I traveled to Cyprus in February 2019 by invitation of the Brotherhood of Saint Hilarion to present a 2-hour lecture on my research. I´ve been speaking at events in various countries for many years (England, Italy, Peru, Egypt, Spain, Mexico) but this was my first time in Cyprus. I made many amazing new friends. Over the course of a week, they brought me to a series of fascinating ancient, megalithic, and medieval archaeological sites. Cypriots are warm and wonderful people. Words can´t express my gratitude for their generous hospitality. Two hundred people attended the lecture, and I was invited back in 2020, for an appearance at a much bigger venue. Also, a Cyprus documentary may be in the works.

CYPRUS: A BRIEF HISTORY

The Republic of Cyprus is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean. Scholars believe the earliest cultures that inhabited the island can be traced back to the 10^th Millennium BC. Cyprus was subsequently colonized by several major powers starting in the 2^nd or perhaps 3rd millennium BC, including the Mycenean Greeks, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, and Romans. This was followed by the rule of Arab caliphates, the French Lusignan dynasty, the Venetians, and the Ottomans. In 1914, Cyprus was annexed by Britain after more than 300 years of Ottoman rule.

Since Britain´s annexation of the island, Cyprus’s modern history has been dominated by tension between its Greek and Turkish inhabitants. In 1955, Greek Cypriots initiated a guerrilla war against British rule, calling for unification with Greece. At the same time, many Turkish Cypriots favored a partition of the island between Greece (in the South of Cyprus) and Turkey (in the North). In 1974, Turkey invaded the northern part of the island in response to a military coup against Britain by Greek Cypriots which was backed by the Greek government.

“The island was effectively partitioned, with the northern third run by a Turkish Cypriot government and the southern two-thirds by the internationally-recognised government led by Greek Cypriots.  United Nations troops patrol the “Green Line” dividing the two parts, and reunification talks have made slow progress.” – www.BBC.com

Travel restrictions were eased in 2003. The following year, Cyprus joined the European Union, but as a divided island—Turkish Cypriots in the North and Greek Cypriots in the South. Cyprus now has approximately 1.1 million inhabitants. About 78 percent are “Greek Cypriots,” identifying themselves as Orthodox Christians; while roughly 18 percent are “Turkish Cypriots,” describing themselves as Sunni Muslims.

MEGALITHIC TOMBS

During my stay, several members of the Brotherhood of Saint Hilarion brought me to a variety of ancient and medieval archaeological sites. One of the most interesting places we visited lies a few miles north of the ancient city of Salamis (an ancient Greek city-state on the east coast of Cyprus). Here we visited a series of megalithic tombs and temples that are described by scholars as the “Royal Tombs” or the “Tombs of the Kings.” These magnificent structures are thought to date from between the 8th and 7th centuries BC, but this dating is uncertain and has given rise to some debate among scholars in recent years.

The most interesting of these megalithic tombs is called “St. Catherine´s Prison” (also known as Tomb 50), dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria who, legend says, was imprisoned here. This tomb was built with massive stones cut to perfection, with very little space between the joints. The skeletal remains of two sacrificed horses that were found here during the excavations are exhibited on site. The horses were believed to have pulled a chariot, containing the body of the king for whom the tomb was built. It has been pointed out that this burial custom (of horse-drawn chariots pulling the body of the king to the tomb) was described by Homer in The Iliad.

NICOSIA “STAR FORT”

One of the most interesting things about Cyprus is the massive circular shape of its capital city, Nicosia. The circle, with a circumference of about 5 km, is formed by the massive walls that surround and once protected the city. The walls are called “Venetian Walls,” named after their Venetian builders. These walls, which date back to the mid-16^th century, form what has become known as a “star fort.”

The origins of this star fort are interesting. In 1489, Cyprus became part of the Republic of Venice, a leading European sovereign state and maritime republic based in the city of Venice, Italy, which flourished between the 7th and the 18th centuries AD. In 1597, the Venetians built the star fort by constructing the Venetian Walls, a series of defensive stone walls which surrounded and protected the city. Many of these walls are still visible today and they are a major tourist attraction. The walls contain eleven pentagonal bastions, which are named after eleven families of the Italian aristocracy of the town who helped fund the wall:

• Caraffa Bastion
• Podocattaro Bastion
• Constanza Bastion
• D’Avila Bastion
• Tripoli Bastion
• Roccas Bastion
• Mula Bastion
• Quirini Bastion
• Barbaro Bastion
• Loredan Bastion
• Flatro Bastion

MEGALITHIC LIONS (FAMAGUSTA)

We traveled to the ancient city of Famagusta on the east coast of Cyprus. Famagusta was once the island’s most important port city with links to trading ports throughout the Levant, connecting Cyprus to the famous Silk Road. Famagusta is a walled city, and many of the medieval and ancient walls are still visible, attracting tourists. In antiquity, the town was known as Arsinoe, named after Arsinoe II (c. 316 BC – 260 BC) of Egypt, a Ptolemaic queen and co-regent of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Strabo describes the city by this name.

There are many majestic and striking monuments here, but most interesting to me was a series of megalithic stone lions. Their dating and origins are unknown, but judging by the number of lions visible throughout the city (including lion reliefs on the city´s protective walls) as well as the reverence attributed to the lion throughout Cyprus, it seems clear that a “lion cult” of some kind developed during a very early phase of the city and even the country´s history.The city of Famagusta in Greek was called Ammochostos, which means “hidden in the sand”. The city is often described as “the city of 365 churches,” because legend has it that, in its heyday, Famagusta had one church for each day of the year. Many of these churches were converted into mosques by the Muslim inhabitants.

CHURCHES CONVERTED TO MOSQUES

As mentioned, the island of Cyprus is now divided between Turkish “Muslims” in the North and Greek “Christians” in the South. When Turkey entered the North, they converted many of the Christian churches there into mosques. It is fascinating to see this architectural transformation, from one religion into another. In fact, I found evidence for my theory that the “minarets” of mosques (often built in pairs) symbolically equate to the “twin towers” of churches/cathedrals. In the following photos we see mosques (formerly churches) that I visited in the ancient cities of Nicosia and Famagusta:

FAMOUS GREEN MAN STATUES

The stonemasons who built Europe´s churches, castles, and cathedrals encoded images of the so-called “Green Man” into their constructions. This mysterious Green Man tradition—which has not yet been sufficiently explained by scholars—once existed across Europe. Church authorities allowed this pagan imagery apparently because they did not consider these “Green Men” as pagan motifs, but merely as ornaments.

In Cyprus, we see examples of this in the so-called “Seven Green Men of Nicosia.” These are a series of seven mysterious Green Man images carved into the entrance of the 13^th century facade of St. Nicholas Church in Nicosia.

