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The Arcadian Paintings:: Encoded References To An Ancient Global Catastrophe?
The Arcadian Paintings:: Encoded References To An Ancient Global Catastrophe?
Two young shepherds are featured: one cleanly shaven and dressed in white and the
other bearded, dressed in rustic red and wearing a red cap. We shall be examining this
painting in more depth in Part 2, but what we have here is the theme of the symbolic
Red and White a theme which keeps cropping up throughout history and in many
different sources.
In Guercinos painting, both shepherds are looking at a worm and fly-infested skull on
a stone pedestal on which the famous words ET IN ARCADIA EGO are inscribed.
These two individuals are clearly leaning away from each other reminding us of
Jesus and John the Evangelist (which some say is really Mary Magdalene) in
Leonardo Da Vincis mural The Last Supper.
This leaning away, again symbolises division and duality. So then its possible
that the shaven figure in white could even be a female which again, reinforces the
theme of opposites as in male and female, positive and negative and this is a
further clue as to what these two individuals really represent.
It is agreed by many that they are Cain and Abel the sons of Adam and Eve, but
again this has symbolic connotations relating to the polar opposites expressed in Abel
good and Cain evil. If these two figures are Cain and Abel, then does the skull
belong to Adam their father?
However we may interpret it, the theme of opposites is being expressed here and
its a fact that this is a common theme expressed in the Bible and also in many myths,
stories and traditions. Most prominent of these is the ancient Egyptian myth of Osiris
the sacred triad being expressed as either Osiris, Set and Horus, or Osiris, Isis and
Horus.
The male shepherd in red holds a shepherds crook which is bent slightly and angled
at 75 degrees and the other shepherd (and some say it is the shepherdess) is holding a
wooden staff, which is angled at 60 degrees. (See figure 4).
One interesting detail in the painting is the edge of the tomb which is angled at 30
degrees. This is perpendicular to the staff on the left angled at 60 degrees. If we draw
a line through the staff and a line to indicate the edge of the tomb we create a cross
tilted at 30 degrees.
Figure 3: The staff on the left at 60 degrees and the edge of the tomb at 30 creates a tilted cross
If we now begin a line from the center of the cross where the 30 and 60 lines
intersect and extend it to the end of the crook/staff held by the bearded shepherd in
red, the angle of this line is between 72 and 73 degrees (I show it at 72). We also find
that the end of the staff and the end of the crook/staff are level, indicated by the
horizontal white line. There is much more to this painting than I am revealing here,
and this line gives us a reference for other information I have found and which I will
reveal in another presentation.
Axis Mundi
The Djed column is said to be the backbone or spinal column of Osiris, and it is said
that it also represents the shamanic axis mundi the axis of the world. The Djed
also symbolised the Nile the natural meridian of Gizeh, also seen as Osiris
spine my friend author Philip Coppens reminded me.
Its not surprising then to discover that the large tree behind the tomb in Poussins
painting is leaning at 23.5 degrees the same angle as the earths axis. I found that
the trees in many of Poussins paintings are leaning at the angle of 23.5 degrees.
Furthermore, in ancient Egyptian art especially the many profile depictions of Osiris
we find that the Atef crown like the tree is angled at 23.5 degrees.
On page 125 of The Secret Teachings of All Ages, Manly P. Hall writes:
Frank C Higgins, a well-known Masonic symbolist, has astutely noted that the
ornate headgears of certain gods and Pharaohs are inclined backwards at the same
angle as the earths axis.
Is it a mere coincidence that the crook and staff held by the shepherds in Poussins
painting are in the same slanted positions as the crook and flail held by Osiris, as
depicted in ancient Egyptian art?
If we compare the image of Osiris taken from the Papyrus of Ani i.e., the
positions and angles of his crook, flail and Atef crown with the positions and angles
of the staff, crook and tree, we have an almost perfect match. [3]
Figure 6: On the left is a detail from the Papyrus of Ani showing Osiris (The Green Man) seated in
the Hall of Maat. The orientation of the Atef Crown (23.5 degrees) and the Crook and Flail match the
orientation of the tree (23.5 degrees) and the two staffs in Poussins painting of the Shepherds
Chi-Rho
Another amazing thing about this painting is that the crook of Osiris is in the correct
position in this leaning cross to create the Chi-rho [also spelt Chi-ro] monogram or
symbol. Remember that we are compelled to create this cross in the painting by
drawing lines based on the obvious perpendicular angle of the staff and the edge of
the tomb, the crook then falls into place as the P-like head of the Chi-Rho symbol.
