This post will begin a two-part series focusing on how the Biblical Joseph undertakes the spiritual journey of ascension to become the Old Testament version of the Christ. What Joseph experiences in the story mirrors our lives as we go through the darker nights of the soul to emerge victorious over the ego and experience the spiritual resurrection. It is important for you to realize that while Joseph is a type and shadow of the Christ, Joseph is also a type and shadow of that which resides in you! The kingdom is within you, and so is the Christ!

The story of Joseph begins in Genesis chapter 37. We’ll start with verse 3:

“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors.”

Notice how Joseph is singled out by Israel’s love. Literarily this means that a special spiritual journey is in order for the young Joseph, the potential Christ.

The next part of the above verse would be quite strange if we interpreted literally. Why would Joseph make him a coat of many colors?

This is an obvious symbol of the seven in-body chakras known and taught throughout the ancient world. The chakra colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white. Interestingly, the first six primary colors are observed in a rainbow from the sun’s white light. White is the color of the crown chakra, which directly relates to our divinity since it is connected with the pineal gland and cerebral cortex. Joseph is also a type of the sun and of Jesus (more on this later).

As we go through the story of Joseph, remember that the chakras are gateways between the material and spiritual self. As we’ll see, Joseph will transition from the son of promise (a physical being) into the Christ (a spiritual being). When the chakras are open and functioning properly, the spirit is able to rise to the crown chakra and fully open its potential to the divine nature within us.

Joseph hated and misunderstood because of his destiny

Joseph’s brothers already hated him because their father showed favoritism with the coat of many colors. But his brothers hate him more when Joseph tells them his two dreams. In the first dream he and his brothers are binding sheaves in the field. His brother’s sheaves make obeisance by bowing down to Joseph’s sheath. In the second dream the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to Joseph.

Joseph’s dreams properly introduce us to the theme of this narrative: spiritual ascension. We have already mentioned how the coat of many colors represents the chakras. The seven in-body chakras are important because kundalini energy must flow through them in order for higher consciousness to be achieved.

The fact that Joseph’s brothers and parents (sun and the moon) bow down to him means that Joseph is going to balance the Yin / Yang kundalini within the chakra system. The sun and the moon are obvious symbols to the Yang / male and Yin / female principle. As we will see, the spiritual initiation process in our own lives is usually caused by the dark nights of the soul, also known as the tribulations and trials of our own lives. We may be experiencing ill-health, depression, or general hardships. These are the things that cause our conscious self to reassess our position and hopefully make the necessary changes which involves us to go “within” and to balance ours physical, emotional-mental, and spiritual selves.

Notice that this is only Joseph’s dream and has not yet come to pass. This is the potential in him. It also represents the potential that is in us. Hope is never lost, and no matter what you are going through, we must persevere. As we go through the rest of Joseph’s experience, we’ll see how unfair and hard his life seems to get before he comes out victorious as a ruler of his own ego and therefore blessed beyond his wildest dreams. This New Testament scripture also comes to mind:

“…but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost…” (Romans 5:3-5).

The Holy Ghost above is the kundalini / chi/ life-force of God that has the potential to rise within everyone.

Returning to the story of Joseph, Jacob soon asks him to check on his brethren tending the flock in the Vale of Hebron in Shechem. The Vale of Hebron and Shechem are both significant. Hebron means society and a spell, as in something a charmer would cast.

In scripture valleys always represent the lower self. The lower self is always under the spell of physical reality, which hides the higher self and higher reality from us. At this point in the story, Joseph is “wandering” around in the valley looking for his brethren. We all wander around in the Vale of Hebron— knowing only the physical reality we see—until we begin the spiritual ascension process and discover our higher selves through expanded states of consciousness.

“And a certain man found him (Joseph), and, behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, saying, what sleekest thou?” (Genesis 37:15).

It is important for us to understand that our senses ultimately betray us because they do not show us the truth – they only show us what appears to be true. But in our human nature is also the inherit yearning to seek that which is greater than our limited self and therefore realize and integrate the higher reality.

Joseph finally finds his brethren who have moved on to Dothan. They conspire against Joseph and sell him into slavery. Again, those who remain grounded in physical reality only remain slaves to the senses and passions of the lower self.

“And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him; and they took him, and cast him into a pit…” (Genesis 37:23-24).

