Language is a beautiful thing. Applied literacy is possibly an antique in the new age of touch screens and video imagery. The written word is a “gift” in my sense of the word’s meaning. Language is a tool, and the alphabet and grammar are the most profound distinguishing feature of human beings. Without the written word, where would human civilization be today? …Plausibly, non existent.
Literacy: Priceless, and the gift that keeps on giving!
It is conceivable that the modern myth of Santa Claus replaced the origins of the Winter Solstice as a simplistic re-branding. This materialist makeover involves the exchange of trinkets and tales of flying reindeer; however, when we shovel through the snowdrift we might discover the roots of the most ancient spiritual tradition involving our true human history.
The human connection with the Earth Mother is magical in a sense that makes Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” seem a mere review of human psychology, rather than mythology. I admire Dickens as a social observer and cultural historian—his observations regarding class hierarchy are insightfully brilliant. Dickens’ prose is a coveted talent admired by anyone possessed by writing as a pastime. Is there any better fictional name for a curmudgeonly stingy man than, “Scrooge?”
The mysteries of our human past is what inspires my curiosity, those hidden gems and forgotten myths, often glazed over by slick movies and silly plots involving elves and mean-spirited grumps. Mr Grinch, you are entertaining to a degree, but let’s get to the heart of the matter, shall we?
CHRIST MASS—a few clarifications…
From HistoriaAntiqua:
“The word Christos [from the] Greek comes from the word χρῡσός ( khrūsós) meaning "Golden" and can mean "bright yellow," "platinum," with the connotation of sparkling, which is why we have the word "Crystal" in the English, for crystal vase, for example.”
Likewise, there’s much confusion regarding the term “Messiah.” As an example:
“From the Book of Isaian, chapter 45, where Cyrus of Persia is called “Meshiak”, the Messiah, or the anointed one.
‘Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut’
The word “anointed” in the above passage is in the original definition- the same word as messiah, “meshiak.” Connecting the dots we may arrive at the conclusion that Jesus Christ, or ‘Yeshua the Christ’ translates as: Yeshua—‘the anointed one.’
When deciphering the ancient texts and language of a period that is approximately two to four thousand years old we need to consider ancient contextual elements. Literally speaking— elemental translations may include how a word like “ox” or “sun” may be construed as symbolic metaphors in order to convey a metaphysical/ontological idea versus a rote literal translation. I have met many students of the bible and heard various interpretations of scripture and many permutations—all of which only inspire me to explore more translations. However, there are only so many years in a person’s life.
My Christmas Tale
I was fortunate to discover a small church—The Divine Life Church—over ten years ago, and I attended regularly for about six years. The Yogi/reverend’s name was Swami Shankarananda. I met “Peter”(Swami’s birth name) when I was working out at a gym. What was interesting about him in terms of the usual gym banter was that I never heard a wasted word or a banal quip. I never heard him utter anything that sounded cynical or sarcastic. Nor did Peter ever say, “Hey, I’m a Yogi!..I have multiple PhD’s and I am an author as well.” One year as Christmas approached, Peter casually said, “Our church is having a Christmas eve service if you’d be interested.” I had not gone to any church services for a long time—except for funerals. I decided to go regardless of my distaste for churches, and more specifically, a distaste based upon my experiences with boring church services. Peter seemed like a grounded human being, rather than abeliever seeking to convert me, so I chose to go.
I went to the church and as I entered a beautifully lit, albeit modest room, I looked around for Peter. I didn’t see him anywhere and everyone was quietly meditating. When the organist began playing everyone stood up. I looked to the front of the room—and out walked Peter wearing a bright orange robe. The service was very real for me—and his talk was one of the best Christmas/Solstice presentations I’d ever heard outside of Joseph Campbell—and Swami’s sense of humor was witty and brilliant as well.
