Our Universe, very much like own solar system is like a “cosmic galactic wheel” and its’ cycles have caused mankind to measure these periods of Time and Space and reflect on their significance to human evolution and to significant events on Earth. The Great Ages of the World have been defined by numerous cultures and classified in various scriptural or mythological works into chronological categories and according to phenomenal or cataclysmic circumstances.
Every 2,160 years a new Astrological Aeon or epoch emerges as a result of the eccentric shift of the Earth’s’ axis in relation to the Constellations in the sky – commonly referred to as precession of the equinoctial point. We are at this particular moment in time moving from the Virgo/Pisces Age into the Leo/Aquarius Age – Each age has its’ own theme which dominates or stamps its’ mark on the activities and ideologies of human beings on this planet. Astrological or more strictly speaking Precessional Ages are determined by the subtle retrograde movement of the Earth’s’ vernal point through the 12 constellations of the Zodiac at the rate of one degree every 72 years. This causes the celestial pole to deviate in relation to the star used to denote the centre of the celestial sphere.
The Aries/Libra Axis: (2,000 BC – 0.0 AD)
A period which was particularly epitomised in the activities of the Hellenic civilisation – where physical prowess and wars between tribal states dominated their life and also the noble institution of Democratic Government and intellectual stimulation (Libra). This primary Axis of FIRE with AIR, War and Peace, Individuality or Self with and its’ interaction with Society, Partnerships or Political Structures.
The Taurus/Scorpio Axis: (4,000 – 2,000 BC)
The emphasis on building & accumulating both power and possessions is exemplified by the Egyptian civilisations with their fine, luxurious temples and their other obsession with death, magic and the afterlife states (Scorpio) which manifests in tomb construction and elaborate ceremonies, processions burial rites. This secondary Axis is of EARTH with WATER, Building & Transformation, ones’ Possessions, resources and ones’ desires or passions.
The Gemini/Sagittarius Axis: (6,000 – 4,000 BC)
This period was characterised by the development of early scripts or writing, trade, trade and ingenious inventions (Gemini) which facilitated and promoted adventurous land and sea voyages – (Sagittarius). The third Axis is ruled by AIR & FIRE, – the conscious mind and the Super-conscious Mind, concerns the development of logic, intellect and ones’ dreams/visions and search for higher spiritual development.
The Cancer/Capricorn Axis: (8,000 – 6,000 BC)
In this era man was concerned with the development of small dwellings for the protection of homes and family (Cancer) against both outside enemies and elements. Whilst their focus on agriculture and fishing, mountains and caves as sacred temples (Capricorn) was also of special significance. The fourth Axis is ruled by WATER & EARTH, ones’ family, home and feelings in relation to Prestige, Career or personal ambition.
The Leo/Aquarius Axis: (10,000 – 8,000 BC & 2,000 – 4,000 AD)
As this constitutes our own epoch, we can only speculate as to its’ current significance. In the past cycle it probably influenced man’s preoccupation with Sun worship (Leo) at the end of the Ice Age and the technological development of primitive stone tools. Today the technological influence is more advanced (Aquarius) or sophisticated. There is also the possibility that early cave paintings and frescoes as well as the introduction of wild animals as pets were to some extent a manifestation of its’ creative influence. The fifth Axis is the FIRE & AIR combination where will-power and ones’ individuality are complementary to the development of higher personality.
The Virgo/Pisces Axis: (AD 0.0 – 2,000 AD)
A period that was epitomised in the establishment of retreats (Virgo) -religious communities of monks & nuns whose renunciations of sexuality was intended to help them develop their spiritual faith & devotion (Pisces) coincidentally the Christians’ early symbol was a fish. The sixth Axis is of EARTH & WATER, where the element of work & health, interact and combine with those of faith & compassion.
