THE SECRET ZODIAc in medieval astrology

Wars to the east and wars to the west, now appearing as a terrible “Awakening of the Arabs” in the Middle East, and great difficulties to the south and north, now appearing as great floodings in the US Midwest, as well as earthquakes in Spain, and elsewhere, we see the turmoil of a great cycle of time ending, as well as the birth of a new one. Even in the 13th century (in 1207) (take note of the number 13, the Divine Feminine symbolic number), the builders in San Miniato in Florence Italy, could see and hear around them the terrible results of the struggle between the powers ecclesiastical and temporal arising from the ambition of the Papacy, which we remember through the famous medieval Divine Comedy epic poetry by A.Dante.

Historians would see Innocent 111 as the chief architect of the 13th century papal power and magnificence especially in churches built, while others would trace to his policies many of the wars and witch-hunts which would rip Europe apart in the next three centuries. Something similar is happening again in today’s political-religious turmoil in the Middle East countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and so on. The turmoil goes on within and around them and us because perhaps we are already approaching the 5th dimension of the angelic world.

Turbulence, violence between sectarian Muslims, Jews, Christians happen because all can’t seem to reconcile the idea of Spirit existing in Matter. The idea is thrust upon us by the major religions of the world and yet they can’t make us understand that Heaven has its mundane aspect and Earth its divine. At least not in clear terms that we can live with, though we try hard to understand every thing is contained in the whole. We cannot understand why we see so much evil in it, so much hate in the disagreement, so much inordinate attachment to being right is involved in the violence, in the name of God. How then do we attain the 5th-dimensional viewpoint which the medieval mind understood even in the process of encountering dissenting views?

First, two preliminary steps are necessary as advocated by an astrologer-scientist like Gregory Szanto in his book Marriage of Heaven and Earth. We have to unlearn the old ways before we can recognize the new. We see partly because of our innate structure and because we have been taught to see a certain way. There is a complete feed-back system between our minds and that which we perceive which governs the relationship between the two.

If we see only with our physical five senses then we can only function in three dimensions. But the higher levels are present in each one of us, and that’s creating the trouble, because we are higher dimensional beings and so nothing ever makes sense when there’s the absence of Light of the higher centers in the things we see. The more nearly we are tuned into these higher centers, the more closely aligned shall we be with the higher dimensions of the universe of which we are a part.

Einstein’s famous formula E= mc2 revolutionized science by equating matter (seen) with energy (spirit). But it is not only the two sides of the equation which are important; it is the nature of the equivalence itself, says famous London astrologer Gregory Szanto. What we need to appreciate is that matter and energy are the same, and that matter and spirit are also the same. The one is converted into the other because they are the same -- only on different levels.

One of the problems with scientific thought is that it has no model to incorporate the various levels that exist in the universe. That is why scientists have so far failed to resolve the material and the quantum levels. Example: Japanese nuclear scientists have failed to solve their nuclear radiation problem as of now because they have failed to resolve the material with the quantum levels. Nuclear power is in the quantum level

Astrology, in the symbol of the Horoscope does incorporate the two levels. But the symbol in the Zodiac will not yield its inner truth unless it is perceived correctly. When we see in the fifth dimension, we see the two levels together, the material and the quantum, as one and also as two. We see the whole and we see the parts. The relationship between the parts and the whole, between time and eternity, between spirit, matter and energy is of particular importance in understanding the principles of Astrology.

THE MIRACLE OF LIGHT

In the middle ages, a fantastic precision of design and engineering was required to ensure the miracle of light, which proclaims the spiritual aspect of Pisces Christ. The designer of the church had to relate the orientation of the church so that the solar disc touches the the lowest point of the solar Christ portrayed in space and time. When the sunlight transforms the tesserae of the foot into an area of shimmering light, the intention of the designer to express the most highly spiritualized concept of Piscean symbolism is attained -- the Christ's connection with the Zodiac in the skies and His power over death on the ground. The experience writes Fred Getting, is at once, uniting the sunlight with the sun Logos, the Word of God made Man, uniting the lowest point of the Logos with the highest part of man, the splendid vibrance of th apse mosaic with quiet darkness of the nave zodiac. This light effect is now best witnessed from either of the stairways leading up to the highest part of the church, or by standing dirctly alongside the wall itself --almost in the path of the sunlight. In this symbolism the emergence of the shaft of sunlight on the body of the fish would have a most profound relationship to the concept of the solar Christ, and would be something akin to the mystical power of the raised host during Mass, symbolic of the body of Christ.

