The Spiritual Meaning of the Winter Solstice

~ Copyright 2011 Belsebuub and Angela Pritchard

The birth of a divine child and savior at the winter solstice has formed a central part of spiritual beliefs throughout the world since the beginning of history—in ancient Egypt as the birth of Horus, the birth of Mithra in Persia, the birth of Jesus at Christmas, the birth of the divine son at the Alban Arthan of the druids etc. These celebrations are evidence of how people separated by vast distances and time have tapped into a universal spiritual principle that is just as relevant now as it was then.

They speak to us of a mysterious and universal understanding of spiritual transformation. All things which come into being must first be born. Even as creation was borne by the great Mother of the universe, so too must we be born of the spirit to become spirit. The winter solstice is a celebration of being “born again” – not of flesh, but of the spirit. The spirit, symbolized as a child just as the winter sun at its weakest, will grow until reaching its full strength at the summer solstice – just as the spirit grows within a prepared individual to transform them completely from inner darkness into light.

At the winter solstice we are that darkness, longing for the light of the spirit to save us from our own inner poverty and deficiencies. The event of winter solstice speaks to us of the human condition and the way in which we can unite ourselves with the spirit, which divine saviors throughout time, born at the winter solstice, came to teach us. Whilst the forms used to express this knowledge were according to culture, at their core is found a shared knowledge of the interconnectedness of life, the cosmos, and the spirit within humankind.

The Birth of the Sun

The meaning of the winter solstice operates on a number of levels. At its core is the birth of the sun – both universally and personally.

The rising of the sun on the winter solstice, out of the darkest point of the year, echoes the birth of the light from the dark void on the first day of creation.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
~ Genesis 1:1-5

The connection between the winter solstice and the birth of the sun at the dawning of creation is why the ancient Egyptians aligned their Temple of Karnak, the largest temple in the world, to the winter solstice sunrise and dedicated it to their supreme creator god Amun. This temple was devoted to creation, and was even expanded upon according to the Fibonacci sequence, which is a mathematical principle found in the growth and expansion of life.

The birth of the son/sun is a profoundly significant event explained in How Enlightenment is the Process of Creation in the Universe in Reverse.

The sun that exists in the physical world as the fire we see in the sky also exists in the higher dimensions as a spiritual fire – as the spiritual source of all creation. This is why there is an overlap in the creation story in Genesis between natural and supernatural phenomenon, and in many accounts of creation in spiritual cultures. The natural phenomenon is the physical, tangible manifestation of the supernatural phenomenon. This is why many spiritual cultures throughout the world venerated the sun – they knew of its supreme, spiritual side.

The spiritual sun is a living and divine fire, and the highest source of all creation, as explained in ancient sacred texts from around the world. However, as creation follows universal principles, the birth of the sun also represents the birth of the spiritual sun within an individual in the process of enlightenment. It is born into the time of the highest darkness—the physical sun gives life to the external world, the spiritual sun gives spiritual life to the individual.

The Birth of the Divine Savior

Every spiritual teaching throughout the world had some word for attaining enlightenment, whether it was awakening, self-realization, salvation, imperishability, or immortality. Most still have remnants of a divine savior associated with the sun, and many associated the birth of this savior with the winter solstice. This divine savior always taught humanity how to achieve enlightenment, to become a ‘son of God’.

Although Christmas is now largely a corporate money making scheme and time of selfish indulgence, the birth of the savior was intended to bring to earth a profound spiritual message for the whole of humankind. This message was continually brought to earth anew as previous teachings became old, obscure and locked within religious dogma. These teachings often became seen as the “exclusive property” of a certain group who then fought to wipe out “competing religions” – when really they were just the same universal teaching given in different times and circumstances.

For those who are working toward enlightenment now and have done throughout history, the teaching of these divine saviors had a dual aspect—they taught the work to enlightenment in what they said, but also in the events of their lives.

A study of the events of the lives of the divine savior in different times and cultures, such as Jesus (esoteric Christian), Mithras (Persian), Hu/Hesus (Druid), Horus (Egyptian), etc., reveal that the events of their lives match the progress of the sun throughout the year, and the zodiac.

