I'm beginning this post on the first Sunday of Advent, but I don't realistically expect to publish anything today (December 3). Why not? Because there is just too much ground to cover. No discussion of the True Meaning of Advent would be complete without some attention paid to the candle-lighting ritual itself, how it began and evolved, and what it signifies in the Christian liturgy.
But those things are minor concerns compared to the True Meaning of Advent. And what is that? Well, according to Wikipedia, Advent marks the time of year when Christians anticipate as well as prepare for the "coming of Christ" from three different perspectives. Those perspectives are 1) the First Incarnation of Jesus in Bethlehem, which we celebrate as Christmas; 2) the acceptance of Jesus as "savior" into the heart of the believer; and 3) the Second Incarnation of Jesus to judge how well humankind has "towed the line" since his First Incarnation.
And this interpretation is mostly true -- but ONLY if we remove the blood-stained "eschatological" view that Christ's impending "parousia" will involve either a physical manifestation or a damning sentence on humanity's sinfulness. If we really want to know what Advent is all about, we must understand what the so-called "Second Coming of Christ" actually involves. We also must acknowledge that, like ALL scriptural narratives, the Nativity Story is an instructive ALLEGORY. To interpret the symbols correctly requires illuminated interpretation -- not egoic presumption or speculation. And having some degree of illuminated understanding, I shall walk you through the story and its deeper meaning step by step, symbol by symbol, and mistranslation by mistranslation.
But not yet. First, let's talk about the candle-lighting ritual, because today (December 3), in churches and homes across western Christendom, the first Advent candle of the 2023 Season has been lit -- the candle of FAITH. In some denominations, the first candle is "Hope," but, as I like to say, what is "Hope" except "Faith" sporting the training wheels of doubt? So let's go all-in from the get-go and light the candle of FAITH, FAITHFULNESS, and/or TRUST IN GOD -- the first step on the journey back to Christ Consciousness or True Perception. Because, as Jesus explains in the Course's Manual for Teachers, TRUST in God's Word is the foundation on which the whole at-one-ment process rests.
By lighting the candle of Faith, we are symbolically inviting the Holy Spirit to begin the ego-undoing process within our minds. We have, in other words, FINALLY chosen RIGHT by agreeing to the terms of the Second Covenant. And in making that choice, we empower God's Spirit and Word to help us untie the psychic knot or "Brahma Granthi" of delusion-binding thinking or, in Course terms, separation-mindedness.
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The Lamp of thee Son's Will for salvation is lit by our FAITH in God, and symbolized by the first candle of Advent |
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As I composed the above, I kept seeing Lord Vishnu aboard his vahana, Garuda. And, all at once, I understood that Garuda represented the power of our faith in God, which transports the Soul out of the dream. |
He also says:
True faithfulness ... does not deviate. Being consistent, it is wholly honest. Being unswerving, it is full of trust. Being based on fearlessness, it is gentle. Being certain, it is joyous, and being confident, it is tolerant. Defenselessness attends it naturally, and joy is its condition. Faithfulness, then, combines in itself the other attributes of God's teachers. It implies acceptance of the Word of God and His definition of His Son. It is to them that faithfulness in the true sense is always directed. Toward them it looks, seeking until it finds. And having found, it rests in quiet certainty on that alone to which all faithfulness is due.
Elsewhere in the Course, he tells us:
Faith in the eternal is ALWAYS justified, for the eternal is forever kind, infinite in its patience, and wholly loving. It will accept you wholly, and give you peace. But it can unite only with what ALREADY is at peace in you, immortal as itself.What is ALREADY at peace in us is the Divine Spark or Soul -- the only part of us created by God. Metaphorically speaking, that Spark or Soul is the Christ Child, which grows stronger and brighter within our minds through our FAITH in the power of God's Word to restore that which was, is, and will be again (in our perception). In terms of our previous discussions, that Spark is unsprouted "seed" of Christ within us. The Word of God, meanwhile, is the Living Water of Saving Grace that encourages that "seed" to achieve its full potential.
