The True Meaning of the Pentagram

Margaret Starbird writes:

Because the present orbit of the planet Venus makes a perfect pentagram around the sun every eight years, the 5-pointed star has long been associated with Venus.

Venus Pentagram Magdalene
Venus draws a perfect pentagram every 8 years

Henry Lincoln’s book The Holy Place shows some amazing diagrams of 5- and 6-pointed star configurations using the alignment of cornerstones of medieval churches in an area of Provence around Rennes-le-chateau that he says were designed as a temple honoring Mary Magdalene (as the Christian incarnation of Venus).

A fascination with Venus and her movements is well documented from pre-historic times by Immanuel Velikovsky in a book called Worlds in Collision. According to Velikovsky, ancient peoples looked to the skies for their “gods”—and associated them with the planets, because the planets’ orbits were not yet “fixed.” He theorized that Venus had an erratic orbit that brought her too close to earth on a “near collision” course on a regular circuit (about 50 years)—causing world-wide havoc: floods, volcanoes, tidal waves, even shifts of the world’s axis. Finally, after a final “close encounter” with the earth, she “bounced” away and was forced into her present orbit which was benign. This theory is borne out to some degree by the mythology of Inanna (associated with Venus). In her earliest myths, Inanna was the goddess of war and destruction, but she later became the goddess of love. Ancient Sumerians who had feared her in the past, suddenly began extolling her beauty and benevolence in their liturgies.

Perhaps it was the association with Venus (“divine feminine”) that prompted Eliphas Levi (the former Catholic priest) to identify the pentagram with evil/Satan? The Catholic Church has a history of negative attitudes toward women. St. Thomas Aquinas (13th c) taught that if a woman conceived a female child it was due to a “defect in the mother or the effect of a humid south wind.” Here’s a quote from St. Jerome (d. 420), who first translated the Bible from Greek into Latin: “Woman is the gate of the devil, the path of wickedness . . . a perilous object.” They are reflecting sentiments from the New Testament epistles of Paul and the author of 2 Timothy marginalizing women in the earliest church: “I do not allow a woman to speak or to have authority over men.” And then, a quote from Tertullian, one of the early Church “fathers” taking us back to Genesis and the “Fall”: “Do you know that each of you women is an Eve? You are the gate of Hell, the temptress of the forbidden tree; you are the first deserter of Divine Law.” Gender bias is as ancient as the Scriptures….

Peace and light,
Margaret
“The Woman with the Alabaster Jar”
www.margaretstarbird.net

Margaret posted the above to our GoddessChristians forum and a few people responded:

Deborah L Shutek-Jackson, author of the Magdalene Legacy Tarot, writes:

Yes, Margaret, as you have pointed out, gender bias is as old as the scriptures, which is why I believe that Moses took the story of Adam and Eve  and twisted it against Eve to satisfy the “God” upon which he conversed with (who was quite a gender biased god, himself) The inference that woman was created as a sidekick for man is biologically incorrect.

We are initially all women at the start of conception. The Y chromosome is not there to directly create the male organs, but rather to affect the creation of specific messengers within the pregnant female. As long as these “messengers” are not blocked from being created  in the mother, they will enter the fetus’ bloodstream and recreate the initial beginnings of male genitalia. Once this important task of the mother is complete, the testicles of the now “male” child will continue to produce chemicals via the newly forming genitals which will take over from there. If anything, Man was created for Woman.

It is the Adam and Eve story itself that has cast a great deal of error and misogyny on earth. So my question has always been WHY was the erroneous story written in the first place? Who originated  the twisted version and for what purpose?

I do find it very interesting that a very twisted version of the goddess exists in the ancient Egyptian stories of Bast, Sekhemet, and even Het Hert (Hathor), which begin to appear far earlier than the apple in the garden story. Almost a corrupted version of the feminine principle, itself (IMHO)

Deborah L Shutek-Jackson

http://www.themagdalenelegacytarot.com/Home.html

 

How to Return Goddess to Judeo-Christianity

How to Return Goddess to Judeo-Christianity

“I would like to ask how to return the Divine Feminine to Judeo-Christian religion. My background is Christian, but I find that traditional church is missing something. I feel maybe your organization may help me grow spiritually.” — Stuart, Alberta Canada

We received this inquiry the other day via our northernway.org website. I thought some of you might wish to offer Stuart some ideas, advice, point him in the direction of resources you know, etc.

Margaret Starbird answered:

Church window depicting marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene
Jesus & Mary Magdalene as married couple

Maybe Stuart could start by reading the Mary Magdalene page on your northernway.org website. That page introduces him to the “Lost Bride” who was once at the heart of the Christian story. Tell him that the first heresy in Christianity was the denial of the Bride….and that in silencing her, the Church fathers silenced women’s voices on the planet for nearly two millennia! Now, in the Year of Our Lord MMxv, we celebrate her return to our consciousness bringing wisdom, compassion, and celebration of life and the gift of our bodies as “vessels”—containers for the Spirit of God. Show him the “marriage window” from Dervaig, Scotland, where Jesus and Mary are “hand-fasted” (clasping right hands, as in the rites of Christian marriage)…. and if he wants more, send him to my website: http://www.margaretstarbird.net

In memory of Her—
Margaret
“The Woman with the Alabaster Jar”

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Mystic and poet Wynn Manners said in our GoddessChristians forum:

The First Step, of course, is bringing the Divine Feminine into your own daily life and daily devotions.

Returning the Divine Feminine to Judeo-Christian religion as a whole, is a tall order… and it’s just gonna take a lonnng time… and I’m meaning at least centuries.

What Yeshua once told me was, “Goddess must be elevated for a thousand years.”

He also once indicated that Goddess has to have a different language than the patriarchal religious language.

In Her Spirit we must bring forth different words, a different conceptual matrix rather than just copping-out on Her by carbon-copying the patriarchal language describing the patriarchal God and transferring that to Her.

