Saturday, April 7, 2012

The Blessed Fall of Man!


The truth about the so called ‘Fall of Man’
by Tomas Martin Bell, OpD

Most of us have heard the story of the “fall of Man” often told by the Roman or Christian preachers.  Their preaching refers to the story of creation from the Hebrew book of Genesis.  We are told that humanity is a “fallen” race that is expelled from paradise by a Creator God who punishes humanity for the first offense or “original sin” of man against its Creator.  The story centers around an apple, the fruit of a “forbidden” tree, that humanity is not permitted to eat.  You have been told that the Creator God casts man humanity out of paradise for disobeying the order not to eat of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” because only “God” can decide what is “good” and what is “evil” for humans.  What a load of bunk! 

First, let me shed the light of Truth on a few ideas from this story:

The tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” referred to in the Genesis story is an expression that comes from the Ancient Hebrew idiom meaning “knowledge of all things.”  It is not meant to call to mind the ideas today associated with “moral evils;” neither is it meant to call to mind modern ideas that are the opposite of “moral evils” (i.e.: “social good” like “love,” “peace,” “joy,” etc…) This term more closely refers to advanced knowledge and exhaustive knowledge of all that exists.  Advanced knowledge can be thought of as the knowledge of the physicists in their field of study or the knowledge of the medical doctors in their field.  Exhaustive knowledge can be thought of as “omniscience” which is often a term used only when describing the infinite or unknowable “Creator” or “God.” 

Why is knowledge associated with a tree and its fruit?
This question is one that is of primary importance.  It helps us to unlock a door to Truth.  A tree is the result of a seed being planted into a body (earth) that takes root and springs forth from that body (matter) and reaches into its opposite, the heavens (spirit).  The tree can be thought of as a bridge between two worlds.  The roots of a tree that are in the earth draw water from the body of earth and sustain the life of the tree in part.  The branches stretch out into the heavens (in that same way that the roots reach down into the earth) to draw light into the tree and sustain its life in part.  Within the tree both water and light are used to produce a fruit (an offspring) that contains within it all the potential of the tree, and more.  The fruit is a product of the earth and water and of the heavens and light.  It contains seeds within it that have the power to bring new trees to life in other parts of the world. 

There are two trees in the “Garden of Eden” story.  One is the “tree of life” and the other is the aforementioned “tree of knowledge…”  The first people were not “forbidden” to eat of the tree of life.  This is a fact from the Genesis story that is worth pondering.  In the early stages of humanity (which the Genesis story discusses) it was certainly safe for people to eat from the tree of life (reproduce) but these early people were not yet able to learn and understand advanced ideas (knowledge).

With all this in mind, let me give you a new understanding of the “Garden of Eden” story:

The Blessed Fall
Early humans were not able to learn advanced things, but they were good and had much potential.  However, they were not yet formed intellectually as they are to-day.  So, existence gave then many gifts to help them live and develop.  One gift was the gift of the trees.  Trees allowed them to eat fruit made from two worlds: the world of water and the world of light.  Water contained all that humans needed to have material life and movement.  Light contained the potential of enlightenment.  Each time a human ate from the trees, the nourishment and potential of the trees became a part of them.  They were able to grow strong and beautiful because of the nutrients of the water of life found in the fruit of the trees.  The “tree of life” made it possible for them to reproduce and have offspring of their own kind. This tree gave the fullness of the gift and power of earth and water.  It gave life itself to the humans.  Other trees gave humans other abilities as they developed. 

The first humans benefitted from all the gifts of water and earth given to them by the trees but they were not yet able to take in the fruit of a special tree called the “tree of knowledge.”  You see the fruit of the trees which gave earth and water ability were easy for the first humans to digest because this fruit was made mostly from the same material out of which the first humans were formed.  The fruit of the “tree of knowledge” however was made mostly from that which is thought, of heaven, and air.  To eat of this tree would take some time because humans had to eat enough of the other trees (which contained parts of thought, heaven) to build up the ability to digest the fruit of knowledge. 

Life itself created a way to protect humans from the dangers of eating from a tree before the right time.  Life created gravity.  Gravity would help the humans and the trees.  The trees would keep their fruits until the fruit was ripe and the humans were ready to eat of it.  When the fullness of time arrived, the trees would send forth their fruits and Gravity would cause the fruit to fall down to the humans waiting below. 