This symbol is associated with Jesus Christ. However, Jesus was based on the
resurrection god Osiris and also the god Horus, the son and reincarnation of Osiris.
So with the additional information we are given concerning this particular Christian
symbol and in a painting that gives reference to the pagan god Osiris, its possible we
are being told that Osiris/Horus and Jesus Christ are one and the same a belief that
would have been considered heretical at the time, but one that many were aware of
nethertheless. [4]
Some researchers and authors are convinced that the name Cairo, given to the capital
city of Egypt some 10 miles east of Giza, was based on the name Chi-rho as given to
this Christian monogram or symbol. Why a Muslim city should be given the same
name as given to this Christian symbol really doesnt make sense. However, heres an
interesting example of this connection from a book written and published in the early
20th century, by Frank C. Higgins entitled, Ancient Freemasonry (1919):
A still more wonderful symbol of these old cosmic speculations is found in the famous
monogram X P, chi rho, which is the origin of the name of the modern city near which the
pyramid stands Cairo. [Corrupted by the Arabs to El Kahiryeh] This monogram, although
placed on the labarum, or standard, of Constantine the Great, in accordance with a vision,
appears on Egyptian coins of the Ptolemys and on Indian coins several hundred years B.C. It is
the old Sanskrit word Rch, meaning light, and the Egyptian derivative meaning Ch R or
Horus, the animating spirit of the earth, Horus of the Pole and Horus of the Two Horizons,
so he is called. [5]
Higgins statement that the word Chi-Rho derives from the ancient Egyptian Ch R
for Horus, is significant and supports the belief that Jesus the Christ was based on
the pagan Horus the KRST the son and reincarnation of Osiris the resurrection
god.
What is more interesting is that Chiro is a Greek word meaning hand and
Chiropractors mend and heal spines with their healing hands. And if we take
Higgins statement that Chi-Rho also derives from the Sanskrit word Rch meaning
light, then the connection this word also has with the spine gives some indication of
the source of Christs healing powers, as it is said that this healing energy is prana
(Sanskrit). Prana, like the Chinese Chi, is associated with the energy phenomenon,
also the enlightenment experience, known as Kundalini by the Hindus, which centers
on the spine and the seven chakras related to the seven endocrine glands.
I deal with the subject of this experience and the related traditional knowledge and
esoteric systems many times in my books and other articles, so I wont dwell on it
here and will allow the reader to make the necessary connections.
This diagram from Higgins book is also interesting as he relates the Chi-Rho
monogram with the location of Giza and the Great Pyramid on the earth.
Throughout his books, and based on ancient sources, Higgins gives many examples
taken from Freemasonry symbolism of references to the angle of 23.5 degrees, as well
as the angle of 52 degrees, being the angle of the Great Pyramids four sloping sides.
Figure 10: Examples of these references from Ancient Freemasonry: An Introduction to Masonic
Archaeology by Frank C. Higgins (1919).
Top: Greek Painting from page 54. Note that together the orientation of the two staffs angled at 23.5
degrees, make 47 degrees - being the angle relating to the cone created by the titled axis the diameter
of the precessional cycle 2 x 23.5 degrees = 47.
Bottom: The angles of 23.5 in architecture and Masonic symbolism which together create the
precessional cone of 47 degrees
We should also note that through his numerous books, Higgins set out to reveal the
secrets of Freemasonry, which he said are very ancient and sourced to Egypt. [6]
Going back to Poussins painting we can see the center of the Chi-rho cross falls on
the spine of the bearded shepherd and as we know the spine of Osiris symbolised by
the Djed also represented the axis mundi.
Does the bearded shepherd in red represent Osiris? If so then again we have the
sacred triad here, with the shepherdess in white representing Isis, and the young
shepherd in the middle and in black representing Horus the third force.[7]
The epithets given to Horus of the Pole of the Two Horizons as mentioned
in the quote by Higgins, shows a connection between the shamanic/pagan
resurrection god (e.g., Osiris, Horus,) and the earths axis, as well as the rising and
setting positions of the sun as it moves back and forth between its extreme solstice
points on the horizon. This would mean that Jesus, who was also based on the
universal resurrection god, also shares this astrotheological connection, and this is
something we will return to later.
