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A Gnostic Interpretation on the Virgin Birth of the Christ

From: http://www.aeonbytegnosticradio.com/2011/12/secret-book-of-saint-wood-of-cross.html

With Christmas around the corner, I figure this is a good time to talk about the reason for the season. If you are a part of Western culture then you are probably going to have at least some passing familiarity with the birth of Christ narrative. Most people tend to just take this at face value, ignoring that this, and other narratives part of the Christ mythos, developed to teach some sort of lesson. Having some familiarity with the Gnostic Creation story also helps since it seems pretty obvious that the Virgin Mary is a foil to Sophia.

The story of the Virgin Birth parallels the fall of Sophia so nicely, I’m honestly surprised that I haven’t seen anything on it. Both Mary and Sophia are virgins, in either meaning of the word, young woman or a woman that has never had sex. Yet, their offspring are drastically different. By exploring what they were “virgin” in one can see why these offspring are so different. By either meaning of the word virgin, they are both lacking in experience. As result of this lack of experience they both took different strategies about how to create. Both are symbolic of divine wisdom. Sophia obviously because of her name sake and surrounding mythos. Mary we know of her as a symbol of divine wisdom due to Church traditions surrounding her.

Now going going back to their difference in offspring, relates to how they reacted to their lack of experience. Sophia sought to create without her consort. She disobeyed divine will and thought that she knew better than those that came before her. This resulted in the virgin birth of the abortion, Yaldabaoth, the Demiurge. Mary in her inexperience submitted herself to divine will which resulted in the birth of the Christ. One was an act of arrogance, the other was an act of humility. This duality illustrates what type of fruits one’s actions yield.

The other interesting foil that should be pointed out is their very nature. Sophia is a divine being and Mary is a human. I find this significant since Mary’s birth is the beginning of the redemption process. Sophia became ashamed and lost due to her arrogance. Mary, on the other hand, suffered shame inflicted by the world and the Demiurge’s system because she was humble and receptive to divine love, agape. How did she suffer shame, I can hear some of you asking. She was an unwed girl, probably about 13-15 years of age in the 1st century CE. If she did exist and this event did happen as the story tells, she was probably regarded as a whore or a prostitute by those close to her. Hell, even Joseph wanted to leave her a**.

So we’ve made these parallels and associations, what is the point? The point is that these stories are mythic. Regardless of whether they literally happened or not, they detail the process of how we can be like Mary and birth Christ into the world. By being receptive and open to agape, we can allow this Holy Spirit to conceive in us the Christ. Our inexperienced wisdom and inspiration becomes a fertile womb for Christ to grow and eventually we can birth the Christ, the Logos, into the world.

As we go about our holiday season, and anytime really, let us be receptive to divine love. Let us not arrogantly reject it. It is through this Holy Spirit that the Christ is conceived within us.