The Sacred Geometry & Vedic Origin of the Alchemical Rebis and Philosopher's Stone ⁓ Part 1

The Alchemical Rebis

Vesica Piscis & Radius overlay by Lori Tompkins (21.3.2023)

Early in 2023 a friend sent me a reproduction of the Alchemical Rebis as found in Heinrich Nollius's Theoria Philosophiae Hermeticae (1617). Given what I learned in 2016 about the vesica piscis functioning as a key of much of our world's ancient occult symbols and mythologies, I proceeded to overlay the vesica piscis on top of the Philosopher's Stone, a.k.a. Philosopher's Egg, World Egg or Cosmic Egg, that encompasses Nollius's Rebis, which in turn led to seeing deeper into the geometry and proportions of the Rebis's Stone/Egg and its contents. In Part 2 I will present a detailed illustration and discussion of the occult sacred geometry and proportions of Nollius's Rebis scene; but first I would like to lay out some of what is commonly understood about this alchemical imagery and to reconnect it with its long-forgotten Vedic and zodiacal basis.  

 

"The Rebis symbol comes from alchemists in the 15th century. The symbol is an oval representing the cosmic egg. Within this oval is a hermaphrodite, a figure with a male head and a female head. The woman is holding a square and she appears to be crowned by the moon. The male figure is holding a compass and has a sun over his head. The stars surrounding the figure represent the five planetary symbols. The figure is standing on a dragon. The dragon represents ascension and a combination of the material and spiritual worlds. Under the dragon is a circle with a square and triangle. The square is matter and the triangle is spiritual. The four sides of the square and three sides of the triangle add up to the number of completion, seven. Seven is the number of completion because the world was created in seven days. 

 

"The Rebis represents the coming together of opposite things. It is a reconciliation of earthly and spiritual realms and sexual unity. The Rebis is a result of the alchemical great work. When one has gone through purging and purification they become united like the divine hermaphrodite. It is a result of the alchemical allegories of the Red King and White Queen. The Rebis symbolizes the union of opposites. It offers cosmic balance to the world." – Ancient-Symbols.com 

In "Alchemy in Ontario", Wanda Campbell equates the Rebis with the Philosopher's Stone.

 

"In alchemy, the philosopher's stone that has the power to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary is called the rebis (two-thing) or Hermaphrodite because it is complete in itself, a union of opposites in perfect harmony." 

On Wikipedia, Rebis is defined as:

"The end product of the alchemical magnum opus, a reunion of opposing qualities such as spirit and matter or male and female, represented by an androgynous being."

In her article "Rebis: the Result of the Great Work in Alchemy", Catherine Beyer explains: 

"The Rebis holds two objects. On the left is a compass, which is used with circles. It is held by the male half, which represents spiritual qualities. The female holds a square, used to measure right angles in squares and rectangles, thus representing the material world, with which women are also associated....

"The dragon in alchemy represents the prime matter, as well as the third alchemical element: sulfur. The winged dragon suggests ascension, a merging of material and spiritual. Fire is a common transformative symbol." 

These modern-day discussions of the alchemical Rebis and its accompanying symbols are incomplete via a long-standing disconnection from its ancient Vedic origin and sense. As became apparent to me in 2016, the eternal form, law and measure of the vesica piscis and the radius that informs it were given myriad occult or secret names in the Rig Veda. Of the myriad names the Vedic Rishis gave to the vesica piscis, the ones that are most relevant to seeing and understanding the Vedic origin of the Philosopher's Stone or Egg surrounding the alchemical Rebis are adri, ashma, and grava, all translated as "stone"; and gharba and yoni, variously translated as "egg", "uterus", "vagina", "womb", or "germ". As discussed at length in Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom (book and blog), other Vedic names or symbols of the eternal law, form or vessel of the vesica piscis that, together with the radius, creates the three-fold, six-fold, and twelve-fold measure of the 360° Vedic Year include the jar (kumbha), vessel, chalice, bowl, eye, drop, reservoir, filter, mare, cow, udder, mother, river, sister, daughter, robe, fleece. armor, weapon, hill, mountain, cave, hymn, song, thought, prayer, word, holy law, thunder, cloud, flame, water nymph, etc. 

The occult or veiled names given to the radius include the immortal Divine Son Agni who is in turn given myriad names. He is the Divine Sage, hero, horse, bull, leader, priest, singer, hidden one, golden one, golden reed, pillar (skambha), lord of the sacrifice (=year), lord of song, lord of prayer, lord of speech, lord of Amrita (=food), lord of wealth/treasure, lord of holy law, lord of light, lord of cows/horses, lord of all created beings, the lord of the "sevenfold race of Men", the Son of the Waters (seven rivers), etc. Together with the Earth's Equinoxes and Solstices, this eternal or immortal figure establishes and maintains the eternal law (sanatana dharma) and divine measure (Maya) or meter of the twelve-month Vedic Year. [1] Without this Vedic gnosis, all interpretations of the Rebis's compass and ruler, his Stone/Egg, winged or flying Earth, and all related symbols are going to continue to fall quite far from their original ancient sense and context.

