Epiphany

By Irkalla Aeternus

Epiphany – A moment of revelation when what was previously unknown becomes known. A special point in time where alignment between our inner world and outer world fuse perfectly together resulting in a new and deeper understanding of our subjective experience and objective reality.  In an instant an all-encompassing realisation of truth and inner wisdom reveals itself and our very essence is uplifted. A light shines throughout the mind, illuminating the darkness that was once filled with ignorance. 

Many of us go through life as seekers. Seeking a higher truth and higher purpose that can seem painfully out of reach. Despite our best efforts it eludes us and although we try, we can become disheartened wondering if we will ever find what it is we’ve been searching for. We await the inspiration. What else is there for us to do but wait? 

An Epiphany requires space to be heard. Only in Silence can we hear it’s subtle whisper. And so we wait.  We remain still. Emptying our minds of all that would drown out those precious moments of clarity. Those sweet fulfilling answers to the endless stream of questions and confusion.  We struggle against our own inertia. We want it to come. And then, just when we think there is nothing more to be done and we have resigned ourselves to our limited understanding. The inner searching never quite offering what we have longed for it happens.  Epiphany 

In that moment a new world is born and a new life begins to take shape. Things will never be the same again.

In this journey we call life we are often blind to our inherent potential. So much of who we are is the result of conditioning. By our parents, our teachers, our friends and society.  From the moment we are born, we are given an identity. A name, a nationality a religion and so many other labels that seek to define who we are as individuals. Our true and authentic selves become buried and masked under the onslaught of who and what the world says we are and ought to be.

Very rarely are there individuals who have the freedom to discover who they are without the input of the wider society to which they belong.  

So who are we really? Who are we beyond our names, our titles and our Occupations? Who are we when we strip back all we have been taught and think we know? These are questions I feel every person should ask themselves. 

In order to discover who we truly are we must pause and reflect upon our own being and our place within the wider world. 

To find these answers we must ultimately journey within. Deep inside our own minds and the deepest caverns of our hearts. It is there and only there can we find the transformative experience known as Epiphany.  

To have an Epiphany is to be forever changed.  What has been seen cannot be unseen and what has been revealed cannot again be veiled.  No longer are we subject to the illusion that has been fooling us for so long. The perceived limitations of who we can be and what we can achieve dissolve. Once touched by Epiphany there is truly no turning back. Something has awakened inside. Parts of self that lay dormant suddenly spring to life and we realise that there is more.   More learning, more feeling and more being .

An Epiphany is only the beginning. The initial step on what soon becomes a fascinating journey into self.  It teaches us that no matter how much we know and how much we have learned, we will always be students of life and that we ourselves are the key to unlocking the mysteries and finding the answers we seek.  

Epiphanies can also be dark.  They can even border on disturbing.  Sometimes when experiencing the deep realisation that is an Epiphany, the experience can be an unsettling one.  Not every Epiphany is pleasant. In a single moment the scales fall from our eyes and everything we thought we knew and understood melts away and we are sent spiralling head first into a new awareness.  The result? The recognition that what we thought we knew, what we believed we understood is not set in stone. Everything is subject to change. Everything evolves. Life is motion.  

An Epiphany can introduce us to parts of self that we were previously unaware of. Revealing knowledge that we didn’t know we had.  It often happens when there is a problem we are trying to solve or when we are experiencing an internal conflict that seems impossible to reconcile. Every Epiphany is a unique and personal experience. They are as  unique as every individual on this planet. Yet there is something universal about that special moment of deep and powerful realisation which is perhaps paradoxical. Although every Epiphany is different and unique, the result is usually the same. The Individual experiences growth, understanding and transformation, resulting in a  rebirth into a new awareness. It’s beautiful even if it comes infused with something negative. The key to getting the most from this type of learning is to remember that growth is not always comfortable. To illustrate this point, let us look to the animal kingdom for examples of growth which is both uncomfortable and yet necessary; The serpent must shed its skin if it is to survive, just as the butterfly must endure the struggle and darkness of the cocoon if it is to break free and fly into the light.  

