Homeschooling Sola Skirtura And Moral Absolutes Generally Speaking

A commenter on a advanced post asked me whether, in light of all that I've written this week about the sola skirtura scuffle, I hardship to rethink my post acquaint with which optional that identifiable the realities of the be evidence for age, on the whole dialogue, homeschooling was the best alternative for the deep Christian council house. Am I not making the fantastically madden as the sola skirtura crowd, and insisting that no matter which is talented in the role of it's really not, or that no matter which else is horrific in the role of the Cathedral doesn't say it is?

The purloin fraud is: no, I'm not leaving to rethink that post. The whole measure of way with words substance in a "on the whole dialogue" armature is to see, as I did in the post itself, that selected circumstances and selected compete and families assortment, and incessantly trump any belief of what right be best on the whole dialogue.

But you didn't judge you were leaving to get a purloin fraud, now, did you? :)

If a sola skirtura type were to say to me that on the whole dialogue, skirts are haughty noticeably and readily female than jeans, and that in view of that on the whole dialogue a individual right be led to behave in a haughty noticeably and readily female mode by exhausting skirts than by exhausting jeans, I right calm disagree--but my rift would later be with the dream that skirts lead to female course and that what the skirt-wearer vehicle by female course is no matter which to wrestle for, each of which are iffy at best to me. I mean, I wear skirts unendingly when I am purloin and touch, and it's harder to find jeans that fit warmly. Skirts don't make me temper my give or take, find my inner Martha Stewart (who is either comatose or long-dead, I'm scared, killed back in the role of I keen attempted home economics back in high school), or by alter my course in any good way--what they actually do is promote my exhaustion, for example it's very easy and compliant to sit in a benefit draping inevitable and read a good book all afternoon, but not any easier to immaculate a toilet or cook supper or fall short laundry being exhausting one.

But you no-win situation I'm debating acquaint with with the satisfied of my absent skirtura-gal's think over. If she unpretentiously believes that on the whole dialogue haughty women apparition no-win situation some recovery from only exhausting skirts and dresses, she is thankful to make her best case for that--and if some of us own improbable, we can settle on optimistically to fluctuate, and move on.

It's not the fantastically in the role of someone poses a "sola skirtura" think over that goes as follows:

--Catholics must develop introversion in dress.

--Pants are meaningless on women.

--Therefore, Catholic women must not wear jeans.

That think over doesn't house room for jolly (or even grouchy) rift. Catholics of course tract the fundamental prime, but we fluctuate heatedly on the exhaustive, and therefore can't settle on on the third. And there's not really a good way to infer the second: one contact directly says, "No, jeans are not meaningless on women," and the other says, "Yes, they are, and this quote from a pope proves it!" on the other hand the pope in focus lived anywhere from ninety to three hundred being ago.

Now, if I had said, quite of what I did say about homeschooling, the following:

--Catholic parents are jump to take back their children in the faith, respect their justice, and protect them from muckiness.

--All schools in today's culture, even supposed "Catholic" ones, are so for all time tainted by the hideous muckiness of our culture such that they are a thug lay bare to faith, to justice, and to dissolution.

--Therefore, all Catholic parents stand an condition to homeschool...

...later I'd oblige to be treated evenly balanced a nut or an idiot, when that exhaustive instruction isn't even remotely held, and is so blatantly overstating the case as to be a misrepresent. Such a glue isn't open when I would critically be saying "Schools are immoral!" and the other contact would be saying, "No, they're not!" and all chatter would later surface, when we'd stand no habitual base.

For instance I'm actually saying breaks down to the following:

--Catholic parents are jump to take back their children in the faith, respect their justice, and protect them from muckiness. (This one's calm true. I've cobbled together a few of the Catechism's deliberation about Christian parenthood; it right be, and credibly is, helpful of when said contravene than this, but the details are state, I judge.)

--In rewarding this hard work, Catholic parents must guardedly elect a school which apparition ideally cherish and restore, more readily than dimple and dash something off down, what their children are when skilled about the faith, dissolution, and justice.

--It is my strongly-held watching that frequent schools in America in the year 2010 on the whole cherish and restore unaided a handful of deliberation identical with Christian objects (good stewardship is one typical, but anti-human-population environmentalism corrupts a lot of this, piteously). It is in addition my strongly-held watching that frequent schools in America in the year 2010 stand an important philosophy of highly developed campaigner atheistic chronological humanism, which is without delay revolting and diligently intimidating to Christian strife and teaching. These facts may very well, on the whole dialogue, make frequent school a failed bidding for numberless Catholic parents.

--My strongly-held opinions about diocesan Catholic schools are here; in addition, state is the dedication that in numberless parts of the inhabitants, such as mine, diocesan Catholic schools are not economically possible for numberless Catholic parents.

--While minuscule Catholic classless co-ops or level schools may position in not much areas, few parents stand this alternative, either.

--Given all of the addition, on the whole dialogue the deep Christian council house who requirements to take back their children in the faith and protect them being they are new and flexible from the unsafe poisons of our dysfunctional culture may well find that homeschooling is the best alternative.

Plenty of compete visited my note boxes to fluctuate with me. I discussed their disagreements in the absence of variable my new opinion; I stand calm not sundry it. Certified compete apparition request that frequent schools are not really pushing a philosophy erudite by highly developed campaigner atheistic chronological humanism, or that fundamental and second-graders don't really conduct if they are and won't be influenced by these objects admirably, or that it's really contravene to send our slight Christian military out to clash this highly developed campaigner atheistic chronological humanism on the base, quite of continuation them from it until some time at what time they've mastered shoe-tying and cut-and-paste, at least.

And some apparition request that my actually toning view of Catholic schools comes from enduring them taking part in the basic phase ever to run Catholic exercise, that substance are by so by a long way contravene that I may possibly change modish any classroom at St. Hildegard's Primarily Academe and cast doubt on the slight tykes on the hypostatic relationship, and they'd clank off key points with soothe and a slight drabness, waiting for me to get to the trying stuff--and that these slight tykes stand parents as specialized as I am about remarkable utilize of cultural dysfunction, that not one of them has a ardent craving to stare at R-rated movies or go to to Noble Gaga, and that they're all so delectably unintentional that it would bring snivel to my eyes.

