ANALYSIS OF THE WORD SIN

ANALYSIS OF THE WORD SIN

It is by practice, discovery, remembering, and knowing; that we attain spiritual awareness of the one true Source of all that is. 

Among the Ancient Greek Olympics, sin was an archery term. When the Archer would miss the bulls eye of the target, people would exclaim “hamartia!.” This term literally means “missed the mark.” On a metaphysical and mental level, what people think of today as SIN ... is a must have experience if we are to rise above ignorance and unknowingness.

Know this also: The Hebrew (chatá) and its Greek equivalent (àµaρtίa/hamartia) both mean "missing the mark" or "off the mark.”

One of the most commonly mistranslated Hebrew words is “chait,” which we will usually see translated as “sin.” A more accurate translation of the Hebrew chait is “error” or “mistake.”

People don't “sin.” People make mistakes. After all, we are all human. And the ancient Hebrew lesson was to learn from our mistakes. What we are to do is apologize, clean up any mess, and move on with life.

So now, the etymology of this word “

——

We’ll now begin with the NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon:

Strong's Number: 266 (sin)

Original Word

(h)amartia

from (264)

Transliterated Word

Hamartia

Phonetic Spelling

Parts of Speech

ham-ar-tee'-ah 

Noun Feminine

Definition

1. equivalent to 264 - amartano

a. to be without a share in

b. to miss the mark

c. to err, be mistaken

d. to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong

e. to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin

2. that which is done wrong, sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act

3. collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many

——

In the Comedy/Tragedy of theatre, the word hamartia refers to a flaw or mistake that leads to a fictional character's downfall. Classical tragedies revolve around the main character's hamartia, the tragic flaw that sets a series of disastrous events in motion.

Achilles’ heel was his hamartia – his fatal flaw. Most tragedies couldn’t exist without hamartia. It’s in the tragic plays of the ancient Greek writer Aeschylus to works like Shakespeare's Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. In Shakespeare, examples of hamartia are Hamlet's indecisiveness and Juliet's blind loyalty to Romeo. Hamartia comes from a root meaning "to miss or fail."

When the Greek books of the New Testament were written, Christians were using the word hamartia to mean “moral flaw” and it was in that sense that it was translated into English as “sin.”

Gnostics (Knowers) do not look to salvation from sin (original or other), but rather from the ignorance of which sin is a consequence. Ignorance - whereby is meant ignorance of spiritual realities - is dispelled only by Gnosis (knowing), and the decisive revelation of Gnosis is brought by the Messengers of Light, especially by Christ, the Logos. It is not by His suffering and death but by His life of teaching and His establishing of mysteries. 

The “eternal sin,” or unpardonable sin, as referred to by Jesus in Mark 3:28-30, is the belief that God is the creator of disease or disharmony of any nature. This belief is labeled as ‘eternal sin” because that which is eternal is immutable. As long as mankind (in mind) abides in the conviction that “God” causes him to suffer, he closes his Mind against the inflow of the gifts of health, peace, and harmony. This wrong thinking can be referenced by the Bible verse in Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed (metamorphosis) by the renewing of your Mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Man's sins are “forgiven” when he begins to open his Mind to the fact that he is heir only to the goodness, and not the suffering and ills created in this realm. The sin, or wrong thinking, has laid a dark path of fear and guilt. Until man comes to the realization that he IS a Divine Spark of the Source of all things (God), he cannot ascend to a higher state of consciousness and escape the worldly egocentric way of Life. Man is NOT punished FOR his sins, he suffers BY his sin ... his error in thinking. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM.

UNIVERSAL DEEPER LOOK AT JOHN 3:13

UNIVERSAL DEEPER LOOK AT JOHN 3:13

“No one has ascended into heaven but he who has descended from heaven, the Son of man.”

-John 3:13

In the outer interpretation (exoteric), according to leaders and followers of most modern day Christianity … the “Son of man” is Jesus.

According to this modern Christian interpretation, Jesus came down from Heaven, was born into a human body, and only HE can ascend back up into heaven. Further, Jesus is a Divine being, and not like the rest of us mere mortals. We certainly cannot do what Jesus has done, even though in the New Testament he is quoted as saying “you will do greater things than I.”

In some of these OUTER/exoteric/literal interpretations, Jesus is actually God, not just the Son of God. We, the general human populous, are considered to be lowly sinners, forever enslaved by “Original Sin” and can never be what Jesus was/is.

But now consider this: In the INNER interpretation (esoteric), the “Son of man” is the Spirit WITHIN, specifically, the awakened Spirit within.

In the ancient tradition, there are two aspects of God; a masculine and a feminine. The feminine aspect is referred to as Sophia, meaning Wisdom, and also refers to the emotional aspect of God, which is unconditional love. The masculine aspect refers to knowledge and knowing (gnosis).

When the feminine and masculine aspect of God combine, a third component is created; the pure white light of Christ. This pure white light of Christ is the living light of Spirit (Christ Consciousness), the very same Spirit within each living thing. This living light of Spirit is the Source of our personal Life. This is the “and then there was light” that was referred to in Genesis. This is the Matrix, the Field, the web of consciousness. 

What is born of Spirit is Spirit. We are born of God/Source. The Spirit within us is the very substance of God/Source Energy, and as such, cannot die or be destroyed. We have eternal Life because the Spirit within us is the substance of God, which also has eternal Life. It is a function of what we are. Jesus was quoted as asking us to “follow him,” not worship him. He expected us to do the things he did, and to become like him.

John 14:12

"Timeless truth, I tell you: 'whoever believes in me, those works which I have done he will also do, and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to the presence of my Father.'"

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM.

ADAM AND EVE AS METAPHOR

ADAM AND EVE AS METAPHOR

From the earliest days of its descent into matter, humankind has asked questions like: “Who am I? Where do I come from and where am I going to? And how did we all come into being?” We have a right to search into these things, in fact we are meant to do this and we are entitled to find out the Truth, as much of it as we can digest.

For a very long time we had to make do with allegories about a great many things, including the one about the first human beings. But, by now, hopefully many have been able to grasp the full Truth, that the story of Adam and Eve is presented as metaphors, an allegories. This myth symbolizes the fact that the inner unseen part of every man, is woman; and that of every woman, is man.

What did he just say? Yeah, I know. Stay with me on this one. 

Concerning the first human beings in the book of Genesis 2:26: :

Then God said: ‘Let us make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild beasts of the Earth and over every creeping one that creeps on the Earth.’ So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them. Male and female He created them.”

And now the shorter version ... “let US (many) make man in OUR (many) image (God/s) ... and created MAN ... male and female.”

 Therefore, each God, and each of us - is BOTH male and female. The “Image of God” - male AND female. 

Keep with me here ... we're almost there.

In Genesis 3:18 and 21-23 it continued with: 

“Then the Lord God said: ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper who is like him.' So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept. And he took one of his ribs (sides/halves) and closed up the place with flesh in its stead. And from the rib the Lord God had taken from Adam He made a woman and brought her to Adam. And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.’”

Now ask yourself “what if God had said:”

“I am the Father of the entirety of Creation. My Spirit is the masculine aspect of the Divine, known in your world as God, Fire and Air, creative ideas and the thought processes and intellect to communicate them to My feminine counterpart, the Goddess. 

She is the Mother and the soul of the whole of Creation. The Divine Feminine and womb of life. The elements Earth and Water represent My soft sensitive feeling side through whom I express My idea and bring them into manifestation in your world and all others. Created in My image, all these things are also in you.”

What say you now?

The story of Adam and Eve, as many similar creation accounts before the Hebrew Old Testament account, provides an allegory of the creation of the first human beings and the highly complex psychological processes of initiation that every human Spirit that goes forth from God (emanation) has to undergo. 

The myth was created to explain these things in the most simple terms possible, which could be easily be grasped by ordinary men and women at that particular phase in humankind’s evolution, and level of knowledge or education. The esoteric Truth behind it is that Adam, the man (Divine Masculine), represents Consciousness - and Eve, the woman, (Divine Feminine) psyche - the man’s soul. Each one of us ... contain both.

From this emerged the primordial Adam of the scriptures, where his pre-conscious state is described as a deep sleep. In this state, one side (rib/side/half) is taken from him. This process of Creation is very old and dates far back into very ancient times. It found its way into the Judaic tradition from the much older traditions of the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and other civilizations. They in turn, spread ancient spiritual knowledge throughout the millennia ... and so on and so forth. 

