Vajra: the Thunderbolt

image: The symbol of the Vajra (also called the Dorje in Tibet and Nepal), the thunderbolt of Indra. Wikimedia commons (link).

The previous post examined verses from the Shatapatha Brahmana, an ancient text from the Vedic period of India, to find clear evidence of the operation of the universal system of celestial metaphor which underlies and unites all of the world's sacred traditions -- or did, prior to the advent of aggressive literalism, primarily literalistic Christianity, which starting in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries AD set about reinterpreting the esoteric scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, declaring them to be literal instead of metaphorical, and then suppressing and eliminating the ancient esoteric wisdom that those celestial myths were intended to convey and exporting its specific brand of literalism to the rest of the world, starting in Europe and working its way out.

That this ancient system of celestial metaphor united virtually all of the world's sacred traditions is evident from the fact that the post examining the Vedic literature found numerous very distinct metaphorical and symbolic parallels to the sacred texts of ancient Egypt -- and previous posts have demonstrated that the same system was at work in the sacred mythologies of the ancient Greeks, the ancient Norse, the Indians of North America, among the sacred myths of Japan, and even (in fact, especially) among the stories in the Old Testament (see here [towards the bottom of that post, where it discusses Sarai/Sarah] and here and here, for instance) and the New Testament (see here and here, for instance). 

Abundant evidence can be found in the myths and sacred traditions of other cultures around the world, including from the ancient Sumerians, the Maori of New Zealand, the people of Australia and Africa, the civilizations of Central America, and from China and other parts of Asia.

As the previous post pointed out, the staggering dispersal of this common system of celestial metaphor argues strongly for the existence of some predecessor civilization, which somehow bequeathed this system to all humanity. There are too many common elements to argue that all the same metaphors somehow sprang up independently, and the cultures are so widely dispersed both in space and time that it is difficult to argue that the system spread from one culture to another (although that is another possible explanation).

Thus, the Vedic myths and symbols discussed previously, and their celestial-metaphorical connections, have tremendous import for our view of human history, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. The content of what they are teaching has tremendous import for each and every one of us, even beyond what they teach us about the ancient history of the human race.

Because the fact that all these sacred texts in general embody celestial, zodiacal metaphors and the fact that the Vishnu / Dadhyank / Osiris myths specifically embody the metaphor of the human body "cast down" horizontally and then "stood back up" vertically were intended to point us to liberating truths about our human condition, and especially about our individual power to transcend the "theater" of reality that we believe we are bound by, and to create new realities. This is the message of all of the "star myths" of the world -- including, I would argue, the star myths in the Bible.

We saw in the previous post about Vishnu, the Ashvins, and Dadhyank that the metaphors in the Vedic text itself clearly reference specific points around the zodiac wheel, that wheel of constellations through which the sun appears to travel throughout the year, based upon the earth's annual orbit (for a visual explanation of how the sun "appears to travel" through the zodiac, and the connection of that travel to some of the most important ancient mythologies of the world, see this YouTube video which I made a couple years ago). 

Most especially, the text cited contained metaphors which pointed to the "vertical column" that runs from the bottom of the zodiac wheel to the top: the "pole" which connects the winter solstice (at the very "bottom of the year") to the summer solstice (at the "top of the year"). References in the Vedic text to this vertical line between the solstices include the reference to the Ashvins (who are associated with the Twins of Gemini, at the top of the year), to the horse's head (associated with Sagittarius), to a bow and arrows (also associated with Sagittarius), to ants (possibly also associated with Sagittarius, if my argument that these ants are akin to the locusts that are another symbol used in ancient myth to reference the stars of Sagittarius), and indirectly to the weapon called the Vajra, which other Vedic texts tell us was made from the bones of Dadhyank and which I believe can be shown to be akin to the Djed column of ancient Egypt.