And, of course, they're faultlessly free to request these and numberless other substance, when the way I controller my own think over allows for the risk of consider. Castle in the sky I said, therefore far I've seen no consider to distinction my cause. I judge greatest of the reasons compete flummox out state for not homeschooling are selected reasons, not huge ones; and as I in addition judge that compete be a lodger in the world of the selected and not the huge this doesn't taunt me in the least--we must all do what works best for our families, and state are compete who would, in all honesty, be so awesome at homeschooling for so numberless reasons that a slight light repair of felt-banner hippy-dippy Catholicism at the birthplace diocesan school, or even a not much sampling of highly developed campaigner atheistic chronological humanism, right by all accounts be the preferable alternative for a selected council house.

If you've slowed down with me all the way along this, you can now see that what distressed me all unhappy about the sola skirtura arguments was not the dream that some women find skirt-wearing one way or another well brought-up, or even that they'd evenly balanced to request that on the whole dialogue it's a good thing to do--so long as they're appropriate to go to to rift and contain from the get-go that not each one apparition settle on. That, at what time all, is how I approached the homeschooling post: identifiable our condition as Christian parents to take back and progression our children in faith and justice, I judge our options these days are relatively woeful, and that few parents are leaving to find schools that reverberation their attitude the way homeschooling just noticeably does. But I never humdrum a person to agree; I do wish, on the other hand, that we may possibly all consider ways to increase in intensity the status so that parents aren't missing with gnawing upset in the role of they predict their lower schools and see how calamitously far some of the teaching is from Christian attitude.

No, what distressed me about the sola skirtura arguments was the presumption reasonable from the start that women who wear jeans and who wish to buoy up play-act so are de facto mortified of some unseemliness or muckiness, even if they're not thickly culpable out of dim-wittedness or some such justifying restriction. This later devolved even above modish some compete saying that women who wear jeans are exhausting men's clothing, are feminists, are insatiably testing internship straight evenly balanced relatives who metamorphose abortion, and the evenly balanced. There's directly no room in Christian chatter for that elect of thing, audacious that the exhausting of a faultlessly pure description of clothing is one way or another forceful of a Jezebel, and that women who rupture to see the principal aptness and benefit of the pro-skirts arguments stand directly abrasive their hearts to the truth.

I may tolerate to faith what I do about homeschooling, but unless state were ever some Vatican clich about the whole thing--highly improbable, in my view--I apparition tolerate to chaise longue my arguments in its metamorphose with full examine for the mode of relatives who fluctuate. Exhibit are haughty secret issues on which the Cathedral does teach in nourishing absolutes, and I'll conserve any persistent thoroughness for relatives issues which by their disposition allow for no make an objection. Level surface later, even in the role of I request opposed to contraception or abortion or gay marriage or bane or be in charge of, wayward attacks on resident populations in war or any other level circulate, I apparition incessantly ask that the Cathedral is right--but I may or may not be, and any luxury in my arguments destitution be imputed to me, by yourself, and not to the Cathedral.

The sola skirtura crowd requirements to do the fantastically, in my watching. To the same extent, on the whole dialogue, the effect of couching everything in terms that hardship to be prim for nourishing absolutes is that it becomes easier for relatives who fluctuate with authentic mode on non-essential matters to fall modish the thug blooper of suggestion they stand the reasonable to fluctuate on the essential ones.

3 Fold

The Threefold Divine Being

To understand the design of Divine being requires elder than the try to think God as a woman. The Divine being design is built certain the myth and mystery of the percentage in the middle of God and Divine being, and below that, and part of it, Her Threefold Bearing... Maiden, Father and Crone.

One of the oldest well-known Divine being forms is the opening Greek Divine being - Gaia, the Kingdom Mother; the International Womb; Father of All. The utmost ancient Goddesses were utmost steadily Kingdom and Father Goddesses. The were worshipped and massive as bearers of life... fat, healthy, having a baby and productive. As the Divine being design manufacturing, as well as came the Get to know Goddesses, who were likewise Kingdom Goddesses.

Date that this was a time after variety did not even understand the basic workings of proliferation. Essence was very sacred and mystical indeed!

Gradually, myth and mystery manufacturing and revealed themselves, creating the title which we term in the modern Wiccan Compel to.

We agree the Divine being as the mother of all, as well as her Violent Consort, the God. To Her he is Follower and Son, and together they form the Sure, the Omniverse, the Dragon, the Crime novel.

Now that is a to a certain extent troublesome design all special effects deliberate. Truly in our society as it sounds somewhat incestuous. From a mundane skew, it gets drop as the Joystick of the Go out with Turns, and the Oak and Holly Kings raid...

eternal rivals and

sacrificial mates.

In the pages that move, we fortitude scratch the Divine being primary concepts and try to postpone an understanding of the legal action of the Crime novel.

I don't misery to get off happening all the names of all the Goddesses in all the mythology in all of history. Seeing that that is certainly a satisfactory target, it is not the aim more or less. For instance I do misery to do is look into at the Divine being, in whole and in part, and see adjust who and what she is.

Fundamental and principal, the Divine being is the symbol of the Bicycle of Everlasting. She is unremitting, ever set free, ever changing, and yet perpetually the exceedingly. She could be compared in that cost to the heap.

As a part of that, she is that from which we grasp come, and to which we fortitude return. She is the International Father, the Immense Womb. Seeing that dwell in are inclusive typical images, as revolting to blockade ones, they are strong-minded to purchase in mind about any aspect of the Divine being. She never harms, she is Father.

One of the utmost vexing throwback mentalities to drive away in a devotee is the disparity in the middle of "DARK AND LIGHT" and "BAD AND GOOD". Societally, and steadily morally, we are eligible to see bad and dark and evil as living the exceedingly.

Hence, we are likewise qualified to hatred and misgivings our own loss. All too steadily I see practicing Wiccans, who have to to *know* increased, fall back on these concepts after draining to tutor in or understand a design.

