Sample Chapter

Chapter One. 

THE UNIVERSAL MIND. 

The Energy God. 

‘The Primal Mind, which is life and light, being bisexual, gave birth to the Mind of the Cosmos. The Primal Mind is ever unmoving, eternal and changeless and contains within it this Cosmic Mind which is imperceptible to the senses. The cosmos, which senses perceive, is a copy and image of this eternal Cosmic Mind, like a reflection in a mirror’. 

The Hermetica. Egyptian Text. 3,000 BC. 

Since the dawn of time, humanity has wondered about the meaning of life and pondered the nature of the universe. To this day we are still wondering and debating. The universe is nobody's fool however, and does not give up her secrets easily. Alone in the vastness of this magnificent star-filled cosmos, resplendent on a uniquely lush blue orb, we are all spiralling helplessly, relentlessly and irrevocably through space and time. 

Where are we going? Why are we here? Is there a meaning and purpose to life? Where did the universe come from? Is there a God? What happens to us when we die? 

Throughout the ages, many diverse religions, philosophies, cosmological and scientific theories have come into being in an attempt to answer these questions. Diverse as these multiple theories may be however, and there are as many as there are people in the world, they can be roughly divided into two opposing camps. 

The first camp - that of religion, spirituality and mysticism - has collectively, throughout history, contained three constantly recurring themes: 1) That the universe is a deliberate manifestation of a divine mind or intelligence - an act of God in other words. 

2) That all creatures have an eternal soul which survives physical death and which will be called to account for its deeds by God on 'Judgment Day'. 3) That some people are naturally gifted with the ability to intercede with, or contact these higher spiritual realms or dimensions - usually through mystical vision or revelation. This would include mystics, holy men, shaman and prophets. This first camp also believes in the possibilities of higher realities, or dimensions, and an ultimate state of spiritual bliss, heaven or nirvana. They also collectively recognize and have a reverence for the 'Angelic' or spiritual planes of existence. The Angel Gabriel for instance, is quintessential in the Old and New Testaments, as well as the Quran. Sometimes this camp also incorporates a belief in reincarnation, depending entirely on which spiritual system the individual camp member follows. 

The second camp of course, is that of the scientific materialists and atheists who also have three main, but contradictory beliefs: 

1) There is no God. The universe and life on Earth, with all its intricate and detailed diversity, ‘just happened’ - atoms accidentally bumped into each other and hey presto! (According to one theorist, that’s about as likely as a jumbo jet in bits on

the tarmac being assembled by a strong wind!) 

2) We have no soul - we are just physical forms. According to this camp, you live, you die, and that's it. There is nothing more. There is no God, no heaven, no reincarnation, no life after death. No nothing! 

3) The 'supernatural' is unscientific and serves no useful purpose in a practical world. According to this camp, the other camp is basically ‘out to lunch with the fairies’, and their 'visions' and 'revelations' are nothing more than delusion, hallucination or wishful thinking. This camp does not believe in anything unless it is physically scientifically verifiable or at the very least, has some logical or scientific explanation. 

Of course, common sense tells us that both contradictory philosophies cannot be right - there either is, or is not, a supreme creative intelligence in the universe - with all its implications. One camp, therefore, has a logic that is fatally flawed. 

Now, and this is the eternal billion dollar question - which one of these two camps is right? Before we can embark on any meaningful debate on the subject, however, we should firstly consider and contemplate that ancient maxim ‘As above, so below’, for should we be in any doubt as to our relationship with the universe from the start, we can be reminded quite simply, that the laws which apply in the universe apply to both great and small alike. 

The macrocosm and the microcosm, the universe and the atom, are identical in principle (both essentially consisting of orbiting bodies around a central sphere) and since we live in one and are composed entirely of the other, there is no reason to suppose that we are somehow separate from the same principles that apply at the very heart of both. We are all, whether great or small, bound together in the same web of creation and like it or not, we obey the same laws, follow the same universal principles and are all inexorably and eternally linked. 

Furthermore, we cannot separate any one part of the universe and exclude it from the universe itself any more than you could take any one cell from your body and deny it equal status and participation in your own being. Whether that cell is far away on the end of your big toe, or right next to your line of vision on your nose, it is still part of a comprehensive whole that makes up your totality. It is the same with the body of the universe, and despite its enormity, every part of it is part and parcel of its entirety. And that includes you! 

If somewhere in one's own mind the concept of separateness should try to take hold - that is, to believe that any one part of creation is not intrinsically bound and connected to any other part of creation and that somehow, the laws do not apply to 'this' or 'that' or 'him' or 'her' - be rid of it now - because all of creation is inexorably linked, bound together in a wholeness or 'Oneness'. 

We cannot, for instance, separate out the Sun from the Moon and suggest one or the other is not of the same world or subject to the same laws, or even immune from the effects of each upon the other. At the same time, neither are you separate from, greater or lesser than, any other part of creation. You are part and parcel of it by its own, and your very own nature, and from that there is no escape. 

However, that is not to say that we do not or may not experience a sense of separateness from time to time. Indeed, this may be at the heart of many a human malady. Our sense of separateness however, is the 'Maya', the illusion of our existence as separate from the whole. Like the blind men who tried to describe an elephant by holding its ear, tail or leg, we may never know anything about the universe until we try to see it in its totality. 

So - back to our billion-dollar question - which camp is right? To try and find

the answer to that question in any meaningful way, the logic of one must obviously stand the test of scrutiny, and the theories of the other must be firmly, but politely eliminated. 

Before we can investigate the many complex and varied implications of the first option however, (the pro-God camp) let us firstly see if the second one (the no-God camp) fits into the world model and follows the same laws and principles as the rest of the Universe. For, as we have already noted, the laws that operate in the Universe apply without exception, and unless the ‘accidental universe’ meets this criterion, it will automatically and immediately disqualify itself as a reasonable and logical hypothesis. 

Now, the universe works on certain mathematical principles and laws that are part of the very fabric and structure of creation, and one of these is Newton's Third Law of Motion, otherwise known as the Law of Cause and Effect. The Third Law of Motion simply states that: ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’ and simply put, if there is an effect, then there is, without doubt, a proceeding cause. 

Following the logic of the Third Law of Motion then, we can assume that if the Universe was created at the moment of the Big Bang, there must have been a causative factor that preceded it. The Universe itself could simply not have come into being without a causative factor, and to suggest that it could do so would simply be contrary to the very laws and nature of its own being. 

According to the principles of the Law of Cause and Effect, we would have to conclude that the Universe would have to have had a causative factor, that is, something that both proceeded and caused the Big Bang to happen in the first place. This alone is sufficient reason to doubt the concept of a Universe with no proceeding cause, and if this Law did not apply throughout the universe, I can only see that the universe itself would be without motion, cause or effect, and that matter - if it existed at all - would simply stagnate. 

Everything in the known universe is subject to these same universal laws and the very same laws preclude the idea of a universe that had no apparent cause to precede the effects of its own visible manifestation. There must have been, by the very nature of the universe and all the laws that govern it, a proceeding cause. There can be no other explanation. The Universe, operating and abiding by its own laws, and by its very nature must have had a causative factor. This causative factor we collectively refer to in spiritual terms as ‘God’. 

Now, having failed the first test, that of conforming absolutely to universal laws, the logic of camp number two, the 'no-God' (no causative-factor) camp, has been quickly and quietly eliminated. We must now scrutinise the logic of camp number one, the pro-causative factor (God) camp, and see if their theories about God and the universe stand up to scrutiny! 

However, two things should be clarified before we can even attempt to gain some understanding of who or what this 'God', this 'causative factor' could be. If we assume that this God is the sole causative creative factor that gave rise to the materialised universe, we can immediately and irrevocably discount the theory that this God could in any way be human, or possessed of human form. Firstly, because the universe itself is some 14 billion years old, and homo-sapiens were not even present at the time, having only appeared on Earth relatively recently, and secondly, because no one human being has the power to individually create a whole universe. 

The popularised Western concept of a milky white God with a cute fluffy beard floating somewhere around Heaven therefore, is a rather absurd concept which no doubt arose from the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Biblical

statement which appears in Genesis, the first book of the Bible and which states that ‘God made man in his own image’. (Genesis 1:26) 

As the creator, or creative force of the entire universe must proceed material creation, and is absolutely non-material in its original form, in effect originated from a higher invisible pre-dimensional reality which preceded the Big Bang and the material universe, then this divine ‘likeness’ must refer to the invisible pre-materialised being of the creative source. 

