Recovering the Spiritual Roots of Technology
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The Opportunity
Humanity has always built spaces to encounter the planets — from the two-millennia-old Navagraha temples of southern India (circa 100 BCE), to Tycho Brahe’s Uraniborg observatory - an alchemical laboratory (circa 1576 CE) in Denmark, to the modern planetarium (1925 CE), the West’s most recent iteration of this ancient tradition.
This article contemplates a ‘new paradigm’ cosmic space which I choose to call a Planetary Temple. It explores the purpose of such spaces, its hidden historical precedents and a vision for more meaningful possibilities for such a public space.
Further this article also serves as a case study for a transformational and regenerative framework for technology development rather than the more familiar utilitarian and extractive.
What is “A Space for Planets” ?
A contemporary western expression of a space to encounter the planets is the planetarium. The word “planetarium” indicates “a place for planets,” from Latin planeta (“planet”) and the suffix ‑arium (“a place for”).
The International Planetarium Society describes these spaces as domed theaters that project images of the starry sky and countless spectacular objects in our universe, creating educational experiences that teach astronomy and related sciences. In this sense, planetariums excel as durable, versatile, and cost‑effective tools for science education.
This captures an important dimension of what “a place for planets” can be. Yet if you consider yourself a Planetarian — an inhabitant of a living planet — or better yet a Planeteer, a paladin of planetary well‑being, it becomes clear that such a space can be much more: a site for orientation, meaning‑making and a direct encounter with the cosmos and its beings.
Timelines — How Old is ‘A Place for the Planets’ ?
In 2025, the International Planetarium Society and ZEISS Foundation marked the planetarium’s 100th anniversary, tracing its origin to the first projector (1923) and Munich opening (1925). These are awe-inspiring milestones, well worth celebrating.
Yet this demarcation is somewhat arbitrary. It assumes a particular history of science and technology rooted in Western Europe that limited the possible modes of cosmic exploration. This article invites a deeper inquiry, revealing hidden timelines that shift not only the origin of “spaces for planets,” but perhaps their evolutionary destiny as well!
Historical Precedents — Down the Rabbit Hole
Dis-orientation — A crisis of Meaning
Historically it is difficult to pinpoint the first planetarium as multiple iterations of this theme ‘a space for the planets’ can be found ranging from 500 to 2000 years ago and beyond. All of these spaces have an overlapping purpose - they help us orient ourselves to our place in the cosmos. This is important because we need to know where we are, in order to see where we are going. A visual companion for the historical precedents is at “Alternative Timelines. [https://stargatelabs.org/history/]“
Uraniborg — A castle for Urania
One such beginning lies in the work of Tycho Brahe, a 16th-century polymath who integrated alchemy, astrology, and astronomy into a unified practice. I feel that Brahe’s work is not only a relevant case study for resuscitating a new version of ‘space for the Planets’ but also for healing our current understanding of technology and our relationship with it.
Brahe created a well-equipped alchemical laboratory called Uraniborg whose architecture utilized the science of temple making, turning it into an astrological talisman benefiting the health of its occupants through the influence of Jupiter and the Sun. Here he produced medicines and researched the mystical, medicinal relationships between celestial bodies, earthly elements, and human organs—a worldview influenced by Paracelsus and the Hermetic tradition.
Tycho’s foundational influences are important for healing our relationship to technology but first, let’s turn to a more important matter — Urania.
Encountering Urania — Goddess of Heavens
At a critical juncture, Tycho Brahe found himself mired in the uncertainties of noble expectation as he was born into nobility. His dissatisfaction with power, financial gain and sensual pleasure took the form of an existential crisis and reached its summation in an encounter with the Goddess Urania which he describes in his poem, “Elegy to Urania”. Urania is the Greek Goddess and muse of astronomy and astrology, whose role is to inspire mortals to elevate their minds from earthly matters to the study of universal order.
Urania’s visitation is not simply allegorical but initiatory, clarifying Tycho’s destiny. In her presence, his ties are severed from mundane pleasures of decadent nobility and launch him towards the cosmic spheres. In addition the encounter brings a clear command “to determine the position, distance, and significance of the new star … the courses of the sun, moon, and planets; and the influence of these heavenly bodies on meteorological phenomena.”
Tycho’s quest around the new star (a Super Nova), challenged the long-held Aristotelian belief in ‘a perfect and unchanging’ nature of the heavens.
“Forget your fright,” she said, “don’t flee from sight, For you, young man, must never leave my art. I am the goddess with the bright Olympian brow… I disregard everything that takes place among people on earth And soar through the ether to reach my heavenly home.”
(Elegy to Urania lines 29–52, Translation © J.R. Christianson)
In lines (81-84), Urania laments her being forgotten and inducts Tycho, the one who remembered her into an ancient tradition: one where astrology, alchemy, poetic vision and empirical observation are woven together!
“But I recall an ancient, worthy time When I was worshipped, honoured here on earth. And I recall when, in the halls of kings, Proudly I went forth in glory. Then No men but kings and those of royal blood Would dare approach my sacred temple site. But you do not neglect to show me honour, For you have strewn your incense on my altar And often stand at night and watch the stars. Then spoke Apollo: ‘He belongs to you!’”-
(Elegy to Urania lines 81-94, Translation © J.R. Christianson)
Let’s now explore this ancient paradigm.
An Ancient Technological Paradigm — Hermeticism
Tycho’s foundational influences can help us understand what it means to usher in a different technological paradigm, one that goes beyond narratives of extraction and utility.
One of Tycho’s influences was Paracelsus (1493-1541), a Renaissance physician, astrologer and alchemist, whose radical ideas laid groundwork for modern toxicology and pharmacology.
