The Wand

a study of usta Darin Bozhkov

“Dare to know” – the slogan adopted by the philosopher Immanuel Kant had put an emphasis on the fact that knowledge means freedom! “Everything would be lost if a single monarch, or aristocracy, or nation exercises all three powers: legislative, executive and judicial. In the Ottoman Empire all these authorities are combined and they are in the hands of the Sultan, and that is why in the Ottoman Empire reins a horrible despotism”. From “The spirit of the law” by Charles Montesquieu, 1748 At that time Bulgaria was under the Ottoman Empire rule. After the golden years of proto Master Sinan and his lodge, the empire fell into a crisis: weaken development of transportation infrastructure, lack of security on the roads, inability of the urban population to supply itself with food and raw materials from the craftsman production. In search of solution of this, in 1773 Sultan Mustafa III issues a decree that all the guilds (the core of the economic power of the empire) were placed under his protection. The Firman declared unprecedented independence and untouchability of craftsmen. “Based on an inquiry I have made with the imperial archives, it came to my attention the crafts guild lays on very old and traditional principles. Therefore, I deign….to issue….the herein royal Firman”. Under the auspices of local authorities, craftsmen themselves began the organization of social, economic and public life. Spiritual centers were built, as well as roads and bridges. Bulgarian national identity is exalted. In 1760-1762, Paisii of Hilendar, a monk from Mount Athos wrote “The History of Slav-Bulgarians” to remind his countryman and women that they have also had a “kingdom and state” and to know “their kin and language”. Great part of the proto Masters have studied and received their education in Constantinople (modern Istanbul) and in the masonry loggias of Persia. Others come from Dubrovnik and brought with them the new European Enlightenment thinking but within the guild they have preserved the tradition and knowledge that was obtained in the operative loggias. The Knowledge of the spiritual growth of the free man, knowledge that differs from the religious views and the conceptions of the modern then world, related to the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment process that has begun in the eighteenth century. A Knowledge that has been gathered during millennia, and embodied in eternal masterpieces. Masterpieces, that have endured the burden of time, dyed with the colors of ages during which they had been created, with national dignity, and bearing the freedom of self-realization. “Remember, history does not commence with you” – those were the words my father bequeathed me. In XIII century, after Bulgaria gives the world Boyana’s church (one of the first examples of the emerging Renaissance), the country falls under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire. 500 years later, in eighteenth century Bulgaria enters in the postponed renaissance. Today in Bulgaria is said that this is the time of the Second Bulgarian Renaissance. Singers, musicians, dancers and artists are turning back to those values which we call intransitive and universal. Driven by the same thoughts and feelings, as woodcarver I dared to analyze and create one of the attributes of Masonic ritual – the wand. I started gathering information but could not find any meaningful definition of Wand. Reading was something like: “Stick with knobs at the two ends”. At least in the dictionary the Wand was defined as bludgeon and bludgeon is a word with a magic meaning.  By definition might be so, but history and nature? Several examples of known Wands: • Moses sceptre. Transmutations of the stick into a snake, the conversion of the plant kingdom animal, become   a symbol of power. • The sceptre of the Egyptian mysteries of “Ankh” below 45 degrees and ending with a tuning fork tool, which was   supposed to take you to other worlds. • Hermes sceptre – Hermes threw his stick between fighting for life or death snakes and they gently wrapped around   it. Stick, wrapped with snakes became a symbol of balance and equilibrium of the two warring energies. In alchemical texts • third eye (epiphysis) is called peak Abigail. “Abigail” means “cone” and refers to the cone on   top of Thyrsus, a scepter that lies in the Dionysian mysteries. • Shepherd’s crook – Ge-Ga. Raven (earth bird) is one of the birds, which takes souls in the Upper world. Therefore,   the eagle carrying people to the upper land when looking for pieces of meat, screaming “Ga-a-a …”. The first   syllable comes from Thracian meaning of Earth – Gaia. Together with Ge-Ga symbolizes upwards from Earth to   Heaven world. As an attribute of governing power, by which the shepherd separates the lamb out of the flock, shepherd’s crook   transforms into a  crosier and passes to the Spiritual shepherd – the Patriarch as a symbol of spiritual power? In the masonry, the Wand of the builders (operative) Lodges is a symbol of Grand Masters and leadership. Power, tool, symbol, link between the physical and the spiritual worlds In my mind began floating concrete images, and the first thing I look for in creating plastic forms, was an architectonics.

