"THE OLDEST WISDOM IN THE WORLD TELLS US WE CAN CONSCIOUSLY"
"UNITE WITH THE DIVINE WHILE IN THIS BODY; FOR THIS MAN IS"
"REALLY BORN. IF HE MISSES HIS DESTINY, NATURE IS NOT IN A"
"HURRY; SHE WILL CATCH HIM UP SOMEDAY, AND COMPEL HIM TO"
"FULFILL HER SECRET PURPOSE."
"~ SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN"
"(PRESIDENT OF INDIA, 1962 - 67)"
We all want to know why we are here. What is our mission in life? The people who know it are easy to spot; their lives shine with meaning. Their perception of their life's purpose gives them the strength to live through the rough times as well as to enjoy the good. Many people, however, are confused ~ or completely in the dark ~ about their reason for living.
This lack of self~understanding and direction is a health problem itself, in a sense, for it can lead to all sorts of emotional stress, including depression, anxiety, and fatigue. When these stresses or negative emotions become entrenched, they can contribute to the development of illness. It's not only our mind that wants to know our mission ~ this knowledge is vitally important to our body and spirit as well. Lack of knowledge of our mission can become a destructive force in our relationships; we can hurt others around us as well as ourselves. If we don't have a clear sense of how to see the bigger picture when things go wrong, we are not able to respond appropriately to events or people.
From a cosmically practical point of view, we live in a world filled with many souls who have no idea whatsoever why they are here or what they are supposed to be doing. The absence of spiritual and emotional orientation have become epidemic. The further we stray from our true mission in life, the more frustrated we become, and the more out of sync our energy will be. However, by knowing your mission, you can live your life in ways that makes best use of your energy. When you are working well with your energy, you are also creating the best expression of your personal power. You are living in accord with your Sacred Contract.
In the process of awakening, you inevitably identify the patterns of thoughts and beliefs that you have used to interpret yourself and the world. These interpretations have become cellular memories and carry the emotional energy charge that affects your biography and consequently your biology. In detecting the emotional charge in your biography, you can begin to see how the fragments of your history have worked together in ways that have affected your past, your present, and the state of your health. This has become known as symbolic sight"," and enables you to get back your energy or spirit and heal emotionally, spiritually, and sometimes even physically. It is also an important method of working with your energy to bring your Sacred Contract into focus.
Our overall energy patterns are reflected in our individual cells, our individual souls also hum actively within a kind of global soul comprising all life on the planet. Our words, thoughts, deeds, and visions influence our individual health just as they affect the health of everyone around us. As vital parts of a larger, universal Spirit, we each have been put here on earth to fulfill a Sacred Contract that enhances our personal spiritual growth while contributing to the evolution of the entire global soul.
However, our life's mission, or Contract, cannot be defined or measured simply by our external life alone. Your purpose is not only your career, hobbies, or romantic relationship. A Contract is your overall relationship to to your personal power and your spiritual power. It is how you work with your energy and whom you give it to. It is also how much you are willing to surrender to divine guidance. Although a Contract is not the physical details of your life, you can use these details to figure out what your Contract is.
Some of the ways that energy works is that it organizes itself around our emotional centers, or chakras. Yet an organizing principle even greater than the interplay of the chakras is shaping the energy within each of us ~ and shaping our lives as it does so. Universal forms of cosmic intelligence known as archetypal patterns populate our minds and lives in ways that affect us deeply. Though we are generally unaware of these patterns of archetypes, they are shared in many people's thoughts and emotions, across cultures and countries.
Archetypes are the architects of our lives. The energy of the archetype and its manifestations in our psyches and lives is so pervasive and intimate that no part of our lives exists separately from at least one archetypal pattern. Usually no fewer than twelve are our constant companions.
Although the way you express your archetypes is unique to you, these energies correspond to the archetypes of other people in your life. They interact. These psychological, emotional patterns ~ how we live and whom we love ~ can lead us to a profound understanding of purpose. Carl Jung believed that archetypes live in a collective unconscious through which all souls are connected. The collective unconscious holds the energy of all who have participated in an archetype through the ages ~ stories, myths, legends, and prototypes. They are the energy companions through whom we can learn to understand ourselves.
