Seeing in Understanding ⁓ The Symbols & Sense of 2020 ⁓ Part Eight

The Symbol and Victory of the Peacock

In Part Eight of this series I will discuss how the living symbol of the Peacock accompanied and assisted in the restoration of the geometric keys of Vishnu’s avatars and of the Rig Veda in 2016, as well as how this living symbol continues to be present in my life and yoga. [Link to Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7]

“The peacock signifies victory – in Yoga the divine victory.” – Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga III, CWSA, Vol. 30, p. 175

“The peacock is the bird of victory and Kartikeya the leader of the divine forces. –  Ibid., p. 159

Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet [Thea] wrote about the symbol of the Peacock in relation to Sri Aurobindo’s descent and his victorious rebirth as the Son of the four-part Supramental Descent. [See Part Four for more on this subject.]

“[T]he Peacock is the national bird of India and is indeed the symbol of Victory, it acquires this qualification because it is the vehicle of the God Kartikeya, Shiva’s Son, the War God of Victory. This is the same Godhead referred to in our work as the Fourth Power of the Solar Line, the Son Principle in the descent of powers for the supramental transformation.” – Thea, “A Dialogue – The Mother”, The Vishaal Newsletter, Vol.3.3 

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“[The Solar Line carrying out the Supramental Descent) starts from 9 … passes on to 6 and then down to 3; until finally through the 3, the last of the tri-power original cell, the 9 returns as the One, and this is Kalki or Shiva's son Kartikeya, who is 'Shiva himself'.” – Thea, The New Way, Vols. 1&2, p. 123 [Bold emphasis added] 

[The image to the right is based upon Thea’s illustrations in The Gnostic Circle, p. 271, and The New Way, Vols. 1 & 2, p. 138. I added the vesica piscis formed by the 4.5 Point (0° Libra) radius, which measures out the 3 and 6 Points of the circle of 9, establishing the 963 or 369 trinity of our 0/9 number system and the entrance points (0°) of the Fire Trinity (Trine) of the Zodiac: Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.¹]

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“[I have] connected the One, or the birth of the Son, fourth in the line [to] the 4.5 Orbit. Indeed, the reversal is what allows the immanent Transcendent to cross the Zero threshold, after compression, and enter the material universe as the Point, or the One, fulfilling thereby the formula 9/6/3/0-1.” – Thea, “Vedic Symbol of the Universe – Part 3.3”, The Vishaal Newsletter, Vol. 9.6, February 1995 [Bold emphasis added] 

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“Kartikeya is the 4th Principle, the Son victorious; his vahana (mount) is the Peacock, India’s national bird, precisely the symbol of victory.…

“A curious contemporary detail to add is that the Peacock was declared the national bird in 1963 – unknowingly celebrating Sri Aurobindo’s own victory in that year as the Fourth, Kartikeya’s own principle in the descending formula. We have then two pertinent dates in the nation’s calendar that indirectly celebrate the 9th Avatar’s mission: Independence Day, 15th August (his birthday); [and] the declaration of the Peacock as national bird in [1963] the very year that he did complete his mission involving the fourth victorious War God, Mars. But more astonishingly in what concerns his return as that Son of the formula is the date of the nation’s constitution: it is [26 November] the very day of the 365 of our Earth year of that return.” – Thea,  "Reflections on Sri Aurobindo’s contribution to the evolution of consciousness on his 143rd birth anniversary, 15 August 2015" [Bold emphasis and text in brackets added]

As told in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, on 18 March 2016, the day before the March Equinox of 2016, in the midst of hurrying off property, I snapped a few pictures of a group of young peacocks with their mother as two of them practiced fanning their tail feathers near my car in my family’s driveway. These young peacocks had only recently learned how to fan their tail feathers and it was precisely their adorable colorless little fans that compelled me to take photos of them at that moment even though I was running a bit late. Given that I was in the middle of writing about the vesica piscis and its role in recovering the eternal dharma or laws of the Vedic Rishis, when I looked at the pictures that evening, I was amazed and delighted to see that the peacocks were simultaneously poised in front of a vesica-piscis-like shape formed by two metal circles up against a retaining wall, and in front of a decorative square cement block (in that same retaining wall) which was a stripped-down version of what I had come to call “Vishnu’s Flower” in 2009. I sent the few pictures I took to Thea and her small inner circle of students on the 2016 March Equinox with the following text:

“Happy Blessed Equinox to All! These attached pictures are from yesterday 18 March. I snapped them in the driveway on my way out to see [a Waldorf class play] about the strife between Christians, Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem. It wasn't until getting home later and looking at the pictures that I saw they were posing in front of a couple of metal circles my mom (a Pisces) placed on the wall years ago. Usually they are better aligned as the Vesica Pisces. The cement tiles that decorate the wall are amazingly enough Vishnu's flower ... the four petals formed by an arcing Vesica Pisces from each of the 4 Cardinal Points. Some of you know, some of you may not, that since 7 Feb certain solar illuminations regarding the connection between the Vesica Pisces, Vishnu, and the Solar Measure/Gnosis have been trickling and rushing in in the wee hours of the night, which I think are going to help move things forward, i.e. make it all-the-more difficult for people to continue buying into and supporting the wrong measures as well making it all-the-more difficult to ignore the vast Gnosis of the Ancients which lies hidden in our religions and mythologies. I'm working on an essay about it all which I will send on once it's complete. Anyhow...The peacocks posing in front of the Vesica Pisces and Vishnu's Flower for these pictures yesterday has truly floored me. The phase 'good omen' doesn't quite cut it I think. Love, Lori”

I still thought I was writing an essay at that point, having no idea that it would expand into a 432-page book. Thea responded to my email saying that the peacocks in the picture were not like Indian peacocks and that they looked like turkeys (not colorful); and I subsequently told her that the peacocks in the images were “youngsters” who had not yet grown their full, large colorful tail yet. 

