CONCERNING ASCENT AND DESCENT

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"...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.

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RABBI AKIBA
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IN CONTEMPLATION OF TORAH

 

The heights by great men reached and kept - Were not attained by sudden flight - But they while their companions slept - Were upward climbing in the night." - Longfellow

THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT
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SAINT JOHN CLIMACUS

...WHAT LIES BEYOND THE GATE?

"R. Akiba said. 'In that hour when I ascended on high, I made marks at the entrances of heaven more than at the entrances of my own house, and when I came to the curtain, the angels of destruction went forth to destroy me. God said to them: 'Leave this elder alone, for he is worthy to contemplate my glory. '
"R. Akiba said. 'In that hour when I ascended to the Merkabah, a heavenly voice went forth from under the throne of glory, speaking in the Aramaic language. 'Before God made heaven and earth, he established a vestibule to heaven, to go in and to go out. He established a solid name to strengthen [or to design] by it the whole world. He invited Man [to this pre-established place] to enable him
To ascend on high,
to descend below,
to drive on wheels [of the Merkabah],
to explore the world,
to walk on dry ground,
to contemplate the splendor,
to dwell with the crown,
to praise the glory,
to say praise,
to combine letters,
to say names,
to behold what is on high,
and to behold what is below,
to know the meaning of the living,
and to see the vision of the dead,
to walk in rivers of fire,
and to know the lightning.
"And who can explain and who can behold what is before all this?
"It is said: For man shall not see Me and live (Exodus 33.-20), and secondly it is said: That God speaks to man and he liveth (Deuteronomy 5.-21), and thirdly it is said: I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne, etc. (Isaiah 6.-II)."
     - Zohar, Translated by Gershom Scholem

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