In simple terms the Earth’s retrograde wobble, while spinning in space and orbiting the Sun tends to offset minutely the determination of the equinoctial period. Therefore, over a long period of time the pole stars have exchanged dominion in the heavens. In 2,800 BC for example the star Thuban in the constellation Draco – the Dragon was our pole star, whereas currently Polaris is our pole star being located just 0.8 degrees from the celestial pole or centre. Mythologies relating to King Arthur (Urther Pendragon) and the Grail Legends may indeed refer to a time when Arcturus appeared to exert an influence due to its precise location in the heavens. It has been calculated therefore that an astrological or precessional age consists of 2,160 years and that we are now living in the Age of Pisces as the vernal point is passing through that constellation. The constellation Pisces, due to precession is placed nicely on the celestial equator, what is uncertain, however is the commencement or how long each age should last which can only be ascertained by consensus amongst various “experts”. The beginning of the Piscean Age is thought to have begun a few centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ. The oscillating movement of the poles, or precession as we term it is also responsible for the advent of the Glacial periods and the periodic interglacial periods experienced over huge spans of time. It is now thought that precession may have precipitated a cataclysm that devastated the lost continent of Atlantis (De Sechend & Santillana-Hamlet’s Mill).
The measurement of time is dependent on a number of factors, two of the most important are the planetary cycles of the Sun and Moon in relation to our own planet Earth. The Earth rotates once on it’s axis every 23.9345 hours (23 hrs. 56 min. and 4 sec.) as seen in relation to the fixed star constellations which paradoxically are not really fixed at all! Therefore while the Earth is rotating around the Sun we measure a “day” as a conceptual period of time between 12 noon, when the Sun is overhead and its’ return to the same point. However, because of the Earth‘s revolution around the Sun it takes a further four minutes before it reappears at the same point.
Consequently we have for some time arrived at the mean figure of 24 as the number of hours in a day. In relation to the fixed stars the Moon revolves around the Earth once every 27.32166 “solar days”, but these lunar phases are governed largely by our observations from Earth which again do not take into account the Sun‘s slippage. Consequently it would be more accurate to say that a true lunar cycle (Synodic Lunar Month) takes 29.53059 days to be precise. The year is defined as the time it takes our planet to go once around the Sun, again relative to the fixed stars, this is known as the “Sidereal Year” consisting of 365.256363 days. However for the purposes of maintaining a yearly calendar the important annual period is that between two successive Spring Equinoxes (technically known as the Tropical Year). The numerical factors of these planetary cycles are both pertinent and frustrating because they both contain an irrational number of days and cannot be resolved simply by noting the diurnal cycles of the Sun and Moon and reconciling them!
In contrast the Mayans used the planets Venus and Jupiter to record the passage of time while many other cultures still relied on lunar and solar cycles for calendrical notation. In some European cultures the year calendar was divided into five seasonal divisions of 72 days each, whereas their festival dates were viewed directly from observed phenomena such as eclipses, lunar phases the rising of fixed stars and of course the natural events of the Zoomorphic world (eg: Circadian Rhythms & Avian and Mammalian Migrations).
Consequently, any calendar created by human beings for the purposes of recording Earth time has to make some sort of compromise or adjustment every so often in order to maintain our current concept of time in relation to the regular seasonal cycles on Earth and the orbital cycles of the Sun and Moon. Our current calendar is Roman and goes back to the time around 46 BC when Julius Caesar, with the help of the astrologer Sosigenes decided to reform the ancient lunar calendar. It was decided that a year should consist of 365 1/4 days with a total cycle of 1,461 days which consisted of 3 common years of 365 days and one “leap year” of 366 days. The extra day added to the leap year ostensibly making up for any inconsistency between Sidereal and tropical time (one retrograde degree of the synodic vernal point = 72 years). Several miscalculations and omissions were later made to this system and to prevent further slippage Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar again by omitting 3 days every 400 years thereby reducing the annual figure to 365.2425 days.
The mathematical problem of recording time in any year required the resolution of twelve lunar months (354 days) to twelve solar months (364 days) – an approximate discrepancy of 11 days. This could only be done by the intercalation of a 30-day month at the end of every 3 years and an additional day every 4 years – what we now accept as the traditional “leap year”. On investigation much of the Bronze Age mythological iconography is therefore little more than a way of cryptically encoding this mathematical riddle for the benefit of future generations. This was expanded upon to include the greater cycles of Sun/Moon conjunctions (which occurred every 18/19 years) – known as the Saros and Metonic cycles. These were no doubt observed and known to ancient Megalithic and Bronze Age cultural traditions.
