Many myths set up a scene like this and then have the axle break. This is believed to represent the earth shifting on its axis. The myths then feature scenes where destructive Earth Changes seem to occur. Dr. Susan Lea, the Physics and Astronomy Department Chair at San Francisco State University, explains the deeper context behind this story—which is much older than the works of William Shakespeare.
Stone mill for grinding corn. This imagery was used in various ancient myths worldwide to describe a slow wobble in the Earth’s axis lasting 25,920 years.
. . . the Hamlet myth is cosmological, and describes the precession of the equinoxes. By the time Shakespeare adapted the story to his purposes, its origin and meaning had lapsed into obscurity. . . . The mill is explained in the Indian Bhagavata Purana. “. . . the exalted seat of Vishnu, round which the starry spheres forever wander, like the upright axle of the corn mill.” According to Santillana and Von Dechend, all these myths aim to explain precession: the mill represents the rotation of the celestial sphere; the mill axle is the polar axis and the theme of the breaking of the mill represents the precession. . . . Each age ends with a catastrophic event, frequently involving a flood or water in some way. This is where the Hamlet tragedy fits in.6
Entire books could be written just on this one subject, and some already have been. One common symbol in these myths is the earth’s axis—or the axis mundi.
Let’s not forget that in chapter 3, we saw how the axis mundi was often symbolized by a stone—such as the Primitive Mountain, Shiva lingam, Benben, omphalos or baetyl—and this symbol was directly associated with the pineal gland. Let’s also not forget that the Romans also used tall pyramid shapes to represent the baetyl on their coins. What we did not discuss in chapter 3, however, is that many of the Roman baetyl coins have a vertical axis running right through the center of the pyramid-shaped stone.
Precession of the equinoxes—a 25,920-year wobble in the Earth’s axis.
Although this sacred stone is presumed to be solid . . . there is something mysterious going on inside. It is as if the outside skin has been rendered open to reveal some sort of structure. Four of the five coins show a pole or strut. . . . The mundane answer to this pole could be, and most likely is, the axis mundi. These coins may be telling us something connected with the baetyl in a mystical way. . . . All of these coins also have the angel on them.7
This suggests a curious, ongoing fascination in the top levels of the Roman empire with the movement of the earth’s axis, pyramids and the pineal gland. If the Romans inherited a greater, worldwide secret about the 25,920-year cycle, then they may well have believed there would be direct effects upon human consciousness at the end of the cycle. Let’s not forget that in the Egyptian mythologies, the Benben stone is surrounded by two Bennu birds. The Bennu is the phoenix—a bird that undergoes a radical transformation. The Egyptians also taught that the Bennu’s cry was responsible for creating great cycles of time that were ordained by Divine intelligence. We also saw teachings in the Egyptian Book of the Dead on how the seeker could achieve his or her own phoenix-like transformation—and when this happened, they could levitate, perform miracles and glow with bright light. The mystery schools and the major religions all seem to agree on the importance of the pineal gland in this spiritual awakening process.
Many authors want to sound the alarm about what they feel is imminent doom associated with this cycle—and its apparent due date of 2012. Some of the people I’ve spoken to who worked in various classified projects would agree with them. There is compelling evidence that significant Earth Changes do occur at the end of each of these cycles, but remember—we are already seeing those changes now.
The Final Destruction
According to Santillana, these ancient legends from all over the world describe the conditions on the earth getting worse and worse as we head toward the end of the cycle—much like the flaming death of the phoenix before it is reborn. These prophecies forecast a wide variety of problems in government and society—wars, famines, diseases and corruption, not to mention catastrophic Earth Changes—but the myths say they then usher in a stunning new Golden Age. Again, using our analogy of the lucid dream, it’s as if these events show us a worldwide reflection of who we are, and how asleep we have become—so we can be inspired to change our lives for the positive. If there is an intelligence throughout the Universe, and intelligent beings visited us who already knew about the Source Field, it seems quite ridiculous to consider that they would give us these prophecies just to tell us we were all going to die on a certain date—and that there was nothing we could do about it.
