A DIFFERENT VIEW OF ROMAN AND ORTHODOX EASTER

ROMAN AND ORTHODOX EASTER

A Different View of The Celebration of Easter

I grew up Greek Orthodox, was an Altar Boy, President of our GOYA Youth Group, and a follower of the Christian belief system that I was born into and raised by. This weekend, the Orthodox Christians will celebrate the annual anniversary of a physical resurrection from the dead, by Jesus Christ.

This, is Orthodox Easter (and the Spring Equinox) ... according to the ancient Julian Calendar. The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC (708 AUC), and was a reform of the Roman calendar. Ultimately the calendar was changed again. This time by St. Gregory and is called the Gregorian Calendar ... still followed today, but not by the Orthodox. This is why last Sunday was Easter Sunday for the rest of the non-Orthodox Christian Followers, and this Sunday is Easter Sunday for the Orthodox.

For me however, after many years of research and deep study, along with centered prayer, and meditation, I left behind the literal and historical teachings of todays Christianity, and have found solace in the ancient allegorical, esoteric, and metaphysical interpretations. I have acquired a library of study and research materials that include all world religions, philosophies, and metaphysics. I became a Seeker of Spiritual Truth ... And it's been an amazing journey of discovery. It obviously isn't the path that many have taken, but for me ... It's been enlightening to say the least.

I can tell you that I definitely made the rounds over the years. From Orthodox Christian, to non-denominational Bible Fellowship, to even all-out atheism. Then ... I kept going. I kept looking. I KNEW that voice inside me was the voice of Truth ... And there was a force that went beyond what has been presented as Literal, and Historical ... I knew there must be something more. Beyond the surface exoteric teachings. I was after the very foundation of ALL world religions and spiritual paths ... BEFORE man added his own personal label to it. The names, locations, and details have been altered, but like a bubble at the bottom of a pond ... The Truth rises to the surface eventually. 

I came to the same conclusion that Jesus had tried to explain, and that is that ... God - Source ... is the entirety of the universe, which is ONE universal living organism that we happen to call God - Source Energy. We are ALL part and parcel of this collective Source. And the Spirit and Spark of God - Source is within me ... just as Jesus had said before he was turned into another in a long history of Godmen ... This time by Rome, and ultimately worshipped as the entirety of God in the flesh - actually REPLACING God, with a man. The Truth is that all are equal, all are ONE RACE of humans joined together in consciousness and community here on Planet Earth. We breathe the same air, drink the same water, and stand upon the same terra firma. 

Once we awaken to this fact, we then become HUman. HU is the ancient Egyptian God who spoke the world into existence (The Word) ... And MAN is ancient Sanskrit (Manu) meaning MIND. Therefore, to be human, is to be the Mind of God. Universal Law states that God is Mind ... And that all of creation is mentalism. All is energy ... Even matter. This, cannot be disputed. Place a rock under a microscope and you will see living cells. The inanimate, is animate at a cellular level. 

My personal relationship with the Universe, or God, has never been greater than it is right now. The unifying and underlying consciousness of all things is connected thorough the Christ Consciousness. I had found the Truth, and it had made me free. Just as Jesus promised among the ancient scriptures of the Bible. Far too much to get into for one article, but I wanted to move on to the main point.

Astro-Theology And Celestial Origins

Astro-Theology, is pretty much a self-explanatory word. It is Theology that is based upon celestial knowledge. Astrotheology is the combination of two Greek words: Astro (from Greek, from astron - asteri where we get "star") and the Greek word Theo (Theos which means God - Source).

For example, translated CORRECTLY from the original Greek, the opening verse of the Book of John (1:1) Would read: 

"In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with Theos, and the Logos was Theos."

Rather than how it is translated today: 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

This LOGOS (or Word) ... was NOT Jesus, or a book called "the Word of God." Among ancient Greek Philosophy and Theology, this LOGOS/WORD meant "the Divine reason implicit in the cosmos, ordering it and giving it form and meaning." Essentially, the Mind, becoming manifest as matter. The WORD was the ARCHETYPE ... the template of all that is.

The concept of Astro-theology is vastly ancient, as ancient as mankind itself. Past civilizations had one religion. That religion was based on the understanding of the Astrological movements of our solar system and the connection and influences that each planet has on each other and beyond. After all, there were no movies, TV, or Internet back then to occupy their time. They obsessively watched the heavens and nature, and made note of all repeating patterns.