With the tree angled at 23.5 degrees, one would conclude that we are compelled to
make the connection between the spine of Osiris, the resurrection god, and the
earths axis.
Figure 11: The left edge of the tree is angled at 23.5 degrees.
I like the fact that if we were to now rotate this painting 30 degrees to the right so that
the 60 and 30 degree cross becomes perfectly upright and square, we find that the
23.5-degree angle of the tree then reads as 6.5 degrees. 23.5 + 6.5 = 30.
Also, the 72/73-degree crook/staff then reads as 42/43 degrees.
Staying with 43 degrees we have 90 43 = 47 which is 2 x 23.5 relating to the
diameter of the precessional circle as traced by the earths tilted axis.
Figure 12: Rotating the painting to the right so that the 30/60-degree cross is upright.
In doing this, the angle of the tree transforms from 23.5 degrees to 6.5 degrees. 23.5 + 6.5 = 30.
The crook/staff transforms from 72/73 degrees to 42/43.
90 43 = 47 . . . the cone angle (diameter) of the precessional cycle i.e., 2 x 23.5 degrees.
It is a fact that the Great Pyramid of Giza is almost 30 degrees North of the Equator
and that it comes as close as 6.5 degrees to the Ecliptic Plane as the earth turns on its
axis. (See my article, The Great Pyramid and the Earths Axis to see how these angles
are encoded within the geometrical structure of the Great Pyramid.
http://www.freewebs.com/garyosborn/greatpyramidandaxis.htm).
A skull also makes it way into Shakespeares Play of Hamlet. In the Play, Hamlet
examines a skull, and wonders whom it might have belonged to. This connection is all
the more significant when we realise that Hamlet is based on an ancient myth about
the Mill, a metaphor for the earths axis.
The authors of Hamlets Mill, Giorgio De Santillana and Hertha Von Dechend,
contend that all myth is essentially cosmological. From the data presented in their
book, it is now certain that our distant ancestors felt it necessary to preserve their
advanced knowledge by passing on complex cosmological information especially
knowledge of the Precession of the Equinoxes in the form of stories and anecdotes
about gods, creatures and men. We can see clearly the straightforward intentions of an
advanced race of people who, perhaps having lived through a catastrophe which
almost destroyed everything they had ever accomplished used the fables and
fairytales told between simple folk as a means to both preserve and act as a bridge
to transmit complex astronomical computations and related information to the
scientists of the future their purpose perhaps stemming from the possibility that this
catastrophe was the climax of a recurring pattern or cycle.
The title, Hamlets Mill is in reference to Shakespeares Hamlet, who was himself
based on Amleth, Amlodhi or Frodhi of Scandinavian myth. This individual was the
proud owner of a mill again, a metaphor for the earths axis on which the earth turns
and gyrates. Surprisingly, the story of Hamlet is a very ancient one reaching far back
into the depths of antiquity. The authors trace the same story in Livys account of
Lucius Junius Brutus in Rome; the national epic of Finland, The Kalevala and its hero
Kullervo Kalevanpoika; the national epic of Iran i.e., Firdausis Shahnama (the
Book of Kings) and its hero, Kai Khusrau as well as the ancient epics Yudhishthira
and the Mahabharata, of India.
After comparing these stories with other ancient myths the authors conclude that
these astronomical myths seem to allude to a cosmic collision of some kind which
caused the obliquity of the earths axis and which then gave rise to our seasons and
the 25,800-year cycle of precession. The ancients used the rough figure of 25,920
years, known as the Platonic number, and perhaps because it was easier to encode
the number being made up of multiples of 9.
Comet
The current speculation is that the perpetrator of this global disaster was a comet or
meteor as theorised by contemporary authors, Allan and Delair, Christopher Knight
and Robert Lomas, David Wood and Ian Campbell to give just a few who have
followed this line of research.
