The Festival of Durga

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

It is currently the festival of Durga Puja, the celebration of the worship of the goddess Durga, also known by her many other names Bhavani, Kanaka Durgammathalli, and even as Adi-Parashakti the Great Mother Goddess.

The festival of Durga Puja (also known by its other names Durgotsava, Sharadotsav, Akalbodhan, Navaratri Puja, and many more) also specifically celebrates the goddess's triumph over the buffalo asura or demon Mahishasura. In fact, in the depiction of the goddess shown above, the bloodied head of the buffalo can be seen at her feet, directly underneath the lower end of her long scepter (this long scepter-shaped weapon strongly resembles the Vajra).

There are many aspects of the symbology of Durga which indicate that she is a celestial deity, and in fact that she is associated with the constellation Virgo, one of the most important of zodiac signs and one who takes on the form of many, many goddesses and other important female figures in the sacred scriptures and mythologies of the world. This blog has previously discussed the almost certain correspondence of the goddess Durga with the sign and stars of Virgo in posts such as this one and this one.

The clear symbolic indications that Durga corresponds to Virgo discussed in those posts include:

• the fact that she is often depicted as riding on a lion (Virgo follows Leo across the sky, and hence the Goddess in widely dispersed mythologies is very often associated with a lion or with lions, sometimes riding a lion, or riding in a chariot drawn by a lion or by lions, or seated on a throne flanked by one or more lions), 
• the fact that she is often depicted with an outstretched arm which is one of the most characteristic features of the constellation Virgo (see illustration below, as well as the video here entitled "Star Myths and the Shamanic Worldview, part 2," in which this outstretched arm of Virgo is associated with the plucking of the fruit by Eve in the story of Adam and Eve and the Serpent), and 
• the distinctive bend in the hip depicted in some statues and reliefs featuring Durga, which corresponds to the outline of the constellation Virgo, and which can be seen in other artwork featuring Virgo-goddesses from ancient Greece and Rome as well.

Below is an image of Durga from a bas-relief in which her outstretched arm appears to be holding a bow. In other depictions, she may be holding a sword or other weapon in this outstretched arm. Female figures corresponding to Virgo often have bows, sometimes bows with miraculous powers -- see for example the story of "The old man and his daughter" from the Native American people of North America (in this case, from the northwest coastal island region near the modern-day state of Washington in the US and British Columbia in Canada). 

Note also in the bas-relief below that Durga is shown in the act of defeating the buffalo-bull-headed Mahishasura.

We can see more indications that Durga is associated with Virgo in the image at the top of this post. There, a lion is again prominently featured, and if we wanted to take the time to do so we could draw direct correspondences between the posture of that particular lion and the outline of the constellation Leo in the sky, who is so close to Virgo that he can be seen in the star-chart above, although his outline has not been drawn in (his stars are seen directly to the right of the word "Vindemiatrix" in that star chart).

Another clue that Durga is an aspect of Virgo can be seen in the fact that in the modern Durga Festival depiction of Durga at the top of this post, she is holding a serpent in the lowest of her hands on the right side of the image as we look at it (it is actually a cobra). This hand holding the cobra is on the opposite side of Durga's body from the hand that is holding the long Vajra-shaped scepter-weapon (the one that ends on top of the bloody buffalo-head).

Once again, this depiction is astronomically correct for the constellation Virgo. In the star chart above which shows the outline of the constellation, we can see that Virgo's outstretched arm (represented in the top image by the Vajra-scepter) is on the opposite side of her body from the long constellation of the serpent Hydra (whose starry outline does in fact resemble a cobra, if the circle of stars at the far right of his body as we look at it corresponds to the cobra's hood).

But perhaps the most important clues that we are correct in connecting Durga and Virgo are seen in the timing of her festival, and the fact that the festival celebrates her triumph over the buffalo-bull demon. The festival's timing is tied to the complex lunar-sidereal Hindu calendar, but it basically falls near the fall equinox and the part of the year which has anciently been associated with the sign of Virgo (particularly in the Age of Aries).

The reason Virgo is associated with this part of the year is that, during the Age of Aries, she was the constellation and zodiac sign seen above the eastern horizon just prior to the rising sun. Even today, although the background of stars has been delayed due to the ages-long motion of precession, the sun's rising at this time of year is in the sign of Virgo, a fact you can readily see for yourself by going to the excellent online, browser-based, free planetarium app at Neave.com.

There, if you simply leave the "location" at its default point, and dial up the app for today (October 2), you can swing the sky around to the east and then "dial back the hours" using the "upper arrow" on the date-time window (be sure to dial back the hours, not the days) until you see the sun rising on the eastern horizon. You will quite clearly see that the sun is in the midst of the constellation Virgo as it rises.

Now, if you "freeze" at the point where the sun is just below the horizon (and Virgo is already charging up over the eastern horizon), swing the view back along the horizon from the east (where the sun is rising) to the west (where the stars are setting). If you then shift your view upwards a bit, you can find the distinctive outline of Taurus, the Bull, who contains the V-shaped Hyades and is just "above" (actually "to the right of") the constellation Orion. Taurus is getting ready to set in the west as Virgo (Durga) rises in the east. Dial the hours forward and Taurus will be banished below the western horizon, as Virgo rises more and more fully into the sky in the east.

This is the meaning of Durga's slaying of the buffalo-bull demon Mahishasura.

At least, it is according to my interpretation of the celestial clues. And the number of clues in this case is pretty overwhelming. Thus, the Festival of Durga is another example of the fact that nearly all the ancient sacred myths and scriptures and traditions are built upon a common system of celestial metaphor.

The implications of this commonality are profound and far-reaching, but one of them is that humanity is actually united and not divided by these scriptures and traditions -- and thus we can all in some measure celebrate the Durga Puja, if we choose to do so!

Star Myths of the World: The Hymn to Durga in the Mahabharata

If the evidence presented in previous discussions for concluding that the Bhagavad Gita and the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata which contains the Gita was not enough to convince the most skeptical reader that these ancient scriptures are indeed Star Myths, built upon the same system of celestial metaphor that can be shown to form the basis of virtually all of the myths, scriptures and sacred stories around the world (see here for links to evidence found in myths from ancient Japan to the Maya, from Africa to Scandinavia, and from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible as well as the myths of ancient Greece and ancient Egypt), the new video above examines another powerful and decisive piece of evidence from the Mahabharata: the episode prior to the great battle of Kurukshetra in which Lord Krishna urges the great warrior Arjuna to utter a hymn to Durga.

