Vox stellarum: part three — Taurus

The Voice of the Stars: the testament of the Zodiac unveiled

Introduction

In this new investigation in thirteen parts we aim to reconcile Astrology with its lost sibling — Astronomy — and so attempt to restore something of the Wisdom they embodied when they were one, unified Science. If you have not read the first two parts please do so before continuing, otherwise you will not obtain a complete understanding of the many subjects under discussion.

In our introduction to part two we mentioned that the Zodiac of Dendera was considerably older than the mere 2,000 years assigned to it by contemporary 'experts'. This raises the question of just how old the Zodiac is, or rather how long it is since man first perceived the mysterious pattern of the Heavens and sought to read its secrets by dividing the night sky into twelve divisions? The Bible, which even the most sceptical of scholars admits is at least as old as Moses, who lived some 3,300 years ago, contains many references to the Zodiac. So many in fact that it is impossible not to conclude that the knowledge of the twelve constellations was already ancient at the time the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses) were written.

Our first clue to the true age of the Zodiac comes to us from volume II of Isis Unveiled in which Madame Blavatsky makes the interesting statement that the celestial belt originally consisted of ten signs, not twelve. She writes: "Instead of the twelve signs now used, there were originally but ten known to the general public, viz.: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo-Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces. These were exoteric. But in addition there were two mystical signs inserted, which none but initiates comprehended, viz.: at the middle or junction-point where now stands Libra, and at the sign now called Scorpio, which follows Virgo. When it was found necessary to make them exoteric, these two secret signs were added under their present appellations as blinds to conceal the true names which gave the key to the whole secret of creation, and divulged the origin of good and evil" (Isis Unveiled Vol. 2, p456 et seq). As always, this peer among occultists writes the truth, though there will be few indeed who are capable of fully comprehending what she meant. In connection with this we would remind you of what we said in part one, namely that Libra falls within the Third Division of the Zodiac — that of Judgement. We also said: "It is possible to interpret the meaning of the absent and the present Scales by regarding Scorpio as the lower mind, and Virgo as the Higher Mind. There is judgement between these two at the proper time..." All this is replete with profound meaning which we shall explore more fully in part eight when we discuss the Zodiacal Sign of Libra.

Libra is credited by many ancient and modern astrologers as being the invention of the Greeks, but it is not generally stated why it was added. The only plausible explanation is the one Blavatsky gives, quoted above. Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a more beautiful or apposite idea than that of the Scales of Judgement to separate Virgo from Scorpio. This innovation has the added benefit of revealing as much as could possibly be done without unveiling the whole truth of the two minds or selves — the Higher (Virgo) and the lower (Scorpio). We would remind the reader that the existence of two minds or selves in man which we discuss at considerable length in so many of our articles is not common knowledge, even among occultists. Indeed, most contemporary occultists and so-called 'magicians' who really should know better, are either unaware of this mental duality in man, or ignore it entirely as having no relevance for them! The existence of the two minds was a secret known only to very few Initiates until Blavatsky first revealed it in the late 19th century. Even then, she did so guardedly and partially. So much so that psychologists and psychiatrists who are supposed to know all about the mind are blissfully ignorant of the dual nature of man. Hence, they do not know that this duality furnishes the key to the secrets of creation and the origin of good and evil which Blavatsky mentions in the passage quoted from Isis Unveiled.

The separation of Virgo and Scorpio by the addition of Libra proves that the Zodiac must be older than the Bible. Further evidence of this is found in Genesis in which the genealogies of the Twelve Patriarchs are made to fit the new Zodiac of Twelve Signs, instead of the original ten. Blavatsky tells us that the necessity of concealing the true key from the common people led the Rabbinical compilers of Genesis to repeat the names of Enoch and Lamech twice. As we discussed in our investigation of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, much of Genesis was taken from the Chaldean account of the creation of the world, in some instances almost verbatim. As the former predates the latter by several millennia we may be tolerably sure that the Zodiac of Twelve Signs is at least 6,000 years old.

So how far back do we have to go to find a Zodiac of Ten Signs known to the general public? If, as Blavatsky stated, Hindu astronomical calculations cover a period of 850,000 years, we are compelled to consider that a Zodiac of some kind was in use at least that long ago. This, as so often in our investigations, leads us back to Atlantis and its great Sages. In The Secret Doctrine, we may read: "The astronomical records of Universal History, however, are said to have had their beginnings with the Third Sub-race of the Fourth Root-race, or the Atlanteans" (The Secret Doctrine Vol. 2, p337). According to the aforementioned records this was the Toltec Sub-race, not to be conflated with the much later people known as the Toltecs who lived in Central America some thousands of years ago. When was this? It is impossible to say, but given that the first major cataclysm to overwhelm Atlantis is said to have occurred some 850,000 years ago, we may conjecture that it was far in the remote past. There we must leave this fascinating question and continue with our reading and interpretation of the Testament of the Zodiac, for that is the purpose of this investigation.

