 |
 |
The three Pyramids at Giza, located south-west of Cairo, are
aligned exactly as the three middle stars of the constellation
of Orion namely Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka match the 3
great pyramids of Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura for the belt of
Orion. This star position is reflected prominently elsewhere
as well. Most prominently by the great sphinx who reflects the
star constellation Orion circa 10400BCE
|
 |
|
Todays age of Aquarius is the polar opposite to this great age
of Leo. Leo represents the sovereign rights of individuals to be
monarchs of their realms, whereas Aquarius works with systems to
address common problems, as in democracies. |
|
Corvus, Crater & Hydra
|
 |
|
Apollo was about to make
a sacrifice to Zeus and sent the crow to fetch water
from a running spring. The crow flew off with a bowl in
its claws, but it rests lazily on the journey because it
sees a fig tree by the pond.
"What matter if
I wait only a few days until the fruit ripens?" the
raven asked itself. And it waited. When the
fruit ripened the raven then stayed several more days
eating the fruit until it was all gone. He then
filled the cup with fresh spring water but realized that
his master would be angry for the long delay. Then
he noticed a water-serpent nearby and grasped it in his
claws. So with cup in mouth and serpent dangling
from his claws, the raven flew up to Heaven. He
explained to Apollo that the serpent had attacked him
and that is what caused the delay.
But Apollo, one of
whose skills was the art of prophecy, saw through the
lie and condemned the crow to a life of thirst – which
is perhaps one explanation for the rasping call of the
crow. |
 |
|
Apollo was so angry with the bird that he flung him, cup
and serpent out of Heaven. Today we see them
together in the sky as Crater, the Cup, and Corvus, the
Raven, perched on Hydra the serpent's back. The raven is
depicted pecking at the water snake’s coils, as though
attempting to move it so that the crow may reach the cup
to drink. This myth gave rise to two alternate manes for
Corvus as a constellation: Avis Ficarius,
or "the Fig Bird," and Emansor, or "One Who
Lingers Too Long." For the Greeks, this
story explains why, of all birds, the raven does not
carry water to its young. |
 |
|
The crow was the sacred
bird of Apollo, who changed himself into one to flee
from the monster Typhon when that immense creature
threatened the gods. |
 |
|
It was one of the 48
constellations listed by Ptolemy, who only counted 7
stars although today we say there are 11 visible to the
naked eye. |
 |
In Greek mythology, Canis
Major and Canis Minor are the two dogs of Orion, The
Great Hunter. The Little Dog, Canis Minor, was the
favourite dog of Helen of Troy, whose prayers for its
immortality were answered when it was placed among the
stars.
Canis Minor is much smaller than its mate, Canis Major.
Its principal star was named Procyon, Greek for "Before
the Dog". Named such because it rises just before
Sirius, the Dog Star in Canis Major.
Procyon is a very fortunate star, known to the
Mesopotamians as "The Star of the Crossing of the
Water-Dog", as it lies near their River of Heaven, the
Milky Way. Procyon has a white dwarf companion star like
Sirius.
Canis Major is one of the most striking of all the
constellations. This is a large, bright cluster, even
visible to the naked eye on dark nights. Just look for
Sirius, The Dog Star. Sirius is the brightest star in
the heavens. One legend has it, Sirius marks the diamond
in the collar of Canis Major. Its name means 'sparkling'
and 'scorching' as it is nearest to the sun during the
height of the summer. At its distance of 2,350 light
years it shines very brightly, with a luminosity of
8,000 of our suns |
|
Canis Minor was
considered to be the smaller of the two hunting dogs of
Orion. |
|
Link List |
2 Dec 2002
A new proposition for redating the Mithraic tauroctony
scene
E. Bon, M.M. irkovi, I. Milosavljevi |
Mithraic experts who are opponents of
David Ulansey's ideas on the origin of Mithraism include
Roger Beck, Manfred Clauss and Helmut Waldmann
Academic counterpoint to starmap of precession by Gary
D. Thompson |
|
Star Chart 2214 BC
a
Mithrac Moment @siloam.net |
|
"This book is devoted to establishing
an equation for which there is not one piece of direct
evidence: that Mithras, the god of the Roman mystery
cult, is the constellation Orion."
Mithras-Orion: Greek Hero and Roman Army
God by Michael P. Speidel
Author(s) of Review: Roger Beck Phoenix, Vol.
