Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Scott Onstott and the metaphor of form



We have been exploring the concept of sacred metaphor, by which spiritual principles "condescend" to clothe themselves in the physical form of the material world, in order to reascend once more, dragging along the lower in their train.

It should be pointed out, of course, that this is the exact same process which we ourselves undergo, according to the ancient scriptures and traditions of the world's mythology, when understood metaphorically and esoterically. 

Evidence for this assertion has been explored in many previous posts, including those discussing the celestial aspects of the Genesis story of Adam and Eve and the Serpent and their ejection from the Edenic paradise (see the video here and the additional diagrams and discussion here), as well as all the posts discussing the critically important mythological concept of the "casting down" of the Djed column and its subsequent "raising back up" (see for example "Scarab, Ankh and Djed," "Vajra: the Thunderbolt," and "The shamanic foundation of the world's ancient wisdom").

Readers familiar with the New Testament will also be aware that the descent and humiliation, and subsequent exaltation, of the Christ are described in exactly the same terms, most succinctly perhaps in the second chapter of Philippians.

Recent posts have explored examples of this "clothing of spirit" in the trappings of the material in the rough and raw physicality presented in Herman Melville's Moby Dick,  in the analogy of banging around underneath a sink and being occasionally showered with unpleasant blasts of cold water in the process, and in the transcendent infinity of number described in the work of Marty Leeds. 

The "infinite canvas" of number in particular was clearly at work in the ancient sacred texts and traditions found around the world, and can be seen as following the same pattern: numbers themselves coming down as messengers from a world of pure spirit, but they take on physical form and even material characteristics (male and female traits, for instance), and in doing so they help point us back upwards to the realm of spirit from whence they came.

Not only do numbers "materialize" in this fashion within the myths of the human race, but they also materialize or take on material form in the ancient monuments and megaliths that can still be found around the world, from Stonehenge to the Great Pyramid to many others that are perhaps less well-known but no less mysterious and awe-inspiring. These ancient structures embody sophisticated mathematical sequences such as phi and pi, and often incorporate ratios relating to the size and shape of our spherical earth, as well as other important heavenly bodies and distances in our solar system. Often, they indicate through their alignments the rising and setting motions of the most significant celestial bodies as well.

In doing so, these ancient monuments "bring down" the heavens (and the world of spirit) to the material realm for our consideration, and point us back upwards to that invisible world -- acting as pointers to raise our consciousness, perhaps, or to assist in the elevation of the material realm and the spirit that is everywhere present in this material world and all the beings in it.

Amazingly enough, the work of Scott Onstott has shown definitively that the ancient sophisticated system of "physical metaphor" has not only survived in some form, but that it is positively rampant throughout the architecture and design of some of the most central capitol cities of the "western world," in ways that are absolutely astounding and which are so abundant that they cannot possibly be attributed to mere coincidence.

Drawing on his own deep experience in architecture and design, as well as his obvious gifts of analysis and insightful examination and of knowing where to look and what "questions" to put to the maps and the blueprints, and assimilating the analysis of many other researchers in related fields, Scott has put together many outstanding videos, most notably Secrets in Plain Sight (embedded above), which has now been followed by Secrets in Plain Sight, volume 2 (see his website here for more of his excellent resources). His recent book Quantification is a beautiful volume containing full-color diagrams and discussion of some of the aspects of sacred geometry and philosophy relating to his work.

Marty Leeds has explained how his very first encounter with Scott and his work (Marty heard a radio interview with Scott) ended up "changing the entire direction" of Marty's life (Peacock's Tales, pages 25-27). That's how powerful the discoveries that Scott has made can be -- and should cause everyone to want to explore Scott's work more deeply in order to see what kinds of positive impact it can have on their own lives as well!

Scott's jaw-dropping videos speak for themselves. They cannot fail to have an impact on everyone who watches them.

In addition, there may be some ways in which the material covered in The Undying Stars can add some interesting angles to the subjects that Scott is discovering in his research, especially when it comes to the evidence for the continuation of a body of esoteric knowledge among certain groups in the western European cultures that arose after the dissolution of the western Roman Empire. Some of this information was obviously carried on through groups with strong ties to esoteric traditions such as the Templars and the Freemasons, which may well be directly related to the ancient cult of Sol Invictus Mithras discussed in The Undying Stars and in the theory of Flavio Barbiero (for some discussion of this vitally important but little-known aspect of history, see this and this and this previous post).

