Most of us are affected or conditioned by the Bible. Whether we accept all or part of it as "Gospel", we are surrounded by a culture that is filled with references to and legal and ethical concepts from the bible. To really understand our culture, we need to understand something about the Bible.

Many spiritually minded people have given up reading the Bible because they find it difficult to understand and accept. But, there are approaches to the interpretation of the Bible that may help them to understand the hidden mystical tradition deep within it.

The Bible was written beginning about 1,000 B.C.; through about 140 A.D. There is much controversy over who wrote the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments. Traditionally, the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah, from Hebrew, meaning instruction, or Pentateuch, from Greek, meaning five Scrolls, were written by Moses. Today, based on content, differences in style, history, language and logical inconsistencies, most Biblical scholars agree that there were probably at least three different authors, who were writing what had previously been an oral tradition. All of the first five books were written in Aramaic, the form of Hebrew spoken I those times.

The Bible is an esoteric book, meaning that it contains hidden information in addition to the obvious, literal interpretation. In ancient times, only those of the inner circle were allowed to know the inner teachings.

There are several ways to begin to unlock the secrets hidden within the Bible. One of the most powerful is to translate the names of people and places from the original Aramaic to English. Numbers and key words are also very helpful. We will not attempt to get all of the meaning from every passage. It would take many years. But, by using these elements in moderation, we will be able to get some idea of the wealth of information beneath the surface.

Perhaps the most important insight is that the stories reflect inner experiences, much the same as in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. The narratives of what appear to be only historical events are also descriptive of subjective experiences of individuals. Personalities in the Bible represent conditions of consciousness and qualities of character. This is one of the reasons that both people and place names are changed when new levels of consciousness are achieved, such as Abram to Abraham.

There are many interpretations of the Bible and to the extent that they help us to understand God and our relationship to Him/Her they have value. With an understanding of the meaning of numbers, allegory, symbolism, the translation of names and the historic background of the writings, we can come to a better understanding of what it is all about.

There are at least three levels of meaning in the Bible. The most obvious is the historical or material level. The second is the level of the mind, or psychological, and deals with morals and ethics. The third level is Spiritual or Soulual and deals with the development of Cosmic, or Christic Consciousness from self consciousness. Most people are familiar with the first two. We will concentrate on the third.

You may question why the Bible was written in this fashion, or ask what is the perfect interpretation. The beauty is that the interpretation is always changing. Your story is in the Bible and so is mine. The interpretation is different for each person and at different times in your spiritual development it will mean different things. You are the leading character in the Bible.

I am not suggesting that there is no historical significance to these Bible stories. But they seem to make more sense allegorically than literally, and, I believe that history was told in this way in order to impart a deeper message.

One of the things I hope will become apparent to my readers is that this way of interpreting the Bible as well as our cultural mythology makes it accessible to all. No Longer is the Old Testament simply a story of a group of patriarchs wandering around Palestine looking for God and home. It is also, and perhaps more importantly, the story of our growth of consciousness. It describes the journey each of us must make if we are to find heaven, salvation, the Holy Grail or Illumination...whatever name we use. It goes into detail about the finding of the Path and the decision to take it, the travails and pitfalls along the way and finally the joy of accomplishment.

These stories may be seen in our daily experience as the characters within us act them out, for we face similar challenges every day; or, they may be seen as covering a lifetime; or better yet, both.

It is important to note that htis process is the same for women as it is for men. Some of our temptations vary, but the path and the process are the same, In fact, a woman may have an advantage, because she is closer to her love nature to begin with. In any event, there is no sexual bias in spiritual truths.

I have relied heavily on the writings of others who have kindly shared their information and knowledge. Among the references that I used are: Bible Mystery and Bible Meaning, by Thomas Troward, The Hidden Bible: by John P. Scott; The Hidden Mystery of the Bible, by Jack Ensign Addington; The hidden Wisdom in the Bible, Vols. I,II,III, by Geoffrey Hodson; The Holy Bible, The King James Version; Idioms in the Bible Explained, by George M. Lamsa; The Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, from Unity School of Christianity; New Age Bible Interpretation, Vol. I, by Corine Heline; Old Testament Light, by George M. Lamsa; Understanding the Kabbalah, by Edward Albertson and What the Bible Really Says, by Manfred Barthell.

This is my humble attempt to find some of the hidden meaning of this marvelous book, I sincerely hope it will stimulate you to think of the Bible in a new Light.

With Love,
Rev. Bette McFerson Benner
December 14, 1997
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The Bible story begins with the Book of Beginnings or Genesis, the story of creation. Or, I should, the stories of creation.

Creation began when the earth was without form and the Spirit of God moved upon the waters. Alchemically speaking, this Spirit is the Positive or masculine aspect of God combining with the water, which is the Negative or feminine side of God, to give birth to Creation. These same principles became the elements of fire and water, in their material manifestation. When the breath of the Spirit combined with the receptive feminine waters, the result was the Light. "Let there be light: and there was light." This was the work of the first "day" of creation. In the Greek translation the word for "day" was translated as aeon.

On the second "day" or "aeon" God created the firmament. This was the lowering of the vibration of the creative emanation which resulted in the manifestation of matter.

The story of creation is the story of mankind. Our bodies began as minerals and gradually developed through plants and animals and finally became humans with indwelling spirits, incorporating all the elements from the lower levels. The naming of the animals by Adam, which in Hebrew means 9 and symbolizes humanity, is the recognition of all animal characteristics as a part of the nature of man. In the bible, name can be interpreted as nature or matter.

According to Richard Maurice Bucke's Cosmic Consciousness, first published in 1901, the story of the Garden of Eden can be understood as the story of the development of self consciousness. There is certainly a difference between consciousness and self consciousness. Animals are conscious. But, they are probably not self conscious. (After some of the things dolphins and chimps have done recently, I will not say they are not.)

The important os self consciousness is that it allows us to think about ourselves, which gives us the opportunity to make choices. Animals cannot sin, for they cannot make choices. They act from instinct.

The story is inconsistent about whether this is good or bad. For, as Adam and Eve became aware that they were unclothed, they were told by the serpent, and it was reinforced by God, that they also had the power to become one of the gods. This somewhat ambiguous discussion makes sense. For along with the opportunity for the achievement of godhood, man had also become capable of sin.

John P. Scott, in The Hidden Bible: Genesis, says that the Garden of Eden was heaven and the eating of the apple represents our fall from heaven into the physical. Adam and Eve lost consciousness of the higher realms through the indulgence of their lower emotions.

Their children, Cain and Abel, represent fire and water. Cain represents the fire or head type and Abel represents water, the heart or faith type of person. In Masonry, the Sons of Cain are those who require reason to be convinced, while the Sons of Abel are more docile and will accept faith without reason.

When Cain killed Abel, it meant that the mental, material side of man had dominated the heart, spiritual side. In other words, humanity was becoming more materialistic. So Abel was the keeper of the sheep, always denoting innocence, and Cain was a tiller of the soil, denoting the physical, material, lower self.

In addition to representing different types of people, they also represent aspects within each of us. For we each have our Cain and Abel within. After Cain murdered Abel, he wandered in the Land of Nod, which means trouble or unrest, a lower level of consciousness. The heartless man is troubled and restless. When finally, Cain knows his wife and she begets a child, Enoch, which means wisdom, it indicates that he has come back to his feminine nature and Enoch, or wisdom, is the result of this union between masculine mind and feminine heart.
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If we translate the names of the characters in the Old Testament from the Hebrew, we find an interesting story. Individual personalities in the Bible represent conditions of consciousness and qualities of character. In Part 1, we talked about Cain as the mental or material part of our nature. Cain, in the original Hebrew, means possession, acquisition and selfishness. Cain represents the mental side of us, deeply involved with the material side of life, without love and compassion or spirituality.

Abel, in the original Hebrew, means breath, vapor, transitory. Abel represents the heart and spiritual side of man. But, at this stage of development it is as a vapor and transitory, without foundation. And so, Cain, the mental overcomes Abel, the heart. Every man, at the beginning of his development, is primarily mental, physical and materialistic.

The Bible goes on to relate the generations which descend from Cain. The different generations of Offspring in the story are a description of the growth of consciousness in each of us. The descendants of Cain represent the mental development which results from materialistic thinking. "And cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Enoch." Enoch means a new state of thinking, a founder. "And unto Enoch was born Irad..." Irad means passion and desire. "Irad begat Methusael..." meaning the belief that man is of God, and a belief in death, a man divided against himself. "Methusael begat Lamech." Lamech means youth and power and the principle of law and order.

In other words, from a foundation in materiality and selfishness, we indulge in passion and the fulfillment of our carnal desires. We erroneously conclude that power is based on the physical and mental. We reach the level of a belief in God but also in death. So, we give God lip service, but we rely on our physical and mental reality. We learn to accept the concept of law and order, based on mental principles and physical power.

Lamech took two wives. One wife was Adah, which means beauty and pleasure. The second wife was Zilah, which means darkness, and gloom. The consciousness that results when the concept of youthful power, Lamech, combines with beauty and pleasure, Adah, is their son, Jabal, "...the father of such as dwell in tents and of such as have cattle." This is symbolic language. A dweller in tents means transient and unstable. Cattle refer to the physical. Another result of this combination, their second child, is Jubal. Jubal translates as a source of joy, and harmony.

