CHAPTER FIFTEEN: SACRED LEGENDS OF THE WORLD TREE

15.1 WORLD TREE / CONSCIOUSNESS UNIT CONNECTION

Ancient seers went out-of-body and reported their observations of the structure of the CU, often calling it the “World Tree” after their sighting of the main central axis. We will show that this concept reappears in a remarkably similar fashion across a huge number of different cultures, and a clear connection to the spherical torus can easily be established; it is, literally, one and the same formation. Many of the legends state that by “reaching the trunk and climbing the tree,” powerful mystical experiences in higher planes will result. Certain photographs of ancient designs, such as this next image of the Shinto goddess Quan Yin, show that these mystics were all seeing the same formations while in Spirit, only interpreting them differently upon returning to their physical bodies, depending upon their existing cultural mythologies.

Shinto goddess Quan Yin, showing obvious formation of spherical torus.

The Quan Yin image shows obvious signs of “spheres within spheres” in the main area surrounding her body, cone-shaped areas that taper in towards the center from both the north and south poles, and even a “corona” inside the sphere formed by all of the bracelets on each of Quan Yin’s many arms. The god at the very top of the image has six lines radiating away from itself, which again show the typical vortex movement that we would expect. The only slight distortion from our scientific CU observations in the image is that the bottom of the CU is elongated more than we would expect, due to the placement of Quan Yin’s feet on the platform.

We should remember that many ancient cultures did not have any type of language to describe complex geometric forms, and thus it would be natural to “anthropomorphize” (place in human terms) what they had seen. We should remember that there are a series of spheres inside the CU; the central spiraling axis looks like a tree trunk that spreads up into the domelike “branches” of the layers of nested spheres at the top. This sphere was also referred to as a “mountain,” a “tent” or a “cosmic egg” in other visions, though by far the World Tree idea appears most frequently.

Almost all of the visions state that the human plane is the flat area in the middle of the sphere. Modern scholars interpret this as indicating a “Flat Earth” theory, and subsequently discard the models as useless. However, in our Solar System the plane of the ecliptic is where all physical life resides; the physical planets only orbit through this “flat” zone, and a person traveling out of body in the proper area would see this. Since the Earth is contained within this flat plane, ancient seers would view the entire spherical structure from Earth’s perspective, at least initially.

15.2 A NEW INTERPRETATION OF “HAMLET’S MILL”

The groundbreaking work known as “Hamlet’s Mill” by Drs. Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend revealed that the “World Tree” is arguably the single most prevalent concept in all ancient mythologies. In Hamlet’s Mill they associated all of these myths with a slow wobble in the Earth’s axis. This slow wobble is known as “precession” and plays a very important role in our final argument for a rapidly-approaching energy shift for the Earth at this time. Later in the book we will discuss the precession in more detail, as we have also done in The Shift of the Ages. While there is undoubtedly a connection between the movement of Earth’s rotational axis and the World Tree mythologies, in this chapter we will suggest that our aetheric interpretations are very likely to be true as well, given what we now know about spherical torus energy systems. The metaphors often indicate a collapsing of the World Tree, which is interpreted as magnetic pole shift, but it clearly could involve a massive change in the Sun’s energetic field as well.

15.3 THE ESOTERIC / SCIENTIFIC MEANING OF TREE SYMBOLS

So, let us begin with a quote from Manly Palmer Hall’s seminal work The Secret Teachings of All Ages to grasp the esoteric meaning of tree imagery in various secret traditions. We will immediately see how pervasive of a metaphor it turns out to be, and how it is almost always associated directly with the Cosmos itself:

“Several ancient peoples – notably the Hindus and Scandinavians – regarded the Macrocosm, or Grand Universe, as a divine tree growing from a single seed sown in space. The Greeks, Persians, Chaldeans and Japanese have legends describing the axle tree or reed upon which the earth revolves. Kapila declares the universe to be the eternal tree, Brahma, which springs from an imperceptible and intangible seed – the material monad. The mediaeval Quabbalists represented creation as a tree with its roots in the reality of spirit and its branches upon the earth. Madam Blavatsky notes that the Great Pyramid was considered to be a symbol of this inverted tree, with its root at the apex of the pyramid and its branches diverging in four streams towards the base.

“The Scandinavian world-tree, Yggdrasil, supports on its branches nine spheres or worlds, which the Egyptians symbolized by the nine stamens of the persea or avocado. All of these are enclosed within the mysterious tenth sphere or cosmic egg – the definitionless Cipher of the Mysteries.”

Manly Palmer Hall’s rendition of the Yggdrasil “World Tree”

As we can see, the image leaves no doubt as to the true nature of the vision; it is not necessary for us to understand and explain every term that Hall uses in his writings. We should also remember that Hall was drawing his interpretation of the vision based on the detailed written accounts but not from first-hand OBE observation, and thus a certain amount of distortion is to be expected. The important point in the above statement is that when you are inside the CU, you would see the axis as the “tree trunk,” and each sphere nested within the other would appear as a separate canopy layer of “branches.” Thus when the legend says that Yggdrasil (egg-draw-sill) supports nine spheres on its “branches,” this is simply how the ancient Scandinavian seers interpreted their perception of the planes of existence. These nine spheres could very well have been a vision of the nested spherical fields surrounding and upholding the orbits of each planet in the Solar System. This would also explain why rings were seen in the flat central area, in this case shown by the serpent chasing its own tail.

The person who first witnessed this energetic formation in a given culture would create a metaphorical “folklore” interpretation, and obviously it would be quite amazing for others to go out-of-body and witness the same structure for themselves. The spiraling energy that comes up from the southern pole of the CU is clearly seen in the above image, and it was interpreted by these Scandinavian seers as a serpent coiled around the trunk. Perhaps the three “roots” that were reportedly seen were actually the three converging lines of the tetrahedron at the south pole, which might very well extend below the pole in holographic / resonance fashion to form the top of another tetrahedron as well. The metaphor also calls for a variety of “worms” that surround and “eat” at the “roots,” thus suggesting smaller areas of spiraling energy flow away from the tetrahedron.

The other important point is that the Scandinavian and Quabbalistic systems have broken down the number of higher planes into ten. Planetary interpretations aside, when we study Rod Johnson’s new system of quantum physics we will see that there is a progression of ten basic geometric shapes that the quantum forces move through. So, although there are different ways to interpret the total number of planes, we are consistently advised by Ra to focus on the visible light spectrum as representing the purest breakdown for the Octave of densities. We now continue with Manly Palmer Hall’s excerpt:

“The Quabbalistic tree of the Jews also consists of nine branches, or worlds, emanating from the First Cause or Crown, which surrounds its emanations as the shell surrounds the egg. The single source of life and the endless diversity of its expression has a perfect analogy in the structure of the tree. The trunk represents the single origin of all diversity; the roots, deeply imbedded in the dark earth, are symbolic of divine nutriment; and its multiplicity of branches spreading from the central trunk represent the infinity of universal effects dependent upon a single cause.

“The tree has also been accepted as symbolic of the Microcosm, that is, man. According to the esoteric doctrine, man first exists potentially within the body of the world-tree and later blossoms forth into objective manifestation upon its branches. According to an early Greek Mystery myth, the god Zeus fabricated the third race of men from ash trees….

“The concept that all life originates from seeds caused grain and various plants to be accepted as emblematic of the human spermatozoon, and the tree was therefore symbolic of organized life unfolding from its primitive germ. The growth of the universe from its primitive seed may be likened to the growth of the mighty oak from the tiny acorn. While the tree is apparently much greater than its own source, nevertheless that source contains potentially every branch, twig and leaf which will later be objectively unfolded by the processes of growth.”

From these paragraphs of Hall’s work, we can see that the tree metaphor is a highly useful one. The Vedic models for the creation of the universe indeed talk about there being a spiraling, breathing movement, or “Svara,” that acts upon the undifferentiated cosmic matter known as “Prakriti” to eventually form the reality that we now know. Energetically, the Solar System itself is formed from the Sun, and all lifeforms could be seen to originate from the Sun as well. Therefore, to this way of thinking, we can indeed be a representation of the “fruits” of the tree. Phyllis Atwater’s near-death vision of the CU at the end of the chapter also shows this concept.

