F. Aster Barnwell

Excerpt from the Introduction

When I began reading Revelation, I felt an excitement as things began to make sense to me. I discovered that Revelation was heavily overladen with astrological symbolism, so much so that to understand this document at all, one would of necessity have to be familiar with the language and meaning of the zodiac—the basic underpinning of astrology. With an understanding of astrology, I possessed the conceptual tools to pry meaning and relevance out of Revelation’s complex orchestra of symbols. I had read Revelation previously only to be stymied by its complexity. Furthermore, available commentaries and explanations were little help as they were too concerned with interpretations at a literal level.

As I drew upon the astrological understanding I had acquired and applied it to Revelation, I felt this book to be yielding its secrets, and inviting me into its secret depths. On many occasions when I would be at a loss to find a suitable explanation to some aspect of Revelation, I would experience breakthroughs—from either the outer or inner spheres. The outer sphere breakthroughs sometimes took the form of finding some bit of knowledge in a book that would help put some aspect of Revelation into perspective; the inner sphere breakthroughs would typically consist of an imbuing of understanding that would just flood my consciousness. At various times, I would feel suffused with understanding at a nonverbal level.

My studies were facilitated by a new aspect of consciousness that had emerged as a result of earlier mystical breakthroughs. I had developed a feeling akin to a new faculty. If I ardently desired to know the answer to a spiritual or philosophical problem, I would sit with the question until something emerged in consciousness at a feeling level that would “answer” the question. Actually, I would experience this feeling state as a resolution to my question and would then attempt to articulate my answer at a cognitive, verbal level. Usually, I would test my “answer” by searching for anything that seemed contradictory to it from amongst the many insights I had already synthesized and held to be valid. It was then my task to find the concepts, words, and analogies to relate what I was experiencing at an inner level. In particular, the discipline I had to observe was that of research to find corroborating evidence to intuitive truths—to bridge inner and outer.

When I encountered concepts that were difficult to understand and interpret, I exercised patience by assuring myself that Revelation was written to be understood, and that what seemed incomprehensible to me was not a result of the material being faulty, but because I lacked the required background or understanding. By observing this practice, I was able to make a deeper and deeper penetration into the meaning of Revelation.

During my studies, I often reflected on the coincidences that brought me to the point of taking on this project. Four years previously, when I began my quest for self-understanding, I took up the study of astrology. The subject of astrology came up in discussions I had had with several different people, leading me to surmise that I might gain some insight into the unfolding pattern of my life at that time. I consulted two astrologers within the course of a few weeks. The insights I gained into my own nature and perspective on life so convinced me of the validity of astrology as a tool for self-understanding that I decided to study the discipline on my own—the next three years were spent on an intense study.

Astrology, as I newly discovered it, provides an additional scope to present-day social sciences for understanding and communicating information on the dynamics of the human psyche and its relationship to the Cosmos. It is, therefore, an ancient spiritual psychology and is virtually light years away in sophistication and meaningfulness from the daily horoscope column found in most daily newspapers. Coincidental with my astrological studies I had embarked on a regular habit of meditation, contemplation, and Hatha Yoga. I had become interested in psychology aided significantly by the Collected Works of Jung, mythology, Eastern philosophy, works on certain mystical and parapsychological phenomena, e.g., Edgar Cayce, the Seth books by Jane Roberts, Swedenborg, plus various other works and authors concerned with human spiritual and psychological possibilities.
------------------Without the key that astrology provides, the information Revelation presents to us will appear distorted when we attempt to interpret it in terms of our familiar logic. We will become baffled looking for explanations that make sense to us and that are compatible with our understanding of life as we experience it. Success at interpreting Revelation will elude us until we change our perspective from a temporal to a spatial one. With such a change of perspective, we will find Revelation to be more of a multitiered map of the human soul or psyche, rather than as a scenario of future world events. As such, it is a window on the journey of the soul. By “soul,” I do not mean some fixed entity, but an arena of existence where the purpose of human life and the metaphysical causes of human problems and conflicts become apparent—or “visible.”

Meditations on the Apocalypse, pp. 3-5