PAGAN TEMPLE

During our travels, we stopped briefly at a very strange stone building now in ruins that appears to have originally been constructed as a pagan temple. The building doesn´t appear on any tourist map, and it´s not listed in Google or Google Maps. It seems to have been originally built without mortar and its façade is perfectly symmetrical. However, the façade´s right side (or “right half”) appears to have been rebuilt using cement, but with many of its original stones now missing. Perhaps the structure is so old that it fell into ruins but was then reassembled by later stonemasons; or it could be that the destruction was a form of rejection of the pagan tradition by the later Muslims or earlier Christians. We can´t be sure, since there is evidence on both sides of the ledger. The symbolism on the façade and on the walls of the building´s interior match many well-known pagan motifs. This symbolism includes:

– “Triptych” Three-In-One Motifs
– Jachin & Boaz Pillars
– Egyptian Aten-like Symbolism
– Nature Motifs (Acanthus, Lotus)
– Quadriforms
– Circumpuncts
– Tree of Life 

KYRENIA´S MEGALITHIC HARBOR

Scholars believe Kyrenia Harbor, built with square ashlar megalithic stones, was originally constructed by the Romans. The original Roman port was situated parallel to the current one, but very little now remains except for a massive breakwater built with megalithic stones which today forms part of the modern pier. Like many other megalithic constructions in the ancient world, this port is attributed to the Romans; yet one could argue (based on the island´s previous Mycenean, Minoan, Hittite, Phoenician, and Egyptian inhabitants) that this breakwater was not originally built by the Romans, but preceded the Romans by centuries if not millennia.

During the Middle Ages, the Venetian city state and its merchants refurbished Kyrenia Harbor as well as the great castle of Kyrenia, which was strategically located to guard their trade. 

KYRENIA CASTLE

Kyrenia Castle has overlooked and majestically guarded the important and strategic North Cyprus port of Kyrenia since the 1500s. Despite the fact that the town of Kyrenia is believed to have been in existence since the 10th century BC, scholars say the first evidence of the castle is from Roman times. It was subsequently fortified by the Byzantines, then later strengthened again and enlarged by the Lusignans. (The House of Lusignan was a royal house of French origin that ruled over the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia from the 12th – 15th centuries AD.) Concerned about a possible Ottoman invasion of Cyprus (with the Ottoman mainland only miles away) the Venetians fortified Cyprus by enlarging and reinforcing the walls of Kyrenia Castle. 

ROYAL CITY OF AMATHUS

As part of our tour, we visited the ancient royal city of Amathus. The site is located on the Mediterranean, which served the trade with the Greeks and the Levantines. Amathus is home to a series of well-preserved ruins, including a cult sanctuary of the goddess Aphrodite. Cyprus is the legendary birthplace of Aphrodite, and various images of the goddess can be seen across the island´s ruins and artifacts. Here Aphrodite took on an Eastern flavor, apparently influenced by Mesopotamian, Phoenician and Egyptian settlers. The local cult of Aphrodite took on a male/female character named “Aphroditus,” who was a male Aphrodite. Aphroditus was depicted as a female with feminine clothing but also a phallus. Aphroditus was celebrated in Athens in a transvestite rite, hence the origins of the word “hermaphrodite.”

Amathus also plays a part in another Greek myth, the story of Ariadne. Plutarch tells us that Theseus (of Minotaur fame) abandoned Ariadne (who helped Theseus conquer the Minotaur´s labyrinth by supplying the thread) at Amathus, where she died and was buried. 

KOLOSSI CASTLE

Kolossi Castle was a former Crusader castle which scholars believe was built c. 1210 by the Frankish military, when the land of Kolossi was given to the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (also known as the Order of Saint John, Order of Hospitallers, Knights Hospitaller, Knights Hospitalier or Hospitallers). It is said that the castle was taken over by the Knights Templar in 1306, but returned to the Hospitallers in 1313, following the abolition of the Templars. The main structure consists of a single three-story keep, with an attached bailey (rectangular enclosure) measuring 30 by 40 meters.

Kolossi Castle held strategic importance in the Middle Ages. It contained large facilities for the production of sugar from the local sugarcane, one of Cyprus’s main exports in the period. This 800-year-old Cyprus castle is the birthplace of the world’s oldest wine, Commandaria, an amber-colored sweet dessert wine. Historians say that during the era of the crusades, this Commandaria wine was served at the 12th century wedding of King Richard the Lionheart to Berengaria of Navarre. During the wedding, King Richard pronounced Commandaria “the wine of kings and the king of wines.”

RUINS OF KOURION

The Mount of Kourion, on which the archaeological ruins of the ancient city of Kourion have been discovered, occupies a dominant position on the southern coast of Cyprus. The oldest remains are dated by scholars to the middle and late bronze age. Kourion is traditionally thought to have been founded by Argives (citizens of Argolis in the Peloponnese in Greece) in the 13th century BC, and historians have long believed that its inhabitants were descendants of Aegean immigrants.

The most important monuments are mainly from the Roman era. These include a theater (with a magnificent acoustic resonance), the Amathus Gate Cemetery, the Forum, the Nymphaeum, the Forum Baths, the House of the Gladiators, the Baths and House of Eustolios, and the Early Christian Beachfront Basilica.

Among the most interesting things I saw here are the Greco-Roman mosaics, which decorate the floors of various ancient temples, homes, tombs, and courtyards. Some of my favorite of these mosaics can be found in the House of Achilles, named after the Greek mythological hero.

SAINT HILARION CASTLE (MOUNTAINTOP CASTLE)

My hosts, the Brotherhood of Saint Hilarion, were eager to show me the castle from which their Order took its name. Saint Hilarion Castle, perched upon a steep hilltop on the Kyrenia Mountain Range with commanding views over Kyrenia and the coast, is probably the best preserved of North Cyprus’s three castles. Many people believe it inspired the castle in Disneyland. The earliest references to the castle are said to derive from Richard Lionheart’s 1191 campaign on Cyprus. The castle is believed to have been named after a 10^th century monk who chose the site for his hermitage, and whose relics can still be seen there.

ANCIENT ARTIFACTS

The museums of Cyprus are priceless. During the past several thousand years, the island was colonized by several major powers starting in the 2^nd or perhaps 3rd millennium BC. Cultures including the Mycenean Greeks, Assyrians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Persians, and Romans all left their mark. During my stay, my hosts took me to a number of museums in Cyprus, including the museum located across the courtyard from the St. Barnabas Monastery, which houses a number of incredibly sophisticated pottery pieces, stone artifacts, and sculptures. The rich symbolism and iconography encoded onto this pottery provides us with a wealth of information concerning the religious, spiritual, and philosophical beliefs of its creators.

 ANCIENT SALAMIS

Salamis, located on the east coast of the island, was one of the most important cities of ancient Cyprus. According to Homer, Salamis was founded after the Trojan War by an archer named Teucer, who came from the island of Salamis, near Attica. The city grew in size, in part because of its excellent harbor, and it eventually became a key Cypriot center for trade, exchanging goods with Phoenician, Persian and Egyptian merchants. Some scholars believe Salamis was once the largest city on Cyprus, and that it may have been the capital around c. 1100 BC. Tradition holds that Salamis was the first stop on Paul the Apostle’s journey to teach the gospel of Christ to the first-century world.

