Below is a photo of an entrance into the Temple of Karnak, Egypt. This photo first appeared in the book, Star Maps by William R. Fix.

  As you can see the entrance is framed, and if you look closely you will see that just outside the frame and on both sides of the portal, there is a vine or perhaps a spiralling snake or serpent. Each is spiralled along the length of the stem of a Lotus Flower.

  In India the Lotus Flower symbolises the Hindu Chakras - energy vortices in the body. At the top of each there is a rearing cobra.

  If we were to join the two together they would both make the symbol of a Caduceus, which features two snakes entwined around each other on a central staff - the staff illustrating the human spinal column and the Hindu Kundalini Chakra system.

The winged globe above the doorway completes the Caduceus. And this would suggest that these Lotus stems really represent the spinal cord and also the central sushumna nerve channel in the human body.

  Here the winged disk or globe – flanked on either side, by the positive and negative serpents – symbolises the sun – but also in esoteric terms, this is the ‘Inner Sun.’

  This feature is always shown at the top of a Caduceus.

  The winged globe or eye is a prominent feature of the Caduceus because it also symbolises the skull and the centre of the ‘Crown Chakra’ and depicts the Source and Centre of one’s consciousness known by the Hindus as the Bindu. This centre is also represented ‘physically,’ by something within the brain – which I have identified to be the ‘philosopher’s stone,’ the ‘philosopher’s egg’ and the ‘serpent’s head’ . . . the Thalamus - the brain's centre.

  Now, this particular Caduceus has been cut in half, and for a reason . . .

  The Lotus stem on either side of the doorway is depicting the same stem, which has been cut and divided down the centre or middle.

  We note that not only is the staff (here Lotus stem) of the Caduceus cut in half, but that the orientation of each snake or serpent is different on each side. One is spiralling to the left and the other is spiralling to the right. This means that both these snakes or serpents are again the divided halves of the same Caduceus.

  In a normal Caduceus, the snakes or serpents known as the Ida (female or negative polarity) and Pingala (male or positive polarity,) spiral around the one staff in both directions, and the artist who sculpted this doorway has illustrated this. But as we can see, each are placed on either side of this open doorway or portal.

  This is a subtle indication that the ‘doorway’ to other levels of consciousness is located at the centre and in- between the two polarities symbolised by the two snakes or serpents. In other words, this “doorway,” “gateway” or “Stargate,” to other dimensions or realities is found when one fuses, or unites the two energies at the ‘midpoint’ (the spine) so as to access, and, or, release the pure energy of one’s psyche or consciousness.

  Again, in the Hindu physio-chakra system, this ‘midpoint’ is the central nerve channel known as the Sushumna – represented by the central staff of the Caduceus.

Of course if the two snakes and divided shaft were put together to make the traditional picture of a Caduceus, we would not see this doorway . . . we could only imagine it to be a very fine, hermetically sealed, line down the centre of the Caduceus.

  The picture seems to be communicating the following:

  If we were to fuse the two snakes or the two polarities together, or superimpose these two energies within us, and sustain it, we would then find that we have opened up a “doorway” or a “portal” in our consciousness to another world. The symbolism around this doorway is conveying information about the “Stargate” – which is within everyone.

  It was believed that when activated during a ‘full-blown Kundalini awakening’ associated with the ‘enlightenment experience,’ and when one’s energies are balanced and gathered within the sushumna central nerve channel of the body, and at a certain chakra level, the sushumna carries the energy of one’s consciousness upwards and into the chakra vortex of the highest centre – the bindu or void above the head. From here one can access other realities or domains. In other words, the sushumna acts like a superconductor. This symbolic doorway at Karnak, like many other doorways based on the same design, reveals the beliefs of the shaman – i.e., that a technique exists in which we can all travel and journey to “other realities” which exist within us. It also shows us that the initiates of the ancient Egyptians had known of this technique and that the initiates who understood this shamanic knowledge and this technique were able to access this ‘midpoint’ (neutral point) or ‘centrepoint’ in consciousness.

  In the context of the duality of opposites, this ‘midpoint’ is ‘nondual,’ and I would say that this is the believed shamanic “gateway” into the Underworld. And if sustained, then it is also the ‘jump-gate’ into the source of one’s consciousness and that of the collective – known as the ‘collective unconscious’ – again, because we are usually unconscious of it.

  Despite what we may believe today, the shaman believed that one can utilise this ‘fusion in mind;’ this ‘centredeness,’ to leap from one pattern to another, from one level of consciousness to another, and from one ‘reality domain’ to another.

