Rough Notes:
Having determined that Saturn may have dominated Earth's skies anciently, it becomes important to understand its appearance then and how men may have perceived it. (Because this presentation is only a cursory examination of the subject, the following is offered by way of an introduction. I suggest that the interested researcher investigate these things further, since exhaustive documentation and ample evidence is available to all who might wish to seek it out.)
Velikovsky was the first to identify Saturn as the primary deity of antiquity, but his writings on the subject have remained, for the most part, unpublished. Nevertheless, other researchers, following Velikovsky's lead, have pursued the investigation of that planet's role in the ancient heavens. "The Saturn Myth," a book by David N. Talbott, began where Velikovsky left off:
The book proposes that Saturn- fixed at the celestial pole-loomed massively overhead, a central sun venerated by all mankind. Evidence is presented there for a Saturnian "polar configuration" as the source of early civilization's dominant symbols. One of the features of this Saturnian configuration was a giant band surrounding the planet. (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1, p. 27)
In his own words, Talbott described his thesis:
In the earliest age recalled by man the planet Saturn was the dominant celestial body. Ancient races the world over record that there was once a "Golden Age"-a kingdom of cosmic harmony ruled by a central light god. Numerous sources identify this light god as the planet Saturn. (The Saturn Myth, p. 329)
Another scholar, Dwardu Cardona, has published numerous articles on the subject of the ancient Saturn. Together with a few other writers, Cardona's and Talbott's insightful examination of the corpus of myth concerning Saturn has revealed a remarkable picture of what the heavens and the Earth looked like anciently. Cardona wrote:
As I outlined several years ago, and as David Talbott has now shown, the primeval Saturn presented a multifarious appearance. Physically and visually, the luminary was composed of various components- orb, rings, axis-which changed cyclically throughout the Saturnian day and also evolved throughout the length of the Saturnian era.
As a unified entity, the Saturnian All Father received different names by different races. But different aspects of him-orb, rings, and axis- were also assigned individual names. Besides all this, to some he was male, to others female. In time he became both. Saturn's history was one of periodic disruptions. Following every such event, he seems to have reappeared in a slightly altered form. Each "new" Saturn was thus honored with a new name. (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1, p. 2)
Hence we see that the ancient Saturn may have appeared as a very different planet from the tiny, bright star we see today. It stood at the center of this creation and provided order to the heavens. It also appeared to be composed of various structures: the planet orb, its great rings and a "pillar" upon which it appeared to stand. When understood, each of the aspects of the ancient Saturn gives new meaning to the most common symbols of antiquity, which Talbott claimed "were literal pictures of Saturn."
From one section of the world to another the planet-god's worshippers drew pictures of the Saturnian configuration, and these pictures became the universal signs and symbols of antiquity.
In the global lexicon of symbols the three most common images are the enclosed sun [symbol not reproduced], the sun-cross [symbol not reproduced], and the enclosed sun-cross [symbol not reproduced]. It appears that every ancient race revered these signs as images of the preeminent cosmic power.
The enclosed sun-cross is not an abstraction. It simply records what the ancients originally saw. It is a literal drawing of the [then] polar sun, passed down from earliest antiquity: the image of Saturn, the Universal Monarch.
Rarely do archaeologists, seeking to interpret the widespread "sun" symbols, consult ancient mythology. Yet the myths explain the symbols and the symbols illuminate the myths. . . . The symbols, legends, and sacred hymns attempt to preserve a memory of Saturn and the primeval Cosmos. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 60-61) Such symbols, common to ancient cultures the world over, give meaning to enigmatic metaphors in all ancient writ.
As has been shown, Saturn was honored with many names within each culture-likely because it was itself composed of many parts. The assumption that Saturn changed its appearance several times in antiquity would also give rise to new designations for each change.
