Why Jesus the Christ came in a lowly manger and not with
millions of angels and power and pomp, is the story of
the Sacred Initiations of HUmanity. He came in a humble
manger to give HUmanity a chance, NOT OVERPOWER THEM.
It was the work of the Christ to show the meaning of the Cross,
and to teach the great lesson of sacrifice which means that none
shall seek Freedom till all are saved. He promised to remain
with us always, renouncing His Nirvana until the end of the
world, and dwelling with His beloved children - the publican and
the sinner - in the mysterious inner places of consciousness.
And those who follow Him must do likewise, and must enter into
the state of the desire of birth each year with a yearly
increase of the will to help the world. Thus the desire changes
its character by degrees, and becomes selfless instead of
selfish. The soul of man, and the soul of the world, the soul of
Nature and of sub-Nature, all pass alike through the
birth-throes. * The birth day of Jesus for instance was
completely fluid for 200 years after the death of Jesus. It was
not until 400 AD that one began seeing on Christian Calendars
that Jesus was born on Dec 25th, which was a take over of the
Pagan and other Sacred practices of Winter Solstice.
Many, many cultures the world over perform solstice
ceremonies. At their root: an ancient fear that the failing
light would never return unless humans intervened with anxious
vigil or antic celebration. Mesopotamians were the first that we
know of, who celebRAted a 12-Day festival of renewal, designed
to help the god Marduk tame the monsters of chaos for one more
year.
In December, the birth month, there are seven great and vital
Ceremonies, filling the whole month with their observances. The
first is the Desire of Birth, the commencement of the mystic
story. It is so remote from human and material life that it is
impossible to describe it in human language. It is witnessed
consciously only by the spiritual being before its descent into
matter. The disciple who seeks to take part in it while living
in the body, must endeavor to recall to his psychic memory the
litany which he heard chanted in the spiritual sphere from which
he came when he sought the experience of human life. The
Ceremony of the Desire of Birth lasts for four days and nights,
beginning on 1st December. During this time it is necessary for
the disciple to contemplate all that is implied in its litany.
At each midnight, and at the hour of dawn, he should meditate
upon the words of the litany, endeavoring to obtain
understanding in respect to them. They are very difficult and
obscure, so much so as to seem meaningless to the man in
material life if he tests them by the light of intellect. But
the disciple who belongs to one of the occult schools, and
who desires to become a conscious part of the Divine whole, must
enter into the psychic life of the world at this sacred season,
and apprehend from year to year more and more of the mystery of
the divine life in himself, and its union with the material.
Litany
I. I desire birth.
II. I am ready to be burned and consumed; for that is what
birth is.
III. I am ready to be naked and unprotected; and to suffer
from my nakedness, for that is what life is.
IV. I am ready to make the pilgrimage through matter in
darkness and in fire, so that the circle of uncreated shall
become with the circle of the create
The ordeal of fire which comes upon the soul immediately that
the desire for birth is experienced, and continues while man
remains man only, is the burning out and consuming of all alloy
in the nature. When this is accomplished, the ego can effect the
miracle of resurrection and rebirth into a higher state, and can
begin to form a regenerated shape which shall be worthy of
immortality.
The instinct of the animal nature is to avoid suffering and to
seek protection from it. But the Spirit of Man has sought birth
in matter with the object of obtaining purification, and
desires, therefore, not only to enter the ordeal of fire but to
enter it unprotected. Therefore does it utter these two stanzas
of the litany which follow the expression of desire of birth.
The mystic union is expressed in the last stanza; it is beyond
the understanding of man. He can only dimly apprehend it by
degrees as he follows the occult ceremonies, and obtains more
and more illumination in respect to them. Autumn, winter,
spring, and summer repeat themselves duly every year, because
the Divine Spirit of Nature descends continually upon Nature,
and passing through matter returns to itself. The drama is
enacted afresh every year. The story of the pilgrimage of the
spirit of man is contained within this yearly drama, and is the
basis of the legends which form the groundwork of the great
religions.
Desire, marriage, birth, these bring us hither: love, death,
resurrection, these carry us hence; just as the green leaves
come with every springtide, so does the inner meaning of the
green leaves reveal itself to the disciple in perpetual
recurrence.
The ancient Egyptians were the first to institute a sacred
calendar, in which every day had its special religious ceremony.
