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35

The Lamb

REVELATION 21:23

2

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1

2

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3

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3:5

The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God shines on it, and the Lamb is its lamp.

Shadow

The shadow is the personal unconscious part of the psyche that harbors both positive and negative aspects of the individual's personality. As an adverse element, the shadow is the unknown parts of ourselves that we project on to "the others" as the cause of all that is wrong in the world. 

A man who is unconscious of himself acts in a blind, instinctive way and is in addition fooled by all the illusions that arise when he sees everything that he is not conscious of in himself coming to meet him from outside as projections upon his neighbour.

The shadow as the projection making factor is not the shadow that belongs to the Lamb but the bride. It's an embodiment of the pride that appears in the form of the bride's shadow that blinds the individual from seeing the dark aspects of oneself to the degree of denying its very existence. When in fact, as a rule, what we despise in others is a mirrored reflection of the contempt we have of ourselves. 

Carl Jung

Psychology and Religion

But what if I should discover that the least among them all, the poorest of all beggars, the most impudent of all offenders, yea the very fiend himselfthat these are within me, and that I myself stand in need of my own kindness, that I myself am the enemy who must be lovedwhat then? Then, as a rule, the whole truth of Christianity is reversed: there is no more talk of love and long-suffering; we say to the brother within us, "Raca," and condemn and rage against ourselves. We hide him from the world; we deny ever having met this least among the lowly in ourselves, and had it been God himself who drew near to us in this despicable form, we should have denied him a thousand times before a single cock had crowed.

Lamb 2.jpg

What, then, is this shadow that is

attached to the Lamb? 

The shadow of the Lamb is the shadow formed by the projection of others on to the Lamb. Unlike the shadow of the bride, which needs to be integrated into the personality, the shadow forged by others projection has to be cast-off, as the moon casts its shadow to reemerge from the depths. The work by Nam June Paik, TV Buddha, offers a poignant reflection on this topic. 

The Buddha, a symbol of enlightenment, is in a meditative posture, not looking inwards, but looking at the image of himself through the lens of others, the projection. 

TV Buddha.jpg

TV Buddha, 1974, Nam Jun Paik

Photo:Tate (Andrew Dunkley)

Message for the Lambs

This message is for all the Lambs of the world from the one holding the seven stars in his right hand: I know how much you had to endure to come this far. I know the burden you are carrying. Let go of the load. You are not responsible for how others choose to perceive you. Don't carry the weight of other's resentment. That is not your load to bear. Save yourself so that, in due time, you may guide the others.

3.png

Collective Unconscious

There is one other way the 'Lamb' becomes the 'Lamp'. It is by standing on the water for self-reflection. The reflected letter 'b' becomes the letter 'p' on the surface of the water to form the word 'Lamp'. To see yourself clearly on the surface of the water, first, you must calm the water, the mind. This, in itself, is no small task. It demands an arduous self-reflection on the part of the individual. But with honest effort and proper sacrifice, the helping hand will find the seeker in the form of God's grace.

3-6

5 x 7 = 35

Matthew 14:25

Between three and six o'clock in the morning Jesus came to them, walking on the water.

Three and six = 36

Once the quieting of the water has been attained, it's now time to face the obstacle that stands in your way of entering the city of thousand jewels. If the pride is the height of the wall the bride had to contend with, as the shadow forming agent, the contents of the personal unconscious, then inversely, the lamp, the source of illumination, must be the depth of the unknown the Lamb has to voluntarily plunge into to bring up the contents of the collective unconscious, a priori knowledge.

Lam

b-1.png
b-2.png

2

16

216

T.S. Eliot

Here lies the grave peril. If you are not overcome by the fear in the face of the abyss, then there is the danger of becoming completely absorbed by it. To enter the walled city, you must go beyond the image you produce or else you will surely drown in the pool of your own reflection as we learn in the myth of Narcissus. This juncture is where the failed hero's journey of J. Alfred Prufrock comes to an end.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back

When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown

Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

The overcoming of this temptation is hauntingly depicted in the movie Little Buddha. Siddhārtha, before becoming the Buddha, the Awakened One, faces the image of himself as the last temptation. The One who is not yet the Buddha face-off with the architect of the matrix who appears in the form of Mara. In this encounter, the One is neither moved by fear or desire. Instead of being pulled in by the projector of illusion, he pulls him out from under to unveil the face behind the veneer.

2:40 (2:4) = 24

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