Knight and Lomas present some interesting imagery in their book Uriels Machine
an old Masonic Tracing Board, which they say symbolically indicates a comet in the
form of a dagger being held by the disembodied hand of God. Here are the authors
comments:
Rainbow imagery also appears in Masonic symbolism and it is associated with falling
comets and the Flood. This image is taken from an old Masonic tracing board that
was used to instruct Freemasons in the ancient traditions of the Order. At the top a
hand appears from the sky holding a dagger, which is known to be an extremely old
symbol for a comet. Around the hand waves are depicted, possibly symbolizing the
top of the waters when the floodwaters struck. In the centre we are shown a rainbow
containing the five-pointed star which is a representation of Venus, the morning star
which symbolizes rebirth in Judaism, Freemasonry and many other ancient traditions.
Below the rainbow is the burning bush, from which God is said to have spoken to
Moses on Mount Sinai, and below that is an underground cavern which must have
been the only sanctuary during the dark, cold and very wet months after the comet
impact. [8]
In examining the image, I found that this dagger is at the angle of 23.5 degrees which
is surely significant. Are we being told that the comet caused the axis to tilt at this
angle which in turn caused the Biblical Deluge?
Figure 13: Masonic Tracing Board showing Comet in the symbol of a dagger
at the angle of 23.5 degrees.
As Hamlet said: the time is out of joint, O cursed spite, that ever I was born to
set it right.
The face which looks to the past finds a mirror for everyman in antiquity. That
mirror is the ancient doctrine that events which take place in the great world of the
macrocosm (the earth,) are reflected in the little world of the microcosm (man).
When the axis of the earth became tilted. When the earth lost its alignment with
the sun, the macrocosmic event was reflected on a microcosmic level by man losing
his alignment with his spiritual source (symbolically causing the death of his spiritual
self). [10]
The earth losing its alignment with the sun means that the earth lost its alignment with
the ecliptic plane. The earths axis is tilted by 23.43 degrees meaning that the
equator is tilted 23.43 in relation to the ecliptic plane the suns orbital plane.
The axis being tilted means that the north polar axis is no longer pointing to the
ecliptic centre the still point location in the heavens it would be pointing if it were
upright.
Walkers words reflect mans obsession with the ecliptic centre. Its possible that in
Egypt the ecliptic centre was seen to be the spiritual source that Walker mentions.
Ultimately, the story of Hamlet like all the other related stories is really based on
the myth of Osiris, who is murdered by his brother Set and is avenged by his son
Horus, on whom Hamlet is originally based. Hamlet avenges the murder of his father
by his uncle. [11]
. . . Continued in Part 2.
thought it likely that Guercinos painting, which was painted only several years
before Poussins Arcadian Shepherds, may also contain symbolic references to
Osiris and therefore also clues pertaining to this belief in a global catastrophe that
tilted the earths axis. My theory is that this was the fall of man; that with the earth
mankind fell from paradise and further into duality reflected in the cycles of the
seasons i.e., the swing between the opposites of summer and winter . . . and indeed,
this is what we find.
In one of my interpretations, the two individuals could be the brothers Osiris and Set
the skull representing the supreme father god Atum or Atum-Ra. The skull is
symbolic, in that it appears to represent the human race at the time of the Golden
Age, now dead and gone due to a cataclysm of some kind again one that possibly
tipped the earths axis away from its upright position and from the ecliptic centre
the abode of the father god Atum.
Another interpretation is that the two young shepherds could also be Horus and Set
the skull belonging to Osiris.
In any case, again we seem to have here the universal Triad or Trinity, being the
One (represented by the skull), which after the fall has become divided into
opposites (represented by the two shepherds).
If we draw a line through the centre of the jaw of the skull and in-between the eye
sockets we will find that the skull is leaning at an angle of . . . you guessed it 23.5
degrees. The fluted or ridged lay of the land to the left of the skull is also angled at
23.5 degrees and perpendicular to the angle of the skull, showing that the earth, like
the skull that signifies death, is off balance and out of kilter.
Above, and on top of the vertical pedestal-like feature in the background appears to be
an All Seeing Eye.
One could interpret this painting to be symbolic of the fall of man and that this
fall was associated with the belief in the fall of the earth and the axis from its
vertical alignment with the One the source-centre of creation as also represented
here by the skull of Adam (hence the all-seeing eye featured above); the first man
who also represents the whole human race that was nearly wiped out as a result.
As said, it could also be the skull of the god Osiris the two young men being his
son Horus and his brother Set who went to war with each other after his death, as also
repeated in the story of Cain and Abel.
