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.