THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: An Ancient and Modern Day Mystery School

William John Meegan

ABSTRACT

In the following pages it will be clearly outlined from a totally scientific basis how Dante Alighieri’s Life 1, La Divina Commedia, the first chapter of Genesis and Saint Peter’s Basilica Square are analogously conveying the same spiritual message. The key to understanding Dante Alighieri’s motivation for writing the first verse of La Divina Commedia lies in the thirty-third (33) canto/chapter of the Paradiso. Dante had just had a vision of the Trinity and he has now come round full circle to write about that nanosecond of physical time it took to envisage that vision of the Trinity. Like the New Testament authors that took the birth of Christ (Second Coming: i.e. that nanosecond of physical time) and stretched it out to Jesus’ lifespan of thirty-three years; for that reason, the author(s) also take that nanosecond of time (the spiritual vision) to structure the lifespan of the character Dante Alighieri (author and pilgrim) in La Divina Commedia to fifty-six and twenty-nine percent years (56.29). This is precisely how the first chapter of Genesis) was written as commentary on the first letter of Genesis: BETH. The Catholic Church in the Medieval and Baroque periods through the skills of Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and other artists shapes Saint Peter’s Basilica Square into a gigantic symbol of creation as commentary on the first letter/chapter of Genesis. To envisage how all of this is accomplished in these four artistic expressions is by researching them collectively through the formula of the Golden Ratio and the Vesica Piscis via sacred geometry.

The symbolism of these four artistic arrangements: Dante Alighieri’s Life, La Divina Commedia, the first chapter of Genesis and Saint Peter’s Basilica Square grouped as one brings up images of chaos. This is because of the diverse ways each is creatively expressed. In order to realize this thesis this article will

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have to be divided into its constituent parts; thus, each artistic expression: Dante Alighieri’s Life, La Divina Commedia, the first chapter of Genesis and Saint Peter’s Basilica Square will have to be discussed individually as if each was a separate article then an overall conclusion can be reached and discussed.

ESOTERICISM IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHINGS: The Solution to an Inexplicable Enigma

The Catholic Church’s greatest treasure is its vast system of art works created in the first sixteen hundred years of its existence. If truth be told when the Church hierarchy first created these great artistic commentaries on the Genesis Creation Account they were indeed fulfilling their sacred mission on earth. Modern day materialists and, for the most part, Protestants like to point out the present commercial value of these artistic works when these religious monuments have nothing to do with commercialism. They are priceless religious documents: they are as important as the sacred scripture because they are basically its equivalent in every mystical sense. These mystical treasures are merely being preserved for the almost one billion Catholics around the world the true owners of those artistic works.

The true purpose of religion is for the individual initiate to learn all he or she can and then inculcate those teachings into his or her life and all he or she does on earth. Every single person on earth has a different way of looking at the world. The art student learns all he or she can and then goes out into the world and becomes second to nobody: he or she becomes the master whether it is in music, painting, sculpture, architecture and/or whatever. This is the very same principle in which the religious student should be studying the sacred scriptures. The student has to submerge him or herself into the sacred scriptures: drowning him or herself in the Baptism of his religious teachings. In other words the initiate has to die in the eyes of materialism. Too often the initiate gets stuck in the mire of that ocean bed of dogma and traditions and never surfaces. Now as the butterfly works its way out of the cocoon or the birds in the fifth day of creation stretches out their wings to soar into the heavens after coming out of the seas so to the Bible student has to come out of the deluge, the sacred scriptures and create his or her own artistic monument as evidence of his or her understanding of God. These artistic works are the only evidence of how another has created their expression of the teaching of the Word of God: these art works are not there to be duplicated but rather to inspire and encourage others to continue to create their own expressions of the Word of God: in turn inspiring and encouraging others in their community to embark on their own personal pilgrim’s quest for knowledge of the Word of God. This is why the Church canonizes so many saints around the world: to inspire and encourage Catholics to study and learn from them.

INTRODUCTION

FROM WHENCE MODERNITY RESLIGIOUS PROBLEMS AROSE: An Inexplicable Enigma

The Catholic Church is a very mystical religion if one takes the time to find out what it is all about and has a deep abiding DESIRE in his or her heart to know the true nature of the Word of God; however, the Church’s teachings are not seen that way in modern times by the average priest and/or parishioner. Basically, the Church has become a social institution rather than one dispensing the mystical Word of God to the laity: merely regurgitating the exoteric teachings of the sacred scriptures in not teaching the laity the mystical Word of God. Where are the new

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monuments to the esoteric nature of the Word of God: the heavens themselves scream out for an ESOTERIC REVIVAL in the Church.

Ask any Catholic parishioner what the symbolism in the Church is all about and he or she would be hard pressed to answer such a question because the laity as a whole have little or absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. In fact the majority of Catholics in modernity have no idea that symbolism has anything to do with the Catholic Church; however, the Church is the very personification of symbolism. Nevertheless it’s extraordinarily difficult and practically impossible for any Catholic to conceive of such an idea as symbolism being part of their Church. For all intent and purpose the modern Catholic Church has become iconoclastic. They are called Catholics in name only; however, they are Protestant-Catholics by their thoughts, words and deeds and most important in how they study the sacred scriptures.

The teachings of the Catholic Church are presently viewed from a literal and fundamentalist’s point of view. It ceases to be the mystical school of thought that it was originally created as an institution to be. Protestantism has been a very negative influence on the Church, on a daily basis, ever since Martin Luther was allowed to spread his heresy into the Christian culture.

The average Catholic has no idea, whatsoever, of Pythagoras’, Plato’s, Aristotle’s, and a host of other philosophers input in shaping the teachings of the Catholic Church. In fact these ancient philosophers would be considered pagan and summarily dismissed by modernity; however, the writing of the Early Church Father are replete with these philosophical teachings.

Catholics being told that the sacred scripture is a mathematical masterpiece frightens them. The bible is one of the most scientific instruments on the face of the earth and it scares them out of their wits; yet, they live in a scientific age and cannot cope with that conceptual idea. This is basically because there is a phenomenon psychically preventing the average person from accepting mathematics as a tool in his or her studies on the sacred scriptures: it is called INNUMERCY2. Yet, the average person uses mathematics daily in all he or she does on a commercial level: paying bills and balancing a budget or a bank account or any number of other chores. Still there is a WORLD-WIDE INUMERCY PROBLEM even for those that use it daily commercially: it is even an affliction amongst the intelligentsia of all cultures around the world. Most people in modernity do not believe that the higher mathematics is necessary for daily life in the commercial world: however, they are used all over the place in creating all of that commercialism. These same high mathematical sciences are needed to cull out the message of the Word of God: however, the average person is extremely fortunate if he knows his multiplication tables or even how to multiply, add, subtract or divide without a hand held calculator3. Most Americans have little idea of what the processes are to perform each of those common mathematical procedures: if they were given a math test without the use of a calculator, for the most part, they would be out of their depths. Just ask the common person on the street to add or even subtract two three digit numbers in their head without using a calculator: watch the confusion.