It is interesting that Hall would indicate that the energy body of human beings could be seen in the form of the “World Tree” as well, as all the ancient seers confirm that the human aura appears as a series of nested spherical torus formations. Modern seers such as Barbara Ann Brennan have confirmed that each “chakra” is shaped like a two-ended trumpet, and this is a visualization of where each spherical torus or energy body has its axis. We will have more to say on this, with images, in later chapters. For now, we continue:

“Man’s veneration for trees as symbols of the abstract qualities of wisdom and integrity also led him to designate as trees those individuals who possessed these divine qualities to an apparently superhuman degree. Highly illumined philosophers and priests were therefore often referred to as trees or tree men – for example, the Druids, whose name, according to one interpretation, signifies the men of the oak trees, or the initiates of certain Syrian Mysteries who were called cedars; in fact it is far more credible and probable that the famous cedars of Lebanon, cut down for the building of King Solomon’s Temple, were really illumined, initiated sages. The mystic knows that the true supports of God’s Glorious House were not the logs subject to decay but the immortal and imperishable intellects of the tree hierophants…

“Many of the great sages and saviors carried wands, rods or staves cut from the wood of sacred trees, as the rods of Moses and Aaron; Gungnir – the spear of Odin – cut from the Tree of Life; and the consecrated rod of Hermes, around which the fighting serpents entwined themselves.

“The numerous uses which the ancients made of the tree and its products are factors in its symbolism. Its worship was, to a certain degree, based upon its usefulness. Of this J.P. Lundy writes: “Trees occupy such an important place in the economy of nature by way of attracting and retaining moisture, and shading the water-sources and the soil so as to prevent barrenness and desolation; they are also useful to man for shade, for fruit, for medicine, for fuel, for building houses and ships, for furniture, for almost every department of life, that it is no wonder that some of the more conspicuous ones, such as the oak, the pine, the palm and the sycamore, have been made sacred and used for worship…”

With this esoteric knowledge in place, many other metaphorical statements involving trees, pillars, poles and columns may be re-interpreted, giving new and more in-depth understandings. As we have seen, in some cases the illumined sages are themselves referred to as “trees.” Since the World Tree formation would appear to be the ultimate spiritual vision to be attained, this should not come as a huge surprise.

Much of the material that we are uncovering in this chapter can certainly be developed much farther than we will do now, paving the way for future authors to enhance the profile of this research. The next series of excerpts all come from the Internet compilations of Robertino Solarion at http://www.apollonius.net/cosmictree.htm, and often we will allow them to speak for themselves. In each case we will begin with the Internet link followed by the quotes themselves:

15.4 FINNISH FOLKLORE COSMOLOGY

http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/muinueng.html

“[In the Finnish belief systems and other Eurasian folklore,] the Cosmos was divided into three zones: the upper world, the middle world and the underworld. This tripartite structure is one of the oldest north Eurasian folk beliefs. The three cosmic planes were joined together by the cosmic tree, the cosmic column or the cosmic mountain located in the centre of the world. The top of the column was attached to the North Star, about which the heavens rotated. The Finns also likened the North Star to a hinge and spoke of the "heavenly hinge", likewise the "north pin", the "celestial keeper", the "pole star" and the "heavenly pole".”

15.5 LITHUANIAN SHAMANIC COSMOLOGY

http://www.lithuanian.net/mitai/cosmos/baltai2.htm

“Along with myths describing the origin of the world, its schematic symbolic representation appears. Many nations, especially Indo-Europeans, have the notion of the World-Tree. Some nations call it the Cosmic Tree or the Life-Tree. The vertical structure of the World-Tree, and thence the world model, as represented in the Lithuanian folk painting, was analysed in detail by Dundulienò and Vòlius. The World-Tree usually is shown as a powerful tree with wide spread branches, with its top reaching heaven and its roots going deep into the earth. The tree-top is the dwelling place of heavenly bodies and eagles, while in its branches other birds live; under the tree are men and animals and, still lower, is the dwelling place of snakes and other reptiles. From under the roots spurt springs of life and wisdom. Thus, the World-Tree represents the world as an indivisible entity, uniting the three spheres: the heaven, the earth and the underground. The mythical imagery of the Baltic World-Tree is probably a reflection of the holly oaks and ash-trees, as it may be concluded from the falk-tales.

“The World-Tree is a widely spread image in the Lithuanian folk painting, and some hint of it is also found in the Lithuanian and Latvian folklore. It is frequently engraved or painted on the objects of daily use among peasants: dowry chests, cupboards, towel holders, distaffs, laundry beaters, crochet works, etc. Wood engravings of the World-Tree sometimes contain two segmental symbols of the Sun, surrounded by a circle of stroked squares, triangles and rhombs. The latter are symbolic imagery of tilled earth and sowed fields. [Note: We can also see the clear relation of this to the aetheric geometries we have been investigating in this book.] The upper Sun shines in the daytime and gives warmths, while the lower one was believed to cross the underground lagoon from the west to the east in a small boat, bringing dew to grass and crops.

“The oldest grave monuments in Lithuania are wooden kriktai, made from a board incised in the form of a tree. They used to be erected at the dead man's feet, perhaps in a hope to make his access to the heaven easier. To the World-Tree imagery belong Lithuanian memorial crosses and wooden roofed poles (chapels), also. Such roofed poles used to be (and still are to our day) erected at farm-steads, roadsides and cemeteries. They may have originated from the ancient ritual poles at which sacrifices were offered to gods. The idea of such sacral objects is to direct the path of the prayer towards the dwellings of gods. Very common are three-storied roofed poles, where each story represents a separate sphere of the World-Tree.”

15.6 SIBERIAN SHAMANIC COSMOLOGY

http://www.uwgb.edu/galta/mrr/siberian/cosmol1.htm

“…Cosmology is the nature of the universe. One of the techniques shamans hold is to pass from one cosmic region to another -- from earth to the sky or from earth to the underworld. Shamans are able to break through the plane between different worlds, or cosmic zones. The Shaman believes that the universe is thought to have three levels: sky, earth, underworld, all of which are connected by a central axis. This type of symbolism shows the connection of the three worlds to be simple but the interconnection is very complex. It has a history, but due to modification and new symbolism it may have contradictions. However, the central idea remains the same. It still is composed of three worlds and a central axis which goes through an "opening" or hole. [Through] this "opening," the soul of the shaman [in] ecstasy can fly either up or down during the course of his celestial journeys. The gods can either come down to the dead in the underworld or down to earth.

“In many world tribes the people imagine the sky as a tent. The Yukat tribe believes the stars are the windows of the world which provide fresh air for all planets. The meteors are explained as a time when the gods open the tent to look at the earth. The sky is also seen as a lid. Sometimes the lid does not reach to all the corners of the earth and then the fret winds blow through the cracks. It is also thought that through this narrow crack that heroes and other important beings can make their way through to enter the sky.”

Here, we should point out how certain distortions could be created. Let’s say that a seer originally discerned the form of the CU out of body, and used popular terms such as the idea of a “tent” to interpret the vision. Then, if the culture did not have a great deal of scientific development, it would be easy for subsequent observations to be co-opted into the original metaphor. The powers of imagination in the ordinary waking state could connect the tent metaphor with the idea of meteors, and this in time could become a commonly accepted teaching. Of course, most scholars would reject all the evidence together, due to the fact that we obviously now know how meteors originate.

