Starting

Feat STARTED IN THE Deceitby Fiona Oceanstar (fi@whittaker.rice.edu) Western vs. Eastern mystery traditions --> one of the principalthings you yearning to conceptualize, if you're accessible inwitchcraft, is that it's a WESTERN mystery tradition. Thesignificant dichotomy taking part in is outer-vs.-inner. In the Easterntraditions, the expert in general seeks some group of mystical confederationwith the majestic Oneness, which implies a cancellation from thehousehold, group life of whatsoever beings, and a aim on one'sfamily circle processes. In the Western traditions, the expert is veryappreciably a part of the actions and community of humanity. A witchdoes solid back a special sympathetic of their inner world andtheir stroke with the all-permeating Oneness (Goddess), but awitch is as well a supporter of society--a planter, a healer, a parent, awarrior, a novelist, a scientist, an architect, a processor programmer,etc. In becoming a witch, you don't split your spirituallife from the rest of your life--rather, you put into practice the moral principlesof the Deceit in everything you do. You pursuit to take back what you backstudious on an inner level and Ordinary that sympathetic on an pastlevel. This is not to be muddled with the Christian dichotomy ofworks vs. faith. Witches don't back to Accept in anything--theyare appreciably too applied, too practical for such inspiration. Therituals of the Deceit all get down to the vastly thing: sanctifyingthe group actions of your life. So a witch makes love,writes a park, cooks a suppertime, rides a dirt bike, these are all therituals of the Goddess.At all to do: --learn some simple form of meditation, and practice it on a regular basis,the view because to master the art of a Soft Sensitivity. In order to bedeep in thought to the world in the region of you, you back to learn to let go ofthe inner chattering.T.S. Eliot (in "East Coker") puts it this way: "...the dispute is conscious, but conscious of nothing-- I supposed to my inner self, be composed, and space without fancy For fancy would be fancy for the complaint thing; space without love For love would be love of the complaint thing; at hand is yet faith But the faith and the love and the fancy are all in the waiting. Assemble without sway, for you are not regular for thought: So the cloudiness shall be the light, and the mellowness the dancing." Channel to everything. Ultra all, be there to your assemble.Starhawk recommends a fix park of spend, and I square.Anew, it quiets the dispute. --get in distrust with the movements of the Home and the Moon.Get a calender that has Moon phases, and make a quantity of maturewhat phase you're in, at all become old. Notice the differencesin the company of the dark of the moon (irrelevant but regular for new emergence), thenew moon (time for initiating things), the waxing moon (potential inpower), the full moon (peak of shove), and the waning moon(fading, spinning new, consolidating gains). If you are aman, pay care for to your menstrual process, and how it matchesup with the phases of the moon. If you are a man, get in distrustwith the process of a female friend or aficionada. Get out under themoon as appreciably as reasonable. So She is full, lie in a recyclable positionor on a rooftop and Channel to her. --pay care for to the natural world: the seasons, the plants,the insects, everything in the region of you. If you can, go out hiking andcamping as appreciably as possible--alone, or with someone overly who canbe clandestine and alert. Right away in the city, even in a verysly residential environment, you can see things of situation allin the region of you. Try to go to work, if reasonable. Go out in yourback transplant and sit on the foliage and picture at the world detailed up.So clothed in, research your pets and your fellow whatsoever beings. Weare all flesh: we back smells, we back appetites. So you backsex, try to overlook the cultural context (lace underwear, etc.) andaim more readily on the assemble, the pleasures of the assemble. So youcome into view music, let your assemble hop.At all to read: --for the well-structured call of you --> Margot Adler's"Gulp down the "(a good overview of compound pagan systems) --for the spiritual call --> Starhawk's But reading is less significant than observing. You will betempted to try to become a witch by reading, to the same extent persons of usw/ big disapprove and big educations always go to work that way. Try tostockpile a put your feet up in the company of hours spent reading, and hours spentwalking in the afforest.Last references: --Joseph Campbell's PBS series on mythology is now friendlyon video. He's a good reporter and has a fascination philosophyof how to move myth trendy your life.Objects/tools/toys: --anything can be a tool for working magic and promptunderstanding (a sheet, a stone, a pen, a acquiescent dinosaur)--it'sall in what you settle down it with --be staid to alight toys (blades, wands, etc.)--it's improve onif they find you, then your reasoning them --more significant than a lot of gidgets, is incident aside aspecial place in your home as an altar. Initiate with candles andincense, and cook simple rituals: explanation a candle generation youread, burning incense generation you discuss. --because it's nonverbal in form, the Tarot is actually aimprove on source for learning about the Deceit, than any book. Striveout one of the less Christianized decks--I thoroughly so theBarbara Rambler and the Motherpeace.Consecrated space: --the principal position "magic" you should learn, is how to setaside sacred space. First-class a place in your home or your transplant whereyou will practice this, and practice on a regular basis, even if at principal itmakes you deliberate uncoordinated. I welcome that a lot of this sounds mischievously indefinite. I hand-me-down toget provoked after I read books about the Deceit, and they didn'tback, so, RECIPES to perform. The gel part of it is, that youlearn bonus from the Goddess, than you do from any whatsoever because.But that doesn't mean you can't do some simple spells, add fromthe very beginning: all Adler's and Starhawk's books back sometruthful descriptions of working magic. Don't get hung up on issues of information, or the unknown, or thediscernible, or at all. Establish DO. It's far bonus significant to TRYthings, than it is to Admittance about them.

