The Sacred Measure of 432,000 ⁓ Part 3: The Sexagesimal Measure of the 360° Circle
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| Cropped bas-relief of an Apkallu (Sumerian Fish-Man/Sage) at the temple of Ninurta at Nimrud, c. 1350 BC and 610 BC, Wikimedia Commons (full image and discussion of this figure below). |
As discussed in Part Two, the nautical mile, the ancient Greek foot and mile, and the so-called modern (English) foot and mile are all based on the sexagesimal system of dividing the 360 degrees of the Earth’s circumference into 60 minutes and further into 60 seconds. For those who have not yet read Part Two, here is a short-as-possible synopsis of the relationship between the measure of the mile and the sexagesimal system of dividing the circle. Others can skip to the section below entitled "The History of the Sexagesimal System".
The Earth’s meridian (or polar) circumference in the nautical system of measure is 21,600 or 360 x 60 miles. In this system, each mile is equivalent to 1 minute of the sexagesimal measure of the meridian circumference of the Earth. In ancient Greece the meridian circumference of the Earth was 25,920 miles, based upon the 25,920-year measure of the Precession of the Equinoxes (the Great Year). The 5,000-foot designation of the Greek mile amounts to a circumference of 129,600,000 (25,920 x 5,000) Greek feet. This circumference measure contains in itself the full measure of seconds of degrees of 360° circle (360° x 60′ x 60ʺ = 1,296,000ʺ). The Earth’s meridian circumference in Greek feet can be written out as:
The Earth’s meridian (or polar) circumference in the nautical system of measure is 21,600 or 360 x 60 miles. In this system, each mile is equivalent to 1 minute of the sexagesimal measure of the meridian circumference of the Earth. In ancient Greece the meridian circumference of the Earth was 25,920 miles, based upon the 25,920-year measure of the Precession of the Equinoxes (the Great Year). The 5,000-foot designation of the Greek mile amounts to a circumference of 129,600,000 (25,920 x 5,000) Greek feet. This circumference measure contains in itself the full measure of seconds of degrees of 360° circle (360° x 60′ x 60ʺ = 1,296,000ʺ). The Earth’s meridian circumference in Greek feet can be written out as:
25,920 miles x 5,000 ft = 129,600,000 ft = 360 x 60 x 60 x 100 ft1
In Part Two, I wrote this equation as:
25,920 miles = 25,920 miles x 5000 feet = 129,600,000 feet = 360 x 360,000 feet
The take away from this math is that in ancient Greece the Time measure of 25,920 years (the Great Year) was transposed onto the 25,920-mile measure of the Earth’s circumference. Similarly, the Time measure of the Earth’s 365.25-day Solar Year is transposed onto the measure of the Earth’s circumference in modern English feet which, as Robin Heath and John Michell discuss in their writings, is an ancient measure which is neither modern nor originally English.
24,902 miles = 24,920 miles x 5280 feet ≈ 131,486,400 feet = 365.24 x 360,000 feet
Just as in the first equation of the Greek mile above, the figure of 360,000 must be understood as a two-decimal-place (102) extension of the sexagesimal division of one degree of the 360° circle, or as 60 x 60 x 100 (= 360,000). It is plausible (and I would say likely) that this two-decimal-place extension was employed to render a sacred geodetic measure close to the scale of the human foot (or to the scale of a small human step from heel to heel). Another way to visualize the equation of the Earth’s circumference in so-called modern feet is:
(360 + 5.24) x 60 x 60 x 100 feet = 131,486,400 feet ≈ 24,902 miles
This equation emphasizes the sexagesimal basis of the measure of the foot, accounting for the extra 5.24 days outside the 360° measure of the circle/year. The 5,280-foot measure of the mile is connected to (derivative of) the 5,000-foot measure of the Greek mile, yielding the 129,600,000 feet of the Earth’s circumference; but with the added cosmological marvel of harmonizing the 7,920-inch (660 ft) measure of the furlong with the 7,920-mile diameter of the Earth.2
As discussed by Thea (Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet) in her writings, the ancient 432,000 measure of the Indian Yuga and of the Vedas must be understood in terms of this same sexagesimal system of measuring the circle, wherein 432,000ʺ is equivalent to 120° (one-third) of the 360° circle: 120° x 60′ x 60ʺ = 432,000ʺ. As I have discussed in my book and in this blog, together the radius and vesica piscis form this eternal sacred measure (divine maya) or eternal law (sanatana dharma) of the circle, establishing the triadic or three-fold gnosis (trayi vida) of the Vedic Rishis and the Vedas.
I have constructed the image to the right to demonstrate how three vesica piscis divide the 360° (1,296,000ʺ) circle into three 120° (432,000ʺ) segments. For readers who want to see the role of the radius in measuring out these three vesica piscis, see “The Divine Trinity”. The construction of the three vesica piscis begins 13:50 minutes into this video, just after a quote from Rig Veda 4.42 which clearly depicts the Vedic Heroes Indra and Varuna [these two gods are portrayed as equivalent in this hymn] in terms that apply to the radius and its sacred triadic measure of the circle (and of the WORLD).
“I AM the royal Ruler... I made to flow the moisture-shedding waters, and set the heaven firm in the seat of Order. By Law the Son of Aditi, Law Observer, hath spread abroad the world in threefold measure.” – Rig Veda 4.42.1-4 excerpt, tr. RTH Griffith
As I have discussed in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, the flowing waters (rivers) of the Rig Veda are a symbol of multiple vesicae piscis flowing though and measuring out the circle of the Zodiac. Thea saw that the full 1,296,000ʺ (432,000ʺ x 3) sexagesimal count of the circle is equivalent to the measure of Treta Yuga (meaning Three Yugas), which she understood to be a triadic accounting of the Great Year wherein each of the three 432,000ʺ Kali Yugas is equivalent to 8,640 years (or four 2,160-year astrological ages).3
25,920 years = 3 x 8,640 years = 3 x (4 x 2,160) years = 360° = 1,296,000ʺ
Given that the sexagesimal system is the basis of the Greek and the modern measure of the mile, as well as the basis of the Indian Yugas and the measure of the Rig Veda, it is reasonable at this point, to address the question of who is credited with inventing the sexagesimal system as applied to the 360° circle/year. The accepted academic view seems to be that this system has its roots in Sumeria (c. 4500 –1900 BC) and was utilized by the Babylonians (c. 1900-1000 BCE) to measure to the cosmic surround. Typically the Babylonians are credited with inventing the Zodiac and Astrology based on the 360° measure of the year. According to this view, the Zodiac and Astrology were then imported into India via Babylonia. Yet as Thea and some Vedic scholars have noted, evidence of the 12-month, 360° circle/Solar Year with its four cardinal points, along with the names of its creatures (signs) is clearly found in the Rig Veda, which portrays a tradition of gnosis that preceded Babylonian civilization.4 Thea wrote that the symbols and gnosis contained in the Rig Veda can and must be understood within the context of the 12-month 360° Tropical/Solar Year, i.e. within the singular and unifying context of the Zodiac, known to the Rishis as Yajna (often translated or referred to as a “sacrifice”).5
“Twelve are the fellies, and the wheel is single; three are the naves. What man hath understood it? Therein are set together spokes three hundred and sixty, which in nowise can be loosened.” ‒ Rig Veda 1.164.48, tr. RTH Griffith
“Him with fair wings though only One in nature, wise singers shape, with songs, in many figures. While [the singers] at sacrifices fix the metres, they measure out twelve chalices of Soma.” – Rig Veda 10.114.2-5, excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith
"With four times ninety names (caturbhih sakam navatim ca namabhih), he (Indra-Vishnu) sets in motion moving forces like a turning wheel (cakra)." ‒ RV 1.155.6 [translation found in David Frawley’s article “Vedic Origins of the Zodiac - The Hymns of Dirghatamas in the Rig Veda”6
It must be emphasized here that the ancient 360° (60° x 6) measure of the year/circle bears a close equivalence to the actual 365.24 days of the Earth’s year. In other words, 360° is not an arbitrary division of the circle. It is based on the Earth’s own cyclical measure and movement around the Sun, wherein one degree of the circle represents one day of the Earth’s year (equivalent to one full 360° rotation of Earth on its axis). On this basis, it makes much cosmological sense to re-apply the 360-measure of the year ‒ or a scaled version of it (3,600ʺ) ‒ to the measure of the degree. The 3,600 seconds of the degree can be understood as a fractal7 of the 360° circle.