Proem: the seven pole stars

He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names. Psalms 147:4

— The Tet surmounted by the symbol of Life embracing the Sun —
The Papyrus of Nebseni — ca. 1500 B.C.

As we have discussed in many articles, notably in our survey of the sacred science of numbers, the number 7 has always been regarded as a most significant number. Amongst Roman Catholics for instance, there is the ceremony of 'the seven stages of the cross', which is supposed to commemorate the seven resting places of the cross on the way to Calvary. But a similar procession was known in Egypt thousands of years earlier. In this ceremony, the Tet, also transliterated as 'djed' and 'djt' by modern Egyptologists, representing the backbone of Osiris, was carried around the seven stations of the pole (see illustration above). Due to the phenomena of precession discussed in part one, the pole changes, and its position is approximately determined by another central star roughly every 3,700 years. This is the astronomical basis for the Egyptian ceremony of the Tet. Seven times in a Great Year of 25,920 years the station of the pole was figuratively raised aloft as a land-mark amidst the celestial waters of the heavens. Sometimes this was in the shape of an island or a mound; at others in the form of a tree, pillar, pyramid, or the aforementioned Tet. Whichever the type chosen it was repeated seven times in the circuit of precession, to form the compound and collective figure of the celestial heptanomis, or heavenly city of seven divisions. Symbolically this heaven rested, or was raised, upon the seven mountains or seven mounds; seven islands, seven giants, seven trees, seven pillars or other structures of support, as seven figures of the all-sustaining pole.

From this phenomenon the ancient Egyptian sages derived their Seven Rulers born of the Great Mother as the seven powers on Earth. Gerald Massey in his masterly reconstruction of the Egyptian Mythos — Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World, tells us these were the Seven Glorious Ones known in Egypt as the Khuti. They were the seven souls with Horus in Orion; the seven moulders or fashioners with Ptah in the making of Amenta — the Egyptian Heaven. The same Seven were figured as the souls of Atum–Ra who were the creators of man. Massey's use of the plural noun creators is highly significant, as we shall see. The Patriarchs of enormous age mentioned in Genesis were a direct copy of the Egyptian seven Khuti. All these sevenings were the personification of the powers and attributes of the seven pole stars as keepers of the Great Year; the seven never-setting stars that marked and circumscribed the seven stations of the ever-shifting pole.

The Patriarchs were also a way of calculating intervals of time on a truly colossal scale. The age of each, as representatives of the successive pole stars, would be roughly 3,700 years, or one-seventh of a Great Year of 25,920 years. These seven giants, lords, patriarchs, etc., beginning with the Egyptian Khuti mentioned earlier, are well-nigh universal. The Japanese have seven gods of fortune who sail each New Year's Eve as passengers on board the ship called 'The Floating Bridge of Heaven'. The two groups of Hebrew patriarchs which precede the deluge, seven or ten in number, correspond to the seven and ten in the Babylonian creation legend, who were rulers in the antediluvian world. The circle of precession and the ever-shifting pole was well-known in China too. Massey tells us that the ancient Chinese concept of 'the peach tree of the gods' was a magnificent image of the pole. It had seven branches that bore the fruit of immortality, which ripens once every 3,000 years. This figure, rather than the more exact 3,700, may well have been chosen to preserve the hidden meaning of the allegory.

According to the Egyptian Wisdom Teachings preserved in such texts as the Book of the Dead, there are seven kinds of souls and seven primary constellations, with seven stars for souls, otherwise called the Seven Great Spirits, or the Seven Glorious Ones — the Khuti mentioned earlier. These became the seven begetters in the Babylonian creation legend later copied and adapted in Genesis. Hence, the derivation of souls from the tree and rock, which is mentioned by Hesiod and Homer, would, if astronomical, be a derivation from the pole; whereas derivation from the hippopotamus, bear, vulture, ape, water-bird, jackal, tortoise, or any other of the zootypes would denote the particular station of the pole, and be a time-gauge to the beginnings of the various creations according to the racial reckonings in the astronomical chronology. Hence, as we said in our Proem to part one, mankind, both literally and figuratively, is derived from the stars. Literally in the composition of our physical bodies of which 95% is made up of just four elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, all of which are found abundantly in stars, and figuratively in our spiritual nature which, as Massey and others have shown, is derived from one of the seven creators represented by the seven stations of the ever-shifting pole. This is an astonishing revelation, as we're sure you'll agree, demonstrating, as we said at the very beginning of this investigation, that the Testament of the Zodiac truly does conceal the origin and destiny of all things, living and dead, animate and inanimate, in a moving picture show that all can see every night but that few can read, and even fewer understand.