When the concept of youthful power, Lamech, combines with darkness and gloom, Zilah, the result is Tubal-Cain in the original Hebrew means a diffusion of Cain, a more generalized over-all materialism, no longer self-centered. It also relates to minerals, metals and instruments made from them. A second child of this union is a daughter, Naamah, which means social unity or concord.

We indulge in youth and pleasure but the result is transient pleasure because it is based on the physical. But, we can develop joy and harmony in the mundane sense. Finally, our mental development broadens in scope and we begin to care for others. We come into harmony and achieve social unity with them.

These are the descendants of Cain, or the development of our intellectual consciousness. With the intellect alone, we can never reach above its basis which is the physical and material. Happily, there is an alternative. Adam and Eve had a third son named Seth. Demonstrate the development of Spiritual consciousness.

I hope you can see that there is a meaning to the names of the Bible, which must have been easily available to the early Hebrews, who spoke Aramaic, the original language of the Old Testament. But, those of us who have had to rely on translations, have been missing a whole level of meaning. There are several nuances to the translations of these names and you may want to research them for yourself.

Seth, the third child of Adam and Eve, means settled, determined, founded. This is the foundation for the balancing of the mental, earthly, Cain-consciousness, and the heart, ethereal, Abel-consciousness.

"And to Seth, to him also there was born a son, and he called his name Enos..." Enos means miserable, mortal, a mutable being. It is out of this misery that we begin to week a higher power."And Enos...begat Cainan" which means one who establishes his center. Finally, we recognized our spiritual self.

And Cainan gave birth to Mahalaleel, meaning might, rising exaltation, praise of God. This attitude may be transitory. Mahalaleel gave birth to Jared which means descent, going down. This is the descent of the spirit into the physical in order that it may be lifted up.

The son of Jared is Enoch. Again, as in Cain's descendant, Enoch means a new way of thinking, the founder. Only this time, coming from Seth, or the seeker after higher things instead of from Cain who founds a city, this Enoch is the founder of a new way of spiritual thinking. The Bible tells us that "he walked with God." His child is Methuselah. Methuselah translates as a man of the sword, sharp, sudden but fleeting. This is the sudden recognition of our oneness with God, the glimpse of the cosmos.

Methuselah's child is Lamech, the power of youth and vitality, the principle of law and order. But, as a descendant of Seth, this is the Law of God, the natural order and harmony of the balanced man. His age of 777 tells us that this is the completion of a cycle of consciousness. Seven is the number of completion in the Bible. Note that Lamech is also the seventh generation since Adam.

Lamech had a son named Noah. Noah means calm, peace and balance. Noah is the beginning of a new cycle of conscious spiritual growth. The resultant products of this state of mind are Shem, which means spiritual and righteous, Ham, which means physical and warm, and Japheth, meaning intellectual wisdom.

To summarize: then the intellect and the heart unite, we begin to build a spiritual consciousness. Through misery and travail, we progress to the recognition of God. We learn that we have a spiritual self, apart from and yet part of our mind and heart. In the beginning, our understanding is limited, and our spiritual expression is transitory. As our spiritual development grows, spirit descends to us to help us to left ourselves up. We reach a new level of spiritual awareness. Our thinking and relation to our environment, people, events and things is based on our spiritual foundation. We walk with God. From this consciousness, we glimpse the Kingdom, the cosmos. With this glimpse, we come to understand the harmony in God's Divine Law and its application in our lives.

This is a level of completion and becomes the new foundation for future spiritual growth. It is a place of inner peace, calm and balance. It is a state of consciousness accompanied by righteousness, physical comfort and intellectual wisdom. The descendants of Seth demonstrate the development of Spiritual Consciousness.
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According to scholars of the Old Testament, there are two stories of the flood entwined together; which explains the discrepancies. For in one verse, the flood was forty days upon the earth, and in another it was a hundred and fifty days. But, the details are not important, it is their meaning we need to understand.

"That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them wives of all which they chose." Some believe that this verse refers to the original fall of man; the descent of heavenly beings into the flesh. "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." Again, this is a reference from an old story reflecting the original fall of the angels into the animal form, resulting in Man, a spiritual potential contained in an animal body. It is not necessarily a sexual encounter, but is their way of explaining the soul or Son of God (which probably should read Child of God) taking on a physical body.

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them... And, behold, I, even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth..."

Water in this instance reflects the psychic aspects of consciousness, psychic phenomena, magic, astrology and so forth. We can be inundated by the subconscious mind. To explore or dwell in this level of consciousness can be disastrous. Since we are talking about the growth of consciousness, this would represent man's faculties being incorrectly used, a sort of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland gone wrong.

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Noah means calm, peace and balance. "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." So the calm, peace and tranquility of the Noah consciousness must rise above the psychic consciousness and overcome it.

God tells Noah to build an ark. The ark symbolizes a container or conveyer of consciousness, the carrier of life, a holy abode or a vessel for preservation, with a conscious awareness guiding it. The animals and people he took with him represent the powers and qualities of man. His sons Shem, which means spiritual righteousness and balance, Japheth, meaning intellectual wisdom, and Ham, which means physical heat, the physical body, are the three aspects of man and must all be included: soul, mind and body.

"...And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be make and female." And from the second author, "...Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female; and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female." The animals whether two by two or fourteen by fourteen are in pairs, male and female to represent the positive and negative balance of life.

"And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights...And the flood was forty days upon the earth." When we are firmly based in the spiritual nature we will not be drowned by the flood of psychism. We will float above the waters.

There are several numbers and special words used in these passages of Genesis, and each one has a symbolic meaning:

The ark was to be 300 by 50 by 30, and three stories high. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights... And the flood was forty days upon the earth... And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.... And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat... And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made..."

"And he sent forth a raven... Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated.... And the dove came in to him in the evening; and lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew....

"I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth."

Three: The number three signifies the Trinity of life, it is the mystical number of unity, three in one, the Trinity, soul, mind and body. The numbers 30 and 300 indicate emphasis of that concept.

Five: Five is the middle number between one and nine. It implies mediation and adaptation. So the ark is a vessel of mediation between the body, mind and soul. It has one window and one door.

Window: A window points to man's faculty of abstract thought, an opening to metaphysical states.

Door: A door represents an entrance into the mind of power and inspiration from above, as when Jesus said "I am the door..."

Seven: The number seven is called the mystical number and denotes something that is finished, complete. Remember the age of Lamech of 777. Note that though this means finished, it is not in the same sense as nine which means perfection. Consider the seven colors, the seven days of the week, the seven tones of the scale and the seven levels of heaven.

Forty: The number forty, which occurs many times in the Bible, mens an indefinite but completed period of time, a finished experience, a completed stage in spiritual growth.

One hundred fifty: This is a number made of factors of three and fifty, of five and thirty. So again we are being told that this whole experience is about the need to mediate and balance the body, mind and soul.

Mountains: Mountains symbolize exalted states of consciousness. So we are told that the end result of Noah's journey is to arrive at an elevated level of consciousness.

Raven: Birds indicate the consciousness of man. A black raven portrays the intellect. And it is appropriate that the raven did not return to the ark, because the intellect alone can never grasp the eternal and infinite truth.

Dove: The dove, however, represents the higher intuitive part of man's consciousness which is connected to our feelings of love and which is able to grasp Divine Light and Divine Love.

Olive leaf: The olive leaf represents the spiritual truth which was the goal of the experience.

Rainbow: A rainbow exhibits the seven colors of the spectrum and is the affirmation of the unity of God with man and man with God. As Jesus said, "I and my Father are one." It is the spiritual bridge between heaven and earth, between man and God.
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The Bible story of Abraham is the story of the growth of faith in our lives and its culmination in the ultimate spiritual attainment. We know that it is meant to be allegorical for Paul, referring to the story of Abraham and his two sons, says, in Galations 4:24 "...which things are an allegory." Abram, his name before God changed it, means faith in the invisible, in Hebrew. As used here, it means faith in the unseen God and Divine Guidance. As a result of this faith, mentioned several times, Abram progressed to higher levels of Spiritual consciousness. His faith was "counted to him for righteousness."

Sarai, the wife of the Abram, is the feminine, subjective or love side of his consciousness or soul. It means contentious in Hebrew. It is still contending for its rightful place in the consciousness. It is barren, meaning that it has not yet brought about the birth of spiritual consciousness.

Abram and Sarai moved to a place called Haran, which means elevated, exalted. As before, we interpret geographical references in the Bible as states of consciousness. We can interpret this to mean that Abram achieved a new higher level of consciousness. But his nephew Lot accompanied them. Lot means hidden, negative and dark-colored. Lot is the negative side of faith. So, in the early part of our development, we have faith, Abram, taking along contentious feelings, Sarai, and the negative thinking of the lower nature, Lot.

Then the Lord told Abram to get out of his county and away from his kindred "unto a land that I will shew thee." And again, Lot accompanied them. This time they went to the land of Canaan, the lowlands of materiality, to Sichem, burden bearing, and, because of famine, as there always is in this kind of thinking, they moved on into Egypt, Greek for restraint and materiality.

The story becomes a strange one, unless we understand the allegorical meaning. On the way to Egypt, Abram asked his wife Sarai to pretend to be his sister for fear that he would be killed. She then was married to the Pharaoh and Abram was given much material wealth in exchange. But God sent plagues upon Pharaoh even though he was unaware of her status. When the Pharaoh discovered the truth, he returned Sarai to her husband and sent them out of Egypt.