Furthermore, if we consider the principles of the macro and microcosm ‘As above, so below’ - it is far more likely that this statement refers to the divine nature of God (the creative source) which is present in all things, having created them from higher dimensions of reality. 

If we can assume that this 'God' pre-existed the universe, being the causative factor of it and all things in it, we must consider the fact that this God is non-physical and non-material, being beyond form, and of an altogether different nature. If then, we are ‘made in his image’, it is, I believe, the non-physical, invisible and divine aspect of God to which this statement refers. Exactly what this mystical and divine energy may be however, we shall explore in the next chapter. 

Being essentially non-material by nature, furthermore, I doubt whether this 'God' has a single gender of maleness alone, which has been so popularised by the male dominated monotheistic religions, and which supplanted the primal and pagan religions where 'God' and 'Goddess' worship was not uncommon. Indeed, the Pontiff himself has now declared that God is possessed of both Male and Female energies! 

Already intrinsic in Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, the concept of male and female energies - the polarity of Yin and Yang - is known as dualistic monism (the two originating from the one) which ultimately gives rise to the numerological concept of the Trinity - (1+2=3), which is also referred to in many religious texts, including those of Judaism, Christianity and Hinduism. 

Now, although matter is finite, in the sense that all material forms are subject to birth, life and death, 'energy' itself can neither be created nor destroyed. It was never born, and it can never die. It just is. It precedes all forms, being the eternal creative source of matter, and in this context it can be considered infinite in its absolute sense. (I use the term 'energy' here to denote a 'higher' or causative 'divine' energy.) 

Science tells us quite clearly that this energy is infinite and eternal and can never be destroyed, and that all living forms - including you and me - are made from this self same energy. Logically it stands to reason then, that a part of ourselves, the part of us which is this energy, is also infinite and eternal and can never be destroyed either. Is this what the ancients referred to as ‘the soul’, the indestructible energy that lives within us? 

However, infinite or not, let us make no mistake, this 'energy' is not merely a by-product of creation, it is intrinsic to creation itself. Equally, energy also appears to have some form of intelligence or awareness, as well as the ability to organise matter into a multitude of forms and species. This is obvious and apparent if you look at Nature. 

What quality is it in a moth, for instance, which has the intelligence to make that moth look identical to the tree on which it lives? Was it the intelligence of the insect itself that determined that it should look like its host tree, or did the very atoms and cells which themselves must be party to this intelligence, which determined their evolution? 

However, 'Energy' is possessed of many qualities, and one of the qualities of

universal energy that we need to investigate at this point is the nature and activity of Light. Although light was once believed to be corpuscular, that is, consisting of particles, it was later proved by the phenomenon of diffraction - which shows that the boundaries of shadows are diffused - to consist of waves. Although apparently contradictory in scientific terms, light appears to consist of both particles and waves both alternately and simultaneously. 

Light itself may be regarded as a form of electromagnetic radiation consisting of oscillations of an electric and magnetic field. Light forms a narrow section of the electromagnetic spectrum and is perceived by normal vision on a wavelength range between approximately 390 nanometers (violet) to 740 nanometers (red). Substance and light are basically the same electro-magnetic energy and can be described as fields of force whose state is discernible as wave phenomena. 

Light travels out from source at l86,000 miles per second and is, (apart from thought as we shall see later), the fastest moving force in the universe. The relative speed of light furthermore, has much to do with how we perceive the visible universe. Indeed, without light, we would perceive absolutely nothing! It is light that makes all things visible and manifest. 

Without light, our world would be in darkness and no life would exist at all, being entirely dependent on it for biological function and creation. Light, so far as we are concerned, is synonymous with life itself, and without it, we would simply not exist. Everything we are and perceive is a direct result of the activity of light. 

Now, as we are all no doubt aware, when we look into the night sky at the furthest most distant galaxies, we are looking at the universe as it was some millions or even billions of years ago. This is quite simply because light takes time to travel from one place to another, and the light which we perceive from these distant galaxies was actually emitted millions, and in some cases billions of years ago. 

Much closer to home is our own Sun. The light from this, the closest star to us, takes roughly eight and a half minutes to reach us. Therefore, if the Sun were to go out now, at this very second, we would not be aware of it for another eight and a half minutes. Due to the nature and speed of light, therefore, there may be delays in between the time that an event actually occurs and the time you perceive the event happening. Furthermore, light and time can both be diffracted and distorted. 

Albert Einstein’s theory of Relativity demonstrates to us that we experience the phenomena of Time/Space, relative to the speed of light and the relative position of the observer. Einstein also discovered that the faster one moved relative to the speed of light, the slower time went. 

This was demonstrated amply in his mathematical experiments which indicated that if a traveller was to embark on a journey into space moving faster and faster at a relative velocity, he would return to Earth to find that compared to, say, his ten relative years in space, Earth time had moved on at a relative ratio to his own, and had aged several hundred years. 

Let us just assume for a moment that we could reach the speed of light ourselves. Hypothetically - remembering that time moves slower as the speed of light is approached - at the speed of light itself, time and space would simply cease to exist. We would be beyond Time/Space, and definitely nowhere within the visible universe! 

Logically and conversely, if we reverse the process travelling slower and slower away from the Light, we would no doubt arrive in some strange place which the inhabitants called 'the material universe', having passed through several dimensions to get there.

Understanding light has a lot to do with understanding the manifested Universe and 'light' has a mystical, as well as physical connotation. The subject of 'Light' also appears over thirty times in The Bible, and the tenets of Christianity as defined by Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicea in the 3rd Century AD contain these profound words in their texts; ‘Before all Worlds. God with God. Light with Light’. 

The secrets of creation are bound, symbolically, encoded in our ancient texts and religions, which at their very essence contain mystical knowledge about universal energy and creation which compare with, and sometimes exceed current scientific knowledge. 

We also speak of people 'seeing the Light', or becoming 'Enlightened' to indicate a state of spiritual awareness or illumination. 'Going towards the Light' has also become a frequent phenomenon for those who have died and been brought back to life by modern medical science! 

Nowhere is the mystical activity of light better conveyed, however, than in the Kabbalah - the mystical tradition which forms the basis of both Judaism and Christianity. The Kabbalah, which literally translated means ‘to receive’ or ‘to reveal’, has both a written and an oral tradition. The first four books of the Kabbalah appear as the first four chapters of the Old Testament. 

The three main written texts of the Kabbalah are The Sepher Yetzirah, which describes God as indescribable, The Zohar, which is commonly referred to as the Book of Splendour, and which describes the Universe as an interconnected mass of particles governed by a higher force, and the Sepher Bahir - which is known as the Book of Brilliance - which describes the Universe as a multi-layered reality in which all parts are connected and where each and every part is governed by a higher law. 

The teachings of the Kabbalah are visually encompassed in the Kabbalistic 'Tree of Life', a schematic diagram which represents the underlying blueprint and numerology of creation, and which best describes how God (Energy, Spirit, Light) manifests the physical Universe (matter) through a series of dimensions called Sephiroth. Simply put, ‘God’ which can at its essence be viewed as pure Energy, Consciousness or Light, must be slowed down through this series of transformers, (dimensions), to its slowest vibration which will then be perceived as matter, travelling through at least ten dimensions to get there. 

Each of the ten Sephiroth also represent the numerological principles of creation from one to ten, and are equated with the ten major planetary influences which shape life on Earth. It is through the planetary energies that the ten main qualities of the Tree of Life manifest themselves. 

The Tree of Life is then further subdivided vertically into three - by the Pillars of Judgment, Mildness and Mercy - representing the Trinity (Spirit, Mind, Body) and is subdivided again into Four Worlds which represent the four elements, Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Divided horizontally there are seven levels, which can be seen to relate to the seven chakras. 

To the Kabbalistic or Occult numerologist, numbers represent the primal organising principle that gives structure to the material universe, the seasons, the movements of the planets, and even harmony in music are all determined by numerical law. There is a rhythm to life, and these rhythms can in turn be measured as cycles, waves or vibrations, all of which are measurable by number. As Pythagoras once observed, ‘All things are number.’ 

