The Eternal World Picture, vol. 4
44.3  The source of light and the shadow side of the Earth
The little heavenly craft in the shape of the Earth has thus in the last thousands of years permanently been within the light from the kingdom of the Father. This, however, does not prevent the same craft from having had very strong glimpses of this divine atmosphere thousands of years further back in time in the form of an outstandingly high culture. But it was still too far away from the centre of the light. Dense, "cosmic clouds" welled forth and obscured the light. And the Earth sailed once again in the darkness, only faintly lit up now and then by "memories" of the past. These memories can still be traced, as fragments in a very disintegrated or obscured form, in the moral concepts and ideas about life of primitive human beings.
      But the Earth is now so close to the source of the light that no cosmic clouds can any longer obscure the light completely. The Earth will never more in this spiral move completely in the darkness. But this of course does not mean that people are thereby free from everything that is of an unpleasant nature. On the contrary, the more the Earth approaches the light, the more enlightened it becomes, and the easier it is to see how imperfect it is. Things that in the darkness were previously thought to be beneficial, wonderful and pleasant, now in the first rays of light appear to be extremely damaging and undermining at times. In the darkness of the past, conquest, killing, war and revenge, for example, were thus perceived as the most distinguished goal for mankind, the highest and most beautiful purpose of life. In the light, on the contrary, these realities appear as the triggering factors for everything that comes under the concept of "an unhappy fate", everything that is suffering and pain. That which in darkness is perceived as "paradise" appears thus in the light as "hell".
      That no great harmony, happiness or balance can occur on Earth as long as its passage extends through such a state of unveiling is not so difficult to understand. Just as every other thing that is lit up from a distance by a source of light has a shadow side, so too has the Earth a shadow side, namely that which turns towards the darkness or away from the spiritual light ahead on its cosmic course. And the "passengers" on the Earth who have their places on the part of the "deck" or "cabin" facing the light will certainly be influenced by the revelations, and get another view of the Earth and existence than those whose places are on the part of the "craft" that is in the darkness or faces away from the light. The opinions about what perfection is, what "hell" is and what "paradise" is will inevitably differ. So the "passengers'" views of all things differ entirely, from the smallest to the greatest details of life, from hygiene, nutrition, clothing to their view of the greatest problems of life itself: the law of existence, immortality, morality and neighbourly love. But when their views are so different, any form of peace, harmony and balance is thereby without fundamental prerequisites on the Earth for the time being, or as long as it has not yet travelled so far on its celestial journey into the light that this light surrounds it on all sides, so that none of its "passengers" are in darkness. And the prerequisites for peace have become even fewer in the last few years, since the Earth has slipped into a new great cosmic wave of light from the divine kingdom ahead. Because the Earth's meeting with this wave of light lies two thousand units of measure closer to the source of light than its meeting with the religions' wave of light, the former wave of light will of course be very much stronger and more brilliant than the latter. An even stronger contrast between light and darkness will thereby become apparent. That which in the religions' wave of light seems to be perfect, now in the new wave of light or world impulse often appears to be imperfect. Details that in the brightness of the religions seem to be quite insignificant and meaningless sometimes emerge or are revealed here in the stronger light as great decisive realities in the formation of the individuals' fate, the cause of their tremendously adverse fortune or sufferings. And to the same degree as the contrast between light and darkness is thus heightened, the unrest and disharmony between the "passengers" on the Earth are also strengthened. The struggle between light and darkness has increased and will become even more violent as the Earth continues to approach the highest source of light in the universe. Over the continents of the Earth blood will again come to flow. Great, diverse concepts about light and darkness will turn people against one another. All people believe they are working in the service of happiness and light, and concentrate the whole of their energy and force on carrying out their ideas and plans. Many parties, both political and religious, arise, and each believes itself to be the specific, particular good thing that will save mankind from its present chaos and erroneous ways. But the ideas from the dark side are still too dominating and further strengthen the power of this dark side, just as the light side increases in strength. Here we see the validity of the law of Nature that states that the stronger the light the stronger the shadow. But the light will of course gradually come so close that the shadow side must disappear entirely. And it is almost as if the dark side feels its "downfall" approaching, indeed, it has even already begun to manifest a kind of death struggle. We have already experienced something of this in the events of 1914-18. Millions of souls the world over can confirm this. Through a four-year-long night of terror they experienced sheer "hell". But after the dark night, light broke through once again. Darkness, however, was neither destroyed nor overcome. The Earth was still far too far away from the great source of light for the light to be able to really get the upper hand of the shadow side. "Hell" was continued on Earth in new forms. Tremendous energies or forces from the dark side bloom prolifically. New, fantastic means of committing murder are invented. The Earth is at the moment equipped to manifest the killing principle in such an absolutely unadulterated form and with a strength so great that it supersedes anything it has ever encountered before on its cosmic course in the universe. The Flood and the world war are merely trifling matters in relation to the manifestation of darkness that will now be manifested on Earth; and the Earth is really only waiting for the triggering factors, like "a thief in the night", to manifest themselves. For this reason the parable of "the ten bridesmaids" is more valid today, more for the present than for any other point in time in the history of the world. Since "no one will know the day or the hour when this will happen". But the time is nigh. Death, sorrow and sufferings will again make their great harvest on the continents of the Earth; wailing and the gnashing of teeth will again culminate. Therefore the divine warning, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak", should resound with renewed force around the world. It ought to resound through the broadcasting systems of the whole world; it ought to be heard right down in the Zulu-Kaffirs' kraal and the Fuegians' wattle-work huts and all the way up to the most northerly settlements on the wastes of the ice-field, as well as throughout the East and the West. It cannot be shouted too loudly that the Earth is speeding towards "the end of the world". Everyone must prepare themselves. A great plan in the divine world order is about to be completed. The Earth is about to be hurled into a new cosmic course, where everything that is not "pure" or loving must remain outside. The strong vibrations from the zone of the Father dissolve all details that are not insulated by love.
Symbol by Martinus
Symbol no. 44
The Law of Existence – Love One Another>