"Revelation: the Mystic's Journey - Part I"
by Rev. Christine 10/5/03Today I’m beginning a series of talks on the Bible’s last book "The book of Revelation" written by John. The book of Revelation has been of much interest especially in the past 10 years. Many have interpreted it as a prophecy of world events, and that is probably at the most literal interpretation. But first a little about the makeup of the Bible.
The Bible is a collection of sacred writings known as Scriptures filled with stories written by various authors to explain first creation of life and our universe, and then about our creator, and unfolding relationship. It is a collection of 66 books. It is divided in to two sections as before Jesus known as The Old Testament beginning with the book of Genesis, and The New Testament beginning with the birth of Jesus, and ending with the Book of Revelation. The Old Testament they say took some 3,000 years to write, and only 80-100 years for the New Testament.
The first five books are directly from the Jewish Holy Scriptures. There was another section to the Bible which was originally between the Old and New Testaments known as the "Missing Books" or Apocrypha; a collection of 15 books. The Catholic Bible still has these intact, while the King James version first moved them as an appendix, but later removed them altogether as they were viewed not part of the original Hebrew Scriptures because it was translated from the Greek.
The Bible is written so that as you unfold spiritually new understandings begin to emerge. It truly is a book for "those that have eyes to see and ears to hear" – as you meditate upon the passages and ask, then you see with new eyes and hear with a new inner voice of understanding. Some claim four levels of interpreting. The first being literal, a word for word understanding of history, stories or myths for moral code and religious practice. Next is the metaphysical; the studying of it as a science or many sciences, the symbolic or inner meanings of words, study of myths and symbolism for deeper meanings, including the sacred science of numbers and astrology. Then the mystical, which is the mystics path to experience God. Again, this is layered in through symbolism, and can only be revealed through prayer and meditation – not by the might of analytical mind but through the gentle heart of understanding.
This brief synopses is in preparation for the Book of Revelation, as it is revealed to me to be the mystics journey, based on the inner teachings of Christ Jesus as given to John for the Ascension. There are several fine books that I have found so far on the Book of Revelation, Dorothy Elder authored "Revelation for a New Age" and "The Bible and Kundalini Energy"; "Pray Your Way Through It" by Joseph Murphy; "Twelve Powers of Man" by Charles Fillmore; "The Revelation Our Crisis is a Birth" by Barbara Marx Hubbard, and latest by Miriam Comer "Open Book of Revelation.
It all began in the Book of Genesis and culminates in the Book of Revelation for the awakening or ascension of all mankind. We start with the two versions in the creation of mankind. In Gen. 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Then in Gen. 2:7 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." And in Genesis 2:21-22 "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man."
Both versions give insight to our true nature; made in the image and likeness of God, given life out of the breath of God as a living soul. Whole and complete in God, and God in and as its creation. The man idea is birthed. Adam lived with God in the Garden of Eden, and was given dominion over all living creatures, and told to replenish and subdue the earth. The Garden of Eden is our inner consciousness in which we have dominion of over our thoughts, and that which we create.
So we begin with a soul that is both male and female, and during a deep sleep the soul separates as male and female. I take the view that the Bible is about our soul’s journey of unfolding consciousness of God. Every character is an aspect of our soul both male and female. The male aspect represents the intellect, analytical thinking mind, power, understanding, conscious mind, ego and action. While the female is subconscious mind, the five outer senses based upon observation and desire, and the five inner senses or insights, and of love, compassion, intuition, wisdom, feelings and desire, creation, spirit.
I found this interesting, in Gen. 2:23, And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man." The woman was created from the rib closest to the heart – or the heart center representing love. The feminine aspects were removed from Adam, and thus the masculine aspects remained, and not part of Eve. I must also mention that it is never stated that God awoke Adam from this deep sleep.
Spirit is represented in the Garden of Eden as the Serpent. At this point in consciousness Adam and Eve are pure and innocent, as is an infant or young child. You are just being without concern or want. We also have in this Garden of Eden many trees to eat of freely, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen 2:17.
The Serpent appears in the third chapter as the tempter, telling Eve that if she ate of the Tree Knowledge of Good and Evil that she would not die, but her eyes would be open knowing good and evil, and be as gods. And, Eve did eat and gave also to Adam who ate. The following came upon them. First they became aware of being naked – a sense of self consciousness or sense of separation; and they hid being afraid of punishment. They also did not take direct responsibility for their action – instead Adam blaming Eve and Eve blaming the Serpent. This lead to their exile in life and death, pain and suffering, good and evil.
In Gen 3:20, "And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living." Eve was the mother of the world of form or duality, and Adam names all things as good or bad. Verse 21, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them." Here they are given physical form of a body of flesh. And, in verse 22, "And the Lord God said, "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever." And, in verse 24, "So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." This set up the rest of the Bible or the journey back.
The serpent is a major player in the whole story or journey. In Gen. 3:14, "God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." The serpent energy was sent down to the basement of the consciousness so to speak, where it once was free to roam it now was restricted. Even lower than the animals; animals represent our animalistic nature or thinking based on observation.
This serpent is feminine in nature, also known as, spirit, serpent energy, goddess, life force, fire energy and pure consciousness, so it is sent down to the base of the spine in its lower aspect controlled by fear, lack and desire. And, all the illusions of good and evil and judgement are being lived out. Until it is awakened and rejoins the masculine and feminine aspects as one soul, rising out of the illusion of good and evil, into the Truth of Oneness. Finding our way back to the Garden of Eden to the other tree, The Tree of Eternal Life.
This rising of the serpent energy is known in eastern terms as Kundalini Energy, which rises through the energetic body of the spine through power centers known as Chakras. In this scheme there are seven chakras; three below the heart, and three above the heart. The heart is the bridge of bringing the feminine and masculine energies together into their higher aspects. Associated with each chakra are emotions, beliefs, feelings to be cleared, through prayer and forgiveness, first before the serpent or fire energy can rise freely.
If the Kundalini energy is let loose without the clearing, it can become misdirected energy and be misused for personal power which will only slow the process for enlightenment. That is why this teaching and practice has been hidden from the masses until the time is right. And, the time is now, and has been made available to the western world since around the turn of the last century or 1880s.
Some teach to bring the energy down through the top of the head, the crown, and moving downward through the spine. But, this has been found to be difficult to get past the heart, and so we practice here, the path of going up from the base of the spine, and clearing each chakra center as we rise upward. Then the path is made open, and the energy can flow with ease from above to below. And the path is known as the Tree of Life.
The Book of Revelation teaches this tradition through John’s vision. Next week we will venture in to the visual and symbolic language of the mystics for the roadmap to our spiritual journey of enlightenment and back home.