Apocalypse Unsealed: chapter 4
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Chapter Four
THE INVISIBLE ZODIAC
In this chapter, John is permitted to see the far side of the
celestial sphere, the Upper World, the Celestial Pavilion <21:2
#1>, and to have a preview of great secrets that will be
disclosed at the end of the Age of Prophecy.
1 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.
2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold,
a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the
throne.
3 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.
4 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.
Jesus Christ, through His angel, is still showing John the things
which must come to pass (Revelations 1:1). He is speaking as a
Herald with the voice of a trumpet. Baha'u'llah, the King of
Glory and Lord of the Covenant <G #7, 8> is seen sitting on the
throne as a Manifestation of God. (Compare Isaiah 6: 1-5 and
Ezekiel 1:26-28, <G #4, 5>.)
The imagery of the radiance about
the throne describes a "glory,"
that is, a "manifestation."* The *See Chapter 15, Note 8.
precious stone jasper
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can have many colors, and in particular, a clear red like the hue
of the heart. It symbolizes the fact that man may have many
colors of skin but his heart is one. The sardine stone (also
called a sard or sardius) can have either a brown or red color
depending upon how it is held. It symbolizes the essential unity
behind the spiritual and physical worlds, the apparent disharmony
being only an illusion. The rainbow is symbolic of the Covenant
of God with man: that He will always send us a Messenger
provided we heed His Message. The rainbow is also "... the
Testament of the Merciful One. The lights of the Kingdom and the
heavenly illumination emanated from this rainbow. This rainbow
is the sign of the removal of the wrath of God from all the
people, and the sign of prosperity, tranquility, universal peace,
the oneness of humanity, and the unity of the world of man."
--'Abdu'l-Baha
The emerald is pure green. Since green harmonizes with every
other color it symbolizes harmony and unity._/2 Gold is symbolic
of excellence and perfection.
Baha'u'llah, the Glory of God, was manifested in the station of
the Father, that is, as a Manifestation of God the Father. Thus
as Baha'u'llah sits on the throne
with God He is the representative
of God,* acting as a communication *See Revelations 3:21.
link between God and man.
The twenty-four elders are guardians and holy souls of the Baha'i
Dispensation._/3 The fact that they sit on their own thrones
means that they rule eternally. 'Abdu'l-Baha has revealed the
anmes of only twenty of these holy Figures._/4 They are:
The Bab
The Eighteen Letters of the Living (Disciples of the Bab)
Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi
These pages are too few to recount their deeds and characters.
As for the remaining four elders, there are many great Figures
who could be considered as candidates. Among them are certainly
His Holiness 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi._/5 Many others can
be found in the Baha'i writings.
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The twenty-four elders are shown seated in a circle around the
throne of Baha'u'llah and in correspondence with the signs of the
zodiac. In former Dispensatons there were only twelve elders.
For example, Jacob had twelve sons; there were twelve chiefs of
tribes under Moses. Jesus had
twelve Apostles, and there were
twelve Imams* of Islam (Some *According to the Shi'ite
Answered Questions_, p. 67). Now, tradition in the Muslim
in the Baha'i Dispensation, there world, the Imams were the
are twice-twelveÅ of these holy true and rightful leaders
Figures, two for each zodiacal of Islam following the
sign. The doubling of the usual Ascension of Muhammad.
number is necessary because of the More will be said about
greatness of Baha'u'llah's the Imams in a later
Dispensation and the double chapter.
Manifestation, the Bab and
Baha'u'llah. Å24 has an archetypal
value of 6, the number of
mediation. See below.
5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and
thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps
of fire burning before the throne, which are the
seven Spirits of God.
6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass
like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne,
and round about ;the throne, were four beasts full
of eyes before and behind.
7 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.
8 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.
Lightning is the anger and wrath of God. Thunder is the sound of
the violation of the Covenant. Voices are the utterings of the
doubters and hypocrites who fall into trials and temptations._/6
The seven lamps of fire before the throne, to the outward eye,
represent the seven planets, which popular myth considered to be
seven lamps carried by angels across the dome of heaven.
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However, John learns that the seven planets are not the true
governors of the world of man, but that the world is actually
controlled by the seven Spirits of God. The seven Spirits
correspond to the Divine Revelators Who manifest the Spirit of
Baha.
