The date of Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon, which occurs after the vernal equinox. The Western Church uses the Gregorian calendar to set the date, but the Orthodox Church uses the older Julian calendar. Therefore, they usually take place on different dates.
Easter marks the awareness of death and rebirth, of spiritual renewal. However, this cycle of dying and rising is a recurring feature in most world mythologies. Central to the Christian idea of Easter is the cross. But the cross predates Christianity; its symbol is ageless, and permeates all cultures.
Scholar Cirlot, one of the world’s leading authorities on symbols, explains that the cross, as a symbol of the “Tree of Life”, functions as an emblem of the “axis of the world”. Situated in the center of the mystical heart of the cosmos, the cross symbolically becomes the bridge or ladder through which the soul can reach God. The cross thus confirms the basic relationship between the heavenly and earthly worlds. In other words, it is through the experience of the crucifixion (lived knowledge of opposites) that one comes to the center of oneself (enlightenment).
The sign of the cross activates four factors, and is directly related to the four elements (fire, water, earth and air). He also refers to the Tetraktis or sacred Tetrad of the Pythagoreans; to the four cardinal points; and the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter name of the deity in the Judeo-Christian mystical tradition (IHVH).
The archetypal meaning of the symbol of the cross is always that of the integration of opposites: the vertical axis (masculine) with the horizontal axis (feminine); the upper with the lower; time with space; the asset with the liability; Spirit and matter. When placed inside the circle it is the symbol of our own Earth.
As at a crossroads, a time of choice and adjustment at personal, social and global levels of being.
As a symbol that conveys the understanding of the soul, it drives us to participate in something greater, that infuses meaning and allows the mystery of the sacred to manifest itself. However, the great cross literally throws out the old way of being, and it is our choice how we participate.
Easter offers us the metaphor that the cross is performed within a process and we can honor it as a rite of passage. It’s a holiday, a holy day.
In this important period of celebrations, we have the opportunity to create space for deep reflection and thus assess how much our own beliefs and behaviors drive us and facilitate the passage of the various stages of our lives.
Where do we start and where are we? What do we gain or give up along the way? What are the disappointments and new discoveries?
How am I helped and how do I help? How do I collaborate for the greater good and distribute love and joy to those around me?
The world is not static, it is constantly changing, just like us; even if we don’t notice. And something very important allows our lives to have more meaning:
the affections and connections we develop.
Whatever the level, whatever the scale, it adds lightness, delicacy and softness to our days.
And even today, in this troubled period, where people have less and less time to contemplate, a smile, a joke, a caress, brighten our day and can change the course of events.
The most challenging quests are interior ones. That’s where the treasure to be explored is found. It is in silence, in reflection, that the path is illuminated. From this conscious exploration, of our lights and shadows, these aspects emerge and allow us a new version of ourselves to emerge. We are then complete and, by choice, donate in full.
This is the true passage, the true rebirth. The deepest meaning of Easter, which creates every condition and fertile soil, to plant and prepare for a new harvest.
How will the manifestation of these energies come about?
@ Debbie Worthington