Around 500 BC the Greek astronomer Euctemon devised a solar calendar with months of 30 days duration, which was independent of the divisions previously delineated by fixed stars, but linked to the division of the ecliptic. This system is still in use today and constitutes the basis of what is termed “Tropical”, or Sun-sign Astrology. The traditional Babylonian symbolism for the twelve signs was nevertheless retained for these new divisions.
Hindu Cosmology:
Hindu chronology is based on vast spans of time and a Yuga is itself but a 1,000 part of a KALPA. Each Yuga is preceded by a twilight period (Sandyha) and terminated by a Sandhyansa, while the entire 4 Yugas, incorporating the twilights are known as MahaYugas. Their length can be expressed in “Divine” or “Mortal” years thus:
Golden Age (Krita Yuga) 62,800-36,880 BCE: Its duration was 25,920 years ( a full precessional cycle beginning with the Age of Leo, an earthly paradise before incarnation.
Silver Age (Treta Yuga) 36,800 – 17,400 BCE: Its duration was 19,440 years which is nine astrological cycles from Leo to Sagittarius. Incarnations occur in Mu and Lemuria.
Bronze Age (Dvapara Yuga) 17,440-4,480 BCE: Its duration was 12,960 years which was half a precessional cycle from the sign of Scorpio to Gemini and signalled the end of Atlantis (10,800 BCE) and the emergence of the Atlantean colonies in other continents of the world eg: Tibet, Egypt, Crete, S. America, India, China and some Nordic countries.
Iron Age (Kali Yuga) 4,480 BCE-2,000 CE: Its duration being 6,480 years the so-called Ages of Taurus, Aries and Pisces signalling the birth of Jesus Christ and continuing through into the Leo/Aquarius axis which is our present period.
Theosophical Ages & Root Races:
In her book “The Secret Doctrine” the founder of Theosophy, Madame Blavatsky formulated her own categories regarding the origins and evolution of humanity in terms of seven ages/root races each with 7 branches and periods. However, students of her philosophy assert her sources were the Hindu Puranas where the land of Hyperborea is named as “Svita-Dupa” or “White Island” with its centre the mythical Mt. Meru. There are seven root races of humanity, with seven sub-races under each one. Blavatsky formulates a septenary numerical framework (as did the Rosicrucian occultist and magus, Dr. John Dee, 7×7) to support her theories and so it is no coincidence that further analogous theories and allegories fit so neatly into her scheme. They begin with the ethereal and end with the spiritual on the double line of physical and moral evolution. According to Blavatsky at present, humanity has reached the fifth root race, simultaneously with populations that actually belonged to the third and fourth root races. The fifth root race has therefore reached its 5th sub-race. In the first root race or stage of human development (Etheric), physical bodies were not in evidence, while it is supposed that human beings existed in a purely “etheric” or transcendental body. The second root race/age was Hyperborean, this stage of human evolution was supposed to have inhabited a northerly continent, which has now ceased to exist, known as Plaksha. The Third Root Race/Age was named as Lemurian and this race of people were inhabitants of a now lost continent in the Pacific Ocean known as Lemuria (or Shalmali), which disappeared before the beginning of the Eocene Era. They were the first to become consciously divided into two sexes, the last of the sub-races of this era who were responsible for the Easter Island statues (equivalent to the Biblical “Fall of Man”). This race were presumed to be the inhabitants of the lost continent of Atlantis which was situated somewhere between N. Africa and S. America and was destroyed due to an extra-terrestrial cataclysm sometime in the Miocene period circa 9,654 BC. Plato‘s’ Timaeus & Critias makes a passing reference to its’ customs, location, influence and ultimate demise. There were in fact 4 catastrophic events, the first took place in the Miocene Age 800,000 years ago, the second 200,000 years ago, the third 80,000 years ago, and the fourth and final catastrophe took place in 9,654 BC (the destruction of Atlantis).
They were further sub-divided into seven categories of sub-races:
- Rmoahal
- Tlavati
- Toltec
- Turanian
- Semite
- Akkadian
- Mongolian
For a more detailed description of these seven branches of root races just click on the following link to Wikipaedia where the subject is dealt with in-depth (“Theosophical Root Races”). René Guenon enlarged and elaborated on Blavatsky’s hypothesis (“Atlanta & Hyperborea”, 1929) with an Adamic cycle lasting 64,000 years which was presumably coming to the end of its cycle and the region he held was an Aryan homeland known as Tula (Thule) which was itself pre-Atlantean. However, it was another occultist, Jean Phaure who proposed a schema that would integrate the Hindu Yugas with that of the archaeological and scientific knowledge of the time. Numerous details of Blavatsky’s controversial and hotly contested theory can very easily be challenged and contradicted by modern scientific and archaeological evidence for example the Easter Island statues were erected in the 13th century AD and the island’s population was significantly small right up until modern times.
