Spirituality, Dreams and Prophecy

Spiritual Meaning of Numbers, or Numerology

2012-02-18T23:43:00.000-05:00

In the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg the internal spiritual meaning of scripture was revealed to him, which he explained in multiple volumes. As part of these experiences it was shown to him the spiritual meaning behind each number. The symbolism of numbers was also explained in a book called "Numbers in Scripture" by Bullinger, written in the 19th century. While sometimes Bullinger gets the meaning correct, in many cases he was incorrect. Swedenborg had visions over a period of 27 years, so his explanations tend to be more reliable and consistent. Number meanings are explained throughout his writings, which he always supports which examples of scripture, so I thought I would gather some of his statements in one blog entry to explain the symbolism of the most common numbers.

Speech or thought from angels of a higher order would often descend, and be represented in a series of numbers. Swedenborg acknowledged that without Divine revelation, it is hard to see the symbolism behind numbers. He stated that the symbolism of numbers "are displayed by the Lord in a clear light before the eyes of the angels, but before the eyes of men, especially of someone who does not believe that numbers in the Word have any meaning at all hidden within them, they cannot be disclosed, not only because of lack of belief but also because so many things contained in those numbers cannot be arranged into a sequence of ideas within man's mental grasp." (AC 3306) The meaning of numbers were known to the ancients from a heavenly perception they had, but this knowledge was lost, and only the meaning of simple numbers were preserved. (AC 6175)

In the spiritual meaning behind scripture, words are related to two basic concepts: the thought or the will, or in other words, truth and good. Even numbers and their multiples correspond to good, while odd numbers and their multiples correspond to truth (SE 5571, AC10624). However the meaning of a number, especially for higher numbers, is not easy. The meanings of composite numbers, are derived from the simple numbers from which they were composed (AC 5291, AE 430.2, 532.6). Thus a hundred or a thousand has a similar meaning to the number 10. The meaning of large prime numbers can be derived by adding two smaller numbers together. Depending on context, a number can take on the opposite meaning. Another concept is that the meaning of numbers can be determined or slightly altered by a number that precedes it, as the preceding number determines the context (HH 263).

ONE (1) symbolizes the One God, and the truth that God is one. As one is the first, it refers to the first stage of spiritual development, which is receiving and acknowledging the truth. Thus on the first day of creation, there was light (truth).

TWO (2) symbolizes union, and thus represents what is good. Two is also the symbol of marriage between good and truth (AC 720). In the opposite sense, it can signify spiritual combat.

THREE (3) symbolizes what is full and complete, from beginning to end. (AE 532) Everything, from start to finish, has a beginning, middle, and an end, thus three signifies a full period. Three also signifies that which is holy.

FOUR (4) is similar to two, and signifies what is good and conjunction (AC 9103, 9767). When talking of the four quarters, it can signify all of heaven.

FIVE (5) symbolizes few or little, or that which remains. It can also signify the remnant Church, where truth resides among a few where truth has been falsified among many. This meaning is derived from 10, 100 or a 1000 which signifies many. (AC 5291.2) The meaning of this number is not well known as it is related to a hidden secret concerning our spiritual development that was revealed to Swedenborg: "remains" are hidden truths and good stored in the inner being of our soul, which later become manifest when one is spiritually reformed later: they come into use to combat sin and temptation.

SIX (6) symbolizes spiritual combat (AC 730, 1963) - similar to one sense for the number 2 (AC 720)

SEVEN (7) is a symbol of that which is holy, and similar to the number 3 signifies that which is complete. Thus the number 7 appears often in the rituals among the Hebrews. Most people can see the meaning of this number from reading the Bible.

EIGHT (8) is similar to 2 and 4, and signifies good in every way. As it follows 7, it signifies a new beginning (AC 9659).

NINE (9) signifies spiritual conjunction by means of truth (AC 2075).

TEN (10) as a multiple of 5 symbolizes remains, the remnants of good and truth hidden with us (AC 1963).

TWELVE (12) symbolizes all things and all people, and is predicated of truths from good as it is 3 x 4 (AC 5291.2, AE 430). That it signifies "all people," or all those of the Lord's heavenly kingdom, can be seen from the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 disciples, and the 144,000 who are sealed in the book of Revelation. Swedenborg stated that "each tribe signifies some universal or essential of the church, in which those are who are of the church. Moreover, the universal of each has relation to truths from good, and truths are manifold; for all who are in the heavens differ from each other in respect to good, and thence also in respect to truth." Although not stated by Swedenborg, this may apply to 12 basic personalities defined by the 12 signs of the zodiac.

SEVENTEEN (17) symbolizes a beginning, or that which is new. 17 is 10 + 7, and 10 signifies remains (similar to the number 5), and 7 that which is holy. (AC 4670)

FORTY (40) symbolizes a period of temptation, which can be derived from the fact that in the flood of Noah it rained 40 days and nights, Jesus was tempted for 40 days, and the Israelis wandered 40 years in the wilderness (AC 730).

FORTY-TWO (42) symbolizes the duration of combat against temptation, as it is 6 x 7 - six a symbol of combat and seven a new beginning (AC 730).

EIGHTY (80) - as a multiple of 40, this number symbolizes temptations (AC 1963, 4617)

That's all I have for now - there are actually quite a few more entries on numbers, which is a bit hard to summarize as in many cases the meaning of the number is determined by context. There is an earlier blog that I devoted to the number 13. Hopefully people can see that Swedenborg's explanation of the Bible is quite detailed, and often extends into other subjects. Its almost like studying another language, but in this case more universal and spiritual. Its a bit harder than programming, where all one needs to know is that 0 is false and 1 is true - if only understanding the heavenly symbolism was that simple.

Mystical Sun Waters of Life

2012-02-14T23:00:00.000-05:00

Salvation is through the path of Love

2012-02-14T22:44:00.000-05:00

That salvation is based on one's morality, and following God's commandments, is indicated by the apostle Paul who said that God

"'will render to each one according to his deeds': eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness - indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil" (Rom. 2:6-9).

Here Paul is quoting Psalms 62:12, and he says this on numerous other occasions. Jesus himself said

"if you want to enter life, keep the commandments" (Matt. 19:17).

When asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus said:

"'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matt. 22:37-40).

Jesus also said

"If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15).

So, salvation is based on how one lives their life. It is based on love. In Matthew 25, a parable of Jesus shows that in the manner we love others, so we love God. The two greatest commandments are to love the Lord, and to love one's neighbor. The 10 commandments reaffirm this principle: the first commandments are based on love towards God, and the latter commandments are based on love towards the neighbor. It is in simple acts of love which leads to happiness and communion with others.

Protestants, however, quote Paul who said that one is justified by faith without "works of the law." And they make the error in assuming that Paul meant good deeds by "works of the law." This is a misinterpretation of Paul, as it disagrees with his other statements, and those of Jesus. Paul was discussing the laws of the ordinances of the Jews - the laws that prescribe animal sacrifices, circumcision, kosher foods, etc. These were rituals and types of Judaism which were abrogated with the coming of Christianity - they are external types for internal spiritual realities of the Church. The source of the confusion is that "the law" has several meanings:

1. The Law can mean all of scripture, the entire word of God, or
2. The Law can mean the first five books of Moses, or
3. The Law can mean the laws of ordinances of the Jews, or
3. The Law can specifically refer to the 10 commandments.

Unfortunately in Protestant theology, there is a tendency to interpret "the law" to always mean the 10 commandments! That this is not so, is shown when Paul states

"for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified" (Rom. 2:13).

Paul later speaks of the laws of the Jewish rituals when he states:

"by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified" (Rom. 3:20).

Without understanding the different definitions of the word "law" it would seem that Paul was contradicting himself. What he means by "law" has to be determined either from context or other passages of scripture. The problem that Paul was dealing with is that there was an effort to "Judaize" recent Christian converts among the Gentiles. Did God intend for us to sit passively in a chair to believe in him? Not true! He says to love him with all our heart, mind and soul. "Faith" is not belief only, faith is acting on what you know to be the truth. And the first step is self examination: in what way can we improve or reform ourselves? Consider what we could do for others. Any theology which emphasizes belief only is not only non-Biblical, it is non-practical, it is not life changing.

We should consider that every action we take will have an impact to eternity. Each act is a drop in an ocean, which will ripple across that ocean and effect others in ways that we can never imagine. God did not intend for us to just believe in him. He wants us to follow him in our daily lives. Thought is of the mind, action is of the will: both of these must work in unison in the act of daily usefulness. Inasmuch as we approach God, so God will approach us: for it is love which will lead to inner happiness. A spiritual life will lead to a soul filled with the spirit of God, who will lead us in our every step, every day. And when we reach that stage where we leave our earthly bodies, and encounter the Divine Light at the entrance to heaven, he will ask us one question: what have you done with your life?

Nostradamus - Mars Retrograde for the Year 2012

2012-02-08T13:58:00.002-05:00

On 24 January 2012, the planet Mars started to turn retrograde in the sign of Virgo. A "retrograde" motion means that a planet will start to appear to move backwards across the face of the sky due to the ellipical orbits of the planets. The retrograde period for Mars will come to an end around April 13-15 of this year. Due to the retrograde motion of Mars, Mars will remain in the sign of Virgo until July 4 - the date of the Declaration of Independence for America. Mars had entered the sign of Virgo on 12 November 2011, thus due to its retrograde motion - it will stay in the sign of Virgo for an unusally long period of seven months.

Astrological configurations were often used by Nostradamus to date particular quatrains in his prophecies. As certain astrological configurations repeat, there is no way for certain to know if a quatrain containing that astrological configuration will be fulfilled on that date. This is no exception: Mars turns retrograde about every 2 years and 2 months. The reason why this particular retrograde motion of Mars caught my attention is that there is an unfulfilled prophecy of Nostradamus which mentions a period of seven months of war while Mars is in retrograde motion - it is found in quatrain IV-100:

From celestial fire on the Royal edifice,
When the light of Mars will fade away:
Seven months great war, people dead from evil,
Rouen and Evreux will not fail the King.

There is a possibility that this particular quatrain was fulfilled during the Franco-Prussian War, which did last for a period of seven months. The palace of the Tuileries was destroyed by fire at this time - however, it did not occur by bombardment or fire from the sky - it was purposely set on fire by the Paris Commune as it was considered a symbol of royal authority. France lost this war, and Napoleon III was forced to abdicate from his throne. For "the light of Mars to fade away" means Mars will be in retrograde motion, and Mars was not in retrograde motion for the years 1870 or 1871. So this quatrain remains to be fulfilled in the future. A royal building will be bombed by fire.

Did Nostradamus pay attention to the retrograde motions of the planets? He sure did. In addition to his prophecies, he published a series of yearly astrological almanacs. These almanacs were not intended to be prophetic in the same manner as his prophecies, but they do mention predictions which do not belong to the year for which the almanac was published. For example, in the almanac for the year 1565 Nostradamus predicted a marriage for the French king after both Saturn and Jupiter would stop turning retrograde. Another quatrain predicted the return of Mary Queen of Scots to Scotland during the time that Mars was turning retrograde - and for those who know their history, Mary Queen of Scots failed in her endeavor to rule over Scotland and was imprisoned and beheaded by Queen Elizabeth of England. In another quatrain Nostradamus speaks of Mercury, Mars and Venus turning retrograde, during which time the monarchy of Portugal "would not fail."

Mars is used by Nostradamus as a symbol for war. For Mars to cease turning retrograde could be considered a good omen to start a war. For example, Mars started to turn retrograde on 19 March 1999, and remained in retrograde motion until June 4. And Nostradamus commented on this particular period of retrograde motion of Mars in quatrain X-72, which specifically mentions the year 1999:

The year 1999 and seven months
From the sky will come a great King of Terror
To revive the great King of Angouleme,
Before and after Mars to reign by good luck.

As described earlier in this blog, as early as 1994 I predicted that this quatrain concerns another war in Yugoslavia - and indeed, it was fulfilled by the bombing of Serbian forces during the War of Kosovo from 1998 to 1999. Note that again associated with the retrograde motion of Mars Nostradamus mentions seven months. In this case, the NATO bombing campaign lasted from March 24 to June 11 in the year 1999 - almost exactly the period when Mars was in retrograde motion. Astrologically, it was a "reversal" of the war which Serbia had initiated against Kosovo. Recently in the news Israel has been considering a strike on Iran - in the spring of this year according to some reports - and that is exactly the time when Mars will cease turning retrograde. Coincidentally, the cities of Rouen and Evreux are mentioned in quatrain V-84 which speaks of the birth of the Ayatollah Khomeini, who helped lead the Iranian Revolution which overthrew the Shah of Iran in 1979.

Is there a military buildup against Iran? In January of this year, an American aircraft carrier - the USS Abraham Lincoln - entered the Persian Gulf after Iran had warned America not to send any aircraft carriers into the Persian Gulf. This month, new sanctions have been placed on Iran by America. And currently, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise has been conducting naval exercises off the coast of Florida. The USS Enterprise is to join two other American strike groups in the Persian Gulf by March. It will be the last deployment for the 50 year old aircraft carrier. Is France involved? Yes - according to a report on February 1st, France is sending its aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" into the Persian Gulf. And earlier it was reported that the U.S. and its allies began transferring troops into the Persian Gulf. At the U.S. base on the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean it has been reported that hundreds of bunker busting bombs have been brought to the island. And - the year 2012 is the year of the U.S. Presidential election. Obama will do what he can to stay in office for another term against the Republicans, for they will try to say that he is weak in foreign policy. Hopefully diplomacy can resolve this, but this has been going on for several years now. Financial markets - take note.

Ronsard on Nostradamus: and a Note on Translation

2012-02-05T22:04:00.001-05:00

Throughout his life Nostradamus had experienced visions of the future, and kept them private, but according to his son Cesar it was the approaching wars of religion of France which prompted him to start publishing his prophecies for the public. He foresaw that Christianity, and the nation of France, would be divided down the middle between the Catholic Church and Protestantism. And what he foresaw came true: after he published his prophecies the Wars of Religion in France started in 1562 and would not be concluded until about 1594 when Henry of Navarre became King of France, long after his death in 1566. Before he was crowned king, he converted from the Protestant religion to Catholicism. This helped end the war, for afterwards he issues the Edict of Nantes which gave toleration for French Protestants (known as Huguenots.) Further down the road, Nostradamus wrote that the Protestant movement would become further divided into multiple sects, which indeed did come true. Long before him the Protestant reformation was predicted by Hildegard of Bingen, who lived in the 12th century A.D.

As early as 1560 the French poet Ronsard recognized the validity of the prophecies of Nostradamus. Pierre de Ronsard is regarded as one of the greatest of poets from France, and became known as the "prince of poets." Ronsard lamented how French families and French society had become divided due to religion. Although he recognized that the Catholic Church had abused its power, he regarded the Protestant religion as a heresy and did not regard it as a solution to the problem. A few of his poems actually concern Nostradamus. Here is one entitled, "To France after the Disaster of Saint-Quentin" as translated by Edgar Leoni. It was written in after it became known that Nostradamus successfully predicted the Battle of Saint Quentin in the year 1557:

Thou mockest also the prophets that God chooses amongst thy children, and places in the midst of they bosom, in order to predict to thee thy future misfortune.
But thou dost laugh at them.
Perhaps its the immense eternity of the great God that has aroused the fervor of Nostradamus.
Or perhaps a good or bad demon kindles it.
Or perhaps his spirit is moved by nature, and climbs to the heavens, beyond mortals, and from there repeats to us prodigious facts.
Or perhaps his somber and melancholy spirit is filled with crass humors, making him fanciful.
In brief, he is what he is; so it is that always with the doubtful words of his prophetic voice, like that of an ancient oracle, he has for many a year predicted the greater part of our destiny. I would not have believed him, had not Heaven, which assigns good and evil to mankind, been his inspiration.

Here we see very early on there was question as to the source of the prophecies: was it from astrology? Did he inherit this ability? Was it from consulting a daemon spirit? Or were the prophecies from a divine origin? Ronsard believes that latter: knowledge of the future belongs to God only. This question is asked by many to this very day.

Peter Lemesurier gives a more free poetic translation of this poem by Ronsard:

Be it Great God beyond all space and time
Roused Nostradamus' rapture into rhyme;
Be he by daemon good or evil stirred,
Or gifted with a soul that like some bird
Sours up to heavens no mortal man may know
To bring back auguries for us below;
Be his mind so gloomy, dark and dim,
Crammed with gross humours, as to cozen him -
Whate'er he is, he is: yet none the less
Through the vague portents that his words express
Like some old oracle he has foretold
For many a year what fate for us shall hold.
I'd doubt him, did not heaven, that disburses
Both good and ill to men, inform his verses.

While this is much more poetic in English, unfortunately Lemesurier uses the same method when translating some of the prophecies of Nostradamus, and some meaning is lost in translation. For example, omitted in the second translation is the point that Nostradamus was mocked by many critics before his prophecies began to be fulfilled. The word "melancholy" was considered an attribute of those who could prophesy, and that word is also lost in translation. When it comes to the prophecies, it is much more important to form a literal translation in order to come closer to the meaning of the prophecy. Otherwise a mistranslation can lead to a misinterpreted prophecy. And sometimes the prophecies of Nostradamus are intentionally mistranslated in order to make the prophecy "fit" the event after it had occurred - such occurred when a prophecy on the internet floated around after the attack of September 11, 2001. Which was an unfortunate distraction, because he did foresee that event as well.

The Prophecies of Nostradamus - Decoded for the first time

2012-02-05T19:30:00.001-05:00

For those who have been following this blog, you may have noted that I took a long break from it. This is because I focused my effort to finish my research on the prophecies of Nostradamus. I have completed a manuscript - almost 800 pages - where the majority of the prophecies have been interpreted. Not only that, but the prophecies have been decoded for the very first time. Back in the early nineties I discovered that Nostradamus used a coding system for his prophecies, which I partially shared with another author on the prophecies of Nostradamus - Dolores Cannon. It was through her that I was invited to be a subject matter expert and a guest on the CBS documentary Mysteries of the Ancient World, which aired on national television in 1994. I shared with the producers of the film a part of how the system worked, but due to the shortness of time it could not be fit into the documentary. Using this coding system, many more of the quatrains can be deciphered, and put in chronological order. Another item I shared was the interpretation of quatrain 10:72 which has a date of 1999 in it. Back then I stated that it was predicting another war would start in Yugoslavia. As in the early 90s there was a ware of genocide in Bosnia, this sort of interpretation was deemed somewhat politically inappropriate. Sure enough, the War in Kosovo began in 1998, and ended in 1999 after an aerial war campaign was begun against Serbia by America and its NATO allies.

Since then, I have been working on and off to complete the decoding of the prophecies. Initially, I was not sure if I was on the right track. Several other authors have claimed to have found a hidden coding system, but apply it to only a few select quatrains. Not so this time. The manuscript I have completed applies the decoding across all of the prophecies of Nostradamus. This was an enormous task. The first step was to accurately translate the prophecies of Nostradamus into English, and that was not easy - he uses French, Latin, Greek, as well as anagrams and symbols in his quatrains. The next step was to find as many correct interpretations of the prophecies as possible. In many cases that was not enough, and I had to dive into original historical records to determine past fulfillments of certain quatrains. This resulted in certain unknown and obscure quatrains to be interpreted for the very first time. With that foundation, I also started to apply the decoding system to the quatrains: and amazingly, it has worked quite well. Many older interpretations have been confirmed, but the beauty of the decoding system is that previous quatrains that were unclear or misinterpreted have been clearly deciphered for the first time. As my goal was "all or nothing," this took an enormous amount of time. So my presence online on the internet has been almost next to nothing, except to do research while writing my book.

The good news is that it is now complete - at least a first draft of it - and I have found a literary agent who is presenting the book proposal to different publishers. A book was the only way I could present it - if I blogged about it, the work would not have been finished by now. As the decoding system works across the corpus of almost a 1000 quatrains, its a bit hard to present in blog format. I set an early goal that I would get this done by 2012, so I am a bit late to get this published this year, but now let us wait and see.

Nostradamus lived from 1503 to 1566, and he predicted that 500 years after his time new light would be shed upon his prophecies in quatrain 3:94, which translated reads as follows:

For five hundred years more one will take account
Of him who was the ornament of his time:
Then suddenly one will give great clear light
So that for this century he will render them very satisfied.

Nostradamus and the Prophecy of 1999

2012-01-08T22:59:00.000-05:00

I have not touched this blog in a while, as I have been working on a book on Nostradamus. I thought I would provide a sample of the book by discussing one of the most famous prophecies of Nostradamus, which concerns the year 1999:

10:72
L'an mil neuf cens nonante neuf sept mois
Du ciel viendra un grand Roy d’effrayeur
Resusciter le grand Roy d'Angolmois.
Avant apres Mars regner par bon heur.

The year 1999 and seven months
From the sky will come a great King of Terror
To revive the great King of Angoulême.
Before and after Mars to reign by good luck.

This is one of the few quatrains that contains an actual date. Angoulême is the principal city in Angoumois, a region and former province in Aquitaine in south-west France. After the Visigoths had sacked Rome in 410 under King Alaric I, the Visigoths wandered west and settled in the province of Aquitaine. They consolidated the region and formed the Kingdom of Toulouse. In 507 King Clovis of the Franks defeated King Alaric II of the Visigoths, and took the both Toulouse and Angoulême. From the ninth century Angouleme was ruled by counts, and the title eventually passed to King John of England due to his marriage with Isabella of Angoulême. King John of England began his reign in the year 1199 which is a similar number to the year 1999. For a time Angoulême was annexed by England from 1360 to 1373. Later one of the counts of Angoulême, Francis I, became King of France in 1515. It should be noted that the word Angolmois is perhaps an anagram for Anglois, which means “English.”
Unfortunately the word for Angoulême was mistranslated as Mongols (O.F. Mongolois) by the commentator Edgar Leoni, and since then many have falsely assumed that this quatrain concerned the rise of another leader like Ghenghis Khan from Mongolia. The quatrain concerns the rise of a leader similar to the leader of the Visigoths, and perhaps King John of England. A historical parallel can be drawn between King Alaric I of the Visigoths and the events in 1998 – 1999. In 395 the Visigoths under King Alaric I had devastated the Roman provinces of Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly (Greece) and Illyria. In 396 the Roman Emperor made Alaric I governor of Illyria, and in 397 Alaric was driven out of Greece by the Roman general Stilicho. Illyria is the ancient name for the Balkan peninsula, the eastern shore of the Adriatic formerly known as Yugoslavia. In modern times, Serbia began a war of devastation and genocide against Bosnia and Croatia. Western powers failed to intervene in time, but when Serbia invaded Kosovo – a region just north of Greece – America began its bombing campaign against Serbia in 1999. Just as King Alaric of the Visigoths had devastated the Balkan peninsula but was driven out of Greece, so the Serbs laid waste to Bosnia and were driven out of Kosovo. As the quatrain predicts that “from the sky will come a great King of Terror” who will “revive the great King of Angoulême (the King of England),” this great leader is none other than the military power of the United States. When preparing the interpretation of this quatrain for the CBS movie Mysteries of the Ancient World which aired in 1994, I predicted that there would be another outbreak of a war in Yugoslavia. However as the war in Bosnia was winding to an end at the time, it was deemed that this quatrain was too politically sensitive so it was removed from the movie script. As it is now well known the war in Kosovo broke out in 1998, and America became involved in a major war campaign conducted completely from the air.
In the Julian calendar in use by Nostradamus, the year 1999 and seven months comes to 11 August 1999 on our Gregorian calendar, the exact date of a solar eclipse that was visible from Europe all the way to Iran. The central longitude of the path of the solar eclipse happens to pass directly over Romania, north of Serbia, Bulgaria and Kosovo the region of Kosovo as seen in the diagram below:

There are at least two other instances where a solar eclipse was used to not only date a future event, but also the eclipse was used to determine the geographic locality. Quatrain 5:93 made use of an eclipse where the central longitude of the path of the eclipse passed near Scotland in the year 1600, and quatrain 3:77 made use of another solar eclipse whose central longitude was close to the location of the capital of Persia. As with this quatrain, quatrain 3:77 also mentioned the year of the eclipse, which was the year 1727.
Serbia had invaded Kosovo to combat terrorists, and America led a massive aerial assault against Serbia. America is thus the “great King of terror” that descends from the sky. The quatrain states in the last line “Before and after, Mars to reign by good luck” which means that there will be war before and after the year 1999. This was fulfilled by the former war in Bosnia and Croatia, and the subsequent “War on Terror” on Afghanistan and Iraq that began after September 11, 2001. America here is the great King of terror that descends from the sky as it took advantage of acts of terrorism to help further its goals in Iraq, which had nothing to do with the attack of September 11. Between the Gulf War of 1990 and the Second Gulf War of 2003, America, England and France had enforced no fly zones over northern and southern Iraq. A portion of Iraq falls under the path of the eclipse of 1999. The quatrain states that this “King of Terror” will “revive the great King of Angoulême.” In addition to this being a reference to Alaric I of the Visigoths, this could also be a reference to King John of England. In the year 1215 King John was forced by the Barons to accept and sign the Magna Carta, which limited the power of the king and guaranteed the rights of free men under the law. The Magna Carta is recognized in history as an important step towards rule by constitutional law. In opposition to this and in reaction to the attack of September 11, in 2002 the U.S. government enacted the U.S. Patriot Act, which has been criticized by civil libertarians for infringing on the privacy rights of individuals and allowing for the arbritrary arrest and indefinite detainment of non-citizens suspected of terrorism.

Spiritual Numerology - Unlucky Number Thirteen (13)

2009-11-09T21:54:00.001-05:00

Numerology, the study of the symbolism of numbers, is quite ancient, and goes back to at least to the Pythagoreans in ancient Greece, and even further, when we study ancient cultures and their rituals. In the Christian tradition, there has been somewhat of a dilemma: although its obvious that scripture makes symbolic use of numbers, so did the ancients, whose philosophy was corrupted by idolatry. Wikipedia sums it up:

"The Fathers repeatedly condemned the magical use of numbers which had descended from Babylonian sources to the Pythagoreans and Gnostics of their times. They denounced any system of philosophy which rested upon an exclusively numerical basis. Even so, they almost unanimously regarded the numbers of Holy Writ as full of mystical meaning, and they considered the interpretation of these mystical meanings as an important branch of exegesis. There was reluctance in the Christian teachers of the early centuries to push this recognition of the significance of numbers to extremes."

Nevertheless, St. Augustine wrote:

"Numbers are the Universal language offered by the deity to humans as confirmation of the truth."

If we look at the symbolism of numbers in the Christian tradition, there has been almost a complete ignorance of it. As far as I know, the most extensive study of numbers from a Biblical scriptural viewpoint was summed up in a book by E.W Bullinger in the 19th century, Number in Scripture. But some of it is his own guesswork, containing hits and misses. The subject begs for further study.

The symbolism of numbers, for the most part, has been lost to the modern world. Wikipedia states: "There are no set definitions for the meaning of specific digits." And different systems of numerology will no doubt disagree with each other. Where to start? How to set up a rational foundation?

Enter Emanuel Swedenborg. A great scientist of the 18th century, his vision was opened around the age of 55 to be exposed to the symbolic language of heaven, which was recorded in the Bible. He explained the spiritual significance of each and every word, verse by verse. And many verses contain numbers. I will quote from him directly:

"What the "years" and the "numbers of years" which occur in this chapter, signify in the internal sense, has hitherto been unknown. Those who abide in the literal sense suppose them to be secular years, whereas from this to the twelfth chapter there is nothing historical according to its appearance in the literal sense, but all things in general and every single thing in particular contain other matters. And this is the case not only with the names, but also with the numbers. In the Word frequent mention is made of the number three, and also of the number seven, and wheresoever they occur they signify something holy or most sacred in regard to the states which the times or other things involve or represent; and they have the same signification in the least intervals of time as in the greatest, for as the parts belong to the whole, so the least things belong to the greatest, for there must be a likeness in order that the whole may properly come forth from the parts, or the greatest from its leasts." (Arcana Coelestia, 482).

The above passage, where the smallest part is contained in the whole, is an overall principle followed by Swedenborg, where order in the smallest part of creation can reveal the order in the entire universe. In modern science, scientist are intrigued with holograms and the human brain: for the smallest part seems to be a reflection of the whole. The same is true for numbers. Numbers form the foundation of mathematics, and breakthroughs in mathematics has led to discoveries in science. Yes, numbers are the means by which the Divine reveals truth to humans.

When it comes to numerology, or the spiritual significance of numbers, most will relegate this to the realm of superstition. But sometimes, certain superstitions have a basis in fact, and are based on ancient traditions, where the meaning has been lost. Rather than write a blog on all the numbers, lets concentrate on the most unluckiest of numbers that has survived in Western superstition: the unlucky number 13.

Why is thirteen so unlucky? Superstition, most will say. As I write this, I am on the 22nd floor of a hotel on a business trip. And when I went up the elevator, floor number thirteen (13) was completely missing. I just came back from Starbucks, where I picked up a newspaper, and the front page described the killings in Fort Hood Texas, where an army soldier had killed thirteen people. And earlier, I read about a case before the Supreme court about considering whether or not life imprisonment was cruel and unusual punishment for juveniles. One case before them was a juvenile who committed a horrible crime at the age of thirteen. And earlier this year, O.J. Simpson was convicted in Nevada, thirteen years to the day after he was declared not guilty for the murder of his ex-wife. And we all know about Friday the 13th, right? And the movie? Ok, good number to start with for a generic blog introducing numerology. I dont believe in coincidences, since the number 13 has popped up a lot recently I decided to start with this number.

So, lets take a look at the number 13, is it just us, or do other cultures regard 13 as unlucky? Consider the following examples, which I randomly pulled from Wikipedia:

"The number of Norse gods (there were 12) at a banquet that was crashed by the evil god Loki (making 13) who killed Baldr with an arrow/spear made out of mistletoe using Hodr, thus marking the beginning of Ragnarok."

"In Italy, 13 is also considered to be a lucky number, although in Campania the expression 'tredici' (meaning 13) is said when one considers their luck to have turned for the worse."

"In Mesoamerican divination, 13 is the number of important cycles of fortune/misfortune"

"There are traditionally thirteen steps leading up to a gallows."

"Before the plot was foiled, there were thirteen plotters in the Gunpowder Plot."

"Apollo 13 was the only unsuccessful mission by the United States of America intended to land humans on the moon."

"The number 13 is associated with bad luck in some countries, and even has a specifically recognized phobia, Triskaidekaphobia, a word which was coined in 1911."

"In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve signs of the zodiac, twelve hours of the clock, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, twelve gods of Olympus, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners."

As for the origin of the superstition of Friday the 13th, its not documented as an unlucky day until the 19th century. But most believe it goes back much earlier, perhaps to Norse mythology. Some apply it to the date of the mass arrest of the Knights Templars, October 13, 1307 - Friday the 13th. Or to the decision to go into the Battle of Hastings, on October 13, 1066.

Some consider that human growth passes through stages, every seven years, which at the beginning of the article, represented a holy and sacred number. It is at the age of thirteen we all became a teenager, which is most often associated with a period of rebellion, as independence is asserted. And so we come across the first statement of the number thirteen in the Bible:

Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. (Gen. 14:4)

So what did Swedenborg say when he came across this verse? It can be closely associated with the 13th year of human development:

"Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer," signifies that the evils and falsities did not appear in childhood, but that they served the apparent goods and truths; "and in the thirteenth year they rebelled," signifies the beginning of temptations in childhood. (Arcana Coelestia, 1666).

"And in the thirteenth year they rebelled. That this signified the beginning of temptations in childhood, is evident from the signification of "the thirteenth year," and from the signification of "rebelling." The thirteenth year is intermediate between the twelfth and the fourteenth. What is signified by "twelve" has been stated; and what by "fourteen" will be stated presently. The intermediate between no temptation and temptation is "thirteen." What "rebelling" signifies may be seen when it is predicated of the evils in a man, or of evil spirits, when they have been in subjection or are serving, and begin to rise up and infest." (Arcana Coelestia, 1668).

So "unlucky thirteen" seems to be grounded in some scientific fact: it is the age of our adolescent development. But why is thirteen the age of adolescent development? We as humans, are created in God's Image. And numbers are revelations of truth. And these numbers manifest themselves in infinite ways.

Swedenborg would often explore the nature of numbers by decomposing them: the nature of bigger numbers can be discovered if they are a multiple of smaller numbers, or by adding up two other numbers. In this case, the nature of the number 13 is revealed by decomposing it into 7 + 6, or by considering its sequence, after 12 but before 14: the nature of the number can change according to context. When 13 is decomposed into 10 + 3, it actually signifies something good, thus in some cultures 13 is lucky rather than unlucky - thus the number 13 has a positive significance when considered in the passage where Ishmael is circumcised in his thirteenth year.

That thirteen can have a positive significance, as a positive number of human growth, is when it is considered to be a number as part of the Fibonacci series: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21...etc, where each subsequent number contains in it the previous two numbers, in this case, thirteen is 5 + 8. In this case, it represents the next stage of human growth, bases on the symbolism of the preceding numbers, five and eight. Here is an interesting video which explores the appearance of the Fibonacci series in nature, especially in mathematical spirals (you need to stop my music playlist in the upper left of this blog):

So to take a simple number, and state that it always means one thing, is a bit too simplistic: you have to consider the context in which the number is mentioned. Numbers are just one aspect of the symbolic language of heaven: you can not study numerology in isolation, without a broader understanding of the symbolic language of heaven, which manifests itself in creation. As this has been lost, so numerology at this day is no more than a superstition. The visions of Swedenborg, however, is the first step to restoring to humanity the lost language of symbols, preserved in ancient myths and in the waking dreams of our lives.

