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What is superstition? How is it born and how does it serve the individual caught in its grip? In my experience concerning the theme of this series, superstition is born when knowledge is lacking. There is a gradual decline as the original body of knowledge is watered down and the direct experience is replaced by belief alone without empirical support.
But this condition is not reserved for the spiritually-oriented. Science itself behaves in the same manner and leaves itself open to the same label, perhaps with even more alarming implications. For example, science makes emphatic statements which the public is forced to accept as the final word on any particular subject within its domain or those it has appropriated. But lately there have been space probes to other planets that have disproved those earlier statements, which were held so definitively by the establishment; yet none complain about these obvious errors which could be seen to have misled society, sometimes for decades and upon which basis entire schools of thought had arisen.
Our current updating would appear to be the same, but, in my opinion, is far more legitimate in its approach. We are simply probing deeper levels, incorporating newer insights into an already existing school without rejecting the former tradition though acknowledging its legitimate limitations. But certainly nothing of what is contained in this series would escape the tag of superstition by mainstream science, which demands an acceptance of its methodology and terminology, and no other, even when facts fly in the face of these denials. For example, here is a photograph by just one of those planetary probes available at www.dailygalaxy.com, titled ‘The mystery of Saturn’s massive hexagon deepens’.
Students of astrology, considered mere superstition by mainstream scientists, should not be surprised to see that at its crown Saturn holds a perfect hexagon since this is the geometric form ancient cosmology attributes to our sixth planet. The formation is especially remarkable in that it even bears a central point just as one would expect in the art of sacred geometry. Saturn’s deeper significance is known in traditional lore to be the act of crystallising, of congealing as in the common snowflake, also built around hexagonal shapes. The photographs below make clear the striking similarity between Saturn’s hexagon cap and the common snowflake. The fact that no two flakes are alike is one of the marvels of Nature. Also to be noted is the six-pointed star at the centre of some flakes.
B & W photos from the collection of Wilson Bentley
Indeed, genuine seekers would immediately demand to know how this can come to pass. For after all, astrology is known as the Mother of all Science and certainly to the unbiased observer this discovery would go a long way in proving that there is a valid reason to consider it the basis of everything that has followed. However, if we continue to dismiss the ancient lore as superstition simply because its premises are unfamiliar or unknown to contemporary science, we will never arrive at the truth.
As an example, the central role Saturn plays in cosmic harmonies is validated by the Mother’s original plan of a temple’s inner chamber. Hers was an act of seeing unparalleled in the annals of the sacred sciences. In her vision, which she accompanied by a detailed plan with precise measurements for each item, Saturn is indeed consolidated in the Harmony as the Time-Spirit (Chronos). I have often referred to her chamber as a Hymn to Saturn. As the Time-Spirit, Saturn is therefore the planet of destiny. Its prominence in the Mother’s vision highlights Saturn’s rulership of zodiacal Capricorn; and, by consequence, her plan integrates this rulership with the destiny of the subcontinent, together with the precise details of the Avataric descent for this Age of the Supermind. Most importantly, her new vision of the harmony of our solar system through sacred geometry unequivocally indicates which calendar must be used by the population of India if her destiny is to be fulfilled in the new Age. (For further details, readers interested in the sacred sciences may consult: www.matacom.com; The Gnostic Circle, Aeon Books; The New Way, Vols. 1, 2, &3, Aeon Books.)
Having stated the above, let us examine aspects of the Tradition’s decline that have finally led to a disfigurement of that Harmony. In doing so, we will also appreciate why belief in curses, for example, is so prevalent, and so many other forms of superstition afflicting perhaps a majority of the Earth’s population, acknowledged or not. In situations difficult to bear, it is hard not to throw the blame on an unknown external ‘something’. The human being seeks to know, he seeks order because this is the essence of the cosmos in which he lives. The hexagon crown of Saturn is an example of that Order; and interestingly, Saturn holds the key to, precisely, the Cosmic Order. If that Order with its inherent sense and purpose did not exist, the world as he perceives it would collapse. Similarly, he believes deep in his heart that order governs his own life. This deeply-grounded belief is what underscores his abiding thirst to know destiny, because order implies that formulae, patterns, methods must exist which continue to feed an irrepressible desire to know the why of his existence with both its felicities and troubling heartaches, especially those that Death brings. Indeed, his entire life is passed in the shadow of Death. If he could only make sense of it all, a greater sense, his pain would be greatly eased.
In near-death-experiences (NDE) this pain is lifted, not so much by seeing the greater sense but because one learns that ‘life goes on’ – and, above all, that there can be a reunion with one’s loved ones, separation from whom is perhaps the cause of one’s deepest anguish. The importance in NDEs is the inescapable conclusion that Death is not what we believe it to be – i.e., the end of it all. Consciousness goes on; there is continuity, at least for as long as the thread remains intact that keeps us linked to the body and that destiny. But we have no record of what transpires once the link is definitively broken; no one has returned to tell us. Indeed, once the thread is severed, referred to in occultism as the Silver Cord, there is no method to do so since the former consciousness of self conclusively ended its ‘time’ – which is irrevocably connected to the body. Without that physical vessel there is no Zero Point by which our ‘time’ begins to unfold. Time would have neither a beginning nor an end – it would be ‘endless’ because it had lost its periodicities that demand a starting point. And periodicities are the keystone of the body’s time. It starts in the womb where the rhythm of 9 is set in place in the embryo for its new experience of life in our particular solar system.
