Spheres Within Spheres *

 "..........I float in deep space; everywhere is the colour violet. My archangelic guide is turned away from me. In the far distance is a group of fiery crystals being shepherded towards their destination, but I may not follow them. We, my guide and I, move rapidly upward and outward until halted by an invisible membrane surrounding a sphere which defines my spiritual location. Far beyond, shine more stars and galaxies in a realm that I cannot reach.

          Nearby, is a huge Tree. I reach out and find that I have entered its leafy crown. How can I breach the membrane that defies all my efforts to break through? In some way the uppermost branches have passed through the invisible barrier, but I will not be able, will not be allowed, to force my way through. Now I see that the way through is by a gentle, non-invasive path. I must become at one with the Tree in order to grow through the membrane with the branches.

          My guide and I slip inside the Tree. We climb a double helix stairway until we reach the barrier. There my guide stops and points the way. I can and do move on, into the next sphere; spheres within spheres. Another guide greets me, and we travel on together.........."

          It is a mistake to think that spiritual growth can be achieved by effort, as if such growth is an Olympic activity. The real effort, and that is undoubtedly necessary, lies in becoming prepared which may also require increased self-awareness. The passage from one experiential sphere to another appears to be an act of, what one may call ..... grace. One moves "upward and onward" as if by invitation, when the time is right. It is all a process of inner, spiritual evolution and one which always takes me somewhat by surprise. 

          Alongside the move toward preparedness grows acceptance of what is. And part of that acceptance is a recognition of powerlessness. In one sense, it is the acceptance of death to one sphere, to one way of being, so that one is born into a larger way of living. I find that all previous experiences of ..... being-ness always appear to be so ..... limited.

* [Footnote: "Into the Enchanted Forest - 3" delayed, probably indefinitely.]

Into the Enchanted Forest - Part 2.

          I will reproduce the essential cores of the three pathworkings from Part 1 of this post:-

"..........I am in a forest, approaching a glade. Before me, hanging in space, is a large eggshell with its top section as yet not yet formed. From deep inside comes a bright, blinding light as if from a white sun which had first appeared as a candle flame. Its radiance lights all the trees around us, grouped as if in adoration, in some form of worship. Yet the worship was more apparent than real, perhaps like a loving acknowledgement.........."

"..........I am moving in a forest, approaching a large, incomplete eggshell that seems to symbolise the focus of all my interacting processes with the world/universe around me. Inside the Egg is planet Earth, bathed in warm light. It is this light that streams into space.........."

"..........The great eggshell is here, before me. Through the brilliant light emitted from the unformed top, I see the contents of the translucent shell. It is a golden-yellow yolk encased in albumen. From the yolk worms an indistinct umbilicus which connects the two parts of the shell's contents.........."

          I have found in all my work that the emergent imagery always speaks about my psycho-spiritual being. That work never appears to speak of the 'out there' world, the physical forms. Thus although one could conclude that the eggshell could represent the Van Allen belts protection the earth and all its lifeforms, or the physical skeleton protecting the brain, I think that to conclude thus would be to miss the point.

          To enter this forest is to enter into a mystery, a ..... divine mystery. One needs to approach that mystery with loving acknowledgement, with ..... respect, rather than an egoistic experience of 'worship'. Here, on the threshold of a great mystery, one stands as if at a point of balance, a point of expectant hesitation, before entering the unfolding world of the spirit. This is the home of the perfect soul, symbolised by the white star, a body to which I alluded in a previous post, "The Crypt."

          In the second quote, in which I refer to the planet Earth inside the eggshell, Earth symbolically represents  how one interacts with the surrounding world/universe. It is about the use of physical senses, thoughts, emotions and perceptions and their effects on the deeper spiritual being; in short how the ego possibly affects the soul.

          Very similar in colour and form to our local star, the yolk located within its protective casing and fed from its 'food source', represents [to me at least] the ..... potential of something yet to develop. From the foregoing imagery, I cannot conclude that the soul comes into being, fully-fledged, when the physical foetus is born. Just as a foetus requires a physical, mothering environment in which to grow and develop before birth, so does the soul require a corresponding spiritual, mothering environment.

          I will conclude my thoughts about this phase of the work of contemplation of the soul in the third part of this post.

Into the Enchanted Forest - Part 1.

"..........I am in a forest, approaching a glade. Before me, hanging in space, is a large, human-sized eggshell with its top section as yet not yet formed. From deep inside comes a bright, blinding light as if from a white sun which had first appeared as a candle flame. Its radiance lights all the trees around us, grouped as if in adoration, in some form of worship. Yet the worship was more apparent than real, perhaps like a loving acknowledgement.........."

          The atmosphere feels as if an image had been superimposed ..... a memory of a past experience. It feels reminiscent of , "A Different Nativity" which I wrote about in January 2014. It is the feeling of "divine birthing" that predominates. Then the scene blurs and changes:-

"..........I am moving in a forest, approaching a very large, incomplete eggshell that seems to symbolise the focus of all my interacting processes with the world/universe around me. Inside the Egg is planet Earth bathed in warm light. It is this light that streams into space.........."

          I pondered on this imagery, on and off, for months, never quite understanding what I was being told. Then after a period of meditating on the "soul":-

"..........The great eggshell is here, before me. Through the brilliant light emitted from the unformed top, I see the contents of the translucent shell. It is a golden-yellow yolk encased in albumen. From the yolk worms an indistinct umbilicus which connects the two parts of the shell's contents.........."

          The setting, a shady forest, has been described in a number of ways. In particular the symbol of the forest represents a place, essentially feminine, that is free from control and intellectual "cultivation." It thus represents the Earth in the role of the Great Mother. Further, to enter the Dark or Enchanted Forest is like entering the perilous unknown, the spiritual realm, which one must ..... penetrate, in order to find meaning.

          There is no doubt in my mind that the months, and years even, that I have spent musing over this imagery have finally brought me to the point where I can only conclude that it is the "soul" about which I am being instructed. Not only that, but a study of this subject could arguably be the most important enterprise in my spiritual life. I will develop some of my thoughts in Part 2 of this post.

The Depths of No-thing-ness

          If "The Spectrum of Love" projects its message upward from the Deeps, onto the three principles referred to in my two earlier posts, and from thence up into normal consciousness, is there an even deeper level that feeds into the spectrum of love? I believe there is. Reaching into those hidden depths .....

"..........Mass and form slip away into the silence ..... Planes of black perceptiveness ..... A new sense of Presence, protective, guarding, feminine ..... alien but humanoid, yet radiating divinity.........".

          There does appear to be a level or ..... World which is, seemingly, fundamental to everything; a World which creates all that is to come, but which itself is the outflowing of an Abyss. Maybe the inner Temple is the spiritual form which this World must take in order to be ..... recognised, or perceived by consciousness. Spontaneous or outflowing birth, the interaction of a deep World on one less deep appears to be the order of the evolving spiritual universe.  

"..........Understanding is beginning to dissolve into unknowingness ..... Acceptance and descent is the chalice that must be willingly drained ..... There can be no other way, but through experience ..... Everywhere, filled with no-thing-ness .........."

"..........And the Spirit moved upon the Deeps.........."