The Human One

This weekend seems like an excellent one for discussing the Human One. Sophian Christians, or Followers of the Way, traditionally celebrate the Risen Christ on the Spring Equinox, but Easter Sunday seems like an excellent time to contemplate the deeper meaning of the Human One or the Human One of Light.

Ain, which means “no-thingness,” is a reference to the unknowable aspect of that which we also sometimes call God, better known in the Sophian tradition as Ain Sof. The Christian Kabbalah holds creation was born from Ain Sof’s own desire to reveal itself. What does it mean to be created in the image of God? This is a reference to our spiritual being which, when realized, makes us fully Human. Until we are realized we exist as Divine Potential, which is, in itself, an incredibly awesome, mind-blowing revelation. God is constantly revealing itself through creation and us… and through this revealing we have the ability to return more and more to an awareness of who we most truly are -- as we exist in Ain Sof. 

The Hebrew letters for Yahweh or YHWH, a name for God in the supernal realm, form a human being when laid out vertically, thus the Tetragrammaton. This is a deep and beautiful mystery. Within this is the truth of our innermost nature as individuals and as part of the Body of the Christos, the Human One of Light.

Yeshua Messiah was the first one in this human life wave to fully embody something of the Human One of Light. In Hayyah Yeshua divine potential is actualized. He was also the Opener of the Door for his disciples who saw through his resurrection that death is not real. He showed them – and those ready to hear and understand since that time – that the Way back home, back to our true nature, is as near as our own breath, our own being. He was born human but became fully Human, just like we have the ability to become.

There is much more to this mystery, but I thought this was a good place to start.

Feast of the Risen Savior

“And I held this one thing fast in my mind, that the Lord had performed everything as a symbol and a dispensation for the conversion and salvation of man.”  (The Acts of John)


As signs of Spring begin to perk up everywhere we are reminded of just how close it is to the vernal equinox or, as we celebrate it the Sophian tradition, the Feast of the Risen Savior. Just as Spring marks that time of year when plant life rises once again from the earth, we are reminded again that death is not real and that the journey which began in full at the Jordan River didn’t end at the cross. In fact, this was the earthly equivalent of the Big Bang.

Through his resurrection, Yeshua Messiah showed those who could really see that death is not real. The disciples who could not receive in full what the master wanted to impart through light transmission were able to better understand through his resurrection that our Soul of Light carries on. And how it carries on – whether into another incarnation or into realized being – has to do with our individual abilities to receive and impart.


“The Savior” is the one who could show us the Way, the one who opened the door for us to receive the full power of the Supernal abode. The cross became the vehicle for this understanding. The following words from The Acts of John say it best::“This cross of light is sometimes called logos by me for your sakes, sometimes mind, sometimes Jesus, sometimes Christ, sometimes a door, sometimes a way, sometimes bread, sometimes seed, sometimes resurrection, sometimes Son, sometimes Father, sometimes Spirit, sometimes life, sometimes truth, sometimes faith, sometimes grace; and so it is called for men's sake.”


When I read this I’m hearing “mercy.” Great is God’s faithfulness and mercy.


Spring is a beautiful wakeup call that occurs every year, and it’s a reminder of the Soul of Light that lives within us awaiting renewal. The death brought by winter is a temporary experience of dissolution and purification so that something new can be born. My prayer is that each one of us touched by this remembrance in Spring will be willing to ask Our Mother what it is she wants to teach us this year… and where is it she wants us to go with this knowledge.

No Spiritual "Other"

I grew up in a traditional Baptist family that gave me much love as well as a solid introduction to God for which I am so thankful.  From a very early age I felt a deep and abiding connection to Christ even as my understanding of exactly who he was and what he represented was still forming.  Of course, time and experience eventually brought me to the Sophian path, or The Way.

My dad’s faith and devotion to God was strong.  In the second half of his life he became an ordained Baptist minister and fulfilled his lifelong dream of bringing the Word from the pulpit.  My mom’s own faithfulness was great and she received visions from God.  While I think my dad would have had some difficulty with understanding why or how I ended up on this path, I also know that he would be open to discuss it with me and to at least consider it with an open mind and heart.  My mom has already opened herself up to it and, although she can’t agree with all of it, she knows that it’s a true path of the heart.  That, in fact, is the reason she’s told me that she’s so open to discussing it with my husband and myself.

