SEVENTY ONE by Roger Hathaway
Today, August 21, 2009, I have completed seventy one years of life. For several days I have felt kind of confused, spacey, and lost. Most of my birthdays pass with hardly a notice, but this one has my attention, and I can’t figure out why.
Much of my contemplation is about what I have accomplished during this lifetime, or perhaps failed to accomplish. How well did I use my potential? Honesty about that leaves me feeling humbled. Never having children leaves me without the boast of raising progeny who might benefit our people. Never having a savings account, investments, or even home-equity leaves me in the desert regarding security or wealth. I’ve been a drifter, one of those "Men Who Don’t Fit In" of Robert Service’s poem. Worse is the fact that I would choose the same again instead of any alternatives. While most people might fault me, truly I did do it my way. This past year has seen a decline in my initiative. What incentive might I conjure up to motivate me to get up in the morning, or even to take another breath? Jesus said that one must hate this world, the people, and one’s own life; I get an A+ for that score.
My contemplations dwell on one subject only, namely Values. It seems simple and basic to ask the question of what in this world is worth anything; what might have lasting value beyond the momentary lives of us organisms? The world has opted for the libertine notion that nothing has value except what feels good at the moment. But that is such a shallow notion that it isn’t worth a passing moment’s consideration, a philosophy that has no more substance than a wisp of smoke in the breeze. If there is a Supreme Designer behind our universe, surely there must be more to life than a brief moment of consciousness.
When one goes within himself to contemplate the eternal questions, he has left the world of sensibilities to explore a world of the mind, a place where he can only walk alone in quietness, somewhat like floating in outer space with nothing in view except open space, the great void. Most people recoil from this in terror, desperately finding refuge in noises from speakers, or physical activities which confirm the existence of one’s self.
I see myself as a Mystic, one who yearns to live in the ethers of the mind. I want to share this excerpt from Evelyn Underhill’s book, MYSTICISM, pages 22 - 25. It is rather lengthy and not the easiest of reading, but if you feel any attraction toward that spiritual phenomenon loosely called "mysticism," then you will find confirmation, support, encouragement, even love, in this description of the spiritual path.
Why, after all, take as our standard a material world whose existence is affirmed by nothing more trustworthy than the sense-impressions of "normal men"; those imperfect and easily cheated channels of communication? The mystics, those adventurers of whom we spoke upon the first page of this book, have always declared, implicitly or explicitly, their distrust in these channels of communication. They have never been deceived by phenomena, nor by the careful logic of the industrious intellect. One after another, with extraordinary unanimity, they have rejected that appeal to the unreal world of appearance which is the standard of sensible men: affirming that there is another way, another secret, by which the conscious self may reach the actuality which it seeks. More complete in their grasp of experience than the votaries of intellect or of sense, they accept as central for life those spiritual messages which are mediated by religion, by beauty, and by pain. More reasonable than the rationalists, they find in that very hunger for reality, which is the mother of all metaphysics, an implicit proof that such reality exists; that there is something else, some final satisfaction, beyond the ceaseless stream of sensation which besieges consciousness. "In that thou hast sought me, thou has already found me," says the voice of Absolute Truth in their ears. This is the first doctrine of mysticism. Its next is that only in so far as the self is real can it hope to know Reality: like to like: Cor ad cor loquitur. Upon the propositions implicit in these two laws the whole claim and practice of the mystic life depends.
"Finite as we are," they say — and here they speak not for themselves, but for the race — "lost though we seem to be in the woods or in the wide air’s wilderness, in this world of time and of chance, we have still, like the strayed animals or like the migrating birds, our homing instinct. . . . We seek. That is a fact. We seek a city still out of sight. In the contrast with this goal, we live. But if this be so, then already we possess something of Being even in our finite seeking. For the readiness to seek is already something of an attainment, even if a poor one." [this quotation in her book is from Royce, "The World and the Individual"]
Further, in this seeking we are not wholly dependent on that homing instinct. For some, who have climbed to the hill-tops, that city is not really out of sight. The mystics see it and report to us concerning it. Science and metaphysics may do their best and their worst: but these pathfinders of the spirit never falter in their statements concerning that independent spiritual world which is the only goal of "pilgrim man." They say that messages come to him from that spiritual world, that complete reality which we call Absolute: that we are not, after all, hermetically sealed from it. To all who will receive it, news comes of a world of Absolute Life, Absolute Beauty, Absolute Truth, beyond the bourne of time and place: news that most of us translate — and inevitably distort in the process — into the language of religion, of beauty, of love, or of pain.
