One of the potent transmissions ofAlchemy of the Apocalypse is how the Four Horsemen in John of Patmos’ vision in the Book of Revelation masterfully describes our primary fears, and how if we are not integrating our being, then we inadvertently may help precipitate the apocalyptic catastrophic scenario.
In the vision, the Four Horsemen are released one at a time with the opening of the first four seals. They are:
- White Horse, Rider with Bow and Arrow (Pestilence): Fear of the Unknown
- Red Horse, Rider with Sword (War): Fear of Power & Powerlessness
- Black Horse, Rider with Scales (Famine): Fear of Lack & Suffering
- Pale Horse, Rider is Death, followed by Hades (Death): Fear of Annihilation & Damnation
In the Book of Revelation, the vision of The Four Horsemen are released from the opening of the first four seals of the scroll containing the vision of the End Time Apocalypse. They are the opening act for the catastrophic scenes that ensue.
My interpretation of this mysterious vision is different from the classical interpretations. Because these are from a vision, it is appropriate to interpret them more as dream imagery, much like how Jung might interpret them. Jung addressed the Apocalypse as archetypal, but not specifically the Four Horsemen.
The horse is a metaphor for the emotional body. The horse is a sensitive, emotional and powerful creature, moving with immediate responsiveness. The emotional body/horse bypasses the intellect if there is no master in relationship to it. The rider is potentially the horse’s master. If the rider is not sensitive to the horse and transcendently intelligent, he can misguide the horse’s trajectory and take them both unwittingly into dangerous circumstances.
Thus we have the four horsemen as the precursors to the vision of the end time, each attempting to control through unleashed fear. Each is only a partial intelligence. Each rider represents a “body”, a single component of the human experience: the Mental, the Physical, the Emotional, and the Spiritual.
(Future posts will address each horseman individually.)
