I find it very interesting that the events surrounding the Easter and Passover holidays this year come on the heels of my pilgrimage to The Holy Land in February. Israel is a beautiful land rich with history, religious and spiritual sites and energy. It was an incredible journey for me at the time and, since there is a highly significant connection this year between the lunar cycle and Easter and Passover, I feel compelled to expound upon the symbolism and the mystical teachings of these religious holidays and how they’re highlighted so perfectly in current events.
Let’s start by remembering that Jesus was a Jew who lived in full adherence with the Jewish traditions and practices. Never once did he not properly observe or renounce them. In fact, he was on his way to Jerusalem for the observance of Passover at the time of the events surrounding Easter, making Easter inextricably connected to Passover. Unlike Christmas which is marked by a fixed date (either December 25th or January 6th or 7th), Easter varies each year falling on the Sunday that follows the first full moon after the spring equinox. While this year both Seder, the commencement of Passover, and Good Friday fall on the same day, that is not always the case.
To fully understand the significance and teachings of these holidays we need to first understand what determines when they take place each year. Our ancestors watched the heavens and noted the cycles of the moon and the sun and life on planet Earth and created calendars that marked significant transitions. If you note the influence the sun and moon have on planet earth, how the sun’s journey directs our seasons and how together they direct the tides and flow of water, you can see the importance of tracking their movements. Then note that the human body is over 70% water and you can understand that we also must be affected by their interactions with one another.
And if you practice yoga you’ll find it interesting to note that the name and practice of Hatha Yoga reflects and works with these same two influencers as well. The Sanskrit word Hatha is derived from two words, Ha which is Sun and Tha which is Moon. The sun is the masculine, the seed, the driving forward, action taking force. The moon is the feminine, the womb, the reflective, receptive, nurturing force. So they acknowledge that life on planet earth and in our physical bodies is always subject to the dance between these two energies.
For thousands of years our ancestors tracked the sun, moon and all the visible planets on a map of the heavens called the zodiac. The astrological new year begins with Aries and the spring equinox which marks the point in time when the sun crosses over the equator and is again shining its life giving rays upon the northern hemisphere. Both holidays, Passover and Easter, always take place in spring, after the equinox, and Passover always begins with the first full moon in spring.
This year’s first full moon after the equinox was actually the second full moon taking place with the sun in Aries opposing the moon in Libra, falling this time at 29 degrees of these signs (there are 30 degrees in each of the 12 signs completing the 360 degree circle of the zodiac). Coming only 90 minutes after the apex of full moon, the moon shifted its energy as it moved from Libra, the sign of balance (marking the setting of the sun at the autumnal equinox), and into the depths of Scorpio, the sign that rules the cycles of life (birth-death-rebirth) on Good Friday. Wow. You might say that’s an uncanny coincidence, but there really is no such thing as coincidence.
Looking at the events that comprise the story of Easter – the betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection – we see the teachings of Passover exemplified. Passover commemorates the freeing of the Israelites from Egyptian rule or, spiritually speaking, how each of us can be freed from and rise above the bondage our thoughts, beliefs and behaviors exert on our life. It is the process required to create a fresh start.
Betrayal is a key element in the teachings of Easter for without it there would not have been the crucifixion or the resurrection. The Christian Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday as Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey being heralded with great fanfare. Tying these teachings into current events, it’s easy to see significance behind the fact that Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, an iconic structure of the Catholic Church and France, with all the glory, history and artifacts it encompasses, should have caught on fire during holy week. When you know they were in the midst of risky renovations on this cathedral at the same time that violent protests were going on out in the streets of France and horrible scandals have been rocking the Catholic Church, well, it’s almost as if they were asking for it. Betrayal is the energy behind all of it. Citizens of France and members of the church worldwide feel betrayed. Something has to change.
But shifting now from the macro to the micro perspective, it takes only a little introspection to see how each one of us at some point in our life has played the role of both the betrayed and the betrayer. And, perhaps more importantly, when we look more deeply we can see how we betray ourselves by not doing what we have determined to do. In order to transform our life we need to crucify all that betrays us – the thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, etc. What is it in you that needs to be transformed?
