Back to Mysticism Section

The Dance of JesuShiva

Kerry A. Shirts

The idea of the dance. What does it signify? Why did Jesus himself dance with his Apostles? In reading the Hindu scriptures, one runs across the god Shiva and his dancing posture. Many have looked at this and shown that is has cosmological importance. It is remarkable to note that Jesus too, did dance. His "Round Dance" was performed with his chosen Apostles in the Early Christian Prayer Circle, of which Hugh Nibley and Max Pulver have expounded on at length.1

What I will do in this paper is examine the parallels of Jesus dancing and Shiva dancing, hence the title of my paper, and show the correspondence and incredibly fascinating ideas of the ancient dance and its importance with creation, creator, playing, learning, becoming human, and becoming divine. It is, indeed, a rather broad and sweeping concept that evokes wonder. The idea of kick up your heels, dance, and enjoy things a little bit; there is far more to this than meets the eye as we shall see.

The dancing Shive is known as Nataraja, the dancer, the King of the Dancers, and the God of the Dance. He is the cosmic dancer, the indicator of all celestial and terrestrial movement. Movement is energy, and this symbol demonstrates this idea. Movement is creation. Movement is vibration, hence creation. His dance is the entire dance of the cosmos, the movement of the whirling stars, planets, systems, suns, explosions, black holes, white holes, and space itself. Nataraja is stillness and motion wrought together.

The Cosmos is whirling, spiral movement as depicted by the 80 year macro movement of the Solar System through space, seen below. Here we see the 30,000 million mile long gossamer seed of energy spiraling into the void, in a screw-driving motion through space/time. This spiral motion is the stuff of life, the vibrations, the music of the spheres, the motion of creation, and the dance of life. This is the Dance of Shiva Nataraja. We see this dance on the large scale, in terms of our Solar System, and other systems in the cosmos, and we see it directly in our own cells as our own DNA shows. We see this dancing in other life forms here on earth, showing us the dance. We are not only dancing ourselves in this spiral motion, but we are the dance.

This spiral motion is depicted in mathematics as the "Golden Section" or even the Golden Portion in Geometry.

Human DNA has the exact same dancing rhythm as the larger galactic cosmos. The dance is life. The dance is creation itself. It causes and forms the creation from vibration. This vibration is manifested as spiral motion in the horns of animals, the shells of marine life, etc.

When we superimpose the golden section and the spiraling Phi spiral onto the Egyptian Hypocephalus in our Book of Abraham we find that they both fit perfectly in proportion to the illustrations. This is no accident, as the Egyptians were using their art to depict creation, life, movement, eternal rounds of wonder. This also explains why the Egyptians drew these things unevenly divided within. The proportions are what meet the eye. They are not perfectly divided, not exactly symmetrical from the middle either. They are showing us something else beside perfect symmetry. They are showing us how they fit into the larger picture of the creation, through mathematical relationships and proportions. They are also graphically illustrating the dance of Jesus and the dance of Shiva, the creation itself from the creator vibrating the cosmos into existence through motion, i.e. dance.

The other symbol that is prominent throughout the world of antiquity is the famous Caduceus, the two intertwined serpents on a staff. This symbol was had in many ancient cultures, the world over. As we tie it in with out ownselves, we learn something remarkable. We are the creation, and we are the creator. God is the creation and God is the creator. This is the Dance of Shiva. This is the Dance of Jesus.

This is from ancient Sumer almost 3000 B.C. Notice now as we have seen from the other illustrations, how the caduceus actually spirals as if it is depicting the Solar System’s march through the cosmos!

This depiction is from the Assyrian inscriptions.

And this is an altar depicted in Mesoamerica.

The same serpent motion in Kundalini Yoga is depicted as being within our own bodies. Hence the perfect correlation that we are motion, we are creation, we are life, we are in the cosmos, and in fact, are the cosmos. The famous Hermetic doctrine "As Above, So Below," comes to mind here. The Cosmos is in us, and we are in the Cosmos. God is without and within. God is us, we are God. This is the theme of the Dance of Jesus, imitating the cosmological order of things, as well as the dance of Shiva. It is a very esoteric, mystical doctrine, and most interestingly, one we find Jesus actually performing.

Pulver notes how the Acts of John depicts Jesus as telling the Apostles to dance a dance with him, in a circle, as they pray to the Father.2 In the Mimaut Papyrus it says that Heaven is given as the dancing ground.3 The reason Jesus chose 12 Apostles, is, of course, cosmological symbolism. There are 12 months to the year and this is the Zodiac. There are 12 tribes of Israel, there is King Arthur and his knights of the round table, again a cosmological setting. There are the twelve Namshans of the Round Council of the Dalai Lama. The twelve labors of Hercules is symbolic of the sun going through the Zodiac.

The number 12 is the signifying of the perfection of government. Twelve is the product of three (the perfectly divine and heavenly number), and four (the earthly, the number of what is material and organic).4 Notice as well, in the Bible we have the 12 foundations of the Heavenly Jerusalem. The twelve gates, the twelve pearls, the twelve angels, etc. The measure of the New Jerusalem will be 12,000 furlongs square, while the wall will be 144 (12 x 12) cubits (Rev. 21:16,17).5

It is interesting that the dance, of course, bring music into the theme of creation. Here we learn of the music of the spheres, etc. In Jesus’ Round Dance, he mentions that he wanted one to pipe the pipes as they performed their dance and prayer to the Father in Heaven. (see Matthew 11:17) In the book of 2 Jeu the Apostles are instructed to make a circle and stand with their wives facing the four directions of the Cosmos, while the Lord in the center gives them the secret ordinances.6 When Lehi saw in his vision the numberless concourses of angels singing and praising God, he saw the circular arrangements of the heavenly choirs. Concourses is circular motion. This is the dynamic pattern of the Cosmos, with energetic motions of circular and spiral movements (1 Ne. 1:8)7

