The Liberal Catholic doctrine contains the concept of the World Mother, the cosmic mother containing all manifestation next to that of the Holy Lady Mary as the physical mother of Jesus some 2000 years ago. It is said of the Holy Lady Mary that she led an exemplary life and as such also reached adeptship. She chose to continue her evolutionary path along the line of the angels, thereby becoming Queen of the Angels. Perhaps the term Star of the Sea is a little more complicated to try and explain when only considering the historical story.

Let us consider the more cosmic aspects of motherhood. Scientists of today conclude that our universe is still expanding. Perhaps this is the breathing out of the Deity to be followed at a later time by breathing in, absorbing the whole universe once more, once its purpose has been served. But what lies behind the furthest reaches of our universe? This goes into the realms of infinity, which lies beyond the grasp of the human mind. In this light the doctrine of root matter or mulaprakriti, as it is called in Sanskrit, makes a little more sense. It is this root matter that is unmanifest, not yet vivified; not yet containing life. When He draws a circle upon the face of the abyss or the deep, that the waters should not pass His commandment, He traces the limits of our universe. The Spirit of God is said to move over the waters, thereby vivifying and giving His life to the universe. This vivified matter pulsates with life and shines in comparison to the remainder of the root matter from which it was separated. Hence is formed the Cosmic Mother, the Star of the Sea, the exquisite jewel shining as a Star in the sea of all matter, Who is the precondition for all manifestation.

When the scriptures speak of Mary conceiving of the Holy Ghost, it seems likely that reference is here being made to this, the Holy Ghost being the Spirit of God that moved over the face of the waters. Bishop Leadbeater also mentions the similarity between the words "Mary", "Maria" and "Mare", Maria being the plural form of the latter word meaning sea. Other aspects of the scriptural story also apply to the creation of our universe. It can be said that the purpose of the World Mother is the bringing up of gods-in-the-making. Reference to this is found in sayings such as "Know ye not that ye are gods?"

Of course, part of that bringing up process implicitly means that we must gradually become aware of this very fact, that we are gods. Once this realisation starts dawning, we are preparing ourselves for Christmas, the birth of the awareness of the Christ-consciousness in us. The word Advent also means dawning and in the Northern Hemisphere coincides with the period when in nature the least physical light of the Sun is available to us. Dawn is only possible after the darkest portion of the night. Awakening of the Christ-consciousness within us is only possible after having gone through the darkness of ignorance.

The birth is celebrated on the first day on which it is certain that day time is lengthening and night time is shortening, which in the Northern Hemisphere is about two days after the winter solstice on the 22nd of December. Even though the Light is born on this day, it takes a while before the Kings of the Orient are able to see this manifestation, leading to the conclusion of the Christmas period at Epiphany.

The Christ Child having been born still needs to go through the stages of baptism, transfiguration and crucifixion before being allowed to ascend and leave the human part of existence. But around this mystery drama of Jesus becoming Christ is the cycle of the mother: The World Mother. The Nativity of Our Lady can be seen as the start of this cycle, just as Advent is the beginning of the Christ-cycle, for lack of a better way of putting it. In the same manner as the Ascension symbolises the completion of the path of initiation, so the Assumption of Our Lady signifies the drawing in of the breath of the Deity after She has served her purpose. The mother-cycle therefore spans about two years, starting at the feast of Nativity on September the 8th, followed by Her Annunciation on March 25, the Visitation on the 2nd of July, the Nativity of Our Lord on December the 25th ending finally with the Assumption on August 15.

This can be regarded as a mirror of the cosmic events of creation and also that of the microcosm. Before being able to fulfil the mystery drama of the Christ, consciousness first needs to involute into the deepest darkness: The death into physical matter. Having spent aeons in the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms on its upward path of return, consciousness is individualised in the human kingdom, where after many lives the true dawn awakens it from its sleep and the Christ Child is born. This child must be reared to adulthood or perfection, after which the chains binding it to the wheel of birth and death are released. We often forget that humanity is one: One with the whole of creation and with the unmanifest. It is not only our aim to reach perfection, but to assist all of humanity to reach it also. Only then has the World Mother's purpose been served and may She be Assumed.

How then, do we bring the concept of the Holy Lady Mary and all the other great concepts of motherhood such as Isis and Ishtar together? For me, each of these manifestations represents an aspect or group of aspects of the World Mother. The Holy Lady Mary can perhaps be seen as representing the time and space preconditions of existence. Isis, better known in the Egyptian times as Isis the Great, High Priestess of the Mysteries, can be seen to represent the door and the way of holiness, the initiatory path, through which we will all one day pass.

Just as the initiatory path can be seen as the ultimate healing, it is perhaps not strange to call on the World Mother to assist us in the more worldly aspect of healing. It is after all step by step that we come ever closer to the glorious heritage that is awaiting us.