Guardian of the Threshold
Encyclopedia
The Guardian of the Threshold is a menacing figure that is described by a number of leading esoteric teachers. The term "Guardian of the Threshold", often called "dweller on the threshold
" indicates a spectral image which is supposed to manifests itself as soon as "the student of the spirit ascends upon the path into the higher worlds of knowledge".
Right after the novel, the term has obtained wide currency and usage in theosophical circles. The Guardian of the Threshold is a spectral figure is the abstract of the debit and credit book of the individual. "It is the combined evil influence that is the result of the wicked thoughts and acts of the age in which any one may live, and it assumes to each student a definite shape at each appearance, being always either of one sort or changing each time" "This Dweller of the Threshold meets us in many shapes. It is the Cerberus guarding the entrance to Hades; the Dragon which St. Michael (spiritual will-power) is going to kill; the Snake which tempted Eve, and whose head will be crushed by the heel of the woman; the Hobgoblin watching the place where the treasure is buried, etc. He is the king of evil, who will not permit that within his kingdom a child should grow up, which might surpass him in power; the Herod before whose wrath the divine child Christ has to flee into a foreign country, and is not permitted to return to his home (the soul) until the king (Ambition, Pride, Vanity, Self-righteousness, etc.) is dethroned or dead." According to Max Heindel
, the Dweller on the Threshold (also called Guardian of the Threshold), which every aspirant has to meet -usually at an early stage of his progress into the unseen worlds- is one of the causes of main causes of obsession of men interested in occultism.
speaks about this spectral image called the "Guardian of the Threshold" in An Outline of Occult Science. According to Steiner's teachings this image will present itself as soon as the student of the spirit ascends upon the path into the higher worlds of knowledge. At a certain stage of the evolution the soul forces, of thinking, feeling, and willing will dissociates themselves and bring to the student a new inner way of perceiving that will bring to the encounter of the first Guardian of the Threshold. This Doppelgänger
is like a "guardian" that stands before the supersensible world, in order to deny entrance to those who are not truly capable of entering. He may therefore be called the "guardian of the threshold that lies before the world of soul and spirit.". Moreover, according to Rudolf Steiner's teachings, this "guardian of the threshold" may also be encountered when men pass through physical death, and between death and a new birth.
Rudolf Steiner
also identified two different "Guardian of the Threshold", one being the lesser, while the other one is called the greater:
The Lesser Guardian instructs the student that she will not pass until she is able to transform the visage of the guardian - as an image of our own earned or inherited venality - into a more comely form by redeeming or forgiving our uglier qualities. The Greater Guardian informs the student that she will not pass him until his own visage - as an image of the greater potential of the student - is incorporated into her own being. These guardians are almost always initially frightening or disturbing, but they serve to protect the student from realities for which she is not morally prepared.
, in his The Guardians of the Thresholds and the Evolutionary Way, identifies explicitly the lesser Guardian of the Threshold as the archetype of the future body of resurrection. According to Palamidessi as much as Steiner, the lesser Guardian of the Threshold, is not a spirit but a ghost, an energetic charge of base instincts and it belongs to the world of the images of the hereafter. The Guardian is a kind of echo or mirror of the thoughts and actions made by the individual.
The Guardian of the Threshold, therefore, is a separate new subtle body, moldable in good or bad, which every Ego received the faculty to create in its own image and likeness. This spectral figure is the abstract of the debit and credit book of the individual and it is destined to be the body of resurrection
. According to Palamidessi's thought, the Guardian of the Threshold is the image of what will be the future body of resurrection
:
Dweller on the threshold
The Dweller on the Threshold refers to a purported invisible and possibly malevolent entity that attaches to a human being. The term was first used by Bulwer-Lytton in his novel Zanoni.In theosophical literature, Helena P...
" indicates a spectral image which is supposed to manifests itself as soon as "the student of the spirit ascends upon the path into the higher worlds of knowledge".
