PAGE DESCRIPTION
the symbolic
meaning of the sanctuary’s architectural components delineated from both universal and Mesoamerican perspectives DOME [see also space-time constructs and mandalas] omphalos / the cosmic egg Living Mound / cosmic turtle / Earth Turtle / Turtle Island (Native American) [space] dome of the universe, sky, cosmos / [time] Kalachakra, the Wheel of Time the Universal Spirit / anima mundi, the World Soul / global consciousnessCHAMBER the feminine cosmic center [counterpart to the PILLAR] the world Egg split in two [counterpart to the PILLAR'S SUMMIT as Vessel] the Heart of the Mountain [counterpart to the PILLAR as World Mountain] the Great Mother / the Earth-Sky Mother / Coatlicue - Tonantzin - Virgin de Guadelupe / Isis-Mary the underworld / cave-mouth / jaguar mouth / human skullthat which preserves the memories of the Earth / reservoir of spiritual and Earth-bound energy meeting place of the divine and the human / the heart as
initiatory center, the place for psychological internalization and
the process of individuation
CONNECTOR birth canal Xibalba Be (the road to the Underworld) Kuxan Sum (Living Cord), energy portals linking Earth realm to the Otherworld threshold, the separation between secular and sacred, worldly and otherworldly PLATFORM the cosmic throne / seat of a higher authority / dwelling place of manifest spirit the Universal Spirit altar / that which supports aspiration toward knowledge through mastery Throne-Stone as cosmic center [see also ORGANISM BODY]
ENTITY the Immortal Body, the Resurrected Body, the Divine Self / the Realized Self, the individuated Self / lapis exilis, the Philosopher's Stone / the Great Shape the incarnation of Amaru Uturuncu, the Serpent-Jaguar deity, daimon, and archetype Quetzalcoatl - Kulkulkan / the Lord of Life [time] Tzolkin, the Wheel of Time
ENTITY'S BODY [see also SERPENT PILLAR OR DUAL SERPENTS ENTWINED AROUND A STAFF (CADUCEUS) and as TETRAMORPHIC SERPENT PILLAR in Serpent-Jaguar symbolism] the manifest duality of life wound around an unifying central pillar Kundalini channel for the River of Immortality, for the passage of vital life energy travelling up and down the World Tree, the Blood Lightning (Koyopa, Malinalli)the architecture of the universe and its cyclic nature / the motion of life revolving round the world, the cosmic dance around a fixed center / the dynamic and the static the outstreched arms of the Realized Being [counterpart to the PILLAR's spinal column] / the 4 primary archetypes of the mature male psyche: Warrior, Lover, Magician, Kingthe double-headed serpent bar as the celestial Ecliptic [counterpart of the PILLAR's Milky Way] stability and groundedness as a four-directional construct the pyramid mountain / the Green Stone Place as bundle of stones representing living elemental energies, bundle of revolving time, and cosmic throne/center [see also PLATFORM]
AS DOUBLE SPIRAL the complementary movement of winding and unwiding, ascending and descending, centrifugal and centripetal, inbreathing and outbreathing, going out from and returning to the center, beginning and end the upward and inward spiritual path of transmutation (interiorization of Matter) entwined with the downward and outward physical path of manifestation (exteriorization of Spirit)
SERPENT GUARDIANS the 4 Pillars of the Cosmos / the 4 Chicchans, directional guardians of space-time, as Year Bearers [time] and Sky Bearers [space]the Guardian at the Gate / the guardian of the mystery AHAU, ancestor and lord / Tzolkin date 4AHAUthe Vision Serpent Eros-Thanatos, the life-force and the death-drive / a force too great to let unleashed on Earth
PILLAR the masculine cosmic center [counterpart to the CAVE-CHAMBER] the World Mountain [counterpart to the CAVE-CHAMBER as Heart of the Mountain] the World Pillar, the pillar that supports the world / the Cosmic Pillar, World Axis or Axis Mundi / the Tree of Life, the Tree of Knowledge, or Serpent Tree, the cosmic tree
the central unifying principle around which life is
organized / stability and continuity
the spinal column of the Realized Being [counterpart to the SERPENT BODY outstretched arms] / the Djed (obelisk), spine of the Resurrected Body the Milky Way [counterpart of the SERPENT BODY's Ecliptic]Raised-up Sky, the Maya world tree of Creation
CROWN the Great Mystery Source [space] and Origin [time], the temporal and spacial center / the cosmic center, Heart of Creation, infinite Point of Creation / the original unity of the quaternary cosmos the Life-bearing Center / the Vesica Pisces Vessel / apogenesis-genesis [time] the unformed, unmade, unborn, undifferentiated the Galactic Center [space] / the Dark Rift of the Milky Way and crossroad [crossing of the Milky Way—PILLAR—with the Ecliptic—SERPENT BODY] Long Count date 13.0.0.0.0 [time] / Tzolkin date 1AHAU / 4AHAU [time] the heart of the Realized Self [crossing of the PILLAR's spinal column and SERPENT BODY's outstretched arms] / human perfection soma, the nectar of immortality / the Vessel which holds the seeds of cyclical rebirth and of lost tradition the world Egg split in two [counterpart to the CAVE-CHAMBER]MAIN SOURCES
Jean Chevalier, Alain Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols J. C. Cooper, The illustrated Encyclopedia of Symbol John Major Jenkins, Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 John Major Jenkins, Galactic Alignment Estefan Lambert, The Solar Body ![]()
Caduceus, World Tree, Fountain of Life
raised at the desert heart of the world |