The Vajra, and its origin, is discussed in more detail in another ancient Vedic text, the Rig Veda (Book I of which can be read online in an English translation by Ralph T. H. Griffith, first published in 1896). There,  beginning in Rig Veda 1.84.13, we read that the weapon of Indra, which is Vajra the thunderbolt, is made from the bones of Dadhyank (whose name is also rendered as Dadhyach, Dadhyanc, and even Dadhichi and Dadheech):

13 With bones of Dadhyach for his arms, Indra, resistless in attack,

Struck nine-and-ninety Vrtras dead.

14 He, searching for the horse's head, removed among the mountains, found

At Saryanavan what he sought.

15 Then verily they recongnized the essential form of Tvastar's Bull,

Here in the mansion of the Moon.

16 Who yokes to-day unto the pole of Order the strong and passionate steers of checkless spirit,

With shaft-armed mouths, heart-piercing, health bestowing?

Long shall he live who richly pays their service.

The Vajra in these verses is directly associated with the horse's head of Dadhyank which we discussed in the previous post -- and since the Vajra originates from the bones of that horse-headed Dadhyank we can see from the above zodiac-wheel diagram that it may well be associated with the vertical pole running from solstice to solstice. This vertical pole, as has been demonstrated previously, the ancient Egyptians symbolized as the Djed column (also called the Tat column by earlier scholars), the "backbone of Osiris." 

And there are other reasons to believe that the Vajra is associated with this vertical pillar and with the Djed column.  For one thing, the Vajra as it is traditionally depicted (and it is still a vital and central symbol used in Hinduism and Buddhism to this day) resembles the Djed column, and it is usually depicted either horizontally (as in the image above, of a Vajra in Nepal, where it is usually called a Dorje) or vertically (as in the image below, of Indra holding a Vajra in his right hand while seated at the top of a column or pillar, from a relief in Cambodia):

Another clue is the fact that the Vajra is quite often "doubled" into the form of a "crossed Vajra," which obviously parallels the Djed-column of Egypt, which was depicted as being both the horizontal or "cast down" and then triumphantly "raised up." As such, the Vajra is emblematic of the two parts of human nature: the horizontal or "animal" aspect of our incarnation and our often-forgotten "spiritual" side, which we must "raise up" like the vertical Djed-column or Vajra, in order to transcend this physical vehicle (see the quotation from pages 414-415 of Alvin Boyd Kuhn's Lost Light in this previous post, in which he declares that "the cross is but the badge of our incarnation, the axial crossing of soul and body, consciousness and substance, in one organic unity. An animal nature that walked horizontally to the earth, and a divine nature that walked upright crossed their lines of force and consciousness in the same organism").

The association of the cross with the Djed column in Egypt is quite explicitly established in the famous and important image of the Ankh-cross upon a Djed column from the Book of the Dead of Ani, shown below:

The fact that the Vajra is fashioned from the bones of Dadhyank is another connection between the Vajra and the Djed column (which represents the backbone of Osiris, and can be seen to have symbolically vertebral sections in the image above from the Ani Papyrus, which is typical of the Djed-column imagery in ancient Egyptian art).

Note also the curious fact that the name of the being whose bones furnish the Vajra (that is to say, Dadhyank) contains the word "Ankh" itself! I do not believe for an instant that this is a coincidence. The linguistic unit "Ankh" is incredibly important, and is found throughout the world, always signifying anointing (a word which itself is linguistically related to the word "Ankh," as Alvin Boyd Kuhn demonstrates). It is found at Angkor Wat, and Angola, and in the tribe of the Anglo-Saxons, and in the English word "king."

In Lost Light, Alvin Boyd Kuhn writes of this linguistic unit: 

The etymology of the word sheds much light upon this whole confused matter. The "oint" portion of it is of course the French softening of the Latin "unct" stem; and this, whether philologists have yet discovered the connection or not, is derived from that mighty symbol of mingled divinity and humanity of ancient Egypt -- the A N K H cross. The word Ankh, meaning love, life and tie, or life as the result of tying together by attraction or love the two nodes of life's polarity, spirit and matter, suggests always and fundamentally the incarnation. For this is the "ankh-ing" of the two poles of being everywhere basic to life. The "unction" of the sacrament is really just the "junction" of the two life energies, with the "j" left off the word. Therefore the "anointing" is the pouring of the "oil of gladness," the spiritual nature, upon the mortal nature of living man. 186-187.