The pole star
De Santillana and von Dechend (authors of Hamlet's Mill), after an exhaustive analysis of the myths of Saturn from around the world, wondered in print:
What has Saturn, the far-out planet, to do with the pole? (Hamlet's Mill), p. 136)
Though De Santillana and von Dechend are not catastrophists (and thus do not share the catastrophist's view of ancient Saturn), they recognized the overwhelming corpus of ancient literature which speaks of Saturn. Their question focuses on the most incredible, yet crucial element of Saturn's past: its close proximity to planet Earth. Talbott wrote:
Accounts of Saturn's appearance suggest that the planet hung ominously close to the earth. In early ritual and astronomy Saturn appears as the "primeval sun," described as a figure of "terrifying splendor." Today, Saturn appears as a bare speck of light following the same visual path as the solar orb. But during the legendary Golden Age, Saturn stood in the north. Legends from every continent depict the primeval sun as an immense, fiery globe at the north celestial pole-the visual pivot of the heavens. Unlike the rising and setting solar orb, the primeval sun remained fixed in one place. (The Saturn Myth, p. 329)
Cardona described Saturn's ancient position thus:
The Saturnian scenario that has thus far emerged presents Saturn in a rotating but fixed position directly above Earth's north polar region. In other words, Saturn neither rose nor set; the "planet" simply "sat" there, looming large and ominous. What this implies is that the Earth shared the same axis of rotation with Saturn. This has to be stressed because the totality of the mythological record allows for no other interpretation. (Kronos, Vol.X,No.1,p.6)
An example of the myths that led these scholars to this conclusion comes from Ovid. In his Fasti, Ovid has the god Janus (who is implicitly Kronos/Saturn) say these words:
The guardianship of this vast universe is in my hands alone, and none but me may rule the wheeling pole. (Fasti, p. 9;italics added)
Cardona pointed out that, to the Egyptians, Atum was the "alter ego" of the primeval sun god Re, who was considered the founder of the epoch they remembered as the Golden Age. Speaking of Atum, the Coffin Texts, say:
The Great God lives, fixed in the middle of the sky upon his support. (As quoted in The Saturn Myth, p. 47)
Another author, Roger Ashton, penned the following thought on this subject:
Investigation of the links between gods and planets suggests a connection between Saturn and the Celestial Pole. This can be inferred from Greek and Roman myths. The same can be repeatedly extracted from materials included in the later compendia of Hindu myths. Sufficient evidence of this sort can be amassed to warrant serious consideration of the proposition that Saturn at the Celestial Pole was the central theme of myth many millennia ago.
Saturn's immobility is indicated when Ra is lauded as the god "who resteth on his high place". Osiris/Saturn was also "exalted upon his resting place". That his immobility really refers to Saturn is evidenced by one of Saturn's Hebrew names-Kokab Sabet, which means the Rest[ing] star (or planet). (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1, pp. 16, 6)
Logic dictates that such immobility could only be attributed to a body positioned much like today's North Star, only ominously closer-and the myths emphatically declare it. A body so situated would appear motionless to Earth's inhabitants, while all else in heaven moved around it. Hence, Talbott expressed it thus:
In the original age to which the myths refer, Saturn was no remote speck faintly discerned by terrestrial observers; the planet loomed as an awesome and terrifying light. And if we are to believe the widespread accounts of Saturn's age, the planet-god's home was the unmoving celestial pole, the apparent pivot of the heavens .... (The Saturn Myth, p. 4)
Can it be?
Such a fixed polar position appears to contradict the laws of celestial mechanics as we know them. Astrophysicists ridicule such an idea, saying that it is physically impossible. Because they see no such configuration of planets in the present solar system, it is difficult for them to accept the possibility that such a situation could exist. They believe that without the offsetting centrifugal force generated by the smaller body orbiting the larger, the mutual gravitational attraction of the two planets would quickly draw them together, causing them to collide.
Velikovsky maintained that there are forces in the universe that are equally as powerful as gravity. He believed that all large bodies in space carry a charge. At the considerable distances that exist today between our neighboring planets, their various electromagnetic fields generally do not interact (although it is common knowledge that our moon is perturbed by Earth's magnetic field). But Velikovsky held that if two such charged bodies approached one another, the electric charges they carried would interact with tremendous force-so much force, Velikovsky claimed, that the planets would seldom, if ever, suffer a physical collision. Instead, they would be deflected from actual contact by their like charges (somewhat like the deflection felt when like poles of two bar magnets are brought together). If such a planetary charge exists, such a force could also offset the gravitational pull between the two companion planets, allowing them to orbit the Sun in tandem without colliding into one another or pulling apart to go their separate ways.
Barbell planets
A catastrophist, Frederic B. Jueneman, may have found another solution to the physics of a binary configuration of planets, without recurring to Velikovsky's charged body hypothesis. Jueneman postulated a model for the juxtaposition of two planets which came to be called "the barbell planet theory." He envisioned two bodies orbiting the Sun together, each poised above the respective pole of the other, each revolving about a common axis like a giant barbell.
. . . each body would describe a secondary orbit about the axis of a cone. Actually there would be two such cones, one for each planet. . . . the barycenter of this binary planet system is located at the point where the two cones meet. Thus, coupled by gravitation, the two will orbit their respective conical sections about the center of gravity, the barycenter. And, if one of the bodies approaches another, it would be forced to circumscribe a narrower part of its cone thereby accelerating its 'secondary' orbital velocity, and centrifugal effects would force it back towards its original position. (Limits of Uncertainty, p. 84)
[GRAPHIC OF BARBELL PLANET CONFIGURATION--not available.]
So the assumption stands that Saturn may have once appeared in a stationary position directly over Earth's pole. Cardona noted, ". . . the mythological record allows for no other interpretation." In our model, therefore, it is likely that Saturn once stood over the Earth and dominated the heavens sitting in a fixed, polar position, sharing a common axis with its smaller companion, Earth.
