Hello,

I want to inform the readers of this blog that Marc Steurbaut has died from an internal bleeding on May 4th 2012. Thank you for the interest in Marc's work.

This is Marc exploring Brittany with his daughter in 2010.

And this is Marc enjoying vacation.

I wish everybody all the best,

Peter Steurbaut (brother of)

46 Some SACRED GEOMETRY: places of power (3)

Chartres Cathedral

“And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters“ (Genesis 1:2).
Without water, life isn't possible on earth. Life even originated in water. Water plays an important role in most religions: baptism, sacred springs and rivers, blessings with “holy water” etc... Since the Neolithic Age, humans were very aware of the importance of water as “bringer of life”.
 

In her book “Points of Cosmic Energy”, the Swiss dowser Blanche Merz (1902-1973) claimed that 14 water veins come together under the altar of Chartres cathedral (above). In the nineteen sixties, excavations were done inside the cathedral of Santiago de Compostella, Spain. About the same configuration of water veins was found under the altar there, and they are clearly “man made”. The currents of water are indicated on the pavement by fourteen black marble incrustations.
Under the basilique of Orcival, France, runs an artificial water current fed by a spring located at the western facade (below). The man made water currents are generally made of conical tile tubes.

On a rock, 600 m above Eaux-Bonnes in the Pyrenees, France, stands a little chapel.
There's no water in the underground, but when restoring the pavement inside the chapel, workers found an “artificial” water vein: a ditch carved in the rock filled with river pebbles ...

Orcival, Puy-de-Dôme, France

45 Some SACRED GEOMETRY: places of power (2)

Above and below the ground

The first published description of the dowsing rod is Georgius Agricola’s “De Re Metallica” published in 1556. In the past, dowsing was used to detect subsoil water veins and metal ores. Since the advent of the New Age movement, dowsing is used for almost anything, from finding lost pets by map dowsing to detecting “spiritual lines” in the landscape, and even for finding “demons” inside human beings.

In the nineteen thirties and forties, Dr. E. Jenny from Aarau, Switzerland, did a series of experiments over a twelve year period with plants and white mice to find out what the influence of a “dowsing zone” (geopathic zone) was on plants and animals. He found out that plants growing on the geopathic zone were about half the size of the ones growing on a “neutral” zone. Jenny did a similar experiment with white mice. They were put in a big cage, partly on a geopathic zone. The mice avoided and never slept in the part of the cage located above the geopathic zone.

In the nineteen fifties, the Dutch professor of geology Dr. S.W. Tromp conducted tests to determine dowsers’ sensitivity to magnetic fields in the laboratory. For many of the tests, they used a U-shaped rod. Tromp found that dowsers could detect changes in the strength of an electromagnetic field. His experiments showed that sensitive dowsers could detect gradients of less than 0.1 gauss per meter (the strength of the earth’s field is around 0.5 gauss). In other tests conducted with the magnetic fields created in the laboratory, dowsers used pendulums. Tromp found that persons not sensitive to the artificial fields when using the dowsing rod, were sensitive when using the pendulum. He reported moreover that dowsers could detect electrostatic fields.

Tromp also tested dowsers under field conditions. They were led along a path in a house, and locations where dowsing reactions occurred were noted. For most of the experiments, dowsers used pendulums as dowsing instruments because Tromp found that they produced the quickest reactions. A magnetic survey was made afterward along the same path. Definite correlations were found between the ‘dowsing zones’ and the magnetic disturbances. Dowsers were also tested out of doors to determine if they could locate subsurface discontinuities which could not be predicted by even very experienced geologists or botanists. They traversed a pre-assigned path and their reactions were recorded. A soil resistivity survey (indicating underground discontinuities) was made after the dowsing tests. In nearly all the surveys statistically significant correlations were reported between low soil resistivity and dowsing reactions.

Another investigator of dowsing was the French physicist Yves Rocard (1903-1992), who researched water dowsing intensively. Rocard's theory was very simple: the dowsers did not detect the water itself, but the magnetic field variations to which it was generally related. “Water that filters in porous areas under the action of a pressure difference, brings about electrokinetic potential through the Quincke effect which is well-known since 1850. These potentials cause electric currents to circulate in the earth. In addition, in many cases, nearby phenomena related to the presence of water cause consequential potential differences in the ground which are often more important." Human cells contain magnetite crystals, as discovered by two American biologists, Dr. Gould and  Dr. Kirschvink. Rocard claimed to have located magnetically sensitive points on the body, such as brow ridges and the bony protuberance of some vertebrae. From Rocard’s point of view these bones are crucial receptors of information and energy when dowsing. The pineal gland and the “magnetic organ containing minute crystals of magnetite” are connected to the nervous system. So this might explain why humans can be sensitive to electro-magnetic radiation.