The teachings of the Mystery Schools of the Medieval Cathedrals are analogous to the Eleusinian, Mithraic, Orphic, Egyptian and other mysteries and mystical teachings of antiquity.

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The basic curriculum for these Mystery Schools was for the student to have a firm grasp on the integration of the Seven Liberal Arts: Trivium: three Grammatical Arts: Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic/Dialectic and the Quadruvium: four Mathematical Sciences: Arithmetic, Music/Harmony, Geometry, Astronomy/Astrology into one unified system of thought. None of this is being taught to the modern day Catholic or public school student other than as separate and distinct disciplines, which is an abomination. It is, for all intent and purpose, as if the modern day Church’s hierarchy has symbolically put on a three piece suit and tie to look respectable in the eyes of what they consider to be the ecumenical world.

1. DANTE ALIGHERI’S LIFE

When Dante Alighieri began writing La Divina Commedia he was a dead man walking. What is meant by this is that he completed the two halves of his life on earth; and yet, as the author of this epic poem (trilogy) he was still physically here on earth writing La Divina Commedia. This means that allegorically Dante Alighieri the author had to begin writing La Divina Commedia on September 15 th 1321 the anniversary date of the Eleusinian mysteries4. This is a clear and unambiguous allusion to that ancient mystery school in which the entire city of Athens participated in a yearly pageantry. This is, actually, the exact same allusion that is outlined in the first four chapters of Genesis where the second, third and fourth chapters of Genesis allude to the four months that Persephone had to reside in hell 5 as Hades’ (Pluto’s) queen. I agree that Dante Alighieri allegorically began his sojourn into the regions of the Inferno on the Ides of March: the date of Julius Caesar death: March 15, 1300. This literary anomaly of the author being the same as the character in the book brings to the fore that Dante Alighieri never lived as a human being; rather, he was merely an allegorical character created by the mythical author Dante Alighieri. In just reading the first stanza of La Divina Commedia and understanding what it is conveying spiritually more than suggest that some anonymous medieval author (possibly a monastery of monks6) took the name Dante Alighieri as a pen name and this will become clearer as I continue.

In reading the first stanza of La Divina Commedia it is apparent that the text immediately tells the reader that the mythical character Dante Alighieri has a three part existence:

INFERNO 1:1-3; Midway along the journey of our lifeI woke to find myself in a dark wood7,for I had wandered off from the straight path8.

The first verse of La Divina Commedia is a clear unambiguous assertion that Dante Alighieri’s life is over with. How else could Dante the author had known that “Midway along the journey of our life I woke to find myself in a dark wood”, unless his life was over with? Only Dante could have compared the length of his entire life with the first half of his life. Immediately the reader should be asking him or herself is, what in the world is Dante Alighieri talking about? How can he be writing the book and telling the reader that he is dead? Notice that Dante uses the phrase ‘our life’ to express their ‘journey’ through life’s experiences. The problem grows exponentially when considering the alleged lifespan of the author. The first verse of La Divina Commedia has always been interpreted in light of the sacred scriptures, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; (Psalms 90:10)”: inferring that Dante was thirty-five years of age (actually 34.789...) when he ‘woke to find himself in a dark wood’. This is quite an interesting enigma because Dante is said to have died on September 14, 1321, which is an additional twenty-one and a half year (21.5) years: totalizing the two halves gives a quotient of 56.29… years and that is nowhere near seventy (70) years. Dante is said to have been born in Gemini, which would make the earliest possible date of his birth to be on June 1, 1265 9. He found himself in the dark

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wood: La Divina Commedia on the Ides of March (March 15, 1300) and died on September 14, 1321. The earliest that Dante could have started narrating his epic poem was after September 15 th 1321. In other words the third part of Dante’s existence began on September 15, 1321, which happens to be the anniversary date of the Eleusinian10 mysteries. Does anyone truly believe that nuance escape the attention of the authors that penned La Divina Commedia? It was allegorically this date that he came back from his spiritual quest and began narrating his experiences. I am not saying that these events actually took place in real time on those dates. I am saying they are allegorical dates expressing a very important spiritual concept. These dates happen to coincide perfectly mathematically with the spiritual concept that Dante wanted to relay to his readers esoterically. The entire La Divina Commedia is a commentary on the first four chapters of Genesis: both mathematically (esoterically) and allegorically.

The most fascinating feature in the above discussion is that all four of the most important dates of Dante Alighieri’s life is being inferred in the first verse of La Divina Commedia: the beginning, the middle, the end of life and finally September 15th 1321 (anniversary of the Eleusinian mysteries), which points very clearly to a set in the Fibonacci sequence (21/34) of the Golden Ratio. At the least it is curious and at most it is extraordinary.

a. June 1, 1265 – March 15, 1300 ( first day of Gemini and the Ides of March)1. 365.25 x 34.789 = 12,707-days (12,707 reduced to its lowest common denominator = 8, which

represents Yahweh (26 = 8): A + B = set in the Fibonacci sequence 5/8.b. March 15, 1300 – September 14, 1321 (day before the anniversary of the Eleusinian mysteries)

1 365.25 x 21.501 = 7853-days (7853 reduced to its lowest common denominator = 5, which represents Elohym (86 = 5) = Moon): A + B = set in the Fibonacci sequence 5/8.

c. June 1, 1264 – September 14, 1321 1. 365.25 x 56.29 = 20,560-days

a. 12,707 / 20,560 = 0.6180… (the Golden Ratio) b. 7,853 / 20,560 = 0.3819…

There may be those that want to tweak some of the days of Dante Alighieri’s life (whatever) here and there; however, there is extremely little to play with: so little in fact that according to how those revisionists juxtaposition those dates the subsequent calculations of their revisions would not be too far off either way to influence or to discount the above hypothesis whatsoever in any way, shape or form. It is because of this inability of future Dantists from being able to juxtaposition the dates of Dante Alighieri’s life in any meaningful way, no matter what dates they come up with, my analysis of Dante’s life symbolically patterning the Golden Ratio has to stand and be taken into account: however, even after twenty-years academia still has its head in the sand like a scared ostrich: they published the mathematical thesis but for the most part have refused to recognized it. Not a single article has been written about Dante Alighieri’s mathematical system in all that time.

Now the reader can picture what the two halves of Dante Alighieri’s life looks like and have some kind of an idea as to what he was talking about when he began writing the first stanza of his epic poem. Dante, as a spiritual being that has come back from materialistic death, is talking about his life and in doing so he is discussing the first and second halves of it, which he equated to two swings of the Golden Ratio: from the beginning of the Inferno to the end of the Paradiso. By doing this he is simultaneously talking about both swings of the Golden Spiral by structuring La Divina Commedia accordingly; therefore, the enigma is solved because Dante has to be talking outside of his life: while living in the Garden of Eden here on earth: he could not have written La Divina Commedia while he was materialistically alive living in the material and commercial world; rather, he was discussing his life from the mindset of the

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Eleusinian mysteries (symbolically the spiritual vision of the Trinity). The first verse of La Divina Commedia has therefore been demonstrated to represent the three parts of Dante Alighieri’s life.