The scriptures containing the creation of Eve from Adam’s “rib/side” was lost in translation, because people in those days could simply not yet grasp that this did not mean one side of his physical body, but his inner self and subconscious. The Truth has always been that Eve, the woman, was and always will be an individual Spirit, who is whole in her own right, the same as Adam, the man.

Adam is used as symbolism for consciousness. In both genders he represents the masculine aspect. Eve is his feminine counterpart, psyche, or soul. You can see for yourself that “the Fall from Eden” is a metaphor for humankind’s psyche taking its consciousness into identification with its physical body. 

It was not a fall or an accident, but a necessary evolutionary process to help each one of us to become aware that in Truth, we are an individualized Divine spark of God ... each one whole and complete with our own masculine consciousness and feminine soul aspect ... “made in the Image of God.”

The purpose behind creating us as men and women, has been and still is the development of these parts in equal proportions. The two eventually have to be perfectly balanced in us, the way they balance in God. We must achieve balance between our conscious Mind (masculine), and our subconscious Mind (feminine) ... harmony and balance, in order to manifest the forms we desire and without hurting anyone or anything else. This is the “Bridal Chamber” of scripture. 

When “the two shall be as one,” we have brought about the completion of the Trinity. The male and female once balanced and united, resurrect within us the Divine consciousness of the Christ. And we become one in Spirit, One in Mind, Oneness ... because separation is merely an illusion. The entire Universe in One, and we're in it, therefore within it, therefore one with it. 

To achieve total understanding, all human spirits have to reincarnate, sometimes into male physical bodies, and on other occasions into female ones. It was for evolutionary purposes that your “other half” had to remain hidden from your own view for a very long time. That’s why you were provided with two levels of awareness, a conscious and a subconscious one. What the conscious impregnates the subconscious with, it will manifest. Whether your thoughts are good, or not so good. 

There has to be a creative aspect within each of us. We are creators, or at the very least - rearrangers. Everything begins in thought. It matters not what it may be ... brushing your teeth, changing a TV channel, all of it ALWAYS begins in thought. It is consciousness that unifies the invisible interwoven fabric of the Universe, the Field, the Matrix of Mind. The Eternal enfolding of the endless circle of the vastness or nothing, and everything ... all at the same time.  

The story of Adam and Eve is but one allegory of many to be found in the ancient creation myths among so many past and distant civilizations. But the Writer(s) of Genesis brought together what had been taught among the ancients for the Hebrew audience, and for the people at that time. Remember that a myth (mythos in Greek) is best defined as “a story or set of stories relevant to or having a significant Truth or meaning for a particular culture, religion, society, or other group.” We must look beyond the literal presentation, and find what lies beneath and beyond ... the esoteric and metaphorical message contained within the text. Joseph Campbell put it best when saying: “A myth is something that never was, yet always is.” 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

CREATION MYTHS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

CREATION MYTHS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Here are some short summaries of ancient creation stories of how the world and mankind (or the gods who produced mankind) came to be. These creation myths all seemed to start from chaos, a primordial soup, an egg, womb, or other object. Generally, chaos in some form, precedes the separation of Heaven (Spirit/unseen) from earth (matter/form). An transition from chaos to order. Let’s begin.

Greek Creation

In the beginning was Chaos. Then came Earth which produced Sky. Covering Earth each night, Sky fathered children upon her. Earth was personified as Gaia/Terra and sky was Ouranos (Uranus). Their children included the Titan parents of most of the Olympian gods and goddesses, as well as many other creatures, including the Cyclopes, Giants, Hecatonchires, Erinyes, and more. Aphrodite was the offspring of Ouranos.

Norse Creation

In Norse mythology, there was only a chasm, Ginnungagap, in the beginning (somewhat like the Greeks' Chaos) bounded on either side by fire and ice. When fire and ice met, they combined to form a giant, named Ymir, and a cow, named Audhumbla, to nourish Ymir. She survived by licking the salty ice blocks. From her licking emerged Bur, the grandfather of the Aesir.

Bible Creation

The first book of the Old Testament is the Book of Genesis. In it is an account of the creation of the world by God in 6 days. God created, in pairs, first the Heaven and the Earth, then day and night, land and sea, flora and fauna, and male and female. Man was created in the image of God, and Eve was formed from one of Adam's ribs [side] (or man and woman were created together). On the seventh day God rested. Adam and Eve were eventually expelled from the Garden of Eden.

Rig Veda Creation

Here is the one most like the preceding myths. Before the Divine pair of Earth and Sky, who created the gods, was another god, Tvastr, the “first fashioner.” Tvastr created Earth and Sky, as a dwelling place, and many other things. Tvastr was a universal impregnator who made other things reproduce. It is said that although Tvastr was the first dynamic force, before him were the inanimate, inactive Cosmic Waters.

Chinese Creation

The Chinese creation story comes from the end of the 3 Kingdoms period. Heaven and Earth were in a state of chaos or cosmic egg for 18,000 years. When it broke apart, the high and clear formed Heaven, the dark formed Earth, and P'an-ku (coiled-up antiquity) stood in the middle supporting and stablilizing. P'an-ku kept growing for another 18,000 years during which time Heaven also grew. Another version of the P'an-ku (the first-born) story tells of it becoming earth, sky, stars, moon, mountains, rivers, soil, etc. Parasites feeding on P’an-ku’s body, impregnated by wind, became human beings. 

Mesopotamian Creation

The Babylonian Enuma Elish tells an ancient Mesopotamian story of creation. Apsu and Tiamat, fresh and salt water, mixed together, created the great and too noisy gods. Apsu wished to kill them, but Tiamat, who wished them no harm, prevailed. Apsu was killed, so Tiamat sought revenge. Marduk killed Tiamat and divided her, using part for earth and part for the heavens. Mankind was made out of Tiamat's second husband.

Egyptian Creation

There are various Egyptian creation stories and they changed over time. One version is based on the Ogdoad of Hermopolis, another on the Heliopolitan Ennead, and another on the Memphite theology. One Egyptian story of creation is that the Chaos Goose and the Chaos Gander produced an egg that was the sun, Ra (Re). Also, the Book of the Dead, describes how the world was created by Atum, the god of Heliopolis, the centre of the sun-god cult in Lower Egypt. In the beginning, the world appeared as an infinite expanse of dark and directionless waters, named Nun.

Zoroastrian Creation

In the beginning, truth or goodness fought lies or evil until lies got worn out. Truth created a world, basically from a cosmic egg, then lies awoke and tried to destroy creation. It was largely successful, but the seed of the cosmic man escaped, was purified and returned to earth as a plant with stalks growing from either side that were to be the first man and woman. Meanwhile, lies was locked inside the capsule of creation.

And here we have eight of the creation myths that were so deeply believed in ancient times. There are many similarities, as we see mankind doing the best that it can to describe and define its existence here in this world of matter. Perhaps one day, we will know the complete story of creation, and the details of its journey, along with the final goal to be attained by the entirety of the Universe. Until then, we search, and we continue to question all of existence. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

WASHING THE DISCIPLES FEET BY JESUS

WASHING OF THE DISCIPLES FEET BY JESUS

The Deeper Meaning

In the Book of John, there is a story of Jesus being a servant to his Disciples. In fact the book starts off in Chapter 13 at a time just before the Passover Festival. Thee Writer of John continues to say:

 "Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end."

Today we're going to go beyond the literal, and into the metaphysical. We're looking for the deeper allegorical message contained within the literal presentation of the storyline. Here is how the verse reads:

"... Jesus got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him."

~John 13:4-5

Then, after he began to wash Peter's feet, Jesus said to Peter: 

“You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Everyone has seen the literal historical presentation of this event in the ancient scriptures (and in modern movies and books), but now lets reveal what is hidden deeper in the text. This mythos is a representation of “Spirit meeting Matter,” and the purity and cleansing of that union. You see, our FEET are where MAN meets WORLD ... what is always grounded to the Earth/Matter ... the material world of low vibrating energy. 

Our feet connect our spiritual Higher-Self, to our physical body. Just like the center of the cross represents the intersection of Spirit and Matter, so this represents a firm standing on solid ground ... while remaining Spiritually and physically clean. Man's “worldly thoughts and actions” must be cleansed in order to approach the Divine Spirit within.

This, is the deeper esoteric meaning in this passage. This shows the willingness of Divine Love to serve. To bring together the upper and the lower, the inner and the outer. As above, so below. Man ... know thyself. Scripture can bring us deep esoteric lessons and messages, want to awaken a Divine Truth from within us. You’ll know it when it hits you. For me, I just call it an AH-HA moment. Its that flash of time just when the inner message hits you, and strikes a vibe of Truth.

