Kenosis to Gnosis
Hear the silence
The Story of Narcissus.
The story of Narcissus is one of the most familiar stories from ancient Greece and it is used as a well known psychological term as well. As with the well known stories from the Bible, as explained on the Occult Bible page, there is a a metaphor that lies underneath this story of Narcissus. The story clearly states that he fell in love with his reflection, but most people go ahead and say that he fell in love with himself.
No, there's a big difference between the self and the reflection that was on the water and the two should never be confused with each other. There was nothing wrong with Narcissus being in love with himself, the thing that was wrong was Narcissus being in love with something that didn't exist. Self love is something that everyone should aspire to and that means the dismantling of the reflection that is the body and the physical existence. That is what most religions tell people to do. The reflection only existed on the water that he was staring into and it didn't exist in real life. As explained on the page Reinterpreting the Bible, the water represents the world and this is where the reflection of the true self exists. Narcissus became the reflection and then he died as the legend states.
This is the death that was explained on the page called Death and Resurrection. It is a spiritual death of the true self and that is the metaphor that lies underneath the story of Narcissus. Narcissus sounded like a higher being who threw it all away to become infatuated with a reflection that only exists in the water that represents this dark world.
The story of Jesus Christ walking on water is a prime example of how water is used to represent the world. Jesus Christ walking on top of the water means that he is above the world. This is from the Reinterpreting the Bible page, "14:22 "Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid." 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water." 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!" 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?" 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God."
It's interesting that the Jesus walking on water story occurs right after the Jesus feeding the 5000 people story. These two stories are connected to each other. It's commonly acknowledged by Christians that the Jesus walking on water story has metaphors in it and it represents the state of the world and spirituality. Jesus going to the mountain represents that he is leaving the disciples behind in the world to defend for themselves. The water represents the material world and the boat represents those who haven't fallen into a state of ignorance. The Christians say that the boat represents the physical church, but it's bigger than that. The mountain represents Heaven because it's a raised area of land that connects Heaven and Earth. In the Tarot cards, the mountain always represents a connection between Heaven and Earth. That is why he is praying there. He prays to connect himself to Heaven. The wind and the waves represent the problems of the world that challenge the people in the boat. In the occult everything in the physical world is in a state of movement and everything in the spiritual world is in a state of rest. Peter sinking into the sea represents him sinking into the world and the wind represents movement. Jesus stopped the wind, which is the movement of the physical world and saved Peter. See the page called the Concept of Rest for more information about this subject. Alister Crowley made an interesting comment about water and rest in his book Tao Teh King, "Who can clear muddy water? Stillness will accomplish this. Who can obtain rest? Let motion continue equably, and it will itself be peace." The purpose of meditation is to create stillness of the water and make it clearer so that the higher world can be seen and discerned. The wind or movement of the physical world makes the water muddy so that most people will never be able to comprehend the higher world. Jesus walking on water represents him walking on the world and not sinking into it. Walking on water means that he is above the world and not in it. Peter sinks into it because he doesn't have the spirituality that Jesus has and he is sinking into ignorance. Only by faith, or knowledge of himself, can he stay above the world and not sink into it. Jesus walking on water is connected to the end of the astrological ages that Jesus feeding the 5000 represents.
Psalm 107:23 has a similar passage to Matthew 14:22, "Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. 24They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep. 25For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. 26They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. 27They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end. 28Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. 29He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. 30They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven."
Very few people will understand what these passages mean. Being in the physical world is like being at sea with a storm and God's domain is one of stillness. When the storm was stilled, the people on the boat could find their way to the higher world, which is hidden by the movement of the physical world.
This is what the Wikipedia page explains about Narcissus, "Several versions of the myth have survived from ancient sources. The classic version is by Ovid, found in book 3 of his Metamorphoses (completed 8 AD); this is the story of Echo and Narcissus. One day Narcissus was walking in the woods when Echo, an Oread (mountain nymph) saw him, fell deeply in love, and followed him. Narcissus sensed he was being followed and shouted "Who's there?". Echo repeated "Who's there?" She eventually revealed her identity and attempted to embrace him. He stepped away and told her to leave him alone. She was heartbroken and spent the rest of her life in lonely glens until nothing but an echo sound remained of her. Nemesis (as an aspect of Aphrodite), the goddess of revenge, noticed this behaviour after learning the story and decided to punish Narcissus. Once, during the summer, he was getting thirsty after hunting, and the goddess lured him to a pool where he leaned upon the water and saw himself in the bloom of youth. Narcissus did not realize it was merely his own reflection and fell deeply in love with it, as if it was somebody else. Unable to leave the allure of his image, he eventually realized that his love could not be reciprocated and he melted away from the fire of passion burning inside him, eventually turning into a gold and white flower.
An earlier version ascribed to the poet Parthenius of Nicaea, composed around 50 BC, was recently rediscovered among the Oxyrhynchus papyri at Oxford. Unlike Ovid's version, it ended with Narcissus who lost his will to live and committed suicide. A version by Conon, a contemporary of Ovid, also ends in suicide (Narrations, 24). In it, a young man named Ameinias fell in love with Narcissus, who had already spurned his male suitors. Narcissus also spurned him and gave him a sword. Ameinias committed suicide at Narcissus's doorstep. He had prayed to the gods to give Narcissus a lesson for all the pain he provoked. Narcissus walked by a pool of water and decided to drink some. He saw his reflection, became entranced by it, and killed himself because he could not have his object of desire. A century later the travel writer Pausanias recorded a novel variant of the story, in which Narcissus falls in love with his twin sister rather than himself (Guide to Greece, 9.31.7). In all versions, his body disappears and all that is left is a narcissus flower."
The part that says "Unable to leave the allure of his image, he eventually realized that his love could not be reciprocated and he melted away from the fire of passion burning inside him" shows that the reflection cannot love back, because it is a reflection that can't do anything and it is a waste of time and energy to be so infatuated with it.
When it comes to real life Narcissists, a man called Sam Vaknin had something interesting to say about them which matches that this page is saying. Narcissists are essentially dead people because they are their outside shell and are lacking their true selves. This is the statement from Sam Vaknin, "Narcissists are already dead. There is no person that exists".
Narcissism is at epidemic proportions in the modern age because of consumer culture and social media. Religions and mystic groups have been warning about excessive materialism for thousands of years and people today are extremely surface level and in love with their reflections that only exists in the waters of death. These two videos from Sam Vaknin is really good at describing the state of Narcissism today.