polarityparadox
The Force is Strong With This One
hi forum,
there are a series of authors (richard heath, john michell and others) bringing back an amazing understanding of the use of prime numbers as used by ancient societies that are fundamentally implicated in their measurement systems and allowed those systems of measurement to elegantly harmonise with the natural movements of the sun, moon and earth. The quote below gives just a small taste of what they have laid out in various books. I especially recommend The Dimensions of Paradise by John Michell as a "primer" in this regard :)
Peruse their various blogs and articles to find other fascinating tidbits that are guaranteed to spark creative associations
The Metre's connection to the Moon
The Metre and the Moon were connected by someone in revolutionary France. Here we show how the numbers tell the story behind the creation of a unit that was designed to replace all of the ancient measures. It shows how a knowledge of metrology can revolutionise our knowledge of the past and reveal hidden secrets within artifacts and buildings.
In ancient metrology all of the units of length, and there were many, divided into each other through the use of only the first five prime numbers, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11. They may not divide perfectly but only these primes will remain in any fractions of a foot after a division of one into another.
It is quite a surprise therefore that the Metre, a recent measure emanating from the time of the French Revolution, upsetting of the ancien regime, is commensurate with the English foot at all. The surprise comes from the fact that the Metre was created from a measurement of degrees of latitude and an estimate of the quadrant from Equator to Pole - the metre being defined as one ten millionth of the length of that quadrant. Since the measurements had significant errors, the final value was frozen at an incorrect value. So why should it, like an ancient measure, divide into the foot at all?
There are 10000 feet in 3048 metres, and 3048 is 24 times 127. Thus the metre has introduced a high prime into its relation to the foot yet has retained a rational relationship to the foot.
Why 3048? The answer might lie in the lunar orbit, for in a Metonic Period of 19 years the Sun, Moon and Stars all return to the same relative arrangement to a high accuracy.
There are 254 lunar orbital periods (LOPs) of 27.32166 days in a Metonic period and 12 times the Metonic yields 3048 LOPs.
Whilst there are numerous relationships in astronomy and other areas of the traditional arts, the Metonic is one of major significance in both prehistory and as a primary relationship between the Moon and the Sun, for the following reasons. To complete a Metonic period in only 19 years requires that the lunar month and orbital periods are both commensurate (will divide into) that period of 6939.60 days. 235 lunar months complete in 6939.69 days and 254 lunar orbits complete in 6939.79 days, the variance being 0.19 days or just 4.5 hours in 19 years.
The likelihood is that whoever was responsible for generating the metre knew that the value produced would be wrong, and would not be one ten millionth of the meridian length. The reasons were an incomplete and faulty set of measurements plus a wrong assumption that the average degree length was found at 45 degree. In reality it is the 51st degree has the average degree length, equal to a degree of the mean earth.
The standard metre was instead based upon something of interest to those involved in the project - it could be a single person or a group - and they chose to make it mean something astronomical. But there is no evidence of such astronomy in the ordinary scientific community. Only in the realms of esoteric knowledge could such a period be emblematic and meaningful. Multiplying the Metonic period by twelve reminds of the Zodiac of twelve signs and indeed 12-foldness is a characteristic emerging from the classical Greek culture who had 12 gods and are generally credited with the advent of the zodiac.
From a fresh perspective, the 12 times 19 year period could well be a genuine archaic time period of note since we know that the Metonic period was both well known and associated with Druidic and Metalithic ritual - the bluestone ellipse within Stonehenge carrying this symbolism. It was said that every 19 years Apollo would return to Hyperborea (probably Britain) where a circular temple to honour him had been built.
