Happy Holidays and Weclome to our December Spiritual Teaching

A visionary does not rule out any system of information because of a personal bias or belief. In fact, a visionary or prophet accepts that ‘all’ hold truth; the key is how much truth. And how has that truth played out in the past? Yes, the visionary does have a gift, a gift of the heart that is detached from the emotional and mental aspects of life. To see clear is to see with baby eyes without a personal agenda or fear entering into the equation of prophecy.

And thus it was such that I ‘saw’ the potentiality of this fall* of 2001. Not in specifics or details but in the broad strokes of what did become reality. I cannot give you my gift, but I can give you an example of ‘knowledge gathering’ that may very well help you in developing your own personal visionary skills:

During the winter of 2001, I was looking through the Natures Jewelry catalog when I spied a serpent pendent for the Chinese Astrological Year (2001) of the Snake. As I was reading the description it figuratively leaped out and bite into my heart. It was another link or connection to the potentiality of the up-coming fall (again major financial and war events of the past have usually occurred during the period of time of August through December). And I know that literally thousands of people probably read the description and never saw the connection of the past to the present. Of course, this one piece of knowledge standing alone would not be of much use. And the knowledge was: the previous years of the Snake were 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977 and 1989.

As is reflected above, life expresses it’s self in cycles—the cycles of the seasons, the moon phases and the astrological year cycles and so forth, all a circle, or spiral, of life, everlasting in one form but impermanent in another. And there are Age cycles, all a reflection of our heartbeat and the breath of life—the spirit that is called holy. There is that moment between heartbeats where creation occurs. And the earth is in that creative space between the heartbeat of the Ages. We are passing from the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius and possibly more important to our race, in the short term, is the ending of the Mayan/Toltec Age of the Fifth Sun in December of 2012 and thus the beginning of the Sixth Sun.

The point of all of this is that to a prophet or visionary, the spiraling cycles of the heavens and the earth are important in gathering the information for his or her ‘seeing.’ Which leads me to briefly discuss my most favorite time, not season, of the year—the winter solstice, a celebratory time of comfort and joy, peace and love, good will towards all. A time to give of ones heart and spirit. A time of angels and a time together to remember what is truly important in life.

The winter solstice is also the opportunity to honor and to reveal (revelation—lifting the veil) one of the prime mysteries of life. This is the time of the Rising and Dying God and Goddess and the moment of the ‘virgin birth’ (based on the positioning of the constellation Virgo not on an actual physical birth—the actual birth of the prophets and messengers such as Jesus was late summer, early fall under the astrological sign of the Virgin-Virgo). It is the occasion to celebrate the gift of fire and the return of the Light foretelling the truth of eternal love and life. And it is the heavens and the earth’s way of presenting humanity with a most basic and powerful spiritual teaching, which is that no matter how ‘dark’ ones life seems to be the return of/to the light is guaranteed and ever-present.

The ancient winter solstice, which was celebrated on December 22, signified the rebirth of the Unconquered Sun (Sol Invictus). At this point in the year the days grow longer and light re-enters the world. This solstice celebration is permanently rooted in both the fabric of the natural world and the core essence of human nature!

But, It was not until the middle of the fourth century that Christmas came to be accepted as a Christian festival and even today, many people are un-enlightened to the roots of Christmas and all of it’s trappings, such as the Christmas Tree. This symbol of the Tree of Life began with the ancient shamans and the Indo-European spiritual practice of cutting down a living tree and erecting it within the home or community center at the time of the ‘dark,’ the Winter Solstice. This was in celebration of the return of the Sun (Son) and to symbolize regeneration and new life.

However even pre-dating this time, during the dawn of humanity, we find the roots of the Tree of Life as well as one of the earliest myths—the “theft of fire” and the reality of humankind’s first attempt at controlling nature through knowledge. In short order the earliest religious guide and leaders, the shamans, having received this great gift of spiritual power and knowledge—fire, realized that nature could not really be controlled, but could only be harmonized, through a partnership of the people and the great Earth Mother. In a ritual and ceremony of forgiveness for the “theft of fire” (think of a lightening struck tree), the shaman would select the ‘proper’ tree, decorate it with gifts and, with the community looking on, set it on fire. And thus, the shaman became recognized as the “flameman” or “keeper of the fire.” Of course this yearly ceremony would take place on the longest night of the year. This Tree of Fire, or Tree of Knowledge, was accordingly the earliest form of our Christmas Tree.

Today, you and I are the recipients of this great legacy—one of fire, spiritual knowledge, and the realization that humanity is in partnership (not a stewardship) with nature. On the other hand how has some organized religions accepted this gift of the first priests, the shamans:

“It seems highly peculiar that, unlike several other religions, the Judeo-Christian religion chose to portray the gift of fire, light, and knowledge as evil. The Lightening-Serpent, Loki, Prometheus, and Lucifer should have been seen as man’s friends, but instead were portrayed as Satanic opponents of God, while humanity was called sinful for trying to gain knowledge. This was typical of monopolistic ancient priesthoods, which tried to keep outsiders from competing in matters of power and knowledge. They required a safe-and-obedient status quo, and tried to destroy all (even men like Jesus of Nazareth) who encouraged people to think creatively and independently, autonomous of the control of Synod or Curia.” (When Santa was a Shaman, Tony van Renterghem)

During this holiday season, please remember your freedom to think for yourself, your gift of creativity and never loss sight of the goodness of all—the divinity that is in all things. And as you are decorating your Tree of Fire and Knowledge, bless the heavens and the earth and all on it, and give thanks to your ancestors, the elder ones that had the courage and vision to ‘see.’

*I felt that the event that would trigger a war and an economic depression (I know everyone is saying a recession, but I still feel it will be recognized as a depression) would occur in October of 2001. I was off by a month.

January 2002