The above scientific research clearly shows that the dowser’s reaction is caused by physiologic processes, and not by psychic ones.

De Re Metallica (1556)

44 Some SACRED GEOMETRY: places of power (1)

This is a difficult one, because so far there is no scientific or rational explanation for it, only speculation and testimonies. It’s about dowsing and about what the French call “geo-biology”, that is: the study of energies and vibrations peculiar to a place. And of the impact and influence those energies have on the physical behavior of plants and animals, and on the psyche of humans.

Magnetic currents, often called telluric currents, travel throughout the earth’s surface. The underground is crisscrossed with water veins, sometimes flowing, sometimes still. There are also a lot of faults in the earth’s crust, emitting radioactivity among others. The electromagnetic disturbances caused by solar activity, the influence of the moon and cosmic rays react with the telluric activities to form what could be called a “vibratory tissue”. This tissue has nodes, where the different “energies” interpenetrate to form powerful turbulences, “hot spots” so to speak, where the negative ionization of the air is stronger. It is a proven fact that high concentrations of negative ions in the air give us a boost, because they suppress serotonin levels  in the blood, in much the same way that natural sunlight suppresses melatonin levels. We could say that negative ions are essential for high energy and positive mood.

These hot spots were seen as meeting places between man and the organizing forces of the cosmos, where man could connect  with them. This is the origin of the word religion: religare, to (re)connect. Most of these energies can’t be experienced directly by the senses. So a dowsing rod or pendulum is used to detect them, and to translate them into a kinetic movement.

Water veins under the church of Avioth, France, as seen by a dowser

Water veins under a dolmen

43 Some SACRED GEOMETRY: the tools of the master builder (3)

Another tool of the master builder was the gnomon, a straight pole to find the four cardinal directions by measuring its shadow. It had a little sphere on top for a more distinctive shadow. The length of the shadow was marked on the ground during one day, from sunrise to sunset (the red curve in the drawing above).Then a circle was drawn with the pole as its center (blue in the drawing). This circle crosses the shadow line in points 1 and 2. Tracing two equal circles centered in 1 and 2 produces crossing 3. The line pole-point 3 indicates true North, coinciding with the shortest shadow during the day.

This method, known since Antiquity, one can even suppose since the Neolithic era, was used everywhere in the construction of temples. This simple pole planted in the ground on flat ground is effective to study the solar course. It also allowed by repeated measurements during the two solstices to determine the latitude of a place with remarkable precision.

The gnomon represents the “axis mundi”, the world axis, the symbolic connection between sky and earth. One could say that the gnomon is an astronomical instrument activated by the sun to regulate time and space of man and to construct a geometric model of the universe at a human scale.

Gnomon in the Saint-Sulpice church, Paris

42 Some SACRED GEOMETRY: the tools of the master builder (2)

The ruler contained the “trait”, the chosen unity of measure. Square and ruler connect the points set out by the compass to form angles, triangles, squares, rectangles and other polygons. They materialize the ideas of the compass. While the compass represents “spirit”, the square represents “matter”. Indicating horizontality and verticality, the square symbolizes space. The compass, which evokes spirit because it draws curves, is regarded as active, while the square, related to matter, is regarded as passive.

The crossing of square and compass indicates a balance of two elements: spirit and matter. This crossing represents the two halves of the Hermetic Androgyne, the Rebis, in which the two principles of manifestation, heaven and earth, male and female, active and passive, sun and moon, spirituality and materiality, are united.

Tracing a plan was an act of meditation. In the Middle Ages, every created form in the context of a “sacred” building represented an idea or a human experience of the un-graspable, which surpass and baffle our rational minds. Building a cathedral was an expression of spirituality, not a spirituality losing itself in abstract and subjective conceptions without any link to reality, but a spirituality given concrete form and expressed in stone: applied spirituality. 

  

Another tool was the rope with 13 knots, making 12 equal segments. With 12 segments, many geometric shapes can be formed, like circle, square, rectangle and three kinds of triangles: equilateral, isosceles, and scalene. Twelve is a number that can be divided evenly by 2, 3, 4, and 6. There are 12 months in the year. Each day is 24 hours long, two times twelve. There are 12 apostles, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 knights of the round table and 12 signs of the zodiac…

41 Some SACRED GEOMETRY: the tools of the master builder (1)

Construction tools didn’t evolve much between Antiquity and the Middle Ages, they even stayed pretty much the same until the 19th century. The above tombstone of Hugues Ligergier, the ”maître d’oeuvre” (master builder) of Reims cathedral, shows the three most important tools of the medieval architects: ruler, square and compass.