Once the betrayal has been exposed, for transformation – crucifixion and resurrection – to occur we need to understand and utilize the power of sacrifice and forgiveness. Obviously, we have to be willing to sacrifice (symbolically the eating of the sacrificial lamb in Passover) all that doesn’t allow our transformation. We have to release the old, by destroying and purging what’s rotten or holding us back, so that we can be the phoenix rising from the ashes. And in that process we shift our attention away from what was, noting that Jesus’s final teaching while on the cross was in forgiveness (requesting forgiveness for His own death) and onto what we are becoming.
The benefit of forgiveness is frequently misunderstood. Without realizing it, all the while you hold onto your negative judgments which manifest as anger, resentment or disapproval of something, whether it’s about yourself or something outside of you, you hold yourself out of alignment with Spirit, your highest and best Self. You may think that by condemning another you are punishing them but really you are punishing yourself. If they happen to agree with your judgment they’ll be punishing themselves. In order to release the block that negative judgment creates in the flow of Spirit and Life Force through the body (or church, state, etc.), we must forgive. We give up the negative judgment for the blessings of life, the joy and bliss, that come through alignment with Spirit.
Jesus could never have resurrected himself, and nor can you or anyone or anything else, without forgiveness. So, my friend, what do you need to forgive? What do you need to release from your life? What do you need to pull your energy out of so that you can direct it towards the new you are creating and becoming?
The purpose of these holidays is to teach us this lesson. They fall after these significant astronomical and astrological events each year to drive home the importance of the revival that comes with spring. We cannot help but to hear, see and feel spring all around us in the birds singing, flowers blooming, and in the green growing edges of plants and trees all seeking newness in life.
Remember always that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. The Uni-verse is one cohesive unit. Absolutely everything is serving a purpose and playing a role, being directed by God’s Universal Laws that govern all. God has His hands in everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. But to Him nothing is bad or ugly. It is simply a means to the end of the old to allow for the ever evolving expansion and expression of life. Yes, we grieve in the process, feeling the loss of what we may have once felt precious, but we look to the future knowing that after the depths and darkness of Scorpio comes the brightness and optimism of Sagittarius, wiser now from all we’ve gone through.
You are no different, my friend. Embrace and work with the unity behind life and the significance of All-That-Is. No man and no thing is an island in this Uni-verse. We are all both affecting and affected by everything.
Nothing lasts forever. Astrology teaches us that change is the only constant. Now that Notre Dame, representing the Catholic Church and France, has been purged and cleansed of what had been festering and destroying it from within, it can be rebuilt with a greater understanding of what is truly important. To have such an eloquent example of how the Universal Forces operate is a tremendous gift. Take a moment to appreciate and marvel at the synchronicity evident in these events and let that gratitude flow through you. Notice the difference in how you feel as you let yourself be blessed by the energy of gratitude and step into unity with God, love, the source of all that is.
We’ve all just inescapably gone through the same energetic shifts in our own individual lives. We’ve gone through the building of energies as the moon waxed towards its apex in Libra, into the depths of Scorpio guiding us on Seder and Good Friday through Holy Saturday, and now into Sagittarius for the resurrection on Easter Sunday. The alignment of the heavenly bodies won’t be the same next year. This is a special opportunity we’ve been given this year. So take in the lightness and blessings that come through this renewal and note how it’s amplified by the contrast of what came just before. This is the ebb and flow of the Universal Forces in action both on the macro and micro levels.
Be grateful for this annual lesson, my friend, but keep in mind that revival doesn’t just happen in spring. You have the opportunity for revival every day. In every moment you can to choose to “turn the other cheek” and redirect your thoughts and energy from what has been to what is becoming.
Remember, it will not happen without forgiveness. Forgiveness is the key to transformation.
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Please read my article Astrology & Tapping? for a more thorough introduction to astrology and how Universal Forces are constantly at work in our lives.
And do my 40 Day Journey of Self-Discovery and discover more ways to open your life and align with Universal Forces.