This is going to be difficult... And if you find something you disagree with, please be civil. Maybe I can calibrate this so it doesn't trigger stuff...

The name "Revelations" is the first hint. Its a revealing. You reveal things that are hidden. And "Apocalypse" is just Greek for "revelation/unveiling." So a truth is coming forth. What did Jesus say about truth specifically? He's the truth, but that's basically allegory, since its unexplained. The truth will set you free. That's actually just always true, though. If you live in illusion of any sort, you're enslaved to the falsehood, even if you're unaware of it. The whole purpose of Jesus' ministry is to bring out the truth in people. Sure, if you believe in Jesus, you're saved - again, though, its unexplained. What are the mechanics? Why? Rhetorical questions - the answer is, you're liberated from illusion, which had caused you to miss the mark, so you stop sinning. This is probably not a zenlike moment of satori - you awaken a little bit at a time, depending on the grace you're given and your studies and whether you have good examples around you. We're human. There's a process. You become less sinful as you mature, basically. Hopefully.

The purpose of the whole New Testament is just this - learn to stop sinning, build the temple/church within your heart, let God dwell in yourself. Sure there's history, but history isn't the point of it. The point is the transformation taking place as you realign your values. The reason I'm bringing all this non-revelations stuff into it is, it would be a very strange break from the rest of the NT if the last book was prophesy and not psychology. And speaking of prophesy, Jesus said they were all fulfilled. So, for all these reasons, I think Revelations is about psychology, rather than a prediction of events happening in the world, which by that point in the bible, you shouldn't be placing any value on (the physical world).

Okay. Now... Before I get to the mark, I want yo talk about... Economics. Lol. The word "economics" comes from Greek - "economia" - and it didn't have anything to do with money. Economia is the movement of the Spirit, either yours or the big one. Its value transmission. You can see it : if you say something nice to someone, that might brighten their day and then they'll say nice things, and you get a ripple effect and the "good" in the world increases because of your initial choice. This touches on Aristotelian thinking - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And it goes the other way too, spreading hate. This is the movement of spirit. Maybe not the Holy Spirit, but it gets a response there, too. If saying something nice can manifest Paradise, essentially, how much more so can forgiveness? Or giving? Or just having a conversation in a loving manner? The is the transmission of value. Economics in the money sense is actually about this too, but it's more like a numerical estimation of psychology. The magnitude and frequency of the numbers moving tell us about how much things are valued, but those numbers aren't the value - the value is the value, and the numbers only symbolize that. So, while you see physical things moving, the true movement is the value. You could say that physical movement is a reaction to nonphysical movement, and that the realm of value, which is to say, Spirit, is the real world. That is not to say that the material world doesn't exist. Its just that we don't experience the complete world if we think that this materiality is all there is.

Esoterically, the division between the material world of sense and assumption is separated from the real world of spirit by a veil, which was originally symbolized by the veil that hung in the temple of Jerusalem, which was ripped in two at the moment when Jesus breathed his last breath. That's in John, iirc, though I don't want to risk losing the note by looking it up (amethyst doesn't save drafts while typing them). The whole scene is symbolic (real things can be symbolic) of your path through this adventure of life back to God, where you're in union with God and complete and in the complete reality, no longer separated from Truth in any way.

**_Now_** I can get to Revelations. The truth is revealed. The earthquakes are the shaking of your understanding. Your world changes from materiality to spirituality, and though its still the world, it's different. You were blind before and now you see. Remember what I said about numbers being symbolic? 666 is Hebrew symbolism for rationality, incompleteness, and humans. In other words, ego. Ego is the part of your psyche (psyche is Greek for "soul," BTW) that tells stories. It recognizes patterns, remembers things, generates stories, and is very helpful in being a human. Indispensable... And its a complete liar. The stories are all lies. Useful lies, but still wrong. It deceives you, justifies itself, counts things and makes you envious and ambitious, inserts "should" into things, and that word does far more harm than good. The ego is of this material world, and it gate keeps value. Value is a matter of spirit. So, the mark of the beast, which no one can buy or sell without, separates you from God.

Alright, that's the best I can do without turning it into a book. I'll also say that I don't know what the crowns of the various rulers mean in Revelations. I've heard nice interpretations, but nothing that convinced me.

Uhh. Sorry for the long read...