23 | The Cosmic Wheel
In several works allied to the Hermetic tradition [1] we find references to a ternary Deus, Homo, Rota: God, Man, Wheel. Here the third term of the ternary Deus, Homo, Natura, which we examined in an earlier chapter, has been replaced by Rota, the 'Wheel'. This is the 'cosmic wheel'-a symbol of the manifested world, as we have pointed out on other occasions. We find it referred to by the Rosicrucians as Rota Mundi, the 'wheel of the world'. [2] Generally speaking, then, this symbol stands for Nature in its widest sense. However, it is also capable of being interpreted in various other, more specific, senses. In this chapter we will examine several of these other senses that have a direct bearing on the subject of the presentstudy.
The symbol of the wheel derives from the geometrical figure of a circle plus its centre. Interpreted at a universal level, the centre stands for the Principle, which is symbolised geometrically by the point and arithmetically by the number 'one'. The circumference will then stand for manifestation, which is 'measured' by the radius extending outwards from the Principle. [3] This overall schema appears very simple and straightforward, but in fact it has a multiplicity of applications each of which corresponds to a different and more or less particularised point of view. [4] To take just one example, which in fact is especially relevant to this point
in our discussion: because the Principle acts in the Cosmos through the medium of Heaven, this means that Heaven itself can also be represented by the centre. In this case the circum-ference-against which the radii emanating from the centre come to a halt-will represent the other pole of manifestation, Earth; and the surface of the circle will correspond to the entire cosmic domain. Furthermore, the centre represents unity and the circumference multiplicity, which actually expresses the characteristics of universal Essence and Substance respectively. One could also limit oneself to considering one particular world or state of existence alone. In that case the centre will naturally represent the point at which the 'Activity of Heaven' manif ests itself in the state in question, while the circumference will represent the materia secunda or secondary matter of the world which-relative to that particular world-plays the same role which the materia prima or primal matter plays in relation to universal manifestation as a whole. [5]
The figure of the wheel is identical to the geometrical figure we have just been considering, with the one exception that it also includes a number of radii which mark in a more explicit manner the relationship between the circumference (where they end) and the centre (where they originate). It goes without saying that whereas the circumference cannot exist without its centre, the centre is absolutely independent of the circumference and contains principially all possible concentric circumferences, which are determined simply by the length of the radii. These radii can be depicted by any number of lines, because really they are as indefinite in their multitude as the points on the circumference which mark their limit. In fact, however, the traditional schemas
always contain set numbers which have their own particular symbolic value; when these are added to the basic symbolism of the wheel they indicate the specific application to which the symbol is being put in each particular case. [6] The simplest form of all presents just four radii dividing the circumference into four equal sections-i.e. two diameters at right angles to each other forming a cross inside the circumference. [7] From a spatial point of view this figure of course corresponds to the determination of the four cardinal points. [8] From a temporal point of view on the other hand, if the circumference is regarded as being traversed in one direction it is the image of a cycle of manifestation, while the four sections of the circumference marked off by the four extremities of the cross will correspond to the different periods or phases into which the cycle is divided. A division of this kind can be envisaged on any number of different scales, so to speak, depending on how large or small the cycle in question happens to be. [9] One may add that the idea of a wheel evokes immediately the idea of rotation, and this rotation symbolizes the continuous change to which every single thing in manifestation is subject: hence the expression 'wheel of becoming'. [10] In this perpetual movement there is only one single point which remains fixed and unmoving, and that is the centre. [11]
All these notions should need no further explanation. However, we will add one further comment, which is that if the centre to begin with is a starting point, it is also a point of termination.
Everything issues from it, and everything must finally return to it. All things exist only through the Principle (or whatever represents the Principle in relation to manifestation or to a specific state of manifestation); and this means that a permanent link must exist between them and it, symbolised by the radii joining each point of the circumference to the centre. But these radii can be traversed in two opposite directions: proceeding first from the centre to the circumference, and then returning from the circumference to the centre. [12] In short, we have two complementary phases: the first represented by a centrifugal movement, the second by a centripetal one. [13] These two phases, as mentioned earlier, are traditionally compared to the two phases of respiration as well as to the double movement of the heart. What we actually have here is a ternary consisting of centre, radius and circumference, with the radius performing precisely the median function that we defined above. Here lies the reason why, in the Far-Eastern Great Triad, Man is sometimes equated with the spoke of the 'cosmic wheel' whose centre is Heaven and whose circumference is Earth. Just as the radius emanating from the centre 'measures' the cosmos, or the realm of manifestation, so 'true man' is precisely the 'measure of all things' in our world, as 'Universal Man' is the measure of all things for manifestation as a whole. [14] In this connection it is worth noting that while the shape of a cross produced by two diameters at right angles to each other, which we just mentioned, is in a sense equivalent to all the radii of the circumference (because all the moments of a cycle are summed up as it were in its principal phases), so this same schema provides in its complete form the symbol of 'Universal Man'. [15]
Needless to say, this symbolism is different, at least in ap-
pearance, from the symbolism that shows man at the centre of a state of existence and 'Universal Man' as identified with the 'World Axis': this is because it corresponds to a point of view which equally is to a certain extent different. However, fundamentally they are in perfect agreement so far as their essential meaning is concerned, and it is simply a case (as in any similar situation) of having to be careful to avoid confusing the various meanings which can become attached to their constituent elements. [16] In this connection it is worth observing that, at each point on the circumference and relative to that point, the tangent can be regarded as the horizontal. This means that the direction of the radius, which is perpendicular to it, can be regarded as being vertical, so that every radius is in a sense a virtual axis. 'Above' and 'below' can accordingly be regarded as always corresponding to this direction of the radius, envisaged in both an ascending and a descending sense. But whereas in the realm of sensible appearances 'below' is towards the centre (in this case the centre of the earth [17] ), here it is necessary to apply the 'law of inverse analogy' and view the centre as actually the highest point of all. [18] Accordingly whichever point on the circumference one starts from, the highest point will always remain the same. This gives us a picture therefore of Man-identified with the spoke of
the wheel-with his feet on the circumference and his head touching the centre. In fact in the microcosm one can say that from every point of view the feet correspond to the Earth and the head to Heaven. [19]