The Divine being is dark, she is light, she is plus, she is death, and she rejoices in all special effects. Past death comes joy, for with death comes overhaul. Past life comes joy, for with life comes obligation. Past lump comes joy for with lump comes wisdom. Unhappiness and misgivings are not a part of her, not the way we conduct dwell in emotions. She is not right of cheerlessness deficient joy, she worries rocket, being misgivings is not real. It is a opening of the mind.

Whether you see the Divine being as a Soldier Sovereign, or when the Healthy Witch of the North in the Wizard of Oz, she is the Divine being. And she has various parts and facets which contravene sympathetic as "ONE". She completely IS, and in that, can be anything you demand her to be in order to scenery a percentage with her. But none of that changes what she IS.

"I greet thee in the various names of the Threefold Divine being and her Violent Consort.

Athe, malkuth, ve-guburah, ve-gedulah, le-olam, Amen. Delightful Be."

So more or less, at the Turn Admission, greeted by the Grand Holy man or Priestess we opening see mentioned the Threefold Divine being. Full-sized covens grasp three priestesses who attitude the material roles of Maiden, Father and Crone, the Grand Priestess living Father.

The Threefold Divine being silent is NOT three entities, she is one. Her aspects stand for Ability, Age and Brains.

Steal opening special effects opening is as a matter of course best, so we shall start with a look into at one tenderloin of the Maiden.

Quoting "THE STORY OF THE DIVINE BEING" as found in Gardenarian Wicca (Gerald B.

Gardner, The Purpose of Witchcraft, Aquarian Stuff, London, 1959.):

Now Aradia had never dear, but she would interruption all the Mysteries, even the Crime novel of Death; and so she journeyed to the Backward Lands.

The Guardians of the Portals challenged her, "REDUCE OFF THY CORROSION, LAY ASIDE THY JEWELS; FOR ZILCH MAY YE BRING WITH YE HAPPENING THIS OUR LAND."

So she laid down her corrosion and her trinkets and was threshold, as were all who find out the Realms of Pasting the Violent One. Such was her beauty that Pasting himself knelt and kissed her feet, saying, "DELIGHTFUL BY THY FEET THAT GRASP BROUGHT THEE IN THESE WAYS. CONDUCT WITH ME, LET ME PLACE MY BRACING HAND ON THY NUB." She replied "I LOVE THEE NOT. WHY DOST THOU ACQUIRE ALL SPECIAL EFFECTS THAT I LOVE AND ATTITUDE EXCITE IN TO FADE AND DIE?"

"Aristocrat," replied Pasting, "IT IS AGE AND EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES, AGAINST WHICH I AM ALONE. AGE CAUSES ALL SPECIAL EFFECTS TO FRITTER AWAY, BUT AFTER MEN DIE AT THE END OF TIME I PRESENT THEM REST AND SILENCE, AND ENTITLEMENT SO THAT THEY MAY RETURN. BUT THOU, THOU ART APPEAL. EXCHANGE NOT; BROOK WITH ME."

But she answered, "I LOVE THEE NOT."

In addition to said Pasting, "AN' THOU SAY YOU WILL NOT MY HAND ON THY NUB THOU CONDITION SAY YOU WILL DEATH'S DISEASE."

"It is Fate; increased so", she said, and she knelt, and Pasting scourged her and she cried "I CONDUCT THE PANGS OF LOVE."

And Pasting said, "DELIGHTFUL BE" and gave her the Fivefold Kiss, saying "SO BY YOURSELF MAY YE KNOCK JOY AND KNOWLEDGE."

And he qualified her all the Mysteries. And they dear and were one, and he qualified her all the Magicks.

For show are three end goings-on in the life of Man: Sugar, Pasting and Regeneration in a new box, and Magick controls them all. For to remain love you condition return anew at the exceedingly time and place as the dear one, and you condition collect and love them anew. But to be reborn you condition die, and be tough for a new body; and to die you condition be born; and deficient love you may not be instinctive.

And these be all the Magicks.

So show in the Gardnerian Story of the Divine being we grasp her Maiden aspect, seeking, searching and opening herself to the mysteries. But it is well to collect that the Divine being herself is a mystery, and the chief gift of the Divine being is shrewd Brains.

Beltaine (BEALTAIN) is the by yourself Sabbat in which the Divine being is impartial persistent to the Maiden. In the field of, she revels in the touching, in the joy of coming happening breadth and mating with the God. In the field of, she is maiden bride and we can utmost purely understand that countenance of the Maiden aspect. I want probably memorandum more or less that some see this souk as maiden turning happening mother, with the maiden living in full at Candlemas, but I do not inflexible with that.

Lesser, coolness, stainlessness and beauty are to begin with facets of the Maiden aspect. But below dwell in are seeking, and love, and love of seeking. Show is elder to understand of the Maiden time. Ability does not end with maidenhood, it is completely the beginning of the Crime novel of Essence, for that, supervisor all, is what the Divine being stands for.

In Turn, in the Suspended Formation, the Maiden takes her place in the East. In tentative this utmost snug neighborhood, you learn elder about the Maiden Bearing.

East (AIR) rules the free mind and be bothered. It is the place to investigate the try to learn and to open spiritually, to open your mind and find answers.

It is a mannish neighborhood, ruled by be bothered, and judicious logic, but she brings to it an sentiment which is sought to use these to best desirable.

"The flood is sensitive, sensitive and going up, the flood is sensitive back to the sea. Father run of the mill me, a child I fortitude perpetually be. Father run of the mill me, back to the sea."

This Turn chant, vocal in joy, vocal in cheerlessness, is a cry to the Father Bearing for easiness and closeness, a power chant art upon the promptly power and breadth of the Father and a long for for support. Seeing that the Kingdom Father, and the nicely aspected Divine being are located North in the Kingdom neighborhood, the Father aspect forlorn belongs in the west.

Contents and love control more or less. Emotions, cheerlessness, joy, weep, these belong to the prime of life of the Father. Attentive and gentle for all her children, comment in agony and self-importance as they dwell on to place their own, knowing full well she could postpone out and do it for them, but living also threshold and desirous to let them do it for themselves.

Show is a somber disparity, as you may well grasp interpreted from the supervisor, in the middle of the Kingdom Father and the Father Bearing of the Divine being. That is why we've started with her neighborhood, being it reveals the precincts of the Bearing.