Napoleon and the Greek Myth of Perseus

2009-09-02T01:32:00.006-04:00

Sometimes our lives follow archetypal patterns, and these archetypes are often spelled out in myths. Myths reveal hidden spiritual truths in a symbolic way. In this way, myths can in some ways be somewhat prophetic. Take for example, the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, a brilliant military leader, and the Greek myth of Perseus.

Most know Perseus as the Greek hero who beheaded Medusa, one of the Gorgons whose look could turn people into stone. She was once a woman who was punished for her vanity in her looks, especially her hair: Athena punished her by turning her hair into snakes. In a certain sense, its an archetype for one who is born beautiful becomes vain in their looks, would like others to look at them, and ignores the inner development of the soul. Perseus was able to defeat Medusa by looking at her through a mirrored shield, and using that was able to cut off her head.

So what does this have to do with Napoleon, a French leader who was born many centuries after the original myth? Napoleon setup a new dynastic empire after the fall of the French monarchy: in the French Revolution, both King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were beheaded in 1793, giving Napoleon his opportunity to rise to power afterwards:

There are differing accounts concerning how Marie Antoinette's hair had turned white: one account states that her hair turned white when the King and his family failed to flee from France at the beginning of the revolution.

But returning to the myth of Perseus: the name Perseus most probably means "destroyer". The name Napoleon means "new destroyer", derived from the Greek word Apollyon. Perseus was cast out from the mainland and grew up on the island of Seriphos, raised by a fisherman; Napoleon did not grow up on mainland France but instead was born on the island of Corsica. Later Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba, and after that, the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic.

In order to complete his quest to kill the Gorgon, Perseus had to seek out the golden apples of Hesperides, an island far to the west. The nymphs who guarded the apples gave Perseus the location of the Gorgon Medusa. Likewise, Napoleon sold much of America to Thomas Jefferson in the Louisiana Purchase, in order to have enough money to finance his wars in Europe.

Once Perseus killed Medusa, he stopped by the Phoenician kingdom in Ethiopia and Egypt, which was ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. There he rescued their daughter Andromeda, who was chained to a rock at the modern city of Jaffa as she was to be sacrificed to the sea monster Cetus. Likewise Napoleon, after he invaded Italy, set out on an expedition to Egypt, and from there laid siege to the city of Jaffa in Palestine.

Both Perseus and Napoleon were sent on a quest so that a ruler could be rid of them; both returned to defeat that ruler and to setup their own new dynasty. It is quite an odd coincidence, in how Napoleon followed the myth of Perseus: both were involved with the city of Jaffa in Palestine. Once Perseus rescued Andromeda he made her his queen; once Napoleon departed from Palestine he returned to France, overthrew the Directory, and became Emperor.

This was somewhat of an odd observation, I dont know quite what to make of it. It could be entirely coincidence. However in the ancient world there were many prophecies described in a mythological manner: many myths mention a god-man born of a virgin, who would die and then rise from the dead and ascend to the stars. Apparently the Jews were not the only ones to have recorded the prophecies of their visionaries: even in pagan myths, there are gems of truth.

The Matrix, Christianity, and 911

2009-06-21T23:03:00.013-04:00

The Matrix is one of my favorite movies: a sci-fi action movie with symbolic references to Christianity. Neo is the Saviour, who must be born into the Matrix to save humanity from slavery. As the Matrix is a computer generated illusion, so many are deceived by the senses to become devoted to this material world. Our souls have an inner reality: freedom of choice, thought and emotion have an inner spiritual source: the heavenly kingdom, in which one can choose to dwell if one follows the Path of Love. Emanuel Swedenborg, a visionary of the 18th century, saw that when our bodies die we become aware of the spiritual body, and the spiritual world that generated this material one.

I always thought the writers were somewhat inspired with this movie, as a child I wrote a short story about robots that live inside a computer world, given choice, they begin to deviate from the path and the entire computer world is destined to become deleted. In desperation, the software developer decides to enter that world as an incarnate robot to show them the true way: but the other robots are so hostile to that incarnate robot they "kill" him, and are mystified when that has no effect: the software program spreads and begins to influence the other robots, and they begin to wonder about the world they live in. This was written long before the internet become popular, and before virtual 3D gaming worlds were created - which are so common now. As a software developer I am familiar with what is needed to create a working program, and I am always amazed about the intricate order of the universe we live in: Someone has a purpose for us, and we are part of some Plan.

But back to the movie, The Matrix, which was released in 1999. Somebody was clever enough to take a digital image of Neo's passport, flip it over: and guess what? Neo's passport expires on September 11, 2001. Here is a digital image of it:

Wo! Now this movie takes on a wierd turn. Coincidence? Well lets take the final scene of the movie, where Neo and Trinity need to rescue Morpheus from a tall tower. Morpheus is called by the Agents a notorious "terrorist". Watch closely: one of the towers has MMI written on it: and this is the Roman numeral for the number 2001. And the helicopter ends up crashing into one of the towers in a fiery explosion, just as the two planes crashed into the two towers on September 11, 2001. In case you don't have the DVD of the movie, check the following clip from Youtube, which includes the entire rescue - you may need to pause it to see the tower with "MMI" on it (you will need to stop the music player on this page first):

In the above scene, Morpheus asks: "Do you believe it now, Trinity? ...There is a difference between knowing the Path, and walking the Path". Walk the Path of Love, and you will come to know that Neo is the One.

Sacred Christian Geometry - the Seed of Life

2009-04-20T00:18:00.013-04:00

It is well known that the Age of Pisces - the Age of the Fish - began with the dawn of Christianity, where Jesus told his disciples to become "fishers of men". Thus since the first century the fish (Greek: ichthus or ichthys, meaning "fish") became the symbol of Christianity, which was composed of two intersecting arcs:

The Greek word for Ichthus became an acrostic, with each letter standing for another word, which in Greek was "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour". In the gospel of John, there is a curious story where the disciples are unable to find any fish, until Jesus appears and tells them to cast their net on the right side of the ship. They do so, and draw a huge catch of fish. What is odd, is that the gospel of John declares the exact number of fish caught: 153 (John 21:11). Why one hundred and fifty three? Why would someone take the time to count one hundred and fifty three fish? Well there is good reason, and it has to do with sacred geometry.

The ichthus symbol is composed of two intersecting circles, that intersect each other at each other's center (fig. 1):

The intersection between two circles is known as "Vesica Pisces". It was known since ancient times: Euclid used two intersecting circles to divide a line exactly in half using a compass. Thus it has the connotation of growth from division: as soon as the male seed achieves union with the female egg, cells start to divide, each time forming a Vesica Pisces. Jesus himself is the Seed, the Word of God, who became incarnate in human flesh.

As it so happens, the Vesica Pisces contains exactly two equilateral triangles:

The line shared by the two equilateral triangles was the starting point for Euclid: this line can be divided exactly in half by the 2 intersecting circles. If the side of the triangles were assumed to be one, then the length of the Vesica Pisces is the square root of 3. As it so happens, the square root of 3 was closely approximated by the ancients as a fraction: 265 divided by 153!. See fig. 3:

The two triangles form a cross: to approximate the ratio of the square root of three the width of each triangle could be set to 153, while the length across the Vesica Pisces would be 265. The Christian cross is sometimes set in the middle of the Vesica Pisces:

Assume each triangle has a side of a length of 153. Expand the number of triangles to form a perfect hexagon inside one of the circles. What would the circumference be? It could be approximated as 961 or 962 units (see fig. 4):

So, does the number 961 or 962 pop up in the Bible? Yes it does, in a very odd place, which readers of the previous blog entry may recognize:

Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died. (Gen. 5:18-20).

So what, a coincidence? I doubt it: Jared was the SIXTH generation from Adam. It takes SIX triangles to form a hexagon, and if each side of the triangle was 153, the circumference would be close to 962! In the previous blog, "Ancient Astronomy of the Bible", I showed how the Patriarch Jared represents the planet Mars (the sixth planet - see the previous blog entry), and his total age represents a multiple of synodic conjunctions between Mars and Venus - a conjunction between the male and female. Jared means "descent" and in ancient Jewish traditions it was during his days that the angels of God descended from heaven to mate with women. Thus the two intersecting circles means the birth of a child from the union of the male with the female. In the case of Jesus, it means in Jesus Christ we have the union of the Divine with the human.

As two triangles are formed with each Vesica Pisces, lets continue by making an intersecting circle for every two triangles, see fig. 5:

Lets clean up the image a bit, and we now have an image which is now known as the "Seed of Life":

All in all, we have 6 intersecting circles with 1 central circle. The Seed of Life is thus a sacred symbol of Christianity, as not only does it contain the Ichthus symbol, but seven circles which represent the seven days of creation. And Jesus Christ represents God's perfect human, God's perfect creation, where humanity was perfected and made Divine.

The Seed of Life pattern can be extended to form a more complicated symbol called the "Flower of Life", which was found engraved in the Temple of Osiris at Abydos, probably during the Christian era:

Some are so intrigued with this symbol that there is an actual organization called "Flower of Life". Its a beautiful symbol, a mandala that allows us to contemplate the Divine interacting within the human. Oddly enough, variants of the Seed of Life has popped up in a couple of crop circles:

Here is the second one:

The Ancient Astronomy of the Bible

2009-04-16T00:52:00.060-04:00

The Bible records that the patriarchs before the Flood lived for many centuries. Although Biblical literalists would like to think that these refer to individual people, in fact the first 11 chapters of Genesis are written in a mythical symbolic manner, and the time periods of the patriarchs record cycles of time describing how a Most Ancient Church – one older and wiser than the Jewish or Christian Church – degenerated until the world was renewed through the Flood. The patriarchs that lived before the Flood are symbolic – and so are the numbers used in their geneaology, which is related to the chronology of the dates of their lives. In an earlier blog, I discussed the fact that the book of Jasher records that the birth of Abraham occurred in 1953 B.C., at the time of a grand conjunction of planets. This was when the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were in close proximity, and it was noticed by ancient Chinese astronomers who then used that date as the beginning of their calendar. A similar alignment had also occurred around 6 B.C., which many regard as the star that the Magi saw which signified the birth of the Messiah in Israel. If we work backwards from the date of 1953 B.C. from the birth of Abraham, we have the following dates for the 10 patriarchs who lived before the Flood:

Name	Date	Total Age
Adam	3901 - 2971 B.C.	930
Seth	3771 - 2859 B.C.	912
Enosh	3666 - 2761 B.C.	905
Cainan	3576 - 2666 B.C.	910
Mahalalel	3506 - 2611 B.C.	895
Jared	3441 - 2479 B.C.	962
Enoch	3279 - 2914 B.C.	365
Methuselah	3214 - 2245 B.C.	969
Lamech	3027 - 2250 B.C.	777
Noah	2845 - 1895 B.C.	950

Of particular note is Enoch, who lives for 365 years and then ascends into heaven. This is an obvious reference to the 365 days of the year. If this is true, then the numbers for the other patriarchs must also signify astronomical periods of time. Josephus records some interesting information concerning the sons of Seth in his work Antiquities of the Jews, which may also concern the Great Pyramid of Egypt (the land of Siriad, or the star Sirius):

“They also were the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies, and their order. And that their inventions might not be lost before they were sufficiently known, upon Adam's prediction that the world was to be destroyed at one time by the force of fire, and at another time by the violence and quantity of water, they made two pillars, the one of brick, the other of stone: they inscribed their discoveries on them both, that in case the pillar of brick should be destroyed by the flood, the pillar of stone might remain, and exhibit those discoveries to mankind; and also inform them that there was another pillar of brick erected by them. Now this remains in the land of Siriad to this day.”

The Hebrews followed a soli-lunar calendar, and one of the most significant cycles of the Moon is the Metonic cycle of 19 years: every 19 years an eclipse of the Moon will occur at the exact same time in a similar location of the sky. It is notable that three of the patriarchs ages turn out to be multiples of 19, which would indicate a Metonic cycle for an eclipse in the year of birth:

Seth = 912 years = 48 x 19 years (48 Metonic cycles of the Moon)
Methuselah = 969 years = 51 x 19 years (51 Metonic cycles of the Moon)
Noah = 950 = 50 x 19 (50 Metonic cycles of the Moon)

We have 48, 50 and 51 Metonic cycles of the Moon. If Adam lived 931 years instead of 930, his life would represent 49 Metonic cycles. This has been noted by other researchers. One researcher, Michel Barnoin, proposed that the 777 years of Lamech represented the cumulative synodic cycles of Jupiter and Saturn, and that the 962 years of Jared represented the cumulative synodic cycles of Venus and Saturn. A synodic period of a planet represents the amount of time it takes to return to the same location in the sky; the synodic period of two planets represents the time it takes for a conjunction between the two to reoccur.

Despite these interesting “coincidences”, there has been no comprehensive astronomical explanation for the lives of all the patriarchs. However I have discovered that these numbers are not coincidence: there is a comprehensive solution. This solution has evaded most researchers as they do not have an accurate chronology for the lives of the 10 patriarchs. Whoever composed the genealogy of the patriarchs had very detailed astronomical knowledge, who then encoded it in sacred scripture.

THE PATRIARCH METHUSELAH = VENUS

The book of Jasher, a book excluded from the Bible, contains a curious chronological reference: Adam died in the 243^rd year of the life of Methuselah, which was the 243^rd year of the reign of Enoch:

“And it was in the year of Adam's death which was the two hundred and forty-third year of the reign of Enoch, in that time Enoch resolved to separate himself from the sons of men and to secret himself as at first in order to serve the Lord.” (Jasher 3:17)

This chronology agrees with the Masoretic text of Genesis. A period of 243 years is something that is significant to modern astronomers: every 243 years the planet Venus makes a direct transit across the Sun. While conjunctions are common, transits of Venus across the face of the Sun are not. Two transits will occur 8 years apart, which will repeat itself exactly 243 years later. The last transit of Venus was in 2004 A.D., the next transit will be in 2012 A.D., which is the year in which a world age would come to an end according to the ancient Mayan calendar.

The fact that a time period of 243 years mentioned in Jasher corresponding with the transits of Venus may just be a coincidence. However I decided to compare this astronomical information with the chronology I had composed many years earlier. To my surprise, the birth date of Methuselah, and the death of Adam 243 years later, correspond to the years in which Venus made a transit across the face of the Sun:

November 17, 3214 B.C. = transit of Venus across Sun (birth of Methuselah)
November 17, 2971 B.C. = transit of Venus across Sun (death of Adam)

The above dates are Julian, and both of these took place in the constellation Sagittarius. Not only was this a confirmation of my chronology, but it led me to believe that detailed astronomical information was encoded in the book of Genesis. Methuselah was the longest living patriarch, and died in 2245 B.C., the year of the Flood. It was in the year 2246 B.C. in which the Sun occulted Venus – a phenomenon that repeats every 8 years, as 8 revolutions of the earth is equal to 5 revolutions of Venus. The year 2246 B.C. is the midpoint between another 2 transits of Venus: one in 2250 B.C., and another in 2242 B.C. Again this occurred in the constellation of Sagittarius, the archer. Not only was the year 2250 B.C. the year of the death of Lamech, but it was also the year in which Noah began to build the ark:

“In his five hundred and ninety-fifth year Noah commenced to make the ark, and he made the ark in five years, as the Lord had commanded.” (Jasher 5:34)

The building of the ark thus commenced with the first transit of Venus in 2250 B.C. As mentioned above, the transits of Venus occurred in the constellation of Sagittarius, the archer. This detail could in fact explain the meaning of God’s covenant with Noah after the Flood:

“And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.” (Gen. 9:11-17)

The bow is a rainbow, which the ancients conceived as God’s bow. However there is a double meaning here: the bow also refers to the constellation of Sagittarius. The bow of Sagittarius points to the galactic center of the Milky Way Galaxy – the edge of the galaxy appears as a cloud in the nighttime heavens. In other words, no longer should mankind look at a transit of Venus in the constellation of Sagittarius as a bad omen. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, this set of Venus transits now occur in the constellation of Scorpio.

Methuselah is a symbolic representation of Venus. As mentioned above Enoch lived 365 years before he ascended into heaven: thus he has been associated with ancient solar deities. Whoever composed the geneaology possibly knew of the planets that exist beyond Saturn. Each “patriarch” is a symbolic representation of a planet. Thus we have the following correspondence between each patriach and astronomical body:

Patriarch	Number	Planet	Orbital Period
Adam	1	?	?
Seth	2	Neptune	164.79 yrs
Enosh	3	Uranus	84.3233 yrs
Cainan	4	Saturn	29.6573 yrs
Mahalalel	5	Jupiter	11.8592 yrs
Jared	6	Mars	686.971 days
Enoch	7	Earth	365.2564 days
Methuselah	8	Venus	224.7007 days
Lamech	9	Mercury	87.9691 days
Noah	10	Moon	29.5306 days

The modern convention is to number planets closest to the Sun outward; the ancient convention was to number planets from the farthest inward. I leave Adam blank for now: we will return to him later. Note that Venus is #8 – the ancient symbol of Venus was an eight pointed star or an eight pointed rosette. To demonstrate that the author of Genesis had detailed astronomical knowledge of our solar system, we will examine the other patriarchs individually, beginning with planets closest to the Sun. Noah will be assessed last, as he is related to the famous Biblical Flood.

THE PATRIARCH LAMECH = MERCURY

According to the above theory, Lamech should represent the planet Mercury. Lamech lived 777 years, but the orbital period of Mercury is a mere 88 days. A longer synodic period was thus probably used. This one puzzled me for a while, until I found an astronomical site (http://transit.savage-garden.org/MercuryCatalog.html)
which gave details of the periodic cycles of transits of Mercury across the face of the Sun:

“…consecutive transits of Mercury appear to be separated by either 3.5, 7, 9.5, 10 or 13 years. The pattern is rather complex because of Mercury's elliptical orbit. The shorter periods are a consequence of several longer harmonics between the orbital periods of Mercury and Earth. The 13 year period is of particular note because it corresponds to nearly 54 orbits of Mercury around the Sun (it falls short of a perfect fit by just 2.01 days). A longer period of 33 years (10 + 10 + 13) produces an even better fit which corresponds to 137 orbits of Mercury minus 1.67 days. If one combines the 13 year and 33 year periods together, the 46 year total equals 191 orbits of Mercury plus only 0.34 days.”

The longest and most accurate synodic period for Mercury is thus 46 years. According to my Biblical chronology, Lamech lived from 3027 – 2250 B.C. I plugged in some parameters into my astronomical program, Dance of the Planets, and obtained the following period for a series of transits of Mercury separated by 46 years, from Oct 1, 3032 B.C. to Oct. 14, 2250 B.C. This series contains 17 transits, separated by 46 years, lasting a total of 782 years. We are off by 5 years for the life of Lamech, who lived 777 years. This is an odd discrepancy, until I took a closer look at the passage in Genesis regarding Lamech:

“And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech. And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son” (Gen. 5:25-28).

Oddly enough, the cycle of 782 years pops up out of the woodwork: not in the life of Lamech, but in the number of years that his father lived after Lamech was born. His father Methuselah lived until 2245 B.C. – which was five years longer than Lamech, and corresponds to the five years it took Noah to build the ark. Note that Methuselah was 187 years old when Lamech was born, and Lamech was 182 years when Noah was born. If the numbers 187 and 182 were swapped, then the 5 year discrepancy would disappear: Lamech would have lived 782 years beginning in 3032 B.C. – not 777 years beginning in 3027 B.C.

Besides the series of transits from Oct. 1, 3032 B.C. to Oct. 14, 2250 B.C., there is another series of Mercury transits lasting from Apr. 6, 3022 B.C. to Apr. 8 2246 B.C. – and this is a period of exactly 776 years, one year short of the total age of Lamech. An additional year would take us to the year of the Flood, giving a total of 777 years. One series of Mercury transits begins in 3032 B.C., another begins in 3022 B.C. The year in which Lamech was born – 3027 B.C. – is the exact midpoint between the two series of Mercury transits. Another reason why 3027 B.C. could have been chosen for the birth of Lamech is that on Aug. 12, 3026 B.C. Mercury nearly occulted Jupiter.

In Roman and Greek mythology, Mercury is the god of travelers, and the god that invented the lyre. Coincidentally, Lamech (from the line of Cain) became the father of those who dwell in tents (thus merchants and wanderers) and the father of those who invented the harp:

“And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.” (Gen. 4:19-21)

The English words “market” and “merchant” come from the Latin word mercari, meaning to trade – which Latin word is also the origin of the name Mercury. This Latin word in turn originates from the Hebrew word makar (#4376) meaning to sell merchandise, and mekker (#4377) meaning merchandise (see http://israelite.ca/Onlinestudies_files/hebetymology.html).
The name Lamech has an uncertain origin – however its semitic root is LMK, and the semitic root for makar is MKR. In Hebrew the letter lamed (L) is used as a prefix meaning to, for, towards, according to – so its possible that the Hebrew name Lamech is directly related to our word for the planet Mercury.

THE PATRIARCH ENOCH = THE EARTH

Enoch lives for 365 years, and then ascends into heaven. This is an obvious reference to the year of 365 days. According to ancient authors, the Egyptians had a calendar of 365 days instead of 365.25 days, and observed a Sothic cycle which would last 1460 years (4 x 365). After 1460 years the civil year would be back in alignment with the actual solar year. Its possible that the ascension of Enoch represents an end to a Sothic cycle. As Enoch lived from 3279 to 2914 B.C., the following Sothic cycle would last from 2914 – 1454 B.C. This is significant as the year 1453 B.C. was the year of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. The book of Jasher records an interesting incident at the time of the Exodus – during the crossing of the Red Sea, although Pharoah’s army drowned in the waters, the Pharoah of Egypt himself was caught up into heaven by God and became ruler of Assyria. This is calling attention to the fact that the Exodus came 1460 years after the ascension of Enoch.

Although there is a possible association of the life of Enoch with the Egyptian calendar, and a possible ancient prophecy concerning the Exodus of the Jews, the period of 365 years has yet to be explained in terms of a synodic astronomical cycle. One possibility are periodic conjunctions between Saturn and Uranus, which on average take about 45 years. Two conjunctions take place over 90 years, four conjunctions over 180 years, and eight conjunctions over a period of 360 years. It just so happens there are two Saturn-Uranus conjunctions near the beginning and end of the life of Enoch:

2/1/3275 B.C. Saturn-Uranus conjunction (Enoch born in 3279 B.C.)
7/28/2914 B.C. Saturn-Uranus conjunction (Ascension of Enoch in 2914 B.C.)

This would lead to a period of about 360 years, not 365 years. We are 5 years off – but many ancient calendars regarded a year of 360 days as the perfect year, and then 5 extra days were appended to the end of the year.

A more likely possibility is that the life of Enoch represents is a multiple of the Saros eclipse cycle of 18 years, 11 days and 8 hours – the time for an eclipse to repeat itself in a nearly identical manner. Thus 20 Saros cycles of 18 years each is 360.3 years. It just so happens that there was a total solar eclipse on July 6, 3275 B.C. which occulted the star Regulus in the constellation of Leo. It should be noted that solar eclipses that occult the star Regulus repeat every 19 or 65 years – and it was in the 65^th year that Enoch gave birth to Methuselah.

The eclipse of 3275 B.C. was near the heliacal rise of the star Sirius which was used by the Egyptians to start their year. The Great Sphinx of Giza – which has the body of a lion and the head of the Pharoah and faces due east – was probably built to commemorate this astronomical event. There was an eclipse on Aug. 15, 2915 B.C. which was part of the Saros cycle of the eclipse that occulted Regulus in 3275 B.C. This is a period of 360 years.

The father of Enoch is Jared, who represents Mars. Its possible that the birth of Enoch is represented by an astronomical configuration involving Mars. On July 5, 3279 B.C. there was a close (4 arcminutes) Mars-Jupiter conjunction.

The ascension of Enoch into heaven should represent an astronomical concept. The book of Jasher states that Enoch was to ascend into heaven so that he could reign over the sons of God in heaven, just as he reigned over the sons of men on earth. In other words, Enoch represents a star or constellation that would rule over all other stars. As Enoch is closely connected with the Egyptian calendar, this star could be the star Sirius – the heliacal rising of this star marked the beginning of the Egyptian year. Sirius is thus the heavenly counterpart to the Sun which rules over the earth. An alternative to Sirius would be the constellation of Orion, which was known as Osiris to the Egyptians.

THE PATRIARCH JARED = MARS

The patriarch Jared, as father of Enoch, should represent Mars. Conjunctions between Venus and Mars tend to repeat every 32 years:

“In 32 years, 15 to 17 different conjunctions occur with nearly each one repeating in turn. Some series last >1200 years (up to 40 events). Others are considerably shorter. At the beginning and end of these series, the interval can be one week longer than 32 years. The reason why this happens is because for nearly every 20 times Venus returns to its similar position in the sky, Mars completes almost 15 returns.” (from http://climate.gi.alaska.edu/curtis/astro2.html).

Jared, the sixth from Adam, lived 962 years, which is about 30 x 32 = 6 x 5 x 32. His total age is thus a multiple of the Venus-Mars synodic conjunction cycle. Jared lived from 3441 to 2479 B.C. If we check the series of conjunctions between Venus and Mars, there is one series which lasted from July 9, 3438 B.C. to July 9, 2479 B.C. In this series there was a Venus-Mars conjunction on July 17, 3278 B.C. – which is close to the birth of Enoch in 3279 B.C.

Like Enoch, we are off for the year of birth – the series of Venus-Mars conjunctions began in 3438 B.C. instead of 3441 B.C. However on June 29, 3441 B.C. there was an occultation of Jupiter by Venus – a relatively rare occurrence. Mahalalel, the father of Jared, is a representation of Jupiter.

As Venus has a nine month orbital period, the ancient world regarded it as a symbol of the female. Mars later came to represent the male counterpart to Venus. A conjunction between Venus and Mars thus represents a sexual union between male and female. This is described in Greek myth in the union between Ares and Aphrodite, and in Roman myth in the union between Mars and Venus. Jared means “descent”, and it just so happens that according to ancient Jewish traditions Jared was so named because in the year he was born the sons of God began to descend to earth to mate with the daughters of men. The same word is used to describe the descent of angels upon the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:5,7) and the descent of angels upon a stairway from heaven (Gen. 28:12). The story of the sons of God descending to mate with women in Genesis and the book of Enoch may be a parable describing the conjunctions between Mars and Venus, represented by Jared.

THE PATRIARCH MAHALALEL = JUPITER

Mahalalel should represent Jupiter, which in many pagan pantheons was head of the gods. Mahalalel means “praise of God”. The name is significant when the celestial heavens are described in the book of Psalms:

“Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.” (Psa. 148:1-6)

The name Mahalalel is composed of halal, meaning praise, and el, meaning God. The word halal is the root of the word hawlal, translated as “Lucifer” or “morning star” in Isa. 14:12 – as the word has the meaning of brightness. This is thought to represent Venus. Mahalalel could thus be translated as “light of El”. In the Semitic pantheon El was Cronus or Saturn, and his son was Baal or Jupiter. The name Mahalalel can thus be directly associated with Jupiter.

Mahalalel is the fifth from Adam, he lives 895 years which is 5 x 179. As it turns out, there is a synodic period of conjunctions between Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune that lasts about 178.73 years. Mahalalel lived from 3506 - 2611 B.C. – an there was a Jupiter-Saturn-Neptune cycle that lasted from 3501 – 2608 B.C. The end date of 2611 B.C. was probably chosen as on Aug. 5, 2611 B.C. Jupiter was occulted by Mercury – a rare occurrence. A near occultation of Jupiter by Mercury occurred in 3026 B.C., which was already mentioned for the birth of Lamech. Note, however, that there is a 5 year error for the birth of Mahalalel. A similar 5 year error popped up for chronology for Enoch and Lamech.

Mahalalel gives birth at 65 years of age, after which he lives 830 years. 76 synodic cycles of Jupiter is equal to exactly 83 years – every 83 years Jupiter returns to 0.1 degrees declination and +1 minute R.A. position in the sky (see http://climate.gi.alaska.edu/Curtis/astro2.html
).

THE PATRIARCH CAINAN = SATURN

As Cainan is the father of Mahalalel, he should represent Saturn. Cainan lives a total of 910 years. 910 = 26 x 35 = 2 x 13 x 35. As it turns out, Saturn and Neptune have a synodic cycle that last from 35 years 3 months to 36 years 4 months. Cainan lived from 3576 – 2666 B.C. There was a series of Saturn-Neptune conjunctions from 3571 – 2676 B.C. – in this case the birth of Cainan is 5 years off and his death is 10 years off. Although the geneaology is not exact in dates, it seems that it was more important for the genealogy to express multiples of synodic cycles rather than exact dates. However it seems the author did know that the dates of the geneaology was off from the astronomical cycles.

Cainan gave birth to Mahalalel at age 70, and 70 is two cycles of Saturn-Neptune conjunctions (70 = 2 x 35). If Cainan was born in 3571 B.C. instead of 3576 B.C., then the birth of Mahalalel would have been in 3501 B.C. – which would fit the synodic cycle that is represented by Mahalalel. This works as Cainan represents the synodic cycle of Saturn and Neptune (35 years), and Mahalalel represents the longer synodic cycle of Jupiter-Saturn-Neptune (179 years). That Cainan was essentially a smaller synodic cycle of the larger Jupiter-Saturn-Neptune cycle seems to have been known to the authors of Genesis and Jasher:

“And in the one hundred and seventy ninth year of the life of Noah, Cainan the son of Enosh died, and all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.” (Jasher 5:1).

Thus although the life of Cainan is off by 10 years from the actual Saturn-Neptune cycle, the date of the death of Cainan was chosen for 2 reasons: first his total age is a multiple of 35, and second the date of his death in the life of Noah expresses the longer synodic cycle of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune.

As Cainan was born in 3576 B.C., the first complete Saturn-Neptune cycle during his life would come at age 40 instead of age 35. This was known to the author of the book of Jasher:

“And Cainan grew up and he was forty years old, and he became wise and had knowledge and skill in all wisdom, and he reigned over all the sons of men, and he led the sons of men to wisdom and knowledge; for Cainan was a very wise man and had understanding in all wisdom” (Jasher 2:11).

THE PATRIARCH ENOSH = URANUS

As Enosh is the father of Cainan, he should represent the planet Uranus. The orbital period of Uranus – 84 years – is encoded in the book of Jasher:

“And it was in the eighty-fourth year of the life of Noah, that Enosh the son of Seth died, he was nine hundred and five years old at his death.” (Jasher 5:1)

Enosh lived from 3666 – 2761 B.C., and seems to represent the synodic period of Jupiter-Uranus conjunctions. We have the following dates for Jupiter-Neptune conjunctions:

Aug. 22, 3668 B.C. = birth of Enosh (2 years off from 3666 B.C.)
Oct. 7, 3571 B.C. = birth of Cainan (5 years off).
Apr. 17, 2756 B.C. = death of Enosh (5 years off from 2761 B.C.)

The dates for the birth of Cainan and the death of Enosh are 5 years off – note that there was a 5 year error that showed up for Cainan, Mahalalel, Enoch and Lamech. In the year 3571 B.C. there was a conjunction for Jupiter and Uranus (for Enosh), and in the same year there was a conjunction for Saturn and Neptune (for Cainan).

THE PATRIARCH SETH = NEPTUNE

As Seth is the father of Enosh, he should represent the planet Neptune. As Seth lived from 3771 – 2859 B.C., the periodic conjunctions between Jupiter and Neptune is the most likely candidate:

12/24/3770 B.C. Jupiter-Neptune conjunction (= birth of Seth, 3771 B.C.)
6/11/3667 B.C. Jupiter-Neptune conjunction (= birth of Enosh, 3666 B.C.)
6/13/2862 B.C. Jupiter-Neptune conjunction (= death of Seth, 2859 B.C.)

The above is a length of 907.5 years – again, about 5 years off from a total of 912. As stated earlier, a period of 912 years is exactly 48 Metonic lunar cycles, which was chosen over 907 or 907 years to represent the life of Seth.

Its possible that an eclipse signified by the birth of Seth was regarded as important. As it turns out, there was a lunar eclipse on Feb. 6, 3770 B.C. that passed directly over Upper Egypt (southern Egypt). This is significant, as the Egyptian god Set/Seth – who may be the Egyptian counterpart to Seth son of Adam – was the god of Upper Egypt. According to one story, Geb divided Egypt into two halves, and gave Lower Egypt to Horus and gave Upper Egypt to Seth. In the conflict between Horus and Set, Set tore out one of his eyes, and this later became the Moon – thus the myth is probably describing a particular eclipse in the history of Egypt. From the 1^st Dynasty onwards, Horus and Set are shown crowning the pharoahs – representing the fact that they ruled over Upper and Lower Egypt.

THE PATRIARCH ADAM = THE SUN

The father of Seth is Adam, who lives for 930 years. At this point what planet Adam may represent is unclear. Beyond Neptune is Pluto, which was once regarded as a planet – but is now regarded as a dwarf planet. Recently several dwarf planets have been discovered beyond Neptune. Some are too far away to presently confirm whether or not they should be classified as a dwarf planet. What is interesting is that the dwarf planet Makemake has an orbital period of 310 years. Adam lived 930 years, and 930 = 3 x 310. Although it is tempting to associate the orbital period of Makemake with Adam, this does not explain why the death of Adam is associated with a transit of Venus across the Sun in 2971 B.C. More likely, Adam corresponds to the Sun.

As there is a correspondence between Seth, son of Adam, and the god Seth of ancient Egypt, so there is a correspondence between Adam and the Egyptian god Atum. That Atum is equivalent to the Hebrew Adam was shown by Massey and by the French Egyptologist M. Lefebure, where the entire story of the Garden of Eden is described in an Egyptian myth (see Ancient Egypt, the light of the world, by Gerard Massey, p. 459). If the name Adam was rendered into the Egyptian alphabet, it would become Atam/Atum (The Ancient Egyptian Roots of Christianity, by Moustafa Gadalla, p. 132). Atum gave birth to several gods by impregnating himself, just as Adam gave birth from his own rib – his wife Eve.