All of this brings me to our current world and something I haven’t discussed on this blog before.

We live in a world made smaller by the information superhighway that, really, just began streaming into our lives 15 short years ago through a technology that’s proliferated like the wildest forest fire.  We live in a global community that has gotten even smaller as a result.  About 15 years before that, the dissension which some have referred to as America’s "cultural wars” began as politics and religion became the calling card for many Protestant churches.  From election to election, from hot button issue to hot button issue, a culture based in fear of “the other” became increasingly apparent from both sides of the aisle. As a result, at some point we forgot to remember that the so-called “other” is also our brother and our sister.

We've forgotten that no matter how much we may disagree with one another, we are united in our humanity as One.       

Many have either forgotten how or simply refuse to imagine themselves walking in the shoes of their brothers and sisters.  Those whose spiritual journeys have taken them away from the traditional church are seen as threatening to a way of life that feels as comfortable as a warm country breakfast on a cold Southern morning.   This is a culture less familiar with the cultural influences wrought by the age of globalization and diversity.   On the other hand, those who either grew up or become acquainted with a more global or eclectic worldview, don’t understand those who seem unwilling to listen to them or understand what they have to say. 

But maybe the key is for each one of us to begin listening to our brothers and sisters in the traditional church. That doesn’t mean we deny what we believe.  It means we listen to them as individuals, respecting them and where their roots reach deep into the earth because that’s where their existence and perception of reality is formed.   Very often their sense of integrity and family are held as central to their survival along with a faith in God that is as beautiful as it is real.   Let’s come to know them as individuals first and share our own stories when they are ready to hear and ask questions.

From this space – and I realize this is a very generic, brief overview of how we talk and relate to our traditional brethren – the idea of “the other” can disappear as well it should because “the other” is born out of a belief in separation that is mere illusion.   In Spirit we are already united as One and there is no such thing as our spiritual “other.”  Let’s appreciate that we’re all on different places in our journeys and celebrate this as a part of the ever-becoming. 

In short, let's not reduce our brothers and sisters to some fundamentalist label... because they're much more than that, and this holds true even when we don't always feel it.

One of the most spiritual people I have ever known is a beautifully-spirited Baptist woman whose face glows with inner knowing and peace. Most of her beliefs are traditional but she walks with God in these Appalachian hills as surely as she lives and breathes.   

The Revealer

“The figure said to me, ‘John, John, why are you doubting? Why are you afraid? Are you not familiar with this figure? Then do not be fainthearted. I am with you always. I am the father, I am the mother, I am the child. I am the incorruptible and the undefiled one. Now I have come to teach you what is, what was, and what is to come, that you may understand what is invisible and what is visible, and to teach you about the unshakable race of perfect humankind.’ “

Here, in The Secret Book of John, one of Yeshua’s disciples is asked to confront – and not run from – the same doubt and fear that overwhelmed many of the Master's closest followers after the pain and confusion of the crucifixion. Yeshua Messiah tells us in several different sacred texts that “I am with you always.” Right here, in this text, he tells us that he lives within us as father, mother and the child. He reveals to us what is already deeply known within our hearts as truth and light and life. To “reveal” here means to uncover or show the hidden potential of who we most truly are.

Hayyah Yeshua revealed that the Christ Light lives strongly within each one of us as unfulfilled potential awaiting eternal life freed from the endless cycle of birth and rebirth. They had seen the miracles he had performed as an enlightened master but they still did know him as the Great Revealer until after the crucifixion and resurrection. Of course the many revelations – given by the Revealer after the resurrection – became the catalyst or energy that fueled the Gnostic gospels and Gnosticism itself. 

This passage from The Secret Book of John reminds us not to doubt ourselves. It seems so simple on the surface, but how soon do we forget who we are in the Christos and begin to doubt? Do we know the resurrected Christ as the Revealer of what is and always has been? Do we know the resurrected Christ as the doorway to greater gnosis? I guess I might as well ask, "Do we know ourselves?"

