Category Archives: Religion

April 6, 2013 · 1:22 pm

“Tarot readers and fortune tellers and fortune tellers cannot save you, says Pope Francis.”

 

The Pope

The Pope

News today that Jim Bowen lookalike and head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis has told a congregation

“In order to solve their problems many people resort to fortune tellers and tarot cards. But only Jesus saves, and we must bear witness to this! He is the only one.”

Now I’m a tarot reader amongst other things, so I could be forgiven for interpreting this as a dig at me! In fact, what I would actually say that if the operative word in this sentence is “saves” then technically the Pope is correct. Tarot cards do not “save” someone, in the sense of salvation of ones immortal soul. One has to look to the theology of ones own religion to determine what is necessary for such salvation.

However the Pope does make a terrible leap from going from “solving problems” to talking about “salvation.” The Tarot does help solve peoples problems – it gives suggestions and makes people think of things that they would not otherwise think about. The Tarot encourages and stimulates an intuitive approach which draws out answers from the praeternatural regions of consciousness. Who would turn down the opportunity of asking a friend for advice by saying: “I’m sorry I cannot listen to your opinion – because only Jesus saves.” ?

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March 15, 2013 · 11:00 am

What The Stars Have In Store For Pope Francis I: Update

It's Jim Bowen off Bullseye actually.

His Holiness Pope Francis I

NB: This is an updated version of the page which originally appeared here.

Pope Francis I (born Jorge Maria Berguglio, December 17 1936 in Buenos Aires) was announced as the new Pontiff at 7.06pm local time at the Vatican City. Using this information I have attempted to draw up charts for Francis I himself and for the moment of his election, and compare the two.

I found myself, however, up against an immediate problem that I did not have birth-time data for the new Pope: I have therefore attempted a spot of Chart Rectification. Looking back through the notable events in his life so far, according to his Wikipedia entry, I noticed that in 2001 not only was the then Archbishop Berguglio appointed Cardinal, but he also attracted a lot of (favourable) publicity to himself by visiting an AIDS hospice in Argentina. I am therefore willing to bet that the date of his appointment as Cardinal coincided with Jupiter crossing his Midheaven. This would imply that his Midheaven is 2º 25′ Gemini.

Based on this assumption, Pope Francis I’s birth-time according to his rectified chart would be 11.09pm (local time for Buenos Aires). This would make him a Sun-Sagittarius with Leo-Rising.

Inner Ring: (rectified) natal chart for Pope Francis I (Cardinal Jorge Berguglio)Outer ring: chart for announcement of his election as Pope.

Inner Ring: (rectified) natal chart for Pope Francis I (Cardinal Jorge Berguglio)
Outer ring: chart for announcement of his election as Pope.

There are a number of intriguing observations to be drawn from both the Rectified Natal Chart and the chart for his election as Pope, e.g.:

  • Jupiter is transitting his tenth house. Of this my crib sheet says:

This is a time to gain in status, particularly on the professional front, but could also indicate marriage in some cases. Jupiter in your tenth house is a very fortunate place for this expansive planet. Increased public recognition and professional success characterizes this position.

Whilst a Cardinal he was doctrinally conservative, so thoughts of marriage can probably be discounted. Note that this applies to a general period in Pope Francis’ life which started approximately three months ago and whill last over a year.

  • Comedy planet Uranus, previously identified with signalling the decline of the Catholic Church in general and the previous Pope in particular, is square to Francis I’s natal Sun and Caput Draconis. Of this angle, my crib sheet says:

You may have to control an urge to rebel and be different that could set your ambitions and goals back a step … Unexpected changes, upheavals, surprises, reversals, discontentment, and a break from the safe and predictable characterize this time period.

  • Despite this though, Uranus is not in such a bad position in relation to Francis I as it was to Benedict XVI. E.g. it is trine to both his natal Moon and Venus, which would suggest that he is in the mood for partying and having fun! This does not strike me as a particularly apostolic thing to be doing but hey, I’m just calling it like I see it.
  • Also, I will just make the note that the Moon is some nine degrees past the last planet (Uranus, coincidentally) in a Cardinal sign and in an angular house, which would suggest that Berguglio’s accession to the Papacy was effectively in the bag nine days ago, on March 4th. It is also opposite the new Pope’s natal Mars, suggesting that he faced some exceedingly bitter arguments in the conclave (reinforced by transitting Mars square to his natal Sun).

