Gordon Herbert, February 2014

The Book of Revelation

A Wisdom Story

Revelation tells the epic story of the journey of humankind from its entry into the human
kingdom to its ascension in enlightenment to the next kingdom of saints and masters. It is
highly symbolic, based on the chakras and subtle bodies, and takes in the influence of the
zodiac. According to Djwhal Khul it was written in around 80AD by the master Hilarion,
who was also Paul of Tarsus.1 However, the author is given formally as John.

The seven chakra stages of human development2 play a prominent role, and Revelation is
organised by chapters in three sequential levels of these seven, plus the final consummation
chapter (3x7=21, plus 1). The three levels are those of the development process in the
personality, soul and spirit phases of our being. John sees these all at once in the elevated
consciousness beyond spacetime, but writes about them sequentially, hence apparent
repetition. They represent the major stages of human evolution from elementary primitive to
enlightened master transcendent of human life. A brief summary of the major symbols of
Revelation and their role follows.

Personality Phase
In the first three chapters the seven candles are the seven chakras, the seven churches are the
corresponding ductless glands and nerve plexi, and the seven stars are the angelic
consciousness of each. They are:

No. Church Chakra Petals Gland

1 Ephesus Base 4 Adrenals
2 Smyrna Sacral 6 Gonads
3 Pergamos Solar Plexus 10 Pancreas
4 Thyatira Heart 12 Thymus
5 Sardis Throat 16 Thyroid
6 Philadelphia Ajna 96 Pituitary
7 Laodicia Crown 972 Pineal

These represent the seven archetypal stages of development, each with specific qualities.
John describes these in terms of their influence at the three levels of our being as we evolve.

Figure 1. The Major Chakras

The book with 7 seals on its back is the body with its chakras,
which only the Christ energy can enliven. This is also
symbolised in chapter 5 as the Christ Lamb in incarnation (slain)
with the seven horns and eyes.

In chapter 4 the four beasts are the symbols of the astrological

fixed cross of Love, namely:
Leo- lion; Taurus- calf; Aquarius- man; and Scorpio- eagle.
Being full of eyes they are omniscient, and having 6 wings
means they exist with six planes of being below their omniscient

1
A.A.Bailey, From Bethlehem to Calvary, p.58; Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle, p.163; Initiation, Human
and Solar, p.59.
2
See www.progressions.info, chapter 2 for a description of the chakra stages of human development.

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 Gordon Herbert, February 2014

7th level. The planes of being (of ascending grades of substance) are the “space” dimension at
right angles to the “time” dimension of the chakra progression. These are divine energies
playing through our local universe to influence the evolution of life on Earth.

Figure 2. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Chapter 6 describes the evolutionary
unfoldment of the chakras at the
personality level, using astrological
symbolism for the first four chakras
(seals). These are the legendary four
horsemen of the apocalypse, being
Sagittarius the white horse, Scorpio the red
horse, Libra the black horse, and Virgo the
pale horse. They represent the descent into
black materiality (death and hell) and the
dawning (pale) of higher values. Horses
represent the lower quaternary (4 legs) so
the next two chakras use instead the
imagery of souls and radical
transformation brought about by the ajna. Their relationship to the arc of descent and ascent
in the human journey is pictured at Fig.3 below.

Figure 3. The Arc of Transformation

Sagittarius represents the initial innocence of the base

chakra stage of development, at unity in Fig.3. Levels
2, 3 and 4 are respectively, Scorpio the Sacral Chakra,
Libra the Solar Plexus chakra, and Virgo the Heart
chakra. The descent is at its darkest in terms of karmic
learning at the Solar Plexus (Libra, dark horse), a time
of hard and tumultuous experience. The scales of Libra
represent the justice of karmic law. At the middle,
Heart level of development, the karma has borne fruit
and the light of the soul is dawning. Hence the fourth
horse is pale.3

In the books of Genesis and Revelation the term “heaven” is used for the middle of the seven
planes of existence, the Buddhic level (see Fig.4 below4). As the soul is at the upper sub-
levels of the Mental level, “heaven” is seen to be immediately “above” it. When heaven is
“departed” in chapter 6, the full influence of the monad on the higher levels makes a
transforming impact upon the personality, which comprises the physical, emotional and lower
mental natures. The early qualities of these natures seek to avoid the higher energies and
karma (wrath).

3
It is stated in AA Bailey’s Esoteric Astrology (p.64) that “Sagittarius governs human evolution, as the Sun was
in that sign when the Hierarchy began its Approach in order to stimulate the forms of life upon our planet.
Sagittarius, however, governed the period of the subjective approach. The Sun was in Leo when physical plane
individualisation took place as a result of the applied stimulation. The Sun was in Gemini when this Approach
was consummated by the founding of the Hierarchy upon the Earth.”
4
Source is AA Bailey, A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p.817.

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 Gordon Herbert, February 2014

Each group of seven chapters represents 7 rays in order, with the seventh being the
culminating influence where spirit, soul
and personality integrate at some level of
being.5 In this first septenate the
integration is of the infrastructure of the
personality. The final three chapters of
each septenate also reflect the divine
trinity of, in order and in human terms,
the personality, soul and spirit.