The Central Fire
What is most fascinating about the Philolaos system (mentioned earlier, in Chapter 3) is its resemblance to the ancient Saturnian system. Philolaos described Earth as a satellite of a Central Fire which, as it turns out, is not the Sun. The Sun was made to be a distant light source which was said to borrow part of its light from the Central Fire. This is unquestionably not the familiar heavens of our day and age. But it appears likely that it is a description of former conditions.
The analysis of ancient astronomies has revealed that a sun-like body once dominated Earth's skies. Ancient man was not a "sun worshiper," as so many mythologists and archaeologists mistakenly assume. He was a Saturn worshipper. And according to Talbott, author of "The Saturn Myth,"
Global myths insist that when the first civilizations rose from barbarism a brilliant light occupied the celestial pole. This steadfast light was the ancient sun-god, repeatedly identified as the planet Saturn, the Universal Monarch. The most common symbols of antiquity, which our age universally regards as solar emblems... were originally unrelated to our sun. They were literal pictures of Saturn, whom the entire ancient world invoked as "the sun." (The Saturn Myth, pp. 59, 4)
Saturn- Sun
As referred to previously, the Latin name for Saturn was Stella Solaris-the Sun Star! Macrobius (4th century A.D.) identified Kronos (Saturn) as the Sun. Diodorus Siculus wrote that the Babylonians called Saturn the "sun star," and Hyginus expressed the opinion that Saturn was known as "the star of the sun." A knowledgeable scholar, Cardona has done considerable research on this subject:
This truth, that the Babylonians called Saturn by the name of the Sun, is not hidden behind a veil of mystery; it is, on the contrary, laid bare for the inspection of any scholar. The Babylonians said it themselves in as many words: "(Mul) Lu-Bat Sag-Us Mul (it) Samas su-u -the planet Saturn is Shamash." This is the same as saying that the "planet" Saturn was a sun-there is no other way in which these words could be interpreted. (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1)
Another indication of Saturn's role as an ancient sun is the festival of light known to the Greeks as the Kronia and to the Romans as the Saturnalia. In its original form, this celebration of light was a remembrance and a symbolic reenactment of the Age of Saturn. The modern holidays Christmas and Hannukah- celebrations of light-are modern vestiges of that winter solstice celebration of Saturn's light. Other Christmas traditions are reminiscent of Saturn's ancient rule. Consider, for instance: Santa Claus, who comes from the North Pole to bestow gifts; the Christmas Tree, which (as shall be demonstrated) is a symbol of the pillar or Cosmic Tree upon which Saturn appeared poised; and the many lights used to illuminate the season especially the star or angel that is traditionally placed atop the tree, just as Saturn once sat, sun-like, on the top of its pillar or pedestal of light.
Failed star
Much has been written in recent years in scientific journals regarding the possibility that the Jovian planets-Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune-may be "failed stars." That is, they have all the right ingredients to be stars, yet they lacked the necessary mass to ignite the thermonuclear reactions that would have made them stars. Such speculation stems from the fact that these gaseous giants are more star-like than their rocky cousins: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The massive atmospheres of the Jovian planets are primarily composed of hydrogen-like the sun's-while the rocky planets have little or no atmosphere (comparatively speaking). So modern scientists consider the Jovian planets to be "would-be stars" that never made the grade. But we may consider the possibility that this planet Saturn-once much larger-actually once burned as a miniature star before its fire was extinguished by a series of catastrophes. Such a scenario would account for the myths and traditions of antiquity which emphatically declared that Saturn once emitted light-that Saturn once had some very star-like properties.
The light of Creation
This conclusion would serve to explain a problem in the Genesis account of the Creation which has puzzled biblical scholars for ages. Why does the Creation account in Genesis speak of the creation of light on the first day when the light of the Sun, Moon and stars was created later, on the fourth day? How could the Sun give light to the Earth on the first day if it had not yet been created?...
The Scriptures themselves state that a light was created before the Sun. From what did that light emanate? Could it have come from an orb poised above the Earth? that same orb the ancients mistook for the Creator and which catastrophists today recognize as Saturn in its earliest stage of development?
