“First then, who is the Candidate? He or she is the soul, who in the long course of evolution, stands at the door of the Temple of the Eternal Wisdom. He is also the Monad (divine Spirit), hitherto “resting” in the Consciousness of the Logos. The evolutionary impulse has caused the decision to send forth his Ray into the Universe, so that he may evolve from germinal perfection through conscious imperfection to conscious perfection. The Logoic and the human interpretations must run parallel as we proceed, for all Masonic symbology is susceptible to this connotation. The Soul, newly formed as a centre of Self-consciousness in the Higher Mental Plane, with the germ of the Godhead present with it, “sleeps” through the necessary sequence of successive incarnations. It does, however, receive a gradual increase of faculty, which it stores quite automatically. This goes on for many lives, the number varying with the individual.
Deep within, pure Wisdom is locked in “sleep”; Spirit, however, continually sends down refreshing and arousing forces through the Monad. These pass directly into the personality and the physical body where they constitute the Will-Force, the Life-force and the recuperative power. Thus, the Highest and the lowest meet – Spirit and matter; but in unawakened Man the soul does not participate consciously in their united activity. They are the B… and J… of Man, the Will force and the physical vehicle. Not until these are “conjoined” is there conscious exercise of “Stability”. In other words, the sleeping Soul is in the charge of Nature’s processes – of Life itself.
Extract : The Innermost Self of Man within the Temple of the Universe - Fr Geoffrey Hodson.
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
Revelation 3:20 (NAS) "Behold, I stand at the door and knock..." (Jesus is pictured outside of the door of the unregenerate heart, knocking through the conviction of the Gospel message)
I might ask if there is some confusion re Jesus and Spirit.
Revelation - "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
Rev 3:15-20 (Wey) " I know your doings--you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot! Accordingly, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, before long I will vomit you out of My mouth. You say, 'I am rich, and have wealth stored up, and I stand in need of nothing', and you do not know that if there is a wretched creature it is YOU--pitiable, poor, blind, naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy of Me gold refined in the fire that you may become rich, and white robes to put on, so as to hide your shameful nakedness, and eye-salve to anoint your eyes with, so that you may be able to see. All whom I love, I rebuke and chastise; therefore be earnest and repent. I am now standing at the door and am knocking. If any one listens to My voice and opens the door, I will go in to be with him and will feast with him, and he shall feast with Me."
If Jesus or Spirit lives in our hearts then we might well be talking to ourSelf.
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
Masons are into symbols, might we consider Edgar Cayce's (a devout Christian) interpretation of the symbolism to be found in Revelations.
Paradise of God The original consciousness of humanity before its fall into flesh
Tree of Life The spiritual centers of the body, such as the heart and the pituitary, that becomes perfectly synchronized
Angel of the Church The intelligent force governing a spiritual center within the body
Satan The force of self-centeredness, self-gratification, self-indulgence, self-importance, self-righteousness, self-consciousness, self-glorification, self-delusion, self-condemnation, self, ego, the "false god," the "beast"
Book of Life The collective unconscious record (memory) of all souls
Earth The physical body
Mountain of fire striking the Earth The forces within the physical body which are constantly warring within
New Jerusalem The superconscious mind awakened
Nakedness The exposure of faults
Seven lamps The wisdom of the seven spiritual centers within the body
Masons are engaged in building, or trying to build a New Jerusalem?
The seven lamps are represented by the seven officers?
You might be right.