The 360° measure of the circle is equally based on the 3-6-9 structure of the circular 0/9 base of Vedic Math as established by the geometry of the radius and vesica piscis within the circle.8 360° is essentially a macrocosm of the circle of 9, wherein each of the four quadrants holds 90 degrees. The number 360 holds in itself the 3, the 6 and the 0 which is interchangeable with the 9 in the Vedic Circle; and the number power of 360 is 9 via the addition of 3 + 6 + 0. In other words, the number/measure of 360 holds the 3-6-9 Trinity within itself. Just as the 0 and 9 hold the same seat and power in the Vedic Circle of 9, 0° and 360° also hold the same seat and power in the Vedic Circle of 360°. Thea understood this math in terms of the ancient symbol of the Ouroboros: “The 0-9 is spherical; they join at the top of the sphere as we find in the revered Ouroboros symbol, the Serpent biting its Tail. Where Head (0) and Tail (9) meet, there is a joining of 0 and 9, an overlapping, if you will.” [Updating the Vedic Altar – 4]
The 360 measure of the circle is an expansion of the number power of 9, an expansion which approximates the number of days in the Earth’s year. Below are varying accounts (or modern-day assessments) regarding the antiquity of the sexagesimal system of measuring the 360° circle.
“[The Sumerian’s] invented mathematics, developing a system of numbers based on a unit of 60. We still use their development of time measurement, 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 minutes in an hour and the division of a circle into 360 degrees.” – “The Sumerians”, Historywiz.com.
"The Babylonians made astronomical calculations in the sexagesimal (base 60) system they inherited from the Sumerians, who developed it around 2000 B.C. Although it is unknown why 60 was chosen, it is notably convenient for expressing fractions, since 60 is the smallest number divisible by the first six counting numbers as well as by 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30." – Michael A. Lombardi, “Why is a minute divided into 60 seconds, an hour into 60 minutes, yet there are only 24 hours in a day?”, Scientific American, March 5, 2007. [Bold emphasis added]
“The sexagesimal system of counting ... is attested in periods much earlier than any secure attestation of the Sumerian language, namely in the periods Uruk IV-III [~3200 B.C.], and possibly in some token assemblages from clay envelopes unearthed in levels of proto-elamite Susa corresponding to Uruk V [~3400 B.C.].... A mixture of this sexagesimal system with a heritage of natural cycles resulted in the 3rd millennium time divisions attested by administrative documents.... The resulting system ... which without question complemented throughout the 3rd millennium natural, lunistellar divisions, is attested in its basic form of a twelve-month, 360-day year in the archaic documents from the end of the 4th millennium [B.C.].” – Dr. Robert Englund, “Administrative Timekeeping in Ancient Mesopotamia” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 1988, pp. 121-122 [Bold emphasis added]
As seen above in the Michael A. Lombardi quote, some accounts consider the ancient rationale of using a 60-base to be largely an unknown, pointing to the divisibility of 60 by many numbers as a possible answer. The obvious geometric-mathematical division of the 360° circle into six parts by the radius seems to be largely missed. I will discuss this geometry a bit further along. [See below: “The Vedic Division of the Year into Six Parts”.]
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| Kneeling bull holding a spouted vessel, Proto-Elamite period (3100-2900 BC). Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wikimedia Commons. |
“Entreated by Vivasvān's [the Sun’s] ten, Indra [the Bull] cast down the water-jar [kumbha] with threefold hammer from the sky.” ‒ Rig Veda 8.61.8, tr. RTH Griffith [Bold emphasis added]
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| Bas-relief of an Apkallu, temple of Ninurta at Nimrud, c. 1350 BC and 610 BC, Wikimedia Commons |
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| Image found in "Apkallu-Sealings from Hellenistic Uruk", a 1993 paper published by Ronald Wallenfels, in Baghdader Mitteilungen. |
In the Rig Veda this geometric-zodiacal symbolism is mirrored or portrayed as the divine Hero-God-Son-Sage who is said to be enrobed in waters, which makes no real sense unless we know that Hero-God-Son is the radius and the robe he wears is the “water” of the vesica piscis (the vessel of the Fish), and that together, this divine Hero-God-Son-Sage (the radius) and his flowing “robe” (also symbolized as a flowing “river”) establish the Divine Maya or Divine Measure of the Zodiac.
"Acting the Sage, [Agni/Soma-Pavamana] flows enrobed in waters and song as ’twere a stall that kine may prosper. The worlds expand to him who from aforetime found light to spread the law of life eternal. The swelling songs, like kine within the stable, in deep devotion call aloud on Indu. [T]he sage bears his holy wisdom round him.... They [the singers/sages], clothed in glory, have become immortal. [Agni] measured in his course, makes frays successful." Rig Veda 9.94 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith
In these verses the geometry of the vesica piscis within the Zodiac is simultaneously portrayed as a robe of waters, a cattle stall, the light which spreads the law of life eternal, the swelling songs, cows, holy wisdom and glorious clothes (coverings). From my point of view, the wisdom the Sumerian Fish-Men/God-Sages bear, possess, or hold in their bucket is precisely the gnosis of the vesica piscis as an eternal law and sacred measure within the circle of the Vedic/Solar Year. This is the Amrita or Nectar of Immortality that Vishnu is tasked with recovering from the Milky Ocean and from the demons who stole it from the Gods in the Samudra Manthan mythology. [See "Recovering the Ancient Light and Amrita of the Vedas" - a two-part article.]
In my mind, it is possible that the name given for these ancient Mesopotamian sages, “Apkallu”, is related to the Sanskrit roots ap (apas)12 designating the sacred waters/rivers in the Rig Veda, and kal indicating a measure of Time (a cognate of kali as in kali yuga), or more precisely, indicating a measure of the circle or cycles of Time. In Sumerian dictionaries the word kallu indicates a vessel or bowl. The relationship between water and the bowl or vessel and time (and the wisdom of the Sages-Gods) is clear when we know that the waters, rivers, vessels, buckets and bowls of the Rig Veda are symbols of the arc of the vesica piscis which are poured out by the radius (the divine ray/ruler). These vesica piscis (waters, etc.) flow through and measure out the circle of the Zodiac (the Earth’s Solar/Tropical Year).
My point in bringing up this lore and iconography is to establish that there was clear crossover from the ancient Indian civilization to the Sumerian/Mesopotamian civilizations, which others have noted as well.13 Some would say that the flow of knowledge went the OTHER way. Regardless of which way the knowledge originally flowed, it is undeniable that the math and geometry of the 12-month, 360° Solar-Tropical Year (the Zodiac) was well-known to the Vedic Rishis.
