I've just been on the phone to Richard for an hour and 20 minutes. We had one of those very deep and winding conversations in which we opened up various avenues of research and discussion. We are both fascinated by apparent connections between the High Man and biblical passages. In particular, we are focusing right now on Revelation Chapter 10, and the seventh angel. I will here try to give you a summary of our thoughts on the synchronicity of the High Man and Revelation stories. (Note: I am using the KJV bible here, but we are not strictly limited to any particular version right now).
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven - mighty being big, and from heaven might relate to the mighty Orion constellation - in Irish myth this could be Amergin, the gigantic sword-wielding champion, or Cúchulainn, the "huge, high hero, vast as a Fomorian giant".
clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow were on his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: the Tuatha Dé Danann came from the sky from a cloud; Lugh (Orion) had a rainbow about his shoulders; Lugh was described as having the countenance of the sun and indeed Orion appears to "carry" the sun in his upraised arm as the sun crosses the Milky Way / sky river.
And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, - Amergin/Orion appears to place one foot on the shore of the river Eridanus. In Irish myth Amergin planted one foot on the shore of the Boyne when he chanted his famous poem. Cúchulainn fights best in shallow ford water.
And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, - this is like a description of Orion, one foot in the water, one on the earth, with one arm upraised, as if to catch the sun.
And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: - a principal premise of the High Man story is that a significant cosmic moment will mark the end of this world and the beginning of the next, at which time according to folklore all the Tuatha Dé Danann and Garrett's sleeping army will come thronging from the sidhe/mounds to fight against evil to bring Ireland to glory in the final battle. Central to this event is the spectacle of Orion holding the sun in his upraised arm - at which time the sun will also be in the middle of the Milky Way/sky river - on the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. This significant cosmic event is happening in the current epoch. This year, and for a number of years, the Summer Solstice sun will be in Orion's hand. This happens for a relatively short period of time (maybe 50 years of summer solstices) in a total timescale of 26,000 years which it takes the sun's solstice position to make one entire track around the zodiac. The imagery is stark. The giant god-like, man-like, warrior-like constellation Orion grabs the sun when it is at its strongest point at summer solstice. But it happens for a brief period of solstices once in a 26,000-year cycle. At this point the cycle of time is seen to end, and a new cycle begins. This is the longest cycle - precession - "there should be time no longer".
On June 21st this year, imagine you are looking at the sun high up in the sky in the middle of the day. Imagine there was suddenly a total eclipse of the sun, and you could see the background stars as if it were dark. At that moment, you would see that the sun is sitting in the upraised hand of Orion, in the middle of the Milky Way / cosmic river. What more significant cosmic symbolism could we envisage to mark the end of a great cycle of time, and the beginning of a new one? (Reference also the many stories in Irish myth about cattle (moon/planets) crossing a river, of the woman at the ford, of the great battles in ford water).
More thoughts as they develop. For those unfamiliar with the High Man theory, the single best place to learn what it's all about is in our book 'Island of the Setting Sun - In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers'. Chapter 12, the concluding chapter (12 zodiac signs, coincidence? concluding chapter, coincidence?) is all about The High Man. It's a very esoteric exploration of a deep cosmic idea which envisages this singular heavenly occurrence as a sign that the huge cycle of time (precession) is reaching an end/beginning. And perhaps humanity is coming to an end/beginning also . . .
