The
Pagan Past
Everything the ancients did in regards to
astronomy cannot possibly be contained on one web page! Here then are a few
examples of the varied and complex paths they took in their own way, to the
stars.
At a Hindu wedding, husbands swore by the
Pole Star as a symbol of constancy.
In Sweden there was a bardtraed, a guardian tree at every farmstead. The tree
represented the pillar of the universe. Pregnant women often hugged them to
secure the blessing of an easy delivery.
In Germany and Ireland on May Day, a traditional folk dance has been performed
since ancient times. Large garland hoops are carried which represent the cosmic
wheel. Inside the hoop are hung two balls, one of gold and one of silver which
stood for the sun and moon.
In the Hartz Mountains of Europe, fir trees are erected at the midsummer
solstice and decorated with ribbons and black eggs with yellow and red sun
designs.
At midsummer, the Romans held a fest in honor of "king" Servius Tullus
who was born from the sun's flames, and the goddess Fortuna and her cosmic
wheel.
In the classic tale of Beowulf, the hero wears a boar on his armor, symbol of
the sun and steed of the goddess Freya.
In old Ireland, bonfires were once lit at the time of the vernal equinox. The
chant "Granno my friend, Granno my father, Granno my mother" was
originally dedicated to the Irish sun goddess Graina, who was later called
Grannus by the Romans.
The
Egyptians believed that a sacred portal existed in the sky called the duat or
tuat. The translation of the word literally means "star gate", and in
hieroglyphics was represented by a pentacle. This gate was believed to be used
by the gods, and to become active at certain times allowing the gods to enter
and exit the sky.
The Greeks believed in two sky portals, one in Cancer and the other in
Capricornus, respectively the sites of the summer and winter solstices. It was
believed that the souls of all living creatures "arrived" at birth
through the one in Cancer, and "exited" at death through the one in
Capricorn.
In nearly every ancient culture universally, the Milky Way was thought to be a
river, road or bridge that was traveled by the gods. Humans too walked or traveled
by boat over this pathway to enter the realm of the gods. In Indo-European
cultures, the destination was Mt. Olympus (Greek), Valhalla (Norse) or Mt. Meru
(India) the cosmic axis. In many other cultures, the dead traveled to the sky
and then became stars.
In many ancient cultures "tree worship" was actually Pole worship.
Trees, pillars, standing stones and sometimes central tent or house columns
represented the celestial pole on which the earth turns, source of stability,
constancy and the turning of the cosmic wheel.
The swastika is an ancient symbol that was used for thousands of years to
represent the turning of the cosmic wheel. More then just a symbol however, the
swastika depicts a celestial event. Until the invention of modern clocks, the
Big Dipper was used as a "night clock" by which to tell time. If one
were to watch the Dipper throughout the night, they would actually see it swing
around, "pointing" at the cardinal directions and making the shape of
the swastika. This information, and instructions on how to use the Dipper clock
was included in astronomy books prior to WWII, unfortunately after the Nazi's
adopted this symbol it was dropped from all astronomy texts since.
Although
modern Wiccans associate the goddess with the moon, in all Indo-European
cultures the goddess was the sun, and the moon a male. In languages such as
Greek, Roman, Hindu, Celtic and Norse, the sun is a "female" noun and
the moon "male".
In all ancient cultures, the creation of the calendar followed a typical
pattern. Early calendars were based on the moon, and perhaps a lunar zodiac.
Some modern cultures such as the Hebrews and Islam still use an ancient lunar
calendar. The next calendars were based on fixed stars. Egypt used Sirius in
this way quite successfully. Lastly, calendars became solar, and for a long
period of time many cultures struggled to rectify all of their calendar
methods. Creating an accurate calendar was no easy task, and was often the
responsibility of learned priests. Today, we use a calendar instituted by Rome,
however this is not the most accurate calendar known to humankind. The ancient
Mayans developed a calendar more precise then the one in use today.
Although modern scientists dispute that the ancients had telescopes as we know
them today, crystal lenses have been discovered around the world which were
probably used for telescopes. In addition, the ancients used reflecting wells,
and alignments with buildings, natural objects such as mountain tops and
standing stones or stone circles to track alignments and stellar transits.
The circular Chinese donut shaped disk, known as a "pi disk" carved
out of jade and worn today as a charm, had a sincere purpose in olden days.
Disks thousands of years old have been found with markings along the edges.
When held up to the Pole Star, the markings align to various stars acting as a
sort of planisphere, with the Pole Star appearing in the hollow center.
The largest and oldest constellation in the heavens may be Draco the Dragon.
Once covering a larger area then today, Draco contained the Pole Star many
thousands of years ago. In nearly every culture this constellation was
considered to be a great serpent/star goddess that created humankind and
controlled the turning of the cosmic wheel.
Many ancient myths repeated today make no sense, because in modern times people
have lost their knowledge of the night time sky. After studying astronomy and
then rereading the ancient myths, an incredible amount of celestial knowledge
comes to light regarding the ancient's knowledge of the pole, precession,
cycles of the sun and moon, and even insights about our galaxy. Long before
Columbus, ancient Greeks debated on the planets orbiting the sun, and even
realized that our own galaxy sits on a "tilt". The ancient Mayans had
even devised the location of the galactic center, a feat modern science had not
achieved until the 1940's with the invention of high powered telescopes.
Evidence suggests that knowledge of precession may have had a large impact on
ancient religions. Because of the earth's tilt and wobbling motion,
approximately every 2,000 years the position of the stars seem to change in
relation to the earth. Currently for example, the spring equinox occurs in
Pisces. In a few hundred years, the equinox will find itself aligning to
Aquarius, the so called "Age of Aquarius" made popular in the 1960's.
It can be noted with interest that in the human past, great religious cults
seem to coincide with the zodiac constellation present at the spring equinox.
For example, the cults of Ammon-Ra and sacred bulls during the age of Taurus,
the Golden Fleece during the age of Aries, divine twin cults during the age of
Gemini, goddess cults during the age of Virgo and so on.
Many ancient
sacred cities were laid out according to a celestial plan. Tara in Ireland represented
the center of the universe and it's four cardinal directions. In the
"Republic", Plato discusses the perfect city, laid out according to
the zodiac. The ancient site of the Aztec capital, now Mexico city, once
featured a pyramid in a manmade mote, representing the primordial mountain from
which life arose. In Cambodia, are ancient cities nearly identical to the Aztec
plan. The famous Taj Mahal conforms as well, featuring a central pyramid
mountain surrounded by the cardinal directions and moat representing the Milky
Way. Sites in Egypt have proven to be large sky maps, with pyramids that align
to star positions, namely the constellation Orion which the Egyptians called
Osiris. In Peru we find the famed lines of Nazca, many of which also align to
starry asterisms. Around the ancient world, astronomers were actively mapping
the heavens and the human place in it, and building elaborate temples and
sacred centers to recreate the world of the gods on earth.
