Apocalypse, the secret Revelation of St. John. We have only to read
the opening words to feel the deep mystic character of this book. "The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his
servants how the necessary things are shortly going to happen; and
this is sent in signs by the angel of God unto his servant John." What
is here revealed is "sent in signs." Therefore we must not take the
literal meaning of the words as they stand, but seek for a deeper
meaning of which the words are only signs. But there are other things
also which point to a hidden meaning. St. John addresses himself to
the seven churches in Asia. Not actual, material churches are meant;
the number seven is the sacred number, chosen on account of its
symbolic meaning. The actual number of the Asiatic churches was
different. And the manner in which St. John arrived at the revelation
also points to something mysterious. "I was in the Spirit on the
Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
saying, 'What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven
churches.'" Thus, we have to do with a revelation received by St. John
in the spirit. And it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Wrapped in a
hidden meaning there appears what Christ Jesus manifested to the
world. Therefore we must also look for this hidden meaning in the
teachings of Christ. This revelation bears the same relation to
ordinary Christianity as was borne by the revelation of the Mysteries,
in pre-Christian times, to the people's religion. On this account the
attempt to treat the Apocalypse as a mystery appears to be justified.
The Apocalypse is addressed to seven churches. For the reason of this
we have only to single out one of the seven messages sent. In the
first of these it is said, "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus
write; these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right
hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I
know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst
not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they
are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne,
and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not
fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast
left thy highest love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen,
and repent, and do the best works; or else I will come unto thee
quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou
repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the
Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches; to him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise
of God." This is the message addressed to the angel of the first
community. The angel, who represents the spirit of this community,
has entered upon the path pointed out by Christianity. He is able to
distinguish between the false adherents of Christianity and the true.
He wishes to be Christian, and has founded his work on the name of
Christ. But it is required of him that he should not bar his own way
to the highest love by any kind of mistakes. He is shown the
possibility of taking a wrong course through such errors. Through
Christ Jesus the way for attaining to the divine has been pointed out.
Perseverance is needed for advancing further in the spirit in which
the first impulse was given. It is possible to believe too soon that
one has the right spirit. This happens when the disciple lets himself
be led a short way by Christ and then leaves his leadership, giving
way to false ideas about it. The disciple thereby falls back again
into the lower self. He has left his "highest love." The knowledge
which is attached to the senses and intellect may be raised into a
higher sphere, becoming wisdom, by being spiritualised and made
divine. If it does not reach this height, it remains amongst
perishable things. Christ Jesus has pointed out the path to the
Eternal, and knowledge must with unwearied perseverance follow the
path which leads to its becoming divine. Lovingly must it trace out
the methods which transmute it into wisdom. The Nicolaitanes were a
sect who took Christianity too lightly. They saw one thing only, that
Christ is the Divine Word, the Eternal Wisdom which is born in man.
Therefore they concluded that human wisdom was the Divine Word, and
that it was enough to pursue human knowledge in order to realise the
divine in the world. But the meaning of Christian wisdom cannot be
construed thus. The knowledge which in the first instance is human
wisdom is as perishable as anything else, unless it is first
transmuted into divine wisdom. "Thou art not thus," says the "Spirit"
to the angel of Ephesus; "thou hast 'not relied' merely upon human
wisdom. Thou hast patiently trodden the Christian path. But thou must
not think that the 'highest' love is not needed to attain to the goal.
Such a love is necessary which far surpasses all love to other things.
Only such can be the 'highest' love. The path to the divine is an
infinite one, and it is to be understood that when the first step has
been gained, it can only be the preparation for ascending higher and
higher." Such is the first of these messages, as they are to be
interpreted. The meaning of the others may be found in a similar way.
St. John turned, and saw "seven golden candlesticks," and "in the
midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed
with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden
girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow;
and his eyes were as a flame of fire." We are told (i. 20) that "the
seven candlesticks are the seven churches." This means that the
candlesticks are seven different ways of attaining to the divine. They
are all more or less imperfect. And the Son of Man "had in his right
hand seven stars" (v. 16). The seven stars are the angels of the seven
churches (v. 20). The guiding spirits, or daimons (_cf._ p. 87), of
the wisdom of the Mysteries have here become the guiding angels of the
churches. The churches are represented as bodies for spiritual
beings, and the angels are the souls of those bodies, just as human
souls are the guiding powers of human bodies. The churches are the
imperfect ways to the divine, and the souls of the churches were to
become guides along those paths. For this purpose they must themselves
have for their leader the being who has in his right hand seven stars.
