Wow…just, wow. After reading a supposedly “religiously tolerant” message board today I am appalled at what I have read. It seems that in order to classify oneself as ‘Christian’, one must be of the ‘Biblical Christian’ sort that is represented well on the board, and not espouse anything that is in opposition, particularly, in this case, any Gnostic leanings, to the beliefs of this “wider Christian Community”. The wider-what? Do they mean the Catholic Christian world majority which is much closer to Gnosticism than Protestantism? Hmm.

I would expect this sort of message on a protestant Christian board, but, coming from a board that supposedly promotes tolerance for, and communication with those of other belief systems (particularly a moot between Christians and Pagans), I am simply amazed.

It must be hard to run a venue such as that when Christians are pigeon-holed to one particular sort. At least a ‘Pagan’ can still be a ‘Pagan’ there….oh wait….maybe I should first check for a “You’re not a Pagan if…” thread …

Who said the Gnostics had a monopoly on elitism, eh?

Faith receives.  Love gives.

- The Gospel of Philip 

Gnosis. Where do we go from here? How does gnosis help us live our lives? How can we turn this knowledge into practical terms so we may live more fulfilling lives? Isn’t that what every human truly wants? — To live more fulfilled, joyous lives until the time that we shed our physical’ness’?

I am hard-pressed to believe that gnosis is the end. I am finding it is, truly, only the beginning. Acknowledgment of, and connection with, our Inner Spark is the first step in knowing ourselves — our True Selves. With this accomplished, we must then allow our True Selves to express through our physical beings. It is impossible for this expression to be rooted in anything other than love, for it comes from God.

“He said to them: “Whoever has ears should hear!
Light exists inside a person of light, and he shines on the whole world.
If he does not shine, there is darkness.” - Gospel of Thomas 24:2-3

Shine, indeed.

An understanding of our connection with the Divine and our true nature is imperative. Gnosis offers the key, but beyond the door is knowing what to do with that information…knowing how to shine.

I apologize for my recent absence. I have been going through what I would call a spiritual hibernation. I’m alive and doing fantastic. I will share more in the next several days, but I wanted to quickly say hello and and let you know that I will be posting to my blog on a more regular basis.

Well folks, it’s that time of year again — New Year.  It’s a time when many of us make New Year’s Resolutions for things we wish to either eliminate from our lives, or bring into our lives.  This brought to mind a piece from Crowley’s Gnostic Mass (some of you Gardnerians may recognize it as well) — a piece on manifestation of the Infinite in Love.

…not unto Thee may we attain, unless Thine image be Love.
Therefore by seed and root and stem and bud and leaf and flower and fruit do we invoke Thee.

This sort of imagery can be used in any desire for manifestation.  Ask yourself what it is that you wish to bring into your life in 2007.  Imagine this first as seed, then watch as the root system takes shape followed by a stem emerging from the soil.  Next watch as the bud of your desire sprouts from the side of the stem, followed by the emergence of a single leaf, then many leaves.  Inevitably the most beautiful flower blooms, the beauty being followed by the fruit.

It is rather strong imagery and is great for guiding meditations for manifestation.

May 2007 be all to you that you dream it can be.

Brightest,
Tara

“We are on the path of experience, just waking up to the real fact of our true being; as we awake, we find we are surrounded by many false conditions, but there is something within which remembers the real state.” - Dr. Ernest Holmes

If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear the author of the above quote was Gnostic. Dr. Ernest Holmes is the found of the ‘Science of Mind’ philosophy. I find that his ideas are particularly compatible with root Gnostic principles — The Fullness, the Spark of The Divine within, (as the quote above reveals) and the need for praxis to come from the depths of our True, Inner Selves, Our Divine’ness’ — Our True Will. He supports the idea that waking up to the reality of our True Nature gives way to living truly in happiness. An interesting concept.

Dr. Holmes focuses on ‘the mind’ and thought and the power of these in forming healing and “True Happiness” in our lives. Not so very different than the use of magick. Crowley states that magick is:

“…the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the Will.”

How wonderfully appropriate and complimentary this Thelemic thought is to the Science of Mind philosophy.

