APOCALYPSE GATE

"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery
of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The
seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven
churches."1

The three stars of Orion's Belt can arguably be considered the most recognizable asterism in the
night sky. It would not have gone unnoticed to ancient civilizations that a line drawn through
the three stars would connect with the brightest 'fixed' star in the night sky.

This line that connects the three stars of Orion's Belt with Sirius is the basis for the
extraordinary geometry of the ancient priests but which appears to be only partially understood
today. Taking this line as the foundation it is extended upwards from Orion's Belt towards the
Hyades cluster and the specific star, Tabit, that marks the base of the V shaped asterism that
forms the horns of the Taurus bull. Thus there is a straight line from Sirius (the sky's brightest
star excluding Venus) through the three stars of Orion's Belt (the sky's most prominent or
recognizable asterism) and terminating at the prominent Hyades cluster and the point where
the horns of the bull emerge.

Drawing a line at a right angle to this line and intersecting Orion's Belt will link the two brightest
stars of the Orion constellation. This line from Betelgeuse to Rigel intersects Orion's Belt at a
right angle and forms a perfect cross in the night sky. The heliacal rising of Sirius heralded the
annual inundation of the Nile and the consequent fertilization of the fields. Sirius, the brightest
star in the firmament (excluding the planets) was a foundational element of Egyptian religion
representing fertility and renewal. The star forms the base of the cross.
Aldebaran, traditionally considered the eye of the bull, is visually located within the Hyades
cluster despite not being considered part of this cluster in contemporary astronomy. To ancient
eyes it would however have seemed to be the brightest star of the Hyades cluster. Relatively
close to this cluster is the Pleiades cluster and consequently there are two clusters at the apex
of the cosmic cross. If a containing circular line were drawn around these two clusters to create
a loop that terminated at the Orion's Belt stars then there would appear almost magically the
ancient Egyptian ankh cross.

In this context the creation of a geometrically perfect ankh cross out of these prominent stars
and star clusters is not only an aesthetic exercise. If this location among the stars is the origin of
the ankh cross then the symbolic meaning of the cross points towards what is now termed the
Golden Gate of the Ecliptic. The loop of the ankh cross exactly contains the area of the sky
through which the ecliptic line is drawn passing between the Hyades cluster and the Pleiades
cluster. The loop symbolizes this gateway or portal of the heavens that can be linked to human
resurrection.

The Tal-Qadi Sky Tablet is a 4,500 year old stone tablet that is incised with five divisions of the
star-studded heavens. The central division of the tablet has a semi-circular symbol. Divisions on
either side contain what are interpreted as symbolic representations of the Hyades cluster on
one side and the Pleiades cluster on the other. Therefore there is a semi-circular symbol
between these two star clusters. This semi-circular symbol is a precise symbolic match for the
apex of the ankh loop indicating that both are symbolic representations of the Golden Gate.
They appear to confirm that the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic has been understood for millennia.

The two star clusters of the Pleiades and the Hyades form the boundary markers that can be
seen as the gateposts of the heavenly portal. These cosmic boundary markers reflect the
ancient practise of placing piles of stones to mark crossroads or sacred locations. Through this
space pass the planets which as moving stars contrast with the relatively static backdrop of the
heavens.

Ancient writers recognized the relationship of Sirius to the Orion Constellation and these to the
star clusters of the Hyades and the Pleiades. Their relationship to the seasons and agricultural
production is expressed by Hesiod. "Strong Orion" is invoked as a virile metaphor that indicates
the connection between Orion and the path of the sun along the ecliptic as its seasonal strength
wanes.