In a different work, entitled The Esoteric Structure of the Alphabet and Its Hidden Mystical Language, Kuhn continues along this same theme, declaring that the same root is responsible for "Our most common word, thing" which "likewise comes from A N K H, as a thing is that which is created by the union of spirit and matter, a divine conception and atomic substance" (9). So does the word "to know, in Greek gnosco, German kennen, English ken. What constitutes the knowing act? The joining together of two things, consciousness and an object of consciousness" (9). Even the word join and all its relatives (such as junction, juncture, and adjunct) Kuhn shows to be related to this ancient Egyptian cross (in which two natures are joined), whose sounds "n" and "k" are clearly seen therein. 

Kuhn goes on: "With even the N dropping out we have yoke, that which ties two oxen together. And in Sanskrit it comes out as yoga, which in reality stands for yonga, meaning union" (9).

These are amazing connections indeed! And they are supported by the fact that the Vajra in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Tantric science carries all these connotations. Its connection to the backbone of Osiris (the Djed) and to the Ankh (clearly expressed by its arising from the bones of Dadhyank) indicate that Kuhn is correct when he associates the root of the word Ankh with the root of the word yoga, which involves the raising of the life force along the chakra system and the spine.

In fact, I would point out that the passage cited above from the Rig Veda clearly seems to support Kuhn's assertion that the word "yoke" is related to this concept as well: note that in verse 16 of Hymn 84 we are told in association with the discussion of the thunderbolt weapon that Indra "yokes today unto the pole of Order the strong and passionate steers of checkless spirit." The metaphor is a powerful one. If we reside only at the level of literalism, we will assume that the verse is telling us about a god who hitches up some divine oxen of some sort to draw his vehicle through the sky. But on an esoteric level, this verse (uttered in a passage that deals with the thunderbolt Vajra, which we have now established to be related to the concepts symbolized in the Ankh and the Djed) tells us that it is the spirit side of the human equation (the divine spark, buried in the matter of incarnation) which must be the driver which will guide the brute nature of the body (allegorized as "the strong and passionate steers") into the upward direction of transcendence.

This spark then, this divine current running through the human animal, is in fact what is meant by the thunderbolt! The thunderbolt of Vajra is a weapon for slaying demons when it appears in the allegorical metaphorical myth-stories, but the clear identification of the Vajra with the "vertical" component of the human being teaches us that by the thunderbolt, the esoteric myths are referring to our divine indwelling spiritual force! That, and no other, is the "weapon" by which we will triumph in this underworld of incarnate existence.

Notice that we have now intimately linked the human body (with its indwelling divine fire) and the celestial realms represented by the zodiac wheel, whose equinoxes and solstices are the markers which yield to us the "cross" of the horizontal corpse or mummy and the vertical triumphant "raised mummy" or "raised Djed-column" or "standing-up Osiris" or Vajra column. All the myths do this. They conflate the microcosm of the incarnate human being with the macrocosm of the infinite universe and its stars and planets.

And here we will pause this examination, which could go on and on and on, with the final crucially important observation that it is with this metaphor that the ancient teachers intended to tell us that we are not ultimately limited or bound by the apparent limitations of what we usually see as "reality." The material pattern -- the lower half of the zodiac wheel through which we toil in this incarnation -- is merely the projection and reflection of the spiritual upper half. It is spirit which is ultimately superior and transcendent -- not matter. It is the vertical pillar that rises victorious, where previously there was only the horizontal, cast-down corpse.

This final observation ties us directly back to the previous essay reflecting on the paradigm-shattering speech given by Jon Rappoport at the Secret Space Program conference in San Mateo at the end of June of this year. Armed with the "thunderbolt" of the indwelling divine spirit, we can actually break free of the imprisoning "realities" which other people (sometimes well-intentioned, and often-times not well-intentioned) forge for us and ask us to conform to and dwell within.

