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STAGE – REASON — SECTION - 6

STAGE REASON – 6A –THE Awakening continued...

Chapter Two, The Awakening ended with an introduction to the main characters of THE GOOD NEWS REVERBERATION. Therefore, we start Section 6 with the final paragraph from this chapter:

There has been much speculation as to where Jesus was before his baptism by John. Some propose that he was in India, while others favor his originating from Egypt. If we dismiss the infancy narratives (found in Matthew and Luke) along with the story in Luke of Jesus in the temple at the age of twelve, then two of the Gospels (Mark and John) have Jesus suddenly appearing at the river Jordan around the age of thirty, with no explanation. However, fortunately the Gospels are not the only records of Jesus’ mission. If we take into consideration other writings, then maybe we can discover why and even explain other contradictions within the gospels, so with this premise in mind, I would like to present a different hypothesis for your consideration.

The chapter Bethlehem or Nazareth?, of LOVE The Common Denominator(LCD), addressed the early church’s struggle over the identity of Jesus, and speculated why they deified him?”

“It seemed that before the resurrection the disciples were far from clear on who Jesus really was. Jesus’ instruction was to spread the “Good News” throughout the land. This proved no easy task, as no self-respecting Messiah or Son of God, was born by natural means. All previous Christ’s were born by supernatural conception. Isis, “The Queen of Heaven,” was the mother of the gods and very popular throughout the Roman Empire. The disciples wanted desperately to make people believe them and so they exaggerated a little. Unfortunately, this led to the focus being placed on Jesus, and not on his message. Therefore, as the saying goes, “Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” So instead of letting Jesus’ teaching, actions and life stand as they were, the disciples made him larger than life. However, I must stress that none of this was done out of anything else than a deep and abiding love for their master.”

If we consider that the motives for making Jesus synonymous with the Supreme Being were designed to help people receive the message, then it is more understandable. Unfortunately although the motives may have been initially pure, ultimately the result has been to undermine Jesus’ message that not only could we perform “miracles”, we could do even “more.” In the previous Section, we also related how:

A key element of the infancy narratives was to incorporate the fulfillment of the prophecy in Hosea 11:1, which said the father’s son, would be called out of Egypt. Let us suppose for the sake of argument that the prophecy is relating to the messiah. If we accept this, is the Gospel of Matthew narrative correct? We would have to say NO, because our studies have revealed that the writers concocted the infancy stories in order to link Jesus to Moses.

Consequently, we feel the most misunderstood aspect of Jesus’ life concerns these “infancy narratives”, as it connects Jesus’ birth with one of the most baffling passage about the so-called “death of the innocents.” We related our investigation of this question in the aforementioned chapter of LCD, so we will briefly cover our conclusion on the issue.

“Taking part in Nativity plays as a child, the celebration was somehow marred for me by the cruel figure of Herod. It is only recently, since my endeavor to know the historical Jesus, that I realized the 2 birth accounts in Matthew and Luke are different. As I suspect most people have, I had always considered it to be one story. However, I now examined the story objectively, with all the references, or should I say lack of them. Lack of them, because the only written record of “the death of the innocents,” apart from later apocryphal church writings, is in Matthew 2:13-18; ‘And when they (The 3 wise men) were departed, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son’. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet saying, In Ramah was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.’

“This account appears only in Matthew; Luke our other Nativity writer seems to be completely unaware of it. My Bible comments on the above passage by quoting the Emperor Augustus as saying, ‘I’d rather be Herod’s hog than his son.’ They do, however, admit that there are no ‘secular records’ reporting this atrocious crime.

“Josephus reports extensively on the activities of Herod. For instance, he relates how Herod slew many members of his own family: such as, Sohemus, Mariamne, Alexandra and Costobarus, not to mention his most intimate friends, and the sons of Babbas. Josephus pulls no punches reporting like a journalist he says: ‘When one looks upon the punishments he (Herod) inflicted, and the injuries he did, not only to his subjects, but to his nearest relations, and takes notice of the severe and unrelenting disposition there, he will be forced to allow that he was brutish, and a stranger to all humanity…’

“The Jewish historian makes no mention of ‘the slaughter of the innocents.’ As a Jew he would have been outraged by the incident, yet he makes no mention of it. Why? There is also another fact to consider. Herod, although being the ‘King of the Jews,’ was also subject to the rule of Caesar.

“For drowning Aristobulus, the high priest, Herod was summoned to Rome. Although nothing came of it, because Anthony (the Caesar in control at the time) was in need of Herod’s allegiance, it shows that Herod did not have autonomy in the affairs of Israel. The Romans were only interested in taxes and minimal governing. Anything that could lead to a rebellion would be frowned upon. I do not know of anything that would cause more unrest in the population than the murder of innocent children. Therefore, I feel that Herod simply could not have gotten away with the action in Matthew, and still remained on the throne.

“I guess the question is, why would the writer of Matthew perpetrate such a fraud? Herod was obviously not a saint, but to put the murder of hundreds of children on his head, hardly seems fair. Then why? The key is in the scriptural reference to the Old Testament in the story. It is from Numbers 24:8 which reads; ‘God brought him forth out of Egypt;’ and Hosea 11:1 ‘When Israel was a child then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt.’ Calling Israel out of Egypt is referring to Yahweh sending Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

“I remembered the story of Moses in the bulrushes and I began to see the thought behind the writer of Matthew. According to the Bible, the story goes, before Moses’ birth the Pharaoh had decreed that all male children born should be cast into the river. His mother placing him in a basket and hiding him in the bulrushes is what saves him. Later, the Pharaoh’s daughter finds Moses and raises him as her own son. This means the death of the male infants in Matthew, would link Jesus to Moses...”

Deductive Reasoning dictates that we examine all the evidence so let’s sum up the information we obtained from our investigation.

• The two birth accounts in Matthew and Luke are different and the only written record of “the death of the innocents,” apart from later apocryphal church writings, is found in Matthew. Luke seems to be completely unaware of it.
• Emperor Augustus said, “I’d rather be Herod’s hog than his son. ”
• Theologians admit that there are no “secular records” of “the death of the innocents”.
• Josephus reports extensively on the activities of Herod.
• Josephus pulls no punches about Herod, saying “…he (Herod) was brutish, and a stranger to all humanity…”
• Josephus makes no mention of “the slaughter of the innocents.”
• Herod was subject to the rule of Caesar. For drowning Aristobulus, the high priest, Herod was summoned to Rome. Therefore, Herod did not have autonomy in the affairs of Israel.
• The Romans would frown upon anything that would cause unrest.
• Matthew refers back to Numbers 24:8 which reads; “God brought him forth out of Egypt;” and Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt.”
• Calling Israel out of Egypt is referring to Yahweh sending Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
• Before Moses’ birth the Pharaoh had decreed that all male children born should be cast into the river.
• The death of the male infants in Matthew links Jesus to Moses...”

We think that like the early church embellished a little in order to spread the “Good News” of Jesus’ message, the writer of Matthew wanted to connect Jesus to Moses. However, the statement in Matthew is key here. Referring back to Numbers 24:8 which reads; “God brought him forth out of Egypt;” and Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt, seems to point to Jesus with the Jewish community in the Egyptian city of Alexandria.

Several writings point to Jesus and John the Baptist being members of an ascetic Essene sect, which surprisingly wasn’t restricted to Qumran, near the Dead Sea. This is because the Essenes also had a following within the general Jewish population and counted entire families as members.

Over the centuries, as we said, there has been much speculation as to where Jesus was before his baptism, with some proposing that he was in India, while others favor Alexandria, Egypt. Again, if we dismiss the infancy narratives (found in Matthew and Luke) along with the story of Jesus in the temple at the age of twelve, then two of the Gospels (Mark and John) have Jesus suddenly appearing at the river Jordan around the age of thirty.

However, some investigators believe the most relevant information to discovering the part the Essenes played in Jesus’ ministry is the connection to the mysterious Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten a contemporary of both King Saul and David. Moreover we discovered a connection to Akhenaten's city Tel-Armarna, with the Essene community at Qumran and the Temple of Solomon. Robert Feather following the accepted time-line in his THE SECRET INITIATION OF JESUS AT QUMRAN – The Essene Mysteries of John the Baptist, thinks that Akhenaten was the source for monotheism entering Palestine. He states this, because he believes Solomon’s temple was modeled on the temple Akhenaten built to Aten (the Sun) at his capital Akhentaten, known today as Tel El-Armarna.

As I conveyed in my treatise, America’s Hijacked Destiny… “This mysterious king has always held a fascination for me but I wasn’t sure why. It was through the investigation of the Hermetic teaching that I realized the reason for the interest. I knew that Solomon had built the first temple, which I discovered was a replica of Pharaoh Akhenaten’s temple to the Sun at Akhentaten, but the real mystery was in how the temple was built.

Another author, Maurice Cotterell tells us in his THE TUTANKHAMUN PROPHECIES the temple was not built by ordinary means. He says, “Solomon’s magnificent temple…was reportedly built by magic. Moreover, as he and the Bible reports this temple was built “without a sound, without instruments.” Mr. Cotterell believes it was possible because Solomon’s builder, Chiram Abiff (AKA Hiram Abiff) possessed secret knowledge, “handed down from the pyramid-builders”, seen in the “plan of the temple” being “like the base of the Great Pyramid…” This is all the more fascinating because Hiram Abiff is the central character for the Freemasons.
Although the Freemasons are fundamental in my treatise, they are not in our present discussion. So, moving on what is most interesting is the Biblical reference to Hiram Abiff erecting two specific pillars; “And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.” Mr. Cotterell connects these pillars to the two pillars of Severity and Mercy  on the Tree of Life. Nonetheless, we think more importantly, these two pillars appear in card 2 - The High Priestess.

In addition, the Updates to the chapter Confused Chronology in LCD, which concerned the Copper Scroll found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, cited Mr. Feather’s theory as a metallurgist, linking the Copper Scroll to the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Even more important was an interesting article entitled “Unfolding the Secrets of the Copper Scroll of Qumran,” which is based on Mr. Feather’s book Decoding the Copper Scroll of Qumran: The Essene record of the treasure of Akhenaten, on the web site New Dawn Magazine written by Robert Feather. (Please note I have taken excerpts from the article verbatim and as Mr. Feather is British, the article contains British spelling.) He writes:

The language was a major puzzle for scholars. The Hebrew paleography (style of script) and orthography (spelling) in the Copper Scroll is quite unlike anything found in other texts of the time, from Qumran or from elsewhere. It has, nevertheless, been almost unanimously classified as one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and now resides in the Archaeological Museum of Amman, in Jordan.

The presence of Greek letters interspersed at the end of sections of the text aroused my curiosity, as their meaning was not understood and they appeared to be some kind of cryptic code. Many theories have been put forward to try to explain these apparently random Greek letters. They are variously considered to be made by scribes as reference marks of some sort, initials of place names, entry dates, or location directions, but none of these explanations is accepted as conclusive and they remain a puzzle.

There were other ‘anomalies’ for which there appeared to be no satisfactory answers. No other Dead Sea Scroll was engraved on copper, or any known Hebrew texts from anywhere else, prior to the period. Why should this be? Why should a non-materialistic community go to such trouble to preserve the information on the Copper Scroll? Where did they get the extremely pure copper (99%) from? How could they afford its very high cost?

When I looked closely at the numbering units and weights used in the scroll, it soon became clear they were not of Canaanite or Judaean origin, where the Qumran Essenes resided, but Egyptian! Indeed, the numbering system in the Copper Scroll is typical of that in use in Egypt around 1300 BCE. The Egyptian system used repetitive single vertical strokes, up to the number 9, combined with repetitive decimal units for larger numbers…

The strange thing is that, although the type of numbering system used in the Copper Scroll might have persisted in Egyptian temple writing for some time after the Greek conquest of Egypt (in 330 BCE), its use was always specific to Egypt and it was not in use outside Egypt, except in the period of Egypt’s campaigns in Canaan from 1400 to 1100 BCE. The use of the ancient Egyptian system for weighing metals died out around 500 BCE and had previously always been specific to Egypt.

Why would a document, ostensibly written by a devout, unorthodox Jewish community living near the Dead Sea in Judaea around the time of Jesus, have so many Egyptian characteristics? And why would the writing material, numbering system and system of weights used, be typical of Egyptian usage from a period at least 1,000 years earlier?

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End of STAGE – REASON  Section 6-a

Egyptian Influences

From as early as 3000 BCE right up to 1200 BCE, Egypt had maintained an armed presence in Canaan, often as a stepping-stone to further conquests to the east. Egypt’s shadow had obviously been cast over the early Hebrew’s experience, and yet, like other blind spots, modern theology shies away from considering the Egyptian connection too closely. Yet, all the major characters of the Bible, from Abraham and Sarah to Jesus and Mary, had strong links to Egypt. Joseph, Jacob, all the founders of the 12 tribes of Israel, as well as Moses, Aaron and Miriam, Joshua, Jeremiah, and Baruch, all lived for long periods in Egypt and were influenced by its culture and religions…

When I started comparing descriptions of the treasure locations given in the Copper Scroll with sites at Amarna, it soon became apparent there were many close parallels. Not only that, some of the locations have already yielded archaeological finds of treasures that match very closely the descriptions and weights given in the Copper Scroll. Many of these treasures can be seen in Museums in Britain and Egypt. Having made a connection for the Copper Scroll to Akhenaten’s Holy city in middle Egypt, it was not surprising a most powerful piece of evidence emerged when I looked again at the strange Greek letters scattered in the Scroll. When the first 10 are put together, they spell out the name Akhenaten!

The validity of this conclusion is re-enforced by the opinion of Professor John Tait, of University College London, who considers the reading of the Greek letters as quite plausibly the name of the Pharaoh in question.

The discussion on Akhenaten will continue later but for now consider what it means to connect the Essenes of Qumran to an Egyptian pharaoh. At this point we move into Chapter three of the revised version of THE GOOD NEWS… - The Calling.

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End of STAGE – REASON Section 6-a - Egyptian Influences & CHAPTER TWO

STAGE REASON – 6B – CHAPTER THREE - THE CALLING
The Mysteries – Alexandria – Faith – Geodesy – the Essenes

Our hypothesis has Jesus growing up in Alexandria with no idea that he was the prophesied Jewish messiah. As an adolescent, Jesus became a member of the mystery school of Isis and after initiation by the high priestess, trained in the arts of alchemy and magic. This training would explain some of the more mysterious events, such as recorded in John 8:59 where, when the Pharisees tried to stone him, Jesus escaped by becoming invisible to them.

Looking at the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, as depicted (right) by the 16th-century Dutch artist Marten Heemskerk helps us visualize the ancient world. From left to right and top to bottom, they are the Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging gardens of Babylon, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Mausoleum of Mausolus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Egypt was home to two of the seven Wonders of the World, the Great Pyramid at Giza, and the Lighthouse at Alexandria. The Ancients believed these two Wonders in Egypt were connected to each other energetically.

Some participants may ask “What do these wonders have to do with Jesus growing up in Alexandria?” We ask that you bear with us for a while, because we feel our hypothesis may help to understand some of the more mysterious statements and events surrounding Jesus’ mission, as it concerns the knowledge of energy and consciousness and the mystery of faith.

Craig’s Energetic Perspective on Evolution introduced the concept of Tortion Fields. However, long before the discovery of Tortion Fields there was the concept of Geodesy, and it is the investigation of the development of this specialized field of Mathematics at Alexandria that may explain Jesus’ miracles from a scientific perspective.

In the New Testament Jesus mentions “the mystery of the kingdom of God.” From his ability to affect matter, we wonder if “the mystery of the kingdom of God” was another term for The Mysteries. It would certainly explain Jesus’ ability to change matter, as in changing water into wine. Another interesting fact is that Jesus assured his followers they would exceed him in miracles. This implies that the ability to heal and change matter could be learned. Theologians explain Jesus’ statement that his followers would exceed him in miracles is referring to the power being bestowed on Christians through faith. We couldn’t agree more but we would like to offer that faith is a vital part of The Mysteries.

Saint Paul wrote in Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This Scripture more than any other describes why faith is so powerful. There are two words in the passage which clearly relate that faith is tangible, “substance” and “evidence.” Moreover, Jesus seems to have related faith as a power that could be used. For instance, at the transfiguration where Jesus’ face “did shine as the sun and his raiment was white as light” (Matthew 17:2) Jesus says to the disciples that if they “have faith as a grain of mustard seed” they would be able to move mountains. Was Jesus speaking literally when he told his disciples that faith could move mountains? Is faith a force we can use to literally change the world? Many people have overcome serious illness with only the power of faith, is this a literal force within the human being?

Nevertheless, we know that Jesus was able to perform miracles and heal others; was this an example of the force or power of faith projected outwards? Yet, the Gospels tell us that when Jesus healed someone, he always said “Your faith has made you whole”, which clearly implies that the patient was involved in their healing. Moreover, it seems that this “power” can be passed on, or “taught”, as Jesus sent his disciples to heal others. (See Matthew 10:1-8) Although the passage begins with saying that Jesus “gave them power”, we still come back to Jesus’ words in Matthew 17:2 that if the disciples “have faith as a grain of mustard seed” they would be able to move mountains, implying that their own “faith” or “power” was needed. If so, then is faith a power that we can acquire?

So why are we taking so much time in discussing faith? The simple answer is that faith is a vital part of The Mysteries. In order to understand how The Mysteries and faith are connected, we have to first determine exactly what faith is and how it works. As stated, Saint Paul wrote, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” but what does that mean? The answer lies in how Jesus explained miracles; with saying everything he did, he did because of the Father in him. The Church takes this to mean that this is confirming that Jesus was the Supreme Being, Great Spirit-Mind or God “the Father.” However, as we are reexamining this using Deductive Reasoning, we want to consider these words in terms of Jesus’ message to us. First though, we need to address the doctrine that Jesus was speaking only to his followers and future converts to Christianity.

If we accept that as Jesus said, we can all access this “power”, is the Church right when they say that only people who accept Christ can attain it? Jesus’ words according to the Gospels stating that “no man cometh to the Father but by me” would certainly point to only Christians. However, we would like to suggest that Jesus was not always speaking of The Heavenly Father, as in The Supreme Being, when he referred to the “Father in him”, rather he meant the individual Father or Divine Spark in each individual.

In Section 2C we related that there were several Spiritual aspects to the individual. To recap: We all have an unlimited source of Spirituality to access, because there are multiple levels within us; starting with the Divine Spark or Spirit, together with the Holy Spirit, Christ-Consciousness, three levels of the Higher Self, and the Divine Will. Each level needs to be accessed as we learn to know ourselves, and becomes easier as we progress. The highest level of Spirituality in a person is the individual Spirit or Divine Spark that Jesus referred to as “Father”, and it is “only” reached through the individual Christ-consciousness.
It is important for us to remember that The Universal Christ was in Jesus. With this in mind we ask participants to consider when Jesus said that “no man cometh to the Father but by me”, he was referring to The Christ within him. A later verse in the same chapter reinforces this supposition, when it has Jesus say in verse 20 that “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” We believe, the “day” Jesus was referring to was Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out; because this was when The Christ entered each person’s heart as the Christ-consciousness.

Keeping in mind that the people Jesus addressed in Palestine were Jews and Gentiles who had been exposed to the Greek and Roman culture for centuries, he was using terms his listeners were familiar with at that time in history. In the 1st century magic and mysticism was common place, as is shown with the hundreds of artifacts found containing spells and enchantments; consequently it is highly likely that Jesus’ listeners were familiar with The Mysteries in a general sense, which he spoke of often.

We have used the term The Mysteries several times but before we proceed further we want to clarify that during the Hellenic (Greek) and Roman Empires – 333 B.C.E. to 400 C.E. there were several schools that taught The Mysteries. These schools were known as Mystery Schools and went by several different names such as Isis, Dionysian, and Hermetic. As we said, these schools taught the Mystical Arts; hence the name The Mysteries. The “teachers” were referred to as “masters”, and in general only members of the “upper class” or wealthy citizen’s children entered the schools. We could look at the schools as the “Harvard” or Yale” equivalent of education, and like today considered a necessary part of life for the elite to succeed. Also like today, in many cases if a young person was not an adept or initiate (graduate) of one of the Mystery schools, then he would be passed over for a position in society. The Mystery Schools were not about performing magical spells, instead they were focused on teaching the adepts how to Spiritually evolve. The difference between the “masters” of the Mystery Schools and Jesus was that Jesus was teaching his Disciples outside the schools, which is why he didn’t openly teach The Mysteries to the populace, instead using parables as was said in Matthew 13:11 “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to them it is not given.”

Having set the scene we want to explore the “power” of faith of The Father, Christ, and Spirit from the perspective of The Mysteries. So putting aside the conventional interpretation of Church Doctrine and incorporating our hypothesis of Jesus growing up in Alexandria, let us apply our Deductive Reasoning to both Faith and The Mysteries; representing the ability to access the power “Father/faith” within us. We will start by encapsulating what we have covered so far:

• The “mystery of the kingdom of God” was another term for The Mysteries.
• Jesus said his followers would exceed him in miracles
• Faith is a vital part of The Mysteries.
• Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
• The words “substance” and “evidence” clearly relate that faith is tangible.
• Jesus related faith as a power that could be used.
• Jesus says to the disciples that with faith they would be able to move mountains.
• Many people have overcome serious illness with the power of faith.
• Jesus was able to perform miracles and heal others.
• When Jesus healed someone, he always said “Your faith has made you whole”, implying the patient was involved in their healing.
• The “power” or faith can be passed on “taught”.
• Jesus sent his disciples to heal others.
• Jesus explained the miracles; by saying everything he did, he did because of the Father in him.
• Jesus sometimes referred to the individual Spirit or Spark of God in each individual as the “Father in him”.
• There are multiple levels within a human being; starting with the Divine Spark or Spirit, Holy Spirit, Christ-Consciousness, 3 levels of the Higher Self, and the Divine Will.
• Each level needs to be accessed as you learn to know yourself, and becomes easier as you progress.
• The highest level of Spirituality in a person is the individual Spirit or Spark of God “Father”, and it is “only” reached through the individual Christ-consciousness.
• The Christ was in Jesus.
• Pentecost was when The Christ entered each person’s heart as the Christ-consciousness.
• The people of Palestine had been exposed to the Greek and Roman culture for centuries.
• In the 1st century magic and mysticism was common place.
• Jesus’ listeners were familiar with The Mysteries, which he spoke of often.
• The Mystery Schools were only accessible to the chosen few.
• Jesus was teaching his Disciples The Mysteries outside the schools.
• Jesus didn’t openly teach The Mysteries to the populace, he taught them in parables.

Associating faith as a power connected to The Mysteries shows us that Jesus wanted us to “actively” use faith in bringing the Divine “Kingdom” to the Earth, which is why he taught us the “Lord’s Prayer”, with the words: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.” The information above begins our understanding of how we can be a catalyst to change the world. If anyone doubts that statement, take a moment to ponder the bullets above, and then ask if Jesus or any Divine figure would have wanted us to build religious buildings when children are starving, or did he/they want us to follow their example and “bring the kingdom of heaven to Earth?

As we said, the “power/faith” that Jesus used to heal is in each and every one of us. However, Jesus’ “faith/power” was exceptional because through The Mysteries he was able to connect his “faith/power” with the natural forces and energies, which brings us back to the investigation of Alexandria and the knowledge of energy lines and frequencies.

After Alexandria was established it quickly became a center for studying The Mysteries. This is hardly surprising as the city housed the biggest repository of knowledge, The Great Library of Alexandria. Before we discuss Geodesy and Alexandria being a center for The Mysteries, we will address the energy fields known as Tortion Fields. Starting with what they are.

Wikipedia’s entry for Torsion fields explains that:

“Torsion fields are separate and distinct from classical electromagnetic and gravity fields. Generators for these fields can be shielded against electromagnetic fields and the torsion field still manifest itself through such shielding. Torsion fields can be generated, detected, switched on and off (such as for communication purposes), and are a distinct type of energy field not included in classical physics. Torsion field emanations can travel at velocities at least as high as 109 times the speed of light. Torsion fields can interact with laser beams (change frequency); affect biological processes; are generated by melting or solidifying some materials; affect quartz crystals; affect some electronic components; can favorably change some beverages; and have been noted to affect gravity. They evidence no attenuation when propagated arbitrary distances and possess a ‘memory’ ghost field which exists in the massless vacuum upon the annihilation of particle-antiparticle pairs.”

What fascinated us was that Torsion fields can affect “biological processes” and “quartz crystals.” This is because most ancient sites incorporate quartz into their temples, including the Great Pyramid. It seems that using the pyramidal shape also has relevance. In Craig’s Energetic Perspective on Evolution, Craig related discoveries that were reported on David Wilcock’s site. Apparently, there have been some surprising results with experiments on two pyramids constructed in Russia, in which Mr. Wilcox cites five major categories:

“However what most interested me was the investigation of the air above the pyramid. Under the section 9.7.6.3 A COLUMN OF ‘UNKNOWN ENERGY’ APPEARS ABOVE THE PYRAMID we find:

“…A column of ‘unknown energy’ was detected at a width of 500 meters and a height of 2000 meters. Further studies confirmed that a larger circle of this energy surrounded the area above the pyramid in a 300-kilometer-wide range…”

“This experiment was conducted on two pyramids, ‘one at a height of 22 meters and another at a height of 44 meters (144 feet,)’ both pyramids had ‘70-degree slope angles.’…

“…Graham Hancock cites the Great Pyramid as being 455 feet high… Considering this, I wondered if there is an ‘unknown column of energy’ that extends three times the distance, i.e., 1,500 meters wide, 6,000 meters high and 900 kilometers around Giza. This in turn made me wonder how far the Great Pyramid was from Alexandria, and searching the web, I came across the concept of Geodesy. According to an entry for geodesy on Wikipedia, ‘Geodesy is primarily concerned with positioning and the gravity field and geometrical aspects of their temporal variations, although it can also include the study of the Earth’s magnetic field…”

Connecting the science of Geodesy to Alexandria and the Mystery Schools brings us back to the supposition that faith is a vital part of The Mysteries. Considering that many Jews settled in Alexandria after returning from exile in Babylon, it raises an important question. “Did the occupants of Alexandria incorporate the mystical Jewish teachings of the Kabbalah?” If so was the science of Geodesy connected with Jewish Mysticism? We will leave participants to ponder that for a while, as we will return to this question in later Stages, for now we will continue our investigation of Geodesy and Alexandria.

