December 1

     The shepherds speak to me of feminine, earth-centered religions, deeply rooted in the cycles of the seasons. Druidry. Shamanism. These regional, tribal traditions rose up out of the earth itself, and grew in the hearts of evolving humans.
     The kings, with their intellectual understanding of the cycles of the stars suggest a more masculine, cerebral religion which sprang from the evolving consciousness of humans. A sky religion.

      Christianity and Buddhism, which appeared at a much later stage of human development, are both sky religions. Just as a child bonds first with his mother, then with his father, both the earth and the sky religions are equally important. In fact, if we divorce one from the other, they lose much of their power.

     The sky religions provide something that is not found in nature. It's frequently said that nature is unforgiving, and indeed it is so. Forget all the nonsense that the Church added later, Christ taught that there is a loving, forgiving presence at the heart of the universe. Even though that message was hopelessly bungled over the centuries, this was a great leap forward.