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I would like us to focus today on the image of Jacob’s ladder which can be found in Genesis 28:10-12. There we find Jacob travelling to Laban’s house to find a wife. Laban is Jacob’s uncle on his mother’s side. The back story is interesting in that he was sent there by his father Isaac, who was persuaded by Rebecka, his wife and the mother of Jacob, that it would be better for Jacob to marry one of their own rather than to marry a Canaanite from the surrounding district. However, there was a more pressing reason to get Jacob away from the family home which had to do with the fact that Rebecka and Jacob were complicit in deceiving Isaac so that he would bestow on Jacob the birthright belonging to his older twin brother Esau. Now, Rebecka, aware of Esau’s anger toward his brother, feared for Jacob’s life so she worked on Isaac and persuaded him to send Jacob to Laban to acquire a wife for himself.

And so, we come to the point in the story where Jacob takes rest for the night on his way to Laban and we are told that Jacob dreams a dream, so reading Genesis 28:10-12 we have...

And forth is Jacob faring from Beer-sheba, and going toward Charan. And coming is he upon a place and is lodging there, for the sun has set. And taking is he one of the stones of the place, and is placing it for his pillow, and lying down is he in that place. And dreaming is he, and behold! A ladder-way set up earthward, with its head touching the heavens. And behold! Angels of God are ascending and descending on it.

We also come across a reference to this ladder upon which the angels of God are ascending and descending in the Gospel of John where Jesus has the following exchange with Nathanael...

Jesus perceived Nathanael coming toward Him, and is saying concerning him, "Lo! truly an Israelite in whom there is no guile!" Nathanael is saying to Him, "Whence do you know me? Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip summons you, when you are under the fig tree, I perceived you." Nathanael answered and is saying to Him, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God! Thou art the King of Israel!" Jesus answered and said to him, "Seeing that I said to you that 'I perceived you underneath the fig tree,' are you believing? Greater things than these should you be seeing!" And He is saying to him, "Verily, verily, I am saying to you, henceforth you shall be seeing heaven opened up and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." Jn 1:47-51

The general idea to get hold of here is that there is this ladder that connects what is called "heaven" with what is called "earth" and that it allows for the ascending and descending movement of what are called “angels”.

So, what this image presents us with is an image of an unfolding psychological or spiritual process for this is what dreams concern themselves with, and that Jacob’s dream illustrates a connection between different levels of mind. The levels of mind are presented in the relationship of “heaven” to “earth”. Heaven is above and earth is below, so psychologically, heaven represents what is of a higher or finer quality of mind and life while earth refers to what is of a lower or coarser quality of mind and life. These terms refer to two different modes of consciousness. Another way of thinking about this idea of higher and lower is think in terms of what is interior and exterior. Things of an interior nature have to do with the interior aspects of our mental life or spirit. These are things concerned with eternal realities such as the well-being of our soul, while those of an exterior nature have to do with temporal things or those aspects of our mental life that are more focused on the well-being of our body and life in the external world.

When we start out on the journey to wholeness our level of consciousness is basically confined to the lower or “earth” level of bei...