Did our ancestors know about the precession of the Equinoxes (i.e. every 100 years the zodiac moves back 1.4 degrees) and the cycle of the year?
The following examples illustrate how the knowledge of ‘the great cycle’ was stored around the ancient world.
Although there is no written testimony of a recognition of precession before the Greeks, it is clear from Greek testimony (such as from Aristotle), that Egyptian and Babylonian sciences were shrouded in mystery and only available to the ‘initiated’. However, this lack of written evidence by no means precludes such knowledge from being understood, as the numbers that represent the precessionary cycle (see above), can be found in the dimensions of ‘sacred’ structures and mythologies from around the ancient world as the following examples illustrate: –
Turkey – First recorded division of the sky into 12 equal parts. Metsamor was identified by Livvio Stecchini as an ancient oracle centre. It lies at the foot of Mount Ararat, and archaeology has shown that the area was home to a sophisticated culture that was present in Anatolia from c. 6,000 BC.
Sumeria – Gudea, a ruler of ‘Lagash’, of Sumeria, recorded that he was given instructions in a vision. “A wise man that shone like the heaven,“ by whose side stood “a divine bird,” “commanded me to build this temple”. Gudea employed a male ‘diviner, maker of decisions’, and a female ‘searcher of secrets’ to locate the site. He then recruited 216,000 people for the job.
Babylon – The Babylonian historian Berossus (third century BC) ascribed a total reign of 432,000 years (120 shar’s of 3,600 yrs each), to the mythical Kings who ruled the land of Sumer before the flood. He also ascribed a period of 2,160,000 years to the period ‘between creation and universal catastrophe’.
The King-List known as W-B/144, records the following:-
‘when kingship was lowered from heaven, kingship was first in Eridu’
The following lengths of time were given for each ruler:-
Alulim – 28,000 yrs
Alalgar – 36,000 yrs
Enmenluanna – 43,200 yrs
Enmengalanna – 28,800 yrs
Dumuzi – 36,000 yrs
Ensipazianna – 21,600 yrs
Uburtutu – 18,000 yrs
The Sumerian text W-B/62, adds Larsa and its two divine rulers to the King-List, also multiples of 3,600.
We can be fairly sure that the Sumerians were aware of the cycle, as we can see from the table above that it offers a natural division of both time and space into 360°, from units of 6 and 10. The Sumerians are the earliest culture to measure both time and space in units of 6 and 10. A system called the Hexi-decimal system.
Remarkably, time and space are still measured today by the same units of measurement. For example, we can see the year divided by 12 months, with each day being divided by 24 hours, each one divisible by 60 minutes, and each minute by a further 60 seconds. Similarly, the earth is divided by 360 degrees, each degree being divisible by 60 ‘minutes and each minute by a further 60 ‘seconds’ of an arc.
Since the Druids were noted Astrologers, it is reasonable to assume that they too were aware of the cycle and the precession of the Equinoxes. The tropical Astrology used today is based on the position of the Vernal Equinox (March 21) at 0 degrees Aries from research from 2000 years ago.
However, as we can see from the ancients Astrology our zodiac needs updating in line with the Sun’s precession through the Zodiac, since they kept diligent records and were aware of it. We are indeed in the age of Pisces and many of us have the Sun sign that precedes that which we have been led to believe is our true sign.
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