Though we are developing faith, negativity, Lot, is still with us, so we are net fearful. We barter our soul, the feminine, Sarai, for security and materiality, the confines of matter, Egypt. Yet it is a great kingdom and gives us sustenance for the future. We cannot eliminate our dependence on material things, only control our appetites. The ruling thought of our material consciousness, Pharaoh, cannot know who the soul, Sarai, really is, for we cannot understand that which is spiritually above us. Regardless, we suffer the consequences when we mentally resis spiritual consciousness. When the suffering gets bad enough, we give up trying to find security or happiness in materiality, Egypt, and lift our consciousness "up out of Egypt."

Abram, Sarai and Lot returned to the place they first settled, but things were not the same. Abram's and Lot's herds had become so large that the land could no longer support them. In order to eliminate strife, they decided to separate. Abram gave Lot his choice of directions in which to settle, and they parted. Then the Lord said to Abram, "Lift up thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever."

Our growing consciousness, Abram, can no linger exist with dark negative thinking, Lot. The strife between the herdsmen is the clsh of conflicting thoughts. Our negative thinking, Lot, chooses the land which appears the best. This kind of thinking always judges by appearances. Once we have separated from our negative thinking, we lift our consciousness from the level where it was and get a balanced perspective, North, South, East and West. To see, in the Bible, means to understand. What the <ord tells abram is that all the consciousness, or land, that we understand, or see, belongs to us and our thoughts, or seed, forever. Note the ctch: we are given only that which we understand.

After he left Egypt, Abram removed his tent to Mamre in Hebron. Mamre means abundantly supplied, vitality. Hebron means alliance, friendship. So our consciousness has reached the level where our physical and mental faculties are in a satisfying, vigorous relationship; we have reached a health balance.

Sarai however, was still barren. And she offered her Egyptian handmaid Hagar to Abram as a surrogate mother. Hagar, which means to flee, fugitive and wanderer, refers to the soul in its natural or unenlightened state. Because it is still selfish and sensual, its offspring will be fear and uncertainty or wanderer. In case we still didn't get it, we are told that she is from
Egypt, or materialism.

Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, bore a son to Abram. His name, Ishmael, means whom God hears or whom god understands. So god also hears the outer natural man, since he also must be redeemed. But, this consciousness cannot inherit the kingdom.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God said that henceforth he would be called Abraham. This was a recognition that Abraham's nature had changed. For, in the symbolism of the Bible, name means nature. Nine (or ninety-nine) is the number of spiritual completion. The name Abraham means father or source of a multitude, people. People represent ideas in Bible symbols. This ability to make substance out of ideas is called faith.

It is referring to the power of the mind to bring into substance the ideas of the mind through faith. When we have faith in the unknown, unseen God, then the power of the mind is unlimited in its expression. So Abraham represents the first step in spiritual development, Faith. But Abraham was still a dweller in tents. Tents are a temporary type of dwelling. This means that his faith has not yet become an abiding quality of the consciousness.

Sarai's name was changed to Sarah. As we gradually grow in spiritual consciousness, our nature, or name, changes. Sarah means princess or noble woman. She is the daughter of the king and should never be allowed to unite with material conditions, or Pharaoh.

As a token of the covenant with God, Abraham has all males in his household circumcised, which in Latin for cutting off. This act is symbolic of the cutting off of our lower nature. In the New Testament, it is to be accomplished spiritually, as the purification of the consciousness which set one free from all sensual, corruptible thoughts and activities. "Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter." Romans 2:29.

Finally, the Lord told Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child. Abraham, or faith, in union with Sarah, or nobility of soul, gave birth to Isaac, which means joy, laughter, singing. This is the joy of the new birth, the new life in Christ, as it is called in the New Testament, the spiritual consciousness of relationship to God, becoming a child of God. This is being born of the Spirit. We are, "not...of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God." The natural man cannot bring forth this birth, that is why Hagar's child, Ishmael, could not inherit God's kingdom.

As Isaac grew, Ishmael mocked him. This is the "mind of the flesh" mocking the new spiritual child, a circumstance common to all who go through this experience. Eventually, Hagar and her son must be cast out. Abraham grieves at this, as we all do when we realize that we must not cling to the fruits of the material world.
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After all the tests that Abraham, which means father of nations and faith in the unseen God, has gone through, he still has one more. This time, God tells him to take his dear son Isaac to a mountaintop and there offer him as a burn sacrifice. If we interpret this literally, me may have some difficulty with the picture it gives us of God.

Manfred Barthel, in What the Bible Really Says, indicates that this story was borrowed from a much earlier Sumerian legend, which ended with the death of the son. He points out that the Bible story may have been used to show the difference between the Sumerian God and the God of Abraham, who refuses the sacrifice at the last minute. But there could have been a deeper message.

Let's continue with the story. Abraham arose early in the morning, saddled his ass, took two of his young men with him, and Isaac.

Here, Abraham represents the consciousness in an inspired state, but not yet fully illumined. For it was early morning which refers to the beginning stages of spiritual illumination. The ass symbolizes the passions, here tamed, subdued and under the control of the consciousness. The two young men symbolize the mental and physical principles are also subservient to the Will of the consciousness. Isaac, as all newborns in these stories, represents the newly awakened spiritual consciousness which must accompany him to the mountain.

On the third day "Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off." And, leaving the men and the ass behind, he ascended the mountain. He gave the wood to Isaac to carry, and brought fire and a knife to the top of the mountain. There he built an altar, bound Isaac and laid him on the wood on the altar. Abraham stretched forth his hand with the knife, to slay his son.

The mountain here represents a high level of spiritual consciousness that are up on the mountain.

Note that Isaac carried the wood of the burnt offering just as Jesus carried the cross for His crucifixion. So, each os us must carry our own cross. Abraham carried the fire and the knife. The fire here represents the creative and regenerative fire which must be used in the accomplishment of the soul's illumination. The knife symbolizes the Will and resolution of the intellect which is also essential.

The binding of Isaac represents the stage of development in which the newly developing soul is as yet immeshed in the analytical mind. The sacrifice which Abraham then makes, by showing his willingness to go through with the instructions, is that of giving up the ego to the newly emerging voice of spiritual consciousness, the ultimate test of faith.

Just as Abraham raised the knife, an Angel stopped him. Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in a thicket. Whereupon, he used it for the sacrifice, instead of Isaac. Then the Angel blessed him and promised to multiply his seed and bless all the nations.

Though it appears to be a great sacrifice, when actually made, nothing is lost. With this final test of faith passed, the Soul, or Isaac, is released from bondage and begins to illuminate the entire consciousness. We begin to experience ourselves as a part of all rather than as a separate being. Rather than experiencing a loss, we receive the bounty of the universe. Being One with all, all is at our command.

This is the meaning of the finding of the ram and the promise that God will multiply his seed. The sacrifice of the ram indicates the subjection of the creative force to the spiritual consciousness. Our struggle for faith is a daily battle. The key is that when we are willing to give up what seem to be the mjost important things in life, rather than losing, we actually gain more, if we place our faith in God.
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Abraham, in his old age, sent his servant to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor, to find a bride for Isaac. Abraham made the servant swear that he would not take a wife from the Canaanites, among whom Abraham dwelt.

Nahor, which in ancient Hebrew means passionate, eager and piercing, is the higher desire in man aroused by faith, Abraham. This desire pierces the darkness of materiality and brings bout a new level of consciousness. So our Will, the servant of Abraham, through this new level of consciousness seeks the Soul, our unconscious, feminine side. The oath is taken by the male symbol of creative power, Abraham's thigh. We do not seek the /soul in our present consciousness, among the Canaanites, for it is a result of our previous spiritual development, our kindred in Nahor.

"And the servant took ten camels...and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand," and went to the city of Nahor. He made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well. And Rebekah came out and went to the well, and filled her pitcher. She gave the servant water and the ten camels drank their fill.

The ten camels suggest the ten Sephiroth of the Kabalah. The number ten also indicates perfection and dominion, the resplendent intelligence. The fact that the camels carry all that Abraham had, to Rebekah, which translated, means beauty or the soul's natural delight in beauty, indicates that the consciousness of faith gives all that it has to the emerging union of the enlightened mind, Isaac, and the feminine soul, Rebikah. The fruit of the preceding cycle is placed at the disposal of the new one.

Now, in those times, on of the rew places where a stranger could speak to a woman was at a well, where it was acceptable to ask for a drink. But, in allegorical terms, this well is deep wisdom which related to the ;soul, Rebekah, refers to the life giving supply from the Soul.

Rebekah's family asked her to decide whether she would go with the servant to become wedded to Isaac. She agreed to the union. She left with the servant of Abraham, accompanied by her nurse. And Isaac came from the well LaHairoi to meet her. He went to a field to meditate at eventide, and when he lifted up his eyes, he was the camels coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and was Isaac. She took a veil and covered herself. She alighted from the camel and soon after they were married.

It is interesting that Rebekah, herself decided whether she would marry Isaac. She left behind the old thinking. The nurse who accompanies her represents the mortal nature now subservient to the Higher Self.

Isaac also comes from a well, for the developed intellect has also tapped the source of wisdom. Each lifts up their eyes to see or come to know the other. For this whole process is a lifting up of the consciousness. But, the Soul must be veiled to the consciousness of the mind. There is still a veil of mystery that hides the unconscious from the conscious mind.