HOW DID THE AUTHOR OF LA DIVINA COMMEDIA FINESSE THE GOLDEN SPIRAL INTO THE LIFE OF THE FICTIONAL CHARACTER OF DANTE ALIGHIERI?

FIRST: The author made a decision to write a book based upon the Golden Spiral and the character’s life would also be based upon that formula – it is not difficult to choose an age level coinciding with the biblical mandate of thirty-five years as half a lifetime. The ratio of the Fibonacci sequence would be 21/34. The minimal amount of years the fictional author would live would be 55-years; however, now the calendar would have to be tweaked to satisfy other considerations in this literary creation.

SECOND: The author had to pick a birth date for his character. In this case he picked Gemini: June First. Possibly because Mercury is the messenger of the gods and Gemini is governed by the planet Mercury.

THIRD: The day of the author’s death would have to be selected and in this case it was September 14th singularly because it was the day before the anniversary date of the ancient Eleusinian mysteries. This was in accordance with the overall spiritual message the author was conveying.

Fourth: The percentage of the year between June 1st and September 14th had to be determined. June = 30-days, July = 31-days, August = 31-days and September = 14-days totaling 106-days 106 / 365 = 0.29… percent of a year.

FIFTH: The day that the author would allegorically begin his epic journey through the three realms of spirit: Inferno, Purgatorio and the Paradiso would have to be decided. The Ides of March (15 of the month) 1300, the day of Julius Caesar’s death was chosen. The percentage of the year from June 1 st

to March 15thwould have to be determined. March 16-31 = 16-days, April = 30-days, May 31-days: total 77-days 365 – 77 = 288-days 288 / 365 = 0.789… percent of a year

SIXTH: The year of Dante Alighieri’s birth would therefore be 34.789 years before March 15, 1300, which is June 1, 1265.

SEVENTH: From June 1, 1265 – September 14, 1321 is precisely 56.29-years. EIGHT: It is exactly half a year from March 15th to September 14th.

March 16-days, April 30-days, May 31-days, June 30-days, July 31-days, August 31-days and September 14-days totally 183-days.

183 / 365 = 0.501… percent of a year. NINE: From March 15th 1300 to September 14th 1321 is 21.5-years TEN: Once the three crucial dates of the fictional author’s life were known the rest was easy.

56.29 / 1.618034 = 34.7891… years 34.7891 / 1.618034 = 21.5008… years

It actually took me longer to explain all this in detail than the author would have taken to plan it all out. Usually, when an idea like this comes to someone the complete plot is already encapsulated in the author’s thought process the mathematics are mere incidentals to the planning process. For example, in this case the crucial date was September 15th the anniversary of the Eleusinian mysteries.

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LIVING IN THE EMBRACE OF THE TRINITY

Dante Alighieri could only experience his life in the Trinity as every soul does.

1. June 1, 1265 - March 15, 1300 (Yahweh) = Inferno and PurgatorioLiving in the material world is not knowing God; whatsoever, it is only knowing the dictates of the god of this world: Yahweh = ego-consciousness: the light of the world.When Dante descended into the Inferno with his guide Virgil (reason) he was taking a journey into the past reevaluating all the lost souls living out their lives in materialism; actually, this is solely an evaluation of his own soul: it really has nothing to do with anybody else; however, La Divina Commedia gives an overall generic account of the seven cardinal sins.The teachings of the Catholic Church are mythological accounts of its traditions and dogmatic teachings: similes to the symbolism of the unconscious mind: Elohym: angels or pure thoughts from God.Ascending Mount Purgatorio was/is living in the present. Moving from Purgatorio to the Garden of Eden and then on to experiencing the Paradiso Dante had to first go through a wall of flames. Persistent reasoning (Virgil in Purgatorio 27) can only get the soul so far and then FAITH has to take the soul the rest of the way. Moving through that wall of scorching flames is analogous to going through the agonizing search for God11 as if it was all true not having an iota of an idea whether it really was true or not but acting as if it was. Eventually, the soul ceases to act as if or realizes it is no longer acting at all but is just going through its religious studies with a true heartfelt DESIRE to know what is being esoterically and/or mystically conveyed. It is this final transmutation process that prepares the soul for its mystical vision of the Trinity; however, nothing can really prepare the soul for something it is totally unprepared for: the vision of the Trinity is inexplicably incomprehensible.

2. From March 15 – September 14, 1321 (Elohym) = PARADISOPreviously, Dante journey from the depths of the Inferno to the plateau of Mount Purgatorio was theoretically true: Dante’s discussion with his own intellect: reason (Virgil). The individual believes and assumes that his or her reasoning is correct.

i. Dante arrived at the top of Mount Purgatorio with each step on firm solid ground: one step after the other: logical reasoning. Very much like those that go through every true and false corridor of a maze.

However, from the moment that Dante goes through the wall of flame (FAITH) in the 29th

canto/chapter of Purgatorio it is all done on FAITH.i. Now Dante is being waft from one planetary sphere to another purely on FAITH as if

he was a feather being blown every which way the wind: very similar to the labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral. One straight and narrow path blowing the soul around every which way but loose but eventually the goal is reached.

Even Dante’s discussion with Saint Bernard is being taken on FAITH. Saint Bernard was probably selected as Dante’s guide in La Paradiso because he had already had his vision of the Trinity. How could Dante have taken Saint Bernard’s words otherwise? Dante had no personal knowledge that it was true other than having FAITH that it was true. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was probably also chosen because he was canonized a saint and was the Abbot of Clairvaux a Cistercian Monastery and declared a Doctor of the Church.

i. Yet, before Dante had his vision of the Trinity he was the student; however, the moment after the vision he had become the master having been taught by the masters: emissaries of the Trinity.

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1. Virgil = Reason = ego-consciousness (Yahweh)2. Beatrice = reason and faith: Yahweh and Elohym = unconscious mind

(Yahweh and Elohym): remember that Beatrice instigated Dante epic journey.

3. Saint Bernard = Orenda (knowing - Gnosis): emissary of the Holy Spirit.3. September 15, 1321 (anniversary date of the Eleusinian mysteries) - His spiritual life: writing La

Divina Commedia (Most High El (God)) = Paradiso Holy Spirit: Orenda: imagine living your life in spiritual bliss (not knowing everything but continuously learning all one can about God).Writing La Divina Commedia for Dante was living in the future (the eternal now) after his materialistic death; hence forth, the existence of the allegorical figure Dante is spiritual with the Holy Spirit as his only confidant: Orenda.

All of this was experienced in a nanosecond of time: it is/was an experience that cannot be conveyed across the great chasm that exists between two individuals: it is the secret of all secrets.

