Mystical Wisdom

Contraries and complimentaries

The creative process is dependent on contraries – on complimentary qualities that often seem to compete with each other, when it would be of more benefit if they were willing to collaborate. In Taoism these contraries are called yang and yin: the forward driving creative desire and the retreating, receptive, receiving desire. Both are interdependent and truly have no need to squabble!

William Blake’s famous Tyger poem explores a deep question – did ‘god’ make both the tiger and the lamb? 

(See the video where I read the whole poem.)

Blake’s descriptive metaphors liken the tiger’s energy to fire, to the elemental power of the blacksmith, the hammer and the anvil. Blake uses the word ‘dread’ three times. He describes the sinews of the tiger’s heart as twisted. The fourth verse ends with the words: what dread grasp dare its deadly terrors clasp? This language is deeply unsettling, reminding us of axes, bayonets, tanks and missiles. Killing fields.
A tiger can easily eat a lamb and there is a significant element of danger when the two confront each other. Blake’s words invoke the fear we would experience if a man-eater was on the loose. His poetry certainly echoes our present day anxieties, as we see an untamed predator rampaging across part of our world. How can the lamb protect itself without having to take on tiger qualities? How can the tiger get what it desires without destroying the lamb? Is the tiger trying to seize more than it actually needs? Would the lamb be taken to the slaughter, unless it calls on supporters who know how to deal with tigers? To protect the lamb, it may be necessary to shoot the tiger. Or, will the tiger lie down with the lamb?

Very recently, a politician was reported as saying that the present war in Ukraine is ‘a battle between good and evil’. It would be easy to claim the holy ground at a time like this, to assume the ‘white hat’, but perhaps we might adjust this comment to a ‘struggle’ (less emotive than ‘battle’) between the ‘not so bad’ and the ‘very bad’. ‘Evil’, in my humble opinion, is not a helpful word. It implies some kind of pre-existent, even supernatural, force, over which we have little power. Any ‘battles’ that go on for we humans are of our own making, and due to our own stupidity. They arise out of our blindness to a real possibility that, despite difference, co-operation is more successful for our evolution as a species than conflict. So, perhaps, we could frame this Ukraine-Russian conflict as a struggle between ‘not quite so stupid’ people who are attempting to collaborate and solve differences reasonably, and the ‘more than usually stupid’. The latter are like playground bullies, driven by semi-conscious fears that are irrational – and very, very dangerous.

Gilgamesh and Humbaba

How can we resolve the tension that seems to naturally occur when tiger energy challenges lamb energy? Our Western spiritual and religious traditions present a fundamental dualistic approach, identifying supernatural forces as ‘princes of light’ waging war against ‘princes of darkness’.  Our earliest myths, dating back thousands of years BCE, describe battles between heroes and dragons, demons or giants, that need to be slain. The Epic of Gilgamesh (likely dating back 18 centuries BCE) describes how the ancient Mesopotamian king Gilgamesh tames a wild man, Enkidu. The two of them develop their murderous prowess by slaying bulls. They set off together, full of heroic fervour, into an ancient forest where sacred trees grow – where the gods live. The Cedar Forest is guarded by a monstrous giant:

 

 

When he looks at someone, it is the look of death

Humbaba’s roar is a flood,

His mouth is death and his breath is fire!

A hundred leagues away he can hear any rustling in his forest!

Who would go down into his forest!

 This description has echoes of Blake’s Tyger poem.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu want to claim sacred cedar trees for the king’s palace. They are not in the business of asking, or of offering a suitable exchange. They plan to take what they want and are willing to murder the forest guardian in order to achieve their ends. Gilgamesh and Enkidu win this contest, but they have trespassed on holy territory and the gods will punish them, sooner or later, for this ill-mannered incursion.

 

A sacred forest

Humbaba is not a ‘lamb’, he has massive reserves of his own power, but he was not sent on a mission to destroy human civilisation. There was never any need to kill him. He was minding his own business, doing his duty in the forest where he had been appointed to keep watch over the trees. His job was to protect the hidden, mysterious, realm of the gods. What if Gilgamesh and Enkidu had carried a lamp and a polite request into the darkness, rather than a sword and a battle-axe? Negotiation and agreement, not slaughter, would have been a much happier outcome.

It seems as though our collective psyche is embedded from ancient times with a narrative that leads towards conflict. I’d like to suggest the myth of there being an ‘evil’ force we must wrestle with is outworn, We should look to creating a new myth. Gilgamesh experiences Humbaba as an evil threat that must be combated. Gilgamesh also wants to seize sacred cedar trees, come what may. Our Western focus on duality as a basic creative struggle does not only have the potential to unleash world-engulfing wars, it leads us to the destruction of our living, life-giving rain forests, where the nature spirits live. These spirits may be invisible to most everyday humans, but they are immensely powerful. When we experience the ‘other’ as a constant threat, when we relegate the natural world outside the city gates as a place only fit for conquest, then havoc arises – the wholesale slaughter of our fellow human beings and the devastation of our precious landscapes. If we steal what cannot belong to us, if we allow no sacred space for the gods, we will surely die.

