THE SPIRAL TO JACOB’S LADDER:

LIFE LESSONS

By

JOSEPHINE JOY MAESTAS

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF METAPHYSICAL SCIENCE, M.Msc.

On behalf of

the Department of Graduate Studies of

the University of Metaphysics

This thesis has been accepted by

___________________________________

Thesis Advisor

___________________________________

IMM President, Dean

August 12, 2019

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Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………1

Review of Literature…….……………………………..…...5

Discussion…………………………………………...…..….16

Conclusion…………………………………………….....…21

Works Cited………………………………………..…….…23

Appendix………………………………………..…….…....24

Introduction

My spiritual journey started young at about age 5 or 6. My Grandfather, who lived with

us used to read to me from a book about Jesus. The picture showed Jesus knocking at the door of

a house, and through the window, you could see people inside partying. This book was put out

by the Christian Scientists. He was a Sunday school teacher and lived and practiced their beliefs.

These teachings and watching him practice them gave me a firm foundation to accept the

metaphysical view of the Universal God Mind.

I progressed from Christian Science into what some would say is the mainstream

Christianity, all the different denominations and into being a practicing Buddhist at the age of 16,

doing astrology charts at the age of 17 and into tarot sometime after that. I was not so much

searching as wanting to learn all there was to learn about God and his Universe, how did all this

relate as to me it had to be related. So many of the teachings were similar, and yet people did not

seem to recognize this fact. A lot of the bible stories were similar with some variations. Jacob’s

ladder being one of these. What I didn’t realize at the time was, I was being led into a metaphysical

view of all of this.

When I was working in Human Resources at one time many years ago, a co-worker of

mine was very sensitive and very intuitive. She told me on more than one occasion that she saw a

ladder by me with beings going up and down. She saw this so often I began asking, “Are they

there?” when I would see her, and the answer was always yes. Having a Christian background all

I could relate this to was Jacob’s ladder and how he saw the Angels going up and down from

heaven to earth and earth to heaven.

Genesis 29:10-12 (AMP) says it this way, “And Jacob left Beersheba and went toward

Haran, and he came to a certain place and stayed there overnight because the sun was set. Taking

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one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down there to sleep. And he

dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and the

angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” I dare not compare myself to Jacob, so I let

it rest.

I moved on to other jobs and places but never forgot the vision she had. Why me? I

wondered if I was a portal or just at a different vibration. I started searching, knowing I had some

mystical abilities from adolescence and wanting to develop them. I started taking one class after

another, as I think a lot of us do. I took classes on reading Tarot and Oracle cards, reading realms,

Fairyology, Certified Angel Card Reader, Archangel Life Coaching, and Crystal Healing. All

this led me to get a master’s degree in Ministry from a Universalist Seminary.

Not being satisfied, I kept searching. I knew there was more that could help connect all

that was in my mind. One of the classes I took at that seminary was in metaphysics. This class

opened up a whole different way of looking at things and directed me to get my Bachelor’s in

metaphysical science from the University of Metaphysics.

Now things were starting to drop into line, or should I say I was starting to see and hear

the connection of the Universal Mind with what was happening in and around me?

This knowledge brought me back to the vision my friend had of the ladder. I started

questioning. Was it a ladder or staircase that Jacob saw? Some pictures show a wide ladder. My

inner voice kept relating to me that it was bigger than that, and there was a spiral effect to it with

beings going from top to bottom, while at the same time others going back up. It was starting to

make sense. Did she see it so I would take this metaphysical journey and share it with others? Is

it still there around me? I have found I have a very close connection with Angels and Ascended

Masters, so maybe they use my energy as a portal to this earthly plane to connect with others.

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Taking a metaphysical look at this caused me to dive right in and find out all I could

about spirals, ladders, the metaphysical view of Jacob’s vision, and how we can look at it in a

metaphysically light. When you start to look at things metaphysically, you are getting in touch

with the God Mind that was there all along inside you, quietly waiting. You might picture this as

a sleeping mind that awakens slowly to a new though and those “ah-ha!” moments where it just

all clicks in. There is a peace that comes over a person when they know they have unlocked a

door and can now enter into an understanding of something that seemed to be hidden away from

them for a long time. There is also an excitement in the unknown about the journey ahead.

Discovering how this works together with our higher consciousness in meditation was not

just a bonus––it was necessary to understand how the Universal Mind wanted me to understand

what had happened and is still happening today. You can read all the books in the world, but

until you take time to meditate on what you have read, learned, or heard, you have not touched

upon what the true knowledge or meaning is.