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

THETA STATE OF MIND

THETA STATE OF MIND

From the moment we are born into flesh, and up until the age of around 7, we are operating out of our Theta brainwave state. This is essentially - a continuous state of hypnosis. Meaning, a total state of open programmability. Everything we experience, from whomever, wherever, whenever ... becomes a program in our subconscious Mind. These programs help form who we become. 

The Jesuits use to say “give me the child until the age of 7 and I'll show you the man.” They knew how effective this programming is. At least until we have enough power in our consciousness to override it, to reprogram the programs, to change and move away from the thinking that does not serve us, or others. 

Pretty simple in theory, but not such an easy task to complete. The total Mind, is subdivided. And when push comes to shove, our “conscious” Mind (our state of awareness), counts for about 5% of the total Mind. That's about 40 bits of info at any given time. Our “subconscious” Mind, accounts for about 95% of the total Mind and presents as about 40 million bits of info. Quite the dominant machine. So, how do we reprogram something that huge, with so little power in our conscious awareness? 

Two of the easiest ways to achieve this connection are hypnosis, and meditation. We have to re-assign a NEW perspective to our OLD ways of thinking. Our conscious Mind is where we reside. It is the seat of our consciousness. That being said, what about the subconscious Mind? It is a machine, filled with programs. Nobody is home there ... only programs, nothing else. Reprogram the Subconscious Mind, and tell the body that YOU are in charge, and you will see a massive shift. This is fact. The Theta State that you can reach via meditation and hypnosis, is the doorway to the subconscious Mind. Knock, and the door shall be opened. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM.

REAL ROOTS OF EASTER

THE REAL ROOTS OF EASTER

Easter is an annual celebration observed throughout the Christian world. However, there are absolutely no verses in the Christian Bible that authorize or endorse the keeping of this tradition. 

Furthermore … the Bible does not mention anything about Easter eggs, Easter baskets, Easter bunnies, or even Lent. These very items were used in the pagan rituals of the Mystery Religion of ancient Babylon. Stay with me.

So then, where did the tradition of celebrating Easter originate? The hidden accounts of the original Easter festival - which was 

initiated several thousand years ago - many years before the belief in a birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Nazarene. 

The “Easter” celebration has its origins in the ancient Pagan world. It must be noted that the pagan and occult calendar is comprised of four periods of 13 weeks each. Through the symbolism of Gematria and Numerology, it is believed that numbers contain inherent power, and countless ancients based their lives on numerology and/or gematria. Many still do. Numerology is also a key component of astrology. Thus the occult calendar is divided into 4 parts of 13 weeks each. Note that 13 x 4 = 52 weeks – our year.

Numerology assigns “6” to represent the number of man, and the number “7” to represent the number of Divine perfection. Thus, as a person climbs the “Jacob's Ladder” toward self-perfection … the number “13” represents the state of Divine perfection, self-achieved perfection, and Illumination (6+7 = 13).

Historically, the word “Easter” is derived from the Scandinavian “Ostra” and the Teutonic “Ostern” or “Eastre” - both of whom were goddesses of ancient mythology and were identified with spring and fertility. Festivals for these goddesses were celebrated on the first day of the vernal equinox - March 21. Important parts of these pagan celebrations included the rabbit, colored eggs, and gifts - all of which represented fertility.

Easter is steeped in the Mysteries of ancient Babylon. “Ishtar” - the Babylonian goddess - is the one for whom Easter is named. Ishtar is but another name for Semiramis – the wife of Nimrod. Semiramis and Nimrod were responsible for instituting the building of the tower of Babel.

This “Easter” festival was part of the Babylonian Mysteries started by Nimrod and Semiramis. They also established themselves as god and goddess, to be worshipped by the people of Babylon. As most all ancient royalty and/or rulers they were considered to be elevated to the stature of gods. This was true in ancient Egypt as well. 

Nimrod was worshipped as the Sun God. He was worshipped in numerous cultures and countries under a variety of names: Samas, Attis, Uti, Merodach/Marduk, Ninus, Bel/Baal, Moloch, Tammuz - the list is virtually endless. Some of these names have also been reference in Biblical scriptures. 

Ishtar / Easter was worshipped as the moon goddess, the goddess of spring and fertility, and the Queen of Heaven. She is known by so many other names in other countries and cultures that she is often referred to as the goddess of one thousand names. 

The Babylonians celebrated the day of Ishtar / Easter as the return of the goddess of Spring – the re-birth or reincarnation of Nature, and the goddess of Nature. Babylonian legend tells us that each year a huge egg would fall from heaven and would land in the area around the Euphrates River. 

In her yearly re-birth, Ishtar would break out of this egg and if any of those celebrating this occasion happened to find her egg, Ishtar would bestow a special blessing on that person. In other words. an Ishtar/Easter Egg Hunt. 

From Babylon, this mystery religion spread to Egypt, Asia, Europe, North and South America, all over the world, and eventually was incorporated into mainstream Christian religion in an effort to entice, and/or expand the Constantinian version of Christianity created at the Council of Nicea in 325 CE. Constantine had plans to unite his Kingdom under one common and universal religion. This is where the “Holy Roman Catholic Church” was derived. The word “catholic” means “universal” in Greek. 

So what about the timing of Easter tradition? It is said that Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees that when He died, He would be in the “heart of the earth” for three days and three nights (72 hours) before He arose. The traditional Christian Good Friday to Sunday celebration however only accounts for Jesus’ being in the heart of the earth for two nights and one day. It differs slightly in Orthodoxy. Remember also, that the ancient Lunar Calendar began each new day at sunset. This differs from the current Solar Calendar. The reasoning was fairly simple, from the darkness comes the light. Night, into day. 

There are absolutely no verses anywhere in the Bible that authorize or endorse the keeping of an Easter celebration. Further, the Bible says nothing about the practice of observing Lent, dying Easter eggs, having Easter egg hunts, baskets of candy, bonnets – and so on. Easter has long been known to be an important Pagan festival, and has been blended into the Christian traditions.

This festive celebration is clearly an ancient event, adopted by Christianity to align with Pascha/Paskha (Greek), or passover from the OT Hebrew scriptures. There is a great library of gnosis and information available to all of us, if we just take the time to research what we believe, and why. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

GREEK AND ROMAN GODS

GREEK AND ROMAN GODS

There is always confusion when referencing the names of the ancient gods. Sometimes we hear the Greek names, sometimes the Roman names. Here we will list the twelve Olympian gods and a brief description of each. Followed by yet more gods. The Greeks and Romans shared the same stories, but used different names. This might make things a bit less confusing. 

Greek Name / Roman Name

Followed by their description.

Zeus / Jupiter

Lord of the sky and supreme ruler of the gods. Known for throwing lightening bolts.

Poseidon / Neptune

Ruler of the sea. Brother of Zeus. Carried a three-pronged spear known as a trident.

Hades / Pluto

Ruler of the underworld and the dead. Brother of Zeus. Had a helmet which rendered its wearer invisible.

Hestia / Vesta

A virgin goddess and sister of Zeus. No distinct personality or part in myths. Goddess of the Hearth, the symbol of the home.

Hera / Juno

Zeus's wife and sister. Protector of marriage, spent most of her time punishing the many women Zeus fell in love with. Likes cows and peacocks.

Ares / Mars

God of war and son of Zeus and Hera. Likes vultures and dogs.

Athena / Minerva

Daughter of Zeus alone. No mother. She sprang from his head full-grown and in full armor. The protector of civilized life, handicrafts, and agriculture. Invented the bridle, and first to tame the horse. Likes Athens, olives, and owls.

Apollo / Apollo (shared name)

Son of Zeus. Master musician, archer god, healer, god of light, god of Truth, sun god. A busy god who likes the laurel tree, dolphins, and crows.

Aphrodite / Venus

Daughter of Zeus. Goddess of Love and Beauty. Likes the myrtle tree, doves, sparrows, and swans.

Hermes / Mercury

Son of Zeus. Wore wings on his sandals and his hat, thus was graceful and swift.

Artemis / Diana

Apollo's twin sister and daughter of Zeus. Lady of wild things and huntsman to the gods. As Apollo is the Sun, Artemis is the moon.

Hephaestus / Vulcan

Son of Hera, God of Fire. The only ugly and deformed god. Makes armor and weapons forged under volcanoes.

Other Gods

Gaea / Terra

Mother Earth.

Asclepius / Aesculapius

God of medicine.

Cronus (Kronos) / Saturn

Cronus was the son of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth). God of the sky, god of time; Ruler of the Titans (Roman mythology: God of agriculture)

Demeter / Ceres

Goddess of grain.

