It’s Easter weekend, a three-day commemoration of the death and rebirth of Jesus Christ, and to celebrate the man himself - here is the first chapter of a mystical three-part esoteric odyssey through the teachings and life of Jesus, or Yeshua.
Over the next three articles I take a fresh look at the words, the deeds of the historical Jesus, and the origins story of Christianity.
Whether we view Jesus as the incarnation of the divine, or through a more secular lens as a historical figure or apochryphal amalgam of antiquarian archetypes (try saying that chewing on a hot cross bun!), there is no doubt that he was an advanced and enlightened being, teacher, and philosopher whose words came to underpin the basis of Western thought.
As far as the astrology goes, we’re nearing the end of over two years of Saturn in Pisces, and of course Neptune in Pisces - both transits relating to Christianity. In a wider cyclical context, we are also said to be moving from the Age of Pisces, an epoch associated with the arrival of Christ and Christianity, to the futuristic Age of Aquarius. We’ll return to the astrology in coming weeks as there is definitely a resurgence in Christianity happening. Whether it’s the final act or the renaissance of organised religion remains to be seen.
But in the meantime - let’s get some things straight. Who was the real Jesus? King of the Jews? Socialist Revolutionary? Son of God?
Was he a mash-up of God-Man archetypes such as Apollonius, Mithras, Hermes, Thoth and Osiris?
Or was he a healer and mystic, schooled in the ancient arts of inner alchemy; an initiate and leading light of the Middle Eastern mystery schools?
When engaging in some revisionist history (the best kind of history, am I right?!) our first step should be to return to the source material; the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
‘New Age’ thought could be said to be a hybrid of ancient and modern, Eastern and Western mystical tradition, and in recent years there has been a reappraisal of Christ’s teachings which give us an entirely new spin on the Man, and the Message.
Ironically, the person after whom a dualistic religion was founded – can now be re-imagined as teaching a non-dual philosophy similar to Eastern Daoist and Vedic traditions – only to have his words possibly mis-translated, misconstrued and misused in the two thousand years since he walked the Earth.
Gospel Truth
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are canonical texts of the New Testament and the original source material of the Jesus story.
There is however, a fundamental problem with the gospels as we might read them in, say, the King James Bible.
Namely, that this is an English text, translated from Greek. And the problem is - Jesus spoke neither. (Well he probably knew a little Greek but his followers certainly didn’t!)
He actually spoke Palestinian Aramaic, and occasionally Hebrew - when quoting Hebrew texts. Unlike a language like English in which you might have ten words that essentially mean the same thing, Aramaic, like many Middle Eastern languages including Hebrew, have one word with ten different meanings.
Hence the culture of study and interpretation, integral to Judaism and Islam. The holy literature of these faiths has always been more open to interpretation and contemplation than the literal edicts of the Christian Church.
Scholar Neil Douglas Klotz has written extensively on these direct from Aramaic to English translations, referred to as the ‘Peshitti’ or sometimes the ‘Syrica’. These are the foundational texts of the Eastern Christian church.
Here are some of Klotz’s examples of how differently we can interpret the texts when starting with the original Aramaic.
Breath of Heaven
First up – the word ‘spirit’.
In Aramaic the word for spirit is ‘ruha’ and in Hebrew ‘ruach’, but it can also mean, air, wind, and breath.
Likewise, other important words such as father, kingdom, heaven, and sins – all have multiple meanings.
So, an Aramaic translation of the Lord’s Prayer could read like this:
O Thou, the One from whom
Breath enters
being in all radiant forms.
O parent of the universe, from your
Deep interior comes the next wave
Of shining life
O fruitful, nurturing life-giver!
Your sound rings everywhere
Throughout the cosmos.
Father mother who births Unity,
You vibrate life into form
In each new instant
Perhaps most importantly of all - the word ‘Alaha’, interpreted in the Greek translations as ‘God’ with all the dualistic connotations of separation, and top-down power structure connotations that word can bring - also means sacred unity, oneness, the all.
Bascially, all the stuff one might hear if you’re more likely to be hanging out at the yoga studio on a Sunday, rather than the church pews.
Alaha – can also be interpreted as ‘the one with no opposite’ suggesting the pre-dualistic source entity of the Dao.
For the Daoists or students of Classical Chinese philosophy and medicine – Alaha, could also mean ‘ultimate potential’ which is another interpretation of the concept of Qi.
And in some translations of Daoist texts from Classical Chinese to English the word ‘Qi’ – meaning the universal form of ‘energy’ (for want of a better word) that makes up all things - can also be translated as ‘breaths’.
So when we read ‘God’ as ‘sacred unity’ – Klotz explains that Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”
…can also be read as “ripe are theconsistent in heart for they shall see sacred unity everywhere”
And Mark 11:22 - “have faith in God” becomes “remain within yourselves, live in a place of rooted confidence in sacred unity”
John 4:24 - “God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit, and in truth”
becomes “those who surrender to unity, bowing to it in utmost adoration must do so in breath and harmony”
And “wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy unto the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven”
becomes “your state cannot be mended or repaired when you cut yourself off from the source of all rhythm; the inhaling, the exhaling, of all air, wind, and atmosphere…the holy breath”
These last two are amongst the most striking. When we re-configure concepts such as sin, blasphemy, god, spirit, breath, and forgiveness, we end up with a whole new ball game. A verse that has been delivered with fire and brimstone countless times from the pulpit, now sounds like simple advice on how separation from nature and the cycles of our own body lead to disease.
Ultimately Christ’s words remain eternally open to interpretation - but his deeds, the medicine, and the miracles are a more straightforward if even more remarkable aspect of his story.
So, next stop on our Easter journey, we look at the iconography of Jesus as energy healer, siddhi, and immortal. And of course, the inconvenient but revealing other Gospels that ‘THEY did NOT want US to read (yes there was a ‘THEY’ back then too, unfortunately!)
We’ll dive into the Nag Hammadi Gospels, and hear about the real Jesus from Thomas, Philip, and *gulp* Mary: deleted scenes that, for reasons that will become clear, did not make the final cut of the New Testament.
Until next time - wishing you a wonderful start to the Easter Weekend.
Peace, love, and blessings!