Numbers and numerical law are at the very heart of creation. Numbers represent the ability of the One to self-divide and multiply in the same way that an

embryo becomes a fully formed entity. It is through this self same process that the entire universe and all things that exist come into being. 

Before Creation. 

‘Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting. 

The soul that rises with us, our life’s star, 

Hath had elsewhere it’s setting, 

And cometh from afar’. 

Wordsworth. ‘Ode to Immortality’. 

Before you came kicking and screaming into this world, and made yourself visible and manifest, you spent nine months in your mother’s womb, invisible and as yet unformed. Although you were unseen and virtually unknowable up until the time of your birth, there was no doubt in your mother's mind that you were in the process of creation. 

This simple analogy might best describe the birth of the Universe, for, up until the point that it burst through the Ethers into the realms of the visible, it was in a state of gestation and formation, let us just say for now, in the womb of creation. 

Now, it is quite apparent, if we follow the principles of the ‘as above, so below’ maxim relating to the relationship of the macrocosm and microcosm, that the universe itself must have been going through a similar process of conception, development and gestation before its own birth. 

Somewhere, unseen and invisible to the naked eye, on an altogether different dimension, the universe was in a state of pre-birth up to the point of the Big Bang, which we will liken to the moment of birth, and the exact point at which the Universe exited the womb of the Universal Mother. 

However, whatever we are, or were in the beginning, be it ‘God’, spirit, energy, atomic matter or otherwise, no one part of the Universe can be separated out from any of the other and at the point immediately prior to the Big Bang, all matter was contained in a state of unification, or oneness. 

Previous to the visible and physical manifestation of the Universe which occurred at the Big Bang, however, the laws of physics as we know them break down and, as we are dealing with higher dimensions of reality, simply cease to apply. We are, in essence, now dealing with non-material principles that do not, and cannot conform to any known laws that apply in the physical dimension. Another set of criteria for understanding pre-creation of Universal energies is therefore required in order to discover exactly how or where matter might have existed before the Big Bang itself. 

Of course, we know that matter did not originate in our own universe, because our own universe did not exist itself in physical form before the Big Bang. So where was all that universal substance before the Big Bang? 

One way of explaining how and where the universal substance could have been or existed before the Big Bang is to consider the concept of higher dimensions - another state of existence in, or on which this universal energy or substance could actually pre-exist. Now, although the idea of higher dimensions may sound at first rather like science fiction, the concept of a multi-dimensional universe is now fast

becoming science fact! 

The first theory of higher dimensions was called the Kaluza-Klein theory in which light, which can travel through the vacuum of space - unlike sound - was explained as vibrations in the fifth dimension. This was later advanced by physicists Michael Green and John Schwarz, who proved the consistency of this theory with the 'Superstring Theory', which suggested that all matter consisted of tiny vibrating strings. 

Although it was once thought that atoms were indivisible fundamental particles, the discovery of neutrons, protons and electrons within the atom itself has now shown that atoms are not indivisible at all! Furthermore, scientists have recently discovered that neutrons, protons and electrons are not indivisible fundamental particles either, and are now known to contain three sets of even smaller particles that are known as Quarks. 

Quarks themselves come in two varieties - briefly named the 'up' quark and the 'down' quark. A proton consists of two up-quarks and a down-quark and a neutron consists of two down-quarks and an-up quark! Furthermore, everything in the universe appears to be made from combinations of electrons, and up-and-down quarks. 

However, that is not the end of the story as far as sub-dividing atoms and fundamental particles is concerned, and in the l950's Frederick Reins and Clyde Cowan found conclusive experimental evidence for a fourth kind of fundamental particle called a neutrino - billions of which are ejected into space by the sun, and 

are passing through us all at this very moment! 

Scientists have now also discovered four more quarks, known as 'charm', 'strange', 'bottom' and 'top', and a heavy electron called a ‘tau’, as well as two other particles called muon neutrinos and tau neutrinos. According to Superstring Theory, if we could examine these particles with even greater precision we would find that they all ultimately consisted of tiny vibrating loops! 

In his book ‘Hyperspace’, Michio Kaku, Professor of Theoretical Physics at New York University writes; ‘The deeper we probe into the nature of subatomic particles, the more particles we find. The current ‘zoo’ of subatomic particles numbers several hundred and their properties fill entire volumes. Even with the Standard Model, we are left with a bewildering number of elementary particles. 

String theory answers this question because the string, about l00 billion billion times smaller than a proton, is vibrating; each mode of vibration represents a distinct resonance or particle. The string is so incredibly tiny that, from a distance, the resonance of a string and a particle are indistinguishable. Only when we somehow magnify the particle can we see that it is not a point at all, but a mode of a vibrating string. In this picture, each subatomic particle corresponds to a distinct resonance that vibrates only at a distinct frequency.’ 

Although we shall be referring to Superstring Theory again in this book - suffice it to say that according to quantum physicists, in order for this theory to work, there must be further dimensions to explain and account for these quantum phenomena. The precise number of dimensions predicted? Ten! 

Although Superstring Theory represents the latest developments in quantum physics, the concept of a ten-dimensional universe already exists, as we have seen, within Kabbalistic tradition and teaching. 

In the ‘Hall of the Gods’, referring to esoteric numerology, author Nigel Appleby writes; ‘In the Jewish mystical tradition of the Kabbalah, it is taught that God has l0 faces and that followers of the faith should know them all. In quantum science,

where scientists study atomic particles in an accelerator vacuum, (a vacuum is basically ‘nothing’ which consists of particles that spontaneously create and annihilate themselves), some authorities have given 37 as the suspected number of particle fields. In Fadic terms, this number is 3+7, which is equal to 10, i.e. in Pythagorean reasoning everything (1) and nothing (0). So according to both a specific religious interpretation and the tenets of scientific quantum theory, there was 'everything' residing in 'nothing' - symbolised by the number 10. From the very start of the universe itself, the basic building block number was to be 10.’ 

The concept of a ten-dimensional universe is a theory now gaining credibility in the scientific world, and in his book ‘The Tenth Dimension’ Japanese physicist Mikio Kaku describes the theory of a ten dimensional Universe, and his diagram of how he perceives these multi-dimensional universes is remarkably similar to the Tree of Life of the Kabbalah. 

In his own search for a Unified Field Theory, a grand theory that would unite all theories into one, renowned physicist Professor Paul Davis, in his book ‘Superforce’ explains how the bewildering array of subatomic particles form abstract patterns and mathematical symmetries, suggesting deep linkages. He explains how the forces that act between these particles may require the existence of unseen extra dimensions of space and how these particles may be linked by an invisible ‘Superforce’ which permeates all of Creation. Could this ‘Superforce’ be God? 

In ‘The Physics of Immortality’, author Frank Tipler presents a purely scientific and mathematical argument for the existence of God and an afterlife. In his opening pages he writes: ‘When I began my career as a cosmologist I was a convinced atheist. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that one day I would be writing a book purporting to show that the central claims of Judeo-Christian theology are in fact true, that these claims are straightforward deductions of the laws of physics as we now understand them. I have been forced into these conclusions by the inexorable logic of my own special branch of physics’. 

Although the superstring theory represents the latest theoretical 

developments in quantum physics, and may even have its own opponents from within the scientific camp itself, (string theory remains a theory because we do not have the technology that can magnify the relevant subatomic particles l00 billion, billion times), I believe that ancient mystical systems will wholeheartedly welcome Superstring Theory into their camp, as the Kabbalah and its concepts of integrated subatomic systems and ten dimensional universes has already shown. 

The following passage from the Hindu scriptures however - the Baghavad Gita - may suggest that the concept of superstring theory was already incorporated into Sanskrit texts thousands of years beforehand. In Baghavad Gita, Brahma (God) manifesting as Lord Krishna explains; ‘I am Arjuna, the highest principle of transcendence, and there is nothing greater than me. Everything that be, rests on my energies, exactly like pearls on a thread’. (BG 7.7) 

In the Beginning... 

‘In the beginning was the word, as the word was with God and the word was God’. The Gospel of St. John (l:l)

I do not, for one moment, hope or suppose I am able to describe to you in any meaningful way the true nature and being of ‘God’ or exactly how this God came to manifest the visible Universe. The Kabbalah, as well as many other great religious and mystical systems, philosophies and texts, remind us that God is indescribable, and that if you can describe God, then it is not God at all. 