The message of all the ancient scriptures is not a message of imprisonment (although they are often seen that way: "do this; don't do this"). Their message was intended to be one of liberation, inviting us to reject false realities and constructs and act "in God's image" to create realities ourselves. There are people who know that this is the true message of the esoteric teachings, and who are using those powers to forge binding artificial realities through which they can control and oppress and enslave other human beings.

The orangutans in the original 1968 Planet of the Apes are a perfect example of this class of "custodians of the official, sanctioned (and false) reality." It stands to reason that those who are busy creating reality with a mind to enslaving others would not want the rest of the men and women on the planet to wake up to their own power to reject the false limitations of the imposed realities and to create their own, more positive reality.

They do not want the men and women of the world to know that they each contain a thunderbolt, and they do not want them to individually set about raising their own internal Djed-column, or Ankh, or Vajra.

Thus, it stands to reason that they do not want the world to know that this truth is what the ancient scriptures are really all about.

Galileo Galilei

February 15 is the birthday of Galileo Galilei -- born this day in Pisa, Italy in 1564, four hundred fifty orbits of the earth around the sun ago.  Special thanks to my very good friend J. Y., originally of N. Z., for reminding me of this very important anniversary of Galileo's birth, and sending along this link to the Galileo birthday writeup in the Sydney Morning Herald by past President of the Astronomical Society of Victoria, Perry Vlahos.

Galileo, of course, was possessed of a tremendously curious and incisive mind, and a crucially important figure in the history of physics, astronomy, and science in general.  Perhaps one of the most important paradigm shifts he introduced, and the one which had the most profound impact upon the world, was his almost single-handed invention of the scientific method: the concept of using experiments and allowing the evidence to suggest the hypotheses and theories that explains the evidence, in marked contrast to the methods in use for centuries previous.

As Professors Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner explain in their outstanding investigation of quantum physics entitled Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness, Galileo pioneered a new approach that propelled human investigation forward in a way that had not been possible previously, when theories were deemed acceptable or not based on religious dogma:

The Church had to stop Galileo's call for independent thought. [ . . .] Found guilty of heresy by the Holy Inquisition, and given a tour of the torture chambers, Galileo recanted his claim of a sun-orbiting Earth.  For his last years, Galileo lived under house arrest -- a lesser penalty than that of another Copernican, Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake.
[. . .]
Galileo's ideas were obvious -- to him.   How could he convince others?  Rejecting Aristotle's teaching on the motion of matter was not a minor issue.  Aristotle's philosophy was an all-encompassing, Church-enshrined worldview.  Reject a part, and you appear to reject it all.

To compel agreement with his ideas, Galileo needed examples that conflicted with Aristotle's mechanics, but examples that conformed to his own ideas.  Looking around, he could see few such cases.  His solution: create them!

Galileo would contrive special clear-cut situations: "experiments."  An experiment tests a theoretical prediction.  This may seem an obvious approach, but in that day it was an original and profound idea.
[. . .]
Some faulted Galileo's experimental method.  Though the displayed facts could not be denied, Galileo's demonstrations were "merely contrived situations."  They could be ignored because they conflicted with the intuitively obvious nature of matter.  Moreover, Galileo's ideas had to be wrong because they conflicted with Aristotelian philosophy. 

Galileo had a far-reaching answer: Science should deal only with those matters that can be demonstrated.  Intuition and authority have no standing in science.  The only criterion for judgment in science is experimental demonstration.

Within a few decades, Galileo's approach was accepted with a vengeance.  Science progressed with a vigor never before seen.  25-26.

The authors go on to demonstrate that the results of the foundational experiments of quantum physics, while clearly going against "the intuitively obvious nature of matter" as well as the received wisdom and apparent "authority" of the classical physics that preceded them, create a paradigm shift as fundamental as that which Galileo and his successors accomplished in their day.

