“Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones, and of all filthiness.”~ Matthew 23:27. We are redeemed by what we are, not by what we do. To sense the permeation of spiritual and material as … Continue reading The Desert Approaches
The Closed Circle
Saltmarsh watersnake in a mangrove swamp. Not pictured are the mosquitos in their dark-clouded legions. Saltmarsh watersnake in a mangrove swamp I’ve seen a lot of ibises, though too small to take on serpents of this size. I’m open to being surprised. ————————— Serpents have rich symbolism, both benefic and malefic like any other. When … Continue reading The Closed Circle
What Hovers Over the Waters
A few weeks ago in a grocery store I saw a man wearing a shirt that said: “Your actions define who you are.” What came to mind was what James Allen countered with: “The aphorism, ‘As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,’ not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but … Continue reading What Hovers Over the Waters
Three Temptations
In 1938 the Catholic esotericist Valentin Tomberg gave a series of seven lectures on inner development, his fifth lecture being on Christ’s temptations in the wilderness. The devil’s three temptations in reverse order of Matthew’s Gospel account are as follows:1. The world and its glories, if he worships him2. Testing God by jumping from the … Continue reading Three Temptations
What to Make of the Flowers
“When the world seems to tremble on its foundations, a glance cast upon a flower can restore order.”~ Ernst Jünger, Journal 1945–1948. Aristotle, and some 1,500 years later Aquinas, would call the vegetative soul the most basic aspect of the living hierarchy, with Plato too before them attributing the ‘appetitive’ aspect of the tripartite soul … Continue reading What to Make of the Flowers
Man the Animal
Science and the materialists say we’re apes. Traditional teachings say the same, to a point. This shouldn’t be an observation that alarms anyone, though of course it’s a common tendency to desire to be special and view oneself as somehow separated from the animal; and we are, ideally. Part of what sets us apart from … Continue reading Man the Animal
Epiphany of Being
Correspondence "Becoming is not a contradiction of being but the epiphany of being" ~ Ananda Coomaraswamy. Traditional teachings say that our empirical, material world is a reflection of the spiritual from which it receives all of its reality; or in other words the metaphysical manifests itself in the world. Everything in existence expresses this in … Continue reading Epiphany of Being
Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a ‘warrior/kingly’ class saga, complete with the solar motif of Gilgamesh the king living under the divine protection of the sun god Shamash (Sumerian ‘Utu’). Far from being the ideal ruler however, he abuses his station, is prone to overindulging in sentimentalism, and overturns the right order of things. Later … Continue reading Gilgamesh
Breath, Word, Language
"The mouth is the beginning of all speech,a support to wisdom and a comfort to the wise,and a prosperity and trust to every earl."~ Old English Rune Poem. ᚨ In many cultures it is a shared perspective that all is symbol, an expression and reflection of principles which exist above it in a Law of … Continue reading Breath, Word, Language
Hercules in Hell
After his murderous insanity induced by the goddess Hera, Hercules travelled to Delphi to atone and pray to Apollo for guidance, who directed him to serve Eurystheus as penance, leading to Hercules’ famous 12 Labours. The pattern of 12 appears often, as in the number of the Olympian gods, as well as the 12 signs … Continue reading Hercules in Hell
Sum Ergo Oro 