Certain flowers have long been symbols of enlightenment. Notably there is the Sunflower, which literally turns its face to follow the light of the Sun. The ancient Greeks spoke of it as representing the love of the nymphs Clytie and Daphne for the Solar deity Apollo. The Chinese have used it to represent life-force and intelligence, while some Christian churches have chosen it to symbolise divine love. In Native American symbolism, it is a sign of the Sun, and thus likened to the life-giving force of the Great Spirit.

The Lotus is often used as a sign of illumination by Buddhists and Oriental teachers. In the Chinese Taoist tradition the highest stage of enlightenment is pictured as a lotus growing from the top of the head. The mantra Om Mani Padme Hum means the Jewel in the Lotus (padme = lotus and mani = jewel, which in turn is a metaphor for enlightenment).

The Rose is to the West what the Lotus is to the East. It is symbolic mystically and is the emblem of the Rosicrucian Fraternity to which I belong – their name being derived from the words Rose and Cross. The rosacea, as a carved ceiling panel or stained glass rose window, was designed by artists to represent the Sun-disk, when it is shown with eight open petals.

Consider photosynthesis - the process used by plants to make glucose and oxygen from Sunlight. Some flower parts, especially green sepals, can photosynthesize - this is termed ‘floral photosynthesis’. While the rest of the air we breathe consists of nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon dioxide, we owe the oxygen supply on planet Earth to its Flora. Plants, like the Sun itself, participate in the life-giving process for humans, and so flowers really are an ideal symbol for both physical vitality and spiritual unfoldment.

Myth Encyclopaedia says, “The shapes of flowers also have significance. Blossoms with petals projecting outward like rays of light from the Sun have been associated with the Sun and with the idea of the center—of the world, the universe, or consciousness.” (Read more at: http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Fi-Go/Flowers-in-Mythology.html#ixzz41FxYCoZB)
The ancient Indians, Egyptians and Sumerians all saw eight- petal flowers as signs of union and reproduction by the creative deities from the sky.  In a video by author Ev Corchoran, posted on the Watchers website this month, he talks of the rosette pictogram that he calls a DIGIR as representing the union of ‘deities.’ (see: http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2016/02/16/ev-cochrane-planetary-catastrophe-ancient-myths-modern-science/).  And of course there is Drunvalo Melchizedek’s well-known Flower of Life symbol.

I have spoken before about using symbols to meditate on, as tools of illumination. Pictures are helpful but, if you have a meditation area, what better aid than living flowers, with their beauty and scent. Their form illuminates two essential movements of thought – the movement from the periphery to the centre, and from the centre to the periphery. In them you will see the cycles of life.
 
Credit Source for Images Featured at Top of Page:
(Top Left): https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Sunflower_sky_backdrop.jpg
(Top Right): http://onehdwallpaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Lotus-Flower-HD-Wallpapers.jpg
(Below Left): http://www.briderose.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/red-roses-flower-rose-pictures-393.jpg
(Below Right): https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Rosace_gothique.jpg

Glastonbury in England is a mysterious and mystical blend of Astrology, Solar Worship, Christianity and the legacy of King Arthur on his Isle of Avalon. The Glastonbury zodiac, like Stonehenge, is a temple of the Sun and has existed for more than 4,000 years. Christianity arrived here with Joseph of Arimathea, the uncle of Jesus, who first brought a young Jesus with him on a visit, and then later returned (after Jesus’ crucifixion) in 63 AD, bringing with him the Chalice, or Graal, of the Last Supper.
King Arthur himself was the offspring of one of the Solar Watchers who mated with a married lady known as Ygerne of Cornwall. Ygerne then, under the guidance of the personality known as Merlin, arranged to be married to Uther Pendragon. The ‘hybrid’ Arthur was born c.473 AD and Uther & Ygernee handed Arthur and his sister Morgana (also a Solar hybrid) over to Merlin to be raised as his children. Although never known as a Solar ‘deity’ (they ceased visiting Earth centuries before that), some writers have called Arthur a ‘Solar hero.’
Sir Gawain was the son of Arthur's sister Morgana and was well known to be the most trustworthy friend of Sir Lancelot. It was said that his strength waxed and waned with the Sun; in the most common form of this motif, his might tripled by noon, but faded as the Sun set. The Solar connection to the story of King Arthur is inescapable, although the secrets he taught his Knights of the Round Table are lost to time. In 1935, Katherine Maltwood identified the Vesica-Pisces symbol at Glastonbury Abbey along with the zodiacal form of Pisces, the Fisher-King. Thus the legends of Jesus and Arthur become somewhat intertwined. After Arthur’s death in 535, the legend of the Holy Grail grew, but it has never been found.
“The stories of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are also fairy tales to all appearance; yet they are based on facts, and pertain to the History of England.” — H. P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, 2:393

