(Return to part 1)
In the first part of ‘The Golem’ we saw that the themes of identity and imitation have a major role in the epic human journey through the different planes of life.
Let’s take another example from Greek mythology, which nicely illustrates these themes. This time it tells us about Phaethon, a son of the sun-god Helios. This young man doubted that Helios really was his father, so he went to his palace. He managed to persuade his father to take an oath. Helios promised that he would allow his son everything that he would ask from him.
Phaethon wished, much to the dismay of his father, to navigate the chariot of the sun-god for one day. Helios tried to dissuade his son from his foolish plan by pointing out the dangers. But Phaethon insisted and finally Helios, bound by his oath, had to comply with the demand of his son. And so the young man took off and steered the chariot out of the gates of the eastern solar palace. But soon the fear of his father proved true, because Phaethon could not control the four fire-breathing horses, and so the chariot deviated from the required orbit.
This resulted in great devastations on earth: enormous fires arose and rivers evaporated. Upon that happening, the goddess of the earth raised her voice to the supreme god Zeus. He took action and put an end to the recklessness of Phaethon with one of his thunderbolts. The young man fell down from the sky and did not survive his crash.
The first thing that strikes us, is that Phaethon doubts his origin. He finds himself in a kind of identity crises, which triggers a series of events and leads to a catastrophic end. We need to know who we are, to be able to find the right path for us. We need to know our origin, to take our destiny into our own hands. That is why the axiom “Know thyself” was inscribed in the forecourt of the temple in Delphi. And it is exactly this lack of self-knowledge which drives us into the mighty arms of a world full of illusion.
We know our parents, but not our heavenly Father. We know our civil rights, but not our divine rights. What do we know about the divine heritage which is hidden in the center of our being? What do we know about the microcosm in which we live?
These two Greek myths describe a part of the history of mankind. The heavenly human being chose a path that put him in the shackles of matter. He could not reveal himself anymore, was doomed to inactivity and the sleep of death came over him. He had sold his heavenly birthright to the ever-changing elements. Maybe you say: “Is this ancient history useful to us? Should we not live in the present?” Yes, we should indeed. The Lemurian continent has been swallowed by the waves long ago; it was followed by the Atlantean era and then by the Aryan age in which we now live.
Hundreds of thousands of years have passed. The coarse Lemurian personalities have developed through the epochs into the people we are today. The physical personality has evolved and is now equipped with its own intelligence and consciousness. The proud man of the present – that is us – calls himself the ‘crown of the creation’. But it is a crown of tin, with nasty sharp edges, and the diamonds are made of glass. Our intelligence? Our consciousness? Are they not three-dimensional, I-central, directed to our own gains and pleasures, and do they not leave a trail of devastations behind them, like Phaethon did?
Maybe you don’t agree to these conclusions. Maybe you find them extreme and insulting. Already in Lemuria, there was a division between the group which understood the danger of the descending development: they were called “Sons of the Light”. The other group, the “Sons of the darkness”, continued with their experimental actions in the material world, they believed in this path of involution.
The sons of the darkness have always continued their efforts to develop a perfect material personality. Do not think that these “sons of darkness” are bad people or criminals: a part of them is inspired by the highest ideals. They strive for example to eliminate all the diseases which rack the human body. The only problem is that they want to achieve the impossible. They want to create a heaven on earth. Instead of pursuing a spiritual rebirth, they dig deeper into the swamp of the material world.
Because of this ongoing pursuit, now, in our times, a new chapter is being added to the old book of the ‘golem’. To gain a deeper insight into this subject, we need to know something about the twelve forces which rule the world in which we live. They are the twelve leading ideas of the material plan of life. These forces are called the twelve eons: they represent twelve ideas, twelve illusions, twelve attempts to transform the material world into a paradise.
In the third part of ‘The Golem’ we will try to take a deeper look into the aims of the eonic forces and their aspirations in the material world.
(To be continued in part 3)