In the very first hymn of the Rig Veda, the radius is lauded as Agni, "minster of sacrifice" (puróhitaṃ yajñásya) and "ruler of sacrifices, guard of Law eternal, radiant One" (rājantam adhvarāṇām gopām ṛtasya dīdivim). In Rig Veda 3.55, he is "the Great Eternal" and "King Universal" and "Child of two Mothers". The Rishis lauded the 360° circle of the year as a Yajna or sacrifice, as Aditi (the Mother of Light), as a Cow, and as one of Agni's two mothers, the second being the vesica piscis. Note that the number of Agni's mothers does vary between two and seven, and sometimes three. In my view, his three mothers and seven mothers are both descriptions of the multiple vesicae piscis (=rivers, sisters, cows, mares, etc.) that measure out the ten months of Agni's gestation in the zodiacal year and deliver him to his heavenly Kumbha or Jar. [See "The Obstruction of the Vedic Waters & the Fixed Water Sign Scorpio ⁓ Part Four", Endnote #16]

In Rig Veda 1.67, Agni (the radius), is depicted as crouched or hidden secretly in a cave (=the vesica piscis), holding up the Earth, fixing or propping up the sky or heaven, and moving from lair to lair, cave to cave, or hiding place to hiding place (guhā guham).  

"He, bearing in his hand all manly might, crouched [hidden] in the cavern [of the waters], struck the Gods with fear.... He, like the Unborn, holds the broad earth up; and with effective utterance [mantra] fixed the sky [props up heaven]. O Agni, guard the spots which cattle [=rivers] love: thou, life of all, hast gone from lair to lair. Whoso hath known him dwelling in his lair, and hath approached the stream of holy Law,—They who release him, paying sacred rites,—truly to such doth he announce great wealth." – Rig Veda 1.67.2-4 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith [Text in brackets added, from other translations and symbolic equivalencies]

The utterance, word or mantra that "fixes the sky" in Rig Veda 1.67 is once again a veiled symbol of the vesica piscis,—the song, word, sound, thunder, sacred syllable, thought, stone, womb, etc. of the radius/son—, that measures out and thus "fixes" the measure of the Earth's 12-month Zodiac, anchored by four cardinal points of the Earth's Equinoxes and Solstices. [See "The Sacred Measure of 432,000 ⁓ Part 4: The Sacred Syllable of the Rig Veda"]

The Rishi of Rig Veda 1.67 communicated, in veiled or occult terms, that whoever knows that "the hidden one" Agni is the radius dwelling in the womb or cave of the vesica piscis (=his lair or hiding place), will also know that the arc of the vesica piscis is the ancient and eternal stream of river of "holy Law" measuring out the Earth's sacred zodiacal year. We also are told by the Rishi that great wealth, i.e., knowledge, is revealed to those who release Agni from his hiding place or cave. 

In my experience, the long-lost geometric sense of Agni's secret hiding place, lair, or cave, and his "stream of wisdom" was revealed to me on 2 October 2016 in conjunction with Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet's (Thea's) 9 October 2016 passing, as an extension of Sri Aurobindo's yoga and consciousness-force towards the recovery of the lost sanatana dharma and sense of the Rig Veda in our Age of Aquarius/Kumbha. As I have discussed and demonstrated in my various writings, this revelation did bestow with it, the release of great treasures of long-forgotten and long-occulted ancient gnosis. With this knowledge, I came to understand zodiacal geometry and sense of the central theme of the Vedas which repeatedly tells, in myriad equivalent ways, of seven mothers (=seven vesicae piscis) which bear the Vedic Sage (i.e., Philosopher) to his goal or destination in the Zodiac which goes by myriad names as well, including but not limited to the heavenly pitcher, jar or vessel of Amrita/Soma (=Kumbha, Kalasha, Kosha, etc.); the reservoir or ocean (samudra); the gods' banquet, feast (deva-vītaye) or assembly (samana); and the filter (pavitra). In my view, this many-named singular destination of Agni and his seven rivers (=vesica piscis) is 0° Aquarius/Kumbha  – marking out the completion of ten months of the zodiacal year, starting from 0° Aries and moving all the way through the tenth month of Capricorn/Makar.

As a result of these Vedic revelations and treasures of gnosis, I came to see the alchemical Philosopher's Stone/Egg as equivalent to the eternal law, form, measure of the vesica piscis. [Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, pp. 207, 228, 392] More specifically, I came to see the Philosopher's Stone/Egg as equivalent to  the "Stone" or "Womb" of the Vedic and Zodiacal Sage, Son or Horse—i.e., the vesica piscis of the radius or ray of 0° Sagittarius/—by which he bears, presses, pours out, and delivers himself and his Nectar of Immortality (=Amrita/Soma/Manna) to Indra, the gods, the Kumbha and the illuminated "Man" of Aquarius. It is by this "the heavenly stone", elsewhere called a bolt of lightning or victorious weapon, that Indra and the Divine Son-Sage-Horse Agni (="the ten-month babe") defeat the powers of darkness and ignorance in the world and set Agni and his seven rivers (mothers, cows, mares, treasures, etc.) free from their cave, enclosure or coverings.

