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Today, let's have the whole of Matthew, Chapter 3
What's in a Name?
Let's return to John the Baptist for a moment. His name in Hebrew is יוֹחָנָן, "Yohannon," which means "Graced by God." Or, rather, graced by Yah. Yah, as we have seen, is an abbreviation of YHVH, the Jewish God. "Grace" in English is a translation of the Greek word "energia," which is where we get our word "energy." The grace of God consists of his energies or his actions. John's name shows us that through him, God is acting in the world.
Tarot Cards
Here is John's name "Yochannon" in Golden Dawn terms:
Yod: The Hermit; the Sign of Virgo.
Vav: The Hierophant; the Sign of Taurus.
These two together form the "Yah" part of John's name. They show us John himself: an isolated hermit and priest, living in the desert, eating locusts and wild honey, the gifts of the Earth (Virgo and Taurus are both Earth signs).
Cheth: The Chariot, the sign of Cancer
Nun, Nun: Death, the sign of Scorpio
The Chariot and Cancer are somewhat contradictory symbols. The Chariot is a card of power, which shows a charioteer controlling two horses, one white and one black. The charioteer, the white horse, and the black horse, together form an image of the soul. The charioteer is the nous, the white horse is the thymos, and the black horse is the epithymia. As this card follows the Hermit and the Hierophant, the charioteer himself is the same figure as the man in those two cards. Having withdrawn from human society and encountered the spiritual world, he has gained mastery over himself.
Cancer is a water sign, relating to the moon, the common people, and the imagination. This shows the people generally coming to John for baptism in water. The Moon is the first sphere above the Earth, and Baptism is the first of the seven Sacraments of Initiation, which lead the soul to Heaven.
Scorpio is also a water sign, and is the only sign represented by, not one, but three symbols: The scorpion, the water-snake, and the eagle. The Death card shows us that Baptism, like all initiations, is a type of death. The second nun has a slightly different form from the first one, showing us that a different form of Scorpio is now present. The scorpion has awakened to the higher life and is now the eagle which sores in the light of the Eternal Sun.
The two death cards also represent the double deaths of, first John by beheading, then Jesus by crucifixion.
As the water-snake, Scorpio is also the "brood of vipers": The Pharisees and Sadducees that come to John for baptism, not because they wish to seek the higher life, but just because everyone else is doing it. In other words, they want power in the material world, the lower world represented by the water through which the poisonous water-snake swims.
Quis Est Deus
Speaking of YHVH... We probably should have gotten to this already, but since we're on the subject, how are we to understand that name YHVH? In Hebrew it's יהוה, "Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh." As discussed, this Name is rooted in the verb "To Be." It thus tells us that the God of the Jews, who is the Most High God according to this perspective, is related to Being Itself. To the extent that YHVH is "The God of" something, as Asclepios is "The God of" Healing or Thor is "The God of" Thunder, he is the God of Being-- Existence Itself. As Existence precedes Healing, or Thunder, or any other particular thing, we are therefore justified in identifying YHVH as the Most High God. "He brings into existence everything which exists."
At the beginning of The Iliad, the Greek forces have offended the God Apollo, and Apollo in his wrath has sent disease to ravage their armies. The Greeks eventually decide that they are in the wrong and they need to make peace with the God. The first thing they do is to plunge themselves into the sea in order to "cast off the filth." Then they sacrifice a large number of oxen to the God to appease his wrath. Also, of course, they amend the actual wrong they committed, by returning a captured Trojan girl to her father, a priest of Apollo.
What's going on here?
The purification by water found in The Iliad is preserved to this day by Shinto practitioners in Japan, who call it misogi. Natural sources of cold water have a profoundly purifying effect on the energetic body, that is, the aura of subtle energies and "vibes" that surround the physical body. Shinto practitioners make use of it to this day, Greek pagans made use of it in Homer's time, and John the Baptist makes use of it in our text. By immersion in water, the subtle body is cleansed of toxic or evil energies, called kegare in Japanese, that can include the sort of spirits that induce a person to commit evil acts.
Once purified in this fashion, the next step is a sacrifice. In the case of the Greeks, they offer to Apollo a hecatomb of oxen, an animal sacred to him. In ancient times, Gods were always worshipped by way of animal sacrifice, and the Jewish God was no exception to this. The animal was offered to the God-- and, critically, the meat was shared among all the worshipers. Sacrifices, whatever else they were, were the neighborhood barbecues of the ancient world, in which every hamburger and hotdog was infused with divine blessing.
Notice that the entire process of atonement with Apollo found in the Iliad is also found in the story of Jesus. He is purified by water, and then, ultimately, sacrificed, "the lamb of God." In the Eucharist, this sacrificial meal is shared by all the people.
