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Yah and Maori Concepts of Creation from Light

In the period following 3000 BCE and in places such as ancient Egypt, one fairly common feature of the ancient traditions we study is the pairing of deities as male/female symbolic counterparts of a single cosmological concept. A good example of this type of pairing is Amen, whom Budge defines as “a serpent-headed god,” and his consort Amen-t, whom Budge defines in a following dictionary entry to Amen as “a serpent-headed goddess, counterpart of the preceding.”¹ Within the context of the archaic tradition, goddesses predominated, while familiar gods such as Amen, Osiris, and Siva only came into ascendance sometime after 2600 BCE. This circumstance suggests that some male gods may have been later additions to the cosmology, perhaps introduced as part of what we perceive as a broader set of cross-regional revisions and reversals. To the extent that patriarchy came to eventually take precedence, memory of certain mother goddesses may have ultimately been lost within a given culture. If the society saw its beginnings late enough in history, archaic goddesses may have never actually played a role in the culture. This is not to say that masculine elements were not evident within the archaic cosmology, because the surviving philosophies of the earliest traditions indicate that they were.

We have said in a prior book, Point of Origin, that the ancient name that the Egyptians assigned to the general region of southeastern Turkey was Getpetkai. Based on the glyph structure of the word and other evidence, we interpreted this to be the archaic name of a mountaintop sanctuary, one that we equate with Gobekli Tepe. We later found that if we applied a more modernized pronunciation to the glyphs of the name, we could alternately read it as Het Pet Ka Yah, a compound of four familiar terms. Symbolic definitions for these terms imply that the name meant “temple (Het) of space (Pet) embracing (Ka) light (Yah).” The name seemed to restate a primary prerequisite for the formation of matter (where the formation of mass goes hand-in-hand with the emergence of space and time): the notion that a masculine material energy associated with the concept of space (Pet) comes to be intermingled with a feminine nonmaterial energy characterized as light (Yah) to catalyze the structures of our material universe.

However, on a more human level, the suggestion (in keeping with Dogon belief) was that the sanctuary at Gobekli Tepe was also used to facilitate the instruction of material beings (we humans) by capable, knowledgeable nonmaterial beings, with the intention of catalyzing orderly societies within the framework of our material world. This outlook begins with the overt beliefs of ancient cultures such as the Dogon and the Buddhists, who make unequivocal claims that civilizing instruction was passed to humanity at remote locales by beneficent non-humans. Likewise, there is suggestive evidence in a number of ancient cultures that ties back to the specific era of Gobekli Tepe. Examples of this include Egyptian king lists that give ostensible durations of rule for both historical and quasi-mythical kings. The evidence includes structures such as the Sphinx and the three largest pyramids at Giza, whose proposed alignments may bear a symbolic relationship to the era of 10,000 BCE.

In Point of Origin we made the argument that the mountaintop megalithic site of Gobekli Tepe represented an archaic instructional sanctuary, of the type described by the Dogon and the Buddhists, where cosmological knowledge and civilizing skills were taught. We also presented linguistic evidence that seems to associate the site with the name Yah, symbolizing “light.” Best asserts that there is only one instance in which the actions of the Maori Supreme Being Io (Yah) are discussed within a human context. He cites a Maori myth that tells of how the god Tane “ascended to the realm of Io in order to obtain from him the three baskets or repositories of esoteric knowledge.”² The Maori reference provides us with possible insights into the meaning of three carved “basket” images that can be seen on a pillar at Gobekli Tepe.

Historical, linguistic, and mythical evidence we see in Polynesia and New Zealand implies that the Maori culture was a later incarnation of the cosmological tradition we have been pursuing and so falls conceptually within the later historic era, rather than the earlier archaic one. We would therefore expect the Maori cosmological tradition to emphasize patriarchal elements rather than matriarchal ones, as it outwardly seems to do. Likewise, linguistic evidence suggests that the Maori have retained a cultural memory of the Neolithic instructional sanctuary on Orkney Island. If true, this would place the origins of the Maori as an independent culture sometime after the era of Skara Brae (circa 3200 BCE). From that perspective, Maori cosmology should also demonstrate the effects of the cross-regional symbolic reversals that we perceive to have taken place in other ancient cultures. However, it is also possible that, through the continuities of ancestry, it reflects traces of the earlier archaic tradition.

