The secret of life, ciphered in icons of the Mother of God

    Iconography is an art that keeps many secrets. Such secrets are ciphered in signs and symbols which conceal information, concepts and details unapparent for a cursory glance of an average person, but reveal a deep sacral meaning to an inquisitive heart of the one who seeks more than the entire material world can offer to its two-legged batteries. Probably, there is no person on the earth (other than representatives of tribes living in jungles) who hasn’t seen an icon of the Mother of God at least once, namely an icon where there is an up-horned crescent in the lower part of the image or a veil held in Virgin Mary’s hands while her elbows are bent. Icons drawn in such a style have always been particularly nice and attractive for me. Grace and tenderness beyond expression are coming from such images which, like a light amidst impenetrable darkness, are capable of rescuing anyone who asks for Virgin Mary’s help from the quagmire of existence in the brutal world created by people themselves.

    Why is exactly the crescent? The question awaked my interest when I already suspected something important was hidden behind the icon symbolism. There was surely a certain meaning beyond comprehension if one looked at the image just superficially, and I felt the meaning was very important for me as a personality aspiring to learn myself and understand who God was and in which way I was connected with Him and He was with me, and why, strictly speaking, I appeared in this world at all.

    I found an exhaustive answer to the aforesaid question as well as many other questions in the unique AllatRa book, the primary source of priceless spiritual knowledge, quotes from which I’m going to cite below.

    And one of discoveries is as follows: an up-horned crescent and the Mother’s of God face with a shining nimbus around it on icons of such type represent a ciphered depiction of the ancient working sign – the AllatRa sign, which is easy to notice if you have a key to understanding of the genuine sense of icon symbolism.

“Rigden: The greatest value is not material acquisitions, but rather the spiritual Knowledge, thanks to which both man and the human society can perfect themselves, developing spiritually. The spiritual knowledge was initially present in the human society. The only thing is that earlier, just like nowadays, conditions for the human choice remained: some people delved more deeply into the knowledge because they strived to liberate the Soul, while others did less, being unable to cope with their Animal nature, and chose the temporary instead of the eternal. Naturally, this Knowledge had to be renewed from time to time in the human society and adapted for different peoples, taking into account the associations that were clear for them. That is why we have such a variety of legends containing the same original information. But I repeat that the Knowledge about the tools for human spiritual perfection was available originally. This can be traced through the ancient symbols and signs which have already been mentioned in our conversation.

Anastasia: This is an undeniable fact, suffice it to look at the basic ancient signs which symbolise the spiritual world and complete spiritual liberation of man.

Rigden: In this regard I would draw special attention of the modern mankind to the AllatRa sign. It was originally depicted as an empty circle which is edged underneath with a crescent with horns pointing upwards. It is one of the 18 original most ancient working signs. The name of this sign – AllatRa – speaks of the quality of its power. The fact is that at the dawn of mankind, owing to the primordial Knowledge, people knew of the One (the One Who created everything), designating His manifestation with the sound Ra. The creative power of Ra, the divine feminine principle, the Mother of all things, was initially called Allat. Hence, people initiated into the spiritual Knowledge started calling this original sign AllatRa as a symbol of the creative power of the One Who created everything. By the way, in ancient times this information about the sacred Primordial Sound was attributed to the sacred knowledge about the structure of the Universe in the context of information about the human being as a complex entity in this world, who is also unstable in his/her choice. At that, contemporary people associate the Ra sound at best only with ancient Egyptian myths devoted to god Ra.

    Nevertheless, the AllatRa sign as a conductor of the creative power of God has been used by people since ancient times. It remains constantly active and interacts with the visible and the invisible world, influencing the human energy structure, regardless of whether a person understands this or not. Still, the main effect of the sign rests on the human choice. If the Spiritual nature dominates in a person, this sign influences him or her as additional spiritual power. That is, the sign comes into a kind of resonance and strengthens the creative, spiritual power of the person. And if a person is dominated by the Animal nature, the sign remains neutral towards him or her. A negative person is usually fuelled by entirely different signs, which work to activate the material, Animal nature. The AllatRa sign manifests its influence (the creative spiritual power) the most in a group of people who really work on improving themselves in everyday life and join forces in collective spiritual practices (prayers, meditations, and so on).” (pages 439-441 of the AllatRa online version: http://allatra.us/allatra-online)

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“Anastasia: Perhaps, it should also be noted that the AllatRa working sign is one of the most powerful signs, and it has often been used by people who followed the spiritual path. Most interestingly, it’s impossible to obtain power from it unless the Personality is present in the position of the Spiritual nature Observer, in contrast, for example, to the sign of a star.

