The roots of sacred sex are ancient. Down through the centuries it has been practiced in many lands at many times, both openly and beneath the cloak of secrecy. Chroniclers who refer to the rites of sacred sex are often vague both as to the details involved and the rationale behind it all. Most seem in agreement that the motivation behind sacred sex was an attempt to somehow achieve union with the divine, or awaken within the participants a spark of the divine. Toward the Undivided - Sacred Sex
The Archetypal Mandala of the Star of David
by Margaret Starbird
The mandala of the hexagram, also known as the "Star of David" is much older than Judaism, older even than history! As an archetypal symbol for the sacred union of the opposite energies, it is the "yin-yang" of western civilization. Formed by the intertwining of the "fire" and "water" triangles (the male "blade" and the female "chalice") this symbiol represents the masculine and feminine principles in perfect union, the "sacred marriage" or "hieros gamous" of the ancient world. In India the symbol represents the "cosmic dance" of Shiva and Shakti, and the Jewish Kaballah suggests that the Ark of the Covenant contains, in addition to the tables of the Ten Commandments, "a regular hexagram representing a man and woman in intimate embrace,"
Since "Sacred Union" is the source of all life on this planet, the six-pointed star uniting the archetypal male and female triangles has long been acknowledged as the model for balance and wholeness. Medieval Alchemists called the Star the "Philosopher's stone," adding a tiny dot on the upper right hand point to represent the presence of God and guidance of the Divine Spirit. In 1986 during a period of intense revelation and enlightenment, I was given the symbol of the six-pointed star with a dove brooding over it, wings outstretched, as a powerful sign for the New Age dawning. The star represented the entire living cosmos--"male and female," "heaven and earth," "spirit and matter," "light and dark" and all living things--under the Dove of Peace, "with healing in her wings." For years, I couldn't really talk about this image, but finally wrote about the meaning of the Star in the final chapter of my book, THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER JAR, (Bear and Co, 1993). The Star of David appears on every page of that book as its guiding mandala, and the contents have been described by some readers as the "missing link" between Christianity and Juadism. That missing link is the "sacred marriage."
And now we discover that the Star of David will be weaving in and out of the heavens in the orbits of planets in our solar system over the next several weeks. As above, so below! This "gift" should be setting our hair on fire!! Some where, some how this blessing was set in motion at the beginning of time! And we have been given the "eyes to see!" ! This is an amazing "consciousness raising" event--like the birth of Miracle, the white buffalo calf or even the "Star of Bethlehem." The sign of the Star in the Heavens is a mighty clarion call to people everywhere!
I am spellbound when I contemplate the dates of the "conjunction" in the heavens. January 23rd--the "Birthday of the Trees" in Israel, "Nature's birthday" or the day when living things receive their "cosmic energy" is a beautiful reminder of the "sacred union" that is the source of life on the planet! And in February, what Feast is a more obvious reminder of "sacred union" than that of St. Valentine's Day? In the ancient world, the work of the Holy Spirit was known as "the net"--reflectng the belief that everything is interwoven and intermeshed!! The "synchronicity" of the Star rising in New York and Jerusalem at the same instant on the 23rd of January--at the FULL MOON--is too incredible for words!
The message of the Star of David in the heavens is undoubtedly "peace on earth." But it is more than that. It is a reminder that we are not alone--that we are part of a whole and that the Living Force of the Cosmos is with us. Equality, mutuality, community and wisdom are all summed up in this beautiful mandala whose ultimate archetypal meaning is "harmony in diversity." Its rising now to bless and enlighten us is truly a gift for all peoples!
