"...AND HE ENTERETH IN HIS NAME LADDER."
"Lest
we be satisfied to consult only those of our own faith and tradition, let us also have recourse to the patriarch, Jacob, whose
likeness, carved on the throne of glory, shines out before us. This wisest of
the Fathers who though sleeping in the lower world, still has his eyes fixed on the world above, will admonish us. He will
admonish, however, in a figure, for all things appeared in figures to the men
of those times: a ladder rises by many rungs from earth to the height of heaven and at its summit sits the Lord, while over
its rungs the contemplative angels move, alternately ascending and descending.
If this is what we, who wish to imitate the angelic life, must do in our turn, who, I ask, would dare set muddied feet or soiled hands to the ladder of the Lord? It is forbidden, as the mysteries teach, for the
impure to touch what is pure."
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man
Whirlwinds, Fiery Chariots, Divine Ladders, Winding Stairwells,
Heavenly Palaces, Magical Ropes, Holy Hills, Mysic Mountains and Symbolic Degrees - Where does the origin of these mysterious
concepts lay? What is their ultimate purpose and design?
Throughout the history of comparative religions and the study of diverse
theological doctrines a single pervading theme seems to be ever present. The belief in passageways between this world
and the next, doorways in between worlds that if we but knock they will be opened to us.
Peoples in these remote ages had a sincere desire to live for
ever, know truth and to see God face to face. There existed for many ages a constant hope that there is some
type of continued and enlightening existence after death, and the strange belief that mankind can in some way penetrate through
the darkness of ignorance and doubt toward the light of the cosmic reality and its purpose. Because of this devoted
and zealous wish theological systems possessed of philosophical as well as practical moral speculations have been developed
to attain to the lofty goal of reaching God.
Chariots, Gates, degrees and Ladders have been developed by the human
mind to gradually attain the aforementioned celestial hopes. This site is dedicated to aiding you on a
similar journey towards becoming one in unity with the essence of the nearby spheres and with the cosmic order.
Creation, of which we are part, shall be our watchword on this journey.
I ask only that you incline neaither to the right or the left, travel the
middle road, the edge between day and night, the path betwixt life and death. Admire and speculate with equal passion
and interest on both the heavens as well as the earth. Remember with a constant application that as above so below.
The Papyrus of Ani contains evidence concerning the Ladder.
___________________________________________
