The Five Major Initiations and the Christian Calendar
What is an initiation? The word comes from two Latin words, in, into; and ire, to go. It is the entrance or beginning of something. The initiation process is often likened to a simultaneous death and rebirth, because, as well as being a beginning, it also implies an ending, as existence on one level drops away and one moves upward to the next. The way may be difficult, but it is traveled with joy by those whose consciousness is attuned to Christ.
A historical Christ existed and walked on earth and is the guarantee to us of our own ultimate achievement. The mythic Christ, appearing again and again down the ages, proves that God has never left Himself without witness and that always there have been those who have achieved. The cosmic Christ immerses Himself in the form aspect of nature and is manifest as the urge towards perfection in all the kingdoms of nature.
The five major initiations are symbolically portrayed each year in the Christian calendar by five major feasts of the Lord Christ. Through these Gospel stories, the life of Christ is intended to show us the path we must follow to share His divinity.
The Five Initiations are known as:
1. The Birth at Bethlehem
Out of the darkness of the womb of matter, the Christ child is born in the cave of the human heart, beginning a new cycle of spiritual unfoldment. The feast of Christmas portrays the birth of the Christ consciousness in the cave of our hearts. We walk in a world of illusion, but are training ourselves to walk in the light of the higher self. Christ referred to this when He called to Nicodemus, saying, ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ (St. John, III, 3.)
2. The Baptism in the Jordan River
In the waters of the Jordan, Christ is purified and made ready for His work on earth. This is the baptism of water by John the Baptist, while the baptism of fire by the Holy Spirit must be administered to us by Christ. (St. Matt., III, 11.)
3. The Transfiguration on Mount Carmel
Christ resolves the dualities of the higher and lower in Himself and then shows us “the body of light” at the Transfiguration. There, perfection is for the first time demonstrated, and the divine possibility of such perfection is proven to the disciples. The command goes forth to us, ‘Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ (St. Matt., V, 48.) From this mountaintop experience, Christ then proceeds into the valley of duty and service.
4. The Crucifixion on Mount Golgotha
The Crucifixion symbolizes the renunciation of personal desire and the dedication to living service. In the East, this is called the Great Renunciation, the death of the lower nature. St. Paul parallels Buddhist teaching by emphasizing the complete “emptying of self”. This was the lesson which he knew and the goal towards which he strove. ‘I die daily,’ St. Paul said, for only in the practice of death daily undergone can the final Death be met and endured. (I Cor., XV, 31.)
5. The Resurrection and Ascension
The Resurrection and Ascension takes us beyond the human level to the Saints, “the just ones made perfect”, for we will have learned all the lessons earth-life is intended to teach. Here we realize the meaning of the words: ‘Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?’ (I Cor., XV, 55.)
“Christ is risen”, is the cry of His disciples and because Christ has risen, the kingdom of God can go forward on earth. The message of love will be spread by His disciples and their followers. In the future, the terror of death will vanish as humanity regards it as part of life’s cycle toward greater life and light.
Each initiation marks the passing of the individual into a higher level of consciousness, resulting in an increasing unity with all that lives and the essential oneness of the self with all selves. This increased consciousness reveals God's plans for the world, and an increased ability to enter into those plans and to further them.
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