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THE SCIENCE OF LIGHT |
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GOLD |
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Gold is one of the most scarce, valuable and precious metals in the world. Unlike other metals, gold does not corrode, rust or decay. Hence, to humans, it represented immortality and power. In fact, in olden days, gold coins were used as currency. The person who possessed the most gold was the richest and most powerful person in the world. And this is probably true today also, as it is those who hold the most wealth that have the most influence in the world. Now, Swedenborg tells us that all things in the natural world correspond to spiritual realities. And, in the spiritual world, gold corresponds to the Good of Love because Love is the most precious and valuable thing in Heaven. This is why in the Bible there are many references to gold. For example, Moses was commanded by God to gather all the gold jewelry from the Children of Israel in order to build the Ark of the Covenant. The mercy seat which sat upon the ark was to be made of solid gold. And it was above the mercy seat that the High Priest communed with the Lord: And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. When we understand that all natural things are simply symbols for spiritual realities, we are able to understand what all this means in REALITY. The ark of the covenant contained the Ten Commandments or the Golden Rules or Laws of Heaven. And Moses was to gather and combine all the spiritual gold or Love from the Children of Israel (Spiritual Truth) to produce a symbol that would conjoin them to Heaven and the Lord. This was the covenant by which the people were conjoined with Heaven and the Lord. Aaron, the High Priest communed with God above the mercy seat. And this mercy seat was made of pure gold because God is all Love and mercy. THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK This Candlestick was the representation of the Church, as to its office of enlightening the world; and in relation to an individual, it represents the intellect or understanding of man in its capacity of holding up the truth and enlightening the mind. The Church has the duty of enlightening the great world, the intellect that of enlightening the little world of each soul. To illustrate and enforce the Church's character as a diffuser of light from its Lord, who is the centre of light, the Sun of righteousness, when John was in vision, he saw a representation of "one like unto the Son of Man standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks"; and the seven candlesticks are declared to be the seven churches (Rev. I. 20). Jonathan Bayley THE GOLDEN AGE The Golden Age was an age when humans were conjoined with God and Heaven by means of Innocence or Celestial Love and Truth. In the Bible, we also learn that, during the reign of King Solomon, there was an abundance of gold in the land. This was because the reign of Solomon represented a state of human consciousness where the human heart is ruled by the Lord’s Celestial Love. Natural affluence and abundance is caused by spiritual abundance or Love through correspondence and influx. THE GOLDEN RATIO The ark of the covenant as well as the human body are structured according to the Golden Ratio because this ratio is in correspondence with the spiritual ratios or rational and moral values of Heaven. 2.5 cubits divided by 1.5 cubits = 1.666... which is approximately equal to the Golden ratio, Phi = 1.618... THE GOLDEN CALF When the Israelites were left forty days without Moses, they molded a golden calf from the gold of their earrings and began to worship it. Such idols they had already worshiped in Egypt. Ears correspond to obedience. Thus the Israelites had reverted to obeying the sensual rituals and superstitions of the natural world and ignored the spiritual realities of faith, love, justice and usefulness. THE GOLDEN RULE
It is interesting that leaves arrange themselves according to the Fibonacci sequence, the Golden ratio or the Golden Rule. They grow and arrange themselves so that each leaf receives as much Light from the natural sun as possible. When individuals in a society live and behave according to the Golden Rule, every individual receives as much spiritual Good from the Spiritual Sun as possible. When we only value natural gold or the vanities of the world, we produce a society that is based on greed and fear. Such a society is connected to the disorder and selfishness of hell and characterized by conflict, violence, war, disease and poverty. But, when we understand that natural gold is simply a symbol for spiritual gold or Love, we realize that Love is what is truly valuable in the universe. And, a society that is based on the Golden Rule or faith in God, trust, usefulness and mutual Love is a society that is conjoined with the Reality of Heaven. Such a society is characterized by social harmony, health, prosperity and Peace. We may possess a large amount of natural gold in the world but we will not be able to take any of it with us when we die and return into the spiritual world. The currency of the spiritual world is spiritual gold or Love. Hence, we should try to generate as much spiritual gold as we can before we leave. And we can only generate Love within us by understanding what is True, intending what is Good and doing what is useful to others. THE GOLDEN CITY In Revelation 21-22, John saw the Lord’s “New Church” or “The New Jerusalem” as a Golden City. “The city would be a golden one. Gold is the emblem of the highest love: love to the Lord. " I counsel thee," said the Lord Jesus to the church of Laodicea, " to buy of me fine gold, tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich." ---Rev. iii. 18. That the city was pure gold, was to teach us by this beautiful sign, that this church would have all its doctrines and practice grounded in pure love. And when we examine the Church of the New Jerusalem, now actually begun, we cannot acknowledge that this mark is fully borne out. The ground of all her teaching respecting the Lord is, "God is love." From love He created us; from love He redeemed us ; from love He watches over and regenerates us. It is His love that diffuses a sphere of blessedness through heaven. It is His love which marks the sparrow's fall, and leaves not a hair of the head unnumbered. What love will do in any case God will do, for He is almighty love. The Word is God's love, teaching by wisdom. It is His love drawn out. Again, love is the soul of all religion. Love leads to man's forgiveness; love believes; love keeps the commandments; love bears with patience; love hopes; love adores; love enters heaven and strikes its golden harp; love is fulfilling of the law. So teaches the New Church; and is she not, then, rightly represented as a golden city ? “ JONATHAN BAYLEY And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." LUKE XII. 16-21 |
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Copyright © 2011-2014 A. J. Coriat All rights reserved. |
Gold is yellowish in color like the Sun because it corresponds to the Celestial Love of the Spiritual Sun in Heaven. The Golden rule is “love your brother as yourself” or “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This is the Law by which angels live in Heaven.