Marianne Williamson on the Alchemy of Easter

Happy Easter to all who are reading this!

In marking this truly happy day I share an excerpt from Marianne Williamson’s latest book, The Mystic Jesus: The Mind of Love.

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[Resurrection] isn’t just about Jesus; it’s about us. Resurrection two thousand years ago was an overcoming by one man; resurrection today is an overcoming by each of us, and by the entire species. We ourselves must become the change, and that is the resurrection. God cannot do for us that which God cannot do through us. We must be willing to be reborn into a higher version of ourselves if we’re to achieve the miracle of planetary transformation. The world as it now exists is a reflection of who we have been; the world of the future will reflect who we choose to become. We can have the overcoming, but not if we hang on to the cross.

Whether it be our attachments to the past, or to our addictions, or to our judgments, or to our victimization, or to our violent behavior – we can have those, or we can have a survivable future. Only if we work to rid the darkness from our own hearts can we become the conduits of miraculous change.

The resurrection is the revelation of God’s eternal imprint on every moment, in every life. It is the potential for light that exists within even the deepest darkness. It is the reason to hope when all hope seems lost. It is the possibility for a new beginning that seems impossible when all has gone wrong. As a principle, resurrection does not require our recognition to exist. But as a practical reality, it requires our willingness to become fully activated in human affairs. Salvation begins when we consider the possibility that there might be a better way. This opens the mind to divine illumination, to a new kind of experience we become less and less willing to deny.

At Easter, we celebrate our ability to rise above the consciousness of darkness, ignorance, and death. Something begins to change within us; our openness to the deeper meaning of the resurrection opens doors within the heart. Jesus died, and then he rose. Now it’s our turn.

We too can radically transform. The crucified self can be transmuted and turned to light. On this day, may we each rediscover at the deepest level the meaning of “Hallelujah” and the reason to praise God.

In the words of A Course in Miracles, “Let us not spend this holy week brooding on the crucifixion of God’s Son, but happily in the celebration of his release. For Easter is the sign of peace, not pain” (T-425).

The resurrection is a description of how the universe operates, how it self-corrects, how life always reasserts itself even when forces of death and darkness have temporarily prevailed. Like a tiny flower growing through cracks in broken cement, peace of mind can emerge at last after periods of grief have ravaged the heart, and people can fall in love despite having experienced the cruelest predicaments. Time and time again, love reappears after even the most crushing events. To embrace the resurrection means to recognize what’s true; it’s the way of the universe that God will always have the final say.

That is why we cleave to God; because we want to transform our own circumstances and find victory in our own lives. Spiritual realization affects us physically, emotionally, and psychologically because it reorients our relationship to others. The last thing the spiritual journey does is to distract us from the practical realities of life. By understanding the underlying meaning of our life’s journey, we gain power to direct and to redirect its course. Knowing we are not of this world gives us more power within it.

The Messiah is a state of mind, the unconditional love that is a conduit for our enlightenment. The question isn’t simply what we need to do; the question is what quality of personhood we must embody in order to do what we are asked to do. All of us are being asked right now. In each of our lives there is some circumstance challenging us to give up a weaker part of ourselves and emerge into a stronger place. All of us are wounded by this world, but it’s our choice whether or not to act from the wound. In acting from the wound, we perpetuate a wounded world. In choosing to transcend the wound, we’ll create a world reborn.

Jesus wasn’t putting on some macabre show for the world to witness; he was changing the molecular structure of the universe. He was opening up possibilities for change not only for himself but for all the world. Even those of us who do not relate to his story as Christians can relate to the metaphysical power of the resurrection and its transformative effect upon our lives. Any one person breaking the hold of darkness paves the way for everyone to break the hold of darkness.

And then there is Light.

– Marianne Williamson
Excerpted from The Mystic Jesus: The Mind of Love
HarperOne, 2024
pp. 185-187

Related Off-site Links:
The Metaphysics of Easter: Spiritual Dynamics of Crucifixion and Resurrection – Marianne Williamson (2025).
A Universal Message – Richard Rohr (Center for Action and Contemplation, April 20, 2025).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Easter for Mystics
• He Is Risen, and So Are You
• The Mystic Jesus: “A Name for the Unalterable Love That All of Us Share”
• Easter: The Celebration of the Sacrament of Transformation
• The Risen Jesus: Our Integral Ground
• The Triumph of Love – An Easter Reflection
• Resurrection: Beyond Words, Dogmas, and All Possible Theological Formulations
• A Discerning Balance Between Holiness and Wholeness: A Hallmark of the Resurrected Life
• God’s Good Gift
• Easter Bodiliness
• The Two Entwined Events of the Easter Experience
• Resurrection in an Emerging Universe
• Resurrection: A New Depth of Consciousness
• Considering Resurrection
• A Girl Named Sara: A Person of the Resurrection
• Easter Reflections
• Jesus Lives!
• Not Metaphor, Not Guilty Revision . . . But Something Else
• He Is Risen!
• “You Will See Him”
• Easter Exultet
• Thoughts on Mallorca’s “Naked Easter” Calendar
• Jesus: The Revelation of Oneness
• Jesus: Our Guide to Mystical Love in Action – Part 1 | 2 | 3
• “We’re Living at a Time of Spiritual Evolution”
• “This Spring, May We Renew the World”