36, No. 2 (Summer, 1982), pp. 196-198
doi:10.2307/
1087690 |
|
Compilation of book quotes showing
variety of views on tauroctony meaning @ mystae.com |
The "Mithras" Liturgy @ hermetic.com
from the Paris Codex
Edited and Translated by Marvin W. Meyer
the Liturgy reflects an important religious tendency of
its day, a syncretistic piety utilizing astrology and
magic and emphasizing the ecstatic ascent of the
individual soul. Of additional interest is the
relationship of the Mithras Liturgy to the previously
known Hermetic literature and the recently discovered
tractates from Nag Hammadi |
|
Mithra @ crystalinks.com |
|
Zodiac wheel |
|
|
|
Taurus Star Chart |
Babylonian Astronomy @ burro.astr.
cwru.edu |
|
Trial of Galileo Galilei |
|
Millennial Archetypes @lhillman.com |
neptunecafe.
com/aquarius.html |
|
atlantisrising.com |
|
sacred geometry by crystalinks.com
|
 |
The Orion Mystery: Unlocking the
Secrets of the Pyramids (Mass Market Paperback)
|
world-mysteries.com/
gw_rellis7.htm
A computer planisphere can precisely date these astronomical
eras and it appears that he era of Taurus (the bull) lasted
until about 1800 BC, when Aries (the sheep) came into
ascendance.
1800 BC + 2160 +2160 = 2100 AD indicating 2012 as being a bit
too early |
|
MITHRAISM, ASTRO-THEOLOGY AND ITS SIMILARITY TO
CHRISTIANITY |
"We are all participants in a sublime drama, and
the earth is its author."
|
|
|
Stranger than Fiction |
|
I: |
|
Ardshir II (Xerex) worshipping
Anahita riding Iranian lion with Mithra rising from
the lions back. The roots of this story, the Persian deities and
astrological knowledge of the precession begin in Iraq and Iran where at
the beginning of the next great age there exists the greatest
possibility of a nuclear Armageddon or WWIII |
|
II |
 |
|
Heliocentricity |
|
Does the tauroctony,
with its strong solar orientation to the cosmos also communicate the
knowledge that the earth orbited around the sun?
It would appear that
the knowledge that the sun was much larger than the earth and that the
other planets revolved around the earth was available and discussed
among academics who shared an ancient great age of astronomical science
systematizing the millennial star data of the Chaldeans and Babylonians.
Mithraism was created by Stoics of Taurus and one of history's most
prominet Stoics, Seneca did make a public pronouncement in favor of
pursuing heliacal knowledge. It would not have been safe, even in
pre-Christian times to espouse this view, such that the knowledge could
best be passed on as part of a secret initiation. This area needs
further examination as it appears to have been an area that no one has
studied. |
 |
|
III. The Bull's Eye or |
|
Dark Sun |
The myth of the 2nd dark sun may
also be part of the story of Mithras as the deity reflects a more
powerful but sunlike relationship with the invincible sun. This may be
the bull's eye or the cause of the wobble that creates the 25,920 great
cycle of the earth
[more] |
|
 |
|
|
Egypt had predicted the death of
civilization, and that the mouth of a fish would contain its seed. In
the legend of Osiris, his body is destroyed by his brother Seth and the
parts were scattered around Egypt. Egypt to the Egyptians was the whole
celestial sphere, but experience lay on the path of the sun. The
fourteen parts of the body of Osiris became the constellations of the
zodiac. |
 |
|
The sky was
represented by Nut, who was a female goddess. Osiris, the form of the
Nile River, was Nut's opposite. Osiris was first and foremost the ruler
of the Dead. Life came through resurrection. He was also the sun, the
moon, and the stars of the present-day constellation Orion. He is
basically the god of everything.
The main myth
surrounding Osiris is that he was fathered by Geb, the Earth, and born
of Nut. He became the king, organizer, and the spirit of Egypt. His
sister and consort was Isis, represented in the sky by Sirius (the
brightest star). Osiris' brother and eventual murderer was Set, who was
associated with the Big Dipper. |
discoveries of archeoastorology holds the 26,000 year earth cycle
was discovered by Hipparchus [190 BC – ca. 120 BC] in the 2nd century BC. while
the great library of Alexandria was fully flowering with knowledge of the prior
ages.
Wikipedia is shines significant light on this evolving story as
it introduces many new characters into a little known golden dawn of science and
exchange between three greats centers of learning, Athens, Alexandria and
Taursus [Turkey] between the 4th century BC and 300 AD.
However, civilizations, particularly the Babylonian, Egyptian
and Indian, had been tracking the movement of the night sky for millennia. We
will likely never know for certain if they had observed the 1 degree change
every 72 years but their surviving myths and monuments suggest as much.
It is not such a stretch to expect that the authors of
Mithraicism, the Stoics of Taurus would have encoded this recently confirmed by
recent academic knowledge into their mystery religion designed to make good men
better in the pursuit of virtue.
Figures of Sol (Sun) and Luna (Moon) frequently appear at the
two upper corners of the tauroctone scene. Also frequently depicted are
the twelve zodiacal signs and sometimes the the four winds. There are numerous inscriptions in which Mithras is
called "the unconquered sun" (sol invictus).
The constellations common in the sky from about 4000 BC to
2000 BC were Taurus the Bull, Canis Majpr the Dog, Hydra the Snake, and Scorpio the Scorpion
are prominent in the tauroctony. Often appearing are two identical figures
at either side of Mithras and Bull and appearing less often are Corvus the
Raven, Leo the Lion and Crater, the Cup which were considered to lie on the
Celestial Equator according to Roman celestial spheres.