The Archetypal Mandala of the Star of David
The mandala of the hexagram, also known as the "Star of David" is much older than Judaism, older even than history! As an archetypal symbol for the sacred union of the opposite energies, it is the "yin-yang" of western civilization. Formed by the intertwining of the "fire" and "water" triangles (the male "blade" and the female "chalice") this symbiol represents the masculine and feminine principles in perfect union, the "sacred marriage" or "hieros gamous" of the ancient world. In India the symbol represents the "cosmic dance" of Shiva and Shakti, and the Jewish Kaballah suggests that the Ark of the Covenant contains, in addition to the tables of the Ten Commandments, "a regular hexagram representing a man and woman in intimate embrace,"
Since "Sacred Union" is the source of all life on this planet, the six-pointed star uniting the archetypal male and female triangles has long been acknowledged as the model for balance and wholeness. Medieval Alchemists called the Star the "Philosopher's stone," adding a tiny dot on the upper right hand point to represent the presence of God and guidance of the Divine Spirit. In 1986 during a period of intense revelation and enlightenment, I was given the symbol of the six-pointed star with a dove brooding over it, wings outstretched, as a powerful sign for the New Age dawning. The star represented the entire living cosmos--"male and female," "heaven and earth," "spirit and matter," "light and dark" and all living things--under the Dove of Peace, "with healing in her wings." For years, I couldn't really talk about this image, but finally wrote about the meaning of the Star in the final chapter of my book, THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER JAR, (Bear and Co, 1993). The Star of David appears on every page of that book as its guiding mandala, and the contents have been described by some readers as the "missing link" between Christianity and Juadism. That missing link is the "sacred marriage."
And now we discover that the Star of David will be weaving in and out of the heavens in the orbits of planets in our solar system over the next several weeks. As above, so below! This "gift" should be setting our hair on fire!! Some where, some how this blessing was set in motion at the beginning of time! And we have been given the "eyes to see!" ! This is an amazing "consciousness raising" event--like the birth of Miracle, the white buffalo calf or even the "Star of Bethlehem." The sign of the Star in the Heavens is a mighty clarion call to people everywhere!
I am spellbound when I contemplate the dates of the "conjunction" in the heavens. January 23rd--the "Birthday of the Trees" in Israel, "Nature's birthday" or the day when living things receive their "cosmic energy" is a beautiful reminder of the "sacred union" that is the source of life on the planet! And in February, what Feast is a more obvious reminder of "sacred union" than that of St. Valentine's Day? In the ancient world, the work of the Holy Spirit was known as "the net"--reflectng the belief that everything is interwoven and intermeshed!! The "synchronicity" of the Star rising in New York and Jerusalem at the same instant on the 23rd of January--at the FULL MOON--is too incredible for words!
The message of the Star of David in the heavens is undoubtedly "peace on earth." But it is more than that. It is a reminder that we are not alone--that we are part of a whole and that the Living Force of the Cosmos is with us. Equality, mutuality, community and wisdom are all summed up in this beautiful mandala whose ultimate archetypal meaning is "harmony in diversity." Its rising now to bless and enlighten us is truly a gift for all peoples!
The Archetypal Mandala of the Star of David
MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Quote
"In ancient time, the Greek mathematician and astronomer Pythagoras speculated that the positions of the planets corresponded to the harmonic intervals of musical notes and that the planets vibrated as they were moved by the Prime Mover, thus producing musical tones as they moved through the heavens.
This theory - the Music of the Spheres - held sway for over a thousand years, before advances in science rendered such beliefs as nonsense. However, several recent scientific discoveries have, in fact, begun to lend some credence to old Pythagoras' insights.
For example, it has been determined that all things, both "living" (like bees who hum in B) cheer as well as inert, like seemingly lifeless rocks, produce vibrations that give off harmonic tones.
Using the most sensitive instrumentation, scientists have discovered that the celestial objects in the skies resonate at various tones. Not only planets and suns, but also even black holes, which have been found to "sing" at the lowest B-flat ever recorded - a full 57 octaves below middle-C on a piano. stars
As objects oscillate in seemingly empty space, they produce harmonics and overtones, which react with other planets, moons, and asteroids (and their notes) to PRODUCE CHORDS. Indeed, the universe is full of harmonies.
MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
"In ancient time, the Greek mathematician and astronomer Pythagoras speculated that the positions of the planets corresponded to the harmonic intervals of musical notes and that the planets vibrated as they were moved by the Prime Mover, thus producing musical tones as they moved through the heavens.
This theory - the Music of the Spheres - held sway for over a thousand years, before advances in science rendered such beliefs as nonsense. However, several recent scientific discoveries have, in fact, begun to lend some credence to old Pythagoras' insights.
For example, it has been determined that all things, both "living" (like bees who hum in B) cheer as well as inert, like seemingly lifeless rocks, produce vibrations that give off harmonic tones.
Using the most sensitive instrumentation, scientists have discovered that the celestial objects in the skies resonate at various tones. Not only planets and suns, but also even black holes, which have been found to "sing" at the lowest B-flat ever recorded - a full 57 octaves below middle-C on a piano. stars
As objects oscillate in seemingly empty space, they produce harmonics and overtones, which react with other planets, moons, and asteroids (and their notes) to PRODUCE CHORDS. Indeed, the universe is full of harmonies.
MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Creating a Scared Space
In a temple dedicated to the god Shiva, the sacred, inner sanctum is always simple.
Sacred Sex
What is Tantric Yoga?
A Jewish Connection to Taoism?
Alchemy: The Lost Science
Ashvamedha (or Horse Sacrifice)
Yoga Forums:
WHAT IS THE MIND PORTAL?
The Star of David is a diagram of the maithuna position of love making. The partners are facing each other, the man sitting with his legs crossed, the woman sitting on him with her legs around him. In this position there can be no higher or lower, no first and second, no beginning and no end.
Sacred Sexuality
The Star of David is a component in many yantras, as is the swastika. Both of these are ancient vedic symbols.
Yoga - Literally means 'link' or 'combination'. This word has broad implications and is used in many ways throughout the Vedas and within astrology. Primarily, the word yoga refers to the processes employed for reconnecting the soul with it's divine origins. For example, bhakti-yoga means to unite with God through devotion or bhakti.
The most auspicious and divine yantra, or pattern, is the pattern which is commonly known as the "Star of David" as it represents Radha and Krishna, the divine couple, the male and female counter-wholes of Supreme Divinity. The upwardsmpointing triangle represents Sri Radha and thus in astrology are called the "Laksmi Sthanas" or houses of the Goddess of fortune. The other triangle represents Sri Krishna. Meditating upon this star, properly drawn with other elements not mentioned here, increases one's mystic and devotional qualities and is therefore the central subject of the study of mystic devotion or Krishna Bhakti. Much of this science is revealed only after initiation under a real spiritual master who transforms the disciple both inwardly and externally. (Vedic Astrology)
Quotes which show (a) a historical connection between Kabalism & shivaism (tantrism, taoism) and (b) that the Song of Songs in the Bible is derived from the Sumerian "sacred marriage" ceremony, a fertility ritual in which the king beds a goddess.
How do YANTRAS work?
At the basis of YANTRA operation is something called "shape energy" or "form energy". The idea is that every shape emits a very specific frequency and energy pattern. Examples of old believes in shape energy are the YANTRAS and mandalas of eastern philosophies, the star of David, the five pointed star (pentagon), the Christian cross, the pyramids and so on. Certain 'powers' are ascribed to the various shapes. Some have 'evil' or negative energies and some 'good' or positive energies, but in YANTRA Yoga only the benefic and harmonious energies are used.
When one focuses on a YANTRA, his mind is automatically "tuned in" by RESONANCE into the specific form energy of that YANTRA. The process of RESONANCE is then maintained and amplified. The YANTRA acts only as a "tune in" mechanism or a doorway. The subtle energy does not come from the YANTRA itself, but from the MACROCOSM.
Basically YANTRAS are secret keys for establishing RESONANCE with the benefic energies of the MACROCOSM. Very often the YANTRAS can put us in contact with extremely elevated energies and entities, being of invaluable help on the spiritual path
A Jewish Connection to Taoism?
Alchemy: The Lost Science
Ashvamedha (or Horse Sacrifice)
Yoga Forums:
WHAT IS THE MIND PORTAL?
The Star of David is a diagram of the maithuna position of love making. The partners are facing each other, the man sitting with his legs crossed, the woman sitting on him with her legs around him. In this position there can be no higher or lower, no first and second, no beginning and no end.
Sacred Sexuality
The Star of David is a component in many yantras, as is the swastika. Both of these are ancient vedic symbols.
Yoga - Literally means 'link' or 'combination'. This word has broad implications and is used in many ways throughout the Vedas and within astrology. Primarily, the word yoga refers to the processes employed for reconnecting the soul with it's divine origins. For example, bhakti-yoga means to unite with God through devotion or bhakti.
The most auspicious and divine yantra, or pattern, is the pattern which is commonly known as the "Star of David" as it represents Radha and Krishna, the divine couple, the male and female counter-wholes of Supreme Divinity. The upwardsmpointing triangle represents Sri Radha and thus in astrology are called the "Laksmi Sthanas" or houses of the Goddess of fortune. The other triangle represents Sri Krishna. Meditating upon this star, properly drawn with other elements not mentioned here, increases one's mystic and devotional qualities and is therefore the central subject of the study of mystic devotion or Krishna Bhakti. Much of this science is revealed only after initiation under a real spiritual master who transforms the disciple both inwardly and externally. (Vedic Astrology)
Quotes which show (a) a historical connection between Kabalism & shivaism (tantrism, taoism) and (b) that the Song of Songs in the Bible is derived from the Sumerian "sacred marriage" ceremony, a fertility ritual in which the king beds a goddess.
