Sunday, December 23, 2007

Choosing A Talisman For Affluence





Amulets have been used throughout the ages to protect the
holder from trouble. Talismans are objects that bring luck. Both
have been around since the dawn of man. Literally. I don't have
proof, but I wholeheartedly believe that the first man ever saw
a rock or shell and picked it up and thought to himself, 'This
is a special item which will bring me luck and protect me from
evil.'

And as the thought escaped his mind, the little rock or shell
became imbued with meaning. It might not have been special to
anyone else in the world, but for him, it was filled with power.

It is human nature to attach. We carry a baby blanket, hold on
to keepsakes, believe rings symbolize love and/or commitment.
When you think about us humans, it's rather beautiful that we do
this. We give inanimate objects significance and ask them to
give us luck, love, wealth, protect us, connect us, and repel
evil.

Amulets or talismans can be anything-gems, coins, stones,
shells, rings, symbols, statues and even drawings or words.

I'm not asking you to worship false gods or believe in
something esoteric. My intent behind this is to focus on
affluence, your affluence. What symbol do you have on your body
at this very moment that symbolizes your relationship and future
with affluence? Maybe you carry around a large denomination
bill. Perhaps it's an expensive watch. It can be anything that
really resonates with you.

When you carry around something that embodies wealth, you are
carrying the very process of persuasion. It can equate to you,
in your other than conscious mind, as something with the
capacity to improve your life and steer you toward a big goal.

When I was a child, my father carried a cross pins around. I
was so eager to have my own set when I grew up. At age sixteen I
was given my own gold cross pins. This made me ecstatic and I
felt I had really made it in life. I carried them everywhere. I
loved them. My friends would tease me. They'd say, 'Why are you
wearing those?' I would respond, 'My dad gave them to me. I like
them.'

Now I carry a one ounce gold coin and a one ounce silver coin.
They're not only religious in nature for me, but a very tangible
symbol of wealth. I take time everyday to commune with the coins
and express my gratitude that even in this economy, they're
increasing in value.

I love that these coins are real and if I needed to cash them
in today, I could.

The other thing symbols do is give us grounding and reminding.
Sticking your hand in your pocket and finding that gem or gold
nugget will remind you of your relationship to affluence. Every
time you look to see what time it is, that Rolex reminds you of
your relationship to affluence. Every time you feel or see these
objects, remind yourself, 'I am a money magnet. I attract
affluence on every level. I am grateful for what I have and for
what will soon be mine.'

That's awesome! A beautiful constant reminder to remain ever
focused on your affluence.

About The Author: Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to earn
the business of affluent clients using persuasion. He runs
public and private seminars and offers home study courses and
coaching programs in http://www.maxpersuasion.com persuasion
techniques.

Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=210746

Thursday, December 13, 2007

The Cosmic Dance is the dance of Subatomic Matter !

Fritjof Capra in his " Tao of Physics " saw the dance of particles, black holes, galaxies and concluded that " this is the dance of Shiva, the lord of the dancers worshipped by the Hindus "

The dancing Siva is the dancing Universe.

The more we explore into the inner realms of Physics, the more we will be stunned by its similarity with ancient Wisdom. Max Planck regarded Consciousness as fundamental. De Broglie regarded Matter as a derivative of Consciousness. The De Broglie Hypothesis states that Matter behaves both as particles and as waves.

The Whole Universe seems to be dancing and this Cosmic Dance was symbolised by the ancients as the Dance of Siva

In his ' The Dancing Wu Li Masters ", Gary Zukav elaborates on the same idea. "The Cosmic dance is the dance of subatomic matter ", declares Capra !

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Gandhi

Gandhi was born into a family with generations of Prime Ministers.His grandfather, Ota Gandhi, had many children with different wives.Throughout his childhood though, he did not think or feel that thosesons were from a different mother. Out of the six sons was hisfather, Kaba Gandhi, who was a member of the Rajasthanik Court. Fora while he was a Prime minister but died as a pensioner. Withdifferent wives, he dad had three daughters and three sons, himbeing the youngest. He said, "My father never had any ambition toaccumulate riches and left us very little property." His father wasnot very inspiring to him but his mother "left an outstandingimpression on his memory". She was very religious and prayed beforeevery meal, and prayed even if she was sick. She performed herduties without hesitation of interference. When she fasted she wouldgo one meal a day or even every other day. She had strongcommonsense and ladies of the court admired her intelligence. "OftenI would accompany her, exercising the privilage of childhood," hesaid. Gandhi was born at Porbandar, on October 2, 1869. Duringschool, he had trouble with multiplication tables and only remembersnothing of what he learned but memories of his friends and pickingat the teacher. Therefore, he considered his intellect to besluggish. All throughout primary school to high school he was shyand never even told a lie. "My books and lessons were my solecompanions," he claimed. He would run back and forth from schoolbecause he would be afraid to talk to anyone. When spelling a word,he let himself feel stupid being the only to not spell it correctly.But that as because he could "never learned the art of copying". Hestill kept respect for elders and carried out any orders they had.Gandhi found a book purchased by his father with a picture of a mancarrying (slings fitted for his shoulders) his blind parents on apilgrimage. Gandhi was so inspired he told himself, "Here is anexample for you to copy." Gandhi had to marry at a young age and hedid not completely understand it. He did not really like the idea ofgoing through all of the conflict and trouble of getting married soyoung. But he was devoted to his parents and respected what they hadprepared for him. He said, I had yet to learn that all happiness andpleasure should be sacrificed in devoted service to my parents.After the marriage he received gifts and pamphlets on how to be agood husband. The on that stuck to his mind and heart the mostwas "lifelong faithfulness to the wife", even though the passion fortruth was already innate to him. At first he had trouble with theconcept of a jealous husband, if they are exact or if he should haveauthority and set restrictions. Aside all of this, his actions wereall based on love. His ambition was to make her his ideal wife andmake her live a pure life. To him, even though she did not show loveback he was okay with it, because "there was an active love on oneside at least". Even with the marriage he carried out his studiesthrough high school and achieved many awards and scholarships.Gandhi hated exercise and one day skipped class. He returned thenext day and lied to the teacher about where he was. Doing thatdeeply pained him and made him cry... he felt so guilty and madethe "first and last carelessness of his instance at school". In highschool, a big tragedy happened when his friend forsook him. "Itlasted long. I formed it in spirit of a reformer." He then realizedthat a reformer cannot afford to have close intimacy with him whomhe seeks to reform. True friendship is an identity of souls rarelyto be found in this world. Only between like natures can friendshipbe altogether worthy and enduring. Friends react on one another.Hence in friendship there is very little scope for reform. I am ofopinion that all exclusive intimacies are to be avoided; for mantakes in vice far more readily than virtue. And he who would befriends with God must remain alone, or make the whole world hisfriend. I may be wrong, but my effort to cultivate an intimatefriendship proved a failure. The one he called a friend was a meat-eater and convinced Gandhi eating meat was good. The tragedy leadson when he started to eat meat and was lying to his parents aboutit. It was then disheartening him so much that he had to stop, sothat he could be faithful to his parents and his wife, even thoughhe had to go against his friend. Gandhi went thought a phase ofstealing and wanting to commit suicide. He then realized it is mucheasier to contemplate suicide than perform it. He kept stealingthough, and felt guilty and wrote a confession to his father forforgiveness. Seeing his father cry of love disheartened Gandhitoo... and from that fogiveness and love, Ghandi promised never tocommit the sin again. Gandhi faced another tragedy when his fatherdied. The worst thing he felt was shame, because with his fatherwhen he died. At the moment he went to see his wife, and feltshameful he did not keep massaging his father, till he died in hisarms. He considered himself lustful but a faithful husband, andeventually overcame it. Gandhi was born of the Vaishnava faith, butstarted to have glimpses of other religions. He learned aboutRamanama, Ram Raksha, Ekadashi, and Christianity, which he found todislike. Gandhi decided to go to college in London. He had to waitto sail there from Bombay. He finally arrived at London at wasgreeted by Englishmen. "This was my first lesson in Europeanetiquette, into the details of which Dr. Mehta humorously initiatedme.'Do not touch other people's things,' he said.'Do not askquestions as we usually do in India on first acquaintance; do nottalk loudly; never address people as 'sir' whilst speaking to themas we do in India; only servants and subordinates address theirmasters that way; And so on and so forth." Being at London, he madechoice follow vegetarianism and made a mission to spread it. Gandhimade himself become an English gentleman by buying new clothes,fixing his hair and grooming himself, and becoming involved withactivities like dancing, learning French, and playing the violin.Through this drastic change, he became a student. Gandhi had toeconomize and started making changes by spending less money, nolonger living with a family to rent suite rooms, and began to studyhard even learning Latin. He said, "The change harmonized my inwardand outward life. It was also more in keeping with the means of myfamily. My life was certainly more truthful and my soul knew nobounds of joy." By becoming vegetarian, he had to try to adjust bymaking many experiments of making certain foods he can eat andcannot eat. He said "Many such experiments taught me that the realseat of taste was not the tongue but the mind." Gandhi then starteda vegetarian club in Bayswater, where he was the secretary. It didnot last long though because he left to spread it among otherplaces. He was then was elected to the Executive Committee of theVegetarian Society but did not speak up much.. He was still veryshy. "This shyness I retained throughout my stay in England. Evenwhen I paid a social call the presence of half a dozen or morepeople would strike me dumb." He finally overcame his shyness inSouth Africa and grew from it. He learned "Experience has taught methat silence is part of the spiritual discipline of a votary oftruth. Proneness to exaggerate, to suppress or modify the truth,wittingly or unwittingly, is a natural weakness of man and silenceis necessary in order to surmount it." Gandhi found himself in adilemma because since Indians and Englishmen were not fond ofmarriage, Gandhi did not mention his. A lady then became fond ofhim, not knowing he was married, and so he spoke the truth. "I thuspurged myself of the canker of untruth, and I never thenceforwardhesitated to talk of my married state wherever necessary." Gandhithen spent most of his years traveling and looking at differentreligions. During this time, he was also studying different thingsand passing many examinations, eventually coming upon the study ofIndian law. He also spent a great amount of time trying to helpfamilies and the community. He says, "Service of the poor has beenmy heart's desire, and it has always thrown me amongst the poor andenabled me to identify myself with them. If I found myself entirelyabsorbed in the service of the community, the reason behind it wasmy desire for self-realization. I had made the religion of servicemy own, as I felt that God could be realized only through service.And service for me was the service of India, because it came to mewithout my seeking, because I had an aptitude for it. I had gone toSouth Africa for travel, for finding an escape from Kathiawasintrigues and for gaining my own livelihood. But as I have said, Ifound myself in search of God and striving for self- realization."Gandhi did great service for India. He wanted to make a societywith "no discrimination and no inequality". Socialism to him wasbeing completely equal. He explained, the equality between congressmembers of individual body is equal to the members in the society.The people in the society should have purity and truth within them.Because of Gandhi, "India went from subjection to freedom". Gandhiis the "Architect of Indian freedom".