Dionysus / Bacchus

God of wine and vegetation.

Eros / Cupid

God of love.

Hypnos / Somnus

God of sleep.

Rhea / Ops

Wife of Cronus (Kronos) / Saturn. Mother Goddess.

Ouranos / Uranus

Uranus (Ouranos) (Ancient Greek: Οὐρανός, romanized: Ouranós, was the primal Greek god personifying the sky and one of the Greek primordial deities.

God of the sky. Father of the Titans.

Nike / Victoria

Goddess of Victory.

And there you have it ... or at the very least, a point of reference between the Greek and Roman god equivalents. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

CHRIST FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

CHRIST FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

The Christ

We live in a great being – a body, a Mind, a Soul – an infinite intelligence that is sentient and creative. The spectrum of its existence, extends farther and deeper than we can imagine. 

The range of its experience exceeds our ability to fathom, going into places that are so remote that speculating about their nature would serve no practical purpose. 

In fact, such speculation can only be a distraction and lead us away from any meaningful understanding of God’s nature. So, it is most practical for us to start at the center of our experience and work outward from there, and the center of our experience is ... the SUN.

In our scientific age, we tend to reduce everything to its material substance. The science community seems to have a love affair with material existence. Most scientists even regard consciousness as the product of the brain, having no existence except within the skull of the individual. 

When someone mystically inclined, claims to experience consciousness in nature, science calls it “projection” - merely the imagination seeking evidence of a greater life, but in its passion an enthusiasm sees only its own reflection. This is the conditioning of the scientific age in which we live. But in reality, nothing could be further from the Truth. For Truth, we must wander back in time ... thousands of years in fact.

The Sun is the center of Life. Within its gravity field, exist all of the patterns we know, all of the intelligence, all of the moving force and animating energies of every living thing. 

The planetary bodies surrounding the Sun in space, are the organs of its body, a body that extends out to the farthest reaches of the heliosphere. 

The space within its skin is filled with complex dynamics, both visible and invisible, and every one of these is reflected within the boundaries of our body, each of our organs corresponding to the planets. Microcosm and Macrocosm. As above, so below. One of the most ancient of mantras. 

Where the scientist sees only rocks, ice, and gasses, the mystic sees intelligence, life, and consciousness. It is one thing to admit that all matter is vibrating energy; and it is quite another to acknowledge that the vibrations are the effect of a higher Source Energy, one that is diametrically opposed to its manifested form. 

This higher Source Energy is deep and unknowable, beyond words, beyond concepts, and yet more powerful than all the rest combined. It is a negative power, one that pulls everything into being ... out of its own potential ... by the sheer force of its all-knowing intelligence. It is the Void (Ayin in Hebrew). The unlimited potential of all things. 

Science admits that there is “something else,” ... something it cannot see. But in its insistence in making all new data fit into its limited model of materialism, it is blind to this underlying substance of great power.

Mystics have known this force since the beginning of human awareness. They could discern the movements of its power by the nature of the energies induced within their own psyche. 

Their Mind and body was their “scientific instrument" ... an instrument far more sophisticated than the tools we use today. Tools that only attempt to replicate the powers of detection we carry around with us right here inside our own skin.

Its very important that we understand the system within which we live within. If we do, we will know everything else by default. Among the ancient hierophants, “Man, know thyself” was completely understood. The physical body of the Sun is but the first manifestation of the The whole of creation, the organizing principle, the Seat of Power. All things proceed out from the Center, and to the Center they return. This is the secret of alchemy, the heart of Gnosis, the Philosopher’s Stone. We are all but rays of the sun ... emanating from, and being dependent upon it.

And God said, “Let there be Light!” This was the light of consciousness. The Christ consciousness. The Begotten of God/Source ... And this Source, is the point of origins, and the sustainer of Life. The Divine Spark of God lay dormant within all things, awaiting to be known, and awaiting to resurrect from within the base nature man. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MYSTERY SCHOOLS

EGYPTIAN MYSTERY SCHOOLS

For more than 3,000 years, the mystery schools of Egypt have epitomized the ultimate in ancient secret Wisdom and knowledge (Gnosis). As in ancient times, certain contemporary scholars and researchers insist that the great teachers who presided over the Egyptian mystery schools had to have come from some extraordinary place. 

Perhaps, they were wise masters who survived the destruction of the lost continent of Atlantis and made their way to the early civilization of Egypt, where they helped elevate it to a greatness far in advance of other cultures of those times. 

Some have even suggested that the entity known as the god Osiris was an extraterrestrial traveler from the Pleiades, who first visited Egypt in prehistoric times when it was composed of barbaric tribes. Because he came from an advanced extraterrestrial culture, he was considered a god and became the founder of the mystery schools and raised the primitive Egyptians' standard of living to a remarkable degree.

Even many conservative scholars of the history of religion have a sense that the mystery schools of Egypt contain within their teachings a particular knowledge that came, if not from prehistoric times, from ancient times. The earliest human records legible, the Pyramid Texts of Egypt (3000 BCE), contain many prayers that are quoted from a far more ancient period, and it is apparent that the prayers were used in the texts as magical formulas and spells.

The mysterious first initiator into these sacred doctrines was known as Toth and later to the Greeks by his more familiar name of Hermes (Enoch among the Hebrews). Hermes-Toth is a generic name that designates a man, a social order (caste), and a god at the same time. As a man, Hermes-Toth is the originator of a powerful system of magic and its first initiator; as a caste, he represents the priesthood, the repository of ancient Wisdom; as a god, Hermes becomes Mercury, the god who delivers messages to mortals from the Olympiad and the god who initiates mortals into transcendent mysteries. Later, the Greek disciples of this secret tradition would call him Hermes Trismegistus (three times great), and he would be credited for originating the material contained in 42 books of esoteric science.

In the time of the Ramses (1300 BCE), Egypt shone as a beacon light of civilization throughout the known world, and while the leaders of foreign nations sought to barter for the empire's rich produce in order to avert local famines and to make treaties with pharaoh in order to avert his military might, seekers of the divine sciences came from the distant shores of Asia Minor and Greece to study in the sanctuaries with magi and hierophants (priests) who they believed could give them the secrets of immortality. 

The students who would be initiates of the mystery schools were well aware that they must undertake the rigors of disciplined study and the training of body, Soul, and Spirit ... for years. They had heard from former initiates that in order to attain the mastery demanded by the priests of the mysteries that the newcomers would undergo a complete restructuring of their physical, moral, and spiritual being. 

According to the beliefs of the mysteries, only by developing one's faculties of will, intuition, and reason to an extraordinary degree could one ever gain access to the hidden Divine forces in the Universe. Only through complete mastery of body, Soul, and Spirit could one see beyond death, and perceive the pathways to be taken in the afterlife. Only when one has conquered fate and acquired Divine freedom could he or she, the initiate, become a seer, a magician, and an initiator.

The Greek philosopher Pythagoras (580-500 BCE) learned the secret doctrine of numbers, the heliocentric system of the Universe, music, astrology, astronomy, mathematics, and geometry from the powerful Egyptian Magi. Before he established his own school of philosophy in southern Italy, Pythagoras spent 22 years in the temples of Egypt as an initiate in the ancient mysteries. There were many followers of Pythagoras in the later years. 

A particularly interesting aspect of the Egyptian mystery schools is that for centuries the pharaohs themselves were the pupils and instruments of the hierophants, the magicians, who presided over the temples and cults of Isis and Osiris. Each pharaoh received his initiation name from the temple, and the priests were honored with the roles of counselors and advisors to the throne. Some have even referred to the rule of ancient Egypt as government of the initiates.

Although the ancient Egyptians never appeared to produce a philosophical system in the manner of the Greeks or the Romans, the mysteries produced a remarkable number of systematized theologies that dealt with the essential questions about the true nature of humankind and its relationship to the cosmos. The hierophants created theological constructs, and formulated esoteric answers that brought initiates and aspirants to the great religious cities of Heliopolis, Memphis, Hermopolis magna, Abydos, and Thebes.

Most of what we find in the Bible and other ancient scriptures, originated in these Mystery Schools, and the Wisdom, allegories, and teachings of these great minds and philosophers. From among the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Hindus, Buddhists, Sumerians, and so many other ancient civilizations, mankind has done his best to find out why we're here, who or what put us here, and what we are to do ... while we are here. In many ways, man has created God/Source through inner consciousness and connecting to the Divine Matrix that ties everything together as a web threaded endlessly since the beginning and continuing to regenerate itself eternally within this universe that is technically ... INSIDE our heads. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM.

