Wait a minute Ragnar, isn't Perfection what we are striving for? In all your lessons, you talk about the state of Perfected Human and how we are evolving, one step at a time, to that grand state of consciousness. How can you now describe Perfection as an illusion?
Good question, and you'll have to read the rest of this paper to find how the message in this article links with what I claim in my lessons as promised in the cosmology of Yggdrasil and every other accurate cosmology.
I'll give you a hint, however, it has to do with the time line. Yes, we are destined to evolve to Perfected Human (the Mannaz of our tradition, and the Christus of Early Greek tradition), but that is Ages away and the EXACT parameters of Perfected Consciousness are yet to be determined, regardless of the savior models being offered up by organized religion in this day and age. I will justify that bold statement later in this lesson as well.
But right now, I'd like you to take a test. Tell me, in your experience which is the reality of human experience in Midgard: Question #1 or Question #2?
Question #1
Everything I have ever done has been planned out at least in large segments and headed me to where I am today.
Question #2
It's only after many surprises and choices, interruptions, and disappointments that I have arrived somewhere I could never have anticipated.
Young folk often see their elders' lives as a straight line. Not so. Here's how it really looks: You make plans. You move straight ahead. You take a detour. You screw up. You recover. You really screw up. By then, it takes a few years to recover. You try hard. You get lucky every once in a while. Most of the time, it's your family that sustains you, and not casual acquaintances that hold popularity contests every time someone gets something new.
All that looks seamless in a momentary glimpse from outside, feels like a patchwork quilt from inside. You never just achieve something that you want, and hold it firm for the rest of your life. You keep composing and recomposing Life. Correct?
The truth of the matter is you can't protect yourself from making mistakes in life, at least in this lifetime and a few hundred more to come. You can observe the truth in that statement by just making an extension of the conditions you experience every day in your Midgard life and how slowly humans progress.
So what does this have to do with the "perfection" theme in this paper? A whole lot. If you review the cosmology of Yggdrasil, you will find that this condition of "real" life is accounted for in the concept of chaos and order (Giants and Aesir) as a NATURAL part of the Life Force.
Not so in the other accepted cosmologies. Biblical Genesis makes chaos an UNNATURAL aspect of Life, labels it evil and ungodly, assigns it names (Satan, Lucifer) and localizes it ONLY within the realm of Earth. It's as if God has no connection with the discord called evil.
But the Bible contradicts itself (as it usually does), when God says in Isaiah 45:7. "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things." Following sound spiritual reasoning, if evil is a supposedly " imperfect" condition, then how can a "perfect" God create it? Hmmm?
The Perfection Model
Both serious Christian religionists and casual tire-kickers are unconsciously plagued by the conflict between their spiritual role model, the "perfect" Jesus Christus of the Gospels versus what they experience in Life. In the least, this dichotomy creates great angst. At the most, it slows or stops evolution of human consciousness, a most serious crime.
Mind you, there is a great difference between the Jesus of faith, and the Jesus of history as we are learning from modern day scholars who now have the tools to decipher history and the Internet to disseminate their findings. While that is a great step forward, there are even more disparities between the Jesus of faith and the Jesus of accurate metaphysical knowledge.
We bring up Jesus, as he is portrayed in faith, because he is the dominant role model built around the idea of Perfection in one human incarnation in Western cultures. Other saviors in both Eastern and Western tradition, when imaged as near-human or human, are Wise Counselors, Great Teachers, and the like. The image of a "Divine Incarnation" as perfection personified is more a creation of the early Church and the Council of Nicea in the 4th Century than it is by divine mandate. Even then, by connecting the dots, if Jesus was a divine incarnation, he still would have had a dichotomy, judging by the "create evil" passage cited above, true?
They Make Mistakes!
After decades of studying and comparing traditions and spiritual lore, I discovered that not even the High Ones are "Perfected Ones." I then saw this wisdom reflected in Yggdrasil. Our Northern mythology says it bluntly.... the Gods and Goddesses of the North (as well as those of other traditions) are super-human in their nobility as well as in their faults. But, nobody ever said they were perfect and we as their "understudies" are under no illusion about it. They follow the model of Question #2 above, for they experience the ebb and flow of Life forces just as we do. As to the perfection of the Cosmic, Amerindian traditions simply name it the"Great Mystery."
Now, let's do a thinking upside down exercise: "As Below, So Above," I have come to the conclusion that even the REAL High Ones are subject to making mistakes. I speak here of Cosmic Beings that are hinted at in the highest vibratory patterns of Yggdrasil (but still within this solar system which Yggdrasil addresses so expertly). These are the ones we talk about as having stations in the Sun. The Bible names them as Elohim, Cherubim, Seraphim. We in the North, because of the suppression, have only rudimentary allusions to these proto-beings in our cosmology. At the Denali Institute, we are hard at work researching and articulating this Cosmic imagery within Yggdrasil.