This celestial knowledge is the basis and origin for all of of our Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, Nursery Rhymes and Folk Lore. It is also the Pure Science developed by the very enlightened, wise and ancient priesthood that left behind for us scrolls, tablets, hieroglyphs, symbols, and the Holy Books of all world religions. The language was heavily veiled in allegory and symbolism and much of it was deliberately done to keep the higher Truths from the masses. Such powerful knowledge in the wrong hands would be disastrous. Remember that "myth" was not as we see it today. Today we think of myth as a fable, or somewhat of a story. But the true meaning of the word MYTH (MYTHOS in Greek) means that there is a Truth behind what is being said. Joseph Campbell said it best, and I paraphrase here: "A myth is something that never was, yet always is."

Among Christianity, most of the Christians and believers in “the Christ” grew up from childhood being taught a “literal-historical” understanding of the “Jesus Story” which we find in the New Testament. They had, and have no concept or knowledge that archaeology has proven today that the earliest believers in “the Christ” never understood “Jesus Christ” as a just one human who walked the hills of the Galilee. They understood deeply the Divine Concept of “Jesus (the) Christ” not in a literal sense but in an “allegorical” manner ... for more than 10,000 years before the New Testament Roman concept of a physical and literal - historical Jesus. 

Jesus (Yeshua/Yehoshua in Hebrew) (Iesous in Greek) (Joshua in English) is based upon the Hebrew ineffable name of G-d ... "YHVH" (Yehova, Jehovah, Yahweh). The four letters (Tetragrammaton) are symbolic and literally mean GOD. Briefly, YHVH (Yod Hey Vav Hey) then had added to it, the Hebrew letter Shinn (S) (Meaning Saviour). This created the word-symbol "YHSVH" (Yod Hey Shin Vav Hey), or Yehoshua phonetically. This word has also been translated as Joshua, or in Greek ... Iesous, being translated as "Jesus" in English. Joshua and Jesus are the same word. The word literally means "God is Saviour." It was not so much a proper name, but a title and symbol. The same with the word CHRIST (Messiah, Krestus, Christos, Krishna, etc.). This was a title and meant "Anointed," among other symbols. It is THIS that St. Paul refers to when saying "I travail in Labour until the Christ be born in you." 

Most all churches and denominations today take only literal interpretation, in every sense of the word when first approaching the New Testament scriptures, but if we study hard, and gather needed knowledge about the times and the people who generated these Ancient Divine Concepts ... we will find that beneath what we have assumed was a “literal” and “Historical" Jesus Christ, there lies a treasure of allegories, figurations, and symbolisms of the Sun, Stars, Constellations, and their path in the Heavens. This was also WITHIN us. The microcosm / macrocosm. After all,  we ARE star stuff. 

The Bible was intended to be read as celestial (Stellar, Solar, Lunar and Planetary) allegories and parables based on archetypes ... universal symbols of deeper esoteric Truths that have been veiled. Then and only then can it be explained without the need for Interpretation. It is OUR-story, as much as it is HIS-story. The Bible is not a book written by God, but a book written by men about, and of their observance and concept of God ever present in the celestial heavens ... in annual recurring cycles. 

The Eternal universe, regenerating itself, from within itself. A constantly recycling infinite mass of energy of which all of us are within, and a part of. Not as individual members ... things ... but as ONE thing. Eternally bound by the consciousness that brings life to ALL things.

This has been a long article, but I must cover one more important thread so that we may understand the deeper meaning of the Resurrection of Christ without it having to be literal and historical. So now, we move on to a Gnostic view.

The Gnostic View of Christianity’s Resurrected Saviour

If you can bear with me for a few short paragraphs, I offer you a different view from what you have been raised to understand as New Testament Gospel. I’m sure you will find it to be very interesting, if not; enlightening.

For those of who are unfamiliar with the Gnostics, they were basically Christians who denied the bodily resurrection of Christ. Instead they believed Christ’s body was of a spiritual nature. In other words, the Gnostics argued that Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead in a literal physical body.

Mainstream Christianity considers this statement to be blasphemy. And here’s the scripture that they often use to put the final nail on the coffin of Gnosticism:

“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (2 John 1:7)

Based on this scripture, the typical argument states that John was aiming this scripture at the Gnostics themselves since they denied Jesus was resurrected in a physical body. It must be rock solid proof, right? Nope. And here’s why.

