In Neville Goddard’s teachings, biblical stories are never merely historical—they are psychological dramas unfolding within the mind of every individual. One of the most potent symbols threaded through scripture is the veil. While traditionally understood as a cloth barrier in a temple, Neville expands its meaning: the veil separates not just man from God, but the conscious mind from the subconscious creative power within.
The Veil in the Temple
Scripture tells us that Solomon’s Temple had a veil—"of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen" (2 Chronicles 3:14)—separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. This mirrored the earlier veil in Moses’ Tabernacle and the later veil torn in two in Herod’s Temple at the moment of Jesus’ death (Matthew 27:51).
Neville, however, pulls the symbol inward:
“The curtain of the temple is your own wonderful skull... And it is split in two from top to bottom. At that moment you are born from above.”
The temple is not a stone building, but the human body, and the veil is the barrier of perception, dividing the conscious mind (the Holy Place, where rituals occur) from the subconscious mind (the Holy of Holies, where God dwells). This veil must be "torn" or transcended through spiritual awakening, imagination, and feeling. When the conscious and subconscious unite—when belief and emotion impress the inner man—the Word is made flesh.
Women and the Veil: Subconscious Symbolism in Motion
Biblical women such as Rebekah and Tamar offer rich support for this inner reading of the veil. Their stories hint not at modesty or concealment, but rather transformation and threshold crossing—where the subconscious (feminine, fertile, hidden) becomes active in shaping destiny.
Rebekah: The Unseen Bride
When Rebekah first sees Isaac, the man she is to marry, she takes a veil and covers herself (Genesis 24:65). This moment, often passed over, is rich in symbolic depth. Neville teaches that the bride represents the subconscious, and Isaac (the promised son) represents manifestation.
The act of veiling here symbolises the withdrawal of the desire into the subconscious, where it becomes subject to the creative laws of God. Only once the idea is "veiled"—withdrawn from outer observation and covered in inner feeling—can it be united with its fulfillment.
Tamar: The Bold Subconscious
Tamar veils herself to appear as a harlot and becomes pregnant by Judah (Genesis 38). While controversial on the surface, Neville might suggest that this is a dramatization of the subconscious tricking the conscious mind into union—because the conscious (Judah) was not cooperating with the promise.
Tamar's veiling and initiative reflect how the subconscious, when activated with purpose, creates circumstances to fulfill divine law, even bypassing conscious resistance. Her twin sons—one of whom is named Perez, meaning breakthrough—affirm the fruitfulness of this veiled union.
The Tearing of the Veil: Integration and Resurrection
When the Gospels describe the veil of the temple tearing at the moment of Jesus’ death, Neville interprets it not as a historical event, but an inward moment: the death of the old self, and the resurrection of divine awareness. This is when man realises that his imagination is God and that the outer and inner worlds are not divided.
The tearing of the veil is the moment when the conscious mind no longer sees the subconscious as distant or mysterious. It is the moment of creative mastery.
Conclusion: Living Beyond the Veil
The Bible’s veils are not merely cloth—they are thresholds, barriers, and ultimately invitations. Whether in the temple or on the face of a woman, the veil symbolises the space between thought and embodiment, between desire and fulfilment, between man and God. Neville Goddard challenges us to tear that veil daily—not through effort, but through imagination, assumption, and inner conviction.
To live beyond the veil is to live in union: where what you believe and what you feel are one, and where the subconscious womb of God brings forth whatever is impressed upon it.
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