In Rig Veda 7.36.6, this Sage's (=Philosopher's) Stone, womb, egg, or vesica piscis is equivalent to Agni's seventh mother or river, Saraswati, commonly known as the Goddess of Wisdom. Saraswati's association with wisdom, and with the color white makes more sense when we know her eternal law and form, and when we recognize that she completes the gestation and birth of Agni as the WISE SAGE-God-Son-Hero (=Soma Pavamana), who is lauded as a White Horse. His whiteness is due to his birth via seven mothers/rivers who purify or cleanse him. 

In Rig Veda 2.1.1 Agni is said to be "brought to life" not only from the seven rivers or waters, but also, "from the stone." [tr. RTH Griffith] Thus, the stone can be seen as equivalent to the form of his rivers that give him birth. In St. John's Revelation or Apocalypse, this story of the victorious birth of Agni via his seven rivers, mothers, drops or stones is retold or reimagined as the pouring out of seven vials or bowls and the corresponding victory of the Divine Son, who appears in Revelation 19:11-13 as a warrior on a White Horse. I have discussed the Vedic, zodiacal and geometric sense of the mythology of the ancient Apocalypse in "The Spherical Gnosis of the Sage & the Release of the Vedic Waters ⁓ Part 6 ⁓ The Divine Son & the Ancient Apocalypse" (15 July 2023) and will not further elaborate on this topic here, other than to emphasize the fact that the alchemical Philosopher's Stone and Egg has its origin in the Vedic prophecy and apocalypse (=revelation, release, uncovering, birth, etc.) of the Vedic Son/Sage. The crux of what I am trying to expose here is that, once we understand the zodiacal geometry and sense of the Rig Veda, we can see that the Alchemist's Philosopher's Stone is equivalent to the Stone  (=vesica piscis) of the Divine Sage-Son who, via this stone (=weapon, egg/womb, river, law, etc. of gnosis) conquers the world's ignorance and establishes the divine unity consciousness in the vessel or Kumbha of Man, in the Age of Kumbha (Aquarius).

Those who have read the second volume of Thea's autobiography, The Tenth Day of Victory, Vol. 2.1 should recall that the vesica piscis was shown or presented to her, in veiled form, by her son circa 1969-70. [2] Some six years later, she recognized the vesica piscis as a central key of the Mother's Temple (Matrimandir), which in its original, non-distorted design is a temple of the Vedic Year which was known to the Vedic Rishis as Aditi, the Mother of Light. By this geometric key, Thea came to see her son, born in the ninth sign of Sagittarius, as Sri Aurobindo reincarnated as the victorious Vedic Son, Sage or Horse, equivalent in her mind to Vishnu's tenth avatar Kalki. [See: Seeing in Understanding ⁓ The Symbols & Sense of 2020 ⁓ Part Four]

"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." – Thea, The Tenth Day of Victory, Vol. 2.1, pp. 341-42

On page 339 of the same book, Thea wrote that friends and family called her Sagittarian son, "the Little Philosopher" (≈ the Little Sage). Notably, throughout The Tenth Day of Victory, Vol. 2.1 Thea wrote of the Mother's Temple,—its original design, not what was constructed in her name in Auroville—, as "akin to a Philosopher's Stone" that the Mother had left her. [pp. 147, 152, 182, 228] And, some 40 years later, I came to consider the vesica piscis itself to be the Philosopher's Stone that Thea left me as the key of seeing, understanding and uplifting the zodiacal geometry of the Vedic symbols and lore, the year and week of her passing.

In case this needs further clarification, Thea did not see and understand the key of the vesica piscis given to her by her Sage-Son as a key of the hidden sense of the Vedic symbols and lore; and thus she did not make the connection between the vesica piscis, the Philosopher's Stone, and the myriad Vedic symbols I have discussed. Her Vedic revelations were centered upon recognizing and revealing the zodiacal sense of the Vedic hymns and symbols, along with reestablishing the true Tropical/Solar measure of the Vedic Year. These revelations were central to her avataric contributions towards the “Restoration of Vedic Wisdom” in our Aquarian Age. Her advances in this arena and finally her passing in 2016 opened the door for me to recognize, remember and restore the zodiacal geometry of the Vedic symbols and lore, via the Philosopher's Stone (=the Vesica Piscis of the Vedic Sage/Son), 144 years after Sri Aurobindo’s birth year (1872).

The Sage's Stone (=Philosopher's Stone) in the Rig Veda

Below are some verses from the Rig Veda which should, in conjunction with the images and information I have provided above, help readers see and understand the Vedic origin and the zodiacal geometry of the Philosopher's Stone which encompasses the alchemical Rebis. All of these verses are poetic depictions of Agni's birth and victory as the Divine Sage-Son-Horse in the measured course of the twelve-month, sacred zodiacal year.