The marriage is then consummated between the inner joy which is Isaac and the beauty in life which is Rebekah. By the way, Isaac was forty when he was married. Again, the number forty throughout the Bible indicates the completion of a cycle of spiritual growth.

As Abraham symbolizes faith, Isaac symbolizes the consciousness of joy and peacefulness that we find as our faith becomes established. Its union with beauty, represented by Rebekah, is a natural result.

At first, this union also was barren. But, after an appeal to the Lord, Rebekah conceived. She enquired of the Lord regarding the struggling in her womb, and He said to her, "Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people..." When she came to term, she delivered twins. The first born was named Esau, which translated means hairy or rough. The second born was named Jacob, which means heel catcher, supplanter. At birth, Jacob took hold of Esau's heel.

Esau and Jacob represent the animal and the mental consciousness in each of us. Esau is the animal, which always comes first. Jacob, the mental understanding, supplants the animal and takes control of the material appetites. They represent two types of thinking, the material-animal involved with satisfying appetites ahnd the mental understanding that takes control and goes to a higher level. The mental must gain dominance and the physical must give up control for us to progress spiritually.

This is exactly what happened in the Bible story. Esau gave his birthright to Jacob in return for bread and pottage of lentils, for he was very hungry. "Therefore was his name called Edom."

The material consciousness gives up control in order to appease the appetites. "It sells its birthright for a mess of pottage." Esau's name is changed to Edom, which means of the earth, earthy, to emphasize that this is the carnal level of consciousness. Note that it is the mental side of us that provides the sustenance for the body and thereby takes control over it.

The Jacob consciousness must take control of our physical appetites if we are to progress spiritually. We must suppress the dragon and tame all the beasts within us. The purpose of the Bible is to instruct, and in so doing it repeats the same principles over and over again. They must be important.
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Again, we are told there was a famine in the land. Just as with Abraham, the Lord told Isaac to move to another land. Isaac was told by the Lord not to go to Egypt, but to Gerar. This is the same Gerar where Abraham had camped earlier. So Isaac traveled to Gerar. While there, just as Abraham with Sarah, he misrepresented his wife Rebekah as his sister. When Abimelech, the King of the Philistines, discovered the deception, he reproved them but allowed them to stay and prosper. Eventually, he asked them to leave, for Isaac was much mightier than he. And Isaac and his family departed to the valley of Gerar.

Now, as you may recall, a famine means a lack of spiritual ideas. The Isaac consciousness is not free from the sense nature, represented by the Philistines. Just as Abraham, he traveled to Gerar. It translates as a sojourn; a halting place. It has the sense of substance and tells us that the mental is still controlled y the physical. Just as with Abraham, the Isaac consciousness disowns the Soul, his wife Rebekah, out of fear. This is us bartering our Soul for material security, for we are afraid. And again, as in the Abraham story, we find sustenance in the physical. Abimelech, which in Hebrew means father of the king, who is a Philistine, representing sensual desire, is the unregenerate Will. The Will now tells us to move our consciousness up out of materiality for our physical needs have been satisfied.

Isaac's servants began to reopen the wells that were originally fug by Abraham. At one of the wells, Isaac's herdsmen strove with the herdsmen of Gerar. This well was named Esek. They dug another well and strove for that also. It was named Sitnah. A third well was dug which was not contended and was called Rehoboth. After this well was dug, Isaac said " the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

As we have said before, wells refer to deep wisdom. Here, the name Esek, which is Hebrew for strife, refers to the battle in our subsconscious between animalistic desires, the herdsmen of Gerar, and the awakening spiritual consciousness, Isaac. The digging of the wells is to do with the uncovering of our coming into contact with hidden, because not previously understood, wisdom. The second well is also contended. It is named Sitnah, Hebrew for strife or opposer. Again the sense nature, the Philistine herdsmen of Gerar, are contending with the awakening mental and spiritual consciousness, Isaac.

The third well, which was not contended, was named Rehoboth. It means broad places, enlargements. It represents the widening, broadening understanding of the inner consciousness. There is no more strife, so we know that the sensual level has been overcome. It is a story of spiritual growth. Note that it is related to the water from the wells, the growing understanding of deep spiritual knowledge. Isaac's acknowledgment of this, that there is room for us and that we will be fruitful in the land, refers to the new ideas springing from this new understanding. There will be room for these new ideas and they will produce other ideas, be fruitful, in the new spiritual consciousness, land.

Next Isaac traveled to a place where the Lord appeared to him and blessed him. And he built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord. Abimelech followed him and asked for a pledge of peace, for he recognized that Isaac was a man of God. On the same day Isaac fug a well and found water, He then named the place Beersjeba.

The appearance of the Lord can only happen when the individual is fully prepared. We have seen this gradual development in the story of the wells. The final preparation for this is the building of the altar within, of course. To call upon the name of the Lord is to call on the nature of the Lord, to follow the ways of the Lord or Divine Law. When Abimelech comes to the developing consciousness, Isaac, to make peace, we know that there is truly the inner peace that comes from being in control of the sensual nature or appetites.

And, in case we still don't "get it" another well is dug in which they found water. So we know that the consciousness has become truly wise. The name, nature, of the place, Beersheba, means well of the seven or well of fulfillment in Hebrew.

The conclusion is that the consciousness here discussed has reached an awareness of the Soul. The well of the seven indicates spiritual completion. It has evolved from the physical level to the mental and finally come to understand the concept of sonship with God. For we are three sided being: body, mind and soul.
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Earlier we reviewed how Esau sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup. As Isaac, their father grew old and blind, he called Esau, the first born, to give his blessing. First he sent him out to hunt for a deer to be a part of the blessing ceremony. While Esau was hunting, Jacob, disguised to feel and smell like his brother, took his place and received Esau's blessing. When Esau discovered his loss, he became angry and determined that he would kill Jacob. Remember Cain and Abel.

It's not a very auspicious beginning for the father of a great nation. Jacob has always been considered a thief. But interpreted metaphysically, we find a different meaning. Again, Esau in Hebrew means hairy or rough and represents our lower, physical consciousness, the carnal mind, as Paul describes it. Jacob translates as the supplanter and represents the enlightened consciousness of each one of us. This consciousness eventually supplants the materialistic, physical consciousness.

Paul explains this in First Corinthians:

And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven." -I Corinthians 12:45-47.

Within each of us there is this conflict between the physical that wants to satisfy its appetites and the mental which seeks to displace it and take control.

Esau married Judith when he was forty years old. Her father was a Hittite. Isaac and Rebekah were saddened by this and sent Jacob to Padanaram to choose a wife. They advised him not to seek a wife among the daughters of Canaan. And Jacob went to Padanaram unto Laban, the son of Bethuel. Now on the way to Haran he stopped for the night along the road. He used stones for his pillow and went to sleep. He dreamed of a ladder going up to heaven and angles of God ascending and descending it. And above it the Lord appeared and told him that the land whereon he lay was given to him and his seed and that through his seed all the earth would be blessed. And Jacob awoke.

He took the stone that was his pillow and set it up and poured oil upon it. "And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee." Now he named this place Bethel, which previously was called Luz. For he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not."

Judith means praise of Jehovah, but she was the daughter of a Hittite which means thoughts of opposition. So this consciousness refers to the outer show of worshiping God but within are the thoughts of opposition. For this, his parents, Isaac and Rebekah, the consciousness of joy nd beauty, are saddened. This same consciousness of beauty and joy sends Jacob, he higher consciousness, to Haran. Haran translated is exalted or elevated.

As I've indicated earlier, the geographical references in the Bible refer to states of consciousness. So this is an exalted state of consciousness. It is found in Padanaram which means a plateau, a broad level place. He is sent to the house of Bethuel which means a dweller in God or abiding in the awareness of God. This means that the Jacob consciousness is evolving to a higher level of spiritual awareness and coming into an awareness of God.

Jacob stopped on his journey for the sun was setting. In other words, his understanding began to fail him. Surely, the path is hot always clear to us. The stones he uses for a pillow on his trip represent truth. And so, we are being told, that he relied on truth. As he rested on the truth, he discovered a new level of understanding represented by the ladder to heaven.

The ladder is his realization of the connection between him and the heaven within his soul. The angels represent the interplay between the thoughts of the higher and the lower, his consciousness and the Soul, the Christ within. The Lord, the voice of his soul, tells him that this land will be given to his seed. And that his seed will multiply, spread and through this seed all the earth will be blessed. Seed, in the Bible, refers to ideas. And the land is the consciousness that he has attained.

His new, spiritual ideas will invest him with this level of consciousness and through the attainment of this consciousness, all the earth will be blessed. And so it will always be. And Joseph awoke. Yes, this is a spiritual awakening. The great realization is that of the Omnipresence of God. For we can never be separated from the Light, as he says, "Surely the Lord is in this place....

So the Jacob consciousness takes the stone or truth, and pours oil on it, consecrates it to God. He acknowledges that this is his father's house. This is our recognition of our relationship with God, the unification of Body, Mind and Soul. "I and my Father are one." The promise to give a tenth of all he receives to God is a recognition of his Divine Inheritance. It is a milestone that each of us must come to. The material Esau consciousness wants only to hoard what it has, while the enlightened Jacob consciousness knows its true source and is generous. Where before it was named Luz which means separation, he renamed this place Bethel, which means God consciousness.