Other than the foundation pattern of Yggdrasil, what makes me think that the cosmos and the "universal" God of metaphysics is unperfected, at least to the level of these High Ones? One example lies in the Genesis story of Lucifer which, by the way, means "Light Bearer." It is he who is given blame for Eve's temptation with the apple in Christian mythology. It is he who is expelled to Earth for the act. But, actually, I perceive that this is a story placed in myth about a disagreement between two highly placed Elohim, one who wanted to see the human race progress by giving them knowledge, the other who thought it would be best to leave them in an unthinking state of grace (the Garden of Eden). How this plays out is the subject of chapters and chapters of writings on creation and creation cosmology.
And just like our Gods and Goddesses in Northern cosmology, these Great Beings can and do disagree and can and do arrive at mistaken conclusions. This means that the illusion of perfection in these realms of high consciousness is just that, "a perfect illusion."
I qualify this next example as my thinking and mine alone. Could it be that eons ago, the dinosaurs were being prepared as the physical vehicles of advanced consciousness on this planet? Could it be that it became a failed experiment, and the model was wiped out by a cataclysmic event? That would explain the persistent and captivating dragon mythology in the human psyche. These myths of "conscious" dragons may have been a remnant of that specific Age in Earth's evolution. It becomes a challenging thought for Erulian level students of Denali to research and study.
So if the universe is still shaping itself over Eons and Ages, as we at Denali claim it to be and which the Yggdrasil pattern of chaos vs. order supports, then we are subject to the laws of Ørlög and Wryd. And, to work our way through our web of Wyrd, we use the rune Nauthiz.
Do not underestimate the power of Nauthiz and the Norn Skuld to help you change your Wyrd for the better. We have much to say on that subject in our Rune Master lessons.
The Perfected Human is the subject of the rune Mannaz. Suffice it to say, in the Ages to come, you are charged with doing the best job you can as a human striving for Perfected Human, one step, one lesson, and one lifetime at a time.
So, stay the course, runesters. You have the best tools available in your Northern tradition: the runes and Yggdrasil to travel the road of Life. And in learning how to apply these tools through the Denali Institute Way of Teaching and Learning, you will be well prepared to face and successfully pass the initiatory experiences presented to you by Life itself.
If a mugger took $500 from your wallet
and gave you $100 back,
would you feel ENRICHED by his generosity,
or ROBBED of your $400?
Unfortunately, that is exactly the situation most seekers find themselves in when searching for answers from popular spiritual sources.
So much has been forgotten about the true nature of the Life Force, or has been covered over by centuries of dogma, or has been out-and-out changed by power-seeking revisionists, that most of humanity feels "enriched" by the little knowledge being given them by mainstream religion, and even, most New Age sources of wisdom.
At the Denali Institute, we know that Life mysteries are meant to be understood by the intuitive and illumined reasoning powers of the human mind. They are NOT meant to be perpetually shrouded in the foggy mists of blind faith and abstractions. The ancient Wise Ones wrote their teachings accordingly, but so much has been lost between then and now. Where did we go wrong?
NOTE: This is the beginning of an article from the monthly True North journal regarding revisionist history of sacred texts and the accuracy of spiritual knowledge found in ancient mystery teachings, specifically the Elder Northern tradition and its runic symbols. While mythical imagery may need updating to modern understanding, much like interpreting dream imagery upon awakening, the essential truths found in ancient myth and runic lore remain pure to the original teachings of the ancient Seers. They have NOT been adulterated by 2,000 years of revision, purposeful deception, religious dogma and the like that mainstream and, unfortunately, many New Age sources of spiritual knowledge, have experienced.
This article is part of a continuing emphasis at the Denali Institute towards discovery of accurate knowledge within the ancient Northern tradition and rune symbols, along with revealing detours and deceptions found in mainstream spiritual texts.
UNDERSTANDING NORTHERN SPIRITUAL MYSTERIES
The "Understanding" paper provides a foundation of knowledge regarding Northern spiritual mysteries. It is offered as part of the Rune Master instruction program or separately to the general public. The following extracts will give you an idea of the range and scope of this paper and our instruction.
A Surrounding Medium
Like the fish that has no name for water, those of us who live in modern western culture are surrounded by the heritage of ancient Northern custom and tradition. It sustains us with a richness and abundance that is unique in the history of civilization. Just as the fish does not conceive water as an object outside itself, we neglect to see how much our daily lives are influenced by the Northern tradition. This is a great mistake, because it leads us to search for esoteric truths in strange mystical doctrines, attempting to configure our mental selves to unnatural (to us living in western culture) methods of thinking. All the while, we have the philosophic substance of Life within our very own cultural heritage. Signs of the great Northern tradition surround us daily, for instance...
(This paragraph is followed by eight distinct signs of the Northern tradition in our cultural heritage. The signs include the foundation points of democracy and our system of law; the overriding drive for equality of sexes which is more Northern than Middle Eastern tradition; the names of the days of the week; the festival of Yule; our natural system of measure, etc.)