Entitled "Star Myths of the World: the Hymn to Durga in the Mahabharata," the video shows that this direction from Krishna to seek out the great goddess Durga helps confirm that the great battle in that ancient epic is indeed a metaphor for the endless interplay and "struggle" between the visible material world and the invisible world of spirit which is taking place in the universe around us and indeed within us at all times in this incarnate human existence.

There are abundant clues throughout the Mahabharata that the entire epic uses the endless cycles of the heavenly bodies -- the sun, the moon, the visible planets, and especially the stars -- to convey profound truths about the nature of our incarnation in this material plane, and about the existence and importance of the unseen realm.

Just as the Bhagavad Gita itself is presented as the song and counsel of the divine Lord Krishna to the semi-divine bowman Arjuna prior to descending into the great struggle, in the two sections of the Mahabharata immediately prior to the Bhagavad Gita we see Krishna telling Arjuna to utter his hymn to Durga -- and it can be conclusively shown that the goddess Durga is replete with imagery associated with the sign and constellation of Virgo the Virgin, the very sign which is located immediately prior to the autumnal or fall equinox on the great wheel of the zodiac: the point at which the sun's arc "crosses down" into the lower half of the year, towards the winter months and the December solstice, the half of the year in which darkness reigns and nights are longer than days, the half of the year associated with incarnation in this "lower world" of matter, when the soul clothes itself in bodies made of the lower elements of earth and water.

Thus the sign of Virgo (outlined in blue on the zodiac wheel shown below) truly does stand at the very "eve of battle" -- the final position before the plunge into the struggle of incarnate existence:

The goddess Durga, whom we can see to be associated with the sign and constellation of Virgo using the superabundant clues and references provided in the Hymn to Durga uttered by Arjuna at Krishna's request in Mahabharata Book 6 and Section 23, thus can be seen as preparing the soul for incarnation, sending the soul into battle, and (as we see in the events described in this section, in which Durga herself appears to Arjuna and gives him blessing and encouragement for the struggle) as the one who guides the soul along the difficult path and promises that the struggle will not be in vain.

More than that, however, the contents of the hymn identify the goddess Durga as "identical with Brahman," and the one who supports the Sun and the Moon and makes them shine: in other words, as the infinite and undifferentiated and eternal Cosmic Principle, the undefinable and the un-namable -- just as we see in the Bhagavad Gita the Lord Krishna declares himself (and reveals himself) to be.

And yet she is immediately available to Arjuna, and appears when he utters his hymn to the Goddess. This indicates that we, the human soul embarked upon this journey of incarnation, in actual fact are in the presence of the ultimate and the infinite at all times -- and that we have access to the supreme and undifferentiated and undefinable at all times as well.

And perhaps this is why at the end of the section describing the directive from Krishna to Arjuna to utter his hymn to Durga, and giving the contents of the hymn itself and the results (the appearance of Durga to Arjuna, and her promise to him that he shall conquer, that he is in fact invincible, and that he is incapable of being defeated by his foes), the text of the Mahabharata tells us to recite this same hymn every day, and to do so when we rise, "at dawn."

In doing so, we are focusing upon the infinite and connecting with the infinite: transcending the "chatter" of the mind and the senses (which are endlessly defining, and partitioning, and assessing, and evaluating -- all important and necessary functions, but functions that can keep us from being in contact with that undifferentiated and undefinable infinite which we in fact can and do have access to at all times and in all places, even in our incarnate situation).

By beginning each new day connecting with this ultimate principle, who is in fact always with us, the Mahabharata promises that we "can have no enemies," and "no fear," freedom from animals that attack with their teeth -- and "also from kings" -- victory in all disputes, freedom from all bonds, from thieves, and the enjoyment of victory in every struggle.

image: Wikimedia commons (link).


For more on the importance of hymns and chanting of praise, see also:

• "How much time do you spend chanting praises?"
• "Your song"
• "Mantras: sacred words of power, by John Blofeld"

and

• "How many ways are there to contact the hidden realm?"

Descent unto Kurukshetra: this incarnate life

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

It has now been nearly forty days since our earth sped past the "crossing-downwards" point of the September equinox -- the fall equinox for our planet's northern hemisphere, where the ecliptic path traced out by the sun during the day falls below the line of the celestial equator, and the hours of darkness during each daily rotation become longer than the hours of daylight, with days growing shorter and shorter as we continue our "plunge" towards the very bottom of the year, at winter solstice.

This plunge out of the "upper half" of the year (the summer half, when days are longer than nights) down into the "lower half" (the winter half, when nights are longer than days) is depicted in ancient myth as the lower realm, the "underworld" in a sense. 

After much examination of the world's ancient myths, as well as of the arguments presented by Alvin Boyd Kuhn in writings such as Lost Light, I am convinced that the sacred stories found around the world employ this cycle of shifting from longer days (in the upper half) to longer nights (in the lower half) was seen as representative of the cycle of each mortal soul between the realm of spirit (the Spirit World, the Invisible Realm, the realm of the gods) and the realm of matter (the material realm, the mortal realm, where we find ourselves in this incarnate life).

From our perspective here in the incarnate body, we might logically assume that the "lower half" of the great cycle -- the winter half of the year, when hours of darkness dominate and days are shorter than nights -- must represent the "realm of the dead," the spirit realm, the disembodied realm where souls exist when they are not incarnate in a body.

But that assumption would be mistaken.

In fact, as Kuhn argues persuasively, and as the myths themselves confirm, the ancient system envisions the "upper half" of the year as the heavenly realm, the realm of the gods, the realm of spirit -- and they depict the "plunge" downwards across the line separating the upper half of the year from the lower half of the year, which takes place at the fall equinox during the great annual cycle, as representative of the plunge down from the spirit realm into the material realm, when we take on a human body and embark upon the difficult "lower crossing" of the underworld of this incarnate life.

This system of allegorization, Kuhn argues, also explains the ancient celebration of the festivals that take place forty days after the "crossing down" point of the fall equinox -- most commonly known as Halloween in the modern world, because of the name given to the day during the Christian era, but by many other names in many other traditions. Forty days after September 21st brings us to October 31st. Kuhn argues that the number 40 is often used as symbolic of the period of gestation (which is forty weeks), and that the celebration of Halloween thus represents an important "crossing point" of its own: the descent by spirits from the Other Realm into this incarnate realm which we now inhabit, and through which we often seem to stumble and grope as if in the darkness -- divine sparks temporarily embodied in animal forms, a unique combination of mortal and immortal. See this previous post from two years ago for more on that subject, and on Kuhn's illuminating treatise on the profound meaning of Halloween.

