Seeing in Understanding ⁓ The Symbols & Sense of 2020 ⁓ Part Ten
“The plan of the Time-Spirit for this current Age of Aquarius is quite different than appears on the surface. In its initial stages the focus is on what might be called a ‘cleansing of the slate’.....
“The new world it fosters, and whose moment has come, is a world based on a reality that is not structured on divisive perceptions. It is a world where true unity prevails. But for that to be perceived one has to have the courage, even if in just a small portion of humanity, to accept that the dominant forces of the Age of Pisces are fast fading to clear the slate, be this in the realm of orthodox religions, imperial post-colonial domination, or whatever would pose a threat to the survival of the new world order of unity and truth.” – Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, 21 July 2007 (from "Iran and the 'Clash of Civilisations'")
[Part 10 is essentially an extension of Part 9 ⁓ “Wrapping Up 2020”, which got too long once I started to write about the 2020 December Solstice. Link to Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9.]
The Blessed 2020 Winter Solstice Jupiter-Conjunction at 0° Aquarius
I have written much about the extraordinarily rare conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn at 0° Aquarius on the December Solstice in Part Six and Seven of this series, and in Part Four of my Kumbha Mela series. In Part Ten I will reemphasize and elaborate upon some things from those writings. The first thing I want to reemphasize is the fact that Saturn first transited into 0° Aquarius (aka Kumbha) on 21/22 March conjunct the March Equinox of 2020, followed 9 months later by its second and last transit moving forward into 0° Aquarius (for this Saturn cycle) on 17/18 December where it was quickly joined by Jupiter at 0° Aquarius on 19/20 December, just in time for the special Jupiter-Saturn conjunction on the December Solstice (21 December 2020).1 This astonishing 9-month play of Saturn’s two 2020 entrances into 0° Aquarius corresponds to the 9-month gestation of the Divine Light (the Divine Flame Agni) in the Earth’s Zodiacal/Solar Year. Add this 9-month zodiacal journey of Saturn to the already extremely rare convergence of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction at 0° Aquarius on the December Solstice (i.e. on the 0° Capricorn/Makar Cardinal Point), and it is possible that this particular set of cosmological synchronicities has not happened in tens or hundreds of thousands of years or longer. Keep in mind that Jupiter only transited through 0° Aquarius for approximately four days in its current 12-year cycle, and Saturn only transited through 0° Aquarius for approximately 9 days in December of 2020, in its current 29.5-year cycle. It was a phenomenal cosmological convergence and harmonization involving three different cycles of Time: the Earth’s Solar/Tropical Year/Zodiac, and the Sidereal Years of both Jupiter and Saturn.
In Part Six I discussed Saturn’s equivalent to the “Time Spirit” and its special connection to the sign of Aquarius.
“The Indians call the Time-Spirit, kāla. The feminine form is Kali, the Mother, who devours and gives birth to all things. In the solar system this is Saturn, Kronos, Father Time; and as astrology is linked to the sign Aquarius it must be remembered that the ancient ruler of this sign is Saturn, and is ever joined to it. – Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (aka Thea), The Gnostic Circle, p. 12 [Bold emphasis added.]
Saturn is also considered a planetary ruler of Capricorn. Thus Saturn’s impeccable timing entering into Aquarius in conjunction with the Sun’s entrance into the sign of Capricorn within the Earth’s 12-month Zodiacal Year, gives me the impression that this “Time-Spirit” is active or activated in our world in an enhanced way. Another important piece of this same cosmological precision and enhancement is the progression of the natal Sun of “the Fourth”– who Thea equated with the Time-Spirit – into 0° Aquarius, in 2019 or 2020 depending on how the progressions are calculated. [See Part Six, Endnote 15].
The 2021 Kumbha Mela
“The real purification to be gained from the celebration of Kumbha (Kumbha Mela) is the purification that will naturally come when the hundreds of millions of Indians who celebrate the Kumbha Mela become collectively aware of the key role the kumbha (the vesica piscis), and simultaneously the sign of Kumbha/Aquarius, plays in the pouring out of the secrets of the Vedas, in the correct measure of the Vedic/Zodiacal Year, in the foundation of sanatana dharma, and in uncovering or revealing the hidden light in India’s ancient mythologies and symbols as well as in related mythologies and symbols throughout the world. Those who come to see, utilize and celebrate this key of gnosis (the Amrita of Vishnu and the Vedic gods) will inevitably find themselves in the position of participating in the pouring out the waters (and eternal law) of the sacred kumbha (water jar) upon the world in our current Age of Aquarius/Kumbha, thereby cleansing the world of thousands of years of misunderstandings regarding the fragmented religious mythologies, symbols, rituals and celebrations, and in reestablishing the Vedic consciousness of (and celebration of) the divine unified field of Time and Space.” – "Kumbha Mela and the Reestablishment of India's Truth and Power in the World ⁓ Part 3", 20 March 2019
In Part Three of my 2019 Kumbha Mela series, quoted above, I discussed the long-forgotten geometric and Vedic basis of the Haridwar Kumbha Mela celebration of Jupiter’s transit through the sign of Kumbha/Aquarius. When I wrote that series, the Haridwar Kumbha Mela was expected to be celebrated in 2022, following the normal 12-year (4 x 3 year) pattern of the Kumbha Mela celebrations, connected to Jupiter’s approximate 12-year journey through the signs of the Zodiac (≈ one zodiacal sign per year). The cosmological requirements for the Haridwar Kumbha Mela are Jupiter in the sign of Kumbha/Aquarius and the Sun in Mesha/Aries, with the festival beginning on Makar Sankranti (the Sun’s entrance into the 10th sign of Capricorn). Given India’s wide-spread adherence to the sidereal mismeasure of the 12-Month Zodiacal Year, the Haridwar Kumbha Mela is often celebrated the year after Jupiter has already transited through the sign of Kumbha/Aquarius in the Earth’s Tropical, Solar Year – the original and true measure of the sacred year (Yajna) observed by the Vedic Rishis according to Thea.2 Thus, in 2019, thinking there would be no 2021 Kumbha Mela, I wrote:
“[The] extraordinarily occasion of Jupiter entering into the sign of Kumbha, accompanied by Saturn (a planetary ruler of Kumbha), on the special day of the [2020] December Solstice, should mark the beginning of an extra special Kumbha Mela celebration across all of India and the world. It should not be restricted to a convergence of masses upon one town on one river. It should be a celebration of the release of the purifying waters of the Vedic Kumbha (and Vedic Rivers) across all of India and across all of the world.” – "Kumbha Mela and the Reestablishment of India's Truth and Power in the World ⁓ Part 4", 5 April 2019
As it turns out, India IS celebrating the Haridwar Kumbha Mela in 2021 (instead of 2022)3 because even though it just entered 0° Aquarius in the Tropical Zodiac in December 2020, it is moving quickly forward through the first half of the year (before it goes through a retrograde movement from the June Solstice through most of October) and will be at 24° Aquarius on 6 April 2021 which coincides with what many Indian astrologers believe is 0° Aquarius. 14 April 2021 marks the Indian mismeasure of the sankranti or entrance into Aries. Thus, despite the chronic sidereal mismeasure of the Zodiac in India, Jupiter’s transit through Kumbha/Aquarius, is actually being celebrated in the correct year of 2021, although the celebration began on 14 January, some 24 days after the Sun’s entrance into Capricorn (Makar Sankranti) upon the December Solstice.