The Sexagesimal Measure of the Vedas
In my mind, the 432,000-syllable measure attributed to the Rig Veda and the 432,000” measure of the Kali Yuga (which is one-third of the Great Year of the Precession of the Equinoxes), could indicate a Vedic origin (or pre-Vedic) origin of the sexagesimal system of dividing the 360 degrees of the circle/year. As discussed in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, this 432,000-syllable measure given to the Vedas can only be truly understood in terms of the measure or law of the radius and vesica piscis within the 360 degrees of the circle/year, which is encoded into the language and symbols of the Vedic Rishis in myriad ways. In other words, outside the context of the 360° Vedic Year/sacrifice/circle, the 432,000 measure of the Vedas (or of the Yugas) has no meaning. Once we accept this 360° and sexagesimal context of the sacred measure of 432,000, it is easy to see that this sacred measure is firmly linked to the eternal triadic basis, law, order and truth (ritam) of the Vedic sacrifice, and triadic gnosis (trayi vidya) of the Vedic Seers.
In Part Two, the question was raised: “How can we tell the number of syllables [due to lost portions of the Rig Veda]?” Perhaps it is impossible in our modern day to know the original full-syllable count of the syllables of the Vedas. But regardless of whether or not the number of syllables of the Rig Veda do actually equal 432,000, the fact still remains that, for some reason, the measure of the Rig Veda is associated with the sacred number 432,000. Even if it is true that there is no way to prove a 432,000-syllable measure of the Rig Veda due to missing hymns and such, I have demonstrated in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, that the Divine Maya or Divine Measure of the Vedas and the Vedic Yajna is the 432,000ʺ (120°) arc of the radius and the vesica piscis. This Divine Measure turns out to be a principle key of the Rishis’ symbolic language context, without which the treasures of Vedic gnosis cannot be fully released from the hold (or cave) of our inherited collective Ignorance.
Just as the 432,000 figure of the Yugas has been misunderstood over the ages, and remains misunderstood by most in our modern era, it is indeed possible, perhaps even likely, that the 432,000 figure associated with the measure of the Vedas has also been misunderstood. In the case of the Yugas, the 432,000 measure has been widely misunderstood to mean years rather than seconds of degrees of arc. In the case of the Rig Veda, perhaps the 432,000 measure was misapplied to syllables, rather than being understood as the principle measure of the 360° Vedic Year. One of the sacred names given to the Divine Measure of the vesica piscis in the Rig Veda (which I discussed in GKVW) is the sacred Syllable (aksara). Another is the sacred Word (vak, brahmana). I will address this further in Part Four, but I bring it up here because this could very well explain why the (sexagesimal) 432,000 measure of the Vedas may have been misapplied to the number of syllables of the Vedas, when really 432,000 IS the measure of the sacred Syllable itself. If this is indeed the case, it can at least be appreciated that even the misunderstanding of this sacred number has remained a vehicle of transmission for the hidden Inner Truth of the matter. This same appreciation can be equally applied to all of our modern, inherited misunderstandings and distortions of ancient sacred lore, words and symbols.
The Rishi of Rig Veda 4.58 depicts the vesica piscis as a “wave of sweetness” and as Amrita, the nectar of Immortality, which is emitted by a 4-horned bull, with 3-feet, and 2-heads, precisely described in the 432 order of the 432,000ʺ (sexagesimal) measure of the vesica piscis. The triple-measure of three vesicae piscis within the circle is described in this same hymn as “[t]hat oil in triple shape [which] the Gods discovered laid down within the Cow, concealed by Paṇis [demons/misers of ignorance].” It is likely that the 4-3-2 features of the Bull refers to the three most basic divisions of the 12-month Year which, beginning from 0° Aries, mark out the square of the 4 cardinal points, the triangle of the 3 fire signs and the diameter of the circle upon which rest the 2 equinoctial points of the year (dividing the year in half).
Thea wrote of this relationship between the sacred number of 432 the square, triangle and line and the zodiac in The Gnostic Circle [p. 63]. It is also possible that the 4-horns of this Bull are the 4-horns of the 4 fixed preservation signs of Vishnu (one of which is the sign of Taurus the Bull), drawn out from the 4 cardinal points of the year, forming 4 “horns” which extend out of the circle.
It is quite remarkable that the sacred numbers 4-3-2 are represented in their correct order, in conjunction with symbols of the radius and vesica piscis (which measure out the circle/year) in Rig Veda 4.58. These same numbers which are naturally applied to the form and measure of the whole circle, can also be applied to the form and measure of the vesica piscis.
The form of the vesica piscis encompasses 4 months, 3 number units (of the 9 circle) and has 2 points or heads. It is quite possible that the Rishi of this hymn was simultaneously aware of the 4-3-2 geometry of the circle and the 4-3-2 geometry of the vesica piscis. It is also possible that the Rishi of this hymn was simultaneously aware of the 432,000ʺ (sexagesimal) measure of the vesica piscis.
The form of the vesica piscis encompasses 4 months, 3 number units (of the 9 circle) and has 2 points or heads. It is quite possible that the Rishi of this hymn was simultaneously aware of the 4-3-2 geometry of the circle and the 4-3-2 geometry of the vesica piscis. It is also possible that the Rishi of this hymn was simultaneously aware of the 432,000ʺ (sexagesimal) measure of the vesica piscis.
Verse 5 of Rig Veda 4.58 refers to “countless channels” of the flowing “rivers which the foe beholds not” [tr. RTH Griffith]. The Sanskrit word from which Griffith translated “countless channels” is chatavraja, meaning something on the order of a mass number (chata) of folds or enclosures for cows (vraja). I see that Jamison & Brereton have translated chatavraja as “a hundred barriers”. In dozens upon dozens of other Vedic hymns, this sense of a countless or infinite number is engendered by the word sahasra which is commonly translated and defined as one thousand or thousands, as well as infinite, though, at this point in my research, I can see no clear indication of why the Sanskrit roots of saha + sra, or sahas + ra are thought to specifically indicate the number 1,000 or powers of ten.14 Occasionally, Griffith translates sahasra as “countless”. This large or possibly infinite measure is frequently applied to multiple flowing streams related to the movement and victory of the Vedic Hero. In Rig Veda 4.58 this hero is simultaneously a bull, a horse and the stalk of the wave of Amrita. In verse 5 the Rishi tells the listener or reader as directly possible that that amid these countless rivers-channels is the Golden Reed or ray of the radius.
“From inmost reservoir in countless channels flow down these rivers which the foe beholds not. I look upon the streams of oil descending, and lo! the Golden Reed is there among them.” – Rig Veda 4.58.5, tr. RTH Griffith
Considering that the Rig Veda needs to be understood in terms of the sacred measure (i.e. sacred geometry) of the circle/year, I believe that this reference to countless or infinite multitude of streams, in relation to the various symbols of the measure and flow of the radius and vesica piscis, could be an indication that the Rishis kept dividing the unit of degrees, unto infinity, reflecting their knowledge of the Infinite (the Many) contained in the One circle. I imagine that the Rishis were well-aware that the 120° measure (the Divine Maya) of the radius contained thousands of divisions (and ultimately infinite divisions) within itself.
“[Agni, a.k.a. Soma-Pavamana] speeds with thousand currents to the reservoir,15 and passes through the filter bellowing as a bull.” – Rig Veda 9.86.7, tr. RTH Griffith
Whereas it is likely that the Rishis understood the circle could be infinitely divided into smaller and smaller units or segments, the question remains as to whether the sages of Ancient India simply divided the whole circle into a larger mass or number of divisions, or whether this mass or countless infinite division was specifically applied to the nested microcosms of the year and whether or not the division of these nested microcosms indeed mirrored the 6 x 60° structure of the Vedic Year, as does the sexagesimal nesting of 60 minutes per degree, and 60 seconds per minute. Rig Veda 10.114.8 offers some evidence for the Rishis' knowledge and usage of nested microcosms. In this hymn the divine measure/arc of the vesica piscis is referred to as Vak ‒ the Word or Goddess of Speech.