The life of Dante Alighieri and the trilogy La Divina Commedia are forever intertwined as one but they had to be divided into parts in order to discuss sensibly their individual artistic expressions. It is by separating these three parts from the whole of his life that La Divina Commedia takes on a far more important interpretation of the allegorical figure: Dante Alighieri.

2. LA DIVINA COMMEDIA

La Divina Commedia is one of the Catholic Church greatest literary masterpieces. This is the easiest of the four artistic expressions of the Golden Ratio that I will be presenting because it is ‘somewhat’ repetitious of the formatting of Dante Alighieri’s Life in the shape of the Golden Spiral.

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In studying the compositional structure of La Divina Commedia it will be found to contain a very sophisticated mathematical system12, which in itself is a commentary on the first chapter of Genesis. Whereas, La Divina Commedia 100-cantos/chapters on their own holds the formula for the Golden Ratio though this is not readily apparent to the reader. What has been described above in relations to Dante Alighieri’s Life and how he began writing La Divina Commedia, it now can be theorized that the entire poem will be structured to format that formula. If we take the first canto/chapter of La Divina Commedia as the beginning of the first swing of the Golden Spiral then the second swing of the Golden Spiral would have to begin in the twenty-ninth (29 th) canto/chapter of La Purgatorio. This would actually be the sixty-third (63rd) canto/chapter of La Divina Commedia equating to all that previously transpired in the trilogy as being 0.618 or the Golden Ratio. Because the sixty-third (63 rd) up to the 100-canto/chapter has nothing to do with the first swing of the Golden Spiral and nothing to do with the short formula of the Golden Spiral: 0.618.

In the twenty-seventh canto/chapter of La Divina Commedia Virgil gets Dante to walk through a searing WALL OF FLAMES and the only way that he could possibly go through this torment is through FAITH. At the end of the twenty-seventh (27th) canto/chapter Dante and Virgil arrive at the edge of the forest that represent the area of the Garden of Eden and there they go to sleep. This is the end of the sixty-first (61st) canto/chapter of the entire La Divina Commedia. Virgil says his last words in the entire poem at the end of this canto/chapter. Theologically, intellect and reason (Virgil) would have nothing to say in light of the realm of FAITH. In fact it may very well be possible that Matilda, the young woman Dante meets while she is picking flowers, was symbolically FAITH. Dante had to get to know FAITH before that second swing of the Gold Spiral took place in the twenty-ninth (29 th) canto/chapter of Purgatorio. How can it be determined that this is where the second swing of the Golden Spiral took place in La Divina Commedia besides being in the sixty-third (63rd): the answer is in two separate parts.

The first part is in reading the seventh (7th) to the twenty-first (21st) verse in the twenty-ninth (29th) canto/chapter of Purgatorio13.

allor si mosse contra 'l fiume, andando 7 she moved against the current's flow,su per la riva; e io pari di lei, 8 walking along the bank, while I on my sidepicciol passo con picciol seguitando. 9 tried to match her shorter steps with mine.     Non eran cento tra ' suoi passi e ' miei, 10 We had not taken a hundred steps between usquando le ripe igualmente dier volta, 11 when the two banks curved as one around a bendper modo ch'a levante mi rendei. 12 so that once more I was headed toward the east.     Né ancor fu così nostra via molta, 13 And we had not gone far in that directionquando la donna tutta a me si torse, 14 when the lady turned and faced me,dicendo: "Frate mio, guarda e ascolta." 15 saying: 'My brother, look and listen.'     Ed ecco un lustro sùbito trascorse 16 Suddenly a shining brightnessda tutte parti per la gran foresta, 17 flared through all the foresttal che di balenar mi mise in forse. 18 so that I thought it must be lightning.     Ma perché 'l balenar, come vien, resta, 19 But since lightning is gone even as it flashese quel, durando, più e più splendeva, 20 and that light, shining on, became more lustrous,nel mio pensier dicea: "Che cosa è questa?" 21 I asked myself: 'Now what is this?'

Here it is seen that the curve in the river bank narrated in the eleventh (11th) and twelfth (12th) verses would be the second swing of the Golden Spiral. Without that swing or curve of the river bank that sudden light would not have appeared. Dante had gone into the inexplicable realm of FAITH and he had become comfortable living with and in FAITH. This is what the twenty-seventh (27th) and twenty-eighth (28th) cantos/chapters are all about.

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Whereas, the next proof of the Golden Spiral is found by totalizing the amount of verses in the first sixty-two (62) cantos/chapters: see above La Divina Commedia Mathematical Matrix and then dividing them by 14,233: the total amount of verses in the poem. Totalizing the first six columns and the first two cantos/chapters of the seventh column of the matrix provides: 1351 + 1342 + 1447 + 1420 + 1432 + 1444 + 290 = 8,726 / 14,233 = 0.61308…, which is shy seventy (70) verses from 0.618, which is less than half of one percent. This is an acceptable margin of error and an incredible feat within the confines of the data Dante had to work with considering the enumerable constrictions on the numerical database in which he had to work with simultaneously creating the mathematical structure for La Divina Commedia.

That is three pieces of evidence that La Divina Commedia is structured based upon the Golden Spiral: The splitting of the 100-Cantos/Chapter into 62/38 Purgatorio 29:11-12 showing a curve in the river bank at the most appropriate time The splitting up of the verses in the 62/38 ratio of canto/chapter

Any two of these proofs should be satisfactory; however, modernity has proven itself to be a hard nut to crack.

Finally, it should be pointed out that the entire journey through the three realms of spirit is graphically displaying the image of the Capricorn symbol throughout La Divina Commedia. The descent into the Infernal is the first line in the ‘V’ part of the Capricorn symbol. The ascent up Mount Purgatorio is the second line in the ‘V’ part of the Capricorn symbol. The little loop at the top of the ‘V’ is the Garden of Eden or the loop separating the ‘V’ and ‘U” in the

Capricorn Symbol. The ‘U’, which encompasses the ‘V’ of the Capricorn symbol, is the journey into the Paradiso. Beatrice was born in the month of January, which is in the sign of Capricorn. The symbol of Capricorn I believe is a variation on the symbol of the Golden Spiral.

Dare I not point out that Beatrice may well be an allegorical figure representing the Golden Spiral: life? It may well be that the allegorical year of nine that Dante is suppose to have met and was enamored by Beatrice is when the student learns of the Golden Spiral in his mathematical studies, which is incorporated into the 10 x 10 matrix, which I have demonstrated elsewhere creates the Genesis Formula and in which I have demonstrated proves the Fibonacci sequence to be a finite (not an infinite) sequence. It replicates itself after the 24th calculation14. Note how Dante points out in vs. 10 of the twenty-ninth canto/chapter of La Purgatorio that they had not yet gone a hundred steps, which is allusion to the 100-cantos/chapters of La Divina Commedia.

