- Meru (India).
- Albert/Elbruz (Persia).
- Qaf (Arabs); this, it is said, 'cannot be reached either by land or by sea', exactly how Nietzsche described Hyperborea.
- Montsalvat (Grail Mythos).
- Himminbjorg (Norse Mythology).
The image of a World Tree has the same symbolism as the Polar Mountain, and is usually seen as a 'White Tree', just as the Polar Mountain is referred to as the 'White Mountain'. The symbolism of a 'Navel of the World' can also be linked to the Primordial Centre; in later times, each Aryan Civilisation would create a 'Navel of the World' as an image of the true and original Polar Centre. We find this at Gobleki Tepi (Armenia-Turkey) and Cusco (South America). The German nabe means 'hub', and nabel means 'navel'; we have the English nave and navel, and the Sanskrit nabhi. The 'hub' is the Immovable Centre around which the wheel turns.
Ar-Var-Alda refers to the 'First Time' or to the "Primordial Kingdom' which was established in the Golden Age. According to Rene Guenon the name of the Vedic God, Varuna, stems from var meaning 'to cover'; this is the same as the IE Roots *kal- and *hal- the latter being the root of our heil/hael/hal. If Ar refers to the Black Sun, as I have postulated before, then Ar-Var-Alda would mean 'Black Sun - Hidden - Ancient'. Guenon goes on to say that Ouranos (Uranus) stems from the same root var (our); this brings up another idea, since this now equates to the Ur-Rune which means 'Primal' or 'Primordial'. Why this is 'covered' or 'hidden' then becomes obvious, since the Primordial Kingdom 'sank', and rather than a 'heavenly abode', this becomes the 'Nether World', 'Lower World' or 'Inner Earth' in the terms of Miguel Serrano.
In my rune-book published some years ago I suggested that the Ur-Rune was a symbol of the Polar Mountain or World Mountain. The ur-glyph of this rune would be an 'Upturned V' which would symbolise the 'mountain'. This brings us to another rune which is associated with this theme -
The Germanic Ingwas-Rune is a glyph of the World Mountain (Inverted V) and its reflection as it was moved into the 'Nether World' (V). Ingwe is the 'messenger' between these two worlds. The reason why the Coiled Serpent lies at the base of the human spine is because of the 'Fall of Man' which occurred when the world's axis moved and Thule 'sank' into the Nether World. Legends of Agharti and Shmabhalla refer to this 'Inner World', as do various other subterranean realms known around the world. This is why Bernard King mentions that the sinking of Thule was of the 'blood' and not the 'waters'; rightly, he said that Thule Adepts would seek to awaken this once more. This Ing-Rune also symbolises the 'Ark' (the Swan-Ship that floats upon the Waters of Dissolution and Chaos), and the 'Rainbow' (Bilfrost or Bifrost Bridge which connects Man to the Gods). This symbolism can be found in our Ar-Kan version too -
There is a hidden mystery here, since every Initiation is designed to reconnect to the Primordial Kingdom and Primordial State; and this is what we start our times with Ar-Var-Alda. This is where the Archetypal Myths originate, and this is how ancient civilisations arose as if from nowhere - because they 'reconnected' to this Primordial Kingdom, they made communication with the 'Inner Earth'. This is, in other words, connecting with the Sacred Centre or Spiritual Centre; now we see how important it is to build a new Sacred Centre which is an image of the Primordial Spiritual Centre. Those who took part in the meditations of the Widar Brotherhood will recall that our meditations-visualisations were based around the Image of the Sacred Centre.
Connected to the Sacred Centre and the Sacred Mountain is the Universal Monarch or Chakravartin; many figures of history have arisen as the Archetypal World-Ruler. This figure is usually held to be a Priest-King who combines the role of Priest (Woden) and King (Ingwe). This has been an archetype split into two - Merlin and Arthur, and Gandalf and Aragorn. The true 'Universal Monarch' would combine these two as one figure. In fact, it seems that such a figure would have been made up of three roles combined into one; this we find in the figure of Krist who is given Three Gifts by the Magi-Kings -
- Gold (Kingship),
- Frankincense (Priest),
- Myrrh (Spiritual Master-Prophet).
The last two are combined in Woden and Merlin, but it would seem that originally they were one with the Sacral King - King - Priest - Prophet/Spiritual Master. We may find some hints of a knowledge of this in the names Wudga & Hama or Witega & Heim since 'witege' means 'a seer' or 'a prophet'. Here we have the 'Prophet-King' pairing, hence leaving out the 'Priest'; again this is a devolved form of the true 'Universal Monarch'. As I said, Woden combines the role of 'Priest' and 'Seer', although it is also true to say that Agni (thus Ingwe) combines the role of 'King' and 'Seer', according to certain texts of the Vedas.
