DEATH - ACACIA AND THE CAVE OF HEBRON

The fifth station of the goddess belongs to the acacia tree with its distinctive fluffy golden flowers. This is a resilient species found in dry wilderness regions – in Australia it is commonly called the wattle. In ancient times across Egypt and the Levant the acacia was a sacred tree. Acacia wood was traditionally associated with immortality, death and rebirth and was used to make sarcophagi and coffins. We read too that the Israelites made the Ark of the Covenant, the showbread table and the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Symbolically the acacia represented divine protection and it was the ideal wood for the tabernacle that housed sacred cult objects.

Protecting what was kept within is pictured in the acacia’s precious seeds lying within strong seed pods. The layered symbolism of protection and containment, especially on the journey from death through the afterlife may be behind the story of Hebron with its cave of Machpelah, a ‘seed pod’ with a difference, where legend says that Adam and Eve and the patriarchs and their wives are buried.

Yet these stories grew from an older legendary tradition, from an age before the patriarchs to when the divine feminine held sway. In those days the acacia served the Crone, the goddess in her dark queen aspect who called the dying into her deep cave.   

In her legends she reigns over the process of metamorphosis, and over death as essential in the great cycles of existence. She tells us that the acacia and the cave are connected and that death is never an end. The Crone Queen never leaves her cave. Yet there is a Seed-daughter, who can come and go freely. As she spreads her seeds, it is she who sings the secrets of the cave, of death as a necessary partner to birth, how only through dying can regeneration, flowering and fruitfulness occur in all nature, which includes us. This is her song:

Whose tree is acacia

with its red wood for coffins?

It’s the Crone Queen at Hebron,

waiting in her night cave.

She sings out a Mystery

at the time of your dying.

When you stand at the threshold,

she will call you within.

Bravely enter the darkness.

She will wrap her arms around you

and mother-like, whisper,

death is never an end –

Does not the caterpillar enter the darkness to emerge a gloriously robed butterfly?

Do not the bare winter branches bring forth leaves, buds,

and flowers each in their time?

Your death is but transition,

perhaps revelation.

Fear not, and go, then

when the dark Crone Queen calls.

As conscious human beings we can know that this reality applies to us. But when the physical realm dominates our consciousness, that is what feels real. So we fight against our dying. Death becomes the enemy. Despite the physical body gradually making ready for its redundancy even before any obvious signs of deterioration, ego wants us to live on and on in the familiar world we know and love. One church teaching ‘comforts’ us by saying that the same physical body will be raised from the dead ‘at the last trumpet’ (undecayed apparently).

Terminally ill children often approach their death with equanimity – they are still in touch with spiritual realms. Often the older we are the greater the tendency to cling to the physical world where the law of survival reigns. Serious illness then is a means of preparing our reluctant externally focused selves to leave the body. If we recover, we may find that our attitudes have changed and we become more open to the numinous. Meanwhile there are individuals who just slip away, especially in cultures where dying has been viewed as a natural part of living.  

The soul’s decision

Awareness of the timing of one’s death’s is very rare. Yet my teacher Mario Schoenmaker through his many spiritual readings came to recognise that in most cases the soul has decided to die, even in ‘accidental’ death. That is, the time of death is pre-ordained by the soul and preparations have been in place, although this is not conscious. The radical exception is when deaths are inflicted in vicious crimes and acts of terrorism because dark anti-life forces are involved. When such souls are shocked out of their shattered bodies, we intuitively understand that they have a profound need for our compassion. 

The astral is the seat of consciousness and of the mind through which we think and feel assisted by the senses. Through this ego mind we have travelled far to discover the wonders of material reality. But it fights against the metaphysical which cannot be sensed, measured and calculated in earthly terms. 

Our soul also abides in the astral. It thinks and feels but differently. Soul longs to unite with our eternal spiritual part which is like a spark deep within us. Soul is the aspect of our being that grows and changes. The inner work we do in life brings us closer to our spirit, known as I Am or our real self.

Our spirit is always with us guiding the soul into birth and into death. We go through these transitions in countless incarnations because our soul needs to be renewed in the all-pervading realm of spirit again and again. That is where death comes in to play its part, when we slough off the body, the temporary sense-based self we no longer need.

The Journey after death

The journey after we leave the physical body behind is an enormous topic, described in many spiritual pathways such as Tibetan Buddhism, Anthroposophy and Theosophy. I was present when Mario ran seminars in which he enriched the profound subject with his lifetime of experiencing souls.[i] What follows briefly describes the teaching of the wise ones.

After a few days the etheric, no longer bound to the body, frees itself. It streams out from the heart like fine mist and unites with the wider etheric realm. It also releases the memories it has held. In near death experiences some of this memory tableau flashes by us. The soul that has passed through the portal of death experiences the full memory panorama and this is an opportunity to review its life, good and bad, and extract what will be useful in the next incarnation. This takes shape as a symbolic picture, sometimes called the seed atom.

The astral aspect of our soul, along with our spirit, expands cloud-like into the cosmos – into a realm known in different spiritual teachings as kamaloca, purgatory or the bardo – where our attractions and repulsions are judged. No outside power does the judging. What we have done to others now comes back and is done to us, both loving and mean-spirited, while purification takes place in preparation for the onward journey. The period in kamaloca typically encompasses around a third of the years we have lived on earth.

Then the journey continues through the planetary spheres or spiritual atmospheres, which is like diving ever deeper through different layers, although of course, none of this is linear or spatial. Each of these spheres involves specific learning. Eventually the soul can break through into the archetypal realm of pure spirit, the glorious home of the music of the spheres and of the divine Word. Not every soul achieves this. Many souls are not yet spiritually ready. Or eagerness to return to earth might be overwhelming. Yet, whatever level our souls have reached in that beautiful other-world, we do return to incarnate again.

The dead are with us

For those of us remaining on earth staying connected can help the souls of the deceased. Wisdom teaches us to be positive and generous, especially when we have known someone well in life along with their foibles. From the spiritual world a soul cannot perceive the physical, but it takes in our intentions and motivations, the causes rather than outcomes.

If we feel bereft by a dear one’s departure we can be assured the love shared is still binding. When love is offered in freedom with an open heart, those on earth and in spirit will be uplifted by that love. And the qualities of love will remain alive in the next incarnation, whether or not you meet again.

For the dead are with us. I have experienced this. I’m sure many of you have too. They can use our light and the more we are light the better it is for the departed soul. If you are filled with light, hope and love this will wonderfully assist them on their journey. 

[i]  For further detailed reading you can purchase a booklet of Mario Schoenmaker’s exciting seminar ‘Birth, Death and Beyond’ from the Rosa Veritas online bookshop.