I originally constructed and colored “Vishnu’s Flower”, by hand, with compass and ruler and watercolor pencils in 2009, shown to the right with the degrees and hieroglyphs of the Zodiac added via Photoshop. I constructed this image in 2009 in order to help readers to SEE how Vishnu’s four fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius) are measured out in the twelve-month Zodiac, and thus in the Mother’s three-tiered twelve-petal symbol, via four vesica piscis. The four petals are naturally formed by extending the four vesicae piscium beyond the circle (extending the four arcs of the four Cardinal Point radii from 120° to 180°) to where they meet to form four petals and a perfect square whose height and width is equivalent to the height and width of the main circle. For whatever reason, before the March Equinox of 2016, I had never seen or appreciated the decorative square cement blocks on my family’s property in relation to Vishnu’s Flower, or in relation to the Supramental Yoga. Fittingly, it was a family of peacocks who got me to fully see, understand, and appreciate this yogic coincidence and key.

In the days after the 2016 March Equinox, while writing what I thought was a long essay or article on the role the vesica piscis plays in the restoration of the Sanatana Dharma (the Eternal Law or Truth of ancient Rishis/Sages) in India and in the world, I began to research the Samudra Manthan mythology, aka “the Churning of the Milky Ocean”. In this mythology, Vishnu’s second avatar Kurma (the Turtle) upholds the world-axis Mt. Meru (also known as Mt. Mandara) on his back, preventing its sinking and thereby preventing the sinking of the Sanatana Dharma into an Ocean of darkness or unconsciousness. On 29 March 2016, thanks to various iconographic portrayals of Kurma upholding Mt. Meru, and to the peacocks who had “posed” in front of the vesica piscis shape and the four-petal cement block, I thereupon SAW that what I had come to call Vishnu’s Flower in 2009 was the geometric basis of Vishnu’s second avatar, Kurma (the Turtle). Immediately thereafter, I SAW the geometric basis of Vishnu’s first avatar, Matsya (the Fish). The young peacocks effectively drew my attention to what was already written on the mythological wall, hidden in plain sight for thousands of years. Thus the peacocks literally showed me the long-forgotten connection between Vishnu’s avatars and the eternal form (and eternal law) of the vesica piscis which, together with the radius, measures out the twelve signs of the Zodiac. 

A few days later, on 2 April 2016 my sister took a picture of the father peacock on her porch, inspecting a white ceramic LOTUS-shaped tea-candle holder. I sent this picture (below) to Thea and company to demonstrate that the peacocks living and breathing and traipsing about my family’s property were indeed of Indian heritage or origin.* I knew that Thea would appreciate the symbol of the father Peacock with the Lotus because she considered Sri Aurobindo to be the Father of Vishnu’s Solar Line, and she knew that the Lotus is the meaning of Sri Aurobindo’s name (originally Aravinda) and that it is centrally featured in his symbol as the “Lotus of the Avatar”, shown above to the right. She saw the Peacock as a symbol of the Father’s yogic and divine victory. Her compact response to this image on 3 April 2016 was: “How unbelievable!”

In addition to the wonder of this father peacock gazing intently upon the figure of a white LOTUS, directly below his feet sits a lantern, which Thea discussed in The Gnostic Circle in relation to the LIGHT carried forward by the Time-Spirit, aka “Father Time”.

“In Medieval etchings of Cronus (Saturn or Kala), the Time-Spirit is often seen carrying a lantern and illuminating the path in front of himself. In this image we are given the understanding of the process: the Time-Spirit is the Light, in Time light is inherent, and this in fact is the key to the Earth's evolution. It is Time, and in particular the Power of Time, Kali, that bears the entire evolution forward, She is the motor and light of the Manifestation, we can say, and it is she who determines whither the light is to fall. If we have the correct understanding of this process and the true knowledge of the Spirit of the Age, we can then know with precision what is Light and therefore what is Darkness, being no longer in harmony with the Time-Spirit. The asuric forces are only those elements which have become the wayward children and the opponents of Truth, for this light is Truth. Often though, these forces work with a partial truth, they cleverly hide behind the guise of spirituality: the truth of yesterday can be the falsehood of today.” – Thea, The Gnostic Circle, p. 112

Thea saw Sri Aurobindo, via his rebirth, as simultaneously equivalent to the peacock-riding Hero-Son Kartikeya and to Vishnu’s last avatar Kalki – the master of Time. [See Part Six for more on the subject of Time and the Time-Spirit.]

“[By] his very own birth and death and re-birth in our earth-time, [Sri Aurobindo] redeems for us the consciousness-matter of our world. He is the Seed, the one eternal Truth from which all truths have sprung. He is the Tree, whose branches are the manifold manifestations of the potentials of the Seed. He is Shiva and His Son…. He is Kalki, the master of kāla, of Time, who comes to lead on the white Horse, to cleave with his Sword of Truth any darkness that may stand on the way, as he re-poises on its four invincible pillars the kingdom of sanātana dharma, of the Eternal Truth.” – Thea, The New Way, Vols. 1&2, p. 514 

The way the revelation of the long-forgotten connection between Vishnu’s avatars and the eternal form (and eternal law) of the vesica piscis came forward was not something my mind orchestrated. It was revealed to me via a set of supramentally coordinated circumstances (including the importation of some Indian peacocks into Marin County in the late 1800s) that I did not mentally arrange or control. I have never seen wild peacocks anywhere in Marin, or anywhere I have ever lived for that matter, other than on, or adjacent to, the property where I currently live. The two overlapped metal circles (two retaining bands from wine-barrel planters) were salvaged and placed against that wall by my mother, a Pisces by birth, who bought the property in 2004. The decorative cement block was placed (along with seven others) in the hillside retaining wall by previous owners of the property.

In “Recovering the Ancient Light and Amrita of the Vedas ‒ Part Two” I discussed this revelation in more depth, and included a second-hand report of Thea’s December 2015 commentary on the LOSS of Kurma Avatar as a support for the intense churning process that is happening on Earth. I am repeating this commentary here, with an added emphasis on the fact that Thea made this important commentary at the close of the last ennead which spanned from 1 January 2007 to 1 January 2016. Three months into the next ennead, the solid and eternal geometric foundation of Kurma Avatar was recovered.