DEEPER LOOK AT JUDAS AND PETER

DEEPER LOOK AT JUDAS AND PETER

The New Testament Judas stands for the disloyal part of human lower self (disciple); that part which resists the influence coming from the Divine Master. And the “Master” represents the Higher Self … the Divine Christ within.

The “disciple”, lower self, has expectations as to the “Master.” If the “disciple” is not ready to renew his vision of things and enlarge his horizons, for which he needs to drop old expectations aside, he may be defeated. Actual defeat takes the form of “treason.”

Allegorically, in Matthew 26 of the Bible, the loyal disciples do not stop Judas from committing his treason. Their great stupidity, cowardice. and inability to defend the sacred Master - the source of their learning - is well expressed in Matthew 26: 69-74. There, the chief disciple Peter, flatly denies the Master three times. When asked about Jesus, Peter replies:

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

This chief disciple literally washes his hands. He swears he did not see the Master. Peter is too cowardly to be a traitor, or a true disciple - in that moment. He is but lukewarm. He will be able to recover only later in the story. 

Anyone cowardly enough or sufficiently ignorant not to make “a brave declaration of principles” and a “valiant defense of those unjustly attacked” is caught in that same situation as Peter. 

Of course, “Judas”, or “selfish impulses”, betrays his Master, or spiritual Divine/Soul, who is not defended by other disciples. Thus Judas successfully interrupts the flow of energy between “heaven” (upper Divine) and “earth” (lower mortal soul).

“Judas” is a symbol of that disciple or aspirant to Wisdom who fails in his search for Truth, and who cuts the semi-dormant link to the higher realms, which can only be found WITHIN himself. Judas is also a symbol for the selfish sectors of one’s emotional principle of consciousness.

Evil disguises itself as good. Ambiguity, disguise, and hypocrisy make the basic grammar of traitors. Judas kisses the Master on the face. Outwardly, the fake disciple expresses good wishes to the Master. But this is in fact only made in order to indicate to the swordsmen who was to be the man arrested, and killed. 

Then comes the representation of Sacred, eternal Wisdom. In Matthew 26:67, the Master is spat on his face and slapped by ignorant people. You see, the spiritual Mind is degraded and despised by the arrogance of the lower self. Once Jesus is arrested, though, and after getting his bribe of thirty pieces of silver, Judas renounces the prize for his treason. He suddenly realizes that - in the absence of Spiritual Soul, the Divine Master - everything loses meaning for him.

He had rejected the Teacher who did not fit into his own expectations … thus battling his ego. He had done so because he had not previously renounced his own narrow “self” ideas about what the Master should or should not do. 

But what could Judas do, now that he had committed spiritual suicide for that lifetime? Now that he had interrupted the sacred bridge between heaven and earth within himself, turned himself deaf to the still small voice of his own higher conscience within? There was but one thing for him to do, and he did it. He completed the metaphor of spiritual self-destruction by hanging himself.

In this highly symbolical metaphor or allegory Judas is the “disciple/self” who betrays his “Divine/Master”. This is the sacred esoteric secret. He destroys his own higher Self by giving into his own selfish ego of self-expectation. 

By the symbolism of hanging himself, Judas interrupts the life flow between head and body. Thus he destroys Antahkarana (Hindu Philosophy: the link between the middle and higher mind). This is a way of losing consciousness, or memory. Death symbolizes a form of ceasing to remember. Judas does not remember any longer the things he knew when he was loyal to his Higher Self, or inner Divine Master. 

The various factors mentioned above are present in the life of every truth-seeker, and Judas’ lessons should be useful for every one of us.

Everything, which exists in large scale, exists in small scale, too. The microcosm and macrocosm. The Universe within, and without. No one should say, or think, that the experience of Judas in the New Testament is entirely away from his own experience. The whole Universe is interlinked. We can learn from it all, if we only have the ability to do that. The lessons from Judas apply to each and every person. Look deeper into every parable, myth, or metaphor. Search for Truth. Knock, and the door shall be opened. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM ON THE SCRIPTURES

BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM IN THE SCRIPTURES

We begin this writing with a scripture from the Bible:

“Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants ...”

-Galatians 4:24 

Right here were are told in plain simple terms, that the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar, is an allegory. It is metaphorical. Myth ... with a hidden deeper meaning rather than a physical literal and historical event. And yet, whether this was a literal and historical event is irrelevant. This is a story of symbolic value. It isn't commentary, it is saying to us that it is allegorical. There is symbolism in this myth that is intended for discovery by those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear. 

This goes hand-in-hand with us being told in scripture NOT to take the letter (scripture/hand written letter) literally by reminding us to NOT be a Minister of the letter. The Bible communicates to us in Parables, Proverbs, Allegories, and Dark Sayings. Modern day Archaeologists from the University of Tel Aviv have even told us the Bible stories are symbolic and allegorical. There was no captivity in Egypt. Egypt is a metaphor for our own dark ego animal based mind. “Aigyptos” (Egypt) in Greek meant “dark place.” It was a symbol of base nature man. 

The Exodus, was allegory. Leaving the darkness (Egypt) and entering the Promised Land (Is-Ra-El) and Jerusalem (yeru-shalom) the place of peace. Again, this is what takes place within us as we transmute from base nature to Divine. Generations have searched for the literal places in the Bible but to no avail. Either they were built and named in honour of the symbolism afterwards, or they simply did not exist. The Ten Commandments (the negative commandments) were derived directly from King Hammurabi's Code. A list of negative commandments of things NOT to do that preceded the Hebrews by hundreds of years. These codes are currently on display in the British Museum. 

Joshua of the Old Testament, the one who conquered Israel, is the same story as Jesus of the New Testament. The very name itself is the same. Joshua from the Hebrew, and Jesus from the Greek, are “Yehoshua, Yeshu, Yeshua” literally a word composed of Hebrew aleph-bet (alphabet) symbols that mean “God is Saviour - or God saves.” There was wandering in the desert for 40 years in the OT, there was a flood of 40 days and 40 nights in the OT, Jesus wandered in the wilderness for 40 days in the NT ... this is ALL symbolism. 40 weeks is the gestation period of a human being (9 months). From conception, to birth ... the time necessary to create a new person with new beginnings. A “born again” time frame. Everything is symbolic. 

Even top officials from Universities in Israel today will tell us the Bible stories and the history of the Hebrews are not specifically real literal historical events. Joshua could not have knocked down the walls of Jericho because Jericho didn't exist at that time. Jesus could not have been “of Nazareth” because there was no Nazareth at that time (it meant Nazarene/Nozrim). Camels were not domesticated at that time. 

So if so many of these stories never literally and historically happened, then what do they mean? There must be something of importance deeper than the surface story. These secret Truths were taught to initiates who entered the Mystery School of old. And by taking these stories to be literal, it has wreaked havoc all over the world, and divided people for centuries. War and violence, degradation of women, child abuse, lies and deceptions, and a total misunderstanding and mistranslation of the true nature of Life, and the Truth of ourselves as being the “Light of the world.” 

The Bible characters, locations, stories, miracles, crucifixion, resurrection, raising of the dead, ascension, transfiguration, crossing of the Red Sea, Mt. Sinai ... all have much deeper meaning on a metaphysical level. They are used as metaphor. Myth ... “Mythos” in the Greek. Joseph Campbell put it wisely when he described "myth" as “something that never was, yet always is.” We must go beyond the name, places, and events ... deep between the black and white letter, and find the pearl of great price. The Truth, that lies in waiting ... for Revelation - to be revealed, uncovered, unhidden. “The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth Life.”

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF PRAYER NO MATTER YOUR BELIEFS

DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF PRAYER NO MATTER YOUR BELIEFS

If you are Christian, Muslim, Jew, Atheist, or anything in between ... you will get something from reading this article. I promise you. 

First, let's start with a couple of ancient scriptures that we can use as a foundation for metaphysical transformation and self identity purposes. The first one is here:

“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because AS JESUS IS, SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.”

-1 John 4:17

Chances are good that you will not hear this verse coming from the pulpits. Simply because if “as Jesus is, so are we in this world” ... then as Christianity believes Jesus to be God, then WE, are also God. There is no way to dispute the validity of this verse, and the message contained within it.

So, now let's have a peek at Matthew 6 for a moment. Jesus is quoted as instructing the following:

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

What powerful and clear cut instructions. No confusion here. But, as with all scripture, there are deeper meanings hidden beneath the surface stories being told. The myth always contains a Truth and a lesson to be had. We must look beyond the ink and paper. Beyond the stories, fables, and allegories. So lets break it down.

