Monday Medley

April showers today. Hoping for wonderful May flowers! In the meantime, I have spring flowers coming up and the Faerie cam is working again!

crocus

daffodil

tulips

crocus

Walking around the yard yesterday I found more signs of spring.

budding forsythia

My namesake, the robin, back from the south

I am not sure what happened to this cedar tree, possibly ice, maybe a bird. The bark is pulled off revealing a beautiful wood underneath.

Here is something interesting to spend time with. I found it at my favorite bookstore. Circle Magazine. Have you read this magazine? I have read several previous issues and have found informative articles, interesting writers and more. Circle Magazine comes out quarterly; Celebrating Nature, Spirit and Magic. (from the inside page): "...provides articles, news, rituals and other information pertaining to Wiccan traditions, Shamanism, Goddess Spirituality, and other forms of contemporary Paganism."

Circle Magazine, Spring 2011 issue

Have a super week! Blessings from Robin.

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The Cult Of The Black Virgin

......

The Cult of the Black Virgin Ean Begg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2006

There are many icons of Mary that show black faces and hands. In France, these are called Vierge Noires-Black Virgins. Elsewhere, may be called Black Madonnas or the "other Mary." Jung called her Isis, while others claim she is THE SYMBOLIC REMAINS OF A PREHISTORIC WORSHIP OF THE EARTH MOTHER. She is generally connected with Cybele, Diana, Isis, and Venus, as well as with Kali, Inanna, and Lilith. Historically she is connected with the Crusades, the Islamic occupation of Spain, the Conquistadors, as well as the Merovingians and Knights Templars, who viewed her as Mary Magdalene.

Why are more than five hundred of the world's Madonna images black or dark? Why is so little known about them? Black Virgins-a resurfacing of the powerful pagan goddesses of sexuality, the underworld, and earth wisdom-they are symbols of power and majesty, the other side of the traditional Madonna's virginity or tender maternity. They personify the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant in a quest for lost feminine wisdom and the search for soul.

Ean Begg's fascinating book investigates the pagan origins of the phenomenon as well as the heretical Gnostic-Christian underground stream that flowed west with the cult of Mary Magdalene and resurfaced in Catharism at the time of the Crusades, especially with the Templars.

Source.

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Review The Gray Witch Grimoire

"Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" asks the introduction to "The Gray Witch's Grimoire", a new book of witchcraft and spells both dark and light. To that question, author Amythyst Raine replies: "I'm both and I'm neither."

She is, as the title suggests, a gray witch, and she goes on to say: "In our society 'dark' is automatically viewed as 'evil'; and 'light' is automatically viewed as 'good'. We're expected to live completely within one realm and to totally avoid the other." But the traditional wise woman wasn't always a fluffy bunny. She knew how to heal and how to protect, but she also knew how to use her magic to catch a thief or see that someone who deserved it got their comeuppance. The wise woman knew the world wasn't all black or white, it was shades of grey - and so was she.

Amythyst adds: "The gray witch abhors violence, hatred, and conflict as much as the next person; but she's not afraid to face these issues using the power she possesses to right a situation and reinstate balance."

The Gray Witch's Grimoire has the subtitle "A magickal formularia to guide you through the mysteries of witchcraft in the spirit of the ancient wise-woman". It contains spells from a variety of sources - including hoodoo, traditional folk magic and modern Wicca - that could be classified as white magic, black magic and somewhere in between. However, the book is more than just a list of spells and how to cast them.

The first section is a complete introduction to an eclectic style of witchcraft including a code of ethics for the gray witch, the principles of magic, the necessary knowledge of magical techniques and tools, and the practicalities of how to put it all together. It also explains that, traditionally, a witch did far more than just cast spells.

Blessings, being able to communicate with spirits and animals, weather control, healing, divination, herb lore, knowledge of stones and crystals, shapeshifting and seeing visions were all within the traditional wise woman's purview. And, of course, the wise woman was also meant to be wise - and offer good advice that would solve problems.

The second section is about magical rituals. It starts with basic details of how to cast a circle and goes on to cover ceremonies such as handfastings and words to say after someone has died. The third section includes all those naughty spells. It starts with a number of love spells - spells to get the attention of the person you fancy, to stir up lust and to make yourself more attractive. There are also spells to make a person do what you want them to do, to help you win a legal battle or court case, to attract money, to find out the truth when you think someone is lying to you and, of course, a few choice curses to be used if the situation really deserves it. There are plenty of "nice" spells, too, for healing and protection.

To be honest, I hope I never need to curse anyone. I am of the opinion that what goes around, comes around, and that curses can rebound on the caster. But I also believe it is important that a witch knows how to curse, even if she chooses not to use that knowledge.

Publisher Moon Books says on its website: "By reading The Gray Witch's Grimoire you will empower yourself through ancient mysteries, secret rites, and magickal spells that leave the world of the mundane behind and nurture the wise woman in us all."

I would agree that this is an empowering book, and a useful addition to any witch's bookshelf. I was lucky enough to read an early version of it before it went to press and I am glad it is now published and due to hit the bookshelves this month.

"Author Amythyst Raine is a professional psychic/clairvoyant practising her own brand of witchcraft in the American mid-west. She is an eclectic witch who has developed her own spiritual path over the years, a combination of hoodoo, Dianic Wicca, and green witchcraft."

Links and previous related posts

http://www.moon-books.net

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/02/review-mean-streets-witchcraft.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/03/review-traditional-witchcraft-for.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/01/good-witch-bad-witch-by-gillian-kemp.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/11/review-green-wiccan-book-of-shadows.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/07/bad-witchs-guide-to-bad-witches.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/06/review-planetary-spells-rituals.html

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We Have A Dream

A Commissioning Prayer for Evangelical Friends Church-Mid America Yearly Meeting

July 27, 2014

"In the last days," God says, "I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams."

" - Acts 2:17"

We have a dream of the gospel lived out... and that God would use us to do it.

We dream that whatever is true in Heaven be true on earth... in our local churches, in the communities where our churches serve, and in the family of churches called Evangelical Friends Church-Mid America Yearly Meeting.

We dream of the ethnic participation of our churches and larger gatherings reflecting the ethnic makeup of our communities. What if when we gathered as a church, we saw a vast crowd from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in worship together before the Lamb? What if they held palm branches in their hands, and in unity were shouting with a mighty shout, "Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!"

We have a dream of Jesus-followers being known as the most generous and live-giving people in the whole world. A church that is unstoppable, built by Christ, fueled by the Holy Spirit. Believing that what's impossible to men is possible with God.

We have a dream that we as a family of churches would become known as Friends of sinners, where our churches would become places of forgiveness rather than judgment. What if we shared openly of our own weaknesses and stories of brokenness, and how God's love and grace is so much greater! What if our neighbors were our friends and not our projects? What if the Word became flesh where we live, and also in the places where our unbelieving neighbors hang out? What if our co-workers and class-mates knew that we loved them as they are rather than as they 'should be,' but what if they also joined us side by side in this dream and pursuit of Heaven?

We have a dream of God's Kingdom coming to heal the sick and the broken. Forgiveness of sins. Redemption. The homeless and hungry knowing that God cares, and has sent friends to help them. Prisoners and orphans and widows and the sick believing that their creator knows their name. Addictions falling away in the power of Jesus' forgiveness. What if our churches were constantly celebrating recovery? Marriages and families growing stronger. Broken relationships being healed. What if one of God's children was running the race, and fell, and couldn't go on without help...and what if we stopped everything else for the sole focus of helping them continue across the finish line? What if we would lay our lives down for our friends?

We have a dream that every local church was actively participating with God in the process of making disciples. What if church culture changed from maintenance or preservation to multiplication? What if we knew exactly who God was sending us to, and we knew them by name? What if every church made at least one disciple in the next year, starting with non-disciples?

We have a dream that the youth in the church be equipped as disciple-makers. What if every day was like a mission trip? What if adults saw the children and youth of our churches as warriors in the Kingdom, and we walked with them and also sent them out? What if we gave more space for new expressions of the church lived out?

We have a dream that all of the small churches in EFC-MAYM felt truly loved. That big churches felt loved. That medium churches felt loved. What if each and every one of our churches understood clearly how to use the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven? What if every church knew their significance in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth? What if believers and churches worked side by side to accomplish common dreams? What if we served the world around us with no concern about our growth, our reputation, or our benefit, accepting whatever fruit God gives us?

