Imago Dei

I have been experiencing quite of bit of anxiety lately. Tonight has been worse than most. Stress factors have been increasingly high and, for the most part, I’ve been handling things quite well. I say, “for the most part” because I know that there have been times, every now and then, that I momentarily forget to take the issues one at a time and I begin to feel the weight of all of life’s changes at once. This is not how we were created to live. Psychologically this is not productive.

A recent study has shown that depression may not be a dysfunction from which to hide, run or seek medical attention. For some, depression triggers a function in the brain that we would otherwise not attend to: the ability to categorize and separate each potential stressor and deal with them accordingly. A recent article I read in Scientific American that discusses how depression could potentially be a movement along the evolutionary path of humanity to learn how better to deal with life. This is fascinating to me. Humanity is still in a pattern of growth and along this spiral we are transforming into an increasingly higher being who can possibly dwell on a much different level of manifestation and existence than the current way in which we live.

Genesis and the Torah speak of humanity being created in the “Image of God”. Scholars have debated this for aeons now and most agree that in some way we carry within us some spark of the Divine Light; some piece of divine intelligence replicates itself within our psyche, our DNA, our personalities, somewhere. However the great thinkers and inspired spiritual guides of the ancient Hebrews conceived of it, we are in some way, like our Creator.

“As above, so below,” as Hermes Trismegistus teaches or “As below, so above and beyond,” as the Thrice Great Maynard James Keenan sings. This most basic axiomatic truth of the Hermetic Tradition speaks of the mirror we are of the Divine. We are but the microcosm of the Macrocosmic. We are a small part of the Great Whole. The All in All. In the esoteric orders, this is known as the mystery of 5=6.

This grand design of the Architect is the Truth of our existence and the wonder of our path if we have one and if we understand it correctly. We have been created in this place so that we can bring perspective and character to the Universe within the framework in which YHVH is the commanding presence. And in this sphere of ebb and flow, we carry within our lungs that Divine Breath. As we inhale and exhale we exchange not only that Divinity we carry, but we share it with others as we breathe the same air. We exchange it with creation as we supply CO2 necessary for the flora and fauna. We bring it back in as we take the oxygen from their leafy hands as they give it back. We share this Divine perspective with all creation, as they receive it from us.

As above, so below.

As we learn to evolve and grow and become more like the Above in our little space here Below, surely we must realize that part of that growth is the expansion of what we can conceivably handle both mentally and spiritually.

When our children are small, we give them bite-sized chunks of truth. We even teach them valuable lessons in pictures and moral stories to illustrate abstract truth. As they grow, we begin to share more with them and teach them from lessons more informational and less entertainment oriented. Certainly this may account for how we grow as a human race as well. We must begin to feel the weight of those growing pangs and we may very well feel overwhelmed at times by the stretching that pang indicates within our own mental and spiritual capacities. For many of us, that stretching looks something like what we call depression. However painful or isolating, it helps me to know that this is an indication of growth if I allow it to be so.

I must learn how to take things one step at a time. I must learn to chew my food and not try to swallow it whole. Five does, in fact, equal six. And not only does 5=6, but it is, in reality, more like this: 353 or the great “ABRAhadABRA”.

Not only are we a microcosm of the Macrocosmic, but we are surrounded on all sides by the Creator as we move through this life. We are not a separate, but similar piece of the puzzle. No. We are like a drop of water within the Great Ocean. We are made up of small particles of the Divine, yet we are also surrounded by the Divine as well. We are not the ocean, but we have a home within it.

This is what gives me sleep. This is what halts my anxiety and allows me to focus my energies on things that deserve it and my attention on finding solutions and paths that bring growth, success and evolution. “In the Image of God” isn’t simply part of our past story; it is part of our present reality and our future as well.

Rest well tonight. I will.

Strength Through Unity, Unity Through Faith

In the graphic novel turned blockbuster V for Vendetta, Alan Moore gave us the bitter phrase “Strength through Unity. Unity through Faith.” This battle cry is used as a rallying ideology of subjugation not unlike “If we don’t x, then terrorists win.” It becomes a unifying force to create more of a chasm between the evildoers “out there” and the good guys, who are obviously those of us of faith in something pristine and magnanimous. This faith, in the movie, is always spoken of, but only in tones of bravado as the backbone of their nationalism.

Religion has always been a unifying focus from the earliest days of the global myth of the Great Tower of antiquity to the recent debates about public healthcare and marriage rights. Of course, a people who are unified for a common ideology and move accordingly can be a powerful force. The unfortunate thing is that they also tend to be a mass of people who are easily manipulated, given the right circumstances. One thing history shows us is that few people, if any, are immune to that kind of coercion.