There is a linguistic identity between the line of kings of
ancient Persia named Mithras and Perseus and Persia. Mithras is clearly Perseus
in his Phrygian cap.
The age old truce between religion and science has not
completely emerged from the dark ages or even the heresy trials that resulted in
Galileo receiving a life sentence for publishing his
evidence supporting the sun and not the earth at the center of our solar system.
The historic figure given credit for discovery of the
precession of the equinoxes is Hipparchus who was also the first arbiter
of whether the earth circled around the sun or the universe around the earth.
The views and discoveries of Hipparchus are known mainly through Ptolemy (85-165
AD) whose astrological text was the standard textbook for the Romans, the Arab
Science Golden Age (750-1258 C.E.) and its reintroduction to Europe
through the Moors in Spain.
MITHRAS ON YOUTUBE
 |
|
|
Standard Mithraic
Tauroctony:
|
|
 |
Detail of above showing dog and
serpent drinking bull's blood
|
Detail showing scorpion
attacking bull's testicles.
|
 |
Here the twin torch
bearers,have their lower legs crossed at twenty
three degrees, the angle of the earth wobble which
creates the precession
|
The Standard Mithraic Tauroctony or Bull Slaying
Scene represents the beginning of the Age of Taurus around 4000 BC. The identification of some
constellations is clear enough: the bull is
Taurus,
the serpent
Hydra, the dog
Canis Major or
Minor, the crow or raven
Corvus, the goblet
Crater
and the scorpion is
Scorpios. Only recently has
it been proposed that
the two identical figures represent
Gemini. Recent sky projections for the age of Taurus indicate
that the only time that the prominent equatorial constellations of
Orion and Libra were not at this position of equator was at the
beginning of the Zodical great age of Taurus in BC. In addition this
is also the only time that the constellation Perseus is present,
which leading Mithraic scholar Dr. David Ulansey has suggested is
represented by the god Mithras.
The tauroctony does not show Aries
and Libra although these were in the equinoxes in Greco-Roman times.
However the equinoxes last positions before that were in Taurus and Scorpius. Starting with Taurus and moving west, the equator passes
through the following—and only the followings— constellations on or
below the ecliptic: Sol
Invictus: There are numerous inscriptions in which Mithras is
called "the unconquered sun" (sol invictus). Mithraic iconography
often portrays Mithras involved in various activities in conjugation
with the sun god Helios or Sol. Many of the scenes represent Mithras
as a power superior to Helios or Sol. This is a reference to Mithras
controlling the entire cosmic structure, a power greater than that
of any other divinity or mere planet even if it is the sun.
|
|
Archaeoastronomy:
|
|
An
explanation for the missing constellations
of Orion and Libra |
|
It's
4000: BC! |
"Assuming that the
figures of the central icon of the Mithraic cult - the scene
of tauroctony (bull slaying) - represent equatorial
constellations at the time when the spring equinox was
placed somewhere between Taurus and Aries, it is difficult
to explain why some equatorial constellations (Orion and
Libra) were not included in the Mithraic icons
A simulation of the sky at the times in which the spring
equinox was in the constellation of Taurus, only a small
area of spring equinox positions permits to exclude these
two constellations, with all other representations of
equatorial constellations (Taurus, Canis Minor, Hydra,
Crater, Corvus, Scorpio) included. These positions of the
spring equinox occurred at the beginning of the age of
Taurus, and included Gemini as an equatorial constellation.
Two of the main figures in the Mithraic icons are two
identical figures, usually represented on the each side of
the bull, wearing phrygian caps and holding torches. Their
names, Cautes and Cautopates, and their looks may indicate
that they represent the constellation of Gemini. In that
case the main icon of Mithraic religion could represent an
event that happened around 4000 BC, when the spring equinox
entered the constellation of Taurus. Also, this position of
equator contains Perseus as an equatorial constellation.
Ulansey suggested that the god Mithras is identified with
the constellation Perseus. In that case, all figures in the
main scene would be equatorial constellations. |
|
Original Paper: A new
proposition for redating the Mithraic tauroctony scene
by E. Bon, M.M. irkovi, I. Milosavljevi
©2002 |
|
The Lion Battling the Bull
|
|
"In a well-reasoned research paper,
"The Earliest History of the Constellations in the Near East and the
Motif of the Lion-Bull Combat," historian of science Willy Hartner
showed that the ancient symbol of the lion battling the bull actually
illustrated the fiery death of Taurus in the glow of the setting Sun.
Leo, the Lion, triumphantly commanded the meridian as the Bull went
down. Hartner tracked this theme back to Elam, in what is now southern
Iran. The lion plays matador on an Elamite seal from about 4000 B.C.
"New Stone Age farmers saw seasonal transition in this celestial event.