“[Thea] says there is so much churning going on in the Earth, and this is necessary; but there is NO AXIS... no churning stick. Vishnu the avatar (kurma) is lost. It's everyone spewing out their thoughts and ideas, etc. etc. ...but nothing to hold it in place. One gets a sinking feeling because the turtle/kurma is not holding it up, supporting the discussion. That is what [Skambha/Aeon Centre of Cosmology] is about.…There has to be a reinstatement of the Dharma....” – Patricia Heidt paraphrasing Thea, December 14, 2015 [Emphasis added, as found in Geometric Keys of Wisdom, pp. 61] 

In total, the peacock family that helped to reinstate Kurma’s (Vishnu's) Eternal Dharma in 2016 consisted of four young peacocks and their mother who is in the middle of her sons in the picture to the left below, and a father who was not present for the 18 March 2016 photoshoot. [To see a 2017 video of the father with his family, click HERE.]

The Peacock family at the end of my family’s driveway, in front of “Vishnu’s Flower” and vesica piscis shape, 18 March 2016.

This family set up was a perfection given what I later learned about the Vedic Rishis’ characterization of the radius and multiple radii or rays of the Zodiac as a son or sons. The four cardinal radii (four sons) of the Earth’s Tropical Solar Year measure out the twelve months of the 360° circle Zodiac [see animated GIF]. Both the Zodiac and the vesica piscis are characterized as Mothers in the Rig Veda containing in themselves their son or sons. The four cardinal radii of the Earth’s Tropical Year are the basis of the Earth’s symbol (shown to the right). This perfectly centered cardinal-point cross of the Earth’s Tropical Year (i.e. of the Vedic Year) is the basis of the various cross symbols found throughout many ancient cultures. Thea considered the off-center cross of Christianity (✟) to be a symbol of the loss of balance and harmony that naturally followed the global disconnect between the ancient symbol of the cross and its original Vedic context.² 

The green body of the young peacock rising up from the base of his fanned feathers visually mirrors the radius rising out of the 4.5 Point of the circle. [See the image of the 4.5 Point radius within the 963 trinity above.] With this in mind, some readers might want to revisit Part Five where I included Thea’s writings on the visual impact of the body of the peacock rising out of the 4.5 Point of the circle of 9. She saw this visual impact as an important factor of “the profound significance in the selection of the Peacock as the vehicle for Skanda [the Hero-Son/Kalki/Kartikeya]”. 

I recently came upon an excerpt from The Mother’s Agenda quoted by Thea in The Vishaal Newsletter, in which the Mother mentions the Peacock as a symbol of victory in India. What she said very much reminds me of how the revelations of 2016 regarding the geometric basis of Vishnu’s avatars were visually conveyed to me through the living image of the Peacock.

“I am constantly seeing images! – not images: living things, as answers to the questions. There was a magnificent peacock being formed (the peacock is the symbol of victory here), and then his tail opened up like this, and on his tail a construction appeared, like the construction of that ideal place… It is a shame that we cannot photograph that world! There should be sufficiently sensitive plates – they have tried. That would be very interesting because it was moving like a cinema: they are not stills, they move. – The Mother, The Mother’s Agenda, Vol. 2, 18 July 1961 [Bold and underline emphasis added] 

Thea’s commentary on the Mother’s statements above was as follows: 

“[The Peacock] is the vehicle of the God Kartikeya, Shiva’s Son, the War God of Victory. This is the same Godhead referred to in our work as the Fourth Power of the Solar Line, the Son Principle in the descent of powers for the supramental transformation. Since ‘the City’ is the domain of that Fourth Power, it is not at all surprising that the Mother should have had this first vision of that ‘ideal place’ with the backdrop of the Peacock’s Tail. – Thea, “A Dialogue ‒ The Mother ‒ ‘Each thing in its place’”, The Vishaal Newsletter, Vol. 3.3, August 1988

The Peacock’s beautiful fan of feathers can be seen as a symbol of the body or unified field of Time and Space. With this in mind, we can better appreciate why the Hero-Son (a Divine Conqueror from birth) is portrayed in Indian mythology as riding a Peacock. Thea discussed this Hero-Son as the Master of Time. He – the indwelling and victorious Divine spark or flame within material creation – is born forward and carried forward in the course of evolution, via the body of Time. In terms of geometry, this Hero-Son (who goes by many names) is the radius that dwells within and simultaneously creates the circle and the vesica piscis (the two Mothers of the Vedas). In St. John’s Revelation, the Zodiac is referred to as God’s temple in heaven and as the Holy City with twelve “foundation stones”, twelve gates and such. It is also depicted as the “wife of the Lamb”, the Lamb being a symbol of the Divine Son and simultaneously a symbol of the radius. St. John’s mention of the four fixed-signs beasts (Lion, Bull, Man, Eagle) circling God’s throne in Revelation 4.7, is another clear reference to the Zodiac. The 24 (12 x 2) elders in this same Biblical scene, in turn, represent the 360° cycle of the Earth’s 24-hour Day (a microcosm of the 360° cycle of the Year) wherein each two hours are equivalent to one zodiacal sign. For those who are not versed in this zodiacal geometry, the twelve petals marking out the twelve signs of the Zodiac, as shown above, are formed via twelve overlapping vesicae piscium.

The glorious peacock family that showed me the eternal law and basis of Vishnu’s Avatars stayed together as a family unit through 2017 or early 2018. The mother and two sons moved to neighboring properties, and two of the sons and their father remained on our property. The father (shown to the right) either passed away or moved in early 2020. My sense is that he passed, as our property was truly HIS domain. 

During the winters and springs of 2016-2019 he frequently sat on the wall directly outside my window, adjacent to the wall where his sons had shown me the connection between Vishnu and the vesica piscis. He was often out in front of my room, rain or shine, while I was writing, editing, and formatting Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, and afterwards. [Link HERE to see a short video of him in front of my room in the pouring rain in January of 2019. He occurred to me as a living jewel, a divine muse and as an exquisite living symbol of the yogic victory that was transpiring on HIS property. After his departure, in the Spring of 2020 two of his sons alternately took turns sitting on the wall in front of my room just as their father had. For perhaps two months (circa April-May), on a daily basis, they fanned and rattled their tails either directly in front of my room or a few yards to the left of my room, directly in front of the main entrance to the house. Whenever they were directly in front of my room, the peacocks were also directly in front of a three-metal Vishnu Sheshnag sculpture that I placed at the base of my room’s picture window in 2012 after I moved in. I found this marvelous sculpture of Vishnu and two of his goddess-consorts (Sridevi and Bhudevi) in a nearby town at a garage sale in 2009 while I was in the process of writing a response to a 2008 article entitled “Sri Aurobindo need not be in the series of the Ten Avatars” by Barindranath Chaki. 