While quantum physics is now generally accepted, there are many other areas in which received wisdom and the reigning "authority" continues to try to trump the evidence, or even to suppress the evidence, in order to try to prevent the acceptance of paradigm-shifting new perspectives.  Because of this, the spirit of Galileo will always be necessary to enable mankind to honestly search for the truth, and to face the implications of the results of the evidence, no matter what that evidence appears to tell us.

-----------


Previous posts mentioning Galileo:

• "There is no such thing as quasi-crystals, only quasi-scientists"
• "How did the Maori know Saturn has rings?"
• "Copernicus, Proclus, and the lost knowledge of the ancients"
• "Who's unscientific? Vicious critics of Jenny McCarthy and her new role as co-host of The View"

It might also be pointed out that without Galileo, there would probably have been no Sherlock Holmes and his version of the "scientific method," and without Sherlock Holmes, there would probably have been no Scooby Doo.

As the above-linked previous blog posts point out, there are many in the "establishment" today who like to invoke Galileo as a way of stifling the very kind of evidence-based dissent that Galileo stood for.    On the four hundred fiftieth anniversary of his birth, it is a good time to consider the spirit of following the evidence, rather than the dictums of the "authority" figures who want to quell dissent by their insistence that the matter is already "settled."

Light-harvesting plants, quantum physics, and consciousness

How do plants turn sunlight into energy?  The question is incredibly important: just about every form of life on earth, and certainly the life of every human being, depends upon their ability to do it. Even if you do not choose to eat a strictly plant-based diet (and here are a number of reasons from the ancient philosopher Plutarch to choose a plant-based diet, and here are some more from the ancient poet Ovid), every animal (or fish) that you choose to consume for food depends (at some point in its food chain) on the ability of plants to turn sunlight into energy.

Recently, Edward J. O'Reilly and Alexandra Olaya-Castro of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London published a scientific paper discussing their research into the transformation of light into energy by plants.  Why might professors from a department of physics and astronomy be interested in such a subject?  Because these professors are interested in the intersection of quantum physics and biomolecular processes, and because evidence suggests that plants' ability to transform light into energy involves quantum phenomena!

Entitled "Non-classicality of the molecular vibrations assisting exciton energy transfer at room temperature," the article published in Nature Communications on January 09, 2014, concludes that studies conducted on cyanobacteria, cryptophyte algae, and higher plants reveal that "light harvesting" complexes inside plants, algae and cyanobacteria utilize a form of vibrational energy transfer that involve quantum behavior (Nat. Commun. 5:3012.  doi: 10.1038/ncomms 4012 (2014)).  While it sounds as though scientists are still investigating the exact role these "non-trivial" quantum phenomena play in the process, the research presented by Drs. O'Reilly and Olaya-Castro suggests that these non-classical vibrations enhance the efficiency of the light collection and energy transfer that takes place during this critical photosynthetic transformation upon which just about all life on earth depends.

The term "non-classical" refers to the fact that evidence from experiments conducted as early as 1800 had started to reveal fundamental flaws in "classical physics" (also known as "classical mechanics" or "Newtonian physics").  By the early decades of the twentieth century, enough evidence had accumulated to cause some physicists to realize that an entirely new form of physics was necessary to explain the evidence: the theory that began to take shape to explain these often-bizarre experimental results is now called "quantum theory" or "quantum physics" or "quantum mechanics."

In their outstanding book Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness (Second Edition), Professors Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner of the University of California at Santa Cruz provide what they call a "rough summary" of quantum theory:

Quantum theory tells that the observation of an object can instantaneously influence the behavior of another greatly distant object -- even if no physical force connects the two.  These are the influences Einstein rejected as "spooky actions," but they have now been demonstrated to exist.  Quantum theory also tells us that an object can be in two places at the same time.  Its existence at the particular place where it happens to be found becomes an actuality only upon its observation.  Quantum theory thus denies the existence of a physically real world independent of its observation.  7.

