Christmas, and the End of the Age Jesus Ushered In

(Revised 6-21-2008)

Christmas and the end of the age are really separate subjects, but I will tie them together here on this page to try to promote greater understanding between religions.

The date of December 25 is used to celebrate the birth of the Christ Jesus for two very good reasons. Of course, we should celebrate his birth and honor him as the great Master Teacher and Sacrificial Lamb of God that he was. His teachings are among the most valuable of any known to humanity, especially the teachings that he sacrificed himself for, around universal love, forgiveness, tolerance, and pacifism.

However, the date of December 25 was chosen for several reasons, one of which is because it closely follows the Winter Solstice, and in the Northern Hemisphere that is the shortest day of the year. We see the sun for the shortest period of time and it is dark for the longest period of time.

That is why it is a very good thing that in America, for instance, we have the holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day at this time, because it picks up our spirits, staves off the "winter blues," and gives us good opportunity to be with our friends and loved ones. It can be and should be a wonderful time of the year because we make it so. And many other religious traditions are similar in that way.

For example, an ancient Persian tradition held that the god of light, Mithra (often associated with the Greek god of the sun, Helios) was born of a virgin on December 25. In ancient Persia, which is now Iran, Mithra was the protector god of their society, and Mithraism was popular and pretty widespread, from India to Europe.

The Zoroastrian reformation in Persia changed that, but even after that reformation, December 25 was still regarded as a holy holiday, not only by those who still honored the old traditions regarding Mithra, but also by others who also felt that the Winter Solstice was a time for uplifting the spirits of the people by a celebration of some other kind.

Of course, there are many conflicting opinions about this. Many scholars have done much study and research and have offered a whole lot of "evidence," either to try to prove or disprove whether December 25 was the Christ Jesus’ birthday. However, none of those opinions are definitive. And I feel comfortable telling you that I believe it is more likely that it was in early March, under the sign of the two fish.

You see, when Jesus said he had come "not to bring peace, but division," I believe he did so because he knew he was ushering in the age symbolized by the two Piscean fish that appear to be swimming in opposite directions. He knew that it would be an age when men tended toward conflict and division because of competition for power, wealth and domain, and that’s why he foretold that things would change at the end of the age (Aeon).

Jesus knew that during the passing age most people, and particularly men, would fall into many temptations, particularly the temptation of partaking of the "forbidden fruit" and indulging in judgmental egotism, self-importance, greed, and self-righteousness.

Jesus knew that relatively few wise people would understand the truth, that the two fish of Pisces are actually going around in a circle, in harmony, just like the two shapes in the male and female yin and yang symbol of Taoism. In fact, in that sense, both symbols are like the symbol in the Judaic Star of David, which is two deltas superimposed. One is male and the other female, like the positive and negative poles of electricity. You can’t have one without the other, even though many people merely see only the duality, and opposites, and conflict and division. Their "eye" is not "single," as Jesus said it must be to see the Divine Reality.

Jesus knew that only a precious few would understand the core, universal truths, and that’s why he said he had not come not to give peace but rather division. Not only that, at the same time he foresaw and predicted that fathers shall be divided against sons; sons against fathers; mothers against daughters, daughters against mothers; mothers in law against daughters in law, and daughters in law against mothers in law. (Luke 12:51-53)

However, I bring that up because what is not understood is that Jesus said those things not because God would cause the conflict or division or enmity. He said it because he foresaw that would happen, and it has indeed happened.

Jesus knew it would tend to be an age of division and conflict because he knew that most leaders would be spiritually blind men who fight for power over each other. He also knew that family patriarchs would enforce their power over women and children in misguided efforts to rule. (See the pages on The Man-Woman Relationship, and Another Prophecy.)

That is why Jesus gave us the advice that he did –– to love one another; to let your "eye be single"; to judge not, lest you be judged; to not retaliate; to resist not evil but love good; to love even your enemy, etc. In fact, it’s why he martyred himself and sacrificed his life, to culminate his teaching around universal love, peace, tolerance, forgiveness, and pacifism.

Jesus knew that during the passing age certain Christian traditions would originate from erroneous ideas and doctrines about his role and purpose, and the intent of his teachings. And of course I’m speaking of traditions that have led some Christians to use force of arms and even kill to impose their will and to gain wealth, power and domain in the name of religion, while similarly erroneous traditions have led some "religious" family patriarchs to use oppressive tactics to maintain control over their families.

That is why Jesus said "son of man" and the messenger for the "Spirit of truth" would come at the end of the age. And that’s why it is now so important to understand the prophecies of Jesus. For he actually said he "had to go away and be seen no more," but there would be one to come at the end of the age who would issue judgment, guide you into remembrance of the real truth, and show you things to come. (See the page on Real Prophecies About the Messenger.)

Now, that leads me to this question: Just when is the end of the age?

While a lot of people have thought the new age would begin in the Christian Year A.D. 2000, that is not actually the case. Contrary to popular belief, an age is a little more than two thousand years. As I understand it from the most knowledgeable source I’ve found, the length of an age is 2,166 years, since there are twelve world ages in a great world cycle of 26,000 years. So, while we have indeed entered a new century and new millennium according to the Christian calendar, we have not yet entered a new age. The new age will not actually begin until the year 2133 according to the Christian calendar. And that calculation is based on the fact that Jesus’ birth marked the beginning of the passing age, which means it has been 2,034 years so far, with 132 years to go.

