The True Meaning of Christmas

 As I was listening to the Christmas carol "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" this morning, I felt moved to share with you the lyrics and their Gnostic meaning. I am inserting a link for you to the podcast episodes that explain each lyric of the song. You may listen to the episodes, or simply read the episode transcript which is included with the podcast.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

Emmanuel is another name for the Savior, the Christ, the Redeemer. Emmanuel means "God Is With Us." This stanze is a plea for the Redeemer to ransom, or "redeem," us. We Second Order Powers are all "Israel," not only the nation of the Hebrews. Our exile is life here in this fallen universe, and we dimly remember and dearly miss the Pleroma of the Fullnesses and Logos from which we came. The Gnostic Gospel promises redemption from the Fall by the Son of God--the Christ.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height
In ancient times didst give the law
In cloud, and majesty and awe

It is said of the Redeemer that He would come with an army that would defeat Satan. Because of these Old Testament prophesies, the Israelites were expecting a war-like General that would lead troops into battle to defeat Israel's opponents. Even John the Baptist expected a General, not the pacifist demeanor of Jesus. We have learned by studying the Gnostic Gospels that Satan will be defeated not through the shedding of blood on the battlefield, but by unconditional love. The Christ brings salvation and love to the Fallen, even to the fallen Aeon we call the Demiurge. All souls will remember and awaken to the Pleroma of the Father. The path to awakening is love.  The law given in ancient times in the lyric above was the attempt of the Demiurge to control the behavior of the Second Order Powers. The law is largely ineffective in controlling our behavior. This is why Jesus said we are saved not through our own efforts, but only by the Christ.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave

The Rod of Jesse is another way of saying the Root of Jesse, referring to the lineage of Jesus through King David and Jesse, David's father. A shepherd's rod is a club-like weapon used to defend the herd. The lyric above requests that the Savior be a weapon deployed against Satan's tyranny. Satan, the Demiurge, is a tyrannical ruler who does not have our best interests in mind. Satan's tyranny refers to his strong bonds of control and his attempts to promote loyalty to him rather than to the Father. The Demiurge is the Creator of this earth and our material cosmos, but not of our eternal spirits and souls. One of the great lies of the Demiurge is that we do not pre-exist and that we will evaporate upon our material death.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight

Dayspring here is another name for the Christ, from whence the light of truth springs forth. The Christ's Dayspring gives us hope that there is light beyond this existence, and life beyond death's dark shadows.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel

O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home
Make safe the way that leads on high
And close the path to misery

The Key of David refers again to the Christ. Here Christ is the Key to unlocking Gnosis. Our heavenly home is our destination after this material world passes away. The lyric is praying for Christ to come and lead us safely home, thus closing the path to the misery of this fallen world. Only Christ's redemption and guidance can bring us back to the Pleroma of the Fullness of God. Without Christ, we find ourselves trapped in the Never-ending War between our egoic, Fallen nature and our higher Self through which the Holy Spirit flows. The Demiurge would have us believe that following him and our egoic nature will bring happiness and satisfaction, but it only ever leads to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high
And order all things, far and nigh
To us the path of knowledge show
And cause us in her ways to go

This verse is a clear call to embrace the gnosis, or wisdom, that comes from on high. Gnosis leads to virtue. Gnosis leads to giving glory to the God Above All Gods, the Father of consciousness and love.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel

O come, desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease
And be Thyself our King of peace

We humans are all Second Order Powers. We come from Above and we will return to Above. We share the Pleroma of Logos. The differences that divide now are by-products of being caught in the Never-ending War. They will be forgotten when the King of Peace returns and love replaces our sad divisions.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel