's non-combatant charioteer throughout the battle, to take him to the field in between the two assembled armies, so that he can sit down on the ground and wait to be killed, rather than lifting up arms against his own beloved family-members.

This reluctance -- this overwhelming doubt -- actually mirrors very closely the doubt exhibited by Thomas in the gospel story of "Doubting Thomas" (found only in the gospel according to John in the canonical texts we call the New Testament), as well as that exhibited by the beautiful Psyche in the myth of Eros and Psyche (or Cupid and Psyche) described by various ancient sources including Apuleius.

And, just as the figure of Jesus in the gospel story encourages Thomas to trust him, the Lord Krishna in the Mahabharata encourages Arjuna, telling Arjuna to perform his duty upon the battlefield -- metaphorically, representative of this incarnate life, with its endless interplay or struggle between the spiritual and material natures. And he does so in the section of the Mahabharata known as the Bhagavad Gita, "the Song of the Lord," in which Sri Krishna not only encourages Arjuna to perform his duty, but also gives him the promise of eventual victory, and a description of the path -- indeed, the Yoga -- by which this eventual and inevitable victory will be achieved.

The nature of the instruction which Krishna imparts to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita makes it very clear that this encouragement is for each and every one of us in this incarnate life: for each and every soul which incarnates in this material realm, this "Plain of Kurukshetra." It is not advice given exclusively to an ancient semi-divine warrior named Arjuna, about to embark upon a literal battle upon a literal battlefield -- not at all (in fact, much of the advice seems to have little to do with situations one might encounter upon the battlefield).

Upon this momentous occasion, during which we who are presently living on our earth as it approach esthe end of the forty days' "gestation" following the great crossing-point of September equinox, here are some of the verses from the poetic song of Lord Krishna as he encourages Arjuna at the similarly "pregnant pause" before the mighty battle of Kurukshetra:

He that abstains

To help the rolling wheels of this great world,

Glutting his idle sense, lives a lost life,

Shameful and vain.  (Bhagavad Gita chapter 3, verse 16).*

Therefore, thy task prescribed 

With spirit unattached gladly perform,

Since in performance of plain duty man

Mounts to his highest bliss. (Bhagavad Gita chapter 3, verse 19).

To cease from works 

Is well, and to do works in holiness

Is well; and both conduct to bliss supreme [translated elsewhere as "Union with Ultimate Consciousness"];

But of these twain the better way is his

Who working piously refraineth not.

That is the true Renouncer, firm and fixed, 

Who -- seeking nought, rejecting nought -- dwells proof

Against the "opposites." O valiant Prince!

In doing, such breaks lightly from all deed:

'Tis the new scholar talks as they were two,

This Sankhya and this Yoga: wise men know

Who husbands on plucks golden fruit of both!

The region of high rest which Sankhyans reach 

Yogins attain. Who sees these twain as one

Sees with clear eyes! (Bhagavad Gita chapter 5, verses 2 - 5).

[in other words -- the paths of action and inaction are actually the same: the goal is right action without attachment, and this can be attained through the path of renunciation and meditation, or through the cultivation of right action without attachment to the results; pursuing either of these paths yields the same benefit, and if you see it properly, you will realize that both are in fact the same path].

Because the perfect Yogin acts -- but acts

Unmoved by passions and unbound by deeds,

Setting result aside. (Bhagavad Gita chapter 6, verse 4).

When the man,

So living, centers on his soul the though

Straitly restrained -- untouched internally 

By stress of sense -- then is he Yukta. See!

Steadfast a lamp burns sheltered from the wind;

Such is the likeness of the Yogi's mind

Shut from sense-storms and burning bright to Heaven. (Bhagavad Gita chapter 6, verses 18 - 19).

[in the next passage, Lord Krishna promises Arjuna that once one has started on the path, the ultimate achievement of victory is assured, even if it takes multiple incarnations; this is in answer to Arjuna's urgent question regarding "What road goeth he who, having faith, fails? In the striving, falling back from holiness, missing the perfect rule? Is he not lost, straying from Bhrama's light, like the vain cloud, which floats twixt earth and heaven when lightning splits it, and it vanisheth?"] Krishna answers:

He is not lost, thou Son of Pritha! No!
Nor earth, nor heaven is forfeit, even for him,
Because no heart that holds one right desire
Treadeth the road of loss! He who should fail,
Desiring righteousness, cometh at death
Unto the Region of the Just; dwells there
Measureless years, and being born anew,
Beginneth life again in some fair home [. . .]. (Bhagavad Gita chapter 6, verses 40 - 41).

[As has been asserted in previous discussions of the Bhagavad Gita, and based upon some of the revealing insights offered by Professor Victor H. Mair in the appendix discussions included in his 1990 translation of the Tao Te Ching, the overarching injunction given to Arjuna by Krishna is to do what is right, without attachment to the outcome: and Krishna is careful to reiterate several times throughout the discourse that "action without attachment" must be right action, not action that harms others. In the following verses, Krishna makes this very explicit]:

I am not known
To evil-doers, nor to foolish ones,
Nor to the base and churlish; nor to those
Whose mind is cheated by the show of things,
Nor to those that take the way of Asuras. (Bhagavad Gita chapter 7, verse 15).