“In the middle of the sky shines the Polar Star which holds the celestial tent like a stake. The Samoyen tribe refers to it as the "Sky Nail." It has also been called the "Nail Star," "Iron Pillar," and "Solar Pillar." A similar and related mythical image is that the stars are linked invisibly to the Polar Star. The Buryat picture the stars as a herd of horses and the Polar Star, the "Pillar of the World," as the stake to which they are tethered. (Elaide 261)

The Cosmic Mountain

“The Cosmic Mountain is another mythical image of the center of the world. It is said that the first shaman, Bai Ulgan, is seated on top of the mountain. The mountain is also known as the Iron Mountain and is pictured to have seven stories. The Cosmic Mountain makes the connection between the earth and sky. When the Yukat shaman takes his mystical journey, he climbs the mountain. The Buyrat say that the Polar Star is fastened to its summit. The gods grasped this Cosmic Mountain and stirred the primordial ocean, giving birth to the universe.

“A future shaman may climb the Cosmic Mountain during his initiatory sickness. Ascending the mountain always signifies a journey to the Central World. Another image is that of the Center of the World, which has been presented in many ways. One image is the World Tree.

The World Tree

“The Cosmic Tree is essential to the shaman. He makes his ceremonial drum from the wood of the tree. Its branches reach to the palace of Bai Ulgan. In the legends of the Abakan Tatars, a white birch [tree] with seven branches grows on the summit of the Iron Mountain. The gods use the tree as a hitching post for their horses, as they do the Pillar of the World. (Elaide 270)

“The tree also connects the three cosmic regions. The Lreibe, called the Vasyugan-Ostuyak, believe that its branches touch the sky and its roots go down into the world. According to Siberian Tartars, a replica of the celestial tree stands in the underworld. A fir tree stands before the palace of Irle Kan, the King of the Dead. The King's sons also hitch their horses to the trunk of the tree.

“The World Tree represents many things. On one hand, it represents the universe in continual regeneration, the continual spring of cosmic life, and a reservoir for the saved. It also represents the sky or the heavens, which are very important to the Siberian shamans. The tree is also seen as the Tree of Life and Immortality.

“The Tungus say that before birth, the souls of little children perch on the branches of the Cosmic Tree. The shamans go there to find them in their initiatory dreams.

15.7 BALTIC “SUN TREE”

http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/8/0,5716,119808+3,00.html

Baltic Mythology

Cosmology

“…The notion of a sun tree, or world tree, is one of the most important concepts regarding the cosmos [in Baltic mythology.] This tree grows at the edge of the path of Saule, and the setting sun (Saule) hangs her belt on the tree in preparation for rest. It is usually considered to be an oak but is also described as a linden or some other kind of tree. The tree is said to be located in the middle of the world ocean or generally to the west.

15.8 NORTHERN ASIAN SHAMANIC COSMOLOGICAL METAPHORS

http://www.britanica.net/bcom/eb/article/9/0%2C5716%2C117459%203%2C00.html

Shamanism Worldview

The Universe

“The classic worldview of shamanism is found among the peoples of northern Asia. In their view the universe is full of heavenly bodies peopled by spiritual beings. Their own world is disk-shaped--saucerlike--with an opening in the middle leading into the Netherworld; the Upper World stands over the Central World, or Earth, this world having a manyfold vault. The Earth, or Central World, stands in water held on the back of a colossal monster that may be a turtle, a huge fish, a bull, or a mammoth. The movement of this animal causes earthquakes. The Earth is surrounded by an immense belt. It is connected with the Upper World by the Pillar of the World. The Upper World consists of several strata--3, 7, 9, or 17. On the navel of the Earth stands the Cosmic Tree, which reaches up to the dwelling of the upper gods.”

Again, to most scholars the idea that the Earth is held on the back of a colossal monster must seem to be completely preposterous. We must again remember that cultures use language to interpret reality, and if their language had no terms to describe geometric structures, then it wouldn’t be difficult for them to give animal names to whatever they witnessed in the OBE state. Then, the metaphorical interpretation comes to be believed as a literal reality, thus leading ideas such as the notion of earthquakes being caused by the movement of a giant creature.

15.9 HUNGARIAN SHAMANISM AND THE WORLD TREE

http://www.insa-tlse.fr/~jacobins/hongrie/chamana.htm

Shamanism

“The religious concepts of the Hungarians from the Time of the Conquest, which were formed during their long stay in the Euro-Asian Steppes, were not dogmatic in nature but had more to do with shamanic faiths. According to shamanism, the world is divided into three levels: the middle one corresponds to our world, the highest level is inhabited by the gods and the spirits which rule the universe, and the lower level consists of the obscure world of the dead and the kingdom of the evil spirits. These levels are connected to each other by a magic tree, the "Tree of Life" or "Cosmic Tree", whose roots descend into the inferior world and whose highest branches reach the superior world.

“The shaman, who possessed special powers and knowledge useful in obtaining benevolence and assistance from the other world, assured communication between man and the gods (spirits).”

The idea that the area below the ecliptic represents “lower planes” and the area above the ecliptic represents “higher planes” may have some scientific connection, but it is also certainly possible that this was just a simpler way for the seers to articulate the information that they received. In Phyllis Atwater’s near-death vision in the end of this chapter she does not indicate the lower areas as being intrinsically lower in vibration.

15.10 SIMILARITY OF ASIAN / EUROPEAN “WORLD TREE” METAPHORS

http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/sacredplaces/trees.html

Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe, Sweet Briar College, 1998

“…Some trees become sacred through what may have occurred in their proximity. It was under a pipal tree that Siddhartha Gautama (born 566 BCE) meditated until he attained enlightenment (Nirvana) and became the Buddha. The Bodhi or Bo (Enlightenment) tree is now the centre of a major Buddhist sacred shrine known as Bodh Gaya.

“For the ancient Celts, the Yew tree was a symbol of immortality, and holy trees elsewhere functioned as symbols of renewal [see Brosse in the BIBLIOGRAPHY]. A tree scarred by lightning was identified as a tree of life, and, according to Pliny [see BIBLIOGRAPHY] the Celtic Druids believed that mistletoe grew in places which had been struck by lightning. The Druids performed rituals and ceremonies in groves of sacred oak trees, and believed that the interior of the oak was the abode of the dead. In India, it is believed that the Brahma Daitya, the ghosts of Brahmans, live in the fig trees, the pipal (ficus religiosa), or the banyan (ficus indica), awaiting liberation or reincarnation. Among the eight or so species of tree considered sacred in India, these two varieties of fig are the most highly venerated.

“The identification of sacred trees as symbols of renewal is widespread. In China, the Tree of Life, the Kien-Luen, grows on the slopes of Kuen-Luen, while the Moslem Lote tree marks the boundary between the human and the divine. From the four boughs of the Buddhist Tree of Wisdom flow the rivers of life. The great ash tree Yggdrasil of Nordic myth connects with its roots and boughs the underworld and heaven.

“In Japan, trees such as the cryptomeria are venerated at Shinto shrines. Especially sacred is the sakaki, a branch from which stuck upright in the ground is represented by the shin-no-mihashira, or sacred central post, over and around which the wooden Shrines at Ise are built. The shin-no-mihashira is both the sakaki branch and the pillar confirmed in the nethermost ground, like the heaven-tree in many Japanese legends.

“Sacred forests still exist in India and in Bali, Indonesia. The holy forests in Bali are annexed to temples that may or may not be enclosed in it, such as the Holy Forest at Sangeh [see Vannucci in the BIBLIOGRAPHY]. The general feeling of respect and veneration for trees in India has produced a great variety of tree myths and traditions.

“One of the Five Trees in Indra's paradise (svarga-loka), which is located at the centre of the earth, is the mythic abundance-granting kalpa-vriksha. An image of the kalpa-vriksha carved in sandstone in Besnagar in Central India may originally have stood as an emblem capital on top of a monolithic pillar or stambha, possibly one of the 36 or so pillars erected by the Buddhist emperor Asoka (268-232 BCE). The pillars has been interpreted as replicas of the axis mundi [see John Irwin in the BIBLIOGRAPHY]. The stone kalpa-vriksha capping the pillar may therefore be identified as the Cosmic Tree or world-tree, an emblematic variation of the symbolism of the stambha as axis mundi [see Jan Pieper in the BIBLIOGRAPHY].