To the outward eye, the far side of the crystalline celestial
sphere appears as a sea of glass. But to the inward eye, the sea
of glass like unto a crystal is firm, clear and pure--symbolic of
the Ocean of Truth. "O people! I swear by the One true God!
This is the Ocean out of which all seas have proceeded, and with
which every one of them will ultimately be united."
--Baha'u'llah_/7 Baha'u'llah reflects perfectly the attributes
of God as from the polished surface, and one cannot distinguish
between the Light of God and His Manifestation reflected on the
throne.
To the outward eye, the four
zodiacal creatures or beasts* with *In the RSV, four beasts
with eyes (stars) before and is translated as four
behind, represent the four signs of living creatures, while
the zodiac corresponding to the calf is translated as ox.
four chief tribes of Israel
(figure 9). But to the inward
eye, the four signs correspond to the four pillars or corners
that will secure the age of Aquarius, the advent of cosmic time
that will announce the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah._/8 The four
pillars are listed in the order of
the Precession, beginning at the
Autumnal equinox.* *The Jewish civil calendar
begins at the Autumnal
equinox. The Autumnal
equinox is now entering
the constellation Leo.
Creature Sign Precession Pillar (Dawning
Order Time in the Year)
lion Leo 9 Autumnal equinox
calf Taurus 12 Summer solstice
man Aquarius 3 Spring equinox
flying eagle Scorpio 6 Winter solstice
The four pillars have other meanings. In the world of Jabarut
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[Drawings of the constellations have been omitted.]
The lion The bull
LION CALF, OX
The Scorpion The water bearer
FLYING EAGLE MAN
THE FOUR PILLARS OF THE AGE OF AQUARIUS
Figure 9
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[the All-Highest Dominion]* they *See Chapter 1, verse 8,
are earthly rulers, paragons of commentary.
virtue, who will accept Baha'u'llah
and thereby secure the Cause. Their eyes within represent their
great spiritual insight. Their attributes are lion--kingly
majesty and strength; calf or ox--strength and servanthood; face
of man--unity of mankind; flying eagle--majesty, victory, sharp
vision._/9 Like the ancient Hebrew Messengers of God, each
paragon has 3-times-2 wings to emphasize his exalted station._/9
Since Six was also considered the number of mediation (Ch 7, Note
13), in this role they mediate between the twenty-four elders and
the 6-times-24 "working arms," the 144 primal rulers alluded to
have probably not yet appeared in history.
In the world of the Lahut, it is God Who sits on the throne and
the four pillars are the Four Central Figures of the Baha'i
Faith, that is: lion = the Lion of
Judah, Baha'u'llah; ox = the
Servant of Baha, 'Abdu'l-Baha*; man *"'Abdu'l-Baha" literally
= the Man Child,Å the Bab; and means "Servant of Baha."
flying eagle = the Guardian, Shoghi
Effendi. The creative Word of God ÅThe Man Child will be
always has multiple meanings. In introduced in Chapter 12.
In their role as Mediators, they
mediate between God and the A flying eagle adorns the
6-times-4 elders and thenceforth to pillar above the Sepulchre
all mankind. of Shoghi Effendi in
London.
9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and
thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for
ever and ever,
10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him
that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth
for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the
throne, saying,
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and
honour and power: for thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
In many of His Tablets Baha'u'llah proclaims, "I am God."
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This identity with God is in the realm of His attributes and
not of His essence._/10 In _The Book of Certitude_,
Baha'u'llah recites the words of God to His Manifestation.
"There is no distinction whatsoever between Thee and Them;
except that they are Thy servants and are created of Thee."
And, "But for Thee, I would not have created the
heavens."_/11 In another place Baha'u'llah says, "... He
Who is the Monarch of all names is come, He at Whose bidding
every single name hath, from the beginning that hath no
begining, been created..."_/12
If one draws a diagram of the arrangement of the invisible
zodiac as described in this Chapter, it is seen that it
forms a mandala, the quadratura circuli, figure 10. As
explained in Part One of this book, this particular mandala
is a symbol of the unification of heaven and earth and the
realization of inner wholeness. Thus John sees that man's
feeble conception of the phenomenal cosmos is a mere symbol
of the hidden mandala, the Divine Order that is hidden, yet
implicit, in the arrangement and laws governing the
universe.