We are told that Set fought Horus from the south (Upper Egypt) symbolised by the
white crown and that Horus fought Set from the north (Lower Egypt) symbolised by
the red crown. Again ones triumph over the division of opposites is possibly being
referenced here in the union of the two lands when Horus defeated Set.
Its also been suggested that Atum-Ra represents the ecliptic centre the centre to
which the earths pole was perhaps once vertically aligned or believed should be. So
in this case, the skull also symbolises the earth which had become tilted, which is why
the skull is inclined by 23.5 degrees. Its possible that the skull is making a reference
to the great father god of both Osiris and Set Atum-Ra or Atum-Re, in that as a
result of the tilt of the earths axis, the earth and man had become separated from the
Heavenly Father as represented by this pagan father god.
Furthermore and symbolically, this painting is saying that from this point on, man
became trapped within time and the cycles of opposites as expressed in the hot
and cold extremes of the seasons. And if so, whatever had caused the fall into
what was the first winter and therefore the seasons, was seen as something evil
which would apply to the god Set.
Set not only represents the SETting Sun in the daily cycle and where the Sun was
believed to enter the Underworld, but he also represents Winter in the annual cycle
and when the sun is low in the sky (like a serpent close to the ground) and when the
hours of daylight are short.
Horus not only represents the rising sun in the daily cycle but he also represents
Summer when the sun is high in the sky (like an ascended hawk) and daylight is long.
So, like the opposites of day and night, the seasons also reflect the age-old struggle
between good and evil which was also seen to be a consequence of this fall.
After everything that has been said, it may not have escaped the readers notice that
these two individuals could also represent the two Johns of the Gospels the bearded
male in red being John the Baptist, and the shaven, feminine, person in white John
the Evangelist. Again, the two Johns represent the opposites as reflected in the fact
that they are associated with the two solstices when from out point of view, the sun
reaches each of the two extreme halves of the cycle.
The feast day of the Baptist is 24th June around the time of the summer solstice,
and the nativity date for the Evangelist is 27th December around the time of the
winter solstice. This would also mean that these two characters, leaning away from
each other, also represent the two-faced god Roman god Janus, whose double gaze is
in opposite directions, much like the ancient Egyptian god Aker.
I would suggest that the reader look closely at the painting with the above in mind,
as it most certainly contains a superfluity of meanings associated with the opposites.
But my favourite personal interpretation of this painting and one that clinches it for
me is this, and it is really very simple . . .
We are told in the history and science books that over 2,000 years ago great thinkers
like Eratosthenes of Cyrene (276194 BCE) and Abu Abdullah Al-Battani of Harran,
(868929 AD) had managed to calculate the tilt of the earth by using a simple stick.
They would place a stick vertically in the ground on a level surface and then
measure the length of the shadow.
They understood that the changing angles of the suns rays and at different times of
the year should result in different length shadows if the same stick is measured at
specific times i.e., always at noon and especially during the solstices and the
equinoxes.
The stick would measure a very short shadow during the Summer Solstice (caused
by the sun being high in the sky) and a long shadow during the Winter Solstice
(caused by the sun being low in the sky.) They then used simple trigonometry to
determine the angular variation of the sun and found that the angular height varies
around 23.5 degrees or whatever the obliquity (tilt) of the earths axis was at that
time between either the equinoxes and the solstices.
With good reason I shall quote Dr. Carl Weiland, who also informs us of this
ancient method.
Measuring the lengths of the shortest and longest shadows was very important to these ancient
astronomers, as their religious feasts were tied to these two special days. If you got the
measurements wrong, your head would probably roll! So these results were carefully recorded
on stone and papyrus. Many of the measurements taken over the past 3000 years from places
such as China, Europe, England, India and Egypt are available to us today. The length of the
shadow really depends on the tilt of the earth. [12]
Or rather that the changing length of the shadow in one place at different times of the
year depends on the tilt of the earth, because if the earth were upright there would be
no change or maybe only a very slight change depending on the change in the
elliptical orbit of the earth around the sun i.e., how far or how near the earth is to the
sun. But now, because the axis is tilted by 23.5 degrees, in summer and on the longest
day, (summer solstice) the shadow of the stick is short, and in winter on the shortest
day (winter solstice) the shadow is long.
Now look again at the above painting. The individual in red represents the male
principle and therefore he would represent the summer half of the cycle.
The individual in white represents the feminine principle and therefore the winter
half of the cycle.
