How dare anyone test you! Why do
you have to put up with all of this? Why is this not explained
in plain English so you can understand it and apply the teaching?
Why all these metaphors, symbols and parables?
Christ said, "Therefore speak
I in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear
not, neither do they understand." (Matthew 13:13); and again,
"Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom
of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done
in parables." (Mark 4:11) Once more, "Unto you it is
given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others
in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they
might not understand." (Luke 8:10)
Have you got the message?
Sphere 7 - Nikh
(Nike) Victory
Nike is used six times in
the New Testament and means Victory in its usual sense of a triumph
over an adversary after a struggle or battle. But what is the
struggle? Who is the adversary? After all, we have just come from
Goodness. The clue is given by the path of e
(epsilon) that leads into Victory and the path of h
(eta) that leads out of it. These are the second and third masculine
paths. Before we can progress from the second to the third, there
is a struggle that must be won. The second path is attributed
to Mercury whose archetypal meaning is the high intellect. The
third path is attributed to Venus whose archetypal meaning is
desire, emotion and yet again, the sex drive. What then is the
struggle? It is the battle between the intellect and desire. What
does Victory mean? Not that one defeats the other. That would
be the opposites in direct opposition and mutual destruction.
Victory is the symbiotic relationship between intellect and desire,
so that they work together. That is easy enough to say, but very
difficult in practice, hence the title of this sphere is Victory.
The first letter N
(ni) is attributed to Scorpio and the combined journey. Appropriately,
it is the path of the genitals and the physical location of the
struggle. The second letter i
(iota) has already been described. Here, simply note that it is
the next step on the masculine journey after the struggle has
been won. The third letter k (kappa)
is attributed to Leo on the combined journey and links Goodness
with Victory. Do you see the intricate interconnections within
the Tree? We are only touching the surface at the moment. There
is a great deal more to discuss. The fourth letter h
(eta) is attributed to Venus, the third masculine step and the
third chakra. The experience is described in the Apocalypse 2:12-17,
as the Letter to Pergamos.
The formula for understanding Victory
is Scorpio, Sun, Leo and Venus.
Sphere 8 - Megalwsunh
(Megalosine) Greatness
Megalosine appears four times
in the New Testament. Curiously, it is not used in its literal
meaning of "greatness", but rather in the sense of "majesty".
Thus it means something like great authority, sovereignty, dignity
and imposing character; all meanings quite appropriate to the
subject we are studying. Here is the clue: there are 10 letters
in Megalosine. The whole of the Tree of Life is encapsulated
in this word. Appropriately, 5 letters are vowels and 5 are consonants,
thus giving a balanced perspective. The true Greatness of the
Tree lies in the breadth and depth of knowledge of the process
salvation that it gives to us.
The first letter M
(mi) is attributed to Libra on the combined journey. It connects
Goodness and Power. The second letter e
(epsilon) is attributed to Mercury, the second chakra and the
second step in the masculine journey. It connects Foundation with
Victory. The experience is described in the Apocalypse 2:8-11,
as the Letter to Smyrna. The third letter g
(gamma) is attributed to Taurus on the combined journey. It connects
Kingdom and Victory. The fourth a
(alfa) has already been described, but note that it is attributed
to the Moon and she reflects the "greatness" of the
Sun. The fifth letter l (lambda)
is attributed to Virgo on the combined journey and connects Victory
with Glory; quite appropriate to Greatness. The sixth letter w
(omega) is attributed to the seventh masculine step, the seventh
chakra and Saturn. It connects Wisdom with First Principle. The
description of the experience is in the Apocalypse 3:14-22, as
the Letter to Laodicea. The seventh letter s
(sigma) has already been described. It connects Power to Crown,
again appropriate to Greatness.
The eighth letter u
(ipsilon) has also been described. It connects Glory to Wisdom
and are they not attributes of Greatness? The ninth letter n
(ni) has already been described. It connects Goodness with Glory,
again very appropriate for Greatness. The tenth letter h
(eta) connects Victory and Greatness. It is the third masculine
step, the third chakra and is attributed to Venus. The experience
is described in the Apocalypse 2:12-17, as the Letter to Pergamos.