Without going too deeply into the subject of Geodesy, on the web site THE PREHISTORIC ALIGNMENT OF WORLD WONDERS Jim Alison relates the relevance of Geodesy at: http://home.hiwaay.net/~jalison/gp-pics.html. As Mr. Alison explains it so admirably, we will let his words speak for themselves:

“The picture below is a depiction of the geodesic connection of the Great Pyramid to Alexandria. Using geodesy, the site marks a three-sided pyramid with its apex at the Great pyramid in Giza and its two base points in Alexandria and Port Said in the Nile Delta. In brief, the site reports:

“The Port Said-Alexandria-Giza triangle has the same angular dimensions as the Great Pyramid. The base lengths of the Great Pyramid are 440 cubits. The height is 280 cubits and the apothem (the slant height of the faces) is 356 cubits. Converted to miles, the base length is .143 miles and the slant height is .116 miles. The distance from Giza to the Port of Alexandria is just under 116 miles and the distance from Giza to Port Said is also just under 116 miles. The distance from Port

Said to Alexandria is just under 143 miles. The triangle inscribing the Delta … has the same angular dimensions and is precisely 1,000 times larger than the Great Pyramid.

The apex of the triangle is located at Giza and the two corners are a couple of miles beyond Port Said and Alexandria. As shown by the bathymetric image, the Mediterranean Sea is very shallow just beyond the delta. Prior to the final meltdown from the last Ice Age approximately 7,500 years ago, the corners of this triangle were above sea level.

Underwater ruins have recently been discovered in the immediate vicinity of the northwest corner, just outside the Port of Alexandria. All of the points along the arc … are 116 miles from Giza, 1,000 times the length of the apothem of the Great Pyramid. Textual evidence from ancient Egyptian sources refers to a predynastic capital city known as Behdet, located near the shoreline in the middle of the delta. This city has not been found in modern times and may also be located just beyond the shoreline, 116 miles from Giza.

The length of the apothem of the Great Pyramid and the length of the sides of the triangle that inscribe the delta are also precise measures of the circumference of the earth, in relation to the precession of the equinoxes.

“The web site also shows the connection between the Giza Plateau and Tel El-Armarna, the modern name for Akhenaten’s city. Reminding us that Akhenaten relocated from Luxor to Tel El-Armarna, the writer of the article relates, ‘The ruins of Amarna extend approximately eight miles… along the Nile. Ancient Egyptian texts indicate that the northern and southern boundaries of the city were carefully marked by boundary stelae but no trace of these boundary stelae has been found in modern times.”

We found it interesting that Alexandria was the home of one of Seven Wonders of the World, because the Lighthouse was estimated traditionally to be between 380 and 490 feet tall. However, there are some investigators who gauge the height to have been 590 feet, making it the tallest building in the world for the time; even taller than the Great Pyramid at Giza. There is no definitive description on the materials used to build the lighthouse, as the entry on Wikipedia only mentions it was constructed of “light-colored stone.” Still if the stone was granite or limestone, both of which was used in Egypt, then the energies of quartz crystal could also be a factor, because Tortion Fields “affect quartz crystals.”

As we will discuss in later stages, many ancient sites incorporated the use of quartz in their structures for the electromagnetic qualities of connecting the ley-lines of the Earth together. The geodesic connection of Alexandria to Giza brought to mind the location of the lighthouse. We were interested to learn that although the geodesic depiction of the triangle connecting Alexandria, Port Said, and Giza appears to be in perfect proportion, examination of the geography of the area appears to place Alexandria below Port Said. However if we take the point for Alexandria as the location for the lighthouse, which was a mile off shore then the geodesic energy properties would work; especially as at least two points were marked by tall structures.

Deductive Reasoning would suggest that there was an equally tall structure at Port Said in ancient times. Unfortunately, we have been unable to verify it one way or the other. So if anyone has information on this question, please contact us.

Putting aside the question of the buildings in ancient Egypt, can Geodesic energies be a source of “power” that can be used in other ways? Could this be where Jesus learned to use “faith” or “the Father within” to achieve miracles? As we progress in science we discover more and more that there are multiple forces we were unaware of. For instance, the oil companies use electromagnetic lines surrounding the earth to locate oil fields. Then is it such a stretch to consider that Jesus’ miracles of healing and matter manipulation were achieved through his knowledge of tapping into the energy fields of “Geodesy”, and using his “faith/Spirit within him to produce the miracles? The people of the 1st century would have seen our modern world as a mystical magical world full of wonders. Just think of the amazing advances science has made in just over 100 years. Adults living at the beginning of the 20th century could not have conceived of people travelling to the Moon. So, imagine what other advances we can achieve in the next 100 years?

Considering faith from a scientific perspective is not sacrilegious. If Great Spirit-Mind or “God” is Omnipotent (all knowing) then He would know that Humanity would explore everything. We need to ask ourselves why Jesus would say that faith could move mountains if he didn’t want us to “move mountains”, metaphorically speaking of course. Ending world hunger and curing disease could be seen as “moving mountains” from a Spiritual perspective. Leaving this discussion on how faith and The Mysteries can be applied practically for now, let us return to our hypothesis of the connection of Jesus and John the Baptist to the Essenes.

At the same time as Jesus was training in Egypt, his cousin John became a member of an ascetic Essene community. While there, John received a vision informing him that he was to prepare the way for the messiah. At the time, he had no idea the messiah was his cousin Jesus. More than likely, John told his teachers about the vision. Alas, because the Essene leaders were waiting for Elijah to return and John did not fit the expected profile, they did not receive John’s revelations well. Instead, they told him to forget the vision and continue his studies.

If we consider that the Essene community at Qumran was connected to Pharoah Akhenaten, then a question arises about the role of Jesus’ cousin John. In Matthew 11:3 while in prison John sends two of his disciples to speak to Jesus. The verse says, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another.” This seems to be saying John wasn’t sure that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Therefore, as we wrote:

Preconceptions of even the most well intentioned people can be deadly to spiritual truth. If the people interpreting the Truth are not only wrong, but also people in powerful positions, then it is near impossible for anyone who offers a different interpretation to be accepted. Truth is absolute. Only our capacity to understand the Truth is dynamic. For example, the absolute Truth is that the planet Earth has always orbited the Sun, yet less than one millennia ago people in power decreed it was heresy to state this Truth. When Galileo dared to challenge this decree, the church accused him of heresy. After his trial ruled that he recant, he died a broken man under house arrest. Commendably, Pope John Paul II, not long before his death, exonerated Galileo by courageously announcing that those who condemned Galileo were wrong. This is a perfect demonstration of Humanity’s dynamic ability to understand the Truth. Today, we can prove Galileo right just by looking through a telescope.

There are so many instances of absolute certainty being undermined by empirical Truth, for instance, despite many individuals challenging the earth-centric doctrine, the Church stubbornly maintained the Earth was at the center of the universe, and it was considered heresy to extol any other belief. In support of the doctrine, the Church claimed that there position was supporting the Aristotelian system. However, as we related in America’s Hijacked Destiny… the opinion of Aristotle isn’t as cut and dried as we first thought. In investigating the Aristotelian system we found a reference to the Ptolemaic system:

“The Ptolemaic system was formulated over 500 years after Aristotle, by Claudius Ptolemaeus. He was a Hellenized astronomer who lived in Alexandria, Egypt during the second century of the Common Era. According to the writer of the entry on Wikipedia, ‘Ptolemy demonstrated that the Earth was in the center of the universe with the simple observation that half the stars were above the horizon and half were below the horizon at any time and the assumption that the stars were all at some modest distance from the center of the universe…’
“Although, the writer relates that Claudius Ptolemaeus’s ‘system’ ‘was the culmination of centuries of work by Greek astronomers…’ , he quantifies the statement by adding, ‘Not all Greeks agreed with the geocentric model…some Pythagoreans believed the Earth to be one of several planets going around a central fire.’

“Considering what we now know, if taken literally Aristotle appears woefully wrong. However, if we interpret a lot of what he said in light of the Doctrine of Rounds, Globes and Root-races, it reveals a surprising insight. Luther H. Martin and his book HELLENISTIC RELIGIONS AN INTRODUCTION gave me another perspective on Aristotle. Mr. Martin relates Aristotle’s concept on the feminine principle of the Cosmos. He writes:

“A feminine principle of cosmic rule was derived from the qualitive theory of physical reality formulated by Aristotle and was generally accepted, with modifications, throughout the Hellenistic period. Aristotle postulated that material reality is constituted by four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. These four elements in turn are constituted by a combination of two of the four primary qualities: cold, dry, hot, and moist. Thus, fire is the combination of hot and dry, air is the combination of hot and moist, water is the combination of cold and moist, and earth is the combination of cold and dry. On this basis, Aristotle was able to explain material change in general by assuming the changing proportions of qualities in which each could be replaced by its opposite.

One principle of opposition that of male-female, was already grounded in pre-Socratic thought. Aristotle followed Empedocles, for example, in associating the masculine principle with the quality of heat and the feminine principle with the quality of cold.”

Deductive Reasoning requires we consider that when Aristotle and Ptolemaeus referred to the Earth being at the center of the universe, they were not speaking literally. As we have said; The Mysteries incorporated Archetypes and analogies to impart the deeper message. We will be discussing this aspect of The Mysteries in later Stages but now we will return to our hypothesis and John the Baptist. As the next two paragraphs address John as an Essene we will discuss them together.

Reminiscent of many people who answer the call, John tried to obey his teacher’s instructions, but also like many prophets, he could not ignore the vision. Meanwhile in our hypothesis, in Alexandria, Jesus’ parents wanted their son to know his Essene heritage before he had to marry. (The Talmud recommends that a man marry at age 18, or somewhere between 16 and 24.) Because a family member was already studying at an ascetic order, when he was 20, his parents sent Jesus to Palestine to join his cousin John. Esoteric writings called, The Essene Gospel of Peace and The Essene Jesus report that Jesus quickly became an Essene master.

Continuing with our hypothesis, eventually unable to deny his destiny, John left the sect and went into the desert. Interestingly a documentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls informs us, there are scrolls saying that if a member of the community broke the rules, the member would suffer banishment to the desert. Could this be why the gospel account of John states that John the Baptist survived in the desert by eating locusts and wild honey? (Mark 1:6)

The New Testament does not report John’s ministry in depth, however there are other writings that do expand on the person of John the Baptist. One such book is the Gnostic John the Baptizer: Selections from the Mandean John-Book. We won’t go into the book at this time, for now just consider the implications of associating a book about John the Baptist with a Gnostic sect. At this time we want to investigate the connection of both Jesus and John with the Essene community at Qumran. We discussed this in the aforementioned treatise:

“Mr. Feather thinks there is physical evidence to at least support that John the Baptist was a member of the Qumran Essenes. In an interview with Joseph Milik, one of the original excavators of the Qumran site, he told Robert Feather, ‘I too excavated a corpse, without a head. It was clear from the presence of brown dust that it must have been in a wooden coffin. Yes, there were arms and the skeleton, but no skull…’

“Considering that orthodox Jews believe in a literal bodily resurrection and will not consent to any form of investigation of the remains of the dead, this is surprising to say the least. One of the greatest hindrances to finding evidence of any of the New Testament events is because the Jewish authorities will not grant permission for anyone to dig if there is the slightest chance they will disturb the dead.

“Orthodox Judaism believes that for a corpse to be buried incomplete, without all of his or her relevant parts, means that the individual cannot be resurrected at the Day of Judgment. The only explanation is that the skull was unavailable to them. We read of what happened after John the Baptist’s execution in Matthew: ‘And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.’ Researching the proposed site of John the Baptist’s beheading, Machaerus, Herod Antipas hilltop fortress, I learned that it is only fifteen miles from the Dead Sea.”

Ultimately, in the desert, John received inspiration to teach of the repentance of sins and the coming messiah. He also began baptizing as a symbol for a renewal of life. While baptizing, he spoke of the different baptisms, telling people that he baptized with water but another, which he would identify would baptize with fire and the Holy Ghost. (Mark 1:8) It was important for me to remember that John did not know that he was the reincarnation of Elijah. Like his cousin, Spirit also drove Jesus to his destiny, namely his baptism by John. At that time, Jesus was also unaware of John’s former identity or that he himself was the expected messiah.

In the Baptist’s vision, John saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove alighting and remaining on the messiah, but he had not seen his face. The New Testament says that John recognized Jesus as the messiah before his baptism. All the same, in our hypothesis it was not until after Jesus arose from the water and John saw the dove descending onto him that he knew his cousin was the messiah. Because John denied that he was Elijah, theologians use this to deny reincarnation. Still we need to remember that it was only after John died and the experience of the transfiguration on the mountain that Jesus understood both his and John’s role.

We propose that John the Baptist was shown a vision that he would prepare the way for the Messiah, which of course was the prophesied role Elijah was to fulfill. The Church consistently denies John was the reincarnation of Elijah, arguing that when asked even John denied he was Elijah. As for the passage in Matthew 17: 10-13 where Jesus clearly says that John is Elijah, the Church explains this as Jesus referring to the future return of Elijah’s ministry mirroring that of John.

Next we investigate what happened at the Baptism, and how Jesus differed from the previous Christ-like teachers. It may help participants to read the passage in Matthew to evaluate whether Jesus was referring to a future ministry of Elijah or that John was Elijah returned to prepare the way for the Messiah. Participants may also want to read Luke 7: 26-28.

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End of STAGE – REASON  Section 6-b

STAGE REASON – 6C – The Teacher of Righteousness at Qumran

There has been much debate over what occurred at Jesus’ baptism. Putting aside the infancy narratives one would naturally assume that the Christ entered Jesus at his baptism, but that could be misleading. Remembering that the Christ-Sophia unity had secretly entered this world, how do we explain this unique event? Understanding came with the information that the Christ had already entered Jesus before his baptism. If we dismiss the Immaculate Conception, there are no extant writings definitively stating when the Christ infused Jesus. However, upon learning that the age of spiritual decision is 21 years of age, Craig and I recognize that it must have been while Jesus was with the Essenes. Many scholars have speculated over the identity of the “Teacher of righteousness” mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Could Jesus have begun his ministry with the dualistic Essenes?

Leaving the Baptism for now, the above paragraph also engenders the question “Who was the Teacher of Righteousness” mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls? Many scholars have linked this mysterious teacher with either John or Jesus, which of course raises the supposition as to whether Jesus and John were Essenes. In our hypothesis, we propose that both were members of the Essene sect at Qumran. Even so, were either of them the Teacher of Righteousness?

In LOVE The Common Denominator: LCD we related that Robert Feather’s book, THE SECRET INITIATION OF JESUS AT QUMRAN – The Essene Mysteries of John the Baptist, was an invaluable source for our investigation into the identity of the “Teacher of Righteousness.” This is because apart from connecting the Qumran Essenes to Akhenaten through the Copper Scroll, as the title of his book mentioned above indicates, Mr. Feather also believes both Jesus and John the Baptist were connected to the Essenes at Qumran. However, interestingly he does not identify either Jesus or John as the Teacher of Righteousness. Instead Mr. Feather identifies Onias IV the Jewish High Priest in 176 B.C.E. as this mysterious teacher. We related what we discovered in the Updates for the chapter 333 B.C.E. to 1 AD in LCD.

“I had often come across references to the mysterious Essene figure of The Teacher of Righteousness. Moreover, I had read of the parallels scholars had found in the Dead Sea Scrolls between The Teacher of Righteousness’ teachings and the teachings of Jesus. Having said that, I had never really considered that ‘he’ would ever be identified. That was until we read THE SECRET INITIATION OF JESUS AT QUMRAN –

“In his book Robert Feather presents a very good argument for identifying Onias IV with the Teacher of Righteousness, but first I needed to investigate what the conventional belief was for this Jewish High Priest. Like so many other times, the brilliant resource of the online encyclopedia was of immense help. According to Wikipedia:

“Onias IV is the designation given to the son of Onias III and the lawful heir of the legitimate high priests. He had reason to hope that the victory of the national party under Judas Maccabeus would place him in the office of his fathers; but being disappointed in his expectations by the election of Alcimus, he went to Egypt to seek aid against the tyranny of the Seleucids at the court of the Ptolemies, their political enemies. About 154, with the permission of Ptolemy VI (Philometor), he built at Leontopolis a temple which, though comparatively small, was modeled on that of Jerusalem, and was called by the name of its founder. Onias doubtless expected that after the desecration of the Temple at Jerusalem by the Syrians the Egyptian temple would be regarded as the only legitimate one; but the traditional teachings of Judaism, as contained in the Mishnah, concede only quasi-legitimate status to the temple of Onias; in fact, even for the Egyptian Jews the latter did not possess the same importance as did the Temple of Jerusalem…

“The Damascus Document, sometimes known as the Cairo/Damascus Document associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls, reports: ‘He God left a remnant to Israel and did not deliver it up to be destroyed. And in the age of wrath, three hundred and ninety years after he had given them into the hand King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, He visited them and He caused a plant root to spring from Israel and Aaron to inherit His land…yet for twenty years they were like blind men groping the way.’

“Robert Feather identifies the ‘plant root’ as the Teacher of Righteousness, who as I said he identifies as Onias IV. First Mr. Feather asks us to consider that Onias IV was appointed as High Priest in 176 B.C.E. He observes that 176 B.C.E. is exactly 390 years from the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem. Providing even more evidence, Mr. Feather relates that ‘Onias IV was the last Zadokite line of High Priests.’ The Zadokite line traces its ancestry directly from Aaron and the tribe of Levites. As for the reference to the ‘twenty years’ of groping ‘...like blind men…’ Mr. Feather says, ‘…The Greek successors of Alexander the Great began their rule of Judaea in 197 B.C.E. The ‘plant root’ is in disarray as to how to deal with the new threat, and twenty years of groping like blind men pass until the Teacher of Righteousness takes command. It is now 177 B.C.E.’

“The Teacher of Righteousness’ nemesis is ‘The Wicked Priest.’ Mr. Feather identifies this figure with Menelaus, who succeed Onias IV as High Priest. It is this event that causes Onias IV to flee to Egypt to appeal to Pharaoh Ptolemy VI for assistance and where he builds the temple of Onias.

We would agree with Robert Feather that Onias IV was most probably the Essene “Teacher of Righteousness.” Still, having accepted that neither Jesus nor John was the “Teacher of Righteousness” what does that do to our hypothesis of them both being at Qumran? The answer is nothing because there are other sources which relate Jesus being an Essene Master. In the books The Essene Gospel of Peace and The Essene Jesus we read that Jesus became an Essene master, which was addressed in the chapter Whence the origin of Evil? in LCD:

“… A strange little book may shed some light on the terminology used by the gospel writers. The book is called The Essene Jesus, and it is a series of lectures given by the founder of the International Biogenic Society, Edmond Bordeaux Szekely.

“Apparently Dr. Bordeaux had first discovered a text called The Essene Gospel of Peace:  sequestered away in the Vatican library. The gospel contained the Essene teachings of Jesus, in that he was an Essene master sent out to teach the people. According to Szekely, the Essene Jesus deals with the life of Jesus and his teachings…”

Apart from the books, The Essene Gospel of Peace, and The Essene Jesus, as we said there is Joseph Milik’s report of a “corpse without a head” being excavated at Qumran. However, Robert Feather’s book gave us even more information, which became another piece of the puzzle to connect Jesus and John to the Essenes. Naturally in investigating this line of inquiry we had first followed Jesus’ injunction to “search the Scriptures.” Using purely Inductive Reasoning it appears that the New Testament is completely silent on the influential sect of the Essenes. Nonetheless, when we incorporated Deductive Reasoning we realized the apparent absence of the Essenes from the Scriptures may be a case of “hiding in plain sight under another name.”

Like our supposition that Atlantis didn’t sink beneath the waves but has been “hiding in plain sight” beneath a mountain of ice in Antarctica, this seems to be the case with the Essenes in the Gospels. The veils were lifted when we read in Mr. Feather’s book that the Essenes were known as scribes; almost immediately our Deductive Reasoning reminded us of the multiple scriptures where Jesus addresses the “scribes.”

After re-examining the relevant passages in the New Testament our eyes were opened and we saw the Truth, the Essenes were indeed “hiding in plain sight” as the “scribes” Jesus denounces. At first Jesus’ clear condemnation of the “scribes” presented us with an obvious paradox. If Jesus were a member of the Essenes, then why would he denounce his fellow members? We discussed how we resolved the dichotomy to the question of Jesus and John being members of the Qumran Essenes in the treatise:

“…Again it was Mr. Feather’s book that solved the dilemma. There was a ‘split’ within the Essene sect at Qumran. He relates, ‘…Bargil Pixner, of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem’ believes the Essene community at Qumran had split into the ‘(Ebionites, or Boerthusians) and the followers of Jesus…’

“Although, Mr. Feather adds that the other group was ‘led by the family of Jesus…’ As I reported in the chapter Bethlehem or Nazareth?, Josephus identified James the brother of Jesus as the head of the Ebionites. Moreover, I also mentioned that the New Testament alludes to Jesus’ family not following him in the beginning. Still it is thought provoking to see the Ebionites linked with Essenes at Qumran.

“What surprised me even more was that even though Robert Feather relates professor Bargil’s assessment that the group that opposed the Ebionites, the “followers of Jesus” were “led by Jesus’ family,’ he associates “the followers” with the Gnostics, which adhered to the doctrine of equality between the sexes. He adds that the founders of Qumran, who were followers of Akhenaten, disseminated this doctrine…

“Apparently, there were several Essene communities throughout the region, including Egypt. According to Robert Feather one of these communities, known as the Therapeutae were in ‘Lake Mereotis (Marioot) near Alexandria…’ It seems that an early tradition from the Johannites may also support our hypothesis that Jesus was initiated into the Egyptian mysteries. Manly P. Hall’s book Orders Of The Quest-THE ADEPTS In the Western Tradition relates, ‘The Johannites claimed to possess ancient records to the effect that when Jesus was a small child he was adopted by a Rabbi named Joseph who carried him into Egypt where he was initiated…’ It appears that Jesus was initiated into the Osiris Mysteries because; Mr. Hall said that the ‘priests of Osiris’ took him to be the reincarnation of Horus.”

“One of the biggest obstacles to scholars accepting that Jesus may have been connected to the community at Qumran, was because no form of the name Jesus appears anywhere in the “Dead Sea Scrolls.” Could the two factions within the community explain why there is no reference to any form of the name Jesus? The lack of the name Jesus appearing within the scrolls has led scholars to make the blanket statement that none of the New Testament characters were connected to the sect at Qumran.”

It is time to gather all the information that we discovered through Inductive Reasoning in order for us to apply Deductive Reasoning to the question of the association of Jesus with the Qumran Essenes:

• The two books The Essene Gospel of Peace and The Essene Jesus report that Jesus became an Essene master.
• Dead Sea Scrolls record that if a member of the community broke the rules, the member would be exiled and banished to the desert.
• Mark 1:6 says John the Baptist survived in the desert by eating locusts and wild honey.
• Joseph Milik excavated a corpse, without a head at Qumran.
• Orthodox Judaism believes if a corpse is buried incomplete the individual cannot be resurrected at the Day of Judgment.
• Orthodox Jews will not consent to any form of investigation of the remains of the dead.
• After John the Baptist was beheaded his head was given to Salome.
• Machaerus, Herod Antipas hilltop fortress is only fifteen miles from the Dead Sea.
• There was an Essene community in Egypt known as the Therapeutae.
• The Therapeutae were in ‘Lake Mereotis (Marioot) near Alexandria.
• Ancient Johannite records said as a child Jesus was adopted by a Rabbi named Joseph, taken to Egypt, and initiated… into the Osiris Mysteries.
• The ‘priests of Osiris’ thought Jesus was the reincarnation of Horus.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls mention a Teacher of Righteousness.
• Many scholars link the Teacher of Righteousness with either John or Jesus.
• Onias IV was the Jewish High Priest in 176 B.C.E., who Mr. Feather identifies as the Essenes’ Teacher of Righteousness.
• The Essenes were known as scribes.
• the Essene community at Qumran had split into the ‘(Ebionites, or Boerthusians) and the followers of Jesus.
• Josephus identified James the brother of Jesus as the head of the Ebionites.
• The Ebionites mentioned at Qumran were the followers of Jesus.
• The followers of Jesus were “led by Jesus’ family.
• The followers of Jesus are associated with the Gnostics.
• The followers of Jesus adhered to the doctrine of equality between the sexes.
• The founders of Qumran were followers of Akhenaten.
• The founders of Qumran disseminated the doctrine of equality between the sexes.

Although the above summary isn’t conclusive, applying Deductive Reasoning reveals that there is ample evidence for further investigation. We will return to this later but it is time to move to the question “What happened at Jesus’ Baptism”?