The dance produces a rhythm that is more than just art. Dance produced science. Consider what science is. It is nothing more nothing less than "questions as to the rhythmical spacing, ordering, and balancing of material or abstracted relationships. The underlying issues are the same whether we are considering wave mechanics or the division of the cell. The primitive dance with its dramatisation of rhythmical tensions opened the way to both art and science…"8

What else dance signifies is birth and rebirth. The Latin word vulva has a root meaning the revolving movement. When a child of the Omaha indians was born (into a sphere of new relationships) the priest carried it from stone to stone set at the four points in the sky and set him on each one turning him about pronouncing blessings on the newborn. "Here the birth-turn is seen as one with the sky-circle given whirl power by the winds."9

Music, like art, "is a magical power lined with dance-ritual and ecstatic liberations… sound is considered a substance, a concrete and living part of the universe."10 The dynamic concept of the maze or labyrinth developed from the dance-rituals of antiquity. The meandering and spiraling movements of the art design expressed the ancestral wanderings and dancings. The Labyrinth express the idea of separation as well as integration and represents the death-rebirth passage of initiations throughout the ancient world.11

In the ancient Egyptian conception, music and dancing played a large role in their religion. Hathor, in fact, was identified with Maat thee principle of order, harmony and cosmic equilibrium. Hathor was called the lady of music, as well as drunkenness. The word tkh while meaning drunkenness indicates more than this. The weight suspended at the end of a plumb bob line, the tkh, determines the vertical and governs the equilibrium of the scales used in weighing the heart of the deceased at judgment. It is necessary to still the line otherwise it oscillates. And this is the other meaning of tkh, the oscillating, vibrating movement, the wobbling, hence drunkenness. Vibration is but the rapid oscillation, which, in turn, emits sound, hence music. "The plumb bob tkh is very often modelled in the form of a heart, ib, ‘the dancer.’"12 This plumb-bob accurately "divides the flow of time with a constant pulse."13

Homer made the connection between the labyrinth and dancing in his image of Ariadne’s dancing floor at the palace of Knosses. The dancing rituals and performances, were, of course, performed in the ancient temples of antiquity. Homer shows this in his connection of Daedelos, the master-architect of Greece, and Hephaestos, the later Greek god of craftsmen. In one of the scenes on the Shield of Achilles that Hephaestos made it is described as depicting the youths dancing on the dancing floor, whirling and running around lightly in a circle.14 Plutarch tells us that Theseus danced the "dance of the cranes," at Delos which imitated the windings and meanderings of the labyrinth He danced it around the horned altar.15

In relation to this Robert Graves has shown that "the function of poetry is religious invocation of the Muses."16 Through poetry, dance, music, singing, etc., the gods and goddesses were called. In harmony with this the Greek word homereusai were a guild of professional singers. Their name originally meant "harmonious men."17 Etymological relationship spring up all over the place now.

The Old English word wöp means "voice song" while the Old Norse word öör means "passion, poetry." We have in Latin the vates, "god-inspired singer," (Old Irish gives us faith, ‘poet’); and Old Iranian api-vatagati, "stimulates spiritually," "Makes to understand," and Avestan aipi-vat, "to understand." The addition of Brunst, "passion, ardor," which is a "furious raving, a violently desiring, burning with love." Etymologically the relationship of fury, storm, excitement, drunkenness, ardor, seerdom, and poetry must be also brought into connection with the spirit moon root, to which Mimir, the Wise man of the well, also belongs, and with the word geist, ‘spirit,’ as its fundamental meaning we deduce Aufgeregtheit, "agitation," while the Old Norse geisa, "to rage," (of fire and passion) also fits here. Gothis us-gaisjan, "to bring [someone] out of himself." The relationship with singing is brought out with the Germanic root sengw from Indo-Germanic senguh seems to have a relative only in the Greek omfh (from songuha) "divine voice, oracle."18 Neumann notes that the ecstatic dance comes into play with this inspired singing poetry as well. The oldest dance we have found goes back to the caves of France!

More remarkable still, is the understanding of the origin of Dithyrambos and dithyramb, the song sung in his honor.

This song is sung for Dithyrambos, because the Greeks always regarded this epithet as "indicating and describing the manner of the birth of the god."19 Dithyrambos, as the god of the song of birth is born at the resurrection of earth in the spring-time.20 Interestingly, the songs (dithyramb) that the three maidens, the Thriae, sing was the source of Hermes prophetic gift. Their inspiration derived from drunkenness, not of wine, but of honey. They are Melissae, "Bee-Prophetesses," inspired by a honey intoxicant. The Priestesses of Artemis at Ephesis were also bees, as well as those of Demeter, and still more significant, the Delphic priestess herself was a Bee. The Thriambos, was the song of the Thriae, or honey-priestesses, a song about beginnings.21

The meaning of the word "mysteries," was in fact, only understood by those who danced the dance. By dancing they actually enacted the mysteries.22 Paul Schmitt has noted that Euripides in Ion, demonstrates Demeter dancing and her followers performing a religious dance which involved the sun, moon, and stars, as Demeter went to get her daughter from hell.23 The Zoharic vision of dancing and praying and chanting (singing) is that at night 3 hosts of angels arrange themselves in 3 parts of the universe and chant to God which keeps his throne intact. During the day, it is humans who chant and hence through an elaborate and prayerful process "the movement resembles a kaleidoscope ceaselessly opening, or a flower constantly blooming…"24