Comparisons between Maori cosmology and the symbolism found at Gobekli Tepe begin with the feminine nonmaterial energy, comparable to light, that we interpret to be symbolized by the name Yah. The likely Maori correlate to this concept rests with the name Ao, which according to Tregear refers to “one of the primal deities who are the unborn Forces of Nature. Ao is the personification of Light and the Upper-world as opposed to Darkness and the Lower-world (po).”³ Our outlook on the cosmological concept of Yah as it has evolved through discussions in previous volumes of this series is that it properly relates (in Dogon, Hindu, and Egyptian terms) not to the Upper World or Third World of matter, which is defined as our material world, or to the Second World or (as it is represented in some ancient cultures) Underworld, where matter is reorganized to create the egg-of-the-world. Instead, it relates to the boundary between the First World, where matter exists as waves, and the Second World, where particles form.

In The Mystery of Skara Brae, we cited parallel Hindu and Egyptian Tales of the Seven Houses. In these tales, references that pertain to the name Yah are symbolically associated with a sleeping person who wakes up. These mythic references serve to align the concept of Yah with forces that cause matter to essentially awaken or return to consciousness. In other sources, Yah is also tacitly compared to a bird that spreads its wings over “the face of the waters” (comparable to the biblical passage in Genesis) or to the glow of light that spreads out over the ocean just before sunrise and awakens a sleeping person. Such symbolism also exists in the Maori tradition, where according to Best, “The only form of light known at the time the Earth Mother brought forth her offspring was [a] feeble glow emanating from a glow-worm.”⁴

From another perspective, Maori cosmology defines seven stages of creation that are all given in relation to phases or aspects of light. These begin with this same dim glimmer from a glowworm, who we are told is named Hine-huruhuru.⁵ The Maori term hine is a title used only in relation to a girl or young woman,⁶ and so this indirectly affirms the view of the Sakti tradition, which associated this initiating light with a feminine principle. The Maori term huru refers to “the glow of the sun before rising.”⁷

The second Maori phase of light is defined as “the faint light made known by Uepoto when he emerged from the body of the Earth Mother.” The Maori term ue means “to shake or tremble”⁸ and so implies the notion of “vibration.” In the mind-set of the ancient cosmology, vibration is one of the first attributes that is assigned to matter after it has been perceived. The word poto refers to “a short duration of time.”⁹ The emergence of the concept of time is another attribute that is closely associated within the cosmology with the initial emergence of mass.

Best defines the third phase of light as “the form of light that obtained after the separation of the Sky Parent and the Earth Mother. A dim, dusky light.” This phase is associated with the Maori term kakarauri. The word raua refers to the concept of “dualism” (the idea that particles of matter emerge in pairs), which the Dogon define as an underlying principle of creation. Rauroha connotes the notion of “spreading” and so implies the emergence of space.¹⁰ The term kaka refers to “a fiber or a hair,” or in the terms of the ancient cosmology and modern string theory, a “thread.”¹¹

The fourth phase of light is defined as “the form of light known when the heavens were fixed on high, and the Earth Mother turned face down to Rarohenga.” The Maori word raro means “underside,”¹² and the word henga refers to the “hull of a canoe.”¹³ Taken together, this is the same essential concept of the overturning of matter that underlies the title of the prior book of this series, The Mystery of Skara Brae. The image is meant to convey the action of a spinning vortex, comparable to an oceanic whirlpool that would be capable of capsizing a boat.

The fourth stage of creation of matter has special symbolic significance: in the mind-set of the cosmology, the seven stages of matter correlate to processes in the macrocosm that form seven material universes (paired with seven nonmaterial universes for a total of fourteen). Our four-dimensional universe is designated as the fourth of these. The notion of “the heavens” being “fixed on high” refers to the formation of space, an event that is also symbolized by the concept of the separation of earth and sky.

The fifth phase of light is defined as “a wintry form of light,” and it relates to the term aoao nui. The term aoao is a correlate to the previously discussed term auau, which refers to “the opening of space.” The Maori term nui means “great or large.”¹⁴ The concept represented here is that of the continued opening of space.

The sixth phase of light is referred to as “cloudless light,” and it is associated with the term tuarea. The Maori word tua refers to “the far side of a solid body.”¹⁵ It also can imply someone who “turns their back to go.” The implication is one of rotation, again comparable to the spinning vortex that is associated with the Dogon egg-of-the-world. Also implied is a sense of anticipation of completion and of leaving through a doorway. The word rea refers to the “entrance to a basket.” When Ogotemmeli wanted to describe the symbolism of the Dogon aligned granary shrine and its conceptual relationship to the egg-of-the-world to Griaule, he illustrated his definitions with an upturned basket.

