No Products in the Cart
In honour of this time, I'd like to share more about the resurrection rites. Not only in reference to the story of Jesus, but as a reference point repeated through culture and myth and as a potential seed for our own powerful Resurrection and rebirth.
So, we may understand Easter as a Christian time to honour Christ/Yeshua’s resurrection. We may also understand the Pagan origins marking this as a Celtic festival in the northern hemisphere, honouring the fertility of spring (rebirth of the sun) and the Goddess of Ostara or Eostre. But did you know that these Spring Resurrection Rites go way back to 5300 BCE Ancient Sumeria? Or that they have been repeated throughout history? And why is it these resurrection rituals have stood the test of time? What secret power is inherent? And perhaps more importantly, what medicine could there be in it for us today?
I have been inspired to explore this in depth through teachers and authors like Tanishka, the Moon Woman, Carly Mountain and Annabel Du Boulay, to name a few. Du Boulay, author of The Serpents Tail, gives an illuminated brief summary of the rites repeated throughout history.
Inanna descends 7 gates into the underworld. Her sister Ereshkigal restores her to life. Inanna mourns Dumuzi in the underworld, he returns to her for six months each year.
Osiris is dismembered by his brother Set, Isis mourns Osiris and resurrects him, Osiris becomes Lord of the underworld.
Tammuz is born to the Virgin Myrrha on 25th of December. He marries Ishtar but he's killed by a boar aged 40. Ishtar mourns him for 40 days. Ishtar resurrects him from the underworld.
Hades kidnaps Persephone into the underworld, her mother Demeter mourns her, Persephone returns each year on 26th of March.
Cybele falls in love with Attis, he's killed by a boar, he is mourned for three days (22 – 25 March), Cybele resurrects him on the third day, Attis is crucified on a palm tree.
And
Venus falls in love with Adonis, he is killed by a boar, Venus mourns him, he returns to her for six months of the year.
The Virgin Mary conceives on the 25th of March, Yeshua is born on 25th of December, he is crucified on Good Friday, he descends to Hades for three days, Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene mourn him, he is resurrected on the third day.
It’s fascinating to see the threads of commonality! Essentially, the repeating thread in all is that there is
We may recognise the overlap of these themes with the wheel of the year, mapping the cycles of nature from winters descent, hibernation and the rebirth of spring (as in the fertility rites of spring).
But it can also be a metaphor for our own inner world and the journey we must take regularly to meet the depths of the unconscious shadow aspects of ourselves and make them part of our conscious awareness.
This is the initiation of an egoic death. One that forces us to delve into and search in the “darkness”, the void, the mystery, for our true self.
It necessitates the meeting of the “not self”, the discovery of masks and of shadow feelings, thoughts and behaviours. During this time, we may feel we are stuck in our own version of Eliot’s “wastelands”, a sense of lost hope and despair.
Yet in making this descent and discovering the shadow, the light of illumination must follow. As night follows day and winter will eventually follow after spring, so too must day follow night and spring after winter! In seeing these hidden parts of self, we bring to them to the light (and hopefully into our hearts!).
This is a form of welcoming outcast parts of Self home, into the union of our heart, where we shine the light on our shadows to alchemize our wounds for healing.
The more we can ‘purify our psyche’ to ‘cast the shadows’ from the underworld, which is just another way to make conscious our unconscious wounding, the more fully we can heal and become whole. The more whole we are, the more we can claim and share our gifts, our knowing, our authentic self in the world! Let’s face it, the more we know ourselves, the more there is to love!
As we bring our hearts to wrap around these unknown, unloved parts of self we can create our own…
Rebirth, the Inner Spring after Winter,
the descent AND RISING
- our holy RESURRECTION!
You may have discovered, as I did, that there are powerful ways we can start to follow this divine design of the resurrection rites, more consciously, to invoke greater growth and awareness in our lives.
I have been working intentionally with the wheel of the year, for almost two decades, this helps me to know the map, the terrain and helps me to surrender to my own cycles, with more grace. For women, consciously working with your menstrual cycle is a super potent way to do this. As is, working with the waxing and waning moon cycle. This form of conscious tracking and cycling is available to everyone, man, woman, fertile or not. As a menopausal woman this is how I have continued to work with my cycle.
But one of the most alchemical ways that I’ve found to work with the Resurrection Rites for healing and transformation is to combine this with the chakras. As centres and reservoirs of massive amounts of (conscious and unconscious) energy, the chakras, have been recognised as a path of initiation throughout history. Each chakra holds different unconscious shadow aspects and gifts.
For years now I have been using a 'Resurrection' Breath based on a Daoist practice, that I have added to and adapted over time. The practice gets richer and richer the more I do it. It circulates the breath and awareness (and therefore the energy) through the chakras, along the spine, descending down and rising again.
The physiological, mental and emotional benefits are immediately noticeable. It can bring about an instant shift to my state of consciousness. Yet I know there are also much deeper, long-term benefits to my psyche and my conscious awareness, as old stagnant energies get flushed out of my chakras, while fresh prana, lifeforce and light can meet and greet the shadows. Often during longer practice sessions deep memories and feelings can well up from my subconscious, come to the surface and be released. It has become a path of gnosis for me. A way to embody a personal Resurrection Rite, that is as mighty as the almighty.
Today, on this Holy day, my gift to you is this Resurrection Breath practice so that it can support you in your Rite – wherever you are in your journey! In your Descent or in your Rebirth, may this practice support your Resurrection.
To entice you, here is a list of some of the benefits:
So even for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere, who are currently approaching our descent into Winter, and not the rebirth of Spring, we can all receive medicine from taking time to honour our own Resurrection Rites.
I hope you enjoy! And of course, I highly recommend starting your ritual with a Ceremonial Cacao first, it really enhances the practice!
Blessed Be!
Earth Breathing is a simple yet powerful practice to align you with the pulse and heartbeat of the Earth. It’s incredibly nourishing and honouring – both to you and Gaia.
In honour of this time, I'd like to share about the resurrection rites, not only in reference to the story of Jesus, but as a reference point repeated through culture and myth and as a potential seed for our own powerful Resurrection and rebirth.
In many traditions, the Spirit of Cacao is often referred to as a Goddess. However, in Spanish, cacao is referred to as "el cacao", making it masculine. So which is it?
It’s the second harvest festival and themes of balance and harmony inspire this moment on the Wheel of the Year.