The abundant connections to the symbols and mythology of ancient Egypt are also not surprising, if some of the arguments in The Undying Stars about the original Egyptian origin of the family lines which eventually created the cult of Mithras are correct. However, it should also be noted that ancient examples of the use of sacred geometry and patterns like those Scott's video finds in more modern architecture and design can be found literally around the globe: see for instance this discussion of the proportions and alignments and sacred geometry encoded in the "Star Mounds" of the greater Ohio Valley region of North America.

Additionally, it can be seen that the system of architectural and geodetic metaphor that Scott documents in his research has clear connections to the system of celestial metaphor -- as he points out several times. Many of the figures to which the esoteric designs refer (such as Isis) can be shown to be directly connected to constellations, such as the zodiac sign of Virgo -- and many of the pieces of historical artwork which Scott shows in his video to assist in the explanation reveal that the original artists themselves may have known about these celestial connections (since the artwork incorporates distinctive features of those constellations in some cases).

For instance, this image (used in Scott's presentation) of Pythagoras on the obverse of an ancient coin has unmistakable characteristics indicating the constellation Virgo (see discussion in this previous post, for example). Pythagoras is seated, with one arm extended (facing towards the left, in this case). If we were to rotate his coin clockwise about ninety degrees, he would be a perfect fit with the constellation Virgo. The staff that he holds in the crook of his other arm corresponds nicely to the sheaf of wheat of Spica which was often depicted on Virgo where this staff is shown (and note that wheat is sometimes referred to as "the staff of wheat" in the Bible). That side of Virgo is also the side where the snaky serpent of Hydra is located -- and we all know that serpents and staffs also go together (such as in a caduceus).




original image: Wikimedia commons (link). Modified to rotate and add Virgo outline.

The fact that Virgo is being used to embody Pythagoras is rather unusual, but the elements of Virgo are difficult to deny in the above coin, and they certainly leap out at the viewer who is familiar with the ancient system of celestial metaphor. The fact that Pythagoras is depicted next to (and pointing towards) a vertical column or pillar is most significant: Virgo is located at the point of autumnal equinox, or the casting down of the Djed column (into the horizontal realm between the equinoxes, and into the "underworld" of the lower half of the zodiac wheel), and so Pythagoras' depiction with connection to Virgo as well as to an upright pillar might indicate that we are to understand his role (and by extension the role of metaphorical number and sacred geometry with which Pythagoras is so closely associated) as being connected to both the "casting down" and the "raising up" of the Djed pillar!

This interpretation, of course, would be entirely in keeping with the assertion above that number "comes down" from the realm of form, the realm of spirit, in order to "raise us back up" to the spirit world from whence we have been "cast down" ourselves.

The image below of Enoch / Metatron (also used in Scott's movie a few times) has clear similarities to the Angel depicted in the scene of Abraham and Isaac and the substitutionary Ram, which I have previously shown to have possible relations to the constellation Andromeda. The depiction of the altar and rising smoke in the Enoch image, below, is a good indication that we are talking about the same portion of the night sky that forms the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac, where we saw that the rising smoke corresponds quite nicely to the path of the Milky Way which goes past Perseus and Andromeda in this part of the sky, enroute to the Twins of Gemini.






































image: Wikimedia commons (link).

The depiction of Enoch becoming an Angel, or ascending from the world of matter into the world of fire and air -- the world of spirit -- is of course symbolic and indicative of the process we have been discussing.

A troubling question, of course, may come up as we watch Scott's presentation showing the incorporation of these hidden metaphors into the architecture and layout of the physical buildings, roads, and cities that still house the levers of political power in the modern world. That is the question of whether or not all these physical manifestations of esoteric metaphor are being directed for entirely benevolent and beneficent reasons.

Put another way, are they only being built as metaphors, for us to contemplate and somehow increase our consciousness and awareness of the spiritual as we contemplate them? This would not seem to be a likely explanation, especially as most of this design is "hidden in plain sight" and generally not consciously perceived by most of the world. It may well be that these correspondences and connections are being designed into the physical form of the buildings and cities of the world for more than simply metaphorical reasons: they may be intended to create actual resonance with or connection to the invisible realm.

If so, it is also logical to conclude that this kind of connection to the power of the invisible realm might be pursued for the benevolent or less-than-benevolent ends. It might all be part of a massive project on behalf of human consciousness for all men and women, or it might be part of a "War on Consciousness," evidence of which is also sadly abundant in the world today (and for the past many centuries).

These are extremely important questions. We should all be grateful to Scott Onstott for creating the videos which enable us to ask them, and we should spend the time and energy to diligently examine the research he has done and which he has so generously shared with the world.