Conversation with a Mystic

Firstly, why do you call yourself The Hermit?  You obviously don't live alone.  So how do you associate yourself with this name?

I use the term "Hermit" solely to form a spiritual, as well as a physical perspective.  Base it on personality, if you like.  I've also used other terminologies, or pen names, such as "Ancientson" or "Angelofold", even "sunoforion."  acquiring a username, and a desired uniqueness, is very difficult these days.  But I've been doing alright and have a personal connection with all the names I've used.

For instance, do a name search to see how many people out there have taken a fancy to the name Hermit.  You might find hermit2345 - ridiculers.  What, if any, affiliation do they have with the name?  Do they all live alone to associate themselves with the name?  Do they use it as it represents a higher spiritual card of the Tarot?  For instance, in the Tarot the Hermit depicts the bringer of high spiritual wisdom.  Yes, sure, we all like to see ourselves as the bringers of spiritual wisdom, but not many actually do.  They only add to the mountains of misinformation.

Then, of course, there are the deluded.  There are those who have high designs on themselves.  Even some who endeavour to display something that they are not.  Take the term Gypsy.  How many associate themselves with the fantasy that Gypsies are a mystical, mysterious people all endowed with mystical power?  Such misguided people do not realise that most of them are simply vagabonds and thieves and shunned in Europe.  If they did they may have a change of heart in associating themselves with Gypsies.

For instance, Cleopatra, how many misguided women are loose out there believing they are the reincarnation of her?  Cleopatra was not the beauty that fantasy depicts her to have been.  Researchers know today she was simply a plain, average Jane.  More of a Tomboy in physical appearances.  We know, for we found her bust.  Furthermore, she wasn't even Egyptian but Creek.  With the revelation of truth, reality will win, and we will now find a tremendous decrease in those claiming to have been Cleopatra. Truth has the power to achieve this.  With the truth of Cleopatra revealed to the women en-mass, I anticipate a large increase of Nefertiti.

Names, in some extent, convey mystical connotations and power of expression.  One should endeavour to think seriously when choosing a spiritual name.  If the name can be of any use one must have a spiritual connection, even affiliation to it.  If it is to be used as a spiritual name then you must consider whether you have actually earned it, or even the right to use it.  Proper neophytes to the mysteries are always initiated with a particular name and this given name must always only be used with spiritual intent.  You don't just dream up a name because it sounds good.  It must possess an aspect of your spirit.

For instance, I myself possess several mystical names and titles.  One name in particular I will never unnecessarily reveal.  Besides names, there are also symbols.  These symbols are given through spiritual initiations.

The dual aspect of the initiated name

You will find that most things in life are manifested in a state of duality; for instance a positive and a negative.  By nature, we assume the negative element within the duality as dark, or bad, and that is not the case.  For instance, you would have no power in your house were it not for the interaction between the negative and positive energies.  Your car would not start were it not for this interaction.  Should you remove the negative wire from a power outlet, you would have nothing; remove the negative terminal from your cars battery, you would have nothing.  Either element needs the other to produce a result as the positive without the negative is useless, and vice versa.  So, which one of these two elements would you deem bad?

You will find that everything in nature interacts and produces a result based on this very principle.  The very planet upon which we live has a positive and negative polarity, for instance, north pole, south pole.  An ordinary apple, or any fruit, has that same polarity.  But which end is negative and which is positive?  The mystery of the apple is easy to solve based on our scientific understanding and terminology.  We can easily say that the end of the apple that connects to the tree is the negative pole, it is through this connection the apple draws its sustenance from the earth; whereas the other end is the positive, the end of the blossom that draws its energy from the sun.  It gets more intriguing when we consider man also possess a negative and positive pole, in this case the head and the feet.

Okay, so where is the duality in the name Hermit?  Lets start with the so called negative aspect.  The negative aspect is solely connected to the earth.  I lived this connection by, at the young age of thirteen I decided to leave the family home in Melbourne and live an isolated existence on a small bush block in the country.  At first, I lived in a small wooden garden shed with no water or power.  Granted, water was connected to the property at the blocks entrance.  But that's it.  For light I used a kerosene lamp.  For cooking, a hole in the ground outside and an iron plate.  So, considering my early state of isolation I am quite qualified to use the term "Hermit" as a mystical name.

As I said, I lived in a garden shed, the nearest I could get to living in a cave, which in gone eras was appropriate for hermits.  But I consider myself a lover of luxury.  But then, considering the positive, and now I introduce the term "spiritual", aspect of the duality, I do indeed live in a cave.

 But what on earth possessed you, at that age, to leave home and live a life of isolation?  The whole concept lies outside the realm of what we regard normal.

