Washington DC Monumental Core Shown to Be
Analogous to the Milan Cathedral

The Double Cube

Kircher's tree is built around the double cube, symbol of darkness and light, also utilized in altars, Solomon's Temple and symbolic Masonic Lodges. As you can see, the vesica and rhombus tie in due to the fact that the vesica fits perfectly inside the double cube, ie. they share the same ratio. Both are expressions of 1:2.

     

The Rhombus

Albert Pike presents this version of the tree (below left), based on the rhombus, in "Morals and Dogma", while A. Crowley depict his rhombus tree on the 10 of Wands card in his Tarot deck.

     

The Tree in the Cathedral Elevation Plan

Looking again at the Cathedral plan, we see that 4 sets of diagonal regulating lines generate both the Pike and the Crowley versions of the tree on the plan; where one is just an expansion of the other, like the Star of David and Metatron's Cube.

     

A much more interesting image is produced by placing points (red) at the center and five of the corners of the hexagon, at the top and at the bottom, and at the location where the extended hexagon crosses the large equilateral triangle, thus producing a pentagon. Note that the top line of the pentagram (horizontal in red) crosses the vertical axis at the point where the second circle touches that.

Thus we have the Tree of Life image depicted in, or dictating the form of the cathedral. And can we not say, based on the fact that the Tree exists inside the Cube, that Metatron's Cube forms the basis of the cathedral plan?

Compare the cathedral image with this image of Metatron's Cube. Note especially the triangle, the pentagon, the hexagon and the rectangle. This is the A-shaped tree image within the cube, as well as in the cathedral plan. Clearly, the H shape does not work here.

At this point, we can definitely say that anyone who asserts that the figure that the cathedral was based on was the rhombus, is not seeing the forest for the trees. Earlier we expanded our view to include the hexagon, then the star of david, and now Metatron's Cube, which is an extension of the star.

Micro and Macro

As you can see, the tree figure features a pentagon overlapping a hexagon, symbols of the microcosm and macrocosm respectively; and where they agree produces a rhombus, a symbol of crossing. Below is M.C. Escher's version of this cabalistic allegory of the journey of the spirit; containing the same geometric elements as above, the circle, triangle, the pentagon and hexagon. Note the seven figures of the "reptile".

Generally speaking, a microcosm is a part (or subset) of a larger whole, a macrocosm (literally big world). In this sense, micro and macrocosm are relative, not absolute terms, similar in meaning to part and whole. The "macrocosm", while usually understood as being the world, could also be society, mankind, or culture - essentially any larger body into which the processes of the microcosm could be subsumed. Philosophically speaking, the "microcosm" is the individual human, understood as being both a physical being, and a point of consciousness which exists within a larger entity - a "macrocosm".

Frequently, the macrocosm has been conceived of as a higher-dimensional world of archetypal forms (absolute). The phrase "Ideas in the mind of god" has been used. To Plato (427-347 BC) the world and man are a mere reflection of that realm of ideas. In the Escher print, the hexagon symbolizes the macrocosm, the world of forms and ideas, while the pentagon (as part of the dodecahedron) symbolizes the microcosm.

As Above, So Below

This phrase comes from the beginning of The Emerald Tablet of Hermes, (attributed to Hermes Trismegistus). The Qabalists believed that the processes of the microcosm - man - symbolically resembled the processes of the macrocosm. Microcosmos is analogous to the macrocosmos, they say.

To some this theorizes that man is the counterpart of God on earth; as God is man's counterpart in heaven. Therefore, it is a statement of an ancient belief that man's actions on earth parallel the actions of God in heaven. This pivots on the belief that "all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation." (from the Emerald Tablet)

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