Many theorize this happened because the different religions borrowed from one another. Others point to the fact that each of these deities was closely associated with the sun, and therefore were merely representing the astrological worship of the sun to simple-minded sun worshippers, waiting for their crops to grow etc.

But there is another explanation for this incredible similarity. Often this explanation was only known by the initiates of esoteric schools who encoded the knowledge of it in the symbols of sacred sites. To the public these often complex symbols look obscure and even nonsensical, therefore protecting the knowledge from those who would deride and destroy it. This mechanism has helped to preserve much of the knowledge found in sacred sites up unto this day.

Each of these deities was known as a savior of mankind, and a beloved and sacred divine child. Each of these deities was associated with the sun, and all of them born at the winter solstice in a miraculous virgin birth. The lives and stories of these deities tells us of a great mystery, which in the case of Jesus, he came to earth with a mission to reveal both in the events of his life and his teachings.

Realizing Our Potential

Every human being is a latent spiritual potential, like a seed. We live asleep to the greater realities of existence, and to the greater reality of who we are and what we came here to do. We live out our lives in the darkness of our own subconscious which we dream in at night, many following the external worship of spiritual things, yet never becoming spiritual themselves.

Whether we choose to realize it or not, each of us has the potential to become an awakened self-realized being. This is why sacred texts from ancient times and still today, always point towards enlightenment as the ultimate goal of life.

Literally, the work of enlightenment is found written in the cosmos in the movement of the sun and stars, which is why so many ancient spiritual cultures incorporated celestial movements into their spiritual monuments and sacred texts. This is what life is created for, so no wonder we find it reflected to us from the heavens, and intrinsic to everything around us. This is so we can always discover our true purpose for being here and realize our own spiritual potential – when we choose to search for it.

At the autumn equinox day and night were equal, but from that the autumn equinox onwards there is more darkness than light—this is the time of the descent into the underworld to face and overcome one’s own inner darkness. This is why we find many of these deities descending into Hades/hell/the underworld at this time of year.

At the winter solstice, darkness is at its maximum, but there is hope in the winter sunrise from which the light gradually increases—this is the time of the birth of the spirit within, and why we find so many deities born at the time of winter solstice.

At the spring equinox day and night are once again equal, but from that time onwards light is greater than darkness—this is the time of inner death, resurrection and attaining eternal life, and why these deities are killed and later come back to life to live eternally.

At the summer solstice, the light is at its greatest—this is the time of the ascension and return to the divine source, and why at this time of year these deities return to their eternal abode. From the ending of the summer solstice, the days get shorter to begin the eternal cycle again: the eternal path to enlightenment that does not belong to any religion, time, or culture, but exists throughout the universe.

The creative process which gives birth to the universe, also gives birth to the spiritual within a human. Thus the divine savior is not just born into the world, they can be born within us—into the symbolic stables, prison, or cave, which is the spirit entering into the humble and limited fleshly vehicle of the physical body.

The Birth of the Spiritual Sun Within

We are born as physical beings, but in order to become spiritual we must be born as spiritual beings. It is through the birth of the Christ (a name which should not be understood as belonging to any religion but the word that describes a universal spiritual force), the cosmic fire symbolized by the sun, that this potential can be realized, and this is what Jesus meant when he said that we must be “born again.”

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
~ John 3:1-7

This need to be “born again” was also taught in the Eleusinian mystery schools of ancient Greece in which the human condition was seen as a tomb, and why the Christ in many different cultures (as Viracocha, Jesus, Mithras, Hu Gadarn (of the druids) etc.) was symbolized as being born into a cave as explained further below:

The soul of man–often called Psyche, and in the Eleusinian Mysteries symbolized by Persephone–is essentially a spiritual thing. Its true home is in the higher worlds, where, free from the bondage of material form and material concepts, it is said to be truly alive and self-expressive. The human, or physical, nature of man, according to this doctrine, is a tomb, a quagmire, a false and impermanent thing, the source of all sorrow and suffering. Plato describes the body as the sepulcher of the soul; and by this he means not only the human form but also the human nature.

