THE THRONE, TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS, SEVEN SPIRITS, LAKE OF GLASS, AND FOUR BEASTS

A New Condition throughout the Body

Now that the Spirit has addressed and awakened all seven centers within the body to the spiritualization process, it takes the body to a new level of vibration. Now a throne is in the midst of heaven, and the higher, spiritual self is seated upon this throne. Around the higher self and the throne are the twenty-four elders, which Cayce identifies as the twelve paired (24) cranial nerves within the brain. Energy is being emitted from the brain ("flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder"), and the seven chakras and glands are turned toward the throne ("seven lamps of fire burning"), which are the seven spirits of God in the midst of the throne. Before the throne are the four beasts we first saw in Ezekiel's vision, then in Daniel's vision, and now here again in John's vision. We find these same beasts represented in ancient Egyptian mysticism as the four children of Horus. Horus was the messiah of the ancient Egyptians, rescuing the world from his uncle Set's domination (Set is ancient Egypt's Satan). The four children of Horus are wrapped like mummies on a lotus, subdued and intoxicated with the fragrance of the great flower. They stand before the throne-seated Osiris, Horus' father and guardian of the way through the Netherworld.

According to Cayce, these beasts are "the four destructive influences that make the greater desire for the carnal forces, that arise as the beasts within self to destroy." We have learned what these destructive influences are from the Spirit's comments to the first four churches: (1) leaving our first love; (2) fear; (3) anger, impulsive reactions, and spirit-killing urges; and (4) living life without spiritual purposes and ideals. All of these destructive influences are personified in Cain. Though he first sought God's love, he later didn't desire it. He killed his brother impulsively in anger and spitefulness, only to then become so afraid that he could not go on without God's promise of protection. Finally, he goes out to live life for himself and his own gratification, without any spiritual interests or intentions. Satan claims that Job is the same way, having no interest in God and the Spirit, and would curse God to His face if He touched Job's material, physical life, and being. Cayce says that these destructive influences must be met; as God says to Cain, "Sin is couching at the door, its desire is for you, but you must master it."

As the Revelation continues, the four lower glands are raised to higher vibrations, turning away from material, earthly pursuits and contributing to the spiritualization of the body ("the four beasts gave glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne"). When they do this, it affects the cranial nerves ("the twenty-four elders will fall down before him who sits on the throne"), and they in turn begin to contribute to the spiritualization of the body ("cast their crowns to him who sits on the throne"). Then the spiritual self is able to open the seals on each of the spiritual chakras of the body. Cayce states that the book with the seven seals is the human body. The only part of us that is truly worthy to do this is that part that has crucified self-centered desire sufficiently to allow God's will to fully enter. This one is identified in the Revelation as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root and offspring of David," all terms associated with the Messiah, only this is the little messiah within each of us; our spiritual self reborn, created by God and sent to redeem our physical selves. This self has made its will so subordinate to God's that it is represented as a lamb. It is in the spirit of the Lamb of God that we may safely open the seals of the spiritual centers of our bodies.

THE SEVEN SEALS & THE SEVEN TRUMPETS

Cleansing & Uniting the Seven Centers

Now that the seven spiritual centers are awakened, the higher self and the life-force are raised and again seated upon the throne. The lower urges are turned away from their interests and the cranial nerves are firing with spiritual influences. We begin a series of cleansings through the seven bodily centers. Prompted by John's vision of the four colored horses, Cayce picks up on the colors for each center and proceeds to add musical notes, key words from the Lord's prayer, the four elements, the endocrine glands, and even planets within our solar system! There is so much information that the original group working directly with Edgar Cayce created charts to keep track of everything. I've also created charts based on the originals, but with supplemental information. See the illustrations section of this manual.

We might ask, how could the planets in the solar system have any relevance to the spiritual centers and endocrine glands in our bodies? Cayce's answer is that we are parts of the Universal Consciousness, and as such we have relationship to the Universe and all that is in it. At first glance it may seem paradoxical that these outer influences are also within us: spiritually, mentally, and physically and that universal "things," such as planets, find a relating point within our physical bodies. But, as the Ancient Egyptian god Hermes (Thoth) stated it: "As within so without, as above so below." It is not so much the occult science of astrology that we are referring to as it is the microcosmic and macrocosmic nature of life. The human body is arranged in a manner that reflects the arrangement of the universe. Here's one of Cayce's best explanations of this. I have italicized a key line and his stenographer capitalized words that Cayce emphasized by raising his voice during a reading:

As we find, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus - with Mars in an abstract position - all becoming a part of the mystical teachings of jesus  entity's experience; not because of bodily birth but because of the entity as a soul.

For the entity finds itself body, mind and soul, and recognizes - or may become aware of the manifestation of the Godhead in the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. He finds himself then a counterpart, a shadow of all that is; and that within his own self EACH CELL of its body is but a miniature of the universe without its own body, its own cell of positive and negative force that applies to the material, the mental and the spiritual. Indeed then the body is the temple of the living God, where He hath promised to meet thee in thy searching, in thy seeking to know what ye may do; not for the gratifying of thine own selfish self alone but to fulfill the purpose for which ye came into being ­ to be then an emissary, and advocate, yea, a sign; that others who have lost their way (as YE may have lost thine) may take hope and gain more awareness of the God-force that IS latent and manifested within thine own self.

Following this philosophical line of thought, each spiritual center in the body has a corresponding relationship with the seven primary colors of the spectrum, the seven basic notes of the Western musical scale, seven key words in the Lord's prayer, and seven planets within this star system or solar system. Nevertheless, Cayce does hedge his teaching on this in several readings, explaining that these correlations that we are making are only relatively correct because of the many variables in human spiritual development that would cause another color, or note, or word, or planet to better represent that center. The variables are these: (1) cycles in each person's development, or (2) a particular individual soul's unique experiences, and therefore, karmic influences. But for us all generally, these are relatively correct as we have them (and in the chart in the illustrations section of this manual).