Advent Flax

The spinning and weaving of the stories of the Christ Creche are developing with each day. Today I would like to introduce Mary's Tresses or better known as common flax. The stories of Mary and the plant legends are meshed with the pagan beliefs and myths from times preceding Christianity . The Medieval Catholic Church just replaced the stories of the Gods or Goddess and wove them into the fabric of the new religion.

There is one such story of Mary. Her parents brought her to the steps of the temple where she was given over to the temple priest. The next few years Mary's talents grew and she became known for her weaving skills, her compassion and her beauty. Legend speaks about Mary having the skill of weaving a seamless garment for Christ. But if we unravel the strains of this legend we will find stories that have been told before in a different way. The Spinning and Weaving stories of the Goddess are known both in the Indo-European culture. There is Mother Maya of India who weaves the illusion of the world of matter through the spinning of atoms. The Goddess Athena was known for her weaving of flax and wool that surpassed any mortal's skill. The weaving stories even filtered into the European fairy tales of turning flax into gold, or nettles into shirts that transform the 12 swan princes back into human form. The swan being an ancient symbol of the soul.

These old legends have a thread of truth that runs through all of them. It is about the Goddess of Matter who spins the atoms of our lives and our stories. Many times in such weaving stories the Goddess or heroine was compassionate, beautiful and full of grace. Some stories she will weave with rays of sunlight which become beautiful creations. What these stories are teaching us, is how to manifest in the world of matter. There are always trials or tribulations to be overcome by the heroine but compassion and wisdom always wins out in the end. Mary, who wove the seamless garment for Christ, has a deeper esoteric meaning. This legend was really speaking about Christ's Light Body - his Infinite Nature that was hiding within the matter. It is about his True Self.

We all are weavers of our own web, casting the strains of our weaving though our thoughts, our passions and our actions. But to understand we are creating our own weaving of life's circumstances from our choices of what we believe consciously or unconsciously, now that is a weaving trick that takes Mastery.

Flax is the oldest cultivated fiber in the world. It grew from the Mediterranean to India. It was cultivated and used in ancient Egypt. Its Latin word is Linum usitatissimum . It simple blue flowers have been said to be the color of the eyes of Mother Mary and also other ancient Goddesses.

We honor flax and place it into the Christ Crib today to create a gentle bedding for the Baby Christ or, metaphysically speaking, support our own Inner Child that is waiting to be born. Let us become aware of our thought processes, both consciously and unconsciously, so that we can untangle the threads of our lives and weave with golden threads of light created by our compassion, our love and our wisdom.