The gloom and depression of the Lesser Mysteries represented the agony of the spiritual soul unable to express itself because it has accepted the limitations and illusions of the human environment. The crux of the Eleusinian argument was that man is neither better nor wiser after death than during life. If he does not rise above ignorance during his sojourn here, man goes at death into eternity to wander about forever, making the same mistakes which he made here. If he does not outgrow the desire for material possessions here, he will carry it with him into the invisible world, where, because he can never gratify the desire, he will continue in endless agony. Dante’s Inferno is symbolically descriptive of the sufferings of those who never freed their spiritual natures from the cravings, habits, viewpoints, and limitations of their Plutonic personalities. Those who made no endeavor to improve themselves (whose souls have slept) during their physical lives, passed at death into Hades, where, lying in rows, they slept through all eternity as they had slept through life.

To the Eleusinian philosophers, birth into the physical world was death in the fullest sense of the word, and the only true birth was that of the spiritual soul of man rising out of the womb of his own fleshly nature. “The soul is dead that slumbers,” says Longfellow, and in this he strikes the keynote of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Just as Narcissus, gazing at himself in the water (the ancients used this mobile element to symbolize the transitory, illusionary, material universe) lost his life trying to embrace a reflection, so man, gazing into the mirror of Nature and accepting as his real self the senseless clay that he sees reflected, loses the opportunity afforded by physical life to unfold his immortal, invisible Self.
~ Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages

To be born of the spirit is not a matter of adopting or changing beliefs—for anything to be born, it must follow the same process of creation which we see on the largest of scales, right to the very smallest, throughout the whole of creation. In the Gospel of John above, Jesus refers to the waters and the spirit that moves upon it, as found in the story of creation in Genesis in the Bible, which gave rise to the birth of the sun on the first day. The waters is the female force, found symbolized in Mary, and Isis, etc. and the spirit moving upon it is the male force, symbolized by the Father, and Osiris etc. These same forces of creation can be found in creation myths throughout sacred texts of the word.

The male and female forces are what gives birth to all life. At the dawn of creation, their union gave birth to the sun and the entirety of creation. This birth of the sun, on an esoteric level, is the birth of the spiritual sun—the birth of the force of the Christ within. To be born of water and the Spirit, is a reference to the often secret practice of alchemy, which was referred to as “the bridal chamber” in the texts of esoteric Christianity.

Spiritual Birth From Alchemical Union

Physically, we know that sex between a man and a woman creates a child. Out of a tiny egg, an unmanifested potential springs forth almost miraculously becoming an entirely new human being that grows just as a plant from out of a tiny little seed. Thus we see within man and woman, the primordial forces of the Egyptian father god Amun and his wife, the Egyptian mother goddess Mut, which give rise to all creation. These three forces have been symbolized time and again, as Osiris, Isis, and their son Horus (Egyptian); Father, Mary, and Jesus (Christian); Zarathustra, Anahita, and Mithras (Persian); Celu, Cariadwen and Hu Gadarn (of the Druids) and many, many others.

This incredible power of creation we each have is mentioned in Genesis, where it says that we are created in the image of God:

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
~ Genesis 1:27

But this power to create is not limited to the creation of a physical child. Within the human being we also find the materials of spiritual creation. From this union of male and female, not only can children be born, but also the Christ within, just as the spiritual sun, the Christ, is born from the union of these forces at the dawning of creation.

This process has been referred to in many esoteric traditions as tantrism in the East, the bridal chamber of the esoteric Christians, and alchemy in the middle ages, in which man and woman in sexual union are depicted as spiritual co-creators. It involves the purification of the waters, which are the sexual energies, in preparation for creation; the awakening of the sacred fiery energy called kundalini symbolized as the serpent raising up the spine in ancient India, and crowning the forehead in Egypt; the creation of the wedding garments (which are spiritual bodies of gold created in the bridal chamber), referred to by Jesus; and many other spiritual processes which must be gone through, until the initiate has reached a spiritual level required for the Christ to be born within.

