In so doing, a rival moral system is created -- occult spirituality. It is a journey into greater and greater delusion. This may involve an active awareness of the occult as in New Age spirituality or a buried consciousness as in the cases of atheistic and agnostic materialism and secular humanism. Belief in the occult is not necessary – it is the reality of power that counts.
The Tree of Life in the Gospels
The theme of the tree of life runs very strongly through the gospels in both veiled and overt forms. The Jews saw great significance in numbers. The number 10 was most significant as it held the secret of the cosmos, being of course the number of fruit on the tree of life. It included:
The Tree of Life in the Gospels
The theme of the tree of life runs very strongly through the gospels in both veiled and overt forms. The Jews saw great significance in numbers. The number 10 was most significant as it held the secret of the cosmos, being of course the number of fruit on the tree of life. It included:
1 = male principle
2 = female principle
3 = fertility/trinity
4 = the world
Added together, they equal 10. The male principle is often associated with concrete form, whilst the female principle is associated with the invisible. Thus, if Jesus is considered to be the male principle, the mystical body of Christ, the Church, is the “bride of Christ”, the female principle.
Judeo-Christian numerology pervades all four of the gospels and is the key to much hidden meaning expressed therein. For example, in the gospels we hear of the 10 bridesmaids and the ten lepers. We hear the parable of the Good Samaritan and the servants given money to invest while the master was abroad. We have two accounts of the multiplication of loaves. All of these narratives are symbolic in numerological terms and their interpretation is layered and multi-facetted.
Take for example the parable of the minas and the talents. In one version the “man of noble birth” gives one mina to each of his ten servants. One servant makes ten minas with his investment, another makes five. Both are praised and rewarded. As a reward, the first is given ten cities, the second 5 cities. However, to the one who put his away in a piece of linen, the master had this to say:
Judeo-
Take for example the parable of the minas and the talents. In one version the “man of noble birth” gives one mina to each of his ten servants. One servant makes ten minas with his investment, another makes five. Both are praised and rewarded. As a reward, the first is given ten cities, the second 5 cities. However, to the one who put his away in a piece of linen, the master had this to say:
‘ Sir, here is your mina. I put it away safely in a piece of linen because I was afraid of you; for you are an exacting man: you pick what you have not put down and reap what you have not sown.’
‘You wicked servant!’ he said ‘Out of your own mouth I condemn you.’ . . . . ‘Take the mina from him and give it to the man with ten minas . . . .”[Luke 19.20-25]
‘You wicked servant!’ he said ‘Out of your own mouth I condemn you.’ . . . . ‘Take the mina from him and give it to the man with ten minas . . . .”[Luke 19.20-
In the second account, the master gives the first servant five talents, the second two and the third one. This time, the one with five receives five more, the one with two receives two more, and the one who received one talent loses it to the one who gained five more.
In each case, three levels of faith are being canvassed. In the first parable, the servant who begins with 1 mina and ends up with 10 has symbolically accepted the gift of faith (I mina) and has gained the Tree of Life (10 minas). In the second parable, it is the one who understands the mystery of the five wounds of Christ and thus overcomes the power of the occult pentagram through living in Jesus who is given this reward.