In the fourth millennium B.C., the Bull succumbed in early February, a
time that coincided with the year's first plowing and the start of the
agricultural cycle. The Bull's sacrifice was the prelude to the next
renewal in the rhythm of growth. "Even though the slowly wobbling axis
of the Earth gradually precesses the stars out of their familiar
seasons, in 500 B.C. the Achaemenid dynasty of Persian kings was still
putting the lion-bull combat to work as an emblem of seasonal sacrifice.
By then, however, Taurus was going down in flames closer to the time of
the vernal equinox, in March.
|
|
The Bull's twilight death roughly coincided with
the Persian Empire's New Year equinox festival, and a key myth in
the Zoroastrian religion of ancient Persia involves the death of the
Bull of Creation at the hands of Ahriman, the Lord of Evil."
- E.C. Krupp, "Throwing
the Bull" |
|
In 1989 David Ulansey
convincingly suggested that the mythological
synthesis and expression of the precession of the
equinoxes as expressed by the tauroctony took place in
the university town of Tarsus, the birthplace of St.
Paul and a center of Stoic philosophy using .Tarsus had
a large population of Persians, was ruled by Mithradates
VI, whose name means "given by Mithra," under his
patronage the Cilician pirates, who were known for
disseminating the worship of Mithras, operated.
According to Ulansey,
Mithras was represented by the constellation Perseus,
and is the deity responsible for initiating the
precession. Perseus position above Taurus, with his left
knee of the bull as he plunges the dagger into the
bull's right shoulder initiates the cosmic shift of the
celestial equator. Only the smaller community of
scientists would have known about the precession and
only the still smaller group of Stoics of Tarsus would
have recognized it as divine revelation best understood
as revealed ritual. |
 |
"The answer to this question lies
in the fact that the phenomenon of the
precession of the equinoxes was unknown
throughout most of antiquity: it was
discovered for the first time around 128
B.C. by the great Greek astronomer
Hipparchus........."
---David Ulansey
|
|
|
"For the constellations pictured in the
standard tauroctony have one thing in common:
namely, they all lay on the celestial
equator as it was positioned during the epoch
immediately preceeding the Greco-Roman "Age of
Aries." During that earlier age, which we may call
the "Age of Taurus," lasting from around 4,000 to
2,000 B.C., the celestial equator passed through
Taurus the Bull ... The Mithraic tauroctony, then,
was apparently designed as a symbolic representation
of the astronomical situation that obtained during
the Age of Taurus. |
|
David Ulansey. In an
online article
excerpted from his book, The Origins of the Mithraic
Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient
World, Ulansey answered two pregnant questions: |
|
Why not
focus on Pisces the Fish?
|
|
Further studies via
David Ulansey |
For Mithras online, David Ulansky is the
most quoted scholar with highest rated,
non en.wikipedia site by google search.
His well referenced articles are
available
online as well as a recent appendix
defending his notion that Hipparchus
should be known as the discover of
precession of the equinoxes when what
little we retain of what he wrote is less than compelling.
[more
@appendix4]
Of greater interest to
those looking forward was his response
to the question of Mithras not focusing
on their own role as stewards closing
out the great age of Aries and passing
the baton to Pisces well represented by
monotheistic Christian fish. His
response was the dominance of a
"universally accepted standard" from
Babylonian "System B." In
addition he adds:
|
"any ancient
astronomer who learned of
Hipparchus's discovery of the
precession and who held to the
standard location of the equinox
at 8° Aries could only have
concluded that the Age of Aries
still had 800 years remaining to
it. " |
Finally he makes the point, that unlike
the present age which has forgotten the
lessons of the ancients combination of
science with spirituality the Greeks and
Romans "felt that a deep spiritual
potency was inherent in great antiquity"
and honoring this momentous event could
only add power and significance to the
rituals.
[more @ David Ulansky's
site /appendix3 ] |
|
|
|
Galileo condemned
to life imprisonment
|
|
 |
|
|
On 22 June 1633 Galileo was forced to
kneel in front of the Inquisition and recant his belief in
the Copernican planetary system and the motion of the Earth.
He was condemned to life imprisonment, ostensibly for having
disobeyed a 1616 injunction by Cardinal Bellarmino "...not
to defend or teach the Copernican doctrine...".
The sentence was commuted to perpetual house arrest,
which was rigidly upheld to the end of Galileo's life.
Galileo's Dialogue was also put on the Index of Prohibited
Books, together with the books by Copernicus and Kepler
treating of the heliocentric system, where they all remained
until 1835. In 1992 did the Roman Catholic Church formally
admitted to having erred in dealing with Galileo.
|
"The error of the theologians of the time when they
maintained the centrality of the earth was to think
that our understanding of the physical world's
structure was in some way imposed by the literal
sense of Sacred Scripture.... |
|
– Pope John Paul II L'Osservatore Romano N. 44 1264
- 4th November 1992 |
|
|
CounterPoint
|
|
Academe Fights Back: |
|
by Dr Shepherd
Simpson, Astrological Historian |
|
When did the Modern Publishing
on Ancient Precession Begin?