The Egyptian initiate, who gave fragments of the Birthday Litany
and the Resurrection Litany from the ancient Ritual to the
author of the
Story of the Year, has now
outlined the rites and vigils of the months between Christmas
and Easter. But he has given nothing for the summer and autumn
months, during which no existing religion has dates for
ceremonies or feasts. Doubtless this is in accordance with the
accepted belief of the ancients, that no great sacrifice can
commence during the sun's southern progress. The south belongs
to Yama, the God of the Dead. The sacred months are those in
which the sun moves northwards.
The student of occultism is aware that man is a part of Nature,
and that the mysteries are revealed to him when he enters into
the secret and sacred life of the heavens and the earth. The
difference of climate in the various parts of the earth does not
affect the religions of the world in their universal acceptance
of the month of January as the season of the return of the light
of the world. All Nature begins life anew; and the month of
December is devoted to the preparation for this fresh life. In
an article in the
Revue Egyptologique in
January 1880, Brugsch Bey, basing his statement on an
inscription, speaks of a Ceremony performed at Memphis by the
Pharaoh himself, or one of the High Priests, on a certain day
which owed its sanctity to the rite - the winter solstice, or
22nd December. He quotes Macrobe in respect to the sun being
depicted at that period of the year as a little child. Man's
spiritual being is indissolubly associated with this little
child, this light-bringer, and as the disciple attains psychic
consciousness he becomes aware of the mystic recurrence of that
miracle which is described in the religions as birth, death, and
resurrection. As he passes up the steps of consciousness he
learns that the spiritual light-bearer must endure the martyrdom
of crucifixion in time and space, and must descend into the tomb
of matter. And as the Great Ones in their bright succession
endure this, so must their followers.
Those who follow Him must do likewise, and must enter into the
state of the desire of birth each year with a yearly increase of
the will to help the world. Thus the desire changes its
character by degrees, and becomes selfless instead of selfish.
The soul of man, and the soul of the world, the soul of Nature
and of sub-Nature, from DARKNESS to LIGHT. At first it appears
dark and gloomy, until as a Disciple of Light, ye pass thru it,
then thou seest thou was surrounded by LIGHT all the while, and
made (thru the furnace and the potter's wheel, AN IMMORTAL LIGHT
TO BLESS ALL! Yes All True Followers pass alike through
the birth-throes.
The yearly initiations begin with that desire of rebirth into
matter which brings the human spirit into the condition of
suffering under the rule of the pairs of opposites; heat and
cold, pleasure and pain, love and hate, male and female - these
opposing conditions assail him continually, and he cannot free
himself from them save by escaping from rebirth.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
The Ancients observed the Solstices
An utterly astounding array of ancient cultures built
their greatest architectures -- tombs, temples, cairns and
sacred observatories -- so that they aligned with the
solstices and equinoxes. Many of us know that is a perfect marker of both solstices
But not so many
people are familiar with Newgrange, a beautiful megalithic
site in Ireland. This huge circular stone structure is
estimated to be 5,000 years old, older by centuries than
Stonehenge, older than the Egyptian pyramids! It was built
to receive a shaft of sunlight deep into its central chamber
at dawn on winter solstice.
The light illuminates a stone basin below intricate
carvings -- spirals, eye shapes, solar discs. Although not
much is known about how Newgrange was used by its builders,
marking the solstice was obviously of tremendous spiritual
import to them.
Hundreds of other megalithic
structures throughout Europe are oriented to the solstices
and the equinoxes. The blossoming field of archaeoastronomy
studies such sacred sites in the Americas, Asia, Indonesia,
and the Middle East. Recent research into the medieval Great
Zimbabwe in sub-Saharan Africa (also known as the "African
tonehenge") indicates a similar purpose. In North America,
one of the most famous such sites is the Sun
Dagger of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, built a
thousand years ago by the Chacoans, ancestors of the Pueblo
people. Even cultures that followed a moon-based calendar
seemed also to understand the importance of these sun-facing
seasonal turning points.
Native Americans had winter solstice rites. The sun images at
right are from rock paintings of the Chumash, who occupied
coastal California for thousands of years before the Europeans
arrived. Solstices were tremendously important to them, and
the winter solstice celebration lasted several days.
Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of
Lights that occurs around this time every year is an even
older celebration of LIGHT for this season. The placement of
Hanukkah is tied to both the lunar and solar calendars. It
begins on the 25th of Kislev, three days before the new moon
closest to the Winter Solstice. Hanukkah
commemorates an historic event — the Maccabees' victory over
the Greeks and the rededication of the temple at Jerusalem.
But the form of this celebration, a Festival of Lights (with
candles at the heart of the ritual), makes Hanukkah
wonderfully compatible with other celebrations at this time
of year. As a symbolic celebration of growing light and as a
commemoration of spiritual rebirth, it also seems closely
related to other observances.
StarDoves have sacred codes deep
within from the Inner Way of ancient Egypt (after Atlantis
and Lemuria). We feel it holds the highest spiritual
maturity yet reached on this planet. We also honor the
way of the Hindu from India as the latest greatest Spiritual
culture left on Earth to point the rest of the
planet to "The Way, The Truth and The Light."
Particularly the Wisdom as contained in "The Life and
Teachings of the Masters of the Far East."
Here that message teaches us not to look to any saviour
outside of ourselves, that we are not just sinners, but
rather we are the MASTERS OF LIGHT. In these books and
tapes they also recall Jesus and proclaim Him as High a
Master that has ever-lived, but not a GOd that we fall down
and worship! The jewel of its wisdom is contained here
in this passage:
"When we stand one with the sum of all
intelligence, and recognize ourselves as an actual
part of that intelligence, and know
conclusively that this is the great principle, God,
we shall soon find ourselves conscious of the
fact that all intelligence throughout the whole
cosmic universe is working with us. We also
realize quickly that the intelligence of all great
genius, as well as the little mentality of the
single cell of the body, is working with us in
perfect harmony and accord. This is the One Great
Intelligent Cosmic Mind that we are positively
allied with. Indeed we are that very mind; we are
the self-consciousness of the universe.
The instant we feel this very thing nothing can keep
us from our Godhead."
The profound fundamental connection between the ceremonies
of the great world religions, and the facts of Nature, is
shown by the manner in which they are grouped round the
story of the year. On the material plane this story begins
with the universally observed festival of the New Year,
which is understood to celebrate the victory of light over
darkness, and culminates at the beginning of June, when the
Tibetans observe the anniversary of Buddha's Nirvana. The
New Year Festival is preceded by the Feasts and Ceremonies
of Birth, marking the season in which the sun - the light
and life of the world - enters upon rebirth, and returns to
conquer darkness and death. He comes back each year as
a little child, waxing strong as the seasons advance.
Macrobe says that the ancient Egyptians represented the sun,
"au solstice d'hiver sous l'image
d'un petit enfant". The student of occultism
is aware that man is a part of Nature, and that the
mysteries are revealed to him when he enters into the secret
and sacred life of the heavens and the earth. For him the
yearly season of material birth is preceded by the spiritual
state of desire of birth. The difference of climate in the
various parts of the earth does not affect the religions of
the world in their universal acceptance of the month of
January as the season of the return of the light of the
world.
A linguistic puzzle.
Christmas was
transplanted onto winter solstice some 1,600 years ago,
centuries before the English language emerged from its
Germanic roots. Is that why we came to express these two
ideas in words that sound so similar?
HUmans fall from grace or manipulated DNA allows things
like anger and sadness and forms of not acting
aright to take place in their experience, unless they KEEP
A CONSTANT VIGIL! ... Ah . . . that is another story
we will save for the New Year Light Message: THE
VIGIL - where we will focus on:
Medieval History: The Vigil of Arms
A look at the Vigils, its origins and ceremony as it applied
to Knighthood. Information about traditions and
historical significance.
In Medieval myth and legend, nothing has held more fascination
or mystique than the tradition-shrouded ceremony which preceded
a knighting ceremony. This initiation ceremony, known as the
Vigil of Arms, has captured the fantasy of knighthood long after
the actual practice became an anachronism. But what was this
forgotten ceremony, and what made it an intrical part of
Medieval society?
NOTE: Twas' my BELOVED MOIRA who first made me aware of the
Occult Teachings of Theosophy in this lifetime and in
particular at this time of the year Mabel Collins' "
When the Sun Moves Northward" (of which I used as the
main reference for this article.
For Theosophy, see:
http://theosophical.org/
For Your Review:
http://www.lightparty.com
http://www.gnostictemplars.org/