Birth of the Solar Man

“The pagans set aside the 25th of  December as the birthday of  the Solar Man. They rejoiced, feasted, gathered in processions, and made offerings in the temples. the dark- ness of winter was over and the glorious son of light was returning to the northern hemi- sphere. With his last effort the old Sun God had torn down the house of the Philistines (the spirits of Darkness) and had cleared the way for the new sun who was born that day from the depths of the earth amidst the symbolic beasts of the lower world.

Concerning this season of celebration, an anonymous master of arts of Balliol College, oxford, in his scholarly treatise, “Mankind Their Origin and Destiny”, says:

“the Romans also had their solar festival, and their games of the circus in honour of the birth of the god of day. it took place the eighth day before the kalends of January – that is, on December 25. Servius, in his commentary on verse 720 of the seventh book of the Æneid, in which Virgil speaks of the new sun, says that, properly speaking, the sun is new on the 8th of the Kalends of January-that is, December 25. In the time of Leo I. (Leo, Serm. xxi., De Nativ. Dom. p. 148), some of the Fathers of the Church said that ‘what rendered the festival (of Christmas) venerable was less the birth of Jesus Christ than the return, and, as they expressed it, the new birth of the sun.’ it was on the same day that the birth of the invincible Sun (Natalis solis invicti), was celebrated at Rome, as can be seen in the Roman  calendars, published in the reign of Constantine and of Julian (Hymn to the Sun, p. 155). This epithet ‘Invictus’ is the same as the Persians gave to this same god,  whom they worshipped by the name of Mithra, and whom they caused to be born in a grotto (Justin. Dial. cum Trips. p. 305), just as he is represented as being born in a stable, under the name of Christ, by the Christians.”

The above passage is taken from the book “The Secret Teachings of All Ages” by Many P Hall, a great scholar of mysticism. I chose to write on this subject because today is the winter Solstice and the Sun has reached its southern most point in its journey and starts its return to the northern hemisphere.

Christmas as a historic element is contentious and is not relevant to our spiritual unfolding.

It is a symbolism of the birth of Divine consciousness in Yeshua the son of man and elevating him to Christ the Son of the Divine Father. This consciousness incarnation is mapped to an ancient pagan tradition and a cosmic event for human understanding.

The conquest of light over darkness through the return of the Sun in the physical universe is the symbolism of Christ consciousness driving out the darkness of ignorance and this is the most important element in our understanding of the birth of Christ.

Talking of Christ, John says in his Gospel; “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” ……John 1: 4-5

It is the birth of illumining wisdom that we need to celebrate. This light of which we speak is the invincible element of creation through which every creation is given a purpose and meaning. Christ himself tell his disciples as to who they are. In saying 50 of the Gospel of Thomas Christ says; “If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.'

If they say to you, 'Is it you?' say, 'We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.'”

We celebrate Christmas to symbolize the dawning of the light of spiritual wisdom, through Christ’s teachings and life, in every human being. We are the children of this light. We are revealed to the world due to the light of Christ consciousness shining through our own being as children of the light. As John the Baptist responded to the presence Christ consciousness when in the womb of his mother but later failed to recognize him until revealed by the Holy Spirit, we also must invoke the power of the Divine consciousness , which pervades all creation, to reveal the renewed birthing of Christ consciousness in every moment of our lives as the very essence of our worldly existence.

A joyful Christmas to you all.