Enlightenment History

This is a work in progress. Every Thursday, I post on my facebook page a little article about enlightenment history. This page is a collection of these posts.

Enlightenment History, The Astrological Ages

In the context of enlightenment, the linear progression of the years is not important. The cycles are, in particular, the cycles of the Astrological Ages. How did I arrive at the chart below? I assumed that 2013 is the year when the Piscean Age changed into the Aquarian Age. Let me get back to this in a moment.

In this chapter, I want to highlight three events: the Axial Age, Jesus’ life, and the dawn of the Aquarian Age.

The Axial Age occurred in the 6th century B.C. around the midpoint of the Great Mayan cycle. It was a great ‘cosmic initiative’ that pushed for a religious change, from old-school ‘prayer and sacrifice’ to enlightenment. Buddha, Zoroaster, Ezekiel, Confucius, Lao-tze, Pythagoras, and Socrates lived around that time. Old school religion has survived, but that is just the nature of history. Old-school religion is dead, but there may still be caves for thousands of years in which its shadow will be shown. It was the time, priests wrote “Know your self” on the entrance of the Temple of Delphi. It was also the time of the emergence of Greece philosophy and science. These guys did not bother about enlightenment, but their intellectualism put a harsh end to religious bugaboo. I wrote a long post about the Axial Age on Nu Christ. In case you are interested, here is the link.

Jesus Christ was born shortly after the time the Age of Aries changed into the Piscean Age. He created a new religion for the new age.

There is a fierce discussion out there when the Astrological Ages change exactly. Here is a Wikipedia article. I don’t think that it is that important, since there will be a transition time that partakes of the qualities of the previous and new age. I chose December 12, 2012, because it is also the end of the previous Mayan Long Count.
Aquarius has three prime qualities: friendly, humane, and inventive. Inventive should be no doubt, considering the incredible advance of technology we experienced in the past century. And that is just the beginning. Humane is also true. After WWII, many humane organizations emerged. These days overly rich people, like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Tim Cook donated their (useless) wealth to good causes. What about friendly? I like to think that the solemn, ceremonial, and idealistic religious attitudes of the Piscean Age will give way to a friendly and intimate relationship with the Godness and a revival of enlightenment (Tarot card 17, the Star, illustrates Aquarius – have a look).

Enlightenment History, The Age of Scorpio, Libra, and Virgo

Prehistorical time, we are groping in the dark.

Homo sapiens emerged around 300,000 years ago.

According to Yuval Noah Harari, our species entered a cognitive revolution around 70,000 B.C. with the development of imagination. Imagination distinguishes us from plants (who have emotions) and animals (who have emotions and intelligence).

70,000 B.C. was likely the time of the birth of enlightenment too. Imagination controls the flow of thoughts, emotions, and memories. It is the foundation of meditation and all other enlightenment practices. It is the key to other realities.
It stands to reason that our ancestors of that time were able to perform OBEs and roam the astral universe. I guess they had not much else to do at night, apart from having sex. 😉 It was the time of shamanism.

50,000 years ago, Homo sapiens developed so-called ‘modern behavior’, like socializing, figurative art, language, and ‘early forms of religion’. Likely, that time shamanism organized into (spiritual) religion.

We can safely assume that around 50,000 B.C., the ‘external evolution’ of Homo sapiens, as a race, came to completion. This marked a turning point in evolution. Henceforth, evolution put pressure on internal development and the individual(!) evolution from Homo sapiens to Homo illustratus.

The notion that Homo sapiens can still evolve as a race is a common misconception that emerged in the 20th Century after Darwin re-discovered evolution. There will be no Arian race, no superman, no uberman, and no evolution of machines. There will only be enlightenment, individual evolution that is.

The Venus of Dolní

According to Wikipedia, the Venus of Dolní Věstonice is a Venus figurine, a ceramic statuette of a nude female figure dated to 29,000–25,000 BCE (Gravettian industry). It was found at the Paleolithic site Dolní Věstonice in the Moravian basin south of Brno, in the base of Děvín Mountain, 549 metres (1,801 ft). This figurine and a few others from locations nearby are the oldest known ceramic articles in the world.