If we recall that Sophia and Christ caused the creation of both the Creator/Demiurge and the universe, and that the Christ’s partner is the Holy Spirit, then the episode at the baptism becomes clearer. Jesus’ soul was destined to be the prophesied Jewish messiah. Christ and Sophia chose Jesus to be the revealer of the Truth. As with all the other Christs, he was anointed for the role. At the baptism, Christ’s partner, the Holy Spirit left the Pleroma and rejoined the Christ; creating a Divine power that could transform the man Jesus. The reason, it was so unique was that Jesus’ baptism was the unification of the Divine feminine, the Holy Spirit, with the Divine masculine, the Christ.

Scholars maintain Gnosticism taught that The Christ had descended into Jesus without the Demiurge’s knowledge. Nevertheless, as we’ve said there were many different Gnostic sects in existence during the 2nd Century of the Common Era, and the sect we were led to was the Valentinians. However it wasn’t from Valentinus that we understood the Valentinian position on The Creator, it was from one of his famous successors, Ptolemaeus’ writing. We related this writing in the chapter Gnosis Versus Orthodoxy in LCD. As this is critical to understanding the Gnostic position on The Creator we will reprint the entire excerpt below:

“The successor to Valentinus was Ptolemaeus, and he wrote a famous letter to a Christian woman called Flora, entitled not surprisingly Ptolemaeus’ Letter to Flora, which is recorded in The Other Bible: Jewish Psuedipigrapha, Christian Apocrypha, Gnostic Scriptures, Kabbalah and Dead Sea Scrolls explaining the Valentinian position. An extract from it reads:

“The Law ordained through Moses, my dear sister Flora has not been understood by many persons, who have accurate knowledge neither of him who ordained it nor of its commandments. — Some say that it is legislation given by God the Father; others, — maintain stubbornly that it was ordained by the opposite, the Devil. — As they (also) attribute the fashioning of the world to him. — Both are completely in error. — For it is evident that the Law was not ordained by the perfect God the Father, for it is secondary, being imperfect and in need of completion by another, containing commandments alien to the nature and thought of such a God.”

“Ptolemaeus explains this by the doctrine of ‘an eye for an eye.’ Reminding Flora and us that Jesus addressed the Law, he continues:

“It is obvious that the whole Law is divided into three parts; we find in it legislations of Moses, of the Elders, and of God Himself. The Law of God Himself, is in turn divided into three parts; The pure legislation not mixed with evil, — which the Savior came not to destroy but to complete; — next the legislation interwoven with inferiority and injustice, which the Savior destroyed because it was alien to His nature; and finally, the legislation which is exemplary and symbolic. — The Law of God, pure and not mixed with inferiority, is the Decalogue, (The ten commandments). — These contain pure but imperfect legislation and required completion by the Savior.

“There is also the Law interwoven with injustice, laid down for vengeance and the requital of previous injuries. Ordaining that an eye should be cut out for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and that a murder should be avenged by a murder. The person who is the second one to be unjust is no less unjust than the first; he simply changes the order of events while performing the same action. — This is why, when His son came, He destroyed this part of the Law while admitting that it came from God.

“Finally there is the exemplary part, ordained in the image of spiritual and transcendent matters. I mean the part dealing with offerings, circumcision, the Sabbath, fasting, Passover, unleavened bread, and other similar matters. Since all these things are images and symbols, when the truth was made manifest they were translated to another meaning. — He (The Savior) wanted us to be circumcised, not in regard to our physical foreskin but in regard to our spiritual heart; to keep the Sabbath, for He wishes us to be idle in regard to evil works; to fast, not in physical fasting but in spiritual, in which there is abstinence from everything evil. Among us external fasting is also observed since it can be advantageous to the soul. — Similarly Paul the apostle shows that the Passover and the unleavened bread are images when he says, ‘Christ our Passover has been sacrificed, in order that you may be unleavened bread, not containing leaven.’ (By leaven he here means evil) ‘But may be a new lump’ (I Corinthians 5:7).

“Thus the Law of God itself is obviously divided into three parts. The first was completed by the Savior, for the commandments, ‘You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not swear falsely’, are included in the forbidding of anger, desire, and swearing. The second part was entirely destroyed. For “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, interwoven with injustice and itself a work of injustice, was destroyed by the Savior through its opposite. — ‘For I say to you, do not resist the evil man, but if anyone strikes you, turn the other cheek to him.’ Finally, there is the part translated and changed from the literal to the spiritual. — Paul showed that this theory is true. — He says, ‘The Law of commandments in ordinances was destroyed.’ (Ephesians 2:15); and of that not mixed with anything inferior when he says that ‘The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good’ (Romans 7:12).
“It remains for us to say who this god is who ordained the Law. — For if the Law was not ordained by the perfect God Himself. — Nor by the Devil, a statement one cannot possibly make, the Legislator must be someone other than these two. In fact, he is the Demiurge and maker of this Universe and everything in it. — If the perfect God is good by nature, — and if the one who is of the opposite nature evil and wicked, characterized by injustice; then the one situated between the two, neither good nor evil and unjust, can properly be called just. Since he is the arbitrator of the justice, which depends on him. On the one hand, this god will be inferior to God and lower than His justice, since he is generated and not ungenerated — there is only one ungenerated Father, from whom are all things (I Corinthians 8:6). On the other hand, he will be greater and more powerful than the adversary, by nature since he has a substance and nature different from either of them. The substance of the adversary is corruption and darkness, for he is material and complex, while the substance of the ungenerated Father of all is incorruption and self-existent light...”

Clearly, this writing shows that the Valentinians did not see either The Creator or His Creation as evil, which was the position of many of the Gnostic sects; such as the Manicheans. This is an important distinction to make as it helps us to consider the Gnostic teachings from an Archetypal and allegorical perspective.

Above THE GOOD NEWS REVERBERATION paragraph relates that “At the baptism, Christ’s partner, the Holy Spirit left the Pleroma and rejoined the Christ; creating a Divine power that could transform the man Jesus.” This is literally describing the goal of the Know Thyself Initiative. Jesus always maintained that we could do everything he did. Previously we discussed Faith as a real power, which we access to effect real miracles. We mentioned that the power/faith came from within and touched on that it required our participation to access it. Nonetheless, we did not elaborate on how this is achieved. This is because, the change required to access the faith/power involves the union of the masculine and feminine within us. At Jesus’ Baptism The Christ in Jesus demonstrated this by uniting with his partner The Holy Spirit. We say demonstrated, because he was demonstrating Macrocosmically or universally, what could be achieved at the Microcosmic level. Consequently, applying what we already know, this could be seen from the Microcosmic level as the Holy Spirit and the Christ Consciousness in the human being uniting to transform the heart and mind.

Still, on the Macrocosmic level the union between Jesus and The Holy Spirit had universal implications. This was because it was “the unification of the Divine feminine, the Holy Spirit, with the Divine masculine, the Christ.” On both the Macrocosmic and Microcosmic level the result of the unification of the Divine Masculine with the Divine Feminine can be explained Archetypally through the Major Arcana of the Tarot. In BEYOND DIVINATION: Spiritual Transformation Through the Major Arcana, we shared our investigation:

It is the Magician as the Divine Will, the human will’s highest level that transforms the heart, which releases the neutral feminine/passive aspect of The Holy Spirit within the heart. However, as the RT group related that when the heart is transformed it becomes a volitional organ; i.e., masculine, or active. What all this is revealing is when the human being fully integrates and transforms the heart, the axiom As above, so below becomes the reality.

To elucidate further, it concerns The Christ being the neutral masculine/active aspect of Spirit and The Holy Spirit the neutral feminine/passive aspect of spirit. They both represent the Spirit that is referred to as, ‘God is Spirit.’ This is the ‘above’ or the macrocosm. The “below” or microcosm is reflected in the human being through the activation of The Holy Spirit through the transformed heart.

We learned that the process of integrating the eight aspects of the human consciousness neutralizes the counterfeit spirit. Nonetheless, it hasn’t completely transmuted it. That occurs through the transformed heart becoming masculine or active. When the heart becomes active, The Holy Spirit rejoins her partner, The Christ, and the true ruler of Spiritual Evolution. Initially, we mistook the Christ-consciousness within as the same as The Christ, and equated the highest aspect of The Magician, the Divine Will with the Christ. Although the Divine Will is connected to The Christ, it isn’t the purest and therefore the strongest representation, as stated we needed to find another representation in the Tarot for The Christ.

If the Divine Will is connected to The Christ then it seemed to us that the Will was important. It was in remembering that Card 9 – The Hermit represents both the Divine Will and the Spirit that provided the answer. The Hermit is associated to Daath and The Empress. As we related Daath is the door between all the planes on the Tree of Life, and so as The Spirit is the door to the kingdom within, The Hermit or Spirit combines with Daath as The Empress and Holy Spirit…

In our research we had found a great deal of similarity between the teachings and messages of the many Christ-like teachers or founders of religions. As we reported, a vision of a pearl necklace explains how the Christ operated on Earth, which was described in the chapter Voice in the Wilderness in LCD:

“The necklace was sometimes double-stranded and sometimes single-stranded. Through the vision, I was given to understand that the strand on which the pearls were strung represented the figure of Christ and the pearls the individual personalities He has inhabited throughout history. By that I mean, that if the Christ were considered a spiritual being, then His spirit would be the strand the pearls were strung on; whereas the individual pearls were the different physical bodies His spirit had adopted throughout history.”

From this we deduced that the Christ has taught the Wisdom Religion in various guises. Moreover, our study revealed the common theme beneath all religions was the Wisdom Religion. This made perfect sense, as in order for the Christ and Sophia to rescue the divine sparks, they would need to teach Humanity how to overcome the false self (ego/pain body) and bring forth the true spiritual self.

In considering the similarity of the various Christ-like teachers throughout history, we are reminded that there are 10 versions of the Golden Rule: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This is of paramount importance to keep in mind and helps us to remember not to exclude anyone because they call Great Spirit-Mind, “God” or the Divine by a different name.

Regardless of the different Christs throughout history and the similarity of their message, Craig and I felt that Jesus Christ was somehow different. It was by understanding the Gnostic teaching of Valentinus that we saw why we felt this way.

As previously stated, apart from the Supreme Being, all emanations were in pairs, incorporating both masculine and feminine energies. If we recall the whole thing began with Sophia separating from her partner, What-has-been-willed. By the Holy Spirit (feminine) joining, the Christ (masculine) in the man Jesus, the Divine Spirit within his soul was able to gain preeminence. However, a question arises from this. “If the Christ and Sophia were a union, was ‘she’ in Jesus too?” My answer came upon learning of a legend that Sophia incarnated into the soul of Mary Magdalene.

Due to the previous two paragraphs above concerning the question of the feminine, we will address them together. Some may have noticed that all the Christ-like teachers have been men, with the feminine apparently absent. However, we discovered that it only appears that the feminine is absent. As was reported in the treatise:

“In the Voice in the Wilderness I’d observed that these Christ-like teachers had all been men and I had almost despaired of being able to trace Sophia or Isis reincarnating into a female teacher. I said almost, because once again Maurice Cotterell’s book THE TUTANKHAMUN PROPHECIES provided the answer. In the book he says of Quetzalcoatl, ‘They say that when he died he became the morning star, Venus...He walked in turn among the Olmec, the Teotihuacanos, the Maya, Toltec and Aztec.’ Suddenly, I realized what God wanted me to see. The reason I could find no reference to a ‘female’ Christ-like teacher was because, The Christ and Sophia had reunited to teach the Wisdom Religion.”

Surprisingly it is the Mystical art of Archetypal images in the Tarot which helped us to understand how important the baptism of Jesus was, and the role Sophia played in his mission. Observing that two of the New Testament Gospels begin at Jesus’ baptism instead of his birth screamed at us that something important occurred at this time. At first we had connected the dove descending at the baptism as The Christ’s entrance into Jesus because; we thought The Christ and The Holy Spirit were the same. Nonetheless, through our studies, we learned that was an error.

The breakthrough came when we learned that in a manner of speaking, both Sophia and the Holy Spirit are the daughters of Great Spirit-Mind or God the First Father and this is how we came to understand that Sophia could be in Mary Magdalene, and simultaneously descend as the Holy Spirit to reunite with her partner The Christ, in Jesus. Viewed from a Higher Reason perspective, this relationship is again explained archetypally in the Major Arcana of the Tarot.

The Holy Spirit becomes The Holy Ghost when we begin to activate the Divine Spark within through the agency of the three levels of the Higher Self. We do this through Divine Wisdom or the purified High Priestess. The Tarot reflects this in its union of The High Priestess with The Empress. In other words, it is the union of the highest aspect of Sophia, The High Priestess with The Holy Spirit, Daath or the highest aspect of The Empress that becomes The Holy Ghost.”

Equating The High Priestess to the Holy Ghost, the RT group gave us another way of looking at this archetype. The different perspective we gained was that The High Priestess represented an aspect of three beings. The second Sephirot on the Tree of Life, Binah, Daath, and The Holy Ghost. Initially, we were unclear as to whether The High Priestess or The Empress represented Daath. However, we came to understand that it all depended on which level or plane of reality we are talking about, because Daath represents both aspects of the sub-conscious, Universal and Individual. The conclusion we reached was that on the higher plane Daath represents The Empress as the Holy Spirit, which is within each heart waiting to be activated. Conversely, on the physical and ethereal plane, Daath represents The High Priestess as the Holy Ghost, which can be experienced in the physical world. Either way, Daath is connected to the Christ, Holy Spirit and Sophia, all of which lay dormant within every human being, with the potential to be activated.

So we come back to the two female cards, The High Priestess and The Empress representing Sophia and the Holy Spirit. The RT’s comment on the perfection of The Magician before uniting with the Higher Self and the perfected Empress and High Priestess, gave an additional insight, because they relate that when The Magician is not only perfected but also united with the Higher Self, The Empress, and High Priestess, who are also perfected, they become the “two aspects of the superconscious in us.” With this insight, we can appreciate more what happened at Jesus’ baptism.

Nonetheless, it was remembering that Achamoth, an aspect of Sophia being taught The Mysteries as Isis that led to a much deeper understanding. As stated, the “Logos” or “Word of God” can be seen as being represented by card 1 - The Magician. Following this logic, we wondered if the redeemed but unperfected Achamoth could represent card 3 - The Empress. If so, then this would imply that it was the redeemed Achamoth or Isis aspect of Sophia, which incarnated in Mary Magdalene. Furthermore, we could interpret The High Priestess as the perfected Sophia, or the Holy Spirit that descended into Jesus at his baptism.

Like us, we suspect many are asking if Isis/Achamoth taught the Wisdom Religion to Humanity, then why did she have to be redeemed as Mary Magdalene. Again, reiterating that it is impossible to understand the spiritual workings, as we understand it, it was necessary to ground The Mysteries in the physical plane at the human level. As such, The Christ and Sophia had to become human in order to establish The Mysteries, which have been handed down from initiate to initiate throughout known history. Jesus further grounded The Mysteries through his teaching of the disciples. However, as the New Testament tells us, Jesus revealed who he was by performing miracles for the general population, which is shown by the Greek word usually translated “miracle” in the Gospel of John meaning “sign” or “symbol.” In other words, Jesus’ miracles were/are “signs” of his spiritual power.

Before we get to the earthly incarnation of Sophia, namely Mary Magdalene, we need to return to our earlier statement of the entrance of The Holy Spirit. Originally, we’d thought that The Christ was active and that his partner, The Holy Spirit was passive. Nonetheless, we’ve since learned that The Christ was neutral. Later however, we discovered that despite being neutral his energy or consciousness is still active or masculine. As a result, his partner, The Holy Spirit is also neutral but her energy or consciousness is the passive or feminine side.

In Section 6D we delve deeper into Mary Magdalene and the start of Jesus’ ministry, particularly pertaining to Mary Magdelen being a candidate for the Beloved Disciple and author of the Fourth Gospel, the Gospel of John. We will also address the Gnostic division of the Human Race known as the Tripartition of Humanity.

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End of STAGE – REASON  Section 6-c

STAGE REASON – 6D – Mary Magdalene – Beloved Disciple –
Tripartition of Humanity

The New Testament records that the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert for Satan to tempt him. Nevertheless, Craig and I see this as an analogy of the true spirit of Jesus overcoming the counterfeit spirit, ego/pain-body, or false self. Every human being has to discover his or her Divine self. Each soul does this by identifying and overcoming his or her Achilles heel or weakness. Because of the kind of temptations Jesus faced, it appears that his weakness was pride. I realize that this sounds almost blasphemous, but in this hypothesis, Craig and I propose that Jesus was a man who demonstrated to Humanity that we must all change the way we think (incidentally, the original meaning for the word repent) to become our true spiritual selves. With this new perspective, we can all realize the need to deal with individual weakness. Jesus was not perfect. You have only to read the gospels to see that several times he showed the false self through human emotions, such as anger, frustration, and fear. If you balk at Jesus having fear, I recommend you read the account of the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke tells us how Jesus “sweats blood” over the thought of his impending death.

Earlier we mentioned a vision of a pearl necklace as representing the various individuals The Christ has incarnated into. It is in discovering the similarity between the incarnations that reveals Jesus’ humanity. We feel it may help to illustrate our point if we give an example. In the chapter Voice in the Wilderness in LCD the similarities between Gautama Buddha and Jesus were shown. We begin with The Buddha before his enlightenment as Prince Siddhartha:

“…Then reminiscent of Jesus retreating to the wilderness after his baptism, Siddhartha goes to the forest in order to find the answers to humanity’s suffering. He first does this with asceticism; however, he carries this out with such severity that he almost dies. His experience gives him the revelation of the ‘middle way’, or nothing to excess. While Siddhartha is seeking enlightenment, he is tempted by Maya (illusion, not his mother) who tries to persuade him to renounce his quest, by enticing him with the pleasures of life. But just as Jesus resisted the temptation of worldly desires from ‘Satan,’ Siddhartha gains the answers to his questions and defeats Maya (illusion).

“…circumstances surrounding the birth of Siddhartha Buddha paralleled the birth of Jesus, more than any other figure of history. I have already addressed two of them but there is an even stronger parallel with the third. This involves the prophecy concerning The Buddha’s expected birth. If I compared it to the narrative of the prophecy of Jesus’ birth, I found the two legends were identical. This is evinced by the fact that both Jesus’ and the Buddha’s births are marked astronomically by a Messianic star that will locate the birthplace of the special child.”

If Prince Siddhartha were not a human being then he would not have made a mistake with asceticism. What Deductive Reasoning tells us is that all The Christs’ messages have been given to Humanity to reveal that we are all capable of becoming our true selves, as evinced by both Jesus and Buddha resisting the temptation of their lower natures.

Jesus changing water into wine during the marriage feast at Cana, is the first miracle he performs. In the gospel of John, it is the mother of Jesus instigating the “miracle.” Still, Craig and I recently read that the Greek term that is translated into “mother” is more usually translated as “companion” or “sister.” Hardly the way Jesus would address his mother. However, there is one woman who many writings identify as the companion of Jesus, Mary Magdalene.

Before we get to the discussion on Mary Magdalene’s role, let us take a moment to consider what the miracle at Cana is revealing. Previously, we acknowledged that Jesus growing up in Alexandria may explain some of the “mysterious statements and events” surrounding his ministry. Alexandria was the center for the Mystery schools, which taught the Mystical Arts. The “miracle” of changing water into wine involves the knowledge of molecular structure and the use of electromagnetic energy. As stated, Tortion Fields “affect quartz crystal” but what is relevant here is that it can also “favorably change some beverages.” Therefore, the “miracle” at Cana demonstrated Jesus’ ability to alter the molecular structure of water.

Remembering that we are working from the premise Jesus was demonstrating “powers” available to all of us, if our premise is correct then the question is how did Jesus achieve this “miracle”? In Section 6B we proposed that Faith could be a tangible power capable of producing miraculous events, such as healing. In the “miracle” at Cana, the question is “Was Jesus using the power of Faith “the Father within”, or was he demonstrating his knowledge of energy fields, as in the Tortion Fields ability to “favorably change some beverages.”? Could the “miracle” at Cana be telling us that Jesus was familiar with using Geodesy or Tortion Fields?

Take a moment to ponder the above and then consider if it is possible that when Jesus said we could all do the things he did and more, he wasn’t speaking figuratively? Moving onto one of the most hotly debated characters in the New Testament, namely, Mary Magdalene. As THE GOOD NEWS REVERBERATION relates:

Many authors and scholars speculate that the Magdalene was a priestess of Isis. Our hypothesis has Jesus being an initiate of the mystery school of Isis and training in alchemy and magic. I ask, if Sophia incarnated in Mary Magdalene, is it possible that Jesus knew her before his baptism? Could she have joined him shortly after?

The New Testament is silent on how Jesus came to meet the Magdalene and quite remiss in keeping all the Marys straight from one gospel to the next. We first hear mention of her in the synoptic gospel of Luke. In 8:2, the writer of Luke, after saying “certain women” were cured of possession in which he includes Mary Magdalene, Luke then adds that Jesus exorcised seven devils from her, before granting that these women “ministered unto him of their substance.” Further study led to the discovery that the Greek term for minister is diakones, from which we derive the English word deacon.

One of the most insightful books on the role of Mary Magdalene is Susan Haskins’ book Mary Magdalen: Myth and Metaphor. Quoting Mark 15:41 Ms. Haskins stresses the ministerial role of the women who followed Jesus, because as she says, “Mark tells us that Mary Magdalen was among the women” who was with Christ in Galilee, and “followed him and ministered unto him.” Ms. Haskins informs us, “To minister is translated from the Greek verb diakoneen, to serve or to minister. It is also the root word for ‘Deacon,’ which establishes the important function given to the women within the group of both female and male disciples. Luke, from whom we also hear that the group has been part of Christ’s entourage for some considerable time before the crucifixion (8:1-4), corroborates their ministerial role, and amplifies it with the words “of their own substance.”

The entire structure of the Church, Deacon, Priest and Bishop is taken from Timothy I & II, as well as Titus. These contested books are the only place in the New Testament to refer to any form of Church hierarchy. Scholars of the Bible refer to these letters attributed by the Church to the Apostle Paul as “pseudo” Pauline. They designate them such because many suspect Timothy and Titus were heavily interpolated (added to) by someone else. We will discuss the suspected interpolation of the “pseudo” letters later; here we are interested in Saint Paul’s Letters, which seem to support women in the Church. For instance, in many of his letters the Apostle Paul advocated the equality of women in the faith, demonstrated when we read his greetings to certain women in Romans and I Corinthians.

Previously, I wrote that Jesus was chosen to be anointed for his mission. Interestingly, the writer of Luke is the only gospel writer that places Jesus’ anointing early in his work. All the other gospel writers place this event at Bethany just before the crucifixion. However, although chapter 11: 1 in the gospel of John has “a Mary” performing the anointing, there is a curious comment in parentheses in the chapter before the anointing. After introducing Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, the text has (“It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick”). This is curious; not only Matthew, Mark, and Luke have Simon’s house in Bethany where the anointing takes place, but also there is no mention of Lazarus or his sisters at the anointing. Yet in three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark and John, Jesus uses the same words in addressing the disciples’ concerns over the use of such expensive ointment (Spikenard) for the anointing. “For ye have the poor with you always” (Mark 14:7) “For ye have the poor always with you” (Matthew 26:11) “For the poor always ye have with you” (John 12:8).

Before we get to the question of Jesus’ strange anointing, we first want to address the three distinct accounts in the New Testament. This is because we believe the three different versions of the Scripture in the synoptic Gospels are reflecting the Gnostic concept of the Tripartition of the Human Race, which were known as pneumatics, psychics, and hylics. At this point it may be beneficial to share what we understand the Gnostics meant by the “Tri-partition of mankind.” Notwithstanding the sexist term “mankind”, we found it best explained by thinking of the divisions in terms of light and darkness, with the light representing altruistic (selflessness) Love, Great Spirit-Mind, “God” or the Divine and the darkness representing Hate, selfishness, or negative forces of the “Shadow of Deception.” The group known as “psychics” is a mixture of the two sides, having the potential of moving towards Love and altruism, or towards Hate and selfishness, promoted by the “Shadow.”

As many first time participants may be unfamiliar with the Gnostic terms hylic, psychic, and pneumatic, let us try to make the terms more understandable. These three terms are taken from Greek words that best represented the nature of the three groups. An important clue is found in the Gnostic hylics being also known as somatics, because it helps us to understand what the Gnostics meant by this group. Hylic taken from the Greek word hylē translates directly as matter, and somatic taken from the word sōma is Greek for body. From this information, we can deduce that the Gnostics viewed this group as the most materially oriented and least spiritual. The next group psychics should not be associated with its modern meaning “fortuneteller.” In Gnostic terminology psychic is taken from the word psychikos or psychē which is Greek for the soul, or mental. The last group, the pneumatics are sometimes referred to as “spirituals” because the name is derived from the word pneuma, which is Greek for spirit or breath. What interested us was that hylē or matter/body rather than being opposite to pneuma (Spirit), is opposite to psychē or soul. We found the most clear explanation for how the Gnostics viewed the three groups on an entry for Hylics on Wikipedia. It relates that the Gnostics saw Humanity comprising of: “matter-bound beings, matter-dwelling spirits and the matter-free or immaterial, souls.” Of course, we need to remember that this was the Gnostic view of the Human Race during the 2nd century of the Common Era. Still as we have said, there are twelve levels of consciousness on Earth today, so let us use Deductive Reasoning to bring the Gnostic Tripartition of Humanity up to date.