It is quite possible that multiples of the Metonic existed in ancient timekeeping and that one of these could have survived within one of the secret societies of that time. The alternative is of a very unusual creative act in which this period was dreamt up. Unlikely as this is it is not as unlikely as someone just creating this number, commensurate with the foot, out of a calculation or just out of thin air.
there are a series of authors (richard heath, john michell and others) bringing back an amazing understanding of the use of prime numbers as used by ancient societies that are fundamentally implicated in their measurement systems and allowed those systems of measurement to elegantly harmonise with the natural movements of the sun, moon and earth. The quote below gives just a small taste of what they have laid out in various books. I especially recommend The Dimensions of Paradise by John Michell as a "primer" in this regard :)
Peruse their various blogs and articles to find other fascinating tidbits that are guaranteed to spark creative associations
The Metre's connection to the Moon
The Metre and the Moon were connected by someone in revolutionary France. Here we show how the numbers tell the story behind the creation of a unit that was designed to replace all of the ancient measures. It shows how a knowledge of metrology can revolutionise our knowledge of the past and reveal hidden secrets within artifacts and buildings.
In ancient metrology all of the units of length, and there were many, divided into each other through the use of only the first five prime numbers, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11. They may not divide perfectly but only these primes will remain in any fractions of a foot after a division of one into another.
It is quite a surprise therefore that the Metre, a recent measure emanating from the time of the French Revolution, upsetting of the ancien regime, is commensurate with the English foot at all. The surprise comes from the fact that the Metre was created from a measurement of degrees of latitude and an estimate of the quadrant from Equator to Pole - the metre being defined as one ten millionth of the length of that quadrant. Since the measurements had significant errors, the final value was frozen at an incorrect value. So why should it, like an ancient measure, divide into the foot at all?
There are 10000 feet in 3048 metres, and 3048 is 24 times 127. Thus the metre has introduced a high prime into its relation to the foot yet has retained a rational relationship to the foot.
Why 3048? The answer might lie in the lunar orbit, for in a Metonic Period of 19 years the Sun, Moon and Stars all return to the same relative arrangement to a high accuracy.
There are 254 lunar orbital periods (LOPs) of 27.32166 days in a Metonic period and 12 times the Metonic yields 3048 LOPs.
Whilst there are numerous relationships in astronomy and other areas of the traditional arts, the Metonic is one of major significance in both prehistory and as a primary relationship between the Moon and the Sun, for the following reasons. To complete a Metonic period in only 19 years requires that the lunar month and orbital periods are both commensurate (will divide into) that period of 6939.60 days. 235 lunar months complete in 6939.69 days and 254 lunar orbits complete in 6939.79 days, the variance being 0.19 days or just 4.5 hours in 19 years.
The likelihood is that whoever was responsible for generating the metre knew that the value produced would be wrong, and would not be one ten millionth of the meridian length. The reasons were an incomplete and faulty set of measurements plus a wrong assumption that the average degree length was found at 45 degree. In reality it is the 51st degree has the average degree length, equal to a degree of the mean earth.
The standard metre was instead based upon something of interest to those involved in the project - it could be a single person or a group - and they chose to make it mean something astronomical. But there is no evidence of such astronomy in the ordinary scientific community. Only in the realms of esoteric knowledge could such a period be emblematic and meaningful. Multiplying the Metonic period by twelve reminds of the Zodiac of twelve signs and indeed 12-foldness is a characteristic emerging from the classical Greek culture who had 12 gods and are generally credited with the advent of the zodiac.
From a fresh perspective, the 12 times 19 year period could well be a genuine archaic time period of note since we know that the Metonic period was both well known and associated with Druidic and Metalithic ritual - the bluestone ellipse within Stonehenge carrying this symbolism. It was said that every 19 years Apollo would return to Hyperborea (probably Britain) where a circular temple to honour him had been built.
It is quite possible that multiples of the Metonic existed in ancient timekeeping and that one of these could have survived within one of the secret societies of that time. The alternative is of a very unusual creative act in which this period was dreamt up. Unlikely as this is it is not as unlikely as someone just creating this number, commensurate with the foot, out of a calculation or just out of thin air.