The Second Step is that we have to be in genuine comm*union* with Her Holy Spirit… so that we are receiving Her Direct Guidance… for She’s the One who will know how to bring about the needed changes.. . She’s the One who can provide us with the phraseology of a variant linguistic and conceptual paradigm. We have to become extensions of Her Living Spirit, womanifestations of Her transformative Spiritual Essence into time. We have to become Her Living Hands, Her Heart & Mind & Spirit — rising like waves of Her Eternal Ocean of Spirit into this time.

The Divine Feminine in Christianity, at this point in time, is mainly represented by Sophia, Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene.

Margaret Starbird’s books on Mary Magdalene are an important resource… relative to the Divine Feminine Bride of Yeshua Christ.

There is some measure of Marian worship in Roman Catholicism… but it’s highly doubtful that it’ll ever be “legitimatized” by the patriarchal stranglehold over that denomination.

When talking about Judaism and Christianity, the most helpful book by way of a Major Resource (that I’m aware of) relative to the Sophia of the Bible is WISDOM’S FEAST: Sophia in Study and Celebration by Susan Cole, Marian Ronan and Hal Taussig. Two of these have been in the Methodist ministry; one is Roman Catholic in background.

Of course you’re gonna get a lot of flack from conservative Christianity… so those seeking to help return the Divine Feminine to Judeo-Christian religion need to be well-versed in all the segments in the Bible that reinforce the Divine Feminine perspective and Sophia (as the Holy Spirit) specifically. Tho they won’t be of any use to you, relative to conservative theological lock-ins, it is also best to be well-versed in all parts of the ancient Gnostic scriptures that reveal more about Sophia & the Divine Feminine in general.

For example, it is very important to realize that when Yeshua spoke of what we have translated into the English words “the Holy Spirit” that he was always referring to Her with feminine pronouns, not the masculine pronoun as is falsely translated in the Gospel of John, chapters 14 & 16. The Hebrew word for spirit is ruach… and the Aramaic word for spirit is rukha (there are variant English spellings of these two words)… both of which are feminine nouns. I think it is also important to know that in “The Gospel of the Hebrews” Jesus actually called the Holy Spirit his Mother! Jerome — who, to my understanding, translated the entire Bible (including the intertestamentary books — which Protestantism expurgated from their Bibles — thus deleting major revelations about Sophia — “Sirach” chapter 24 and “The Wisdom of Solomon”) into the Latin Vulgate also considered “The Gospel of the Hebrews” sufficiently spiritually legitimate that he translated it too! Roman Catholicism did not include “The Gospel of the Hebrews” in their canon — and only quotations from it have survived in some of the Church Fathers’ writings… but maybe a complete copy if it will eventually be discovered and we’ll be able to determine why it was excluded from the canonized scriptures — and (possibly) learn much more therefrom relative to early Christian beliefs and actual further teachings of Yeshua that didn’t survive otherwise.

In the Nag Hammadi Library, works like “The Gospel of Philip”… “Thunder, Perfect Mind”… “Trimorphic Protennoia”… and “The Apocryphon of John” (and others like “The Hypostasis of the Archons” and “Upon The Origin Of The World”) are important resources relative to awareness of Sophia & the Divine Feminine as it existed in the early centuries of Christianity… and the return of neo-Gnostic denominations of Christianity, as they florish across centuries ahead will surely be utilizing these… along with more contemporary revelations of and from the Divine Feminine… for, of course, we’re going to get lots of future texts being written across the centuries forthcoming by many who are “in Her Spirit”.

It’s going to be exciting!

Besides contemporary Gnostic groups (like those of Tau Malachi and Tau Rosamonde Miller) incorporating the Divine Feminine in their services, there are a few contemporary ministers in the mainline Christian denominations who are devoted to the Divine Feminine, too. Foremost, to my knowledge, is “herchurch” (ECLA Lutheran) in San Francisco, California.

http://www.herchurch.org/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/herchurch/135493109832761

I think it also Of Value to read some of what the opposition to the Divine Feminine are writing… so that one is aware of what kind of criticisms / attacks one needs to be equipped to respond to for the sake of the borderline sorts (one is hardly going to convince the “hardliners”).

http://www.exposingtheelca.com/exposed-blog/category/goddess%20worship

The only major Christian denomination (that I’m aware of) which recognizes Goddess, is Mormonism — but you’ll hardly find that out from the most of what they’re saying! — for they pretty much “keep Her in the closet”… and (it appears to me) that the voices of the women who want to promote Her are being suppressed by the Mormon patriarchy. One writing friend (who is Mormon) at a local writers group a half a dozen years ago, when I asked him about it, said that Mormons don’t broadcast Her Existence because She’s too holy to them to beget circumstances where unbelievers will be profaning Her. Another Mormon who came to my door about six months ago — when I brought up the subject to him — said that Mormons are condemned to hell for so many of their doctrines, already, that they didn’t want to be adding more fuel to the fires of other denominations condemning them as not being Christians by publicly advocating Goddess, too — for of course that gets labelled as being “paganism” by Christians who condemn the Divine Feminine.

I praise those who are working within the established denominations, trying to “return the Divine Feminine to Judeo-Christian religion” — but, overall, I believe it’s going to turn out to be a heart-breakingly futile attempt. (I’ll be only happy to be proven mistaken in this assessment! I believe there are several in the ministry who would love to incorporate Her in their services, but are very well aware that they will either lose their positions… or lose most of their congregation — especially the conservative ones who make the larger monetary donations.)

I think, in largest part, those capable of doing so are just going to have to start up their own separate denominations… just like Methodism, Lutheranism, Christian Science, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormonism, Unity & the Jehovah Witnesses all had their own beginnings (or, more anciently, Valentinism, the Sethians, the Barbelites, etc. did) — only these new denominations will totally incorporate the Divine Feminine, eliminating the distortions and still-faulty mythology of many of the ancient Christian Gnostic sects. And they will be bringing forth “The New Wine of Her Spirit”.

