Tympanum of the Romanic Church of St.Trophim
In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you (Matthew, 28, 1-7).
Surprising is also to notice several coincidences. First of all, it’s worth wondering why the expression Easter is by itself pointing to the East, where the sun rises and travels along the wheel, Galil, during the year.
And three days after the Winter Solstice –21st, 22nd of December–, comes Christmas, wrongly attributed to the birth of the Judeo-Christian Messiah on the 25th, the date for the celebration of the birth of Mithras, Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun or Mythras. From that moment the sun begins its ascent again on the horizon, making the days longer and longer.
Coupled with this, it is relevant to see that when our beautiful Earth reaches its maximum tilt on its two solstices (Summer and Winter), it takes a while to start leaning towards the other way, while it rotates and travels around Helios. Consequently, during this period of "three days" the Sun rises at the same spot and gives the impression of remaining tied to a post, like someone “executed at the stake”. Hence the term "solstice", from the Latin roots “sol” (sun) and "stitium" (stoppage) or "sistere" (to remain).
Thus, it seems no coincidence that before the first solstice, the Gospel says the following:
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40).
Having reached the bottom and dwelled in Darkness for three days, the Solar Hero starts ascending again, “always forward”, leaving the sign of Capricorn behind on the horizon.
In the nineteenth century some scholars thought this might be the meaning of the Jewish ritual of the two goats, on Yom Kippur. One is sacrificed, while the other is left free into the wilderness, where it climbs on the mountains, carrying away the sins of Israel. And since Jesus was called the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world (John I: 29), some interpreters regarded him as the "escapegoat" of the Jewish prophecies (Isaiah 53) [1].
In a sense, the goat climbing the mountain would refer to the Sun rising on the new sign. On January 20 Helios enters Aquarius, the Water Bearer –seemingly connected to the famous Son of Man, one of the apellatives of Jesus–. And eventually the He reaches Aries again, Spring, "Easter time", when all began. His resurrection is therefore completed through three signs of Darkness (still Winter), and these are in fact "three days of the Sun", what resonates with the "third day of resurrection". Thus, not even the date of this celebration seems random.
In the nineteenth century some scholars thought this might be the meaning of the Jewish ritual of the two goats, on Yom Kippur. One is sacrificed, while the other is left free into the wilderness, where it climbs on the mountains, carrying away the sins of Israel. And since Jesus was called the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world (John I: 29), some interpreters regarded him as the "escapegoat" of the Jewish prophecies (Isaiah 53) [1].
In a sense, the goat climbing the mountain would refer to the Sun rising on the new sign. On January 20 Helios enters Aquarius, the Water Bearer –seemingly connected to the famous Son of Man, one of the apellatives of Jesus–. And eventually the He reaches Aries again, Spring, "Easter time", when all began. His resurrection is therefore completed through three signs of Darkness (still Winter), and these are in fact "three days of the Sun", what resonates with the "third day of resurrection". Thus, not even the date of this celebration seems random.
Now, the universe is also within us, because, as Plato explained in the Republic, there are actually three suns: the physical, the psychic fire and the spiritual. Therefore, the solar resurrection is a "rebirth" on three levels. One must die on psychic level, leaving behing the dark passions and the donkey-mind that keeps us tied to vicious circles. And the traveller is called to ride the donkey, as Jesus did in his triumphal entry. The ancient imagery went even further, since another Christian symbol –incomprehensible to many– is the "crucified ass":
Alexemenos Graffito (first century A.D)
Some believe this was a mockery of the figure of Jesus, but that does not seem the case, since there is another historical reference to the Christian worship of this symbol. Moreover, the same teaching existed in Egypt, where Seth was shown crucified, having the head of an ass. Andi it is logical, for he who laughs last, laughs best. In the end the situation is reversed, since the vertical domination of the two donkey stars that appeared in Cancer, disappears when Helios leaves Capricorn. This is perhaps the reason why ancient authors –i.e Plato and Porphyry [2]– regarded Cancer as the Gate of Man –where souls incarnate on earth–, and Capricorn as the Gate of the Gods –where souls return perfected to the Source–.
Most of Jesus' ministry remains untouched in these posts, although it is up to each one to discover the connections in the "soul", studying the four gospels. It is enlightening to see how Jesus' encounter with John the Baptist matches the symbolism of Aquarius, which is followed by Pisces, which is bound to Jesus recruiting his first disciples, "the fishermen".
Before closing Easter, it is worth noting that according to the Gospels, the coming of the Son of Man is a Second Coming of Spirit, and it also has three levels. The Gospels teach that every sincere seeker must receive its baptism of “water” (Psyche), to endure the baptism of Spirit (Pneuma) and that of Fire (Father, Aither). No doubt this is one of the most enigmatic and profound aspects of the teaching, as it is also related to a time that is yet to come, if it has not already begun.
This “internal knocking on the door" relates not to the annual clock we have seen, but to the "precessional" one, which was also marked with the twelve signs of the zodiac. It will surely emerge as a central theme in other posts. Now we just remember that each precessional or Platonic month lasts about 2160 years and receives a different a "solar influence", because the Sun crosses different regions of space travelling around another star, during the Platonic Year (24,000-25,920 years approx) [3] [4]. And according to the precession of the equinoxes, the earth is now abandoning the Platonic Month of Pisces –symbolized by the Christian fish–. However, even though the movement of the stars is measured mathematically, it seems that the solar influence on each Platonic Month always starts before the expected, as mirrored on the evolutive and involutive cycles of humanity. Reasonably, someone very wise said:
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh (Matthew 25: 13)
In other words: hands to the plow.
We leave for next week the issue of the historical Jesus, which should be addressed from an unconventional viewpoint.
For a bibliography on the topics covered in these series, it is best to read the ancient classics, sacred texts and XIXth century authors (i.e Robert Taylor, Kersey Graves, Frances Rolleston) and then draw the own conclusions. Although the following books were inspiring in this research:
1.Hamlet's Mill: An Essay Investigating the Origins of Human Knowledge and Its Transmission Through Myth. Hertha von Dechend and Giorgio de Santillana, 1969.
2.Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt. John Anthony West.
3.The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Joseph Campbell.
4.The Power of Myth. Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers.
References:
3.The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Joseph Campbell.
4.The Power of Myth. Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers.
References:
[1].History of constellations, i.e Capricorn:
[2].Explicitly in Porphyry's On the Cave of the Nymphs, and veiled in Plato's Timaeus and The Republic (book X, myth of Er).
[3].The Holy Science. Swami Sri Yukteswar (Vedic astronomy and parallelism between the Christian and Vedic teachings).
[4].Lost Star of Myth and Time. Walter Cruttenden (on the twin star, the sun’s companion).
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