QUESTION NO. 89
Is there an occult significance in the various Christian feasts of the year?
Answer: Yes, the feasts of the year have the very deepest occult significance. From the material point of view, the planets are but so many masses of matter going about in their orbits in obedience to so-called blind laws, but to the occultists they appear as Great Spirits, moving about in space as we move in the world.
When a man is seen gesticulating, we attach a certain significance to his gestures. If he shakes his head, we know that he is negativing a certain proposition, but if he nods, we infer he agrees. If he beckons, having the palms of his hands turned toward him, we know that he is motioning for someone to come to him, but if he turns the palms outward, we understand that he is warning someone to stay away. In the case of the universe, we usually do not think that there is any significance to the altered position of the planets, but to the occultist there is the very deepest meaning in all the varied phenomena of the heavens. They correspond to the gestures of man.
Krishna means anointed, and anyone who had a special mission to perform was so anointed in olden times. When, in the winter time, the sun is below the equator at the nadir point of its travel, the spiritual impulses are the greatest in the world. For our material welfare, however, it is necessary that the sun should come again into the northern hemisphere, and so we speak of the time when the sun starts upon its journey northward as Christmas, the birthday of the Savior, anointed to save us from the famine and cold which would ensue if he were to stay at the nadir point always.
As the sun passes toward the equator, it goes through the sign Aquarius, the water-man, at that time the earth is deluged with rain, symbolizing the baptism of the Savior. Then comes the passage of the sun through the sign Pisces, the fishes, in the month of March. The stores of the past year have been all consumed, and the food of man is scant, hence we have the long fast of Lent, where the eating of fish symbolizes this feature of the solar journey. Then comes the Passover, when the sun passed over the equator. This is the time of Easter, when the sun is at his eastern node, and this crossing of the equator is symbolized by the crossification or crucifixion, so called, of the Savior; the sun then goes into the sign of Aries, the Ram, and becomes the Lamb of God, which is given for the salvation of the world at the time when the plants begin to sprout. In order that the sacrifice may be of benefit to man, however, he (the sun) must ascend into the heavens where his rays will have power to ripen the grape and the corn, and so we have the feast of the Ascension of the Savior to the Throne of the Father, which is at the summer solstice in June. There the sun remains for three days, when the saying “Thence he shall return” takes effect as the sun commences his passage toward the western node. At the time when he enters the sign Virgo, the Virgin, we have the feast of the assumption and later on, when he leaves the sign Virgo, the Nativity of the virgin, who seems, as it were, to be born from the sun.
The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles occurred at the time when the sun was crossing the equator on its passage into the winter months, and this feast was accompanied by the weighing in of the corn and the harvest of the wine, which were the gifts of the solar God to his human worshipers.
Thus all the feasts of the year are connected with the motions of the stars through space.
QUESTION NO. 78
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE LETTERS I.N.R.I. SOMETIMES PLACED OVER THE CROSS?
Answer: We are told in the gospel story that Pilate placed a sign reading, “Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorem,” and His Cross, and this is translated in the authorized version to mean “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” But the four initials, I.N.R.I., placed upon the Cross represent the names of the four elements in Hebrew: Iam, water; Nour, fire; Ruach, spirit or vital air; and Iabeshah, earth. This is the occult key to the mystery of crucifixion, for it symbolizes in the first place the Salt, Sulphur, Mercury, and Azoth which were used by the ancient alchemists to make the Philosopher’s Stone, the universal solvent, the elixir-vitae.
The two “I’s” (IAM and IABESHAH) represent the salient lunar element water, (a) in fluidic state holding salt in solution, and (b) in the coagulated extract of this water, “the salt of the earth.” In other words, the finer fluidic vehicles of man and his dense body. N, (NOUR) in Hebrew stands for fire and the combustible elements, chief among which are SULPHUR and phosphorus, so necessary to oxidation and without which warm blood would be an impossibility. The Ego could not then function in the body, nor could thought find a material expression. R (RUACH) is the Hebrew equivalent for the Spirit, Azoth, functioning in the mercurial mind. Thus the four letters, I.N.R.I., placed over the Cross of Christ according to the gospel story represent composite man, the Thinker, at the point of his spiritual development when he is getting ready for liberation from the cross of his dense vehicle.
Proceeding further along the same line of elucidation we may note that I.N.R.I. is the symbol of the crucified candidate for the following additional reasons:
IAM is the Hebrew word signifying water, the fluidic lunar element, which forms the principal part of the human body (about 87 per cent), and this word is also the symbol of the finer fluidic vehicles of desire and emotion.