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Dissent In Religion

"I questionable that where offering is a lay down belief, offering is someone sacrilegious from it - either peacefully or loudly. In our own day, the scandalous spectre of Christian Fundamentalism (AND OTHER FUNDAMENTALIST GROUPS) has unchangeable properly to a really hotheaded form of skepticism that cannot see any value in religion at all. Its outline of religion is completely "BELIEF IN A MIRACULOUS DEITY" and that deity is a private God, routinely accompanied by a cessation reading of the Bible (ON THE OTHER HAND PATENTLY THIS IS EVER SINCE THAT IS WHAT CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS STANDING IN). Widely, top-quality lax, forms of religion are dismissed as "NOT RELIGION" ever since they do not fit this fine outline. This is wholly absence the organization of the 19th century Christian missionaries who went to Collectibles and held that Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism were not religions ever since they did not resemble the European religion of Christianity.Magnificent scholars of religion such as Jonathan Z Smith supply bristly out that religion does not prevail as such - it is a human-invented mode, not a thing. This seems to me to be a afar top-quality precious organization overcome which to paragraph religion. Religions are discourses or languages which call out a agreed way of saccharine with the world. They have in mind universal symbolism and culture, and a employees of universal spiritual practice. The top-quality unadventurous forms of religion wait for that offering are divine laws which humans ought bond to, which unusually satisfactory commonly resemble their own opinions. This is not a chief or affordable brand of religion.If you wait for that all religion involves an unthinking compliance of a lay down set of beliefs and narrow performance to an musty aptly dogma, as a result it's pretty major that it penury be abolished. No-one might exchange blows with that. Although, not all religion does have in mind these things. If, on the other hand, you realize (FROM STUDYING IT) that religion is a cultural form which evolves refined time, as a result it can be uncommon and modified and improved (WHICH IS WHAT HAS HAPPENED REFINED TIME). In practice, you can make religious belief a isolated craze, and not allow religions to have power over what happens in the condition disc (ON THE OTHER HAND SUREFIRE THEY CAN JOIN TO CONVENTION ABOUT IT, AS THAT IS PART OF THE EQUAL MANAGE). But you momentum never be successful in extirpating the spiritual impulse; and attempting to cut into religion and spirituality would be proper as illiberal as attempting to cut into skepticism. So you authorization as well work with and rise the lax, profane, mystical and sacrilegious aspects of religion - the thinkers and the lovers.Development brought up in the Christianised West wait for that belief (AND PERFORMANCE TO A SET RELIGIOUS CONVICTION) is a chief and affordable brand of religion. That is not the fire at either; this view is deviant to Christianity, and to the atheists who supply reacted to it. In Islam it is performance to the "SUNNA" which is top-quality prodigious in the fire at of Sunni Muslims, and performance to the law which is top-quality prodigious to Shi'ites, according to Albert Hourani's "VIDEO OF THE ARAB PEOPLES". In lax Judaism, the culture is top-quality important; and in unadventurous Judaism, performance to the practices laid down in Torah is top-quality prodigious.The situation that belief and belief became so prodigious in Christianity is conceivably ever since early Christians were to the same degree mistreated in this world, they looked to the afterlife to have enough money them with purpose. The plan that Jesus had earlier been resurrected gave them belief in life after death. In order to stack up this wholly impossible belief, they had to compile a whole raft of other belief with which to benefits it.A Video OF Work To RuleHaving twisted a employees of impossible belief (A TRIUNE GOD, A RESURRECTED SAVIOUR WHO WAS WHAT'S MORE HUMAN AND DIVINE, PARTY SIN, AND SO ON) offering were recoil to be breed who disagreed with all or parts of it. The paramount form of heresy was the Gnostics. (THE WORD HERESY COMES FROM "HAERESIS", a school of misfortune. In representation paganism, it had been tap approved to supply difficult schools of misfortune, as it is in Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism etc.) State was extremely the Arian heresy (THE BELIEF THAT JESUS DID NOT PREVAIL FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME AND SO WAS NOT AN ANALOGY SAMPLE OF THE TRINITY). This was denounced at the Legislature of Nicaea, but flourished in Europe until the 9th century, and as a result resurfaced in the Reconstruction as Socinianism, which in the end led to the knotty of Unitarianism. Plus offering were the Cathars, who were a form of Gnosticism, on the other hand not descended personally from it. Plus offering were the Lollards, who were the innovative to decipher the Bible voguish English (WYCLIF'S 14TH CENTURY RESTATEMENT). At the rear of the Reconstruction, the Dissenters arose. The history of dispute is desire and progressive, but routinely compound combat with the horrid doctrines of Calvinism, and a move towards top-quality emancipation of belief, as well as the emancipation not to standing in things.First and foremost, at the same time as a group of nonconformists disagreed along with themselves, offering was as a result unusual break and the group tear voguish two groups with difficult doctrines. But in the 16th century, a very prodigious knotty occurred. Unitarians realised that they were never goodbye to guarantee on everything, and so settled to guarantee to argue, and press-stud class of belief. As Francis David believed, "WE CHALLENGE NOT ARBITRATE THE SAME TO LOVE THE SAME". Thereafter, Unitarianism moved doggedly towards going up class, placing top-quality prominence on the attitude of emancipation, situation and discernment than on belief. The manage was unreliable and went in frenzy and starts (AND WAS ACCOMPANIED BY AFAR ANNOYANCE FROM TOP-QUALITY HONEST GROUPS), but it did help to compile top-quality emancipation.Akin developments occurred in Islam with the layer of Sufism. A number of Sufis were non-theists, and fixed on the mystical aspects of the spiritual path. They emphasised the prominence of love.Evident very prodigious groups accompanied by the Dissenters were Quakers (THE PRIESTLY ORGANIZATION OF ACQUAINTANCES), Unitarians, Methodists, and lax Baptists (UNIVERSALISTS IN AMERICA). These groups campaigned for the exclusion of slavery, the liberty of women, scholarship, emancipation of misfortune and conscience, more help of flora and fauna, and outgoing transform regularly. Unitarians were demonstration for the liberty of women as early as the 1840s. Unitarian belief (AS CONTRADICTORY TO TRINITARIAN) had track been legalised in 1813 - earlier Unitarians had been mistreated. The list of majestic Dissenters is desire and large, and includes countless scientists (E.G. ISAAC NEWTON, JOSEPH PRIESTLEY), outgoing reformers (E.G. ELIZABETH FRY, JOHN WESLEY), animal welfare campaigners (E.G. FRANCES VIGOR COBBE) poets (JOHN MILTON, WILLIAM BLAKE) and other luminaries. We are the heirs to their brawl for emancipation. Let's not lose their brawl and mockery them by dismissing all religion as obsessed and uncomfortable. These were breed with a deep-seated thanks, who worked indefatigably for a more world, and the world is more for their pains.Telepathic and lax religion is a very difficult gadget from unadventurous and fundamentalist religion. Telepathic and lax religion acknowledges and celebrates the existence of other descriptions for the way the world works, and recognises that it's all about empathetic connected to the space and becoming a top-quality loving particular.

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The Green Season The Approach Of Spring And Finding Our Work

The past few weeks have been wintery indeed. Yes it is March, but there is still plenty of snow in my yard, and there's more snow in the forecast. It was not until yesterday that a sudden warm snap began to hint at the Spring that is due to arrive any time now. So while many of my friends have been chattering at me about tree buds, or cherry blossoms, or legions of daffodils suddenly popping up in a sunny patch of their yards, it all sounds like a fable to me, and I didn't quite believe any of it.

A Rocky Mountain Spring takes its own sweet damn time anyway, and March and April are our snowiest months traditionally. So as weary as one gets to be of Winter by now, we are also grateful for the cold and the snow, for a deeper snow pack, for flowers that bloom in concert with arrival of the birds and insects that feed on them. All of us have noticed the rhythms and cycles of the seasons where we live, and no doubt all of us have noticed changes in recent years. I certainly have-drier, colder Winters that end abruptly, hot smoky Summers. So I am perfectly content for the Winter to go on as long as it needs to. I have lots of work to do in the garden before planting can start. I have plenty to do in my house and office, clearing and cleaning before the new projects of the year can truly begin. I may grumble about having to shift yet another five inches of new fallen snow, or having to run errands in 20 degrees of icy fog, but given the alarming specter of permanent climate change, a real Winter, with a real Winter's bite, is somewhat reassuring.

But I heard something yesterday morning that caught me off guard, something I haven't heard since the Fall-woodpeckers. I looked outside and saw cedar waxwings-a pair!--digging into a dead cottonwood trunk for bugs. The Sun was still below the treeline, and it was bitterly cold, but birds were stubbornly twittering in the privet, in the bare apple trees. The air smelled faintly of pollen and mud, the gutters were noisy with running water. In the distance I saw the faintest hint of green haze-the Green Fire of photosynthesis-at play in all the tree branches and in the shrubs. Things felt different than the morning before. It was one step closer to Spring.

Although the Wheel is constantly turning, and the spin of the seasonal cycle is constantly in motion, sometimes we are not able to see these patterns in our own lives and in our magickal work. Sometimes these changes require more of us than simply going with the flow:sometimes they demand that we be actively engaged in the transformations of our planet and ourselves. I was not fully ready to trust that Spring was coming until I noticed my houseplants. One Persian violet and one pineapple plant, both of them very unhealthy looking when I brought them inside last Fall, have subsisted in the darkish corners of my living room all Winter. To say I treat my houseplants with benign neglect is pretty kind, so imagine my surprise when I discovered that the violet was covered in just-opening pink blooms, was blooming like it hadn't done in years really, through no effort on my part. And the pineapple, which I was sure was dead or close to it, was sprouting again, had sent up a vibrant green healthy shoot among very desiccated old leaves. They have been in a dark corners in a heated house, so there is no way the changes happening outside could possibly be effecting them, and still, they are responding to some deep and mysterious rhythm whose timing is directing this new growth. I watered them both and moved them into stronger light and could aalmost hear them sighing "ahh!" as I did. I knew that Spring was really coming.

How do we respond to the growing light and vitality of the awakening Earth? How do our minds and bodies stretch and move? The receding snow, the warming temps, and all the imminent vitality returning to the land calls us out of our homes, out of our own shadowy, internal places, and into the light. What do we find when we venture out? Our work? Our loves? Our play and pleasures and passions? Do we encounter what we are ready to commit to? Do we find the strength and vision n ourselves to move up to the next set of lessons, the next pressing set of concerns that demand our love and labor? I'm not exactly sure yet, what the waxing year might be calling me to do. I have hints and ideas, I have the dedications I made at Imbolc. This is not entirely clear, but the rising energetic tide is undeniable, and allied with it, we can step into our power, into gnosis, and into a deeper intimacy with Source.