"These ideas were formulated quite
recently, and show an obvious line of descent from
Jung's ideas on
Astrological Ages. The trend started
with two books which appeared one to two decades after
Jung's ideas were published: |
|
Sacred Science: The King of Pharaonic Theocracy
[published 1961], R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, which
covered
Precession in ancient Egypt, and,
Hamlets' Mill: A Essay Investigating the Origins of
Human Knowledge and Its Transmission Through Myth
[published 1969], Giorgio De Santillana, Hertha Von
Dechend , which covered
Precession in the Mesopotamian
civilisations.
These have been followed over several decades by dozens
of books on a similar theme, that an ancient
civilization knew of
Precession and therefore there is a
relevance to us. More recently, other authors have
extended the concept to pre-Colombian Western hemisphere
civilisations.
Academe Fights Back:
Please see
Ancient Egypt and Precession
and
Ancient Babylonia and Precession for
a summaries of why Egyptologists and specialists in
Mesopotamian history don't think either of these two
ancient cultures had an understanding of the
Movement of the Ages. [Please see
Mithraism and Precession for an
analysis of the arguments that the later Roman Mithras
religion had precession as part of its central mystery.]
Publishing and Precession after
Jung...
© Dr Shepherd Simpson,
Astrological Historian |
|
We
gratefully acknowledge Dr. Simpson for not only his well
articulated evidence and are pleased to find his quest for truth
in space as part of the new science of
Archaeoastronomy has made
his web site a source of discovery and delight for us. While his
instinct to side with the intransigence of the academic orthodoxy
is still very apparent, there is much respect from him for acknowledging the primacy of the great ages
in organizing the great civilizations through art and mythology.
With regards to his
central point that the age of Aquarius is 600 years in the
future, he has good company as our survey will show. One has to
acknowledge that since the constellations along the ecliptic
varied in size, defining 12 equal signs of 30° each did require
an arbitrary assignment of boundaries roughly corresponding to
the ecliptic constellations.
Furthermore, the ancient invention of the zodiac system where
the signs of the zodiac do not necessarily coincide with the
actual constellations for which they are named is a strong
indicator of the use of the precession of the equinoxes as the
central organizing wisdom in and of itself. |
"Which planet makes its 'house' in Scorpius
[in modern terms the planetary ruler] is even more complex. In
the Age of Taurus, 4000 years ago, Leo was the Summer Solstice
sign in the northern hemisphere and hence the Sun made its
'house' in Leo and the rest of the signs followed from this
starting point. But by the time of Ptolemy, in the Age of Aries,
Cancer was the Solstice sign and should have been assigned the
Sun. However Ptolemy assigns Leo the Sun. Even Ptolemy kept
out-dated astrology, as we do today."
Scorpious by Dr. S.S. |
|
The first
millennium's first & last published view
supporting a heliocentric view of the cosmos
|
 |
|
Lucius
Annaeus Seneca (the Younger)
(4 BC-65 AD) In 49 AD, he was brought
out of exile to tutor
the
young Nero.
In 65 AD
the
Stoic
dutifully followed the order by Emperor
Nero to commit suicide |
"It will
be proper to discuss this, in order that we may
know whether the universe revolves and the earth
stands still, or the universe stands still and
the earth rotates.
For there have been those who asserted that it
is we whom the order of nature causes to move
without our being aware of it, and that risings
and settings do not occur by the virtue of the
motion of the heaven, but that we ourselves rise
and set. The subject is worthy of consideration,
in order that we may know in what condition we
live, whether the abode allotted to us is the
most slowly or the most quickly moving, whether
God moves everyting around us or ourselves
instead."
---Seneca |
Mithras is the god of light, and was often
worshipped along with or as Sol Invictus, the conquering
sun. The age of Aquarius can best be understood as a new
collective understanding of the space age.
The most recent addition to the story of the tauroctony is
the view that the two identical twins at either side
represent not just the two equinoxes but the constellation
Gemini thereby indicating the passing of the ages from
Gemini to Taurus around 4000 BC rather than the great age of
Taurus.
It has only been since 2003, when The Da
Vinci Code author
Dan Brown brought into the
mainstream of the collective conscious important chapters in
the true history of the heretical religious traditions that
have played as vital a role in society. The record shows the
power supports power, as the established faiths and those
who enjoy the support of the power structure in academia and
elected office continuously try to suppress new ideas not
preciously supported. Brown's next book is expected to bring
to the collective conscious much of the information linked
to this page particularly with regards to the Masonic
tradition's affinity for temples and their sacred sciences
of numerology, geometry, and cosmology.