God's light
A striking piece of evidence comes from The Book of the Secrets of Enoch... (See " 'A Strange Thing in the Land': The Return of the Book of Enoch," a series of articles in The Ensign, Oct. 1975 thru Aug. 1977.) Cardona makes the connection for us:
. . . Enoch contains much that is of value in understanding the religiocosmological beliefs of ancient times. The Book of the Secrets of Enoch, in fact, describes the "Creation" of the primordial light in a somewhat fuller version than does the Book of Genesis and it is from its pages that we learn of god's light being emitted by the "uncoiling" of Adoil. (Kronos, Vol. III, No. 3, p. 41)
Cardona further explains that "the name 'Adoil,' also 'Idoil,' might derive from the Hebrew 'hand of god,' that is 'hand of El.' (lbid., p. 41) Cardona indicated that El was one of the ancient Hebrew names for Saturn. Thus it is that Saturn is singled out as the source of the first light of creation. And thus Saturn was ultimately honored as the "Creator" in the myths and religious traditions of cultures from around the world. Cardona summarizes:
. . . we contend that the "planet" Saturn, originally a dark sun, went through a fissioning process; that it flared up as a stellar nova; that it emitted light, never to be forgotten by man, blinded the Earth and its inhabitants; that its remains continued to shine as a true sun of night, less bright than that of day but much brighter than the Moon; that mankind witnessed and remembered the event and so had it stated in various texts. (Kronos, Vol. III, No. 3, pp. 49-50)
Sun of day or night?
Because Saturn emitted light of its own, as well as reflecting the Sun's light, it would have illuminated the nighttime landscape of ancient Earth, while appearing somewhat subdued though still bright during the "daylight" hours. Thus it was known as the "Sun of Night," yet also portrayed as the "Sun of Day." The plainest example of this phenomenon comes from the Egyptians where, Ra was the "Sun of Day," while Temu (Atum or Atemu) was the "Sun of Night." The Babylonians also held that there was a day-sun and a night-sun. "Temu-Ra was the same as Shamash-Saturn." (Kronos, Vol.III, No. 1, p. 35)
Talbott explained:
Considerable evidence suggests that, to the ancients, the day began with what modern man calls "night"- that is, with the setting of the solar orb. It is widely acknowledged that the Egyptian day once began at sunset. The same is true of the Babylonian and Western Semitic days. The Athenians computed the space of a day from sunset to sunset, and the habit appears to have prevailed among northern European peoples.
. . . the coming forth of Saturn inaugurated the archaic day, which began at sunset. So long as the solar orb was visible, the fiery globe of Saturn remained subdued, unable to compete with the sheer light of the former body. But once the solar orb sank beneath the horizon, Saturn and its circle of secondary lights acquired a terrifying radiance. (The Saturn Myth, p. 41)
Cardona's opinion appears to be substantiated by the scriptural account of the creation where the creation periods are called "days." Rather than saying "and the morning and the evening were the first day," as we would commonly say it, the scriptures say, ". . . the evening and the morning were the first day. Perhaps this was intentional because the ancient "day"-when Saturn was at its brightest-is the time we know as night. Even today the Jews begin the Sabbath (Saturday) at sunset Friday!
The rings
The most prominent feature of Saturn today is its rings. The space probes of recent years have provided a spectacular, close-up view of them. Ironically, ancient man may have had only to lift his eyes heavenward to see a similarly impressive display.
Saturn was the ancient "Lord of the Rings." Talbott, in an effort to recreate past events from the mythological accounts, explained that the rings came into existence when
. . . massive quantities of cosmic debris exploded from Saturn, clouding the heavens and eventually congealing into a vast band around the planet. In mythical terms this band was Saturn's created "land" in heaven.
When Saturn appeared alone in the cosmic waters, a brilliant band congealed around the god as his celestial "island." This band was the original Cosmos, often portrayed as a revolving egg, a coil of rope, a belt or a shield enclosing the central sun. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 329, 6162)
That event was deemed by most ancient cultures to be the creation. That is, myths the world over relate how god created the Cosmos from his own body. As we shall see later, even though the "creation" of Saturn came later than the actual creation depicted in Genesis, symbolically Saturn's "creation" was an excellent type or metaphor for the original creation; hence its symbolism crept into accounts of the original creation.
More than any other part of ancient Saturn, the rings gave rise to a multiplicity of symbols and metaphors:
The ancients drew pictures of Saturn incessantly, and these pictures will be found around the world. Ancient papyri, clay tablets, monuments, artifacts, and rock drawings consistently show a central orb surrounded by a circle (9. This symbol of the "enclosed sun" is the original hieroglyph for the planet Saturn).
Images of Saturn in his enclosure occur on every page of ancient texts. The band is Saturn's spouse, the mother goddess [the "womb" of heaven giving birth to the god]. But it is also his revolving temple, city, or island in heaven. It is the stationary, but everturning "world wheel" recalled by almost every ancient race. Saturn wears the band as a golden girdle, collar, or crown. He dwells in it as the pupil of the allseeing Eye. The same band receives mythical interpretation as Saturn's throne, a receptacle of cosmic waters, and an encircling serpent. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 329-330; italics added)
Each of these Saturn "ring" symbols is significant to a student of the Scriptures because descriptions of these images are repeatedly employed in the writings of the Prophets.
The crescent
But not all the imagery of the rings relates to the circle. They also gave rise to a very familiar image in myth and art.