How do YANTRAS work?
At the basis of YANTRA operation is something called "shape energy" or "form energy". The idea is that every shape emits a very specific frequency and energy pattern. Examples of old believes in shape energy are the YANTRAS and mandalas of eastern philosophies, the star of David, the five pointed star (pentagon), the Christian cross, the pyramids and so on. Certain 'powers' are ascribed to the various shapes. Some have 'evil' or negative energies and some 'good' or positive energies, but in YANTRA Yoga only the benefic and harmonious energies are used.
When one focuses on a YANTRA, his mind is automatically "tuned in" by RESONANCE into the specific form energy of that YANTRA. The process of RESONANCE is then maintained and amplified. The YANTRA acts only as a "tune in" mechanism or a doorway. The subtle energy does not come from the YANTRA itself, but from the MACROCOSM.
Basically YANTRAS are secret keys for establishing RESONANCE with the benefic energies of the MACROCOSM. Very often the YANTRAS can put us in contact with extremely elevated energies and entities, being of invaluable help on the spiritual path
Song of Solomon
The name of the book comes from the first verse, "The Song of songs, which is Solomon's."
"Song of songs" is a Hebrew grammatical construction denoting the superlative; that is, the title attests to the greatness of the song, similar to "the lord of lords", "the king of kings" or "holy of holies" (used of the inner sanctuary of the Jerusalem temple). Rabbi Akiba declared, "Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that the Song of Songs is holy. For the whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy and the Song of Songs is holy of holies." (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5). Similarly, Martin Luther called it das Hohelied (the high song).
Notes on Song of Solomon
The writer of this book claimed to be Solomon. Solomon wrote 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32), and this book appears to be one of them (cf. Pss. 72; 127). "Song of songs" means that this is a superlative song (cf. the terms "holy of holies," "vanity of vanities," or "King of kings"), not that it is one song made up of several other songs, which it is. The divine Author probably intended us to view this book as a
superlative song, the best song.
The Bible has much to say about marriage.
"But the Song of Songs is different. Here sex is for joy, for union, for relationship, for celebration. Its lyrics contain no aspirations to pregnancy, no anticipations of parenthood. The focus is not on progeny to assure the continuity of the line but on passion to express the commitment to covenant between husband and wife." (Hubbard, p. 268.)
Song of Solomon
Kiss me, make me drunk with your kisses!
Your sweet loving is better than wine.
Illustrations for the Song of Solomon
"Song of songs" is a Hebrew grammatical construction denoting the superlative; that is, the title attests to the greatness of the song, similar to "the lord of lords", "the king of kings" or "holy of holies" (used of the inner sanctuary of the Jerusalem temple). Rabbi Akiba declared, "Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that the Song of Songs is holy. For the whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy and the Song of Songs is holy of holies." (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5). Similarly, Martin Luther called it das Hohelied (the high song).
Notes on Song of Solomon
The writer of this book claimed to be Solomon. Solomon wrote 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32), and this book appears to be one of them (cf. Pss. 72; 127). "Song of songs" means that this is a superlative song (cf. the terms "holy of holies," "vanity of vanities," or "King of kings"), not that it is one song made up of several other songs, which it is. The divine Author probably intended us to view this book as a
superlative song, the best song.
The Bible has much to say about marriage.
"But the Song of Songs is different. Here sex is for joy, for union, for relationship, for celebration. Its lyrics contain no aspirations to pregnancy, no anticipations of parenthood. The focus is not on progeny to assure the continuity of the line but on passion to express the commitment to covenant between husband and wife." (Hubbard, p. 268.)
Song of Solomon
Kiss me, make me drunk with your kisses!
Your sweet loving is better than wine.
