Bringing Heaven and Earth Together In Ourselves

Bringing Heaven and Earth Together In Ourselves:

The Edgar Cayce Readings

 And the Journey of Humanity

(A spiritual journey for everyone)

A missionary of the Middle Ages tells that he had found the point where the sky and the Earth touch

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flammarion_Woodcut_1888_Color_2.jpg

The phrase; “bringing Heaven and Earth together” and its concept appear to be as ancient as humanity itself.  An intuition seemingly ingrained in our DNA that our being, our consciousness, our I Am(ness) is more than our physicality by itself.  This is a phrase that lets us know we do not have to wait until the “hereafter”, our passing on, to experience our greater consciousness, our true eternal and immortal selves.  This is a phrase that lets us know that we have the ability to experience our higher consciousness, our oneness and unity with the universe while we are still in physicality.  To come to the understanding that we are not physical beings having spiritual experiences, but spiritual beings having a physical experience and can be in contact with the Divine while on Earth.

"Hands of God and Adam" by Michelangelo - Web Gallery of Art[1]. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hands_of_God_and_Adam.jpg#/media/File:Hands_of_God_and_Adam.jpg

This concept is a theme that runs throughout the Edgar Cayce readings and is the purpose why our consciousnesses are having this physical experience. Our experience in physicality is to grow, to learn and to evolve into our higher, divine selves and in so doing becoming co-creators, peers, friends of God, the universal consciousness. Time and time again this concept is stated in the Cayce readings:

9. Hence the purposes that it, the entity, the spirit body, may make manifest in materiality or in physical consciousness the more and more awareness of the relationships of the mental body, the physical body to eternity, infinity, or the God-Consciousness.
 12. What then is the purpose of the entity's activity in the consciousness of mind, matter, spirit in the present?
13. That it, the entity, may KNOW itself to BE itself and part of the Whole; not the Whole but one WITH the whole; and thus retaining its individuality, knowing itself to be itself yet one with the purposes of the First Cause that called it, the entity, into BEING, into the awareness, into the consciousness of itself.
14. That is the purpose, that is the cause of BEING.  TEXT OF READING 826-11

10. Then its purpose is that such an entity, as this - [1861], may make manifest the spiritual influence in a material world  TEXT OF READING 1861-4 M 33

3. For the whole of the experience of an individual entity in a material plane is the coordinating and cooperation of Creative Forces from without to the divine within, as to keeping an activity that may bring into manifestations health and happiness.  TEXT OF READING 1158-8 F 47

4. In man's advent into a material world is an opportunity for the material manifestation of that which is builded by the individual soul through its activity in the various spheres of consciousness, and in the material becomes the opportunity of paralleling, correlating, cooperating, making for that which brings into existence the effects of using that which is presented in opportunity for the developing of the soul.
5. Hence opportunity, primarily, is a material manifestation of spiritual actions in conscious forces of the material plane.  TEXT OF READING 262-50

You could think of this growth and evolving of becoming a co-creator, companion, a friend of God in an analogy of a parent with their children.  Myself as an example, I love my children, always have.  When they were four and five years old I loved them dearly, but they couldn’t truly be my friends.  Now as they have grown to adulthood I love them just as dearly and now they are also friends, companions.  In this way God as a parent is waiting for his seven billion children to grow up so we can continue to be loved and also be friends, co-creators.  The purpose of our experience on Earth is to grow to that state; to spiritualize ourselves in physicality and remember our birthright.

It is a mutual participation; as we are reached out for, so we need to reach out.  This is our ultimate purpose here and now, as individuals, and as humanity as a whole.

Author ;William Blake (1757–1827) Description  Europe a Prophecy. Public domain

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Europe_a_Prophecy,_copy_D,_object_1_(Bentley_1,_Erdman_i,_Keynes_i)_British_Museum.jpg

This is a journey of bringing Heaven and Earth together within ourselves while we are here in the present. The beauty of the Cayce materials is not only the theme but their offering of guidance and suggestions for daily application to achieve our true purpose while we are here.
The quotes from the Cayce readings just noted show in summary how this beautiful theme weaves itself throughout the warp and woof of the Cayce material.  An exemplary overview of these topics and guidance from the Cayce readings and an outline for the journey can be found in the book; Contemporary Cayce.

