The Pageless Book

Photo Above by Justin Henry. Photo Below by Wendy.

“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in your reading have been like the blast of triumph out of Shakespeare, Seneca, Moses, John and Paul.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 - 1882.

What exactly makes a text holy? Some would tell you it is the inherent truth of the text, the authority endowed upon the book’s author by a divine source, and the traditions surrounding the text. That is basically that person’s way of telling you which books he or she believes you should accept as holy. Seeing as each person’s interpretation of the truth, acceptance of authority, and version of tradition is a matter of opinion and personal taste, we cannot use these as objective means of deciding which writings are holy. Or can we?

Consider the possibility that holiness is not endowed upon the text by the writer, but instead by the reader. What if that which makes a book sacred is the divinity within the person who reads it? How would that change religion and spirituality? We would become more tolerant and open minded towards other religions and traditions. As individuals, our relationship with the text would be much different; we would be more willing to question our own point of view and accept another’s point of view as equally valid. Would we be so bold as to become prophets ourselves and write our own holy texts? Well, as you’ve probably already surmised, I am quite comfortable with the idea that we each could be prophets if we choose.

I can understand if the idea of prophecy rubs some of my readers the wrong way. It is, after all, the prophets that declare their own writings as the final true word of God. No one wants to be seen as being a raving zealot or, worse yet, dangerously insane. Let me see if I can ease your concerns. Prayer is a commonly accepted practice, used to purposely communicate your thoughts and feelings to the Divine Source. Meditation is a commonly accepted practice of silencing the mind, the result of which opens the heart and mind to listen for answers from that same Divine Source. Billions of people, all over the world and from all religions, use both means of communing with the Divine every day. The difference between them and so-called prophets is that the prophets have the sense to write down what they hear and then become famous for teaching the wisdom of the text - or rather, the wisdom inherent in the reader.

There is a down side to all this, though; you would be forced to think for yourself. Not everyone is reassured by their own judgment in what is true for them. These people would rather be told what to think rather then think for themselves. Doubt, for some, is a downward spiral rather then a purifier of faith. They see it as such, because doubt forces them to question the pillars which they believe their faith is dependent on. Like a child who believes that the trees hold up the sky, every question of doubt in one of these false pillars of faith seem to threaten to bring eternal night. This is truly sad, because you cannot have free will without doubt, and without free will, faith within holy writings is meaningless.

To write your own Bible is to reclaim that free will and reclaim your right to commune with the divine as you see fit. Religion was never meant to be a static list of beliefs and creeds, but rather an on-going conversation between man and the Divine. I look forward to reading some of your own conversations with the Divine and continuing to share my conversations with you.
Originally Posted October 5th, 2007.

Above Photo by Di’ goy! Zabala. Book Photo by Lin Pernille. Church Photo by Lyn Gateley.

The text of The Gated Emptiness can never, and will never, be used as the basis for a religion. It is written to discredit itself, encourage dissidence, and give the power of religion back to each individual. Realistically, I doubt that these words that I wrote in a trance will ever gain popularity, but should The Gated Emptiness manage to, the very mechanism of its language prevents the formation of a singular religious institution. This is because it reads:

“Unto earth, God saw fit to give man and woman and child alike prophecy. In the ages that passed, many books were pieced from the words grasped through the smoke and scent of the mind. Some were warped by the poisons mankind had consumed, others were broken and still others were misunderstood.”

As I have pointed out in the article I wrote before this, the trinity of man-woman-child is representative of all humanity. Whether male or female, young or old, beggar or billionaire, The Gated Emptiness claims that we are each endowed with the privilege of communicating with our creator. Not all people will take advantage of this privilege, nor can anyone claim that their communication with the Divine is any closer to truth than any other.

The passage above implies that all holy texts are flawed, including itself. This text, like all texts, was pieced together - its words grasped at due to our inability to understand. In the same way that we can not describe a scent in concrete terms, we can not put words to the absolute Truth. To make matters worse, the very methods in which we receive these holy texts, the transfer and translation of these holy texts, and our understanding of these holy texts are called into question. There is no perfection in this communication between us and the Divine; it is as organic and messy as the rest of reality.

What is worse is that the passage that follows suggests that no one religion is permanent. It reads:

“There are three books of which the first given to Metatron, the second to Sandalphon, and the last to Apollion. All these books where once in time one page and again shall return to one page. Those of the future shall forget the past. Those of the past shall forget the present. Those of the present shall forget the future. So it is with all temples; God’s hand knows no religion.”

We are confronted with the question of which three books The Gated Emptiness refers. Ironically enough, the trinity which receives each book also serves as the namesakes of each chapter of this text. Each of the three chapters of The Gated Emptiness could be written on one page and still remain legible. However, I don’t believe this is the meaning behind this passage.

It makes more sense that the three books that are referred to are the Jewish Bible, the Christian New Testament, and the Qu’ran. The believers of these three are, as the Muslims put it, people of the book. If you put this in the context in which I was raised, it only makes sense that the Jewish Bible, the Christian New Testament, and the Qu’ran are the three books referred to in The Gated Emptiness. I was raised a Christian, in a Christian society. Judaism and Islam are the only two religions that are considered as possibly being equals to Christianity in this society.

However, this passage suggests that in the same way these religions have come into being, they can and will depart. No one religion can serve as the eternal religion; there simply is no such thing. As much as anyone would like to believe that their faith is the one faith that finally gets it right, it simply is not so. All religions will falter and fail, and the only thing left will be humanity’s relationship with the Divine. That is the way God has meant it to be.

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.

Part of what The Gated Emptiness calls on me to do, is teach that all people are worthy of being Priests and Prophets. That’s a pretty tall order, when you think about it. I thought I was the only one suggesting this, but then I came across this clip of Matthew Fox.

Matthew Fox, a defrocked catholic priest, has been championing such radical theological ideas since the early 1980’s. I didn’t know about this man until recently, but I’m sure to start reading up on who he is and his ideas. We need more icons of progressive spirituality like this man, and I want to do everything I can to make such ideas more mainstream.

Perhaps after I read more about Father Fox, I’ll write a more comprehensive article on him. For now, I’d like to just share this brief clip from one of his lectures.

9 Minutes and 54 Second


You can view more clips of his lectures here, and visit his website here.