If the Vedic sacred year (Yajna) were properly measured in India, according to the four fixed pillars of the Earth’s Solar/Tropical year, then the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction on the 21 December Solstice (entrance into Capricorn/Makar) would have been Day One of a special Haridwar Kumbha Mela, celebrating both Jupiter and Saturn’s simultaneous entrance into the sign of Aquarius. It appears that the Indian government began planning for the 2021 Haridwar Kumbha Mela in April of 2020, in the midst of the global COVID-19 Pandemic. The government announced in December 2020 that the festival would be only 48 days in March and April. Regardless, some 700,000 people showed up last week, in mid-January of 2021, in Haridwar on the (mismeasured) Makar Sankranti to begin celebrating the mela which closes on 27 April 2021.
Given that the full significance of the astonishing display of cosmic harmonies of 21 December 2020 only come into clear and perfect [20:20] focus via the lens of the Tropical Zodiac, I wondered in 2019 if perhaps the extraordinarily rare 2020 December Solstice conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn at 0° Aquarius/Kumbha in the 4-year of 2020 would serve as turning or reversal point in India, however subtle, catalyzing a return to the original Tropical, Solar and Vedic measure of the Zodiac. Time will tell.
Regardless of the 24-day mismeasure and delay in India, the epic 2020 Makar Sankranti (entrance into the sign of Capricorn) was celebrated on its rightful day – the December Solstice by millions and millions of people across the world, whether or not they knew or used the Indian term for the event. A large portion of humanity acknowledged and celebrated Saturn and Jupiter’s coordinated entrance into the sign of Aquarius/Kumbha on the December Solstice, with many welcoming this cosmological convergence as a symbol of a collective Return of the Light on Earth. Some people believe that the special solstice conjunction of 2020 marked the beginning of the Age of Aquarius (the Age of Kumbha) wherein the Water Bearer pours out the purifying waters, amrita or nectar of his unifying gnosis onto humanity from his sacred Kumbha or Water Jar. I tend to agree with Thea’s seeing or conclusion that we have been in the Age of Aquarius since 1926 – the same year the Lion body of the Lion-Man Sphinx4 was dug out of and discovered in the sands of Giza, and the year of Sri Aurobindo’s Siddhi Day and Immortality Day. Regardless, it is entirely appropriate that many recognize some flavor or seeding of the revolutionary force and promise of Aquarius, in their own lives and in the world, in conjunction with the collective initiatic journey of 2020 and the marvelous Solstice conjunction that this year bore forward from its womb of Time.
In astrology, Jupiter (aka the Guru or “Dispeller of Darkness”) is known as an expansive energy and force and Saturn has the reputation of being a malefic and constricting energy/force (tied to the reputation of Satan). In truth Saturn’s influence is equally as positive as Jupiter’s in the sense that it – the force of the “Time-Spirit” (Chronos/Kala) – applies great pressures towards the deconstruction of the old (the Past) and the birth or crystallization of one’s core truth, one’s higher potentials and one’s future. The 11th sign of Aquarius/Kumbha is the highest Air sign of the Zodiac representing the Mind purified of its Ignorance and divisiveness. In my mind, the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the sign of Aquarius speaks of sustainable expansion based upon the foundation of Truth-Consciousness (Unity-Consciousness) in our world; as opposed to the kind of expansion we have seen in our world in the Piscean Age and in the first century of our Age of Aquarius, based on the foundation of the egoic mental Ignorance and divisiveness which Thea wrote of as the “Binary consciousness”. The sign of Aquarius represents the opposite of this kind of small-mindedness that is self-destructing in front of our eyes, day by day, on our planet. Thea discussed the Age of Aquarius as the Age of Supermind (aka Truth-Consciousness).
0° Aquarius/Kumbha and Saturn’s Satkona
What I write in the next two sections should give readers some view into the forgotten Vedic symbolism and essence of the Kumbha Mela celebration. For those who are looking for more in-depth discussion on the Kumbha Mela, please see my six-part 2019 series on the subject. My intention for the remainder of Part Ten is to illuminate the connection between Saturn and 0° Aquarius, both in terms of the geometry of the Zodiac [and of the Gnostic Circle], and in terms of the zodiacal geometry that pervades the Rig Veda. The Vedic geometry and symbolism that I am laying out gives some ancient context to the importance of the rare Jupiter and Saturn conjunction at 0° Aquarius on the 2020 December Solstice.