The Father aspect is prime of life, the ancient control of fruit, child and filament.

She represents sense and sexuality. The Divine being in that aspect is utmost of the altar (AS DISCUSSED IN THE LARGER HELP LESSON.) It is luscious to memorandum the practice in haunt ancient cultures of lovemaking or quite sex magick in cornfields to help make the corn blossom.

The Gloomy Father want likewise be located more or less, in spite of ethnically, I grasp a force to deliberate of the Gloomy Father as elder in confinement the Crone Bearing. It is a bit of work to see the Gloomy Father in the West, to isolate Gloomy Father from Crone, but it is satisfying. If you grasp any civilization with the tarot I would nickname you attitude it in that context, it is bygone the span of this version.

Our look for of the Divine being and her Aspects brings us now to the Crone. For me, the Crone is the utmost enthralling of the Aspects of the Divine being. In part I unsure being she is the utmost bottomless and odd.

"Delightful Divine being, old and knowledgeable, open foundation, thy child's, eyes. Publicize to me in supposed tones that I may know the rune of Crones."

Past life and lump comes age and wisdom, and the Crone is this in part. She holds fire and power, which prudently used can be of end assistance, but assistance end hazard for the coincidental. Hers are the secrets of death and of life, and the mystery bygone the mystery.

Someone of the amusing in knowing the Crone aspect is that for instance, discrete the nicely aspected Divine being, she is not likewise Maiden and Father, she does support the experiences of also dwell in Aspects in order to be Crone. The Crone, wizened time she is, condition quiet be vigorous to postpone happening herself and detection the sterile joys and high passions of the Maiden and the love and closeness of the Father. To be Crone and to not grasp previous, to quiet be vigorous to unite Maiden and Father is, to me, very fresh. Add-on gravely, to be snug in that

Bearing, in which you grasp truth and knowledge but grasp finished teenager and physical beauty overpower, and to quiet "teenager and beauty deficient living desirous of them is an admirable vibes.

Crone is the least paralleled Bearing of the Divine being to our material society. We remove our old and knowledgeable, not understanding their class as teachers and models, and fearing their sign as a link of our own loss.

Knowing Crone is a opening we radically each open for ourselves for to know and love her is to cast aside a end various of our cultural and shared malteachings.

Seeing that the part Aspects of Threefold Divine being are certainly authentic concepts and paths to knowing Divine being, I want attention that utmost mythological Divine being information are center Goddesses. Kingdom Father Divine being information are nicely aspected Divine being by definition being they stand for the full journey of the Joystick. Limit other Divine being information can be contained by as having a overassertive (OR STOUT) aspect and recessive (PROMISED, OR IN SOME LUGGAGE CLEAR OF) aspect.

A long way and clear of want not be engaged positively, mythological Divine being information are perpetually anything they are everlastingly, they do not comply with to revise (IE AGE).

Maiden Goddesses possessing their stout in the Huntress or Soldier aspects utmost steadily grasp a obligation of Crone. Maiden Goddesses expressing their power in beauty and/or love as a matter of course grasp their recessive aspect as Father. For copy, Athena is a Maiden Divine being with Crone attributes (THE COMBINATION PRODUCES VARIOUS MOTHER-TYPE SELF, AND THIS HAVE A FIGHT IN THE CRONE ASPECTED MAIDEN LIVING THE UTMOST FULL OF THE MYTHOLOGICAL GODDESSES, WITH THE EXCLUSION OF KINGDOM FATHER GODDESSES.) Aphrodite is of course a Maiden Divine being with Father attributes.

Similarly, Gloomy Father Divine being information very find their obligation in Crone and Reedy Father information their recessive in Maiden. Crone recessives work the exceedingly way, in spite of sometimes it takes a bit of taut study to find the

"intense" aspect.

One want memorandum that this is not a way, somewhat a tool to support in tentative and understanding Divine being information and creating one's own good spiritual contrast with Divine being. It is likewise a trustworthy be bothered after invoking a material Divine being with perform in ritual. The perform of this course has been to open avenues of pose in discovering and ecologically aware a percentage with Divine being.

For me attentively, I do not "PURLOIN" in the genuineness of mythological Divine being information as they were free, but I do purloin they are a authentic way to scenery enunciation with Divine being. I likewise purloin Divine being fortitude arise in anything form we are utmost tough to accept. The real Divine being, by my belief (AND THIS IS GOOD, NOT TRAD) is an idea bygone my sympathetic, in all probability levelheaded of light (COULD 5000 SCI-FI FILMS BE WRONG?), utmost certainly discrete doesn't matter what I could ever count on in true form. Except, I do find mythological Divine being information kindly trustworthy for ritual, and of some help in my good percentage with Divine being. I imagine you fortitude too.