The language of this process is one of spiritual alchemy. With it we'll learn to transform heavy physical relationships and emotions into spiritual gold. We manage our Contracts, but the Divine takes care of the Sacred.
"WHATEVER RELATIONSHIPS YOU HAVE ATTRACTED IN YOUR LIFE AT THIS MOMENT
ARE PRECISELY THE ONES YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE AT THIS MOMENT.
THERE IS A HIDDEN MEANING BEHIND ALL EVENTS,
AND THIS HIDDEN MEANING IS SERVING YOUR OWN EVOLUTION."
~ DEEPAK CHOPRA
Caroline Myss's Library of Archetypes
"Excerpts are paraphrased from: Caroline Myss. Sacred Contracts. Published by Three Rivers Press, New York, New York, 2002. pp. 1-10
Two Trevin Wax items this morning. First, an appreciative review of his recent book, "Counterfeit Gospels: Rediscovering the Good News in a World of False Hope". The review includes this summary of the "gospels" too often substituted for the Gospel:
* The "therapeutic gospel" corrupts the Gospel Story by redefining the problem the Gospel solves, making it about me and my felt needs rather than about God's remedy to restore a fallen creation.
* The "judgmentless gospel" corrupts the Gospel Story by redefining the Story's conclusion, downplaying the seriousness of sin and evil and God's commitment to put the world to rights.
* The "moralistic gospel" corrupts the Gospel Announcement by replacing Good News with good advice and making it about the works we do rather than about what Christ did in our stead and on our behalf.
* The "quietist gospel" corrupts the Gospel Announcement, which is a public announcement of Christ's triumph over all the powers of sin, evil, and death, by turning it into privatized religious experience.
* The "activist gospel" corrupts the Gospel Community by turning the church into a mission that is more concerned about causes than about Christ, confusing the effects of the Gospel with the Gospel itself.
* The "churchless gospel" corrupts the Gospel Community by making membership and involvement in a community of believers optional or even by viewing participation in a church as detrimental to my own personal spiritual formation.
In each chapter, Wax gives reasons as to why each counterfeit is so attractive to people, and some suggestions as to how we might "counter the counterfeit" by living in the light of the true Gospel..... [more]And second, an article by Trevin Wax himself about evangelical worship, "Steak on a Paper Plate: Serious Worship in a Casual World":
.... One of the core values of many an evangelical church is the effort to put everyone at ease. "Good morning," says the minister or worship leader. Then comes the inevitable: "Let's try that again, GOOD MORNING!" There's a chatty, street-level style of worship that has become prevalent in evangelicalism. And it's not clear that your pursuit of casual novelty in worship meshes well with hearing the Word of God set forth in all its glory.
Can a contemporary, casual service bring worshipers face to face with the glory of God in a way that buttresses and upholds the magnificent truths being expounded from the Word? I think the answer is yes, but not always.....
When it comes to worship, we're frequently told that form doesn't matter. Style is not what's important. I get that. I'm not belittling contemporary music or advocating a return to liturgy, organs, and hymns. Cultural forms adjust and adapt, and some contemporary worship services have thrown me to my knees before the holiness and majesty of God. The issue isn't "formal" versus "informal," casual clothes versus Sunday best, traditional versus contemporary.
The problem is not with casual worship styles, but with "casually worshiping" God in whatever style.....
Form and content are rarely easy to separate. They mirror one another. A church with serious Bible preaching will generally have a serious worship service (contemporary or traditional, formal or informal, but "serious"). A church with a feel-good preacher will generally have peppy, feel-good music.
