CHRISTMAS IN THE AQUARIAN AGE

by Ruth Winocur

Christmas is the time of year when we joyously and gratefully praise our Almighty Father for his wondrous gift of love, light and salvation. This most precious gift is presented to us in the form of Christ Jesus, our hope of everlasting life. Christmas, the story of the start of the life of Christ Jesus, is also symbolic of the work to be done, especially by the disciple, and by mankind in general, in his spiritual evolution. With this is mind we will review Christmas in the Piscean Age as a foundation for what to expect of Christmas in the Aquarian Age.

We start out with the Announcement to Mary, by the Angel Gabriel, telling her that God had chosen her to be the mother of a great being to be named Jesus. And by Mary’s acceptance of this most holy state saying, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word”. And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:38..

Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist was an Essene. Mary, herself , was also raised as an Essene and so was Joseph, the man chosen to be the earthly father of the infant Jesus. The baby was born in Bethlehem to the chorus of Angelic Hosts proclaiming, “Peace on earth, good will to men”, as the Prince of Peace was born.

We are told of the Magi, ancient astrologers who followed the star that brought them to find the Holy Child and worship at his feet, bringing him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These gifts were presented along with the news of the danger that was threatening to snuff out the life of this wondrous child. Then an Angel told Joseph, in a dream, to take the child and flee to Egypt to keep him from being slaughtered by King Herod.

In Egypt Jesus learns the secrets of the Egyptian Essenes, known as the Therapeutae, as well as all the Essene and Gnostic knowledge of this sect, plus all the words and meanings contained in the Old Testament. He also learned the Egyptian Mysteries, as would be expected, living in that land. He learned both the exoteric and the esoteric knowledge. Thus he “waxed and grew strong” in wisdom as well as body.

After the death of King Herod, again in a dream, Joseph is told that it is safe to leave Egypt and return to their own land. They settled down in Galilee, an area frequented by by people of many races and cultures, as it was along a busy caravan route. Here Jesus learned about other people, their thoughts, beliefs and ways of expression. All the while Jesus continued to grow in wisdom and understanding.

The Bible leaves a gap in the history of his adolescent and early adult years, but we can rest assured that he continued to grow physically and mentally. He was perfected in mind and body by following the Essene Way of Life; vegetarianism, pure food and drink, avoidance of strong drink and excesses, as well as healthful work and exercise. He became a gentle, wise and loving man, respectful of his parents and loving his heavenly Father above all else.

The ministry of Jesus began with his baptism in the River Jordan by his cousin, John the Baptist, at which time a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”. This was the time when the Christ Spirit, the highest initiate of the Sun Period and the Archangelic Life Wave, entered into the body of Jesus. Then immediately this composite being, Christ Jesus, began a 40 day fast. As soon as the fast was finished the devil took advantage of his weakened condition and tempted him in the Spirit.. Being strong in the Spirit and with full knowledge and love for our Almighty Father, he overcame the devil. Then Angels came and ministered unto him.

Thus began the ministry of Christ Jesus. He gathered his disciples about him, healed the sick, raised the dead, performed many miracles, taught the multitudes and showed the way to salvation through thought, word and deed. It was Christ Jesus who made it possible for mankind to grow and evolve from thoughtless brutes into mankind as we know it today. True, there are still many thoughtless brutes, but man ever has freewill to reject what he has been taught and embrace darkness and cruelty.

Christ Jesus did everything possible, including death upon the cross, to show us that it is the spiritual life that is important; that the material world is transient or impermanent, lasting only the blink of an eye in comparison to eternal life. After the resurrection, his disciples received the Holy Ghost in the form of tongues of flame that came down from heaven and rested on their heads. They were thus transformed from fearful, impotent men into courageous apostles who went forth to carry on the work of the Master all over the known world. They suffered great privation and tribulation, finally meeting violent deaths at the hands of non-believers, save for John the Beloved.

