Astrology

We start with the procession of the equinoxes. If the axis of the Earth is projected to the constellations, it will trace a circle every 25,920 years. This Great Year, as Plato called it, has been acknowledged by many civilisations down through the ages. The Great Year is divided into the twelve well known zodiacal signs to form twelve ages each of approximately 2,160 years duration. The sages of old realised that cosmic truths were filtered through each age according to its zodiacal sign.

In the Age of Aries the ram, c.2,160-1 BC, Amen-Ra was the ram-headed solar god in Egypt. Fiery Aries is ruled by Mars, the god of war, and this age saw the rise (and fall) of various empires. Conquering male heroes such as Achilles, Ulysses, Hercules and Jason featured in Greek mythology. Aries rules the head, evidenced by prolific abstract philosophy, propounded by Socrates and others. The Roman army used ram symbols.

The next age was Pisces, the sign of the fish. Christ chose twelve fisherman for disciples, ignoring the butchers, bakers and candlestick makers. Fish and water symbolism abounds in the New Testament. Some symbolism slips over form the other age, hence Christ was called the lamb of God. Christianity was the religion for the Age of Pisces. Teachings such as self sacrifice, martyrdom, suffering, universal love and faith are all features of Pisces. Of the twelve signs of the zodiac, it is no coincidence that these Piscean qualities were chosen for the incoming age.

The Mysteries

The influence of the stars on human belief and activity is called the cycle of necessity, having corollaries with Jung's collective unconscious. The masses are unaware of the sources of their motivations and behaviour. A few, the initiates or the elect, seek to go beyond the cycle of necessity to gain illumination and freedom.

Existing millennia before Christianity were the Mysteries. The lesser Mysteries were public rituals depicting myths of the gods. The greater Mysteries were for initiates only and kept secret.

To begin to understand the greater Mysteries we have to put them in context. It requires considerable detective work to unravel the greater mysteries. In Greek and Roman times the penalty for revealing the greater Mysteries was death. Hence we do not have the greater mysteries explained in plain language. Further, only about 10% of the Classical writings have survived, depriving us of much valuable information.

The higher truths have been written about in symbolic language in myths, the language of the soul. Those who take the myths literally miss the mark. The symbolism of the myths is learn as one progresses on the initiatory journey. It is pointless to try and explain the myths to the uninitiated, for they do not have the required change in consciousness.

The Roman times were an age of accelerating decline. Often the lesser Mysteries degenerated into orgies, crime chaos. In Clement of Alexandria's words, a "new song" was needed to regenerate humanity. Various Christian commentators focus on these decadent lesser Mysteries, dismiss them, and think they have thus dealt with the Mysteries for good. They do not grasp the greater Mysteries.

Although a new religion, Christianity was based on the eternal verities that underpin the human situation. At the heart of Christianity are the Greater Mysteries. Once this is understood, perplexing teachings such as the virgin birth and the resurrection can be appreciated. Two works which help explain Christianity esoterically The Perfect Way of the Finding of Christ by Anna Kingsford and The Lost Light by Alfred Boyd Kuhn.

The question of Christ's historic existence is contentious. The masses take the myths literally. They like to have a tangible saviour who teaches, comforts and guides them. Hard evidence for an historic Christ is non-existent. The "evidence" in Josephus and others, decades after the event, is scanty and sometimes forged. Let's think back some 2,000 years. Here is a god-man who raise the dead, healed the sick, preached to thousands, was crucified and rose from the dead. Yet not one person wrote about these incredible things at the time! Supposedly the most spectacular events in history, yet no one noticed. Pictures of Christ appeared only centuries later, and they are obviously idealisations.

The story of the Christ can be explained by the initiatory journey of the human being. This is what the higher Mysteries were about.Various ancient religions had a dying god: there were Osiris, Adonis, Attis, Dionysus and others. At one level some say these were vegetation gods representing the seasons. The higher meaning is presented by both Kingsford and Kuhn. The god is dismembered in order to enter matter. The Christ had to be crucified on the cross of matter.

The initiate has to undertake exacting preparation to achieve redemption. Once the soul is purified it is called virgin, and can then unite with the holy spirit to produce the Christ. Philo Judaeus (c.30BC-45AD), a Jewish of Alexandria, wrote about the purified soul as being as a virgin. (We may note that this highly educated man was alive at the supposed time of Christ, yet he wrote nothing about him.)