Notes to Chapter Four
1. Quoted in _Star of the West_, Vol 8, No. 17, Jan. 1918.
_Star of the West_ was an English language Baha'i magazine
published in the United States during the years 1911-1935. See
also Genesis 9:13; Ezekiel 1:28; Jeremiah 31:4, 31-34, 32:38-40;
Luke 1:72; Isaiah 52:9, 54:10, 50:21; Psalm 33:11, 105:8-9;
Ezekiel 16:62, 37:26; Hosea 14:7; Amos 9:11; Micah 7:19; Hebrews
8:8.
2. Green is also somtimes used to symbolize immortality or
humility.
3. _Some Answered Questions_, p. 67, <11 #1>. Jacob, Moses,
Jesus and Muhammad each had 2-times-6 holy Figures while the
Bab had 3-times-6. In the new Age, Baha'u'llah has
4-times-6 holy Figures. Many other religions and cults had
2-times-6 holy or sacred Figures, e.g., the 12 Olympian
deities, the 12 Titans, the 12 knights of King Arthur's
round table (the zodiacal wheel?), the 12 divine guardians
(juni Shinsho) of Buddha the Healer, etc..
4. Ref 21, p. 201 and n. <4:4>.
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PISCES ARIES
AQUARIUS---------------------------------TAURUS
| B |
| H |
| H ___ H |
CAPRICORNUS | Y [ ] S | GEMINI
| [BHA] |
SAGITTARIUS | [___] | CANCER
| L Y |
| L A N A |
| L ' |
SCORPIO---------------------------------LEO
LIBRA VIRGO
THE INVISIBLE ZODIAC
OR
HIDDEN MANDALA
Figure 10
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5. Shoghi Effendi, the young grandson of 'Abdu'l-Baha and a
relative of the Bab, was designated the Guardian of the Cause of
God by 'Abdu'l-Baha. He is the One spoken of in Isaiah 11:6 as
the "child who shall lead them."
6. _Some Answered Questions_, p. 71, <11 #1>.
7. _Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah_, p. 104.
8. The question naturally arisesas to whether there is something
other than an accidental correlation between the zodiacal age and
the spiritual age. The modern scientific view of cosmology would
require us to answer no. But there is an obvious analogy between
the drawings of a zodiacal and a spiritual age. In _Promulgation
of Universal Peace_, 'Abdu'l-Baha says: "... This time of the
world may be likened to the equinoctal in the annual cycle. For
verily this is the spring season of God. In the holy books a
promise is given that the springtime of God shall make itself
manifest. Jerusalem the holy city shall descend from heaven, Zion
shall leap forth and dance and the Holy Land be submerged in the
ocean of divine effulgence.
At the time of the vernal equinox in the material world a
wonderful vibrant energy and new life-quickening is observed
everywhere in the vegetable kingdom; the animal and human
kingdoms are resuscitated and move forward with a new impulse.
The whole world is born anew, resurrected... Likewise the
spiritual bounty and springtime of God quicken the world of
humanity with a new animus and vivification. All the virtues
which have been deposited and potential in human hearts are being
revealed from that Reality as flowers and blossoms from divine
gardens. It is a day of joy, a time of happiness, a period of
spiritual growth..."
Similarly, in Mark 13:28-9 (RSV) we have the words of Jesus
concerning a sign of the Day of the Return of the Son of Man:
"From the fig tree learn its lesson; as soon as its branch
becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is
near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know
that he (the Son of Man) is near, at the very gates."
It is interesting that there have been three known Universal
Manifestations Whose Advents occurred near the dawning times of
the three most recent zodiacal ages--Melchisdedc: Aries, Jesus:
Pisces, and Baha'u'llah: Aquarius. A Universal Manifestation has
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a Message for all mankind while other Manifestations have
Messages for specific times and peoples. It is also interesting
that the last four zodiacal ages, at least in the Middle East,
may have had priesthoods and religious rites characterized by the
sign of the zodiacal age. For example, the age of Gemini the
Twins is notable for its religions of dualism (Set and Ra in
Egypt, Yang-Yin in China). Twins are the city builders of
ancient myth (Ref. 7). In the Bible, the Cain and Abel allegory
and the Twin Pillars of God (Exodus 13:21-22) may correspond to
this phase of religious evolution. The age of Taurus the Bull is
represented by various bull cults (Apis in Egypt, bull-dancing in
Crete). Aries is notable for the lamb sacrifice and various
cults (Amon-Ra, the ram-headed god of Egypt, Pan, the goat-horned
god of pasture fields in Greece). In the Bible we have Abraham's
substitution of the ram for His son in the sacrifice; Moses
descends from Mount Siani with ran's horns but finds His people
still worshipping the golden calf (Taurus?). Pisces is, of
cours, the age of Jesus Christ, and it is still common to
represent His Dispensation with the Sign of Ichthys, the Fish.
