Moral Lessons and Spiritual Truths

Many Pagan traditions, such as those in Norse or Celtic mythology, view life as part of a larger cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The soul may incarnate multiple times, each life a pilgrimage toward wisdom or unity with the divine, as seen in concepts like reincarnation in some neo-Pagan or Hellenistic traditions. In the Kabbalistic conception of reality, God’s infinite light is contracted, creating a void of “conceptual space.” The congealed light of existence comes out of the Void, and a chain reaction produces Atzilut, the World of Emanations & Causes; Beri’ah, the World of Creation; Yetzirah, the World of Formation; and Asiyah, the World of Action & Effects, where people are born.

Spiritual texts often use water (floods, seas, baptism) and monsters to symbolize the soul’s incarnation and descent into the material world and its trials. Myths like Osiris or Tiamat depict incarnation, purification, and spiritual rebirth through water-related allegories. The ancient pagan, Hebrew and Christian scriptures weave a recurring narrative archetype, expressed through parables that mirror the soul’s journey through incarnation, struggle, and return to the divine. Stories like Noah, Jonah, Moses, Moses, Jesus, and the Prodigal Son, though unique, share a profound thematic unity: the soul’s descent into the material world, its trials within the “underworld” of physical existence, and its ultimate return to the divine “House of the Father.” This motif, resonant with pre-Christian traditions, employs vivid imagery—such as falling into the sea, being swallowed by a monster, or navigating seas—to symbolize the soul’s incarnation and transformative passage. Certain numbers appear repeatedly—often counter-intuitively, considering the situation being described.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, Jonah’s story exemplifies this journey. Fleeing God’s call, by his own wish he is thrown into the stormy sea and swallowed by a monster, a symbol of incarnation in the material realm. His three days in the belly of the beast symbolize entrapment in a physical body, a period of spiritual refining—Jonah repents and prays—before being “resurrected” onto dry land to fulfill his mission. This mirrors the pilgrimage of the soul: entering the world, facing trials, and returning to divine purpose.

In the case of Noah, the flood narrative mirrors the soul’s descent and ascent. Two of “every animal in creation” carried over the stormy seas for 40 days and nights. Noah and creation’s remnants do not drown but are welcomed to land with a rainbow, a dove and an olive branch, to a new covenant with God. Noah’s arrival on dry land and covenant with God signify the soul’s return to heaven, or at least divine harmony with a restored connection to the eternal.

In the case of Moses, his journey begins when his (divine) mother places him in a basket—a mini-ark—on the Nile River, an experience reminiscent of Noah’s. The mini-ark carries him over the water and be adopted by an earthly Egyptian princess, marking his divine orchestration of the soul’s entry into the material world, or bondage. The wilderness is the trial-filled journey, and the Promised Land symbolizes the soul’s return to a state of divine favor or rest. The number three appears in preparatory periods, such as the three days of preparation before receiving the Torah at Sinai (Exodus 19:11).

Moses spends 40 days and 40 nights on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments from God. This happens twice: first for the initial tablets and again after the golden calf incident when Moses interceded for Israel. The 12 spies sent by Moses to explore Canaan returned after 40 days. Moses’ life, leading his people through the Red Sea, untouched by the waters on either side, deepens this metaphor, for the Red Sea’s parting represents the soul’s passage through the trials of incarnation, confronting the chaotic forces of existence. In fact, those forces have them wandering in the desert for 40 years on a journey that would actually take one week, while being fed and rained on regularly by God. The journey to the Promised Land symbolizes the soul’s unquenchable aspiration toward divine union, out of Egypt/bondage/incarnation, into the Father’s house in heaven, beyond incarnation.

God instructed Ezekiel to lie on his right side for 40 days, symbolizing the 40 years of Judah’s punishment. God prophesied through Ezekiel that Egypt would be desolate for 40 years as judgment for their pride and opposition to God’s people. The Philistine giant Goliath taunted the Israelites for 40 days before David confronted and defeated him. After fleeing from Jezebel, Elijah traveled 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb (Sinai), where he encountered God in a “still small voice.” Several judges in the Book of Judges are associated with 40-year periods of peace or rule: Israel had rest for 40 years after Othniel’s deliverance; (Judges 5:31) The land had rest for 40 years after their victory; (Judges 8:28) The land had rest for 40 years during Gideon’s time; (Acts 13:21) Saul reigned for 40 years, as noted in the New Testament; (2 Samuel 5:4; 1 Chronicles 29:27) King David ruled for 40 years (7 years in Hebron, 33 in Jerusalem); (1 Kings 11:42; 2 Chronicles 9:30) King Solomon ruled for 40 years; (1 Samuel 4:18) Eli judged Israel for 40 years before his death, marking the transition to Samuel’s leadership. Jesus fasted for 40 days & nights before resisting the temptations of Satan. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples over a period of 40 days before ascending to heaven.