This review could not be complete without including Saul, the tax collector, who was visited by the Christ Spirit on the road to Damascus. He was blinded by his great light and converted into what was to become Saint Paul. Paul was bright and eloquent. He continued to spread the exoteric teachings of Christ Jesus to the masses and the esoteric teachings to his disciples, just as Christ Jesus had done.  He too was imprisoned, tortured and finally executed. One of his most important concepts was set forth in his words, “Until the Christ be formed in you”

From the foregoing we can see the foundation for the work to be done during the Piscean Age. Like Mary and the apostles, we can accept or reject the Divine Call. Having accepted the call we are presented Divine gifts to prepare us for the education, as well as the trials and tribulations, we are to undergo. We learn to live a pure life, vegetarian and healthful. The old friends and bad habits gradually fade away, and for a time we are left alone in a nether world of transition. Thus we too gradually withdraw from the material world to some extent, which allows us time for assimilation of the new knowledge and to change our lifestyle. We learn to do introspection and retrospection, correct our own faults and become self-reliant. During this process we grow closer and closer to God, steadily listening to Divine instruction and growing in purity. When we have “waxed strong” we are ready to face deeper truth and more exposure to other thoughts and belief systems. Eventually we reach the point of decision. Are we to dedicate our lives to God? Are we ready to walk the path of the saints? Are we ready to follow in the footsteps of Christ Jesus? Are we ready to trust in a spiritual world we cannot see in favor of a material world we can see only too well ?

Once this decision has been made, life changes again. Gone are the old ways, interests and associations We breathe in the fresh air of God with every breath and exhale the teachings of Christ Jesus in every thought, word and deed. At this point we can say that the Christ has been born within our hearts and minds.  Because we are entirely devoted to the Christ, we get better and better at becoming the “new man”. Although there may be lapses along the way, ultimately we will become perfected.

The work of the Piscean Age is analogous to building a house, except this house is the Christ and it is built within. St.Paul used the words “formed within”. This is the entire genius concept of the Piscean Age, and it encompasses all that is known of Christ Jesus. Everything!:  All of his love, mercy, compassion, understanding, patience, wisdom, truth, and forgiveness; his ability to always see the good in everything, to be able to rightly choose between light and darkness or spiritual and material; to obey the Father in joy or in sorrow; to persevere until the work is accomplished; and to give everything in selfless service, including his very life. When we have finished the work of the Piscean Age, the inner house will have been built.

Now comes the work of the Aquarian Age. Gradually all regressive thinking and negative tendencies will fade away. Optimism will begin to be established. Astrology will fully come into its own and humanity will understand the influences of the planets, those mighty beings that advance us when we have learned or retard us when there is more work to do. We will move into a new understanding so that we will be able to live from all the positive meanings of planetary influences, obliterating the negative ones. Life will move along smoothly. Everything will be set for us to move into this house that we have built. We are to become the Christ!. How else could we do all the things that he has done, and even greater things?

Our attitude toward life will be positive, where all things will be possible and move forward smoothly and effectively. As we progress into the Aquarian Age, thinking will become progressive and full of virtue. We will have accomplished all the tasks left over from the Piscean Age. Much as when a smoker, who has successfully quit and no longer engages in that behavior, sees a sign that says, “NO SMOKING” is able to ignore it with impunity because it no longer applies to him. The same concept is also true for the person who dearly loves his life’s work. It is no longer work to him; it is only pleasure. So it will be regarding selfless service. The idea of sacrifice that has been associated with it will be gone and replaced by a natural, simple way of being, reflecting the Christ, not serving, but acting out of joy and one-ness in loving, holy unity. The impediments of the little ego will gradually be eliminated as we work in concert with the Divine Will of God from the framework of the Christ, which we have become.

Finally, as in Micah 4:1-2, “…..it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills and people shall flow unto it.  And many nations shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we shall walk in His paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem’ “.  Esoterically speaking, this is saying that people from all over the world will gather together in meditation and contemplation, rising to the very throne of God in blissful adoration. All knowledge, guidance, inspiration, wisdom and righteousness will be available from this inner source, the Holy Ghost, as we are made one with God. This will be the true celebration of Christmas, a spiritual celebration, which rises high above the lower vibrations of daily life; high into the realm of God.  Former Christmas celebrations will only be remembered as a dim shadow of lower vibrations affording a very sketchy promise of that which was to come.

We are starting the new understanding and ways of the Aquarian Christmas. May all your Christmases become brighter and brighter, full of light, rising higher and higher, as we celebrate in joyous unity and blissful adoration at the throne of God.   

ROSE CROSS

A Quarterly Rosicrucian Online Magazine

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