BUT LOOK AT THE SHOWN LENGTHS OF THE STAFFS THEY ARE
HOLDING!
The stick or staff held by the individual in red is mostly hidden and it indeed looks as
if he is holding a short stick perhaps indicating the shorter shadow of the stick
during summer.
The stick held by the individual in white is very long in length, indicating the long
shadow of the stick during winter.
When viewing this painting for the first time, the eyes are naturally drawn to these
two different sized staffs, and one has the distinct feeling that they must mean
something. Well they do mean something, in that we are being told that the earths
axis had suddenly tilted giving us this difference. And of course this would be the
only way a stick would show two different-sized shadows during the summer and
winter solstices.
If we are in any doubt about this, then all we have to do is look again at the skull
which the shepherds are both looking at, which like the earth is tilted at 23.5
possible meaning the death of those who perished during the catastrophe that nearly
wiped out the human race. Dont forget that we are also looking at a symbolic divide
here and an imbalance meaning that man is now trapped in cycles that swing
between positive and negative and in the extreme. My own view is that we are being
told that this divide is due to Mans own unconsciousness his unconsciousness of
these cyclical processes that govern his life and which have him trapped like a fly in a
web.
I would say that the above is the true interpretation and that at last the mystery of this
painting has now been solved. In solving this we solve many others that more likely
than not, contain the same information, and yet there is more that we can add to this
painting in terms of symbology. Along with the other sources I have found that
contain the same references, I would emphasise that we are dealing here with a really
clever code which is multifaceted and multilayered and conveys several themes at
once . . . but now onto the name Arcadia.
It is said that the physical and historical Arcadia was once a district of the Greek
Peloponnesus a land of numerous valleys surrounded by high impassable
mountains. Renowned for its high fertility and peaceful way of life, it is said that the
people of Arcadia were pagans simple rustic-folk consisting of shepherds and
herdsmen. Here we have our first connection, as again, the ancient Egyptian gods like
Osiris for instance, were seen as shepherds of men.
However, like the city of Troy, the literal existence of a Greek Arcadia
especially during recorded history remains unconfirmed and really makes no sense.
This leaves us to consider that the reference to Arcadia in the inscription included in
two of Poussins paintings, is allegorical in that the name given to this rural
shepherds delight believed to have once been a peaceful land amidst the evils
associated with the Greek City States is being used as an analogy to bring to mind
the paradise once enjoyed during the Golden Age.
This would mean that this simplistic Arcadian utopia was universal in that the
term applies to other places around the globe possibly the belt areas which begin 30
degrees north and south of the equator and at a certain time in mans history.
I would interpret Arcadia to be the Tep Zepi of the ancient Egyptians the First
Time or the time before time. After the tilt of the axis, time was measured by the
seasons as agriculture became a necessity. Its interesting to note that Osiris is a god
associated with the harvest; that like Jesus Christ, his rebirth from the Underworld
coincided with the Spring Equinox when Day and night are equal and balanced; a day
from which begins the positive half of the annual cycle and when the crops begin to
sprout and life begins anew. Again this was the day when the Djed column was
ritually raised-up (resurrected) by the Pharaoh.
Incidentally, in ancient Egyptian art, we sometimes find the Djed column placed
upright between the opposites as symbolised by the slanted Crook and Flail.
Combined with the Djed in this neutral, balanced, position is the Was Scepter a
symbol of power and really power over death.
Figure 15: The god Ptah holding the Djed column between the Crook and Flail
Earlier I mentioned that like Osiris and Horus, Jesus too would also follow in being
associated with the Earths axis.
The raising of the Djed column of Osiris is replicated in the story of Jesus, who
carries the cross on his back (tilted axis) to the hill of Golgotha (the place of the
skull). We see this in the tilted cross at 30 degrees which is centred on the back or
spine of the shepherd in red in Poussins painting, and before him and on top of the
tomb is a skull. The 30-degree angle of the cross indicates the location of Giza and the
Great Pyramid the hill of Golgotha and therefore the place of the skull. [13]
In any case, it is on this hill (symbolising the primordial mound) where the cross
is lifted up (upright axis) and from this position Jesus enters the heavenly kingdom
(the ecliptic center) and at the point of enlightenment.