It was that response, entitled “Waving the Flag of Cosmic Ignorance in the Face of Sri Aurobindo and the Vedic Tradition of Avatars”, which compelled me to first draw out and name Vishnu’s Flower (first featured in “Vishnu, Sri Aurobindo & the Force of a Secret Unity”, October 2009). As mentioned above, I first constructed Vishnu’s Flower in order to help readers to SEE that the Mother’s three-tiered, twelve-petal symbol occultly emphasizes Vishnu’s four fixed signs. The four intercardinal rays of the middle wheel of the Mother’s Symbol mark out the midpoints of Vishnu’s four fixed signs: 15° Taurus, 15° Leo, 15° Scorpio and 15° Aquarius. I recently learned from my friend and colleague Robert Wilkinson that these fixed-sign midpoints are known in zodiacal lore as "the Gates of the Avatars". Amazingly enough, while I was writing about the importance of the 4.5 Point of our year and ennead in conjunction with the Supramental Yoga, a slightly veiled version of Vishnu’s Flower/Turtle was imprinted on a wheat field in France, the Mother’s country of birth, on the 2020 Lunar Eclipse, conjunct the 4.5 Point of 2020 and of the entire 2016-2025 ennead.³ [See “The Sacred Geometry of the Vimy Crop Circle (5 July 2020)”.]

[As I was editing Part Eight, Joe Biden's victory over Trump, via crossing the 270 electoral votes needed, was announced on the intercardinal point of 15° Scorpio (7 November 2020).]

Some six and a half years after first constructing Vishnu’s Flower by hand in 2009 (second from the left above), thanks to the family of peacocks in my driveway, this figure became a crucial key of seeing and understanding the geometric basis of Vishnu’s Matysa and Kurma Avatars in 2016. This geometric figure bore forth much of the content of my book (Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom) and thus rightfully took its place on the book’s cover in mid-to-late 2017 when I was still in the process of editing and formatting the book.

I originally became aware of the significance of the Peacock in Indian mythology and in Thea’s Supramental Cosmology in the Fall of 2001 when I first read the book The New Way, Vols. 1&2. My mother bought our property in Marin County, California three years later, in the Fall of 2004. I was living a couple hours north when the property was purchased and no one in my family told me that one of its many charms was wild peacocks. I will never forget waking up after the first night I spent on this property to see a peacock staring at me through the window next to the guest bed I had slept in. I thought I must have been still in a dream at the time, but there it was, this incredible creature somehow manifesting in my actual reality. From then onwards it has been a constant marvel to see this powerful symbol of the Divine or yogic victory roaming and flying about, fanning his beautiful feathers in the yard and in the driveway, perching on top of the house and in the surrounding trees. A little over a year after I had moved to the property, on 18 March 2013 (a date amounting to 9.3.6), exactly three years before the day I took the pictures of the peacocks in front of the vesica piscis shape and Vishnu’s Flower, I had a dream wherein I was staring extremely closely at the beautiful iridescent “EYE” of a peacock’s feather. The “eye” suddenly opened like an actual EYE and instantly put me in a state or field of high-energy bliss. 

On 19 March 2013, the day before the 2013 March Equinox, I wrote to Thea about the dream in conjunction with the mythology of Kartikeya’s (the Divine Son’s) six heads. I did not understand until 2016 – a year which subtly contains in itself the third power of six (6 x 6 x 6 = 216)⁴ – that Kartikeya’s (the Hero-Son’s) six-heads are a symbol of the way the radius divides the circle, and thus the Zodiac into six 60° segments via six vesicae piscium. It does appear, however, that I did have some understanding then that the “living framework” of the Zodiac is connected to the living symbol of the Peacock.

“Reading up on Kartikeya (Murugan/Skanda), I see that the number 6 figures prominently in the mythology....[The meaning of the mythology comes into focus via the 360° Zodiac]. The elaboration and fragmentation that has occurred has taken people so far away from the real [zodiacal] framework. This seems [to be] a natural departure considering the [current] blindness…to the connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm...which means that the microcosm of the 360° circle/symbol is no longer understood as THE LIVING FRAMEWORK in which the myths (and religious dogmas) emerged or manifested.

“On the morning of 18 March before I woke, I saw the image of iridescent green peacock feathers ... very close up. So close up that it took me some time to figure out what I was looking at. I figured it out when I saw the colorful ‘eye’ in the midst of the green plumage. And as soon as I saw that ‘eye’, it opened and stared back at me! The bright whiteness of the eye contrasted with the iridescent green of the feathers. The experience was accompanied by blissful energy.”⁵ 

After the peacocks helped me see the connection between Vishnu’s Avatars and the vesica piscis (the EYE of the Vedic Seer)⁶ in March of 2016, my sense of marvel at the peacocks’ presence in my life increased exponentially. Throughout the Spring of 2020 this sense of marvel increased manifold. They were more present in my space, more up-close, more connected, displaying and rattling their outrageous feathers and letting loose piercing calls just outside my room on a daily basis for approximately two months. They often sat in the kitchen window just to check out what was going on with the humans inside, staying close by (not scurrying off) while I was setting up outdoor Zoom yoga classes or while getting my gear together to go out for a bike ride. These up-close-and-personal peacocks helped me see and experience the Peacock as a symbol of Time (Kala) – i.e. a symbol of the power by which the Divine extends and manifests itself in material creation. Time (as a whole) began occurring to me like a peacock extending its glorious fan of feathers. I began to experience Time more directly as the Soul’s vehicle, as its means of extension and movement.

Via these peacocks, I noticed for the first time that at the heart of the peacock’s fan of feathers is a vesica-piscis-like inner flame or shape. This geometry is noticeable in some head-on pictures of regular peacocks (below left), but seems to be most noticeable in images of white peacocks. 