Credit Source for Images Featured at Top of Page:
(Top Left): http://fantasy-faction.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2012-JUN-Perceval-Feast-300x241.jpg
(Top Right): Sir Gawain - http://d.lib.rochester.edu/sites/default/files/imagecache/creatorpage/A%20vision.jpg

Often we find a reflection of the higher planes here in the lower world of physical humanity. Just as the Axis Mundi (or Omphalos) has been understood by all cultures throughout history (under various names) as the line connecting the Earth to the sky/heavens, each human being has their own personal axis, connecting their lower self to their Solar self. This personal axis is a line of energy that flows down from the light of your Solar self, through your spinal column and kundalini, connecting your head, heart, emotional and creative centres, until it grounds in the Earth.

There are various exercises you can do to enhance the flow of the Pneuma or Life Force from your Higher or Solar self to your Psyche (psychic body) and physical body – they include Chakra visualisations, intonations and deep rhythmic breathing. The Pneuma (also called Prana or Chi) will also be more readily absorbed during the formal practices of Tai Chi, Reiki, Chi Kung and certain forms of Yoga. At a more informal level, try walking in the Sunlight through a park in bare feet (taking the usual precautions to avoid over exposure to ultra-violet rays). This encourages the flow of therapeutic energies into both the inner and physical bodies.


Credit Source for Images Featured at Top of Page:
(Top Left): Solar Ancestor Archives: Ra.jpg
(Top Right): http://www.siobhanmassageandyoga.com/images/chakras.jpg
(Below Left): http://solarlunar.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Alchemical-Caduceus.jpg
(Below Right): http://i3.cpcache.com/product/1348397389/pink_medical_caduceus_sticker.jpg

A number of on-line reports are claiming that the ‘newly discovered’ Planet X, or Planet 9 as some scientists have dubbed it, is about to wreak havoc on planet Earth. I reported on the breaking news story about the recognition of this planet in the post of January 21 on my Blogsite (http://www.solarancestors.com/blog/-newsflash-planet-x-located-in-outer-solar-system-today ). Now, whether or not this turns out to be the much anticipated planet Nibiru that Zechariah Sitchin wrote about, it is unlikely to have any great impact on our lives in the short term. Until now, most people have failed to realize the vast size of our Solar System… even though Planet X is inside the cosmic bubble of our Heliosphere, it is still a very long way away - about 30 billion miles from us.

Earth travels 940 million kilometers (584 million miles) in its orbit around the Sun each year,
at about 100,000 km/h (63,000 mph). The planet currently accepted as being the largest in our System – Jupiter - travels at less than half this speed in its Solar orbit. Sitchin said that Nibiru orbited our Sun every 3,600 years and, as I read his theories, it should not pass near Earth again for some centuries yet. Even if it is headed in our direction, and if it was travelling ten times faster than Earth moves through space, it is still hundreds, or maybe even thousands of years away from us.
We should try to learn as much as we can about Planet X… without living in fear of it.

Credit Source for Image Featured at  Top of Page
 http://csglobe.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/What-you-need-to-know-about-Nibiru-Planet-X-2.jpg

A number of modern-day authors and speakers are trying to get the message through to us that the part of consciousness that humans commonly identify with as being their ‘self,’ is nothing more than the chatter of thoughts in their brain – which is generally concerned with past and future, rarely living in the present. There is a higher, true self in all of us that is revealed when we rise above thought and negative emotions to simply be aware of the ‘I Am’ within. For many years I called this the Higher Self. Today, because of my understanding of our source in, and connection with, the Sun Behind The Sun, I am more inclined to refer to it as the Solar Self. However the name given to it varies from one guide to the next: Guy Finley calls it the Immortal Self. Lobsang Rampa and Paul Brunton called it the Overself. Danah Zohar has called it the Quantum Self and author Gary Zhukav makes reference to the Authentic Self. Eckhart Tolle uses terms such as God-essence.

The lower ego, which is the product of thought in the brain, thinks it is the real self and exists in fear of losing its identity - it is afraid of meeting its death, although that is inevitable. In my blog of 29 Nov 2015 (http://www.solarancestor.com/weekly-blog/-death-before-dying-way-of-the-iatromantis ) I spoke of the concept of ‘death before dying,’ and this correlates with the words of Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now (P.38): “Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to ‘die before you die’ – and find that there is no death.”