Swami Shankarananda(a disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda lineage) presented a brilliant overview of the Solstice in all of its symbolic glory, including the return of the son—in other words, return of the Sun. “Solstice” is a powerful and significant part of the Earth cycle, and an affirmation of Gaia (the Goddess supreme). This symbolic affirmation may find correlatives in the sense of a coming re-birth. After the service, I stood in the reception line in order to acknowledge Peter’s beautiful sermon, and I heard everyone calling him, “Swami…” I never addressed him as Peter after that. He was now, “Swami.” I listened to Swami for six years before he left. Swami’s don’t die—they leave. I consider him to be one of the great teachers I have been fortunate to find. I have also reflected upon the serendipitous circumstance of meeting Peter at a gym. If I had not met him so casually I might never have attended the church services for six years.
Swami Shankarananda, or Rev. Achariya Peter, 7/21/35 - 11/24/14
The Earth Mother-Gaia
The Human connection with the Earth requires sacred respect and acknowledgment of our origins. We are of this Earth, and it is our mother.
As I see it, Father Sky and Mother Earth are ancient terms that infer a Ying/Yang balance between the dualistic energies and archetypes of earth and sky—or matter and ether. Another translation for earth & sky might also be referenced as: that which is tangible(earth) and that which cannot be seen(air, or its elemental word symbol-sky). I feel that an interpretation of “spirit” also resides in a translation of that which is unseen, and yet, is known.
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Christ-mass and Soul-stice origins
I’m sharing the following article, verbatim—it’s beautifully written:
“The Son of God depicted in the Bible is indeed the divine Sun and no matter what your cultural background or religious preferences may be, Christmas is a holy day worth celebrating!
As all Christians and pagans know, the story of the birth of Christ was blended with previously existing winter solstice festivals to create the state religion of Rome! Thus, the date of December 25th is well known to have originally belonged to a very ancient deity called Mithra, the Lord of Light.
Mythologically speaking, the birth of Christ and the birth of Mithra both took place in a cave, amongst the goats. (Capricorn)
According to Joseph Campbell:
“[The cave] is associated particularly with the winter solstice, when the sun has traveled to its farthest point away from the tilted earth and the light is in the nadir of the abyss. That is the date of the birth of the god Mithra, who is lord of light. He was born—we recall that his mother is the Earth…”
- Thou Art That
This cave at the nadir of the abyss is also referred to in esoteric studies as the Cave of the Nymphs, the place of the soul’s generation into physical being.
In ancient writings, human souls were described as being a bit like clouds, which condensed, rained down upon the Earth and then eventually evaporated back up into heaven.
In esoteric philosophy, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn represent the two entrances to the Cave of the Nymphs.
Note that the Tropic of Capricorn and its opposite, the Tropic of Cancer, represent the exact latitudes where the Sun (sol) reaches its solstices.
This Cave of the Nymphs illustrates a kind of metaphysical distillation process: the soul (sol) descends from Heaven into Earthly life and then from Earthly life back up to Heaven.
Through the gate of the water sign of Cancer, the non-corporeal Nymphic souls go through the process of descending into physical matter, growing heavy with desire and drunk on oblivion.
As Greek philosopher, Heraclitus wrote,
“moisture appears delightful and not deadly to souls; but the lapse into generation is delightful to them.” All souls, “are profoundly steeped in moisture as the spirit becomes moist and more aqueous through the desire of generation.”
The winter solstice arrives after the cold hand of death has descended upon the Earth, drying out the moisture that had attracted the soul to the Earth.
Heraclitus said,
"a dry soul is the wisest."
Capricorn is just that: a dry soul, ready to leave behind sentiment and clinging desires for a wider vision and a greater purpose.
Thus, at the winter solstice, the soul begins moving away from Earthly desire, concerned now with its ascent back into the realm of the divine. This is illustrated by the mountain which Capricorn is always envisioned climbing upon.
So Christmas is a celebration of the Sun’s journey through the Tropic of Capricorn, which calls the soul (sol) to climb back into the light of divinity, beyond the realm of cloying desires and drunken oblivion.
Thus there is no better time of the year to contemplate your eternal soul.
Just as Christ’s birth once heralded the promise of salvation, the Sun’s journey through the Tropic of Capricorn illumines the story of the Soul’s ascent.”
Cathars:“The Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France.”
gnosis (n.)
"knowledge," especially "special knowledge of spiritual mysteries," 1703, from Greek gnōsis "a knowing, knowledge; a judicial inquiry, investigation; a being known," in Christian writers, "higher knowledge of spiritual things," from PIE *gnō-ti-, from root *gno- "to know."
