The Story of Venus

Plasma formations in the ancient sky. The role of planets as charged bodies in these formations. Ground-rules for drawing reliable conclusions. A new approach to the mythic archetypes: is a unified theory of world mythology possible?
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David Talbott
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The Story of Venus

Unread post by David Talbott » Sat May 03, 2008 3:04 pm

When I decided to use the image below as a fulcrum for discussing the Polar Configuration, the choice was a bit arbitrary, but not entirely so. As I will demonstrate shortly in a thread on "The Myth of Creation," the 8-pointed star of Venus is the most pervasive of all variations in the number of discharge streamers relating to the earliest-remembered events:
Planets with Venus 8-ray star-blue-s.jpg
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Myths of creation, from Mesopotamia and Egypt to Mesoamerica, commonly speak of the 8-fold division of heaven prior to the onset of more intense, unstable, and at times violent events. And though an 8-rayed star may be used to represent this division, other symbols pointing to the same form are used as well. Above all else, don’t assume a metaphysical context when considering the origins of the idea. We’re talking about things humans saw in the sky. The 8-pointed star was not the first thing seen, but its appearance signified a critical juncture in the evolutionary phases of the configuration (whose early evolution was the mythic “creation”). So by using this star as a reference, we can work backward to the first-remembered events, and forward through the activity of the goddess and hero in the extraordinary events of creation.

When creation myths speak of heaven close to the earth, the reference is to the great sphere we’ve identified as the planet Saturn. As the early sources themselves would put it, this was before the sphere was either “raised up” or “moved away.” (In common translations the Egyptian Atum is "raised up"; the Sumerian An is "moved away"). The subject is the primeval, all encompassing Unity, holding within itself the undifferentiated male and female powers prior to their emergence as the active mother goddess and warrior-hero.

In the center of the sphere appeared a spectacular discharging star, the very life and “glory” of the creator himself. For the Sumerians this star was the “terrifying glory in the center of An.” For the Egyptians this was the radiance of the Eye goddess, shining "with splendours on the forehead of Ra." (See preliminary discussion of The "Glory" of Heaven).

Here are a couple of pictographs of the god An (Babylonian Anu), whose name is commonly translated as “heaven” and from whom the great personalities of Mesopotamian mythology and religion are claimed to have descended.
AnuWheels.jpg
The star of glory has a prominent place in the cuneiform system, both in the name of An and the name of Inanna, the goddess who was the star of glory. The central star served as the determinative in words both for Anu and Inanna, and in words for their special attributes.
An-Dingir.jpg
(Click on picture to see text)

Both the ancient Sumerians and Babylonians knew very well that this star was Venus. Here is the Star of the Babylonian Ishtar (Venus)
IshtarStar(3).jpg
Do not assume that the tight band around the innermost sphere is accidental. For a testable explanation of this band see discussion in The Crowns of Sages and Warrior Kings.

My purpose in this thread will be to demonstrate that the story of the “Great Star” was remembered around the world. And this includes the star’s pervasive role as the mother goddess, its relationship to the primeval Unity and to the warrior-hero, its role in creation, cosmic catastrophe, and restoration, the varying numbers of streamers, the different vantage points from which earthbound witnesses viewed these streamers, dramatic changes in the configuration of the streamers (from radial to chaotic), and emergence of more elaborate cosmic structure, including celestial cities and cosmic towers whose ultimate collapse would signal the passing of the age of the gods.

David Talbott

David Talbott
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Re: The Story of Venus

Unread post by David Talbott » Mon May 05, 2008 9:33 am

The Great Comet Venus

When Immanuel Velikovsky claimed that Venus was anciently a comet, astronomers dismissed him as a crank. And yet, those who’ve examined the historical question most thoroughly will tell you that Venus did appear in the sky as a comet and that the issue has already been decided in Velikovsky’s favor by incontrovertible evidence. Of course putting the definitive evidence in front of scientists will be one devil of a communications challenge. And that challenge is, in part, complicated by the fact that there is much more to the story than anyone had realized during the early years of the Velikovsky debate. While Velikovsky separated the Venus comet from his narratives on other planets, the reconstruction offered here will show that the story of Venus is interwoven with that of other archetypal figures of world mythology.

Let’s start with the simplest example of a unified explanation. Consult any comprehensive work on ancient symbolism, and you’ll find these archetypal meanings of the comet:

Death of kings
Fall of kingdoms
Great wars
Soul of a great king rising in the s
ky.

Numerous secondary comet associations could also be named--from famine to lightning, hail, and devastating winter. But for now, simply ask yourself how the superstitions named above arose within virtually all of the ancient cultures. Don’t believe in accidents. One of the effects of “explaining superstition through accident” is that investigation stops before anything meaningful has been discovered.

