The Temple Within

The Temple Within

The Temple Within refers to the inner place of prayer, meditation, imagination, and inner-spiritual work that we all have within us. It is this place, deemed the Temple, that individuals throughout the ages have used to connect with their ancestors, loved ones who have passed, higher spiritual deities, the universe itself, and so on and so forth. Furthermore, it was this inner-space that the shamans of the ancient world worked with, utilizing this inner spiritual connection to expand their creative minds and propel the evolution of human consciousness forward.

The Place of Connecting with the Divine

When you connect with the Temple Within, you become the priest or priestess as you become the mediator between the divine forces of the universe and the physical-mundane world you exist in. That is what a priest is, defined as the mediator between God and Man, furthermore, by entering the Temple Within, you remove the middleman and become the mediator yourself.

This is a place many spiritual people go to without even considering it a temple at all. Everytime you close your eyes and pray, meditate, visualize, or so forth, you’re entering into this inner-world (or Other World as many ancient cultures referred to it as) that is your own place of connection with the universe and the divine forces that permeate it.

From an archaic standpoint the other world is the realm the shaman journeys into to connect with different spirits in order to then bring back wisdom to the tribe. The conception of Other World and the Temple Within are intimately related as they both refer to the same thing. The Other World is simply an understanding of the vastness of the inner-world, whereas the Temple Within refers to our ability to bring order to this chaotic dream land and create a space that is safe and comfortable for us to connect with ourselves and the divine forces of the universe.

Jesus Advocated for the Temple Within as have many Spiritual Teachers

Mathew 6: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven… And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Another verse from the New Testament reads:

1 Corinthians 3 “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

Both of these passages in the New Testament recognize spirituality as an internal process that deals with knowing and connecting with God in a way that can’t be accomplished by simply going to a building of worship or projecting yourself as a person of God.

The Temple is given life by the Spirit of God not the wood used to build its physical presence.

The physical church, or temple, is still a Holy Divine Concept, however it’s nothing more than a symbolic anchor, anchoring this conception of a holy place into physical reality. Furthermore, the collective belief that this place is spiritual makes it so as each and every individual involved allows their Temple Within to synchronize with this physical representation of it.

The Temple is filled with the Holy Spirit of God (All) which dwells within each and every one of us. The way to connect with this spirit is through the Temple Within, however, it can “fill” a building if and when those who build and or acquire the building decide to do so through ritual, prayer, or simply thinking of it in such a manner. We project God and spirituality into the world in a way that some might critique as a form of active imagination. The reason I’m not afraid to speak of it in terms such as imagination is because I understand just how truly powerful the imagination is. The use of the imagination gives one, in a practical sense, the ability to master an array of tools and techniques that can help one live the best and truest life they possibly can. In a more metaphysical way, however, by simply imagining a building as being Holy and Divine, you tap into a spiritual power that allows you to interact wit h it as such. Rather than imagination, some might prefer to think of it in terms of belief. By believing the Church is Holy one makes it so. This is nothing short of a superpower, made clear by the fact that programming other’s beliefs and imagination is something that many have gone to great lengths to accomplish for the sake of power and control.

Furthermore, the spiritual tools, made possible only through the use of one’s imagination, makes up what has been understood throughout the ages as Magic. Magic, sharing the same etymological root as Imagination, traces its roots back to the Magi of old. These Magi were not simply concerned with manipulating reality but understanding it. For this reason, the Magi were the individuals who traveled into the inner-world for the sake of attaining knowledge of themselves and the universe, just as their ancient shamanic ancestors did.

For this reason, I believe the Temple Within to be the most foundational tool of magic and spirituality, allowing one to harness their imagination and control their inner world. By doing so, one can then communicate with it and attune themselves with God (the universe) and the other forces that have been seen as spirits and entities that dwell within this inner, other world.

The Temple Within is the first spiritual-magical tool, or technique, that one needs to master in order to become their own priest and communicate with the inner divine forces of spirituality. This is something that has been known and taught by many spiritual leaders, however, it’s far less effective to teach people how to communicate with God and far more profitable to act as the gatekeeper. This doesn’t mean that all teachers, preachers, and pastors are bad. It does mean, however, that no human being should ever feel as if they need someone else to connect with God and other divine forces. Rather, all true mediators should make it their mission to bring the people into union with God and the divine forces of the universe.

The Doorway to the Temple Within

The Doorway allows the Temple to remain sacred as you can open and close it at will. This Doorway has been understood for centuries as what is known as a Magic Circle. The concept of a Magic Circle is nothing more than a circle you draw, with your imagination, around yourself and your work space. It further helps to have a set of words you use to direct the drawing, sealing, opening, and concealing of the circle. The acts of doing such cements in your mind the idea that working within the circle is truly sacred, helping to establish a connection with the divine that can be tapped into whenever you would like.

