Lucifer Rising

“Lucifer Rising” by Elvinia DC

Why must evil be resurrected along with righteousness? What purpose does it serve?

…Lucifer, the devil, means “light-bringer,” and light is primordial energy – but Lucifer is not himself the light he brings. It must be that if “your father, the devil” is resurrected in man causing him to express evil, this expression brings in its wake a necessary enlightenment. If man’s evil is wed to his very being, his good, life must be recasting his evil into a measure of “something” indispensable to him, and this “something” must be flesh over which consciousness has full dominion: flesh man can in truth call his own and keep. To have it, man must have knowledge of evil, of matter itself, and he must have dominion over evil. That is, he must learn to live without corrupting his flesh and abusing life itself in evil doing; he must complete the task begun in Eden, which is to acquire knowledge of good and evil.

Ah, a necessary enlightenment! Many people, including great philosophers and theologians throughout the ages have looked into and considered the possibility of redemption not just for human beings, but for Old Scratch himself. Origen said that nothing is beyond being healed by its maker.  Rudolf Steiner postulates that through resisting and balancing the extreme forces of spirit (Lucifer) and matter (Satan) we redeem evil. In his early lectures on the Bible, Valentin Tomberg says that Lucifer experienced an inner metamorphosis through the Mystery of Golgotha, and that at the crucifixion he recognized the nature of the sacrifice of Christ. Gregory of Nyssa said that the originator of evil WILL be healed. At the heart of these interpretations seems to be a deep intuition that there is a reason for the existence of evil, that it is serving a greater purpose which could not be accomplished without it’s resistance. Preston Harold would say that reason is “flesh man can in truth call his own and keep.”

One here must also consider here the role that Judas played in Christ’s drama. In his “Cipher of Genesis,” Carlo Suares reminds us that the Gospel of John has Judas following Jesus’ instructions to the letter.

I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfulled. He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it comes that when it is come to pass ye may believe that I am he. Verily, verily I say unto you: He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me… Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall HAND ME OVER (OR, DELIVER ME)…He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

So Satan enters Judas, Jesus then sends Judas. In essence, Jesus has sent Satan. So it must follow, according to Jesus’ own words, that he who receives Satan receives Jesus, therefore in the process receiving God. Once again we must ask ourselves, “Does this offend us?”

The lesson in all of this? Suares tells us:

In terms of gnosis it is the statement of a simple fact: there is only One energy, only One life, only One movement. All is one and one is in all. The One is the one game of life and existence, of energy as energy and of energy as its own physical support, which is its own resistance to itself, without which nothing would be.

Until next time, Peace.

Jesus’ Messianic Mission

“Prayer for Messiah” by Ghenadie Sontu.

As promised, we now come to the point of exploring the main themes of Harold’s interpretation of Jesus’ mission.  In Gerald Heard’s introduction, he wastes no time in getting to the point…

THE SHINING STRANGER is based upon a revolutionary and, insofar as I am aware, unprecedented interpretation of Jesus’ Messianic mission which Harold develops as the discourse progresses, drawing upon Jesus’ own words and actions to support his thesis.  This interpretation involves the following points:

1. Jesus recognized the Messianic hope to be valid and universal, but misdirected when man looked beyond his individual being to find the Christ (Logos, God-Son) which Jesus saw to be incarnate in every person, revealed through humankind’s unique power of speech and expression of the Word, God, One, I.

2. Jesus realized that until the ancient Messianic doctrines were superseded by a valid, ethical concept of the Christ, of God, and of man, the individual and society would suffer the ravages of Messianic pretension, as well as the curse of Messianic delusion which Jesus suffered but from which he recovered before beginning his ministry, recognizing himself to be no more, no less, than any other human being.

3. Jesus was convinced that until man ceased to look for a Messiah to come and solve all problems, the development of human consciousness would be arrested because man would not seek his “inner kingdom” to find the Christ of himself, the Authority that governs his life and inevitably leads him to become responsible to and for himself as well as a responsible member of society in which truth alone actually governs and reigns, in time destroying whatever is false, spurious, and incompatible with man’s true nature and need.