Most Gnostics did not view any of the scriptures literally. As such, John’s statement is in perfect agreement with what a Gnostic would have believed. To the Gnostics, the resurrection story of Christ wasn’t about the literal man; it was about the spiritual awakening of the divine nature that can happen within each individual. This awakening happens while still yet in the flesh … while still here and alive in matter. So John’s statement rings true. Christ does come in the flesh ... OURS.

But this coming of Christ (the anointing - the Christ-ening) is the gnosis (mystical insight - knowing) attained by the individual going through a profound experience in higher states of consciousness. This entire process happens while being in a physical body. It is the born again experience of the spiritual nature which rules over the physical nature. This spiritual nature is the Christ.

This entire concept was taught among the Egyptian Mystery Schools and throughout the ancient world of spiritual mythology. The Christ (crestus -krishna - chrestos) is the begotten Son of God … the divine spirit/life force within every person. The breath that is the giver of life. Based only on goodness and righteousness, not self-serving as the base human ego is.

Based on this view, the words credited to the Jesus of the New Testament ring true. “The Kingdom of Heaven/God lies within you … and is at hand”

The “tomb” is your body … where the Christ awaits resurrection and release (hence, the empty tomb). The ancient Greeks said “soma - sema” meaning “body - tomb”. The “Son of Man” means son of mind (mind is MANU in Sanskrit and the origin of the english word man). When the ego remains attached to the natural man, it cannot be purified and transmuted into the spiritual Ego  - higher Self. When it does, it once again becomes a “Son of God” as it was before the descent into a world of matter.

There are those who have said to me "you are bound for Eternal hell for your beliefs."  I say, as many of the ancients have also said ... I am already in hell. The Underworld ... The lower realm found beneath the heavens (higher realm of consciousness). This place where my Divine Self is trapped with the tomb of the body. When we entered this physical realm, our Soul was buried. "Theosis" is our goal while here in the body. To become AS God, FROM God. To resurrect from the dead! and ascend into Heaven (Spirit). To be alive in Spirit and sitting at the right hand of the Father (Source). This is what it means to "walk with God" ... The God WITHIN. This is what it means to "pray unceasingly." THIS, is what the message of Jesus THE Christ was all about. 

I will never tell you how or what to think … I only ask that you do.

Always remember …

Believe nothing.

No matter where you read it,

Or who has said it,

Even if I say it ...

Unless it agrees with your own reason,

And your own common sense.

~Buddha

Just a thought ...

Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

SIN AND THE ARCHER

Sin And The Archer

The English word "SIN" is actually a term rooted in the ancient Greek and taken from archery. SIN simply means, failing to hit the intended target. It means being less than perfect. What is does NOT mean is that you’re  a criminal, or an evil person; it just means you need more practice to get it right. The Greek word for this is "hamartia" and means "missing the mark." During the ancient archery games, if the Archer missed the target, the crowd would yell "hamartia." The MARK was where the arrow was aimed for (a GOOD shot). If it landed anywhere else, it was BAD, or evil. 

This, we should find comforting. Imagine now what we call God or Source within us (our instinctual GPS) as a loving archery instructor or Teacher, standing close as you draw the bow, his hand steadying yours, whispering in your ear, “A bit higher, a bit further up, hold it steady. Now!” And ... if you miss the mark ... then simply try again. 

You see, it makes no sense when people assume that their "success" in life is as a direct result of God blessing them (entitlement), because it then implies the opposite: the "lack of success" would then be "God" witholding his blessing from others who are NOT successful. It also makes no sense when people take their good health as a sign that God or Source is favouring them because that then says that - ill health - is God NOT favouring one who is ill. The same with thanking God or Source for the food on our table. Being in a state of thankfulness and thanksgiving is fine, but if you're thanking Deity for providing YOU with food, what about the other millions of people who go hungry? Has God walked out on them and favoured you?

Being alive is our blessing. LIFE is our gift. I’m not saying that God isn’t blessing us when things go well. After all, the Greek word for "blessing" is "eulogia" which means to speak highly of someone ... as in a Eulogy spoken at a loved one's funeral. It is US using the power of God / Life within, to bring about goodness through karma ... Cause and Effect. Karma simply means DOING. Therefore, the results of something are our collective doing. But God has no favourites. Even the OT Bible records "God is no respecter of persons." Blessing or cursing, it may be the same thing when you step out of time and out of being human. Good and bad are perspectives ... Polarities of One principle. We need to stop worrying about punishment and reward, and concentrate on just experiencing the NOW. Enjoy the moment. THIS moment. We're here to learn and discern ... And we are here to RE-member what we already know.