First of all, don't show off. No need to make a big deal of your prayers for an audience to witness. And to “go into your room/closet” is a reference to you inner chamber ... your personal “Holy of Holies” WITHIN YOU ... where God/Source dwells, and the Kingdom exists. 

We are told to shut the door. This means quiet, isolated contact with the Divine. No distractions. Empty phrases are repetitive prayers as if you're reading them from a script. Meditation and contemplative prayer should come from your heart, your emotions, not your left brain logic and analytics. It should be fresh, and it should be heartfelt. 

Next ... and very important ... he says “for your Father ALREADY knows what you need BEFORE you ask him.” This is because the Father, God/Absolute/Source is WITHIN you and already knows what is needed and taking place inside of you ... in your heart and Soul. This is how the God/Source WITHIN already knows before you even ask.

Among the ancients, prayer was not only different, but was intended as a direct inner connection to the Divine spark of Source/God, and the universal superconsciousness that weaves throughout the entire Universe creating the Matrix that binds ALL things together as One ... NOT separate things ... but One thing. Everything that exists, had its origin from the same starting point. Therefore, everything that exists is related and relative within, and without. We are all One. There is no “other.”

A smile is just a frown turned upside down ... and a prayer is a desire that comes from the inside out. You are a co-creator in this Universe (YOUniverse). When you pray, or meditate, or enter contemplation, you are going WITHIN ... direct to the Source of the Creator. The power within your thoughts that MUST manifest into form. This is Universal Immutable Law. But it is YOU who has to make it happen. 

Just as you cast your cares to the wind, cast your dreams and desires to the Universe. Release your prayer and simply know that it is, as it should be. No need to keep hammering it or pounding your fists to the ground. Everything is cause and effect. If you pray for someone to be cured of a disease and they are not, it is not because your prayers failed, or that God/Source doesn't answer your prayers. It is because that person you are praying for incarnated here with a mission to fulfill. And that mission may have involved a need to know the effects of sickness or disease. We are all Spirit, having a physical experience. And we signed up for the experiences that we create long before we got here. 

We can alter our paths with free-will, but there are certain lessons we can here to Earth School to learn. Prayer is cause and effect. It is a knowingness (gnosis) that you have the power to manifest your own reality. To bring thoughts, into form. Use only positive expressions in your prayers. No negative statements. For example, rather than praying for pain to subside, pray for health to return. Rather that praying to not have a bad day, pray to have a good day. Your Mind, and Universal consciousness (the Field) knows NOT negativity. If you request to NOT to smoke today ... subconsciousness, our magic Genie, only hears “smoke today.” And so you will. Forget the “don't won't can't and shouldn't” and go straight for the “do, will, can, and should.” You will notice an immediate change. 

When we see God as some supernatural being “out-there” somewhere, we fail to connect with the closeness that is the Divine power within us. Omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Seek and you shall find. Ask and it shall be given. This is the Law of Cause and Effect and involves your participation and involvement. The Universe is interactive and constantly changing according to the universal desires of all people of consciousness. Raise yours. Connect with your inner Higher-Self. End the suffering of all creatures. Collectively, WE HAVE THE POWER.

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM.

ALLEGORY OF “COMING OUT OF EGYPT”

ALLEGORY OF “COMING OUT OF EGYPT”

The word “Egypt” comes to us from the Ancient Greek “Aegyptos,” which is a Greek transliteration of the Kemetic phrase:  Het-Ka-Ptah. Het means place and Ka means: “the physical projection of the soul,” which is the character or aura that attaches itself to the body ... and NOT the body. It also meant black/darkness referring to the rich, black alluvial soil deposited by the Nile River, which allowed the agricultural basis of that civilization to flourish. 

In Ancient Hebrew, whenever Egypt or “Mitzraim” is mentioned, it is synonymous with physical and mental Bondage, presented metaphorically as Slavery. The indigenous tradition of the Land of Egypt tells us the civilization was called Khemit, and the people and language were called Khemitian.

Knowing now that scripturally, the word Egypt ... represents the body. When the Ancient Mystery School initiate identified with only the body and the flesh they were considered to be “in captivity.” Therefore, To “come forth out of Egypt” was understood as leaving behind the idea of being merely a body, and discovering the soul. This was the beginning of the Spiritual experience and discovery of the God or Divine Spark within. 

Hippolytus wrote about “those who are ignorant” ... “Egyptians in need of departing Egypt” ... that is from their body-centric existence ... believing themselves to be merely physical matter, and nothing more. Allegorically, the ignorant Egyptians represent those “without Gnosis” - without the knowledge of the Divine Spark within them - without the light and existing in darkness. It was this group of people who remained identified with their physical selves (not Higher Self) and who did not possess the “knowledge/Gnosis” ... that they we are all Divine Sparks of God entrapped in these fleshy and carnal bodies.

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

ALL IS ONE AND ONE IS GOD

ALL IS ONE AND ONE IS GOD

In this writing, we reach again into the deeper esoteric substance of what has been wrongly taken as only literal and historical, rather than allegory and metaphor within Biblical scripture. The NT confirms to the believer that there is nothing existent other than God. This is a difficult pill to swallow, unless you know and understand the deeper Truths and Inner Mysteries. 

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word (Logos) of God, so that things which are seen are not made of things which do appear.”

-Hebrews 11:3

Now let's break this down. God/Absolute/Source does not appear. God is immaterial, unseen, invisible. No man has ever seen God. So, this verse is telling us that everything is made out of God. 

“For originating out of Him (being made out of Him), and existing through Him, and returning back into Him are ALL things.”

-Romans 11:6 (proper translation)

This verse is telling us that everything came out of God, is made out of God, everything is maintained in existence by God, and all things go back to God. 

“As He is, so are we in this world.”

-1 John 4:17

In the above verse, the correct language translation would be the word “as” meaning “just as, or exactly as.” This scripture is literally telling the reader that we are collectively just exactly as God in this world. This is because, everything in the Universe including mankind is made out of God/Absolute/Source. God is simply playing every role, and man is simply God emanating from the unsee realm of Spirit and wearing a mask. The word “personality” as we call ourselves, comes from the Latin word “persona” which literally means “mask of an Actor.” 

We are as rays of the sun, beaming individualized light rays originating at the source of the sun itself. A ray of sunlight cannot exist without the sun from which it emanates. Each ray is an integral part of, and an essence of the sun itself.  If it were to come from the pulpits of our churches that WE are God collectively in human form, that God is in you as you, experiencing life with you, there would be no need for the multi-billion dollar religion industry. The Bible evens tells us “you are the temple of God” and “we are the body of Christ.” Both are very clear scriptures. 

When we awaken to the realization that we and God are one in the same, as all things are, then we come to the realization that the Divinity of God is not only alive in all things, but IS all things. “I am the vine and you are the branch” says the Bible. The branch and the vine are ONE. The branch is a manifestation of the vine. So, man, is a MANifestation of God. We are not born INTO this world, we are born OUT of it ... as a leave from a tree. 

Jesus is quoted as saying “I and the Father are one.” Imagine rain falling from a cloud. Clouds are water vapour. So clouds and rain are water. It is the same as when the Source/God fragmented and manifested all things. The reason and purpose for us to come here, is to realize and awaken to the reality that we are collectively God, and that we should think, act, and create as a Creator God would ... and to evolve and involve as One ... ever growing. The “Kingdom” is the Matrix fiber of all collective consciousness ... the Field. The awakening has begun ... worldwide. Soon, we will all re-member who and what we are and we can spread the word of Divine power among mankind as was the original intent of so many wise sages, shamans, Hierophants, avatars, and wise men and women of great inner Wisdom and Knowledge. All things that proceed from a single Source, can be made of nothing other than the same material form/matter as the Source. All is One, and One is God/Source Energy/Absolute.

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

ORIGIN OF THE WORDS SIN AND EVIL

ORIGIN OF THE WORDS SIN AND EVIL

Sin & Evil: In the Aramaic Language and culture that the New Testament Biblical Jesus taught in, the terms for “sin” and “evil” were archery terms. When the archer shot at the target and missed, the scorekeeper yelled the Aramaic word for sin. It meant that you were off the mark, take another shot. In Aramaic, the word used is “ḥōb,” which can mean in many Aramaic dialects either a debt owed to a lender or a “sin.” Same with the Greek. In the Greek, “hamartia” means “missed the mark.” In Hebrew, “chait” was used in the same manner. Accurately translated as “error” or “mistake.”

