We are now eight days into a new decade, a new century and indeed a new millennium. The fireworks, the frenzied partying and the kitsch "Millennium Dome" aside, I think most people would agree that in some subtle way there has been a change of atmosphere accompanying the big "2K" on our calendars and perhaps for many this is all that need be said. Certainly in the corridors of power there has been an almost audible sigh of relief that the frightening predictions of computer failure, crashing aircraft and total disruption of civilization as we know it has not come to pass. All seems well with our world (of course barring the usual problems of global warming, toxic oceans, tropical deforestation and so on) and it is business as usual. Given these circumstances it seems almost churlish of me to suggest that we may have jumped the gun on this one by six months, that the "New Age" or "Millennium" about which there has been so much talk and even more hype will begin when a "star-gate" is opened on June 21st, that is to say at the time of the summer solstice.
Now why does he say this, you must surely be asking? Is it because our calendar is out by six months or is he one of those purists who insist that as the last millennium will not have properly completed until the end of its 2000th year, we are a year too early in welcoming in the new? Or maybe he thinks the Gregorian calendar itself is out by several years, after all he believes that Jesus Christ was born in 7 BC? The answer to these questions is that what I am referring to has nothing to do with man-made calendars: Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Chinese or any other. It is all connected with the movements of the heavens.
Now those people who are reading this who have read my earlier books, beginning with The Cosmic Wisdom Beyond Astrology and going through two of the collaborative books I wrote in partnership with other authors: The Orion Mystery(1994) with Robert Bauval and The Mayan Prophecies (1995) with Maurice Cotterell, and on to my later solo effort, Magi, (1996) will know that I have made a deep study of astral philosophy; indeed "Astrosophy", as I call it, lies at the very heart of my work. It is also not for nothing that in 1992 I re-published the Scott translation of the Hermetica. This book is absolutely essential reading for anyone who wishes to get a grasp of the Hermetic Philosophy which was taught in the temples of ancient Egypt and later informed the academies of Renaissance Europe. I felt that this sadly neglected work was so important that after re-editing, typesetting and adding a new Foreword to it, I published it at an affordable price. This was so that this serious work could be brought to the attention of non-academic readers as a counter-weight to the less reasoned, "New-Age" mumbo-jumbo that was by now filling the shelves of many High Street booksellers. I have written a new article on The Hermetic Tradition that presents the basis of what this subject is really all about. In future postings over the next few weeks I shall be adding to this with other, more specific details as to why this ancient belief system should matter to us today.
For those interested in adventure, I am currently organising a summer tour to Egypt and Israel. Again more information will be made available about this over coming weeks.
It remains for me to wish everyone a happy and fulfilling New Year with the expectation that it will be one that will bring more than a few surprises.
Copyright © 2000 Adrian G Gilbert