In the Egyptian myth, Atum is explicitly a solar deity, or an aspect of the solar deity. Early myths associate him with a primeval mound that arose from the waters of Nu, later myths associate him with the Sun – specifically, with the setting Sun. If Adam was a representation of the Sun, then the four rivers of the Garden of Eden makes perfect sense: they are the four quarters of the world, defined by the rising and setting of the Sun. Astronomically, this would be the four quarters of the year defined by the equinoxes and solstices of the Sun. The Sun represents Divine Love, and the Most Ancient Church represented by Adam were closest to heaven.

Adam’s total age of 930 years can be broken down as 30 x 31, or as stated above, 3 x 310. There happens to be a 310 year cycle related to the 19 year Metonic cycle of the Moon. Ancient calendars based on the Metonic cycle would introduce 7 leap months of 30 days for every Metonic cycle of 19 years to bring the lunar months back in line with the solar calendar. Due to a slight error in the Metonic cycle, calculating the date of a new moon would be off by 1 day every 310 years. Coincidentally, it just so happens that a dwarf planet beyond Neptune – Makemake – also has a orbital period of 310 years. A period of 930 years was probably chosen as it is one year short of 49 Metonic cycles – just as a calendar based on the Metonic cycle is one off every 310 years for calculating a new Moon.

THE PATRIARCH NOAH = THE MOON

We now come to Noah – who represents the Moon. In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the gods were shown riding through the waters of the heavenly sky in a boat – and this boat is represented by the crescent Moon. Thus Noah’s ark is not a literal boat – it’s the crescent Moon. Noah lives 950 years, which is 50 Metonic cycles of the Moon. Among the solar eclipses around the birth of Noah in 2845 B.C., the solar eclipse of 11/29/2846 B.C. passed directly over Lower Egypt. As stated above, the 912 years of the life of Seth represents 48 Metonic cycles beginning with a lunar eclipse over Upper Egypt in 3770 B.C. Whereas Seth represent a cycle of lunar eclipses that began over Upper Egypt, Noah seems to represent a cycle of solar eclipses that began over Lower Egypt.

In ancient Egypt, there was an Ennead of nine gods: Atum (Adam), Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris (Enoch), Isis, Set (Seth), and Nephthys. This may correspond with Adam and the eight generations after him up to Noah. In the myth Osiris and Isis give birth to a son – Horus – who engaged in a battle with Set. The Sun and Moon are described as the two eyes of Horus, and the Moon represents the eye that was torn out by Set. This battle continued until Egypt was divided between Horus and Set. Horus was given Lower Egypt, while Set was given Upper Egypt. As the solar eclipse in 2846 B.C. (Noah’s birth) was visible in Lower Egypt, it implies that Noah corresponds to Horus in the ancient Egyptian myth.

Horus came to represent the living Pharoah of Egypt. Horus means “falcon”, and was said to fly across the sky at the time the Sun and Moon traversed it, as the Sun and Moon were considered the two eyes of Horus. From the myth some have incorrectly described Horus as a god of the sky – the goddess Nut was the Egyptian god of the sky. More likely, Horus is the god of solar eclipses. Thus Noah represents a Metonic cycle of solar eclipses, beginning with a solar eclipse in Lower Egypt, which was ruled by Horus.

The ark of Noah, which is described as many as a boat, was actually an elongated wooden box – and as such, it is a symbolic representation of a coffin. In the Christian Church, the flood of Noah is often compared to the rite of baptism, in which one dies and is reborn again. Four males and four females entered the ark of Noah. In Egyptian mythology, Horus has four sons: Hapi, Imsety, Duamutef and Qebehsenuef – which are the four canopic jars in which various organs of a mummy are preserved. A female deity preside over each of the four canopic jars: thus when a Pharoah dies, 4 males and 4 females preside over the mummy placed in a coffin. Osirus, the father of Horus, was placed in a box and drowned in the Nile, until Isis recovered his body and posthumously gave birth to Horus. As the ark is a representation of a coffin, Noah is a symbolic representation of an ancient Church that replaced the more ancient Church of Adam.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

As shown above, the 10 patriarchs that lived before the Flood are symbolic of period of time in which the ancient Church of Adam degenerated, until it was replaced and reborn with the ancient Church of Noah. The geneaology of the patriarchs are closely related to various synodic periods of the planets of the solar system. The ancient myth of Genesis is related to aspects of Egyptian mythology, which helps confirm the astronomical relationship. The findings are partially summed up in the following table:

Patriarch	Body	Synodic Pair	Synodic Cycle
Adam	MakeMake		3 x 310 yrs
Seth	Neptune	Jupiter	48 x 19 yrs
Enosh	Uranus	Jupiter
Cainan	Saturn	Neptune	26 x 35 yrs
Mahalalel	Jupiter	Saturn,Neptune	5 x 179 yrs
Jared	Mars	Venus	6 x 5 x 32 yrs
Enoch	Earth	Saturn,Uranus	365 yrs
Methuselah	Venus	Sun	51 x 19 yrs
Lamech	Mercury	Sun	17 x 46 yrs
Noah	Moon	Sun	50 x 19 yrs

All the patriarchs have a synodic pair – except for Adam. A synodic pair, which forms a conjunction, may represent the union of male and female. Adam basically produced children from himself – his own rib, Eve. In reality Adam represents the Sun, but a period of time was chosen that matches the orbital period of Makemake. The ages of all the patriarchs are a multiple of a synodic cycle, except for Enosh. Some of the patriarchs represent more than one cycle: Seth is a Jupiter-Neptune cycle, but also is a Metonic cycle of lunar eclipses. The myth of the war between Horus and Set could represent alternating cycles of solar and lunar eclipses. Methuselah embodies the 243 year transits of Venus across the Sun, a 782 year cycle of Mercury transits across the Sun, and 51 Metonic cycles of the Moon. The ages of the patriarchs tend to be multiples of synodic periods, even so, the dates of the synodic conjunctions closely match the dates of the Biblical chronology.

Oddly, orbital periods and synodic conjunctions of Neptune, Uranus, and Makemake appear in the time periods of the geneaology. Some have pointed out that Uranus is actually a visible body, and as the ancient world observed the sky with such detail, it is surprising to some that it was not actually discovered earlier. Ancient records are sparse, but one researcher has pointed out that there is a Babylonian tablet that may mark a conjunction that was seen with Uranus in 310 B.C. (see http://www.spirasolaris.ca/sbb2c.html
). Even so, Neptune is definitely not visible, and Makemake is all but impossible to find – it was only discovered in 2005.

Josephus records in his Antiquities of the Jews that the sons of Seth made strong efforts to preserve their astronomical knowledge for posterity – and it seems that the scripture of the geneaology of the patriarchs before the Flood was also intended to fulfill this purpose. Why so? If we look at the geneaology before the Flood, its obvious there is a progression from outside our solar system, inwards towards our Sun. The name Adam means “man” or “earth” and was associated with the Sun in ancient Egypt. The patriarch Enoch was enough to represent our earth and Sun, but with Adam, it seems that the ancients wanted to represent another earth and Sun from outside our solar system. We are forced to toil on earth, exiled from the Garden of Eden. Genesis does explicitly records that the sons of God descended out of heaven in order to mate with the women of our earth, which is described in more detail in the book of Enoch. The book The Sirius Mystery, by Robert Temple, gives strong evidence of ancient extraterrestrial contact from
the star system of Sirius. According to the ancient myths, civilization was given to man by the gods. Perhaps an extraterrestrial visitation could explain the ancient knowledge Uranus, Neptune and the dwarf planet Makemake.

The Origin of Crop Circles

2008-10-25T14:36:00.001-04:00

I have been browsing the internet looking up some curious crop circles - and they are starting to grow more numerous and more complicated by the year. Most assume these crop circles can easily be formed by crushing the wheat stalks under foot, but the crop circles show no signs of being crushed - instead, the stalk stems show signs of being heated by electro-magnetic radiation. I have always known that fact, but I just came across a couple of amazing youtube videos showing balls of light forming crop circles - and conclusive scientific evidence confirming this fact. Maybe we should start paying attention to these doodles in our crop fields perhaps? Take a look at these (stop the music player up on top first).

The Myth of the Galactic Center

2008-10-09T14:32:00.000-04:00

Just as the Bible contains parables containing hidden spiritual truths, so ancient myths preserve ancient knowledge in symbolic form. The book The Sirius Mystery, by Robert Temple, shows that ancient myths contained detailed knowledge of our universe and ancient extraterrestrial visitations. From ancient times the Dogon tribe knew that the star Sirius was orbited by a dark star, invisible to the naked eye, and confirmed only recently by modern astronomy. Evidence indicates that this African tribe inherited this knowledge from ancient Egypt.

There is perhaps another set of myths that preserve ancient knowledge concerning our Galactic center. The center of the galaxy, from our viewpoint, lies in the constellation of Sagittarius. The galactic center was discovered only recently, as it is hidden in a cloud of dust - it is pinpointed by Sagittarius A*, which some surmise is a large black hole:

Here is a picture showing where the galactic center is located:

Now, what is odd, is that the Galactic Center is located in the constellation of Sagittarius, the archer. What is even more strange, the bow and arrow of the archer point almost exactly towards the Galactic Center. Here is a map of the constellation:

In the first image, note how the Galactic center is located about one-third the distance between the star clusters M6 and M8. In the constellation map, lambda Sagittarii (Kaus Borealis) is the upper tip of the bow, epsilon Sagittarii (Kaus Australis) is the lower tip of the bow, and gamma-2 Sagittarii (Alnasl) is the tip of the arrow, this is shown by their Arabic names; Alnasl means arrowhead. Following the line formed by delta Sagittarii and Alnasl leads just above the star cluster M6; this is where the Galactic Center is located.

Some have noted this, how Sagittarius the archer is aiming his arrow at the Galactic Center. But is this a coincidence? It could in fact be a very clever preservation of knowledge concerning the spiral of the galaxy and its center: the target of an arrow would be a very good symbol for ancients to understand the concept of the image of a spiral galaxy:

In Greek myths, Sagittarius is a centaur, more specifically he is the centaur Chiron or Cheiron (Greek meaning "hand", probably refering to the hand on the bow). Most presume that this archer is pointing his bow at Scorpius. Now, in Greek myth Chiron was conceived when Cronus impregnated a nymph while he had the form of a horse. In this he was unique among other Centaurs: all other Centaurs were actually descended from the union of king Ixion and and Nephele. Thus Centaurs all all known as Ixionidae.

Now, this is where the myth gets a little too strange for coincidence. Ixion means "fiery" and Nephele means "cloud" - the Centaurs were born from a union between a sun in a cloud. According to the myth Ixion was the first man who was guilty of murdering his own family: he was thus destined to a terrible punishment. He lived as an outlaw and was shunned by all others, until Zeus took pity on him and invited him to his table. Ixion, however, desired Zeus's wife Hera. Zeus noticed this, and created a cloud in the form of Hera,, known as Nephele. Zeus thus tricked Ixion into coupling with it, and from this union the Centaurs were born. Ixion was expelled from Olympus and blasted with a thunderbolt, moreover, Zeus ordered Hermes to bind Ixion to a fiery wheel that was always spinning. Ixion was thus eternally bound to a burning solar wheel for all eternity, at first spinning across the heavens, but in later myth he was consigned to Tartarus - the abyss where the Sun descends into a darkness, a perfect reference to a black hole.

Below is an image of Ixion: an ancient myth preserving knowledge of our Galaxy, hidden in a dark cloud of interstellar dust. And Sagittarius points right to it. Not only that, the image shows Atlas bearing earth, on the edge of the wheel - and our earth is at the edge of the Galaxy. A very strange "coincidence", is it not?

I almost forgot to mention: Ixion murdered his father-in-law by pushing him to his death on a bed of fiery coals and wood. And the Galactic Center brings about the death of many stars through its strong gravitational push.

Nostradamus Prophecy on Halley's Comet and Mt. Vesuvius

2008-09-27T16:09:00.011-04:00

In addition to the Prophecies of 942 quatrains, Nostradamus published a series of yearly astrological almanacs. During his lifetime these were quite popular, but unlike the Prophecies they fell out of print as they tended to contain general statements for the year in which they were published. Chavigny, a secretary of Nostradamus, gathered these almanacs together and published the quatrains contained in the almanacs in his own work which he called the "presages" of Nostradamus. However Chavigny did not publish the prose sections of the almanacs, but in recent years some of these almanacs as well as personal notes of Chavigny have been recovered by bibliographers in France. None of this has been completely translated into English yet. I have been translating sections of these almanacs, and came across a curious statement from Chavigny's notes for the month of July from the 1555 almanac:

Original French:

Tombera du ciel un feu qui apparoistra en plusieurs païs & brulera quelque palais: le feu sera grand. A la fin de ceste Lune & une partie de l'autre, l'on doubtera en plusieurs païs la conflagration de Veseve ou de Phaethon revenir une autre fois. Combien qu'une partie de son feu est à venir infailliblement 1607.

English Translation:

A fire will fall from the sky which will appear in several countries and will burn some palace: the fire will be great. At the end of this Moon and one part of another, one will doubt in several countries the conflagration of Vesuvius or Phaethon to come again one other time. However one part of its fire is to come infallibly in 1607.

What this statement shows is that Nostradamus will occasionally drop a prophetic statement inside of these almanacs, which are for the most part worthless in terms of knowing the future. Phaethon is a mythological reference to a comet: as a son of Helios or Apollo (god of the Sun), Phaethon desired to ride the Sun's chariot for a day. As the myth goes, Phaethon lost control of the Sun's chariot and got to close to the earth which started to burn. Zeus intervened and struck down Phaethon with a thunderbolt, who then fell from the sky into the river Eridanus.

So what happened in the year 1607? This particular year is mentioned by Nostradamus in some of his other quatrains. In that year something very curious happened: in the year 1607 the comet we now know as Halley's comet made one of its periodic passes close to the earth. Halley's comet is the most famous of all comets, and passes by the earth every 75-76 years. The astronomer Edmond Halley recognized that this comet, which appeared in 1682, was similar in appearance to the comet that appeared in 1531 and 1607, and predicted its return in the year 1758. Since he was supposedly the first to recognize this, the comet was named after him. But Nostradamus beat him to it: he knew that infallibly a comet would return in 1607!

The question now is, how did Nostradamus do this? Like Edmond Halley, he probably had references to other observations of this comet, and thus concluded it would appear in 1607. Nostradamus lived during its appearance in 1531, which was also observed by the astronomer Petrus Apianus of his day. Petrus Apianus was widely published, was a favorite of Emperor Charles V, so it is likely Nostradamus read his writings. Quite likely Nostradamus knew this from astronomy, so unlike his other statements he marked this one as "infallible" - he made an astronomical calculation of his own, over 150 years before Edmond Halley. And you heard it first from me - I am not aware of anyone having noticed this statement in this almanac of Nostradamus. So perhaps we need to rename Halley's comet to the comet of Nostradamus: our history books got it wrong. Edmond Halley happened to have published the first scientific observation, but now we know that at least Nostradamus knew that this comet was to return again in 1607.

In addition to the comet of Phaethon, Nostradamus mentions the fire of the volcano Vesuvius in Italy. Comets can be predicted with accuracy, but volcanic eruptions can not. Vesuvius most famous eruption was that of 79 A.D. which buried the city of Pompey. By the time of Nostradamus, Vesuvius had been an inactive volcano since the 13th century. However, in 1631 A.D. Vesuvius erupted anew, ending its long period of silence and killing about 3,000 people. Since then it has been an active volcano. This new beginning of volcanic activity was close to the appearance of "Halley's" comet in 1607 A.D., as Nostradamus predicted.

A Prophetic Dream of the future of Europe

2008-08-30T22:21:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite books of the Bible is the book of Daniel - it contains time based prophecies concerning the end of the world age, and it predicts the development and progression of the Christian Church. There is even a time based prophecy which predicts the exact year in which the Messiah of the Jews would come - 31 A.D. - and that he would be rejected. This would be followed by an age of darkness and corruption, until new light would be given to restore God's Truth in the Church. The revelation of this Divine Truth is in fact the Second Coming: in the First Coming the Word of God was revealed in human form, but in the Second Coming the Word of God would be revealed in heavenly visions. Thus the "Son of Man" would appear in "the clouds of heaven" - not the literal sky, but in heavenly visions.

One of the first prophecies in the book of Daniel is revealed in parallel synchronous dreams - where two or more people will have the same dream, independent of one another. This is actually more common than people think - it often can be seen when one shares one's dreams with another, especially between a married couple. I strongly recommend people to share your dream with someone close to you - dreams are symbolic, and are often quite insightful into one's own personal situation.

Like most dreams, the dream explained here is quite symbolic, and has several layers of meaning. A dream may explain something in your personal life, but in fact can reveal truths that have a more wider or universal significance. Like most dreams, this particular dream has a literal fulfillment, but it also has a more spiritual meaning which would take longer to present. This dream was first presented to king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in the 6th century B.C., and he asked all of his wise men to reveal not only the interpretation of it but also the dream itself. After a period of prayer, one night the dream was then revealed to Daniel the prophet, who then gave the following interpretation to the king:

31 “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 32 This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. 37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; 38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. 39 But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. 41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”

The most accepted literal interpretation of the vision is as follows:

1. Head of Gold = the Babylonian Empire (607 - 537 B.C.)
2. Arms and breast of silver = the Persian Empire (537 - 332 B.C.)
3. Thighs of bronze = the Grecian Empire (332 - 31 B.C.)
4. Legs of iron = the Roman Empire (31 B.C. - 476 A.D.)
5. Feet of iron and clay = ?
6. Stone mountain = the Kingdom of God

Note that I leave the interpretation for the kingdom that is represented by the feet of iron and clay with a question mark - that is, it is a matter of debate what the dream vision means by this. In subsequent visions of Daniel it is explained that the 10 toes of the feet of the statue represent 10 kings or kingdoms. These 10 kingdoms also appear in the vision in the final book of Revelation. In historical interpretations of this prophecy - such as offered by Isaac Newton (yes, the one who discovered the laws of physics), or the Seventh Day Adventist Church - the 10 kingdoms represent various "barbarian" tribes of modern Germany and France which came to invade the Roman Empire and ultimately brought about its downfall. But the criteria for enumeration varies - which ones would form the 10 kingdoms? The Catholic Church, for reasons which will become apparent later, opposed the historical interpretation and proposed a futurist interpretation: the 10 kingdoms would arise some time in the future, after a long "gap" in time that is not shown in the vision. Thus many among the Protestant churches followed along, and proposed the European Union as the fulfillment of the prophecy. Then the EU expanded beyond 10 nations, and numbers around 25...so what next? The latest I have heard on this topic is that there will be a New World Order, in which all the nations of the world will be divided into 10 regions under one world government. Apparently the World Trade Organization has divided the world into 10 separate regions in order to manage trade:

Note that the above chart is out of date: it shows 15 nations in the EU, and several nations classified in the region of eastern Europe have now become part of the EU. So the list is in flux, just like the EU. And the problem with this interpretation is that it covers the world, where the dream vision of Daniel is focused on the kingdoms that have ruled over the Judeo-Christian Church.

The problem with traditional historical interpretations is that they tend to only cover the immediate period following the fall of the western Roman Empire, and the problem with the futuristic interpretation is that...well it is always in the future, and the interpretation keeps changing. I think that a historical perspective is close to the mark, as the vision covers successive kingdoms, with no time gap. Thus my opinion is an amalgamation of the first two interpretations: the 10 kingdoms should be successors to the Roman Empire (thus they are partly composed of iron), and yet they should co-exist somewhat to the end time. The most simplest explanation is that they represent successive kingdoms in Europe that arose after the fall of the Roman Empire. If we look at the foreign kingdoms that have had control over the former Roman Empire, especially Rome, we have the following:

1. Vandals (435-534) - sacked Rome in 455 A.D.
2. Ostrogoths (493-552) and Visigothic kingdom (418-711) - sacked Rome in 410 A.D.
3. Langobards (568-774) - abolished the Exarchate of Ravenna in 751 A.D.
4. Carolingan (774-924)
5. Holy Roman Empire (951-1125)
6. Kingdom of Sicily / Kingdom of Naples (1127-1443)
7. Spanish Empire (1516-1713)
8. Austro-Habsburg Empire (1713-1796)
9. Napoleon (1796-1870)
10. Nazi Germany / EU (1939-present)

What is interesting about this proposal is that it combines elements of the traditional historical interpretation with that of the futuristic interpretation, especially ones which propose the European Union as the fulfillment of the prophecy. I have counted the Visigothic kingdom and Ostrogothic kingdom as one, as in reality they were both belonged to the Goths, but were in separate regions. They were in fact united under Theodoric the Great for a while. I did not include periods of time when Italy was ruled by its own local rulers. Also I have combined Nazi Germany with that of the EU - they are in fact completely separate forms of government, but the goal of the Nazi party was to actually create a united Europe. The European Union was created as a result of World War II.

An interesting pattern emerges from this solution: the first five kingdoms are repeated in the latter five kingdoms, separated by a period of about 1000 years:

Vandals (435-534) <-----> Kingdom of Sicily/Naples (1127-1443)
Ostrogoths/Visigoths (493-711) <----> Spanish Empire (1516-1713)
Langobards (568-774) <-----> Austro-Habsburg Empire (1713-1796)
Carolingan (774-924) <-----> Napoleon (1796-1870)
Holy Roman Empire (951-1125) <---> Germany & EU (1939 - present)

This is actually revealed in the dream vision, with 5 toes on one foot a mirror image of 5 toes on the other foot. The Vandals controlled the Mediterranean from north Africa. The Normans setup a similar kingdom in southern Italy to control the Mediterranean. The Gothic kingdom was split between Spain and Italy - so was the Spanish Empire 1000 years later. Napoleon's Empire came 1000 years after the Franks established an empire 1000 years before him. Hitler's Third Reich was established 1000 years after the First Reich - that of the Holy Roman Empire. What seems to be the pattern here is that history moves in cycles - but can the 1000 year period be a coincidence? Or is it somehow related to the prophecy of the millenium in the book of Revelation?

Another problem is solved with the following prophecy in a later vision of Daniel, where three of the first 10 kingdoms (represented by 10 horns of a beast) get overthrown by a religious leader (represented by a little horn):

The ten horns are ten kings
Who shall arise from this kingdom.
And another shall rise after them;
He shall be different from the first ones,
And shall subdue three kings.
He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,
Shall persecute the saints of the Most High,
And shall intend to change times and law.
Then the saints shall be given into his hand
For a time and times and half a time. (Dan. 7:24-25)

If we look at the list of the 10 kingdoms, the first three are the Vandals, the Goths, and the Langobards. What religious leader overthrew them? The Papacy. It just so happens that these first three kingdoms were Arian, whereas all the others were Trinitarian in their belief. "Arian" is somewhat of a misnomer, it merely means that they were non-Trinitarian and monotheistic. This is something that Isaac Newton had concluded in his private notes on the book of Daniel: the overthrow of the first three kingdoms represented the triumph of the Nicene Creed over Arianism.

Arianism is in fact incorrect, in that it proposes that Jesus Christ was a created being from sometime back before the creation of the world. The truth of the matter is that the early church regarded the conception of Jesus by the virgin Mary as the origin of his creation. Before that there was only the Word of God. He is in fact the Lord, Jehovah incarnate in human form. This truth was distorted by both the Arian heresy and the Nicene Creed.

This is the literal interpretation: there is a more symbolic interpretation. A "king" in scripture can represent something in regards to truth, as a king is responsible for enforcing the law. The 10 kingdoms can thus represent the 10 Commandments of the Law of Moses. The first 3 commandments concern the worship of one God, Jehovah. These three commandments were overthrown by the Catholic Church (and Byzantine Empire) in proposing the Nicene Creed as "orthodox". This was in fact the beginning of the "abomination of desolation" that Jesus predicted would eventually enter the Christian Church. Thus it is predicted that this religious leader would deceive the saints of the Church for a long period of time - and for the most part this continues to the present day.

A Dream of America and Iran

2008-07-31T23:40:00.000-04:00

I had this very odd dream:

I was taken on an overseas trip, and before I realized it I was in Iran. I couldn't believe I ended up here as a group of us now had to figure out a story to cover up I was American. It was very nice, the people were quite friendly actually - I was in some open courtyard (or large open house), with a garden. However among the friendly people there one man in particular took notice of me and suspected I was American. He wanted to talk to me but I kept avoiding him. One of my friends told him, "Oh, he is Canadian". Eventually I had to give him some answers, but he was extremely irritated and quite stupid. He said he was from Lebanon, after that he refused to answer my questions. It was obvious he belonged to Iran's intelligence/religious group. He turned into more of a nuisance than anything else. Another lady at the house was much smarter and knew I was American, and hated me for it. I detected that and explained to her that in 2003 I was telling everyone that our governments story for the war was a complete lie, and I was against it. In another scene, I started to stare at a picture on a wall and it was a deep Persian blue.

Then and a group of people decided to take me on a trip. We were in Tehran. We were at some former palace with a stone walkway, and there were a lot of Russians there. When I asked where we were headed, someone pointed to a huge tall mountain. A pathway wrapped around it, and it wrapped around the mountain nine times. I felt the number nine was a mythological reference, either to Odin or ancient Zoroastrian mythology.

During this dream, I encountered another man who was a deadly enemy - of a magical sort. He had some ornament, which when he put on made him extremely powerful. At some point I found a black ring, and when he put on his ornament, I went ahead and put on the ring. He would then try to use his power, but then I would use the ring's power to counteract it. We constantly battled, both of us were equal and could not defeat each other. We would fight, break off for a while, fight again, to no avail. The ring gave power to a sword I used.

We proceeded on the journey to the mountain. It was very high, and the top was constantly covered with clouds. Although everyone had decided this was a tourist trip, my mission was to go to the top of the mountain. however we only circled it two times, and then went back. Part of it was dangerous. I realized I had to eventually go to the very top of the mountain, leave the ring at the top, and create a volcano. I realized that this mountain was Mount Doom. The volcano was going to be a huge disaster, but it was actually going to protect the Iranian people. The volcano was going to be a disaster for America, who would get so involved in handling the disaster at home that America could no longer think about going to war abroad - especially against Iran.

I then encountered that magician again - and this time he had collected more black ornaments then me, and I had misplaced my ring. He was more powerful then me this time, and as I thought about surrendering I then woke up. I sent this dream to an Iranian friend of mine, he sent this video in response:

The Kurds and the Lost Tribes of Israel

2008-04-26T23:51:00.001-04:00

While in Turkey here I have met several Kurds - I spent one day in one of their businesses helping them remove a virus from a computer. The Kurds, as many now know, dwell in northern Iraq, but they are also spread out in north-west Iran and south-east Turkey. In fact, many Turks are actually Kurds, but the state does not allow them to declare themselves as Kurdish or speak the Kurdish language. Here is a map showing where the Kurds dwell:

The Kurdish language is an Indo-Iranian language. They were actually forcefully converted to Islam by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, but before that they had their own religion - the Yazidi religion. This is one I have only recently heard of, it is very private among their people. Here is a description of it from Wikipedia:

In the Yazidi belief system, the world was created by a god, and the world is now in the care of a Heptad of seven Holy Beings, often known as Angels or heft sirr (the Seven Mysteries). Preeminent among these is Melek Taus (Tawûsê Melek in Kurdish), the Peacock Angel. According to the Encyclopedia of the Orient, "The reason for the Yazidis reputation of being devil worshipers, is connected to the other name of Melek Taus, Shaytan, the same name the Koran has for Satan". Furthermore, the Yazidi story regarding Malek Taus' rise to favor with God is almost identical to the story of the Islamic angel Iblis, except that Yazidis revere Malek Taus for refusing to submit to Adam, while Muslims believe that Iblis' refusal to submit caused him to fall out of Grace with God, and to later become Satan himself. However, according to the Kurdish linguist Jamal Nebez, the word Taus is most probably derived from the Greek and is related to the words Zeus and Theos, alluding to the meaning of God. Accordingly, Malek Taus is God's Angel, and this is how Yazidis themselves see Melek Taus or Taus-e-Malak

...Yazidi accounts of creation differ from that of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They believe that God first created Melek Taus from his own illumination (Ronahî in Kurdish) and the other six archangels were created later. God ordered Melek Taus not to bow to other beings. Then God created the other archangels and ordered them to bring him dust (Ax) from the Earth (Erd) and build the body of Adam. Then God gave life to Adam from his own breath and instructed all archangels to bow to Adam. The archangels obeyed except for Melek Taus. In answer to God, Malek Taus replied, "How can I submit to another being! I am from your illumination while Adam is made of dust." Then God praised him and made him the leader of all angels and his deputy on the Earth. (This likely furthers what some see as a connection to the Islamic Shaytan, as according to legend he too refused to bow to Adam at God's command, though in this case it is seen as being a sign of Shaytan's sinful pride.) Hence the Yazidis believe that Melek Taus is the representative of God on the face of the Earth, and comes down to the Earth on the first Wednesday of Nisan (March/April). Yazidis hold that God created Malek Taus on this day, and celebrate it as New Year's day. Yazidis argue that the order to bow to Adam was only a test for Melek Taus, since if God commands anything then it must happen. (Bibe, dibe). In other words, God could have made him submit to Adam, but gave Taus the choice as a test. They believe that their respect and praise for Melek Taus is a way to acknowledge his majestic and sublime nature. This idea is called "Knowledge of the Sublime" (Zanista Ciwaniyê).

This solved one mystery: I always wondered where Muhammed got his story about Satan in the Koran, because it certainly did not come from the Bible. Yet again, as he could not read, he confused the story.

The Yazidi religion has a belief in purity laws and reincarnation:

Two key and interrelated features of Yazidism are: a) a preoccupation with religious purity and b) a belief in metempsychosis. The first of these is expressed in the system of caste, the food laws, the traditional preferences for living in Yazidi communities, and the variety of taboos governing many aspects of life. The second is crucial; Yazidis traditionally believe that the Seven Holy Beings are periodically reincarnated in human form, called a koasasa .A belief in the reincarnation of lesser Yazidi souls also exists. Like the Ahl-e Haqq, the Yazidis use the metaphor of a change of garment to describe the process, which they call kiras guhorîn in Kurdish (changing the garment). Alongside this, Yazidi mythology also includes descriptions of heaven and hell, with hell extinguished, and other traditions incorporating these ideas into a belief system that includes reincarnation.

The Yazidi religion includes a yearly pilgrimage in September/October (the month of Tishri), and they have a sacred rite of sacrificing an ox:

The most important ritual is the annual seven-day pilgrimage to the tomb of Sheikh Adi in Lalish, north of Mosul, Iraq.^[12]^[14] A sacred microcosm of the world, as it were, it contains not only many shrines dedicated to the koasasa, but a number of other landmarks corresponding to other sites or symbols of significance in other faiths, including Pirra selat (Serat Bridge) and a mountain called Mt. Arafat. The two sacred springs are called Zamzam and Kaniya sipî (The White Spring). If possible, Yazidis make at least one pilgrimage to Lalish during their lifetime, and those living in the region try to attend at least once a year for the autumn Feast of the Assembly which is celebrated from 23rd of Elul (September) to 1st of Tishrei (October). During the celebration, Yazidi bathe in the river, wash figures of Malek Ta'us and light hundreds of lamps in the tombs of Sheikh Adî and other saints. They also sacrifice an ox, which is one reason they have been connected to Mithraism, in addition to the presence of the dog and serpent in their iconography. The sacrifice of the ox is meant to declare the arrival of Fall and to ask for precipitation during winter in order to bring back life to the Earth in the next Spring. Moreover, in astrology, the ox is the symbol of Tishrei.

One thing I was told, that the Kurds have this unusual custom: if a wife's husband should die and she did not bear him any children, it was customary for one of the husband's brother to marry her to bear children. This custom is actually an ancient Jewish law, given to them by Moses.

So where do these Kurds come from? One theory is that they may actually be the 10 lost tribes of Israel. The Jews of today are descended from the two southern tribes (Judah and Benjamin), but the ten northern tribes were conquered by Assyria in the 8th century B.C., and settled in the exact same area where the Kurds dwell. The Yazidi religion traces their descent from Adam, moreover they have a yearly pilgrimage in the month of September/October, which is the same time as one of the Jewish festivals required Jews to attend the temple in Jerusalem. Ancient Israel did not follow Jewish laws: instead they reverted to paganim, and worshipped an ox instead - which would be another explanation for their sacrifice of an ox.

The Prophecy of the Millenium

2008-04-19T23:54:00.002-04:00

The Literal Identity of Gog and Magog: Turkey and the Ottoman Empire

The prophecy of the Millenium mentions the nations of "Gog and Magog". Gog and Magog are also mentioned in more detail in a prophecy in Ezekiel 38 and 39 (given in the 6th century B.C.) – and here the identity of Gog and Magog is specified in detail.

This was a long term prophecy that would be fulfilled many years later:

After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. (Eze. 38:8-9)

In several false interpretations, especially during the Cold War era, many misinterpreted this prophecy as predicting an assault on the new state of Israel by Russia and the surrounding nations. However in the spiritual sense, Israel represents the Christian Church, gathered together out of many nations. The Judaic nation was but a symbolic representation of the spiritual Church. And Russia is not even mentioned in the prophecy – instead it focuses on the coming of the Turks, and the eventual rise of the Ottoman Empire.

Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him (Eze. 38:2)

Gog has been identified as the king Gyges (Gu-gu in Assyrian tablets) who reigned over the kingdom of Lydia from 687 – 652 B.C. Magog means the "land of Gog" so it may refer to this kingdom in Anatolia, modern Turkey. Josephus identified Magog with the Scythians, who dwelled north of the Black Sea. Here is a map of Lydia under Croesus in its final period in the 6th century B.C.:

Meschech is identified by Josephus with the Cappadocian Mochoi and their capital Mazaca, which is the city Kayseri in modern Turkey.