“[A]ccording to Nolini Gupta, the Mother sent the Seal of Solomon to Sri Aurobindo circa 1911 to determine if he was the Great Soul guiding her, which of course he was. This “seal” was instrumental in their recognition of each other.” (GKVW, p. 97)
In the above images I have shown only one of the indwelling radii of the overlapping vesicae piscium that form the three and the six petals within the circle. The other self-same radii are all hidden or subtly contained within the forms (or coverings) of the vesicae piscium. The three overlapping vesicae piscium mark out the triadic division (the Trinity) of the circle; and six overlapping vesicae piscium (forming the original “Flower of Life”) mark out the sixfold division of the circle. Just as the threefold measure of the radius – the Hidden One, Son or Skambha – within the Circle is presented in a multitude of ways in the Rig Veda, so is the sixfold measure of the radius and further the twelve-fold measure as well. In the first verse below, Agni is celebrated as Yama (an ancient name of Saturn).
“Into the six Expanses flies the Great One [Yama] in Trkadrukas [three soma vessels].” – 10.14.16, tr. RTH Griffith
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“This Sage [Agni/Soma Pavamana] hath measured out the six expanses from which no single creature is excluded.
“This, even this, is he who hath created the breadth of earth, the lofty height of heaven. He formed the nectar in three headlong rivers. Soma [Pavamana] supports the wide mid-air above us.
“He found the wavy sea of brilliant colours [=the brilliant flood]5 in forefront of the Dawns who dwell in brightness. This Mighty One [the Bull] … hath propped the heavens up with a mighty pillar [skambha].” – Rig Veda 6.47.3-5, tr. RTH Griffith
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“Pūṣan the Bright has found the King, concealed and hidden in a cave, Who rests on grass of many hues.
“And may he duly bring to me the six [closely bound drops]…. Along their paths the Mothers go, Sisters [=Rivers/Cows] of priestly ministrants….” – Rig Veda 1.23.13-16, tr. RTH Griffith
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“The six directions hast thou [Indra, the Bull] fixed….” – Rig Veda 2.13.10, tr. RTH Griffith
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“[The priests] serve the three Nirrtis,6 for well they know them. Sages have traced the cause that first produced them, dwelling in distant and mysterious chambers.
“The Youthful One, well-shaped, with four locks braided, brightened with oil, puts on the ordinances [[i.e. clothes or robes herself with the sacrificial laws]]7…
“Him [the eagle] with fair wings though only One in nature, wise singers shape, with songs, in many figures. While they at sacrifices fix the metres, they measure out twelve chalices of Soma….
“[The wise singers] duly order, up to twelve, the measures….
“[S]even sages lead [the Chariot of the sacrifice] onward with their [seven] Voices. Who will declare to us the ford Apnana, the path whereby they [=the gods] drink first draughts of Soma?...
“What sage hath learned the metres' application? Who hath gained Vāk, the spirit's aim and object?” – Rig Veda 10.114.2-9, tr. RTH Griffith
The “sacrifice” that is referred to in Rig Veda 10.114 and throughout the Vedas is the twelve-month Vedic Year or Yajna, which Thea saw as equivalent to the Tropical Zodiac and to the Vedic goddess Aditi – the Divine Mother of Light. Since October of 2016 (or more specifically, since the week of Thea’s passing), I have seen and understood that together the immortal and eternal radius of the 360° circle and its companion vesica piscis firmly establish the measures and symbols of the 360° Vedic Year in the verses above and throughout the Vedas.
I have also seen and understood that the seven sages and their seven voices, words, songs, tones, etc., must equally be understood as a sacred measuring out of the Vedic Year by the radius, or rather by multiple self-similar radii of the circle and their companion vesicae piscis. I see these seven voices, words, songs and tones, etc., as equivalent to the first seven vesicae piscium of the Zodiac, alternately depicted in the Rig Veda as seven rivers, streams, floods, mothers, daughters, sisters, cows, rays, thoughts, mouths, faces, layers, offerings, devotions, splendours, lights, glories and such. I drew out these images below, featured elsewhere in this series, in October and November of 2016 after first seeing the long-lost connection between the vesica piscis and sacred rivers of the Vedas.
In my mind, the specific ford or passage of the sacrifice (ā́pnānaṃ tīrtháṃ) being discussed in Rig Veda 10.114.7 in conjunction with the seven sages and their seven voices,9 is a reference to the seventh vesica piscis (seventh river) of the Zodiac which spans from the 0° Libra/4.5 Point of the Zodiac to 0° Aquarius/Kumbha.10
In Parts 4-9 I discussed the significance of the 4.5 Point Nadir of the Gnostic Circle (Cycle) in relation to the pivotal year of 2020 within our current ennead (2016-2025). All I want to add here about this nadir is something that Thea wrote in The New Way, Vols. 1&2, which sheds some light on what happened in 2020 (especially in America), and the uprising that is possible after such a descent into collective darkness.
“[R]eaching [the 4.5] point means to have descended fully into the human darkness and mire, the lower dimensions of being, after which the true redemption may come about.” –Thea, The New Way, Vols. 1& 2, pp. 411-12
Aquarius is known as the sign of the Water Bearer who is responsible in zodiacal lore for pouring out the sacred, purifying and unifying waters of gnosis from his Kumbha (Water Jar) upon the world. As I have discussed at length in my writings from October 2016 onward, this Kumbha, is one of many symbols of the vesica piscis in the Vedas, which is a key symbol that remains prominent in India’s sacred festivals, rites and temples. [See Part 5 of my 2019 Kumbha Mela series.] This entrance into the sign of Aquarius/Kumbha – also known as “the Man” and “the Friend” (Mitra in Sanskrit) – is the sixth and last angle of Saturn’s Satkona (0° Aries being the first). It is also Vishnu’s highest “seat” amongst his four preservation signs, the first of which is Taurus (the Bull), followed by Leo (the Lion) and Scorpio (the Scorpion/Eagle). A view of the four quadrants or worlds of the Vedic Sacrifice/Zodiac can be found in an article I wrote for Thea’s The New Way Blog, entitled “The Zodiac & the Perception of Unity – an Introduction to the 12 Signs of the Zodiac” (2008).