For me, being a "sinner" is a very good thing. It means there's room for improvement ... and I AM here to remember the Truth of all things. We must learn and practice the immutable Universal Laws of the YOUniverse. To "transgress" the Law is to go against what IS, and align with what IS NOT. It means I need to keep practicing and spending time with our Inner Trainer - The Voice of Wisdom & Truth - Our Higher-Self, and learning more and more how to hit the target ... and aim at the right one. Remember, even when we get good at that, there is always room for improvement. We need to realize that "sin" is not actually the thing we were taught it was ... and it was taught to us by people who didn’t completely understand it themselves. Question everything, and spend time studying the Universal Laws of the Universe. 

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

CHAOS AND ORDER

CHAOS AND ORDER

At this very moment in time, there is murder and mayhem being witnessed as commonplace, not just here is the USA, but all over the world. Some people will still gather and cheer when someone is killed. People throw parties and celebrate when terrorists blow up buildings and drive car bombs into shopping malls. Beheadings are televised … almost live. Missiles, smart-bombs, remote controlled aircraft with weaponry, grenades vests, suicide bombers, rapes, killing, maiming, beating, violence, home invasions, theft, shootings, stabbings, stranglings … when is it ever going to stop?

Though many may beg to differ, there will NOT be an intervention from God, Jesus, or any other Deity. This is a physical world of matter, not a spiritual realm. You can't drive a boat on an interstate. You can’t bowl in a lake. You can’t fly an airplane underground. And SPIRIT, cannot operate in a physical world UNLESS … that’s UNLESS … it operates though US. WE are the Saviours of mankind. It is OUR responsibility. It is our job to bring ORDER FROM CHAOS, light from darkness, and love from abuse.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock … will we keep killing, and keep regressing back to the days of Lynch Mob tactics? Or will we raise our consciousness to a status of Divine love for all creatures and put an end to this madness? Only time will tell. And sadly, I’m afraid I’m too old to see the day when it comes. Just like thousands of civilizations who have come and gone … so too will we ... UNLESS we make that change. Unless we turn the tides. Unless we love one another. We all walk the same Earth, eat the same food, drink the same water, and breathe the same air. The Universe is ONE living organism of which each of us is an integral and inseparable element. There is no "you" and "them" ... There is only "us."

Just a thought …

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

PROPHECY IS IMPOSSIBLE - HERE'S WHY

PROPHECY IS IMPOSSIBLE - HERE'S WHY

Prophecy is Impossible - The Future Is Unpredictable

We Can't Predict the Future. Simply because we have not created it yet. Time, Life, unfolds every nanosecond at a time. It is merely a series of ongoing NOWS. All the ever existed, and all that will every exist, are here and now. Everything. Think about it ... where else would it be? Where else would it have gone?

New Year's is a time when people attempt to predict how they will behave in the coming months. Predicting the future is a near impossibility ... unless you base it on repeated thoughts, actions, and events. For example, "if you don's stop drinking, you will damage your liver."

Yet so often we berate ourselves and others for failing to do so. How could we have been so stupid not to have known? Why do we think we should know what will happen? Prediction is extraordinarily hard, even for psychologists in the business of prediction. Moreover, we may want to reconsider whether we would really want to be able to predict the future in the first place. What fun would that be? 

We think we should know what will happen mainly because of the confusion between prediction and hindsight. Knowing in advance that something will occur is very different from knowing that it did occur.

There are numerous ways any event or behavior can later be understood. Take, for example, an animated conversation we witness between two spouses. It could be flirtatious, excited - we don't know. Later, the couple gets divorced. Looking back, we link a causal chain of events to that conversation, concluding that it must have been a disagreement. We should have known they'd get divorced, or so we think.

Scientists have to state their predictions in advance, and they

have to be specific. It is easy to predict that someone will do something nice, for example, if we don't specify when they will do it or what nice means. When psychologists try to predict an outcome, they look at a group of data, not a single instance, to determine what will happen.