The Cappadocian Mochoi are the ancient tribe of the Mushki, identified in ancient Assyrian sources. Some connect them to the Georgian tribe of the Meskhi, and others to the Moschoi of Greek sources. The Moschoi have been identified with Georgians and Armenians. According to the Wikipedia:

"Two different groups are called Muški in the Assyrian sources (Diakonoff 1984:115), one from the 12th to 9th centuries, located near the confluence of the Arsanias and the Euphrates ("Eastern Mushki"), and the other in the 8th to 7th centuries, located in Cilicia ("Western Mushki"). Assyrian sources identify the Western Mushki with the Phrygians, while Greek sources clearly distinguish between Phrygians and Moschoi."

As for Tubal, Josephus identified him as the ancestor to the Iberians. Subsequent authors took this to mean Tubal was the ancestor to the Iberians who settled in Italy and Spain. This is probably incorrect, and Josephus probably meant the Caucasian Iberians, which is in the region of modern Georgia:

There was a Luwian tribe known as Tabali who inhabited Anatolia from the 3rd to 1st millenium B.C., which is sometimes identified with Tubal. In the eighth century B.C. Tabal entered into an alliance with the Mushki against Assyria. So again, Tubal refers to an ancient tribe that dwelled in the modern region of Turkey.

Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. (Eze. 38:6)

Gomer refers to the Cimmerians, who first appear in history when they invaded the kingdom of Urartu in 714 B.C. They ultimately settled in the modern region of Turkey. Togarmah is either identified as the ancestor of Armenians, Cappadocians, Phyrgians or even the Turks themselves.

All of the regions mentioned above became subject to the Seljuk Turks and subsequently the Ottoman Empire. The "chief prince of Meschech and Tubal" is thus the Ottoman Empire. In addition, the prophecy specifies other nations will be allied with Gog and Magog: Persia (modern Iran), Ethiopia (Egypt) and Libya.

Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet (Eze. 38:5)

The following shows a map of the Seljuk Empire, which included the region of Persia:

As for Egypt and Libya, the Ottoman Empire invaded this area in the 16th century. The empire eventually covered a portion of Persia. The following map shows the gradual expansion of the Ottoman Empire, until it included both Egypt and Persia:

The Arab Empire of Islam

In the prophecy of the invasion of Gog and Magog, the Arabs are mentioned, in which they are surprised at the coming invasion:

Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? (Eze. 38:13)

Sheba and Dedan refer to the Arabs – which makes this prophecy even more specific, as it just so happens that a large Arab Empire was in control of the Middle East before the coming of the Seljuk Empire. Christians coexisted peacefully with these Muslims – but with the coming of the Seljuk Turks, Christian worship in the Holy Land began to be prohibited. What makes this prophecy interesting is that one identification for Tarshish places it in southern Spain, and the Arab Empire spanned all the way to the Straits of Gibralter, and at one point even included southern Spain:

Ultimately, the Arabs would become allies with the British to help bring about the downfall of the Ottoman Empire.

The Spiritual Meaning of the Millenium

The millenium is a 1000 year period described in the book of Revelation, in which Satan is bound after which a final judgement takes place.

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (Rev. 20:1-3)

In the spiritual world, there are periodic last judgements that take place in an area between heaven and hell, which Swedenborg called the "world of spirits". Before a judgement can take place, the evil spirits (signified by "devil" and "Satan") must be bound in an area so that they can not communicate with these spirits to be judged in order to deceive them. The angel here is the Divine Operation itself, as Jesus is described as having the keys to hell and death (Rev. 1:18). Thus this describes the spiritual judgement that was executed after Jesus was crucified (see my previous blog, "Jesus the Shaman – Descent into the Underworld").

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Rev. 20:4-6)

Upon death, we will encounter a Light, and our own conscience will judge every act we have committed. However, there are certain souls that are not ready for death, and are not thus not ready to be judged. They enter into a period of sleep, before a choice is made between heaven or hell. In the spiritual world periodic last judgements are made upon these souls that are in a sleep – they are awakened, and all are judged collectively.

A "throne" is not a literal throne – it is a symbol for when the Divine Truth is opened and allowed to judge the actions of these spirits. Some religions falsely assume certain people will be put on thrones to judge others, but only God has that authority. To be "beheaded" does not mean to have one's head cut off, instead it means to be rejected by others, who use the falsities of their own intelligence. It is the people who are rejected by those who follow false religion – "the beast and the false prophet". To reign with Christ represents that they will ascend to live with God in his heavenly kingdom. It does not mean that there will be a thousand year political kingdom here on earth.

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Rev. 20:7-10)

In the second phase of judgement, the evil spirits are loosed, who then go forth to gather others who remained in the world of spirits who knew nothing of spirituality or religion – this is represented by "Gog and Magog". Those who have no knowledge can be easily deceived, and incited to do evil. And here they are incited to spurn and reject everything related to God and his worship – this is described as an assault on the holy city. Due to this, their spiritual state changes, and they cast themselves downward into hell – this is fire from God out of heaven. Apparently when heavenly light is allowed to enter into the middle region between heaven and hell, there is a corresponding reaction afterwards as hell then ascends upward with its darkness into this same region. Thus last judgements can only happen periodically.

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:11-15)

According to Swedenborg, in this phase the spirits of the lower heavens are judged – those who simulated civil moral good in appearance, but in their heart desired evil. The reason why such spirits are allowed in the lower heavens for a period of time is that those who are in simple good follow them, and have such an influence that they can help these other spirits reach heaven. They were judged so that a new Church could be formed – one that worshipped one God, and lived according to his commandments – this is described as a new heaven and earth, and a New Jerusalem which descends out of heaven.

In Swedenborg's vision, this particular Last Judgement began to take place in the year 1757, with particular focus on those who were Christian in appearance only. No physical sign was given that this took place – except for the fact that towards the end of the 18th century the political power of the Catholic Church was destroyed by the nations of Europe.

The Time Period of the Millenium

Swedenborg did not interpret the Millenium as a literal 1000 year period. However, what the prophecy of Ezekiel shows is that the prophecy of Gog and Magog was fulfilled with the rise of the Seljuk Empire (1037 – 1194 A.D.), followed by the Ottoman Empire (1299 – 1918 A.D.). The Seljuk Empire brought an end to the last Christian kingdom in the Middle East (the Byzantine Empire) in 1071 A.D. in the Battle of Manzikert, after which they took most of the area of modern Turkey. Many historian consider this critical battle to be the actual end of the empire, rather than the fall of Constantinople four centuries later. The period of the Millenium thus represents the age of the rise of Christianity: from 71 A.D. to 1071 A.D. It begins with the final fall of Judaism, with the destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Romans in 70-71 A.D., forty years after the crucifixion of Jesus (the true temple).

The reason why the Millenium began in 71 A.D. with the total destruction of the Temple, rather than 31 A.D. (the crucifixion of Jesus), is that in prophecy there was a 40 year judgement period of the Jews from 31 to 71 A.D. This 40 year period is mentioned in several texts and prophecies – including perhaps the Dead Sea scrolls. Probably several will be surprised that the Millenium ended in the past many centuries ago. Thus certain details of the prophecy of Gog and Magog need to be explained in more detail.

The Final Judgement on Gog and Magog

In the preceding chapter to the prophecy of Gog and Magog, Ezekiel 37 describes a union between the tribes of Israel and Judah. According to Swedenborg, the spiritual sense of this chapter represents the establishment of the Christian Church by the Lord. Many think it represents the Jewish state of Israel, which is false, and thus place the prophecy some time in the future. Gog and Magog, in the spiritual sense, signifies people who only have an external form of worship, but no internal spiritual worship: they go through the rituals, but that's it as far as the understanding goes. The assault of the Turkish peoples on those of the Christian West lasted for several centuries following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 A.D., ending with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. Towards the end, the prophecy states that the weapons of Gog and Magog will be burned for a period of seven years:

And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years (Eze. 39:9)

The burning of weapons for seven years is symbolic: the weapons signify falsities that are used to attack the truths of the Church, a seven year period signifies a complete period from beginning to end, and for the weapons to be burned by fire signifies that their own falsity will lead them to self destruction. Those who interpret this literally have trouble explaining the burning of wood for seven years. However in a literal sense, it signifies that the Ottoman Empire will fall after a seven year war: such a period came about from 1911 to 1918 A.D. World War I lasted from 1914-1918 A.D., but the Ottoman Empire was involed in three wars before that: the Italo-Turkish War (1911-12 A.D.), the First Balkan War (1912-13 A.D.), and the Second Balkan War (1913 A.D.) And since then, the Ottoman Empire was transformed into the modern democratic state of Turkey. Despite the constant wars of the past, the Turks are well known for being one of the friendliest nations on earth today. Whenever narrow minded religious people try to turn Turkey back to an Islamic state, the military intervenes and kicks out the radical religious people. This was foretold by Ezekiel. Turkey is unique among the nations of the Middle East.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. (Eze. 39:11-12)

The cleansing of the land, in a spiritual sense, means the restoration of the Church. During the period of World War I, the Pentecostal movement began – the reason why I consider it as part of a restoration is that they restore the doctrine of the Church that God is One, One in person – quite similar to what was revealed to Swedenborg. "Hamongog" simply means the multitude of Gog. During World War I there were massive amounts of deaths, and it took a long time to bury the dead. In the spiritual sense, this means the death of one age and the beginning of another.

Many speak of the battle of Armageddon – which in a spiritual sense is the final battle between light and darkness when the Church is restored. However there was a historical event which may represent this spiritual battle: the Battle of Megiddo between the British and the Ottoman Empire in 1918 A.D. The name of Armageddon comes from the hill of Megiddo. This battle, along with the literal restoration of the state of Israel, are physical signs given to indicate that the final judgement and Second Coming is no longer in the future – it has already happened. This has happened in the spiritual world, as seen in the visions of Swedenborg. The first coming was a revelation of the Divine Truth in human form. The second coming is a revelation of the hidden Divine Truth in the Biblical Word itself - the spiritual sense behind the literal form, revealed in visions to Swedenborg. Some of this can be seen in my former blogs, hopefully I will have time to show more...

Jesus the Shaman - Descent into the Underworld

2008-02-22T00:08:00.001-05:00

WHAT IS SHAMANISM?

Shamanism is a form of healing found across the world in many ancient cultures. When first encountered by the west, shamans were commonly refered to as "witch doctors". So what does this have to do with Jesus Christ? A lot, actually - which seems ironic as you would think Christianity and the belief system of a "witch doctor" has nothing in common. Shamans - good or bad - are in touch with the spiritual world. It is not all superstition, as I once saw a documentary of a shaman who hypnotized a man to be a badger of sorts, who then went underwater and came out after a few minutes with a live fish between his teeth. This man could then eat roots that were not harmful to the animal, but were deadly poison to humans. Before the shaman took him out of his trance, he made sure he removed all traces of the poisonous root from his teeth to ensure he did not die when he awoke.

This is the wikipedia defintion of Shamanism:

"Shamanism refers to a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. There are many variations of shamanism throughout the world, though there are some beliefs that are shared by all forms of shamanism:

The spirits can play important roles in human lives.
The shaman can control and/or cooperate with the spirits for the community's benefit.
The spirits can be either good or bad.
Shamans engage various processes and techniques to incite trance; such as: singing, dancing, taking entheogens, meditating and drumming.
Animals play an important role, acting as omens and message-bearers, as well as representations of animal spirit guides.
The shaman's spirit leaves the body and enters into the supernatural world during certain tasks.
The shamans can treat illnesses or sickness.
Shamans are healers, gurus and magicians.

Shamans have the ability to diagnose and cure human suffering and, in some societies, the ability to cause suffering. This is believed to be accomplished by traversing the axis mundi and forming a special relationship with, or gaining control over, spirits. Shamans have been credited with the ability to control the weather, divination, the interpretation of dreams, astral projection, and traveling to upper and lower worlds. Shamanistic traditions have existed throughout the world since prehistoric times."

So are the abilities of a shaman similar to that of Jesus Christ? Yes, they are identical. Jesus was a healer. He could command the weather. He foretold the future. He had control over spirits, and cured many demoniacs. Many shamans will gain control over a spirit in order to gain more power. In this case, Jesus was different - he had the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. Without understanding this, many will not understand the most essential belief in Christianity - why he had to die and rise from the dead. Shamans have a unique understanding of Jesus - to such an extent that they would often call him the world's greatest Shaman. One shaman - who happened to use his powers for ill - asked his spirits about Jesus Christ when he became aware of him from a missionary. His own spirits knew of him, and feared him. He later converted.

The scholar Morton Smith came close to understanding this, and wrote a book entitled Jesus the Magician. It has excellent research, but unfortunately, it was written with a hostile point of view. Although he compared Jesus to magicians of the ancient world, he did not compare Jesus to the practice of Shamanism. The Jewish pharisees of course accused Jesus of black magic, and said he was possessed by a demon. This accusation is even recorded in the Talmud.

DESCENT INTO THE UNDERWORLD

One of the most dangerous practices of a shaman is to enter a trance, leave his body, and enter the realm of the underworld. If not undertaken properly, the shaman could actually never return to his body and die. For a description of this, here is a quote from Shamanism: An Introduction, by Margaret Stutley:

"Few shamans are capable of descending into the underworld; it is usually the specialty of 'Black Shamans' who are able to deal with powerful hostile spirits and demonic influences. However, whether the shaman is ascending or descending, his soul leaves his body. Accompanied by his helping spirits and the souls of his ancestors he makes a vertical descent from the Earth...until finally he reaches the seventh level, the source of the nine underworld rivers. Here is situated the heavily defended stone and black clay palace of Erlik, ruler of the dead. Dogs guard the palace and its domains. These dogs are reminiscent of the Greek Cerberus and the Indic Sarameyas who guard the way to the dead. Goldi shamans can not undertake the subterranean journey without the bird spirit that ensures their safe return to earth. Eliade suggests that Erlik's underworld is based on an Irano-Indian model.

...During the underworld journey the shaman often appears to be dead. An Alaskan shaman related that he had been dead for two days, during which time he traversed the well-trodden path of the dead and heard the weeping and wailing of the living. Finally he came to a village where two shades took him into a house where a bright fire was burning with meat in a pot boiling on it. He was warned not to eat the meat; otherwise he would be unable to return to earth. He resumed his journey, coming down to his own grave, whereupon he re-entered his body which came back to life. Then he returned to his village and recounted his adventures". (pages 34-35).

THE DESCENT OF JESUS INTO THE UNDERWORLD

The fact that Jesus descended into the underworld, just like a shaman does in order to heal others, is often glossed over by most Christians who just concentrate on his death on the cross. But it is mentioned in several key passages:

"And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people." (Matt. 27:50-53)

For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days on Noah. (1 Pet 3:18-20)

For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit. (1 Pet 4:6)

Jesus himself said he came to render judgement upon the dead:

"I tell you the truth, a time is coming, and has now come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgement is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me." (John 5:25-30)

So it is clear that he descended into the underworld, about which the Bible says scarcely anything. Instead, scripture tended to concentrate on the historical facts - that he died, and rose from the dead, and after that, the Holy Spirit became available to his followers. These passages would be a mere curiosity, except that the descent of Jesus into the underworld were seen by two great Christian visonaries: Anne Catherine Emmerich and Emanuel Swedenborg.

THE VISIONS OF ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH

Anne Catherine Emmerich was a nun who lived from 1774-1824 A.D. and lived in Westphalia, Germany. From the year 1812 to her death she bore the stigmata of the Lord, including a cross over her heart and wounds from the crown of thorns. During the last five years of her life her visions and mystical experiences were recorded by Clemens Brentano. Her visions mainly concerned the past, and confirm many Biblical events, and also contain a wealth of information not found in the Bible. She has recently been made popular by Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion - which is largely based on her recorded visions. Before that, she became well known when some Catholics took information from her visions and were able to locate the house of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus Turkey.

Her visions mainly concerned the life and work of Jesus Christ, and she had some words to say about his descent into hell after his death on the cross. The following is taken from The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations, a record of all her visions, edited by Carl E. Schmoger:

"When my meditation turned to the Blessed virgin dwelling in thought upon our Saviour, I sometimes saw the holy tomb and about seven guards sitting or standing opposite the entrance. Close to the doors of the rocky cave, in which was the real tomb, the tomb proper, stood Cassius. He moved not from the spot, he was silent and recollected. I saw the closed doors of the tomb and the stone lying before them. But through the doors, I could see the body of the Lord lying just as it had been left. It was environed with light and splendor, and rested between two adoring angels, one at the head, the other at the foot. When my thoughts turned to the holy soul of our Redeemer, there was vouchsafed me a vision of His descent into Hell so great, so extended, that I have been able to retain only a very small portion. I shall, however, relate what I can of it.

"When Jesus with a loud cry gave up His most holy soul, I saw it as a luminous figure surrounded by angels, among them Gabriel, penetrating the earth at the foot of the holy cross. I saw His Divinity united with His soul, while at the same time, it remained united to His body hanging on the cross. I cannot express how this was. I saw the place whither the soul of Jesus went. It seemed to be divided into three parts. It was like three worlds, and I had a feeling that it was round, and that each one of those places was a kind of locality, a sphere separated from the others.

"Just in front of Limbo, there was a bright, cheerful tract of country clothed in verdure. It is into this that I always see the souls released from Purgatory entering before being conducted to Heaven. The Limbo in which were the souls awaiting Redemption was encompassed by a gray, foggy atmosphere, and divided into different circles. The Saviour, resplendent and conducted in triumph by angels, pressed on between two of these circles. The one on the left contained the souls of the Leaders of the people down to Abrabam, that on the right, the souls from Abraham to John the Baptist. Jesus went on between these two circles. They knew Him not, but all were filled with joy and ardent desire. It was as if this place of anxious, distressed longing was suddenly enlarged. The Redeemer passed through them like a refreshing breeze, like light, like dew, quickly like the sighing of the wind. The Lord passed quickly between these two circles to a dimly lighted place in which were our first parents, Adam and Eve. He addressed them, and they adored Him in unspeakable rapture. The procession of the Lord, accompanied by the first human beings, now turned to the left, to the Limbo of the Leaders of God's people before the time of Abraham. This was a species of Purgatory, for here and there were evil spirits, who in manifold ways worried and distressed some of those souls. The angels knocked and demanded admittance. There was an entrance, because there was a going in; a gate, because there was an unlocking; and a knocking, because the One that was coming had to be announced. It seemed to me that I heard the angel call out: "Open the gates! Open the doors!" Jesus entered in triumph, while the wicked spirits retired, crying out: "What hast Thou to do with us? What dost Thou want here? Art Thou now going to crucify us?" and so on. The angels bound them and drove them before them. The souls in this place had only a vague idea of Jesus, they knew Him only slightly; but when He told them clearly who He was, they broke forth into songs of praise and thanksgiving. And now the soul of the Lord turned to the circle on the right, to Limbo proper. There He met the soul of the good thief going under the escort of angels into Abraham's bosom, while the bad thief, encompassed by demons, was being dragged down into Hell. The soul of Jesus addressed some words to both and then, accompanied by a multitude of angels, of the redeemed, and by those demons that were driven out of the first circle, went likewise into the bosom of Abraham.

"This space, or circle, appeared to me to lie higher than the other. It was as if a person climbed from the earth the churchyard up into the church itself. The evil spirits struggled in their chains, and wanted not to enter, but the angels forced them on. In this second circle were all the holy Israelites to the left, the Patriarchs, Moses, the Judges, the Kings; on the right, the Prophets and all the ancestors of Jesus, as also His relatives down to Joachim, Anne, Joseph, Zachary, Elizabeth, and John. There were no demons in this circle, no pain nor torment, only the ardent longing for the fulfillment of the Promise now realized. Unspeakable felicity and rapture inundated these souls as they saluted and adored the Redeemer, and the demons in their fetters were forced to confess before them their ignominious defeat. Many of the souls were sent up to resuscitate their bodies from the tomb and in them to render ocular testimony to the Lord. This was the moment in which so many dead came forth from their tombs in Jerusalem. They looked to me like walking corpses. They laid their bodies again upon the earth, just as a messenger of justice lays aside his mantle of office after having fulfilled his superior's commands.

"I now saw the Saviour's triumphant procession entering another sphere lower than the last. It was the abiding place of pious pagans who, having had some presentiment of truth, had ardently sighed after it. It was a kind of Purgatory, a place of purification. There were evil spirits here, for I saw some idols. I saw the evil spirits compelled to confess the deception they had practiced. I saw the blessed spirits rendering homage to the Saviour with touching expressions of joy. Here, too, the demons were chained by the angels and driven forward before them.

"And thus I saw the Redeemer passing rapidly through these numerous abodes and freeing the souls therein confined. He did a great many other things, but in my present miserable state I am unable to relate them.

"At last I saw Him, His countenance grave and severe, approaching the center of the abyss, namely, Hell itself. In shape it looked to me like an immeasurably vast, frightful, black stone building that shone with a metallic luster. Its entrance was guarded by immense, awful-looking doors, black like the rest of the building, and furnished with bolts and locks that inspired feelings of terror. Roaring and yelling most horrible could plainly be heard, and when the doors were pushed open, a frightful gloomy world was disclosed to view.

"As I am accustomed to see the heavenly Jerusalem under the form of a city, and the abodes of the blessed therein under various kinds of palaces and gardens full of wonderful fruits and flowers, all according to the different degrees of glory, so here I saw everything under the appearance of a world whose buildings, open spaces, and various regions were all closely connected. But all proceeded from the opposite of happiness, all was pain and torment. As in the sojourns of the blessed all appears formed upon motives and conditions of infinite peace, eternal harmony and satisfaction, so here are the disorder, the malformation of eternal wrath, disunion, and despair.

"As in Heaven there are innumerable abodes of joy and worship, unspeakably beautiful in their glittering transparency, so here in Hell are gloomy prisons without number, caves of torment, of cursing, and despair. As in Heaven there are gardens most wonderful to behold, filled with fruits that afford divine nourishment, so here in Hell there are horrible wildernesses and swamps full of torture and pain and of all that can give birth to feelings of detestation, of loathing, and of horror. I saw here temples, altars, palaces, thrones, gardens, lakes, streams, all formed of blasphemy, hatred, cruelty, despair, confusion, pain, and torture, while in Heaven all is built up of benedictions, of love, harmony, joy, and delight. Here is the rending, eternal disunion of the damned; there is the blissful communion of the saints. All the roots of perversity and untruth are here cultivated in countless forms and deeds of punishment and affliction. Nothing here is right, no thought brings peace, for the terrible remembrance of divine justice casts every damned soul into the pain and torment that his own guilt has planted for him. All that is terrible here, both in appearance and reality, is the nature, the form, the fury of sin unmasked, the serpent that now turns against those in whose bosom it was once nourished. I saw there also frightful columns erected for the sole purpose of creating feelings of horror and terror, just as in the Kingdom of God they are intended to inspire peace and the sentiment of blissful rest, etc. All this is easily understood, but cannot be expressed in detail.

"When the gates were swung open by the angels, one beheld before him a struggling, blaspheming, mocking, howling, and lamenting throng. I saw that Jesus spoke some words to the soul of Judas. Some of the angels forced that multitude of evil spirits to prostrate before Jesus, for all had to acknowledge and adore Him. This was for them the most terrible torment. A great number were chained in a circle around others who were in turn bound down by them. In the center was an abyss of darkness. Lucifer was cast into it, chained, and thick black vapor mounted up around him. This took place by the Divine Decree. I heard that Lucifer (if I do not mistake) will be freed again for awhile fifty or sixty years before the year 2000 A.D. I have forgotten many other dates that were told me. Some other demons are to be freed before Lucifer, in order to chastise and tempt mankind. I think that some are let loose now in our own day, and others will be freed shortly after our time.

"It is impossible for me to relate all that was shown me. It is too much, I cannot reduce it to order, I cannot arrange it. I am also so dreadfully sick. When I try to speak of these things, they rise up before my eyes, and the sight is enough to make one die.

"I saw too the redeemed souls in countless numbers leaving the places of their purification, leaving Limbo, and accompanying the soul of the Lord to a place of bliss below the heavenly Jerusalem. It was there that some time ago I saw a deceased friend of mine. The soul of the good thief entered with the rest and again saw the Lord, according to His promise, in Paradise. I saw prepared here for the delight and refreshment of the souls celestial tables such as were open shown me in visions vouchsafed for my consolation.

"I cannot say exactly the time of these events, nor their duration, neither can I repeat all that I saw and heard, because some things were incomprehensible even to myself, and others would be misunderstood. I saw the Lord in many different places, even on the seas. It seemed as if He sanctified and delivered every creature; everywhere the evil spirits fled before Him into the abyss. Then I saw the soul of the Lord visiting many places on the earth. I saw Him in Adam's tomb under Golgotha. The souls of Adam and Eve came again to Him there. He conversed with them, and I saw Him as if under the earth, going with them in many directions, visiting tomb after tomb of the Prophets. Their souls entered their bodies, and Jesus explained many mysteries to them. Then I saw Him with this chosen band, among whom was David, visiting many scenes of His own life and Passion, explaining to them the typical events that had there taken place, and with inexpressible love pointing out to them their fulfillment.

"Among other places, I saw Him with these souls at that of His Baptism, where numerous figurative events had happened. He explained them all and, deeply touched, I beheld the everlasting mercy of Jesus in permitting the grace of His own holy baptism to flow upon them for their greater advantage.

"It was unspeakably touching to see the soul of the Lord encompassed by those happy, blessed spirits shining shining through the dark eanh, through rocks, through the water and the air, and lightly floating over the surface of the ground.

"These are the few points that I can remember of my meditations, so full, so extended, upon the descent of the Lord into Hell aher His death, and of His releasing the souls of the just Patriarchs of the earliest times. But besides this vision relating to time, I saw one connected with eternity, in which I was shown His mercy toward the poor souls on this day. I saw that, every year on the solemn celebration of this day (Good Friday) by the Church, He casts upon Purgatory a glance by which many souls are released. I saw that even today, Holy Saturday, upon which day I had this contemplation, He released from their place of purification some souls that had sinned at the time of His Crucifixion. I saw today the release of many souls, some unknown and others known to me, though I cannot name any of them."

(Being in a state of ecstasy today, Sister Emmerich related what follows:)

"The first descent of Jesus into Limbo was the fulfillment of early types, and in itself a type whose fulfillment is effected by today's releasing of the poor souls. The descent into Hell that I saw was a vision of time past, but the freeing of the souls today is a lasting truth. The descent of Jesus into Hell was the planting of the tree of grace, the tree of His own sacred merits, for the poor souls; and the constant recurrence of today's releasing of those souls is the fruit brought forth by that tree of grace in the spiritual garden of the ecclesiastical year. The Church Militant must cultivate the tree and gather the fruits, in which the Church Suffering must be allowed to share, since it can do nothing for itself. So it is with all the merits of the Lord. We must labor with Him, in order to share in them. We must eat our bread in the sweat of our brow. All that Jesus did for us in time brings forth fruit for eternity, but we must in time cultivate and gather that fruit, otherwise we shall not enjoy it in eternity. The Church is a most provident mother. Her year is in time the most complete garden of fruits for eternity. Her year contains a supply sufficient for the wants of all. Woe to the slothful and faithless laborers in that garden who, in any way, allow to go to waste a grace that might have restored health to the sick, strength to the weak, or furnished food to the hungry! On the Day of Judgment the Master of the garden will demand an account of even the least blade of grass."

As to why Mel Gibson stopped short his movie and did not describe the above event- well that was a big disappointment.

THE VISIONS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

Emanuel Swedenborg lived from 1688-1772. He was a great thinker and scientist for his time, and was knowledgeable in all scientific disciplines. He studied all the physical sciences and anatomy in search for evidence of the human soul. He finally turned introspective, and started to record his dreams. He evidenced clairvoyant powers, and one of his clairvoyant visions became so well known that Immanuel Kant, a contemporary, sent someone to investigate. From the year 1745 onward his dreams turned into visions, and although he recorded many volumes, his best known work is Heaven and Hell, in which he describes the state of souls after death. In his first vision, in 1745, a spirit spoke to him about the need for God to reveal himself to a human in the manner of biblical visions as given to the prophets of the Old Testament. He spent the rest of his life recording these visions, but the topic that concerns us here is what he had to say about the descent of Jesus Christ into the region of Hell. I will sum up his basic thought on the matter, rather than to recount his visions in detail.

All angels and demons originate from the human race. The choices we make here between good and evil determine whether we spend eternity in hell or in heaven. Between Heaven and Hell there is a place that Swedenborg called the "world of spirits," in which man first enters after he dies. It is a waiting place where the interior of one's will is explored and examined, and the souls are prepared to enter heaven or hell. The time that souls spend here varies, according to their various states. This is the region known to Catholics as "purgatory" or "limbo," and to Jews as "Abraham's bosom." It is the souls in this region that were effectively released from captivity upon the descent of Jesus into hell.

Redemption of mankind was not achieved by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, but rather it was achieved by the subjugation of hells and the establishment of order in heaven between his death and resurrection. His death on the cross was merely his last temptation. He had to die in order to achieve this redemption for mankind. During his life, by resisting sin and temptation, Jesus was effectively engaged in combat with all of hell. At the time that Jesus Christ came, hell had full control over the world of spirits and threatened heaven itself, and thereby a total damnation of all mankind stood threatening at the door. By glorifying his human, and subjugating hell itself, God in human form effectively not only saved mankind, but all the angels.

In later times the cross became the focus of Christianity, and the belief later developed that as a "substitute" for guilt for one's sins Jesus saved all of mankind by his death on the cross. This is false and incorrect. Sin does not get transferred from one person to another. Sin is removed only through repentance, and man is cleansed from his sin through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is how Jesus Christ removes sin, for the Holy Spirit proceeds from him, but it could only proceed from him after he sanctified his body. It is through sin that man puts himself in conjunction with hell, and through doing good he puts himself in conjunction with heaven. By subjugating hell, and ordering the heavens, God allowed mankind to continue in a state of free will to choose between good and evil.

EPILOGUE

This blog is something I originally published in another blog back in 1999. Except I modified it a bit and added what I knew about shamanism. It was a bit too long, and I thought about not reposting it, but this morning I had a dream of a young man, for whom Christianity made no sense whatsoever. In the dream, I then explained what I just set forth in this blog. He seemed ready to listen, and understood. After awaking, I decided to post this.

A Hopi Prophecy

2008-01-04T00:26:00.000-05:00

I just saw this in a bulletin, and as I typically ignore bulletins I grabbed this one to add to this blog...

Hopi Prophecy

The end of all Hopi ceremonialism will come when a "Kachina" removes his mask during a dance in the plaza before uninitiated children [the general public]. For a while there will be no more ceremonies, no more faith. Then Oraibi will be rejuvenated with its faith and ceremonies, marking the start of a new cycle of Hopi life.

World War III will be started by those peoples who first revealed the light (the divine wisdom or intelligence) in the other old countries (India, China Islamic Nations, Africa.)

The United States will be destroyed, land and people, by atomic bombs and radioactivity. Only the Hopis and their homeland will be preserved as an oasis to which refugees will flee. Bomb shelters are a fallacy. "It is only materialistic people who seek to make shelters. Those who are at peace in their hearts already are in the great shelter of life. There is no shelter for evil. Those who take no part in the making of world division by ideology are ready to resume life in another world, be they Black, White, Red, or Yellow race. They are all one, brothers."

The war will be "a spiritual conflict with material matters. Material matters will be destroyed by spiritual beings who will remain to create one world and one nation under one power, that of the Creator."

That time is not far off. It will come when the Saquasohuh (Blue Star) Kachina dances in the plaza and removes his mask. He represents a blue star, far off and yet invisible, which will make its appearance soon. The time is foretold by a song sung during the Wuwuchim ceremony. It was sung in 1914 just before World War I, and again in 1940 before World War II, describing the disunity, corruption, and hatred contaminating Hopi rituals, which were followed by the same evils spreading over the world. This same song was sung in 1961 during the Wuwuchim ceremony. The Emergence to the future Fifth World has begun. It is being made by the
humble people of little nations, tribes, and racial minorities. "You can read this in the earth itself. Plant forms from previous worlds are beginning to spring up as seeds [as described in SW-II, Effects and Coming Events 1]. This could start a new study of botany if people were wise enough to read them. The same kinds of seeds are being planted in the sky as stars. The same kinds of seeds are being planted in our hearts. All these are the same, depending how you look at them. That is what makes the Emergence to the next, Fifth World.

"These comprise the nine most important prophecies of the Hopis, connected with the creation of the nine worlds: the three previous worlds on which we lived, the present Fourth World, the three future worlds we have yet to experience, and the world of Taiowa, the Creator, and his nephew, Sotuknang.

The Hopi and others who were saved from the Great Flood made a sacred covenant with the Great Spirit never to turn away from him. He made a set of sacred stone tablets, called Tiponi, into which he breathed his teachings, prophecies, and warnings. Before the Great Spirit hid himself again, he placed before the leaders of the four different racial groups four different colors and sizes of corn; each was to choose which would be their food in this world. The Hopi waited until last and picked the smallest ear of corn.

At this, the Great Spirit said: "It is well done. You have obtained the real corn, for all the others are imitations in which are hidden seeds of different plants. You have shown me your intelligence; for this reason I will place in your hands these sacred stone tablets, Tiponi, symbol of power and authority over all land and life to guard, protect, and hold in trust for me until I shall return to you in a later day, for I am the First and I am the Last."