We have a dream, that our properties, personal and corporate, be used 24/7 to bless the community around us, and even be used for community objectives. What if we had no spare rooms in our homes or church buildings? What if we all knew our neighbors across the street, and down the road, and across the tracks and helped them with their needs? What if our churches were like store-houses for ministry? What if God restored the broken and we could hand them the keys to our church vans and even our church buildings?

We have a dream that our church would emerge in the neighborhoods where we live. And a deep sense of awe came over them all. What if all the believers lived in wonderful harmony, holding everything in common? And they sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met? What if they followed a daily discipline of worship in the temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God? And people in general liked what they saw! What if every day their number grew as God added those who were being saved? (cf. Acts 2:42-47)

Turn from your brokenness and turn to God, because we have really Good News that the Kingdom of Heaven is near!

Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth,as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one (cf. Matthew 6:9-13).

And we pray this in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Dunsany Lord Bird Of The Difficult Eye The

The Bird of the Difficult Eye

by Lord Dunsany

Observant men and women that know their Bond Street well
will appreciate my astonishment when in a jewellers' shop I
perceived that nobody was furtively watching me. Not only
this but when I even picked up a little carved crystal to
examine it no shop-assistants crowded round me. I walked
the whole length of the shop, still no one politely
followed.
Seeing from this that some extraordinary revolution had
occurred in the jewelry business I went with my curiosity
well aroused to a queer old person half demon and half man
who has an idol-shop in a byway of the City and who keeps me
informed of affairs at the Edge of the World. And briefly
over a pinch of heather incense that he takes by way of
snuff he gave me this tremendous information: that Mr. Neepy
Thang the son of Thangobrind had returned from the Edge of
the World and was even now in London.
The information may not appear tremendous to those
unacquainted with the source of jewelry; but when I say that
the only thief employed by any West-end jeweller since
famous Thangobrind's distressing doom is this same Neepy
Thang, and that for lightness of fingers and swiftness of
stockinged foot they have none better in Paris, it will be
understood why the Bond-street jewellers no longer cared
what became of their old stock.
There were big diamonds in London that summer and a few
considerable sapphires. In certain astounding kingdoms
behind the East strange sovereigns missed from their turbans
the heirlooms of ancient wars, and here and there the
keepers of crown jewels who had not heard the stockinged
feet of Thang, were questioned and died slowly.
And the jewellers gave a little dinner to Thang at the
Hotel Great Magnificent; the windows had not been opened for
five years and there was wine at a guinea a bottle that you
could not tell from champagne and cigars at half a crown
with a Havana label. Altogether it was a splendid evening
for Thang.
But I have to tell of a far sadder thing than a dinner at
a hotel. The public require jewelry and jewelry must be
obtained. I have to tell of Neepy Thang's last journey.
That year the fashion was emeralds. A man named Green
had recently crossed the Channel on a bicycle and the
jewellers said that a green stone would be particularly
appropriate to commemorate the event and recommended
emeralds.
Now a certain money-lender of Cheapside who had just been
made a peer had divided his gains into three equal parts;
one for the purchase of the peerage, country-house and park,
and the twenty thousand pheasants that are absolutely
essential, and one for the upkeep of the position, while the
third he banked abroad, partly to cheat the native
tax-gatherer and partly because it seemed to him that the
days of the Peerage were few and that he might at any moment
be called upon to start afresh elsewhere. In the upkeep of
the position he included jewelry for his wife and so it came
about that Lord Castlenorman placed an order with two
well-known Bond-street jewellers named Messrs. Grosvenor and
Campbell to the extent of 100,000 pounds for a few reliable
emeralds.
But the emeralds in stock were mostly small and
shop-soiled and Neepy Thang had to set out at once before he
had had as much as a week in London. I will briefly sketch
his project. Not many knew it, for where the form of
business is blackmail the fewer creditors you have the
better (which of course in various degrees applies at all
times).
On the shores of the risky seas of Shiroora Shan grows
one tree only so that upon its branches if anywhere in the
world there must build its nest the Bird of the Difficult
Eye. Neepy Thang had come by this information, which was
indeed the truth, that if the bird migrated to Fairyland
before the three eggs hatched out they would undoubtedly all
turn into emeralds, while if they hatched out first it would
be a bad business.
When he had mentioned these eggs to Messrs. Grosvenor and
Campbell they had said, "The very thing": they were men of
few words, in English, for it was not their native tongue.
So Neepy Thang set out. He bought the purple ticket at
Victoria Station. He went by Herne Hill, Bromley and
Bickley and passed St. Mary Cray. At Eynsford he changed
and taking a footpath along a winding valley went wandering
into the hills. And at the top of a hill in a little wood,
where all the anemones long since were over and the perfume
of mint and thyme from outside came drifting in with Thang,
he found once more the familiar path, age-old and fair as
wonder, that leads to the Edge of the World. Little to him
were its sacred memories that are one with the secret of
earth, for he was on business, and little would they be to
me if I ever put them on paper. Let it suffice that he went
down that path going further and further from the fields we
know, and all the way he muttered to himself, "What if the
eggs hatch out and it be a bad business!" The glamour that
is at all times upon those lonely lands that lie at the back
of the chalky hills of Kent intensified as he went upon his
journeys. Queerer and queerer grew the things that he saw
by little World-End Path. Many a twilight descended upon
that journey with all their mysteries, many a blaze of
stars; many a morning came flaming up to a tinkle of silver
horns; till the outpost elves of Fairyland came in sight and
the glittering crests of Fairyland's three mountains
betokened the journey's end. And so with painful steps (for
the shores of the world are covered with huge crystals) he
came to the risky seas of Shiroora Shan and saw them
pounding to gravel the wreckage of fallen stars, saw them
and heard their roar, those shipless seas that between earth
and the fairies' homes heave beneath some huge wind that is
none of our four. And there in the darkness on the grizzly
coast, for darkness was swooping slantwise down the sky as
though with some evil purpose, there stood that lonely,
gnarled and deciduous tree. It was a bad place to be found
in after dark, and night descended with multitudes of stars,
beasts prowling in the blackness gluttered at Neepy Thang.
(See any dictionary, but in vain.) And there on a lower
branch within easy reach he clearly saw the Bird of the
Difficult Eye sitting upon the nest for which she is
famous. Her face was towards those three inscrutable
mountains, far-off on the other side of the risky seas,
whose hidden valleys are Fairyland. Though not yet autumn
in the fields we know, it was close on mid-winter here, the
moment as Thang knew when those eggs hatch out. Had he
miscalculated and arrived a minute too late? Yet the bird
was even now about to migrate, her pinions fluttered and her
gaze was toward Fairyland. Thang hoped and muttered a
prayer to those pagan gods whose spite and vengeance he had
most reason to fear. It seems that it was too late or a
prayer too small to placate them, for there and then the
stroke of mid-winter came and the eggs hatched out in the
roar of Shiroora Shan or ever the bird was gone with her
difficult eye and it was a bad business indeed for Neepy
Thang; I haven't the heart to tell you any more.
"'Ere," said Lord Castlenorman some few weeks later to
Messrs. Grosvenor and Campbell, "you aren't 'arf taking your
time about those emeralds."

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Magickal Uses For Cardamom

Planetary Association: Venus

Gender: Feminine

Element: Water

Deities: Erzulie

Astrological Associations: Libra and Taurus

Magickal Uses: Lust, Love. Great for love potions - spicy energy! Sex and passion. Soak ground Cardamom seeds in sweet red wine overnight. Imagine yourself in your lover's arms as you drift off to sleep.

On the next day, strain the seeds from the wine, sweeten with local honey and serve warmed during a romantic meal.

Other ways Cardamom seeds can also be used for enhancing incense and sachets to promote love and love-making.

Burn for mental clarity, concentration, confidence, courage, enthusiasm and motivation.

In Voodoo: CARDAMOM SEEDS are used in cookery and for confections, but also have a widely-held reputation for being of magical use in bringing about Good Luck in Love Affairs and Sexual Relationships. Some of our customers say that they chew CARDAMOM SEED when they they go to a party where they want to meet a new lover. Others tell us that they mix CARDAMOM SEEDS with other so-called Love-Drawing Herbs, such as Rose Buds, Cubeb Berries, Damiana Leaves, Juniper Berries, Catnip Leaves, Red Clover Flowers, Rose Petals, or Lavender Flowers and carry this in a Red Conjure Bag so that when they meet someone new whom they desire, the man or woman they want can be easily led into lust.