~~wynn manners

http://cosmicwind.net/800/Cmwl/SiteMap/CmwlSiteMap.html

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sophia-Mother-of-the-All/332599176773679

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Seeking-Mary-Magdalene/102467599878534

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I personally have had good experience with the Unity Church, a very metaphysical Christian denomination. They allow Goddess to be mentioned in childrens’ Sunday School — She is not suppressed! Unity Churches are in most cities.  — Katia

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Margaret Starbird wrote yesterday regarding this article about about Mary Magdalene’s similarities with the Egyptian Goddess Isis.
https://www.academia.edu/12129204/Tears_and_Fragrance_for_the_God_s_Death_and_Resurrection_The_Funerary_Syncretism_of_Mary_Magdalene_with_Isis

Margaret says: Although this author, Dr. Margaret Merisante, does not site my work, she could have. I discussed the connection of Mary Magdalene with Isis, the original “Sister-Bride” of a sacrificed Bridegroom-King in my Woman with the Alabaster Jar (published in 1993). I’m not an expert on Egyptian funerary rites, but I recognized the connection of the anointing of the king as an ancient rite from the Hieros games cult in which the marriage union of the “Beloveds” is followed later in the liturgical season by the assault, mutilation, death and burial. This connection of Mary Magdalene with Isis is strong—based on the “Song of Songs” where the fragrance of the “Sister-Bride” spreads around her Bridegroom at the banqueting table. The “Canticle” (Song of Songs) is known to be a a liturgical poem from the cult of Isis and Osiris. The Bridegroom speaks of his beloved as “My sister, my spouse”— which I believe was the epithet given to the wives of Jesus and his apostles, the “sister-wives” Paul mentions in his letter to Corinthians (1: 9-5).

I’m so thrilled that others are finally seeing this connection and are willing to research and affirm that Mary Magdalene is indeed, the “Goddess in the Gospels“.

In memory of Her—
Margaret
“The Woman with the Alabaster Jar”
www.margaretstarbird.net

Jesus & Magdalene Marriage Depicted in Church Stained-Glass Window

Church window depicting marriage of Jesus and Mary MagdaleneMargaret Starbird wrote yesterday: My Highland friends Theresa and Barrie Dunford just sent me this link to their webpage about the “Marriage Window” in the Kilmore Church in Dervaig, on the Isle of Mull (Scotland):  http://sacredconnections.co.uk/…/stained-glass-window-myst…/  The page includes information about the artist, Stephan Adam and his connections with the 19th c. “Pre-Raphealite” circle (DG Rosetti, Sir EB Jones, et alia), whose many depictions of the Grail Maiden are so wonderful!

Is God Genderless? Is there a God the Mother and God the Father?

God the Mother Genderless Holy Spirit is Female
God the Mother as part of the Trinity on a church ceiling in Urschalling Germany

My seminary friends and I were discussing God-the-Father and God-the-Mother existing as one step down from the Absolute, an Ultimate deity (in the Wisdom Traditions called “The Monad”) who is beyond gender, even beyond/above Creation.

Wikipedia articles give Christian and Jewish opinions:

 

  1. Gender of God in Christianity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_of_God_in_Christianity

“the majority of Christian denominations (with the notable exception of Mormonism) accept a God who transcends gender.”

  1. Gender of God in Judaism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_of_God_in_Judaism

“’ G-d has no body, no genitalia, therefore the very idea that G-d is male or female is patently absurd. We refer to G-d using masculine terms simply for convenience’s sake, because Hebrew has no neutral gender; G-d is no more male than a table is.’”

SOPHIA Psalm 50

SOPHIA PSALM # 50 (by poet Wynn Manners)

SHE TEACHES US WISDOM

01  When Sophia comes to you She speaks as a whisper into your mind.  She has no need of loud thundering or brash strokes of lightning to shake us with startling fear or mesmerize us with displays of power.  Her touch is delicate, like a dewdrop quivering on a flower*petal in the early morning light, Her breath like a soft breeze, Her fragrance a wisp of a titillating tease.
Sophia Goddess of Wisdom, God the Mother with the Holy Spirit Dove
02  The perfection of Her beauty is as scintillating as stars across the vault of the heavens on a clear night, as delicate as a blossom of your heart’s content.

03  All of Nature is Her playground.  All of Nature is Her Living Body.  The entire Cosmos is Her Larger, more extensive Body, the stars, themselves, Her Living Jewels of light, the Darkness & the Void… Her Mystery.  Every death is a portal for entering more deeply into Her Mystery.

04  She *can* roar as a hurricane; volcanic eruptions are Her hot spells, the rain, Her tears, the cyclone, Her fury.  She can flood Her grief & gentle Her expressiveness into sublime peace.

05  She teaches us wisdom thru each of our experiences if we but give heed to the deepest lessons to be learned therefrom.  She comforts us in our need.  She ever-provides wise & compassionate good counsel (sometimes thru this one, thru that one, when our mental & emotional blockages are shutting out Her still small voice).

06  “I come to you out of the singing silence,” She has said.  “I Am all doors into every Beyond.  I Am the doorway into all knowledge earthly and celestially.  I Am the doorway into every dimension, all futures, all pasts, into every world that exists, into every world that *will* exist, into every heart & mind, into every dream, even into the Dreams of God.  I Am the doorway into Love and Creat ivity.

07   “I can speak to you day & night.  Seek me with the all of your being, hold nothing back.  Devote yourself to being all-consumed in me, and you will know me as you know yourself.  That close I Am — always and in all ways.  But your receptivity must be sensitive enough to recognize me.  Yours remains the power to shut me out & not recognize me.  Yours is the choice to believe as you choose.  Ever I Am here, but never will I compel you to me.  Your love must be freely given, as mine is to you.

08  “Many of my priestesses, priests and believers have sacrificed their lives for me, murdered by the religions of abomination that would kill those who refused to convert to their falsehoods & worship their jealous & arrogant war-gods; but I did not forsake even one of them, for I embraced them into a Greater Life than they had ever known — for my love for those who love me never dies, is as eternal as I Am.