Here, enlightenment really expresses the time of the Golden Age and the balanced
condition of the earth and human consciousness during this time and when man was
possibly more intuitive and psychic and attuned to the natural world around him. Its
likely that the prediluvial landscape (Holocene period) as described by Allan and
Delair in their book Cataclysm, [14] in which the earth enjoyed continual springtime is
this Golden Age.
So then the connections made between Osiris the resurrection god and the earths
axis, is that it is the earths axis that should be resurrected, according to ancient belief,
and that this is the real purpose and meaning behind the conception of the universal
resurrection god and all related beliefs and traditions. In other words, the whole
messianic mythos is based on the belief that this archetypal hero or god whose own
spine represents the celestial pole and vice-versa, therefore has the power to bring
back the golden age of the upright axis which was lost in the Fall a more
balanced world along with his own rebirth or resurrection through reaching
enlightenment. In terms of the collective human consciousness, this is the real
meaning behind Ascension.
If the Great Pyramid is the archetype for the Hill of Golgotha in the Gospels, and
also the Grail Castle as I have concluded elsewhere, then its possible that in the
distant past the Great Pyramid, being also an initiation temple, is where the shamanpriest-king-avatar, as represented by the resurrection god, attempted to reach
Kundalini enlightenment and ascension.
ET IN ARCADIA EGO
As for this enigmatic inscription, many have tried to interpret the meaning behind the
inscription. The most direct translation is, And in Arcadia I . . . but this incomplete
sentence just adds to the mystery. Poussins first biographer, Giovanni Pietro Bellori,
interpreted Et In Arcadia Ego as quoted: . . . the grave is to be found even in
Arcady and that death occurs in the very midst of delight . [15]
Another interpretation is And I Am In Arcadia. A popular interpretation is that it
is an anagram of TEGO ARCANA DEI (Begone! I conceal the secrets of God).
Writer and Rosicrucian, Anneke told me that the term Ego (also meaning I or
the One) was used by mystics in the Renaissance to address the Divine Self and so
the phrase Et in Arcadia Ego should be read as: Et-in-Arc-a-Dia-Ego: And in the Arc
is the Divine Self the divine soul in each of us. Dia is derived from Deus
meaning God. This is interesting, as it has been said that the Arc or Ark and its not
clear if this means Noahs Ark or the Ark of the Covenant is the Great Pyramid,
and/or that the Ark of the Covenant was once placed inside it.
Furthermore, we are also reminded by author Tracey R. Twyman that the first four
letters in the phrase ET IN was once an alternate spelling of EDEN the JudeoChristian notion of Paradise and the Golden Age. [16] This too is interesting as
Arcadia to the Greeks meant Paradise and the Golden Age.
Quoting statements made by microbiologist Michio Kushi in his book based on his
own research into ancient Japanese documents, Barabara Hand Clow writes that,
. . . the prediluvial world had a system of global transportation boats as well as
airplanes and natural agriculture based on the idea that Earth would produce all that
was needed if it was untouched. He [Kushi] says, People in Paradise had freedom
without the concept of freedom, health without any idea what health was, happiness
without the need to speak of happiness. [17]
If all the above has some truth to it and I would emphasise that this was the time of
the Shining Ones; what I would propose to be a scientifically-advanced, shamanicbased culture then Poussins painting is showing us that the spectre of death had
once visited Arcadia. The theme of death as symbolised by the tomb and the eulogy
in the inscription, goes far beyond the natural death of the individual which would
have been commonplace, even in paradise but to the sudden death of many . . . as in
a worldwide catastrophe bordering on Biblical proportions. One cannot help but
consider the notion that this was also the time of the sinking of Atlantis.
So, Arcadia was/is obviously a place. But again, does Arcadia mean a place in time,
or perhaps out of time? . . A period before the tilt of the earths axis? . . A period
before the symbolic death of Osiris, and a time before time associated with Gods
paradise the Garden of Eden?
Much has been said in regard to the real meaning behind the name of Arcadia,
which appears to have been used as a device between members of some kind of secret
fraternity of artists, writers and poets; but we find that most of the more recent
interpretations given to it, and mostly stimulated by the references to Arcadia in the
book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, are often wide of the mark. It appears that
Peter Dawkins is closer to the truth when he writes:
Arcadia was one of the primary mystery names given to the state of the world in a
Golden Age, and the whole Arcadian imagery and allegory is that of a Utopia or
Paradise on earth that might be achieved. The world is on the threshold of that
achievement now, according to the way the evolutionary cycles of divine law work.
