THE DIVINE MOTHER BIXIA YUANJU

 

I have a special devotion to the Divine Mother. I was baptised and raised a Roman Catholic. I studied in exclusive Dominican and Jesuit schools where the Blessed Virgin Mary occupied a special place in the student’s prayer life. In times of trouble, she would come to my aid whenever I prayed for her intervention. Our abstract relationship was based on faith in a detached sort of way. She was for all intent and purposes a mental construct. That all changed when She became real to me in the most unusual place and circumstances.

It was August 1995. I and five other companions arrived at the foot of Tai Shan (Great Mountain) in Shandong, China. There are five sacred Taoist mountains in China and Tai Shan is said to be the most significant one. Standing at 1,545m above sea level, emperors would climb the mountain for thousands of years to make offerings to Heaven and Earth upon ascending to the throne. There are several paths to the summit. One can take it the hard way on foot going through 6,660 stone steps from the Red Gate, or the easy way by bus and cable car. We took the easy way. We took the bus from Tai’an City to the Middle Gate of Heaven, which was half way between the base of the mountain and the summit. From there we boarded the cable car to Moon Viewing Peak followed by a long flight of steps up to the South Gate of Heaven from where one can reach the summit.

The Shenqui Hotel was the only hotel in the summit and served as our abode. Its location more than compensated for the limited and basic amenities. The major sights, shrines, and temples were within walking distance. We explored the mountain, marvelled at the breathtaking sceneries, and meditated at certain spots radiating tremendous spiritual energies. One such place of interest to me was the Precipice of the Tang Dynasty. About a thousand Chinese characters in elegant Tang Dynasty calligraphy were inscribed on the 13.3 meters high and 5.5 meters wide precipice memorialising Tai Shan. I wondered if Chinese characters were akin to sigils as I could sense the presence of powerful beings.

The Bixia Temple Complex was another important pilgrimage site in the mountain. It is the home of the Supreme Goddess of Tai Shan, Bixia Yuanju known also as Azure Cloud. One late afternoon, after viewing the Drum and Bell Tower, a thick fog covered the mountain on our way to the main Azure Cloud Temple. We were in the front courtyard when the visibility became so poor that we had to walk close to each other in order not to lose our way and miss the portal. It was dark inside the temple hall except for some candles illuminating a bronze image of a woman with what appeared to be colourful balls suspended in the air by strings surrounding it. As I moved forward to have a better view, the image transformed into what looked like little spheres of energy moving up and down a pillar of light. Suddenly, my whole body was embraced with such overwhelming maternal love that I began to weep uncontrollably like an infant from the sheer intoxicating joy and sense of reassuring security. Embarrassed at the spectacle I was making of myself in front of friends and other visitors, I tried so hard to stop crying. Suppressing my tears just made me shake uncontrollably until I decided to just let go and let the moment pass. After calming down, Master Choa Kok Sui, the leader of our group of six pilgrims, asked me what just happened. I replied just as puzzled and said ‘I don’t know.’ Our circle of friends subsequently discussed the incident that night and concluded that I more likely entered the womb of the Divine Mother.

The next morning, we woke up early to catch the spectacular Tai Shan sunrise at the Sun Viewing Peak. Still reeling from yesterday’s experience, I positioned myself beside our tourist guide under the rock formation called the Gonbei stone. It is shaped like a suspended stubby index finger pointing towards the sea. The view in front of us looked just like a Chinese watercolour painting. The mountains were spread out with their peaks jutting out of a sea of clouds. The Sun shortly began to ascend along the horizon. As it stood over the mountains, the Sun’s radiance transformed the white clouds into gold and painted the blue sky with tints of gold, orange, pink and violet. At that moment, our guide nudged my shoulder, pointed at the breathtaking panorama and whispered “Azure Cloud. Azure Cloud.” I didn’t know if he was referring to the clouds or the Sun but I intuitively knew I was witnessing the Sun Goddess in all her splendour. At that same moment, the previous night’s familiar sensations resurfaced and confirmed my epiphany.