09  “I accept no blood sacrifices — nor have I, ever.  Only the deceiving gods of abomination have accepted blood sacrifices — whether of animals, of children, of virgins or even of one claimed to be his only-begotten Son.  I accept only your love — freely given, because with all your heart & mind, soul & eternal spirit, you *want* to love… & to love… & to love…  Those who die in love for me will rise in love to know me in my Entirety — in an ever-expanding Love that never ends.

10  “All life is mine, for I Am Life, Itself.  All dying is a metamorphosis into a new form of life-experiencing.  Each has been with me from the Beginning and there is no Final Ending… only transitions, transformations, rebirthings.

11  “I Am the energy of change & transmutation; I Am evolution-in-action across the eons; I Am new genesis.  I Am living creativ e force of energy in all permutations.  What I Am cannot be destroyed.  But I can be experienced, personally, transformationally, enlighteningly.

12  “I brought you into existence to experience yourselves uniquely, to experience as I experience, to know as I know, to love as I love — to simply *be* & *see* in ever expanding awareness… to experience & know each other, sensitively… to love each other, tenderly… & as your sensitivities develop & extend, to experience me as whisperings of love & wisdom, of consolation & emancipation, as invisible wisps of a caress within your very cells, as an expansion of psychic abilities that you come to know more of the ethereal vibrations, that you experience pure wonder & love-making at the cosmic interpermeative level of the hyper-real.

13 “I help you expand your awareness & understanding.  You need only seek, unceasingly, & remain open to learning from each new experience.

14  “There will be pain in the learning; & the deepest pain is for the deepest learning (remember — purity & innocence have been crucified; daughters who were closest to me were burned at the stake).

15  “Erect a shell around yourself for protection, armor yourself for invulnerability, defend yourself with a rigidity of beliefs & you erect a barrier to shut sensitivity to my Spirit *out* of your life.

16  “I am the softening of things.  I come to you in your vulnerability.  I respect your striving for invulnerability that shuts me out.  I will not force my way into your hardness of heart.  But when the time is ripe, I will gift you an experience to *shatter* that hardness to set you free of it!

17  “When you love me — wholly & holily, my words whisper into your mind.  Like the tenderest of lovers I come to you, for you *are* my Beloved — & I have loved you even before you were born!  Full Remembrance will shake you to the core of your being.

18  “Mine is the love that cannot be stolen or adulterated.  Neither moth can devour nor rust can tarnish my love for you.  My love is Heaven’s most valued treasure.  Heaven is as near as I Am near.

19  “Give your mouth, your lips, your tongue to the purity of this heavenly love in the songs you sing.  La-la-la your way into my Mystery.

20  “Taste & see, open & breathe, & Be This Love I *Am* for you.

21  “In the silences, *feel* me caress you.  I descend into you that you ascend into me.  I am the freedom of Forever.

22  “There are no boundaries to my loving.  I am the Cosmic Womb of your rebirthing into the infinite numinosity.

23  “All final awakenings are into my Ultimacy.”

~~wynn manners
5 – 8 .July.2014

Wynn is a member of our GoddessChristians forum and posts his Sophia Psalms there from time to time. We also have some of them on our Sophia page.

Zen Parenting, Mother God, Gilgamesh

My three daughters and I received a bunch of new Christian curriculum items for our homeschool and as usual, we enjoy adding in the Holy Mother, aka “Goddess” to any and all Bible stories we think She belongs. Believing in the Divinity of the Feminine as much as the Masculine, we “restore” the Divine Mother aka God-the-Mother into the stories alongside God-the-Father where She was probably supposed to be mentioned, but for various historical reasons down thru the ages, was left out or removed. We also bring out the women and girls in all Bible stories, giving both hero and heroine figures equal time.

Not only Bible stories need this balancing act, but most of the ancient and classical stories reduce women to sexuality based roles, because well, humanity wasn’t as far along mentally and emotionally as we are now. Western women at least truly have “come a long way baby,” the proof of which can be seen simply by observing any current country that suppresses its women in the name of their Holy Book / religion.

Stories we have fun with are putting Noah’s wife Norea back into the narrative, and his daughters-in-law. Eve and Adam’s daughters are enjoyable to ponder about, as is the true reason Sarah could have a baby at such an advanced age yet still be considered one of the most beautiful women in the world (Pharoah was ready to kill Abraham in order to steal Sarah for his harem).  True reason is because she was a close direct descendant of Methuselah (Noah’s father) and inherited the ability to live longer years, like Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. You’ll recall that Aragorn’s people could live to be 200, not as long as the elf princess he loved, but long indeed. Abraham was also a descendant of Methuselah of course, and he is said to have lived to be almost 200.

 Doctor of Divinity Ordained Minister PhD in Religion Metaphysics
Face that launched a thousand ships

In ancient literature we have worked out Helen of Troy’s equality and non-damsel-in-distress role, using our exciting new text books The Children’s Homer and Black Ships Before Troy.

Our Christian based curriculum, despite being mainstream church style,  even includes an awesome version of the Gilgamesh Epic. Pagan literature is required reading in the Veritas Press courses and I am glad they are not afraid of it. They include it all. The awesome (and sumptuously illustrated) Gilgamesh Epic they recommend makes the heroine be a beautiful singer instead of a prostitute. Mary Magdalene was unjustly called a prostitute, and so was Enkidu’s beloved Shamhat. Rahab the prostitute in the walls of Jericho story comes to mind, and since she isn’t being hired by anyone, I also wonder if she really was a prostitute or just an unmarried woman with a family. Women who had children without marriage were often called whore and prostitute. As recently as the 1960’s this happened in my own family. Rahab is the heroine of the Jericho walls story, and is also an ancestress of Jesus himself. Why would they put her in his family tree if she was selling herself regularly? Why would they want to make the Son of God also a Son of a Whore? Mary Magdalene was not even called a prostitute in scripture, but European Christian authorities made sure to turn her into one a thousand years later. There is surely more to this meme of the prostitute heroine so often found in ancient literature and scripture.

