A REASON TO CELEBRATE EASTER

A REASON TO CELEBRATE EASTER

Easter reminds me of green and beautiful colors along with jelly beans, chocolate rabbits and eggs. My memory of childhood Easters is having an Easter basket filled with green fake grass. I was told that if I went to sleep the night before that the Easter Rabbit would come and leave beautiful eggs. My siblings and me would get our baskets ready the evening before and when we woke up the next morning we could hardly wait to pick up our baskets and rush outside to see who could find the most eggs. Sadly, I was not the winner – or so it is as I remembered. It wasn't until I was in the third grade that I learned that the hard-boiled eggs colored on the outside had been decorated by my mother and my sister who was five years old than me.

In connection with those childhood Easter memories is a large egg that my mother had for years. It was a hollow egg made of some kind of sugar and decorated in white and lavender. It was her treasure and we could only look at it. Over the years this treasure disintegrated.

For Easter, we children always had new shoes, a new dress and a new hat. These were our summer church-going clothes. My younger brother had a new suit and new shoes. My memories of going to church on Easter are vague and perhaps I shut them out because I didn't want to be reminded that Jesus died on a cross and on the third day rose from the dead. It really didn't make sense to me, and how could he have died for my sins. What sins could I possibly have? I could barely wait until I could go home and begin eating all my candy as well as some of the hard-boiled eggs.

I don't think I questioned why a rabbit would would bring colored eggs only on Easter. As an adult I did question and sought the origin of Easter. Oh what a delicious surprise when I learned it was a celebration that outdated the crucifixion of Jesus. My views of Christianity were at a low ebb and I laughed with glee when I learned the early Church fathers had hijacked Easter to entice the Pagans to become Christians.

Easter began as an ancient Pagan celebration. One of the names attributed to this day of renewal is Eostre or Eastre, whose meaning is spring. The Pagans honored and revered the Earth and their celebrations evolved into including rabbits and eggs. Why rabbits? Rabbits, or hares are known to be prolific fertility creators. Eggs are also revered for fertility. Therefore, over the age the two merged with the rabbit or hare leaving eggs to be found in a nest in nature. Later, the eggs would evolve into beautiful decorated eggs.

Easter is a celebration of the beginning of spring and the re-emergence of the new leaves and flowers. It is a time for planting our gardens and to observe the life that comes from the seeds.

There is a reason for every season. Easter is a celebration of laughter and joy because there is new life. We can renew the life within us by seeing things as they are and to let go of our prejudices and judgments. It is a time for us to shed our worn-out beliefs – our worries, and to change our minds into something greater. It is a time to celebrate who we are and what we have accomplished. It is a time to create new opportunities and to live life fully aware of who we are. Join me in celebrating life and especially our own.

EASTER - HAVE YOU RISEN?

In the Christian world, we celebrate Good Friday – the day that Jesus supposedly was crucified and then the following Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead. I find it interesting that the two events never are celebrated on the same day of the month as we do Christmas, Thanksgiving and Presidents' Day. Easter Sunday is the day when many deck themselves out in new clothes and go to church even though they rarely go throughout the year.

When a lie is told enough times, and accepted, then it becomes a truth. Later when facts and truth are revealed, the believers cry blasphemy! This is not saying that Jesus did not die or that he ascended. It is possible. When I headed this article "Easter – Have You Risen?" – it is in the context that have you taken responsibility for your past mistakes, errors and sins?

From the Christian pulpits, it is reiterated over-and-over that Christ died for our sins. I do not accept that, because Jesus came in as a mortal man and when he died, it was some years later that the Apostle Paul labeled him Christ. No one at the time of his death accepted that he was a divine being. It was a mortal man that gave Jesus the label of Christ. Mortal men wrote and preached this unproven story. I cannot accept that one man could die for the sins of the world. One only has to look at the turmoil in the world today.

For centuries this story has been perpetuated from the pulpits and in the Catholic Church. It is a rule in the Catholic Church that people must go to confession and confess their sins to a priest who is also a mortal man. After confessing, the person(s) leave and go out and repeat their actions again. It does not make sense to place the burden of forgiveness and atonement to one man. Isn't it time that everyone took responsibility for his or her actions and their sins?

Isn't it time we took Jesus down from the cross and placed him in a position where we apply what he taught in our lives? It would appear that from the pulpits that Satan took over and we hear more about Satan or the Devil than we hear the teaching of "Do unto others as you would have them to unto you." Another great teaching is "Love your neighbor as yourself." Both of these great statements are in the Sermon of the Mount – the 5th, 6th and 7th chapters of the Book of Matthew.
From the pulpits, rarely is it taught to not discriminate against people or their beliefs. Nor is it taught to allow others their beliefs and life styles. Instead, each sect of Christianity thinks their particular peephole of the whole is the only way and that if others do not believe as they do, then it is a sin and these disbelievers are of the devil. Where does love come in? Where does treating others the way one wants to be treated come in? Where does the freedom for women enter?
Shakespeare wrote in his play Julius Caesar, "The evil men do lives after them, and the good is oft interred in their bones." The evil men do leaves a trail – a wreckage of lives and we cannot blame it on the Devil or Satan. As Harry Truman said, "The buck stops here."

The celebration of Easter originally come from the pagans who revered life, the earth and celebrated it at the vernal equinox in honor of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eastre or Eostre. She was the goddess of fertility and life in all things. Yes, she represents the feminine aspect of life and fertility. The early Christian fathers hi-jacked this sacred event for their own purposes.

Now, more than ever is the time we each take responsibility for our own life and actions. We cannot respect or love another until we love our self and respect who we are. Life is an inward journey looking out. What do we see? What we see in another is something that is within self. Why not look for the god in everyone? Why not look for something beautiful in another? Why not do random acts of kindness? Whatever we do, will lift us and return to us a thousand fold. Then we can say, "I have risen."