The energy of the kidneys is under the water sign. When the desires are stirred, it runs downward, is directed outward, and creates children. If, in the moment of release, it is not allowed to flow outward, but is led back by the energy of thought so that it penetrates the crucible of the Creative, and refreshes heart and body and nourishes them, that also is the backward-flowing method. Therefore it is said, The Way of the Elixir of Life depends entirely on the backward-flowing method.
~ a description of tantrism from the Taoist text The Secret of the Golden Flower

The first integration of yin and yang is the union of seed and egg within the womb. The second integration of yin and yang is the sexual union of the mature male and female. Both of these are concerned with flesh and blood, and all that is conceived in this realm must one day disintegrate and pass away. It is only the third integration which gives birth to something immortal, In this integration, a highly evolved individual joins the subtle inner energies of yin and yang under the light of spiritual understanding. Through the practices of the Integral Way he refines his gross, heavy energy into something ethereal and light. This divine light has the capability of penetrating into the mighty ocean of spiritual energy and complete wisdom that is the Tao.
~ Hua Hu Ching

Just as physical fire has the ability to destroy and create things, so does this inner Christic fire have the same ability to destroy the negative aspects of ourselves and allow us to be completely “born again” as a spiritual being, which eventually ascends (celebrated at the summer solstice) to the source of creation, the Absolute (the Brahman of ancient India), as an enlightened and awakened Deva, a son of God.

We find this referenced in John where he speaks about Christ as the true Light (which is the light of the spiritual sun) and the potential we each have to become a “son of God”, and that this happens through being born of God, which is the sacred process of creation that occurs in alchemy.

That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
~ John 1:9-13

The Birth of the World Teacher

Christmas is not only the celebration of the birth of the divine savior into the human – it is also a celebration of the birth of the Christ into the world as the world teacher. Jesus, Horus, and Mithras, were all referred to as a “divine savior”. The divine savior has a dual meaning – Christ both saves the individual by entering into them and transforming them spiritually, and also works to save humanity by teaching through the individual that is entered into. The mission of the Christ within a person, and thus in the world, is to save.

Christ is the neutral force of creation. In Persia Mithras is known as “the Mediator”. This is because the Christ within a person acts to reconcile us with divinity; and as the world teacher acts as the intermediary between humanity and divinity, becoming a link between heaven and earth so that humanity can be connected with and taught the sacred universal knowledge.

In the legends of the pre-Inca and Inca people, the creator god Viracocha who is depicted with a crown of the sun and whose image appears in a cliff in the Urubamba Sacred Valley whose mineral content reflects and refracts the rays of the sun on the winter solstice when it strikes his profile, rose from Lake Titicaca (or sometimes the cave of Pacaritambo) during the time of darkness to bring forth light. Viracocha made the earth, the stars, the sky, and mankind (again, the light emerges from the primordial waters, or the cave which is a symbol of the womb, and precedes to make creation).  It was said that he wandered the earth disguised as a beggar, teaching his new creations the basics of civilization, as well as working numerous miracles (just as Jesus did, who had the Christ within). He wept when he saw the plight of the creatures he had created.

The ancient Indian creator god Vishnu is said to incarnate in different avatars  (the most famous of which are Rama and Krishna) throughout the various ages, and that these incarnations take place in all Yugas and cosmic cycles.

Whenever spirituality decays and materialism is rampant, then O Arjuna, I reincarnate Myself! To protect the righteous, to destroy the wicked and to establish the kingdom of God, I am reborn from age to age.
~ Krishna, The Bhagavad Gita

This divine savior is always said to one day return. It was thought that Viracocha would re-appear in times of trouble (just as other Christic saviors such as Jesus, Mithras, and the avatars of Vishnu etc., are believed to). This is the return of the Christ within the individual to teach humanity the way toward enlightenment. There are many, many men and women who have incarnated the Christ and taught humanity throughout history – many of whom are completely unknown to history. However, there are others who are born awakened, like Jesus, who come with a mission from the Absolute, to show the way to enlightenment in the events of their life.

Unfortunately however, each time Christ returns the teaching eventually becomes a religion where people await the literal return of Jesus, Viracocha, etc., whilst the real Christ returns within a person because of their spiritual work (not their religious beliefs) and is rejected by the world and society, teaching the real esoteric wisdom unbeknownst to and even hated by religious believers who lack the understanding of the real esoteric meaning of the teachings which formed the basis of their religion.

