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Christianity is revealing to you the pattern
of reality of how it is that complexity

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works, how it is that any
type of unity and multiplicity cohere. But

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that also means that you, you
know, it is calling you to actually

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participate in that in a real way. This is Jonathan Pegel, Welcome to

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the symbolic world. Hello everyone,
As we are coming closer to theophony and

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in the Western tradition Epiphany, which
in the Orthodox Church is mostly surrounding the

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baptism of Christ. I thought we
could look at one verse in the Bible

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which talks about the baptist Christ.
I chose in a Virgin in the Gospel

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of Saint Matthew, could have chosen
another version in another gospel, to see

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just how much it packs in terms
of understanding so many things related to Christianity,

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whether it is this idea of the
new birth or being born again,

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the idea of the new creation.
You know what it is that Christ represent

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the in the story. All the
meaning of Theophany on the baptism of Christ

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is of course contained in the icon
of the Baptism of Christ. But what

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I thought is we'll look at the
text first, and then maybe we'll come

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back to the Icon a little bit
later to see what it is that the

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Icon contains in terms of this mystery. Now we'll go into the Gospel of

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Matthew chapter three, where it says
that as soon as Jesus was baptized,

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he went up out of the water. At that moment, heaven was opened,

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and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and alighting on

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him, and a voice from heaven
said, this is my son, whom

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I love. With him, I
am well pleased. Now. Of course,

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this is seen in the Orthodox tradition
and in Christianity in general, as

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the revelation of the Trinity, which
is that we hear the voice of God,

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the Father of God above, who
says, this is my son,

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and then we see the Spirit descending
like a dove on Christ that comes out

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of the water, and so it's
seen as a revelation of the Trinity.

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But there's also something else really going
on here, which is that when Christ

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comes out of the water and the
Spirit of God comes down on him like

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a dove, what we're seeing is
a reference to two stories in the Old

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Testament at the same time. First
is the very beginning of Genesis, where

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it says that the Spirit of God
hovered above the waters. So at the

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beginning of Genesis you have this,
before creation, it even starts, you

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have this image of these chaotic waters
underneath and of the Spirit of God above

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the waters. Right, it's a
it's a basic cosmic image of heaven above,

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right, because there's no difference between
heaven, spirit, and air.

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All of these things are related.
So when it says spirit in the Old

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in the Old Testament, or in
the New Testament for that matter, it

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is the same as wind or you
know what's above this this invisible thing that

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moves above that you can't see moving, but you see its effects. And

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so this is what is above,
and then below are the water. So

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it's referring to that. But then
it's also referring to the end of the

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flood, of course, because at
the end of the flood, Noah sends

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out a dove, and then that
dove finds a branch by which it is

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able to know that the flood has
abated and that the new world has begun,

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and so what is all going on
here? So, of course what

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we're seeing is a new beginning.
We're seeing a new creation in this particular

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instance, Christ appears as the tree, the branch, that the branch that

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the bird comes and finds. And
when we hear the word branch, and

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when we hear the word tree,
we always have to remember that a tree

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is the is the pattern of reality
itself, that it is the fractal pattern

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of reality, of unity splitting into
multiplicity, and that new multiple unity and

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now splitting again into multiplicities. Right. The structure of a tree, which

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is that exactly one and many joining
together in a pattern of hierarchy. That

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is how reality lays itself out.
That is the structure of the world.

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That is what connects heaven and Earth
together. Is this embodied structure that manifests

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itself, right, And so you
can say that the tree is the connection

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between heaven and Earth. It is
the invisible principles of reality manifesting themselves in

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an embodied form, so that you
can see the pattern of the heavens,

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the pattern of reality in on the
earth connected to the earth. So it's

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like a bridge between the two,
between the whole completely invisible patterns and the

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you know, the chaotic primordial earth. And so in this context, now

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Christ appears as this new connection between
heaven and earth as a connection between heaven

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and earth. And so what like
I said, was joined together is the

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first chapter of Genesis, that is
the actual creation of the Word of the

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world, and now the second world, which is after the death of the

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first world, the flood, and
the beginning of a new world. So

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Christ is manifesting the beginning of a
new world. And then when we hear

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that the voice of God above saying, this is my son, that is,

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this is the one that I've engendered. This is the one that I

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recognize as my own, the one
that manage that is manifesting my identity now

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into the world. That is,
of course the idea of what the Son

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of God is. We have a
relationship again between this idea of the Son

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of God and the branch that the
bird finds in the world that manifests the

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pattern of a new order which is
being born in reality. You know,

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of course, this is related,
of course, in the Old Testament.

