In this article we will continue our discussion of the Tetrad by elaborating on one important aspect of the square – that is crossing and crosses.
“Three Above and Four Below”
As we have seen, the Triangle and Square can be used as symbols for Humanity.
The triangle denotes the divine trinity ‘above’ or deep within – that is the metaphysical reality.
The square represents the four elements of human nature and the earth, the physical reality.
This is often represented in art and architecture.
The Egyptian Sphinx’s trapezoidal head dress implies an unseen golden triangle above.
The Tibetan plan for correctly drawing a Buddha involves delineating the head in a triangle and the body below in a square frame.
The well-known Freemason symbol is an open compass over the carpenter’s rule.
The compass is open to 60 degrees, the angle of the equilateral triangle. This represents the divinity in humanity – the unseen spirit.
The rule is a 90 degree angle. This represents the physical manifestation of humanity – the seen body.
“The compass and the square rule together symbolize our inseparable divine and human natures.”1
We also see this ‘three above, four below’ in the architecture of triangular roofs over square houses.
“The architecture itself, its proportion and ornamentation, held the esoteric teaching in plain sight, a reminder of their divinity to those initiated in the timeless wisdom that speaks of self-knowledge and spiritual transformation.
Triangular lintels are no longer used to support weight and pass along the traditional teachings that, until recently, had endured for thousands of years. By allowing the square and cube to eclipse the divine triangle from common sight, we’ve replaced a valuable body of knowledge with soulless architecture.”2
The Four Cornered Cross
The four-cornered cross is the long-time astronomical symbol for planet Earth.
“Square Labyrinths and those built around squares and crosses are metaphors of our wanderings through the earth, symbolically within ourselves, and our path of transcendence.”3
Crosses symbolize the meeting of two planes of consciousness – human and Divine.
The top arm represents the Infinite Divine.
The other three arms represent the qualities that must be balanced to achieve union with the Infinite Divine: power (3rd chakra), love/compassion (4th chakra), and wisdom/truth (5th chakra).
The 6th chakra is activated and balanced when power, love and wisdom are balanced in the individual and the individual is able to work for the greatest good and is no longer living in fear and selfishness.
“Saint Germaine said to call not so much for an increase of Power, as for a better understanding of how to use that Power, which we abundantly receive each day. Then we need to observe how the universe in all of its great Wisdom, desires to give us the pureness of Being, conferring to us the alchemical secrets which will lead us away from the continuing abuse and towards a correct and glorious use of the Power of the Divine, bringing blessings and salvation to all.”4
The symbolism of the cross overall is indicative of the human desire to know and experience the unfolding mystery of life. Every moment of every day we stand at a crossroads. Our choices move us forward or backward, side to side. We learn from every choice we make.
Happily or sadly, one has only oneself to answer to or blame when it comes to the choice.
Robert Lawlor tells us: “Just as electromagnetic fields flow at 90-degree oppositional pathways, we must recognize and accept that the cross of life is raised upon the unbreakable bondage of pinnacle and precipice. The ubiquitous presence in energy and form of this crossing duality implies there is no existence without resistance, no ecstasy without friction, no rationalism without romanticism, no normality without psychosis, no glamour without the grotesque, no secularization with the sacred, no elitism without the vulgar, no controlling without contamination, no courage without fear and danger, no becoming without being.”
Types of Crosses
Coptic Cross
The Coptic cross is a symbol for Christianity that originated with Egyptians during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. These Egyptians were called Copts.
Together the Essenes, the Druids and Copts became the first Christians.
The Coptic cross is a cross in a circle.
Christian Cross – Crucifix
The Christian cross represents the forgiveness that can set us free, as exemplified by Jesus.
“This Cross of Light is called by me for your sake sometimes Mind, sometimes Jesus, sometimes Christ, sometimes, Door, sometimes Way, sometimes Bread, sometimes Seed, sometimes Resurrection, sometimes Son, sometimes Father, sometimes Spirit, sometimes Life, sometimes Truth, sometimes, Faith, sometimes Grace.