Of all those forms of life and thought with which humanity has fed its craving for truth, mysticism alone postulates, and in the persons of its great initiates proves, not only the existence of the Absolute, but also this link: this possibility first of knowing, finally of attaining it. It denies that possible knowledge is to be limited (a)to sense impressions, (b)to any process of intellection, (c)to the unfolding of the content of normal consciousness. Such diagrams of experience, it says, are hopelessly incomplete. The mystics find the basis of their method not in logic but in life: in the existence of a discoverable "real," a spark of true being, within the seeking subject, which can, in that ineffable experience which they call the "act of union," fuse itself with and thus apprehend the reality of the sought Object. In theological language, their theory of knowledge is that the spirit of man, itself essentially divine, is capable of immediate communion with God, the One Reality. [Emphasis by editor]
In mysticism that love of truth [See II Thess 2:10, editor] which we saw as the beginning of all philosophy leaves the merely intellectual sphere, and takes on the assured aspect of a personal passion [Emphasis by editor]. Where the philosopher guesses and argues, the mystic lives and looks; and speaks, consequently, the disconcerting language of first-hand experience, not the neat dialectic of the schools. Hence whilst the Absolute of the metaphysicians remains a diagram — impersonal and unattainable — the Absolute of the mystics is lovable, attainable, alive.
"Oh, taste and see!" they cry, in accents of astounding certainty and joy. "Ours is an experimental science. We can but communicate our system, never its result. We come to you not as thinkers, but as doers. Leave your deep and absurd trust in the senses, with their language of dot and dash, which may possibly report fact but can never communicate personality. If philosophy has taught you anything, she has surely taught you the length of her tether, and the impossibility of attaining to the doubtless admirable grazing land which lies beyond it. One after another, idealists have arisen who, straining frantically at the rope, have announced to the world their approaching liberty; only to be flung back at last into the little circle of sensation. But here we are, a small family, it is true, yet one that refuses to die out, assuring you that we have slipped the knot and are free of those grazing grounds. This is evidence which you are bound to bring into account before you can add up the sum total of possible knowledge; for you will find it impossible to prove that the world as seen by the mystics, ‘unimaginable, formless, dark with excess of bright,’ is less real than that which is expounded by the youngest and most promising demonstrator of a physico-chemical universe. We will be quite candid with you. Examine us as much as you like: our machinery, our veracity, our results. We cannot promise that you shall see what we have seen, for here each man must adventure for himself; but we defy you to stigmatize our experiences as impossible or invalid. Is your world of experience so well and logically founded that you dare make of it a standard? Philosophy tells you that it is founded on nothing better than the reports of your sensory apparatus and the traditional concepts of the race. Certainly it is imperfect, probably it is illusion; in any event, it never touches the foundation of things. Whereas ‘what the world, which truly knows nothing, calls "mysticism" is the science of ultimates, . . .the science of self-evident Reality, which cannot be "reasoned about," because it is the object of pure reason or perception." [quotation in her book from "The Rod, the Root, and the Flower" by Coventry Patmore]
The mystic seeks whatever might be ultimate Truth, if there is such a thing. His conviction that the sensory world is a delusion-confirmed-by-lying-senses is unassailable; he knows it with unquestioning certainty. The physicists unintentionally support the mystic as their work has confirmed the first verse of Hebrews 11 which states that the substance of reality is belief. That can mean two things, that this material reality consists merely of what one believes it to be, and secondly, that the true, unseen reality is in the realm of the mind’s belief. Theoretical physicists, particle physicists, and quantum physicists all agree that there is no such thing as a particle of matter, but there are only subatomic units of "energy" (think dots of heat which have no mass) which act to appear as whatever the perceiver believes them to be. The only reason I can’t pass my hand through the dining table is because I believe that I can’t. The only reason I can’t pass through a solid door, like Jesus did, is because I believe that door is a material substance of particles which occupy space, thereby preventing my flesh substance from occupying the same space. My faulty belief in the absolute nature of substance is what also prevents me from successfully telling a mountain to move aside.