Illustrations for the Song of Solomon
The Cherubim as Graphic Images of God & His Wife
The Bible does not give us any physical descriptions of the Cherubim other than being winged. Yet here was one of Israel’s most significant symbols, depicting a male and a female (married) pair of deities. Raphael Patai has shown that the Cherubim of ancient Bible times, the winged human figures, were, at their last depiction, "a man and woman in sexual embrace." This is according to Rabh Qetina, from the late 3rd - 4th century:
When Israel used to make the pilgrimage, they [i.e., the priests] would roll up for them the Parokhet [the veil separating the Holy from the Holy of Holies], and show them the Cherubim which were intertwined with one another, and say to them: ‘Behold! your love before God is like the love of male and female!’
When Rabba bar Rabh Shila (an early 4th-century C.E. Babylonian Amora) reinterpreted the description of Solomon’s temple, especially at 1 Kings 7:36, where we read were decorated by engraved Cherubim, lions and palm trees, "according to the space of each, with wreaths," Patai noticed the words in the quotation marks twylw vya r[mk - "kmayar ish wyloyoth" are read by Rabba as "kyish hamyre byliwya (shelo)," that is the Cherubim were "Like a man intertwined with his wife."
Philo allegorized the cherubim as the revolving spheres of heaven (ouranou), with one cherubim symbolizing the outermost sphere of the fixed stars , the other the innermost sphere. Philo allegorized the flaming sword as the sun. He reads Exodus 25:19 ~ybrkh ynp wyhy trpkh la wyha la vya ~hynpw "The Cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover", as each representing two opposing spheres, "and so too, the hemispheres are opposite to each other and stretch out to the earth, the centre of all things, which actually parts them," (epeidh kai tauta antikru men estin allhlwn neneuke de epi ghn to meson tou pantos, w kai diakrinetai). For Philo, there were two spheres, one above and one below the earth. This is the cosmological dimension of putting man into the eternities.
Patai states further that Philo stated it was Reason the flaming sword symbolized; "elsewhere, however, he states that God the father is Reason, while Knowledge is God the mother, and these two aspects of the godhead are symbolized by the two Cherubim." The cherubim find their counterpart in the Assyrian sculptures, "which are often pictured in the act of fertilizing the sacred palm tree." In this respect, it is worth noting the tree birth in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo and the same in Buddhist scriptures as well as the Koranic Sura of Mary. "The mother stands beneath the tree (of life) clasping it to posses [sic] herself of its life-giving virtue which will enable her to bring to birth the ‘life’ of the world." Mary, as virgin, theotokos and the tree of life could not be kept out of the Christian consciousness, she eventually being identified with the tree, the "primal mater, materia," even being identified as the Cedar of Lebanon, the burning bush, as well as the Palm of Engedi. "she was the mirror image of the sinful mother Eva (Ave!) and as closely involved with the tree when Christ suffered on the tree..." It is of more than passing interest that Nephi in the Book of Mormon, also identifies the virgin as the tree in his vision of the birth of Christ! The Gnostics also understood this conception of Eve who becomes a tree to escape the evil sexual intentions of the evil Authorities. "The tree that she becomes is the tree of ‘Life.’"
Bible scholars Hugo Gressmann and Julian Morgenstern, on studying the Ark of the Covenant, conclude "originally there must have been two images in it, that of Yahweh and that of his wife Anathyahu, or Astarte." Another aspect is that the "two sacred stones in the Ark originally represented Yahweh and, in all likelihood, His female companion." Moshe Weinfeld says the marriage of the Most High with Israel represented the cosmic Hieros Gamos, demonstrated in Hosea 2:21-25, which also demonstrated marriage "as a source of harmony in the world below with the world above," as legitimate representation of the principle. Weinfeld reads Hosea 2:21 - ~lw[l yl $ytfraw - "I will betroth you to me forever," with the comment, "I will espouse you forever... then you shall know YHWH [as is well known, the verb yd’ in Hebrew can have the meaning of sexual relations]." This is crucial to a proper understanding of what is done on earth is done in heaven. Humans imitate the gods as they initiate fertility among themselves as well as an example for the land.
"The union of the Shekhinah with the Holy One is remarkable in the high priest’s worship on Yom Kippur. At his entrance to the Holy of Holies, he heard the voice of the wings of the cherubim being lifted up for intercourse. When the wings subside the cherubim copulate calmly (III 67b). The implications are obvious for ancient Israel. As their God was devoted to them as a nation through marriage, so likewise was He Himself married. Individual Israelite marriage mimicked their God’s marriage, as well as providing fertility to the land, as above, so below.