These assertions are more than startling -- they are actually staggering in their implications. Interested readers are urged to obtain Quantum Enigma to explore the subject in greater depth.

In terms of the light-harvesting complexes in plants (and algae and bacteria), the recent paper first provides evidence to rule out classical explanations for the vibrational behavior observed, and then discusses evidence that the non-classical vibrations assist in efficient energy transfer.  They demonstrate that the vibrations of the excitons involved in the light-harvesting process demonstrate superposition: that is to say, the vibration of the excitons demonstrates non-classicality in that particles enter a state in which they exist on different levels of vibration simultaneously.  Or, as the authors of the new report put it: 

[. . .] at times when Q(t) is negative -- that is, t=0.2ps -- the regularized quasi-probability solution P_w(α) at this time exhibits negatives, which rules out any classical description of the same phenomena.  [. . .]  In short, non-classicality of the collective mode quasi-resonant with the excitonic transition arises through the transient formation of exciton-vibration states.

(That certainly sheds some light on the subject!)

More discussion of the quantum aspects of this vital biological process can be found on this page of University College London's Department of Physics and Astronomy website.

As stated previously, the implications of quantum physics upon our entire understanding of the universe are profound and staggering.  At a very fundamental level, quantum theory appears to undermine the "ideology of materialism" that informs almost everything students are taught in most school classrooms, from kindergarten through graduate school.  One way of interpreting the final sentence in the Rosenblum and Kuttner quotation above (in which they declare that "Quantum theory thus denies the existence of a physically real world independent of its observation") is by concluding that the universe (in some way) arises from consciousness, rather than the conventionally-taught materialist position which basically declares that consciousness arises from the universe (that our consciousness is dependent upon the physical structures of our brains, for example).

The fact that plants appear to be exhibiting quantum behavior on a very fundamental level -- that in fact their very survival is dependent upon quantum behavior, and thus that our very survival is dependent upon quantum behavior -- adds a whole new layer of profundity to the staggering implications of quantum theory.  

We have already seen (from the Rosenblum and Kuttner quotation above, and more evidence is presented in their book) that quantum physics relates very intimately to the question of consciousness -- that quantum phenomena in some sense depend upon consciousness.  The fact that plants appear to depend upon quantum phenomena is thus especially intriguing, given the fact that plants are directly involved in most of the methods of altering human consciousness (from the fruit of the vine, to the fermentation of beer, to coffee, tea, and more powerful plants such as ganja, opium, peyote or ayahuasca).

The new research presented by Drs. O'Reilly and Olaya-Castro clearly has enormous implications. They should be commended for their work, and encouraged to continue to explore the ways in which plants and other life forms use and depend upon quantum phenomena.

More on macrocosm and microcosm

The previous post discusses the interaction and interconnectedness of the macrocosm of heaven-and-earth, and the microcosm of the human body -- and the evidence that the ancients understood this interrelatedness and attached great importance to it.

As some readers may harbor some doubts regarding the reality of this harmony between the cosmos without and the cosmos within, here is a passage from a book by a master and teacher of esoteric Taoism, Mantak Chia (here's his website).  It comes from page 154 of his 2001 book Cosmic Healing II: Taoist Cosmology and Universal Healing Connections (with co-author Dirk Oellibrandt).  Under a series of diagrams illustrating the similarities of the structure and motion of our solar system to the structure and motion of atoms, molecules, and the double-helix of the DNA molecule (which you can see by beginning on page 149 in the book and then reading forward while looking at the diagrams, following this link) he writes:

 If we look at the paths the sun and the planets are making, as they move around the center of the Milky Way, we observe a very interesting spiral structure.  Because of the increasing rotation of the planets as we move outward through the solar system, the spiral structure becomes larger from Mercury to Pluto (rotation time for Mercury: 88 days, Pluto: 90,465 days).

The long stretched spiral shows a similarity to a DNA structure.  These structures belong to the most fundamental building blocks of the body cells and also contain a complicated transmitter and receiver system that pick up the continuous changes in the solar system, the Milky Way and the vibrational world.

