The Pagan Path

Those who wonder are not lost; they are trying to awaken! 'The Sleeper must awaken!'

Tuesday, April 04, 2023

To Stand Again; the Resurrection of the Christ

"She is risen"

Religiously speaking, the meaning of this short, somewhat enigmatic phrase is that, along with the orthodox understanding of "He is risen", referring to the Resurrection of Jesus, His Bride, the Church is risen as well. This is a bit of an ambiguous statement, being interpreted anywhere from the fulfilled ( preterist ) perspective to a future physical resurrection to somewhere in between ( though closer to the latter end of the spectrum ) which might be called the 'already/not yet' position. It is the former perspective which I adhered to in the last days of my Journey through Christianity. As far as that goes, I still believe that Jesus' own Resurrection ( anastasis ) was indicative of a far greater truth, that of the spiritual resurrection of those He came to atone for, His Jewish & Gentile brethren. Nowadays, my understanding is that Jesus came to show His People, Jew & Gentile, how they might themselves become One again ( At-one-ment ) with the Christ Within, the Potential that lies buried deep within every adult human being ( I say "adult", because It is much closer to the surface in children ). This phrase might also be understood as referring to the rise of the Divine Feminine, or in Essence the standing again in Power of the matriarchy as opposed to the patriarchy which has enjoyed the ascendancy for almost 2,000 years. More on this later...................

Known as 'Holy Week', this week includes, starting tomorrow, 'Ash Wednesday', 'Maundy Thursday' & 'Good Friday', all leading up to the traditional celebration of Easter on Sunday. This week also wraps up the Lenten Season, which began on February 22nd this year & ends on Thursday, May 6th.  As the Story goes, Jesus, who was set ( ready ) to celebrate the Jewish Passover with His disciple, instituted what is now known as 'The Lord's Supper', though it could be argued that He was the main meal! But all jokes aside, as we also know from the rest of the Story Jesus ended up dying on the Cross & rising again from the dead on 'the third day'.  Now, whether one chooses to posit their faith in this Story & view it as a factual account or simply perceives it as metaphorical of a greater spiritual truth, it should be crystal clear that this was no ordinary Man! Or WAS He?!

"As above, so below"; "Jesus came to show His People, Jew & Gentile, how they themselves might become One again with the Christ Within". Jesus WAS the Messiah to the Jews, yes & though many claim Him as THEIR Messiah today, including those who are neither Jew nor Gentile, He WAS a Man & thus was the Messiah to His People ( the Jews ) alone! Strangely enough, most, if not all orthodox Jews are still looking for THEIR Messiah! 

If one is a Bible-believing Christian, orthodox or not, they must exercise a great amount of faith to accept the literal account, whereas the metaphorical perspective opens up at least two possibilities. One is that the Story was indicative of our own spiritual Resurrection; the other is that the Story is cosmological, referring to the process that we go through when we crucify ourselves by realizing/awakening the Christ Potential within us. Call It 'Ascension', call it 'Kundalini Rising'; this process awakens the Goddess ( or 'God' ) Within by allowing the spinal fluid ( some say 'consciousness' ) to rise through the spinal column, by way of the chakras till it reaches the Crown Chakra, which is our link to Divinity. The crucifixion occurs after we have crossed the Bridge, somewhere between the Heart & Throat Chakras. In Essence, we begin to die to the lower, or animal nature & stand again in our Truth, that of our Higher, or Divine Nature!

Metaphorically speaking, we must die to our lower nature before we can realize our Divinity. Now, before we go too far down the rabbit hole, I'm not saying that we should literally 'kill' or even ignore our animal body by denying its 'needs', just that we should not allow our passions & desires to rule, or determine our actions. Rather than allowing mortal fear to lead us, we should lead the way with Love which stems from our Higher Nature, which IS Love Itself! 