"[Let the pressing-stone] win the valour that subdues the foe, and the fleet courser's [=Agni's] might that speeds to ample wealth. Juice that this Stone pours out removes defect of ours, as in old time it brought prosperity to man.... Stirred be the glorious Stones: let it press out the juice, the Stone with heavenly song that reaches up to heaven, There where the men draw forth the meath for which they long, sending their voice around in rivalry of speed. The Stones press out the Soma [=the Sage's Nectar of Immortality], swift as car-borne men, and, eager for the spoil, drain forth the sap thereof to fill the beaker [=Kumbha]...." – Rig Veda 10.76.2-3, 6-7, tr. RTH Griffith [Bold emphasis and text in bracket's added]

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"By reason of his birth here Angiras [=Agni] first sang: the pressing-stones upraised beheld the sacrifice – the stones through which the Sage became exceeding vast, and the sharp axe obtains in fight the beauteous place [=Kumbha]." – Rig Veda 10.92.15, tr. RTH Griffith 

*

"Soma the God, expressed with stones, like Surya, floweth on his way pouring the juice within the jar [=Kumbha]."  – Rig Veda 9.63.13, tr. RTH Griffith 

* 

"Bring, by thy flowing, weal[th] to kine, weal[th] to the people.... Purify Soma when [you, Agni, are poured out] with stones which bands move rapidly, and pour the sweet milk in the meath." – Rig Veda 9.11.3, 5 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith 

*

"O Soma Pavamana, thou art flowing to be Indra's drink [=Soma/Amrita].... Victorious, to be hailed with joy, O Soma, flow, delighting men.... Thou [Agni] when, [poured out] by stones, thou runnest to the filter [=Kumbha].... Flow on, best Vṛtra-slayer...." – Rig Veda 9.24.3-6 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith 

Elsewhere these "stones" (=vesicae piscis) are portrayed as "drops" of Soma wine (=Amrita) that are driven by Agni as the Wise Sage (a.k.a. Soma Pavamana) to his filter, a.k.a. kumbha, beaker, jar, feast, banquet, assembly, etc. 

"[Well-loved Master in the beaker] the Sage, Celestial, liberal, raining bounties, pours as [Agni, Soma Pavamana] flows the Genuine for the Truthful…. Haste, like a steed, to victory for glory… Pouring out streams at the Gods’ feast with service, thou, Soma [Agni], lookest down, a heavenly Eagle. Enter the Soma-holding beaker [=Kumbha]…. [H]e speaks the thought of prayer, the law of Order…. Flow onward righteous slayer of the wicked, driving away our enemies and sickness…. Strong Soma, pressed, like an impetuous courser, hath flowed in stream as a flood speeding downward…. He, purified with ancient vital vigour, pervading all his Daughter's [=rivers', cows', sisters', etc.] forms and figures….[Agni] here, the Wise, the All-obtainer, flows on his way as King of all existence. Driving the drops [=pressing stones, rivers, cows, etc.] at our assemblies [Agni] completely traverses [to] the fleecy filter [=Kumbha]…. The wise men send him forth with ten swift fingers, and balm his form with essence of the waters [=rivers]." – Rig Veda 9.97, excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith

I see the "ten swift fingers" in Rig Veda 9.97 and elsewhere in the Vedas as a symbol of the ten months of the twelve-month "sacrifice", i.e., of the Tropical Vedic Year, that it takes to deliver him to 0° Aquarius/Kumbha. [See images in "The Vedic Dragon" section below.] In The Secret of the Veda, Sri Aurobindo wrote the following regarding Agni's "heavenly stone":

"The divine flame (Agni) kindled by the sacrifice supplies also to Indra the material of the lightning, the weapon, the heavenly stone, svarya aśmā, by which he destroys the powers of darkness and wins the cows, the solar illuminations [=the rivers, mothers, mares, treasures, etc.]." – Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda, CWSA, Vol. 15, p. 164  [Bold emphasis and text in bracket's added]

The Vedic Egg, Womb or Lair

The hymns below should help readers see and understand the Vedic origin and sense of the "Philosopher's Egg" or "Cosmic/World Egg" surrounding the Alchemical Rebis, as well as its association with the Philosopher's Stone, and the geometric and zodiacal sense of both of these (and many more) interchangeable Vedic symbols. Throughout the Rig Veda, the Sage's/Philosopher's Egg or  vesica piscis (=vessel of the fish), is depicted as some type of womb, cave, lair or enclosure.

"[Brihaspati=Agni=Lord of Speech] threw the prisons of the red cows [=rivers] open. [He] drave, himself, the bright kine [=cows=rivers] from the mountain, like a bird's young after the egg's disclosure. He looked around on rock [=stone]-imprisoned sweetness as one who eyes a fish in scanty water. Bṛhaspati [=Agni as the Lord of the sacred word or speech], cleaving through with varied clamour, brought it forth like a bowl from out the timber. He found the light of heaven, and fire, and Morning: with lucid rays he forced apart the darkness. – Rig Veda 10.68.6-9 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith     

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"What time the Swift One [=the Sage Agni] resteth in the golden place [yonim hiraṇyayam = golden womb=Kumbha] of sacrifice, He leaves the foolish far away."  – Rig Veda 9.64.20, tr. RTH Griffith 