Layers of Deception in LCD related the Tripartition of Humanity to Life’s journey:

“…Our journey is like school. Through each grade, or life, we gain greater understanding through our experience of trial and error. Like a child in school, until we have learned that particular grades/life’s lessons, we cannot pass on to the next level. Also, like school, as we progress, fewer restrictions are imposed on us. This is a perfect representation of the microcosm (school) reflecting the macrocosm (our existence). So like the five-year-old who cannot possibly graduate with a doctorate until he/she has completed all the grades, we as individual souls have to follow the same rules. True, there are some exceptionally gifted children who can reach their goal much quicker, and likewise there are some souls that progress faster too. People like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. are prime examples. However, everyone must follow the rules.”

When the animal soul is ready to evolve into a human, naturally it carries the lowest vibration, which the Gnostics termed as hylic. Nonetheless, Gnostics saw Humankind made up predominantly of psychics, which implied that the new Soul quickly advanced to the psychic level. They believed the remainder was divided between a small portion of pneumatics and equally small number of hylics. For them, the hylics were those people who apparently had no light or Divinity within them, as these individuals exhibited greed and selfishness in the extreme. However, they only appeared to have no light or Divine Spark within them because the “light” was only dormant, because these individuals were usually new souls and therefore unevolved, Spiritually speaking. The Gnostics also believed that there were some psychics that degenerated into hylics by making a conscious choice to move towards the dark side, so to speak. As for the small portion of pneumatics at the other end of the spectrum, they were wholly of light and love. In today’s vernacular we could view pneumatics as saints.

To demonstrate the effects of the Gnostic Tripartition, we will use the scenario of an individual finding a wallet full of money on the sidewalk. The hylic would keep the wallet without a second thought; the psychic may or may not keep it but he or she would at least think about handing it over to the authorities. On the other hand, the pneumatic would not hesitate in helping return the wallet to its rightful owner.

As the population increases so do the number of new Souls, consequently so does the ratio between each division change. The location of where these new Souls incarnate geographically can often be identified by their affect on the energy consciousness of an area. For instance, extreme cruelty such as genocide would indicate the presence of a large percentage of new Souls/hylics. Conversely, in places or times where individuals display acts of compassion and bravery, such as the brave individuals that risked their lives to help slaves escape is evidence of the pneumatic presence. It is important to remember there will always be a considerably larger percentage of psychics in any place or time than the other two divisions combined. As new Souls progress through life many of them will come into contact with pneumatics which may help them advance to the psychic level. This results in the collective consciousness changing and thereby increases the percentage of the psychic division even more. Another way to examine the Tripartition of Humanity is through the Doctrine of Rounds and Root-races introduced in Section 5.

In the past; at the beginning of any given Root-race (sub-race 1), such as at the start of the Common Era (Root-race 6), the hylics are represented by sub-races 1 and 2. The consciousness of the psychics is carried by sub-races 3, 4, 5, and 6. Lastly, the consciousness of the pneumatics is carried by sub-race 7. The diagram above relates that after 1582 as Root-race 6 passes through its sub-race 7, consciousness evolves into Root-race 7. As there are only 7 Root-races in a Globe Round, this affirms that we are nearing the end of this cycle. At present Humanity has reached the conscious level of sub-race 7 in Root-race 7. At this time, the sub-races are cycling through very fast now; consequently people are progressing much faster. As progress is determined by levels of consciousness there is a greater percentage of pneumatics in the world at this time then there has ever been in human history. We will not discuss this here as it will be addressed in depth later; suffice to say this is key to identifying the middle of the 20th century as the beginning of the Fullness of Time. Today the consciousness of the Human Race consists of 90% psychic, 5% hylic and 5% pneumatic. To put this into Numbers in 100 individuals 90 would represent the psychics, 5 would represent the hylics and 5 the pneumatics. Participants may wonder how so small a percentage of pneumatics can affect the world. The answer is because the small portion of pneumatics are wholly of “light and love”, their consciousness has the accumulative effect of a much greater percentage than their Numbers dictate. That is why the transformation of only 777,000 people is needed to create a critical mass Number that will transform the world.
With that digression it is time to return to THE GOOD NEWS REVERBERATION and the discussion on Mary Magdalene.

Our question was why would the messiah need anointing for his burial? Anointing someone in biblical times signified Divine endorsement. Surely this had already occurred at the baptism. Nevertheless, if the anointing were to prepare the body for transformation, it makes sense. This would in any case make the anointer of great importance. Was this why the author of the gospel of John wanted to credit this important act with the younger sister of Lazarus and Martha?

What surprised us was that there is a growing argument for Mary Magdalene not only as the “beloved disciple” but also as the author of the Gospel of John. We found a fascinating thesis on the web from Ramon K. Jusino, M.A. on his web site www.BelovedDisciple.org

Below is a small excerpt to demonstrate why we think Mr. Jusino’s thesis is well worth reading:

…This study posits the theory that the Fourth Gospel, once universally believed to have been authored by John of Zebedee, was actually authored by Mary Magdalene. It is further posited that she was the Beloved Disciple of the Fourth Gospel and, therefore, the founder and leader of what has come to be known as the Johannine Community. Indeed, there is more evidence pointing to her authorship of the Fourth Gospel than there ever was pointing to authorship by John.

The research of Raymond E. Brown (http://Ramon_K_Jusino.tripod.com/magdalene.html) is used as the primary basis for this study. Brown's research on the Johannine Community is clearly second-to-none. He is readily acknowledged by most theologians today as America's foremost Catholic Scripture scholar…

Mary Magdalene is posited as the author of the Fourth Gospel in the sense in which antiquity defined authorship (Brown 1990: 1051-1052). The author is the person whose ideas the book expresses, not necessarily the person who set pen to papyrus (Brown 1966: lxxxvii). According to Brown, the Fourth Gospel was authored by an anonymous follower of Jesus referred to in the Gospel text as the Beloved Disciple. This Beloved Disciple knew Jesus personally and was in the originating group of the Johannine Community (Brown 1979: 31). The Fourth Gospel was based on this disciple's own eyewitness account (John 21:24)…

I assert that Mary Magdalene's contribution to the writing of the Fourth Gospel took place within the first phase of development identified by Brown -- i.e., the initial pre-Gospel version. The Gospel went through several phases of modification. The end result of these modifications was the eventual suppression of her role as author of this Gospel and leader of their community.

The Valentinian Gnostics appropriated the Fourth Gospel to such an extent that Irenaeus of Lyons (d. 202) had to refute their exegesis of it. Brown well notes the relationship between the Fourth Gospel and the early Christian Gnostics when he writes that there is "abundant evidence of familiarity with Johannine ideas in the...gnostic library from Nag Hammadi" (1979: 147)…”

We first hear Luke mention Mary Magdalene immediately after the “sinner” who anoints Jesus with precious ointment. Consequently, history has branded her as the penitent sinner. Was Mary Magdalene’s anointing Jesus the reconnection between the Christ and Sophia? Moreover, is the reference to exorcizing seven devils, referring to the seven main chakras.

To understand the deeper message beneath the scripture “Jesus exorcised seven devils” from Mary Magdalene, we will reprint the diagram on the chakras.

If we remember that Sophia had to be redeemed three times, the 3rd time by Jesus, the words Jesus “exorcised seven demons” from Mary Magdalene takes on a whole new meaning. This is because Higher Reason indicates that the “exorcising” is a reference to the 3rd and final redemption of Sophia.

With respect to Spikenard, we will address it later. As for Mary Magdalene’s actual relationship with Jesus, we have spent a considerable amount of time investigating and reached what we think is a reasonable conclusion. As stated, our conclusion was that their relationship was as teacher and pupil. Nonetheless, let us share some of the material that led to that conclusion. Because of the phenomenal success of The DaVinci Code, we will begin with the assumptions proposed by the author Dan Brown. We related this in Our Story 1995 – 2002: True Philosophers’ Stone:

“Today, with some people’s desire to raise the status of women, they are wrongly trying to change the person of Mary Magdalene by making her Jesus’ wife. Agreed, it is important to state that she most definitely was not a prostitute, but rather a respected member of Jesus’ entourage, however, she was one of his disciples not his wife.

“The main argument proffered by supporters of Mary Magdalene being Jesus’ wife is that at 30 years of age, it would have been customary in Israel for a man to be married and that is true in the general population. However, there was an ascetic sect called the Essenes, where evidence suggests Jesus may well have been a member.

“Concerning Jesus’ membership of the Essene brotherhood, Edmond Bordeaux Szekely states that he found “complete manuscripts, which exist in Aramaic in the secret archives of the Vatican and in old Slavonic in the royal archives of Hapsburgs” (now the property of the Austrian government).” It seems these “manuscripts” contain detailed accounts of Jesus’ life as an Essene master. Experts believe the “Aramaic texts” are at least 1700 years old. Szekely informs us that it was due to Nestorian priests fleeing from Genghis Khan’s advance that these manuscripts survive today.

“We believe that Jesus was an Essene teacher, and surprisingly, the Bible might be endorsing that belief. Shortly after his baptism, “As was his custom,” Jesus went to a “synagogue” to read the Scriptures. The very fact that the elders “delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah,” seemed to us a very strong indication that Jesus was already a respected religious teacher. As his mission progresses Jesus nullifies more and more of the strict dietary laws, focusing instead on what is in the heart. His radical stance was in direct opposition to many of the tenets reported in the Aramaic texts, which report the Essenes obsession with what they ingested.

“Jesus also begins to accept women into the group, whereas at first there were only men. As for Mary Magdalene, historians believe she was a woman of means from the town of Magdala, who may have financially supported the group.

“Excerpts from the Gnostic Gospel of Philip in The Nag Hammadi Library, may give a clearer picture on Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ relationship. It reads; “But Christ loved her (Mary Magdalene) more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on the mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it… They said to him, ‘Why do you love her more than all of us?’ The Saviour answered and said to them, ‘Why do I not love you like (I love) her’?”

“To suggest that the disciples “were offended” when Jesus kissed his wife “on the mouth,” did not seem logical to Craig and I. However, The Gospel of Mary (Magdalene) may shed some light on the reason for the disciples’ animosity towards her. “Peter said to Mary, ‘Sister, we know that the saviour loved you more than the rest of women. Tell us the words of the saviour which you remember – which you know (but) we do not, nor have we heard them.’ Mary answered and said, ‘What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you’.”

“After Mary Magdalene relates the “hidden” things Jesus taught her, Andrew and Peter verbally attacked her... “Andrew answered and said to the brethren, ‘Say what you (wish to) say about what she has said. I at least do not believe that the saviour said this. For certainly these teachings are strange ideas.’ Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things. He questioned them about the saviour: ‘Did he really speak with a woman without our knowledge (and) not openly? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us’?”

“Obviously, Mary was very upset by Peter’s assault, but Levi (Matthew) came to her defense. “Peter, you have always been hot-tempered. Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversary. But if the saviour made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the saviour knows her very well. That is why he loved her more than us’.”

“…The question that arises, if Mary Magdalene was not Jesus’ wife, why did the disciples not think he was just being a “man” enjoying some feminine company when he kissed her on the mouth. To understand this it is important to know the culture of the Middle East. In the West, heterosexual males do not kiss each other on the mouth in private let alone in public. However, in the Middle East it is a sign of extreme affection and respect for men to kiss each other in public. Depending on the degree of respect defines where on the face they kiss one another, cheek, or corner of the mouth. The highest demonstration of respect is to kiss someone on the mouth, which is a little surprising as Judas kisses Jesus on the cheek to identify him to his enemies. I believe this was because of the circumstances. Regardless, Jesus’ kissing Mary Magdalene in front of the other disciples on the mouth was the highest honor and acknowledgment of her as his pupil. Accordingly, some of the disciples were jealous of her.

Before leaving this subject, it may be beneficial to address one more theory concerning Mary Magdalene. Some authors have suggested that not only was Mary Magdalene Jesus’ wife, but that she also bore his child. Many people posit the idea that the “Holy Grail” is a metaphor for this “Holy” offspring. Looking at their “evidence”, we saw that it is open to multiple interpretations. All the same, we would like to point out that Jesus went to great lengths to stress that the kingdom of God (Great Spirit-Mind) is within a person.

Historical tradition, according to Josephus and other historians, says that after the crucifixion, the early church made Jesus’ brother James the head of the Jerusalem Church. Following the martyrdom of James, Bishop Eusebius recorded that various male members of Jesus’ family succeeded to the head of the Jerusalem Church in succession until there were no more male members left. If Jesus fathered children, his followers would hold them in very high regard. Above all else, this would have detracted from his mission.

At this point we would like to remind you that Archetypally Isis was represented by card 3 The Empress. This means that as Mary Magdalene is associated with Isis then she too was represented by The Empress.

Returning to the “miracle” at Cana, if the person who instigated the event is Mary Magdalene and she was a priestess of Isis, then she would have known that Jesus was an initiate well-schooled in alchemy. Therefore, she knew it would be easy for Jesus to change the water into wine.

Having the gospel of John cite Mary of Bethany, as the woman anointing Jesus, many think Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene are one and the same. Of course, the Church has encouraged this misidentification. With all due respect, this is an error, as only a priest or priestess could officially anoint someone. We know this is an official anointing by Jesus’ words to the disciples. “Verily I say unto you, where-soever this gospel be preached throughout (in) the whole world, this also that (this woman) she hath done shall be spoken (told) of for a memorial of her,” Matthew 26:13 and Mark 14:9. Turning to Luke 10:40 Martha, presumably Lazarus’ sister, since the passage does not say, complained that her sister, Mary, did not help prepare the meal. Logically, would anyone expect a priestess to help prepare a meal. I would like to propose that there are two “Marys” in the story, Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and Mary Magdalene, the Isis priestess who anointed Jesus.

In conclusion we would like to add that the Gnostics believed the spirit moved women as strongly as men. As shown above, Mary Magdalene had her own gospel and many early writings refer to her as the Apostle of the Apostles. We believe after examining all the relevant information, Deductive Reasoning concludes that Jesus and Mary Magdalene’s relationship was strictly spiritual. Simply put, she recognized who and what he was and what he was here to do.

Before we move on to the questions for this Section in the 4th Review, we want to refer back to our earlier discussion on Faith in Section 6B. To recap:

“…Associating faith as a power connected to The Mysteries shows us that Jesus wanted us to “actively” use faith in bringing the Divine “Kingdom” to the Earth, which is why he taught us the “Lord’s Prayer”, with the words: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.”

Although first aired in 2008, we only recently watched a lecture by Deepak Chopra on Public Television. Dr. Chopra spoke of the 14 Secrets to Enlightenment, focusing on the connection of Jesus’ teachings with the Wisdom Teachings, which is formulated in his new book The Third Jesus The Christ We Cannot Ignore. Dr. Chopra explains that he sees the “First Jesus” as the historical teacher, the “Second Jesus” as the theological Church figure, and the “Third Jesus” as the Universal Christ within us all. This called to mind the Gnostic Tripartition in that the Gnostics used different characters in the New Testament to represent the three groups in the Tripartition. Let us briefly view how Dr. Chopra interpreted Jesus’ teachings.

In the book Dr. Chopra shows that Jesus was teaching the path to Enlightenment and that many of his teachings could be applied to the “14 Secrets of Enlightenment”, such as the Secret Number 4 being “Intention” having “organizing power”, which equates to “Ask and you shall receive”. During the lecture Dr. Chopra made multiple references to instances where Jesus’ words could be interpreted as representing the same meaning as the Wisdom teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism. We realized that his book is invaluable to the Initiative because our goal is to show similarity between the world’s religions.

Another thing Deepak Chopra said in the lecture concerned the difference between faith and belief. With great insight Dr. Chopra said belief was a cover for uncertainty, whereas faith is being comfortable in the face of uncertainty. An example of the difference between faith and belief can be seen in terms of religious or political sects demonstrating against other groups “beliefs.” Another way to look at Dr. Chopra’s statement that belief is the cover for uncertainty is akin to the Shakespearean quote of “Me thinks thou dost protest too strongly”. In other words, the individuals that scream the loudest in protest when someone challenges their religion are those people most afraid to question it, because their “belief” may be “built on sand rather than rock”. Individuals that demonstrate faith are tolerant and are unfazed by other people’s views and opinions because they are not threatened by any challenge to their standpoint or position.

Deepak Chopra closed his lecture with a very uplifting statement by calling people to take a vow to change and therefore “transform the world”. As this epitomizes the goal of the Initiative, we repeat Deepak Chopra’s call below.

On November 7, 2008, at 9:45 am, the 500 people attending the Alliance for a New Humanity Human Forum in Barcelona took a vow for non violence in their thoughts, speech, and actions. Each person decided to ask other people in their lives to join them in taking the vow. The goal then became to create a global movement, which would mobilize 100 million people to make the same commitment. We, at the Alliance for a New Humanity believe that if a critical mass of people commit to this vow, the world would be transformed. If you are seriously committed to peace, join us in this global movement and take the vow.

Love, Deepak Chopra, President and Founder of the Alliance For A New Humanity

http://www.itakethevow.com/

We encourage all participants to take the vow because as Dr. Chopra says quoting the Hindu Lord Krishna, “There are many paths up a mountain and they all lead to the top.”

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End of STAGE – REASON  Section 6-d

STAGE REASON – FOURTH REVIEW – Section 6

Once again, before we get to the questions of the Fourth Review for Section 6, we will address the answers to the questions for the Third Review concerning Section 5

1) What are the names of the two species living in the Fertile Crescent in 50,000 B.C.E.?
Answer – Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals.
2) Who mistakenly revealed the mysteries to Humanity?
Answer – The Watchers
3) What was the name of the advanced civilization who genetically altered the Cro-Magnons?
Answer – The Lemurians
4) What is Eve being taken from Adam an allegory for?
Answer –Separation of the masculine and feminine principles.
5) Which Root-race represents the descendants of Cain?
Answer –Root-race 4.
How many planes are on the Tree of Life?
Answer - 4
Which direction represents the Hebrew letter Mem?
Answer – East to West
How many groups migrated into the Nile Valley in 10,000 B.C.E.?
Answer – Three
Which myth is another version of the Gnostic myth?
Answer – Osiris and Isis.
Which aspect of The Christ redeemed Achamoth?
Answer – The Logos
When did Sophia’s first redemption take place?
Answer –Creation of the Universe.
Which Root-race did Root-race 4 emerge from?
Answer –Root-race 2
Which stars align with the three pyramids at Giza?
Answer –Orion’s Belt in the constellation Orion.
Where was the first UFO sightings concentrated after WWII?
Answer – New Mexico.
What is the reverse of creation?
Answer – Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
What are the names of the three Souls in a human being?
Answer – Animal, Human and Spiritual
What Root-race equated to the Linga Sharira or Astral body.
Answer – Root-race 3
Which civilization brought in the principle Kama Rupa or Animal Soul.
Answer – The Atlanteans
Which Root-race could interact with the Astral Plane?
Answer –Root-race 4 When did the Manas or the Human Soul develop?
Answer – During Root-race 5.

Reiterating what we said earlier, The Know Thyself Initiative although being interactive is essentially a self-monitoring program. In other words, participants will be the determining factor as to their own progress. Since this is the second iteration of Stage Reason, as initiates are more familiar with the Review process of questions based on the Section(s), we are pulling the bullet-list encapsulating the information. However, we realize that new members may have not developed their Deductive Reasoning as much as initiates, so to assist them in the process, we have PDFs of the bullet-list for download. If anyone does not have “Adobe Reader”, they can use this link to download it.

Now for questions on the Fourth Review for Section 6:

1) Why was Herod summoned to Rome?
2) Who founded the Great Library of Alexandria?
3) What language did the Jews speak in Alexandria in the time of Ptolemy?
4) Who caused monotheism to enter Palestine?
5) What are Tortion fields?
6) What is Geodesy primarily concerned with?
7) Approximately how many miles is Giza from Port Said?
8) What are the four primary qualities of Aristotle?
9) Which two Greek philosophers placed the Earth at the center of the universe?
10) Who was the Teacher of Righteousness?
11) What was the name of Herod’s hilltop fortress where John the Baptist was beheaded?
12) What two factions did the Essene community at Qumran split into?
13) Which two Gospels begin with Jesus’ Baptism?
14) Which Tarot card represents Melchizedek?
15) What does the Greek word diakoneen mean?
16) Which third of the Tripartition of Humanity is predominant in the Human Race?
17) How many levels of consciousness are on Earth today?
18) What is the name of the door between the Fire and Mental Planes in the Tree of Life?
19) How many times did Sophia need redeeming?
20) What word did Mary Magdalene use in addressing Jesus after his resurrection?

In Section 7 we move onto the next chapter in THE GOOD NEWS REVERBERATION, The Journey. However, because the next two chapters, The Journey and The Trial concern the same period of time, and the mysterious and maligned figure of Judas Iscariot, we will discuss the majority of the contents from both chapters in Section 7.

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End of STAGE – REASON  – FOURTH REVIEW – Section 6

STAGE – REASON – Section 7

STAGE REASON – 7 – CHAPTERs Four & Five –
THE JOURNEY & THE TRIAL

As The Journey and The Trial concern the same period of time with John the Baptist, as well as the mysterious maligned figure of Judas Iscariot, we are discussing both chapters in this Section. Consequently, starting with the former we return to John the Baptist.

For Jesus to fulfill his destiny two things needed to occur. First, John the Baptist needed to depart. We know that the Baptist knew this truth as is shown in his recorded words, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) Some would say that this meant John the Baptist arranged his death.

Those who believe that all events are God’s will, would say that Herod Antipas’ decision to behead John was also God’s will, but that theory would deny freewill. So many times people look to the death of loved ones in a senseless act of violence as the fulfillment of some Divine plan. Because good things often occur through tragic events, many people have used this to support the argument that everything that happens is part of the Divine plan. Craig and I suggest that Divinity only inspires, since this action still facilitates free will. Nevertheless, we have discovered that God is the consummate opportunist. Whenever a dark cloud looms over us, He will inspire whomever, or use whatever He can to bring forth the silver lining. What is more, God told us categorically, “Anything that creates fear, hatred, and or division is never of Divine origin.”

Whether Great Spirit-Mind or “God” allows evil to exist has plagued religious scholars for centuries. If we accept everything that happens, be it good or bad is the Supreme Being’s Will, how do we explain a senseless act like the events of 9-11? We will endeavor to answer this question later but suffice to say the pillar: “Anything that Creates Fear, Hatred, and or Division is Never of Divine Origin”, is key to understanding the role Divinity plays in our suffering. Now back to John the Baptist.

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STAGE REASON – 7A – CHAPTER FOUR – THE JOURNEY –
John the Baptist and the Mandeans

The Old Testament records that two individuals did not experience mortal death, Enoch, and Elijah. Remembering that Jesus said that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah, we ask, is it possible that John could have translated his body, without experiencing physical death again. This would make the beheading of John the Baptist Herod Antipas’ responsibility and not any Divine Plan.

Examining John the Baptist as a teacher in his own right places the spotlight on a different aspect of his life and mission because it concerns the mysterious sect of the Mandeans. As we mentioned in Section 6B John the Baptist is associated with the book Gnostic John the Baptizer: Selections from the Mandæn John-Book. In researching this further we found an article on the web site Looklex, which appears to support the general consensus that the Mandeans were a baptismal sect of Iraq. We will excerpt a few paragraphs which summarize the conventional opinion of the sect. According to the web site, the Mandeans are “the only surviving Gnostic religion with no more than 60,000 adherents living in southern Iraq and southwestern Iran.” They explain that:

“They are often called the Christians of Saint John, as he is a very sacred person, but not indispensible, in their theology. Their name is Aramaic for ‘knowledge’, i.e. a translation from the Greek ‘gnosis’. There are two theories to their origins. They may either belong to a group emerging from Palestine, who were followers of John the Baptist. The other theory links them to the Sabaeans, originally from the Harran region.”

Evidently the main consensus of opinion on the Mandeans is that they thought Jesus was a false messiah. Nonetheless, although many Mandean texts appear to be antagonistic to Jesus, a re-interpretation of a sentence in the entry for the Mandean Sect on Wikipedia gave us pause for thought.

Mandaeans recognize several prophets, among whom Iahia or Iuhana "John the Baptist" is accorded a special status, higher than his role in Christianity and Islam. In contrast to common belief, Mandaeans do not consider John to be the founder of their religion but merely revere him as one of their greatest teachers, tracing their beliefs back to Adam.

Mandaeans maintain that Jesus was a mšiha kdaba "false messiah" who perverted the teachings entrusted to him by John. The Mandaic word k (a) daba, however, derives from two roots: the first root, meaning "to lie," is the one traditionally ascribed to Jesus; the second, meaning "to write," might provide a second meaning, that of "book"; hence some Mandaeans, motivated perhaps by an ecumenical spirit, maintain that Jesus was not a "lying Messiah" but a "book Messiah", the "book" in question presumably being the Christian Gospels…

So which was it? Did John the Baptist see Jesus as the promised messiah or did he see him as the deceiver? We mentioned earlier that Robert Feather appears to support the hypothesis that both John the Baptist and Jesus, if not full members, were at least associated with the Qumran Essenes. All four Gospels of the New Testament report that John the Baptist had a vision of the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove on the Messiah’s head. Moreover, the New Testament says that when this occurred during Jesus’ baptism, John knew his cousin was the Messiah. So much for the conventional teaching, as stated, there are writings that come from the sect that followed John the Baptist, and these tell a very different story to the four Gospels. Excerpts from the treatise on Spiritual Evolution, America’s Hijacked Destiny discussed the Mandean sect in respect to Gnostic John the Baptizer: Selections from the Mandean John-Book by G. R. S. Mead:

“In investigating the Mandeans, I got the distinct impression that they were opposed to Christianity. However, as there were several forms, I wondered which sect of Christianity the Mandeans were opposed to. In the New Testament, John the Baptist appears to know that Jesus was the Messiah but a curious question attributed to him while he was in prison just before his beheading, puts that assertion into doubt. The Scripture says that John the Baptist sends two disciples to ask Jesus “…Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

“Although the text says that Jesus reassured John’s disciples that he was the one they looked for, to me, it suggests that John wasn’t sure if Jesus was the Messiah. As John the Baptist is beheaded shortly afterwards, could his uncertainty have lingered with his followers? Could this be the origin of the Mandean sect? According to the New Testament Scriptures Jesus first meets up with John at his baptism, but is that a valid assessment?