I learned about meditation as a teenager when I dove into being a Buddhist. Meditation,

prayer time, or quiet time, however you refer to it is a basic technique in talking with God to get

a true understanding on how to interpret what you have read or heard even. Some teachers can

teach you every day, but they are only repeating what they have been taught by someone else or

read somewhere. When you are in a state of meditation, you are in connection with the Universal

Mind that is the final authority of all written and handed down to us that is considered sacred

knowledge. Through communion time with our Divine mind, we learn how this knowledge is

within us and given to us through the Divine. It is there, just waiting to be reawakened within us.

During Meditation, we can weigh the truth against what man wrote and how God wants us to

interpret it. Many times man thought he was carrying out the Divines plan when he was setting

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down his own addenda. During this ongoing journey, I researched books by White Eagle, Dr.

Masters, and Eckhart Tolle to name just a few.

Becoming aware of other realms of reality and having a full belief in the spiritual helped

with the understanding of how Jacob’s ladder is a spiral and a metaphysical look at life cycles.

In this paper, I will prove that through a metaphysical look at Jacob’s spiral ladder we

will get an understanding of our past and present life cycles and how meditation with our Higher

Consciousness can stop the spiral affecting us and our world around us.

I will prove this conclusion by quoting from different books I have read and what I have

learned through the connection with my Universal God Mind. I will inform you on how you can

stop the spiral that keeps repeating in some of our lives. We will look at how the ladder relates to

our life cycles and goals past, present, and future. I will explain what we can learn from being in

touch with the Higher Consciousness through meditation. And finally, I will explain how we can

change from having the negative effects of the spiral to having a positive effect on us and the

world around us.

When the founding Biblical fathers first started teaching about Genesis 28:10-12 the

emphasis has been on that fact that it was a dream he had, and that God gave him the land on

which he was on and in rare instances that God would always be with him. Not much attention

had been given to what the actual vision he had was or why he had it.

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Review of Literature

White Eagle starts his teaching in his book Walking with the Angels with this wisdom

“The starting point for all investigation into the unknown must be from one humble and simple

truth: the Christ light within yourself” (11). This teaching comes from a very personal

spiritual/metaphysical place for us all. He uses a form of meditation he calls God Breath, “God

breathing enables us both to strengthen and sensitize the etheric connection, so as to feel the

presence of the angels in the ether” (34). This God Breath which is a form of deep breathing

with the emphasis on knowing God is in everything and therefore we are breathing in Gods

breath, and this illustrates how with this practice we become one with the Universal God Mind

and with this practice we can experience knowing the Angels (34-35).

He teaches that we can walk with them since we share the same DNA. “You can trace

our DNA in these spiral galactic ethers to all the planets and Angelic beings everywhere”

(White Eagle 11). The fact that we share this DNA is one reason humans can see Angels. He

stresses when one awakens to a higher awareness, it opens the door to see what they are doing.

He goes on to say, “We must realize that we are related to every manifestation of God, both

upon the earth and in the heavens. Whatever lies in the heavens above, what seems infinitely

removed, is actually also within us” (11).

White Eagle goes over how by looking within (with meditation), we can see heaven

while we are in our physical body, and only by raising our vibration can we ascend to being

one with our Angelic friends that are invisible (13). This would imply we are using astral

projection to travel to heaven.

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He explains how the “As Above” is what we can see during meditation and the “As

Below” is us here on the physical plane, making meditation a number 1 priority for anyone who

wants to see heaven or get the understanding of the Universal Mind and being in touch with

Angels (16 & 21). He combines the meditation and our vision during meditation as the way to

see into heaven.

White Eagle also teaches how if we find ourselves in a bad situation, we can turn it into

a positive situation bringing peace to ourselves, and with the power and light of affirmations

and positive prayers or quiet meditation, we can turn the situation into forwarding progress,

keeping our life on track for moving ahead. His point here is to understand that through meditation

and an awareness of the Universal God Mind, we see the vision that keeps us progressing as

humans towards the Christ Consciousness that moves us forward. Again emphasizing that by

looking at what we would see as a bad situation and using the power of light and positive

affirmations, we can turn the situation around and keep on a positive track (75).

He makes the point that by trying to put everything in a box, you will miss the point of

the actual universal meaning (91).

While searching for books on Jacob’s ladder, I came across an e-book by Hedi

Enghelberg. In his book, Jacob's Ladder on route from Beersheba to Jerusalem, From Luz to

Haran Decoding Jacob's Dream, he talks about how Jacob was a shy personality, educated, and

a holy man, and how in Genesis 32, it says Jacob was always accompanied by angels and how

one encounter changed him physically. He was given a new name. Mr. Enghelberg did extensive

research in Europe and visited many museums getting the history of the various paintings on

Jacob’s dream (Ch. Introduction).