The American New Age author Marian Williamson famously said:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

A major war is an existential opportunity, allowing us to re-evaluate how we think about ourselves as creatures who are both divine and social. We all want humanity to step into the light and leave behind the fear of darkness. Let us have faith that gentle, easy, flowing relationships will take precedence over tooth and claw. Let us tell the children new stories in which the heroes, women and men, are honoured for demonstrating loving kindness and surmounting hatred by offering gestures of peace. Let us invent new mythologies in which we see the light in every aspect of the natural order, including in each other. Let us demonstrate that, when the ‘other’ is discovered to be just like us, love will overflow in our hearts. Let us reassure the children that the spirits in nature will be our friends and collaborators when we talk to them, when we respect and honour their significance.

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PS You might like to check out my podcast with Cat Rose Neligan, where I give a presentation that investigates the theme of contraries in more depth.

This blog’s title is taken from an ancient Christian mystical text, telling the story of a young child’s adventures…

When Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden, they lose their garments of Light and have to make their way in the world wearing garments of skin. There is a very popular saying going around… You’ve got skin in the game. This expression means you have something to lose if you don’t focus your attention on completing the task in hand; if you fail to keep your eye on the goal. The ‘skin’ is often money, or some other valuable asset you don’t want to relinquish.

In a previous blog, I mentioned how the Hebrew word ‘light’ has the same sound as the word ‘skin’. In an English transliteration, they would both be written as or. But, in Hebrew, the two words are spelled differently – the first letter in ‘light’ is aleph, in the word ‘skin’ it is ayin. Just one tiny change and we move from the ‘light’ to something much denser – the ‘skin’, an earthly garment for all living human beings. So, now I would like to introduce a new expression I just invented:

You’ve got Light in the game!

Light is your most valuable asset

There is an ancient Christian mystical allegory called The Robe of Glory that describes how a child is sent by his parents to retrieve a pearl that is guarded by a terrible sea serpent.

When I was a little child
And dwelling in my kingdom, in my Father’s house,
And in the wealth and the glories
Of my nurturers had my pleasure,
From the East, our home,
My parents, having equipped me, sent me forth.

This story is reminiscent of the myth of Jason, who sets off on a quest to claim a valuable, magical Golden Fleece, guarded by a never-sleeping dragon. It also describes the same journey we find in Plato’s description of our Soul leaving its Divine home. The English poet William Wordsworth (1770–1850) echoes this theme of exile when he says:

trailing clouds of glory do we come 
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!

In The Robe of Light, when the child leaves the heavenly kingdom, he is given a large load, although it can be easily carried. This treasury contains gold, silver, rubies and agate, but also ‘adamant which can crush iron’.

I associate this last stone with the idea that, when we enter the gravity of physical life ,we are loaded with the ability to get engaged with the Saturnine potential for living as humans. But this very same potential can become unyielding and stubborn, leaving us with a feeling of separation from the Divine Light that was shining through our other precious gifts.

This traveller sets off on the journey with valuable assets for trading in the world. The whole allegory is based on the idea of an expedition to acquire a gift, for which you can exchange the possessions – perhaps your talents – that you bring with you.

The precious metals and stones that have been included in the portfolio all reflect light, but in diminishing capacity. Gold is the exemplar of light-reflecting treasure, adamant is hardy, but dense, reflecting no light at all.

Now comes the tough bit. The parents gave the child this rich dowry but, on the other hand, they…

…took from me the bright robe
Which in their love they had wrought for me,
And my purple toga,
Which was measured and woven to my stature.

Now the traveller no longer owns what was available before the journey began – a bright robe and a purple toga that had been designed to fit perfectly. Purple is a royal colour, much used in sacred ritual. The garments that were held back were Soul vestments. They are reminiscent of the High Priest’s garments and the precious stones may be an echo of that idea – certain stones were associated with wisdom and knowledge. The child carries the gems, but the robe and the toga are hidden from sight. However, they will not be entirely erased from memory.

Your Soul commitment

And they made compact with me
And wrote it in my heart
So that it should not be forgotten.

The Divine parents in this tale made a promise that has been inscribed in the child’s heart. In the same way, the narrative for your journey has been ‘compacted’ in your deep memory. After all, you wrote it for yourself in the first place.

Like the traveller in the allegory, or in any great heroic story, it is your task is to find the ‘Pearl’ or the ‘Golden Fleece’ – or the ‘Holy Grail’, or the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’. Whatever metaphor you choose, the treasure is ‘Wisdom’ and, when you find it, you will retrieve your Soul’s ‘Robe of Glory’. In other parables this is described as a ‘wedding garment’. You need it in order to get into the heavenly feast!

When the king came in to see the guests he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he saith unto him ‘Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?’

— Matthew 22:11-12

The wretched interloper in Jesus’s parable is not only excluded, he is cast into outer darkness. Jesus was certainly only calling those to dine with him if they had ‘light in the game’. You don’t need to be a Christian to take this metaphor on board. The wedding garment as a robe of ‘light’ represents clarity of mind, integrity of heart and commitment to Love. On the other hand, ‘outer darkness’ includes ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’ – by which we can understand a feeling of chaos, anxiety, fear and stress that gives rise to negative emotions and challenging events.

Challenging the serpent

Every heroic tale includes the protagonist challenging some kind of monster. We meet Grendel in the Old English Beowulf tale. This monster is a descendant of Cain, who commits the first murder, in the biblical Book of Genesis. There’s Satan in the Christian Book of Revelation, in which Archangel Michael skewers the Lord of Darkness – much like St. George slays the dragon in British mythology. The Greek hero Jason also has to deal with a dragon – although he gets magical help from the priestess Medea, so he can put the scaly guardian of the Golden Fleece to sleep. Even the dear little hobbit, Frodo Baggins, has to face Smaug, who sits on a pile of gold that includes a magic ring.

