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There is little doubt that reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic are crucial elements in the education of any child. A child's ability to later cope in the adult world, to have a career, to take charge of his financial affairs and to live independently depends to a large extent on his mastery of these skills.

Unfortunately many children are deprived of the privilege of an abundant adult life. The $14 million National Literacy Survey of 1993 found that even though most adults in this survey had finished high school, 96% of them could not read, write and figure well enough to go to college. Even more to the point, 25% "were plainly unable to read," period.

Surely this is unacceptable. Imagine doing a survey on the building industry and finding that the walls of 96% of all homes are severely cracked, and that in 25% of the houses the walls are so weak that they collapse. Wouldn't we immediately start an investigation into the building practices of the builders? Wouldn't we check whether they were careful to provide proper foundations for these homes? We all know that before building a house, one needs to lay a foundation. Unless there is a strong and solid foundation, cracks will soon appear in the walls, and if there are no foundations, the walls will collapse.

In the same way one needs to lay a proper foundation before it becomes possible for a child to benefit from a course in reading, writing and arithmetic. If this foundation is shaky, learning "cracks" will soon appear. The right time to start laying this foundation is the day a child is born.

Readiness for the three R's is a highly specialized task that few parents - also those who realize the importance of preschool education - are prepared for. A tragic defect of our society is the fact that we are not allowed to take upon ourselves the responsibility of doing the work of a policeman, or of a teacher, or of an attorney, or of any other work without having undergone prior training. No training, however, is provided on how to raise children. We become parents without realizing that, for the sake of our children, we should make an in-depth study of the issues that concern their intellectual development.

CLIMBING THE LEARNING LADDER

It is important to note that learning is a stratified process, in which one skill has to be acquired FIRST, BEFORE it becomes possible to acquire subsequent skills. It is like climbing a ladder, if you miss one of the rungs you will fall off.

Di dunia kini kita, tiap orang harus dapat membaca.... Unless one has FIRST learned to speak Bahasa Indonesia, there is no way that one would be able to read the above Indonesian sentence.

This shows that language is at the very bottom of the learning ladder. Its role in the acquisition of the three R's can be compared to the role of running in the game of soccer or ice-skating in the game of ice hockey. One cannot play soccer if one cannot run, and one cannot play ice hockey if one cannot skate. One cannot read a book in a language - and least of all write - unless one knows the particular language.

If a child's knowledge of English is poor, then his reading will also be poor. Evidence that links reading problems and language problems has been extensively presented in the literature. Research has, for example, shown that about 60% of dyslexics were late talkers. In order to prevent later reading problems, parents must therefore ensure that a child is exposed to sufficient opportunities to learn language.

THE SECOND RUNG IS NON-VERBAL SKILLS

While verbal skills comprise the first rung of the learning ladder, non-verbal skills comprise the second. There is a whole conglomeration of non-verbal skills that are foundational to learning. Skills of importance include concentration, visual discrimination, accurate observation and memorizing, skills of association and auditory memory. These are functions that should be taught at preschool level to form the foundation of good reading, writing and arithmetic.

One visual discriminatory skill that plays a very important role in reading is the ability to distinguish between left and right. Like all the other non-verbal skills, this ability is not innate. It must be taught. In fact, knowledge of left and right must be drilled in to such an extent that it becomes automatic.

The human body consists of two halves, a left side and a right side. The human brain also has two halves, which are connected by the corpus callosum. A person will therefore interpret everything he encounters in terms of his own sidedness. A child, however, who has not adequately internalized his own sidedness, will be prone to incorrect interpretations in terms of sidedness. One such a situation, where sidedness plays a particularly important role, is when a person is expected to distinguish between a "b" and a "d." It is clear that the only difference between the two letters is the position of the straight line - it is either left or right.

It is important to note that a person who is confused about left and right cannot use mnemonics or memory aids while reading, as is often advised by experts. One recommendation is that children should remember that "left" is the side on which they wear their watch. Another is that one should put nail polish on the little finger of the student's left hand in order to teach him that reading and writing start on the left-hand side of the paper. These tricks never work to improve reading ability. This is just like going to China with a Chinese dictionary and then hoping to be able to speak Chinese. One has to LEARN to speak Chinese. In the same way one has to LEARN to correctly interpret sidedness.

Only when a child has climbed the first and second rung, will he be prepared for the third rung, i.e. the three R's. Remember that every journey starts with a first step. Unless you help your child to make the first step, he will not successfully complete the learning journey.

There is a journey that we all must take. It is called life. There is no escaping this journey. We cannot pay somebody to take it for us or take the pain and sorrow that frequents our path. Without our mother and father there would be no help at all from the very start. We would be helpless and we would die.

