Saturn as a Holding Principle according to el-Tusi and The Higgs Boson

by Baris Ilhan

Recent findings about the physical theory of mass formation resembles the story of the ancient
scholars’ cosmological and metaphysical creation theories. When we read the articles on the Higgs
Boson we can see a lot of similarities. Especially the Saturnian principle attracts attention.

Metaphysics – Saturn’s Holding Power

13th century Islamic scholar Nasir al-Din el-Tusi (1201-1274) describes Saturn as the “cohesive
(holding) power” in his book Şerhü Kitabi's-Semere li-Batlamyus (Commentary on “Ptolemy’s Fruit”
Centiloquim). We can call this power as the power for hardening, solidification and retention.

In order to understand what he really means by that, we need to start from the beginning. According
to Islamic cosmology and philosophy the universe is composed of nine spheres. The ninth is the
starless heaven and symbolizes the transition between becoming and Being. The rest eight spheres
are Ptolemic. In their order, they are the Heaven of Zodiac Signs, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus,
Mercury and Moon spheres. Then of course we have the sublunar realm, which is composed of four
elements.

The act of creation starts with the emanation (fayd) of the One or God. This is the bringing of non-
being into being. For a good understanding of this concept, it is helpful to think of it as a water
fountain. God is the fountain from which all water falls down and flows forth. It is a stream that we
cannot disrupt, it is the First Principle.

THE CELESTIAL SPHERES FROM THE MA'RIFETNAME

(The Book of Skills/Enlightenment) by Ibrahim Hakki of Erzurum)
God moves all of the heavens together. Each heaven is governed by an intellect, moved by a soul,
and composed of a body generated by the being which stands above it in the hierarchy of creation.
All motion in the Universe is due to the desire to actualize what is potential, to bring to perfection
what is imperfect.

Since creation starts from the sphere of Saturn in the heavens, it starts with Saturn in the sublunar
world too. In his book “Paradise of Submission” while describing the birth of a child, el-Tusi says:
“This is because the first spiritual entity which influences the natural world is that of Saturn, and all
ferments are coagulated by it.”

Then he moves on:

“Saturn and Mars are respectively called the 'major maleficient star' and the 'minor maleficient star'
because Saturn acts with extreme and severe coldness, while Mars acts with extreme and severe
heat. But if it were not for the coldness of Saturn acting in combination with the coldness of the
Moon and the activity of Venus, nothing would have solidified in this realm of growth and decay; and
if it were not for the heat of Mars acting in combination with the heat of the Sun and [the activity] of
Jupiter, nothing would have solidified, germinated and grown.

Jupiter and Venus are respectively called the 'major beneficent star' and the 'minor beneficent star'...
if one were to imagine their action and influence on the creation of a child without the participation
of the two inauspicious stars [Saturn and Mars] as well as other stars, it would be necessary to
imagine [a child] without bones, nerves, sinews, ligaments, blood, color, skin, hair, and in fact
without any organs at all.”1

According to his explanations the natural kingdoms began with the solidification of minerals
(Saturn), then there came plants, then animals, then human beings. Saturn, with its coldness and
dryness, solidifies things. “Aristotle explains that the Dry power gives things their shape, their rigid
structure. The Cool power is contracting, absorbed, and inward-directed. Coolness is stable, steadfast
and enduring.”2 It is associated with concentration, because of its tendency to join together.

In his The Astrological Metaphores Abu Mashar says “Saturn, when it comes down in latitude it
becomes cold and damp and therefore it becomes consonant with the Moon and with Venus”, and
as el-Tusi explained above if it were not for the coldness of Saturn acting in combination with the
coldness of the Moon and the activity of Venus, nothing would have solidified in this realm.

We can easily imagine that at the beginning everything was dust and dirt, then with Saturn’s power
things came together to form a matter. After Saturn comes Jupiter and “by means of its heat and
humidity, it causes that coagulated matter to grow and increase.”3

Besides these explanations, Saturn, as the highest and outer sphere, is also thought as a father or a
boundary, that collects everything by its slow motion. In a way it creates a field wherein all of
creation can take place.

Physics - The Higgs Boson

As it is almost proved by the CERN Project, Higgs is a particle, or set of particles, that gives others
mass. Through this the stars and planets, then everything on the earth is formed.
 THE HIGGS BOSON

When the Big Bang gave birth to the universe about 14 billion years ago, massless particles and
radiation energy scattered around, and fractions of a second later, part of the radiation energy
congealed into the Higgs field. When the universe began to cool, particles acquired mass from the
Higgs field, slowed down and began to bunch up to form composite particles and, eventually, atoms.
The Higgs field is a sort of quantum jelly that extends through space. Like any liquid, the jelly can be
calm like the surface of an undisturbed lake, or it can ripple. A ripple would look like a particle in
experiments — this particle is the Higgs boson. The Higgs field resembles Aristotle’s fifth element
Ether.

