“In Revelation 4:6–8, four living beings (Greek: τέσσαρα ζῷα, tessera zō[i]a) are seen in John’s vision. These appear as a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle, much as inEzekiel but in a different order. They have six wings, whereas Ezekiel’s four living creatures are described as only having four.” (Wikipedia)
The Throne in Heaven
“After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings.” (Revelation 4:4-6)
A greater part of the Qabalistic mystery pertains to the often viewed fatalistic interpretation of the New Testament book of Revelation, therefore, in order to dispel fatalism from fact i present here the Qabalistic key to these Four Beasts of the Apocalypse, or the Unveiling, which aligns itself with all ancient and modern mystery traditions.
The key, then, to a proper understanding of this mystery is to be discovered in the numbers and pictographic symbols.
The Throne signifies a center of Revolution as in Time. Surrounding this center are 24 divisions which are subsequently divided by Four points and an axis of Six. Now 24 Elders of Time denote the inescapable idea that fatalism imposes upon human consciousness which is as to Time: a past, a present, and a future which always remains amenable through human intervention.
Having as there are, many various scales of time delineations, we want to point out here the fundamentals of these mysteries as they pertain to consciousness within the Human experience. Ideally the Central point is a ‘collective’ principle that must encapsulate a Universal idea which remains true to itself regardless of who experiences it. In this sense Heaven will be an ideal of “Above” as in the Hermetic principle “As Above so Below”. In this way John, or ‘the Dove’ is symbolic of the division of male and female in an electromagnetic sense, where we are told in a different context that John baptizes with water and Jesus with fire, both being born exactly six months apart to signify the Winter and Summer Solstice points. In this way the complementary opposites are as to Time in Revolution; as male is to female, or as Day is to Night, albeit in a much broader context such as in the Precession of the Equinoxes.
In this way we see that the entire book of Revelations is constructed to conceal a numerical code as there 22 chapters which are aligned with the 22* Hebrew letters and even the 22 Major Trumps in Tarot. *(22 of course being the mathematical demonstration of 7 multiplied by pi or 7 x 3.1415=22). Now in Revelation chapter 4 these four points are revealed to be as Four Beasts, or the two Equinoctial and two Solstitial points in the Celestial Sphere, which is known as the Zoological Wheel or the ‘Wheel of the Animals’. In this sense the Ox, or Bull, is made to represent Taurus or the Vernal Equinox, the Eagle the Autumnal Equinox or Scorpio, the Lion the Summer Solstice or Leo, and finally the Angel/Man signifying the Winter Solstice point of Aquarius which act as rulers in the 12 zoological divisions.
24 of course immediately associates in our mind the idea of 24 hours as this is superimposed upon this 360 degree Celestial Sphere; as in the proper divisions of the arc seconds, minutes, and so on. Now the entire basis of this division hangs from this central core point in an axis of 6 which is the fundamental character of the sexagesimal division of 60 seconds, 60 minutes etc. A proper vision of this is to be further bourne out when one approaches a study of the Cube of Space which encloses such a volumetrical aspect of this 2-dimensional representation of this sphere. From this vantage point the six directional axis of time is made to conform to an idea of “wings” in which each of the four BEASTS of Time is a specific division Ruling the entire ascending and descending Scale electromagnetically.
It is with this understanding in mind that many of the ancient and modern Adepts and Initiates sought to construct their ritualistic centers of learning and it is also this same knowledge which continues to be taught in all modern esoteric schools of any serious repute. So then as one begins to unravel this Qabalistic Mystery of the Unveiling, or Revelation, one must humble themselves before the Throne of the Most High ‘within’ seeking only that “Key” to which is granted to a select few who continuously “knock” at that door. Indeed the entire basis of these Mysteries is to be discovered in a proper understanding of TIME.