As we approach this special point on the calendar each year, it is not inappropriate to reflect upon the magnificent Mahabharata of ancient India, in which the entire epic descends inexorably towards the cataclysmic battle that will be fought upon the Plain of Kurukshetra, between the five heroic sons of Pandu and the massive army led by the the Kauravas, and particularly by the implacable Duryodhana, who wishes to rule over the entire world and who disregards the right order of the universe and the advice of all the gods and wise counselors who try to dissuade him from his disastrous course.

There are very good reasons for understanding this mighty conflict as representative of the very same struggle between light and darkness that takes place every year as we orbit the sun -- the progression through the equinoxes and solstices, and the interplay between days that are dominated by longer hours of darkness and days that are dominated by longer hours of daylight.

Immediately prior to the start of this awful conflict, the heroic Arjuna, pre-eminent among the five sons of Pandu (particularly because he has spent time among the celestial realms and obtained both instruction and celestial weapons from the gods and goddesses themselves), finds himself wracked by doubts, and instructs the Lord Krishna, who has volunteered to act as Arjuna's non-combatant charioteer throughout the battle, to take him to the field in between the two assembled armies, so that he can sit down on the ground and wait to be killed, rather than lifting up arms against his own beloved family-members.

This reluctance -- this overwhelming doubt -- actually mirrors very closely the doubt exhibited by Thomas in the gospel story of "Doubting Thomas" (found only in the gospel according to John in the canonical texts we call the New Testament), as well as that exhibited by the beautiful Psyche in the myth of Eros and Psyche (or Cupid and Psyche) described by various ancient sources including Apuleius.

And, just as the figure of Jesus in the gospel story encourages Thomas to trust him, the Lord Krishna in the Mahabharata encourages Arjuna, telling Arjuna to perform his duty upon the battlefield -- metaphorically, representative of this incarnate life, with its endless interplay or struggle between the spiritual and material natures. And he does so in the section of the Mahabharata known as the Bhagavad Gita, "the Song of the Lord," in which Sri Krishna not only encourages Arjuna to perform his duty, but also gives him the promise of eventual victory, and a description of the path -- indeed, the Yoga -- by which this eventual and inevitable victory will be achieved.

The nature of the instruction which Krishna imparts to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita makes it very clear that this encouragement is for each and every one of us in this incarnate life: for each and every soul which incarnates in this material realm, this "Plain of Kurukshetra." It is not advice given exclusively to an ancient semi-divine warrior named Arjuna, about to embark upon a literal battle upon a literal battlefield -- not at all (in fact, much of the advice seems to have little to do with situations one might encounter upon the battlefield).

Upon this momentous occasion, during which we who are presently living on our earth as it approach esthe end of the forty days' "gestation" following the great crossing-point of September equinox, here are some of the verses from the poetic song of Lord Krishna as he encourages Arjuna at the similarly "pregnant pause" before the mighty battle of Kurukshetra:

He that abstains

To help the rolling wheels of this great world,

Glutting his idle sense, lives a lost life,

Shameful and vain.  (Bhagavad Gita chapter 3, verse 16).*

Therefore, thy task prescribed 

With spirit unattached gladly perform,

Since in performance of plain duty man

Mounts to his highest bliss. (Bhagavad Gita chapter 3, verse 19).

To cease from works 

Is well, and to do works in holiness

Is well; and both conduct to bliss supreme [translated elsewhere as "Union with Ultimate Consciousness"];

But of these twain the better way is his

Who working piously refraineth not.

That is the true Renouncer, firm and fixed, 

Who -- seeking nought, rejecting nought -- dwells proof

Against the "opposites." O valiant Prince!

In doing, such breaks lightly from all deed:

'Tis the new scholar talks as they were two,

This Sankhya and this Yoga: wise men know

Who husbands on plucks golden fruit of both!

The region of high rest which Sankhyans reach 

Yogins attain. Who sees these twain as one

Sees with clear eyes! (Bhagavad Gita chapter 5, verses 2 - 5).

[in other words -- the paths of action and inaction are actually the same: the goal is right action without attachment, and this can be attained through the path of renunciation and meditation, or through the cultivation of right action without attachment to the results; pursuing either of these paths yields the same benefit, and if you see it properly, you will realize that both are in fact the same path].

Because the perfect Yogin acts -- but acts

Unmoved by passions and unbound by deeds,

Setting result aside. (Bhagavad Gita chapter 6, verse 4).

When the man,

So living, centers on his soul the though

Straitly restrained -- untouched internally 

By stress of sense -- then is he Yukta. See!

Steadfast a lamp burns sheltered from the wind;

Such is the likeness of the Yogi's mind

Shut from sense-storms and burning bright to Heaven. (Bhagavad Gita chapter 6, verses 18 - 19).

[in the next passage, Lord Krishna promises Arjuna that once one has started on the path, the ultimate achievement of victory is assured, even if it takes multiple incarnations; this is in answer to Arjuna's urgent question regarding "What road goeth he who, having faith, fails? In the striving, falling back from holiness, missing the perfect rule? Is he not lost, straying from Bhrama's light, like the vain cloud, which floats twixt earth and heaven when lightning splits it, and it vanisheth?"] Krishna answers:

He is not lost, thou Son of Pritha! No!
Nor earth, nor heaven is forfeit, even for him,
Because no heart that holds one right desire
Treadeth the road of loss! He who should fail,
Desiring righteousness, cometh at death
Unto the Region of the Just; dwells there
Measureless years, and being born anew,
Beginneth life again in some fair home [. . .]. (Bhagavad Gita chapter 6, verses 40 - 41).

[As has been asserted in previous discussions of the Bhagavad Gita, and based upon some of the revealing insights offered by Professor Victor H. Mair in the appendix discussions included in his 1990 translation of the Tao Te Ching, the overarching injunction given to Arjuna by Krishna is to do what is right, without attachment to the outcome: and Krishna is careful to reiterate several times throughout the discourse that "action without attachment" must be right action, not action that harms others. In the following verses, Krishna makes this very explicit]:

I am not known
To evil-doers, nor to foolish ones,
Nor to the base and churlish; nor to those
Whose mind is cheated by the show of things,
Nor to those that take the way of Asuras. (Bhagavad Gita chapter 7, verse 15).

By "the way of Asuras," the Lord Krishna appears to be indicating the way of powerful evil and malevolent beings of the spirit realm known as the Asuras in the Sanskrit epics Mahabharata and Ramayana.  Remember that the assertion I am making is that the Bhagavad Gita provides advice, direction and encouragement to the soul descending to this "battlefield" of incarnate life; Lord Krishna argues that the path to transcendence and integration with the divine Ultimate involves a discipline or a path of right action, performed with the same mind as if not taking action at all (performed without attachment, performed as if by one not acting).