“[From Vishnu’s] highest step of the friend Mitra, as the Sanskrit name suggests, the initiate who has expanded his consciousness of Oneness to embrace the micro and macro of this universe, can view the entire unfolding and appreciate the stages already traversed of the Journey ‘…where the many-horned herds of Light go travelling…’, as well as the ultimate goal of the path, or the Being and the Becoming of our manifest existence.....
“He dispenses over the Earth and her inhabitants the ‘rapture’, the ‘ecstasy’ from his kumbha, which contains Mitra’s ‘font of sweetness’. These are the ‘waters’ he pours which are transforming life on Earth before our very eyes.” ‒ Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, "Updating the Vedic Altar – 9 (cont’d)", October 16, 2011
Agni’s Entrance into “the Jar”/Kumbha
In this section I will present some verses of the Rig Veda that, in my understanding, depict sacrificial Agni’s passage to, and entrance into, the Jar/Kumbha of the Zodiac, from his seat of Sagittarius – the Sage/Horse of the Zodiac, as drawn out in the three images above. In order to better understand these verses, and the entire body of the Vedas, it is important to see and understand that just like Agni (the chief god/son/priest of the Vedic sacrifice), the sacrificial kumbha, jar and vessel goes by many names in the Vedas, including: kalasha, kosha, kandava, camasa, drona, dhāna, pavitre, and samudra.11 These names are translated variously as: vat, cask, tub, beaker, cup, bowl, vial, goblet, chalice, filter/sieve (=fleecy cloth), or bodies of water such a reservoir, lake, or ocean. This symbolic vessel – often plural depicting the multiple vesicae piscium which measure out the 360° Vedic Year – variously contains sacred or holy waters, the immortalizing nectar (Amrita) or soma wine of the gods, milk, honey (ecstatic sweetness), and ghee (clarified butter) or oil. Sometimes this same geometric form, measure and law is depicted as the sacrificial ladle (juhu, yatasruc, sruc, etc.) and as a drop (drapsa/indu) of soma wine, in other instances it is depicted as a container, pen or stall or mountain cave of the cows and often as a (water-bearing) cloud. When this vessel or container is referred to as a singular destination, goal, and victory of the Vedic Son and his companion heroes, rivers, etc., it symbolized the zodiacal sign of Kumbha/Aquarius, rather than a symbol for the multiple vesicae piscium (vessels) that measure out the 360° Vedic Year. It will also help readers to know that Vedic Rishis depicted the radius or radii of the Zodiac as being robed, clad, decked or otherwise clothed by the vesica piscis.
“[Like a newborn child, Agni/Soma Pavamana] the Red, the Strong, [strives to] win the light of heaven. He comes with heavenly seed that makes the water swell…. Down the steep slope, through song, he comes to sacrifice, and he will burst the water-holding cask of heaven, Yea, to the shining milk-anointed beaker, as to his goal, hath stepped the conquering Courser.” – Rig Veda 9.74.1,7-8 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith
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“[F]low to the vast, immortal dwelling-place….[F]low, mighty, in accordance with true Law. [Agni] Soma, flow splendid with thy copious stream….
“Flow on for wisdom, [Agni],…as a strong courser bathed, to win the prize….[The soma pressers] deck the Gold-hued Infant, newly born…in the sieve (pavítre) for Gods.12
“[Agni] hath flowed forth with thousand streams effused, flowed through [or into]13 the filter... [The streams] cleanse thee [Agni] for the Gods, gold-coloured, wearing water as thy robe. [The drop of Soma/Amrita] is pressed out…for Indra, the fierce one [Bull/Agni], who released the waters….” – Rig Veda 9.109 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith
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“That he may move, they yoke him to the three-backed triple-seated car [=chariot, i.e. Agni’s triadic sacrificial year] By the Seven Ṛṣis’ holy songs….[O]n his way to war, Swift Steed who carries off the spoil. Pouring all glories hither, he, effused [=poured out] and entering the jar, stands like a hero mid the kine.” – Rig Veda 9.17-19 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith
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“[Agni] he hath bellowed to the jars, led by the men into the golden reservoir (kosha). The milky streams of sacrifice have sung to him: he of the triple height shines brightly through the morns.” – Rig Veda 9.75.3, tr. RTH Griffith
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“[T]he gold-hued Child of Surya [hath run] and reached the vat (dronam) like a fleet vigorous courser.” – Rig Veda 9.93.1, tr. RTH Griffith
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“[To] the meath-dropping vat (košam) [Agni/Soma Pavamana] flows….” – Rig Veda 9.103.3, tr. RTH Griffith
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“[R]iver-like [Agni] hath swelled with surge… into the vat (košam) that drops with meath.” – Rig Veda 9.107.11, tr. RTH Griffith
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“Like a steed urged to battle, finder of the light; speed onward to the cloud-born reservoir of heaven14….” – Rig Veda 9.86.3, tr. RTH Griffith
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“Purified by the stones the Soma flows for thee, clothed with its lovely splendours, to the reservoir (košam), flows clad in its refulgent light.” – Rig Veda 1.135.2, tr. RTH Griffith
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“[Agni] Soma hath flowed into the jar…. Flow onward with that stream of thine wherewith thou gavest Sūrya light, Urging on waters good to men. He, Pavamana, high o’er man yoked the Sun's courser Etaśa to travel through the realm of air…. Hence, singers, pour the gladdening juice … pour the drops upon the fleecy cloth…. Soma the God, expressed with stones…floweth on his way, pouring the juice within the jar. These brilliant drops have poured for us, in stream of solemn sacrifice, worshipful laws and strength in kine. …[T]he beautiful swift Soma-drops [have been shed] driving all enemies afar. From heaven, from out the firmament, hath Pavamana been effused (poured out) upon the summit of the earth. O Soma…drive, being purified, with thy stream all foes, all Rākṣasas [=demons or distorters of the Vedic sacrifice] away.” – Rig Veda 9.63 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith
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“Soma has a form of Indra’s Vajra, most beautiful. He, the most sweet, cries out in the [košam=vat].15 The cows of Truth [“the Ray-cows voicing the Truth”] with perfect milk arrive.