A professional basketball player would probably win if he and I each had 20 opportunities at foul shooting; I could win if we each only shot once. Odds could work in my favor. The more data we create, the more likely it is that our different levels of skill will be revealed. Although we wouldn't predict it, if I was hot that day and the other player was emotionally distracted, maybe I'd win even then.

People typically are concerned with their own small worlds, and not with what may unfold over time or what happens to "most people." Predicting the outcome of a single case is near impossible given all that can go wrong. Will the chairs we are sitting on hold us? They will until they finally break. When will that be? Who knows? Perhaps the glue will finally cease to hold or the floor may be uneven in that particular spot. It's a "wait and see" ... However, with proper maintenance it may never happen.

We may be correct in predicting what might happen to a group, and so we mistakenly think we should be able to predict a single instance. And do we really want to have complete knowledge of the future? It is ironic that freedom and control are important to us and yet we still seek predictability. On the face of it, it would seem that the two are related. If I can predict, I can control. A deeper analysis, however, reveals quite a different picture.

When we want light, we mindlessly flip the light switch. We have no doubt that it will work, so we don't have to think about it. Without doubt, there is no choice. Without choice there is no feeling of control. Complete predictability would leave us with no need to pay attention to anything any longer. And when would we like to "know" everything completely so we could stop paying attention? When we are 15, 30 or 60 years old? At what point do we want to close the future and live in the past?

During the first nine months of our existence, we do nothing. It all just happens. The development of our body and mind, the nutrition needed, the colour of our hair, etc. We just have it happen to us. No worries, no thought, no predictions, it just IS. 

Think about this: If we are aware of the uncertainty of going

forward, we're unlikely to blame ourselves for our failures of prediction when looking back. If we allow for uncertainty, we're likely to stay mindful and in the present, and, personally, that's where I want to be. Right here in the now. After all, the past has passed, the future has yet to be created, and once it is ... it automatically becomes the now. So all we really every have is now. Enjoy it. Don't spend your now thinking about what might become, or what is behind you. We are all on a Journey on the Starship Earth. And we are all the crew.

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

My thanks to Ellen J. Langer, Ph.D.

TAKING THINGS LITERALLY

Every day that goes by we say things in a literal way, but don't really mean them to be interpreted in a literal sense. Yet, when it comes to the Bible and other ancient Wisdom and scriptures that were written as allegory and metaphor, they are still taken to be literal and historical events, locations, people, and names.

For example, "I told you a thousands times." I didn't really tell anyone one thousands times. It's an expression and exaggeration. I was using the statement to infer something of a deeper meaning. That being that I have told you multiple times, is there a need to constantly remind you?

Another example, "It's hotter than an inferno today, and I'm sweating my butt off." First of all, it obviously NOT hotter than an inferno. Even if it were 100 degrees this is far from a blast furnace. Also, you can't sweat your butt off because it's attached to your body. One more ... "moving this sofa is gonna kill me, it's heavy as crap." It's probably NOT going to kill you, unless you have a heart attack and even then it's heart failure that kills you, not the couch. Secondly, have you weighed "crap" lately? I'm really not too sure how heavy crap is and what amount would be needed to determine that it's heavy. Heavy to one person may be light to another, etc.

Anyway, I've spent enough time on the examples. I'm sure you got my point. So now let's return to my earlier statement concerning scripture and the dangerous literal and historical interpretations of mythological and allegorical teachings. These metaphors and celestial astrotheologies have been handed down by one civilization to another since long before biblical times. Even professors at Tel Aviv University in Israel have said the Bible is not meant to be an historical document. Many of the places that are named in Israel were named AFTER the myths had been written.

Just take a moment to think about all of the impossible events spoken about in the bible. Donkeys and snakes talking, making a human being out of a rib, shouting to knock down the walls of a city, parting the ocean with a cane and command, raising the dead, supernatural healings, demons being cast out of people and into pigs, men dying on a cross, being dead for three days, and then raised from being dead, walking through walls, bodily flying up into heaven, walking on water, stilling the winds and the oceans, multiplying loaves of bread, turning water into wine, etc. I could go on for paragraphs.

These things were never meant to have been LITERAL and historical. They are myth and fables with a deeper inner meaning and Truth meant to be discerned through our spiritual journey here in Earth. All of these events happen within us ... where the Kingdom of God/Heaven is located. In our consciousness ... in our Higher-Self ... our Christ Self. The Bible and so many other sacred texts are not meant as history, the are our-story. It is the path of the Eternal Soul as it grows and expands knowledge and awareness of the Divine within each of us. We are ALL the Christ and the Begotten Son. Why did Jesus say "you will do greater things than I" if he didn't mean it and if he was the only Christ?

