Solstice and equinox Sun

The first thing that attracts our attention are the cardinal directions that are noted in the tessellated border of the board. According to the Scottish Rite freemasons, the mosaic on the border represents the planets of our Solar System.

There’s no doubt that the blazing star at the centre of the ‘Tracing Board’ is our Sun. The point within the circle depicted on the table at the foot of the ladder is the ancient representation of the Sun as well as the Egyptian hieroglyph for Ra, the Egyptian Sun god.

The Blazing Star corresponds with the equinox Sun that rises in the East and sets in the West. The top of the board is the East and the bottom is the West. The equinox Sun lies on the line connecting the cardinal directions East and West.

The Scottish Rite freemasons gave us the clue that ‘The grand parallel lines that bound the Sun between the North and the South’ are in fact the tropic of Cancer (North) and tropic of Capricorn (South). The tropics determine the extremes of Sun’s path at the summer and winter solstices.

The grand paralell lines

Given these clues, there is therefore little doubt that the Suns on the left and right represent the solstice Suns!

The Sun on the left is the summer solstice Sun that rises in the North East and sets in the North West during the summer solstice. This Sun appears in the North East region of the ‘Tracing Board’.

The Sun on the right is the winter solstice Sun that rises in the South East and sets in the South West during the winter solstice. This Sun appears in the South East region of the ‘Tracing Board’.

The central Sun the blazing star has yet another very important significance; it represents the Sun on the Galactic Equator as we will demonstrate later.

The three Suns depicted in the ‘Tracing Board’ from right to left seem to suggest the movement of the Sun through the Galactic Equator at the equinox. This is the basic concept of the precession of the equinoxes.

The name ‘Tracing Board’ therefore may suggest the tracing of the Sun along the precession cycle since it presents the idea of the conjunction of the Sun with the Galactic Equator on solstices and equinoxes.

The latter is the concept of Galactic Alignment or Great Celestial Conjunctions as we have called them in our paper ‘Crucifying the Earth on the Galactic Cross’ (Smelyakov, Wicherink 2006). There are four of these conjunctions of the Sun with the Galactic Equator in a Platonic Year (one full precession cycle) that make up the four World Ages of the ancients.

The ecliptic crosses the Milky Way at two places; one place is near the Dark Rift in between the constellations Scorpio and Sagittarius while the other is in between Taurus and Gemini near the Pleiades.

In our present time the Sun aligns with the Dark Rift near the Galactic Centre at the winter solstice. Also during the summer solstice the Sun aligns with the crossing of the ecliptic and the Milky Way in between Taurus and Gemini. The sun now resides near the Pleiades and the Galactic Anti-Centre.

If we take a careful look at the ‘Tracing Board’ we notice that the Sun on the left is depicted in a black dark region. This dark region represents the Dark Rift of the Milky Way. If we look at the Sun on the right we notice that there are seven stars depicted near the Sun. The seven stars denote the stars of the Pleiades

There is one thing however that doesn’t quit seem to fit. The summer solstice Sun ( Sun on the left) is near in the Dark Rift, while the winter solstice Sun is near the Pleiades.

This is the reverse situation of the current Galactic Alignment that is occurring during era 2012!

Although the ‘Tracing Board’ conveys the idea of Galactic Alignment it is actually referring to the Galactic Alignment that occurred half a precession cycle ago (around 13.000 years ago). This is the time that many researchers have associated with the time of Egyptian Zep Tepi (first time), the Deluge and the destruction of Atlantis.

Bible and Astrology

In order to further understand the secrets of the ‘Tracing Board’ we must understand that the Bible contains texts that are an allegory of the esoteric astrological meaning that it conceals. We can only fully decode the ‘Tracing Board’ if we accept the possibility that the biblical references given by the Scottish Rite freemasons are in fact astronomical hints. It is beyond the scope of this article to prove the assertion that the Bible encodes astrological information.

We refer the reader to Jordan Maxwel and Michael Tsarion who have done a lot of research into the field of astrotheology.

Also this this website gives information on the astrological –biblical links that we will be using in this article.

So let’s look at all of the clues the freemason’s left on their website and in the ‘Tracing Board’ and review them in their astrological context.

Jacob’s Ladder

Jacob’s ladder appears in the ‘Tracing Board’ and is reaching into the Heavens. Jacob was the grandson of Abraham and Sarah, the son of Isaac and Rebecca. Jacob's 12 sons were the ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel. The 12 tribes of Israel is a reference to the twelve houses of the Zodiac, just like the 12 apostles of Jesus are. That’s why Leonardo Da Vinci portrayed the apostles in 4 groups of three in his painting of the Last Supper separating the zodiac into four seasons.

