Gnostic Winter Solstice

The Festival of Lights

Excerpts from the Song of God

7th Endowment 3:12-48

12 …For on the eve of the winter solstice shall you celebrate for three days the Winter Festival of Lights;
which festival shall proclaim aloud the family of God above that of mortal man.

13 For even your own family is in similitude of a far more greater family,
which greater family is found in Heaven, being in its every part wondrous and delightful;
possessing in its construct a home and hearth where even all are gathered
to dwell in joyful purpose before the Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father;
and of this far more greater family are even you become a part.

14 Consider then the season, the cold and wintry months,
for even therein do you find a similitude of all your life upon the world of man;
for in every life is there made to come the hard and bitter day, filled with burdens of every kind; causing that you should feel yourself as one despairing and filled with grief.

15 And even as in the wintry months, even so do you feel likewise a creeping coldness within the heart, which coldness would make most dark and filled with gloom the life which you now live;
causing that there should well up within you a hurtful ache
which would make even your own spirit dull and filled with weariness.

16 How then shall you bring warmth and light and hope
into the life which feels most burdened and pressed on every side?
By what means would you chase away the coldness of depression,
causing that such gloom as you might feel should prove itself diminished
and unworthy of further thought?

17 For in the beginning was it not intended that you should prove defeated in the living of your life;
neither was it foreordained that life should prove a burden;
for this I tell you for your good, that unto you is there given the seeds of victory and happy life.

18 What then shall prove the fertile soil which would make victory grow within you?
By what power shall light and warmth be made to glow and chase away the gloom?

19 Come then and I will tell you and this a mantra speak,
to be in yourself always remembered that in the expression of joy is strength created,
in the expression of joy is light and warmth made to glow to chase away the gloom;
for in the midst of jubilation is the victory of your life most clearly seen.

20 Let us consider the Winter Festival of Lights, the manner in which you celebrate;
for in your jubilation would I establish within your heart
the supremacy of God above all things temporal and impermanent;

21 Creating within your mind the constant presence
of God the Mother and the Father in all your daily living;
becoming themselves through all your joy an ever constant realness
which shines and glows before your eyes to fill the heart with wonder.

22 To be for you a good reminder that you are made of something greater,
having your beginning in a far more nobler birth;
born of God and everlasting, to become yourself eternal always,
a child of Heaven sent down to earth and filled with greater purpose.

23 Thus at the rising of the sun, on the first day of celebration
shall you light a candle to place it upon the altar,
and for three days shall you cause to shine from out of the sanctuary the candle of light,
to be for you a symbol which reflects the light of God which in the darkness shines.

24 And there shall be feasting and celebration within both your families;
first in the family of your mortal flesh, and secondly in that greater family
which is found in the Fellowship of God, filled with song and dance and joyful hallelujah.

25 Thus on the very day of the winter solstice
shall you gather in fellowship with the family of God on earth;
and you shall give to each other a warm embrace and a holy kiss;
and in much joy shall you celebrate the light which comes from God,
to feast and dance midst joyful songs in the midst of cold December.

26 And throughout your celebrations shall you create within the festival all that’s good and bright,
to give them sacred meanings; yet in the doing prove most careful in letting go the old traditions, rejecting with stout heart the images of the past.

27 For if you entangle the old with the new to make them seem as one,
then shall you entangle even your own heart and mind and bring forth great confusion;
to become yourself slowly mired in traditions from the past,
which traditions are born of men and not of God.

28 Beware I say, be most aware;
for the liberties which come from God cannot by force be taken from you;
but are instead surrendered for the sake of some convenience,
here a little, there a little, till you are made a prisoner;
having surrendered inch by inch, even all the liberties which come from God.

29 Let go therefore the images of the past,
but turn your heart to a new and brighter image filled with light and joy, song and dance,
and this in greater remembrance; for here on the world so far away, where evil presses hard,
even you can be the victor by holding on to God.

30 For there is given you already a good example which would encourage,
for in the beginning did Sophiel stand alone against Jehovah-Yahweh,
and did herself claim a brightly shining victory against the darkness of this world;
bringing forth to be a symbol, the ever greening tree to be a tree of life.