Picture Attribution Petr Novák (Wikimedia Commons)

29,000 to 25,000 covers the ages of Taurus, Aries, and Pisces. Taurus would be the most likely candidate for a maternal worship since it is ruled by Venus. Of course, the figure has nothing to do with the Greek goddess, neither what Venus represents (love and desires). It is more like a Gaia or corn goddess and represents the nurturing forces of earth.

The Ages of Scorpio, Libra, and Virgo, 17,097 – 10,632 B.C.

The Ages of Scorpio, Libra, and Virgo cover the years from 17,000 to 10,500 B.C. This is the late Pleistocene (ice age), which ended around 10,000 B.C. The global warming put a strong evolutionary pressure our species. I read somewhere that Homo sapiens was near extinction – with estimated 10,000 surviving individuals.
Those who survived kicked off a new era. The new climate allowed the development of agriculture, which is the foundation of society and culture.

Interesting facts:

• 11,000 years ago (9,000 BC) of Jericho, which is now one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

The Leonian Age, 10,632 – 8,477 B.C.

We are still in pre-historic times and I could not find much data. Most of what follows are guesses.

Leo is a fiery sign and ruled by the Sun. It is associated with Tarot card 8, Strength.

The Leonian Age ended the ice age. A global warming caused the sea level to rise by 90 meters. The warmer climate allowed agriculture (the Neolithic Revolution). As early as 10,000 BC, Mesopotamians cultivated barley and wheat. Agriculture is the foundation of civilization. Leo is paternal, a ruling force, and thrives on organizing societies.

8700 is said to be the end of the Stone Age and people began working metals. The metal associated with the sun is gold. The Leonian Age might have been the Golden Age mentioned in various scriptures.

Some people believe that the Sphinx (half woman, half lion) is much older than currently assumed. Was it build in the Era of Leo? Mind that Tarot card 8 also shows a woman-lion combination.

Since Leo is ruled by the sun, this age may have been the beginning of sun worship, which is one of the most ancient forms of religion. Likely, this was accompanied by increased astral research since Neptune is exalted in Leo.

The Age of Cancer, 8,477 – 6,322 B. C.

Some call the Age of Cancer the Age of the Great Mother. Cancer is ruled by the Moon and illustrated by Tarot card 7, the Chariot.

In Qabalah, the Great Mother rules Briah, the second universe. As a reminder these here the four qabalistic universes:

1. Atziluth (spiritual)
2. Briah (creative/heavenly)
3. Yetzirah (formative/astral)
4. Assiah (physical)

While humans have roamed the astral universe for 50,000 years, the first crossovers into the heavens may have occurred much later, e. g. in the Age of Cancer. On a side note, Carlos Castaneda calls the heavens the third attention, the astral universe the second, and the physical universe the first.

The astral universe is much like the physical. It is illusory and it tempts. Shamanism is not necessarily concerned with enlightenment. Carlos Castaneda’s narratives give a good impression of the dark sides of ancient sorcery and shamanism:

“The secret knowledge of the earth,” he went on, “had to do with everything that stands on the ground. There were particular sets of movements, words, unguents, potions that were applied to people, animals, insects, trees, small plants, rocks, soil.
“These were techniques that made the old seers into horrid beings. And their secret knowledge of the earth was employed either to groom or to destroy anything that stands on the ground.
“The counterpart of the earth was what they knew as the dark regions. These practices were by far the most dangerous. They dealt with entities without organic life. Living creatures that are present on the earth and populate it together with all organic beings.
“Doubtlessly, one of the most worthwhile findings of the ancient seers, especially for them, was the discovery that organic life is not the only form of life present on this earth.”

– Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within, page 80

The heavens are different. There is wisdom, understanding, and the blueprints of creation, for example, the image of the heavenly human, the Grand Soul of which we, souls, are a reflection. Discovering that image means illumination – the fifth stage of enlightenment.

In order to pass over to the heavens, one needs to leave our dark side behind. Carlos Castaneda describes the difference as follows:

Some of them endeavored to use seeing positively and to teach it to their fellow men. I’m convinced that under their direction, the populations of entire cities went into other worlds and never came back.
– Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within, page 5

According to hermeneutic sources, the first wave of organized enlightenment began 8,000 B.C. and people living today are part of the second life wave with some stranglers from the first.

Jupiter is exalted in cancer. Jupiter governs all cyclic activities – of the universe and nature. Jupiter is the patron of Astrology and the Greater Fortune. We can assume that Astrology made its first baby steps in the Age of Cancer.