The concept of sin was to be for positive mental feedback. Sin is when you are operating from inaccurate information and thus a perceptual mis-take. When you become conscious and aware of the results of your inaccuracy you have the option to reconsider what you have learned and do as they do in Hollywood, “do another take.” By the way, to further add to what was mentioned above, during the Olympic Archery events, where the arrow fell - when it missed the target - was referred to as evil. This coincides with the original Greek word mentioned above for missing the mark: “hamartia.”

The church system however, defines sin as “an act that is regarded by theologians as a transgression of God’s will.” This would mean, by design, that the church decides what God’s will might be and therefore by default, is a decision as to what the church leaders have decided would be God’s will, since God is Spirit and unable to write a book.

Reaching much farther back into time, and into ancient mythology, Sin - (Akkadian) was god of the Moon; a counterpart of the Sumerian Nanna. In Mesopotamian religion, the god of the moon was the father of the sun god, Shamash (Sumerian: Utu), and in some myths, of Ishtar (Sumerian: Inanna), goddess of Venus, and with them formed an astral triad of deities.

Sin was represented as an old man with a flowing beard - a wise and unfathomable god - wearing a headdress of four horns surmounted by a crescent moon. The last king of Babylon, Nabonidus (556–539 BCE), attempted to elevate Sin to a supreme position within the pantheon.

Biblically speaking, “The wages of sin is death” say the scriptures. We must not look at scripture like this, in a literal sense. It is allegory and always carries a deeper esoteric and metaphorical meaning. Another way of seeing this verse is “what is paid or received for work or services due to inaccurate information and thus a perceptual mis-take, is a resulting ignorance.” As referenced in the first paragraph above: “debt owed to a lender.”

We are also seeing in action, the Law of Cause and Effect ... karma. We are not punished FOR our sin ... we are punished BY our sin. The consequences of ignorant thinking and acting. 

We as human beings, must find the Truth and live within the Universal Laws that have been established ... boundaries. Laws such as mentalism, correspondence, vibration, polarity, rhythm, cause and effect, Gender, etc. When we learn to live within these parameters, we do not transgress the Laws. When we ultimately find the Truth, then “the Truth will make us free.”

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM.

HOLDING ON TO POISON

HOLDING ON TO POISON

We all have experiences in life that are “good” and “bad” but in reality they are actually varying degrees of experience. All are for our own personal benefit. They aid us in learning what is beneficial and what is consequential ... for ourselves and for others. Life is being, and part of that being is to be growing mentally, emotionally, and spiritually through our personal and collective experiences. 

That being said, it is important to note that we are NOT our experiences. We are the Observer, the Witness to these experiences. We are spiritual beings with the knowledge granted us through physical experiences In this world of matter/form. We take the knowledge with us when we return from where we came ... Source ... but we do not bring the experiences with us. Much in the same way as we do not bring any personal possessions with us. They are not ours. They were here before we got here, and they will be here when we move on. As the Old Testament Bible so profoundly says “There is nothing new under the sun.” We are the great re-arrangers. We take what was already here, and rearrange it into something else.

We should not take possession of any of our experiences. They are not us ... they are merely what we have witnessed or observed. Sometimes, we are involved, other times not. But it matters not ... they are as a TV show that we are watching. The scenes are not real, and we can only take from them the knowledge of what was contained in the presentation. We use our discernment and Higher-Self to be sure we have learned what is necessary, and then we move on. Some people have to repeat the experience if they didn't learn it. Nothing goes away until you fully understand what was contained within the lesson. Think of it this way: School, is about learning the lessons ... and then a taking a test. Life, is like taking a test ... and then learning the lessons. And in reality, we already KNOW everything ... and just need to re-member it. The experiences assist us in this process.

So many times we hold on to toxic experiences and memories. For some dark reason we do not want to let them go. They become familiar. This is the equivalent of dropping poison in your food. And sooner or later, it will kill you. Stress, heart disease, cancer, etc. All are manifestations of holding onto lies and deceptions. Only love and goodness is real. All else are illusory tools used to teach us these Truths. Once an image is seen in the mirror, the real thing is discerned and there is no need for the mirror anymore. It was just a tool. The shadow fades in the light. 

As we hold on to and fester over dark energy thoughts and actions, we find ourselves in dis-ease. All illness comes from within. Even if you “catch a cold,” it must manifest from inside you, to the outside of you in physical symptoms. This dis-ease can be a mild illness, or a major life-threatening illness. Just know that ALL illness and disease must begin within. This is fact, and this is science. If you are not at-ease, then you are at dis-ease. Lose your peace, lose your health. That's just the way it goes ... we are designed that way. What you resist, will persist. Just know that you can change your perception of your experiences in the blink of an eye. It's all about perception. If your problem has a solution, then why worry? If your problem has no solution, then why worry? Let it go ... just put it down and leave it there. 

Holding onto negative beliefs, thoughts, and experiences, is the same as drinking poison. It will kill you slowly, or quickly ... but in the end ... it will bring about the demise of your physical life existence. And all for something that was unnecessary and repairable. Do your Soul and your Body a huge favour and drop the negativity. Drop the tour of the past. Drop the festering. Just let it go ... don't “give up” in defeat, but voluntarily “let it go” and walk away victorious. Do this, then take a deep breath, because you have defeated the real devil. You have taken away the powers of satan (the Opposer). You have taken control of the EGO. Congratulations. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

ANIMAL AND HUMAN SACRIFICE IN THE BIBLE

ANIMAL AND HUMAN SACRIFICE IN THE BIBLE

If you will bear with me for a few moments, I assure you that you will walk away with new knowledge, and a better understanding of ancient scriptures dealing with sacrifices than you currently have. So ... if you're up for it, here we go. 

The Bible says God was “disgusted with animal sacrifice” ... so he wanted a human sacrifice. So literal Roman Christianity came along, and said that God is not satisfied by killing just animals, he needs to have a human sacrifice. And so they misinterpreted the mythology of Jesus in the same way that the ancients misinterpreted the mythology of Animal sacrifice. Strap in ... 

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord ... I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks , or of lambs or of the goats ... When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand ... And when you spread your hands, I will hide my eyes from you when you make many prayers. I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.”

~The Book of Isaiah (OT)

Pretty clear, is it not? He will “hide his eyes” from you when you pray to Him. So what do we make of this conundrum? Is it all that difficult to comprehend? Let’s go beyond (meta) the literal text, and seek the Truth within. Let’s go past the “letter of the Law.”

When you separate from thought ... you are indeed sacrificing your animal nature. When you sacrifice your human nature ... you  become Divine, that is what these sacrifices are all about. They are esoteric, veiled in metaphor. It was misunderstood then, and even still today. The “old man” dies and the “new man” is reborn. The Christ (Divine Spark of God) resurrects from within you. Your negative animal base nature becomes positive, loving, compassionate, joyful, caring, and unified with your Higher-Self. You have raised your consciousness to a higher vibration. You have resurrected and ascended into heaven. This is the deeper Truth wrapped in myth and parable.

All of the murders and sacrifices were intended to be allegories and metaphors. To “kill” everyone and save the young female virgins was a surface story for a deeper message ... to keep and protect your creative aspect. The feminine is the creative principle in all of nature. God, Father, Source, Spirit, is the Divine masculine. Earth, Mother, matter, is the Divine feminine. The Divine seed is planted in the earth (matter), and the begotten of God are brought forth into form ... manifest birth. Just as a seed is planted in the earth in order to grow. 

The Divine Feminine is the womb of the Universe (YOUniverse). The Divine Masculine is the void from which all unlimited and unbounded potentiality emanates. The ancient Wisdom of the early Pagan civilization has become lost through incorrect literal interpretation of the Sacred Inner Mysteries of The Ages. Question everything. The answers are within. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

SET SETH AND SATAN

SET SETH AND SATAN

Set was the Egyptian god of the underworld. There are many stories, myths, and fables involving Set. Set was essentially, THE embodiment of evil. In the ancient Egyptian Myth, Set killed his brother Osiris. He was the Prince of Darkness. Each evening Horus, the Sun or solar deity that ruled the day, would do battle with Set who ruled the night. Set would win this battle and send Horus into the underworld. 

The two would fight throughout the night, and in the morning Horus would eventually overcome the powers of darkness to rise or ascend into heaven (Ouranos/Sky Greek: ουρανός). The next SUN/SET that you see may now have a different meaning to you.

Set had many names throughout the thousands of years that numerous forms of this myth prevailed. The following are some of the various names of Set, or that Set was identified with: 

Seth

Apophis/Apop/Apap/Apepi

Anubis

Sut

Sutu

Typhon

Toth

Sata

The last name in the list should look quite familiar even among the people of today's world ... SATA (satan).