The physicists’ confirmation of the non-reality of matter also confirms the ancient eastern notion of the "maya" as a delusion of the mind. So, the mystic is certainly not breaking new ground, and he knows it. Mystics don’t step onto podiums to declare that they have the answers for everyone; they know that the only valid answer for any seeker is that which he finds on his own. Jesus told his disciples that they could not follow Him (transcend) at the time, but they would follow later. The mystic yearns for others to seek and find that ultimate Reality which he has found, but he can’t guide one to it. He is pretty much limited to stating what Reality is not, and that causes most people to turn quickly away from him, as they did from Jesus.
What I would like to describe, which might be helpful to some seekers, is the essence of this so-called world "reality," this stage upon which we participate in God’s Divine Pageant. All life is based upon, is defined by, and is empowered by four natures of God’s Mind. God is the Supreme Mind, within which this mental (image/dream/appearance/perception/belief/performance) pageant takes place. God lives and expresses Himself in and through the dynamic polarities of energies which assume four different natures: physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellect. All living creatures exercise their lives by empowerment from one or more of these natures. The four natures are described in the Bible as four Seraphs, and again as four Living Beings. The four Living Beings/Natures are symbolized by: the Lion as Physical, the Bull or Calf as Emotional, the Man as Spiritual, and the Eagle as Intellect. These four natures are also portrayed in the sky as four quadrants - divisions of the ecliptic plane. They are also featured as the Brigade symbols on the banners of the twelve tribes of Israel, three tribes in each Brigade. They are also featured as types of influences over the quarter-cycles of long term history, each quarter cycle being about six thousand years, with a full cycle equal to one precession-of-equinoxes. So, it is a study of the four natures of God’s expression which might help us to understand how True Reality is Being portrayed and choreographed as His Divine Pageant. Scientists dare not approach the study of physics from this direction because the four natures of God’s expression have not already been proven. God doesn’t submit Himself to the scientific-method. Science is still in kindergarten. It is only the mystic who goes where science cannot go, and who gets treated to the epiphanies.
THE FOUR NATURES OF GOD
PHYSICAL NATURE: {Living Being: Lion}
All living creatures, which have a physical appearance, function by and are empowered by this physical-nature facet of God’s Design/Kosmos. We can speculate that the Physical nature includes cell and organ functions like digestion, DNA, ability to propagate and to defecate, instincts to recognize danger, to avoid it, to seek food, to kill, and to eat. Plant life seems to be of a separate nature, being part of Creation's Third Day Design rather than part of the Fifth Day Design of Physical-natured reptiles, birds, and sea-creatures. For further study of the Design process for each Day, see: http://divinepageant.com/Greek%20Genesis.htm#THIRD%20DAY
Since each of us believes he/she is a physical body, it is the body which serves as the basis of one’s identity, and which one lives to serve, to satisfy, to protect, essentially to worship. Of the four natures, pysical is the most base, and it is here that the degree of our false belief in the great lie is revealed – by our valuation of physical life as though it was the most precious of treasure. In contrast to popular belief, Jesus actually says "The Spirit is what gives Life, the flesh benefits nothing." Preachers are paid according to the extent that they promote recipes for successful living of the good-life which protects, houses, clothes, feeds, and happily satisfies the physical person. Any preacher who teaches Jesus’ lesson of mortifying/sacrificing the flesh will see empty collection plates.
I contend that a Christian must honestly confront the issue of physical-self, along with recognizing it as a vehicle for the expression of God, thereby learning important lessons about our Father. St. Paul tells us in Romans 1:20 "Since the creation of the world, the invisible things are clearly seen being revealed through the things that are made, even His eternal power and divinity, so that they are without excuse." We can’t wait for scientists to approach their study of physical nature as a reflection of God; we must do it ourselves. The Holy Spirit will be our Teacher.
