A Christmas tree decorated

This universal idea is best expressed through planets in

9th degree of Taurus (8°- 9°)

CONFIDENCE IN A NEW DAWN
When there is darkness we need to
seek out the light and move towards it

We see now that even in a cold, dark period we have the inner wherewithal to bring light and joy. Much of the cynicism arising out of religiosity is burned off by the realisation that the spirituality of our faith is what we used to transform painful situations, loss and dark, debilitating grief into optimism, joy and sharing.

Rudhyar:
A FULLY DECORATED CHRISTMAS TREE

A fully decorated Christmas tree

Symbolization

The spiritual ideal of reciprocity is applied through ritualising the celebration of giving

At Christmas especially, we enjoy fully the abundance of the material world, even to the extent that we feel joy when someone else is receiving the pleasure of having something nice.

Symbolised in material form, this is a spiritual wisdom – that the joy of another brings joy to us. In other words the spiritual ideal of reciprocity is applied through practical ritual.

It is a feature of the distortion of the modern world that selfishness is pursued as if it were a way to happiness. Older, better established communities have not lost sight of the relationship between sharing and personal satisfaction and the importance of balancing self-interest with kindness.

Opportunities to share need to be created, preserved and honoured because this is a practice essential for self-renewal. The act of giving releases emotional blockages, which would otherwise stifle growth and, in time, cause dysfunction and discomfort. The inclusion of ritual raises the action to the level of sacredness, and so honours and empowers the process.

Whenever this ritual has widespread significance, a further societal dimension comes to exist; therefore the connections that bind individuals into a community need to be re-made from time to time to keep them alive and powerful. Shared visions need to be reiterated at the level of extended family and tribe. We may perhaps find it tedious to re-enact old patterns of behaviour, yet their deeper meaning is very potent.

The unification of material and spiritual messages is of profound consequence. By simultaneously making an ideal out of material reciprocity, and by giving substance to spiritual practice, we bridge the worlds of the seen and the unseen.

Thus we demonstrate the continual re-emergence of spirit into form, an enactment of love symbolized in a Christmas present as indeed it was in the Ideal Human whom we are remembering and celebrating.