Serving the ideals of the Rosicrucian Movement

Kabala Library

Greek Kabala Series

Greek Kabala Part 7

by Jack Courtis

If you have got to this point, it means you are at least curious enough to find out what the feminine journey is about. Please note that men as well as women must take the feminine journey. Be warned that our present society will not like much of what you are about to read.

The Feminine Journey

You already realise that this is a journey of 5 steps but there is nothing like it in current theology. What is it? The clue is the name "Mary", in Greek, Mari . There are 5 letters in her name and that is the fundamental number of archetypal experiences for the feminine. Consider Mary as:

  1. The Virgin.
  2. The Magdalene.
  3. The Mother.
  4. The Widow.
  5. Sofia.

These are 5 transformative steps that have to be experienced by each of us, as part of the totality of human experience. This is because we must have all possible human experiences before we can have the liberation of salvation. Let us look at these 5 steps in the table below:

Name Greek English Number Attribute Meaning
Theta Θ , θ Th, th 9 Earth Virgin
Xi Ξ , ξ X, x 60 Water Magdalene
Fi Φ , φ F, f 500 Air Mother
Chi Χ , χ H, h 600 Fire Widow
Psi Ψ , ψ Ps, ps 700 Aether Sofia

If you are easily embarrassed, please stop now. However if you wish to proceed let us take each step individually.

Virgin

This is very embarrassing because it is linked to the Virgin Birth. The Church tries to get around this by telling us that in Mary’s time, the Aramaic word for "virgin", meant something like "young girl" and although it implied sexual virginity, that was not guaranteed and certainly not expected after marriage. It was a social convention that young girls would be virgins when they married. The best evidence of the Church’s embarrassment is that it chooses an Aramaic word for "virgin". "So what", you will ask? The point is that the New Testament was not written in Aramaic. It was written in Greek. Aramaic is absolutely irrelevant. The only relevant question to ask is what is the Greek word used in that context?

The word is parqenoV and it means "virgin". That meaning is unequivocal and unambiguous. The Church cannot escape its embarrassment by distracting our attention with an irrelevant Aramaic word.

In the view of theology that we are developing, we can understands virginity to be a metaphysical state that implies an absolute spiritual integrity that can never be defiled. How can such a state be described? Fortunately, the gnostic scripture Thunder – Perfect Mind, has given us just such a description:

For, it is I who am the first: and the last.
It is I who am revered: and the despised.
It is I who am the harlot: and the holy.
It is I who am the wife: and the virgin.
It is I who am the mother: and the daughter.
I am the members of my mother.
It is I who am the barren: and who has many children.
It is I who am the one whose marriage is magnificent: and who have not married.
It is I who am the midwife: and she who does not give birth;
It is I who am consolation: of my own travail.
It is I who am the bride: and the bridegroom.
And it is my husband who has begotten me.
It is I who am the mother of my father; and the sister of my husband.
And it is he who is my offspring.

Confused? You should be, because it is no use trying to analyse this with left brain logic. This is right brain material. The clue is in all the opposites that have to be reconciled. Only after that reconciliation can the true nature of the Virgin be understood. But there is more.

Consider the Gospel of John 1:1. Under the old theology it is translated as, "In the beginning was the word, …". As we have seen, a better translation is, "Within the first principle exists the pattern of order, …". In any event, it goes on to say in John 1:4,5, "In him (First Principle) was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

The darkness is the metaphysical virgin state of the feminine that must be brought to life and light by the masculine part of the First Principle. The virgin state is the feminine side of the First Principle prior to its act of manifestation. Both sides are necessary for manifestation, they must be reconciled and neither are well understood. Let us admit candidly that this is a mystery of the highest order. It will be grasped only by disciplined action on our part. Do you now understand the necessity for the 12 disciplines?

The transformative state of the Virgin is attributed to the path Q (theta) and the alchemical element Earth. Remember that alchemy is a metaphorical system of parables about personal transformation. We have already seen the Pythagorian explanation that this element symbolises the aetheric body, as the connecting link between body and soul. Earth is the grounding principle and the ultimate metaphysical place for the manifestation of the life and light "that shineth in the darkness". Given the deep mystery of the virgin state, this is entirely appropriate.