Needless to say, that the life of Dante, La Divina Commedia and his other writings are going to have to be in every respect reassessed based upon this data of the Golden Ratio that is inclusive in his entire mythoi.

3. FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS

I have previously dealt with the 32-Elohyms in the first chapter of Genesis in another article I contributed to World Mysteries15. In that article I discussed them in relationship to the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and the Vesica Piscis (see illustration below); however, here I will discuss these 32-Elohyms briefly in relationship to both the Vesica Piscis and the Golden Spiral. Here in this example I am more or less setting the stage for my fourth example so that the reader can see where I obtained my source material for interpreting Saint Peter’s Basilica Square.

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The first letter of Genesis is BETH, which has the letter PEI inundating and surrounding it in the white area of the page. This infers that PEI symbolically represents the EIN SOF (infinite) in the material plane of existence. PEI represents the Mouth of God and in the mouth there are 32-teeth; hence, the reason that there are 32-Elohyms spread throughout the first chapter of Genesis. Both BETH and PEI are individual ‘Dyson’ spheres and when they come together they form the Vesica Piscis: this is a symbolic representation of the birth of consciousness. In essence when the EIN SOF merges with the material creation it gives meaning to it otherwise the material creation would be just that: NOTHING. This is inferred in the fact that the mouth has 32-teeth. The above diagram shows the 32-Elohyms in the first chapter of Genesis. Each Elohym represents not only the diameter of the circle but is itself a 360 ° circle; thus, there are 32-circles with a diameter in each Elohym. The letters in the word Elohym break down Gemetrically into the formula for pi when placed into a circle and going counterclockwise from the number three. The word ‘Elohym’ symbolically the circumference of pi would have a diameter of one: indicating that Elohym represented center, diameter and the circumference.

This above paragraph is basically a brief rehashing of that previous article I spoke of above. The aggregate of 32-Elohyms is 528; whereas, the aggregate of Elohyms 3-18 total to 168, which when multiplied by pi is 528 making it (168) the diameter of this large circle of 32-Elohyms. The aggregate of the remaining 16-Elohyms 1, 2, and 19-32 is 360, which is the amount of degrees in a circle; hence, the sacred scriptures are interpreting themselves. Each of the 32-Elohyms is a microcosm to the larger circle of 32-Elohyms, which is the macrocosm. There are two circles in this large circle of 32-Elohyms: 528 (RED) and 360 (Blue) totals to 888 (Green), which is the Gemetria value of the word Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus said he was the Alpha and the Omega, which infers a relationship to the EIN SOF: infinite.

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The Mouth of God (Word of God) can only be represented by the Vesica Piscis though the diameter of both circles points to the mythological dogma that Jesus Christ the God/Man is the Alpha and Omega of both the material and the spiritual realms. The implication of what the Vesica Piscis is suggesting here is astounding because it infers that every human being is a God/Man because out of the mouth of a human comes both the material and divine simultaneously. This inference is made with PEI having 32-teeth in the mouth and 32-Elohyms in the first chapter of Genesis.

The diameters of both the red and blue circles add up to the green circle; however, it is noticeable that both the red and blue circles actually have a diameter of 168, which gives each circle an aggregate of 528. This is an interesting conundrum. This is probably why the fountains in Saint Peter’s Basilica are given equidistance from the obelisk besides symmetry and esthetic purposes.

This above paragraph should be qualified by saying that this circle is symbolically representing the number of Christ: 888. Two circle interlocked into a Vesica Piscis such as outlined above could not have a diameter that would generate a circumference of 888; however, the suggestive symbolism is there to go forward with. The bible is for the most part created through logic; however, when it comes to symbolism logic has melt into the background.

Furthermore, the Vesica Piscis’ dimension 265/153 is the square root of the number three inferring the presents of the Trinity, which has everything to with the Vesica Piscis. In addition 153 is the aggregate of 17, which is the merger of material and the spiritual, which is the seventeenth letter of the Hebrew coder: PEI. This is important to understand because the merger of the material and spiritual symbolizes the birth of Christ, which represents the seventeenth Tarot Card: THE STAR. This letter PEI will be discussed further below.

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Here I proffer a theory: It matters not what the diameter or the circumference of the two circles are that create the Vesica Piscis as long as they are equal: that is a given; however, the first circle by necessity cuts off the second circle or it can be said that the second circle cuts off the first: whatever. This tit-for-tat interplay between the opposites forming the Vesica Piscis has the same equivalent ratio as that found in the tetrahedral forces in every orb in the solar system and by extension the universe at large suggesting that these are the dynamic forces in creation that create life. It is found that about 19.5° of each of the axis poles of a planetary orb be it a star (sun), planet or moon. This would produce a quotient of 39° or more. Consider the example that Genesis 32-Elohyms give: 360 / 888 = 40.54. This would seem to be a wild theory coming out of Genesis if it was not for the fact that the 32-Elohym in the first chapter of Genesis produces a perfect image of the Star of David. If put into a three dimensional form the Star of David would appear as a double tetrahedron. It would appear that 19.5° of the axis poles of a planetary orb is an average not necessarily a fixed ratio. All of this fit in with the Genesis Formula extrapolated from the first word of Genesis: BERESHITH.

Now consider totaling the two sets of libraries in the sacred scriptures: the Old and New Testaments: 39 + 27 = 66 books. Now divide 27 / 66 = 0.4091…; whereas, in the Genesis Vesica Piscis we find that 528 + 360 = 888. Divine 360 / 888 = 0.4054… That would be a remarkable coincidence but there are no coincidences in life no matter what we may think. This would place the twelve (12) minor-prophets in the Old Testaments as being within the Vesica Piscis. These calculations also point out that that it is the spiritual creation that gestates life in the material universe: seeing that the 27-books of the New Testament would equate to the 360° circle in the Genesis Vesica Piscis.

These above calculations are not the only evidence of the Old and New Testaments having a symbiosis. Consider that there are 929-chapters in the Old Testaments and the New Testament has 260-chapters. This totals to 1189-chapters. The book of Malachi is added to the New Testament because it speaks of Elijah returning and Jesus Christ talks about John the Baptist in the New

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Testament as being Elijah returned. This would give the New Testament 264-chapters or 2 x 132; whereas, the Old Testament would then have 925-chapters. The last chapter in the book of Zechariah would be the pivotal chapter separating the two libraries. The reason for this is because this chapter speak of the Mount of Olives (1) splitting into two (2) parts and then into four (4) parts. This 1, 2, and 4 is a transposition of 412 (septenary), which is the Gemetria value of the letter/word BETH: birth of consciousness. This leaves 924-chapters in the Old Testament: 7 x 132 = 924. Seven (7) divide two (2) = 3½ or coiled and dormant lingam at the bottom of the spine: the sleeping Kundalini. I submit that the Old Testament represents symbolically the Seven Light Chakras as was illustrated elsewhere in the first four chapters of Genesis. The New Testament represents symbolically the ejaculation of the Kundalini out of the Crown of the head. Evidence of the Kundalini is found twice in the first four chapters of Genesis. Consider the last chapter of Zechariah as the pivotal point in the Scales of Libra as outlined in the first four chapters of Genesis. Then the seven dormant (sleeping) Light Chakras would represent the Scale of Darkness as opposed to the New Testament Kundalini Serpent representing the scale of Light.