"And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his
countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." This sword is
also found in the Mysteries. The candidate for initiation was
terrified by a flashing sword (_cf._ p. 18). This indicates the
situation of one who wishes to know the divine by experience, so that
the face of wisdom may shine upon him like the sun. St. John also goes
through this experience. It is to be a test of his strength (_cf._ p.
18). "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his
right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not" (v. 17). The candidate
for initiation must pass through the experiences which otherwise man
only undergoes at the gate of death. His guide must lead him beyond
the region in which birth and death have a meaning. The initiate
enters upon a new life. "And I was dead; and, behold, I am alive for
evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."
Thus prepared, St. John is led on to learn the secrets of existence.
"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and
the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with
me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must
be hereafter." The messages to the seven spirits of the churches make
known to St. John what is to take place in the physical world in order
to prepare the way for Christianity. What he now sees "in the Spirit"
takes him to the spiritual fountain-head of things, hidden behind
physical evolution, but which will be realised, in a spiritualised
age, in the near future, by means of physical evolution. The initiate
experiences now in the spirit what is to happen in the future,--"And
immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in
heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon
like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round
about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald." In this way is
described the source of things in the world of sense, in the pictures
in which it appears to the seer. "And round about the throne were four
and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders
sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns
of gold" (iv. 2-4). The beings far advanced on the path of wisdom thus
surround the fountain-head of existence, to gaze on its infinite
essence and bear testimony to it. "And in the midst of the throne, and
round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and
behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like
a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast
was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six
wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not
day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was,
and is, and is to come." It is not difficult to see that the four
beasts represent the supersensible life underlying physical forms of
life. Afterwards, when the trumpets sound, they lift up their voices,
_i.e._, when the life expressed in sense-forms has been transmuted
into spiritual life.
In the right hand of him who sits on the throne is the book in which
the path to the highest wisdom is traced out (v. 1). There is only one
worthy to open the book. "Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the
Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven
seals thereof." The seven seals of the book denote that human wisdom
is sevenfold. That this is so is again connected with the sacred
character of the number seven. The mystic wisdom of Philo designates
as seals the eternal cosmic thoughts which come to expression in
things. Human wisdom seeks for those creative thoughts; but only in
the book, which is sealed with them, is divine truth to be found. The
fundamental thoughts of creation must first be unveiled, the seals
must be opened, before what is in the book can be revealed. Jesus, the
Lion, has power to open the seals. He has given a direction to the
great creative thoughts which, through them, leads to wisdom. The Lamb
that was slain and that has bought its divinity with its blood,
Jesus, who drew down the Christ into Himself and who thus, in the
supreme sense, passed through the Life-Death-Mystery, opens the book
(v. 9, 10). And as each seal is opened (vi), the four beasts declare
what they know.
At the opening of the first seal, St. John sees a white horse, on
which sits a rider with a bow. The first universal power, an
embodiment of Creative Thought, becomes visible. It is put into the
right direction by the new rider, Christianity. Strife is allayed by
the new faith. At the opening of the second seal a red horse appears,
ridden by one who takes away from the earth Peace,--the second
universal power, so that humanity may not neglect, through sloth, to
cultivate divine things. The opening of the third seal shows the
universal power of Justice, guided by Christianity. The fourth brings
the power of Religion which, through Christianity, has received new
dignity.
The meaning of the four beasts thus becomes plain. They are the four
chief universal powers, to which Christianity gives a new direction:
War (the lion); Peaceful Work (the bull); Justice (the being with the
human face); and Religious Enthusiasm (the eagle). The meaning of the
third being becomes clear when it is said, at the opening of the third
seal, "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley
for a penny," and that the rider holds "a pair of balances." And at
the opening of the fourth seal a rider becomes visible whose name "was
Death, and Hell followed with him." This rider is Religious Justice
(vi. 6, 8). When the fifth seal is opened there appear the souls of
those who have already acted in the spirit of Christianity. Creative
thought itself, embodied in Christianity, shows itself here; but by
this Christianity is at first meant only the first Christian
community, which was transitory like other forms of creation. The
sixth seal is opened (vi.); it is made evident that the spiritual
world of Christianity is an eternal world. The people at large seem to
be permeated by that spiritual world out of which Christianity itself
proceeded. What it has itself created becomes sanctified. "And I heard
the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred
and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of
Israel" (vii. 4). They are those who prepared for the Eternal before
the coming of Christianity, and who were transformed by the
Christ-impulse.
The opening of the seventh seal follows. It becomes evident what true
Christianity is to be in the evolution of the world. The seven angels,
"which stood before God," appear (Rev. viii. 2). Again these angels
are spirits from the ancient Mysteries transferred to Christianity.