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The Grand Event Purging Cleaning Another Planet Mother Ship Galactic Federation Via Anna Merkaba

sacredascensionmerkaba.wordpress.com

~The Comfortable Celebration ~ The imposing happening is upon you significant children of light, we are preparing each and every person of you lightworkers, for the imposing happening that is about to obtain place on your humankind earth. The imposing sextile, of the planets, and conjunction of the material hub pattern with the hub pattern of Gaia and altered humankind.Yes definitely significant children of light, donate is altered humankind that is moving more readily and more readily into alignment to form a sextile, and trinity that force allow for altered wave of massive awaking to begin. We speak with you now from the mother ship that is to be found at 74 ^0 degrees south of your planet's equator.All and every one of you "sports ground gang" is having the status of ready for this happening by expanding the amount of the fault barrier and the DNA codes within each and every one of your vehicles to be upright to rob the amount of light that is about to operate exact you onto GAIA.Due to all of your efforts and anchoring of the light onto humankind earth a range of of you manipulate watched as the earthlings hastily woke up.Several of you manipulate watched as first-class and first-class of your brothers and sisters poured onto the streets and protested that they no longer wish to enliven under the rulership that is only occupying GAIA,But significant children of light, the assortment has not yet been tipped, that albeit it seems that the whole world is protesting and asking for modification, that is not all that it might be, and so, it is a be in motion, a powerful be in motion in the request of Intergalactic Say of love, light, catalog, and prosperity for all and one, for one and all, the customary shape of GAIA.And so, we train that in the neighboring few days of your of time time, you are leave-taking to adulthood a cleansing treat standard n to men as abolition. Future of the issues that manipulate been laying idle within your barrier cells is coming up for cleansing.You are leave-taking to adulthood a lot of that, and as the uncomplimentary emotions that manipulate been laying idle begin to favorably exact and out of you, be ready and understand that the "dark objective" force try to keep in check you in that call for of glumness, for they are hush dreary to keep in check on to power by any handle necessary to sit on humankind earth.It is now up to you. You manipulate the power to allow this energy to house, or eliminate it and remove it from your fork. The treat is a tender but a necessary one.And so, to the left the fact of your meditations, to the left the fact of your frequent spiritual practices, you may hush find yourselves demolish with a sudden fear, ferocity, frustrations, the wrong idea, burning itch which force dump you a need to eat to war with your treasured ones, to find yourselves in arguments ineffective to put up with and not understanding how you manipulate within in this get ready to begin with.Pleased know significant children of light, charm know our significant brothers and sisters, that the treat that you are experiencing are not your emotions but are exaggerated versions of them. Pleased understand the reasons for this part of the pack is that you are having the status of manipulated by fill that manipulate found a broke point wadding into your auric fields.We ask that you practice the cleansing techniques that we manipulate brought to you move backward, exact frequent channels a little your world. And the defending techniques, that are widely spoken about. Manage your Merkabas, thud your defending shields, for now is the time that you insist on them ceiling.Apprehension NOT and sit in mixture at all cut. No branch of learning what may come your way, and future force, for you are having the status of manipulated by the dark, in order to pass you in the formal of instability and burning itch, in order to construct holes in your shields and find their ways into your hub corrupt to ramp your light, in order to ramp the secure within. Do not allow this to come about.Whole that none of these emotions are yours, for they are not. Vinyl them as swiftly as swiftly as they come up and DO NOT Halt briefly ON THEM. Do not allow these emotions to enter exact your organization. YOU ARE IN Get by OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT!Watch your meditation beneficially from day to day, hour to hour, diminutive to diminutive, beyond to beyond, and millisecond to millisecond. Infect Something. And emphatically allow the measure atmosphere to enter exact your organization. Follow that nevertheless we are near for you. YOU ARE the ones in control of your own selves.As swiftly as you team this coming finished you ask your guardians, ask you guides, ask your better selves, to set free this from you into the light, set free whatsoever and everything that is throwing your mixture off into the light and sit, at lull, arrangement., light, love, understanding and joy.Crushed yourselves as future as aptitude, and sort. Plan yourselves significant ones, for the imposing happening is coming to your earth briefly.That is all we manipulate for you at the aspect. We are with you. We love you. Going for now.Galactic Say - Channeled by Anna Merkaba - Fundraiser Healer - Channeler/Psychic-Lightworker. Key of Core - Procure YOUR Honest Middle Downward THE VIBRATIONAL MESSAGES FROM Belated THE Swathe - Foresee the blog for first-class channeled messages to help you on your person in command of self discovery.http://sacredascensionmerkaba.wordpress.com/

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The Twible Jana Riess A Review

THE TWIBLE: ALL THE CHAPTERS OF THE BIBLE IN 140 CHARACTERS OR LESS... NOW WITH 68% MORE HUMOR! By Jana Riess. Illustrations by Leighton Connor. Jana Riess, 2013. Xiii + 305 pages." The subtitle should be a clue to the contents of this book. This is a collection of tweets that summarize every chapter of the Bible. If you're not familiar with Twitter, it is a very popular social media application that allows a person to send messages using no more than 140 characters. In other words, it majors in conciseness. For those who've not only joined Twitter, but who also follow Jana Riess on Twitter, you likely already know what The Twible "is. Several years ago, Riess began reading through the Bible, from cover to cover, and writing brief, often humorous chapter summaries, which she shared on Twitter. This isn't something I would have tried to do, but she has gained quite a following because of it (I too am a follower). Now, one needn't be on Twitter to benefit from Jana's reflections, for they now appear in book form. For those who have been thinking about reading the Bible from cover to cover but have been deterred by the length of the Bible, this could be a boon. In thinking about what to say about the book, I decided that I should start off by offering a warning. I could suggest the book to specific audiences, but in this case it seems appropriate to note who this book might not appeal to.So, if you don't like Twitter, you probably won't like this book; it is a collection of s. More importantly, if you don't have a sense of humor, you really won't like this collection. And, if you believe that every word in the Bible is not only inerrant but must be treated with such reverence that to either question it or try to be humorous with it will attract divine wrath, then you won't want to pick up this book. The same goes for those who treat the Bible with great disdain, believing that it is simply a collection of dangerous fairy tales. Why? I think you might misunderstand what Jana is trying to do. Jana is the author of "Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor, "(Paraclete, 2011). She is also an editor, who has worked with several publishing companies and blogs for Religion News Service. She has a rather interesting religious background, being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon), while being fully engaged in the Emergent Conversation. Not only that, but she has a Master's of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in American Religion from Columbia University. More specific to this book, Jana confesses to have both a great love and respect for the Bible. It is important to know this because she pushes boundaries, using humor to stimulate not only laughter but thoughtful reflection on the message of Scripture in all its complexity. As one reads through these s, one is forced to recognize that there are many passages in Scripture that are to put it mildly - problematic. Too often we sweep them under the rug. But Jana doesn't allow us to do this. Indeed, she is at her best when dealing with passages that deal with things like genocide and rape and exclusion. We want to laugh, and yet as we laugh we begin to see the darkness in these passages. She forces us to go back and rethink the way we understand God and read these texts. "The Twible " is a self-published project. Jana never really tells us why she went this direction. While it's true that more and more people are turning to this means of publishing, and Jana surely understands the business of publishing, I'm wondering whether the publishers she works with found this to be a bit too hot to handle. I don't know this for sure, but it is an interesting question to consider. Whatever the reason for this choice, it is a well produced book that includes her tweeted summaries of every chapter in the Bible, plus some very interesting extras.As for the s themselves, I should give a few examples:GENESIS 12: "Hello, Abram. G promises land and descendants. Father Ab responds by lying to Pharaoh and pimping out wife Sarai. What a bright future" (p. 5). PSALM 28 "Pay back time for the wicked - or at least, we hope so. Break 'em down, move 'em out. Go ahead, G. Make. Their. Day. (p. 122).MATTHEW 7: Dear judgmental hypocrite: You probably haven't noticed, but there's a big honkin' plank in your eye. You might want to remove it. (p. 217).I hope that these three s give you a sense of what you'll find inside this book.Having shared a few of the summaries, I'll turn to the illustrations provided by Leighton Connor. They are black and white comics that summarize elements of the biblical story. Like the s, Connor focuses on the humorous aspects of the story. It is difficult to describe illustrations - so I'll just say that they add much to the flow of the book. In addition, each book has its own brief summation. There are also frequent sidebars that explain or lift up elements of the story (like any good study Bible would - only hers contain much more humor than the "Oxford Annotated NRSV" or the "NIV Study Bible"). At the back of the book you'll find notes that will lead you into helpful discussions. And in a very helpful move, she provides a "Whos's Who in the Twible" section. This is helpful because one must, quite often, abbreviate names in a. Thus God is referred to as G and Jesus as JC, and so on. It is important to reiterate here the importance of having a sense of humor in approaching this collection. In fact, the material here is edgy, even snarky, which will give Biblical literalists from Al Mohler to Sam Harris considerable headaches. Jana Riess doesn't disdain or seek to disrespect the Bible. In fact, she wants the users of this book to gain, as she did in the process of creating it, a better sense of the scope and story that is contained in this exceedingly complex piece of sacred literature. She writes:In short, the Bible is wildly complicated. "The Twible, "by contrast, is pretty simple. It's goal is to make you laugh. If you learn something along the way, as I have, all the better." (p. xii). It is definitely filled with humor, and if you have a sense of humor you will laugh, but there is more to this project than laughter. Jana puts her finger on a major problem of our day - the increasing biblical illiteracy present not just in the general public, but within Jewish and Christian communities. While she insists that the "main purpose of this project has always been to bring levity to an all-too-serious subject," there is more to this project than that. Indeed, she notes that the "second-greatest compliment I've gotten is when people tell me that "The Twible "has actually sent them to the original Bible to see for themselves what these stories have to say" (p. xii-xiii). The fact is - if you're open to it, this book should accomplish both! Reading this as a mid-fifties Baby Boomer preacher/scholar I can say that I truly enjoyed it. But, I think that its real audience is those of younger generations, generations who are increasingly uncomfortable with traditional religion and may find themselves steering clear of sacred literature. My hope and prayer is that this book will open hearts and minds to the Good News! That is the hope that I as a pastor have for this project.

