The Pageless Book

Above Photo by Joi Ito. Image Below by Chris Gladis. Hebrew Script Photo by Jurek Durczak. Last Photo Below by Jeff Kubina.

In my previous article, Three Serpents, I discussed the symbolism behind the entities Metatron, Sandalphon, and Apollion, as the holy trinity of The Gated Emptiness. They are not the only trinity present in this text, however; we are also presented with a trinity that represents all of humanity. The Gated Emptiness reads:

“The mother is the past, but she shall be ever present. The father is present, but he ever thrusts forward. The child unites both past and future. The child opens the gates of hell, of heaven, of the palaces, and of the worlds. These three enter all gates, and close all.”

The trinity of humanity - man, woman, and child - represents past, present, and future in various stages. They also represent the movement of time. Woman symbolizes the movement from the past to the present while man symbolizes the movement from the present to the future. Yet it is the child, who unities both past and future, that opens the all gates - all of our possibilities. What is meant by these passages and what does it say regarding humanity?

Before we can get to answer that question, we have to understand the language that The Gated Emptiness is using. It is no coincidence that we are introduced to both a holy trinity and a human trinity within the confines of the same chapter. This points to the frame work within which we can better understand what the text is telling us. Not only can this be interpreted as a reference to the biblical account of the Divine making mankind in its likeness, but simultaneously introduces the concept of the infinite cycle of history. In my mind, there is no mistaking this passage for anything but a reference to the Gnostic credo, “As Above, So Below.”

So “Gnostic” is like being agnostic, right? Er, No. Gnosticism was a religious movement which blended Christianity with the popular Greek, Egyptian, and Roman religions or philosophies. This movement was considered highly heretical by the early Christian church which attempted to suppress Gnosticism and was largely successful due to the shear diversity within that movement. Gnostic beliefs later became highly influential in the formation of Qabalah (a Jewish form of mysticism) and medieval occultism.

And what of the gates of hell, heaven, the palaces, and the worlds? Is this, too, a Gnostic reference? Actually, it is a Qabalistic reference, as is the following passage:

“Twelve hands grab hold of the sides of sky and pull the starry hosts towards the center into the eye of God. Six hands go forth and move the fabric of night and day. Eight hands usher the wise towards enlightenment, holding upright the Tree of Life. So are formed the altar and keystone, the foundation of the earth.”

Twelve? Six? Eight? What?! This is going to take some explaining. Pay attention, as there will be a quiz later on… The twelve hands represents the twelve astrological signs, six hands represents the six ancient planets (minus the sun), and the eight hands represent the seven lower Sephiroth of the Tree of Life along with Da’ath. The Tree of Life is a graphical representation of creation, as understood by Qabalists, which has ten Sephiroth or stages of creation along with one Pseudo-Sephiroth named Da’ath. The “altar and keystone” are symbolized by these hands; a cube has six faces, twelve edges (where two faces meet), and eight points (where three faces meet).

If this all sounds like one long convoluted riddle, that is because… it is a long convoluted riddle! Both Gnosticism and Qabalah are extremely symbolic in their language and artwork. These religious movements formed during a time of persecution, so secrecy was an important consideration, but more important was that both of these movements understood that the Divine is beyond our comprehension. Much like a Zen Koan, hiding their meaning underneath layers of symbols ensured that a person had to dismantle their preconceptions before coming to understand its meaning.

Why does The Gated Emptiness include something so arcane that its meaning has to be spelled out? I could give you some pretentious bovine manure, that in order to understand and appreciate the depth of The Gated Emptiness you would need to be versed in several mystic traditions; the truth, however, is not this glamourous. During the period which I wrote this text, I was heavily into occultism, which influenced my subconscious. Whether you believe that The Gated Emptiness is a divinely inspired text or not, it still had to run through the filter of my subconsciousness. If it had not been for this fact, the two above passages probably would have read very differently:

Humanity exists as a cumulation of our choices as a species to date and the possibilities we will have in the future. It is we who choose our own suffering or pleasure, poverty or abundance. The very universe in which we live is there to support us and challenge us. It is in this way that we are in the image of God.

Yes, it is easier to understand, but not nearly as poetic.