A Symbolic Reading Through Neville Goddard’s Law of Assumption
The tenth chapter of the Book of Daniel offers one of the most striking visions in the Bible—a radiant man, clothed in linen and girded with gold, who appears to Daniel after a period of mourning and fasting. For the literal reader, this may seem like a supernatural being; but under Neville Goddard’s symbolic framework, this glorious figure is not external at all. He is the new man—the version of self that one has dared to imagine and feel as true.
Neville taught that the Bible is not history, but a psychological drama that plays out in the human soul. Every character represents a state of consciousness. In Daniel 10, we witness the powerful internal process of embodying a new identity through the Law of Assumption.
Mourning Before the Shift
“In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks...”
— Daniel 10:2
Daniel’s mourning is not sorrow in the conventional sense—it’s the internal disturbance that precedes transformation. According to Neville, this represents the discomfort felt before the old self dies and a new assumption begins to take root.
The mourning phase is symbolic of the refusal to accept appearances and the hunger for alignment with a higher state of being. It is the tension between where one is and who one is daring to become.
The Appearance of the Fulfilled State
“Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz...”
— Daniel 10:5
This figure is not someone outside of Daniel, but the vision of his fulfilled state. He is clothed in purity (linen) and girded in value (gold). This is the man Daniel assumes himself to be through his inner work.
The phrase “girded with fine gold of Uphaz” is highly symbolic. Gold, in Neville’s framework, represents value, incorruptibility, and consciousness fully refined. It is the spiritual wealth of one who has claimed their divine inheritance. The girding at the waist symbolises power and strength in the creative centre—the imagination. It’s from here, the loins (a recurring biblical symbol of generative power), that all manifestation flows. To be girded in gold at this centre means the assumption has been consciously consecrated.
Eyes Like Torches of Fire
“His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire...”
— Daniel 10:6
The eyes as lamps (or torches) of fire reflect illumined perception—the ability to see clearly and unwaveringly in the inner world. In Neville’s language, the eye is the lamp of the body, and if your eye is single (undivided), your whole body will be full of light.
These fiery eyes are symbolic of burning inner conviction—the gaze of someone who no longer sees through doubt or duality. Fire here is not destruction but refinement. It burns away wavering and affirms the fixity of assumption.
This description also matches Neville’s teaching that vision—what you inwardly accept as true—is the mechanism by which reality reshapes. The torch-eyes declare: “I see only what I choose to see. I see my world through the fire of fulfilled desire.”
Others Cannot See It
“The men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled...”
— Daniel 10:7
The vision is entirely new and seen with unified singular vision.
The fleeing men symbolise outdated beliefs and thought patterns that cannot coexist with the new identity. The closer you draw to the man you want to be, the more the old support systems fall away.
Collapse of the Old Self
“Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice... I was in a deep sleep on my face...”
— Daniel 10:9
Daniel falls flat—his old identity collapses. The “deep sleep” he enters is rich with symbolism. Neville described sleep not merely as rest, but as a fertile, subconscious state where assumptions are impressed and take root.
This moment of collapse is the death of the former self. It is the passage into the creative silence where the new state is planted.
Delay Is Not Denial
“Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day... thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days...”
— Daniel 10:12–13
This part of the chapter contains a precious affirmation of Neville’s Law:
“Assumption, if persisted in, will harden into fact.”
From the very first day, Daniel’s words (his assumption) were heard. Yet the manifestation seemed delayed. Why? The “prince of Persia” symbolises resistance from the subconscious—those entrenched doubts and contradictory habits that try to block the new state.
But the process is already unfolding. Assumption never goes unheard. It is a seed already planted, and delay only reveals the need to remain faithful.
Touched and Strengthened by the Vision
“Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me...”
— Daniel 10:18
As Daniel continues to encounter the ideal state, he is strengthened. This is the power of revisiting the fulfilled state, over and over, until it becomes your natural dwelling.
Neville insisted that feeling is the secret. The vision must not be a one-time event, but a state you live from. Daniel’s strengthening reminds us that renewed inner contact with the new man brings power, confidence, and creative certainty.
Conclusion: Living From the Fulfilled State
Daniel 10 is not a record of angelic encounter—it is the inner drama of someone who dares to assume the truth of their ideal self. The glorious man is the manifestation of a new consciousness, the one you behold when you dare to believe in the unseen.
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
— Hebrews 11:1
In Neville’s terms, that substance is your assumption, sustained by feeling and imagination. Daniel shows us the process:
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Discontent with the current self (mourning)
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Vision of the ideal (lifting up the eyes)
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Surrender of the old (falling flat)
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Persistence through resistance (21 days)
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Strengthening through revisiting (touching again)
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And finally: the emergence of a new reality.
When you truly behold the fulfilled state—the self already realised—you are seeing the Word made flesh.
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