Chains of Initiation
In addition to being a magical purification, baptism, in the work of John, is a rite of initiation. The baptized are initiated into the magical current whose last and greatest manifestation is in John the Baptist. By accepting baptism from John, Jesus accepts initiation into this current, and carries its power forward into the New Era.
In the thinking of some esoteric Christians of the last century, particularly those influenced by the Theosophical Society, Jesus was not born the second person of the Holy Trinity, but rather received the Christ Force once he was baptized and initiated by John. This moment is dramatized in the descent of the Christ Force in the form of a dove, and the words "This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased."
Whether or not one accepts that interpretation, or the view that Jesus was always the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Christ and Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, the point of his baptism is clear. God saves, and Jesus demonstrates that salvation through his life; God graces, and John demonstrates that grace through his work. By Baptism one is initiated into the magical current of Christianity, one which extends backward in time to Jesus himself, and before him, through John, into the ancient world.
1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
What's in a Name?
Let's return to John the Baptist for a moment. His name in Hebrew is יוֹחָנָן, "Yohannon," which means "Graced by God." Or, rather, graced by Yah. Yah, as we have seen, is an abbreviation of YHVH, the Jewish God. "Grace" in English is a translation of the Greek word "energia," which is where we get our word "energy." The grace of God consists of his energies or his actions. John's name shows us that through him, God is acting in the world.
We'll see that word "Grace" again when we get to the Gospel of Luke and talk about Mary, "gratia plena."
Tarot Cards
Here is John's name "Yochannon" in Golden Dawn terms:
Yod: The Hermit; the Sign of Virgo.
Vav: The Hierophant; the Sign of Taurus.
These two together form the "Yah" part of John's name. They show us John himself: an isolated hermit and priest, living in the desert, eating locusts and wild honey, the gifts of the Earth (Virgo and Taurus are both Earth signs).
Cheth: The Chariot, the sign of Cancer
Nun, Nun: Death, the sign of Scorpio
The Chariot and Cancer are somewhat contradictory symbols. The Chariot is a card of power, which shows a charioteer controlling two horses, one white and one black. The charioteer, the white horse, and the black horse, together form an image of the soul. The charioteer is the nous, the white horse is the thymos, and the black horse is the epithymia. As this card follows the Hermit and the Hierophant, the charioteer himself is the same figure as the man in those two cards. Having withdrawn from human society and encountered the spiritual world, he has gained mastery over himself.
Cancer is a water sign, relating to the moon, the common people, and the imagination. This shows the people generally coming to John for baptism in water. The Moon is the first sphere above the Earth, and Baptism is the first of the seven Sacraments of Initiation, which lead the soul to Heaven.
Scorpio is also a water sign, and is the only sign represented by, not one, but three symbols: The scorpion, the water-snake, and the eagle. The Death card shows us that Baptism, like all initiations, is a type of death. The second nun has a slightly different form from the first one, showing us that a different form of Scorpio is now present. The scorpion has awakened to the higher life and is now the eagle which sores in the light of the Eternal Sun.
The two death cards also represent the double deaths of, first John by beheading, then Jesus by crucifixion.
As the water-snake, Scorpio is also the "brood of vipers": The Pharisees and Sadducees that come to John for baptism, not because they wish to seek the higher life, but just because everyone else is doing it. In other words, they want power in the material world, the lower world represented by the water through which the poisonous water-snake swims.
Quis Est Deus
Speaking of YHVH... We probably should have gotten to this already, but since we're on the subject, how are we to understand that name YHVH? In Hebrew it's יהוה, "Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh." As discussed, this Name is rooted in the verb "To Be." It thus tells us that the God of the Jews, who is the Most High God according to this perspective, is related to Being Itself. To the extent that YHVH is "The God of" something, as Asclepios is "The God of" Healing or Thor is "The God of" Thunder, he is the God of Being-- Existence Itself. As Existence precedes Healing, or Thunder, or any other particular thing, we are therefore justified in identifying YHVH as the Most High God. "He brings into existence everything which exists."
In the occult tradition, there is another way to understand יהוה, which I want to talk about now. On this view, the Name itself represents a four part process of creation that unfolds through the Four Worlds of Being. Four Worlds? Those are the Henadic World, or Atziluth, the World of Absolute Unity; the Intellectual World, or Briah, the Archetypal World of Eternal Patterns; the Psychic World, or Yetzirah, the World of Forms and Images; and Assiah, the Physical World of Manifestation. All of these four worlds are always present in everything. YHVH is the power that underlies the existence and manifests through all four worlds, and it does so in the following manner:
י, Yod, is the primary spark of being. It is related to the element of Fire, the suit of Wands in the tarot, and the First of the Four Worlds.