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He talks about how the ladder was propped against the clouds and angels of all sorts

were going up and down with God at the top communicating with the angels and possibly

giving them messages, receiving messages, and there were some conversations between the

angels that were going up and the ones going down (Enghelberg loc. 264).

This author believes from his journey and reviewing various works of art on the subject

that more angels were ascending then descending (loc. 372). He also concluded that since none

of them carried anything all communication was verbal (loc. 372). His view was that life is not

linear, and that we have ups and downs (loc. 394).

Enghelberg compares the souls ascending to reincarnation (loc. 402). Some of the

paintings he researched showed Angels carrying or helping people up and down, illustrating the

one-on-one encounter Angels have with humans, and he feels if God decides on reincarnation

the Angels carry or help the soul back down (loc. 440).

Using the historical painting, sculptures, and printing in books dating back to the 7th

Century, Enghelberg concludes this shows God uses angels to give and bring messages to man.

His journeys led him to pictures printed in the original Lutheran Bible from 1534; a painting by

Jose De Ribera in the Museo Del Prado, Madrid 1639; a painting by William Blake in the

British Museum, London 1805; and the front of the Bath Abby of Angels climbing a ladder

built in the 7th Century. (Resources and Biography loc. 490) Note: This e-book did not have

numbered chapters in it.)

Reading the writings of Dr. Masters always gives me much to contemplate. He teaches

how with the use of daily affirmations you can put into perspective the need for daily awareness

to be connected to the Christ Consciousness and daily rescue from our mortal existence in our

inner spiritual being of light that we are (Spiritual Mind Power Affirmations 20). His book takes

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the daily devotion to a new level and makes plain how this will elevate us to being one with the

Universal Mind to stop any downward spiral we might be going through (20). He reaffirms how

with affirmations and meditations we can become one presence with the Universal Consciousness

so that Christ Mindedness will shine from within us (24).

Dr. Masters is good at making connections with how Karma in our past lives can affect

us in this life and has a direct bearing on the longevity of our life cycle (Spiritual Mind Power

Affirmations 85). Throughout this book, he mentions using Meditation as a means of releasing

any negative energy or karma from ourselves to allow for the positive and Christ Consciousness

to flow within us (3, 19, 25, 111).

Using affirmations to turn this around, Dr. Masters said to us this, “I bless and release

any so-called failure of the past from all levels of my mind and simply regard it as a learning

experience” (Spiritual Mind Power Affirmations 67).

He also mentions how our natal chart will tell us the karma we have entered this life

with and what we need to work with God on to turn it into positive karma, thus stopping the

cycle from the past (Mystical Insights 114). Dr. Masters says that when we are in a state of

mystical meditation, we open our minds to many stargates into other worlds. These can be in

our past where we can see our other lives lived (Mystical Insights 128).

Following in that line of thought, in the Ministers/Bachelor's Degree Study Curriculum,

Dr. Masters explains how with a positive transcendent attitude, we can stop the negative situations

that may come up in our life and redirect our energy to being positive and recognizing the God

Mind in all situations (1:36). A great emphasis is placed on leading a spiritual life, and that is

defined as being in constant contact with the Universal God Mind (Ministers/Bachelor's 4:2).

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Whether through affirmations, or as Dr. Masters explained about meditation in the

Ministers/Bachelor’s Curriculum, there is more than one way to close off your senses, so you’re

thinking from the world around you and connecting with the Universal God Mind. We may

share the same DNA, but we don’t all reach awareness by the same path. This connection of

daily meditation is what will lead you on the upward movement of your spiritual accession

(Ministers/Bachelor's 2:18). He always maintains that meditation is and should be a daily

practice for one's soul to truly be one with the Universal God Mind (Ministers/Bachelor's 4:3).

We as humans put many limits on what we understand about time, space, and awakening.

In his book Mystical Insights, Dr. Masters explains how with meditation, we can understand

how our creator explains how time and space are all part of the illusion, and we are as much in

all times as we are in the present time. He then references this to the fact there is no destination

we are going that we need to reference with time and space (127). We are part of the oneness of

the All; therefore, we have never left, and we are not on a journey to return because we are

there now (Mystical Insights 126).

This use of meditation he referrers to as a “Mystical awareness removes the veils of

what seems to be and so we can see what really is. The truth comes to the forefront when it

comes to the mind’s perception of time and space” (Mystical Insights 123). Dr. Masters speaks

about how much humans put limits on their awareness of what we understand as time and

space, but once we open ourselves to what our creator defines as time and space, we become

part of the illusion, and we are as much time as we are space. We are in the present time (123-

124).