WAND – AN INSTRUMENT TO THE ROAD OF THE TEMPLE Temple architecture…

It always has been interesting for me to dip into the temples mysteries regardless of the period, culture, and the religion they belong to. My many visits to different temples, always give me the same feeling – the cosmic harmony.

I’ve seen, and in the history of art is well known how a temple of one religion, is easily converted into a temple, that fulfills the need of another religious community.

When I start working on my first altar, for the Orthodox Church, different questions stood before me: – How to design the iconostasis in the synthesis of architecture? “And then something struck me and I asked myself the question:  – “Is there a connection between the architectonics of the facade of the temple and architectonics of the iconostasis”? The later is also viewed as a façade that separates this world from the divine world. I compared the façades and temples of different periods of art history. Everywhere columns stand on foundations; their capitals were carrying beams, and were complemented by a frieze and cornice to make them looking sheerer and gable. This architectonic structure has become a raw model for all seven iconostasis which were crafted according to my project and under my supervision but only after sixteen years of work I counted for the first time the girdles of the vertical section. Miracle! The girdles are seven – the seven steps of the temple! At the very entrance the façade shows us the way of our spiritual growth: from the first three steps, through the most dynamic part – the colonnade, all the way to the horizontal structure – architrave, frieze and cornice – internally harmonized and balanced, where the strength of the columns has turned into power ready to bear the entire weight of the gable (the gravity of celestial gifts). Let’s council with the book of the Holy law. The Temple of Solomon is an essential element of biblical symbolism and has been regarded as a symbolic image of the Man and the Universe. In order to achieve the knowledge of the Heavenly Temple, one must change – to gain an internal realization when climbing the seven steps of the temple towards the light.

The seven steps on the path to the Temple, the Temple that is inside us. That is exactly what I needed as an architectonics. The architectonic structure of the Temple is incarnated into the Wand in order for it to become an instrument in the path to the subtle worlds.

The next circumstance which makes an impression is imagery and symbols in various parts of architectonic girdles in temple architecture.

All of a sudden in my mind started floating images of the Egyptian column with hieroglyphs, fluted columns and spiral columns of Bernini supporting the canopy of the altar of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome, paintings of the altar of Solomon’s temple and columns supporting the canopy above the Ark, the columns of iconostasis of the Bulgarian Revival churches. Some – more rigid (as an architectural) form others – bearing an in coded  message recorded on it, yet others, whether or not richly ornamented, but bearing symbolic messages – a messages that were necessary to be conveyed to the humanity in a given stage of its development. Same thing happens in, a certain order, also with the other elements of temple architecture.

THE WAND – A SYMBOL OF A NEW CULTURE IN THE AGE OF AQUARIUS The Wisdom of civilizations is passed throughout the millennia by signs and symbols the meaning of which was known only to initiated people, those with the internal knowledge who were born to store it. The symbolic expression has undoubted advantages in comparison with the literal expression – it is shorter, clearer, and more precise. It overcomes the language and time barriers, but requires an initial effort to learn the symbols and their use in a particular way, and use an abstract  thinking.

The next step was to combine architectonics and symbolism all in one.

Architectonics showed us the stages of our spiritual growth. Now these steps had to be saturated with content by symbols representing the path of spiritual transformation of humanity of our time – the period of transition from the era of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius. Therefore, I first marked the sign of Aquarius at the base of the Wand and rationalize it as a milestone of time.

Entered into an evolutionary path towards expanded consciousness, the way back to the Father – the Great Architect of the Universe, a man prepares his body and his spirit. Most people, who have undertaken the spiritual path of development, look for the natural ways innate before yet they were born. Demand is always the same. No matter what religion or spiritual teachings one confesses what techniques or meditations they use, no matter what words they use to describe their experiences. An important prerequisite in the process of self-awareness is mastering the four elements of the human – Earth, Air, Fire and Water, and achieve quintessence – the fifth element. Knowledge of the four elements comes from the time when the world was still more direct and more intuitive. The term “cell” was introduced by the ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles. It means beginning, root, idea, and proto matter. Elements serve as an emanation of the eternal proto matter. For ancient philosophers unity and diversity are mutually determining conditions, and the elements exist while crossing one another in a perpetual cycle.

