Passover & Easter and the Week of Divine Intimacy

Image by Bruno van der Kraan

The next week is overflowing with astrological and mythological tributaries leading to a lush river that can quench our souls. It was so designed by our foremothers and fathers that these celebrations take place during the exaltation of the Sun in Aries. And no other aspect of life channels the Sun’s light better than kids. Both Passover and Easter’s rituals are actively encouraging children to partake in the celebration. The Seder’s Afikomen as well as the Easter’s egg hunt are just a few examples. Children are the key to experiencing the holidays, and if there are no kids around, you still have your inner kid, always there, ready to jump in. To honor rebirth and resurrection, from toddlers to people in the last part of their lives, we all have to allow the kid in us, freedom to express themselves during this coming week.

Both Passover and Easter are linked to the Full Moon in Libra, which in 2022 takes place on Saturday, April 16. While the Sun travels through Aries, the Moon will rest on the opposite sign—Libra. The Moon in Libra is associated with the Tarot card “Two of Swords,” which in the Thoth Deck is called “Peace.” The card represents an opening created in the wake of a spiritual decision (Libra is connected to decisions, judgments, and balancing the scales). That spiritual decision is depicted in the stories of the two holidays coming up in the next few days: Passover and Easter. And in case you don’t recall making any major spiritual decision recently, well, we did it for you. The decision is collective: coming out of whatever darkness you might feel or experience and jumping into the light. Out of Egypt we walk to the Promised Land. Out of the cave we emerge into divinity.

Passover is constructed on the foundations of the ancient barley celebration of the Near East. The barley is an Aries grain: the first to have been domesticated and the first to sprout after the liberation of nature from her slavery to winter. Not to mention it was used for brewing beer. During the Seder of Passover, Jews around the world recount the story of their transition from slaves to warriors, from victims to heroes, from people bound to someone else’s will to people who exercise their free-will. Like all stories, the Passover saga is a tale of transformation whereas the character’s arc is expressed through Moses’ ability to change the destiny and religion of his people. He was sentenced to death before he was born, saved by a river, only to be adopted by the daughter of the very man who originally condemned him, along with all male Hebrew babies, to death. After an encounter with a speaking bush that insisted on doing so while burning, he realized his true mission in life was to grant his people the freedom he already enjoyed. And that’s when his personal transformation became societal. It was also the point where he begins to perform what the Bible calls “miracles,” but could be easily labeled as magic. You can see the similarities to the story of Christ. He too was sentenced by the ruler to death as a baby, he too was saved by a river when he encountered the Holy Dove. Jesus also performed miracles and died before he could see his work complete. A Tale of Two Aries.     

What does that this Aries/Libra transformation entails? It is a decision (Libra) to listen to the call of action (Aries) in spite of the strong urge to resist and refuse it. Miracles only happen to those who get out of their comfort zone, trust themselves, and act on their own before the cavalry could come to the rescue. This is the season of action but also of intimacy with the divine. Moses, the Bible tells us, was the only human that ever saw God and lived to write about it. In addition, Moses was given the only artifact fashioned by God himself – the first tablets, which he smashed due to an anger mismanagement on the account of the Golden Calf. This time of the year, so it seems, God’s channels are wide open for communication: your higher-self is a bit closer, your guardian angel a tiny more reachable, and dreams try harder to be remembered.

In the case of Easter, we have a wonderful theme park of myths with rides and rollercoasters coming together to create a sensational holiday for kids. The pagan’s equinox barley celebration, defused by the Saxon goddess of dawn, a dash of the stories of Ishtar, as well as, other goddess of fertility (bunnies and eggs), whose names were lost over time. Easter has some elements of Passover as well, for example, the eating of lamb. It is the Aries sacrificial lamb, all those poor little lambs that were slaughtered before they had a chance to grow into a formidable Rams. The Christian mythology tells of a man dying a terrible death on a cross and yet accepting his cruel fate with unconditional love: Forgive them Father for they do not know what they are doing. That acceptance (Kabbalah in Hebrew) he sealed his life mission: demonstrating that love is superior to hate, and that unconditional love is stronger than empires. The Passion of Christ begun on the Passover diner he led with his apostles. Apprehended by the Romans, he was sentenced to death and on good Friday, which to be honest wasn’t that good, at least not to Jesus’ mother and those who loved him, he was crucified, and his body was placed in a cave. He returned to the womb of the goddess, to recharge and reboot. Three days later, on the day of the Sun, he resurrected. And who was the first to greet him? The first to witness his transformation? Maria Magdalena, his spiritual doula, his celestial midwife. Genesis’ rather morbid “Ashes to ashes dust to dust,” gets a remake: “Women to Goddess, cave to life.”

Here again we see the idea of intimacy with God during this time of the year. Something about the “I Am” of Aries, mixed with the “I Balance” of Libra, helps us stabilize the scales of Maat. We should all try to use this next week to ask the universe for signs, clarity and synchronicities. Passover and Easter are there to remind us of the magic we can access when we truly connect to the One: pillar of fire and smoke, parting of a sea, walking on a sea, water into blood, water in wine, (come to think of it, I see why Christianity is more popular than her older sister).

Miracles abound during this time of the year, the month of Nisan, which in semitic languages means, “first fruits,” and in Jewish lore, “miracles.” In the next week we are touched by the divine in and around us, and this divine intervention can manifest as an inspiration, an aha moment, a dream, or a stranger saying something that really hits the mark. Christmas has Santa Clous, and Passover/Easter have Elijah. Elijah, the Bible tells us, never died, he rose to the sky in a chariot of fire, and since then he is known for using temporary avatars, perhaps a homeless or vagabond, taking over their bodies for a few second to deliver a profound, life changing message from high-above. That is the reason why in the Passover Seder, we are asked to leave Elijah a bit of wine in the chalice (Holy Grail), as well as keep the front door slightly open for him to come through and bless the household with some forward memories. Yes, both Passover Seder and Easter’s celebration demand an active exercise of suspense of disbelief. I told you, it’s a kid’s holiday.

I hope you can use some of these stories to make the week special. I will cover these topics and suggest some fun activities on the webinar April 14 on the spiritual meaning of the holidays.

We are also blessed this year with a triple conjunction of scaredness. Billions of people around the globe will be focused on their spiritual practices this week since Passover and Easter fall during Ramadan, another holiday commemorating a revelation. Muhammad too was in a cave when he heard his call to adventure. It consisted of one word, “recite!” which was spoken by no other than Jibril, aka, archangel Gabriel, the same superhero that, indirectly, got Maria pregnant. Muhammad also had a refusal of the call, consisting of three words, “I am illiterate.” It took 23 years to complete writing the Koran, but he made it happen and soon after, the book became a life guide, a spiritual technical support to people across the world.

This convergence of the three holidays happens every 33 years (the age Jesus died on the cross), and I hope it can bring about a conjunction of the hearts of the people from the Abrahamic religions.

I wish you all a wonderful Full Moon, Passover, Easter, and Ramadan. I hope, with the help of the blessed Lady, the good Lord, and their kids (I guess it means—us), that you find your intimacy with the divine while here on earth

Amen

PS

I was about to post this blog when I heard the news of the massacre in NY, as well as the new investigation into Putin shameful war involved rape, the use of chemical weapons, and the slaughtering of innocent. Humanity’s greatest problem is self-destructiveness. If only humans could leave humans alone…