“The Cathars were Dualists. That is, they believed in two universal principles, a good God and a bad God, much like the Javeh and Satan of mainstream Christianity. As Dualists, they belonged to a tradition that was already ancient in the days of Jesus. (The revered Magi in the nativity story were Zoroastrians - Persian Dualists. Dualism came, and still comes, in many flavours. Even the Cathar variety came in more than one flavour, but the principal one was this:
The Good God was the god of all immaterial things (such as light and souls). The bad God was the god of all material things, including the world and everything in it. He had contrived to capture souls and imprison them in human bodies through the process of conception. As Cathars put it, we are all divine sparks, even angels, imprisoned in a tunic of flesh.”
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Contrast the Gnostic Christians with the Roman Catholic church of the period and we can see that there was a conflict of interest brewing. In essence, the Cathars were persecuted for embodying what might be considered a modern sense of human spirituality, and that which is held sacred by all sincere spiritually-attuned initiates. The original Gnostic Christians kept ancient mystery traditions alive. Thus, the Cathars’ commitment to keeping esoteric wisdom alive was anathema to the Roman Catholic church’s hierarchical bureaucracy and its agenda.
Due to the Cathars’ adherence to authentic Christian values—older than the Roman Catholic’s spin-off franchise— they were burned alive. How ‘Christian’ of the inquisitors! Death by burning at the stake, an ancient tradition, was reserved for heretics.
More on the topic of eradicating the Cathar Christian sect:
“In open debates, the Cathars characterised the Catholic Church as the Church of Wolves.”
“The Cathar view was that their theology was older than that of the Roman Church and that the Roman Church had corrupted its own scripture, invented new doctrine and abandoned the beliefs and practices of the Early Church. The Catholic view, of course was exactly the opposite, they imagined Catharism to be a badly distorted version of Catholicism. In addition to accusing the Cathars of faulty theology, they imagined a range of abominable practices which would have been amusing except that, when converted into propaganda, this led to the death of countless thousands through the Cathar Crusades and the Inquisition.”
Good Christians vs the Hypocrites
“Cathars clearly regarded themselves as good Christians, since that is exactly what they called themselves. On the surface, their basic beliefs seem unremarkable. Most people would have difficulty in distinguishing the principle Cathar beliefs from what are now regarded as conventional orthodox Christian beliefs. However, pursuing their fundamental beliefs to their logical conclusion revealed surprising implications (for example that Roman Catholics were mistakenly following a Satanic god rather than the beneficent god worshipped by the Cathars.)
Like the earliest Christians, Cathars recognised no priesthood. They did however distinguish between ordinary believers (Credentes) and a smaller, inner circle of leaders initiated in secret knowledge, known at the time as boni homines, Bonneshommes, or "Goodmen", now generally referred to as the Elect or as Parfaits.
The true Christmas story, however, is far more than a mere pageant. It always brings a vibrant, ever-living exaltation of spirit to any and all who will humbly and gratefully take a few moments to fix their attention upon the realization of its symbology; for the Christmas story must one day take place for every one of the presently unascended children of Light of earth. Christmas, and each succeeding celebration of the Christ Mass, is the conscious release of the Christ-nature of and through the supplicant into visible, tangible expression within the heart. Allowing the Christ-self to radiate its full power of masterful Divine Love through the outer form and consciousness (personality), the soul, one with that Christ-self, lifts and raises all it contacts. Thus is the Word, the I AM THAT I AM, become flesh, and thus it does dwell among us!
It is particularly important that you allow this Christ-release, that is most powerfully accessible at winter solstice, to be made manifest in your lives, beloved chelas, even as it is fundamental that by the continuous daily use of the violet transmuting flame you keep on keeping on in the purifying of your worlds until that Holy Christ Self (abiding within the immortal threefold flame of Truth within your beating heart) stands forth visible and tangible to all who look upon you. Then shall you be known by your works, as was the beloved Jesus, and not by words alone. Then shall your outer self become a divine magnet to draw into our light whom you can so mightly assist.
