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Job is in the midst of his transition from the personality-centered Mutable Cross to the Fixed Cross on which the personality is awakening to the Soul. The biblical account of the three crosses on Golgotha illustrates the three crosses of soul-centered astrology.⁷³ Jesus, symbolizing our Soul or Higher Self, is crucified with two bandits. As all three hang on their particular cross, the bandit representing the Mutable Cross mocks Jesus: "If you are the Christ, save yourself and save us also." ⁷⁴ The person evolving on the Mutable Cross is conscious of the physical plane only. Salvation and suffering is perceived as coming through someone or something outside of Self. Job, while evolving on the Mutable Cross, blames God for his misfortune.

The bandit hanging on the Fixed Cross is awakening to the presence of his Soul. He speaks to Jesus (representing his Soul): "Remember me, my Lord, when you come in your kingdom." ⁷⁵ Jesus (the Soul) hangs on the soul-centered Cardinal Cross. He responds with full knowledge of the Soul and its heavenly abode. "Today you will be with me in Paradise.. O my Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit." ⁷⁶ The individual hanging on the Cardinal Cross is totally surrendered to Divine Will. This evolution from one cross to another illustrates the path of enlightenment all of humanity must take. In this Lesson, we find Job progressing to the Fixed Cross. He is awakening to Truth, albeit largely unconsciously.

In chapter 10, Job is so discouraged that he perceives his only hope as being death to the earth plane and entrance into ".a land of loneliness and deep darkness, and of the shadow of death, without any order or time; wearisome like a deep pit." ⁷⁷ Job is describing the ancient Jewish concept of Sheol, the resting place of the dead. Unaware of life's continuum, Job believes his present physical incarnation to be the extent of his life's span.

The belief that life begins with conception in the womb and ends with physical death has created immeasurable suffering for humanity. It has robbed us of the means of understanding life and its traumatic experiences. With only one life to live, desolation is frequently on our doorstep. We are distraught with the death of a loved one. We are devastated when we fail in one of life's ventures, when a life-threatening illness besets us, or when we lose all of our material possessions. Attempting to successfully experience all of life within the span of one incarnation is like living in a pressure cooker with no means for the steam to escape.⁷⁸ Life can become so filled with trauma that it loses any real sense of constructive meaning. Many end up simply suffering through life.

Traditional religious teachings that expound one life to live offer no satisfying explanations for humanity's suffering. According to these teachings, physical death is followed by one of two places: heaven or hell. The traditional religions bore us with the thought of spending eternity walking the golden streets of heaven and frighten us with an impeding doom of eternal punishment in hell. Humanity's continual efforts to build a better life for self and the world are tangible evidence that within the depths of our being we do not accept the traditional religious teachings of one life. The Soul of us knows far more than we can articulate on a conscious level.

Zophar the Naamathite represents our lack of spiritual illumination. The Hebrew meaning of Zophar is chirping, moving swiftly.⁷⁹ Zophar signifies our random search for Truth. With no sense of direction, we move from one search to another. Gaining a little bit of knowledge, we tend to chirp about it as if we know Truth. Having no Wayshower to follow, we tend to turn to one teacher after another, one diviner after the other, and one philosophy after the other. Although this type of swift-moving thought is freer in its search, there is no clear comprehension of Truth, no guidelines for embarking on the spiritual journey. At the very least, this chirping thought loosens us from the chains of the status quo. And our search holds the potential to bring us into true spiritual understanding of Truth.

Zophar, with his tidbits of Truth, is beginning to sense there is far more to life than he knows. "Can you understand the deep things of God?.. How can you know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." ⁸⁰ Even so, he is still convinced that God is punishing Job for his wickedness. Zophar chirps truth in a distorted manner, "If you make your heart right, and stretch out your hands toward [God] .. You shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; yea many shall seek to see your face." ⁸¹ Zophar's words contain Truth; they are echoed in I John 4:18: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love [of God] casts out fear." However, Zophar speaks these words of Truth as a condemnation of Job and thereby, reveals his own lack of spiritual understanding.

Job reacts in a healthy manner. He reveals the attitude each of us need to adopt when someone else is telling us what to do or to believe. "I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you; but to whom are such things as these not known?" ⁸² When our family and friends attempt to tell us what we should do and believe, we need to recognize that we have within ourselves the means to seek and find spiritual understanding. We possess the potential to stand on our own and to follow our inner guidance to the best of our ability. Regardless of the amount of love and concern with which family and friends speak, they can never know where our Soul is leading us. So, even though we, and our family/friends, know tidbits of Truth, we must listen to and obey our inner knowing and not be overly swayed by what others perceive as Truth for us. In the words of Job, "What you know, I know also; I am not inferior to you. But I would speak to the Almighty, and with my reproof would I reason with God." ⁸³

Job now desires to speak directly with God. He understands that his friends, well-meaning as they may be, "are all healers of no value." ⁸⁴ Why are they healers of no value? Because . "Remember that your power is from the earth, and your dwelling place is of clay." ⁸⁵ His friends offer only earthly knowledge. Job is awakening to a higher source of understanding and healing. Instead of looking outside himself for the answers to his afflictions, he is now ready to look within. He is realizing the Truth that God "also shall be my Savior." ⁸⁶ Job has progressed from cursing the day of his birth, and wanting to die, to questioning God, "Make me to know my transgressions and my sins. Wherefore dost thou hide thy face from me, and considerest me as thine enemy?" ⁸⁷ Job is asking, "Okay, God, why is this happening to me? Help me to understand." Job's questions to God signify movement forward on his spiritual path. Job has made the transition from the Mutable Cross to the Fixed Cross. His journey will now involve attuning to and learning from his Soul and indwelling God. Instead of sleepwalking and allowing life to happen to him, Job is now ready to seek Truth and to integrate it into his daily lifestyle with conscious intention.

Our search for Truth is not always easy. Job still sits on the ashes heap. He must first ask questions and seek for the answers. The asking of questions is a major step forward because many traditional religious leaders discourage us from doing so by responding, "If you ask questions, you may lose your faith." Yes, we may lose the faith we presently possess, but that faith is no longer satisfying our spiritual hunger.

Job first looks to nature, where he can find some answers. However, he is still viewing life through the lens of his traditional religious training. He does not yet possess the eyes to see Truth. Job perceives the cycles of nature as not relating to humanity. "For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again and its tender shoots will not cease.. But man dies, and fades away; yea, a man perishes, and he is no more.. If a man die, shall he live again?.. Thou destroyest the hope of man." ⁸⁸

Job's feelings of isolation and his perception that God is kinder to nature than to humanity stem from his religious background. He has been taught to view God and all of creation as separate from humankind. Even though Truth once more rolls from his lips (if a man die, shall he live again?), Job is not yet ready to hear it. The first cycle of dialogues ends with Job at the threshold of a new journey. His spiritual evolutionary progress has moved him onto the Fixed Cross. It is on the Fixed Cross that we become Disciples.⁸⁹ Here we learn to integrate into our daily lifestyles the teachings of our Wayshower. On the Fixed Cross, we undergo the first two initiations, the Birth of the Christ energy within and the Baptism.

In Lesson 6, we will begin our study of Job as he hangs on the Fixed Cross. There he goes through the struggles that eventually lead him to move away from his personality desires and to follow willingly the divine path set before him by his Soul.

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The Mutable Cross

"The vast majority of people are at work building a 'landing base' for the Soul to anchor on the Earth, and hence the intense attraction to the material plane .. The focus of awareness and the underlying life motivations are underscored by desire-desire for the material life .. The Mutable Cross serves to give the Soul the necessary knowledge of earthly experiences." ⁹⁰

The Fixed Cross

"Others . are consciously at work shaping their physical, emotional, and mental vehicles for a purpose sensed but as yet unseen. This is the stage in our lives in which many of us currently find ourselves. It is that time, when we take on certain disciplines of diet, exercise, study, and aspiration to love in ways that are new but essential to us. And we often do not know the reasons; our inner voice, our intuitive self, just reveals that this is the way for us at the present time-and we listen. The increasing tension of duality 'between heaven and earth' becomes strongly felt, and a choice is eventually made as to the nature of one's path in life. The purpose of lifetimes spent on [planet Earth] is the revelation of the true nature of Love."⁹¹

73 Luke 23:39-43.

74 Luke 23:39.  One level of interpretation of the New Testament is to allow Jesus to symbolize the Soul of each of us.  In this way, his journey becomes our personal journey into Higher Consciousness.

75 Luke 23:42.

76 Luke 23:43, 46.

77 Job 10:22.

78 Nancy B. Detweiler, A New Age Christian:  My Spiritual Journey  (Richmond, Virginia:  Bridging the Gap Ministries, 1998) 40.  You may refer to the entire chapter entitled "Have I Lived Before?" by clicking on "Reincarnation In the Bible" in the left column of my web site's home page.

79 Fillmore.  Metaphysical  704.

80 Job 11:7-9.

81 Job 11:13, 19.

82 Job 12:3.

83 Job 13:2-3.

84 Job 13:4.

85 Job 13:12.

86 Job 13:16.

87 Job 13:23-24.

88 Job 14:7, 10, 14, 19.

89 Oken  141.  You may read the series entitled "If Jesus Is A Wayshower, What Did He Show Us" on this web site.  Go to the Home page and click on "Jesus As A Wayshower" in the left column.

90 Oken  141-142.