So it is that while God’s Design of Physical Nature can serve us as lesson material for learning about God Himself, it is also true that we should stop believing in it as a material substance which has an existence separate from our belief in it. We do NOT serve the Designer by worshiping the Earth as a god in its own right; no, earth is simply a revelation of God’s Design and reflects Him, alone. It has no material value beyond its appearance; it is a visual-aid to benefit our search for Truth. If we believe in earth as an absolute matter, then we have bought Satan's deception and we live to serve it instead of Truth. The Truth is really that God’s Design serves as an imaginary/mental stage where we actors perform a pageant in which our goal is to learn the Truth and overcome the lie, a contest of good vs. evil. Finally, the Truth is that our own flesh bodies are no more real than anything else, but are figmentary characters of the Mind. It was His physical/material body which Jesus let die so that He could have His true Life in a sort of glorified, or spiritual, body, which is His true Self, as such bodies are the true selves of all of God’s elect Offspring, members of the body of Christ. It is to physical death that Jesus calls us.
EMOTIONAL NATURE: {Living Being: Calf/Bull}
The Emotional mind is a thinking mind that acts according to feelings which are of higher nature than the basic functions of physical nature. God designed Emotional creatures (who, of course, also possess physical natures as do all living creatures) on the first part of the Sixth Day. These creatures include the higher order of quadrupeds and perhaps the thinking mammals like whales, porpoises, and simians (ape family). It might be that the most primitive black race creatures are included in this because their history reveals that they have lived simply by the emotional minds and seemed to have no rational mind at all, until race mixing infused a rational mind into their species.
RATIONAL NATURE: {Living Being: Eagle}
On the second half of the Sixth Day, God designed mankind as male and female. Adam was not created until chapter 2, when he was specially made from the dust of the ground and was only male gender. Clearly, Adam was not part of the Sixth Day Design of male and female. It was the morning (2nd half) of the Sixth Day creation when God designed human mankind who could think rationally with intellectual minds. Certainly, this would not include the ancient black race which never invented the simple wheel, but only lived like the ape family. In chapter two of Genesis, it was following the appearance of Adam, that the two races of children of Eve were beneficiaries of God’s Rational Nature, namely the lines of Adam and also of Cain, fraternal twins with different fathers. God, Himself, was the Father of Adam, and hence of the Abel and Seth lineage. Satan fathered the Cain race through Eve. Only these two races were gifted with intellectual, reasoning minds. These two races of "divine" origin would be the two opponent contestants in God’s arena, representing Good (Adamic race) versus Evil (Cain race). It has been Satan’s clever abuse and perversion of the Rational mind which enabled his family to maintain control during the kingdom of World. Satan's Cain race was renewed with Esau (Edomites/Jews), who was then granted a period of dominion by Isaac. The Adamic blessing of God’s family was renewed with Jacob (Israelites/European white race Christians); again two brother contestants to continue the battle in God’s arena of the mind. Most of their contest would be with the use or abuse of Intellect.
After six periods of Design, God "rested." Chapter two of Genesis then shows God creating Adam as His own Offspring. Then God paraded His Design past Adam, who brought it into manifestation by believing in it. Adam represents the Christ, the very instrument of creation. God did the Design and His offspring body of Christ brought that Design into perception by believing it just as it had been designed. The Design was perfect and it was a Mental Play. Satan prompted the Adamites to Fall by tempting them to abuse their Rational Minds, to Know Good and Evil, which would make them as gods. The contest has ever been one of Rational minds.
SPIRITUAL NATURE: {Living Being: Man}
You are a Spirit-Being having an experience in a flesh body. You have not been taught that you are a Spirit-Being because that knowledge is impractical for religions which focus upon your worldly life of flesh and emotions. So, we understand very little, if anything, about the spiritual nature. It appears to be antithetical to the world self. It appears that Jesus is calling us to deny the physical, emotional, and intellectual natures in order to live in Spirit. The Mystic, alone, attempts to leap from the world to Heaven; he doesn’t know how to do that, but he will sacrifice the last bit of his life in charging that gate, willing to leave his flesh self as a corpse behind him. From whence does his motivation come? Even he does not understand why he feels such an intense compulsion to reject his own world life, as he feels an undefinable hope for something unknowable which he simply calls "God." Yet, he will wrench free from any and all of the anchors which bind mortal men to a finite reality; He understands a statement of Jesus which preachers avoid, as recorded in Matthew 10:34ff.