Many of the structures were constructed from finely cut masonry (large ashlars, but not megalithic). For example, the Roman baths are among the best preserved archaeological ruins here. Salamis´s massive outdoor theater, which is perhaps the site´s most spectacular ruin, is said to have once sat up to 15,000 people. Many statues are also visible at Salamis, and some are exceptionally well preserved.

In the 7^th Century AD, Arab invaders destroyed the city, forcing its inhabitants to flee south, where they built the medieval town of Famagusta (Magusa).

LECTURE NIGHT

My lecture—where I presented my findings during my 25 years of research into ancient history, symbology, and occult science—was attended by approximately two hundred members and friends of the Brotherhood of Saint Hilarion. It was an evening I´ll never forget! I met many kind, open-minded, intellectually curious men, women and young people. Everyone was so enthusiastic about the lecture that I was invited back to Cyprus to present a second lecture in 2020. There may even be a documentary about Cyprus in the works. Keeping fingers crossed that this dream can be made into a reality.

CYPRUS FRIENDS

The best part of Cyprus for me was all the wonderful people I met during my stay. Over and above the art, architecture, ruins and artifacts that I was privileged to see, what made my Cyprus adventure so memorable was the many new friends I made among the Brotherhood of Saint Hilarion. (Very special thanks and my heartfelt gratitude to Kerem Can, Erkut Culluoglu, Wissam Sabbah, Asim Vehbi, Ahmed Vehbi, Sam Eid, and Abbas Yildirim). Cypriots are warm and wonderful people. Kind, caring, curious, friendly, loving, and open-minded. Now I know why tradition has it that Cyprus is the legendary birthplace of the ancient Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite!

Richard Cassaro is a Madrid-based author, lecturer, filmmaker, and tour guide from New York City. His published books Written in Stone (2011), The Missing Link (2016), and Mayan Masonry (2018) offer rare insights into ancient megaliths, spirituality, mythology, magic, symbolism, secret societies, comparative religion and occult archaeology. Cassaro has discussed his work on the History Channel, and in documentary films like Magical Egypt 2. His articles have appeared in print journals and web media around the globe; and he has delivered well-received lectures about his findings in the UK, Italy, Peru, Egypt, Spain, Mexico, Cyprus, and the U.S. In his capacity as a field investigator, he hosts travel adventures to archaeological sites worldwide.

Richard Cassaro © Copyright, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.RichardCassaro.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Across the ancient world we find mysterious stone ruins that are so sophisticated and advanced that they look like structures from the distant future, rather than the primitive past. Scholars ignore these ruins because academia in general upholds the “evolutionary” paradigm, which sees man as rising and evolving. They believe our modern society marks the pinnacle of human progress. Yet our ancient ancestors believed the opposite—man is falling, declining. More accurately, man has fallen from a sophisticated “Golden Age” civilization that flourished globally in the remote past. If this ancient and once-universal belief is correct, then is it possible that relics from this Golden Age are still visible in some of the most advanced archaeological monuments we find scattered worldwide?

“The further back in time we look, the more advanced our forefathers seem to have been. Egypt´s Great Pyramid, England´s Stonehenge, Lebanon´s Baalbek, and Spain´s Segovia Aqueduct are just a few of many examples worldwide.” – Richard Cassaro

Throughout our lives, we´ve been told that man is rising, growing, evolving. We´re taught in school that we have evolved from “primitive cavemen” to “professional space travelers” in a mere few thousand years. Most educated people fully subscribe to this “evolutionary” paradigm of history.

Many scholars say our High Technology is a blessing. High Technology, they tell us, will soon push us to live longer, help us find cures for the world´s diseases, slow the course of aging, and maybe one day even “cure” death itself.

Strangely, even as our technology advances at lightning speed, we seem somehow to have lost the way. There´s a growing turmoil everywhere that is palpable—and it´s making us feel as though we´re living in a world that is alien to our true nature.

“Just look at us. Everything is backwards, everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, psychiatrists destroy minds, scientists destroy truth, major media destroys information, religions destroy spirituality and governments destroy freedom.”

―Michael Ellner

Could it be that technology is only a kind of mirage, and that instead of rising, our civilization is falling and declining? Could it be that the scientific paradigm of “social evolution” is incorrect, and that in fact the reverse is true? Is our High Technology masking the fact that we have been declining for thousands of years? Falling further into a dark age?

“Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.”

—Aldous Huxley

As a knee-jerk reaction, some critics might think this is a “New Age” and “Pseudoscience” idea. But they would be wrong. The idea that man has been declining for thousands of years is ancient; it´s a narrative rooted in various traditions around the world. Perhaps the most well-known of these traditions comes to us from India. The Hindus have always believed that civilization cycles between repeating Dark Ages and Golden Ages. For Hindus, the Golden Age has long since passed into history and we have now fallen into the Dark Age, which they call the Kali Yuga or Age of Vice.

“Kali Yuga…or “age of vice” is the last of the four stages the world goes through as…described in the Sanskrit scriptures…Hindus believe that human civilization degenerates spiritually during the Kali Yuga, which is referred to as the Dark Age…

Hinduism…represents morality as an Indian bull. In…the first stage of development, the bull has four legs, but in each age morality is reduced by one quarter. By the age of Kali, morality is reduced to only a quarter of that of the Golden Age, so that the bull…has only one leg…”

—Wikipedia

Many Hindus believed we are currently living in the Kali Yuga or Dark Age, which is the lowest and worst of all the ages. Like the Hindus in India, many ancient European cultures also did not believe time is “linear,” moving from Point A to Point B. They believed instead that time and human consciousness are “cyclical,” moving around and around in one great giant cycle or circle.

For example, the Greeks and Romans believed that we have fallen from a high Golden Age that once existed in the remote past. The Greco-Roman idea of the so-called “Four Ages of Man,” which was explained by the authors Hesiod and Ovid, are as follows:

– Golden Age (first)
– Silver Age (second)
– Bronze Age (third)
– Iron Age (fourth)

The progression from one age to the next is indicated symbolically with metals of successively decreasing value. (NOTE: The Bronze Age and Iron Age bear no relation to the mainstream historical Bronze and Iron ages.) These ages progress from an original, long-gone Golden Age when humans enjoyed a nearly divine existence to the current Iron Age, in which humans are beset by innumerable pains and evils. Remarkably, ancient Europe´s “Four Ages of Man” concept corresponds to the cyclical periods of ancient Hindu Yugas:

ANCIENT HINDU “YUGAS”

(1) Satya Yuga (Golden Age)
(2) Treta Yuga (Silver Age)
(3) Dvapara Yuga (Bronze Age)
(4) Kali Yuga (Iron Age)

ANCIENT EUROPEAN “AGES OF MAN”

(1) Golden Age (Hinduism´s Satya Yuga)
(2) Silver Age (Hinduism´s Treta Yuga)
(3) Bronze Age (Hinduism´s Dvapara Yuga)
(4) Iron Age (Hinduism´s Kali Yuga)

The Hindu Yuga Cycles and the European Doctrine of the Four Ages fundamentally supports the idea that humanity is currently in decline, and this is in complete harmony with the beliefs of many traditional cultures worldwide.