If Jesus was God, then we are ALL God - collectively. Didn't Paul say that we are the "body of Christ?" Paul never knew of an earthly Jesus, his was a Gnostic and Mystical Christ/Karest dating from stories 10,000 years before any man from Galilee walked the hillside and hung upon a tree. Only 7 of the 13 Epistles credited to this man named Paul were actually written by the same person. The others are anti-Gnostic forgeries inserted by the Roman Church.

Once you grasp the Inner Mysteries of original Christianity (which was Paganism), you will be exposed to the Truth of the amazing and powerful transformational parables and metaphors contained in scripture. Jesus was quoted as saying "you shall know the Truth ... and the Truth shall make you free!" I have never been more free in my life, and have never had a better understanding of the Oneness of God/Source Energy and the oneness of all things in the universe. Question everything, and you will find the answers.

Just a thought ...

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

REVELATION OF THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES

Religious and philosophical teachings have long been divided into two main categories - the esoteric (inner), and the exoteric (outer). Historically, the esoteric teachings have been kept in secret, given only to those who were deemed ready by Teachers who held the “keys to the kingdom of God.” This could take years, even decades in the Mystery Schools of old. Many years before the Truth was to be revealed to those deemed worthy enough to understand and protect it.

Whereas a spiritually mature person recognizes that these “keys” are symbolic of revealed Truths (unveiled/apocalyptic), someone less spiritually mature would picture in his or her mind, actual keys made to fit an actual lock, albeit ... one not of this world. This is the difference between esoteric and exoteric students of religion and philosophy. 

The "esoteric" student understands that religious icons and symbols represent principles and laws of nature, including both the seen and unseen worlds ... Metaphysically, allegorically, metaphorically, and mythically. On the other hand, the "exoteric" student takes the symbols literally - as in Moses actually parted the Red Sea; Jesus, the man, actually sits at the right hand of the Father, etc.

While helpful to an undeveloped, uneducated, or non-inquisitive mind, such exoteric literal interpretations are surface stories used to conceal or veil the more sophisticated and abstract principles they were designed to portray in their parable, myth, allegory, and metaphors ... the deeper revelatory Truths.

But, in this Internet age of rapidly shared content, when all knowledge is freely available to nearly everyone, the time has come to speak more openly of the deeper Truths of this Ancient Wisdom, thus preventing the possibility ... through misunderstanding, that the ideas themselves become merely symbols, hiding the very Truths of which they have always stood for.

Add to this the need to integrate the astounding growth in scientific knowledge into the body of thought called “The Ancient Mysteries.” Scientists and intuitive thinkers of all disciplines have brought new meaning to the old maxim, “Man, know thyself.”

Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, along with the science of Linguistics and also quantum physics, have revealed much about how the human organism works, especially the brain. And while this new knowledge (doubling itself nearly every few years) has enabled us to understand the concept of consciousness more than ever before, the sciences have yet to acknowledge the existence of the Universal Creative Mind of what is called God/Source. And I stress ... yet.

Mystics and sages throughout the millennia have understood more about the nature of mind than present-day scientists, but they have not, for the most part, been able to articulate their knowledge using the limitations of today’s language.

Combined with science’s inbred prejudice against mysticism in general, which is the gap between science and religion that widens everyday, is bringing us closer and closer to an evolutionary catastrophe - the materialist view that human beings are machines whose software developed on its own through random, selective processes and not downloaded from a superior intelligence.

As long as scientists believe that consciousness is a product of the brain and not the other way around, they will continue to seek ways to enhance this flawed mechanism by external means. Mystics, on the other hand, want to develop what is already there. The universal unconsciousness is the Matrix that is the glue of the universe. Tying everything together as One.

The Ancient Mysteries have always taught that the human organism is a vehicle for consciousness, and that the notion of a separate self is nothing more than an illusion. They did not preach against individuality, as is commonly believed today, but rather understood that it is through individual choice that spiritual progress can be made.

