Yes, this is the last week of the Christmas season. If you've long since taken down your decorations, planted your tree and removed your Christmas cards, don't worry - the Christmas season is a lot more comprehensive than that.
As we've seen in previous posts, Christmas is about receiving Light. And for us in the Work, the birth of the Light means a new birth in Essence.
From the end of October through until February 2nd, the Earth's journey round the Sun exposes it to certain frequencies which are received in greater concentration at this time of the year. They originate from far higher in the Ray of Creation, and it is for this reason that the feast of Christ's birth has long been celebrated on December 25th, following the Shortest Day (the Winter Solstice) on December 21st.
From the 21st until the 25th, the Sun appears to stand still - the origin of the word "solstice" - and then, from the 25th, begins its apparent movement to lengthen the days once more. The conscious men and women who created the spiritual festivals knew of these special times, and they placed appropriate feasts and fasts to take advantage of them.
By February 2nd, the increase in solar light is obvious. We notice that the days are lengthening once more, and the first flowers of spring, tiny snowdrops and crocuses, begin to appear. At this time, ewes begin to lactate, giving February 2nd its Celtic name of "Imbolc", or incoming milk.
To Christians, it's known as Candlemass, another festival of light, when candles were traditionally taken to church to be blessed for the coming year.
It's more significantly celebrated as the Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin, because forty days after the birth of a child women would go to church (and before that, to the Temple in Jerusalem) to be "purified".
More than this, however, it is the festival when the infant Christ is shown to the elders of the Temple and makes His first public appearance.
The Bible describes this occasion as the day when Simeon, a man who who had long watched for the coming of the Messiah, realized that Jesus (Yeshua, in Hebrew) was the answer to the thousand-year longings of the Jewish people. His famous "Song of Simeon" may be found in the Gospel of Luke, ch.2, vv 29-32.
What does this have to do with the Work?
You will remember that at Christmas, the entire Earth celebrates the birth of the Divine Child. We've prepared for this event by pondering our own death, and the urgent need for us to work on ourselves, during November; by fasting during Advent in expectation of the new birth in Essence to take place on December 25th; by protecting that new life from Second Force both within and without (Herod, in the Bible); and now by getting ready to show this light to the world at the Feast of the Presentation,
In other words, we continue to watch over our inner Divine Child, to ponder over what we have learned during this season, while readying ourselves for the tests we will have to face in life.
We are still in a special season, and the proximity of the Sun to Sirius and to the most sensitive areas of the galaxy will continue to be experienced through this next feast until the great, triumphant celebration of Easter.
We know that during Lent, which this year begins at the end of February, we will face extra tests and challenges, but by now our understanding will, we hope, be strong enough to withstand temptations and trials.
The season of Lent marks the time of concentrated testing for us, which is followed by the intense concentration of Holy Week. We realize that we must place the Work first if it is to survive the season of tests and trials, which are intended to strengthen us to the point where we are able to sacrifice our Imaginary I, the entity that directs our False Personality, on Good Friday.
Easter marks the victory of the Work in us, the rising to life of Real I, which every year is able to increase in power and influence as long as we work on ourselves.
After Easter, the orbits of the Earth around the Sun and of the Sun around Sirius take us to areas of the galaxy where we are faced with a different set of influences, those that favour the putting into practice of all we have gained from our inner journey during the season of relative darkness.
This rhythm of the Christian year, which is not confined to those who observe the Christian religion but is best understood within that context, has been recognized for thousands of years, from long before the actual religion of Christianity was born. We may trace its symbols in the festivals of the ancient Egyptians, the Essenes, the Greek Mysteries, the cult of Mithras, and others. All foreshadowed the ultimate experience of the Life of Christ, the God-Man, on Earth.
It is a guide to the emphases of our Work life as they vary from month to month, and by understanding the influences which act on us at different times we can take advantage of them to strengthen our inner work and our Real I.
The importance and inner meanings of these seasons were always taught by Dr Nicoll, Mrs Pogson, and my own Work teacher, Marion Davison. Each year we contemplated them anew and different tasks were given which corresponded to the phase of the year through which we journeyed. I continued the tradition in my own groups, and in my inner life I find that each year I become more sensitive to these influences, and better able to plan my own personal work to accord with them.
I hope this series of posts will help readers to do the same.
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This is an appropriate time for me to take a break from this blog, because we are about to move house.
Since my husband retired we have been involved in the lengthy process of selling our old house and purchasing our next - and final - home. The house to which we're moving is more than 80 years old and had been badly neglected, so we've been busy restoring, renovating and improving it so that it's ready for us to live in.
We're moving in next week, on Candlemass, and we're calling our house "Little Walsingham" in honour of the Holy Family and the National Shrine of Our Lady, where we've spent many retreats and holidays.
For a while I'll be offline, as we get settled in, but am planning to resume writing in mid-February, so I hope to see you then!
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