Egg Symbology in Creation : Physical Birth and Spiritual Birth

"The world egg or cosmic egg is a mythological motif found in the creation myths of many cultures and civilizations. Typically, the world egg is a beginning of some sort, and the universe or some primordial being comes into existence by "hatching" from the egg."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_egg

[This Native Creation story uses the symbol of the egg to demonstrate how the Chinook Indians came into physical being.]

"Long, long ago, when Old Man South Wind was traveling north, he met an old woman who was a giant.

"Will you give me some food?" asked South Wind. "I am very hungry."

"I have no food," answered the giantess, "but here is a net. You can catch some fish for yourself if you wish."

So Old Man South Wind dragged the net down to the ocean and with it caught a little whale. Taking out his knife, he was about to cut the whale and take out the blubber.

But the old giantess cried out, "Do not cut it crossways. Take a sharp knife and split it down the back."

But South wind did not take to heart what the old woman was saying. He cut the fish crossways and began to take off some blubber.

He was startled to see the fish change into a huge bird. It was so big that when it flew into the air, it hid the sun, and the noise of its wings shook the earth. It was Thunderbird.

Thunderbird flew to the north and lit on the top of the Saddleback Mountain, near the mouth of the Columbia River. There it laid a nest full of eggs.

The old giantess followed the bird until she found its nest. She broke one egg, but it was not good. She threw it down the mountainside.

Before the egg reached the valley, it became an Indian.

The old giantess broke some other eggs and then threw them down the mountainside. They too became Indians. Each of Thunderbird's eggs became an Indian.

When Thunderbird came back and found its eggs gone, it went toSouth Wind. Together they tried to find the old giantess, to get revenge on her. But they never found her, although they traveled north together every year.

That is how the Chinook were created. And that is why Indians never cut the first salmon across the back. They know that if they should cut the fish the wrong way, the salmon would cease to run.

Always, even to this day, they slit the first salmon down the back, lengthwise."

http://www.aaanativearts.com/article244.html

[Other mythologies and Scriptures speak of the role of the egg in determining how the universe came into being. It is also fascinating to observe the phenomenon of how the egg was 'split asunder' into either fragments or two halves.]

Chinese mythology

"In the myth of Pangu, developed by Taoist monks hundreds of years after Lao Zi, the universe began as an egg. A god named Pangu, born inside the egg, broke it into two halves: the upper half became the sky, while the lower half became the earth. As the god grew taller,the sky and the earth grew thicker and were separated further. Finally Pangu died and his body parts became different parts of the earth."

"In the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, there is a myth of the world being created from the fragments of an egg laid by a diving duck on the knee of Ilmatar, goddess of the air:

One egg's lower half transformed
And became the earth below,
And its upper half transmuted
And became the sky above;
From the yolk the sun was made,
Light of day to shine upon us;
From the white the moon was formed,
Light of night to gleam above us;
All the colored brighter bits
Rose to be the stars of heaven
And the darker crumbs changed into
Clouds and cloudlets in the sky."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_egg

"Sanskrit scriptures and Vedanta

The earliest ideas of "Egg-shaped Cosmos" comes from some of the Sanskrit scriptures. The Sanskrit term for it is Brahmanda (Brahm means 'Cosmos' or 'expanding', Anda means 'Egg'). Certain Puranas such as the Brahmanda Purana speak of this in detail."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_egg

"The Hindu sages think that man is the fragmentary universe(vyashti) or microcosm(kshudra-brahmanda), the small egg of Brahma, while the Cosmic Being is the universe-totality(samashti) or macrocosm, (Brahmanda, the Egg of Brahma.) The Rig-Veda showed that originally there was the Primordial Egg (Hiranyagarbha), while the Upanishad wrote: 'In the beginning this world was merely non-being. It was existent. It developed. It turned into an egg. It lay for a period of a year. It was split asunder. One of the two eggshell-parts became silver, one gold. That which was of silver is this earth. That which was of gold is the sky.'" [1]

[Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi enlightens us regarding the manner in which the creation of the deity Ganesha, the principle of innocence, and Christ, the Son of God, who is the manifestation of innocence, came about.]