Gandhi has a very genuine and honest ethical system. His actions arenever selfish and he does what will make others happy. Even when hewas younger, he never cheated and never lied. Although, when he didmake a white lie one, he felt very guilty and swore to never lieagain. When Gandhi would do something wrong, he feels it in his gutthat it is wrong and corrects it himself. Anything bad or untrue tohis parents would make him feel disheartened. His ethical system isalways doing right and still making others happy. Gandhi's ethicalsystem is much like Epictetus. Epictetus believed that everything isbased on "according to nature". He believes we should do what istruly good and have no intentions. That is how Gandhi was because healways did good deeds without expecting something in return. All ofhis actions were for the best and didn't fail to be true to the oneshe loved. Epictetus believes that happiness is based on virtue, andto him the progress of it means to understand your own true beingand your own moral character. Gandhi always tried to understand whohe is and always tried to do things for the better. He had greatmoral character and used himself to his greatest potential. Hestudied many religions and made choices for himself like becoming avegetarian. Epictetus believes that we should not have desires,because if we fail then it causes disappointment. Also, he says thatwe cannot control what others think of us, so it is in our power tohave our own mind and opinions. That is exactly how Gandhi wasbecause he did not have desires or pleasures. He was not selfish atall; he always did thing for the true good or for others. He neverthought about himself or doing actions just to gain pleasure. Also,Gandhi did not care what others thought about him. He realized whatthey might think of him, but still did what was in his nature.Because of this, sometimes he does struggle to do the right thing.For example, when everyone in his class spelled a word correctly andhe didn't, he looked stupid but it was because he did the rightthing. He refused to cheat, and it caused him to feel that theteacher was not impressed by him. He went through the struggle tosatisfy his wife, even though he did not feel the same love inreturn. Another event is when he lost his friend because he decidedhe could not eat meat, because it did not feel right. Gandhiaccepted the consequences of doing the right thing. What impressesme most about Gandhi is his honesty and unselfishness. No matterwhat he did, he was honest to those he loved. He felt bad anytimethat he did not cheat, or even told a white lie. It was impressivehow he would make a mistake and confess to it; accepting theconsequences. It impressed me how he was talking about satisfyingand loving his wife, like how he would give his all to her eventhough he did not have the same in return, because to him at leastthere is one side of love being given. He ahs influenced me to tryto see the world as it is. That you should do what is right and whatis true to yourself, without the worry of anything or anyone else.His words make me think that I could have more potential in myselfthan I believe. He makes me just want to be an allover truly goodperson, just like he was.

Posted by tinerneener at 4:24 PM

MIRABAI said...
nice post. gandhi was inspired greatly by the gita. you can read about it at http://www.gitananda.org/about-gita/index.php

July 6, 2007 3:27 PM

Source: http://ocampoethics.blogspot.com/2007/06/post-12-gandhi.html

The Healing Light

This past Sunday I conducted a Universal Worship Service for our monthly gathering of the Sufi Healing Circle of Atlanta. This was my “inaugural” service after returning from Sarasota, Florida, where I completed the 12-month program in Spiritual Caregiving and advanced from an Associate Cherag (minister) to a fully-ordained Cherag. (Scroll down to the entry dated October 11th to read more.)

The service on Sunday was an experimental form, with a focus on healing. A candle was lit for each religion represented on the altar (each candle lit from the same “God candle” in the center), but instead of reading from each tradition’s scriptures, we focused on the healing gift that each religion offers.

For Hinduism, we invoked the healing light of Divine Wisdom.
For Buddhism, the healing light of Divine Compassion.
For the Zoroastrian religon, the healing light of Divine Purity.
For the Native American traditions, the healing light of Divine Nature.
For the Divine Feminine and Goddess traditions, the healing light of Divine Love.
For Taoism, the healing light of Divine Harmony.
For Judaism, the healing light of Divine Covenant.
For Christianity, the healing light of Divine Self-Sacrifice.
For the religion of Islam, the healing light of Divine Unity.

After each candle was lit, we paused to let that healing light be kindled in our hearts. We asked ourselves silently what areas of our lives were in need of that particular healing quality. Then, as we felt comfortable sharing, we spoke aloud those prayers.

It was an amazing time of sharing in prayer together, a time of getting to know the hearts of each other. The service concluded with a Sufi blessing in dance form, led beautifully by Jacob Kabb:

May the Blessing of God rest upon you;
may God’s Peace abide with you;
may God’s Presence illuminate your hearts
now and for evermore. Amen.

And then – everyone just sat there. No one wanted to leave when the service was over, and no one did leave for quite a while. The spirit of blessing was as strong, as palpable, as it had been a few Sundays before, when I had been ordained as a Cherag in Sarasota. I feel tremendously blessed to have experienced it, and I feel very grateful that our Sufi community in Atlanta is so open-hearted and receptive to such a comforting and healing Presence.

I feel like we were able, for a wonderful moment, to experience the deeper Reality behind the different religions represented by the candles on the altar.

That experience, to me, is the heart of true mysticism.

My dear friend Carl McColman has recently signed a contract with a publisher to write a new book on Christian mysticism. (This is great news; it has been way too long since Carl has written a book!) He recently asked the readers of his blog, The Website of Unknowing, what mysticism means to them. This was my response:

Mysticism is that which enables us time-bound creatures to experience, for however fleeting a moment, the eternal.

Mysticism is the experience of “eternity in our hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Mysticism is the Reality behind the dogma, the deeper Truth beyond our creeds.

Mysticism is that which enabled the Dalai Lama and Thomas Merton to meet in the 1960’s and to recognize each other as brothers.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I find myself grateful to have friends and loved ones – Sufi, Christian, Pagan, Jewish, Buddhist, and “other” – who are in touch with that Reality and who bring such blessing to my life.

Hamza
Grateful Bear

The Meister Eckhart quote above is from explorefaith.com

Source - http://wildfaith.blogspot.com

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Nyaya Sastra, the Science of Logic !

Nyaya Sastra was founded by Gautama to affirm Vedic concepts and to refute non-Vedic arguments.

"The Science of Logic is that which illumines all learning, the instrument of all actions, the refuge of all moral ethics analysed completely for the purpose of knowledge", said he.

Pradeepa Sarva Vidyanam
Upadhi sarva karmanam
Ashraya Sarva Dharmanam
Vidyoddhese pareekhithah

Nirukta was founded by the seer Yaska. It is the Science of Definition. Aristotle said " If you want to converse with me, define your terms". So defining all terms is the duty of Nirukta ( Vasti tasya niruktham thu veda nirvachanam sphutam ).

The Four Noble Professions !

We find that professionals belong to four types.

Businessmen are Vaisyas; Spiritual People are Brahmanas; Military People are Kshatriyas and Service people are Shudras. No caste is meant here. The Four Noble Professions become the Four Noble Tribes, based on profession and qualities !

The Lord says in the Gita

The Four Noble Professions I did create
Based on innate qualities & profession
Even though I am the Cause for the Noble Four
Know me to be the Transcendent beyond all !

As all these bindings mundane
Involve me not, enchain me not !

( Chathurvarnyam Maya Srishtam
Guna Karma Vibhagsah
Tasyakarthara mapi mam
Vidhya akartharam anvayam )

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Symbols of Tantra

The Lamp outside corresponds to the Lamp within. ' Integrate the Fire outside with the Fire within " this is the basic principle of Tantra. ( Jnanagnim Bahyavagnim cha Ekkekritya Prapoojayeth ). Man is Microcosm, in which he copies the structure of the great Universe.

All external symbols correspond to the inner world in Tanra. With the use of external symbols, the Relative World is transcended.

The Sun is the symbol of the Absolute Self and Moon, the Mind. In Tantric Literature, you will find a lot of reference to the worlds of the Sun and the Moon. Know then that they are symbolic and represents the Male and Female components of the Ulitmate, Self & Mind !

