The Eighth Sermon to the Dead

Jeg ser vi har noen lesere fra Norge. Jeg vet kan svært lite norsk. Dette er en Google-oversettelse n . Jeg beklager. Jeg vil prøve å lære mer, og kanskje legge på den litt. Rett min grammatikk dersom jeg gjør en feil. I see we have some readers from Norway. I know very little Norwegian. This is a google translation. I'm sorry. I'll try to learn a bit more, and maybe post in it a bit. Please correct my grammar if I make a mistake.

I was listening to a lecture on Goethe's Faust, and the lecturer talked about how this was a completely new (at the time) conception of the purpose of man. In most previous conceptions in literature and philosophy, the focus of existence was on being. Cogito, ergo sum, as Descartes has so famously said and many have parroted. Faust, in his deal with Mephistopheles, he agrees that the devil can have his soul if he ever once says "it is sufficient" and wants to stay at one spot with one experience forever, or has had enough of experiences. Until then, he wants to continue to have experiences, both good and evil, on and on. Faust wins the bet, because he never stops seeking after new experiences. In Faust , the focus is not on being, but doing. This is an idea that comes out of Romanticism, and which is dealt with in a number of 19th century occult orders, as well as the literature and philosophy of the time. It's no surprise that after the material advocacy of the...

The Gospel of John starts out: εν αρχη ην ο λογος The word λογος Logos, is usually translated as "Word", but I just found out that Logos can also be translated as "The point of a legal case". If two persons are having a dispute, the point of that dispute is indicated by the word Logos. I think it is interesting that, in the Gospel of John, the first statement tells us that Existence has a point. It is the meaning of a dispute. What dispute could it be? The eternal and temporal? The good and the evil? Is it that we live in a world with a purpose, and not a meaningless collection of random events? The full phrase could be translated "In the beginning was the point, and the point was with God, and the point was God." It kind of makes it rather doubtful that we'll ever fully understand the point, doesn't it. Yet that's what the gnostic does. We 'get the point.' We experience the Divine, reach for the Logos, trus...

So, what do you think? Better, or worse?

"I have no more than twenty acres of ground," he replied, "the whole of which I cultivate myself with the help of my children; and our labor keeps off from us three great evils-idleness, vice, and want." - The Turk from Candide, Chapter 30 These are definitely three great evils of the Modern World. They are not sins, really, but evils: want can be inflicted by nature as surely as man, as can vice. It's interesting that all of these evils are personal, and are all stopped with a simple prescription: Work. Work keeps away want, first of all. It also drives out idleness, if you are working at something you enjoy and not shirking your duty. Last, if you're working, you won't have time or energy for vice. The work the Turk is talking about isn't a specific occupation, it's labor with a specific outcome: When you're done laboring, you've got something of value at the end. It keeps you from want, from poverty. It is something that benefi...

Yesterday, we celebrated the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. Two very different characters. St. Paul was intelligent, well written, theologically grounded in Judaism and Greek Logic, and a persecutor of Christianity until he had a Gnostic Experience of the Christ. The First Gnostic, his life changed by a mystic vision. He'd never met Jesus, and so his is the first experience of the Christ we have documented, in such a way. St. Peter was a working man, a fisherman from Galilee, practical, straightforward, not given to philosophizing. A man of his time, a butt for jokes (Jesus did call him a 'rock', after all). He was genuine, loyal, afraid at the end. The practical man looks at death, and sees nothing beyond it. He starts looking after his own skin when the movement seems to die. Yet, in the end, this practical man experiences the impractical. He sees the body gone, sees the Risen Christ, and in a practical way he sets about transforming the world, bringing the ...

One cannot achieve the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel by blindly following the procedures outlined in a book. ... While I certainly do not wish to downplay the importance of [The book fo Abremelin or Liber Samekh ], I must voice my belief that most successful invocations of the H.G.A. are executed by individuals who have not perfomred either of the above rituals. Indeed, I would go so far as to say most K of C'ers have never heard the word Hermeticism, nor would they consider themselves aspirants, initiates, or magicians. Why is the success rate so high among these "non-professional" mystics? Is the macrocosm prejudiced against those of us who study the spiritual road map before starting the trip? In a way, yes, but not because we are too rational or analytical, but because all too often we aren't romantic enough. ... It toes not take a scholar to fall desperately in love. To generate the heat necessary to separate the spirituous earth f...

As a member of the clergy of the Apostolic Johannite Church, I am very happy to post this: It is with a healthy measure of relief and joy that the Apostolic Johannite Church applauds the decision of the California Supreme Court to overturn the ban on same-sex marriages. Throughout its history, the Apostolic Johannite Church has remained committed to the principles enshrined in both Canon Law and its Statement of Principles- making no distinction between heterosexual and homosexual marriages providing they represent sacramental vows of union. Further to this, the Apostolic Johannite Church likewise recognizes the need for and gives its support to civil ceremonies of marriage, recognizing the freedom of choice of all human beings to engage in a religious or secular life as they see fit, celebrating their lives through civil, social and religious tradition. It is our hope that other communities, religious denominations and governments will look upon the example given anew by California, a...