Let's start with the word's etymology. The term "advent" comes from adventus, a Latin word meaning "coming" or "arrival." Advent is, therefore, an anglicized Latin substitution for a Greek term used throughout the New Testament in reference to Christ's alleged "second coming" or "second incarnation." Except that the word's true definition has nothing to do with "returning" or "coming again." The Greek word used was Parousia, which CAN mean "coming" or "arrival," especially in the context of a ruler or healing deity, but more accurately means simply "presence," "to be," or "present in being."
Taylor also openly espoused the Apollinarin view that Jesus had a human body and sensitive human Soul, but a Divine Mind. To say that his views were unpopular is an understatement, as Apollinarism was officially declared heretical by the Council of Constantinople in 381 CE. Without reading Taylor's writings, I can only presume he took exception to the eschatological definition of Parousia as, to quote Miriam-Webster, "the time when Jesus Christ will return to judge humanity at the end of the world: SECOND COMING."
Let's move on, because Parousia is remarkably similar to Purusha -- the Sanskrit term for the Cosmic Being who is immanent in the manifested world and yet transcendent to it. Might then the two words have similar meanings? They do indeed, because the Cosmic Being identified as Purusha in the East is, in fact, what we Westerners call the Christ or Christ Presence. And that "Presence" or "Being" pervades everything in the universe. Thus it is remembering that we ARE at-one with that Holy Presence to which the term Parousia refers -- NOT the second physical manifestation of Jesus (which the Ego Mind has twisted into the ultimate threat).
Many sources I consulted pigeon-holed Parousia as a purely "eschatological" term, whereas I would describe it as a good word sealed in the burnt crust of fire-and-brimstone theology. According to the Oxford Dictionary, eschatology is "the part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind." And the part of Christian theology preoccupied with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and humankind was "pimped" early on by the Great Deceiver and his fear-mongering emissaries.
Chief among those emissaries were the early proponents of the "catholic" or "apostolic" movement -- men like Bishop Irenaeus of Lyon, who vehemently campaigned against Gnosticism, and Theodosius I, the Roman Emperor who was instrumental in establishing the creed of Nicea as the orthodox doctrine for Christianity. Irenaeus, Theodosius, and their fellow "patriarchs" essentially did everything in their power to destroy and/or defame anyone promoting the idea that "knowing" Christ and God could only be achieved through internal endeavor (which is IN FACT the Absolute Truth).
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The Second Coming or Parousia of Christ is an INTERNAL rather than EXTERNAL event. |
Would it surprise you to learn that the phrase "Second Coming of Christ" appears NOWHERE in the Holy Bible? That's right. You heard me. The phrase was introduced by ego-deceived eschatological theologians. The phrase does, however, appear in the Course's Workbook for Student -- with a much-needed explanation. Because eschewing our fear of Christ's inevitable Parousia or "Advent" within our minds is so vital to our salvation, I have reproduced that illuminating explanation in its entirety below:
Christ's Second Coming, which is sure as God, is merely the correction of mistakes and the return of sanity. It is a part of the condition which restores the never-lost and re-establishes what is forever and forever true It is the invitation to God's Word to take illusion's place, the willingness to let forgiveness rest upon all things without exception and without reserve.
It is the all-inclusive nature of Christ's Second Coming that permits it to embrace the world and hold you safe within its gentle advent, which encompasses all living things with you. There is no end to the release the Second Coming brings, as God's creation must be limitless. Forgiveness lights the Second Coming's way because it shines on everyone as one. And thus is oneness recognized at last.
The Second Coming ends the lessons which the Holy Spirit teaches, making way for the Last Judgment, in which learning ends in one last summary that will extend beyond itself and reaches up to God. The Second Coming is the time in which all minds are given to the hands of Christ, to be returned to Spirit in the name of true creation and the Will of God.