Receiving light from the solar orb, the Saturnian band acquired a brightly illuminated crescent, which, as the earth rotated on its axis, visually revolved around Saturn each day. (The Saturn Myth, p. 330)
Anyone who has perused Egyptian art for more than thirty seconds has seen the symbol of the crescent together with a solar orb. ...... Modern scholars have attached the symbol of the circular orb to the sun (since that's what the ancients called Saturn) and the crescent symbol to the Moon (because that is what it looks like to modern man). Yet, Talbott has asked:
. . . is it possible that the famous sun-in-crescent represented not a contrived "conjunction" of the solar orb and new moon (the conventional explanation), but rather the primeval sun Saturn resting over the illuminated portion of his polar enclosure [the rings]? (The Saturn Myth, p. 229)
Talbott goes on to make an excellent case for the sun-in-crescent symbol being another of ancient Saturn's images:
. . . the common location of the crescent beneath the central sun is not its only placement in ancient symbolism. At times the crescent appears to stand on end ......., while at other times it is inverted above the sun ....... Of course, this is exactly what we should expect- for if the crescent was the illuminated portion of a circumpolar band then that crescent must have appeared to revolve around the band with every full rotation of our planet upon its axis. One could thus render the daily revolution of the crescent schematically: ........................(The Saturn Myth, p. 232)
Saturn would have been brightest and most glorious when the crescent was at the bottom of the image-at midnight. Hence, t would naturally have been the most common among the symbols of antiquity: a representation of Saturn at its zenith.
Because of the resemblance of the crescent to a set of horns, Saturn was known as a horned god. The imagery of Venus having horns (as Velikovsky pointed out) was probable, but the imagery had existed long before the Exodus, when Saturn, the "Bull of Light" reigned supreme in the sky.
According to Talbott, the crescent gave rise to many images: the crescent-horns, the horned altar, the crescent ship, the crescent arms, the crescent-wings, the crescent sword, the Great Lotus (or other flower, depending upon the culture), the heavenly twins or gods, etc.
The cross
Surprisingly, even the symbol of the cross is found in ancient cultures world-wide, leading some of the early Catholic fathers to speculate that Christianity had been carried to the far flung corners of the globe. But as will be seen, the cross is probably a universal symbol because all mankind saw it standing in the heavens:
Four primary streams of light appeared to radiate from Saturn, dividing the Saturnian band into quarters. The symbols of these four streams are the sun-cross + and enclosed sun-cross ...... Mythically, these are the four rivers of the lost paradise, the four winds, and the four pillars of Saturn's Cosmos. The enclosed sun-cross is thus the universal image of the "unified state" on our earth, for every terrestrial "holy land" was a copy of the ideal kingdom above. (The Saturn Myth, p. 330)
The heavenly cruciform figure also gave rise to the idea of four cardinal directions or four points of the compass and their quarters of heaven or Earth . Talbott's conclusion regarding the modeling of earthly domains after the great "holy land" above is very important to the analysis of Millennial prophecy-especially regarding the City of Enoch.
The Axis Mundi
Another prominent feature of the Earth/Saturn tandem arrangement was a phenomenon called the Axis Mundi. From Cardona:
Perhaps the most intriguing single feature of the Saturnian configuration was the Axis Mundi [world axis].... this Axis appeared as a single "ray", or bright appendage, which stretched all the way from Earth's northern horizon to the Saturnian sun of night. (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1, p. 10)
The same records which describe Saturn's band [rings] and its fourfold division [cross] depict a pillar-like stream ascending the world axis and visually seeming to sustain Saturn's dwelling. (The Saturn Myth, p. 330)
Thus, not only would it have appeared that Saturn hovered, immobile, above the Earth, it also would have appeared to be connected to and supported by this pillar of light. The myths uniformly report the ancients' preoccupation with this "pillar," characterized as a tapering swath of light which filled the sky above the pole and reached heavenward toward Saturn.
