Top: Uranus and Admetos,
astrological indicators for 'earthquake';
denotes innovative techniques.
Foreground: Mt.
Olympus, Greece, home of the gods, including
the god of earthquakes, 'Enceladus'.
Centre: The Greek letter Sigma,
for mathematical summation; found with statistical analysis.
Bottom: The Ascendant and Midheaven,
indicators of the precise place and time where an event occurs.
Background: A Moon of Saturn,
'Enceladus', denoting our astronomical
association. Enceladus is the most reflecting (highest albedo) of
any object in the solar system. It also is in resonance with Dione producing
the tidal heat that has led to its complex surface. Astrologically, Saturn
represents (in our context): study, teaching; personal stability, responsibility,
consistency; self-discipline; mature pragmatism.
THE MYTHOLOGY OF 'ENCELADUS'
Greek and Roman mythologists ascribe earthquakes to the
restlessness of the giants which Jupiter buried under high mountains. Thus
Virgil (Æneid, iii. 578) ascribes the eruption of Etna to the giant
Enceladus:
The Third Book of the Æneis
Enceladus, they say, transfix'd
by Jove,
~ line 755
With blasted limbs came tumbling
from above;
And, where he fell, th' avenging
father drew
This flaming hill, and on his body
threw.
As often as he turns his weary
sides,
He shakes the solid isle, and smoke
the heavens hides. ~ line
760
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The Fountain of Enceladus
~ Versailles, France
The god Enceladus is shown trapped in the rocks of Mt. Etna, sent there
by Zeus. He is cursing the gods and preparing to hurl a rock (in his right
hand) at them.
In Greek and Roman mythology, Enceladus was the son of Uranus (Titan)
and Gaea. When the giant hisses and thrusts out his fiery tongue, Mount
Etna erupts. When he struggles, earthquakes shake the world.
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When a deadly earthquake struck Athens, Greek newspaper
headlines read, "Enceladus strikes!" Enceladus was the god thought by the
ancient Greeks to be responsible for seismic tremors and volcanoes. Mythology
says he was the leader of the Giants, the sons of heaven and earth who
fought with the Olympian gods for control of the universe. In one version
of the battle story, Zeus, father of the Olympians, stunned Enceladus with
his thunderbolts and hurled the island of Sicily on top of him. Enceladus's
struggle to free himself, according to the story, has been the cause of
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
It was believed to be the land of the Giants and the battle
ground for the fight between the gods and the Giants, when the latter tried
to drive the Gods from Mount Olympus. According to one legend, Enceladus,
one of the Giants, was crushed by a rock which the Gods threw at
him. Thus the "Earthquake Giant" is today buried in Kassandra, but, not
having been killed, from time to time tries to free himself from the weight
that is crushing him and his struggles result in earthquakes.
A Buddhist
Perspective:
From The Mahaparinibbana Sutta:
Eight Causes of Earthquakes
(translation: Ajahn
Geoff de Graf, Metta Forest)
170. Then, this thought occurred to the Venerable Ananda:
"O Sirs, wonderful it is! O Sirs, unprecedentedly marvelous it is! This
dreadful and hair-raising earthquake is indeed a great earthquake. It is
stupendous. Also, rolls of thunder burst forth continuously. What
is the cause of great earthquakes? What is the condition leading to great
earthquakes ?"
The Venerable Ananda then approached the Bhagava, and after paying obeisance
to him, and seating himself on one side, said to the Bhagava thus:
"Venerable Sir, wonderful it is! Venerable Sir, unprecedentedly marvelous
it is! This dreadful and hair-raising earthquake is indeed a great earthquake.
It is stupendous. Also, rolls of thunder burst forth continuously. What
is the cause of great earthquakes? What is the condition leading to great
earthquakes?"
171. Ananda, there are eight causes of, or conditions leading to,
great earthquakes.
What are the eight (causes)?
Ananda, this great earth is supported by water, the water by air, the
air by space.
At times great winds blow strongly. When great winds blow strongly,
the .....
Ananda, this great earth is supported by water, the water by air, the
air by space. At times great winds blow strongly. When great winds blow
strongly, the water is shaken. **When the water is shaken, the earth is
shaken. This is the first cause of, the first condition leading to, the
occurrence of great earthquakes.** (1)
Again, Ananda, a samana (recluse, ascetic) or a brahmana (a man of religious
pursuit), who has great (mental) power, and who is proficient in the supernormal
powers of' the mind, or a deva of great power and psychic potency, by developing
intense concentration on the limited image of the earth-element and on
the unlimited image of the water-element, causes this earth to quake, to
sway violently, to rock up and down and to convulse. This is the second
cause of, the second condition leading to, the occurrence of great earth
quakes. (2)
Again, Ananda, when a Future Buddha, mindfully and deliberately, passes
away in the Tusita deva realm and is conceived in his mother's womb, this
earth quakes, sways violently, rocks up and down, and is convulsed. This
is the third cause of, the third condition leading to, the occurrence of
great earthquakes. (3)
Again, Ananda, when a Future Buddha, mindfully and deliberately, issues
from the mother's womb, this earth quakes, sways violently rocks up and
down, and is convulsed. This is the fourth cause of, the fourth condition
leading to the occurrence of great earthquakes. (4)
Again, Ananda, when a Tathagata attains the most supreme Perfect Enlightenment,
this earth quakes, sways violently, rocks up and down, and is convulsed.
This is the fifth cause of, the fifth condition leading to the occurrence
of great earthquakes. (5)
Again, Ananda, when a Tathagata sets the noblest Wheel of the Dhamma
in motion (by expounding the first discourse, on the Four Noble Truths),
this earthquakes, sways violently, rocks up and down, and is convulsed.
This is the sixth cause of, the sixth condition leading to the occurrence
of great earthquakes. (6)
Again, Ananda, when a Tathagata, mindfully and deliberately, decides
to give up the life-sustaining mental process, ayusankhara, this earth
quakes, sways violently, rocks up and down, and is convulsed. This is the
seventh cause of, the seventh condition leading to the occurrence of great
earth-quakes. (7)
Again, Ananda, when a Buddha passes away and enters upon parinibbana,
by experiencing the ultimate peace , nibbanadhatu, with complete extinction
of the five khandhas, anupadisesa, this earth quakes, sways violently,
rocks up and down, and is convulsed. This is the eighth cause of, the eighth
condition leading to, the occurrence of great earthquakes. (8)
Ananda, these are the eight causes of, the eight conditions leading
to, the occurrence of great earthquakes.
1. brahmana: a man leading a pure, ascetic
life, free from demeritorious acts. Here, a brahmin (of the brahmin religion
or caste is not meant.
2. proficient ...... mind: cetovasippata: lit.,
with mastery over one's mind. The Commentary explains this as "having cultivated
and exercised the abhinna (super-normal mental power)".
3. Intense concentration on the earth-element:
pathavisanna is paraphrased as "developing earth-consciousness, that is,
the kasina jhana (mental cultivation or mental absorption) with the earth
element as the object (kasina) of the meditation."
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