General Predictions for Pope Francis’ Papacy

Unfortunately for those hoping for an early end to the Catholic Church, it is exceedingly unlikely during the reign of this particular Pontiff. Looking at the chart for the announcement of Pope Francis’ election – the Sun, representing the government of the church, is fairly free of bad aspects but conjunct Mars and Venus. This would suggest that the new Pope Francis will bring a new burst of energy to the papacy, increase the Church’s patronage of the Arts, and generally solve disputes rather than cause or exacerbate them.

However, it is not all good news. Jupiter, representing the Hierarchy (i.e. the priests and bishops), is square to Mercury (retrograde), the planet of unfortunate PR disasters, and Neptune, the planet of shady cover-ups – suggesting that scandal will nevertheless dog the Church the dog during Francis’ reign. NB: I mean revelations of new scandal, rather than just continuations of the current ones.

Also: Pluto, the planet of large explosions, is giving grief to Uranus, the planet of revolutionary change, so whilst this Papacy may not see the end of the church per se, the fervour of the Church’s enemies will not be undimmed, and there will even be at least one major terrorist atrocity which badly affects the Church.

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February 25, 2013 · 4:46 pm

The Age of Uranus

Quiz: spot the Crook in this picture.

Quiz: spot the Crook in this picture.

Fate can be a cruel altar boy sometimes. Not only has it seen fit to depose Pope Benedict XVI, it has now got rid of Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews & Edinburgh. Unfortunately, given the circumstances of his departure, he only had twenty more days before retirement anyway, so in terms of damage to the Catholic Church the point is almost academic.

Nevertheless: when looking for the stars of the day, I cannot help but notice that the same planet that figured so highly in the chart for the Pope’s departure is also prominent in that of the Cardinal’s, viz. Uranus. However, whereas in the Pope’s case I am willing to believe that His Holiness’ departure is genuinely due to the decrepitude of old age (because he is currently undergoing a Uranus-return), O’Brien’s recession is far more intriguing.

Outer ring: chart for O'Brien's departure, 25th Feb 2013Inner ring: O'Brien's birth chart, 17th March 1938 (times approximated to 12 noon in both cases)

Outer ring: chart for O’Brien’s departure, 25th Feb 2013
Inner ring: O’Brien’s birth chart, 17th March 1938 (times approximated to 12 noon in both cases)

O’Brien (born 17th March 1938, Ballycastle, Northern Ireland), has Uranus, the planet of forced resignation, transitting Venus, the planet of inappropriate touching, Saturn, the planet of bringing things like one’s career to an end, and Mercury, the planet of public scandal. Of these three, Saturn is the slowest moving one, indicating what we already knew, that the end of O’Brien’s career would happen in this general time-period, whilst Venus and Mercury indicate the particular nature of his departure.

Hence, Uranus has seen off two senior figures in the Catholic Church, though for different reasons. This has given the Sumner Family Brain Cell an idea.

There is a saying bandied about by some astrologers that the discovery of each of the new Planets had something to say about the age in which it was discovered. Uranus was discovered in 1781, leading some to associate it with the birth of USA (the American Revolutionary War ended that year), or of the Industrial Revolution, but more generally speaking it came at the end of the Age of Enlightenment – which from a philosophical point of view marked the beginning of the decline of the Christian Church. (NB: from a Postmodernist point of view, the decline in popularity of a thing is not a valid indicator of its worth). Hence I am tempted to speculate that this is the real meaning of the Age of Uranus – that of the decline of Christianity as an organised religion. We may therefore keep a track of this planet’s movements to see how much further it goes down the plughole of history in the future.

 

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February 11, 2013 · 4:34 pm

Pope Forced To Resign… by Uranus

Darth Sidious aka the Pope

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

For someone who famously made remarks criticising Gay Marriage, I find it ironic that Pope Benedict XVI has been forced to resign by comedy planet Uranus. Yes indeed! For that is the interpretation I have come up with by comparing the Pope’s birth-chart with one drawn up for the announcement of his resignation yesterday.

Pope Benedict XVI was born Joseph Aloysius Ratzinger at 0830 on 16th April 1927 at Marktl in Germany. Interestingly he had both Mars and Caput Draconis on his Ascendant, indicating that he was destined to come across as a pugnacious individual. Also, Mars was square to his Mercury, Jupiter and Natal Uranus, showing that his aggressive persona would hold back his ability to express himself clearly, get in the way of his ability to lead as Pope (in mundane astrology Jupiter represents the clergy), and make him react combatively if anything revolutionary came along.