“Interpretation of history as repeating cycles of Dark and Golden Ages was a common belief among ancient cultures.”

– Daniel W. Rossides, Social Theory

One could even argue that this is the esoteric meaning behind the famous biblical story of the Fall of Man, described in the Book of Genesis. This “fall” is a metaphor for man´s degeneration from his true spiritual nature down into his material / physical / animal nature. There is ample evidence that this idea was well-known—and even revived, to some extent—during the European Renaissance. The following painting titled The Golden Age by Pietro da Cortona (1596 – 1669) hangs in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy.

Painting titled “The Golden Age” by Pietro da Cortona (1596 – 1669) hangs in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy.

Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible today to discuss ancient cultures in these terms because such ideas have been tainted by association with an evil moment in history.

Between 1935 and 1945, the Nazi government of Germany pursued an unprecedented and bizarre pseudo-scientific quest to regain some of the fabled lost wisdom of the ancient Indo-European peoples, which many Nazi ideologues and anti-Semitic popular writers believed were descendants of the Golden Age. At the direction of Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, a special task force, the Ahnenerbe (essentially a cultural and scientific division of the SS), was established for this purpose.

“One thing which became clear to the Ahnenerbe, early on, was that all pre-Christian Indo-European cultures seemed to conceive of history as being cyclical rather than linear. In other words, all ancient “pagan” Indo-European cultures believed in an organic rhythmical order to both Time and Space. This conception of cyclical history – first expounded upon in modern times by Nikolai Danilevsky (1822-1885) and then Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) – stands in stark contrast to the Semitic-derived, “Abrahamic” belief in a purely linear or teleological conception of Time.”

—Christopher Pisarenko

Few present-day historians take Himmler’s Quixotic quest as anything other than a waste of resources. Nonetheless, the Ahnenerbe expeditions are the subject of considerable scholarly and popular interest.

Because of Hitler’s unexampled cruelty, nearly anything associated with his name is considered suspect and discredited. Most people naturally stay as far away as possible from any discussion of Aryan mysticism not framed in terms of utter condemnation. One must acknowledge all of these problems frankly; but throwing out the baby with the bath water is also not a correct approach. I believe that we should study the religious ideas of ancient peoples without much of the historical and cultural/religious baggage that have done so much to distort our view of our distant ancestors. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. By the same token, even Himmler’s racist explorers occasionally turned a spade and found something useful.

***

As mentioned, the Hindus have always believed that civilization cycles between repeating Dark and Golden Ages. They saw this cycle or circle as being divided equally into twin opposite yet complementary halves—a Light half vs. a Dark half.

For example, we daily pass through a “Day” pattern filled with “Light” during which time we are “Awake.” This is followed by a “Night” pattern filled with “Darkness” during which time we are “Asleep.” Similarly, we annually pass through a “Day” pattern filled with “Light” during which all Nature is “Awake” (Summer), followed by a “Night” pattern filled with “Darkness” during which all Nature is “Asleep” (Winter).

The ancients saw this “Day/Light/Awake/Summer” vs. “Night/Dark/Asleep/Winter” pattern as an eternal principle permeating every aspect of human existence, and they believed it applies on an even grander scale—a cosmic scale. The ancients believed that just as our Daily cycle and Annual cycle are ruled by a “Day/Light/Awake/Summer” vs. “Night/Dark/Asleep/Winter” pattern, so they told us of an even greater cycle to which we´re subjected—one whose circuit takes thousands of years to complete.

The famous Greek philosopher Plato called it the “Great Year;” and in modern times this cycle has been identified with an astronomical event that astronomers call the “Precession of the Equinoxes,” the observable phenomena of the rotation of the 12 constellations of the zodiac in a complete circle around the heavens, which takes c. 26,000 years.

During the “Precession of the Equinoxes” (c. 26,000 years), the 12 constellations
of the zodiac appear to slowly rotate in one complete circuit around the earth.

• A single “Day” (24 hours) has a LIGHT HALF (Sun, Daytime) and DARK HALF (Moon, Nighttime)
• A single “Year” (12 months) has a LIGHT HALF (Summer) and DARK HALF (Winter)
• A single “Great Year” (26,000 years) or “Precession Cycle” has both a LIGHT HALF (Golden Age) and DARK HALF (Dark Age)

The ancients linked this Great Year cycle to man´s spirituality. It was believed that during the 13,000-year “Day/Light/Awake/Summer” half of this cycle, man becomes fully conscious of his spirituality—he instinctively recognizes that he is an eternal divine being having a human experience. This is the Golden Age, when civilization reaches its peak.

But during the “Night/Dark/Asleep/Winter” half of this 13,000-year cycle, man´s consciousness and spirituality are at their lowest point—man develops amnesia of his eternity and divinity. This is the Dark Age, when civilization falls to the depths.

You might perhaps think of it like traveling around a giant Taijitu (Yin/Yang) circle:

Ancient China´s Taijitu depicts Yin and Yang, twin opposing yet complementary halves that together form a whole. The symbol teaches that duality is prevalent across all Nature.

Robert Frost’s wonderful poem Nothing Gold Can Stay succinctly captures this idea, which Frost identifies with a doctrine of the occult that may be said to be a kind of “Law of Nature,” perfectly expressed in the poem´s title:

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Nothing Gold Can Stay reveals the eternal truth that Nature´s cycles are born at the extreme height—Gold. But soon after birth, the Gold slowly falls ultimately into decay and then death.

Think of how “nothing gold can stay” plays out in Nature:

MORNING FALLS TO NIGHT
1 – Morning (dawn until noon)
2 – Day (noon until 7 pm)
3 – Evening (7 pm until bedtime)
4 – Night (bedtime until next morning)

SPRING FALLS TO WINTER
1 – Spring
2 – Summer
3 – Fall
4 – Winter

YOUTH FALLS TO OLD AGE
1 – Infancy
2 – Childhood
3 – Adulthood
4 – Old Age

For hundreds of years, this view was known and accepted by scholars, archaeologists, historians, and occultist worldwide. Mystics like Helena Blavatsky have brought this teaching into modern times, pointing out that civilization itself reflects these “ebbs” and “flows” of the cycle:

“Thus we see in history a regular alternation of ebb and flow in the tide of human progress. The great kingdoms and empires of the world, after reaching the culmination of their greatness, descend again, in accordance with the same law by which they ascended…”

—Helena P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled (1877)

One can argue that the last Golden Age is still recognizable in our most ancient history, its ruins visible in scattered glimpses around the world. It was described as being followed by a slow decline into barbarism, with man increasingly beset by pains and evils, symbolized by metals of decreasing value.

Is it possible that some of the most advanced ancient architecture that we see across the world has been improperly dated by archaeologists, and instead of belonging to cultures visible in our history they in fact belong to the Golden Age (or perhaps Silver Age)?