“The hawk impelled (by his mother) brought the Soma, from the heaven crossing worlds.
Hence Soma flows from ancient times (in this world). Trembling and fearful of the arrow of [the Archer] Krshanu, (the bird) with one-pointed mind brings the sweet Soma….
“Staying in the abode of Agni, he establishes a child [garbha=womb] . He flows to the stall of Ray-cows with much milk.” – Rig Veda 9.77.1-4 excerpts, tr. R.L. Kashyap
There are many hundreds of verses discussing the exact same movement of Agni traveling to the goal or prize of this same Jar, Vat or purifying vessel of sacred gnosis, by whatever name. This goal or prize is portrayed as a specific place in the 12-month Vedic Year/Zodiac, a place sometimes referred to as ṛtasya yonim, the “womb” or “source of Truth” (RV 9.64.7, tr. Jamison & Brereton; R.L. Kashyap). I have also seen it referred to as the special place of the hero-god Indra who, via drinking the kumbha or vessel of soma (aka amrita), gains the strength to instantly dismantle (i.e. conquer) the crystalized Ignorance of the past, personified as Vritra the Coverer (of Light) or demon of Darkness, and instantly release the seven rivers and their divine wisdom, gnosis, law and maya/measure upon the world. These sacred rivers/floods thereupon purify the world of its Ignorance, specifically regarding any and all distortions and misconceptions of the 12-month Vedic Sacrifice (the Vedic Year) and its Eternal Law or Sanatana Dharma.
“There darkness stood, the vault that stayed the waters' flow: in Vṛtra's hollow side [jathara=a cavity] the rain-cloud [parvata=hill or mountain] lay concealed. But Indra [released the seven] rivers which the obstructer stayed, flood following after flood, down steep declivities.” – Rig Veda 1.54.10,17 tr. RTH Griffith
As discussed in Geometric Keys of Wisdom (book), the purifying key, amrita, weapon, eye or illuminating light of the vesica piscis is simultaneously the lock, covering or hidden vault, or mountain cave that encloses or hides the key, the light and the treasures of gnosis in the Vedas.
There are likewise many hundreds of verses discussing the role of the seven rivers – aka seven streams, mothers, daughters, cows (kine), voices, etc. – and their role in raising, nurturing, accompanying, purifying, glorifying and strengthening Agni in his victorious ascent into the divine Swar realm. With these rivers, mothers, etc., from his third seat in the sacrificial year, Agni as Soma Pavamana – the self-purifying Sage and War-Horse (both symbols of the 9th sign of Sagittarius, also known as the Archer) – quickly surges forward like a surging wave or flood into the heavenly Swar realm. It is notable that speed is one of the principle characteristics associated with the 9th sign of Sagittarius which is known as Dhanvan (meaning “a bow”, as in "bow and arrow") in Indian astrology. I have discussed this bow of Sagittarius/Dhanvan as yet another hidden-in-plain-sight symbol of the vesica piscis in ancient Vedic and post-Vedic mythology.
Agni speedily delivers the delightful and empowering drop, drink or vessel of Amrita/Soma Nectar of Immortality to Indra and to the gods, who thereupon use it to emphatically conquer Ignorance, freeing the rivers [=rays=cows=treasures] of Divine Truth, that have been obstructed in our world by collective Ignorance. Just like the sacred rivers, the drop and vessel of Amrita/Soma are a symbol of the immortal vesica piscis. As I have written in Geometric Keys of Wisdom (book and blog), this Vedic lore is the forgotten origin of the pouring out of the seven vials or bowls (kumbhas) in St. John’s Revelation.
“Seven Milch-kine glorify the Tawny-coloured One while with his wave in wool he purifies himself. The living men, the mighty, have impelled the Sage into the waters' lap, the place of sacrifice [=ṛtásya yónā=womb of Truth]….
“Making the kine his mantle [=robe], he, the lovely Sage [Agni], runs like a sporting courser onward through the fleece [=filter].…
“Him, clad in robes of milk, swift fingers beautify on the third height and in the luminous realm of heaven….
“The Sisters Seven, the Mothers, stand around the Babe, the noble, new-born Infant, skilled in holy song, Gandharva of the floods, divine, beholding men, Soma, that he may reign as King of all the world.
"Borne on his chariot-sieve (=pavrita=filter) the King [Agni] hath risen to war …. ”
– Rig Veda 9.86.25-27, 36 excerpts,18 tr. RTH Griffith
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“The immortal carrier of the offering [Agni as Soma Pavamana] sees the seven rivers. Being full like a well, he satisfies the Divine.…Make the paths ready....Win for us wisdom, win the light.” – Rig Veda 9.9.6-9 excerpts, tr. R.L. Kashyap
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“[T]he fingers ten19 and the seven songs [=rivers] make [Agni as Soma Pavamana] beautiful….” – Rig Veda 9.15.8, tr. RTH Griffith
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“[Agni] gallops into the purifier…. He of divine vision [tr. RLK] hath reached the filter: bearing his name, the Sage [Agni] hath sought his dwelling. The Rsis came to him, seven holy singers, when in the bowls [=the seven rivers] he settled as Invoker.20
“...[S]even fresh rivers, brighten and adorn thee….” – Rig Veda 9.92.1-2, 4 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith, unless otherwise bracketed or noted.