Monday, September 10, 2007

Gayathri mantra Meditation

I am meditating on the Gayathri Mantra, the greatest amonst the mantras. Gayantham thrayate iti gayathri is the defintion. Which means that it is the mantra which protects the chanter.


It has protected me throughout and has given insight into Vedantic and Jyothish mysteries

Of Divine Grace


The Divine operates by remote control
Showing in the mind of the devotee
Whom He wants to redeem and save
The solution to the problem


Time Eternal does not cut off
Any person's head !
Whom He wants to destroy
Shows the wrong things in his mind !

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Sun, a Universal Deity





This article is about the Universal Deity, Sun and is taken from Manly P Hall's " Secret Teachings of all Ages"





The Sun, A Universal Deity

THE adoration of the sun was one of the earliest and most natural forms of religious expression. Complex modern theologies are merely involvements and amplifications of this simple aboriginal belief. The primitive mind, recognizing the beneficent power of the solar orb, adored it as the proxy of the Supreme Deity. Concerning the origin of sun worship, Albert Pike makes the following concise statement in his Morals and Dogma: "To them [aboriginal peoples] he [the sun] was the innate fire of bodies, the fire of Nature. Author of Life, heat, and ignition, he was to them the efficient cause of all generation, for without him there was no movement, no existence, no form. He was to them immense, indivisible, imperishable, and everywhere present. It was their need of light, and of his creative energy, that was felt by all men; and nothing was more fearful to them than his absence. His beneficent influences caused his identification with the Principle of Good; and the BRAHMA of the Hindus, and MITHRAS of the Persians, and ATHOM, AMUN, PHTHA, and OSIRIS, of the Egyptians, the BEL of the Chaldeans, the ADONAI of the Phœnicians, the ADONIS and APOLLO of the Greeks, became but personifications of the Sun, the regenerating Principle, image of that fecundity which perpetuates and rejuvenates the world's existence."

Among all the nations of antiquity, altars, mounds, and temples were dedicated to the worship of the orb of day. The ruins of these sacred places yet remain, notable among them being the pyramids of Yucatan and Egypt, the snake mounds of the American Indians, the Zikkurats of Babylon and Chaldea, the round towers of Ireland, and the massive rings of uncut stone in Britain and Normandy. The Tower of Babel, which, according to the Scriptures, was built so that man might reach up to God, was probably an astronomical observatory.

Many early priests and prophets, both pagan and Christian, were versed in astronomy and astrology; their writings are best understood when read in the light of these ancient sciences. With the growth of man's knowledge of the constitution and periodicity of the heavenly bodies, astronomical principles and terminology were introduced into his religious systems. The tutelary gods were given planetary thrones, the celestial bodies being named after the deities assigned to them. The fixed stars were divided into constellations, and through these constellations wandered the sun and its planets, the latter with their accompanying satellites.

THE SOLAR TRINITY

The sun, as supreme among the celestial bodies visible to the astronomers of antiquity, was assigned to the highest of the gods and became symbolic of the supreme authority of the Creator Himself. From a deep philosophic consideration of the powers and principles of the sun has come the concept of the Trinity as it is understood in the world today. The tenet of a Triune Divinity is not peculiar to Christian or Mosaic theology, but forms a conspicuous part of the dogma of the greatest religions of both ancient and modern times. The Persians, Hindus, Babylonians, and Egyptians had their Trinities. In every instance these represented the threefold form of one Supreme Intelligence. In modern Masonry, the Deity is symbolized by an equilateral triangle, its three sides representing the primary manifestations of the Eternal One who is Himself represented as a tiny flame, called by the Hebrews Yod (י). Jakob Böhme, the Teutonic mystic, calls the Trinity The Three Witnesses, by means of which the Invisible is made known to the visible, tangible universe.

The origin of the Trinity is obvious to anyone who will observe the daily manifestations of the sun. This orb, being the symbol of all Light, has three distinct phases: rising, midday, and setting. The philosophers therefore divided the life of all things into three distinct parts: growth, maturity, and decay. Between the twilight of dawn and the twilight of evening is the high noon of resplendent glory. God the Father, the Creator of the world, is symbolized by the dawn. His color is blue, because the sun rising in the morning is veiled in blue mist. God the Son he Illuminating One sent to bear witness of His Father before all the worlds, is the celestial globe at noonday, radiant and magnificent, the maned Lion of Judah, the Golden-haired Savior of the World. Yellow is His color and His power is without end. God the Holy Ghost is the sunset phase, when the orb of day, robed in flaming red, rests for a moment upon the horizon line and then vanishes into the darkness of the night to wandering the lower worlds and later rise again triumphant from the embrace of darkness.

To the Egyptians the sun was the symbol of immortality, for, while it died each night, it rose again with each ensuing dawn. Not only has the sun this diurnal activity, but it also has its annual pilgrimage, during which time it passes successively through the twelve celestial houses of the heavens, remaining in each for thirty days. Added to these it has a third path of travel, which is called the precession of the equinoxes, in which it retrogrades around the zodiac through the twelve signs at the rate of one degree every seventy-two years.

Concerning the annual passage of the sun through the twelve houses of the heavens, Robert Hewitt Brown, 32°, makes the following statement: "The Sun, as he pursued his way among these 'living creatures' of the zodiac, was said, in allegorical language, either to assume the nature of or to triumph over the sign he entered. The sun thus became a Bull in Taurus, and was worshipped as such by the Egyptians under the name of Apis, and by the Assyrians as Bel, Baal, or Bul. In Leo the sun became a Lion-slayer, Hercules, and an Archer in Sagittarius. In Pisces, the Fishes, he was a fish--Dagon, or Vishnu, the fish-god of the Philistines and Hindoos."
A careful analysis of the religious systems of pagandom uncovers much evidence of the fact that its priests served the solar energy and that their Supreme Deity was in every case this Divine Light personified. Godfrey Higgins, after thirty years of inquiry into the origin of religious beliefs, is of the opinion that "All the Gods of antiquity resolved themselves into the solar fire, sometimes itself as God, or sometimes an emblem or shekinah of that higher principle, known by the name of the creative Being or God."

The Egyptian priests in many of their ceremonies wore the skins of lions, which were symbols of the solar orb, owing to the fact that the sun is exalted, dignified, and most fortunately placed in the constellation of Leo, which he rules and which was at one time the keystone of the celestial arch. Again, Hercules is the Solar Deity, for as this mighty hunter performed his twelve labors, so the sun, in traversing the twelve houses of the zodiacal band, performs during his pilgrimage twelve essential and benevolent labors for the human race and for Nature in general, Hercules, like the Egyptian priests, wore the skin of a lion for a girdle. Samson, the Hebrew hero, as his

Click to enlargeTHE LION OF THE SUN.

From Maurice's Indian Antiquities.

The sun rising over the back of the lion or, astrologically, in the back of the lion, has always been considered symbolic of power and rulership. A symbol very similar to the one above appears on the flag of Persia, whose people have always been sun worshipers. Kings and emperors have frequently associated their terrestrial power with the celestial Power of the solar orb, and have accepted the sun, or one of its symbolic beasts or birds, as their emblem. Witness the lion of the Great Mogul and the eagles of Cæsar and Napoleon.

Click to enlargeTHE WINGED GLOBE OF EGYPT.

From Maurice's Indian Antiquities.

This symbol, which appears over the Pylons or gates of many Egyptian palaces and temples, is emblematic of the three persons of the Egyptian Trinity. The wings, the serpents, and the solar orb are the insignia of Ammon, Ra, and Osiris.
p. 50
name implies, is also a solar deity. His fight with the Nubian lion, his battles with the Philistines, who represent the Powers of Darkness, and his memorable feat of carrying off the gates of Gaza, all refer to aspects of solar activity. Many of the ancient peoples had more than one solar deity; in fact, all of the gods and goddesses were supposed to partake, in part at least, of the sun's effulgence.

The golden ornaments used by the priestcraft of the various world religions are again a subtle reference to the solar energy, as are also the crowns of kings. In ancient times, crowns had a number of points extending outward like the rays of the sun, but modern conventionalism has, in many cases, either removed the points or else bent: them inward, gathered them together, and placed an orb or cross upon the point where they meet. Many of the ancient prophets, philosophers, and dignitaries carried a scepter, the upper end of which bore a representation of the solar globe surrounded by emanating rays. All the kingdoms of earth were but copies of the kingdoms of Heaven, and the kingdoms of Heaven were best symbolized by the solar kingdom, in which the sun was the supreme ruler, the planets his privy council, and all Nature the subjects of his empire.

Many deities have been associated with the sun. The Greeks believed that Apollo, Bacchus, Dionysos, Sabazius, Hercules, Jason, Ulysses, Zeus, Uranus, and Vulcan partook of either the visible or invisible attributes of the sun. The Norwegians regarded Balder the Beautiful as a solar deity, and Odin is often connected with the celestial orb, especially because of his one eye. Among the Egyptians, Osiris, Ra, Anubis, Hermes, and even the mysterious Ammon himself had points of resemblance with the solar disc. Isis was the mother of the sun, and even Typhon, the Destroyer, was supposed to be a form of solar energy. The Egyptian sun myth finally centered around the person of a mysterious deity called Serapis. The two Central American deities, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, while often associated with the winds, were also undoubtedly solar gods.