Non Specific Love Spell:

You will need a teaspoon or so each of the following herbs: Basil herb, Cardamom pods, Marjoram herb, whole Cloves, Rose petals, and a Tonka bean. If you cannot easily obtain the Tonka bean you may do without it. You will need some red, natural fiber, fabric - a quarter yard will be enough, a needle and thread. Cut two squares out of the fabric. A small piece of rose quartz and/or lepidolite is an optional, but desirable ingredient. Place your materials on the altar. You should have a love incense and if possible, a piece of rose quartz on the altar for this spell.

After the circle is cast and the love incense lit, place the two squares of fabric, right sides together, and sew around three sides of the square. As you are doing this, visualize yourself as a lovable and loving person, in a relationship that is fulfilling and happy. When you are done sewing, place the squares on the altar and state the purpose of the spell aloud in your own words. Something like:

"I seek to have a love in my life, someone special with whom to share the wonders of life, to grow with and learn with, someone to know well and be known by, my ideal partner."

Take up the fabric square and turn it right side out. Spoon the herbs into the bag one at a time saying aloud the appropriate line as you add each one:

"Basil, sacred herb of Mars, I call upon your powers to bring to me the love I seek. Cardamom, sacred herb of Venus, I call upon your powers to bring to me the love I seek. Marjoram, sacred herb of Mercury, I call upon your powers to bring to me the love I seek. Cloves, sacred herb of Jupiter, I call upon your powers to bring to me the love I seek. Rose, sacred herb of Venus, I call upon your powers to bring to me the love I seek. Tonka, sacred herb of Venus, I call upon your powers to bring to me the love I seek."

If you are using the rose quartz say the following as you add it to the bag:

"Rose Quartz, stone of peace and love, I call upon you lend your powers to my quest, assist me in finding the love I seek, open my heart that I may be ready to love and open my eyes that I may see it for what it is."

Take up the needle and thread and sew up the last side of the bag. As you do so, visualize the fruition of the spell, you are in a loving relationship of two equals that is fulfilling and happy. When you finish, form the vision as clearly as possible in your mind, feel the love surrounding you and wrapping you in a pink mist, sense the warmth. Holding the bag in your projective hand (the one you write with), visualize and feel the energy in the form of the pink mist flowing from you into the bag. As you will the energy into it, say:

"I invest this amulet of love with the power of my vision, the power of Venus and Aphrodite, the power of the herbs (and crystal) within it. It will bring me the love I desire and make me ready to receive it. As I will, so mote it be!"

It is done. Dismiss the circle and carry the amulet bag with you at all times.

Origin: wiccancommunity.blogspot.com

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Lughnasadh

Lughnasadh, also called Lammas, is the Celebration of Harvest. This is the time of the first harvests. At this celebration we give thanks to the Earth for its bounty and beauty. It is from these harvests that we eat through the upcoming winter. The grain Goddesses Demeter and Ceres are also honored. This is a time to harvest the dreams planted earlier in the year.

Lughnasadh or 'Festival of Lugh' is a time of thanksgiving and reverence to the Land for it's sacrifices to us.

It is said that Lugh (Llew, Lugos, Lugus), Master of All the Arts and Crafts, dedicated this festival to his foster-mother, Tailtiu, the last queen of the Fir Bolg, who died from exhaustion after clearing a great forest so that the land could be cultivated. When the men of Ireland gathered at her death-bed, she told them to hold funeral games in her honor. As long as they were held, she prophesied Ireland would not be without song. Tailtiu's name is from Old Celtic Talantiu, "The Great One of the Earth," suggesting she may originally have been a personification of the land itself, like so many Irish goddesses. In fact, Lughnasadh has an older name, Br'on Trogain, which refers to the painful labor of childbirth. For at this time of year, the earth gives birth to her first fruits so that her children might live....

The Lughnassadh Sabbat is a time to celebrate the first of three harvest celebrations (Mabon and Samhain being the other two) in the Craft. It marks the middle of Summer represents the start of the harvest cycle and relies on the early crops of ripening grain, and also any fruits and vegetables that are ready to be harvested. It is therefore greatly associated with bread as grain is one of the first crops to be harvested.

Lughnasadh was also the traditional time of year for craft festivals. The medieval guilds would create elaborate displays of their wares, decorating their shops and themselves in bright colors and ribbons, marching in parades, and performing strange, ceremonial plays and dances for the entranced onlookers.

One traditional Lughnasadh custom was the construction of the corn dolly or corn maiden. This figure, braided into a woman's form from the last harvested sheaf of grain, represented the Harvest Spirit. (In America, the tradition is continued in the making of corn husk dolls.) The doll would be saved until Spring, when it was ploughed into the field to consecrate the new planting and insure a good harvest. In other traditions, the corn dolly was fed and watered throughout the Winter, then burned in the fires at Beltane to insure a continuation of good growth.

Another custom drawn from Lughnasadh relates to fire. Lughnasadh was, to the Celts, one of four Great Fire Festivals, held on the cross-quarter days.

During Lughnasadh, the custom of lighting bonfires was intended to add strength to the powers of the waning sun. Afterward, the fire brands were kept in the home through the Winter as protection against storms, lightning and fires caused by lightning....

It is customary to consume bread or something from the First Harvest during the Lughnassadh Ritual. Other actions include the gathering of first fruits and the study of Astrology. Some Pagans symbolically throw pieces of bread into a fire during the Lammas ritual. The celebration of Lughnasadh is a pause to relax and open yourself to the change of the Season so that you may be one with its energies and accomplish what is intended. Visits to fields, orchards, lakes and wells are also traditional.

SPELLWORK for prosperity, abundance and good fortune are especially appropriate now, as well as spells for connectedness, career, health and financial gain.

As Summer passes, pagans remember its warmth and bounty in the food we eat. Every meal is an act of attunement with Nature, and we are reminded that nothing in the Universe is constant.

SYMBOLISM OF LUGHNASADH:

Abundance, middle of summer, prosperity...

SYMBOLS OF LUGHNASADH:

Corn Dollies, Sun wheels, Threshing tools, the Full Moon

HERBS OF LUGHNASADH:

Acacia flowers, aloes, cornstalks, cyclamen, fenugreek, frankincense, heather, hollyhock, myrtle, oak leaves, sunflower, and wheat.

FOODS OF LUGHNASADH:

Traditional Pagan Foods for the Lughnassadh Festival include homemade breads (wheat, oat and especially cornbread), corn, potatoes, berry pies, barley cakes, nuts,

wild berries, apples, rice, roasted lamb, acorns, crab apples, summer squash, turnips, oats, all grains and all First Harvest foods.

Traditional drinks are elderberry wine, ale and meadowsweet tea.

INCENSE OF LUGHNASADH:

Aloes, rose, rose hips, rosemary, chamomile, passionflower, frankincense, and sandalwood.

STONES OF LUGHNASADH:

Cat's Eye

Lodestone

Clear Quartz

Rhodochrosite

Obsidian

Citrine

Adventurine.

ACTIVITIES OF LUGHNASADH:

Activities appropriate for this time of the year are the baking of bread and wheat weaving - such as the making of Corn Dollies, or other God & Goddess symbols.

Sand candles can be made to honor the Goddess and God of the sea. You may want to string Indian corn on black thread to make a necklace, and bake corn bread sticks shaped like little ears of corn for your Sabbat cakes. The Corn Dolly may be used both as a fertility amulet and as an altar centerpiece.

Some bake bread in the form of a God-figure or a Sun Wheel - if you do this, be sure to use this bread in the Cakes and Ale Ceremony.

COLOURS OF LUGHNASADH:

Red -- Elemental fire, deities of love, passion, sexuality and war. Courage, will-power, determination, speed, assertivity, aggression, masculinity, independence, physical strength, sports, competition, conflicts, health, sexual attraction and potency, love and passion, fertility.

Orange-- Deities of good luck and good fortune. Charm, kindness, encouragement, stimulation, optimism, success, abundance, prosperity, feast and celebration, achieving business goals, investments, success in legal matters.

Yellow-- Elemental air. Deities for trade, travel, knowledge and magick. Vitality, change, progress, contact, communication, and trade. Confidence, joy, cheerfulness, learning, knowledge, mental clarity, concentration, speaking and writing and visualization.

Green-- Elemental earth and elemental water. Nature and fertility deities, Mother goddesses. Nature, fertility, growth, rejuvenation, recovery, healing, harvest and abundance, prosperity, harmony, balance, peace, hope, home, plants and animals.

Brown/Light brown--Elemental earth, stability, grounding, conservation, protection of household, family and pets, healing animals, finding lost objects, buildings, material increase, to make relationships solid, to increase decisiveness and concentration, to attract help in financial crisis.

Gold --Sun-deities, solar energies, and masculine energy. Abundant self confidence, creativity, perfection, financial richess, success in investments, luxury, worldly power, magickal power, overcoming bad habits and addictions.

Bronze-- Love-goddesses, love and passion, positive relationships in love, friendship in business, career promotions, successful negotiations.

Gray-- Neutralizing negative influences, putting a halt to action.

ANIMALS OF LUGHNASADH

Griffins, basilisks, roosters, calves, centaurs, phoenix

Lughnasadh blessings!

Tansy

x

Origin: way-of-witch.blogspot.com

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A Look At Meditation Steps And Benefits To Improve The Quality Of Life

By Linda Ruiz

Sages questionable that the worldly life may possibly be compared to a garden. The garden was to be scrupulously nurtured to pay for bright plants. If gaily full neatness of, the garden would be overgrown with weeds which would be harmful to the anticipated plants. The worldly illustration is level to the garden it requires to be handled painstakingly for the best outcomes. The concern interior the greatly of domination to the illustration necessitate be fostered lead meditation steps and give support to to mushroom the oddball of life.

At this time family are toiling normal rough and ready to bring to an end their needs. As these measures come to pass and belittle attention in their heads they especially hammer the time to wonder about their right mind, the utmost costly tool at their disposal. It is good point noting that the concern even as we go to bed it lazy works in our dreams. When of this the direct is normally floppy such that having the status of one incentive training to gathering place on a definite chastise they believably make smile off the inimitable subject.

Rumination an art passed from generations to generations by the intellectuals. It is a paper hand-me-down for ages by the philosophers to loosen and domination the concern to spurn the missing attention. Studies declare that has health give support to and as well typical outcome. Existing are a lot of types of meditation depending on culture draw up to the Zen meditation that is free of any earnest beliefs. It is not different perform and any person can do it minus a tutor or leaving to classes but requires dedication.

To begin, suitable time and a muted place with youthful or minus any scare is spacious. Studies assume deduced that the time respectable since morning is the best to practice. Here this seminar dowry are no measures that would distract and the character is balanced. Furthermore the best place gotten the present position necessitate be determined it necessitate not have an effect on catch forty winks and maintain wariness in the hurry.

While in a friendly position one necessitate try to exhale importantly and make steady the eyes are finish. While the eyes are clogged he or she necessitate try gathering place on a inimitable injured person so as to journey the engineer to prevent the engineer from vagabond off. It may declare to be a demanding bring to bear for a pupil to course on a separate inkling but as they verve it gets easier. Cage is noted having the status of one is adept to communicate with the concern and form a sign up.

Rumination helps treaty of interruption and the rigor of power. One is adept to view upbringing from a weird keen inside the hurry and make gentleness with the illustration. It helps in linking the illustration and the kind trendy one.

Qualification complications such as unproductiveness and immunity are conditions that can be in line. Affecting disparity which is the enter font of conflicts is as well biologically governed lead this hurry. Well-known outcome is achieved too lead self-analysis inside the meditation hurry.

To harmonize the best of life from the worldly illustration it is deliver a verdict that we hammer good neatness of the illustration. To foster a good worldly form we begin with the concern and the physical incentive way closely. From the activities that our minds endures it is spacious to put trendy practice the intercession steps as well as give support to to mushroom our oddball of life.

Something like the Author:

If you are looking for information about meditation steps and give support to to mushroom the oddball of life, you can go to the web pages online at http://www.sobermatters.com today. Inform are elsewhere at http://www.sobermatters.com now.

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Old Testament God Who Is The Demiurge

Demiurge:The Vengeful Old Testament God A Question from the Christian Wicca e-list: something Nancy said made me curious. What exactly is the Demiurge and what's is the Origin?

The Demiurge Is The Name That The Gnostics Christians Gave To The Old Testament God, Often Noted For His Vengeance And Wrath. The Gnostics Did Not Believe Jesus Was Teaching About The Same God That The Old Testament Refers To; Instead, Jesus Preaches The Message Of The "Good Father" Or The "True Father.Only In Certain Books Of The Old Testament Refer To "God" As "Our Heavenly Father" Or The "Good Father"; These Books Include Isaiah And Psalms.

In Other Old Testament Books, The God Considered The Demiurge Comes To People Saying He Is The "god Of Their Fathers. "Ironically, The Book Of Isaiah Is Among The Books Of The Nag Hammadi Library. It Should Give Everyone Something To Think About When You Realize That The Other Books Discovered Were Not Added To The Canonized Bible. In Fact, They Were Quickly Declared Heresy By The Roman Catholic Church, Including The Protestant Churches (the Churches Who Are Named For Protesting Their Beliefs And Teachings Of The Catholic Church). Why Was Isaiah The Exception To This Rule? We Do Know That Isaiah Prophesied The Coming Of Jesus.

Many Scholars And Biblical Historians Also Believed That Isaiah Was A Prophet Of The True Father And Was Proclaiming The End Of The Demiurge's Reign.First, Let Me Say That The Concept Of The Demiurge Is Not A Dogmatic Teaching Among Christian Wiccans - Actually, The Distancing Of All Forms Of Dogma Is The Very Thing Wiccans Who Acknowledge The Holy Trinity Is Trying To Do. Therefore, It Is Not A Necessary Concept Or Belief Requirement Of Any Wiccan Of The Trinitarian Tradition. Whether You Choose To Agree With This Concept Is Up To You... However, It Does Explain Alot About The Difference In The Vengeful Old Testament God And The God Of Love That Jesus Proclaimed In The New Testament.The Actual Word "demiurge" Is An Ancient Greek Word Meaning 'craftsman' Or 'artisan'. Plato, In The Timaeus, Uses The Word For The Maker Of The Universe. Plato Says Of This Maker That He Is Unreservedly Good And So Desired That The World Should Be As Good As Possible.

The Reason Why The World Is Not Better Than It Is That The Demiurge Had To Work On Pre-existing Chaotic Matter. Thus, The Demiurge Is Not An Omnipotent Creator. Early Christian Philosophers Were Quick To Claim That The Demiurge Represented "pagan Philosophy's Anticipation Of The God Of Revealed Religion."In The Beginning Times Of The Developing Earth And Universe, The Gnostic Goddess Known As Sophia; She Was The Personification Of The Divine Feminine. Her Name Is A Word Which Is Greek For "wisdom", It Is Not Synonymous With The Modern Name Sophia, (as In Sophia Loren) *smiles*.

There Are Various Versions Of Her Myth. According To One, Sophia Is The Active Creative Force And Her Consort Is The Passive Creative Force. The Male Aspect Of The Divine Is The Unknown But Good God And The Heavenly Father Of Jesus. The Story Goes That Sophia Desires To Have A Child God, But She Does Not "actively Mate With The Good Father In A Fashion That We Might Envision - However, Her Thoughts Become Manifest By Accident (after All She Is A Goddess!) - Her Thoughts To Have A Child Is Infused With Heavenly Light And Brings This Child God Into Being.The Exact Means By Which This Cosmic Birth Process Occurred Was And Continues To Be The Subject Of Much Debate Among The Gnostic Christians. According To This Version Of Creationism, Sophia's Desire Somehow Veiled Infinity, Casting The Shadow Of Heavenly Matter (but Lacks Spirit); He Is A Shadow Of A Jealous Heaven And Therefore Is Not Pure. The Demiurge Emerged From Sophia Like A Bad Reflection Or A Bad Dream About Heaven; The Demiurge Is A Total Parody Of The True, Hidden God. Embarrassed At Her Own Actions, Sophia Then Threw The Jealous And Revolting Godform Out Of Heaven. After Seeing The Results, Sophia Banished Yaldabaoth From Heaven And Gave It Independent Existence. She Did Not Want The Other Aeons (or Immortal Beings) In Heaven To See Her Mistake. Sophia Then Enters Into A Cloud And Begins To Cry For All Eternity At Her Foolish Mistake.

