Sacred Western stories are full of fabulous diversity when read externally – Gods and Goddesses, Heroes, Patriarchs, Saints, Miracles, Prophets, etc. But when read internally they all tell the same story – how to return ‘home’ to the Divine. In fact, The Bible, Qur’an, and Greek Myths can be read as ‘How To’ Manuals for spiritual awakening.
Here are the steps:
1. Making the Decision
2. Healing the Shattered Soul
3. Firming the Mind
4. Opening the Inner Eye
5. Purifying the Heart
6. Giving Back
7. Through the Dark Night to Bliss
The stories are always told in Octave form.
For example, here’s how the story of Moses’ Initiation is told. As with all these stories, it’s a Template for us to study and follow. Read the ‘Map’ from the bottom to the top.
DO FREEDOM
↑
SI THE ANGEL OF DEATH (DARK NIGHT)
↑
LA THE PLAGUES (LESSONS FOR PHARAOH)
↑
SOL FIRST MEETINGS WITH PHARAOH (CLEANSING THE HEART)
↑
FA MEETING WITH AARON (OPENING THE ‘EYE’)
↑
MI THE BURNING BUSH (FIRMING THE MIND)
↑
RE STUDYING WITH JETHRO (HEALING)
↑
DO MOSES ‘AWAKENS’ IN THE EGYPTIAN PALACE
The point is made again, with the stories of the initiation of the entire Israelite people:
DO RETURN TO THE PROMISED LAND
↑
SI JOSHUA’S BATTLES (DARK NIGHT)
↑
LA THE TEACHINGS OF MOSES (DEUTERONOMY)
↑
SOL SACRIFICE (PURIFYING THE HEART)
↑
FA MT. SINAI (OPENING THE ‘EYE’)
↑
MI FIVE LESSONS FOR THE MIND (FIRMING THE MIND)
↑
RE CROSSING THE RED SEA (HEALING)
↑
DO THE ISRAELITES ‘AWAKEN’ FROM SLAVERY
Even the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, and later the Temple in Jerusalem, are built on the plan of the Octave:
DO THE LORD
↑
SI THE TABLETS
↑
LA THE ARK
↑
SOL THE INCENSE
↑
FA THE TABLE AND CANDLESTICK
↑
MI THE LAVER
↑
RE THE ALTAR
↑
DO THE ENTRANCE
These stories of Initiation, of course, coincide with what the Greeks called the Greater Mysteries. Stories of the soul’s descent to this material world were called the Lesser Mysteries. Genesis is also a symbolic representation of the soul’s descent. (This time, read the ‘map’ from the top down)
DO GOD
↓
SI ABRAHAM AND SARAH
↓
LA ISAAC AND REBECCA
↓
SOL JACOB/(ESAU) AND RACHEL/LEAH
↓
FA THE MANY SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF JACOB
↓
MI JOSEPH AND ASENATH
↓
RE PHARAOH (THE EGO) IN CHARGE
↓
DO SLAVERY TO THE MATERIAL WORLD
In the New Testament, the story of the soul’s Initiation is told yet again. In this case, Jesus of Nazareth “fulfills the scripture” by accomplishing, step-by-step, in a magnificent ‘Play’ (performed on the stage of the world that all of us can watch and learn from), the entire Initiatory sequence as revealed in the Old Testament. The Octave of his extraordinary achievement aligns with the Sacraments (read from bottom up):
DO COMMUNION (RESURRECTION)
↑
SI EXTREME UNCTION (THE CROSS, THE DARK NIGHT)
↑
LA ORDINATION (THE PARABLES, THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS)
↑
SOL CONFESSION (MEETINGS WITH THE FEMININE: THE SAMARITAN WOMAN, MARY MAGDALENE, ETC)
↑
FA SACRED MARRIAGE (WATER/WINE, HEAVEN/EARTH)
↑
MI CONFIRMATION (FIRMING OF THE MIND IN CONVERSE WITH THE DEVIL)
↑
RE BAPTISM IN THE JORDAN (BAPTISM, LIKE THE RED SEA, SYMBOLISES THAT THE SOUL IS HEALED AND CLEANSED)
↑
DO CHRIST IS BORN
You can read about all these wonderful stories (and Qur’anic stories as well, which also follow this same inner path to the soul’s Enlightenment), in my book SYMBOLS, MEANING AND THE SACRED QUEST: SPIRITUAL AWAKENING IN JEWISH, CHRISTIAN AND ISLAMIC STORIES.
You can also read about the very same initiatory path as it is revealed in the Greek Myths in my earlier book, LOVE, WISDOM AND GOD: THE LONGING OF THE WESTERN SOUL.
Here’s how the Greeks told the story of descent:
DO THE ABSOLUTE (EVERYTHING)
↓
SI IDEA OF MIND / IDEA OF MATTER
↓
LA URANOS AND GAIA
↓
SOL CRONOS AND RHEA (THE TITANS)
↓
FA ZEUS AND HERA (THE PLANETARY GODS)
↓
MI PROMETHEUS AND PANDORA
↓
RE HADES AND PERSEPHONE
↓
DO THE ABSOLUTE (NOTHING)
In the ‘Mysteries of Eleusis’, the story of Demeter’s rescue of her daughter Perephone and their return to Olympus, is the foundation story of the Initiatory ‘Greater Mysteries’ (read from bottom up).
DO HOME TO OLYMPUS
↑
SI DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE
↑
LA DEMETER AND HERMES
↑
SOL DEMETER AND BAUBO
↑
FA DEMETER AND ZEUS
↑
MI DEMETER AND HELIOS
↑
RE DEMETER AND HECATE
↑
DO DEMETER HEARS PERSEPHONE’S CRIES, AND MAKES THE DECISION
If these stories, and the inner esoteric interpretation of Myth and Scripture as teaching us the method of returning ‘home’ to communion with the Divine, interests you, I hope you’ll read my books.
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