For more on the deeper meaning of Christmas see the article The Symbolic Meaning of Christmas

The Meaning of the Cave and Stables Where the Christ is Born

The winter solstice sun is “born” at the darkest point of the year. The sun is at its lowest, most southerly point in the sky. This is because all creation takes place from out of darkness and chaos, as it did on the first day in Genesis, in Egyptian mythology, and in the verses of the ancient Hindu text the Rig Veda.

The cave symbolizes the womb from which all of creation is born and emerges, the primordial chaos. This is why Mithras was born in a cave, and why Jesus was also said to be born in a cave in the Gospel of James. In Armenian tradition, Mithras was believed to shut himself up in a cave from which he emerged once a year, born anew. The pre-Inca and Inca creator god Viracocha, who was crowned with the sun, was also said to be born in a cave to bring light into the darkness.

At the Dinas Mountain in Wales there is a nearby cave that goes by a Welsh name meaning “Voice of God” where the Druids enacted the birth of their solar god Hu Gadarn (the Mabyn Taliesun) from within the cave. The Druid priest acting as Hu Gadarn gave a loud musical shout to which the gathered crowds would reply “Ein Hoes” meaning “Our Life!”

Incredibly, at the ancient Neolithic site of Newgrange, the winter solstice sunlight enters an otherwise giant dark mound precisely at sunrise. The ray of light travels up and illuminates the chamber which is in the shape of a cross. Here the cross is associated with the birth of Christ on the winter solstice, thousands of years before Jesus. The cross is an alchemical symbol showing the union of the phallus and uterus, of male and female, which give birth to all creation and the Christ. The Christ is born as the sun into the mound, which acts as the womb. Also inside the chamber are found spiral designs, showing the spiraling nature of creation, along with a tri-spiral design, which possibly represented the mother, father, and son trinity of creation and the nativity.

In the nativity scene of the Gospels, Jesus is also said to be born in stables amongst animals. The stables symbolize the physical body of the initiated human being, and the animals represent the egos which we have within that are animalistic in nature, such as anger, pride, envy, hatred, etc. This shows that although someone must have reached a spiritually prepared enough level for the Christ to be born within, when the Christ comes they are still in darkness and with the egos. The force of the Christ within then works to destroy these egos, and spiritually transform the initiate. This is what it means to be “saved” in Jesus’ teachings.

Stone murals of Mithras found in once secret chambers beneath Rome show Mithras emerging from a rock holding a flaming torch, again associating the divine son with fire and light. The Christ brings light to our inner darkness. Mithras is also depicted holding a sword as he emerges, and this shows how the Christ comes into the initiate to fight the darkness both in the subconscious of the initiate and in the world, to overcome it, transforming the initiate into total light, into a totally awakened conscious being.

Krishna is born at the winter solstice into a prison. This symbolizes the birth of the Christ into the physical body of the initiate, which is a temporary vehicle that is to the divine as a limited prison.

Christ is born as a baby at the winter solstice as all things that are born must start small and grow. The sun at this time is small and weak as a baby, and so Horus and Jesus were depicted at this time as babies in a manger. At the winter solstice the druids would gather in Wales to watch the sun rise over the sacred mountain of Mynydd Dinas, and believed the sun represented the birth of a divine baby son who grew as the year progressed toward the summer solstice. This is a representation of the birth of the spiritual within, because just as a baby is born as something that feels and perceives but is not able to do much, the birth of the Christ within someone is as a new feeling and new way of perceiving, but yet to become something much more, which Christ within develops into just as Jesus in the Gospels grows to become an adult, progressing through other symbolic events in his life.

Although the light is born at the winter solstice, giving hope, it is still born into darkness and has yet to grow.

The Spiritual Treasure Found in the Depths of Darkness

The winter solstice is one point of four in the wheel of the year. Each point symbolizes a stage in the process of a human being undergoing a transformation to reach enlightenment, as this is what all of life is created for.

At the autumn equinox, the initiate, symbolized by John the Baptist, must descend into the darkness of himself and of Hades/hell. He descends the 9 layers of the underworld to uncover the darkness of his own subconscious in order to transform it into consciousness, and incarnate the Christ within. This stage is explained in depth in The Spiritual Meaning of the Autumn Equinox

At the pyramid dedicated to the feathered serpent (symbol of the union between the earthly and heavenly, human and divine) in Chichen Itza, Mexico, a feathered serpent created by patterns of light on the temple’s 9 terraces appears to descend at the autumn equinox. This symbolizes the descent of the initiate into the underworld, and the dark regions of their own psychology. Then, at the winter solstice, the sun appears to ascend the 9 terraces before shining momentarily at the temple atop the pyramid’s peak.