“G. R. S. Mead deals extensively with the baptism in the Gnostic John the Baptizer: An extract from the text on the Baptism of Jesus has John accusing Jesus of lying to the Jews. The text relates; “Thou hast lied to the Jews and deceived the priests. Thou hast cut off their seed from the men and from the women bearing and being pregnant…” Thereon Yeshu Messiah (Jesus) answered Yahyā (John the Baptist) “If I have lied to the Jews, may the blazing fire consume me. If I have deceived the priests, a double death will I die. If I have cut off their seed from the men, may I not cross o’er the End-Sea. If I have cut off from the women birth and being pregnant, then is in sooth a judge raised up before me…”

“Evidently, Yahyā wasn’t satisfied and accuses Yeshu Messiah of being a “desolate house.” Mr. Mead explains in a footnote that this is a term “generally meaning an unmarried man.”

“Anyway, despite the accusations by his cousin, “…a letter out of the House of Abathur arrives saying, “Yahyā, baptize the deceiver in Jordan. Lead him down into the Jordan and baptize him, and lead him up again to the shore, and there set him.”

“There follows a curious comment about the baptism of Jesus, “Then Rūhā made herself like to a dove and threw a cross over the Jordan.” Mr. Mead says Rūhā is “The Lower Spirit, This-World-Mother.” Granting that this was what the Mandeans meant by the term, the fact that a dove is mentioned leads me to a different interpretation…

“First though, I will deal with the question of John’s relationship to Jesus. To understand the apparent conflict, I needed to remember how difficult it is to know your mission while in the physical body. The New Testament appears to say that there are only six-months between John and Jesus, implying that John was raised with the understanding of Jesus’ role. However, Mr. Mead’s book gave me pause to wonder if that was correct.

“In investigating the apparent absence of any mention of Jesus or the early Christians by Josephus, Mr. Mead found “a Slavonic or Old Russian translation of the Jewish War by Josephus. In this version there are no less than eight pieces referring to John the Baptist and a few to Jesus and the first Christians.” Mr. Mead conjectures over the general dismissal of the writings as “Christian forgeries.” Although having read the relevant text, I can see why they would be embarrassing to the Church as they make John a lot older than Jesus. Furthermore it contradicts the New Testaments version of the role of Pilate. The extracts also mention “Simon, an Essene by extraction, a scribe...”

“As the Pilate extract is so important I will quote the relevant verses exactly as they appear in the book. The scene I’m concerned with occurs after the Jewish authorities of the temple had complained to Pilate about Jesus. Even though the text says Jesus healed Pilate’s wife who was dying, it goes on to say, “The teachers of the Law were [therefore] envenomed with envy and gave thirty talents to Pilate, in order that he should put him to death. And he, after he had taken [the money], gave them consent that they should themselves carry out their purpose.” This is a far cry from Pilate washing his hands of the affair, in reluctant resignation to Jesus’ fate.

“Mr. Mead presented a very good case against the eight extracts being a later Christian forgery. I will relate the highlights. “…the most striking difference is the protracted period assigned to John’s activity.” He explains that the statement ‘At that time’ means during the ethnarchy of Archelaus.” I knew that Herod the Great died in 4 B.C.E., but I didn’t know Archelaus succeeded Herod as ethnarch of Judea, and that he was “…deposed in 6 A.D.” This means in mentioning John the Baptist’s ministry with Archelaus meant that John was preaching as an adult in 6 C.E. Of course this completely contradicts the New Testament, which make John only six months older than Jesus. Mr. Mead thinks this is evidence that the writing cannot be a Christian forgery, because “It is quite inconceivable that any Christian writer who had the gospel-story before him, could have made what would be so astounding a statement to Christian ears…Surely the last thing an intelligent forger would desire to do would be to give occasion to his readers to call the canonical narrative into question concerning so prominent a feature as John’s almost equal age with Jesus, and so practically invite them to dismiss all the graphic details of the birth-stories as fictitious?-unless it be that he wrote before these stories were in circulation…The writer must have been in circles who would see no difficulty in assigning to John a public activity of at least 30 years…; for he tells us that John survived the death of Philip, which took place somewhere between 33 and 36 A.D.”

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End of STAGE – REASON  Section 7-a

STAGE REASON – 7B – Gethsemane and the Tripartition of Humanity

After the death of John the Baptist, Jesus took Peter, James, and John to witness the transfiguration. It is during the transfiguration that Jesus revealed his true spiritual essence to his disciples. After this event, Peter declares Jesus as the Christ and Jesus was clearer on his mission and who was involved. For instance, as stated, he knew that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah. He also knew how his mission would end. All the same, it was quite a lot for Jesus to deal with. How did a mortal man deal with the foreknowledge of his horrific death? We can attest to firsthand experience that God only tells you what you can handle. He never overloads you. He knows us very well and only reveals as much information as we can cope with. We believe, God simply told Jesus that he would live and to trust Him. (Of course, Jesus’ trust proved well placed after the resurrection.)

Questioning just how much Jesus understood involves the debate of whether he was the Supreme Being or not. As the ultimate All-powerful, All-knowing Divine Being, Jesus would be all knowing too, and therefore completely aware of what was going to happen, which many say the Scriptures’ reference to his death support. However, his anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane calls into doubt Jesus’ full understanding of his mission. Fairly familiar with the New Testament we had wondered why only the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke record Jesus’ anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane. Amazingly, the writer of the Gospel of John, even though the gospel reports on Jesus’ arrest in the “garden”, the author seems oblivious to Jesus’ anguished appeal for help before his arrest. Considering the hypothesis that the closest disciple known as the Beloved Disciple is accredited with its authorship, this is puzzling to say the least. Even if we discount the origin of authorship to Mary Magdalene and go with conventional thinking that the “Beloved Disciple” and writer of the 4th Gospel was Saint John, son of Zebedee; this still raises the question as to why the closest disciple to Jesus seems oblivious to Jesus’ anguish in the garden before his arrest. Whenever we have come across a discrepancy that is baffling in the New Testament, we have learned to fall back to a pillar we were given very early on in our journey; namely, “Even the errors (in the Scriptures) will lead you to the Truth.” Consequently for such an oversight to have passed, meant there was something hidden in such oversight. To find the hidden message requires applying both Inductive and Deductive Reasoning. The former is engaged by re-reading the relevant passages in the three Synoptic Gospels.

Once we have gathered the information through Inductive Reasoning, it is then time to employ Deductive Reasoning. The primary tool for this is attention to detail. In examining the three versions, what we found most interesting is that although the three accounts are reporting the exact same event, there are distinct differences in them. So the first stage to discerning the hidden meaning is to examine the differences. The differences between the three Synoptic Gospels concern Jesus’ prayer.

We believe the differences in this case between the 3 different accounts of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane; like our other example in Section 6D concerning the three different versions of Jesus addressing the Disciples’ unease over the use of Spikenard, reflects the Tripartition of the Human Race. Refreshing our memory, the three passages are: “For ye have the poor with you always” (Mark 14:7) “For ye have the poor always with you” (Matthew 26:11) “For the poor always ye have with you” (John 12:8). It is important for us to clarify why we say, “in this case” because the hidden message that is revealed through differences in the Gospel accounts aren’t always about the Tripartition of Humanity, especially if it does not include all three Synoptic Gospels, as in Jesus’ response to the disciples comments over Spikenard. However, as we can see in respect to the Garden of Gethsemane, all three Synoptic Gospels are involved:

• Matthew 26: 39– “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:

• Mark 14: 36 – “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me:
• Luke 22: 42– “Father if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:

From a consciousness perspective, as we said, the Tripartition should be seen historically in terms of light and darkness, with the light representing altruistic (selfless) Love or Great Spirit-Mind and the darkness representing selfishness, hate and the Shadow of Deception. We also gave a modern day scenario of a wallet full of money on the sidewalk. One of the most surprising things we discovered is that Saint Paul used the concept of three different types of listeners in his letters. Of course his letters were directed to only two of them, the Pneumatics or Spirituals, and the Psychics. Because the Initiative’s main premise is that there are twelve different consciousnesses on the Earth today, we will take the time to elaborate a little further on Saint Paul writing two distinct kinds of messages in his Letters. We covered this in the sub-section Gnostic Gospels in the chapter Gnosis versus Orthodoxy in LCD:

“…At first, the thought that mankind could be divided spiritually seemed alien, however, in the New Testament, both Jesus and Paul report the same thought. For instance, Jesus when speaking to his disciples says; ‘It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.’ Paul says in Romans 8:6 ‘For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.’

“Remembering that the Valentinians claimed their doctrine originated with the Apostle Paul, Pagels relates in The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters that Clement said the Valentinians maintained ‘Valentinus was a hearer of Theudas, and Theudas, in turn, an own disciple of Paul.’ Citing Paul himself, the Valentinians said the apostle discovered ‘secret teachings’ and ‘the deeper mysteries’ or ‘secret wisdom,’ which he explains he shares only with those Christians he considers ‘mature’ but not with everyone.

“I wondered if the scripture; ‘But the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man’, was referring to the division of mankind? The Valentinians claimed that Paul’s letters contain more than one meaning. The Gnostic Paul develops this further.

“… In reading Paul’s letters, I’d found what appeared to be a contradiction. Paul seems to have female followers, in which some are clearly more than just listeners. For instance Romans 16:1 says; ‘I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, which is a servant of the Church.’ My King James Study Bible’s comment says: ‘A servant (Gr. Diakonon, lit, ‘deacon’): This is one passage used in support of the office of Deaconess.’ Although the commentary goes on to qualify the statement, by making her the wife of a deacon or a mere ‘helper,’ I think this scripture showed Paul’s thoughts on the equality of women. So what does he mean when he wrote the strange statement; ‘Let you women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the Law,’…While just three chapters earlier, we find; ‘But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head.’

“…In The Gnostic Paul, Elaine Pagels explains that from verse 1-4 Paul is reminding them of what he has taught them. She writes: “Paul urges the elect to imitate him: they are to ‘remember’ what he taught them (11:1-2; apparently the secret, oral teaching) and on that basis to observe ‘the traditions’ transmitted to them. Why, then, does he abruptly break off his discussion in 11:3 and turn to consider such trivial matters as the social relationship between men and women, and the question of proper dress? The initiated reader could perceive that Paul has not changed the subject, but now chooses to continue in symbolic language, so that the elect alone are able to follow his hidden meaning.’

“The Gnostics asserted that Paul used symbolic language to teach esoteric spiritual matters. ‘When the apostle speaks of the relationship between man and woman, the Valentinians explain, he is speaking symbolically first of the relationship between Christ and the ecclesia, and secondly of the relationship between the elect and the called. As God is the head of Christ, so Christ is the head of the man (that is, of the pneumatic elect) and man the head of the woman (the psychic ecclesia). Through this metaphor Paul reveals the hierarchy of the divine relationship: God, Christ, the elect, the called (cf. 11:3).’

If we consider that Professor Pagels maybe correct, and that Saint Paul was writing in code using allegories and symbols to impart his message; then we ask, isn’t it possible that other Christian writers did the same? Could this be why there are three Synoptic Gospels? However, as stated there is one glaring difference; only two of the Gospels, Matthew and Luke contain any reference to Jesus’ birth.

Returning to the night of Jesus’ arrest, in order to find the hidden message in the different accounts of the Garden of Gethsemane we will need to delve into the Doctrine of Tripartition a little more. Although we have discussed the three different natures described in the Doctrine, the question is “Are they reflected in the Synoptic Gospels?” To answer that we need to have a greater understanding of the three different levels of consciousness. Nonetheless, let us first refresh our memories on the fundamentals. According to the Doctrine, Humanity is divided into three distinct levels of consciousness, both morally and Spiritually. The lowest or most material, selfish and least Spiritual are known as Hylics. The highest or most Spiritual, selfless, and least material are known as the Pneumatics. In between, and ranging from both ends of the spectrum are the Psychics, who choose on a daily basis whether to adhere to selfishness or selflessness. However, this does not tell us which Gospel account represents which group, for that we need to look to the so-called infancy narratives.

Even though only Matthew and Luke contain infancy narratives, they are not the same, and it is where the two Gospels differ that reveals which group of the Tripartition they each represent. As stated, only Matthew reports the death of the innocents; Luke has no mention of it. This reveals that the Gospel of Matthew represents the Hylics. We must state that identifying the Gospel with the least Spiritual members of society does not mean that Matthew is not inspired or sacred writing. On the contrary, because it represents the most selfish nature it has a very valuable role to play in teaching.

Nevertheless, we began this with a discussion on the absence of any mention of Jesus’ anguish in the Gospel of John. Using the Doctrine of Tripartition parameters, we now see a hidden message in the three different versions of the Garden of Gethsemane in the Synoptic Gospels. Having identified Matthew as representing the Hylic or material perspective, we need to identify which Gospel represents the middle consciousness, or the Psychic perspective? Examining the three different passages there is one version that includes an element that is absent in the other two; the appearance of an angel to strengthen Jesus. (Luke 22:43) This involves the Spiritual forces in the Soul Plane and reveals that Luke represents the Psychic point of view, leaving the Gospel of Mark to represent the Pneumatic or Spiritual perspective. To illustrate how this is determined we will repeat the three excerpts from above, isolating and comparing the three versions.

• Matthew – “…O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:

• Mark – “…Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me:
• Luke – “…if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:

Matthew (hylic perspective) seems to imply that Jesus is unsure if it is possible for The Father to help him. The deeper message is the Physical being of the man Jesus is having a crisis of faith. Mark (pneumatic perspective) uses the term Abba, which is more intimate than Father, and asserts that “all things are possible…” The deeper message here represents the Spirit in Jesus, which knows that “all things are possible.” Finally Luke (psychic perspective) seems to imply that Jesus thinks it is up to The Father (if thou be willing) if he is spared or not. The message here is that the Soul of Jesus is appealing for Spiritual help. Still, all three Gospels teach that all three aspects of Jesus come together and reconcile to his fate. Compare:

• Matthew – “…nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
• Mark – “…nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.”
• Luke – “…nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

As for the answer to the question in The Good News Reverberation paragraph “How did a mortal man deal with the foreknowledge of such a horrific death?” This is very complicated so we will leave it for a later Stage. Next we move onto an examination of the arrest of Jesus and introduce the most vilified character in the New Testament, Judas Iscariot.

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THE JOURNEY - continued

In the Gospel of John, the writer has Judas Iscariot complaining of the waste of the Spikenard, rather than the disciples. The name Judas has come to be the synonym for traitor, as demonstrated with Dante’s “ninth circle of hell” being reserved for traitors like Judas. Nonetheless, many scholars point out that the gospel account seems to have Jesus instigating the “betrayal.” According to the gospels, Jesus knew he was to die and that after three days he would appear alive to the disciples. In the gospels, after Peter declares Jesus the Christ, almost immediately Jesus castigates Peter for denying the prophecy of the messiah’s death, even going so far as to call him Satan, meaning adversary.

A recent documentary on the “betrayal” and arrest of Jesus, directs us to the fact that Jesus had the opportunity to escape from the Garden of Gethsemane. In fact, as stated earlier he had escaped violence several times previously by “hiding” himself (John 8: 59). Jesus knew that in order to fulfill his mission, he must be arrested. He even stopped Peter from defending him, telling the disciples if it were not meant to happen, he would have twelve legions (144,000) of angels to assist him. (Matthew 26:53)

I would like to propose this scenario: What if Jesus approached Judas Iscariot to help him, telling him that in order for him to declare himself the messiah, he needed to go before the Jewish authorities. Even more possible what if Jesus told Judas that no one was to know, including the other disciples. This was because he needed to fulfill the prophecy and so someone needed to appear to betray him, as per (Psalms 41:9; 55:12-14.) Several scholars connect the 30 pieces of silver Judas demanded as also fulfilling prophecy. It seems to Craig and I that Judas was simply playing the role, in order for Jesus to be recognized as the prophesied messiah.

Many times the foreknowledge of future events can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Jesus, as a trained Essene master would have been aware of all the prophecies surrounding the messiah. Could this have been why he approached Judas Iscariot? Judas was a zealot and saw the culmination of Jesus’ ministry as an earthly king. Judas witnessed Jesus’ ability to elude his captors and probably thought Jesus was going to reveal who he was by supernatural means. What if, after Jesus’ arrest, Judas followed him expecting Jesus to save himself. It must have been devastating for Judas to realize that Jesus was going to be crucified.

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End of STAGE – REASON  Section 7-b

STAGE REASON – 7C – JUDAS ISCARIOT

From the outset, writing the above paragraphs in THE GOOD NEWS REVERBERATION raised the question of the real role Judas Iscariot played in the crucifixion of Jesus. We wondered why Judas was so vilified, as we reported the Scriptures seem to point to Judas fulfilling Jesus’ wishes. All four Gospels report Judas’ actions as a “betrayal” of Jesus but forget Higher Reason, plain old common sense told us that something didn’t add up. So, let’s reexamine the Scriptures objectively. Starting with Matthew. In Chapter 26 verses 20 to 25 we have “Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him answered and said Master, is it I? He said unto him, “Thou hast said.”

The Gospel of Mark chapter 14 verses 18 to 21 reports virtually the same event. Jesus and the Disciples are dining together, when Jesus says, “Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me.” Then as in Matthew, the author of Mark relates that distressed the twelve disciples all anxiously asks Jesus “Is it I”, and then Jesus declares, “It is one of the twelve that dippeth with me in the dish. The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had not been born.”

Setting the scene for every future Communion, the Gospel of Luke chapter 22 verses 14 to 23 has Jesus say, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Picking up his cup of wine and giving thanks, Jesus dramatically says, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.” Then taking the bread, Jesus gives thanks and while tearing it apart declares, “This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.” Again picking up his cup of wine, Jesus again declares, “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” Then shockingly adds, “But behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!” Although Luke’s author relates that “ they began to inquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing”, the author does not explicitly single out Judas. Nonetheless, the author of Luke has already identified Judas as the traitor at the beginning of the chapter.

Saint John’s Gospel’s author although not mentioning Jesus’ anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane, does identify Judas as the betrayer during the Last Supper. Chapter 13 verses 21 to 29 goes into great detail when it has Jesus confess that he is “troubled in spirit” before declaring “Verily, verily, I say to unto you, that one of you shall betray me.” As with the Synoptic gospels, the Disciples were confused as to who the traitor was. Referencing the hugely debated DaVinci’s masterpiece, The Last Supper, the writer of John describes the beloved disciple as “leaning on Jesus’ bosom.” Then the text gets a little confusing, as it implies that both Simon Peter and the “beloved disciple” ask Jesus who the traitor was, before Jesus answered, ‘He it is to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it.’ As we know by now, Jesus hands the “dipped sop” to Judas. Despite all three Synoptic gospels telling us that Judas “betrayed” Jesus before Supper, the Gospel of John reports, “Satan” entering Judas Iscariot after Jesus identifies him. Then as if to ensure there is no mistake, the author reports Jesus saying to Judas, “That thou doest, do quickly.” Addressing the other Disciples oblivion to what was going on, the author explains that they thought because Judas was in charge of the finances, Jesus was sending Judas to either buy supplies, or give money to the poor.

All four Gospels state that ALL the disciples were unsure as to who was going to betray Jesus. This is surprising because, as stated, in Matthew 26: 14-16, Mark 14: 10-11, Luke 22: 1-6 has Judas visiting with the chief priests in order to plot Jesus’ betrayal. Even John in chapter 12 verse 4 says “…Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him.” Our question was “Why would the writers of the Gospels contradict their earlier statement, by saying that ALL the disciples at the Last Supper wondered who would betray Jesus?” And for that matter, why didn’t the Church catch these contradictions before printing the Bible? One of the strongest injunctions Jesus gave us was to “Search the Scriptures.” However, when he gave us this injunction the “Scriptures” were unavailable to the masses. In fact, they were not accessible until after the Renaissance. We can see this fact in an article on Wikipedia’s entry on the English translations of the Bible, entitled “Early Modern English Bible..”

Early Modern English Bible translations are those translations of the Bible which were made between about 1500 and 1800, the period of Early Modern English. This was the first major period of Bible translation into the English language. It began with the dramatic introduction of the Tyndale Bible and included the landmark King James Version (1611) and Douai Bibles. It included the first "authorised version", known as the Great Bible (1539); the Geneva Bible (1560), notable for being the first Bible divided into verses, and the Bishop's Bible (1568), which was an attempt by Elizabeth I to create a new authorised version.

Title page to the 1611 first edition of the Authorized Version of the King James Bible
by Cornelius Boel

If we consider that for at least 1400 years after the death of Jesus, the only source for Jesus’ teachings was through the Church then we may understand why the discrepancies were not corrected. At first the authorized Scriptures were all in Latin and the Bibles were chained to the pulpit, where only priests and bishops read them. As the article above relates the Bible wasn’t translated into English until the 14th Century. Moreover, if the treatment of Petrus Waldus is anything to go by the official Church did not want the Scriptures available to the general public. We covered this shameful period in the chapter The Crusades to WWI in LCD:

“Historians had recorded the many atrocities carried out by ‘Christians’ in the name of Christianity. However, until now I had no idea to what degree the Church had gone. Some people may justify these actions as necessary to fight heresy; nevertheless, this argument cannot be used in the Church’s defense for their treatment of the Waldensians.

“Their founder, Petrus Waldus was a rich businessman who, around 1170 C.E., after hearing a Christian legend, was moved to study the Bible. He had acquired his wealth by, as Mr. Nigg says, ‘Means that would not bear examination.’ He explains that because the Latin scriptures were unreadable by most of the population of Lyons, Waldus made arrangements to pay two priests to translate several books of the Bible into ‘the common language of the people.’

“As Waldus studied Jesus’ words, his past life haunted him because his wealth and prosperity seemed opposed to Jesus’ teaching. At first, he tried to appease his conscience with charitable works, but that was not enough. Finally, he gave his property to his wife and made provisions for his two single daughters by giving them generous dowries. Mr. Nigg informs us that once Waldus had made sure to take care of his family, he emulated the ‘publican Zachaeus’ by giving back to the people all his ill-gotten gains he had obtained from them.

“Again imitating Zachaeus, he strewed his gold pieces onto the streets declaring: ‘Friends, fellow townsmen, I am not out of my mind, as you may think. Rather I am avenging myself upon these enemies of my life who have enslaved me, so that I cared more for gold pieces than for God and served the creature more than the creator.’ Evidently, Waldus believed the adage that ‘Man could not serve two masters.’

“Therefore, Waldus set out to preach the Gospel. Because of his sincerity and his knowledge of scriptures, many people joined him. Like Jesus, Waldus sent his disciples out 2 by 2 to preach. Theirs was a simple teaching, without considerations for the trappings of the hierarchical Church, which made a distinction between the priesthood and laymen.

“I would like to think the Christian Church would have been delighted to have so many preaching the good news, but, alas, they weren’t. The Waldensian preachers did not feel they needed to be ordained by the Church. Instead, they followed the apostolic way of life. This did not please the powerful Catholic Church, because they felt that they held the only authority to preach to the people and saw these lay preachers as dangerous upstarts. No one was more surprised at the Church’s reaction than Waldus himself. True, he had been troubled by the spiritual hole left by the Church in the lives of the common people; however, he saw his movement as helping the church not hindering it. He argued, according to Nigg; ‘Did they not both have salvation of souls as their aim?’ Unfortunately, the Archbishop of Lyons did not see it this way. He only saw that laymen outside the sanction of the Church were acting as apostles and ‘poaching upon the preserve of the clergy.’

“To settle the dispute, a commission was set up, headed by Walter Map. Nigg explains that Walter Map believed that only the Church had the right to teach the word of God. He reasoned; ‘Shall the Church give pearls to the swine, leave the word to idiots whom we know to be incapable of receiving it? ...Water ought to be drawn from the well and not from puddles in the street.’ Seeing the Waldensians as rivals to the Church’s authority, Map warned, ‘They now begin with extraordinary humility because they have not yet found a firm footing. But if we let them in, they will throw us out.’

“After being directed by Pope Alexander III not to preach, Waldus at first obliged. However, his faith and his understanding of Jesus’ command to preach the Gospel created a huge dilemma for him. Apparently, Nigg tells us, the question for Waldus was, ‘If he obeyed the Church, would he not be disobeying God?’ In the end Waldus declared, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’
“The Pope answered this defiance with excommunication. Now the Waldensians were classified as heretics, which was a very dangerous charge in the Middle Ages, as it gave the Church license to attack the Waldensians. At first, the attack was only verbal, but it soon escalated into physical force. With great insight, Nigg compares the persecution of the Waldensians with Jesus’ words recorded in John 16:2 which read, ‘The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth service to God.’