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"The waters [rivers] feed with praise the growing Babe [Agni], born nobly in the womb, the seat of Law [ṛtásya yónā gárbhe]. Like grateful food, like some wide dwelling place, like a fruit-bearing hill, a wholesome stream. Like a steed urged to run in swift career...who may check his course? Kin as a brother to his sister floods.... Like a swan sitting in the floods [=seven rivers].... A Sage [Agni] sprung from Law, he grew like some young creature, mighty, shining far." – Rig Veda 1.65 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith

*

"May Agni, yielding to our prayer, the [Demon]-slayer, drive away the malady of evil name that hath beset thy labouring womb. Agni, concurring in the prayer, drive off the eater of the flesh, the malady of evil name that hath attacked thy babe and womb. That which destroys the sinking germ, the settled, moving embryo, that which will kill the babe at birth, even this will we drive far away." – Rig Veda 10.162.1-3, tr. RTH Griffith

*

"He, bearing in his hand all manly might, crouched in the cavern, struck the Gods with fear. He, like the Unborn, holds the broad earth up; and with effective utterance [mantra] fixed the sky. O Agni, guard the spots which cattle love: thou, life of all, hast gone from lair to lair. Whoso hath known him dwelling in his lair, and hath approached the stream of holy Law,—they who release him, paying sacred rites,—truly to such doth he announce great wealth." – Rig Veda 1.67.2-4, tr. RTH Griffith [Bold emphasis added]

The Sacred 432,000 Measure and Law of the Sage's/Philosopher's Stone or Egg

It is worth emphasizing here is that the sacred measure, form and law of the Sage's/Philosopher's Stone or Egg is not only a crucial key of unsealing the sealed occult symbols and book of the Vedas and all related pre and post-Vedic symbols and lore, but it is also a crucial key of recovering the forgotten integral, interconnected, wholistic and spherical sense of the 432,000 measure of the Rig Veda, the 432,000 measure of the Hindu Yugas, as well as the 432,000 measure the Sun's radius in miles. For those new to my writing who may be asking, "WHY?", the answer is that via his "Stone" or "Egg" (river, cow, etc.), the radius (=the Vedic Son/Sage/Philosopher) measures out a perfect third (120°) of the zodiacal year, equivalent to 432,000 seconds of degrees of arc (120° = 120° x 60' x 60" = 432,000"). And once we understand this 432,000" measure of the Sage's/Philosopher's Stone or Egg, we can reconnect the various instances of this sacred number showing up throughout our collective world history to the sacred geometry of the 360° circle, the 360° Vedic/Zodiacal Year and all related 360° cycles, including the Earth's 24-hour (2 x 43,200-second) Day, the 12-Age, 25,920 year, Great Year (a.k.a. Precession of the Equinoxes) and the 77,760-year Maha Yuga (=3 Precessions = 9 Kali Yuga) cycle. 

Once we know the true measure and zodiacal Vedic context of the Philosopher's Stone/Egg we have the precious key of rending the veil of much of our world's ancient occult mythologies and symbols. With this key or "stone" we can understand, integrate and illuminate that which has long been fragmented and buried under multiple aeons of mental misunderstanding, misdirection and distortion. The unveiling or integration of the hidden sense, truth and light of ancient symbols and mythologies that have been long-hidden from our collective consciousness is a powerful alchemy or transformation of consciousness. It is an important milestone and an essential catalyst in our Aquarian-Age evolutionary shift from the fragmented binary egoic mental consciousness to the all-integrating unity consciousness of our Higher Mind, or Supermind as Sri Aurobindo referred to our indwelling and emergent divine consciousness.

The 7-Power (3 + 4) Measure of the Vesica Piscis

As noted in one of the quotes above, the sum of 3 and 4 — the numbers found in the Rebis's flying Earth in conjunction with the 3-sided equilateral triangle and 4-sided square is 7. As discussed by Thea in The New Way, Vols. 1&2 (pp. 401-02), each 120° or 432,000" arc of the Zodiac, can be considered 7-powered in the sense that it contains in itself 3 units of the circle of 9, and 4 months of the 12-month zodiacal year. Thea presented and discussed the 9 number power and the 12 months of the Vedic Year as the Gnostic Circle. She saw the Rishis' references to the "thrice-seven ecstasies" (=treasures, libations, sacrifices, "titles", "ridges", "layers of fuel", "mystic things", rivers", etc.) of the Vedic sacrifice as the sum of these two "scales" of the 360° Year: 9 + 12 = 21 = 3 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 3 x 7. [3]

"Wondrously first he rose aloft, defiant, in the Bull's [=Agni's] lair, the home [or womb] of holy Order [ṛtásya yónā], longed-for, young, beautiful, and far-resplendent: and seven dear friends [=rivers] sprang up unto the Mighty [Kumbha, Assembly, Ocean, etc.]. Here did our human fathers take their places, fain to fulfil the sacred Law of worship. Forth drave they...Dawn's teeming Milch-kine [=seven rivers].... The Milch-cow's earliest name [the Human Fathers/ancestors] comprehended: they found the Mother's thrice-seven noblest titles." – Rig Veda 4.1.13, 16 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith [Bold emphasis and text in bracket's added based on alternate translations and equivalences]

If we take Thea's understanding a step further, we can see and understand that the radius and its companion vesica piscis (=stone, egg, womb, river, flood, etc.) are 7-powered in the sense that together they measure out each of the three 7-powered, 120° (=432,000") arcs of the 360° circle. For more information on the ancient sacred measure of 432,000 of the radius and vesica piscis, which was the 2016 seed and catalyst of recovering and writing The Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom (book), see "The Sacred Measure of 432,000" (series, 2019-2020).