If we compare the form of the spiraling Milky Way and DNA seen below, the shape becomes even more similar.

[. . .]  There's a striking relationship between the I Ching and the genetic structure, with the number 64 as the central aspect, illustrating the relationship between spiritual laws and genetic structure.

The diagram on page 152 of that book illustrates the double helix arising from the spiraling motion of the planets (again, it is worth visiting the book to see that).  The animation in the video above conveys the same message.  The connection between the macrocosm and the microcosm is powerfully evident.

In the passage above, Mantak Chia also points out the fact that the "four-letter alphabet" of the genetic code  arranged into triplets of three can create a total of 64 different triplets (called "codons").  He notes that this fact parallels the I Ching, which has 64 hexagrams (which are actually sets of six, and thus double the triplets of the genetic structure, while using an "alphabet" of only two possible "letters," which halves that of the genetic alphabet of four bases).  The 64 codons of the genetic material that make up all known living organisms are visually shown on this web page, particularly in Figure 2.

This harmony between the most cutting-edge field of medical research today (genetics) and the most ancient of the classic sacred texts of China is indeed striking. We have seen in previous posts that ancient wisdom that was once known in Egypt appears to have survived in China and other points east, while being forgotten or forced "underground" elsewhere.

It is also striking that the double-helix structure of DNA (only discovered by "modern" science in the 1960s) is prefigured in the caduceus symbol of Hermes (Mercury, Thoth), the ancient god who gave letters to mankind.  This symbol is of course associated with medicine and thus with the human body as well (the microcosm), while also being associated with the speeding planet closest to the sun (and the one which traces out a double helix most clearly if you watch the animation in the video above carefully several times).

You can also see a sort of double helix traced out by the graceful motion of the sun arcing sinuously above and below the celestial equator in the video embedded in this website and discussed in this previous blog post -- yet another connection between the macrocosm of the earth-and-heavens and the structure inside our cells that makes us who we are.

These are just a few examples which support the understanding of a powerful connection between the heavens and the "microcosm" of the human frame.  The question remains, "How did the ancients know so much about this?" 

A better emergency solar still?

Last year, I wrote a couple of posts about "Books that influenced me growing up."  

One of the books discussed was a copy of a US Air Force survival manual that my Dad bought for me at the Redwood Trading Post and which became one of my favorite books to browse, skipping around from one climatic region to another (it was organized by climatic regions, with sections on specific survival considerations for "moist tropics," "deserts," "on sea ice," and so forth).

Like many survival books, that Air Force manual contained a discussion of the design of a "solar still" for obtaining water in a survival situation.  I would later receive training on the construction of just such a solar still during the desert phase of the US Army's Ranger School (apparently the desert phase has since been discontinued).

The Air Force manual describes the construction of the solar still as follows (as we will see, there are some improvements that can be made to this technique, but the directions below give a good overview of the general concept and contain a few good tips):

A solar still can be made from a sheet of clear plastic stretched over a hole in the ground.  Whatever moisture is in the soil plus that from plant parts (fleshy stems and leaves) when they are used as a supplementary source, will be extracted and collected by this emergency device.  Obviously, where the soil is extremely dry and no fleshy plants are available, little, if any, water can be obtained from the still.  However, in such situations, the still can be used to purify polluted water such as body wastes.  The parts for the still are a piece of plastic film about six feet square, a water collector-container or any waterproof material from which a collector-container can be fashioned, and a piece of plastic tubing about 1/4 inch in diameter and 4 to 6 feet long.  The tubing is not essential, but makes the still easier to use. 

A container can be made from such material as plastic, aluminum foil, poncho, emergency ration tins, or a flight helmet.  The tubing, when it is available, is to be fastened to the bottom of the inside of the container and used to remove the drinking water from the container without disturbing the plastic film. 

Some plastics work better than others.  Almost any clear plastic film should work, if it is clear, strong, and "wettable."  That is, it should be the kind which, when water drops form on the under side, causes the drops to cling to the plastic and run down to drip into the container instead of dropping off where they form.  

