'Alpha' and 'Omega' ? Christian symbols that carry with them essential features of the Christian mysteries, belong not only to the Book of Revelation and its prophesies concerning the Christ. They also belong to the world at large and to its need to develop a picture of the goal and purpose of human experience.



From this vantage point, the movement from Alpha to Omega may be seen to describe the path of the evolution of consciousness and the purpose of history. This path is marked by the beginning and the end of a cycle in which consciousness moves through the realm of duality brought about by entering the physical realm, and reunites with its spiritual Essence in a fusion of light and substance that creates a passageway to a new consciousness.

Many cosmologies of the world have a place in them for the description of this beginning and this end - the origin of matter in Spirit and the reawakening of Spirit in matter. In the Hopi tradition it is called the opening of the "Fifth World." In the Judaeo-Christian tradition it is called the "New Jerusalem" which occurs after a period of planetary rebirth. Visions of Omega exist well beyond the Christian tradition, defining the goal of history ? the flowering of a Golden Age in which sacredness becomes part of a collective way of life.

This transition is one that the Earth has already entered. Unseen, unheralded, and often covered by conflict that appears intractable, it is making itself felt in subtle ways as consciousness shifts more in the direction of love, unity, and reverence, and away from fear and division. It can also be seen in movements to undercut the fierce hand of repression wherever this occurs, and to liberate new streams of freedom within the populations of the world. Ultimately, the transition to Omega is based on the consciousness of light entering the realm of the physical, bringing about a new perception of material reality.

Alpha and Omega are manifestations of the power of Divine light.

In the beginning, this light creates the universe of manifested worlds through the power of the Word which brings light to the undifferentiated Unity that is, and gives life to all forms.

In the end, this same Word rises out of matter itself, seeking to reunite itself with the upper realms and to make of itself something that is both physical matter and the light of Creation. This upward thrusting is happening now, and it will result in the joining of Spirit and matter in an entirely new way.

Not since the beginning of time and the formation of the Earth itself have the planes of matter and Spirit come together in the way that they currently are. On an inner level, the movement is bringing together the inner unfoldment of the Divine heart of the world within the hearts of each embodied soul. It is activating new perceptions, and bringing about change on all levels of action and experience.

On an outer level, this movement is creating alternating waves of light and darkness, both currents cascading around the events of the day, stirring emotions toward peace and harmony in the one case, and toward conflict and separation in the other.

The meaning of Alpha and Omega is folded into the history of time itself, their relationship giving rise to the force of creative evolution and to the forward motion of human consciousness. For consciousness is drawn forward as surely as the flow of spring water is drawn from greater mountain heights to the valleys below. It flows through the rivers and streams of human vulnerability and idealism and shapes the passage from the past to the future. Thus, inspiration, intuition, creative discovery, and the flow of life emanating from the heart, all play a part in the creation of the new. All of these are built into the human experience and form the foundation for its unfolding expression.

Those who inhabit the Earth today are here to celebrate and participate in this cosmic event. No matter what internal or external circumstances are being encountered, they are being influenced by the transition from one cycle to another ? from duality to unity, from darkness to light, from unconsciousness to the illumination of truth within the heart, mind and Spirit. In this way does a new world come into being, and with it, the capacity for human beings to achieve a stature within the family of souls that is new to the human experience. In this way, too, does humanity arrive at a place within the world of the sacred that it recognizes, finally, as its own.