In Masonry the sun has many symbols. One expression of the solar energy is Solomon, whose name SOL-OM-ON is the name for the Supreme Light in three different languages. Hiram Abiff, the CHiram (Hiram) of the Chaldees, is also a solar deity, and the story of his attack and murder by the Ruffians, with its solar interpretation, will be found in the chapter The Hiramic Legend. A striking example of the important part which the sun plays in the symbols and rituals of Freemasonry is given by George Oliver, D.D., in his Dictionary of Symbolical Masonry, as follows:

"The sun rises in the east, and in the east is the place for the Worshipful Master. As the sun is the source of all light and warmth, so should the Worshipful Master enliven and warm the brethren to their work. Among the ancient Egyptians the sun was the symbol of divine providence." The hierophants of the Mysteries were adorned with many. insignia emblematic of solar power. The sunbursts of gilt embroidery on the back of the vestments of the Catholic priesthood signify that the priest is also an emissary and representative of Sol Invictus.

CHRISTIANITY AND THE SUN

For reasons which they doubtless considered sufficient, those who chronicled the life and acts of Jesus found it advisable to metamorphose him into a solar deity. The historical Jesus was forgotten; nearly all the salient incidents recorded in the four Gospels have their correlations in the movements, phases, or functions of the heavenly bodies.

Among other allegories borrowed by Christianity from pagan antiquity is the story of the beautiful, blue-eyed Sun God, with His golden hair falling upon His shoulders, robed from head to foot in spotless white and carrying in His arms the Lamb of God, symbolic of the vernal equinox. This handsome youth is a composite of Apollo, Osiris, Orpheus, Mithras, and Bacchus, for He has certain characteristics in common with each of these pagan deities.

The philosophers of Greece and Egypt divided the life of the sun during the year into four parts; therefore they symbolized the Solar Man by four different figures. When He was born in the winter solstice, the Sun God was symbolized as a dependent infant who in some mysterious manner had managed to escape the Powers of Darkness seeking to destroy Him while He was still in the cradle of winter. The sun, being weak at this season of the year, had no golden rays (or locks of hair), but the survival of the light through the darkness of winter was symbolized by one tiny hair which alone adorned the head of the Celestial Child. (As the birth of the sun took place in Capricorn, it was often represented as being suckled by a goat.)

At the vernal equinox, the sun had grown to be a beautiful youth. His golden hair hung in ringlets on his shoulders and his light, as Schiller said, extended to all parts of infinity. At the summer solstice, the sun became a strong man, heavily bearded, who, in the prime of maturity, symbolized the fact that Nature at this period of the year is strongest and most fecund. At the autumnal equinox, the sun was pictured as an aged man, shuffling along with bended back and whitened locks into the oblivion of winter darkness. Thus, twelve months were assigned to the sun as the length of its life. During this period it circled the twelve signs of the zodiac in a magnificent triumphal march. When fall came, it entered, like Samson, into the house of Delilah (Virgo), where its rays were cut off and it lost its strength. In Masonry, the cruel winter months are symbolized by three murderers who sought to destroy the God of Light and Truth.
The coming of the sun was hailed with joy; the time of its departure was viewed as a period to be set aside for sorrow and unhappiness. This glorious, radiant orb of day, the true light "which lighteth every man who cometh into the world," the supreme benefactor, who raised all things from the dead, who fed the hungry multitudes, who stilled the tempest, who after dying rose again and restored all things to life--this Supreme Spirit of humanitarianism and philanthropy is known to Christendom as Christ, the Redeemer of worlds, the Only Begotten of The Father, the Word made Flesh, and the Hope of Glory.

THE BIRTHDAY OF THE SUN

The pagans set aside the 25th of December as the birthday of the Solar Man. They rejoiced, feasted, gathered in processions, and made offerings in the temples. The darkness of winter was over and the glorious son of light was returning to the Northern Hemisphere. With his last effort the old Sun God had torn down the house of the Philistines (the Spirits of Darkness) and had cleared the way for the new sun who was born that day from the depths of the earth amidst the symbolic beasts of the lower world.

Concerning this season of celebration, an anonymous Master of Arts of Balliol College, Oxford, in his scholarly treatise, Mankind Their Origin and Destiny, says: "The Romans also had their solar festival, and their games of the circus in honor of the birth of the god of day. It took place the eighth day before the kalends of January--that is, on December 25. Servius, in his commentary on verse 720 of the seventh book of the Æneid, in which Virgil speaks of the new sun, says that, properly speaking, the sun is new on the 8th of the Kalends of January-that is, December 25. In the time of Leo I. (Leo, Serm. xxi., De Nativ. Dom. p. 148), some of the Fathers of the Church said that 'what rendered the festival (of Christmas) venerable was less the birth of Jesus Christ than the return, and, as they expressed it, the new birth of the sun.' It was on the same day that the birth of the Invincible Sun (Natalis solis invicti), was celebrated at Rome, as can be seen in the Roman calendars, published in the reign of Constantine and of Julian (Hymn to the Sun, p. 155). This epithet 'Invictus' is the same as the Persians gave to this same god, whom they worshipped by the name of Mithra, and whom they caused to be born in a grotto (Justin. Dial. cum Trips. p. 305), just as he is represented as being born in a stable, under the name of Christ, by the Christians."

Concerning the Catholic Feast of the Assumption and its parallel in astronomy, the same author adds: "At the end of eight months, when the sun-god, having increased, traverses the eighth sign, he absorbs the celestial Virgin in his fiery course, and she disappears in the midst of the luminous rays and the glory of her son. This phenomenon, which takes place every year about the middle of August, gave rise to a festival which still exists, and in which it is supposed that the mother of Christ, laying aside her earthly life, is associated with the glory of her son, and is placed at his side in the heavens. The Roman calendar of Columella (Col. 1. II. cap. ii. p. 429) marks the death or disappearance of Virgo at this period. The sun, he says, passes into Virgo on the thirteenth day before the kalends of September. This is where the Catholics place the Feast of the Assumption, or the reunion of the Virgin to her Son. This feast

Click to enlargeTHE THREE SUNS.

From Lilly's Astrological Predictions for 1648, 1649, and 1650.)

The following description of this phenomenon appears in a letter written by Jeremiah Shakerley in Lancashire, March 4th, 1648:--"On Monday the 28th of February last, there arose with the Sun two Parelii, on either side one; their distance from him was by estimation, about ten degrees; they continued still of the same distance from the Zenith, or height above the Horizon, that the Sun did; and from the parts averse to the Sun, there seemed to issue out certain bright rays, not unlike those which the Sun sendeth from behind a cloud, but brighter. The parts of these Parelii which were toward the Sun, were of a mixt colour, wherein green and red were most predominant. A little above them was a thin rainbow, scarcely discernible, of a bright colour, with the concave towards the Sun, and the ends thereof seeming to touch the Parelii: Above that, in a clear diaphanous ayr, [air], appeared another conspicuous Rainbow, beautified with divers colours; it was as neer as I could discern to the Zenith; it seemed of something a lesser radius than the other, they being back to back, yet a pretty way between. At or neer the apparent time of the full Moon, they vanished, leaving abundance of terror and amazement in those that saw them. (See William Lilly.)

was formerly called the feast of the Passage of the Virgin (Beausobre, tome i. p. 350); and in the Library of the Fathers (Bibl. Part. vol. II. part ii. p. 212) we have an account of the Passage of the Blessed Virgin. The ancient Greeks and Romans fix the assumption of Astraea, who is also this same Virgin, on that day."

This Virgin mother, giving birth to the Sun God which Christianity has so faithfully preserved, is a reminder of the inscription concerning her Egyptian prototype, Isis, which appeared on the Temple of Sais: "The fruit which I have brought forth is the Sun." While the Virgin was associated with the moon by the early pagans, there is no doubt that they also understood her position as a constellation in the heavens, for nearly all the peoples of antiquity credit her as being the mother of the sun, and they realized that although the moon could not occupy that position, the sign of Virgo could, and did, give birth to the sun out of her side on the 25th day of December. Albertus Magnus states, "We know that the sign of the Celestial Virgin rose over the Horizon at the moment at which we fix the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Among certain of the Arabian and Persian astronomers the three stars forming the sword belt of Orion were called the Magi who came to pay homage to the young Sun God. The author of Mankind--Their Origin and Destiny contributes the following additional information: "In Cancer, which had risen to the meridian at midnight, is the constellation of the Stable and of the Ass. The ancients called it Præsepe Jovis. In the north the stars of the Bear are seen, called by the Arabians Martha and Mary, and also the coffin of Lazarus. "Thus the esotericism of pagandom was embodied in Christianity, although its keys are lost. The Christian church blindly follows ancient customs, and when asked for a reason gives superficial and unsatisfactory explanations, either forgetting or ignoring the indisputable fact that each religion is based upon the secret doctrines of its predecessor.