"He is the Support of the Universe. And the birth is described in a beautiful way that first He was created like an egg. This purity, this auspiciousness was made into an egg. That's why during Easter you people give eggs to friends. Now this egg was nicely also kept for ages and then it was broken into two. The first one became Shri Ganesha and the second one, which evolved fully like an egg when it is evolved and is fully mature, the second one was Christ. You may say that how is it one egg has two forms? I must say these are divine happenings. They are very different from what we see in the mundane world." (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi - Easter Puja Talk -Sydney, Australia - 3 April 1994)

[So it can be ascertained that the "egg" symbol is of marked importance in the physical manifestation not only of the universe and its inhabitants, but also in the creation, specifically through the Primordial Egg concept, of the deities Shri Ganesha, and Shri Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has spoken of the desire of God the Father to witness His reflection in Creation:

"It is the Mother who created the Universe. The Father was just a Witness to the whole show. It is She that makes it beautiful so that He sees the show, that He becomes the spectator, because She loves Her creation. The Father wants that it should be such that He should be able to love it. He is a perfectionist. He wants everything to be perfect." (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, The Mother, 1980)

This resonates with the Biblical quote, "Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."(Matthew 5:48)

For this ultimate perfection to become manifest in Her creation, the "egg" has an added spiritual dimension to it, in that Her creation must be born, not only physically, but also be born of the Spirit. This is imperative for the achievement of one's Spiritual Birth, whereby this perfection, through Knowledge of the Self, can be ultimately reached, in order that one may enter into the Kingdom of God.]

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee: 'Ye must be born again.'" (John 3:3-8)

"All real religions are leading to one aim, to one goal. That goal is to achieve Self-Knowledge through our Second Birth. In Sanskrit language a bird is called as a Dwija, twice born, because first it is an egg, then it has its Second Birth. In the same way a person who is enlightened and has known the Brahma (All-pervading Power) is also known as Dwija." (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi - first small English book - Chapter 2 - 'Vishwa Nirmala Dharma')

The "egg" is an apt metaphor for the actualization of one's Second Birth/Resurrection through Kundalini awakening.

Present within each human being at the base of the spine in the triangular bone called "sacrum" is found a 'residual power of pure desire' called "Kundalini". This Kundalini, lying dormant in the sacred bone in three and a half coils, is also called as "wind, breath, Serpent Power, Holy Ghost. When awakened, the Kundalini rises from the sacrum bone, moves up through the Sushumna channel and, ultimately piercing the fontanel bone area, gives the seeker the 'union or connection' with the All-pervading Divine Power of Love. At this time of Resurrection one 'evolves from a temporary physical body to the eternal Spiritual Self' - and is called as "Dwija", twice born.]

"So the Resurrection is the transformation. Like an egg, if we are bound by our conditioning and by our ego, we break through that shell and become a bird, which is really a free bird. Only thing, the bird has to know how to fly. Now this is, again I'm saying is the living process of the living nature, of the living Power of Love. It is not something artificial." (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi)

"When the Kundalini is awakened the ten valancies (the Ten Commandments) are awakened within. The religion becomes innate, and our whole priorities change, for the religion in Sahaja Yoga is the ultimate of every religion of any form. lt is not limited to one religion, but it has the best of all the religions. All real religions are leading to one aim, to one goal. That goal is to achieve Self-Knowledge through our Second Birth. In Sanskrit language a bird is called as a Dwija, twice born, because first it is an egg, then it has its Second Birth. In the same way a person who is enlightened and has known the Brahma (All-pervading Power) is also known as Dwija." (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi - first small English book - Chapter 2 - 'Vishwa Nirmala Dharma')

[Shri Mataji clarifies the significance of the "egg" given at Easter together with the vital role of Shri Jesus Christ's Creation and Resurrection in the attainment of one's Spiritual Birth.]