This path at many points in the Gita seems to be described using the word Yoga, implying that it is a discipline, a practice -- and the word Yoga itself has been argued by Alvin Boyd Kuhn to involve connection or linking (linguistically related to the words junction and also union): perhaps the linking or integration of our material nature with our spiritual nature, and perhaps also the linking of our mortal nature with our divine nature and ultimately with the Universal Divine as well.

And yet here we have a clear warning that the path does not involve "the way of the Asuras."

I do not believe the Bhagavad Gita threw in this divine injunction for no reason at all.

As we have seen, there are two paths that are described which lead to the same positive outcome (and which actually turn out to be the same path): the path of action, and the path of inaction, both of which are the same if we understand that we are enjoined to pursue right action but without attachment, as if not even acting. And we are admonished that we are not to take the path or the way of the Asuras.

Further, if we take the path Krishna is describing, then the ultimate positive outcome is assured, even if it takes multiple incarnations.

Just prior to the assembly of the opposing forces in their battle lines, and immediately prior to the chapters containing the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata describes a scene in which Krishna urges Arjuna to call upon the goddess Durga. Arjuna does so, and the goddess appears -- and she too promises Arjuna that his eventual victory is assured: in her words, he is literally "incapable of being defeated" in his endeavor. Again, if we understand the battle of Kurukshetra to be representative of the cycles undergone by the soul itself, then this encouraging blessing from the goddess Durga is in fact addressed to each and every man and woman who comes down into this incarnation and whose heart holds (as Lord Krishna says) "one right desire."

The manifestation of the goddess Durga immediately prior to the battle, as discussed in previous posts such as this one, must be seen as powerful confirmation that these scenes are indeed celestial allegory, for the plunge below the line at fall equinox is traditionally presided over by the sign of Virgo (see the zodiac wheel diagram below) -- and indeed, Durga herself can be shown to be associated with the celestial figure of Virgo.

One of the ways we can be sure that Durga is associated with Virgo is the fact that she rides a lion or is often depicted with a lion by her side -- and the zodiac constellation Virgo follows immediately behind the zodiac constellation Leo in the sky.

Another way we can know that Durga is associated with Virgo is the fact that Durga is very closely identified with her action of defeating a powerful Asura named Mahish Asura, who is a mighty bull-headed or buffalo-headed demon or malevolent spirit-being.

It happens that Virgo and Taurus are located at opposite ends of the sky, such that when Virgo is rising in the east, Taurus is sinking down below the horizon in the west. Thus, the approach of Durga causes Mahishasura to flee in terror.

In fact, Durga is often described as actually beheading the powerful Mahish Asura -- and we can see in the sky that the "head" of Taurus is located a short distance away from the unmistakeable figure of Orion, an outline that resembles a powerful striding figure, carrying weapons . . . but without a head (to speak of). As Virgo rises with her arm outstretched, Orion sinks down in the west, with his "bull head" severed from his body (if we envision him, for purposes of the Durga mythology, as a great buffalo-headed or bull-headed Asura):

And below is a famous panel sculpted in relief, showing the goddess riding on her lion, with bow-arm outstretched, as Mahish leans away from her (notice that one leg of the striding figure of Orion is bent at the knee, just as is one leg of Mahish Asura):

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

From all of the above evidence, we can confidently conclude that the episodes at the beginning of the Mahabharata -- including the Bhagavad Gita -- are celestial and esoteric in nature, designed not to be understood as literal accounts of a terrestrial and historical battle, but rather to convey to our heart's understanding deep truths about the Invisible Realm, and our place and purpose here in this material-spiritual universe.

As we approach that fortieth day from the September equinox, we approach the point of the year associated with the descent of the soul into the body, and the point of embarkation upon the arduous struggle upon the great battlefield of Kurukshetra.

But we do so armed with the encouragement of the Lord Krishna, to act in accordance with what is right, without attachment (as if not even acting at all) -- and also armed with the promise, from both Krishna and from the goddess Durga, that we are actually incapable of being defeated.

Do not take the way of the Asuras.



============

* Verses above from the Bhagavad Gita are from the Edwin Arnold translation of 1885, available here. The same website contains the entire Ganguli translation of 1883 - 1896 as well; the sections containing the Gita can be found here. At the end of each quoted section is a link to another site that contains the Sanskrit text as well as another translation, plus a transliteration of the Sanskrit along with a literal word-for-word English translation of each specific Sanskrit word. That site also contains files with an audio reading of the verses in Sanskrit (as well as in other languages).

Why do we greet the manifestation of the divine with palms together?

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

Whenever a manifestation of divinity appears in the Mahabharata, the ancient Sanskrit epic that at over 200,000 lines is about 7.2 times longer than both the Iliad and the Odyssey combined and which contains the entirety of the Bhagavad Gita which itself is one of the clearest and most direct expositions of the ancient wisdom to have survived anywhere, the characters typically greet the divinity with palms pressed together.

The text itself in most cases will specifically describe this palms-together greeting.

For example, in the portion of the Bhagavad Gita in which Lord Krishna the divine charioteer reveals his cosmic form to Arjuna -- reveals his infinite, divine, and un-definable nature to Arjuna -- the text specifically states that Arjuna experiences "great ecstasy" and the hairs of his entire body stand on end as if under the influence of an electric current, and that Arjuna then offers obeisances to Krishna and performs the anjali mudra -- he places his hands together (see the text of Bhagavad Gita 11.14 here, which shows the Sanskrit characters as well as a word-by-word or phrase-by-phrase translation, and also provides an aural reading of the sloka).

The text itself says literally:

Thereafter being overwhelmed with amazement, with his bodily hairs standing on end due to great ecstasy, Arjuna with his body offered obeisances unto Lord Krishna, and began to speak with folded hands [krta-anjalih].

Again, when Krishna directs Arjuna to invoke the goddess Durga in the chapters immediately prior to the section of the Mahabharata containing the Bhagavad Gita, the text once again specifically describes Arjuna as performing the anjali mudra (placing palms together):

Beholding the Dhartarashtra army approach for fight, Krishna said these words for Arjuna's benefit. The holy one said, "Cleansing thyself, O mighty-armed one, utter on the eve of battle thy hymn to Durga for compassing the defeat of the foe." Sanjaya continued: Thus addressed on the eve of battle by Vasudeva endued with great intelligence, Pritha's son Arjuna, alighting from his car, said the following hymn with joined hands. Arjuna said: "I bow to thee, O leader of Yogins, O thou that art identical with Brahman, O thou that dwellest in the forest of Mandara, O thou that art freed from decrepitude and decay, O Kali, O wife of Kapala, O thou that art of a black and tawny hue, I bow to thee. O bringer of benefits to thy devotees, I bow to thee, O Mahakali, O wife of the universal destroyer, I bow to thee.