The four elements are the primary foundation of the natural forms of our world, formed not through accumulation but through transformation and connection.

Each element possesses two specific qualities; and through one of them it associates with rest of the elements. The fire is warm and dry, earth – dry and cold, water – cold and wet, air – warm and humid. According to its opposite qualities they are antagonistic elements – fire to water and air to earth. Land and water are considered “heavy” and air and fire are “light.” Therefore, the first two are called by the Stoics “passive” and the second – “active”.

Earth – the body is regarded as a foundation on which to build up.  Air – the mind follows this awareness to reach consciousness itself.– Water .The next step is a change of feelings – Fire.

Through earth one gets body shaped in the dust from the hand of the Creator, mixed with water powered by air and baked on fire.

Four elements could be harmonized with each other if transcends i.e. rise. This is done with the help of the mysterious “fifth element” – quintessence. Quintessence (the fifth essence) is the linking element that holds together the other four elements and connects them. Aristotle, Paracelsus, the medieval mysticism and alchemic also have studied the quintessence in deep. It is associated with the ether, it is also consider it to be subtle and penetrating everything and everywhere, thus keeping the upholding and conceiving spirit of life. It is also associated with the “Philosopher’s Stone”, which is considered to be an invisible supreme treasure. Possessing it means, we are in harmony with the Creation.

The secret of the four elements is their opposite position and the same weight.

Conversion, modification and refining of the elements occurs inside the human body and for that the ancient alchemists have said: “The four elements are not our four elements”, i.e. their invisible site is slipping away to the purely material (ignoramus) conciseness. They are active in every one of us and in all human actions are moving as a rotating wheel – the wheel with eight beams, the symbol of quintessence. Doubling four to eight shall be construed as an awareness of the duplicity of the elements, where the quintessence creates an inner core of personality.

Primary substance, the essential elements of human harmonization. I started visualizing the signs of the elements in their combinations and correlations, in the way they exist, rather than identifying individual marking signs. This way I could create a geometric ornament, as if it was left as a memory of the distaff and shepherd’s crooks (Ge-Gas) of our ancestors and that is exactly what happened. The main elements were already in place within the heart of our instrument for the spiritual path – the Wand!

The four elements and the quintessence, as a main substance of man, are displayed together with his star sign – the Pentagram. The five-pointed star is a symbol of the human microcosm, and its corners symbolize: ether, water, fire, earth, air. In different religious traditions, this star is associated as well as with female divinity of Venus, so as with the perfect unity of the opposites, leading to merger and unity. The five beam star most likely leads to the School of Pythagoras, whose sacred number is five. It is known from the symbols of the great dedicated to antiquity – philosopher Plato. With Plato we have spatiality, massiveness, development of information containing the energy characteristics of the main elements. For Plato the principal and most complex piece is the one that embodies the Universe – pentad dodecahedra. It is composed of pentagrams, joined together to form a structure closest to the most perfect form in the Universe – the sphere. But not a sphere in general but as an energy sphere of structures, based on which can be developed the evolutionary processes of living matter and mainly the Man. Energy structure of the Earth is exactly the same. If one belongs to the School of Pythagoras and only mentions the word “dodecahedron” – he will lose his life immediately. That’s how sacred is this body. Dodecahedron corresponds to quintessence and therefore crystalline pentad dodecahedron defines the place in the Wand corresponding to the point that connects people with the subtle worlds. The Wand is the spatial form and therefore it was necessary not to use the graphic but rather the spatial equivalent of the fifth essence.

The rest of the Plato’s bodies are also interrelated with the elements: fire – tetrahedron, earth – cube, air – octahedral, and water – icosahedral.

Dodecahedron and icosahedrons are part of the female aspect of consciousness, contained in the right brain hemisphere. Mankind has created the masculine side of the earth-consciousness, and during the Age of Aquarius is completed the feminine side in order to achieve completeness and equilibrium.

Besides, the right side is associated with the Consciousness of Christ or the Consciousness of Unity and dodecahedron is the basic structure of the Grid for the Consciousness of Christ around the Earth.

