7.2.0. The mystic path

We saw that a person’s life can be divided up into a 24 hour clock, or the 4 seasons.  The top half of the clock is symbolically the spiritual path – thus 12 of the 24 hours.

This can be represented as a normal 12 hour clock, in effect you can place the 12 hours round the rim of the clock and overall it represents the spiritual path, excluding any other stages in your life.

We can now forget any previous numbering in the old 24 hour system and start afresh.  We start at 1.00 on the spiritual path go round clockwise and gradually move round the clock until at midnight we end the path  - like Cinderella [except she didn’t obey instructions].

If we further subdivide it into the major stages then we end up with a six spoked wheel.

What follows is likely to cause rage and anguish amongst every spiritual person [or mild annoyance depending on how far they are along the path], because no one agrees on the stages of the spiritual path.  As I said everyone’s path is different so you will not find a single person who has been through all these stages or been through them in this order.  But ho hum you win some, you lose some – better to give you an idea at least.

I had a choice of all the religious paths, the Sephirot, the alchemical path [all of them], plus a whole load more.  In the end I have used the one  found in the allegory of Christian Rosenkreuntz [The Chemical wedding of Christian Rosenkreuntz] simply because it seems to be the closest to the actual experiences of those who have undergone this journey.

The cyclical nature of the process

Looking at the stages superficially there is often the belief that this is a simple sequential process, do A, do B, do C, do D then that is that,  you are there, but this is not the case. 

Instead you often find you have to loop round and are subject to certain stages again.  There are people, for example, that have gone through more than one rebirth, more than one purification, more than one relearning. 

The process is more like a loop with multiple entry points depending on what is needed.  This is why some people get heartily depressed in the process thinking they are making progress, when -  lo and behold  - back they are to the beginning – the wheel of fortune.

Now let us have a look at the types of spiritual experience that apply to each stage.

So what do these stages mean…………….