The Union of the Masculine and Feminine

As discussed and illustrated above, the alchemical Rebis is known and portrayed as a "hermaphrodite" representing the divine union of the masculine and feminine principles of creation. Hopefully it is not difficult for readers to see and understand that the form of the vesica piscis, with its indwelling radius, ray or pillar, is a fitting symbol of the union or conjunction of masculine and feminine sexual organs. The radius, in this union, is the masculine lingam or penis, and the vesica piscis is the feminine yoni or vagina. This eternally united geometric pair was lauded by the Vedic Rishis in many ways, including as husband and wife; brother and sister; son and daughter; son and mother; calf and cow; calf and udder; babe and womb; gandharva and apsara (=water nymph); the sun/son and the Dawn, as well as lingam and yoni.

The Vedic Dragon

One of the most striking symbols inside Nollini's Rebis Stone or Egg is the fire-breathing dragon sprawled across the upper hemisphere of the winged Earth. The Rebis figure standing upon the Dragon can be seen as its sage or wise conqueror, bearing only the "weapons" of measure. In one of the explanations above we are told, "The dragon represents ascension and a combination of the material and spiritual worlds." Elsewhere the Dragon is said to represent sulfur and transformation as related to fire and kundalini energy. These modern assessments of the alchemical Dragon have lost the connection to and the consciousness of the original Vedic and zodiacal sense of the Dragon. In the Rig Veda, the Dragon is the dominant force of Ignorance or Darkness that obstructs, occults, hides or covers the Light of Truth, or Light of our Divine Self/Soul in our world. His name is Vritra, meaning to "obstruct", "cover" or "envelope". He is also known or depicted as Susna and Ahi, the latter translated as "snake". 

This Dragon or snake blocks the flow of the rivers of truth and wisdom in the world and, via this obstruction, is the central antagonist of the Vedas. In Rig Veda 10.111.9, he is said to have swallowed the rivers, repeatedly numbered throughout the Vedas as seven. He is conquered, like all of the forces of ignorance and darkness in the Vedas, by the Divine Son/Sage in conjunction with the thunder-god Indra and their divine companions. From this Vedic victory of the Divine Son/Sage over the Dragon comes the lore and iconography of the god Vishnu reclined on a five, seven or ten-headed snake named Shesha or Sheshnaag, floating on the Ocean of Milk or Cosmic Ocean from which the Amrita (Nectar of Immortality=Soma Wine) of the Gods is recovered. The lotus seat of the four-headed creation god Brahma can itself be seen as a symbol of the Vedic Year with its four cardinal points marking out the entrance into each of the four "creation" (raja) signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.

Narayana [Vishnu] reclining on Shesha, as Brahma blooms on a lotus from his navel (palace of Bir Singh Dev, early 17th c.)

In various hymns, the thunderbolt by which Indra dismantles the water-obstructing Dragon and its forts or caves of Ignorance is portrayed as a Stone or "bolt of stone". In "The Obstruction of the Vedic Waters & the Fixed Water Sign Scorpio" (2021-22) I discussed the water-obstructing Dragon as a symbol of the fixed water sign of Scorpio – the 8th sign of the Zodiac, preceding the 9th sign of the Sagittarian Sage, Son, or Horse. The birth of the nine-rayed Sagittarian Sage, Son, or Horse (Dadhyac Navagva) is the catalyst for dismantling the obstruction of the seven rivers, and setting them free to purify the world. In "Demystifying the Ancient Symbol of Three Fish with One Head" (2020, revised 2023), I discussed the Dragon as a symbol of the vesica piscis or multiple vesicae piscis that gestate the Vedic Son and bear him to the goal of his zodiacal sacrifice or hero's journey (Yajna) – the Kumbha or reservoir where the gods meet and feast on the Amrita/Soma, and the rivers gather, and the treasures of the rivers, cows, horses, etc., are set free from the Ignorance that conceals their true form and context. 

The vesica piscis's association with a covering darkness, ignorance and containment or obstruction can be fully understood when we understand that the vesica piscis is simultaneously the chief obstacle and the key of opening the sealed book and symbols of the Vedas. As long as this key is unknown, it obstructs or protects the Vedic treasures/symbols, keeping their sense in an encrypted or sealed state. Once known, the vesica piscis is the key, weapon, and sacred word, thought or song of the Vedic heroes by which they accomplish their victory and release the pent-up treasures of the occult Vedic symbols. Note that many of the veiled descriptions of the vesica piscis convey some element of covering. In many hymns, the vesica piscis is the robe or covering of the Vedic Son (=the radius of the Vedic Year/Zodiac). [See Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom, Part 2, Ch. 15, "The Passing of the Mantle"] It is likewise his cave, hiding place or lair.

