revolve around one.  There are  the twelve Knights of the
Round    Table    and   several   other   similar   examples.
Perhaps  the  meaning  of twelve around one is related to
sacred geometry,  as twelve is the number of equal-sized
spheres  that   fit  perfectly  around  a  central,  thirteenth
sphere, forming a stable solid.
     The  relationship  between  the  Twelve  and  the  One,
between  the  Many  and  the  One,  brings  us to the third
component   of  our  gyroscope,   the  balance  of  forces
between  the  axis  and  the  whirling  circle.   Note  what
Jesus says to John about the round dance:

      "Thou  that  dancest,  perceive  what  I do, for
thine is this passion of the manhood, which I am
about  to  suffer  . . .  Learn  thou  to  suffer,  and
thou    shalt    be    able   not   to   suffer  . . .  that
suffering also which  I  showed unto thee and the
rest   in   the  dance,   I  will  that  it   be  called  a
mystery." (Verses 96 and 101)

      The  image   of   Jesus  suffering  on  the  Cross  is  a
familiar  one.   What  is  the  mystery  of  this  suffering?
There  are  some  mythological   parallels,  described  in
Campbell's  The Masks of God.  There  is the Norse god,
Wotan,  for example,  who hangs from a tree,  speared in
sacrifice  to  himself,  in  order to learn the secret of the
Runes.  There  is also Ixion,  forever bound to the Wheel
of  Life  by  his  passion;  yet  it  is  his  passion that also
creates the wheel and sustains it.
      The  Sun  Dance  also  has  something  to teach about
suffering.   The  leather  strap  from  the  central  pole  is
gouged into the dancer's chest. As the dancer leans back,
pulling on the strap, he enters into suffering. If he moves
too  close  to  the  center,  the  strap  becomes  slack and
there is no suffering.  If  he  pulls back too hard,  his skin
tears    and    he    separates    himself   from   the   dance.
Maintaining  the  maximum  amount  of  tension  that the
flesh will allow,  the  dancer  sustains  the suffering. At a
certain  point,  the  body  ceases  to distinguish suffering
from  non-suffering,  and  at  that  moment  the  dancer is
initiated into the mystery by a vision.

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