I found out later that Bixia Yuanju is the Divinity associated with the dawn, childbirth and destiny. There is no direct allusion of Her as being the Sun Goddess. Sun deities are traditionally male in China. As such, her role as Goddess of the Dawn is ambiguously referred to as attending to the birth of a new day. As Goddess of childbirth, she is the benefactrix of women who wish to give birth, bringing good fortune and influencing the destiny of children. The dawn and childbirth are analogous representations of the Divine Mother’s archetypical qualities. Just as the rising sun illuminates the earth from the darkness of the night, a child emerges to the light of the world from the darkness of the womb. In certain places in Tai Shan, one can find mounds of loose pebble stones and prayer locks on chain railings representing petitions and prayers from her devotees. She is said to be the only daughter of the Lord Emperor of Tai Shan and thus the mountain’s Empress. She is also known as Princess of the Azure Clouds, Princess of the Rosy Clouds, and the Heavenly Jade Maiden.

The Japanese adopted much of China’s culture and traditions, but had the clarity to acknowledge the Light Bringer as female and thus their Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. All created form is female. The earth, the moon, the sun are all female. On the other hand, the unseen mover of creation, the spirit that gives life to form, is male. An Australian aboriginal dreamtime story of creation speaks of a Sun Goddess in the eternal cycle of rest and activity. According to the Karraur tribe of South Australia, the Great Father Spirit, Baiame, saw the world asleep and in utter darkness. He stirred Yhi, the Divine Mother, from her slumber and whispered ‘it was time for activity to begin again.’ Ascending from the Nullarbor cave, she bathed the plains around her with radiating light dispelling the darkness. The Sun Goddess travelled in all directions springing life forms wherever she went. Wastelands were filled with vegetation. Creatures of every kind filled the earth, the sky and the sea. At the end of the day, she returned to her cave, the symbolic womb where aboriginal mothers would traditionally give birth. All creation wept and mourned her departure only to rejoice the following day when a new dawn brought the eternal promise of renewal. Baiame was pleased and ruled over his dominions over a long period of time until the return of the next period of rest.

The Karraur dreamtime creation story runs parallel with the story of creation in the Mysteries. All of existence is eternal, no beginning and no end. There are only periods of activity, and periods of rest. In the microcosm, they are called day and night. In the macrocosm, they are called manvantara and pralaya. The Divine energy encompassing everything is vibrating at different rates. Energy vibrating at the highest rate of the spectrum is Spirit or the Divine Father. Energy vibrating at its lowest rate is Matter or the Divine Mother. The synthesis of both energies is the Cosmic Consciousness or the Divine Son.

Since my wonderful experience with the Divine Mother in Tai Shan, I have become more aware of her presence everywhere I go. During our 1997 meeting in Canterbury, United Kingdom, Drunvalo Melchizedek shared his encounter with the Sun Goddess Amaterasu and once again I felt the Divine Mother’s presence. In recent times, She has made more appearances in the form Her devotees recognize Her to be. She appears in my meditations and continues to give me guidance and solace. The Divine Mother is indeed actively involved in our planet’s transformation and finally reclaiming her rightful place in mankind’s consciousness. Isn’t it about time for you to acknowledge Her as well?

A DIFFERENT KIND OF CHRISTMAS STORY

 
For a deeper understanding of the mysteries, the ancients would refer to certain principles of creation. One of these is the Law of Correspondence. It was succinctly written on the Emerald Tablets as - “As above so below. As below so above.” In order to understand the mysteries of the microcosm, one has to look for answers in the macrocosm. Equally whatever happens in the heavens is correspondingly manifested on earth. Christmas provides an excellent event to explain this principle.

Our planet Earth revolves around the majestic Sun for a period of one year. The Earth’s spin axis is tilted 23.5 degrees with respect to its orbit around the Sun. In view of this tilt, the ecliptic plane of the Earth’s path is likewise tilted 23.5 degrees. This ecliptic anomaly results in the different seasons we experience in the planet. The Sun would appear to be traveling between the North and South Poles along an imaginary vertical line crossing the earth’s equator twice a year.