I’m not surprised that his ideas have survived so long (The Science of Mind was written by Dr. Holmes in 1929) and that the philosophy is experiencing a lot of support these last couple of decades.

“There once was an open-hearted man who invented the art of making fire. He took his tools and went to a tribe in the north, where it was very cold, bitterly cold. He taught the people there to make fire. The people were very interested. He showed them the uses to which they could put fire– they could cook, they could keep themselves warm, etc. They were so grateful that they had learned the art of making fire. But before they could express their gratitude to the man, he disappeared. He wasn’t concerned with getting their recognition or gratitude; he was concerned about their well-being.

The same man went to another village, where he again began to show the value of his invention.  People were interested there, too, a bit too interested for the peace of mind of their priests (obviously a less open-hearted class of clerics). The priests began to notice that this man was drawing crowds and they were losing their popularity. so they decided to do away with him They poisoned him, crucified him, put it any way you like.

But the priests were afraid now that the people might turn against them, so they were very wise, even wily. Do you know what they did? They had a portrait of the man made and mounted it on the main altar of the temple. The instruments for making fire were place in front of the portrait and the people were taught to revere the portrait and to pay reverence to the instruments of fire, which they dutifully did for centuries. The veneration and the worship went on, but there was no fire.”

Anthony DeMello

I bet you were expecting a big, fat, 42. Sorry. I have an answer that is much more compelling.

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.”
Carl Jung

I’ve recently developed a fondness for the archangels.  I don’t know if it was because of seeing “Archangel” in the new Xmen movie…but, the timing coincides nicely. *wink*

At any rate, I found a list of the archangels and their attributes along with their associated Kabbalistic Sephirah that I thought might be nice to add to my blog:

1. Keyter - Voice of God - Metatron (Brother/Twin Flame of of Sandalphon)
2. Chokmah - Wisdom and teaching - Raziel
3. Binah - Compassion and Knowing - Tzaphquiel (zuff quiel)
4. Chessed - Mercy and Order - Tzadquiel (zud quiel)
5. Geburah - Strength and Courage - Kamael
6. Tipharet - Healing and Hormony - Raphael
7. Netzach - Caregiver - Haniel
8. Hod - Speaker of truth - Michael
9. Yesod- Bestower of blessing - Gabriel
10 Malkuth - Humility - Sandalphon (Brother/Twin Flame of of Metatron)

Take note that all but two of the archangels have names that end in ‘el’.  ‘El” in Hebrew means ‘of God’.  Metatron and Sandalphon are the exception to the rule.  There is one distinct difference between Metatron, Sandalphon and the rest of the archangels…..Metatron and Sandalphon were both, once human; Metatron being Enoch from the Sefer Hekhalot, and Sandalphon being the prophet Elijah.

If the archangels peak your interest, there is tons of info online you can mine.  I’ll add anything more about them I find intriguing as I continue my perpetual spiritual journey.

Last week, in two places on the net that I frequent, there was discussion on the reality of an historical Jesus. There were some who felt that the current archaeological evidence, indeed, pointed to a living Jesus, while others felt any evidence was peripheral and not concrete. I tend to fall on the ‘not enough evidence’ side of the fence.

Father Jordan made many good points to support a lack of archaeological evidence, however, the one that made the most sense to me didn’t refer to any particular piece of archaeological evidence at all. He said that if, indeed, there was substanciated evidence supporting an historical Jesus, the news itself would be bigger than the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi put together. Indeed. The world would be a very different place if that sort of archaeological evidence were a reality.

With that established, there is a natural progression of thought — Does the current state of archaeological evidence in support of an historical Jesus make His message any less important? Absolutely not. Does Christianity’s relevence hinge on the reality of His historical existance? No. Should it? Again, absolutely not.

With the gospels being written close to 80 years after the reported ressurection of Jesus, it seems that even at the inception of Christianity, there wasn’t a need for tangible proof of Jesus’ historical existance. The stories, and the ideas and lessons behind them, have taken on a life of their own.  He lives.  He breathes, and He most certainly rightfully claims a seat as an aspect of the Pleroma.