Spectrum of Spirit: A Digital Sanctuary for Spiritual Discourse and Community

In the story of Noah and the Flood, I found what I believe to be the first account mentioning the end of something in the Hebrew Bible. My NIV translation introduces the audience to Noah and his family, Noah being a righteous and blameless man among the people of his time. Noah walked faithfully with god and had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. We are told the earth was corrupt in god’s sight, full of violence. The narrative reaffirms, god saw how corrupt the earth had become and the people had corrupted their ways. God told Noah it was going to put an end to all people, destroying humans and the earth because the earth is filled with violence.

The story continues with further instructions and promises, if you have the time go read it if you care enough. Regardless, this is the first instance in the Hebrew Bible, where we are told a version of the earth is coming to an end, a catastrophic ending, made to bring forth some version of new life. The Judeo-Christian tradition isn’t exclusive to a version of an end times philosophy, but the idea of Armageddon is exclusive to the Christian apocalyptic literature, the book of Revelation. Depending on who you ask, Armageddon could be described as a singular destructive event, a catastrophic finale to the life we are familiar with. However, I would like to challenge this idea, rather than Armageddon being a destructive response to unapproved behavior, it could become a moment of spiritual harmony amongst all living things, a convergence of light, sound, energy, and spirit binding existence with a new perspective.

The past month has been filled with unfortunate war talk, speculation of World War 3 that for some felt like a version of the apocalypse. I respect these perspectives and understand the tradition of apocalyptic being seen in a negative light, however, reimagine with me. I would like to envision humanity’s apocalypse would not be filed with doom, but a unity or convergence of some of the most basic energies in our universe. I would like to examine some of the spiritual symbolism surrounding the cultures I have studied while also borrowing from light, sound, and energy studies I am not the most familiar with to explore a possible future of humanity. A future where a new side of our selves is awaken, diversifying our perspectives to face a rebalancing of our identity and experiences, to become the best version of ourselves.

DISCLAIMER: the following topics I will be exploring will deal with the end of the world, which I understand could be quite frightening for certain people. Though I understand how this can be frightening, I like to think I’m a positive person and may surprise you with my vision.

Cosmic Ending

The first stage of Spectrum of Spirit’s Armageddon is the Shattering of Harmony. I believe shattering doesn’t always mean something went wrong, but shattering creates new forms for observation and expression. There are even times when something is described as shattering that doesn’t physically break something into pieces. For example, light doesn’t shatter through glass, but scatters through glass. When light breaks through a prism, the prism creating a spectrum of colors. When Issac Newton discovered this spectrum of light, I imagine he was nervous about what appeared to be some form of shattering, or scattering, that wasn’t predicted. I would like to hypothesize this could be true in a world where religious and cultural symbolism through art are shown through a prism, and come out the other side as a “Light Spectrum of Spirituality”. A vast sheet of glass, that when you look closely is actually fragmented, almost like pixels, to reveal the billions of fragments of human experience, human perspective, human spirituality. What appears to be cosmic unity or harmony, when examined, is actually disjointed to the core, representing the dissonant and polarized world we live in today.

Yes, my Spectrum of Spirit isn’t something that I can prove to you in real time, however I believe almost anyone can resonate with any part of the shattering stage. I would recommend looking in the mirror, contemplating and reflecting on how you may not be understanding and expressing yourself 100% the way you want to. I believe it’s important to not approach this mirror with judgement, even more so don’t let anyone else approach your mirror with judgment, but approach your mirror with curiosity. The curiosity to question the divisions between how you perceive yourself and how you wish you perceived yourself, how you perceive the world and how you wish you perceived the world, etc. Considering I am focused on the youth, and the disunity they might feel, I would encourage you to seek the divisions in your beliefs, the colors in your identity, and in your possibly fractured purpose.