Dr. Masters says in this same book on Mystical Insights, that what we look at as low

points in our life is a learning curve (31). He also gave many examples of how to move forward

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in our lives and not let past lives or lessons keep us for moving forward on our life’s journey.

“Being in a state of cooperative consciousness with the Universe or God brings about improve-

ments in one’s life, according to Universal Will or God’s Will” (Mystical Insight 3). Dr. Masters

speaks of in this same book that when we are in a state of mystical meditation, we open our

minds to portals to different worlds and past lifetimes (128).

Later in Mystical Insights, when speaking of people having visions of angels or higher

beings, Dr. Masters says, “Today’s visions––tomorrows realities” (170).

He also draws a comparison of Christ’s resurrection and being free from daily worldly

concerns with daily affirmations in his book, Spiritual Mind Power Affirmations. How they put

into perspective the awareness we need daily to connect to the Christ Consciousness, so we can

be daily resurrected from this mortal existence into the spiritual being of light that we are (20).

Referencing how Jacob described what he saw shows limited awareness of his spiritual

consciousness. In Mystical Insights, Dr. Masters says, “Most people having visions of higher

beings will see them as some higher order of life, something to be looked up to. This is the

response of the personal ego and its limited awareness” (169).

Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth––Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose had an interest-

ing look at how when Jesus spoke of the “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs will be the

kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3 qtd. in Tolle 43). His interpretation of what that means is not

carrying the preconceived ideas that can take over your life; so, you have no true idea of who

you are but only who you have been told you are. He then goes on to say the kingdom of heaven

spoken of is the joy you find when you let go of the ideas of others; i.e., ego (43).

When he discusses the fact that when we let go of ego, or what we identify with is taken

away, then who are we (Tolle 56)? The loss of things that we feel make us who we are? This

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hitting rock bottom, as some say, is when we can, then, identify with our true consciousness

that is also called the “Peace of God” (57). This discussion moves into how when we make the

connection with our Divine consciousness, we are open to the goodness that is around us. The

reference to the Peace of God is a good example of how meditation can change our life cycle.

We yield the outside world and turn inward to connect with our Universal God-Self, and we put

ourselves in the here and now (Tolle 58).

Tolle goes on to mention the “pain-body,” which is the emotional and outside

influences we experience, is the source of our unhappiness, and how this unhappiness is usually

us overreacting to something, which sends us into a downward spiral in our emotions and

behavior (148-149). He speaks on how recognizing this pain-body is the key to awakening our

consciousness and stopping this behavior, which is often repeated over and over again in our

lives (180-183).

Carmen and Alexandra Harra co-wrote an article I found by doing a Google search (see

Appendix). This article was on Karma and how it affects our lives in the present from things

done or left undone in past lives. They offer five reasons Karma can affect you in this life

(n.p.).

The fact that “Karma has no expiration date” is number one. Summarizing the other

reasons as follows:

• There is no coincidence in your life––including people.

• Circumstances will follow you again and again.

• Down through the line, you may switch genders, as do the people around you.

• Repeats are a reason to look at the same situation differently (n.p.).

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When we are awake enough to recognize we are experiencing karma from a past life,

that is when we go within to find out why. Why do we repeat this same situation over and over?

How do we change the outcome? Sometimes we confront the situation from a male perspective,

and then next time it may be from a female perspective with the same people who are also in

different roles (Harra n.p.).

Recognizing our past lives and how to work through them can “lighten our energetic

load.”

The final book I read was written by Rabbi Yaakov Hillel, called Ascending Jacob’s

Ladder. I figured who better to have a view on this than someone who teaches the Old Testament.

Rabbi Yaakov compares the climbing of the ladder to learning about the teaching in the Torah,

the first five books of the old testament (19). He relates a story of when he left his parents’

home to be on his own, and Hashem (is a title used in Judaism to refer to God) showed him in a

dream a ladder that stood on earth and went up into the “higher worlds.” He relates this to

ascension by education, and if you serve Hashem and you don’t know you’re on a ladder, you

can’t step up.” He says that “not admitting where we are––which includes realizing which areas

need improvement––is our greatest mistake” (20).

As part of the awakening he learned from Rav. Hai Gaon, he mentions this has to do

with recognizing when we have damaging behavior to correct it by making a mental decision to

move forward away from that behavior. When we do this, we will be on a “higher spiritual

level” or have moved up a rung on the ladder (qtd. in Hillel 22).

I found within the pages of this book metaphysical truths, which were a surprise to me.

Rav. Yaakov Hillel recounts how “Hashem is the source of light, and that evil is an illusion.”

