The Foundation of Myth: a Unified Theory of the Link Between Seasonal/Celestial Cycles, the Precession, Theology, and the Alphabet/Zodiac
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SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS Number 263 December, 2016 The Foundation of Myth: A Unified Theory of the Link Between Seasonal/Celestial Cycles, the Precession, Theology, and the Alphabet/Zodiac Part II by Brian R. Pellar Victor H. Mair, Editor Sino-Platonic Papers Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305 USA [email protected] www.sino-platonic.org SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS FOUNDED 1986 Editor-in-Chief VICTOR H. MAIR Associate Editors PAULA ROBERTS MARK SWOFFORD ISSN 2157-9679 (print) 2157-9687 (online) SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS is an occasional series dedicated to making available to specialists and the interested public the results of research that, because of its unconventional or controversial nature, might otherwise go unpublished. The editor-in-chief actively encourages younger, not yet well established, scholars and independent authors to submit manuscripts for consideration. 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You should also check our Web site at www.sino-platonic.org, as back issues are regularly rereleased for free as PDF editions. Sino-Platonic Papers is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivs 2.5 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. THE FOUNDATION OF MYTH, PART II Figure 1. Top: the Great Bull and calf/sun as made up of the constellations Draco, Ursa Minor, and Ursa Major (illustration by the author). Second row from left to right: Bull at Lascaux; Marsoulas; Catalhoyuk; Susa (rotated 90 degrees); Mesopotamia; and Indus Valley. Third row from left to right: Egypt; Egypt – Senemut (reversed to show proper orientation); Egypt – Seti (reversed); Egypt – Heter; China; Egypt – Dendera; and Rome. The images in this figure are discussed in both Part One and Part Two. The Foundation of Myth: A Unified Theory of the Link Between Seasonal/Celestial Cycles, the Precession, Theology, and the Alphabet/Zodiac Part II Brian R. Pellar Boston, Massachusetts ABSTRACT From at least 2900 BC (the Age of Taurus) to the early fourth century AD (the demise of Mithraism), the north celestial pole, via the precession, was recorded as moving up and cutting through a large northern circumpolar constellation of an androgynous bull (Draco/Ursa Major), resulting in and explaining the later Egyptian images of a partial bull (Ursa Major). This constellation of a Great Bull (or Great Bear in northern cultures) symbolized and provided the blueprint for the celestial, lunar, terrestrial crescent horizon/gate that received and gave birth to a calf/sun/son (Ursa Minor) and, later, seed/logos via an arrow, spear, knife as the fall equinox whose tip was the celestial pole/axis mundi as depicted in whole or in part on northern walls, vessels, figurines, sky charts, images, and in the alphabet/zodiac. This resulted in an astro- theology centered on a monistic goddess as a vessel needing to be first “opened” by a solar god/predator for both the sowing and birth/resurrection of the sun as son, seed, logos that rises in light, consciousness, and wisdom. From its possible rudiments in the upper Paleolithic caves of France, to its roots in Neolithic Catalhoyuk, to its complex later stages in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Rome — here is Part Two of this great story. CONTENTS Author’s Note ix 1. Catalhoyuk: Shrine A.VI.6 3 A. Shrine A.VI.6: East Wall 3 B. Goddess as the Horizon 24 C. Evidence of the Androgynous Nature of the Goddess 48 2. Catalhoyuk: Shrine F.V.1 67 A. Shrine F.V.1: North Wall 67 B. Three Figures Beneath the Great Bull 69 C. Discussion of the North Wall 73 D. The South Wall — Winter Solstice 76 E. Discussion of the South Wall 82 F. Virgo as the Great Bull 85 G. Bull Rider/Leaper as Sun Rising from the Back of the Bull/Goddess as Horizon 88 H. The Goddess, Leopards, and Stars 93 3. The Upper Paleolithic 103 A. Marsoulas Cave: North Wall 103 B. Lascaux Cave: North Wall 108 C. Chauvet Cave: North Wall 111 4. Discussion 115 A. The Word Made Flesh: Axis Mundi as the Center of the Goddess as Vessel/Horizon 115 B. Observations On Related Images: An Outline 116 Outer Image (Cosmos) 117 i. Circumpolar Region 117 ii. Zodiac/Alphabet (Word into Flesh). 117 Middle Image (Terrestrial) 119 i. Mountain 119 SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS 263 ii. Ziggurat/Pyramid/Obelisk/Temple/Stupa 122 iii. Tree 122 iv. Fire Stick 127 v. Pole 130 vi. Column (Columna Cerului) 131 vii. Axle (Millstone) 132 viii. Caduceus/Staff 135 Inner Image (Body) 138 i. Spinal Column 138 ii. Phallus/Penis 139 iii. Omphalos (Navel) 143 iv. Womb 145 v. Head as Vessel 146 C. “Great Golden Copulations”: The Primal Pattern and the Birth of the Sun from the Horizon as Sun/Seed/Logos 160 5. Conclusion 179 Acknowledgments 181 References 183 viii AUTHOR’S NOTE It has been several years since Part One of “The Foundation of Myth” was published (Sino-Platonic Papers no. 219, January 2012, hereafter referred to as Part One), and I think it would therefore be prudent to offer a brief summary of the discussion of the planned Part Two that appeared there. I also want to highlight a couple of key discoveries that I made subsequently, in hopes of bringing a greater focus to them. Part Two of “The Foundation of Myth” opens with a discussion of what I feel to be a critically important painting from the Neolithic as well as one of the most important paintings of antiquity. (The images discussed in the following paragraphs are collected in Figure 1.) It is a relatively little known painting, and it was found at what James Mellaart called Shrine A.VI.6. This wall painting depicts what I believe to be the birth of the sun/son/seed at the horizon from a goddess figure, thus helping to explain and illuminate not only the many goddess figurines found throughout the Neolithic, with their associated enigmatic markings (such as the “V” chevrons at the neck and groin that indicate the birth of the sun/son/seed/Logos from the body/vessel of the goddess), but also, and more importantly, the idea that consciousness is resurrected like the seed/head of a plant whose body/vessel has died. To explain the latter, after researching the connection between the shape of the crescent womb and the crescent bull’s head (as noted by D. O. Cameron), I have created a diagram that explores and shows the rudiments and evolution of the lunar crescent/womb imagery as it was transformed from primarily a lunar crescent symbol to a solar double horizon one (see Figure 29A). After discussing this wonderful wall painting and its relevance to Neolithic goddess figures, I then examine a series of paintings found on northern walls at Catalhoyuk. Though my conclusions are speculative, I feel that there is enough compelling evidence to link these bull images to the constellation of the Great Bull (Ursa Major/Ursa Minor/Draco, discussed in Part One) in the northern circumpolar region of the sky, as well as to early constellations of the zodiac. Figurines found at Catalhoyuk of young men riding bulls/animals (identified, I believe, with the sun riding the horizon/goddess) are then looked at in the context of the larger tradition of images of bull riders from the Neolithic to Rome. After this discussion of the Neolithic, I then move back in time to the SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS 263 Paleolithic. I look at several key paintings of bulls in caves at Lascaux and Chauvet and explore a possible connection to northern constellations. I also discuss some of the interesting work of Chantale Jeques-wolkiewiez and others. My paper ends with a discussion of the many mythological symbols and numbers that have come down to us through the ages that might possibly correlate to the celestial north pole and the northern circumpolar region of the sky, where, as I relate in both Part One and Part Two, many ancient civilizations placed their high gods.