Separating the colors, or our celestial beings, we have filled our lives with, can feel like a mess of our experiences, perspective, personality, and strengths, feeling somewhat dreadful. When trying to divulge what we have created for our identity and what others have encouraged us to embrace, there can be lots of feelings that arise. To best deal with struggles that arise, I would encourage you to shatter the fortress you might be hiding behind, letting what once felt like cosmic harmony, prove itself to be the home of one’s possible overlooked isolation and an end to lead to restoration.

The Inner Ending

We talked about conflict last week, discussing what could be going on within someone when the end feels near. Whether it’s a career decision or the pursuit of a friendship, the feeling of crisis can fill one’s mind when plans go awry. However, I think these crises are quite influential, possibly becoming a main catalyst for change, for new belief, even for a new identity or archetype. I would encourage you to approach the crisis’ like you approach a mirror, to confirm what you believe you look like to the perception you see of yourself reflected back at you. Taking a step outside of yourself, I would recommend you seeing yourself within the ancient conflict storied in Noah’s Ark tale, one representation of a cosmic battle between the order of god and the chaos of men.

I invite you to look inside, to look at the elements within yourself that may be clashing. The fire of your passion combined with the water of your flow is just one of many combinations of inner symbolic elements that could leave an individual conflicted in their conflict. Some ancient cultures had multiple frameworks, depending on location and culture, for a more traditional understanding of our world. The Ancient Mesopotamian’s had a concept of Enuma Elish and Zoroastrian dualism symbolized the struggle between the divine forces of creation and destruction. You may feel a sense of contentment right now, and if this is the case, I would encourage you to evaluate or reflect on your spiritual journey, to avoid getting stuck in dualistic thinking, and possibly move towards growth.

Enuma Elish and Dualism have threads that I believe have been dimmed and muted throughout 4,000 years of history. Fire and water, earth and air, are some of the elemental forces I have explored in the past that have been used in the Mesopotamian and Zoroastrian myths, communicating acceptable and unacceptable ways to deal with tension. The tension each element has over another element, the war for dominance over the essence of life, is rooted in the patriarchal and greedy society slowly rotting our modern day society. However, I don’t think this has to be the story. I believe these elements can represent the emotional landscape with an individual, and how the internal war could lead to growth, ending one version of oneself, to possibly become a better version of their self.

Reflecting The Ending

I stink at silence. If I’m not talking with someone, discussing some of the deeper ideas concerning the life force of the universe, I have music or a podcast playing in my ear. Personally, I do not like the way my mind dwindles towards nostalgia of the past or anxiety about the future, that I believe comes when my mind is too quiet. However, I am only speaking for myself, and I believe the more one knows themselves, the more the can assess how the ruckus of the world can lead to their own collapse of natural or spiritual harmony. I would recommend thinking about how one could benefit their reconnection process, whether that’s for an internal relationship or external relationships.

In the ancient religious traditions I have studied, each culture recognizes a sort of force behind life, even if they approach it with different perspectives. Ancient Chinese traditions believed in the concept of qi and Ancient Indian traditions believed in the concept of atman, acknowledging the flow of living energy guided by an inner self respectively. The flow of living energy impacted and continues to impact the interior design of homes in Chinese culture, having a trickling impact in to Asian societies and ecosystems. The inner self is the mindful intention for introspection and meditation founded by Indian culture, and this mindset is becoming a global pursuit for harmony in many different cultures. However, when this life force, qi and atman, is not recognized and not take taken care of, I believe the harmony and liberation humanity is looking for is stunted, ultimately falling out of sync with nature.

In my past blogs, I have recommended the practices of mediation and breathwork to slow down the mind in times of overwhelming stress. Though you could practice meditation and breathwork while on the move, in Spectrum of Spirit’s Armageddon, I would propose stillness is the key to collectively becoming the best version of ourselves. I believe stillness gives the opportunity to see the end of something, the room to literally stop moving to recognize how mentally, physically and spiritually depleted we all might be. I believe its important for humans to have their own meditation, stillness, and breathwork to claim and connect with ones inner light and spiritual energy. I believe this spiritual energy is felt and reflected in other seekers, building a collective to capitalize on the urgency of the end of an era.

Resonant Ending

The stillness creates a void of noise, Helmholtz’s sound spectrum disintegrating as we know it, an atmosphere of silence before the upcoming chaos. The Norse’s idea of Armageddon, Ragnarök, comes to light, however this story brings more voices into the cosmic song, a desire for harmony when polarizing and conflicting voices potentially fill the room.

The shattering of the sense of harmony, with the clash of internal chaos, sets the stage to reweave the messy tapestry of underexposed and misrepresented cultures in our modern world. Helmholtz’s sound spectrum and the Norse’s Ragnarök, are analogies used to show the audible dissonance and the broken connections caused through destruction. However, Spectrum of Spirit’s Armageddon is not limited to these studies and structures, but encourages the expression and understanding of diverse cultural rituals, music and storytelling to reconstruct our shared shattered glass.

To think about this further I would recommend thinking of a song that is personal to you, your go to song, your karaoke song. I would like you to imagine this melody, becoming a divine melody sung by you and your ancestors, each representing the culture and era they existed in. Imagine your favorite song can’t be sung without the assistance of those around you, our fellow humans, the mystery beyond our existence, and the elemental forces that dictate our lives, symbolizing the resonant unity we could possibly achieve.

Spiritual Ending

As we reach the resolution of Spectrum of Spirit’s Armageddon, I would like to start the final section with multiple question to possibly influence your spiritual journey. Imagine the internal and external conflicts we face on a daily basis, combined into one of the most trying conflicts you’ve ever experience, the weight of your decisions greatly impacting the outcome of The End of the Armageddon. What would be the strongest belief challenged as you get closer and closer to the end of the conflict? Would it be rooted in fear? in anger? in sadness? Would it be in response to childhood trauma? response to work? response to home? How would these self reflections move you into a higher, a more understanding, a more expressive version of yourself? How could these questions facilitate the connection you have with others, moving us to a more unified understanding of human experience.

In the self reflection process, the time set for “The Final Judgement”, or as I would like to call it, “The Final Question”, I am most certain if this process is done intentionally and deeply, some uncomfortable memories may come to the surface. The narrative we have written for ourselves, or the narrative others have written for you, could lead to unresolved conflict and tension within your being or in relationship to others. Abrahamic traditions are rooted in the story of Ishmael and Isaac, where the two children and their parental authority figures, are judged based on the choices, leading them to different life paths. These life paths have impacted 4,000+ years of human history, manipulating the way a lot of the world has experience time and space. I would encourage you to close your reflective practice, “The Final Question”, questioning how the holes in your spiritual story sparks more curiosity. I believe with the removal of judgement, humans can be liberated to forgive themselves and others, not from a place of obligation, but from a place of relationship building and further self-discovery.

I believe judgement has lead to the condemnation of many misunderstood cultures around the globe. This misunderstanding has lead to many group being seen as inferior and susceptible to colonization by group who don’t agree with their ways. I think “The Final Question” gives humanity the chance to confront some of our complicated history. I would recommend confronting it with a sense of curiosity, a desire to want to know more, from different perspectives, to piece together all the pieces in the puzzle. I believe the more we understand and express to seekers we trust around us, the better we can build relationships around accountability, able to hold dialogues across differences. I believe when this curiosity and accountability is established, good and evil/Right and wrong/light and shadow will dissolve and transform from traditional ways of thinking, as humanity awakens to end judgement and move towards a more beneficial collective spiritual responsibility for all life.

Call to Ending

Prepare to end. Converge to begin. Enjoy the cosmic moment. Develop your inner discord. Reflect for a sense of clarity. Resonate with time. Breathe through your spiritual crises. Give birth to your call. Understand what’s new. Express your light.