Christians need to sense the weight of God's glory, the truths of God's Word, the reality of coming judgment, and the gloriousness of God's grace..... [more]IM Book Review: Counterfeit Gospels internetmonk.com, Steak on a Paper Plate: Serious Worship in a Casual World
ERIS IS THE GODDESS OF STRIFE AND THE "SPIRIT OF DISCORD." SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF ZEUS AND HERA. HER NAME TRANSLATES INTO LATIN AS "DISCORDIA. "HER GREEK OPPOSITE IS "HARMONIA. "SHE IS THE SISTER OF ARES, THE GOD OF BATTLE, AND SHE BECAME HIS CONSTANT COMPANION, ACCOMPANYING HIM TO THE BATTLES...OFTEN HELPING TO CAUSE THE QUARRELS AND THE FIGHTS. BECAUSE OF THIS, ERIS IS AN UNPOPULAR GODDESS, AND IS FREQUENTLY SNUBBED AS A GUEST BY THE OTHER GODS AND MANKIND.
SHE IS USUALLY DEPICTED AS A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG WOMAN WITH PALE SKIN, BUT UPON CLOSER LOOK, HER FACE IS AS PALE AS DEATH. HER HAIR IS BEDECKED WITH THORNS AND AT TIMES SHE IS WEARING A GARLAND...WHICH IS REALLY A POISONESS SNAKE. SHE IS THE MOTHER OF MANY...SORROW, BATTLE, SLAUGHTER, INJUSTICE, MURDER, AND LIES, TO NAME JUST A FEW.
IT IS ERIS WHO HELPED CAUSE THE TROJAN WAR. IT WAS AT THE WEDDING OF THETIS AND THE MORTAL PRINCE, PELIUS. ERIS WAS VERY JEALOUS BECAUSE, AS USUAL, SHE WAS NOT INVITED. AND, ALL OF THE GODS AND GODDESSES WERE THERE...EXCEPT FOR HER. SO, SHE DEVISED A PLAN TO GET EVEN. SHE FLUNG HER "APPLE OF DISCORD" THROUGH THE ROOF...BUT, BEFOREHAND, SHE HAD WRITTEN "FOR THE FAIREST". NOW, IT JUST SO HAPPENED THAT OF THE THREE GODDESSES--HERA, ATHENA, AND APHRODITE--EACH FELT THAT THE APPLE WAS MEANT FOR HER. THE THREE GODDESSES BROKE INTO A QUARREL, AND THE WEDDING WAS RUINED....WHILE ERIS SAT BACK AND WATCHED, SMILING CYNICALLY.
PARIS OF TROY WAS ASKED TO JUDGE WHO GOT THE GOLDEN APPLE. NOW, THE THREE GODDESSES WERE NOT ABOVE A BIT OF BRIBERY. HERA OFFERED HIM RICHES; ATHENA OFFERED WISDOM; AND APHRODITE OFFERED TO GET HELEN, A BEAUTIFUL GREEK PRINCESS, FOR HIM. PARIS PICKED APHRODITE, AND HELEN WAS ABDUCTED AND BROUGHT TO TROY. AND, WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.
Credit: just-wicca.blogspot.com
55,00USD
This is an empty vessel. You may purchase it for the metaphysical properties, order an Otherworld Entity through my store, or have an Otherworld Entity transferred into this pendant.
This vessel has been Activated 9 Times and has 54 hours of work. The spell that Activates the stone links the energy from Mother Earth into the stone. This stone will draw in energy every single day, and the energy will get stronger over the years. This energy from Mother Earth magnifies the metaphysical properties found at the bottom of this listing. You get faster results with Activated pendants than without.
This is a 925 Sterling Silver Jasper pendant. This stone has beautiful bands of reds in a natural interesting pattern. The pendant is moderate in 925 Sterling Silver. It is well created and will last a lifetime.
This pendant measures 38 mm X 22 mm X 5 mm, which includes the bale. The bale will accommodate up to a 5 mm cord or chain. It weighs 6.55 grams.
When I hold this pendant I feel the sweet energy from the stone. I feel my muscles relax, I don't worry about what is coming in the future, but I live in the moment. Worrying about the future will rob me of the joy I can feel at this moment in time. This stone feels like a hug from Mother Earth, and I know everything will be okay. This is how my body interprets the energy and your body may interpret it differently.