"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I came not to bring peace but a sword. I came to turn a man against his father and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And the enemies of a man will be the members of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me, and he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. The one finding his life (in world) will lose it (heaven), and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."
Luke 14:26 records Jesus’ words a little differently: "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, cannot be My disciple. And who does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."
While religionists teach the exact opposite of Jesus' message, the Mystic reads those words with a feeling of recognition and warmth, as if "someone understands me; I’m not alone in my feeling of revulsion toward the world and its people; I’m not crazy; I've found my home; I will follow this Lord who understands me, to Death."
While writing this, I can’t help but think of the thousands, even millions, of martyrs who went singing to their pyres, alone, because they knew they were on the same path as He Who went before and Who called them to follow. Even without conscious understanding of their spiritual natures, they willingly turned away from their world self/identity and from all loved ones (anchors) in order to leap through that lighted door into the unknown toward a calling which their Spirits heard; prodigal Spirit-Beings going home!
I think of Agnes Bongeor who cried with heart-rending wail when two of her fellow prisoners were taken to be burned at the stake. She wailed, not because they were taken, but because she was left behind; she had already turned her nursing baby over to another in expectation of martyrdom. She had released her anchors and was anxious to complete the release from the flesh. Soon, though, her wish was fulfilled, in that February of 1556. I would refer you to this link for more stories of martyrs: http://divinepageant.com/when_your_name_is_called.htm
We are Spirit-Beings, each of us a lone offspring/expression of his/her God. After twelve thousand years of World kingdom, we are now ready to transition into another type of kingdom, which we call Heaven. Flesh and blood cannot inherit Heaven, so we must at some time leave these mortal bodies behind. How shall we be able to do this if we have not imagined it in advance? Personally, I think about this topic much of the time. I would say that I am obsessed with it. Many would call it a death-wish; I would agree.
While Satan’s forces are preparing their final assault against God’s children, many of our people are planning to resist. I cannot say they are wrong because I don’t know how Armageddon will play out; perhaps we will be called into actual battle as warriors for Christ. I would like very much to go through that final door suddenly and violently in the midst of battle. But, it might also be that God does not direct all His children to die, saving some of them to be changed in the twinkling of an eye at the last moment, in order that they might begin the foundation for the new civilization in the kingdom of Heaven. I would also like to be part of that group. Either way, I just yearn for the ending of this terrible kingdom of Satan. I see myself as one of those martyrs ‘neath God’s altar who cry incessantly for God to end the injustice; only to hear Him command me to patience until the rest of my brothers have been killed and join me. Alas, I am too weak to be patient.
Seventy one years completed, today, August 21, 2009. I feel old and weak; my memory is failing more frequently. I’m ready to go home. Years ago I felt more passionate anger toward Christ’s enemies, but now any desire for revenge is gone and I just want to see our family of Christ liberated from Satan’s injustice. They had their time of dominion over us, and it must now come to an end. I want it to happen now, already. If my breathing was not an involuntary function, I would feel that any decision to take another breath would be an act of wickedness. But, then, I know that I speak from arrogance and weakness, and that I am not the Director of this pageant. So, I yield willingly to Him Who does direct it, and I will go to bed each night content that I should not awaken the next morn. And each morn, I shall lunge into each day eager to do whatever He sets before me. Often I shall glance toward the horizon, expecting my liberators (Christ’s enemies) to do their job of tossing me through the exit door. I am a Spirit-Being, anxious to be free again, like a prodigal in the pig-pen yearning to be home.
EPIPHANY: August 22, 2009
Lying awake during wee hours of the morning, thoughts drift dreamily across the wide-screen of the mind, sometimes fading away before one gets a chance to set them into conscious memory. This morning the pieces of the puzzle which I was contemplating seemed to fall into place and I saw more clearly what has confounded me in the past. I share it with you.
Ezekiel describes four faces of the four Living Beings (Ezekiel 1:5-21) as Man, Lion, Calf, and Eagle, the same four as John described in his vision recorded in Revelations 4:7. John lists them in an order: first Lion, second Calf, third Man, and fourth Eagle. These are also the four Seraphs of Isaiah 6:2 except that Isaiah does not list the names of the four faces. Now, these four Living Beings represent several different facets of God's expression, namely His four Natures, four quadrants of the cycle of time, each quadrant being about 6,000 years, four influences with each being dominant for a quarter cycle, and four Brigade divisions of the Israel tribes. I have discussed this information in many articles on my website. Today, my epiphany regards the four faces as representation of my/your four natures as they are experienced by me/you over cycles of time/history. It is necessary here for you to print out a copy of the Sine Wave Diagram.
