Our History is Written in the Stars

The sky in the northern hemisphere lends itself to identification of various zones, each with characteristics that can be the basis of myth.

First, observing the sky in the 4 cardinal directions shows that the sun, moon, and stars rise in the eastern part, set in the western part, revolve around a point in the north, and rise and set more quickly as you go south. The identification of the east with birth/beginning and west with death is probably universal. The observation that circumpolar stars between the north pole and the horizon never set lends itself to the idea that these stars do not partake in the life/death cycle and are somehow eternal. Stars are noted when they cross a horizon or when they reach their zenith (cross N/S line).

Circumpolar stars:With the precession, these stars change over a 24000 year period, but Draco is always circumpolar and is the location of the pole of the ecliptic (solar system pole). Draco connects the current Polaris system of Ursa Minor surrounded by Draco, Ursa Major, Cepheus and Cassiopeia, with the Vega system consisting of Draco, Lyre, Cygnus, Aquila, and Hercules.

There are then 8 major circumpolar constellations. Moving through these bands is the milky way, which can have 4 basic configurations:

The land of the Living surrounded by Cosmic Ocean, seen when Sagittarius/Scorpio is rising and the galactic pole is overhead (no prominent stars in this place as we are looking up through the galaxy). The horizon is surrounded by the milky way on all sides.

Tree of Life, seen when Pisces/Aquarius is rising and Deneb is at zenith. The triangle of Deneb, Altair, and Vega has Deneb in the milky way, Vega on the living side, and Altair on the dead side. When Altair reached the zenith a bridge extends across the sky, uniting the lovers. This image was especially powerful during the Age of Scorpio (16000-17000 BP) when Deneb was the pole star. On nights this is visible it's possible to see 3 of the configurations in one night (no cosmic mountain). This now happens in the early fall, but classically (1000-3000 years ago) it happened in late summer (seventh night of the seventh month?).

The Cosmic Mountain--This classic configuration of this happened during the age of Scorpio. The milky way passed through the north pole at that time, making it always visible. When Taurus would rise, the milky way would appear to be a great mountain in the north. Trapped in this mountain were the dragon and vega. The sky was dominated by the opposite stars of the cosmic ocean, which was considered under water and the realm of death. The cosmic ocean would not appear but instead a second mountain with Vega surmounting it, appearing to rule the land of the living. The obvious connection to Orpheus (represented by the Lyre, Vega) I'm sure will yield rich connections of Vega to the classic Hero tale.

Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (tree of sacrifice) when Virgo/Leo is rising and Capella crosses zenith which returns to land of living (and maybe mountain). This tree is dominated by the beheading of a great bull (the original Bull is much bigger than the present constellation) by Orion. Sacrifice is the theme.

The order then is summer, spring, winter, fall, summer. The classic configuration was during the age of Leo (12500 BP) when the Tree of Life would appear in the spring sky.

The stars then, are divided into the zones of eternal, living, and dead (or under water). The eternal stars change over time (except for Draco), but the division of the land of the living and land of the dead cannot change. These zones (gods, living, and dead) underpin western mythological systems and can be arrived at independently. In the southern hemisphere, the lands of living and dead would be reversed.

Certain configurations of major stars useful for orientation may be built into our genome. We spent much of our evolutionary history in equatorial Africa, where all stars are visible. Of course, specific mythologies will be related to many incidental factors that make understanding of the skies important for survival.

My thesis is that myths and religion are a combination of a deep seated orientation instinct combined with a common inbuilt framework for storytelling (the basic plot(s)). The tales told about the stars were assented to by others as "true" because they corresponded to this deep orientation instinct.

Furthermore, my thesis is that stories with deep correspondence to both orientation truth and story telling truth (form is correct) are the basis of human culture (the purpose of language is to tell these stories) and individual human behavior. When the orientation instinct is combined with initiation (dramatically imprinting a star based story designed to transfer the knowledge and skills required for the task of the initiation) then you have a religious system. The initiation process, done under the right circumstances, will cause a sudden change of consciousness, including the experience of union with all (perhaps mediated physically by release of DMT).

The symbolic goal of any religious system is to reach the summer (Eden, Land of Living) and spring (tree of life, alchemical marriage) by starting with the present world (cosmic mountain/wasteland) and passing through an ordeal/initiation/sacrifice (tree of knowledge). Thus, the sacrificial tree dominated by the beheading of the Bull (or some other similar image) is the heart of religious symbolism.

Understanding this basic scheme you can figure out the source and commonalities of many myths (since they are all telling the same basic four stories): Idylls of Eden (road stories/ adventure tales), the losing and finding of the Other (comedies and romances), the wasteland and dragon-guarded treasure (horror, fairy tales, black humor), and the sacrifice of the hero (tragedies).