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Spiritist View of Easter

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Spiritist View of Easter Here we are once again, near another Easter. Our Christian thoughts and emotions express our psychic sensitivity. Let s leave aside the ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Spiritist View of Easter


1
Spiritist View of Easter
2
Here we are once again, near another Easter. Our
Christian thoughts and emotions express our
psychic sensitivity. Lets leave aside the
commercial appeal of this celebration like
Christmas for example. Our attention and
awareness require a plausible explanation of the
meaning of this period and its representation
before Spiritism.
3
Should we celebrate Easter? What kind of
celebration is allowed in the spiritist
institutions? How does Spiritism view the events
of passion, crucifixion, death and resurrection
of Jesus? In general terms, the spiritist
institutions dont celebrate Easter, as other
religions or philosophies do. However, Spiritism
respects the sense of religiosity that is
particular to each person-Spirit. Any personal or
even collective expression around Easter is not
prohibited or discouraged.
4
Jesus figure assumes a privileged position in
the spiritist context. Spiritism affirms that
Jesus moral serves as the basis for the moral of
Spiritism. People are remembered in our culture
by what they did in the main periods of their
bodily existence (birth and death), as a rule,
Its quite common for us to remember people that
are dear or important to us in certain dates.
There is no harm in it, quite frankly.
5
Easter (or Nativity) takes a special connotation,
as Spiritism has no dogma, sacraments, rituals or
liturgies. Before mentioning the significance of
Easter to Spiritism, its necessary to look at
time in Human history the references to the
event. Passover was not originally related to
the martyrdom and sacrifice of Jesus.
6
See, for example, in Luke's Gospel (chapter 22,
verses 15 and 16), the words of Christ himself
"I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with
you before I suffer. For I declare that I will
not go to eat, until it be fulfilled in the
kingdom of God. " Here theres a reference that
Easter was already a" celebration" at the time of
Jesus a cultural festival. Therefore, the Church
adapted and gave it a new meaning. It linked
Easter to Jesus "sacrifice" after the trial the
execution of Pilates sentence.
7
Historically, Easter is the junction of two
ancient festivities, which were common among
primitive peoples. This date was nurtured by the
Jews at the time of Jesus. The "Pesah" took
place, which was a cultural dance that
represented the life of nomads. This was also
associated with the "feast of unleavened bread,"
a tribute done by the farmers to the deities, due
to the beginning of the wheat harvest season.
They thanked the heavens for the abundance of
agricultural production, which appeased the
hunger of their families and allowed them to
exchange these at the markets of the time.
8
Both were celebrated in April (Nisan). They began
to be honoured together as from the Biblical
event called "Exodus" (Hebrews escape from
Egypt), around 1441 BC. This is the Passover that
Christ wanted to celebrate together with his
dearest ones on the occasion of the last supper.
They went to Gethsemane soon after the
celebration, where the unvigilant disciples
slept. This is where the scene of the kiss of
betrayal and the arrest of the Nazarene took
place.
9
There are other "elements" that mark the
Passover. The traditional religions point to the
Holy Thursday and Friday, Easter Saturday and
Easter Sunday. Holy Thursday and Friday relate to
the "martyrdom the suffering of Jesus - well
portrayed in the movie called The Passion of
Christ, by Mel Gibson. Easter Saturday and Easter
Sunday relate to Jesus resurrection and
ascension. We can say that the traditional
interpretation regarding resurrection points to
the possibility of Christs corporeal body being
maintained, in the post-mortem. This situation is
totally rejected by science due to the decay and
deterioration of the physical body.
10
The Christian Churches insist on the possibility
that Christ "went to Heaven" in body and soul
and that Hell do the same for all the "elected
ones" in the "Last Judgement". That is, the last
judgment will occur after the resurrection of the
dead and the reuniting of a person's soul with
own physical body. People who died through the
centuries, whose bodies have been decomposed and
reused by the earth, will rise, restoring their
organic structures. Judgement Day would then take
place, where Christ will separate the righteous
and the wicked.Logic and common sense abominate
such a theory, due to the physical impossibility
and moral injustice.
11
After all, a fairer criterion is established to
judge the "competence" or "qualification" of all
Spirits, with the law of rebirth. Everyone can
progress, as there are as many opportunities as
needed", since we can be "born again". But how do
we explain Jesus "appearances" subsequently
during the forty days post death, mentioned by
religious people in allusion to the Passover?
12
Spiritist phenomenology (mediumship) points to
the mental symptoms described as mediumship. This
can be seen on some occasions. In the time when
Jesus talked with Mary Magdalene (she had gone to
the tomb to lay some flowers and pray, asking
Jesus - as if he was the gardener - after seeing
the stone was removed, "where have they taken the
body of the Rabboni"), we may be faced with the
"materialization" i.e. the use of ectoplasmic
fluid from incarnate beings - to allow the
Spirit to be seen (by all).
13
The same condition occurs in the passage where
Thomas said to the other disciples who had "seen"
Jesus that he would only believe if he "put his
hands in the wounds of Christ." This happened in
fact, according to the biblical accounts. In
other situations, we are faced with another
manifestation known as the faculty of seeing
mediums, when one can see Spirits, by the use of
mediumship faculties.Easter, in fact, lies
wrapped in guilt, due to the interpretation of
the traditional religions and sects.
14
Its believed that Jesus would have suffered
because of "our" sins. This is an inappropriate
indication that all Jesus suffering was
performed to "save us" from our own mistakes, or
mistakes made by our ancestors in particular the
"biblical" Adam and Eve in Paradise. The presence
of the "sacrificed lamb" who fulfils the
prophecies of the Old Testament, is blatantly
exposed in all churches, in crucifixes and
paintings that report - in vivid colours the
phases of the cross.
15
This Judeo-Christian tradition of "guilt" is the
big difference between the traditional Passover
and the Spiritist Easter, if the latter exists.
In fact, we Spiritists must recognize Easter
period as the great - and last lesson from
Jesus. He overcomes the unjustness, returns
triumphantly, proceeds teaching to assert that
"Hed remain forever with us", in our future
steps.
16
In these days we can look at Easter as the moment
of transformation, the true evocation of freedom.
Once stripped from the corporeal body, Jesus was
able to return to the Spiritual Plan and continue
to "coordinate" the cleaning process of our orb.
Lets us, Spiritists, see this period of time as
the real victory of life over death the
certainty of immortality and reincarnation,
because life, in essence, can only be defined as
love, rooted in the great examples from Jesus
existence. Remember to honour the finest
examples of Jesus in this Easter, that guide us
to one day also be in the condition experienced
by him, which is to "be gods," "making our light
shine." Celebrate "another" Easter, my friend.
The Easter of your transformation toward a life
of plenitude.
17
Abrade Director of Policy and Methods of
Communication (Abrade - Brazilian Association of
Promoters of Spiritism) and Delegate of CEPA (Pan
American Spiritist Confederation) in
Florianópolis-SC.
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