Lets just say I followed a "calling."  At the time it was an irresistible urge.  One I could not escape.  Consider it a calling like Abraham, "leave the home of your mother and your father and go ye to a land that I shall show thee."  Only Abraham was a lot older and he did not make his journey alone.  In my case, it was not a male deity that influenced me, but a female.  It was brought to my consciousness much later on that it was the Supreme Goddess whose influence was behind this.  Lets just say that she communicated this information to me in later years, as well as explain.

Which Goddess was this?

Well, there is only one Supreme Goddess, but she comes with many names and many disguises. The Goddess that came to me was Aphrodite, but then it may just as well have been Isis, Venus and so on.  To me there is only the one and she is served by many below her.  The Goddess appears with different names through the various ages.  So do her male counterparts.  Take Jesus, for instance, and the awaited 2nd Coming.  They all believe that the Divine Spirit that once incarnated with the name, Jesus, will come again with that same name.  This is not correct.  In Revelation it is made quite clear that he is to be given a "new name", one that is written on the stone.  The same applied to the prophet Elijah who was destined to appear before the coming of the Lord.  The incarnation of Elijah occurred through the entity known as, John, or better known as John the Baptist, as it was foretold concerning John to be "possessed and empowered by the spirit of Elijah."  Jesus' disciples questioned him concerning the prediction that Elijah should come first and Jesus answered them, "for indeed Elijah has already come but you failed to recognize him, for John the Baptist was Elijah."

Here we have a very important message: "failed to recognize him."  How do we know that the 2nd Coming hasn't already occurred?  What makes us so sure that the Coming which is to come isn't the 4th or the 5th?  For instance, go back to 70 A.D, to the time when Jerusalem was entirely sacked by the Romans, the Jewish inhabitants either slaughtered or scattered.  Is the destruction of Jerusalem and the gruesome fate of its people not comparable with the description described in Revelations?  Maybe 70 A.D was the promised 2nd Coming.

I know that you follow Christian theology but yet you endorse and accept foreign goddesses; isn't that heresy?

How can I compete against the heresy of the Church itself?  She is the biggest heretic for not teaching the truth.  They teach that Jesus was a Jew.  This he was not.  Nor were his disciples.  They were Galileans with an entirely different dialect.  It is believed that there were no Jews in Galilee during the time of Christ.  No one questions why it is written: "the Light cometh from Galilee, Galilee of the heathens."  So Jesus and his disciples would have been looked upon as heathens and not as part of Jewish society.  This is further amplified when peter betrayed Christ and the Jews were accusing him of being one of his followers.  Through fear Peter denied it.  But they persisted, "you are also one of them!  Your dialect betrays you!"

But I, through the progression of my spirit, have incarnated through many ancient civilizations, from India, to Egypt, Persia, and so on.  In most instances, you adopt the religion of the host country or civilization into which you have incarnated.  As the spirit evolves, so do religious aspirations.  In my current incarnation I have a leniency toward Christianity, and have so through various incarnations during the past 2,000 years.  The Lord Krishna of the ancient Hindu, or White Maharajahs,  is the one and the same Lord Jesus of Christianity.  The Goddess Isis is today reflected through the Divine Spirit of the Holy Virgin.  They are all one and the same.  There is no difference in their teachings.  They all teach the same doctrine - liberation from the cycle of life and death.

Having a leniency toward Christianity I shall call myself a Christian Mystic.  I do not particularly adhere to any doctrine of the Church or other Christian denominations, in the same way I do not adhere to any of the other religious practices of faith.  But having spent various incarnations defending Christianity, I will use that Christianity to further my evolution and share some of the things I've learned.  This is appropriate as Jesus is one of the latest Masters.

The Spiritual Cave

I still need to explain to you concerning the cave of the hermit.  I have so far told you about the physical / material definition of that awareness, which is one aspect of the duality, lets call it the physical / negative part, but have not yet told you about the other part, the spiritual / positive awareness of that duality.  Each and every one of us has the awareness and plays the part of the spiritual Hermetic experience within their cave.  All you need do is gain the awareness of that existence, to become conscious of it, to stir it to life.

In your physical every day experience you may not necessarily be living out the Hermetic experience, and you are most certainly not living inside a cave, but the spiritual aspect within your own being most definitely is living inside a cave.  We call it the Pineal Gland, which is a cave like organ situated just behind the eyes.

Within this cave lives an intelligent spiritual being, either aware of itself, or succumbed by the dark shadows of life experience.  If it becomes conscious of itself it will transform into the Hermit of the Tarot, lift up its lantern and bring you light, wisdom and understanding.

Naturally, the light the Hermit can bring, and the experiences he can induce, is dependant on your personal level of evolution and progression upon the spiritual path.  In some he'll come to full power, in others, more slowly and gently.  Meditative thought and practice will induce some result - it's impossible not to.