Most often Religion has, as its central focus, faith in something outside of oneself. Theoretical faith in a God becomes practically traded for faith in a leader. From there it is a small step to imagine the power that corrupts well meaning individuals; those who were once passionate about something that moved them, become impassioned for moving others. Those who were inspired become the ones who inspire. Where they once followed something inside of themselves, they deny their followers the same liberty and usurp their individual thrones within, demanding instead that they follow him.

The cleric becomes the god. Men, in turn, trade faith in themselves for faith in another. And, of course, as Jack Parsons wrote in Freedom is a Two Edged Sword, “Man has a right to be a slave if he so desires. If he does not assert and defend his rights he deserves slavery....his protestations are those of the hypocrite.” (p. 6)

The irony of it is this. This type of mental and psycho/spiritual slavery should never be the mark of an evolved, master people. Every man and every woman is a star in orbit around the sun. We have each been given an Inmost Light that provides direction, morals, character, dedication and Truth. The great men of faith in history were never satisfied to take their cues from others, but looked within themselves to interpret their interaction with God. They trusted not in the “word from on high” as given through someone else. No. They saw evidences of their own experiences with God. They heard his voice for themselves. They saw his manifestations. They moved on those without the aid of the local cleric who carefully administered Truth as it made sense within their dogma.

Those great men of faith were not special because they possessed something the rest do not. They were great because they listen to things we pass over. Moses. Jesus. Joan of Arc. Madame Guyon. St. Francis of Assisi. Fenelon. John Dee. Henry Cornelius Agrippa. Gandhi. Thomas Payne. Thomas Jefferson. Aleister Crowley. The list could go on. These are all men and women who paid attention to that Inmost Light and their legacies are some of the greatest of human history.

So Faith, in this sense, can be a wonderful thing. The object of that faith, however, is what makes the difference between a faith that is powerful and a faith that is flaccid and impotent. This is how the issue of Unity through faith can unravel and grow into an intricate cord of strength or a precariously braided pattern of control.

It is true that there is strength in unity and that unity comes from faith. Those two sentences I began with are, indeed, powerful and in the context of the movie V for Vendetta, they were quite sinister. However, they need not be. There is a strength and unity that can be a beautiful and liberating force. The difference comes in where the faith is found that gives birth to that unity.

Think of the equation in reverse with Strength as the product of both Unity and Faith.

Faith x Unity = Strength.

If the Faith comes from a sense of slavery to something outside oneself the Faith would present itself as a negative integer, so it becomes negative. So the equation would look like this

-Faith x Unity = -Strength

I realize it is a bit convoluted to use these phrases and the mathematical process this way, but it helps to illustrate my point so I’m going with it. The negative value of faith (since it’s really not faith in anything but someone else’s sense of faith) becomes the directional factor of the equation, deciding if the strength will be negative or positive. So in this sense, if the people’s unity is based on everyone’s faith in something or someone else, then their strength isn’t really that strong. That is why a totalitarian leader puts structures in place so that the people must always rely on him. This keeps their faith in him in a negative capacity, thus yeilding a strength which is more a facade than anything else. It’s not strength at all. In fact, it becomes the mathematical opposition of strength which is dependence and impotence.

However, with that same equation, if the people’s Strength is the product of a Unity which comes in a shared sense of Faith in the individual. Ah. This is where we get the foundation for revolution. This is where the real turning comes from. In the movie V for Vendetta, it was displayed as V inspired Evey to find that light within herself as she was imprisoned by him. In turn, the populace gained the same sense of faith in their own sense of justice and power that became inspired when the people witnessed the terrible tragedy of the young girl being shot.

History is replete with examples of this kind of Faith and Unity which are the truest factors in the equation which yields true Strength. Look at the Velvet Revolution of the Czech Republic, or at our own American Revolution. Look at Martin Luther, sometimes accidental revolutions are even more powerful than strategized revolutions. Look at the power and revolution brought about in the 60’s through the efforts of men like Martin Luther King, Jr. but began with a simple woman who decided to listen to her Inmost Light and refused to sit in the back of the bus. She inspired an entire culture to action. And their action wasn’t based on their faith in her, or in Dr. King. Their action was based on their faith in themselves, that they were deserving of more.

The seeds of revolution are planted deeply within the soil of the Unity. However, they are watered only by each individual as they learn to rely on themselves and listen to their own conscience. In this kind of Faith, Unity and Strength are weapons of might borne for the purpose of Liberty. But Liberty can only be a result of this kind of Faith. What results from the negative sense of Faith as spoken of earlier can only be described as a form of “godliness but denying the power thereof.” It parades around like liberty, strength and a sense of faith in God, but it is nothing less than enslavement to some other man who continues to devise and refine systems of subjugation.