The encounter with the monster is a metaphor. On the path to self-realisation every traveller has to deal with the challenges presented by what Carl Jung called ‘the shadow’. The poet William Blake uses the word ‘spectre’. Shadow, spectre, demon, serpent – whatever. Every great mystic records encounters that challenge their very sense of self. The Buddha meets demons while he meditates under the Bodhi tree. During the few days between his crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus ‘harrows hell’. The mystical descriptions of these inner battles are often couched in really dramatic and scary language.

In The Robe of Glory the traveller has to steal the pearl from the sea-serpent. Then he will regain his bright robe and become ‘heir to the kingdom’. Along his journey, he is accompanied by a fellow traveller, but when he eats heavy food in a foreign land he falls into a deep sleep and forgets the mission. However, the heavenly parents are watching over him and they get into action! All the nobles in the heavenly kingdom sign a letter urging him to wake up and arise from his slumber. He must remember who he is – a son of the king.

Fly like an eagle

The reminder arrives for the traveller in the guise of an eagle that alights beside him. The rustling of wings wakes him and his ‘free soul longs for its natural state’. Now he is empowered to charm the serpent by repeating the name of the king, his Father, and the queen, his Mother. This part of the story reminds me of the way we can use a zera, or a mantra, as our technique for releasing ourselves from the ‘mind-forged manacles’, as William Blake described the inhibiting habits of our mind. Those mental ‘manacles’ are the serpent.

Our hero snatches the pearl, then takes off his dirty clothes before focussing on the journey home. The heavenly message plays another crucial role – as he sets off, the traveller finds the letter on the road, shining a light to guide him.

The most beautiful resolution in this mystical story describes the grown man being amazed, on his return, to discover how bright the robe was that he had recovered. He recounts that he was a young child when he left and had not remembered the brightness. We are treated to a stunning description of variegated bright colours:

With gold and beryls
And rubies and agates
And sardonyxes… skilfully worked… with diamond clasps

The most significant moment in the story is when he tells us:

The garment seemed to me like a mirror of myself,
I saw in it my whole self…

And the ‘treasurers’, who returned the garment to him:

I saw in like manner.

The whole journey has been a quest for the inner glory of the traveller’s Soul: a round trip from Heaven, via Earth and back to Heaven. This is a mystical, inner journey – when we meet our own Soul and recognise who we truly are for the first time, we don’t need to leave our earthly life. Our transfiguration is the discovery of our forgotten pearl. Then, coming ‘home’, but still present in this world, the mystic sees her own true light – and the light of all the people around her.

Acknowledgments

I am extremely grateful for the inspired commentaries in John Davidson’s The Robe of Glory, published by Element, 1992.

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Your journey through this life should be a path of discovery, uncovering the Light which resides within you.

The word ‘light’ is much used in spiritual discussions nowadays – and it always has been, right back to the earliest reports describing mystical experiences. All the world’s great teachers have used the word ‘light’ as a metaphor for transcendental visions. We say someone is en-light–ened. We talk about ‘seeing the light’. When the usually invisible Angels appear to people they are surrounded by ‘light’. There is ‘light’ at the end of the tunnel in a near death experience. The Christian gospels report the transfiguration of Jesus, when:

…his face did shine as the sun and his raiment was white as the light.

— Matthew 17:2 (King James version).

A few sentences ago I used the word ‘metaphor’, but are these Light experiences only ‘metaphors’? Is this just a way to describe something beyond words? Or is Light actually appearing in our perception, as a reality? Does it change the material world in some way? If so, are we able – and willing – to access this transcendental Light in our everyday lives?

Transforming into an Angel?

One of the most curious mystical stories In Judaism concerns a prophet called Enoch who, according to legend, was transformed into the Archangel Metatron. Although this tale does not appear in the usual Bible, it is found in later Jewish texts and is based on a strange account that is found in the biblical Book of Genesis.

Chapter five in Genesis presents a kind of family tree of people – men – who lived before the Great Flood. This was a time when there were mighty men…men of renown living on Earth. (This is what my book, Teachings of the Nephalim is about). They may have been gigantic in stature. These are the ancestors of Noah and, according to the legends, they all lived VERY long lives. The oldest man in the family was Methuselah who, we are told, lived over nine hundred years. His grandfather had been Jared who lived a similar length of time. In between these two ancient characters came Enoch – son to Jared, father to Methuselah. This chapter is really quite boring, but stay with me! Enoch only lives three hundred and sixty-five years. Then…

Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him.

— Genesis 5:24 (King James version).

This sounds rather like an alien abduction! Enoch disappears – and Genesis tells us nothing else. But the Book of Enoch (excluded from the Bible) gives us a personal description of what happened, in Enoch’s own words. He tells us that God took him on the ‘stormy wings of the Shekinah’ to the great palaces of the seventh heaven. There, Enoch encounters some extraordinary celestial beings:

• Shinanim of the fire.
• Cherubim of the flaming torches.
• Ofannim of the fiery coals who are servants of the flame.
• Seraphim of lightning.

Then Enoch’s flesh is turned to flame…

…his eyelashes to flashes of lightning, his eyeballs to flaming torches…and received after this heavenly transformation the name Metatron.