The Great Chieftain of the Bow Clan led the faithful ones to this new land, but he fell into evil ways. His two sons scolded him for his mistake, and after he died they assumed the responsibilities of leadership. Each brother was given a set of Tiponi, and both were instructed to carry them to a place to which the Great Spirit directed them. The elder brother [of the shining light] was told to go immediately to the east, toward the rising sun, and upon reaching his destination to start back immediately to look for his younger brother, who remained on Turtle Island [the Continental United States of America]. His mission was to help his younger brother to bring about the Purification Day, at which time all evildoers would be punished or destroyed, after which real peace, brotherhood, and everlasting life would be established. The elder brother would restore all land to his younger brother, from whom the Evil one among the white men had taken it. The elder brother [of the shining light] also would come to look for the Tiponi tablets and fulfill the mission given him by the Great Spirit.

The younger brother was instructed to travel throughout the land and mark his footsteps as he went about. Both brothers were told that a great white star would appear in the sky; when that happened, all people would know that the elder brother had reached his destination. Thereupon all people were to settle wherever they happened to be at that time, there to remain until the elder brother returned.

The Hopi settled in the area now known as Four Corners, where the state lines of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado meet. They lived in humble simplicity and the land produced abundant crops. This area is the "heart" of Turtle Island [the U.S.] and of Mother Earth, and it is the microcosmic image of the macrocosm of the entire planet. Each Hopi clan perpetuates a unique ceremony, and the ceremonies together maintain the balance of natural forces of sunlight, rain and winds, and reaffirm the Hopi respect for all life and trust in the Great Spirit.

The Hopi were told that after a time White Men would come and take their land and try to lead the Hopi into evil ways. But in spite of all the pressures against them, the Hopi were told they must hold to their ancient religion and their land, though always without violence. If they succeeded, they were promised that their people and their land would be a center from which the True Spirit would be reawakened.

It is said that after many years the elder brother might change the color of his skin, but his hair will remain black. He will have the ability to write, and he will be the only person able to read the Tiponi. When he returns to find his younger brother, the Tiponi will be placed side by side to show all the world that they are true brothers. Then great judgment will take place, for the elder will help the younger brother to obtain real justice for all Indian brothers who have been cruelly mistreated by the white man since he came to Turtle Island.

The transformed elder brother, the True White Brother, will wear a red cloak or a red cap, similar to the pattern on the back of a horned toad. He will bring no religion but his own, and will bring with him the Tiponi tablets. He will be all-powerful; none will be able to stand against him. He will come swiftly, and in one day gain control of this entire continent. It is said, "If he comes from the East, the destruction will not be so bad. But if he comes from the West, do not get up on your housetops to see because he will have no mercy."

The True White Brother will bring with him two great, intelligent and powerful helpers, one of whom will have a sign of a swastika (a masculine symbol of purity), and the sign of the sun. The second great helper will have the sign of a Celtic cross with red lines (representing female life blood) between the arms of the cross. When the Great Purification is near, these helpers will shake the earth first for a short time in preparation. After they shake the earth two times more, they will be joined by the True White Brother, who will become one with them and bring the Purification Day to the world. All three will help the "younger brother" (the Hopi and other pure-hearted people) to make a better world. In the prophecies, the two helpers are designated by the Hopi word for "population," as if they were large groups of people.

The Hopi were warned that if these three great beings failed, terrible evil would befall the world and great numbers of people would be killed. However, it was said that they would succeed if enough Hopi remained true to the ancient spirit of their people. The True White Brother and his helpers will show the people of earth a great new life plan that will lead to everlasting life. The earth will become new and beautiful again, with an abundance of life and food. Those who are saved will share everything equally. All races will intermarry and speak one tongue and be a family.

Hopi prophecy states that World War III will be started by the people who first received the Light -- China, Palestine, India and Africa. When the war comes, the United States will be destroyed by "gourds of ashes" which will fall to the ground, boiling the rivers and burning the earth, where no grass will grow for many years, and causing a disease that no medicine can cure. This can only mean nuclear or atomic bombs; no other weapon causes such effects. Bomb shelters will be useless, for "Those who are at peace in their hearts already are in the Great Shelter of Life. There is no shelter for evil. When the Saquahuh (blue Star) Kachina dances in the plaza and removes his mask, the time of the great trial will be here." The Hopi believe that only they will be saved.

The Hopi also have prophesied that "Turtle Island could turn over two or three times and the oceans could join hands and meet the sky." This seems to be a prophecy of a "pole shift" -- a flipping, of the planet on its axis. The Hopi call this imminent condition -- and that of society today -- Koyaanisqatsi", which means "world out of balance...a state of life that calls for another way. "

The following extraordinary Hopi prophecy was first published in a mimeographed manuscript that circulated among several Methodist and Presbyterian churches in 1959. Some of the prophecies were published in 1963 by Frank Waters in The Book of the Hopi. The account begins by describing how, while driving along a desert highway one hot day in the summer of 1958, a minister named David Young stopped to offer a ride to an Indian elder, who accepted with a nod. After riding in silence for several minutes, the Indian said:

"I am White Feather, a Hopi of the ancient Bear Clan. In my long life I have traveled through this land, seeking out my brothers, and learning from them many things full of wisdom. I have followed the sacred paths of my people, who inhabit the forests and many lakes in the east, the land of ice and long nights in the north, and the places of holy altars of stone built many years ago by my brothers' fathers in the south. From all these I have heard the stories of the past, and the prophecies of the future. Today, many of the prophecies have turned to stories, and few are left -- the past grows longer and the future grows shorter.

"And now White Feather is dying. His sons have all joined his ancestors, and soon he too shall be with them. But there is no one left, no one to recite and pass on the ancient wisdom. My people have tired of the old ways -- the great ceremonies that tell of our origins, of our emergence into the Fourth World, are almost all abandoned, forgotten, yet even this has been foretold. The time grows short.

"My people await Pahana, the lost White Brother, [from the stars] as do all our brothers in the land. He will not be like the white men we know now, who are cruel and greedy. we were told of their coming long ago. But still we await Pahana.

"He will bring with him the symbols, and the missing piece of that sacred tablet now kept by the elders, given to him when he left, that shall identify him as our True White Brother.

"The Fourth World shall end soon, and the Fifth World will begin. This the elders everywhere know. The Signs over many years have been fulfilled, and so few are left.

"This is the First Sign: We are told of the coming of the white-skinned men, like Pahana, but not living like Pahana men who took the land that was not theirs. And men who struck their enemies with thunder.

"This is the Second Sign: Our lands will see the coming of spinning wheels filled with voices. In his youth, my father saw this prophecy come true with his eyes -- the white men bringing their families in wagons across the prairies."

"This is the Third Sign: A strange beast like a buffalo but with great long horns, will overrun the land in large numbers. These White Feather saw with his eyes -- the coming of the white men's cattle."

"This is the Fourth Sign: The land will be crossed by snakes of iron."

"This is the Fifth Sign: The land shall be crisscrossed by a giant spider's web."

"This is the Sixth sign: The land shall be crisscrossed with rivers of stone that make pictures in the sun."

"This is the Seventh Sign: You will hear of the sea turning black, and many living things dying because of it."

"This is the Eight Sign: You will see many youth, who wear their hair long like my people, come and join the tribal nations, to learn their ways and wisdom.

"And this is the Ninth and Last Sign: You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of my people will cease.

"These are the Signs that great destruction is coming. The world shall rock to and fro. The white man will battle against other people in other lands -- with those who possessed the first light of wisdom. There will be many columns of smoke an d fire such as White Feather has seen the white man make in the deserts not far from here. Only those which come will cause disease and a great dying. Many of my people, understanding the prophecies, shall be safe. Those who stay and live in the places of my people also shall be safe.

Then there will be much to rebuild. And soon -- very soon afterward -- Pahana will return. He shall bring with him the dawn of the Fifth World. He shall plant the seeds of his wisdom in their hearts. Even now the seeds are being planted. These shall smooth the way to the Emergence into the Fifth World.

"But White Feather shall not see it. I am old and dying. You -- perhaps will see it. In time, in time..."

The old Indian fell silent. They had arrived at his destination, and Reverend David Young stopped to let him out of the car. They never met again Reverend Young died in 1976, so he did not live to see the further fulfillment of this remarkable prophecy.

The signs are interpreted as follows: The First Sign is of guns. The Second Sign is of the pioneers' covered wagons. The Third Sign is of longhorn cattle. The Fourth Sign describes the railroad tracks. The Fifth Sign is a clear image of our electric power and telephone lines. The Sixth Sign describes concrete highways and their mirage-producing effects. The Seventh Sign foretells of oil spills in the ocean. The Eighth Sign clearly indicates the "Hippy Movement" of the 1960s. The Ninth Sign was the U.S. Space Station Skylab, which fell to Earth in 1979. According to Australian eye-witnesses, it appeared to be burning blue.

Another Hopi prophecy warns that nothing should be brought back from the Moon -- obviously anticipating the Apollo 11 mission that returned with samples of lunar basalt. It this was done, the Hopi warned, the balance of natural and universal laws and forces would be disturbed, resulting in earthquakes, severe changes in weather patterns, and social unrest. All these things are happening today, though of course not necessarily because of Moon rocks.

The Hopi also predicted that when the "heart" of the Hopi land trust is dug up, great disturbances will develop in the balance of nature, for the Hopi holy land is the microcosmic image of the entire planet; any violations of nature in the Four Corners region will be reflected and amplified all over the Earth.

In 1959, a six-man delegation of traditional Hopi leaders led by the late spiritual leader, Dan Katchongva, traveled to the United Nations Building in New York to fulfill a sacred mission in accordance with ancient Hopi instructions. Because of their prophetic knowledge, the Hopi leaders felt it was time to go east to the edge of their motherland, where "a house of mica" [The United Nations building] would stand at this time, where Great Leaders from many lands would be gathered to help any people who are in trouble."

They were to go when the motherland of the Hopi and other Indian brothers were about to be taken away from them and their way of life was in danger of being completely destroyed by evil ones among the White Men and by some other Indian brothers who were influenced by the White Race. This is a clear and present danger: the betrayal of Indian-U.S.A. treaties, land sales, and coal and uranium mining are destroying the Hopi land and its people -- and all other peoples and lands, in eventual effect...

According to prophecy, at least one, two or three leaders or nations would hear and understand the Hopi warnings, as "It is told that they too should know these ancient instructions". Upon hearing the message of the Hopi, they would act immediately to correct many wrongs being done to the chosen race -- the Red Man who was granted permission to hold in trust all land and life for the Great Spirit. This prophecy would seem to have failed. Hopi prophecy also declares that the doors of the "Glass House" would be closed to them.

This was the case at first, though they have delivered their message to the United Nations Assembly since then:

"When the Great Leaders in the Glass House refuse to open the door to you when you stand before it that day, [Repeated, again in 1993] do not be discouraged or turn about on the path you walk, but take courage, determination, and be of great rejoicing in your hearts, for on that day the White Race who are on your land with you have cut themselves from you and thereon lead themselves to the Greatest Punishment at the Day of Purification. Many shall be destroyed for their sins and evil ways. The Great Spirit has decreed it and no one can stop it, change it, or add anything to it. It shall be fulfilled!"

On August 7, 1970, a spectacular UFO sighting was witnessed by dozens of people and photographed by Chuck Roberts of the Prescott (Arizona)"Courier". This sighting occurred after a "UFO calling" by Paul Solem and several Hopi Indians. This sighting was interpreted by some Hopis as being a partial fulfillment of a certain Hopi prophecy given by the Great Spirit Maasau and inscribed on Second Mesa, warning of the coming of Purification Day, when the true Hopi will be flown to other planets in "ships without wings."

Hopi prophecy also tells us that there will be a mass migration of Indians northward from Mexico and Central and South America. The migration will be led by a 130-year old Indian named Etchata Etchana. The movement will come after the huge fire and explosion that will herald the advent of the True White Brother.

According to Hopi belief, the survivors of the Great Deluge thousands of years ago split up into four groups that moved north, south, east and west. Only one group completed their journey -- to the North Pole and back -- under the guidance of a brilliant "star" in which the Great Spirit Maasau traveled. When he landed, he drew a petroglyph on Second Mesa, showing a maiden (with the traditional "butterfly" hair arrangement) riding in a wingless, dome-shaped craft. The petroglyph signified the coming Day of Purification when the true Hopi will fly to other planets in "ships without wings."

The prophecy also warns that there will be three divisions among the Hopi The first division was in 1906 between the Traditionalists and the Modernists. The Traditionalists were forced to leave Oraibi and move to Hotevilla. The second division took place in the wake of the spectacular appearance of UFOs in August, 1970.

PROPHECY ROCK

Near Oraibi, Arizona, there is a petroglyph known as Prophecy Rock which symbolizes many Hopi prophecies. Its interpretation is: The large human figure on the left is the Great Spirit. The bow in his left hand represents his instructions to the Hopi to lay down their weapons. The vertical line to the right of the Great Spirit is a time scale in thousands of years. The point at which the great Spirit touches the line is the time of his return.

The "life path" established by the Great Spirit divides into the lower, narrow path of continuous Life in harmony with nature and the wide upper road of white man's scientific achievements. The bar between the paths, above the cross, is the coming of white men; the Cross is that of Christianity. The circle below the cross represents the continuous Path of Life.

The four small human figures on the upper road represent, on one level, the past three worlds and the present; on another level, the figures indicate that some of the Hopi will travel the white man's path, having been seduced by its glamour.

The two circles on the lower Path of Life are the "great shaking of the earth" (World Wars One and Two). The swastika in the sun and the Celtic cross represent the two helpers of Pahana, the True White Brother. The short line that returns to the straight Path of Life is the last chance for people to turn back to nature before the upper road disintegrates and dissipates. The small circle above the Path of Life, after the last chance, is the Great Purification, after which corn will grow in abundance again when the Great Spirit returns. And the Path of Life continues forever.

The Hopi shield in the lower right corner symbolizes the Earth and the Four-Corners area where the Hopi have been reserved. The arms of the cross also represent the four directions in which they migrated according to the instructions of the Great Spirit.

The dots represent the four colors of Hopi corn, and the four racial colors of humanity.

Sources:

Book of The Hopi, by Frank Waters, December 31, 1993

Oswald White Bear Fredericks, Copyright 1963, by Frank Waters

SBN 345-01717-X-125, Library of Congress Catalog No. 63-19606

Published by: Ballantine Books, Inc., 101 Fifth Ave, New York, N.Y. 10003 Paperback Edition: Page 408

American Prophecy, by Mobius Rex, Copyright 1987, Rex Research, P.O. Box 1258 Berkeley, CA 94701

The True Biblical Canon

2008-01-03T00:29:00.000-05:00

The books of the Bible were written and collected over a long period of time. Some regard them as a collection of writings by humans, others as Divinely Inspired. I was always taught that they were Divinely Inspired, but how to prove it? There was no proof. Or so I thought. There were strong indications, given the numerous prophecies that were fulfilled later. But many sections of the Bible seemed purely historical, and many passages made no sense at all. I would later encounter the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, who laid out the proof that the Bible was Divinely Inspired - in a way I never expected. In visions it was revealed that certain books (not all the books) contained a high level of symbolism, or what Swedenborg called correspondences, written in a series. Every word and letter had meaning. The proof of this involved writing volumes of explanations for the spiritual significance of every word.

Perhaps the earliest reference to a canon comes from the writings of Josephus, who stated that the Hebrew Canon included 22 books. The modern Jewish canon includes 24 books. The Greek Septuagint included more, which the Catholics more or less adopted, but moved the Greek additions to the "Apocrypha". This would later be removed by the Protestants.

The first authoritive quote on the topic comes from Jesus Himself:

"These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." (Luke 24:44)

The significance of this quote is that it references how the Bible is divided in the Jewish Canon. Unfortunately, most Bibles follow the Septuagint order and book division, but here is how the Jews divided the Bible, which they call the Tanakh:

1. The "Torah" (= the Law of Moses): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
2. The "Nevi'im" (= the Prophets): Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and The Twelve Prophets (the 12 minor prophets)
3. The "Ketuvim" (= the Writings): Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehehiah, Chronicles.

Jesus definitely refered to the first two divisions of the Jewish Canon, but the third - called "the Writings" - he did not. Instead he just refers to the first book in this division, the Psalms. What of the others? Uncertain, except that he does quote from the book of Daniel. He quotes him as a "prophet" - which may indicate that Daniel once belonged among the "Nevi'im" (the Prophets).

So how does this compare to what was revealed to Swedenborg? Here is what he was shown:

"The books of the Word are all those which have the internal sense; books which do not have it are not the Word. The books of the Word in the Old Testament are: The five Books of Moses; the Book of Joshua; the Book of Judges; the two Books of Samuel; the two Books of Kings; the Psalms of David; and the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi." (Arcana Coelestia, 10325)

So, there you have it. Rescued from the Ketuvim, other than Daniel, is the book of Lamentations - which makes sense, as the author was the same for the book of Jeremiah, another prophet. And it makes sense: the divison called the "Writings" tended to be those books which did not have the same authority as those in the first two divisions: the Law and the Prophets. Gone is Song of Songs, a book about sex. Gone is Ecclesiastes, a later book written by someone obviously depressed about life. Esther is not historical. Chronicles is a later addition based on the book of Kings, but historically accurate.

One book is not mentioned here, which belonged to a more ancient Word, now lost. It is the book of Jasher - preserved among the Jews of the diaspora. I have an earlier blog on this one book - Swedenborg never saw the book, but was told by angels that it still existed. It fits in between Deuteronomy and Joshua, but truthfully it is older than the Torah.

So, a more perfect representation of the true Biblical Canon, would be something like this, with changes underlined:

1. The Law of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
2. The Early Prophets: Jasher, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings.
3. The Later Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, and The Twelve Prophets
4. The Psalms.

Left out, among the "Writings": Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Ezra-Nehehiah, Chronicles. I would still include them, but keep them in a separate section. Of these, Proverbs and Job are the most important in terms of symbolism. Swedenborg would still quote from these, as the individual verses did contain symbolism, but were not written in a series.

So that covers the Old Testament, what about the New Testament? This is what Swedenborg stated, which may take some by surprise:

"And in the New Testament they are: The four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; and the Book of Revelation." (Arcana Coelestia, 10325)

Wow! All the letters of the apostles, gone. So why were they allowed to be included? Because they are easy to understand, and serve as an introduction. But, they are of human authorship, and have to be evaluated as such. Another reason they are included, is so that man does not profane what is holy in God's Word. Thus modern Christian Churches, most of which are corrupt, will tend to only dwell upon the writings of Paul.

The four Gospels and Revelation happen to be the ones that contain the direct words of Jesus. As for the four Gospels, scholars recognized that preceding them there was a "Q" document - a document that only contained the sayings of Jesus, which was used as a source. I have looked at many of the ancient books not included in the canon - a disappointing set of historically inaccurate books, or books of false authorship - but one has caught my attention - the Gospel of Thomas. Its a short work, but contains only the sayings of Jesus - in the form of the "Q" document that the scholars predicted. So this one is a mystery to me.

Love, Wisdom, and Utilitarianism

2007-12-27T00:31:00.001-05:00

What is Utilitarianism? It is a philosophical way of thinking, determining how you act. According to wikipedia:

"Utilitarianism is the ethical doctrine that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome—the ends justify the means. Utility — the good to be maximized — has been defined by various thinkers as happiness or pleasure (versus suffering or pain), though preference utilitarians like Peter Singer define it as the satisfaction of preferences. In simpler terms, it's for the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Like most ethical theories, utilitarianism primarily evaluates proposed actions and courses of action, rather than virtuous or character traits"

This way of thinking was first made popular by John Stuart Mill's essay on Utilitarianism, published in 1861. I remember learning this in a course on philosophy, and of all the things presented in philosophy this seemed to me the most "useful" or practical way of thinking. According to John Stuart Mill:

"The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure."

Utilitarianism was made popular by Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century, but it has often been traced back to the Greek philosopher Epicurus. It is criticized by the Catholic Encyclopedia as a modern form of "hedonism" - devotion to self pleasure, but this is clearly a distortion of the values this mode of thinking presents. The "love of self" can indeed explain most people's behaviour.

Another criticism of Utilitarianism is that it measures morals by their outcomes, rather than by their intent:

"Utilitarianism has been criticized for only looking at the results of actions, not at the desires or intentions which motivate them, which many people also consider important. An action intended to cause harm but that inadvertently causes good results would be judged equal to the result from an action done with good intentions. However, many utilitarians would argue that utilitarianism applies not only to results, but also to desires and dispositions, praise and blame, rules, institutions, and punishment. For instance, bad intentions may cause harm (to the actor and to others) even if they do not result in bad acts. Once this is recognized, supporters argue that utilitarianism becomes a much more complex, and rich, moral theory, and may align much more closely with our moral intuitions.

Furthermore, many utilitarians view morality as a personal guide rather as a means to judge the actions of other people or actions which have already been performed. In other words, morality is something to be looked at when deciding what to do. In this sense, intentions are the only thing that matter, because the consequences cannot be known with certainty until the decision has already been made."

So is Utilitarianism yet another philosophy worthy to be ignored? Or is it mere hedonism, a rule for self pleasure? Actually before Utilitarianism became popular, before this philosophical school of thought even existed, Swedenborg espoused a form of it as a general moral rule for all humanity.

In this account, while in a vision Swedenborg overheard a discussion among angels concerning the origin of marriage Love:

The angels replied that love and wisdom without application to useful purpose are only abstract and theoretical ideas, which, even after being entertained for a time in the mind, eventually pass away like the winds. "But love and wisdom are brought together in application to useful purpose," they said, "and in this they become a single entity which is called actual. Love cannot rest unless it acts, for love is the active force in life; nor can wisdom exist and endure unless it does so from love and together with love whenever love acts, and to act is application to useful purpose. Therefore we define application to useful purpose as the doing of good from love through wisdom. Application to useful purpose is what good is.

Since these three elements - love, wisdom, and application to useful purpose - flow into people's souls, we can see why it is said that all good is from God. For all action from love through wisdom is called good, and action includes also application to useful purpose.

Love without wisdom - what is it but a kind of foolish infatuation? And love accompanied by wisdom, but without application to a useful end - what is it but an airy affectation of the mind? On the other hand, love and wisdom together with application to a useful end - these not only make a person what he is, but they also are the person. Indeed, what may perhaps surprise you, they produce the person. For a man's seed contains his soul in perfect human form, clothed with substances from the finest elements of nature, out of which the body is formed in the womb of the mother. This useful end is the supreme and final end of Divine love acting through Divine wisdom. (Conjugial Love, 183)

Descartes is famous for saying, "I think, therefore I am". The angels would say: "One is what he does according to thought". Your very inmost nature is defined by one thing: what you love the most. Moreover, Utilitarianism is incomplete in that it only consideres the useful outcomes. There are three emanations of Being: (1) Love (2) Wisdom, and (3) useful application. Or what is the same: (1) End (Intent) (2) Cause (Thought) and (3) Effect (Action). Most are just familiar with the principle of cause and effect.

This Triad of Being manifests itself in the human as soul, body and spirit. This is what the Trinity truly is.

As for the criticism that Utilitariansim can be used to support Hedonism, it is well founded, unless one distinguishes the Love of Heaven from the love that originates from hell:

"Spiritual and celestial love is love for the neighbor and love toward the Lord, while natural and sensual love is love of the world and love of self. By love for the neighbor we mean a love of useful services, and by love toward the Lord we mean a love of performing useful services, ...These loves are spiritual and celestial for the reason that to love useful services and to perform them from a love of them is divorced from a person's love of his own self-interest. For one who loves useful services spiritually regards not himself but others apart from himself, being affected by a concern for their welfare. Opposed to these loves are loves of self and the world, for loves of self and the world have regard for useful services not for the sake of others but for the sake of self; and people who do this invert Divine order, putting themselves in place of the Lord, and the world in place of heaven. Consequently they look away from the Lord and heaven, and to look away from them is to look in the direction of hell." (Divine Love and Wisdom, 426)

Useful application is brought about by love and wisdom. Belief without action is utterly worthless. Thus in the Near Death Experience, many people have reported encountering a great white light, full of Love, who asks them just one question: "What have you done with your life?"

The End of this World Age

2007-12-20T00:37:00.001-05:00

THE AGES OF THE WORLD

History is cyclic, and mankind has passed through several world ages. It has been noted by several that these world ages seem to correspond to a phenomenon called the "Precession of the Equinoxes", where due to a slight wobble in the axis of the earth the vernal equinox - the astronomical start of the year in agricultural societies - passes slowly through the constellations in reverse order. We are now in the age of Pisces, the age of the "fishers of men" - where Christianity has been predominant. As this world age comes to an end, a new age begins to dawn upon us - the age of Aquarius, a time when a new revelation shall be given that will give new spiritual light to the older religions which have become corrupt. Mankind is in constant need for progressive revelation, and such revelations are given at the end of each age and the beginning of a new one.

Emanuel Swedenborg, who received visions from heaven while in a sort of trance, a wakeful state, explained that the end of this world age will in fact be fulfilled by the Second Coming - the reappearance of Divine Truth to humanity. It is at the end of the age where a Last Judgement takes place - not here in the material world, but among the dead in the spiritual world, in a spiritual region known as Middle Earth, between Heaven and Hell. And when that happens, a change of consciousness occurs among those born on earth, and a new spiritual community is born. A new age begins with a new revelation. Swedenborg stated:

"Most men believe that when the Last Judgment comes, all things in the visible world will be destroyed; that the earth will be consumed by fire; the sun and the moon dissipated; that the stars will vanish away; and that a new heaven and a new earth will afterwards arise. They have conceived this opinion from the prophetic revelations in which such things are mentioned. ...the Last Judgment is nothing else than the end of the church with one nation, and its beginning with another, which end and beginning occur when there is no longer any acknowledgment of the Lord, or what is the same, when there is no faith. There is no acknowledgment, or no faith, when there is no charity; for faith is impossible except with those who are in charity. That at such a time there is an end of the church, and a transference of it to others, is plainly evident from all the things the Lord Himself taught and foretold in the Evangelists concerning that last day, or consummation of the age (Matt. 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21)."

Here is a summary of the different phases of this world age as foretold by Jesus in the book of Matthew as revealed to Swedenborg - one will see that it can apply to progressive states for an individual as well as our current world age. In particular, it can apply to those who have lost faith, have left their religion, or who have recognized that the religion they have been taught is false. It also describes the states of those who are made blind by false religious doctrines. For the truths revealed here are universal.

THE INITIAL PHASE: A PERFECT REVELATION

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down." (Matt. 24:1-2)

A beautiful strong building represents the initial stage of revelation: it is perfect in form uncorrupted. A rock represents a solid truth that one can stand on: one lives by it. The walls are doctrines which defend against what is false. The temple is our body: it begins as a new born babe, we reach our prime: but then there is a decline as it approaches death, after which there is a spiritual rebirth. As it is with an individual, so it is with an organization, even that of a world age: it begins with a new revelation, but then enters into a period of gradual decline.

THE FIRST STATE OF DECLINE: THE LOSS OF KNOWLEDGE, LEADING TO DOUBT AND DIVISION

"The disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age? And Jesus answered and said unto them, See that no man lead you astray. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray."

"Christ" simply means the Divine Truth: it means to be filled with God's Spirit. As knowledge of the original revelation is lost, people who think they know the truth start to proclaim their own false ideas. This then leads to debates and arguments about what is truth and false, leading to confusion:

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled; for these things must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet. For nation shall be stirred up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse places. But all these things are the beginning of sorrows." (Matt. 24:3-7)

Wars and rumors of wars are spiritual wars: they are debates and fights concerning spiritual matters. When a false idea is proclaimed, if there is not enough knowledge to oppose it, another false idea is proposed to fight against it. The nations and kingdoms refer to different divisions within the church (or a group of people) that hold onto selfish purposes or false ideas which influence their opinions. This leads to a "famine" of knowledge among the people. As it takes a single fly to ruin a glass of good wine, truth is wasted away by what is false and becomes worthless: this is a spiritual "plague" or "pestilence". This leads to a change of state: this change is represented by "diverse earthquakes".

THE SECOND STATE OF DECLINE: REJECTION AND CONTEMPT OF WHAT IS GOOD AND TRUE

"Then shall they deliver you into tribulation, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray. And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the charity of many shall wax cold. But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole inhabited earth, for a testimony unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matt. 24:8-14)

The second state is reached when debates end: and a false idea is accepted as true. This becomes "Orthodox", and anything opposed to this idea is declared a "heresy". But it is simply a false construct of the mind that has nothing to do with the original revelation. In this state, there is no debate: people simply reference the opinion approved by the majority and declare other ideas "heresy". This leads to "tribulation" or consternation to those who hold onto the truth. To "kill" someone spiritually means to utterly reject and deny them, to "hate" is to hold in aversion. "False prophets" who lead many astray are simply those who teach what is false: this refers to the religious leaders. "Iniquity multiplied" means falsities of faith shall grow, until "charity waxes cold" - the spiritual love perishes.

So what to do when confronted by something that is obviously false? Announce it. Make it known. Falsity can only thrive where there is ignorance. A "gospel" is simply an announcement. To preach is to explain, "in the whole inhabited earth" means to everyone in the spiritual community. This is a "testimony", as it can dispel ignorance which protects what is false. For those who believe what is false are in a state of ignorance, and truth acts as a light to expose it: "then the end shall come", which is the third state.

THE THIRD STATE OF DECLINE: THE COMPLETE IGNORANCE OF GOOD AND TRUTH

"When therefore you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place - let him who is reading this take note - then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains. Let him who is on the roof of the house not go down to take anything out of his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his clothing." (Matt. 24:15-18)

In the first state, there is debate about what is true or false, in the second state, false doctrines are accepted as true and is used as a standard for all thinking: good and truth are held in aversion. Ignorance is the enemy: expose false ideas for what they are. The third state is reached when there is complete ignorance and non acknowledgement of the truth itself. What is explained here is advice to those who have seen that true spirituality is completely absent: this is the "abomination of desolation standing in the holy place". This occurs when people perform "lip service" or appear outwardly religious for the sake of appearance, nothing more.

Those who are "in Judea" who "flee to the mountains" refer to those who are in love towards God, and in charity towards others. A "mountain" represents one who is in a higher spiritual state, and the highest is that of love. Thus when the perversion of religion is recognized, one should flee from this and remain totally focused on one's love towards God.

"Let him who is on the roof of the house not go down to take anything out of his house", means, those who live a life of charity should not resort to religious doctrines of faith. "The roof of the house" is one's higher spiritual state, that of love, a lower state is one of truth. What this means is that one should not revert to exploring matters of truth, after one has learned to act upon them from one's heart.

"And let him who is in the field not turn back to get his clothing" means that those who are in good from truth should not forsake such good and resort to doctrine concerning truth. "Clothing" always refers to truth, truth if the clothing is white, falsity if the clothing is black. The danger here is that while the church is in a perverted state, the false doctrines can corrupt the internal state of love, or worship, within one's heart. Always look forward to a life of usefulness and love, the future, never look back and start to question what your heart already knows.

THE THREE UNIVERSAL STATES OF WORSHIP

According to Swedenborg, there are three primary states of worship. The highest are those who are in the love towards God, these are represented by those in Judea who flee to the mountains. The second highest are those who are primarily in love towards their neighbor, these are represented by those who are on the roof of their house. The lowest state are those who are affected by truth, these are represented by those in the field.

In other words, if one is simply just interested in spiritual matters, and nothing more, you are in the initial state. Once you then take that further and become interested in loving others for the truth they live by, you reach the second state of progression. And once you go further than that: you love others for the sake of God, because we are his children: you have reached the highest state of happiness.

THE FOURTH STATE OF DECLINE: PROFANING THAT WHICH IS HOLY AND SACRED

"But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath; for then shall be great affliction, such as was not since the beginning of the world even until now, neither shall be. And except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be preserved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Matt. 24:19-22).

Here the fourth and final state of perversion of religion is described: profaning that which is holy and sacred. To profane means to comingle what is evil with good, or falsity with the truth. This can only happen by those within the church, those who have knowledge of the revelation given, when they start to live according to evil, and they know what they are doing is wrong. Those "with child" refers to those who are imbued with good, and those who nurse babes refers those imbued with innocence. Love is conceived by truth. "Woe to them" means there is the threat of eternal damnation, for all are judged by what they know, and it will be our own conscience which will torment us with guilt. That the "flight should not be in winter" means do not depart from your love into coldness and indifference. That the flight should not be on the Sabbath, means do not resort to external forms of worship, as an excuse to yourself that you are good, when you know in your heart your selfish desires.

To profane that which is sacred and holy is to be avoided at all costs. That which is good must be kept separate from evil. That the "days would be shortened" for the elect, means this state of being tends to not last so long. All that is spiritual eventually turns into some form of external worship, so that those who are good can still be preserved. Such is what happened with Judaism, until all that was spiritual was gone and there was only an external form of worship.

THE FIFTH STATE OF DECLINE: A FALSE RELIGION

"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo here is the Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall give great signs and wonders, to lead astray if possible even the elect. Behold I have told you before. If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold He is in the desert, go not out; Behold He is in the inner chambers, believe it not."

After a state of profanation, there will be a tendency for the mind to be more focused on external forms of worship, without thought of interal spiritual matters. This leads to a false religion of those who appear outwardly religious, but who internally desire to use religion for personal gain or wealth. "False Christs" refer to false truths, and "false prophets" are those who teach them: one is warned to beware of them, and shun them. The "signs and wonders" refer to the logical fallacies of their arguments which they use to try to persuade. The elect refer to God's chosen, who live a life of good according to the truth that they know - those who are confirmed in their inner spiritual life are not led astray by those who try to appear religious to others. A "desert" is symbolic of a lack of truth (as water represents spiritual truth). The "inner chambers" represents joining a false religion to become more familiar with its internal doctrines. The "desert" refers to the religious leaders who seek to abrogate the original revelation - scripture - making it worthless, and instead encourage people to follow their own tradition instead.