Chapter 7 opens with angels ready to

transform the lower nature, but being told
to wait until the ajna chakra confirms the
purity of those souls who have
transcended their lower natures and
established the energy flow between ajna
and crown. This is signified by the
144,000 of the forehead, being the 144
chakra petals below the crown, and the
symbolic 1000 petals (actually 972) of
the crown. The 144 is also 12x12, being
the 12 tribes of Israel or the influence of
the 12 signs of the zodiac in the human
body. These purified and enlightened
ones are now at the divine level where
they no longer need the experience of the
human kingdom.
Figure 4. The Seven Planes of Being

Soul Phase
The seven rays ordering of the first septenate is repeated in chapters 8-14, but with focus on
the soul lessons to be learned in this second phase. Chapter 8 opens with the crown chakra
(7th seal) omniscience where the seven agents of spirit (consciousness of the chakras and
rays) are given the energy frequency (trumpets) to firstly transform the lower quaternary of
earth, water, air and fire (the physical, emotional, mental and buddhic levels), followed by the
three woes of the three higher chakras. The term “a third part” is used because the 2nd phase
accounts for a third of the required transformations.

The three woes of chapters 9-11 are the further transformation of the three higher chakras and
their levels of substance. The 5th chakra woe is the overcoming of the lower mind being
driven by the lower nature’s four levels and chakras. The 6th chakra woe is about the role of
the ajna in uniting higher and lower, and yin and yang. It is the level of achievement of soul
mastery, and here the numbers of 42 months, 1260 days and 3.5 years are significant for they
are equivalent and represent the 6x7 (=42) of 6 planes of substance now in the 7 chakras. The
enlightened (Jews) in the soul frequency “tread underfoot” the unenlightened (Gentiles) in the
personality, meaning power over those with lower frequencies. The 7th chakra woe is the
domination of spirit over soul and personality, and the working out of all karma.

5
See www.progressions.info, chapter 3 for a description of the rays.

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 Gordon Herbert, February 2014

In chapter 12 the woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet (Fig.5) is the soul
under the rays of spirit (sun) who has conquered the personality (moon), and is about to give
birth to the Christ consciousness. She is at a level beyond the thrall of the senses (two wings
Figure 5. The Purified Soul-Personality
of the ajna allowing ascension to “the wilderness”). The
red dragon is the kundalini at all levels (heaven to earth,
seven heads etc.), which tests the remaining lower karma.

The two beasts of chapter 13 are the lower emotional and

mental urges energised by the kundalini. The number 666
in the forehead refers to the 3 lower levels of substance
(physical, emotional and lower mental) at the 6th chakra
level, comprising the lower nature or “beast”.

The Lamb of Christ on Mt Zion in chapter 14 is the

purified and fulfilled soul at the ajna level, resonating the
new frequency (song) with the 144,000 referred to in
chapter 7. The 14th chapter is the higher harmonic of the 7th
chapter, as are the 12th and 13th the higher harmonics of the
5th and 6th chapters (and so chs 19, 20 & 21). Being virgins
not defiled by woman simply means that they are purified
and no longer influenced by the lower personality
impulses. Babylon, the lower nature, is consequently conquered and so fallen. The “wrath of
God” is a term for karma that produces the wine of wisdom. The sickle severs attachment to
the lower planes, to earth as matter transforms, and to the vine of wisdom as its fruits are now
ripe. The blood of the winepress is wisdom karmically attained from the chakra levels below
the ajna (up to the throat chakra of 16 petals, or 1600 furlongs) and where the lower nature
(horse) is controlled by the ajna (horse bridles). This level marks the attainment of the
initiation of Transfiguration, wherein the soul controls the integrated personality.

Spirit Phase
This third septenate is about the transformational influence and dominance of spirit, leading
to ascension to the next kingdom of the masters. It opens at chapter 15 with the last 7 vials of
karma to be poured out. Chapter 16 sees the vials being poured in order of the chakras from
base to crown, with each level being transformed. At the ajna, 6th level, the Euphrates is the
sushumna that energises the physical etheric, but is now stopped in preparation for a radical
change in the personality chakras. The unclean spirits are the lower urges of the physical
(dragon), emotional (beast) and lower mind (false prophet). These rebellious qualities are
focused in the lower mind consciousness called the hill of Megiddo, or Armageddon. The 7th
vial begins the final completion of karma.

In chapters 17 and 18 the personality (Babylon) is the whore that unites with the soul to
become the bride of Christ, or the combined New Jerusalem (Fig.6). She is now rich in
wisdom through the terrible experiences of early learning. The gold cup of wisdom that she
holds contains the fruits of lower nature karma. It is golden because the karma has created
love-wisdom in the soul. She is carried by the eternal and infinite dragon of kundalini, now
“under” and serving her. After much conflict the chapter closes with the great stone of spirit
being cast into the lower nature to destroy any separative powers not at one with spirit.