Again poetry means "creation of the world." "The business of the Muses at the temple was to sing the creation song with the morning stars. Naturally, because they were dramatizing the story of the creation too, the hymn was sung to music. The singing was performed in a sacred circle or chorus, so that poetry, music, and dance go together."25 In Egypt Kronos was named Keb, the "Great Orb," and this everlasting Keb is evidently the root of Kebla, meaning a stone circle. In Septum the Latin term for stone circle is again occurrent the idea is ep tum the light of the Eye or Orb, Tum, or Time, the resplendent Sun. All tempes, or Temples may be indeed described as originally Time Fathers, Time Tellers, Time Keepers, or Time Bells.26

The art depicted in the ancient caves show figures dressed as animals dancing. The idea reminds us of Orpheus "about the musician who charmed the animal world into an unnatural state of harmony, and, shamanlike, rescued souls from the otherworld."27 Visionary and dreams have been associated with prophetic divine instruction and have had cosmogonic implications. Vishnu asleep on his lotus is such an image in the ancient Eastern symbolism. Shiva, the Lord of the dancers is also symbolic of cosmic creation as we learn what his symbols mean. "With drum and dance, in one aspect, he represents the world’s perpetual unfolding… the drum in Hindu myth is an agency of cosmic creation, and …dancing is one of the many aspects of Shiva’s essence."28 Wherever we turn we find this constellation of symbols in ancient shamanism. "The cosmic formal power of the Huron and Iroquois, orenda, is derived from a root meaning ‘song.’ For archaic man, human creativity is grounded in cosmic creativity and music and dance articulate a connection between the two. Archaic man’s sense of continuity with this creative force is well expressed by the Aztec claim to have sung and danced their cities into creation…Dance, drum, vision, and song all symbolically suggest man’s link with the cosmic creation… in dancing to the percussive beat and rhythm of drum, chant, and song, the shaman becomes one with the cosmic creation.29

This is the dance of Shiva. This is the Dance of Jesus. The created world is what Shiva dances. He unites the male and female in himself. The two become one flesh.30 Jesus’ prayer in John 17 was that the world would become one with Him and His Father. Again, the Caduceus signifies this unity, with the two snakes bring together earth and sky (signified in male and female terms anciently).31 In ancient Shamanism, the initiation into Shamanism was supplied with a dance in a circle and singing, the shamans being prepared to reach the sky via the ladder of the sky. The Spirit that helps them is the Grandfather, that is the Creator or Supreme Being.32 This is very reminiscent of Jesus being in the presence of his Apostles dancing in a circle with their wives. Oringally we are told, All dancing was sacred.33

Overall, Shiva’s Dance and Jesus’ Dance accomplish the same thing. They are the same symbol with the same power to evoke incredible emotions in us and those who participated anciently in these prayer circles. It is the interplay of Macrocosm/Microcosm, so prevalent in ancient religious systems. The dance is the incarnation of celestial energy, hence the ring of fire around Shiva.34 When Christ visited the Nephites and gathered the little children, they were enveloped with a ring of fire. (3 Nephi 17:24)

It is remarkable that Jesus continues the tradition and enhances it among the inner circle of his followers. It’s too bad the later Christians got rid of it, as it is a key to understanding man, God, and Creation.35

The Lemniscate is another masterful symbol for the Cosmic Dance of God. It is the mathematical symbol for infinity. It is also the 3-dimensional symbol of the Caduceus, which indicates "rhythm, of the respiration and circulation – it is the symbol of eternal rhythm or the eternity of rhythm."34

This from Athanasius Kircher, ars magna lucis, Rome, 1665. Here God is assigned light and shadow as the Sun (Apollo), indicated by the Hapsburg double-headed eagle. Color is indicated by the peacock at the foot of the moon (Diana). Note the caduceus in the hand of God. It is a marvelous constellation of images and symbols in this art piece.

Here we see the magnificent portrayal of God creating which is in reality the separating of the elements, by Hedrick Goltzius. Notice he is "wholly absorbed in his dance of revelation."35

When we look at the Great Magus involved in his creation, we see concentration, intense energy. When we compare the Tarot Card "The Magician" we see other interesting and related elements concerning this Cosmic Dance of God.

  The first card is from the Waite-Rider Tarot Cards, the second is the same figure but from the Marseilles Card deck. Why the use of the Tarot Symbolism? Is this not just fortuntelling? I don't believe so. Granted the cards have become adulterated into this sphere of influence and activity, but the symbolism of the cards serve a higher more noble purpose than scrambling for personal wealth and fortune telling, which usually ends up with fraudulent aspects. Their misuse does not make them the evil they are made out to be. The cards are simply not witchcraft as so many incorrectly think. In fact, Joe Steve Swick III has found the correct reference, so far as I am concerned, concerning the Tarot Cards.

As far as we know, the tarot cards have always been used to gain insight into situations and activities, and to study future trends. Therefore, the tarot has gained a reputation as one of the 'mantic' or predictive methods. And it is generally used for predicting the future. In a fit of curiosity, you purchase a tarot deck and an explanatory booklet; then you ask a question, deal one or more cards as instructed, and simply look up "what will happen." The tarot lends itself very well to this approach, even though the result depends partly on how you interpret your book. However, by setting to work in this way, we fail to do the tarot justice. We are not taking into account that each card is a picture, a picture with a symbolic value built around a whole range of symbols, each with its own meaning, and together giving the necessary depth to the card. When we make an insightful approach to the analysis of its symbolism, it can become a source of inner enrichment and psychological growth, and prediction will take second place to accurate and clear self-insight. Working with the tarot can become a way of completely acepting yourself and your life, and of learning to cope with the ups and downs. The tarot, itself, will point you in the direction of a proper outlook on life: working with the symbolism and hidden depths of the tarot is nothing less than learning to dance to the rhythms of the cosmos. (Karen Hamaker-Zondag, Tarot as a Way of Life: A Jungian Approach to the Tarot, Weiser, 1997, page 2)