Over a quarter of century ago, the Roman Catholic church
admitted in 1992 it erred when it repressed the great Galileo from
discussing the position of the sun in the solar system yet the fierceness of the
tenured types to dispute the obvious conclusions of advanced sciences among
ancient civilizations remains in contrast to the more cautious words from the
church despite the new evidence given to us by computers generating star charts
that match up with the ancient stories and monuments. It is time for the
academic orthodoxy to open up to interdisciplinary inquiries into closely
guarded territories. A litmus test for us can be when the tenured types
begin to acknowledge the Mithraic Tauroctony's depiction of the most popular
theme in the mythology of antiquity, the Age of Taurus passing to the Old
Testament times of Aries. This is a central theme of the Babylonian myth
Gilgamesh and appears well engrained in numerous instances very alive today in
many cultures including the Carnaval tradition of the Boeuf Gras
The growth of
Archaeoastronomy as a discipline needs to be supplemented by a return to a
greater understanding of our need for a relationship with the sacred.
Materialistic thinking has limitations. A good place to begin is the great seal
on the back of every US dollar acknowledging the prophetic messages of the
great pyramid.
|
|
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Now we are
not merely to stick knowledge on to the soul: we must
incorporate it into her; the soul should not be sprinkled with
knowledge but steeped in it. |
|
---Seneca |
 |
|
Orion
the Hunter is of great antiquity.
Being so bright and distinctive and on the celestial
equator, the pattern of stars that forms Orion was
recognized as a coherent constellation by many ancient
civilizations, though with different representations and
mythologies.
It was known to the
Sumerians of Mesopotamia as Uru-anna or the Light of
Heaven. It was identified with the great Sumerian hero
Gilgamesh, who was seen as battling the Bull of Heaven,
Gut-anna, which we see as the constellation of Taurus.
In the sky Orion carries an unbreakable bronze club. In
his other hand he bears the pelt of a lion.
The ancient Sumerians saw this star pattern as forming
part of an image of a shepherd (sometimes in a chariot)
with his sheep and in some versions a shepherd's crook,
while in China, Orion was one of the 28 lunar mansions
Sieu (Xiu) （宿）. Known as Shen （參）, literally meaning
"three", it is believed to be named so for the three
stars located in Orion's belt. (See Chinese
constellation)
The stars were associated with Osiris, the god of death
and underworld, by the ancient Egyptians. The Giza
pyramid complex, which consists of the Great Pyramid of
Giza, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure,
is said to be a sky-map of the Belt of Orion, that is,
of Osiris. |
|
The coming of the
"end of times"
as written in the Bible
or
The dawning of
the new world order |
 |
 |
|
The modern Zodiac owes its creation to
the Babylonians. Tablet No. 77,821 in the British Museum
which dates to ~500 B.C. agrees very closely with the
present Zodiac. Even earlier documents, such as the Mul
Apin tablets and astrolabes contain descriptions of
constellations which conform to some, if not all, of the
twelve that form the modern Zodiac. Thus, the Zodiac was
systematized about the time of the great Nebuchadnezzar
II in almost its present form. |
|
Men
occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them
pick themselves up and carry on as if nothing ever
happened."
---Winston Churchill |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
Discovery of precession |
Astrological age
In
astrology, an astrological age has usually been
defined by the
constellation in which the Sun actually appears at
the
vernal equinox. This is the method that
Hipparchus
appears to have applied around 127 BCE when he
discovered precession. Like nearly everything else
related to the astrological ages, Hipparchus' approach
remains contentious. |
|
The identification of the
Tauroctony constellations is clear enough: the bull
is
Taurus,
the serpent
Hydra, the dog
Canis Major or
Minor, the crow or raven
Corvus, the goblet
Crater, the lion
Leo, and,
more speculatively, the wheat-blood the star
Spica.
The two identical figures represent
Gemini. |
|
Current knowledge of the mysteries is
almost entirely limited to what can be deduced from the
iconography in the mithraea that have survived. In the
Mithras Liturgy, where Helios rules the elements;
spells and incantations invoking Helios among the
Greek Magical Papyri; In antiquity, texts refer to
"the mysteries of
Mithras", and to its adherents, as "the mysteries of
the
Persians."[1]
Mithras himself could be associated with
Perseus, whose constellation is above that of the
bull. Mithras may have been seen as the
Orphic creator-god
Phanes who emerged from the
world egg at the beginning of time, bringing the
universe into existence. |
|
The
celestial equator is a
great circle on the imaginary
celestial sphere, in the same plane as the
Earth's
equator. In other words, it is a projection of the
terrestrial equator out into space. As result of the
Earth's
axial tilt, the celestial equator is inclined by
~23.5° with respect to the
ecliptic plane. |
Precession_of
_the_equinoxes |
|
Babylonian Cosmology |
 |
|
Mesopotamian astronomy
The records of the Babylonians are among
the oldest written records of ancient peoples' interests
in celestial bodies and the earliest date from around
2500 B.C. Classical sources frequently use the term
Chaldeans for the astronomers of Mesopotamia, who
were, in reality, priest-scribes specializing in
astrology and other forms of
divination. Centuries of Babylonian observations of
celestial phenomena are recorded in the series of
cuneiform tablets known as the Enūma Anu Enlil.
The
MUL.APIN, contains catalogues of stars and
constellations as well as schemes for predicting
heliacal risings and the settings of the planets,
lengths of daylight measured by a
water-clock,
gnomon, shadows, and
intercalations.