"For as the lightning cometh forth out of the east and appeareth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together" (Matt. 24:23-28).

The above passage is one among many which makes absolutely no sense if read in a literal manner. Jesus spoke in parables, and scripture uses a lot of symbolism - in order that only a select inner circle of disciples could receive the truth, which would be hidden from the masses. This was done because the masses were not ready to receive these teachings, and if understood they would start to profane the sacred knowledge.

"Lightning" here refers to heavenly light, which flashes from the east, but is dissipated in the west: this means heavenly teachings concerning good and truth instantly disappear among these false religious people. The east where the sun rises symbolizes the Divine Love of God, the west where the sun sets symbolizes the loss of the knowledge of this love. The Son of Man is the Coming of the Divine Truth - and when it is revealed, it will be completely ignored. Thus it is stated, When the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth? This means the Second Coming will take place towards the end of the age, when religion has become so falsified and corrupt, but those within their false religion will be too blind to recognize it.

The "carcass" here refers to the church itself, now dead, and all that remains are their endless false reasonings: these are the vultures that gather around the carcass. In the spiritual world, reasoning and rationality is symbolized by birds. Vultures refer to false reasonings, which makes a life of love and charity of no account. A church is "dead" when nothing of love or charity remains in it.

THE SECOND COMING AND THE LAST JUDGMENT

"But immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send forth His angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the end of the heavens even to the end thereof" (Matt. 24:29-31).

The sun, moon and stars here do not refer to the physical sky above us, but to the spiritual realms of heaven connected with the church. There are three heavens above the material plane: the highest is represented by the sun, the middle is represented by the moon, and the lowest heaven is represented by the stars of heaven. Fixed stars refer to the different societies of angels, wandering stars refer to evil spirits.

The "sun darkened" means all of love towards God shall be then extinguished, the "moon not giving its light" means there will be no spiritual faith, the "stars falling from heaven" means knowledges of good and truth will disappear. It also refers to the Last Judgment, in which many spiritual beings were judged, and cast out of the lowest heaven. This took place so that a further revelation could be made from heaven - the "sign of the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven". The layer of clouds refers to the lowest part of heaven that is closest to our material earth - this symbolically refers to the literal sense of scripture. Thus the vision of Swedenborg was opened to direct communication with the spiritual world, and the Divine Truth that was hidden in the Bible became revealed in his writings. It is this internal spiritual knowledge, of the symbolic meaning of scripture, which is the true Second Coming. The First Coming of the Divine Truth came in human form, but the Second Coming is the revelation of the Divine Truth in the Bible itself. For the Word that composed this scripture is the very Word which became incarnate in Jesus Christ. The proof of this very fact can be seen in Swedenborg's writings, all of which are online - there is a link to all of them on my profile. Every word of scripture is explained, in a highly spiritual manner.

In reality, the Second Coming takes place inside of us, for once the truth is known, we start to live by it once it is accepted. It is universal. The Old Christian Church has come to an end, and a New Church founded on Divine Truth direct from God has come to take its place. This is taking place in a hidden manner, among God's chosen - those who live a life of loving God and others. This is represented by the angels or messengers who gather the elect from the four winds of heaven. And even if one has never heard of Swedenborg, it is taking place in a universal way, hidden from sight: in dreams revealed to us from heaven, in visions given secretly in the night.

Lucid Dreams and Visions

2007-11-10T00:39:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I had this dream where I was on the edge of a cliff of a mountain, then I became very lucid - the time in those dreams where you are aware it is a dream, and you can start to control it. I looked around, did not see anything interesting. I then thought to myself, "This is boring". Then I decided to do something to make the dream interesting - I jumped off the cliff. As I was falling, I had my hands folded falling down in the standing position. I started to fall faster and faster... I could not see anything, but the odd thing was I had a real sensation of falling. It was so real, the odd thing was that I could hear the wind rushing past my ears. I fell for a real long time...I felt the dream was trying to "scare" me, but since I knew it was a dream I was enjoying the ride. Finally, after falling for what seemed like minutes, the falling sensation just stopped and I landed perfectly on my feet. Then I woke up, and the dream was so real I just felt I had jumped out of an airplane, with the full adrenaline rush - and all from a simple dream.

So there are lucid dreams, which I have had before, but last night I had this very vivid dream - it was unbelievable. I was partly lucid, and I was being chased by cops who were trying to stop me. At one point I decided to just fly away when they were getting close. I came across a young woman, and in the dream I began to fall in love with her. She told me her name, but I started to get confused as I had this vague memory of being married. Still she wanted to be with me, as she seemed to know that. I had to keep moving, and quickly crossed this unusual landscape and entered a building. But then the cops caught up with me, and they wanted to arrest me. They wanted me to stop moving around in the dream so much. I asked, "Do you have an arrest warrant?" The cop said no, then I said you can not arrest me as I have done nothing wrong. He then said, "Well then, I will report back to headquarters and tell them that you are not dead." He seemed to think that was a threat that would scare me. My thoughts were, what?? That does not make any sense. I told him go ahead, I don't care. He left.

I walked outside the building, now I could enjoy the scenery. Then the thought hit me. I said outloud: "This is no dream. This is REAL". At that moment, it was as if someone turned on the light switch. It was no longer a blurry dream, I was seeing something as if I had my eyes wide open. I was in another world. In front of me, a tree, and I could count its leaves. It was fall color. The ground was rolling soft hills of grass. In the distance, a strange building: a rotunda with a dome, supported by Greek pillars on the outer circumference. It seemed ancient, possibly a temple. It looked something like this:

I wandered around, I began seeing some tall buildings. In the distance, a gothic church with a high steeple. High up, a circular colorful stained glass window, partitioned in pizza slices. It looked something like this:

As I was looking at the church, my thoughts shifted from religion to things about my job and work. Immediately, the church disappeared and was replaced by a high rise office building. I tried to bring the church back, but could not. I then thought, "In this world, everything changes according to one's thoughts. These external forms are reflecting the internal state of my mind". It then hit me: Swedenborg said the exact same thing concering the spiritual world: all things were symbolic of one's internal thoughts. I was seeing the other world. Or I was in it. I returned back to look at that rotunda. I was wondering what was in it, but then these human forms started to come out from the shadows. They were dark, and somewhat deformed, they did not have a complete human form. I then realized that these were dead people. And they were not good. I started to back away.

The cop had warned me, "I am going to report back to headquarters, and tell them you are not dead." That had made no sense to me, but now it did. I was seeing something I was not ready to see: for when the spiritual vision is opened, it can be opened from both sides: heaven, or hell. One has to be spiritually ready for this. And these "cops" or detectives were trying to stop and warn me. The vision shut off, and I returned to the dream state. My wife was complaining about all the stuff I had done at night, wandering all over the place. I had no memory of the things she said I did, and we ultimately determined that I had been "sleep walking". Sleep walking away from the dream state? I awoke soon after.

When I awoke, I was puzzled by that young woman. Then I remembered what she told me: "My name is Isabella". That is the name of one of my daughters. I was seeing what she would look like, about twenty years in the future.

The Origin of the Soul, Reincarnation, and the Collective Unconscience

2007-10-27T00:42:00.001-04:00

Big topics to cover in one blog? Yes, but I wanted to cover it all in one blow rather than dividing it up. Tell me your thoughts on such matters.

The origin of the soul, reincarnation, and the "collective unconscious" of Carl Yung were always interests of mine. Here I have collected the thoughts of Swedenborg on these matters, which he concluded after having heavenly visions of heaven and hell over a period of 27 years in a wakeful state:

THE ORIGIN OF THE SOUL

Where does the soul originate? According to Swedenborg, the soul originates from the seed of the father, whereas the "covering" for the body originates from the father. This thought has several consequences: one is, we only live once in this material world, and the other is that life begins at conception. Those who are considering abortion should think again. The fact that life begins at conception is a biological fact, as the cells begin dividing at that point. We die when our cells are unable to divide any longer. However I have heard some people argue that perhaps the soul enters the body at a later stage in fetal development. That this is not so, is shown in the following passage written by Swedenborg, long before anything was known about genetics:

"the soul which comes from the father is the person himself, and the body which comes from the mother, is not in itself the person, but a product of the person. This is merely its covering, woven of substances from the natural world, while the soul is of substances from the spiritual world. After death every person lays aside the natural which he got from his mother, and keeps the spiritual which he had from his father, together with a sort of fringe (limbus) around it composed of the purest natural substances. In the case of those who come into heaven this fringe is below with the spiritual side uppermost; with those who come into hell, the fringe is uppermost and the spiritual side is below. That is why a human angel receives what he says from heaven, so that it is good and true, but a human devil receives what he says from hell when he speaks from the heart, as he does in private, but as if from heaven when he speaks with the lips only, as he does in public.
[2] Since a person's soul is his very self, and by its origin the soul is spiritual, it is clear why the father's mind, attitude, character, inclination and affection of love live on in one descendant after another, and show up from one generation to the next. That is why many families, even whole nations, are recognisable likenesses of their ancestor; there is a shared type which shows up in the faces of each of his descendants, and this is only changed by the spirituality of the church. The type shared by Jacob and Judah still lives on in their descendants, allowing them to be distinguished from others, because down to the present day they have kept strictly to their religion. For in the seed from which each individual is conceived there is a shoot or cutting of the father's soul in all its completeness, wrapped in a covering of natural elements. These control the formation of the body in the mother's womb, where it may take on a resemblance to the father or the mother, though the father's type remains in it and constantly strives to come out. So if it is unable to do so in the first generation, it achieves this in subsequent ones.
[3] The reason why the father's type in all its completeness is in the seed is that, as already said, the soul is in origin spiritual, and the spiritual has nothing in common with space, so it can be reproduced in a small compass just as well as on a large scale. As for the Lord, when He was in the world, He put off by redeeming acts all the human He had from His mother, and put on the Human from the Father, that is, the Divine Human. That is why it is that in Him man is God and God is man." (True Christian Religion, 103)

The only caveat with the above passage, is that Swedenborg sometimes drew conclusions from his own experiences. The part that I still have questions about is that he states that the soul in its origin is spiritual, outside of space, yet contained in the seed of the father. So where did that originate? Is it possible that the soul has a pre-existent state before being born? According to Swedenborg, the answer is no. The purpose of the material world, all of creation, is to produce angels of heaven from the human race. And the only way to increase the number of angels of heaven is through the generations of the human race in the material world.

The other conclusion, is that the soul of Jesus was Divine, whereas his body was just like ours, which he received from his mother. On the resurrection, this body was put off, and transformed into a Divine Human. This was the one time in history, to all eternity, that God would become incarnate. Thus as far as we know, it never happened before, and will never happen again.

REINCARNATION

Concerning reincarnation, where the soul incarnates from one body to the next, many ancient cultures believed this, and this belief is still prevalant in eastern religions. However it is practically absent in the three religions founded on the Bible: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Still, even within these religions some people surmise we may have a chance to be born again. As Swedenborg had 27 years of visions from heaven, what did he have to say? The answer is quite interesting:

"An angel or spirit is not permitted to speak with a man from his own memory, but only from the man's memory; for angels and spirits have a memory as well as man. If a spirit were to speak from his own memory with a man the man would not know otherwise than that the thoughts then in his mind were his own, although they were the spirit's thoughts. This would be like the recollection of something which the man had never heard or seen. That this is so has been given me to know from experience. This is the source of the belief held by some of the ancients that after some thousands of years they were to return into their former life, and into everything they had done, and in fact, had returned. This they concluded because at times there came to them a sort of recollection of things that they had never seen or heard. This came from an influx from the memory of spirits into their ideas of thought." (Heaven and Hell, 256)

Reincarnation only comes up in the context on his discussions concerning memory. Which is interesting, because now there are so many books out there which discusses past life regresstion through hypnosis. Through these past life regressions, despite the skepticism hypnotists have been able to retrieve facts about historical events that the subject had no knowledge about. Not only that, but subjects have been able to pick up accents, and even speak in foreign languages that they did not know before (xenoglossy). The hypnotic state is a natural state of mind we pass through every day - and apparently this is the state where the mind becomes aware of other levels of existence. According to Swedenborg, this has nothing to do with reincarnation, but rather communication has opened up with the spirits that are influencing the subject's life. Thus past-life regression is a useful tool in therapy - one can remove bad behaviours, phobias, and even sicknesses. It is also the simplist explanation. Hypnotists who believe in reincarnation become confused when they see one life time overlapping chronologically with another life time. Another indicator is that hypnotic past life regressions can have one past life be of a male, and then it can switch to a female. According to Swedenborg, once born one is always male or female, the sex will never change.

This view on reincarnation is also consistent with the view on the origin of the soul. Probably many people who are interested in New Age material will be disappointed with this answer. In consolation, Swedenborg declared the New Age long before they discovered it.

In addition to spirits who may pass on their memories to us, perhaps in a desire to communicate, there are also evil spirits - who seek not only to take over the memory, but the entire body. Swedenborg called this phenomenon "obsession", and it was much more common in ancient times. It is now known as "demoniac possession", and apparently it is happening more frequently. The Catholic Church still maintains a class of exorcists. Here is what Swedenborg stated:

"There are also spirits called natural and corporeal spirits. When these come to a man they do not conjoin themselves with his thought, like other spirits, but enter into his body, and occupy all his senses, and speak through his mouth, and act through his members, believing at the time that all things of the man are theirs. These are the spirits that obsess man. But such spirits have been cast into hell by the Lord, and thus wholly removed; and in consequence such obsessions are not possible at the present time." (Heaven and Hell, 257)

THE GROUP SOUL, OR THE "COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS" OF CARL JUNG

We have discussed the origin of the soul, and reincarnation. Now some people who have experienced past life memories, or deja vu, will state that the memories that came to them showed them things that were similar to their own life experience. Why the similarity? We now come to the topic of a "group soul", or what Swedenborg called "angelic societies", and what Carl Jung then called "the Collective Unconscious". Carl Jung's idea concerns the origin of archetypes, but he basically took his idea from Swedenborg (he called them "correspondences" but that is another topic). What Swedenborg discovered is that the mind of man is in constant communication with spirits and angels, who are similar to that person according to their love:

"With every individual there are good spirits and evil spirits. Through good spirits man has conjunction with heaven, and through evil spirits with hell. These spirits are in the world of spirits, which lies midway between heaven and hell. This world will be described particularly hereafter. When these spirits come to a man they enter into his entire memory, and thus into his entire thought, evil spirits into the evil things of his memory and thought, and good spirits into the good things of his memory and thought. These spirits have no knowledge whatever that they are with man; but when they are with him they believe that all things of his memory and thought are their own; neither do they see the man, because nothing that is in our solar world falls into their sight." (Heaven and Hell, 292)

For the most part, the spirits that are in communication with us communicate via affections and emotions, rather than by thought. In fact, this is the origin of all thought and emotion: it belongs to the spiritual world. Man, on his part, has the free will to choose what thoughts and affections he or she will appropriate to himself (or herself):

"The spirits who are with man, both those conjoined with heaven and those conjoined with hell, never flow into man from their own memory and its thought, for if they should flow in from their own thought, whatever belonged to them would seem to man to be his (see above n. 256). Nevertheless there flows into man through them out of heaven an affection belonging to the love of good and truth, and out of hell an affection belonging to the love of evil and falsity. Therefore as far as man's affection agrees with the affection that flows in, so far that affection is received by him in his thought, since man's interior thought is wholly in accord with his affection or love; but so far as man's affection does not agree with that affection it is not received. Evidently, then, since thought is not introduced into man through spirits, but only an affection for good and an affection for evil, man has choice, because he has freedom; and is thus able by his thought to receive good and reject evil, since he knows from the Word what is good and what is evil. Moreover, whatever he receives by thought from affection is appropriated to him; but whatever he does not receive by thought from affection is not appropriated to him. All this makes evident the nature of the influx of good out of heaven with man, and the nature of the influx of evil out of hell. (Heaven and Hell, 298)

When we die, we shed our external body, and we become aware of the society we belong to, either in heaven and hell. In reality, no one goes to heaven or hell: we are already there. We just become aware of this internal reality after we die:

"Souls newly arrived from the world, when about to leave the company of the spiritual angels to go among spirits, and so at length to come into the society in which they had been while they lived in the body, are led about by angels to many mansions or abodes, that is, to societies which are distinct and yet conjoined with others; in some of which they are received, while in other cases they are led to still other societies, and this for an indefinite time, until they come to the society in which they had been while they lived in the body; and there they remain." (Arcana Coelestia, 1273)

CONCLUSION

Despite the fact that the information Swedenborg gives makes common sense, he is completely ignored. Why? Because no one at this day believes people can receive heavenly visions, and even discount the existence of the spiritual world. So instead, the modern world has to flounder around guessing, depending on psychologists who view the mind as a black box. Naturalistic materialism only goes so far. When it comes to the soul, the afterlife, and the things that really matter, science is completely blind.

When it comes to many religions, the priests or spiritual leaders just love to call attention to themselves. They are often the worse, for their own pride is veiled with religion. Many of these false leaders will claim to have visions, in order to mislead people. Pride is the hardest evil to conquer, and Swedenborg had to go through many trials to conquer it before he was allowed to see what he saw, in a completely wakeful state for 27 years. All of his works were published anonymously, at his own expense. He only became known when at a dinner in Germany, he had a clairvoyant experience where he described a fire in Sweden, that it threatened to burn down his house and all his books. When asked why he was so worried, he was pressed and described the fire, and all the factual details became known several days later. It was then he became famous, and people finally guessed it was he who had been publishing these volumes of his visionary experiences. The incident was investigated by none other than the German philosopher Immanuel Kant.

So, when it comes to religious matters, who would you choose? Someone writing about their own opinion or guess, or someone who was a witness to spiritual events in heaven and hell, whose experiences were later validated by factual evidence? I am going to pick the latter.

The New Thought Movement of Christian Science

2007-10-23T00:45:00.001-04:00

I was wandering about in Seattle this past weekend and came across a "Christian Science Reading Room". Curiosity got me so I stepped in - it was curious, as they combined readings from the Bible and writings from their founder, Mary Baker Eddy, a woman who lived in the 19th century. Basically, she was healed of an illness by changing her thoughts through prayer, and developed a religious system around that.

Afterwards I talked to one man there, and many of the beliefs was similar to my own - such as God is Divine Love, and condemns no one to hell. Punishment stops when sinning stops, for the law of order dictates that each sin contains within it its own punishment. It is our own conscience which will judge us. Moreover, they treat the Bible allegorically, and not literally. A woman then told me that Mary Baker Eddy gave an allegorical interpretation of Genesis and Revelation. At that point a light bulb turned on and I said, "Oh, she borrowed her teachings from Swedenborg." All I got was a blank stare. "Who?"

In Swedenborg's visions, he saw God as the Light of all of heaven, full of Love, who condemns no one, who desires all nothing but happiness. He is Love and Truth, and the truth we know from our conscience is that which will judge us. Those who lived a life of hate will turn away to dwell in an area of darkness. Moreover, Swedenborg gave an allegorical interpretation of the entire Bible, one revealed to him by God through angels. And it took volumes, as he gave the proof for the symbolic meaning to each word he came across in scripture. Instead, Christian Science conducts their services across the world based on the opinions of this woman, who never had any direct revelation, but based them on the beliefs of her healer, apparently. However when I mentioned Swedenborg to them the woman was quite curious. So I may stop by again. If anyone is curious I will ask them to give me a thumb drive and just copy all of Swedenborg's writings on that, for them to examine.

Obviously, Christian Science reading rooms are perhaps more popular than Churches based on Swedenborg's writings because Swedenborg, quite frankly, wrote in a dense style, originally in Neo-Latin. Mary Baker Eddy is easy to understand. But her grasp of the symbolic meaning behind the Bible is simplistic, yet another human attempt to grasp the Divine spirituality behind the literalism of the words.

After doing research, I discovered that Christian Science, along with the writings of Swedenborg (which forms the foundation of the "New Church") are both classified as belonging to the "New Thought Movement". These are movements that treat scripture in a more metaphysical way, and includes the Unity Church. The first person to write on Christian Science was a man named Warren Evans - and guess what - he was a Swedenborgian minister! He had compared Christian Science with the revelations given to Swedenborg. So it was quite likely a borrowing occurred. But after a superficial glance at Mary Baker Eddy's writings, it could have been an indirect borrowing. Then again, she could have arrived at some of her thoughts independently, but I believe there is some influence there. The Christian Scientists, honestly, were quite open to this, they stated no one has a monopoly on truth.

Like Warren Evans, I thought I would take a brief look at some of the beliefs of Christian Science, and compare them with what Swedenborg had to say. I will borrow from wikipedia concerning their beliefs:

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Eddy argues that given the absolute goodness and perfection of God, sin, disease, and death were not created by Him, and therefore cannot be truly real. She bases this reading on Genesis 1, calling that the true record of creation in contrast to Genesis 2, the false record of creation obscuring the true (which occurred when "a mist went up from the face of the ground"). Rather than being ontologically real, in Christian Science evil and its manifestations are instead terrible lies about God and His creation. This, it contends, is what Jesus meant when he said that "the devil is a liar and the father of it" (John 8:44). The demand for Christians, therefore, is to "unmask" the devil's lies through Christ, revealing the true and eternal perfection of God's creation. Eddy therefore called evil "error" and felt it could be remedied through a better spiritual understanding of one's relationship to God. She contended that this understanding was what enabled the biblical Jesus to heal and accords with the Scripture: "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." (I John 4:6)

Concerning the absolute goodness of God, Swedenborg goes further: God is good itself. He is the origin of Goodness, and Love. If any person does good, that good originates from God working through that person. But before a person can receive this good, he/she must eliminate the evil that he/she has accepted through a belief in error. Like Eddy, Swedenborg stated that God did not create evil, but rather, evil came about through man's abuse of free will. This is described in the Fall. Evil exists, but can only exist when one is in darkness and error. However, at higher spiritual levels, the highest angels of heaven regard evil as "nothing". Their thoughts do not dwell upon it, so for them, evil does not exist. Swedenborg does warn, however, that people who are in evil do not believe they are committing evil: evil is only revealed through the truth. Thus it is important to go through a period of self examination once or twice a year.

Christian Science believes that sickness and ill health is brought about through false thinking. This actually is quite true. The origin of most illnesses - up to about 80%, doctors estimate - comes from stress. The link between ones' thoughts and ones' illnesses is known in the medical community as psychosomatism. So they emphasize prayer as a healing method. Scripture also recommends laying on of hands - some research indicates that auras of healers grow during the healing process, which can be captured through the process of Kirlian photography. The meaning of the auras in photographs is still disputed.

One part, which I found odd, is that the sacraments of baptism, the eucharist, etc. - are all treated metaphorically, as mental ideas. In Swedenborg thought, symbols and rituals are important - in fact, one's thought can not be focused on something unless there is an image or symbol formed in the mind. Ancient religions understood this well. The highest form of symbolism was achieved in the human body itself - for the human body is in fact the image of God. Symbols and images are used for God to communicate to man through visions and dreams. The Christian Science reading rooms are thus quite bland. There are no symbols to elevate the natural thought into spiritual thought. I once told a Muslim, the Koran is somewhat boring since it is not rich in symbolism like the Bible is. Of course I risked the appearance of being sacriligous but I did so to make a point. The danger of symbolism, I admitted, is that it could lead to false doctrines.

Here is Christian Science's belief concerning Jesus Christ:

"Christ Jesus is both "Wayshower" and savior in Christian Science theology. Eddy distinguished between the corporeal Jesus, the human man in the flesh (the Son of Man), and the incorporeal Christ (the Son of God). According to Christian Science, Christ is "the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error" (Science and Health 583). This incorporeal Christ is the "spiritual selfhood" (or spiritual identity) of Jesus (Science and Health 38). In Eddy's Message to The Mother Church for 1901, in the section titled CHRIST IS ONE AND DIVINE, she writes:

The Christ was Jesus' spiritual selfhood; therefore Christ existed prior to Jesus, who said, "Before Abraham was, I am." Jesus, the only immaculate, was born of a virgin mother, and Christian Science explains that mystic saying of the Master as to his dual personality, or the spiritual and material Christ Jesus, called in Scripture the Son of God and the Son of man — explains it as referring to his eternal spiritual selfhood and his temporal manhood. (Message for 1901, p. 8)

This accords with a basic plank in the platform of Christian Science:

The invisible Christ was imperceptible to the so-called personal senses, whereas Jesus appeared as a bodily existence. This dual personality of the unseen and the seen, the spiritual and material, the eternal Christ and the corporeal Jesus manifest in flesh, continued until the Master's ascension, when the human, material concept, or Jesus, disappeared, while the spiritual self, or Christ, continues to exist in the eternal order of divine Science, taking away the sins of the world, as the Christ has always done, even before the human Jesus was incarnate to mortal eyes. (Science and Health 334)"

This doctrine of Christian Science is quite similar to what Swedenborg said concerning Jesus Christ - in Him, his soul was Divine, in fact, His soul was the Father Himself. With the ressurection, the human body was absorbed into the Divine, but Swedenborg goes further - Jesus rose as to the flesh, in a Divine human body. There was a complete transformation. By resisting all sin and temptation in his human body, Jesus removed the sins of the world - for to fight against sin, one has to fight againt the thoughts that tempt one to sin - and these originate from Hell itself. It is in this manner that Jesus saved the world, for the spirit that now proceeds from his body is available to all, to enlighten, to heal, and bring us into union with the Divine.

"Christian Scientists are trinitarian, but in an unorthodox way. One plank of the platform of Christian Science says:

Life, Truth, and Love constitute the triune Person called God, — that is, the triply divine Principle, Love. They represent a trinity in unity, three in Divine one, — the same in essence, though multi-form in office: God the Father-Mother; Christ the spiritual idea of sonship; divine Science or the Holy Comforter. These three express in divine Science the threefold, essential nature of the infinite. They also indicate the divine Principle of scientific being, the intelligent relation of God to man and the universe. (Science and Health 331)

Here, Eddy calls God "Father-Mother," signifying not an androgynous God but a God "without body, parts or passions," as in the Westminster creed, who nevertheless functions both to govern and comfort. She calls the Holy Ghost "divine Science or the Holy Comforter," the spiritual law of God operating as the Holy Ghost in the world."

The above belief is a bit different than what Swedenborg taught: the trinity is in fact the soul, body and spirit that was formed in Jesus Christ. God incarnate was the triune God. Before that, the Trinity per se did not exist: only God and the Logos, that is, only Divine Love and the light that proceeds from that Love: Divine Truth. God, in fact, is a Divine Man, but outside of time and space. As this is impossible for a finite mind to conceive, Jesus Christ came to become the image of the invisible God.

Christian Science holds to the following belief:

There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual. (p. 468)

At this point, Christian Science comes close to the ancient heresy of Gnosticism, which went as far to declare that all matter is evil. I am not so sure why they emphasize the "unreality" of matter, but it may be related to changing one's thoughts to bring about healing. To Swedenborg, matter is obviously real, but it is a manifestation, or container, of higher spiritual realities. Man in his external form is material, but in his internal form he is spiritual. We put off this external material form only at death. All of matter, and all of nature, is in fact a manifestation of the Divine, although an imperfect lower manifestation. God, in fact, is substance and form itself, because at the center of all things, in its simplist form, is the most complete form, God Himself, in his Divine Light which ever expands to keep order in the material universe.

The Spiritual Law of Service

2007-10-19T00:48:00.001-04:00

The Mosaic Law of the Jews contained not only prophecies that were fulfilled with the coming of Jesus, but also commandments, statutes and judgments. The Judaic religion was ritualistic in nature, where the rituals performed signified internal spiritual truths that were revealed more clearly to the Christian Church. What is not so well known is that the statutes and judgments given to the Jews were also representative in nature; that is, the laws themselves signified something more spiritual. It is for this reason that certain Mosaic laws are now abrogated: they have served their purpose. The meaning of much of the Word was explained with the advent of Jesus Christ.

The commandments refer to the Decalogue, these are binding, except for the ritual of the Sabbath which is optional for the Christian Church. Besides the commandments, there are statutes, which relate to rituals of worship, and judgments, which relate to civic law for the Jewish nation. Among the "judgments" are those relating to slavery; that they belong to this category is indicated in the first verse of Exodus chapter 21:

And these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.

And the first set of judgments that are set forth are laws concerning slavery. The slavery laws of the ancient world were not racist in nature, as they were in America, but it was a means of paying off debt, or employing the poor. But these civic laws ("judgments") are abrogated. Why? Because they were given to the Jews as a nation, and these national laws were representative of spiritual laws of the Christian revelation which came after.

That the Mosaic laws concerning slaves, or servants, contain a spiritual sense within them, is indicated by the following passages:

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. (Matt. 23:11)

Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (Matt. 25:23)

No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Luke 16:13)

Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. (John 8:34-35)

If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. (John 12:26)

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. (John 15:15)

So, in the spiritual sense, the laws of servitude in Exodus, concern not being a slave to another person, but in being a servant towards God. In some of the above passages, one may derive that there is a period of time where one labors intensively as a slave or servant, but after a while a new spiritual state is reached where one becomes a friend of God. Servitude precedes friendship. Servitude precedes being a child of God. In the spiritual sense, a servant of God is one who labors, this is during the period of time when one labors to do understand truth and do good but must struggle with temptation or sinful desire. When the temptation is overcome, one does good with joy, this internal state of happiness is a state of friendship with God. And God in turn declares that you are his child, because now you follow his commandments with joy and happiness. Spiritual development is a journey towards union with God, and the external Mosaic laws describe the various states one must pass in this spiritual journey.

That this is so, is shown by the "odd" rules that make no sense: that a Hebrew slave must labor for six years, but in the seventh can be set free. The number seven is symbolic of a state of completion. That this Jewish ritual is symbolic, is also shown by the symbolism given in the seven days of creation: the passage in the Bible has nothing to do with how our material world was created; but rather it describes seven states of regeneration toward a spiritual state (see my previous blog on this topic).

These spiritual laws are kept hidden: most who read the Bible will wonder why it has such laws as these. It is inspired in such a way that behind every literal word there is a spiritual meaning, thus Jesus spoke in parables to the masses, but explained the true meaning to his disciples. There are other spiritual laws hidden within the laws concerning slaves in Exodus, but that would take another blog explaining the spiritual significance of each word.

One thing this particular law reminds me of: the last will and testament of my grandfather. In it, he described the law of service: which is the spiritual law of being useful to other people. And in it, he described his utmost desire in life was to be one thing: no longer a servant, but a friend of God.

On the Origin of Dreams and Visions

2007-10-02T00:50:00.000-04:00

I found a work called Spiritual Experiences which is a diary of sorts by Emanuel Swedenborg, concerning his supernatural experiences. Here are a couple of quotes concerning the origin of dreams and visions.

CONCERNING VISIONS OF ANCIENT TIMES, AND THE PRESENT

"True dreams are described in a different way. Here, a dream means the kind of visions that take place at a time of wakefulness, when the mind is withdrawn from outer sensations and passion. At such a time, the mind, left alone to itself, sees everything displayed to it as if before the eyes. Such dreams as these are elsewhere called visions, and they occur in full daytime, when a person is wide awake. One really sees mentally the symbolic displays themselves, not as thought sees, but as external sight does, outside of itself. It is clear that such visions existed in the earliest Church, especially with these patriarchs, and indeed, in full wakefulness. They are portrayals of the Messiah Himself and the things that must come to pass. I can affirm that such displays do occur, even in the daytime, and in fact, so vividly that one may see the spirits themselves and many things that take place in heaven. This has often happened to me, and at the same time, angels spoke with me. This was also the case in the earliest Church among the patriarchs. Heaven and earth were joined together so closely that those who were in the heavens spoke with those on earth, and the reverse, and thus portrayed symbolically those things which would come to pass. This is how revelations took place at that time."

ON THE ORIGIN OF PROPHETIC DREAMS

The following quote I found interesting, for it reveals the origins of prophetic dreams (I hear of them constantly):

"As for dreams in particular, I would like to say this, that they are brought upon a person by spirits. Dreams by which future events, as well as truths, are revealed, are brought on by spirits of God the Messiah, but the rest by spirits who are not of God the Messiah. But dreams by which people are deceived are caused by evil spirits, thus by the devil's gang. Furthermore, dreams are brought on either by means of actual voices, or for the most part by displays in their countless forms. One who is not acquainted with these can never learn the meaning of symbolic dreams. For the portrayals of realities in heaven are effected by means of the same sort of things as there are on earth, especially those which are gazed upon, thus objects of nature. Sometimes they are composed in such a way that they can hardly be unraveled unless one is acquainted with the individual types of displays. That dreams are of this nature appears very clearly from the dreams of Joseph, as well as of the Pharaoh, and notably those in the books of the prophets, where much is read about dreams. This is not to mention actual visions when people are awake. These visions are also altogether like dreams, being the same kind of displays, just like real life, as if in clear daylight, also at times of wakefulness before and after sleep, as well as other times. There are likewise actual portrayals, when the spirits are presented in person just as one person would be to another on earth; but this happened to me when I was in a different state. With some, the dreams brought on by spirits are only illusions amounting to almost nothing but games."

The Revelations of Islam and Christianity

2007-09-30T00:52:00.000-04:00

Due to the fact that Christianity had become corrupt by worshipping a trinity of three beings, instead of one God, by the time this doctrine had become orthodox and the original monotheistic Christians were declared heretics, it was time to yet again set the course straight with another revelation. And that revelation was Islam, which was given by God to remove idolatry from many nations of this world. That it was given as a revelation was shown in visions to Emanuel Swedenborg. While it was given as a revelation, not everything was revealed - this is due to the fact that polygamy was allowed, as it was in Judaism. For that reason, states Swedenborg, since a monogamous relationship is most sacred in Christianity, as it represents the union between God and man, so Muslims were not allowed to know of the Divine union that took place in the God-Man, Jesus. Instead he was accepted as a prophet. In order to reconcile this view with the Bible, Muslims either don't know what's in the Bible, or (falsely) claim that it has become corrupt. But what does the Koran (Quran) have to say on Christianity? I found some interesting statements on this topic.