For now, lets notice the lemniscate just above the head of the card on the left. Notice also the serpent winding around his waist and holding its own tail. This is the Uroboros, another aspect of the lemniscate, as well as the caduceus, signifying eternity, or infinity. The lemniscate on the card to the right is the brim of the hat. "The two ellipses of this lemniscate, joined by a large hump or bridge in the middle, can also be seen as a pair of giant spectacles."36 It looks like a pair of binoculars. It reminds us of the idea of the Urim & Thummim. Hugh Nibley in his lectures indicated perhaps the Urim & Thummim, which mean "lights" and "perfection," could in all likelihood be the field lens and ocular lens of a telescope.37 The idea here with the Tarot Card symbolism, is that through the magician of the universe (the Creator, the Demiurge, God) we can look using his power and source of inspirational dance, and He works magic for us, showing us, via revelation, of course (that certainly being one of the purposes of the Urim & Thummim) the glory of his Handiwork. The Heavens declare the Glory of God theme here is what we are to understand. Indeed, in the Waite-Rider card, the Magician is pointing both up and down (again, the uniting of the opposites in God, the figure himself) recalling the Hermetic doctrine of "As Above, So Below," as taught on the Tabula Smaragdina, meaning what is done in Heaven can also be done on earth. The wand in the Magicians’ hand indicates his relation to Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods.

Indeed, we are told that it was Hermes who "zeichen des Thierkreises [sic] und den Planeten die Namen gegeben…" translated, "who gave the signs of the Zodiac, and the planets their names."38 We are further told that he has been identified with not only Thot in ancient Egypt, but also Ptah and Chnum! Ptah is said to be the creator of the world in work-stone, (Gestalter der Werkstein) as well as the power to order chaos and whose education is what begins the creation! (mit dessen Bildung die Schöpfung beginnt).39 Ptah was also said to be equated with the Greek Hephaistos, the Greek Smith-God (und ihrem Hephaistos gleichsetzten, war der Stadtgott von Memphis), and was the God of the city of Memphis.40 It is also said for the significance of Ptah, Er gilt als Bildner der Bildner, der Töpfer der Töpfer, und ist das Vorbild der irdischen Künstler und ihr Patron, "He is regarded as creators of the creators, the potter of the potters, and is the model of the earthly artists and their patron…"41 It is also worth realizing that Ptah’s importance is demonstrated as well with the appearance of both the Ankh signs and the W3s scepter, not to mention that he was linked together with Osiris as Ptah-Osiris. Ptah’s importance, in other words, cannot be overestimated.42

Notice all the Creator Gods associated with Hermes, our Magician, the Dancer, JesuShiva! This is the idea to try and understand. Even Mercury as Chnum is an interesting deity correlation! Chnum, of course, is one of the Egyptian Creation deities, where he is sometimes pictured with the potter’s wheel as creating the kings of the Egyptian Kingdoms himself.43 Winfred Barta shows that in a Geburtsritual, (a ritual performed at the birth of a newborn baby) one of the scenes is Der Leib des Kindes wird von Chnum auf der Töpferscheibe geformt, "the body of the child is molded by Chnum on the potter wheel."44 Chnum is also der Bringer der Überschwemmung, "the bringer of the flood," which is another angle of being the Creator, since water in Egypt is equated with saving creation, or even bringing about the Creation.45 He was also known as a God over breath, wind, and Spirit, the Greek term Pneuma.46

Thot was considered "der Vertreter der Ordnung in der Welt. Er ist der Rechner und Schreiber der Götter" the representative of the order in the world. He is the calculator and scribe of the Gods.47 We read another aspect of Thot is his ability to calm through persuasion and magic, (die Magie des Thoth) the wrath of the Goddess, the daughter of Re, named Tefnut.48 Thot is considered the moongod in some ancient Egyptain traditions. It is in association with various aspects of the cosmos that the Egyptian Gods are identified as being rein kosmische, that is as "purely cosmic."49 We find many associations with the Cosmic Hermes as well.

It seems as if every ancient concern in antiquity was connected in one way or another with Hermes. Hermes as a Shephard and protector (Beschützer der Herden) As shepherd, Hermes is a therapist, a tricky and with profit, a careful swindler, a swift runner, also turned to night as became a man of sleep and dreams, who also stands in connection with the dark underworld. (Als Hirt ist Hermes ein Heilkundiger, ein verschlagener und auf Gewinn bedachter Betrüger, ein hurtiger Läufer, gewandt auch im Finsteren und daraufhin ein Herr des Schlafes und der Träume, der auch mit der dunklen Unterwelt in Verbindung steht.)

Hermes in the context with the office of being the herd protector may very well be associated with a wind, air and weather God, though it’s a more distant relation. It is easy to see how from these, his qualities of being a swift runner, a servant of souls, (through sleep and dream also) a God over luck and coincidence, as well as fertilization and generation. Hermes was the protector of ways and paths as well as hikers, the sponsor of merchants and dealers. (Hermes ist aber ferner, und vielleicht im zusammenhange mit dem Amte des Herdenschutzes, ein Wind, Luft, und Wetter-Gott, und aus diesen seinen Eigenschaften erklären sich unschwer die des Boten und Dieners der Seelen (auch durch Schlaf und Traum), des Herrn über Glück und Zufall, sowie über Befruchtung und Zeugung. des Behüters der Wege und Wanderer, des Förderers der kaufleute und Händler)

Hermes was also considered "the master of speech, cleverness and creativity, and hence was associated with the Logos. (der Rede, Klugheit und Erfindungsgabe stempelt, zum Hermes Logios).50