At the microscopic level dodecahedron and icosahedrons are interrelated parameters of DNA – the matrix of life. Dan Winter in his book “Mathematics of the heart” shows the DNA molecule, constructed on the basis of the correlation between the dodecahedron and icosahedrons. Furthermore, the DNA molecule can be represented as a rotating cube Drunvalo Melchizedek points that if a cube is rotated 72 degrees in a certain way, you will receive icosahedrons, which in turn is a double dodecahedron (72 is sacred number, and in Masonry the angle concluded between the square and compasses, is also 72 degrees). DNA double helix is built on a reciprocal principle – icosahedrons then dodecahedron, then again icosahedrons, etc. Same author wrote in his book “Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life” that the relationship between the Sacred Geometry and DNA is proven.

From dodecahedron we moved to DNA structure, but what really drew my attention. I saw the dynamics again the Bernini’s winding columns, again the same columns from Solomon’s temple drawings; intuitively I did all my columns and the church iconostasis spiral and more and more.

Double helix is presented in the ornaments of all civilizations, retransmitted till the moment of its’ allowed manifestation. It is well known to the illuminated from the dawn of the civilization and was rediscovered by scientists in 1953. The double helix is also related with the Spiral way – the Cosmic Law of the Great geometer. Presented as a winding staircase, it symbolizes our personal desire for spiritual uplift – the Road to the Center.

The dynamics of spiral shape and the already mentioned most dynamic area in the temple – the colonnade; that is the area where energy transforms. If we review the energy centers of a human we will realize that the personality rises to the heart, sound, sacred geometry and the spiritual nature of things only after having mastered the three inferior energy centers, accruing wisdom, which will enlighten the way to higher awareness. This is the field of higher energy centers in man. On the Wand, it starts from the point coinciding with the navel of the human body.

I decided to carve a double helix in the tree girdle of the column – the space for transformation of energy, but stumbled with more information. That was information on the aspects which distinguish each new transformed level of consciousness. One is the change in the matrix – the human DNA.

The first level of human consciousness has 42 + 2 chromosomes in the DNA molecule. Such obsolete body forms are found among Australian aborigines and certain tribes in Africa and South America. The second level of consciousness – the roots of our own race, features 44 + 2 chromosomes, and the next transformation which will perceive reality in a way that we called Unity or Christ Consciousness will be with 46 + 2 chromosomes.

Research shows that the transformation has begun, and Down syndrome occurs when an individual has failed to make the transition between the second and third level and has taken only one additional chromosome 45 + 2.

At that point the information about chromosomes and DNA was adjusted with the era of Aquarius. I built in the active area of the Wand, the matrix of life in its transformation, showing the evolutionary path that humanity has undertaken. The Wand of Unified Consciousness incarnated into a form.

The column was ready to bear the architrave. Vertical had to rest down on the horizontal. Dual had to be balanced by the center. Point in a circle and two vertical lines tangent the circle. This is the sign of the architrave level in the Wand.

The point in the circle is the place where one cannot make a mistake. From “North” and “South” the circle touches two parallel lines, symbolizing Moses and King Solomon, but these are also the lines of good and evil, of masculine and feminine principal, the Yin and Yang, harmonized by the center. (That point coincides with the pituitary in the humans). The Belief in the all pervasive fabric of the Holy Law, the Hope that knowledge is attainable and the Virtues that we can live in peace with all people support our expectations to raise our knowledge to the center of Sacred cognition, and in its’ turn it will support us in our earthly affairs. We symbolically climb to the firmament – the gable, and there we meet the All Seeing Eye of our Father.

The radiating energy is perceived as a transforming potion through the inspired spiritual Weltanschauung – the woke up third eye (epiphysis), the capitals of the column in our Wand.

The sage person, looking trough this eye really sees that all living creatures are composed and interdependent of one Single Radiating Energy. Through the language of symbols, related to the path of spiritual growth, to the transformed level of unified Consciousness during the new ages, the wand has taken the shape of o symbol of the new culture in the Age of Aquarius.

So far we talked about man and Universe, and their substantial, energy correlation.

The Wand as an instrument for the Universe correlation and “Human” as a measuring unit for it. Now we will look at the Human, inscribed in the planet’s structure as the basic module, a symbol of the Golden section and the trinity manifestation in Creativity and its three main plans – Divine, (circle), Material (square, earth) and Human (Pentagram).

This graph immediately directs us to Leonardo Da Vinci code.