Everything relates to a spiritual aspect in life, when we reach up for spiritual understanding, our

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mental and physical will be affected by this knowledge (30-31). More of the metaphysical

teachings was how it’s our life purpose to bring light into the world (89). He even mentioned as

believers in a Universal Creator who is part of our every move, nothing is a coincidence; there

is no chance happening (Hillel 99). If we are in tune with our Creator every moment we will

see how every single thing is part of the Universal design from everyone we meet to every

place we go (111).

His teaching about when people face difficulty (Hillel 107) is related to Dr. Masters

teaching on this, as we must use it to learn from our difficulty in order to move up to a higher

spiritual level (Spiritual Mind Power Affirmations 25).

I was a bit surprised to find how Rav. Hillel believed in reincarnation when he stated:

"The soul can descend to earth more than once" (Hillel 108). This belief came from the story of

Job. Job lost it all, home, wife, children, and was on the verge of losing his faith; he was very

depressed. His friends came to him and explained it was nothing he did in this life but probably

something from a previous life. As he understood about paying back old debts, he turned his

thinking around and was able to cope to where everything he had lost was restored to him (108).

When we are active in our seeking and learning of the spiritual world around us, the

Angels then act as our messengers, taking or requests and deeds up to God and bringing his

blessing back down to us (Hillel 38). He goes over how these actions are what it means to be

created in God’s image and that it is a spiritual image, not a physical one (39).

The Jewish people have a day called Rosh Hashana, where they reflect on the past year

and ask forgiveness for all the wrong they have done. They are taught that what they do not

only affects this physical world but affects the spiritual world, as well (Hillel 40).

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This book is a wealth of information! In the Christian teaching we hear in Ephesians

6:12, we fight not against flesh and blood but principalities, against powers, against the rulers

of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. This book talks about

how the battleground is within our heart (qtd. in Hillel 45). He concludes that the more good

that goes in, the more the worse than good will be pushed out (Hillel 51).

There were so many jewels in his book, such as when he spoke of a life mission we

have, and when we fulfill it we grow closer to the Universal Mind (Hillel 55).

Getting back to Jacob, he reaffirms what was in some of my other readings, how Jacob

always talked with Angels as he sent them ahead to meet with his brother and give him a

message about his twenty-two-year absence for not talking with him and confirming that this

dream was not his first encounter (Hillel 77).

Rabbi Yaakov Hillel quotes Rabbi Hayyim Volozhin as saying "Jacob dreamt of a

ladder firmly planted on earth, but whose head reaches the heavens." He interprets this to be

compared to our soul that is on earth in our body, and the rest of our soul reaches up to the

highest level of heaven (qtd. in Hillel 221).

The final reference to Jacob was how when he ran away from home he had no worldly

experience. When he met up with Lavan, that’s when he learned about business and not just

being a sheepherder but selling and married life. He ended up with four wife’s that were all

daughters of Lavan. What God showed him with the ladder, starting on earth, was that there is

no short cut to ascension. Jacob thought he knew it all when he left home, he was a devout

student of the Talmud (the body of Jewish civil and ceremonial law) and kept all the laws

therein. Rabbi Yaakov Hillel said God taught Jacob that our body is the bottom rung and

connected to the earth, to get to the top you go through life lessons, one rung at a time. He

15

recounted when Jacob woke up, and he said, "God is truly in this place, and I did not know it."

Rabbi Yaakov Hillel translates this to Jacob knew he made a mistake, and now he was awakened

to the fact that God is everywhere, and he could serve him anywhere in whatever he did (258-

259).

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Discussion

A wise man by the name of Sir Edward Jagen once told me, “When you think you know,

you don’t.” That has been the case with all the research for this paper. I thought I knew the

direction I would take, and then found out I was going down the wrong Highway. With a few U-

turns and side roads, the knowing finally started coming together. White Eagle says, “The

starting point for all investigation into the unknown must be from one humble and simple truth––

the Christ light within yourself” (11). Even though I started and re-started a few times, read and

re-read many books, and would put all the work aside now and then so I could absorb and

meditate on what I was learning and re-learning, the adventure has been more than worth it.

Now, this metaphysical journey is ready for passengers.

Let’s look at Jacob’s vision of the ladder reaching from earth to heaven. Metaphysically

speaking a ladder is a symbol of either forward or stagnant movement (Metaphysical Bible

Dictionary 314). Although sometimes we may take a step back. We should be progressing in our

awareness, moving up, or we can get stuck where we are not moving at all. Jacob never went up

or down the ladder, he saw. He referenced a ladder as that is how the common people could

relate to how someone could go up and down. They knew ladders, they built ladders, and they

build staircases. Jacob was around people who worked with their hands, so a ladder was an easy

reference for them to understand.