This derivation from the seven stations of the pole applies to nations as well as individuals. For instance, descent from a god whose hauling or towing force was represented by a rope would naturally be the rope men. The Spartans claimed to be rope men, from the word spartog or rope. As they are also said to have sprung from the teeth of the dragon sown by Kadmos, it is possible that their emergence as a distinct people dated from the rope-man who was ruler of the Pole Star in the constellation of Draco the Dragon. This was Thuban or Alpha Draconis, the closest star to the north celestial pole in 2,787 B.C. This date coincides with the beginning of the Bronze Age, during which several cultures arose around the Aegean Sea. In this way it is possible to trace the beginning, zenith and decline of many of the civilizations which have appeared on the Earth in the past, as well as those still in existence and yet to come. We shall say more about the constellation of the Dragon in our Afterword.

The period during which Thuban was the Pole Star also unveils another mystery in the Testament of the Zodiac. For two thousand years and more the present Pole Star, Polaris, has coincided with the vernal equinox in the Zodiacal Sign of Pisces. Previously the pole in Draco coincided with the vernal equinox in the sign of Aries or the Ram. The fall of the dragon in the book of Revelation was prefigured in the scroll of the Heavens by the change of Pole Star when Thuban was superseded by Polaris and the Lamb (or Ram) was exalted upon the solar mount of glory. There is hardly a single narrative, myth, event, or statement in the Bible the hidden meaning of which does not have an astronomical basis, or which is not prefigured in some way in the Testament of the Zodiac. If this is not already clear to you, it will become so as we develop and extend our theme. For, as we said at the very beginning of this investigation, the stars and constellations weave a tapestry that conceals the origin and destiny of all things; unveiling the past, the present and the future. This is the purpose of these Proems and our investigation; to unlock the arcane cyphers and construe the cryptic clues of the Testament so far as this is possible or permissible. For, as we said at the outset, the Message of the Stars cannot be known in full by any man or woman, however wise or accomplished, for it remains the secret of the Father of All. But if our investigation succeeds in opening your eyes and heart to the wonderful wisdom which is written in the Heavens, we shall be well content. We shall now consider the Sign of Taurus, the Bull, the central figure of the First Division of the Zodiac.

TAURUS, the Bull: the Builder

Almost every astrologer will tell you that Venus is the ruling planet of Taurus; a consensus that is reflected in most astrological text books published during the last few centuries. In recent times some astrologers have substituted the asteroid Ceres for Venus. One of the least plausible reasons for this suppositious substitution is that when Ceres was first discovered in 1801 it was in the Zodiacal Sign of Taurus. If this notion were universally adopted by all astrologers the present planetary rulerships familiar to many would be abolished at a stroke! On its discovery Ceres was designated as a minor planet. Later it was demoted to an asteroid — albeit the largest in the Solar System. Today it has once again been re-classified as a dwarf planet. How the scientists love to play silly games with the planets! It was not so very long ago that Pluto, the generally accepted ruler of Scorpio, was downgraded to a dwarf planet, despite having had the 'honour' of being a 'proper' planet for 76 years! Ceres, with an estimated diameter of 590 miles (950km) is less than half the size of Pluto, yet has seemingly been singled out for 'special treatment'. An even less plausible reason for the adoption of Ceres as the rightful ruler of Taurus is the argument that Venus is not a good enough fit for the attributes associated with the sign of the Bull. This is the only bit of this speculative substitution that has some merit as we shall see in a moment. Meanwhile, we may safely dismiss Ceres as a candidate for the rulership of Taurus. Firstly, because in Roman mythology Ceres was the goddess of grain, the harvest and maternity. There is nothing remotely 'maternal' about Taurus which from the earliest times has been known as the Bull of Heaven; a more virile, masculine figure it would be hard to find. Nor has this Fixed, Earthy sign anything to do with grain or harvesting; these are qualities associated with Virgo as we shall see when we come to discuss it later on in this investigation. The very word 'ceres' comes to us from the proto-italic keres, meaning grain. So another pretty, modern fantasy falls to the ground. It is worth reminding the reader that modern astrology owes more to personality-driven psychology than the ancient science of the stars it has largely supplanted — a fact we were at pains to explain at some length in our article about astrology published over ten years ago.