According to Theosophy
The Dweller of the Threshold (or Guardian of the Threshold) is a literary invention of the English mystic and novelist Sir Bulwer Lytton, found in his romance Zanoni (1842).Right after the novel, the term has obtained wide currency and usage in theosophical circles. The Guardian of the Threshold is a spectral figure is the abstract of the debit and credit book of the individual. "It is the combined evil influence that is the result of the wicked thoughts and acts of the age in which any one may live, and it assumes to each student a definite shape at each appearance, being always either of one sort or changing each time" "This Dweller of the Threshold meets us in many shapes. It is the Cerberus guarding the entrance to Hades; the Dragon which St. Michael (spiritual will-power) is going to kill; the Snake which tempted Eve, and whose head will be crushed by the heel of the woman; the Hobgoblin watching the place where the treasure is buried, etc. He is the king of evil, who will not permit that within his kingdom a child should grow up, which might surpass him in power; the Herod before whose wrath the divine child Christ has to flee into a foreign country, and is not permitted to return to his home (the soul) until the king (Ambition, Pride, Vanity, Self-righteousness, etc.) is dethroned or dead." According to Max Heindel
Max Heindel
Max Heindel - born Carl Louis von Grasshoff in Aarhus, Denmark on July 23, 1865 - was a Christian occultist, astrologer, and mystic. He died on January 6, 1919 at Oceanside, California, United States.- Early infancy :...
, the Dweller on the Threshold (also called Guardian of the Threshold), which every aspirant has to meet -usually at an early stage of his progress into the unseen worlds- is one of the causes of main causes of obsession of men interested in occultism.
According to Anthroposophy
The main theosophical teachings about the dweller of the threshold remain valid also for anthroposophical scholars. In addition to them Rudolf SteinerRudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
speaks about this spectral image called the "Guardian of the Threshold" in An Outline of Occult Science. According to Steiner's teachings this image will present itself as soon as the student of the spirit ascends upon the path into the higher worlds of knowledge. At a certain stage of the evolution the soul forces, of thinking, feeling, and willing will dissociates themselves and bring to the student a new inner way of perceiving that will bring to the encounter of the first Guardian of the Threshold. This Doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
is like a "guardian" that stands before the supersensible world, in order to deny entrance to those who are not truly capable of entering. He may therefore be called the "guardian of the threshold that lies before the world of soul and spirit.". Moreover, according to Rudolf Steiner's teachings, this "guardian of the threshold" may also be encountered when men pass through physical death, and between death and a new birth.
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
also identified two different "Guardian of the Threshold", one being the lesser, while the other one is called the greater:
The student meets the lesser Guardian when the threads connecting willing, feeling, and thinking within the finer astral and etheric bodies begin to loosen, in the way described in the foregoing chapter. The greater Guardian is encountered when this sundering of the connections extends to the physical parts of the body, that is, at first to the brain. The lesser Guardian is a sovereign being. He does not come into existence, as far as the student is concerned, until the latter has reached the requisite stage of development. Only some of his most important characteristics can here be indicated. Rudolf SteinerRudolf SteinerRudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
,Knowledge of the Higher Worlds: How Is It Achieved?, Steiner Press
The Lesser Guardian instructs the student that she will not pass until she is able to transform the visage of the guardian - as an image of our own earned or inherited venality - into a more comely form by redeeming or forgiving our uglier qualities. The Greater Guardian informs the student that she will not pass him until his own visage - as an image of the greater potential of the student - is incorporated into her own being. These guardians are almost always initially frightening or disturbing, but they serve to protect the student from realities for which she is not morally prepared.
According to Archeosophy
Most of theosophical and anthroposophical beliefs on the Guardians of the Threshold are considered valid by archeosophical scholars. In addition to that, Tommaso PalamidessiTommaso Palamidessi
Tommaso Palamidessi was an Italian esotericist. Precociously attracted by astrology, parapsychology and yoga-tantric doctrines, he was led by his manifold interests in the field of the occult and by his intense spiritual pursuit to build up an original form of Esoteric Christianity, which he...