NOUR, the Hebrew word signifying fire, is a symbolic representation of the heat-producing red blood laden with martial iron, fire, and energy, which the occultist sees coursing as gas through the veins and arteries of the human body, infusing it with energy and ambition, and without which there could be neither material nor spiritual progress. It also represents the sulphur and phosphorus necessary for the material manifestation of thought as already mentioned.
RUACH, the Hebrew word for Spirit, or vital air, is an excellent symbol of the Ego clothed in the mercurial mind which makes man MAN, and enables him to control and direct his bodily vehicles and activities in a rational manner.
IABESHAH is the Hebrew word for earth, representing the solid fleshy part which makes up the cruciform earthy body, crystallized within the finer vehicles at birth and severed from them in the ordinary course of things at death, or in the extraordinary course of things at death, or in the extraordinary event that we learn to die the mystic death and ascend to the glories of higher spheres for a time.
This stage of the Christian Mystic’s spiritual development therefore involves a reversal of the creative force from its ordinary downward course through the tripartite spinal cord where the three segments are ruled by the Moon, Mars, and Mercury, respectively, and where the ray of Neptune then lights the REGENERATIVE SPINAL SPIRIT-FIRE which, mounting upward, sets the pituitary body and the pineal gland into vibration. This, opening up the spiritual sight and striking the frontal sinus, starts the crown of thorns throbbing with pain as the bond with the physical body is burned by the sacred spirit-fire which wakes this center from its age long sleep to a throbbing, pulsating life, sweeping onward to the other centers in the five-pointed stigmatic star. They are also vitalized and the whole vehicle becomes aglow with a golden glory. Then with a final wrench the great vortex of the desire body located in the liver is liberated, and the martial energy contained in that vehicle propels upward and sidereal vehicle (so-called because the stigmata in the head, hands, and feet are located in the same relative position to one another as the points in the five-pointed star), which ascends through the skull (Golgotha), while the CRUCIFIED CHRISTIAN utters his triumphant cry, “Consummatum est” (it has been accomplished), and soars into the subtler spheres to seek Jesus whose life he has imitated with such success and from whom he is henceforth inseparable. Jesus is his Teacher and his guide to the Kingdom of Christ where all shall be united in one body to learn and to practice the RELIGION OF THE FATHER to whom the Kingdom will eventually revert that He may be All in All.
QUESTION NO. 85
THE CROWN OF THORNS
DOES IT SERVE ANY REAL PURPOSE TO RECALL EACH YEAR THE SUFFERING OF CHRIST? IF NOT, WHY DOES NOT THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OMIT THE PASSION AND THE CROWN OF THORNS, AND CONCENTRATE ITS EFFORTS UPON CELEBRATING EASTER AS A TIME OF JOY?
ANSWER: The gospel story as it is usually read by people in the churches is only the story of Jesus, a unique character, the Son of God in a special sense, who was once born in Bethlehem, lived once upon the earth for the short space of thirty-three years, who died once for mankind after much suffering, and is now permanently exalted to the right hand of the Father. Thence they expect Him to return to judge the quick and the dead, and they celebrate his birth and his death at certain time of the year, because they are supposed to have taken place on definite dates, the same as the birthday of Lincoln, Washington, or the Battle of Gettysburg.
While these explanations satisfy the multitudes who are not very deep in their inquiries concerning the truth, there is another side which is very patent to? they mystic. This is a story of divine love and perpetual sacrifice that fills him with devotion to the cosmic Christ, who is born periodically in order that we may live and have an opportunity to evolve in this environment for he understands from that viewpoint that without such recurring annual sacrifice, this earth and its present conditions of advancement would be an impossibility.
At the time when the Sun is in the celestial sign Virgo (the Virgin) the Immaculate Conception takes place. A wave of solar Christ light and life is focused upon the earth. Gradually this light penetrates deeper into the earth, until the turning point is reached on the longest and the darkest night of the year, which we call Christmas. This is the mystic birth of a cosmic Life Impulse which impregnates and fertilizes the earth. It is the basis of all terrestrial life. Without it no seed would germinate, no flower would appear upon the face of the earth, neither man nor beast could exist, and life would soon become extinct. Therefore, there is a very, very valid reason for the joy that is felt at Christmas time. As the divine Author of our being, our Father in heaven, has given the greatest of all gifts to man, the Son, so men also are impelled to give gifts to one another. There reigns upon earth, joy, good will, and peace, no matter whether man understands the mystic and annually recurrent reasons therefore.