A cycle is a circle, of course, but since we don't experience time as going backward, it is necessary to diagram a cycle in a linear format so that time is always proceeding forward. You can plot a Sine Wave Cycle on a circle by drawing a circle on a paper and dividing it into four parts with a Cross, so it looks like four pieces of pie. On the face of each quadrant, write the name of a Face, as listed in Revelations.
LION: is the lower left quadrant (Southwest), which represents the ages of Leo, Cancer, and Gemini, the quadrant of Physical Nature dominance which is the first half of the Kingdom of World.
CALF: is the lower right quadrant (Southeast), which represents the ages of Taurus, Aires, and Pisces, the quadrant of Emotional Nature dominance which is the second half of the Kingdom of World. We now live at the endtime of this quadrant, at the end of Pisces.
MAN: is the upper right quadrant (Northeast), which represents the ages of Aquarius, Capricorn, and Sagittarius, the quadrant of Spiritual Nature dominance which is the first half of the Kingdom of Heaven.
EAGLE: is the upper left quadrant (Northwest), which represents the ages of Scorpio, Libra, and Virgo, the quadrant of Intellectual dominance which is the second half of the Kingdom of Heaven --after the Fall because Man was tempted to Know good from evil, an act of intellectual vanity.
Ezekiel describes the four Faces as functioning with wheels (cycles) and as wheels within wheels (subcycles within primary cycles). I have described this function in other writings, like this. A primary cycle of 24,000 years is divided into twelve parts (zodiac ages of 2,000 years each). Well, each of the zodiac ages can also be plotted as a cycle, on sine-wave diagram, so that it performs as a subcycle. Further, each 2,000 year subcycle can be diagramed on a sine-wave curve as another subcycle. So, we see the influences which guide the course of history waxing and waning, all performing according to God's Design.
YOUR LIFE THROUGH ONE CYCLE (24,000 YEARS = 4 QUADRANTS)
Okay, let's consider that I/you exist as a four Faced being as listed above, each of which is an expression of God. All four Natures are Faces of God. And you are His image. Since you, as a Spirit-Being, have always existed from the time before the World began, as a member of the Christ, then you have existed through many many cycles. Your change of character, playing different roles, in God's Play is nothing more than a costume change, no big deal. You appear repeatedly, each time under different influences, direction, energies, and goals. You are a dynamic, living experience of God. Doing the best you can at that, in ever varying conditions, is Godliness.
MAN FACE QUADRANT, 6,000 YEARS: Let's picture you first as perfect Man in Eden after the Creation. At that time, your Man Face (Spirit Nature) was dominant (looking straight ahead, as Ezekiel describes it). See your circle diagram. Your natures of Intellect and Emotions were present as secondary influences, while your Physical Face was looking backward so that it had the least influence, perhaps even a somewhat opposing force. Your Spiritual Nature was dominant, with close affinity with your Supreme Father who is pure Spirit. But, since the influential energies of God, as He designed them to be in their cyclic performance, are always changing, it happened that your attraction to Intellect gradually increased while your Spiritual empowerment gradually decreased.
EAGLE FACE QUADRANT, 6,000 YEARS: After six thousand years of Spirit dominance, you finally yielded to the temptation to live as Intellect, to know good and evil; thus you Fell from that Spiritual perfection and your Union with the Spirit of your Father. You wanted to think for yourself, at least separate and different from your Father. You left the palace of your Father, to undertake your own journey. During the next six thousand years of dominant Intellect, you enjoyed the nearly unlimited power available to you in Heaven; you achieved brilliant accomplishments, certainly unimaginable to us, today, at the end of 12,000 years of stumbling in ignorance. As influential energies continued to change, you were increasingly tempted to cross that line between Heaven and the Physical World so that you could experience the sensual experiences possible only to physical creatures.