With this knowledge in mind, we look up at ancient monuments that have come down to us from the distant past. Many of them seem futuristic in their design and nearly flawless in their execution—a strange combination for monuments set in the distant past. We marvel in amazement at the skill and perfection of these monuments and we wonder at what kind of human beings the builders must have been to have performed such feats of amazement.

Could it be possible that “Nature´s First Green Is Gold” applies to humanity? Could it be that when we stand in awe of ancient monuments we are coming in contact with a higher “form” of humanity?

As an author and field investigator, I´ve traveled to many different archaeological sites around the world. I´ve seen advanced ancient stonemasonry that is bizarre with perfection, resplendent with geometric stone designs, and strangely perfect in its style of construction. I sometimes wonder if a handful or more of the world´s most ancient and advanced monuments were built during this Golden Age (or perhaps the Silver Age), and they have been misattributed by scholars.

For more than twenty years, the English author Graham Hancock has been proffering evidence that a “lost civilization” existed in prehistory. In his 1995 best-seller, Fingerprints of the Gods: “Hancock discovers compelling evidence of a…advanced civilization that was destroyed and obliterated from human memory.” In another of Hancock´s books, Magicians of the Gods, we read:

“The evidence revealed in this book shows beyond reasonable doubt that an advanced civilization that flourished during the Ice Age was destroyed in the global cataclysms between 12,800 and 11,600 years ago.  But there were survivors…They settled at key locations – Gobekli Tepe in Turkey, Baalbek in the Lebanon, Giza in Egypt, ancient Sumer, Mexico, Peru…Everywhere they went these ‘Magicians of the Gods’ brought with them the memory of a time when mankind had fallen out of harmony with the universe and paid a heavy price.”

—Graham Hancock, Magicians of the Gods

As a fan of Hancock, I feel strongly that he is onto something. There are many monuments I suspect may come from the Golden Age (c. 10,000 BC), or at least from an age much closer to the Golden Age than scholars are currently willing to consider.

CYCLOPEAN MASONRY IN ITALY

For example, it´s difficult to believe that the Cyclopean ruins in Italy are Roman ruins, as mainstream archaeologists claim (based on very little evidence). The Cyclopean ruins seem to have been built thousands of years before the Romans. However, since scholars are unwilling to say they “don´t know who built them” these ruins are simply attributed to the Romans. The ruins even seem to predate the extremely advanced Etruscans, who scholars claim preceded the Romans by a millennium. In my opinion, these ruins are thousands of years older than scholars realize; and I have found unpublished evidence (which I will explain in due time) that leads me to believe they may have been left by a higher “form” of man, a profoundly more “spiritual” man—even a more “godlike” man—just like the ancient historians tell us:

Photo of the author (Richard Cassaro) at the Cyclopean ruins in Norba, Italy in 2016.

“Cyclopean masonry is a type of stonework…built with massive…boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal clearance between adjacent stones and no use of mortar…The term comes from the belief of classical Greeks that only the mythical Cyclopes had the strength to move the enormous boulders…” 

―Wikipedia

(For more info on these Cyclopean ruins, read my 2011 book, Written in Stone, and my 2013 article: Hidden Italy: The Forbidden Cyclopean Ruins (Of Giants From Atlantis?)

Similar “godlike” creations are not confined to Europe; all around the world we find ancient monuments that follow the same theme. We find it in the pyramids of Egypt, the Segovia Aqueduct, the ancient stone circles of Great Britain, and the polygonal stone walls of Peru.

PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT

The ancient pyramids of Egypt are among the most baffling and advanced stuctures in the world.

POLYGONAL WALLS OF PERU

At right, photo of the author (Richard Cassaro) at the polygonal ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Peru, 2002.

MEGALITHIC STONE CIRCLES OF BRITAIN

The megalithic ruins of Stonehenge. The stones are aligned to the sun, moon, and stars in a way (and for purposes) not yet fully understood.

Does the Golden Age model of history explain these monuments? Are some of the world´s most advanced ancient ruins—those ruins that look like “structures from the distant future, rather than the primitive past”—remnants of the Golden Age? Or perhaps the Silver Age? Or even an age closer to ours? Have these ruins been misunderstood by archaeologists, whose views are biased by their belief in the evolutionary paradigm of history?

I´ve been asking this question for many years. Readers often ask me: “If there was a Golden Age in the remote past does this mean we´re now living in the Dark Age?”  My response is usually to say that if indeed there is a kernel of truth to the idea of the cycling of the ages, and if indeed there was a Golden Age in the past, then we are indeed most probably living in the Dark Age (or an age close to it). In all ages and cycles there is a downfall. As mentioned, many Hindus believe we are now living in that downfall period, the Kali Yuga Age:

“When society reaches a stage where property confers rank, where wealth becomes the only source of virtue, passion the sole bond between man and wife, falsehood the source of success in life, sex the only means of enjoyment, and when outer trappings are confused with inner religion…then we are in the Kali Yuga – the Dark Age.”

—Veda Vyasa, The Vishnu Purana

Does our modern society seem to be moving closer and closer to this degenerate age as described in this quote by Veda Vyasa? (Vyasa was a key revered figure in most Hindu traditions, and he is generally considered the author of the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India.) Agreeing with ancient Hindu sources, most mystics and sages of the past few centuries believe that the age we´re currently living in is the Kali Yuga, the darkest of all the ages. Helena Blavatsky wrote:

“The cycle is moving down, and, as it descends, the physical and bestial nature of man develops more and more at the expense of the Spiritual Self.”

—Helena Blavatsky

20^th century Italian philosopher Julius Evola also believed we are living in a Dark Age:

“…this book describes a model of history in which the modern world is at the very end of a dark age, the Kali Yuga. He offers the hope, though not the assurance, that an elect might come through the final collapse. They might even achieve god-like illumination…”

—John Reilly, Review of Julius Evola’s Revolt Against the Modern World

In his 16-minute long, specially-videotaped address to the Sacred Web Conference at the University of Alberta, in Canada, Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, clearly confirmed his suspicion that we have entered the dark age:

“Often, I find myself convinced of the warnings given…by sages and mystics of all faiths and of all time; warnings of the coming of a Dark Age, an age in which our ignorance and arrogance – a dangerous combination, surely – will lead us, indeed may already have led us, towards catastrophe. The present examples of pestilence, flood, famine, storm and climatic disruption are surely evidence enough. At the very least, they seem to foretell of conditions of chronic imbalance and disharmony – no doubt as much a part of our inner as our outer condition.”

—Prince Charles, Sacred Web Conference (2006)

“The traditionalist perspective is that we are living at the end of an historical cycle. At the beginning of this cycle all and every possibility is latent. However, as the cycle evolves or unfolds, these possibilities begin to manifest themselves in the world of time and space, beginning with the highest and gradually moving towards the lower. At the end of the cycle, the very lowest possibilities manifest themselves. The traditionalists tell us that at the cosmic level this process cannot be withheld or interrupted. It must take place. The cycle, they say, must exhaust itself before a new one can replace it.”