The Hermetic tradition, a predecessor of alchemy, represents a broader cosmological framework. The word ‘Hermetic’ traces back to Hermes Trismegistus (’Thrice-Great Hermes’), a legendary figure making three appearances in the space-time continuum as the Greek god Hermes, Egyptian god Thoth, and the Biblical prophet Idris.
Perhaps a simple way to approach the rich history and wisdom of Hermes is distilled in the famed cipher of the Emerald Tablet, ‘As above so below, as within so without’, alluding to the correspondences of the macrocosm (universe) and the microcosm (human).
Historically there has been a narrowing of the hermetic tradition into alchemy, chymistry, and later science — presented as rational, objective, and immune from culture.
Yet as Indigenous astronomer Annette Lee observes, “Science itself actually is not separate from culture. It came from a specific culture, and that’s Western European.”
This fracture — where meaning and observation became separated — parallels the shift from unified knowledge (polymathy) to extreme specializations.
Interestingly, some of the founding figures of the western paradigm such as Newton and Leibniz were also alchemists, however, their legacies in public have been sanitized to make their works seem in line with a materialistic paradigm.
Recovering Technology’s Hermetic Roots
The hallmark of hermeticism is that the technology of transformation of any material in the cosmos corresponds to simultaneous transformation of the subject.
In this context, technology can be seen as an interface to reality (a non-anthropomorphic term for the divine) — inspired from the German philosopher Heidegger’s works, such as ‘The Question Concerning Technology’3. This re-frame shifts developing technology merely for the sake of its utility to cosmic engagement.
This new view allows us to reframe the question,
“How can I extract wealth from a mountain, to how do I relate to the being of the mountain and myself ?”
Entering the Quantum verse
A more recent echo of hermeticism in the western paradigm is heard in quantum mechanics, which challenges the existence of a purely objective reality independent of the observer and observation (measurement). The observer and observed cannot be cleanly separated—an insight that echoes across millennia.
The reverberation of this ancient insight is not limited to the modern West.
Alternative Timelines
While Tycho’s Uraniborg represents a Western Renaissance expression, similar ‘spaces for planets’ appear worldwide. Further down history, the planetary temples of India, called the Navagraha (9 planets) temples, embody a profound ancient tradition that integrates both astronomy and astrology as an integral cosmology.
These spaces also facilitate an encounter with the deity or being of each of the planets, a theme common in many ancient civilizations such as Greece, Egypt, India, etc. For example, the Hindu deity Mangala (Mars) or Chandra (Moon) embodies the subjective being of the planet, and their dedicated temples are designed to harmonize these macrocosmic influences on their microcosmic counterparts, humans.
Other cultures and traditions have also followed the Hermetic motifs, each in their own way. These examples show that the search for cosmic understanding is a widespread and enduring human pursuit.
Why Now?
Our world — and the West in particular — faces what has become the familiar meaning crisis. False narratives are collapsing in conjunction with wider epochal shifts—movements often described in cyclical time philosophies such as the Kali Yuga or the Mayan World’s ending. This convergence is giving way to long-prophesied paradigm shifts.
One such recent shift is in UFO phenomenology. The phenomenon, long relegated to the fringes, has now surged into public consciousness and serious inquiry, ushering in a widespread cultural discourse and unprecedented excitement toward both the experience and study of such phenomena.
Parallel research within consciousness studies is also expanding the conversation. Projects are actively cataloguing encounters experienced during non-ordinary states of perception, including NDEs, meditation, and psychedelic journeys. The Entity DB project at Imperial College London is one such example, specifically gathering data on psychedelic encounters particularly the ones induced by Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) also known as the spirit molecule.
What these recent shifts are hinting at is an invitation to open ourselves to a wider non material reality that lies beyond our narrow psychological maps.
In such times the hermetic traditions and cosmologies of the East can provide rich experiential-ontologies4 for cosmic exploration and technology development that support planetary well being.
Experiential Maps or Ontologies
Unlike contemporary ontologies of the cosmos, hermetic cosmologies are unique in that they include both the cosmic order and their corresponding subjective beings. These cosmologies can be considered maps which simultaneously form the means through which the explorer is catapulted to the very terrain the map describes! 4, 5
This is something that contemporary western cosmologies lack to a significant degree if not entirely, direct experience or contact is ultimately the basis of all verification.
To conclude our current meaning crisis and openness to non-material reality creates an unprecedented readiness for such spaces.
Well, thank you very much for reading or listening , and next week we will go to Part two, which would give form to the vision for a next generation cosmic space. We will discuss what such a space might actually look like, sound like, and feel like!
And lastly, if this historical thread has resonated with you, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments and thank you for taking the time to listening to this long piece.
Acknowledgments
Deep gratitude to my friends and guides, particularly Johnathan Kay, Aaron Kemp, Dylan Freitas-D’Louhy and Maryam Hasnaa who helped me refine this contemplation.
References
* Cunningham, C. J. (2024). Tycho’s conversation with Urania, and other engagements with the muse. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 27(1), 105–126. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2024.01.08
* Christianson, J.R., 2000. On Tycho’s Island. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
* Heidegger, M. (1977). The question concerning technology. In W. Lovitt (Trans.), The question concerning technology and other essays (pp. 3–35). Harper & Row.
* One such cosmology is discussed here: The Astounding Multi-Dimensional Cosmology of Sufism | with Pir Zia Inayat Khan [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATV2Yz99ouQ]
* Cosmic Response-ability: An empowered feeling of including the entire cosmos as your own, hence, an empowered agency for action to respond to events.
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