Furthermore, the Key to the door is more than a use of words (which simply creates a trigger for the mind in a way that allows it to dial into the inner-world, producing a flow like state of consciousness). Rather, the Key exists as what the Druids of the past understood as the Wishing Rod or Magic Wand. This magic item, made by hand from wood, symbolizes a connection between the individual and their imagination as they endow the wand the same way one would a church, making it Holy and bringing it to life. While this aspect is a topic for a later discussion, the Wand itself is foundational as is the Magic Circle, as they are the Door and Key to the Sacred Temple Within. Together, they help replace the need for a Church, or physical building, while producing the same spiritual and psychological effects.

The Father and Mother of the Temple Within

The Father and Mother, or God and Goddess, of the Temple can be seen as the Masculine and Feminine Principles of Creation. All creation, down to the creation of the universe itself, stems out of the joint-commingling of these two inherent principles. The masculine principle represents the action, or pure force, that initiates the process of creation itself. On the other hand, the feminine principle represents that which reacts, or is acted upon. When looking at the molding of a clay sculpture, the active force is the motion and pressure that is applied to the clay, while the clay itself is the feminine aspect that is molded, reacting to the force and pressure in a way that produces a beautiful sculpture.

In Khabalistic terms these two are seen as Chokamah, meaning Force, and Binah, meaning Form. These two are the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine aspects of the threefold Godhead consisting of Kether (Consciousness/ Spirit), Chokmah (Force/ Action), and Binah (Form/ Reaction). Creation emanates out of Kether, the Crown of God, through Chokmah which is the force and Will of God. In a paper written on Khaballa Colin Low states that:

“The force of chokmah can only be contained and actualized through ‘the mother of form’ which is Binah. The sephira Binah is the mother of form; form exists within Binah as a potentiality, not as an actuality, just as a womb contains the potential of a baby.”

Understanding Abstractions and Correspondences

Following Colin’s metaphor we begin to understand the process of Abstraction or Correspondence that takes place when studying a deity such as the Father and Mother of the Temple. The Father and Mother are, themselves, archetypal beings, made up of an amalgam of abstract characteristics. These archetypal characters, and the characteristics that define them are then represented in different ways, invoking them in mind and spirit. One way this takes place is through the Key, or wand which represents the principle of action, and the Doorway, or magic circle, which represents the form, or womb, that one enters into. Together they give rise to the Temple Within. Furthermore, these archetypal characters can, and often are, replaced with actual deities that have names, histories, and particular characteristics such as Osiris and Isis, the King and Queen of the Egyptian Pantheon. These two don’t need to be represented by any such deity, however, and can instead be seen as the Sun and the Moon, which they often are even if associated with particular deities. I find these to be accurate symbols as the masculine Sun represents the Day and the feminine Moon the Night, further referencing the twin fold function of the mind that is in a Conscious state during the day and an Unconscious state during the night, while sleeping.

In this way these two foundational deities represent foundational aspects of ourselves. Furthermore, instead of simply standing for one set of aspects, the Father and Mother can be abstracted out to include an array of aspects that come together to define what it is to be a human being. For instance, instead of simply representing the conscious and unconscious mind of the human being, the Father, or masculine principle, further refers to the reason we possess, allowing us to consciously initiate action, while the Mother, or feminine principle, refers to the intuition we possess, allowing us to unconsciously receive information from within. These dual aspects of Reason and Intuition further refer to the dual aspects of Mind and Body, as the Mind is associated with the principle of Reason which is furthermore a conscious phenomenon; while, on the other hand, the Body is associated with the principle of Intuition which is an instinctual phenomenon that predates conscious-rational thinking and is associated with the physical vessel itself.

In order to better understand the nature of these archetypes or deities, many have taken to creating correspondence tables such as the one below:

• Masculine Principle : Feminine Principle

• Father : Mother

• Form : Force

• Energy : Matter

• Fire : Water

• Sun : Moon

• Day : Night

• Conscious : Unconscious

• Reason : Intuition

• Mind : Body

Understanding the Personal Connection

The most important aspect is understanding the personal connection as you understand the characteristics and aspects of yourself that are exemplified by the archetype or deity at hand. In this way both the Father and Mother of the Temple come to stand for important aspects of ourselves which must be understood, actualized, and balanced with one another.