 While we have seen that Hermes is associated with the Cosmos, he also is quite a worldly fellow. In the Tarot Card we see here, "The World," we see a female figure, namely "Wisdom" herself, holding two such scepters or wands of Hermes, being surrounded by an eternal oval, with two infinite lemniscates on either end. This is the infinite eternality of the world. As Hermes was concerned with worldly things, such as merchants, luck, and running and hiking, so "The World" card here indicates the same. The female, "Wisdom," is in the air, however, the eternal oval also appears to be solidly squarefold, with the four beasts of Ezekiel’s vision, the Book of Revelation, and the Canopic jars under the lion couch in Facsimile No. 1 in the Book of Abraham, in each of the four corners. The is the famous circle and square issue that was indicated in antiquity by the various nations. "The Roman Quadrata represents the four corners of the earth, and the center of everything; The Romans drew it as a circle…" divided by two lines, crossing, which is the picture of the wheel. "It’s the wheel that goes round and round but never moves."51 Again, the notion that Hermes is associated with Mercury and quicksilver also suggests the fluid state verses the solid state of matter as well. It indicates the masculine and feminine as well as the hierosgamos, the sacred mystical marriage of the sun and moon. The Magician in the Waite/Rider deck who points up and down also suggests to the mind the mystical marriage of the divine with the human planes.52

Notice the Caduceus/lemniscate is associated with other Tarot cards.

  With the lady closing the mouth of the lion, Key 8 of the Major Arcana in the Tarot was note the lemniscate above her head. It was pointed out to me by my very good Mormon mystic friends Sharon and Joe that:

DISCIPLINE is absolutely necessary for the individual. You and I have to apply the principle of rigor in our own lives. This is the woman taming the lion." Woman = Mercy ("a LOVING, nonrepressive discipline, but a strong control nevertheless"), rigor in taming, the limiting aspect, the Saturn power "that mitigates and contains the lion's roar" through her sweet/loving spirit. "... the ultimate control consists of love, which actually BINDS the pet to the master." -- Lotterhand, p. 145.

I'm thinking about the UNION of Mercy/Justice. Righteousness + Obedience to Law + Christ's Love/Mercy = BIND US to our Master (God) Raging Lion = Justice/Severity, law, righteousness, masculine element of directed force and power. "This is precisely the magic of the Tarot. Key 8 is called the Intelligence of the Secret of All Spiritual Activities. The secret is simple. It's the suggestion we give to the subconscious. When the suggestions you make on a self-conscious level reach down to the subconscious level, the entire universal machinery is set in motion. If you *insist* on directing your life and making sensible suggestions for your life, you will experience a mysterious response from your environment. You actually set up a vibration to which your environment responds. Results may not occur within seconds, but they occur eventually. You will be aware of them when they happen" --Lotterhand, 140

The middle Tarot Card, #2, is precisely the dance on the human plane. The male reaching out to the female, and the caduceus between them with that fierce lion of power and emotion welling up above the caduceus. It is a strong symbol to contemplate. The caduceus, of course, being two winding snakes, perhaps one male and the other female, with the two opposite sexes involved. The duality demonstrates the opposition in nature as a fundamental reality on this plane of existence. It forcefully reminds us of the Book of Mormon verse that Lehi says "There must needs be an opposition in all things," otherwise there is no existence.

The card on the right is also a remarkable symbolization, the man’s folded arms actually forming the lemniscate/caduceus symbol with the 9 cups. The symbolism here of the number 9 is also worth noting, as it has its own peculiar power and laws of operating. Immediately a symbolist will recognize that the number 9 evokes the Sacred Pythagorean Tetractys.

 It is hard to exaggerate the significance of this symbol. It has been expounded on through the millenia, and I can’t possibly explore all areas here, though I will try to in another research project I am working on with religious symbolism. Along with the enneagram this symbol is astonishingly rich in meaning and purpose, especially in light of the Dance of God I am exploring here. The numerical relationships of the Tetractys express the basic laws of harmony:

1:2 (octave)

2:3 (fifth)

3:4 (fourth)

1:4 (double octave)

1:8 (tone)

In conjunction with the enneagram below, we see relationships immediately.

 

This universal symbol is said to contain all knowledge of universal law. BY it alone, can man know exactly what it is he does, indeed know at the moment of contemplation and study. What he cannot put in the enneagram he does not know, yet on studying it he will learn something new every single time and hence increase his understanding of universal law. While the Tetracyts shows the divine Ennead (the 9 deities of the Egyptian pantheon) made manifest, the enneagram shows the ennead in action with the numbers 7 and 3. It is worth noting that the number 7 is the number of growth and process, which interpentrates the number 3, the triune nature of unity. It is more than interesting that both the number 7 and the number 3 when divided into unity, actually divide infinititely!

1 divided into 3 = .33333333333333333…

1 divided into 7 = 1428571428571428571…….

Note that the number 7 being divided thusly is also followed by the enneagram…

Isn’t it remarkable that by arranging the four letters of the Tetragrammaton within the Tetractys that the 72 names of God are revealed?53

  Thus we have the infinite Dance of JesuShiva with mathematics and infinity, our good old lemniscate symbol on the Tarot Cards. Notice how another Tarot Card with its symbols fits like a glove on a hand with this movement theme. Notice also how the Tarot Card "Wheel of Fortune" corresponds symbolically quite powerfully with the Book of Abraham hypocephalus with the Golden whirl superimposed on it. The swirling motion, the division of the circle in compartments, the animals representing the four corners of the earth (and sky I might add). I also wish to point out another significant thing perhaps missed by too many of us for so long. The hypocephalus in the Book of Abraham here is divided into 9 compartments. There is that number 9 again. The wheel has the word "Tora" written on it going around in a circle, which gives us rota going the other direction and starting with the "R" instead of the "T". This "law," is also identified on the Egyptian hypocephalus as the central figure is identified as being associated with "First in government." (Book of Abraham facsimile 2, explanation of Fig. 1). Notice how all four corner figures are reading books. Notice also how we don’t know what it is they are reading. It is to be revealed later, exactly as it is in the hypocephalus where we are told there are "writings that cannot be revealed unto the world; but is to be had in the Holy Temple of God."