“Single pillars made of tree trunks called Irmensul ('giant column') representing the 'tree of the universe' were set up on hilltops by some German tribes. A highly venerated Irmensul in what is now Westphalia was cut down by the Christianizing Charlemagne in 772.”

15.11 MOUNTAIN METAPHORS: ANOTHER WORLD TREE / CU CONNECTION

http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/sacredplaces/mountains.html

“Mountains loom large in any landscape and have long been invested with sacredness by many peoples around the world. They carry a rich symbolism. The vertical axis of the mountain drawn from its peak down to its base links it with the world-axis, and, as in the case of the Cosmic Tree (cf. Trees and the Sacred), is identified as the centre of the world. This belief is attached, for example, to Mount Tabor of the Israelites and Mount Meru of the Hindus.

“Besides natural mountains being invested with the sacred, there are numerous examples of mountains being built, such as the Mesopotamia ziggurats, the pyramids in Egypt [cf. Giza Plateau, Egypt], the pre-Colombian teocallis, and the temple-mountain of Borobudur. In most cases, the tops of real and artificial mountains are the locations for sanctuaries, shrines, or altars.

“In Ancient Greece the pre-eminent god of the mountain was Zeus for whom there existed nearly one hundred mountain cults. Zeus, who was born and brought up on a mountain (he was allegedly born in a cave [cf. The Sacred Cave] on Mount Ida on Crete), and who ruled supreme on Mount Olympus, was a god of rain and lightning (to Zeus as a god or rain is dedicated the sanctuary of Zeus Ombrios on Hymettos). Mountains figure a great deal in Greek mythology -- the Muses occupy on Mount Helikon, Apollo is associated with Parnassos [cf. Delphi], and Athena with the Athenian Acropolis.

“In Japan, Mount Fuji (Fujiyama) is revered by Shintoists as sacred to the goddess Sengen-Sama, whose shrine is found at the summit. Named after the Buddhist fire goddess Fuchi, the mountain is believed to be the gateway to another world. The mountain was originally sacred to the Ainu, the aboriginal inhabitants of Japan.

“In China there are nine sacred mountains, 5 Taoist and 4 Buddhist; all are sites of pilgrimage. According to Taoist belief, mountains are a medium of communication through which people communicate with the immortals and the primeval powers of the earth. Chinese sacred mountains are believed to be especially powerful sites of telluric power, a sacred force or energy known as the dragon current which runs through the earth itself. It is studied by practitioners of feng shui (literally Wind and water). The dragon current is of two kinds: the yin (or female) and yang (male). Mountains are regarded as embodying primarily the yang force.

“In Tibet, Mount Kailas, one of the tallest peaks in the Himalayas, near the source of the Ganges, is venerated by, and is a pilgrimage site for, Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists. Buddhists regard the mountain as a mandala.”

15.12 HINDU “COSMIC TREE” REFERENCES

We found the next Hindu excerpt on a different Internet site that was not located by Solarion:

http://www.geocities.com/alex_kew/hinduism2.html

Chapter 15 -- The Mystery Of The All-Pervading Person

“The Blessed Lord said: The scriptures speak of the eternal Asvattha, the World Tree, whose roots are in the Most High, branches in the lower regions, and leaves in Vedic hymns. He who knows it, understands the Veda really. You draw a tree, the roots base represents the Most High, God, and the branches and leaves to the left and right represent the eye-brows. You understand!

“Nourished by the gunas and covered with the budding foliage of sense objects, its branches spread into regions high and low. Stretching forth on the ground below in the world of men, are its secondary roots, entangling man in the bondage of action.

“For one involved in worldly life, the form of this World-Tree is not visible, not its origin, nor its end, nor its foundation. Cutting asunder the firmly rooted Asvattha [World Tree] with the powerful axe of non-attachment, and saying, "I seek refuge in that Primeval Person from whom this eternal cosmic activity has streamed forth", man should seek that Status, attaining to which there is no more return to this life of Samsara.”

Samsara is another word for suffering. It is also related to the concept of Maya, or duality, where you do not see that all is One. The idea of “cutting off” the World Tree appears to refer to an expansion of perception beyond the level of the planes within our Solar System.

“They who are free from pride and delusion, who have no attachments, who are ever absorbed in spiritual pursuits, who are free from all worldly desires, who are unaffected by the varying situations of pleasurable and painful nature--such persons, free from ignorance, attain to the Eternal State…

“The striving contemplatives perceive the Atman Spirit within themselves, but not the impure and the unregenerate, though they be striving.

“That light of the sun which illumines the whole universe, which is present in the moon and in fire likewise – know that splendor to be Mine.

“Entering the earth by My spiritual energy, I sustain all beings residing in it…”

It should be interesting to us that the Vedic cosmology would further enhance the metaphorical visualization of the CU / World Tree by associating it with a face. Perhaps other mythologies have done this as well, and we simply may not yet have spotted them.

15.13 BRITTANICA ON “WORLD TREE” AND BIBLE CONNECTION

http://www.britannica.com/seo/w/world-tree/

ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA

World Tree,

“Also called Cosmic Tree, centre of the world, a widespread motif in many myths and folktales among various preliterate peoples, especially in Asia, Australia, and North America, by which they understand the human and profane condition in relation to the divine and sacred realm. Two main forms are known and both employ the notion of the world tree as centre. In the one, the tree is the vertical centre binding together heaven and earth; in the other, the tree is the source of life at the horizontal centre of the earth. Adopting biblical terminology, the former may be called the tree of knowledge; the latter, the tree of life.

“In the vertical, tree-of-knowledge tradition, the tree extends between earth and heaven. It is the vital connection between the world of the gods and the human world. Oracles and judgments or other prophetic activities are performed at its base.

“In the horizontal, tree-of-life tradition, the tree is planted at the centre of the world and is protected by supernatural guardians. It is the source of terrestrial fertility and life. Human life is descended from it; its fruit confers everlasting life; and if it were cut down, all fecundity would cease. The tree of life occurs most commonly in quest romances in which the hero seeks the tree and must overcome a variety of obstacles on his way.”

In the Biblical account of the Garden of Eden, there were indeed two different trees, and Manly Hall covers this in The Secret Teachings of All Ages, page XCIV:

“The early Fathers of the church sometimes used the tree to symbolize Christ. They believed that ultimately Christianity would grow up like a mighty oak and overshadow all other faiths of mankind. Because it annually discards its foliage, the tree was also looked upon as an appropriate emblem of resurrection and reincarnation, for though apparently dying each fall it blossomed forth again with renewed verdure each ensuing spring.

“Under the appellations of the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is concealed the great Arcanum of antiquity – the mystery of equilibrium. The Tree of Life represents the spiritual point of balance – the secret of immortality. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, as its name implies, represents polarity, or unbalance – the secret of mortality. The Quabbalists reveal this by assigning the central column of their Sephirothic diagram to the Tree of Life and the two side branches to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. “Unbalanced forces perish in the void,” declares the secret work, and all is made known. The apple represents the knowledge of the procreative process, by the awakening of which the material universe was established… Though humanity is still wandering in a world of good and evil, it will ultimately attain completion and eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life growing in the midst of the illusionary garden of worldly things.”

And while we are on the topic of apple trees, Celtic traditions feature the god Apollonius climbing a tree with “golden apples” in its branches to reach a higher plane of paradise known as “Avalon.” It is certainly interesting to note the similarities between this idea and that of the trees in the Garden of Eden. If the Tree of Life represents the main axis of the CU, obviously it would be on a higher level of vibration than the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which appears to be represented by the flat plane of the ecliptic. Other “Golden Apple” connections are found here.