In Rig Veda 10.8.8 the Vedic Dragon is referred to as tri-šīrṣāṇam sapta-rašmim, translated as the "seven-rayed, three-headed" foe (tr. RTH Griffith) and "the three-headed, seven-reined (monster)" (tr. Jamison and Brereton). In St. John's Revelation—a retelling or re-envisioning of the much older Vedic prophecy—the Dragon-foe is said to have "seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads" and we are given the additional cryptic clue that its "tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky". 

"Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne [=his Kumbha in the Vedas]. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him." – Revelation 12.3-9 [NIV] 

In my view, the imagery of the Dragon's tail sweeping "a third of the stars out of the sky" is a clear reference to the vesica piscis and radius that together measure out one-third of the zodiacal circle or cycle; and the seven-headed, seven-crowned, ten-horned dragon is a variation of the Vedic mythology wherein the Dragon is the obstacle of the victorious birth or REVELATION of the Vedic Son (=the "ten-month babe") via  his seven rivers (mothers, floods, drops, vats, hymns, thoughts, etc.). Impelled, increased, or "made vast" by his seven mothers, this Son, Agni as the 9-rayed Horse/Sage, passes through TEN months of the Zodiac, arriving at his goal (=Kumbha/Jar, reservoir, the gods' banquet, assembly, etc.). In several hymns the Vedic Son/Sage is said to be beautified, purified, or whitened by his seven rivers (=songs, drops, thoughts, floods, etc.) and by "ten fingers", equivalent to the ten months of his gestation.

"Ten fingers groom you [Agni-the Sage-Son]; seven insightful thoughts propel you...." – Rig Veda 9.8.4, tr. Jamison & Brereton 

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"Ten [fingers] on the fleecy height, themselves, self-prompted, and seven fresh rivers, brighten and adorn thee [Agni]." – Rig Veda 9.92.4, tr. RTH Griffith

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"[T]he fingers ten and the seven songs make [Agni] beautiful...." – Rig Veda 9.15.8, tr. RTH Griffith

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"I lay upon the [seven] Floods your hymn, lightwinning, wherewith Navagvas [the 9-rayed] their ten months completed. Through this our hymn may we have Gods to guard us: through this our hymn pass safe beyond affliction." – Rig Veda 5.45.11, tr. RTH Griffith [Bold emphasis added]

Sri Aurobindo translated and discussed this verse at some length in The Secret of the Veda:

“I hold for you in the waters (i.e., the seven Rivers) the thought that wins possession of heaven (this is once more the seven-headed thought born from the Truth and found by Ayasya), by which the Navagwas [=nine-rayed] passed through the ten months; by this thought may we have the gods for protectors, by this thought may we pass through beyond the evil....

"The expression in the hymn, daśa māso ataran, indicates that there was some difficulty in getting through the full period of ten months. It is during this period apparently that the sons of darkness had the power to assail the sacrifice; for it is indicated that it is only by the confirming of the thought which conquers Swar, the solar world, that the Rishis are able to get through the ten months, but this thought once found they become assured of the protection of the gods and pass beyond the assault of the evil, the harms of the Panis and Vritras. This Swar-conquering thought is certainly the same as that seven-headed thought which was born from the Truth and discovered by Ayasya the companion of the Navagwas." – The Secret of the Veda, CWSA, Vol. 15, pp. 175-76 [Bold emphasis and text in brackets added]

In Geometric Keys of Vedic Wisdom (book, pp. 306-09), I discussed the hero Ayasya as one of the many names of the Vedic Sage-Son (=the radius of 0° Sagittarius) who establishes and completes the flow of the seven rivers (=the seven-headed thought) from the third seat or angle of his Fire Trine or Triangle [0° Aries, 0° Leo, and 0° Sagittarius]. The name Ayasya etymologically suggests the movement of an iron weapon (ayas) which I take as the victorious movement of the radius/Son/Sage of the Zodiac to his goal (the Kumbha or Water Jar of Aquarius).

Another thing that bears mentioning about the symbolism of Nollius's Earth-clutching alchemical Dragon is that the Sanskrit name for Capricorn [],—the tenth month and last of the three zodiacal Earth signs,—is Makar. Makar, from Makara, is commonly translated in English as a sea monster or crocodile. In Sri Lanka, Makara specifically refers to a Dragon and it is not a stretch to consider an association between the Vedic Dragon and the tenth month of Makar (Capricorn), which the Vedic heroes and seven rivers (by whatever names) must pass through with difficulty before arriving at the Kumbha of Aquarius. [4] 

The radius's arc that forms the vesica piscis (=the Sage's/Philosopher's Stone) in light blue above-right is the seventh river of the Vedic Sacrifice, which completes the Sage-Son's ten-month gestation, purification and victory.