—Prince Charles, Sacred Web Conference (2006)

(For more info, please read my 2016 article: “Prince Charles Publicly Reveals “The Secret Doctrine of the Occult”)

It should be noted that some writers of the esoteric tradition hold that Plato even named the Golden Age culture—“Atlantis.” Plato explains in deep detail how Atlantis was incredibly advanced, but slowly declined as a civilization. He seems to have suggested that a memory of Atlantis is preserved in the fantastic abilities attributed to the “gods” of Greek and Roman mythology; they were mortals, but they were endowed with amplified perceptions by being in touch with the higher Self. Think of a civilization of Christs and Buddhas, or something akin to it.

In time, however, the Atlantean kingdom grew weak due to their materializing tendencies, weak enough that they began to lose touch with the inner divinity that granted them such power. Plato wrote:

“For many generations…they obeyed the laws and loved the divine to which they were akin. …they reckoned that qualities of character were far more important than their present prosperity. So they bore the burden of their wealth and possessions lightly, and did not let their high standard of living intoxicate them or make them lose their self-control…But when the divine element in them became weakened…and their human traits became predominant, they ceased to be able to carry their prosperity with moderation.”

—Plato (Note: Emphasis added by me)

Plato goes on to explain that the end of Atlantis came some several thousand years ago, when a series of natural disasters sank their continent into the sea. As the story goes, a handful of survivors escaped the devastation, spreading to different parts of the world and taking their sophisticated religion with them.

For the past two decades, I´ve pointed to the archaeological research and discoveries made by 19^th and 20^th century scholars showing cultural parallels worldwide; I explain how this may be evidence of the remnants of the Golden Age religion. If this theory is correct, then the remnants of this religion seems to have consisted of many common features, like pyramid-building, mummification and the building of corbeled arches:

       Photo of the author (Richard Cassaro) lecturing in 2014 in New York City. Are the parallels shared by ancient unrelated civilizations evidence of a Golden Age in the prehistoric past?

For more on this, read about my Triptych Temple and GodSelf Icon discoveries.

If the world´s “first known cultures” shared the same Universal Religion, then this may have been the religion of the Golden Age—or, rather, a remnant of the Golden Age religion that is still visible in the world´s ancient traditions, architecture, symbolism, philosophies, and cosmologies. Victorian scholars, like the archaeologist Zelia Nuttall, saw clear evidence linking ancient civilizations of the Eastern and Western hemispheres.

“It will seem that the outcome of my researches corroborates the opinions differently expressed by a long line of eminent investigators, who have been constantly discovering and pointing out undeniable similarities and identities between the civilization of both hemispheres.”

—Zelia Nuttall, American Archaeologist & Anthropologist (1857 – 1933)

Seeing the utter sophistication of ancient monuments and contrasting this sophistication with the sad state of current world affairs shows us evidence that there may be a kernel of truth in the Golden Age vs. Dark Age beliefs of many of our ancient ancestors. And that many ancient ruins around the world that show signs of remarkable sophistication have been improperly dated by archaeologists. Instead of belonging to civilizations we can “see” in our history, they may in fact belong to an era or Age thousands of years earlier.

I´m often told that the idea that we´re living in a Dark Age is a “negative” outlook, and that it conveys a sense of hopelessness. But Prince Charles offers us some hope:

“I know that this might seem to suggest that we are entirely the passive victims of this cosmic unfolding. However, as I understand it, the traditionalists would go on to say that if this were the only reality then all attempts to pursue and align ourselves with spiritual realities and experience would be in vain. And that cannot possibly be. Indeed, it is precisely on the individual plane and through our understanding of and attachment to traditional norms of metaphysical doctrine and spiritual practice that we can, in a measure, transcend the baleful influence of the descent that is the eventual exhaustion and end of our cycle of history and prepare ourselves and the world for the beginning of the next. It is in this way, and perhaps only in this way, that we can overcome the mind-numbing despair of Modernism – not by false optimism, but by an understanding of and an attachment to the truly Real.”

—Prince Charles, Sacred Web Conference (2006)

This article has been excerpted and adapted from my upcoming book, Mayan Masonry (due to be released on September 23, 2018). Some advance copies are available right now. Click the link below to learn more.

Also be sure to have a look at our MEXICO TOUR to see the ruins of the ancient Maya this coming November 2018.

Richard Cassaro is a Madrid-based author, lecturer, documentary filmmaker, and tour guide from New York City. His published books Written in Stone (2011), The Missing Link (2016), and Mayan Masonry (2018) offer rare insights into ancient megaliths, spirituality, mythology, magic, symbolism, secret societies, comparative religion and occult archaeology. Cassaro has discussed his work on the History Channel, and in documentary films. His articles have appeared in print journals and web media around the globe; and he has delivered well-received lectures about his findings in the UK, Italy, Peru, Egypt, Spain, Mexico and the U.S. In his capacity as a field investigator, he hosts travel adventures to archaeological sites worldwide.

Richard Cassaro © Copyright, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.RichardCassaro.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Egypt´s “Crook & Flail” staffs were often depicted in the hands of the Pharaohs. These instruments are described by Egyptologists as “symbols of kingship and royal authority.” But this vague and unclear definition ignores the occult view that the Crook & Flail served a much more important purpose—a purpose specifically related to the “Great Work” of spiritual transformation. We´ll take a closer look at the Crook & Flail staffs and reveal their true esoteric meaning as tools a spiritual seeker can use to transform his/her lower (animal) self into a servant of his higher (spiritual) Self.            

The Crook & Flail staffs, here depicted on the coffin of King Tutankhamun, are called “symbols of divine authority” by Egyptologists.

A longstanding esoteric tradition teaches that the ancient Egyptians were in possession of an advanced metaphysical doctrine. This doctrine was based on the idea that humans possess two intertwined natures—a human “animal” self and a divine “spiritual” Self.

“Man is a god in the body of an animal according to the pronouncement of ancient philosophy…”

—Alvin Boyd Kuhn

Egypt´s metaphysical doctrine taught that humans should not identify primarily with their “physical” animal lower self. Instead, we should focus on rediscovering our “spiritual” divine higher Self, which is who we really are.

THE BUDDHA WITHIN

The difference between the lower self and higher Self is described in Buddhism’s Tathagatagarbha Sutra (c. 3rd century AD), which teaches that we all have a “Buddha within” (tathagata), a “perfect soul” or “divine spark.” However, our Buddha nature is covered by layers of vestures (garbha) in the form of bodily passion, anguish, greed, anger, ambition, lust, confusion, and so on.

Life’s goal is not only to rediscover this Buddha inside, but also to remove the outer layers of clothing that bury him.

Buddhism’s Tathagatagarbha Sutra (c. 3rd century AD) teaches that we all have a “Buddha within.”