15.14 JOHN MAJOR JENKINS ON MAYA SACRED TREE MYTHOLOGY

To properly understand this next excerpt, we must introduce information that was already published in The Shift of the Ages and will be covered again later in this book. The Earth’s axis makes a slow, circular wobble as it rotates, over the course of roughly 25,920 years, which is known as “precession.” The Mayans appear to have had a very advanced knowledge of this cycle, as the well-known Mayan Calendar measures a cycle of time that is exactly one-fifth of the precession at 5,125 years. The Mayan Calendar also gives us an exact date for when our current cycle will end, as the Winter Solstice (Dec. 22) of the year 2012. Jenkins was one of the first to point out the remarkable fact that at this exact date, the Earth’s axis comes into its most precise alignment with a dark area in the Milky Way that is actually the center of the galaxy. Jenkins refers to this as the “solstice-galaxy alignment,” and later in the book we will show that it has a very real energetic connection.

For now, our concern is how Jenkins ties this in with Mayan concepts of the sacred importance of trees. The orbital plane or “ecliptic” of our Solar System is tilted at a roughly 60-degree angle to the flat “ecliptic” plane of the galaxy; they are not parallel to each other, as many may intuitively feel. We remember that the Solar System’s ecliptic is seen in World Tree myths as being the plane of the Earth, and many mis-interpret this as being an indication of a belief in “Flat Earth” theory. A tilt of 60 degrees is obviously the angle inside of an equilateral triangle, again suggesting a geometric connection between our plane of the ecliptic and the galaxy. More significantly, within our Solar System a shaman would see an axis above and below the north and south poles of the Sun, formed by the Sun’s giant magnetic field. This solar axis is closely aligned with the flat plane of the Milky Way as well; the two are only off by about 30 degrees. So, in certain mythological systems the two images may well prove to be blended together, and the work of Jenkins and Linda Schele suggests that this is what occurred in the Mayan culture:

THE HOW AND WHY OF THE MAYAN END DATE IN 2012 A.D.

By John Major Jenkins

May 23rd, 1994

Originally published in the Dec-Jan '95 issue of Mountain Astrologer.

“…We are still trying to answer these questions: What is so important about the winter solstice of 2012 and, exactly how were calculations made so accurately, considering that precession should make them exceedingly difficult?

“If we make a standard [astrological] horoscope chart for December 21st, 2012 A.D., nothing very unusual appears. In this way I was led astray in my search until Linda Schele provided a clue in the recent book Maya Cosmos. Probably the most exciting breakthrough in this book is her identification of the astronomical meaning of the Mayan Sacred Tree. Drawing from an impressive amount of iconographic evidence, and generously sharing the process by which she arrived at her discovery, the Sacred Tree is found to be none other than the crossing point of the ecliptic with the band of the Milky Way.

“Indeed, the Milky Way seems to have played an important role in Mayan imagery. For example, an incised bone from 8th century Tikal depicts a long sinking canoe containing various deities. This is a picture of the night sky and the canoe is the Milky Way, sinking below the horizon as the night progresses, and carrying with it deities representing the nearby constellations. The incredible Mayan site of Palenque is filled with Sacred Tree motifs and references to astronomical events. In their book Forest of Kings, Schele and Freidel suggested that the Sacred Tree referred to the ecliptic. Apparently that was only part of the picture, for the Sacred Tree that Pacal ascends in death is more than just the ecliptic, it is the sacred doorway to the underworld. The crossing point of Milky Way and ecliptic is this doorway and represents the sacred source and origin…

“We may also remember at this point that the tzolkin calendar is said to spring from the Sacred Tree. The Sacred Tree is, in fact, at the center of the entire corpus of Mayan Creation Myths. We should definitely explore the nature of this astronomical feature.

Again, we can see from this research that the World Tree of the solar magnetic field was seen in visions to blend together with the World Tree of the Galaxy, (which we will talk more about in the next chapter,) forming a nearly perpendicular relationship to each other.

15.15 THE ANCIENT VISION OF THOTHERMES TRISMESTIGUS

The next excerpt from Manly Palmer Hall’s The Secret Teachings of All Ages is not directly related to the World Tree metaphor, but nevertheless shows us an Octave cosmology of dimensional planes, organized as “spheres within spheres.” Ostensibly, the secret traditions assert that Hermes lived some 12,500 years ago, and in the Edgar Cayce readings it says that Hermes co-designed the Great Pyramid with the Egyptian priest Ra-Ta. (Dr. Zecharia Sitchin has written a detailed critique of the idea that the pharaoh Cheops had constructed the Great Pyramid, which was subsequently co-opted by Graham Hancock for his own works.) This vision was interpreted through the cultural and metaphorical lens of the time, where the metaphor of a dragon represented wisdom, as it still does in Oriental cultures. Thus, Hermes’ vision occurred with an entity that first appeared as a dragon named Poimandres, and which later showed itself as simply being the energetic consciousness of Universal Mind.

It is also important to remember that there is much controversy about the secret society of Freemasonry (or Masonry for short) at the present time. Some would say that “nothing that is secret can be good for anyone,” but in this case the information in these groups, such as the detailed knowledge from a lost advanced civilization, was deemed to be overwhelming and possibly destructive for most people without proper spiritual training and initiation. In Ernest Scott’s book The People of the Secret, it is revealed that these ancient orders give the secrets that allow the self to open up a direct gateway to harness the intelligent energy of the universe. If this gateway is misused, then a person could potentially have access to a form of “spiritual nuclear energy” and use it for manipulating, dominating and destructive purposes.

All indications are that Masonry was formed on extremely positive pretenses, and over time certain groups such as Adam Weishaupt’s “Bavarian Illuminati” ended up radically distorting the message into a negative, self-serving construct. For a number of different reasons, we have evidence that there are still a certain number of Masonic scholars in existence whose intentions are positive, who have a wide grasp of the deepest secrets and still maintain positions of power in the world, though not necessarily in government. Hermes is thought of as the ancient “father of Freemasonry,” as we will see in the excerpt. This vision, therefore, is very central to the Masonic system of beliefs, for those who make it far enough through the various degrees to learn the deeper teachings. This information is featured between pages XXXVII and XL in Secret Teachings:

“Hermes… was regarded by the ancient Egyptians as the embodiment of the Universal Mind. While in all probability there actually existed a great sage and educator by the name of Hermes, it is impossible to extricate the historical man from the mass of legendary accounts which attempt to identify him with the Cosmic Principle of Thought…

“Among the arts and sciences which it is affirmed Hermes revealed to mankind were medicine, chemistry, law, art, astrology, music, rhetoric, magic, philosophy, geography, mathematics (especially geometry,) anatomy and oratory. Orpheus was similarly acclaimed by the Greeks.

“Hermes is of first importance to Masonic scholars, because he was the author of the Masonic initiatory rituals, which were borrowed from the Mysteries established by Hermes. Nearly all of the Masonic symbols are Hermetic in character. [“Hermetic” means “from Hermes.”] Pythagoras studied mathematics with the Egyptians and from them gained his knowledge of the symbolic geometric solids. Hermes is also revered for his reformation of the calendar system. He increased the year from 360 to 365 days, thus establishing a precedent which still prevails. The appellation “Thrice Greatest” [or “Trismestigus”] was given to Hermes because he was considered the greatest of all philosophers, the greatest of all priests, and the greatest of all kings…

“… The Vision is believed to describe the method by which the divine wisdom was first revealed to Hermes. It was after Hermes had received this revelation that he began his ministry, teaching to all who would listen the secrets of the invisible universe as they had been unfolded to him…”

Again, this vision came about as the result of an out-of-body experience that pitted Hermes face to face with an entity named Poimandres, which identified itself as the Universal Mind:

“…Immediately the form of Poimandres changed. Where it had stood there was a glorious and pulsating Radiance… Hermes was “raised” into the midst of this Divine Effulgence and the universe of material things faded from his consciousness. Presently a great darkness descended and, expanding, swallowed up the Light. Everything was troubled. About Hermes swirled a mysterious watery substance which gave forth a smokelike vapor… His mind told Hermes that the Light was the form of the spiritual universe and that the swirling darkness which had engulfed it represented material substance…”