Jesus Christ and the Buddha prepared us for it in an outstanding way; Francis
Bacon...and the Rosicrucian Brotherhood have inaugurated it. All have used
Arcadian imagery, the meaning of which pierces deep, right to the heart of all
mysteries. [18]
The significance of this quotation is even more intriguing when we discover that the
source from which this quote was taken is entitled: Arcadia: The Ancient Egyptian
Mysteries. Nowhere do we find in these recent discussions on the name Arcadia, a
link with ancient Egypt. But as I will one day reveal in full, Poussins paintings
contain encoded references to Giza and the Great Pyramid; telling us that Giza
contains information regarding the earth as it is now and as it was during the former
Golden Age now referred to as Arcadia.
On the subject of Poussins painting, Professor of French and Classics, Marc
Wiesmann, has this to say:
From Poussins painting, Arcadia now takes on the tinges of a melancholic
contemplation about death itself, about the fact that our happiness in this world is
very transitory and evanescent. Even when we feel that we have discovered a place
where peace and gentle joy reign, we must remember that it will end, and that all will
vanish. [19]
As everything happens in cycles, its possible that whatever ended the Golden
Age is something that could happen again, and if true, then why would important
information about it be encoded? Especially if our own survival depended on it.
The answer to this is complex especially when we find that there are people who
believe that the next event could possibly even right the earth and bring it back to its
vertical position, creating a new Golden Age.
The simple explanation is that this catastrophe was encoded in mythical stories by
those who survived the catastrophe and that this information has been preserved by
certain mystery schools to be divulged in full when the time is right. However, many
of these are idealistic ideas often reiterated by many of todays new-age writers, and
its possible that only fragments of this information is known; that the mystery schools
each possess a piece of the jig-saw puzzle and that only a handful of people know
the whole story if true.
This first version of The Arcadian Shepherds was completed some years after
Poussin settled in Rome, and there is now reason to believe that Poussin was a
member of the Underground Stream that had both preserved and encoded esoteric
knowledge in many different sources throughout history. That this knowledge has
been passed down through this Underground Stream is indicated by the god
Alpheus, the river god, reclining in the foreground in this painting by Poussin.
Alpheus is also the name of a mythical river that flowed through the Peloponnesus
in Greece and through subterranean channels from its source in Arcadia. In
Renaissance symbology this river indicates an underground stream of esoteric
traditions or secret knowledge.
I would stress that it was through Poussins paintings especially his self-portraits
that I was led to make the discovery that the Great Pyramid contains information
about the tilted earths axis in its geometry. (Again see article, The Great Pyramid
and the Earths Axis).
Its also obvious to me that the tombs depicted in Poussins two versions of the
Arcadian Shepherds are symbolic of a tomb or bloodline that belongs to someone who
once lived in Arcadia and more importantly someone who personifies Arcadia, as
well as the earths axis. Osiris was indeed associated with the Djed which was
symbolic not only of his backbone, which represented strength and stability, but also
represented the axis mundi the axis of the world.
The tomb in the paintings may indeed belong to a shaman-priest-king a Shining
One who was initiated by having reached enlightenment (ascension) inside the Great
Pyramid, as also built for this purpose, and who in later years was portrayed as a
god. This individual now personifies the Golden Age his death symbolising the
death of many which ended the Golden Age and so it is he who also personifies the
Divine Self of the collective. Other evidence suggests that his body may still be inside
the Great Pyramid.
Whatever we may believe about the Giza pyramids for example, that they were
merely built as tombs for a few vainglorious Pharaohs may be true, but it appears
that Poussin and others believed different. And now looking at the sheer volume of
related and supportive data associated with the subject of the earths geophysics
especially its axis the axis mundi, the world mountain, the world tree, the
resurrection god and all along with these numerous references to the angle of 23.5
degrees and 52 degrees perhaps these people knew something we dont; that they
were privy to undisclosed information and knowledge that had been preserved and
passed down through the ages. Perhaps what they knew and understood was closer to
the truth.
I will end this essay with an extract from John Miltons poem Paradise Lost.
Some say, he bid his Angels turn ascanse
The poles of earth, twice ten degrees and more,
From the suns axle; they with labour pushed
Oblique the centrick globe . . .
Paradise Lost, 1665, John Milton