"In my last lectures, I've told you how Christ was created first in the heavens. In the Devi Bhagvat - if you read that - He was created as Mahavishnu and it is mentioned very clearly that first He was created as an egg. It is written in this book, which perhaps was written 14,000 years back. It's a book that predicts about Christ and that is why people, in the West at Easter especially, offer an egg to each other as a friend. So, first the existence came on this earth as an egg that was Christ and part of it was kept in that state and the rest of it was used by the Holy Ghost, by Mahalakshmi, to create Christ out of it. (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi - Formal Talk: The Creation of Lord Jesus -Nirmala Palace - London, England - 11 April 1982)

"So today we are talking about our Resurrection through these fourteen planes that are within us, one after another, and then we burst through all these and come out as beautiful lotuses. That's what is Easter for - suggestive of eggs being offered and these eggs are offered so that these eggs can become the birds." (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi - Easter Puja Talk Synopsis - Rome, Italy - 19 April, 1992)

"I wonder how many Christians know the significance of an egg. Now egg signifies a stage where you are, before Realization. When you are in your egg shell-that you are Mr. X, you are Mrs. Y. But, when you mature fully inside, the bird is ready and that is the time you are hatched. This is the time you get twice-born. So, the Resurrection of Christ signifies that, and that's why we give that egg to people, saying you are that, an egg, a reminder of that. And this egg can become a Spirit. And also it is written that it was an egg when He came first, He was created as an egg: half of it remained as Shri Ganesha, and half of it became Mahavishnu. Then He came on this earth and He departed with all His elements and the pure vibrations formed His body. He remained there within all of you to be awakened and when the Kundalini takes your attention through that point there you also become the Spirit. That's why He said "I'm the gate, I'm the door because you can become Christ. That's why He didn't say "I'm the destination," that you have to achieve Him. But, He has created this space for you. You can become spiritually awakened, you can become your Spirit. (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi - Formal Talk: The Creation of Lord Jesus - Nirmala Palace - London, England - 11 April 1982)

[A most fascinating ancient Native American archaeological site found in Ohio, USA, called the "Great Serpent Mound", features an undulating snake's body, its coiled tail reminiscent of the Kundalini lying dormant in the sacrum. In its mouth appears an egg, symbol of the potential actualization of Second Birth.

Is it possible, then, that the ancient Native American Peoples were worshiping the Divine Feminine and were deeply aware of the symbolic, spiritual significance of the Serpent Power and the Primordial Egg?

Although scholars are uncertain as to the precise significance of this Great Serpent Mound, it is, however, highly likely that this site was revered by American Indians as the sacred representation of Kundalini awakening or Second Birth, especially since Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi confirms that:]

"...Canajoharie [USA] has such tremendous vibrations that I said, "Look at this, so many years have passed, still the people who live there or worked about and were absolutely enjoying this place were Red Indians, the ones who were Indians, we call them American Indians. But they are so simple and innocent and they were so, I think, spiritual people because they used to worship the Mother. All the time they worship the Mother."(Adi Shakti Puja, Nirmal Nagari (Canajoharie) USA, June 20, 1999)

[Other sources offer added information on the Great Serpent Mound:]

"The Great Serpent Mound, in Adams County, Ohio, USA, is considered to be the world's largest serpent effigy. The mound is a quarter of a mile long and five feet high, and it was originally much higher."[2]

"The Great Serpent Mound continues to wind its quarter-mile length along an Ohio hilltop...By the end of the nineteenth century, archaeologists were able to show that the mounds had in fact been built by Native American civilizations many centuries before-a-long-lost-civilization such as Greece, Persia, Holy Land or mythical island of Atlantis."[3]

"...the two structures [Stonehenge and the Great Serpent Mound in the USA] share the same timeline. From carbon dating in and around Stonehenge, the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) gives an early date for the core of Stonehenge at 3,000 B.C.E. or 5,000 years ago. The design of Serpent Mound was conceived about 5,000 years ago as well-and is therefore among the oldest of earth and stone works in North America--or in fact the world. In this, Stonehenge and Serpent Mound are coeval. That time period is referred to in North American archaeology as being of the "Archaic Period" (approximately 6000 B.C.E. to 1000 B.C.E.)

http://www.greatserpentmound.info/stonehenge.html

References
[1]Costian, Dan.Bible Enlightened:Religions and Yoga./Dan Costian. Baltimore, United States of America.PUBLISHAMERICA,LLLP, 2003.ISBN: 1-4137-0262-7, p.60
[2]Calloway, Colin G.Indians of the Northeast / Colin G.Calloway - The First Americans series.New York, NY,USA. Facts on File,Inc. Copyright,1991.ISBN: 0-8160-2389-1. pp. 15,16
[3]Wood, Marion. The World of Native Americans, First Edition. New York, NY10010,156 Fifth Ave. Peter Bedwick Books.1997. ISBN: 0750022760(hc.) pp.10

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