Let us also recall that one of the Virgin’s titles is QeotokoV (Theotokos - God Bearer). The first letter of that title is Q (theta) and that letter is the first step of the feminine journey on the Tree of Life. This step connects Greatness with Goodness and leads directly into the circuit of power we saw in Part 4 of this series. The first feminine step of virginity is the prerequisite for the power that is to be experienced in the circuit. We need absolute spiritual integrity to enter this circuit. Why does the Church try to distract us with irrelevant Aramaic words about "young girls"?

Now you are going to get really embarrassed. We are going to talk about prostitutes.

Magdalene

This is X (xi), the path of Water that connects Goodness and First Principle. It is the second feminine step and leads directly from the first. Since this path is linked by Pythagoras to emotions and feelings, its sexual implication is clear.

From the very beginning, Church tradition has accepted that Mary Magdalene was a "repentant sinner", a polite euphemism for "reformed prostitute". The problem for the Church has been that a prostitute has been regarded as the most despised of women, but Mary Magdalene has played a crucial role in the very implementation of Christ’s mission. The old theology tries to ignore her. Our new view of theology puts her in the correct place of the Christian manifestation. Let us begin.

In Luke 7:37 we are told of "a woman in the city, which was a sinner", who washes Jesus’ feet with her tears, dries his feet with her hair, kisses his feet and anoints them with ointment. Jesus forgives her sins. Notice the small detail that she has unbound hair. Respectable women of that era did not wear their hair like that. Prostitutes did. A "woman in the city" who is a "sinner" and has unbound hair, is a good euphemism for a prostitute. Who is this woman? In John 12:3, she is named as Mary of Bethany and anoints Jesus’ feet with spikenard a very costly ointment. She then wipes his feet with her hair. Again notice the unbound hair. This occurs six days before the Last Supper.

In Mark 14:3, we are told that at Bethany a woman anoints his head with spikenard. In Matthew 26:7 we are told that again in Bethany, a woman pours very precious ointment on his head. Mary of Bethany and the unnamed woman are clearly the same person. But is she the "sinner"? Is she Mary Magdalene the reformed prostitute? And why is this important anyway?

In Greek, CristoV (Christos) means the "anointed one". In his day, kings were anointed with spikenard. Thus we now have precisely the moment when Jesus became Christ, only a few days prior to the Last Supper. From this moment on, he should not be called Jesus. He should only be called Christ, because he has been anointed like a king. But why by a woman and why is it important to know whether she is Mary Magdalene? To be blunt, why is it important that she be a prostitute? Is there any evidence to connect Mary Magdalene with the act of anointment? In Mark 14:8 Christ says of the unnamed woman "she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying", a clear reference to the need to anoint his body in the tomb after his crucifixion. Who is it that comes to do that? Before we answer that question, who stands at the foot of the cross when he is crucified? In John 19:25 we are told that three women do so, Mary his mother, Mary wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene. There is no mention of Mary of Bethany. It is reasonable to expect that the woman who anoints Jesus as Christ, should be present at his crucifixion. Is Mary Magdalene the same as Mary of Bethany?

Finally, at John 20:1,2 we are told that Mary Magdalene is the first to go to the tomb to anoint the body of the dead Christ and she finds that the tomb is empty. Why her? Why not Mary the mother, or Mary of Bethany? Clearly, Mary Magdalene the reformed prostitute is vital to the ritual of anointing the live Jesus and the dead Christ. Why? First why a woman and secondly, why a prostitute? The importance of these questions is understood when we consider that at Mark 14:9, Christ says of the unnamed woman who anoints him:

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel is preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

Is this woman important? Consider this. Only two people conducted major rites for Jesus: John who baptises him at the beginning of his ministry and the woman who anoints him at the end. The baptism and the anointing imply authority on the part of John and of the woman. The point is subtle. Although by baptising and anointing they bestow authority on Jesus, they must themselves have authority to do so. Let us again be blunt – how can a prostitute have this kind of authority? We shall find out in Part 8 of this series.

However let us finish this Part with a reference to the gnostic scripture The Gospel According to Philip, where Mary Magdalene is described as the Lord’s "partner". It is then said that he kisses her more than the rest of his disciples and they complain about this. In answer he says to them:

Why do I not love you like her? If a blind person and one with sight are both in darkness, they are not different from one another. When the light comes, then the person with sight will see the light, and the blind person will remain in darkness.

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