So an exploration of the Dance of God has taken us through several symbolisms, which, far from concluding our research, has now given us many more doors with which to go through and explore further. The beauty of studying symbolism is that as you increase your understanding and comparison, you increase your ability to see more and complete correlations with symbolisms from the entire history of the world. One more comparison just to demonstrate how far and wide and deep this type of studying and research can go.

Notice how the salamander on the King of Wand’s throne is curled up eating his own tail. This is the idea of the uroboros again. It is an endless cycle, an eternal ring, every bit in line with the ring in "The World" card and the circle of the hypocephalus. But something which might be missed is an understanding that the salamander was a fiery creature, a creature of immortality.54 Interestingly, the hypocephalus was thought to be the Eye of Re, and as such was sometimes the color of red, signifying its fire of immortal life, the heat of the sun, which was also considered to be Re.55 We read also (keeping in mind the woman within the circle in the Tarot Card called "The World," "Philological dictionaries tell us that it is a moot question whether the word apple began with the eye or the fruit. The Greek word is kora or korasion, meaning a little girl or little woman you see in the eye of the beloved; the Latin equivalent is pupilla, from pupa or little doll, from which we get our word pupil. What has diverted me to this is the high degree to which this concept developed in Egypt in the earliest times. The Eye of Re is his daughter, sister, and wife—he sees himself when he looks into her eye, and the other way around. It is the image in the eye that is the ideal, the wdjat, that which is whole and perfect. For "it is not good that man should be alone"; he is incomplete by himself—the man is not without the woman in the Lord. (See 1 Cor. 11:11)"56

Interesting that the sun is considered one eye of God, while the moon is the other eye. The Hypocephalus is also considered the eye of God. I found in the Bhagavad Gita that the sun and moon are also considered the eyes of the gods.

The Sanskrit says Marici marutam asmi naksatranam aham sasi which translates as "I am Marichi of the Maruts; Among the heavenly bodies I am the moon." The marici were the powerful storm gods who helped slay Indra the Cosmic dragon (reminds you of Leviathan doesn't it?!) in order to bring water to the world. The Sanskrit word "sasi" is the masculaine nominative singular meaning "that which contains the rabbit, the moon."

I also found in the Gita where it says sasisuryanetram meaning "the moon and sun being your eyes." sasi the moon, containing the rabbit. surya the sun. And netram meaning "eye", the entire word sasisuryanetram is the masculine accusative singular Bahuvrihi compound = "having the moon and the sun as eyes." (Winthrop Seargent's translation of the Gita. pp. 431, 471).

The reason I bring this up is to show that this motif is perhaps a world-wide ancient motif used by many ancient cultures, thus establishing the symbolisms of the Book of Abraham, the Bhagavad Gita, Tarot Cards, and Egyptian symbols in a world context.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's Bhagavad Gita As It Is, says that the God Vishnu proclaims he is the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars, (p. 535) which of course, instantly recalls to our minds the D&C 88: 6-13 where it says the power of God is the light of the sun, the moon, etc.

In an excerpt from the P. Long 46 (PGM V), the Greek Magical Papyri in ancient Egypt, we read that God is the one who separated the darkness from the light, and God is called "The Eternal Eye." He is also called "the fixed planet." He is also called "Jehovah…serpent of serpents." All these images correlate to our dance theme here.57 In the PDM xiv 224-31 = Papyri Mag. 8/4-11, we read "Oh fury of Re! O creator who caused creation to come into being, Abraham, the pupil of the wedjat-eye, fourfold creator…"58

The Egyptian Wedjat eye was a means of measurement. The eye is what gives man and woman access to space, to volume, and hence to measurement. The eye links man and woman to both time and space. This is a perpetual renewal of conscious revelation.59

I was translating from the Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache (ZAS), from several articles on the Wedjat Eye. Georg Möller's article, "Die Zeichen für die Bruchtiele des Hohlmaßes und das Uzatauge" shows the origins and development of the various parts of the Wedjat Eye in the Hieroglyphics. One thing he mentioned which is instructive is that each part of the Wedjat Eye was considered a fraction, and it was important for the eye to be put together. Thoth is the one who puts the eye together and fills and completes it. (ZAS, 1910: Band 48, page 100). He says: daß der Horusauge in 64 Teile zerrissen und ein fehlender Teil von Thoth in wunderbarer Weise ergänzt wurde. Die Wiederherstellung hätte in der Sage von der Zerstückelung des Osiris und der Ergänzung des verlorenen Gliedes eine Parallele. That is, the eye was rent or torn into 64 parts and a missing part was supplemented by Thoth in a wonderful manner. This restoring of the eye would have a parallel in the saga of the dismemberment of Osiris and the supplement of the lost limb. Now then, H. Junker in his article immediately following up on Georg Möller's, Junker's being "Die Sechs Teile des Horusauges und der sechste Tag," says that the Egyptian inscriptions demonstrate that An jedem der einzeinen Tage wird ein Teil des Auges hinzugetan, am sechsten der letzte Teil, der das Auge vollkommen macht. (p. 101) Which means on each single day, a part of the eye was put together, at the 6th day, the last part completes the eye. He says later in his article that the eye is filled at Heliopolis, and its completion is based on an astronomical observation. (astronomische Beobachtung zurück) (p. 106). I believe this astronomical observation is the waxing and waning of the moon every 15 days, symbolic itself of death and resurrection in the Cosmos. So this parallel with the resurrection of Osiris with the filling of the Wedjat Eye, that is completeing all its parts, which are used as numerical fractions, ties in well with our Facsimile 2 which is symbolic of the entire Wedjat Eye itself. The Hypocephalus is a cosmic map, a talisman, so to speak, of instructions not only for the resurrection, but for eternal life itself.