What is even better than this powerful vessel? Purchase a new Custom Bound Otherworld Entity through Spirit Realm at a low price or transfer an Entity from your collection for free.
Did you know you can get a Custom Bound Otherworld Entity for as little as 45? I dont use binding boxes, or bind against the spirits will! You will get a willing Otherworld Entity selected for you by my Watcher. She has selected the perfect spirit for my customers for the last year. Shes an expert! See my store for details or email me.
Or if you have a sluggish beloved Otherworld Entity, maybe the energy from this stone combined with the Activation spells can give them the boost they need.
Or if you have a beloved Otherworld Entity that needs to be rehomed. I will transfer your Otherworld Entity into this vessel at no cost. Yes, I said that....NO COST.
If you would like your Otherworld Entity transferred to this vessel, I will do that free of charge. Unlike other sellers, I dont charge extra for spirit transfers when you purchase the vessel from me. (I will not transfer Demons or any Demonic Creatures.)
Please note: If you mail me your Otherworld Entity, the package must be insured and require my signature for pick-up.
Otherworld Entities thrive on Activated vessels and customers have reported positive results from Activated vessels.
This Activation spell will last forever with proper care. Please dont immerse this vessel into water, expose it to chemicals, or expose it to extended sunlight. You can wear it in the sun, I dont advise that you leave it in direct sunlight for hours upon hours.
Does this mean my spells arent water-proof? No. The elements can drain the energy from the vessel. Water, fire, sun, earth...any type of these element can drain the vessel of energy. They can be cleansing, but they can be too cleansing. If you need to quickly rinse the vessel or do a deep cleaning with baking soda and water...thats fine, it wont destroy the spell, but it will need to be charged in a charging box.
Want to take a swim with your Otherworld Entity? Your Entity is not restricted to the vessel as it acts as a portal for them, or a place of entry into this world. They dont live in the vessel, as they have a home, family, and jobs in the Otherworld.
They use this portal to get to you quickly. Once you have bonded, and you arent wearing the vessel, they may take a few more minutes to find you, but they will find you. You build an ethereal connection when bonding, and they can follow that connection to find you.
So if you want them to swim with you, it isnt necessary to wear the vessel. This doesnt mean my spells arent water-proof, you just deplete their energy stores when they are exposed to chemicals, water, and sun. They may feel sluggish and you may have difficulty contacting them. In this case you may need to recharge them for a week or two with candles and food.
Taking the time to remove your vessels from showers, cleaning, or using the restroom (rings) shows respect and reverence for your Otherworld Entities.
If you want Otherworld Entities to be the most effective they can be, please dont treat their vessels like jewelry. They need attention, respect, reverence, care, feeding, bonding, and time with you. If you work to cultivate a relationship, you will be rewarded greatly.
Misuse may weaken the spell and it may need to be recharged for a few weeks with a charging box.
If you need to clean it use a silver polishing cloth. In instances of severe tarnish you can use a paste of baking soda and water. Please use this method sparingly. Scrub with a toothbrush and rinse well. Charge for a week to revitalize the vessel.
I have included a triple charged charging bag. This bag will remove any negative energy and help recharge the vessel. You can place the vessel in this bag when you need to charge the vessel. This bag cant be washed. It is advised that this bag is placed in a container, drawer, or box to prevent dust from collecting on the bag. This bag may also be used to cleanse and recharge pendulums, stones, or any other small items. This bag will never need to be charged under the light of the moon, and the spell will be effective forever with proper use and care. Some Otherworld Entities may need a deeper charging and cleansing with a charging box. It depends on the spirit and the number of tasks you have assigned.
As always, there is free shipping and insurance for all of my items sold within the United States. If you live outside of the US, I will provide free shipping without insurance. If you would like your package insured outside of the US, please contact me.
Magickal items are unlike the magickal items portrayed in Hollywood movies or in fairy tales. If you would like to depend on magickal items to solve your problems without any effort on your part, you will be disappointed.