The compass is the tool of applied thought, while the ruler and the square verify its traced lines. Medieval images often show God creating the world using a compass. The compass was considered a cosmological symbol because it can be used to measure as well as to generate a perfect circle, hence it symbolized dynamic creation. Turning around its point, it also represented the cycle of existence. In fact, the circle created by the compass is the manifestation emanating from the initial point. This point is not only a symbol of creation, but also the initial point inside the human mind: consciousness.

40 Some SACRED GEOMETRY: the Crucuno quadrilateral and the orientation of megaliths

The Crucuno quadrilateral is situated in a field called “parc vein glass” (the field of the blue stone) in Plouharnel, Brittany, France. The rectangle measures 30x40 megalithic yards and its diagonal measures 50. It consists of two Pythagorean triangles of 3-4-5 proportions determined by the diagonal, forming a 3-4 rectangle. This is quite amazing, because it shows that the “Pythagorean” triangle was already known in the Neolithic period.

Another particularity of the 3-4-5 Crucuno rectangle: it is perfectly oriented east-west and its corners point at the sunrise and sunset of the solstices. Theoretically, a 3x4 rectangle should have a latitude of 47°31’ at Crucuno to show the solstice sunrises and sunsets at its corners (taking into account the obliquity of the ecliptic around 1800 BC). The latitude of Crucuno is 47°37’5’’, which is close.

This same orientation principle can be found in cathedrals, churches and chapels until the end of the middle ages. A good example is the Templar chapel in Laon, France, built around 1180:

Most megalithic monuments have a N-E or S-E orientation, which means: the direction of the sunrise on the summer solstice and the winter solstice. The majority is oriented towards the winter solstice, which marks the end of the shortest days, and the returning of light. The orientations aren’t rigid at all. The topographical situation has to be taken into account, like hills obscuring the horizon. And our ancestors weren’t trying to be “scientifically” accurate, it seems to have been a more symbolical expression, an approximation. The figure below shows that many dolmen have a N-E orientation (summer solstice) between 90° and 100°, and that the largest group has a N-S orientation (winter solstice) between 120° and 180°. Nevertheless, some megaliths show an astonishing perfect orientation. Like the chambered mound of Newgrange in Ireland, known for the illumination of its passage and chamber by the winter solstice sun, the sun fertilizing the womb of the earth as it were.

Prehistoric solstice cults were sometimes taken over by the church. An example is the St Peter and St Guidon church in Anderlecht, Brussels. According to tradition, in the second half of the 11th century, a horse ran up against a stone on the top of a hillock. This stone proved to be a dolmen that was surrounded by a hedge, because it couldn’t be moved. The remains are in the crypt of the church. On the winter solstice, a sunbeam falls through the opposite window to lighten the space under the stone. Pilgrims used to crawl under the stone in the direction of the light beam.

Saint Guidon crypt, Brussels

The Crucuno Dolmen, not far from the quadrilateral

39 Some SACRED GEOMETRY: SQUARING THE CIRCLE

Squaring the circle is a problem proposed by ancient geometers, and has a symbolic meaning. It means constructing a square with the same area as a given circle with square and compass. The exact squaring of the circle is impossible because π =  3,141592653… is a transcendental irrational number, which means that the figure cannot be constructed with a compass and a ruler (pi cannot be expressed in finite whole numbers by which we measure squares). Only approximations can be made.

The ancient Egyptians used whole numbers to approximate the squaring of the circle (like the example above). A circle with a diameter of nine unities has almost the same surface as a square with a side of eight unities.

The squaring of the circle represents an attempt to unite two opposites which can’t be united: spirit and matter, sky and earth, body and soul (in the sense of conscience). Both circle and square represent a closed cycle. The square, symbol of the quaternity, is a representation of the four elements, the materialization of the circle so to speak. Both circle and square express harmony, but on a different level. They’re also a sort of prison, a closed circuit. That’s the real meaning of the cross (which is another representation of the quaternity): man at the center of the material world.

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows the squaring of the circle following an old masonic method. The circle, the triangle and the square have practically the same surface. The same idea can be found in some portals of medieval churches, like Notre-Dame-du-Port, Clermont-Ferrand, France, and Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, France (below).