It is the defining [patterning] and limitation of all things, both the firm necessity of things fixed from things unstable and the harmony which is of wisdom. And as it is wisdom in harmony, there are those on the right and those on the left – powers, authorities, principalities, demons, energies and threats, power of wrath, slandering…The Lord contrived all things symbolically and according to dispensation for the conversion and salvation of man.” Apocryphal Acts of John
Ankh – Crux Ansata
The crux ansata was the most important tool of understanding that the Egyptians possessed.
To them it was the key to eternal life.
“There are mathematical ratios within this image [Crux Ansata] which may yield informative insights to one fond of riddles. We shall not untangle the riddle. We may indicate that the crux ansata is a part of the concept complexes of the archetypical mind, the circle indicating the magic of the spirit, the cross indicating that nature of manifestation which may only be valued by the losing. Thus the crux ansata is intended to be seen as an image of the eternal in and through manifestation and beyond manifestation through the sacrifice and transformation of that which is manifest.”5
What this means is that the circle represents the Infinite spirit that transcends time and space and the cross represents everything we experience in material reality: relationships, careers, money, possessions…etc. The value of these material things are only recognized upon losing them. This is how many people learn, yet it is not the only way to learn. ‘You don’t know what you got til it’s gone,’ as they say. Thus the crux ansata is an image of what is eternal that remains through the ever-changing tides and the rising and declining phases of physical existence. Material things are lost – jobs, money, houses, cars, family members, true loves, possessions. These things are sacrificed in order for the human to learn gratitude for these things, and also to learn how to let go of these things and recognize that which is eternal; that which will never be lost. Upon recognition of the eternal, the human learns to live in Unity for the greatest good. This transformation of the spirit only occurred because of the losing of that which they believed was important – the trappings of physical reality – in order to learn what was truly important – the metaphysical existence of the soul and spirit and the interconnection among all consciousnesses in the infinite universe.
“Nothing is truly lost. That which is not needed falls away.” ~ The Law of One
Maltese Cross and Variants
The Maltese cross is a combination of cross and circle. It represents cosmic union. Like the other crosses this cosmic union involves the harmonious binding of the spiritual with the material.
The four arms represent four primary types of power to balance in order to achieve cosmic union: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
There are other variations of this cross including the: Cross Formee, Cross Patte, Iron Cross, and Teutonic Cross.
The Maltese cross also represents the photon – the seed of the universe and the smallest entity that makes up all life.
The cross can represent the tetrahedron, the shape of the photon, as well as the crossing axes of electromagnetic energy. The circle represents the rotation of the photon. Photons travel in straight-line spirals.
All matter is made of light.
Photons pulsate, loop and spin to form subatomic particles.
Subatomic particles form atoms.
Atoms combine to form molecules.
Molecules combine to form matter.
All the way up everything is made of light (rotating photons).
Light is conscious, intelligent, and highly-ordered. Light is alive.
The alchemical teachings coded within the Maltese cross deal with recognizing that all physical matter including our bodies are made of light and learning how to transform into finer bodies of light by balancing our energy centers (chakras).
This body of light is known by many as the Merkaba. The Merkaba is a star-tetrahedral ‘energy’ field that surrounds each life form. We each have all the Platonic solid geometries surrounding us as part of our bodies of light. These energy bodies are the metaphysical counterpart to our physical bodies. The star tetrahedral field is a part of our energy body and the one to be activated at present to move to a higher state of consciousness.
As we said, moving to a higher state of consciousness involves balancing the energy centers.
The energy centers are balanced in turn by balancing the emotional and psychological activity of our being: facing our true selves, facing our mind, healing our doubts, regrets, guilt, shame, pain, and fears and also learning to balance power, compassion, love, wisdom, and honesty within ourselves and working only for what is the greatest good and not just the lowly selfish individual good.
All this must be done freely, on our own accord, using our own will power. This is the Choice we must make. No one can do this for us and no one can force us to do it.
As is shown multiple times throughout the article series in Cosmic Core, the photon has been scientifically validated to be the shape of a Maltese cross.
The Maltese cross can be a symbol of the star tetrahedron and associated star tetrahedral body of light.