This is a phoenix-like metamorphosis, where the human has shed all earthly attributes to become an Archangel.

I referred to this as one curious story, but there is another prophetic transformation to mention, when Elijah became Sandalphon:

Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him.

— 2 Kings 2:11 (King James version).

Again, we don’t find mention of an angelic transformation in the biblical account, but a 16th-century kabbalist called Moses Cordevero does associate Sandalphon with Elijah. In Jewish tradition, Sandalphon is associated with the Messiah, and the disciples witnessing the transfiguration also report that Jesus was seen talking to both Moses and Elijah.

Losing our cloak of glory

Enoch also describes being clothed in Light:

He made for me a garment of kings with all manner of lights in it, and He dressed me in it, and He made me a cloak of glory containing all manner of fine appearance and splendour and brilliance…

— Enoch 3

Jewish teachers suggested that Enoch had somehow atoned for Adam’s transgression. When Adam and Eve are exiled from the Garden of Eden, having attempted to hide themselves with fig leaves, God gives them garments of skin. But the Hebrew word for ‘skin’ is a very close cousin to the Hebrew word for ‘light’. (To be technical here, in both cases, the word or is pronounced the same way, but spelled slightly differently ­– ‘light’ begins with an aleph, ‘skin’ with ayin). So the idea was that, because Adam and Eve had lost the right to live in Eden, one letter of the creative alphabet had been changed ­– their garments of ‘Light’ were demoted to garments of human ‘skin’. They no longer radiated that Divine Light which was their birth right, it was now hidden from the world – and hidden from them, as well.

Reclaiming our Light

Every spiritual tradition has developed over many generations and there are layers of dusty old manuscripts in which we can find clues. Sometimes we are called to a particular tradition and the mystical teachings we find seem to call us to adopt the practices on offer. But, when we strip away the layers, we find the core of these teachings will always be based on how to get back to the Light. A guru or teacher, whose original mystical experience prompted them to go into the world and share their visions, can only describe the power and intimacy of their own encounter with the Divine. Almost without exception, the accounts I researched in the Alister Hardy archive of letters from modern people who were willing to share their spiritual experiences would include: words cannot express, or similar sentiments. Until you get that experience for yourself, other people’s words, however poetic, cannot take you there. You can only experience the Light by adopting a regular practice that can promote inner transformation – then the Light reveals itself. Sometimes, a soft and gentle revelation, over a period of time. Sometimes, a sudden, startling illumination, perhaps accompanied by inner messages ­– an intimate and personal apocalypse in which the veil between your everyday self and your inner Angel falls away.

Your garments – human and Divine

We could say that the story of our allegorical first parents, Adam and Eve, describes how we feel about ourselves as human beings who are aware that we are flesh, bones, blood and skin. But, deep in our consciousness, we are also haunted by the recall of wearing a robe of glory. We feel separated from that beauty. There is a deep pain and a sense of grief. We long for a return to the Light. What we are learning, right now, is how to live in both garments. Our spiritual goal must be in the Light but not consumed by it, so we can live on planet Earth and take delight in our human skins, while at the same time shining with Divine radiance.

If you would like an easy route to find your own inner Light, check out my unique Shefa Method.

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The great Sufi mystic, Ibn ‘Arabi, is a helpful friend when we are on our path to find spiritual wisdom.

It is He who is revealed in every face, sought in every sign, gazed upon by every eye, worshipped in every object of worship, and pursued in the unseen and the invisible. Not a single one of His creatures can fail to find Him in its primordial and original nature.

— Ibn’Arabi, al-Fuduhat al-Makkiyyah, chapter 372

The title for my blog this week is taken from an ancient Sufi manual on spiritual retreat by Ibn’Arabi, an Andulusian mystic scholar, poet and philosopher (1165-1240). His cosmological teachings were very influential in the Islamic world during the late Middle Ages and he is renowned among Sufis as a saint – given the title ‘The Greatest Shaykh’. (You will have to excuse the shaykh’s use of the masculine gender for the Divine – he was a mediaeval writer, after all!)

Sufism is the esoteric or mystical branch of Islam, and Sufis, like the Jewish mystics known as Kabbalists, developed practices and experimented with inner journeys, seeking the Divine within. That’s what we modern meditators want to achieve as well. In this treatise, Ibn’Arabi is teaching seekers how to explore their own ‘primordial and original nature’, in order to find the Divine within. If this exploration is diligently pursued, he promises we cannot fail to find Divinity. Then we will experience the delight of knowing we are at one with It, not separated and alone within our individual selfhood.

Surrendering is a challenge

The original title for Ibn ’Arabi’s manual was: A Treatise on the Lights in the Secrets Granted One Who Undertakes Retreat. In his treatise, the shaykh offers guidance for the ultimate inner journey, towards a meeting with the Divine – the ‘Lord of Power’. This requires absolute surrender of the ego (the words Islam and Muslim both derive from an Arabic word meaning ‘surrender’).

In Sufism, the journey is thought of as a ladder, so again we see a similarity to the concept of ascending the branches of a tree in Kabbalah. At each stage of the ascent, we are told, our imagination can deceive us into thinking we have ‘arrived’. There is the possibility of temptation, by which we might come to think we’ve ‘got the truth’. Only someone with an overpowering desire, a heart intention (himma) for the Divine, and no care for anything else, can look forward to a safe journey.