To "stand again in our own truth" means that, once we have crossed the Bridge, with the Throat Chakra cleared, we begin to, not only realize, but to speak our truth, the Truth of Who We really are. Who we really are may not be fully evident to us or especially to those around us, but as the saying goes, "once you wake up, it's hard to go back to sheep". In Essence, once the Journey has begun, it's pretty much impossible to turn back. You might even say it's 'Unstoppable'!

I wish I could, but I cannot tell you how to begin your Journey! Everyone's Journey is going to look different, though there are many similarities. For instance, while the same steps, so to speak, must be taken, the order in which they occur & the intensity of their occurrence may differ, depending on factors such as childhood trauma & current environment.I can tell you that an important step on your Journey is the ability to meditate, which again, may look different to any number of people. Some prefer to take up the 'Om' position, while others are more comfortable just sitting in a chair with their hands in their lap. Closing the physical eyes is the general rule, as well as finding a place to meditate with as little distraction as possible, though I believe it's possible to meditate in the midst of all manner of distraction & with your eyes fully open!

For those who have begun their own personal Journey back to the Divine: I don't have to tell YOU that it's a veritable 'bed of roses', complete with ALL the thorns! It's a beautiful, though heart-wrenching Path, but once you've tasted the personal freedom this Path brings, you'll NEVER leave it! Now don't get me wrong; there WILL be times when you'll almost regret your decision to start on this Journey, but then...................you'll get over it!

Back to the Resurrection of the Christ now, most of you probably grew up with the Story that the Bible tells concerning the Man Jesus who become the Son of God by dying for the sins of His People & consequently rising from the dead. Many have faith in this Story & so, for them I believe, it is true! Now, I'm NOT saying that it IS true, or that because they believe the historical MAN Jesus paid for their sins on the Cross, that He did; just that this is THEIR truth, they rest in it. Some of my readers are probably aware that my dad recently passed away; he believed fervently in both the Resurrection & that Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, paid for his sins. I acknowledged at his passing that "he now rests in the arms of his Lord": I believe he did, though I daresay he now knows the Truth!

As a Christian & particularly as a 'preterist', I came to understand that the Greek & Hebrew Scriptures were written a long time ago to a people very far away from us ( though closer than you might think )! As such, the Bible that we read, in its many & varied transliterations, cannot, indeed MUST NOT be read as applying directly to us, though we might make application of many of the principles found therein. For the purposes of this post though, I wish to focus on the fact that the society which we claim, in fact, one might argue, civilization itself, derives from the patriarchal culture brought to the Middle East by the likes of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. One might wonder though, if the writers of the Bible, in their zealous interpretation of the texts, didn't gloss over certain facts, biased as they were by their own patriarchy!

As a good Jew, Jesus WAS a Man like any other, though He WAS the Son of God! On this subject of subject there has been much discussion & disagreement over the 2,000 some years since He walked the earth; indeed, wars have been fought over it! Jesus WAS the Son of God, although even the Bible says as much of His disciples, of Whom my dad was an avid one. According to the Story, Jesus was both the Son of Man & the Son of God! Indeed, following the Story, He was crucified for this very reason, because as the religious rulers ofl His Day wondered, "How can a Man be God?" 

Jesus was God! No, He wasn't the 'God' they thought He was. He wasn't the petty, patriarchal 'God' they had grown accustomed to & had begun to emulate! Speaking of rabbit holes, I'll readily acknowledge that Jesus did have a few moments in which He exhibited Old Testament God qualities, like cleansing the Temple & later visiting the promised & well-deserved destruction on that same Temple. No, more than that, Jesus proved that a Man could be God, in Essence that he was both Human & Divine.

"She is risen" might mean something different for anybody who hears these words. To some, it might be as simple as a reference to the Church, even if it IS 'already/not yet', but to others it signals the rising again of the Divine Feminine, who for some 2,000 years the Patriarchy has tried to squelch. Jesus, according to most accounts had few female disciples, but the few that slipped through the cracks rank so highly in importance that they're well-nigh impossible to hide!

As We rise to the occasion, let's just hope that this time, the Divine Masculine will be satisfied to fight by Her side!

Namaste' & Blessed Be!

Sage Charles 


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