Similarly, at Glastonbury Tor during the winter solstice, the sun appears at the base of the constructed mound, rises up 7 terraces and clips the pinnacle of the tower. Incredibly, the constellation Orion, which is associated with Osiris, the male of creation, and the star Sirius, associated with Isis, the female, also both align with the Tor at the winter solstice, as if the nativity scene is recreated in the sky. This site symbolizes creation (the 7 dimensions of the universe) which Christ creates and comes into, and also on a personal level, the 7 solar bodies of the initiate (the “wedding garments” Jesus refers to) which the Christ enters into.

These sites, separated by vast distances and time, symbolize the same process at the same time of year—the winter solstice. The pyramid at Chichen Itza illustrate the birth of the sun, the Christ, which appears from the lowest point, the womb of the earth, and rises through the 9 terraces, which are the 9 layers of the underworld (as described by Dante in his esoteric work The Divine Comedy and by the ancient Mayans). Glastonbury Tor symbolizes the entrance of the divine Son through the 7 dimensions and 7 solar bodies of the initiate to crown the pyramid and tower. This tower also represents the neck and head of the physical body, so it’s as if the sun rises to crown the head of the initiate. This is one of the reasons why Jesus, and many other divine figures, are shown with a golden halo. The number 9 not only represents the 9 layers of the underworld, but also the sexual work of alchemy, which is referred to esoterically as the work in the 9^th sphere – and that which gives birth to the spiritual within.

At the winter solstice, in the womb of the earth, in the midst of darkness and chaos, the spirit is born – the Christ. This is the fabled treasure said to exist in the very lowest chamber beneath Glastonbury Tor, known in ancient Greece as the golden fleece.

Why Christmas is Celebrated on the 25th of December, 3 Days After the Winter Solstice

The word solstice literally means “sun stands still.” At the winter solstice, the sun for the first time will begin to increase – both lengthening the amount of daylight and progressing north along the horizon after having reached its most southerly point. For 3 days however, the sun does not visibly appear to move northward along the horizon, thus appearing to “stand still” in its progression. In correlation, we find the winter solstice celebrated as the birth of the sun on the winter solstice on the 22nd of December (in the northern hemisphere), and the divine savior 3 days later on the 25th of December. Jesus, Horus, Krishna, Mithras, Dionysus, etc., are all said to have been born on the 25th of December.

There is a spiritual significance to this. The birth of the spiritual sun on the winter solstice is the birth of the Son at the dawning of creation. From the Son, comes all of creation, just as in ancient India, the golden womb created from the male and female forces at the dawning of creation, gives birth to Brahma, the creator god, and the entire universe, called Brahm-anda.

In the Vedas of ancient India, the supreme creator god Vishnu was known as the triple-strider (as Tri-vikrama and as Uru-krama). It is said that he created the universe, making the dwelling of humanity possibly, by taking three steps – one encompassing the earth, the other the air, and the third the heights of heaven, which is his supreme abode. This is because the cosmic fire of the Son enters the universe in 3 steps. The 3 days where the sun stands still is the time of the Son entering creation. On the 3rd step, the Son has fully entered into creation – from out of his supreme above, down to the air, which are the higher dimensions, with his foot finally on the earth, which is the physical, material plane. This is why the actual birth of the divine Son into the world is celebrated 3 days after the winter solstice (widely known as Christmas).

The 3 Steps into the 7 Dimensions

The neutral force of the Christ emerges at the dawn of creation, represented by the rising sun on the winter solstice. The 3 forces of Mother, Father, and Son, which are negative, positive, and neutral, give rise to all of creation. But creation, which is in 3 forces, needs organization, and so it unfolds through the number 7; 7 is the number by which creation is organized. Thus in the story of Genesis in the Bible there are 7 days of creation and in the universe there are 7 dimensions. In a person doing the spiritual work there are 7 serpents of light to raise in the 7 purified bodies (which must be created through alchemy). These bodies correspond to the 7 dimensions, and representations of them can be found in ancient Egypt, India, and Easter Island.

