Considering the Dynamism of the Mother's Symbol

On 12 August 2009 a crop circle was discovered at Wayland Smithy, Oxfordshire which by date and by structure emphasize the 12 division of the circle. This crop circle is a variation of the Mother's Symbol with its 12 petals and 3 concentric circles. In the crop circle we see the center circle (undivided) surrounded by two larger circles demarcated by dotted rings. This structure is praised in the ancient Rig Veda and is discussed thoroughly in Secrets of the Earth by Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet.

Twelve spokes, one wheel, navels three.
Who can comprehend this?
On it are placed together
Three hundred and sixty like pegs.
They shake not in the least.
(Rig Veda 1.164.48)

One is the wheel; the bands are twelve;
three are the hubs – who can understand it?
Three hundred spokes and sixty in addition
have been hammered therein and firmly riveted…
(Atharva Veda X, 8)

Regardless of whether the Wayland Smithy crop circle was made by extra-terrestrials, people who enjoy making these kinds of impressions, or by the Earth herself, its appearance on the 12th of August is still a message of the Mother -- the Mother Earth ... Aditi ... Prakriti ... Shakti -- reminding the world of the importance of the Circle divided by 12.

The Earth's Symbol is symbolic of the four cardinal directions as well as the four equinoctial and solstices points of the Earth's Year which introduce the four cardinal signs of the zodiac (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn). This symbol/geometry is the basis for further dividing the circle into 12 sections and for dividing or measuring the Earth's Year and the Great Year (the 25,920-year Precession of the Equinoxes) into 12 months and 12 ages. Readers who want to verify this geometry for themselves can draw an arc from the four cardinal points of the circle through the center to circumference (and beyond if you want to see the full effect of this 'flower of life' geometry). This construction shows that the 12 division of the circle is inherent in or born from the circle itself. It is not a mental creation. It is an eternal truth of the circle ... an eternal truth of existence.

Often people think the division of the circle and 360 degree orbit of the Earth around the Sun is arbitrary. Clearly, this was not so for the Vedic seers and the authors of the Upanishads and Puranas. The goddess Aditi, the universal Mother in Vedic lore, represents a 'the infinite undivided consciousness of God.' She is the Infinite cosmic matrix. Her 8 or 12 'sons' (the Adityas) are recognized by many as representative of the 12 astrological signs of the zodiac, but there is some evidence that planets and luminaries (the Sun and Moon) were also considered her children. In this light Aditi looks a lot like the unbroken and infinitely extending 360 degree ecliptic plane of the Earth (the apparent path of the sun across the 'heavens''). The 'offspring ' of this universal Mother -- the Adityas -- as well as Aditi herself, are zodiacal figures.

The division of the One Circle (and the 360 ecliptic plane, and the year, and larger cycles of time) by 12 was to the Rishi an expression of a divine consciousness and divine creation. This division was known to be a divine measure, measuring out, not only a static circle, but also measuring out the steps of a dynamic divine journey which if properly fathomed, could widen human consciousness. Harmonizing with this sacred measure and sacred journey was known as a path to the higher reaches, or 'worlds,' of consciousness.

After writing 'Lori Deplored ... Hypocrisy Adored' I have still been ruminating as to why Tusar N. Mohapatra of Savitri Era Open Forum expressed such horror and repulsion that I would put Vishnu (and the fixed astrological signs he represents) in the Mother's Symbol. Tusar and certain followers of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother clearly do not want to associate the 12 petals of the Mother's Symbol (and the 12-based structure of the Mother's Temple) with the Earth's Year (i.e. the Tropical Zodiac). To them the Mother's Symbol is not so 'mundane.' A valid question for a group of yogis who resonate with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's teachings on the indwelling divinity of material creation is, 'Why not?'

Perhaps our civilization has de-sanctified the material cosmos, Mother Earth, Maya, measure, movement and 'becoming' (i.e. dynamism) so much that many people are mostly loathed to consider the field of the zodiac (or the Earth's journey in time and space) as a real manifestation or expression of, or KEY to the Divine. The Transcendent (and immobile) Divine has been so much the focus of spiritual pursuits for so long that even dedicated students of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother find it difficult if not impossible to understand the language, symbols and real terms of the Cosmic Divine. The Mother's Symbol thus occurs as a static reality. It does not move. It does not represent a cyclical journey or movement in time. Therefore, comprehending the dynamics of the Circle of 12 ... of Aditi ... of the Earth's year ... of the Mother's Symbol ... of her Temple ... or of evolution, is not understood or taken on as a real spiritual task or as a key to widening one's consciousness. It seems superfluous.

My view is that understanding the dynamism of the Mother's Symbol is not superfluous at all. I have grown to fully appreciate the dynamism of the Circle of Life, of the Mother's Symbol as fundamental and crucial catalyst towards developing one's conscious or awareness of the coordinated, harmonious Whole (i.e. becoming conscious of the Supramental order of material existence).

Representing the dynamism of the circle is the swastika, an ancient symbol of 'Lord' Vishnu. I can't imagine the response from Tusar if I put the swastika on top of the Mother's Symbol; but just as Vishnu (one of whose names is samvatsarah, meaning the year) 'lives' in essence in the Mother's Symbol, so does his symbol the swastika. Depending on the direction of the swastika's outer swirling arms, it represents either the normal yearly progression of the Sun through the signs of the Tropical Zodiac or the backwards movement enacted by the precession of the Equinoxes. Which ever direction the swastika spirals, the spiraling arms reach into the areas of the circle/zodiac which are Vishnu's territory (Leo, Taurus, Aquarius and Scorpio.) The central upright and horizontal arms of the swastika represent the four cardinal points of the Circle/Earth's year. Vishnu's symbols -- the discus and the conch -- also may help readers SEE the dynamism of the Circle of which he is a Lord. The discus in this particular representation of Vishnu (on his index finger) looks like the horizontal view of the solar system or galaxy; and the spiral growth and structure of the conch shell is a fitting image to symbolize the dynamic structure of time and space ... the dynamic structure of the Universal Mother.

Spiral (Conch Shell) by Tricia McKellar

Related Articles:

* Number and the Supramental Matrix

* The Simultaneity of Time, Spirit and Matter 

* Macrocosm, Microcosm & the Laws of Time and Space

* 'A Higher Vision of Time Is Needed...' (Quotes from PNB's Time & Imperishability and some commentary)
* The ALL-pervading Energy of Time - the New Time (Quote from PNB's The New Way, a study in the rise and establishment of a gnostic society).
* ‘The Geometry and Superstructure of Time’ 
* 'Time as a Power (not an Enemy) of Self'  

* Learning the One Song, Learning the Universe

* The Vedic Circle of 9 and 0
* In Harmony's Way

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