Death_Resurrection

During Holy Week, millions of Christians commemorate Christ's death on Good Friday, and celebrate his resurrection on Easter/Resurrection Sunday. From a New Age perspective, there is much wisdom and symbolism within the death and rebirth cycle. It is a cycle that no one escapes, and thus, touches us all. In Astrological terms, the sign of Scorpio and the 8th House of the Zodiac are the domain of death and regeneration. In the Tarot, the Death card can be correlated with the death of Christ and the "deaths" we experience, while the Sun card represents enlightenment, empowerment, and rebirth that necessarily falls on the heels of death. Also bearing a similarity to the death and resurrection of Christ is the leged of the Phoenix.

The Scorpion

The scorpion is the traditional Sign of Scorpio. When a scorpion loses its tail, it regenerates a new stinger. In addition, a scorpion would be more likely to kill itself than allow another to do so. According to the book of John from the Bible, the Jews were calling for the death of Christ, shouting "crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate responds to the crowd that he finds no fault with him. But the crowd responds "We have a law, and according to our law, he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." (John 19:7). Pilate responds to Jesus' silence by saying "Are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have the power to crucify you, and power to release you?"(v. 10) Jesus responds "You could have no power at all against me unless it had been given to you from above." (v.11) Jesus is echoing what he said in John 10:17-18 "... because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." Just like the resilience and promise of regeneration that is Scorpio, Jesus also foretells that he will rise on the third day in Mark 10:33-34 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and scourge him, and spit on him, and kill him. And the third day he will rise again."

The Phoenix

The myth of the Phoenix is strongly associated with the Sign of Scorpio, and the Phoenix is considered the symbol of highly evolved Scorpios. According to mythology, the Phoenix was the size of an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage. Its life span was between 500-1000 years, and only one Phoenix lived in the world at any given time. The Phoenix would build a nest, sing a mournful dirge, and flap its wings until the nest is caught on fire. Another legend has it that the Sun god Ra was so moved by the Phoenix' bewitching funeral song, that Ra stopped his chariot for a moment to listen. After listening to the song, Ra whipped his horses to continue, and sparks flew from the horses hooves, setting the nest on fire. After being consumed in flames, a new Phoenix arose from the ashes. Some legends have it that the new Phoenix embalmed the ashes in myrrh, and encased them in an egg. It's interesting to note that myrrh is a bitter, fragrant gum resin that's associated with suffering, and was one of the gifts offered to the Christ child by the Magi. Myrrh also symbolizes power, strength, vitality, and mysticism.

Just as Christ suffered, died, and was resurrected, so it is with the story of the Phoenix. Even the egg itself from the legend of the Phoenix represents new life. In the 1st century, some began associating the Phoenix with Christianity. The parallels are obvious. Jesus said "Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). Also, Jesus claimed to be the only Son of God, and there is only one Phoenix alive at any one time. In Hermetic traditions, the Phoenix was associated with alchemical transformation and transmutation. While Good Friday is a day of suffering and death, the 3 day process of spiritual alchemy transforms itself to Resurrection and glorious rebirth, where all things become new.

The Death Card

In traditional Tarot, the 13th Major Arcana Card is Death. This card also represents transition, transformation, rebirth, and permanent change. The only thing that's guaranteed in life is change, and this is the hallmark of the Death card. The astrological correspondence to the Death card is Scorpio and the 8th House. This card is about required change. If you don't change willingly, something will slam into your life that will force change. Jesus once said in Matthew 21:44 "The person who falls on this stone will be broken, and on whomever that stone falls, that person will be crushed." I interpret that verse to mean that there is a way of wisdom and a way of woe. If you know that a change needs to be made, and you attempt to put things in motion to change it, you may become "broken" and suffer some pangs of readjustment as you surrender and adapt. However, if you know to start making changes and don't, the rock will fall on you, and it will be much more devastating and difficult because it lacks the gradation that is a part of making conscious changes willingly.

Jesus also said in Matthew 16:25 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." It's the dichotomy of the Death card that if you seek to hold onto the familiar with an iron grip, the sweeping winds of change can be devastating. To surrender to All That Is, the Source, is to give up certainty. But in doing so, we gain life and fluidity. To attempt to stave off any change is to court losing the very things we clutch to ourselves so tightly. Built into the Death card is the promise of new beginnings. There's a saying that when God shuts a door, he/she opens a window. Unfortunately, our resistance to change often prevents us from pursuing our bliss and taking risks in relationships, career, finances, etc. There is a hidden blessing when a Death experience touches our life. We can exchange ashes for beauty, much like the Phoenix. But there cannot be a resurrection without a death. So often we want victory, blessings, growth, and profound spiritual experiences, but we don't want the death that may be necessary to make way for resurrection and rebirth!

The Sun Card

In the Tarot, 19th Card of the Major Arcana is The Sun card. It represents a portal--an opening in your life. This card is associated with things that are related to the sun: enlightenment, empowerment, rebirth, creativity. The "work" of The Sun card is to purify, cleanse, improve and illuminate. I see this card as representing the Resurrection of Christ, among other things. Malachi 4:2 from the Old Testament says "...the Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings." Many believe this portion of scripture to be prophetic, referring to Jesus. Sun/Son doesn't appear to be a coincidence, and this picture is once again reminiscent of the Phoenix. Also, Jesus is often associated with Light, and called "The Light of the world".

In terms of consciousness, The Sun card represents a mind awakened from sleep. Too often we're asleep in life, only to be rudely awakened by a death experience. The wide-eyed clarity that results from this awakening is a ripe opportunity for the illumination of truth and light brought by The Sun card.

The Sun card is also associated with Leo. When I think of Leo, the mighty lion, I'm reminded of the verse from the highly symbolic and mystical book of Revelation "But one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.'" (5:5) Jesus is often called the Lion of Judah. In the series The Chronicles of Narnia by Christian theologian C.S. Lewis, Aslan the Lion is symbolic of Jesus because Aslan dies, but is then resurrected.

In Conclusion

The last prayer that Jesus prayed in Gethsemane was "...that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us." (John 17:21) As Christ was awaiting his imminent crucifixion and death, he was praying for the Oneness of all of humanity. When I see the cross, I am reminded that the wood points in two directions: vertically, man being reconciled with God/The Source and to the Divine nature within, and horizontally, man reconciled with man, realizing that All is One, and none is separate. Perhaps one day we, as the corporate body of humanity, will die to the illusion of separateness and be reborn into the totality of Light, Love, Unity, and Life. This is the ultimate message of the death and resurrection of Christ.