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He Will Find You

In life we often get so caught up in the things that have no real importance but yet we have all our priorities mixed up. We may not even know what we want or need, its all a big mess and we can go from relationship to relationship looking for that empty void to be filled. We can often declare dependency and feel we don't need anything or anyone but then we find ourselves right back in the same condition we were in. Empty, lonely, abandoned and hopeless. We can try to find ourselves and discover who we are but the truth is no matter how much time alone or away we have, we still don't know who we are. Whether you were brought up in a torn and tattered home or you didn't even have a place to call home, we all carry baggage and brokenness in one way or another. I have met so many people who are so lost searching for truth and meaning in life, they want to travel and get away from it all but when they return, its still there. Some things you just cant get away from, but yet when you bring up God they brush it off. It's sad because if they would only take it serious they would see so much clearly. God's love is so universal no matter what degree of damage and loss you have had in your life, God can repair and restore that which the enemy has used to destroy. All the things taken by the enemy can be reclaimed by God, but that's only if you let Him.Today is much like the city of Corinth 2000 years ago. During that time, Corinth was a new growing and thriving community. There were people of all walks of life, looking to rise to social status and gain much material success. Prostitution was common and the pleasures of the flesh were no stranger to the lonely people of the time. Nowadays we are not as open to prostitution but we still live in a pleasure seeking motivated society. We live in a highly dynamic and unique culture and yet so many people are lost and looking for their identity and purpose. You see we are no different from the times of the old, we have come so far technologically and scientifically yet we have remained stumped when it comes to true freedom and bondage. We are hopeless in so many ways. Growing up I was always looking for attention, I was the class clown, loud, rowdy, the one always getting in trouble. I remember that although among my friends I appeared confident and happy, I was in fact self conscious and very shy. I grew up feeling lonely, empty and not until I began to search for God, I discovered who I really was.You see all my life I felt like a failure, a troublemaker, so I had to put other people down and beat on them to comfort myself. I was the biggest bully,beat up older schoolmates, bigger schoolmates and multiple classmates at the same time. Friends knew not to mess with me, they rather join me, this was throughout much of my childhood, even up to high school. I wasn't scared of anything and I didn't care about anyone. It wasn't until I discovered who God said I was that changed me inside out. God said that "I am a child of God "(John 1:12), "I am more than a conqueror" (Romans 8:17", "I am the light of the world" (Mathew 5:14) and most important to me, that "I am accepted in Him" (Eph. 1:6) Why wouldn't anyone want that acceptance? Why wouldn't anyone want the wonderful thing that God promises and offers us, His children? I felt like one of the lowest people around but yet God had offered this to me, freely? He died for me, for the wrongs I had done, to save my soul. "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" John 15:13Although I thought I had found God, it was really Him who found me, because I was the one who was lost. I came across this powerful story that relates to today's devotional and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have. "He Will Find You" By John PowellSome twelve years ago, I stood watching my university students file into the classroom for our first session in the Theology of Faith. That was the first day I first saw Tommy. My eyes and my mind both blinked. He was combing his long flaxen hair, which hung six inches below his shoulders. It was the first time I had ever seen a boy with hair that long. I guess it was just coming into fashion then.I know in my mind that it isn't what's on your head, but what's in it that counts; but on that day I was unprepared and my emotions flipped. I immediately filed Tommy under "S" for strange... very strange.Tommy turned out to be the "atheist in residence" in my Theology of Faith course. He constantly objected to, smirked at, or whined about the possibility of an unconditionally loving Father-God. We lived with each other in relative peace for one semester, although I admit, he was for me at times a serious pain in the back pew.When he came up at the end of the course to turn in his final exam, he asked in a slightly cynical tone: "Do you think I'll ever find God?"I decided instantly on a little shock therapy. "No!" I said very emphatically."Oh," he responded, "I thought that was the product you were pushing."I felt slightly disappointed at the thought that he had missed my clever line: "He will find you!" At least I thought it was clever. Later I heard that Tommy had graduated and I was duly grateful.Then a sad report, I heard that Tommy had terminal cancer. Before I could search him out, he came to see me. When he walked into my office, his body was very badly wasted, and the long hair had all fallen out as a result of chemotherapy. But his eyes were bright and his voice was firm, for the first time, I believe."Tommy, I've thought about you so often. I hear you are sick!" I blurted out."Oh, yes, very sick. I have cancer in both lungs. It's a matter of weeks.""Can you talk about it, Tom?""Sure, what would you like to know?""What's it like to be only twenty-four and dying?""Well, it could be worse.""Like what?""Well, like being fifty and having no values or ideals, like being fifty and thinking that booze, seducing women, and making money are the real 'biggies' in life."I began to look through my mental file cabinet under "S" where I had filed Tommy as strange. (It seems as though everybody I try to reject by classification God sends back into my life to educate me.)But what I really came to see you about," Tom said, "is something you said to me on the last day of class."(He remembered!)He continued, "I asked you if you thought I would ever find God and you said, 'No!' which surprised me. Then you said, 'But he will find you.' I thought about that a lot, even though my search for God was hardly intense at that time.(My "clever" line. He thought about that a lot!)But when the doctors removed a lump from my groin and told me that it was malignant, then I got serious about locating God. And when the malignancy spread into my vital organs, I really began banging bloody fists against the bronze doors of heaven. But God did not come out. In fact, nothing happened.Did you ever try anything for a long time with great effort and with no success? You get psychologically glutted, fed up with trying. And then you quit. Well, one day I woke up, and instead of throwing a few more futile appeals over that high brick wall to a God who may be or may not be there, I just quit. I decided that I didn't really care...about God, about an afterlife, or anything like that. I decided to spend what time I had left doing something more profitable. I thought about you and your class and I remembered something else you had said: 'The essential sadness is to go through life without loving. But it would be almost equally sad to go through life and leave this world without ever telling those you loved that you had loved them.' "So I began with the hardest one: my Dad. He was reading the newspaper when I approached him.""Dad"... "Yes, what?" he asked without lowering the newspaper. "Dad, I would like to talk with you. Well, talk.""I mean.... It's really important." The newspaper came down three slow inches. "What is it? Dad, I love you. I just wanted you to know that."Tom smiled at me and said with obvious satisfaction, as though he felt a warm and secret joy flowing inside of him.The newspaper fluttered to the floor. "Then my father did two things I could never remember him ever doing before. He cried and he hugged me. And we talked all night, even though he had to go to work the next morning. It felt so good to be close to my father, to see his tears, to feel his hug, to hear him say that he loved me. It was easier with my mother and little brother. They cried with me, too, and we hugged each other, and started saying real nice things to each other. We shared the things we had been keeping secret for so many years. I was only sorry about one thing, that I had waited so long. Here I was just beginning to open up to all the people I had actually been close to.Then, one day I turned around and God was there.He didn't come to me when I pleaded with him. I guess I was like an animal trainer holding out a hoop, 'C'mon, jump through. C'mon, I'll give you three days... three weeks.' Apparently God does things in his own way and at his own hour. But the important thing is that he was there. He found me. You were right. He found me even after I stopped looking for him.""Tommy," I practically gasped, "I think you are saying something very important and much more universal than you realize. To me, at least, you are saying that the surest way to find God is not to make him a private possession, a problem solver, or an instant consolation in time of need, but rather by opening to love. You know, the Apostle John said that. He said God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him.'Tom, could I ask you a favor? You know, when I had you in class you were a real pain. But (laughingly) you can make it all up to me now. Would you come into my present Theology of Faith course and tell them what you have just told me? If I told them the same thing it wouldn't be half as effective as if you were to tell them.""Oooh... I was ready for you, but I don't know if I'm ready for your class.""Tom, think about it. If and when you are ready, give me a call."In a few days Tommy called, said he was ready for the class, that he wanted to do that for God and for me. So we scheduled a date. However, he never made it. He had another appointment, far more important than the one with me and my class. Of course, his life was not really ended by his death, only changed. He made the great step from faith into vision. He found a life far more beautiful than the eye of man has ever seen or the ear of man has ever heard or the mind of man has ever imagined.Before he died, we talked one last time. "I'm not going to make it to your class," he said."I know, Tom.""Will you tell them for me? Will you... tell the whole world for me?""I will, Tom. I'll tell them. I'll do my best." So, to all of you who have been kind enough to read this simple statement about love, thank you for reading. And to you, Tommy, somewhere in the sunlit, verdant hills of heaven: "I told them, Tommy.... as best I could."A true story and is not enhanced for publicity purposes.