31 Thus shall Sophiel prove the first heroine who came quick to defend the children of First Man;
to prove for them a guiding spirit filled with goodness,
to become herself the giver of dreams and subtle influence
whereby she might prepare this world for the coming forth of mighty dispensations.

32 Let it then be seen appropriate to festoon your home with pine boughs dressed in light,
and this during the Winter Festival of Lights; let pine boughs adorn the corners and the walls,
on shelf and mantel piece let pine boughs and twinkling lights fill your home with cheer;
to commemorate throughout your generations the victory of Sophiel over fierce and dread Jehovah.

33 And unto this shall I add the second heroine,
who in her glory and achievement did prove far greater than the first;
for even Mahaleenah did come forth to defend the daughters of Shaemdiel,
to rebuke with cold disdain Jehovah-Yahweh; to stand herself before the darkness
as a brightly shining light fit for war and battle.

34 Thus in similitude of the winter solstice is there found the darkest day of the year,
causing that many should feel a greater aloneness;
let light therefore glow and twinkle throughout your home, to remind you of your joy,
and let there be music to feed the soul in remembrance of Mahaleenah.

35 And remember those who are forlorn, who feel themselves abandoned,
and give to them great kindness, extending to those less fortunate a gentle, tender grace;
placing into their hands gifts of food and drink; for in giving to the poor do you give to God a gift,
to prove yourself an angel sent from God above.

36 Yet in your giving prove most careful,
for there are those who would use a gift to make themselves seem great,
comporting themselves with condescension when dealing with the poor;
to fill the poor with humiliation in the receiving of the gift;
stripping away their sense of worth to fill them up with shame.

37 Thus will some use a gift to crush the heart of those made poor,
to make the giver seem superior to those who are without;
exalting themselves in the midst of pride upon the backs
of those made poor and filled with simple needs.

38 Be not like unto such as these, for in the giving of a gift should you give to the poor your respect;
being careful not to shame the one who is unfortunate;
extending to the poor the grace of God which overshadows all,
to prove yourself a good reminder that brighter days will come.

39 Prove yourself as one most generous and always happy eager to remember those less fortunate,
to be yourself that gentle friend which cheers and makes most bright the darkest day
of those made poor and who are themselves without.

40 Come my child and tell me true: Will you my angel be,
to brighten up the darkest day, to share and joyful give,
to prove yourself most filled with grace in dealing with the poor,
always eager to lift the fallen and speak a word of cheer?

41 If you my child can do these things with a good and noble heart,
then you are mine and I am yours, to be as one forever;
filled with light and gentle grace to be ourselves entwined;
ever constant like a star that glows and brightly shines.

42 Celebrate therefore the Winter Festival of Lights and this with Maranatha,
and fill your heart with jubilation while dancing in the light;
making bright the darkest day to chase away the cold,
holding up for all to see the family of God on earth.

43 Set free your joy through song and dance and you become most free,
to find within both heart and mind the joy of God revealed,
letting go such inhibitions as you alone enforce;
for joy and shame go not together, being each themselves exclusive.
For shame does forge a heavy chain, while joy will set you free.

44 Choose therefore which you will have and in your choice be wise.
For if you choose the ways of joy then act most well the part,
for in the act of great rejoicing all shame will flee away,
leaving in ruin the heavy chains which once did hold you bound.

45 Ask yourself within the heart and in your mind give thought:
What shall prove the greatest gift which you could hope to have?
What is the treasure of greatest worth, the pearl beyond price or measure?
What one thing is worth the having above all other things?

46 Hear me then and I will answer; for the joy of God is the greatest gift which you can have,
which gift is purchased only in the act of jubilation and great rejoicing,
moving out into the ethers to touch the lives of others who likewise seek to have;
to find at last the joy of Heaven which would set the spirit free.

47 Let then the Winter Festival of Lights make bright the world around you,
celebrating within your family the victory found in God;
proving yourself through jubilation a good and grateful child,
holding up for all to see the light which in you glows.

48 Feast and dance and make most merry, let joy engulf the home;
adding to your celebration things of your own design,
giving to all who would enact a good and sacred meaning,
to prove yourself a worthy agent who reflects the will of God.