Mary in Esoteric Teachings

Chapter 7. Mary in Esoteric Writings Chapter 7 Mary in Esoteric Teachings hapter 7 explores how Mary is portrayed in modern esoteric teachings. The primary mission of Mary’s Palestinian incarnation was to give birth to Jesus, but she went on to attain C adeptship in the same lifetime. After her passing Mary made the rare transition from the human to the angelic kingdom, literally to reign as Queen of the Angels. She now serves as Mother of the World, with special concern for women and children. Mother of the World, by Russian artist, ex- plorer and peacemaker Nicholas Roerich (1924). Esoteric teachings on the World Mother build upon the rich religious traditions of South Asia and ancient Egypt. Contrasting views have emerged, which ultimately may be absorbed into a larger synthesis. One view is that the Mother is a being or entity, possibly a divine manifestation, and the historical Mary was one of several avataras sent to Earth on specific missions. The other is that the World Mother is a position or office in the Planetary Hierarchy, and Mary is the latest of a series of individualities to hold that office. Esoteric Teachings What is Esotericism? Esotericism, in its most general sense, is simply the study of the inner, less obvious aspects of reality—contrasting with the literal, tangible, outer appearances of things. The Nicene Creed af- firms belief in God, creator “of all that is, seen and unseen”; esotericism focuses on the unseen. Aside from church buildings, pews, hymnals, and organizational structures, much of Christianity is esoteric. The Eucharist is the supreme example of an esoteric reality. Mysticism is an esoteric practice. Marian apparitions, locutions, and more extensive communications to individuals like Anne Catherine Emmerich, Bridget of Sweden, Geoffrey Hodson, and Anna Raimondi, are esoteric phenomena. In its narrower sense esotericism pertains to fields of inquiry that overlap with mainstream religious teachings but, for historical and other reasons, developed outside the jurisdiction of institu- tional religion. Western esotericism grew out of the mystery traditions of ancient Egypt, Chaldea, Copyright © John F. Nash, 2021. 151 Mary: Adept, Queen, Mother, Priestess and elsewhere and developed into a number of streams, including the Kabbalah, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, and early Freemasonry.1 Eastern esotericism had its origins in the Vedas and Upanishads of India and developed through such movements as Advaita Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, esoteric Buddhism, and the various forms of yoga.2 Eastern esotericism developed in an environment of inclusiveness and tolerance and, accordingly, was more closely integrated into its companion religions. By contrast, western esotericism developed on the fringes of, or outside, mainstream Judaism and Christianity; it was viewed with suspicion and frequent efforts were made to suppress it. Eastern and western esotericism began to merge in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, fol- lowing imperial excursions into Asia. The great contribution of the Theosophical Society, founded in 1875 by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891) and others, was to interpret major elements of eastern esotericism to a western audience. What we know as “modern esotericism” is largely the work of the Theosophical Society and other individuals influenced by it. Helena Ivanovna Roerich (1879–1955) and Alice Ann Bailey (1880–1949) were two important esoteric teachers whose work followed in the Blavatskian tradition. The Theosophical Society and traditional Christian institutions initially were suspicious of each other, but the suspicion lessened over time, allowing for cross-fertilization of ideas. An important development was the “Christianization” movement in the Theosophical Society, to which Anna Kingsford (1846–1888), Annie Wood Besant (1847–1933), Charles W. Leadbeater (1854–1934), and Geoffrey Hodson (1886–1983) contributed. Today we find traditional Christians studying esotericism and lifelong esotericists active in mainstream Christian denominations.3 Similar overlap may be occurring in Judaism and Islam. Modern esotericism addresses many of the same issues as does traditional Christianity, including the nature, status and work of Mary. Some of the teachings referenced in this chapter allegedly were communicated by members of the angelic kingdom. Other teachings were communicated by adepts or masters.4 Such individualities are members of the human family who, like Mary, com- pleted their incarnational cycle and attained a level of relative perfection. On their path to perfection they attained five major initiations, or expansions of consciousness, which Christian esotericists compare with the Birth, Baptism, Transfiguration, Crucifixion and Resurrection/Ascension of Jesus Christ. In eastern esotericism the masters are sometimes known as mahatmas (“great souls”). In western esotericism they are referred to as adepts, elder brothers, or inner chiefs. Collectively, they com- prise