I find it a bit difficult to comprehend logically how the soul can exist within such a small organ, like you say, the Pineal Gland; this means to me that the soul is practically microscopic.

And who is to say that it is not microscopic?  We are too used to thinking in three dimensional terms.  We think of height, length, width and weight.  We perceive ourselves as solid mass.  In this world we are just that.  In the spiritual world we are something entirely different.

Explain to me how to perceive things, as you say, logically?  The spirit knows no logic.  Logic is the stumbling block over which many fall.  Logic is simply man's perceived idea in an attempt to understand the universe in which he lives.  Logic, along with man and spirit is constantly evolving.  The logic of today is not the logic of yesterday.  As your perception of the universe changes, so does your logical attempt to understand it.

It may help to realize that man's greatest achievements and advancements only occurred within the last 150 years or so and that is one major step for man, considering he has been fairly well dormant since the invention of the wheel.  Our magnificent technological achievements would be considered miraculous should someone from 200 years ago be transported into our current time.

Logic is also a tool for the brain to reason.  But this reasoning is confined within a physical three dimensional universe.  Which is understandable as it knows nothing else, and so shall it remain, until a new challenge, or a new learning, expands it's awareness in time and space.  The brain sees a door in front of it and it has learned that it must physically open it in order to pass beyond it.  So the door is an obstacle.  This is not the case with the spirit.  But even so, there are entities trapped between the 2 spheres  whose awareness has not transcended the logic of the physical brain.  They, even in spirit, still believe that they need to physically open the door in order to pass beyond.  So logic, in many ways, can be dangerous unless it is mastered and assigned to its proper place in the awareness. 

There is a vast network of information available to the seeker after truth which endeavours to explain the nature and function of spirit, once you sieve through, of course, the mountain of misinformation.  When you find meaningful information, and it makes sense, lodge it into your memory and let it form the foundation stone of awareness.  You can revise the information later when you gain knowledge based on personal experience, which is the only true path to understanding.  This is why many say that experience is the great teacher.  And I agree.

Through my own experience I have discovered that my own spirit consciousness travels in the shape of a ball, usually red, and does not take shape and recognizable form until it has reached its destination.  There are those who, having the power of clairvoyant sight, have seen me in this shape when my spirit had appeared in their environment.  I have further experienced the spirit return to the body, while fully aware and conscious, enter into the head and seat itself within the cave.  Visual sight at that moment was solely through the eye sockets that appeared like holes in a wall viewed from a distance.  This continues until the spirit consciousness has again realigned itself with the body consciousness, which feels to me like a simple blending, the spirit again becoming one and taking full control of the body.

When the spirit consciousness re-enters the physical body there is always a sense of paralysis.  This is natural as the spirit consciousness is not yet in control of the bodily functions.  You cannot move the arms, legs, etc, until this control is re-established.  Naturally, this can make you feel very uncomfortable but you should not be concerned about this.  The entire episode may only last 2 to 3 seconds, but to the spirit consciousness it may seem like 2 to 3 minutes, for the spirit consciousness vibrates much faster than the body consciousness.  Further, while the spirit consciousness reduces its frequency to that of the body consciousness, a dream like, or vague sensation occurs because of this altering of vibration.  At this crucial time, while this re-alignment occurs, one needs to remain calm and fully awake and plant the experience solidly upon the consciousness, or all memory of the experience will disappear, and if anything is remembered it will come across as a dream.

It's your view, then, that the consciousness in all of us has the ability to leave the body at night?

Yes, that is correct.  The incarnated spirit is not condemned to the confines of the physical body entirely during, lets call it, its tour of duty, as it strives to complete its allotted time.  At night, when tiredness overwhelms the body the body goes to sleep at the very moment the consciousness disconnects from it, leaving present in the body only the body consciousness, that part of consciousness that keeps the organs functioning.  This is a universal consciousness and this consciousness exists in all beings, in the very fibre or blueprint of the cell.

This teaches us that the physical body is maintained by two predominate aspects of consciousness, though co-existing in the one place, act quite independently of each other.  Again we have evidence of the law of Duality at work.  In Christian mysticism we can associate the body consciousness as the 1st Adam and the spiritual consciousness as the 2nd Adam, or the heavenly Adam as some have described it. It is the 2nd Adam that leaves the body at night.  'Sleep' is just a terminology as the body does not really sleep but is fully active.  It just simply loses self awareness of itself as well as its surroundings because the main consciousness has temporarily vacated.