The Peacock in a Flask

In June of 2020, our resident peacocks molted and I put all of the large tail feathers that I found in an aqua-tinted clear glass vase, making a Purna Kalasha of peacock tail feathers. It is worth noting here that the first time I found any long peacock tail feathers on my property was the day Thea passed (9 Oct 2016). Other family members had found and collected quite a few, but I had never come across any, even though I had been looking, until coming back from a four-hour hike in the hills with Thea and her passing in the forefront of my consciousness. Upon getting back to my driveway something told me to turn right and after walking perhaps a hundred feet along the hillside, I found two beautiful long tail feathers lying side by side. I keep them in my room and appreciate them every day. 

On 24 June 2020, a few days after the June Solstice and one week before the 4.5 Point of our current ennead, I was looking for an image that demonstrated the vesica piscis shape at the heart of the peacock’s fan and came across an image on Wikipedia of a “Peacock in a Flask” (below right) from a 1582 version of Splendor Solis, meaning “the Splendor of the Sun”.⁷ This alchemical text, which I had never heard of before that day, is attributed to Salomon Trismosin. The question of who exactly did the illustrations, however, still remains a mystery. The “Peacock in a Flask” image was instantly striking to me because it visually summed up many things I had learned and written about since 2016. I knew it was not a random coincidence that this extraordinary image was “showing itself” to me circa the 4.5 point of the 2016-2025 ennead.

Given what I learned in 2016 about the geometric sense of the seven rivers of the Vedas which appear as seven vials or seven flasks in St. John’s Revelation, I instantly recognized that the “Peacock in a Flask” is a symbol of the vesica piscis and its formative, indwelling radius, aka the immortal indwelling Divine Son or Child of the Waters/Floods of the Vedas, who measures out the Earth’s twelve-month sacrificial year (i.e. the Yajna/Zodiac). When I first saw this image, I did not know that Splendor Solis specifically features seven flasks, mirroring or echoing the transformative purification process described in the Vedas and in St. John’s Revelation. I soon found out that the “Peacock in a Flask” is the fifth of the seven flasks in Splendor Solis. It took me a week or so to see and appreciate the wonderful supramental symmetry of having recently made a Purna Kalasha of peacock-feathers extending UP AND OUT OF a clear glass vase and soon after finding the alchemical image of the Peacock with its fully fanned tail, INSIDE a clear glass flask. 

Immediately upon seeing the image, I suspected that the author had encoded the measure of the vesica piscis and its indwelling radius (or “son”) in the proportions of the picture. I then overlaid the vesica piscis (formed by two overlapping circles sharing a common radius) upon the flask, and the result confirmed my suspicion. 

Given what I discovered about the ancient equivalence between the vesica piscis and the symbol of the water jar or flask (the Vedic kumbha) in 2016, I constructed the vesica piscis in the image above based upon the height of the flask. In doing so I found that the radius of this vesica piscis is contained in the rectangle at the base of the stage. Additionally, the vertical diameter of the overlapping circles spans from the rectangle to the top of the stage; and the indwelling radius is set at the top of the highest “eye” of the peacock’s fan at the midpoint of the flask/vesica piscis. 

Via this occult geometry, it does appear to me that the 16th century artist who created this image (or perhaps the author who commissioned it) knew of the ancient connection between the alchemical flask or vial and the vesica piscis.⁸ It is thus quite possible that the artist who drew out the seven alchemical flasks, was aware of the connection between the seven vials or flasks of Revelation and the vesica piscis. However, I do not believe it is likely that the author or artist also knew that the seven flasks featured in Alchemical lore (and in Biblical lore) originate from the Vedic lore of the transformative pouring out or purifying release of the seven rivers. My sense at this point in time is that the knowledge of the Vedic origin of the seven flasks, vials or bowls of Revelation was already completely lost by the time Splendor Solis was written, even to the sages or mystery schools of that era.  

It is noteworthy, however, that the Peacock featured in the fifth alchemical flask is specifically native to the Indian subcontinent, the birthplace of the Vedas. If the illustrator of Splendor Solis was actually aware of the connection between the seven alchemical flasks of Revelation and the first seven vesica piscis (“seven rivers”) of the Zodiac, then his fifth of seven flasks would represent the fifth vesica piscis of the Zodiac, formed by the radius of 0° Libra ‒ the 4.5 Point of the Zodiac/Gnostic Circle, which measures out the entrances into the fire signs of Leo and Sagittarius, equivalent to the 3 and 6 Points of the circle of 9. This fifth vesica piscis of the Zodiac, stretching from the fifth sign of Leo to the ninth sign of Sagittarius, is shown in aqua-blue in the image to the right, with its indwelling radius in red. The placement of the Peacock in the fifth alchemical flask, fits well with Thea’s writings on the relationship between the Hero-Son of Indian mythology, the Peacock and the 4.5 Point of the Circle which I have already presented and discussed in this series. 

After coming across the "Peacock in a Flask", I found mention of “the Peacock Angel” (Tawûsê Melek) in the Yazidi [Yezidi] religion, descendant from ancient Mesopotamian religions according to Wikipedia. This Peacock Angel is considered to be the chief of, and one of seven angels or holy beings. His mythological role includes filling seven jars over a period of 7000 years with his tears in order to quench and eliminate the fires of hell. Given that “peacocks are not native to the lands where Tawûsê Melek is worshipped” (Wiki), it is highly likely that the mythology of the “Peacock Angel” and his seven jars descended from the Vedic lore of seven rishis and their corresponding seven holy voices, songs, rivers and mothers. In my view, the seven rishis and angels of the Vedas and Revelation correspond to the seven radii that draw out, sing out, pour out and are contained within the first seven vesicae piscium (jars, flasks, bowls, rivers, etc.) of the Zodiac. I drew the following image for Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom to demonstrate the geometry of the seventh radius (rishi, angel, horse, etc.) of the seventh vesicae piscium (river, mother, etc.) of the Zodiac. 

Via this illustration, readers can see that the radius of the seventh river or seventh mother of the Zodiac is equivalent to the radius of 0° Sagittarius, marking the entrance into the 9th sign of the Zodiac. In the Vedas, the Hero-Son Agni corresponding to this radius was given many names including Dadhyac Navagva ‒ the nine-rayed horse-headed Sage. [See Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, pp. 290-94]. The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa specifically refers to the peacock riding Hero-Son Kumara (another name of Kartikeya) as the ninth form of Agni, which makes sense in terms of the zodiacal geometry I have presented.