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“These the Seven Rivers flowing on their downward path increase the vital vigour of the potent Steer Agni]….
“Their face that glows with splendour through their mighty power hath found the shine of heaven for man, the Āryas' light….
“When Soma streams together unto Indra flow like waters to the river, rivulets to the lake, In place [sadana=abode] of sacrifice sages exalt his might….
“He rushes through the region like a furious Bull, he who hath made these floods the dames of worthy lords….
“Let the keen axe come forth together with the light…. Let the Red God shine bright with his refulgent ray, and let the Lord of heroes glow like heaven's clear sheen.” – Rig Veda 19.43, excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith
***
“(Across) the three (filters), on the backs of Trita (“the third one”), in a stream—rouse wealth!—he measures out the stages of his journey—the very resolute one.” [tr. Jamison & Brereton]
“When the seven mothers give birth to Soma, he is instructed regarding the glory and beauty of the ordainer.21 Soma becomes conscious of the eternal (dhruva) riches.…” [tr. R.L. Kashyap]
“To him [the Babe/Sage], united, of themselves, come the young Parents of the rite, When they [the seven mothers?] adorn him, duly weaving sacrifice.
“[Agni] With wisdom and with radiant eyes unbar to us the stall of heaven, speeding at solemn rite [=the pilgrim sacrifice/yajna22] the plan of Holy Law.” [tr. RTH Griffith, except in quotes] – Rig Veda 9.102 excerpts
In RV 1.112.12, this same zodiacal geometry is depicted as Triśoka – a name of Agni meaning “One who is radiant in three places” – driving or “[raising] up the rays [=cows] of knowledge above the ignorance.” (tr. R.L. Kashyap). Since October-November of 2016 I have understood that these cows (aka rays) of knowledge which Agni as Soma Pavamana raises up “above the ignorance” are symbols of the sacred form, measure and vessel of the vesica piscis within the Zodiac. These cows/rays are entirely equivalent to the rivers, streams and paths of “everlasting” Holy Law (i.e. Sanatana Dharma) in the Rig Veda. Since that time it has been increasingly apparent to me that much of the central lore of the Vedas is a foretelling of the eventual discovery, uplifting (out of Ignorance) and release of this crucial zodiacal and geometric key, without which the ancient Vedas cannot be properly read.
Saturn and Jupiter’s conjunction, specifically at 0° Aquarius/Kumbha, on the December Solstice occurred to me as a powerful symbol of the uprising of the “cows of knowledge” and with them the Sanatana Dharma in our world in 2016. It symbolized and mirrored in a way, the Vedic lore of Agni’s entrance, from his third seat (0° Sagittarius) in the Zodiac, into the Kumbha (Jar), and the simultaneous release of the Vedic cows/rivers/treasures from that container, by whatever name (cave, pen, fort, etc.).
It feels important to clarify here, that whereas Thea saw the Jar or Kumbha in the Vedas as a symbol of the zodiacal sign of Aquarius/Kumbha,23 the gnosis regarding the geometric sense of the Kumbha and the Vedic rivers, paths, cows, etc. did not descend until the week of her passing. To my knowledge, she did not see or anywhere discuss the geometric sense of Vedic symbolism and lore. As found in The New Way, Vols. 1&2 (pp. 412-13), Thea saw the point of the release of the seven rivers as described throughout the Vedas, as the 7 Point of the Gnostic Circle, i.e. 10° Capricorn in the Zodiac. After the geometric sense of the Vedic rivers was downloaded into and awakened in my consciousness, it became increasingly clear to me that Thea’s conclusion about the zodiacal location of the release of the Seven Rivers which she referred to as the “culmination of the [Vedic] sacrifice” was off by 20 degrees.
The majority of Thea’s small inner circle of students do not believe that Thea could have been wrong about this important point in the 12-month Vedic sacrifice. And thus, they do not believe that I could be seeing this matter correctly. Regardless, it is clear to me that Thea did not see the Vedic rivers in their full context and form. She correctly saw and understood and shined great light on the fact that the foundation of Vedic lore is the Earth’s Tropical Zodiac, which in turn is based on the foundation of the Circle of 9 and its essential Trinity or 3, 6 and 0/9; but along with the rest of the world (myself included), she had no inkling whatsoever that these rivers and much of the central lore and imagery of Vedas are veiled symbols of the eternal and sacred geometry that precisely measures out the Divine Trinity, the Circle of 9 and the 12-month Vedic year/Zodiac. From my point of view, without the knowledge of what these rivers are and how they function in terms of establishing the eternal laws of the Vedic Rishis, the positioning of these rivers within the Zodiac simply cannot be accurately seen or known.
For whatever reasons, this knowledge did not rise up “above the ignorance” until one week before Thea’s passing, 9 months into our current ennead (2016-2025). I hold this turn of events as a fascinating Supramentally organized and multi-staged, progressive recovery of Vedic Wisdom spanning 144 years from the year of Sri Aurobindo's birth. I am perpetually amazed and delighted by the descent and release of the geometric sense of the Vedic rivers and of the Vedic KUMBHA in 2016, in our Age of Aquarius/Kumbha. I am equally perpetually amazed by how the eternal form, law, light and eye of the Vesica Piscis continues to illuminate the veiled symbols and sense of the Vedas and other ancient mythologies and iconography; and by all that this sacred form (a weapon of the Vedic gods) has quickly dismantled in terms of our world's crystalized, inherited and collective ignorance of our own ancient symbols and lore. I know and understand that most people are not really in the position to fully or even partially appreciate or utilize the newly recovered eternal and gnostic light, key, eye, and law of the Vedic Seers, but for those who do find themselves capable of utilizing and applying this ancient light to dispel or see through veils of darkness, I do love hearing what it (the Vesica Piscis) has illuminated in your consciousness and vision.
This marks THE END of “Seeing In Understanding: The Symbols and Sense of 2020” series.