The formula for Greatness is Libra,
Mercury, Taurus, Moon, Virgo, Saturn, Aquarius, Jupiter, Scorpio
and Venus.
Sphere 9 - Qemelion
(Themelion) Foundation
Themelion is used 23 times
in the New Testament as Foundation and is related to the Greek
word that means "to establish". Clearly, a foundation
is laid for the purpose of establishing a firm basis for what
shall be built upon it. On the Tree, this is the correct place
for Foundation and not the sphere of Kingdom, because a foundation
is itself dug into the ground. Kingdom is the ground in which
the Foundation is established. But what does it all mean? The
clue is contained in Matthew 16:18 where Christ says, " And
I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock
I will build my church;…". It is well known that Christ is
using a Greek pun: "Peter" in Greek, is PetroV
and that word is related to petra
, which means "rock". Cube shaped rocks were used for
foundations of all kinds of buildings at the time of Christ, but
especially for temples.
The first letter Q
(theta) is attributed to Earth and the first feminine step. It
connects Greatness with Goodness. It is the start of the circuit
we have noted before. To say that the feminine principle is deep
in the Foundation is more than just a play on words. The second
letter e (epsilon) has already
been described. Note however that it connects Foundation to Victory
and is part of the struggle we have already observed. The third
letter m (mi) has already been
described. The fourth letter e
(epsilon) is very familiar by now. The fifth letter l
(lambda) has also been described. The sixth letter i
(iota), seventh letter o (omicron)
and eighth letter n (ni), are
all well known. The point is to understand how they establish
the Foundation. Once more note Scorpio and the genitals.
The formula for understanding Foundation
is Earth, Mercury, Libra, Mercury, Virgo, Sun, Mars and Scorpio.
Sphere 10 - Basileia
(Basileia) Kingdom
Basileia is found 161 times
in the New Testament and is used in 6 different senses. The gnostic
teacher Basilides is reported, in a papyrus fragment of unknown
provenance, to hold that a soul’s salvation is its rational state
and kingdom. Is it an accident that the name Basilides means "he
who is of the kingdom"? It is at least clear that Kingdom
in the Greek Tree of Life has a deep metaphysical meaning and
is not to be attributed to the physical world we live in. This
makes complete sense of Christ’s repeated teachings about the
Kingdom being at hand, when no one can actually see it. (Luke
17:20,21). We should also note that Basilides uses the word "rational"
in a different sense to that in which we use it. Today we treat
left brain thinking as being rational. The closest analogy to
Basilides’ meaning is right brain thinking. This is consistent
with the teaching of Pythagoras.
The first letter B
(beta) is attributed to Aries and is the first step of the combined
journey. It connects Kingdom and Greatness. The second letter
a (alfa) has already been described
but note that it is the first step of the masculine journey. It
connects Kingdom and Foundation. The third letter s
(sigma) has been described. It leads to First Principle, the final
destination of the journey begun at Kingdom. The fourth letter
i (iota), the fifth letter l
(lambda), the sixth letter e (epsilon),
the seventh letter i (iota) and
the eighth letter a (alfa) have
all been described.
The formula for understanding Kingdom
is Aries, Moon, Aquarius, Sun, Virgo, Mercury, Sun and Moon.
*******
We have come to the end of our first
consideration of the Greek Tree of Life. A number of points now
arise:
-
There are four letters that
have not come up for consideration: z
(zeta), p (pi), t
(tav) and y (psi). They have
not been named but they are still part of the Tree. We cannot
ignore them and we shall meet them when we conduct the 3 journeys.
-
If you have got to this point,
it means that you have successfully passed the first test.
You have demonstrated patience, concentration, perseverance
and discipline. You will need all these qualities as we proceed.
-
There are further tests and
courage is one of them, because you will have to face your
worst adversary – yourself. These tests will be found in the
3 journeys and that which lies beyond them.
-
The journeys and the tests
are part of the process of salvation. This is a new view of
theology. If you do not like it, give up now.
If you do not want to give up, read
on.
