Preparing to Understand Life After Death

At the OHM grand convocation in August of 2025, we explored the meaning of death and the apparent paradox it presents to a belief system rooted in the principle of eternal life. While we all acknowledge the finiteness of the physical body’s life cycle, what of our seemingly instinctive sense of consciousness as something that transcends our tangible experience? Is that “sense” a perception of something objective? Is it a projection of something we wish to be true as a defense against the possibility that the death of the physical body is also the end of what we know as “I”?

The answer to these questions may truly only be fully revealed to an adept whose spiritual aptitude has unfolded to a degree that they are both capable of receiving and understanding such truth. To such an end, Ann Davies spoke of a belief among the Pythagoreans that, before one could bring down spiritual truth from the higher planes, one had to be totally free from longing for it. Their idea was that the yearning itself for eternal life would color whatever truths were received about an afterlife. According to the Pythagoreans, one had to be capable of such objectivity about their beliefs, that they would be unaffected if the opposite of their beliefs were true.

This type of perspective, or objectivity, is only fully demonstrated by one whose level of service is akin to the “profitless servant” of the Gospel of Luke. That is, the servant that expects no special merit or reward for the simple fulfillment of their duty. To such a one, the investment of one’s self in service to “spiritual” principles is the highest and best use of one’s life and that investment is its own reward.

The “profitless servant” is not one who does not desire for themselves. Rather, the profitless servant has cultivated desires that serve the needs of the life lived in service. Our training in esoteric and occult psychology will help us understand that this refined level of motive cannot be expressed through a personality with unrecognized internal conflicts and emotional issues. These conflicts and issues are in part what is symbolized by the tertiary colors of the Personality Triad and Malkuth on the Tree of Life. That is, similar to what Swami Vivekananda says of the Soul, the tertiary colors on the Tree of Life represent how the Ego has become mingled with the mind, with desires and with the body. So, our fear of death is at least partly ground in the fact that the eternal part of us (our Ego), has become “mixed up” with the parts of us that are not eternal.

So, to prepare ourselves to receive the higher truth about death, we must free the parts of our Egoic consciousness that have become “mixed up” with our lower vehicles. While the alchemical process largely focuses on processes of purification, Key 13 itself suggests two orientations that have the effect of refining desire in a way that prepares us for higher truths about death. These two orientations are indicated in the two parts of the “greatest commandment” according to the New Testament (Mark 12:28-34) – the first of which is to “love God with all your heart, soul, and mind,” and the second of which is like the first, “to love your neighbor as yourself.”

The first part of the commandment, to love God with our heart, mind and soul, is expressed in the Initiate through their commitment to Truth above or within circumstance. That is, fulfillment of this commandment is achieved through establishing a relationship with our experiences such that “the truth” of our circumstances is the Divine part of our reality while understanding all else is impermanent. This recognition that God stands before all things and that all things come from the Ineffable One is the seed that flowers in the love of the Divine. The next iteration in the process of love of the Ineffable One is the recognition of the Divine within our neighbors, known and unknown, friendly, or hostile. The true Initiate knows they cannot truly love the Ineffable One while withholding love from a fellow human.

The first orientation suggested by Key 13 that pertains to the two-part “greatest commandment” was discussed at the Grand Convocation, that is the exaltation of Uranus in Scorpio as symbolic of the exaltation of truth. Key 0 (“Spirit”, and the planet, Uranus), is related by Gematria to the phrase “in whom there is no guile”, which is used in the Old Testament and quoted by Jesus, in the New Testament. As Uranus is exalted in Scorpio (Key 13), we can say that the exaltation of Truth above all else facilitates the dissolution of the impermanent. The spirit of the exaltation of Truth is embodied in the Gospel saying to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

As the love of the Ineffable One is symbolized in Key 13 by the exaltation of Truth (the permanent) over that which is impermanent, the process of loving our neighbors can be guided by an understanding of the rulership of Pluto in Scorpio. Pluto is the god of the Underworld, the place to where people and things are banished (Scorpio and the Eighth House are themselves associated with the mysterious and “taboo”). The metaphor of the Underworld, where sinners and other undesirables are sent so as not to mingle with those that live in the light of God’s grace, represents the part of our Psyche where we have isolated aspects of ourselves of which we are ashamed or that have become insured. These parts of ourselves that have been banished reside in our subconsciousness, away from the light of self-awareness, and unwilling to expose themselves for fear of further rejection or shaming. Unwilling to authentically express themselves, these banished parts of our Psyche either hijack some aspect of our personality or mask themselves in projections of their qualities onto others.

The practice of love of neighbor starts with one’s ability to be honest about all aspects of ourselves and the ability to compassionately accept ourselves. The endeavor to accept ourselves honestly, even the parts that evoke a sense of shame or regret, builds the virtues of humility and acceptance and helps us to let go of what previously protected us but now impedes our spiritual growth. Generally, we tend to think of our ability to “love our neighbors” as rooted in our ability to find things about people that we love or can identify with in some way. Or, possibly, our ability to love our neighbors is based on our ability to ignore or block out undesirable traits of others so that we can love the good parts of someone. However, the adept’s love for their neighbor is not a function of their neighbors good and/or bad traits. Rather, the adept’s love of their neighbor evinces a psyche that has reclaimed all of its parts through a compassionate understanding of themselves.

Thus, the objectivity said by the Pythagoreans to be required of one who would truly understand life and death can be cultivated by engaging the esoteric and spiritual truths associated with the attributions and symbols of Key 13. The commitment to that which is true and compassion for all will displace personal desires and agendas that crowd-out the ability to receive the higher truths about death and prepare the Initiate for the conscious realization of Eternal Life.