They are the spirits who lead to the vision of God in a really
Christian way. Therefore what is next accomplished is a leading to
God: it is an "initiation" which is bestowed upon St. John. The
proclamations of the angels are accompanied by the necessary signs
during initiations. "The first angel sounded and there followed hail
and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and
the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt
up." And similar things take place when the other angels sound their
trumpets.
At this point we see that this was not merely an initiation in the
old sense, but that a new one was taking the place of the old.
Christianity was not to be confined, like the ancient Mysteries, to a
few elect ones. It was to belong to the whole of humanity. It was to
be a religion of the people; the truth was to be ready for each one
who "has ears to hear." The old Mystics were singled out from a great
number; the trumpets of Christianity sound for every one who is
willing to hear them. Whether he draws near or not depends on himself.
This is the reason why the terrors accompanying this initiation of
humanity are so enormously enhanced. What is to become of the earth
and its inhabitants in a far distant future is revealed to St. John at
his initiation. Underlying this is the thought that initiates are able
to foresee in higher worlds what is realised in the lower world only
in the future. The seven messages present the meaning of Christianity
to that age, the seven seals represent what was then being prepared
through Christianity for future accomplishment. The future is veiled
and sealed to the uninitiated; it is unsealed in initiation. When the
earthly period is over during which the seven messages hold good, a
more spiritual time will begin. Then life will no more flow on as it
appears in physical forms, but even outwardly it will be a copy of its
supersensible forms. These latter are represented by the four animals
and the other seal-pictures. In a still later future appears that form
of the earth which the initiate experiences through the trumpets.
Thus the initiate prophetically goes through what is to happen. And
the Christian initiate learns how the Christ-impulse interposes and
works on in earthly evolution. After it has been shown how all that is
too much attached to perishable things perishes to attain true
Christianity, there appears the mighty angel with a little book open
in his hand, which he gives to St. John. "And he said unto me, Take
it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be
in thy mouth sweet as honey" (x. 9). St. John was not only to read the
little book, he was to absorb it and let its contents permeate him.
What avails any knowledge unless man is vitally and thoroughly imbued
with it? Wisdom has to become life, man must not merely recognise the
divine, but become divine himself. Such wisdom as is written in the
book no doubt causes pain to the perishable part of man, "it shall
make thy belly bitter," but so much the more does it make happy the
eternal part, "but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey."
Only by such an initiation can Christianity become actual on the
earth. It kills everything belonging to the lower nature. "And their
dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which
spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was
crucified." By this is meant the followers of Christ, who are
ill-treated by the temporal powers. But what is ill-treated is only
the mortal part of human nature, which they will afterwards have
conquered. Thereby their fate is a copy of the prefiguring fate of
Christ Jesus. "Spiritually Sodom and Egypt" is the symbol of a life
which cleaves to the outer and is not changed by the Christ-impulse.
Christ is everywhere crucified in the lower nature. When the lower
nature conquers, all remains dead. The dead bodies of men lie about
in the public places of cities. Those who overcome the lower nature
and awaken the crucified Christ hear the trumpet of the seventh angel,
"the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and
of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever" (xi. 15). "And
the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his
temple the ark of his testament" (xi. 19).
In the vision of these events, the initiate sees renewed the old
struggle between the lower and the higher natures. For everything
which the candidate for initiation formerly had to go through must be
repeated in one who follows the Christian path. Just as Osiris was
threatened by the evil Typhon so now "the great dragon, that old
serpent" (xii. 9) must be overcome. The woman, the human soul, gives
birth to lower knowledge, which is an adverse power if it is not
raised to wisdom. Man must pass through that lower knowledge. In the
Apocalypse it appears as the "old serpent." From the remotest times
the serpent had been the symbol of knowledge in all mystic wisdom.
Man may be led astray by this serpent,--knowledge,--if he does not
bring to life in him the Son of God, who crushes the serpent's head.
"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out
into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (xii. 9). In
these words we can see what it was that Christianity wished to be:--a
new kind of initiation. What had been attained in the Mysteries was to
be attained in a new form. For in them too the serpent had to be
overcome, but this was no longer to take place in the old way. The
one, primeval mystery, the Christian mystery, was to replace the many
mysteries of antiquity. Jesus, in whom the Logos had been made flesh,
was to become the initiator of the whole of humanity, and humanity was
to be his own community of Mystics.
What was to take place was not a separation of the elect, but a
linking together of all. As each grows up to it so does he become a
Mystic. The good tidings are announced to all, he who has an ear to
hear hastens to learn the secrets. The voice of the heart is to
decide in each individual case. It is not that one person at a time is
introduced into the Mystery-temples, but that the word is to be spoken
to all, to one it will then appeal more strongly than to another. It
will be left to the daimon, the angel within each individual, to
decide how far the latter may be initiated. The whole world is a
Mystery-temple. Not only is salvation to come to those who see the
wonderful processes in the special temples for initiation,--processes
which give them a guarantee of eternal life, but "Blessed are they
that have not seen, and yet have believed." Even if at first they
grope in the dark, the light may nevertheless come to them later.