, in his The Guardians of the Thresholds and the Evolutionary Way, identifies explicitly the lesser Guardian of the Threshold as the archetype of the future body of resurrection. According to Palamidessi as much as Steiner, the lesser Guardian of the Threshold, is not a spirit but a ghost, an energetic charge of base instincts and it belongs to the world of the images of the hereafter. The Guardian is a kind of echo or mirror of the thoughts and actions made by the individual.
"In fact, like the echo of our voice that resounds in the valley but which, being neither us nor our voice, is nevertheless a reflected vibration of our voice, so, the Guardian of the Threshold is the ego of our Ego [...] a feeling of hatred does not finish with the action of hating, but remains recorded in the elemental being, in this imitation of nature, because an action of hatred is accompanied by a concentrated will and thought, that constitutes a process of meditation, therefore, a creating process. In the final analysis, one is persecuted by what the thinker has thought."Tommaso PalamidessiTommaso PalamidessiTommaso Palamidessi was an Italian esotericist. Precociously attracted by astrology, parapsychology and yoga-tantric doctrines, he was led by his manifold interests in the field of the occult and by his intense spiritual pursuit to build up an original form of Esoteric Christianity, which he...
,The Guardians of the Threshold, in 10th Booklet of Archeosophy, ed. Archeosofica, 1969
The Guardian of the Threshold, therefore, is a separate new subtle body, moldable in good or bad, which every Ego received the faculty to create in its own image and likeness. This spectral figure is the abstract of the debit and credit book of the individual and it is destined to be the body of resurrection
Body of resurrection
Body of Resurrection is a typical term of Esoteric Christianity, used to indicate a spiritual body associated with a special enlightenment or experience.-The Doctrine of the Spiritual Body:...
. According to Palamidessi's thought, the Guardian of the Threshold is the image of what will be the future body of resurrection
Body of resurrection
Body of Resurrection is a typical term of Esoteric Christianity, used to indicate a spiritual body associated with a special enlightenment or experience.-The Doctrine of the Spiritual Body:...
:
Every Ego received the faculty to create, in its own image and likeness, another of itself, but we say again,
“image and likeness”, and this is the archetype of the future body of resurrection, or the actual small “Guardian
of the Threshold”. What we are revealing to you is a living part of the archeosophical Mysteries. Instead, the Ego is
created in the image and likeness of God.Tommaso PalamidessiTommaso PalamidessiTommaso Palamidessi was an Italian esotericist. Precociously attracted by astrology, parapsychology and yoga-tantric doctrines, he was led by his manifold interests in the field of the occult and by his intense spiritual pursuit to build up an original form of Esoteric Christianity, which he...
, The Guardians of the Thresholds and the Evolutionary Way, ed. Archeosofica, 1969
See also
- AnthroposophyAnthroposophyAnthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
- ArcheosophyArcheosophyArcheosophy is an original form of Esoteric Christianity developed by Tommaso Palamidessi in the late 1960s.-Definition:...
- Madame BlavatskyMadame BlavatskyHelena Petrovna Blavatsky , was a theosophist, writer and traveler. Between 1848 and 1875 Blavatsky had gone around the world three times. In 1875, Blavatsky together with Colonel H. S. Olcott established the Theosophical Society...
- Tommaso PalamidessiTommaso PalamidessiTommaso Palamidessi was an Italian esotericist. Precociously attracted by astrology, parapsychology and yoga-tantric doctrines, he was led by his manifold interests in the field of the occult and by his intense spiritual pursuit to build up an original form of Esoteric Christianity, which he...
- Rudolf SteinerRudolf SteinerRudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
- TheosophyTheosophyTheosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
External links
- The Resurrection and the Guardian of the Threshold article by Tommaso PalamidessiTommaso PalamidessiTommaso Palamidessi was an Italian esotericist. Precociously attracted by astrology, parapsychology and yoga-tantric doctrines, he was led by his manifold interests in the field of the occult and by his intense spiritual pursuit to build up an original form of Esoteric Christianity, which he...
- The Guardian of the Threshold an excerpt An Outline of Occult Science by Rudolf SteinerRudolf SteinerRudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
- Mona Lisa as a Guardian of the Threshold