Disciples James Alphaeus, James Zebedee and Simon the Cananaean

These are quite short explanations for the twelve disciples and we will meet them again in this blog. It is a good exercise to look for the disciple in us and discover when one/s are dominant and which ones stand in the background. In this way we can become much more aware of who we are. It is good to get to know ourselves in this way and at the same time to accept our character as a work in progress. We can be so critical of ourselves sometimes that it is crippling. The last three disciples speak strongly about choice. Having a choice is so freemaking; if we can make a choice in one direction then we can also make it in another.

James Alphaeus: James the son of Alphaeus represents order, especially creating order in chaos. He is also known as James the Less, or James the Just and is a half brother of Jesus. James is connected with the use of the word; speech is a very creative thing, primarily because it gives us a choice. We can choose to speak or not to speak, and we can choose what to say or what not to say. We can also release a power in what we say, as Jesus did when he said, “Laz’arus, come out.”, for instance. James is associated with the power in us to say something, perhaps something difficult. James is also the discipline in us not to say something. Our speech will be orderly according to how conscious we are.

James Zebedee: James the son of Zeb’edee represents the faculty of judgement or discrimination within us. Judgement is that higher ability not be swayed by our self-will, or the will of others; to resist being drawn back to the past and to stand in the present, in the new situation, and seek to express our higher will. Within us our will is our intentions; without it is visible in our actions.

Simon the Cananaean: Also known as Simon the Zealot who probably belonged to the Zelotes, an extreme Jewish sect. This sect was also called the Cananaeans. Simon was the brother of James and Jude. After the martyrdom of James, Simon became head of the Church at Jerusalem. In hermetic tradition, the zelator is the one who is able to approach the fire. Simon the Cananaean stands for zeal, enthusiasm; this motivating energy is optimism for the future.