Considering that the Scriptures have only been accessible to everyone for a little more than 500 years, we can see why the Church wasn’t concerned with apparent contradictions in the Bible. Even so, although no one of the Middle Ages could foresee the technological advances today, the Spiritual forces knew that there would come a time when everyone could “Search the Scriptures” for themselves. We believe that was what is meant by the pillar, “Even the errors will lead you to the Truth.” Just like authors and screen writers are inspired to write books and screen plays which stimulate our Deductive Reasoning, the “errors” or contradictions in the Bible also stimulate further investigation. This is how Spiritual Evolution works, and is what drives all advances in human understanding. Nonetheless, before we discuss Judas Iscariot, we want to examine the reason for Jesus’ arrest. The next two paragraphs in The Good News Reverberation addresses this question:

For anyone to identify himself or herself as the messiah without proof was considered blasphemy. However, the gospels say that Jesus proved that he was the messiah several times. Anyone travelling with Jesus and witnessing the miracles could have reasonably expected their master to reveal his power. After Jesus was scourged and it became clear what was going to happen, could Judas have asked, “Why didn’t he show the Sanhedrin his powers? Why didn’t he prove that he was the messiah?”

Something that has puzzled Craig and I is why the Jewish authorities did not recognize Jesus as the messiah and wanted him dead. The New Testament records “miracle” after “miracle”, but were they? Other writings state there were many healers in the Holy Lands during the first century of the Common Era. For instance, Apollonius of Tyana, a contemporary of St Paul was known as a healer.

We investigated Apollonius of Tyana in the chapter Persecution and the Early Church in LCD. Because this helps in understanding that there were other “miracle workers” in Palestine during the first century of the Common Era, we will reprint what was said about Apollonius in its entirety:

“As previously mentioned, Palestine was largely Hellenized during Jesus’ time so what happened to Greek philosophy during the Roman Empire? I discovered that the schools had remained open and some emperors were even referred to as philosophers. A famous philosopher was also a contemporary of Paul. His name was Apollonius of Tyana.

“The revealer of this philosopher for me was Kenneth. S. Guthrie and his The Gospel of Apollonius of Tyana: His Life and Deeds According to Philostratus. Born in the Hellenistic City of Tyana in Asia Minor, Apollonius came from a wealthy family. At 14 his father took him to Tarsus where he met his teacher, a Phoenician called Euthydemus. Apollonius did not remain in Tarsus, but left with his teacher to a neighboring city, Aegae. While he was there he learned the doctrines of Pythagoras from a man called Euxenus. Later, after leaving Euxenus, he became a vegetarian and dedicated his life to virtue. Still a young man, he gained fame as a renowned teacher and philosopher in Cilicia. After several years Apollonius embarked on a journey of discovery. Visiting Babylon and India, he learned from the Magi and Brahmins. Considering that he had been in Cilicia, I wondered if the Cilician Pirates had exposed him to the religion of Mithraism?

“Following his return home, the Hellenistic world sought out Apollonius for healing and all manner of advice. He traveled extensively throughout Greece, Macedonia, and Asia Minor. It was while he was in Corinth that he met the philosopher Demetrius. The two were destined to become good friends. Later, arriving in Rome, Apollonius learned of the Emperor Nero’s persecution of the philosophers. I was surprised to learn that Christians were not the only victims of Nero.

“Apollonius’ fame was spreading. His insatiable quest for knowledge took him to Alexandria, where he was greeted as a great teacher and prophet. It was while at Alexandria, that the Emperor Vespasian, 69 to 79 C.E., sought an audience with Apollonius. Vespasian asked him to teach him how to ‘rule as a good prince.’ Apollonius replied: ‘You ask something impossible. It cannot be taught — it must be acquired. Yet see to it that wealth seem to thee not too important, nor money that is forced from the poor, all tarnished with their tears. Fear above all the freedom to do as thou pleasest. Let the Law rule thee also, O Emperor; thou wilt give wiser laws if thou do not despise them. Consider the imperial power not so much as an inherited property, (but) as a reward of virtue.’ It is reported that when Apollonius left Alexandria, to travel inland, Vespasian asked Apollonius, to remember him with love. To which he replied to the emperor, ‘If thou remainest a good ruler, and remainest conscious of thy better self.’

“Apollonius is said to have had supernatural powers, and he is alleged to have had the gift of foresight, predicting the Emperor Domitian’s death on September 18, 96 C.E. Also, he is said to have delivered Ephesus from a plague. But the most amazing feat attributed to Apollonius, was, after disappearing in front of the emperor, he is said to have simultaneously reappeared to his friend Demetrius, who was a considerable distance away.

“So why is Apollonius in this book? What does he have to do with discovering the Truth? In reading The Gospel of Apollonius of Tyana: I was amazed at the mention of the same cities of Paul’s journeys. For instance Tarsus, the birthplace of Paul, is the city Apollonius travels to at 14; Ephesus, where Paul spends 3 years, Apollonius ends a plague; Corinth, where Paul establishes his Church, is where Apollonius meets the philosopher Demetrius. Are these just mere coincidences?

“By the mention in his Gospel of the emperors Nero, Vitellius, Domitian and Nerva, I was able to date Apollonius’ adult life to approximately between 54 and 98 C.E. In addition, Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna, mentions Apollonius. Tradition relates that Polycarp, who is said to have known the Apostle John, said that John on hearing that Apollonius was in a public bath, refused to enter. Also, Justin Martyr, who was executed between 163 and 167 C.E., warned of the growing influence of Apollonius. Evidently Justin feared that because of the miracles, potential Christian converts were being lost to Apollonius.
“If we turn to I Corinthians 1:12 we read: ‘Now this I say, that everyone of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.’ When I first read this, I had never heard of Apollonius of Tyana. However, I can recall being perplexed as to who this ‘Apollos’ was. The inference in the scripture is the people of Corinth considered Apollos on par with Paul and Cephas (Peter).

“Later, in chapter 3 of I Corinthians, Paul says, ‘For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to everyman? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.’

“Clearly, Paul respects Apollos as a teacher. My King James Study Bible reference directs me back to Acts, where Apollos is described as an Alexandrian Jew. Acts says that in only receiving the baptism of John, he sought out Paul in order to receive the Holy Ghost. Although the Bible in Acts describes him as ‘mighty in scriptures,’ it does not explain the people of Corinth venerating him in equality with Paul.

“I must admit, in researching this section, I experienced some puzzlement, as to the relevance of Apollos. That is until I learned that Apollos is a shortened version of Apollonius…

Accepting that Apollonius was a respected healer in Palestine during the first century, then why was Jesus’ healing such a threat to the Jewish authorities? The paragraph below from The GOOD NEWS REVERBERATION suggests a possible reason why Jesus was considered so dangerous by the Orthodox Jewish authorities.

Therefore, I ask if healing was not proof of messiahship, then what is the reason the Jewish authorities feared Jesus so much. I came to understand that it was because Jesus forgave sins. Citizens of Israel and Judea at that time did not have compassion for members of society that were less fortunate. People at that time saw the poor, the sick, and the infirm as deserving of their afflictions because of past “sins.” Like the fear of “eternal damnation” today, people of Biblical times believed in the law of karma in that you reaped what you sowed. That is why when encountering a man who was born blind, the disciples asked Jesus “who did sin, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). By openly forgiving “sins”, he was demonstrating compassion and clearly abolishing the Jewish Law of an eye for an eye and replacing it with mercy and forgiveness. That is why Jesus said your sins are forgiven, whenever he healed someone. Above all else, this challenged the San Hedrin.

Turning to probably the most vilified character in history; as we said there appears to be discrepancies in the accounts of Judas betraying Jesus. We showed above that variances in the accounts led us to hidden messages, so before we get to Judas Iscariot we will apply Deductive Reasoning by recapping what we have discovered so far:

• All four gospels report Judas plotting with the Jewish authorities before the Last Supper.
• Matthew, Mark, and Luke report that none of the disciples, including Judas seemed to know who would betray Jesus.
• Jesus appears to order Judas to betray him.
• Only the three Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke record Jesus’ anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Gospel of John seems oblivious to Jesus’ anguish and appeal for help before his arrest.
• Mary Magdalene could be both the author of the gospel of John, and the “Beloved Disciple.”
• The Scriptures report that the closest “Beloved Disciple” to Jesus was present in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The next two paragraphs of The Good News Reverberation propose another explanation for the apparent betrayal of Judas.

Despite the disparaging comments, the gospel writers make against Judas Iscariot, the fact that he had “the bag” (purse or money) speaks volumes to us. You do not give control of your funds to someone you do not trust. Tradition says that after Jesus’ crucifixion, Judas hung himself. As the disciples were unaware of the conspiracy, they saw Judas as betraying the messiah and would have nothing to do with him. Their condemnation after the crucifixion, as much as anything, probably added to the misconception. Is it possible that after the disciples shunned him, Judas left the area and traveled to Damascus?

Regardless of the story of Judas Iscariot’s suicide in the gospels, the book of Acts may offer another result and show the workings of Divine intervention. In chapter 9 and starting with verse 11, after Saul (St Paul) lost his sight outside Damascus, a disciple named Ananias received a vision. In the vision Jesus instructs him, “Arise, and go into the street, which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus.” Craig and I ask, what better way for the compassionate Christ to use this opportunity to teach that even enemies are redeemable? Jesus taught to love our enemies. If the reaction of Ananias to instruction by Jesus is anything to go by, Saul’s reputation as a ruthless and relentless persecutor of the followers of Jesus was very widespread. (Acts 9:13-14) By gathering these chosen vessels of Christ at the house of Judas, Jesus was teaching a very valuable lesson of forgiveness to all. God told us that the energy that was in Judas has returned in order to correct a terrible wrong. Could the wrong be history’s condemnation of Judas Iscariot?

Having written The Good News in 2004, we were astounded to learn of the existence of a Gospel of Judas while watching a documentary on The National Geographic Channel on April 9, 2006. As this presented a different perspective, we addressed it in the updates to the chapter Persecution and The Early Church in LCD:

“Apparently, in 1978 a shepherd found a codex of The Gospel of Judas in a burial cave near Nag Hammadi in Egypt. Tracing the codex’s journey between 1980 and 1999 is problematic at best. Nonetheless, the best guess is that it was sold in Cairo in 1980 and stolen shortly after. Its whereabouts was unknown until around 1983 when it was offered for sale on the black market for sale and viewed by several experts. Unfortunately, as none of the experts were able to meet the asking price, it was pulled from the market and languished in a Hicksville, New York bank vault for the next 16 years, until it came to the notice of Swiss antiquities dealer Frieda Nussberger-Tchacos, who purchased the document in September 2000.

“The codex consists of 13 pages recounting Judas colluding with Jesus to hand him over to the Jewish authorities. Unfortunately the pages have deteriorated to fragments and have had to be painstakingly put together. In April 2006, a complete translation of the text, with extensive footnotes, was released by The National Geographic Society, which played a large part in the restoration and conservation of the codex.

“The codex has been radio-carbon dated to around 280 C.E. and the documentary related the content of the codex is found in writings of Saint Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyon, who wrote scathingly of the gospel, denouncing it as heretical in 180 C.E. This means that copies of the gospel were circulating at least a century earlier than the codex. Professor Pagels says that it is an ‘Authentic, ancient text that is impossible to date.’ She believes it is ‘meant to be advanced level teaching.’”

Returning to Higher Reason’s examination of this first Stage, as the original posting of Section 7 coincided with an important historical moment for Humanity, we needed to keep our comments on the Spiritual relevance of the inauguration of the first African American. Back in 2008, Barack Obama’s election was a testimony to America’s progress in race relations, or so we thought. Notwithstanding its repercussions, lets revisit our initial conclusions on the Spiritual results from a consciousness and energy perspective.

We have repeatedly said that the goal of The Initiative is to transform ourselves by changing the way we think. Essentially this involves the Gnostic teachings related to transforming the emotions/Elements of Fear/Water, Grief/Air, Ignorance/Fire, and Confusion/Earth. The most profound effect of the inauguration from a Spiritual perspective is the potential surge of Hope in the collective consciousness. Leaving the Gnostic teachings on this aside for now, let us try and explain how the election of Barack Obama to the presidency can facilitate a mass transformation. To understand how this is possible we need to examine the effect the election campaign had on the mass consciousness of the world. We start our investigation at the Democratic and Republican conventions in August.

It is important for us to reiterate that this is in no way a political commentary, but rather an examination of the changes in the collective psyche experienced during the campaign. When Barack Obama was nominated as the Democratic candidate there was a surge in a sense of expectation that something amazing was about to happen. We found it very interesting that within 2 weeks this was counter balanced with the nomination of Governor Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate. Afterwards there seemed to be an immediate division in the country towards supporters of Governor Palin and supporters of Barack Obama. From a consciousness and energy perspective this ultimately devolved into a contest between Fear and Hope.

Please understand we are not saying for 1 minute that either Senator McCain or Governor Palin were consciously trying to foster Fear in the populace, just that their position on how to conquer the problems of the world generated Fear. This is best demonstrated by Deepak Chopra. We received an e-mail last September, which reflected how Dr. Chopra viewed the election campaign in terms of consciousness. Below are the most relevant passages to our discussion:

Obama and the Palin Effect
by Deepak Chopra

“Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week…

“She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow…In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of “the other.” For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don’t want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin’s message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision…

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from “us” pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of “I’m all right, Jack,” and “Why change? Everything’s OK as it is.” The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time…The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness

Obama’s call for higher ideals in politics can’t be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow — we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest...”

The most relevant statement to our discussion Dr. Chopra makes is the last sentence “The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest.” The conflict that was brought to light was everyone had to face their fears and decide how to react. It says a great deal for America that so many people chose to rise above the Fear and choose Hope.

Regrettably, as history proves, ultimately Dr. Chopra’s “shadow” or as we call it the counterfeit-spirit won out, and enlightened people, who were in the minority helplessly watched as President Obama was hamstrung by American’s reverting to fear and prejudice, resisting, and blocking everything he wanted to do. It was a miracle that he was able to get the Affordable Healthcare Act passed. Nonetheless that discussion is for later, primarily because it involves a major shift in our understanding that Barack Obama’s problem was not political, it was mystical.

At this point, we are focused on reexamining our comments in the original Stage’s posting from a Higher Reason perspective. So putting aside the disappointing reaction to Barack Obama’s election, let’s revisit what might have been in the last decade. To reiterate then, as we have consistently reported Jesus and multiple Christ-like teachers have repeatedly told us that the future is in our hands, and that was never more pertinent than it is now. So having addressed the consciousness aspect of the election, let us turn to the Spiritual opportunity that is afforded us at this time, which brings in the Gnostic teachings of the transformation of the elements/emotions mentioned above.

A favorite passage of ours in the New Testament is in I Corinthians Chapter 13, where Saint Paul writes about the qualities of Charity or Love. Yet for us, the most important thing the Apostle says is that “Charity never faileth: but where there be prophecies they shall fail…” This is because it is as if Saint Paul was telling us not to get caught up in the perceived infallibility of prophecies, as they are not infallible.

As we were nearing the mystical end of the Age of Pisces, there seemed to be a surge of interest in the prophecies of Nostradamus, evinced by the History Channel airing a documentary called Nostradamus 2012 on the first Sunday of the New Year in 2009. The documentary was centered on a lost book of seventy-two images, focusing on the last seven. The majority of the documentary interpreted these last seven in terms of absolute destruction regarding the December 21st 2012 prophecy of Nostradamus.

However, the commentators of the documentary provide a glimmer of hope by relating that in the seventh image the “man” (Nostradamus) is telling us that the Book of Life is blank and it is up to us what we write on the page. The key word here is Hope, because Hope is the opposite of Fear and therefore cancels it out. To put it bluntly, Hope is what transforms Fear/Water. Saint Paul ends Chapter 13 giving us two other important words, Faith and Charity or Love, when he writes, “And now abideth faith, hope and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” If Hope nullifies or cancels out Fear/Water, what then of Faith and Charity? If instead of using the word Grief, we use the synonym Despair, we can see how Faith could nullify or transform Grief/Despair or the element Air. The remaining Gnostic elements/emotions are Fire/Ignorance, and Earth/Confusion. Earlier we explained that Ignorance should be viewed in terms of something hateful and the opposite to hate is Love. Consequently, Charity or Love will transform Ignorance/Fire.

In the documentary Nostradamus 2012 Greg Braden says, “The question we need to ask is do we have the courage to marry the wisdom of our past with the best science of today?” He also asked, “Where will a Spiritually based science lead us after December 21st in the year 2012?”

On the other hand, the narrator of Nostradamus 2012 informed us that “Some say the ending of the Mayan Calendar is itself a message of hope. December 21st 2012 is not marking an actual end but rather the conclusion of one Age, and the start of another.”

Clearly, as we survived the end of the Mayan Age the dire predictions were wrong, or were they. Since this is the second round of the Know Thyself Initiative, and many years later, we have a much better understanding of how prophecy works. Nonetheless, as this will be discussed in the next Stage Cycles, we will return to re-examining The Good News Reverberation.

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End of STAGE – REASON  Section 7-c

STAGE REASON – 7D – CHAPTER FIVE – THE TRIAL – &
Mass Consciousness’ ability to Affect Us

In this Section, as well as the Crucifixion we will examine the effect of mass gatherings from an energetic and consciousness perspective. With the recent scenes of the attack on the US Capitol, we tend to think of mass gatherings as tinderboxes that could blow at any moment. However, the over 200,000 people gathered for Barack Obama’s election speech in Grant Park, proves the opposite. Examining the scene from an energetic and frequency perspective, we would see multiple “spikes” of a blending of red, blue, and white from the light spectrum perspective, resulting in a cloud of purple and pink. Not surprisingly, energetically the purple represented the equilibrium of red (Republican) and blue (Democrat). Nonetheless, it was the generation of the color white which made this moment so powerful because the white represented the union of all the colors in the light spectrum and Hope. As with the Hitler rallies, the frequency of sound was also in play. Only this time Barack Obama’s words generated peace, love, and hope. The photos from his speech in Chicago relate how powerful the “spike” of Hope was.

Unfortunately, as enough people did not maintain that consciousness, for a while Fear re-gained ground. Yet, transformation is always available and even though over the next decade some regressed to fear and suspicion, many continued transmuting the elements/emotions. We see examples in people’s generosity helping relieve despair, and inspirational innovators inventing new ways to give us a brighter future, and therefore provide us with Hope. With the majority of people wanting Peace, justice, and equality for all, we will begin to manifest that reality, bringing more and more people that feeling of Joy that comes from Peace. This is essentially what we are being offered. In order to start the transformation of this world, all we need do is choose Hope over Fear to bring Peace and Joy to everyone. So as Greg Braden said, it is up to us, if we want to be the authors or be subjected to read what someone else has written?

If we allow ourselves to consider the emotions we felt when the United States of America truly became a union again then we will be able to understand the moment in terms of energy. As we shift our perception, our Deductive Reasoning does the rest and we begin to change the way we think. Spiritually, the effect of Barack Obama’s words “we have chosen Hope over Fear”, brought the power of Hope facilitating a temporary shift in the consciousness. This was the first time since 9-11 that there has been a sufficient shift in an emotion to counter balance the “spike” of Fear created that fateful day. The diagram below was taken from David Wilcock’s web site, which is featured in Craig’s Energetic Perspective on Evolution in the Ancient Wisdom For Now page. We will be covering effects on the consciousness in Section 8 but as the inauguration was such a significant moment we will provide a snapshot here.

Take a moment to study the diagram above that was created by the very moment the plane hit the 2nd Tower on 9-11. Consider the relevance of being able to actually record the tremendous “spike” of Fear emanated by the mass consciousness of the world in reaction to the event. The diagram unequivocally presents us with a visible demonstration of what occurs beneath the surface in the sub-conscious and how our thoughts and emotions affect our surroundings.

The “spike” of Fear was so relevant because it was generated from within the hearts of a large percentage of the world’s population. Unfortunately because of an individual’s capacity to co-create; the Fear was projected outwards and became manifested into the physical world. As a result we have been trapped in this atmosphere of Fear, which incorporates all the negative destructive emotions that manifest in war/rage, violence/hatred. This very atmosphere is instrumental in causing indifference to acts of cruelty and leads to the abject despair so many have been immersed in.

Nonetheless, Hope acts as a counterbalance to Fear and if it is strong enough Hope will nullify or transform Fear. Because so many people, as President Obama said: “chose Hope over Fear” for the first time since 9-11 the atmosphere of hopelessness, despair, hate, and rage in the world was temporarily undermined. We do not know if a “spike” in Hope could be detected electronically but believe the majority were more than aware of the “spike.” This is because the “spike” in Hope occurred within our hearts and could be felt both emotionally and physically.

Alas, as we have observed, the “spike” in Hope does not mean that Humanity will suddenly all become friends and cooperate. This is because human beings are hard-wired to resist change, couple this with fear, and those that are terrified of change will dig their heels in, trying to undermine any progress. We saw this played out in 2021 with politicians denying Climate Change, as well as the unfathomable number of people denying the Corona virus. Still, as President Barack Obama declared, “We are entering a new era” and those that refuse to change will become irrelevant. With the election of his Vice President, Joe Biden, this could not be more pertinent. We all have a wonderful opportunity at this time, it is predominantly about perception. If we remain optimistic and maintain the belief that we will come through this crisis, then we will. Alternatively, if we give into pessimism and fall into despair then that will become the reality. It is up to us; we create our reality. President Biden cannot do this alone; he needs our help, which is why like President Obama, his inauguration speech was directed at responsibility. The most important thing to us is to know without a shadow of doubt that Faith, Love, and Hope will ALWAYS ultimately prevail over Grief/despair, Fear, and Ignorance/hatred. Now it is time to return to our discussion on The Good News Reverberation:

Previously, we focused on the apparent betrayal of Judas Iscariot but as we said with the discovery of the Gospel of Judas, the facts are far from clear. However, all four Gospels appear to be in complete agreement in their accounts of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, or are they? Let us review what The Good News Reverberation says.

Now we come to the main event, namely the crucifixion. To state that this was horrific is an understatement in the extreme. Debates have flourished for nearly two thousand years over this day. Many speculate about whether or not Jesus actually died on the cross. They point out the relatively short time he hung on the cross – the third hour until the ninth hour, or 9 am until 3 pm. Typically, it took days for a person to die from crucifixion. As we stated in Our Story 1995 – 2002: True Philosophers’ Stone, we puzzled as to why I experienced pain in my right side while on the battlements of the castle in Kyrenia, Cyprus, spoken of in Our Story 1994: My Lost Love. After all, the gospels say that Jesus was already dead when the spear was plunged into his right side. The question was answered when we learned of the legend that Longinus, the centurion who pierced Jesus “in the right side” with a spear, was a secret follower of Jesus. Tradition has Longinus mercifully killing Jesus to save him from a prolonged and agonizing death. This made sense, as medical experts remind us that a corpse does not bleed.

Most Christian theologians tell us that all four Gospels are in complete agreement concerning the crucifixion, and in most aspects of the crucifixion this is correct. However, the Gospel of John differs from the three Synoptic gospels in reporting that Jesus was pierced by a spear on the cross. We were curious as to why only one Gospel reported such an important event. Remembering that whenever the Scriptures raised questions we need to dig deeper using Deductive Reasoning, produced some surprising results.

In the Gospel of John chapter 19:31-34 we find that because “…bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day…” (The Jews) “besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” The passage goes onto say in verse 36 that “…these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled…” The Scripture the author is referring to is provided in the references in The King James Study Bible, because theologians link Jesus’ legs being unbroken with three specific verses in, Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, and Psalms 34:20. However, in checking the references we think this may be a stretch, as in Exodus and Numbers the references concern instructions for the Passover meal. Exodus has, “In one house shall it be eaten: thou shalt not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.” Numbers has, “They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.” It seems that only verse 20 in Psalms 34 may be alluding to the messiah when the author writes, “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.” The Psalm is entitled “The Lord hears the righteous.” Our Study Bible describes the Psalm as written by King David, “when he changed his behavior before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.”

Having dispensed with two of the references for “broken bones”, let’s examine the references in the Old Testament for the messiah being pierced. The theologians cite two references that pointed to the messiah being pierced. First, Zechariah 12:10 has “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced…” As the subheading in the Bible for the chapter is entitled “The future deliverance of Jerusalem”, we would have to agree that the passage in Zechariah is referring to the future messiah.

Nonetheless, the evidence for Psalm 22:16 being messianic is much stronger, starting with Jesus reciting the exact words of the opening verse “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?”, on the cross. Verse 18 has “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” As for the piercing, verse 16 has “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.” The fact that Jesus actually cited this Psalm tells us that the Psalm carries a very special message.

But first, let’s return to the identity of the centurion piercing Jesus’ side with a spear. The traditional or conventional view is that it was a Roman centurion who pierced Jesus’ side to ascertain whether or not he was dead. Later he was converted and became known as Saint Longinus. However, there is a legend that Longinus was secretly one of Jesus’ followers and kills Jesus to end his suffering.

It had been while reading William Henry’s Blue Apples that the first inkling of a different interpretation of the crucifixion occurred for us. Mr. Henry doubts that Jesus actually died on the cross. To support his suppositions, apart from the “Christian legend that claims Longinus was a secret follower of Jesus, he cites two other pieces of evidence, the short time Jesus hung on the cross and the fact that corpses do not bleed.

Considering the hypothesis that Mary Magdalene was the author of the Gospel of John reveals another level. All four Gospels name her as being present at the foot of the cross. Could her eyewitness account be why the Gospel of John by the “Beloved disciple” reports the piercing?

Accepting the centurion in the Gospel of John as a follower of Jesus, makes his motive for piercing Jesus’ side with his spear completely different from the accepted view. Think about what Longinus being a supporter or follower of Jesus could mean. Instead of just proving Jesus was dead, Deductive Reasoning suggests that out of compassion, the soldier wanted to release Jesus from a slow and painful death. Could the author (Mary) have wanted to demonstrate the power of Jesus’ message by reporting a Roman centurion being moved to mercifully kill him? If we ask ourselves, what would we do if someone we loved and revered was suffering an unspeakably painful death? Unable to save him, wouldn’t we try to end his suffering? Then if so, isn’t it possible that the spear Longinus thrust into Jesus’ “right-side” was the wound that killed him? Many paintings of the crucifixion show Jesus being pierced by a spear, and blood and water spurting from his side.