Jacob had a very religious and traditional upbringing, and he would have prayed several

times a day, giving thanks, and making requests. Genesis 32 in the Bible, says Jacob was always

accompanied by Angels, so he was no stranger to who and what and Angel was.

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The ladder he saw in his vision had multiple Angels going up and down at the same time.

Dr. Masters says, “Most people having a vision of higher beings will see them as some higher

order of life, something to be looked up to. This is the response of the personal ego and its

limited awareness (Mystical Insights 169).” Was Jacob full of ego? Very possibly, since he had

gone through a lot with stealing his brother's birthright, leaving home, then working for years to

marry one woman, and then ended up marrying all her sisters before he was allowed to marry his

first choice. Eckart Tolle believes you are personally only who you have been told that you are.

Jacob had been told he was the younger brother who would get nothing of an inheritance.

However, his higher consciousness told him he was a communicator with God’s angels who

were with him all the time. He knew he was destined for greater things.

The Angels Jacob saw were showing him that they are not just messengers but helpers.

Hedi Enghelberg from his research showed that the Angels were helping people up and down the

ladder, our constant companions on our earthly journey, helping us from this earthly trial back up

to our Father to be one with the Universal Father God, once again, when we reach the top. For

Jacob, angels were one step away from God.

Mr. Enghelberg and Rabbi Hillel make the points that the ladder was firmly planted on

the earth, and the top of the ladder was propped against the clouds with God waiting there. There

is no metaphysical meaning to the simple cloud except that the painters and translators felt a

ladder had to be propped up by something.

Dr. Masters says, “Mystical awareness removed the veils of what seems to be and what

really is. And, the truth comes to the forefront when it comes to the mind’s perception of time

and space” (Mystical Insights 123). The truth of the ladder is it was held in place by faith, and

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this was not a concern for Jacob as to the how the ladder was held up. It was just a part of his

vision that anyone he told could relate too.

Why are Angels going up and down? Why were some helping people up and down but

none of them carried any books or papers with them? So any messages had to be verbal, or what

in metaphysical terms would be the God connection within us. Rabbi Hillel quoted Rabbi

Volozhin as saying “Jacob dreamt of a ladder firmly planted on the earth” (qtd. in Hillel 221). I

believe this reference to it being “firmly planted” is noteworthy. We have to start with a good

foundation with anything we do.

To do this paper, I had to start with the basics of learning about meditation and studying

what metaphysics is. Being firmly planted means there is no wavering, and it will not tip over.

We need to start each day with a good foundation of prayer or meditation and affirmations.

White Eagle affirms that any situation can be turned into a positive situation with

affirmations and quiet meditation allowing us to make forward progress as does Dr. Masters

when he says, “today’s visions––tomorrows realities” (Mystical Insights 170).

So how does this vision relate to our higher consciousness meditation? By connecting

with our Higher Consciousness, Christ Consciousness, or Universal God Mind, we would have

an understanding of Angel's. White Eagle points out that God breathing or recognizing God in

each breath we take can sensitize us to the connection of the presence of Angels in the ether.

Dr. Masters reiterates that with daily meditation, we allow for the positive flow of the

Christ Consciousness to come in. Eckart Tolle backs this up by explaining how if we do not

awaken our consciousness, we cannot stop negative behavior. To recognize patterns of behavior

Carmen and Alexandra Harra also use the word awake and it does not mean the awake after a

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nap; although, you can use it metaphorically to mean you are being awakened from a slumber to

one of higher consciousness.

To be awakened or recognizing our Higher Consciousness, we must spend time with the

one who can awaken us. The Angels were always with Jacob, as previously stated in Genesis 23.

So, the Angels were the one's awakening Jacob to see how much of his life was an up and down

battle, and the ladder was the steps to take to reach the final goal of being with God.

Rabbi Hillel relates ascension by the education of studying the Torah. He says, “If you

don’t know you're on a ladder, you can’t step up” (20). If we don’t take time to look at our

journey, we will not see the patterns we keep repeating, whether good or bad.

Each step up the ladder is from a lesson learned. If we keep making the same mistake,

some will relate this to Karma. We are experiencing something we have done in a past life and

are trying to do it differently this time to have a better outcome.

When we can awaken to where we are, yes I am on the second rung; so to get up to the

third rung, I need to make this or that improvement, we have made this connection to where we

are. Then, we can look around to see why we are there and have we’ve been there before. Are we

repeating the same behavior that keeps us from moving up?