"A thousand spots contain the mighty thousand [sahasradhā mahimānaḥ sahasram yāvat]. Vak spreadeth forth as far as Prayer extendeth."
Readers should keep in mind here that the translation of sahasra as specifically “a thousand” could very well be a mistranslation or misunderstanding of the actual number of divisions within divisions being referred to in this verse and throughout the Rig Veda. My open question now is, could this passage be referring to the thousands of minutes of the circle (and of the vesica piscis) which contain in themselves thousands of seconds.
The Vedic Division of the Year into Six Parts
The division of the circle/year into six parts (6 x 60° segments) by the radius is clearly found in the Rig Veda.
"What was that ONE who in the Unborn's image hath stablished and fixed firm these worlds' six regions." ‒ RV 1.164.6, tr. RTH Griffith
"This Sage hath measured out the six expanses from which no single creature is excluded." ‒ RV 6.47.3, tr. RTH Griffith
As I have discussed in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, the “One” and the “Sage” (a name of Agni/Soma Pavamana) in these Vedic verses is the radius of the circle. The images below demonstrate how together the radius and vesica piscis of the circle divide the Vedic circle into six even segments. The image to the far left below demonstrates how the radius measures out one 120° (432,000ʺ) arc of the vesica piscis in the circle; and the image second to the left below demonstrates six vesicae piscis drawn out by the radius of the circle, dividing the circle into six segments or “expanses”, which are inseparable from the hexagonal structure of the circle and the ancient sacred geometry of the Satkona (meaning six-angle, shown in the circle below right) which is abundant in Indian iconography. This figure of the Satkona is called the Star of David and Seal of Solomon in the Jewish tradition.
As I wrote in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom [pp. 67-68], the six division of the circle is found in the iconography of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, as is the shape of the vesica piscis. Here are some examples of Indus Script (or symbols) which I believe convey this geometric knowledge.
It is notable that one of the men bearing the two vesica-piscis appears to have a triangle-shaped head.16 For readers who want a more hands-on and dynamic sense of how together, the radius and vesica piscis divide the circle into six, I recommend viewing the YouTube video “How to draw the flower of life pattern”. From this video, readers can see that even though the radius draws out and informs the six vesicae piscis and thus the six-division of the circle, the radius remains entirely invisible/hidden throughout this construction and division of the circle. The Divine Hero-Son (Agni) of the Rig Veda is often depicted as the Hidden One, hiding in and born from the waters.17
It is worth mentioning, in the context of the geometry of the six-division of the circle, that the photosensors of the human (and mammalian) eye which receive light, are arranged together in a hexagonal matrix. This is amazing in and of itself, but even more so in conjunction with the fact that light finds its way to this hexagonal lattice of photosensors via the vesica-piscis-shaped opening of the globular human eye and a circular iris and pupil. In other words our capacity to SEE is inseparable from the eternal basic geometry of the circle and sphere. From a young age, I have seen a hexagonal geometry or matrix in the subtle field of my vision when looking at a monotone background, such as the sky, a wall or a ceiling. It is nice to now know WHY.
Powers of Six
The number 6 and its exponential powers naturally figure prominently in the Sexagesimal (60-base) system of measuring the circle.
Interestingly enough, if we continue to explore the exponential powers of 6 we find that: 
The Sixth Power of Six and the Earth’s Orbital Radius (1 AU)
If we further take 6 to its 6th power (66), we get the figure: 46,656. At first nothing stood out to me regarding this number. Then I came upon a cosmological ratio, attributed to the Indian sage Yajnavalkya circa 1000 BCE, approximating the Earth’s distance from the Sun (1 Astronomical Unit or 1 AU in modern terminology) as 108 times the Sun’s diameter of the Sun. Yajnavalkya also noted the same ratio between the diameter of the Moon and the distance between the Moon and the Earth.20 When applied to the Sun’s (432,000 x 2) diameter in miles, this 108-based ratio yields an AU of 93,312,000 miles:
864,000 miles x 108 = 93,312,000 miles (which can also be written as 432,000 x 216)
I could see that this figure is quite close to the modern 93,000,000-mile measure of the AU. I then halved this equation by multiplying Sun’s 432,000 mile radius by 108:
432,000 x 108 = 46,656,000
Herein I saw that, for whatever reason, the 6th power of 6 is the significant number of half the Earth’s average orbital radius in miles, as calculated by Yajnavalkya’s 108 ratio. I also saw that the Sun’s radius can be approximately calculated as 109 (108 + 1) times the Earth’s radius (3960 x 109 ≈ 432,000). As I was contemplating this math in relation to the sexagesimal measure of the circle and its relation to the ancient measure of the mile, I realized that multiplying the number of years in the Great Year (25,920) by the sexagesimal base of 3,600 (60 x 60) happens to yield the same 93,312,000 (108 x 864,000) figure for the AU in miles.21
25,920 x 3600 = 93,312,000
This calculation really dropped my jaw. Like the (365.24 x 360,000)/5280ft calculation for the measure of Earth’s circumference in miles, this calculation of the AU measure again demonstrates that the mile is a sacred measure, harmonizing the ancient sexagesimal geometry and math of the circle and sphere, with real cycles and real dimensions of Time and Space.
Sacred Numbers and the Sexagesimal Measure of the Circle
It is widely known that 108 (9 x 12) is an ancient sacred number in India. We have seen it used by the Indian sage Yajnavalkya to calculate the orbital radius of the Earth. In terms of the sexagesimal measure of the circle, one 30° Month (a word whose etymology is interwoven with the name of and the 29.5 day cycle of the Moon within the 12‒month year) is equivalent to 108,000ʺ (30° x 60′ x 60ʺ = 108,000ʺ). 108,000ʺ x 4 months gives us the 432,000ʺ measure of one-third of the 12-month year. Thus we can see that the “spacial” or physical measure of the Moon’s 1080-mile radius is linked with the temporal or Time measure of the moon’s cycle in relation to the sexagesimal measure of the 360° cycle of the Zodiac/Year. We can chalk this amazing equivalence up to some crazy coincidence or to divine convergence, or we can think that perhaps this equivalence is a product of the ancient tradition of linking Time and Space measures, a tradition which has been almost entirely lost upon humans in our modern era.
144 (12 x 12) is also a sacred number in India, as demonstrated by the tradition of celebrating a special Maha (Great) Kumbha Mela festival every 144 years. In terms of the sexagesimal measure of the circle, this sacred number is the basis of one integer or unit of the 9-base circle of Vedic Math, which spans 40° (1/9th) of the 360° circle: 40° x 60′ x 60ʺ = 144,000”. Naturally 144,000ʺ x 9 is equivalent to the full 1,296,000ʺ sexagesimal count of the 360° circle; and 144,000ʺ x 3 is equivalent to one-third of this full count. The sacred numbers/measures of 144 and 144,000 are found in St. John’s Revelation, however few recognize that these numbers are to be understood in terms of the sacred and sexagesimal geometry of the Circle/Zodiac/Vedic Yajna.
144 (12 x 12) is also a sacred number in India, as demonstrated by the tradition of celebrating a special Maha (Great) Kumbha Mela festival every 144 years. In terms of the sexagesimal measure of the circle, this sacred number is the basis of one integer or unit of the 9-base circle of Vedic Math, which spans 40° (1/9th) of the 360° circle: 40° x 60′ x 60ʺ = 144,000”. Naturally 144,000ʺ x 9 is equivalent to the full 1,296,000ʺ sexagesimal count of the 360° circle; and 144,000ʺ x 3 is equivalent to one-third of this full count. The sacred numbers/measures of 144 and 144,000 are found in St. John’s Revelation, however few recognize that these numbers are to be understood in terms of the sacred and sexagesimal geometry of the Circle/Zodiac/Vedic Yajna.
