Until now the image of the Nativity that has come down to us has
usually been restricted to a birth in a stable, in the presence of an ox and a
donkey. My version of the Nativity is inspired by what I have learned from
women who have given birth in privacy. It has also been inspired by 'Evangelium
Jacobi Minori', the protogospel of James, the brother of Jesus. This gospel was
saved from oblivion in the middle of the nineteenth century by the Austriean
mystic Jacob Lorber, who wrote Die Jugend Jesu (The childhood of Jesus).
According to
these texts Mary had complete privacy when giving birth because Joseph had left
her to find a midwife. When he returned with a midwife, Jesus had already been
born. It was only when dazzling light had faded that the midwife realised that she
was facing an incredible scene: Jesus had already found his mother’s breast!
Then the midwife said: ‘Who has ever seen a hardly born baby taking his mother’s
breast? This is an obvious sign that when he becomes a man, this child will judge
the world according to Love and not according to the Law!’
On the day when Jesus was ready to enter the world, Mary was sent
a message—a non-verbal message of humility. She found herself in a stable,
among other mammals. Without words, her companions helped her to understand
that on that day, she had to accept her mammalian condition. She had to cope
with her human handicap and disregard the effervescence of her intellect. She
had to realise the same hormones as other parturient mammals, through the same
gland, i.e. the primitive part of the brain that we all have in common.
The environment
was ideally adapted to the circumstances. Mary felt secure and, because of
this, her level of adrenaline was as low as possible. Labour could establish
itself in the best possible conditions. Having perceived the message of
humility and accepted her mammalian conditions, May found herself on all fours.
In a posture like this, and in the darkness of the night, she could easily cut
herself off from the everyday world.
Soon after his
birth, the newborn Jesus was in the warms of an ecstatic mother, as instinctive
as a non-human mammal can be. He was welcomed in an unviolated sacred
atmosphere and was able, easily and gradually, to eliminate the high level of
stress hormones he had produced while being born. Mary’s body was warm. The
stable, too, was warm, thanks to the presence of the other mammals.
Instinctively Mary covered her baby with a piece of cloth she had on hand. She
was fascinated by the baby’s eyes and nothing could distract her from prolonged
eye-to-eye contact with Jesus. Gazing at each other like this would have been
instrumental in inducing another rush of oxytocin, so that her uterus
contracted again and returned a small amount of enriched blood from the
placenta along the umbilical cord to the baby; and soon after, the placenta was
delivered.
Mother and baby
could feel quite secure. Mary, guided by her mammalian brain, stayed on her
knees for a short while after the birth. After the placenta was delivered she
lay down on her side with the baby close to her heart. Suddenly Jesus began to
turn his head from one side to the other, opening his mouth into a round O.
Guided by his sense of smell, he came closer and closer to the nipple while
Mary, who was still in a very special hormonal balance and still behaving very
instinctively, knew how to hold the baby and made the right sort of movements
to help her baby find the breast.
This is how Mary
and Jesus transgressed the rules that had been established by the human
community. Jesus, as a peaceful rebel who defied convention, was initiated by
his mother. Jesus spent a long time sucking vigorously. With the support of
Mary he was able to emerge victorious from one of the most critical episodes of
his life. In the space of a few minutes he entered the world of microbes,
adapted to the atmosphere, separated from the placenta, started to use his
lungs and breathe independently, and adapted to the force of gravity and
differences in temperature. Jesus is a hero!
There was no
clock in the stable. Mary did not try to time how long Jesus was at the breast
before he fell asleep. During the first night after the birth Mary had only a
few bouts of light sleep; she was vigilant and protective, and anxious to meet
the needs of the most precious little creature on earth.
In the days that
followed, Mary learned to recognize when her baby wanted to be rocked. She was
so in tune with him that she could perfectly adapt the rhythm of the rocking
movements to the demands of the baby. While rocking, Mary started to croon
tunes, and words were added. Like millions of other mothers she had discovered
lullabies. This is how Jesus started to learn about movement and, therefore,
about space. This is how he started to learn about rhythm and, therefore, about
time. He was gradually entering a space and time reality. As baby Jesus grew,
Mary began to introduce more and more words into her lullabies and this is how
Jesus learned his mother tongue.
Odent,
Michel. "Interlude 3: Nativity Revisited." The Scientification of
Love. London: Free Association, 1999. 124-26. Print.
Isn’t that interesting? If there were more than seven minutes
until time to start school for the boys, I would offer some thoughts about this
but they will have to wait until later or another day. In the meantime, feel
free to ponder this.