I must be honest and admit, therefore, that all I can hope do in these pages is to allude to the nature and being of God, the initial and the indescribable source of all Life, since adjectives and verbs are obviously insufficient to penetrate the nature and being of the Creator, who is beyond form and certainly beyond the reach of the human intellect. 

As we shall see later however, although the human intellect is incapable of understanding God, God can be known through the internalised mystical experience of vision, revelation and the transcendental experience. Words, however, are often insufficient to describe the personal mystical revelation, as it consists of experiences for which we have no suitable language. 

Before we can address the inward mystical understanding of God, however, there is one more aspect of creation that we need to investigate, and that is the nature of Sound. Sound is essentially a vibration that is carried through a medium such as air or water (sound cannot exist in a vacuum) and is experienced by the human ear on a range between 20 and 20,000 hertz (audio frequencies). 

According to the New Testament, sound was at the heart of creation and we are told ‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’ (John 1:1). According to ancient sacred Hindu literature Aum (Om) is said to have been the word, sound or vibration that God uttered to bring forth the materialised Universe. 

What effect does sound have on matter? 

The eighteenth century German physicist Ernest Chiadni first observed the effects of sound when he scattered sand on steel discs and observed the changing patterns produced when various notes were played on a violin. 

Earlier this decade and inspired by Chiadni's experiments, Dr Hans Jenny began working with a 'Tonoscope', that is, a machine which transforms sounds into visual images on a video screen. When Dr Jenny recited the sacred Hindu word Aum (Om) through the Tonoscope, he was amazed to find that the pattern that emerged was a perfect circle filled with concentric triangles and squares. 

This pattern coincided with the frequency pattern of diminishing harmonics, and was identical to the Buddhist ‘Shri Yantra’, a mandala that is said to represent the moment of creation, which was said to have begun with the utterance of the sacred sound ‘Om’. Further experimentation by Dr. Jenny also showed that different notes were able to create different shapes, many of them intrinsic and essential in creation, such as spirals and octagons. He also found the last note of Handel’s Messiah produced a perfectly formed six pointed star! 

It would appear then that at the subatomic level, atoms closely resemble oscillators that respond to different frequencies. According to physicist Donald Hatch, ‘we are now discovering that all matter is in a state of vibration and that the Universe is composed not of matter, but of music!’ 

Now, back to superstring theory and our tiny vibrating loops. Could it possibly be that these vibrating loops are making musical notes with their vibrations that actually organise matter into cohesive and mathematically correct living art forms! Are these tiny superstrings emitting tones that materialise form into different shapes and patterns?

In his book ‘The Music of Life’, Hazrat Inayat Khan, a Sufi mystic writes; ‘A keen observation shows that the whole universe is a single mechanism working by the law of rhythm. The law of rhythm is a great law, which is hidden behind nature. It is in accordance with this law that every form is made and that every condition manifests to view. The creation therefore is not merely a phenomenon of vibrations without any restrictions. If there were no rhythm, if it were not for the law of rhythm we would not have distinct forms and intelligible conditions. There is no movement which has no sound and there is no sound which has no rhythm.’ 

But where does this sound and rhythm come from? It is coming from within the vibrating 'superstrings' that exist within every one of the atoms that makes up our totality! Within each of us at this moment, if we could but perceive, is an incredible symphony being played, each of our differing mathematical proportions - of this or that atomic structure - producing the sum total of ourselves. Each of us having our own individual vibration, our own unique orchestra and sound, and our own unique composition to play! 

In his book ‘The Elegant Universe’, Brian Greene, Professor of Physics and Mathematics at both Columbia and Cornell universities writes; ‘Music has long since provided the metaphors of choice for those puzzling over the questions of cosmic concern. From the ancient Pythagorean ‘music of the spheres’ to the ‘harmonies of nature’ that have guided inquiry through the ages, we have collectively sought the song of nature in the gentle wanderings of celestial bodies and the riotous fulminations of subatomic particles. 

With the discovery of Superstring Theory, musical metaphors take on a startling reality, for the theory suggests that the microscopic landscape is suffused with tiny strings whose vibrational patterns orchestrate the evolution of the cosmos. The winds of change, according to superstring theory, gust through an Aeolian universe’. 

However, not even the most sophisticated of instruments can play itself! It cannot utter a note unless there is a player or a plucker, a vibration will simply not occur in the instrument itself until it has been agitated by some outside force. 

So what is causing our tiny little superstrings to vibrate? Let us go back to the reference from the Bible where we are told: ‘In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God’ - what could this possibly mean? As we have already seen, according to Hindu philosophy and teachings, God simply uttered the sacred sound of ‘Om’ and brought the whole material universe into being! Was this the primary sound that set all things into vibrating motion? 

Light and sound are both essentially disturbances on the electromagnetic spectrum in a given medium, and depend on two things for their existence, a source which has activated the vibrations in the first place, and a source which can act as a receiver for those vibrations. 

It would appear then, that although both light and sound are primal energy forms in their own right they would both still depend on an initialising source to stimulate the initial vibration that caused either one of them to exist in the first place. What was this initialising factor? 

If we go back to maxim, as above, so below, there is one other energy that we should consider if we are to understand something about creation and that is, the power of thought. Thought, in its essence, must be viewed as a power in its own right. Thought - the power of creative visualisation - is behind every work of literature, art, music, invention and creation. Thought, in itself, is an illusive power that defies definition.

Think about it. As you sit and read this book, realise that each word that is written on this paper is being read out loud to yourself in your mind. You are thinking the words out loud in your head. No one else can hear them but you. Think about where those thoughts are coming from. Somewhere in your being is the source of the thinker, and although we tend to associate thought solely with brain activity, this, as we shall see later, is simply not the case. 

Thought is a vital prerequisite for creativity. Nothing that is ever done, not the writing or reading of this book, or any other thing you care to imagine was ever done without an initialising thought. Whatever you or I do is always preceded by a thought. Quite simply, we think about something, and then we do it. ‘I think I'll do this', or ‘I think I'll do that’. We create it in our minds, as a concept, before materialising the thought into deed. 

Thought and the power of visualisation and creation are closely linked and in the simple, but profound words of the l6th Century French philosopher Descartes, ‘I think, therefore I am.’ 

Thought is the creative source of the self. Thought is pure creative power. Nothing is ever done without it. Without thought, creative and conscious, there is no motion, no creation. Thought, as we shall see later, travels faster than light. Thought can be instantaneously received regardless of the distance of the thinker and the receiver. Thought precedes all things. Thought, as a form of Energy, creates ideas that are translated into action and then materialised as form. 

Perhaps then, it is the same with the creative source of the whole Universe, perhaps the ‘Mind of God’ conceived of a multi-layered universe, with planets and stars, mountains and seas, sweet smelling orchids and a variety of living things. 

In his book ‘Christ and the Cosmos’ Professor E.H. Andrews writes: ‘God is the common source and originator of all things. He did not take some pre-existing substance and transform it into the world. This is the whole thrust of the doctrine of ‘ex nihilo’ creation. He created this entire universe from pure spirit, from pure thought, from pure mind’. 

The Creative Source thought about not being alone in the Void, and created a seed thought within itself which emitted a vibration which in turn emitted sound and light, and brought the whole of the material Universe into being. 

The Big Bang. 

‘I cannot believe God plays dice with the Universe’. 

Albert Einstein. 

Approximately 14 billion years ago our Universe was born. Brought forth from the invisible dimensions that preceded material creation, the darkness and silence that must have existed at that moment echoed to an incomprehensible explosion, which in turn spewed matter forth into an expanding space. 

One cannot even begin to imagine what it must have been like, or what could have existed in the emptiness before that time. Our intellects can only comprehend that which, like our physical selves, has a beginning, a middle and an end. It is virtually impossible, therefore, by any normal processes, to understand the possibility or reality of an existence without beginning or end, in other words, infinite and

eternal. 

In the sacred and mystical texts of Hinduism, the Big Bang is known as the Divine Breath, and it is said that Brahma (God) breathes in and out an endless cycle of Universes for all eternity. According to these ancient Sanskrit texts, the Universe is created many times and destroyed equally in an endless cycle. 