Today, I had a bit of a shock. I'm listening to a book named "Imperium" by Robert Harris, on the way to work. It's the story of the life of Marcus Tullius Cicero, who was a Senator and major orator in the last days Roman Republic. It's not always the most flattering of books, as it's told by one of Cicero's slaves, and the slave seems to view Cicero with a clear eye, for the most part. The shock was towards the middle of the book. Cicero is summoned to the villa of Pompey the Great, along with several other people, notably Gaius Julius Caesar, who would later become dicator of Rome, displacing the republic in favor of a military dicatorship. The thing that surprised me about this meeting, was that an act of terrorism caused a reaction among the military class in Rome. Pirates raided the naval port of Rome (I can't find the name of the city at the moment), and burned 19 ships in the harbor. It was a huge slap, for pirates to boldly attack Roman po...

This is a test from my treo.

Just wanted to make sure all my readers know about the Johannite Forum over at Johannite.org. Come on over and lets get talking up a storm.

The following is an article by a good friend of mine, Donald Donato. I found it in the flotsam of the internet, and it is republished here with permission. Becoming a Johannite St. John of Patmos by Hieronymus Bosch There are some friends and readers who want to know what all this business about Johannites and Gnosticism really means to me. The first thing that people ask is the Da Vinci Code question…no, I haven’t read it, but I did see the movie, and it has nothing to do with my spirituality or the decade-plus path that led me to become a Gnostic Christian of the Johannite persuasion. I do not believe in some literal blood-lineage of Jesus Christ, though one may very well exist. Again, it has nothing to do with the life of the spirit. There are some very misleading things floating around the Internet and in books about Johannites, so grab your glass of sherry, light your torch, and allow me to guide you through the ‘secrets’ of our little band of heretics. What is a Johannite? Mo...

I've been meaning to post more, but you know, I just haven't had the urge, lately. I've had little flashes of Gnostic thought, but nothing profound. I have been reading Christian Theology , by Alister McGrath. It's been a little odd, because I've been sick, so some of it is not sinking in as well as it should have. However, I did read an interesting section on Scripture and Narrative Theology. Mr. McGrath talks about how Narrative theology is becoming more popular, and how the stories of Jesus tie the idea of Christ and salvation into the real world. I think it's a valuable idea for Gnostics, tieing our ideas into a physical narrative. That's why I think it's good to keep the Templars and the Cathars in our story, to tie the abstract ideas we have to the physical world. This is opposed to systemic theology, which starts from an Enlightenment position of first proposals, and builds a reasoned argument from those starting positions, using scripture to...

My medatative/blogging skills leave much to be desired. I'm so excited about the stuff going on with me, I don't have time usually to do the meditations. Ah, well. To err is human. Next year.

I missed posting on the first day. Mea Culpa. My meditation yesterday was brief, but useful. The theme of "Behold! I make all things new!" resonated with me. I realized several things about myself, and the reasons why I was taking some actions that puzzled the folks around me. Today's Theme deals with practicality, the senses, and ambition. It's a good theme for me today. Got some practical things done, like insurance on my new car. Still have to do the meditation, though. And, Tomorrow's Theme I will be out of town over the weekend, so Friday I'll try to post the weekend's themes. Also, today is the Feast of St. John. A happy St. John's Day, everyone.

Merry Christmas, everyone. This year, I will be posting links to the 12 days of Christmas meditations, which I wrote up last year. Last year, I was able to only do a few of them, and wanted to lay them out without my thoughts and feelings on the issue. This year, I'll be posting a link to the next day's meditation, as well as my thoughts and feelings on the meditation for the current day. If you want to post your experiences here in the comments, or elsewhere, please do. It may not be very profound. It might be, though. Who can say? So, to kick things off, here's the meditation for the 26th. Once again, a Merry Christmas to all.

The Pope has said of Atheism: It is no accident that this idea has led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice; rather, it is grounded in the intrinsic falsity of the claim [ That man can create justice where God has not-Fr. Scott ]. A world which has to create its own justice is a world without hope. No one and nothing can answer for centuries of suffering. No one and nothing can guarantee that the cynicism of power—whatever beguiling ideological mask it adopts—will cease to dominate the world. The document is Here . I like to include a primary reference for what I'm talking about. I'm often dismayed by Atheism. I'm not dismayed by the philosophy, but by the arrogance, that the atheists think that atheism is somehow better than theism, religiosity, or any other religious state. Atheism is just as prone to abusing power as they claim the Catholic Church has been, as any secular religious state has been (a Christian, Buddhist, or Jewish King ( see King...

After a dearth of posting, I think I'm ready to start writing again. Christmas is coming up, and I usually post the esoteric 12 days of Christmas. Perhaps I'll start to include a little more practice with the theory.