Pagan Metaphysics 101: The Beginning of Enlightenment
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Gain an introductory understanding of metaphysical concepts from a pagan perspective, beginning with the first principles of the creation of the Universe through the Celestial Soul Groups and their influence upon the evolution of life and expansion of spirit. From basic metaphysical models, the reader learns about the anatomy of the Soul and how it is connected to the Spirit and the Divine Universal Energy.
Answers are provided for important questions: Of what is the Soul made? How does it learn? Where are those memories kept within the Spiritual Being? How does the Soul connect through energy to the physical body, other spirits, and the Greater Divine Consciousness within the Universe? Through this learning process, individuals can walk through every moment of the day with a sense of higher purpose, greater connection to their spiritual mission, and with insight to meet their personal and spiritual goals.
The Beginning of Enlightenment – Excerpt
Metaphysical Basics
What is Metaphysics?
Metaphysics is the philosophical study of first cause principals. That’s a fancy way of saying “How the Universe got started”. Physics is the study of the observed world. The word “meta” means higher and beyond. Here we’re talking about the concepts beyond physics. Thus metaphysics is the study of the world beyond physical observation. In this definition Metaphysics is a philosophy of physics that tries to solve the questions that material science cannot. It is the study of life beyond physics, between physical and spiritual observations. Where did we come from? Who are we? Why are we here?
New Age Metaphysics
The New Age is a period of time in history, where human consciousness has been drawn back into it’s own spiritual awareness. This cycle period has been prophesized by many famous psychics such as Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, Lazarus and others as the time of great spiritual evolution. It has been described as a time when the human consciousness is given the opportunity to rise up to the God Consciousness, or fall behind and be consumed. Many Christians would call this time period the preparation for the second coming of Christ. New Age believers might refer to it as the awakening of the Jesus Consciousness.
New Age Metaphysics combines the concepts and theory of first principals (the science) and the New Age cycle ideals (the faith). It is a balance between what one can experience and prove, and what one believes internally as their personal truth.
This time period is also called the next evolution of the human spirit, where the world moves from “Survival of the fittest” to “Survival of the most spiritual”. But don’t take that to mean there’s only one path or religion that has the dominant voice of being the “most spiritual”. There are many paths to choose from. Survival of the most spiritual is not a sect or group. It’s a personal path that is created by your own personal choices and moral creed. Are you living “true” to your own spiritual path?
Pagan Metaphysics
Pagan beliefs are built on a foundation of metaphysical principles. However, that’s sort of a misnomer. Pagan beliefs existed long before the labels of “metaphysics” or “pagan” or “neo-pagan” were created. So if you can get past the creation of the labels, and focus on the ideals; this makes more sense. There is little difference between Metaphysics and Pagan Metaphysics. The main diversion between the 2 paths, come from the view of positive (good) and negative (bad) events and their energy or associations. While Metaphysicians, and especially New Age Metaphysicians focus on the positive, they very often don’t even acknowledge the negative. Many call this a focus on white light and purity.
Where as, Pagans not only acknowledge the negative, they see it as being required to create balance in all things. Without it, there is an unknowing of what “positive” is or means. This doesn’t mean pagans focus on negative actions. It merely means, pagans acknowledge its existence.
This concept carries through in many of the perspectives of Pagan Metaphysics from energy to honoring the Divine Consciousness through celebrating the duality of nature the good and bad, positive and negative, white and black aspects; in rituals and practices.
Is Metaphysics A Religion?
Because many religions today profess to be metaphysical in nature, many people understand the word Metaphysics to be a religious sect. Metaphysics is a doctrine, which underlies many religions, but it also underlies philosophies, some sciences and much literature. In most dictionaries and encyclopedias metaphysics is listed as a philosophical doctrine that defines “all things are part of each other and searches to discover first cause principals”. It can be both a philosophy and a religion.