If the reader can envisage it think about how the first word of Genesis is structured in relationship to the GENESIS FORMULA16: the ratio of 6/4: this goes to demonstrate that before the first word of Genesis was written the entire Old and New Testament was already planned out to its completion. Here it can be understood why the New Testament is a very terse and succinct commentary on the esoteric structure of the Old Testament.4. SAINT PETER’S BASILICA SQUARE

The first thing to notice in Saint Peter’s Basilica Square is that Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s (7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) colonnades embrace an oval shape (Ovato tondo) area: inferring the Vesica Piscis by embracing the two circles that created it? In studying the symbolism in Saint Peter's Basilica Square it is almost immediately realized that the obelisk circle symbolizes a Vesica Piscis. The center of the two fountains flanking the obelisk’s circle obviously represent the outer most rims of the two circles intertwining around it forming the Vesica Piscis nesting the obelisk and its circle within its fold. The obelisk is eight-two feet tall, which is quite significant when it is realized that the first letter of Genesis is

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BETH (2). Beth is inundated and surrounded by the letter PEI (80): combined they have the numerical value of eighty-two (82). Beth and Pei represent the first interface of the Vesica Piscis in the sacred scriptures. It is also curious that Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s (7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) is said to have died just before Saint Peter’s Square was completed. Note that Bernini’s died less than one month before his eighty-second birthday? Was that an allegorical coincidence?

Draw a circle – from the center of the left fountain circling the obelisk’s circle and then back again - then draw another circle – from the center of the right fountain again circling the obelisk’s circle and then back again. These two circles forming the Vesica Piscis represent the gods of this world: Yahweh = ego-consciousness and Elohym = unconscious mind: pure thoughts from God. The center (Vesica Piscis) represents the God/Man Jesus Christ. This is why there is a cross placed upon the star (sun), which is set upon the obelisk: phallic or organic creation symbolizing that Jesus Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33).

Look at the Washington Monument and how the base is patterned after the Vesica Piscis similar to the layout of Saint Peter’s Square. It has interested me for some time now that United States Constitution may well be an esoteric document written in the same esoteric tradition as the Mystery Schools of antiquity. As much Washington DC city historians may want to summarily dismiss the idea the evidence is just too overwhelming to do so.

THE US CONSTITUTION, Article 1, Section 8 has decreed: “To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States”.

The Masonic Lodge “House of the Temple” in Washington DC and the Holy of Holies that is depicted in the center of the 10-columns is also patterned after this 10 x 10 matrix. This configuration of columns continues around the building 10-columns on all four sides: 36-columns in all inferring the squaring of the circle. These 36-columns infer the 10 x 10 matrix we’re discussing. This is known as Solomon’s Temple in the round. The Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter’s Basilica wholly depict this configuration.

Now, view the image of the map depicting the District of Columbia. Before the entire district became one city the seat of government was called the city of Washington, which lies directly in the center or should I say the center symbolizes the Holy of Holies as depicted in Solomon’s Temple.

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Consider the image on the dome of the Capitol Rotunda: Apotheosis of Washington: man made into God. Much of this Masonic symbolism throughout Washington DC made no sense to me until I became aware of the 100-square miles of land allocated to the seat of government. Now such blatant symbols are no longer a tall story. The spin doctors may have something to say about the land given back to Virginia but I say, consider the formula of the Golden Ratio. Also consider that Congress did not demand more land from Maryland to round out its allocation of 100-square miles of land: the government never gives up anything unless it benefits. To ask Maryland for more land would destroy the symbolism of the Holy of Holies and what is depicted by the Potomac River and the major stream that flows from it. The matrix that this 10 x 10 square miles is patterned after I have named the UNIVERSAL MATHEMATICAL MATRIX: Prima Materia (Perennial Matrix).

Gian Lorenzo Bernini's (7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) 284 colonnades symbolize the diameter of a circumference of 888 (Jesus’ name Gemetrically structured): taking in the radiuses of both circles. The circumference of a circle of 528: diameter of 168.0676… and the circumference of a circle of 360: 114.5915… are 282.6591... (Above diagram Green-Circle) Notice that within the two arms of the colonnades there is symbolically the Kamea of Saturn in a nine part circle: the outer rim of the Kamea of Saturn circle would symbolize this circle with the circumference of 888, which is the Gemetria value of the word ‘Jesus’. The diameter of 888: 282.6591… is not quite equal to Bernini’s count of 284 colonnades. Bernini already had the spiritual authority for 283 columns; however, 283-columns would be an odd number offsetting the symmetry of Saint Peter’s Square’s design. The 284-columns are of course apropos seeing what he is collectively symbolizing. Nonetheless, 284-columns denoting a diameter would by necessary be inferring another circumference: the Ovato Tondo is said to be 787-feet from one side to the other. Each set of colonnades are said to be 52-feet wide giving the total span of the Ovato Tondo and the colonnades a quotient of 891-feet17: 284 x pi = 892.2… Again an acceptable margin of error when considering the restrains upon the limited mathematics Gian Lorenzo Bernini had to work with.

Each of the two arms of the 284-colonnades has 142-columns. The number 142 is a transposition of the number 412, which is the Gemetria value of the first letter of Genesis: BETH. In every sense this is correct because BETH is the exoteric manifestation of creation and PEI is the unseen or esoteric manifestation of creation. Because of the spiritual and unseen nature of PEI (spirituality) religious art works are given an esthetically pleasing symmetry, which mystically includes the divine; thus, the two arms symbolically represent that both circles are 528 in circumference each with a diameter 168 (as outlined in the first chapter of

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Genesis) pointing to the fact that they both equally represent symbolically Jesus Christ’s arms spiritually embracing the soul.

There are 140 saints statues perched on top of the colonnades (see diagram below) and additional 13-statues: disciples with Jesus centered, on top of Saint Peter’s Basilica = 265/153 ratio of the Vesica Piscis = 1.73206… or the square root of three (3): see John 21:11. The number 153 is also the aggregate of the number seventeen, which also represents the Star18 in the Major Arcana Tarot Cards. The number seventeen (17) is said to represent the integration of the material and the spiritual realms. Seventeen: 8 + 9 represents the two astrological signs: Scorpio and Sagittarius that point to the center of the Galaxy: the galactic core with their arrow intersecting.

I caution the reader that does a follow research on this paper to understand that it matters not that much of this esthetically pleasing cosmetic art (finishing touches) was finished in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Saint Peter’s Basilica Square was all initially planned in its entirety back in the days of Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It is difficult in our day and age to envisaging something taking hundreds of years to complete when we see great engineering project completed in a few decades or less. All the mathematical properties to Saint Peter’s Basilica Square were finished back in the planning stages.