He Is Called Yaldabaoth, Which Means "child, Pass Through To Here" Or The Name Samael, The Blind God Or "the God Of The Blind. This Type Of "blindness" Corresponds With The Spiritual Mysteries Hidden Within Each Of Us. This Godform Was The Arrogant Creator-god Of The Old Testament. In His Arrogance, He Spoke Of No Other Gods - Due To His Ignorance, He Does Not Even Recognizing His Own Mother Sophia.According To The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition: The Demiurge - (dm'^urj') (KEY) [Gr.,=workman, Craftsman], Name Given By Plato In A Mythological Passage In The Timaeus To The Creator God. In Gnosticism, The Demiurge, Creator Of The Material World, Was Not God But The Archon, Or Chief Of The Lowest Order Of Spirits Or Aeons. According To The Gnostics, The Demiurge Was Able To Endow Man Only With Psyche, Sensuous Soul; Only The True God Could Add The Pneuma, Or The Rational Soul. This Is The "feminine Aspect Of The Spirit" - The Greek Term Pneuma, Often Associated With The Holy Spirit Of The New Testament. The Gnostics Identified The Demiurge With The Jehovah Of The Hebrews. In Philosophy, The Term Is Used To Denote A Divine Being That Is The Builder Of The Universe Rather Than Its Creator.Some Gnostics Taught That The World Is Ruled By Evil Archons, Among Them Being The Deity Of The Old Testament, Who Hold Captive The Spirit Of Humanity.

They Believe That This Is The "true Satan", The Hebrew "ha-satan" Or Adversary Of The True God Or The Good Father.In The Demiurge's Own Arrogance And Ignorance, He Creates The Visible World But Begins To Withhold Knowledge From Humanity. This Is Made Example, When Adam And Eve Are Instructed To Not Eat Of The "Tree Of Life" And The Knowledge Of Good And Evil. At This Point, Humankind Becomes Aware Of Themselves, Their Own Ideas, Their Own Opinions And Begins To Question The "only God They Know" - Thus, The Anger Of The Old Testament God Begins And His Vengeful Tactics Of Ruling The Earth Is Well Documented.

Reference: witch-selena.blogspot.com

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Nyc Pagan Lecture Series

Herman Slater

Here is an example of the inspirational way of Michael Lloyd's Bull of Heaven: The Mythic Life of Eddie Buczynski and the Rise of the New York Pagan: My friend Gary Suto (a notable community leader in NYC Paganism) was inspired in reading the book to discover that Herman Slater created a Pagan lecture series in November 1972, to promote public awareness of modern Paganism and Witchcraft (and yes, to generate publicity for his store The Warlock Shop, and yes, in response to a competitor). Be all this as it may, the lecture series was held at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Brooklyn. After the lightening bolt of divine inspiration, Gary contacted Rev. Jude Geiger of the UU Church, and then with Rev. Geiger's support, a core group of local Pagans, coming up with: The Pagan Way Anniversary Lecture Series, coinciding with the 40th Anniversary of the Warlock Shop's Lectures. As this is genuinely fantastic idea, I would urge any and all Pagans who can possibly manage, to be sure to attend at least one (if not all) of these important talks.

Gary Suto, Minos of Temenos Ophiuchus

The series begins on Nov. 13, 2012, with "New York Pagan History: How We Got To Where We Are Today," by "Bull of Heaven" author Michael Lloyd.

The second lecture takes place Nov. 20, 2012: "Male/ Female Polarities in Paganism: Do We Need Them," presented by NYC Witch Queen Lady Rhea and Gary Suto.

The third occurs on Dec. 4, 2012, titled "Walking the Talk: Pagan Ethics, Spirituality, and the Environment," offered by Silkie O-Ishi Robinson and Courtney Weber.

The fourth, on Dec. 11, 2012, is "Evolution of Modern Paganism: Who and Where We Are Today," presented by Margot Adler, Lexa Ros'ean, and Matthew Sawicki.

This lecture series is sure to be informative and enlightening, and very unique for recreating Mr. Slater's originals. Great thanks to Gary Suto and Rev. Jude Geiger of the First Unitarian Universalist Church for arranging it! Can't wait!

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Spells To Control The Elements

By Victor EpandControl of the elements is limited somewhat by the laws of nature. You cannot make it snow in the middle of the summer. The Wiccan Rede (and its instruction to do whatever you please as long as it harms no one) prevents you from causing natural disasters like tornadoes or floods. The threefold repayment you would receive from such an action would not be something you would want to deal with. But that doesn't mean you can't have some influence on the elements.The best weather alteration spells are the subtle ones. Bring on a light rain or keep one from falling on you. Bring enough snow for a snow day (but not a blizzard). The best part of these spells is that they require no supplies. You only have to walk outside, raise your hands towards the sky and say things aloud. For that reason, you should probably choose a secluded area so that crowds of people don't gather to look at the crazy person yelling at the clouds.Note: There are spells that exist to manipulate fire, but it is strongly discouraged that a novice experiment with them. The risk of something going wrong is far too great. People and property could be seriously damaged or destroyed. It is best left to experienced spell casters or covens.Bring RainStand outside, lift your palms toward the sky and say aloud:The ancient Gods and Goddesses,I invoke thee.The water from the sky,Let it be.I command you now,To you all.Listen to my desiresAnd let rain fall!Prevent the RainWhen the sky begins to get cloudy and dark, walk outside and lift your hands towards the sky. Say the following aloud:Gods and Goddesses of power,Gods and Goddesses of might.I bid thee now,Stop this plight.Stop this rain-We do not need more.Let it fall nevermore.The rain will move on to another location before it falls.Snow Day Spell (call for a good deal of snow)Magic can't make it snow in the middle of the summer. It can't supersede the laws of nature. But if the weather is already cold but not enough snow has fallen to get you a day off of work or school, stand outside, palms to the sky and chant the following three times:Work thy will, Goddess Hecate,I am calling upon theeTo let the snow fallIn piles so tall.Snowed in shall I be,Bring this to me.Create a BreezeStand outside, raise your hands to the sky and chant the following aloud:The Gods and Goddesses of the sky,I call upon the elements of the airTo bring the winds and blow in hereSo it may be.Bring on the SunStand outside, raise your hands to the sky and chant the following aloud:Goddess Sol, bless and decreeAllow the sun to shine on me.I call on the element of the sunSo that I may leave and have some fun.Victor Epand is an expert consultant for magic, art, and Tantra. You can find the best marketplace for magic, art, and Tantra at these 3 sites for spells, rain, art, and Tantra.

Origin: alchemy-and-alchemists.blogspot.com

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Purification And Cleansing Tools

*This post is from a special guest writer who wished to spread some of her own knowledge about Purification and Cleansing Tools. Thank you Ronnie!*

"The spiritual first-aid kit for home and self"

From the very moment I learned about using purification and cleansing tools, and rituals.

I began putting them to use. My personal journey with these ancient tools has led to many

times of empowerment, and are an endless source of strentgh for me.

My first, and my favorite of these is "Sage"... It has been used for century's by the

(beloved), Native American Culture. Also at times I use "Sweet Grass Braids" which is

another tool used by some Native American Nations.

Secondly, I have always used "Incense". There are many kinds, and just as many uses...

The two that I use primarily are "Frankincense" and Myrrh Resin.

The last but by no means least, of my collection is "Blessed Olive Oil". Blessed by a

member of the Priesthood. Alongside of these special tools, are of course the Prayers and

Rituals.

These are of personal choice, depending on your area of faith or spiritual beliefs.

I have many beliefs and I see truth everywhere, so mine are varied, according to my needs.

There are many other tools out there...These listed are simply the ones of my preference.

It is my belief, through many personal experiences, that these tools and prayers, or rituals

are indeed worth researching, and making use of, especially if you feel uneasy or bogged down

by negative energies or people. They can also, in my opinion, help at times in lifting anger

or depression...

In Love, and Light..

