"I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." — John 14:3
Across every major spiritual tradition, there exists a prophecy of the Return — a savior, teacher, or divine figure who will appear at the end of the age to restore what was lost, defeat the darkness, and inaugurate a new era. These prophecies are not separate, disconnected predictions — they are one prophecy refracted through many cultures, one archetypal pattern expressing itself in the language of each tradition.
The Returning Ones
The Second Coming of Christ (Christianity)
The central eschatological promise of the Christian faith: Christ will return "in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end." (Nicene Creed)
In the esoteric reading (ACIM and the Gnostic tradition), the Second Coming is not an external event but the awakening of the Christ Mind in all beings — the full realization that separation from God never occurred.
The Messiah (Judaism)
The Mashiach — the Anointed One — will come to restore the Kingdom of Israel, rebuild the Temple, gather the exiles, and inaugurate an age of universal peace. "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one." (Zechariah 14:9)
The Mahdi & the Return of Isa (Islam)
Islamic eschatology prophesies the coming of the Mahdi ("the Guided One") who will establish justice, followed by the return of Isa (Jesus) who will defeat the Dajjal (Anti-Christ) and establish the reign of God on earth.
Kalki (Hinduism)
The tenth and final avatar of Vishnu, who will appear at the end of Kali Yuga riding a white horse, wielding a blazing sword, to destroy the wicked and restore dharma. The imagery closely parallels the rider on the white horse in Revelation 19.
Maitreya (Buddhism)
The Future Buddha who will appear when the Dharma has been completely forgotten, to re-teach the path of liberation. Maitreya currently resides in Tushita heaven, awaiting the appropriate time.
Saoshyant (Zoroastrianism)
The savior born of a virgin, who will lead the forces of good in the final battle against evil, resurrect the dead, and perform the Frashokereti — the renovation of the universe.
The Return of Quetzalcoatl (Mesoamerican)
The Feathered Serpent who departed with a promise to return. His return signals the end of one world-age and the beginning of another.
The Return of Arthur (Arthurian)
"Rex Quondam, Rexque Futurus" — The Once and Future King. Arthur did not die but was carried to Avalon, and will return when Britain (the Kingdom) is in its greatest need. This is the Grail tradition's own prophecy of the Return.
The One Pattern
The universal structure:
- A Golden Age exists in the beginning
- A Fall occurs — decline, corruption, forgetting
- The age grows darker — the end times
- A Promised One appears
- The forces of darkness make their last stand
- The Promised One triumphs
- The Kingdom is restored — paradise regained
This is the arc of the Great Story (Book 0) expressed as prophecy. It is the Tale of the Exiled Prince in its most universal form.
The Inner Reading
In the tradition of the Royal Art, the "Return" is understood on multiple levels simultaneously:
- Cosmic: An actual shift in the age — the turning of the Great Cycle
- Historical: The appearance of teachers and catalysts at pivotal moments
- Collective: The awakening of humanity as a whole
- Individual: The return of the Christ-Self to the throne of consciousness — the crowning of the inner King
The Prince returns from exile. The King reclaims the throne. The Prodigal Son comes home.
All of these are one event, seen from different angles.