Red Rebirthin’
Good Friday and Happy Easter, Ostara, Purim, Holi, Full Moon and Spring Equinox!
A Bit O’ Red Herstory:
Forget pastel-colored eggs this Sunday! In the Eastern Orthodox tradition red eggs are exchanged at Easter. Why red? Well, once upon a new millennium, a powerful spiritual teacher named Mary Magdalene decided to visit a grumpy Roman Emperor, Tiberius, in order to tell him about the risen Christ. For this important meeting, Mary brought a white egg as a symbol of new life and Christ’s Resurrection (she also knew men need visuals in order to get the deeper symbolic meaning of things). After Mary shared the good news Tiberius responded - not too surprisingly – with, “B.S.!” He believed the lady in red was most definitely nutz (or drunk off that special red wine that J.C. was so famous for creating spontaneously. If J.C. was around today, I bet he’d run a winery in Napa called “Sinsuality”. I also bet he’d host one helluva Re-Birthday party. Holy hangovers are so worth it. But I digress).
Tiberius announced “A human being can no more rise from the dead than the egg in your hand could turn red” (at which, Inanna, Attis, and Osiris immediately spit out their wine and slapped each other on the back like they had just heard the silliest thing, like ever. Well, at least since that crazy rumor about Eve causing “The Fall” of humankind). A word to the wise: When the Divine Feminine pays you a personal visit, listen to her, no matter how love drunk she may appear or how sexy she moves under her robes or what crazy wise information she decides to throw your way. I mean really.
But Mary didn’t flinch at Tiberius’s rude response, she looked him straight in the eye, raised the egg to her chest (directly in front of her heart), pointed to it – and the white egg turned red. Yep, the Divine Feminine has always loved to turn things (and people) a beautiful, bold, shade of Red.
Resurrect Yer Fine Self
J.C. demonstrated that death is necessary for rebirth, but Christianity isn’t the only kid on the spiritual block with a death wish. Sufis often say “die before you die,” by which they mean we need to die to the ego self in order to be reborn to our divine Self. Btw, Sufis are also big fans of the vino, hmmm… (Rumi nods passionately, swigs, and swoons). And most shamans from around the world had to undergo a “death” before they started their healing work - sometimes they were even temporarily buried alive, which symbolized the necessary surrender of their previous life.
Not jiving with crucifixion, drunk Sufis or dirty shamans? No problem. You can still take full advantage of this, er, “metamorphical” season by letting go of that which no longer serves your highest good. If you’re not quite sure what to let go of, simply ask yourself: “What needs to die and be reborn?” Be willing to hear the answers.
A stagnant relationship? A repressive belief system? A self-destructive attitude? An environmentally unfriendly habit? A crappy diet? A spiritual practice that might have served you well in the past, but is making your spirit yawn in the present? A hair style you’ve had since 1997?
Pay close attention to your intuition and the divine winks fluttering throughout your day, and you’ll soon realize that some piece of your self, some part of your life, is asking to die, to be transformed, so you can create the space to become a powerful container, for the New. As Marion Woodman says, “New wine poured into an old wine skin will cause it to burst”. And all the goddesses and gods know that it’s a Cardinal Sin to waste good wine.
While death ain’t exactly fun or easy, the more we try to hang on to the old, the more painful and slow the death can be. Bottom line: we can’t escape the natural process of death and rebirth. Change is the only constant in life (and death). Like a snake whose skin is restricting her graceful movements, like a caterpillar who innately knows she’s reached her limits, like a young sexy (in my red opinion) Jewish man from the first century who sacrificed his life for a higher good – you too need to shed your tight skin, morph into a beautiful butterfly, “die” to who you believe yourself to be so you can be reborn to who you really are.
As the Japanese mystic, Ikkyu, so beautifully wrote:
“A butterfly hovers in front of her face
how long will she sleep”
After all, tis the season to play strip poker with the Universe and win your self a brand new life. And, make sure to throw yourself a rockin’ Re-birthday Party, replete with red wine, red eggs, and a red Welcome mat for the Divine Feminine.
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Loved the red egg story, but have you heard this one?
During the crucifiction, a blackbird flew near Jesus on the cross and wondered what it could do to lessen his pain. He hovered near the crown of thorns and began to tug on a spike with all his might. The barb finally came out, but not before splattering his wings with a generous splash of red. To thank the blackbird for its kind act he made the coloring permanent and that is how the redwinged blackbird came to be.
I just love these origen stories don’t you?
March 23rd, 2008 at 8:54 am
so refreshing!
March 27th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I love the “new wine in an old skin” metaphor - was just reading about pouring old wine in a new bottle -ie, old wisdom re-languaged for us to hear now. Reminds me of a certain red priestess who spreads ancient wisdom packaged in a fabulously hip+sassy blog.