A week ago, the Huffington Post picked up an interview
with a University of Southern Queensland physics professor about
the star known as Betelgeuse going supernova and what that might
mean. When it happens, which could be tonight or not for another
100,000 years, a second sun will appear in the sky and may be
visible for a couple of weeks before fading. Neutrinos will
bombard the earth, but supposedly have "no effect" on us.
Given how little we
really know about the body, that last notion seems a tad
ridiculous, but, beyond any potential physical repercussions,
think of the psychological ones! Heliocentrism is the model of
our universe, with the sun at the center and all the planets
revolving around it. Almost all of the cells in our body mimic
that model, with more or less centralized nuclei. Culturally
speaking, you can find sun worshipping all over the globe. If
our skies present the image of two suns for even a brief period
of time, it will shake the very foundations of our world view.
How could it not?
Consider what 'two'
signifies: Yin and yang, partnership, duality. From an animistic
world view, you would have to see the appearance of two suns as
reflecting something back to us, a message. In one sense, it
could be literally illuminating our dualistic mind-set, the
mentality that sees mind as separate from body, people as
separate from earth. What a time to be reminded of this (even as
a possibility), as we confront the destruction that the
dualistic mode of thinking has wrought upon the planet.
It could also be shining a light on the need for others,
partners. If we take the appearance of two suns to heart, our
neighbors (down the block or occupying the next continent) would
cease to be the next independently functioning household over
and, instead, become necessary for a healthy self-image, be it
of our neighborhood or world. Friends and lovers could take on
the aspect of ‘twin,' with the attendant repercussions of depth,
connection and meaning that we understand about those
relationships. Within ourselves, our anima or animus might stop
being a figure of difficulty and discord and move toward
integration.
The taijitu, better known stateside as the yin/yang
symbol, represents polarity, the union of opposites, all that
is, dynamism. Traditionally, the sun and the moon have been seen
to embody these ideas, but two suns could be interpreted in much
the same way, especially when Betelgeuse fades, as is predicted,
for the taijitu is said to be born of a singularity and to
create one, too. By showing us two suns and then reverting back
to one, the universe could be seen to be pointing the way to the
taijitu's inherent wholeness.
One half of a dualism is often seen to embody negative
aspects. When many Westerners first hear that yin is dark, cold,
slow, feminine, their beliefs about equality are offended. "Why
do women get the crappy side?" was certainly my first thought on
day one of Chinese medical school. But there is nothing
inherently wrong with those attributes. In fact, they're one
whole half of existence, denying which would be akin to
splitting the globe down the middle or cutting off your daemon,
as in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.
In a similar way, one could choose to be suspicious about
the second sun, and perhaps with good reason. Here's what a
friend suggested about it: "The second sun is also like an
impostor, that looks like the real sun but sheds no warmth.
Also, depending on what time of the year this happens, it could
be mostly visible at night. As such, it could symbolize the
anti-Christ — looks splendid like the real sun, but it is fake."
I don't resist the idea that there are anti-Christ-like
forces in the universe, but I do hold to the notion that they
are ultimately here for our benefit. Perhaps the second sun won't feel right in
our hearts. In that case, it will be a wonderful
opportunity to bow to it and say, "No thank you," affiirming the
greater truth of our own dear sun. I imagine that the peace
brought by such a collective act would be planet-altering.
The richness of the
metaphor of two suns interests me particularly, as a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, from an esoteric
point of view. In the body, the heart can be thought of as the
‘sun,' as it is often depicted as the most brightly illuminated
chakra. If you apply the appearance of a second sun to the body,
then you would be talking about the ‘higher heart,' the chakra
associated with the thymus gland. This chakra is said to be
activated as consciousness is expanded. Perhaps the appearance
of two suns would indicate the ignition of Gaia's higher heart.
May it be so.
Image courtesy of NASA Goddard photo and video.