LION FACE QUADRANT, 6,000 YEARS: So it was that about 12,000 years ago, you left your first estate (Heaven) and became the Physical Face, beginning with the age of Leo, King of the jungle (pig-pen). You were looking for mastery of physical World, just as you had long known mastery of your Heavenly kingdom. But, Alas, it is antithetical to God's Design for anyone to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. You couldn't make the physical world into any kind of Heaven. Take a look again at your circle diagram of Faces: your Spirit power was looking backward while you, as a Lion/Physical Face were looking straight ahead. Spiritual influence was nearly absent for this Physical age. You reached rock bottom where you were subject to earthly and evil forces which hated you and sought to destroy you. You had turned your back on your Father and came to World by your own rebellious choice, and other than preventing your total destruction your Father wasn't going to haul your butt out of there. You must climb out on your own, prodigal.
CALF FACE QUADRANT, 6,000 YEARS: Well, your merciful Father (Who expresses His Design and His Life through you) wasn't about to abandon you completely. So, just before the negative energies of World reached their maximum (the nadir/bottom of the Sine Wave cycle), it was in Gemini that God set up a program whereby you might climb upward toward His palace again; He initiated another genetic line of family to whom He would offer some guidance and incentive. It was a new start, but it nearly failed as the sons and daughters of the new Adamic family yielded to physical and emotional lusts to adulterate their race with other earth races. So, it was just after the nadir of the cycle that God had to clear the slate by destroying all the mongrel progeny, providing another fresh start with the only family which had not miscegenated with non-Adamites. And your dominant Face became that of the Calf, so that your Emotional Nature would be dominant for the next six-thousand years. You might note that when your Emotional Face is forward, it is your Rational Intellect which is least influential; at the end of this period right now, we can see that we haven't done very well under Emotional dominion. Science and industry are merely the exaltation of earthly materials by which Satan's designs are accomplished. Sensual gratifications are what we devote our lives to. Godly values are diminished as we exalt material values. Emotions have not been good guides for God's children, so it was necessary to set some strict laws which might govern your path, hopefully upward. The Sinai commandments were an effort in that direction, but which failed.
Now, in 2009 we are at the end of that quadrant/Face of Emotional dominance. We don't have much reason to boast, as our society, culture, religion, and values have all exalted emotional desires of pleasure, security, entertainment, relationships. We must remind ourselves that the Physical and Emotional Natures are also Faces of God, by which He expresses Himself, so they are not inherently evil. World is not inherently evil. But, since God gave Satan rulership over the Kingdom of World, we have yielded to his temptations to exercise our emotions negatively, even perversely. Satan tempts us, because that is part of God's Grand Design; but it is our fault if we grasp his offering. We can't blame Satan for deceiving us; we are responsible for believing him.
MAN QUADRANT AGAIN: Now, in 2009, we are about to transfer from a quadrant of Emotional dominion to the next quadrant where our Spirit Face will be forward. It is here that we will succeed in our climb up that long hill to finally reach our Father's palace, our true home. We've been told that we can't go there as Physical flesh and blood, but Jesus showed us that when we release this pseudo-matter of flesh and blood, that we will be renewed in bodies which are still of a physical Face nature, but which are not base matter like that of World. During the next six-thousand years, Physical Matter will be our backward Face, while we glorify our Father as Spirit-Beings, His own offspring, His own family, His anointed son.
THE MYSTIC. After all the discussion of what a Mystic might be and what motivates him to value his world of the Spiritual Mind above anything physical, emotional, or intellectual, it now seems that we have found the answer. Perhaps he has realized something of his Spirit Nature which is increasing in power and will soon become dominant. He senses, in some mysterious way, that He is primarily Spirit and that the other three Faces are preventing him from the full realization of his true self. Is this what the many martyrs also realized as they went willingly to their deaths, confident of what the future held for them. Perhaps we can say that the Mystic has seen his true Self and has chosen to love it more than anything this world can offer.
While many of our people are focusing on the upcoming battle against Satan's forces, perhaps the Mystics will welcome the release of their bodies so they can become once again the Spirit-Beings which they most identify with. The dawning of the age of Aquarius will see a new Light, the very Morning Star Who appeared to attract us toward the new day. While much of the world suffers the disastrous consequences of their ungodly choices, we Sons of the Light might begin our dancing and rejoicing.