The 'Gift of Ing' is Fire; the Ken-Rune or Kan-Rune is the 'Rune of the Kan' - of 'Kingship'. Ken means 'knowledge' and 'wisdom', Kan means 'Serpent', and hence this refers to Spiritual Power. This is the 'Gift of Ing' - Spiritual Power. Hence why Krist was connected to the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit which was linked to Spiritual Fire.
There is a remarkable similarity between the Buddhist concept of Sakyamuni (The Buddha) having to choose between the Buddha or Chakravartin, and the theme of Krist being 'tempted' by 'The Devil' who offered him this world (i.e. The Chakravartin) or the role of Krist, the former which he refused. Hengest, on the other hand, took up his Wyrd as the 'Werold-Raedan' ('World-Ruler'); it seems that some of the greatest of heroes lived an Archetypal Myth which covered one or both of these roles. This actually disproves the whole idea of 'equality' since this infers a Spiritual Hierarchy.
This 'Supreme Centre', as Rene Guenon calls it, is 'hidden' or 'concealed' in the Warg-Age or Kali-Yuga; this is the meaning of the term 'Hel' or 'Hela' - 'hidden' or 'concealed'. We can find this in the name Kal-ki and Hel-gi, both of which mean 'The Hidden One'; Helgi also means 'The Hallowed One'. VITRIOL - Visita Interiora Terrae, rectificando invenies occultum lapidum. 'Visit the Interior Earth, in rectitude will you find the Hidden Stone'; sometimes inferiora is used instead of interiora but the meanings are the same in regard to the 'Inner Earth' ('inferior' means 'lower'). The Quest for the Graal is thus the quest to rediscover the 'Hidden World of Thule'. We can see now why such gods as Woden, Osiris and Yama became Gods of the Underworld, and Gods of the Dead.
The word Paradesha appears in Persian Lore and in India as the 'Supreme Country'; this gives rise to 'Paradise'. This, then is the Primordial Kingdom of the North - it is the Garden of Eden of the Old Testament, and since it is the Land of the Immortals we shall refer to this as the Garden of Idunn who guards the Apples of Immortality. This Spiritual Centre was symbolised by the Greeks with the Omphalos (Om-Phalos) which was usually a Sacred Stone. This is no doubt why the Stone Circles had a Sacred Stone at the Centre.
There is a poem called "With this Mysterious Earth..." which I quoted in my book At-al-land but which I cannot now find the original source; this poem is about 'Saint Cuthman' and the Steyning Church. It is certainly not Christian in essence...
Will that be true of the wisdom
of people who knew the Earth,
and sensing the power of the ley-line
close to where it starts
sets on it the altar of this church
on its journey to distant Chartres...
It seems that, according to the author of the poem, the church dedicated to 'Saint Cuthman' has its altar placed upon a ley-line which runs to Chartres Cathedral in France.
And it is not every journey
that follows the straight line track;
the labyrinth turns us about to see
what once was at our back.
Stretch across the thin division
that appears as time and space...
The 'labyrinth' is here seen as a 'portal' that allows one to pass through the veil of Time and Space, and look backwards to see the past. 'For perhaps we're closer than we knew, in mind as well as space.' Another symbol here is the Tree which is 'shaped and sculpted by evolutionary law - and more? It goes on to quote Hopkins who recognised the 'essence' or 'inscape', the core of every living thing, and Wordsworth who sensed the 'presence' of living things. The poem ends -
Straight Line, Tree and Labyrinth,
new dimensions beyond, within,
Granted blessings by good Saint Cuthman
let our pilgrim's journey begin.
There is a slight hint here that the author knew of the 'Gift of Ing' which is the 'Fire Within' or the 'Divine Spark' within ('essence' or 'inscape', or the 'presence' of Wordsworth). The Sacred Tree has always been symbolic of the Sacred Centre, but as Iggdrasil (White Tree) it is also the White Race. The 'straight line track' is the means of finding the Lost Land of Thule. We should not forget here that Ingwe - as Scef - sails in his Swan-Ship to the Island of Scandi (Thule); today, Thule 'cannot be reached by land or by sea'.