432, 108, 144, and the majority of the sacred numbers mentioned in this series reduce down to the number power of 9 (432 = 4 + 3 + 2 = 9, etc.) and are simultaneously divisible by 12. In her book, The Gnostic Circle, Thea wrote at length about the synthesis and harmony of the 9 (3 x 3) and 12 (3 x 4) divisions of the 360° Solar Year, and Great Year and larger macrocycles of Time, which helps to explain why many of our world’s measures of Time and Space (and hence many ancient sacred numbers) are simultaneously divisible by both 9 and 12.
The Sexagesimal Division of the Day
The sexagesimal system of measuring the circle/cycle of the 360° year has also been applied to the circle/cycle of the 24-hour day, wherein each hour is further divided into 60 minutes and 60 seconds, yielding 1,440 minutes (24 x 60′) or 86,400 seconds (24 x 60′ x 60ʺ) per day. I have read one account (on Wikipedia) that attributes this sexagesimal accounting of the day as a Medieval invention, while others trace the sexagesimal division of the day back to ancient Mesopotamian origins.
“[The Decimal Number System, the Sexagesimal Number System, the Division of the Circle into 60 based units like 360 and 21600’, the Division of the Day into 24 hours and also into 60 based Units, and Weekdays numbering seven] can be traced to mathematical cuneiform texts of the Old Babylonian period viz. 1900 – 1650 BCE and in later times in the Greek and Indian texts of Astronomy. Most important of the above are the sexagesimal base and the associated divisions of time (Earth’s rotation) and Ecliptic into 60 based Units which have defied the comprehension of the modern minds. In the history of Mathematics, the sexagesimal number system is ascribed to Sumerians but the reasons which led to such a choice remain an enigma to date….
“It is suggested that the time structure apparent in breathing led the ancient sages to conceive the sexagesimal system and the ecliptic accordingly got divided into 21600, the number of breaths in a day. Attestation to the above is shown as available in Sūryasiddhānta and Āryabhatīya which describe the diurnal rotation of Earth in terms of 21600 Prana.…
“Indian astronomical texts like Sūryasiddhānta and Āryabhatīya which have been dated to 5th century AD. Indian borrowing from Mesopotamian astronomy had been the subject of serious researches in history of astronomy and stands universally accepted….
“It is therefore apparent that the observation of breathing and counting may have played an important role in ancient civilization as an activity that enabled them to have precise measurement of time. It’s what may be described as the ‘sexagesimal association’ to the diurnal rotation of Earth that gave us time Units which reflect a time structure of breathing.” ‒ K. Chandra Hari, “On the Origin of the 60 Base and the 21600′ of a Circle”
This calculation of 21,600 breaths per day is based on a rate of 15 breaths per minute.
15 breaths x 60 min x 24 hours = 21,600 breaths per day.
It makes much sense that the pace of human breath has been considered to be a unit of measure of the day in India (traced back to 5th century AD), and that this unit of measure harmonizes with the sexagesimal measure of the circle. That said, I find it a little hard to believe that sages/yogis in India would think 15 breaths per minute (one breath every 4 seconds) is a healthy breath rate for an adult. Apparently 12-20 breaths per minute is normal according to modern medicine, but I don't know how it is possible for anybody to take a full breath in 4 seconds (or less).
Upon reading about the 21,600 breath (prana) of the day, I timed my breath and found that I normally take 6-8 breaths per minute, 10-12 if I am mildly aerobically exerting myself and 15-17 if I am maximally aerobically exerting myself. The rate of 6 breaths per minute (one breath every 10) seconds, if consistent, amounts to 360 (6 x 60) breaths per hour, 8,640 (24 hours x 360 breaths) per day, and 12 x 259,200 breaths over 360 days, harmonizing with the sexagesimal geometry of the 360° circle, as well as with the 12-Age, 25,920-year Precessional Cycle and the 8,640-year Kali Yuga. According to modern medicine this breath rate is abnormal, but for me it is just the natural pace of how long it takes me to take full inhales and exhales. Upon doing some research into this subject, I found that the rate of 6 breaths per minute has special physiological benefits. In a study of different breath rates:
“The highest resonant peak in amplitude as measured by both heart rate variability and the SCPs [Slow Cortical Processes] of the brain occurred at the 10 [second] breathing rhythm (six breaths per minute), the major novel finding of the study, according to the authors.… The finding that there is a high maximum resonance in SCPs when breathing with six cycles per minute indicates that this decelerated breathing rhythm induces a strong resonance of SCP, heart rate variability and the metabolic baroreflex, the fastest mechanism to regulate acute blood pressure changes,” Hinterberger told Physics World. “Subjectively, decelerated breathing is reported to have a relaxing and positive effect.” – Cynthia E Keen, “Can Decelerated Breath Confer Health Benefits”, Physics World, 26 Aug 2019 [Bold emphasis added]
"Slow breathing improved cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic responsiveness to physical perturbations, which they suggested may be a result of augmented baroreflex sensitivity due to increased (initial) parasympathetic tone, and synchronisation of sympathetic and parasympathetic systems at 6 breaths per min. Therefore, it is not to be mistaken that slow breathing practice should minimise sympathetic activity, but rather, that it appears capable of achieving optimal sympathovagal balance, and enhancing autonomic reactivity to physical and mental stress.” ‒ Marc Russo, Danielle M Santarelli, Dean O'Rourke, “The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human”, December 2017 [Bold emphasis added]
In other words, the breath rate of 6 breaths per 60 seconds (or 1 breath per 10 seconds), has dramatically positive effects on the health and resilience of the human mind and body. The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system are the two branches of the autonomic nervous system which are often associated with the union (or synchronization) of HA and THA (or Sun and Moon) via the practice of Hatha Yoga. This synchronization is achieved largely though breath control (pranayama) practiced consistently whether in or out hatha yoga poses (asanas).
I imagine ancient Indian sages or yogis from whom comes the science of Yoga and Pranayama (or breath control) understood the profound health benefits of taking FULL (PURNA) rather than truncated breaths. Thus it seems to me that 21,600 prana (breaths) per day was designated specifically because it corresponds most directly with the number of minutes in a 360 circle (360° x 60ʺ = 21,600ʺ) in the sexagesimal system of measure, not because it is an ideal rate of human breath.
I find it fascinating that the especially beneficial rate of 6 breaths per minute amounts to 8,640 (24 hrs x 360) breaths per day, considering that 8,640 is the product of the 360 measure of the year and the 24 the measure of the day, and considering that there are 86,400 seconds in a day and considering that 8640 is the number of years in one-third (432,000”) of the 25,920-year Precessional Cycle (i.e. the measure of the Kali Yuga). It is worth mentioning that 10 breaths per minute (one breath every 6 seconds) amounts to 14,400 breaths per day, a rate which also harmonizes with the 60-base measure of the 360° year and the 1,440 (24 x 60) minute day.
An alternative suspected foundation of the sexagesimal measure of the day, is the resting human heart rate of 60 beats per minute.