The Second Coming is the one event in time which time itself cannot affect. For everyone who ever came to die or yet will come or who is present now is equally released from what he made. In this equality is Christ restored as one Identity, in which all Sons of God acknowledge that they all are one. And God the Father smiles upon His Son, His one creation and His only joy.
Pray that this Second Coming will be soon, but do not rest with that. It needs your eyes and ears and hands and feet. It needs your voice. And most of all it needs your willingness. Let us rejoice that we can do God's Will and join together in its holy light. Behold, the Son of God is one in us, and we can teach our Father's Love through him.
And doesn't that pretty well sum up everything I've just explained? Note how cleverly he slips the word "advent" into the narrative. Also note his stealthy attempt to strip away the Last Judgment's false eschatological "spin." A few pages later, Jesus tackles the subject head-on. Under the question-heading "What is the Last Judgment?," he gives us the following answer:
Christ's Second Coming gives the Son of God the gift to hear the Voice for God proclaim that what is false is false and what is true has never changed. And this the judgment is in which perception ends. At first you see a world which has accepted this as true, projected from a now corrected mind. And with this holy sight, perception gives a silent blessing and then disappears, its goal accomplished and its mission done.
The final judgment on the world contains no condemnation. For it sees the world as totally forgiven, without sin and wholly purposeless. Without a cause and now without a function in Christ's sight, it merely slips away to nothingness. There it was born, and there it ends as well. And all the figures in the dream in which the world began go with it. Bodies now are useless and will therefore fade away because the Son of God is limitless.
You who believed that God's Last Judgment would condemn the world to hell along with you, accept this holy truth: God's Judgment is the gift of the correction He bestowed on all your errors, freeing you from them and all effects they ever seemed to have. To fear God's saving grace is but to fear complete release from suffering, return to peace, security and happiness, and union with your own Identity.
God's Final Judgment is as merciful as every step in His appointed plan to bless His Son and call him to return to the eternal peace He shares with him. Be not afraid of love. For it alone can heal all sorrow, wipe away all tears, and gently waken from his dream of pain the Son whom God acknowledges as His. Be not afraid of this. Salvation asks you give it welcome. And the world awaits your glad acceptance, which will set it free.
This is God's Final Judgment: "You are still My holy Son, forever innocent, forever loving and forever loved, as limitless as your Creator and completely changeless and forever pure. Therefore, awaken and return to Me. I am your Father and you are my Son."
Got it? Good. Because this is, in fact, the GREAT TRUTH that will set us free -- a GREAT TRUTH actively denied and discredited by adherents to the Great Deceiver's "Grand Apostacy."
Now that we've got all that out of the way, let's talk about the Nativity Allegory and what its symbols are intended to communicate to the FAITHFUL.
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The Annunciation by Palos de Mattheis, 1712 |
Of the four canonical gospels, the Nativity narrative appears only in Luke and Matthew. In both cases, the story begins with "the Annunciation" -- the fateful encounter during which the Archangel Gabriel informs Mary (Miriam, actually) -- "a young woman ripe for marriage" -- that she was chosen by God to mother the Messiah.
In Luke 1:26-38, that pivotal exchange is recorded as follows:
And in the sixth month [of her barren cousin Elizabeth's miraculous pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth. To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, "Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed are thou among women."And there you have it: the Anglicized version of what Lukah the physician, a companion of Saul of Tarus (later St. Paul) -- and NOT Luke, the long-dead disciple -- recorded many centuries prior. And in the process of translating Lukah's account from Greek to English, the chosen team of Anglican clerics made many vocabulary choices based on the long-established Creed of Nicea. And the biggest part of that creed was that Jesus was God Incarnate and, therefore, Divine since birth. He could not, therefore, have been conceived through the "sin" of sexual intercourse -- a sin exacerbated by the fact that his mother was only "espoused" or "engaged" at the time of his presumed conception.And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, "Fear not, Mary: for thou has found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS [Yeshua, actually, which means "savior" or "salvation" in Hebrew]. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father, David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Was Mary, in fact, a virgin? Was she really impregnated by the Holy Spirit? And was she herself the product of virgin birth, as the Roman Catholic Church espouses? These same questions have been the subject of much incredulity, speculation, and scholarship over the centuries. But no one can yet offer a definitive answer. What Biblical scholarship can and does elucidate is that the English word "virgin" was substituted for the Greek word parthenos, which CAN refer to sexual chastity, but also has other meanings. One of those alternate definitions is "maid" or "unmarried woman of child-bearing age," which certainly describes Mary at the time of the Annunciation.
