Twelve Tribe Nations: Sacred Number and the Golden Age

The symbolism and use of the number twelve in organizing ancient societies

• Connects the zodiac, the twelve months of the year, and the political divisions of ancient nations

• Explores the sacred geography of ancient landscapes in Europe and Israel

Throughout the world--in countries as far apart as China, Ireland, Iceland, and Madagascar--there survive records and traditions of whole nations being divided into twelve tribes and twelve regions, each corresponding to one of the twelve signs of the zodiac and to one of the twelve months of the year. Best known are the twelve tribes of Israel under King Solomon, but there have been many others. Wherever they occur, they are associated with an ideal social order and a golden age of humanity.

Exploring examples of these twelve-tribe societies, John Michell and Christine Rhone explain the blueprint for this organizational structure and look at the musical, mythological, and astronomical enchantments that kept these societies in harmony with the cosmos. They also examine the astrological landscapes of classical Greece, the aligned St. Michael sanctuaries of Europe, and the true site and function of the Temple in Jerusalem. They show that the sacred geography of these sites was part of an ancient code of knowledge that produced harmony between nature and humanity and is as relevant to our present and future as it was to our past.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Grail: What It Is and Where to Look for It

PART ONE

1 The Universal Twelve Tribes

2 The Classical Amphictyonies

The Twelve-Tribe Amphictyonies of Greece and Asia Minor

The Twelve Cities of Etruria

The Twelve Gallic Tribes

3 Scandinavia

The Twelve Gods of Odin

The Zodiacal Wheel of Asgard

The Enchantment of Iceland

4 Africa and Asia

Egypt

West Africa

Polynesia and the Berbers

The Twelve Kings of Madagascar

The Twelve Saints of Georgia

Central Asia and the Mountain at the Center of the World

5 The Celtic Realm

The Sacred Geography of Ireland

The Ancient Divisions of Wales

Twelve Saints and the Enchantments of Britain

6 The Cosmological Foundation of Twelve-Tribe Kingdoms

Plato’s Amphictyony

The New Jerusalem and the Twelve Tribes Reunited

The Global Amphictyony

The Numerical Creation

The Twelve and the Seven

7 The Science of Enchanting the Landscape

PART TWO

8 Zodiacal Wheels on Ancient Landscapes


9 The Sacred Geography of Continents: The St. Michael–Apollo Axis

Skellig Michael

St. Michael’s Mount

Mont St.Michel

Sagra di San Michele della Chiusa and San Michele in Garfagnana

Monte Sant’Angelo, Monte Gargano

Delphi and the Greek–Apollo Line

Mount Carmel

A Line of Power and Vision

10 A St. Michael Line through England

PART THREE

11 The Chorography of Nations

The Astrological Geography of Pentecost

12 The Twelve Tribes of Israel and the Sacred Geography of the Holy Land

The Story of the Twelve Tribes

Geomancy in the Holy Land

The Axis of Vision

Jerusalem’s Messianic Ley

The Revelation of the Temple

Bibliography

Sources of Illustrations

Index

About the Author :
John Michell (1933-2009) was a pioneer researcher and specialist in the field of ancient, traditional science. He was the author of more than 25 books that have profoundly influenced modern thinking, including The Dimensions of Paradise, The New View over Atlantis, and How the World Is Made. He lives in London. Christine Rhone is an artist and writer with a special interest in landscape symbolism. The translator of several important works, including Jacques Le Goff’s Saint Francis of Assisi, Antoine Faivre’s Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition, and Jean Richer’s Sacred Geography of the Ancient Greeks, she lives in ­­­London.

Review :
“John Michell and Christine Rhone’s book combines vision and tradition to produce a comprehensive guide to what they term ‘the science of enchanting the landscape,’ as practiced across the ancient world. Their book is indispensable to anyone seeking an understanding of the way in which the threads of astrology, cosmology, number, and music were combined, in many countries and at many different periods, to provide a design for the fabric of society.” “In this fascinating book, John Michell and Christine Rhone have assembled overwhelming evidence for the existence of a vast, ancient, mystical science of number and astrological geometry that once encompassed the entire earth.” “This is a key text on how sacred number once shaped human societies before the onset of modernity. Twelve-Tribe Nations reveals numerical and geometrical recipes underlying the ancient practice of the ‘enchantment’ of landscapes and cultures, which stands in contrast to the exploitation of modern landscapes and citizens.” “. . . an enjoyable romp through the collective memory of tribe, myth, sacred landscapes and the deep memories of a past golden age.”