the Hierarchy of Masters, part of the Planetary Hierarchy which is responsible for the inner governance of the planet and the long-term advancement of humanity.5 As noted in Chapter 6, masters may or may not retain enduring physical bodies; but all have the ability to materialize a body for a particular purpose. Several of the masters identified their base of operation as India or Tibet, and their teachings are referred to as the trans-Himalayan teachings. Others gave Egypt as their location, and their teachings are referred to as the Luxor teachings. No significant difference in concepts exists between the two. Some of the authors whose work is cited in this chapter named the masters who revealed informa- tion to them. Those named most frequently were the Masters Morya, Kuthumi, and Djwhal Khul of the trans-Himalayan Brotherhood, and the Master Polidorus of the Luxor Brotherhood. Geof- frey Hodson also named the Archangel Bethelda as one of his teachers. Adept, Queen, Mother, Priestess Writing for the Archangel Bethelda in 1928, Geoffrey Hodson exclaimed: “She [the heavenly mother] is the High Priestess ... the Mother of the world.” 6 Fifty years later the Master Polidorus 152 Copyright © John F. Nash, 2021. Chapter 7. Mary in Esoteric Writings gave him the enigmatic command: “Consider the three Offices—Queen, Priestess, and Mother of aspiring souls—the World Mother. Meditate upon the mystery of the deific Feminine Principle and its triple function of Queen, Priestess, and Mother of aspiring souls.”7 Repetition of “Queen, Priestess, and Mother” implies that the three titles have considerable importance. If Mary is the World Mother and an expression of the “deific Feminine Principle,” and both Polidorus and Hod- son affirmed that she is, then she shares those titles. Neither Hodson nor his sources elaborated on Mary’s role as Priestess. Fortunately, earlier chap- ters have already presented a substantial body of knowledge supporting Mary’s priestly role. Very likely she served thus in the Christian community of Jerusalem. And prominent Roman Catholic commentators asserted that her participation in the Sacrifice of the Cross conveyed priestly status on her—status that she continues to hold. Testimony to Mary’s role as Priestess is found in the Tarot. The “High Priestess” card in the Tarot deck created by Arthur Waite and Pamela Colman Smith, and some other decks, draws upon traditional iconography of Mary as well as of the Egyptian goddess Isis.8 What Hodson and several other esoteric teachers, along with their respective sources, have pro- vided is detailed evidence supporting Mary’s titles of Adept, Queen and Mother. The title of this book, Mary: Adept, Queen, Mother, Priestess, seems amply justified. In the next chapter we shall examine the assertion that Mary also expresses or represents the Feminine Aspect of Deity. Mary the Mother of Jesus We saw in Chapter 6 that Mary commented on her lifetime in Palestine in her communications to Geoffrey Hodson and Anna Raimondi. Helena Roerich offered an insightful glimpse into the life of Mary as mother of Jesus. Writing for the Master Morya she referred to Jesus as “the Great Pilgrim,” perhaps a reference to travels dur- ing his “silent years” as well to his itinerant ministry. Roerich also commented that Mary “was as exceptional as Her Son” and communicated important values to him from an early age: The Mother came from a great family and was the embodiment of refinement and nobility of spirit. She was the One who laid the foundation for His first high ideals, and sang a lullaby to Him in which She foretold His miraculous future. She took great care to safeguard Her Child, and was a source of strength for His great achievements.9 In contrast to portrayals of Mary as a simple peasant woman, who did little more than take care of Jesus’ physical needs, Roerich affirmed that she was gifted and had an instinctual grasp of her son’s mission. Mary was able to support Jesus as he prepared for and embarked on his ministry: She knew several languages, and thus made the path easier for Him. Nor did She object to His long pilgrimages, and gathered all that was necessary to make the travels easier. She rightly valued the common people and knew that they would guard the treasures of His Teaching. She recognized the grandeur of the Culmination and thus could give heart to those of diverse char- acter who were weakened by doubt and rejection. She was prepared to experience the same achievement as Her Son, and He entrusted to Her His decision, which was confirmed by the Teachers. It was the Mother who understood the mystery of His wanderings. For the funda- mental truth about the Mother’s life to be clear, one must understand the local conditions of those times. However, She was led by Her insight into the future and was able to rise above the customs of Her country.10 Roerich concluded her account of Mary with: “In truth, very little is known about Her, but when one speaks about the Great Pilgrim one has to say a word about the Mother who led Him to the Highest.”11 Copyright © John F.

Load more