The Pageless Book

The first sixty words of The Gated Emptiness reads:

“In the beginning, there was emptiness. And the emptiness was consciousness and consciousness was inconceivable, amen. And in that maelstrom of consciousness, three beings emerged, these being Metatron, Sandalphon, and Apollion. They were likened unto serpents and wove throughout the continuity of consciousness. Through Metatron is God’s omnipotence, through Sandalphon is God’s omnipresence, and through Apollion is God’s omniscience. Amen.”

Who or what exactly are these three entities first introduced in this book, and why do they come before the introduction of God? I like to think of The Gated Emptiness as being something of an iconoclast’s holy book, yet the first thing the book does is set up three idols to represent the qualities of God. Why do we need to start this text off in this way?

Metatron, Sandalphon and Apollion are all angels found in Jewish and Christian folk lore. Metatron, who’s name is thought to mean ‘behind the throne,’ is said to be the angel who took Enoch away into the Kingdom of Heaven and is sometimes also identified as the angel who lead the people of Israel through the wilderness. Sandalphon, who’s name means ‘brother,’ is thought to be the prophet Elijah’s angelic form. Finally Apollion, also called Abaddon which means destroyer, appears in Revelations as the angel who opens the gates of the abyss. These three entities are something like a trinity, each representing an aspect of God. They are, however, merely symbolic.

If you believe as I do that God is both the sum of reality and beyond reality, there really isn’t any way to discuss God without creating idols of one kind or another. Even the idea of “God” is an idol - an assumption on our part as to the nature of reality. Breaking God (or reality) down into easily understandable chunks is the only way we can hope to communicate about its nature. Even though we understand that these “chunks” of God are not by themselves the definition of God, we get one step closer to grasping the unaccessible nature of the Divine. This also the purpose behind Qabalah, or Jewish Mysticism, which I will talk about more in later articles.

In all actuality, God is the first character to be introduced in The Gated Emptiness. God is the emptiness, which is inconceivable consciousness. The act of creation or realization that is called “a maelstrom of consciousness” relates not only to the creation of reality, but also making the inconceivable more understandable. The emergence of Metatron, Sandalphon, and Apollion is symbolic of this. Reality is like a huge piece of marble which remains meaningless until we cut away the excess and create a form; the portion that we cut away is no less apart of reality, but with out excluding something there is nothing to include.

In order to make itself more understandable, The Gated Emptiness is also divided into three distinct section, each named after one of the three before mentioned angels. It is absolutely necessary to break down the message into digestible parts, each with it’s own voice and theme. Of Metatron is something of a Genesis and Apocalypse story, that covers not only creation but also forewarns of destruction in symbolic terms that are easy to understand. This part shows us where we’ve been and asks us where we are going. Of Sandalphon takes the first person perspective, speaking to the reader as the identity of what I can only presume is God. In this voice, we are told why we suffer and asked to attempt to understand. Of Apollion are something like commandments, psalms, or allegories; it gives us advice. The final chapter mirrors its namesake in that it encourages us to break free and destroy our own idols and misconceptions.

These three parts come together to give us a more complete picture of the message behind The Gated Emptiness. This is similar in the way in which all holy books, when considered in the context of each other, gives us a better understanding of religion and spirituality as a whole. When approaching any literature, religious or not, it is important to look at the writing not only in a linear manner, but also view it in a non-linear fashion to gain a more panoramic view of the text. Perhaps that is the reason why most people cannot read the Christian Bible or Quran straight through; in order for the text to be meaningful, you need to know what happens in the end from the very beginning.

Angel image by Toni Lozano. Serpent Photo by Mike Wagner. Wall Photo by ‘Fotologic’.