For all the changes reverberating around the San Miniato basilica builders in the 13th century, there was security in their souls, almost every man and woman at the time, writes Fred Getting, a scholar of medieval astrology and history, felt bathed in the sustaining light of the spiritual. The Middle Ages are known to us as the Burning Ages of Faith. It was that way because faith in a Divine creator was taken for granted by all levels of society, and by all levels of morality. It was a world that was linked to a secret chain of being held safe in the hands of angels. Few even doubted that the earth itself was the central stage of the great act of Redemption, with millions of human beings as saved for all eternity from the work of the Devil that was waiting in the wings of the stage.

We moderns are perhaps less confident and secure, as Fred Getting goes in his book, The Secret Zodiac, the Hidden Art of Medieval Astrology , and few among us take for granted the abiding presence of the angels in our daily lives. For example, I felt a nudge to write in my weblog again a couple of days ago, this month of May. When I ventured out to attend a study group meeting, close friends and associates started to ask me what is the meaning of this occurring alignment between Sun, Venus, Mars and Jupiter in the heavens at this time. No wonder, I felt the nudge from my spirit guides to write again.

Searching for a possible answer, I saw this book on a pile of books beside my bed beckoning at me -- it is The Secret of the Zodiac, the Hidden Art in Medieval Astrology, a book a friend gave me as pasalubong on a trip back from Europe which I have read many years ago and set it aside, thinking what help would it give me today in my research on erring modern viewpoints? Yet by some hidden amazing grace it jotted out of the maze of reading materials on the ledge of my long study table as if winking at me to say, try me, if you are bothered by a baffling modern scenario.

If there are miracles around us, we moderns may not be aware of them – for want of proper eyes, as Fred Getting affirms in his book, The Secret Zodiac. We are not as confident about the spiritual basis of the cosmos as medieval man was, and we do not build with the same revolutionary fervor and grace. We do not construct buildings to last for eternity, in the knowledge that eternity is not to do with time, but with beauty and the moral life. The moral life? What is it? We have forgotten what it is to be moral and spiritual, for we try to enjoy the freedom of the democratic idea of pursuit of happiness, and yet fail to find it.

Frustration, loneliness is what we moderns find instead. We separate from our first romantic contact or marriage, after a time, and we do the same in the next, in the next, and in the next romantic encounter. We are restless in our search for wealth and health. We don’t seem to find the inner peace and serenity of the Christ or the Buddha in our constant democratic pursuitn of happiness, and we wonder why.

We do not lay our first stones down to mark the movement of the stars, nor dedicate buildings to the gods. We do not believe in horoscopes which in ancient times linked new buildings or relationships with the sweep of planets and stars, as though architectonic forms or other forms were living beings, magically or hermetically dedicated to saints and God. No, we do not understand these things, our schools don’t include such esoteric knowledge in their curriculum unlike in those olden, golden times when the medieval universities had a chair for astrological, metaphysical studies. But we are returning to the Light, in the coming golden age which is Now we will finally establish the Light on earth by forming Schools of Being. Our children will lead the way, and they will introduce us to our teachers -- the dolphins in the sea, the horses on land, our dogs and cats, at home. And the stones!!!

There’s something lacking in our concept of building churches in the modern era– we lack the symbolic meaning of the stones and the position they take in constructing them as in the occult or secret zodiacal manner the great San Miniato al Monte was built in 13th century Florence Italy which overlook the churches below its hill. All the medieval churches in fact were built in the concept of San Miniato Al Monte. Today, we are remembering again the guiding Light of the Sun, Moon and stars...In the New Age of Aquarius we will claim again that we have the Christ Jesus and Mama Mary and saints guiding us along with the sweep of the vast cosmos in our experience of our God, who created us within the powerful flow of the cosmic energies which constitute God’s robes (read the Psalms of holy scriptures) If we remain stubborn in our lack of proper eyesight, then our houses would be buried under mudslides, landslides, floods. A hail of tornadoes, earthquakes with tsunamis would drive us naturally terrified, unless we remain calm and align ourselves with the rampaging eneriges to pacify them, and get them balanced and centered again. Today's Yahoo news about a Cathay airlines plane that had its engines in flames while in flight but was miraculously returned to Singapore happened because the passengers and crew decided to stay calm, aligned with the energies and prayed.


Because of man’s historic Fall from grace, and its consequence which is the loss of cosmic vision, we have to remember the distance in time and space, time and spirit which removes us from the Zodiac and the constellations. If we forget this separation, and our own alienation from the medieval art-forms, then we fail to understand the miraculous powers of its symbolic language.