We said just now that there was some merit in the argument that Venus is not a good fit for Taurus. This is not a new idea. In the Middle Ages many astrologers were unhappy with Venus as the ruler of Taurus. Some sought to overcome the disparities between the qualities associated with the Zodiacal Sign and the nature of the planet by asserting that it was the 'negative' side of Venus that ruled Taurus. This minority view persisted until the late 19th century, when Alan Leo (1860-1917) the most eminent astrologer of his generation, suggested that the Earth itself was the best possible fit for Taurus. This idea was taken up by Isabelle M. Pagan (1867-1960), whom we mentioned in part two of this investigation. In her inspired analysis of the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac — From Pioneer to Poet — first published in 1911, she wrote: "When therefore we find it asserted that Taurus is ruled by the negative side of Venus, we are justified in doubting the assertion and in asking whether no more suitable ruler can be suggested; for certain it is that Venus rising does not bring up the essential Taurean quality of steadfastness, or in its imperfect form, obstinacy, but quite the reverse; and it is that quality we must look for in the power or deity associated with this sign." No one who takes the time and trouble to carefully compare the qualities of Taurus with the attributes of Mother Earth can fail to agree with Isabelle Pagan that it is our own planet that is the rightful ruler of the Sign of the Bull. What is even more astonishing is that this largely unknown and underrated astrologer also associated Pluto with Scorpio, 19 years before Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet in 1930! In the aforementioned book, Miss Pagan also assigned the inter-Mercurial planet Vulcan as the ruler of Virgo. We shall have more to say about this so-called 'hypothetical' planet in part seven of this investigation. Meanwhile, we would add that we do not doubt its existence in the slightest.

As a deity, Mother Earth has been worshipped under many names. Many modern pagans and New Agers revere her as Gaia, after the Greek personification of our planet. As the Roman Vesta she is defined as the goddess presiding over the hearth and home, the protectress of the state and of the empire. As Juno she is the representative and upholder of divine law. In Scandinavia the Earth is Frigga, the wife of Odin. In Christendom she has been replaced by the Madonna in her aspect of earth mother, the aspect in which she is pictorially represented as sheltering her children under a long flowing cloak. The month of Mary is the month of May, when the Sun is in the Zodiacal Sign of Taurus and special honours are then paid to the Blessed Virgin in all Roman Catholic countries. The Earth has also been called the great Altar of the Gods, where men are sacrificed according to their pleasure. This is a gruesome thought but not without a grain of truth when we remember that Taurus is the central figure in the First Division of the Zodiac — that of Foundation. Grand buildings require firm foundations, and as there is no greater building than the miracle that is Man, sacrifices are involved at every stage of his long and painful evolution from brute beast to god. For, as we explain in our occult studies course article on Evolution, Occult Science affirms that Man is a god in the making whose true destiny is to return to the Divine Source from which he first emerged, enriched with the knowledge and wisdom he has garnered on Earth during the many cycles of his incarnations. So much for the rulership of Taurus, what of the characteristics of the natives of the Sign?

The outstanding trait of the typical Taurean is steadfastness, a quality derived partly from the fixed, earthy nature of the sign itself and partly from its planetary ruler, the Earth. This quality is symbolised by the massive, sturdy Bull. It manifests as steadfastness and dogged persistence in the evolved natives of the Sign and mulish obstinacy and pig-headedness in the primitive specimens. The unevolved Taurean is not a pleasant character to deal with. Instead of finding his own, unique place in the great scheme of Creation like his evolved brothers and sisters, our primitive Bull is thoroughly self-centred and utterly incapable of seeing anyone's point of view but his own. As a friend of the writer once remarked about an especially contrary specimen of the breed: "he thinks the whole world is out of step except him!" The strength and solidity of the evolved type is replaced by an ignorant and mulish resistance to change. Similarly, the filial devotion to, and reverence for Mother Earth we find in the evolved Taurean are often perverted to gross materialism and self-indulgence in the primitive types. We have not mentioned these negative traits because of any personal antipathy towards Taureans. On the contrary, some of the finest men and women ever to grace this Earth had this sign emphasised at their birth. Among them we would mention the Persian poet Omar Khayyám, the German philosopher Immanuel Kant and the Russian composer Tchaikovsky. The reason for drawing your attention to the negative traits of this, or any other Zodiacal Sign, is to combat the tendency among many contemporary astrologers never to say anything bad about any sign, planet or aspect. Good and evil pervade every facet of our existence, and it is both useless and unhelpful to deny this fundamental fact of life in order to pander to the modern vice of political rectitude.

