The beginning of Chapter 2 in my book speaks of our awakening. It reads:
"The initial awakening occurs because we have forgotten our Divinity. There is a Jewish legend that all souls existed with God before the creation of the universe, carefully stored beneath the Divine throne until the time of birth. When a child is conceived, God removes the soul from the Divine realm and plants it in the mother’s womb. On the journey to earth, an angel accompanies the soul and during its gestation, instructs it in all the mysteries of the universe. At the time the baby is born however, the angel taps it lightly and it promptly forgets everything it has learned. Therefore, it bursts into tears."
—The Unorthodox Life: Walking Your Own Path to the Divine, p.11
Stories throughout time speak to the truth that we do have access to all the mysteries of the universe. Each of us has the capacity to become enlightened—to find personal Divinity, to discover the Christ, the Spirit of Divine Love within us. And we must take our journeys to wake up and remember the truth.
Since we live in a secular society, sometimes we need reminders of the spiritual journey and its signposts. Easter is a holiday with a long tradition that gives us a framework to understand the stages of the journey. As we look at the life and death of Jesus, we discover that the journey he took correlates with the mystical path. Many have written about the “Path,” but the most famous book describing it, and serving as a pattern for others, is “Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness” by Evelyn Underhill, first published in 1911. Underhill was a poet, author, mystic, pacifist, Christian Philosopher, and teacher. She wrote 30 books in her lifetime, and that one was considered her best. Below I have correlated her 5 Stages with key events in the life of Jesus:
5 Stages of the Mystical Path Key Events in the Life of Jesus
1. Awakening of the Self Baptism
2. Purification of the Self Temptation
3. Illumination of the Self Transfiguration
4. Dark Night of the Soul Betrayal & Crucifixion
5. Unification of the Self Resurrection
Each week through Easter, we will take a journey through these Stages and deepen our understanding of the mystical path that each of us is on, whether we know it or not.
Love & Blessings,
Rev. Kathy