In ancient times, people learned math, including geometry, by watching the movement of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars. They saw that, over five Earth years and eight Venus years, Venus traced a pentagram in the sky. Every 5 x 8 = 40 years, both planets would be back where Venus started the first pentagram, with the same stars behind it. Also, for 40 days every year, the movement of Earth and Venus made Venus appear to reverse direction in the sky (called regression, or a retrograde orbit). For ancient people, these 40-day and 40-year periods were symbols for starting a new cycle, or starting a new life.

Jesus’ baptism represents the soul’s descent into matter; his walking on water represents the state of being in this world but not of this world, having mastery over incarnation, like Tibetan lamas/bodhisattvas, who choose to reincarnate, lifetime after lifetime, to lead other beings to realization and freedom. The crucifixion represents the soul entrapped in, nailed to, a physical body. Three days in the tomb/Underworld, mirror Jonah’s three days in the sea monster. The Resurrection symbolizes a person’s “remembrance” of the Christ consciousness that is “resurrected” at the end of three days’ seeming death.

In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the Son’s departure from the Father’s house reflects the soul’s entry into the material world—he goes into “a strange and distant land.” His suffering in this foreign land symbolizes the trials of incarnation, and his return to the Father’s embrace signifies the soul’s homecoming to the divine, through remembrance of God during this incarnation, if not upon bodily death. The other, older son represents angels who don’t incarnate as flesh & bone—not for thousands of years, anyway, according to Tibetan cosmology, the realm of angels & demons being one of the six realms of existence www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Wheel_of_Life

These narratives echo pre-Christian myths, where the Underworld or sea represents material existence. Jonah’s plunge, Noah’s flood, Moses’ river and sea journeys, and Jesus’ calming of the storm evoke the liminal space where the soul confronts mortality before transcending it. The allegorical unity suggests a timeless truth: the soul’s journey is cyclical, from divine origin to earthly struggle and back to divine union. Whether through Jonah’s sea monster, Noah’s ark, Moses’ basket and parting of the Red Sea, Jesus’ walking on water and resurrection, or the Prodigal Son’s journey to a far land and return, the scriptures portray incarnation as a purposeful descent, leading to redemption and attendance at the Father’s table.

The number three often signifies a complete process or structure, whether it’s a divine triad, a cycle of time, or a transformative journey. The motif of three days frequently represents a transitional period of trial or death leading to renewal or resurrection, symbolizing spiritual transformation. In Greek mythology, the three Fates (Moirae—Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos) control the destinies of humans, weaving, measuring, and cutting the thread of life, symbolizing the complete cycle of existence.Three often symbolizes the division of the world, such as the realms of earth, sky, and underworld (e.g., in Norse mythology: Midgard, Asgard, Hel). In Hindu cosmology, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer of the cosmos. This tripartite structure reflects a complete cosmological order—the doctrine of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is a cornerstone of Christian theology, where three represents the complete nature of God as one essence in three entitities, embodying unity and diversity.

Abraham’s three visitors (Genesis 18:2) are interpreted as divine beings or angels, signifying God’s presence and covenantal promise. Three wise kings follow a star to Jesus’ birthplace. The number three also appears in rituals, such as the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot) in Deuteronomy 16:16, which mark the complete annual cycle of worship and thanksgiving. Three days often indicate a period of waiting or preparation for divine action, as seen in Hosea 6:2, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up,” foreshadowing restoration and resurrection.

In Pagan myths, three-day periods or triadic structures often appear in stories of death and rebirth, reflecting a universal archetype of transformation. Jesus’ descent to the Underworld (Hades) in some Christian interpretations (e.g., 1 Peter 3:19) parallels Pagan myths of heroes journeying to the Underworld, like Orpheus, whose journey to the Underworld to retrieve Eurydice symbolizes the soul’s longing to reclaim its divine essence. Though he fails to bring her back, his own death and apotheosis (becoming a divine figure or constellation) reflect the spirit’s ultimate return to the cosmic realm. The pilgrimage here involves navigating the trials of the material world (Hades) to achieve spiritual reunion. In Mesopotamian mythology Inanna, the goddess of love and war, descends to the underworld, ruled by her sister Ereshkigal. She is stripped of her divine attributes, dies for three days, and is resurrected, returning to the upper world transformed. This allegory depicts the soul’s incarnation (descent into the material), death (dissolution of the physical), and return to the divine, with the three-day period symbolizing a complete cycle of transformation.

Three also appears in apocalyptic contexts, such as the three woes in Revelation (Revelation 8:13), signaling a complete sequence of divine judgments. It often underscores key events or teachings, such as Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus (John 18:15-27) and his later threefold affirmation of love (John 21:15-17), symbolizing betrayal and redemption as a complete arc.

Hebrews 11:13-16 describes the faithful as “strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” seeking a heavenly homeland. This frames life as a temporary journey through a foreign land—the material world—with bodily death as the return to the eternal realm of God. “The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). The spirit originates with God, inhabits the physical body, and returns upon death, completing the cycle. If that’s not good news, I don’t know what is.