In the Age of Aquarius, we meet the redeeming force of light as the Lion: the atmospheric firepower of the returning Christ.
On his seventh birthday, Jesus said to the guests:
“I had a dream, and in my dream I stood before a sea, upon a sandy beach. The waves upon the sea were high; a storm was raging on the deep. Someone above gave me a wand. I took the wand and touched the sand, and every grain of sand became a living thing; the beach was all a mass of beauty and of song.”[1]
Just before the crucifixion, Jesus spoke the following words to his followers:
“Weep not for me, for though I go away, go through the gateway of the cross, yet on the next day of the sun, lift up your hearts, for I will meet you at the sepulchre.”[2]
Jesus the Christ fulfilled his promise during the Age of Pisces. He went the way through the gateway of the cross. The cross is a meeting point of two lines, of the forces of eternity that reveal themselves in the relative time-space order. The Pisces Age is symbolically represented by two fish pointing in opposite directions, but connected by the cross of love.
His prophecy, contained in the number seven, can now become a reality in the Age of Aquarius.
Critical point
About 2,000 years have passed since the Word became flesh, since the Christ was manifested in a material body on earth. At the beginning of the Pisces Age, Jesus the Christ said:
“I come to save the lost, and man is saved when he is rescued from himself. But men are slow to comprehend this doctrine of the Christ.”[3]
Now, in the Aquarian Age, our inertia is reaching a critical point, a crisis.
Pisces is a water sign and the element of water is associated with purification. Aquarius or the Water Bearer is an air sign and draws attention to the atmosphere and phenomena occurring in it such as ether forces, electricity and magnetism.
In the Pisces Age, when mankind was baptized with water, the activity of the Christ was symbolized by the sacrificed Lamb. Now, in the Age of Aquarius, we see the returning Christ appearing as a cosmic firepower. Now the workings of the Christ are symbolized by the Lion: a fiery atmospheric force that brings transformation. In the manifestation of this cosmic fire, also referred to as living water, the planet Uranus plays a major role. During Aquarius, this living water, this fiery atmospheric etheric force, is poured out over mankind. Aquarius is the carrier of the living water:
“And then the man who bears the pitcher will walk forth across an arc of heaven; the sign and signet of the son of man will stand forth in the eastern sky.”[4]
In the progression of the ages, there is a baptism with water; there is also a baptism with fire. The purifying water cleared the way for the transforming fire. The Word came 2000 years ago as the Lamb; it now returns as the Lion.
After His resurrection from the grave, Christ Jesus gave the following testimony:
“I am the manifest of love raised from the dead (…) I lived to show the possibilities of man. What I have done all men can do, and what I am all men shall be.”[5]
The Christian revelation is closely connected to the realization of the potential of man. It is all about becoming aware of our spiritual nature, acquiring true self-knowledge, and transforming this self-knowledge into absolute reality, into fullness of life.
Christianity is based on the foundation of the universe, and this cornerstone is also present in man, seen as a microcosm.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”[6]
The truth, the absolute being that carries the revealed universe, manifests itself through the way of the cross in imperishable life.
Living sand
Now, in the Aquarian Age, promise and prophecy intertwine. “Yet on the next day of the sun, lift up your hearts, for I will meet you at the sepulchre.” This sepulchre, this grave, is the dead sand; nothing more than a puppet of the raging waves. The redeemer, the Christ force, meets us again at the grave, touches us and gives every grain of sand the opportunity to become truly alive.
This higher octave of Christianity is not an automatic process. The Christ force meets us at the grave, but whether we too are brought to resurrection depends on us. It has to do with the condition that man can be saved when he is liberated from himself. The power to free us from ourselves meets us in the Aquarian Age as a sword of light. The choice of whether we use this firepower as it is intended is ours.
