The Virgin and The Harlot - E-book - ePub

The last book in the Bible, The Revelation, is a book whose time has come. Two of the startling images in the book are those of the Whore of Babylon in Chapter 17 and the Woman clothed in the Sun with the Moon at her feet in Chapter 12. These two great female images are like two pillars supporting the whole of creation. Which pillar carries the most weight?Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the dwellers on earth have become drunk." Rev 17:1-2OrAnd a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.
Rev 12:1-2One is adorned by the cosmos, the other adorned with the gifts of the earth; one producing a child, the other producing a cup of abominations and impurities; one crying out in pain, the other drunk. Essentially, we can find the virgin and the harlot everywhere. More than anything, we find them in our own consciousness. It serves no purpose to want one without the other; that would be unbalanced.
What is important is to try to understand why these two images play such an important role in the development of humanity. They are not chosen randomly and they are not chosen to bring shame and regret. This book takes a journey through each chapter and verse in The Revelation exploring the hidden meaning behind the words used in the original Greek. It reveals the highest and lowest in the human mind and shows how we can use the lower as steps to the higher.
The Apocalypse is not about the destruction of the Universe, or the earth, it is about rebirth in the same way a plant is reborn from its seed, year after year. The events in The Revelation assist us to prepare for the changes that will take place in our own consciousness as it is continually reborn. We know this though don't we? We can't think the same thought over and over - if we did we would be insane.
We do, however, return to the same thoughts in our daily encounters and this is how we judge things. It is the harlot who judges harshly and without much thought. She continually goes back to her own preconceived ideas, never considering the effect of her judgments on the other person.