The same palms-together gesture is described many, many other times in the Mahabharata when divinities appear.

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

What does it specifically mean, that the ancient sacred Sanskrit texts describe the performance of the anjali mudra at the appearance of a celestial? 

Please take a moment and re-read carefully the previous post entitled "Namaste and Amen" from July 10, 2014. There, the meaning of anjali mudra is discussed, along with references which explain that the gesture signifies something along the lines of "the divinity in me acknowledges the divinity in you" or "I recognize the one-ness of the divine presence which is in me and in all other beings and in all other things."

In other words, the ancient text is of course telling us that the person who encounters the divinity is recognizing and acknowledging that divinity by pressing together the hands in this gesture. But the text is also showing us with this gesture that this divinity which they recognize is within them as well.

The characters in the epic, to put it most directly, are constantly greeting the gods and goddesses with the palms-together gesture which says: "Divinity in you -- divinity in me: all one." The divinity which appears, in a very important sense, is already there before he or she appears. Our connection with them is already within us.

This concept is discussed in previous posts discussing the sudden appearance of deities in the Mahabharata (often while meditating or at the recitation of a mantra), including "Why divinities can appear in an instant: the inner connection to the Infinite" and "The blindness of Dhritarastra, and Upamanyu at the bottom of the well."

The fact that the ancient texts are telling us that our connection to the Infinite, as represented by Lord Krishna or the goddess Durga, is actually internal is also discussed at length in the previous posts on the Bhagavad Gita and on the hymn to Durga which also contain videos on the subject.

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

When the characters in the Mahabharata place their palms together, they are recognizing that this infinite deity with whom they are now in communication is in fact within them also.

The text is trying to tell us that this is not a "special power" of the characters depicted in the epic (such as the semi-divine sons of Pandu, including Arjuna). It is telling us that this is the condition of each and every human being who has come down to this incarnate life (another reason why violence against others or against oneself is so wrong). We are each "semi-divine" and in actual contact with the infinite (and this is why in India all persons are greeted with this palms-together gesture and the expression "Namaste," just as the previous post linked above discussing the similarity between Namaste and Amen shows that the ancient Egyptians, as recounted by Plutarch, greeted one another in the same way with the word "Amun").

And, it is most significant that this same hand gesture is associated with communication with the Infinite divinity in New Testament times -- because the New Testament texts also tell us quite specifically that the divine is within us. 

There were other texts written at the same time as the texts which were allowed to be included in the New Testament, but which were specifically banned from inclusion in it, which explain the divinity of the individual in even plainer language and metaphor. For example, the Gospel of Thomas speaks of Thomas as having a "divine twin" (see previous discussion here).

And, have a close look at the multiple paintings from previous centuries depicting the New Testament episode of the Baptism of Jesus at the Jordan which are shown and discussed in this previous post. Here again, the hands in each and every depiction are in the palms-together gesture -- and note that it is at this event, which in fact is known as "the Epiphany," that the divine nature was revealed (depicted in the episode by the manifestation of a divine voice and the visible descent of the Spirit in the form of a dove).

It is also significant to note that in the first passage from the Bhagavad Gita cited above (from chapter 11 and verse 14) Arjuna is described as having an "electrified" feeling in the presence of the supreme form of Krishna. This may well relate to the invisible power which is called chi in Chinese tradition, and prana in India, and which is discussed in this previous post among others. This discussion of the hands-together gesture of namaskaram specifically states that there are different energy points throughout the human body, and that the different hand gestures or mudras of Indic tradition make use of them. It says:

So namaskaram is not just a cultural aspect. There is a science behind it. If you are doing your sadhana, every time you bring your palms together, there is a crackle of energy -- a boom is happening.

I believe that the Mahabharata (along with other ancient sacred texts) is telling us that we all have access to the Infinite, and that when you feel the presence of the Infinite and you place your hands together, you are recognizing that the divinity is also inside you.

Namaste.

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

The Truth is Up There

image: Wikimedia commons (link); modified.

The X-Files is one of the longest-running series in television history, premiering in September 1993 and (after a lengthy pause) still airing new episodes today.

The series depicts a world in which malevolent aliens are plotting to take over the earth and destroy humanity, assisted by certain treacherous humans who have been promised that they will be spared in exchange for their collaboration. 

The episodes revolve around the exploits of special agents Mulder and Scully of the FBI, who investigate cases in the agency's "X-Files" involving the unexplained and the paranormal, and the tension between the implications of the mounting evidence and the resistance of those who want to ignore those implications and who refuse to accept the possibility that their entire paradigm may be wrong (as well as the efforts of those who actually know what's going on and who want to suppress the evidence or downplay the implications in order to preserve the false paradigm).

This tension leads to the memorable tagline which appears at the end of the credit sequence which rolls at the beginning of every episode: "The Truth is Out There" -- the implication being that no amount of effort by the forces who want to suppress the facts can ultimately prevent the truth from finally coming out. 

It's an extremely powerful message.

I do believe that the truth eventually does come out, regardless of efforts to suppress it, although I myself am not at all convinced that the truth involves space aliens (see discussions here and here, for example). In fact, I'm personally more inclined to believe that many of the space alien theories propagated rather aggressively during the decades immediately following the ostensible end of the Second World War were intended to distract from the truth that is actually out there, rather than to point people towards the truth -- although I think the overall premise of the X-Files can serve as a brilliant metaphor for things that are actually going on and which are in fact extremely dangerous, and which are important to perceive for the safety of the human race and the planet Earth. 

Whatever your beliefs on that subject, however, one paradigm-exploding body of evidence which should really be beyond dispute at this point is the overwhelming set of data-points which demonstrate that the world's ancient myths -- from virtually every culture on every inhabited continent and island -- are speaking a common language of celestial metaphor. This evidence argues strongly for the existence of some now-forgotten culture or civilization which predates (possibly by millennia) even the most ancient civilizations known or postulated by conventional academic historians. 

The evidence in myth of a shared world-wide system may in fact constitute an even more-indisputable body of evidence for the existence of such a lost civilization than the formidable body of evidence composed by the world's network of ancient monuments, which also appear to be interconnected in ways that are virtually impossible to reconcile with the conventional historical paradigm (see for example evidence discussed here and here, as well as in the work of researchers such as Graham Hancock and Joseph Farrell and Laird Scranton, among many, many others).

