The Tribulation is a natural consequence of the way we have chosen to live out our history, that is without daily sacrifice. (For discussion of daily sacrifice see: Sacrifice & Oblation in Prophecy.) The lack of daily candor and confession, of clearing the air of the consequences of our disagreements, leads to suppressed feelings. These suppressed feelings, be they grudges, resentments, fears, etc, limit our power and tear down society. They must come out so that we can free ourselves to live as we were meant to be. As we live our lives, if we don't face and process these challenges, then at some point a crisis will come that will force the issue. The same is true for the spiritual development of society as a whole as is the case for our personal development. As we approach transformation at the end of this age, if we haven't worked out our issues then nature will force them out one way or another, from natural disasters all the way to the eventual manifestation of antichrist. The Antichrist will be given power and authority by God because he serves a purpose. That purpose is to cause us all to bring up and face the very darkest aspects and issues that lurk within us. The challenge generated by the Antichrist will be to face the issues that we hang onto, these stones as the Bible calls them, and release them, to release the anger, resentment and fears, to forgive and let love enter the heart. This is the purification that is necessary prior to transformation.

The Hopi prophecy called the 'Return of Bahana' speaks about a similar figure, sometimes referred to as the Purifier. An "all-powerful" person who will gain control of our continent in a single day. "None will be able to stand against him. All power in this world will be placed in his hand, ...". He creates his own religion and comes under the banner of the color red. His purpose is to prepare us for purification day, when evil will be punished and destroyed. Then will follow a time of peace, brotherhood and everlasting life.

[For a copy of the 'Return of Bahana' see 'Morning Sky Prophecies' by Robert Morning Sky.]

The River fo Life

Human beings are meant to operate at full power. This means with spiritual energy flowing freely and openly throughout our vessel, directed by our consciousness. Most start out in this world at full potential. If the channel, through which flows the spiritual energy, becomes blocked then the force is diminished. In Biblical terms this continual flow of spiritual energy is symbolized by the "river of life". It normally flows freely through us. As we experience life, we sometimes take on burdens and hurts that become stones dropped into the river of life. If enough are allowed to accumulate, the flow of the river is affected and slows down. If the blockages are great enough, it may even stop flowing altogether. As we go through life and encounter hardships, we sometimes take on negative emotions from traumatic events. If we aren't able to process and release the pain, it will become a burden draining our energy. It is a stone pushing against the river of life.

Mayan cosmology has similar concepts. Here is a translation taken from Jose Arguelles' book The Mayan Factor pp. 182, 186:

The thirteen vertical columns of the harmonic template represent the thirteen major articulations of the body, which also divide the main neural canals running from feet and hands to brain, joined at and mediated by the central column. This central column - the mystic seventh column - represents the neck and spinal column as well as alignment of chakras. ... Using the Harmonic Module as the template of the circuitry of the light body, and understanding the light body to be the true skeleton of the physical body, we can assert that the diseases and plagues which ail us - cancer and AIDS - are not cellular in cause but instead are the direct result of radical blockages in our collective bio-electromagnetic field.

In this process, control of the mind is paramount, for it is from the mind that the erroneous projections concerning our actual nature continuously stream. The clue to the process of mindfulness lies in the mystic column representing the greater mind. It is empty, an open channel, completely unencumbered. As long as the individual mind, represented by the two columns on either side of the mystic central column, remains open, empty, and free, accessing the greater mind, awareness is maintained and we act with natural spontaneity, entering a field in which we are ownerless. Like children endowed with the wisdom of the universe, we channel and receive our solar-galactic inheritance.

The Dark Side

We all want to control our environment and surroundings but the simple truth is we can not. We can influence it. The only thing we can control is our reaction to our surroundings. The desire to control resides within all of us. In its extreme form there is the desire to control the world. Some figures in history have attempted to fulfill this desire, such as Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Napoleon and Hitler. One day this dark desire will be realized and the person who fills that role will be the Antichrist. Some part of us will live vicariously through this person. In order for all of us as a race to evolve beyond this control scenario we must start by acknowledging that the same feelings expressed by the Antichrist do reside within ourselves. We need to acknowledge these feelings, not indulge them, but especially not to deny them. The Antichrist will be reflecting what lies within all of us.

Jesus is the one who can remove the control influence of the Antichrist once it arrives. Jesus faced the same temptation and controlled his own impulses rather than control others. The government is upon his shoulders, that is the promise of prophecy. It is not for us to stop the Antichrist, just resist him. Our jobs are to ready our own souls by releasing our stones.

The Tribulation is about coming to terms with the shadow part within each of us. We can not deny it, suppress it or shed it. We must express it, but in ways that are acceptable to all. And there in lies the challenge of living each day, integrating multiple points of view and needs. Before we can co-create paradise, before we can enter the new millennium, we must accept and integrate the shadow part of ourselves.

If you clean up your own garbage and release any stones of resentment, the world will not have to shake you up; However, it may call upon you to set an example so that others can handle the purification process.