Passing the torch

The Passing of the Torch from Jesus to Magdalene

I’ve largely kept my gaze away from the current scuffle around the Born Again Christian voices accusing the goddess/embodiment arts of heresy—though, in truth, this is a familiar cry in our collective memory. However, since I’ve been called ‘into the ring’ publicly, I feel it is time to share my perspective. As others have pointed out, the timing of this wave of energy is astrologically aligned with the recent Neptune/Jupiter conjunction in Pisces. What became clear to me was the influence of Neptune (spirituality, idealism), which in Pisces can often pull us into the emotional waters of the solar plexus, causing us to be swept away by the tides of idealism and devotion.

At the same time, this convergence with Jupiter’s expansive energy—a planet that governs love, wisdom, and the higher principles of truth—speaks to the culmination of the Sixth Ray energies that have dominated the last two thousand years. Pisces, along with the Sixth Ray, has been a guiding force for this entire astrological era. As we approach the end of this cycle, these energies are intensifying, while simultaneously, the incoming energies of the Seventh Ray are beginning to make their presence known.

The Sixth Ray period has been defined by the rise of organized religion. Christianity, particularly, carved out a human form—Christ, or Jesus—as the vessel for these energies of devotion and idealism. Jesus, said to be a Sixth Ray Master, became a central figure of worship and veneration, the idealized figure onto which mankind could project its spiritual aspirations. The collective gaze was lifted up toward the subtle worlds of spirit, towards a transcendent light that offered salvation from the material, human condition.

As Alice Bailey describes it, the Sixth Ray carries with it "the will to cause," a driving force that moves humanity forward on the path of spiritual idealism. For over two millennia, this idealism has expressed itself through the exalted image of a savior who transcends the earthly realm:

"My kingdom is not of this world." — John 18:36

This devotion, this dedication to transcendent ideals, gave rise to some of humanity's most sublime achievements in art, music, and architecture—the Renaissance, classical music, the grand cathedrals, and shrines that stand as testaments to the light of divinity. When I walk into the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, I am still breathless with the sheer grandeur of this expression of spiritual devotion.

The Shadow of the Sixth Ray

Yet, just as the Sixth Ray brought the light of devotion and artistic beauty, its shadow has also been undeniably present: spiritual fanaticism. Ruled by Neptune (idealism) and Mars (war and initiation), the Sixth Ray is prone to duality and the battle between "good and evil." Mars channels this fanatical drive into a one-pointed focus—this is the energy of the crusader, the zealot, and the missionary. Today, we see this shadow in the Born Again Christian movement and its zealous claims of "one truth, one God."

The emotional energy of the Solar Plexus, which governs Mars and the Sixth Ray, charges these conversations with intense, sometimes volatile, emotion. What we are witnessing today is not a rational debate but rather a battlefield—life, death, war territory—all fuelled by the receding energies of the Sixth Ray. For many, these entrenched beliefs are being confronted by something new, something coming from the future, yet it is still in its nascent stages.

The Born Again Movement, for example, is a microcosm of this zeal. It is an outpicturing of the fears and resistance of those who cling tightly to the ideals and structures of the past. They are, in essence, grappling with the rise of something they do not yet fully understand: the energies of the Seventh Ray.

The Coming of Magdalene and the Seventh Ray

The Seventh Ray represents a new wave of consciousness that is now beginning to shape our world. It is an energy of integration, manifestation, and embodiment. Unlike the transcendental nature of the Sixth Ray, the Seventh Ray is more grounded, more earthly. It calls forth the energies of spirit to be made manifest in the material world—in the body, in sexuality, in our relationships with the earth and all her kingdoms (plant, animal, mineral).

Magdalene, the archetype that embodies this incoming energy, is the bridge between the celestial and the terrestrial. She represents the turning of the sacred gaze downward, towards the earth, and towards the body. She is not just a teacher of the divine but an embodiment of the sacred marriage between spirit and matter. The Seventh Ray brings us practical mysticism, a rhythm that moves through the sacral center (sexuality) and includes shamanic wisdom, the earth’s cycles, and the inclusion of feminine principles that have been so long suppressed.

As we move into this new age, we are beginning to see the rise of practices like tantra, goddess culture, witchcraft, earth-based spirituality, and plant medicine ceremonies. These practices, deeply rooted in the wisdom of the earth and the body, speak to the coming energies of the Seventh Ray. We are witnessing the birth of a new spiritual paradigm, one that is grounded, inclusive, and integrative.

Magdalene holds the keys to this transformation, guiding us into a relationship with the earth, our bodies, and our sexuality as sacred expressions of the divine. As she is revealed more fully, she embodies the energies that will define the next era of human civilization: an era of embodied divinity.

The Transition and the Passing of the Torch

The current clashes we see in the media between opposing spiritual ideologies—the born again accusations, the backlash against goddess teachings—are a reflection of the larger transition happening on a cosmic scale. The old guard, rooted in the energies of the Sixth Ray, is gripping tightly, fighting against what is emerging. The rise of the Magdalene archetype, the wisdom of the earth, the embracing of sexuality and the body, is the incoming wave of the Seventh Ray. The old paradigm, based on transcendence and the rejection of the body, is fading, but not without resistance.

In the words of Mary Magdalene, as recorded in Mary Magdalene Revealed:

"If I could write the beginning, it wouldn’t be in the light. It would be in the womb, in the dark, in a cave, in an egg. It would be to name all that has been left out as what’s holy. The blood, the Body. Nothing real or imagined has ever happened without it."

We are at the threshold of this new beginning, this new cycle of understanding the sacredness of the body, the earth, and our erotic energies as pathways to the divine. The growing interest in these alternative, earth-based spiritual practices is a sign of the incoming energies that will guide us forward.

We are in the midst of a passing of the torch from Jesus and the Sixth Ray civilization to Magdalene and the teachings of embodied divinity. As the old energies of fanaticism, duality, and transcendence fade, the new energies of integration, inclusivity, and the sacredness of the body and earth will come into full expression. It is a messy, often painful transition, but one that is necessary for the next evolution of humanity.

Ultimately, beneath my initial frustration with these regressive voices, I hold compassion for those who are deeply aligned with the dying paradigms. Their fears are real, and they are clinging to what they know. But the torch is passing, and we are being called to step forward into a new era—one where we honor the sacred union of the divine with the body, of spirit with matter, of light with darkness. And in this, Magdalene leads the way.