There should be no doubt here of the connection between the vision of Hermes and the Vedic traditions of the interplay of light and darkness, as described in the last chapter. These clear connections will continue to be visible as we go along. The next excerpt is one section of the words of Poimandres in the vision, with bold italics and one underline added for emphasis. Again, we need not be overly concerned with each specific metaphorical term, but focus on the overall themes of the “spheres within spheres” of planes of existence in the universe. In this case, each planetary sphere is seen to “take back” a different area of the soul’s development where there could be a lack of virtue or development, and thus by passing through all seven levels the soul is entirely purified. Interestingly, the Cayce Readings described very similar astrological concepts as this, connecting them with the planes of existence:

“Before the visible universe was formed its mold was cast. This mold was called the Archetype, and this Archetype was in the Supreme Mind long before the process of creation began. Beholding the Archetypes, the Supreme Mind became enamored with Its own thought; so, taking the Word as a mighty hammer, It gouged out caverns in primordial space and cast the form of the spheres in the Archetypal mold, at the same time sowing in the newly fashioned bodies the seeds of living things. The darkness below, receiving the hammer of the Word, was fashioned into an orderly universe. The elements separated into strata [or layers] and each brought forth living creatures. The Supreme Being – the Mind – male and female, brought forth the Word; and the Word, suspended between Light and darkness, was delivered of another Mind called the Workman, the Master-Builder, or the Maker of Things.

“In this matter it was accomplished, O Hermes: The Word moving like a breath through space called forth the Fire by the friction of its motion. Therefore, the Fire is called the Son of Striving. The Workman passed as a whirlwind through the universe, causing the substances to vibrate and glow with its friction. The Son of Striving thus formed Seven Governors, the Spirits of the Planets, whose orbits bounded the world…

“At death the material body of man is returned to the elements from which it came, and the invisible divine man ascends to the source from whence he came, namely the Eighth Sphere. The evil passes to the dwelling place of the demon, and the senses, feelings, desires and body passions return to their source, namely the Seven Governors, whose natures in the lower man destroy but in the invisible spiritual man give life.

“After the lower nature has returned to the brutishness, the higher struggles again to regain its spiritual estate. It ascends the seven Rings upon which sit the Seven Governors and returns to each their lower powers in this manner: Upon the first ring sits the Moon, and to it is returned the ability to increase and diminish. Upon the second ring sits Mercury, and to it are returned machinations, deceit, and craftiness. Upon the third ring sits Venus, and to it are returned the lusts and passions. Upon the fourth ring sits the Sun, and to this Lord are returned ambitions. Upon the fifth ring sits Mars, and to it are returned rashness and profane boldness. Upon the sixth ring sits Jupiter, and to it are returned the sense of accumulation and riches. And upon the seventh ring sits Saturn, at the Gate of Chaos, and to it are returned falsehood and evil plotting.

“Then, being naked of all the accumulations of the seven Rings, the soul comes to the Eighth Sphere, namely, the ring of the fixed stars. Here, freed of all illusion, it dwells in the Light and sings praises to the Father in a voice which only the pure of spirit may understand. Behold, O Hermes, there is a great mystery in the Eighth Sphere, for the Milky Way is the seed-ground of souls, and from it they drop into the Rings, and to the Milky Way they return again from the wheels of Saturn. But some cannot climb the seven-runged ladder of the Rings. So they wander in darkness below and are swept into eternity with the illusion of sense and earthiness…

“Then preached Hermes: “O people of the earth, men born and made of the elements, but with the spirit of the Divine Man within you, rise from your sleep of ignorance! Be sober and thoughtful. Realize that your home is not in the earth but in the Light. Why have you delivered yourselves over unto death, having power to partake of immortality? Repent, and change your minds. Depart from the dark light and forsake corruption forever. Prepare yourselves to climb through the Seven Rings and to blend your souls with the eternal Light.”

Those in positions of power who engage in corruption with a Masonic background would be wise to keep Hermes’ teachings in mind. Later in the book, Hall states the following:

“The Vision of Hermes, like nearly all of the Hermetic writings, is an allegorical exposition of great philosophic and mystic truths, and its hidden meaning may be comprehended only by those who have been “raised” into the presence of the True Mind.”

As we move further through this chapter of the book, Hall gives us another interesting clue:

“The homely onion was revered by the Egyptians as a symbol of the universe because its rings and layers represented the concentric planes into which creation was divided according to the Hermetic Mysteries (from the visions and teachings of Hermes.)”

Now if we remember that Hall indicated that Hermes also brought the Egyptians the original knowledge of the Platonic Solids, it shouldn’t be difficult to see that he was also well aware of how these geometries integrated with the eight spheres of existence seen in the vision. One could argue that the original contents of Hermes’ vision and that of the Hindus was nearly identical.

15.16 EDGAR CAYCE’S VIEW OF THE DIMENSIONAL OCTAVE

The Edgar Cayce readings spoke of the Octave of spherical planes of existence and their planetary connections, and this can be seen in the following excerpt from the best-selling book that truly launched Cayce’s popularity, There is a River. It describes an exchange between Edgar Cayce and Arthur Lammers, the man whose questioning first opened up the esoteric side of Cayce’s work such as astrology and reincarnation, after more than twenty years of straight medical readings. The important point is that Cayce’s readings made mention of various planes of existence as being “spheres,” and furthermore that there were eight main spheres [an Octave,] directly connected with the major planets. As we said before, Pluto is now unofficially considered to be more of a “planitesimal” than a full-blown planet, due to its minute size:

“Lammers began to laugh. “You thought astrology was a fake,” he said [to Edgar,] “and now you hand out a story that’s a dozen times more fantastic than the rule of the stars. You say I’ve lived before on this earth. You say this is my third appearance in this ‘sphere,’ and that I still have some of the inclinations from my last life, when I was a monk.”

“Mechanically Edgar put on his tie, fastened his cuff links, and tied his shoelaces.

““Is that the stuff they believe in India?” he [Edgar] asked. “Is that reincarnation?”

“Lammers nodded.

““You say,” he went on, “that the solar system is a cycle of experiences for the soul. It has eight dimensions, corresponding to the planets; they represent focal points for the dimensions, or environments in which the dimensions can express and materialize themselves – although materialization of each dimension is different. This is the third dimension, and it is a sort of laboratory for the whole system, because only here is free will completely dominant. On the other planes, or dimensions, some measure of control is kept over the soul to see that it learns the proper lessons.

“The control is usually by the soul itself, if it has evolved sufficiently, because once the body of this dimension has been left and the consciousness of this life has been absorbed into the subconscious, the veil between the two is lifted…”

The principle of “total free will” in the third-density is precisely duplicated in the Ra / Law of One teachings as well; they state that in this realm we must make a “choice” between whether we will serve others or serve self. Those who choose service to others will be moving into the fourth-density positive sphere that is now being activated around the Earth. Ra also states that the “veiling” between conscious and subconscious mind is only in effect in the third density, and was a necessary step for our self-knowing by giving us the opportunity to choose our positive or negative polarity without the “automatic” knowledge of the existence and nature of the One Ultimate Being.