Can the experience of Epiphany really be defined? They come to us in so many different ways. Ranging from subtle moments of insight to breath-taking moments of clarity. I offer the following example as one way that I have experienced an epiphanic moment .

‘A moment when psychology meets Spirit and intellect meets Intuition. A pivotal time when the many parts of self align and fuse in perfect harmony. No longer is the mind at war with the heart. No longer does fear give way to doubt. A profound understanding is reached and expansion of awareness is achieved. In this unique moment Knowledge graduates into Gnosis.’

Once we experience this kind of deep realisation it becomes a fundamental part of self and from there everything we do, say, think and feel is informed by this realisation, this Epiphany. 

The question then becomes, how much more is there to discover? 

How much more of our minds are completely unexplored and unknown? 

Many great scientists, philosophers and thinkers have experienced Epiphanies that have gone on to change the world.  

The word “Eureka” made famous by the ancient Greek scientist Archimedes has become synonymous with the word Epiphany. Eureka translates to “I have found it” in ancient Greek.  This speaks to having found something that had, up until the point of realisation been elusive, concealed and perhaps frustratingly out of reach.  

According to an account kept by the Roman Architect Vitruvious, Archimedes discovered a method in which to determine the density of an object whilst stepping into a bath filled with water. In that moment he realised that the volume of water escaping the bath as he was getting in was equal to the volume of his own body.  It is said that in this moment of sudden realisation he shouted “Eureka” This was his profound instant of Epiphany and to this day his discovery is known among physicists as the Archimedes Principle.  

The Serbian-American inventor and engineer Nicola Tesla experienced an Epiphany when trying to improve on direct current electricity discovered and patented by Thomas Edison, by replacing it with Alternating current electricity. Prior to his Epiphany, Tesla suffered a severe mental breakdown from which he was not expected to survive.  In February of 1882, obsessed with solving the problem of Alternating Current electricity, Tesla began to feel better and whilst taking a walk in the park with his friend Anthony Szigety Tesla experienced a vision which revealed the solution to his problem. He then proceeds to draw what he saw in the sand with a stick. This account of Tesla’s epiphanic insight demonstrates how suddenly an epiphany can reveal itself.  One that manifested as a stroke of genius so powerful that it would go on to revolutionize how the world is powered. A single profound moment that changed the course of history. 

It would be unfair not to include the alternative meaning of Epiphany within this essay which moves away from the personal ‘epiphanic experience’ that has been discussed so far and into the Christian celebration also known as Epiphany.  

In the eastern Christian Orthodoxy where it originated, Epiphany is an ancient feast day that celebrates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the river Jordan.  

In the Western church Epiphany has been celebrated since the fourth century and is associated with the visit of the three Magi to the infant Christ who according to Mathew 2:11 brought him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 

In the Roman Catholic tradition Epiphany is observed as a single day, whereas for many protestant traditions Epiphany is celebrated as a season which begins on January 6th until Ash Wednesday which then leads on to the season of lent and eventually Easter.  

The personal experience of epiphany that this essay has attempted to explore I will conclude by saying this.  

It can be tempting for us as human beings to believe that Epiphanies are somehow a gift from God or are the result of divine intervention. Perhaps for some of us such a powerful experience ‘can’ feel religious. After all, it is not every day that we are granted access to such profound and life changing insights. Often these breakthroughs are triggered by an external event or are brought about by the need to solve a problem whether personal or work related. However, I would suggest that the moment an Epiphany strikes it is the result of a communication between our conscious and subconscious mind. A profound message ​from​ ourselves ​to​ ourselves, arising from the source of our own isolate intelligence otherwise known as the ‘self before the self’   

If such a profound moment of revelation can arise from within our own being, then it could be asserted that there are potentially many more precious gems lying dormant within us just waiting to awaken.   

The possibilities are endless .The potential infinite. There is nothing limited about the human mind. What limits us are the beliefs and limitations we place upon ourselves and the dreaded enemy of freedom. Fear.

This humble realisation has become for me an Epiphany in and of itself.