“[A] man in perfect condition, at rest, has normally a heart rate of approximately 1 beat per second: 60 beats a minute; 3,600 [60 x 60] beats in an hour; in 12 hours 43,200 beats and in 24 hours 86,400. So we hold this measure in our hearts, as well as in the manufactured watches on our wrists. Can it be that the Old Sumerians, c. 2,500 B.C., might already have had some notion of the relevance of their sexagesimal system to the mathematics of any such macro-micro-meso-cosmic coordination?” ‒ Joseph Campbell, “The Mystery Number of the Goddess”, The Mythic Dimension: Selected Essays 1959-1987, p. 130. [Bold emphasis added, this essay or some part of it is titled/posted as “The Pulse of Being” on Mindfire.ca]
I have not read "The Mystic Number of the Goddess" essay in full, but I have read an excerpt from Campbell's book, The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, in which he reduced 432 to 9 (4 + 3 + 2 = 9), followed by his observation that “9 [is] a number traditionally associated with the Goddess Mother of the World and its gods. In India the number of recited names in a litany of this goddess is 108. 1 + 0 + 8 = 9, while 108 X 4 = 432.” In the "Mystic Number of the Goddess" essay Campbell discussed the 432,000 measure of the Kali Yuga, the sexagesimal system and several ancient mythologies.22 He noted that 60 x 60 x 60 x 2 = 432,000, but he did not make the important leap or connection, as Thea did, to understanding this sacred number as one-third or 120° of the 25,920-year Precessional and Zodiacal Cycle which he also discussed in his writings. He just saw the 432,000 Indian yuga measure in years, as is the prevailing misconception in India (and throughout the world).
The last point or note I want to make in this section (leaving aside the brief tangent into Joseph Campell’s seeing of the importance of the numbers 9, 108, 432 and 432,000 in ancient civilizations) is that, just as the ancient measure of the foot can be understood as an ancient gnosis linking the sexagesimal macrocosms of Time and Space to the actual microcosmic scale of the human foot [see Part Two], the ancient sexagesimal division of the Day into hours, seconds and minutes can be understood as a linking of the macrocosmic scale of Time and Space to the actual scale and pace of human breath and heartbeat.
432,000 as a Key of Recovering Ancient and Eternal Gnosis (Sanatana Dharma)
It is entirely possible that the 432,000 (sexagesimal) measure could have been applied or attached to the measure of Vedas and to the measure of the Yugas in post-Vedic India, and that the sexagesimal system of measure was borrowed from the Sumerians or Babylonians. But even if this were the case, it would have to have been applied by someone with REAL Vedic knowledge who KNEW that 120° of the circle expands to 432,000” in the sexagesimal system, and KNEW that this division of the circle was the key of the triadic Yajna (Sacrificial Year) and triple Veda (trayi vidya) of the Vedic Rishis. I do find it possible, given the Vedic Rishis’ understanding of the six division (6 x 60°) of the 360° circle, and given their understanding of the equivalence between the macrocosm of the 360° Year and the microcosm of the 360° Day (as Thea discussed in her writings), that the sexagesimal measure of the 360° circle was known to the Rishis, but whether it was or not does not change the fact that it was this 432,000 figure has served a key purpose in the restoration and recovery of the symbolic language and Eternal Law [Sanatana Dharma] of the Vedic Rishis.
This 432,000-figure enabled Thea to see the connection between the Indian Yugas (Ages), the Vedic Yajna (Year), the Zodiacal Ages, and the Avatars of Vishnu the Preserver as they descend or manifest over the course of the Maha Yuga cycle (= 9 Kali Yuga = 3 Great Years = 77,760 years)23 in the Preservation or Fixed-sign Ages of the Precessional Cycle (the Great Year).24 In turn this 432,000 figure, and everything Thea wrote about it, enabled me to see and recover the long-lost connection between the forms of Vishnu’s avatars (the Fish, the Turtle, the Boar, the Dwarf, etc.) and the sacred geometry of the Vedic Year circa the March Equinox of 2016; and to subsequently see and recover the radius and vesica piscis as long-lost and crucial keys of the symbolic language of the Rig Veda seven days before Thea’s passing. It then became apparent that these geometric keys help to unveil the common significance of many ancient symbols and mythologies across multiple religions and civilizations, not just ancient Indian civilization.
Thea had already recovered and restored the zodiacal key and basis of Vedic and post-Vedic symbolism and lore through her yoga and writings,25 and based on that crucial key of Vedic Gnosis, I was allowed to see, recover and restore the geometric key and sense of the Rishis’ symbolic language which, as Thea wrote, must be understood in terms of the One Circle – the Vedic Yajna or Year which is a microcosm of the WHOLE unified field (kshetra) of Time and Space. In other words, the 12-month 360° circle or cycle of the year (a.k.a. the Zodiac) and the eternal geometry of the circle/year form the basis of the Rishis’ “Language of Unity”26. Without this knowledge, the purifying rivers of truth and the bulk of the treasures (gnosis) of the Vedas remain trapped in the Panis' cave of Ignorance (i.e. in the cave of our world’s collective Ignorance). The recovery and release of the knowledge of the geometric keys of Vedic gnosis is a direct, necessary and inevitable result of Sri Aurobindo’s yogic mission towards recovering the lost sense of Santana Dharma in India and in the world at large. This recovery and release happened in 2016 ‒ the year of Thea’s passing, 90 years into our current fixed-sign Age of Aquarius.27 I hope some readers can appreciate the fact that the year this information was released and recovered contains in itself the sacred number of 216 (6 x 6 x 6) which is 2 x 108 and ½ of 432.
The symbol of the Vedic cave has multiple meanings. In one sense, it is equivalent to the occult symbol or Word of the Rishis which holds (or traps) its own significance, and the release of the meaning of the occult symbols of the Vedas is equivalent to the release of the rivers and other treasures that were long-trapped or hidden in the cave or container of the word/symbol. As I have already discussed, the river, the cave and the Word are a few of the many occult symbolic names of the vesica piscis (a sacred form and divine daughter of the Zodiac) in the Rig Veda. I have also written about the equivalence between the dramatic and purifying release of the seven sacred rivers of the Vedas and the dramatic and purifying release of the seven bowls or vials in St. John’s Revelation [see GKVW pp. 248-59]. It is the same story or prophecy, in slightly different language, of the eventual recovery and release of the geometric and zodiacal keys of the ancient Rishis in the Age of Aquarius,28 which dismantles thousands of years of ignorance regarding the symbols and lore of our world religions and myths, ignorance that greatly fragmented humanity in the Age of Pisces. At the same time this release establishes the fundamental, sacred and eternal laws which are a necessary foundation of the unity-consciousness and world harmony that is often associated with and expected from the Age of Aquarius/Kumbha.
We have come to this pivotal point in our collective evolutionary journey, wherein this previously occult knowledge has been released or poured out of the sacred vessel of the Kumbha (vesica piscis) in the Age of Aquarius/Kumbha entirely thanks to Sri Aurobindo’s yogic and avataric mission of restoring the Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Law) in our day and age, and thanks to his collaborators, the Mother and Thea, who continued and furthered this mission after his passing. Their collective yoga – from Sri Aurobindo’s birth in 1872 to Thea’s passing in 2016 – spanned 144 years.29 This 144-year time span is remarkable given that 144 is a sacred number (12 squared) which is one-third of 432 – the significant number of the 432,000 "measure of unity" which first birthed forward the geometric keys of Vedic gnosis.
