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Milk Hill (2): A Basket(ry) Case!
The fine crop circle at Milk Hill (2), near Stanton
St. Bernard, Wilshire, reported 5th August reminded me of the
first basketry weave crop circle at Bishops Cannings
reported August 6th, 1999. At the time it was astounding to
us who were observing these fantastic formations in the fields and,
although the farmer began harvesting The Basket almost
immediately after it was laid down, Bishops Cannings of 1999 was
certainly a milestone in the design aspect of crop circles.
“The Basket” at Bishops Cannings, August 6, 1999:
basketry as a new method of circle creation! A hint of circles to come?
(Photo Urich Kox) (Anderhub 94)
The basket and weaving themes also found in this Milk
Hill formation can give us some clues as to the message it carries.
Other concepts to integrate here are: the circle, the hexagram/six, the
centre/heart and the torus/swastika.
The whole image at Milk Hill (2) is contained within
the circle, a primary feminine sign, as opposed to the straight line; it
is associated with the idea of protected, consecrated space. In the
Hindu tradition the One is described as: “an unbroken circle with no
circumference, for it is nowhere and everywhere” (Walker).
1. 17th century mandala, Rajasthan –
symbol of cosmos in simultaneous evolution and dissolution. 2. Cosmic
mandala, Bhutan – primary movement of the universe.
Within the circle we see a six-armed rotating flower,
surrounded by a small basket weave circle with a centre circle embedded
in a hexagonal shape that extends into the flower shape. The hexagram,
two equilateral triangles intertwined so as to form the Seal of Solomon
that is implicitly defined by the hexagon, is a symbol of the
multiplicity of creation, with the seventh point being the centre. In
this paradigm we have the six days of creation and the final day of rest
as is stated in the Bible. The hexagram also defines the structure of
space with the directions: North, South, East, West, Above, and Below.
The centre of the hexagram unites all thus giving us a compact and
complete image of the Alpha/Omega relationship.
The hexagram represents the perpetual union of the
Masculine and Feminine Principles, and therefore, the maintenance of
life in the universe.
The Heart is associated with the Centre and the Sun,
and in this crop circle even the lay of the plants around the small
central circle suggests the Sun. “The heart is symbolized by the sun as
a centre of life and the rayed sun and radiant or flaming heart share
the same symbolism as centers of the macrocosm and microcosm, as the
heavens and man and as transcendent intelligence.” (Cooper 82) The heart
contains and moves our life-blood and is considered the unifying
life-principle by the Aztec. In Islam the heart is the spiritual centre,
the Centre of Being; in Hebrew it is the Temple of God; in Hindu, the
Divine Centre; in Buddhism, the essential nature of Buddha and in
Taoism, the seat of the understanding. (Cooper) The centre is truly
significant for this formation because of the suggestion of movement
around a centre, “for all centers are symbols of eternity, since time is
the motion of the periphery of the wheel of phenomena rotating around
the Aristotelian ‘unmoved mover’.”(Cirlot 142) So the heart, as centre,
becomes essential to unity of multiplicity in creation and life. It is
the symbol of the relationship dynamic we call love. As Cirlot points
out “the importance of love in the mystic doctrine of unity explains
how it is that love-symbolism came to be closely linked with
heart-symbolism, for to love is only to experience a force which urges
the lover towards a given centre.” (142)
Not only is the heart, as the centre point an anchor
for unifying the All, but it also functions as the mover of life-blood,
energy. The rotational aspect of the design at Milk Hill (2) is similar
to a swastika-like movement; the gradual expansion and then contraction
of the arms from the centre to the outside of the central design imply a
torus shape as well. Drunvalo Melchizedek speaks of the torus: “The
torus is literally around all life forms, all atoms, and all
cosmic bodies such as planets, stars, galaxies and so on. It is the
primary shape in existence.” (156) José Arguelles tells us about the
swastika: “The swastika is a fundamental symbol reflecting the unceasing
flow of phenomenal change. It portrays the generative feminine as a
totality of motion and energy. Like the continual emergence of
conditioned being from the cervix of the unborn, the swastika also is
generated from a central point which…extends uniformly in the four
cardinal directions.”(33) Implicit in this crop circle design are the
attributes and movements of all living beings and all cosmic bodies.
This is the amazing elegance of crop circle art! Through this one image
we are given a picture of the macrocosm and microcosm as One: One in All
and All as One. Within the Great Circle, each individual creature has a
direct resonance with the Source/Centre.