The World Mountain
This magnificent phenomenon would give rise to many images in mythology. It could certainly be characterized as a pedestal, pillar, pyramid or mountain upon which the planet Saturn stood. Talbott wrote that the ancients considered the world axis to be a "cosmic mountain" and summarized its appearance and significance to the ancients:
The myths and symbols of the cosmic mountain constitute a collective memory shared by all mankind. The Mount universally appears as the inaccessible height, attaining the center of heaven. Around its summit revolves the circle of the Cosmos [the rings of Saturn]. In all principal accounts the Mount appears as the ancestral homeland-the lost paradise with its four rivers [the cross]. From one section of the world to another the ancients represented the primeval hill through sacred posts and pillars-the center-posts of temples and other holy dwellings, or the free standing columns holding aloft various emblems of the great god [Saturn] and his enclosure. The pillar of light appearing to support the planet-god was "the earth's highest mountain." The god on the mountain top seemed to occupy the summit of the terrestrial landscape, yet also appeared literally as the pivot around which all the heavenly bodies turned. Two primary images of the "cosmic mountain" are ...... and ...... In the myths this column appears as the great god's single leg, a vertical stream of water or air (the North Wind), and the erect serpent or dragon of the deep. (The Saturn Myth, pp.202-203, 330)
To the Greeks and Romans it was Olympus, the citadel of the gods, "When ancient Saturn had his kingdom in the sky." In Virgil's Aeneid, Saturn's Olympus is celestial. Homer tells of
. . . Olympus, where they say, is the abode of the gods that stands fast forever. Neither is it shaken by winds nor ever wet with rain, nor does snow fall upon it, but the air is outspread clear and cloudless, and over it hovers a radiant whiteness. (The Odyssey, VI. 41-45)
And when the Golden Age was ended by Jupiter's insurgence,
First from heavenly Olympus came Saturn, fleeing from the weapons of Jove and exiled from his lost relm. (Aeneid, VIII., pp. 319-330)
From this view, the formerly perplexing imagery of mythology becomes a remarkably straightforward declaration of Saturn's appearance and station in the heavens. It stood atop the pillar of light, the cosmic mountain, and illuminated the heavens.
The Heavenly Tree
The World Axis was also known as the trunk of the Celestial or Cosmic Tree-with Saturn's crescent rings forming the branches (an arboreal canopy or umbrella overhead) and may have been the basis for the familiar tree of life imagery of the Scriptures. The structure undoubtedly gave rise to the mythical Cornucopia-a long horn- or tube-like structure which poured forth bounteous gifts from above, and the Great Mill (Saturn)- sometimes referred to as Hamlet's Mill- that turned in the sky above the Earth, churning out those gifts.
. . . the most ancient myths of mankind, hoary with the timelessness of things long past, speak of a Golden Age where a perennial summer existed year around-a paradise lost. And, entwined with these legends are the tales of an extraordinary Great Millstone which turned out all sorts of stuff like an indefatigable cornucopia. Now, before the legendary Mill ground out salt to give the seven seas their briny flavor, it ground out stones. And, prior to that, the selfsame talented Mill turned out gold, which rained down like snowflakes on a wondering people, turning the skies a crimson red from the suspended colloidal particles. Thus, our ancestral Golden Age appears to have been in fact gilt-edged. (Limits of Uncertainty, p . 81)
So it is that Saturn and its appendages may have
. . . inspired everything from 'Hamlet's mill' to the story of the giant at the top of Jack's beanstalk (even the giant's golden egg and his golden harp that played by itself have Saturnian associations). (Kronos, Vol. V, No. 1, p. 38)
The Celestial Serpent
Yet this structure is also portrayed as a snake, dragon, beast or serpent which ravaged the Earth and caused its inhabitants to suffer:
Collected from a variety of sources much too numerous to reference here, comes this image of the Axis Mundi: That of a massive cyclone that churned and spun, and danced constantly in the north.
Seen from a safe distance, it presented a rather peaceful and beautiful image, a gentility that resonated with a soft electrical hum that soothed. But there were occasions when the Axis, due to the Earth's wobbling, went awry. Then it turned into a terrible vortex of great destruction, an uproarious voracity that knew no quelling.
It was this terrible cyclonic tempest that was responsible for the slaughter of the mammoths and other beasts, the jumbled and mangled remains of which can still be seen in the Siberian Islands and Alaska. It was this colossal maelstrom that uprooted the trees of those regions and flung them, broken and twisted, to mingle with the torn carcasses of mammoths, bison, and horses. . . . [then] came the deluges at least one of them- and also Saturn's snow. Mammoths, trees, and jumbled terrain were frozen on the spot. (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1, pp. 11-12)
Modern evidence
Unexpectedly, science has discovered in our solar system what appears to be a structure similar to the hypothesized Axis Mundi. Cameras on the Pioneer space probe discovered what scientists have called a "flux tube" that joins Jupiter and its closest moon Io. It appears in the photographs as a thin tether or strand which spans the space between the two bodies. They speculated that there was some kind of exchange of particles between the parent planet and its closest moon that followed a common path and created the phenomenon. This discovery was totally unexpected and left astronomers scratching their heads in amazement.