The birth of our Universe is but one incarnation of many such Universes which existed aeons ago in the past, and which will exist again aeons into the future. These intervals may be beyond our comprehension, the interval between the expansion and contraction of one Universe maybe taking trillions of years to complete, exploding and imploding in regular cycles. 

Who is to say how many times this has already occurred? Perhaps energy and matter are eternally co-joined, as in the Chinese symbol of Tai Chi, the Yin and Yang, bound together, inseparably, symbolising an endless cycle of creation and destruction which continues for all eternity. Spirit and matter endlessly co-joined in a cosmic dance! 

Perhaps it is part and parcel of the nature of energy to create, and following the cycles of creation and destruction, the universe returns impeccably to it’s source, to be spewed out again and again, for all eternity. 

At the point immediately prior to the Big Bang, however, which is the beginning of the Universe as we know it, all matter was contained in a singularity, that is, a point where all the laws of physics as we know them break down. 

Having been in the process of creation since the Divine Thought conceived of it, the One, having undergone the many mystical and alchemical processes required to materialise pure thought into form, was ready to give birth, in this case to an entire Universe. 

The One was about to become the Many. By a process of self-division and multiplication, as in the cellular division of an embryonic form, the original One had self-multiplied itself and was ready to manifest onto the material plane. 

One can only assume that matter burst through the Ethers, perhaps through something similar to a White Hole - the opposite of a black hole which sucks matter in - after completing its gestation period of dimensional formation, finally ejecting itself out from the womb of creation. 

At the precise moment the Big Bang occurred, immense amounts of matter began expanding into an evolving space, and slowly over billions of years, this cosmic matter, which consisted of very fine dust, began to condense into Stars, Planets, and, eventually all life forms as we know them, including ourselves. 

Once the Universe had condensed sufficiently, it formed billions of galaxies and stars, including the spiral galaxy in which we now live, and our individual Solar System, that is, The Sun and nine known Planets, Mercury Venus, Earth (Moon) Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto*. 

And the rest, as they say, is history. 

(*Although Pluto is no longer considered a planet and was demoted in part thanks to one Neil DeGrasse Tyson, to astrologers, Pluto still is, and always will be, very much a fully fledged planet!) 

Astrology. 

‘Had we never seen the stars, and the sun, and the heavens, none of the words which we have spoken about the Universe would ever have been uttered. But now

the sight of day and night, and the months and revolutions of the years, have created number, and have given us a conception of Time; and the power of enquiring about the nature of the Universe; and from this source we have derived Philosophy, than which no greater good was, or will be given by the gods to mortal Man.’ 

Plato: ‘The Timaeus’. 

Astrology has evolved from a time immemorial as a sacred mathematical and metaphysical science revolving around the study and interpretation of universal cycles and rhythms as seen from our Earth bound perspective. 

We depend entirely on the Sun, Moon and Planets for life as we know it, and their precisely predictable cycles are the very cause of everything we know and hold dear. Spring, summer, autumn, winter, night and day, the rise and fall of the tides, all are the result of precise and predictable mathematical variations in planetary movements, including the rotation of the Earth on its own axis. 

The vast planetary bodies are continually affecting our personal and planetary biospheres as they radiate their enormous electro-magnetic energies into space. Quantum physics tells us that even one microscopic electron on the far side of the universe can affect everything in the universe simultaneously. How much greater then will the effect of the planetary movements be - which are vaster by far? 

Any movement or expression of energy either internally within the atom, or externally in outer space - will have an instant reaction and affect everything, everywhere within the universe simultaneously. Earth is not exempt from this equation and we are being continually bombarded from outer space by cosmic forces to which the Earth's magnetosphere is extremely sensitive. These cosmic forces are passed on through the magnetosphere of the Earth to all individual life forms that (as we shall see in the next chapter) also possess their own unique electro-magnetic force field. 

Furthermore, according to String Theory, all matter in the universe - including the planetary bodies - is composed of microscopic atoms that in turn contain infinitesimally minute vibrating strings! The planetary bodies themselves are so vast, and must contain so many atoms, each with its own tiny vibrating superstring, that they must be making quite a silent noise out there in space! Like everything else, the planets are in a state of vibration. 

The Planets, which are essentially vast orbs of singing, vibrating atomic matter - as we shall see shortly - are rotating at different orbital velocities and relative distances from a communal sun, which itself is a giant humming thermo-nuclear reactor which is continually creating fundamental articles which are the very breakfast of life! 

We on Earth, the third rock from the Sun, are orbiting this great giant star at approximately 65,000 mph., accompanied by a relatively small lunar satellite that we call The Moon. The Sun, in its turn, is just one of billions of similar suns that are all rotating around the centre of our own spiral galaxy, which we call simply ‘The Milky Way’. The Milky Way in its turn is spiralling onwards through space accompanied by a billion other visible galaxies. (Because the universe is expanding, however, all these stars and galaxies will one day entirely disappear from view, and if any life still exists on Earth billions of years hence, they will not share the joy of the star-filled night sky that we currently take for granted.) 

For the purposes of Astrology however, we confine ourselves to

understanding the planetary cycles within our own Solar System, from an Earthly perspective.Whereas it is the job of Astronomy to define planets in terms of their the physical properties, weight, mass, rotational and orbital velocities, chemical composition and so on, it is the job of Astrology to define the effects of these planetary bodies and their movements on human destiny, both individual and collective. 

According to the basic principles of Astrology, each planet has its own character, or 'tone', which affects life on Earth and is said to 'govern' a particular area of life. In mythology, the planetary energies were often personified via a series of 'Gods', thus evolved the characters of Venus -The Goddess of Love, Mars - The God of War and so on. 

These archetypes are found in many global religious mythologies, and although these personifications take on the characteristics of their own cultures, they still retain the essence of the planetary personalities. 

Far from being inert spheres in space, however, all the planets including our Earth have vast networks of electrical currents running in their deepest interiors. On Earth, these energy lines are sometimes known as ley-lines and the most well known of these magnetic currents runs through Stonehenge, Glastonbury and St. Michael's Mount in the west counties of England. 

For the purposes of terrestrial astrology, however, we are primarily concerned with the effects that these energies have on life on Earth as we are magnetically influenced, enhanced or disturbed by their immense energies as they orbit the Sun. 

These magnetic variations, according to astrologers, directly influence life on Earth and are a medium for the direct expression of an organised universal will, consciousness or mind - God in other words. 

In a sense, it is through the planets that we can pre-determine cosmic activity, the planets can be seen to be acting as a sort of 'pre-set computer code' for creation. It is through astrology that we can understand some of the secrets of this code. The signs the planets are in, the angles they make to each other and the house system, all determine the arrangement and interaction of electro-magnetic forces that we receive on Earth. 

Before we take a closer look at Astrology, however, let us firstly take a simple analogy to help us imagine what these invisible magnetic lines of force in space might actually look like as the planets transit the heavens. 

To do this, firstly imagine a calm pond with a smooth surface. When you have done that, toss in a pebble. Now - watch the ripples as they expand out from the point of impact, as the pebble travels through the medium of the water! This is how it might look if we could actually see the invisible lines of force coming from the planets, as they disturb the medium of space, in the same way that the pebbles disturbed the water! The size, shape, speed and nature of the individual planet will have a different effect on the shape of the disturbance in the medium through which it is travelling. 

To continue our analogy, let us now throw ten pebbles into the pond at the same time at the relevant positions - to represent the Sun, Earth and all the planets - and imagine how the ripples will look on the surface of the pond now! Can you see how the vibrations from the ten impacts overlap and interact on the surface making lovely patterns! 

Lastly, imagine these pebbles could assume an orbit around a central pebble and be thrown into the water together - can you see all the different patterns the pebbles (planets) make as they follow their spiral trajectory through the water

(space)? Remember, we all live on the 3rd pebble - watch how the vibrations affect us! 

The idea that the heavenly bodies can affect life on Earth is the primary principle of Astrology, calculating the planetary movements is the mathematics and geometry of it, and interpreting the effects of those movements is the science and art of it. 