Remembrance

The instructions for using a dhikr (Arabic for remembrance) as a fundamental technique during the inner retreat are almost identical to those given in the Hindu or Transcendental Meditation teachings, as well as for The Shefa Method. A mantra (Sanskrit) and a zera (Hebrew) will both serve as ‘reminders’ of what you want to achieve.

Ibn ’Arabi advises seekers…

Occupy yourself with dhikr, remembrance of God, with whatever sort of dhikr you choose.

Then, because this teacher is a practising Muslim, he continues…

The highest dhikr is the Greatest Name… saying Allah, Allah, and nothing beyond Allah.

In order to maintain the repetition of the chosen dhikr, the mystic will usually use beads, passing them through their hands as the dhikr is repeated.

Reverence

Ibn’ Arabi advises the seeker to begin their journey with due reverence for the sacred task. This includes being careful of your diet – your food should be nourishing, but should not include animal fat. He recommends we become aware of extremes of satiation or hunger. Keep your constitution in balance – any extremes can lead to “corrupt imaginings’ and excitability. This sounds like a warning, perhaps that psychosis could be a side effect if the seeker does not maintain a healthy lifestyle. I would add a further suggestion – avoid watching extreme action movies, or TV shows that focus on danger, fear, anxiety, murder and so on. When you meditate, your stored memories of such content can filter into your mental arena and present themselves just when your intention is to go beyond these negative possibilities.

Some mystics adopt wearing a shawl and/or a head covering during meditation. That’s part of my practice. Putting on a shawl cues you that you are ‘in retreat’ from everyday concerns. I also light candles and give thanks when I extinguish them before leaving my meditation room. The shawl I wear for special events is embroidered with a Tree of Life, but for everyday meditation I use a plain white pashmina.

So, is the inner journey safe?

The Sufi warnings echo a legend in Jewish aggadah, in which four rabbis attempt the inner journey to Pardes, from which the word ‘Paradise’ is derived and translates as ‘orchard’. Only one rabbi, Akiva, comes back in good order: one actually dies, one of them goes mad, and one becomes a heretic. In the legend, this last character (nicknamed ‘Acher’, meaning ‘backwards’) destroys some of the saplings in the Divine orchard. This suggests to me that Acher, when he gets to Heaven, rather than surrendering to the beauty of the Divine, starts pulling it apart with intellectual argument. Acher gets a glimpse of the Divine but refuses to believe in the validity of his own experience.

In this painting, we see four rabbis arguing about Talmudic texts. It isn’t clear if the four pictured here are meant to be the same group who appear in the legend, but clearly they haven’t got to Heaven as yet, otherwise at least one of them would be blissful!

Acher’s destructive approach reminds me that many people who have powerful spiritual experiences will rush for medical advice, hoping to dismiss the reality of a Divine encounter by applying scientific/materialist concepts. I hold my hand up to this! When I first had a powerful illumination in 1974, my first immediate thought was to consult a doctor. Fortunately, I also knew a Sufi, who gave me an alternative explanation. Even so, it took me many years to accept the Divinity of my experience, and to stop trying to pull it apart with my intellect, assigning it to the file labelled ‘weird’.

How do these warnings apply to modern spiritual seekers? These concerns are to be taken seriously. We need to be well grounded in our material, everyday life before we endeavour to enter a more expanded state of consciousness, otherwise we can be flooded and overwhelmed by our experiences. That is why modern teachers suggest a softly-softly approach for people living what yogis call a ‘householder’ lifestyle – working, bringing up a family and such.

Meditation twice daily for twenty minutes, perhaps with some extra time for using the Shefa characters if you are following the Shefa Method; maybe add an hour-long session once a week, if you want to seek guidance from inner guides or angelic supporters. You could make this a regular ‘date’ with your inner ‘Council’. I find guides and angels respond more promptly if you give them a regular slot. Don’t just suddenly think, ‘I need some help right NOW!’ and hope you’ll be able to instantly drop into the right space to meet your guides.

The kind of timetable I suggest above will be safe for most people. If you have a bipolar tendency, or any other mental issues, then take precautions and just use meditation for ten minutes each time. Those tendencies are not contra-indicators; they just signal that you can easily become overwhelmed when opening your psyche to otherworldly dimensions. Another suggestion is to undertake walking meditations, as suggested for children under the age of ten. Time spent walking, with your own bodily rhythm and speed, naturally keeps you grounded. Using a zera while walking will definitely encourage stillness in your mental arena.

The Secrets

The Sufi master’s treatise title seems to promise revelations – the ‘lights in the secrets’. What does that mean? The branches – or paths – on the Kabbalist’s Tree of Life is decorated with sefirot – receptacles of light, each derived from the greater Light of the Divine. Perhaps the ‘secrets’ are close cousins to the sefirot and the ‘lights’ are the Archangelic guardians we learn about in Tree of Life mysticism.

In the Sufi tradition we learn about ‘demons’. These are dynamic energy forms that are associated with disorientation, pain and distress, which can leave you feeling bewildered and confused. Heat and agitation are associated with these feelings. The shaykh recommends you keep maintaining the dhikr, until the difficulties cease, then the Angelic influence will bring a feeling of calm and bliss, often associated with coolness.

