§ The Solstitial Gates
W E have said that the zodiac's two gates which are respectively the entry to and exit from the 'cosmic cave', and which certain traditions designate as the 'gate of men' and the 'gate of the gods', inevitably must correspond to the two solstices. We must now state more explicitly that the first corresponds to the summer solstice, that is, to the sign of Cancer, and the second to the winter solstice, or to the sign of Capricorn. In order to understand the reason for this, it is necessary to refer to the division of the annual cycle into two halves, the one 'ascending' and the other 'descending'. The first is the period of the movement of the sun towards the North (uttarāyana), going from the winter to the summer solstice; the second is that of the movement of the sun towards the South (dakshināyana), going from the summer to the winter solstice. [1] In the Hindu tradition, the ascendant phase relates to the (devayāna, and the descendant phase to the pitri-yāna, [2] which coincides exactly with the designations of the two gateways we have just mentioned. The 'gate of men' is that which gives access to the pitri-yāna, and the 'gate of the gods' is that which gives access to the deva-yāna. They must therefore be respectively at the outset of the two corresponding phases, that is, the first must be at the summer solstice, and the second at the winter solstice. But in this case it is not really a question of an entry and of an exit, but of two different exits, inasmuch as the point of view is different from that which relates in a special way to the initiatic function of the cave, even though it is perfectly compatible with that function. In fact the 'cosmic cave' is here considered as the place of manifestation of the being. After being manifested here in a certain state, such as the human state for example, this being will go out from it by one of the two gates according to the spiritual degree which it has reached. In one case, that of the pitri-yāna, it will have to return to another state of manifestation which naturally will be represented by a re-entry into the 'cosmic cave'. In the other case, on the contrary, that of the deva-yāna, there is no further return to the manifested world. One of these two gates is thus both an entry and an exit, while the other is a final exit; but, as regards
initiation, it is precisely this final departure which is the ultimate goal, so that the being that has entered by the 'gate of men', if it has actually attained this goal, must go out through the 'gate of the gods'. [3]
We have already explained that the solstitial axis of the Zodiac, relatively vertical in relation to the equinoctial axis, must be considered as the projection, in the annual solar cycle, of the North-South polar axis. According to the correspondence of temporal symbolism with the spatial symbolism of the cardinal points, the winter solstice is in a way the north pole of the year and the summer solstice its south pole, while the two equinoxes of spring and autumn correspond in the same way, respectively, to East and West. [4] In Vedic symbolism, however, the gate of the deva-loka is situated to the North-east, and that of the pitri-loka to the South-west; but this must be considered only as a more explicit indication of the direction in which the course of the annual cycle moves. In conformity with the correspondence we have just mentioned, the 'ascending' period goes from North to East, then from East to South. Similarly, the 'descending' period goes from South to West, then from West to North. [5] It can be said, therefore, with still greater precision, that the 'gateway
of the gods' is at the North and turned towards the East which is always considered as the side of light and of life, and that the 'gateway of men' is at the South and turned towards the West which, from the same point of view, is considered as the side of darkness and of death; and this gives us the exact definition of 'the two permanent ways of the manifested world, the one light, the other dark. By the one, there is no return (from the non-manifested to the manifested); by the other, one returns again (to manifestation)'. [6]
There remains an appearance of contradiction that still has to be resolved. The North is designated as the highest (uttara) point, and it is towards this point moreover that the ascending movement of the sun's orbit is directed, while its descending movement is directed towards the South, which thus appears as the lowest point. But on the other hand, the winter solstice, which in the year corresponds to the North and marks the beginning of the ascending movement, is in a certain sense the lowest point; and the summer solstice, corresponding to the South and where this ascending movement ends, is, according to the same relationship, the highest point, from which the descent will begin subsequently, to be completed at the winter solstice. The solution of this difficulty lies in the distinction that can be made between the 'celestial' order to which the progress of the sun belongs, and the 'terrestrial' order to which belongs the succession of the seasons. According to the general law of analogy, these two orders must be, in their very correlation, the inverse of one another, in such a way that what is highest in the one becomes the lowest in the other, and reciprocally; and it is thus that, according to the Hermetic dictum of the Emerald Table, 'that which is above (in the celestial order) is as that which is below (in the terrestrial order)'; or again, according to the Gospel saying, 'the first (in the principial order) are the last (in the manifested order)'. [7] It is true, moreover, that with regard to the 'influences' attached to these points, it is always the North that remains 'benefic', whether it is considered as the point towards which is directed the ascending movement of the sun in the heavens or, in relation to the terrestrial world, as the entrance to the deva-loka; and similarly, the South
always remains malefic, whether it is considered as the point towards which the descending movement of the sun in the heavens is directed, or, with regard to the terrestrial world, as the entrance to the pitri-loka. [8] It must be added that the terrestrial world can, by transposition, be considered as representing here the whole of the cosmos, and that the heavens, according to the same transposition, will then represent the 'extra-cosmic' domain. From this viewpoint, it is to the 'spiritual' order, understood in its most exalted acceptation, to which must be applied the consideration of the 'invertedness' in relation not only to the world of the senses but to the cosmos in its entirety. [9]