What is the fundamental difference
between the male and female journeys? Women feel while men think.
That is why it is so much harder for men. Transformation comes
from feeling not thinking. Women feel through their bodies as
a natural consequence of who they are. That is why sexuality is
their path to spirituality. In order to feel, men need to be wounded.
That is why so much is demanded from them. Men have to learn that
their wound is sacramental and the key to transformation. Is it
any wonder that self-gratification and "feel good" are
more popular?
Step 5 – Mars
The fifth masculine step is the
letter o (omicron) connecting
Power to Glory and attributed to Mars. It is the fifth chakra
to be activated and is of particular significance to the man who
seeks to be wounded – the warrior. Yes, men must positively accept
their wound and make it the source of their power. That is why
older and wiser societies than ours, recognised glory as the legitimate
expression of the power generated by the masculine woundedness.
Today, we understand the warrior so little, that we pride ourselves
about how we despise the Victory and Greatness that are the Foundation
of his Power and Glory.
In our society men suffer in silent
pain. They are despised if they cry out and also if they do not
cry out. Let us see what the Apocalypse has for us 3:1-6, as the
Letter to Sardis:
1 To Sardis
2 speaks he with 7 spirits and 7 stars
3 you are alive and dead
4 be watchful and strengthen
5 remember
6 he that overcomes I shall not blot out his name
7 hear what the spirit says.
Men are "alive" or "dead"
depending on how they react to their pain. To be alive is to feel
the wound and be transformed by it, to be watchful and strengthened.
These are hard sayings but these are hard times. It has never
been as hard as today, to be a man. But remember, if we overcome
our pain, our name shall not be blotted out. Another ruthless
statement from Christ. He demands the absolute commitment that
only the 12 disciplines can give us. Have you tried them lately?
Men, embrace your pain. It is the Power that gives you Glory.
Thus speaks He who holds the 7 spirits and the 7 stars. The stars
are the chakras and the spirits are the intelligence of the chakras.
Step 6 – Jupiter
The sixth masculine step is the
letter u (ipsilon), the sixth
chakra, attributed to Jupiter and connecting Glory to Wisdom.
It is obvious isn’t it, that wisdom is the result of the pain
that glorifies? Wisdom is of course, the abstraction of Sofia.
Men try to think wisely instead of feeling Sofia directly.
The barrier to feeling wisdom is an unconscious realisation that
sexuality is involved. How then is wisdom to be felt? Let us look
at the Apocalypse, 3:7-13 as the Letter to Philadelphia:
1 To Sardis
2 speaks he with 7 spirits and 7 stars
3 you are alive and dead
4 be watchful and strengthen
5 remember
6 he that overcomes I shall not blot out his name
7 hear what the spirit says.
Now at last, we are making progress.
That is the whole point of knowing Wisdom in the heart. Pain does
that. We have kept His word, that is, we have experienced the
pain and humiliation, so He will write upon us a new name. That
is, He will acknowledge openly our inner transformation, for He
has always loved us. We have never been alone or abandoned, for
he is holy, true and has the key that opens and shuts. His love
for us comes from the heart and that is related to passion and
desire. He is the son of Mary, the personification of Sofia
and hence she is very close to the surface. We need so much to
feel her once again.
Step 7 – Saturn
This is the seventh masculine
step, attributed to W ,w
(omega), the seventh chakra and Saturn. It connects Wisdom with
First Principle. It is the last and culminating step in the inner
journey. The experience is appropriately described in the Apocalypse
as the Letter to the Laodiceans, 3:14-22;
1 To Philadelphia
2 speaks he who is holy, true, has the key and
opens/shuts
3 you have kept my word
4 know that I have loved you
5 behold
6 to he that overcomes I will write upon him
my new name
7 hear what the spirit says.
Significantly, this Letter is
addressed to the people, not the city of Laodicea. This difference
implies a change of consciousness and that is what we would expect.
Again we have the problem of the inappropriate translation of
the word "beginning". Once more the Greek word is arch
(arche) and according tour interpretation, means First Principle.
Thus we hear that the First Principle of the creation of God wants
us to be completely focussed as either hot or cold. No fuzzy "feel
good" here. He tells us to anoint our eyes to see. Thus we
too must become anointed ones, Christs. If we become as He is,
He shall open the door and we shall sit on His throne. That is
why men have made this journey. To become fully masculine, express
that aspect of the First Principle and sit on the throne.
It is the duty of all men to travel
the maze, experience the pain and be transformed by it. Note once
more the maze-like quality of the seven masculine steps in the
diagram below.
Have you seen something else?
There are five paths that lead directly into First Principle from
Goodness, Power, Glory, Understanding and Wisdom. There are three
feminine paths, from Goodness, Glory and Understanding; one masculine
path from Wisdom; and one combined path from Power. All three
journeys end at the same place, but the female journey takes pride
of place. Thus our understanding emphasises the feminine as especially
important. It follows logically that women must take an active
role in the Church as clergy. In the cases where this already
happens, the mistake has been made for women to fulfill men’s
roles. They are women priests instead of being priestesses.
We shall not assist Sofia
until women fulfill their archetypal duty of love, mercy and healed
sexuality. Male clergy have trouble doing this even if they have
found their feminine side.
*******
It is time for a rest because
the worst has yet to come. The journey of the deep masculine,
the Gnostic ascent of the soul. It can only be accomplished by
men who have felt their pain, whose wounds are sacraments and
who have completed the outer masculine journey.