We are born with no knowledge whatsoever other than some minor genetic memories, and many of us simply follow the patterns that life, evolution and our peers throw at us. We subconsciously assume we must do as our forefathers; we must follow in their footsteps; we must marry, have children, get a job, step onto the roller-coaster of commercialism and the greed oriented rat race we know as capitalism or even communism. There is seemingly no way out of this life and anyway, most of us are enthused by the chase - for we truly know do different.

All of this is perfectly natural. We are, after all, apes with less hair. We strive to be the alpha male and female; to be top dog; to fit in with the society or tribe that surrounds us and support the same football team as our friends. And often that society is just a larger version of our selves; it is created by groups of selves.

But, in the times gone by, our ancestors saw through all of this and recognized that there was another way. They discovered that in-order for man to elevate himself above the level of the brown earth upon which he scrambled he needed to alter his internal dialogue. Man needed to understand himself and the forces that drive him.

This unique understanding - that there could be a higher goal for mankind, whether collectively or individually - evolved into what we now know as Gnosticism. Of course this is a massive oversimplification and we should always take into account the mystics those who have experienced what we would call other-worldly emotions or visions. Also, regardless of popular perception, the Christians were not the only Gnostics and mystics. Gnostic comes from the Greek word gignoskein meaning simply to know. It was applied to one sect of so-called philosophers in the first ages of Christianity.

However, the term is now being used more loosely and I personally see the term slightly differently to others and probably in a controversial light.

To me the Greek term implies all-knowledge. This is a kind of knowledge gained much like plugging ones mind into the world wide web and being able to download every single piece of data in an instant. In the same way, the true Gnostic, much like the mystic, could understand all things in a unique way. Whether this is the mind tapping into the collective unconscious, the Akashic records, or any other name given to the process, does not matter for the purpose of this article, the fact remains, it was believed. And because of this belief, physical manifestations of the internal belief system emerged the world over. In this way, the temples of man, were exactly that Temples of Man.

Gnosis then, means knowledge of the most esoteric kind and this is the story that has been hidden from our eyes for too long. This is the truth of the secret societies that we on the outside are supposedly too worldly to comprehend.

The Temple

So, let us now try our best to comprehend the Temple of Solomon and in doing so, let us walk upon Holy ground, trodden only by the initiated.

In the years of my own searching there were times when I would be found at the feet of the Magi, sitting and listening to the wise words of the Sufi, joining in the debate at some Freemasonic Lodge. All the time I was learning and viewing the process with an open ear and an open eye, and yet also balancing it all with the knowledge of modern day science and reductionism. Both worlds, the one of the esoteric and the one of science are useless apart both are needed today if we are to truly understand and believe.

And so down to facts about the Temple of Solomon. Well, unfortunately we are sadly lacking in any archaeological evidence, regardless of what you read on some literal fundamentalist website. What we are told is that in the 10th century BC, the wise King Solomon erected a great Temple to the Lord. Unfortunately, if any of this is true, then we actually find that it was a Temple, which encompassed many pagan religions.

According to Professor James Pritchard in his book, Solomon and Sheba (1974, p.35):

.. the so-called cities of Megiddo, Gezer and Hazor, and Jerusalem itself were in reality more like villages.. Within were relatively small public buildings and poorly constructed dwellings with clay floors. The objects reveal a material culture which, even by the standards of the ancient Near East, could not be judged sophisticated or luxurious.. The magnificence of the age of Solomon is parochial and decidedly lackluster, but the first book of Kings implies exactly the opposite.

In fact and in the bright light of day, what we actually have, and what most writers are afraid to say, is no evidence whatsoever for Solomons Temple. In fact, we have no evidence for Solomon, other than these peculiar Biblical texts. Neither do we have any evidence for the Queen of Sheba, or any of the other characters involved. Instead, there is more depth than could ever be imagined, more meaning than we would dare to believe.

John Michell in The Temple at Jerusalem: A Revelation, (Gothic Image) gives us an insight to the real meaning.:

Legends of the Temple describe it as the instrument of a mystical, priestly science, a form of alchemy by which oppositely charged elements in the earth and atmosphere were brought together and ritually married. The product of their union was a spirit that blessed and sanctified the people of Israel.

How right Michell is. The Temple is an instrument of mystical and priestly science or even magic. The secret unravels before our eyes the more we learn. You see the true Gnostic, the true disciple or perfect one, must be a man or woman of balance. He or she must unite the two sides of the mind, the male and female principles as they are called. We are all both male and female and the alchemists used this concept of balance and revealed it in their images of the Hermaphrodite, half man and half woman.

Solomon, was no real man, and Sheba was no real woman. Instead they were symbols of this internal and often external process. The whole story of Solomon, Sheba and the Temple, which is the perfectly formed body, both physical and spiritual, is the story of our own psyche. It is an esoteric truth, misunderstood in its exoteric form.