But wait, there's more -- because parthenos can also mean "pure" or "chaste," as in "pure of heart" or "humble in spirit." And this we know to be true of Mary based on how Gabriel initially addresses her. We further know that these are desirable qualities in a person of faith because Jesus states as much in the section of the New Testament known as "the Beatitudes."
In Matthew 5:3, he says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Contrary to popular presumption, "poor in spirit" does NOT mean depressed, downhearted, or financially destitute. The original Greek wording was ptochoi to pneumatic -- a phrase describing someone totally dependent on a power greater than their own. Or, stated another way, someone who "trusts in the Word of God to set all things right -- not some, but all."
Okay, so ... why is Mary "troubled" by Gabriel's "manner of salutation." Is her discomfort attributable solely to her modesty or might something more nuanced have been lost in translation? Let's explore those questions, shall we?
In the original Greek, the angel doesn't say, "Hail, thou that art highly favored"; he says, "Hail, thou that has been bestowed with God's Grace." And were Mary not BOTH sufficiently pure of heart, poor in spirit, and humble of person, she would not have been given Heaven's highest blessing. When Gabriel then adds, "Blessed art thou amongst women," he doesn't mean she is BETTER than God's other ego-deceived Souls; he is offering her his reassurance that what he's asking of her is a blessing of a magnitude she can't comprehend. And, as she fears or is "troubled by," that "blessing" will bring untold hardships and sorrows. She will, however, receive celestial assistance to mitigate the consequences, as is subsequently demonstrated in the New Testament narratives.
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In the Judo-Christian scriptures, "Egypt" is code for the Kingdom of Darkness manifested and ruled by the Ego Mind. Thus, the flight into Egypt symbolized the Holy Family's journey from the Temple into the material world. |
And birthing Jesus does make Mary's life harder, doesn't it? Especially if we imagine what the Holy Family really endured back then. The New Testament hints at these difficulties in places, but largely ignores or glosses over them. The shame of her inexplicable pregnancy is only the beginning. Later, Mary is forced to make the long journey to Bethlehem while heavy with child, give birth in a stable, and flee into Egypt to escape King Herod's heartless "Massacre of the Innocents." Among what the New Testament leaves out is that the Holy Family remained exiled in Egypt for the duration of Jesus's formative years and adolescence. And it is there that he met the Mary or Miriam he married at age 18 (according to Gary Renard's Ascended Masters). He called his childhood friend and wife "the Magdala" not because Mary was from the town of Magdalene (which she wasn't), but because he perceived her as the Tower of Divine Love and Light all of us are in the sight of God and Christ.
But I digress ... so let's get back to the Annunciation. Was Mary, the Blessed Mother of Jesus, an actual virgin? The correct answer is: probably. But it doesn't matter, because her character in the story is meant to SYMBOLIZE the purity of heart, absolute faith, and humbleness of person we all must achieve before the Christ Child or Purusha can make its presence known at the center of our being.
