“What, then, is that which he wants such a one to think? “I am like the shadows and phantoms of the night.” When morning comes, this one knows that the fear that had been experienced was nothing. Thus they were ignorant of the father; he is the one whom they did not see. Since there had been fear and confusion and a lack of confidence and double-mindedness and division, there were many illusions that were conceived by them, as well as empty ignorance—as if they were fast asleep and found themselves a prey to troubled dreams. Either they are fleeing somewhere, or they lack strength to escape when pursued. They are involved in inflicting blows, or they themselves receive bruises. They are falling from high places, or they fly through the air with no wings at all. Other times, it is as if certain people were trying to kill them, even though there is no one pursuing them; or they themselves are killing those beside them, and they are stained by their blood. Until the moment when they who are passing through all these things—I mean they who have experienced all these confusions—awaken, they see nothing because the dreams were nothing. It is thus that they who cast ignorance from them like sleep do not consider it to be anything, nor regard its properties to be something real, but they renounce them like a dream in the night and they consider the knowledge of the father to be the dawn. It is thus that each one has acted, as if asleep, during the time of ignorance, and thus a person comes to understand, as if awakening. And happy is the one who comes to himself and awakens. Indeed, blessings on one who has opened the eyes of the blind.” ~The Gospel of Peace

Shadows and Phantoms of the Night

The Gospel of Peace is not talking about actual shadows and phantoms here, but of those that visit us in dreams. Dreams may be warnings about things that may happen in the future or things that are happening at present without our conscious knowledge—for example, a dream meaning showing us an illness we have inside that we are unaware of. Yet we should not fear such dreams as they are only trying to help us, so the writer of the quote is correct in saying that the fear experiences in the dream, he knows was nothing when he is awake. Unfortunately, many are not so sure about dreams, or they may take the dream symbols too literally (a good dream dictionary could help with that). Some just ignore dreams entirely, and that too is foolish. Dreams are sent to help us, not frighten us.

Some shadows and phantoms may be things that are believed by those who have not become spiritually awakened, and are false beliefs. By acting on, and living in accordance with such beliefs, they live a false life and are easily manipulated by those who love to control people. They are as if they remained asleep and living in a dream world.

Dawn of the Father

Those who make the effort to awaken their spiritual faculties experience the Knowledge of the Father, which is Wisdom and Truth. Such people escape the illusions of false beliefs and teachings by false teachers and prophets. Such people are happy and blessed, just as the Gospel of Peace says. Sadly, there are many today who call themselves awake, and even believe it is true, but the majority of them have been fooled by false teachings just as much as those who believe in materialism and capitalism. The real mystery schools of the ancients spent years helping one to awaken. The real spiritual schools of today do likewise. Those who claim they can awaken you with a simple meditation technique taught in an hour are teaching falsehoods.

“Peter, messenger of Jesus the anointed, to Philip, our beloved brother, and our fellow messenger, and the brothers who are with you: greetings. I want you to understand, our brother, that we received orders from our lord, the savior of the whole world, that we should come together to teach and preach concerning the salvation that was promised us by our lord Jesus the anointed. But you were separated from us, and you did not wish us to come together and learn how to orient ourselves that we might tell the good news. So would it be agreeable to you, our brother, to come according to the orders of our god Jesus?

“When Philip received and read this, he went to Peter, rejoicing with gladness. Then Peter gathered the others. They went to the mountain called Olivet, where they used to gather with the blessed anointed one when he was in the body. When the messengers came together and fell on their knees, they prayed in this way, saying, Father, father, father of the light, you who possess the incorruptions, hear us, just as you have taken pleasure in your holy child Jesus the anointed. For he has become for us a luminary in the darkness. Yes, hear us. And they resumed again and prayed, saying, Child of life, child of immortality, you who are in the light, child, deathless anointed, our redeemer, give us strength because they are searching for us to kill us.” ~The Letter of Peter to Philip

Brother and Messenger

The Letter of Peter to Philip was found as part of the Nag Hamadi Library, probably written around 200 AD. It begins with Peter addressing Philip as a “beloved brother and fellow Messenger.” Peter refers to Philip as a brother because he is a fellow apostle of Jesus. He also refers to him as a fellow messenger because Philip, like Peter, is tasked with spreading the teachings of Jesus—the real teachings of Jesus, not the false ones later introduced by Paul. It appears that Philip has gone off on his own to teach and spread The Word, and Paul wants him to rejoin the others.