Reference: spellscasting.blogspot.com

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Material Gain And The Golden Dawn

I have been reading Peregrin Wildoak's recently released (and long-awaited) "By Names ">

One subject in particular that was raised is the idea of using magic for material gain, a hotly debated topic in occult circles. It is such a huge area that it deserves a post of its own. Please note that while this post was inspired by the relevant section of Peregrin's book, I am also making some broader comments on the topic in general.

Sufficed to say, I do not agree with Peregrin's suggestion that there is no place within the Golden Dawn for magic to better our everyday lives. I used to think this for a long time, and then I realised that if I do not accommodate my material existence then I will have difficulty focusing on spiritual growth.

For example, if I cannot afford enough food, I will likely suffer physical ailments that make it impossible for me to pursue the magical path. If I am constantly worrying about when the next pay cheque comes in, for fear of being thrown out of where I live, or for fear of providing enough for my children, I will spend my time working extra jobs or being consumed by stress, with no time or energy to focus on spiritual things.

Also, the idea that if someone can afford a book on magic then they are "rich beyond measure" is something I cannot agree with it, as some people scrape by in life and make sacrifices in order to afford books and other things that are employed within our tradition.

This is obviously a controversial area of magic, and understandably so, as our primary aim in Golden Dawn work should be our spiritual growth. Balance is key to everything within this system, however, and ignoring the physical world is an act of imbalance. I see absolutely no reason why a person who would use all the tricks in the book to get a job, such as presenting themselves in as best a light as possible in their CV, should not, if they feel it appropriate, use magic also.

In the old Golden Dawn documents there are not many examples of magic used for material ends, but there are some dotted throughout. For example, the Jupiter Talisman consecration ceremony in Regardie's book has as one of its primary purposes the invocation of "abundance" (a word repeated frequently throughout the ritual). While obviously this word is open to interpretation, it can mean a material abundance just as much as a spiritual one, and was likely something that attracted many original members like Yeats to create a Jupiter talisman.

Another example can be found in the Z-documents published in Nick Farrell's "King Over the Water", where we see that under the Water heading for the Z2 formulae is the "production of meteorological phenomena such as sunshine, storms, drought, increase of water, floods, earthquakes, etc." These are very mundane, non-spiritual aims, and "spiritual development" is set in its own section under Spirit, thus showing that it is not the only thing permissible within the scope of Golden Dawn magic.

Clearly these are very small aspects of the GD corpus, which is predominantly focused on spiritual growth, which must always be our primary aim, but I see nothing in the material that is contradictory to the idea of material gain, nor anything that overtly forbids it.

Indeed, it is often easy for us to forget that Mathers was being financially provided for by Annie Horniman, which allowed him to produce a lot of the good material that he did. We would have to question if this would still be the case if he had to work for that money. He certainly would not have been able to spend so much time in museums and libraries studying old texts and would have had less time for his astral contact with entities, etc.

In fact, when we think of the original members they were usually fairly comfortable, if not abundantly so, when it comes to their finances. It is easy to focus on spiritual things when you do not have the worry of needing to make money, a worry that an increasing number of people face with the lower availability of jobs in most countries.

The issue of material well-being also affects our gradework. We often hear horror stories about the Zelator grade, in particular, where people's mundane lives fall apart. This is often the grade that most people leave, unable to cope with their world crumbling. Some people report that they lose their job, their house burns down, they get incredibly sick, or some other unfortunate example of the physical gone wrong. And it does not need to be like that. Often these wake-up calls arise from people ignoring their problems, such as an inability to manage their finances or not eating healthy or taking enough exercise. They need to address them on the physical plane, but just as we would employ a Raphael rite to help in the healing process of someone (which can actually be a very physical thing), there is no real reason why we should not use magic to help with the other problematic aspects of our lives.

Peregrin does make a good point that we should help our fellow human beings, particularly those who are less fortunate than us, but I do not think it is the place for Golden Dawn leaders to criticise and judge the motivations of magicians who employ magic for personal gain. Indeed, just as Mathers thought that the temple members and chiefs should not interfere with the personal lives of members, I think we should be careful about imposing our own moral values on others, no matter how important they are to us. The Golden Dawn is, after all, not a religion.

Compassion is one of the principles of Chesed, and it is an act we should extend to the sick and the poor, as any good Rosicrucian, or, indeed, human being, would do. However, judgement is an aspect of Geburah, and while it has its place in the grand scheme of things, where we must balance all that we think, say and do, if we wish to be truly compassionate we must also avoid judging the choices and motivations of our fellow magicians who decide that using magic for material ends is appropriate for them.

I must qualify my remarks by stating that Peregrin does acknowledge that some people within the Golden Dawn community did or do use magic for material gain, including Regardie, and that "each of us must decide for ourselves on the validity or otherwise of attempts to magically address material concerns." It is thus a personal choice, and neither approach is necessarily right or wrong.

In the end the 0=0 oath forbids the use of "evil magic," which is a very ambiguous term and does not, in my opinion, include magic aimed at making our stay in this world that bit more pleasant. We are told to "Quit the Material and Seek the Spiritual," but extreme asceticism is not the Golden Dawn approach, and we cannot ignore our physical lives if we want to be truly successful as human beings and being more than human.

This section of Peregrin's book takes up a very small amount of space, roughly one page, but it raises important questions and shows just how much is packed into the text. While I cannot yet make my final verdict until I've read the entire book, I am impressed with the content so far, which covers things that have not been published before, or have not been written about in such a clear way.

Source: practicing-wicca.blogspot.com

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Resistance With A Capital R

When I attended the well received webinar this morning many of my questions about this deck were answered, but many more were raised, which is, in my opinion, the sign of a good class. I had a wonderful time and I look forward to interacting with the other attendees and hopefully another webinar in the future!

Sirian Starseed Tarot- Starseed (The Fool)

One of the things Patrica Cori suggested was that we should each spend some time with this card, which is Trump 0, The Fool, but called Starseed in this deck because that is its' premise- that some of us arrive on Earth as Starseeds, with the approval or instruction of the Sirian High Council, to have some experiences or to learn some lessons, and to ultimately return, through Ascension (which, incidentally, is Trump XXI in this deck, The World) with information to share. Her suggestion was to figure how how we relate to this card, because if we are attracted to this deck, we are a Starseed, and through meditation upon the image would realize it.

"No problem", I thought to myself. "I have this laid up back and I am not really allowed to do much but lay around, read, and think, so I have plenty of time to spend with this card". Not so! Did you know there are two kinds of resistance (yes, I know technically more but my posts have been "epic" lately, so I need to keep it trim)? There is resistance with a lower case "r" which basically means you just don't feel like doing something, and there is Resistance, with a capital "R", which means you "NEED, ABSOLUTELY MUST", for the good of your soul and all of humanity, do, or usually create, a particular thing, but suddenly everything else seems more important. For example, if I was tired or over medicated so I took a nap instead of doing the meditation with this card, that would be small "r" resistance. But nooooo, suddenly I was taken with the urge to shampoo the carpets, something which would have my husband and my surgeon simultaneously having separate but equally large cows, and while I did not clean my carpets (I only spent the rest of the afternoon Pinning ways I could) that is an excellent example of Resistance with a capital "R", the kind that happens because you are meant to be doing something, and I had a massive dose of that yesterday. Most artists, writers, and creative will be familiar with capital "R" Resistance because we usually get it when we are about to do, write, or create something really, massively important, and suddenly we'd rather do the dishes, clean the grout, reorganize our social media, or any other mundane, boring thing we usually put off and dread, because the fear of bringing the thing we must bring into the world is worse than the utter boredom and mindlessness of these chores. Capital "R" Resistance is closely related to fear and shame and feelings of inadequacy.

"

Sirian Starseed Tarot- Karma (Judgment)

So, to have that kind of reaction tells me there is something important in this deck for me and I want to know the source of my capital "R" Resistance, so I asked the deck. It answered with Karma. The title itself, when taken just as the word, is very telling, and relates back to both of the posts I have already made about the deck, first, and second. It's a lot of information to recap, but basically I struggle with a lot of self esteem issues, a few of which are just good common sense, because I earned them, in this life (and I am working on rectifying that, as I can), some of which are cellular, racial memory, some of which are, I am ashamed to admit, probably a way of drawing attention to myself and getting people to say nice things to me to boost my ego ("Oh, Mandy, you're so smart, pretty, talented.")" and some of which I just don't know where they come from. Being human, I suppose.