Inner ring: Pope Benedict XVI's natal chart.Outer ring: the timing of his resignation statement.

Inner ring: Pope Benedict XVI’s natal chart.
Outer ring: the timing of his resignation statement.

Indeed, Uranus was transitting his Mid-heaven when he first became Pope in 2005! The planet though is a slow-moving one, indicating that the issue which has led to his resignation has been hanging over him for some time. Why has he announced it now? Probably because a whole load of other planets are transitting his mid-heaven, which would affect his relationship to his career and society at large.

This has given me an idea.

I, Alex Sumner, offer my services to the Conclave of the College of Cardinals due to take place on February 28th 2013 – as the in-house astrologer! I shall draw up charts for all the leading Papabile so that I can give everyone an informed opinion of who is likely to make a good Pope or not. This I am willing to do without payment per se, but I will need certain expenses to wit:

  • Return air fare to Rome, obviously;
  • Free unfettered access to the Vatican’s repository of ancient occult manuscripts – as well as a decent photocopier;
  • Most importantly: given that no-one except a Cardinal will be allowed in the Sistine Chapel after the doors are closed, you are going to have to make me a Cardinal. I think you will find that technically there is no rule against someone who is not a bishop or even ordained priest being appointed, it’s just that it’s never been done. Before now.

So there you have it. Obviously some things go without saying, like being allowed to sneak out of the Sistine Chapel to indulge my creature comforts using the secret passageway in the Vatican.

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January 15, 2013 · 8:51 pm

In Search of the Supernatural

Wading through the shallows of intellectual thought I not surprisingly find myself reading the Independent’s website, and in particular, a piece entitled “Why are supernatural beliefs so important to religion?” In it, Jared Diamond is summarised as first talking about famous religious stories of miraculous occurrences such as the story of Hanuman in Hinduism, and the events of Jesus’ life in Christianity. The article goes on:

The grand question here is: what purpose do these [beliefs] serve? Diamond sets out the interesting theory that religious beliefs were initially supernatural so that believers had to show their commitment to the faith by taking on – and not questioning – core ideas that went beyond anything they had ever seen before, or would ever see in their lifetime.

[...]

“[gods'] powers surpassing human powers are projections of our own personal power fantasies”, they’re harder, better, faster, stronger. “Thus”, according to Diamond, “religious supernatural beliefs are irrational, but emotionally plausible and satisfying.” Hence why they’ve hung around so long.

In my opinion, however, this is a rather superficial argument, and does Diamond no credit whatsoever. From my point of view I can see at least two major flaws: the first is

The Importance of Symbolism

Diamond appears to be setting up a straw-man argument by assuming that 100% of accounts of the miraculous are intended by religious adherents to be taken 100% literally 100% of the time. Honestly, this is such a retarded line of reasoning that it is almost beneath me to respond to it but, hey, that’s what I get for reading The Independent. And plus I need the site traffic. My response to this is going to be brain-numbingly obvious to anyone who is familiar with initiatic traditions, but please bear in mind I’m writing for first-time visitors to my site who might be unfamiliar.

What if, right, what if, some or all of all the stories told by religions are meant to be Symbolic rather than Literal? By “symbol” I specifically refer to a concept or idea which has a potential unlimited number of layers of meaning, and which leads the mind progressively deeper the more one contemplates it. What if, rather than trying to create Dogma, these stories were meant to create Mystery – which in its original meaning referred to teaching given out to initiates – ? The former represents the end of inner inquiry, the latter, because it deliberately arouses curiosity – its beginning.

Symbolism is the basic building block of the world’s mystery traditions into which the founders of the various religions were almost certainly initiated. Jared Diamond, a physiologist and geographer, has ignored the work of Jung, the first analytical psychologist, who devoted so much of his writing to myth and symbolism. If, per Jung, symbolism is so important to human psychology, is that not more of a credible reason why supernatural beliefs remain important in religion?

The other argument against the irrationality of the supernatural is

The Reality of Mystical States of Consciousness

Mystical states of consciousness are real – in the sense that they exist, people experience them from time to time, and descriptions of them have tended to be fairly consistent for several thousand years or more. I would suggest that many examples of Supernatural phenomena in religions are mostly accounts derived from mystical episodes. In some cases it is blatant – e.g. the Book of Revelation – though in others it is less so, unless one looks at them from the vantage point of experience. E.g. the account of the Transfiguration.

