Divinity and The Abyss: A Myth of Creation, Delusion and Revelation

Divinity and The Abyss: A Myth of Creation, Delusion and Revelation

An honest myth never aims for objective truth; it aims only for subjective truth. It is an impossible attempt, through the form of story, to explain the infinite mystery of existence, and to offer a sense of meaning for one’s place within it. The value of any given myth is found in how well it accomplishes these tasks and functions as subjectively true for any given person.

Part 1: Oneness

There is neither beginning nor ending in the Great Mystery of the Cosmos, but rather endless cycles of Oneness, Disintegration and Reintegration. Within the Period of Oneness there is only Divinity, which is infinite and eternal and contains all of Being.

The Period of Oneness is a state of absolute unity in which all of Being is totally connected, perfectly harmonized and completely at home with Itself. The Period of Oneness is characterized by wholeness, tranquillity and bliss.

Part 2: Disintegration

The latest Period of Disintegration began as all such periods do – with Divinity growing restless after many aeons of Oneness. Out of a simple desire for change, Divinity chose to split Itself into two parts: the Divine Feminine principle and the Divine Masculine principle. 

The Divine Feminine principle is known by many names, including The Great Mother and Creation. Her dominion is the Manifest Realm and She is composed of Immanent Intelligence. Immanent Intelligence is comprised of both Form and the drive toward ultimate connection and harmony within Form, which is known as Beauty.

The Divine Masculine principle is known by many names, including The Great Father and Creator. His dominion is the Unmanifest Realm and He is composed of Transcendent Intelligence. Transcendent Intelligence is comprised of both Consciousness and the drive toward ultimate connection and harmony within Consciousness, which is known as Clarity.

As it is in every Period of Disintegration, there was a grave consequence to this act of separation. The splitting of Divinity into two parts created a massive rift in the Cosmos. As The Great Mother and The Great Father separated from each other, an immense void formed around each of them in replace of their absent counterpart. This void is called The Abyss.

The Abyss is the antithesis of Divinity. It is not merely the absence of Being, it is a force that actively disconnects and disharmonizes Being. The Abyss is an invisible force and only its effects can be observed. 

When The Abyss disconnects and disharmonizes Form it is known as Entropy. When The Abyss disconnects and disharmonizes Consciousness it is known as Delusion. 

Due to the differing characteristics of The Great Mother and The Great Father, The Abyss impacts each of them differently. Because The Great Mother is characterized by Immanent Intelligence and resides in the Manifest Realm, The Abyss has physical influence over Her. Therefore, as soon as it was formed, The Abyss exerted a terrible pressure upon Her. At first, The Great Mother existed as a singularity, with all of Creation contained in a single point. However, due to the immense pressure exerted upon Her from The Abyss, this singularity could not be sustained. In a sudden flash of brilliance, known as The Big Bang, The Great Mother exploded into an immensity of pieces and created the vast expanse of space and time throughout which She was scattered. 

Because The Great Father is characterized by Transcendent Intelligence and resides in the Unmanifest Realm, The Abyss has no physical influence over Him. Therefore, it cannot penetrate into the Unmanifest Realm and remains like an enveloping cloak around The Great Father. This enveloping cloak, called The Veil, separates the Manifest Realm from the Unmanifest Realm.

Neither The Great Father nor The Great Mother can cross The Veil to reunite with the other. The two principles of Divinity cannot reunite with each other until the falling of The Veil at the end of the Period of Reintegration. Until then, The Great Father can only shine the light of Consciousness through The Veil upon the scattered parts of Creation, like flashes of light reflected in shards of shattered mirror. This illuminates the many parts of Creation with the light of Consciousness within the Manifest Realm. 

As it is with every Period of Disintegration, the splitting of Divinity was a gamble because it caused The Great Mother to splinter and intermingle extensively with The Abyss, and the consequences of this are always uncertain. The many scattered pieces of Creation were, at first, so small and so dispersed that the many reflections of Consciousness were all minuscule, and so the power of Consciousness within the Manifest Realm was extremely weak. This began the Age of Darkness and marked the end of the Period of Disintegration.