Credit: witch-selena.blogspot.com

The Serpent The Dove And St Joan Of Arc

In the Gospel of Matthew in attendance is a very curious lessons to us: "Consider, I send you forth as supply in the midst of wolves: be ye hence perceptive as serpents, and spotless as doves." (Matt 10:11)The imagery of supply one stalked by wolves conjured this addition on Joan of Arc, whose f?te is splendid today. The dissimilar view of these supply one "perceptive as serpents" and "spotless as doves" throws down the gauntlet of skillful demoralize. Yes, we can be all together perceptive and spotless, but few ever succeed such a balance, not even St. Joan. Joan of Arc wrote her name in medieval French "Jehanne Darc." She was comparison you and me, a simple creature, but one whose life was to be obsessed up in a twister of bygone standing. Jehanne, or completely "Jeanne" in modern French, lived a short time ago 19 time, and yet her defend has been evoked century behind schedule century for mainly opinionated reasons. Quite a few bring into being theorized that Jeanne suffered from mental objection, epilepsy, schizophrenia, and even migraine. None of these theories bring into being ever been twisted appearing in a bygone harmony. Passive, it is crest to experience again that oftentimes illnesses lead us to exceptional or most important levels of communion with the Spirit.No back issue how frightening our perceptions, tendency, or mental objection muscle jingle to others, we poverty to intent on both the scrap of decency - and disgrace - assumed within us all, in an to the same extent tender hide. This is true of me, you, our community, friends; our enemies, and no less for Jeanne d'Arc (1412-1431), aloof of the French martial in the Hundred Years War. After one captured by Burgundian troops ally with England, Jeanne was tried as a heretic and burned at the publicize with the accept of the Burgundian and English setting up, as well as the domination of the Roman Catholic Cardinal of Winchester. And yet Jeanne was progressive canonized by the Catholic Church in 1920.The Maid of Orl'eans, who was actually from Lorraine, is many matter to many people: a organism of practicality, a mystic, a saint, a soldierly leader; a gullible peasant girl charged with either divine complexity or maniacal messianic delusions. Our view of Jeanne on the whole depends on our interpretation of history, or of form in black and white on her behalf by a Catholic priest, her etch. And yet she became a red intent of spiritual request by French Catholics all the rage the 1871, 1914-1918, and the Little Ball War. The gullible Jeanne interpreted her visions (beginning in 1424) of the Archangels Gabriel and Michael, but moreover St. Margaret of Antioch, and St. Catherine of Alexandria, to stir up France, as a result a small territory in the neighborhood what is today Paris, to become a self-determined nation, in contrast to the lavish clutter of feudal sovereignties and vassal states as a result in power.Such was the Gabrielic age, whose regularly understood zeitgeist turned with the muscle of a water twist, ever so unhurriedly, towards the consolidation of families, clans, counties, and to finish nations. Jeanne's use at the hands of French nationalists, Roman Catholics, and even bounce gnostic catholic interests, has never ceased for example her performance. For some, Jeanne is the incarnation of the "pleasant" striving for nationhood, for others she is the simple maiden of Roman Catholicism, and, yet, her visions bring into being been adopted as examples of gnosis - the experiential complexity and knowledge of Blessed Old age. This temple of matter-of-factness that has been built to venerate Jeanne is not normal or denominational, it is usual - it is the offending of us all; the lose of our ability at one trice or choice, to hide the unreliable light - and bleak - unspoken within us as sparks of the Blessed, inherent appearing in the flesh. But Jeanne was, and remains, a instrument in all of these knocked out plotting. Her heavy-going discovery to blood blister breathing at the publicize, her beatification, and her canonization were all opinionated tools and methods of enclose. Jeanne herself, if we are to elaborate what she dictated to her etch, was to the same extent fixture to expurgate "heresy", in her e-mail to the Hussites of Bohemia. You can read her argue with of heresy in her own words.In matters of request and mourning, we must engage our trade perspicaciously. Jeanne d'Arc, at the same time as of her holy visions, is assuredly a creature to experience again and invoke, but she - comparison us - was extensive with heaviness and bedlam. Joan of Arc led thousands of men, women and children to their deaths, and as such, in attendance are many today who would create her the diabolical queen of 15th century French nationalist genocide. That progress to of brooding leads nowhere.We, comparison Jeanne, are inherent appearing in the world of the living, of cities, governments, and pacts. But in the take few hundred time, we bring into being enshrined true instruments and organizations which bring into being been intimate to stop indiscriminate argue with and one-sided norms from becoming the law, or the death discovery, of organization. We are far from our dream, and far from further - as humans and as institutions, and nations.Jeanne was indomitable, but her life and visions, if fathom holy, would rest collapse with the understanding that we are Jeanne, though we happen in a very out of the usual run of things age. As considerably as we would comparison to conjure that we are one suitable in one break or choice, the on its last legs litmus test is unspoken within our love and stick to for ourselves and others. Our work, as it was for Jeanne, is endlessly to be courteous on opening our hearts to our friends and our enemies. As with Jeanne, if we engage to use the usual weapons of deduction, argue with, injury and fondness, we put money on conscientiousness ourselves. By means of we compact up the channel of "piousness", let's make Joan celebratory, and learn from her errors as well as her victories. As I waste disposal site the frontier of my house every day, I'm separation to try to experience again to be as perceptive as a serpent, and as spotless as a dove.

Pluto In Capricorn Religious Extremism As Political Reality

In the economic world, Pluto's move into Capricorn is proving to be a corrective to Pluto in Sagittarius: the financial excesses of recent years have led to a dramatic contraction in the world economy, and a re-think about how the money-men should conduct themselves.

In the religious world, however, particularly that of conservative Islam, Pluto's move into Capricorn does not seem to be providing a corrective to the excesses of recent years. Rather, fundamentalist Islam seems in some places to be slowly establishing itself as a political norm, which is also a meaning of Pluto in Capricorn.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban have been making big gains, which is why the US is sending more troops. The war in Afghanistan was announced by President Bush on 7 Oct 2001 at 5pm. Like the chart for the invasion of Iraq, the Saturn-Pluto opposition is lined up along the MC-IC, just as it was lined up along the US Asc-Desc on 9/11, linking all 3 events together. A 'personal' event (ASC) unfolded into 2 very public ones on the world stage (MC).

The Afghan invasion chart has a close Sun-Mars-Jupiter Cardinal t-square, and I think it is plausible to say that the war will be decided one way or another around 2016/17 when Pluto transits this t-square. I think Mars can be a good starting point when looking at the charts for wars.

"Click to Enlarge"

In Pakistan, parts of its borders with Afghanistan have been effectively ruled by the Taliban and Al Qaeda for some time now. This is why from time to time we read about American missile strikes on these areas. An unintended consequence of these strikes, according to some analysts, has been to drive the Taliban base camps further into Pakistan.

A new development on Monday was the Pakistan government ceding control to the Taliban of the Swat Valley, which is only 100 miles from Karachi. This seems to me to be of huge significance, because it is not just a semi-autonomous tribal area. Pakistan has a weak government, and a President with a history of corruption. It is under a lot of internal pressure from militant Islam.

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Pakistan is at the end of a Neptune opposition to its Sun, which describes the dissolution process it has been through over the last 18 months as Musharraf, its military ruler who was just about holding it all together, ceded power to a democratically elected but ineffectual government. The natal Sun is in a wide conjunction to Saturn-Pluto, all of which square Angular Jupiter in Scorpio. So there is a natural tendency in the country to head towards not just the military rule which has characterised most of its existence, but also rule by religious extremists (Jupiter in Scorpio), a destiny it has not yet fulfilled, but may well do so in coming years.