Dr. Masters, Carmen, and Alexandra Harra go over how Karma, or things left undone

from past lives, will affect us in this present life. I love how Carmen states, “Karma has no

expiration date” (n.p.). Our choices will follow us, and once we reach the top of the ladder, we

may find we are helped back down to redo or re-enter this life once again. I would say most

awakened beings have experienced this redo of situations in life.

Rabbi Hillel relates the Angels helping people down the ladder to the fact that the soul

can be sent back more than once. It is only with having a transcendent attitude that we can

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recognize this behavior and the steps, or in this case the step up, to a positive or awakened

salutation.

The fact that the ladder was on earth shows we all start at the bottom, and we can only

spiritually move up one step at a time. Affirmations and meditations help us know where we are

on the ladder. The connection of meditation to our Universal God Mind will show us what we

need to correct to move to the next level. Our affirmations are the messages the angels carried up

the ladder to the Universal God. The affirmations are released into the universe with that simple

act.

Jacob’s actions brought him to the place he was now. He was sleeping on the ground with

a rock for a pillow, having a vision of angels going up and coming down. With the spiritual

knowledge, he had learned he could understand that this was a reflection of spiritual progression

and how it can be a spiral of patterns, repeating themselves with the people coming back down to

try again and not repeat the same outcome from the lessons that were being taught. One of the

lessons Jacob had learned was he had to work for seven years to get his wife, and when he had

done that he had been given the wrong wife from whom he wanted. He repeated this four times.

He would take a step up, and then when he found out it was not who he thought it was, he took a

step back down to try again. Jacob kept doing as he had been instructed, and each time he would

learn a little more about being under someone else’s control.

Was Karma affecting him? How could it now, he deceived his father, betrayed his

brother, and abandoned his mother to save his skin. God showed him that you could come up to

heaven, but you could be sent back also. His circumstances followed him, again and again,

making his life into a spiral of events.

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The daily awareness we have of our God Mind within us is what will help us with the

moving up and not being sent back.

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Conclusion

From this look at Jacob’s vision, we can understand how we must be devoted daily to

meditation and using affirmations for a deeper connection with our Christ Consciousness.

Having a firm foundation in our understanding of this metaphysical vision is how we will stop

negative behavior from repeating or spiraling around us and affecting us and our environment

around us. As above, so below. As on earth as it is in heaven.

With our positive affirmations, God knows we understand where we are on the ladder.

It’s this daily practice of the Oneness with the Universal Mind, we are made aware of where we

are and how to move up a rung––one rung at a time. It’s this awareness that keeps us from

repeating life cycles or being sent down again. When we seem to repeat a lesson in life, like

attracting the same personality of person each time, we are stuck on a rung, and the only way to

move forward is to be aware of the pattern by using daily affirmations and meditation to break

the cycle. We have to heal ourselves before we can heal others.

One of the paintings that Mr. Enghelberg reviewed showed people falling off. When we

get stuck in a pattern of behavior, and we are not listening to our messengers or angels, we can

fall off and have to start at the very bottom again. How many times have we heard I hit rock

bottom and then I saw the light?

When Jacob awoke, he knew he had been wrong in this thinking. He thought he was

doing what was right, but Jacob did not believe that God would work it all out. He was putting

his attention on what someone else was telling him when all along he could have recognized God

was in every place, and he could serve him anywhere.

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His vision makes clear that with our daily devotion we will have messengers who are

there to give us the information we need to make choices that will keep us moving up to a higher

spiritual level where we can communicate directly with the God Mind that is within us and all

around us. But, until we get to that level, he has messengers who will bring our affirmations to

him. This vision also shows when we get to the top, we may have made it, but we may not have

learned what we needed to learn ,so we will be helped back down to try again. This is where

karma can make a difference in how we progress up, down, or are standing still. When we can

look at past lives and see the karma in them, we can make a different choice in this life that will

move us along, and when we move up, we affect all those around us. Our positive attitude will

overflow to those around us, and since what is affected on earth as affected in heaven, it will

affect the world.

Without meditation, we cannot release the negative cycles in our lives, as we would not

have a chance to look at it from the God Mind and know how to turn it into a learning moment

and then into something positive, which might be for us to just not do that thing again. When we

meditate and affirm with positive intent, we are one with the Universal God Mind, we can bring

around positive change in our life. We can be the light for whomever we come into contact with,

and if can turn up their light even a little, they will touch someone, and it will spread worldwide.

For more information on a metaphysical view of the Bible, a look at Kabbalah is worth

looking into.