Magickal items are not for the under-aged or the immature. Wrong attitudes and applying magickal items inappropriately would simply result in failure or unsatisfactory results. If you fall into one of these categories or do not believe in the power of this magickal item, then please don't purchase!
Law requirement states that Readings, Spells and paranormal objects are for sole entertainment purposes only. This vessel must also be classified for entertainment purposes only.
According to Love is in the Earth by Melody:
Jasper:
Properties, additional to those listed in the Chalcedony section, of this book, are listed below.
This mineral is known as the "Supreme Nurturer". It acts as a reminder that one is not here, on this physical plane, just for oneself, but is also here to bring joy and substance to others, assisting others to release the bonds of constraint.
It is conducive to awareness and to allowing one to celebrate situations of isolation. It helps one to realize that one is always remembered by others who can, usually be called upon to provide insight to examples of those who send loving energy toward ones physical manifestations.
Jasper was often worn by shaman to provide protection. It holds an aspect of solar energy and a connection to the solar plexus chakra which also helped shaman in their magical practices. It was considered a sacred stone during the performance of, and adherence to, the "old ways" of the Native American Indians. The jasper which contains the yellow color was used to assist and protect during times of travel (spiritual or physical); that which contains the red color was thought to induce health and re-birth, bringing freshness in ideas and strategies to the holder. The jasper containing the blue color was used to connect one with the "after" worlds.
It is a stone which accepts intense responsibility in the realm of protection. It protects against negativity and helps one to be grounded to the stabilizing energies of the Earth.
Jasper can be used to align the energy of the chakras and to integrate the attributes of the chakras such that astral journeys can be affected.
It balances the yin-yang energy and balances the physical emotional and intellectual bodies with etheric energies.
It stabilizes the aura, providing for a cleansing effect to smooth dysfunctional energies and to eliminate negativity. It helps one to unite the energy field of the physical with the ethereal in order to balance the form and to direct one toward the goal.
The ancients revered jasper as sacred, protective, and as a facilitator of safe astral travel.
It has also been used during the venture of dowsing.
Jasper has been both worn and used by priests and kings. It is said to have been one of the stones used in the breastplate of the high priest.
Jasper is also a sustaining stone, a stone representing the elemental "man". It can be quite helpful in times of extended hospitalization and when ones energy is low. On a long fast, it can help to keep ones energy high.
Jasper can be used in the treatment of tissue deterioration of the internal organs, and for disorders of the kidneys, spleen, bladder, liver, and stomach - the energy is more appropriate for deterioration, rather than the actual state of malfunction. Jasper can be used to treat the loss of sense of smell. It has been reported to soothe the nerves.
It can also help with balancing the mineral content and with the regulation of the supplies of iron, sulfur, zinc, and manganese within the body.
It can also be used to affect nutritional stabilization within the body, to improve the digestive processes and related organs, and to assist in the elimination of toxins leading to the decrease in body odor and dis-ease.
According to The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall
Jasper is known as the "supreme nurturer". It sustains and supports during times of stress, and bring tranquility and wholeness. Used in healing, it unifies all aspects of your life. Jasper reminds people to help each other.
Jasper aligns the chakras and can be used in chakra layouts. Each color is appropriate to a specific chakra. This stone facilitates shamanic journeys and dream recall. It provides protection and ground energies and the body. It absorbs negative energy and cleanses and aligns the chakras and the aura. Jasper balances in and yang and aligns the physical emotional, and mental bodies with the etheric realm. It clears electromagnetic and environmental pollution, including radiation, and aids dowsing.
Psychologically, Jasper imparts determination to all pursuits. It brings the courage to get to grips with problems assertively, and encourages honesty within yourself. It supports during necessary conflict.
Mentally Jasper aids quick thinking, and promotes organizational abilities and seeing projects through. It stimulates the imagination and transforms ideas into action.
Physically Jasper prolongs sexual pleasure. It supports during prolonged illness or hospitalization and reenergizes the body.