The practice and belief in Astrology goes back to the most ancient of days when our first ancestors began to study the heavens and found patterns and cycles that could be precisely predicted and which ultimately became the very foundation of timekeeping as we know it. Years, months, and days are all measured and created by planetary cycles. 

In early Britain, it was the job of the Druids to keep abreast of these cycles and keep accurate time, which was essential for the organisation of society, and which they did with the assistance of Stonehenge. Astrology also became a science of prophecy, from the prediction of eclipses, equinoxes and solstices, to the prediction of personal and collective events through the interpretation of the signs in the heavens. 

Working on the maxim of 'As above, so Below', Earth was seen as a mirror of the cosmic world. The phrase ‘As above, So below’ comes from the beginning of the Emerald Table and describes an entire system of arcane knowledge that was inscribed upon the tablet in cryptic wording by Hermes Trismegistus. The significance of this phrase is that it is believed to hold the key to all mysteries. 

Trismegistus equated God to the Universe, the Universe to Man and Man to the atom. In other words, there is no separation between God and Man as God is omnipresent in all things. Nothing, literally nothing exists without divine energy and that divine energy, so far as Earth is concerned, forms the blueprint of all that is to follow. Astrology holds the key to the individual blueprint. 

‘It's a load of Twaddle!’ Thus read the headline of a newspaper article on astrology that appeared in the London Daily Telegraph, written by science editor Dr Roger Highfield. ‘Pure Bunkum!’ ‘Codswallop!’ ‘Superstitious mumbo-jumbo!’ These are a variety of uneducated opinions on Astrology including one from the late lovable pope of British Astronomy, Patrick Moore. 

Once wedded in the same marriage bed, Astronomy and Astrology are still suffering the effects of a cultural divorce which began with the separation of the sacred sciences - alchemy, magic, metaphysics, mathematics, geometry, astronomy and astrology - which was due in part to the birth of modern materialistic science and in part to the accompanying collective shift in social values from spiritual to material. 

At the same time, our materialism and technology was taking us further and further away from the countryside, our traditions, our knowledge of the land, the night sky, the rising of the sun and moon - away from nature - and further and further into the barren drabness of our cities. 

Professor Adrian Furnham of University College London says that ‘People believe in Astrology because they fall victim to the fallacy of personal validation’. (Does that mean I'm not a Sagittarian, I only think I'm one?) 

Professor Richard Dawkin who says ‘Let us not go back to a dark age of superstition and unreason’ - is also equally agitated by the rising popularity of Astrology, and he has made precisely the same accusations against religion, which he dismisses as thoroughly as he does Astrology. 

Equally sceptical Dr. Susan Blackmore, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of West England believes that; ‘the human mind is made to make

connections, and people will look for them in everything. This is what makes us clever and able to understand the world, and this is what trips us up when we read significance into horoscopes’. 

Dr. Blackmore believes that people who turn to astrology tend to be those with ‘least control over their own livesí’ such as, and I quote ‘women who read women's magazines’! Susan Blackmore also believes that ‘Astrologers trade on the mind's attempts to understand the world that have been honed throughout evolution’. 

When confronted with similarly uneducated critics, Sir Isaac Newton famously and politely replied ‘I Sir have studied the subject, you have not.’ Now, if you are not altogether familiar with the principles of Astrology, and you too feel an instant need to doubt the ability of the planets to affect personality, destiny and life on Earth, just consider this for a moment before we go any further - what do you think would happen to you, your family, your pet dog, and the rest of life on Earth if the Sun were to go out right now? 

Exactly. We'd all be dead in no time. We would all die. I can comfortably predict that. We depend on the Sun for life itself. Our very ecology and biology is as linked and dependent on the Sun for the food of life, as a child is to its mother for sustenance. 

Now, our lunar satellite - what would happen if the Moon were to suddenly escape from the Earth's gravity and disappear into Space? If you don't know, I'll tell you! The Oceans would swell into gigantic tidal waves for one last time - before they finally settled into one giant stagnant unmoving pond! We'd probably all be dead in no time. We would all die. (The Moon is actually moving out of Earth’s orbit at a slow but steady pace. This will mean nothing to us now, but in millions of years time the Moon will actually finally leave Earth’s orbit forever, with potentially devastating consequences for all life forms on Earth.) 

Although the edifices of Stonehenge and the Pyramids remain as a lasting testament to a time in our pre-history when ancient civilizations displayed an arcane knowledge of the metaphysical sciences which far exceeds our own, the science and art of Astrology has found no grace and favour in our modern Western society until relatively recent in our history. 

Widely practised in Britain until the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, who employed her own personal Astrologer, one Dr. John Dee, and his assistant, Irish mystic Edward Kelly, to help guide her affairs of State, Astrology finally fell out of favour shortly after her death, in l603. 

Far from being a 'weak and aimless woman' who had little or no meaning and control over her own life - as Dr Blackmore has suggested - Elizabeth I was a competent head of state for over forty years and one of the most successful monarchs in British History. 

Once voted ‘Woman of the Millennium’, was Elizabeth's success due in part due to the wise council of her astrologer and mystic who often warned her of impending danger, including the subversive Catholic plot to kill her, and place her cousin Mary Queen of Scots on the throne of England? If we can take Elizabeth I, as a case in point, I think Ms Blackmore's statement is grossly unfounded. 

Although a keen astrologer and alchemist himself, born shortly after the Tudor period came to an end, Sir Issac Newton later came to discover the physical laws that were to become the bedrock of modern materialistic science. 

In the meantime, and having lost favour with the theoretical scientific academics of the post-industrial revolution who found no room for the mystical and metaphysical in their test tubes and theorems, the Church was entering an era of

unprecedented brutality driven by a puritanical fervour. For over four hundred years, Britain, Europe and America entered a period of history known best for its obsession with 'witches' and 'witchcraft'. (NB: a 'witch' is the female equivalent of the male 'wizard' or magician.) 

This period was characterised by a puritanical religious zeal orchestrated by the Church itself, whereby thousands of ordinary people, mainly women, were harassed, persecuted, tortured and murdered for practising any of the so-called heretic 'pagan' arts, including, of course, astrology. (NB. Women were seen as being more easily seduced into doing ‘the devil’s work’ after Eve gave Adam the proverbial apple. He could have said ‘no’!) 

It was not until the Witchcraft Act was repealed in Britain in l951 that Astrology - and Astrologers - could safely resurface from over four hundred years of political and religious oppression, having been discredited by both formal religious doctrine and scientific dogma. 

Today however, with Astrology having been largely re-introduced to the West with the influx of Eastern religions and philosophies in the sixties, the study of the stars has once again captured the imagination of the collective psyche. Today literally millions of people all over the world read their 'Stars', in the daily papers and consult Astrologers regularly as a matter of course, hoping for some Heavenly guidance in their daily lives. 

The words ‘What sign are you?’ has become the by-phrase of our times. In one word you can tell people a lot about yourself and your character ‘I'm an Aries’ (Loud and bossy!). ‘I'm a Scorpio’ (Sex maniac!), ‘I’m a Virgo’ (squeaky clean!), and so on. Astrology has become the human jungle way of 'sniffing' each other out now perhaps, that we have become so deodorised. Astrology has become very much the language of personality in today's world. 

As well as describing character from the birth chart, (which is a map of the heavens at the time of individual birth), astrology is also helpful in predicting trends. Seeking some form of divine, honest and meaningful guidance in their daily lives, people are now turning to Astrology to interpret the meaning and mood of the Heavens and to fulfil their spiritual and emotional needs. 

The increasing popularity of Astrology is, of course, much to the annoyance of the Church who say ‘Instead of turning to the Church for guidance, we are turning to our horoscopes, taking solace in New Age philosophy’, and that our quest for the ‘quick fix, pick and mix’ belief system is causing the very fabric of our society to fall apart. ‘The whole of civilisation’ says the Church, ‘is on the verge of disintegration’. 

In response to the accusations against Astrology, the late Jonathan Cainer, one of Britain’s foremost newspaper astrologers has this to say; ‘If the surge of interest in astrology, healing, homoeopathy, herbalism, self awareness or cosmic attunement is a sign of anything at all, it is that people are seeking greater depth and meaning in their lives. What should the Church have to fear from this?’ 