The 20^th century mythologist Joseph Campbell wrote:

“We are all manifestations of Buddha consciousness, or Christ consciousness, only we don’t know it. The word “Buddha” means “the one who waked up.” We are all to do that—to wake up to the Christ or Buddha consciousness within us.…”

—Joseph Campbell

THE OSIRIS WITHIN

In Egypt, there was a spiritual model in the form of a person who had achieved his “Buddhahood” or “Christhood.” He did so by using the Crook & Flail, as we’ll see in a moment. But his name was not “Buddha” or “Christ.” It was “Asar” (Osiris in Egyptian), the central figure of the ancient Egyptian religion for thousands of years. We´re told by the esoteric author and Freemason, W.L. Wilmshurst:

“…the Mystery-systems have always exhibited an example for the instruction, encouragement and emulation of those prepared to make the attempt and the necessary sacrifice. To hearten them to the task the Initiatory Colleges have held up a prototype in the person of some great soul who has already trodden the same path and emerged triumphant therefrom. …In Egypt the prototype was Osiris.”

—W.L. Wilmshurst

It was the aim of every follower of Osiris to live exactly like Osiris, to “become” Osiris in every way. Imagine living so pure you “become” a living Buddha or a living Christ. Austrian philosopher, social reformer, and esoteric author Rudolf Steiner tells us:

“Man becomes perfect when he lives as an Osiris…In this way the Osiris myth receives its deeper significance. It becomes the example of a man who wishes to awaken the eternal within him.”

—Rudolf Steiner, Christianity As Mystical Fact

The ancient Egyptians were so focused on “becoming an Osiris” in life that when they died they buried themselves in his image. Indeed, Egyptologists tell us that the entire funerary ritual of the Egyptians was designed to transform the deceased into an Osiris to show they lived as he did.

But how exactly did the Egyptians transform their dead into the god Osiris?

OSIRIS: THE EGYPTIAN CHRIST

The name “Asar” (Osiris) is constituted by three hieroglyphs—one of which is the image of a bearded man with long hair:

The name Asar” (Osiris) in Egyptian hieroglyphs features the image of a bearded man with long hair.

In Written in Stone I theorized that this image of a bearded man with long hair is an image of how Osiris looked. More precisely, this image—which signifies the word “god” or “godhood” in the Egyptian system of hieroglyphics—symbolized the “godhood” or “god nature” or “higher Self nature” that vivifies and animates every human being.

I also theorized that the two main funerary items placed on the deceased—the “nemes headdress” placed on the head and the “plaited beard” placed on the chin—were props used to transform the outward appearance of the deceased into an image of this “god nature” that exists within each of us, which the Egyptians called Osiris. The headdress is a depiction of long hair; the headdress was tied into a ponytail at the back of the head, as is often done with long hair. The braided goatee is clearly a beard.

Look closely at the image below: Can you recognize the long hair and beard?

The dead were dressed in the image of Osiris, a bearded man with long hair. The “headdress” is a depiction of long hair; the headdress was tied into a ponytail at the back of the head, as is often done with long hair.

If my theory is correct, then this means that for thousands of years the ancient Egyptians were buried in the image of a bearded man with long hair—identical to the popular image of Christ!  In the year 2000, I commissioned the following painting to present my hypothesis:

In my book, “Written in Stone,” I theorize that the Egyptians were buried in the image of Osiris—a bearded man with long hair—so they could follow his resurrection.

By going to their graves in Osirian form, the Egyptians were showing that they had found their higher Self within—what we would today call their “Buddha consciousness” or “Christ consciousness” within.

Watch this video I produced, based on research I published in my book Written in Stone:

Esoteric schools teach that early Christianity purposely misrepresented the ancient Egyptian teaching of the “inner Osiris,” and that Christianity grew to become a bastardized version of the Egyptian religion. We find this idea in the research of countless professors, scholars and intellectuals like Gerald Massey (1828 – 1907), an English poet who studied the parallels common to the Egyptian and Christian religions; Alvin Boyd Kuhn, an American academic and amateur Egyptologist who took up Masseys work; and Rhodes Scholar Tom Harpur, author, columnist and theologian:

“…what the Egyptian knew that his Christian imitator did not, was that the Osiris whose death and resurrection were thus portrayed was the divine element within his own constitution and not a man perishing on a wooden cross and pushing away a rock from his hillside tomb two days later…”

—Alvin Boyd Kuhn

“…Christ was the Immortal Spirit in man… It did not and could not depend on any single manifestation in one historic personality…Historic Christianity originated with turning the…teachings inside out and externalizing the mythical allegory in a personal human history. …a huge and hideous mistake…”

—Gerald Massey

 “…the Christ principle is potentially in every one of us…Christ of the myth became a flesh and blood person identified with Jesus.”

—Tom Harpur, The Pagan Christ

Osiris had “mastered” his lower animal self. You might say that his higher Self, or the “god” part of himself, was able to overpower or “master” the lower animal part. But such mastery does not come easily. One needs tremendous discipline to be able to control one´s emotions, feelings, aggressions, appetites, desires, etc.

How exactly does one succeed in doing this?

CROOK & FLAIL

Enter the Crook & Flail, two instruments directly related to the “Great Work” of spiritual transformation and, more specifically, with “mastery” of the lower animal self. The Crook & Flail staffs were tools every Egyptian seeker used to transform his/her lower (animal) self into a servant of his higher (spiritual) Self.

                                           The Crook & Flail are shepherd’s instruments—an epithet of Osiris was “Good Shepherd” (i.e., shepherd of one´s lower nature).

The Crook (heka) & Flail (nekhekh) were often shown held in the hands of Osiris in various paintings, statues and amulets. They were also held in the hands of the Osirianised dead, telling us they aided / assisted the deceased in accomplishing his / her most important mission in life—becoming “an Osiris”:

Left: Images of Osiris holding the Crook & Flail. Right: The “Osirianised” dead holding the Crook & Flail.

SHEPHERD’S CROOOK
The crook was a cane with a hooked handle, sometimes gold-plated and reinforced with blue copper bands. The crook was used by shepherds; the hook of the crook served to hold a runaway sheep. The crook symbolized the concept of rule, and it serves as the hieroglyph for the Egyptian word “rule, ruler.” However, rather than “ruling” over others, the crook seems to have also conveyed the idea of ruling one´s “lower self” by gently guiding one´s own behavior upward. This is how one becomes an Osiris.

SHEPHERD’S FLAIL
In the other hand was the flail or shepherd’s “whip,” a rod with three attached beaded strands. The flail was a simple agricultural tool used for threshing or beating grain from the ear by hand and it was also a weapon. Yet here it doesn´t seem to have been an “outward” weapon used on others, but rather a weapon one might use on their own lower nature to aggressively whip one´s lower self into line.

Occultists will quickly note that the two opposing and yet complementary concepts described here—Mercy (Crook) and Severity (Flail)—play a key role across various occult schools. Mercy is conveyed by the Crook, as the Crook is a merciful way to gently “guide” a straying animal back to the fold. Severity is conveyed by the Flail, as the Flail is a severe way to “reprimand” a rebellious animal and force that animal back into line. In this way these two tools help to “mercifully” and “severely” guide the lower animal that is you—your lower animal self.