Naburimannu (fl. 6th-3rd century BC),
Kidinnu (d. 330 BC),
Berossus (3rd century BC), and
Sudines (fl. 240 BC) are known to have had a
significant influence on
Hipparchus and
Ptolemy.
Aristarchus_of_
Samos apparently lost the debate despite the efforts
of
Seleucus of Seleucia (b.
190 BC).[4][5][6]
a century later to advance a
heliocentric model where
the
Earth rotated around its own axis which in turn
revolved around the
Sun. According to
Plutarch, Seleucus even proved the heliocentric
system, but it is not known what arguments he used. The
Geocentric likely entered
Greek astronomy orthodoxy through
Hipparchus who
work was made known by Plutarch.
|
Babylonian
_astronomy
Nebuchadrezzar II,(c
630-562 BC), was a ruler of
Babylon in the
Chaldean Dynasty, who reigned c.
605 BC-562
BC. He is famous for his monumental building within
his capital of Babylon, his role in the
Book of Daniel, and his construction of the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon and known among
Christians and Jews for his conquests of
Judah and
Jerusalem. |
|
Kos & Rhodes |
|
Kos & Rhodes were famous for their
schools of higher learning which shared masters with the
great University of
Alexandria. Off the coast of Asia Minor, Kos is best
known as the home to
physician
Hippocratesas Kos became a favorite resort for the
education of the princes of the
Ptolemaic dynasty [305 BC to 30 BC.]Berossus
[340 BCE - ?] ran a
school of astrology here and became famous as a statue
of him was erected in Athens. He is best known for his
astrological writings.
Sumerian
king_list which communicate knowledge of the
precession of the equinoxes. |
|
Rhodes was a commercial center with coins
that could be found throughout the Mediterranean.
Athenian rhetorician
Aeschines who formed a school at Rhodes;
Apollonius of Rhodes; the astronomers
Hipparchus and Geminus, The erected a statue
of their sun god,
Helios, the statue now known as
Colossus of Rhodes. In 164 BC, Rhodes signed a
treaty with
Rome, and became a major schooling center for Roman
noble families. In 1309 the Byzantine era came to an end
when the island was subjugated by forces of the
Knights Hospitaller. The Knights would later move
their base of operations to
Malta |
|
The schools of Tarsos
rivalled
Athens and
Alexandria. In his time the library of Tarsus
held 200,000 books, a huge collection of scientific
works.
Pompey subjected it to Rome and Tarsus became
capital of the Roman province of
Cilicia (Caput Ciliciae), the metropolis
where the governor resided. To flatter
Julius Caesar, it took the name Juliopolis;
it was here that
Cleopatra and
Mark Antony met, the scene of the celebrated feasts
they gave during the construction of their fleet. In 66
BC, the inhabitants received Roman citizenship.
When the province of Cilicia was
divided, Tarsus remained the civil and religious
metropolis of Cilicia Prima |
|
Earth v. Sun
Cosmology |
Ptolemy (85-165 AD) was the Librarian
of Alexandria who resurrected Heraclides geocentric
theory and combined it with centuries of data on
planetary motions formulating a complete
description of the Solar System that explained/predicted
the apparent motions. The Ptolemic system began
the 1st paradigm or framework for our understanding of
Nature. His system favoring earth centered Hipparchus
over solar centered Aristarchus became orthodoxy until
the 16th century |
Hipparchus [190
BC – ca. 120 BC]
Most of what is
known about Hipparchus comes from
Ptolemy's
Almagest, since nothing written by
Hipparchus has survived. His great contribution to
science is perhaps due to the mathematical techniques
accumulated over centuries by the
Chaldeans from
Babylonia. Hipparchus seems to have been the first
to exploit Babylonian astronomical knowledge and
techniques systematically[6
He possessed a
trigonometric table, and appears to have solved some
problems of
spherical trigonometry. With his solar and lunar
theories and his trigonometry, he may have been the
first to develop a reliable method to predict
solar eclipses. His other reputed achievements
include the discovery of
precession, the compilation of the first
comprehensive
star catalog of the western world, and possibly the
invention of the
astrolabe, also of the
armillary sphere which first appeared during his
century and was used by him during the creation of the
catalog. |
Ptolemy,
[83 – 161 AD] was an Egyptian mathematician, [some
say Greek] geographer, astronomer, and astrologer who
flourished in
Alexandria,
Roman Egypt. He was often known in later
Arabic sources as "the
Upper Egyptian",[7]
suggesting that he may have had origins in southern
Egypt.[5]
Ptolemy is also known to have used
Babylonian astronomical data.[8][9]
His adoption of the
Hipparchus
geocentric
model for his textbook of mathematical astronomy
Almagest
was accepted as correct for over 1500 years until
Copernicus
Europe would eventually rediscover Ptolemy from
translations of Arabic versions since the Church had
successfully exercised
almost complete control over academic thought and so
much knowledge from the past had been lost in
Western Europe.