4. Therefore, Jesus’ purpose was to complete and destroy the Judaic Messianic tradition together with any Messianic concept akin to it through a withering of this idea as the Messianic idea he espoused, the idea of the Christ in everyone, took root and flowered to overshadow prevailing Messianic expectation. He knew exactly what he was doing and was in no sense victimized.

5. Jesus’ mission was to destroy Messianic tradition creatively by making “Israel” and its history a symbol of human personality or consciousness, while making himself a symbol of the Christ in every person which insures his eternal life and the evolution of his consciousness through dealing with his own forces of good and evil which Jesus saw to be equally essential to life and satisfaction in it, but he saw also that each force was in process of regeneration; Jesus made himself a symbol of the Logos in humankind to establish the pattern of the operation of the Christ in Homo sapiens’ evolution from child to man free of destructive impulses by virtue of being fully conscious and completely empathetic, with dominion over himself, his flesh, and his life.

6. The Bible, one body of words encompassing the limits of human consciousness, truth bearer that can dwell always with men and which Jesus knew must be brought into being as a result of his works and his command to his disciples, is itself historical Judaic Messiah.

Pretty provocative stuff, no?  Hopefully some of these ideas are new to you, or if you are familiar with them the approach to them will be new.  Both of these are true of me when I first encountered this work, and I was certainly intrigued enough to delve into the book and explore further.  At this point I must confess that one of the main reasons for this blog is for me to “journal” my own thoughts as I read through the book, and to use the book as a launching pad for journaling thoughts and observations from other momentous works I have read in the past.  I would certainly appreciate any and all comments, and feedback from you, the reader, as there are many ways of understanding, as the Logos expresses itself individually and creatively through each human being.

OK, we’re almost ready to start Chapter 1.  But before we do, my next post will deal with the ground rules Harold sets if we want to take this journey with him.  We’ll examine his view of the historicity of the Gospels, and the importance thereof.  Until then, peace…

Who is Preston Harold?

As mentioned in my last post, it’s time to find out more about our esteemed author, Mr. Preston Harold.  This is where the fun begins.  The author of the introduction to the 3rd edition of the book (published in 1973, it was originally published in 1967), Winifred Babcock, tells us about him on the “About the Author” page:

Preston Harold is a pen name. Neither Mr. Heard, Mr. Barrie, myself, nor anyone else connected with publishing the Harold manuscript knows who or what the author was.  They know only that he is deceased, and they are confident his identity can never be made known.  The anonymous author was convinced that truth makes its own way, because it enlists the aid of those whose hearts resound accord as they are presented with it.  To him, THE SHINING STRANGER must and could withstand this test.

So our author is a mystery. Like the wind, the spirit, we know not from whence he comes nor where he goes. It is obvious the author wished it to be this way.  The reader will have no appeal to a “higher” authority.  The weight of the words will stand on their own. The reader will him or herself be the ultimate authority to which he or she will turn upon for verification of truth.  The author believed truth makes “hearts resound accord,” and therefore sets men free (John 8:32).  We will see how this ties in with Jesus and his mission as we take our steps through Harold’s work.

In his introduction to the first edition of the book, Gerald Heard says:

It was the author’s desire to let the work speak for itself (Preston Harold is a pen-name.) The manuscript was given to Michael Barrie and me.  Although I do not agree with all this book has to say, I believe it should be published, and that other efforts to discover a new meaning in Jesus’ teachings will be made…

I, too, am aware of the limitations of this book, and of the criticism that may justly be directed against it… A work of such scope, however, is necessary to accomplish the objective Harold saw to be essential, an objective he took from Jesus’ command: “Either make the tree good and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by his fruit.” To accomplish this objective, Jesus’ revelation must be posed against the vast body of twentieth century knowledge, an overwhelming task for one man to undertake.

The reader will have to decide what sort of fruit Harold’s work will bear. Heard tells us the ultimate objective of our author:

Harold’s effort was not to challenge every theology and many prevailing theories so much as it was to restore man’s faith in Jesus by presenting Jesus’ idea of man, based upon the authority of his own words as reported in the Gospels.  Harold believes Jesus’ idea of man is valid and that humankind can accept it wholeheartedly because in his view Jesus’ teaching is congruent with the “given data” of science and human experience, and through Jesus’ ability to tap the fount of truth in his own unconscious, he was able to reveal the true nature and psychological operation of each human being.  How near THE SHINING STRANGER comes to stating a valid interpretation of Jesus and a valid idea of man, each reader must decide for himself.  Probably, the book will stir up violent controversies, but whatever the reaction of its readers, it will do one thing: it will force them to re-think their whole position in regard to Jesus and Christianity.