Metaphysics as a religion sites the Divine Consciousness as the one main source of which we are all a collection or part. Without you, there is no God; but you alone are not God. All energy (including yours) is a collective divine consciousness, which defines God, including good and evil, abundance and suffering and so on. There is order, a set of principals, and many types of rituals and worships. It is these things (order, principals, rituals and worship) that define a religion and can be applied to the concepts of Metaphysics. From this perspective Metaphysics can be seen as a religion unto itself.
When Did Metaphysics Begin?
Let’s start with the word metaphysics. In the scheme of life here on Earth, the word is fairly new. Coined in the late 300’s B.C. by Aristotle. This advanced thinker and philosopher had written and titled a book about ‘Physics’. This work dealt with the knowledge of physical science for his time. It is the study and theories of physical law that revolves around the “observed world”. Almost immediately after the completion of ‘Physics’, Aristotle began his next work, ‘Metaphysics’. This one was a continuation of the first, but where physics looks at the observed world, metaphysics looks at the underlying meaning and structure of the world.
Metaphysics asks: What are space and time? What is a thing and how does it differ from an idea? Are humans free to decide their fate? Is there a first cause, or God, that has made everything and put it into motion? All the basic questions that humanity has struggled with since the dawn of time.
After his death, many of Aristotle’s writings vanished or were scattered throughout Western Europe. By the middle ages, the only articles known to exist were his writings of Logic. These writings became the basis of the 3 Medieval trivium: logic, grammar, and rhetoric.
By the 13th century, more writings were found and were eventually translated into Latin. The best-known writings are
· `Organon’ (treatises on logic)
· `Rhetoric’; `Poetics’
· `History of Animals’
· `Metaphysics’
· `De Anima’ (on psychology)
· `Nicomachean Ethics’
· `Politics’
· `Constitution of Athens’
Who Started This Philosophy?
While Aristotle wrote what many consider to be the first works of Metaphysics, it wasn’t an original philosophy that he established or created. He had his predecessors to thank for that. We can look to the Egyptians, Aztecs, and the cultures of the Orient and Native American Peoples. In each of these societies we see that these same concepts existed before and during Aristotle’s time. But his knowledge came from many other Greek thinkers such as Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato who were his teachers.
Certainly Pythagoras had some influence in the concepts set down by Aristotle. He established the Pythagorean Brotherhood, around 530 BC, which was dedicated to reforming political, moral and social life within the society based on their spiritual views. Sadly the Brotherhood came in conflict with the seated government and rather than face trial for heresy, Pythagoras disbanded the brotherhood and fled his homeland. Much of his work on these spiritual subjects was destroyed and he became known primarily as the Great Mathematician who created the Pythagorean Theory.
Heraclitus (who is sometimes called the Weeping Philosopher, or the Dark Philosopher) studied the theories of Pythagoras and expounded upon them with his own perceptions. Because of this, he is often called the founder or Grand Father of metaphysics.
Some people say Plato is the founder because of his work in philosophies and sociology which are based on his predecessors Pythagoras and Heraclitus. Aristotle was a student of Plato, and wrote the book on the subject, so he is also credited with being the originator of Metaphysics.
But if you look at the world as a whole, the same struggle to understand and search for the “meaning of life” was everywhere around the globe. The Egyptians had a pretty well defined set of philosophical and spiritual beliefs long before Aristotle. Plato gave rise to his views of an ancient culture that was divinely cultivated when he wrote of the legendary Atlantis and its spiritually structured society. The pre-Incas and Aztecs were both cultures that were embodied with spiritualism and mysticism of equal proportions to those written by the Greek scholars.
We can examine all ancient cultures and find components of metaphysical philosophy embedded within their societies. The concepts were there long before anyone started putting them into writing or using them as a teaching tool. But most historians give the main credit to Aristotle. In my view however, it’s important to remember that he didn’t come up with the concepts on his own. He gained this knowledge through his own education and learning from others.
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© 2012 Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D., Springwolf Reflections / Spring’s Haven, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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