It is recognized by some at least that the Yazidi Peacock Angel is equivalent to the peacock-riding Indian Hero-Son Kartikeya (Skanda, Murugan, Subramanya, Kumara, etc.). The legend or lore of Skanda specifically includes mention of the seven Divine Mothers who found him floating in the waters, amidst the reeds⁹ and thereupon raised him as their own son. If we SEE and UNDERSTAND that the Peacock Angel’s seven jars and Skanda’s seven mothers are both symbols of the first seven vesicae piscium of the Zodiac, then we can understand that the variation in the ancient mythology is simply an alternate description of the same encoded zodiacal geometry. This variation makes more sense when taking into account that the seven mothers in the Vedas are indeed equivalent to the seven rivers which are found and released by the Vedic Heroes, and that these seven rivers are simultaneously equivalent to the seven vials, bowls or jars of St. John’s Revelation. The puzzle pieces, or rather the seemingly separate symbols from ancient traditions around the world, fit together beautifully once the common original context and key of the varied symbolism is understood.   

The art of and the geometric alignments within the original 1532-35 version of the Splendor Solis “Peacock in a Flask”, shown to the right, is slightly different from the 1582 version shown above (which I first found on Wikipedia). Both versions feature a country backdrop behind the stage, which is cropped out in the “Peacock in a Flask” image I found on Wikipedia. Important elements of this country scene include the winged-son Eros with his bow and arrow, a weapon which I have discussed in my book as a Vedic and Post-Vedic symbol of the vesica piscis and its indwelling radius. Eros is one of many mythological figures throughout the world who are spin-offs of the Vedic Son Agni, equivalent to the Sage-Son-Horse of Sagittarius known as the Archer in Western Astrology, and as Dhanu or Dhanvan (meaning “Bow”, as in the Archer’s Bow) in Indian astrology.¹⁰ At the bottom of the country scene sits a circular water basin with two water vessels or pitchers sitting on top, which can be seen as a symbol of the two vertical vesicae piscium (the two water jars, two fish or two eyes) which fit side by side in the Zodiac forming the basis of the twin-fish symbol and the hieroglyph of Pisces.

It is important to note here that Agni is referred to in the Rig Veda as the triple flame or triple light, having three births, seats or dwellings. Thea saw and understood this symbolism in terms of the Fire Trinity (Trine) of the Zodiacal/Sacrificial Year (Yajna). The first and second fire signs are Aries the Ram, Leo the Lion, and the third is Sagittarius the Sage, Horse, Horse-Man, or Archer. The peacock-riding War-God/Son Kartikeya, often shown with his divine spear (Vēl) and sometimes with his bow and arrow, is equivalent to Agni in his third birth or third seat in the sign of Sagittarius (Dhanu). 

After noticing the horses and horsemen at the base of the front columns in the image, it occurred to me that the Peacock is looking towards what would be 0° Sagittarius in the left circle. So I added an overlay of the seventh vesica piscis (the “seventh river”) of the Zodiac, along with Vishnu’s Satkona (“Star of David”) to see what angles of the Zodiac might be subtly contained in the image. Via this overlay, the occult astrological geometry of the image became clear. 0° Aries is found at the intersection of the top of the stage and the vertical diameter of the first circle delineated by the front left column. The top of the flask marks 0° Piscis – a sign whose very name (as discussed in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom) is a hidden-in-plain-sight reference to the divine measure/eternal law of the vesica piscis within the Zodiac. 0° Aquarius is found at the intersection of the line of the crown or CORONA of the flask and the front corner edge of the back-right pillar (which is square, not circular like the pillars in front). This point is also occultly celebrated via a triangular strand of decorations (descending from the circular opening in the ceiling and the top of the flask) featuring golden shapes that look like FISH, which can be seen as a subtle key of the whole occult design. 

0° Sagittarius is found at the intersection of the left circle and the flask itself, at the height of the horse/horsemen of the front columns. If the radius extending from 0° Sagittarius is rotated 60° clockwise it aligns vertically with the right-side rear square pillar and marks out 0° Aquarius. The diagonal line of the seventh vesica piscis of the Zodiac, connecting 0° Libra through 0° Aquarius/Kumbha (which I have shown in Part Six in relation to the arrow iconography of Sagittarius), goes directly through the peacock’s eye in the 1582 version and through its beak in the 1532-35  version. In the earlier version, the top of the peacock’s fan aligns more precisely with the radius of the vesica piscis and with 0° Capricorn than in the 1582 version. In the 1582 version that same radius cuts just above the “eye” of the highest peacock feather.

The circular opening in the ceiling of the four-pillared stage can be taken as a symbol of the Zodiacal “heaven” whose stable pillars are the four Cardinal Points of the Earth’s Solar Year. Thus it can be appreciated that the four pillars and the sacred vessel or flask contained in this alchemical scene occultly speak of exactly what is needed to properly measure out the Zodiacal year into its twelve equal signs or months, equivalent to the Yajna or Sacrificial Year of the Vedas and to God’s Temple, the Holy City, and the wife of the Divine Son (Lamb) in St. John’s Revelation.

In my view, the golden CORONA at the top of the alchemical flask, horizontally aligned with the sign of Aquarius (aka Kumbha, the Water Jar, in Sanskrit), is a symbol of the long-prophesied or long-mythologized victorious unsealing, opening and pouring out or release of the sealed Vedic kumbha. This Vedic water vessel contains in itself and is formed by the radius of the Zodiacal circle/cycle. Accordingly, the radius is characterized as the victorious Son or Child of the Waters in the Vedas, and as a peacock fanning his feathers inside a flask in Splendor Solis. As I have mentioned before, in the Zodiac, the pouring out of the water jar (kumbha) and its purifying waters of universal wisdom is specifically and solely associated with the sign of Aquarius (the “Water Bearer”). All seven of the SEALED flasks in Splendor Solis are topped with this same golden CORONA. 