For example, the Right Brain stereotypically seen as the feminine, intuitive, and creative side can be seen as the Divine Feminine that then crosses over, processing the information received from the Left Eye, Left Hand, and Left Foot, which, as similar to the Kabbalah Tree of Life, can all be representative of feminine characteristics. The Left Eye represents Intuition, the Left Hand represents Compassion, and the Left Foot represents Faith. On the other side, the Left Brain, stereotypically seen as the masculine, rational, and orderly side can be seen as the Divine Masculine that then crosses over, processing the information received from the Right Eye, Right Hand, and Right Foot which can all be representative of masculine characteristics. The Right Eye represents Reason, the Right Hand represents Strength, and the Right Foot represents Ambition. Together the Left Side, controlled by the Right Brain Hemisphere relates to the Mother, or Divine Feminine, while the Right Side, controlled by the Left Brain Hemisphere relates to the Father, or Divine Masculine.

Above

• God : Goddess

• Sun : Moon

• Left-Brain (Divine Masculine) : Right-Brain (Divine Feminine)

Below

• Left Eye : Right Eye

• Reason : Intuition

• Right Hand : Left Hand

• Strength : Compassion

• Right Foot : Left Foot

• Ambition: Faith

The Father and Mother of the Temple represent the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine forces of the universe which rule over our entire existence. Furthermore, it’s important to actualize and embrace both the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine as they represent the balancing forces that permeate the universe itself. Furthermore, temples, religions, and belief systems that only focus on God, or Goddess instead of the totality of the Two, are like a body that only utilizes one eye, one hand, and one foot, when they clearly have two of each to work with.

The Self that Dwells in the Temple Within

The Supreme Microcosm

The Microcosm, referring to the Human Being, is the reflection of the Macrocosm, referring to the Universe itself. This is expressed by the famous Hermetic idiom found in The Emerald Tablet of Hermes, translated by Isaac Newton, Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, and many others, which states: “That which is Above is like that which is Below; and that which is Below is like that which is Above”, also formulated “As Above So Below”, or “As Within So Without”. In order to better understand this claim let us look at Plato’s Philebus in which Socrates describes the universe, composed of the same elements as the human being, as a greater, more marvelous body. In the exact opposite fashion, Leonardo Da Vinci in the Leonardo Da Vinci: Notebooks (1492), states that “Man is a part of a world, a microcosm included in a macrocosm.” Further elaborating that “Man has been called by the ancients a lesser world and indeed the term is well applied.” The ancient notion of ‘microcosm’ and ‘macrocosm’ viewed the external world, or universe (macrocosm), defined by its elements, laws, and principles as the archetype in which the human being (microcosm) is imitated, or produced, in like image.

From this we see the psychological tool our ancestors used to understand our own human nature which came from observing the forces and characteristics of the external world and understanding how the human being, made from nature, resembles and reflects these forces and characteristics. This exact process is how one ‘builds’ the Holy Temple, as they come to understand the different aspects that influence and rule over the Supreme Microcosm that is the Self that dwells within.

Building the Temple Within

The building of the Temple Within is the process of Gnosis, which can be understood as the art of Knowing Oneself and the Universe. This process is further understood through a modern psychological perspective as Self-Individuation. Self-Individuation, as a system, expresses a need for the individual to understand and actualize, or fulfill, different aspects of themselves in order to unlock their truest potential state of being. In like manner, the building of the Temple Within is, in many ways, metaphorical for the process of connecting with these deeper aspects of ourselves, which mirror the natural world around us, in a way that actualizes and balances them within us. Through this we are able to cultivate a state of being that can then grow and blossom in alignment with the uniqueness of our being.

This blossoming is the act of Self-Individuation itself which, as laid out by the psychologist Abraham Maslow, sits on top a pyramid as a rose waiting to be nourished and brought to life. The pyramid itself consists of different steps, representing different needs, ordered based on their importance to our livelihood. Beginning with our immediate physiological needs the pyramid starts with our need to eat, drink, sleep and so forth. The pyramid then moves up to Safety and Security, and then our need to find Love and Belonging amongst other human beings, before eventually advancing to our need to have a good Self-Esteem. The goal is then to rise and become psychologically liberated enough to now be able to ‘Know Thyself’ and become fully individuated. The difference between this psychological approach and the spiritual approach is that, instead of valuing Self-Individuation as the least important need and focusing purely on fulfilling the external need’s necessary to then focus on individuation, the spiritual path places Self-Individuation at the forefront of priorities while aiming to actualize, and, in a sense, fulfill the same archetypal needs from within. This system then gives rise to a psychologically balanced person who has the wisdom and foundation to fulfill the other needs which may or may not be important to the individuated self.