"But when Orion and Sirius are come into midheaven, and rosy-fingered Dawn sees Arcturus,
then cut off all the grape-clusters, Perses, and bring them home. Show them to the sun ten days
and ten nights: then cover them over for fire, and on the sixth day draw off into vessels the gifts
of joyful Dionysus. But when the Pleiades and Hyades and strong Orion begin to set, then
remember to plough in season: and so the completed year will fitly pass beneath the earth. But
if desire for uncomfortable sea-faring seize you when the Pleiades plunge into the misty sea to
escape Orion's rude strength, then truly gales of all kinds rage." 2

The archaic understanding of the importance of these star systems to the measurement of the
Sun's power or virility became more sophisticated under the expansion of the Roman Empire.
Vitruvius states that the process of charting "the opposite course of the Sun through the signs"
provided evidence to construct "the diagrams of analemmata." Therefore graduated scales
resembling figure-of-eight curves (analemmata) were drawn that indicated the daily declension
of the sun.

"I have described the true circuit of the heavens about the earth, the arrangement of the twelve
signs, also that of the northern and southern constellations, because therefrom, from the
opposite course of the Sun through the signs, and from the shadows of the gnomons at the
equinoxes, are formed the diagrams of analemmata."3
By the time of Vitruvius star-based mystery religions were spreading from their origins in the
east across the Roman Empire. As traditional Roman religions declined they were increasingly
replaced by these new mystery religions that promised human resurrection based on the
resurrection of the stars that travelled through the cosmic gateway.

The new religions took inspiration from the ancient knowledge contained in symbols such as the
ankh cross and applied this archaic knowledge to religions that centred on human resurrection.
The path of the moving stars (planets) along the ecliptic arc and through the Golden Gate
provided a template for theories of human resurrection.

Vitruvius attributes some of these new theories to the Chaldeans who had reconfigured the
ancient Babylonian division of the heavens, also seen in the star tablet, to become charts that
could be used to plot human immortality. "The rest which relates to astrology, and the effect
produced upon human life by the twelve signs, the five planets, the Sun and the Moon, must be
left to the discussions of the Chaldeans, whose profession it is to cast narratives, and by means
of the configuration of the stars to explain the past and the future. The talent, the ingenuity,
and reputation of those who come from the country of the Chaldeans, is manifest from the
discoveries they have left us in writing."4

These new religious cults were seen to pose such a threat to the traditional religions of Rome
that laws were passed by the Roman senate that proscribed the practise of astrology. The
capacity of astrologers to predict the downfall of the Roman imperial family prefigured the
apocalyptic visions of the biblical Revelation. According to Tacitus "Furius Scribonianus was
driven into exile, on a charge of inquiring into the end of the sovereign by the agency of
astrologers… The expulsion of the astrologers from Italy was ordered by a drastic and impotent
decree of the Senate."5

The underground religion of Mithraism had initially arisen in Persia, or earlier in India, but was
now reconstituted as a star-based mystery religion. The subterranean temples of this religion,
the Mithraea, exhibited a tauroctony that was an image of the god slaughtering a sacred bull.
This was the centrepiece of the religion and the bull was the focus of the human path to
resurrection. Aldebaran and the Hyades cluster form part of the constellation of Taurus and
specifically form part of the V shaped asterism of the bull's horns.

Another major competing mystery religion was named after the Apis bull, possibly incorporating
Sirius to create the name of the god - Serapis. "As you descend from here to the lower part of
the city (Athens), is a sanctuary of Serapis, whose worship the Athenians introduced from
Ptolemy. Of the Egyptian sanctuaries of Serapis the most famous is Alexandria, the oldest at
Memphis. Into this neither stranger nor priest may enter, until they bury Apis." 6

This religion spread from Alexandria across the Roman Empire and specifically into the region of
the seven churches that are addressed in the preamble to the biblical Revelation. Hence the
extensive references to beasts in the visions contained in Revelation. Therefore two of the
major competing religions to Christianity centred around the worship of bulls. This worship was
focused on the heavenly bull that is formed in the stars.

