Sacred Geometry and Spiritual Symbolism. Donald B. Carroll
whose abode was Rostau, Giza itself.21 These aspects will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 11.
In addition Mr. Collins states: “Strangely as Cygnus sets, its four main stars, called the triangles by astronomers, have the distinct appearance of a perfect four-sided pyramid, a casual observation which is unlikely to have been missed by Old Kingdom (Re: Egypt) astronomer priests.”22 It should be noted that he puts these Cygnus alignments during the age of the pyramid builders (approx. 2600 BCE). Even with these date differences, Cygnus and its stars seem to play a significant role with their symbolism as both a cross and triangles through the ages.
Personal observation suggests that these four main star triangles and the four-sided pyramid fit also into a diamond-shape or base-to-base triangles. The Cygnus constellation is also known as the Northern Cross or the Cross of Calvary, representative of the site of the crucifixion of Christ—a cross atop a mound. Terrestrially the Great Pyramid can also be seen as a cross point at the heart of the land masses of the earth. It lies at the center of a land mass where the east/west parallel crosses the most land and the north/south meridian crosses the most land intersect. Later chapters will discuss the Great Pyramid and its initiations in greater detail.
These star alignments also give a very interesting perspective when viewed from the Cayce reading 5748-6 text:
(Q) What was the date of the actual beginning and ending of the construction of the Great Pyramid?
(A) Was one hundred years in construction. Begun and completed in the period of Araaraart's time, with Hermes and Ra.
(Q) What was the date BC of that period?
(A) 10,490 to 10,390 before the Prince entered into Egypt.
There has been much discussion and controversy over the date of construction of the Great Pyramid. Mainstream Egyptologists place its construction at approximately 2500 BCE, but there are several researchers who suggest it is much older and date the pyramid closer to 10,000 BCE. The Edgar Cayce readings were very specific about the dates, placing the building of the Great Pyramid from 10,490 to 10,390 BCE.
Some of the methodologies employed in establishing its date of construction use the astronomical positions of the stars for the time periods championed by each school of researcher. These experts debate the alignment of stars and constellations to such points as the north entrance of the Great Pyramid and the north and south “airshafts” from the King's and Queen's Chambers. Because of precession—the movement of the earth's axis—there is a shift in the position of the stars. Because the precessional cycle is approximately 26,000 years, we can calculate historical dates based on star alignments. For example, our current polestar (North Star) is Polaris. But this star changes as we move backward or forward in time. In 3000 BCE our polestar was the star Thuban, located in the constellation of Draco while in 12,000 BCE it was Vega of the constellation of Lyra.
During the construction dates of the Great Pyramid gleaned from the Cayce readings (10,490-10,390 BCE), there was no specific polestar. There was instead a trinity of stars spinning around the celestial North Pole. During this ancient time, this star trinity was circumpolar, meaning that as viewed from this north latitude they never set below the horizon.23 The Egyptians called them the “Imperishables.” This trinity of stars, through thousands of years, has shifted in our view of the sky and now dips below the horizon during the year. Today the trinity, known as the Summer Triangle, consists of three stars—Deneb, Vega, and Altair—each connected to a separate constellation known as Cygnus, Lyra, and Aquila, respectively. (See color Fig. 4.)
Through different ages and cultures, each of these three constellations has represented birds. It is easy to imagine the ancients looking into the sky above the Great Pyramid in 10,400 BCE and seeing a slowly turning triangle with three birds circling the center, one for each point of the triangle, centering this starry triangle in a celestial circle. (See color Fig. 5.)
The symbolic image of the bird above the Great Pyramid in this stellar triangle of the North is repeated in the Egyptian Benben stone, the pyramidal stone atop an obelisk or the apex of a pyramid. This important stone represented the Benu bird, believed to be the original phoenix, later adopted by the Greeks, depicting rebirth and resurrection.
The Cayce readings also state that the Great Pyramid was oriented in association to the locations of various stars: “Then began the laying out of the pyramid and the building of same…to be the place of initiation…It was formed according…to the position of the various stars…“(294-151)
Fig. 3.4—A Benben Stone
For the date that the Cayce readings set for the building of the Great Pyramid, what better example of “as above, so below” could be provided in the stars than this stellar triangle that also represents three celestial birds circling above. These would not only represent the pyramid itself, but the Benu bird of rebirth and resurrection. Such representation would fit aptly for the initiation purposes of the Great Pyramid from the Cayce readings.
(Q) Please describe Jesus’ initiations in Egypt, telling if the Gospel reference to “three days and nights in the grave or tomb,” possibly in the shape of a cross, indicate a special initiation.
(A) This is a portion of the initiation—it is a part of the passage through that to which each soul is to attain in its development, as has the world through each period of their incarnation in the earth. As is supposed, the record of the earth through the passage through the tomb, or the pyramid, is that through which each entity, each soul, as an initiate must pass for the attaining to the releasing of same—as indicated by the empty tomb, which has never been filled…2067-7
As stated in this reading an initiation is “part of the passage through that to which each soul is to attain in its development…” The word initiation, at its roots, means a going in, a beginning, participation. Often it is used in relation to rite of passage ceremonies or involvement with secret rites. In the context of this work initiation can be considered the movement on the path towards a higher consciousness, a unification of the spiritual with the physical. This would be considered the journey of the awakening of the Oneness that is shared in all. This would be the bringing of Heaven and Earth together, in an evolvement in mind, body, and spirit in mutual participation with God. The ultimate realization that the microcosm and microcosm not only reflect it in each other, but that they are one with each other.
Again the number 3 is noted in this rebirth-and-resurrection initiation matching the trinity of stars above, the symbolism of the three-bird constellations, and the Egyptian Benu bird. Interesting to note is even at 10,500 BCE this triangular trinity of stars still incorporates much of the aspects of Mr. Collins’ Cygnus observations. This theorized date of construction receives more validating evidence in that at 10,500 BCE the Sphinx, which faces due east, would have been greeting the constellation Leo rising directly east in the night sky. Dr. Schoch notes that Bauval's research (see The Orion Mystery) on the alignment of the three stars in Orion's/Osiris’ belt in 10,400 BCE shows: “that the pattern of Orion's belt seen on the west of the Milky Way matches, with uncanny precision, the patterns and alignments of the three Giza pyramids!”24 So as Egyptologists and researchers look to the stars above to help validate their theories of the construction date and purpose of the Great Pyramid below, we are provided with insight to the Pyramid's true purpose and are given another validation from the Cayce readings.
When looking and mapping the celestial sphere of the heavens, the earth's round surface is projected on it. Declination is considered the equivalent of measuring degrees of latitude on the earth's surface. In a very curious “coincidental” event of measuring the difference of degrees of said latitude between these three polar stars, the results are 11, 22, and 33. In numerology these are considered “master numbers”: 11 = symbolizing psychic illumination, 22 = the master builder, illumination with grounding, and 33 = Christ Consciousness or Master