The royal cubit

The royal cubit implies that we are all children of the Sun.

In the hieroglyph above, we have three symbols—papyrus, a wavelength and an arm. Interpreting this, we might say that it refers to a sacred proportion within the human body. Measured from the fingertips, it’s the 1:√2 ratio of the forearm to the deltoid tuberosity:

In the artwork below, Seshat’s arm bands made of leopard claws highlight this:

Seshat holds the sacred cord in the middle with her left hand. In her right, the marker signifies 1 unit from the bottom of the shen ring, with the vertical length of the cord at √2. These 1D ratios can also be found in 2D nested squares, or the orthographic projection of a rectified tesseract:

In other words, this was the ancient mandala that was implied by the royal cubit. Here we are reminded why most gods were depicted wearing copper arm bands at the heart level—Ra, Thoth, Isis and others. Once again, this was the sacred ratio that was implied where the deltoid muscles join the humerus bones:

So we must somehow reconcile this with a universal measurement. “Royal” gives us a clue here because it refers to the Sun. When a circle’s circumference equals a square’s perimeter then time and space are balanced—they have the same wavelength as manifested in the Möbius strip. This is an ancient expression of life and goes back beyond written record.

From this relationship comes the lotus pattern below. It shows a series of nested squares that are drawn from the midpoint of their parents. This is the same as dividing each side by √2. While we have only drawn a short sequence below, in reality this pattern creates 45° spirals that regress far beyond our visual acuity.

Now imagine that the circle above is the Sun with a circumference equal to the perimeter of the outer square (a wavelength of nearly 4.4 million kilometres). The square’s sides therefore approach 1.1 million kilometres. Nesting this shape 42 times within itself we arrive at a side length of 0.5237 kilometres. This unit was called The Lotus (its hieroglyphic is below) and it was the basis of the Egyptian measuring system:

For architectural convenience the royal cubit was reduced to 1/1,000th of this figure or 52.37 centimetres. This length is therefore a harmonic partial of the wavelength of the Sun. For everyday reference, it was roughly equal to the human forearm. This measurement was vital when we came to build temples.

Above: focus on the white dot. Behold the resonant lotus!

The Papyrus of Ani  lists 42 negative confessions. If the initiate can give answers to all of them then they have the potential to become a star. At this point they can give light and fuel universal growth. So while the thousand-petalled lotus is a spacial reference, it also has a spiritual echo: the lotus is said to be the most subtle human chakra and aligned with pure love. When a yogi is able to raise their kundalini using this gateway then the state of Nirvikalpa Samādhi is experienced.

To the Egyptians the Stretching of the Cord ritual was born during the Old Kingdom. This was the archaic time of Djoser, Imhotep, Snefru, Amenhotep and Kanofer. The ceremony itself dealt with the dimensions of sacred temples and was governed by the gods of time and space.

Sadly, our metric and imperial systems are mere abstractions. This fall from divine relativity was one of the most subtle and enduring mathematical debaucheries in our history: science remains unaware of the Rule of One to this day. The royal cubit then, remains an overtone of the fundamental frequency of our Sun.