Leonardo Da Vinci, Last Supper with four groups of apostles

Notice by the way that there is no chalice on the table!

Jacob dreamt of the Milky Way as a ladder with angels ascending and descending it. The ascending angles of course are the up and down moving stars in the sky.

Milky Way erect during summer

During summertime the Milky Way stands erect on the horizon and forms a ‘Stairway to Heaven’ or Jacob’s ladder. The idea of representing the Milky Way as a stairway or ladder leading to Heaven was a very common theme in ancient times. This idea was expressed as a rope, a tree (World Tree) or a ladder leading into the skies. The Maya called the Milky Way the Wakah Chan during summer sunrise ‘the raised up sky’ and it was represented as the World Tree.

On the website the Scottish Rite freemasons speak about the ‘The Volume of the Sacred Law’ appearing on the table with the circle and dot (Sun) supporting Jacob’s ladder. The Volume of the Sacred Law is a reference to the religious book, the Holy Bible containing the Masonic square and compasses.

This statement I believe states that the Sun (circle and dot) is supporting the Milky Way (Jacob’s ladder) and that this knowledge is contained in ‘The Volume of the Sacred Law’, the Bible which rests between the Sun (circle and dot) and the Milky Way (Jacob’s ladder). In other words they are speaking of the importance of the Sun on the Milky Way (Galactic Alignment), information that is contained in the bible...

Moses

The Scottish Rite freemasons write ‘there is a point within a circle round which a Mason cannot err; this circle is bounded between North and South by two grand parallel lines, the one representing Moses, the other King Solomon’. As we have explained above this is a reference to the solstice sun.  So according to the freemasons, Moses must be equalled to the solstice sun!

This reveals yet another clue.

In the book Exodus a “pillar of cloud” is mentioned that guided Moses out of the desert during the daytime and a “pillar of fire” that accompanied him by night.

21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night;
22 the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
(Ex. 13:21-22)

This pillar of cloud and pillar of fire is nothing less than the Milky Way:

Pillar of fire representation of the Milky Way at night

Notice that the three pillars in the ‘Tracing Board’’ are surrounded by clouds! The horizontal architraves disappear into the clouds. Notice that there are three pillars and three clouds, but they are not normal clouds since they are all vertical clouds, pillars of clouds which is very unusual! The fact that the three pillars are also veiled by the three vertical clouds stresses the fact that the pillars and the clouds are linked. These are significant clues that the pillars represent the daytime ‘pillar of cloud’ representation of the Milky Way.

The astronomical significance of Moses (representing the Sun) is revealed while he ascends mount Sinai on his way to receive the Ten Commandments from God. The cloud in the following Bible texts refers to the Milky Way. Now follow this:

The cloud is coming.

9 And the LORD said to Moses. “Lo, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you for ever.”
(Ex. 19:9)

The cloud is on the mountain (at the junction) waiting for Moses the sun to arrive.

16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
(Ex. 19:16)

Moses the sun is ascending.

15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
(Ex. 24:15)

When Moses enters the tent (covering or covenant), the sun is crossing the Milky Way.

9 When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the door of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses.
(Ex. 33:9)

Notice that the pillar of cloud stands at the door of the tent an indication of the erected Milky Way as it appears in the summer night sky.

One might argue that the association of the pillar of cloud with the Milky Way are wild speculations, but me must remember there is another clue given by the Scottish Rite freemasons mentioning the fact that Moses his tent or Tabernacle was erected due East and West according to a pattern shown by the Lord on Mount Sinai. This pattern corresponds with the ground plan of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem! We are surely dealing with an astronomical event here, since all temples in ancient times where aligned to the rising and setting equinox Sun due East and West.

Another interesting fact is that Moses was on the Mount and in the clouds for 40 days and 40 nights.

And Moses entering into the midst of the cloud, went up into the mountain: And he was there forty days and forty nights.
Exo 24:18

And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
Exo 34:28-29

Professor Sergey Smelyakov has calculated that the era of the Great Celestial Conjunction lasts exactly 39 years! This is the time that the Sun resides on the Milky Way during a Great Celestial Conjunction at solstices or equinoxes.
 
So the biblical account for the duration (whereas years are represented as days) of the Galactic Alignment era comes very close to the calculations made by professor Sergey Smelyakov. John Major Jenkins mentions era-2012 (1980-2016) as a period of 36 years. This period was calculated by the astronomer Jean Meeus, however Smelyakov has proven that his calculations are more accurate than the calculations made by Jean Meeus.

Finally in Revelation, the book that deals with the End of Time prophecies, we find another reference to the crossing of the Sun with the ‘pillars of fire’. The rainbow in the text symbolizes the ecliptic (arc of the sun).

1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.
(Rev. 10:1)