Advent, Preparation, Work of the People, a Reappearance!
December, month of hopes, anticipations and expectations (and suspense for the little ones), is filled with festivals that bring light to the ever-increasing darkness. Especially in this Kali Yuga time. There is a feeling that something new is about to occur. That something is about to appear! Everywhere we see preparations being made. Advent is a preparatory celebration in the Christian churches. This year we are adding a new addition to the Advent preparations. A new realization.
The Wisdom Teachings say that the Reappearance of the World Teacher (the Christ – a job description) is to begin in 2025. We are now in the year 2022, three years before 2025. Therefore, Advent this year has much to do with preparations for that “reappearance event.” An event that inaugurates the new Aquarian era. The World Teacher always appears when there is great darkness on the Earth. And when the people have lost their way.
Advent is a Latin word “adventus,” meaning “something’s coming” – winter, solstice, new light, birth, holidays, parties, festivities, revelations. Advent lasts four weeks. Evergreen Advent wreaths with four colored candles (3 violet, 1 rose) are made. Each Sunday night a new candle is lit. The candles represent a light glowing in the solemn darkness. We light our candles in the dark half of the year awaiting the light half of the year.
Like each year divided into four seasons, the Liturgy of the Christian church divides the year into “liturgical seasons.” “Liturgical” is Greek for “the work of the people” – a communal participation in the “sacred” through worship, praise, tithing, prayer, acts of kindness and mercy. Each season has a different mood, theological emphasis, mode of prayer, decorations, colors, readings, themes and scriptures.
In the Ageless Wisdom teachings, the year is divided into six seasons for the Three Laws & Three Principles of the Aquarian Age. The season we have just begun (Nov. 21 – Dec. 20) focuses on the Principle of Essential Divinity (we are essential divine beings). As we light our Advent candles in the dark during December, we are reminded of our essential divinity and that of all others. This essential divinity is a fire, a divine light. We are to be a light in the darkness for others.
Tuesday is St. Nicholas’ feast day. Nicholas was generous and kind, protector to those in need. He loved children. St. Nicholas is the Advent saint. He is Santa Claus, bestower of spiritual gifts.
ARIES: You’re being out and about in the world is curtailed at this time with Mars retrograde. You can’t help but miss all the people, events, food, travel, adventures, mountain peaks, plains, culture, cultures and civilization – summoning you to participate. Perhaps you will consider a more contemplative practice – beginning a Journal of Gratitude. Think deeply on your goals. Ponder more, especially upon this statement, “I see the goal, I reach that goal and then I see another.”
TAURUS: You always have goals, and your gift is the strategies on how to accomplish those aims and goals. Do observe the many and varied goals, dreams, hopes & wishes filtering through your mind. There seems to be not enough time each day to accomplish everything, time seems to have changed, accelerated. You have many plans to fulfill. Visualize yourself in the midst of abundant resources and money. See yourself as the Law of Attraction. Accomplishing all dreams, wishes, desires and aspirations. Handwrite everything down.
GEMINI: What are you planning for the holidays? Will you prepare with family or friends or both? With someone in particular? Or will the holidays be more of a retreat, a solemn occasion? Tend carefully to the ones closest to you. A silver light is shining on your relationships. Compassion provides you with the heartfelt intimacy needed. It’s actually being called for. Past, present and future seem to be bundled together. You and another need to travel. Down a river or lake or stream somewhere. Blue mountains ahead.
CANCER: Your health at this time is what matters most. Focusing on health is good because you have the capacity to purify, harmonize and heal more quickly now. Foods are also on your mind. Are you considering preparing food to offer as gifts? Or are endless tasks and responsibilities appearing moment by moment? ‘Til you have no time? Say no to some. Say yes to what brings happiness and joy. Then rest more.