Power and Wisdom of the Letters

Of all the archetypes given to us by the Divine through the creative life force of Binah, the letters – and specifically, in our tradition, the Hebrew letters – would seem to carry the full weight of hidden wisdom and the key to understanding the Sacred Unity and ourselves.

Language itself, which separates us from our closest relative in evolution, the primate, is what gives us the ability to communicate and express ourselves so that we may pass knowledge and wisdom along. Through writing and sharing – via sacred discourse or the everyday exchange of sparks in conversation – language has and is changing our world. Through language we understand and grow. We should be thankful for language not only because it played a vast role in our evolution as humans but because that evolution plays such a huge part in our spiritual growth as a collective. 

This being said, we can’t help but take notice of the importance of language to communicate our true heart’s desire and intention. If you are going to know me through my language, let me try to communicate it in a way that shows you that I understand the innate power of the words I choose. 

Some might say that the discussion of letters and the discussion of language are very different, but letters are the building blocks of language just as they are the building blocks of our universe. In our tradition we believe that God created the universe with 10 utterances. These utterances are or became letters. These letters became words. These words became language. Rabbi Michael Monk wrote, “The 22 sacred letters are profound, primal spiritual forces. They are, in effect, the raw material of creation.”

There is a great mystery behind Adam’s naming of the creatures. For, at that moment, the power of the letters was given to humanity, and this marked our ability to be co-creators with God. The potential which had existed since the desire or concept of the universe in the mind of Ain Sof Or begins to unfold when Adam is given the power to name. 

We tend to think the power is in the word or in the way we construct beautiful sentences, and there can be a certain amount of splendor there, but a study of the Hebrew letters is a study of the mysteries of creation. I encourage everyone who is interesting in exploring these letters and mysteries in more detail to check out the discussion threads on the letters at the Sophian Forum.  I also recommend The Oracle of the Kabbalah by Richard Seidman. 

For instance, Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, not only signifies the beginning but symbolizes that “God is One” and it represents both unity and multiplicity, thus also Yahweh Elohim. Significantly, Aleph is a “silent” sound or the nothing before the sound. Is this the silence before the Big Bang, the thought or desire that is no sound but holds the power to create or manifest? Aleph is perhaps the hardest to understand just because it has no sound. How can a letter have no sound? It’s almost like a manifestation of the mystery of Ain Sof as no-thingness, that aspect of God which we cannot fully grasp. 

So many mysteries are contained in just one letter. Let us study and contemplate the letters with a prayerful and focused intention so we may understand them in our hearts as well as our minds.

Creative Evolution

“The archons thought they killed the Christ, just as they thought by their own power they had created the world and humanity. But they were self-deluded, for they crushed only an empty husk, like themselves, and they began their own end in so doing.”  

--  Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene, v. 165

This verse reminds me of many truths as we understand them through individual gnosis, not the least of which is the one surrounding creative evolution itself. Some people still question why Christ’s “real” message wasn’t heard by most people some 2,000 years ago and why his life resulted in an institution that some say stood in the way of our spiritual evolution. But who are we to question the flow of creative evolution that preceded and proceeded this world-changing event? Who are we to question the Holy Spirit’s own plan and how she works through the Sacred Unity of which we are all a part to accomplish God’s will?

We each play a role in evolution as co-creators with God. While the choices we make as individuals and as a collective can sometimes change the original direction momentarily, the Holy Spirit can and does work with whatever we give her. Humans unaware of their place in the Sacred Unity do not work as “conscious” co-creators as much as they do obstructions but through even them God can accomplish much to bring about the enlightenment of humanity.

The archonic forces that make up our world don’t realize their part in the Sacred Unity because they very often believe themselves a force to be reckoned with that is beyond even the Supernal Being. This is the same ignorance that led to the crucifixion of Yeshua the man, releasing the sparks that changed humanity despite their best attempts to squelch them. 

