The Vatican Square Obelisk, the Wheel Within The Wheel and the Great Year.
As I watch the funeral of Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church from 2013 to his death on Easter Monday 2025 play out across the world, I am drawn to the Vatican Obelisk in St Peter's Square. One of thirteen ancient obelisks of Rome, it is the only one which has never fallen.
Made of red granite it is 25 metres high and together with the cross and the base composed of four bronze lions, it reaches almost 40 metres. It is of Egyptian origin though hasn't any hieroglyphs and according to Pliny, comes from the city of Heliopolis - seat of worship of the sun god Re - on the River Nile. Before coming to Rome in 40 AD it stood in the Forum Iulli of Alexandria. Emperor Caligula then had it placed at the centre of the Circus Nero, site of the modern day Vatican City. It was moved almost 800 feet in one day in 1586, at the behest of Pope Sixtus V.
The obelisk functions as a massive sundial, and each morning its shadow points towards one of the twelve Zodiac signs embedded in the pavement, marking the suns position throughout the year. These signs were added in the 18th century under Pope Benedict X1V
The serpent, the Zodiac signs, the phallus - also represented by the obelisk in the Vatican- the ancient secret cults such as Cult of Mithras and symbols such as the Orphic Egg and the Greek God, Phanes all represent these beliefs. Ancient temples, buildings and monuments are aligned with the rising of the sun and the solstices and equinoxes.
The Astronomical Clock was built in 1410 in Prague and represents a blend of religions and the astronomical knowledge of ancient cultures.
It shows the Sun, Moon and Zodiac Constellations with Christian apostles appearing every hour. A wheel within a wheel.
The clock has moral and eschatological figures such as Death - a skeleton ringing a bell, Vanity - a man admiring himself in a mirror, Greed - a moneylender with a bag. These are reminders of Christian teachings regarding the passage of time, mortality and judgement of the soul and it shows the changing of the Zodiac signs as each month passes. This is powerful symbolism directly connecting to Ezekial's vision as related in Ezekial 1:15-16
"15 Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.16 The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel."
The four living creatures, or Cherubim, represent the four fixed constellations : Leo, Taurus, Aquarius and Scorpio and are an integral part of Bible teachings.
The Great Year, the Platonic Year, the year when the Sun, Moon and visible planets complete a full cycle, returning to their exact original positions. The concept of eternal return whether in our lifetime, or the life of the universe - or simply the passage and evolution of the soul towards 'God'.
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