Characteristics
NORTHERN "FATE"
In Northern lore, Ørlög is the root concept of the Cosmic Law of Cause and Effect. In Old Norse it literally means ‘primal layers’, and is loosely translated as ‘fate’. Ørlög parallels the Eastern concept of karma, a relatively fixed outworking of cause and effect.
However, within ørlög we find the Northern concept of wyrd, which is the process by which past actions are woven to influence your present and future experiences. In the North, the concept of wyrd provides a flexibility not identified in the karma of Eastern tradition. Wyrd is the means by which ørlög, or the cosmic law of cause and effect, can be ‘bent’.
Because Northern esoteric disciplines hold that the will of the individual is ever in play to influence events, wyrd can be ‘bent’ to the will of the illumined mind. In Northern lore, the web of wyrd is never looked upon as fatalistic or unchangeable. Rather, past deeds build up weight in the cosmic fabric by which the ‘lay’ of future events can be anticipated. If these events are deemed undesirable, the ‘lay’ can be redirected (but not negated) by the active mind and independent will of the individual.
Several runes work to ‘bend’ unfavorable wyrd, specifically the rune Nauthiz (#10) when activated correctly. The energies of Nauthiz help define the existing web of wyrd and act as a counter force to negative ørlög, much as a karate expert uses the force of an opponent to render an attack harmless.
In Northern myth the three Norns are depicted as weaving the web of wyrd for both humankind and the gods alike, for no energy field within the realm of Midgard (Earth) is exempt from the Cosmic Law of cause and effect. The Norns are also known as the three ‘Weird Sisters’ in Shakespeare and the three ‘Fates’ of Greco-Roman lore.
(The above paragraph
outlines one of eight identifying characteristics of the
Northern tradition explained in the "Understanding" paper.)
Critical Points
Those who think the Northern mystery teachings stop at the pantheon (Odin, Thor, Tyr, Freyr, Freyja, etc.) fall woefully short of an accurate perception of the Northern creation story. The lineage of androgynous, pre-conscious Beings (Ymir, Audhumla, Buri) demonstrates a little known rudimentary truth found within the Northern mysteries.
By placing the androgyne several levels of consciousness above the pantheon of gods and goddesses, the Northern ancients revealed their knowledge of Ultimate Intelligence (Cosmic Mind, Creative Life Force) as a state of consciousness beyond that of the gods and goddesses. In fact, myths of the mighty gods and goddesses emphasize that they were human in their appetites, while superhuman in their feats.
The energy that they used for their activities comes from the Source of all energy in the universe, Cosmic Mind. This cosmic energy was called Ond in the North. It is also known as Nous, Chi, Prana, Manitu, etc. in other traditions. In Northern myth, the Aesir Goddess Frigga (wife of Odin) is imaged as spinning the (cosmic) Substance that eventually becomes the threads the Norns weave together to determine the ørlög and wyrd of humankind. This role places Frigga equivalent to the Cosmic Feminine in other metaphysical traditions. Denali Institute programs explore the mysterious dimensions of Cosmic Mind beyond the level of the ancient pantheon as a part of our triune approach to the Northern mysteries.
(The above paragraph
outlines one of four critical points in differentiating the
Northern tradition as contained in the "Understanding" paper.)
Archetypes and Other Psychological Constructs
The most accepted modern psychological structure that comes closest to the ancient Teutonic view of the Life mysteries is that developed by the Swiss psychiatrist, C.G. Jung. No 20th Century thinker has contributed more to the understanding of symbols and symbol-making than Dr. Carl Jung. Jungian psychology postulates that remnants of the primordial dimensions of Being penetrate our rational consciousness in the form of symbols. There are symbols having personal resonance and symbols with universal resonance, which Jung calls archetypes.
Although Jung popularized the term archetype, he didn't coin the word. It first appears in Plato as he described the ideas or forms of natural objects present in the divine mind prior to creation. Jung suggests that if you could follow the archetype all the way back to its inception, you'd pass over the chasm between mind and matter. Archetypes are housed in the collective unconscious, a term invented by Jung to refer to an ancient symbol making mechanism. While the personal unconscious is individual, the collective unconscious is universal. Jungian theory along with quantum physics and holographic theory (covered later) gives us a rational foothold to understand how archetypal symbols, such as runes and the pantheon of gods and goddesses, can influence the manifest world through the agency of an illuminated human mind.
OTHER TOPICS covered in the "Understanding" paper include…
Northern Cosmology
The Northern Creation Story
Dynamics of the Northern Cosmic World Tree, Yggdrasil
The Pantheon of the NorthThe Mystical Landscape: Earth's Elementals and the Co-destiny of Earth and Humanity
The Northern Tradition in World History including its Suppression and Modern Revival
The Runes: Origins of the Runes, Quantum Physics and the Hologram, Science and Philosophy Come Together
Mind States for Mystical Practices: Changing Brain Wave Patterns
APPENDIXES
A - The 24 Rune Elder Futhark - Rune Shapes & their Ancient & Transpersonal Meanings
B - Bibliography & Recommended Reading
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