Wishing all a belated Happy New Year! ... or rather as one of my friends said to me after the Solstice Event: Happy New World!
Endnotes
1 Oddly enough in 2024 – the last year of our current 2016-2025 ennead which ends at the close of 2024 – Pluto’s two entrances into 0° Aquarius will also fall 9 months apart, the first on 22 January in conjunction with the Sun’s entrance into Aquarius and the second on 20 November in conjunction with the Sun’s entrance into the sign of Sagittarius. Pluto will transit through the sign of Aquarius from 22 January 2024 through 19 January 2044.
2 I discussed this issue and presented some illustrations in Part Five of this series. See also Thea’s extensive writings on the importance of correcting the mis-measure of the Vedic Year and my article: “Kumbha Mela and the Reestablishment of India's Truth and Power in the World ⁓ Part 2” which contains a side by side portrayal of the evenly measured four Cardinal Points and twelve months/signs of the Tropical Zodiac, and the uneven Zodiacal constellations in which the four Cardinal Points of the Zodiac are non-existent. As Thea discussed at length in her writings, the chronic and multiple sidereal mismeasures of the Zodiac must be let go of if India is to rise to its dharma of being a Light Bringer (Guru) and bearer of Sanatana Dharma in our world. Without aligning with the Earth’s actual yearly cycle of life (Zodiac), there will be no true and unifying foundation for this rise. This error and ignorance, adopted in India circa 11th century CE according to Thea [see “The Dawn of a New Era”, Thea, July 2007 and “A New Order is Born”, Thea, January 2015], is tied to the common belief in India and beyond India, that the Zodiac was imported INTO India from Greece (who adopted it from Babylonian civilization), and has nothing to do with the ancient Rig Veda and the wisdom contained therein. Anyone who has studied Thea’s writings as well as my own, should be able to clearly see and understand that the 12-month Zodiacal Year (aka the Vedic Yajna) and its sacred geometries are not only found in the Vedas, but are the foundation of the lore and symbols of the Rig Veda.
3 The following article by Niharika Sanjeeiv describes the reasoning of celebrating the mela in 2021 instead of 2022. “Kumbh Mela 2021: For the first time in a century, Haridwar Kumbh to take place on 11th year and not 12th, know why”.
4 As Thea discussed in her writings, the Giza Sphinx is a symbol of the Leo-Aquarius Axis of the Zodiac and of the Zodiacal Ages.
5 Jamison and Brereton RV 6.47.5: “This one found the flood with its brilliant appearance at the forefront of the dawns with their gleaming seats.”
6 Jamison and Brereton translated Nirrtis as “(Goddesses of?) Dissolution”. The Nirrtis are associated, like the triple goddess Kali, with Death and Destruction. Given what I have learned and discussed about the triple goddess Kali in relation to the geometry of the Zodiac, my sense is that the three Nirrtis in 10.114 are one of many references to the three formative vesicae piscium that together measure out the triadic Vedic Year/Sacrifice, elsewhere referred to as three mothers, three rivers or three syllables. Together with the radius of the circle, they divide and measure out Time (Kala). In the preceding hymn there is mention of gharmā sámantā trivṛ́taṃ, which I also see as the contiguous (sámantā) threefold (trivṛ́taṃ) vessels or cauldrons (gharmā́) of the Vedic Sacrifice. Trivritam is generally translated as “threefold”, what seems to be lost in this translation is the root vṛta) which means “concealed, screened, hidden, enveloped, surrounded by, covered with”. As I have discussed in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom (book and blog), the vesica piscis is simultaneously portrayed in the Rig Veda as a cover, pen, cave or concealing veil and as the key, knowledge or weapon which bursts open the cover, pen, cave, or veil.
7 R.L. Kashap RV 10.114.3: “The lady of beautiful form with four braids, with luminous front is clothed in the discoveries of knowledge.” Jamison and Brereton, translated “The well-ornamented and ghee-faced young woman clothes herself in the (ritual) patterns.” The ritual patterns being discussed are the geometric patterns/laws of the Vedic sacrifice/Year. Most often it is Agni who is described as being clothed/robed in the beautiful form of the vesica piscis, but here, if translated correctly, the lady/young woman of this verse is a symbol of the vesica piscis, which measures out (via its indwelling radius) four months/signs of the 12-month sacrificial year.
8 The “Voices” (vācā) of the seven sages in RV 10.114.07 above – which could also be translated as “Words” – are elsewhere numbered as seven in the Vedas: seven voices, seven tones and sometimes seven songs. RV 1.164.3, 3.7.1, 4.51.4, 8.103.3, 9.15.8, 9.62.18. The links are all to RTH Griffith translations. For whatever reason, his translation of the entire hymn of 8.103 does not seem to match the same hymn via the other English translations I have access to.
9 Jamison and Brereton translated 10.114.7 as: “The opulent ford—who will here proclaim it: the path by which they [the Vedic gods] take the first drink of the soma. R.L. Kashyap translates the same as: “Who can describe with Words the work of crossing the fords (tirtha), by which paths they released the Soma which was drunk?” The definitions of tirtham include: “a passage, way, road, ford, stairs for landing or for descent into a river, bathing-place, place of pilgrimage on the banks of sacred streams, piece of water…the path to the altar … a channel”. Kashyap connects apnanam to “apna: work, labour” and “apnavanah: doer of works”. The root syllable Ap, means “water”, though oddly I have not seen this root syllable discussed in relation to ā́pnānaṃ tīrtháṃ. This root syllable is found in Agni’s name Apām Napāt, meaning child, son or offspring of the waters.