Each of our hearts is a torus, just as the
energies that create matter in the form of stars follow the path of a
torus. This is the POWER OF LOVE.
The Egyptian hieroglyph for basket symbolizes
“everything made divine, God and the Universe interfused in one single
being.” ( Mariette in Chevalier 70) It is also “An analogue for the
protective maternal body, associated with both birth and rebirth.” (Tresidder
20) The basket has a very specific and colourful role in ancient
stories. Very often it is the means by which heroes and divine children
are brought to safety to fulfill their destiny. Their destinies involved
world order actions, i.e. Moses led his people to freedom, Romulus and
Remus founded the great city of Rome, Sargon was regarded as the first
person in history to create a multiethnic, centrally ruled empire based
in the city Akkad. These and more heroic individuals were saved from
death by means of a simple basket-cradle.
Moses, Sargon, and Romulus & Remus were among the
many heroic figures who were saved by means of a floating basket.
The basket, as a woven and containing artifact, is
representative of the Goddess with her many names: Diana, Hecate, Isis,
Ceres, Plenty, Constancy, Fortune. Venus Genetrix, in this case could be
included because of the inference of fertility by association with the
six-point geometry, the cornucopia, and harvest offerings. It is easy to
imagine the heroes as being reborn from the Great Goddess via the
basket on the waters. The reborn, in turn, initiated new establishments
on the Earth.
Venus Genetrix seen between the two houses in
which she appears: Taurus at night and Libra at daybreak; Venus as the
six-sided star who precedes and follows.
In its association with the harvest basket offerings
and the cornucopia, the basket weave design adds the meaning of
fertility and an unsolicited profusion of gifts from the gods. The
cornucopia itself has both male and female attributes: the phallic horn,
and womb-like hollow.
Symbols of harvest, fertility, bounty of the Earth
and gods; Amalthea, a nymph who nourished Zeus from the cornucopia.
So, at Milk Hill the second time around, we find that
a universe (a united turning), is moved into life by a throbbing central
inner heart existing within each atom and life-form on Earth and in the
Cosmos. This formation is a perfect image for the expression of the One
in All and All in One; it is an image of both. The intricate basket
weave reinforces the idea that each and every individual in creation is
a part of the tapestry of life. The rotational movement of the
torus/swastika/flower reminds us of that constant creative heart energy
flowing through the Cosmos and beyond. The woven basketry effect
memorializes the stories of the rebirth and safekeeping of those who are
prepared to flow with the NEW.
And we cannot forget the fact that the crop circle
designs are fabricated with the very food we eat: “A sheaf of wheat or
corn is a well-known symbol of the fertility of the earth and of growth
and abundance. It represents the fruitful union of the sun and the
soil.” (Bruce-Mitford 71) The fields themselves are the baskets of
offerings we constantly receive from our Mother the Earth. What do we
offer in return?
Michelle Jennings
Sources:
Anderhub, W. & Hans Peter Roth. Crop Circles:
Exploring the Designs & Mysteries. Lark Books. New York. 2002.
Arguelles, José & Miriam. The Feminine: Spacious as
the Sky. Shambala Publications, Inc. Boulder. 1977.
Bruce-Mitford, Miranda. The Illustrated Book of Signs
& Symbols. Reader’s Digest. Montreal. 1996.
Chevalier, Jean & Alain Gheergrant. A Dictionary of
Symbols. Penguin Books. London. 1996.
Cirlot, J.E. A Dictionary of Symbols. Routledge &
Kegan Paul Ltd. London. 1971.
Cooper, J.C. An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of
Traditional Symbols. Thames & Hudson.London. 1978.
De Vries, Ad. Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery.North-Holland
Publishing Co. Amsterdam. 1974.
Encyclopédie des symboles. Michel Cazenave, rédacteur.
Le Livre de Poche. 1989.
Purce, Jill. The Mystic Spiral: Journey of the
Soul.Thames & Hudson. London. 1974. Sacred Symbols. Robert Adkinson, ed.
Abrams. New York. 2009.
Tresidder, Jack. Dictionary of Symbols: an
Illustrated guide to Traditional Images, Icons, and Emblems. Chronicles
Books. San Francisco. 1998.
Walker, Barbara. The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols &
Sacred Objects. Castle Books. Edison, NJ. 1988.
http://symboldictionary.net/?p=3299
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nb_(hieroglyph)
http://www.magic-point.org/Html/101.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_of_Akkad |