Nothing is to be withheld from any one; the way is to be open to all.
The latter part of the Apocalypse describes clearly the dangers
threatening Christianity through anti-Christian powers, and the final
triumph of Christianity. All other gods are merged in the one
Christian divinity: "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of
the moon to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the
Lamb is the light thereof" (xxi. 23). The secret of the Revelation of
St. John is that the Mysteries are no longer to be kept under lock and
key. "And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of
this book, for the time is at hand."
The author of the Apocalypse has set forth what he believes to be the
relation of his church to the churches of antiquity. He wished to
express in a spiritual mystery what he thought about the Mysteries
themselves. He wrote his mystery on the isle of Patmos, and he is said
to have received the "Revelation" in a grotto. These details indicate
that the revelation was of a mystery character.
Thus Christianity arose out of the Mysteries. Its wisdom is born as a
mystery in the Apocalypse, but a mystery which transcends the limits
of the old mystery world. The separate Mysteries were to become one
universal one.
It may appear to be a contradiction to say that the secrets of the
Mysteries became manifest through Christianity, and that nevertheless
a Christian mystery is to be seen again in the spiritual visions of
the writer of the Apocalypse. The contradiction disappears directly
we reflect that the secrets of the ancient Mysteries were revealed by
the events in Palestine. Through these there became manifest what had
previously been veiled in the Mysteries. There is now a new secret,
namely what has been introduced into the evolution of the world by the
appearance of the Christ. The initiate of ancient times, when in the
spiritual world, saw how evolution points the way to the as yet hidden
Christ. The Christian initiate experiences the unseen effects of the
manifested Christ.
X
JESUS AND HIS HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In the wisdom of the Mysteries is to be sought the soil out of which
grew the spirit of Christianity. All that was needed was the gaining
ground of the fundamental conviction that this spirit must be
introduced into life in greater measure than had been the case with
the Mysteries. But such a conviction was widely spread, as may be seen
from the manner of life of the Essenes and Therapeutæ, who existed
long before Christianity arose.
The Essenes were a secluded sect, living in Palestine, whose numbers
at the time of Christ were estimated at four thousand. They formed a
community which required that its members should lead a life which
developed a higher life within the soul, and brought about a new
birth. The aspirant for admission was subjected to a severe test, in
order to ascertain whether he were ripe for preparing himself for a
higher life. If he was admitted, he had to undergo a period of
probation, and to take a solemn oath that he would not betray to
strangers the secrets of the Essenian discipline. The object of this
life was the conquest of the lower nature in man, so that the spirit
latent within him might be awakened ever more and more. One who had
experienced up to a certain point the spirit within him was raised to
a higher grade, and enjoyed a corresponding degree of authority, not
forced from without, but conditioned by the nature of things.
Akin to the Essenes were the Therapeutæ, who dwelt in Egypt. We get
all desirable details of their mode of life in a treatise by the
philosopher Philo, _On the Contemplative Life_. (The dispute as to the
authenticity of this work must now be regarded as settled, and it may
be rightly assumed that Philo really described the life of a community
existing long before Christianity, and well known to him. _Cf._ on the
subject, G.R. Mead's _Fragments of a Faith Forgotten_.) A few
passages from Philo's treatise will give an idea of the main tenets of
the Therapeutæ. "The dwellings of the members of the community are
extremely simple, only affording necessary shelter from extreme heat
and cold. The dwellings are not built close together, as in towns, for
contiguity has no attraction for one who wishes for solitude; nor are
they at a great distance one from another, in order that the social
relations, so dear to them, may not be made difficult, and that they
may easily be able to assist each other in case of an attack by
brigands. In each house is a consecrated room called a temple or
monasterion, a small room or cell in which the mysteries of the higher
life are cultivated.... They also possess works by ancient authors who
once directed their school, and left behind many explanations about
the customary method used in allegorical writings.... Their
interpretation of sacred writings is directed to the deeper meaning of
allegorical narratives."
We thus see that what had been striven after in the narrower circle of
the Mysteries was being made general. But such a generalisation
naturally weakened their severe character. The Essene and Therapeutic
communities form a natural transition from the Mysteries to
Christianity. But Christianity wished to extend to humanity in general
what with the Essenes and Therapeutæ was an affair of a sect. This of
course prepared the way for a still further weakening of the old
severe forms.