In faith, we were born. In faith, we will die. In the lifespan between, faith should be our guiding purpose and our fuel for existence. How we define that faith, however, is what makes the difference between whether we will be men and women of greatness or men and women of slavery.

The Courage of Your Convictions

Religion, in its earliest definition, is defined as “a system of faith and worship” although I prefer the 18th century of “a feeling of utter dependence.” To many, this word may mean allegiance to a certain sect or denomination of a christocentric, orthodox faith institution. To others perhaps another of the worlds centuries or even millennia old ideologies. Still to others it comes as a sign of some new all-encompassing milieu of fuzzy good feelings and calming thoughts on the afterlife. However you define it, it seems that Religion and Faith must go hand in hand and whatever your predisposition of thought about the two words, they are concepts that must be understood and dealt with for any progress of thought for the human experience.

It seems as if Religion and Science have always had a love-hate relationship. Granted, history books always seem to be written and rewritten ostentatiously by those who either win the wars or at least the arguments. Nevertheless, history gives us great men who would appear to be men of both science and faith, even in the midst of war.

From ancient Greek we have the Pythagoreans who were not only scientists but a comprehensive religious sect who understood the laws of mathematics and physics to be the foundation of their entire system of faith. This system was based on a reality based on the existence of whole numbers, or integers, and left no room for any reality that saw anything outside of those boundaries. With the discovery of Phe (the “Golden Ratio” found in much of natural creation which is most definitely not an integer) their entire worldview was put to the test and lost. Science, it seems, won an early skirmish in the battle for supremacy.

Nicolaus Copernicus, the Polish monk, astronomer, mathematician and all-around marvel, wrote On The Revolutions Of The Celestial Spheres, which was published shortly before his death. In it, this Catholic cleric posited the unlikely argument that the planets revolved around the sun and not the earth. A few short years later, this heresy cost many others‘ their lives as the Holy Mother Church sought out and purged the world community of those who would come against their faith to suppose such preposterous ideas. Three hundred years later the Church finally dropped his book from their list of prohibited reading materials as well as Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Systems. In fact, it wasn’t until 17 short years ago in 1992 that the Catholic Church rescinded it’s 1633 verdict against Galileo Galilei as a heretic for proposing the same heliocentric viewpoint.

The list is endless and I would be wasting time and energy cataloging a mass of heretical truth-tellers that the church has persecuted in its war against Science and Reason. I do not want to detract from the focus of Religion and Faith and end up in a diatribe about the war between Faith and Reason. My side is neither and my worldview holds value in both faith and reason. The sadness comes in supposing that a war is necessary between the two.

Faith and Religion gives people a common language and understanding that unifies a community. This unity can be channelled into great endeavors as well as torturous evils. However, the unity that stands is a morally neutral force. The direction it chooses to go give it the morality or substance of its convictions or follies.

Repeatedly, as our understanding of our manifestation of reality and physical space here in the cosmos deepens, we run into new ideas, theories and sometimes even discoveries that shake our foundations and cause us tremendous consternation as we learn to assimilate this new information and metabolize it into our collective consciousness. This growth pang can and usually does bring about an opposition of worldviews within our own mental grasp of our life and faith.

Put yourself in the position of one who, in 1633, may have heard Galileo speak of our planet revolving around the sun when, in fact, you had been taught the very opposite by your church leaders your entire life. The teachings from church, from school, from social norms and from university all teaching that the sun, of course, revolved around the earth. “My child, this is not only scientific fact but this is scripture. This is the way God made it.” And then you hear a teacher within that same church speak of something opposite to this. It is not only backwards, but what would this mean about God? What would this mean about Church? My family? This man has now been called a heretic and sent to his own Hell to be dealt with harshly by God and the Devil both. What do you do?

Yet. We know this is fact now and hundreds of years now pass that religion has integrated and assimilated this into it’s canon of dogma. Why? Because it is simply so. At some point, on matters of indisputable fact and truth, religion has only two choices die or give in - buy in or fall to pieces. Sometimes that point is relatively soon as it was with the Pythagoreans. At other points in history, it comes hundreds of years later as it did for the Catholic church.

It would be complete conjecture to try to formulate any reasoning in understanding what makes the difference between one situation and the other. Sadly enough though, there is most definitely that period of incubation in which many are called heretic and burned at the stake either figuratively or literally.

I will wrap up this for now, however, I want to say that as this thought continues through the next few moments I have to write more, my goal is not debate. You may certainly use the forum here for your own debate, I could care less. I will not debate my thoughts or suppositions. I pretend to know nothing beyond my own ideas and convictions. You make your own. Love is the Law. Love under Will.