2 "Say to the people of Israel, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to consecrate himself to YHVH,
3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.
Nazarite means separated, or consecrated by vow. A Nazarite signifies those of us who have started on the Path to spiritual attainment. As such, we are set apart by our decision. We are dedicated to a life of truth, free from worldliness, and error.
4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
The abstinence from grapes and wine symbolize the abstinence from worldly or materialistic appetites.
5 "All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the time is completed for which he separates himself to YHVH, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.
The abstinence from cutting the hair symbolizes not dissipating creative energies, which will be needed in this work.
6 "All the days that he separates himself to YHVH he shall not go near a dead body.
The admonition to avoid dead bodies indicates that we are to abandon the race belief in Materialism and Death.
7 Neither for his father nor for his mother, nor for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean; because his consecration to God is upon his head.
8 All the days of his separation he is holy to YHVH.
There are few references to the Nazarites in history. They were similar to the Essenes of a later time, to whom they were related philosophically. Both groups were mysterious and worked primarily on an esoteric level. They did their work privately and apart from the world. This is almost always the case with spiritual work, for the masses do not approve of what they do not understand.
9 "And if any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it.
The shaving of the head is a type of purification because it represents dissipating the corrupted creative energies, which have been contaminated by the belief in Materialism…symbolized here by the dead.
10 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest to the door of the tent of meeting,
11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day,
The sacrificed turtledoves represent the transmutation of materialistic thoughts into spiritual thoughts.
12 and separate himself to YHVH for the days of his separation, and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former time shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
The sacrificed animals represent transmutation of the animal instincts toward a purer state.
13 "And this is the law for the Nazirite, when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the door of the tent of meeting,
14 and he shall offer his gift to YHVH, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering,
The sacrificed animals represent transmutation of the Lower Self into the Higher Self.
15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and their cereal offering and their drink offerings.
These offerings represent letting go of Materialism.
16 And the priest shall present them before YHVH and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering,
17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to YHVH, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall offer also its cereal offering and its drink offering.
These changes that are symbolized by the offering must be carried out through Love (symbolized by the priest) in order to be effective.
18 And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering.
Once he approaches the Spiritual Consciousness at the "door of the tent of meeting," he uses his creative forces (hair) for positive, loving and spiritual purposes and gladly uses it to fuel the fires of his spiritual development.
19 And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaven the hair of his consecration,
20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before YHVH; they are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered; and after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
Giving these things to the priest symbolizes turning them all into Love. The Nazirite being allowed to drink wine at this point means that after agreeing to live spiritually, one is allowed to again indulge the material, but only insofar as the material things support spiritual living.
21 "This is the law for the Nazirite who takes a vow. His offering to YHVH shall be according to his vow as a Nazirite, apart from what else he can afford; in accordance with the vow which he takes, so shall he do according to the law for his separation as a Nazirite."
The spiritual person continues to live his\her life according to the spiritual teachings learned from this ceremony.
23 "Say to Aaron and his sons, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24 YHVH bless you and keep you:
25 YHVH make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:
26 YHVH lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
27 "So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them."
This benediction is a consecration to Spiritual Living.