As “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump,” so this spiritual life impulse which impregnated the earth at the winter solstice works its way through the winter months, towards the circumference, giving life to all wherewith it comes in contact. Even the minerals would not grow were this light impulse withheld, and by the time Easter is reached, when the earth is in bloom, when the birds start singing, and the animals in the forest are mating, all is imbued with great Divine Life. It has spent itself, it dies, and is raised again to the right hand of our Father. Thus Christmas and Easter are turning points which mark the ebb and flow of the Divine Life annually given for our sakes, without which it would be impossible for us to live upon the earth. The latter ends also the annual recurrence of the festive feeling which we experience from Christmas to Easter, the joy that thrills our being. If we are at all sensitive, we cannot help but feel Christmas and Easter in the air, for they are laden with DIVINE LOVE, LIFE, AND JOY.
But whence come the note of sorrow and suffering which precedes the Easter resurrection? Why may we not rejoice with an unmingled joy at the time when the Sun is liberated ad returns to His Father? Why this Passion, this Crown of Thorns? Why cannot this be left out of consideration?
To understand this mystery it is necessary to view the matter from the Christ viewpoint, and it is necessary to realize fully and thoroughly that this annual life wave which is projected into our planet is not simply a force devoid of consciousness. It carries with itself the full consciousness of the Cosmic Christ. It is absolutely a true fact that without Him was not anything made that was made, as we are told by St. John in the opening chapter of his Gospel. At the time of the Immaculate Conception in September, this great life impulse commences Its descent upon our earth, and by the time of the winter solstice, when the mystic birth takes place, the Cosmic Christ has fully concentrated itself upon and within this planet. You will realize that it must cause much discomfort to such a great Spirit to be cramped within this little earth of ours and to be conscious of all the hate and discord we are sending out from day to day all through the year. It is a fact that cannot be gainsaid that all life expression is through and by love, and similarly, death comes through hate. Were the hate and discord which we generate in our daily lives in our transactions one with another, the deceit, the infamy, and the selfishness, left without antidote, this earth would be swallowed up in death.
You remember the description of initiation given in THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION. It is there stated that at the Service held every night at midnight, the etheric Temple in Germany is the focus of all the thoughts of hate and disturbance in the Western world which it serves, that these thoughts are there disintegrated and transmuted, and that this is the basis of social progress in the world. It is also known that saintly Spirits grieve and suffer greatly at disturbances in the world, at the discord and the hate, that they send out from themselves individually thoughts of love and kindness. The associated efforts of such orders as that of the Rosicrucians are directed in the same channels of effort when the world is still, so far as physical exertions are concerned, and is therefore more receptive to the spiritual influence, namely, midnight. At that time they endeavor to attract and transmute these thought arrows of hate and discord, suffering thus their small share while trying to lift a few of the thorns from the Savior’s crown.
Considering the foregoing, you will understand that the Christ Spirit in the earth is, as St. Paul says, actually groaning and travailing, waiting for the day of liberation. Thus He gathers all the darts of hate and anger. These are the crown of thorns.
In everything that lives, the vital body radiates streamers of light from the force that has spent itself in building the dense body. During health they carry away all poison from the body and keep it clean. Similar conditions prevail in the vital body of the earth which is the vehicle of Christ. The poisonous an destructive forces generated by our passions are carried away by the life forces of the Christ, but every evil thought or act brings Him its own proportion of pain, and therefore becomes a part of the Crown of Thorns–the crown because the head is always thought of as the seat of consciousness. We should realize that every single evil act of ours reacts upon the Christ in the manner stated and adds another thorn of suffering.
In view of the foregoing we can realize with what relief He speaks the final words at the time of liberation from the earthly cross: “Consummatum est.” why the annual recurrence of suffering, you ask? As we take into our bodies continually the life giving oxygen to go through its cycle to vitalize and energize the whole body, as that oxygen dies to the outside world for the time being, while it is living in the body, as it is charged there with poisons and waste products, and finally exhaled as carbon dioxide, as poisonous gas, so it is necessary for the Savior annually to enter into the great body which we call the earth and take upon Himself all the poison that is generated by ourselves, to cleanse and purify, and to give it a new lease of life before He finally is resurrected and rises to His Father.
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