That's because, once the outlines of the system are understood, the connections between the stars and the myths can be readily perceived by anyone, for myths stretching from ancient Egypt to Aotearoa, and from the myths of ancient China and Japan to those of the Norse of Scandinavia, and from the stories in the scriptures of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation -- all of which can be seen to be closely related to one another and even to share numerous common elements making their connection to one another and to the stars of the night sky virtually undeniable.

This evidence can be seen in the texts of the myths themselves, as well as in ancient artwork from around the world, and it can be seen most of all in the motions of the stars and visible planets of our night sky, which are accessible on most nights to everyone who is able to go out and look at them for himself or herself.

The number of correspondences between the myths and the stars are absolutely overwhelming, and constitute a compelling -- and, in my opinion, conclusive -- set of data which argues that the world's myths are based on a common system of celestial metaphor. I have now outlined some of this evidence in five original books each with hundreds of pages and hundreds of illustrations, including The Undying Stars (423 pages), Star Myths of the World, Volume One (482 pages), Star Myths of the World, Volume Two (718 pages), Star Myths of the World, Volume Three (766 pages), and Astrotheology for Life (322 pages), as well as another book based on just a small selection from my first one thousand blog posts, entitled Ancient Myths, Ancient Wisdom (866 pages).

And the evidence that has been presented in those books thus far actually constitutes only a tiny fraction of the evidence available in ancient myth and ancient artwork from around the world which could be offered as support for the conclusion that some common system of celestial metaphor, from some presently unknown source, somehow informs the sacred stories from cultures separated from one another by vast distances -- and in some cases by vast gulfs of time as well.

Indeed, new discoveries such as the Pylos Combat Agate, which was only unearthed in the past year from a shaft-grave discovered only as recently as 2015 -- and which was not even recognized as containing its stunning artwork until it was carefully cleaned off in 2017, and first revealed to the public this past November well after I had published all of the original volumes listed above, and well after the publication of the blog post selections included in Ancient Myths, Ancient Wisdom -- provide astonishing new evidence for the operation of this ancient worldwide system, in addition to the evidence in texts and artifacts which have been known and remarked upon for centuries (or even for millennia).

Unlike other forms of evidence pointing to the existence of an ancient culture predating and influencing the other known cultures and civilizations of humanity, the celestial correspondences can be seen by going outside on a clear dark night and looking up at the sky. It is not necessary to travel to remote deserts or jungles, or to have an advanced degree in geology or archaeology or even astronomy to see the evidence for one's self.

An example which is shown in my recent video discussing the special category of "dual-horizon" myths, and discussed in a little more detail in this month's "Stars over Grimerica" episode exploring the celestial phenomena visible during this time of year, are the aspects of the goddess Durga and the demon Mahishasura, from the ancient scriptures and sacred traditions of India, which can be readily seen to correspond to the distinctive features of the constellation Virgo (and the nearby constellations of Leo, Hydra, and Coma Berenices) and of the constellation Orion (and the nearby constellation of Taurus, particularly the "head of the bull" formed by the Hyades and the two "horns" indicated by the two stars located at roughly an equal distance beyond the two tips of the "V" of the Hyades).

Below is an amazing stone relief found in the Mahishamardini cave temple (or mandapa) in the Mahabalipuram temple complex of southern India, thought to have been carved in the 7th and 8th centuries AD. This portion of the temple carving depicts the goddess Durga, riding on a lion towards Mahishasura, depicted as a powerful figure with the head of a bull water buffalo:

left: Mahabalipuram temple relief, Wikimedia commons (link); right: stars of Orion and Taurus, stellarium.org.

The correspondences between the depiction of the figure of Mahishasura by the artist of the late 600s or early 700s, and the outline of the constellation Orion as we can see it in the sky above our heads this very week in the year 2018, could not be more compelling.

Below, the outline of the figure of Orion (yellow lines) and the nearby "head of the bull" of Taurus as defined by the V-shaped Hyades plus the two stars indicating the tips of the two long horns (red lines) have been added to the same stars seen in the above image to the right of the temple relief:

Note that the figure of Orion as seen in the sky appears to have one leg bent and the other leg straight (the leg on the right as we face the constellation, which would be the left leg of the figure, if envisioned as facing us). The artwork from Mahabalipuram depicts Mahishasura in an identical stance: the left leg is bent at the knee (the leg on the right as we face the sculpture), while the right leg (on the left as we face it) is straight.

Further, the Asura carries a short club in his right hand, which can be seen in the outline of Orion held aloft in the figure's right hand (on the left as we face the constellation).

The artist has even depicted Mahishasura as having a long sash which dangles down from his waist between his legs, somewhat closer to the leg on the left (the right leg of the Asura) than the leg on the right as we face the sculpture. This detail clearly corresponds to the "sword" or "sheath" hanging down from the famous three-star belt of the constellation Orion, containing the hazy Orion Nebula, which is visible in the star-diagram above between the legs of the constellation, slightly closer to the leg on the left as we face the image than to the leg on the right.

Above and a little to the right as we face the star-chart above we see the outline of the head of Taurus the Bull, depicted with red lines in the image. The fact that this bull's head is clearly separated from the neck and torso of the outline of Orion no doubt gives rise to the fact that in the ancient myths, Durga slays Mahishasura by severing his head from his body.

Clearly, the ancient artist seems to have been aware that the myth of the combat between Durga and Mahishasura is based on the constellations in the night sky, and that Mahishasura corresponds to the constellations Orion and Taurus, with Orion representing the body and Taurus the head. It is also possible that the artists themselves were not informed of the actual celestial origin of the artistic conventions they were taught regarding the proper ways to depict various supernatural figures -- but it is clear that however the artists inherited these artistic conventions, the conventions themselves preserved the connection to the stars in the heavens.

In the videos linked above, as well as in other writings about the identity of the goddess Durga, I have provided further discussion which shows fairly conclusively that the goddess corresponds to the constellation Virgo in the sky, and that the lion upon which she rides corresponds to Leo (a common pattern in other myths around the world, in which goddesses ride upon, stand upon, or are otherwise associated with lions). And, what is in my opinion still further confirmation of the celestial correspondences in this myth, it can be seen that the constellations Orion and Taurus (representing Mahishasura) are sinking down into the west at the same time that Virgo and Leo (representing the goddess Durga riding triumphantly upon her lion) are rising up out of the east. Right now, in fact, is a particularly good time of year to observe this phenomena in the motions of the respective constellations Taurus, Orion, Leo and Virgo.