ה, Heh, is related to the element of Water, the suit of Cups in the Tarot, and the Second of the Four Worlds. It is the formless Divine Mother discussed by Plato in the Timaeus: a kind of Great Matrix in which all the Eternal Forms come into being.
These two together are also what are called the Sun and the Light of the Sun in the Real World in Plato's allegory of the cave in the Republic. The light is the power by which all of the things in the real world are made visible. The Sun is the source of the light. Remember that the Sun in the Real World, which is the Intellectual World, is also the Son of the Good.
ו, Vav, is related to the element of Air, the suit of Swords in the Tarot, and the Third of the Four Worlds. The Third World is the psychic world or the astral world as we generally understand this. All concrete thoughts and mental images that you actually experience, from pictures in a daydream to songs getting stuck in your head to the sound of these words pronounced in your mind in your own voice as you silently read them are part of the Psychic World. The meaning of these images comes from the Intellectual World; their very being comes from the Henadic World.
ה, the Final Heh, is related to the element of Earth, the suit of Pentacles in the Tarot, and the Fourth of the Four Worlds. The Fourth World is the Physical World, the world of manifestation. Here the forms that came into being in the First World, were given meaning in the Second World, and form in the Third World, take on substance in the physical world.
YHVH is the Divine Power which underlies, generates, and sustains all four worlds, continuously and simultaneously.
Back to Repentance
We spoke yesterday about how the term "repentance" doesn't mean "Say you're sorry and be sad," but instead refers to a whole process by which the nous, the highest part of the soul, is transformed in the image of God.
But how does this come about?
At the beginning of The Iliad, the Greek forces have offended the God Apollo, and Apollo in his wrath has sent disease to ravage their armies. The Greeks eventually decide that they are in the wrong and they need to make peace with the God. The first thing they do is to plunge themselves into the sea in order to "cast off the filth." Then they sacrifice a large number of oxen to the God to appease his wrath. Also, of course, they amend the actual wrong they committed, by returning a captured Trojan girl to her father, a priest of Apollo.
What's going on here?
The purification by water found in The Iliad is preserved to this day by Shinto practitioners in Japan, who call it misogi. Natural sources of cold water have a profoundly purifying effect on the energetic body, that is, the aura of subtle energies and "vibes" that surround the physical body. Shinto practitioners make use of it to this day, Greek pagans made use of it in Homer's time, and John the Baptist makes use of it in our text. By immersion in water, the subtle body is cleansed of toxic or evil energies, called kegare in Japanese, that can include the sort of spirits that induce a person to commit evil acts.
Once purified in this fashion, the next step is a sacrifice. In the case of the Greeks, they offer to Apollo a hecatomb of oxen, an animal sacred to him. In ancient times, Gods were always worshipped by way of animal sacrifice, and the Jewish God was no exception to this. The animal was offered to the God-- and, critically, the meat was shared among all the worshipers. Sacrifices, whatever else they were, were the neighborhood barbecues of the ancient world, in which every hamburger and hotdog was infused with divine blessing.
Notice that the entire process of atonement with Apollo found in the Iliad is also found in the story of Jesus. He is purified by water, and then, ultimately, sacrificed, "the lamb of God." In the Eucharist, this sacrificial meal is shared by all the people.
John says that "One is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." This suggests the institution of a new and more powerful ritual of purification, one which will take place directly on the spiritual level. I would suggest that this is the rite of Confession in sacramental Christian churches, in which sins are forgiven by the cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit and a penance given by which the sinner may amend their actions, like the Greeks returning the captured Trojan girl to her father. Confession is followed by and is required to participate in the Eucharist, in which the Sacrifice of Christ is reenacted.
Chains of Initiation
Initiatory magical traditions are very concerned with lineage. This is the process by which a magical current is passed from initiate to initiate. Plato was initiated by Socrates, and Socrates was initiated by Diotima.
John is the final prophet of the old era, the era which is passing away with the current generation (of Jesus's time), and Jesus is the beginning of the new.
In addition to being a magical purification, baptism, in the work of John, is a rite of initiation. The baptized are initiated into the magical current whose last and greatest manifestation is in John the Baptist. By accepting baptism from John, Jesus accepts initiation into this current, and carries its power forward into the New Era.
In the thinking of some esoteric Christians of the last century, particularly those influenced by the Theosophical Society, Jesus was not born the second person of the Holy Trinity, but rather received the Christ Force once he was baptized and initiated by John. This moment is dramatized in the descent of the Christ Force in the form of a dove, and the words "This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased."
Whether or not one accepts that interpretation, or the view that Jesus was always the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Christ and Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, the point of his baptism is clear. God saves, and Jesus demonstrates that salvation through his life; God graces, and John demonstrates that grace through his work. By Baptism one is initiated into the magical current of Christianity, one which extends backward in time to Jesus himself, and before him, through John, into the ancient world.