Orbicular Jasper (Ocean Jasper) supports service, assists in accepting responsibility and instilling patience. Its circular markings resonate with circular breathing, which it facilitates. It eliminates the toxins that cause unpleasant body odor.
Mookaite (Australian Jasper) provides a useful balance between inner and outer experiences. It imparts both a desire for new experiences and a deep calm with which to face them. Flexible Mookaite encourages versatility. It points out all possibilities and assists in choosing the right one. Mookaite is a physically stabilizing stone that fortifies the immune system, heals wounds, and purifies the blood.
Red Jasper
It has been used to assist one in rectifying unjust circumstances; meditation with this mineral can provide insight to the method of amelioration. The energy communicates the message that all choice is singularly ones responsibility. It can also assists in providing for rescue in situations of danger.
Red Jasper can facilitate the reiteration of dreams to allow the dreamer to remember the aspects which could be consequential in ones life. It seems to replicate the dream on a video-type mechanism for access during states of meditation.
It can also be used to prevent "set-backs" in disorders. The mineral assists in healing one to learn to progress, and to eliminate the aspects of digression.
Origin: modern-wiccan.blogspot.com
The first ever Get Off Your Broom: A Witchy Fitness Challenge was so successful that I would like to invite you to the next round which is called the Get Off Your Broom: A New Year's Witchy Fitness Challenge!
I created this fitness challenge because I realized there are probably plenty of of other pagans, witches, and Wiccans out there that are struggling to get in shape too. We need to support each other! I call the fitness challenge "get off your broom" because as witches and pagans, we need to get off our brooms (metaphorically of course) and exercise!
I had no idea if I would gain any interest in the first ever Get Off Your Broom: A Witchy Fitness Challenge so imagine my delightful surprise when 160 people signed up! God/dess bless all of you!
However, I started the challenge at a very odd time of the year. Not many people start a fitness routine and diet at the beginning of October. Because this next round starts on the first of the year, I am hoping for even more people to sign up than last time. It will last 3 months just like the first challenge did.
IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF GET OFF YOUR BROOM: A WITCHY FITNESS CHALLENGE!
Check-ins will be on Sunday when the new round starts.
The informational page and where you sign up has changed. DO NOT SIGN UP ON THIS POST!
I have moved sign ups HERE to a separate page on the Get Off Your Broom blog which can be found at the top of the sidebar. If you want to share the link for the challenge, please use that link. You can also click on the Get Off Your Broom: A New Year's Witchy Fitness Challenge banner and it will take you to the sign up page.
A recap all the information about the New Year's round of Get Off Your Broom: A Witchy Fitness Challenge and the sign ups will be found HERE! However, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments on this post.
Source: witchnest.blogspot.com
This came via email by an "Anglican Friend of God":
ANGLICAN PATRIMONY
An anonymous commentator calling himself 'Father' writes the following on the Anglo-Catholic blog:
It seems to boil down to what one thinks the Anglican patrimony consists. The anti-AC-cabal seems to think Rome wants to annihilate this patrimony. But what is this patrimony they so desire to maintain? I don't think I'm a lone Anglican voice in expressing that the dearest patrimonies are:
1. The AV
2. The Coverdale Psalter
3. "Cranmerina" English
(Some might add membership to the country club.)
What else of our unique Anglican identity does not Rome already embrace?
What an astonishing reduction. The Anglican patrimony consists of a prose style and nothing more: perhaps not even the "Book of Common Prayer"!
The sad thing is that 'Father' probably has gained little more from the Anglicanism which he claims as his own. We fear that 'Father' is not apt to learn, but we will try nonetheless, if only to help some of those who might find themselves reading this.
What is the Anglican patrimony? Here are some parts of an answer.