Louis Ginzberg noted the cherubim’s faces were turned toward each other when Israel was devoted to the Lord. He further noted the cherubim "even clasped one another like a loving couple. During the festivals of the pilgrimage the priests used to raise the curtain from the Holy of Holies to show the pilgrims how much their God loved them as they could see in the embrace of the two Cherubim." Gerschom Scholem, the great Jewish Kabbalistic scholar, reminds us that "What took place in this hieros gamos (zivvuga kadisha, as the Zohar calls it) was primarily the union of the two sefiroth, tif’ereth and malkhuth, the male and female aspects of God, the king and his consort, who is nothing other than the Shekhinah and the mystical Ecclesia of Israel." Scholem also notes that this mystical union between God and Israel, was for the Kabbalists the "merely outward aspect of a process that takes place within the secret inwardness of God himself."
This so-called "inwardness" is hinted at in the Talmud as the "earthly union between man and woman... was taken as a symbolic reference to the heavenly marriage." The Cherubim was that symbol of fertility for Israel, as we read in R. Eleazer’s Commentary on Sefer Yetzirah, "as the sexual union of man and [his] partner, which were in the temple, in order to increase fruitfulness in Israel." This idea of fruitfulness was actually begun with Adam and Eve, who were "intertwined in one another - as symbolized by the form of the cherubim."
Jewish sages and Rabbis use texts such as Midrash Tadshe, for explaining that the two Cherubim symbolize the two holy names, Tetragrammaton and Elohim, which in Talmudic tradition "quoted in the name of R. Katina envisaged these cherubim as male and female, sometimes found in sexual embrace..." Idel noted that R. Joseph Hamadan taught that the two cherubim symbolize the Sefirot Yesod and Malkhut, which are manifestly viewed as bridegroom and bride. Idel goes so far as to note that the function of the temple in ancient Israel was none other than to attract the Shekhinah to sit between the two cherubim. Such a perfect state of union, Idel demonstrates, was a sexual union, the purpose of which "is a function of performing the will of God; otherwise, they will be separated. I assume," says Idel, "however, that only when their union is induced by human activity can the Shekhinah descend upon the cherubim, just as it does with a worthy husband and wife." The Shekhinah is none other than the Holy Spirit, to which I will return below in the New Testament context of Jesus’ baptism.
The Archaeology of God: Scholarship, History, Myths and Legends The Restoration of God’s Eternal Family
When Israel used to make the pilgrimage, they [i.e., the priests] would roll up for them the Parokhet [the veil separating the Holy from the Holy of Holies], and show them the Cherubim which were intertwined with one another, and say to them: ‘Behold! your love before God is like the love of male and female!’
When Rabba bar Rabh Shila (an early 4th-century C.E. Babylonian Amora) reinterpreted the description of Solomon’s temple, especially at 1 Kings 7:36, where we read were decorated by engraved Cherubim, lions and palm trees, "according to the space of each, with wreaths," Patai noticed the words in the quotation marks twylw vya r[mk - "kmayar ish wyloyoth" are read by Rabba as "kyish hamyre byliwya (shelo)," that is the Cherubim were "Like a man intertwined with his wife."
Philo allegorized the cherubim as the revolving spheres of heaven (ouranou), with one cherubim symbolizing the outermost sphere of the fixed stars , the other the innermost sphere. Philo allegorized the flaming sword as the sun. He reads Exodus 25:19 ~ybrkh ynp wyhy trpkh la wyha la vya ~hynpw "The Cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover", as each representing two opposing spheres, "and so too, the hemispheres are opposite to each other and stretch out to the earth, the centre of all things, which actually parts them," (epeidh kai tauta antikru men estin allhlwn neneuke de epi ghn to meson tou pantos, w kai diakrinetai). For Philo, there were two spheres, one above and one below the earth. This is the cosmological dimension of putting man into the eternities.
Patai states further that Philo stated it was Reason the flaming sword symbolized; "elsewhere, however, he states that God the father is Reason, while Knowledge is God the mother, and these two aspects of the godhead are symbolized by the two Cherubim." The cherubim find their counterpart in the Assyrian sculptures, "which are often pictured in the act of fertilizing the sacred palm tree." In this respect, it is worth noting the tree birth in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo and the same in Buddhist scriptures as well as the Koranic Sura of Mary. "The mother stands beneath the tree (of life) clasping it to posses [sic] herself of its life-giving virtue which will enable her to bring to birth the ‘life’ of the world." Mary, as virgin, theotokos and the tree of life could not be kept out of the Christian consciousness, she eventually being identified with the tree, the "primal mater, materia," even being identified as the Cedar of Lebanon, the burning bush, as well as the Palm of Engedi. "she was the mirror image of the sinful mother Eva (Ave!) and as closely involved with the tree when Christ suffered on the tree..." It is of more than passing interest that Nephi in the Book of Mormon, also identifies the virgin as the tree in his vision of the birth of Christ! The Gnostics also understood this conception of Eve who becomes a tree to escape the evil sexual intentions of the evil Authorities. "The tree that she becomes is the tree of ‘Life.’"
