Friday, December 29, 2006 at 12:12am
The Christmas Tree of Life
Now that the Christmas feeding frenzy has abated, let us consider this time of the year for what it means to Christians, the Catholic Church, the ancient Egyptians, pagans and every other agrarian people since the dawn of time. In his five-part series, artist and historian, Hugh Fitzroy Colmer pops the hood on the stories and myths of, and around, the winter solstice. (Part 5 of 5)
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Manley P. Hall recommends studying the Masonic meaning of Santa Claus coming down the chimney with his sprig of the Xmas tree at the season of the year when nature is dead. The ancient Romans decorated their trees with bits of metal and replicas of their god, Bacchus. They also placed twelve candles on the tree in honor of their sun god, Mithras.
In Northern Europe, the ancient Druids tied fruit and attached candles to evergreen tree branches, in honor of their god Woden. (Wednesday) The trees joined holly, mistletoe, the wassail bowl and the Yule log as symbols of the season. Mistletoe was considered a divine plant and it symbolized love and peace. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is Druid in origin. Trees were viewed as symbolizing eternal life. All this predated Christianity.
Scandinavian solstice traditions greatly influenced our celebrations besides the hanging of ornaments on evergreen trees. Their ancient festival was called Yuletide and celebrated the return of the sun. One of their traditions was the Yule log which was the center of the trunk of a tree that was dragged to a large fireplace where it was supposed to burn for twelve days. From this comes the twelve days of Christmas. They set a candle in the window to send a glimmer of light into the dark December night. The colors red and green were important as they symbolize the greenery of nature and our bright red Christ spirit.
The concept of the winter solstice is to encourage us to let our spiritual enlightenment affect those around us. The Kabbalah is the mystical wing of the Jews, and its Sephirothal Tree, with its three higher and the seven lower lights radiating on its ten branches symbolize human chakras.
The bright ornaments on the Christmas tree characterize our possession of these twelve "treasures of light," and are the real gifts from God during Christmas. This is stated clearly in Revelation 22, where it is said that the tree of life shall bear twelve manner of fruits upon its branches, and its leaves shall be for the healing of the nations.
This Christmas let's focus on this chapter of Revelation rather than the apocalyptic chapter 19: 11-16 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse... which fundamentalists have taken literally and are using as an excuse for the apocalypse between them and secularists. These verses, taken from the Vishnu Puranas written thousands of years ago, predicted that the god Vishnu would return again riding Kalki, the white horse, the symbol of the evil in the age of the Kali Yuga which we are now in.
Sri Satya Sai Baba is this incarnation of Vishnu living in India today doing exactly what was predicted so long ago. He has said that there are so few really pure spiritual people in this age that the only way to transform the planet is with unconditional love, not with the sword.
Modern theologians, untrained in the mysteries of ancient thought, are unable to deal with the complexities of the Apocalypse and no book has been subject to more criticism in the New Testament than Revelation. Unfortunately fundamentalists await the Apocalypse with anticipation as they think only they can be saved. C.G. Jung's interpretation of the beginning of the 12th Chapter of Revelation saw the possibility of the divine Christos being born in all of humanity even though chapter 12, verse 1, describes the Universal Mother, Isis, with the sun, and the moon under her feet and with a crown of twelve stars (signs of the zodiac). Moslems interpret this woman as the Law of God that descended upon Mohammed. The sun with which she was clothed, and the moon which was under her feet, are the two nations which are under the shadow of that Law, the Persian and Ottoman kingdoms; for the emblem of Persia is the sun, and that of the Ottoman Empire is the crescent moon. Thus the sun and moon are the emblems of two kingdoms which are under the power of the Law of God. For them the twelve stars are their twelve Imams, who were the promoters of the Law of Muhammad and the educators of the people, shining like stars in the heaven of guidance.
Now you have seen the similarities between the major religions use the coming of Christmas and the New Year to create a new life style. Seek communion with the Lord every day. The best way to find God is through meditation and yoga — Union with God. The best way to save yourself and the rest of the world is through meditation. Let us pray that all nations cease from senseless wars and work to pave a way for a United World. If everybody understood this message this Christmas it will indeed be Merry. The time has come to end religious intolerance and wake up to the oneness of religions by rediscovering the Hindu, Sufi, Cabalistic, and Gnostic Christian way of transforming oneself and the world thus avoiding the Apocalyptic prophecies Make use of this season to experience the Cosmic Consciousness of God through the Omnipresent Christ or Krishna Consciousness present in all creation.
As the second world war loomed in Europe Paramahansa Yogananda said on December 18, 1939, "Make the coming Christmas a religious one. When you learn to feel for others as you do for yourself you grow spiritually. When you share the kindred spirit with families other than your own, you are growing. And when you sacrifice self love for the greater love of all mankind you have grown. That is what God wants you to do. Every nation that goes against the principle of love for mankind will suffer terribly. The Father is trying to establish Oneness in the universe and that can only come through love for all. We must love all nations as our own." After a brief meditation he led the congregation in the following prayer: "I will adorn the tree of life with the stars of my good thoughts, and I shall lay at Christ's feet my best gift of love tied with golden threads of devotion. May Christ receive it, and may I receive His love this Christmastide. I will try to make myself ready, that Christ may be born in my consciousness. During this Christmas and in the New Year I make a solemn resolution to change my life that it may become more Christlike. I will try to rise above all prejudices and love the people of all nations as Christ and Krishna loved them as children of God. Heavenly Father, bless my life. Bless all nations. May they desist from war and become together in a United World with Truth guiding us."
Happy New Year.