The Fifth Root Race (Aryan):
This age represents all of the present stage of development of races on Earth at this time. Blavatsky described the fifth root race with the following words:
“The Aryan races, for instance, now varying from dark brown, almost black, red-brown-yellow, down to the whitest creamy colour, are yet all of one and the same stock – the Fifth Root-Race – and spring from one single progenitor, … who is said to have lived over 18,000,000 years ago, and also 850,000 years ago – at the time of the sinking of the last remnants of the great continent of Atlantis.”
I am highly suspicious of Madame Blavatsky’s theory of “Root Races” largely because they are inherently racist and because they probably gave rise to the false theory of the supremacy of the White Aryan Race appropriated by the Fascist movements in Italy, Germany and Japan. She also prophesies of the destruction of the racial “failures of nature” as another future “higher race” ascends:
Thus will mankind, race after race, perform its appointed cyclic pilgrimage. Climates will, and have already begun, to change, each tropical year after the other dropping one sub-race, but only to beget another higher race on the ascending cycle; while a series of other less favoured groups (the failures of nature) will, like some individual men, vanish from the human family without even leaving a trace behind. The sub-races (which Steiner renamed “Cultural Epochs” as a more adequate expression for our times) of the Aryan Fifth Root Race include the first sub-race, the Hindu, which migrated from the “City of the Bridge” on the white island in the middle of the Gobi inland sea to India in 60,000 BC; the second sub-race, the Arabian, which migrated from the “City of the Bridge” to Arabia in 40,000 BC; the third sub-race, the Persian, which migrated from the “City of the Bridge” to Persia in 30,000 BC; the fourth sub-race, the Celts, which migrated from the “City of the Bridge” to Western Europe beginning in 20,000 BC (the Mycenaean Greeks are regarded as an offshoot of the Celtic sub-race that colonized Southeast Europe); and the fifth sub-race, the Teutonic, which also migrated from the “City of the Bridge” to what is now Germany beginning in 20,000 BC (the Slavs are regarded as an offshoot of the Teutonic sub-race that colonized Russia and its surrounding areas).
The Sixth Root Race: (Aryan)
This group or category represents future races and ages to come. As the sixth root race is on the ascending arc, it will “be rapidly growing out of its bonds of matter, and even of flesh” (SD II:446). This seems to suggest that the bodies or vehicles of the future races will return to becoming more ethereal and androgynous. “The Secret Doctrine” further states that “there will be no more Americans when the Sixth Race commences; no more, in fact, than Europeans; for they will have now become a new race, and many more new nations. Yet the Fifth race will not die, but survive for a while: overlapping the new Race for many hundred thousands of years to come, it will become transformed with it” (Idem.). The next sense to be developed will be the faculty of normal clairvoyance.
Seventh Root Race: (Aryan)
Not much information is provided on the seventh root race. It is expected that it will be more ethereal than the sixth. Great adepts and initiated ascetics “will ‘once more produce Mind-born immaculate Sons. (SD II:275). ” According to C. W. Leadbeater, a colony will be established in Baja California by the Theosophical Society under the guidance of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom in the 28th century for the intensive selective eugenic breeding of the sixth root race. The Master Morya will physically incarnate in order to be the Manu (“progenitor”) of this new root race. By that time, the world will be powered by nuclear power and there will be a single world government led by a person who will be the reincarnation of Julius Caesar. Tens of thousands of years in the future, a new continent will arise in the Pacific Ocean that will be the future home of the sixth root race. California west of the San Andreas Fault will break off from the mainland of North America and become the Island of California off the eastern coast of the new continent.