Verified Shape of the Photon
In 2016 the shape of the photon was independently verified by Polish physicist Dr. Radoslaw Chrapkiewicz.
On July 20, 2016 an article was published entitled, What shape are photons? Quantum holography sheds lightby Cathal O’Connell in Cosmos Magazine.6
The following information is sourced from that article.
Physicists Chrapkiewicz and Banaszek created a hologram of a single light particle (photon).
“The image – which is called a hologram because it holds information on both the photon’s shape and phase – was created by firing two light beams at a beam splitter, made of calcite crystal, at the same time.”
Each photon could either go straight or turn, depending on the shape of their wave function.
“It’s a little like firing two bullets to glance off one another mid-air and using the deflected trajectories to figure our shape of each projectile.”
After over 2000 repetitions a pattern of flashes built up.
They discovered the shape of the photon was a star tetrahedron looked at from its ‘cubic’ angle.
It looks exactly like a Maltese cross.
The shape they found (on left) was predicted by Schrodinger’s equation for the quantum wave function (on right).
In the arms of the cross where the photons were in step, the image is bright. Where they weren’t, we see darkness.
Therefore, the photon is tetrahedral in nature and appears to be a star tetrahedron.
Maltese Cross Historical Significance
The Maltese cross is associated with the Knights Templar, Knights Hospitaller, Order of St. John, Sovereign Military Order of Malta and Freemasonry.
It is worn on different colored backgrounds for different reasons.
The eight points of the four arms can symbolize the eight obligations or aspirations of the knights.
These are:
- to live in truth
- to have faith
- to repent one’s sins
- to give proof of humility
- to love justice
- to be merciful
- to be sincere and wholehearted
- to endure persecution
Other meanings of the eight points refer to the eight Beatitudes of the Knights:
Being:
- observant
- tactful
- resourceful
- dexterous
- explicit
- discriminating
- persevering
- sympathetic
Or the Eight Beatitudes of Christ:
Blessed are the:
- Poor
- Those who mourn
- The meek
- Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
- The merciful
- The pure in heart
- The peacemakers
- Those who are persecuted for righteousness sake
Above is an image of two Knights Templar playing chess. Recall from Article 20c that the chess board represents the power of choice. Crossroads also represent the power of choice. The ultimate choice is that of choosing to work for the greatest good or choosing to work for individual selfish good. The choice must be made.
The Cross and the Arch
The static cross is a stationary symbol representing the world of matter.
As Randall Carlson said, “With the weight of the suffering born by mankind in fulfilling the mandates of cosmic destiny, the transverse arm of the cross is bent into a great arc, the cross becomes, in effect, a crossbow. The greater the weight of suffering the more powerful is the tension drawing back the bow, the static has become dynamic, and like the vaults of the mighty cathedrals, is set to launch terrestrial Life, and the souls of Mankind, into the Great Deep of Cosmic Existence from whence we came.”
Crossing – Diagonals – Multiplication
Crossing is symbolized by a cross, plus (+) or X.
When we cross a vertical with a horizontal, both of equal length, they generate a square surface.
“A tangible, measurable entity comes into existence as a result of crossing.”7
“Diagonals are the means by which a square may be extended beyond itself or into its own depths.”8
Diagonals represent fertilization (crossing and fixing).
The cross is the ultimate symbol of material manifestation.
An ideal human body fits within a square with the arms stretched out to the sides.
The diagonals of the square cross at our genitals as seen here on Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.
This indicates fertility, birth, generation and reproduction (crossing of male & female).
The cross can also represent genetic crossing between individuals to achieve genetic diversity. Genetic diversity is important for the survival and adaptability of a species.
Squares and diagonals also represent the:
- crossing of warp and weft to birth a cloth surface
- crossing of dark and light gives birth to tangible, visible form
- crossing of matter and spirit (consciousness) gives birth to life
- ‘cross pollination’
- ‘Multiplying our progeny’
- ‘cross-breeding animals’
“Crossing is an action-principle which the square perfectly represents.”