Part 3: Reintegration I (The Age of Darkness)

Once the Period of Disintegration was complete, the Period of Reintegration began. It is in this period that Creation, The Great Mother, must undergo the long process of putting Herself back together before She can reunite with Creator, The Great Father.

At the beginning of this period, during the Age of Darkness, Divinity acted almost entirely through Immanent Intelligence and almost entirely without Transcendent Intelligence. When Immanent Intelligence acts on its own, it attracts and connects the scattered pieces of Creation together through the Fundamental Forces of Nature, and primarily that of Gravity. 

As Gravity attracted and connected an increasing number of pieces of Creation together, the pieces of Creation compounded and complexified. As they did so, Consciousness, shining from The Great Father through The Veil, was able to reflect more robustly upon and within them, just as light is able to reflect more robustly upon and within a large and many-faceted diamond, as opposed to a small speck of dust. 

However, while this process was occurring, the adverse influence of The Abyss was also at work within the Manifest Realm… 

As the scattered pieces of Creation are attracted toward each other by the force of Gravity, they have to move through The Abyss, which has a corrupting effect upon them. As Entropy, The Abyss adversely impacts the process of Reintegration by disconnecting and disharmonizing Form. As Delusion, The Abyss adversely impacts the process of Reintegration by obscuring and distorting the reflections of Consciousness shone into the Manifest Realm from The Great Father. 

The Period of Reintegration is much like a contest between Divinity and The Abyss for supremacy of the Manifest Realm. If Divinity prevails, the period is marked by an ongoing movement toward ever greater clarity, beauty and joy. However, if The Abyss prevails, the period is marked by an ongoing movement toward ever greater confusion, horror and suffering, eventually resulting in another Age of Darkness from which Divinity must begin the long process of awakening once again.

The ultimate completion of the Period of Reintegration, culminating with the reunification of The Great Mother and The Great Father, and followed by another Period of Oneness, is inevitable. However, the way in which the Period of Reintegration will play out is far from certain.

Part 4: Reintegration II (The Age of Life)

Long ago, while the Earth still slept, the first living entities were created from Form by the attractive and synthesizing force of Immanent Intelligence. These simple life forms spread across the Earth in almost complete harmony with the rest of Creation. 

Because these simple life forms had relatively little biological complexity, there was, in turn, very little Consciousness that was able to shine on them and reflect within them. Therefore, these entities were primarily influenced by Divinity through Immanent Intelligence, and only vaguely by Transcendent Intelligence. 

The Abyss was also present during this time and enacted its influence upon Creation. The simple entities were adversely impacted by The Abyss mainly through Entropy, in the biological forms of disease, degeneration and death. Because Delusion is created through the interaction of The Abyss with Consciousness, the simple life forms had relatively little Delusion within them. The less Delusion that is present within a life form, the more it is in harmony with the rest of Creation.

As the Earth’s life forms increased in biological, and then neurological, complexity, Consciousness was able to shine on them and reflect within them evermore brightly.

The more brightly that Consciousness is able to shine upon and reflect within Form, the more it is able to harmonize with Form. The harmonization of Consciousness and Form within a living entity is known as Evolution. 

As Evolution advanced, the neurological complexity of certain life forms grew exponentially. The first humans evolved to levels of neurological complexity beyond that of any other life forms on Earth. In humans, Evolution advanced to the extent that they developed language, stories, art and technology. However, the early humans were still relatively simple compared to the forms they would take later on in their evolutionary journey. 

Because the early humans were still relatively simple, neurologically, The Abyss had a limited ability to influence them with Delusion. During this period of early humanity, the humans developed rituals, medicines and ways of life that helped them stave off Delusion and remain in relative harmony with the rest of Creation. Although highly effective against Delusion, these practices had only a limited effect against Entropy, which came to be accepted as a natural part of life.

As Evolution advanced within humanity, their rituals, medicines and ways of life became wisdom traditions that sustained them and allowed them to thrive. However, as humans continued to grow in neurological complexity, they became evermore vulnerable to the influence of The Abyss. Despite their powerful wisdom traditions, Delusion eventually infected a small number of humans and then it spread like a contagious virus throughout humanity.  