The spiritual nature of humankind is perhaps best summarized with the statement that we are not physical beings who happen to have a soul, but instead spiritual beings inhabiting a physical body.  The purpose behind this physical consciousness experience is ultimately to bring the divine to earth.  P6 Contemporary Cayce by Kevin Todeschi and Henry Reed

And again:
The Edgar Cayce readings present the unique premise that the principal purpose for life in the earth is to bring spirit in the third dimension.  Rather than escaping the earth, our job is to collectively bring divinity into the physical dimension. P43 Contemporary Cayce by Kevin Todeschi and Henry Reed

Clearly the Cayce readings have tapped into a global theme found throughout history, cultures, and spiritual philosophies, to the point of being seen as the archetypal journey of humanity.
Throughout cultures the evidence is found of the desire to connect ourselves to the Divine, to raise ourselves up through our higher consciousness through meditation, contemplative prayer and many other practices.  Even in numerous cultures creation of Axis Mundis sites, these places where it was felt Heaven and Earth came together and helped focus initiates towards the Oneness of universal consciousness.

Description English: PD - artwork. Illustration from Chinese book of alchemy and meditation scanned from reproduction in above work. Third stage of process (detail).Date 1930 Source "The Secret of the Golden Flower" Author Richard Wilhelm (trans)   public domain

In ancient Egypt you had the Great Pyramid, a “cosmic Engine”, called so by the main stream Egyptologists themselves.
“…the pyramid as a cosmic engine depended on the on the Egyptian concept of a person and the distinct phases of life and death called kheperu.  These ‘transformations’ continued when the ka, the ba and the body, which had become separated at death interacted in the final transformation – becoming an akh, a glorified being of light, effective in the afterlife.” 
The Complete Pyramids by Mark Lehner 2008 p.20

Great Pyramid, Egypt photo credit: Don Carroll

      “The Pyramid is a simulacrum of both the mound of primeval earth and the weightless rays of sunlight, a union of heaven and earth that glorifies and transforms the divine king and ensures the divine rule of the Egyptian household.   (The Complete Pyramids by Mark Lehner, p.35)

 Egyptologists themselves recognize the purpose of pyramids was to bring Heaven and Earth together.  They believe this was in death, while the Cayce readings, I, and many other researchers believe this focal function was for an initiation during life.

Subsequently, on the other side of the Atlantic the Mayans of Mesoamerica had their own representation for themselves of the connection of Heaven and Earth; the double serpent bar.

Copan, Honduras Photos credit: Don Carroll

…the Vision Serpent, which symbolized the path of communication between the two worlds,… ( A Forest of Kings by Linda Schele and David Freidel p.69)

“Its original function in the Late Preclassic period was to symbolize “sky” based on the homophony in Mayan languages between chan – “sky and chan- “snake”. Since it had originally marked the environment through which the gods move, it structural position in Maya symbolism overlaps partly with the Vision Serpent.  In its fully developed form, it signal both sky and the vision path, as well as the act of birthing the gods through the vision rite.  (p.415-416) A Forest of Kings by Linda Schele and David Freidel

Terence Greider was the first to propose that the ceremonial bar identified its holder as a personification of the “world tree” or the axis mundi thereby directly connecting the holder to cosmic deities and the celestial realm. 

The ceremonial bar was consistently associated with primordial energy, with shamanic performance and transformation, and with confliction. It represents an allegory about origin and initiation.
The Classic Maya Ceremonial Bar, ANALES DEL INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES ESTÉTICAS, NÚM. 65, 1994, FLORA S. CLANCY University of New Mexico

Meanwhile in the British Isles, evidence has been discovered that Stonehenge possibly used sound to raise one’s higher consciousness and connect to the Divine.