Learn to Orient Ourselves

Here Peter gently chides Philip for going off to teach on his own rather than staying with the group and continuing to learn how to “Orient” himself. By this, Peter means learning how to practice the spiritual development techniques that Jesus taught them, perhaps including some advanced ones that Peter knows, but Philip doesn’t. Peter then asks Philip if he will return to the group if it is the orders of Jesus rather than Peter. In the Quote, Peter calls Jesus, “our god Jesus”. This is a giveaway that this was not actually written by the Apostle, Peter, as Peter knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the messenger of God, but not God Himself.

Mountain Called Olivet

This is the same mountain called the Mount of Olives, where Jesus prayed on the night the authorities took him to be judged and murdered. It may be that this was simply a convenient place to meet, and practicing spiritual development techniques is often done on a mountaintop, but I think there is another reason for mentioning that they met on Mount Olivet. The olive tree and the olives on it have a lot of spiritual symbology. In many ancient societies, the olive tree was considered a link between the material and the spiritual, the Earth and Heaven. As such, it could also be a symbol of the Spiritual Sun. Therefore, it could mean that Peter and Philip practiced spiritual solar growth techniques together. Green olives can represent abundance, while black ones represent protection and power. Peter may be telling Philip that by coming together, they will have greater power and abundance. Not power in the sense of a king or dictator, but a spiritual power that can overcome the evil of the world.

If the olives are purple, this is a very spiritual color and is associated with the crown energy center. And because purple olives are connected with bright sunlight, they are a reminder to stay connected to the sun.

Father of the Light

So when Peter and Philip met, they prayed together saying, “Father, Father of the Light.” They are not speaking of just any light, but of the Divine Light that comes to us primarily through the Spiritual Sun¹. So overall, these few paragraphs from the beginning of Peter’s letter are a reminder to Philip, and therefore to all who read it, that we can get greater benefits when we practice spiritual techniques as part of a community. Of course, there are times when we must be physically away from our spiritual community, but we must remember to get together occasionally to recharge our batteries, in a manner of speaking.

Sleeping Conscience

Boeme says that one who has not yet passed “the Judgement,” has a “sleeping conscience,” but I think it would be more accurate to say we have a sleeping spirit. The conscience is certainly connected to the spirit, but there are many people who seem to have a conscience of sorts, yet are not spiritually Awakened.

Deferred for Latter Days

Sadly, Boehme is correct here. Many people do believe that they can live their earthly life as they wish, and not be concerned with the spirit and Soul until they are old and dying. The danger in doing that is twofold. First, many die before they reach the age where they think they should be preparing for the afterlife. Second, even if they decide to start changing their ways while still alive, but quite old, they are likely to die before making enough progress for it to make any difference. You don’t want to wait until you are on a sinking ship before learning to swim. And you don’t go find a job first, then go to college to get the degree necessary to hold the job. You have to get the education first then get the job when you are fully qualified. It is much the same with spiritual development.

Devil’s Fort of Prey

What Boehme is saying here is that the longer we let ourselves be controlled by the forces and beings of darkness, the harder it is to break away from that and turn to God and Truth. We have all heard the old saying that the truth will set us free, but that is true only when we are able to accept the truth and act on it. If the barriers of darkness have been built very strongly in our subconscious mind, it is more difficult to turn away from that darkness. So Boehme advises us to do so while we are still young, and the “Devil’s Fort” within us is not so strong. While he has a point, the truth is that the majority of us will not seek a spiritual awakening until we get older and start realizing that we are mortal.

Vineyards of Heaven, Garden of Christ

Boems says that those who awaken become laborers in the vineyards of heaven and sow seeds in the Garden of Christ. He is simply saying in an allegorical way that we become workers in Heaven for God’s Great Plan. This is contrary to the image many people have of Heaven, or the afterlife. We say of the departed, “Rest in Peace,” but while peace is certainly an attribute of Heaven, resting is not. Those who reach Heaven must work hard in this world and the next to get to Heaven. And those in Heaven continue to work to help others reach that level of consciousness. So it might be better to send off those who have physically died by saying “Work in Peace”.