If one could stand on Io and observe the newly discovered flux tube first-hand and up-close, it would likely answer to the descriptions applied to the flux tube which myths report anciently connected Earth and Saturn. The existence of the Jupiter-Io phenomenon lends credibility to the claims of the ancients that such a structure existed anciently between Earth and Saturn. While this recently discovered flux tube is barely perceptible on space probe photographs, Lynn E. Rose and others, believe that the world axis of antiquity was far more pronounced and striking. That conclusion led them to postulate an even more surprising possibility:
. . . tidal distortion [induced by the gravitational pull of both bodies upon one another] would have had an even greater effect on the atmosphere than on the lithosphere. I would not exclude the possibility that Earth's atmosphere was so stretched out toward Saturn [and vice versa] that the atmospheres of Earth and Saturn were virtually continuous. This suggests that the celestial "music of the spheres" could have traveled atmospherically all the way from Saturn to Earth. In that case "the Hearth of All" really was a crackling hearth. Thin or not, and stretched or not, the medium could have been air, and the sound could have been of the ordinary airborne sort; there is no need to look for anything esoteric. (Kronos, Vol. A, No. 1, pp. 39-40)
The total picture
When each of the individual parts or symbols of Saturn are assembled, they create a rather remarkable, but familiar, picture:
In the polar configuration ..... the ancients saw, at once, the cleft summit of the cosmic mountain, with the central sun standing between the peaks of the right and left; the cosmic bull supporting Saturn between its horns; Saturn's crescent - ship on the mountain top; the heaven-sustaining giant with outstretched arms; the winged god or goddess [or winged angel]; the plant of life; Saturn's turning sword; and the altar of the world. It was the relation of the Saturnian crescent to Saturn's period of brilliance which produced the original symbolism of the four directions and of "day and night. " (The Saturn Myth, p. 330)
These symbols can be seen in the art, architecture and writing of all ancient cultures... These many symbols gave rise to a complex symbolic language which may be especially useful in interpreting accounts of events and conditions... Though this concept of ancient Saturn may seem incredible, perhaps in looking further we will see how amply it explains scriptural accounts and prophetic utterances.
Ezekiel's vision
A short but graphic example of the imagery of the Saturn myths appears to be depicted in the cryptic language used by Ezekiel to describe his vision. In this vision the imagery of Saturn is overused, to the degree that it is highly symbolic, yet still certainly discernible for what it is:
And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. (Ezekiel 1:4)
The whirlwind in the north sounds strikingly like the vortex known as the Axis Mundi, the Pillar of Heaven; the great cloud may be Saturn itself. Ezekiel continued on to describe four creatures with four faces each with a different face:
As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. (Ezekiel 1:10)
Talbott noted:
By facing the four directions and by sending forth the four directional streams, the Universal Monarch becomes the god of four faces or four eyes.... The four eyes, or four faces, become intelligible only in connection with the five regions the polar center and the four divisions ranged around it. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 133-134)
Parallel accounts
These four faces also represent the four directions or four quarters of heaven and Earth... John the Revelator had a very similar vision to that of Ezekiel, wherein he recorded a description of the same four figures:
. . . and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him .... (Revelation 4:6-8)
Ezekiel's wheels
Ezekiel then introduced the imagery of the wheel in heaven, when he apparently wrote of the rings of Saturn. Note that in at least one verse the author or the translators properly employed the term "rings" rather than "wheels":
. . . and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. . . . As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful .... (Ezekiel 1:16, 18)
Naturally, in keeping with the crescent-wings imagery, they have wings, just as the "beasts" in John's vision:
And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other . . . And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. (Ezekiel 1:23-24)
Ezekiel also wrote of the throne in the firmament and its brightness which is implicitly Saturn. He ended his description by writing:
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness [the rings] round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. (Ezekiel 1:28)
So it is that the imagery of the Saturn traditions appears to illuminate some of the most enigmatic and mysterious passages in scripture. Ezekiel's vision is only one example of the use of mythical imagery in scripture...
And on the Earth
The presence of Saturn in the heavens-so close to the Earth and in such an unusual configuration- would have created conditions on the Earth that were unique. The oceans of the Earth would not have been exempt from the effects of Saturn's proximity. Instead of being distributed as they are today (mostly at the equator because of Earth's centrifugal force), the oceans of antiquity would have been held at the North Pole in one mighty "heap." The polar tide would not have been one of ebb and flow. It would have been permanent- held in place by the gravitational pull of Saturn.
Modern evidence of such an unusual condition can yet be found in the form of ancient shore lines that are two to three miles below present levels. That would suggest that the oceans were once much more shallow than they are today, as would be true if most of the water were held in a tidal bulge at the North Pole.
The corollary to shallow oceans is more dry land- enough, in fact, to create great land bridges between continents so that all the land was joined together... Continental drift is often cited as the mechanism for separating or joining continents. But the Saturn myths provide a new perspective of how continents may be joined or divided by simply changing the level of the oceans.
The dark side
One of the greatest fears of Medieval mariners was that they might sail too close to the edge of the world and therefore suffer death by falling off. Though their fears seem totally unfounded to us, one aspect of the proposed ancient Earth/Saturn configuration gives real meaning to such strange beliefs.