“And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of goats, and dipped the coat in the blood…” (Genesis 37: 31).

Comparing Jesus and Joseph as the Christ in us

Briefly consider all the comparisons of Joseph’s life and Jesus. Like Christ, he is put in a tomb (pit). Like Christ, blood is shed (his coat dipped in blood). And as we’ll soon see, like Christ, he is betrayed by silver.

The blood on Joseph’s coat symbolizes his physical life, just as the blood of Jesus represents his humanity. Joseph has experienced a metaphorical death by the dipping of his coat in sacrificial blood. Like Jesus, Joseph is going to experience a resurrection. He must first be initiated in Egypt. Soon, he will metaphorically transform from a physical being into a higher spiritual being. Remember, up until this point, Joseph has been living in relative comfort under the shadow and protection of his father Jacob. Jesus also enjoyed the protection of his father until the moment where he asked the father why he was forsaken on the cross. Joseph is now about to leave behind the protection of his own father so that he can become initiated in Egypt (the ego) and eventually rule over his ego.

It is similar to Adam and Eve being cast out of the garden of paradise (the unified mind) to experience the ego (the fractured mind).

The Female / Male or Yin / Yang energy necessary for transformation

When the male/female energy is balanced and channeled properly, we begin the road to the Christ. In ancient cultures such as the Hindu, Mayan, and Egyptian, serpent kundalini needs to be channeled from the root chakra to the crown chakra in order to activate higher consciousness (spiritual resurrection). But we must understand that kundalini energy is made up of the positive and negative charge and that we operate as electric beings. To better understand these polar charges, we can view the Yin as a feminine, earthly energy. Yang is masculine and symbolizes heavenly, spiritual energy. In Joseph’s current series of unfortunate events, we see both of these principles represented in the story. The pit Joseph is lowered into symbolizes the Yin energy of the earth. I quote the next verse which symbolized the Yang / masculine energy:

“Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit…” (Genesis 37:28).

The Hebrew word for “lifted up” up here means to ascend. Joseph is about to experience an ascension through the metaphorical death he experienced in the pit. How is this accomplished? We must finish the verse:

“…and they [Joseph’s brothers] sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt” (Genesis 37:28).

Remember, this is just the beginning of the initiation process, but it will be completed in Egypt. It is always completed in Egypt (through the ego).

I quoted this scripture in an earlier post, but it is also relevant here:

“And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was crucified. (Revelations 11:8).

So you see, Jesus wasn’t really crucified in a literal place. Golgotha and Egypt are esoterically the same place—the mind and the ego! All potential Christ, of which Joseph is a type, are crucified at both Golgotha (place of the skull and therefore the mind) and Egypt (the ego).

This is a good place to stop. We’ll pick up the rest of Joseph’s story in Egypt in the next post. For those of you that may be going through very difficult times, I hope you find encouragement in the words below.

How can this knowledge help us?

As we learn to cultivate kundalini, you must confront the ego and allow the spirit to rule it instead of it ruling over you.  Like Joseph, we must go through the ascension process that will seem hopeless and painful for a while. The trick is to persevere. Do not give up and do not waiver.

Not giving up doesn’t mean to sit around believing we can automatically operate in complete conscious faith. True Biblical faith is something that is accomplished with practice by “standing still” and “waiting upon the Lord.” Many have a false understanding of what “standing still” and “waiting upon the Lord means. Standing still and waiting upon the Lord means abiding in meditation. You must actively cultivate Biblical faith by meditating.

The entire war of flesh and blood takes place on the battlefield of the mind. But your subconscious belief system, programmed and conditioned through years of input, is much stronger than you think. In fact, it is a stronghold, just like the cities of the valleys and plains that the Israelites had to conqueror in order to reach the Promised Land (the spiritual resurrection). Read Reality Manifestation and the Bible to learn more about this topic.

Positive affirmations, surrounding ourselves with encouragement, and reading posts such as this help you to make a paradigm shift, but these activities are not strong enough to redirect the powerful operation of the subconscious mind alone. Rather, this is accomplished by the spirit / kundalini energy which is raised as we wait upon the Lord (meditate).

A regular meditation program is not easy to cultivate. But if it were easy we would all be gurus and ascended masters, wouldn’t we?

Blessings!