The Traditional Model of the Cosmos

“The Earth moves, but Heaven is still.  The rim revolves, but the Centre remains without motion.”

“At the rim is the movement greatest; close unto the centre is it the least.  Where there is no movement, there is purity.”

The Clew of the Horse, The Gospel of Our Mother God, Sun Daughter Press, 2008

The Traditional Model of the Cosmos is not truly a geocentric model as is popularly believed.

The Center of this model is not the earth; the Center is the Highest Heaven, where God in Her Highest Form resides.   The Earth is between the Higher and the Lower Spheres, or the Axial Plane.  In the Christian Bible, the lower realms are referred to as the “outer darkness.”  To understand this, we really must remember that the Traditional Model of the Cosmos does *not* represent the physical universe (or solar system) that we can understand with our senses.  The most commonly known version of this model is the one set forth by Ptolemy.  This model shows the physical representation of this model in the form of the movements of the heavenly bodies, or the substance.  As we have discussed in previous articles, substance is always derived from Essence.  The Higher Planes are “above,” the earth (as in the planet we reside on) and the physical universe are “below.”  The Highest Heaven being the unmoving Center is evidenced by every lower Sphere having movement, and the Higher the sphere, the slower the movement.  The movement is greatest in the Sphere just above the physical universe, the Lunary Sphere.

The Center does not move.  The Earth is below the Higher Spheres.  There are also lower spheres below the Earth, but those I will address in another article.  The Earth is not just the physical planet we live on.  The Earth, in this model, is everything we can experience with the senses or measure with tools and instruments.  This is the world of flux and change.  Everything that modern science would describe as part of “the Universe” is “the Earth” in this model.

Now, there is a sense that the Earth *is* the center, as we see in the Ptolemaic model.  I will address this more fully in a future article, but the Earth also represents the Axial Plane or the place of choice.  There is also a sense that the Sun is the center, as I will discuss further in this article.  This is a matter of perspective, and these three views are not contrary to each other.  One of the differences between Traditional Science and what we consider science in modern times is that paradox is an accepted part of Traditional Science.  For the purposes of this article, though, the Highest Heaven is the Center.

The Highest Heaven is beyond manifestation.  At this level, all is One with the Divine.  Space and time are meaningless at this level.  The Highest Heaven is that which is beyond our human comprehension.  The Highest Heaven is unchanging and unchanged.  Here there is no beginning and no end.

The first sphere below the Highest Heaven is the Sphere of the Fixed Stars.  This Sphere has moved from the Center and is a part of manifestation, but is still very close to the Center.  This sphere is represented in the physical world by the fixed stars that we see in the sky.  These fixed stars are part of “the Earth,” but they are representative of the Sphere of the Fixed Stars.  This Sphere is a Sphere of wonders and is still beyond our comprehension.  This Sphere has moved from the Highest Heaven, as seen in the fact that there are destructive fixed stars such as Algol.  On the other hand, this Sphere has not moved very far.

Below the Sphere of the Fixed Stars is the Sphere of Saturn.  This is the first Sphere of physical manifestation.  This is the Sphere of time and of limitation.  Many words concerning the passage of time derive from Kronos, the Greek name for the ruler of this Sphere.  From the planet Earth, the Sphere of Saturn is represented by the orbit of the planet Saturn.  In the human realm, this Sphere is often experienced as hostile and severe.  In moving down the Heavenly Spheres, the Sphere of Saturn is a harsh fall from the wondrous sphere of the Fixed Stars.  In moving back up the Spheres, the seemingly destructive influence of this sphere is necessary to break down attachment to the material realm to return to the Sphere of the Fixed Stars and eventually return to the One in the Highest Heaven.

Below the Sphere of Saturn is the Sphere of Jupiter.  This is the Sphere of Divine Harmony.  This Sphere gives Order to manifestation.  This is a gentler Sphere than the one of Saturn.  This is where we can find beauty in manifestation.  This is where the Music of the Spheres generates.  It is from this Sphere that “right” and “wrong” come, and this is the sphere from which all societal structure and order stems.  The planet associated with this Sphere is associated with religion, law, music, and culture.

Below the Sphere of Jupiter is the Sphere of Mars.  This is Sphere of Free Will.  This is the first Sphere in which individuality becomes relevant.  The Spheres of Saturn (time) and Jupiter (harmony) are beyond individuality.  The Sphere of Mars is the Sphere of Choice.  For Choice to be meaningful, there must be something to choose between.  The Eternal Battle between Good and Evil, or the Vikhail, is associated with this Sphere.  This is shown in the Judeo-Christian mythology of the Fall, where Adam and Eve, in an act of disobedience (Free Will), eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  After that, the first act of violence becomes possible, and Cain murders his brother, Abel.  Human wars also generate in the Sphere of Mars.

The center Sphere is the Sphere of the Sun, or the Sphere of Self.  There are three planetary Spheres above this Sphere, and three planetary Spheres below this Sphere.  This Sphere is the Sphere of the True Self, the Self that is One with the Divine, and the False Self, or the ego.  This is the Sphere dividing that which is without from that which is within.  The Spheres above the Sun are the Spheres in which the Self interacts with that which is outside of the individual, where the Spheres below the Sun are within the individual.  Contrary to popular belief, the centrality of the Sun was certainly understood in the traditional Model of the Cosmos.  It was just understood in a much less literal way.

Below the Sphere of the Sun is the Sphere of Venus, or Divine Love.  While popular belief is that this Sphere is associated with romantic and physical love, this is the lower manifestation of this Sphere.  This Sphere is also Love in Her Highest Form.  The Way of Love is one of the Paths of the individual to the Divine, or from the Lunar to the Solar.  In the cosmos, this is seen by the Sphere of Venus being between the Sphere of the Moon and the Sun.  Venus is also sacrificial Love, which is seen in the Christian tradition as Jesus being sacrificed on the day of Venus, or Friday, and rising on the day of the Sun, or Sunday.

Next is the Sphere of Mercury, or Divine Intelligence.  Like the Sphere of Venus, the Sphere of Mercury is often trivialized as being related to the cognitive ability of human beings.  The Highest Form is Enlightenment, or the Path of Light.  This leads from the Lunar to the Solar by giving Knowledge of the World Illusion.  In a sense, the “Intelligent Design” of the manifest Universe is shown in this Sphere.  This is also the Sphere from which all knowledge and ideas come.  It is in this Sphere that we are able to contemplate the manifest Universe and what is beyond the manifest Universe.

Closest to “the Earth” is the Lunary Sphere.   This is the Sphere through which we pass from the sublunary sphere, or the physical universe that we experience with our senses and can measure, to the Higher Spheres, which we cannot measure.  The Lunar Sphere is the Sphere of dreams and the imagination.  As the closest Sphere to that of the senses, we do experience this Sphere in our nightly dreams.  Just as we can impact and pollute the sublunary sphere, we also can and do pollute the Lunar Sphere.  One of the ways we pollute the Lunary Sphere is through what we allow ourselves to see and to watch, and by the images we create, through various mediums, including violent and ugly television shows, music, and video games.  Gentle and loving images through those same mediums cleanse the Lunary Sphere.

At one level, we live on the sublunary sphere, but on a metaphysical level, we also live in all of the cosmological spheres at the same time (understanding that time becomes meaningless beyond the Sphere of Saturn).  Our souls descend through the Spheres to enter physicality, and they ascend back through these Spheres to return to the Highest Heaven.  This cannot be understood literally in the manner of most modern Western thinking, but is a Mystery, in the highest sense of the word, or that which must be understood at the Solar level, or within our hearts.

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