Throught the Ancient Egyptian tradition, the eye retained is solar fierceness and heat, its fiery nature was a source of light, knowledge, and fertility. Mystics believe the word for eye ('ayn) is used in a double meaning of "real" and "fountain" since the real world comes from and reside in the One God, the true fountain and light of the world.

In the Masonic tradition, the eye symbolizes the material plane. This is the visible sun, the source of light and life. On the intermediate plane this is the Logos, the Word, the Creative First Cause. On the spiritual or divine plane, this is the Great Architect of the Universe.60

Vigenerus in his treatise De Igne et Sale called the sun the "eye and heart of the sensible world and the image of the invisible God." St. Dionysius said the sun was the "clear and manifest statue of God."61

On an engraved stone disk dating A.D. 1200-1600 in America, at the Moundville Alabama site, we see the central sign called the fear-banishing gesture (abhaya-mudra) of the Indian (Far Eastern India!) Bodhisattva. It is a hand showing its palm engraved with the compassionate Eye of Mercy, pierced by the sights of the sorrows of this world. The central eye suggests that compassion is the "ultimate sustaining and moving [dancing!] power of the universe, transcending and overcoming its pain."62 In some shamanistic traditions, as Mercea Eliade has shown, the initiate is said to change his eyes, so he is not seeing with his natural eyes, but with his spiritual eyes Compare this with what Moses experienced! At Moses 1:11 in the Pearl of Great Price, Moses says he did not see every particle of the earth with his natural eyes, but with another set of eyes, his spiritual eyes. One learns of the Cosmic dance, sees the Cosmic Dance, once we change our eyes, hence change our perceptions and abilities to comprehend greater and greater things, as Alma 13:4 says, some hardened their minds and hearts, because they rejected the Spirit of God.63 Alma 12:10-11 says that once one receives the lesser portion of the Word, the Great Portion shall follow upon diligence and heeding of the lesser portion. I believe that symbolism can coalesce in our minds showing us finer tuned connections, greater insights into God and His Dance, hence we receive the Greater Portion of God's Word, through scripture and symbol.

In other words, God is keeping His eye on us, men and women, as we dance the dance of life, and indeed, dance the dance of God. We perform the Dance, as does Deity, because we are the dance, as is Deity.

ADDENDUM:

Another keen observation from Joe Steve Swick is concerning the Jewish synagogue:

In connection with discussions of Judaism and the Zodiac, I mention the use of the same in the floor of a synagogue. Here is the caption text accompanying a photograph in the book, Synagogues, by Samuel D. Gruber (MetroBooks, 1999) on page 27: "At the sixth-century synagogue at Beth Alpha, Israel, the mosaic floor is richly laid with symbolic and narrative decoration, including this roundel set  within a depiction of the zodiac. Surprisingly, the image is of Helios, the pagan sun god, possibly meant to represent the cosmos in this Jewish context." In other words, we have the SUN (as Helios and his horse-drawn heavenly chariot) depicted in a CIRCLE in the center, with the familiar symbols of the ZODIAC in a 12-sectioned ring surrounding the same. In addition to the caption text, we have this fuller explanation of the image: "At Beth Alpha the worshiper crosses four distinct zones of decoration in the central aisle on the way to the ark. In the first, near the door, two lions flank a dedicatory inscription.  Next is an unusually narrative scene depictiong the binding of Isaac, a central story in Jewish lore, signifying the special covenant between God and the Jews. This is followed by a large square panel with a zodiac wheel, portraying the months and zodiac signs. In the four corners are representations of the seasons, depicted as Classically garbed human figures. In the center is a charioteer reining four horses. In the pagan world, this is a device used to represent Helios, the sun god, but here the meaning may be more general: the sun as the center of the cosmos, all of which is God's creation. "The fourth zone, immediately in front of the ark niche, depicts a series of Jewish symbols -- ark, menorah, lulav, ethrog, shofar -- that are associated with the Jerusalem Temple and the festivals that had been celebrated there. Here is an indication that the synagogue serves as a replacement (albeit temporary) for the destroyed central sanctuary" (Ibid). The lovely zodiac mosaic is also found on the cover of Neil Asher Silberman's book, Heavenly Powers: Unraveling the Secret History of the Kabbalah. I encourage you to draw your own conclusiions from this. Perhaps the synagogue was also seen as a symbolic representation of the cosmos, in which the heavenly dance takes place -- represented by the circumambulation occurring on several holy days, including Simchat Torah.

(my sincere thanks to Joe for allowing me to use his observation is it brings in more pertinent observations in yet another culture concerning this rather magnificent theme - KAS)