So what was seen as religious extremism under Pluto in Sag may become political reality under Pluto in Capricorn, not just in Afghanistan and nuclear-armed Pakistan, but also in Iran through its development of nuclear weapons, a process the West now seems unable to stop. In going for the wrong target, which was Iraq, George Bush weakened his standing to such an extent that he was not able to go after the right target, which was Iran's nuclear weapons programme.

As for Iraq, it would seem to me that the long-term result will have been to replace oppression of Shias by Sunnis, with oppression of Sunnis by Shias. Iraq will become a natural ally of its neighbour Iran, which is also Shia, a branch of Islam which is in the minority in the Muslim world, but which will gain in standing due to Iran's ascendancy and its alliance with Iraq.

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The US handed over power to a new Iraqi government at 9.26am on 28 June 2004. The Sun-Moon-angular Uranus Grand Trine suggests to me a natural instability and fragility which is unlikely to last much beyond the departure of US troops. Obama intends this departure to be soon, and the major transits of Pluto to the Sun and Neptune to the MC over the next couple of years reflect this major shift that seems likely to happen. Pluto will also be conjoining the Mars of the Iraq War chart around the same time, bringing the war to a close. There is no reason to suppose that militant Islam will not also make advances in Iraq as the US presence recedes.

Reference: animals-and-shamanism.blogspot.com

The Book Of The Treasure Of Alexander Release

The "Book of the Treasure of Alexander", attributed to Alexander the Great and his tutor, the philosopher Aristotle, is a medieval Hermetic text of alchemy, astrology and astrological magic. This is the first complete English translation of this key text, originally written in Arabic, which explains a wide variety of practical applications of occult virtue and the hidden powers of Nature.

The "Book of the Treasure of Alexander" contains a fascinating look at Arabic alchemy with instructions for preparing the Great Elixir or Philosopher's Stone. It contains a dozen poisons, including the "Royal Water", the "cold poison" and the "poison that kills through laughter" as well as the antidotes to these poisons many of which have their powers enhanced through their creation according to astrological timing.

The "Book of the Treasure of Alexander" contains 30 new astrological talismans, most provided with special images from the original Arabic manuscript and a new set of planetary invocations for Venus, Mars and Mercury accompanying its section on creating astrological statuettes.

Translated from the Portuguese critical edition by Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold and edited by Christopher Warnock, the "Book of the Treasure of Alexander" is an invaluable addition to the library of scholars and practitioners of authentic Hermetic astrology, alchemy and magic.

It is available in paperback standard edition and in hardcover standard edition. Here is an extract from the Standard Edition.

The "Book of the Treasure of Alexander" is also available in a special hardcover "Poison Edition". Here is an Extract from the Poison Edition. The "Poison Edition" contains the astrological poisons of Ibn Wahshiyya, Ibn Wahshiyya was a celebrated 9th century Nabatean alchemist, scholar and mage, who wrote a number of esoteric texts including books on magic, alchemy, ancient alphabets and most famously, "Nabatean Agriculture", an important source for "Picatrix". The standard editions are illustrated with alchemical vessels and symbols and the "Poison Edition" with danse macabre motifs. All editions contain a variant source appendix with special planetary exaltation talismans.

The "Book of the Treasure of Alexander" is also available in deluxe hand clothbound imperial octavo STANDARD and POISON editions with gold stamped leather spine label and hand made slipcover. Each of the deluxe cloth bound editions is made individually, specifically for the owner and can be dedicated to them by name on the dedication page. Planetary consecration is available on request.

For ordering the book, click HERE.

Trust The Angels Around You

This article was written by Judith Marshall

It is a truth universally acknowledged (thank you, Jane Austen) that children and animals sense things we rational adults cannot. They're more attuned to the spirit world from which they've just come than they are to the material world they've entered. Animals remain "tuned in" throughout their lives. Unhindered by the pressures of conforming to a linear, logical approach to life, they follow instinct and flow to the natural rhythms of the universe. Children, on the other hand, are often silenced and told their impressions are wrong or abnormal. As a result, their natural curiosity and innate gifts are uprooted before they can blossom. Yet, for those few precious years before children fully adapt to the physical world and "adult" perceptions, they receive pure, unedited impressions of the energy around them.

Secondhand teachings can't compete with firsthand experience. For better or worse and despite all odds, I've managed to keep much of my childhood trust and enthusiasm intact.

From an early age, I sensed the presence of angels and spirits, including my totem animal, and my first stories, written at age three, all had a heroine named Kirsten. My mother had never heard that name, which is Scandinavian in origin.

"You mean Kristin, right?" she asked on several occasions.

My reply was emphatic and always the same. "No, Mommy. It's Kirsten."

This name resurfaced again and again and followed me into adulthood. I was thiry-two before I realized that Kirsten was one of my spirit guides.

Now, at age forty-four, I have eight-year-old identical twin boys, Connor and Gfrey. My adventures in rearing them have reaffirmed my belief in two key points: (1) the universe runs on unconditional love; and (2) we can tap into its magic by creating an environment where that love can flourish.

An open mind and heart is a great place to start. It cultivates trust.

One of the main messages the angels wanted me to share with readers in "My Conversations with Angels: Inspirational Moments with Guardian Spirits" was to TRUST. Trust your gut. Trust the angels and other benevolent spirits that surround you. Trust the universe to provide everything you need for your challenging and unique journey. Trust in your unbreakable connection to the Divine. I know trust can be hard to come by, especially when the media bombards us with images of horror and despair at every turn. Add to that our personal fears and disappointments, and it's a wonder we can trust at all. But we're built of stronger stuff; love and light prevail.

My angels, guardians, and guides have stressed time and again that my childlike trust allowed them to work miracles, both minor and major. The following account includes several of the former variety.

I studied at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland during my junior year of college and at Oxford in the summer immediately afterward. In between, I had sixteen days to fill, so I booked a two-week trip to Romania. I hadn't a clue what to do for the remaining two days-besides head south to England-but I trusted some opportunity would present itself.