Although Astrology is dismissed by formal Christian teaching as a superstitious 'pagan' science which has no place in the 'real' worship of God - being both blasphemous and heretical - I am now more inclined to believe that the political and economic motivations and ambitions of the 'Church' which firstly arrived in Britain with a conquering Roman army, have led them away from the real meaning and purpose of Christ's teachings and message. 

To support this claim, I would firstly like to refer you to the passage in the Old Testament of the Bible which appears in Genesis 1:14 and which reads; ‘Then God said ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the

night, and let them be for signs.’ Now, what interpretation can you put on this? There can be no other! The planets and stars, the sun and moon, according to the Bible itself, are also for signs, or omens of the destiny on Earth to be read in the Heavens. 

Indeed, the history of Christianity itself begins with one of these great heavenly astrological signs. The Three Wise Men - Astrologers - from the East, had found, interpreted and followed the New Star to Bethlehem to find the new-born babe. The Birth of Christ was predicted and clearly written in the Heavens. The Three Wise Men had found the signs clearly written in the stars. 

In his missing years Christ is also reported to have travelled to India to study with the Hindu Brahmins. Christ's visit to India is recorded in the 'Pali' manuscript which was found in 1887 in Himis, the largest monastery in Ladakh just west of Tibet. He was also said to have travelled to Britain with his tin-mining uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, eventually arriving in Glastonbury to study the art of sacrifice (self) from the Druids. Blake’s immortal hymn, Jerusalem, 'And did those feet in ancient times, Walk upon England’s pastures green? And was the Holy Lamb of God on England’s pleasant pastures seen?’ is a reference to this myth 

Whether or not Christ travelled to India or Britain, he was in no way a stranger to the alchemical, esoteric and astrological knowledge and traditions of the time. By the time of Christ's birth, astrology was already well established as a metaphysical science. We cannot tell when the moment of awareness dawned, when our earliest ancestors first recorded the comings and goings of the heavenly bodies, but at some time in our distant past, humankind generated a vast knowledge of the heavenly movements and their relationships to events on Earth. 

Long before the telescope was invented, the outer planets were well known to many ancient cultures even though they did not, so far as we know, have access to any sophisticated optical equipment. Nonetheless, early cultures show a remarkable understanding and knowledge that has sometimes proven superior to our own. 

The Dogon tribe in Africa are amongst them, and have detailed star maps of Sirius which are absolutely invisible to the naked eye, which date back approximately 10,000 years. These, they say, were given to them by visitors from outer space. (Although it is not my job in this book to discuss the influence of Alien Intelligence on Earth culture, let us just say for now that many unanswered questions remain on this matter.) 

To our earliest ancestors, the Sun was the obvious source of all life on Earth - giver of light, and warmth - without which, no living thing could be, grow or flourish. In many early societies the Sun became the focus of religious worship and many Solar temples were built in sun worshipping cultures. Was Stonehenge a Solar Temple? Why were the pyramids built on solar geometric principles? Did the ancients have vital knowledge about the universe and our solar system that we have lost? 

In his book ‘Sun of God’, author Gregory Sams argues that the Sun is not just ‘an accidental ball of gas’ and that it has intelligence, will and consciousness. In the same way that the Gaia theory postulates the idea of a conscious earth, Sams makes us aware that the Sun has a living stellar consciousness with intrinsic purpose. Using evidence gathered from both solar science and ancient philosophies, he suggests that solar characteristics are 'indicative of an organised awareness'. Furthermore, given our physical bodies are made from the remnants of several previous Suns - it is surely no wonder that we still retain a subatomic connection to - not only our own sun - but all suns and stars and indeed to all living things through our common stellar origins. 

Although our early forefathers may have known little of the material chemical

composition of the Sun, they knew instinctively that it was essential to life. It is only recently that we have discovered that our Sun is in essence a vast thermo-nuclear reactor, which is continually spitting out fundamental particles into the atmosphere enabling creation and life on Earth to flourish. 

Now, although our own Sun is just one of ten billion stars on the edge of a spiral galaxy, and our galaxy itself is but one of ten billion galaxies visible within the Universe, it is to us the very centre of the solar system which we call home, and is the centre around which all the planets, including our Earth, orbit. 

The Sun doesn’t just emit heat and light, however, it also emits other forms of electro-magnetic radiation - as well as emitting fundamental particles - and this outpouring of ionised gases and their associated magnetic field is called ‘The Solar Wind’. The solar wind is a hot plasma, an electrically charged mixture of ions whose source is the Sun's corona. This highly charged gas flows outward during coronal mass ejections at approximately 500 kilometres per second to a distance four times greater than the orbital path of Pluto - which is known as the helio-pause. Because of the Sun's rotation, the emissions form into an Archimedean spiral. 

When the Solar Wind hits the Earth’s magnetosphere it distorts it with enormous force, depending on the speed and density of solar emissions. The varying amount of Solar emissions - magnetic plasma - which enter Earth’s atmosphere will therefore have a direct effect on the magnetic fields of all other life forms, including us. 

Medical research has also shown that people born at different phases of sun spot activity - either high or low - had different personality traits - optimists being born during low sunspot activity, and depressives and pessimists born during high sunspot activity. 

According to recent evidence from NASA, when solar radiations are at their strongest, heart attacks (amongst other things) are most frequent. In Astrology, the Sun is said to rule the sign of Leo - which governs (amongst other things) the heart! 

Symbolically, scientists have now detected what sounds like an actual heartbeat coming from our Sun, having observed a repeating pattern in a solar flare more than 3,000 miles above its surface. The beat repeated every 10 to 20 seconds. These pulses known as quasi periodic pulsations (QPP) are important for understanding how energy is released from the Sun during Solar Flare activity. No doubt, this Solar activity will be picked up by our own magnetic fields as they react to cosmic activity. 

Astrologers have long since known the secrets of the planets and their relationship to life on Earth. 

According to A.T.Mann in his Book ‘The Round Art’, ‘The solar system can be considered a huge step down transformer of solar energy which produces an effective range of magnetic fields governing all life processes on Earth. The tracks of the planetary bodies around the Sun create magnetic fields charged with induced current and the Earth receives these as an archetypal magnet.’ 

Because of the electromagnetic nature of the planets and the Sun, (whose own surface is covered in dancing positive and negative magnetic loops), the magnetic ripples, or waves, of energy which are continually emitted from them cause electrical interference on the cosmic medium of space - in this case our solar system - which is directly felt on Earth as a form of wave energy. This wave energy penetrates the Earth's biosphere as electrical interference or agitation of the Earth's electrical field. This can be detected as radio interference. 

In l951, J.H. Nelson, an engineer with RCA was asked to investigate a

problem RCA was having with its radio reception quality that seemed to vary with sun spot activity. After careful research, Nelson also discovered that the days when interference was at its worst were on days when any of the planets were forming specific angles of 0, 90, or 180 degrees to the Sun. 

Since planetary movement is entirely predictable, based on the exact mathematical calculations of the orbital paths of the planets, this knowledge of future planetary activity and angular relationships enabled RCA to determine days on which radio reception would be affected - in advance! 

In exactly the same way as Nelson was able to calculate future planetary movement and associated interference, by tracking the movements of the planets and observing their angular relationships to each other and the sun, Astrologers are also said to be able to chart future events, either individually or collectively 

By drawing a map of the heavens at the relevant point in time adept astrologers are also able to describe, not only an individual, but his or her life's journey in detail, by predicting the relationship between the positions of the planets at birth - each planet having its own unique magnetic force field, character and signature - and their continuing orbital relationships to each other in relation to the original birth chart. 

In Astrology, each planet is said to have a different effect on the Earth's magnetosphere, and to govern one archetypal area of creation. The Moon for instance, directly affects us through its gravitational effect on water that produces the tides of the Oceans. Scientists have recently measured the magnetic pull of the moon in a cup of tea! How much more then, the pull on our bodies which are some two-thirds water? Does this explain the tendency towards ‘Lunacy’ at full moons, when the magnetic pull of the Moon on terrestrial liquid is the strongest, and the crime and birth rate is highest? 

The Moon also has a direct effect on cycles of glandular activity in the body, in particular, the human female menstrual cycle which is 28 days long - identical in length to the Lunar orbit around Earth. Many aquatic species, including coral, respond entirely to lunar cycles to determine spawning and mating patterns, and even when displaced in laboratory experiments, their body clocks remain entirely in tune with lunar magnetism. In these experiments, simple life forms were able to distinguish when the Moon was full, and directly overhead in readiness for spawning and mating, even though their captor investigators had done their best to trick them! 