The Knights Templar - Another Point of View

There is a mystique about the Knights Templar and I became intrigued with their history in 1991 when I read Genisis The First Book of Revelations by David Wood. Wood had become interested in the Languedoc region of France surrounding Rennes le Chateau and he is well-versed in sacred geometry as well as being adept at mapping. Wood discovered that there were pentagram templates in this mountainous area that produced unbelievable correspondence between churches and chateaus which dated between the 11th and 12th century AD.

Recently I viewed the documentary Bloodline, produced by Rene Barnett and directed by Bruce Burgess, which is a fascinating film about the discovery of a hidden tomb near Rennes-le-Chateau with a mummified body covered with a white shroud and a Knights Templar red cross symbol on it. In the film, Burgess interviews a member or a representative of the Priory of Sion, which surfaced in the 1950's. What emerged from this interview is that there is an underground temple under this area of Languedoc. What part have the Knights Templar played? How much did they know?

To answer this, I have gone back to my own personal research and also to the knowledge I have gained from being a long-time student of the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, an academy of quantum physics of the mind. As a student, I have been taught about esoteric philosophy and also about the ancient schools of wisdom with the most prominent ones being in Egypt.

The Knights Templar came into being after the First Crusade of 1096, supposedly in 1118 AD and initially with nine knights. These nine knights having formed a monastic order took in no new members for nine years. This is most interesting. What were they doing during those nine years? When the Order was formed, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem gave them quarters in the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount was the captured Al Aqasa Mosque and carried a mystique. The Templar's referred to it as the Temple of Solomon. Why?

It is believed that Solomon's Temple was in Jerusalem, however there is evidence that the Temple was located in Egypt and I will write another posting on that subject. Solomon is also noted for his wisdom. There is a possibility that the nine knights studied in an ancient school of wisdom during those nine years and when they had learned about sacred geometry and the power of the mind, they began taking in new members. I have also learned that many great men - and some women have had to use a cover to hide their ability to do the Great Work. Therefore, there are many misconceptions as to the true nature of some very great people. History is fluid and if one digs deep enough, another truth will emerge.

The Templar's brought back not only sacred geometry, but sacred knowledge and under the cover of the Order of the Knights Templar also known as the Poor Soldiers of Christ. Using the knowledge they had gained, the Order became very rich and were able to build churches. What better way to leave a record for someone in the future to know that the churches and chateaus in the area of Rennes-le-Chateau formed a pentagram indicating a sacred temple under the mountainious area?

Another clue is a well-known drawing of two knights riding together on one horse. This is a clue that there is another side to their purpose and true nature, which is applying esoteric knowledge. Leading a double life, they knew they could not apply this knowledge unless it was hidden from the Catholic Church. Therefore, they used the Church to cover their true purpose. In essence, they were living dual lives. This symbol does represent poverty. It is the obvious unobvious.

The Church has promoted the idea that the pentagram is of the Devil. Not at all. It is the skeleton of the star and it is used on many flags. The flag of the U.S. has fifty stars based on the skeleton of the pentagram. As a child I remember drawing pentagrams with my doodling. No one taught me. The symbol of the pentagram is ancient and the five points represents the human body. Think about it. Stand with your legs and feet stretched apart and your arms straight out. Mentally draw a line from the left foot up to the top of the head and then down to the right foot. Next draw a line from the right foot to the tip of the left hand and then bring the line to the tip of your right hand. Next, draw a line from the outstretched right hand to the left foot. One can get an idea of this from Leonardo DaVinci's Vitruvian Man.

Ancient symbols have carried messages to the human and few realize their full meanings. Therefore, the fact that the Knights Templar were knowledgeable in ancient or esoteric knowledge is revealed in the churches they were responsible for building and the sites they chose. Another clue that is evident reveals itself in their ability to keep alive the Divine Feminine in the form of Mary Magdalene. It is my perspective that the Knights purposely dressed the way they did and also took vows of poverty and chastity to hide their true intent.

Perhaps they learned during those nine years in Jerusalem - or elsewhere that Mary Magdalene was equal to Jesus and that she was also an initiate in a school of ancient knowledge. We do not know for sure that the nine Knights spent all their nine years in Jerusalem supposedly digging for hidden treasure. Their treasure was expanding their minds in the midst of the control of the Church and kings. It is very evident the Knights revered the Divine Feminine and passed this knowledge on to initiates of the mystery schools located under the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Chartres Cathedral in Chartres.

When King Phillip of France seized the assets of the Knights Templar and set out to kill all of them, one of the things they were accused of was worshipping a skull named Baphomet. There were artists who were painting a skull with Mary Magdalene and most of the interpretations have missed what it represented. The skull houses the brain and the brain is the greatest computer ever conceived and created. The skull represents sacred knowledge and that everyone has the ability to access it.

In my books Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls and Mary Magdalene, Her Legacy, I have strived to portray a side of Mary Magdalene that has been ignored by mainstream scholars who continue to shift through the dry bones of the New Testament. There was and is another side to who and what she was. One clue comes from the Eastern Orthodox Church, which has a tradition of painting eggs red at Easter. The story is that after Jesus' death and resurrection, that Mary Magdalene attended a banquet given by Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar and when questioned by him replied "Christ is risen." Tiberius handed her a hardboiled egg from the banquet table and handed to her. He told her that he would believe her if she turned the egg red. Within a blink of an eye, the egg turned red. There had to be something great about her for this legend to have been passed down through hundreds of years.

Therefore, the Knights Templar did their part by keeping her memory alive along with the Divine Feminine. There is much more symbology revealed in the churches they were responsible for building and that is another blog posting.