The spring is an excellent time of year to be considering all things reproductive. Whilst male hares are playing fisticuffs in the fields over a prospective female, blog writers are being thankful for rainbows.

The Old Testament character, Noah is an important symbol or rebirth and regeneration. The story is so fundamental that Noah appears in most ancient cultures in various disguises;

Sumer – Ziusudra

Hindu – Manu

Mesopotamia – Atrahass

Babylon – Upnapishtim

Zoroastraism – Zend Avesta

Ancient Greece – Dionysus the Younger

Ancient Egypt – Osiris

Like many bible stories, the flood is both allegorical and historical. The ending of the ice age around 11,000 BCE, unquestionably released a huge quantity of water in just a few years. The Almighty was enacting revenge on the evil doing of the earth’s inhabitants at that time – and He should know. Noah and his family were chosen, possibly, for their hygienic practices around the house and regular donations to animal charities. Whatever the reason, the best of the human race was always intended to survive the flood; along with the plants and animals.

Noah built a boat out of reeds or gopher wood depending on your source. With a layer of bitumen the vessel was able to float and survive storms. On board was a seed bank relating to plants and possibly animals. In some versions of the story the animals do not become a floating zoo but merely a place to store ‘seeds’ – a practice that overcomes the practical problems of feeding and fodder storage.

Whatever the case, it is curious to wonder whether the ‘two by two’ is a description of the counter directional spirals of DNA protein and / or the Nadi of which we will hear more later.

Pause and move forward in time to young Dionysus, swanning around in Ancient Greece. He had his own religion based on drunken debauchery, something God should have known about, but we have to suppose that being omnipresent can distract One’s attention. Anyway, Dionysian followers are depicted as carrying a staff called a Thyrsus. This is a stem of the perennial herb fennel topped with a pine cone and twined with ivy along it’s length. Some commentators have suggested this represents an erect phallus, as a symbol of fertility and rebirth – both important in their religion.

Keen symbologist’s will have noted that fennel is a vigorous perennial herb growing abundantly in Mediterranean areas where the grape is cultivated. There are clear intentions to depict the abundance of life, wine growing and the cycle of the seasons.

As Melchizedek, Noah taught Adam the secret of eternal life which was symbolised by bread (seed) and wine ( blood / water ). This may remind you of another Biblical character who popped up later and adopted this symbolism as a way for his followers to remember his body and blood. We know that for him wine and water were fairly interchangeable; one having a Divine, consciousness altering ingredient (wine). (Hang onto the idea of altering consciousness as this returns at the end.)

Another part of the story of Dionysus is that he spent some of his life floating in a box and was stopped by a tree. This is clearly the same story as Noah and the link intended. A tree represents organic life as a organisation of fractals, in the same way as a snowflake. When Dionysus becomes one with the tree, the intention is to depict the movement of consciousness into a human body which consists principally of a spine from which ribs are hung. This makes more sense of Adam being created from a rib. He is grown as you might grow a cutting from a plant to create a perfectly new whole plant without seed.

If you remember Noah was greeted by a bird with part of a tree in it’s beak at the end of the inundation – after Noah too had spent time in a box, albeit a big box of Biblical proportions.

So we have two demi-gods floating along in a sort of spring time re-enactment of the Oxford and Cambridge boat race. A scene that would probably not appear on the BBC sporting coverage is a curious story in the Genesis 9:20 – 22.

And Noah became a husbandmand and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of this wine, and was drunken and was uncovered in his tent. And Ham saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren without.

Firstly note the immediate link with Dionysus, wine growing and drunkenness. But what the story is depicting is a step change into human form. Until that time, homo sapien sapien did not have genitals and was not perfect. The God’s, demi-gods, animal and plant kingdoms were intertwined in the way that produced incomplete hybrids.

The reawakening of a new branch of mankind included the possibility to reproduce by the production of semen. This knowledge was passed onto the male off-spring of Noah and pretty soon we can expect the female off-spring began to know about it. This explains the edict ‘go forth and multiply’ because before this had not been possible – they had to be told. The human race had become perfect in form a message not missed by the Ancient Greeks who’s artists were inspired by the perfection of the human figure.

Lastly, there is another aspect to the Noah story that should be looked upon in a new light.

We have to go back to the bread and wine. Bread is made from seed. It is merely flour in the hands of the cosmic baker until a magical ingredient is added – yeast. We know that yeast comes from the fungus kingdom created millions of years ago. It is significantly neither plant nor animal but a hybrid with the ability to reproduce exponentially.

Then take a look at wine. This is grape juice that has been allowed to ferment – introducing yeasts occurring naturally on the vine.

In both cases the story takes us from the normal, casual, harmless state of material existence into a state of magical, altered consciousness.

This symbolises moving from a spirit in a body to becoming a soul in a body powered by spirit. In other words not just electricity (spirit) and atoms (body) – but a container for Divine consciousness (soul). And the rainbow, that started this story, depicts the full octave of human experience depicted in the chakras of Hindu understanding and of course as a Thrysus.

The seven spiralling energy centres are joined by two counter helical lines of energy called the Nadis, also referred to earlier. Again we see a reference to DNA, energy, matter and information coiled around a spine – or a stem of fennel.

There is much to consider about the chakras but suffice to say that each colour represents a state of human consciousness, ranging from the animal to the Divine.

So we should not be surprised that a rainbow over Noah and is depicted again in the Old Testament in the story of Joseph and the coat of many colours. This is a coat we all wear and brings us potentially, into a pure state of consciousness and a teller of truths.

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of my covenant between me and the earth                   Genesis 13