The Inner-World, Active-Imagination, and the True Self

While Maslow’s Pyramid focuses on Self-Individuation from an external perspective, Carl Jung, though another Psychologist, understood it to be a deeply internal process. Furthermore, the process of going within and building the Temple engages what Jung classified as the Active Imagination. This is a process of utilizing the imagination and casting it onto the world before us. For example, in the case of a Church or the Magic Wand. There exists an ordinary building or piece of wood that is made Holy, Divine, and magical through prayer, ritual, and other means of the imagination which gives life to something such as a building or fallen tree branch. The act of imagination which, when used in storytelling, writing poems, painting murals, and so forth, unlocks states of mind that allow individuals to channel information from their unconscious mind into their art. This connection between the imagination and the unconscious mind is undeniable as the minute you close your eyes your imagination drifts to places you would have never even thought of. It is this intuitive state of consciousness that the Temple taps into as you harness this imaginative, unconscious realm for the sake of unveiling your True Self and your purpose on this earth.

Building the Temple Within is a spiritual quest that is much deeper than a mere psychological operation that can be willed forth. Furthermore, the truth of the matter is that the lens of psychology can only address the practical elements that relate to the conscious, rational aspect of self-actualization. The journey itself, however, is a very personal, intuitive phenomenon that has been undertaken by people throughout the ages, all over the globe. It is this aspect of it that is represented by the spiritual and mystical traditions that are more a tune to how this process works.

Carl Jung was well aware of the depth of such a quest and it is from him that we get the term synchronicity which can be defined as an unlikely, yet meaningful coincidence that speaks to the individual on a personal, spiritual level. It is through such phenomena and such symbolism that the individual is guided, not by rational thinking, but an intuitive understanding. It was with this understanding that our ancestors were able to look at reality through a completely different lens full of purpose, meaning, and alignment with both nature and the universe. Interestingly, this alignment produces a beautiful sensation that feels as if you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, doing exactly what you’re meant to be doing.

These synchronistic experiences further reveal themselves through numbers, symbols, and different concepts that speak to the individual as if existing as the language of the universe itself. Understanding this language can be seen as another metaphor for the act of building the Temple which, itself, symbolizes the act of Knowing Oneself and the Universe. Through this Gnosis, or deeper spiritual knowledge, one comes to understand abstract aspects about themselves and the universe in terms of symbols, numbers, and ideas. These symbols, numbers, and ideas then make up the letters of this intuitive language that many believe is used to communicate with us through the different spirits and entities that dwell in the depths of the other world.

Jung further understood the fully actualized True Self of an individual to be represented by a mandala (a symmetrical picture, painting, or so forth) which he described in Psychology and Alchemy as ‘always an inner image, which is gradually built up through (active) imagination.’ In the same manner the Temple is this inner image that is built through the use of one’s active imagination, giving rise to an inner-spiritual understanding of oneself and the universe. It is this Temple, or understanding, that is then represented by the mandala itself.

The mandala is further understood through different branches of magic as what is known as a Sigil, which translates as ‘Seal’ and contains symbolic information about different deities, elements, planets, and so forth, which the sigil attempts to connect with. I find this interesting as the Magic Circle is sealed up tight allowing one to truly connect with the inner-sanctum they’ve established. This further sheds light on the process of correspondence (As Above So Below) that takes place as the different aspects of both the Sigil and the Mandala represent the different aspects of the ritual taking place within the Magic Circle. The ritual is further an expression of one’s true self which mirrors different aspects of nature and the universe which the person has come to understand as personally meaningful to them.

The crafting of the mandala is, in actuality, an advanced tool that should take place over time as one allows the contents of the Temple within and the Self that dwells therein to become symbolized by an image that can then be used to trigger that exact state of being at will.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Temple Within exists as an inner space that can be built up and personalized through the use of one’s imagination, creating an inner-world and inner-self dwelling within such a world. By connecting with this inner-world, and inner-self, one connects with themselves, tapping into the complex layers of their unconscious mind. Through such a process one can begin to grow and unfold into the balanced, fulfilled, whole individual their psyche is driving them to become. This person is, furthermore, through the lens of mysticism believed to be the aspect of the individual that is immortal, and continually reincarnating on earth. By tapping into the Temple Within, an individual taps into the depths of their own self, unveiling none other than who they have been before in their previous incarnations. Like a caterpillar growing and transforming into a butterfly, the inner-world is the cocoon that will naturally lead the soon to be butterfly to their destined state of being. To all who follow the pathway I’ve laid before you, I wish you nothing short of enlightenment as you make it your mission to spread your wings and fly.