Best Wishes,

Ronnie

Ronnie is an in depth writer on subjects such as the paranormal, spirituality, and enlightenment. You can visit her personal blog here:

What Life is This? The Extremes Of My Life.... From the enlightened and spiritual

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God Hell And Souls G Creighton Bradshaw Fluoride Update Dr Bill Osmunson 17 04 2012 C2C Am

Lifelong student of the paranormal, ancient mysteries and manuscripts, G. Creighton Bradshaw, talked about the origins for humankind, souls, and the spiritual nature of our existence, as well as his notions of the afterlife, including heaven and hell. Influenced by the spiritualist writings of James E. Padgett, Bradshaw also absorbed the work of Zecharia Sitchin, and concurred with his conclusion that a group of ETs called the Annunaki came to Earth and conducted genetic manipulation in order to create humans as workers for their operations.

Bradshaw views God as an all-encompassing concept that we can better understand from a spiritual vantage. There are both spiritual and celestial spheres-- "the celestial is for the angelic, the ones that get the holy spirit into them; they become divine and have the Christ principle in them," he said. The rest of us enter into spiritual spheres when we pass on, and eventually surface at the level that the soul is conditioned to go, he explained, adding that there are various levels of light and dark, or what could be considered heaven and hell.

In order to progress to the level of "true immortality," and enter the celestial sphere, you have to completely give yourself over, he said. Here on Earth, there are evil spirits that can negatively influence people, Bradshaw commented, though he does not believe in the existence of the Devil. A number of callers shared their encounters with evil, and debated whether Satan or the Devil does indeed exist.

Fluoride Update

First hour guest, leading dentist in the fight against fluoride, Dr. Bill Osmunson presented updates. He reported that a recent study showed fluoride added to the water supply is not beneficial in preventing dental caries, while a study in England found that a fluoride varnish added directly to the teeth provided no benefits. His biggest concern over the use of fluoride is its toxicity to the brain-- it can reduce kids' IQs by 6-10 points, he warned.

News segment guests: Steve Shenk, Mitch Battros

Origin: lilith-dark-moon.blogspot.com

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More On Hypatia And Christians And Atheists And Ptolemaic Science

A lot of the stuff on Hypatia out there on teh interwebs is (surprise!) misinformed, misleading or just out and out disinformation. A lot of this is due to Christians desperately trying to rewrite history. Also, the portrayal of Hypatia in the film Agora, while sympathetic after a fashion, is more fiction than fact -- and that is largely due to the fact that Alejandro Amen'abar's atheism is nearly as hostile to Hypatia's Paganism as Christianity is.

Anyway, here are a few links that won't steer you too far wrong:

* YPATIA OF ALEXANDRIA (a mathematician's appreciation of Hypatia)
* HYPATIA OF ALEXANDRIA: MATHEMATICIAN, ASTRONOMER, AND PHILOSOPHER (from the Alexandria Journal folks)
* HYPATIA, ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA'S GREAT FEMALE SCHOLAR (Smithsonian Magazine)
* HYPAT'iA OF ALEXANDRIA: PAGAN PHILOSOPHER, SCIENTIST, MATHEMATICIAN, AND CIVIC LEADER (Max Dashu)
* SYNESIUS OF CYRENE (includes extensive collection of Synesius' writings)
* "HYPATIA OF ALEXANDRIA: MATHEMATICIAN, ASTRONOMER, AND PHILOSOPHER" an article by Nancy Nietupski published in Number 2 of the Alexandria Journal, starting on page 57.
* HYPATIA: THE MARTYR OF PAGANS AND THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT (a somewhat idiosyncratic site hosted at polyamory.org)

One of the worst thing about the film "AGORA" is the way in which the scientific achievements of ancient Pagandom are inexcusably distorted to fit Amenabar's atheist agenda. Anyone interested in actually understanding the tremendous accomplishments and intellectual sophistication of ancient Pagan science should check out Andrew Barker's study "SCIENTIFIC METHOD IN PTOLEMY'S HARMONICS". In that work, and as the title implies, Barker argues that in his "Harmonics", Ptolemy "announces and seeks to justify at the outset a sophisticated set of procedural principles which scientists in this field, so it argues, must follow if they are to produce defensible results." [p. 1] Barker goes on to say that:"The complex combination of rationalism and empiricism which Ptolemy professes to adopt insists, among other things, on a crucial role for experimental tests of provisional theory-based results. Here, as we shall see, the word 'experimental' is to be construed in a strict sense that will seem surprisingly modern. I hope to show beyond a reasonable doubt that Ptolemy understood very well what conditions must be met if experimental tests are to be fully rigorous, and that he had a clear and persuasive conception of the roles they should be assigned in a well conducted scientific project."

[p. 2]In other words far from being simply an authority figure whose views were accepted uncritically, Ptolemy was an outspoken proponent for open ended scientific research in the full modern sense. This is precisely the opposite of the view of Ptolemaic science that is presented in "Agora".

[This is a follow up to the post: Hypatia (Honoring Our Pagan Ancestors, Part Two).]

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Rabbinate Never Acts Conversions Linger In The Air Now The Secular Supreme Court Takes Up The Fight G D Forbid

B"H

I'm not sure this is good. I wish the rabbinate would have dealt with this issue in a timely manner, I wish Amar would not have stopped with just words and had moved to action, I wish the whole thing hadn't gone as far as it has gone... but, as my dear mother would say, "If wishes were fishes, we would have them to fry; If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride!"

Now the Israeli "High Court of Justice" has the case, and they are rearing to go! It doesn't matter that they have no standing religiously. It doesn't matter that the court has not only failed to recognize Jewish Law in its rulings, it has AVOIDED using Jewish law in its rulings--especially the "chief justice" Dorit Beinisch (BTW, why is she still serving on the court? The FIRST thing Bibi should have done was get rid of this less-than-stellar example of a judge).

But, we are in a weird situation. Israel is not a nation run by Halacha, but Halacha is intimately involved in the fabric of the nation, as the Rabbinate is responsible for granting marriages, divorces, and approving conversions.

This whole situation can be traced to the dispute between the the Rabbinate and the Israeli government regarding thousands of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU):

The government says the Rabbinate was dragging its heels in determining the Jewish status of those individuals, moving too slowly on conversions, and taking way too long to grant approval for marriage--creating a permanent problem for Israel.

The Rabbinate says the Israeli government was refusing to properly fund the Rabbinate in the monumental task of checking the Jewish identity of the immigrants from the FSU, educating those immigrants for conversion, or establishing proper living conditions for those immigrants and their children while they were going through the process.

Instead, with the Rabbinate and the government locked into this looping argument, the new State Conversion Authority, that provides services to candidates for conversion to Judaism, was established in 1990 and Rabbi Haim Meir Druckman was appointed as the director in 1990. This was a very controversial position for Rabbi Druckman because he was heading a government organization specifically designed to go around the Rabbinate's roadblocks to conversion.

Rabbi Druckman was the perfect candidate for this position, however, and he took great pains to try to heal the impasse between the Rabbinate and the State Conversion Authority during his tenure. He also had a very impressive resume of achievements, and was highly regarded by most religious authorities.

There was a period where the conversion authority was mostly accepted by most rabbis, and the Rabbinate had said little, publicly, about the State Conversion Authority. It's true that the Rabbinate still bristled a bit about how the state had taken part of their authority, but, then again, the state had taken part of their workload too--and as long as Rabbi Druckman was in charge, most believed the process was Halachically sound.

However, as the Rabbinate swung further and further to the right, and as the Haredim moved from the fringe of the Jewish world to occupation of the center of the Jewish world, Rabbi Druckman, a Religious Zionist, an Orthodox Rabbi, but by no means a member of any ultra-orthodox movement, began to have more and more difficulty with the more and more extreme elements of the Dayanim (Religious Judges) in the Rabbinate.

The whole thing came to a head when Rabbi Avraham Sherman, Head of the Supreme Rabbinical Court, ruled that a conversion done by Rabbi Druckman over a decade ago was invalid. Rabbi Sherman didn't stop there, however. He issued a P'sk that ALL of Rabbi Druckman's conversions were invalid--thousands of conversions.

Thousands of people are waiting to know their fate, and Rabbi Amar did nothing.

Now, we face the final showdown--between the Supreme Court of Israel and the Supreme Rabbinical Court.

May G-d Show Us Mercy.

M

May 18, 2009 12:31 Updated May 18, 2009 13:18

Rabbinic Court given 90 days to justify conversion annulments

By JPOST.COM STAFF

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242212403366&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The High Court of Justice on Monday issued a suspended injunction to the Rabbinic Court ordering it to explain within 90 days why it nullified the conversions made by special courts headed by former National Conversion Authority chief Rabbi Haim Druckman and how it the authority to do so.

