The Cross and the Fora

An early piece from the pre-Elektraspace Archives

The cross, with its many variants, such as the fora, as well as being prominent in Aristasian heraldry, is one of the most fundamental of metaphysical symbols. It is universal, found in many diverse parts of the world. Since it is a symbol of such cardinal importance, there can be no question of our expounding the full range of its significances in an essay of this length and scope (René Guénon has devoted an entire book to the subject which the reader might profitably consult) but we may give some indication of its general meaning.

The cross by itself, as we have previously explained, depicts the Celestial Ray, or World-Axis (the vertical line), penetrating a particular level of material existence (we must bear in mind that matter strictly means “all that is not pure Spirit”, and that the physical is only one modality of matter). Now, since the forms of all things are Ideas in the mind of God, it is not until the divine ray of Her form-bearing Light touches the material plane in question that the matter of that plane can take on forms, and any thing can exist. Once the ray strikes “the surface of the waters” (the term applied to a material plane in a state of non-differentiated formlessness) a world will develop. In the case of the physical plane, the world in question is the physical universe as we know it.

Arcadian flag consising of the simple cross

The fullest form of the cross is in fact a three dimensional figure with the three lines running north-south, east-west and up-down, all intersecting at the centre. In other words, we have a horizontal cross transfixed by a vertical line. In this three-dimensional figure, the horizontal cross corresponds to the full extension of the world in question in the four directions of matter (the four physical directions have their precise analogies on all non-physical planes), while the vertical line is the Celestial Ray or World-Axis. It is true that the cross is rarely modelled or pictured in this three-dimensional form; but every form of cross depicted in traditional usage is by implication either a “vertical” or a “horizontal” cross: although this categorisation is slightly complicated by the fact that just as everything “below” is a reflection of something “above”, so the horizontal cross is a “shadow” of the vertical cross, with its north-south axis playing the part of the celestial ray in a limited and reflective mode.

The cross of the four seasons, which we have discussed elsewhere, is a good example of the horizontal cross: there the solstitial (winter-summer) axis plays the part of the Celestial Ray, although the most important part of this cross is the centre, corresponding to the fifth and “transcendent” season of Moura. This is important, because it is clear that the centre is precisely the point at which the vertical axis transfixes the horizontal cross. Another important point illustrated by the cross of the seasons is that the horizontal cross is a rotating cross, subject to movement and change in the flux of material existence, while the vertical axis remains motionless and Immutable, and is the “still point” about which the movements and mutations of the changing world take place, and is the “unmoved mover” which governs all these fluctuations. This corresponds to the Scriptural dictum: “Earth moves, but Heaven is still”.

The horizontal cross is eminently a symbol of quaternity, four being the number of matter and corresponding to the four elements of the physical world (which have their analogies on other levels of material manifestation). Here the centre of the cross corresponds to the fifth element of aethyr, which is actually the first-created, from which all the others proceed, and which contains in itself all the conflicting tendencies of the four in perfect equilibrium. It is for this reason that aethyr is non-differentiated and imperceptible, since the tangible manifestation of the elements is precisely due to their warring disequilibrium which maintains their continual flux and motion. Aethyr thus corresponds reflectively to the non-manifest point. It is for this reason that the fifth element is sometimes called spirit, and, in many contexts, symbolises the Spirit Herself.

In Chinese numeration, the cross represents the number ten, and the Latin X is only the cross placed on its side. Here we must note the relationship between the quaternary and the denary, expressed in the Tetrakys: 1+2+3+4=10. Ten, of course, is the number of the historical cycle, whose four Ages are of rapidly shortening duration, the ratio being 4:3:2:1.

Various geometrical symbols relate to the fundamental meaning of the horizontal cross. The cross enclosed within a circle shows the extension of the four directions within a given world-system, and thus relates the horizontal cross to the wheel (discussed elsewhere), the outer rim being the most consolidated point of manifestation — “the world”, or, better, “the mold”, an Estrenne word designating “this material world”, as opposed to the cosmos. For this reason, this symbol has been used in astrology to represent the earth. The figure also implies the rotation of the horizontal cross, as does the svastika, which has half-lines tangential to the (undepicted) circumference, indicating directional motion — but in this latter case the reference is not to the movement of the world itself, but to the operation of the Principle upon it. The circle with a point at the centre, long used astrologically to represent the sun, corresponds to cyclic perfection — the integral realisation of all the possibilities inherent within a particular world-system: literally (or rather, pictorially) the alpha and the omega.

Trentish insignia: fora with trefoil ends

The fora is often considered to be only another form of the earth sign, but this is not so. The true significance of the fora can best be understood by recalling the first explanation that young Estrenne children are given: that it is a picture of Avala. Avala, the paradise of the Daughter, has the Tree of Life at its centre, and from directly beneath this Tree flow four rivers, down the axial mountain, Caravalas, in the four cardinal directions. After the fall of maidenkind, a circular wall was placed about the orchard garden. Thus the cross of the fora represents the four rivers, the circle the wall, and the central point the world-Tree.

Now the tree is the World-Axis, and Avala itself, being unfallen, represents the realm of the Archetypes, where things are still perfect Forms, rather than the broken and imperfect reflections of them upon the world of matter (as such, it corresponds to the hub of the wheel, just as the Tree corresponds to the axle). The four rivers represent the extension of the Divine Ideas, first as perfect Forms in the Archetypal realm, and then out into the world of matter.

The whole movement of the last Ages is away from the Centre. Life in all its aspects tends ever more toward the rim of the wheel and immersion in the lowest and most material aspects of existence. The modern materialist civilisation approaches the extreme point of this tendency; but the tendency has been present for several thousand years, especially, in Telluria, since the collapse of the matristic societies. Even Aristasia is not immune from the tendency.

Aristasian Imperial Arms

It was thus necessary for the people of the later ages to make use of a symbol which focuses upon the Centre to the virtual exclusion of the totality of the cosmic whole. The symbol has been used in all ages, but in recent millennia in Aristasia, its use has become more marked. It is seen in temples and displayed above them, and in public architecture. In the East it is seen upon the banners of legions and the flags of most localities. The multitude of civil uses of the fora, on everything from royal standards to the insignia of craft guilds, indicates the assertion that every area of life operates legitimately only insofar as it proceeds from its celestial Archetype. The Empress rules only as the regent of Dea. The craftmaid creates only after the Pattern laid down in the Real world of perfect Forms. The householder, the scholar, the farmer and every other maid perform a sacred function which can be rightly understood only in the light of its perfect and eternal Prototype in the Real world.

The constant reiteration of the fora has a profound ritual effect of centering and re-minding. It is one of the most powerful ritual influences for warding off the disintegration (de-centring) movement of the age for the longest possible time. And while the Western nations of Aristasia are no longer sattwic societies in the full sense, the use of the fora and the continued attachment to its true significance may be cited as an integral part of the reason that Aristasia has not suffered an Eclipse equivalent to that of the Tellurian 1960s.