The brightest star in Taurus is Aldebaran. It was known to the Ancients as the Eye of the Bull and was numbered among the four Royal Stars of the Zodiac. These four Royal Stars marked the four equinoctial points when the vernal equinox coincided with Taurus. These were Aldebaran, The Eye of the Bull (Taurus); Regulus, the Heart of the Lion (Leo); Antares, the Heart of the Scorpion (Scorpio); and Formalhaut, the Eye of the Southern Fish (Aquarius). The constellation of Taurus also contains an open star cluster called the Pleiades, visible to the naked eye. The brightest star in this group is Alcyone (Eta Tauri) which in ancient times was called Temmena — the foundation stone. Significantly, the most ancient name of Taurus was 'te', also meaning foundation stone, proof, if such were needed, of the pivotal place the Bull holds in the Testament of the Zodiac. We find further confirmation of this in Isaiah 28:16-18. "Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste." Apart from its literal and obvious meaning as a synonym for the land of Israel in general and Jerusalem in particular, Zion refers esoterically to the Zodiac, the greatest temple ever built.

As we explained in part one, the Bull is the central figure in the First Division of the Zodiac. This is the Foundation of the Testament of the Zodiac, consisting of the Signs Aries, Taurus, and Gemini. We also told you that Taurus is the most important of the three, the dominant feature that gives the group its total character, that of building or construction. We also said that the Testament was the story of humanity. This has several meanings. Firstly, it concerns the creation of Man, the descent of spirit into matter, and the beginnings of the human race on Earth. Secondly, it concerns the inner and outer characteristics of the Twelve Signs that find their reflection in us. This is the only part of the Testament with which modern astrologers concern themselves. Even then they mainly focus on the outer characteristics of the Signs, those which are manifested in the behaviour of individuals and concern the needs and desires of the lower mind and body. This 'dumbing down' of the Royal Art reaches its nadir in the 'Sun Sign' predictions of newspapers, magazines and online astrological 'pundits.' There are many more meanings than the two we have enumerated which we will discuss as our investigation proceeds. However, it is the first meaning that concerns us now and has the most to teach us about the creation, nature, evolution and destiny of mankind.

It is the Ram which signifies the first 'Fall' of Man, for Occult Science recognises three such 'falls'. The first of these is the descent of spirit into matter. The second is the fall of the 'gods' or angels into generation, and the third is the fall of man into sin. It is only the last of these upon which the Church has reared its dogmas of 'original sin' and vicarious atonement. These three falls correspond to the three figures in the First Division of the Zodiac, namely the Ram, the Bull and the Twins. Man fell into matter through necessity, not through sin as the Christian Church teaches. His descent into matter as a spiritual, immortal being is a direct result of the law of evolution discussed in our Occult Studies course article. It is in Aries that the first fall is depicted by the figure of the sacrificial Ram. The second fall is depicted in Taurus and the third in Gemini.

Aratus, the famous Greek astronomer, described Taurus as having 'fallen'. We find confirmation of this in many pictures of the constellation that show the Bull crouching with bowed knees, such as the one shown above. The Bull is also said to have 'pushing horns.' One of them is called Nath or Elnath (Beta Tauri) which comes from the Arabic word an-nath meaning 'the butting' or 'horn-push'. If we now turn to the Bible, we find reference to the pushing horns of Ephraim's ox in Deuteronomy 33:17. "His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth..." Great attention is also drawn to the horns of Taurus in many ancient depictions of the Zodiac. Sometimes, besides the natural horns of a bull, enormous branching horns spring from his back. At others these great horns alone are used to depict the whole constellation. To use the modern vernacular what else can this mean but the 'big push', heralding the fall of the 'gods' into generation — the second 'fall' of Man — the incarnation of the Higher Mind in a physical body on Earth. Henceforward, mankind multiplied and spread all over the globe as the above verse tells us: "...he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth." All this is in keeping with the fecund nature of the Bull. From this we may conclude that Taurus is the symbolical prototype of humanity on Earth, which is why we said that the Bull is the most important of the three figures of the First Division of the Zodiac.

As we said earlier, the outstanding trait of the typical Taurean is steadfastness. This, and the irresistible force typified by the Bull, is the great lesson this Sign of the Zodiac has to teach those born under, or influenced by it. The opposite of these qualities is invincible obstinacy and plodding conventionality. Before we conclude our survey of this part of the Heavens, it is worth mentioning that with one foot on the horns of the Bull stands the Constellation Auriga, the Charioteer. In the same way does the Divine Soul 'rest' upon the body and lower mind by means of the Higher Mind. How perfect this symbolism is! And yet there are those who stubbornly maintain that these ancient allegories, as seen in the night sky which together weave the sublime tapestry that is our Testament, are the work of untutored savages and superstitious heathens of ancient times. Truly, as we may read in the Kybalion, a work universally dismissed by the witless of this world as an implausible imposture, "the lips of Wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding." Let us hope that you, at least, who are reading these words, are not to be counted among these purblind philistines who are the real untutored savages and heathens of modern times!