Jupiterians are ceremonial. It must have been around that time when religion organized, temples were built, and priests oiled. How can we imagine this change? From shamanism to religion, from magic to enlightenment, from astral journeys and psychism to prophecy, from running into Jehovah in the form of a burning bush to building the sanctuary and temple.

Tarot card 7, the Chariot, has much to do with fencing, e.g. the chariot itself (the fencing of personality), the river, and the wall of the city in the background. Fencing means focussing on a particular field of activity. Agriculture requires fencing, so does civilization. The natural house of Cancer is the 4th house, related to the dwelling-place, house, home and real estate in general. Jericho was fortified around 6,800 B.C., protected by a 4.5-meter high and 1.5-meters thick wall. Likely the first city of its kind, hence it became a legend.

Mothers protect and nurture. The development of agriculture, the cultivation of plants within a field, happened during the Neolithic revolution of which the Age of Cancer is a big part. 8,500 B.C. is the earliest supposed date for the domestication of cattle.

7,500 to 5,700 B.C., the settlement of Catalhoyuk (central Anatolia ) was home to around 8,000 people and remains the largest known settlement of that time. Likely, it was a spiritual center of some kind. Most religious figures excavated there were female figurines, well-formed and carved from various stones, some molded from clay.

Figurine of the Earth Mother found in Catalhoyuk (Ankara Museum)

It stands to reason that the first form of cultivated religion was maternal, ruled by Goddess, the Great Mother of the heavens and the earth.

The Age of Gemini, 6,322 – 4,167 B. C.

Gemini is ruled by Mercury – intelligence. Intelligence means science and technology. The wheel, the mother of all inventions, was discovered around 5,000 B.C. Archeologists uncovered the evidence of earliest copper smelting (5.500 BC) in Pločnik, today’s Serbia.

Proto-writing developed at the beginning of the Gemini age, for example, the Jiahu script (China, 6,600 B.C.); the Vinca script (East Europe, 4,500 B.C.); and the Indus script (India, 3,300 B.C.). History was not yet recorded, we are still in pre-historic times.

The Age of Gemini coincides with the third Neolithic period and the development of pottery. Pottery was the beginning of trade and commerce between the city-states that emerged during the Age of Cancer. Commerce is a Gemini talent as well. Trade leads to communication and the exchange of ideas between cultures.

I could not find anything interesting on enlightenment and religion, except this twin goddess:

Twin goddess found in Catalhoyuk. Marble, 17.2 cm, 6000-5500 BC.

I suppose priests put much effort into researching Astrology because it would emerge as an elaborate system in the following age, the Age of Taurus.

The Age of Taurus, 4,167 – 2,012 B. C.

The age of bull worship (Assyria, Egypt, and Crete). Taurus is ruled by Venus and is a maternal zodiac. This is a candidate for the Egyptian golden age.

Although writing was invented in the Age of Gemini, the earliest coherent texts appeared around 2,500 B.C. The first were the Mesopotamian cuneiform and the Egyptian hieroglyphs, which mark the beginning of recorded history and religion. The pyramid texts from ancient Egypt are one of the oldest known religious texts written sometime between 2,400 and 2,300 B.C.

Alphabetic writing was invented around 2,000 B.C.

The Chinese script developed around 1,600 B.C.

Interesting Facts:

• 3600 to 3500 BC First evidence of mummification in Egypt
• 2630 BC–2611 BC, the construction of the Pyramid of Djoser, one of the earliest significant pyramids
• 300 BC marks the beginning of the bronze age. Bronze is the metal sacred to Venus, which rules Taurus.
• 2600 BC: Writing is developed in Sumer and Egypt, triggering the beginning of recorded history.

The Age of Aries

The Age of War

When Moses condemning the worship of the golden calf could be understood as the end of the era of Taurus, and the beginning of the era of Aries, during which monotheism developed.

Expanding empires like China, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

Aries is ruled by Mars, whose metal is iron and indeed, we are in the iron age.

Aries, Tarot card 4, is a rational force. During this time, Greek philosophy thrived. Half way through the age, the Axial Age happened, a turning point in religion from worship to enlightenment. The Axial Age marked also half of the Mayan great count.

Interesting facts:

• The Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten introduced monotheism in the form of sun worship
• Mithraism