Mary and the Christ Child

“In his telling of the birth of Jesus, St Luke revealed the events that take place in the soul of every human being in the form of images. It is these symbolic images that I want to show you now.

For the Christ Child to be born there must be parents, a father and a mother: the father, Joseph, is the mind, the spirit; the mother, Mary, is the heart, the soul. When the heart and soul are pure, then the Christ child is born, not of the mind and spirit, but of the Universal Soul, the Holy Spirit, in the form of Fire, or Divine Love… a pure flame that invades and fertilizes the human heart and soul. The soul and heart represent the feminine, receptive principle, whereas the mind and spirit represent the masculine principle and together they prepare the conditions for the Holy Spirit, the Universal Soul or Fire, to take possession of the soul of Mary. That is when the child is born. But as this birth must take place in all three worlds, the child must also be born on the physical plane. You see, it is much more complex than you imagined.

When Mary and Joseph sought refuge at the inn, there was no room for them, that is, human beings, who are too busy eating and drinking and amusing themselves, have no room for the initiate who has received the child. This divine child, which is conceived in him like a light, may be an ideal he has long cherished and nourished, but where can he (or she) go with it?  No one will open the door, that is, no one understands. But wait, over there is a stable. The stable and its manger are symbolic, first of all, of poverty, of difficulty with material conditions. Yes, it will always be so for one who is inhabited by the spirit- humans will not appreciate him, they will  refuse to receive him, but thanks to the light projected by him around the manger,  he will be seen from afar by others who will come to visit.

The light represented by a star with five points is an absolute reality: it shines above the head of every initiate whose feminine principle (that is, whose heart and soul) has given birth to the Christ child, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Then the mind, Joseph, instead of being jealous and repudiating Mary as a gross man might (“This child you have given birth to is not mine, get out!) must bow before her and say, “It must be God himself that has brought this efflorescence to the heart and soul of Mary, I am not capable of that.” The mind must not be resentful or angry, but rather be understanding and think, “This is something beyond my understanding…” and be willing to shelter and protect Mary. To repudiate Mary is to repudiate half of one’s being, to become like those who are purely intellectual and rational, having banished all emotion, all receptivity, all gentleness, humility and kindness. Many people have repudiated Mary because she chose to receive the Holy Spirit.

You must understand that Mary and Joseph are symbolic of the inner life: those who deny Mary are dry and cold, their mind is critical, discontented, destructive… Joseph was not this way, on the contrary, he respected Mary and kept her with him, saying to himself, “Oh, she is expecting a child…I will protect her because she needs my help.”

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov    Christmas and Easter in the Initiatic Tradition