Not ‘God’

Ibn’Arabi invites you to enter your retreat with a clearly articulated intention, in which you state that there is ‘nothing other than God’. If anything arrives in your meditation that seems to be Divine, he insists that you assume it must be a lower form… the Divine will always be more than all experiences or forms, however beautiful they are. The mystic must keep repeating ‘this is not God’, because the Divine is the source of manifested realms but, in Itself, has no form. So, even meeting an Archangel, however awesome that might be, we always repeat: this is not the Divine. An Archangel is only an extended attribute of Divinity as It creates multiple realms for Its own delight. In Kabbalah, there have been especial warnings concerning Metatron, whose light is so potent and overwhelming that one could be seduced into thinking this Archangel is actually the Divine. But Metatron is just an aspect of Divinity, just like the other Archangels, including Michael, whose name means ‘like unto God’.

Meeting the Lights

Using the Tree of Life as a map of ascension is a powerful technique for your inner journeys. When you are at the foot of the Tree, you are well grounded before you begin your journey. On my website you will find suggestions for working with the Archangels of the lower part of the Tree – click here to access them. You would find it useful to have a copy of The Angels Script as well, then you can use the Archangels cards from the deck to set out the map as a visual reminder of the journey up the Tree.

The Lord of Power – or Lady, as you prefer – is within you, residing permanently in ‘Paradise’ or the ‘Inner Kingdom’, also known as ‘Heaven’. Experiencing the ‘lights’ within the secret gates standing between your everyday self and Heaven allows you to release limitations and blocks in your psyche. Then you can truly step into your own power and shine your light as a gift to the world.

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You can learn how to work with the great Archangels of the Tree of Life by enrolling on my new course, Accessing Angelic Realms, either as Self-Study or with personal supervision from me. If you take up the FREE Shefa Method offer, you also receive a 50% Discount Voucher valid against Accessing Angelic Realms if you purchase before 18 June 2021 (you can start the course itself whenever you wish).

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The Sun is the main driving force in your birth chart. While your Soul is trying to express itself in your current lifetime, the Sun is the instrument it uses to achieve this.

This blog focuses on the importance of getting in touch with the Sun inside your heart. The image above shows someone peeling back a grey overlay to reveal a sunny landscape under the fog. Let’s have a think about how we can all get to work on this spiritual revelation!

As I quote in the video, the 2nd-century astrologer Vettius Valens describes the Sun as the instrument of perception of the Soul . What can that mean for us, on our spiritual journey?

A Soul symphony

Valens is telling us that the Sun’s placement in our natal horoscope describes the main theme that our Soul has chosen for this lifetime. Many ancient philosophers, especially Pythagoras, envisioned the cosmos as a vast musical concert, and we can think of our life as a microcosmic symphony in which many instruments will play their particular parts. But we would say that the Sun carries the main theme, or melody.

In astrology we identify the Sun as having twelve options – these are the twelve signs of the zodiac. Having chosen its main theme, the Sun can step into the world of time and settle into one of twelve ‘houses’, or ‘places’ – I prefer to call these ‘mansions’. The twelve mansions are topics of human activity where our Soul can act out its chosen story. Another way of thinking about this would be to describe the Sun as taking on a costume, then choosing an arena to perform in, just as an actor puts on a costume and then walks out onto a stage where the scene has been set up.

An example might work like this: a Soul has chosen its Sun to wear the costume of Taurus and has arrived in the fourth mansion of home and family. Now, this Soul can develop all those practical down-to-earth potentials offered by the Taurean theme and act them out in the arena of home and family. That seems to me like a very comfortable mansion for a Taurean Sun to occupy – mostly. Taurean energy is generally stable and predictable – good for family and home matters – although we should be aware of the saying, ‘Like a bull in a china shop’. Think how that might apply if you have a bull in your family!

 A more challenging combination might be the Sun putting on the costume of Aries and stepping into the fourth mansion. The energetic, fiery, extravert quality of Aries the Ram ( the ‘battering-ram’) may find it hard work to be confined in a home and family scenario.

The Sun energy available to us in this present incarnation presents us with creative – we could say magical – potential. We have the creative power of the Universe within our own microcosmic domain. Our Soul has chosen its ‘MO’, its modus operandi, or style of operating (zodiac sign) and its locus operandi ­– place of operation. I’ve given you just two examples from the 144 variations – that is twelve zodiac signs multiplied by twelve houses, places or mansions.

We want to take full advantage of these creative potentials. How we can step into a sense our own agency?

We have chosen a name and a place

An Egyptian creation legend describes how the everlasting God of the Universe, Neb-er-tcher, filled all of space. Because this god desired to create the world, he took the form of creator-god Khepera, who raises himself in Nu – a celestial ocean which is inert and helpless. Heaven and Earth have not been created, but Khepera brings dynamic activity into this ocean. He wants somewhere to stand himself in what is really only empty space. He also has no name.

Khepera is a form of the Sun-god Re, specifically the god of the rising Sun. He was self-produced – his name comes from the Egyptian word, kheprer, meaning ‘to become’. This story describes our creative power , our capacity to become as our Soul chooses. Khepera is often portrayed as a scarab beetle, or with a scarab on his head.

The legend says that Khepera gave being to himself by uttering his own name. Because he was still a portion of the great god Neb-er-tcher, when he spoke the word Khepera, he came into being as Khepera. (Note – here you can see the significance of your own name for this lifetime, so if the name your parents gave you seems unsuitable for your heart’s intention, change it).

When Khepera needed a place in which to stand, he announced the name of the place and it also came into being. This magical spell was addressed to his heart, or his will. Khepera willed this standing-place to appear and it arrived at his command. One version of the legend speaks of a ‘heart-soul’ assisting Khepera in his first creative acts – he thought from his heart what he wished to create and then, simply by uttering its name, caused his thought to take concrete form. This process of thinking out the existence of things is expressed in Egyptian by words that mean laying the foundation in the heart.

We can gain creative insights about our Sun potential from this legend. Just as Khepara derives his creative potential from Neb-er-tcher, our Soul is able to make full use of the divine energy of the Sun – which, as the meaning of Archangel Michael’s name reminds us, is ‘like unto God’ – but only according to what has already been chosen. Don’t forget, however, that our Soul had the agency in the first place, to choose the place and time of incarnation. Like Khepera, we have created a heart-soul spell. We have already laid the foundation of this lifetime in our heart. Our Soul’s desire will be to shine according to this primordial – original – intention. If other inclinations tempt us away from our Sun potential, then events will conspire to nudge us back towards the light. Some of these events may prove to be seriously uncomfortable. You have been warned!

Creating your great artwork

The Renaissance artist Michelangelo is reputed to have said that he only released his sculptures from the stone – his great statue of David was already waiting within the huge piece of marble. Michelangelo’s task was to reveal the latent beauty for all to see. We can see how Michelangelo was a creator-god – the marble was unformed, waiting for the artist to summon its potential. We might also consider that Michelangelo had a hidden heart desire to create David, then the best piece of marble arrived as required for the task. There is a symbiotic relationship between the artist and the materials at hand. When we look at his majestic artwork, somehow we know that it always existed as a unique, original form, just waiting for someone to give it shape.

In the same way, your Soul has a primordial desire to express itself and your natal chart Sun, by sign and mansion, describes the potential in your piece of marble – your essential, creative desire to shine in the world of time and space.

The lessons:

• Your Soul has chosen this life possibility, even if you don’t recall the inter-life moment when that choice was made. If there is predestination, then you have played a key role in mapping out your future. You have chosen your name, your place, and your time.
• In order to identify your already chosen options, check out your natal horoscope – especially look for the sign of the zodiac where the Sun was placed when you were born. If you have the time and place of your birth, look for the rising sign and identify which ‘house’ or ‘mansion’ the Sun has chosen. Please note: there are different options for dividing the circle of the chart into twelve mansions. That’s a complicated topic, but if you ask an internet site to give you a chart (such as astrodienst.com) it will usually offer different options for the house divisions. I recommend you try two different options. The Placidus system has been a favourite with modern astrologers for generations. The Whole House system has recently attracted attention among astrologers who have discovered ancient texts. Look for the placement of the Sun in both variations. This placement might turn out to be the same, but quite likely will be different. For example, using Placidus, the Sun in my chart is placed in the fourth; using Whole House, in the fifth. What you can do for yourself, even with only a little astrological knowledge, is to consider which mansion seems to most accurately describe how you imagine yourself functioning best.

• Now you have arrived, you can take up the potentials you chose and make full use of them. Your sense of confidence and authority will grow, just as the Sun rises each morning. When you wake up each day you can say:

This is who I am, this what I do in the world. I am here to shine.

• Your Soul will use the fiery and intelligent light of your Sun sign as an instrument of perception. Like Khepera, you will rise and be able to use human senses and intelligence to establish your shining presence in this world.
• A regular meditation practice provides an open opportunity for your inner sunshine to express itself easily. The Shefa Method (FREE until 18 June 2021) gives you tools to use as remedies to heal and release any blocks that might inhibit your Sun radiating to its full capacity. This is how you peel away the fog and see a glorious landscape opening up before you. Your inner ‘bright angel’ is ‘like unto god’ ­and revealing this Sun to the world will transform your life.

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Until 18 June 2021, The Shefa Method Self-Study version is completely FREE. The Supervised version is greatly reduced. Click here to apply.

You can learn how to work with the great Archangels of the Tree of Life by enrolling on my new course, Accessing Angelic Realms, either as Self-Study or with personal supervision from me. If you take up the FREE Shefa Method offer, you also receive a 50% Discount Voucher valid against Accessing Angelic Realms if you purchase before 18 June 2021 (you can start the course itself whenever you wish).

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What’s the difference between a spiritual awakening and being ‘woke’? Either way, it’s your duty in this lifetime not to sleep through all your possibilities!

I recall the phrase Wake up! Rise and shine! from my childhood. My mother frequently called this, encouraging me to get out of bed when I would rather stay under the blankets. No duvets in those bygone days! So now I’m older (just a bit), I’m using Wake Up! Rise and Shine as the title for my new book (look out for an announcement later this Summer, when it will be available for all subscribers as a free ebook). But let me tell you why I think Wake Up! Rise and Shine should be a modern mantra for everyone on a spiritual path.

Are you awake?

Nowadays, we read media articles in which some celebrities are described as ‘woke’. This description means they are well informed and aware of political, cultural and social issues. The history of the phrase is embedded in Afro-American history – the great Hudie Ledbetter (aka Leadbelly) used it in a 1938 song about racial prejudice. In 1940, an official in United Mine Workers said: “Let me tell you, buddy. Waking up is a damn sight harder than going to sleep, but we’ll stay woke up longer.” More recently, the phrase became popular and entered general conversation after soul singer Eryka Badhu used ‘I stayed woke’ as a refrain in her 2008 song, Master Teacher.

 The Merriam-Webster dictionary today defines ‘woke’ as ‘questioning the dominant paradigm, striving for something better.’ This is an intellectual and ideological position – we understand and engage with present-day problems surrounding racial prejudice, gender inequality, climate change and other socio-political issues.

I would definitely like more people to wake up in this sense! And, yes, it is harder than going to sleep. We would all like to stay under the blankets of our habitual ways of thinking and perceiving. After all, what can we as individuals do about the overarching (and often negative) issues that seem to have a life of their own? In recent times, many people have conscientiously joined forces, intending to demonstrate that groups of individuals can make a difference.

BUT… I want to draw your attention to another kind of waking up. It is not contrary to the visions of ‘woke’ community organisations. In fact, if you REALLY wake up, then all efforts to realign social and cultural norms towards more beautiful and harmonious human interactions will be empowered. But the power comes not from any ideology, or from ‘political correctness’, but from the Divine Source within Creation, which is within all humanity.

Spiritual slumbers

Another special memory I have from being very small was of my mother singing a lullaby – Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes. The singing of lullabies is an ancient practice and I’m sure mothers in all cultures still practice it, even if they wouldn’t stand up in public to sing.

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato tells a story of the Soul’s journey, in which he describes how our Soul, on its way into a new incarnation, crosses the River Lethe – a river that encourages all who drink from it to forget its previous life. In this process, our Soul may also forget its purpose for this incarnation.

But, when we arrive in our new home, our parents will probably be very keen to encourage us to sleep! After all, they need their own opportunities for shut-eye. They need to maintain energy for dealing with the tiny newcomer who is disrupting their lifestyle.

A regular sleep pattern is necessary for good health. We humans tend to behave like many other Earth-bound mammals: we like to be active during daylight and sleep during the night, but the advent of artificial lighting has allowed us to extend our ‘day time’ well after night has fallen. We must be alert to the very important fact that our physical and mental wellbeing should be an adjunct to, not a replacement for, our spiritual health. We must be careful not to stay spiritually comatose! Meditation and inner exploration will allow our inner guides to offer the wisdom we need to stay on track for our Soul’s purpose in this lifetime. Daily meditation allows us to reconnect with the Divine sunshine we carry within. Sometimes we need to go on a very deep journey to uncover that hidden gold but, as I Ching frequently reminds us: “perseverance furthers”.

Spiritual awakening

The second line in the lullaby my mother sang to me goes: Smiles await you when you rise. When we rise from spiritual slumbers we step into a joyous, smiling, delightful new perception. We understand that all the prejudice, inequality and planetary devastation is down to human disconnection from the Divine. When we re-establish our inner ‘kingdom’, we can rule our personal lives with grace, vitality and strength. Every time one person steps into this awakening, another notch in planetary and social health is registered, we are engaged in what kabbalists call tikkun olam – the healing of the world. We can make use of the alphabetical characters provided in The Shefa Method, in order to participate in this process.

As you can see, this character is shaped like a crucible, a container in which changes can evolve in a protective environment. Think of your meditation sessions as an opportunity to sit in the stillness and silence of the Divine, a golden sunshine that will permeate your mind and body. Every time you dip into this arena you will shed your outer habits of anxiety and fear. You will stop being overwhelmed by the daily news. You will know, directly, that the Divine qualities of Love, Wisdom and Power can be expressed through us – will allow us to solve the most difficult and pressing problems humanity is facing.

This ‘knowledge’, what the ancients called gnosis, is an awakening. When you open your eyes, you can face life with a smile. You will gradually come to understand the real purpose of your present incarnation, the contribution you can make personally to the whole world waking up.

A way back home

The original words of my mother’s lullaby date back several centuries, to a drama by Thomas Dekker, written in 1603. In 1918, Dekker’s poem was set to a melody by British composer, Peter Warlock (according to his Wikipedia entry he took that name because he was interested in ‘occult practices’). Pete Seeger included it on his album, Lullabies from Far and Wide in 1972.

The Beatles sang a version of Golden Slumbers with additional lyrics by Paul McCartney (John Denver and Neil Diamond also covered this version):

Once there was a way
To get back homeward
Once there was a way
To get back home
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby.

Golden slumbers fill your eyes
Smiles await you when you rise
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby.

Paul McCartney added a melancholic aura to the song, with his new lines suggesting there is no way home: Once there was a way… But now, he implies, we had best not cry about the loss, we should take time out and go to sleep. We should remember, though, that Paul’s version was written in 1969, the year after the Beatles renounced their association with the Maharishi, who had taught them ‘the way to get back homeward’ – Transcendental Meditation.

Let me assure you, there is a way home. Then you will wake up and you will greet the world with smiles. As the Beatles sang in All You Need Is Love, when they were still meditating: “It’s easy!”

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During May 2021, The Shefa Method Self-Study version is completely FREE. The Supervised version is greatly reduced. Click here to apply.

You can learn how to work with the great Archangels of the Tree of Life by enrolling on my new course, Accessing Angelic Realms, either as Self-Study or with personal supervision from me. During May, if you take up the FREE Shefa Method offer, you also receive a 50% Discount Voucher valid against Accessing Angelic Realms if you purchase during May 2021 (you can start the course itself whenever you wish).

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If you’re not already on my mailing list, subscribe and I will notify you of my vlogs and blogs, and send you my eight-times-a-year Tree of Life Cycles newsletter.