Christos

Derived from the Greek word "khrisma," meaning "ointment," the term Christos signifies "anointed." This anointing was a ritualistic act signifying consecration and divine empowerment in ancient Near Eastern cultures. The concept predates Christianity, appearing in various forms across ancient Semitic and Hellenistic traditions.

But the Laharum had been an emblem of Etruria ages before r'onstantine and the Christian era. It was tlie sign also of Osiris and of Horus who is often represented witli tlie long Latin cross, while the Greek pectoral cross is purely Egyptian. In his "Decline and Fall" Gibbon has exposed the Constantine imposture. The emperor, if he ever had a vision at all, must have seen the Olympian Jupiter, in whose faith he died.

Blavatsky's inclusion of "Christos" in her lexicon, even with its somewhat dismissive historical context, invites a profound re-examination of a concept often calcified by dogma. The term, etymologically tied to anointing, speaks to a consecration, a setting apart for a divine purpose. In its most profound esoteric sense, the Christos is not a singular historical event but a universal spiritual principle, the divine spark ignited within the human heart. It is the potential for divine manifestation, the capacity for unconditional love and wisdom that lies dormant in every individual, awaiting activation.

Mircea Eliade, in his studies of shamanism and the sacred, often highlighted the archetypal hero's journey, a process of initiation and transformation that mirrors the Christos archetype—a descent into the depths and an ascent into illumination. Carl Jung's exploration of the Christ archetype in psychology reveals it as a potent symbol of wholeness and integration, the Self realized. This inner Christos is not about adherence to a creed but about the inner alchemy of transforming the base metals of egoic consciousness into the gold of spiritual awareness. It is the realization that the divine is not an external entity to be worshipped, but an immanent reality to be embodied.

The practice, then, is not one of outward ritual alone, but of inward contemplation, of cultivating compassion, of recognizing the divine interconnectedness of all beings. It is the quiet work of dissolving the veils of illusion that obscure our true nature, the luminous essence that the term Christos, in its deepest resonance, seeks to evoke. To truly grasp the Christos is to understand that salvation is not a gift bestowed from without, but a recognition of the divine kingdom already present within.

RELATED_TERMS: Gnosis, Logos, Buddha-nature, Atman, Divine Spark, Inner Christ, Self-Realization, Unity Consciousness