15.17 ATWATER’S SHAMANIC VISION OF THE CU AND “TIME/SPACE”

In the 1996 book Future Memory, P.M.H. Atwater, a student of the Cayce work, describes her own visionary near-death experience where she had a direct perception of the spiraling energy of the spherical torus. In her case, she was able to match her visualizations to modern scientific language, and there is a wonderful treatment on the spherical torus in her book. She describes the torus as the perfect shape for a black hole to white hole vortex, and also comments on the gyroscopic properties of this energy form. Here, we will only focus on her description of the actual near-death vision itself. This should help provide a bridge between ancient visions and those of modern seers who have witnessed the same formation. Furthermore, it appears to be a most excellent visual description of what the Ra group refers to as “time-space,” where you are essentially fixed in space but can move all throughout time quite easily. This highly confusing concept is the opposite of space-time, which we are now a part of, where you are essentially fixed in time but can move around quite easily in space:

“Of the three near-death episodes I experienced in 1977, the third one was the most dramatic. And it haunted me. It intruded upon my life, becoming more detailed and more powerfully real as years passed. It would not leave me alone. The actual scenario had involved huge energy masses in the shape of two cyclones, one inverted over the other. I initially described them in chapter 2 of Coming Back to Life, but that description was not complete. I left out some of it. Here is a more detailed version:

“During the evening hours of March 29, 1977, when I left my body in what felt to be death, I soared rapidly through the roof of the house I rented, glimpsing each molecule of material in the ceiling and rooftop as I went and noting how curious it was to possess such X-ray vision. As if flying, I rose far into the night sky until deep in heaven’s darkness I spied a slit of brilliant light somewhat the shape of a lip. When I neared, the lip of light opened slightly, enough to allow entry, but that entry was more an absorption, as if I had suddenly become caught in a force field. This “field” extended some distance into space and away from the lip. Particles of twinkling brightness identified its presence. I detected the smell of ozone with a slight hint of ammonia, increasingly “flat” as an odor the closer I got. Once inside, the light was as overwhelming as it was brilliant, yet it had no apparent source. I saw two colossal forms in the distance, cyclonic vortexes spinning at great speed, with one inverted over the other in an hourglass design.

“The cyclone shape on top spun clockwise. The inverted cyclone beneath spun counterclockwise. Where the two spouts should have touched but didn’t, there spewed forth in all directions piercing rays of radiant power – not light, power. Power!”

Here we can see that she is actually witnessing two different fields that are “nested” together in counter-rotational motion, with the top and bottom cyclones exhibiting opposite rotational directions. In the next paragraph her vision of counter-rotating fields is illustrated even more clearly, as we shall see. We should firmly remember that Atwater obviously did not understand this new system of physics at the time that she had this vision. Her book gives no indication of an understanding of how these counter-rotating fields are seen in the planets, especially the gaseous bodies of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, where actual counter-rotating cloud bands are seen very clearly. Her vision also shows the radiant point in the center, which we also have come to expect from our investigation. In this case, that point would be the true location of the Sun in this vast energetic structure.

“Both cyclones were fat and bulgy, not at all smooth-sided as might be supposed, considering their tremendous rate of spin. Even though the direction of their movement was decidedly right to left for the one on the top and left to right for the one on the bottom, inside each was the presence of the other’s motion plus a separate inner convolution. This tri-directional force seemed to create the powerful spin along with an impression of layering across the surface of the cyclones (without rows or bands to cause the layered effect).”

Atwater’s vision of layering in the cyclones is clearly a view of the “nested” spherical torus formations, as we have seen in Dr. Vadim Chernobrov’s experiments with altering the flow of time and Roschin and Godin’s spherical walls of magnetism in their replication of the Searl Effect. It was a view of how the different planes of existence were intersecting, just as was seen in the Yggdrasil legend, the Vedic cosmology and the epic vision of Hermes. At the end of this excerpt, Atwater makes it very clear that she saw the nested spheres before returning to her body.

“Inside the top cyclone (and I called them cyclones because that is what they reminded me of), I saw my Phyllis-self, hardly larger than a speck yet recognizable. Superimposed over my Phyllis-self were all my past lives and all my future lives happening at the same time in the same space as my present life. Around me were other people I knew. The same thing was happening to them. Around them were still other people, and others more, until I came to realize all life-forms were present inside the cyclone, and the same thing was happening to each and all. Yet no one and nothing made any “real” movement except expansion and contraction, as if all life, plus the environment in which it existed, was breathing.”

As we stated, this vision gives us a great metaphor to understand Ra’s concept of “time-space,” where our past, present and future experiences in time are all easily moved through but we essentially remain fixed in one area of space. All of us have a “virtual” existence in this area at all times, yet normally we only perceive it when we are dreaming or having an out-of-body experience; it is the natural realm of the “subconscious mind” or Astral Self, and the “super-conscious mind” or Higher Self. Ra indicates that there is a plane of time-space for every plane of space-time in the Octave of densities, and in time-space it is very easy to gain a complete overview of a soul’s entire range of experiences; all experiences in life can be fast-forwarded or rewound just like a videotape. Dreams can then effortlessly be designed by the Higher Self to accurately predict the most probable events of the future, bring up long-buried memories of the past, shed light on previous lifetimes and also pave the way for an understanding of future lifetimes. Most of us do not fully understand these dreams because they speak in the language of metaphor, which transcends all linguistic and cultural barriers.

So, both space-time and time-space are equally real in universal terms, yet space-time is generally a much simpler concept for us to understand. Since we don’t recognize time as simply being another geometric movement of aetheric energy, it is difficult for us to visualize an area where we can move along “the spiraling line of light” with complete ease and freedom but essentially remain “stuck” in one area of vibrations that we call “space.”

Truly, there is no difference between space and time; they are both forms of energy as it moves in set geometric patterns.

You have to “fix” your coordinates in space to be able to move around in time, and vice versa.

Most of us find it much easier to envision being “stuck” in time, as we now experience our lives on Earth in the “space-time” realm, while having the complete ability to move throughout space. Atwater’s vision is by far the best tool that we have to visualize time-space, the “world of the dead.” Ra says that this time-space realm is the area that we go after we die to review the lessons that we learned in our lifetimes, and here we see that Atwater’s vision correlates precisely to Ra’s information. Yet, Atwater gives no indication in her book of having read the Law of One series. It should also come as no surprise to us that she also perceived the breathing movement of the Universe, so eloquently articulated in the Vedic system that we covered in the last chapter.

“What appeared to be movement, the life-forms acting out their given roles, was actually an optical and perceptual illusion similar to a hologram but produced by pulsed wave oscillations activated by individual and collective forms of consciousness. If any life-form changed the overall pattern of a personal scenario, “past” as well as “future” would alter for that individual and sometimes for others. While each life-form was truly its own self, each was also connected to all others by bubbly threads of a brilliant light that formed a fabric netting or web."

Ra claims that within the “time-space” realm, we review our lifetimes over and over again until we “forgive and accept the self” at every step. In this realm we are acutely aware of what our true spiritual objectives were for our just-ended lifetime, and we are equally aware of when and how we did not match up to our own expectations. To repeat the point, in this time-space realm we keep going through our most painful experiences in life over and over again, like a recurring dream, until we finally make the most healing, forgiving and self-accepting decisions. In this non-physical sense, we can indeed balance out our soul growth that lifetime, learn all the lessons and energetically “change” the events that happened while we were alive. Once we complete this life review, we plan out the status for our next incarnation, plotting out the most suitable planetary configurations for our birth, often choosing our parents and designing many other pre-planned events to occur and people to meet in our lives at certain points in the timeline.

“And what occurred inside the top cyclone also occurred inside the bottom cyclone. As above, so below. In other words, my Phyllis-self plus the other life-forms actually inhabited both cyclones in the same relation, in the same condition. The bottom cyclone, then, was but a mirror image of the one on top. The overall scene first impressed me as if a giant echo were filling the width of a massive canyon.

“The sheer force of cyclonic spin created a counter activity along each of the cyclone’s outer edges, manifesting in the process another energy construct altogether. This extra construct occupied space to the left and to the right of the cyclones and seemed somehow to originate darkness and light as by-products of its existence; thus, darkness developed to the left as light emerged from the right."

Here, we can see the obvious connections between Atwater’s vision and the Vedic accounts, which explain that the continuous, breath-like interplay of darkness and light forms the material universe that we now live in.

“This sight filled me with the realization that darkness and light, by-products of the spinning cyclones, were opposite “signatures” of the same dynamic. They provided the necessary mechanism and contrast for manifestation to be experienced in a meaningful way. Darkness and light, then, were corollary reflections resulting from the act of creation continuously re-creating and altering itself, for that is exactly what it felt like, as if I were witnessing Creation.