1. George Herbert. The piety and devotion and art of Herbert are distinctively Anglican. The superiority of Herbert's inspiration can be seen by comparing him to another priest-poet, Richard Crashaw, who preceded the TAC down the Anglican-to-Rome trail by about four centuries. Crashaw's poetry is baroque and empurpled, full of Counter-Reformation piety and questionable taste. Yet for all Crashaw's uninhibited, Catholic sensibility, his verse is much less inventive than Herbert's in form, in vocabulary, and in imagination. Most readers who spend time with both poets will agree that Herbert is Crashaw's superior in almost every respect. Crashaw stands for a hothouse kind of devotion and piety which flourish in the Roman Catholic world and not in Anglicanism. Herbert stands for the restrained, but nonetheless deeply felt and deeply moving, faith of Anglicanism at its best, and for all the art inspired thereby. Take Herbert as a synecdoche for a large swathe of our patrimony in poetry, music, architecture, and literature.
2. An emphasis on a strong and achievable lay piety. Roman Catholicism tended to develop a bifurcated piety and morality, with one set of standards for the clergy (the Counsels of Perfection; mandatory clerical celibacy; a Daily Office not realistically open to busy layfolk; etc.) and another for the laity (many rules stating minimum obligations below which the laity were not to fall; concessions to the lower capacities of laity; emphasis on avoidance of sin rather lay sanctity). The Prayer Book and Anglicanism in general set a more uniform standard, which at its best embraces a kind of integrated, Benedictine vision of work and prayer and family life. Any Anglican layman can say the Prayer Book Offices, find a realistic model for his life in the clergy, and believe that he is fulfilling the whole duty of man rather than pursuing a second-class vocation. The bifurcated piety and morality of old Roman Catholicism are now out of fashion, but still can be seen in the rank clericalism of Roman parish life and of the Roman bureaucracies.
3. Anglican rectory life. English life and civilization and Anglican life in general are heavily influenced by the clerical home and are enriched by the children of rectories and vicarages. (See previous point for a related idea.) Think, say, of Jane Austen as the product of a rectory. Or think of the 'high priestly' clans: the Knoxes, the Temples, the Bensons. Or, taking another path to the same conclusion, since Mr. Arabin did not topple over into the pool of Rome in the end, think of his domestic life with Eleanor Harding Bold - and think of the children they undoubtedly had and of what those children undoubtedly achieved.
4. The sermons of Lancelot Andrewes. The devotion and piety of Andrewes include an avoidance of sterile theological debate, an embrace of the Fathers, a deeply sacramental and emblematic view of the world, and an eschewal of doctrinal innovation. There are of course fine Roman Catholic sermons (think Bossuet) - but nothing approaching Andrewes in English.
5. A conservative but not fundamentalist theological spirit. An irenic temper that can be found, but not commonly, among Roman Catholic theologians. A strong theory of "adiaphora" without doctrinal reductionism. A contrary spirit of innovation seems to be at work everywhere in the Roman Catholic Church these days. Forget the doctrine of the papal office itself, or the Marian doctrines, or even the proposed enormity of our Lady as the Mediatrix of All Grace. The spirit of innovation is evident in much simpler and more easily understood matters. What Church Father gives support for girl acolytes, female lectors, meat on Fridays, or lay administration of Holy Communion? Yet Rome permits such things and many similar.
6. Auden. Eliot. Ken. Law. Swift. Mascall. Trollope. Donne. Hooker. C.S. Lewis. Dorothy Sayers. Charles Williams "The English Hymnal". Kenneth Kirk. Austin Farrer. English cathedral and collegiate choirs. Gothic Revival. Etc., etc.
7. Or since an Anglo-papalist asks the question, we might explain the Anglican patrimony by thinking how very little is left to the Roman Catholic Church in the English-speaking world once you subtract the Anglican converts: Cardinal Newman and Cardinal Manning; S. Elizabeth Seton; G.M. Hopkins; Crashaw; Ronald Knox; Father Faber; G.K. Chesterton; Evelyn Waugh. Etc., etc.
Need we go on?
