Raphael, Michael and the Christ

In ancient Egyptian times, the third age of culture, the leader of the people was Thoth-Raphael, bearer of the Caduceus. It was then that the knowledge of the Mysteries of Atlantis was transferred to Egypt.

Since that time, the Caduceus with its central stirrup represents the rise of the spinal column, with 33 vertebrae, which is called Sushumna in Eastern tradition, and the two snakes of the Caduceus, the two male and female currents, Ida and Pingala. The 33 vertebrae are the origin of the occult notation of the '33 degrees of light' of Masonic initiation, which should indeed be read as 3 x 3 = 9, meaning that the 33 symbolic degrees are reduced to 9 initiatory degrees.

In the third age of culture, Michael was the leader of the chosen people, the Jewish people, who would bring the renewal of the Mysteries through the word. The word then appeared in the form of the flaming double-edged sword that is emitted from the larynx through the mouth.

The sword represents the word of the I Am that would only become conscious upon reaching the middle of the fourth age of culture, with the event of the Mystery of Golgotha. For it is only the standing station, with the raising of the kundalini on the spinal column, that will lay the foundation for perception through the sentient soul. But even this had to be overcome later.

For the Caduceus leads the way of Jesus of Nazareth, from his birth to the Mystery of Golgotha, so that "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." - John 3:14-15 John refers here to the raising of the kundalini in the path of initiation before the Christ.

Having reached the middle of the fourth age of culture, the Greco-Roman, the cosmic and human event that is the Turn of the Times takes place: the Mystery of Golgotha. Then the Sword, as carried up to that moment, is overturned and becomes the true Cross. This event is an image of how cosmic and human evolution is reversed: from the rise up the spine to the descent down the skull. Whereas until then it proceeded from the base of the spine to the skull, now it proceeds from the skull to the base of the spine.

It was then that Michael became the leader of the Church of John, which we also call the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. Everything is metamorphosed through the death and resurrection of Christ through the Mystery of Golgotha, reversing itself.

In this reversal there is an intertwining of the destinies of the Egyptian and Jewish peoples with those who are the disciples of the Church of John and the Italian people.

Indeed, our current fifth epoch of the conscious soul is, as a whole, the reincarnation of the ancient Egyptian epoch.

Thus, from before to after the events of the Mystery of Golgotha, the Jewish people gave their prophetic experience of ego-consciousness to the whole of humanity, "the chosen people" - so that the Chosen Ones can arise in every people on earth, regardless of blood.

For from what was the ancient brotherhood of blood comes the brotherhood of spirit, which can now extend to the whole of humanity. At the same time for the initiates, this means that the ancient Eastern initiation based on the raising of the kundalini has come to an end.

"Jesus then, seeing his mother and there beside her the disciple whom he loved, said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that moment the disciple took her into his house." - John 19:26-27 "After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had now been accomplished [...] Jesus said, "All things are accomplished!" And bowing his head, he breathed his last." John 19:28-30

Then Michael frees himself from his role as leader of the Jewish people, and becomes the leader of the Church of John, that is, of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood, and so the forces of the Ego increasingly permeate the word, that is, from the skull downwards to the base of the spine.

What before was the experience only of the Jewish people is now the experience of all who follow the Christ. What before the Christ was the raising of the bronze serpent, the kundalini, to the skull is now the receiving of the Mother, the Sophia, becoming her children. From the raising of the fire of the kundalini we pass to the descent of the fire of Pentecost, mediated by the Heavenly Mother, the Sophia as Mother of the Christ.

On the other hand, the souls of the ancient Egyptian people are reincarnated in the current Italian people, as early as the Renaissance, so that the Italian people are now guided by the same Spirit of the Egyptian people, i.e. Raphael, bearer of the Caduceus, who thus continues his evolution.

The souls of the Italians are the reincarnated ancient Egyptian souls, incarnating since the Renaissance: for this reason the Misraim Rite originally appeared in Italy, while Cagliostro played a key role in its development and diffusion.

Also on a higher arc of development the ancient Egyptian epoch is being mirrored in the present consciousness soul age, so that the Misraim Rite can be continued as the Misraim Service: Italians can aid this continuation at the same time giving a contribution to the evolution of the consciousness soul. Each folk soul has its own quality, the development and unfolding of which, leads to cosmopolitanism in the Sun Mysteries.

In this grandiose metamorphosis of the process of initiation and thus of the destinies of the peoples bearers of the spiritual currents of the Mysteries, the guidance of the world passes to all those who awaken the Ego within themselves, as it once was for the Jewish people, and to all those who follow the path that from Egypt has become the western path, the Rosicrucian path.

That is why as members of the Italian people we find ourselves with the task of carrying forward the impulse that already existed in ancient Egyptian times in a certain form as the Rite of Misraim or also called the Rite of the Oracle of the Sun of Atlantis.

That is why in the Temple of the Misraim Service we have the two great symbols: the Caduceus as an image of the presence of the Archangel Raphael and the Sword as an image of the presence of the Archangel Michael. Caduceus and Sword, the standing station and the word, Raphael and Michael work together to lead us to the full consciousness of the Mystery of Golgotha, to the Christ dwelling within us.