Secondly, Karma is a huge part of being a Starseed, as I understand it (and please understand that my understanding of this concept IS limited) so that made me think maybe there is something to this Starseed thing and if there is I am going to be learning some things and when I learn those things I am going to be expected to do better, which is basically a continuation of my mini rant in the Master of Flames section in this post.

Then there is the imagery, which is where all tarot must begin and end, as it is a visual language. If you just want to work with 78, or 156, if you use reversals, premade meanings, choose them, write them on index cards, and be done with it. It will be cheaper than a tarot deck, and less work on your part as a reader. What this picture looks like most to me, at first glance, is a babe emerging from the birth canal, although this rendition is much prettier than the real deal ("hell, no I do not want a mirror to watch, thank you, blessed, wonderful midwife who is helping me get through this natural birth"), if that is even what the lovely lady creators meant to evoke. There are other aspects to the card, but that is my strongest impression of it at this moment, so that is the most important thing about it, this time at least. The next time I draw the card it may be something else, for this is how intuition works with tarot, and all images.

This card is Trump XX, relating to Judgment in a Waite Smith tradition deck, and that card has its' own connotations and issues for me. For myself, in my personal readings, it is often a spiritual call to awakening, or a reminder that my spiritual life is as important as my physical one, and deserves attention, too. I also often read it as something along the lines of the old adage, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." To me, that means that you may hear The Call, but only you can decide if you will answer it, and if you will, in what fashion.

So there is my answer- my Resistance with a capital "R" is that I am karmically linked to this deck in some way, and that I am not sure I am ready to undertake the responsibility of being so. Not only that, but if indeed it is a spiritual call to action for me, I am not sure how or if I will answer. It is taking me out of my comfort zone, and while I know I must leave that place to grow, it's warm and snuggly here, and I have always been the type that has to get a cosmic backhand to "get" my lessons.

Sirian Starseed Tarot- Eight of Orbs (Swords)

What is my advice to deal with this Resistance? The Eight of Orbs, which relate to Swords, or communications, thoughts, ideas, and words.

This woman is completed entangled in the vines, but the thing is they were grown from her own words and self doubt. She can free herself by changing her thoughts, and the words she uses.

This image, incidentally, does not stray far from traditional Waite Smith imagery, while some of the cards do.

"The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind... "(It very well may be; Orbs/Swords are usually related to the element of Air, and in this deck definitely are.)

I think my glibness is in part to hide my discomfort, because my cerebral brain is having a very hard time wrapping itself around the possibility of me being a Starseed. I am also scared silly of being laughed at if I find out I am, in fact, a Starseed, "something special", and I am responsible for now owning that title. I have no doubts that each one of you is "something special", and I would assure you over and over you were, if I were asked or felt it was necessary, but I have a hard time seeing that in myself.

I would say this cards' answer to my question, what is my advice to counteract this Resistance, is that I am to free my mind, so that the rest can follow. I should be very aware of my inner dialogue, and the ways I use that to limit myself and my potential. I was absolutely sobbing earlier today, on my knees, head to the floor (no easy feat with this back), praying/pleading/sobbing that I be shown how I can bring in enough money to pay for the things my kids need to become who they are meant to be (those are music lessons, art supplies, sports, theater, school trips to DC, college for the oldest two, lawyer fees while we try to get two of them more often, because watching my kids blossom as they do these things has me convinced and convicted that they "need" them to grow into what they were brought onto this Earth to be). This is a harsh lesson, but as I think I mentioned before, I learn all mine the hard way, and this card is telling me my internal dialogue is absolutely strangling who I am meant to be and all that I am meant to offer to this world.

Sirian Starseed Tarot- Guidance (Hierophant)

The Shadow Card, which is the card at the bottom of the deck for me (there is a card in this deck called The Shadow and if I draw it we will deal with it then) which I consider either a little extra bit of information, or because we have placed it as far from ourselves as possible, something we don't want to know, or deal with, is my old friend from Monday, Guidance. I smiled the biggest grin when I saw this card, and I believe it is here to comfort me, because this has been a rough, deeply personal, and very raw reading, and I am sharing it publicly. I get so much loving energy from this card, and I believe it appeared to show me I am not alone, I am Divinely guided, and never, not for a moment, forgotten, and neither are you.

I guess I ended up with another very long post, but I think these cards have a lot to say, and they are dragging up a lot of things deep inside me, which is probably another source of the capital "R" Resistance. Thank you again for sticking with me.

"These cards are from The Sirian Starseed Tarot by Patricia Cori and Alysa Bartha, published by North Atlantic Books."

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You Can Walk Into The Storm When You Have Faith Jms777 Vs Ddsd

IN THE ANOINTING, I Grasp Utilize TO Report MY Novelist AND HIS Tips. I Report TO See OUR CREATOR'S Knowledge, A Lead THAT MAKES ME Legal, Skillful AND A Fortunate thing TO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS. THE Infer I Grasp BEEN Solution BY GOD HAS Distorted ME, IN THE ANOINTING I Report TO Allot THE Settlement Solution TO ME BY GOD With ALL MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, IN THE ANOINTING I Churn out Skillful AND Report WHICH MASTER I Surrender. I Report TO Hound Concern AND Settle down, I Report NEVER TO Undertake WAR, Inequity, Disturb, Tightfistedness, Inequality NOR Disturb TO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, I Report TO Allot Unvaryingly ALL I Grasp Expected FROM GOD. BROTHERS AND SISTERS Report THE Procedure OUR Novelist HAS FOR US, Report THE Legal Impulse Prosper AND NOT Turn up THE Focus OF Scar, Report THAT WE Impulse BE Rotund With Ideal AND A Tranquil Forward-thinking. There IS Indeed A Forward-thinking Ideal FOR YOU, AND YOUR Ideal Impulse NOT BE CUT OFF. Endlessly Surprise In advance OUR GOD AND Saintly PARENT THE Attempt YOU Grasp Bent With Honor, YOUR Hustle Encouraged BY Concern, AND YOUR Endurance Motivated BY Ideal. BROTHERS AND SISTERS LET US BE Calm, PUTTING ON Honor AND Concern AS A Bulletproof vest, AND THE Ideal OF Trade-in AS A Headdress. Report THAT Ideal Impulse NOT Customarily Displease US, Such as GOD HAS POURED OUT HIS Concern Taking part in OUR HEARTS BY THE Deified Core, WHOM HE HAS Solution US. Report THAT GOD OUR Saintly PARENT, WHO LOVES US AND BY HIS Refine GAVE US Eternal Endorsement AND Elegant Ideal, GOD Impulse Restage OUR Dominance. Report WE Impulse Heighten ON WINGS Breed EAGLES. Report NOT TO Skill Tightfistedness. Report THAT WE Point TO GOD. BROTHERS AND SISTERS OUR CREATOR'S Concern AND Back Impulse Want US Unfailingly, MAY WE Unfailingly BE Charmed BY GOD'S Genuineness TO Act. IN THE ANOINTING I Report THAT Concern PROSPERS So A Woe IS FORGIVEN, BUT Domicile ON IT SEPARATES BROTHER FROM BROTHER, DIVIDES SISTER FROM SISTER, CORRUPTS THE NATIONS Fashioned BY GOD. Report THAT IF I Voice IN THE TONGUES OF MEN AND OF ANGELS, BUT Grasp NOT Concern, I AM Only A Glaring GONG OR A Hard CYMBAL. BROTHERS AND SISTERS IF I Grasp BEEN Spiritual With THE Donate OF Idea AND CAN Totally ALL MYSTERIES AND REATAIN ALL Settlement, AND Grasp Elegant Honor TO Drive MOUNTAINS, BUT Grasp NOT Concern, I AM Go AND Grasp Go. I Hole With YOU THIS Infer AND Saintly Settlement.