“Quit then, this Tomb, O Aspirant, with thine arms crossed upon thy breast, bearing in thy right hand the Crook of Mercy and in thy left the Scourge of Severity, the emblems of those Eternal Forces betwixt which the equilibrium of the Universe dependeth; those forces whose reconciliation is the Key of Life, whose separation is evil and death.”

—Israel Regardie, The Golden Dawn

The “crossing” of the two staffs above the chest has various meanings and connotations, but the one most pertinent for our discussion is the act of “combining” their power together (the two instruments are held in the right and left hands in a parallel manner) showing they have equal strength. The Osirianised dead, by crossing these two symbolic staffs over his or her chest, were conveying the idea that he / she had used both tools to help them become the Master of his / her own self—to help them become an Osiris. By using these twin instruments of self-control to subdue their lower animal nature, the deceased had “followed in the footsteps” of Osiris (the Egyptian Buddha or Christ) and found their higher Self.

Researcher Gary Osborn, author of The Shining Ones, provides excellent insight into the symbolism of the Crook & Flail:

“What has not yet been acknowledged, is that again, the crook and the flail are ‘Duality’ symbols, symbolising the opposite, positive and negative, male and female, yang and yin energies and forces. The flail is held by the right hand connected to the male-related left brain, and the crook is held by the left hand connected to the female-related right brain. Now the reason why they were seen as symbols of power and kingship was because being held in this way, the point where the crook and flail were brought together, and the point where the crook and flail crossed over each other at the heart or centre of the body, symbolised the ‘neutral point’ of balance, a condition that can lead to the rebirth associated with enlightenment and resurrection, and one’s vertical alignment with the ‘heavenly kingdom’ . . . the Godhead . . . the source-centre of creation.

—Gary Osborn, www.GaryOsborn.Moonfruit.com

Osborn believes these symbols also may record the phenomenon of the Solstices and Equinoxes, whereby the Egyptians were linking the Solstices to the “opposites” / “duality” and the Equinoxes to the “center” / “balance.” Posting the following image, Osborn writes:

“In esoteric thought, the crook and flail would also represent the opposites of Summer and Winter in the yearly cycle. The flail, a kind of whip, or ‘fly whip,’ is associated with Summer. The flail is also used to reap the corn. The crook is associated with the shepherding of the flock during Winter, and of course images of shepherds holding crooks are often displayed on Christmas greeting cards. Summer is related to the Sun and the colour Red, and therefore the male principle, and Winter is related to the Moon and the colour White, and therefore the feminine principle. So symbolically, these two items represent the opposites of Summer and Winter…”

—Gary Osborn, www.GaryOsborn.Moonfruit.com

It’s interesting to note that the duality of Egypt’s Crook & Flail match the duality of the Mercy & Severity Columns—the twin opposing yet complementary concepts of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, as shown here:

 The Tree of Life. Note the twin outer pillars named “Mercy” and “Severity.”

The Tree of Life is a design that can be described as showing the act of “Creation” as it flows downward from the spiritual to material plane in increasing sephiroth or “emanations.” On the way downward, the sephiroth ultimately form a structure reminiscent of the Fall of Man, or, better the Fallen Man. The bodily physical part of this Fallen Man is marked by twin Pillars—the Pillar of Severity on one side and the Pillar of Mercy on the other side. The spiritual side of this Fallen Man is marked by the center Pillar, which is often called the Pillar of the Soul.

Viewed in its entirety, the Tree of life is actually an image of you—the spiritual eternal you (Middle Pillar) inside your body’s duality (Twin outer Pillars). Life’s goal is to rediscover this center pillar—the Osiris nature (i.e., Buddha nature, Christ nature) within you. Once you do that, you´ve found your higher Self.

Visualize yourself for a moment stepping into and becoming the tree. The Pillar of Mercy corresponds to your body’s right side, and the Pillar of Severity to your left side. These two pillars are symmetrical, like your body. As mentioned above, Mercy and Severity are opposites. The eternal you, however, is the Middle Pillar, known as the Pillar of the Soul and the Pillar of Balance.

20th Century mystic Israel Regardie, student of occultist Aleister Crowley, wrote:

“There are two contending forces and one always uniting them…Unbalanced Mercy is weakness and the fading out of the Will. Unbalanced Severity is cruelty and the barrenness of Mind.”

—Aleister Crowley

Regardie, once a member of a Masonic-like order called “temple of the Golden Dawn,” quotes from the order’s initiation ceremony:

“…only in and by the reconciliation of opposing forces is the Pathway made to the true occult knowledge and practical power…”

—Israel Regardie

Here, Regardie’s words echo the position of the Crook & Flail held in the hands of the Osirianised deceased, forming a perfect visual representation of what he calls the “reconciliation of opposing forces” which he claims creates a “Pathway” to “true knowledge and practical power”:

“Pharaoh holds twin “opposites”—shepherd´s staff (MERCY) and flail (SEVERITY)—in balance. Both are used to subdue animals. Here they symbolize mastery over one´s lower “animal” nature. The shepherd´s staff is used to pull stray animals by the neck without hurting them (MERCY). The flail is used to beat animals into submission (SEVERITY). Mastering these symbols means mastering your lower animal nature to find your true Self in the center (MIDDLE PILLAR / BALANCE).”                                                             

—Richard Cassaro, Written in Stone

Egypt´s metaphysical doctrine—which was not confined to Egypt, and which I´ve described in my books, articles and lectures as the “Universal Religion of Antiquity,” as it was shared worldwide among the world´s first cultures—was inherited by Western occultists, Hermeticists, alchemists and philosophers during the past two thousand years since the decline of dynastic Egypt. It branched out over the course of centuries and it became grouped into different subgenres called by different names, including the Perennial Philosophy, Sacred Science, Alchemy, Hermeticism, and so on. However, its basic teachings on the fundamental physical/spiritual dichotomy of man have always remained the same.

You can learn more about my research into ancient Egyptian symbolism and meaning in my books Written in Stone and The Missing Link:

 Richard Cassaro’s new book, The Missing Link, explores the meaning, transformations and propagation of the ancient world’s most important religious icon. His first book, Written in Stone, is a wide-ranging exploration of hitherto-unknown connections among Freemasons, medieval cathedral builders and the creators of important ancient monuments, in support of his theory that a spiritually advanced mother culture, lost to history, is behind many of the world’s architectural and artistic traditions.

Prior to the publication of Written in Stone, Cassaro enjoyed a successful career as a U.S. correspondent, professional journalist, and photo researcher for Rizzoli Publications, one of the world’s leading media organizations. Cassaro, who is a graduate of Pace University in New York City, has examined first-hand the ancient ruins and mystical traditions of Egypt, Mexico, Greece, Italy, Sicily, France, England, India, Peru and Spain; he has lectured on his theories to great acclaim in the United States, Egypt, Italy, Spain and Peru.

Richard Cassaro © Copyright, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.RichardCassaro.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.