THE THREE SUNS

The solar orb, like the nature of man, was divided by the ancient sages into three separate bodies. According to the mystics, there are three suns in each solar system, analogous to the three centers of life in each individual constitution. These are called three lights: the spiritual sun, the intellectual or soular sun, and the material sun (now symbolized in Freemasonry by three candles). The spiritual sun manifests the power of God the Father; the soular sun radiates the life of God the Son; and the material sun is the vehicle of manifestation for God the Holy Spirit. Man's nature was divided by the mystics into three distinct parts: spirit, soul, and body. His physical body was unfolded and vitalized by the material sun; his spiritual nature was illuminated by the spiritual sun; and his intellectual nature was redeemed by the true light of grace--the soular sun. The alignment of these three globes in the heavens was one explanation offered for the peculiar fact that the orbits of the planets are not circular but elliptical.
The pagan priests always considered the solar system as a Grand Man, and drew their analogy of these three centers of activity from the three main centers of life in the human body: the brain, the heart, and the generative system. The Transfiguration of Jesus describes three tabernacles, the largest being in the center (the heart), and a smaller one on either side (the brain and the generative system). It is possible that the philosophical hypothesis of the existence of the three suns is based upon a peculiar natural phenomenon which has occurred many times in history. In the fifty- first year after Christ three suns were seen at once in the sky and also in the sixty-sixth year. In the sixty-ninth year, two suns were seen together. According to William Lilly, between the years 1156 and 1648 twenty similar occurrences were recorded.

Recognizing the sun as the supreme benefactor of the material world, Hermetists believed that there was a spiritual sun which ministered to the needs of the invisible and divine part of Nature--human and universal. Anent this subject, the great Paracelsus wrote: "There is an earthly sun, which is the cause of all heat, and all who are able to see may see the sun; and those who are blind and cannot see him may feel his heat. There is an Eternal Sun, which is the source of all wisdom, and those whose spiritual senses have awakened to life will see that sun and be conscious of His existence; but those who have not attained spiritual consciousness may yet feel His power by an inner faculty which is called Intuition."

Certain Rosicrucian scholars have given special appellations to these three phases of the sun: the spiritual sun they called Vulcan; the soular and intellectual sun, Christ and Lucifer respectively; and the material sun, the Jewish Demiurgus Jehovah. Lucifer here represents the intellectual mind without the illumination of the spiritual mind; therefore it is "the false light. " The false light is finally overcome and redeemed by the true light of the soul, called the Second Logos or Christ. The secret processes by which the Luciferian intellect is transmuted into the Christly intellect constitute one of the great secrets of alchemy, and are symbolized by the process of transmuting base metals into gold.

In the rare treatise The Secret Symbols of The Rosicrucians, Franz Hartmann defines the sun alchemically as: "The symbol of Wisdom. The Centre of Power or Heart of things. The Sun is a centre of energy and a storehouse of power. Each living being contains within itself a centre of life, which may grow to be a Sun. In the heart of the regenerated, the divine power, stimulated by the Light of the Logos, grows into a Sun which illuminates his mind." In a note, the same author amplifies his description by adding: "The terrestrial sun is the image or reflection of the invisible celestial sun; the former is in the realm of Spirit what the latter is in the realm of Matter; but the latter receives its power from the former."

In the majority of cases, the religions of antiquity agree that the material visible sun was a reflector rather than a source of power. The sun was sometimes represented as a shield carried on the arm of the Sun God, as for example, Frey, the Scandinavian Solar Deity. This sun reflected the light of the invisible spiritual sun, which was the true source of life, light, and truth. The physical nature of the universe is receptive; it is a realm of effects. The invisible causes of these effects belong to the spiritual world. Hence, the spiritual world is the sphere of causation; the material world is the sphere of effects; while the intellectual--or soul--world is the sphere of mediation. Thus Christ, the personified higher intellect and soul nature, is called "the Mediator" who, by virtue of His position and power, says: "No man cometh to the Father, but by me."
What the sun is to the solar system, the spirit is to the bodies of man; for his natures, organs, and functions are as planets surrounding the central life (or sun) and living upon its emanations. The solar power in man is divided into three parts, which are termed the threefold human spirit of man. All three of these spiritual natures are said to be radiant and transcendent; united, they form the Divinity in man. Man's threefold lower nature--consisting of his physical organism, his emotional nature, and his mental faculties--reflects the light of his threefold Divinity and bears witness of It in the physical world. Man's three bodies are symbolized by an upright triangle; his threefold spiritual nature by an inverted triangle. These two triangles, when united in the form of a six-pointed star, were called by the Jews "the Star of David," "the Signet of Solomon," and are more commonly known today as "the Star of Zion." These triangles symbolize the spiritual and material universes linked together in the constitution of the human creature, who partakes of both Nature and Divinity. Man's animal nature partakes of the earth; his divine nature of the heavens; his human nature of the mediator.

THE CELESTIAL INHABITANTS OF THE SUN

The Rosicrucians and the Illuminati, describing the angels, archangels, and other celestial creatures, declared that they resembled small suns, being centers of radiant energy surrounded by streamers of Vrilic force. From these outpouring streamers of force is derived the popular belief that angels have wings. These wings are corona-like fans of light, by means of which the celestial creatures propel themselves through the subtle essences of the superphysical worlds.
True mystics are unanimous in their denial of the theory that the angels and archangels are human in form, as so often pictured. A human figure would be utterly useless in the ethereal substances through which they manifest. Science has long debated the probability of the other planers being inhabited. Objections to the idea are based upon the argument that creatures with human organisms could nor possibly exist in the environments of Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. This argument fails to take into account Nature's universal law of adjustment to environment. The ancients asserted that life originated from the sun, and that everything when bathed in the light of the solar orb was capable of absorbing the solar life elements and later radiating them as flora and fauna. One philosophical

Click to enlargeSURYA, THE REGENT OF THE SUN.

From Moor's Hindu Pantheon.

Moor describes this figure as follows: "The cast is nine inches in height, representing the glorious god of day-holding the attributes of VISHNU, seated on a seven-headed serpent; his car drawn by a seven-headed horse, driven by the legless ARUN, a personification of the dawn, or AURORA." (See Moor's Hindu Pantheon.)
p. 52
concept regarded the sun as a parent and the planers as embryos still connected to the solar body by means of ethereal umbilical cords which served as channels to convey life and nourishment to the planets.

Some secret orders have taught that the sun was inhabited by a race of creatures with bodies composed of a radiant, spiritual ether not unlike in its constituency the actual glowing ball of the sun itself. The solar heat had no harmful effect upon them, because their organisms were sufficiently refined and sensitized to harmonize with the sun's tremendous vibratory rate. These creatures resemble miniature suns, being a little larger than a dinner plate in size, although some of the more powerful are considerably larger. Their color is the golden white light of the sun, and from them emanate four streamers of Vril. These streamers are often of great length and are in constant motion. A peculiar palpitation is to be noted throughout the structure of the globe and is communicated in the form of ripples to the emanating streamers. The greatest and most luminous of these spheres is the Archangel Michael; and the entire order of solar life, which resemble him and dwell upon the sun, are called by modern Christians "the archangels" or "the spirits of the light.

THE SUN IN ALCHEMICAL SYMBOLOGY

Gold is the metal of the sun and has been considered by many as crystallized sunlight. When gold is mentioned in alchemical tracts, it may be either the metal itself or the celestial orb which is the source, or spirit, of gold. Sulphur because of its fiery nature was also associated with the sun.

As gold was the symbol of spirit and the base metals represented man's lower nature, certain alchemists were called "miners" and were pictured with picks and shovels digging into the earth in search of the precious metal--those finer traits of character buried in the earthiness of materiality and ignorance. The diamond concealed in the heart of the black carbon illustrated the same principle. The Illuminati used a pearl hidden in the shell of an oyster at the bottom of the sea to signify spiritual powers. Thus the seeker after truth became a pearl-fisher: he descended into the sea of material illusion in search of understanding, termed by the initiates "the Pearl of Great Price."

When the alchemists stated that every animate and inanimate thing in the universe contained the seeds of gold, they meant that even the grains of sand possessed a spiritual nature, for gold was the spirit of all things. Concerning these seeds of spiritual gold the following Rosicrucian axiom is significant: "A seed is useless and impotent unless it is put in its appropriate matrix." Franz Hartmann comments on this axiom with these illuminating words: "A soul cannot develop and progress without an appropriate body, because it is the physical body that furnishes the material for its development." (See In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom.)

The purpose of alchemy was not to make something out of nothing but rather to fertilize and nurture the seed which was already present. Its processes did nor actually create gold but rather made the ever-present seed of gold grow and flourish. Everything which exists has a spirit--the seed of Divinity within itself--and regeneration is not the process of attempting to place something where it previously had not existed. Regeneration actually means the unfoldment of the omnipresent Divinity in man, that this Divinity may shine forth as a sun and illumine all with whom it comes in contact.

THE MIDNIGHT SUN

Apuleius said when describing his initiation (vide ante): "At midnight I saw the sun shining with a splendid light." The midnight sun was also part of the mystery of alchemy. It symbolized the spirit in man shining through the darkness of his human organisms. It also referred to the spiritual sun in the solar system, which the mystic could see as well at midnight as at high noon, the material earth bring powerless to obstruct the rays of this Divine orb. The mysterious lights which illuminated the temples of the Egyptian Mysteries during the nocturnal hours were said by some to he reflections of the spiritual sun gathered by the magical powers of the priests. The weird light seen ten miles below the surface of the earth by I-AM-THE-MAN in that remarkable Masonic allegory Etidorhpa (Aphrodite spelt backward) may well refer to the mysterious midnight sun of the ancient rites.

Primitive conceptions concerning the warfare between the principles of Good and Evil were often based upon the alternations of day and night. During the Middle Ages, the practices of black magic were confined to the nocturnal hours; and those who served the Spirit of Evil were called black magicians, while those who served the Spirit of Good were called white magicians. Black and white were associated respectively with night and day, and the endless conflict of light and shadow is alluded to many times in the mythologies of various peoples.