In Part One I discussed the etymology and symbolism of the word “corona” in relation to COVID-19 – the condensed name of the novel COronaVIrus Disease that originally emerged in late 2019 in Wuhan, China and achieved pandemic status on 11 March 2020 (2.3.4 - a reversal of the sacred number 432). The corona class of viruses were named as such because the geometric shape of the virus reminded scientists of the corona of the Sun, the external atmosphere of the Sun, named after corōna – the Latin word for “crown”, meaning “garland” or “wreath” in Greek. Coming across the corona-topped “Peacock in a Flask” and all seven corona-topped alchemical flasks in Splendor Solis a week before the 4.5 Point of 2020 and of the entire 2016-2025 ennead, occurred to me as a fascinating extension of the same cohesive and supramentally coordinated play of events that orchestrated the 2016 release or pouring out of the seven pent-up rivers and seven sealed vials of Vedic and Biblical lore, along with the Water Jar (Kumbha) of Aquarius, with the help of some peacocks. 

As discussed in Part Seven, this release – i.e. the purifying and clarifying release of the long-lost geometric sense of the rivers, vials, and kumbha – took place 9 months (plus one day) into 2016 and into our current ennead. It is worth noting once again that the seventh vesica piscis or seventh river of the Zodiac arcs up to Aquarius specifically from the 4.5 Reversal Point of the Gnostic Circle. Its form and upward flow from this point is generated by the radius (the victorious Hero-Son) of 0° Sagittarius. Our world has collectively traversed and experienced this Reversal Point in a powerful way in 2020, via the Coronavirus and other massive pressures (economic, international, societal, and political) which press towards the “Collapse of the Old” binary consciousness and the birth of the new unity consciousness upon Earth in our Age of Aquarius. [I wrote about the events of 2020 as a collective initiation in Part One of this series. For more on the 4.5 Reversal Point, read Parts Four and Five. The term “Collapse of the Old” is a subheading of Thea’s 2001 series “September Trilogy – Plus One”, wherein she discusses the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9-11 as a symbol of the collapse of the binary consciousness. I have said it before and will say it again, “September Trilogy – Plus One” is a must-read for those who wish to see and understand our world’s daunting difficulties and challenges from a holistic, integral, supramental and evolutionary perspective.]

The Writing on the Wall

Before closing Part Eight, it is important to connect some dots regarding the emergence of the vesica piscis as a key of recovering lost ancient gnosis. Once these dots are connected, the arc of this Supramental/Divine Play becomes more apparent for those who have “eyes to see”. As discussed in Part Four, on 12 March 1976 Thea intuited that the vesica piscis was a key of the sacred geometry of globe and pedestal of the Mother’s Temple. This geometric key unleashed a 9-day torrential flow of knowledge upon Thea, ending with the 21 March (Equinox) revelation of Sri Aurobindo’s rebirth in 1963, on the 37th anniversary of his 1926 “Immortality Day”. In her autobiography, The Tenth Day of Victory, Vol. 2.1, Thea tells the story of how this key was drawn out for her on a wall, in a veiled manner, by her son who was circa age 6 at the time (1969-1970). Thea did not record the exact date of this important event.

“Very early one morning [my son] burst into my room (not in dream but having awoken from the dream) exclaiming that a being had come into his room from the Sun. Over and over he repeated, 'He came from the Sun!'...

“The being then led him into my attached room where I was sleeping. Together he and the being drew a figure on the wall beside my bed. It was a number 8…. 

“[T]he fact is the writing was for me, a message clearly meant for me, drawn as it had been on my wall, and apparently purposefully done....

“Finally a number of years later I did arrive at a conclusion regarding the famous 8 my son and the solar being had drawn on my wall. It took almost a decade but when understanding came it was in the usual unmistakable manner that I had become accustomed to when dealing with the supramental Gnosis: precision, accuracy, elegance, irrefutability. The discovery of 21st March 1976 revealed beyond any doubt that it was not an 8 as I had assumed when my son and the solar being drew the figure. It was something far more meaningful. As I recall, the child did not tell me it was an 8, in so many words. What he drew according to his ability at the time was simply two circles, one above the other, which I must have concluded was an 8 because that was the way he wrote the number then, or perhaps it was what he himself assumed. Because of its clear metaphysical quality, another thought was that perhaps it was the symbol of infinity; however, the latter is usually drawn horizontally. This was clearly done vertically.

“What was placed on my wall, a clear message given to me, was actually a Vesica Piscis, one circle above the other, just as the child had drawn. It was this simple design that held the secret of who he was and who he came to be in this life. It was the magical geometric figure that subtly enveloped the Core of the Mother's chamber, meticulously designed by her, containing therein all the  details of 'the future realisation', and with it all the pertinent details of Sri Aurobindo's rebirth....

 “The child had revealed who he was to me, giving me the formidable clue that would unlock the door to Gnosis never before recorded on Earth.” – Thea (Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet) pp. 340-42 [Bold emphasis added]

This initial, veiled presentation of the vesica piscis to Thea took place either the year of, or the year after my birth. Some 46-47 years later, in conjunction with the 2016 March Equinox, a Peacock Son along with the rest of his family drew my EYE to two slightly overlapped metal circles forming an imperfect vesica piscis up against a retaining wall in my driveway. The picture of the fanning Peacock Son next to the vesica piscis shape on the wall, together with “Vishnu’s Flower”, catalyzed the revelation (10 days after the Equinox) that vesica piscis is the geometric basis and key of the names and forms of Vishnu’s Avatars, followed five months later by the revelation that the vesica piscis is a crucial key of deciphering the main symbols and themes of the Rig Veda, beginning with the theme of the seven rivers which are released from “the hold of Vritra, the Besieger, the Coverer and sent flowing down upon the earth” [Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 15, p. 112]

In 1976, when I was seven years old, Thea SAW and UNDERSTOOD the two vertically aligned circles (appearing as the figure 8) which her son had drawn on her wall circa 1970, as the vesica piscis. Likewise, in 2016, thanks to the fanning Peacock-Son(s), I SAW and UNDERSTOOD the two slightly overlapped circles up against the cement wall in my driveway as the vesica piscis. Thea was shown the figure of the vesica piscis by her son, which turned out to be the key by which she recognized his equivalence to the peacock-riding Hero-Son Kartikeya/Skanda (Shiva’s Son) in the play of the Supramental Descent. I, in turn, was shown by a Peacock-Son how the figure of the vesica piscis is the key and basis of Vishnu’s Avatars, which led to seeing the vesica piscis as a key of the Vedas, precisely 9 months and 1 day into 2016 and into the current ennead, seven days before Thea passed.