And on that note, let's return to the Nativity Story, as told in Luke 2:2-52. For the purposes of our discussion, I've opted for Luke's version over the one presented in Matthew 1:18-25 because it provides more symbolic details. Luke's account begins thusly:
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
In this section of the narrative, we learn that Bethlehem is the City of David, the Great Jewish King of Old whose throne Jesus will inherit. That throne is, of course, the Throne of God on the Seventh Plane -- the reigning center of the Father's Will presently (in the story) occupied by Elohim. Thus, like most locales in the Bible, Bethlehem is meant to be a symbol, rather than an actual place. What does it symbolize? The Living Temple or Holy Meeting Place, wherein (at the level of shared mind) we give and receive the Living Water, Soma, or Manna from Heaven. This is pretty obvious, actually, given that, in Hebrew, Bethlehem means "House of Bread" -- and BREAD is Biblical "code" for the spiritual sustenance supplied by the Blood and Water Rays. This is, in fact, what Jesus means in John 6:35 when he says, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."
Simply stated, we "come to Christ" -- or, rather, "come together" in Christ's Name or Invoked Presence in the Golden Circle or Circle of Atonement (in Course terms), which IS the Holy Meeting Place, Temple of the Holy Spirit, House of God, and/or House of Bread.
Luke's Nativity narrative continues as follows:
And so it was that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Let's pause here to gain a clearer picture of the story's symbolic setting in our minds. The Greek word translated as "inn" was katalymati, which more specifically means "lodging for hire." Given the time period and region, the lodging-for-hire in which Mary and Joseph sought shelter was almost certainly a "caravansary" or "kahn."
G. Coleman Luck, the late chairman of the Bible Department at the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, describes such lodging-places thusly: "The caravansary is a large square edifice built around an open inner courtyard. In the center of the courtyard a well is provided. Often the building is two stories, with the lower one containing stalls for beasts and the upper consisting of small rooms for [the] use of the human travelers. ... The inn where there was no room for Joseph and Mary has traditionally been thought of as a caravansary."
Not perhaps by the laity, but I must agree with the late scholar's assessment. Why? Because a caravansary so beautifully symbolizes the story's metaphorical setting.
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A caravansary like the one that sheltered Mary and Joseph |
Allow me to explain: Caravansaries are known as "resting places" for weary travelers -- a description reminiscent of the Mattanah, Holy Resting Place, or Wellspring at which the wandering Israelites received the Manna from Heaven. And those correspondences are too uncanny to ignore.
Furthermore, the two-story caravansary symbolizes the two levels of perception. Thus, that Mary gave birth on the stable level marks the "coming forth" of the embryonic Christ Child in the lower waters of thought. From a more general perspective, the story rightly communicates that we are all God's Children, born of human mothers into a barn full of egocentric animals.
So, as you can see, the story lost a lot of nuanced meaning when the Anglican translators presumptively substituted the common English word denoting "lodging-for-hire" for the common Greek or Aramaic understanding of the term.
Luke's narrative continues thusly:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us."
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
What the shepherds represent is viscerally apparent to me. They are the "Teachers of God" who answered the Call to Awaken and followed their inner light or star to the Holy Resting Place. And it is there, Jesus tells us, that we hear the angels singing God's praises. It is also there that we simultaneously give and receive the Living Water, Manna, or Epiousion Bread of God's Saving Grace simply by listening to the comforting echo inside our heads. And after the "shepherds" were cleansed of "sin" (i.e., freed of the wrong-minded habit of projecting guilt outward), they went out and shared the Good News with their ego-deceived brethren -- the Good Shepherd's "flock" -- so that they, too, might come to the Holy Resting Place to heal and be healed.
The arrival of the three magi, kings, or wise men isn't mentioned in Luke's gospel, so let's switch over to Matthew 2:2:12:
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”What I've shared above is EVERYTHING the New Testament reports about the visitors we've come to know as the three "wise men," "kings," or "magi." There is no mention of them in any of the other gospels. Nowhere else are we told, therefore, that these "visitors" were 1) kings or royalty of any sort, 2) came from India, Arabia, and/or the Orient, 3) were called Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, 4) rode camels, 5) were three in number, or 6) arrived several days or weeks after Mary gave birth. Thus, none of these suppositions about the so-called "wise men" have any basis in fact. They are, in other words, pure EGO-inspired scholarly and/or ecclesiastical invention.When Herod the king heard, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Juda; For out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel."
Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
Like everything else in the story, the so-called "wise men" are symbolic. What do they symbolize? The Atonement Trinity, of course, which operates in the Upper Waters of Perception on the EASTERN side of the Temple Menorah. When the Christ Light appeared over the House of Bread (the Living Temple), they sent their "gifts" or "treasures" (via their "consorts" or "representatives") into the lower waters on the WESTERN side of the Menorah.
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The gifts of the Magi: Gold, Frankincense, and myrrh |
Thus:
Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?Gold = the Light of Truth or Illuminating Holy Spirit of Christ
Frankincense = the Living Water or Water Ray
Myrrh = the Blood of Christ or Blood Ray
While researching the original Greek word translated as "wise men" by the Anglicans, I came across something pretty interesting. In Matthew 2:2, the word the Anglicans changed to "wise men" was megas, which means "great" or "mighty," typically in the context of eminence, intensity, or authority. When, for example, Gabriel tells Mary that her son will be "great," he uses the word megas. In and of itself, the word megas, therefore, in no way implies wisdom or even human embodiment.
How, then, did the Anglican translators come up with "wise men" as a comparable substitute for megas? The answer is: Because that's what they learned, and they never deigned to question that teaching.
In Matthew 2:7, the phrase "wise men" appears a second time in the KJV translation. This time, however, the original word was magos rather than megas. The two words may look and sound somewhat alike, but their meanings are very different. Magos means NOT "great" or "mighty," BUT "oriental astrologers." Thus, Matthew reports that when King Herod learned of the birth of the prophesied Messiah (from the Jewish priests and scribes he interrogated), he met in private with his "oriental" or likely Persian astrological advisers to determine where the birth had taken place.
Based on what is written, it appears as though the astrologers then followed the star to Bethlehem. But what happened next is pretty interesting, when right-mindedly understood.
When they see the star, the astrologers are filled with great joy. They then "come into the house," where they see the Christ Child with His Mother. This simple phrase -- "come into the house" -- has mystified scholars and theologians for centuries. Speculations about how the Holy Family relocated so quickly from the stable to a house has given rise to a broad range of wild theories. Some suggest that Joseph and Mary were actually living in Bethlehem at the time, despite what the Bible reports. Others hypothesize that they'd returned to their home in Nazareth by the time the magos arrived. And still others theorize that Joseph had a second home in Bethlehem, to which they'd relocated after the birth -- which makes no sense at all. If they already had a house in Bethlehem, why would Mary suffer to give birth in a smelly stable?
All of these theories are, of course, Truth-obscuring ego nonsense, because the "house" the magi came into wasn't a dwelling at all. It was the House of the Lord, House of Bread, or Living Temple, where the astrologers experienced direct revelation or epiphany. They SAW the Christ Child and His Mother, not with their eyes, but through Holy Vision -- and then fell down and worshipped the Glorious Divine Beings they beheld. And from their illuminated minds, the Holy Treasures or "gifts" of the Atonement Trinity "issued forth" into the lower waters of thought.
Makes sense, right?
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The Nativity by Greg Olsen, |
The lovely painting above places the nativity figures in their proper positions, with the Holy Family in the center, the shepherds on the left, and the magi on the right. How do I know this is the proper placement of these three groups? The answer is: Because they represent the three sections of the Temple Menorah. The shepherds are the Teachers of God (both embodied and disembodied) on the western side, the magi are the Trinity Powers on the eastern side, and the Christ Child is the Soul or Divine Spark in the center. That's how I see it, anyway -- and also how I will arrange my own Nativity scenes at Christmas (if I ever find the matching pieces and/or the room to display them).
