28-2014 -The Symbols of Christmas, December 2014

The Symbols of Christmas

December 2014

As I entered the shopping center in September of this year, I noticed that some of the stores were already displaying Christmas Trees, decorations and toys (most of them made in China or other countries).  By the time Thanksgiving arrived, there was a feeling of being smothered with the frenzy of advertisements inundating every mailbox, newspaper and television show - to the point that one felt forced by the pressure to get out there and buy, buy, and buy!

When I was a child, we were asked what we wanted most for Christmas and many times we received that one toy (sometimes not so new but repainted and personalized like the sled I got when I was eleven).  I never forgot that sled because my Father painted my name on it, so it was the best gift ever.  

The most important part of our holiday was the story of the birth of Christ and how He came to save us, that He was the Lamb of God, who sacrificed His life for us; and that His entire life was given to show us "the Way, the Truth and the Life."

I thought that you would like to have a little deeper meaning to this sacred event, so that when the pressure of forcing people to buy, buy, buy comes next time you'll remember what the real meaning of Christmas is.

Let us start with the word Christmas - it means the Mass of Christ, the celebration of His life and especially His sacrifice of that life for us.  So when picking out a Christmas Card, keep in mind that you want to celebrate the event with others by wishing them Joy, which by the way, is His keynote.  The song "Joy to the World" is the keynote of Jesus.

The Magi came to honor the birth of Christ.  Who were they?  Were they Christians?  How did they know of His coming?

The Magi were known as priest-kings at the time of Christ's birth and they came from Ethiopia and the East. Of course they were not Christian as that word developed long after the death of Our Lord.  They were astronomers and astrologers as well as rulers of their lands - much like the Pharaohs of Egypt and the Mayans of South America, who could and still can, read the sky like a map.  They also were part of  the mystery schools and were aware that a certain conjunction of planets around the year A. D. 56/57 would mark the birth of a great avatar. As the three planets began to draw closer to one another they began their journey from various remote places. Can you imagine, the faith and the will that drove these three Kings to cross vast areas of desert and land on camels, to find this new-born Child?  And yet they came from three different directions and met at the palace of King Herod, asking him, of all people, where they could find this "future King of the Jews".  Can you imagine! Put yourself in Herod's position, he was the king of the Jews and now some usurper, who might or might not be born as yet, was planning on replacing him!  He didn't know of the child but he certainly was not wasting any time in finding out where he was living.  In fact, he immediately sent his soldiers out  with orders to kill any child under the age of two years old - just to make sure that the usurper would be destroyed.

The Magi

Melchior, Casper and Balthazar were their names

The Magi eventually found Jesus as did the local shepherds.  The shepherds were informed by the angels of the birth of Jesus.  They heard the music of their instruments and followed the sound and were given the news of the birth of Christ.  As you know, there was no room at the local inns and Joseph and Mary were forced to find a manger.  Jesus certainly came into the humblest birthplace, among the cattle and sheep, revered by the shepherds.  He certainly wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth and a palace for his home. No, He was born among the people, who He would live among and serve, teach and heal and even raise from the dead.

When the Magi approached the cave where the manger was the conjunction of stars was directly over the landscape.  They each brought a gift to Joseph and Mary of Frankincense, Myrrh and Gold. They also informed Joseph and Mary that King Herod was also aware of Jesus' birth.  The Frankincense and Myrrh would be used to form a "ring pass not" around the manger in order to protect the child Jesus.  Today, Frankincense and Myrrh are used in High Mass in both the Roman and Eastern Churches.  The priest will circle the periphery of the entire church with the incense burners sending the incense into every corner before the mass begins.

The Holy Family,Joseph,Mary and Jesus represent the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or Divine Wisdom, the Mother of All.  Joseph, the Carpenter, was the provider and protector under the First Ray of God's Holy Will.  He would be the Active Principle, a First Ray quality of the Father.  Mary, represents the Divine Mother, the receiver, and the cohesive love/wisdom of the Third Ray of Active Intelligence.  Whereas Jesus, represented the Son, who brings the light of the Father and the love of the Mother into the Golden Robe of the Light of the World, the Son under the Second Ray of Divine Love/Wisdom.

Michael Angelo's Holy Family

Like all children of light here on earth who are sons and daughters of God, it is the Soul that lies above our mental bodies that is the mediator between the upper triad of the Higher self, representing the Father, and the Causal body enfolding both the Higher Self and the Soul, or Holy Christ Self - representing the Divine Mother, and the Soul of Christed Self, representing the Son - the light of the world.  The Soul, in turn, is over our three lower bodies i.e. mental, emotional, etheric/physical.  As the Soul is the mediator between the upper divine triad and the lower triad, so is the human the mediator between divinity (all of Hierarchy - Cosmic, Solar and Planetary) and the three lower kingdoms (animal, plant and mineral, and elemental). The Holy Family is the reflection or the Holly Trinity and is significant in teaching us about our place within the Divine Plan of God.

The next symbol we'll look at is the Star of Bethlehem, which is of course, the result of the conjunction between three major planets during the year A.D.56/57.  The star has always been the symbol of the Divine.

The Star Tetrahedron

This star tetrahedron is seen in many ancient and modern churches and temples and is significant in understanding the working of triangles.  I can give you the example of King David, who used the star tetrahedron as the symbol of the Jewish faith  "The Star of David".  Remember, in order for David to write the psalms, he had to become that symbol.  Again, it is one of the most ancient teachings of the lower triangle pointing upward towards God or the Higher Self, while the upper triangle representing God reaching toward man in the descending triangle.

In the World Service between nineteen eighty and two thousand and nine, we placed the triangle around our upper chakras from the Heart (the base of the triangle) out around our shoulders to above our heads (the point of the triangle). We'd sit in the middle as the Buddha or Christ Self, and this triangle would rise out of the heart and move upward - at the same time the descending triangle would move downwards from the Higher Self, forming a star tetrahedron on the level of the Soul or Holy Christ Self.  We would then be sitting at the level of the Christ and at this level where David wrote his Psalms, we  would do our Prayers of the World Service. At the present time, the need of the hour is for group prayer and meditation for World Peace.

From His birth until his death, Jesus was a living example of the disciple on the Path of Initiation, transforming and transfiguring Himself, which led Him to the cross and to the resurrection until He ascended back to His Father.  He left us His blueprint and the map to the homeward path.

So during this Holy and Sacred Season,  take a step into the light of your Soul and leave the clanging and the din behind you, for a few moments each day.  Learn to be silent and in that silence find your peace - the Peace beyond understanding. 

May you have a Joyous and Peaceful Christmas and may 2015 bring you Good Health, Happiness and a Deeper Understanding of Who You really Are.

In the light of service,
I AM,

Margaret Mary