When we first considered Longinus and the Spear of Destiny our Deductive Reasoning kept coming back to the fact that corpses do not bleed, so we concluded that when the centurion (Longinus) pierced Jesus’ side he was still alive. Coincidentally, a few days after reading William Henry’s Blue Apples as if to confirm our conclusions about Longinus we were inspired to watch an episode of Witchblade the following evening. Witchblade was a fantasy series whose main character and heroine was a descendant of Joan of Ark. In the series the heroine discovers a gauntlet of the armor Joan wore. When she puts on the gauntlet it transforms into a full suit of armor together with a sword (witchblade).

The episode of Witchblade we watched after reading about Longinus was centered on the “Spear of Destiny,” Longinus’ spear. The producers had recreated the spear and as we looked at it we could understand the legend that Longinus killed Jesus. It had been an extremely large crude weapon, and had Longinus pierced the side of Jesus with it, we have no doubt that it would have caused a horrible wound. Also had the point slipped between Jesus’ ribs, it could well have pierced his lung or even the aorta, (the central artery to the heart.)”

There are several depictions of what the spear would have looked like. The one above is one we found on the web.

Accepting that the centurion Longinus may have mercifully put Jesus out of his misery, then is that why the Gospel of John is the only one of the four to report the incident? We would have to say no because there is an even more relevant message. The clue is in the reference to the “pierced one.”

Interestingly, Jesus’ last words “My God my God why hast thou forsaken me” only appear in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and allude to Psalm 22. Although the Gospel of John does not cite these words, both it and the Gospel of Luke do refer to the soldiers “casting lots” for his garment. To recap: Psalm 22:18 “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” So if all four Gospels direct us to Psalm 22, why does only the Gospel of John mention the centurion piercing Jesus’ side? Again, we need to remind ourselves that apparent discrepancies in Scripture was purposely enacted in order to alert future investigators to the hidden meaning. There are four main points from the above account for us to keep in mind.

• Jesus hung on the cross for six hours, from 9am to-3pm.
• After the centurion pierced Jesus’ side, Blood and water spurted out.
• John says that the piercing was to fulfill messianic prophecy.
• Psalms 22 and Zechariah 12 both relate that the messiah will be pierced.

Earlier we said that it seemed from the Gospel accounts that Jesus knew he was going to be crucified. In Section 7A we asked, “How did a mortal man deal with the foreknowledge of his horrific death?” His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane was for strength to withstand his fear. We believe that Jesus’ last words pointing to Psalm 22 was to provide the same strength he had received to his disciples. Of course, there is usually more than one piece of information hidden in the discrepancy. The Gnostics understood that on the surface the message would be for the Psychics, which were primarily represented by Peter, expressed in the Psalm’s title being “A cry of anguish and song of praise.” To demonstrate what we mean we will recite four of the relevant verses directed to the Psychics:

Verse 4 begins “Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5 – They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.” The last word is key to understanding Jesus’ message to his disciples. A few synonyms for confound are mystify, confuse, and bewilder. Jesus knew that after his death the later followers and disciples would be persecuted and that this would “confound/confuse” them. Questions of “If Jesus was the Son of God then why did God let him die?”, would have been forefront in their minds. It is important for us to remember that these were simple men of faith and not versed in The Mysteries.

Wanting to comfort his disciples, Jesus referred them back to Psalm 22, which prophesied what would happen to the Jewish Messiah. Verses 6, 7, and 8 continues “But I am a worm and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.” By reminding his disciples that what happened to him was foretold, Jesus helped them to remain strong, because the last two verses of the Psalm bring hope. “A seed shall serve him: it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.”

Using Higher Reason, we determined the higher message for the Spirituals, concerned Jesus being associated to the “pierced one”, which involves the myth of Chiron the centaur. Still, first it is necessary to refresh our memory on the influence of Greek culture in Jerusalem in the centuries prior to the birth of Jesus.

At the beginning of the Common Era, Hellenism was still very strong in Palestine. Alexander the Great conquered the area 300 years earlier and many Jews resettled in Alexandria after returning from exile. Between the 3rd and 1st century B.C.E. (300 to 100), the Jewish Torah had to be translated into the Greek Septuagint because most Jews could no longer speak or read Hebrew. Moreover up until the Maccabean Jewish revolt over the Greeks trying to make the 2nd Temple the Temple of Zeus, the Hellenized Jews lived side by side with their Orthodox neighbors.

When the Romans took over from the Greeks they merely transferred the Greek Pantheon of gods into the Roman Pantheon; as in the Greek Zeus becoming the Roman Jupiter, and Ares becoming Mars. Judging by the struggle the Jewish priests had with idolatry (worship of idols) being practiced by the Jewish populace, it is obvious to us that at the beginning of the Common Era there was still a fair number of Hellenized Jews.

From the above we would like to ask participants to consider the possibility that the reference to the “pierced one” within a Hellenized populace, would illicit a different association than a traditional Orthodox Jew might hold. In Greek mythology there was a great “healer” who was also known as “the pierced one”. This healer's name was Chiron the centaur. The article for Chiron on Wikipedia explains the accepted view:

In Greek mythology, Chiron or Cheiron ("hand") was held as the superlative centaur among his brethren. Like the satyrs, centaurs were notorious for being overly indulgent drinkers and carousers, given to violence when intoxicated, and generally uncultured delinquents. Chiron, by contrast, was intelligent, civilized and kind. He was known for his knowledge and skill with medicine. According to an archaic myth he was sired by Cronus when he had taken the form of a horse and impregnated the nymph Philyra, Chiron’s lineage was different from other centaurs…

A great healer, astrologer, and respected oracle, Chiron was said to be the last centaur and highly revered as a teacher and tutor. Among his pupils were many culture heroes: Asclepius, Aristaeus, Ajax, Aeneas, Actaeon, Caeneus, Theseus, Achilles, Jason, Peleus, Telamon, Heracles, Oileus, Phoenix, and in some stories, Dionysus.

His nobility is further reflected in the story of his death as Chiron sacrificed his life, allowing mankind to obtain the use of fire. Being the son of Kronos, a titan, he was immortal and so could not die. So it was left to Heracles to arrange a bargain with Zeus to exchange Chiron's immortality for the life of Prometheus who had been chained to a rock and left to die for his transgressions. Chiron had been poisoned with an arrow belonging to Heracles that had been treated with the blood of the Hydra, or, in other versions, poison that Chiron had given to the hero when he had been under the honorable centaur’s tutelage. This had taken place during the visit of Heracles to the cave of Pholus on Mount Pelion in Thessaly when he visited his friend during his fourth labour in defeating the Erymanthian Boar. While they were at supper, Heracles asked for some wine to accompany his meal. Pholus, who ate his food raw, was taken aback. He had been given a vessel of sacred wine by Dionysus sometime earlier, to be kept in trust for the rest of the centaurs until the right time for its opening. At Heracles' prompting, Pholus was forced to produce the vessel of sacred wine. The hero, gasping for wine, grabbed it from him and forced it open. Thereupon the vapours of the sacred wine wafted out of the cave and intoxicated the wild centaurs, led by Nessus, who had gathered outside. They attacked the cave with stones and fir trees. Heracles was forced to shoot many arrows (poisoned, of course, with the blood of the Hydra) to drive them back. During this assault, Chiron was hit in the thigh by one of the poisoned arrows. After the centaurs had fled, Pholus emerged from the cave to observe the destruction. Being of a philosophical frame of mind, he pulled one of the arrows from the body of a dead centaur and wondered how such a little thing as an arrow could have caused so much death and destruction. In that instant, he let slip the arrow from his hand and it dropped and hit him in the hoof, killing him instantly.

Ironically, Chiron, the master of the healing arts, could not heal himself, so he willingly gave up his immortality. He was honoured with a place in the sky, for the Greeks as the constellation Sagittarius, and in modern times represented by the constellation of the southern hemisphere, Centaurus.

Several key points of the myth give us the means to interpreting the higher role Chiron plays:

Cronus was Chiron’s father.

• Chiron sacrificed his life
• Heracles (Hercules) bargained with Zeus to exchange Chiron’s immortality for the life of Prometheus, who was chained to a rock and left to die for his transgressions.
• Chiron, the master of the healing arts, could not heal himself, so he willingly gave up his immortality.

All myths carry secret information that at certain times were considered dangerous to relate openly, such as in the Gnostic myth of Sophia. This is because the basic elements or Archetypes of myths from different cultures are interchangeable. For example the myth of Chiron can be interpreted from a Gnostic perspective, which meant the deeper meanings of both myths could empower individuals across cultural boundaries, threatening the established religious hierarchy; hence the need to conceal the secret knowledge in symbolical language. Therefore, in the First Century only those familiar with the deeper meanings of the symbols would be able to completely understand. Yet today with extensive research material from ancient writings available, we have multiple examples of what the Archetypes and symbols mean. So let us use this method to interpret the Chiron myth Gnostically. The first thing we need to do is identify the players in the myth of Chiron from the Gnostic perspective. In this way:

• Cronus or Saturn becomes the Gnostic Limit or Linear Time.
• Zeus is the Demiurge/Creator, which is bound by His Law.
• Prometheus’ gift of fire is the gift of Spirit.
• Prometheus is Humanity, helplessly chained to the (rock) Wheel of Necessity.
• Prometheus’ transgressions are Humanity’s need for redemption.
• Chiron is the Christ, who “willingly gave up his immortality/life” for Prometheus/Humanity.

It is through the Mystical Arts of Astrology, and Archetypal images in the Tarot that we learn the deeper message of Jesus being referred to as the “pierced one.” It begins with Chiron being associated with both the constellations of Sagittarius and Centaurus. Centaurus according to Llewellyn George (“father of astrology in America”) is assigned the sun-sign Virgo.

Llewellyn George says of Virgo, “In some ancient Zodiacs, this sign was symbolized as a virgin lying prostrate; in one hand she holds a ‘spica’ (see wheat) and in the other a ‘branch’ (often referred to as a bough, sprout, plant, root tree, stem, rod).” The constellation featured in the first decan or first ten days of Virgo is Coma. Centaurus meaning the despised or pierced one is featured during the second decan of Virgo, with the Bootes constellation appearing in the third.

Some astrologers wanted to keep Chiron as the ruler of Sagittarius, because Sagittarius’s symbol the archer or centaur perfectly represents Chiron, the centaur. Which begs the question why ancient astrologers gave the sun-sign ruled by Jupiter, the acknowledged king of the gods, the symbol of a centaur? Deductive Reason implies it was because the ancients wanted to say that the true king of the gods was not Jupiter, it was Chiron. Obviously, this did not have any validity until the discovery of the planetoid Chiron in 1977. Afterwards, some astrologers wanted to make Chiron the ruler of Virgo. Dissenters for Chiron ruling Virgo, site Virgo’s symbol of a virgin or maiden and not a centaur as grounds for disqualification. As stated, Centaurus means the despised or pierced one.

However, it is the Hebrew letter Yod י assigned to the Tarot card 9 The Hermit that represents the sun-sign Virgo, which settles the argument for us. This is because the etymology for both the Hebrew letter Yod and Chiron is hand.

If our assessment is correct and the mention of Jesus being pierced by a spear in the 4th Gospel was to connect Jesus to the Greek Hero Chiron, then a question arises. “Why did the author of the Gospel of John want to align Jesus with Chiron?” To find the answer we need to return to our discussion in 5E. To recap:

“Our key to understanding how both The Magician and The Hermit, or Osiris and Thoth can represent The Christ is in Thoth being the “…lord of knowledge, who brought himself into being by speaking his name”, because it identifies Thoth as the Logos or Word. One point we need to clarify is that although as we stated in Section 2 “…Osiris and Isis….were actual historical figures”, Thoth was not. This is demonstrated in another legend, which has Thoth teaching Osiris and Isis how to overcome the “Watcher’s mistake.” Of course, we need to remember that the “Watcher’s mistake” is a euphemism for the angels revealing information on psychotropic plants that led to the Lemurian genetic manipulation of the Human Race.”

At this point, we have many questions on the nature of Jesus, which brings in the next paragraph in The Good News Reverberation:

As stated, an innocent soul was required to release Humanity from the Wheel of Necessity or the Law of Karma. So, did Jesus end the Law of Karma? Jesus himself said that he came to fulfill the law not destroy it. (Matthew 5:17) Craig and I believe that Jesus ended the retaliatory component of karma. No longer would individuals who kill have to be killed seven incarnations later. Now karma could fulfill what the Creator/Demiurge intended it to do, help the individual learn from his or her mistakes.

The church today completely denies reincarnation and yet it is obvious that Jesus believed in the rebirth of the soul. Forget the obvious references to John the Baptist as being the reincarnation of the prophet Elijah, (Matthew 17: 11-13) and the question of whether the parents of the man born blind had sinned (John 9: 1-2). Examine what Jesus is saying about Abraham and his references to reincarnation in John 8:56-58. Jesus’ statement of existing before Abraham, in the Gospel of John has done more to support the supposition that God incarnated as Christ Jesus than any other scripture. Even so, I would like to offer another interpretation. It is important to keep in mind that Jesus was dual in nature, with the Christ and Holy Spirit inhabiting his body. Several times in the synoptic gospels, Jesus tells us that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a God of the living. He said this for the benefit of the Sadducees, who did not believe in any form of afterlife. By saying that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were alive, he was stating that these patriarchs had reincarnated. With this point of view, let us reexamine the scripture in John. In verse 56, Jesus says “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” Yet in verse 58, he says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” Verse 56 says to us that the reincarnated soul of Abraham knew Jesus. Could he or she (remember that the Spirit is genderless) be one of his followers? When he says in verse 58, that he was before Abraham, we would like to offer that this is the Christ/Holy Spirit speaking through Jesus. Obviously, both the Christ and the Holy Spirit existed before the universe began. This is why we must always remember the duality within Jesus.

Leaving the discussion of reincarnation for now, we want to return to he Christ being Archetypally represented by both cards 1 – The Magician and 9 – The Hermit. Even more, we want to discuss how The Christ as the Logos, could teach “Himself” as Osiris? As we said, the answer lay in The Christ redeeming Sophia as Achamoth. The clue is in the part of the Osiris legend when Isis goes to Thoth.

The mysterious figure of Hermes was introduced in the chapter Voice in the Wilderness in LOVE: The Common Denominator (LCD) as the teacher of The Mysteries to Osiris and Isis. However, it was in reading Maurice Cotterell’s book THE TUTANKHAMUN PROPHECIES THE SACRED SECRET OF THE MAYA, EGYPTIANS, AND FREEMASONS that revealed the most about Hermes, because Mr. Cotterell’s book mentioned a hermetic writing called The Divine Pymander and quotes from Manly P Hall’s An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy – being an interpretation of the Secret Teachings concealed within the Rituals, Allegories, and Mysteries of All Ages.

“First Mr. Hall laments over the loss of most of the Hermetic writings. ‘One of the greatest tragedies of the philosophic world was the loss of nearly all of the forty-two books of Hermes…These books disappeared during the burning of Alexandria, for the Romans-and later The Christians-realized that until these books were eliminated they could never bring the Egyptians into subjection. The volumes which escaped the fire were buried in the desert…’

“Amazingly, Mr. Hall connects the Hermetic writings with the Tarot. ‘It has been asserted that the Book of Thoth is, in reality, the seventy-eight leaves which has been in possession of the gypsies since the time they were driven from their ancient temple, the Serapeum. (According to the Secret Histories the gypsies were originally Egyptian priests.)’

“Mr. Hall cites a passage from the second book of The Divine Pymander, called Poimandres, or the vision as a source for Hermes instruction on Divine Wisdom. He informed us he used four sources to interpret the passage; Dr. Everland, whose translation was from 1650, Walter Scott, 1924, Edouard Shure 1925 and G.R.S. Mead 1906:

Hermes, while wandering in a rocky and desolate place, gave himself over to meditation and prayer. Following the secret instructions of the Temple, he gradually freed his higher consciousness from the bondage of his bodily senses; and thus released, his divine nature revealed to him the mysteries of the transcendental sphere. He beheld a figure, terrible and awe-inspiring. It was the Great Dragon, with wings stretching across the sky and light streaming in all directions from its body. (The Mysteries taught that the Universal Life was personified as a dragon.)

“I was immediately reminded of the veneration of the dragon in eastern societies. To continue; ‘The dragon identified itself as Poimandres, the Mind of the Universe, the Creative Intelligence and the Absolute Emperor of all.’

“Mr. Hall related that Edouard Shure ‘identified’ Poimandres as the god Osiris. At first this made no sense, because I’d been shown that Hermes/Thoth taught the mysteries to Isis and Osiris, but then I remembered that before The Christ took physical form as Osiris, he was The Creator. Consequently, I could deduce from this account that before Hermes became Osiris’ teacher, he was taught by The Christ as the Logos.

“Back to the text, Mr. Hall related that Poimandres becomes radiant light before saying, ‘I Thy God am the Light and the Mind which were before substance was divided from spirit and darkness from light. And the Word which appeared as a pillar of flame out of the darkness is the Son of God.’

“A little further on Hermes is told, ‘That which in you sees and hears is not of the earth, but is the Word of God incarnate. So it is said that Divine Light dwells in the midst of mortal darkness, and ignorance cannot divide them…As darkness without you is divided against itself, so darkness within you is likewise divided.’ Afterwards the dragon ‘revealed its form’ and ‘the heavens opened,’ the text relays what Hermes saw. ‘Hermes beheld the spirits of the stars, the celestials controlling the universe.’ I gained a far greater understanding of the term archetype, when I read, ‘Before the visible universe was formed its mold was cast. This mold was called the Archetype, and the Archetype was in the Supreme Mind long before the process of creation began…’

“Just in case anyone is tempted to read the writing as literal, Manly P. Hall concluded his account of the Vision of Hermes by explaining it is allegorical. ‘The Vision of Hermes, like nearly all of the Hermetic writings, is an allegorical exposition of great philosophic and mystic truths, and its hidden meaning may be comprehended only by those who have been ‘raised’ into the presence of the True Mind.’

Chapter One The Beginning of THE GOOD NEWS REVERBERATION reported that it was through the human beings intellect that the highest Divine powers were able to interact with humanity. Because “…the sparks immersed in the elements came from above the Veil in the Pleroma, not only were they alive, but they also had the capacity to co-create. All they waited for was the development of the intellect, which occurred with the development of Homo Sapiens, sapiens, our species. Our development enabled the Life Principle’s access to Mind/Nous and therefore an intellect.

To reiterate, one of the most powerful messages we received was that it is impossible for any being to know Great Spirit-Mind, or “God” unless in the human body, because it would be like trying to see through to the other side of a black hole. Another way of looking at it, is trying to comprehend a cloud whilst being immersed in it.

From the beginning, understanding our origins and purpose is difficult, because people are not born fully awake knowing exactly what their mission in Life is. We see this in Greek Mythology, where the soul has to drink from the River of Lethe or forgetfulness, meaning that Jesus was not born knowing his mission. Unfortunately, the Church’s insistence on Jesus being “God”, Jesus’ teaching on how to connect with the divine spark within has been all but lost.

As stated, in Thrice Greatest Hermes, we learned that Hermes or Mercury, who was also Enoch and Thoth, taught The Christ and Achamoth/Sophia as Osiris and Isis to correct the “Watchers’ mistake.” We also had our question of how, or for that matter why The Christ as the Logos, represented by Thoth taught “Himself” as Osiris answered. Amazingly, it was because as an emanation of The First Father or Supreme Being, The Christ could not comprehend on the human level until the Logos taught Himself as Osiris.

Using Higher Deductive Reason, we could conclude from the above that the aspect of The Christ physically incarnating in 4,200 B.C.E., was twofold. First as the Divine Mind or Nous, the aspect of The Christ, which was the Divine Will or Logos represented by Thoth and archetypally as card 1 The Magician. The second part was The Christ incarnating as the Macrocosmic Christ Consciousness, archetypally represented by The Hermit or Chiron.

With card 1 representing the Sacred Planet Mercury, it connects The Magician to Enoch or Thoth and therefore the Divine Nous or Logos. At this time The Christ has in a sense divided Himself into Mind and Spirit. Although this is very complicated, almost contradictory, the formula to decode this is reflected in the Egyptian Myth of Osiris.

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End of STAGE – REASON  Section 7d

STAGE REASON – 7E – The Trial – the Crucifixion & Resurrection

Biblical scholars say that the sky darkening during the crucifixion from the “sixth hour” (noon) until the “ninth hour” (3 pm) signified God raining down His entire wrath on His son. During this time, God abandoned His son. It was at some point in this time that Jesus cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” Despite the absolute certainty that No Divine Power is capable of wrath, the scholars are partly correct. The darkness did symbolize the withdrawal of the Light; but it had nothing to do with wrath. Rather, it denotes that the Christ and the Holy Spirit left Jesus the man to face his death alone; hence the anguished cry. All the same, I believe that the merciful Demiurge/Creator moved Longinus to end Jesus’ pain quickly.

If we dispense with the darkness representing Great Spirit-Mind or “God “raining down His wrath on Jesus” as nonsensical, then why did the “sky darken” for three hours? To understand why we need to take into consideration Jesus’ words “I am the Light.” The paragraph above relates that “The darkness…” represented “the withdrawal of the Light.” However, first we need to determine what Jesus meant by light. Did he mean “light” as in illumination, or inspiring, or light in literal terms such as daylight? We examined the different meanings for Light in the chapter Wisdom Religion & the 7 Keys of Interpretation in LOVE The Common Denominator (LCD.) It began with incorporating the Mystical Art of Numerology through Gematria, which connected Light with the Word:

“…The Bible says, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God...All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.’

“When I look up ‘Word’ in my Godwin’s Cabbalistic Encyclopedia, I found two Hebrews words for it (1) Davar and (2) Milah. Davar, which means, ‘Word’ or thing has the numerical value of 206. Milah, on the other hand has two meanings—circumcision and word. ‘Circumcision’s’ numerical value is 85 and ‘Word’s’ value is 75.

“The number 85, the value of ‘circumcision,’ has three Hebrew words assigned to it, including circumcision. However, what really interested me, was one of the Gematria meanings assigned to ‘Word’s’ numerical value, 75. It was ‘morning star; Lucifer.’

“I found it more than interesting that ‘Word’ was associated with Lucifer. However, if I put aside the interpretation of the theologians, I learned that Lucifer literally means, ‘Light bringer.’ Then I remembered that creation began with light. Could this be the true meaning of the scripture ‘Let there be light?’ So, if nothing was made without the ‘Word’ and the ‘Word’ is associated with Lucifer the ‘light bringer’ what was I to make of this?

“Craig has told me that the difference between sound and light waves is frequency. Light waves are the higher frequency. Jesus the Christ often referred to himself as the light, if I followed this train of thought was he also Lucifer? The only time the name Lucifer is in the Bible is in Isaiah 14:12. It is the church that linked Lucifer with Satan and the Devil. As I’ve already said in the previous chapter, the ‘enemy’ of God was created by humanity.

“However, as I’ve also said, there are 7 keys to interpreting scripture and I found yet another perspective on the Garden of Eden story from Gary Zukav in The Seat of the Soul. In the chapter titled ‘Choice,’ Zukav explains that Lucifer, the ‘Light Bringer’ is the ‘Luciferic principle,’ which is designed to tempt the part of the soul ‘that resist Light.’ It is the ‘dynamic,’ that helps the soul by ‘graciously’ presenting it with the chance to test its focus. He clarifies this by stating, ‘The Luciferic energy is represented in the Garden of Eden story by the snake, by the idea of a presence other than human that could tempt, but literally, could not have dominion over the human being. The Luciferic energy tempts you, tempts the level of human being that is mortal, that is five-sensory, but the snake cannot destroy the soul. It can merely threaten that parts of you that become too linked to the physical. The snake is of the Earth. When you are too close to the Earth, when you find yourself honoring the gods of the Earth, and make Earth your god and master, then so, too, you shall be bitten.’”

The information about Lucifer will be helpful when we examine the “fall of the angels” but having dealt with Light as illumination, we now want to address Light as in literal light. Gary Zukav’s book The Seat of the Soul also addresses literal Light. We reported what he had to say in the chapter Whence the origin of Evil? in LCD. Mr. Zukav wrote that “…White is a combination of all the colors of the visible spectrum of light, and black is the absence of that spectrum and, therefore, of white as well. In other words, white is an integration of all the visible forms of radiance, and black is an absence of radiance...”

From our investigation we would deduce that when Jesus said “I am the Light” he meant it to be understood as both illuminating, or inspiring, and literally as shining a light in darkness. In regards to the reference of the “The darkness…” at the crucifixion representing “the withdrawal of the Light”, this statement has to do with Jesus’ sacrifice as the means to free Humanity from the Wheel of Necessity.

Before Jesus’ sacrifice the Human Race were caught in a vicious cycle of retaliation, where if a person murdered someone then they would be murdered by someone else seven incarnations later. Of course this meant that the new murderer would in turn be murdered seven incarnations later themselves. This law, termed The Law of Cause and Effect or The Wheel of Necessity, incorporates the Law of Karma known in the Old Testament as “an eye for an eye; a life for a life.” Created after the “Watchers mistake”, it was meant to deter people from committing any crimes. Nonetheless, it doesn’t take a genius to see that the law was flawed to say the least. Unfortunately as The Creator/Demiurge had decreed the law He couldn’t just abolish it, and so The Christ incarnated as Jesus in order to pay the ultimate price and free Humanity from the law. We will address this in depth a little later but for now let us discuss the reference to Jesus’ “descent into hell.” As the next paragraphs concern the reference to Jesus “descending into hell”, we will discuss them together.