Every time we make one choice over another, whether based upon logic or intuition, we rewire our brain in a way that supports further choices along the same lines. In this way, humanity evolves. If through technology, that fundamental process is preempted and people begin to rely on artificial, implanted devices to enhance awareness, spiritual consciousness will devolve into greater and greater materialism, the belief that the physical world and its senses ... are all there is to the human experience.

The Ancient Mystery Teachings were given to the world as tools with which humanity can realize its own potential. These tools lie within the individual heart and mind. But, while scientists tend to lean towards the material understanding of life, spiritually minded people tend to lean toward the opposite pole, regarding science with as much suspicion, as scientists regard mysticism.

Science, by the very nature of the word ... is "proof knowledge." These bilateral grievous suspicions are a dangerous error. It is only by marrying these two paths ... in an enlightened awareness ... that humanity can make the next leap in evolution and involution, bringing the best of the rational mind and the intuition together into a collaborative whole (holy).

The greatest of the mystics from the dawn of human history up to our present day have achieved this marriage of the inner and the outer within themselves. Hence, the mantra "as above, so below." Such enlightened people have brought humanity its greatest discoveries in science, philosophy, art, and social justice.

It was the Egyptian principle of the One God (monotheism), brought forth and articulated by Moses (and/as Akhenaten), that enabled science to envision a world governed by universal immutable law and thus open the door to unprecedented technological advancement.

It was Paracelsus who intuitively unlocked the secrets of pharmacology, extending the lifespan of human beings by decades. And it was Pythagoras who, through his Wisdom and depth of vision, gave us the profound understanding of numbers and geometry that enabled us to achieve countless advances. In fact, Math has proven to be the one constant Truth.

These people were mystics who, along with countless others, acted as the mediators between heaven and earth, providing humanity with priceless knowledge of the cosmos and the meaning of human life. The discoveries of the ancient teachings of Thoth, Hermes, Enoch, and a myriad of Avatars, Hierophants, and Sages, have brought us out of the Dark Ages ... and into the Age of Aquarius. A new era of information, based on profound ancient knowledge (Gnosis). Question everything ... it is the time of reason my friends.

Just a thought ...

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

WHY MARY MUST BE THE MOTHER OF THE CHRIST

It is no coincidence that the Biblical author(S) chose the name “Mary” to be the mother of "God." There is a subtle connection between matter, mater, and Mary that unveils much more about consciousness and the reality than just a literal interpretation of the Bible could ever reveal (or science for that matter).

The Etymology Dictionary tells us that “mater” means “origin,” “source,” or “mother” from Latin. When you graduate from a school, it is called your "alma mater" ... meaning "nurturing Mother." In Genesis, Eve is called the “mother of all living.” In Mary the concept is taken further in that she becomes the mother of everything, because in every “thing” (ALL matter that is) there resides within, the divine spark capable of evolving to become more.

Mary equates to matter, the Divine mother who incubates and births the potential of that Divine spark within us - the Christ. This divine spark is ... consciousness. This is the infinite potential aspect of what is commonly referred to as GodSource. This infinite potential aspect of God is incubated and evolved in matter. Matter, the Divine Mother, births advanced consciousness. That advanced consciousness is the Son ... The offspring ... That which is created. And the Son ... is And must also be God. And you are a sondaughter of God/Source.

A more shallow exploration of the meaning of the name Mary reveals it to also mean “bitterness.” This is also appropriate, because as consciousness incarnates through matter it is a sort of bittersweet experience, comprised of both joy and pain, life and death, love and negativity. This is the bittersweet experience of our lives. The ancient Greeks called it "Soma/Sema" ... meaning the body is a tomb.

So why exactly was Jesus born of the Virgin Mary? All matter is virgin potential. The Son, advanced Christ/consciousness, is not born THROUGH procreation like a physical child. Consciousness just IS. No insemination is required. The Birth of consciousness is as automatic and involuntary as change. Always it just is. And so are you ... spiritually eternal energy, and consciousness.

You were born of the Virgin Mary. You may be a young soul not quite as advanced as the Son yet, but you are well on your way. Your virgin birth is eternal ... and unstoppable. The higher worlds are still filled with matter. Matter is eternal, just as the Virgin Mary is claimed by some to be a perpetual virgin.

The Divine Masculine (God), and the Divine Feminine (Goddess) are what bring forth creation ... and all that follows has an essence of the parenthood within them. You have a spark of God/Source within you, as does everyone else. We are ALL of the same Source, and the same essence as that Source. 

Just a thought ...

`Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.