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Works Cited

Eagle, White. Walking with the Angels, New Lands, Hampshire: The White Eagle Publishing

Trust, 2000. Print

Enghelberg, Hedi, Jacob’s Ladder on route from Beersheba to Jerusalem, From Luz to Haran

Decoding Jacob’s Dream, www.engplubishing.com e-book, Fort Lauderdale, Florida – USA

ASIN: BOOZBBZK6W Web

Google search for articles on past lives affecting present life on 6/1719, people also ask – Does

past life affect present life? See screenshot in the appendix. – Web

Harra, Carmen – Article from https://mindbodygreen.com/articles/ 5 Ways Karma From Your

Past lives Affects You Today – Category Spirituality – Web

Hillel, Rabbi Yaakov, Ascending Jacob’s Ladder, Mesorah Publications, Ltd. Brooklyn, N.Y.

and Ahavat Shalom Publications, Jerusalem, 2007. Print

Masters, Dr. Paul Leon, Spiritual Mind Power Affirmations, Sedona, Arizona: University of

Sedona Publishing, 2018. Print

---, Mystical Insights – Knowing the Unknown, Sedona, Arizona: University of Sedona

Publishing, 2016. Print

---, Ministers/Bachelor’s Degree Curriculum, vols. 1-2 Burbank, CA: Burbank Printing, 2016.

PDF file

Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, Unity Village, MO, Print

Tolle, Eckhart, A New Earth – Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, New York, New York, Plume

Publishing, 2006. Print

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Appendix

Article by Carmen Harra; 5 Ways Karma From Your Past lives Affects You Today

Karma is the memory of our souls, which means it’s often long-standing, even stemming from

prior lives. Indeed, the course of our current life is mostly predetermined by earlier lifetimes:

what we didn’t finish then we come back to finish now.

What we didn’t “make right” in our last life will persistently present itself in this one, like an

uninvited guest who won’t leave. Unpleasant situations are the consequence of lingering karma,

which can always be reversed and resolved. Acknowledge these five properties of past-life

karma that still affect you, in order to erase the energy carried over from former lifetimes.

Without even knowing it, you may be experiencing karma that originated several lifetimes ago.

1. Karma has no expiration date.

Karma is the luggage your soul carries on its trip from life-to-life. Unfortunately, unlike luggage

at the airport, this particular baggage never gets lost, which means you’re stuck with it until you

open it up and sort through its ancient contents. Without even knowing it, you may be

experiencing karma that originated several lifetimes ago. But when you do dig through your

karmic suitcase, then finally, you can confront your outstanding karma and lighten your

energetic load.

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2. No person in your life — from your mother to your spouse to your mailman — is a

coincidence.

Everyone is placed into your life strategically for a reason. While you have the free will to walk

away from or remain with a certain person, karma overpowers free will.

This means that the course of karmic relationships will play out as planned despite your best

efforts. Acknowledge the role of each person in your life: Why are they there? What have they

come to teach you and vice versa? What is the karma you’re meant to experience with this

person? The sooner you acknowledge the truth of the karma you share with someone (whether

it’s good or bad), the sooner you can settle it.

3. What you have done, you become.

Thanks to the media, we often think of karma as “what goes around comes around.” But the

reality of karma is more expansive than just being “punished” for our bad deeds — there exists

positive karma, just as much as negative karma. If you stole, others will steal from you in the

following lives. If you nourished, you will be nourished. Your actions throughout your various

lifetimes become the circumstances of your being.

4. Roles often reverse.

One of the most fascinating facts about karma is that it often causes us to reincarnate in a

reversed manner. This means that your parent may have actually been your child in a former life.

Then, before reincarnating in this lifetime, the souls agreed to take on the opposite act. Souls

switch genders, too. Positions shift throughout lifetimes based on karmic need; whatever

dynamic is needed to repair or heal karma will be manifested through changing roles in our cycle

of lives on earth. The people you know now may have had a very different impact on your

previous lives!

5. Karma repeats to produce new results.

There’s a greater reason that karma repeats itself, and it’s not to cause you pain; it’s to teach you

to take different actions for different results. If you’re attracting the same type of partners into

your life over and over again, it’s time to stop and inspect your choices: Why do similar people

keep coming in? What should you be doing differently?

This calls for honest introspection and evaluation of your own faults and weaknesses, which is

admittedly hard to do. Don’t be afraid to look within. Recognize what must be changed inside of

you so as to change what’s outside of you. Then, you can modify your behavior to end karmic

patterns and progress in your potential.

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Past-life karma is resoundingly present in your current life. Muster up the courage to open your

karmic suitcase and rid yourself of its wanted contents today; this act alone will change your

destiny for lifetimes to come.

This post was co-written by Alexandra Harra.