It is also important to point out here the various sacred numbers and measures contained in Sri Aurobindo’s birthday, 15 August 1872 (15.8.1872). First off, the product of Sri Aurobindo’s birthday (15) and birth month (8), 15 x 8, is 120 ‒ a number which corresponds to the sacred measure of one-third of the 360° circle, and which expands to 432,000ʺ in the sexagesimal measure of the circle. As previously discussed, the first arc of the vesica piscis in the Zodiac flows from 0° Aries to 0° Leo, so it can be seen that, in terms of the 360° circle/Vedic Year, the number 120 is equivalent to 0° Leo and the 3 Point of the Vedic Year/Zodiac. Secondly, the product of the sacred numbers 18 and 72 (the century and the year within the century of Sri Aurobindo’s birth) is 1,296 (432 x 3 or 144 x 9) ‒ the significant number of the full 1,296,000ʺ sexagesimal measure of the 360° circle, and simultaneously the significant number of the Treta Yuga measure. As Thea discussed at length, the number power of Sri Aurobindo’s birth year is 9 (1 + 8 + 7 + 2 = 18 = 1+ 8 = 9). When we multiply the day, month and number power of Sri Aurobindo’s birth, the result is 1080 (15 x 8 x 9 = 1080 (= 120 x 9 = 360 x 3). Another version of this birthday math is 15 x 8 x 18 = 2160 (18 being the unreduced addition of 1 + 8 + 7 + 2). I have seen and marveled over these sacred measures contained in Sri Aurobindo’s birthday for almost two decades; but what I did not see until writing this paragraph is that together, the three number powers of Sri Aurobindo’s birthday (15 = 1 + 5 = 6), month (8) and year (9) yield precisely 432 (6 x 8 x 9). This is a true marvel considering the role that the sacred number 432 has now come to play in the Supramental recovery of the Sanatana Dharma of the ancient Vedic Rishis as set in motion by Sri Aurobindo.
What are the odds that Sri Aurobindo’s birth date would simultaneously contain within itself the sacred number 432, along with the sacred numbers 1080 (360 x 3), 1296 (432 x 3) and 2160 (432 x 5) which are all significant in terms of the ancient zodiacal and sexagesimal measure of the Year, Great Year and in terms of the ancient practice of linking the measure of Time to the special measures of the Earth, Moon and Sun? Furthermore what are the odds that through his yogic lineage or yogic shakti, 144 years after his birth, in 2016 (a rearrangement of 2160),30 the sacred 432,000 measure of the vesica piscis would basically announce itself (descend) as a key of the recovery and restoration of India’s (and the world’s) ancient/eternal wisdom, and subsequently proceed to unlock and unveil much of the occult symbolic language of the Vedic Rishis along with occult symbols and mythologies across the globe. This unusual organization and connection between numbers and events relating to this 144-year descent of higher gnosis very much reminds me of the Mother’s 5 February 1969 Agenda talk (7 days before I was born), in which she discussed her work with numbers and the supramental organization of people and events in time. It also reminds me of her statements from 24 May 1962:
“A certain number of individuals (until now they seem to have come in succession, in time, but they might also come as a collectivity, in space) would seem indispensable for this Truth [the Truth that will be a new world] to be concretized and realized.
“On a practical level, I am sure of it.
“In other words, no matter how great he may be, no matter how conscious, how powerful, ONE avatar all alone cannot realize the supramental life on earth. Either a group in time, a number of individuals staggered over a certain period of time, or a group spread out over a certain space – or maybe both – is indispensable for this Realization. I am convinced of it.” – The Mother’s Agenda, Vol. 3
In my book and on this blog, I am trying to give readers at least some sense of the marvel by which, thanks to the collective yoga of Sri Aurobindo, the Mother and Thea, the ancient and world-harmonizing seed of the vesica piscis has essentially opened itself (or poured itself out), as a key and a means of defragmenting our world’s ancient symbols and mythologies, and simultaneously as a means of defragmenting and harmonizing our collective consciousness, serving as a catalyst to help humanity to break out of and evolve out of our inherited collective ignorance.
In Part Four I will discuss the sacred numbers 432 and 432,000 in relation to the sound frequency of 432 hz, and in relation to the Sacred Word, Syllable and Song/Hymn in the Rig Veda.
***
In Part Four I will discuss the sacred numbers 432 and 432,000 in relation to the sound frequency of 432 hz, and in relation to the Sacred Word, Syllable and Song/Hymn in the Rig Veda.
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Endnotes:
1 What I did not mention in Part Two is the fact each year of the 25,920-year Precessional Cycle constitutes 50 seconds of arc of Precession, so that 25,920 x 50ʺ gives us the sexagesimal count of 1,296,000ʺ. Thus the 5,000-foot measure of the Greek mile is based upon a cosmological unit (equivalent to one year of the Precessional cycle) drawn out two decimal places to the right (or multiplied by 102). Without this hundred-fold increase of this year-based unit of 50, the measure of the foot would have been 100 feet, i.e. 100 times larger than the scale or measure of an actual human foot or small step.
2 As mentioned in Part 2, the English mile was set in 1592 as 8 furlongs (8 x 660 = 5280 feet).
3 The numbers 8,640 and 2,160 are respectively found in the 864,000-mile measure of the Sun’s diameter and in the 2,160-mile measure of the Moon’s diameter.
4 The antiquity of the Rig Veda is not agreed upon by scholars. In a recent article Ravi Shankar wrote, "Conclusions derived through archaeology, anthropology, astronomy, statistics and probability, and history--puts the Rig Veda's composition to 4,000 BC, not to [Aryan Invasion Theory]-circa 2,000 BC. – "The Indus Imbroglio", The New Indian Express Magazine, 15 Sept. 2019. And older account is found in R.C. Dutt’s History of India [1906]: “The earliest date claimed by modern scholars for its oldest literary monument, the Rig-Veda, is about 2000 B.C. Even at that remote age, Hindu civilization must have been hundreds or thousands of years old, and from that time the literary works of successive periods form a continuous picture of the culture and the history of India for three thousand years.” – R.C. Dutt, History of India [1906]. In other words, Dutt was conveying that the gnosis contained in the Vedas is representative of gnosis extending back before the accepted dates given for the composition of the Vedas (originally transmitted orally). Western academia purports that the Vedic Civilization in India spanned 1500 – c. 500 BCE, and that the Vedas were imported into India by Aryans. “The Indus Imbroglio” article quoted above lays out a systematic attempt by [Christian] Westerners to undermine the antiquity and the spiritual legacy of India.
5 Sri Aurobindo wrote of the 12 months of the Vedic Sacrifice in The Secret of the Veda: “This victory [the possession of our complete divine consciousness delivered from all falsehood by the free descent of the truth] is won in twelve periods of the upward journey, represented by the revolution of the twelve months of the sacrificial year, the periods corresponding to the successive dawns of a wider and wider truth, until the tenth secures the victory. What may be the precise significance of the nine rays and the ten, is a more difficult question which we are not yet in a position to solve; but the light we already have is sufficient to illuminate all the main imagery of the Rig Veda. The symbolism of the Veda depends upon the image of the life of man as a sacrifice, a journey and a battle.” – CWSA, Vol 15, p. 182
6 In his 2012 review of Frawley's article, Vic Dicara writes that this verse, referring to the “four divisions are the solstices and equinoxes”, are “further evidence that the Vedic 12-fold wheel is tropical” as opposed to the sidereal measure/calculations of the year made by post-Vedic astrologers who go by the name of Vedic. [Bold emphasis added]
7 “A fractal is an object or quantity that displays self-similarity, in a somewhat technical sense, on all scales. The object need not exhibit exactly the same structure at all scales, but the same "type" of structures must appear on all scales.” – Wolfram Math World
8 Thea demonstrated and wrote about the importance of the Earth as the third planet in the 9-planet configuration of our Solar System in The Gnostic Circle, and also in The New Way, Vols. 1&2 (p. 107).
9 See: “The Elamite and Tamil [Indian] Connection", Bipin Shah; and “The Puzzle of Proto-Elamite”, Mark Ronan, January 2013.