The Jacob consciousness is the baptism by water again. The recognition of a higher spiritual goal. When brought to fruition it leads to the Israel or Christ consciousness.
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When Jacob arrived at his destination, he found a well with three flocks of sheep nearby, and a great stone upon the mouth of the well. Jacob talked with the men at the well and learned that they were from Haran, and that they knew Laban, whom Jacob was seeking. Shortly, Rachel, Laban's daughter came to the well. Jacob moved the stone so that her father's flocks could drink. Then, he kissed Rachel and wept.

The East, which is our inner self, is the source of the light. Jacob represents the intellect. This intellect must go to the inner self, the heart, if we seek enlightenment. The well is a source of truth having to do with the deep resources of the subconscious. The sheep are the ideas which are watered by the inspiration of the spiritual truths from the well. Guarding our subconscious mind, our emotional or heart side, the well of inspiration, is the great stone of Truth. It is there to protect the well from contamination.

Laban translated from the Biblical Hebrew means white, shining and pure. He lives in Haran which means exalted, mountain. Rachel then represents the exalted feminine which comes from the glorious Laban consciousness and guards the ideas, sheep, of her father, as the Master has enjoined us all, "Feed my sheep."

Jacob must have fallen in love with her at first sight, for he kissed her and wept. This means that his eyes were opened to the things of the Soul. The mind acknowledges and pays homage to the heart or spiritual self. He has perceived the Divine Feminine, the Christ within. Rachel, the exalted feminine, the higher self, is within each of us, waiting for the opportunity to manifest.

When Laban heard that his relative was come, he ran to meet him and brought him to his house. And Jacob stayed with him and worked for h im for a month, when Labban asked what his wages should be. Now Jacob loved Rachel and offered to work seven years for her hand. And it was agreed.

The Laban consciousness, pure, white and shining, welcomes the enlightened mind, Jacob. The intellect hs attained the consciousness which is pure, white and shining. So the two now dwell together in harmony. The intellect has chosen Rachel, the divine feminine, and is willing to work for seven years to attain that goal. Remember seven is the number signifying a completed spiritual process or accomplishment.

Jacob served Laban for seven years, which seemed to jim but a few days, for the love he had for Rachel. And after the wedding feast, Laban sent his older daughter, Leah, into the wedding chamber. When Jacob realized the switch, it was too late. He resigned himself to serve an additional seven years for the hand of Rachel.

The Hermetic Law says, as in the inner, so in the outer; as above, so below. Isn't it interesting that as Jacob deceived his father, Isaac, in order to receive Esau's birthright, so Laban deceived Jacob by switching daughters. Often in the process of spiritual development, dedication to an idea doesn't mean easy or immediate realization of that idea. Leah, which in Hebrew means wearisome struggle, represents the work required for advancement. The unfolding consciousness is not yet ready to receive the purity represented by Rachel.

While Leah was fruitful, Rachel remained barren for a long time. Eventually, among Leah, Rachel and their handmaids, Jacob had twelve sons. These twelve became the founding fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel.

In the life of the spiritual venturer, the birth of a son indicates the development of a spiritual attribute. Initially, these attributes are of a lower nature and gradually become more elevated and spiritual. Thus Leah gave birth to several children before Rachel became fruitful.

1. Lean's first son was named Reuben, which translated from the Hebrew means vision of the son. It signifies the visualization of the Christic possibility.

2. Her second son was named Simeon which means hearing, obedient and understanding, all necessary attributes required for success on the path. This is one who hears and obeys.

3. The third son was named Levi, meaning uniting, loving. Love is the uniting force of God. We connect ourselves with whatever is the object of our love.

4. The fourth son of Leah was named Judah. Judah means praise and celebration of Jehovah. This has to do with joyful and inspiring prayer and giving praise to the Lord.

5. Jacob's fifth son was from Rachel's hand-maid, Bilhah which means bashfulness and timidity which relates to humility. This son was named Dan. Dan translates as rule of righteous judgment, and advocate. As the Bible says, judge with righteous judgment. Always see the best in every situation and motive.

6. Again Bilhah conceived and bare a son, this time named Naphali. Naphtali means my wrestling. It has to do with the struggle to gain purity and strength.

7. Jacob's seventh son was born of Leah's handmaid, Zilpah. Zalpah means distilling, extracting an essence drop by drop, an apt description of the process of spiritual growth. Her son was named Gad. Gad means fortune, abundance. As the intellectual consciousness nears perfection, abundance is manifested.

8. The second son of Zilpah was named Asher. Asher means straightforward and happy. Happiness is another attribute that is a part of the straight and narrow path as we near the goal.

9. Leah conceived again and bare Issachar. It means compensation or reward. The law of justice means we will be rewarded.

10. Leah had another son named Zebulun. Zebulun means habitation, dwelling. Here it has to do with order a necessary attribute for the work.

11. Finally Rachel bares a son. He is named Joseph which means whom Jehovah shall increase, one who brings light out of darkness. It is the expression of the growing enlightenment.

12. Much later, Rachel bares a second son named Benjamin. Benjamin means the son of the right hand, son of good fortune, son of happiness. This is the culminating experience and unites praise and faith.
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After the birth of Joseph to Rachel and Jacob, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away to my own country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you and let me go."

Jacob is referring to his wives, Leah and Rachel, Laban's daughters, for whom he has labored for two seven year terms. They represent the union of the various faculties at different stages of spiritual development. Their children represent the spiritual attributes that come from such unions. Leah represents the lower levels of development and Rachel the higher.

Now Laban pleaded with Jacob to stay and tend his flocks. Jacob said that if Laban would give him all the spotted, speckled cattle, sheep and goats among the flocks, he would stay longer. And Jacob placed rods which were spotted at the place where the animals bred, thereby causing their offspring to be spotted and speckled.

Animals in the Bible refer to ideas. We are being told that ideas follow patterns and give birth to expressions that are direct manifestations of the original ideas. There is a great teaching here. It is the basis for the practice of visualizing a goal in order to accomplish it; or what Norman Vincent Peale called the Power of Positive Thinking. The idea precedes the manifestation.

After another six years of labor, Jacob decided to leave to go back home. He sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau to tell him of his pending arrival. We are told that Esau went out to meet Jacob with 400 men. Jacob was fearful. He feared his brother still intended to kill him for having stolen his birthright. In order to appease Esau, Jacob sent gifts of animals ahead to him.

Esau, which in Hebrew means hairy and rough, symbolizes the physical body. Jacob, which means the supplanter, represents the mental part of us. So the mental is not yet reconciled to the physical. On its journey of spiritual development, the mind, Jacob, pays homage to the body by sending gifts. This is an acknowledgment by the enlightened mind that the body deserves respect, for it is also necessary.

During the night, before Jacob and Esau met, Jacob sent all his belongings across the river Jabbok. Then, when he was alone, he found himself wrestling with a man, all night long. Before letting him go, the man, or angel, blessed him and changed his name to Israel.

In order to pass to a higher level of consciousness, we must eliminate or let go of the old. "Do not put new wine into old bottles." Jacob had to rid himself of all the old thinking in order to make way for the new. So he sent all his belongings across the river Jabbok. Jabbok means emptying, dissipating and wrestling.

It was not easy, which is why he struggled with the man. But, gradually he prevailed. The proof of this is his new name. Remember, a change in consciousness, a new birth. Israel in Hebrew means one who prevails with God or one who is a prince with God. The syllable ‘Is' is derived from Isis, the feminine aspect of God, the Holy Ghost. ‘Ra' comes from the Sun God Ra, which is the masculine aspect of God, the Father. And ‘El' means God as life. Combined, they form an indication of spiritual consciousness.

The next day, Jacob and Esau finally came face to face again after 21 years. Esau ran to meet him, embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him. They were reconciled.

The spiritually developed Jacob, or Israel, must be reconciled to the physical body or the past, for all must be included and reconciled. This is the transmutation of evil into good. It is a necessity for all who aspire to Soul Consciousness.
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To be sure, there is nothing new in taking this allegorical approach to Bible interpretation. Moses Maimonedes, a famous Rabbi, philosopher and expert on the Old Testatment, who lived in the twelfth century, wrote,

"Every time that you find in our books a tale the reality of which seems impossible, a story which is repugnant to both reason and common sense, then be sure that the tale contains a profound allegory veiling a deeply mysterious truth; and the greater the absurdity of the latter, the deeper the wisdom of the spirit."

We have come to just such a tale.

After Jacob, reconciled with his brother Esau, he journeyed with his family to the land of Canaan, where they settled. Dinah, one of Jacob's children, went to visit the neighbors and was taken and defiled by one of the native men, Shechem. Being in love with her and wanting to marry her, he sent his father, Hamor, to Jacob to ask for her hand.

As we have said before, Jacob in Hebrew, means supplanter, bringing to an end. The land of Canaan translates as materiality, realized nothingness. It is the lowland or body consciousness, while the redeemed body is the Promised Land. Jacob, who represents the hero in the story, is the personification of consciousness. By his traveling to materiality we know that he has as yet not taken control of his materiality.

Dinah, which means judged or avenged, represents the feminine quality, the judgment faculty which might be called intuition. It is the natural, unregenerate man's concept of judgment, which is why it is related to vengeance, which we shall wee. Shechem, meaning inclining or bending down, aspires to the hand of Dinah. But Shechem, being of Canaan or materiality, is not yet properly prepared for the union with the feminine.