The ecliptic line runs between the bull's horns and can be seen to represent an encircling halo
around the line that is drawn from Sirius through Orion's Belt to the Hyades. This line is
described by Homer as Orion's "refulgent beam" and forms the "axle of the sky" around which
the other constellations and planets revolve. This is the axle of the heavens around which the
universe revolves.

"The Pleiads, Hyads, with northern team;

In 2500 BC the vernal equinox marked the position of the Sun in the centre of the Golden Gate
of the Ecliptic in the constellation of Taurus. Thus there was an interlinked association between
the sacred bull and the spring equinox with the concepts of virility and fertility being identified
with both. The bull and the strengthening sun represented the renewed fertilization of the earth
after winter receded. Human resurrection could also be implied from this vigorous process of
renewal after a season of decay and death.

The ultimate form of cosmic death and resurrection was encapsulated in the phenomenon of
the totality of solar and lunar eclipses. Plutarch directly links the myths surrounding the Apis
bull or calf with the phenomenon of eclipses. This introduces a new and unexplored dimension
to the meanings that have been attached to the worship of the Apis. Solar eclipses seem to be
almost entirely absent from Egyptology and yet Plutarch links them to the vitally important
deity of the Apis.

"The Apis, they say, is the animate image of Osiris, and he comes into being when a fructifying
light thrusts forth from the Moon and falls upon a cow in her breeding season… There are some
who would make the legend an allegorical reference to matters touching eclipses; for the Moon
suffers eclipses only when she is full, with the Sun directly opposite to her, and she falls into the
shadow of the Earth, as they say Osiris fell into his coffin. Then again, the Moon herself obscures
the Sun and causes solar eclipses…"8

According to Plutarch the Apis was the embodiment of the spirit of Osiris and was born as a calf
from a cow that had been inseminated by a beam of light that had come from the Moon. "The
Apis, they say, is the animate image of Osiris, and he comes into being when a fructifying light
thrusts forth from the Moon and falls upon a cow in her breeding season."

Plutarch's description of the birth of the Apis corresponds with that of Herodotus. "The Apis Bull
is the calf of a cow which is never able to have another. The Egyptians believe that a beam of
light strikes the cow from heaven, and thus causes her to conceive the Apis. It has distinctive
marks. It is black, with a white diamond on its forehead, the image of an eagle on its back, two
white hairs on its tail and a scarab beetle mark under its tongue." 9

In Egyptian myth the scarab-headed deity named Khepri rolled the Sun across the arc of the sky
drawing inspiration from a beetle rolling a ball of dung. The dark orb that is rolled across the
face of the Moon or the Sun during an eclipse is visually evocative of the action of the scarab
beetle.
The consistent reference to the cow being struck with a beam of light from heaven is a
metaphorical device to implant the idea that it was inseminated by the gods. Plutarch goes
further than this to imply that the legends surrounding the birth of the Apis are related to
eclipses of both the Moon and the Sun. "There are some who would make the legend an
allegorical reference to matters touching eclipses…"

From continuous observation of the passage of the five known planets, the Moon and the Sun
along the ecliptic line ancient civilizations would have been able to decipher the nineteen year
cycle that determines the Metonic cycle. The related knowledge of the Saros cycle enabled
them to predict eclipses, especially of the Moon. Later civilizations defined this area of the sky
as containing the Taurus constellation but it is likely that the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic
between the Hyades and Pleiades clusters was associated with the sacred bull in archaic
prehistory.

Thus the formulae that determined eclipses was associated with the sacred bull and explains
the statement of Plutarch that "there are some who would make the legend (of the Apis bull) an
allegorical reference to matters touching eclipses."