Even so, we have been and are indeed experiencing the end of an age and the "dawning" of the new age, and it will get brighter and brighter (in a spiritual sense) as we get closer. We have for awhile been in the "cusp" between the ages, and still are, where we have begun to feel the effects and characteristics of the new age but still feel those of the old as well. In fact, we have been feeling the effects of the new age for most of the twentieth century, and its effects are gradually becoming closer to being equal to the effects of the passing age.

For example, using the air as a means for travel and communication is very much an effect of the coming Aquarian Age, as is the desire for harmony, real equality, and liberation from all kinds of oppression and repression. So we have been feeling what is coming for awhile, even though the often divisive influences of the passing age have been somewhat stronger.

On the other hand, even after we have actually entered the new age, we will still be feeling the effects of the old, along with the new, because the change is not abrupt but very gradual. There is an overlapping of effects during that period called the cusp.

We need to understand that the negative influences and effects of the passing age (the age symbolized by the two Piscean fish) will be with us for a while. But that is not to say that all Piscean influences are negative, because each "sign" represents influences that are both positive and negative. In fact, on the positive side, Pisces is a sign of great compassion, empathy, generosity and liberality, which is why the original Christian symbol was the fish, long before the cross became the most significant symbol for the Christ Jesus (see the pages on Christians Divided, and the Martydom of Jesus).

However, the negative influences of Pisces can include the tendency toward using intuition and understanding to establish self-serving control. At its worst, it can lead to the tendency toward self-centered individualism and the temptation to judge good and evil as "black and white" and absolute, as well as the temptation to enter into divisive partisan conflict in an attempt to dominate and rule over those who disagree.

Ironically, there are many so-called Christians today who are under negative influences, and even use the fish as a symbol for their ignorant and hypocritical self-righteousness. For example, they put signs on the back of their cars depicting a huge "Christian" fish about to devour a smaller "Darwin" fish with legs. Thus, they are among the hypocrites who unwittingly "work iniquity in the name of the Lord," as Jesus said they would. And, of course, they cause conflict and trouble on many political fronts. (See the pages on the Abortion Issue, Evolution vs. Creationism, etc.)

That, as I said, is why Jesus, who ushered in the Piscean Age, advised us to judge not, and to resist not evil but love good, and it is why he said he had come "not to bring peace, but division."

Furthermore, since Pisces influences the feet, the writings of the prophet Daniel are relevant to this discussion. For Daniel was an astrologer (just like the Magi, the followers of Zoroaster, who came to visit the baby Jesus in the manger), and Daniel envisioned and foresaw a symbolic image of a future "king with feet of iron and clay." Daniel said the image would be associated with a "divided fourth kingdom" which would reign prior to the fulfillment of prophecy when it would be replaced by God’s "new kingdom which shall last forever." Additionally, Daniel said that the "stone" of truth would "strike the image of the king on the feet and shatter his image, and the stone would become as a great mountain that shall fill the earth." (Daniel 2:34-35)

Contrary to "fundamentalist" Christian belief and claims, the Bible contains many astrological references, and in my forth book (What IS the World Coming To?) you can read an explanation of the astrological symbolism used by the prophet Daniel in the Old Testament when he wrote about the same "Babylon" that the apostle John later described in Revelation, the last book of the New Testament. You will see what the "fall of Babylon" at the end of the passing age really means, and what the new age will bring.

Fortunately, what negative influences there are from the Piscean Age will be diminishing steadily as the influences and effects of the coming new Aquarian Age increase. Since Aquarius is an "air" sign we will see even greater use of the air for travel and communication, and we will not only feel a growing desire for harmony, understanding, equality, and liberation, we will also see an increase in our intuitive and psychic faculties, and more recognition of our abilities in extrasensory communication. (And I’m not talking about the phoney so-called "psychic abilities" of charlatans who fool people for financial gain and notoriety. I’m talking about genuine but subtle psychic faculties which we all are born with but have pushed them so far back that we are no longer consciously aware of them.)

There will be increasing acknowledgment of metaphysics and spirituality by the scientific community, which has traditionally held logic and the self-conscious, rational mind as the highest achievement of evolution. We will achieve higher states of consciousness. Intellectuals will slowly learn that we do indeed have other mental and spiritual faculties, and it will become more evident that our intellectual and rational faculties can be balanced and even improved with intuitional and even psychic faculties.

This will be very gradual, however, and the full effects of the new age probably won’t completely envelop the earth until about 2200 or so.

This message from the Spirit of truth comes at the end of the passing age not just to fulfill prophecy. It comes to fulfill the great expectation of divine intervention and the desperate need for truth, and also to allow ample time for us (and our children and our children’s children) to work toward establishing the new "kingdom" of God on Earth. But it won’t actually be a "kingdom," because we, the people, shall share the thrones of each nation.

The message from the Spirit of truth provides a realistic and accurate view of what the Bible foretells about our future, and about our past and present. It explains what religious Scriptures mean in terms of real religious values and principles. And it sheds light on the nature of God and the Christ, and explains the nature and role of the son of man who is the messenger for the Spirit of truth.

Because I am he, I tell you that now is the time that we should use our common sense, and stop being influenced by those who seek personal power, wealth and domain in the name of religion, when they are in fact spiritually blind and know not God.

Now is the time to acknowledge that we are one family of races, religions and nations, and only God in heaven reigns over all, in Spirit.

(Much of the above was quoted from the book, What IS the World Coming To?: A Candid Look at Past, Present and Future Through the Lens of Real Prophecy and Common Sense, published by iUniverse. Inc.)