The Crossroads
Black Elk said, “You have set the powers of the four quarters to cross each other. The good road and the road of difficulties you have made to cross; and where they cross, the place is holy.”
Here we have yet another level of symbolism of the cross that represents the Crossroads. This takes us back to the idea of “The Choice”. The Choice hinges around the concept of learning to focus the Will so the choice can be made and continually honored. This Choice is the choice of walking the road of unity, compassion and peace (acceptance and forgiveness); or choosing to walk the road of separation, selfishness and violence (control and manipulation).
“Embrace the Way [Tao] and the Way will welcome you, Embrace abandonment of the Way and abandonment will welcome you.” ~ Lao Tsu
This all-important choice occurs not just in a whole lifetime, but every single day, at every moment where options are present to move us forward in the world.
It is a not a choice made once, but a choice made at all times.
Once the choice is made we must be persistent in honoring it. We must stay focused (keep a focused Will) to stay on the path of our choice. Happily or sadly, one has only oneself to answer to or blame when it comes to the choice.
And as Black Elk said, the place where they cross is holy. This is the center – the place of Unity that lies at the center of every choice we make – both beginning and ending. Unity is the inescapable truth. We may choose ‘good’ or ‘bad’, peace or violence, yet Unity is the over-riding reality that contains all choices – the reality we can always return to if we so choose.
Credit: Thomas Guignard
“In folk magic and mythology, crossroads may represent a location ‘between the worlds’ and as such, a site where supernatural spirits can be contacted and paranormal events can take place.”9
“In this vast night, be the magic power at your senses’ intersection, the meaning of their strange encounter. And if the earthly has forgotten you, say to the still earth: I flow. To the rushing water speak: I am.” Last Sonnet to Orpheus
The mythology of the crossroads extends to the idea of summoning a demon in order to broker a supernatural deal. This shows up frequently in blues and rock music, particularly in Robert Johnson’s Cross Road Blues.
Ultimately, however, “the symbolic meaning of crossroads deals with choice, consequence, making a selection about the direction in which we want to go (both physically and philosophically). Furthermore…visions of standing at the center of a crossroads speaks of being poised in a position of pure potential. Suspended upon a vortex of power – and that begs the question, ‘In what direction shall I navigate that power?’
For many of us, being in a position of power requires taking a stand for what we believe, even when we do not know what we will encounter upon the road we have chosen.”10
“And so no decision should ever be made lightly, the crossroad also represents a time and place of pause, contemplation, and marination of thought which we all must suffer through, and accept, prior to moving forward.
As we travel from one Crossroad to another we begin to understand that every Decision we make brings forth a Creation into our life. We also begin to understand that every Creation which manifests itself in our life is but the result of some Decision we made at some previous Crossroad in our past.”11
Crossing of the Square & The Weaving of the World
“The Goddess’s Weave”
The ancients represented the materialization process (from metaphysical to physical) with weaving.
The oscillation from time/space to space/time is symbolized by the continuous crossing of warp and weft.
“The weaving of fabrics is as dinergic a process as the weaving of baskets, with the difference that in fabric, both warp and woof move along straight lines, crossing each other, the threads of the warp being held evenly within a frame, while the threads of the woof are laced over and under them.”
Dinergy, coined by Gyorgy Doczi, means “the energy-creating process that transforms discrepancies into harmonies by allowing differences to complement each other.”
Neith was the Egyptian goddess of weaving, wisdom, and war. This Goddess was called Athena to the Greeks.
“The craft of weaving,” Robert Lawlor tells us, “was the Egyptian symbol for the activities of mind and thought, in that the fabrics of the mind could result from weaving thoughts or perceptions or knowledge into coherent unities or, on the other hand, contrived or deluded beliefs and designs.” Here we see again the symbolism of the cross with the crossroads and the choice of aligning the mind with Unity or with contrived deluded beliefs of separation.
It is interesting to note that the first primitive computers using the punch card system (in 1801) were designed for looms and weaving. This means that the process of weaving cloth brought about the very first computers. In these modern times computers represent artificial consciousness. In ancient times weaving itself represented the process of natural consciousness and the creation of matter. Cloth was the actual ancient symbol of matter.