In the secret initiatory schools of Mithrasim there were seven degrees of initiation. These degrees allowed the neophyte to proceed through the seven celestial bodies, allowing the reversing of the human soul’s descent into the world at birth. (source: Dr. Masoud Homayouri Origin of Persian Gnosis)

In the process of initiation and awakening, the Christ (like Vishnu) must take 3 steps through the 7 dimensions in order to enter into an individual, which is the birth of Christ within the physical body of person. The initiate must have created the 7 purified solar bodies (the “wedding garments” referred to by Jesus) by the time of the autumn equinox, symbolized by the 7 statues at Easter Island that align to the setting sun on the autumn equinox. Christ then takes 3 steps through the dimensions and these bodies, before entering or being “born” into the physical body of the initiate.

The Christ moves from the world of the spirit of the seventh dimension into the soul of the sixth dimension and then to the body. These are the three steps, which are described below in an esoteric Christian texts that was excluded from the Bible. Jesus describes entering chaos and Hades 3 times, and finally then into the prison of the body.

And I went into the realm of darkness and I endured till I entered the middle of the prison. And the foundations of chaos shook. And I hid myself from them because of their wickedness, and they did not recognize me.

Again I returned for the second time, and I went about. I came forth from those who belong to the light, which is I, the remembrance of the Pronoia. I entered into the midst of darkness and the inside of Hades, since I was seeking (to accomplish) my task. And the foundations of chaos shook, that they might fall down upon those who are in chaos and might destroy them. And again I ran up to my root of light, lest they be destroyed before the time.

Still for a third time I went – I am the light which exists in the light, I am the remembrance of the Pronoia – that I might enter into the midst of darkness and the inside of Hades. And I filled my face with the light of the completion of their aeon. And I entered into the midst of their prison, which is the prison of the body. And I said, ‘He who hears, let him get up from the deep sleep.’
~ Jesus, in the Apocryphn of John from the Nag Hammadi Library

In each of the 3 steps, Christ enters into the chaos of man, which is the foundation of the human psyche, the inferior-dimensional regions of the mind and inner structure of the human being, and is born from the sexual waters of the divine Mother, which are the chaos and womb of creation within a person.

In the process of self-realization, there are three major stages called three mountains (represented in ancient Egypt as the 3 Great Pyramids that align to the 3 stars in Orion’s belt – Orion is Osiris), and the aspects that compose the inner structure of a self-realized person are of 3 parts which are to be forged within a person.

Firstly, the 4 bodies that each person has – the physical, vital, astral, and mental bodies – must be purified and formed as solar bodies through alchemy. Secondly, 3 other bodies must be created through alchemy to make 7 in total, so that Atman (the divine spirit in the 7th dimension), Buddhi (the divine soul in the 6th dimension), and Manas (the human soul in the 6th dimension) can be incarnated. When these 7 solar bodies are formed, the Christ can enter into the initiate in 3 steps – firstly by coming out of the Mother and Father and entering into the 7th dimension and 7th solar body; secondly by entering into the first Trinity of Atman, Buddhi, Manas; and thirdly entering into the 4 bodies, which are the physical, astral, mental, and vital bodies. Upon entering the 4 bodies on the 3rd step, the Christ is “born” in the physical person. This is the real Christmas – a personal, sacred and spiritual event.

From here, the Christ will reunite the initiate with the Mother and then Father, so that the trinity of creation is incarnated at the spring equinox. With the 3 original forces of creation together again, they return to being whole as the first androgynous being which emerged from the Absolute (before it divided into Mother and Father and gave birth to the Son). Whole again but now totally conscious of their own existence, the initiate can return to the Absolute, the original source of the 3 forces of creation.

The Four Arms of Vishnu

There is only one Maoi statue on Easter Island that has four hands – it is the one that faces the rising sun on the winter solstice. Vishnu is depicted with four arms. The ancient Mayans sometimes depicted the sun as “Ah Kin,” which is “He of the Sun.” He is represented as a human carrying the glyph of the Kin, which is a flower with four petals.