Hiram

Hiram was the son of a Jewish mother and a Phoenician father and is credited with the decoration of the Temple of Solomon. He was said to have been the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali He cast two bronze pillars 1 Kings 7:13-15.

We must also note something of interest mentioned in 1 Kings 16:

Then he made two capitals of cast bronze, to set on top of the pillars. The height of one capital was 5 cubits; and the height of the other capital was five cubits. He made a lattice network, with wreaths of chainwork, for the capitals which were on top of the pillars: seven chains for one capital and seven for the other capital.

These pillars became known as Jachin, meaning he establishes and Boaz, which means in him is strength and these are now familiar to most modern Freemasons as central to their own Lodge or Temple. Copies of these can be clearly seen at the infamous Rosslyn Chapel as we shall discover.

But, what is interesting here is the original text about these pillars. Firstly bronze is used for the capitals, just as bronze is used for the Brazen Serpent of Moses and is indicative of the fiery aspect of the serpent as one of the channels in the Kundalini process. Their heights were 5 cubits, matching the five hooded cobras seen across India and atop many pillars, although the Bible calls them Lilies, which are symbols of balance anyway.

Leading up to these capitals then were wreaths of chainwork, seven on each pillar. Strangely these chains were for the capitals, and so we conclude that these seven levelled chains (coils) were pointing towards the head (capital) just as the serpents of the Kundalini do.

There are more real links between Hiram and the serpent. For instance, we noted above that he was of the Tribe of Naphtali. The standard of the Tribe of Naphtali, according to Jewish tradition, is a serpent or basilisk and this could have come from Egyptian origins, as Jewish tradition states that Naphtali was the brother of Joseph, chosen to represent the family to Pharaoh.

And now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram [Hiram] my master [father] craftsman, (the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre), skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and blue, fine linen and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any plan which may be given to him, with your skilful men and with the skilful men of my lord David your father. 2 Chronicles 2:13-14.

Here, Hiram is said to be a son of the Tribe of Dan and even the tribe of Dan had an emblem, which was amazingly also the serpent, this time with a horse.

Incredibly there is also a hidden truth and repetitive pattern in this little statement about the real skills of this literary character. Follow this pattern:

Hiram is skilled in:-

1 gold and silver,
2 bronze and iron,
3 stone and wood,
4 purple and blue,
5 fine linen and crimson,
6 and to make any engraving
7 and to accomplish any plan which may be given to him.

Note that there are seven balanced elements to the skill of the man who will build the Temple! This is a real clue to the Temples secret indeed.

According to this book of Chronicles Hiram was a cunning man (a word used for the serpent) endued with understanding, skilful as we can see in the work of gold, silver, brass, stone and timber. But he was also credited with certain tools, which could pierce stone. Stone, as I show in Gnosis is symbolic of wisdom and foundation. Hirams tool therefore pierced the veil or even the very root of wisdom.

According to the book of Kings the Temple was built of stone (or wisdom) before it was brought to the site. Something like a prefabricated building. It was said by tradition that neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron was used in the building. So how was it built? This in itself is a paradox, which can only be answered by the true secret of the Temple being revealed.

According to Rabbinical teaching the prefabrication of the Temple was performed by the Shamir, a giant worm or serpent that could cut stones (incidentally worm means serpent). Not dissimilar to Norse and Celtic beliefs where Valhalla and Camelot were built with the fire of the dragon and in China where building is aided by the serpent energy.

This is a universal concept as can be seen in India, where it was the serpentine linked Nagas of fable who escaped their country and took the architectural wisdom abroad. The architect gods, such as Thoth of Egypt, are linked strongly with the serpent wisdom because they are linked with the building of Temples of Wisdom inside our SELVES.

The Shamir, according to one legend had even been placed in the hands of the Prince of the Sea (Shamir by Wilhelm Bacher & Ludwig Blau), which of course is symbolic of the Prince of Wisdom.

In essence what we really have here is the Temple of Wisdom being built by the serpent and that serpent is none other than that of, or similar to, the internal Kundalini, later to be developed into the Kabbalah. This is a psychological training manual; a method of self-improvement; a way for society to become One; a multi-layered method of getting closer to the deity which resides in each and everyone of us; a deity, that the ancients saw as being the same in each of us.

The whole process repeats again and again throughout the Bible. The Temple is reduced (like the alchemical method) and is remade. Then again and again, until finally the Christ is the Temple which is reduced (killed) and then rises again for the last time. And now, according to the texts, we can all meet with this Christ and we can all have the knowledge. We just need to understand that the true Christ is all and in all. But this hasn't worked has it. Man is still even now in the 21st century, searching for answers and so the temple is being reduced once again

I say, we should all take a look at our own "temples" and knock them to the ground. We should then go about re-building them in a bigger and better way than before, just like the Bible states. And more than that, we must keep on doing this until this world of ours has peace and all truly are equal before God.