I would further posit that many accounts of the supernatural which form the basis of religion are in fact pre-rational – but not irrational – responses to perfectly genuine mystical experiences. Such experiences are powerful forces for personal motivation. I say pre-rational though because the motivation to found one’s own (dogmatising) religion would arise from not being aware of the full nature of the mystical – or confusing something which everyone could be taught to experience with a divine revelation meant exclusively for oneself. From my own observations I would say that established traditions both exoteric and esoteric would encourage those having mystical experiences to interpret them as personal experiences in the light of those particular traditions.

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January 6, 2013 · 12:00 am

Jesus Christ – Pagan Messiah

The Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated by Christians on January 6th. It is thought to be the date upon which Jesus was visited by the Wise men, and in many non-English speaking countries (e.g. most of Africa) is regarded as the actual date that Santa Claus comes to visit (Europeans believe he comes a month earlier on December 6th – the feast of St Nicholas). However all this is by the by as in this blog post I intend to analyse the symbolism of the feast of the Epiphany from a Qabalistic perspective.

It is widely thought that there were three Wise Men i.e. Magi, however this is a misconception – the number three only arises because of the number of gifts specified. There could in actual fact have been any number of Magi – they might for example have decided to arbitrarily change the number of Magi at their last High Council Meeting! The actual wording of Matthew’s Gospel in fact seems to indicate that there were many so-called Magi living in Jerusalem – perhaps making up an actual cult or secret society.

Nevertheless, let’s examine the symbolism of the three gifts: Gold, Frankincence and Myrrh. It has been said many times in the past that they are symbols of Jesus’ ministry: Gold – because it symbolises his Kingly role; Frankincense – His Priestly role; and Myrrh – the mastery over Death. Now let’s compare this with the Tarot. Although there is a rather obvious card associated with “Death,” there is at least one less obvious one as well – “The Empress” – because in Rosicrucian terms, Daleth / Venus is “the Door” to the Tomb.  The Kingly role is most obviously associated with “The Emperor” and the Priestly role with “The Hierophant.”

Gold Heh The Emperor
Frankincense Vav The Hierophant
Myrrh Daleth The Empress

Now you see the pattern emerging? The three gifts represent paths leading to the sephirah Chokmah. And, in the Rosicrucian tradition, an initiate of the grade of Chokmah is called a Magus. What actually makes this most remarkable is that the name of the Rosicrucian grade of Magus pre-dates the assignment of Tarot trumps to the Tree of Life by over a hundred years or so, coming as it does from the Gold + Rosy Cross.

What we have in effect in Matthew’s Gospel is Jesus, whilst still a small child, effectively being advanced to the grade of 9=2 Magus. I say with no intended irony that it is the very model of a modern Magus ritual. Seriously though, the fact is that thereafter, “being warned in a dream they returned to their own country by another route.” In other words, these Magi were not Jews at all but foreigners – i.e. Pagans! Moreover there is at least one Gnostic gospel that claims that Jesus’ coming was foretold by “Zeredusht” (i.e. Zoroaster). What this means is that Matthew – and indeed perhaps the early Church itself – intended Jesus not just to be the Messiah of the Jews, but of the Pagans as well.

If this is true, then it represents a notion which would have proved far too radical for later and more modern Christians, if indeed they even dared to conceive it all. For example – how many times have you heard preachers trying to explain Jesus’ life by reference to the Old Testament? A lot. How many times, however, have you heard preachers trying to explain Jesus’ life by reference to Pagan scriptures in the same manner? I am keen to wager it is somewhat less. Yet the implication of Jesus being initiated as a Magus by Pagans would seem to imply, to my mind at least, that it would be appropriate to do so.

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November 21, 2012 · 11:39 am

XX Bishops

Two years ago the Catholic Church ruled out the Ordination of Women as Priests: now the Church of England has ruled out the female bishops. Now the thing is that Bishops are traditionally the successors of the Apostles: hence if it had been the case there were female Apostles, then it is theologically correct to have female Bishops.

In a blog post I wrote two years ago, I advanced an argument to say there is scriptural evidence that there were indeed female Apostles! Note that this is nothing to do with revisionism, but the correct reading of the original scriptures.