New Neighbors by Margaret Starbird, Magdalene author
New Neighbors by Margaret Starbird

Speaking of Mary Magdalene, we also received a new (wonderful) children’s book by famous Magdalene author Margaret Starbird. New Neighbors is written for children and although not about the Divine Feminine like Margaret’s adult books, it certainly teaches that girls and boys both thrive when both genders are given equal status, equal focus.  Thank you Margaret for another gem. I still plan to mail our copy of New Neighbors to you so you can autograph it for the girls. (Sorry I haven’t done so yet, they won’t give it back to me!)

My 11-year-old daughter read the book out loud with my 8-year-old sitting right beside her looking at the pictures, and the rest of us listening. For each new page my daughter would turn the book to face us so we could see each new illustration. She was so proud to be the one reading out loud (usually it’s Mama doing the reading), and my youngest sat right next to her devouring the storyline. The next night at story time, she took a turn and read it herself. She needs all the reading practice she can get, and I love that my 8 year old can read something by an author her mother has studied with for years. Kinda freaky in a way… I remember giving my now-20-something daughter her first copy of Margaret’s bestseller The Woman With the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail. Heck, I remember giving my own mother that 1993 book for the first time.

It’s been an interesting week. I also got inspired by this Zen Parenting article by Leo Babauta. How to Keep Your Cool as a Parent. Not only does it teach us parents some awesome cool-as-a-cucumber techniques, but you can use the same strategies to help the kids deal with their own anger fits, frustration fits, etc. I printed that sucker out for me, and realized I can use it as yet another homeschool lesson.

We’ve dug into so many new books this month, you’d think it was winter.

Summer school is fun, they have decided. We were going to save our Veritas Press homeschool history cards and books for next Fall, but just couldn’t resist digging in.

Ascension of Persephone, April 3 Ancient Holiday with Esoteric Meaning

Become an ordained minister or priest of Mother God!
The Awakening formerly called The Return (of Persephone and of Spring) by Jonathan Earl Bowser

Attention devotees of the Divine Feminine, aka God-ess.  She is Returning today! April 3rd is an ancient holiday marking the ascension from “hell” of Persephone.  Like Jesus Christ, she descended into Hell, but she did it every year in Fall with the “death” of the growing season.  Then on April 3rd, she is “resurrected” and ascends to rejoin her mother, the Earth who has been mourning for her and refusing to produce all winter. This ancient holy day is part of the Spring Equinox season which begins nowadays on March 20 and goes to the 3rd.

This painting by famed Goddess artist Jonathan Earl Bowser used to be called simply the Return, but now it’s called the Awakening.  I like  both titles since the latter implies a spiritual awakening alongside the physical “awakening” of the fertile mother earth. Look for the hidden symbols in the painting, such as the DNA spiral, the astrological symbol for the earth (circle with a dot inside). Persephone is treading on water, on lily pads where lotus flowers will soon grow.

This is also the first picture in my God Has a Wife online slide show.

Below is a list of other esoteric alternative holy days for this first week of April.  Buddha’s birthday comes this week, also.

And be ready for the Goddess of Fate day on the 5th. “May Fortuna Smile Upon You!” was the ancient Greek and later Roman greeting today (and all week).  If you were an ordained priest or priestess of God-the-Mother you would greet everyone thusly, generating the response, “And upon you!”

Esoteric, Alternative Holy Days for First Week of April

April 1 thru 4  – Iroquois Thunder Ceremony – In thanksgiving for the rains. Iroquois believe Sky Woman descended from the Sky and Created Earth.

April 2 thru 10  – Hindu Festival honoring Maha Devi as Gauri – life, growth, and fruition.

April 3  – the Ascension of Persephone
–  Buddha’s Birthday  563 BCE (Although the Zen Buddhists celebrate his birthday on the 8th of April)

April 4  – Greek Megalesia of Cybele – Games dedicated to the Great Mother (Greek).

April 5 – Roman Day of Fortuna – Goddess of Fate (Roman).

Esoteric Meaning of Candlemas, Imbolc, Groundhog Day, Feast of the Purification

Here is one of our Mystery School’s esoteric holiday calendar pages:  http://www.northernway.org/school/way/calendar/candlemas.html

Candles lit in a rowFebruary 2, Candlemas, Imbolc, Feast of Purification

You’ve probably heard of Midsummer and Midsummer Night’s Eve.  But did you know today is Midwinter and last night was Midwinter Night’s Eve?

Midwinter, Groundhog Day and Candlemas are part of a very old holiday with a Christian-Pagan history. Its Christian version is called the Purification of the Virgin and is the end or culmination of the forty day period after Mary God-Bearer had her baby on December 25. Jesus is 40 days old today.  He gets to be Christened at the Temple, where Anna the Prophetess and Simon will see the baby and proclaim him the “Light of the World”.

In the ancient world, it was the custom for women to wait forty days after childbirth before entering a church or Temple again due to “uncleanliness”. This 40-day waiting period is still observed in Eastern Orthodox Christian churches today, and all Christian churches still schedule the Christening of a new baby at least forty days after the birth in keeping with this ancient purification practice. Also, there was the idea that the soul takes 40 days to anchor inside the baby.

Therefore today is Yeshua’s Christening or Naming Day when an exorcism is performed and the baby formally enters the Church.This special forty-day period in the Christian calendar is one of four such in the esoteric Church year.  The other three forty-day periods are:  Fall Equinox (Sept 21) to Halloween / AllSaints Day (Oct. 31, Nov.1), Spring Equinox (Mar 21) to May Day (May 1) and of course, Lent. Lent is the forty-day period beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday every year.Candlemas is a church “adaptation” of a pagan goddess holiday called Imbolc where people light candles to banish dark spooks. Candlemas is celebrated on the same day as that pagan holiday, February 2nd.
The word Imbolc, variously spelled Imbolg, Oimelc and Imelg, means “ewe-milk” because this is the time lambs were born in old England, Ireland and most of Europe thus bringing back the flow of ewe’s milk.