One of the Ancient Greek Myth versions of Set was Typhon or Typhoeus. Here you’ll find some mythological history:

“A monster of the primitive world, who is described sometimes as a destructive hurricane (Typhoon), and sometimes a fire-breathing giant. According to Homer, he was concealed in the earth in the country of the Arimi ... In Hesiod, Typhon (the Greek for Set/Seth) and Typhoeus are two distinct beings. Typhon is represented as the son of Typhoeus, and a fearful hurricane ... Typhoeus ... is called the youngest son of Tartarus and Gaea ... He is described as a monster with 100 heads, fearful eyes, and terrible voices, who wanted to acquire the sovereignty of the gods and men, but, after a fearful struggle, was subdued by Zeus with a thunderbolt. He begot the winds, whence he is called the father of the harpies ... he was buried in Tartarus (hell), under Mount Aetna ... Typhoeus was identified with Set, who typified the power of darkness, the same power of darkness who slew Osiris.”

Satan, as a great serpent being chained in the underworld or “bottomless pit/abyss” (Rev 20:1-3) is drawing from the Typhon and Apophis imagery. As for the pit being bottomless or a great abyss, Greek myths mention that the underworld of Tartarus is as far removed from the earth's surface, as is heaven. Ancient Greek Myth imagery is once again being borrowed here.

Another very powerful myth from ancient Egypt that fit very well into the Biblical record of creation was the legend of the rebellion of Seth against Horus. Seth, a synonym of hatred and disobedience in Egyptian mythology, caused all sorts of troubles to befall man in revenge for his banishment by Horus and the rest of the “Egyptian Ennead.” The Ennead (or Great Ennead) was a group of nine deities in Egyptian mythology. 

“Know that in the minds of the early Egyptian Christians, Satan, as a parallel to Seth, became a rebel and the enemy of man, who began to lurk in ambush in order to drag him (man) into disobedience.”  

-Dr. Wlison B. Bishai 

Professor Emeritus of Arabic for the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University

And a quote from "The Christ Conspiracy"

“ ... Of course, the dualistic concepts of absolute good and evil did not originate with Christianity but are found long before the Christian era, particularly within Zoroastrianism. Satan is an adaptation of the Persian representative of evil “Ahriman,” the twin brother of “God (Ahura Mazda),” the same as the Egyptian Set, Horus's twin and principal enemy also known as “Sata,” the source of which comes “Satan.” Horus struggles with Set in the exact manner that Jesus battles with Satan, with 40 days in the wilderness, among other similarities, such as the revealing from the mount “all the kingdoms of Earth.” This myth represents the triumph of light over dark, or the sun's return to relieve the terror of the night (Darkness+Evil=Devil). Horus/Set was the god of the two horizons; hence, Horus was the rising sun, and Set the time of the Sun-SET. The origin of the “devil” also can be uncovered through etymology, in that the word comes from the Sanskrit term “deva” or the Persian “daeva,” both of which originally referred to angelic entities, usually female, who were demonized by Christian indoctrinators. In actuality, “devil” shares the same root as “divine.” In addition, “demon” is a Christian vilification of the Greek word “daemon,” which likewise referred to a divine spirit ...”

Also from “The Christ Conspiracy”

Now onto the use of the term “Lucifer (Latin).” Despite all the political intrigue, Lucifer (Greek: Phosphorus) simply means “Light bearer/bringer,” and he was in the earliest times a sun god, which is why he is called “Day Star, son of the morning/dawn.” The sun god Lucifer is “cast out of heaven” by the other angels (or stars), as night descends. This god/angel Lucifer is pre-Hebraic, found in Canaan, Egypt and Mesopotamia, and was not originally considered evil ...”

-C.C. (229)

So, those of you that are worried about Satan following you around and making people do things, as you can plainly see it was just a story that originated in ancient Egypt that sprang out of ignorance of the natural world. The church used it as a ploy to control people of the times that had no education and would easily fear these mythical entities.

In a deeper more esoteric and metaphysical level, allegorically, our ego is considered to be satan, devil, demon, anti-christ ... simply because it goes against the common good (God) for it's own ego-centric and selfish desires. So we see that satan is symbolic of the human ego, opposer to the Divine Spark of God. But more on that, in another writing.

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM.

ANCIENT SACRED TEACHINGS

ANCIENT SACRED TEACHINGS 

From the beginning of recorded history, we have mention of sacred teachings concerning the rebirth of humans into a Higher Consciousness. In classical literature, reference is frequently made to “the Mysteries,” which became the technical term for secret rites and methods known and practiced only by the priest/hierophant who had been initiated. 

These sacred teachings were found in the empires of India, Egypt, Persia, Greece, AND Rome to mention only a few. The Mysteries were taught in specially created Schools by priest-hierophants who developed extraordinary techniques to assist select candidates to achieve a higher state of consciousness. These were the ancient Mystery Schools. 

In the Mystery tradition, the title “hierophant” indicated that the priest had experienced initiation into ALL levels of the Mysteries. The Mystery priesthood therefore functioned as a closed elite whose knowledge and practices were held and guarded in secret. “For those with eyes to see, and ears to hear.”

Along with precise knowledge of the teachings and rites, hierophants were well versed in astronomy, engaging in observation, investigation, analysis and recording of solar, lunar and stellar phenomena. Hierophants were also skilled mathematicians and were knowledgeable in architectural and engineering sciences. They were healers with special skills in medicine and possibly surgery. They were also historians, since the records of each civilization were safeguarded in the temples.

It is from these ancient pagan Mystery Schools that we have received the foundation for ALL world religions. Unfortunately, much of the original self-empowering teachings have been usurped, edited, and altered in order to control the congregants of the most dominant religions alive today. The esoteric spiritual stories and myths have been usurped, literalized, and presented as actual historical events that are only literal in translation. Nothing could be further from the Truth. All ancient Wisdom was allegorical and metaphorical. ALL of it, no exceptions. 

The secret teachings were under a layer of fables and parables. As it was back then, so it is today. Only the ones who have desired to do the work and dig through the murky waters have found the enlightened path. These teachings are still held in secret today by the Vatican and other global powers who are privy to them. Through this power, they control and manipulate the world population into division and separation ... and lead them down a path of darkness, rather than enlightenment. Question everything ... and you will find beneath the lies and deceptions, an abundance of Truth awaiting for you to discover it and use it to advance yourself, and all of humanity. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

WHAT EXACTLY IS NOTHINGNESS?

WHAT EXACTLY IS NOTHINGNESS?

God/Source Energy creates from nothing because nothingness, “ayin” in Hebrew, actually means absolute, infinite possibility and potentiality. No limitations. No restrictions. None at all. Boundless ... and you and I are co-creators of this infinite potential.

When you don’t need to be any particular something, you’re free to be anything. Kabbalah calls this infinite potential “nothingness,” but not because there’s nothing there, but because there are absolutely no limitations that define or restrict this infinite possibility in any way. It is the place where all potential begins. 

Remember as we talk on this subject, think of the number Zero. It is a whole entire number ... it is something ... not nothing as is assumed. Just like Infinity is also a number. In fact, most everything in the digital world operates on zero's and one's. Zero, does not mean nothing. It stores the potentiality of numbers just like all the rest. 

You’re Already Creating Something from Nothing, and as human beings created in the image of God/The All), you are also empowered to do so. And you do, all the time. Thoughts, are things (thinks) and will manifest into physical reality every single time. Thoughts are energy and cannot be destroyed. Nothing means: “no-thing” ... from the unsee, to the seen. From thought, to manifestation in form.

Unfortunately, most of the time what we create from nothing are the stories about what we can’t do, aren’t capable of, and will never have ... together with all the reasons why. This is ego blocking our natural Spirit-led default program of abundance and unlimited potentiality. 

These stories are continuously being recreated from nothing in each of our lives. But unlike Source Energy, who creates consciously, we create this reality unconsciously. It’s a sort of default programming. Yes, I understand that you have reasons for what you believe, but those reasons, while they may help to explain your past, do not have the power to limit your future. Unless you think they do, and act accordingly.

Most of us don’t wake up in the morning in awe of our own potential, in touch with our Divine purpose, filled with the joy of life, ready to create. More often we wake up conscious of our limitations, our disappointments, our frustrations, our unfulfilled needs, and the burdensome problems we need to solve. No wonder so many of us are exhausted, before we even get out of bed.

Change your perception and the way you think, and you will change your reality. When everyone understands the power of this ancient Truth, the world will become a better place. We will be able to create love, compassion, understanding, peace, and tranquility for all creatures. Mind the gate of your Mind ... you are the Watchman, you are the Observer, and you ... are the Creator.

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM.