(Reference is made to Myrna Lofthus’ A Spiritual Approach to Astrology in answering this question.)

Bottom Line: It is as inevitable that you participate in the New Age as it is that you live within the 21^st Century. Both are measurements of time. A Century = 100 years; an Age = 2160 years.

The Age is indicated by the particular constellation of stars toward which the Earth’s North Pole is pointing as our solar system moves through the galaxy. The circle of constellations in the heavens is known as the zodiac circle; the names of the constellations are the zodiac signs. The 12 zodiac signs are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.

Earth is presently in a transition period as the North Pole shifts from its orientation toward the star constellation of Pisces to that of Aquarius. As we live within this transition period, we hear many references to "The New Age." Humanity is anticipating the North Pole’s movement toward the star constellation called Aquarius.

Most of us know how to find the Big Dipper cluster of stars. We call it the Big Dipper because the location of the stars in relationship to each other reminds us of the dipper our ancestors used to dip into a bucket for a drink of water. In this same way the star constellations within the zodiac circle have been given a symbol. These symbols are: Aries – the ram, Taurus – the bull, Gemini – the twins, Cancer – the crab, Leo – the Lion, Virgo – the virgin, Libra – the scales, Scorpio – the scorpion, Sagittarius – an arrow, Capricorn – the goat, Aquarius – the waterbearer, and Pisces – the fish.

Each star constellation’s symbol also indicates the major energetic qualities or influences that radiate from that star cluster. Examples of the historical Ages with which humanity is most familiar exemplify the constellation’s predominant influences.

4420 B.C. down to 2260 B.C. marks the Age of Taurus with its symbol being the bull. During this period, worship of the bull was common. Many of the ancient stone structures seen today in Egypt, Mexico, and Central America were created during the Age of Taurus. Taurus likes structures that are stable and lasting.

2260 B.C. down to 100 B.C. marks the Age of Aries with its symbol being the ram. During this Age, a ram was "carved on the end of wooden battering rams and used to break down gates of cities. Roman soldiers wore emblems of ram’s horns on their uniforms." The Jews sacrificed lambs as a burnt offering. Aries is the sign of the pioneer. The biblical story of Moses, the Exodus, and the Ten Commandments is an example of the Arian pioneering spirit.

100 B.C. to 2060 A.D. marks the Age of Pisces with its symbol being the fish. During this Age, Rome desired world peace and unquestioning acceptance of its dictates. Jesus, born during the transition period between the Age of Aries and the Age of Pisces, was called "the Prince of Peace." He was also called "the Man of Sorrows"—both terms are indicative of Piscean qualities. Early Christians adopted the Piscean symbol of a fish. Mysticism, a predominant Piscean activity, became much more widespread during the Age of Pisces. Martyrdom, in its many forms, is characteristic of Pisces.

We can see that the transition period between Ages involves an overlap. Temple sacrifices of animals ceased with the burning of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D.—almost 200 years after the beginning of the Age of Pisces. The men who created a new religion—Christianity—adopted the Age of Aries’ means of worship and relating to God through blood sacrifices. Jesus became known as "the sacrificial lamb." During the 19^th and 20^th centuries, spiritual teachers in England/America brought forth expanded versions of Truth in the form of Theosophy, Science of Mind, the Unity Movement, the Edgar Cayce Foundation, and the study of metaphysics in its myriad forms. This … in preparation for the New Aquarian Age.

The New Aquarian Age will last from 2060 A.D. to 4220 A.D. Its symbol, the waterbearer, tells the story of the life-giving, healing qualities of water being poured out for all of humanity. The concept of Jesus as a Wayshower toward individual ascension into higher consciousness will move the focus away from blood sacrifice. Ascension will be open to all who so choose. The Aquarian Age is to be characterized by universal familial love, world peace, and an abundance of good for all. We will move away from following the dictates of powerful hierarchies in religion, government, and education. Instead, we will seek Truth with freedom and openness. Fear will no longer imprison us. Knowing the Truth of our galactic family, we will strive to build a galactic culture of love and light for all. We will re-create the Garden of Eden upon Earth.

My book, A New Age Christian: My Spiritual Journey, offers insights into the movement from the Piscean Age type of Christianity to the Christ-centered spiritual seeker of the New Aquarian Age. This book may be purchased on my website.

The New Aquarian Age promises us a glorious future! Why would anyone choose not to participate?

1. The simplest way to interpret the Bible metaphysically is to set aside all former beliefs and read it with an open mind. Jesus spoke often of those who do not have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. Most often this inability to see and hear is because we live in a robotic society, in which we are taught to believe as the authorities instruct us. We are afraid to think for ourselves, without the security of a structured religious system. Throughout the Piscean Age, religious authorities have controlled us by instilling fear—fear of a God who is capable of punishing for eternity, fear of believing a heresy, fear of falling out of grace with God, and fear of being ostracized by our fellow human beings. The hidden wisdom within the Bible cannot be revealed as long as we insist that all insights be in accordance with the established religious beliefs.

2. Read the four gospels with the knowledge that Jesus is acting as a channel through whom "the father" speaks. Jesus repeatedly turned the focus of attention away from himself and toward "the father." The Gospel of John makes this clear. Two examples: "the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing." (John 5:19) "Then Jesus cried aloud: ‘whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me.’" (John 12:44) Reading the gospels with this knowledge grants insights into Truth. Statements like "I am the resurrection and life" are not Jesus describing himself, but "the father" speaking through Jesus.

3. Gain a basic knowledge of metaphysics as it relates to our true identity. The Divine Self chart is the best illustration of who we are (click on the Divine Self Chart title in the left column of my website home page). Contrary to religious teachings, Jesus is not the only begotten Son of God. Instead, Jesus is the personality who lived in a physical body just as we are. The gift of the only begotten Son of God is the Higher Self (or Christ Self) that we all possess. The difference is that Jesus was attuned to his Higher Self; we tend not to recognize our Higher Self as present within us. This Higher Self is the mediator between the physical personality and the I AM PRESENCE (that spark of God) that is within each one of us. When Jesus states that he speaks the words of "his father," he means that he speaks (or channels) what he hears from his Higher Self as a mediator for his I AM PRESENCE.

That we are created in the same form as Jesus is made clear in Jesus’ teaching in John 10:34: "ye are gods" quoting Psalm 82:6. In John 14:12, Jesus reveals: "the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these." Jesus and us are gods learning from the human experience on the physical plane. Jesus taught that we are to follow his example as a Wayshower: "I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father." (John 8:38)

(See the series of lessons on "Jesus As A Wayshower" listed in the left hand column on my website home page.)

4. Charles Fillmore’s Metaphysical Bible Dictionary is an invaluable tool in interpreting the Bible metaphysically. This dictionary includes the metaphysical meaning of the major Greek and Hebrew names and locations cited in the Bible. These metaphysical meanings of biblical names and locations in combination with a basic knowledge of the personal initiations through which each of us must journey on our way to ascension into higher consciousness set the stage for a metaphysical interpretation of the Bible. (See the article on my website home page entitled "Ascension" for a brief overview of the Initiations.) An example of metaphysical interpretation may be found in my book Where Are You, God? A Metaphysical Interpretation of the Biblical Book of Job, published in its entirety on my Chapel On the Bridge website page. Contrary to traditional religious teaching, the Book of Job’s theme is not suffering but the unconscious process of initiation into higher consciousness. This book ends with Job exclaiming to God: "I had heard of you by the hearing of my ear, but now my eye sees you." (Job 42:5) Job’s conscious awareness has expanded; he has ascended into higher consciousness.

(Fillmore’s Metaphysical Bible Dictionary may be purchased through my website bookstore. Look under the Unity category on the 1^st page of my bookstore.)

5. Geoffrey Hodson’s The Hidden Wisdom in the Holy Bible is an excellent tool for learning how to interpret the Bible metaphysically. (Hodson’s book may be purchased through my website bookstore under the Biblical Studies category on the 1^st page of my bookstore.)

You will find the following metaphysical Bible interpretations of great interest:

Bil Holton, Ph.D. has interpreted the four gospels metaphysically. His books may be ordered through his website: http://metaphysicalbible.net/

Steven Hairfield, Ph.D. has an excellent book A Metaphysical Interpretation of the Bible. His book includes a metaphysical interpretation of Genesis, Isaiah, the four gospels, and Revelations. This book may be ordered through Amazon.com.

#6) Did God create a physical place called "hell" as a means of eternal punishment?

The human psyche is deeply scarred with the church’s teaching of a physical place called hell, created by a God who intends to punish some individuals for eternity. As long as the church ignores the fact of reincarnation, a fictional hell remains the only means for God’s justice to work itself out. After all, Galatians 6:7 reminds us: "Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow."

Hell, as a place for some to spend eternity, is not biblical. Rocco Errico offers a word study. The English term hell comes from the Anglo-Saxon hel, meaning a hidden place. Hel comes from the verb form helan meaning "to hide." Thus the English root word for hell, helan, has nothing to do with hell-fire. Biblical translators used the word hell to translate two different Semitic words: gehenna or gehenna dnoora in Aramaic (the language spoken by Jesus) and sheol in Hebrew.

Sheol comes from the Hebrew root word shalal meaning to be still, quiet. The ancient Hebrews believed sheol to be a place beneath the earth’s surface where those who die, both good and bad, are inactive and quiet. They await judgment or resurrection day. It is a temporary resting place in the underworld.

The Aramaic gehenna dnoora refers to the "Valley of Hinnom." During the 1^st century C.E., Gehenna Dnoora was the garbage dump for Jerusalem. Located outside the city walls, people brought their garbage to Gehenna Dnoora and burned it. The Judean king, Ahaz (735-715 B.C.E.), used this valley to send his son to the flames as a human sacrifice to the gods. As a result of these human sacrifices, the valley Gei Hinnom became a Semitic term for hell. The Old Testament sheol and the New Testament gehenna dnoora in no way refer to a place established by God for eternal punishment.

(The above word study was taken from an article by Rocco Errico entitled "Why Hell Is A Rubbish Heap" published in the February 1996 issue of Science of Mind Magazine.)

Revelations 21:8 is another verse that seems, on the surface, to verify the traditional Christian concept of hell: "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." Throughout Revelation, sulfur appears in relationship to the eternal fires." On the mundane level, sulfur is a natural element found in protein. Protein is essential to the well-being of our physical bodies. Hidden wisdom uses sulfur as an alchemical symbol. Alchemy, as defined by Webster, is the "power or process of transforming something common into something special." Thus sulfur in combination with the eternal fire is the means by which souls are transformed "from something common into something special." The second death is, therefore, death to the lower self (or something common) so that the something special (the Higher Self) can be resurrected into conscious awareness. Revelation is speaking of the astral plane (the plane to which most souls go after departing the physical body) where all negativity is eventually transmuted and resurrected into something special. Henceforth, the individual Soul is constantly attuned to the Higher Self as it continues its spiritual journey through multitudes of higher realms of awareness and manifestation as the god that it is.

Hell, as a place of eternal punishment, is not biblical.