10 The antiquity of Vedic civilization is debated. The academic assessment is that it began some 3,500 years ago, though many Vedic scholars push that back 5,000 years and even 10,000 years pointing to cosmological events or geographical features mentioned in the Vedas. In 2002, a 9,500-year-old city was found submerged off the coast of the Indus Valley, in the Bay of Cambay which demonstrates the antiquity of Indian civilization but does not prove how far back the sanatana dharma of the Vedas were transmitted (orally) before it was written down.
11 In addition to holding a vesica piscis shaped pine cone (thought to be used to sprinkle the sacred/purifying waters of the “bucket”), the Apkallu wear bracelets whose face is a circle containing some number of petals (reminiscent of a modern-day circular-face watch). I have seen 8, 9, 12 and 16 petals but perhaps there are other divisions of the circle represented as well. [Image to the right by: by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin.] This image beautifully portrays the connection between the occult iconography of the pine cone and the sacred geometry of the vesica piscis as a measure of the circle/year/zodiac. The same petaled bracelet is also found on the bucket (Kumhba)-holding hand and wrist of the Apkallu, displaying the same occult symbolism of the vesica piscis in relation to the year/zodiac.12 The word apas (meaning “active or running waters”, as in rivers or streams) is associated with the goddesses/rivers/mothers/sisters/ladies of the Rig Veda, which I have discussed in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom as varied symbols of multiple vesicae piscis of the circle. In Rig Veda 3.56.5 we find three watery goddesses/mothers who can be understood as the three vesicae piscis which together divide the circle/year into three 120° (432,000ʺ) segments: “Streams! the wise Gods have thrice three habitations [3 x 3 seats]. Child of three Mothers, he is Lord in synods. Three are the holy Ladies of the Waters, thrice here from heaven supreme in our assembly.” [RTH Griffith] The Child of these three “Holy Ladies of the Waters” is the radius (a.k.a. the hidden one and “son of the Waters”.
13 A few articles discussing the flow of culture out of India to Sumeria include: “Vedic Indians in Iraq in 5000 BC and The rise of Sumerian Civilization” by P Priyadaarshi (5 Feb 2015), "India Founded Mesopotamia", Gene D. Matlock, (5 Dec. 2003), “Tracing the Origin of Ancient Sumerians”, Dr. Ashok Malhotra, (last edited 16 June 2007).
14 In the Cologne Sanskrit Digital Lexicon, saha/s is thought to mean “powerful, mighty, victorious”; sra (like sara) appears to be related to water, and winding movement’ and ra (the Sanskrit root of radius/ray) is said to mean “fire, heat; love, desire; speed … gold … going, motion … brightness, splendor”.
15 I believe this verse describes the movement of the 9th ray/radius (Agni/Soma Pavamana) to the sign of Kumbha (the “reservoir”/koza).
16 While writing this series, the site Academia.com sent me a 2018 paper entitled “Visual Grammar in South Asia. Meaning of Mathematics in Antiquity, Mathematics & Astronomy” by Dr. Arputharani Sengupta, a former professor of India’s National Museum Institute in the Department of History of Art, which includes reference to the vesica piscis as found in Indus Valley script and iconography. I realized at some point that I had contacted Dr Sengupta in 2017 and referred to her seeing of the vesica piscis design on pottery from the Indus Valley civilization as found in her 2015 article “Vesica Pisces the Flower of Life in Buddhist Cult” in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom [p. 67]. At this point, I am not aware of any other authors (other than Dr. Sengupta and myself) who are discussing the presence of the vesica piscis in Indus Script and iconography. If there are others I would very much like to know.
17 Thea saw the Hidden One or Divine Son Agni as the manifestation of the Transcendent Divine (or rather a manifestation of the combined Trinity of Transcendent, Cosmic and Individual Divine (represented by the numbers 9-6-3) in the point/core of the circle. [Time & Imperishability, pp. 27-28]. She also referred to Agni as the Axis Mundi (axis of the world), a.k.a., Skanda or Skambha. As far as I know, she never saw Agni in terms of the radius of the circle. I will discuss this more in a future article/post.
18 “Significant number” or “significant digits” is the name of the number or digits that precede trailing or scaling zeros. Example: The significant digits of 360, 3,600, 360,000 are 36. The scaling zeros increase the scale of the significant digits.
19 See: 'The Unifying Language' [2003], 'Revisiting the Measure of the Yugas' [2011], 'Revisiting the Measure of the Yugas, continued' [2011], and 'Correcting the Ongoing Misperceptions of the Kali Yuga' [2014].
20 The sacred number 108 is the product of 9 and 12 – two central measures of the Vedic Yajna (which Thea has called the Gnostic Circle). The sum of these numbers is 21 or “thrice seven” (3 x 7) – a number that is frequently mentioned in the Rig Veda [The New Way, Vols. 1&2, pp. 401-02].
21 The sum of 93,312,000 can also be expressed in terms of the full sexagesimal measure of the 360° circle: 1,296,000 x 72 = 93,312,000. Each degree of the 360° Precessional Cycle equals 72 years consisting of 1,296,000ʺ each. In other words, one degree of the Great Year is equivalent to 93,312,000 seconds of degrees of arc (72 years x 360° x 60′ x 60ʺ), a figure which happens to mirror the measure of the Earth’s orbital radius around the Sun (the AU), in miles.
22 Here are a few of the instances of the sacred number of 432,000 in relation to ages and ancient mythology noted by Joseph Campbell: "The number [432,000] appears in Mesopotamian mythology marking the end of an age (the Deluge), in Hindu mythology marking the length of an age (the Kali Yuga), in Norse mythology at the end of an age (the number of warriors from Valhalla who come forth to fight at the end of the world) [Poetica Edda], and even in the New Testament at the end of the age (the measurements of the heavenly Jerusalem descending to earth)." – Practical Campbell: Original Campbell, pp. 6-8. He also wrote: “[It] is reasonably certain that it was in Sumer, c. 3500-2500 B.C., that the figure 25,920 divided by 60 equals 432 first became associated with the order of a universe, which in the Neolithic period had been revered as the body of a goddess….” [“The Mystery Number of the Goddess”, The Mythic Dimension, p. 131]. As discussed by Thea in The Gnostic Circle [p. 63], the sacred numbers of 4-3-2 are also found in the mythology/riddle of the Sphynx of Thebes.
23 See my post “Revisiting the Measure of the Yugas”.
24 These Preservation or Fixed-sign ages are the Ages of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, Aquarius being our present Age.
25 “[The zodiac] is where we find the secret language [of the Veda]. The central protagonist of the Veda is the Year – the sacrifice lasting 12 months.” – Thea, “A Calendar that Unifies”
26 Thea used this phrase in an article entitled “Basics of Symbols, the Language of Unity” which is found in her book Symbols and the Question of Unity [1974]. Thea did not discuss the Vedic gnosis of the circle in this article, but she did discuss the Circle as symbol of Unity from which all forms emanate.
27 According to Thea, the Age of Aquarius began in 1926.
28 Thea discussed St. John’s Revelation as a zodiacal prophecy of the events that have transpired in the dawn of (beginning years of) our current Aquarian Age in her book The Hidden Manna [1976].
29 A visual of this 144-year cycle, marking out various pivotal points in the Supramental Yoga, can be found in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom [Appendix, p. 409].
30 According to Thea’s seeing, the 2,160-year span of the Age of Piscis stretched from 234 BCE to 1926 CE. Sri Aurobindo’s birth in 1872 fell 2106 years into this Age, a number which again contains the numbers 2-1-6 in their correct order, and the numbers of the Moon’s diameter, with the position of the 6 and 0 reversed.
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