There are in fact hundreds, or even thousands, of other examples which could be offered from ancient myth or ancient artwork, literally from around the globe.

And the silently circling stars which you can go outside and see this very night will testify to the connection of the ancient myths to the heavenly actors, a connection which becomes all but undeniable as example after example is found to correspond to the constellations and other celestial players in extremely precise and minute details.

In fact, the knowledge of these connections is not particularly new, and it certainly did not originate with me or with my work. I have found hints of this awareness in the writings of ancient philosophers, including Plato and Macrobius (and I'm pretty suspicious of Plutarch's knowledge on this subject as well). In more recent centuries, French free-thinkers such as Charles-Francois Dupuy (1742 - 1809) and Volney (1757 - 1820) wrote extensively on some aspects of this same concept.

Even more comprehensive, in my opinion, are the connections between the stars and the characters and episodes found in the Bible that were discovered by the Reverend Robert Taylor of England (1784 - 1844), who delivered sermons or lectures on these correspondences over a course of many years to packed audiences in London (and who was in fact thrown in jail on multiple occasions for doing so, in addition to losing his job as a minister). After his death, these sermons were collected and published in two volumes, which can both be accessed through links on the "Resources" page of my primary website.

Even more recently, Professors Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend collected a massive encyclopedia of evidence for what they called a "great world-wide archaic construction" which survived "in traditional rites, in myths and fairy tales no longer understood," which became a book entitled Hamlet's Mill: An essay on myth and the frame of time, published in 1969 (nearly fifty years ago now!).

And yet, despite the fact that Robert Taylor's extremely massive body of lectures was published in the middle of the nineteenth century (and we are already well past the beginning of the twenty-first), and despite the fact that Hamlet's Mill was published forty-nine years ago this year, the overwhelming amount of evidence which demonstrates that the ancient myths, scriptures and sacred stories of the world are based on the stars -- and indeed, based upon a common world-wide system of celestial metaphor which employs the same metaphors and the same understanding of constellational details (details in many cases which we would not expect to arise independently of one another in multiple cultures without any connection) -- this paradigm-shifting information is all but unknown today.

It's almost as if some very powerful forces are actively working to suppress the awareness of this evidence, and to preserve the conventional paradigm and historical narrative among the general public (and even among academicians), akin to the forces depicted in the X-Files series, who work to suppress the evidence that Mulder and Scully encounter, and to keep the true picture implied by the evidence from coming to light.

And yet, despite whatever forces may or may not be working behind the scenes to discourage awareness of the full implications of this information, the evidence is out there and it is available for all to see, once they begin to look for it. As the characters of the X-Files themselves declare, "no agency has jurisdiction over the truth."

And, unlike the evidence discovered by agents Mulder and Scully in that series, the evidence of the myths and the stars cannot be buried away in some bulging filing cabinets in remote corners of vast institutional buildings -- because the evidence is turning over our heads at all times. All we have to do is learn how to look.

In this case, the truth really is out there . . . or, perhaps more precisely,


                                                       The Truth is Up There

The old man and his daughter

Overwhelming evidence supports the argument that the ancient mythologies of the world are connected by a common system of celestial allegory. The same system underlies the myths of ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, ancient Sumeria and Babylon, ancient India, the myths of the Norse, and of the peoples of Africa, the Americas, the islands of the Pacific, of Australia, and of the vast lands of Asia -- and the same system underlies the stories found in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

Previous posts have discussed some of the evidence for this assertion -- some of which has not, to my knowledge, been specifically demonstrated to have a clear celestial connection before.  See for example the previous post on the Norse myth of "Odin and Gunnlod." Readers who were, at the beginning of that examination, skeptical of the assertion that the Norse myths follow the same celestial pattern as that found in the myths of ancient Greece and ancient Egypt would probably be forced to admit by the end of the post that the evidence is quite compelling (I would say that the evidence is conclusive).

However, even those who come to admit that an identical system underlies the sacred traditions found in the Norse, Greek, and Egyptian myths as well as the stories of the Bible might remain skeptical of the possibility that the same system is found in the sacred traditions of Americas. After all, while the cultures of Egypt or India are quite far removed from the frozen north lands of Scandinavia, they are after all geographically contiguous. However, the supposedly impassable oceans of the Atlantic and the Pacific lie between the lands of the "Old World" and the "New," and conventional historians remain adamant (even in the face of abundant archaeological evidence to the contrary) that there was no ancient cultural contact of any significance between them (this doctrine is known as "isolationism"). 

In addition to the archaeological evidence of ancient and sustained trans-oceanic contact, there is abundant evidence from myth and sacred tradition suggesting either cultural contact and diffusion, or descent from a common world-wide system (perhaps from a common world-wide civilization of great antiquity, predating the earliest known "historical" civilizations such as Sumer and Egypt). The mythological evidence for such a system was extensively documented in the seminal text Hamlet's Mill:  An essay on myth and the frame of time, by Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend (1969).

One of the myths the authors examine in that text is from the First Nations people of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, described in James Frazier's Myths of the Origins of Fire (1930) which itself cites the work of Franz Boas in Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Kuste Amerikas (1895).  Unfortunately, like much else in Hamlet's Mill, the authors hint at the celestial origins of this myth and indicate that it is a very important myth, with echoes in other myths around the world, and yet they stop short of explaining exactly how the specific elements of the story relate to the ancient system of celestial allegory.  An explanation of the connections follows below (perhaps for the first time in print).

The myth is described as follows, on pages 318 and 319 of Hamlet's Mill, all of which is a direct block quotation of the text of Frazier's Myths of the Origins of Fire (found on pages 164-165 of the 1996 Barnes & Noble edition of the 1930 text, ISBN 1-56619-996-4):

The Catlolq, and Indian tribe of Vancouver Island, to the north of the Nootka, say that long ago men had no fire.  But an old man had a daughter, who possessed a wonderful bow and arrows, with which she could bring down whatever she chose. But she was very lazy and slept constantly. Therefore her father was angry with her and said to her, "Sleep not always, but take your bow and shoot into the navel of the ocean, that we may get fire." Now the navel of the ocean was a huge whirlpool, in which sticks for the making of fire by friction were drifting about. The girl took her bow and shot into the navel of the ocean, and the apparatus for the making of fire by friction sprang ashore. The old man was very glad.  He kindled a great fire, and as he wished to keep it to himself, he built a house with a single door, which opened and shut with a snap like a mouth and killed everybody who tried to enter. But people knew that he had fire in his possession, and the Deer resolved to steal it for them. So he took resinous wood, split it, and stuck the splinters in his hair. Then he lashed two boats together, decked them over, and danced and sang on the deck, while he sailed towards the house of the old man. He sang, "Oh, I am going to fetch the fire." The old man's daughter heard him singing and said to her father, "Oh, let the stranger enter the house; he sings and dances so beautifully." Meantime Deer landed and approached the door, singing and dancing. He leaped up to the door as if he would enter. Then the door closed with a snap, and when it opened again, Deer jumped into the house. There he sat down by the fire, as if he would dry himself, and continued to sing.  At the same time he stooped his head over the fire, till it grew quite sooty and the splinters in his hair ignited.  Then he sprang out of the house, ran away, and brought the fire to men.  

