The Betelgeuse Code

Hidden Constellations found in Da Vinci's Paintings

In the Leonardo Da Vinci painting the Madonna of the Rocks there is a cross resting on the shoulder of the Infant Christ. The angle at which this cross is set is the same as the angle between Betelgeuse, in the constellation Orion, and the first star of Orion’s Belt - Alnitak. The fact that this angle appears in the painting, as well as the relationship between Christ’s shoulder and the shoulder of Orion, suggests a connection between these two formerly disperate spectacles. By placing Betelgeuse in the centre of the cross, a curious, almost latent, relationship arises between the composition of the painting and the configuration of stars. Perhaps Leonardo loosely based the composition of Madonna of the Rocks on the constellation of Orion.
You be the judge.

The impetus for my discovery came from a investigation made by Gary Osborn into ‘Les Bergers d’Arcadie’; a work by French painter Nicolas Poussin. Osborn realised that the painting encoded many of the angles in the Orion constellation in a disjointed manner. He concluded that the upright orientation of Orion, as seen in this painting, stipulates Poussin’s intent to inform us about events in, or around, the year 2000 CE. Osborn bases this belief on the work of Graham Hancock, who noted that on New Years Day 2000 CE the constellation would appear upright over the Giza Pyramids for the first time in over four thousand years. Although I am skeptical about Graham Hancock’s work, I am not so brusque, in my judgement of him, to preclude all sense in it.

‘Les Bergers d’Arcadie’ – or the Shepherd’s of Arcadia – is very much connected to the Rennes le Chateau mystery. It is believed to show the tomb of the Mary Magadelene in the environs of Renne le Chateau itself. According to Baigent and Leigh; in The Holy Blood and Holy the Grail;

Arcadia… is frequently denoted by a fountain or tombstone, both of which are associated with an underground stream. This stream is usually equated with the River Alpheus – the central river in the actual geographical Arcadia in Greece, which flows underground and is said to surface again at the Fountain of Arethusa in Sicily.

The mythos of the underground stream relates to secret knowledge passed down through the ages by shadowy organizations; such as the Priory of Sion. According to the Dossier Secrets, Leonardo Da Vinci was the Grand Master of the Priory of Sion from 1510 – 1519. When we consider that Da Vinci and Poussin both made use of constellations in their paintings, could this signify that the undercurrent of secret knowledge is directly related to the stars, and in particular Orion? I believe so.

But what then is the message? If Osborn is right and the orientation of the constellation refers to events around the years 2000-2012, then the fact that Leonardo puts emphasis on the Red Giant Betelgeuse becomes all the more significant. Observations of this star suggest that it may be shrinking, and if this is true, it could go nova within the next couple of years. I have already written articles on the subject of 2012, dolphins, and the suspected Betelgeuse Supernova, but the Madonna of the Rocks piece of the puzzle brings the import of things more sharply into view. 

Orion Christ Corridor

2012 has been attributed to many things; from the return of Christ to the destruction of Betelgeuse. But could there be some other connection between these two celestial beings that would lead Da Vinci to associate them in his painting?

1) In Egyptian mythology, the constellation Orion was associated with Osirus, the Corn God.
2) Jesus was likened to a Corn God, by means of the sublimation of his corpus into bread.

By linking Christ's shoulder with the shoulder of Orion, Leonardo appears to be suggesting a deeper correspondence between these two warriors. Could it be that the destruction of Betelgeuse and the  return of Saviour coincide in 2012?

I don't know; but interestingly there is a very real relationship between Christ and the Orion constellation, as seen from the point of view of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). The Adventists believe strongly in the imminent return of Christ, the Saviour. According to Ellen G. White, whose prophecies are highly regarded within the community, the saviour will return in the fall; when the constellation Orion rises at midnight. The doctrine of Christ returning through Orion is vigorously defended, along with other tenants of the religion, on at least one site on the internet.
The idea of the Orion Constellation as some sort of gateway struck a chord with me; where had I heard that one before? Then I remembered; the Keys of Enoch, by J.J. Hurtak. Purportedly an eminent Egyptologists, Hurtak claims to have channeled his "paraphysical 'codebook'" from Ascended Masters, living in the Constellation of Orion. It describes a journey undertaken by Enoch to a gateway in the Orion Constellation - known as the "threshold gateway."

"And I was shown how Trapezium Orion – the threshold gate of "star creation" – is in conjunction with the omega Orion, the region of "star death." Both are aligned with the Father's Throne governing through the star region of Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka."

The "threshold gate of star creation" corresponds to the Orion Nebula (located in the "sword" of Orion) where many stars are born and a cluster of heavy stars, known as the Trapezium, does indeed exist. The "omega Orion" could refer to Betelgeuse, which has always been the largest decaying star, that I know of, in the Orion Constellation. Both of these objects are, more or less aligned through Alnitak, and therefore, by the cross of Jesus Christ's shoulder. Hurtak's interstellar vision appears to confirm this statement when he says; both are aligned with the Father's Throne governing through the star region Alnitak, etc.

"It is also interesting that Linda Schele discovered the ancient Mayans linked the Orion stars Alnitak, Saiph and Rigel with the layer of the cosmic "hearth" on the day of creation. The sword region of Orion, where these star systems are being formed, sits within the triangle formed by these three stars."

