Rhys
the once and future
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2001
- Posts
- 33,020
Today Christians celebrate the rebirth of the saviour Jesus. Two thousand plus years ago, he is said to have risen from his shroud of death and was reborn as spirit, bringing hope to all who believe.
Those of us who follow a religion much older than Christianity smile and say yes to this concept as well. Many of the celebrations and traditions that Christians observe today, we have been observing ourselves. Many people do not know, that a great deal of the Christian belief is based on Pagan traditions. Our "Easter" is a celebration of Ostara. Our symbol of this celebration is a decorated egg. Ostara is the reawakening of the earth and her fertility. Many rituals and celebrations we inact at this time of year are related to ensuring the blessing of our God and Goddess over our crops and plants. Our elders observed that there is a "Wheel of Life", that the seasons cycle as do our lives. We are babies in the Spring, Adults in Summer, Middle Aged in Autumn, and we die in Winter only to be reborn again in the Spring. Our Elders observed that in Nature, this cycle is eternal. So as part of this celebration, we honour the seedlings growing in pots, and the returning fecundity of Mother Earth, as she awakens from her sleep of death.
Eggs, one of the many symbols of the celebration, reawakens the old and somewhat comedic question...Which came first, the chicken...or the egg? The egg is the representation of Earth but its really US in spirit form...we sit in the womb of Heaven waiting to hatch and become ourselves. The decorations are also symbolic...each color and design a fresco of meaning for the spirit once it hatches and takes flight. If you have ever seen some of the Czech egg designs...or even a Fabrege egg, you are looking at something that dates back to when we first starting recording time as a race.
We've all heard the phrase, "fuck like bunnies" and indeed that stuffed rabbit your little one may be holding today is a totem of a much older belief. The Rabbit or Hare is sacred to our belief. The Goddess we revere holds the rabbit to be a sacred animal. Rabbits are prolific in their reproduction. From a very practical standpoint, our Elders noted that they mated frequently and had large families so as to ensure the survival of the species. But, they also do something else that is quite special. Rabbits live between two worlds. They live in the bright sun, but they also burrow to the underworld, in the dark shadows of death. In this darkness they thrive, cuddled together in the womb of earth to rise in the morning with the sun to eat grasses and mate again. I am oversimplfying, but the point is they survive. This animal is so sacred that there are multiple tales of multiple Goddesses throughout our World's cultures that speak of Her ability to shapeshift into a Rabbit. Since we believe that all Goddessses are one Goddess, and the Goddess is reflected in all Women, it is with profound respect that we honour the women's abilty to bring forth life, and continue our species. The Rabbit is also a symbol of good luck to many cultures...hence the Rabbit's foot charm.
It is not uncommon for votive figures of the Lord and Lady to be moved from shrine to shrine. These "parades" are common in all cultures be they Christian or not. One of the most striking images to me, was the blessing of the well in the movie "The Serpent and the Rainbow" (based on a true story by explorer/medical researcher Wade Davis) The Hatian population brought an image of the Virgin Mary to a beautiful natural spring and the priests blessed the well in Her name. That ceremony far predated the Christian belief, as the far older Hatian Voudoun tradition saw in the Virgin their Goddess Erzulie. The votive figure itself is not worshipped, it is merely a vessel in which the "spirit" of the Goddess (or God) is envoked by the practioners and in doing so, the Spirit casts blessings on the land and the people. This morning, you may have seen a ritual very similar downtown, at the Easter Parade. While the names and faces have changed, the base concept has not.
With the coming of Spring, we believe in the rebirth of the cycle of life...the Spirit is reborn again. Christian belief shows us Christ's Life as an example, and says this is available to you all, if you believe. Pagan belief says rebirth is eternal for everyone, whether you choose to believe our way or not. Fundamentally, this is why Pagan belief is so tolerant of other systems of belief. We are well aware that all things are one thing. That may sound strange, as most Pagans are pantheistic. But, we recognise that religion itself was created by humankind. Humankind has embroidered its individual personalities onto the Gods and Goddesses, shaping them into those very aspects which we find in ourselves. (which in turn shapes our belief that we all carry the pearl of Divine consciousness within ourselves) The teachings of Jesus are not lost on us. He reinterates something that we also hold as a belief. Christ's words "Love thy neighbor as thyself" stand out. We do many things in the name of Love. Love also has many forms, may it be eros , erotic love or agape brotherly love or friendship. Love can be dark, stormy and passionate, or it can be as gentle as a spring rain. As Pagans, we believe that we should love ourselves first. We are the temple, this corporeal body, in which the spirit resides and we should care for it and nourish the shell. When our shell is cared for and loved and we are comfortable with ourselves, can we fully love others. This is a growth process, and its not an easy one to be comfortable with one's own self. Our tradition also states that the patterns which we drew upon our spiritual egg are the challenges and lessons (and any unfinished business) we have to contend with in this life. Love then, is something that we share with Christianity as we strive to understand and accept ourselves and one another. Fundamentally, we all believe that Death is not eternal, that our corporeal body may die, but the strongest part of us, the Spirit continues to live, no matter what our belief system. So, with this in mind, it is a joyous day indeed! Merry we part, and merry! We meet again!