Rigden: The AllatRa sign works in dimensions above the sixth one, and this puts it in line with those few unique working signs that are available for people in this world... So, the AllatRa sign is a truly powerful sign which allows you to save and multiply the powers of Allat in yourself, the power that comes from God Himself and is directed immediately at creation, that is, implementation of His plan. That is why in the sacred sense this sign is considered to be an embodiment of the power of God through Allat.” (page 443)

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    “I have already said that a circle is a symbol of the Soul and also one of the symbols of manifestation of a spiritual Being from the world of God. And the symbolic sign of a crescent with its horns pointing upwards is a symbol of a person who liberated himself spiritually already during his or her lifetime. The AllatRa sign was also used to describe a person who has come from the spiritual world (the other, the supreme world) into this material world, renewing the lost primordial Knowledge.” (page 441)

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“By the way, in ancient times in Kievan Rus, the first version of Saint Sophia’s (“the Divine Wisdom”) Cathedral in Kiev was nothing other than a five-nave cross-domed temple with 13 cupolas, which had a pyramidal composition. Additionally, the Cathedral domes had crosses, at the base of which there were

    horizontal crescents with horns pointing upwards. Moreover, the centre (shaped as a circle) of each cross was crossed by a diagonal cross, and the overall composition was an equilateral cross. There was the entire spiritual symbolism there: a circle, a rhomb, indication of 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13, and also the AllatRa sign. sign. This Cathedral was dedicated to the Annunciation, in other words – to the Mother of God and Archangel Gabriel.

    Such a cross is an entire book for people confided to the mystery of the spiritual Knowledge and the real teaching of Jesus. It is a personal symbol of Virgin Mary as of Jesus’ disciple, who achieved spiritual liberation during her life and stayed to help people even after her physical death. On the top of the central cross there was also a heading in the form of a crescent pointing upwards and a circle above it, i.e. the AllatRa working sign. Such distinctive feature pointed at the fact that this Teaching had been brought from the Spiritual world, in that case, by Jesus Christ as a supreme Spiritual Being who had visited this three-dimensional world through incarnation into the human body. It also pointed at the special significance of Archangel Gabriel as a Spiritual Being who played an important role in spreading the true spiritual Teaching of Jesus and in the spiritual support of Virgin Mary. Furthermore, all this together indicated the level of Knowledge of those who initiated the installation of this working sign on the central dome of the main temple of Kievan Rus. For religious priests and followers of that time simple explanations were given, particularly that all such symbolism would be understood by the Slavic nations, taking into consideration their traditional symbols.

Anastasia: Yes, this information deserves special attention. In Sensei II book, I wrote more about the important spiritual role played by Archangel Gabriel, for Kievan Rus in particular. I also mentioned the story about Mary and Jesus in Sensei IV book; that Jesus passed the true spiritual teaching to his disciple – a woman named Mary who achieved spiritual liberation from reincarnations during her life. And that she was the one who had to be the head of the true Church of Jesus. But because the Teaching was distorted (due to intrigues of people striving for power and its significant alteration as the religion was being created), today the church is headed exclusively by men, and the image of Virgin Mary is associated only with Jesus’ mother who is called the Mother of God. However, this fact does not diminish the spiritual power of that creative divine feminine principle, thanks to which people who really strive for spiritual salvation do gain it to this day.