Jacob's sons responded positively with the following condition, that all of Shechem's men be circumcised. Then, they said the two peoples would dwell together and intermarry and become one people. If they did not agree to circumcision, then the people of Jacob would leave, taking Dinah with them.

Now the father returned to his city, Shalem, and convinced the men to be circumcised. On the third day after the circumcision, Simeon and Levi, two of Dinah's brothers, took their swords, went into the city and slew all the males, Then the sons of Jacob took all of the city's oxen, asses and everything that was in the city and the field. They took their children and their wives and spoiled all that was in the house.

When Jacob learned of all this, he chastised his two sons, telling them that they had troubled him. And he was concerned about staying there, for he feared reprisals.

The circumcision represents the needed preparation. When properly prepared, after three days, the men are killed. Death in this case means the death of the material ideas that Shechem and his men represent. Jacob has died to this level of conscious, materiality. He has taken all of what was of value. But, in the action of the two brothers, there is still the emotion of revenge, Dinah, and so their actions are rebuked by Jacob.

Then God told Jacob to go to Bethel and dwell there. So Jacob told his household to put away the strange gods among them and to be clean and change their garments. And they journeyed and the Canaanites did not pursue them. And they came to Luz or Bethel in the land of Canaan and built an alter.

God here means the inner voice of God, the guidance of the still small voice. Jacob is now inspired to change his level of consciousness. To facilitate this, he does a house cleaning of erroneous ideas, or strange gods, and so they cleaned up and changed their garments. And as he journeyed, the thoughts of materiality, the Canaanites, did not follow him. Bethel translates as house of God. Coming to Bethel means coming into the inner Temple.

And God appeared to Jacob and blessed him and again told him his name was changed to Israel. God told him that the land, which He had given to Abraham and Isaac, was given to Jacob and his seed.

It is always a blessing when our consciousness comes into communication with God. Name changes, as always in the Bible, signify the change in consciousness. His new name, Israel, means a prince with God. The Land refers to this level of consciousness. To give the land to his seed means that anyone who lives the life and prepares himself as jacob has will inherit this God consciousness.

They left Bethel, and journeyed to Ephrath.

In this case, leaving Betherl means that we are not constantly in communication with God. The destination here, Ephrath, means fruitful, productive and abundant. This is a realization of abundance in all areas, physically, mentally and spiritually. This is the promise for all who successfully travel this Path.

After he had wrestled with the Angel, Jacob, Rachel and their family journeyed to Ephrath, which means fruitful and productive. There, Rachel went into a hard labor and died giving birth to Jacob's twelfth son, Benjamin.

Jacob's experience with the Angel is the arrival of the indwelling spirit, the consciousness of his Soul. Therefore he has united his intellectual or masculine with his emotional or feminine side. Rachel, who represents the emotional, no longer operates as a separate entity. Thus, in mystic language, we are told, she died in Ephrath, which the Bible says is Bethlehem. Bethlehem means house of bread or place of sustenance. Here it means the substance canter in man, a union of love and wisdom. This is sometimes called the Mystic Marriage. Her death indicates their union for she ceases to exist as a separate entity.

The Bible is primarily a Book of Life. When it deals with death it is indicating to us the end of one state of consciousness and the beginning of another. When dealing with the main characters, it is defining the most important spiritual levels of growth, where one transcends the personal and comes face to face with the eternal.
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The next chapter in Genesis proceeds to detail the descendants of of Esau. Jacob's brother. Esau, which means red and hairy or rough in Hebrew, represents the physical, material consciousness. Esau took three wives. There names are Adah, Aholibamah and Bashemath, In Hebrew, Adah means comeliness and pleasure, and relates to the physical body. Aholibamah means the tent of the high place and relates to the mind. In this instance it is a confused mind. Bashemath means fragrant, intuitive but subject to extremes, having to do with the emotional, feminine side, or Soul, but unenlightened.

Esau or the person living on the material, physical level of consciousness is made up of a body, which enjoys beauty and pleasure, a mind, which is confused, and a soul or emotional nature which is subject to extremes or out of control. Recall that Esau was the firstborn. This is our first and natural state of consciousness, as we are born into the world, before we are enlightened.

The child of Adah, the physical consciousness, is Eliphaz, which means whom God makes strong. His children are Teman, good fortune; Omar, bringing forth or bearing into the light; Zephi, expectation and observation; Gatam, a belief in the supremacy of physical strength, Kenaz, the hunter, or man engrossed in the animal; and Amalek, the valley dweller or lust.

The physical consciousness is, as yet, relegated to the earth, earthly. It is concerned with pleasure, lust and material strength. Still engrossed in the animal, it is warlike and seeking good fortune. However, with Zephi and Omar, observation, expectation and bearing into the light, we know that this consciousness has the potential to learn and come to a more elevated level.

The children of Aholibamah, the mental and masculine part of us, are Jeush, which means unifying; Jalam, meaning ascending or lifting up; and Korah, meaning the cold or barrenness that comes from the mind of flesh or pure intellect.

These are the children of the material, unenlightened mind. Though immersed in the powers of the material, also has the potential to unify with the emotional and physical and to lift itself up to a higher level of consciousness.

Bashemath, wich means fragrant, intuition, the emotional or feminine side, has a son named Reuel, which means a thought of Divine guidance. Reuel has four children. The are Nahath, meaning lethargy and descending; Zerah, which mean the first conscious awakening to the inner light; Shammah, meaning desolation and inharmonious extremes; and Mizzah, meaning fear and disintegration.

It is apparent that, at this material level of consciousness, our emotions are inharmonious and fearful, producing lethargy, while in the other extreme, there is again the opportunity of the first glimpse of inner light. But these are the children of Reuel, and so we know that there has been planted a thought of Divine guidance.

The challenge is to bring this into the mental consciousness so that the mind or will can begin to take control of the chaotic emotions and bring about some order. We are told that Esau and his family went to dwell in Mount Seir. Seir means shaggy, hairy and rough. In our story, it means the physical or sense consciousness, with emotional , stormy and carnal tendencies. As long as this consciousness continues to dwell in Mount Seir it will not fulfill its potential or raise its level of consciousness.

After the listing of the generations of Esau, the story goes on to tell of the people, ideas, who dwell in Edom or Seir, the land which Esau went to inhabit, and of their descendants. In less than a page, the Bible lists some 54 different names. They are the children of Seir the Horite.

Horite means cave dweller or one who dwells in a black hole. The Horites refer to the deep-seated, subconscious tendencies in man. Those who are still dwelling in the sensuous, material life. By translating the names of the descendants, we find that they all have the same general meaning.

Without going into great detail, they include wandering, lost thoghts, opposition and resistance, desires of the flesh, material desire for opulence, Belief in knowledge based on the senses, material intellectualism, destructive, devouring thoughts, sensual desire, confusion, weakness, disturbed, fearful, perverted obstinacy, lack of discipline, destroying thoughts and so on and on. It is not difficult to see that the thinking that comes from a consciousness dwelling in the sensual and material, the Horites, leads to all sorts of negative and destructive thinking.
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Now we move to Chapter 37, which is the beginning of the story of Joseph. This story is one of the more important Bible expositions on the process of spiritual attainment.

The Story begins when Joseph was 17 years old. Israel, formerly Jacob, loved Joseph more than his other eleven children. "And he made him a coat of many colors." The Aramaic translation of the ancient Peshitta text reads "the coat with long sleeves." It refers to a coat or abayas generally worn by princes and noblemen. The sleeves and front parts of the garments are embroidered with sild of many colors. The long sleeves indicated that the wearer is not required to work. It is a token of honor. And high position.

The meaning of the coat is very important. The implication is that Jacob or Israel chose Joseph to succeed him as the head of the family. Jacob had vast holdings and so Joseph's position was that of a Prince. Now, it is easy to understand the jealousy and hatred of the older brothers.

Joseph, which in Aramaic means whom Jehovah shall increase from perfection unto perfection, represents our consciousness increasing in spiritual awareness. It especially has to do with the imagination and the ability to visualize and dream of better things. It naturally has authority and dominion over the physical, material world represented here by the brothers.

"And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren; and they hated him yet the more." The two dreams he described to his brothers indicated that his brothers will bow down to him. Later, Jacob or Israel asked Joseph to go to Shechem to find his brothers, check on their welfare and report back to him. So Joseph left Hebron and went to Shechem to find his brothers.

The dreams indicate again that the story is about the intuitive, subjective part of consciousness, not the intellect. Joseph left Hebron, which means bound by a common bond, joined together, for Shechem, for Shechem, which means bending down or a burden. He had left the higher, intuitive level of consciousness and gone to the more physical, where the thoughts are related to talks and responsibilities.

He sought his brothers there, but was told that they had gone on to Dothan. So Joseph journeyed to Dothan. Even before he arrived, his brothers saw him coming and conspired against him. "Let us slay him and cast him into the pit." But, Reuben said "Let us not kill him."

Dothan means a double fountain and reflects the dual consciousness of good and evil that was the consciousness represented by the brothers. Some parts of the consciousness want to eliminate all aspects of the so-called "dreamer," while others, Reuben and Judah saved his life. Reuben means understanding and Judah means praise Jehovah, the part of our consciousness that has begun to understand the value of spirituality.

When Joseph arrived, they stripped him of his coat of many colors and cast him into an empty pit. Shortly, a caravan of Ishmealites came by and Judah suggested that they sell Joseph to them. Interestingly enough, it was some passing Midianite merchantmen who pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmealites for twenty pieces of silver. Most people think it was the brothers who sold him. Certainly, it was their intent. The Ishmealites took him to Egypt.