Tolkien gives an alternative name for Numenor - Atalante - but he also names it Avallone which is obviously 'Avalon' of the Celts. The Greek Apollo appears to have been a god associated with the Golden Age; he appears as 'Pol' of the Saxons, also called 'Fal' or 'Phol' (Old Saxon). Now, we can see here a root-sound that is found in all of these, and also that of the Hyperborean Abaris. It is clear in -val-, fal, fol, and pol but not quite so clear in Ab-ar-is. However, when we consider the alternative name for Pol - Baeldaeg (Baldur) - and the various gods named 'Bal', 'Bel', 'Beli' etc. then we can reconstruct the Ur-Root as Ab-bal-a or something like that. This being so it is just one step to equate this with the Ab-su/Ap-su/AEp-anda which is the 'Waters of the Lower-World'. This is where Woden rediscovered and 'picked up' the Ancient Runes. (The Greek Apollion is called Abadon in Revelation, suggesting this is somewhere near to being right.)
The 'Bael Blot' is a Fire-Blot for the Dead, and Bael-Daeg is the 'Fire-Day' linked to the Dead, and to Odainsacre where he dwells. His symbol is the Fylfot-Swastika in its Widdershins form - the Black Sun. He is the god who descended into the Nether-World as the Sun, shorn of its rays and blackened (symbolised by the 'Crown of Thorns') in an act of Self-Sacrifice for the Folk. Bael-Daeg is the 'Black Sun' that will be 'resurrected' after Ragnarok. I would guess that the Ur-Form of the word 'bael' means something like 'blackened by fire'. The root can mean 'light' in the form of 'fire', and also 'black' in the form of 'blackened by fire'. The 'Ritual Bale-Fire' thus transmutes the flesh of the Divine Hero through 'blackening by fire', and the Spirit of the Hero thus enters Valhalla - this was decreed by Woden himself.
Fire-Rune of Ritual Cremation
In the Celtic Ogham we find that 'Quert' is the equivalent to the Cweorth-Rune, and is the Rune of Avalon/Rune of Valhalla. Whereas the Ear-Rune is the Way of the Ancestors, the Cweorth-Rune is the Way of the Gods - Immortality. The Ear-Rune is bound to the Earth, the Cweorth Rune is the 'Way to Valhalla'. The 'Road to Valhalla' is the Milky Way Galaxy.
There is a legend of a lost land named Hi Brazil whose root 'braz' is said to derive from bros meaning 'Firebrand'; this suggests a link to the Brosingamen Necklace of Freya, since brosinga or brisinga means 'fire' - the 'Necklace of Fire'. I have shown elsewhere that this is the Hael-Force - the Hvarena or 'Glory of Light'. Again, this is linked to the Ken-Rune/Kan-Rune and to the 'Fire-Serpent'. That the 'Glory', 'Hvarena', 'Hael' is plunged into a lake (i.e. waters) is perhaps significant in that it refers to the AEP-ANDI (Absu/Apsu) - the 'Inner Earth' or 'Nether World'. It is Hama-Ingwe who retrieves it, and in the Persian version he is 'The Divine Fool' - Kai Khusrau. It is Agni of the Vedas that bestows the 'Glory' as the Sacral King, and as Ingwe he has the same role.
The Primordial Empire or Primordial Kingdom was not destroyed, it 'sank' into the Nether-World and lived on through myth and legend as Agarthi, Shambhalla, City of the Caesars, and various other legends of subterranean worlds, and came alive in The Coming Race by Lord Bulwer-Lytton. The force connected to this world is the Vril-Force - 'Virile-Force'. This ancient world has been 'lost' in the sense that few can today see it, but the aim of all Initiation is to reconnect to this Lost World, and thus the secret is to go backwards in time in order to find the Origins (Ur), and thus to find the Destiny. This is why the Fylfot-Swastika turns backwards as the Widdershins Swastika.
The 'Quest for the Graal' is the 'Quest for the Hidden Stone' - this is the quest to find the Primordial State - the Primordial Empire of Thule. To do so means using the 'Swastika of Return' - the Return to the Origins. The Hidden Stone -
The 'essence' or 'inscape' of every living thing is Ingwe; this is the mystery hidden in the poem. The Legend of Cuthman is the Legend of Ingwe, is the Legend of Krist.
The Ing-Rune that we use from the Old English Rune-Row is that of two Edel-Runes joined within the Germanic Ing-Rune; this again suggests a connection with the 'Lower-World'. We also have the symbolism of the 'Ark' and the 'Rainbow' with the Upturned V at the top, and the V at the bottom. The 'rainbow' was, as with many other symbols, taken by the Dark Forces as symbolic of the 'Covenant' between Shaddai and 'men', and thus the Noahide Laws; this is why the rainbow is used today in many areas of the Old Order.