If fleshy plants are available, or if polluted water is to be purified, the still can be constructed in any convenient spot where it will receive direct sunlight throughout the day.  Ease of digging will be the main consideration.  If soil moisture is to be the only source of water, some sites will be better than others.  Seek a place where there is reason to believe the soil will contain more moisture.  A stream bed, even though dry, or a depression where rain water has collected will stay moist longer than other areas.  Generally clay soil is better than sand because it holds more water longer.  (In any case, after prolonged dry periods the yield from any soil alone may be small).  Although sand generally does not retain as much moisture as clay, a wet sand will work very well.  Along the sea coast or in any inland area where brackish or polluted water is available, any wet soil, even sand, produces usable amounts of water.  On cloudy days, the yield will be reduced because direct sunlight is necessary if the still is to operate at full efficiency.

Certain precautions must be kept in mind.  If you use polluted water, make sure that none is spilled near the rim of the hold where the plastic touches the soil and that none comes in contact with the container, otherwise there is a chance that your freshly distilled water will be contaminated.

Do not disturb the plastic sheet during daylight "working hours" unless it is absolutely necessary.  If a plastic drinking tube is not available, raise the plastic sheet and remove the container as few times as possible during daylight hours.  It takes from 1/2 to 1 hour for the air in the still to become resaturated and the collection of water to begin again after the plastic has been disturbed.  [AFM 64-3 dated 15 August 1969, pages 4-13 through 4-14].

Some time ago, I came across a web site containing an entry by a "Jim B." discussing several revolutionary upgrades to this standard solar still, some of which take into account the importance of orienting the still in the correct direction based on your location on our planet.  In a post entitled "The Extreme Solar Still Concept," Jim describes some of the drawbacks of the classic survival still and the upgrades he came up with for his version, which he calls a "D'still" and which may improve water collected by as much as 400% over the conventional version.

Jim alters the shape of the original still to resemble a seashell when viewed from above, with the catchment container located towards the base of the shell rather than right in the center the way it is in the conventional still described by the Air Force manual above.  Here is a link to his diagram of the top view of his enhanced still, showing the seashell shape (east and west appear to be mistakenly reversed in that diagram, unless I am misreading something of the intent of the labels).

Importantly, he recommends orienting the top of the "seashell" towards the north (for those in the northern hemisphere), in order to arrange the larger slope area towards the sunshine.  To understand the reasoning behind this concept, it is helpful to look at Jim's second diagram, which is a cutaway or side view of his still.  

Due to the tilt of the earth's axis (see the discussion in this previous post for more detail), the sun will always travel south of an observer who is located north of the Tropic of Cancer (the northern tropic).  The enhanced still features a large, gentle sloping northern section (the top part of the shell), which is oriented to face the south and catch full force of the sun's rays (see also the diagram below, where I have drawn my own version of the cut-away view).

The enhanced still also features a steeper berm at the southern end, which casts a shadow over the catchment portion of the tarp and the shelf below that holds the water-container.  By orienting the still with the shell's top facing north (if north of the northern tropic, otherwise face it south if south of the southern tropic -- if between the two tropics, you will have to orient the "top of the shell" away from the track of the sun for that particular time of year), the sun's path will create this shade if you use spoil to build up the southern berm as shown in the diagram.  Jim's diagram shows (and his article explains) that you can also pile up additional vegetation atop this southern berm in order to ensure shade over the condensing area.

The rest of the article explains the other features of the enhanced solar still, including the addition of some cool (preferably moist) soil above the weighting rock which holds the tarp's lowest point above the catchment container. In order to understand the entire concept of the enhanced or "extreme" solar still (or "D'still") it is recommended that you read that entire article -- and even better, go out and try constructing one yourself just for practice.

We can all hope that we never need to resort to a solar still in an emergency survival situation.  However, if ever we do, we can be grateful to "Jim B." for his ingenious enhancements to the classic solar still design.