As so often happens, the senses and appetites of the material, physical body hold the more spiritually enlightened part of us in bondage. It is belittled and scorned by the other mental faculties. So Joseph was taken to bondage in Egypt, which means restraint, distress and the darkness of ignorance or material consciousness.
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Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, was taken to Egypt and sold to the captain of the Pharaoh's guard. We are told that the Lord was with him and he prospered. After a time, the captain made Joseph head of his household. From that time on, the captain prospered.

Joseph, which means whom Jehovah will increase, represents the state of consciousness connected with our imagination. While Joseph resides in Egypt, it indicates that the imagination, or high ideal of Truth, has taken control over the material consciousness. We are told that in the house of the captain all things increase, under Joseph's supervision. The material and sensual consciousness, which once was our captor, is now content being controlled by a higher level of consciousness, for we are told that the captain prospered.

Now the captain was married, and his wife tried to seduce Joseph. He resisted and she persisted, until one day she found him alone and caught him by his garment. In his haste to leave, he left his garment in her hand.

With the garment as evidence, she accused him of attempting to lie with her. Believing her story, Joseph's master put him into prison, where Joseph became friendly with the keeper of the prison.

This part of the story reminds us that we can never afford to drop our guard. Even at this level of consciousness, temptation is always at hand. Even though his highest level of consciousness resisted, the same part of his consciousness that had controlled him before, represented here by the captain, together with the sensual, emotional side, the captain's wife, placed him in prison. These levels of consciousness are most reluctant to give up control.

Now the Pharaoh's butler and baker were also put into prison as they had offended him. While in the prison, they each dreamed, but did not know the meaning of the dreams. When Joseph heard the dreams, he interpreted them. The butler was to be restored to the Pharaoh, while the baker would be hanged. He asked the butler to remember him when he was back in his high
position, but he did not.

Each of the dreams had to do with the number three. One contained a vine with three branches; the other, three white baskets. The number three here relates to spiritual attainment, the three degrees or three steps to self-mastery.

In the baker's dream, there are three baskets filled with bread. This bread is the bread of life. But, the baskets are on the head, indicating the intellect and ego. There are birds which come down and consume all the bread. These are the winged faculties of spirit consuming the physical and transmuting it.

In the butler's dream, about the vine, there is also a cup filled with new wine and offered to the Pharaoh. This is the wine of the spirit and the cup of the Holy Grail. The baker was hanged, the butler was made free. The death of the baker is the death of the material, physical body on the cross. The liberation of the butler is the new spiritual man who has been liberated from the cross of the physical.

To emphasize the importance of this allegorical interpretation, know that at this time in Egypt, hanging as a form of capital punishment was unknown. In fact, very few crimes were actually punishable by death. And the likelihood is that the baker would have been sentenced to hard labor or flogging. But, for the spiritual meaning, it can only be death.

Two years later, the Pharaoh dreamed and no one in his court could interpret the dreams. The butler finally remembered Joseph, and the Pharaoh sent for him. Joseph interpreted the dreams as indicating that there would be seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. The same message was given in two different dreams. Repeating something, in the custom of the East, is an indication of emphasis.

Joseph followed his interpretation with a plan to store a percentage of the crops in the good years for use in the years of famine. The Pharaoh recognized that the Spirit of God was in Joseph. So, he put Joseph in charge of making the preparations. In fact, he put him in charge of Egypt, second only to the Pharaoh himself. The Pharaoh named him Zaphnathpaaneah and gave to him Asenath for a wife.

The Pharaoh's dreams on one level have to do with the cycle of physical life. There are practical guidelines here, such as, save in the good years, to be prepared for the lean. But seven is also the number of spiritual perfection and so it probably relates, as well, to the ups and downs of the spiritual path.

The Pharaoh, who throughout this story represents the Highest or God consciousness, set Joseph over all of Egypt and gave him a ring off his finger, rich apparel and a new name. This is an indication of his spiritual growth. His aura was increased. He had control over all of Egypt, which is the material aspect of his consciousness. In other words, the spiritual or Soul was in control of the physical appetites and emotions.

The most important thing that the Pharaoh gave him was the new name. This clearly indicates a new spiritual birth. And this particular name, Zaphnathpaaneah, translated from the Aramaic, means the savior of the universe, health of the world or sustainer of the life of the world.

In addition, he attained a wife, Asenath, who was the daughter of Potiphera and Dinah who was the daughter of Jacob. Indeed, they are related, for she represents his own Soul. And they have been related since birth. She is the love or soul side of him, which must be joined with the intellect before they can be reconciled to the rest of the consciousness, the brothers.
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After the seven years of plentiful harvests, which were foretold by Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams, Egypt's granaries were filled with food to last through the coming famine.

Famine and abundance follow each other in alternating cycles as one of the many dual experiences to which we are subject while living on the material plane. Opposites bring pain, struggle, disappointment and disillusionment. Duality is the reality of material life. It is only by rising to the spiritual level that we can find the balance between the opposites.

Meanwhile, in Canaan, Jacob and his family were afflicted by the famine. They had heard that there was corn in Egypt. So Jacob sent all his sons except Benjamin, the youngest, to Egypt to buy corn. When they arrived in Egypt, they went before Joseph to arrange their purchase. Joseph recognized them, but the brothers did not recognize him.

Famine is the level of the material consciousness when it comes to realize the emptiness of life lived on the physical plane only. Even though it does not know of the existence of the spiritual self, it experiences a discontent and longing for spiritual food.

The journey to Egypt represents the search for this spiritual food. The statement that there was corn in Egypt refers to a recurring theme in the Bible; that spiritual enlightenment was available in Egypt. Egypt, which means the sense consciousness, the great unconscious or subjective side of consciousness, is where Moses was trained in the Mystery Schools and, referring to the Christ, the Scripture says, "out of Egypt have I called my Son."

More than once, in the Bible, the patriarchs traveled to Egypt to find grain. For the individual, Egypt refers to the area below the diaphragm. It is there that the vitality, the great storehouse of power, is to be found. Joseph's travel to Egypt and his attainment of power there indicate that the enlightened consciousness his taken control of these forces. This is a necessary step in our spiritual development.

The spiritual knows the physical but the lower physical level of consciousness cannot understand the spiritual. Joseph knows the brothers, but they do not recognize him.

The ten brothers represent attributes of the mind, emotions and body. It is important that each make a complete surrender to the higher, spiritual consciousness. In this case they held back, for Benjamin, who here represents their most valued attribute, is left behind.

Joseph, which means Jehovah shall increase from perfection unto perfection, represents the state of conscious connected with our imagination. As a power in Egypt, he symbolizes the spiritual conscious developing in the unconscious.

Joseph did not identify himself, but accused the brothers of coming to Egypt to spy. The brothers denied it. Joseph agreed to give them grain, but he insisted that they return to Canaan and bring their brother Benjamin to him. To insure their return, he kept Simeon as hostage.

Joseph, the spiritual consciousness, will give to the mental consciousness, the grain or wisdom it seeks, but only after it surrenders completely. Therefore, he insists on the delivery of Benjamin, the last thing held back. The mental consciousness offers Simeon, or something of lesser value.

The brothers returned to Jacob and told him the story. But, Jacob refused to send Benjamin. He had already lost Joseph and now Simeon seemed lost. He could not bear to lose Benjamin also.

The physical mind is reluctant to give up completely to the spiritual. It fears losing control. This is the leap of faith, the jump off the cliff, that eventually each of us must make. Fear holds us back. It is the same meaning as the story of Abraham and his son Isaac, whom he had to be willing to sacrifice.

Eventually, they had eaten the last of the corn from Egyp. And Jacob asked them to go again to get more food. Judah resisted, for Joseph had said that he could not see them again unless they had they had their younger brother with them.

Judah admonished his father, "Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones." Finally Jacob agreed. So the brothers took double the amount of money as before, together with Benjamin, and journeyed again to Egypt.

The mind is in confusion. On the one hand, it craves the wisdom of the higher self, but still, it is fearful of losing something. Eventually, our passion for Spiritual Truth, represented here by Judah, which means praise Jehovah or prayer, prevails. And with Benjamin in our company, we approach Egypt once more.

Joseph saw them coming and made ready to have them dine at his home. The brothers were frightened. They thought they were being taken there to be made bondsmen. But, he fed them lavishly, had their sacks filled with corn and the money they had paid for the corn. And, most importantly, he had a silver cup placed in the sack of Benjamin.

The cupplaced in Benjamin's sack was of silver, which is a feminine metal and represents the love principle or emotions. It must be lifted to a spiritual level to achieve the equilibrium necessary for illumination. It may also have the same meaning as the Holy Grail. The Spiritual consciousness now will hold back nothing that the mind is able to grasp.

After they left to go home, Joseph sent his men after them, to accuse them of the theft of the silver cup. They denied such a thing and agreed that whoever was found with the cup should become a slave to Joseph. When the cup was found, they rent their cloths and returned to Joseph to plead for their brother.

Judah, in a very touching speech, offered himself in the place of Benjamin. Joseph was so touched, that he sent all but the brothers out of the room, so that no man stood with him, as he made himself known to his brothers.

At last, the time has come, when the mind is able to grasp the reality of the Soul or spiritual consciousness. It can do so only after it has come to the point of complete surrender, by being willing to sacrifice itself.