"Indra demolished with might the works of the great watery monster.... [T]he waters that flowed forth when Indra sent them. Where is their spring, and where is their foundation? Where now, ye Waters, is your inmost centre? Thou didst free [the seven] rivers swallowed by the Dragon; and rapidly they [the rivers] set themselves in motion.... – Rig Veda 10.111.4,8-9 excerpts, tr. RTH Griffith [Bold emphasis added]

Wikipedia's article on Makara begins:

"Makara appears as the vahana (vehicle) of the river goddess Ganga, Narmada, and of the god of the ocean, Varuna. Makara are considered guardians of gateways and thresholds, protecting throne rooms as well as entryways to temples; it is the most commonly recurring creature in Hindu and Buddhist temple iconography, and also frequently appears as a gargoyle or as a spout attached to a natural spring." [Bold emphasis added]

The association of the Vedic dragon with the Makar/Makara or sea monster of the Zodiac is etymologically supported given that the Sanskrit root ma means "to measure, mete out, mark off", as well as "to measure across, traverse" (Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon). Kāra is translated as "hand", as well as “make, perform, cause, produce, shape, construct, do, write, create, trace" and "doer". As I have demonstrated, the vesica piscis is the measure, form, shape and even hand of the radius who is the "creator", "doer", "architect", "constructor", "priest", "maker", "tracer", etc. of the sacred form, geometry, eternal law, and divine maya or measure of the Vedic Year. In Rig Veda 4.58.3 the Vedic Son is specifically depicted as having seven hands, which are equivalent to the seven rivers (=seven vesicae piscis) that increase and gestate him through ten months of the Earth's sacred year. 

Note that the Dragon of Nollius's Rebis scene is perfectly centered upon not only the winged-Earth, but also upon the apex and measure of its internal equilateral Triangle as well as the NORTH point of its cardinal point Square. These two measures and forms combine to give us the 12-measure of the Earth's Zodiacal Year: 3 x 4 = 12. I emphasized the word "north" above, because 0° Capricorn/Makar is specifically associated with the Earth's North cardinal point or direction. Thus giving another symbolic clue that the ancient mythology of the Dragon is connected to the zodiacal sign of Capricorn/Makar. Perhaps the most striking clue of this connection is the actual appearance of Nollius's Dragon. In the Western conception of the Zodiac, Capricorn is symbolized as a mountain goat or sea goat; and, once we know what we are looking for, it is not hard to see that the head and tail of the Rebis Dragon looks very much much like the Goat's head and curled tail associated with the constellation of Capricorn. 

It is also worth pointing out here that the word "Dragon"—a mythological creature who is sometimes depicted with three heads—is phonetically similar to Triagon (as in Triagonal), and the Sanskrit Trikona, both indicating the three-angles of a Triangle.

Link to Part Two

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Endnotes:

[1] Note that Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet's (Thea's) supramental yoga and mission included reestablishing the Tropical/Solar measure of the Vedic Year/Zodiac and exposing the erroneous sidereal measure of what is wrongly called "Vedic" astrology. She referred to the common sidereal measurement of the Zodiac, "post-Vedic".

[2] Thea did not give an exact date for the presentation of the vesica piscis by her son. She wrote that it "transpired when this child was five or six years old" which could be anywhere from 26 November 1968 through 26 November 1970]. His own recollection is that it most likely took place at the age of 6 [26 November 1969-26 November 1970]. I do not think it is a random coincidence that this incident took place circa my birth year of 1969.

[3] "The thrice seven, or twenty-one, ecstasies are the combined scales of 9 and 12 [9 + 12 = 21], based on the multiples three times three and three times four that the Ribhus, artisans of Immortality, personify. The Ribhus divide the sphere of twelve by their threefold energy movement repeated four times: 'They sustained and held in them, they divided by perfection in their works the sacrificial share of the enjoyment among the Gods.' (l.20-8) 'For such perfect division', writes Sri Aurobindo, 'is the whole condition of the effective sacrifice, the perfect work.'" – Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, The New Way, Vols. 1&2, p. 402. Multiple mentions of the count of "thrice seven" ecstasies of the Vedic Year can be found in the following two links: 1 & 2.

[4] As discussed by Thea throughout her writings, 0° Capricorn/Makar – marked, measured or established by the Earth's December Solstice – is the entrance into the fourth and highest quadrant or realm of the Zodiac ‒ the heavenly Swar realm of the Vedic Year or "sacrifice". Thea was born on 5 January (1938) in the midst of the sign of Capricorn/Makar. Unaware of the geometric sense of the Vedic Rivers, she considered the zodiacal location of the Vedic Victory to be 10° Capricorn (=the 7 Point of the Vedic Circle of 9) rather than at the culmination of the tenth month (=30° Capricorn/Makar=0° Aquarius/Kumbha). Consequently it has been difficult, to say the least, for some of her long-time students to see beyond her own conclusion regarding the Makar/Capricorn location of the Vedic victory, and to "arrive" at or SEE the Vedic Kumbha as the goal and victory of the Vedic Son. 

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