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.Now, it will be observed, by looking at any celestialglobe, that the progress of the sun from its lowest to its highestdeclination is divided into seven equal parts by the sevensigns of the zodiac, through which he passes, or in which heis, while mounting upward from the winter to the summer sol-110Chapter 7.Astronomical Explanationsstice.The sun, starting in Capricornus, passes successivelythrough Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, and Gemini, until hereaches the summer solstice, or summit of the zodiacal arch,on the 21st of June.If the reader will take the trouble to tracethis ascending path of the sun along the ecliptic on a celestialglobe, its symbolical significance will be impressively illus-trated.It must, however, be remembered that the winter andsummer solstice were anciently in Aquarius and Leo, and notin Capricornus and Cancer, as they now are, owing to theprecession of the equinoxes.The Hindu astronomer, Varaha, says, "Certainly the south-ern solstice was once in the middle of Asleha (Leo), and thenorthern in Dhanishta (Aquarius)." Modern astronomers alldeclare the same thing.A study of the various astronomicalmyths of antiquity shows that the most of them originatedwhen the summer solstice was either in Leo or between Leoand Cancer.In the days, therefore, when planetary worshiphad its rise, the sun, in his passage from the winter to the sum-mer solstice, started in Aquarius and ascended successivelythrough the signs Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer,30° each, and entered Leo at the summit of the zodiacal archon the 21st of June.These seven signs are therefore symbolicalof seven ascending stages or steps, and, according to the sci-ence of astrology, these seven signs, following each other inthis exact order, are the houses of the seven planets (whichthey rule and signify) in exactly this order: Saturn, Jupiter,Mars, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, and the Sun.But by a strange correspondence this is the exact order inwhich the planets are arranged as ruling the seven ascendingstages of the Temple of the Seven Spheres, with but oneexception.The moon, whose house is Cancer, and which signshe rules (according to astrology), is at the top of the sevenstages, while the sun is placed in the center, between Marsand Venus, who rule the vernal signs Aries and Taurus.This is,however, in perfect harmony with the ancient allegory above111Stellar Theology and Masonic Astronomygiven, for anciently the vernal equinox was between Aries andTaurus, the summer solstice being between Leo and Cancer.The base of the temple, therefore, symbolized the winter sol-stice the appropriate color of which was black, and its signif-icator Saturn or Time, which destroys all things.It referred tothe sun at his lowest point of declination, and when Nature isdesolate and dead.The central stage, ruled by the sign Aries and Taurus,between which the sun was emblematically represented by hiscolor, was typical of that luminary raised to life again at thevernal equinox, when the sun entered those signs in thespring.The seventh stage, or summit of the temple, was in likemanner typical of the summer solstice, anciently betweenCancer and Leo.Cancer is ruled by the moon, and Leo is thesole house of the sun (according to the teaching of astrology).The top and last stage was therefore represented to be ofthe color of the moon, denoting that the sun was nowapproaching the highest point of his journey, and was aboutto be exalted to the summit of the zodiacal arch.The colors, asgiven by Herodotus, are also in exact harmony with the sci-ence of astrology, and so also is the rule of the seven metalsby their respective planets, as given by the "Freemasons' Mag-azine" (see Ptolemy, Placidus, Lilly, and Zadkiel's "Grammar ofAstrology," for the teachings of astrology on these points; also,as to the houses of the planets and their rule).We should bepleased to follow this subject still further, but enough has beensaid to show the close connection between the seven ascend-ing stages of the great Temple of Belus and the Temple of theSeven Spheres at Babylon, with the emblem of the ladder ofseven steps as exhibited in the Persian Mysteries, and, indeed,all of the Oriental Mysteries.Nor can there be much doubt ofthe fact that our masonic emblem was adopted from theseancient sources, while it is equally certain that the explanationwhich refers it to "the ladder Jacob saw in his vision,"although beautiful, is the invention of Preston, Cross, or some112Chapter 7.Astronomical Explanationsother recent writer, who had no idea of its true meaning orancient origin.The Masonic Ladder of Three RoundsQ.What is the signification of the ladder of three rounds, andwhy is it represented as leading up to the "seven stars," orPleiades?A.This emblem is clearly but a modification of the ladder ofthe Mysteries, consisting, as we have seen, of seven roundsand is of the same general astronomical meaning.The sun,when ascending from the winter solstice to the vernal equi-nox, the constellation Taurus ( ), and the Pleiades, or sevenstars, situated therein, passes successively through three signsof the zodiac, to wit, Aquarius ( ), Pisces ( ), and Aries ( ).THE MASONICLADDER OFTHREE ROUNDSThese three signs are therefore emblematically represented bya ladder of three principal rounds, by means of which the sunclimbs up from the point of his lowest southern declination tothe vernal equinox and the "seven stars" in Taurus.The fore-going is the emblem of the masonic ladder as generally repre-sented (see Monitors) [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]