The Egyptian Demon, Typhon, was symbolized as part crocodile and part: hog because these animals are gross and earthy in both appearance and temperament. Since the world began, living things have feared the darkness; those few creatures who use it as a shield for their maneuvers were usually connected with the Spirit of Evil. Consequently cats, bats, toads, and owls are associated with witchcraft. In certain parts of Europe it is still believed that at night black magicians assume the bodies of wolves and roam around destroying. From this notion originated the stories of the werewolves. Serpents, because they lived in the earth, were associated with the Spirit of Darkness. As the battle between Good and Evil centers around the use of the generative forces of Nature, winged serpents represent the regeneration of the animal nature of man or those Great Ones in whom this regeneration is complete. Among the Egyptians the sun's rays are often shown ending in human hands. Masons will find a connection between these hands and the well-known Paw of the Lion which raises all things to life with its grip.

SOLAR COLORS

The theory so long held of three primary and four secondary colors is purely exoteric, for since the earliest periods it has been known that there are seven, and not three, primary colors, the human eye being capable of estimating only three of them. Thus, although green can be made by combining blue and yellow, there is also a true or primary green which is not a compound. This can he proved by breaking up the spectrum with a prism. Helmholtz found that the so-called secondary colors of the spectrum could not be broken up into their supposed primary colors. Thus the orange of the spectrum, if passed through a second prism, does not break up into red and yellow but remains orange.

Consciousness, intelligence, and force are fittingly symbolized by the colors blue, yellow, and red. The therapeutic effects of the colors, moreover, are in harmony with this concept, for blue is a fine, soothing, electrical color; yellow, a vitalizing and refining color; and red, an agitating and heat-giving color. It has also been demonstrated that minerals and plants affect the human constitution according to their colors. Thus a yellow flower generally yields a medicine that affects the constitution in a manner similar to yellow light or the musical tone mi. An orange flower will influence in a manner similar to orange light and, being one of the so-called secondary colors, corresponds either to the tone re or to the chord of do and mi.

The ancients conceived the spirit of man to correspond with the color blue, the mind with yellow, and the body with red. Heaven is therefore blue, earth yellow, and hell--or the underworld--red. The fiery condition of the inferno merely symbolizes the nature of the sphere or plane of force of which it is composed. In the Greek Mysteries the irrational sphere was always considered as red, for it represented that condition in which the consciousness is enslaved by the lusts and passions of the lower nature. In India certain of the gods--usually attributes of Vishnu--are depicted with blue skin to signify their divine and supermundane constitution. According to esoteric philosophy, blue is the true and sacred color of the sun. The apparent orange-yellow shade of this orb is the result of its rays being immersed in the substances of the illusionary world.

In the original symbolism of the Christian Church, colors were of first importance and their use was regulated according to carefully prepared rules. Since the Middle Ages, however, the carelessness with which colors have been employed has resulted in the loss of their deeper emblematic meanings. In its primary aspect, white or silver signified life, purity, innocence, joy, and light; red, the suffering and death of Christ and His saints, and also divine love, blood, and warfare or suffering; blue, the heavenly sphere and the states of godliness and contemplation; yellow or gold, glory, fruitfulness, and goodness; green, fecundity, youthfulness, and prosperity; violet, humility, deep affection, and sorrow; black, death, destruction, and humiliation. In early church art the colors of robes and ornaments also revealed whether a saint had been martyred, as well as the character of the work that he had done to deserve canonization.

In addition to the colors of the spectrum there are a vast number of vibratory color waves, some too low and others too high to be registered by the human optical apparatus. It is appalling to contemplate man's colossal ignorance concerning these vistas of abstract space. As in the past man explored unknown continents, so in the future, armed with curious implements fashioned for the purpose, he will explore these little known fastnesses of light, color, sound, and consciousness.

Click to enlargeTHE SOLAR FACE.


From Montfaucon's Antiquities.

The corona of the sun is here shown in the form of a lion's mane. This is a subtle reminder of the fact that at one time the summer solstice took place in the sign of Leo, the Celestial Lion.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Mantra Therapy is Poetry Therapy !




















A Roman physician, Soranus, was the first advocate of Poetry Therapy. Tragic poems were prescribed to the manic patients. It is a catharsis of Pity & Fear. Comedy was prescribed to the depressed ! This theme was articulated by Smiley Blanton is his " Healing Power of Poetry " !
Mantras are prayers, written as poems in Sanskrit ! Mantras are thus both poetry and music !
So in Mantra Therapy, we have the double benefits of Poetry and Music therapies !
A mantra is defined as that which protects the mind ( Mananat thrayathe iti mantra ). Mantra elevates, mantra uplifts us to the subime and Mantra heals !


Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The Pagan origins of Easter




By Royce Carlson

Easter celebrations were held hundreds of years before Christ was born as festivals of spring honoring Eostre, the great mother goddess of the Saxons. This name was fashioned after the ancient word for spring, Eastre. The goddess Ostara was the Norse equivalent whose symbols were the hare and the egg. From this comes our modern tradition of celebrating Easter with eggs and bunnies.

In the Mediterranean region, there was a pre-Christian spring celebration centered around the vernal equinox (March 20 or 21) that honored Cybele, the Phrygian goddess of fertility. Cybele’s consort, Attis, was considered born of a virgin and was believed to have died and been resurrected three days later. Attis derived his mythology from even earlier gods, Osiris, Dionysus, and Orpheus, who also were supposed to have been born of a virgin and suffered death and resurrection as long as 500 years before Christ was born. The death of Attis was commemorated on a Friday and the resurrection was celebrated three days later on Sunday.
There are other Easter traditions that are pagan in origin. The Easter sunrise service is derived from the ancient pagan practice of welcoming the sun on the morning of the spring equinox, marking the beginning of spring. What we now call Easter lilies were revered by the ancients as symbols of fertility and representative of the male genitalia. The ancient Babylonian religions had rituals involving dyed eggs as did the ancient Egyptians.

The Christian version of Easter is celebrated after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Modern day neo-pagans usually have their spring celebrations on the day of the equinox. Either way, these celebrations have gone on every year continuously for over 2500 years. So, next Sunday, if you go to an Easter sunrise service, hunt for colored eggs or eat marshmallow bunnies, remember you are indulging in pagan rituals that celebrate fertility and the advent of springtime!

Read about The Pagan Origins of Christmas

The Pagan Origins of Christmas



Royce Carlson

This article was first printed at Zenzibar on December 17, 2000.

Many of our modern Christmas traditions began hundreds of years before Christ was born. Some of these traditions date back more than 4000 years. The addition of Christ to the celebration of the winter solstice did not occur until 300 years after Christ died and as late as 1800, some devout Christian sects, like the Puritans, forbade their members from celebrating Christmas because it was considered a pagan holiday. So what is the history behind these traditions?

The Christmas tree is derived from several solstice traditions. The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and placed candles in live trees to decorate for the celebration of Saturnalia. In Scandinavia, they hung apples from evergreen trees at the winder solstice to remind themselves that spring and summer will come again. The evergreen tree was the special plant of their sun god, Baldor.

The practice of exchanging gifts at a winter celebration is also pre-Christian and is from the Roman Saturnalia. They would exchange good-luck gifts called Stenae (lucky fruits). They also would have a big feast just like we do today.

Mistletoe is from an ancient Druid custom at the winter solstice. Mistletoe was considered a divine plant and it symbolized love and peace. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is Druid in origin.

The Scandinavian solstice traditions had a lot of influences on our celebration besides the hanging of ornaments on evergreen trees. Their ancient festival was called Yuletide and celebrated the return of the sun. One of their traditions was the Yule log. The log was the center of the trunk of a tree that was dragged to a large fireplace where it was supposed to burn for twelve days. From this comes the twelve days of Christmas.

Even the date of Christmas, December 25, was borrowed from another religion. At the time Christmas was created in AD 320, Mithraism was very popular. The early Christian church had gotten tired of their futile efforts to stop people celebrating the solstice and the birthday of Mithras, the Persian sun god. Mithras’ birthday was December 25. So the pope at the time decided to make Jesus’ official birthday coincide with Mithras’ birthday. No one knows what time of year Jesus was actually born but there is evidence to suggest that it was in midsummer.
So, if you are celebrating any of the western traditions of Christmas this year, remember that you are actually enjoying the rituals and activities of several ancient religions whose traditions have been borrowed by the Christians over the years for the celebration of the birth of Christ.
Happy Holidays!


Read about The Pagan Origins of Easter

Article Source - http://www.zenzibar.com/

The Gnositc World VIew





GNOSTICISM IS THE TEACHING based on Gnosis, the knowledge of transcendence arrived at by way of interior, intuitive means. Although Gnosticism thus rests on personal religious experience, it is a mistake to assume all such experience results in Gnostic recognitions. It is nearer the truth to say that Gnosticism expresses a specific religious experience, an experience that does not lend itself to the language of theology or philosophy, but which is instead closely affinitized to, and expresses itself through, the medium of myth. Indeed, one finds that most Gnostic scriptures take the forms of myths. The term “myth” should not here be taken to mean “stories that are not true”, but rather, that the truths embodied in these myths are of a different order from the dogmas of theology or the statements of philosophy.

In the following summary, we will attempt to encapsulate in prose what the Gnostic myths express in their distinctively poetic and imaginative language.

