Analogue 66

Analogue 66 

Begotten Beings

The Son of Humanity exists, as do the children of the Son. The Son of Humanity is the Master who has brought the children into created being. The Son of Humanity, therefore, has received the power to both create and beget. That which he creates is, of course, a finite object—a creature, but what he begets, however, is a “child”—or offspring. Created objects are not able to conceive, but what has been conceived and born can create. Some will say, “Well, human creatures, of course, do conceive and give birth.” True, but their progeny are in fact creatures, and what they give birth to are not “theirs,” but sons and daughters of God.

The one who creates objects works outwardly in the external world. The one who labors in secret, however, works within the icon, hidden inwardly from others. The one who creates makes objects visible to the world. The one who conceives gives birth to children in the Realm of the Unseen.

SYNOPSIS

• The Anthropos is a traditional and celestial archetype and the offspring of the Anthropos is in view.
• The Hidden Work is the secret birthing taking place behind the scenes, in the unseen realm.
• The way of working within the unseen is to be at the level of the icon.
• There is a difference between outer and inner work.
• There is also a difference between creating and begetting. 
• You do not own your progeny. 
• Working from within (or with) the icon of each person’s being is typically hidden and deeply sacred.
• Working with another person’s being remains veiled to the outer world.
• Every person born into this world is a child of God, for they belong to God. 

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COMMENTARY

The Hidden Work of the Anthropos

This is a visionary text with extraordinary insight, using terms that are drawn from the longer streams of Perennial Wisdom as well as the Hebrew prophetic and mystical tradition. We must understand both the historical context as well as the “spiritual technology” being described here. Each is being used here with precision and clarity. The hidden work of inner formation and spiritual mastery continues to unfold in this analogue. Using new metaphors from the horizontal axis of human experience (different from that of the previous analogues’ household existing on a farm), the realities of the vertical axis are examined cosmologically in a fresh way. The roots and foundational principles of spiritual mastery are also freshly outlined in this passage.

To begin, we need to clarify terms that perhaps we may have heard traditionally but which have subsequently lost their metaphysical and cosmological significance (at least from the perspective of this Gospel). We are familiar with the term the Son of Man which is used as a title for Yeshua in the canonical Gospels. Its is often assumed that this simply expresses his human nature. This may be true in part, and especially for later theological development, but here is being used for a far more precise meaning found in earlier and more ancient texts. The first line of this analogue could rightly be rendered: The Anthropos exists, as do the children of the Anthropos. This would be closer to the original sense, but it might not clarify anything for the general reader. 

In the Book of Daniel the “Son of Man” (or my translation, the “Son of Humanity”—making it more gender neutral) refers to a being who is clearly humanoid, but who exists outside of space and time. In the prophetic writings of Daniel, this figure stands beside or before the throne of God (Daniel 7:13-14). In Jewish mystical tradition, this figure is also referred to as Adam Kadmon the original Adam—the archetypal and initial human form. Later, it is taken to refer to the entire collectivity of spiritual humanity itself which was brought into existence at once as one being at the very beginning. Later this being becomes separated out into its dual manifestations of masculine and feminine forms either before or inside our historical time. This original form is then brought into manifestation as a multiplicity of beings on earth. Furthermore, every single person exists in and belongs to this great organic whole—the Anthropos (the Human One). In this Gospel text, it is the full and undivided anthropological figure of the first form of humanity (about which Yeshua was a manifestation) which is in focus. 

The Original Form of Human Being

This analogue insists that the original figure of humankind continues to exist in Eternity, whether we are aware of it or not. It also speaks of its offspring as individual children streaming from it who are being brought into existence here in space and time from out of that collective form. It is this original and united being, however, who is the ultimate Masterplan (or perhaps blueprint) guiding the creative process of all human becoming, of which each one of us is uniquely a part. 

This passage goes on to say that the archetypal human form (the Anthropos), existing as a collectivity, contains the full and complete form of each being and our own personhood. As its offspring in time and on earth, we have the capacity and perhaps the privilege of accomplishing two things. We can both create, bring new objects into existence, and we can also give birth to others of our own kind, giving them a space in time with us. Coming to birth in this way here in space-time, gives each person temporal existence as a finite creature. However, there is a mysterious new kind of birth possible from out of this temporary domain. A child who is born into this world as a created being, can also be born anew spiritually. Such a child must no longer be thought of as simply a creature. Instead, they must be understood to be a newly formed being, a different kind of child from the Anthropos with infinite and eternal characteristics bringing its original potential to full realization. 

Production and Conception

An important distinction is being made in this analogue between what has been created and its resulting characteristics, and what has been conceived and birthed. The analogue understands, of course, that created beings do in fact give birth to children of their own kind, and that these children ultimately belong to God. What humans are doing when they give birth to their own kind in this world, however, is to produce creatures who are capable of living in the external world. They have not yet moved through that transitional form into their final state as eternal beings. That new birth can only be done at another level and from another dimension, but not in or from the physical realm per se. 

We raise our children, helping them to be acceptable human beings and good citizens of the social order around us. We want them to be adequate for the outer world, but what they are made for is not simply to be capable citizens in the external world. They were made for eternity, and that can only be accomplished through spiritual labor done in secret within “the icon,” thought of perhaps as the hidden and eternal image of their original being. This inner image is hidden away from the “prying eyes” of others in the external world who are not privy to this work and to the ultimate mystery of a human being. This is the fascinating way this analogue perceives the work of conceiving new creatures who are given fresh birth into an ultimate form of humankind. 