The seventh and final phase of light is defined as “summer light.” In the mind-set of the ancient traditions, the year began in the fall, and so summer might be seen as the final season. This phase is defined by the Maori term tiahoaho. Phonetically, it bears a likely relationship to the ancient Chinese term for the egg-of-the-world, which is given as haohao. The Maori term hoahoa can mean “likeness” or “resemblance” and can be used to refer to a spouse or companion. Alternately, it refers to two women and so may evoke the notion of two Mother Goddesses. From a cosmological perspective, the young woman associated with light that is symbolized by the first stage of matter equates conceptually to the Sakti goddess Dharni Penu, whose name means “luminous” and so could refer to a glow of light. The seventh equates to Tana Penu, the earth mother. The term mother carries symbolic associations to a womb, which on one level the completed egg-of-the-world represents. From our perspective, the cosmological term earth symbolizes “mass” or “matter.” The egg itself, which the Dogon refer to as the po pilu (or in the language of the cosmology, “atom of the elephant”), equates conceptually to Ganesha.

In the symbolism of the archaic tradition (which is in agreement with philosophies that underlie the tradition), the concept of Yah aligns with a feminine energy, somewhat akin to a mother who wakes her sleeping child. However, in the Maori tradition, again as in Genesis, Ao has been outwardly recast as a male god. As part of his discussion of the po, Best touches on this same Maori concept of Ao, whom he refers to by the alternate name Io. He writes: “[In] the inner teachings of the old-time lore of the Maori . . . it is shown that the great Io, the Supreme Being, existed prior to matter of any kind, that he dwelt in space ere the earth was formed, and that it was he who caused the earth to come into being.”¹⁶

Best quotes a Maori composition that states:

Io dwelt in universal space; the universe was in darkness; all was water.

Day was not, nor moon, nor light; darkness alone was; all was water.¹⁷

Best goes on to explain (again like the passage in Genesis) that Io next “called upon light to appear, and light dawned across space.” Just as light is then separated from darkness in the biblical text, Io causes day to be separated from night in the Maori rendition. Maori dictionary definitions for the word ao also preserve this significant creative act, as Tregear tells us that the word ao can also refer to “daytime; day as opposed to night” or can mean “to become light.”¹⁸

Depending on the particular phonetics of a given language, we see reflections of this same symbolism of Yah, Ao, or Io in various ancient cultures. In Egypt, we find the meanings expressed by words that are formed from the phonetic root aa. On Orkney Island in Northern Scotland, the symbolism plays out in relation to the word el, which we explained in The Mystery of Skara Brae is also the name of a light god comparable to (and often equated with) Yah. In the Hebrew language, references to Yah can be rendered as two yud charactersײ (perhaps originally pronounced yah’d). In light of the many ongoing comparisons that can be made among Dogon, Egyptian, and Hebrew cosmological words, we interpret these yuds as correlates to two reedleaf glyphs in the Egyptian hieroglyphic language.

There are several different perspectives from which the notion of reeds relates symbolically to the light god El or, by association, Yah. By our method of interpreting Egyptian glyphs, a single reedleaf glyph implies the notion of “that which is,” while two reedleaf glyphs placed side by side imply the concept of existence (or “that which is, is”). Interestingly, Best cites Maori references relating to Io or Yah that are given with the word ha, which he says is sometimes coupled with the name Io. Almost as if to echo our interpretation of the Egyptian reedleaf glyphs and Yah, Best asserts that the word ha means “to be” or “to exist.”¹⁹

The ocean inlet in Northern Scotland on which the clustered houses of Skara Brae are set is called the Bay of Skaill. We interpret the name Skaill, in the context of an ancient naming convention (discussed in prior books of this series) to combine the Egyptian word skhai (meaning “to celebrate”) and El, the name of a light god. Based on arguments presented in The Mystery of Skara Brae, we also interpret Orkney Island, where the village of Skara Brae is located, to have been the real-world locale of the Egyptian Field of Reeds. The Greek term for the Field of Reeds was the Elysian Fields. In the Scottish Gaelic language, the term for “island” was eilean (a word that also meant “training”), while in the Icelandic language the term was eyland. The suggestion is that the name Elysian may have combined the name of the god El with a term for “island.”