Our next set of prophecies come from the Mahabharata, a Hindu sacred scripture. They sound remarkably relevant to our own recent history, including Earth Changes, widespread corruption and moral decline—despite the fact that they may have been written some five thousand years ago. The numbers and symbolism in these legends fit Santillana’s theory perfectly—the writers did seem to be aware of the twenty-five-thousand-year precession cycle. The Mahabharata describes humanity’s entrance into the final age of hell on earth, or Kali Yuga, before we again return to the Golden Age that will follow. Again, bear in mind what the Cayce Readings said about prophecies of physical catastrophes—they are metaphors of the changes we are all going through. The Cayce Readings also said the Book of Revelation frequently described objects in groups of seven to symbolize the seven “chakras” or energy systems in the body. Here in this Hindu text, we apparently see the same symbolism being used—in the form of “seven blazing suns” that appear at the end of the age.
In the Kali age, the Brahmanas [spiritual leaders] . . . abstain from prayers and meditation. . . . The course of the world looketh contrary, and indeed, these are the signs that foreshadow the Universal Destruction.
And, O lord of men, numerous Mleccha kings then rule over the earth! And those sinful monarchs, addicted to false speech, govern their subjects on principles that are false. . . . And, O tiger among men, the merchants and traders then full of guile, sell large quantities of articles with false weights and measures. And they that are virtuous do not prosper; while they that are sinful prosper exceedingly. And virtue loseth her strength while sin becometh all powerful. . . .
And, O king, girls of seven or eight years of age do then conceive, while boys of ten or twelve years beget offspring. . . . And women given to impropriety of conduct and marked by evil manners, deceive even the best of husbands. . . .
O king, toward the end of those thousands of years constituting the four Yugas and when the lives of men become so short, a drought occurs extending for many years. And then, O lord of the earth, men and creatures endued with small strength and vitality, becoming hungry, die by thousands.
And then, O lord of men, seven blazing Suns, appearing in the firmament, drink up all the waters of the earth that are in rivers or seas . . . the fire called Samvartaka, impelled by the winds, appeareth on the earth that hath already been dried to cinders by the seven Suns. And then that fire, penetrating through the earth and making its appearance in the nether regions also, begetteth great terror in the hearts of the gods. . . . And, O lord of the earth, consuming the nether regions as also everything upon this earth, that fire destroyeth all things in a moment.”8
I do not think these prophecies of a final destruction are literal—the “seven blazing suns” appear to symbolize a sudden spiritual awakening that occurs throughout humanity. Right after everything on earth is allegedly “destroyed in a moment” by this incredible fire, the story mysteriously continues—and everyone is still alive. A savior figure now arrives, with supernatural abilities, who defeats the bad guys and helps the planet transform. Symbolism again appears to be at work here. There are dreamlike myths like this all over the world, and the Hindu prophecy seems surprisingly similar to how our world appears today. The fiery catastrophe we just read about appears to be another metaphorical symbol of worldwide changes that sweep through our society at lightning speed—topplin
g our castles of sand, which we built in ignorance, and eliminating the old ways of doing things. Cayce described a very similar set of metaphors in his decoding of the Book of Revelation.
The Coming of the Golden Age
One could argue that things in society have always been this challenging, and the authors are just pining away for a spiritual ideal that was never reached. Nonetheless, the Hindu myths begin with the Golden Age, which is literally Paradise on earth, and then gradually work their way down to the Kali Yuga—over many thousands of years. All Santillana’s myths, worldwide, indicate that things get worse and worse, and then we get major Earth Changes—which we are now seeing. Some of the myths end in a flood. The Hindu myths end in a fire. The rules of logic suggest that if “all things were destroyed in a moment” at the end of every 25,000-year cycle, then no life on earth could ever have survived for very long—so obviously we can’t take this prophecy literally. Similarly, the Bible begins with Adam and Eve, in the book of Genesis—allegedly the first people to live on earth—and ends with a major catastrophe in the Book of Revelation. That’s not the end in the Bible either—the Tribulation leads directly to a New Heaven and New Earth; a resplendent, glorious Golden Age.