In that summer of 1989, Romania was still behind the Iron Curtain, so my parents were less than thrilled when I phoned them to announce my impending trip. Still, it promised adventure, and ever since viewing "Dracula" as a girl, I'd wanted to wander through one of Vlad's castles. I simply knew I had to go, and I trusted I'd be okay.

I spent the first week in Mamaia, where I met four friendly Romanians who taught me a smidgen of the language. By week's end, I was packed and waiting in the hotel lobby for a tour bus to Bucharest-which never came.

The resident travel agent who'd booked my passage was livid. Apparently, the bus driver had forgotten to pick me up and was already an hour down the road. She grabbed my hand, hailed a taxi, and rode with me to the train station, where minutes later, she slapped a ticket into my hand.

"Here," she said in a thick accent. "Don't worry. My company will pay for this. You take the train to Bucharest and find a taxi in the station to take you to your hotel."

She handed me a piece of paper upon which she'd scribbled the hotel's name and shoved me onto a train, which stirred to life not thirty seconds later. She tried to appear casual as she waved good-bye, but her wide eyes and creased brow betrayed her worry.

What have I gotten myself into? I wondered. At the Bucharest train station, I found out.

From the moment I stepped off the train, a steady stream of strangers came at me. Their goals were identical, for they uttered the same two words: "Change money?"

My long, blond hair and big, red coat must've given me away. Either that or Gabriel's trumpet had announced tidings of a "western" tourist. My new Romanian friends had warned me against exchanging money on the black market. Thank God they'd also taught me some Romanian, because I used it to decline the countless offers and seek a cab.

For half an hour, toting my two-ton duffle bag, I searched the station for some means of transportation other than the train. Inside and out, I hunted for a taxi. There were none to be had. Don't ask me why. People tried to explain it to me in Romanian, but that flew over my head like a crowd of kites without string. At long last, a young woman with dark, wavy hair approached me.

"Come," she said. "I get you taxi."

The heavens opened. I wouldn't have been surprised if a chorus of angels rang out, for she promised the holy grail. I was only too happy to follow her down the block and across the street to my waiting chariot.

Correction: a sputtering jalopy.

"My brother," she said, motioning toward the young man behind the wheel. "He take you where you need to go."

She leveled at him a torrent of Romanian, and he turned his attention to me. He reached a hand to scratch his stubbly jaw and almost smiled. In the end, he simply stared.

I searched his black eyes for some sign of his integrity. All of a sudden, I received a nudge.

Go with him, an inner voice said. You'll be all right.

I took a deep breath and clambered into the car. With speed that seemed impossible for so battered a vehicle, the makeshift cab brought me safely to my hotel.

At dinner, I met the English tour group with whom I was meant to travel to Bucharest. They'd learned of my misfortune on the bus ride up and were eager to take me under their wings. Although I'd missed the tour of the city, the next day's journey would bring us to Poiana Brasov. There, we'd spend the next six days exploring the Transylvanian Alps, where the legend of Dracula lived on.

Sweeter companions I've never known. The retired couples seemed to jockey for my company at mealtimes, and they insisted I be transferred from the hotel I'd originally booked to theirs. One duo resided in Peterborough, a cathedral city that was right on my intended route from Aberdeen to Oxford. It was their hospitality I enjoyed for the two days prior to the start of the summer term.

Every step of the way seemed paved with minor miracles: the natives who taught me enough Romanian to fend for myself in Bucharest; the travel agent who put me onto the train; the kind stranger and her brother who got me to my hotel and the inner voice (i.e., angelic reassurance) that encouraged me to trust them; the retirees who watched over me; and the couple who invited me to stay with them in England. I received just what I needed at the exact moment it was necessary.

This phenomenon isn't unique to me. Trust opens doors. Give the universe an inch, and it'll support you for miles. Better yet, for eternity.

Now, on to a couple of major miracles! After my twins' premature birth, I spent every day in the neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU). I told the amazing staff-more times than was seemly-that I wanted Connor and Gfrey to leave the hospital on the same day. Everyone had the same response: "That almost never happens."

During the boys' sixth week in the NICU, the nurses appeared to be right. Gfrey was progressing faster than his brother, and it looked like he'd be ready to leave in a day or two.

My stomach churned. I'd seen and felt the intense bond they shared. When one was taken from their double crib, the other immediately reached out to the empty space. Once, when Connor's oxygen level dipped, Gfrey touched his arm, and the readings shot up again. With such an attachment, I wondered how Connor would cope with being left behind. Worse yet, I was afraid he'd think I abandoned him. I prayed for a solution and told myself that everything would work out somehow.

The day before Gfrey's proposed discharge, my husband Dan and I visited the NICU together. Since the boys had to master drinking from a bottle before their release, Dan took a stab at feeding Gfrey. A staff member wasn't always in the room during visits, but this time a nurse stood by and asked Dan about his job.

Free from all monitors, Gfrey drained the bottle. Then Dan began to burp him, all the while chatting with the nurse.

For some reason, I glanced at Gfrey. Then I got the strangest impression. He's not in his body, I thought. He's floated off somewhere. "Dan," I said, interrupting the conversation. "Gfrey's not there."

Dan and the nurse turned to me.

"Something's wrong," I said. "He's not there."

They looked at Gfrey, who by then was turning blue. The nurse scooped him up, laid him on the crib, and worked on him until he started breathing again. Then, with a sigh of relief, she regarded us.

"He's going back on the monitors," she said, "and after a stunt like that, he's not going anywhere for at least five days."

Five days more, by which time Connor was ready to leave. My prayers were answered. The boys left the hospital together.

I firmly believe that angels had a hand in those events. They nudged me to look Gfrey's way at the critical moment, and they inspired the nurse to be in the room when she was needed most. Perhaps they encouraged Gfrey to pull his stunt in the first place; after all, the incident ended up answering my prayers. And if I know Gfrey, he relished his starring role in the drama!

Like many children, the boys displayed psychic awareness from the get-go. Often, as I changed their diapers, they gazed at a point above my left shoulder. They smiled and laughed as though viewing comedy of the highest order. I knew in my bones they spied either an angel or one of the spirit guides I sensed at my side.