Stonehenge  photo credit: Don Carroll

These low frequencies are very similar to the brainwave frequencies of alpha and beta types of activity. It is possible that those around the edge of the stone circle would have chanted at the speed of the percussive sounds, or sung long notes with a vibrato wobbling at 5.2Hz, in time with the music, in order to entrain their brainwaves to the music, to make the dominant frequency of their brain activity slow to a theta pattern, typical of deep meditation, hypnosis or trance. This is a similar state to the hypnogogic or twilight state between waking and sleeping, and the eyes would be shut for this practice. In the centre a different frequency could have been produced by modal vibration and echoes, one of 10.4Hz, still associated with closed eyes and meditation, and to some with healing. 10.4Hz is associated with alpha wave brain activity, a more active state. It may be that at the centre, a leader was able to stay alert because of this alpha state, continuing to drive a rhythm along and communicate with those at the edge of the stone circle, as they gradually became lost in a deep reverie. The leader could also communicate with those outside the circle. Turow makes a convincing argument that this kind of auditory driving of the brain’s frequencies is possible, and provides evidence from many traditional religious practices.
https://soundsofstonehenge.wordpress.com/

Not only is there this evidence of Stonehenge being used to raise the consciousness of initiates to connect with a higher and universal consciousness, other evidence has shown that the site marked significant solar and lunar events, thus linking this terrestrial site with the celestial, further linking Heaven and Earth together there. This symbolic physical connecting of ancient sacred sites of initiation from the earth to the heavens is not uncommon.   One more example is atop the primary temple in Machu Picchu, it is called THE INTIHUATANA; literally translated to mean “the hitching post of the sun.”

Machu Picchu: The hitching post of the sun     photo credit: Don Carroll

These are just a few examples around the globe of cultures throughout humanity’s existence following this quest, this birthright that seems so rooted in the human psyche, the return to being directly connected, and one with God. As the Cayce readings phrased it: to know oneself to be oneself yet One with the whole. Simply look at the Old Testament or any of the world’s sacred writing.  Where would they go to find this connection?  They would go to the “high places”, such as mountains, Mount Sinai, Mount Horeb, Mount Fuji, Mount Meru, and Mount Shasta just to name a few. Further, archeologist believe the purpose of pyramids were to symbolically represent mountains, and such “high places.  These places are known as Axis Mundis; sites where Heaven and Earth come together. 
The purpose is for venturing inward.  We are not separated from the Divine, it is all One, we are all aspects of this whole, and it is within and also everything, waiting to be awakened, waiting to be remembered.  And in remembering, consciously, we spiritually evolve; maturing in order, to reclaim our eternal birthright of being co-creators with the universal consciousness.  This may seem like “heady” stuff, beyond our grasp, our awareness and our rights, but that is the illusion of separation.  It is not about being unworthy, it is about becoming ready.  We grow to Heaven rather than go to heaven and that journey begins here and now, if we so choose.

We are told this, some examples from the Bible;

I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.  King James Bible Psalm 82

Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
John 10-34 King James Bible 

Eastern traditions share this message.  In the Shinto spiritual tradition in their modern shrines the mirror that sits on the altar represents the spirit of the enshrined kami. (Creative Forces), awe is the feeling that this representation is intended to invoke.  In some shrines the mirror is fixed at such an angle that when worshippers pray, they find they are looking at their own reflection to remember and awaken the divine within yourself.

Attribution: Chris 73 / Wikimedia Commons Shinto shrine

We see this idea of our ability being Divine even in Nation’s capital.

The Apotheosis of Washington depicts George Washington sitting amongst the heavens in an exalted manner, or in literal terms, ascending and becoming a God (apotheosis).  Public Domain, National Archives

This idea of apotheosis, deification, becoming a co-creator is not beyond our reach or only for some; this is the journey of humanity and every soul.  As many, besides the Cayce readings, have pointed this journey out to us.

…the Spirit calls us to transformation of our inmost being, and indeed of all our faculties, into the divine way of being and acting.  The Greek Fathers called this deification.   The Human Condition by Thomas Keating p22 Paulist Press NY, NY-Mahwah, NJ 1999

That it is possible for human beings to love, know and, from virtually, to become actually identical with the Divine Ground.  That to achieve this unitive knowledge of the God-head is the final end and purpose of human existence. P.15 The Divine Within by Aldous Huxley

The Cayce readings did a 23 reading analysis of the meaning and symbolism of the Bible; Revelation, and it was interpreted as a symbolic tract of spiritualizing the body, bringing Heaven and Earth together.