By working forward from an explicit starting point (our illustration of the Polar Configuration above) we will find a complete explanation of global comet superstition. This is possible because the planet Venus was the archetypal comet. It was the ancient source of comet stories, symbols, and fears. As I intend to show, the different ancient beliefs about comets simply recounted aspects of a single story. (Necessary qualifications will be discussed in due course.)

The picture above illustrates a stable phase in the evolution of the Polar Configuration. The discharging star of Venus is seen in the center of a much larger sphere, remembered as the universal sovereign and father of kings, presiding over the mythic Golden Age. This is the first chapter in the age of gods and wonders. The dominating sphere is identifiable as the planet Saturn. And as interpreted by observers on earth, the energetic streamers were nothing less than the life of the sovereign himself, his central eye, heart, and soul. When the sky darkened these streamers visually exploded into a spectacular, often terrifying display.

Death of the God-King

Stated in the simplest of terms, the story of the comet is the story of the visual removal of the discharging Venus from the founding king, whose story lay at the core of ancient mystery plays and tragedies. The god-king “died,” or his his heart-soul took flight, appearing in the heavens as the great comet. Of course, the chroniclers did not use our words for comet! In the different languages, whatever the pictographic signs, symbols or expressions used to describe a comet (long-flowing, disordered hair, flame, torch, or smoking star, bearded star, streaming feathers, or raging serpent or dragon)--all signified the form taken by the god’s heart-soul in its departure. And in the wake of these events, the heavens were thrown into turmoil and wars of the gods threatened to destroy the world.

Now go back and read the list of worldwide comet “superstitions.”

Great Comet and Mother Goddess

If I’ve summarized the general tradition accurately the worldwide comet superstitions are explained. But to see that the summary is indeed accurate, the first requirement is to visualize the relationship of the central star to the mother goddess in her diverse forms. The radiant eye, heart, and soul of the universal sovereign is the goddess, and you will find virtually nothing in the patterns of world mythology and symbolism that contradicts this. Therefore the universal sovereign’s “death” or catastrophic loss of power means the birth, departure, or flight of the goddess. Though the events are more complex than this summary might suggest, it is in her departure that the mother goddess acquires her world-famous “terrible aspect.” The “giver of life” to the universal sovereign rages across the heavens with wildly disordered hair. She becomes a torch throwing the celestial theater into chaos. She takes the form of a raging serpent or dragon or other monster.

This turn in the personality of the goddess can be traced back to its first and most vivid expressions in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, but no culture was free from its influence. The Sumerian Inanna (Akkadian Ishtar) became a raging dragon attacking the land. Under numerous names, the Egyptian mother goddess, called the Eye of Ra, was transformed into the Uraeus serpent, appearing in the sky as the “great flame,” or a lion trailing a smoking mane. From one land to another priests and poets remembered the “glory” (the heart-soul) of the primeval ruler taking flight, being transformed into a world-threatening monster of darkness and chaos. (See brief initial summary in The Glory of Heaven.

Before pausing here, I’ll leave with the reader a series of prehistoric rock carvings (California) that illustrate the difference between the radial discharge form of the great star, and its appearance in a phase of “chaos.”
ChaosStarCalif.jpg
Think Greek Gorgon, Medusa, Hydra; Hindu Kali, Durga. We'll take up the story from there.

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Re: The Story of Venus

Unread post by David Talbott » Sat May 10, 2008 10:40 am

Venus and the female chaos monster.

Up to this point we've barely touched the "doomsday" image of Venus, which adds the greatest texture to the ancient identity of the planet as the "terrible goddess" and as the Great Comet. This will require a look at what happens to Venus' discharge streamers and to the material stretching between Mars and Venus in the more unstable episodes. For starters, three prominent aspects must be noted, though more will have to be added to place events in context.

--The stream of material between Mars and Venus acquires a spiraling form.
--Venus' discharge streamers take on a chaotic, undulating, or serpentine appearance.
--The discharge streamers gather into an organized whorl.


Since the spiraling form is so closely tied to the organization of the "enclosure of the gods"--a massive subject--I will simply note here what I suggested in the discussion in Part 3 of the Crowns of Sages and Warrior Kings White Crown of Egypt. As Venus began to move off axis, the White Crown form gave way to a new form as the spiraling sidelock:
Sidelock.jpg
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Though I'm skipping over a lot here (a few bits of which you can pick up from the Part 3 of the Crown thread), a good indication of what happens to the White Crown form can be seen in this image from Sardinia:
SardiniaCrown.jpg
But again, check the Crown thread for views of minor displacement creating significant changes in appearance, due to line of sight. (Particular emphasis on the Mithra cap.)