The reason so many people are frustrated in their attempts to manifest their desires using the Law of Attraction, as outlined in the successful book & movie, The Secret, is that they are following the whims of their false sense of self – their lower ego – instead of connecting to their Solar Self to reveal their true innermost desires. You don’t so much attract what you want, as what you believe in your heart. In this regard, like attracts like. First of all: Know Your Self!

In articles on this site we have discussed the Intelligible Sun – the ‘Sun behind the Sun,’ and how we may absorb its energy into our being. Sometimes Light-seekers ask about the ‘Darkness’ - is it real, or does the invisible Sun’s Light reach every corner of existence? The Light does indeed pervade all existence on all planes, but there are places and situations where conscious beings have cast shadows – these dark places are the work of created beings, not the Creator. They are like the Hindu concept of Maya or Illusion. Some of these created Umbras take on a life of their own and there are, in fact, whole dimensional planes where so-called intelligent beings choose to live separated from the Light. It doesn’t mean that the Light has really been snuffed out there – it is a matter of consciousness deliberately blinding itself to it.

Earth scientists today speak of dark energy, dark matter and black holes. These concepts are largely theoretical and, in any case, the words ‘dark’ and ‘black’ are misnomers – there is no point in three dimensional space that Light cannot penetrate, and nowhere on other dimensional planes that the Intelligible Light cannot enter. Conscious beings always have free will, no matter where they are in the multiverse and, when the choice is made to be part of the Light, Cosmic forces will cooperate in making it happen. This fact is woven into the ancient Greek stories: for those who inadvertently get drawn into the darkness of Hades, there is always the option of returning to the Light, as demonstrated by Hermes, Demeter, Orpheus, Hecate and Persephone. As George Harrison warned in his 1970 song: “Beware of Darkness.”

In last week’s blog the human being was described as a Trinity. So why do we feel there is something lacking in our lives – why do some people spend lifetimes seeking truth and enlightenment? The Ancients used to refer to the four elements. The physical human form comprises three of these: earth (matter), water and air, but lacks the metaphysical fire. Once that spark is ignited, the result is a fifth form or element some call the quintessence. I call it the Solar Element. Since our ‘Fall,’ the only way we can ascend upwards from the third dimension is to add a fourth element, and so the geometrical symbol of our quest is a square. We have the three lines, and when we add the fourth line a square is produced, i.e. the fifth element is in fact the sum of its four parts. By adding a fourth dimension, we reach the fifth.

It was noted that the Solar Ancestors in Ancient Egypt taught that we, as Spirits (Ka), should redeem the personality of our lower self (Ha) and, while embracing it, return to and reunite with our Soul (Ba). But what is the element that is missing in this equation? It is the metaphysical heart or Ab. Once we activate that, we may be restored as an Akh, and the resulting fifth element is our Solar Self, the Sahu (in 2012 I posted a short clip on You-Tube showing this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuWIs1Xy6Hk ). The Buddhists of India used the terms: the Stream-enterer, the Once-returner, the Non-returner, and then by reaching the fourth stage called Arhat, they entered Nirvana as a Buddha.

I wrote about the sign of the square in a limited edition booklet entitled The Sign of the Quatrefoil (ISBN 0-975013904) ten years ago, and noted the human transition in ancient times from Trinity to Quaternity, tracing the meaning of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton and Greek Sacred Tetrakys. Think of the Creator as being represented by a triangle and the Created by a square. Contemplating sacred geometry can be an aid in igniting the metaphysical fire.

Image of the Ba as a bird with human head (L) and the Akh glyph (R), credit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_concept_of_the_soul

I am usually cautious about quoting from the bible but, since 54% of the world's population (3.8 billion people) consider themselves adherents of an ‘Abrahamic religion’ (Jews Christians, Muslims, Baha’i, Rastafarians and others)[i], the Old Testament is obviously a significant source of information and inspiration to many people.