This story is absolutely full of evidence of the common celestial system of the world's mythology. First, the identity of the "old man and his daughter" must almost certainly be the constellations Virgo the Virgin and Bootes the Herdsman (shown above). A decisive clue is the fact that the daughter possesses a wonderful bow, but she is very lazy and always sleeping. Anyone familiar with the constellation Virgo will immediately realize that the constellation itself is recumbent in the sky (both Virgo and Bootes are visible now for easy viewing in the hours of darkness prior to midnight, high in the southern sky for observers in the northern hemisphere). We have also seen in previous posts that Virgo has a distinctive outstretched arm (marked by the star Vindemiatrix), which in some of the world's sacred traditions gives rise to the goddess or maiden holding a bow in the act of shooting an arrow.

For example, in the sacred traditions of India, the goddess Durga is sometimes depicted as riding upon a lion and shooting a bow with her bow-arm extended and locked, as in this bas-relief of Durga slaying Mahisasura. The fact that Durga is seen riding upon a lion is a dead giveaway that she is related to the constellation Virgo, who follows in the zodiac directly behind Leo the Lion and who gives rise to goddesses around the world who ride upon the backs of Lions or in chariots pulled by Lions, or who are depicted in ancient art as seated in a throne flanked by a Lion (Virgo is recumbent, but the stars of Virgo also allow her to be envisioned as seated upon a throne). This connection between Leo and Virgo and the Great Goddesses of the world's sacred traditions is discussed in this previous post.

To prove the point that the outstretched arm among the stars of Virgo was depicted as the outstretched arm holding a bow, the outline of Virgo (as diagramed in the system proposed by H.A. Rey) has been superimposed upon the imagery of the goddess Durga, below:

To continue with the celestial clues found in the myth from the Pacific Northwest, we see that the daughter is instructed to shoot her arrow into the "huge whirlpool" at the "navel of the ocean." The authors of Hamlet's Mill demonstrate conclusively that the silent, whirling ocean of ancient mythology around the world is none other than the starry heavens, a fact which is discussed extensively in The Undying Stars and which is touched upon in this previous post as well. The whirlpool at the navel of the ocean, then, would most likely be the north celestial pole, around which all of the firey stars seem to whirl (due to the daily rotation of the earth on its axis). The outstretched arm of Virgo (holding the bow, in the case of Durga and of the daughter of the old man in the myth of the First Nations people of Vancouver Island) does indeed point towards the north celestial pole.

An even more conclusive piece of evidence is the magical door which the old man constructs in order to safeguard his treasured fire: the authors of Hamlet's Mill note the clear connection here to the Symplegades of Greek mythology, and the fact that these "clashing doors" symbolize the equinoxes (and Virgo, as we have discussed before, is stationed right at the gate of the September equinox). Note that the myth of Odin and Gunnlod, which also mythologizes the constellation Virgo, also contains a reference which seems to resonate with the Symplegades, as pointed out by Maria Kvilhaug following the work of Svava Jacobsdottir.

The stealing of the fire by the character of the Deer is another celestial clue. The celestial connections between Virgo and a deer or stag are described in pages 34 through 38 of The Undying Stars, which can be previewed online in the first three chapters of the book, and which are linked here.  The Deer in this story almost certainly represents the constellation Centaurus, the Centaur (not far from Virgo) -- a Centaur who can also be envisioned as a stag with a majestic spreading rack of antlers, and who appears in myths around the world which point to this particular section of the heavens.

Note the clear parallels in the Native American myth and the story of Odin and Gunnlod. In each case, there is the central motif of the giving of some knowledge of tremendous value to mankind: the gift of wisdom and poetry in the case of the mead of Gunnlod, and the gift of fire in the myth of the old man and his daughter. In each case, this divine knowledge has to be stolen and then given to humanity -- in the Norse myth stolen by Odin, and in the First Nations myth by the Deer. And, in each case, there is the centrality of a grumpy old father and a beautiful daughter (in the Norse myth, these are the jotun Suttung and his daughter Gunnlod), and the father wants to guard the precious secret by hiding it behind the mechanism of the "clashing door" or "clashing rocks" which are reminiscent of the Symplegades of ancient Greek mythology. Also, it is notable that in each myth it is the daughter who is sympathetic to some degree of the one who comes to steal the mead or the fire.

It is possible to find this same clear celestial pattern in the fire-stealing stories of the world's ancient traditions (and I am planning an article for future publication that will do just that). While some may argue that these parallels are mere coincidence, or perhaps the result of what Carl Jung called "the collective unconscious," the common occurrence of a rather obscure and esoteric metaphor such as the clashing doors of the equinox, along with many other common details, argues against the explanation that this metaphor simply popped up independently in cultures around the world who were always completely isolated.  

In fact, both of these conventional explanations (sheer coincidence, or the collective unconscious) defy "Occam's razor," and are much more difficult to support than the more obvious possibility that the world's cultures either had ancient contact or (even more likely) a common descent from what we might call for want of a better term the "lost civilization." The reason that "coincidence" or "collective unconscious" are such popular explanations  today probably has more to do with the fact that they allow room for the favored isolationist paradigm than from their ability to explain the evidence.    

The question which then arises is usually, "But why would they be so obsessed with writing myths about the stars?" The answer to this question is discussed in my book, and it involves the shamanic-holographic cosmology conveyed by these esoteric stories, which I have outlined in essays such as this one and this one. The answer can also be discerned in the common elements discussed above between the myths of Suttung and Gunnlod and the myth of the old man and his daughter.  In both cases, we have the bringing down to earth of the secret knowledge of the heavens: in the case of the mead of Gunnlod, some drops fell to Midgard, where they could be of benefit to men and women, and in the case of the old man and his daughter, she shoots her arrow into the very navel of the revolving celestial ocean in order to bring down the sacred fire that has been hidden among the stars.

Special Note: This examination of "The old man and his daughter" is part of a series which currently includes two other related articles . . .

• "Odin and Gunnlod"
• "The celestial shamanic connection: Ancient Japan"