The sidelock is associated with what might be called the "second birth" of the warrior-hero. In Egyptian symbolism this would be the birth of the warrior Horus, who wears the sidelock immediately. The sidelock is his own mother Isis or Hathor. It becomes the spiraling serpent or rope of creation. Events surrounding these episodes suggest instability and displacement.

Rather than pause here, however, I'd like to speed ahead to outline the relation between the primary phases of instability under discussion.

Always remember that observers on Earth saw the discharge streamers from different vantage points. From one vantage point--on axis with Mars and Venus--they were seen radially, with Mars appearing in front of Venus, visually surrounded by the discharge, interpreted as his "protection." This protection, in other words, was provided by the goddess herself. Example: these twin shields from Greece:
Shield_Greek.jpg
Also very relevant, these examples of shield designs from Rome
RomanShields.jpg
Note that that I've included one instance (of many) linking the radial form to a whorl form. Why either the radial or the whorl form would have anything to do with "shielding" a warrior is of course unknown to conventional schools. The answer comes from the character of the goddess as the terrifying "glory"--a blast of luminous material streaming away from sphere of Venus. (See brief discussion of context in The Glory of Heaven)

[Pausing for a bit today, before taking up the Medusa in relation to the phase of chaotic streamers and the "whirling heart."]

David Talbott

David Talbott
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Re: The Story of Venus

Unread post by David Talbott » Sat May 10, 2008 1:13 pm

Got a little time here for a bit more.

Since some readers may be stopping by without having read other introductory threads, here's a context to keep in mind. In a quasi-stable phase, the discharging Venus was seen on axis as a blossoming flower, often with 8 "petals":
8-spokes.jpg
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Planets with Venus 8-club flower-s.jpg
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Here are just a few of the many ancient variations on the theme:
RosettesPetrie.jpg
We should ask, therefore, whether the warrior-hero was remembered not just as the axle of the wheel, and not just as the warrior-king crowned with the radiance or glory of the star-goddess, but as the flower-born god as well. In combination, the images below provide a clue:
MesopRosette.jpg
The first three are from the Near East, while the fourth is from Crete. For a mythical interpretation of the central red sphere or disk, note the Egyptian image below, showing the warrior emerging from the plant of life:
Hero_inFlower.jpg
To understand the symbolism, one of the first requirements is to see that the 8-petaled rosette of Venus and the familiar 8-rayed star of Venus are inextricably identified with each other (a subject I'll be taking up in a thread on "the plant of life"). As I've noted previously, this star of Venus can serve as a fulcrum on which to build an outline of connected symbols of the Polar Configuration:
Planets with Venus 8-ray star-s.jpg
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At other discrete junctures more numerous streamers were present:
Planets with multi-club(28)-small.jpg
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Here is a good example from Italy...
RosetteItaly.jpg
And below is small selection of additional ancient images reflecting this more complex "plant of life" form...
StarFlowersPetrie.jpg
I've included the example from Korakou, lower right, to emphasize two principles: 1) displacement from the axial position (minor in this instance, but obviously a deliberate acknowledgment by the artist), and 2) the termination of the streamers in symbolic "buds," a consideration we'll get to shortly, with significant implications.

With these examples before us, I draw your attention to two images suggestive of events that took over the evolution of the configuration in episodes of instability.
Displacement(1).jpg
Our own 3-D rendering of a modest whirling effect exhibited by the configuration at certain junctures:
multi-club twirl - no saturn-small.jpg
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As I've already noted, the streamers moved up the shared planetary axis toward the gas giant Saturn. So with more severe displacement of the Earth, Mars, and Venus from axial alignment with Saturn, the streamers were seen off axis, in what I've called the "scallop shell" formation:
VenusScallop.jpg
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A Greek illustration of the scallop shell of Aphrodite (Venus)"
Scallop.jpg
Now I must look ahead to a few punchlines. In the Greek image of the Medusa below, how might the things we've just stated illuminate the enigmatic association of the scallop shell and the tangled hair of the chaos monster?
MedusaScallop.jpg
As always, not a single nuance of this enigmatic association will be explained by standard approaches to human history. But if the giver of life and the angry goddess were nothing more than contrasting phases in the history of the comet Venus, is not this juxtaposition of Venus' scallop shell and the snaky hair of Medusa to be expected? In our model, all that separates the flutes of the "scallop" from "snaky hair" is the level of instability.

Now consider this "absurd" image of the Medusa:
Triskeleon-Medusa.jpg
Remember what I said earlier today, when I listed "three prominent aspects" or unstable phases in the story of the great comet? I said that, "The discharge streamers gather into an organized whorl." So what will appear laughable in the image of disheveled hair gathering into the legs of the triskeleon is "anything but," when considered from our new vantage point.

Well, this is at least a start. Be back as soon as time permits.

David Talbott

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