Christmas

> In the same way that I don't see any contradiction at all between science & the existence of a primordial intelligence who, like the 'shared intelligence' of herd instinct, exists within & yet transcends all life-forms, I don't see an inherent contradiction between the evolution of humans souls throu reincarnation & the potential of Christ-energy dramatically to accelerate the accepting out of the earth plane.
> I'm sure that the highest calling we can have is to reach a point of poise, by integrating our shadow, & so to free ourselves to move off the earth-plane & become a sustaining spirit in the metaphysical structure that connects the pure raw energy of that primordial intelligence to the physical world. It would appear to me that the gift in martyrdom is that by accepting death in love the soul us freed to zoom up a celestial ladder, while those who die 'rag[ing] against the dying of the light' attract a celestial snake!
> Underneath the tinsel, stomach-stuffing & refuse mountains, it is the entry of that 'powerless' Christ-energy into the world at the darkest point of the year which this day celebrates. To me this does not exclude the perspective & gifts of other traditions, particularly the Tibetan & Vedic lineage from which I have gained so much amplifying awareness. But in recent years a lot of focus has been placed on the negative record of Christianity, which is undeniable, & it's easy to lose sight of the idea which opens John's Gospel that there is a light which, from the beginning of time, has been continuously entering the world & irradiating the darkness and which has manifested discretely in certain avatars.
> Marie-Louise Von Franz's analysis of/in The Grail Legend is that the concept of the grail represents a mystical essence which is required to complete /integrate /transcend the unresolved dichotomy between light energy & dark energy which is the philosophical heredity of medieval churchianity. She argues that while we continue to see 'the devil' as having potency over /expressing unintegrated aspects of human behaviour we are condemned to repeat the patterns of denial that perpetuate the very duality projection which the devil represents. And that this itself is a feature of the churches' projection of an unnatural or superhuman 'lightness' onto the figure of a male Christ, & a projective reduction of the feminine to a bloodless sideshow - which in turn has led, as we know, to the 'demonisation' of ordinary sanguinary females. More on The Grail Legend
> The paradox being that we have to let go of capital-C Christ in order to find our own small-c christ /annointment within. This is the teaching of that classic of late medieval mysticism, The Cloud of Unknowing.
> Altho I find the run-up to Christmas utter hell, the commercial 'sincerity', the faux-bonhomie, the feeling that present buying is like a terrible exam you have to re-sit every year & always fail(!) I still wish you a really Happy Christmas.