Throughout history, humanity’s fear of death has led to a somewhat fruitless quest for immortality.
Unfortunately, human beings want to have it both ways. They want to live forever but they want to stay young and pretty at the same time.
Thus the search for immortality has been combined or equated with a quest for Eternal Youth.
Nowadays people resort to botox and other methods of cosmetic surgery to remain forever young.
But it is rumoured that in the time of Christopher Columbus, when the Spanish monarchy sent him off on his quest, ostensibly to find “India” and gold, what Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand were really looking for was the Fountain of Eternal Youth.
El Dorado, the mythical City of Gold, was a euphemism for Paradise, the Paradise that was allegedly lost to humankind following Adam and Eve’s antics in the Garden of Eden.
Forbidden Fruit
Now in the biblical Genesis story, reading between the lines, there appear to have been two forbidden trees in the Garden of Eden. One was the Tree of Knowledge and the other was the Tree of Life.
Once Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge, the God in this story said, “Behold Adam has become as one of us to know good and evil, and now might he not put forth his hand and partake also of the Tree of Life and eat and live forever”.
Adam and Eve were quickly expelled from Paradise before it occurred to them to eat from the other Tree and an Angel with a flaming sword was placed at the East of Eden to bar the way to the Tree of Life.
The Golden Key
But here is an alternative less well-known version of the Creation Story.
When the Elohim or Gods decided to create human beings, they said, “Let us re-make man in our own image and after our own likeness.”
Thus human beings were created Divine – with all the attributes that divinity entails – immortality, omnipotence, omniscience and all that good stuff.
But the Gods said to themselves, “The human being is like a child playing with toys. They have much to learn. If we give them all these powers now, they will surely misuse them. We will have to hide the golden key to their omnipotence and omniscience and immortality somewhere until they are ready and able and mature enough to use it without psychologically destroying themselves or physically destroying their planet.”
“Well, where shall we hide this Golden Key of Immortality and Divinity?” asked one god, looking from one to the other of his colleagues in bafflement.
“We could bury it in the Earth.”
“But one day humans will be able to mine the Earth and then they may find it before they are ready,” he replied.
“How about hiding it in the sea?” suggested another god,
“Perhaps. But one day, humans will learn how to scuba dive and penetrate the depths of the oceans with submarines and they may find the golden key before they are ready.”
“I know!” said a goddess, in excitement. “Let’s hide it somewhere in the air, high up in the clouds, or in the atmosphere or even in Space….”
“No, no, no, the human will be technologically advanced before he will be spiritually ready. They will learn how to make aeroplanes and rockets. Then they will fly high, find the key and use it before they have the maturity to use their powers wisely. We’ll have to hide the key where they will never ever look.”
One of the Gods looked up suddenly, illuminated. “I know a place where they will never look! Let us hide the key to humanity’s divinity, immortality and power inside humanity’s soul. And then if they do find the key, it will only be because they are ready.”
“Inspirational!” chimed his fellow Gods.
And so it came to pass that the key to humanity’s immortality was hidden in the human being’s soul – the one place they would never look, until they were truly ready to grow up.
“You wouldn’t have believed me!”
Since that time many masters have come and gone and dropped hints about humanity’s innate immortality and clues that they were made in the image and likeness of the Divine and that they would never truly die.
One teacher called Jesus was quite explicit and said things like, “The Kingdom of God is within you” and “Didn’t I tell you that ye are gods?”
But the message fell on unhearing ears.
Still the message about humanity’s innate gifts and powers continue to pop up subliminally and “unconsciously” in stories, legends, TV shows and movies. We have the X-Men and other superheroes and new shows like Believe and old movies like the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy doesn’t realise that she has the power to get home to Kansas all by herself until the Glinda, Good Witch announces it at the end of all her adventures in Oz.
“But why didn’t you just tell me?” Dorothy said.
“Because you wouldn’t have believed me,” replied Glinda. “You had to find out for yourself.”
Sam Punch is the author of Manifestation Psychology and Vocation, Vocation, Vocation!