To understand the Higgs mechanism, imagine that a room full of physicists chattering quietly is like
space filled with the Higgs field. A well-known scientist walks in, creating a disturbance as he moves
across the room and attracting a cluster of admirers with each step. This increases his resistance to
movement, in order to walk, he needs to spend more energy. In other words, he acquires mass, just
like a particle moving through the Higgs field. If a rumor crosses the room, it creates the same kind of
clustering, but this time among the scientists themselves. In this analogy, these clusters are the Higgs
particles. 4

In this physical process, in order for a particle to have a mass it needs to be below the critical
temperature5. The explanation of the beginning of this process is interesting, it sounds like Saturn is
functioning there.

Immediately after the Big Bang, at extremely high temperatures in the very early Universe,
everything was above the critical temperature. But, as the temperature dropped the value decreased
until below a critical temperature. “When the particles are above the critical temperature their
alignments are rapidly disrupted, their magnetic fields are continually flippted. In this state the
material will not exhibit a magnetic field macroscopically, as the randomly oriented magnetic fields
of all cancel each other out. But when the temperature is lowered, thermal vibrations are no longer
strong enough to disrupt all of the alignments and most of the magnetic fields will align in the same
direction. The material will now have a macroscopic magnetic field. It has become a magnet. As the
temperature is lowered further beyond the critical point, the size of the thermal vibrations will
decrease to the point where they are so small that even the biggest will not flip others into the
wrong direction. All of them will now be pointing in the same direction. In a way this is equivalent to
a gain in order.” 6

From what we have read up to here, we can say that God’s first emanation resembles the Big Bang
and the jelly like quantum field that extends through space. Those massless particles that scattered
around are like the dust and dirt we explained above. Then the universe began to cool down, i.g.
Saturn started to function. Its coldness began to put everything into order. And the Higgs Boson
functioned as the holding power of Saturn. It slowed down and acquired mass, and like the plants,
animals and human beings in the natural kingdom, stars and plants are formed in the universe.

Conclusion
This writing is just an introduction to the subject. It needs more knowledge of physics and more
research, but one cannot resist to point the similarities. Actually there are other similarities
concerning the four elements, which is not the subject of this article. If you are interested you can
read the book “Higgs force: The symmetry-breaking force that makes the world an interesting place”
by Nicholas Mee. In its review it writes: Higgs Force traces the history of the human quest for
understanding how the Universe works, starting from the atomic ideas of the ancient Greeks and
finishing with the launch of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. It is a remarkable fact that the author
was able to present it as a continuous story, tracing the analogies between the earliest ideas of
elements (fire-air-water-earth) and the accepted current theory of elementary particles.

References:
1
Dr Sayyad Jalal Badakhchani, Paradise of Submission: A Medieval Treatise on Ismaili Thought, A new Persian
edition and English translation of Nasir al-Din Tusi’s Rawda-yi Taslim. Ismaili Text and Translations Series 5,
London: I.B. Tauris in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2005, pp.165-166
2
Opsopaus, John. ’The Ancient Greek Doctrine of the Elements’, article
3
Paradise of Submission, p.43
4
http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/cern/ideas/higgs.html
5
Critical temperature also known as Curie temperature. In physics and material sciences, the Curie
temperature (Tc), or Curie point, is the temperature at which a ferromagnetic or a ferrimagnetic material
becomes paramagnetic on heating; the effect is reversible. A magnet will lose its magneticsm if heated above
the Curie temperature.
6
Nicholas Mee, ‘Secret Symmetry and the Higgs’, article http://plus.maths.org/content/secret-symmetry-and-
higgs-boson-part-i

BARIS ILHAN, C.A., NCGR has been a full-time astrologer since 1993 and one of the leading astrologers in
Turkey. She founded an astrological publishing house and an astrology school, Ilhan Astrology Institute in 1997.
Baris writes astrology articles for Radikal newspaper, and wrote two books: “The Puberty Age of Adults,” which
is about planetary cycles, and “Astrology Lessons,” a text-book for the students. She is currently conducting
research on 13th century Islamic astrologer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. She is President of NCGR-Turkey, a member of
ISAR and AFAN, and serves on NCGR’s Advisory Board.
She will be a featured speaker at NCGR 2013 in Philadelphia PA, August 15-19, 2013.