The first humans made sure that their children respected the law of nature.  They told their children about the dangers of eating a fruit that is not ripe.  Fruit that is not ripe will be hard to digest.  Some of it can make you very sick.  Sickness can even kill you.  They taught their children to be patient and to respect life and nature.  They taught their children to never think they know more than life; and to never reach up and pluck the fruit from a tree that has not given you its fruit.  They taught that each tree has its own life cycle.  Some trees send down their fruits quickly.  While other trees take a long time to give their fruit. 

There was one tree that took many, many seasons to give off its fruit.  This tree was called Wisdom.  Not all could eat of Wisdom’s fruit because it took many seasons to ripen.  Some people died before the fruit of Wisdom ripened.  Others grew tired and fell asleep so that when the fruit fell to the earth, there was no one awake to eat it and it spoiled.  Those who reached up to pluck that fruit before its time, died when they ate of it because there is a poison in unripened Wisdom that kills when it is taken into the body.   

Those who were alive and awake when the Wisdom fruit fell were called Blessed by the Fall.  They were reborn by the Fall of Wisdom.  They were able to eat of its fruit and become like living Wisdom trees who walked the earth with their feet as roots, but who soar the heavens with their heads like the branches reaching into the sky.  Their fruits were the words of Wisdom they spoke.  It is said that the Blessed Ones were like the tree of Wisdom, in that they waited many seasons to give off their fruit.  But those who were alive and awake when the Blessed Ones gave their fruit could eat of this fruit and gain the strength and knowledge to find the Ancient Wisdom tree and sit under its branches and await its divine fruit which bore the seeds that could make them also Blessed by the Fall. 

We too are blessed, not cursed

The “Garden of Eden” story is meant to inspire humanity and display its divine potential.  In the early stages man had to wait for Wisdom to ripen.  That is why prehistoric man (we did not record the thoughts and beliefs of these generations because they did not attain knowledge that was good to pass on into future generations.  They were those who are forgotten. They had to be lost to history, because their intellects were not formed enough to give them the power to pass on their spirit/intelligence to those to come) which can be thought of as represented by the characters “Adam and Eve,” was told that it could not eat of the tree of knowledge.  Later in our development, however, the apple fell on to the minds of man (as it fell on the head of Sir Isaac Newton, who sat under the tree with patient intelligence). 

When any preacher or any church tells you that you carry the burden of some primordial sin of humanity, do not swallow it. It is poisoned fruit from a man who has not been blessed by the fall. It is bitter fruit that comes from the angry hearts of those who plucked the fruit before it was given to them by nature and they tasted death. Do not let them tempt you to believe that death is the fruit of life. Life produces fruit of its own kind.  Life does not produce death.  Good does not produce evil.  Truth does not produce lies.  Look with opened eyes and see the tree by the fruit it produces.  


I hope that you all may be blessed by the fall.

I am,
one who waited.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Viewing the Creation Story of Genesis with a new eye!

We will post a full interpretation of the Creation Story of Genesis as discussed at Priesty and the Witch gathering #2.  The updated class handout notes are below!



Gathering #2
March 24-25, 2012
The Creation Stories/Lessons
There is a sound Rabbinic doctrine which states: “Accept the true from whatever source it come.”
Besides drawing from our own training we have used the following sources that you may be able to access for further information:
1) Popularly known as the Hertz Chumash, this classic Hebrew-English edition of the Five Books of Moses, with corresponding Haftorahs, is used in synagogues and classrooms throughout the English-speaking world.  In this compact volume, the late Chief Rabbi of England, Rabbi Dr. Joseph Hertz, provides readers with a lucid exposition of the text and the spiritual and ethical teachings of the Torah, culled from a wide range of scholarly literature. The Hertz Chumash contains the full Hebrew text, line-by-line English translation, and the classic Hertz commentary, complete with all the Haftorahs for holidays and special Sabbaths. 2) Hebrew text of the Book of Genesis based on the Codex Leningrad. 3) Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible, Benner.

Judeo/Christian Creation Story: Genesis 1:1-5
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
A note on the Hebrew use of the word translated into ‘In the beginning’: the Hebrew word for ‘beginning’ and the word for ‘head’ is ראש (pronounced ‘rosh’). It is translated by Benner as ‘summit’ -the height, ‘head’ -top of the body, the first of a succession.  God/Elohim –that which comprehends and unifies all the forces of eternity and infinity. ‘the heaven and the earth’ –The visible world; that which is above (heaven), and that which is below (earth).