I do hope, however, that the Church of England can sort this out in-house. There is a distressing number of people saying that Parliament should now overrule the General Synod. I hope this does not happen. As I understand the term, Freedom of Religion is supposed to mean Freedom from Government interference in Religion. If this is meant to be a human right – as the UN Declaration on Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, etc would suggest - then it ought not to be qualified by adding “… but only when you don’t do anything the Government disapproves,” otherwise it is not a real right at all.

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October 25, 2012 · 10:51 am

The Paradox of Christianity and Occultism

An intriguing use of the chequered pavement!

It’s getting to that time of year again when certain types of Christian pastor pop out of the wood-work and alternatively rail against the supposed pagan and / or satanic origins of Halloween, or more creatively try to put on their own alternate events. Mind you I did find it ironic that one town in Pennsylvania was putting on a series of events apparently without realising there is already a Christian holiday associated with the day (All Saints’ Day) - ”Fall Family Fun,” anyone?

I would like to give away one of the “greatest secrets” of occultism at this point. It’s not actually a great secret as far as occultists are concerned, but it is to many Fundamentalist preachers judging from their ravings, and even to some of the fluffier types of pagans. It is this: many occultists are in fact Christians themselves. Not Christopagans, nor even Gnostic Christians, but actual Christians. They tend not to draw attention to themselves, but they are there. These are the sort of people who join organisations like the Martinists, the Elus Cohens, the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross and other Qabalistic organisations which are sympathetic to Jesus Christ.

Reading the Hebrew letters from Fire going anti-clockwise spells “Yeheshuah.”

These are the sort of people who point out that the Pentagram is the symbol of the Pentagrammaton (“Yeheshuah”), the Qabalistic-spelling of Jesus: hence each time one performs the LBRP, one is actually invoking Jesus in the four quarters without realising it!

In fact, given that Neo-Paganism is predominantly a movement dating from the latter half of the twentieth century, the vast majority of the members of the original Golden Dawn and its offshoots were themselves Christian, and sought to incorporate Christian symbology into their Qabalistic practices.

I appreciate this will probably sound like the most outrageous heresy to Fundamentalist Christians. I believe the common attitude amongst such people is typified by the following:

The extent of occult involvement is universal.  Spiritual warfare is all around us, and if Satan cannot keep us from knowing Christ he will try containing us by drawing us into deception.  The Enemy is a deceiver, liar, tempter, and devourer of human souls…..

[...]

Actually, occultists’ practices are a counterfeit of God’s power, and as such they do reveal some amazing things — but these things are not the ultimate truth.  … [A]n increase in demonic activity is to be expected as a sign of the end times.

What is the Occult?

Pity the poor occultist! He or she is trapped in a real dilemma! If one invokes Satan, one is obviously Satanists, and if one invokes God, His Angels, or Jesus, etc – even in all apparent sincerity - one is still invoking Satan because the Father of Lies is pulling the wool over their eyes. One cannot win!

What these Fundamentalist Christians don’t realise – or they conveniently forget – is that Jesus Himself was accused of dabbling in the occult when He was alive! To wit:

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Mark 3:22 – 30

Replace “Scribes” in this passage with “Fundamentalist preachers” and you basically have the entire plight of the modern occultist who nevertheless professes to be a Christian. Logic would suggest – and Jesus Himself explicitly states here - that one cannot perform something which is objectively good and still be in thrall to the powers of Evil. So to address the quote from “What is the occult?” I would say it is seriously unwise to accuse an occultist of being deceived by Satan, because one might just be blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, i.e. committing the unforgiveable sin.

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October 31, 2011 · 12:55 pm

The Halloween Conspiracy – An exposé!

Merry Samhain!

There is a sinister Halloween conspiracy afoot. It is a truly insidious attempt to subvert this traditional holiday and turn it into something evil. As far as I am aware, this has never been talked about publicly before, so powerful is the wall of silence surrounding this dastardly scheme. This conspiracy is so disturbing it makes the members of the Warren Commission look like pillars of rectitude, and the extraordinary renditions of British citizens to Libya during Tony Blair’s time in office as UK Prime Minister nothing more than an attempt to send these people on holiday.

However, that is all about to change as I, Alex Sumner, the World’s Greatest Conspiracy Theorist, now blow the gaffe on the great Halloween Conspiracy. What is fundamental to understand is that this particular conspiracy is being perpetrated by an unholy partnership of Christians and secular groups on Wiccan, Pagans, Occultists  – and indeed other Christians.

