The Battle Hymn Of The Republic
Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the coming of the Lord.
He is trampling out the vintage
Where the grapes of wrath are stored.
He has loosed the fateful lightning
Of His sword of wisdom and truth
And they will keep marching on.
I have seen him in the watch fires
Of a hundred circling camps.
They have built him an altar
In the evening dews and damps.
I have read his righteous sentence
By dim and flaring lamps.
And the day of His true coming
Is with us, now.
I have read a fiery gospel
Writ in burnished rows of steel.
As ye deal with my contemptors,
So with you my grace shall deal.
Let the hero, born of woman,
Crush the serpent with his heel,
Since my God is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet
That shall never call retreat.
He is sifting out the hearts of people
Before His judgment seat.
Oh, be swift, my soul.
To answer him,
Be jubilant, my feet, for the truth
About God is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah.
Glory, glory, hallelujah.
Glory, glory, hallelujah.
Not his truth,
But the truth about him
Is sure to keep marching on.
Julia Ward
Edited by Aquarius
On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Baptist minister and political activist, rose to speak in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. ‘I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land,’ King announced. ‘And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man.’ And then he closed in his lyrical voice: ‘Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.’ The next day he lay dying on the second floor of the Lorraine Motel, struck in the cheek by an assassin’s bullet.
The last line that King ever spoke in public came from the song ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic,’ written by Julia Ward Howe in 1861. It was a fitting finale to the life of a great American because the story of the ‘Battle Hymn’ is the story of the United States. The song, now approaching its 150th anniversary, is a hallowed treasure and a second national anthem. The country has turned to it repeatedly in national crises. The ‘Battle Hymn’ has inspired suffragists and labour organisers, civil rights leaders and novelists, for example John Steinbeck in ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.
Since time immemorial the serpent or snake has been a symbol of the wisdom and truth of the Great Mother of all life. During the times of the patriarchy with its all-male Divinity, manifestations of the love, kindness and wisdom of the Great Mother of all life, the feminine aspect of the Divine Trinity, were crushed under the boots of oppression and warmongering. Yet, the truth is not meant to be suppressed forever. It will always be out in the end and since the arrival of the Age of Aquarius it is emerging with ever greater clarity.
To me, this song is the epitome of a battle hymn for our whole world and Martin’s vision of the Promised Land is not merely for Christians but the whole of humankind. And although this song is not really my kind of music, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s interpretation never fails to move me to tears whenever I listen to it. To my mind it’s one of the finest pieces of choral music altogether. What this song is saying to me is that the religions of our world will disappear and that the truth of the symbolisms, which has always been hiding behind the surface words of their sacred texts, will keep marching on and that forever.
The more humankind’s awakening and its spiritual rebirth progresses, this truth will be helping our world to free itself of the yokes of any kind of oppression and exploitation, especially religious ones. Irrespective of how hard our religions have always tried to keep us away from the truth, and for as long as they can get away with it, they surely will attempt to do so, it cannot be hidden away forever. It is already clearly visible for those whose inner vision has opened to the higher realities of humankind’s existence. They have no difficulties understanding that the hidden truths of the Jesus legend have always been trying to show us that eventually every one of us will evolve into a saviour and redeemer of ourselves, each other and our world. One for all and all for one is the motto of the Aquarian Age that will remain with us, now and forever. Amen
The religions of our world never brought us peace, merely ever more excuses for warmongering, violence and crimes against the wellbeing of our race. Their speaking of peace has always been lip service only. They were ideal instruments, provided by God and the Angels for wise educational reasons, for oppressing and exploiting the masses. However, the truth really is going to bring us the peace we and our world have so richly deserved. It will happen through increasing numbers of us becoming aware of God’s true nature and their own, and the high and holy destiny that awaits every human being at the end of their earthly education, i.e. through walking in the footsteps of the legendary Master Jesus evolving into a Christed one and that each in their own right.
Recommended Viewing:
• ‘The Battle Hymn Of The Republic’
Recommended Reading:
• ‘The Symbolism Of Snakes’
The above is a chapter from ‘Astrology On The Healing Journey’.
If it has whetted your appetite to read more, please follow the link below:
‘Astrology On The Healing Journey’