Around this time of year, one of the biggest questions we often ask ourselves - those of us who are of the Christian persuasion (or those of us who just celebrate it because that's what we've grown up with) - is, "what is the meaning of Christmas?" In capitalist America, it's easy to see why this is such a prevalent question: the meaning has been sapped out of Christmas entirely, so that when you think of it, all you can contemplate is, "what do I have to buy for people, and how much money is that going to cost me?" By emphasizing the material, have destroyed the integrity of a holiday all about redeeming the material through spiritualization. To understand Christmas from a contemplative and allegorical viewpoint, we must look at Mary first and foremost - no longer shunning her as Protestantism has taught us. The Mother of God is an archetype: she is us. Therefore, we must learn through her, as the holiday has a very specific message that we have forgotten.
First of all, what is Christ? Christ is not just a beautiful baby, He is not just holy, he is not just an honorable deity who deserves gifts, and therefore we must mimic this gift-giving ourselves. He is first and foremost the Word, the divine Logos of the Father. The Logos is that which has allowed for division and multiplicity, for the Father is unity, the infinite zero in which all things partake. But the Logos is the reflection of the Father, and being the number two, is capable of multiplication. It is the source of all the forms inherent in creation - by its utterance, things are defined, given shape, given purpose, etc. The Logos is also Mercury and Eros - this is crucial to understand. Eros is the principle that keeps the universe coherent, by drawing all things towards each other. If the Father is unity, it cannot conceptualize anything other than itself - the All. Therefore, change cannot occur, nothing can be learned or experienced without division. The Logos therefore provides for division and union simultaneously. Solve et Coagula - the two guiding principles of all universal action (division and synthesis). Therefore, the Word is deeply important, being the underlying structure of the universe.
The Word also redeems. It manifests itself in the form of the True Sun (a common Christian trope), which sheds light on reality, exposing matter for the falsity it is. It impregnates the soul and and inspires it to share in this vision, endowing it with virtue, harmony, truth, and purpose. In this sense, it is the highest self - the Holy Guardian Angel, the perfect complement to the idea of you - which instructs the soul on its path towards Wisdom (let us here remember that Mary is often depicted as seated on the sedes sapientiae, the throne of wisdom). Matter is capable of redemption in the first place because it is infused with the spirit, it is contained in the One, the Father, and is a manifestation of Him. Out of love - the desire for unity - the Logos descends into matter (the ultimate sacrifice, subjecting the purest essence to the shame of corruption and death - the Crucifixion) to redeem the fallen soul, so that it may reacquire knowledge of its divinity and oneness with God. These are the mysteries of the Incarnation and the Crucifixion in brief.
Therefore, Mary is the soul. She is the Psyche to Apuleius' Cupid. The humble maiden who represents the quiet purity of matter in its most subdued form. She is ego-less. When Gabriel tells her she will bear God, he states it will occur when the Holy Spirit overshadows her. She will be utterly enveloped by divinity, the sense of singularity and separateness will be eternally cracked, and there will be no repairing it. She submits to the will of God entirely, calling her self His handmaiden. This is why she is able to bear God within her - she abolishes her individuality and sacrifices it to the macrocosm. She is prepared to face the reality of universality. And because she bears Christ, she becomes the Queen of Heaven.
Therefore, Christmas is a time to listen to the will of God. It is not a time to feed the ego by buying meaningless things for people. It is a time to contemplate all the ways the self disobeys God endlessly, and to then be grateful for His copious mercy. No matter how many times we ignore him - which is the condition of sin, we must remember; nothing more - He is willing to forgive us. "So now all you people, bend your knees to the Father, that he may reach you his hand (Ergo nunc, omnes homines, genua vestra ad patrem vestrum flectite, ut vobis manum suam porrigat).
Let us also remember that Christmas occurs in the winter - the least fertile and darkest moment in the year. Agriculturally speaking, the Virgin is "plowed" and "sewn" in the Spring, thereby giving birth to the ultimate Light in the winter. Winter, with all its barrenness, its whiteness, its simplicity and purity, is the perfect time for the birth of the Word. The True Sun provides hope even in the darkest time, and represents the never ending fertility of the universe. The more sterile something is, the more fertile it is (this is a doctrine expounded in several modes in Crowley's essay on Atu 0 - The Fool). This is why the Christmas tree is such a powerful symbol! The evergreen remains green year round, as does God's paradisiacal universe, because it is nourished by the True Sun. The Christmas tree is therefore a symbol of Christ. He is the ultimate fertility; the Sun being phallic and related to the plow (also refer to The Fool), the Virgin being a form of Virgo - the supple topsoil that can receive the seed. Let us remember that Virgo is ruled doubly by Mercury - the Logos.
So Christmas must be a time of personal reflection. We must reevaluate who we are - what makes us us - so that we can work to improve ourselves. We should all strive to be like the Virgin, and to be handmaids of the Lord. So next time you feel pressured by capitalist society, think about the holiday in terms of allegory, and stay strong. Gifts are entirely secondary - love in its highest sense is primary.
Happy Holidays!
-Nick
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