In his book “Arktos, the Polar Myth in Science, Symbolism & Nazi Survival” (Thames & Hudson, 1993) the occult academic, Jocelyn Godwin details and describes how the Nazis endorsed Blavatsky’s theories of a “White Aryan Root Race”, to which the Germans belonged that migrated from the Arctic regions and their subsequent conflicts and struggles with so-called “inferior races” supposedly emanating from the Lemurian root race. It seems that in primordial times the Earth was not tilted at all but revolved perfectly on its axis and so the calendar year was composed of 360 days and not of 365 and a quarter days as it is today. He writes: “At the equator, the sun would appear at 6 o’clock each morning precisely in the east, rise vertically to reach the zenith at noon, and continue its journey to set due west at 6 pm. Its rising and setting places would never vary, and the lengths of night and day would invariably be equal”. In other words there was a perpetual spring, the sun would neither rise or set but half of its disk would be visible all of the time circling the horizon once a day. The higher altitudes of the Arctic and Antarctic circles were therefore capable of sustaining animals, plants and human beings, aided of course with the warm ocean currents.
The astronomer, mystic and revolutionary Jean-Sylvain Bailly was keen to elaborate further on the Ages of Man by examining when human beings first developed a “Zodiac” that originally had only ten signs although the Scythians had developed a 36-sign zodiac much earlier. He was intrigued by the deductions of Eudoxus (4th century BCE) who noted that the solstices and equinoxes were situated at the 15th degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn in approximately 1353 BCE and not as would have been presumed at the beginning of a particular sign. The Greeks added an extra labour (12 Labours of Herakles) to their zodiacal scheme to accommodate the transition, while the Persians featured their god, Mithras slaying each sign in a never-ending cycle. It should be noted that the sidereal zodiac takes note of the changes to the constellational map on the Earth’s horizon whereas the Tropical Zodiac remains constant from 0 degrees Aries and remains unchanged to this day. That is why the German astrologers like the Hindu and Tibetan employed the sidereal zodiac. Bailly used analogies to some very important legends, myths and stories about creation to extemporise on his theories, for example that of the “Phoenix Bird” (Herodotus, II, 73):
“The head of the Phoenix and its breast are the colour of fire; its tail and wings sky-blue. It lives for 300 days after which it flies off to Ethiopia and nests there; it burns itself together with its egg, from whose ashes there emerges a red worm, which, after having recovered its wings and the form of a bird, takes flight again with the same birds towards the North.”
The Phoenix being a solar symbol Bailly presumed its mythical birth, death and re-birth to correspond to the alternation of day and night at the North Pole or the regions within the Arctic circle (latitude 71 degrees) when there would have been just 65 days of darkness. He also compared the Roman myth of Janus, the God of the chronological gateways who holds the number 300 in his right hand and the number 65 in his left. Similarly the Nordic God, Odin spends 65 days in his nuptial bed with Freia on condition that he is present for the remainder of 300 lighter days. Again in the Greek myth of Persephone she is obliged by contract to spend half of the year with Hades in the Underworld and the other half with Zeus in Mt. Olympus suggesting a latitude which was half-day and half-night. The idea that the “old gods” from Greek and Teutonic mythology being usurped or replaced by the “new gods” was similarly referring to a migration from the polar heartland into Europe. The same could be said of the Vedic hymns to the dawn, the polar twilight or the Aurora Borealis, where the darkness shelters the enemies of Indra and the “Thirty Dawn Sisters” circle like a wheel and the long dawn preceding the rising sun. But as in many other instances the academics each came up with their own theories regarding an Arctic homeland where the “sun always shines” and numerous regions have been identified as an Aryan homeland, including the Gobi Desert, the Norwegian arctic regions, Ukraine, Iceland, Greenland etc. The main reason being that when telephone cables were laid along the Atlantic ocean floor there did not appear to be any remains of an Atlantean continent to be seen so that it was clear, at least to the scientifically minded that Atlantis must have existed somewhere else. So, researchers turned towards the Mediterranean where the island of Santorini was partially destroyed by an earthquake but this too proved to be fruitless and false.