If Earth anciently enjoyed the glowing light from Saturn, it would have illuminated the northern hemisphere exclusively. That is, the southern hemisphere would have seen an ordinary daynight cycle, while the northern hemisphere would have been constantly bathed in light from Saturn. Thus the northern hemisphere would have come to be considered the "light side of the Earth" while the hemisphere "down under," or the "underworld," would have been considered the "dark" side. And, indeed, if such was the case, a line clearly and vividly demarcating the division between the light and dark halves of the Earth (what astronomy calls the "terminus" or "terminator") would certainly have been considered the "edge" of the Earth. Even after the disappearance of such a phenomenon, popular customs and traditions among an ignorant and superstitious people would surely preserve the idea of the Earth's "edge."
Such an "underworld" or dark side also serves to explain the persistent idea of Hell being a subterranean area located beneath the Earth. The distant or dark side would have seemed to be a very different world from the side lighted by Saturn. Naturally, mankind would have been very fearful of the place and superstitions would have abounded regarding its evil nature. Perhaps this accounts for the fact that nearly all ancient cultures flourished exclusively in the northern hemisphere. It also serves to explain the Earth and Counter Earth concept of Philolaos.
So the Saturnian configuration, as complex and incredible as it may seem, answers many questions and gives more plausible meaning to myths and legends-the records of antiquity.
After the Flood
Likely, the myths of mankind from ancient cultures the world over that tell of the birth of the great god in heaven originated in the first generation after the Flood. They universally speak of the "creation" of both god and the world out of the waters of "chaos." In mythology, god is said to have created everything out of his own body (as was noted earlier in this chapter). That is to say, the first descendants of Noah would have watched Saturn "emerge" or "rise" from the water congealed at the north pole-a remnant of the Flood- and form the rings, cross and pedestal that were to become familiar fixtures to subsequent generations.
The subject of the original creation legend is the formation of the great god's visible dwelling above. The legend records that when the creator rose from the cosmic sea a great band or revolving island congealed around the god as his home. The band appeared as a well-defined organized, and geometrically unified dwelling-a celestial "land" fashioned by the great father. All space outside this enclosure belonged to unorganized Chaos. (The Saturn Myth, p. 11)
...Although the Genesis account now seems to borrow heavily from mythological symbolism (which was probably introduced into the account at a much later date), the creation story of the Scriptures is substantially different from the creation myths of all other cultures. Among other things, in the Old Testament account, Adam is not portrayed as a super-human being-a god- Which IS how his counterparts are portrayed in the mythological creation epics.
The scriptural record indicates that the immediate descendants of Noah's sons disbelieved and distorted the accounts that Noah had struggled to preserve. The imposing and impressive presence of Saturn above Earth's pole would have presented a seductive substitute for the true God of the Patriarchs. Perhaps they believed that Saturn was that god, because Saturn's "creation" gave visual form to their accounts of the original creation. For example, the Egyptians called Saturn "Atum (Adam), the first man." In any case, it appears likely that they quickly and easily adapted the teachings of Noah and the antediluvian records to the worship of Saturn, then visually displayed in all its celestial glory. What few correct facts and principles were preserved by the idolatrous descendants of Noah were merged with the symbolism and worship of Saturn.
Though it appears that Saturn's emergence was, for them, the "creation," they still remembered the early traditions. For example, many ancient "creation'' accounts tell of people who lived before Adam (or the first man) was placed on the Earth-likely a reference to the antediluvian peoples. Even Genesis seems to make the same allusion, leading some to erroneously speculate that Adam was not the first man.
Though there may be many similarities between the myths of man and the accounts kept by the Prophets of God, the myths are only the remnants retained by apostate peoples. We find Talbott concluding that the ancient
. . . accounts speak of a creator, a first man, and a first king-all referring to the same cosmic figure. It is impossible to understand these accounts in any conventional sense because the ancient terminology carries meanings radically different from the modern. The legendary creator, first man, and first king was Saturn. (The Saturn Myth, p. 329)
Modern scholars (including many catastrophists like Talbott) make the mistake of lumping Hebrew history in with all the other ancient accounts because its traditions appear to make use of the symbolism of its idolatrous neighbors whose religion and traditions were based in Saturn worship. And it is true that the Israelites, for the most part, were as idolatrous as their neighbors at times wholeheartedly adopting foreign deities, with their names and rituals. Subsequently, one can see how as they transcribed and interpreted the sacred records, they took the time and trouble to "correct" them-to make them conform to their beliefs. Thus it may be (and it certainly appears so) that the records of the Israelites are tainted and corrupted with the myths of Saturn. Nevertheless, Hebrew history contains the most accurate account of man's earliest existence on the Earth-the era of the Patriarchs because it represents the only record of the antediluvian world, preserved by Noah who represented the only culture to survive the Flood!
The myths and legends of antiquity unanimously report a world where Saturn was born in heaven and reigned supreme. It may be that the ancient Saturn gave rise to most of the religions of the world, which gave rise to the myths and legends of man. With the understanding of ancient events, conditions and symbols provided by the catastrophists, we now proceed to examine the historical events depicted in the Scriptures.
"And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." Genesis 5:24