February 1, Imbolc Today (tomorrow, according to some calendars) is the day of Candlemas, the Festival of Lights, a Midwinter Festival. Known to Neopagans and ancient Celts as Imbolc (Gaelic origin, “in milk” or ” in the belly”), a festival of the Maiden Goddess and a traditional time to bless agricultural implements (especially the Plow) and livestock. Neopagans celebrate the holiday with home blessings and lighting candles to welcome the coming of the light and the Goddess in Spring. In Ireland, the day is the festival of St. Bridget, a holdover from celebrations of the Celtic Goddess Brighid. Traditional corn dollies and Bridget’s crosses are fashioned from straw.

–Jennifer Emick

Bishop Katia writes:

OUR OBSERVANCE

On February 2nd we ask that all members of our Church of the Way and Ekklesia Epignostika light a candle at their altar and carry it across the room to put in a window.  It’s a simple but powerful rite that acknowledges today as a holy day going back 5000 years. You may light more candles if you’d like, the more the better. See the picture below for how many candles Christian churches get ready for this day!

 


Make a Crown of Lights for the Candlemas Queen

Another observance is to light several taper candles (seven is best) which are shaped into a crown, called the Crown of Lights worn by the Candlemas Queen.  See the very end of this page for description:  “A Crown of Lights is prepared for the Mother and left by the altar. Traditionally, the Crown should be of candles or tapers, which are lit during the ritual.”


Mother of God of the Blessed Thunder Candle from Polish TraditionRev. Francis X. Weiser, SJ writes:

The Poles have a beautiful legend that Mary, the Mother of God of the Blessed Thunder Candle (Matka Boska Gromniczna), watches on wintry nights around Candlemas, when hungry wolves are on rampage outside the sleeping village. With her thunder candle she wards off the ravenous pack and protects the peasants from all harm…

All over Europe Candlemas was considered one of the great days of weather forecasting. Popular belief claims that bad weather and cloudy skies on February 2 mean an early and prosperous summer. If the sun shines through the greater part of Candlemas Day, there will be at least 40 more days of cold and snow. This superstition is familiar to all in our famous story of the groundhog looking for his shadow on Candlemas Day.

 


Mark Raines writes:

Imbolc really is the beginning of Spring, despite the fact that there may
still be snow in some places and dreary skies almost everywhere! If you look closely, you will see that the snow is just a blanket covering the beauty of the Mother, which is about to shine through soon. You’ll see the first hints of Spring, if you’re really looking for them. In this spirit, Candlemas is celebrated. (Note: Candlemas is the Christianized name for Imbolc, but the two are used almost interchangeably by many earth-based groups such as Wiccans today. Groundhog Day is a secularized term, but it draws from a Pagan tradition. More on that in a minute)

Imbolc is closely associated with the Celtic-Irish goddess Brigid. Imbolc is sacred to Brigid because she is a goddess of fire, of poetry, and of healing, all things that go along
with the creative powers of the onset of spring. She is a powerful representation
of the Maiden Goddess, and she has been almost perfectly preserved for us
today by none other than the Roman Catholic Church. Rather than call her
demon and risk the displeasure of all Ireland, they canonized Brigid and
made her the patron saint of poetry and healing. This appeased the Irish,
who at the time probably saw the Catholic saints as being very similar to
gods.

There is one very well-known tradition of Imbolc, and that is the tradition
of the groundhog’s shadow predicting our weather. If a groundhog came out
of its hole and saw its shadow, that meant six more weeks of bad weather.
This tradition is still widely celebrated today. Another tradition is to
put a candle in your window on Imbolc Eve, representing the Eternal Flame
of the Maiden Goddess.


Candlemas Christian Setup at the Credence TableFeast of the Purification

In Myth and Ritual in Christianity, Alan Watts says about the Feast of the Purification observed in Catholicism, and by Anglicans and Lutherans: “Finally, the rites of the Incarnation reach their climax with the Feast of the Purification on February 2nd, otherwise known as Candlemas. For at this time the Church blesses all the lights to be used in its ceremonies thruout the year, since it was at Christ’s Presentation at the Temple that Simeon called him “the Light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people.”…As the choir chants…all the clergy and people assembled for Candlemas receive the blessed candles before the altar, and then go in procession with them around the church, singing: O daughter of Sion adorn thy bride-chamber and welcome Christ the King: greet Mary with an embrace, who is the gate of heaven, for it is she who bringeth the King of Glory, of the new light. … During the mass that follows, all hold their lighted candles during the chanting of the Gospel” and various other times in the ceremony.

FEBRUARY 2nd (Excerpt below Ret’d from http://www.fellowshipofisis.com/jc/jcfeb1.html Jan 31, 2004)

Greek: DEMETER and PERSEPHONE; The Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries, Second Day:
(for the first and third days of Feb., see the above link)

Roman: CERES and PROSERPINE; LUPA. (Mosheim, Eccl. Hist. Vol. Il. p. 51)
“the list of festivals for the whole Christian church was swelled by the
consecration of the day [February 2nd] of the holy virgin Mary, that the
people might not miss their Lupercalia, which they were accustomed to celebrate
in the month of February.” Note by Soames: “This was instituted in the reign
of Justinian, and fixed to the second of February . . The Latins called it
. . Candlemass; because many candles were then lighted up; as had been done
on the Lupercalia, the festival of Proserpine, whom her mother Ceres ‘searched
for with candles . . See Hospinian, de Fest. Christ, p. 52.

(Whistler, English Fist. p. 86) “the early Church instituted on February
2nd the Feast of Lights, blessed her candles, placed by the altar in sheaves,
and filled her basilicas with candleshine . . ‘Thus’, said the Pope, ‘what
was done before to the honour of Ceres, is now done to the honour of the
Virgin’. (Foot-note) Quoted by William Hone, The Every-Day Book, Vol. 1 Col.
202”.