NOW READ PART FOUR

In part four we discuss the constellation of Gemini — the Heavenly Twins. It is in this Zodiacal Sign that we first encounter the story of the two minds — the lower and the Higher — as Castor and Pollux, the two bright stars which form the head of the Twins. In our Proem we explore the rich symbolism of Sirius — the brightest star in the night-sky. In our Afterword we discuss Auriga further, together with the extra-Zodiacal constellations of Canis Major and Minor and the faint star-cluster known as Monoceros.

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Constellations

Part three: Ursa Minor and Major, and Draco the Dragon.

In the thirteen afterwords accompanying this investigation we are exploring some of the extra-zodiacal constellations and groups of stars. That is to say those which lie outside the narrow band of the ecliptic as discussed in part one of our investigation.

In part one we told you about the Perseus Family which include several constellations associated with the Greek Perseus myth. In part two we looked at the fascinating trinity of constellations known as Hydra, Corvus and Crater. If you have not read these two afterwords now is the time to do so or you will not obtain a complete understanding of the Testament of the Zodiac.

In this third Afterword we shall explore the rich symbolism of the lesser and greater bears — Ursa Minor and Ursa Major — as well as Draco the Dragon; a truly vast constellation which coils around the north celestial pole.

Ursa Minor, also known as the Little Bear, is a constellation located in the far northern sky. The stars in its tail form the 'handle' of the ladle known in North America as the 'Little Dipper'. These stars point toward Polaris, the present Pole Star. The Little Dipper should not be confused with the 'Big Dipper' which closely resembles it. The latter is known as the 'Plough' in the UK, and forms the tail of Ursa Major, or the Great Bear. This lies below the Little Bear and further away from the pole, as you can see in the simple illustration reproduced below.

Among the Chaldeans, Ursa Minor was known as 'the Wagon of Heaven'. Ages later, the Norsemen called it Karlsvagn which meant the 'Wagon of Thor'. It is still known today as the Litli Vagn in Denmark and the Kleiner Wagen in Germany. These names all mean 'little wagon', to distinguish the Little Bear from its larger neighbour, Ursa Major, which has also been called a wagon.

Now, the operation of a wagon requires an axle and a wheel; a comparison so apt to the fixed pole and the whirling stars that circle it, that this choice of word cannot possibly be an accident. This, and the fact that the word was preserved for so long by very distinct cultures in different parts of the world, suggests that it may well have originated in Atlantis.

In ancient Egypt Ursa Minor was associated with Up-Uatu, also transliterated Wepwawet, the Jackal-headed 'Opener of the Way' or Guide of the Dead in the Afterlife. We discussed the part Up-Uatu plays in judging the deceased in our investigation of the Egyptian mystery of the Weighing of the Heart. Up-Uatu also figured in the Sun's journey through the dark regions of Amenta; a journey which ended when the Boat of the Sun reached the paradisiacal realm depicted in the painting analysed by Paul G. Vaughan in his Afterword to our investigation of symbolism in ancient Egyptian Art.

In ancient Greece, Ursa Minor was associated with Arcas, the legendary King of the Arcadians and mythological son of the Great She-Bear, Ursa Major. Arcas figures in an interesting myth which sheds light upon many parts of our Testament. The nature spirit Callisto, variously described as the daughter of either Lycaon of Arcadia or of Nycteus or Ceteus, had sworn to remain chaste.

But Zeus desired her, and, finding her unresponsive, ravished the nymph. The result of their union was the child Arcas. In all the variations of the myth, Callisto is turned into a she-bear either by Zeus (to conceal his foul deed from Hera) or by Artemis or Hera (who were enraged at the unchastity of the nymph). Callisto was subsequently killed during the chase by Artemis who, owing to the machinations of the jealous Hera, mistook her for a real bear.

In another version of the myth it is Arcas who unknowingly hunts his own mother after her transformation into a bear, but is prevented from slaying her by the intervention of Zeus. Later, Zeus turns both Callisto and Arcas into stars and reunites them in the sky as the Great and Little Bear respectively. But this was not the end of the story. When Hera discovered what Zeus had done she asked the Titan Tethys to confine both bears to the upper region of the firmament to prevent them from drinking the waters below the celestial horizon.