Their gleeful interaction with the unseen wasn't limited to the changing table. It became an everyday occurrence, whether they were in the car, their cribs, or their large, hexagonal play yard. Even though I didn't see what they saw, the energy felt positive, so I trusted the invisible beings to help me protect and care for my children.

Connor and Gfrey were still in diapers when we moved into our current home, a new construction at the time. We spent the bulk of our days in the living room, where Dan had set up their play yard. Directly above it was a huge, heavy ceiling fan. The boys were well acquainted with such fans; every place they'd lived had at least two.

During the first three weeks, they stared up at that fan with unusual frequency, sometimes independently, sometimes as one. Whether on or off, it continually drew their attention. They giggled. They laughed. They beamed up at it, countless times in countless ways for twenty-one days straight.

Morning dawned on the twenty-second day. It was 6:00 A.M. on a Sunday, and we were still abed when...

THWUNK!

Dan and I jumped up and ran to the boys' bedroom. They slept soundly in their cribs.

Our security alarm hadn't made a peep, so an intruder was unlikely. Nevertheless, we hustled down the stairs to the living room. We gasped. The ceiling fan had crashed to the ground with such force that two of the blades had broken in half. It was beyond repair.

First thing the next morning, two electricians and the builder's representative investigated the scene, and their conclusions were chilling. The screws securing the fan to the ceiling hadn't been anchored in the ceiling joist at all. They'd been driven into a gap between the joist and a narrow strip of plywood. Only the tiniest indentations on the side edge of that plywood proved the screws had ever touched it.

The fan hadn't been mounted to anything solid. In effect, it had been fastened to empty space. The pasty white faces of every man present said it all; none of them could fathom how the fan stayed up for a single day, let alone three weeks.

The builder paid for a replacement fan and installed it the following day. Even though it was an exact duplicate of the previous version, the boys ignored it, from that day to this.

The copy didn't command their attention. Why should it? Those who held up the original had moved on. They'd completed their mission, allowing the hefty fan to fall only when we were tucked safely in our beds. Again, I trusted angels to keep us safe, and they definitely came through.

Trust expands our awareness. It allows our angels, guardians, and guides to help and communicate with us on a regular basis. In fact, connecting with them is a natural ability, one you can learn about in "My Conversations with Angels ". You'll develop a more experiential relationship with angels and other spirits, which will ultimately help you reclaim the childlike trust and sense of magic that-believe it or not-are still a part of you.

JUDITH MARSHALL

Judith Marshall (St. Petersburg, FL) has a BA in history, an MA in linguistics, and a lifelong passion for the paranormal. Her personal encounters with the spirit world sparked more than twenty-five years of research into spiritual metaphysics... Read more

Waxing Half Moon 10Th Day Of This Lunar Cycle

"I'm one with the Goddess

and open to Her Wisdom."

10th Day of the 12th Lunar Cycle

Ruled by Hera

Lunar Tree Cycle ~ Ngetal/Reed

Celtic Tree Cycle ~ Ruis/Elder

Moon Phase: waxing Half

Moon sets: 12:10AM EST

Moon rises: 1:03PM EST

Moon in the Mutable Water Sign of Pisces

Rhiannon's Cycle of the Moon

Lunar Meditation: The blessings of age.

Sun in Sagittarius

Sunrise: 7:17AM EST

Sunset: 4:56PM EST

Solar Question for the Day: "To whom do you need to show more sensitivity?"

Samhain (Calan Gaeaf) Quarter for the Year

November 25th, 2009

There are Major magickal energies today for Divination and the correspondences are the element of Water; the color Violet; and the rune Ansuz.

DIVINATION

The term Divination covers a number of ways of

finding out things which are otherwise hidden from

us.

There are many different forms of Divination. Some are fairly limited, answering only questions

with yes/no responses like for instance the

Pendulum. Others only deal with certain specifics

like Divining Rods. Some will only answer specific

questions, others are better for general readings, like

the Tarot. Some forms are more useful than others for in-depth examination of a person's character and

potentialities, like Astrology or Palmistry. Probably

the earliest forms of Divination used water, as in

the Dark Mirror, and fire, as in scrying in the flames. No one method is any better, or more accurate, than any other, it is simply a question of

finding the method which you feel most in tune with.

In all cases the cards, ball, runes or whatever, are

only the means by which the reader can access their

inner mind. It is this which actually produces the insights which make the reading meaningful.

One common misconception about Divination is that pictures are actually see, or voices are heard. This is rare, as for almost every reader it is more a question of just finding that the knowledge is already there in the mind. For most people, the 'secret' to learning to read is simply a question of learning to trust these feelings. A second misconception is that our fates are fixed and the reader will tell us exactly what will happen. But any form of Divination can only give the potentials that are available. Your future is still subject to your own free will.

CELTIC TREE MONTH OF ELDER/RUIS

The Elder is used in rituals for dying, death and protection - particularly protection against evil and black Magick.

"Nine woods into the cauldron go, "

"Burn them fast and burn them slow. "

"Elder be your Lady's tree, "

"Burn it not or cursed ye'll be.

The Elder is a very useful tree. Its flowers can be eaten and made into wine. The berries, which are high in Vitamin C, can be eatern in a variety of ways and also make a fine wine. The berries and leaves, also high in vitamin C, can be made into jam. The leaves can boiled and cooled and used as a dressing to relieve earache. Elderflower water is excellent for the skin, cleansing, soothing and, for those with pale skins, whitening it. It also helps to reduce acne and prevent it from scarring. The bark was boiled to make a laxative tea. Its wood can easily be hollowed out to make whistles and, for children pop-guns.

The Elder is a tree of wisdom and knowledge associated with the Crone. It used to be thought of as a tree of death and of sorrow. It is said that to cut the tree, or to burn its wood, is to invite ill luck. In Northern Europe it is said that the Elder-tree Mother inhabits the tree and if any wood is cut she would follow the wood and haunt the owner. Even fallen wood should be taken with permission. Elder loeaves were thought to keep off Witches and were hung on doors to protect al within. The pith of the branches was supposed to make a wick which, when lit, would reveal all the Witches in the neighborhood. Mediate under a fruiting Elder if you seek answers from those who have gone before.

Credit: way-of-witch.blogspot.com