“Since what I had once referred to as “life” no longer interested me, I found myself fascinated with the rays of radiant power, those piercing rays continuously emanating from the middle where the cyclone spouts should have touched but didn’t. That space, that place, seemed to me as if it were the entryway to God, so I resolved to go there, to head directly for the centerpoint. My desire was to return to the God from whence I had come. God!

“At that moment back in Boise, my son Kelly found my body in the living room and began to talk to it, speeding words my way, tones, and I heard him. I have no memory of what he said, since only his tone mattered, for riding on his tone came love, unconditional and freely given. That caught my attention and turned me away from the radiant rays. Had I made it to the middle, there would have been no coming back. I knew that. But to the middle I almost went before the sound love makes reversed my direction.”

Although Phyllis certainly believed at the time that there was no return after going to the middle, ancient shamans again reported “climbing the World-Tree” to go to other realms and obviously being able to return. This is most likely something that could not occur except with very diligent spiritual practice, since Phyllis obviously believed that there would be no turning back from that point. Slightly later in the book, she also indicates that she perceived “nested spheres” right before leaving:

“…The activity to either side of the cyclones seemed indicative to me of yet another construct, that of a system within a system. Appreciating that what I saw may indeed have been the middle of a torus, as I believe it was, then this side activity exposed the presence of another torus one inside the other. When I pulled back to hear my son’s voice better, I took one last look at this scene and beheld as I did a panorama so awesome, it haunted me for years afterward…”

At this point in the book she shows her rough sketch of the “panorama,” which appears to be a total of four nested torus formations, and goes on to say that she observed a very similar diagram in a book on physicist Stephen Hawking. On the following page she posts images from Dan Winter of nested spherical torus formations that are much more accurate-looking. Her next statement again emphasizes how powerful of an experience it was for her to make this connection:

“What I actually saw and felt during my third near-death experience and how I finally captured that scene on paper closely matches the physics of time / space / matter, plus the theory of creation. I claim no expertise here, but I do know what I encountered, and it was very, very real.”

She also indicates that others have seen these formations in their visions as well, and her suggestions correlate with what we’ve now presented in this chapter:

“Years after my near-death experiences were over, I discovered that history and legend are filled with reports of people who, having had impactual transformations either because of nearly dying (usually a near-death experience) or from a total change in consciousness (usually spiritual enlightenment), described something akin to what I saw – a shape the likes of cyclones. Gifted psychics have spoken on the same thing, and so have people on their deathbed as they were about to die. In fact, a large, predominant vertical shape such as a column, stairs, beam of light, great tree, or hourglass image of vortexes (similar to the torus “throat” I saw) is the most repetitive motif found throughout the whole of visionary symbology. According to tradition, for one to have witnessed or traversed “The Vertical” (see Appendix IV) is considered a sign that the individual has transcended the “twelve heavens and twelve hells” horizontal to earth’s vibration, and is ready to move on to realms of grandeur beyond what the human mind can fathom.”

15.18 UNIVERSAL, SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY OF ‘WORLD TREE’ FORMATION

The next chapter may prove to be quite a surprise for many of us. Now that we have reviewed this large amount of metaphysical data regarding the structure of the CU in the Solar System as the vision of the World Tree, we are ready to show scientifically how it appears all throughout the Cosmos, at all different levels of size. The work of Ray Tomes will show us that there is a complete, unified “harmonic / vibrational” relationship between the various size levels of form in the Cosmos, extending straight through the quantum realms right up to the structure of the entire known Universe. This will lead us directly into the discussion of Rod Johnson’s new view of quantum physics.

15.19 RECAP

15.1 We begin this chapter with an illustration of the Japanese Shinto vision of the goddess Quan Yin. It is a remarkable illustration of a spherical torus, complete with “nested spheres” and vortex movement, with the central axis formed into the image of the goddess. In this chapter our main focus is on the visions associating the CU with a “World Tree.”

15.2 The classic groundbreaking work Hamlet’s Mill associated the World Tree images with the concept of the Earth’s axis, and the phenomenon of precession. While this is undoubtedly a major part of the puzzle, we now have reason to believe that the ancient view of these energy systems was far more complex than just a metaphor of precession; it was a very precise view of the CU stated in metaphorical language.

15.3 We then feature an excerpt from Manly Palmer Hall, who fills us in on the many cross-cultural esoteric connections to the World Tree metaphor. We also study his image of the Scandinavian World Tree or Yggdrasil, and the visual connections with spherical-torus energy systems are absolutely undeniable. We are also told that certain illumined sages earned the name of “tree men.”

15.4 The Finnish mythological view of the World Tree is given, showing CU connections.

15.5 The Lithuanian World Tree myths contain many obvious links to the CU. Their entire culture of symbolism was built around this metaphor, including the construction of roofed poles that have three stories, symbolizing three nested spheres within the CU.

15.6 The Siberian shamans saw the top of the CU as an “Iron Mountain” with seven stories, again showing us the direct visualization of an Octave of “spheres within spheres.” (It is interesting to note that “Iron Mountain” is the name of a company that owns huge underground storage facilities for public as well as secret government documents in New York; many have claimed that it is involved in the UFO cover-up. Since Wilcock once lived right near Iron Mountain, he knew a friend who walked through a huge, long, abandoned drainage pipe in the area and eventually came to a sealed door with a red-lit camera, whereupon the door opened and he was accosted by men with machine guns who told him to leave immediately and forget what he saw. Other New York lore asserts that the Iron Mountain facility in Rosendale is connected to the EG&G-Rotron underground facility in Woodstock by a long tunnel, and EG&G is often said to be connected with reverse engineering of UFO technology. Another local friend confirmed that her father did just that at EG&G. He had been sworn to secrecy on pain of death, but finally broke down and told his family everything, again in secret. She literally turned white when Wilcock stated his knowledge as they drove past the facility together, and then “spilled the beans.”)

15.7 Returning to our main discussion, in the Baltic mythology the Sun Tree or World Tree is seen to exist in the middle of the “world ocean.”

15.8 The shamans of northern Asia say that the Earth is connected with the Upper World by the Pillar of the World. The Upper World consists of several strata--3, 7, 9, or 17.

15.9 The Hungarian shamanic accounts again feature the “Cosmic Tree” and planes that are both lower and higher than the Earth, connected with the Tree.

15.10 An excerpt from Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe sheds greater light onto the extensive cross-cultural connection of World Tree mythology throughout Europe and Asia.

15.11 The metaphor of a mountain is explored in this section as another frequent visualization of the CU formed by the Sun’s magnetic field.

15.12 The Hindus called the “World Tree” the eternal Asvattha. We have already seen their knowledge of the energetic connections to cosmology quite clearly.

15.13 The Biblical concepts of the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil are demonstrated as representing the axis and ecliptic of the CU, respectively.

15.14 Linda Schele and John Major Jenkins suggest that the Mayan Sacred Tree mythology shows a connection between the ecliptic of our Solar System and the galaxy.

15.15 The ancient Egyptian vision of Hermes formed the original foundation for the Mysteries of Freemasonry, and it again suggests an Octave of nested spherical planes of existence. Interestingly it also says that the Milky Way is the seed-ground of souls.

15.16 Edgar Cayce’s trance readings also mentioned an Octave of spherical planes, connected with the planets as in Hermes’ vision.

15.17 P.M.H. Atwater’s near-death vision gives us a modern, technical description of what the ancient seers witnessed in the OBE state. Her precise language gives us a unique opportunity to visualize Ra’s concept of the realm of “time-space,” where we can move about freely in time but are essentially fixed in one area of space. Time-space is said to be the area where we go in OBEs, dreams and the after-death state, and it is a place where an overview of the soul is easily seen.

15.18 Our next chapter will demonstrate that the “Consciousness Unit” formation can be seen all throughout the Universe, at all different levels of size. This will truly make the accuracy of the model complete, and give strong evidence for the existence of an Ultimate Conscious Being where every part is a perfect microcosm of the Whole.

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