I like to point out to people interested in these things that Saint Peter’s Basilica in the octagon shape that we know it as today was planned back in the days of Constantine before he built Saint Peter’s initially in a rectangular form in imitation of Solomon Temple in Jerusalem. Just as Chartres Cathedral in the Gothic style cross as we know it today was initially planned back before the Chartres’ Romanesque Cathedral was built in a rectangular format. These different styles of the same church are symbolizing the soul going from materialism into spirituality. In both cases: Saint Peter’s Basilica and Chartres Cathedral go from the rectangular of the Jewish Solomon’s Temple to the octagon (circular) Christian Solomon’s Temple. Chartres does not look like an octagon shape building because it is shaped in the form of a cross; however, a cross has four empty spaces to the east and west of its arms denoting the eight sided octagon shape. Chartres is even more interesting when it’s realized that the Romanesque Cathedral was a very dark place with little light allowed into the cathedral. This is because of its thick walls. Then when the West Façade burnt down in 1134 they rebuilt it as a hybrid of the Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Then when the cathedral burnt down again: all except the West Façade (1194) they rebuilt the rest of the cathedral entirely in the Gothic style. Personally, I believe the fires are allegorical tales related to Chartres cathedral connected to a larger story portraying the soul going through the Wall of Fire to achieve spirituality like Dante Alighieri going through the fire to obtain entrance into La Paradiso.

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THE FOUNDER SAINTS

In addition, those that tour Saint Peter’s Basilica19 will notice, if they have an attentive eye, that the tribune, the nave and the two transepts have twenty out of a hundred possible locations housing the Founder Saints20: 39 Saints (Saint Peter making #40) who founded religious congregations. These twenty (20) locations form a perfect cross spanning the length and width of the basilica; though, that is not at all apparent to those touring the basilica. Each of the twenty locations houses two niches with a statue of a Founding Saint in each: one on top of the other. When Saint Peter’s Basilica was being built these 20-locations: forty-niches were set aside for the Founder Saints despite the fact that it took up to the late twentieth century to fill them all. Notice that each of the one hundred (100) shrines locations are appointed a letter of the alphabet or numerically numbered. If it was not for the Founder Saints being appointed letters alphabetically this nuance in the basilica would not have been notice. In fact the Vatican website goes out of its way to point this nuance of the CROSS out to those that care to see with their intellect. Note that the other 80-shrines in Saint Peter’s Basilica correspond to the numerical value of the Hebrew letter PEI. The 20-niches allocated for the founding saints correspond to the Crown of Creation, which is the 20th-letter of the Hebrew coder, which is interchangeable with BETH (2) and RESH 200); thus, the 100-shrines in Saint Peter’s Basilica corresponds symbolically to the height of the obelisk in Saint Peter’s Square being 82-feet tall.

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If the reader has read my previous articles on World Mysteries he or she would already know of the existence of the Universal Mathematical Matrix. This is the same blueprint that was use to architecturally design Saint Peter’s Basilica and is the same matrix outlined above for La Divina Commedia’s Mathematical Matrix. If anyone doubts this assessment of the design plan for Saint Peter’s Basilica I suggest they look at the center portion of Saint Peter’s Basilica’s Interactive Floor Plan shown above or go to the internet website provided in the endnotes and do a comparative analysis of the four by four square in the center of the Universal Mathematical Matrix. In Saint Peter’s Basilica’s Interactive Floor Plan take note of letters G, H, I, L, M, P, Q, T and numbers 31-38. Number 32 is pointing out Saint Peter’s bronze statue set beneath the Founder Saint: Saint John Bosco in letter-H in the above niche and number 38-points out the Dome of Saint Peter’s. Number 31 and 33-35 represent the four-nines in the center of the matrix. Numbers 36-37 represent the two-twos and the two-sevens in the matrix: number 36 represents the Papal Altar and Baldacchino and number 37 represents Confessio (Tomb of Saint Peter). All the letters: G, H, I, L, M, P, Q, T in Saint Peter’s Basilica’s Interactive Floor Plan point to the four-threes and four-sixes in the four by four square in the center of the matrix. This is also the exact same matrix that the Hindus used to build all of their temples in India.

5. CONCLUSION

The visceral attack on religion by the uninformed is because humanity as a whole has forgotten its origins. Religion was neither created by looking into outer space and sectioning off the stars into zodiacal patterns nor by creating diverse mythologies to explain them nor through the natural processes of nature and/or the science of agriculture nor was it created through the auspices of worshiping the Sun, Moon and/or planets. Rather all these outer manifestations of the soul/psyche are used merely as ink on paper: expressing ideas of spiritual truths. In other words humanity’s entire understanding of how religion was created is the other way around: the opposite of what man thinks he knows. I agree that eventually humanity as a whole regress into an amnesic state of mind and went from a metaphysical understanding of creation to a fundamentalist’s perspective.

An image or an icon is an all-at-once expression of a conceptual idea; whereas, the average human being understands conceptual idea on a linear basis: ‘line upon line here a little there a little’. The ancient scribes had the task of breaking down the conceptual idea embossed in the image and scribing that

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conceptual idea into linear thought so that posterity would be able to decode it and grasp what they were trying to convey.

The universe and the world at large are basically the ink and the platform in which humans on an individual and collective level can express their inner spiritual understanding of creation. The idea that the ancients had of KNOWING THYSELF has become an anathema in modern times so much so that the average person can scarcely look him or herself in the eye when looking in the mirror.

It is difficult to understand the ancient sacred scriptures in the many religions around the world because the average man or woman in modernity has no time to listen to what the texts are saying. The average person thinks he knows how the ancient scriptures were written but in actuality he has not a clue. Merely reading the texts as one would read a cheap novel is ludicrous. Unless the texts are read and studied in the manner of thought that they were written in, letter by letter, there is no hope of understanding what the ancients were trying to convey on a spiritual level.

In all four examples outlined above I have submerged myself into their genre of thought and the esoteric science that these artworks are based from and thereby I have the ability to understand what these monumental masterpieces were conveying; however, the teeming masses go nonchalantly through life not knowing or caring that there is an ultimate purpose for life in the material world: that purpose is to know and love God and in that sacred mindset the individual can experience and enjoy the world as the Garden of Eden.

When I was brought up in Catholicism back in the late fifties I saw the ceremonies of the Church in a darkness which mirrored my childlike understanding of its dogma, traditions and teachings of the sacred scriptures. That mindset stayed with me until my mid-twenties. At that time I began to study the bible and the Catholic teachings on my own without an instructor and have ever since. The more I learned the true nature of religion the brighter my understanding got: meaning the light was dispelling the darkness of my youthful imagination, which stayed with me all those years.

