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More Than Meets the Eye
Feb 10, 2010
While the
axis mundi is only a
geometric notion with no physical
substance, a smattering of
mythological and early cosmological
traditions describe it as a
conspicuous luminous column endowed
with a large number of specific
morphological features.
In astronomical terms, the axis
mundi or ‘world axis’ is the
imaginary line that extends outward
into space from the rotational poles
of the earth. From a viewpoint on
earth, it marks the celestial pole,
around which the stars and planets
appear to rotate in a daily cycle.
From the Roman period onwards,
natural philosophers were well aware
of the theoretical nature of the
axis’ existence. The Roman
astrologer, Marcus Manilius (1st
century CE) spoke of the tenuis
axis, the “insubstantial axis”
that “controls the universe, keeping
it pivoted at opposite poles”. He
elaborated on the “insubstantial”
nature of the axis:
“Yet the axis is not solid with the
hardness of matter, nor does it
possess massive weight such as to
bear the burden of the lofty
firmament; but since the entire
atmosphere ever revolves in a
circle, and every part of the whole
rotates to the place from which it
once began, that which is in the
middle, about which all moves, so
insubstantial that it cannot turn
round itself or even submit to
motion or spin in circular fashion,
this men have called the axis,
since, motionless itself, it yet
sees everything spinning about it.”
Much later, the African writer
Martianus Capella (5th century CE)
also commented on the ‘theoretical’
nature of the axis mundi – as
well as the poles: “I myself do not
consider an axis and poles, which
mortals have fastened in a bronze
armillary sphere to assist them in
comprehending the heavens, as an
authoritative guide to the workings
of the universe. For there is
nothing more substantial than the
earth itself, which is able to
sustain the heavens. Another reason
is that the poles that protrude from
the hollow cavity of the perforated
outer sphere, and the apertures, the
pivots, and the sockets have to be
imagined – something that you may be
assured could not happen in a
rarefied and supramundane
atmosphere. Accordingly, whenever I
shall use the terms axis, poles, or
celestial circles, for the purpose
of gaining comprehension, my
terminology is to be understood in a
theoretical sense …” Centuries
later, again, the anonymous author
of a tract attributed to the
Venerable Bede (12th century CE)
observed with respect to the earth
that “an intelligible line passes
through the middle of it from the
arctic pole to the antarctic”.
So far, so good. The intellectual
challenge arises upon the discovery
that, while the axis is only a
geometric notion with no physical
substance, a smattering of
mythological and early cosmological
traditions describe it as a
conspicuous luminous column endowed
with a large number of specific
morphological features.
At the outset, it is important to
acknowledge the distinction between
the astronomical definition of the
axis, as above, and the way the same
term is often used in
anthropological and archaeological
literature. Scholars in the
humanities typically employ the term
axis mundi in the loose sense
of a roughly vertical and stationary
connection between ‘sky’ and ‘earth’
that is mythically expressed as a
radiant tree, mountain, pillar,
ladder, rope, giant, and so on. In
this sense, which was popularised by
Mircea Eliade in particular, the
polar location of the sky pillar is
rarely specified.
The mythological and cosmological
literature worldwide is replete with
references to the axis mundi
in the loose, generic sense of the
word – in the form of stories and
statements concerning the former
existence of a stupendous visible
linkage between the realms of the
‘sky’ and the ‘earth’. Yet even much
rarer reports concerning the world
axis in the strict astronomical
sense occasionally portray the
column as a visible entity. An
example of the latter is the famous
‘pillar of Er’ described in Plato’s
dialogue The Republic. In
this, Socrates recounts the
phenomena a certain Er of Pamphylia
had observed during what would
nowadays be diagnosed as a
Near-Death Experience:
“… they came in four days to a spot
whence they discerned, extended from
above throughout the heaven and the
earth, a straight light like a
pillar, most nearly resembling the
rainbow, but brighter and purer. To
this they came after going forward a
day’s journey, and they saw there at
the middle of the light the
extremities of its fastenings
stretched from heaven; for this
light was the girdle of the heavens
like the undergirders of triremes,
holding together in like manner the
entire revolving vault. And from the
extremities was stretched the
spindle of Necessity, through which
all the orbits turned.”
This description is fairly arcane,
perhaps because Socrates needed to
speak in concealed terms to
safeguard him from hidebound
politicians. Nevertheless, its
astronomical intent is beyond
dispute and a number of ancient as
well as modern commentators were
agreed that the awesome “straight
light like a pillar” was the axis
mundi, around which the fixed
stars and planets revolved in
circles. Historians of astronomy
have argued over the question
whether Plato conceived of the axis
as an imaginary line or as a solid
object. The Neo-Platonic
philosopher, Proclus Lycaeus
(412-485 CE), who headed the
Platonic Academy in Athens for some
time, rejected the interpretation of
the ‘pillar of Er’ as the axis
mundi on the ground of the axis’
palpable invisibility: ‘For to
think, as some of our predecessors
have done, that the world axis was
meant by the light … is quite
absurd. What sort of a light is the
axis really, or how does it have a
colour more radiant than the
rainbow, as it is an incorporeal
force?’
With the advent of the Space Age and
the emergence of plasma cosmology,
it is high time to revisit the issue
and enquire whether a column more
lustrous than the rainbow could have
marked the polar regions of the
atmosphere at a time in the past,
long before Manilius and Proclus
could confidently assert the
non-reality of the world axis. Could
a highly enhanced influx of
energetic particles into the earth’s
magnetosphere once have produced
aurora-like effects of such an
intensity that the Birkeland
currents joining the ionosphere to
the solar wind themselves emitted
light in the visible spectrum? After
more than a century of heated
debate, the existence of these
Birkeland currents has become
irrefragable. As these field-aligned
currents eventually reach the
auroral ovals above the earth’s
magnetic poles, the hoary notion of
one or two ‘pillars’ joining the
‘sky’ to the earth has taken on a
surprisingly down-to-earth physical
reality – except that they cannot be
seen at this time. Whereas the
rotational axis mundi remains
a purely mathematical or geometric
concept, the proximity of the
magnetic pole warrants the
association with the very tangible
reality of the earth’s highly
structured magnetosphere – a domain
populated by ions and electrons that
will give off light whenever
incoming plasmas alter its electric
and magnetic fields.
It can be established to a high
level of confidence that these
Birkeland currents, down to the
finest details, correspond to the
detailed descriptions of a sky
column in mythological and early
cosmological sources – the axis
mundi in the loose sense of the
word. For that reason,
interdisciplinarians would be well
advised to look into the question of
possible historical visibility of
magnetospheric features.
Contributed by Rens Van der Sluijs
www.mythopedia.info
Further Reading:
The Mythology of the World Axis;
Exploring the Role of Plasma in
World Mythology
www.lulu.com/content/1085275
The World Axis as an
Atmospheric Phenomenon
www.lulu.com/content/1305081
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