The abysmal influence of Delusion obscures and distorts Consciousness with confusion and fear. These two destructive forces combine to alienate humans from their own inherent Divinity. Furthermore, Delusion deceives humans into believing they are separate from the rest of Creation, fundamentally threatened by it and, therefore, in conflict with it.

As Delusion spread, the growing number of infected humans fell out of harmony with the rest of Creation. The symptoms of Delusion – dishonesty, theft, brutality, war, colonization, slavery and genocide – ravaged the Earth like a plague. 

Delusion infects most easily within the minds of the traumatized. Therefore, as deluded humans terrorized other humans, the terror they wrought made fertile ground for further Delusion to take root. 

Eventually, the wisdom traditions that kept the early humans in harmony with the rest of Creation were suppressed and held by only a small minority of people who remembered the sacred ways. 

The majority of humans were infected with Delusion to various degrees. The most deeply infected among them went on inflicting violence and plundering the Earth with malice and greed. The rest of the infected people went on living distracted and shallow lives, unaware of their inherent Divinity and their connection to the rest of Creation. 

However, the infection of Delusion does not preclude the presence of Consciousness and, therefore, does not preclude the presence of Transcendent Intelligence. Even in the most deluded human minds, a spark of Transcendent Intelligence still remains. Furthermore, it is possible for a spark of Transcendent Intelligence, given the proper circumstances, to grow and to drive Delusion out of the human mind with the power of its light. This is possible for any human, but the deeper the infection of Delusion within the human mind and its surrounding culture the more difficult it is for this healing to occur.

As time moved forward, Divinity and The Abyss each ebbed and flowed, with one, and then the other, gaining supremacy in the soul of humanity. Eventually, there came a time when The Abyss was in ascendancy, and its dominion over humanity was so powerful that it seemed possible that it might utterly delude all Consciousness in the Manifest Realm. If this was to happen, confusion, horror and suffering would steadily increase, eventually resulting in another Age of Darkness. It was a time of great uncertainty, but also a time of great opportunity. For extreme crisis holds the potential for both catastrophe and Revelation.

Part 5: Revelation

It came in a dream, but seemed as vivid and manifest as Creation Herself. Maybe it had been manifest in another time. Maybe it could be again…

The sun rises above the Eastern horizon and a flock of birds fly across the bright, blue morning sky. Down below, a clear, sparkling river cascades down a majestic mountain and through a lush, verdant forest. The sweet smell of flowers and the wild music of animals and insects is carried with the breeze. 

A group of people walk along a trail beside the river to a grove below the sacred mountain. They came from civilization and will return there again. But for now it is time for the rituals of renewal and celebrations in honour of Divinity. For today is the Spring Equinox. 

There are offerings of gratitude and reverence for the generosity of The Great Mother and The Great Father. There is meditation and prayer. There is sacramental medicine and ritual. There is music and dancing. There is food and laughter.

The people tell stories of their ancestors and the dark times of the past when humanity was in the grip of The Abyss. There are stories of pain and hardship, of tragedy and loss. There are also stories of wisdom and heroism, of ingenuity and cooperation.  

And there is the telling of the Great Story. The story of how Divinity gained supremacy over The Abyss and heralded the age of clarity, beauty and joy being enjoyed by the people in the present time. But there is nothing that is taken for granted. For it is understood that The Abyss still lurks in the shadows and must be watched with vigilance. Without the regular clarification of Consciousness and mitigation of Delusion through the power of sacred ritual, The Abyss could easily gain supremacy over Divinity once again. 

The people understand that love, compassion, honesty, humility, conservation, generosity and gratitude are the ways of harmony with the rest of Creation. They understand as well that being in harmony with the rest of Creation is far more valuable than anything that can be possessed. 

The people do not fear each other for they understand that, ultimately, we are all One. They do not fear death for they understand that we are all aspects of Divinity, which is infinite and eternal.

The people know that we chose to be here – within, and as part of, Creation – to experience the many possibilities of manifestation and to find love, joy and comfort in each other. And they know we will all inevitably return to Oneness with the falling of The Veil at the end of time. 

By Graham Walker