The word ‘catholic’ means ‘universal’ and this is why Christianity initially took on the name “Catholic Church’: Meaning “Universal Church”. Christ told his disciples to go into all the world and ‘learn and teach’ the gospel. I did not name the 10 x 10 mathematical matrix – UNIVERSAL - because I’m a Catholic it was because the matrix was being use all over the world by every religion. It is merely coincidental or is it that I unconsciously used the word UNIVERSAL because the Church took that name as its organizational nomenclature; nonetheless, it is what it is.

One of the most important concepts to understand about the world at large, metaphysics, esotericism and the vernacular on the whole is that they are all allegorical garments that the spiritual powers that be uses to communicate to the soul. None of these fixed features in and of themselves are spiritual. They have nothing to do with the actual essence or unction of what they are trying to express. The ratio of understanding these fix features to the actual essence of spirituality would be an INCH to the ends of the material universe. That is the chasm that exists between the two: the bridge between these two is absolutely DESIRE to know and love God. It is alas this that most humans cannot allow to abide in their hearts no matter how much they try, no matter how much they whine and no matter how much they give lip service to it. Action is the only prayer God can hear or is obligated to answer. It matters not how you are judged by your fellow peers: if you have the requisite DESIRE God will answer your prayers. Were not Moses, David and Saint Paul all murderers?

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1 Dante Alighieri’s Life may not readily appear to be an artistic arrangement; however, as the paper continues it will be easily envisaged that Dante Alighieri is a mythological figure both as the writer and the character portrayed as the pilgrim journeying through the three realms of spirit. With the evidence I am about to present I dispute academia assumption that Dante Alighieri (author) was an actual human being of flesh and blood.2 INNUMERACY: Mathematical Illiteracy and its consequences (1988), by John Allen Paulos, published by Hill & Wang, New York, New York3 I know that I am dating myself when I point to students taking their school math tests without a calculator. That would have been considered cheating, when I was going through grade school, and a zero would have been earned for the student cheating efforts. Today a math test would not be given unless the student had a calculator in hand. In fact the teacher would lend a student a calculator if he or she had forgotten to bring their own.4 This date will certainly give many Dantists in the Dante Alighieri Societies around the world a shock or two seeing traditionally it is though that the entire trip through hell took a week: are they in for a rude awakening.5 The old maxim “one man’s heaven is another man’s hell’ is apropos here. The Old Testament’s Hell is the New Testaments Garden of Eden and the New Testament Hell is the Old Testament’s Garden of Eden. This is a hard saying but nonetheless true. It is also apropos for me to quote Carl G. Jung here: “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious (“The Philosophical Tree” (1945). In CW 13: Alchemical Studies, Pg. 335).” What I mean by quoting Carl Jung is to point out that - solely studying the New Testament does not enlighten one as to what the New Testament is all about. It takes knowing the symbiotic relationship between the Old and New Testaments to learn what the sacred scriptures are conveying.6 I say a monastery of monks because an individual, such as myself, has a great deal of difficulty envisaging just how the esoteric science is structured to the sacred scriptures no less creating an entirely different art form such as La Divina Commedia. It would have to take an entire school of thought: a platoon of scholars in the esoteric tradition in the ambiance of a think tank to fully envisage or to create the esotericism imbued into La Divina Commedia. There would have to be honest discussions: pro and con back and forth over the esoteric nuances being codified to the texts. It is extremely difficult to evaluate one’s own work: it would take a room full of scholars going over every nuance of the work to get the esotericism imbued into it right without error: “be ye, therefore, perfect even as your father in heaven is perfect (Jesus Christ).”7 Mark Musa put out two translated versions of the INFERNO one of the volumes of The Divine Comedy and he does a variation on this and other verses. I use this version because I relate inwardly more to this rather than other translations of these verses.8 THE DIVINE COMEDY: Vol. 1: Inferno translated by Mark Musa, published by Indiana University Press (1971), and Penguin Books, New York, NY (1984). The second translation: DANTE’S INFERNO: The Indiana Critical Edition (1995), translated and edited by Mark Musa, published by Indiana University Press9 There is no guessing in esotericism. In ancient times the entire month of a year coincided with the Zodiacal sign, which would make Dante’s birth date June 1, 1265. If reader would research the creation of the Gregorian Calendar he and she will find that when the eleven (11) days were deleted from the calendar to correct the never-ending creeping error it will be found that all the king’s horses and the kings men could not more the stars of the Zodiac and because it was the age of the Reformation Astrology was not considered and hence the error that still remains in Zodiacal Charts (I don’t believe in fortune telling; however, modernity is what it is).10 Eleusinian Mysteries http://www.schooloftheseasons.com/eleusis.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusinian_Mysteries 11 Having gone through this experience in my life I recognized what Dante Alighieri was expressing when he talked about the searing wall of flames in which he had to traverse in order to enter onto the periphery of the Garden of Eden as outlined in the twenty-seventh chapter of Purgatorio. I find it also quite interesting that this wall of flames is in the twenty-seventh chapter of Purgatorio: analogous to the twenty-seven books of the New Testament as if to infer that the Catholic Church has no authority beyond this point in the soul’s life. The soul is free of the Catholic Church because its teachings have been fully imbued into the heart of the soul.12 See my published works: www.williamjohnmeegan.com 1. THE CONQUEST OF GENESIS: A Study in Universal Creation Mathematics, published by the Edwin Mellen Press

19972. THE SECRETS & THE MYSTERIES OF GENESIS: Antiquity’s Hall of Records (Chapter #7), published by Trafford

Publisher 20033. THE SISTINE CHAPEL: A Study in Celestial Cartography, The Mysteries and Esoteric Teachings of the Catholic

Church (5th Appendix), published by Xlibris Publishers 201213 Princeton Dante Project: http://etcweb.princeton.edu/dante/pdp/ I include the bi-lingual text so there is no misunderstanding as to the meaning of this portion of the canto/chapter.14 THE SISTINE CHAPEL: A Study in Celestial Cartography, The Mysteries and Esoteric Teachings of the Catholic Church (App. 10), by William John Meegan, published by Xlibris Publishers, 2012 www.williamjohnmeegan.com 15 SACRED GEOMETRY AND THE ART OF SCRIPTURAL WRITING

http://blog.world-mysteries.com/ancient-writings/sacred-geometry-and-the-art-of-scriptural-writing/ 16 IBID 17 ART HISTORY PRESERVATION ARCHIVE: Bernini’s Piazza di San Pietro, by Melissa Horton 2007 http://honorsaharchive.blogspot.com/2007/09/berninis-piazza-di-san-pietro.html 18 Seventeenth Major Arcana Tarot Card http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star_%28Tarot_card%29 19 Saint Peter’s Basilica Interactive Floor Plan: http://saintpetersbasilica.org/floorplan.htm 20 FOUNDER SAINTS STATUES: 39 Saints who founded religious congregations http://saintpetersbasilica.org/Statues/Founders/FounderSaints.htm