Exodus 11:5 · World English Bible
and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the mill, and all the firstborn of livestock.
Egypt is the body held under bondage to matter, and its firstborn are the first fruits of the lower mind, the earliest and strongest attachments the material self produces. When the higher call moves through a person, these die from top to bottom, from the ruling thought enthroned as Pharaoh down to the meanest habit grinding at the mill, and even the animal appetites go with them.
From the Esoteric reading below.
The same verse, read by one tradition.
ESOTERIC
Egypt is the body held under bondage to matter, and its firstborn are the first fruits of the lower mind, the earliest and strongest attachments the material self produces. When the higher call moves through a person, these die from top to bottom, from the ruling thought enthroned as Pharaoh down to the meanest habit grinding at the mill, and even the animal appetites go with them. The firstborn is what the flesh loves most, its chosen heir, and it is precisely this that must fall before liberation.
Every grade of the outer man is touched, the proud governing ego and the humblest servile compulsion alike, none exempt. The old self does not survive the crossing out of bondage; its favored offspring, high and low, all pass away so the deeper life can go free.
Egypt: the body held in bondage to matter and the material world Firstborn: the first and strongest attachments the lower self produces, what the flesh loves most Pharaoh: the ruling thought of the ego enthroned over the body Throne: the seat of command the material mind takes within a person Mill: the low, grinding round of servile habit at the bottom of the outer man Beasts: the animal appetites of the body that fall with the rest of the lower self
Esoteric lens
What do you love most about your old self, and what would change if it went?
What we love most is the hardest thing to set down, and it is exactly the thing that must be set down. Letting go of the lesser attachments is easy practice; the favorite one is the real work.
The great forge cast you in this shape and will melt you down again for the next one. To demand that the present form be kept is to ask the fire to stop.
The grape must be crushed to become wine. What was best about it as fruit is what has to go.
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Esoteric