Quotes
"Love is about entering reality, not entering paradise." Anne Geraghty
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Plato
There are a number of stories in Biblical, Hekhaloth
and Gnostic sources of a pavement or firmament
composed of crystal stone at the footstool of
the throne of the divine.
Ezek 1:22
‘And over the heads of the living creatures was an
image like the appearance of terrible crystal,
stretched over their heads from above.’
Ezek. 24.10
‘And they saw the God of Israel, and under
his feet, something like tilework of crystal sapphire
and like the substance of heaven for purity.
1 Enoch 14
‘And, shaking and trembling, I fell on my face.
And I saw in my vision and beheld another house
greater than this one with its door wide open
before me, all built of tongues of fire.
And in every respect it excelled, in glory,
honour and greatness, so I am unable to express its
glory and its greatness. And its floor was of fire,
above which was lightening flashes and shooting stars;
and its ceiling was of blazing fire. And I looked and saw
a lofty throne; and its appearance was, as it were,
crystalline, and its wheels were like the shining sun;
and there was the sound of cherubim.
The visionary accounts of the merkavah ascents
through the seven heavens describe a
transition/transformation which takes you to the
limit of perception. This is a stage process through
seven heavens. At the sixth heaven the rider is
tested for his ability to see the crystal as crystal
rather than water (refer Rabbi Akiba in Hekhalot
Zutarti). This test relates to the purity of the
participant and his ability to overcome the loss
of personal identity required to enter the
divine throne room. Only if capable is he allowed
to pass through iron and fire to the seventh heaven.
It may be that the crystal sword is fashioned
from the material to be found in the pavement
of the footstool of the divine throne.
There are a number of stories in Biblical, Hekhaloth
and Gnostic sources of a pavement or firmament
composed of crystal stone at the footstool of
the throne of the divine.
Ezek 1:22
‘And over the heads of the living creatures was an
image like the appearance of terrible crystal,
stretched over their heads from above.’
Ezek. 24.10
‘And they saw the God of Israel, and under
his feet, something like tilework of crystal sapphire
and like the substance of heaven for purity.
1 Enoch 14
‘And, shaking and trembling, I fell on my face.
And I saw in my vision and beheld another house
greater than this one with its door wide open
before me, all built of tongues of fire.
And in every respect it excelled, in glory,
honour and greatness, so I am unable to express its
glory and its greatness. And its floor was of fire,
above which was lightening flashes and shooting stars;
and its ceiling was of blazing fire. And I looked and saw
a lofty throne; and its appearance was, as it were,
crystalline, and its wheels were like the shining sun;
and there was the sound of cherubim.
The visionary accounts of the merkavah ascents
through the seven heavens describe a
transition/transformation which takes you to the
limit of perception. This is a stage process through
seven heavens. At the sixth heaven the rider is
tested for his ability to see the crystal as crystal
rather than water (refer Rabbi Akiba in Hekhalot
Zutarti). This test relates to the purity of the
participant and his ability to overcome the loss
of personal identity required to enter the
divine throne room. Only if capable is he allowed
to pass through iron and fire to the seventh heaven.
It may be that the crystal sword is fashioned
from the material to be found in the pavement
of the footstool of the divine throne.