- "Theophilus Anglicanus"
"The silly comment that he has answered so well with this list (not exhaustive, not meant to be) expresses the level of understanding we expect to see on that blog. It is very easy to throw away a treasure if one does not recognize it, or to discard something for which one has never worked. Understanding the riches we have does take some work, reading and learning. We cannot understand the lack of appreciation by those who speak of a "450 year-old experiment...[that] has failed," or who define Anglicanism as "English culture." No wonder they think AC is meant to preserve Anglican riches - they haven't got a clue.
Credit: crafty-witch.blogspot.com
THAT ONE SHOULD NOT EMBRACE AND ZEALOUSLY OBSERVE THE BENEFIT OF THE FAST ONLY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT, BUT THAT THE ZEALOUS MUST CONTINUE THE SAME ZEAL IN ALL THE WEEKS OF LENT.
By St. Symeon the New Theologian
THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT
Brethren and fathers,
What we are about to say we ought to have addressed to your charity last Sunday. I was aware, however, that every one of us believers, [together with] the whole Christian people, both monks and laity, with fervent zeal accepts the blessing of fasting in the holy first week of Lent, and that each one of us willingly puts its yoke upon its neck (Sir. 51:26). Even among those who greatly despair of their own salvation and live their lives without fear and reverence for God there is no one who rejects the law of fasting in that week. Rather, as far as he is able, he joins with all in observing abstinence. So I come today to speak a few short words to you about the present season.
As we have said, all the faithful people spend the first week of Lent, which is now past, in a strenuous manner. But now that it has passed and Saturday has arrived, it falls to the lot of the Church of God to celebrate, in accordance with tradition, the feast of the great martyr Saint Theodore, or rather, the extraordinary act of salvation that God wrought through him for His most faithful people. Likewise on Sunday we all make commemoration of the Orthodox Faith and sing hymns of thanksgiving to God, who is all-good. But the evil one, who is always envious of goodness, secretly steals up on each of the faithful and invisibly puts on him the chains of slackness and carelessness. He persuades him to despise and reject the salutary yoke of fasting ("cf." Ps. 2:3) and to return to his former habits. Therefore I remind you today and make my appeal to your charity, your paternity, that you do not in any way obey him who wills you ill. Do not be led astray by the bad habit of insatiable gluttony, nor turn back to the old [habit of] satisfaction of evil desires. Rather, let us keep this second week of Lent like the first, and likewise the remainder [of the season].
FASTING AS THE HEALER OF THE SOUL
Indeed, my fathers and brethren, let us act for our own good by so doing, and let us not allow ourselves to lose what we have gathered together in the past, but rather let us strive to add to it and increase it. Let us not miserably allow what we have built up in times past to be destroyed ("cf." Gal. 2:18). Let each one of us keep in mind the benefit of fasting and what gifts from God he has enjoyed in these few days and so become more eager for the days to come. For this healer of our soul is effective, in the case of one to quieten the fevers and impulses of the flesh, in another to assuage bad temper, in yet another to drive away sleep, in another to stir up zeal, and in yet another to restore purity of mind and to set him free from evil thoughts. In one it will control his unbridled tongue and, as it were by a bit (Jas. 3:3, 8), restrain it by the fear of God and prevent it from uttering idle or corrupt words (Eph. 4:29; Mt. 12:36). In another it will invisibly guard his eyes and fix them on high instead of allowing them to roam hither and thither, and thus cause him to look on himself and teach him to be mindful of his own faults and shortcomings. Fasting gradually disperses and drives away spiritual darkness and the veil of sin that lies on the soul, just as the sun dispels the mist. Fasting enables us spiritually to see that spiritual air in which Christ, the Sun who knows no setting, does not rise, but shines without ceasing. Fasting, aided by vigil, penetrates and softens hardness of heart. Where once were the vapors of drunkenness it causes fountains of compunction to spring forth. I beseech you, brethren, let each of us strive that this may happen in us! Once this happens we shall readily, with God's help, cleave through the whole sea of passions and pass through the waves of the temptations inflicted by the cruel tyrant, and so come to anchor in the port of impassibility.
"Continued..."
Reference: asatru-religion.blogspot.com