Once the symbolism is understood, we find the New Testament yields much insight into the greater Mysteries. Kuhn wrote:

"God...has projected into our nature a portion, a ray, of his own life. He has apportioned among
all his creatures that measure of his ineffable power which each is capable of receiving...In man
the divine seed is the Christos, the son of the Almighty Father. "

Paul gives some explicit statements about the greater Mysteries that few have matched:

"...the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ within you. (Col. 1.26-7)

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age., who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. (I Cor. 2.6-7)

Do you not realise that Jesus Christ is within you?" (II Cor. 13.5)

The initiates of antiquity said the divine soul "died" when it became immersed in matter. The uninitiated people were "dead" to the spiritual life. The NT takes over this idea when it says "Let the dead bury the dead." The goal of the greater Mysteries was rebirth or resurrection. In I Cor.15 Paul's words on resurrection could have come straight out of the greater Mysteries.

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable...It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body...I tell you this, brethren; flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Resurrection is not of the body, and will not occur en masse at some future Judgement day. Judgement is right now! Judgement and karma are basically the same thing. Spiritual rebirth occurs when the initiate is ready.

Plato wrote in Phaedo: " 'Many,' they say about the mysteries, ' are the thyrsus bearers, few are the Bacchae.' " He called the Bacchae the "true philosophers." This means many attend the lesser Mysteries, but few are intitiates of the greater Mysteries. This idea carried over into Christianity: "Many are called but few are chosen." It is the destiny of only a few to be initiated into the greater Mysteries, hence only  these few can grasp their meaning.

Patriarchy

To put it bluntly, the patriarchy hijacked Christianity. It is written that "man is made in the image of God," but  it is also the case that 'God' is sometimes made in the image of man. The patriarchy created an authoritarian and punitive god. Though patriarchal Christians give lip service to a loving God, they are only too ready to justify their wars and repressions by calling on the god they themselves have created.

Paul is often cited by the patriarchy as an authority for the subjection. See I Cor. 11.9: "Neither was man created for woman but woman for man." Also I Cor. 14.34: "...the women should keep silence in the churches." But, Paul expressed the equality of the sexes in Gal. 3.28: "...their is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." In Rom. 16.1-2 Paul says: "I commend you to our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the Church at Cen'chr-eae...she has been a helper of many and myself." He goes on to mention Prisca, Mary, Julia, the sister of Nereus, and various men as "my fellow workers in Christ Jesus."

How can we explain Paul's contradictory attitudes toward women? Men of high spiritual attainment are not sexist. Various parts of the NT contain patriarchal interpolations. Perpetrated of course to justify the patriarchal agenda. Seen in this light, the alleged sexist statements of Paul look suspiciously like interpolations.

Many of the founding Fathers had sexist attitudes. Augustine was no exception, and he did much to lay the foundations for sexism in Christianity. He established original sin as a major doctrine. Eve gets the blame for Adam's fall. Either by choice or ignorance, Augustine did not understand the inner meaning of the fall. Adam represents the reason and Eve represents the soul. When the soul "falls" into matter, reason falls too. Blame and punishment is central to the operations of patriarchy. Being authoritarian, the patriarchy will tolerate no disobedience, and not hesitate to punish dissenters. The Adam and Eve story shows the patriarchy is adept at the blame game. It always selects scapegoats to divert attention from its repressive policies.

In 313 Constantine I tolerated Christianity. Thus began a long history of union between church and state. Charlemagne (742-814) extended his empire and Christianity via the sword. The close links between church and state were shown when Charlemagne restored Leo III to the papacy, who then crowned Charlemagne emperor. Patriarchal Christianity has supported many violent deeds: the Crusades, the Inquisitions, "witch" hunts, killing of "heretics," genocide of indigenous peoples and so on. The wars between Catholics and Protestants have been particularly bloody. None of this violence is true Christianity, but has been carried out by the patriarchy in the name of religion. This deceit still goes on today.

This paper skims the surface of a huge topic. We can observe that today conventional Christianity has reached the end of its shelf life. The old age is dying, the new age is not yet born. Darkness and confusion abound. The cosmic wheel turns, ushering in a new act in the drama of human life. There are new scripts to learn and new roles to assume. As always, behind the shifting scenes of appearances, the ultimate truths remain the same, and will be pursued by dedicated seekers.