NAMES AND SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS OF SPIRITUAL CENTRES
MANY other traditions accord with all that has been discussed about the 'supreme country'. There is notably another name for it that is probably even older than Paradesha. This name is Tula, which the Greeks called Thule, a name which we have already understood to be apparently the true equivalent of 'isle of the four Masters'. The name has, however, been given to many different regions, so that even today it is still to be found as far afield as Russia and Central America. No doubt each of these regions constituted the seat of a spiritual power in some era more or less long past, and which was an emanation of the power of the primordial Tula. It is known that the Mexican Tula owes its origin to the Toltecs who came, it is said, from Aztlan, the 'land in the middle of the water', which is evidently Atlantis. They brought the name Tula from their country of origin and gave it to a centre which consequently must have replaced, to a certain extent, that of the lost continent. [1] On the other hand, the Atlantean Tula must be distinguished from the Hyperborean Tula, which latter represents the first and supreme centre for the entire current Manvantara and is the archetypal 'sacred Isle', situated, as we have seen, in a literally polar location. All the other 'sacred isles', although everywhere bearing names of equivalent meaning, are still only images of the original. This even applies to the spiritual centre of Atlantean tradition, which only governed a secondary historical cycle, subordinate to the Manvantara. [2]
In Sanskrit, the word Tula means 'balance' or 'scales', and specifically denotes the Zodiacal sign of Libra; however there is a Chinese tradition in which the heavenly balance was originally the Great Bear. [3] This point is very important, as the symbolism connected with the Great Bear is naturally connected in the closest possible way to that of the Pole. [4] This subject could usefully be pursued further than is possible here ; [5] however, it is worth looking at the relationship that may exist between the polar scales and the Zodiacal balance. Libra of the Zodiac is regarded as the sign of judgement and, as we have noted apropos of Melki-Tsedeq, an attribute of Justice, so that it can be seen that its name was the designation of the supreme spiritual centre.
Tula is in addition called the 'white island', the colour, as we have seen, representing spiritual authority. In the American traditions, Aztlan is symbolized by a white mountain, although this applied originally to both the Hyperborean Tula and the 'polar mountain'. In India, the 'white isle' (Shwetadwipa), commonly considered to be set in the remote regions of the North, [6] is regarded as the 'Abode of the Blessed', a name easily identifiable as the 'Land of the Living'. [7] There is,
however, an apparent exception, in that Celtic traditions describe a 'green isle' as being the 'isle of Saints' or 'isle of the Blessed', [8] but still the 'white Mountain', its summit purple, [9] stands in the centre, never submerged by any flood. [10] This 'mountain of the sun', as it is also called, is the equivalent of Meru, also entitled 'white mountain'. Meru is encircled by a green belt, by the fact of being situated in the middle of the sea, [11] and a triangle of light radiates at its peak.
The designation of spiritual centres as 'white isles' was applicable, like the others, to secondary centres and not only to the supreme centre, their source. To these must be added the names of places, countries, and towns that express the idea of whiteness. These are frequent enough, from Albion to Albania, through Alba Longa, the mother city of Rome, [12] and the Greek town of Argos. [13] The reason for these things will be clarified shortly.
An additional comment is called for on the representation of a spiritual centre as an island containing a 'sacred mountain', for while such a locality may have had a tangible existence (even though not all 'holy lands' were islands) there should also be a symbolic meaning. Historical facts, especially those pertaining to sacred history, translate in their own way truths of a higher order owing to the law of correspondence which is the foundation of symbolism, and which unites all the worlds in total and universal harmony. The idea evoking the representation under discussion is essentially one of 'stability' that is itself a characteristic of the Pole: the island remains immovable amidst the ceaseless agitation of the waves, a disturbance that reflects that of the external world. Accordingly, it is necessary to cross the 'sea of passions' in order to reach the 'Mount of Salvation', the 'Sanctuary of Peace'. [14]