The Path to Pentecost Day 33

William Blake, The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.

Rev 12:7-9 and 13-14

The story of Michael fighting against the dragon has been understood as the rebellion of Lucifer. Lucifer was the brightest of the angels, known as the Morning Star. According to legend he refused to bow to Adam at the creation, and with his angels, he was thrown out of heaven. The dragon, however, is not Lucifer.

The dragon represents another spiritual force. In our tradition this force is called Ahriman. Ahriman in the Persian tradition is a power that continually contends with the powers of light for supremacy. The Ahrimanic powers originally inhabited the earth, and when human souls commenced earthly incarnation, they penetrated the bodies that we created. The seven heads of the dragon are the Ahrimanic energies within the spiritual centres. 

In the Atlantean period the Ahrimanic beings could rise into the higher spiritual worlds, but the beings which guarded human evolution threw them back into the earth. The dragon now remains in the spiritual sphere of the earth and can no longer be part of human evolution.

The Ahrimanic spirits want to absorb the human soul into the earth. If the dragon were able to devour the child of the soul, then human evolution would end. The soul however, is given the “two wings of the great eagle” so it can rise into the spiritual worlds. The dragon can no longer enter into these realms and follow the soul.

For twelve hundred years the soul was safeguarded from the Ahrimanic forces. This enabled the Christ to purify the spiritual centres of the old negative energies. Since the thirteenth century two spiritual events have taken place. The soul has given birth to the I AM, and the forces of the dragon are pursuing these energies. Where human beings have developed thinking, reasoning and choice to uplift the human condition, we see the I AM at work. The dragon continually tries to pervert reasoning and the insight of the evolving mind into self-interest, and to direct our gaze down into the physical world. 

The forces of Michael, whose name means “the gift of God,” however, continue to protect us against the dragon. At the end of the C19 the Michael forces inaugurated a new epoch in our evolution. More and more our lives reflect the results of our will. Where we use our thinking and our will to enlarge our own life, then we will see the selfish framework shattered by life crises. When we use our thinking and will to uphold others, and to open our awareness to the needs of humanity as a whole, and to embrace the needs of the world, then we will be given ways and means to enlighten and uplift other souls. It is our choice.

The image

William Blake, The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun
William Blake, The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun (c 1805), pen and gray ink with watercolor over graphite on paper, 40.8 x 33.7 cm, The National Gallery of Art (Rosenwald Collection), Washington, DC. Courtesy of The National Gallery of Art.

The second Blake watercolour shows the dragon overshadowing the soul, even though the soul has been given the “two wings of the eagle”, she has not yet escaped the dragon. The soul is most vulnerable to the dragon when we are unconscious, and in the modern world, most people die in an unconscious state.

Today let us think for a moment about death. How will we enter into the spiritual worlds? We will only enter the afterlife consciously, if we become conscious now. That means that in this life we have the opportunity to enter into the greater consciousness of Christ. Through our participation in this new consciousness, we also will be given the two wings of the eagle. We will die fearlessly; in full consciousness. 

With the gift of the eagle’s wings, each time we return to physical incarnation, we return with an increase in consciousness. Like light, consciousness can always increase.

What is happening to the people who die unprepared?

In the heavenly worlds these serpents are grabbing the souls of men and infiltrating into them the seven heads and ten horns. Every soul that comes to earth now has seven heads and ten horns. The heads are the seeds and the horns are the reality. The problem is that most of us die unprepared; 95% of the population are not prepared to die because this present age does not live with a consciousness of death.

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We are unconscious beings and if we die ‘unconsciously’ do you know what is seen in the astral? Rising into the astral is the dragon with ten horns and seven heads. This is what has infiltrated us, we haven’t worked our way above it and out of it.

Rev Mario Schoenmaker, The Book of Revelation, 1984 Lecture Series

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