The discovery of pre-historic carvings depicting left-hand and right-hand “swastikas” on mammoth bones in Russia were presumed to reflect a nomadic civilisation, probably of Scythian origin whose migrations came from some Aryan Arctic homeland. Indeed, since the swastika was a decorative motif found on Gypsy caravans and Tibetan Buddhist tankas (Bon Po sect) researchers were eager to note that the symbol was indicative of a Solar/Polar civilisation at some time in pre-history. That is one of the main reasons the German, as well as Italian Fascists used the symbol extensively in their ceremonial propaganda. There was a tendency among the Nazi esotericists to locate an avatar or prophet among the Asian regions (the Persian Zoroastrian, Zarathustra or Manes) as opposed to the Semitic prophets such as Moses or the Egyptian Akhenaton. The French writer, Voltaire commented on this as follows:
“Nothing has ever come to us from either European or Asiatic Scythia but tigers who have devoured our lambs. True, some of these tigers were amateur astronomers when they had the leisure, after sacking all of northern India; but are we to believe that they set out from their lairs with quadrants and astrolabes?”
The first book to actually delineate the Nazi fascination with the occult was Jacques Bergier’s and Louis Pauwel’s “The Morning of the Magicians” (1960) where the “Vril Society” (aka: The Luminous Lodge) is mentioned as a Rosicrucian sect established in Berlin. But the German Romantic Movement continued to advance India and Tibet as a region where the superior knowledge of the Aryans had been subsequently advanced as Goethe suggests in his “West-Ostilicher Divan” or in Neitzsche’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra” but the subject was widely covered in Leon Poliakov’s “The Aryan Myth” where he lists the numerous theories and contentions by western and eastern authors such as Max Müller in his “Sacred Books of the East”. But around the same time Charles Darwin was formulating his own “theory of human evolution” (“Origin of Species”) and other authors were forming their own views on a “Master Race” by the widespread employment of human eugenics. For example Ernest Renan writes in his book simply entitled “Rêves” (1876):
“A factory of Ases (Scandinavian Heroes), an Asgard, might be reconstituted in the centre of Asia. If one dislikes such myths, one should consider how bees and ants breed individuals for certain functions, or how botanists make hybrids. One could concentrate all energy in the brain. It seems that if such a solution should be at all realisable on the planet Earth, it is through Germany that it will come.”
Meanwhile, Madame Blavatsky having noted the popularity of her hypothesis in German and Italy prepared her next book “Isis Unveiled” (1882) revealing her masters or sources as Koot Hoomi and Morya in correspondence with her secretaries A.P Sinnett and A. O. Hume. This naturally spawned a number of Neo-Pagan, Anti-Christian and Anti-Semitic movements in Europe who endorsed vegetarianism, keep fit, bio-dynamics, phrenology and idealised facial characteristics such as “blonde-haired, blue-eyed and physically vigorous individuals”. (H. Rendall describing them as “the blonde dolichocephalic race that was cradled on the Baltic shores”). All of which eventually gave rise to the “Boy Scout Movement” by Baden Powell and Oswald Mosley’s “Brown Shirts” in England and Rudolph Hesse’s own support for Aryan supremacy in Europe, the so-called “Thule Society”. It was named after a lost continent first charted by Pytheas of Massilia around 340 -285 BC when he sailed northwards near Scotland when he observed that the longest day in northern England was nineteen hours (probably the Shetland Isles). The Roman historian Tacitus writes:
“I concur in opinion with those who deem the Germans never to have inter-married with other nations; but to be a race pure, unmixed, and stamped with a distinct character. Hence a family likeness pervades the whole, though their numbers are so great: eyes stern and blue, ruddy hair and large bodied.”
The three “godfathers” of Nazi Thule were Guido von List, Jörg Lanz von Leibenfels and Rudolph von Sebotendorff who promulgated the idea that Germans were ostensibly a “master race” chosen by Nature and God. Jörg Lanz for example was in 1907 the founder of “Order of the New Templars” with their lodges located at the site of ancient ruined castles and became the prototype of Heinrich Himmler’s “Schutzstaffel” or the notorious SS as they were later to be known. They came to the conclusion that the Semites were involved in a conspiracy against Aryan culture through their involvement in Freemasonry and that the Thulean Ideal was still active in its own way with the “Germanenorden”, a secret band whose mission it was to revive the true Nordic traditions, the study of Runes, etc (Herman Wirth), which would restore the Aryan ideal (its leader and chief propagandist was Herman Pohl). He was also a Rosicrucian, a mystic and student of Islamic ideals and an Odinist (neo-Pagan). But in April 1919 seven members of the Thule Society were brutally executed by Communist rebels and became martyrs to the cause. The Thuleans meanwhile had infiltrated the National Socialist Party which was subsequently transformed into the German Workers Party and the National Socialist German Workers Party of which Adolf Hitler became their President. The rest as they say was history but what is also of some concern is that Hitler, realising the enormous potential of an hydrogen bomb actually theorised that if an extremely large bomb was exploded at the south pole then perhaps the Earth’s delinquent axis would be restored to its original and the Aryan homeland would be restored. He was converted to Aryanism when he was imprisoned in Landsberg prison until 1924 along with Rudolph Hesse who was himself a supporter of Rudolph Steiner’s “Anthroposophy” with its emphasis on magic, biodynamic food, the doctrine of signatures and herbalism.
