You're now ready to hear a new Paraklet's secret. Do you know what those ThRee-BRaNChed marks found in Lascaux mean? (Le Monde Lascaux P32). They are Shin; symbols of rebirth and therefore, of resurrection, but more importantly of BeCoMing. In my next video we'll expand on the « power of three », as Marija Gimbutas calls it (P123). For now, let's just say that the three branches, or three lines, embody becoming, eMeRGence, TRaNSFoRMation, what's coming - in other words, the FuTuRe. They are all over the Bronze Age ceramics found across the Mediterranean, often associated with the SPiRaL figure I've already mentioned.

There is a good reason why the French verb êTRe (to be) is conjugated in the future as « je serai, tu seras, il sera, nous serons, vous serez, ils seront », whereas in the past tense it’s « j’étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient ». « Ta » « ShaRa » again; with « ShaRa » conveying the notion of the FuTuRe and « Ta », that of the PaST. Always remember, « the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. », is an ancient principle dating back beyond Abraham’s birth. But « God willing », we'll come back to « Ta » in a few years' time.

In Hebrew, SheRuwt means the FuTuRe, as in Jeremiah 15.11 « The Lord said, Surely I will deliver you for a good PuRPoSe SheRuwt; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress. » For a long time, only prophets and messiahs could look into the future. In Egyptian, SeR means « PReDiction », which features in the Latin word SoRS, which means FaTe (SoRT In French), DeSTiNy, as well as DiViNation and prediction. This connection with the future is one of the reasons why « Sha » is often associated with magic, but we'll come back to that shortly. « SoRS is also Black ⚫. As well as Yellow 🟡. And SeR is also Orange 🟠 and Brown 🟤 ».

For the moment, let's say that the Greeks believed that Thoth DjḤoWTI, the Egyptian god of science and knowledge who helps Isis revive Osiris, was both the creator of writing and the god of destiny, the future and the PaSSage of time. « Sha », embodying the symbolism of the future, thus appears as a prefix conveying the notion of future and consequence in Hebrew, Arabic, Egyptian, or even in what the Pharisians call « Indo-European » languages.

Let’s get back to the GRoWth of the TRee. As our ancestors have known since the dawn of time (at least since the emergence of Homo Sapiens 300,000 years ago) trees don't just grow TaLL, they also grow DeeP. Trees are indeed SyMMeTRical, they have RooTs (RaCiNes in French).

And RooTs are essential to Homo Sapiens. Although there's no entry for root in Jean-Loïc le Quellec and Bernard Sergent's Dictionnaire Critique de Mythologique, we do find them in the TRee section, notably in the cosmogonic tree, whose BRaNChes are connected to the worlds aBoVe while its roots reach out into the worlds BeLoW, the TaRTaRus of the Greeks, particularly in Hesiod's Theogony (P85 French edition):

There, SiDe by side, are the SouRCes, the eDGes of all things, of the black earth and the misty Tartarus, of the fertile sea and the starry sky, ghastly, musty lands the gods abhorr. There STaND RaDiant GaTes, and a brazen, immovable ThReShoLD, supported by endless RooTs, CaRVed by nature.

…which mentions the gates we already talked about…

RooTedness is also related to the FeMiNine, as Serge Dunis reports in L'Ours, la Vague et la Lionne, (p.207/251 K), speaking of the colonization of the Pacific islands: « An island, a land, is never colonized until the WoMeN have taken root. ‘To take root’: there is an actual relationship between island women and aerial roots, both literally and figuratively. » This association between roots, the feminine, the GaTe and the PaSSage of time is also beautifully expressed by Lao Tzu in his 6th Chant:

The SPiRiT of the VaLLey never dies. It is called the SuBTLe and PRoFouND FeMaLe. The GaTe of the subtle and profound female is the RooT of HeaVeN and Earth. It is CoNTiNuous, and seems to be always existing. uSe it and you will never WeaR it out.

RooTs also appear on Neolithic pottery in shapes that Marija Gimbutas calls « CuRVed CheVRons » (P50-51). Do you remember the sexual chevrons? Or even in shapes she believes to be bees (P297) - I think Marija missed the roots there. These shapes look like anthropomorphic silhouettes precisely because « ky haʕaDaM ʕeTs haSaDeh » « MaN is like the TRee in a FieLD » (Deuteronomy 20.19). Carl Schuster (P128) was literally obsessed with the aNThRoPo-morphism of trees, relying among other things on semantics: trees; like humans have LiMBs and a TRuNK.