Since the crucifixion did not follow normal procedure, (typically scavenging animals that feed on carrion would eat the dead bodies) many questioned if Jesus actually died. Of course, after the resurrection these rumors became harder to quell. In fact if Paul’s letters are anything to go by it was a constant problem. In (Ephesians 4: 9) Paul wrote of Jesus’ descent into the “lower parts of the earth.” Theologians usually take this passage to refer to Jesus’ descent into hell.

Unfortunately, stating that Jesus descended to hell brought in the doctrine of eternal damnation. So what really happened? Where did Jesus’ body go? When Paul wrote of Jesus’ descent, the concept of hell did not exist in Judaism. Nonetheless, the Greeks did have a concept of heaven and hell, calling the former the Elysian Fields and the Asphodel Meadows, and the latter Hades and Tartarus. To the Greeks, at death everyone goes to Hades, with some remaining in Hades to suffer torment in Tartarus, while those who lived good lives move on to the Asphodel Meadows, or the Elysian Fields, depending on their status, for his or her reward.

Early Church leaders taught that Jesus descended to release the trapped good souls. However, if these “good” souls were already in the Elysian Fields (paradise), why would they need rescuing?

Then, the question is, “If Jesus did not descend to rescue the ‘good’ souls, then where did he go?” The answer is, into this plane, or time, the future. Remember linear time is only relative to the Physical Plane, in the spiritual realms there is no past, present or future. As we recounted in Our Story 1995 – 2002: True Philosophers’ Stone, the void is also known as “no time.” After the crucifixion, Jesus’ soul went to the void or no time and was able to connect to the future on this plane of existence.

The most relevant aspect of this passage is found in the last paragraph’s question and answer, “If Jesus didn’t descend to rescue the “good” souls, then where did Jesus go? The answer is, into this plane, or time, the future.” If this makes participants want to pull their hair out, they are not alone. We had the same reaction when we first considered the possibility of Jesus “time travelling.” The key to our understanding came when the “light” went on and we stopped thinking linearly, which occurred when we remembered that in the Soul Plane there is no such thing as past and future, there is only the present. This concept is more acceptable today because of Eckhart Tolle’s groundbreaking book “The Power of Now.” Without going too deeply into Mr. Tolle’s book now we will repeat what we wrote in the original version of Our Story 1995 - 2002 True Philosopher’s Stone. In this version, we had a chapter called Changes and Clarifications concerning a vision addressing the cyclic nature of time. In this version, we speak in third person because I (Suzzan) was not ready to own our experience. (Note: at that time we were still referring to Great Spirit-Mind as “God” and “Heavenly Father.”)

“During her recovery, God revealed great mysteries to Suzzan, showing her ever more complex diagrams, which she understood on one level. However, when she tried to bring it into her human intellect, it became a confusing mess. This reminded her of when she had first read Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. Unable to make head nor tail of it, she had turned to the Heavenly Father and He had told her to ‘Store the information and think of Me as antimatter.’

“Coincidentally, it had been in watching a scientific program featuring Professor Hawking while she was recovering that afforded Suzzan’s understanding of the diagrams being shown. The problem had been in seeing evolution and the universe as science depicts it. Two days before the program aired, she had tried to draw the vision of the diagrams she had seen. It had been a spiral with multiple spheres in each of the arms. God told her this represented the seven rounds that the human ‘monad’ or soul had to traverse. Looking at her diagram, it struck her that it was reminiscent of a galaxy. Then she remembered the axiom ‘As above, so below’, in that everything large is reflected in the small and vice versa. I.e. the structure of some atoms is reflected in the structure of some galaxies.

“The spiral of the diagram had seven grooves or arms with seven spheres or globes within each arm. [Apart from being shown the overview,] Suzzan was given to understand that each sphere had multiple cycles within it. Then she saw the (Life Principle) depicted as a huge ball of elastic bands. What created discord were individuals and nations holding onto the past.

 

(CC) EEPROM Egle (pick)a Ball of Elastic Bands

“It was important for Suzzan to understand that the (Life Principle) is constantly being propelled towards change. Those individuals and nations that refuse to let go of past injuries and insults, set up a kind of tug-of-war between the past and future, with the present bearing the strain. This is never more apparent than in the “tension” in the Middle East.  There are colloquiums, such as “life goes on” and “don’t live in the past.”  But what do they really mean? On the face of it, it means that no matter how bad a tragedy a person experiences, they know to keep going and eventually leave the past behind.

“In the case of the Israelis and Palestinians, large numbers of both groups are trapped between the past and future. This is tantamount to hooking one end of an elastic band from the “ball” around the past while the other end is still attached to the “ball.” Remember, the ball of elastic bands is still being propelled forward. As the Life Principle and evolution moves toward the end of this round, which is rapidly approaching, the tension on the bands reach critical mass. Either they will snap into the future with the ball, or spring back to the past.  If they snap into the future, it means the souls awoke in time to the truth that they are spiritual beings and that this life is transitory… Tragically, if enough of a nation’s souls are linked to the past, then the tension can often lead to war and violent conflict in the present.”

The most important message of the vision was the danger of hanging onto the past. In the next Section we will address the way to resolve such conflicts through the doctrine of Reincarnation. In this Section we will prepare the ground, so to speak, by applying Deductive Reasoning to the “physical” makeup of a human being from a Spiritual perspective.

Accepting that Jesus’ soul went into the void, did his physical body just disappear or become invisible? To be honest Craig and I asked God the same question and He directed us to The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. This book is an inspired fictional story about a secret manuscript that reveals nine insights of how to develop powers that are natural to the human being. The Ninth Insight is about developing the ability to raise or speed up an individual’s vibration to the extent that they become invisible to those of a lower or slower vibration. Sound familiar? Jesus demonstrated this ability to some extent when he escaped his enemies by becoming invisible. Obviously though, the resurrection was different.

God told us some time ago that the soul of Jesus had amalgamated with the Christ and became one Spirit. From this, I understand that sometime after Jesus’ death, the Christ and the Holy Spirit re-entered his body, raising its vibration to the degree that he became pure light. His physical atoms were transmuted so that he could appear anywhere and in any guise. The phenomenon of Humanity’s becoming lighter is a similar process, but the reverse of the fall of certain angels. Today scientific investigation has shown that human beings, despite being 70% water are essentially vibrating energy.

Considering that human beings are 70% water; we were intrigued by the information in a documentary on the History Channel’s Modern Marvels entitled the “Marvel of Water.” To be honest, we did not think that the documentary would hold anything that was relevant to the Initiative; that is until we heard the narrator say that “only electricity separates water molecules.” This information immediately stimulated our Deductive Reasoning and so we paid closer attention and began to consider actual water from a Spiritual perspective. Nonetheless, before we could engage Deductive Reasoning we needed to use the Inductive aspect to gather the information.

Below are some relevant pictures that helped us to view Water from a Spiritual perspective. First we want to look at Water from a chemical stance.

 
Left: Water atom consisting of 2 Hydrogen and 1 Oxygen atoms
Right: Water atoms bonding together

Spiritually Water is often referred to as the “Living Water” of Eternal Life. The Church’s interpretation is that the Living Water represents The Holy Spirit. The Church cites Jesus The Christ’s words in John 4:13-14 “…Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” We have repeatedly said there are often hidden meanings in the Scripture, which can be discerned by Deductive Reasoning. With this in mind, is it possible that the reference to “Living Water” could hold another meaning? When Jesus spoke of “Living Water” the microscope had not been invented but there was a concept of “Life” within the elements known as elementals. Water elementals were called Nymphs. ( http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/ponddip/index.html )

Modern thinking tells us to dismiss the concept of elementals as pure superstition but that may be too hasty a judgment. Consider what the microscope has revealed. We now know that the smallest droplet of water at the molecular level is full of abundant life. The example of an organism that lives in fresh water above is the paramecium, which was on the website Microscopy UK. These organisms range in size from 50 μm to 350 μm. If like us participants do not have clue what an “μm” is, it seems that “μm” is a term for a micrometer, or a millionth of a meter. To give perspective, we found the diagram (to the left) of a micrometer in relationship to a pin-head in an article on Wikipedia.

From a droplet, the smallest representation of Water, we now turn to one of the largest forms; icebergs.

(GNU Kim Hansen) This award winning photo of an Iceberg between Langø and Sanderson Hope, south of Upernavik, Greenland
is provided by Kim Hansen.

The above photo is one of the most amazing demonstrations of the property of Water defying the Law of Gravity. Take a moment to consider how literally tons of ice can float on Water without sinking. If we apply Deductive Reasoning could see the photo as Archetypally representing emotion (fear) floating on the Universal Sub consciousness.

Left photo is taken from Wikipedia, which shows oil floating on top of the sea, demonstrating that oil is not dissolved in Water. The photo is provided by NASA and is accompanied with a description of the picture and explanation reproduced below:


Oil Spill Along the Lebanese Coast

In the summer of 2006, military conflict between Lebanon and Israel led to an oil spill along the coast of Lebanon. Between July 13 and 15, 2006, damage to the Jiyyeh Power Station released thousands of tons of oil along the coast of Lebanon. According to BBC news, early estimates indicated that the oil spill could rival the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989. Covering roughly 120 kilometers (75 miles), the spill was expected to affect fishing and tourism industries, as well as local wildlife. Because cleanup efforts could not safely begin until the hostilities ended, the oil slick continued to spread in the Mediterranean Sea in early August 2006. Representatives from the United Nations, the European Union, and the International Maritime Organization planned to discuss the issue in Greece on August 17, 2006…

There is one more aspect of Water that we felt was relevant, heavy water. Apparently the main difference from ordinary H2O and heavy water is that ice will not float in the latter. Heavy Water is used in nuclear fission in the creation of nuclear energy. However, as we were not exactly sure as to the difference chemically between ordinary Water and heavy Water, we looked it up on Wikipedia. Curiously there are two types of “heavy water” deuterium oxide or deuterium protium oxide but let us first review heavy water from the chemical standpoint:

Heavy water is water which contains a higher proportion than normal of the isotope deuterium, as deuterium oxide, D2O or ²H2O, or as deuterium protium oxide, HDO or ¹H²HO. Its physical and chemical properties are somewhat similar to those of water, H2O. Heavy water may contain as much as 100% D2O, and usually the term refers to water which is highly enriched in deuterium. The isotopic substitution with deuterium alters the bond energy of the hydrogen-oxygen bond in water, altering the physical, chemical, and especially biological properties of the pure or highly-enriched substance to a larger degree than is found in most isotope-substituted chemical compounds.

Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is a stable isotope of hydrogen with a natural abundance in the oceans of Earth of approximately one atom in 6500 of hydrogen (~154 PPM). Deuterium thus accounts for approximately 0.015% (on a weight basis, 0.030%) of all naturally occurring hydrogen in the oceans on Earth …Deuterium abundance on Jupiter is about 2.25·10-5 (about 22 atoms in 1,000,000 or 15% of the terrestrial deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio); these ratios presumably reflect the early solar nebula ratios, and those after the Big Bang. However, other sources suggest a much higher abundance of e.g. 6·10-4 (6 atoms in 10,000 or 0.06% atom basis). There is little deuterium in the interior of the Sun since thermonuclear reactions destroy it. However, it continues to persist in the outer solar atmosphere at roughly the same concentration as in Jupiter.

The nucleus of deuterium, called a deuteron, contains one proton and one neutron, whereas the far more common hydrogen nucleus contains no neutrons. The isotope name is formed from the Greek deuteros meaning "second", to denote the two particles composing the nucleus.

Again it is important to remember that a human being is at least 70% Water and there is estimated to be a quadrillion atoms in the human body. Taking this into consideration, if deuterium is found in every 6,500 atoms then there are a considerable number of deuterium atoms in each human being. Even if we only allow for one atom per cell, as there are a quadrillion cells in the human body the Number of Deuterium atoms in a human body is staggering. This is because a quadrillion is one thousand million, million. Or the number 1 followed by 15 zeros.

While investigating heavy water, we were reminded of the mysterious phenomenon of “spontaneous human combustion” where individuals suddenly burst into flames. Could the presence of Deuterium explain the phenomenon? Moreover, according to the RT group the Tarot says there are two currents of energy running through the human body, Water and Fire.

We won’t get into this here, for now take a look at the diagram above, which depicts how nuclear fission is created with heavy water. Gregg Braden, in Awakening To Zero Point: The Collective Initiation stated: “Energetically, you are electrical in nature; each cell within each component of your body generating a charge of approximately 1.17 volts...”

From Mr. Braden’s revelation, it would indicate that we are both Fire and Water, as the Tarot teaches. Consequently, if our cells contain Deuterium, which is used in nuclear fission and the human body has static electricity from a quadrillion cells working together; is it not possible that in certain situations a spark within could ignite the Deuterium?

At this point, let us encapsulate the relevant points Inductive Reasoning provides regarding the Spiritual application of Water:

• Each Water molecule consists of two positive hydrogen atoms to one negative Oxygen.
• Water as a solid (ice) floats.
• Oil and Water do not mix.
• Oil is the only substance Water cannot dissolve.
• The Gnostics believed Water represents the emotion Fear.
• Water is associated with emotions and the Astral Plane.
• Water represents the Moon.
• Water/Moon represents Cosmic or Universal Consciousness.
• Electricity separates Water molecules.
• Electricity can be associated with Life or Spirit.
• Oxygen represents Love in Gematria.
• Water molecules align to each other.
• Spiritually the Universe is divided between Love and Fear.
• Electricity or Spirit quickens or gives Life.
• Love = Spirit – Fear = Emotion.
• One in 6,500 Heavy Water or Deuterium atoms can be found in the human body.
• Ice will not float in heavy water.
• Despite being 70% Water the human body is capable of “Spontaneous human combustion.”
• In Spiritual Evolution there are two currents running through a person, Fire and Water.

Taking all the information in and using Deductive Reasoning, we can be assured that Water is a lot more than just a means to keep us alive and maybe Jesus’ words in John 7:38 do take on a different meaning: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow living water.” In other words Alchemically, “the living Water can literally transform an individual. Leaving the discussion on Water for now we want to turn to the debate over eating meat. As we wrote in Our Story 1995 -2002: True Philosophers’ Stone:

Interestingly, Craig and I discovered that the food we ingest affects the level in which we vibrate. No surprise, the flesh of animals produces the lowest vibration, whereas the highest vibration is from fruit. Could this be why so many people are feeling that it is no longer appropriate to eat the flesh of animals? Might this be why Gautama Buddha would eat no meat? Moreover, is this how we evolve to become lighter beings?

A clear indication that we are energy comes from remembering that doctors consider a person brain-dead when there is no “electrical” activity within the brain. Irrespective of the fact a heart/lung machine is keeping the patient breathing and their heart pumping, the doctor still considers the patient dead.

We were moved to become vegetarians some time ago but it wasn’t until we read James Redfield’s The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight that we realized the Spiritual efficacy of not eating meat. Again, we related our deeper understanding in the chapter Controversies and Challenges in the aforementioned book:

“…The plot continues from Redfield’s previous books, with the hero traveling to the Himalayas in search of the eleventh insight. In Tibet, he meets the mysterious “Hawi” who tells the hero, “When anything dies... the cells of the body immediately lose their vibration and become very acid in chemistry. That acid state is the signal to the microbes of the world, the viruses, bacteria, and fungi, that it is time to decompose this dead tissue.” This is their purpose for existence, “to return a body back to the earth...” “Hawi” continues, “When our bodies drop in energy because of the kinds of foods we are eating, it makes us susceptible to disease. Here’s how that works. When we eat food, they are metabolized and leave a waste or ash in our bodies. This ash is either acidic in nature or alkaline, depending on the food. If it is alkaline, then it can be quickly extracted from our bodies with little energy. However, if these waste products are acidic, they are very hard for the blood and lymph system to eliminate and they are stored in our organs and tissues as solids — low vibrational crystalline forms that create blocks or disruptions in the vibratory levels of our cells.”2 When the body becomes acidic enough, Hawi tells the hero “a microbe” will emerge to begin decomposition, which is nature’s way. When any living thing dies, its carcass rapidly becomes acidic, which is the cue for as Hawi said “viruses, bacteria, and fungi” to begin their work..

“When Craig and I read this, it made perfect sense. When we eat the dead flesh of an animal, we are taking on death, whereas, in the consumption of fruit and vegetables we are taking on life.”

The most valuable lesson we learned in compiling the hypothesis in The Good News Reverberation: was that in interpreting the Bible we can miss the point. Over the centuries some Bible scholars have taken certain passages literally when they should have been interpreted allegorically. Alternatively, they have interpreted other verses allegorically when they should have been taken literally. This has led to conflict and in some cases war. As we have shown, we are interested in examining all interpretations and considering all points of view. We believe it is only by objectively reading the Scriptures without any pre-conceived interpretations that the deeper meaning can be found. We are on the same journey that you are and are experiencing this process on a daily basis. Through Deductive Reasoning we are uncovering so many layers within Scripture, which shows us that the Divine Consciousness is at work in the world and is available to everyone. Each time we send out notice of the posting we encourage your comments. This is because the Initiative is Dynamic and Universal and participants and initiates contributions are just as valuable as ours; Great Spirit-Mind, Spirit or “God” is no respecter of persons.

Before we close this Section and move onto the Review, we want to draw participants attention to an energetic aspect of the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency. Beginning on January 26th, 2009 was the Chinese New Year of the Ox, and as President Obama was also born under the Ox it is thought provoking. The description is provided once again by Wikipedia:

The Ox is thought to be the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. The Ox is a power sign, like the Rat, Snake, Dragon, Tiger, and Monkey. They're quite dependable and possess an innate ability to achieve great things. As one might guess, such people are dependable, calm, and modest. Like their animal namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint.

Ox people, according to tradition, need peace and quiet to work through their ideas, and when they have set their mind on something it is hard for them to be convinced otherwise. An Ox person has a very logical mind and is extremely systematic in whatever they do, though they have a tremendous imagination and an unparalleled appreciation for beauty. These people speak little but are extremely intelligent. When necessary, they are articulate and eloquent.

Traditionally, people born under the influence of the Ox are thought to be kind, caring souls, logical, positive, filled with common sense and with their feet firmly planted on the ground. Security is their main preoccupation in life, and they are prepared to toil long and hard in order to provide a warm, comfortable and stable nest for themselves and their families. Strong-minded, stubborn, individualistic, the majority are highly intelligent individuals who don't take kindly to being told what to do.
The Ox, it is thought, works hard, patiently, and methodically, with original intelligence and reflective thought. These people enjoy helping others. Behind this tenacious, laboring, and self-sacrificing exterior lies an active mind.

The Ox, according to tradition, is not extravagant, and a modern interpretation of this is that the thought of living off credit cards or being in debt makes them nervous. The possibility of taking a serious risk could cause the Ox sleepless nights.

Ox people are truthful and sincere, and the idea of wheeling and dealing in a competitive world is distasteful to them. They are rarely driven by the prospect of financial gain. These people are always welcome in small gatherings because of their humble composure and reverent nature towards the host. They are reputed to be the most beautiful of face in the zodiac. They have many friends, who appreciate the fact that the Ox people are wary of new trends, although every now and then they can be encouraged to try something new. People born in the year of the Ox make wonderful parents and teachers of children.

It is important to remember that the Ox people are sociable and relaxed when they feel secure, but occasionally a dark cloud looms over such people and they engage all the trials of the whole world and seek solutions for them.

Considering that the President and 2009 had affiliations with the Ox is synchronistic in the extreme. The theme of his inaugural speech was about entering a new era and that is what the Ox also Archetypally symbolizes. We say Archetypally because the Ox is the meaning of the Hebrew letter א and word Aleph, which is represented by card 0 The Fool. The Fool represents the Planet Uranus, and rules the sun-sign Aquarius, which begins on January 20th the very same day as the inauguration.

Ever since the 1960’s we have been hearing about the dawning of Aquarius, meaning that the Age of Aquarius was about to begin. Traditionally an Age lasts 2,112 years. Since the Age of Pisces began in the year 0 of the Common Era, the Age of Aquarius isn’t traditionally supposed to start until 2112. However, as we have related in the Treatise America’s Hijacked Destiny… because Globe D began at the start of the Common Era this is a unique time. Moreover, seven major cycles ended in 2012; consequently Deductive Reasoning is telling us that something very important began on January 20th 2009 and it wasn’t just the inauguration of the first African-American president. We will be discussing this phenomena at length in the next Stage but for now just consider the possibility that we entered a New Era on more than one level in 2009, affording a major opportunity. Even though, overall Humanity squandered that opportunity, all is not lost because in 2021 the same opportunity is again being offered to us.

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End of STAGE – REASON  Section 5e

STAGE REASON – FIFTH REVIEW – Section 7

To reiterate, this Stage of the Initiative applies Deductive Reasoning, which is essential to begin the process of changing the way we think. Our brain needs new pathways built to replace the existing ones that our egos have built for “its” use. As exercises in Deductive Reasoning are necessary to accomplish this goal, we incorporate such exercises in the Initiative, as in questions on a Section. However, as stated applying Deductive Reasoning incurs what we like to call circular thinking, which means being present in the moment (Section) but still able to access any previous data stored in the brain, the very definition of Deductive Reasoning; hence the current exercise. The encapsulation of the material from Section 7 is available as a bullet-list to download/view in PDF. If anyone does not have “Adobe Reader”, they can use this link to download it. Old patterns are hard to break…impossible, if not even recognized as a pattern. New consciousness for a new time and new world demands it. So once again try this exercise on the 20 questions for Section 7 below but first here are the answers to Section 6’s FOURTH REVIEW:

(1) Why was Herod summoned to Rome?
Answer – For drowning Aristobulus.
(2) Who founded the Great Library of Alexandria?
Answer – Ptolemy 1
(3) What language did the Jews speak in Alexandria in the time of Ptolemy?
Answer – Greek
(4) Who caused monotheism to enter Palestine?
Answer - Akhenaten
(5) True or False Tortion fields are electro-magnetic fields?
Answer – False
(6) What is Geodesy primarily concerned with?
Answer – Positioning and Gravity fields.
(7) Approximately how many miles is Giza from Port Said?
Answer – 116 Miles
(8) What are the four primary qualities of Aristotle?
Answer – Cold, Dry, Hot, & Moist.
(9) Which two Greek philosophers placed the Earth at the center of the universe?
Answer – Aristotle and Ptolemaeus.
(10) Who was the Teacher of Righteousness?
Answer – Onias IV the Jewish High Priest (176 B.C.E.)
(11) What was the name of Herod’s hilltop fortress where John the Baptist was beheaded?
Answer – Machaerus.
(12) What two factions did the Essene community at Qumran split into?
Answer – Ebionites and Followers of Jesus.
(13) Which two Gospels begin with Jesus’ Baptism?
Answer – Mark and John
(14) Which Tarot card represents Melchizedek?
Answer – 1 - The Magician.
(15) What does the Greek word diakoneen mean?
Answer – To minister or serve – root word for Deacon
(16) Which third of the Tripartition of Humanity is predominant in the Human Race?
Answer – The Psychics
(17) How many levels of consciousness are on Earth today?
Answer – 12
(18) What is the name of the door between the Fire and Mental Planes in the Tree of Life?
Answer – Daath
(19) How many times did Sophia need redeeming?
Answer – 3
(20) What word did Mary Magdalene use in addressing Jesus after his resurrection?
Answer – Rabonni

Now for the questions for Section 7 in the Fifth Review:

1) What is the name of “the only surviving Gnostic religion living in southern Iraq and southwestern Iran?
2) Which cousin of John the Baptist was associated with the Qumran Essenes?
3) Which Human emotion of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is described in the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke?
4) Which Gnostic group said that the Apostle Paul discovered ‘secret teachings’ and ‘the deeper mysteries’ or ‘secret wisdom,’ which he shared only with those Christians he considered ‘mature’?
5) What is the name of the Gnostic Doctrine that the three Synoptic Gospels represent through the three different levels of consciousness?
6) Do all four Gospels state the disciples were sure as to who was going to betray Jesus?
7) When did the “Scriptures” become available to the masses?
8) Which Archbishop saw the Waldensians as poaching upon the preserve of the clergy?
9) Who do some scholars think the author of the gospel of John, and the “beloved disciple” could be?
10) What is the name of the gospel which Professor Pagels says is impossible to date?
11) What kind of Reasoning should we use whenever the Scriptures raise questions that force us to dig deeper?
12) What follower of Jesus do all four Gospels name as being present at the foot of the cross?
13) Whose myth was associated with Jesus being known as  the “pierced one”?
14) Where can we learn the deeper message of Jesus being referred to as the “pierced one”  through the Mystical Arts of Astrology and Archetypal images?
15) Who was the author of the forty-two books, whose loss of nearly all of them was one of the greatest tragedies of the philosophic world?
16) What is the difference between sound and light waves?
17) What Element is the snake of?
18) What is the only thing that separates water molecules?
19) What is the name of the two currents running through an individual?
20) Which food has the highest vibration?

Because the remaining paragraphs of The Trial concern the Angelic Realm and the Soul Plane we will finish the chapter in the Section 8. In addition, we will be using Deductive Reasoning to investigate whether or not predestination exists, and discussing what happened at the Resurrection. We will also investigate the origins of the mysterious figure, the World-Soul, as well as, examining the Physical and Soul Plane from a predominantly negative energy, consciousness, and frequency perspective. This will entail an investigation into the origin and nature of the emotion hatred.

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End of STAGE – REASON  – FIFTH REVIEW – Section 7