What are the mysteries that Moses and Aaron perform “in the sight of the people?” According to Exodus Chapter 4, they are three bits of magic; throwing his staff on the ground which turns into a serpent and then back again to a staff, turning his hand leprous and healing it, and taking water from the Nile and changing it to blood.
All of these “miracles” actually occur within the story thread of the Burning Bush.[i] It is the Burning Bush which represents the true mystery and magic of creation. The Burning Bush is the first historical record of the nature of true oneness. It is a symbolic representation of what I have come to call inter-arching oneness[ii]. The Burning Bush contains two element: Fire and Bush. As the Holman Christian Standard Bible says, “Fire is frequently associated with special displays of God’s presence.” In other words, fire represents divinity and all heavenly aspects. The bush represents the earth and all earthly aspects. If the fire and the bush were next to each other, in separate spaces, the symbolism would have been one of duality; spirit and matter as separate. But that is not what happens. The fire and the bush occupy the same space. This represents nonduality or the essential oneness of all spirit and all matter; all creation. Here are visual representations of this using circles.
If each circle stood by itself merely touching edges, they would be a representation of duality:
But the Burning Bush teaches a different lesson. It teaches how the elements (the circles) interpenetrate:
To use the paradigm of the Burning Bush with the visualizations of the circles. With the circles touching but not interpenetrated, the message is one of duality. The fire and the bush are in different spaces:
But the message that Moses brings is one of inter-arching oneness. The interpenetration of the two aspects is where the fire and bush exist in the same space:
From these stories and happenings, it becomes clear that Moses brought to the world, the message of “all-oneness.” In each of the three magics that Aaron performs “in the sight of the people” a change of physical state occurs. What he is actually doing is peeling back the illusion of the material world to show that the world we can see with our eyes is fluid. Snake/rod, clean hand/leprous hand, water/blood. All are one and the same. All are one. Only the magician/prophet/wizard/shaman who understands the nature of true oneness can perform such seemingly miraculous acts.
What this tells us is that Moses didn’t just bring a message of a one god but he brought the message of the oneness of all creation.
[i] The basis for my understanding of these teachings come from my former teachers, Rev. Dr. JC and Rev. Sherry Husfelt. I thank them for their many insights. They teach “interpenetrative radical nonduality” as the essential oneness of all creation.
[ii] overarching would indicate something above or a separation, intra-arching would indicate a turning inward, also a separation