On one level the crossing of warp and weft represented the crossing of male and female to produce offspring. On another level it represents the crossing of consciousness with spirit to create matter, or the crossing of sound and geometry to create light.
Gyorgy Doczi explains in The Power of Limits: Weavers belonging to different cultures show the preference for simple harmonic proportions. An East Prussian carpet reveals the proportions of a golden rectangle in its overall shape as does the Mexican woven pattern in its repeated diamond shape.” These are pictured below.
Credit: Gyorgy Doczi – The Power of Limits
Furthermore, “The masterfully woven ceremonial blankets of Northwest American Indian people show the same preference in overall shape, as well as in the articulation of the design, carried through consistently even to minute details. The image below shows golden section constructions drawn around a Chilkat blanket. These proportions relate the short sides to half the width, as well as to the middle height, the latter two dimensions usually being equal in these blankets. The minute difference between exact phi ratios and the actual ratios in this blanket are marked with d. The blanket’s short sides allow it to be wrapped conveniently around the body, but the dimensions of the sides are never arbitrary. The seventeen samples [Doczi] examined all approximate these same proportions.”
Credit: Gyorgy Doczi – The Power of Limits
The “Goddess’s Weave in Nature & Art
In Michael Schneider’s A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe, he shows many interesting examples of the “Goddess Weave”.
Some of these include:
- Field Ion Microscope (FIM) imaging of Tungsten and Platinum atoms magnified two million times
- Skeletal design of a microscopic radiolarian and diatoms
- The Egyptian sky goddess and mother of the gods, Nut as a painted celiing relief in the Temple of Hathor in Dendera, Egypt
- Egyptian mother goddess Aset – “Isis” in Greek and English; carving on the end of the Sarcophagus of Tuthmosis III, c. 1450 BC)
- Egyptian vulture goddess Mut; pendant from the tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amon
- Sumerian pottery of 5th century BC: The potter’s wheel itself is a symbol often used to evoke the spinning cosmic galaxies.
- Lady of the Beasts; Winged goddess with a Gorgon’s head wearing a split skirt and holding a bird in each hand, type of the Potnia Theron. Probably made on Rhodes. From Kameiros, Rhodes, c. 600 BC
“One could perhaps look upon the harmonious patterns of the arts and crafts as symbols, metaphors and models of similarly harmonious behavior patterns yet to be created in the arts of living.” ~ Gyorgy Doczi
The Decomposition of a Square
“The use of + and x between the midpoints and corners allows us the harmonically decompose or diminish the square in a quaternary rhythm, giving us lines and crossings that maintain the root-two geometry of generation. This is the ultimate symbol of material manifestation.”12
The decomposition of the square produces the second ‘set square’. The first was the 30°-60°-90° triangle.
The second one, produced here, is the 45°-45°-90° triangle, which is a half square cut by its diagonal.
- Schneider, Michael, A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe, Harper Perennial, 1994
- ibid.
- ibid.
- http://www.theosophiaistheway.com/WILL_GOD/Maltese_Cross.html
- Elkins, Rueckert, & McCarty, The Law of One, Session 93.24, https://www.lawofone.info/results.php?s=93
- O’Connell, Cathal, What shape are photons? Quantum holography sheds light, 20 July 2016, Cosmos Magazine, https://cosmosmagazine.com/physics/what-shape-is-a-photon
- Lawlor, Robert, Sacred Geometry: Philosophy & Practice, Thames & Hudson, 1982
- Schneider, Michael, A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe, Harper Perennial, 1994
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads_(mythology)
- Venefica, Avia, Symbolic Meaning of Crossroads, 3 March 2008, https://www.symbolic-meanings.com/2008/03/03/symbolic-meaning-of-crossroads/
- Panek, Joseph, Crossroad: Symbol and Metaphor, 10 October 2010, http://www.aseekersthoughts.com/2010/10/crossroads-symbol-and-metaphor.html
- Schneider, Michael, A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe, Harper Perennial, 1994
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