DENIAL OF A TRINITY OF THREE BEINGS

Sura 5 is most definite: there is no trinity of three beings, and Jesus is just a prophet:

[5.72] Certainly they disbelieve who say: Surely Allah, He is the Messiah, son of Marium; and the Messiah said: O Children of Israel! serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Surely whoever associates (others) with Allah, then Allah has forbidden to him the garden, and his abode is the fire; and there shall be no helpers for the unjust.
[5.73] Certainly they disbelieve who say: Surely Allah is the third (person) of the three; and there is no god but the one God, and if they desist not from what they say, a painful chastisement shall befall those among them who disbelieve.

[5.116] And when Allah will say: O Isa son of Marium! did you say to men, Take me and my mother for two gods besides Allah he will say: Glory be to Thee, it did not befit me that I should say what I had no right to (say); if I had said it, Thou wouldst indeed have known it; Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I do not know what is in Thy mind, surely Thou art the great Knower of the unseen things.
[5.117] I did not say to them aught save what Thou didst enjoin me with: That serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord, and I was a witness of them so long as I was among them, but when Thou didst cause me to die, Thou wert the watcher over them, and Thou art witness of all things.

According to the visions shown to Swedenborg, there is no trinity of three beings, but rather, there is a trinity of soul, body and spirit in every man. When the Word of God made its descent and assumed a human form, a Holy Trinity was created in Jesus Christ. Before that, the Trinity did not exist.

The other statement Swedenborg made, and explained in detail in many pages, is that Divinity made its descent in degrees, gradually. As Mary (Miriam) was human, the human body from the mother had inherited a sinful nature. Thus Jesus endured incredible temptations, and was like every other human, except he never succumbed to temptation, and advanced more quickly and more perfectly than any other human born before or after him. He came in the role of a prophet, so before the ressurection, that is what he was - the human body served as a prophet. The Koran speaks of this state of being. It is after the crucifixion where the Divinity became united with the human - thus Jesus declared all power was given to Him on heaven and earth. It is this state of being that the Koran was not allowed to reveal.

A TRINITY OF BEING

As said before, there is a trinity of being in every man: soul, body and spirit. This became a Holy Trinity in Jesus Christ, as stated in the visions seen by Swedenborg. Remarkably, we find something similar in the Koran:

[4.171] O followers of the Book! do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not speak (lies) against Allah, but (speak) the truth; the Messiah, Isa son of Marium is only an apostle of Allah and His Word which He communicated to Marium and a spirit from Him; believe therefore in Allah and His apostles, and say not, Three. Desist, it is better for you; Allah is only one God; far be It from His glory that He should have a son, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His, and Allah is sufficient for a Protector.

Jesus is: (1) an apostle, meaning sent one, and (2) is the Word of God, and (3) a spirit from God. That is very close to the concept of a Trinity of being in Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John declares that Jesus is the Word of God incarnate. To Swedenborg, He was Jehovah incarnate, to be "sent" into the world means His body was conceived by the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to speak directly to man.

In the following verses from Sura 2, Jesus is again said to have been endowed with the Holy Spirit:

[2.87] And most certainly We gave Musa the Book and We sent apostles after him one after another; and We gave Isa, the son of Marium, clear arguments and strengthened him with the holy spirit

[2.253] We have made some of these apostles to excel the others among them are they to whom Allah spoke, and some of them He exalted by (many degrees of) rank; and We gave clear miracles to Isa son of Marium, and strengthened him with the holy spirit.

The Holy Spirit, is the spirit of God which flows directly to man from the body of Jesus. It became available to mankind after the ressurection of Jesus Christ. Thus the gospel of John stated that the Holy Spirit was not yet, for Jesus was not glorified. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the reason why Jesus came.

NO SON OF GOD "BORN FROM ETERNITY"

The Koran is specifically opposed to the concept of a Son of God. This can be seen above in verse 171 in Sura 4, as well as Sura 9:

[9.30] And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!
[9.31] They have taken their doctors of law and their monks for lords besides Allah, and (also) the Messiah son of Marium and they were enjoined that they should serve one God only, there is no god but He; far from His glory be what they set up (with Him).

Despite these admonitions in the Koran, the Koran declares that Jesus was born by God through the virgin Mary:

[3.45] When the angels said: O Marium, surely Allah gives you good news with a Word from Him (of one) whose name is the '. Messiah, Isa son of Marium, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter and of those who are made near (to Allah).
[3.46] And he shall speak to the people when in the cradle and when of old age, and (he shall be) one of the good ones.
[3.47] She said: My Lord! when shall there be a son (born) to I me, and man has not touched me? He said: Even so, Allah creates what He pleases; when He has decreed a matter, He only says to it, Be, and it is.

So, despite the fact that the Koran is opposed to the concept of a Son of God, when I have told Muslims that Jesus is the Son of God due to the fact he was born of the virgin Mary, they are not opposed to this concept. Jesus was the Son of God born in time, before that time there was no Son of God. In fact, ancient Christians knew of no other Son of God except the one born in time through the virgin Mary. A Son of God "born from eternity" before Jesus was born was a later doctrine that was invented to oppose the Arian heresy. This false doctrine is in fact the origin of a trinity of three beings. It was added in the First Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D., which in fact was a modification of the older Apostle's Creed.

The original Apostle's Creed is quite simple:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.

In this Creed, Jesus is the Son simply because he was born through the virgin Mary. Now in 325 A.D. this original belief was modified in the Nicene Creed:

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth];
who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man;

Notice the changes? The Nicene Creed changed the Apostle's Creed to make a Son born from eternity to later descend and be born as Jesus. The "begotten not made" statement was added to oppose the Arian heresy, which proposed that Jesus was some sort of secondary archon that was created before the world was created. But in opposing this heresy, the Nicene Creed adopted another false belief, one that does not make sense.

The Nicene Creed was further made clear in the First Council of Constantinople of 381 A.D.:

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made;
who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;

With these two Creeds, the belief in a Son of God born from eternity was invented. Such a belief was unknown in the original revelation of Christianity - Jesus was simply the Son of God, born in time, as we was born by the Holy Spirit through the virgin Mary. In the visions of Swedenborg, these doctrines which entered the Church corrupted Christianity, until now there is barely a remnant of the original revelation.

NO SUCH THING AS BLOOD ATONEMENT

The concept of vicarious atonement, where one could pay for the sins by dying in one's place, was also a later doctrine that was added into Christianity. In the visions of Swedenborg, this is another false doctrine which has utterly corrupted the Christian revelation. Jesus did indeed save the human race, but he did this by making his human body Divine, thus allowing the Holy Spirit to become available to all mankind. A Divine Human was created, once all temptations were overcome. After the crucifixion, Jehovah was able to reorder all of heaven and hell, by first making a descent into hell, and then later ascending into heaven. In both the Koran, and visions of Swedenborg, one must simply shun what is evil, and do what is good. This is the essential truth of most religions.

[4.31] If you shun the great sins which you are forbidden, We will do away with your small sins and cause you to enter an honorable place of entering.

THE "HIDDEN CHRISTIANITY" WITHIN THE KORAN

As stated before, Islam was not allowed to know the true identity of Jesus Christ due to the fact that the revelation was designed to remove idolatry from eastern nations where polygamy was accepted. Thus, he is regarded as a great prophet. However, for any Muslim who will read the Koran carefully, there are some statements given which can lead them to the truth of the original Christian revelation. Here is a collection of statements I had gathered:

First, only God (Allah) is Creator, and can raise the dead. This is declared in Suras 6:2, 38:71-72 and 16:17, 20-21, 25:3. Yet the Koran states that Jesus could do the same thing! Of Jesus it is said:

[3.49] And (make him) an apostle to the children of Israel: That I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, that I determine for you out of dust like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird with Allah's permission and I heal the blind and the leprous, and bring the dead to life with Allah's permission

[5.110] When Allah will say: O Isa son of Marium! Remember My favor on you and on your mother, when I strengthened you I with the holy Spirit, you spoke to the people in the cradle and I when of old age, and when I taught you the Book and the wisdom and the Taurat and the Injeel; and when you determined out of clay a thing like the form of a bird by My permission, then you breathed into it and it became a bird by My permission, and you healed the blind and the leprous by My permission; and when you brought forth the dead by My permission; and when I withheld the children of Israel from you when you came to them with clear arguments, but those who disbelieved among them said: This is nothing but clear enchantment.

Jesus here is allowed to create a bird from clay, and cause it to live and fly away. The story actually comes from an apocryphal Infancy Gospel. To make it more clear, a clue is dropped in Sura 22:

[22.73] O people! a parable is set forth, therefore listen to it: surely those whom you call upon besides Allah cannot create a fly, though they should all gather for it, and should the fly snatch away anything from them, they could not take it back from i weak are the invoker and the invoked.

Why is this declared a parable? Only God can create something and cause it to live, yet elsewhere the Koran states Jesus was given the capability to do the same thing. He does not simply create a little fly, he creates an entire bird.

Here is an odd statement, where those who will have followed Jesus will be honored in the day of the ressurection:

[3.55] And when Allah said: O Isa, I am going to terminate the period of your stay (on earth) and cause you to ascend unto Me and purify you of those who disbelieve and make those who follow you above those who disbelieve to the day of resurrection; then to Me shall be your return, so I will decide between you concerning that in which you differed.

One thing I have noticed, is that English translations of the Koran tend to be poorly done. Here is a verse from Sura 9, that may have been mistranslated intentionally:

[9.31] They have taken their doctors of law and their monks for lords besides Allah, and (also) the Messiah son of Marium and they were enjoined that they should serve one God only, there is no god but He; far from His glory be what they set up (with Him).

In this translation, it states that other men, including the Messiah, have been worshipped in place of Allah. But that is not what the original says. In the above verse, the word "also" has been added by the translator. This is apparent in another translation of verse 31 of Sura 9 by Yusef Ali:

31. They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of Allah, and (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary; yet they were commanded to worship but One Allah. there is no god but He. Praise and glory to Him: (Far is He) from having the partners they associate (with Him).

Again, words have been added by the translator. The original verse actually says this:

They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of Allah and Christ the son of Mary

As translated, no one should be worshipped except Allah and His Messiah, Jesus Christ. This, of course, is a problematic statement for translators of the Koran, to the point they feel compelled to add words to the translation.

Next, the Koran itself states that Christians worship the same God as the Muslims do:

[29.46] And do not dispute with the followers of the Book except by what is best, except those of them who act unjustly, and say: We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your God is One, and to Him do we submit.

Finally, the Koran states that all should bow down to Allah in the following Suras: 2:43, 125, 131, 133, 136, 3:43, 84, 5:58, 111, 114, 7:126, 206, 9:112, 16:81, 21:108, 22:77, 27:81, 91, 39:12, 54, 41:33, 46:15, 48:29, 96:19.

And, the Koran states that all should bow down to Allah only: 6:14, 163, 22:18, 26, 29:46, 40:66, 68:41-43

That is straightforward. But in the Koran, there is a very odd story: when Adam was created, he commanded that all the angels should bow down before Adam. One angel did not, this angel was Satan. This story is not found in the Bible, and is referred to in the following Suras: 2:30-34, 7:11, 17:61, 18:50. Ultimately the question should arise for any Muslim: if the Koran states that one should bow down to Allah, and to Allah only, why in the world is there a story in the Koran that states Allah commanded his angels to bow down before Adam?

I am not sure how Muslims have answered this question, but here is an interesting reference to Adam:

[3.59] Surely the likeness of Isa is with Allah as the likeness of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, Be, and he was.
[3.60] (This is) the truth from your Lord, so be not of the disputers.
[3.61] But whoever disputes with you in this matter after what has come to you of knowledge, then say: Come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and our near people and your near people, then let us be earnest in prayer, and pray for the curse of Allah on the liars.
[3.62] Most surely this is the true explanation, and there is no god but Allah; and most surely Allah-- He is the Mighty, the Wise.

Isa (Jesus) is declared to be in the likeness of Adam. Could it be, that the Koran is referencing a story where God commanded the angels to bow down before Jesus? It could be that this story was taken from the epistle to the Philippians (2:5-10), found in the New Testament:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God;
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

THE KORAN REAFFIRMS THE EARLIER BIBLICAL REVELATION

Up until the last quote I have tried to avoid quoting the Bible, because a common belief among Muslims is that the Bible became corrupt, and does not represent the original message given to Jesus. But ironically the Koran says the opposite. In the following Suras, it affirms the revelation given in the Torah (the first five books of Moses, or the OT) and the Gospel (the four gospels of the NT): 3:3, 47-50, 5:46, 49, 66, 68, 110, 10:37, 94, 12:111, 17:101-103, 28:48-49, 46:10, 12, 61:6.

Further, not only does the Koran reaffirm the revelation of the Torah and the Gospel, but it states that Allah would never allow his words to be changed or altered: 6:34,115, 10:64, 18:27, 48:23, 50:29.

Given that, why do Muslims maintain the Bible was altered? It is the only way that they can maintain the belief that they were taught. What I have learned is that all religions contain truth, but mixed in with what is false. Jesus taught that we should first learn to recognize our own faults before pointing at the faults of others. If Christians would recognize the faults of their religion, and Muslims the faults of their own, people will come to the realization that it is in fact the same religion, but accustomed to the truth men were willing to accept at the time the revelation was given.

A Universal Religion for the New Age

2007-09-26T00:54:00.001-04:00

Most people are familiar with the New Age movement, but the belief systems are more often than not unstructured. What many do not know is that the New Age was anticipated over 200 years ago in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Many of the questions that the New Age movement brings up have already been answered - the near death experience, life after death, reincarnation, the nature of the one God, the true identity of Jesus Christ, an understanding of symbolism, the origin of creation - you name it. I found this article from www.swedenborg.org as a good introduction to the tenets of the New Church:

"The thirty volumes authored late in Swedenborg's career comprise the theological and philosophical perspectives that are the core of Swedenborgian belief. In his writings, Swedenborg describes his own spiritual experiences and religious insights. He does not set forth new religious doctrine, but expands the teachings of the Bible by providing a new understanding of its spiritual sense. Swedenborg contends that God has revealed Himself in many ways - the universe itself, human life, and the coming of Christ are all revelations of God, as is the Bible, its pages divulging the most complete insights to truth known to the human experience.

A New Age
One of Swedenborg's premises is that the Second Coming has taken place - and in fact still is taking place. The Second Coming is not an actual physical appearance of the Lord, but rather His return in spirit and truth that is being effected as a present reality - in today's terms, the Age of Aquarius, or in Swedenborg's terms, the New Church. The information revealed to Swedenborg, he felt, is a continually-occurring Second Coming in that the new information enables a new perception of the Word of God.

Reality of a Spiritual World
Another important aspect of Swedenborgian thought is concerned with the spiritual world. Swedenborg asserts that we live in a world of spirit as well as in the material world, although we are usually unconscious of that dimension of our existence. With death we become conscious in the spiritual world, where our personal identity is retained and we are revealed as the person we inwardly are. The final "judgment" is our own realization of our individual essential nature as we face our real selves, rather than an evaluation and dictate by a power beyond.

We decide our own afterlife, choosing our own heaven or hell as we align ourselves with the loves we have affirmed in the natural world. If our love is solely selfish in this life, we will later abide with others of selfish motives. Just as we choose our own company and values in this life, in the afterlife we choose our destiny. Further, the life in the spiritual world is similar to this one; we pursue activities and work which enable us to continue developing and growing. The spiritual world is a continuation of the inner regenerative process that is life as we know it.

Only One Divine Nature
Swedenborg asserts that Jesus Christ Himself was a manifestation of God, the Divine made flesh to enable humanity to be aware of a unique relationship with God. Prior to His Coming, God had been incomprehensible to humans beyond the capacity of our perception and understanding. Through the birth of Christ, humanity was given an overt expression of God's reality in human terms. Christ is not seen as a separate entity, but as reflective of the multiple consciousness that is the oneness of God. There are not three divine beings comprising the trinity, but one Divine Nature in which the three aspects of God are present. Nor did Christ come to redeem us from original sin. Rather, His mission was that of revealing the nature and reality of the spiritual life, and to provide a living example of it.

Love Is Life
Love, Swedenborg says, is the basic element of reality. It is the source of all life, the essence of God. Our souls are individual finite forms of love, our bodies serving as mirrors of that inner essence. As we live, we choose what kind of love we will be. We may choose to regard ourselves as the only reality--our own needs, desires, and feelings as all important. Or we may choose to focus on others. In the former instance, we shrink in spirit, allowing a part of our potential as loving beings to atrophy. In the latter instance, we grow spiritually, heightening our awareness of the nature of love and thus also of the nature of ourselves and God.

Truth Is Love In Action
Truth is the way love works. Most of us sense that. Actions we perform out of love are honest actions, genuine expressions in a physical form of what love means, or the truth of love. Swedenborgians feel that ultimately the two are inseparable, a part of the same reality. Actualized love is truth, and hence faith and charity are especially significant in human living. Swedenborg defines faith as a kind of inner sight, a perception of what is true. Charity is founded in the desire to do service and live a useful life, beginning with the choice of career or life work. The spiritual life involves the active development of a useful and meaningful life in service to the betterment of the world as a whole. Whereas the religious life often connotes withdrawal from the world and life, active participation in the world is a commitment to actualizing faith and charity. The life of charity and faith parallel the union of love and truth which is the essence of God.

Freedom of the Will
Swedenborg emphasizes the responsibility of all people to develop their own beliefs and live their lives accordingly.

Without free will in spiritual things the human being can in no wise advance into light, i.e., into truths and goods of the church, or procure himself a life. Without that free will he would not be a human being but only a figure and a phantom. For his thought would be without reflection, consequently without judgment and thus in Divine things which are of the Church he would have no more ability to turn than a door without a hinge, or with one fastened with a bolt of steel. His will, too, would be devoid of decision, hence no more active towards justice or injustice than the stone on the mound under which lies a dead body...." (Coronis, 24 28)

An Inner Meaning Within the Bible
Swedenborg likens the Spiritual teachings to a parent teaching a child.

... explaining all things according to their genius and capacities, although he himself thinks from an interior or deeper ground. Otherwise it would be like teaching what would not be learned. (Arcana Coelestia, 2533)

Thus the scriptures are written on the literal level in plain language expressing the truth and wisdom of God as it is adapted to our limited human understanding. The Bible also contains a deeper meaning, an inner essence, in addition to its obvious and overt meaning. Swedenborg notes in The True Christian Religion:

The Word in its essence is spiritual. Descending from Jehovah the Lord, and passing through the angelic heavens, the Divine (in itself unutterable and imperceptible) became level with the perception of angels and finally the perception of man. Hence, the Word has a spiritual sense, which is within the natural, just as the soul is within the body, or as thought is in speech, or volition in action.

The belief that all things have an inner reality, as well as an outer manifestation is a significant concept for the whole of Swedenborgian thought.

Swedenborgianism
This, then, is the living reality of Swedenborg's teachings. In stressing freedom, diversity, and individualism, he issued a challenge to individuals, churches, and other organizations to be committed to the human growth processes and to express their personal commitment in ways as diverse as their numbers. Sensitivity to, and respect for, each individual's "internal church," or spirituality, is what Swedenborgianism is really all about.

One primary pathway advocated in the Swedenborgian Church for spiritual growth is a specialized study of scripture, enabling the diligent student to become aware of the inner-penetration of nature and spirit, of our natural world here and the universal spiritual world. In addition, an expanding awareness of spiritual reality is encouraged by the exploration of dreams and by prayer and meditation practices. And perhaps the most popular of Swedenborg's spiritual growth practices is his Zen-like discussions on "being useful." Teilhard de Chardin once said, "Do not forget that the value and interest of life is not so much to do conspicuous (although we have this ambition) as to do ordinary things with the perception of their enormous value." For Swedenborg, such a focus provides the ground for future spiritual growth. As Paul Zacharias, a Swedenborgian minister, observes in his pamphlet This We Believe, "Everyone who lives up to the best he knows, whether Christian, Jew, Moslem, or Pagan, is truly a member of the church Invisible."

A Conversation with Angels concerning God

2007-09-22T00:57:00.000-04:00

One thing I learned early on is to question what I believe, to determine if it is true or not, and to follow the truth wherever it leads. One of the most interesting finds I have come across are the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, who recorded the findings of over 25 years of continuous revelation from heavenly visions. He was a proven clairvoyant, and only became known as the author of these anonymous writings once one of his clairvoyant visions became public. He began with dreams, and practiced slowing his breath, until he could enter a trance without even breathing. I have seen this demonstrated by some eastern yogis.

Swedenborg would enter a deep trance, until his internal vision was opened, and the spiritual world was revealed to him. He then began encountering the angels of the higher realms. The angels then noticed him, and started to examine his internal thoughts. Here is one of his encounters, described in his work, True Christian Religion:

"On one occasion, awaking from sleep I fell into a profound meditation about God; and looking up I saw above me in heaven an exceedingly bright light of oval form; and as I fixed my gaze upon it the light withdrew to the sides and formed a circle; and then, behold, heaven opened to me, and I saw magnificent scenes, and angels standing in a circle on the southern side of the opening talking together. As I greatly wished to hear what they were saying, I was permitted first to hear the sound of their voices, which was full of heavenly love, and afterwards what they said, which was full of wisdom from that love. They were talking together about the One God, and conjunction with Him, and salvation thereby. They uttered things ineffable, most of which could not possibly be expressed in any natural language. But at different times I had been in company with the angels in heaven itself, and at such times had been in a state like theirs and in a similar language, and consequently I was now able to understand them, and select from what they said some things that can be rationally expressed in the words of natural language.

...the angels perceived in my thought those ideas of God that prevail in the Christian Church respecting a trinity of persons in unity and a unity of persons in a trinity; also respecting a birth of the Son of God from eternity; and they said, "What is your thought? Are you not thinking from natural light, which is not in accord with our spiritual light? Unless, therefore, you dismiss these ideas we must shut up heaven against you and depart." But I said, "Enter, I pray you, more deeply into my thought, and you will see, perhaps, that there is an agreement between us." This they did; and they saw that by three persons I understood three Divine attributes going forth, Creation, Redemption, and Regeneration, and that these are attributes of one God; also that by the birth of the Son of God from eternity I understood His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time; (also that to think of the Son born of God from eternity would, to me, be not above nature and reason but contrary to nature and reason; while to think of the Son born of God in time through the virgin Mary as the only Son of God, and the only-begotten, is very different; and to believe otherwise than this would be a monstrous error. I then told them that the source of my natural thought about a trinity and unity of persons, and the birth of a Son of God from eternity, was the doctrine of faith in the church which has its name from Athanasius. Then the angels said, "Very well," and asked me to say from them that only those who approach the very God of heaven and earth can enter heaven, because heaven is heaven from that only God, and that this God is Jesus Christ, who is the Lord Jehovah, from eternity the Creator, in time the Redeemer, and to eternity the Regenerator, thus who is at once Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and this, they said, is the gospel to be preached. After this the heavenly light which had been seen before over the opening returned, and gradually descended and filled the interiors of my mind, and enlightened my ideas on the trinity and unity of God; and the ideas which I had first formed on these subjects, and which had been merely natural, I then saw separated as chaff is separated from wheat by winnowing, and carried away as by a wind to the north of heaven, and scattered."

The idea that God is divided into a trinity of three beings, and yet one, is false. Problem is, the majority of modern Christianity is founded on this principal, which is based on a false doctrine that was invented in the 4th century A.D. As it is regarded as a foundational belief, most of Christian theology hinges on this belief. The older Christians - mostly those in the Near East - were eventually declared heretics by the Roman Catholic Church.

Once Swedenborg was corrected in his thought, further, deeper revelations took place of a new form of Christianity - based on what was originally taught from scripture - that would have focused attention on one God, whose true nature is that of Love itself, who loves all whom He created, one who condemns no one to hell but desires happiness for us all.

The Prophecy of Mount Rainier

2007-09-20T00:59:00.000-04:00

I found another Native American prophecy - concerning Mt. Rainier, a dormant volcano near here in Seattle.

Sun Bear, Chippewa Medicine Man

(1929-1992)

These changes might not be convenient for humans, but the earth will make them anyway. As a dog shakes itself to get rid of fleas, the earth will generate earthquakes, volcanoes and climactic changes to rid itself of surplus and troublesome humans. If it is necessary that a lot of people die off during the major changes, and that the people that survive are conscious people that are responsible for the earth and are living on it in harmony and love and respect, then that is what is supposed to happen...

The people who will survive will be those who love life and affirm life in every way they can. They will be people who are willing to make a conscious change in the way they view life and in their actions toward all creation. They will not be those sitting with their rifles over a can of beans. The survivors will be people reaching out for another level of consciousness and seeking communication with the Creator and the Earth. They will be people living close to the earth far from large cities who are able to grow and harvest or gather their own food from the wild.

I'm trying to reach out and create a larger group of people who are in harmony with the earth. These people won't get wiped out in the process of the earth changes. If you know where to be and how to prepare, this can be a very comfortable, interesting and exciting time.

The 1989 San Francisco quake and the 1993 Northridge one were just warnings of much larger ones that will rock California. Sun Bear, who was part Chippewa Indian, medicine chief of the Bear Tribe, and a teacher and visionary said, in 1987, "The earth is an intelligent living being! Before any major changes ever happen upon the Earth Mother, it has warned people. . . . You're going to see major changes here. When I asked the Spirit about the earthquakes, and whether these things could be changed, and what would happen? Spirit said it's already sealed. It's already happening...

A volcano that will devastate the Seattle area is foretold is an ancient prophecy from Washington State's Puyallup tribe, which says, "The time will come when Little Sister will speak, and Grandfather will answer. And the land will be swept clean to the ocean." Sun Bear explained that Donald Matheson, a leader of the Puyallup tribe, moved his people to Idaho in 1979 because he believed it was time for this prophecy to be fulfilled. In March 1980, the mountain that we call little sister began to whisper. May 18th of 1980, the Little Sister spoke with a cubic mile of mountain that was spread over the northwest area, and many other parts of the world... "The Little Sister is called Mount St. Helens. Soon, the Grandfather is going to answer so much bigger. That one is called Mt. Rainier." Indian prophecies also foretold worldwide environmental catastrophes such as the greenhouse effect, "changes in the seasons and in the weather, disappearance of wildlife, famine," and the ozone hole, which was referred to as a "hole in our lodging."

Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980, and had a couple of minor eruptions in 1990. It has shown increasing activity since 2004. Mt. Rainier has shown no activity for over a 100 years. In an earlier blog I discussed the vision of David Booth where he saw a large body collide with the south pole of the earth, causing massive volcanic eruptions in North America. I recently met with a friend of mine in Berkeley California to discuss a few of these things, to compare it with my own experience which dictated that there should be a massive volcanic eruption in the near future.

The Astronomy of the Birth of Abraham (1953 B.C.)

2007-08-24T01:01:00.002-04:00

Many astronomers have discovered that there was a grand conjunction of the five visible planets in the year 1953 B.C. - and this will not be repeated until the year 2040 A.D. Here is a quote from an astronomical newsletter (http://www.madisonastro.org/capskies/2000/2000_04/April2000.html):

"Just out of curiosity, what is the best planetary grouping ever? My reading and research have turned up two remarkable events. On the morning of February 24th, 1953 BC, all five naked eye planets were within 4 degrees of each other just before dawn. By March 2nd, the grouping wasn't as tight, but the crescent moon joined the show. History doesn't contain any record of anyone having observed this remarkable grouping, but it must have been breathtaking for anyone who was paying attention.

The other "best ever" planetary grouping hasn't happened yet, but odds are at least better that you'll live to see it. On the evening of September 8th, 2040, all five naked eye planets and the crescent moon will be in a grouping just 9 degrees wide low in the western sky. While not quite as tight as the 1953 BC event, it will be quite memorable. I've got it marked on my calendar. How about you?"

As it turns out, this astronomer was wrong - not in his calculations, but concerning the historical moment of 1953 B.C. Chronology is hard to calculate for ancient times, but a while ago I did research on the book of Jasher, a lost book of the Bible (which I covered in my previous blog - there is a link to an online version in my profile), which happens to contain a very accurate chronology. One thing I discovered in my calculations that it was in the year 1953 B.C. that Abraham was born - the father of the three main monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. And guess what? The astrologers of Babylonia took notice of the grand conjunction in that year - I will quote the story in full:

And it was in the night that Abram was born, that all the servants of Terah, and all the wise men of Nimrod, and his conjurors came and ate and drank in the house of Terah, and they rejoiced with him on that night.
And when all the wise men and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their eyes toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up the four stars from the four sides of the heavens.
And all the wise men of the king and his conjurors were astonished at the sight, and the sages understood this matter, and they knew its import.
And they said to each other, This only betokens the child that has been born to Terah this night, who will grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and possess all the earth, he and his children for ever, and he and his seed will slay great kings, and inherit their lands. (Jasher 8:1-4)

I had calculated the year 1953 B.C. before I knew of the grand conjunction of that date. The star that swallows up the other four stars is Venus; the other four stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The four were close together in the constellation of Aquarius, and any astronomy program will show that it was Venus which was the last planet to join the group. As this is a rare event, some world event is due to take place in the year 2040 A.D.

Later in the year of 1953 B.C., there was a triple conjunction between the planets of Jupiter and Saturn. Conjunctions between these two planets occur every 20 years, but triple conjunctions are rare - they occur every 973 years. And it seems that every other time this occurs it marks a significant event in history. In 7 B.C. there was a triple conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces. Many consider this to be the "star of Bethlehem" that the three Magi sought out to find the baby Jesus. As king Herod slaughtered the children of Bethlehem hoping to kill Jesus before he had grown, so the story of Jasher describes how the king of Babylonia sought to kill Abram due to the presage of astrologers. There is much speculation on what exactly was the star of Bethlehem, but this parallel suggest this was it.

If we look at the event before 1953 B.C., we come to the year 3899 B.C. in which a triple conjunction occurred. Again, using the book of Jasher the chronology indicates that the "creation" of Adam occurred in the year 3901 B.C. - two years within this date. In the New Testament Jesus is known as the "second Adam", as he came to restore the spiritual nature to humanity.

If we look beyond the year 7 B.C., another triple conjunction occurred in the years 1940-41, with the central conjunction occurring on Oct. 20, 1940. Just out of curiosity, was anyone significant born on this particular date? This is where this line of thought gets a little strange. I did a lookup of famous people, and it just so happens that this was the birthdate of Robert Pinsky. Who is Robert Pinsky? According to the wikipedia:

Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is a leading American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 – 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (popularly known as the Poet Laureate of the United States).

So we have Adam, Abraham, Jesus, and now...Robert Pinsky, a poet? That just seems a little anti-climactic. The odd thing here is Robert Pinsky happens to be an Orthodox Jew - in the same family line as Adam, Abraham and Jesus. Here is a summary of critics' views on his poetry:

"Pinsky is often praised for "his grasp of traditional metrical forms and his ability to evoke timeless meaning within the strictures of contemporary idioms." Critics applaud, "his ability to imbue simple images—a Brownie troop square dance, cold weather, the music of Fats Waller—with underlying meaning to create order out of the accidental events people encounter in their lives." Commentators admire Pinsky's, "ambitiousness, his juxtaposition of the personal with the universal, the present with the past, the simple with the complex, and it has been noted that his intellectual style presents challenges to readers, obliging them to unravel the complexity behind the clarity of language and imagery."

About Robert Pinsky's first book of poems Robert Lowell wrote, "It is refreshing to find a poet who is intellectually interesting and technically first-rate. Robert Pinsky belongs to that rarest category of talent, a poet-critic." Writing in the Times Literary Supplement, William Pritchard called "Sadness and Happiness", "the best work by any younger poet within recent memory." Louis Martz wrote of Pinsky "the most exhilarating new poet that I have read since A. R. Ammons entered upon the scene. In his peculiar and original combination of abstract utterance and vivid image Pinsky points the way toward the future of poetry." "The Inferno of Dante" has been celebrated by Stephen Greenblatt as, "the premier modern text for English-language readers to experience Dante's power." Hugh Kenner has described Pinsky's ambition as "nothing less than the recovery for language of a whole domain of mute and familiar experience," (http://www.bu.edu/favoritepoem/contact/rp_bio.html, 2). "In his poems Pinsky talks, with democratic warmth and intimacy, to the common things of this world. His extraordinary poems remind us that he has always embodied the very ideal he proposes for what a poet can do," (Lloyd Schwarz, The Boston Phoenix). "Among the many writers who have come of age in our fin de siècle, none has succeeded more completely as a poet, critic and translator than Robert Pinsky," (James Longenbach, The Nation). (http://www.bu.edu/favoritepoem/contact/rp_bio.html, 2)

"Robert Pinsky's poetry is noted for its combination of vivid imagery and clear, discursive language that explores such themes as truth, the history of nations and individuals, and the transcendent aspects of simple acts. Pinsky strives to create an organized view of the world, often confronting and trying to explain the past to bring order to the present. Recurring subjects in his work include the Holocaust, religion, and childhood. Pinsky's moral tone and mastery of poetic meter often are compared to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century English poets, and the insights conveyed in his analytical works on poetry have led critics to place him in the tradition of other poet-critics such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Matthew Arnold, T. S. Eliot, and W. H. Auden."

Time will only tell if this assessment is correct. If anyone else knows someone significant that was born on Oct. 19-20, 1940, or perhaps on another date close to the triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, I would like to know. The other two conjunctions were on Aug. 8, 1940, and Feb. 15, 1941. One wonders if the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews is a historical parallel to the slaughter of innocents in Bethlehem. If so, who is that individual that escaped?