In the Christian tradition all this is along the lines of the path called “Glorification”.

Glorification involves first of all the believer's sanctification or moral …in which the believer will be made glorious, holy, and blameless …). The process of sanctification is at work in us now … but moves from one degree of glory to another until it reaches final glory.
Second, the body participates in glorification …which is the believer's deliverance and liberty …As a result, the glorified body is immortal …imperishable, powerful, and spiritual…Moreover, creation itself participates in this aspect of glorification …
In the third place, glorification brings participation in the kingdom of God …even to the point of our reigning with Christ …
Finally, glorification is in some sense a partaking of God's own glory …
http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/glorification.html

As can be seen we are mutual participants in the process with spirit, mind and body, with the ability to do so here and now. It is a process of raising our higher consciousness in spirit, learning with our mind and applying in physicality.  Just as alluded to in the New Testament; 

14 For if I pray in a foreign language, my spirit prays but my mind is not productive.  15 What does this mean? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing psalms with my spirit, but I will also sing psalms with my mind.  16 Otherwise, if you say a blessing with your spirit, how can an otherwise uneducated person[e] say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you’re saying?  17 It’s good for you to give thanks, but it does not build up the other person.  1 Corinthians 14 International Standard Version

The Cistercian monk, Thomas Keating writes similarly of the process.

“But the spiritual journey is more than a psychological process. It is of course primarily a process of grace.  God also speaks to us in nature.  The more we know about nature, the more we know about the mind of God. Einstein believed that science was directed toward discovering God’s thoughts.  Quantum physics itself is a kind of spirituality insofar as it is always looking farther into the unknown to see what is beyond the known.”  P12 The Human Condition by Thomas Keating p22 Paulist Press NY, NY-Mahwah, NJ 1999

Knowing the mind of God, raising our consciousness to such a level while in earth, bring heaven and earth together in glorification and co-creation.  That is the journey of humanity and fulfillment of our quest.  This is the thread and guide throughout the Cayce readings.

7. Thus may the relationships of the entity and the universal consciousness, or God, become more and more a conscious reality. Not that it may be even describable in words. For, words are merely a means of communicating ideas to one individual from another, while universal consciousness with Creative Forces is rather the awareness that bespeaks of life itself. And life in every form is the manifestation of that force called God. TEXT OF READING 2246-1

to seek, to know, to experience its relationships to its Creator, its mate, its part of itself. For the Creative Forces are more even than companionship; for the heritage of each soul is to know itself to be itself yet one with that Creative Force. TEXT OF READING 1210-1

Edgar Cayce also knew and understood this in his waking state, as evidenced in his letters.

MY purpose, if I know it, is to discover those truths and to
find how or in what manner they may be given to seekers for
their own expression of that cosmic mind in materiality.
4/24/34Edgar Cayce’s letter: to #440

Not only did the Cayce readings of interpreting the Bible’s Revelation chapter view it as bringing the New Jerusalem of Heaven to earth within ourselves. Also the readings described Edgar Cayce in an early incarnation in ancient Egypt as named Ra Ta, a high priest that helped design the Great Pyramid as a site for initiates for a similar purpose.  Further, in Egyptian hieroglyphs, Ra transliterates as their sun god, representing the Heavens and Ta transliterates as earth or land.  He literally brought Heaven and Earth together in his name.

It is a journey of being conscious with the Empyrean Light that his readings have guided and continues to guide many., and in so doing we begin to realize we, ourselves are the ultimate Axis Mundis.

Color modifications of an 1867 Public Domain image by Gustave Doré, of Dante Alighieri and Beatrice Portinari gazing into the Empyrean Light. Oneness with the Creative Forces. Description English: Color modifications of an 1867 Public Domain image by Gustave Doré, of Dante Alighieri and Beatrice Portinari gazing into the Empyrean Light. Date 1867 Source https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paradiso_Canto_31.jpg