We are simply not interested in symbols, in the symbolic language of spirit, the unseen, the unmanifest waiting to be manifest, period. We cannot drink in the church’s meaning in the same way a medieval pilgrim would do in the great medieval churches of Europe like San Minato. Perhaps we connect to God by reciting novenas, and praying, but we are not yet contemplative. We miss the point of our praying when we ritualize it, mumbling formulas, but not feeling into it with our heart as in a deep contemplation without words.

If we are contemplative, we do not always respond to words, but we respond to symbols, we are intensely drawn to symbolism in the arts that reconcile matter and spirit, in church architecture of medieval times in old world Europe. If we go into symbolic meanings, differences in opinion, differences in belief systems and social class distinctions are eventually erased. With proper eyes, we realize we are all the same children of God, equal in the eyes of the Creator, interconnected in Unity Consciousness, in peace and bliss.

SAN MINIATO al Monte must be approached with an attitude of mind which in modern times might be called ‘holistic’ but which in medieval times was called contemplative. The contemplative mind was the thinking mind made fecund or fertile in creative insights afforded by spiritual disciplines, or by the grace of God. It was widely recognized that a mind not so activated was barren, restless, directionless. The many layers of astrological and theological symbols within the church must ultimately be apprehended in that single sweep of vision which easily arises from quiet meditation yet the modern outlook fostered by the innate intellectualism of our educational system largely prohibits such a vision.

The ancients rarely constructed their esoteric works with such a limited intellectual approach as it is inclined to go towards a critical analysis which generally goes fragmented into many confusing directions. A frontal approach of the intellectual kind merely puts the mysteries themselves into a dignified retreat. The only possible way to reach into these ancient secrets is to allow them to speak in their own tongues, and in effect, this is the only valid approach to all art, though this is no longer recognized in our modern time, however, we are shifting in consciousness, and the medieval mind is coming back to be valid again.

The hub of San Miniato’s rich symbolism is in its marble zodiac. This is certainly the most remarkable zodiac in Europe, and perhaps in the entire world. The Latin inscripition calls it a ‘numine celesti’ – a divine power of the Heavens – and as we shall see it, it is so called with very good reason. It provides an opportunity for the most profound contemplation of Christian and occult mysteries. There is hardly a stone of the original basilica that does not play its part in the profound symbolism of the zodiac.

Truth is that the zodiac and its attendant symbolism was to some extent Christianized in the 12th and 13th centuries. However, the Christianized version, though pagan in origin, were directly linked with the initiate wisdom of the Mystery Schools. The numerous surviving Egyptian and Babylonian astrological stelae, and the large numbers of Hellenic and Roman references point to the use of astrological orientations and horoscopes in papyrus fragments make this quite clear.

LOGOS, THE WORD

In this study our main interest will revolve around the link drawn between the Taurean rule over the throat and neck, and the Piscean rule over the human feet. Taurus was ruled by the planet Venus which had dominion over such things as the physical body, music and singing. As a result of these associations, the connection between the sound of the voice, is designed to counteract illness of the head, including the disorder of the eyes as well as occult ‘seals’ which exercise a prophylactic influence over health. The gold and silver seals comprise ‘benedictum (sic) sit nomen Domini Jesu (Blessed be the name of Lord Jesus) we see in this esoteric link with the Name or with the Word (Logos) from the Taurean rulership over the throat and speech. The association between the physical body (rulership of Venus) and the fact that Taurus is the first of the Earth signs, would point to the idea of ‘incarnation’ and in particular to the Incarnation of the Word, the Logos.

In the apse mosaic made rich with meaning by the magical rays of sunlight, we see Christ in Glory. He is surrounded by the images of the four Evangelists. These images of lion, eagle, winged-human and bull are derived from pre-Christian zodiacal images. The lion of St Mark is the image of Leo. The eagle of St John is the eagle of Scorpio, which sign (alone of twelve signs) has two images, the eagle the symbol of the redeemed and earth-bound nature. The winged human of St Matthew is the waterbearer of Aquarius, the waterpot which poured spiritual sustenance for all humanity. The bull of St Luke is the animal of Taurus.

As a child, I would look up in rapture to the dome of Naga Cathedral while Mass is being entoned, I didn't know why. I was simply fascinated by the four Evangelists posted in the four corners of the ceiling painted in their zodiacal glory. I thought they were magnificent in their individual presentations with animals like the lion, the eagle, the bull, and then an Angel. I wanted to know what they meant. No one was around though to explain it to me. Later on I had to find out to my distress, it's because there were astrological implications attached to those images, and the present mindset of the modern Church frowns on it. In fact, they would stamp it out. Yet something within me said (was it my angel guide?)-- without the symbols of the divine Logos, the Word made Man, we have been robbed of something that is very essential to our understanding of God’s Glory.

