Divisions of Consciousness
In the beginning, God moved.
This initial movement was the outward expression of Consciousness seeking to Know Self, THROUGH the reflection of Self. Within this movement, the polarities of male and female were created — Father-God, Mother-God — with the Third Force emerging as the balance between these paradoxical opposites. The blueprint of creation, the Divine Pattern, is embedded in this movement.
At the center is Consciousness — undivided, dynamic stillness, and ecstatically charged potential. From this center, energy flows outward before being Reflected back inward. This Feminine-Reflective realm functions as a living mirror, allowing Consciousness to see and experience itself.
In Tantric traditions, this dynamic is portrayed through the relationship between the god Shiva and the goddess Shakti — with the male-Shiva being the point of Consciousness and dynamic stillness in the center of all things, and the female-Shakti being the reflective expression and energy that moves through all things. Without Consciousness, there is nothing to experience, and without Reflection there is no means for Consciousness to see or Know itself.
The image below is a map of what I would describe as the flow of the division of consciousness. Each movement outward represents a greater degree of fragmentation. These divisions are the sacred geometry of Mind, embodying the Laws that govern this realm and providing the necessary structure through which consciousness develops.
We begin at conception as pure consciousness — Essence.
Just as the physical body is formed through the division and multiplication of cells, the same Divine Laws of this Feminine-Reflective reality ensure that consciousness is developed through expansion, division, and differentiation. Polarity creates the conditions for relationship, and relationship creates the conditions for the birth of higher consciousness. Every stage has its purpose and every stage follows the same pattern — the inexperienced and undifferentiated unity of the primary cell (zygote), the expansion into polarity and dimensional experience, and ultimately the reintegration of everything that has been divided. Through this journey, consciousness doesn’t just return to where it began — it returns with the experiential Knowledge of Self.
Like the cycles of breath and the cycles of our Soul, consciousness expands and contracts — descending into density and division, to gain the experiential Knowledge that can only be accomplished in this Feminine-Reflective Realm {see Breath of the Soul}.
Every outward movement initiates the way for an inward return.
*As you read through this section and the image above, it may be helpful to come back and read it a second time. The pattern often becomes clearer once you’ve seen the entire map
At the core of every person is the Essence.
The Essence-self is pure consciousness — the original seed, or fragment, of the Soul Self {see Allan Cronshaw’s SoulSelf.org}. It is the deepest and most authentic aspect of our being, untouched by conditioning, social roles, or learned behaviors. From this center, consciousness expands outward into the 12 spheres of the Tree of Life. Through the further division of the twelve within the twelve, consciousness continues to differentiate until eventually emerges the 144,000 personalities that make up the inner multitude.
This pattern is shown in Scripture:
Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.
Revelations 7:3-4
After the above verses, the Scripture then lists:
- 12,000 from Judah
- 12,000 from Reuben
- 12,000 from Gad
- 12,000 from Asher
- 12,000 from Naphtali
- 12,000 from Manasseh
- 12,000 from Simeon
- 12,000 from Levi
- 12,000 from Issachar
- 12,000 from Zebulun
- 12,000 from Joseph
- 12,000 from Benjamin
The tribes of Israel are an allegorical representation of the 12 spheres of the Tree of Life, and each 12,000 is depicting the personalities that emerge through the process of division and differentiation as we engage and interact with the world around us. In the New Testament, the Tribes of Israel are expressed in their unified form as the 12 Disciples. Within each sphere or group of personalities, leaders must be consciously developed. These Leader Personalities are raised up to higher levels of consciousness through consistency, inner work, and connection with the Observer. They are also developed through communication with the unconscious multitude itself.
A true leader doesn’t save themselves and leave the rest behind.
A leader inspires others to follow, serves the greater whole, and assists those personalities that remain trapped in old patterns and unconscious behaviors. These leaders become bridges between the higher and lower aspects of ourselves.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
Matthew 28:19–20
The Observer is the personality closest to the Essence. It sees without reacting. It watches the thoughts, emotions, impulses, and behaviors without becoming identified with them. The Observer creates the space necessary for energy and consciousness to return to the Essence.
Without the development of the Observer, we remain identified with the countless personalities and reactions that arise within us. It allows us to step back from the mechanical movements of personality and recognize that we are not every thought we think or every emotion we feel. Without the development of the Observer, we remain completely identified with the personalities that arise within us and lose ourselves in their reactions.
What I have labeled the Unconscious “Inner Multitude” represents the majority of our personalities… the legion, the masses, the countless aspects of ourselves that remain in the “outer darkness.” It is the multitude that Jesus speaks to only in parables — just as the deeper reality of this realm is hidden in allegory. These are the compartmentalized aspects of ourselves that were formed through life experiences, conditioning, wounds, fears, desires, and adaptions we made to manage the world around us.
“Man has no individual I… Each minute, each moment, man is saying or thinking, ‘I.’ And each time his I is different… Man is a plurality. Man’s name is legion.”
G.I. Gurdjieff
Every personality within the inner multitude claims to be “I.” Each believes itself to be the true self and speaks as though it represents the Whole. These many “I’s” take turns being active, each drawn to the forefront in response to the continually changing circumstances of life.
One moment, a particular personality is present, with its own thoughts, desires, emotions, and opinions. Then another personality steps forward with an entirely different perspective — often with little awareness of what the previous one thought, felt, or intended. This is why we experience inner conflict, contradictions, and inconsistencies.
We make resolutions and we break them.
Want one thing, then another.
Feel love and resentment towards the same person.
Courage and fear towards the same situation.
Our conflicting thoughts, feelings, moods, impulses, and reactions are all expressions of this divided inner multitude.
Our Essence is masked behind these continually changing personalities, and each personality is like an actor on the stage — stepping into the spotlight for a time before another takes its place. Most of these personalities have only a superficial awareness of each other, and they rarely have the awareness that they are part of a much larger internal community.
Every environment we enter and every person we encounter has a particular energy or vibration that resonates with a corresponding vibration and personality within us, drawing that personality to the center stage.
Consider how many identities are relational: there is the I that is a mother, the I that is a wife, the I that is a daughter, the I that is a sister, the I that is a grandchild, the I that is a friend, the I that is a co-worker, the I that is a neighbor, etc. Each has its own memories, emotions, thoughts, and ways of perceiving the world. Notice how differently you might feel, think, and behave depending on who you are with. The personality that comes forward with your parents is very different than the one who appears around close friends. The personalities that show up in a professional setting are very different than the ones that are at the forefront at home. We often shift between these personalities so quickly and naturally that we barely notice the transition.
The work of self-observation begins when we recognize that these many personalities are transient. They are not who we are at our core. As we become aware of their comings and goings, we can start to uncover the Observer, who witnesses them all.
Through the Observer, we can connect with the parts of us that are oriented toward a higher objective — the personalities that are active Seekers and have the potential to become “fishers of men,” or the Leader Personalities that will spread the Word and bring the inner multitude to Christ. As the internal communities of our Mind and Being are spiritualized, “capturing all thoughts to Christ,” the foundation is created for the Third Force balance points within the central pathway of the Tree of Life to develop, and for the body’s energy — that was once compartmentalized and trapped in fragmentation — to return to the Essence and grow it.
See Allan Cronshaw’s Twisting of the Law at the Third Interval
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