Rising sun
The spiritual firepower of Aquarius has been announced by prophets and spiritual teachers of all times. In the seventeenth century, the classical Rosicrucians wrote:
“… as soon as the world has slept off the stupor of its cup filled with poisons and intoxicants, and merrily and joyfully, with open heart, bare head, and unshod feet, steps forth early in the morning to meet the rising sun.”[7]
That ‘rising sun’ reveals itself in different epochs in the manner required for that particular era. In the Piscean Age, the spiritual light came to us as the Lamb. Jesus proved the potential of man by manifesting the Christ in himself. Jesus the Christ gave us the teaching of salvation and lived it. He did signs and proved the omnipotence of God. He went the way of sacrifice, of the cross, and proved victory over death. He rose from the grave of matter.
In the Age of Aquarius, we meet the redeeming force of light as the Lion: the atmospheric firepower of the returning Christ. The Holy Breath sweeps over the earth. A luminous sword is planted in matter. Now it is about the inner realization of the teaching. Liberating life. Does ‘the sand’ become truly alive? Resurrection or fall; all or nothing.
The sealed scroll
In Revelation 5, we read about the Lamb, the Lion and the sealed scroll. The text is so profound that any explanation is an interpretation and a fraction of the whole. Realizing this, some ideas now follow.
The scroll is inscribed outside and inside. This scroll is man himself. It is written on the outside with experience, on the inside with the Word of God. On the outside is written the promise, the possibility. On the inside, in the central heart, is the spiritual treasure that longs for revelation. On the outside, the Lamb has left his mark in the Age of Pisces. It is our Christian karma, the traces left in us by the touch of the teaching of salvation. However now, through the fire of Aquarius, the letters in the interior of the scroll can come alive. Then there is balance between teaching and life; then our Christian karma is transformed into the Living Word.
Yet who can open the scroll? No one on earth. With the earthly consciousness, with the I-consciousness, the mystery of the true man cannot be approached.
However:
“Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.”[8]
God always holds man in his right hand without us knowing it ourselves. It means that our inner Word, the idea underlying our microcosm, is divine. In order to penetrate to our spiritual origin and reach (micro)cosmic consciousness, the seven seals of the scroll must be opened. Through the sacrifice of Christ, seven liberating forces, the seven rays of the Holy Spirit, are connected to the earth. The slain Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes. The Lion reveals itself on the basis of the Lamb. The firestorm of Aquarius appears in the atmosphere of the earth. Now the scroll can be opened.
Seven seals
From a cosmic point of view, the returning Christ has broken the seven seals. Seven rescuing, redeeming powers are at our disposal. During the Aquarian Age, the challenge is whether we as a microcosm can also open the seven seals, whether our small world can come into harmony with the universe.
Our astral body, our desire body, has seven chakras. These seven energetic gateways reflect the nature of our consciousness. Because our consciousness is I-centred, these seven chakras are sealed. We are self-centred and live in the limitation of time and space. In this way, our chakras can only assimilate forces of the time-space order. Therefore, we always have to fight against death and decay. We breathe mortality.
Christ says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”[9]
This is the promise of the Lamb, which can be realized through the power of the Lion. When we are tired of matter, decay and death, the desire of our heart, the orientation of our heart chakra, can turn inward to the centre of the microcosm. Then the first seal is broken and we open the gate of our physical heart to the forces of eternity. Then the cosmic Christ becomes a microcosmic reality that can be experienced by us in the form of our reborn soul. A new Sun rises. We stand on the path of liberation. It is the path of the Light, on which seal after seal is opened and the Living Word[10] reveals itself in us. Eventually, the seventh seal will also be opened. Then the Way, the Truth and the Life merge into absolute being. God and man are one again.
[1] The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi H. Dowling, 16: 7.
[2] The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi H. Dowling, 170: 3
[3] The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi H. Dowling, 66: 20
[4] The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi H. Dowling, 157: 29
[5] The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi H. Dowling, 178: 26, 178: 45-46
[6] John 14: 6
[7] Confessio Fraternitatis R.C.
[8] Revelation 5: 5-7
[9] Matthew 11:28
[10] More information on this can be found in the book ‘The Living Word’ by Catharose de Petri, chapter 17 ‘The Apocalypse and the mission of the Spiritual School’.