In The Gnostic Gospel of St. Thomas, Tau Malachi writes, “[E]ven the cosmic forces of ignorance serve the Lord, although not intending to do so. In fact, they are a secret operation of the Holy Spirit working toward the fulfillment of God’s plan for creation. The cosmic forces of ignorance provide the friction, resistance, strife, and opposition necessary for evolution to occur.”

Indeed, a “secret operation of the Holy Spirit.” I find this encouraging because it reminds us that in the Sacred Unity we are known, understood, and protected. El Elyon is, ultimately, in control and everything is our world is sacred exactly as it is. By trusting in this we can go through our day and forge ahead on our individual spiritual paths with confidence. When we also have the gnosis that comes with our faith and love than this confidence is magnified many times over. 

Let us hold the confidence and peace that passes all understanding in our hearts and minds.

Fall Equinox

I've always adored autumn’s glorious display of brilliant yellows and reds and oranges.  This season may be even more significant to me spiritually because it marks the time of year when the sun begins moving closer to the earth.  I have to admit this creates a kind of spiritual energy in me that is, quite frankly, beyond words.  Since I was a child, throughout the year I’m drawn to a powerful inner movement by the sun’s reflection during a particular time of day.   This awareness of my connection to the Divine I Am isn’t something I understood before I came to this path.  I didn’t know why I was feeling this timeless, indescribable sense of beauty and pain mixed with deeper knowing.  Now I know.  I also know that the same energy and peace that permeates my being during a particular time of the day year-round, stays with me throughout the day in the autumn. 

Yes, it can be sun dependent – but not always.  It’s like my body knows the sun is closer to the earth – even when I can’t see it – and my soul responds accordingly. Today it's cloudy and we’ve been blessed with the first rain in several weeks here in Virginia – but I still feel that same autumnal energy and the presence of awareness is especially strong with me.  This is significant in the context of the Spiritual Sun that resides within and behind our hearts.  The Sun of God is within each one of us as the sons and daughters of El Elyon, God Most High.  Our heavenly soul is always aware of its connection to the Divine I Am and at certain times we seem to be more aware of it than others although the feeling itself may be quite beyond words.


The Autumnal Equinox is celebrated as the Feast of the Apocalypse in Sophian tradition.  This walks hand-in-hand with the idea of the Second Coming which occurs on an individual level anytime someone realizes the Christ Presence within. The key to the Feast of the Apocalypse is celebrating and recognizing this potential in ourselves and all of our brethren as both an awakening and an ongoing process at the same time. For this reason the Fall Equinox or the Feast of the Apocalypse becomes a celebration of the Human One of Light that lives as unfolding potential within us both individually and collectively.  


Tau Malachi has written, “As taught in the Christian Kabbalah within Sophian Gnosticism, creation and the Apocalypse are not single or one-time events of the past and future, but are constantly ongoing in the present, transpiring now, always; and when we look to the Book of the Apocalypse we find a dance of great beauty and great horror as the Divine Revelation unfolds, its fruition being the union of the Lamb and Holy Bride, Supernal Tiferet and Malkut – *Divine Beauty*. This life, this reality display, is a dance of beauty and horror, creation and destruction, life and death, light and shadow; this play of radical dualism pervades the unenlightened condition of the Entirety, from the spiritual dimensions on the threshold of the Supernal Abode to the material dimension. Yet, this movement is inherently *liberative*, and its culmination is Divine Beauty, the realization of the True Light, the Holy One." 


We learn to appreciate the great dance of opposites and with that appreciation we find a peace that passes all understanding in the space where neither one exists as a separate entity.  But this liberating movement Malachi refers to isn’t stagnant because our consciousness isn’t stationary.  It shifts as we move and experience life.  But the more we cling to Our Mother the more we experience liberation from attachment and aversion.  So, let us celebrate the Autumnal Equinox which we just entered a few short days ago as a movement of Spirit and Grace.  I can recognize the shifts that take place within me during this time of year although I can’t always define it – just like we can be aware of those times when we are moving with Our Mother in ways we can’t describe.   Let us be thankful for these times and offer her all of the glory and praise for something that is quite beyond words or definition.  Let her reign supreme in our hearts this day and every day.