THE LOST LANGUAGE OF METAPHOR

INTRODUCTION

Once upon a time…
before churches…
before scriptures…
there were only stories.

Stories whispered around fires.
Stories told not to prove anything…
but to help us understand
the quiet rhythm of existence.

Back then, the story was a mirror.
But slowly… the mirror became a wall.
And what once guided the heart…
began to confine the mind.

Religion didn’t just interpret the mystery.
It declared its own interpretation
as absolute truth.

Instead of saying,
“This is how we understand the mystery,”
it insisted,
“This is the mystery…
and there is no other way.”

That is not spirituality.
That is mythology mistaken for reality.

FROM SYMBOLS… TO STORIES… TO DOGMA

Ancient teachings began as symbols—
gentle metaphors
for truths too vast to be spoken.

But as centuries passed,
symbols hardened into stories…
and stories became rules.

When a prophet said,
“This story is what happened,”
instead of,
“This story means something,”
the myth froze…
and humanity lost the metaphor.

Creation may have been written
as a poetic description of cosmic order—
yet it was treated
as a literal event in time.

And when myth is taken as fact…
our search for deeper meaning stops.

WHY LITERAL TRUTH IS PROTECTED

Literal belief brings power.

When a religion claims
that it alone holds the truth,
it gains influence
over morality…
over fear…
over hope.

If people believe
their version of God is the only one,
then questioning becomes rebellion.
And obedience becomes salvation.

At that point…
it is no longer faith.
It is authority…
disguised as certainty.

METAPHOR: THE DOORWAY TO WISDOM

Myth, when understood symbolically,
is not false.
It is layered truth.

Literalism shrinks it.
Metaphor expands it.

The serpent in Eden
is not simply a creature—
it is temptation…
awakening…
transformation.

The cross is not only wood—
it is the human struggle
between ego and surrender.

The problem was never religion.
The problem was forgetting
how to read its language.

We stopped reading poetry…
and began enforcing law.

THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS

What you’re sensing now
is what mystics have sensed
for thousands of years:

Humanity rises when it stops
worshipping the symbol…
and begins understanding
the meaning behind it.

Where God is not a being far away…
but the living pattern
woven into everything.

We—this generation—
are learning to unfreeze the metaphor.
To read the divine story
as it was always meant to be read…

Not as a map of the sky—
but as a mirror of consciousness.

MAIN REFLECTION

Religion was never the enemy of truth.
Misunderstanding was.

The earliest seekers
had no science…
no instruments…
only imagination.

They painted meaning with myth—
transforming invisible truths
into living poetry.

But when later generations
stopped seeing myth as symbol…
and started treating it as fact…
the poetry became a prison.

A serpent of wisdom
was turned into an enemy.
A tree of knowledge
was turned into a threat.
A universe born of divine harmony
was reduced
to seven literal days.

Literalism shrank the infinite.
Myth became dogma.
Faith became obedience.
Interpretation became institution.
And the living spirit of truth
was replaced by authority.

The real tragedy
is not that religion exists—
but that it forgot
its original language.

It began as music for the soul…
and ended as a list of rules.
It preached love…
but demanded conformity.
It offered symbols of awakening…
but punished those
who could see beyond them.

Yet the sacred never disappears.
It simply waits—
quietly—
for someone willing
to translate again.

The wise do not reject scripture.
They listen to it differently.

They see God not as a figure—
but as the pulse
within all things.

They see heaven not as a place—
but as a state
of clarity.

They see sin not as punishment—
but as separation
from awareness.

The lost language of metaphor
is the bridge
between faith and science…
between mystery and meaning…
between heart and reason.

When we rediscover it…
the wall turns back into a window.
And through that window…
we find not religion…
but revelation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ninox Antolihao is a Filipino thinker, creator,
and founder of Stone Grill Restaurant.
A member of the Magma Cowboys community,
his work weaves philosophy, science, and spirituality—
inviting readers to look beyond dogma
and rediscover meaning through awareness.

Through his series “Moments of Solitude,”
he writes to awaken
the quiet places within—
where reason meets reverence,
and the sacred is understood as truth…
not tradition.

First Edition • 2025 — Ninox Antolihao