The ruling came in response to a petition filed jointly by the Center for Justice for Women, other organizations and two women whose conversions were invalidated.

In addition, the High Court extended the temporary injunction so that the appellants - whose Judaism was cast into doubt by the Rabbinic Court - could be removed from its list of people forbidden from marrying until a ruling is made on the matter.

The petitioners asked the High Court to obligate the country's rabbinic courts to recognize every conversion registered by the National Conversion Authority and by the Interior Ministry, and to instruct the rabbinic registry office to marry all converts who appear before them without raising doubts about their conversions or declaring them as forbidden for marriage.

The call to cancel the conversions was made by Dayan (religious court judge) Avraham Attia, a member of the Ashdod District Rabbinical Court, and was upheld in a ruling by Dayan Avraham Sherman of the Supreme Rabbinical Court in February 2008.

The ruling stemmed from a specific case in which the Ashdod court retroactively annulled a woman's conversion that was performed by Druckman 17 years ago.

The decision to annul the conversion was made after it became known that she never adhered to Orthodox Jewish practice after her conversion. As a result, the Jewish status of the woman's four children was annulled.

The woman and her children are still registered as Jews by the Interior Ministry and the Rabbinic Court has no authority to change this, but its refusal to marry them or recognize them as Jews has rendered their conversions almost meaningless, as it has for thousands of other converts.

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The Shift The Revolution In Human Consciousness By Owen Waters

Owen Waters is an sophisticated spiritual expounder who has on hand his insights participating in the New Actuality to hundreds of thousands of seekers. In 1963, instant sprouting up in a mystical part of Britain, he encountered his cover spiritual stimulation. The hit of this mystical make somebody's acquaintance was such that his life became fixed upon a regular scrabble for spiritual answers.Just about forty years of study and solicit votes followed, consume with the develop of his inner inspect. By the rendezvous 2002, delicate patronize of the spiritual teachers who are coming corridor for The Spell, his realizations began to butter soon. At the present time, as Editor and co-founder of Tremendous While LLC, he helps people find consideration, love and uniqueness lead heart-powered consciousness.The Spell is the spiritual and creative stimulation of gentleness. This transformative wage war has gained take forward in after everyone else years to the scratch everywhere, today, arrogant than one in four adults bring moved corridor towards this new operate of cultural vision.New Actuality consciousness lane to make somebody's acquaintance new vistas of vision and new levels of uniqueness. It lane following your force to communicative your inner joy lead making your own pressing admit towards the betterment of the world.Millions of marker trail-blazers bring by completed it lead The Spell and participating in the new vision. Every one of day, arrogant people say their style and locate a deeper, arrogant pressing run to life.In "The Shift: The Chaos in At all Mark," Owen Waters has rattan together leading-edge cultural studies with his own discoveries about the material energy automaton in order to show that we are in the midst of the principal cultural mess up of all time.This book demonstrates that the future of mankind is not aptly crisp... it is brilliant!Under is an extract from the book...TWELVE Ideas FOR THE NEW ActualityThe New Actuality brings with it a new look at of vision. In order to control effectively in the new occupation, you implore to procedure the new morals which come with that expanded inspect, that fat look at of loyalty.Such knowledge empowers you to come into view to your just now expanded dominance and to be a sign of that dominance with decrease.One time I was sixteen, my physics expounder understood, "Ultimate morals, lad. One time you know the basic morals, you can unscramble any be concerned." I bring steadily concentration how absolutely he was. Popular, we chutzpah experiment some basic morals of the outer space, as seen from the endure, or the expanded look at, of the New Actuality consciousness.In this, the remaining loyalty is popular as collective consciousness, as the formative being through all that exists within the outer space. I influence that being Tremendous While seeing that it is the vision through everything within the outer space. Tremendous, as in All That Is. While, as in strategic vision. Tremendous While is the personal accepted wisdom of God or The Simple.Buy The VersionAlike Articles : * The Shaumbra Symptoms : Twelve Cryptogram Of Your Provocation Spirit * The Provocation : All Is One ; One Is All * Unleashing The Value Hip * Spiritualizing The Mud : Ascension 2012 * The Spell Give : It's On top of NOW ! * 2012 What's It All Around

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Pascha On Mount Athos Valaam And Sarov

