“I AM the Resurrection and the Life;
he that believeth in Me, though he
were dead, yet shall he live.”
The mystery of the crucifixion and the resurrection is so interwoven that, to be fully understood, the two must be explained together for one determines the other.
This mystery is symbolized on earth in the rituals of Good Friday and Easter. You have observed that the anniversary of this cosmic event, announced every year by the church, is not a fixed date as are other anniversaries marking births and deaths, but that this day changes from year to year, falling anywhere from the 22nd day of March to the 25th day of April.
The day of resurrection is determined in this manner.
The first Sunday after the full moon in Aries is celebrated as Easter. Aries begins on the 21st day of March and ends approximately on the 19th day of April. The sun’s entry into Aries marks the beginning of Spring. The moon in its monthly transit around the earth will form sometime between March 21st and April 25th an opposition to the sun, which opposition is called a full moon.
The first Sunday after this phenomenon of the heavens occurs is celebrated as Easter; the Friday preceding this day is observed as Good Friday.
This movable date should tell the observant one to look for some interpretation other than the one commonly accepted. These days do not mark the anniversaries of the death and resurrection of an individual who lived on earth.
Seen from the earth, the sun in its northern passage appears at the Spring season of the year to cross the imaginary line man calls the equator.
So it is said by the mystic to be crossified or crucified, that man might live. It is significant that soon after this event takes place, all nature begins to arise or resurrect itself from its long Winter’s sleep. Therefore, it may be concluded that this disturbance of nature, at this season of the year, is due directly to this crossing. Thus, it is believed that the sun must shed its blood on the Passover.
If these days marked the death and resurrection of a man, they would be fixed so that they would fall on the same date every year as all other historical events are fixed, but obviously this is not the case.
These dates were not intended to mark the anniversaries of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the man. The scriptures are psychological dramas and will reveal their meaning only as they are interpreted psychologically.
These dates are adjusted to coincide with the cosmic change which occurs at this time of the year, marking the death of the old year and the beginning or resurrecting of the new year or Spring.
These dates do symbolize the death and resurrection of the Lord; but this Lord is not a man; it is your awareness of being. It is recorded that He gave His life that you might live,
“I AM come that you might have life
and that you might have it more abundantly.”
Consciousness slays itself by detaching itself from that which it is conscious of being so that it may live to that which it desires to be.
Spring is the time of year when the millions of seeds, which all Winter lay buried in the ground, suddenly spring into visibility that man might live; and, because the mystical drama of the crucifixion and resurrection is in the nature of this yearly change, it is celebrated at this Spring season of the year; but, actually, it is taking place every moment of time.
The being who is crucified is your awareness of being. The cross is your conception of yourself. The resurrection is the lifting into visibility of this conception of yourself.
Far from being a day of mourning, Good Friday should be a day of rejoicing, for there can be no resurrection or expression unless there is first a crucifixion or impression.
The thing to be resurrected in your case is that which you desire to be. To do this, you must feel yourself to be the thing desired. You must feel
“I AM the resurrection and the life of the desire”.
I AM (your awareness of being) is the power resurrecting and making alive that which in your awareness you desire to be.
Neville Goddard
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