The Lunar cycle also seems to be directly linked to mating and fertility patterns in humans, as well as governing the movements of fluids. This was confirmed by the work of Dr. Jonas, a Chez physician who was researching female fertility, and who subsequently discovered that human females could spontaneously release an ovum once a month, regardless of their normal menstrual cycle, at the exact moment that the Sun and Moon formed the same angle as at the woman’s birth. 

For instance, if the woman in question was born at the New Moon, each month when the Moon was new, ie: at the same angle to the Sun as the moment of her birth - she could spontaneously release an ovum, regardless of her normal fertility and menstrual cycles. He then developed a system of birth control based on the combination of the normal menstrual cycle and this extra cycle, which is 97% effective. (You can find the position of the sun/moon angle for your own birth date by referring to an Ephemeris for the year of your birth or consulting a competent Astrologer.) 

Dr. Jonas also discovered that the Moons position in a woman’s birth chart

determined, with 97% accuracy, the sex of her children, and that as the Moon transited positive and negative sectors of the Zodiac it would favour either the ‘x’ or ‘y’ chromosome magnetically, in alternating periods of approximately 2.5 days. (A perfect way of maintaining an approximate 50-50 ratio of the sexes.) 

In Astrology, the Moon is said to rule the sign of Cancer that rules the home, motherhood, and birth! 

Further research into solar activity has confirmed that great civilisations rise and fall in accordance with sun spot activity, and when the Sun's magnetic polarity, which reverses itself at regular intervals over immense periods of time, occur, the electromagnetic discharge is so great that if affects human DNA, causing major evolutionary changes as well as affecting major geophysical upheavals! 

Dramatic changes also occur during eclipses, and in his book ‘The Book of the Eclipse’ author David Ovason correlates great historical events that have been triggered by, and coincide with solar eclipses. He writes - ‘It does not matter at all in astrological terms whether the eclipse is seen or not seen. It still influences the entire spiritual atmosphere of the Earth and works upon all sub-lunar creatures equally, according to the nature of their birth.’ He continues ‘Scientific research has shown that liquids and substances immersed in liquids change in some inexplicable way during an eclipse, just as the moon helps control the tides. The implications of this are extraordinary, bearing in mind that our physical bodies are vertical columns consisting of about 80% water’. 

The Japanese researcher Dr. Masaru Emoto goes even further, and in his remarkable book ‘The Secret Messages in Water’ suggests that water is not just physically responsive to planetary magnetism as Ovason would suggest, but also more remarkably, to the energy of our thoughts. His stunning photographs of water crystals exposed to different thought patterns and environments are truly remarkable. Like auras, they show an endless variety of shapes and colours - positive thoughts, vibrations or environments producing beautiful intricate patterns like snowflakes, and negative energies producing distorted and unpleasant images, 

As well as emitting various electromagnetic forces that affect us here on Earth, however, the Planets also emit sound. This was first confirmed when the U.S. Space Probe, Voyager 2 approached Saturn. The probe picked up a distinct noise from the magnetosphere of Saturn, which was then beamed back to Earth. When these noises were speeded up and played through a musical synthesiser, the waves were found to consist of a distinct melody! Later expeditions confirmed that sound was also occurring within the Sun itself which ‘sounds like a chorus of instruments playing tones’. Does each of the planets emit musical notes? 

Sound recordings made in space by NASA are said to sound like an incredible symphony, and if the Planets are emitting different notes and tones - and we have already seen that music can affect the shape of matter - are we responding at a subatomic level to the loud but silent tones being emitted by the Planets? 

Pythagoras rightly observed that the ratio between the notes on the musical scale were identical to the ratios of the distance of one planet to another.To Pythagoras, music was one of the divine sciences and its harmonies were, without question, defined by mathematical proportions. He believed that mathematics demonstrated the way in which the 'creative force' established and maintained universal laws. Number precedes harmony, since it is an absolute law that governs all harmonic proportions. Pythagoras further divided the creation into a vast number of planes or spheres to each of which he assigned a tone, a harmonic interval, a number, a name, a colour and a form.

Having established music as an exact science, Pythagoras applied its law of harmonic intervals to all the phenomena of Nature, even ultimately demonstrating the harmonic relation of the planets, constellations and each of the elements to each other. Pythaorgas, like the Chaldeans, believed that the heavenly bodies joined in a cosmic chant as they moved across the sky. Pythagoras further believed the universe to be an immense monochord with its single string connected at its upper end to absolute spirit, and the other end to absolute matter. In other words, this chord stretched between Heaven and Earth. 

The names given to the various notes of the diatonic scale were also derived from an estimation of the velocity and magnitude of the planetary bodies. Each of these gigantic spheres as they rushed through space was believed to make a specific tone caused by its continuous displacement of the aethereal diffusion. Pythagoreans also believed that the planets emit certain sounds according to their different properties. 

In the Middle Ages astronomy and music were grouped together in the quadrivium which also included mathematics and geometry. The German astronomer Johannes Kepler drew on this ancient Greek concept of ‘the music of the spheres’, also known as ‘musica universalis’ to map out the planetary systems. 

As we saw in the experiments with the Tonoscope, if sound has the ability to organise matter into distinct patterns, and if the Planets are continually emitting sound, then perhaps the resonances, harmonies and vibrations they constantly emit had a creative effect on the primordial Oceans of the Earth, enabling organic structures to arise from the rich biochemical soup of the oceans, by the various musical symphonies which the planets were creating! 

In the same way that the musical scale, composed as it is of a limited number of notes, can produce an infinite variety of musical compositions, the planetary ‘tones’ may well define and 'orchestrate' life systems on Earth, by their direct effect on the organisation of matter into distinct patterns and shapes. Each planet would have a job to perform, as each note has a job to perform in a chord, a song or a symphony! Each of the inner seven planets are esoterically associated with one note of the octave, the outer planets forming the higher octave. The sun, the centre of the solar system, is associated with middle C. 

Michel Gauquelin, the French researcher, confirmed the influence of planetary bodies over individuals when he examined the birth charts and professional occupations of thousands of volunteers, which proved that the dominant planet in the individual chart coincided with professional occupation. For example, sportsmen and soldiers had a prominent Mars in their birth charts, scientists a prominent Saturn, and writers prominent Mercury. (As a writer, I conform to the latter.) 

Scientists now confirm that there is growing evidence of birthdays influencing health and careers. Research conducted by Professor David Phillips at the University of Southampton has proved that babies born at different times of the year are more likely to develop certain traits. Of course, they are reluctant to accept astrological explanations, saying ‘there must be some scientific explanation.’ 

Michel Gauquelin believes these varying but predictable influences are the results of terrestrial magnetic disturbances that worked because the solar system was a ‘great organism composed of many forces which interact on many levels. The most plausible theory being that the sun is the motor and the solar field is the medium. The moon and the closest and largest planets to the sun cause agitation in this field, and the stronger the agitation, the greater the effect on the child at birth’. Can this scientifically precise correlation between heavenly and earthly events

linking the macro and microcosm - 'as above, so below' - be explained? In The Hermetica, attributed to the Egyptian sage Thoth - otherwise known as Trismegistus meaning 'thrice great', such was his wisdom - Thoth writes that the creator - Atum - arranged the constellations of the Zodiac in harmony with the movements of Nature saying, ‘I will build the Zodiac - a secret mechanism in the stars, linked to unerring and inevitable fate. The lives of men, from birth to final destruction shall be controlled by the hidden workings of this mechanism’. Is sound the key to this mechanism? Is ‘The Music of the Spheres’ a literal reality representing precise universal laws that control the creation and evolution of life on Earth at an atomic level, as both astrology and vibrating superstring theory might suggest? 

The planets are undoubtedly the largest collection of atoms and vibrating superstrings, and therefore the loudest of instruments in our vicinity. They create the music of the spheres with their notes and tones. They are instruments and the orchestra. And we are all dancing to their tune! 

No tune in living history, however, ever wrote itself. A tune must have a writer, a creator, or a composer. 

Who wrote the ‘Music of the Spheres?’