The bronze Hindu sculpture shown left, is conveying the same message as the doorway in the Temple at Karnak, Egypt.

  This bronze sculpture, which not only cleverly illustrates the ‘void of nothing,’ but also expresses the belief that the void is associated with the centre of the body (again, the sushumna central nerve channel). The doorway at Karnak also represents the sushumna – indicating that the ‘midpoint,’ where both opposites are cancelled out, is the ‘key’ that opens the ‘door’ – the ‘portal’ into one’s own consciousness, experienced by the shaman as the "underworld."

  And now we know the deeper meaning behind these enigmatic sculptures and images – for instance, The Long Man of Wilmington, which was carved into a hillside. It appears that someone, or a group of people, may have known that this hill is possibly the location of a vortex, again, a ‘neutral point’, where the positive and negative forces of the earth cross each other.

  Again this is based on the two snakes of the Caduceus and also the two nerve channels of the Hindu chakra system, which cross each other on the neutral sushumna where the chakra vortices are located in the body like the zero ‘nodes’ in a standing wave.

  Again the man holds a staff in each hand, both of which represent the opposites. This shows us that like ancient man, it is believed that man holds within himself the ‘gateway’ between dimensions and realities.

  It was believed simply that man – or rather the centre of his consciousness – is the ‘gateway’ when both opposites are in balance or are fused together – a principle we find overly expressed in many alchemical works.

  So we can see that the Minoan Snake Goddess, and other depictions of the ‘world mother,’ who are shown holding a serpent or snake in each hand – each convey a more direct allusion to the Caduceus. The esoteric meaning behind these figurines is self-evident . . . it shows that the “gateway” is the midpoint between the opposites – one’s true-self, which is found by the individual being centred or balanced. The two snakes are the pingala and ida, and the snake, which is emerging, from the head would be the sushumna, as also symbolised by the Uraeus snake worn on the forehead by the ancient Egyptians.

  Also, we recognise more meaning in the Minoan Snake Goddess, in that the two snakes she holds are also likened to the ‘male sperm’ (shaman) which are trying to enter her, so that the shaman can enter the Underworld. Again, the spine and the central nerve channel – known as the sushumna is also represented by the Goddess herself – her womb representing the Underworld entered via the neutral ‘sushumna’ “gateway.” And if we are in any doubt and still take the conventional view that the Minoan Snake Goddess merely represents a snake charmer, then I would ask the reader to look at the photograph taken of the ancient Pre-Columbian monument at Tiahuanaco.

  Hewn from a single block of stone, this is the Gateway of the Sun, circa 800-300 B.C. As mentioned, in esoteric tradition, the physical sun is used as a metaphor for the illuminating light of the Inner-Sun – the source of one’s being.

  Now its possible that through these designs we are being told that the ‘gateway’ into this centre, is the ‘midpoint,’ or ‘neutral point’ (referenced as the sushumna which aligns with the spine and where both opposites are superimposed on each other – cancelling each other out to produce a “portal” or “gateway” into the inner vortex of one’s consciousness whose “eye of the storm" centre is the source.

  And again, if we are in any doubt about my interpretation here then take a look at the other paintings and sculptures found around the world and then the impressive central figure on the lintel representing the “Gateway God,” Lord Viracocha, whose gaze is towards the rising sun in the east. Again, like the ‘Long Man of Wilmington’ he holds a serpent staff in each hand – showing us that he has conquered the opposites within himself to become the “gateway.”

  There is another meaning to this on a more practical level.

  The two snakes - one held in each hand - also make a correspondence with the two properties of the one snake - the venom and the blood of the snake - and the mixing of both- like the ida and pingala serpents - the create the Elixir.

In the Serpent Grail we expressed Philip Gardiner's initial discovery that the original Elixir of Life was a mixture made from the poisonous venom of the snake and the blood taken from a serum host, such as a horse or a person, who had been subjected to a series of venom injections. I revealed how this union made a correspondence with the internal processes of the Kundalini phenomenon and the shamanic experience.

The venom and the blood were mixed together in a bowl – the physical Grail. The unique properties contained in the blood of the serum host render the venom harmless, therefore the blood is the antidote to the poison. Although the venom is neutralized when these two ingredients – the snake venom and the blood from the serum host – are mixed together, the resulting mixture makes a powerful elixir which, when taken orally, boosts the human body’s immune system. If taken repeatedly, it was believed to cure most or even all-known diseases.

  This union of the venom and blood, made a correspondence with the union of opposites in consciousness, with the human spine at the centre and this is what we see conveyed in these structures and illustrations.