Ascending to the seven heavens was done by the Mesopotamian priest climbing the stairs of the ziggurat, which represented the seven planetary spheres. Writing in 1969 shortly before his death, Giorgio de Santillana with Hertha von Dechend wrote,
This world conception, however, with its three “domains,” with seven or nine skies, one above the other, and with corresponding “underworlds,” with the “world-pillar” running through the center of the whole system, crowned by the “north Nail,” or “World Nail” (Polaris), goes farther back than Indian and Iranian culture, namely to the most ancient Near East, whence India and Iran derived their idea of a “cosmos”–a cosmos being in itself by no means an obvious assumption. The shaman climbing the “stairs” or notches of his post or tree, pretending that his soul ascends at the same time to the highest sky, does the very same thing as the Mesopotamian priest did when mounting to the top of his seven-storied pyramid, the ziqqurat, representing the planetary spheres.
From the majestic temple at Borobudur in Java to the graceful stupas which dot the Indian landscape, stretches a schematized reminder of the seven heavens, the seven notches, the seven levels. Says Uno Holmberg: “This pattern of seven levels can hardly be imagined as the invention of Turko-Tatar populations. To the investigator, the origin of the Gods ruling those various levels is no mystery, for they point clearly to the planetary gods of Babylon, which already in their far-away point of origin, ruled over seven superposed starry circles.”1
Sources:
- de Santillana, Giorgio and Hertha von Dechend. “Shamans and Smiths“. Hamlet’s Mill. Phoenix and Turtle. 123. 9 September 2008.↩
Related posts
Tags: Giorgio de Santillana, Seven Heavens, Temple, Ziggurat
-
David Larsen
on January 6, 2009 at 1:34 pm
This is a great post, Greg. I never thought of the Ziggurat as representing the whole cosmos like that. But that is obvious that it would, as Solomon’s and other ancient temples were made to represent the cosmos/universe. We generally think of Solomon’s temple as being made up of three sections: the holy of holies, the holy place/hall, and the outer courts. The ancients saw the universe as being composed of three different sections like that. However, there is also usually the number 7 involved, as well. In fact, in Margaret Barker’s research, she says that the tabernacle/temple was made to represent the seven days of creation, with the holy of holies being Day One, the spiritual creation. Each section of the temple represents one creative “day”, moving outward from the holy of holies to the outer courts.
Thanks for this great insight! -
Greg
on January 6, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Hey, thanks for your comments David. In Hamlet’s Mill, de Santillana and von Dechend wrote about some fascinating connections between the temple and the cosmos. (In fact, I have sometimes thought that Dr. Nibley drew upon many of the concepts contained in that book. They are found interspersed throughout his writings!)
Thank you for pointing me in some new directions. I have not yet read anything by Margaret Barker, but her books are on my list. Reading your comment about “moving outward from the holy of holies” reminds me of the menorah and it’s seven candles or lights as portrayed in the book of Revelation.
Search
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link: http://www.believeallthings.com/316/seven-heavens/trackback/