Endnotes

  1. Hugh Nibley, "The Early Christian Prayer Circle," in BYU Studies, 19/1 (Fall 1978): 41-78. See also The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, Deseret Book, 1976: 282. Max Pulver, "Jesus’ Round Dance and Crucifixion According to the Acts of St. John," in The Mysteries, edited by Joseph Campbell, Princeton Univ. Press, 5th print, 1990: 169-193.
  2. Max Pulver, p. 174.
  3. Pulver, p. 175.
  4. E. W. Bullinger, Numbers in Scripture, Kregel Publications, 1987: 253.
  5. Bullinger, p. 254-255.
  6. Nibley, p. 46.
  7. Nibley, p. 49. See also William Hamblin, "Temple Motifs in Jewish Mysticism," in Temples of the Ancient World, Donald W. Parry, ed., Deseret/FARMS, 1994: 451.
  8. Jack Lindsay, A Short History of Culture, Fawcett Premiere Books, 1966: 22f.
  9. Lindsay, p. 24.
  10. Lindsay, p. 127.
  11. Lindsay, pp. 150-151.
  12. Lucie Lamy, Egyptian Mysteries, 1981: 84.
  13. David Fideler, Jesus Christ, Sun of God: Ancient Cosmology and Early Christian Symbolism, Quest Books, 1993: 253.
  14. Ann Baring and Jules Gould, The Myth of the Goddess, Penguin Books, 1993: 135-136.
  15. Plutarch’s Lives, translated by John Dryden, Modern Library, p. 13.
  16. Robert Graves, The White Goddess, Farrar, Strous and Giroux, 23rd printing, 1989: 14.
  17. Hesiod and Theognis, Ed., Betty Radice, Penguin Books, 1973: p. 151, note 2.
  18. Erich Neumann, The Great Mother, Princeton Univ. Press, 7th paperback, 1991: 298-299.
  19. Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, Princeton Univ. Press, 1st paperback 1991: 436.
  20. Harrison, p. 438.
  21. Harrison, p. 442-443.
  22. C. Kerenyi, "The Mysteries of the Kabeiroi," in The Mysteries, ed., Campbell, p. 38.
  23. Paul Schmitt, "The Ancient Mysteries in the Society of Their Time, Their Transformation and Most Recent Echoes," in The Mysteries, ed., Campbell, p. 102.
  24. Rabbi David Cooper, God is a Verb, Riverhead Books, 1997: 143.
  25. Hugh Nibley, "The Meaning of the Temple," in Temple and Cosmos, Don E. Norton, ed., Deseret/FARMS, 1992: 22.
  26. Harold Bayley, The Lost Language of Symbolism, 2 vols., Carol Publishing, 1990: Vol. 2: 193.
  27. Robert E. Ryan, The Strong Eye of Shamanism, Inner Traditions, 1999: 36.
  28. Ryan, p. 84.
  29. Ryan, p. 84.
  30. Heinrich Zimmer, The King and the Corpse, Meridian Books, 1960: 178.
  31. Jean Chevalier and Alain Cheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, Penguin Books, 1996: 143.
  32. Mercea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstacy, Princeton Univ. Press, 2nd printing, 1974: 128.
  33. Hugh Nibley, p. 41 shows the actual proceeds of the Council which confined the Prayer Circle doctrine of Early Christianity literally to the flames. The reason? They couldn’t understand its use!
  34. Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism, Element Books, Martin Kriele, 1985: 10.
  35. Sally Nichols, Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey, Samuel Weiser, 1st paperback, 1984: 51.
  36. Nichols, p. 49.
  37. Hugh Nibley, One Eternal Round, FARMS Lectures, 1990, 12 tapes.
  38. Theodor Haarbrücker, Abu-‘l-Fath’ Muhammad asch-Schahrastani’s Religionspartheien und PhilosophenSchulen, Zweiter Theil, Halle, C. A. Schwetscke und Sohn (M. Bruhn in Schleswig), 1851: 61.
  39. Edmund O. von Lippman, Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie, Berlin Verlag von Julius Springer, 1919: 54.
  40. Hans Bonnet, Reallexikon der Ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte, Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1952: 614.
  41. Adolf Erman, Die Religion der Ägypter: Ihr Werden und Vergehen in Vier Jahrtausenden, Walter De Gruyter & Co., 1934: 25.
  42. B. J. Peterson, "Der Gott Osiris-Ptah, der Herr des Lebens," ZAS, 1969: 135-138.
  43. Bonnet, p. 137 for Chnum with his famous rams horns on his head creating the king on the potter’s wheel.
  44. W. Barta, "Bemerkungen zur Existenz der Rituale für Geburt und Krönung," in ZAS, 112 (1985): 5.
  45. Kurt Sethe, Urgeschichte und Älteste Religion der Ägypter, Leipzig, DMG, 1930: 20.
  46. Lippman, Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie, Berlin Verlag von Julius Springer, 1919: 54.
  47. Erman, p. 39.
  48. Wilhelm Spiegelberg, "Der ägyptische Mythus von Sonnenauge in einem demotischen Papyrus der römischen Kaiserzeit," Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1915: 876.
  49. Sethe, Urgeschichte p. 22.
  50. Lippmann, Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie , p. 224 under Hermes und die Hermetik.
  51. Hugh Nibley, "The Circle and the Square," in Temple and Cosmos, Deseret/FARMS, 1992: 144.
  52. Richard Roberts, Joseph Campbell, Tarot Revelations, Vernal Equinox Press, 3rd edition, 1987: 50-51.
  53. Charles Ponce, Kabbalah, Quest Books, 4th print, 1986: 175. He has the diagram.
  54. J. E. Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols, p. 277.
  55. Richard H. Wilkinson, Symbol & Magic in Egyptian Art, Thames & Hudson, 1994: 107.
  56. LDS Women’s Treasury: Insights and Inspiration for Today’s Woman [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1997], 34 - 35.
  57. John Gee translation in the Greek Magical Papyri, found in John Tvedtnes, Brian Hauglid, Traditions About the Early Life of Abraham, Studies in the Book of Abraham, John Gee, Series Editor, FARMS, 2001: 499.
  58. John Gee translation in Ibid, p. 503.
  59. John Anthony West, Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt, Quest Books, 1993: 70-71.
  60. Jean Chevalier, Alain Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, Penguin Books, 1996: 364, 366.
  61. Carl Jung, Mysterium Coniunctionis, Princeton Univ. Press, 7th printing, 1989: 395.
  62. Joseph Campbell, The Mythic Image, Princeton Univ. Press, paperback, 1981: 290.
  63. Mercea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, Princeton Univ. Press, 2nd printing, 1974:42