In Hebrew, the RooT is ShoReSh, one of the most wonderful words of all. For it's a palindrome, as you already know if you follow the sermon series of the « sire disert ». The very ShaPe of ShoReSh conveys the idea that TRees GRoW towards the sky and into the earth.

« Sha-Ra-Sha ». We find it again, of course, in Isaiah’s fundamental verse announcing the coming of the MeSSiah - this one I must read to you in Hebrew, before I read it to you in French.

But a ShooT shall GRoW out of the STuMP of yiShay, A TWiG shall SPRouT from his SToCk. The SPiRiT of God shall alight upon him: A spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and valor, a spirit of devotion and reverence for God. He shall sense the truth by his reverence for God: he shall not judge by what his eyes behold, nor decide by what his ears perceive. Thus he shall judge the poor with equity and decide with JuSTiCe for the lowly of the land. He shall STRiKe down a LaND with the rod of his mouth and SLay the WiCked with the BReaTh of his lips. Justice shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his waist.

Let’s savor another beautiful passage on TRee RooTs, Jeremiah 17.7/8: « But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree PLaNTed by the WaTeR that sends out its roots by the STReaM. It does not fear when heat comes; its LeaVes are always GReeN. It has no worries in a year of DRouGht and never fails to BeaR FRuiT. »

ShoReSh is of course polysemous, since it also means the offShooT, the « out-growth » (to which we'll return in a moment) but also to upRooT, to BaNish in the semantic field of DeSTRuCtion TeaRing (aRRaChe in French), uprooting (déRaCiNe) and oVeRTuRNing (ReNVeRSe). In Greek, this palindromic root is also found in SeRiS (eNDiVe, ChiCoRy) and SiSaRoN (TuRNiP), two plants with edible RooTs. In Arabic,RaSaH̱a al-rāsikhūna are those that are STeaDFaST, well-rooted, well-GRouNDed. For behind the PLaNTed STaKe, lie the roots of the TRee, the STuMP (SouChe in French) that sometimes need to be WReSTed (aRRaCher in French or NaṢaʕ in Hebrew) by a SToRM or a wild BoaR. « Yes, and NaṢaʕ is also Rose 🩷 and Black ⚫ »

Roots are an inexhaustible subject. In computing, the RooT is essential: the root directory is at the base of the file « TRee », and there’s the root user. The word root features another « RaTaSha » transformation, like VeRTo and VeRSo. Just like STinGing NeTTLes!

The RooT is the oRiGiN, and since the dawn of time our aNCeSToRs have been obsessed with finding their roots, where they came from. In my opinion, this quest even predates the emergence of our species Homo Sapiens, maybe even the moment when our ancestors started to walk upright some 2 million years ago. Wondering about where we come from is central to every culture across the globe. Zarathustra, for instance, speaks of it in Chant VIII §5, where the Paleolithic dualism comes up again.

As divine and sacred I recognize Thee, O Mazda Ahura, when I realized Thee as the FiRST and eTeRNaL when life began; and when Thou ordained rewards for good thoughts, words and deeds; and when Thou specified through Thy wisdom that eViL shall be the lot of WiCked persons and that GooD persons shall reap the FRuiT of their goodness. Thus it will continue up to the end of CReation.

And Lao Tzu sings at the end of Chant 14: « Hold on to the Tao of old in order to master the things of the present. From this one may know the primeval BeGiNNing (of the universe). This is called the NoDal point of Tao. » The nodal point is the CiRCLe at the junction of the Y-shaped stick. We'll come back to this later.

Behind the oRiGiN lies the MeMoRy of the aNCieNts - forever better than the moderns. The hiSToRy of mankind has always been experienced by hominids as an inescapable downFaLL, even as technology, and with it, material life improved. In the next Chant, Lao Tzu praises the ancients, here is another magnificent quote:

Of old those who were the BeST rulers were SuBTLy mysterious and PRoFouNDly PeNeTRating; Too DeeP to comprehend. And because they cannot be comprehended, I can only describe them arbitrarily: Cautious, like CRoSSing a frozen STReaM in the winter, Being at a loss, like one fearing danger on all sides, Reserved, like one visiting, SuPPLe and pliant, like ice about to melt. Genuine, like a PieCe of unCaRVed WooD, oPeN and BRoaD, like a VaLLey, Merged and undifferentiated, like MuDDy WaTeR. Who can make muddy water gradually clear through tranquillity? Who can make the still gradually come to life through activity? He who embraces this Tao does not want to FiLL himself to oVeRFLoWing. It is precisely because there is no overflowing that he is beyond WeaRing out and ReNeWal. »