Here we have the age-old story of the pure Higher Mind, as yet unsullied by contact with the corporeal life, compelled against its will to descend into matter, as we find illustrated in the Roman fable of Cupid and Psyche. Zeus stands for the inexorable law which compels evolution while Callisto and Arcas may be regarded as the dual aspect of the Higher Mind; before and after its 'fall' into matter. We may also regard the two bears as the Higher and lower minds, connected to the pole, or Soul; each indissolubly yoked to the other by reason of their joint destiny.

In every life, the Higher Mind hunts the lower and the lower hunts the Higher, in a rhythmic dance that only ends when one or the other gains the final victory. Unlike the fanciful Greek rendition of this metaphysical battle, in reality neither can kill the other, only subdue it or be subdued by it. Transformation into a bear is one way of symbolising the acquisition of crude animal characteristics by the Higher Mind through its contact with matter which it must refine before it can be restored to its previous, pure condition.

What of the water the bears are prevented from drinking? Here we have a concealed reference to two kinds or states of 'water', one above and one below mentioned in the Bible. "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so" (Genesis 1:6-7). Madame Blavatsky explains the meaning of these two verses in volume one of The Secret Doctrine.

"For the sentence: 'In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth' is a mistranslation; it is not 'Heaven and Earth,' but the duplex or dual Heaven, the upper and the lower Heavens, or the separation of primordial substance that was light in its upper and dark in its lower portions — or the manifested Universe — in its duality of the invisible (to the senses) and the visible to our perceptions. God divided the light from the Darkness and then made 'a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters,' i.e., 'the waters which were under the firmament (our manifested visible Universe) from the waters above the firmament,' or the (to us) invisible planes of being."

Blavatsky further tells us in the same volume that "The Astral Light or Anima Mundi is dual and bisexual. The (ideal) male part of it is purely divine and spiritual, it is the Wisdom, it is Spirit or Purusha; while the female portion (the Spiritus of the Nazarenes) is tainted, in one sense, with matter, is indeed matter, and therefore is evil already." This is the reason why Hera (standing here for Divine Wisdom), prevents the two 'bears' — now transformed into veritable gods — from being tainted by further contact with matter, the 'waters' under the firmament which occultists call the lower Astral Light. So much for the Little Bear, what of the Great?

The Plough, known as the Big Dipper in the USA, is a large asterism consisting of seven bright stars in the constellation of Ursa Major. Polaris, the star presently marking the pole and the tip of the handle of Ursa Minor can be located by extending an imaginary line through the front two stars of this asterism, Merak and Dubhe. We discussed the occult significance of the Seven pole stars in our article, so will not repeat ourselves except to say that the celestial pole will be nearest Polaris in 2100 A.D.

The stars of Ursa Major were counted by the ancient Egyptians as foremost among the 'never-resting stars', so called because they neither rise or set when viewed from northern latitudes (such as Egypt), but circle the North Pole perpetually. In the Hymn to Ra found in the Papyrus of Ani which we discussed with you in our investigation of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the deceased declaims.

"Hail, thou Disk, thou Lord of Rays, who risest on the horizon day by day. Shine thou with thy beams of light upon the face of the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth; for he singeth hymns of praise unto thee at dawn, and he maketh thee to set at eventide with words of adoration, May the soul of the Osiris Ani whose word is truth come forth with thee into heaven! May he set out with thee in the Matet boat, may he come into port in the Sektet boat, and may he cleave his path among the never-resting stars of heaven."

The Egyptians were not so naïve as to believe that the soul of the deceased (Higher Mind in our terminology) would literally journey among the stars in a boat. The latter is a synonym for a vehicle of some kind, in this case the astral body. As we have explained in our many investigations of the Wisdom literature of ancient Egypt, such texts were allegorical and symbolical, never literal.

Hence, the never-resting stars were emblematical of the higher regions of Amenta — the Egyptian heaven which we discussed in our exploration of the Papyrus of Ani. In chapter LXXVIII of the same book — entitled 'The Chapter of Changing into a Divine Hawk — we find a further reference to these stars. "I am Horus who dwelleth in his divine Light," Ani proclaims. I advance towards the Henti boundaries of Heaven."

Now, 'Henti' was a time period of 120 years in Egypt, and twelve is the complete number of the Signs of the Zodiac. When combined with the word 'boundary' it is clear that the upper 'end' of Heaven is meant. In other words, Ani has reached the highest part of Amenta. He continues: "I shall be master of him who would subject me to restraint." So he shall, for the Higher Mind, having attained the heights Ani is supposed to have done, is now freed from the dominion of the lower mind forever. Hence he now asks: "Homage to you, O ye Gods of the Tuat...conduct ye me to the Star-gods which never rest." The Tuat was the Egyptian term for what we call the Astral World.

