Payload Website Template

WE 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. In the Hindu tradition, the ascendant phase relates to the (_deva-yāna_), and the descendant phase to the _pitri-yāna_, 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 ^[1] ^[2] 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

Footnotes

[1]It should be noted that the Zodiac frequently represented on the portals of medieval churches is arranged in such a way as to indicate clearly this division of the annual cycle.

[2]See for example _Bhagavad-Gītā_, 8: 23-26; and cf., _Man and His Becoming according the Vedanta_, ch. 31. An analagous correspondence is to be found in the monthly cycle, the period of the waxing of the moon being similarly related to the _deva-yāna_, and that of the waning moon to the _pitri-yāna_. The four lunar phases can be said to correspond, in a more restricted cycle, to the four solar phases which are the four seasons of the year.

[3]The 'gate of the gods' cannot be an entry except in the case of voluntary descent into the manifested world, either by a being already 'delivered', or by a being representing the direct expression of a supra-cosmic principle. But is obvious that these exceptional cases are not part of the 'normal' processes that we are considering here. We will only draw attention to the fact that it is easy to understand hereby the reason why the birth of the _Avatāra_ is considered as taking place at the time of the winter solstice, the period which is that of Christmas in the Christian tradition.

[4]In the day, the ascending half is from midnight to midday, and the descending half from midday to midnight. Midnight corresponds to winter and to the North, midday to summer and to the South. Morning corresponds to springtime and to the East (the side of the rising sun), and the evening to autumn and to the West (the side of the setting sun). Thus, the phases of the day, like those of the month, but on a yet more reduced scale, reproduce analogically those of the year. More generally, it is the same for any cycle which, whatever its extent, is naturally always divided according to the same quaternary law. In harmony with Christian symbolism, the birth of the _Avatāra_ takes place not only at the winter solstice but also at midnight. It is doubly in correspondence, therefore, with the 'gateway of the gods'. On the other hand, according to Masonic symbolism, the initiatic work is accomplished 'from midday to midnight', which is no less exact if one considers this work as a movement from the 'gate of men' to the 'gate of the gods'. The objection that one might be tempted to make by reason of the 'descending' nature of this period is resolved by an application of the 'inverse sense' of the analogy, as we shall see below.

[5]This relates directly to the question of the direction of ritual circumambulations in different traditional forms. According to the solar modality of the symbolism, this direction is that which we are speaking of here, and the circumambulation is thus accomplished with the centre (about which one constantly turns) on one's right. In the 'polar' modality, it is accomplished in the opposite direction with the centre to one's left. The first case is that of the _pradakshina_, as used in the Hindu and Tibetan traditions. The second case is to be found for example in the Islamic tradition. Perhaps it is not without interest to note that the direction of these circumambulations, going respectively from left to right and from right to left, also corresponds to the direction of the script in the sacred languages of these same traditional forms. In Masonry, in its present form, the direction of the circumambulations is 'solar', but it seems on the contrary to have been 'polar' in the ancient 'operative' ritual, according to which the 'throne of Solomon' was placed to the West and not to the East.

[6]Bhagavad Gītā 8: 26. It could be remarked that the clarity and obscurity respectively characterising these two ways correspond exactly to the two complementary principles _yang_ and _yin_ of the Far Eastern tradition.

[7]To this double viewpoint there corresponds, among other applications, the fact that in geographical or other representations, the point situated above may be either North or South. In China, it is the South; and in the Western world it was the same with the Romans and even during a part of the Middle Ages. This practice is, as we have just said, really the most correct as regards the representation of terrestrial things; while, on the contrary, when it is a question of celestial things, it is the North which normally must be placed above. But it goes without saying that the predominance of one or the other of the two points of view, according to the traditional forms or according to the periods, may determine the adoption of a single arrangement for every case indistinctly; and in this respect, the fact of placing the North or the South above, generally appears to be linked especially to the distinction of the two modalities, polar and solar, the point placed above being that which the viewer has before him when he orients himself according to one or the other of these, as we shall explain in the following note.

37 § The Solstitial Gates

Footnotes