10 In Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom (p. 47) I wrote about a dream I had circa the age of 25 (half a life ago) wherein I was taken on a tour of a vast expanse of Time, hundreds of millions of years into both past and future. As I was being returned to my normal, limited consciousness (which could not hold what I had been shown) I was told by my guide, “You will remember what you need to remember, when you need to remember it. You are the Keeper of the Passageway.” After October of 2016, when I discovered or remembered what I needed to remember about the geometric sense of the Vedic river and its path or passage through the 12-month sacrificial year of the ancient Rishis, this mysterious name, given to me by a Time-Spirit or Time-Guide, finally made sense to me. Thus when I recently came across the Rishi’s question “Who will declare to us the ford Apnana, the path (of the sacrifice) whereby they [=the god’s/heroes] drink first draughts of Soma?”, I recalled this “Keeper of the Passageway” dream, and thought, “This is my work.”
11 Samudra is more typically understood and defined as “ocean”, but in many cases in the Vedas, it is sometimes equivalent to a smaller body or container of water, translated by RTH Griffith as a lake or reservoir.
12 This reference to decking or clothing Agni in the sieve or filter (pavitre) is equivalent to symbolism of Agni being robed with waters, floods, cows and such, which is in turn equivalent to the radius being robed by the “vessel” of the vesica piscis.
13 RTH Griffith translated “through the filter”, R.L. Kashyap translated “into the purifier”.
14 In R.L. Kashap’s version, the kumbha/kosha is equivalent to “the treasury of heaven, mother of the hill” (kóšaṃ divó ádrimātaram). The full sentence is: “Soma, the knower of svar, flows to the treasury of heaven, mother of the hill.”
15 R.L. Kashap translated kosha in RV 9.77.1 as sheath; RTH Griffith as “vat”; and Jamison and Brereton as “bucket”.
16 Jamison & Brereton translated the second half of RV 9.77.4 as: [Agni/Soma Pavamana] “has conceived the embryo (garbha) in the seat of the powerful one and rushes to the wide-open pen of the cows.” Given that garbha is frequently translated as a womb and that the radius “conceives” or makes the womb of the vesica piscis (its own womb) within the Zodiac, I am not convinced that the translation of garbha as: embryo, child, or germ (RTH Griffith) is correct for this verse.
17 RV 1.54.10, tr. R.L. Kashyap: “Darkness obstructed the flow of waters. The hill [parvata] was within the stomach (jathara) of Vṛtra. Vṛtra concealed the waters in several tiers. Indra entering the depths released the waters.”
RV 1.54.10, tr. Jamison & Brereton: “There stood darkness, whose tangles were the foundation for the waters, a mountain within the belly of Vṛtra. Indra smashes all the rows (of palings) set up in succession among the torrents by the encloser of the rivers.”
18 Extended excerpts from the same hymn (RV 9.86, tr. RTH Griffith):
Seven Milch-kine glorify the Tawny-coloured One while with his wave in wool he purifies himself. The living men, the mighty, have impelled the Sage into the waters' lap, the place of sacrifice....
Making the kine [=rivers] his mantle, he, the lovely Sage, runs like a sporting courser onward through the fleece [=filter]….
Him, clad in robes[=rivers] of milk, swift fingers beautify on the third height and in the luminous realm of heaven….
Thou in the filter, Soma Pavamana, art purified to support the region for the Gods….
He hath assumed the rays of Sūrya for his robe, spinning, as he knows bow, the triply-twisted thread. He, guiding to the newest rules of Holy Law, comes as the Women's Consort to the special place.
On flows the King of rivers and the Lord of heaven: he follows with a shout the paths of Holy Law. The Golden-hued is poured forth, with his hundred streams, Wealth-bringer, lifting up his voice while purified….
The Sisters Seven, the Mothers, stand around the Babe, the noble, new-born Infant, skilled in holy song, Gandharva of the floods, divine, beholding men, Soma, that he may reign as King of all the world….
The wave of flowing meath hath wakened up desires: the Steer enrobed in milk plunges into the streams….
Borne on his chariot-sieve (pavrita=filter) the King [Agni] hath risen to war….
19 I see these “ten fingers” (sometimes ten sisters) as the span of ten months/signs covered by the first seven vesicae piscium of the Zodiac.
20 RV 9.92.2, tr. Jamison & Brereton: “His gaze on men, he has run here, acquiring the name "poet" in the filter, in his womb, taking his seat in the cups [bowls], like a Hotar/Priest on his seat. The seven inspired seers have approached him.”
21 RTH Griffith’s translation of RV 9.102.4: “Even at his birth the Mothers Seven taught him, for glory, like a sage, So that he, firm and sure, hath set his mind on wealth.”
22 R.L. Kashap’s translation of this verse (RV 9.102.8): “Urging the splendour of Truth in the pilgrim-yajna, by means of the will-power and the brilliant eyes of vision, you drive far away the ignorance from the midworld.” From my point of view this sacrificial “splendour of Truth” is one of the many symbols of the sacred form and key of the vesica piscis in the Vedas.
23 The following excerpt is from Thea’s 2002 article: “Cosmology in the Rig Veda” – the Third Premise (originally published in The Hindu, 9 July 2002):
“[David] Frawley refers to the births of Agastya and Vasishta as `born in a pot or kumbha', the Sanskrit word. He interprets this as `a vessel or a ship' to reinforce his theory of a seafaring civilisation. To begin, I must indeed agree with Witzel that for a civilisation at home with the oceans as Frawley sustains, one fails to understand why the rishi would need to make Agastya emerge from a pot if indeed he had been born at sea! A pot is a pot and a ship is a ship!
An important clue
“More to the point, in making this deduction Frawley misses an important clue. Kumbha in the Rigveda is what it still is today, thousands of years after the hymns were recorded: the zodiacal sign Aquarius, the Water Carrier, who, from the jar he carries, dispenses upon the whole world the waters of a divine substance; it is known in Sanskrit as Kumbha. This is the same Kumbha that gives its name to the world-famous Mela we celebrate year after year during the very same zodiacal month of Kumbha (PNB, 1978, 1981, 2001, 2002). A point needs to be made here. Myths evolve from the cosmic script, and not the reverse." [Bold emphasis added]
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