It is this original and united being who is actually the ultimate Masterplan guiding the creative process of human becoming, of which each one of us is actively a part.

The “one who conceives” (or helps in the conception) is the Anthropos who (perhaps acting as a “mid-wife”) assists in bringing forth children of its own ultimate form to birth inside the Bridal Chamber. This hidden work is done inwardly at the deep level of the icon—from within each being’s iconic nature or being. Such children are given birth from the Unseen Realm to which they ultimately return. Paradigmatically, this became the hidden and secret work of Yeshua as the Anointed One who was its paradigmatic figure and was manifesting the Anthropos (from out of the Realm or Kingdom of the Heavens). In the iconography of this and other analogues, he was married to Sacred Spirit, who, is was also said to act as a birth-mother. What the Anthropos does is to assist in the process of conception and birth. Yeshua lived in the outer world, but he was working secretly in cooperation and coordination with the eternal Source of humankind to catalyze this deeper, hidden process of new birth into a new form of humanity. 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. This is a complex and highly nuanced passage that has its roots in the wisdom and mystical traditions of the ancient Middle East. Many details are contained here, most of them pointing to the place of our original becoming beyond space and time. If someone asked you to explain this analogue or to describe its secret teachings, what would you say? Journal your answer. 
2. You are connected to and a part of a much larger reality. How might you have experienced this already? Describe your experiences and your intuitions about it.  
3. The teachings around the ancient figure of the Anthropos (the Human One, the original form of Adam) are complex. What stands out to you as important in this teaching? How might you use this to understand the way you are living and working in this world?
4. Other parts of this Gospel have explained the mothering process and the iconic  work (for example, Analogue 52). This text focuses on the role and function of the figure whose seed germinates in the womb of Spirit (at least partially understood in this way). How would you explain and express these various functions and generative roles. 
5. If our spiritual labor means working “within the icon” (the hidden divine image of each individual’s being), how might we do that? Where do we begin? 
6. This analogue speaks of it as an interior birth taking place within. The next analogue will attempt to spell out something of how this is done and what elements are required. You might look ahead seeking to find answers to this question. 

NOTES FOR FURTHER STUDY 

AND REFERENCE

1. Clearly this analogue is addressed to those who are mystically inclined and able to hear its more hidden message. Though it is not explicitly said, the “children of the Anthropos” may not, in fact, be only human creatures. If we were to imagine that other sentient beings (the animals who inhabit our world and who have an important role to play) are also creatures from the Anthropos but not able to inhabit the same spiritual space for whatever reason, then this analogue could be seen to be constructed differently—depending upon the level of created being. These non-human creatures might be seen as “finite” in some way that is different from the offspring who are born out of the Anthropos and not simply made or created. With that possibility in mind, read this analogue and see how it might change your interpretation.  
2. The idea of the “icon of one’s being” has been used throughout this Gospel to indicate the eternal pattern and expression of an individual no matter the temporal form or mode in which they may find themselves. This iconic pattern ultimately originates in the divine Mind, which may be expressed as the Logos of God, the eternal Word spoken and speaking all things continually into being. When we discover what that pattern is and what it means inside of us, then we are working from within the Icon, not based on some external model that can be seen in or constructed by the outer world. The design of each being, then, is according to a template in the divine Mind that knows the creature from the standpoint of its hidden and beautiful characteristics found within (See also Analogue 52). As an illustration, an artist who is the possessor of a certain internal vision and is able to gives it external expression as an art-form, continues to hold the ultimate pattern unseen in his or her mind and consciousness. Whatever is expressed from the hand of that artist may only reflect a single aspect of that original inner vision. This can also be true of the divine-human form of the Icon, which is the genesis of any earthly manifestation. In the Gospel of Thomas (Logion 84), Yeshua says that this pattern is eternal and has not yet been fully revealed in time for what it is. It appears, then, that the Icon of this analogue is to be understood in precisely this way. 
3. Metaphysically, the realm of the Unseen is the unManifest ground of possibility which contains All Possibility that is given expression and brought into being from the divine Mind through Logos-Sophia. 
4. The reference to the passage in Daniel is part of the original visionary tradition which understands the original Adam not to be an individual created on earth, but is the living unity of all-humankind existent in the courts of the heavens prior to any manifestation on earth or in space-time. This viewpoint is shared with aspects of Kabbalah and its mystical teachings today rooted in that ancient vision.  
5. Margaret Barker’s work has been introduced at various places throughout this commentary. Her conclusions about first Temple Mysticism are clearly a part of the interpretive viewpoint accepted here to explain details of the Gospel of Philip seen as an example of this very Jewish strand of wisdom and its mystical tradition. For further explanation, consult her website and the various PDF articles that are available and can be downloaded without cost. These give a broader and more detailed view of this particular hermeneutic. Many of her published writings are also available as individual texts. Especially important are Temple Theology: An Introduction (2004) and Temple Mysticism: An Introduction (2011). 

Notes on the Translation

• The “Son of Humanity” translates the traditional term used in various authorized versions as “Son of Man.”
• “Children of the Son” are in the original and expressed as “sons of the Son.”
• The term “conceive”means both to conceive at inception and to give birth to, or to fully “beget.”