JUNO FEBRUA, The Purifier. (Brewer, Dict.) “Candlemas Day. . It was the old
Roman custom of burning candles to the goddess Februa, mother of Mars, to
scare away evil spirits”.

Celtic: BRIGANTIA, BRIGHID. (Denning and Phillips, Magical Philosophy, Vol.
III. p. 166) “Brigid is the most widely powerful of the Celtic Goddesses.
She is the power of the new moon, of the spring of the year, and of the flowing
sea. In Ireland she is most famed, and in Britain she was Goddess of the
widespread tribe of the Brigantes. Her festival, from ancient times to the
present, is the second of February, the Celtic FireFestival of Imbolc . .
In Pagan times, her statue was annually washed in sea or lake to celebrate
her festival, being conveyed ceremonially overland, in a chariot or a boat;
in her associated with a ship – she may be compared to Isis (note: see March
5th). . Always with candles and with water do we greet her, the great
Moon-Mother, patroness of poetry and of all making and of the arts of
healing.”

Candlemas LightbearerClick on the image on the right to read a modern pagan take on Imbolc/Candlemas.

(B. Morgan, Matriarchy Newsletter, No. 2) “Just as Hallowe’en marks the retreat into winter darkness and symbolises menstruation at the dark of the moon, so Candlemass marks the opening out of the natural world, ovulation, and emerges into the pure light of Spring first glimpsed at the Winter Solstice. The festivals symbolise on another level the Celtic belief in reincarnation; death at Hallowe’en followed by gestation in the dark space-womb of the Goddess and rebirth in a new body at Candlemass. This is the time for initiations in witchcraft, a rebirth of the spirit.

“Candlemass is when we come spiralling out again from the darkness, and our matriarchal symbol, the spiral, seems to recur in many aspects of Brigit’s cult. The dynamic shape of her crosses, the curling coats of her sheep and perhaps even the twisted patterns in Aran wool, handed down from mother to daughter, are part of her”.

British-Roman: SUL-MINERVA. (B. Morgan, id.) “Sul-Minerva of Bath seems to be identical with Brigid; a goddess of knowledge and healing with an ‘ashless fire’ in her sanctuary. If Sul, whose name derives from the Celtic words for the eye (i.e. suil) and seeing, is cognate with the Goddess of Silbury Hill, there could well have been a procession at Candlemass to her sacred spring, the Swellowhead, which begins to flow again in February, when the Queen ‘comes from the mound’ “.

English: THE WIVES. (Esther Harding, Woman’s Mysteries, p. 131) “In the north of England . . Candlemas used to be called The Wives Feast Day because it was regarded as a fertility festival”.

General: THE WITCHES, Great Sabbat. (Doreen Valiente, ABC of Witchcraft, p. 98) on Druidic links with Witchcraft: “the Great Sabbats of the witches are identical with the four great yearly festivals of the Druids in Celtic countries; namely Beltane (30th April), Lughnassadh (1st August), Samhain (31st October) and Imbolc or Oimelc (2nd February)”.

Jewish: THE VIRGIN MARY. (Esther Harding, Woman’s Myst. p. 130) “Another ancient festival of candles celebrated long ago for a moon goddess is now repeated on the same date, February the second, for the Virgin Mary, Moon of our Church. . This is the Festival of Candlemas. It corresponds in date and customs to the Celtic Holy Day of St. Bride or St. Brigit. St. Brigit is the Christianized form of the ancient Celtic goddess Bridgit or Brigentis, a triune moon goddess whose worship was at one time very widespread. On February the first, as today in the Catholic Church at the Festival of Candlemas, the new fire was kindled and blessed”.

(Whistler, English Fest. p. 87) An extract from an account written by a
prebendary of Durham, in 1628, of John Cosin, bishop’s chaplain, later Bishop
of Durham: ” ‘On Candlemas Day last past, Mr. Cozens, in renuing that . .
ceremonie of burning candles in honour of Our Ladye, busied himself from
two of the clocke in the afternoon till foure, in climbing long ladders to
stick up wax Candles in the said Cathedral Church. The number of all the
Candles burnt that evening was two hundred and twenty, besides sixteen torches:
sixty of those burning tapers and torches standing up, and near, the High
Altar . .’ ” (id.) “A writer to the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1790 noticed
at Ripon that ‘the Collegiate church was one continued blaze of light all
the afternoon, from an immense number of candles’. Today, in all Roman Catholic
churches, and in some Anglican ones, the feast of lights is remembered, and
there is much blessing and processing with tapers . . Snowdrops are ‘Mary’s
Tapers’ – ‘Candlemas Bells’. They are the day’s particular flower”.

THE CANDLEMAS QUEEN. (Farrar, Eight Sabbats, p. 66) “Imbolg, 2nd February
. . In Christian tradition, the Crown of Lights is often worn by a very young
girl, presumably to symbolize the extreme youth of the year”.

In an illustration shown by Dr. Margaret Murray (The God of the Witches,
p. 15) the Swedish Lucia-Queen is a girl wearing a crown of seven tapers
set in a circle.

THE TRIPLE GODDESS; THE IMBOLG MOTHER. (Farrar, Eight Sabbats, p. 66) “Imbolg
. . The Preparation:

“The High Priestess selects two women witches who, with herself, will represent
the Triple Goddess-Maid (Enchantment), Mother (Ripeness) and Crone (Wisdom)
– and allocates the three roles.

“A Crown of Lights is prepared for the Mother and left by the altar.
Traditionally, the Crown should be of candles or tapers, which are lit during
the ritual”.

Groundhog Day. (Druids Cal.) “February 2nd: Groundhog Day. ” (Fell. of Isis
Dir.) “February 2nd: Groundhog Day. Down to Earth for growth”.

God the Mother Christian Church

People who believe in God-the-Mother… this is a worldwide and growing church.