Hopefully by seeing and understanding the symmetry at play in these related events readers can appreciate the Supramental manner in which the geometric key of the vesica piscis opened the sealed book (i.e. the sealed/veiled symbols) of the Rig Veda in the course of Time. As already mentioned, the timespan between Thea’s son showing her the vesica piscis on her wall and the peacock showing me the vesica piscis on my wall was approximately 46-47 years (circa 1969-1970 to 2016). This process unfolded within the last third (i.e. in the last 48 years) of the 144-year cycle beginning with Sri Aurobindo’s (the “Father’s”) birth in 1872 and ending in 2016, the year of Thea’s passing. I have presented a detailed graphic of this 144-year cycle in the Appendix of Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom. 1968 marks the year of my conception and can be seen as the initial seeding of my role in Vishnu’s Aquarian Age task of recovering and releasing the Aquarian Kumbha and its nectar (Amrita) or water of Eternal Wisdom upon humanity. In this, or in any 144-year time span, 48 years is equivalent to the 432,000ʺ (i.e. 120°) measure of the vesica piscis, and thus to the measure of the radius moving through the circumference of the circle. 

***

Part 9 will likely include some discussion of the ousting of America’s 45th President in the tail end of the 4.5 Orbit or span between the beginning of the 4 and 5 powered years of 2020 and 2021 in our current ennead (2016-2025). 

---

Endnotes

* After publishing Part Eight, a colleague of mine in India pointed out that Indian Peacocks have bluer necks than the wild peacocks on our property. Upon doing some research, I learned that the peacocks on our property are a mid-20th century hybrid of the Indian Blue Peacock and the rarer (now on endangered species list) Java Green Peacock, bred by a woman in Sausalito, CA (in the same county I live in). She named it the EMERALD Peacock (due to the color cross between blue and green), but it is commonly called the Spaulding Peacock. 

¹  See Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, p. 27.

²   See The New Way, Vol. 3, pp. 94-95; and “Why is Makar Sankranti important for the unity and integrity of India? - Part 2” (May 2016).

³ I see the Vimy crop circle, impressed into and manifested upon the Earth conjunct the 4.5 Point of this ennead, as a powerful symbol of Vishnu’s victory in 2016 (144 years after Sri Aurobindo’s birth), amounting to the recovery of the vesica piscis as the geometric key of Vishnu’s Avatars and of the Rig Veda, firmly establishing the Eternal Law (Sanatana Dharma) and Divine Measure (Divine Maya) of the twelve-month Sacred Year (Yajna) of the Vedic Rishis. 

⁴ The sacred number 216, contained in 2016, is also contained in the 2160 diameter of the Moon in miles and in the 2160-year measure of one Astrological Age of the Earth’s twelve-age Great Year (the 25,920-year Precession of the Equinoxes).

⁵ Thea’s response: 

“[Y]our experience of the Peacock's eye is extraordinary. A real blessing….

“In the context of the 'six heads', I have an amusing, fascinating story to tell. When I left my marriage, I walked away with only one suitcase and [my son]. I thought I would be returning to Sweden after the summer spent in Rome. As it turned out, I did not return. It means that I had nothing but this suitcase. However, I had left a trunk in my sister's garage with some books, records, etc. As fortune would have it, there was only one 'relic' of married life in that trunk. When I packed everything for Sweden, this little item was missed. There were six silver little demi-tasse spoons, a wedding gift in my chosen pattern: it was named ROSE POINT!!!!! So, I had these six spoons for Kartikeya and his six mouths! One of his names is Shanmugan ‒ he of the six mouths.) Of course I did not know anything of this at the time, but I felt these spoons were precious. I have kept them with me always.

“The need for my work is to PUT EACH THING IN ITS PLACE. When you read the prophecies there is so much that is irrelevant, or clothed in archaic language and therefore unrecognisable. This cannot happen with my contribution.” – Thea, 19 March 2013 [Bold emphasis added]

⁶ In Rig Veda 1.72.10 there is mention of “both eyes of heaven”. These are typically understood to be the Sun and the Moon. When I wrote Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, I thought of these two eyes in terms of the Circle with its inner Dot (the Sun's Symbol) and the vesica piscis which is shaped like the opening of the human eye and can be seen as a Lunar symbol, as per the image to the right wherein the shadow (gray) vesica piscis within the otherwise white circle corresponds to the play of Sunlight on the Moon's surface, from the point of view of the Earth whose body casts the shadow. But it is also possible that these two eyes refer (on another level of the Rishis’ multi-level meanings) to the two vesicae piscium that are the basis of the Pisces symbol (and the sign’s position) in the Zodiac. 

This seems fitting in terms of the sentence that follows this particular reference to “both eyes of heaven”, considering that the rivers are a symbol of how the “immortal” radius or radii of the circle flow through the zodiacal circle. It seems that, like most of the symbols of the Vedas the reference to “both eyes of heaven” is to be understood on more than one level.

"When Gods immortal made both eyes of heaven, they gave to him the gift of beauteous glory. Now they flow forth like rivers set in motion." – Rig Veda 1.72.10, tr. RTH Griffith [Bold emphasis added]

⁷ It is notable that this version of Splendor Solis came out in 1582, the same year that the Gregorian Year was established. The original version is thought to have been published circa 1532-1535. 

⁸ The vesica piscis is also depicted as a heavenly stone in the Rig Veda, which in my view is the origin of the Alchemist’s Philosopher’s Stone (Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, pp. 228-29), just as in my view the kumbha, kalasha or water vessel of the Rig Veda is the origin of the Alchemist’s flask. ALL of these symbols can be seen to track back to the sacred and eternal geometry and law (sanatana dharma) of the 12-month Vedic Year, equivalent to the Tropical Zodiac as discussed at length by Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet.

⁹ In both Indian and Biblical mythology the reed stands as a symbol of the radii of the circle/Zodiac, as in the Golden Reed in St. John’s Revelation which measures out the Holy City with its Twelve Gates.

¹⁰ Dhanvan is the root of one of Vishnu’s avatars, Dhanvantari (the Divine Physician or Healer) who emerges from the Samudra Manthan (Churning of the Milky Ocean) in conjunction with Vishnu’s Amrita. Dhanvantari means “moving in a curve” (i.e. in an arc), as does the radius of the circle/vesica piscis.

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