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 Figure 1. Seal of Solomon |
To really compare the ancient cultures and religions, one should have studied the voluminous sacred texts, such as the Holy Bible, Buddhist sacred texts, Vedas, etc. One who have studied these sacred texts would be in a good qualified position to talk about whether the religions are the same or not.
I am a research scientist, where I would carry out statistical analysis to verify experimental results. It is possible to apply such scientific statistical analysis to verify scientific statistical validity in religious and metaphysical concepts.
Ancient cultures and religions have major iconography. An ancient culture motif existing back to 2000 BC which can throw insights into the interrelationships among these major iconography is the Seal of Solomon.
The Seal of Solomon is a diagram found in the Ar Goetia, the first book of the five-books in the "Lesser Key of Solomon" or "Lemegeton", purported to be written by King Solomon, circa 960 BC. This Seal of Solomon with its 72 Spirits has featured in many Kabbalah motifs, including the Freemason's Jacob's Ladder. The Seal of Solomon and the associated Freemason Jacob's Ladder can be associated with the 1500 BC Biblical event when Jacob had a powerful "ladder to heaven" dream at Luz which was later named Bethel, i.e. "House of God".
Figure 1 illustrates two versions of this "Jacob's Ladder". The "Jacob's Ladder" motif has a central ladder flanked by the flaming Sun on one side and the 7 stars of Pleiades on the other side. In some similar motifs, the Sun also represents the planet Saturn, while the Pleiades may be replaced by the Moon. At the top of the ladder is a "Star", often known as the "Blazing Star".
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 Figure 2. Seal of Solomon: |
In the Seal of Solomon, there is a ladder in the center, flanked by the sign of Saturn on one side and, instead of Pleiades surrounding the Moon, Mars on the other side. As we will see in other motifs, the "ladder" would be flanked by either a Sun-Pleiades pair or a Sun-Moon pair. This ladder represents the Milky Way. Instead of a ladder, this may be a river or bridge. It has 33 steps corresponding to the age of Jesus Christ, and the 33rd degree becomes the highest Freemason rank. The "Blazing Star" in the Freemason "Jacob's Ladder" is equivalent to the circle on top of the ladder in the Seal of Solomon. Initial comparisons between the Seal of Solomon and the Freemason Jacob's Ladder motif indicate a basic format of eleven major aspects in the Seal of Solomon which can be used to compare with significant motifs in other ancient cultures. These eleven features numbered 1 to 11 progress from the highest number at the bottom of the Seal of Solomon and then continue up the Seal of Solomon to number 1 at the top (Figure 2). |
Figure 3. Seal of Solomon in Tushita Heaven Motif |
The Jacob's Ladder and Seal of Solomon motifs are a Jewish Kaballah motif derived from the Biblical story of Jacob having a vision of a ladder arising froim the earth to the heavens. Figure 3 shows the Buddhist typical Tushita Heaven motif, as compared to the Seal of Solomon.
It can be shown that the flow of the 32 Sections of the Diamond Sutra from the start to the end corresponds to the eleven aspects of the Seal of Solomon. |
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