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 Gordon Herbert, February 2014

The marriage of the Lamb (soul-personality unity) with Spirit takes place in chapter 19. The
white horse and rider that we saw in chapter 6 is the purified soul-personality at the ajna. He
is now rich in love-wisdom, and leads the armies of spirit against the remnant armies of the
lower nature in the final phase of Armageddon. The lower natures are then transmuted by the
divine fire.

Figure 6. The Bride of Christ

Chapter 20 is about the readjustment of the relation
between Crown chakra (its symbol is 1000 years, the
1000 petalled lotus) and base chakra (the bottomless
pit). The kundalini dragon is chained to the crown via
the other chakras till the crown is aligned with both
the whole of human nature and with higher spirit.
During this adjustment period the human souls are
assessed for their light and purity, and those
surpassing the lower mind (beheaded) live in the
Christ consciousness through the crown. This is the
first resurrection of souls. The second resurrection
(death to the old) occurs when the souls that did not
make it the first time are scorched with spirit and
transformed, and then judged. Those still not up to
scratch are sent for further transmutation (cast into
lake of fire). The dragon is also transmuted to a higher
frequency this way, as are the lower planes of death
and hell. This is needed to prepare the subtle bodies
for ascension into the next kingdom of the masters.

Chapter 21 is about the consequence of the integration at chapter 20, which is the ascension
out of the human kingdom into the spiritual kingdom of the masters. The human soul
viewpoint at the upper sub-levels of the Mental level sees the Buddhic level as “heaven” and
all below the soul as “earth”. With ascension the soul transfers to the Buddhic level (of the
masters) and so the new “heaven” becomes the Atmic level, and the new “earth” becomes all
that below the new level of soul (see Fig. 4).

Figure 7. The Holy City

The awareness is now the oneness with all that is divine (the
tabernacle of God with men) and there is no more need for
incarnation (death) and the tribulations of the incarnate
world. In this state spirit unites with the purified soul-
personality (New Jerusalem) to create the unified Holy
Jerusalem. Its description that follows is based on the
archetypal 12 of love-wisdom of the heart, of the 12 superior
petals of the Crown chakra, of the zodiac and the cosmic
Christ. This is so because the soul has attained the initiation
of Renunciation (or Crucifixion) that is directed by the 4th ray
of the heart and Buddhic plane.6 This initiation represents
completion of the human journey.

6
AA Bailey, The Rays and Initiations, p.340.

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 Gordon Herbert, February 2014

The ascended-human city is foursquare, being a quaternary at a higher level full of light
(Fig.7). This is a symbol to be interpreted. The walls of the city are the higher frequencies of
the new soul level that prevent any lower frequencies (of previous human nature) entering.
The three gates at each compass point represent the three astrological crosses and their links
with divine consciousness and energy, and are the “pearly gates” of heaven. The wall
measure at 144 cubits according to the measure of the man/angel clearly refers to the ajna
chakra, though as part of the 12x12x12 measure of the city it is now subject to the influence
of the 12 superior petals of the crown chakra.

There is no need for a mechanism (temple) to contact the lower levels of the previous human
pathway, as the spirit and soul (Father and Son) now take the place of the earlier material
level (Mother) of the soul. Likewise there is no need for ida or pingala (moon and sun) as
there is no more need for these channels of the lower evolution, hence no more “darkness” of
night, as the new soul and spirit now enlighten.

Universal Life
The last chapter is about the universal, archetypal caduceus beyond time and space. The river
of life that is the energy of the oneness and purpose of God proceeds from the centre of
divine will in the Crown as the energy of the sushumna. The zodiac is the crown chakra of an
immense being according to Djwhal Khul, and is a part of the universal tree of life that
through the Sun’s passage bears fruit on Earth every month. Its fruits are the 12 archetypal
qualities of the apostles that bear monthly, as the sun moves through the 12 constellations of
the zodiac, linking the macrocosmic Christ principle with the microcosm. The leaves of the
tree are the multitude of sub-qualities enabling specific healing for the many activities of
peoples. At a concrete micro-level, they are the dendritic channels with their “acupuncture
points” acting fractally upon the various scales or hierarchies of the soul network.

Figure 8. Universal Caduceus

In this state there are no more limitations (curse), but all
are in the oneness of God. The manner of human evolution
continues for those not yet enlightened, but all receive
their reward according to their works. By following divine
guidance all can become enlightened, and live the divine
Life beyond the human realm.

John is told that, “the time is at hand,” (22:10) which

means incarnation into time and space. The sheep and the
goats recommence cyclic activity, but the separation into
different kingdoms has taken place. The goats start where
they left off, but the holy ones are now in the next
kingdom of nature as the saints and masters who tend to
the others in a spiritual capacity. The Christ Consciousness comes quickly to those goats that
practice the wisdom teachings. Their reward is to enter into the state of purity (enter city) and
live the divine life. There is a reminder that this is the “period” of end attainment and new
beginnings, the alpha and omega, which is divine.

References
Main reference is www.progressions.info, chapter 8, sections on Revelation and the Tarot.
Others include Edgar Cayce, The Revelation, ARE Press, 1969, and G.A. Gaskell, Dictionary
of All Scriptures and Myths,The Julian Press, NY 1960.