South-Africa, 70000 BC

This little piece of red ochre was found in Blombos Cave, South Africa, in 1993. It is incised with three straight lines that intersect with diagonal lines that create triangles and diamond patterns. The finder, Dr. Henshilwood, says that the carvings are “undoubtedly a symbolic act- the earliest evidence in the world for that kind of symbolism”. This site intends to ascertain that there has been a continuous use of this same symbolism until the present day and that this symbol and others refer to the Inner Teachings, a complex of teachings that assisted a person in reconnecting again to his/her Essence while alive. This Knowledge reinforced and empowered the members of the tribe to contribute, each person in their best way to their community and with the awareness of executing their soul’s task on Earth.

This pattern on the piece of red ochre displays the hexagon (link) of  Sacred Geometry (link). The triangles, diamonds nor the red ochre of this object were randomly chosen. The triangle refers to the principle of divine creation (Trinity) and the red ochre colour represents the Yang energy in both males and females, it is the colour of the “fire” of conscious purpose, the manifesting Yang principle. So, what was to be manifested then?

We see three horizontal lines that represent the three earthly dimensions that we live in. The triangular patterns “weave” the otherwise seemingly separated lines together. The goal was (and still is….) to achieve in “weaving” the duality that reigns the lower triangle into the unity of the diamond pattern. The gap in between the upper and the lower triangle would then have been “bridged”, a concept that we still find in today’s religions (link to Greece, China, Israel, Turkey, Mesopotamia, Peru, Panama, New-Zealand). In this way an individual could manifest her/himself from their divine Essence and contribute in the best way possible to the community. The individuality is stressed in this concept as it is a personal decision to choose to walk this Path in life. A path of experiencing the divine within and of learning to trust and to surrender to it. Therefore it is not so much a path of “believing” but of personal “knowing”, there is no outside authority or mediator involved, one has to be one’s own guru! It is done by carefully dissecting the feelings and emotions in the self and by putting those feelings under scrutiny of the mind as to where they stem from and what they cause in the inner and therefore also act out in the outer world. It is taking the ultimate responsibility for one’s actions in life and that is the only way towards an authentically empowered, responsible human being.

While  the diamond or rhombus pattern incised on this piece of red ochre is a two dimensional symbolic representation of the Knowledge we find a three dimensional manifestation of the same symbolism of this esoteric principle in today’s China, in one of the many ethnic minorities, the Dong people (see article). In the diamond shaped background appears a gate in the middle; it has two characters, the lower one is the character for “Harmony”, the upper one reads “Heaven”. It is clear; whoever establishes Harmony in the lower three dimensions, will enter through the Gate of Heaven. The concept of “a gate, including a gatekeeper is a recurrent theme within the esoteric teachings. The adjacent triangles that are meeting with the tips have a flower-like pattern like that of  the “Seal of Solomon” or Star of David,(link), also known as the Merkabah, the vehicle of light that holds mankind in their earthly manifestation. Geographically there are thousands of miles and in time thousands of years, that separate these manifestations of the same idea…..do you wonder why? It is the Unified Consciousness Field, the upper half of it in the 4^th dimension that we can enter through our hearts after having integrated the lower three and the lower fourth dimension into the higher fourth dimension.

Although this branch of the Yi ethnic minority in China, the Axi, picture on right hand side , does not use red ochre any more for painting their bodies, red (link) is still used today and so are the other colours, yellow, black, white that represent the lower dimensions on earth  and the human being as life in the physical manifestation of the Divine duality on Earth. This festival, when only men (as representations of Yang energy) paint their bodies in this fashion, is very meaningful : The Axi Fire Festival! That day they worship the God of Fire, Madang, who is said to have invented the art of making fire. There are also connections to the physical fire of desire as sex, lust as the men carry big penises, so there is also a fertility aspect to the festival. It is celebrated on the 3d day of the 2^nd lunar month. These colours have been used during thousands of years in all cultures and (links, Egypt, Peru, Polynesia…) and refer to an esoteric principle; Knowledge of the hidden world that lives within each human being and wherein this being can establish access to the greater Self while living in a physical body.

The piece of ochre from South Africa is in a horizontal position,  the work that needs to be done on Earth representing the integrated levels and dimensions on earth next to each other. When we put this little piece of art in an upright position, the diamond patterns can be used as platforms, like the rungs of a ladder or the stepping stones leading upward in the river of consciousness. This “raising” of the ladder was the goal of the Path of the human being. In Egypt there was a very important ritual in which the raising of the “Djed pillar” (link) was celebrated on the 1^st day of the harvest season. A mock battle between good and evil was fought and a oxen was taken into town. Its origin dates back to the pre-dynastic period, 5500-3100 BC.

The Djed pillar represents the human spine that carries our consciousness (represented by two snakes, Yin/Yang or Ida/Pingala in the Vedic teachings from India , link) on all levels of the human being. That content is visible in the Human Energy Field, (HEF, aura) , all cultures have known and still know as it is a part of the divine legacy of the human. The question is: are we willing to rediscover this “lost sense” and awaken it?

It is in this way that the purpose of mankind has always been known to people “who have eyes that see and ears that hear”. In all of the present day cultures there are people who have these abilities but who have to hide them since they live in a world, shaped by science and religion that does not acknowledge or suppresses these phenomena. Since this ability is a natural part of the human “make-up” it is only logical that  cultural manifestations throughout the evolutionary journey of mankind refer to this human ability that needs to be re-awakened in the self of both women and men. The task would be somewhat more difficult for the men as they embodied more of the Yang energies that needed to surrender themselves to their inner Yin energies. On the other hand the females would have to empower themselves more. But everybody knew both sexes had come to Earth as “Yangkind”, thus refering to the energetic principles in both man and women; they were equal and one.

This “raised” diamond pattern, as stepping stones on a path, also appears on a Chinese ceramic bowl from the Banpo excavation, remnant of a matriarchal culture, in the vicinity of Xi’an (link). The archaeologists that wrote the exhibition’s catalogue have no idea what the patterns represent……..

As far as I know the South African piece of red ochre from Blombos Cave is the first example of  the Knowledge of Yangkind in a symbolic representation, the purpose of the human species on Earth.  Together with other cave art of the world it shows that while we gained a lot by the development of the human brain we also lost something very important to us. When we follow the traces of the patterns through time and scattered in space on Earth a lot of questions enter our human brains. Let’s be curious again and let us go where most scientists and hitherto most people did not dare “unearthen”. Let us go within, excavate the unconscious layers of humanity and bring them back up again in the Unified Consciousness Field that encompasses all of humanities thought forms and ideas. Let us bring Wisdom back into our world. One individual at a time, only then will we have changed the world into a better place….