Joseph told the brothers not to be grieved over the wrong which they had done to him, for it was God who had sent him to Egypt that they might be preserved through the famine. And he sent them to bring his father, Jacob, and told them that they should swell in the land of Goshen. And they went, bearing gifts from Joseph. When Jacob heard the story, he agreed to return with them.

There is a great lesson here. For Joseph tells them, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good..." The message is that "all things work together for good..." Everything that happens to us is for our good. All of our experiences can be used for growth if we remain open to the lessons and willing to change. It is helpful if we can withhold judgment or at least try to see the positive. Jesus said, "Judge ye with righteous judgement."

Joshen means drawing near or unity. In this context, it is the union of body, mind nd soul; the point symbolized by the upper point of the triangle or pyramid; Illumination. It is also the union of the spirit of man with the Spirit of God. "I and my Father are One." The Alchemists called it the chemical marriage. It includes the realization that we are not separate. And, it brings the peace that passeth all understanding.
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At Joseph's invitation, his father Jacob, or Israel, traveled to Egypt with all his wives, children, grandchildren, sheep and cattle. The total number in his company was 70. They were to live in Goshen. Goshen was a land in Egypt on the east side of the Nile, near the Red Sea.

This journey of Jacob with his family and all their animals, into the land of Egypt symbolizes the unification of the I AM, here represented by Jacob, with all the faculties of mind, the life energies, emotions and the body. The number 70 is an emphasis of the meaning of the number seven, which symbolizes a completed spiritual cycle. It stands for wisdom and mystery. Goshen, which means drawing near or unity in Hebrew, is the place where the consciousness will now reside.

Joseph nourished his father and his brethren with bread. Now the famine was getting worse in Egypt and Canaan. Finally, the people traded their belongings, their land and even themselves for food. Only the priests were not forced to sell their land. Joseph gave the people seed to plant on the Pharaoh's land, with the admonition that they give one fifth of their crop to the Pharaoh.

The bread which Joseph gave to his family was the spiritual bread. For this, the people of Egypt were willing to give up everything they had. Finally, when they had relinquished all material and physical to the control of the spiritual, the famine ended. The spiritual then gave them the seed to plant anew, with the admonition that 20 percent be given to our spiritual life, the Pharaoh.

Now Jacob had lived to be 147 years old. Joseph brought his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to Jacob to receive his blessing. Jacob said that the sons were to be his, even as Reuben and Simeon were his.

Manasseh stands for the will or masculine, and Ephraim stands for the intuition or feminine principle. Jacob's blessing refers to the process by which they are brought into balance, into harmony, both for the individual and for the world. Jacob claimed them both for he had achieved this balance within himself.

Ephraim was standing to Jacob's left and Manasseh to his right. But Jacob reached out his right hand and placed it upon Ephraim who was the younger, and placed his seft hand on Manasseh, the older. And it was in this manner that he blessed them. When Joseph realized what was happening, he tried to remove Jacob's hand. But his father refused, saying "I know it...but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he."

Jacob indicated that Ephraijm would be the greater. This means that the feminine or Love principle, lost with the descent into the material world, will be elevated to its proper place. Love redeemed is the greatest of all powers. So, Jacob places Love, which is the second born, or the last to develop of the two, in the place of the Will. It is reminiscent of the switch between Jacob and Esau, which we discussed in a previous Part.

Then Jacob called his children to him, to give them his blessing. And he told them to hearken to Israel, their father.

It seems to me that his admonition to hearken to Israel is the author's way of getting our attention, for he is about to say something important. He proceeded to bless each of the sons using descriptions that appear to refer to astrology.

It is helpful to understand that in the ancient world, especially Egypt, the heavens were of great import. In the time of the gook of Genesis, people everywhere were looking to the shy to determine the timing for all of the important events in their lives. For them, it was science of a most practical nature.

Almost universally, the heavens were divided into twelve parts to help keep track of the cycles of the sun and the moon. Each of these divisions was given a characteristic of humanity and became linked with an image or mythic being. They also represent the twelve basic faculties of man. The practice was widespread and references abound in literature from these ages using the accepted understanding of the meaning and nuances of each division. Today we call them the twelve houses of the zodiac.

He said of Reuben, "thou art my might...the excellency of dignity...and power." but then went on to say that he is "Unstable as water; thou shalt not excel...."

The reference to water indicates Aquarius. He described the power available from the discoveries to be made through the element of air. Bt his father also said that he was unstable. The watery or emotional nature must be controlled by the mind, before we can excel.

Of Simeon and Levi, he said, "O my soul, come not...unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united...coursed by their anger...K will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel."

Gemini is indicated in this passage. The problem of Gemini is division and separateness. The task of the Geminian is to find unity or harmony between opposites. So they were scattered in Israel and will not be reunited until more spiritually developed.

"Judah...thy brethren shall praise thee, thy father's children shall bow down before thee..Judah is a loin's whelp...and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?"

Judah represents Leo, the heart sign, the lion. Judah, which means praise or prayer is destined to become the most powerful and enduring of all the tribes of Israel. As love, it is the mightiest of all the other attributes of man. The Lion is the king and Judah will become the ruling tribe.

"Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea...."

The reference to the sea indicates Pisces. Pisces symbolizes secret things. It has to do with the knowledge of God. Expressing this knowledge of God, the spiritually enlightened Pisces will be as "a haven of ships" to others.

"Issachar is a strong ass...crouching down," and therefore associated with stables.

Jacob's comment on Issachar relates it to Taurus, the sign of the Bull. It is a burden-bearer and also a sign of wisdom. The burdens relate to karmic debts, or the cross, if you prefer, and the wisdom has to do with learning that we reap as we sow.

"An shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent....I have wait for thy salvation O Lord."

Some sources say that the sign of Virgo, the judge, is indicated. Others say that it is Scorpio the serpent or scorpion and that Virgo is represented by Jacob's only daughter, Dinah. But Scorpio is also the symbol of the Eagle or immortality. This all has to do with carnality. When on the ground as a serpent, it leads to death. When lifted up, or spiritualized, it leads to life everlasting.

"Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

This reference to war is indicative of Aries. Aries represents the power of the mind. When unenlightened, the Aries tendency to be combative can lead to victory over the lower nature of man.

"Out of Asher, his bread shall be fat."

The mention of bread suggests Libra. Libra is the attribute of discrimination. It is the choice between good and evil Libra stands at the parting of the ways, where spirit and matter separate.

"Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words."

This reference is to Capricorn. It has to do with an inner umpulse to turn from the old to the new. As we follow this urge, we come to express spiritual progress. It is then, that we "giveth goodly words." we are let loose, or free.

"Joseph is a fruitful bough...The archers have sorely grieved him...but his bow abode in strength.,..made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob..."

The archer's bow is a reference to Sagittarius. It is a sign of aspiration and ever-increasing light. It is the means of inner development through the mind. This is the power of the mind to grow and change and ever renew itself."

"Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf...."

Finally, Cancer is here indicated as ravenous. It is the doorway to initiation. It has to do with the subjugation of the Dweller on the Threshold. The accumulated evils of the past must be overcome, devoured or transmuted into the power to elevate the soul.

"All these are the twelve tribes of Israel..." The Unity Bible Dictionary says that the number twelve represents spiritual fulfillment. It is no accident that Jesus had twelve disciples. Tradition shows the tribes carrying the twelve signs of the heavens on their banners. The twelve sons of Jacob represent the whole of humanity: to every one "according to his blessing."

After this closing speech, at the age of 147, Jacob died. His body was embalmed according to Egyptian custom. It took 40 days to embalm him and they mourned for 70 days. Then Joseph, together with all of Jacob's family and the elders of Egypt, took the body of Ephron the Hittite, where Abraham was buried, and there buried Jacob also.

The death of Jacob was the ending of an era. At this point, Jacob had transferred his power and authority to Joseph who represents the enlightened soul. His brothers represent the personification of the mortal aspects of every human being.

His embalming took 40 days. As we have mentioned many times, the number 40 indicates the completion of a process, a completed experience. The mourning period of 70 days, which is the meaning of 7 emphasized , means a completed spiritual cycle. It is not yet perfect, but a stage of completion has been reached. Jacob lived to the age of 147, which is another way to indicate the same concepts. The number one has to do with the Logos, Manifestation and unity. So the message is that Jacob had achieved a fundamental unity of his
consciousness (1), completed a spiritual cycle (7).

Again, we have the reconciliation of the spiritually enlightened consciousness with the physical body and the spirit, indeed all the other attributes of man. For Illumination must include the whole, balanced man, the body, mind and spirit.

And so ends the Book of "The Creation" or Genesis, a truly valuable guide for the Soul.
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Bible Mystery and Bible Meaning. By Thomas Troward
The Hidden Bible: Genesis. By John P. Scott
The Hidden Mystery of the Bible. By Jack Ensign Addington
The Hidden Wisdom in the Holy Bible, Vol. I, II & III. By Geoffrey Hodson
The Holy Bible. The King James Version
Idioms in the Bible Explained. By George M. Lamsa
The Metaphysical Bible Dictionary. From Unity School of Christianity
New Age Bible Interpretation, Vol. I. By Borine Heline
Old Testament Light by George M. Lamsa
Understanding the Kabbalah By Edward Albertson
What the Bible really Says. By Manfred Barthell
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