The Cosmos

All religious traditions acknowledge that the world is imperfect. Where they differ is in the explanations which they offer to account for this imperfection and in what they suggest might be done about it. Gnostics have their own -- perhaps quite startling -- view of these matters: they hold that the world is flawed because it was created in a flawed manner.

Like Buddhism, Gnosticism begins with the fundamental recognition that earthly life is filled with suffering. In order to nourish themselves, all forms of life consume each other, thereby visiting pain, fear, and death upon one another (even herbivorous animals live by destroying the life of plants). In addition, so-called natural catastrophes -- earthquakes, floods, fires, drought, volcanic eruptions -- bring further suffering and death in their wake. Human beings, with their complex physiology and psychology, are aware not only of these painful features of earthly existence. They also suffer from the frequent recognition that they are strangers living in a world that is flawed and absurd.

Many religions advocate that humans are to be blamed for the imperfections of the world. Supporting this view, they interpret the Genesis myth as declaring that transgressions committed by the first human pair brought about a “fall” of creation resulting in the present corrupt state of the world. Gnostics respond that this interpretation of the myth is false. The blame for the world’s failings lies not with humans, but with the creator. Since -- especially in the monotheistic religions -- the creator is God, this Gnostic position appears blasphemous, and is often viewed with dismay even by non-believers.

Ways of evading the recognition of the flawed creation and its flawed creator have been devised over and over, but none of these arguments have impressed Gnostics. The ancient Greeks, especially the Platonists, advised people to look to the harmony of the universe, so that by venerating its grandeur they might forget their immediate afflictions. But since this harmony still contains the cruel flaws, forlornness and alienation of existence, this advice is considered of little value by Gnostics. Nor is the Eastern idea of Karma regarded by Gnostics as an adequate explanation of creation’s imperfection and suffering. Karma at best can only explain how the chain of suffering and imperfection works. It does not inform us in the first place why such a sorrowful and malign system should exist.

Once the initial shock of the “unusual” or “blasphemous” nature of the Gnostic explanation for suffering and imperfection of the world wears off, one may begin to recognize that it is in fact the most sensible of all explanations. To appreciate it fully, however, a familiarity with the Gnostic conception of the Godhead is required, both in its original essence as the True God and in its debased manifestation as the false or creator God.

Deity

The Gnostic God concept is more subtle than that of most religions. In its way, it unites and reconciles the recognitions of Monotheism and Polytheism, as well as of Theism, Deism and Pantheism.

In the Gnostic view, there is a true, ultimate and transcendent God, who is beyond all created universes and who never created anything in the sense in which the word “create” is ordinarily understood. While this True God did not fashion or create anything, He (or, It) “emanated” or brought forth from within Himself the substance of all there is in all the worlds, visible and invisible. In a certain sense, it may therefore be true to say that all is God, for all consists of the substance of God. By the same token, it must also be recognized that many portions of the original divine essence have been projected so far from their source that they underwent unwholesome changes in the process. To worship the cosmos, or nature, or embodied creatures is thus tantamount to worshipping alienated and corrupt portions of the emanated divine essence.

The basic Gnostic myth has many variations, but all of these refer to Aeons, intermediate deific beings who exist between the ultimate, True God and ourselves. They, together with the True God, comprise the realm of Fullness (Pleroma) wherein the potency of divinity operates fully. The Fullness stands in contrast to our existential state, which in comparison may be called emptiness.

One of the aeonial beings who bears the name Sophia (“Wisdom”) is of great importance to the Gnostic world view. In the course of her journeyings, Sophia came to emanate from her own being a flawed consciousness, a being who became the creator of the material and psychic cosmos, all of which he created in the image of his own flaw. This being, unaware of his origins, imagined himself to be the ultimate and absolute God. Since he took the already existing divine essence and fashioned it into various forms, he is also called the Demiurgos or “half-maker” There is an authentic half, a true deific component within creation, but it is not recognized by the half-maker and by his cosmic minions, the Archons or “rulers”.

The Human Being

Human nature mirrors the duality found in the world: in part it was made by the false creator God and in part it consists of the light of the True God. Humankind contains a perishable physical and psychic component, as well as a spiritual component which is a fragment of the divine essence. This latter part is often symbolically referred to as the “divine spark”. The recognition of this dual nature of the world and of the human being has earned the Gnostic tradition the epithet of “dualist”.

Humans are generally ignorant of the divine spark resident within them. This ignorance is fostered in human nature by the influence of the false creator and his Archons, who together are intent upon keeping men and women ignorant of their true nature and destiny. Anything that causes us to remain attached to earthly things serves to keep us in enslavement to these lower cosmic rulers. Death releases the divine spark from its lowly prison, but if there has not been a substantial work of Gnosis undertaken by the soul prior to death, it becomes likely that the divine spark will be hurled back into, and then re-embodied within, the pangs and slavery of the physical world.

Not all humans are spiritual (pneumatics) and thus ready for Gnosis and liberation. Some are earthbound and materialistic beings (hyletics), who recognize only the physical reality. Others live largely in their psyche (psychics). Such people usually mistake the Demiurge for the True God and have little or no awareness of the spiritual world beyond matter and mind.
In the course of history, humans progress from materialistic sensate slavery, by way of ethical religiosity, to spiritual freedom and liberating Gnosis. As the scholar G. Quispel wrote: “The world-spirit in exile must go through the Inferno of matter and the Purgatory of morals to arrive at the spiritual Paradise.” This kind of evolution of consciousness was envisioned by the Gnostics, long before the concept of evolution was known.

Salvation

Evolutionary forces alone are insufficient, however, to bring about spiritual freedom. Humans are caught in a predicament consisting of physical existence combined with ignorance of their true origins, their essential nature and their ultimate destiny. To be liberated from this predicament, human beings require help, although they must also contribute their own efforts.
From earliest times Messengers of the Light have come forth from the True God in order to assist humans in their quest for Gnosis. Only a few of these salvific figures are mentioned in Gnostic scripture; some of the most important are Seth (the third Son of Adam), Jesus, and the Prophet Mani. The majority of Gnostics always looked to Jesus as the principal savior figure (the Soter).

Gnostics do not look to salvation from sin (original or other), but rather from the ignorance of which sin is a consequence. Ignorance -- whereby is meant ignorance of spiritual realities -- is dispelled only by Gnosis, and the decisive revelation of Gnosis is brought by the Messengers of Light, especially by Christ, the Logos of the True God. It is not by His suffering and death but by His life of teaching and His establishing of mysteries that Christ has performed His work of salvation.

The Gnostic concept of salvation, like other Gnostic concepts, is a subtle one. On the one hand, Gnostic salvation may easily be mistaken for an unmediated individual experience, a sort of spiritual do-it-yourself project. Gnostics hold that the potential for Gnosis, and thus, of salvation is present in every man and woman, and that salvation is not vicarious but individual. At the same time, they also acknowledge that Gnosis and salvation can be, indeed must be, stimulated and facilitated in order to effectively arise within consciousness. This stimulation is supplied by Messengers of Light who, in addition to their teachings, establish salvific mysteries (sacraments) which can be administered by apostles of the Messengers and their successors.

One needs also remember that knowledge of our true nature -- as well as other associated realizations -- are withheld from us by our very condition of earthly existence. The True God of transcendence is unknown in this world, in fact He is often called the Unknown Father. It is thus obvious that revelation from on High is needed to bring about salvation. The indwelling spark must be awakened from its terrestrial slumber by the saving knowledge that comes “from without”.

Conduct

If the words “ethics” or “morality” are taken to mean a system of rules, then Gnosticism is opposed to them both. Such systems usually originate with the Demiurge and are covertly designed to serve his purposes. If, on the other hand, morality is said to consist of an inner integrity arising from the illumination of the indwelling spark, then the Gnostic will embrace this spiritually informed existential ethic as ideal.

To the Gnostic, commandments and rules are not salvific; they are not substantially conducive to salvation. Rules of conduct may serve numerous ends, including the structuring of an ordered and peaceful society, and the maintenance of harmonious relations within social groups. Rules, however, are not relevant to salvation; that is brought about only by Gnosis. Morality therefore needs to be viewed primarily in temporal and secular terms; it is ever subject to changes and modifications in accordance with the spiritual development of the individual.

As noted in the discussion above, “hyletic materialists” usually have little interest in morality, while “psychic disciplinarians” often grant to it a great importance. In contrast, “Pneumatic spiritual” persons are generally more concerned with other, higher matters. Different historical periods also require variant attitudes regarding human conduct. Thus both the Manichaean and Cathar Gnostic movements, which functioned in times where purity of conduct was regarded as an issue of high import, responded in kind. The present period of Western culture perhaps resembles in more ways that of second and third century Alexandria. It seems therefore appropriate that Gnostics in our age adopt the attitudes of classical Alexandrian Gnosticism, wherein matters of conduct were largely left to the insight of the individual.

Gnosticism embraces numerous general attitudes toward life: it encourages non-attachment and non-conformity to the world, a “being in the world, but not of the world”; a lack of egotism; and a respect for the freedom and dignity of other beings. Nonetheless, it appertains to the intuition and wisdom of every individual “Gnostic” to distill from these principles individual guidelines for their personal application.

Destiny

When Confucius was asked about death, he replied: “Why do you ask me about death when you do not know how to live?” This answer might easily have been given by a Gnostic. To a similar question posed in the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, Jesus answered that human beings must come by Gnosis to know the ineffable, divine reality from whence they have originated, and whither they will return. This transcendental knowledge must come to them while they are still embodied on earth.