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It's related somewhat of course to the
Voice of God as well. That pulls

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reality, pulls the world, pulls
creation out of the waters, that separates

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the waters, that pulls the earth
out of the waters. All of these

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things are being referred to. Of
course, it's amazing because it's using images,

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so it can be very simple with
just this one verse and bring out

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of our knowledge all of these other
images that appear in the Old Testament.

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Okay, now, so what we're
seeing importantly is mostly to underst standard.

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What we're seeing is a new beginning, a new connection between heaven and earth,

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or revealing the connection between heaven and
earth. And this can be represented

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in many ways. It can be
represented as, for example, a new

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creation, a new kingdom, right, the kingdom. A new kingdom is

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also very important to understand how it
connects, which is that a kingdom is

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similar to a tree. That is, a kingdom is the way the world

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lays itself out in an orderly way, connected to a principality, connected to

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a king, which unites all this
multiplicity together. So a tree, a

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kingdom, you know. And then
of course it can be represented as a

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new birth, as a new beginning. And so once you start to see

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these images come together, there are
a lot of things in the Bible that

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will start to make sense, even
though it's sometimes they seem obscure at the

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outset. And so you know,
what I wanted to do is so look

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at another text in scripture, one
which is very popular, especially in kind

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of American Christianity, and see how
we can make sense of it based on

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these images that Christ himself brings up. And this is of course John three.

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So we're not going to read all
of John three, but I want

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to read a part of John three, starting with verse three, where Christ

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encounters Nicodemus. So it says,
now, there was a pharisee, a

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man named Nicodemus, who is a
member of the Jewish ruling council. He

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came to Jesus at night and said, Rabbi, we know that you are

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a teacher who has come from God. No one could perform the signs you

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are doing if God were not with
him. Jesus replied, very truly,

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I tell you, no one can
see the Kingdom of God unless they are

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born again. It's like already,
it's like, if you just look at

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what is being said here, it
is very obscure. Despite the fact that

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some people will tell us that this
is as clear as crystal, this is

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very simple, right, you can't
see the Kingdom unless you're born again.

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This is simple and obvious. Of
course, Nicodemus asks him, how can

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someone be born when they are old? Surely they cannot enter a second time

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into their mother's womb to be born. So Jesus answers, very truly,

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I tell you, no one can
enter the Kingdom of God unless they are

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born of water and spirit. Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but spirit gives

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birth to spirit. So he continues
and said, you should not be surprised

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at my saying you must be born
again. The wind blows wherever it pleases

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you. Hear it sound, but
you cannot tell where it comes from where

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it is going. So it is
with everyone born of the spirit. And

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of course Nicodemus asks how can this
be? And so Christ continues and reproaches

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him, you know, and says, how don't you know these things?

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You are a teacher of Israel.
How is it that you don't know these

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things? So what is it that
Christ is talking about here? Of course

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Christ is referring. If you've read
the Gospel, and you've read even in

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the Gospel of Saint John, if
you read the other gospels, you know

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that he's referring to the Baptist He's
referring to his baptism. He's referring to

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what it is that happened to him
at baptism. But then in the same

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way, he's not just referring to
that, he's referring to what it is

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that baptism means, to what it
is that the Baptism is manifesting in the

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world, because he says, you
have to be born of water and spirit.

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You know, that is what happens
in the story of Christ's baptism.

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He descends into the water, and
when he comes out of the water,

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then the spirit comes down upon him. And so the first thing in the

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image of Baptists that has to happen
is what what happens at first Saint John.

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What Saint John is doing, Saint
John is clearing the way, right,

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Saint John is the one that baptizes. He's clearing the way, he's

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making the level. He's moving the
old structures, he's removing the old things,

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and he's making the world level.
He's making things straight, paving the

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way for the Lord to come.
And so that is the first part of

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the process. You have to remove
the old things, and then you have

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to be born again of the spirit. You have to be born again from

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Heaven. That is, you have
to receive a new identity which comes from

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above, a new connection which comes
from above. And so that is exactly

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what Christ is saying that needs to
happen. Now, this has to happen

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at every level. Right, It's
something that happens at every level of reality,

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but has to happen if you want
to see the Kingdom of Heaven,

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if you want to be in the
Kingdom of Heaven, if you want to

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participate in the Kingdom of Heaven,
you have to remove the old kingdom and

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then you have to be connected to
the new kingdom, which is the Kingdom

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of God. And so what's interesting
about what happens, of course, the

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way that Christ reveals it is that
it is happening at every level. It

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has to happen at every level of
reality, and so it of course has

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to happen internally. And this is
usually the way that a lot of you

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know, you know, kind of
modern evangelicals will deal with it, is

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that this thing has to happen internally. That is that you have to remove

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the sins, right, you have
to confess the sins, you have to

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kind of remove the old man,
and then you have to attach yourself to

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this, to the spirit. You
have to attach yourself to that which is

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above, and then you can live
in the kingdom, and then the kingdom

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will be manifested within you. Now
that is of course true, but it

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also has to happen, you know, in terms of your actual participation in

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the church, and so you have
to actually be baptized. That's why Christ

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is actually baptized, even though Christ
didn't need it. Christ is actually baptized.

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To say, for this to happen, it's not just about a kind

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of mental game or a mental thing
or just a conviction. You have to

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you also have to embody it in
the world by being baptized and by receiving

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the spirit from above. Now,
in Christianity this has become two sacraments,

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which is the baptism and chrismation,
or baptism and confirmation. That is,

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there's a baptism from below, and
then there is this receiving of the anointing

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right from above, the receiving of
that which comes from above. This and

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this, of course in Orthodoxy is
seen as what we call chrismation, which

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is an anointing on the person's body, which is this image of light which

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comes down which influence, which comes
down from above. And this has to

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be let's say, connected with an
actual participation in the body of Christ,

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in the body of the Church,
and an actual connection to an authority which

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which is the fractal representation of this
whole thing. That is, you can't

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just be on your own. You
also have to have someone who is manifesting

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this authority of God down upon you
that you participate in. And so you

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can see that the simple little verse
of Christ is representing not only the way

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that we are transformed and enter into
the Kingdom of God, not only the

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way that we do it internally externally
by actually being baptized and by receiving the

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spirit. But then it is really
just once again, an image of everything,

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an image of reality. And so
you know, if you want,

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if you want to make a meal, that you also have to do that.

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That is that you have to level
the ingredients so that they become a

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kind of potential for the recipe.
And so you have to remove the peel,

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you have to take away the stems, you have to take the bone

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out or remove the skin or whatever
it is that you're doing to the ingredients.

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And then you have to align it, attach it to an identity which

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comes down from above. That is, whatever it is, the recipe that

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you're doing will then create the kingdom
of that recipe within you know that you're

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going to make. But that's true
of anything. It is just an image

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of the revelation of how reality works. That is, if you want to

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participate in any kingdom, in any
form of participation with it's a family,

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a team, anything, then this
is the process. There has to be

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a baptism, which is that you
have to remove your attachments to the things

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that came before. You have to
level the remainders of those of you have

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to you know, clean out the
remainders of your previous attachments. That's the

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same thing that happens like if you
start a new job, right you have

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to cut your attachments to your old
job. You have to you know,

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take your things out of that office, you know, take the take all

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this stuff out so that you're not
you're not connected to that ancient identity anymore.

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And then you have to come out
of that transformation process, come out

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of the waters, and receive the
new identity that you're going to participate in.

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Hopefully this is helpful to understand that, like I say over and over,

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Christianity is revealing to you the pattern
of reality of how it is that

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complexity works, how it is that
any type of unity and multiplicity cohere.

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But that also means that you,
you know, it is calling you to

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actually participate in that in a real
way, which is it's not just showing

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you the pattern of reality abstractly,
but calling you to be baptized, to

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be christmated, and to enter into
the Kingdom in a very explicit practical way

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as well. And so so I
wish you all a blessed theophany. I

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hope that that this was helpful to
you, and thanks for your support everyone.

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I really appreciate it in these strange
times, and I will talk to

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you very soon. Bye bye.
If you enjoy these videos and podcasts,

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please go to the Symbolic World dot
com website and see how you can support

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00:17:15,799 --> 00:17:18,960
what we're doing. There are multiple
subscriber tiers with perks. There are apparel

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00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,400
and books to purchase. So go
to the Symbolic World dot com and thank

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you for your support. I want
to invite you all to the very first

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Symbolic World Summit. Over three days. We will finally meet in real time,

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in real space, and everyone from
this little corner of the Internet will

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be there to explore the theme of
reclaiming the cosmic image. Of course I

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will be speaking, but there will
also be Martin Shaw, who is an

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amazing mythographer, father Stephen DeJong of
Lord Spirit fame. There will be Richard

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Rowland from the Universal History series,
Vesper Stamper, Nicholas Kotar, and Neil

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de Gray that you've all seen on
my channel here and there for entertainment,

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we have everyone's favorite apocast olyptic band, the one and only Dirt Poor Robins.

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This event will be the chance of
a lifetime to capture and embrace our

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current moment. So join us from
February twenty ninth to March second, twenty

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00:18:11,039 --> 00:18:17,680
twenty four in Tarbinspings, Florida.
Visit the Symbolic World dot com slash summit

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for more information and I will see
you there. So they does