P.S. In my recent trip to Naga my hometown in Cam Sur, I re-visited the great Naga cathedral of my childhood, and I stand corrected. The whole church has been restored to its former glory in terms of painting the ceilings with biblical pictures as in the splendid medieval gothic churches of Europe, but budget was limited only to simple art forms such as circles and lines. That's ok with me as long as they didn't omit the Four Evangelists in the dome. They were there, indeed, and I almost shrieked in delight. Only thing they failed to do was to paint the zodiacal animals of the Fixed signs -- the bull, the lion,the eagle, and the human Angel, in vivid, clear colorful tones -- yes they were there, but misty, unclear, devoid of the intensity of life, implying they are not that important to the modern mind. See what I mean?

The triadic symbolism of the lectern or pulpit appears in other churches, however, the ‘missing’ bull imagery is depicted in some fairly well hidden place upon the decoration of the pulpit. The nave of San Miniato has been oriented towards sunrise, resulting in the magical effect of sunlight proclaiming a Piscean symbolism on the foot of Christ.

The fact is that the zodiac has been oriented towards the the east, it is this 30-degree arc containing the image of Taurus that greets the rising sun each day. The book shows figures of this sunlight orientation with the sunlight of Pisces pointing to an annual miracle of light symbolism so we find that Taurus is used to point to the light of daily sunrise. Here, then in the zodiac, we find the symbol of the missing bull of Taurus which resurrects into ‘incarnate’ form each day.

Taurus, the bull was seen as an image of Christ in his role as the incarnating god, sacrificed in the Redemptive act. The early symbolism of the Bull was linked with the Mithraic mysteries, which in early centuries struggled with the ancient Christian initiation wisdom for dominance. It is also possible that a link between Taurus and the ancient mystery wisdom of the Egyptian Serapis was contained within the esoteric lore of the Pleiades – the Seven Sisters planets of which Earth's Sun was the eighth which had become moribund and got lost as the Pleaidian lore goes.

As if evidence of this was to be provided by my angelic guide, instantly, I felt the nudge to click the meaning of the 8th Ray, and I was led to the Philippine flag. Lo and behold, the national flag has a golden Sun in the middle of its triangular Y design, shining with 8 rays, representing the first eight provinces that rose against Spanish domination. Wow. The 8th Ray of transformative power speaks loud and clear for us, symbolic of our cosmic task to clear ourselves of karma at this time of the Shift, and that of the world so we can all ascend to the higher realms of Light.

Karmic cleansing lifts us to the higher angelic realms along with those whom we serve overseas as OFWs. No wonder we never seem to find fulfillment by just doing business and staying home, although home is edenic, meaning paradise, and some avataric healers and teachers have to stay to guide, support us too. Even the typhoons annually anticipated by weather bureau Pagasa, and perhaps earthquakes too, are not disturbing us as much as they do other areas, so it seems. Yet we have to leave and be sent out to help in transforming the world along with us. But why are we connected to the Pleaides in terms of vibrational frequencies? Why do Filipinos look younger than their age in Chronus linear time, and manifesting youthful energies in Chiros God time? Where does Pacquio get that superhuman energy to make him the champion of world's boxers? At the same time that he remains consistently prayerful during a boxing bout, humble, understanding and compassionate?

AGAIN, THE PLEIADIAN CONNECTION

In my previous articles posted in this website,"Forest of Stars," we have seen how the divine forces work to rescue the Earth from the darkness of ignorance and restore it to its Pleiadian kingdom of Light. In the 13th century church of San Miato in Florence, Italy, the image of Taurus the bull constellation upon which the Creator has set the Pleiades like radiant jewels as a symbolic image of Earth’s redemption. In it, we see the Taurean bull which was being sacrificed by Mithras who cuts its throat to allow the blood to run to earth. The idea of the bull having its throat cut links with image of Christ who spills His blood to redeem earth.

While Taurus was concerned with the descent of the Word into matter, Pisces represented by the two fishes, was concerned with the ascent of the spirit back into the spiritual realm of the heavens. The idea is that Piscean lives in the watery fluidity of the poetic world of the subconscious --that’s less ambivalent in medieval terminology than in the modern age.

The Fish of the mystery wisdom was recognized by esoterists as being an image of the Initiate, one who is at home both in the material world (human body) and in the spiritual realm (the fish). The fish was not only used as a symbol of Christ but also as a symbol of initiation rites. If you are born Pisces, chances are you are going through an initiation of tests which can drive you perplexed and desperate unless you are a truly spiritual Fish who is both at home in the material world and in the spiritual realm.