The first acknowledged use of trigonometry came from the
Hellenistic mathematician
Hipparchus[1]
circa 150 BC, who compiled a trigonometric
table using the
sine for solving triangles.
Ptolemy further developed trigonometric calculations
circa 100 AD.
However
Indian mathematicians were the pioneers of variable
computations
algebra for use in astronomical calculations along
with trigonometry.
Lagadha (circa 1350-1200 BC) is the first person
thought to have used geometry and trigonometry for
astronomy, in his
Vedanga Jyotisha. |
|
Porphyry
[233–c. 309] was a Syrian
Neoplatonic philosopher, writer of standard textbook
on logic for at least a millennium, an opponent of
Christianity and defender of
Paganism |
Bull_(mythology)
The
Sumerian
Epic of Gilgamesh depicts the killing of the Bull
of Heaven. When the heroes of the new
Indo-European culture arrived in the Aegean basin,
they faced off with the ancient Sacred Bull on many
occasions, and always overcame it, in the form of the
myths that have survived.
Dionysus was
another god of resurrection who was strongly linked to
the bull. In a cult hymn from
Olympia, at a festival for Hera,
Dionysus is also invited to come as a bull, "with
bull-foot raging." |
| In the
history of astronomy, a
great
year may refer to any real or imagined cycle
with astronomical or
astrological significance. The Greeks sometimes
called the period of time required for the
naked eye planets to realign, a great year. It was
an important concept in ancient
Stoicism. |
|
The north and south celestial poles
are the two imaginary points in the sky where the
Earth's
axis of rotation, "infinitely extended", intersects
the imaginary rotating sphere of stars called the
celestial sphere. |
|
Farnese_Atlas
one of the many great
masterpieces at the
Museo Archeologico Nazionale
in
Naples, Italy. It is
a 2nd-century Roman marble copy of a
Hellenistic sculpture of Atlas kneeling with a globe
weighing heavily on his shoulders. In 2005
Dr. Bradley E. Schaefer,
presented an analysis concluding that here was
Hipparchus' long lost
star catalog. |
|
Joseph Justus Scaliger
( 1540-1609) French religious leader and scholar, known for
expanding the notion of classical history from Greek and
Ancient Roman history to include
Persian,
Babylonian,
Jewish and
Ancient Egyptian history. Scaliger was alone for many centuries in
his investigation of ancient non Greco-Roman systems of
epochs,
calendars and
astrology. |
|
The
renaissance came to astronomy with the work of
Nicolaus Copernicus, who proposed a
heliocentric system, in which the planets revolved
around the Sun and not the Earth. His
De revolutionibus provided a full mathematical
discussion of his system, using the geometrical
techniques that had been traditional in astronomy since
before the time of
Ptolemy. His work was later defended, expanded upon
and modified by
Galileo Galilei and
Johannes Kepler.
Isaac Newton
developed further ties between physics and astronomy
through his
law of universal gravitation. |
|
The_Da
Vinci_Code, the 14th best-selling book of all-time
which focused attention on
Vatican secrets.The mystery/ detective novel by
American by author
Dan Brown, explores the
Holy Grail legend, the role of
Mary Magdalene as a symbol of the
sacred feminine in the history of Christianity, a
mysterious 1000 year old secret society called the
Priory of Sion,the
Knights Templar history and the controversial Roman
Catholic organization
Opus Dei. |
|
Giordano Bruno
(1548, Nola – February 17, 1600, Rome) was an Italian
philosopher, priest,
cosmologist, and
occultist. Bruno is known for his
mnemonic system based upon organized knowledge and
as an early proponent of the idea of an infinite and
homogeneous universe.
Burnt at the stake as a
heretic by the
Roman Inquisition, Bruno is seen by some as the
first "martyr
[1] for science." At his trial he listened to
the verdict on his knees, then stood up and said:
"Perhaps you, my judges, pronounce this sentence against
me with greater fear than I receive it." |
|
End Times wikipedia article as of
8OCT-2007 |
Indian_astronomy
Early traces of a
heliocentric model are found in several anonymous
Vedic Sanskrit texts composed in
ancient India before the
7th century BCE. Additionally, the
Indian astronomer and mathematician
Aryabhata anticipated elements of Copernicus' work
by over a thousand years. |
|
Vedic period |
|
Vedas arguably
the oldest sacred texts that are still used |
|
In Sanskrit, mitra means 'friend' or
friendship' like mihr in Persian. In Zend, mithra means
precisely the 'contract' which eventually became
deified. |
|
Scholasticism
originally began to reconcile the
philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers
with
medieval
Christian theology |
|
Arkaim is an
amazing
Russian
Archaeoastronomy site compared to
Stonehenge
only recently discovered |
|
|
differences among scholars. However that there are only minor variations evident
in over 500 representations of the Mithraic bull slaying scene indicates there
is a specific interpretation leaving the field open to a spirited debate.
