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Note: these excerpt threads are subject to continual revision and updating as opportunity and priority permits Bill Darlison: "The annual journey of the sun through the zodiac is a natural symbol for all journeys and, in particular, for the life-journey of the human being. The word zodiac comes from the primitive root zoad, a walk, way, or going by steps ... and is related to the Greek word hodos, road, and the Sanskrit sodi, path. It is worth remembering in this context that the early Christians were said to be followers of The Way (Acts 24:14). The solar myth of the hero who goes out to meet a series of ordeals (usually twelve) before returning in triumph is patterned on the sun's annual cycle. Gilgamesh is such a solar hero, as are Hercules and Theseus. Related ideas are found in the Arthurian legends, in which the king sits in the centre of a round table surrounded by twelve knights... In addition to being a natural symbol of the spiritual journey, the zodiac also provided the ancient poets with a symbol of regularity, order and harmony. The stars which make up the constellations of the sky appear immutably fixed in relation one to another, and although the sun, moon and planets have their own individual movements through the zodiac, their cycles can be charted, their positions predicted. Such an orderly procession must have fascinated the ancient world, constrasting sharply with the chaotic quality of earthly life, and providing a paradigm of that search for order upon which all human beings are engaged..." [35-36] THE GOSPEL AND THE ZODIAC "By structuring his story on the zodiac, Mark has given it a cosmic dimension. His hero is an individual, like Abraham and Moses, but his message is universal. The zodiacal way is the way we all must travel in the spiritual life. Jesus may have walked the road before us but, as far as Mark is concerned, he does not walk it on our behalf. Mark tells us that we must take up the cross and follow Jesus (Mark 10:21); we have to drink the same cup, and be baptized with the same baptism (Mark 10:38) if we want the same reward. Using timeless metaphors drawn from the zodiacal circle, Mark has given us a textbook of the spiritual life, a life lived in harmony with the universe, a life of holiness, wholeness, which can only be attained with great effort and at great personal cost. There is also the possibility that, as we learn about these universal principles, we are learning about the career of one, about whom history has bequeathed us little more than a name, whose life embodied these principles, and whom we can call our brother and exemplar. This interpretation is not intended as a reductionist dismissal of the Jesus story as mere zodiacal myth. On the contrary: I consider the Gospel of Mark to be a work of profound spiritual significance. I write as a Christian minister, albeit one who has more in common with Valentinus than with Ireneaus, and I accept that there is much more to this Gospel than my own analysis can account for. While I would want to argue for the objective presence of a zodiacal scheme in Mark, I do not think for one moment that in describing this we are exhausting all dimensions of meaning within the text..." [47-48] THE GOSPEL AND THE ZODIAC "This is the secret message of the Gospel narrative, a message which it shares with the dramas of the mystery cults of old, that a new kind of life - eternal life, resurrected life - is availible to those who are brave enough to embrace the Way of the Cross, the painful destruction of the ego and its appetites, so that the Christ-spirit may come to birth. This resurrected life is not a post-mortem state; it is offered to us while we are still in the flesh... The resurrection of Jesus, the Resurrection of Jairus' daughter, are both awakenings from the sleep of the unlived life which it is the aim of all spiritual systems to effect... our post-resurrection journey, like that of Jesus to Galilee ... is back to where we started from. The cycle has ended only to begin again as we spiral, onwards and upwards, towards our eventual liberation." [216-217] THE GOSPEL AND THE ZODIAC: The Secret Truth About Jesus |