Death does not automatically bring about liberation from bondage in the realms of the Demiurge. Those who have not attained to a liberating Gnosis while they were in embodiment may become trapped in existence once more. It is quite likely that this might occur by way of the cycle of rebirths. Gnosticism does not emphasize the doctrine of reincarnation prominently, but it is implicitly understood in most Gnostic teachings that those who have not made effective contact with their transcendental origins while they were in embodiment would have to return into the sorrowful condition of earthly life.

In regard to salvation, or the fate of the spirit and soul after death, one needs to be aware that help is available. Valentinus, the greatest of Gnostic teachers, taught that Christ and Sophia await the spiritual man -- the pneumatic Gnostic -- at the entrance of the Pleroma, and help him to enter the bridechamber of final reunion. Ptolemaeus, disciple of Valentinus, taught that even those not of pneumatic status, the psychics, could be redeemed and live in a heavenworld at the entrance of the Pleroma. In the fullness of time, every spiritual being will receive Gnosis and will be united with its higher Self -- the angelic Twin -- thus becoming qualified to enter the Pleroma. None of this is possible, however, without earnest striving for Gnosis.

Gnosis and Psyche: The Depth Psychological Connection

Throughout the twentieth Century the new scientific discipline of depth psychology has gained much prominence. Among the depth psychologists who have shown a pronounced and informed interest in Gnosticism, a place of signal distinction belongs to C. G. Jung. Jung was instrumental in calling attention to the Nag Hammadi library of Gnostic writings in the 1950's because he perceived the outstanding psychological relevance of Gnostic insights.

The noted scholar of Gnosticism, G. Filoramo, wrote: "Jung's reflections had long been immersed in the thought of the ancient Gnostics to such an extent that he considered them the virtual discoverers of 'depth psychology' . . . ancient Gnosis, albeit in its form of universal religion, in a certain sense prefigured, and at the same time helped to clarify, the nature of Jungian spiritual therapy." In the light of such recognitions one may ask: "Is Gnosticism a religion or a psychology?" The answer is that it may very-well be both. Most mythologems found in Gnostic scriptures possess psychological relevance and applicability. For instance the blind and arrogant creator-demiurge bears a close resemblance to the alienated human ego that has lost contact with the ontological Self. Also, the myth of Sophia resembles closely the story of the human psyche that loses its connection with the collective unconscious and needs to be rescued by the Self. Analogies of this sort exist in great profusion.

Many esoteric teachings have proclaimed, "As it is above, so it is below." Our psychological nature (the microcosm) mirrors metaphysical nature (the macrocosm), thus Gnosticism may possess both a psychological and a religious authenticity. Gnostic psychology and Gnostic religion need not be exclusive of one another but may complement each other within an implicit order of wholeness. Gnostics have always held that divinity is immanent within the human spirit, although it is not limited to it. The convergence of Gnostic religious teaching with psychological insight is thus quite understandable in terms of time-honored Gnostic principles.

Conclusion

Some writers make a distinction between “Gnosis” and “Gnosticism”. Such distinctions are both helpful and misleading. Gnosis is undoubtedly an experience based not in concepts and precepts, but in the sensibility of the heart. Gnosticism, on the other hand, is the world-view based on the experience of Gnosis. For this reason, in languages other than English, the word Gnosis is often used to denote both the experience and the world view (die Gnosis in German, la Gnose in French).

In a sense, there is no Gnosis without Gnosticism, for the experience of Gnosis inevitably calls forth a world view wherein it finds its place. The Gnostic world view is experiential, it is based on a certain kind of spiritual experience of Gnosis. Therefore, it will not do to omit, or to dilute, various parts of the Gnostic world view, for were one to do this, the world view would no longer conform to experience.

Theology has been called an intellectual wrapping around the spiritual kernel of a religion. If this is true, then it is also true that most religions are being strangled and stifled by their wrappings. Gnosticism does not run this danger, because its world view is stated in myth rather than in theology. Myths, including the Gnostic myths, may be interpreted in diverse ways.
Transcendence, numinosity, as well as psychological archetypes along with other elements, play a role in such interpretation. Still, such mythic statements tell of profound truths that will not be denied.

Gnosticism can bring us such truths with a high authority, for it speaks with the voice of the highest part of the human -- the spirit. Of this spirit, it has been said, “it bloweth where it listeth”. This then is the reason why the Gnostic world view could not be extirpated in spite of many centuries of persecution.

The Gnostic world view has always been timely, for it always responded best to the “knowledge of the heart” that is true Gnosis. Yet today, its timeliness is increasing, for the end of the second millennium has seen the radical deterioration of many ideologies which evaded the great questions and answers addressed by Gnosticism. The clarity, frankness, and authenticity of the Gnostic answer to the questions of the human predicament cannot fail to impress and (in time) to convince. If your reactions to this summary have been of a similarly positive order, then perhaps you are a Gnostic yourself!

+ Stephan A. Hoeller (Tau Stephanus, Gnostic Bishop)

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Monday, February 12, 2007

The Gospel of Judas - "Jesus Was Not Crucified"




By Karen Fish

The Christian Gnostic (Knowledge) Gospel of Judas was made public this week and Judas was the hero not the betrayer. This was just the tip of the iceberg - The Christian Gnostic Gospels also tell us that Jesus was not crucified. The Christian Gnostic Gospels pre date the 4 Gospels kept in the New Testament. The Gospel of Judas was one of the Christian Gnostic (Knowledge) Gospels burned by the Church Fathers at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and discovered in Egypt in the town of Naj Hammadi by a peasant in 1945. The numerous Gnostic Knowledge Gospels of Christ were burned by the Church Fathers because they made the 4 Gospels which they put in the New Testament in 325 AD look ridiculous. In the Gospel of Judas, Judas was the hero and most trusted disciple doing the will of Christ. Pope Benedict looked like the boy putting his thumb in the hole in the levee this week when he called Judas a “Double Crosser”, sticking to the party line despite the new evidence to the contrary.

Well, this revelation about Judas is nothing compared to the others in the Christian Knowledge Gospels. In the Koran, (Sura Chapter 4:156) the angel Gabriel who brought Mary the good news tells the Prophet Muhammad that in fact Jesus was not even crucified, a likeness, an impostor was, because this was the story in the Christian Knowledge Gospels which were burned by the Church Fathers forever (they hoped) 1,700 years ago.


The Gnostic Gospel of Judas never mentions the crucifixion or the resurrection. Seth was the third child of Adam and Eve. There was a group of Gnostic (Knowledge) Christians named after Seth, Sethians. In the Christian Gospel called "The Second Treatise of The Great Seth", 56.6-19 in NHL 332, Jesus Christ told Simon, "It was another...who drank the gall and the vinegar; it was not I... it was another Simon, who bore the cross on his shoulder. It was another upon whom they placed the crown of thorns. But I was rejoicing in the height (the hills) over… their error. And I was laughing at their ignorance. (for thinking it was I who they were crucifying)". The Christian Gnostic Knowledge Gospels contradict the 4 Canonized Gospels in the New Testament endlessly. The 4 New Testament Gospels contradict themselves endlessly. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

One need only look right in the Holy Bible to see what is really going on. God the Father said through Prophet Isaiah that the Bible writers, the Priests and Prophets who wrote the Bibles, “the scribes were creating for the people a shelter, a refuge, of lies and falsehoods, (Isaiah 28:14-15) which would cause the people to fall backward and be broken and ensnared and taken.” (Isaiah 28:9-13). God the Father called the Holy Bible “The Word of Satan!” God said to the scribes, "You prophesy by Baal, Beelzebub, Satan!" (Jeremiah 2:8). God the Father said, "They (the scribes) say, 'Says the Lord', when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word!" (Ezekiel 13:6). Jesus launched into an absolute diatribe in Matthew 23 calling the Bible writers, the scribes, lying venomous snakes who spewed their own divisive racist deadly hateful lies right into your Holy Bible and signed them, “said God”, and “said Jesus”. Jesus lambasted the scribes and those who followed the same Old Testament followed by Judaism, Christianity and Islam today.

In fact, Hell itself is an invention of the modern Bible Writers. In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible every time Hell is mentioned there is an asterisk beside it. The Bible was written in Greek, and every time that Jesus says Gehenna or Sheol your modern Bible Writers substitute their own word, “Hell”. Gehenna was a place outside of Jerusalem where the Jewish and non Jewish people sacrificed their children on fire altars to the God Baal, Satan. Sheol was a place underground where both the good and the bad spirits dwelled together after death. Jesus spoke of Sheol all the time. According to Jesus right in the Bible, everyone goes to Hell, Sheol, after death, both the good and the evil spirits. How long can Christianity survive on a foundation of what God the Father endlessly calls “lies” right in the Holy Bible? Hasn’t it caused enough suffering, or will you all allow it to now lead you all into extinction in Nuclear World War 3?

The Temple of Love – The World Peace Religion unites Christianity Islam Judaism and everyone else and the countries they all live in by tying them all together with their common threads and resolving all of their differences once and for all, including setting the record straight about the passion of the Christ. Come on in and get the whole story with Biblical citations and new evidence. Come help save the world with truth, love, God of Mount Sinai, and by following the real Word of God, “10ve”, the 10 commandments, once you see what they really mean, and how powerful they truly are.

Karen Fish is a writer currently living in Los Angeles California. The Temple of Love http://www.thetempleoflove.com/ The World Peace Site

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