The Gnostic Circle

‘The Gnostic Circle is the most effective method for understanding the transformation of human consciousness. It represents a vision of wholeness and has only one objective: it deals with the soul or seed of the divine in each created thing and reveals the process by which that seed is made to flower in its process of becoming.’ ˗ Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet

The Gnostic Circle

© Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet 1975

For each person there are two ways of being in the world, two existential situations critical to our perception of life and reality. The first and most common is an experience of the world from the historical perspective of linear time. The second, and more rare, is the direct perception of non-linear time or cosmic cycles. These modes of awareness represent two different worlds, one within the other. Non-linear or sacred time appears under the paradoxical aspect of whole time, an eternal present which is connected with man’s deepest spiritual dimension. It is based upon a perception that time does not proceed endlessly in a straight line. Rather it is always and everywhere a closed curve, although from our ordinary perception, we do not see that it’s movement is either curved or closed.

To move beyond the illusion of linearity and recover a realization of whole time one must undergo a process of yoga which illumines the cyclical nature of the life experience. This is most easily achieved through the application of a cosmological model which highlights certain essential relationships between man and the universe and which unveils a common center. In ancient times these cosmological models were based upon the known universe which was believed to consist of six planets and a central Sun. It was not until the 20th century, following the discovery of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, that the complete cosmological key could be revealed and man’s integral transformation fully understood.

In ancient India, as in all other traditional societies, the unveiling of this axis or ‘center’ was achieved through a disciplined study of the archetypal language contained in the zodiacal hieroglyphs and a knowledge of the principles of the Cosmic order. Once these foundations are laid, one’s lived experience becomes revelatory. The awareness gradually shifts from the ordinary linear perspective of past, present and future to an experience of time as a cyclical developmental process. As the individual lives and repeats these cycles of whole time, he becomes imprinted with their order and aligned with their harmonies. The axis of his being gradually shifts from the pivot of ego, to a higher perceptual center. For it is by observing the cycles of his own microcosmic process, that man comes to know the macrocosm and the principles of its evolution. In the Veda, this realization is known as SWAR or Truth-Consciousness, and grants the seeker a direct and unequivocal perception of Unity.

The Rig Veda, India’s oldest and most sacred scripture, describes these cosmological secrets and the supremely enlightened state which results from an alignment with the Cosmic order. The Rishi declares:

‘Certain eternal worlds are these which have come into being, their doors are shut to you (or opened) by the months and the years. Without effort one world moves in the other, and it is these that Brihaspati has made manifest to knowledge.’

Rig Veda 11.24.5

These secret eternal worlds have been closed to us by our misperception of the movement of time. The months and the years, therefore have to be re-discovered and created in us by that same power. This, says the Rishi, is the mightiest work, the fairest achievement and it hinges on the conquest of time.

This was the essence of the Rig Vedic Yoga, lost for millennia until it was unveiled in the 1970’s by Patrizia Noreill-Bachelet. From the principles of these ancient teachings, Ms. Norelli-Bachelet developed and articulated a new applied cosmology which she demonstrates in her book, “The Gnostic Circle, a synthesis in the harmonies of the cosmos“. In this seminal text Ms. Norelli-Bachelet joins the measures of Time and Space in a functional synthesis and provides the means by which the individual may integrate the planetary harmonies with the harmonics of number and relate both to the passage of his own life.

‘The Gnostic Circle is merely the combination of the zodiac – the occult circle which contains the knowledge of the evolution – and the structural pattern of the solar system. The Circle of 12 is the zodiac, and the Circle of 9 is our actual solar system, each orbit representing one year of Earth life. The joint harmony of these two, superimposed or synthesized in one circle, is what constitutes our key to the evolution and flowering of the seed of the Spirit. In fact we can say that the Gnostic Circle is mainly for this purpose. It shows mankind the ultimate and ideal perfection that can be attained during this particular phase of the evolution, during this great transition point from animal-mental to the more divine mankind.’

Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, The Gnostic Circle, p. 159, 1975

The Gnostic Circle allows us to measure the progression of any event in time. And it provides the means of assessing an event’s relevance to time and place within a global and universal context. Above all, it permits us to appreciate the interconnectedness of events through a unified, spherical approach to Time. The Gnostic Circle is a yardstick which can be applied to any event and by which that event or object may be made to reveal its intrinsic nature and objective value. In ancient literature and tradition, such a tool was sometimes referred to as the Golden Rod, or the Philosopher’s Stone. Its value resided in the fact that because of its special relation to Time and Space, it could provide an objective means to assess the truth-conscious substance of any given situation or event or object. In a word, it could objectively reveal the element’s inner pulse and place within the greater harmony of life on Earth and within the solar system.

Patrizia Noreill-Bachelet, The Vishaal Newsletter, Oct 30, 1991

As the reader will observe, Ms. Norell-Bachelet’s cosmology deals with what, for centuries, has been divorced from traditional spirituality – the question of Time and Measure. And her work brings to completion the “supramental time vision” foreseen by Sri Aurobindo in his epic text, “The Synthesis of Yoga“:

‘Time is the remaining aid needed for the effectivity of the [Supramental yoga]. Time presents itself to human effort as an enemy or a friend, as a resistance, a medium or an instrument. But always it is really the instrument of the soul.’…‘To the ego it is a tyrant or a resistance, to the Divine an instrument. Therefore, while our effort is personal, Time appears as a resistance, for it presents to us all the obstruction of the forces that conflict with our own. When the divine working and the personal are combined in our consciousness, it appears as a medium and condition. When the two become one, it appears as a servant and instrument …’.

Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 61

Used in conjunction with the practice of yoga, the Gnostic Circle reverses the long-standing perception of Time as the destroyer and presents mankind with an entirely new awareness of Time as the integrative mechanism by which a Divine purpose is expressed in the world, thus it contains the highest wisdom of our age.

Used in conjunction with the practice of yoga, the Gnostic Circle reverses the long-standing perception of Time as the destroyer and presents mankind with an entirely new awareness of Time as the integrative mechanism by which a Divine purpose is expressed in the world, thus it contains the highest wisdom of our age.

Excerpts from The Gnostic Circle, Chapter 1, ‘Essential Purpose of the Study of Cosmic Harmonies’:

‘[I]t is our purpose here to speak of some of the essential reasons why the knowledge has been contained and transmitted in the zodiac and the structure of the solar system … Moreover, it is our intention to give as clear a picture as possible of the true purpose of astrology, and in which way it can be an asset in the development of the spirit….’

‘Cosmic harmonies give us the understanding of the movement of progression within the eternal. The art in its totality is transmitted so that man may have a clear vision of the process of evolution, and above all, of its ultimate goal for any particular Age…’.

‘[I]n order to understand this play, we must first realize that the ultimate aim of creation is to be an ever more direct manifestation of the upholding and underlying spirit.

‘The zodiac gives us a picture of this outer movement of evolution which has as its support the inherent spirit. It represents the aspect of the unique Energy in a state of movement, as opposed to the aspect of the unique Energy in a state of rest. The purest example of the former is Matter, and the purest example of the latter is Spirit. These two poles represent two aspects, apparently contradictory and opposite, of the One Unique Energy, working itself out into its fullest manifestation.’

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