Just as we see in the Bible, the Hindu prophecy doesn’t end with destruction. The awesome Samvartaka fire leads to a new creation—the Krita, or Golden, Age:And when those terrible times will be over, the creation will begin anew . . . the Krita [Golden] age will begin again. And the clouds will commence to shower seasonably, and the stars and stellar conjunctions will become auspicious. And the planets, duly revolving in their orbits, will become exceedingly propitious. And all around, there will be prosperity and abundance and health and peace.9
In the Hindu prophecy, the Golden Age starts to restore the balance of nature and the Cosmos—creating greater prosperity, abundance, health and peace—before all the hard work is finally over. Then, Hinduism’s own version of a messiah—namely, Kalki—comes on the scene, ready to finish the job. Kalki clearly has “Ascended” abilities, similar to what we can all do in our lucid dreams. He can manifest vehicles, weapons and warriors just by thinking of them.
And commissioned by Time, a Brahmana of the name of Kalki will take his birth. And he will glorify Vishnu and possess great energy, great intelligence, and great prowess . . . vehicles and weapons, and warriors and arms, and coats of mail will be at his disposal as soon as he will think of them.10
According to Edgar Cayce’s readings about this major change, the “Second Coming of Christ” is what happens to all of us as we go through this process: “To him, to her that is faithful, there shall be given a CROWN of light . . . ye become as rivers of light, as fountains of knowledge, as mountains of strength, as the pastures for the hungry, as the rest for the weary, as the strength for the weak.”11 Therefore, the wars and violent acts you are about to read, where corrupt people are murdered, are most likely part of the dream symbolism. Rather than literally involving people being killed, it may be a symbolic story of the journey we all make within ourselves, to purify the ego—that part of us that has been addicted to manipulation, power and control:And he will be the king of kings, and ever victorious with the strength of virtue. And he will restore order and peace in this world crowded with creatures and contradictory in its course . . . that Brahmana will exterminate all the mlecchas wherever those low and despicable persons may take refuge . . . when the Brahmanas will have exterminated the thieves and robbers, there will be prosperity everywhere (on earth) . . . when sin will thus have been rooted out and virtue will flourish on arrival of the Krita age, men will once more betake themselves to the practice of religious rites. . . .
And the Brahmanas will become good and honest, and the regenerate ones, devoted to ascetic austerities, will become Munis [silent meditators,] and the asylums of ascetics, which had before been filled with wretches, will once more be homes of men devoted to truth—and men in general will begin to honour and practise truth.
And all seeds, sown on earth, will grow, and, O monarch, every kind of crop will grow in every season. And men will devotedly practise charity and vows and observances . . . and the rulers of the earth will govern their kingdoms virtuously.12
If you read Helena Blavatsky’s controversial work The Secret Doctrine, more information about this Hindu prophecy appears—complete with excerpts from the original text. We find out that there are “eight superhuman faculties” Kalki develops, associated with this prophecy—obviously far beyond what most of us have now:As the “Satya-yuga” is always the first in the series of the four ages or Yugas, so the Kali ever comes the last. The Kali yuga reigns now supreme in India, and it seems to coincide with that of the Western age. Anyhow, it is curious to see how prophetic in almost all things was the writer of Vishnu Purana when foretelling to Maitreya some of the dark influences and sins of this Kali Yug. For after saying that the “barbarians” will be masters of the banks of the Indus [River], he adds:
“Thus, in the Kali age will decay constantly proceed, until the human race approaches its annihilation (pralaya). . . . When the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being which exists, of its own spiritual nature . . . shall descend on earth . . . (Kalki Avatar) endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. . . . He will reestablish righteousness on earth, and the minds of those who live at the end of Kali Yuga shall be awakened and become as pellucid [clear] as crystal.
“The men who are thus changed . . . shall be the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita age, the age of purity.”13
Edgar Cayce went into detail about what he called the “fifth root race” in his own readings. John Van Auken discussed this prophecy in the March–April 2009 issue of the Association for Research and Enlightenment’s Venture Inward magazine.