Yes, in these circumstances a curse would be the answer. But this belief bears collateral damage. It sets us upon a slothful and irrational way of life, but with a certain method to the madness that provides it with a sort of legitimacy.
This is the origin of superstition. Its definition according to the new cosmology is the perception of life from one of the lower rungs of the ascending ladder of existence, wherefrom vision is severely limited by the circumference that position on the ladder imposes. We cannot consider such a perception wrong and dismiss it outright without taking into consideration these facts of existence in a material universe and particularly on this third planet where evolution is its principal feature. This experience of life is simply limited – and within those limitations the only conclusion to explain Order’s disturbance is an interjection from outside the sphere of one’s life, beyond one’s circle of first-rung perception.
As an extension to the above, we find individuals on the lower rungs of the ladder saddled with the belief in an extraneous form of relief through either a Saviour or a Messiah which similarly forms a part of that externalisation. Compounding this is the belief held by many that one’s Saviour is the only way out of this prison of existence. Redemption is then seen as a resurrection after death, the escape open to us by the Redeemer himself, the door to which he alone holds the key. This belief has cemented in human consciousness a reliance on otherworldly solutions, none of which can lead to the truth of life’s purpose. Rather, these beliefs are constant denials of the Earth’s role in the cosmic harmony. And interestingly, it is precisely Saturn in the cosmic harmony that both holds us back and, at the same time, offers the key to passage into an area of experience that does not propose escape routes to cope with the reality Death imposes on our present mortal creation.
The answer comes when we mount the ladder and from its higher rungs we gain a wider and more complete perspective, which is the purpose of the evolutionary process. To that end, continuously improved instruments emerge with the capacity to engage in this ascension, undeterred in the face of a constant undermining that Death inflicts. Thus, we cannot condemn superstitious beliefs as in the practice of seeking to propitiate certain perhaps ill-conceived cosmic powers so as to gain the favour of the Gods in order to somehow change destiny, or at least to mitigate the pain and suffering a world in which Death is sovereign must necessarily bring. Nor can we dismiss lightly the attempts by compassionate souls to solve this legitimate human dilemma by various methods of escape, as when we embrace paths that strive to liberate us from ever taking birth again on this woeful planet, everlastingly under this dark lordship.
The problem lies in the fact that these methods or means of ‘liberation’ and ‘escape’ from the Snare in a sense have compounded the difficulty in finding a real solution. The fact remains that life continues to inflict blows for which we have no answer but to fall back on the quest for an outside source to blame, something or someone who has the power to disturb the Harmony in a senseless manner, a way that by definition stands outside the circle of the cosmic orderly pattern of life, that is incomprehensibly chaotic and random and that therefore does indeed make no sense. Because when sense is perceived, even suffering takes on a different meaning.
The zodiac reveals the position these postulations hold on the ascending scale of the evolution of consciousness. The ‘journey’ of the Ancients made this clear in the myths they handed down with the zodiac as a permanent background to guide humanity in the evolutionary ascent. At the same time, when great turning points are reached these ascents must be accompanied by descents. The aim in this arrangement is truly revealing of the role corresponding to Earth’s position in the cosmic harmony with its pre-eminence of the Soul. Certain stages are reached which require indeed an intervention, apparently from outside the System, like anticipation of a Saviour would seem to suggest; or else the arrival of aliens from another galaxy. However, the Descent I refer to is only apparently extraneous. Its sole purpose is to open the next ‘door’ at critical stages in the development in order to reach evolution’s culmination in the 10th stage/month of the Journey, by being responsive to laws and formulas which represent what the Earth is ultimately destined to achieve. The Soul is the channel through and by which these deeds are accomplished, given Earth’s position in the System. To do so, to have the ability to perform these acts, from birth the incarnations whose destinies lie in securing that passage must be governed by different laws. This is the meaning of their appearance seemingly from outside. The laws governing the evolution in ascension are one thing; another is a consciousness governed by laws appropriate for the descent with its task laid out accordingly. This is by no means a denial of life, of the Earth’s own processes, as interventions from other planetary systems would necessarily imply. Rather, such incarnations can be said to embody the deepest essence of our planet’s Being and Becoming. Descent and Ascent are, as it were, the double helix of existence within the cosmic harmony.
Our number system from 0 to 9 is another aid which, when combined with the zodiac and applied to the cosmic harmony can help us discover our position on the evolutionary scale of creation. In the Puranas these ‘creations’ are 9 in number, the last three of which are the most relevant: the 7th (mental), the 8th (overmental), and the 9th (supramental), according to Sri Aurobindo’s corresponding terminology in this new Age of the Supermind. These three final stages are cemented forever in the spirit of the peoples of the subcontinent through the Epics of the 7th and 8th Evolutionary Avatars. Further, they are sanctified by the Rig Veda in the verses describing Vishnu’s three strides to measure the universe, each step of which corresponds to the last three stages of the Puranic Creations. Given these different methods to stress the 7, 8, and 9, it is clear that their meaning is essential to uncover. To this end, I will discuss the importance of the 9 Puranic Creations and our number system in the next Update, and their relation to the newly discovered final triad of planets in our solar system, the 7th, the 8th and the 9th – one of the most astonishing displays of the cosmic harmonies yet to be unveiled.
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet
Director
Aeon Centre of Cosmology
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