Because of their proximity to the earth, planets such as Venus and Mercury can appear to pass
just outside the space between the Pleiades and Hyades clusters and so pass just outside the
Golden Gate of the Ecliptic. Even in this event the errant planet still appears to pass through the
space defined by the horns of the bull in the Taurus constellation. In this circumstance the
ancient observer could see that it is the horns of the bull that define the space of the Golden
Gate of the Ecliptic.
It was also clear to the ancient Egyptians that the moving stars of the planets, the Moon and the
Sun will always pass through the more broadly defined space of the ankh loop if this symbol is
drawn among the stars as previously indicated. The ankh cross allows all possible permutations
of these moving celestial bodies to pass through its loop. It can therefore be surmised that the
ankh cross loop represents the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic.

If however the ankh loop is erased then the resulting configuration of stars would exactly
resemble the tau cross. This is a T shaped cross that is drawn from Sirius through the three stars
of Orion's Belt. This line then terminates without being extended to Tabit in the Hyades cluster
for a traditional cross or drawn round the clusters for an ankh cross. The top of the tau cross is
then formed by the line drawn from Rigel to Betelgeuze through Mintaka forming a right angle
to the Orion's Belt stars.

Many historians believe that the tau cross was the real shape of Christ's cross of crucifixion
rather than the traditional cross that is usually depicted. The tau cross also represented Mithras
and in this case was clearly a symbol that was associated with the bull. The constellation of
Taurus and the tau cross share the same etymology being derived from the Latin (taurus - bull).

The tau cross that is drawn among the stars is formed from six stars. Sirius and the three stars of
Orion's Belt are on one line that is intersected at the top of Orion's Belt by a second line
connecting Rigel and Betelgeuse. It is formed of six very bright stars in relatively close proximity
and incorporates a perfect right angle and T shape. Like the traditional cross that includes Tabit
in the Hyades and the ankh cross that loops around the Pleiades and Hyades clusters, these
perfectly formed right angular crosses in the night sky would not have passed unnoticed by
ancient religions.

The crosses also have the practical astronomical purpose of pointing directly towards or
defining the area of the sky that contains the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic. From observation of
the ecliptic line at this location and the passage of the moving stars of the planets, the moon
and the sun along the ecliptic and through the gate the Metonic and Saros cycles can be
calculated.
At the time when these ancient civilizations were flourishing the sun was in the Golden Gate
and thus passing through the space defined by the bull's horns during the spring equinox. There
is a dual association between the calculation of the nineteen year cycle that governs eclipses
and an additional association between the virility of the sacred bull and the invocation of
fertility at the vernal equinox.

All of these elements were syncretized with the emergent religion of Christianity as it achieved
official status. The first widespread use of the cross as a symbol of Christianity appears to have
occurred in Egypt among the Coptic Christians who adapted the ancient ankh cross and tau
cross to the new religion.

"The male organs of generation are sometimes found represented by signs of the same sort,
which might properly be called the symbols of symbols. One of the most remarkable of these is
a cross, in the form of the letter T, which thus served as the emblem of creation and generation,
before the church adopted it as the sign of salvation; a lucky coincidence of ideas, which,
without doubt, facilitated the reception of it among the faithful. To the representative of the
male organs was sometimes added a human head, which gives it the exact appearance of a
crucifix."10

The three crosses of the crucifixion, Christ flanked by two thieves, are symbols of the Trinity.
Each tau cross that is formed in the stars consists of six stars - Sirius, the three stars of Orion's
Belt (Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka), Rigel and Betelgeuse. The three crosses of the crucifixion would
then be formed by three sets of six stars as potentially alluded to in Revelation.

"He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and
cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and
great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so
that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the
number of his name.
This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is
man’s number. His number is 666."11

"More than a thousand at the gates I saw

1. Revelation 1:19-20
2. Hesiod - Works and Days 609-621
3. Vitruvius - De Architectura
4. Ibid.
5. Tacitus - Annals 12.52
6. Pausanias - Description of Greece 1.18.4
7. Homer - Iliad 18
8. Plutarch - Isis and Osiris 44
9. Herodotus - Histories 3.28
10. Richard Payne Knight - A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus
11. Revelation 13:15-18
12. Dante - Inferno - Canto 8