X2M.218 — Occultation: Desolator of the Apostates
Occultation in astronomy names the hiding of a star or planet when another body passes between it and the observer. In theology, it names the ancient catastrophe: Adam and Eve clothed in glory suddenly obscured, their iridescent interface eclipsed by shame.¹ Something came between humanity and the uncreated light. The first occult act was rebellion, which Scripture itself calls witchcraft (1 Sam. 15:23). Apostasy begins when the face of God is hidden, and the apostate doubles down with fig leaves — false coverings that only increase the distance.
Psalm 46 sings of God as refuge in the quake and flood, the One who both brings ruin and revival.² In occultation, the afflicted learn that pressure is not meaningless: it enlarges capacity.³ Yet for the apostate, the same eclipse exposes their nakedness. The veil is not protective but judicial; holiness is hidden for the sake of the faithful, while rebellion is left exposed for judgment.
The tradition is clear: Adam was clothed in kabod, garments of glory (Ps. 8:5; Sirach 49:16). Qumran texts expected the faithful to inherit “the glory of Adam.”⁴ The Apocalypse of Moses recalls Eve’s lament: “Why have you done this, that I have been deprived of my glory with which I was clothed?” To be stripped of this covering is to be occulted from God’s presence, cast eastward beyond the flaming swords. Apostates walk further east, building towers to heaven, but they are left desolate.
Narratively, Occultation is the dark mirror of Occiduous. Instead of leaves shed in consecration, here leaves are grasped in rebellion. Instead of consecrated nakedness, shame multiplies. David refuses to hide; he lifts his face lest his blood “fall away from the presence of the Lord” (1 Sam. 26:20). The apostates do the opposite: they turn from His face, preferring delusion.
The soundscape of Occultation is an eclipse in slow motion: light eclipsed, sound muffled, holiness hidden — until the voice of the Lord shatters the silence. For the faithful, it is protection in hiddenness. For the apostate, it is desolation unveiled.
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¹ Occultation defined: an eclipse, and in Eden, the loss of the iridescent interface — the glory that clothed humanity .
² Ps. 46 as worship in hiddenness, God as refuge.
³ Ps. 4:1 — pressure enlarges capacity.
⁴ Sirach 49:16; Qumran Community Rule; Apocalypse of Moses; Katherine McDowell, The Image of God in the Garden of Eden (2015).