Hence, Ani has completed the Great Journey we are all still engaged upon. He has done with the Twelve Houses of the Zodiac and learned the lessons they teach, and this is the reason we have quoted these verses from the Book of the Dead. For it is to ancient Egypt and her very great Wisdom that we must look if we wish to fully understand the Testament of the Zodiac.

If we examine the Zodiac of Dendera we find that Ursa Major is depicted upon it. The Great Bear was known to the Egyptians as the 'Thigh' and it is as a thigh that we find it shown close to the Northern Pole, as you can see in the illustration reproduced in part two of this investigation.

In Egypt, the primordial birthplace of mankind was represented by the Thigh as a symbol of the Great Mother. The Seven Sons of the Mother are the Seven Pole Stars we discussed in our article, from which, or through which, figuratively speaking, are derived the Seven Great Root Races of Man. Readers interested in exploring the complex subject of these races are referred to our investigation of the evidence for the presence of giant human beings on earth. We feel it necessary to add that the occult doctrine of Root Races has nothing whatsoever to do with 'colour' or the mad racial theories of Hitler and his deluded followers.

Turning now to Draco or the Dragon, we find it is associated with several myths, most frequently with the twelve labours of Heracles, represented by the neighbouring constellation Hercules. In this myth Draco represents Ladon, the dragon that wrapped itself around the Tree of Life in the Garden of the Hesperides and guarded the golden apples.

Whilst the literally-minded see only a representation of the stars in the golden apples, Occult Science recognises them as the fruits of the knowledge of Good and evil which the Wise gather amidst the waters of Earthly experience. In another sense the circumpolar dragon stands for the 'flaming sword' mentioned in the Bible "which turned every which way, to keep the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3: 24). That 'tree' being the Pole and its fruits, the Seven Pole Stars.

There are many Greek myths associated with the garden of the Hesperides; the verdant pastures of bliss, the dragon and the Tree of Life, all of which are well worth studying. But long before the Greeks came on the scene the Egyptians had represented the Logos as a fiery dragon and carried this symbolism over into their religion wherein their priests were styled Sons of the Dragon. The Druids adopted the same usage in Britain and France.

Among the individual stars of the Dragon is Alpha Draconis, commonly known as Thuban, which was the Pole Star around the year 2,787 B.C. Comparatively recently, astronomers discovered that Thuban was not one, but two stars. Its companion is 40 times brighter than our Sun. But this is nothing compared to Thuban itself which is nearly 500 times brighter than our Sun.

The two stars orbit each other approximately once every 50 days and are separated by roughly 40 million miles, or half the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Not much is known about the companion, though it is speculated that it is a main-sequence star slightly cooler than Thuban, which will once again become the Pole Star in another 20,000 years.

This leads us to the claim made by some Egyptologists that the Great Pyramid of Giza was deliberately aligned to Thuban. This is possible, though not for the reasons generally given, which are based on a speculative date for its construction of ca. 2,600 B.C. As we pointed out in the second of our trilogy of articles on the Legacy of Atlantis, the alignment of the Pole Star with a particular building is not a reliable means of determining the period of its construction. The reason being that this method is based upon the position of the stars, but the stars move due to the phenomena of precession.

So 25,920 years ago Thuban occupied the same position it did in 2,787 B.C. So we do not get the date in this way, for the Great Pyramid may have been built around 28,700 B.C., or 54,630 B.C., or even 80,550 B.C. There is every chance such dates may be correct, and the accepted date for the construction of the Great Pyramid is quite wrong. In the introduction to part one we said that Madame Blavatsky believed the Great Pyramid of Giza was at least 80,000 years old.

We may seem to have wandered away from our subject, but this is not so when we consider that ours is a moving Testimony that embraces past, present and future. The extra-Zodiacal constellations form a long procession of the seasons of Man and Nature, prefigured long ago in Egypt in her goddesses and gods for ever circling around about a wondering world that sees but cannot read the mystic signs that reveal the destiny of all things and beings, both made and unmade.

The Heavens reveal nightly the glory and workmanship of the Architect on High, which is more marvellous even than any of the wonders He has placed upon the Earth. The vast revolving sphere of the stars unfolds a panorama of our prehistoric past, our turbulent present, and our glorious future, and all are ONE in the palimpsest of the Zodiac.

In our Afterword to part four we discuss the extra-Zodiacal constellations of Canis Major and Minor, or the Greater and Lesser Dogs, the faint star-cluster known as Monoceros or the Unicorn which lies between them, and explore the symbolism of Auriga the Charioteer.

occult mysteries