By this manner we can understand that the 1st Adam is a product of the dust, dust which is permeated by the universal energy, or frequency, and we can best describe it as the subconscious; this subconsciousness permeates all living things of the three main kingdoms, that of the animal, the vegetable and the mineral.  This body consciousness is only enhanced when the spiritual consciousness connects to it, giving to it, individualization.  Intensity of frequency, intellect of consciousness, is dependant of the evolutionary states of being.  For instance, the spiritual consciousness of Adam is much higher enhanced than that belonging to the vegetable or mineral kingdoms.  He contemplates and plans, acting less on the dictates of instinct, which is relevant to the other kingdoms, including the lower animal kingdom.

You have probably heard mention by those who practice meditation, that through the art of meditation they have felt an overwhelming state of oneness with all that exists.  This is true.  They have attuned to the universal energy, or frequency, or we can even classify it as Universal Intelligence, the Spirit force that permeates all things.  This is the Spirit that moved upon the waters as mentioned in Genesis.  This is the Spirit of creation and formation.  This force, or conscious intelligence, never rests, never sleeps, but remains in a constant state of action and is ever creating.  So to attain this "oneness" with creation is simply disconnecting from individualization, which to me, in many ways, seems senseless. One does not lose individual Self in spiritual advancement.

This consciousness is the heartbeat of creation.  Its frequency of intelligence, its force and strength, manifests and influences differently on each level of creation.  There are various different ways we are able to describe this, what many refer to as, Cosmic Consciousness, as well as the methods of its function.  In its truer aspect it could be regarded as a continuous pulsation.  As I previously stated, not unlike the beating of the heart. 

Under normal peaceful and stress less conditions the heart beats at a particular rate per second, but when this peaceful condition is somehow disturbed, so are the beats per second, perhaps doubly increased outside its normal rate.  We have all experienced these changes of fluctuations.  We also know that severe harm can result from these abnormal sudden changes, for instance, stroke or cardiac arrest.

It behoves all living entities to endeavour to harmonize their being in rhythm with the particular frequency of pulsation which influences their existence.  To do contrary can have detrimental consequences.  This harmonizing was much easier for our ancient ancestors than what it is for us.  Our ancestors main concern was personal survival during a time when the earth produced plenty, and life experience itself was much more freer. Our modern lives are much more difficult and problemsome.  In order to survive we today need to function way outside the natural cosmic pulsation.

Let us again refer to the sleeping body.  Does this body seem to be aware of its surroundings?  No.  If not for the breathing, the heaving of the chest, the occasional snore, the body is as lifeless as one that is dead; and if the body consciousness suddenly withdrew it would be legally deemed as dead.

Have a look at the distorted facial features.  If this body was conscious would it take on this disturbing sight?  Especially were it to be aware that it was being observed?  Most people would feel embarrassed if they observed themselves during sleep.  Now clap your hands.  The body is suddenly, after a brief period of shock and vagueness, once again fully aware of itself and its surroundings.

So what now actually took place?  What is now present in the body that obviously wasn't present before?  Call it consciousness, self-awareness, whatever.  How does one define what sleep really is and the need for it at all?  Has science yet, despite many assumptions, come up with a real definite explanation?  What part of us is the actual element that falls into sleep?  It is perhaps natural to assume that it is the brain.  But then, the brain still actually functions.

In mysticism we make the definite claim that, at some junction of tiredness, the main consciousness, that part of us that thinks and plans and causes us to act, or the 2nd Adam disconnects from the 1st Adam, and this separation of the duality induces the phenomenon we call sleep.  Where this 2nd Adam goes to, and what it gets up to, will be discussed as we proceed with our discussions.  Let me state that at this moment the Hermit has temporarily left his cave.  The driver has left his vehicle.  The motor is idling.  It will remain in that state until the driver re-enters and takes control.

Experimental tests

 There are several simple tests one is able to perform to convince oneself that the main consciousness can be mentally manipulated and directed.  For instance, focus on your big toe.  Now you are not particularly conscious of your toe until you focus in on it.  By doing this you are doing two things, you are directing main consciousness to the toe and by doing so are at the same time stimulating the body consciousness that is already there, but of which you have not been conscious of.  Neither are you conscious of your heart beating, the extensive functioning of the brain, the nerves, the muscles, etc, as all these activities are under the control and directive of the subconscious.

A further method is to concentrate on the back of someone's head. Do this the next time you are on a crowded train or bus. Concentrate strongly and maintain focus. You do not have to think of anything in particular, just maintain your focus. In a short time you should begin to feel the nervousness of the subject. He'll either scratch his head or look around. This is simple thought projection. It's something we probably all have felt..the sensation of someone focusing on us..the feeling of being watched.

I do not suggest that you try this too often as, spiritually speaking, it could be considered as an invasion of privacy. You step in, uninvited, into somebody's personal space and such action is not appreciated.