The number four is that which forms the foundation of life and encompasses the bounds of creation. It is found in the 4 cardinal directions; the 4 points of the year which are the two solstices and equinoxes; the 4 elements; the dimensions of our physical world which are length, width, height, and time; the 4 bodies of the person – physical, astral, mental, and vital – which the Christ enters into; and the 4 sides of the philosophers stone upon which the work of awakening is built. The 4th dimension is time, which is needed for beings to be able to become conscious of their own existence. Within our three-dimensional world, we find life manifest in form and substance in the flow of time. Thus, in creation, the Christ who is one of the 3 forces of creation, establishes the 4, which is the foundation of life and found in the movement of the sun, which forms a symbolic cross of 4 points. In the work to awakening, the initiate must establish the 4 within themselves as the foundation of the inner spiritual work.

The Word Penetrates Chaos

Chaos is a very important aspect of creation, as all of life emerges from chaos and as it expands, gradually establishes order, which forms laws, harmony, beauty, and intelligence.

As it happens in creation, this same process also happens internally when working toward enlightenment—the old must dissolve into chaos before the spiritual can be born within, and this is why the initiate has to descend into darkness at the autumn equinox and chaos, before the birth of the Christ occurs.

This same principle is found in a study of sound called Cymatics. It was discovered that as sound moved to higher and higher frequencies, the patterns it formed became more complex, but that the pattern would first dissolve into chaos, before creating the next more complex pattern. This illustrates how creation arises from chaos.

The power of sound to transform matter relates back to Genesis, where God famously created with the word by saying “Let there be light,” and in the first line of John “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The ancient Indians who wrote the Vedas said that the famous mantra “Aum” (also known as “Om”) was present at the beginning of creation, and is the sound of the primordial cosmic vibration. Likewise the ancient Egyptians believed the universe came into being through the word “Hu”. The Christ, the divine Son, is the Logos, the Word, and penetrates into the chaos of the individual in order to create something spiritually superior to what was there before.

The Children of the Sun

The birth of the spiritual sun within has been symbolized in every truly spiritual culture and teaching of the world, as it is one of the greatest spiritual goals, and an integral part of the reintegration and return to divinity. This is why so many ancient cultures, such as the Sumerians, Egyptians, Essenes, Peruvians, the Indians of North and Central America, the Inca and the Maya, all referred to themselves as the “Children of the Sun” or “Children of the Light.” As Jesus, Mithras, Krishna, Horus, etc. showed us, we too can become children of the sun. This is the eternal cosmic message vibrating in everything around us.

While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.
~ Jesus, John from the Bible

The Light of the World is Born to Give Hope to the World

From the time of the winter solstice, like the sun and the seed beneath the ground, the Christ grows to emerge from out of the darkness and the chaos. The initiate descends into the darkness, but will emerge at the spring equinox as a union of human and divinity – a “son of man” and “son of God”, a “child of the sun”. We can realize our enormous spiritual potential, just as the seed buried in the earth at autumn, germinates at the winter solstice, and grows into the flower of beauty and fragrance at spring.

The Christ symbolizes the hope of humanity, saving us from the darkness of our own inner poverty, and reuniting us with divinity. This is why the deities born at the time of the winter solstice were known as the light of the world and the divine savior.

This knowledge is written in the stars, in the universe. Celebrating the winter solstice, offers us the time to reflect on the greatest mysteries of all – of how we came to be, why we are here, and how we can become truly spiritual. “Simple-minded sun worshippers” were really people who had a profound spiritual wisdom that we as a humanity have completely lost touch with. Yet as always, the message of the sun is there ever-present in our lives, and comes to earth to teach humanity in self-realized people, for those who wish to be born as the children of the sun.

He is a man in the world, but he will rule with me in my kingdom.
He is a man in the world, but he is king in the Light.
He is a man in the world, but he is not one of the world.
And Amen, I say unto you: that man is I and I am that man.
~ Jesus, the Pistis Sophia

~ Copyright 2011 Belsebuub and Angela Pritchard

More on the Winter Solstice
Ancient Sacred Sites Aligned to the Winter Solstice
A Ceremony to Celebrate the Winter Solstice
Mantras to Celebrate the Winter Solstice

More on Christmas
The Symbolic Meaning of Christmas