2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.
‘the earth’ –The material out of which the universe is formed. ‘formless and void’ –disordered and empty of purpose. ‘darkness’ –that which obscures the perception/ability ‘to see’ clearly.  ‘face’ –rendered in the plural in Hebrew, better: surfaces or appearances.  ‘deep’ –rendered ‘deep-sea’ in Hebrew, expression: 'the unknown' sometimes ‘the abyss’ or ‘an expanse that is filled with darkness’.  ‘spirit’ –in theology understood as ‘the intellect and will’ of a being.  ‘hovered’ -as an eagle hovers over its young to protect.  ‘the waters’ -in the below: the life-force itself/which is always life in essence, but can take many forms…in the above: thought which is always thought but can organize into many ideas.

3 And God said: “Let there be light.” And there was light.
‘And God said’ –a figurative equivalent of “God willed.”  ‘light’ –not ‘sunlight’ here, instead ‘that which dispels the darkness.’ Here ‘light’ can be better understood as comprehension, more as comprehension which leads to ordered action that reduces confusion and chaos. 

4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
‘that it was good’ –expression: ‘fulfills the will of the Creator.’

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
‘one day’ –Not an ordinary day but a Day of God, an age.  With Him a thousand years, nay a thousand thousand ages,  are but a day that is past…human measurement of time, by a clock of human manufacture, cannot apply…the beginning of each period of creation is called morning, it’s close evening; in the same way, we speak of the morning and evening of life. 

Now Let’s look at a translation of the first five verses of the Genesis in light of the commentary of Hertz, et al:
In the summit of mind, that which we call God (that which is inexhaustible Wisdom and unlimited Power to order material and intellectual chaos) created all that is perceivable. Now the material out of which the Universe is formed existed as unorganized molecules (and the intellect of the people as confusion) without innate ability or desire to order themselves towards a higher purpose.  Disorder and confusion obscured the vast potential of the material Universe and the human mind.  And the Power of God (comprehension and  order) protected the manifestations of the life and thought that had not fully matured and developed. And that which we call God willed that matter have purpose and mind have intelligence.  And it is Truth that purpose and intelligence fulfills the aim of creation.  And it is Truth that comprehension and order are separated from confusion and disorder by a primordial divide. It is Truth that desire to understand and organize marks the beginning of a new age and that confusion, disorder and the lack of desire to understand and organize leads to the ending of life.  

Monday, February 20, 2012

The Inverted Cross

Entrance to Catholic Shrine
The Inverted or Upside-down Cross has mistakenly been associated with "satanism" however it is one of the earliest Christian symbols.  For Catholic Christians it refers to the crucifixion of St. Peter, the first pope.  It is a symbol of the Papacy and therefore can be seen on the Pope's throne and mitre (liturgical hat).

It's symbolism, however, even pre-dates Christianity and it connected in many way to the symbolism of the pentacle and the "Star of David."  We will discuss the symbol in more detail in the future.  For now, take a look at a few photos of the Inverted Cross in use in Catholicism.
Notice the center band and lower band form the inverted cross
(notice also the familiar six-pointed star used as well) 

Pope John Paul II at public event

Again Pope John Paul II and Papal Throne

The coat of arms of the Catholic
Church of Little Rock Arkansas.
(Again notice the star as center)

Sunday, February 12, 2012


Hello and Welcome!

Priesty and the Witch is an open forum born out of the friendship between a priest and a witch. 

Imagine if more people were able to see past the script of their traditions and talk openly about their beliefs without being criticized. Do you have personal beliefs that don't fit neatly into any mainstream tradition? Do you fall victim to the stereotypes about your faith? Are you tired of having to hide your beliefs because people from other traditions confront you? Do you see all the hype in movies and TV portraying other faiths as monsters and evil...and aren't sure what to believe? If you can relate to any of these questions, our gathering is for you.

Priesty and the Witch will make you laugh but more important it will inspire you to discover the Faiths that create the beautiful diversity of our world. Join us for the premier.

Make Your World Sacred!


About Us:
Tomas (Priesty): An ordained minister and consecrated bishop in apostolic succession specializing in biblical studies, ministry, and divinity, a spiritual director and spiritual development workshop presenter for more than fifteen years, founded a spiritual community in 2006 as an ecumenical community of believers who have come together to seek the path of light as a family. www.orderofpenance.blogspot.com