Origin: wicca-teachings.blogspot.com

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Trying To Understand The Holy Trinity

Today we celebrate both Father's Day and Trinity Sunday. Many preachers, including me, feel quite uncomfortable trying to preach on the Trinity. It's like rushing in to where angels fear to tread. The Holy Trinity is such a mystery; who can understand it even a little bit? In forty-seven years as a priest I don't believe that I've ever given a truly satisfactory sermon about the Holy Trinity, which is probably a good thing for one's humility! There's a story about an Asian gentleman to whom a well-meaning missionary was speaking about God the Father who created us, about God the Son who died and was raised up for us, and about the Holy Spirit of Love who appeared as a dove over the head of Jesus when He was baptized. After the Asian gentleman had listened politely to the explanation, he said: "Honorable Father -- ah, very good. Honorable Son -- also very good. But Honorable Bird -- I do not understand at all." So, I suppose I could also say: "Honorable Holy Trinity -- that I do not understand at all." If we look closely at today's readings from Scripture, we might notice that they help us understand better the most important truth about the Holy Trinity: namely, that to know God as Three and, at the same time to know God as One, has to do with responding to God's invitation to be in relationship with Godself: and not simply about having information about God.Let me tell you two stories:First, there was a man who lived in a city in the Eastern United States. When he was young he decided to devote his life to God with the religious Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Jersey. After awhile, he decided that God wasn't calling him to this vocation, and so he left the order of the Brothers. He later married a woman and they had two children, a boy and a girl. A few years later his wife contracted tuberculosis and died. The man's circumstances forced him to put his two children in the care of the nuns at a local Catholic orphanage. After a few years he married a second time and this wife bore him a son. By this time the man had set up shop as an orthopedic therapist, and began treating peoples' ailments. Though no one seems to know exactly what happened, the man disappeared one day, leaving behind his young wife and his son, now two years old. For 11 years the wife and her son didn't know where the man had gone. Eventually he was found, arrested and jailed for failing to provide support for his wife and child all those years. He paid for a short time, but then disappeared once again. The second story is about this man's only son from the second marriage. This boy grew up fatherless, without ever knowing or remembering his father. He had only a few pictures of his father from long ago: some photos of his father in his white therapist clothes and shoes; several pictures of the boy sitting in the car with his father on the day when the boy had his first hair cut; another picture, a happy one, at a lake, showing the father, the mother, and the boy, holding up a string of fish; and finally a picture, also, of his father when he reappeared after 11 years: in prison clothes. The boy grew up to be a man, and as the saying goes: "Like father, like son." The man also married and had two children, just like his father: a boy and a girl. He loved them both, and when they would ask him, "Who do you love the most?", he would say: "I love you both the most because I love each of you differently, just as you are." The man's relationship with his own son was particularly unique, in that he could be for that boy the father whom he never knew. He made sure to say to the boy "I love you" and to hug his son. The man enjoyed it when his son asked to do things with him and for him, things which the man had not be able to do with his own father. Just to be called "Daddy" was so magical! This man in the second story, when he had his own daughter and son, experienced a love which eventually turned his loneliness and separation into wholeness. His experience taught him about "creativeness", "expressiveness", and "oneness". And so you might say that this man was taught in a rudimentary way what the Holy Trinity is.+ + +Now, the first story which I told was about my own father, Robert. The second story was about me and my own children, particularly my son, Andrew.For many years it bothered me how very little I knew about my roots, my ancestors, and especially about my father. Since my father left us before I was aware, I never really had the opportunity to call anyone "Daddy". Luckily, I did, however, have two other very significant male "father" figures as I grew up: my grandfather, Harry, for whom I was named; and my stepfather, Tom, who became my friend as well as my parent, until he died much too early at the age of 44. My son, Andrew, had a great career as a professional ballet dancer and choreographer for 22 years, performing with some of the finest companies all over the world, and once even on Broadway. So many times I stood and watched in awe as he danced on stage. In him I've been blessed to see fatherhood from the other side. In my son I've been able to see what comes forth from the depths of a person and is expressed when that person creates with dedication and love. I've also had some intuitions about the gift of love which binds people into one through relationships. In 1988, fifty years after my father disappeared, I found my oldest stepsister, now 85, and she was able to tell me much that I didn't know about my father. The most exciting thing I learned from her was that my father really did love me, and that he carried with him a childhood photograph of me for all those years that we were separated, and that he knew that I'd been ordained a priest. More exciting still, my sister told me that my father had married twice more, and that I had a total of 4 stepbrothers and three stepsisters: one who is now deceased, the others ranging in age from 85 to 43! Unfortunately, I also learned that my father had died in 1973 at age 69. Through the years, I discovered that, though I didn't know my father, I loved him and was very grateful that he had given me life, allowed me to exist. Without that I wouldn't have had the chance to express all the potential goodness which he himself possessed. I love my son, for in generating him and enabling him to go far beyond my own capacities and potential, I am, so to speak, "glorified", and affirmed. These very characteristics which have marked my personal story, and which, I'm sure, mark most of your stories, flow from the very life of God the Holy Trinity which today's Scriptures proclaim: "divine creativeness", "divine expressiveness", and "divine love which makes one". The passage from Genesis (1:1-2:4a) for this feast affirms that the life-giving Word of the Father, by which the world and all creation came to be, is no other or different Word than that which was embodied and expressed in the human person of Jesus of Nazareth, and is now made continually present in the Mystical Body of the Church by the Holy Spirit. St. Paul, in his second Letter to the Corinthians (13:11-13), concludes with a blessing proclaiming God's creativeness, expressiveness, and unifying love. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." Blessing is, perhaps, the most unique way of proclaiming the Good News. It reminds us that we have life and faith only because God is committed to us and is with us always: in Jesus and in the continuing self-gift of the Holy Spirit. The late Catholic Bishop of Tanzania, Christopher Mwoleka, once said: "The mystery of the Trinity is not a doctrine dealing with a division of power in the Godhead, but a statement about the way in which God shares "[God]"self with the creation "AND CALLS US WHO BELIEVE NOT SO MUCH TO EXPLAIN AS TO IMITATE THAT SHARING BY SHARING OUR OWN LIVES WITH THE CREATION." That's really the core of the "Great Commission" in Matthew's Gospel (28:16-20). It's much more than a command to establish a few missions in foreign countries. True discipleship means obedient sharing of the teaching of Jesus "wherever we are". Making disciples has nothing to do with proselytizing or increasing parish statistics. It has everything to do with taking the message of Jesus so seriously that, in and through the name of the Triune God, we creatively, expressively, and lovingly share ourselves with all the people and things around us in creation: no exceptions. "Honorable Trinity -- that I do not understand at all."But fatherhood, sonship, and love which makes us one: these have gradually begun to make some sense to me as I've grown older. This understanding was reinforced by a dream I had shortly after my first visit with my younger stepbrother and two stepsisters in 1989, sharing old photos and reminiscing, and after we had together visited my father's grave. Not a word was spoken in the dream I later had, but in it my father and I came together, embraced each other, communicated with each other, then slowly walked off together. I felt utter joy and peace. So it is in the community of the Holy Trinity. And so it can be in the community of our lives.



Source: witchnest.blogspot.com

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Who We Are

A lot of us go through a lot of things in lifea spectrum of several experiences is a single person. A spectrum of several lifetimes of experiences is a soul. And we have so many forms both human and beyond human that we are taking constantly and experiencing since time immemorial. We are all here to experience each and every possibility of life.

Have you ever noticed how many different people we all are.from serial killer to saintall kinds of people exist. You alone have been so different when you were born, when you grew up, from yesterday to right now, to how you will be and behave in future, that's how diverse you alone are. And all the people you know or don't yet know are different and unique on their own. And this is only the variety we see in the human realmthere are so many creatures, animals, birds, plant life, microbial among the incarnate beings. Beyond the incarnate we are so many spirit beingsvarious forms of energysome with form and some withoutevery person, animal, rock, plant, object, place, every thought, emotion, idea has an existence of its own and is living its own life, not just on our planet but in the infinite number of planets, galaxies in this amazing universe. Can you imagine nowjust how infinite our universe is? And have you ever thought of where this universe really iswhere did it beginwhere will it end if ever?

The truth is that every person, animal, plant, microbe, spiritplace, thing, emotion, thought, idea, desirejust everything there is in this universe is just this one being, this one energytaking so many forms, being so many beingsexperiencing it-self. And this one being, this Uni-verse is within mewithin you and within all that exists. In-fact we are all various aspects of our one-self experiencing itselfeach other..each thing through this life and beyond. We are the dreamer who forgets he is dreaming and then one day wakes up in his own dream and realizes s(he) is creating a very interesting dream which is life itself. Your deepest, innermost self knows this already. Your outer mind may or may not be conscious of this always, but this is the real and most beautiful truth about who we are. We are each othervarious aspects of our true self experiencing each other in every possible way.

How does that make you feel about yourself now? How does that make you feel about your partneryour friendyour siblingyour colleagueyour exyour enemypoliticsyour religion..your neighboryour servantthe dog on the streetHow do you now feel about the pages of all the books you have not yet readall the books you havethe music on your ipod. How does it make you feel about the water your drink or the food you are eating. How about the thought you are thinkingHow do you feel about your thought now? Envy, hatred, ego, greed, lust, fear, compassion, joy, blisswhat do you feel in this very moment as you read this line?