[Cayce’s readings predicted] the shift to a new era and a new body type that he called the “fifth root race,” indicating that there had been four previous ages and body types. The body change has been occurring in an evolving manner for some time, but perhaps, through mutation, there will be new bodies—ones that will be more accommodating to soulful consciousness. We may be content with our present bodies, but imagine incarnating again in a souped-up model that allows for more cosmic consciousness while incarnate. Sounds good, especially if it coincides with a new age when “Satan is bound” and “no evil distracts or temptations test the souls in the new earth.”14
When Will the Golden Age Arrive?
When we go back to our excerpt from the Mahabharata in The Secret Doctrine, we come across a tantalizing clue: The ancient Hindu scriptures gave us a precise time window for when the Golden Age would arrive. They associated this with a rare conjunction of planets in the solar system, thus allowing us to calculate an exact date.
As it is said, “When the sun and moon and the lunar asterism Tishya and the planet Jupiter are in one mansion, the Krita (or Satya) age shall return.”15
No calculation is presented in Blavatsky’s book for when this may occur, but Geoff Stray presents an informed opinion in his book Beyond 2012.
In The Way to Shambhala, [Edwin] Bernbaum says that the golden age will come when the Sun, Moon and Jupiter all meet in the same quadrant as the Tishya constellation (which is part of Cancer). The next time this happens will be on July 26, 2014, according to my astronomical software [Cyber-Sky]. . . .16
That’s barely over a year and a half after December 21, 2012—the end of the Maya calendar. Until Graham Hancock peer-reviewed an early draft of this book, I was under the impression that most astronomers believed the shift from the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius, in the Western system, also occurred around the year 2011 or 2012. According to Peter Lemesurier in Great Pyramid Decoded, the French Institut Géographique National fixed the Age of Aquarius as arriving in 2011.17
Obviously if there is a serious debate about the start time of the Age of Aquarius, we need to roll up our sleeves and dig for the answe
r. Most astronomers feel the Age of Aquarius begins whenever the sunrise moves into the constellation of Aquarius during the spring equinox—but no one can agree on when that is. When you go to NASA’s Get a Straight Answer Web site, and ask David P. Stern when the Age of Aquarius begins, his straight answer is “I don’t know.”18
The ancients defined constellations by their brightest stars, and drew no exact borders. Modern star charts have exact boundaries, usually straight lines like the boundaries of states in the western U.S., but I don’t know when the spring equinox crossed the modern Pisces/Aquarius boundary.19
In modern times, the precession was rediscovered by Hipparchus, who began his work somewhere around the spring equinox of March 24, 146 B.C. That is an important date, as we will soon see. Shirley Burchill, an astronomy historian, suggested Hipparchus was working from much older records.
Much of Hipparchus’s work was only possible because he was able to consult the work of astronomers who had gone before. The ancient Babylonians had left records of their astronomical observations, methods and equipment. There is much evidence to show that Hipparchus used this information, and that [it] allowed him to make comparisons. Hipparchus’s precise measurement of the equinoxes was, in fact, a mathematical interpretation of ancient Babylonian knowledge. 20
David Andrew D’Zmura created a method to calculate when the shift into the Age of Aquarius would occur, partly by going back to the original data. He sought after and was ultimately awarded a U.S. Patent—number 676618—so his findings would not be stolen. In his patent, D’Zmura implies that Hipparchus was inspired to begin all his groundbreaking astronomy studies in 146 B.C. because he was tipped off. As we just read, Hipparchus had access to ancient Babylonian records. We already have seen the Babylonians displaying the pineal gland/pinecone/ axis mundi/winged angel symbols in their sacred artwork. These records may very well have revealed that 146 B.C., or thereabouts, was the year we shifted into the Age of Pisces. If various traditions kept this knowledge secret all along, there would have been a great deal of interest in the coming of a new Age of the Zodiac. No one could be sure what might happen as this pivotal moment arrived. Everyone would be looking at the stars to try to understand the greater cycle that was driving these Ages—and Hipparchus’s method for classifying the brightness of the stars in the night sky is still used today.21
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