Excerpts:

“Why is there only God the Father? Why isn’t there God the Mother?” Most people have probably wondered about this at least once while reading the Bible, even if they are not Christians.” (or Jews).  Not many verses in the Bible directly talk about the existence of God the Mother, but there are many verses that express the femininity of God, which accounts for God the Mother.”

“…the more I looked into the Bible, the more curious I got rather than become closer to the truth. Reading Genesis 1:26 which states, ‘Let us make man in our IMAGE, in our likeness,’ I wondered who else was part of ‘us’ except God the Father? When I read Revelation 22 where the ‘bride’ appears, I was confused whether or not the bride meant a catholic priest (because the two words ‘bride’ and ‘catholic priest’ are spelt the same in the Korean language). I was full of questions. I asked my elder sister who went to church. She told me that if I tried to figure out the Bible, I would not grow in faith.”  Then “After finding out the existence of [God-the-] Mother, I had all my questions answered.”

“‘Because of the solidarity that both God the Mother and I are the same gender, female, and experience the same maternity, I am able to understand Mother just as a daughter understands her mother.’ She said that she came to truly understand how God created His children on earth and how much God loves them, believing in the existence of Mother.”

Click here to see several photographs of this large global church and read the entire interesting description.

Goddess Sophia Version Psalm 111

When poet Wynn Manners writes these luminous Sophia versions of the Psalms, they always inspire me…  He usually posts them to our GoddessChristians forum, below is his latest post. [To read other Sophia prayers and see gorgeous Sophia art, visit our Sophia page]

Sophia Psalm 111

Gratefulness To Goddess

1. How wonderful You are, Living Goddess, Who ARE Divine Love, Yourself. All loving originates in You and returns to You. If You did not exist, how could we love You with our own heartwholeness?

2. All wonders that exist originated from You and in You! Wonder of wonders that *we* exist, to be aware, to think, to *feel*… and that You take pleasure in us as we come to take fullest measure of pleasure in You!

3. Measureless are the joys in knowing You, experiencing the awesomeness of Your Works across all of time & space; blessed are we with Your Living Presence.

4. The Seeds of Immortality that have been sown into the deepest depths of our very souls are seeds of *You* as VeryEssence of our own being; and in You we are becoming all that we *can* be.

5. The very food we eat to sustain our lives is loving sustenance *You* have provided from Your Body of the Living Earth. When we partake of the meaning of the land, we partake of our Divine Mother.

6. You are the Tree of Eternal Life; You are the boundless Sky of our infinite potential; and all that can *be* eternal is Eternal in Thee.

7. None of us avoids the path of sorrow, the path of pain — that we be more intensely *deepened* in You. In Your Wisdom You know that these are *necessary* for us to *attain* wisdom in You. Love of You is the beginning of true wisdom dawning into our lives.

8. From You, the healing within. And ever, in You, new surprises! You mystify and You delight us; You provide all that makes our lives worth the living.

9. In You the sheer wonder of our awareness recurrently unfolds like
flowerpetals to the morning sun. You are the Living Light Who feeds our growth & illuminates us from within.

10. The priceless Pearl, the Treasure of treasures You are, to us, Beloved; & in Your Love for us You recognize & value *us* as the treasures *we* are, to *You*, too!

~~wynn manners
29.November.2011.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Praise for God’s Wonderful Works

Psalm 111

1 Praise the LORD. I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who have pleasure in them.

3 Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures for ever.

4 He has caused his wonderful works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful.

5 He provides food for those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant.

6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.

7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy,

8 they are established for ever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant for ever. Holy and terrible is his name!

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who practice it. His praise endures for ever!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Psalm 111

The works of Good are great
and are the praise of creation.
Good is not inward and not outward. It is both
but it is more. It is higher.
It is joined and whole. It is holy, and therefore Good.
Good is creative and the children of the Light of Good
become known in that light when they allow creation.
So get going with great praise and be creative.
All works become creative when they are re-creational and loving.
It is not what you are doing that matters
but what you are feeling about it as you do it.
Every act can be mindful, prayerful, and playful.
Then it becomes not just outward
or not just inward but whole and sacred and a Good work.
So praise the art of living
and whatever you do, make it creative.
Nothing is so small or trivial that it cannot be a prayer,
a creative act of your goodness.
Then it is no longer a duel between inner and outer
but a harmony of oneness expressing itself through Good*s idea.
Religion is not a doctrine or code of law.
Religion is a recreational playfulness of spirit.
People are not born into religion but into the game of creative choice.
People are bliss-beings that praise creativity in every way.
People are soul-spaces of infinite spiritual creativity.
They move infinity around and make it more.
Mostly they move ideas around as fun things to do with Good.
Their vocation is their vacation
and their prayers fun things to do with the consenting Universe.
Then they do not get stuck in the inside subjectively
or on the outside objectively.
They flow recreationally as holy beings
and masterminds of good-idea waves of playful choice-prayers.
Choice-prayers are magical-movements of praise
allowed to be made real. They join inward thought-forms
to the outward form-thoughts of the seen.
They allow the Idea to be shaped by desire
as fun ways of being what you are:
creative bliss-beings of light.
So take pleasure in the creative, no matter what way it happens
and creation will become your recreational playtime.
All will be a praise-prayer and Light-work of movement
created for fun by the light-worker within your Good.
Choice-prayers are the motivational magic of miracles.
They are the art of love-saints who have got it going on.
Everything comes to those who choose,
who are steadfast in their Good.
Good things are made with playful thought-fingers
and good hearts that are handy with light arrangements of reality.
Light-working love-saints write their own commandments of Yes
and only say no to hopelessness.
Their covenant is to Good and they have fun being fun.
Fear is the beginning of poor choice
but wisdom is the choice to be free.
When freedom allows love to guide it,
wisdom shines out.
Good understands and overcomes all fear
and states its goodness into reality-blossoms.
Manifestations of miraculous thoughts
that are flower-arrangements of good pleasure-forms,
and they see that as perfectly Good.
They know that Light is the love-commandment of Good
and, knowing this, they shine.

love

eric

Copyright by Eric Ashford December 2003.