Bright Blessings to you all!
Those of us who follow a religion much older than Christianity smile and say yes to this concept as well. Many of the celebrations and traditions that Christians observe today, we have been observing ourselves. Many people do not know, that a great deal of the Christian belief is based on Pagan traditions. Our "Easter" is a celebration of Ostara. Our symbol of this celebration is a decorated egg. Ostara is the reawakening of the earth and her fertility. Many rituals and celebrations we inact at this time of year are related to ensuring the blessing of our God and Goddess over our crops and plants. Our elders observed that there is a "Wheel of Life", that the seasons cycle as do our lives. We are babies in the Spring, Adults in Summer, Middle Aged in Autumn, and we die in Winter only to be reborn again in the Spring. Our Elders observed that in Nature, this cycle is eternal. So as part of this celebration, we honour the seedlings growing in pots, and the returning fecundity of Mother Earth, as she awakens from her sleep of death.
Eggs, one of the many symbols of the celebration, reawakens the old and somewhat comedic question...Which came first, the chicken...or the egg? The egg is the representation of Earth but its really US in spirit form...we sit in the womb of Heaven waiting to hatch and become ourselves. The decorations are also symbolic...each color and design a fresco of meaning for the spirit once it hatches and takes flight. If you have ever seen some of the Czech egg designs...or even a Fabrege egg, you are looking at something that dates back to when we first starting recording time as a race.
We've all heard the phrase, "fuck like bunnies" and indeed that stuffed rabbit your little one may be holding today is a totem of a much older belief. The Rabbit or Hare is sacred to our belief. The Goddess we revere holds the rabbit to be a sacred animal. Rabbits are prolific in their reproduction. From a very practical standpoint, our Elders noted that they mated frequently and had large families so as to ensure the survival of the species. But, they also do something else that is quite special. Rabbits live between two worlds. They live in the bright sun, but they also burrow to the underworld, in the dark shadows of death. In this darkness they thrive, cuddled together in the womb of earth to rise in the morning with the sun to eat grasses and mate again. I am oversimplfying, but the point is they survive. This animal is so sacred that there are multiple tales of multiple Goddesses throughout our World's cultures that speak of Her ability to shapeshift into a Rabbit. Since we believe that all Goddessses are one Goddess, and the Goddess is reflected in all Women, it is with profound respect that we honour the women's abilty to bring forth life, and continue our species. The Rabbit is also a symbol of good luck to many cultures...hence the Rabbit's foot charm.
It is not uncommon for votive figures of the Lord and Lady to be moved from shrine to shrine. These "parades" are common in all cultures be they Christian or not. One of the most striking images to me, was the blessing of the well in the movie "The Serpent and the Rainbow" (based on a true story by explorer/medical researcher Wade Davis) The Hatian population brought an image of the Virgin Mary to a beautiful natural spring and the priests blessed the well in Her name. That ceremony far predated the Christian belief, as the far older Hatian Voudoun tradition saw in the Virgin their Goddess Erzulie. The votive figure itself is not worshipped, it is merely a vessel in which the "spirit" of the Goddess (or God) is envoked by the practioners and in doing so, the Spirit casts blessings on the land and the people. This morning, you may have seen a ritual very similar downtown, at the Easter Parade. While the names and faces have changed, the base concept has not.
With the coming of Spring, we believe in the rebirth of the cycle of life...the Spirit is reborn again. Christian belief shows us Christ's Life as an example, and says this is available to you all, if you believe. Pagan belief says rebirth is eternal for everyone, whether you choose to believe our way or not. Fundamentally, this is why Pagan belief is so tolerant of other systems of belief. We are well aware that all things are one thing. That may sound strange, as most Pagans are pantheistic. But, we recognise that religion itself was created by humankind. Humankind has embroidered its individual personalities onto the Gods and Goddesses, shaping them into those very aspects which we find in ourselves. (which in turn shapes our belief that we all carry the pearl of Divine consciousness within ourselves) The teachings of Jesus are not lost on us. He reinterates something that we also hold as a belief. Christ's words "Love thy neighbor as thyself" stand out. We do many things in the name of Love. Love also has many forms, may it be eros , erotic love or agape brotherly love or friendship. Love can be dark, stormy and passionate, or it can be as gentle as a spring rain. As Pagans, we believe that we should love ourselves first. We are the temple, this corporeal body, in which the spirit resides and we should care for it and nourish the shell. When our shell is cared for and loved and we are comfortable with ourselves, can we fully love others. This is a growth process, and its not an easy one to be comfortable with one's own self. Our tradition also states that the patterns which we drew upon our spiritual egg are the challenges and lessons (and any unfinished business) we have to contend with in this life. Love then, is something that we share with Christianity as we strive to understand and accept ourselves and one another. Fundamentally, we all believe that Death is not eternal, that our corporeal body may die, but the strongest part of us, the Spirit continues to live, no matter what our belief system. So, with this in mind, it is a joyous day indeed! Merry we part, and merry! We meet again!
Bright Blessings to you all!