A Mythical Dream

2007-08-20T01:03:00.000-04:00

Some myths are stories. Some myths are real. And other myths are revealed in dreams. Here is a dream I had in December of 1988 from my dream journal, which I would only come to understand many years later:

After Christmas, I had a dream in which I remember talking to my father about what kind of work he does. He handed me a manila folder describing his work, but I could not understand what was written. I then saw that one of my hands was holding a dead branch. As I looked at it the branch began to grow in size. Then smaller twigs began to grow off the branch. As I watched these offshoots, I was surprised to see green leaves begin to sprout. The branch grew upward and downward, until it was a tree implanted in the ground. Soon the branch I was holding was growing into a gigantic tree.

I was looking up, and saw that a chimpanzee had taken residence in my tree. But the chimp saw that the tree began to grow taller than the surrounding trees, so he jumped to another tree. I now looked around me, and saw that I was in a forest of pinewood trees. I saw my mother on a path, and she told me to follow.

At the end of the path there was our yellow truck. To the left of it was some king of building or ruin. I went around this looking in and out searching for something. I had to climb inside, and I reached for something hidden in a hole and grabbed something in my hand, but I never knew what it was.

The forest began to awaken. Behind the trees came these walking creatures whom I could not see clearly. Some enemies started to appear around me to prevent me from taking the treasure I had discovered. They flitted back and forth and approached closer.

There was no way to run, but then I saw this black horse waiting for me. I got on the horse, and I started to ride the horse at a gallop back on the trail in order to escape.

..

Out of the forest appeared all these "mythical" creatures who tried to stop me, and when I looked behind me there was a whole group of them who ran and flew as they were chasing me. I do not know what they looked like. They soon became a multitude, but the horse galloped faster and faster. I looked in front of me and saw a bridge which went over a river, and it was at the bridge where the forest ended.

On the other side of the bridge I saw the modern world where I saw crowds of people waiting for me, and I then realized that I was riding through an enchanted forest where myth and magic prevailed. Those on the other side were in modern clothing, and I think there were reporters among them also. The bridge was the division between the "Old World" and the "New World". The treasure I had was some kind of gift that I wanted to bring to the people of the modern world, and these magical creatures wanted to stop me since they would cease to exist. Beyond the bridge the creatures could not pass. The treasure was found in the mythical world, and it was some gift to the modern world which they did not have.

..

As the horse leaped over the bridge these creatures disappeared altogether, and the horse was transformed into a black Porsche which I began to drive at high speed along a freeway in the mountains. I was then chased by a helicopter and I was forced to stop, and the last thing I remember is looking out the car window and seeing a black man in a suit approaching. I think it was an F.B.I. agent who wanted to talk to me. I awoke.

The Divine Symbolism of the Hebrew Alphabet (part 2)

2007-07-31T01:06:00.000-04:00

In my earlier blogs I traced the origin of the alphabet to a Semitic people who migrated to Canaan from Egypt - and this occurred at the time of the collapse of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, which recent research is indicating was the true historical period when the Exodus occurred. I have also gathered evidence that the order of the alphabet probably originated from the revelation of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai. So far, I have covered the first six letters, which correspond to the first three commandments.

That the Hebrew letters, in addition to the actual words of scripture, are actually sacred and have a symbolic meaning has been a long standing Jewish tradition. This was also seen in the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg, who saw that the original text of the Old Testament has been preserved in the Masoretic version:

"I once had a paper sent me from heaven written in the Hebrew alphabet, but as in the most ancient texts, where the letters, which today are to some extent composed of straight lines, were then curved with serifs pointing upwards. An angel who was with me said that he knew whole meanings simply from the letters, and each letter has its own particular meaning. They knew this from the curves of the lines in each letter, in addition to the subject which they knew separately from the letter as a whole. He then explained to me the meaning of yod, aleph and he, the two letters separately and when put together. He said that he, which is in [YHWH], and which was added to the names of Abraham and Sarah [Gen. 17:5, 15] meant what is infinite and eternal. He said that in many places the Word is so written; and when it is read in the Hebrew text by a Jew or a Christian, the meaning of the individual letters is known in the third heaven. For the angels of the third heaven have the Word written in such letters, and they read it letter by letter. They said that in the sense to be drawn from the letters the Word deals only with the Lord. The reason is that the curves in the letters derive from the flow of heaven, which influences especially the angels of the third heaven. Those angels therefore have an innate knowledge of this script, because they are subject to the order of heaven and live altogether in accordance with it. ....These facts may establish what is the meaning of the Lord's saying that not a jot or a tittle or a serif will pass away from the Law (Matt. 5: 18; Luke 16: 17); and it is also clear from these facts that the Lord's Divine Providence ensured that all the letters in the Hebrew text of the Word were counted by the Massoretes." (De Verbo, 4)

Two points here: first, in his vision Swedenborg saw that the Hebrew letter HE is associated with the name of Jehovah, as it signifies what is eternal. In my previous blog, I showed that HE and VAV are probably mnemonic letters for the name of Jehovah, corresponding to the third commandment. Swedenborg did not recognize this correspondence, as he had numbered the commandments according to Lutheran tradition, rather than according to Jewish tradition. Second, he provides additional testimony that the words of scripture have been preserved intact. I see a lot of blather on the internet, and from so-called scholars, stating that the Bible has been corrupted. They are simply ignoring manuscript evidence. The scriptures of the Dead Sea scrolls show that the Masoretic version has not changed one bit in over 1000 years. For certain Greek texts they have a point, but the western world has been ignoring the manuscript of the Peshitta for the New Testament.

With that behind us, we can continue examining the Hebrew alphabet. The next two letters, ZAYIN and CHETH, correspond to the fourth command, which regards the day of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the seventh day, as ZAYIN ("weapon") is the seventh letter of the alphabet. The proto-Canaanite script called this letter "ziqq" meaning "manacle" - as that is the actual hieroglyph that was used for this letter. In Hebrew this is ZANAK, which means to draw the feet together, or to leap. This letter is most probably a mnemonic for the word ZAKAR, meaning "to remember". Which is the first word of the fourth commandment:

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Ex. 20:8)

The next letter is CHETH, meaning "thread". The original hieroglyph was a court, so the original letter name was probably CHATSAR, meaning "court". This is probably refering to the tent tabernacle that was built to house the ark of the covenant:

And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side: (Ex. 27:9)

All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen. (Ex. 38:16)

Why would a symbol for a court be used as a mnemonic for the Sabbath? Because three times a year on the high Sabbaths, all the males were ordered to present themselves before the court of the tabernacle. And the word for "male" in Hebrew is the same for "remember" - ZAKAR. Coincidence?

The next letter is TETH which means "wheel" in Phoenician. It comes from the Egyptian hieroglyph for NEFER, which means "good". NEFER was used as a baseline marker where to lay stones - in Egyptian mathematics it signified the number zero. The base line would be called nefer, and lines would be drawn above or below that to show workers where to lay stones. It is for this reason I believe that TETH is a market signifying the end of the first tablet, which contained four commandments dealing with love towards God. TETH is similar in appearance to TAU ("marker"), the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which I believe was used to mark the end of the second tablet.

As NEFER in Egyptian means "good", the original name for this letter in Hebrew was probably TAB, also meaning "good". It is this word which is used where God sees that all that he made was "good" before resting on the Sabbath. Another possible name for this letter is TABBATH meaning "signet ring". The oldest form of this letter was that of a sun-cross, which is one of the most ancient religious symbols.

Up until now, pairs of letters marked each commandment. After TETH, this pattern continues. The next two letters are YOD ("hand") and KAPH ("palm of hand"). The two letters share a similar meaning showing that they are a pair. As a hand has five fingers, so these letters are a symbol for the fifth commandment, which concerns honor to one's parents. There is a phrase in Hebrew that appears in this commandment: "that thy days be long". This is YOWM ("days") ARAK ("long") - which phrase begins and ends with YOD and KAPH.

The next two letters are LAMED and MEM, corresponding to the sixth commandment. All the following commandments now begin with "Thou shalt not" - which in Hebrew begins with the negative LO, thus beginning with LAMED. The sixth commandment states that one should not murder ("kill" is a mistranslation). LAMED is an ox goad, which comes from a hieroglyph for a stick, probably signifying a weapon used to kill. MEM means water, but that is probably a mnemonic for the Hebrew word MAMOWTH meaning death. The water of the sea was often used by the Hebrews as a symbol for the underworld of the dead.

The next two letters are NUN ("fish") and SAMEK ("pillar"), which correspond to the seventh commandment, concerning adultery. The original name for the letter NUN was probably NACHASH meaning serpent, related to the word for diviner. Adultery in Hebrew is NAPH. As for SAMEK, that is most probably a phallic symbol. In Arabic SAMAK also means "fish" showing that these letters form a pair. I suspect the original name for this letter was SAMEL meaning "idol", as idolatry was considered a form of adultery against God.

The next two letters are AYIN ("eye") and PE ("mouth"), which correspond to the eighth commandment, you shall not steal. I suspect this was a mnemonic for the phrase "an eye for an eye, and tooth for tooth" as retribution for stealing.

The next two letters are TSADE ("fish hook") and QOPH ("monkey"?) which corresponds to the ninth commandment, you shall not bear false witness. In this case the letter names make no sense. The original mnemonic was probably TSADAQ meaning "righteousness". In the Hebrew sense, "righteousness" is opposed to what is false, and is used in that manner throughout scripture.

The last two letters are RESH ("head") and SHIN ("tooth"), which correspond to the tenth and last commandment, you shall not covet what your neighbor owns. Neighbor in Hebrew is REA, beginning with RESH. One of the items that one should not covet is an ox, which in Hebrew is SHOWR - containing the letters SHIN and RESH. As the last commandment ends with the statement that one should not covet a neighbor's house or ox, the commandments end with the same symbols where it began: an ox and a house.

TAU is the last letter, and simply means marker. It is a marker in this case to signify the end of the second tablet.

In summary, the order of the Hebrew alphabet is a mnemonic device for the 10 commandments, as follows:

ALEPH & BET = first commandment
GIMEL & DALETH = second commandment
HE & VAV = third commandment
ZAYIN & CHETH = fourth commandment
TETH = "end marker" marking the end of the first tablet
YOD & KAPH = fifth commandment
LAMED & MEM = sixth commandment
NUN & SAMEK = seventh commandment
AYIN & PE = eighth commandment
TSADE & QOPH = ninth commandment
RESH & SHIN = tenth commandment
TAU = end marker, marking the end of the second tablet.

The Divine Symbolism of the Hebrew Alphabet

2007-07-29T01:07:00.000-04:00

In my previous blog, I discussed how historians and archaeologists have uncovered evidence that the alphabet originated from a Semitic people that migrated out of Egypt into the land of Canaan, and from there spread to the other nations of the world. According to the Riddle of the Exodus, this would coincide with the Exodus of the Israelites under the leadership of Moses.

Semitic names were used for hieroglyphic shapes in Egypt, which became the basis for the shape of each letter. According to Jewish traditions, each letter by itself has an individual meaning. But where did the order of the alphabet come from? Scholars have suspected that the order of the alphabet has mnemonic meaning, provided to help people remember something. Remember what? What is the story behind the order and the odd names for each letter? You can see the meaning of each letter in the previous blog.

Lately, I had a suspicion that the order of the alphabet and the letter meanings originated from a significant event: the revelation of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. That revelation is the centerpiece of the Judaic religion. I found an interesting article by Dr. Ed Metzler which analyzed the original Hebrew text and he proposed that the original tablets had five lines on each face, with 32 or 33 Hebrew letters to each line. From that he was able to determine its actual dimensions and its weight, which became the origin of their system of weights and measure. On another site I found an interesting graphic showing an example of what it would look like, using his reconstructed text and modern Hebrew characters:

..>..>..>..>..tr>

A caveat to the above graphic is that Dr. Metzler had to "reconstruct" the text in order to make all the lines fit so nicely - so it remains a theory. But how did he arrive at this conclusion? He started with this assumption: the first line began with ALEPH (our letter A) and the second line began with BET (our letter B) - thus the word "alphabet" was coined! So here is what the first two lines stated - first I show the transliterated Hebrew (I found a freeware transliterated Hebrew Bible), and below each line its translation:

'nky yhvh 'lhyk 'sr hv&'tyk m'r& m&rym = 33 letters (32 removing doublets)
I am JEHOVAH thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt

mbyt jbdym l' yhyh-lk 'lhym 'xrym jl-pny = 33 letters (32 removing doublets - the first M in this case)
out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

The first line begins with ANKI (Hebrew for "I") and the second begins with the root word for BET. BET means house, and this is the name for the second letter. The first two letters of the alphabet thus map to the first commandment.

Unfortunately, this is as far as Dr. Metzler got, and does not analyze the rest of the alphabet. What about the rest of the letters? Do they somehow map to the other nine commandments? Dr. Metzler was more interested in the three dimensional nature of the tablets, so I decided to plunge in and do my own research, and learn a little Hebrew. To me this was a code or puzzle to solve - and software development and coding is part of my day-job.

First, the letter BET (house) matches perfectly to the second line, which begins with the "house of bondage". But why is the first letter called ALEPH and not ANKI? ALEPH in Hebrew comes from a word meaning "ox". That in turn is based on the word AL or EL which means "strong one" or "God". EL is the singular form of the majestic plutal ELOHIM, again meaning "God". Thus the first line begins with I am JEHOVAH thy God (ELOHIM). In other words, ALEPH is an ideogram which captures the meaning of the first line in one letter!

In connection with the letter ALEPH, meaning ox, there is an odd event which occurred at the time of the revelation of the ten commandments:

"And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." (Ex. 32:1-4)

A calf was one of the gods that was worshipped in ancient Egypt - it seems that by the time rumor spread at the bottom of the mountain, they discovered that ALEPH (ox) was the mnemonic for the first commandment as to which god they should worship, and thus made a molten calf. By the time Moses came down, he was so frustrated that he broke the original tablets, and melted the calf into some soup and forced the Israelites to eat it. Then he had to go up that mountain and start all over again.

So, the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, ALEPH and BET, map to the first commandment. Taking this as a clue, could it be that the next two letters GIMEL and DALETH form a pair to represent the second commandment? The Hebrew word DALETH means "door", and was taken from a hieroglyph of a door, but its proto-Canaanite form was that of a fish, which is DAG in Hebrew. As A and B form a pair spelling "alphabet", it seems that G and D form a pair, which is DAG spelled backwards. Why backwards? Just like some once thought running old music records in reverse would somehow reveal a Satanic message, putting the pair backwards makes sense as the second commandment forbids the worship of idols. That is just a thought, but it is related to what follows.

Looking at the Hebrew of the second commandment, I was disappointed to discover there was no letter GIMEL. However the letter DALETH appears for the first time, and it is in an interesting position. Here is the transliterated Hebrew, with a translation below each line (following Dr. Metzler's theory, but using the actual text in the Masoretic Torah):

l' tjsh-lk p$l vkl-tmvnh 'sr bsmym mmjl = 33 letters
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above

v'sr b'r& mtxt v'sr bmym mtxt l'r&. = 29 letters
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

l'-tstxvh lhm vl' tjbdm ky 'nky yhvh 'lhyk 'l qn' = 40 letters
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God,

pqd jvn 'bt jl-bnym jl-slsym vjl-rbjym lsn'y. = 38 letters
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

vjsh x$d l'lpym l'hby vlsmry m&vty. = 29 letters
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

DALETH shows up in the last two lines of the second commandment. And it is the last letter of a word at the beginning or near the beginning of the sentence. The two lines emphasize God as a God of Judgment - visiting iniquity upon the evil, or showing mercy to those who keep his commandments.

Notice something else? GIMEL and DALETH are the third and fourth letters of the Hebrew alphabet. And the second commandment mentions the third and fourth generation!

So if the ten commandments is the origin of the order of the alphabet, we would expect GIMEL to be in one of the first three lines, as DALETH appears in the second two. What is interesting is we find two letters that form the word GIMEL - M and L - at the end of one of the lines in the Hebrew word MAJAL, meaning "above". It is as if the letter AYIN (meaning eye) has been inserted inside of the word GIMEL (camel). DALETH means "door". And it just so happens that the symbols of a camel, an eye and a door appear in one of the sayings of Jesus concerning the 10 commandments:

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (Matt. 19:16-24)

An "eye of a needle" is a small door (DALETH). This rich man had money as an idol, thus disobeying the second commandment, for one can not serve God and mammon (money). Is it not strange that a camel and a door are associated with the second commandment in this story? Not only that, but this is what Jewish tradition says about the mystical significance of GIMEL and DALETH (from http://www.inner.org/hebleter/GIMMEL.HTM)

Our Sages teach that the gimel symbolizes a rich man running after a poor man, the dalet, to give him charity. The word gimel is derived from the word gemul, which in Hebrew means both the giving of reward as well as the giving of punishment. In Torah, both reward and punishment have the same ultimate aim the rectification of the soul to merit to receive God's light to the fullest extent.

GIMEL and DALETH may also be treated as a pair of letters for another word: GADAH ("to cut down") which is the exact opposite of DAG ("fish"). This Hebrew word pops up in an interesting context:

But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. (Deut. 7:5)

And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. (Deut. 12:3)

Is it possible that these two commandments preserve the second commandment in its original form, on the tablets that Moses destroyed? That is a possibility. Moses could have seen that the Israelites started to worship a golden calf, simply because the ten commandments began with the symbol of ALEPH (meaning ox). Then if the second commandment stated that one should break any graven image that was worshipped, the ten commandments that were just revealed to Moses were thus saying to Moses he must destroy and break down the tablets! This he did, and it is possibly that the second commandment was watered down slightly stating that idols should not be "worshipped" instead of "destroyed".

That this may be true, is shown by an odd story in the Bible where the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant and placed it in their temple to the god Dagon. Then one morning the following happened:

And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. (1 Sam. 5:4-5)

It is rather odd, since in the proto-Canaanite script the letter DALETH (door - where the threshold is located) was probably named DAG (fish), which represented the god DAGON of the Philistines, which in this story is "cut down" (GADAH). This goes to show that there is a hidden meaning behind these historical events in scripture - they have a deeper symbolic meaning.

The next letter pair in the Hebrew alphabet are HE and VAV. These two letters form the Hebrew word HAVAH, which means "to be". This word is an important part of God's name, for it describes the essence of his being - pure existence of all that is. HAVAH shows up in the following passage:

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (Ex. 3:13-14)

HAVAH is part of the sacred name of Jehovah. It is so sacred among Jews in later times they would not use that word. Jesus identified himself as Jehovah incarnate:

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. (John 8:56-59)

As ALEPH & BET are a mnemonic for the first commandment, and GIMEL and DALETH are a mnemonic for the second commandment, so HE and VAV are a perfect mnemonic for the third commandment:

Thou shalt not take the name of JEHOVAH thy God in vain; for JEHOVAH will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Ex. 20:7)

The original name of the letter HE was HALAL meaning praise or jubilation, as the hieroglyph is a man with arms lifted up in praise. There are several Psalms where the name of Jehovah is praised, which is the exact opposite to profaning the name of God.

The evidence is strong - the Hebrew alphabet and its order, from which most alphabets are derived, was revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. The alphabet probably was intended to be a mnemonic device to remember the ten commandments. See my next blog where the analysis of the Hebrew alphabet is completed.

The Hidden Origin of the Alphabet

2007-07-23T01:10:00.001-04:00

Lately I was wondering about the origin of our alphabet - where did it come from? We all know our ABCs, which we take for granted. But the alphabet was a revolutionary invention, and put writing into the hands of the common people. We do know that the Greeks and the Romans derived their alphabet from the Phoenician alphabet in the land of Canaan, as shown in the following chart:

So, where did the Phoenicians obtain their script? It dates back to around 1000 B.C. According to the wikipedia:

"Phoenician uses a system of acrophony to name letters. The names of the letters are essentially the same as in its parental scripts, which are in turn derived from the word values of the original hieroglyph for each letter. The original word was translated from Egyptian into its equivalent form in the Semitic language, and then the initial sound of the translated word become the letter's value. However, some of the letter names were changed in Phoenician from the Proto-Canaanite script. This includes:

gaml "throwing stick" to gimel "camel"
digg "fish" to dalet "door"
hll "jubilation" to he "window"
ziqq "manacle" to zayin "weapon"
na?š "snake" to nun "fish"
pi?t "corner" to pe "mouth"
šimš "sun" to šin "tooth"

The meanings given are of the letter names in Phoenician. The Phoenician letter names are not directly attested and were reconstructed by Theodor Nöldeke in 1904."

The alphabet is thus a Semitic invention - not only that, these Semites dwelled in Egypt and migrated to the land of Canaan. Sound familiar? Could it be that the alphabet originated from Moses, who led the Jews out of Egypt? If we look back even further, the Phoenician script, from which Aramaic and Hebrew were derived, dates back even further to a "Proto-Canaanite" script from about the 15th century B.C., and it looked something like this:

One reconstruction proposes the following meanings for the characters:

[?] Al "Ox head" (A, E)
[b] Bet "Tent floorplan" (B, Bh)
[g] Gam "Foot" (G)
[d] Dal "Door" (D)
[h] Hey "Man with arms raised" (H, E)
[w] Waw "Tent peg" (W, O, U])
[z] Zan "Mattock" (Z)
[h] Chets "Tent wall" (Hh)
[t?] Thet "Basket" (Th)
[j] Yad "Arm and closed hand" (Y, I)
[k] Kaph "Open palm" (K, Kh)
[l] Lam "Shepherd staff " (L)
[m] Mem "Water" (M)
[n] Nun "Seed" (N)
[s] Sin "Thorn" (S)
[?] Ayin "Eye" (O)
[p] Pey "Mouth" (P, Ph)
[s?] Tsad "Man on his side" (Ts)
[q] Quph "Sun on the horizon" (Q)
[r] Rosh "Head of a man" (R)
[?] Shin "Two front teeth" (Sh)
[t] Taw "Crossed sticks" (T)
[?] Ghah "Rope of twisted fibers" (Gh)

So, where did the Proto-Canaanite alphabet come from? There are two scripts, both dating to the Middle Bronze Age (2000 - 1500 B.C.) - the Proto-Sinaitic script and the Wadi el-Hol script, found in the Sinai and Egypt respectively. It again points to a Semitic people which came from Egypt. According to the wikipedia:

"The Egyptian hieratic script was basically logographic, but used rebus and acrophony extensively. There was a complete set of uniliteral glyphs from at least 2700 BC — that is, the hieroglyphic script contained an alphabetic subsystem within it. But while logographic systems such as Egyptian and Old Sumerian are extremely time-consuming to learn, they are sometimes considered superior to alphabets when it comes to reading. For literate Egyptians, there was little advantage to whittling their script down to a pure alphabet. Purely uniliteral (alphabetic) writing was used mainly to transcribe foreign names.

However, from the 22^nd to 20^th centuries BC, central rule broke down. John Darnell found contemporary references to an Egyptian named Bebi, General of the Asiatics. They speculate that,

In the course of reunifying his fragmented realm, the reigning pharaoh attempted to pacify and employ roving bands of mercenaries who had come from outside Egypt to fight in the civil wars. The Egyptians were the quintessential bureaucrats, and under Bebi's command, there must have been a small army of scribes in the military whose job it was to keep track of these "Asiatics". Inventive scribes apparently came up with a kind of easy-to-learn Egyptian shorthand to enable the captured troops to record their names and other basic information.

In other words, it was a utilitarian invention for soldiers and merchants. The assumption is that they developed a Semitic script based on acrophony, where the first sound of the Semitic word for an Egyptian glyph became associated with that glyph. Just as the numerals 1, 2, 3, etc. changed names but retained their graphic forms as they passed from the Indians to the Arabs to the Europeans, so the names of the letters were translated as they passed from the Egyptians to the Semites. The name of the hieratic glyph for house changed from Egyptian pr to Canaanite bayt, and therefore the glyph came to stand for /b/ rather than /pr/. House and most of the other letters were not uniliteral glyphs in Egyptian: the Semitic alphabet is not derived from the Egyptian alphabet, but rather from the full set of hieratic hieroglyphs. In fact, some of the letters, such as ? H, may have been ideographic determiners (taxograms) only, and thus had no sound value in Egyptian."

So, the alphabet was invented with the collapse of the Old Kingdom. It seems like it was invented long before Moses, or before the Jews even entered Egypt. But not is all as it seems. The dating of the Exodus from Egypt is a controversial subject - many history books will point to the time of Ramesses in the New Kingdom (ca. 13th century B.C.), which many favor due to a late geographic place name in the Torah. Others favor the time when the Hyksos, the shepherd kings, were expelled from Egypt in the 16th century B.C. But strangely enough, scholars have ignored a lot of evidence that indicates that the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt occurred during the collapse of the Old Kingdom, the exact time when the alphabet was invented. There was historical evidence that I gathered from the book of Jasher, a work that did not make it into the Bible, but then I discovered that someone else had already stumbled upon this. He gathered years of research and composed the book, The Riddle of the Exodus. Among his findings:

1. The book of Jasher states that one of the Pharoahs of the Exodus reigned for 94 years. One of the last Pharoahs of the Old Kingdom, Pepi II, reigned for 94 years.

2. There is an ancient Egyptian monument that commemorates the drowning of Pharaoh's army in the sea.

3. The ravages of the Ten Plagues are described on a 3,000-year-old papyrus.

I have not read the book, but the chronology would fit in with the dating of the collapse of the walls of Jericho by archaeologists.What this theory opens up is the possibility that the alphabet was an invention of the Hebrews - and as the characters originated from Egyptian hieroglyphics, and was invented for commanding the military of a Semitic people, the evidence begins to point to Moses, a scribe and ruler who was trained in all the wisdom of ancient Egypt. So what do those alphabetic characters mean? Is there a reason for the order of the alphabet? Indeed there is - I have been recently researching this, and the evidence points to Moses as the inventor of the alphabet. But before I could do so, I wanted to cover the date of the Exodus - how it is much earlier in history than we think. In my next blog I will show the hidden symbolism contained in the ancient Hebrew alphabet.

The Mind of the Holographic Universe

2007-07-17T23:35:00.001-04:00

In physics, it was once thought that all matter was composed of single point like units, known as atoms. The problem now is, the more we know about the atom, the more we discover about subatomic particles. Then Quantum physics came along, and it was discovered that there are no fundamental particles but rather wave-like probabilities. The current theories of physics revolve around "String Theory", which proposes that all matter is composed of vibrating "strings", some open-ended, others closed in a loop. What we are discovering is that the smaller we go, the more complicated things get. The bigger we go, the more simpler. This is the opposite of what many scientists had predicted.

In the 18th century Emanuel Swedenborg saw what the nature of the universe was - all was revealed to him in trance-like visions, where his breathing came to a stop. Here is what he said concerning the nature of matter:

"Many avow that there is a single substance which is also the first, from which are all things, but what that substance is, is not known. The belief is that it is so simple nothing is more so, and that it can be likened to a point without dimensions, and that dimensional forms arose out of an infinite number of such points. But this is a fallacy, springing from an idea of space. To such an idea there seems to be such a least thing. The truth is that the simpler and purer a thing is, the more replete it is and the more complete. This is why the more interiorly a thing is examined, the more wonderful, perfect, and well formed are the things seen in it, and in the first substance the most wonderful, perfect and fully formed of all. For the first substance is from the spiritual sun, which, as we said, is from the Lord and in which He is. That sun is therefore the sole substance and, not being in space, is all in all, and is in the greatest and least things of the created universe." (Divine Providence, n. 6)

At the center of everything, is a Spiritual Sun from which all things were created. This is the light that everyone sees after they die, and has been reported from Near Death experiences. The smaller we go, the more inward we go, and the more we reach the Infinite. God is not "up there", he is "inside" all that is. One of my favorite books was the Tao of Physics, which compared statements of Quantum physicists with those of eastern mystics. They were both encountering the same thing: the mind of God.

In the book, The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot, both the universe and the human mind are likened to a hologram. A hologram is an image that is formed from the interference of two reflecting laser beams. When a three dimensional image is divided, we end up with two smaller images of the same thing. That is what science is discovering: the more we divide something, the more we see that the smallest of things is in fact a reflection of the universe: all that is, is a hologram, everything is reflecting the oneness of Being. A hologram is turning into something that best reflects how thoughts are stored in the brain: everywhere. The human mind, and the universe, share the same property. According to Swedenborg, all that is is the image of a form of a Divine Human, and we are a small microcosm of that form.

From http://www.crystalinks.com/holographic.html:

"In 1982 a remarkable event took place. At the University of Paris a research team led by physicist Alain Aspect performed what may turn out to be one of the most important experiments of the 20th century. You did not hear about it on the evening news. In fact, unless you are in the habit of reading scientific journals you probably have never even heard Aspect's name, though there are some who believe his discovery may change the face of science.

Aspect's experiment is related to the EPR Experiment, a consicousness experiment which had been devised by Albert Einstein, and his colleagues, Poldlsky and Rosen, in order to disprove Quantum Mechanics on the basis of the Pauli Exclusion Principle contradicting Special Relativity.

Aspect and his team discovered that under certain circumstances subatomic particles such as electrons are able to instantaneously communicate with each other regardless of the distance separating them. It doesn't matter whether they are 10 feet or 10 billion miles apart.

Somehow each particle always seems to know what the other is doing. The problem with this feat is that it violates Einstein's long-held tenet that no communication can travel faster than the speed of light. Since traveling faster than the speed of light is tantamount to breaking the time barrier, this daunting prospect has caused some physicists to try to come up with elaborate ways to explain away Aspect's findings. But it has inspired others to offer even more radical explanations.

University of London physicist David Bohm, for example, believes Aspect's findings imply that objective reality does not exist, that despite its apparent solidity the universe is at heart a phantasm, a gigantic and splendidly detailed hologram."

The two particles are not communicating faster than the speed of light, but in fact probably exist in a dimension that is outside space and time, and what we perceive as separate may in fact be a bilocation of the same thing, in two differents spots in space. Science is getting closer to the idea of proving "The Butterfly Effect" - actions we take, especially acts of Love, will have a ripple effect that are reflected in the people who surround us, even those we have never met.

The Divine Truth of the Three Heavens

2007-07-10T01:14:00.002-04:00

The apostle Paul once nearly died from being stoned, and apparently he suffered a Near Death experience - or what we now know as an out-of-the-body experience (OOBE). Of such an experience, he kept quiet, until 14 years later:

I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2 Cor. 12:2-4)

Third heaven? There are three? What is that? And why did what he hear was unlawful to utter? What Paul heard, were the sacred thoughts of Divine Truth. Light, or truth, flows downward from God to man, but by the time it reaches the mind of man, the truth is accomodated to man's understanding. The language of heaven is highly symbolic - such as the vision of John recorded in the Apocalypse. In the other books, it is shown in representative form, in historical narratives, prophecies, psalms, and the Torah. By the time it reaches written form, to most it looks like any other form of literary writing - yet behind the literal sense of these words, there is a hidden spiritual meaning. The Divine Truth in its highest form is actually impossible to utter, as language is so limiting to infinite thought. But in these words, when understood spiritually, a connection is formed between heaven and man. In ancient times such a written word was unnecessary, as man was in constant communion with the visions of heaven. As that connection was broken (the fall of Adam & Eve), it became necessary to create a religion of symbolic rituals, then later a religion from the written Word.

As for the three heavens, they were described in the near death experience of Dr. George Ritchie (described briefly at http://www.near-death.com/ritch.html). Each heaven is a higher level of awareness. Strangely, the same three heavens were described in the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg - he called them the Celestial, the Spiritual, and the Natural. The Jewish Temple is actually a symbolic model of heaven, with its three divisions: the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the inner court containing the brass altar:

It is in the lowest heaven, closest to our earthly plane of existence, is where spiritual battles occur from time to time:

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth (Rev. 12:3-4)

Why a third of the stars? Because the Sun, Moon and stars are used as symbols in scripture to refer to the three heavens - the stars representing the lowest, a "third" of heaven. The above event is the result of a spiritual battle:

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Rev. 12:7-9)
..>..>..tr>

At some time in history, a myth was created which stated that this prophecy actually portrayed a fall of Satan with the third of the angels before man was created. This is the common perception, and it is false. According to Swedenborg, his vision was opened to see in the heavenly world that the state of the Christian world was corrupt. So who are these "angels" led by "Satan"? Satan simply means "enemy", and represents spirits who teach what is false. In fact, there is no such thing as an individual being, an angel who existed before creation, who was called Lucifer who fell and became the devil or Satan. It is yet another false myth - it is man himself who becomes an angel or demon in the spiritual world. Specifically, Swedenborg mentioned that these spirits were mainly from the Christian world - from western civilization. They are those who appear good on the outside, but internally cling to their evil desires, and religion is simply an excuse to cover that up. The religion of the Protestants and Catholics, which divided God into three and excused evil with a blood atonement, is false, and had started to deceive the whole world. Swedenborg's scathing attacks on central tenets that most hold to be self evident truths is one reason why he has been ignored. In his day, ministers were so upset with him they wanted to try him for heresy; he ultimately avoided that with an appeal to the King of Sweden.

As his vision was opened successively, Swedenborg realized a change was taking place. These false spirits were now being cast out of heaven, to make way for a New Age - a new Church, based on Divine Truth revealed direct from heaven. To prepare for this, the old way of thinking has to be cast out. As the Jews corrupted the original revelation, and ultimately depended on blood sacrifices instead of looking internally and changing one's life, so the Christian world has done. As a result of this, naturalism and materialism now prevail in the West, and morality is no longer looked upon as a spiritual way of living. The truth of the matter is that God is one, and we are responsible for all our actions. We are destined to become spiritual beings, by entering a communion with heaven.