Greek & Roman Ages:
In Ovids’ “Metamorphosis” he mentions 4 previous World Ages that have influenced the development and life of mankind – these were named and classified after certain metals following a tradition linked with Hesiod (“Works & Days”, 700 BCE).
The Golden Age:
(The so-called Pre-Minoan Period, The Youth of Man)
Men lived like Gods ruled by Kronos, free from worry and fatigue, lived to old age and died peacefully in their sleep.
The Silver Age:
(Minoan Period/Adolescence of Man)
Mankind was influenced by matriarchal rulers and Moon worship, survived by agriculture, did not indulge in war or eating meat. Zeus destroyed them because they did not offer sacrifices to him.
The Bronze Age:
(The Mycenaean Period/Maturity of Man)
Mankind delighted in heroic exploits, ate meat and were unscrupulous in thought and deed. They were apparently destroyed by plagues.
A further Age was added by Hesiod to include elements or events in Greek history and was known as “The Heroic Age” when mankind lived under the rulership of Kronos (Saturn) which was free from travail, pain and old age. The Roman poet and chronicler, Ovid elaborated on the legend in his book “Metamorphoses”.
The Iron Age:
(Dorian Period/Old Age of Man)
Mankind became, on one account a race of divine heroes, instigating wars against Troy & Thebes, there were also periods of misery, crime, cruelty and treachery.
The Orphic Ages of Man recorded by Servius likewise attribute certain qualities to the 4 ages of the world. The first is attributed to the planet SATURN and the element of FIRE, the second to JUPITER and the element AIR, the third to NEPTUNE and the element WATER, and finally the fourth to PLUTO and the element EARTH.
These attributes are in accord with the Orphic descent of the soul of Man and the creation of the world as a secret, esoteric doctrine which utilises ancient astrological lore. The descent is visualised as follows:
Aztec World Ages:
The Aztec Lord of Creation was known as Ometecuhtli, the personification of duality whose male and female aspects were Ometeotl and Omecihuatl. This cosmic pair gave rise to the 4 Tezcatlipocas. First came Xipe Totec (Dog), the so-called “Flayed God”, second came Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird), the so-called “War God or Wizard”. Third came Quetzacoatl (Feathered Serpent), the so-called winged or feathered serpent and finally came Tezcatlipoca (Horned Owl), the so-called “Lord of the Night Sky or Smoking Mirror”. A confrontation between these deities led to a cosmic struggle for supremacy of 5 successive eras or “Suns”(Accounts do vary according to time & place). The First Sun was sacred to Ocelotl (Tezcatlipoca) when Giants presided over the Earth while Jaguars ate mankind. The Second Sun was sacred to the Wind, Ehecatl (Quetzacoatl), when hurricanes ravaged the world and men were transformed into monkeys. The Third Sun was Rain in the sign of Quiahuitl (Tlaloc) when the World was destroyed by fiery rain out of the skies. The Fourth Sun was Water in the sign of Atl (Chalchiuhtlicue), when the world was destroyed by floods and men were transformed into fish. Finally, the Fifth Age was “Motion” in the sign of Ollin (Tonatiuh), when the World was destroyed by earthquakes. This last period is the one we are currently living in although according to the Mayan calendar this is due to end in the year 2,012. This era will end as a result of earthquakes according to their sacred annals and the famous calendar stone depicts the Sun God Tonatiuh enclosed by the sign for “movement/motion” (Tlazolteol).