In Darren Aronofsky's 2006 love-story "The Fountain," a 16th Century Conquistador named Tomas must find the Tree of Life with the aid of a stolen Mayan dagger. The dagger has a hole through its hilt, which is accompanied by three additional holes forming a triangle around the first. At one point in the movie, a priest holds it aloft against the night sky and aligns it with two of the stars in Orion's Belt. We can clearly see the Orion Nebula through the central eye-hole. In the story, Orion's Nebula is dubbed  Xibalba, the sacred star and Underworld of the Maya, and is described as a dying nebula, set to explode in the next hundred years or so. The triangular configuration of the dagger, once again recalls the Hecate Triformis; representative of gateways and the underworld.

The description of the "threshold gate of star creation" being in conjunction with the "omega Orion" or "star death," suggests that the gates of life, and death, stand agape opposite one another, allowing the dancing souls of the many to pass through unimpeded. In The Fountain, the Orion Nebula is Xibalba, the Mayan "Land of the Dead," but it is also a macrocosm, and spiritual symbiont, of the earthbound Tree of Life. The explosive destruction of the Xibalban nebula is needed to renew its ailing symbiont. These paradoxical notions are further expressed in the legend of the Mayan First Father, who sacrificed himself in order to bring about the creation of the universe. The ultimate theme of the movie is that their can be no life without sacrifice, and death.

While The Fountain draws heavily on Mayan legend, so to do The Keys of Enoch, it appears. Hurtak says that the Earth and this star system is under the control of the "Dark Lords" who hail from stars in Ursa Minor, Ursa Major and Draco. They oppose the "Lords of Light" who reside in the Orion and the Pleiades. Adrian Gilbert speculates that, perhaps are the "Dark Lords" are the same as the Mayan "Lords of Darkness" who govern Xibalba.

I find it fascinating that the expiration of Xibalba so closely mirrors the proposed death of Betelgeuse – and how this destructive event, far from being a complete disaster, could herald a new dawn for mankind and all life on this earth. Perhaps this solar event will trigger the return of the Mayan "The Lords of Light," or even Christ himself, as the Adventists predict. Who knows. What is clear, however, is that J.J Hurtak, and the SDA are related doctrines.

The Shepherd's of Arcadia, 1630-35; Nicolas Poussin.

The theme of life and death is also expressed in the underground stream of Arcadia, by virtue of its association with the fountain and the tombstone. As in the movie, the fountain represents eternal life welling up from some underground source. The tombstone, on the other hand, is an obvious symbol of death, and therefore a return to that source. Even in the Madonna of the Rocks the same themes can be seen to be expressed. John uses water from a spring that wells in the desert to create an oasis. The Infant Christ, just starting out on life, is blessed by St. John, who is pressed from behind by the angel of death; Uriel. The interplay of life and death, can be seen all around.

Mayan legends tell how the Hero Twins traveled to Xibalba, in the waters above, by boat. If Xibalba is taken to be a star, then the water above is the boundless expanse of space. It is confusing to think of the Underworld as being in the sky above our heads, but if we remember the dictum; as above, so below, it is really not that unusual. By the same token, the underground stream may actually be the galactic waters of the Milky Way. The correlation between Arcadia and the stars, as seen in Da Vinci and Poussin's paintings, seem more appropriate in this light.

It's Out! It's Saiph!

 You may have noticed that the constellation Orion does not entirely fit when placed on top of the Madonna of the Rocks painting. Saiph, Orion's foot, is cropped from view. To rectify this, I decided to mirror the image, so that it appears as if the scene is reflected in the body of water from which John is baptising Christ.

By rotating the painting so that the constellation once more appears in a horizontal position, we notice three monstrous heads leering out at us from the ‘waters’ edge.These are the morecelyte; also known as Yaltaboath, an archon of the morcelyte; possibly Adonaios, and finally, a gnome or kobold; who make up the rank and file of Fallen Archons here on Earth. As a visual artist I am intrinsically aware that it is very easy to see faces in random jumbles of lines; particularly when these lines are mirrored onto one another. However, it must be said that Leonardo was continually working with faint impressions of demonic faces and;

“recommends working oneself into a state of receptivity to imaginative imagery in which cracks and stains on old walls can evoke – or invoke – gods and monsters.”

Anyone who was sick as a child and lying in bed, will attest to the unnerving feeling of seeing a leering face in the pattern of the curtains, or the bedspread. This sensation might account for why some people believe that these are actually gods or demons looking in at them from another world. Given the emerging holographic theory of the  nature of the universe, such a belief might not be as absurd to the rationally-minded as at first believed.

All this not withstanding, I have never seen such realistically rendered monsters in all my time staring at stained wood knots on tables, or cracks in the plaster. For this reason, I believe Leonardo encoded these images into the fabric of his painting so that they might avoid detection from the bishops of the high clergy. Whatever the truth, it is always nice to see the work of a Great Master in a new light, and from a new perspective.

Another of Leonardo's masterpieces that may contain a reference to the constellation Orion is the Burlington Cartoon. This time the alignment concerns the three most prominent stars in Orion's Belt, as well as a few minor ones which take up positions on the knee and forehead of St. Anne (Mary's Mother). I believe this to be further evidence of just how important this constellation was to Leonardo, his followers and their religious ethos. It also reinforces Hurtaks statement that the Throne of the Father works through the stars in the Belt of Orion.