The influence of the Fish can be discerned in Christian art,
architecture and literature. But astrologers claim that it is
incorrect to list only one sign for the age, and that the two
signs corresponding to both equinoxes should be listed. Thus
Pisces-Virgo is more representative of the Christian Era, with
Virgo the Virgin playing an obvious role in the Christian
experience. Fatima in the Muslim world plays a counterpart to
Mary.
Using this logic, the new age is either Aquarius-Leo or
Leo-Aquarius. Aquarius is the Water Bearer who brings spiritual
awareness for the unification of mankind (Ref. 5). Leo has
obvious characteristics of power and kingship, but the
constellation of Leo (figure 9) has interesting attributes of its
own. The sickle that is the outstanding sub-cluster in Leo
suggests a correlation with the sicle formed by the seven
Churches (figure 8) and the Divine Reaper in Revelations 14:14.
The sickle in Leo can be easily discovered because of the
brilliant star Regulus in its handle. Regulus crosses the
meridian 12 degrees north of the equator at 10:00 PM on March
23rd. Regulus means literally Sovereign or Lord.
The constellation Leo was the apparent point of origin of the
Great Star Fall on the eve of November 11, 1833 that seemed to
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announce the sixteenth birthday of Baha'u'llah. The more
literalist Christians, in accordance with the prophecy of Jesus,
considered the Great Star Fall to be the last signal necessary to
precede the "end of the world" and the Second Coming of Christ.
The prophecy in Matthew 24:29-30 (RSV) reads "Immediately after
the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the
moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from
heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken; then will appear
the sign of the Son of man in heaven..." The other parts of this
prophecy seemed to have been fulfilled by the Lisbon earthquake
of 1755 and the Dark Day of May 10, 1780. The "sign of the Son
of man in heaven," by many, was equated with the great comet of
1843.
Leo has the number Nine, the number of Baha', in the Precession
order, and the number Five, the number of the Bab, in the
zodiacal order.
9. Flying Eagle is used as the name of the sign instead of its
more recent name Scorpio. This was probably done to imply a
virtuous beast, the scorpion being a rascally little creature
without obvious virtues. This constellation should not be
confused with Aquila, Eagle, another constellation of the same
name that is not a member of the zodiac (Ref. 59, p. 254). The
four signs listed in verse 7 are also interesting for four
brilliant stars, Alderbaran in Taurus, Antares in Scorpio or
Flying Eagle, Regulus in Leo, and Fomalhaut in Aquarius. These
four stars are very nearly at points separated by 90 degrees
around the zodiacal band.
The four beasts are also used as a symbol in Ezekiel 1:5-9 and
again in Daniel 7:17. Some authorities suggest that the four
beasts in Ezekiel may define the attributes of Man or man
(Reference 4, p. 98), but it is fairly obvious that the four
beasts are intended to define four empires (Ref. 4, p. 50ff.).
The ancients often ascribed life to abstract entities, even to
the cosmos. (Ref. 20, p. 136; Ref. 29, 30C.) It has been a
frequent device in the cultures of man to symbolize various
attributes with a combination of animals, men, sceptres, diadems,
etc.. Representatives of the Hindu pantheon are modern day
examples; the great sphinx of Egypt is an ancient example.
According to ancient Hebrew mystical thought, all of the
Messengers of God had 6 wings except Satan, who, before his fall,
had
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2-times-6 wings. They bore the title "Sons of God." (Ref. 12,
p. 88.)
As one proceeds through the Apocalypse, the romance of the
ancient cosmological view should delight the reader. One can
easily be transported into an age when the night skies were
pollution free, when man felt more at home in a living cosmos,
and the ages rolled on forever in awesome cycles. In many cases
the writer will choose to avoid pointing out the many allusions
to stellar constellations such as rivers, crowns, etc.,
preferring to let the reader with a penchant for astronomy have
the enjoyment of discovering these for himself.
10. Ref. 21, p. 46. Compare e.g., John 10:30.
11. _The Book of Certitude_, pp. 100, 103.
12. _Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 258.