LEO: Your heart seeks more adventure, fun, play and being tended to in a very creative way. You need to come out of the shadows and begin to accept invitations to parties and festivities, be with friends, attend plays, art shows, dances, and visit other people’s homes. You need both a Christmas tree and a Hanukkah bush with lights and candles everywhere. You need to be loved, cared for, recognized and then loved some more. Who can do this for you?
VIRGO: You are the light of the world to your family. You are the one who can connect them, one to the other. You are the one to create festivities that helps everyone feel comforted, nourished and at home. You might begin to consider planning a large gathering so that those who have no family are welcomed. You must merge separate realities, unify oppositions, and synthesize all parts and pieces. You love these tasks. They use your talents for detail and organization.
LIBRA: Being out and about in the neighborhood, dropping in on neighbors, driving around town seeking the most dramatic holiday decorations, having dinner with friends, gathering holiday decorations, seeing relatives, talking on the phone, sending holiday cards – all these you have the capacity for and love to do. You look forward to the festivities and lights and beauty of this season all year long. A question for you this year? Who is your family these days? A suggestion, too. Rest more.
SCORPIO: For the next several weeks you sense a light shining on you. You’ll feel lucky, able, capable, resourceful, wealthy, emotionally supported. Don’t run out, however, and buy everything you fancy that’s shining brightly. Unless it’s for a loved one. In gift giving, most appreciated would be your heart, given to another. Even if it’s to a friend. We think of you as internal, hidden, watchful. Your ruler, Mars, is retrograde. So, notice if you tire more easily. That is a message to be heeded to maintain health & well-being.
SAGITTARIUS: All parts of you are active, energetic, hopeful (we hope). You also may become a bit more impulsive, quick to anger, quite impatient, wanting and needed your own way (for a time). We see you as being more assertive, daring like a warrior. You become very attractive. However, be careful with everything – communicating, driving, walking, running, using tools, implements. Things red, hot and sharp (all of which, to some, you are) might attack. You’re laughing. That’s good. Caution with language. Stay hopeful.
CAPRICORN: You may feel fatigued, weary and in need of rest. Soon you will need to be out and about in the public more, so take this time to draw back, do less work. Pluto, the lord of deep and permanent transformation has been working on your self-identity for years now. You are changing day by day. Continue to plan and create goals. However, be patient acting upon them. Make health, rest, and well-being your central focus. Allow these to be your directives for at least a month or more. What books are you reading?
AQUARIUS: As you go out and about be careful not to be reckless. You have energy and enthusiasm, you have hopes and wishes, you have opportunities and invitations. Amidst the many possibilities, attend only to one or two at a time. Say thank you, exit gracefully, then focus on several more. Pay all bills promptly, don’t worry about money. You always have the needed resources and resourceful people. You always will. Write down your needs by hand in a journal. Focus on them. What are your current goals?
PISCES: You become more public, more of your leadership qualities are summoned. A forum or group invites you to teach, to offer your gifts of communication, counseling, intelligence and knowledge. You prepare. However, you are aware that at any time, things (ideas, plans) may dissolve away. So, you are hopeful, patient, accepting, acquiescing, yet you are also wary, cautious, circumspect, careful and coiled like a kundalini snake, its body emanating the Seven Rays of Light.
Risa – writer, educator, teacher, psychological-spiritual counselor, mentor, astrologer & esotericist, Founder & Director of The Esoteric & Astrological Studies & Research Institute/College, a contemporary Wisdom School (center for spiritual discourse & study) for the Ageless Wisdom teachings. Foundations of the Teachings are the study & application of esoteric & esoteric Astrology, the Seven Rays & Raja Yoga meditation. risagoodwill@gmail.com nightlightnews.org/Daily studies posted on our website. Astrological, esoteric, day-to-day news – art, literature, psychology, the cosmos, consciousness, philosophy, history, religion, economics, geography & cultural journalism.
Recognition of the unique value of every living being expresses itself in reverence for life, compassion for all, sympathy with the need of all individuals to find truth for themselves, and respect for all religious traditions. – The Esoteric & Theosophical Worldview