— — —
Hugh Fitzroy Colmer lives in Windham NY with his wife, who runs a raja yoga retreat center. He writes and paints in groups named for their source of inspiration (e.g. the "Major Arcana") from his impressions of ancient religious symbolism and mythology, which can be seen on his website. His email address is {email hcolmer@yahoo.com}hcolmer@yahoo.com{/email}. © copyright 2006 by Hugh Fitzroy Colmer
— — —
Manley P. Hall recommends studying the Masonic meaning of Santa Claus coming down the chimney with his sprig of the Xmas tree at the season of the year when nature is dead. The ancient Romans decorated their trees with bits of metal and replicas of their god, Bacchus. They also placed twelve candles on the tree in honor of their sun god, Mithras.
In Northern Europe, the ancient Druids tied fruit and attached candles to evergreen tree branches, in honor of their god Woden. (Wednesday) The trees joined holly, mistletoe, the wassail bowl and the Yule log as symbols of the season. Mistletoe was considered a divine plant and it symbolized love and peace. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is Druid in origin. Trees were viewed as symbolizing eternal life. All this predated Christianity.
Scandinavian solstice traditions greatly influenced our celebrations besides the hanging of ornaments on evergreen trees. Their ancient festival was called Yuletide and celebrated the return of the sun. One of their traditions was the Yule log which was the center of the trunk of a tree that was dragged to a large fireplace where it was supposed to burn for twelve days. From this comes the twelve days of Christmas. They set a candle in the window to send a glimmer of light into the dark December night. The colors red and green were important as they symbolize the greenery of nature and our bright red Christ spirit.
The concept of the winter solstice is to encourage us to let our spiritual enlightenment affect those around us. The Kabbalah is the mystical wing of the Jews, and its Sephirothal Tree, with its three higher and the seven lower lights radiating on its ten branches symbolize human chakras.
The bright ornaments on the Christmas tree characterize our possession of these twelve "treasures of light," and are the real gifts from God during Christmas. This is stated clearly in Revelation 22, where it is said that the tree of life shall bear twelve manner of fruits upon its branches, and its leaves shall be for the healing of the nations.
This Christmas let's focus on this chapter of Revelation rather than the apocalyptic chapter 19: 11-16 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse... which fundamentalists have taken literally and are using as an excuse for the apocalypse between them and secularists. These verses, taken from the Vishnu Puranas written thousands of years ago, predicted that the god Vishnu would return again riding Kalki, the white horse, the symbol of the evil in the age of the Kali Yuga which we are now in.
Sri Satya Sai Baba is this incarnation of Vishnu living in India today doing exactly what was predicted so long ago. He has said that there are so few really pure spiritual people in this age that the only way to transform the planet is with unconditional love, not with the sword.
Modern theologians, untrained in the mysteries of ancient thought, are unable to deal with the complexities of the Apocalypse and no book has been subject to more criticism in the New Testament than Revelation. Unfortunately fundamentalists await the Apocalypse with anticipation as they think only they can be saved. C.G. Jung's interpretation of the beginning of the 12th Chapter of Revelation saw the possibility of the divine Christos being born in all of humanity even though chapter 12, verse 1, describes the Universal Mother, Isis, with the sun, and the moon under her feet and with a crown of twelve stars (signs of the zodiac). Moslems interpret this woman as the Law of God that descended upon Mohammed. The sun with which she was clothed, and the moon which was under her feet, are the two nations which are under the shadow of that Law, the Persian and Ottoman kingdoms; for the emblem of Persia is the sun, and that of the Ottoman Empire is the crescent moon. Thus the sun and moon are the emblems of two kingdoms which are under the power of the Law of God. For them the twelve stars are their twelve Imams, who were the promoters of the Law of Muhammad and the educators of the people, shining like stars in the heaven of guidance.
Now you have seen the similarities between the major religions use the coming of Christmas and the New Year to create a new life style. Seek communion with the Lord every day. The best way to find God is through meditation and yoga — Union with God. The best way to save yourself and the rest of the world is through meditation. Let us pray that all nations cease from senseless wars and work to pave a way for a United World. If everybody understood this message this Christmas it will indeed be Merry. The time has come to end religious intolerance and wake up to the oneness of religions by rediscovering the Hindu, Sufi, Cabalistic, and Gnostic Christian way of transforming oneself and the world thus avoiding the Apocalyptic prophecies Make use of this season to experience the Cosmic Consciousness of God through the Omnipresent Christ or Krishna Consciousness present in all creation.
As the second world war loomed in Europe Paramahansa Yogananda said on December 18, 1939, "Make the coming Christmas a religious one. When you learn to feel for others as you do for yourself you grow spiritually. When you share the kindred spirit with families other than your own, you are growing. And when you sacrifice self love for the greater love of all mankind you have grown. That is what God wants you to do. Every nation that goes against the principle of love for mankind will suffer terribly. The Father is trying to establish Oneness in the universe and that can only come through love for all. We must love all nations as our own." After a brief meditation he led the congregation in the following prayer: "I will adorn the tree of life with the stars of my good thoughts, and I shall lay at Christ's feet my best gift of love tied with golden threads of devotion. May Christ receive it, and may I receive His love this Christmastide. I will try to make myself ready, that Christ may be born in my consciousness. During this Christmas and in the New Year I make a solemn resolution to change my life that it may become more Christlike. I will try to rise above all prejudices and love the people of all nations as Christ and Krishna loved them as children of God. Heavenly Father, bless my life. Bless all nations. May they desist from war and become together in a United World with Truth guiding us."
Happy New Year.
— — —
Hugh Fitzroy Colmer lives in Windham NY with his wife, who runs a raja yoga retreat center. He writes and paints in groups named for their source of inspiration (e.g. the "Major Arcana") from his impressions of ancient religious symbolism and mythology, which can be seen on his website. His email address is {email hcolmer@yahoo.com}hcolmer@yahoo.com{/email}. © copyright 2006 by Hugh Fitzroy Colmer