I shit ye not! This all occurred to me when I was pondering why there has been a move away from traditional Halloween costumes in recent years towards costumes which are not particularly scary at all. Heidi Klum’s effort to look like a dead-body is probably the worthiest Halloween costume that your humble blogmaster has seen this year: it is not only a highly artistic effort, but splendidly enters into the macabre spirit of things. Other costumes however seem to be missing the point of Halloween, with a lot of people under the impression that all that is required is “fancy dress.”

I have said this before, but for the avoidance of doubt I will say it again: a costume is only an authentic Halloween costume if it amounts to a disguise – i.e. so that if an evil spirit came along, it would not recognise you. This is how the tradition of wearing costumes Halloween derives from the pagan celebration of Samhain.

That’s when it hit me: the move from traditional scary costumes to non-traditional fancy dress is a deliberate ploy to take the “Samhain” out of “Halloween” ! Now a lot of Christian Fundamentalists simply come out and say: “Don’t celebrate Halloween, because it’s Satanic,” and all they achieve is they manage to publicise the pagan festival which is its origin. However: the Halloween Conspiracy seeks to spread the idea that Halloween is not about scary costumes but about fancy dress – and hence subtly sever the associations to Samhain. It is in fact the Pagan equivalent of All Souls’ Day, the day of honouring ones deceased relatives. I believe the ancient Church recognised this and deliberately chose to mark All Souls’ Day as close to Samhain as possible (November 2nd) for this very reason.

By severing the connection between Halloween and Samhain, it plays partly into Christian hands who find a secular fancy dress holiday more palatable than one associated with wrongly-so-called Satanic imagery. However, far more pernicious is the fact that it also plays into the hands of secular-politically-correct-atheistic-liberal-consensus that is uncomfortable with any mention of spirituality whatsoever.

Hence: what Christians and Pagans should be doing is, instead of fighting each other, join forces to combat the growing rise of secularism. This can only be done by Christians embracing the scary imagery, and by pagans realising that Christians are not necessarily the enemy but potential allies in the cause of Keeping Samhain Spiritual.

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May 19, 2011 · 1:24 pm

Alex explains The Rapture

The Rapture. You're Doing It Wrong.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever.

1 Thessalonians 4:17

Meet me Jesus, meet me,
Meet me in the middle of the air,
If my wings should fail me Lord
Please meet me with another pair.

Led Zeppelin, In My Time Of Dying.

Following on from my post about the coming Apocalypse, I thought I would share my thoughts on the Initiated view of the so-called Rapture. The popular notion is that on a certain day, the Lord will call His Own to Himself, which will result in them ascending physically into the sky. This will entail great joy for the Virtuous; great lamentation for the not-quite-so-Virtuous; great consternation for those of the Virtuous who were stuck indoors on the day it happens; and widespread looting and partying for everyone else.

Let’s ignore for one moment the fact that the idea of the Rapture is (a) preposterous and (b) inconsistent with other eschatological passages in the New Testament in both the Gospels and  the Book of Revelation. The whole idea about the Rapture is based on the passage from 1 Thessalonians quoted above: the operative word in the verse is “air.” In Greek this would have been Aera i.e. the air of the atmosphere or sky, as opposed to Pneuma or breath. In Hebrew however, this is Shamayim.

Shamayim, spelled with final (top) and medial versions of Mem.

Correctly spelled, this enumerates in Gematria to 1090 – which reduces by Theosophic Reduction (aka Aiq Beker) to 10, the number of Malkuth. Furthermore, the technically-incorrect spelling using the medial Mem instead of the final, which enumerates to 430 – the same as Nephesh.

This casts the situation in a far different light altogether. “Nephesh” is the vital or animal-soul of a person: the word is used in the Old Testament as a synonym for a “living being.” It may also be thought of as bearing the same relation to the Ruach as the Sub-conscious mind does to the Conscious mind. In the Qabalah the Nephesh is associated with Malkuth.

Thus by analysing it Qabalistically, it starts to look pretty much that far from meeting the Lord somewhere above the troposphere, He will manifest down here in the midst of our life in Malkuth within our very own being. After all, Jesus did say (He was quoting Psalm 37 when he did so) that it would be the Meek who inherit the Earth, not the unvirtuous.

NB: This interpretation may sound far-fetched but it is far more reasonable than some of the explanations put about by those who believe in a literal Rapture.

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