As far as I know, this book never stirred up any type of controversies, violent or other.  I had never heard of it until the day I stumbled upon it.  Perhaps it was just too overwhelming when it was released in 1967.  Perhaps people just weren’t very interested.  A Google search for “The Shining Stranger” or “Preston Harold” brings up scant information apart from the books published by the Harold Institute, which Institute itself yields little to no information.  Maybe this is as it should be.  However, one of the objectives of this blog will be to make this work better known and appreciated, and each of you reading this are helping to make that happen. Thanks for coming along for the journey!

In my next post, we’ll cover the main points of Harold’s interpretation of who Jesus was, and how he understood his mission.  Hold onto your hats, it gets windy!  Until next time, peace…

What in the world is a Shining Stranger?!

About 5 years ago I was browsing in my favorite used book store when I came across a large tome entitled “The Shining Stranger” by a gentleman named Preston Harold.  It was the tagline that caught my full attention: “An Unorthodox Interpretation Of Jesus And His Mission.”  As I scanned through the book, I quickly realized that this was not an unorthodox religious approach, although most of Harold’s religious interpretations are certainly fascinating. Rather, his overall approach to interpreting Jesus’ mission is quite unorthodox.

On the inside cover of my worn and ratty Third Edition published in 1973 (see photo), at the top in bold print is a heading stating:

A REVOLUTIONARY INTERPRETATION OF JESUS’ MESSIANIC MISSION WHICH OFFERS:

   The answer Judaism can accept–

   The answer Christianity can accept–

   The answer every religion can accept and maintain it’s own integrity.

Ummmm, o.k.  Wow!  Those are certainly some pretty big claims.  Now for some excerpts from the text below the heading…

“The Shining Stranger offers new answers to the controversial questions that divide and plague the world’s religions – new answers to the questions of the relationship between religion, science, and psychology. These answers are so illuminating, unprecedented, and well-founded that they must in time make a tremendous impact upon every faith, and upon man’s view of himself, the universe, and his place in it.”

“As Harold poses the Scriptures and Jesus’ own words, works, and drama against modern knowledge, a new answer to the Messianic question takes shape to reconcile and transcend conflicting views… Mathematics, science, and psychology are shown to be developments in the expression of truth which has been intuitively grasped and poetically stated in the great religions and philosophies.”

How about some claims from some well known individuals quoted on the back cover…

Truly a remarkable work…He has made of Jesus an extraordinary being, whether viewed from a religious standpoint or the ‘laique’ one.  There are passages which are dizzying – as if we were dealing with a being from another planet.- Henry Miller

…a provocative and wide ranging study of the nature of messiahship.  It enables us to see the extent to which the concept of Christhood has altered in the course of the centuries, and it indicates the direction in which further changes are coming.- Dr. Ira Progoff

While I do not agree with many of the author’s conclusions, this book presents interpretations both startling and promising,  A controversial book, it could well bring about as much change in the Christian Western world’s thinking as the findings and books of Charles Darwin of a hundred years ago.- Stella Terrill Mann

A spiritual breakthrough in the Messianic message for our time, a conclusive answer to the quest for a relevant, dynamic faith.- Dr. Marcus Bach

Chapter XVII, in a class by itself, is the soundest exposition of contemporary economics we know. –THE PHILOSOPHER, Journal of the Philosophical Society of England

Quite impressive accolades, no?  Does the book actually live up to them?  That’s what we will explore in this blog.  Along the way we will explore the aforementioned fields of religion, science, and psychology, while also diving into theology, metaphysics, mysticism, gnosticism, the esoteric and occult, music, art, and more.  We will go through the book chapter by chapter, bit by bit, exploring, questioning, and wondering.  I hope you will hop along for the ride.  Before we hit the gas, though, we need to find out more about our author, Preston Harold.  We will learn more about him in my next post.  Until then, peace…