Mayan Ages of the Sun:
It is assumed that the Mayans inherited their calendar system from the Aztecs although where the Aztecs received theirs is still uncertain. Recent discoveries by archaeologists suggest the existence of an earlier culture known as the Zoque who established numerous temple complexes on the western regions of the Mexican Valley. The Toltecs history of creation also began with the creation of the 4 or in some versions 5 suns. The first was a “Water Sun” when the world was destroyed by floods (1,716 years). The second Sun was Earth which was destroyed by earthquakes/populated by “Giants”. The Third Sun was Wind when the world was destroyed by cyclones and Winds and men were transformed into monkeys. (The period of Huemac or Quetzacoatl). The Fourth Sun was attributed to fire Our current period which is due to end in a burning conflict.
Other Similar Theories:
According to certain traditions each nation or country experienced what may be termed a “Golden Age” in terms of its literary, artistic, political or military achievements. For example for Assyria it was during the reign of Esarhaddon, 3rd son of Sennacherib, to the fall of Nineveh (700-600 BC). In Media during the reign of Cyaxerxes (634-594 BC) and in Persia from the reign of Khosru I to that of Khosru II (531-628 BC). For the Greeks, during the supremacy of Pericles (443-429 BC), for the Chaldeo-Babylonians from the reign of Nabopolassar to Belshazzar (625-538 BC). In Egypt during the reign of Seti I and Rameses II (1312-1235 BC). In China it occurred during the T’ang dynasty (618-906). In England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and in France during the reign of Louis XIV (1640-1740). In Germany during the reign of Charles V and Portugal during the reign of John I to that of Sebastian. In Prussia during the reign of Frederick the Great (1740-86). For the Roman Empire from the death of Domitian (AD 96) to the accession of Commodus (180 AD). In Russia during the reign of Peter the Great (1672-1725). In Spain during the reign of Ferdinand & Isabella (1672-1725). In Sweden from Gustavus Vasa (1523-60) and in Finland Gustavus Adolphus (1611-32). Another cycle of human endeavour and spiritual evolution was formulated by the Roman Catholic Abbot Trithemius (15th century) linked to the so-called “Secundaean Beings”. In effect they were 7 astral intelligencies given over the rulership of an never-ending sequence of historical periods in human history consisting of 354 years duration each (2,478 years or Trithemian Periods). Trithemius assigned the Sun to the period beginning in 1881, our own epoch, which is due to end of course in the year 2,235. This has nothing to do with the orbital periods of the planets or their synodic cycles but I have compiled them in a table for comparison. Each is thought to be of the rank of archangel although with respect to the range of their influence, they are merely archai (angels) and are linked to the planetary spheres. When compared to the table by Trithemius below there is an obvious discrepancy in their names and planetary attributions. Derived largely from an amalgam of Hebraic/Gnostic sources, Trithemius describes a cycle of historical events or circumstances attributed to them, these were briefly summarised by Stein as follows.
- Saturn (30 – an approximate synodic period) Orphiel – Light & Darkness, Christ’s time on Earth.
- Jupiter (12 – an approximate synodic period) Zachariel – Order & Chaos, the Religious or monastic Life.
- Mars (15 – an approximate synodic period) Samael – Military Crusades & Conflicts.
- Venus (8 – synodic period of 99 lunar months) Anael – Persecution of Believers, faith of martyrs.
- Mercury (20 – Egyptian years = 63 synodic periods) Raphael – Age of Holy Grail, Orders of Knights.
- Sun (19 solar years) Michael – Trans-global World Commerce, navigation & discoveries.
- Moon (25 – Egyptian years = 63 synodic periods) Gabriel – Feuds connected to hereditary rights and dominions.
- *Atmos (Ariel – 7 layers of Earth’s atmosphere). Our current Age characterised by Plagues, Floods & Climatic Disasters.
- Earth (*Metatron – Regulation & Maintenance of Earth’s geophysical existence) from the time of Copernicus.
*Note: These differ from one system to another. More recently Metatron is also connected to the sphere of Kether (Head Chakra), however since there is an obvious connection with Malkuth (Base Chakra) it seems expedient to point out this anomaly also. Some researchers insist that the sphere is ruled over by the Shekinah or the demoness Lilith other sources suggest the archangel Sandalphon. We must also take into consideration that Trithemius was writing a spoof manual of Magic artfully disguised as a manual for the code-breakers and code-makers of his time.