Each human being is a Trinity within itself, a reflection of the triune deities/divinities of most traditions: the Father, Son & Holy Spirit of Christianity; the Chinese Fu, Lu, & Shou; the Egyptian Osiris, Isis & Horus; the Indian Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva; and so on. The three natures of the human being are called by many names - I will use: Soul, Body and Spirit. Our Souls directly relate to the Sun, while our Spirits (on the intermediate plane) incarnate in bodies which relate to the Earth – we chose this Earthly connection in an event that is burned into our collective consciousness as ‘The Fall.’ Once our Spirits made the choice to cling to the physical body rather than the Soul, it was cosmically decreed that we were to be subject to mortality and the Laws of Reincarnation, as recorded in Genesis 6, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; now his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” We made the choice and the corresponding Cosmic Law, or Word is, as St Paul later said, “Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing Soul and Spirit.” (Hebrews Ch.4)

Our Solar Ancestors in Ancient Egypt taught that each person’s Spirit (which they called Ka) needs to ‘redeem’ or rescue the energy field/personality of the physical self (Ha), and reunite with the Soul (Ba); the resulting reunited Solar Self was the Akh.[ii] Once this is achieved, there is no further need to reincarnate. Most of us like to think that if we live a good life and hope for the best, things will sort themselves out when we die. But if our Spirit/Ka maintains its longing for the material world, and/or there is Karma to be settled, it will be divided from its former personality/Ha, in what is called ‘the second death’ (spoken of in Revelations 2:11). Thus, instead of being reunited with the Soul/Ba, it is drawn back into another Earthly incarnation. The most desirable course to take then, is to Awaken while still in this life!

The Gospel of Thomas exhorts us to make the two into one, the inner like the outer and outer like the inner, the upper like the lower, and make male and female into a single one (Thomas 22)…. And further says, if one is whole and undivided one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness Thomas (61). Internal unity of Soul and Spirit, not division, is the key to our Solar Ascension.

FOOTNOTES:
[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions
[ii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_concept_of_the_soul

A number of observers are predicting that 2016 will be a very significant year. One writer in the Courier mail last week said the coming year would be a ‘tipping pint’ in which high technology such as virtual reality, robotics and online communication will become ‘mainstream,’ embraced by people of all ages and backgrounds. An article in New Dawn issue 154 (Jan 2016) asserts that humanity is set for a year of monumental revelations (‘Lifting the Veil on 2016’ by Patrick Henningson). Astrophysicist Patrick Duffy anticipates an exciting year ahead in the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. It is not only here in the alternative community that people are already aware of ongoing contact with ET and Inter-dimensional entities – a number of powerbrokers and NASA researchers know about their existence, but claim that the world at large is not ready to accept the reality of ET and ID contact. Solar Ancestor hopes that we are getting closer to open and sensible communication with other intelligences. Will 2016 be the year?

Image credit Source: http://www.on3software.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/virtual-reality-is-coming-to-the-workplace_1595_40038324_0_14099721_485.jpg

Many archaeological sites that have been discovered (or re-discovered) around the world over the past 100 years (1915 to 2015) help to shed light on the hidden mysteries of higher deities, our inner selves and ‘other worlds’ (or other dimensions), and our connections to them. Significant finds of the past century (some of them ‘accidental’) are:

Tomb of Tutankhamun (son of Akhenaten) by Howard Carter, 1922
Nazca Lines by pilots in the 1920s
Nag Hammadi Manuscripts by Muhammed and Khalifah 'Ali, 1945
Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran (by many people) from 1947 to 1956
Lost City of Vilcabamba by Gene Savoy, 1964
(Hiram Bingham had found Macchu Picchu, 1911, but Vilcabamba was the Lost City of the Inca)
Terracotta Warriors at Xian, China by various farmers, 1974
House of David Stelae in Israel by Avraham Biran, 1993
Gobekli Tepe in Anatolia, Turkey, by Klaus Schmidt, 1994
Largest Rock ever carved by ancient humans at Baalbek (once called City of the Sun), 2014

Some believe it is not just coincidence that ancient sites and artifacts are being discovered or revealed to us. We are about to plunge into a period of accelerated discovery, due mainly to new technologies available to us.
Some of the exciting finds currently being explored by new hi-tech methods include:
Nefertiti’s Tomb, using Infra-red scan, by Nicholas Reeves.
Ancient Atlantis at Santorini using sonar scans of the sea bed & microscopic landscape analysis, by Martin Pepper.
Hall of Records beneath the Sphinx using seismic equipment and ground-penetrating radar.
A 2,000-year-old Roman gold mining network in Spain using LiDAR attached to a Drone by Javier Fernández Lozano…

There are many more secret explorations going on around the world. Rest assured it will not take another hundred years before a bigger picture emerges. We are set to learn a lot in the next one to two decades.

Credit for Main Image at Top: http://i2.wp.com/ih.constantcontact.com/fs135/1102126638469/img/2085.jpg?w=585