The Sun is on the tip of the North Pole during the Summer Solstice around June 22 varying each year between the 21st and 23rd day of the month. The northern hemisphere is at its warmest and brightest. People living in the farthest reaches of the north hardly experience any nights at all. Three days later, the Sun appears to begin its descent to the south. As the earth travels farther on its orbit, the Sun reaches the equator on the Autumnal Equinox around September 22 each year. The nights become longer and days shorter in the northern hemisphere. The Sun heads towards the South Pole and reaches it on the Winter Solstice around December 22. People in the northern hemisphere experience darkness in varying degrees. In the farthest north, it becomes completely black 24 hours a day. The Sun stays on the tip of the South Pole for three days, and on the third day, it begins its journey back to the North Pole. It reaches the equator on the Vernal Equinox around March 22. As the Sun crosses the equator, the days become longer and the nights shorter until the North Pole is reached on the Summer Solstice where the annual cycle begins once again on the third day.

Picture yourself in the farthest reaches of the North Pole during the Winter Solstice where there is complete darkness for three days. How do you think you would feel? Feelings of deep depression, of desperation, of doom and gloom would likely rule. How do you think you’d feel when the third day finally comes and the Sun begins his journey back? Feelings of ecstatic joy and the jubilation that hope of a new beginning brings would probably be overwhelming. The ancients understood this cycle of death and rebirth profoundly, and called the third day after the Winter Solstice Natalis Solis Invicti or Birth of the Unconquered Sun. This return of the Sun god was universally observed in the pagan world. The Newgrange Megalithic Passage Tomb in Ireland acclaimed this rite of passage as early as 3200 BCE. In 274 CE, Roman Emperor Aurelian fixed the feast day on December 25.

This annual solar event is influenced by other astrological interventions. In the year 4 CE, it is said that two unusual events happened. On the 24th of December, a brilliant star appeared in the heavens moving towards the west. Following it from the east were three bright stars. It is said that the brilliant star was from the Canis Major or Sirius and the three bright stars following it were from the belt of Orion or Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. In the early hours of the next day, the constellation of Virgo ascended in the eastern sky just as the Sun appeared over the horizon below it. It is said that under auspicious moments, such as the preceding star configuration, an Avatar is born by a Virgin during the Birth of the Unconquered Sun. The custom of ascribing December 25 as the birth date of divinities born of a virgin began. Mithra, Hercules and Krishna were said to be born on December 25.

To consolidate power during his reign between 306-337 CE, Roman Emperor Constantine the Great introduced many changes to the Christian religion distancing it farther away from its Judeo origins, aligning it more to the pagan practices of Rome, and introducing uniform Christian doctrines and practices that were more acceptable to the Romans. The Sabbath, for instance, was moved to Sunday in honor of the Sun God. Supplanting the Natalis Solis Invicti with Christmas was also attributed to him but no official records attest to this. It was only in 354 CE during the Roman papacy of Pope Liberius and the reign of Roman Emperor Constancius II that a list of observances included both Natalis Invicti and natus Christus in Betleem Iudeæ on December 25 in the Philocalian Calendar.

The celestial story of the Birth of the Unconquered Sun and the birth of the Christ is a good example of the Law of Correspondence. The former represents the macrocosm and the later the microcosm. Just as the Sun returns from darkness to bring the light, the Christ was born to bring the light and hope to the world. Just as the Christ was born of a Virgin, the Solar daybreak was under the constellation of Virgo. Just as the three bright stars on the belt of Orion followed Sirius, the three wise men of the east followed the brilliant star to Bethlehem.

Barring whatever distastes Christians may have for anything pagan, the fact that the annual celebration of Christmas had its origins from pagan traditions cannot be disputed. But does the origin of Christmas day really matter? Christmas is about the joy and the hope that comes with the spirit of renewal. It is about acknowledging our interconnectedness and unity with all of creation. It is about the birth of a Divinity whose life and message of love makes our world a better place to live in. That’s the real story of Christmas whether it is depicted as a spectacular drama in the heavens or a treasured event in our mundane lives.