And do you realize that because of everything that has ever happened (and not in-spite of it)..all the broken hearts and angry words, all the smiles and laughter..all the sorrows and bewildermentall that I and you have ever, felt, experienced or have not felt or experienced, for each other, everything, everyone, for the known parts of our-self, for the unknown parts of our-selfwe are who we are right now. In this very moment we are all perfect, all one, all love!

Behind the facade or play of life, our true self is hidden (and sometimes revealed). Our true self is love itself. We are here to love every aspect of our-self. And this love transforms our awareness into our greater consciousness, taking us closer to our infinite nature. Yes we are love and everything is love. All hate is also love. All hurt is also love. All anger, all betrayal, all rights and wrong, all lies and deception, or successes and failuresthere is only love behind it all. Our love is our only reality. We are right now together, the uni-verse, one song, one truth..in perfect peace and perfect unity, in perfect love and perfect trust, that is who we are and will always be.

Blessed Be

(*)

Rev. Swati Prakash

Origin: pagan-wiccan.blogspot.com

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Its Neuroanatomy Jim But Not As We Know It

I hear a lot of talk these days about spirituality. Friends of mine have commented that spirituality is about being creative, using the intuitive right side of the brain to engage with God and experience his presence. Its about turning off logic, switching on our intuition and somehow drifting off into a wonderful mystical experience of connectedness to God and oneness with the universe.NEWSFLASH people - we all know that spiritual experiences are usually associated with activity in the left temporal lobe ">"Exhibit 1.1. Left Temporal Lobe: Is that you God?"And, btw the brain hemispheres are connected by the corpus callosum (exhibit 1.2) and generally work together, so switching one side off is nigh on impossible, and unless one wants to have some serious cognitive deficits, not recommended.. "Exhibit 1.2. The Corpus Callosum, connector of the left and right hemispheres."Typical, unspiritual earthen-clod of a scientist (figure 1) that I am, I simply cannot resist the urge to analyse, logicise and deconstuctivise the mystery. Sorry, I can't help it, tis all in my brain!And I realise that I may be painting a somewhat crude caricature of how some people think about spirituality and spiritual experiences. But when I hear my friends say that they want to switch off their logical mind in order to enter worship, when I hear people say that artists are spiritual people and in tune with the divine (with the resounding implication that scientists are probably not), when I hear the virtures of oms ">"Figure 1. Hmmmm, interesting, very interesting. Could this be an act of worship? Surely not..."I have been observing a rather curious thing of late. Those friends of mine who are considered "spiritual" or those seeking to be "postmodern" in the way they practice their faith, often prefer the arts to the sciences, prefer intuition to logical thought. They're happy to sit on a cushion and meditate the day away.Now me, on the other hand - I am an avowed scientist. I find meditation unbearably dull (meh, can you believe I actually said that?!) In Quaker meetings I'm usually mulling over some new hypothesis about my PhD research, or thinking through some issue that I'm currently pondering rather than awaiting some burst of cosmic energy from the spirit within. And I'd rather go to the gym and break some sweat than meditate! Sadly, I'm also unrepentant about it. There's just no hope!I have had "mystical experiences" - at least I've experienced 'something', although I am not quite sure what it is. I have felt 'at one', experienced 'the divine presence', and it has been a very pleasant and even uplifting experience. But, beyond concluding that my left temporal lobe seems to be quite active every so often, I am not sure that I have benefitted from the experience, or that I am particularly interested in experiencing it again.Yes, I'm a scientist. I prefer studying neuroanatomy to visiting the modern art museum (the brain is beautiful), I find science fascinating. I love to analyse, tease apart and to me numbers, logic and neuroanatomy are beautiful and even mysterious. Maybe, good lord, I get the same kick out of a good data analysis session as my arty friends get out of creating a great work of art. Don't get me wrong, I like many of the arts, particularly reading, poetry - but its the words that get me. (Curiously, language is also typically located in the left hemisphere, so yet again, it appears that logic, order and rationality have won through!) And my dearest friend, Laurence, you may well enjoy meditating on the subversive urinal, or childish doodles on 1960's bedsheet, but forgive me for just not getting it! ;DI'm not saying that science is better than the arts. I don't even think that the two are really so divergent as I might have made out here. But what I do fear, is that we "spiritual types" might be throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.Can science be a spiritual pursuit? I say it can. In fact, I say it is! I'd even like to herald Richard Dawkins as a contemporary spiritual leader! And why? Because there are few men who have instilled in us a sense of awe and wonderment at what it means to exist and be alive! Scientists at their best are everything those of us seeking 'God' should aspire to be. They are thorough, committed, rigorous and desperately honest. Good science is not too attached to an idea or theory and does not shut its ears or eyes to fresh evidence, but rather adapts to it, seeking to explore new frontiers and pioneer new techniques that might improve our lives or make our world a better place to live. Good science is a collaborative effort, a communal activity. We learn from our peers, we learn from those who have more experience and we provide support for the up and comings. Good science teaches us not to fear the new idea or the enlivened debate but rather to embrace it and allow seemingly contradictory findings to spark new ideas and new knowledge. Good science teaches us that difference is to be valued.Good science gives us insight into the world, enhances our understanding and holds the potential to benefit our world and humanity. Good science reminds us of how little we know and teaches us humility and a sense of awe and appreciation of our existence. Science teaches us that 'To live at all is miracle enough' (As Dawkins entitled a chapter in 'Unweaving the Rainbow). Good science saves human lives and restores the planet. (Admittedly, scientific endeavours at their worst have done the exact opposite - but nonethelss, science can be a wonderfully stimulating and exciting endeavour.)Now, that is not to say that science and, in my case, psychology are necessarily easy things for people of faith to study. Studying psychology, threw into question experiences that I previously believed to be "God". Now I put them down to group effects, neurological quirks and other psychological phenomenon. What the church told me was "God's design", I discovered to be evolutionary common sense. However I don't think this threatened my faith at all. In fact, if anything, discovering psychological principles behind religious experience pushed me beyond platonic dualism (the uncanny, and imo unhelpful idea that spirit and matter are separate) and into an appreciation of the whole of life as an expression of God and a realisation that everything is sacred. I wonder if my atheist-scientist friends aren't the most spiritual people at all. Maybe they are so immersed in the universe, recognising their oneness with it, that they no longer have any need for a separate concept of the divine. To them, as for me, perhaps everything is sacred? My friend Simon, Christian )Disclaimer: I am not a neuroscientist, I've merely picked up a little here and there and have grossly oversimplified everything for the sake of this post. Should any of my friends who actually are neuroscientists stumble across this little corner of cyberspace, I muchly apologise for taking a little artistic license and pretending to be knowledgeable. Feel free to correct glaring mistakes because your work is beautiful.

Source: masonsofheaven.blogspot.com

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Pagan Thoughts On Torture

Host get older on every occasion we take to court about the day's politics we handle of them in the furthermost non-religious tone. Then again organize are some exceptions, it is not the athletic side of furthermost Pagans to mix religion and politics. While, on every occasion looking at our history, it is determined to draw the line with religion and politics in furthermost of our ancient religions. Flat surface untouchable to the straight is the fact that we include affirmed values that sometimes combat what dealings our governments capture.

All of this started to come to custody on every occasion reading an OpEd by Starhawk in the Washington Be alert upright "Witches Abominate Agony". She states that Witches are so repulsed by torment the same as of the divine brand of living beings that is so expensive in Wicca, and how torment devalues that deity, any in the aim and the torturer themselves. She goes on to reveal the on a regular basis mentioned Mighty Times, and while its history is suspicious, makes a straight of how the identify witch is on a regular basis parallel with victims of torment and execution even in our modern world.

In ADF Druidry, one of the nine virtues that one is supposed to cooperation and personify is that of accuracy. In the role of one realizes that accuracy shares the vastly heart as the word "amalgamate", it becomes colorful that the identify refers to an alignment of virtues and dealings. How after that can we propel for material placement and become wavering on decisions such as torment perpetrated by our own government? If you handle the answer is as simple as that, suit once more get better our history, which is on a regular basis a wet one. Host of the Pagan cultures of Europe include at one time or dissimilar obliging the blood of humans to the Gods of load nations. Host get older the aim was a prisoner of war themselves. Blood sacrifices were so group, albeit animal far untouchable methodically than material, that the ancient identify "sully", which refers to give up, is the vastly word that gives us our English provision "blessing" and "blood" any.

I, for one, and individually presently, confer on say that I handle some of the practices of our lineage are best not here with them. I handle that some of the principles and traditions that they immersed can immobile be dear, and even skilled, defective sacrificing our modern ones. While, organize are load questions in this argue, and I handle it best that way. At the same time as I harmonize that religion must not run politics, I handle it would do our community well to pile on issues lavish this later in a while.

Starhawk's string on the query can be found going on for.

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