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Joseph advised Pharaoh to secure a man of ability and good judgment, and to place him in charge of the land of Egypt.
Joseph had qualified for promotion. His apparel was enriched; that is, his soul body had attained to a finer texture so its golden aura had become more luminous. He is advanced to a higher station, a higher degree of development. This being in the nature of a new birth he received a new name. It was Zaphnath-paaneah, meaning the revealer of hidden things. He was given Asenath, daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, to wife. According to the Aprocrypha, Asenath was the daughter of Dinah, who was the daughter of Jacob. In either case, the symbolism indicates union with the higher self.
Asenath, of priestly station, represents the feminine love principle in its spiritual aspect; Dinah symbolizes the Virgin, or achievement through purity. Joseph, who prefigures Christ Jesus, possessed the key to Initiation given by the Master when He said: "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."
Joseph had become fruitful (Ephraim) only after much affliction. But the pain along the way is forgotten (Manesseh) in the joy of attainment. Pain chastens. When rightly understood it is accepted gratefully as a blessing. "The gate of attainment," sings a modern mystic, "swings wide through pain." Joseph's attitude toward the varied experiences he encountered was like unto that which caused Christ Jesus to say: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Joseph, in his spiritual ecstasy, forgot all his "father's house." He had fulfilled the requirement stated by the Christ in the words: "Whosoever he be that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." It is, of course, evident that this does not imply indifference to the claims of those who are nearest to us. Joseph became a benefactor to his brothers who had wronged him; Christ counseled love, not only for one's kindred but for every living soul. Every man is our brother. The forgetfulness spoken of by Joseph and the apparent forsaking of family referred to by the Christ, simply imply that above human ties is the bond of spirit; beyond the personal is the impersonal. The greater does not exclude the lesser; it includes it, and bestows upon it enhanced significance.
The sacred Scriptures of the world are, for the most part, written in cypher. Their fundamental symbolism is identical. Only in particulars do they vary. An illustration of this is an ancient Egyptian fragment dealing with the period of' famine in the days of Joseph. It is an inscription on a tablet discovered at the head of the mummified body of an Egyptian princess named Tajah. It reads thus:
The princess, whose name means sacrifice, was adorned with seven jewelled armlets on each arm, seven anklets on each ankle. and seven strands of pearls, stained and lusterless, around her neck.
Like Tajah, everyone is of royal lineage; all are children of the King. Also like Tajah, humanity suffers from famine. The pearls of great price have been stained and dulled. The feminine love principle, which they symbolize, has been desecrated. Barrenness of the spiritual life is the result.
According to the message Tajah left behind her, she was unable to procure the needed corn, the bread of life, either with silver (feminine) or with gold (masculine), and so she perished. Until the feminine (silver) and masculine (gold) principles function in unity within the life of man, there will be dearth and death.
The dual soul powers of Will and Imagination, which have functioned out of balance since the Fall, will one day be reunited. Around this basic truth, in parable, allegory and symbol, Temple Teachings of every age and every race have been built. Also, it has been proclaimed to the masses. The Bible teaches it in every Book and in the life story of its principal characters. It is the final message given in the concluding pages of the last Book of the Bible, the Revelation of John: "And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him come take of the water of life freely."
It has been pointed out that want and abundance follow each other in alternating, cycles as one of the many dual experiences encountered so Iong as we live in the present state of broken polarity and are subject to the play of opposites. Opposites bring pain and struggle, disappointment and disillusionment. Through them the soul learns of the instability of earthly life, and turns in time to the abiding, realities of the spirit — wherein the opposites are blended into unity, and the fullness and joy of life proceed with undeviating constancy.
Episodes dealing with the famine in Canaan, Jacob's need, the journey of his sons into Egypt, and the purchase of corn from Joseph, are all events which, in their personal and esoteric application, refer to experiences connected with the development of various attributes of the spirit. Dire need humbled the brothers who, not long since had selfishly and unfeelingly sold their idealistic brother, Joseph (Sagittarius, the higher mind) into captivity for a material consideration of twenty pieces of silver. As Joseph had dreamed they now came and "bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth." Theirs was the poverty; Joseph's the abundance.
Joseph, (the higher mind) had been rejected by his elder brothers and sent "clown" into Egypt. But this descent of the divine principle into materiality neither annihilated nor obscured it. By its inherent power it transformed barrenness into fruitfulness. Whereas famine overtook all other parts of the world, Egypt had corn enough to carry her through the lean years, and not only for itself but for the suffering lands as well.
Joseph had conserved the fruits of the field. He had stored up the corn; that is, he had preserved the very essence of life itself by a life of purity in keeping with the divine mind he symbolizes. It is squandering this life force that leads to weakness, impotency and want. It was from this famine that the people suffered, and still suffer. To learn the reason for such lack the less enlightened, older, more dominant and aggressive brothers, went into Egypt.
The symbolism here indicates that the needed corn (sustenance) is rightly sought for in Egypt (the sacral plexus) where it is gathered by Joseph (higher mind) and stored in the granaries of the land (head centers), and is thus available to all who seek it. This corn from which the bread of life is made is without price. Astrologically, Joseph came into possession of storehouses of corn under the powers of his sign, Sagittarius, the sign governing the raising of the kundalini fire from the sacral plexus to the head.
As Joseph commanded his brother's sacks to be filled, he also ordered that their money be restored to them. When, on their return journey, one of the brothers discovered that the purchase money had been refunded, he exclaimed in amazement, "What is this that God hath done unto us?"
God had indeed enriched them. No one aspires in vain. The seeker after soul sustenance is never sent away empty. The measure is full and running over. Joseph even provided his brothers with unsolicited provisions for their homeward journey. The processes of transmutation bring an increase of good on every plane of manifestation.
— Corinne Heline
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Contemporary Mystic Christianity |
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