The floor plan of St Paul’s cathedral in London consists of a squared circle at the center and seven concentric circles:

 

38 Some SACRED GEOMETRY (11)

The ten fingers symbolize the totality of the universe. Counting on ten fingers makes it "natural" to use a counting system based upon tens. The first letter in the Greek word "deca" (ten) is formed like a triangle (Δ δελτα). The Pythagoreans used pebbles to form their sacred symbol of the tetraktys (1+2+3+4=10): ten pebbles were arranged in a perfect triangle to form four levels: 1, 2, 3 and 4. The Greek word for pebbles,” kalkuli”, is the origin of the word "calculate".

Ten means completeness of order, matter in harmony (4+6). It’s also the start of a new cycle of numbers consisting of two digits (10=1+0=1 / 11=1+1=2 / 12=1+2=3 / 13=1+3=4 …). Ten includes in its digits the created (1), the non-created (0) and the return to unity.

Ten and the Kabbalistic Tree

Kabbalah (from the root KBL, Kof-Beit-Lamed) means “ to receive” within the ancient Hebrew oral tradition. The Kabbalah teaches that the manifest universe arose as a series of emanations or principles from the Ain Soph Aur, the "limitless light” (comparable with the big bang): the ten Sephiroth (enumerations). The first three Sephiroth represent the monad (1- point), the dyad (2 - line) and the triad (3 - triangle), from which the other seven archetypes of creation emerge. The Tree of Life with its ten Sephiroth is the map of Jewish mysticism. The Ten Sephiroth include both masculine and feminine qualities. The Kabbalah pays a great deal of attention to the feminine aspects.

1.    Kether (Crown)

The monad, the origin of all numbers and of creation. Also called the Primordial Point, the Point within a Circle. The essence of Kether can’t be comprehended by the human mind, because it isn’t part of a duality. The human mind can only “think” in dualities. Without dualities, thinking is impossible. Kether is so transcendent that it cannot be described.

2.    Chokmah (Wisdom)

The result of the first ”swirlings” of the Monad, the masculine-active force, the extension of the point into space, like a phallus. The dynamic force of the universe, the father, Abba.

3.    Binah (Understanding)

The feminine-passive potency, the mother, Mara, the great sea. The womb fertilized by Chokmah. Chokmah and Bina are the first polarities of manifestation. They can be compared with the proton and the electron, the building blocks of matter, and with time and space. Like Kether, the origin and reason of the first duality is beyond human understanding. We can merely hypothesize by applying the esoteric law: “so above, so below”. They are transpersonal.

4.    Chesed (Mercy)

The “child” of the first polarity, the concretion of the abstract concepts of Kether, Chokmah and Binah, the first Sephira that might be conceived by the human mind, represents love, the reflection of the former three in the world of manifestation.

5.    Geburah (Strength)

Represents power and the will.

6.    Tiphareth (Beauty)

The self.

7.    Netzach (Victory)

Represents feelings, instincts, emotions.

8.    Hod (Glory)

The mind, rational thoughts, intellectual abilities.

9.    Yesod (Foundation)

The unconscious and intuition.

10. Malkuth (Kingdom)

Represents the body, the senses and the material world.

This is of course a very brief introduction to the Kabbalistic Tree. The Sephiroth have a lot more properties than the ones mentioned. They can be expanded by any analog concept.

We all know the first sentence of the Bible: ”In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” This translation is not quite correct. First of all, there is no such word as “God” in the Bible. But let’s concentrate on the first word Berashit (Brasyt)  formed (right to left) by the letters Beth, Resh, Aleph, Shin, Yod and Tav. “In the beginning”, the translation of the word Brasyt, is based on a misinterpretation of the original Hebrew text. Every Hebrew letter symbolizes a number and an idea or concept. So each word is a combination of both numbers and ideas, which makes them difficult to translate in other languages. This means that a lot of information in the Bible is coded, disguised as stories.

Beth:  the physical support of all that is, anything that “contains”, all dwellings; the cosmic energy projected into actual manifestation.

Resh: the archetype of cosmic containers, the totality of the universe, all existence.

Aleph: the abstract principle that representing all that is as a pulsation of duality, unimaginable by the human mind.

Shin: the movement, impulse, breath behind everything.

Yod: continuity, the manifested existence in time of Aleph.

Tav: the archetype of cosmic existence, in its capacity to resist the life-death duality.

So, instead of “in the beginning”, Brasyt can be translated thus:

“The movement of ‘what cannot be imagined nor understood’, brought into continuous expression the dual principle of life and death, ‘the life-death' pulsation of all existence, by containing it in an infinite array of manifestations.”

Cross-section of human DNA, forming a beautiful ten pointed star

 
Tile, Iran, 15^th century

Mayan numbers

Magic square of 10

If nine is one, ten is none, here is all the mystery (Goethe)