By "the way of Asuras," the Lord Krishna appears to be indicating the way of powerful evil and malevolent beings of the spirit realm known as the Asuras in the Sanskrit epics Mahabharata and Ramayana.  Remember that the assertion I am making is that the Bhagavad Gita provides advice, direction and encouragement to the soul descending to this "battlefield" of incarnate life; Lord Krishna argues that the path to transcendence and integration with the divine Ultimate involves a discipline or a path of right action, performed with the same mind as if not taking action at all (performed without attachment, performed as if by one not acting).

This path at many points in the Gita seems to be described using the word Yoga, implying that it is a discipline, a practice -- and the word Yoga itself has been argued by Alvin Boyd Kuhn to involve connection or linking (linguistically related to the words junction and also union): perhaps the linking or integration of our material nature with our spiritual nature, and perhaps also the linking of our mortal nature with our divine nature and ultimately with the Universal Divine as well.

And yet here we have a clear warning that the path does not involve "the way of the Asuras."

I do not believe the Bhagavad Gita threw in this divine injunction for no reason at all.

As we have seen, there are two paths that are described which lead to the same positive outcome (and which actually turn out to be the same path): the path of action, and the path of inaction, both of which are the same if we understand that we are enjoined to pursue right action but without attachment, as if not even acting. And we are admonished that we are not to take the path or the way of the Asuras.

Further, if we take the path Krishna is describing, then the ultimate positive outcome is assured, even if it takes multiple incarnations.

Just prior to the assembly of the opposing forces in their battle lines, and immediately prior to the chapters containing the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata describes a scene in which Krishna urges Arjuna to call upon the goddess Durga. Arjuna does so, and the goddess appears -- and she too promises Arjuna that his eventual victory is assured: in her words, he is literally "incapable of being defeated" in his endeavor. Again, if we understand the battle of Kurukshetra to be representative of the cycles undergone by the soul itself, then this encouraging blessing from the goddess Durga is in fact addressed to each and every man and woman who comes down into this incarnation and whose heart holds (as Lord Krishna says) "one right desire."

The manifestation of the goddess Durga immediately prior to the battle, as discussed in previous posts such as this one, must be seen as powerful confirmation that these scenes are indeed celestial allegory, for the plunge below the line at fall equinox is traditionally presided over by the sign of Virgo (see the zodiac wheel diagram below) -- and indeed, Durga herself can be shown to be associated with the celestial figure of Virgo.

One of the ways we can be sure that Durga is associated with Virgo is the fact that she rides a lion or is often depicted with a lion by her side -- and the zodiac constellation Virgo follows immediately behind the zodiac constellation Leo in the sky.

Another way we can know that Durga is associated with Virgo is the fact that Durga is very closely identified with her action of defeating a powerful Asura named Mahish Asura, who is a mighty bull-headed or buffalo-headed demon or malevolent spirit-being.

It happens that Virgo and Taurus are located at opposite ends of the sky, such that when Virgo is rising in the east, Taurus is sinking down below the horizon in the west. Thus, the approach of Durga causes Mahishasura to flee in terror.

In fact, Durga is often described as actually beheading the powerful Mahish Asura -- and we can see in the sky that the "head" of Taurus is located a short distance away from the unmistakeable figure of Orion, an outline that resembles a powerful striding figure, carrying weapons . . . but without a head (to speak of). As Virgo rises with her arm outstretched, Orion sinks down in the west, with his "bull head" severed from his body (if we envision him, for purposes of the Durga mythology, as a great buffalo-headed or bull-headed Asura):

And below is a famous panel sculpted in relief, showing the goddess riding on her lion, with bow-arm outstretched, as Mahish leans away from her (notice that one leg of the striding figure of Orion is bent at the knee, just as is one leg of Mahish Asura):

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

From all of the above evidence, we can confidently conclude that the episodes at the beginning of the Mahabharata -- including the Bhagavad Gita -- are celestial and esoteric in nature, designed not to be understood as literal accounts of a terrestrial and historical battle, but rather to convey to our heart's understanding deep truths about the Invisible Realm, and our place and purpose here in this material-spiritual universe.

As we approach that fortieth day from the September equinox, we approach the point of the year associated with the descent of the soul into the body, and the point of embarkation upon the arduous struggle upon the great battlefield of Kurukshetra.

But we do so armed with the encouragement of the Lord Krishna, to act in accordance with what is right, without attachment (as if not even acting at all) -- and also armed with the promise, from both Krishna and from the goddess Durga, that we are actually incapable of being defeated.

Do not take the way of the Asuras.



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* Verses above from the Bhagavad Gita are from the Edwin Arnold translation of 1885, available here. The same website contains the entire Ganguli translation of 1883 - 1896 as well; the sections containing the Gita can be found here. At the end of each quoted section is a link to another site that contains the Sanskrit text as well as another translation, plus a transliteration of the Sanskrit along with a literal word-for-word English translation of each specific Sanskrit word. That site also contains files with an audio reading of the verses in Sanskrit (as well as in other languages).