Who am I? This is an age old question that has dominated philosophy and spiritual thought for millenia. In the Enlightenment, René Descartes made the well-known statement, “Cogito ergo sum,” or “I think, therefore, I am.” This idea has dominated Western thought since that time, and it is the Rationalist approach to this question.
Traditional thought has a much different answer to this question, and this answer can be seen in the symbols of the glyphs for the Janyati and their planets. Each of the Janyati/planetary glyphs are made up of three symbols, the circle, the crescent, and the cross. In a recent article, I included a very humble drawing that I made showing the Traditional Model of the Cosmos, and I used the glyphs in that drawing. If you look at the glyphs, you will see that each of these glyphs is made up of one, two, or three of these symbols in various combinations.
The cross is the symbol of the material world. It is also the symbol of humans as Axial Beings with the capacity for Free Will. I have spoken at length about the symbol of the cross in previous articles. An introductory article regarding the symbol of the cross can be found here. As you can see, the symbol of the cross is found in all of the non-luminary planetary glyphs.
The luminaries, the Sun (Sai Raya) and the Moon (Sai Candre), are the only glyphs that contain only one symbol. The cross is not contained in either of these glyphs. This is because the principles that they represent are beyond and independent of the material world. These are the pure solar and lunar principles, and these principles are the answer to the question, “Who am I?”
At the very deepest level, we are One with the Divine and with all of existence. This is stated in many places in feminine Scripture:
“For the Spirit is One, and I am the Spirit, and you are the Spirit also, in the innermost temple of your heart.” – The Temple of the Heart
“Raise not thy voice above a gentle tone except it be in song, nor seek to place thyself above another, for the spirit in each is a ray of the Spirit My Mother, and as thou render service unto them, so servest thou also Her.” – The Heart of Water
“If thou wouldst find union with our Mother, know that thou has never left Her.” – Cry Marya
This Mystery is not only found in the Deanic/Filianic tradition, but is found deep in the teachings of all legitimate traditions. This is the Mystery of the Atman and the Spirit. The circle is the symbol of this Mystery. The glyph for the Sun is a point* surrounded by a large circle, which is the Mystery of the Spirit that is both deep within us and far outside of us. The Mystery is explained (as well as it can be explained in words), in the Temple of the Heart:
Know your own heart and make examination thereof; for if you know not your own heart, there can be no true knowledge of anything. But within the innermost temple of your heart shall you find the seas and the heavens and all the illimitable cosmos; For the space within this temple is as vast as the manifest universe.
The ignorant eye shall not see this temple from without, For it is smaller than the seed of an apple, and the seventh part of a seventh part divided again until what part remains can be seen nor touched nor tasted.
The ignorant eye shall not see this temple from within, for it is vast as the manifest universe.
Beyond life, beyond death is the temple, for it is a temple of the Spirit.
Within this Mystery is a paradox. We are One with the Divine, yet we are also separate from the Divine. The Deanic/Filianic Mythos, as well as the Mythos of many religions, teach of our turning from the Divine, or our choosing separation from the Divine. In the Temple of the Heart, it says, “About this temple and encompassing it round grows a garden rank with thorns, which are the thorns of khear.” In the Deanic/Filianic tradition khear is that which keeps us separate from the Divine. Khear is similar to sin in the Christian tradition, but it has slightly different connotations. In the Creation Mythos of the Deanic/Filianic tradition, after Axial Beings choose separation, the Light of the Mother became too bright to look upon, and needed to be mediated by the softer reflected Lunar Light of the Daughter.
The symbol of the crescent is the symbol of the softer Lunar Light. This symbol is also the symbol for our individual souls, seen in the crescent within a crescent in the symbol for the Moon. Our souls are the lesser reflection of the Solar Spirit within, and they are the part of us that is both eternal, but also experiences death and rebirth. The Mystery of our soul is complex, and I have been told that one Eastern meditation exercise is to contemplate one’s own soul and the boundaries of one’s soul. Any astrologer who has studied Nativity charts knows how complicated and intricate each individual is, filled with contradictions and twists and turns. Even Modern psychology, as limited as it is, recognizes concepts such as our Inner Child. Many of us function with multiple personae, such as our work persona, our parent persona (for those with children), and our persona with friends. Do these personae represent who we are, are they functional, are they something in between? The answers to these questions are not always all that clear, are they?
As stated before, the non-luminary planetary glyphs are symbolic of the way that each of these Janyatic/planetary principles mediate the Light of the Solar Spirit and the Lunar Crescent in the material world.
See also:
—————————–
*Below is an excerpt from a comment from Cure Tadashiku regarding the point in the center of the Solar Glyph:
The center of the Solar glyph is…….the Point without extension:
2. Yet from the still point all movement comes; and Earth is the shadow of Heaven. 3. Space doth extend without limit, nor is there any boundary to the worlds, but the Point is without extension; yet from the Point alone all space proceedeth. 4. All manifest things are bound to the three times; of that which is, which was, which is to come; but the Moment is without time. It neither is nor was, nor ever will be.
……..
The Solar glyph is precisely the extension of manifestation with the non-extended, unmanifest Point at its Center.
Thank you for the information, Cure Tadashiku.
The Wisdom of Our Grandmothers 