Rigden: I hope people will not simply read this information, but understand its spiritual meaning as well. The Spiritual Teaching of Jesus was given in the open form to all people as Knowledge, as a seed of the Truth which was one for the entire mankind. This is hard to understand for modern people, because instead of the Teaching they see mere concepts of the world religion with which the name of Jesus is associated today. As for Virgin Mary, who is basically staying between the spiritual and material worlds, she is still serving as a divine Conductor of the spiritual power to help those people who follow the spiritual path. This, by the way, was known to real disciples of Jesus, who carried this Knowledge to the masses, although secretly. In every religion, there always existed intelligent, honest and conscientious people who truly sought spiritual salvation instead of material wealth and benefits for themselves. Secretly keeping the Knowledge, they did everything possible in their positions to pass the Truth to subsequent generations, so that the true spiritual Knowledge could win its way to the future for those who craved for spiritual salvation. That’s why on the walls in the catacombs where early Christians were hiding, one can find not only the fish symbol and the equilateral cross, but also the sign of the crescent with horns pointing upwards (Allat). That’s why the following passage, which is assigned to John the Theologian, appears in the Revelation (12:1): “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” That’s why on ancient monuments, for instance, of old Russian architecture of the 11-14^th centuries, precisely such crosses with crescents were placed which are a symbol of Virgin Mary, indicating that construction of such cathedrals with exactly such complex signs and symbols was initiated by those people who were connected with the true Knowledge.” (pages 505-508)

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    “And it has been shown clearly that in the Christian religion it is the creative divine power of the feminine principle that plays the main role of the real Guide from the human world to the spiritual world. It goes through the main female images of Christianity – Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene... People divide the images, but their essence is the same: the divine Love, the Mother of God, that which through Love revives communication with God in man, restores former connection with Him through the Soul. It is exactly the spiritual, good power of Love and Creation of the Mother of God that is the main guiding and performing power from God! In the Annunciation scenes Virgin Mary is often depicted with a lotus, or rather, with a lily in her hand, as a symbol of spiritual purity. She is portrayed as trampling a dragon (the human Animal nature) with her feet. After all, taking into account the spiritual knowledge about the human being and the practice of spiritual path, all this gains a different, deeper meaning!

    Virgin Mary is called a “spiritually reviving power” and an “embodiment of the true knowledge.” She is called the “Wisdom of God”, “a painter of everything”, the “Mother of creation”, about whom the Bible says that “She is the breath of the power of God and a pure influence flowing from His glory”, “She is a reflection of the eternal light and a spotless mirror of God’s action”, “Being but one, she can do all things and, remaining in herself, she makes all things new: and in all ages entering into holy souls, she makes them friends of God, and prophets.” The spiritual power of Virgin Mary is compared to the “Gate of Heaven”! She is named the “Bearer of a Deity”, “The Soul of the world”, “God’s Providence”, “Incarnation of Logos”…

Rigden: Once Jesus said to Mary: “Blessed are you, Mary, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in heaven. And I tell you: you are the Magdala of My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” “And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; and whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Anastasia: Yes, I remember these important words. I recorded this knowledge in Sensei IV book, namely about the fact that Mary Magdalene was exactly the closest disciple to whom Jesus not just entrusted the secret knowledge, but also handed the “Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven”, that which today people call the Grail. “Magdala of Jesus’ Church”, the main Pillar of Faith, which still holds the genuine Teaching of Jesus…

Rigden: ... and real spiritual help comes to people for the salvation of their souls.” (pages 535-537)

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    “The Mother of God is the Conductor of the power of God for every person following the spiritual path; she is the power of God’s love, with whose help the human Soul gets liberated from earthly reincarnations. Jesus as a Spiritual Being from the other world updated the true Knowledge which had been lost in centuries and gave people spiritual tools for spiritual salvation. So, in other words, he left the keys. Improving oneself by means of such tools, a person acquired, figuratively speaking, a key to the sign. At that, He gave power and signs themselves to the Mother of God as to the Conductor of God’s power, as to a spiritually liberated Being residing between the worlds for the sake of spiritual liberation of human souls. And only when diligence and self-improvement work of the spiritual seeker and the power of God’s Mother (Allat) were connected, the Personality merged with the Soul, that is, a person attained liberation of his or her Soul, reached the seventh dimension or, as they say in Christianity, “paradise”, “the kingdom of the Father and the Son.” And it only depends on the choice of a person whether the sign will be active and whether the person will be Worthy of receiving such divine power that will lead him to God. The key is given for the purpose of being used. And in order to use the key, it is necessary to invest one’s effort. So, such is the way of a spiritual person – the way of unburnt spiritual impartiality, which leads to liberation only when coupled (together) with the creative power of God.” (page 614)

Prepared by Julia Matveyeva (Russia)