Bible scholars Hugo Gressmann and Julian Morgenstern, on studying the Ark of the Covenant, conclude "originally there must have been two images in it, that of Yahweh and that of his wife Anathyahu, or Astarte." Another aspect is that the "two sacred stones in the Ark originally represented Yahweh and, in all likelihood, His female companion." Moshe Weinfeld says the marriage of the Most High with Israel represented the cosmic Hieros Gamos, demonstrated in Hosea 2:21-25, which also demonstrated marriage "as a source of harmony in the world below with the world above," as legitimate representation of the principle. Weinfeld reads Hosea 2:21 - ~lw[l yl $ytfraw - "I will betroth you to me forever," with the comment, "I will espouse you forever... then you shall know YHWH [as is well known, the verb yd’ in Hebrew can have the meaning of sexual relations]." This is crucial to a proper understanding of what is done on earth is done in heaven. Humans imitate the gods as they initiate fertility among themselves as well as an example for the land.
"The union of the Shekhinah with the Holy One is remarkable in the high priest’s worship on Yom Kippur. At his entrance to the Holy of Holies, he heard the voice of the wings of the cherubim being lifted up for intercourse. When the wings subside the cherubim copulate calmly (III 67b). The implications are obvious for ancient Israel. As their God was devoted to them as a nation through marriage, so likewise was He Himself married. Individual Israelite marriage mimicked their God’s marriage, as well as providing fertility to the land, as above, so below.
Louis Ginzberg noted the cherubim’s faces were turned toward each other when Israel was devoted to the Lord. He further noted the cherubim "even clasped one another like a loving couple. During the festivals of the pilgrimage the priests used to raise the curtain from the Holy of Holies to show the pilgrims how much their God loved them as they could see in the embrace of the two Cherubim." Gerschom Scholem, the great Jewish Kabbalistic scholar, reminds us that "What took place in this hieros gamos (zivvuga kadisha, as the Zohar calls it) was primarily the union of the two sefiroth, tif’ereth and malkhuth, the male and female aspects of God, the king and his consort, who is nothing other than the Shekhinah and the mystical Ecclesia of Israel." Scholem also notes that this mystical union between God and Israel, was for the Kabbalists the "merely outward aspect of a process that takes place within the secret inwardness of God himself."
This so-called "inwardness" is hinted at in the Talmud as the "earthly union between man and woman... was taken as a symbolic reference to the heavenly marriage." The Cherubim was that symbol of fertility for Israel, as we read in R. Eleazer’s Commentary on Sefer Yetzirah, "as the sexual union of man and [his] partner, which were in the temple, in order to increase fruitfulness in Israel." This idea of fruitfulness was actually begun with Adam and Eve, who were "intertwined in one another - as symbolized by the form of the cherubim."
Jewish sages and Rabbis use texts such as Midrash Tadshe, for explaining that the two Cherubim symbolize the two holy names, Tetragrammaton and Elohim, which in Talmudic tradition "quoted in the name of R. Katina envisaged these cherubim as male and female, sometimes found in sexual embrace..." Idel noted that R. Joseph Hamadan taught that the two cherubim symbolize the Sefirot Yesod and Malkhut, which are manifestly viewed as bridegroom and bride. Idel goes so far as to note that the function of the temple in ancient Israel was none other than to attract the Shekhinah to sit between the two cherubim. Such a perfect state of union, Idel demonstrates, was a sexual union, the purpose of which "is a function of performing the will of God; otherwise, they will be separated. I assume," says Idel, "however, that only when their union is induced by human activity can the Shekhinah descend upon the cherubim, just as it does with a worthy husband and wife." The Shekhinah is none other than the Holy Spirit, to which I will return below in the New Testament context of Jesus’ baptism.
The Archaeology of God: Scholarship, History, Myths and Legends The Restoration of God’s Eternal Family
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