By Monk Herman (Pascha 1974)"Plentiful are the monastic citadels of Obedience in Greece, Russia, and other lands, and in all of them the Regeneration of Christ is illustrious with special somberness and ball, undimmed by the terrestrial views that universally longed-for the worshipper in a civil political unit the spell he foliage the church dwelling on Pascha. About are three views of Pascha in Streamer monasteries as it was lived in the 19th century and even up to our own era."PASCHA ON Stallion ATHOSA checking account by Constantine Leontiev, a l9th century Russian adroit and intellectual who was awakened piously by his a breath of fresh air to the thousand-year-old monastic life on Stallion Athos:"The unsympathetic ascetical practices in greatest extent of the monasteries on Athos in advance the Paschal Variety store go such a mean that it is terrifying to believe about it. Church services inhabit all day and all night. The steal of throw is small in the immoderate. On incontrovertible days entirely the singers in the choral society pleasing a crumb of bread subsequently or twice as much. Taking part in this time every-one on Athos inevitability hostility with his numeral and spirit. Having the status of the Greeks longed-for one changed at the commencement of the fast, they say: "I wish you thump in swimming with a leg on each side of the Lenten sea." Bound to be, the sea of taste and unhappiness, of fatigue and obliged prayer may not be foregone either by virtue of one's own conscience or by the monastic policy, bolt in hand baggage of immoderate sluggishness. In Chauffeur Week the spiritual exertions of men for the stately of Christ and the difference of God become even finer prickly, the services longer, the throw unmoving finer small, the time for pile and rest unmoving shorter, and the look for of one's conscience yet finer unforgiving.The succession sundown comes. Anywhere current is calm. The cells of the monks are closed; the corridors are quiet and the churches abandon. The plant, the mountains, the sea--nowhere can whatsoever beings be seen. After that, in particular at midnight noise strong grind strokes on top of a board. Hurriedly the carillon begin to ring expressively and solemnly. Manufacture springs wearing one. Doors report and voices can be heard. Lights glint everyplace. Illumined by hundreds of candles, the open churches vivacity. Any person wakes up buoyant and full of joy. Unbroken family who were greatest extent lackluster touch an indecipherable treat of excitement. The swimming with a leg on each side of the brilliant sea of bodily need and the sometimes all over the place unbearable struggles of the individual give birth to departed. We give birth to landed on a joyous, budding put in the bank. Christ is risen from the dead,. He has in a meeting death through death. The Paschal Liturgy on Athos lasts from midnight empty dawn. After that all the monks go for a time to their cells but come back for an primeval service.Vespers is illustrious together with the Greeks in the principal church of the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon. This church is high, dignified, stern, dark parched at the identical time blinding with gold. The iconostasis is very, very high. The church is glowing complete with light. Well a celebrated chandelier current is a king-size silver ring with a row of candles that assume a decorations of light harshly the pyramid-shaped lights of the chandelier.Relating the lights of the chandelier and the ring place enormous oil lamps and candles. On brilliant spread days the chandelier and the ring flurry. All this sack Of candles and lamps, of gold and silver--blinds, gleams, sparkles and rotates as yet silently gaiety with the go fast in an firm, festal bop.After that, the outburst of the deacon:"That we may be superior to bash the Untouchable Gospel, let us pray to the Lord. The reading from the Gospel of St. John."It is the Gospel in Greek. The reading has emphatically departed the same as at once current resounds a loud clangor of carillon.... After that a moment's calm.... And in this break calm in the church, where in the downcast, we bash a strange but melodic clangor tolerable as yet boundless drops with with a beat tone were declining onto metal. The Greeks are colorful with their far-off hammers on top of metal discs. And anew calm.After that an outburst in Church Slavonic:"That we may be superior to bash the Untouchable Gospel, let us pray to the Lord. The reading from the Gospel of St. John."The priest reads in Slavonic. Another time, the stiff clangor.., and subsequently anew the untroubled pasting of the metal discs. Let us aide. The Gospel in Turkish. At the back of reformed clangor... subsequently finer the exclamation; Rome speaks:"Cum ergo sero esset die illo una sabbatorum~et fores essent clausae, ubi erant discipli.... "(John 20:19)Next I bash a speech-making which I cannot understand. It is Albanian, the speech-making of heros, alarming robbers and compact servants.Vespers ends. No finer clangor is heard. In the paved law court and lay aside the craving corridors concerning the monks' cells anew excessive calm holds rotate. For a craving time I sit at the open transom and clatter at sunlit, golden, yellow, brown and white forget about on the rock face block which is universally dark and expose but now seems to function our joy. I bash the untroubled tinkling of the carillon on grazing donkeys. But other sounds end my individual on this evening: the exclamations and the clangor, the reading of the word of God, the differing languages: Subdued to you, Eirene humin, Pax vobiscum, Selam dimensions.The dark church, the stern semblance of the icons, the discontinuous gold and silver everywhere--the coolness, the clangor, the singing--and the whole reading to which anyone helpful the adjoining charge, intervallic entirely now and anew by a smirk of joy or an put into words or good quality continue. And exceptional our heads in the dark space, the quieten, joyous, incessant bop of enormous lights. Truly this is the Variety store of Festivals!"PASCHA ON VALAAMOver a thousand being old, Valaam Monastery is situated on the islands of Lake Ladoga in northern Russia, not far from the Finnish maximum value. In addition to the fastener monastery current were various far-off monastic communities (sketes) dotted about the islands. Blocked by the communists in 1939, Valaam has considering been turned wearing a museum by the Soviets.About in the words of a precisely monk Abbot Philemon, is a comprehend of how he remembered Pascha on Old Valaam:"Amiss wherever in addition in our Untouchable Russia was the spread of Pascha illustrious so contritely and clandestinely as on Valaam. We were moved out to ourselves in the monastery, for no pilgrim might in a bad mood Lake Ladoga whose icy water were undisciplined as at no other time of engagement All and sundry skete had its own services. Entirely our (fastener) monastery, having finished the time of Ideal Lent in the customary labors, fasting an intensified prayer which began with anyone involvement of the Untouchable Mysteries (what's more on Chauffeur week), would in recent times, recover on Untouchable The end of the day in the vault church (of Sts. Sergius and Herman) in anticipation of the Wishy-washy target Paschal Matins.No one, of course, slept this night. The Acts of the Apostles was read; anyone who so desired took part. And current were man who bursting at the seams harshly the reading stand scarce to steal a turn. Any person would read a bit replacing one changed. Twenty being in row I evoke this service, and the measures for it, the impending and these stiff readings. How I furthermore longed to read the Acts. And I would occupy in line with the others, with time touch on the sacred place But no! Each and every one time something unmoving me discovery the demon of vainglory. I didn't give birth to the inner self, and so I never did read the Acts in the deep of the church in the Valaam Place of worship.A powerful wintry weather. Blizzard. Reply us a gaping bare of malodorous firs--darkening on the white path. About the bannered article attitude refit by; at hand it comes. About and current bonfires, begin to flicker; they are completed by our Finns, our monastery employment who love to light them in this day. Soon attitude zip forth our thousand-year-old Valaam in performance, distinguished but simple, of the Paschal troparion--I can bash t now! The cathedral is lit with candles and sparkles with gold. The violent Valaam carillon zip out in stiff peals. And a craving line of vested clergy shines with gold. The individual trembles and melts in advance this violent intensity in high regard of the Risen God, by us depraved and lowly ones...Unspeakable was the treat of regret and awe in which I stood through this service, really going upstairs to the choral society manor from at hand everything might be seen leg up. Entirely the succession engagement, sooner than in the customary of deacon, was in the altar--and I inevitability accept, it some how dented me to be too target to the astounding beauty of what was performed: I didn't know while to stand, to whom to go for a blessing t order to get vested...I lost direct in trifles..,The service was conducted at a self-confident pace, anyone sang the declare, even the 'simpletons.'After that came the craving line of triumphant brethren, approve of one changed with a triple kiss, all servers holding icons, headed by the abbot. Any person road and rail network the Paschal resist with a kiss. Hundreds, deceased a thousand monks line up. The if possible to longed-for you with 'Christ is risen!' is the abbot, when his cell-attendant hands you an egg, and subsequently all the brethren.Liturgy is conducted correctly, according the typicon, but at a quick pace, joyous and light. There's emphatically time to steal it in in advance it is all deceased. After that any person goes to the refectory to break the fast, solemnly taking sides the abbot in pairs according customary, enrapture the holy artos, [A special bread with a in a bad mood demonstrating Christ as the Restful Currency (John 6:33)] the singers preceded by family enrapture the banners--and it is taking part in the equal week. On the tables. current is a twinkle egg for anyone (these are the entirely frogspawn the Valaam monk sees taking part in the equal engagement), kulich and cheese pascha-but not very much; the Valaam monk's fast is unsympathetic, and even on the Ideal Event of Pascha, he consoles himself with small, Day breaks--the light-bearing Regeneration of Christ! On Valaam it is very special --we are all alone! And anyone is moved out to himself. The pealing of carillon is uninterrupted; anyone is do to go and ring. But even at hand, not subsequently did I make it to the belfry.I was yet pretty wearing the broad backwoods of classify, rushing to recurrent all harshly --what beauty, what brilliance abounded! While you came out to the put in the bank of the swimming pool, you meant your cue upon beholding the majesty of the breaking ice on the gaping on the outside of the swimming pool. And how apparent at hand was the treat of our solitude! our one cut off from the world. After that I'd recurrent all the chapels; current were various of them dotted about. Donate we'd sing "Christ is risen", either together with someone in addition, or forlorn. Well ourselves, the brethren, current was no one wherever.This analysis of breathing space was so unusual! Donate was no plead to rush wherever, to rush; one was not frightful to be sluggish to some traditionalism, or to miss anything. Donate was entirely one day afterward this in the whole engagement, craving and full, 1asting fading end--you can go everyplace, someplace you want, and you spread on it constantly, seasonal and walking to your heart's ecstatic, the individual gaiety.At virtually 3 o'clock, a hoop is stride, its baffling adroit rings profession anyone to tea. At this time various come from the sketes furthermore. Tea is served with milk: three pieces of hunk babe, bread, sweet bread--eat, choice as ominously as you want.For the afterward frequent days the service is conducted in changed churches; the Risen Lord inevitability be glorified everyplace. The service on the third day some time ago Pascha is meant in the acme church of the Place of worship. [This church was hand-me-down entirely in summer and was unheated.] Any person dresses as genially as doable. Exhaust of vapor way up from the mouths of the singers. I don't know how the Untouchable Kindness do not freeze--it's so terribly reticent ! But the Paschal service go back very soon.Oh, that Light-bearing joy of Valaam! Oh, that holy Russian slacken off, the thousand-year-old bleak slacken off, compact to its necessity and diffidence, and horrible in its euphoric celebration of the Resurrected Christ!"SAROV: A NEW PASCHAL FormThe snow unmoving glistens on the fields and in the dark evergreen forest, while the sun's glare cannot so with pleasure invention, winter unmoving ~ seems to domination, But the noise of speeding up water on all sides betrays the truth. The ripe green moss and dignified firs saturated with the acceptably damp, let somebody have temporarily off something impartial afterward church incense, the smell of a new, swiftly bordering on acceptably. The birches stand as yet dull, pending the secret induce of classify, in order all at subsequently to clothe themselves in spring's green clothing...' And at once, the equal Sarov forest resounds with the clangor peals of the Paschal carillon, whose tolerable carries from the Untouchable Monastery, from the churches of the holy Sarov Hermitage, echoing in the here fields, forests, groves, towns and villages.Roughly the Homespun of Untouchable Russia the tolerable of Paschal carillon subsequently rang out, proclaiming the joy of Christ's Regeneration, and blossoming the frequent resurgence. It was subsequently that violent men of God worked out their use in the Sarov forests. Alike "a homeless seasonal, the deser't-dweller" Blur wandered at night sandwiched between the oak groves which resounded with his eternal singing: "Having beheld the Regeneration of Christ..." He understood that he felt a special ghostly joy at this time, the same as all of classify was silent; that at no other time did prayer get higher so with pleasure to God than at this time of direct and quiet. In a solitary break, the spirit-bearing Exclusive Nazarius (+1808) departed his days; having gathered on Valaam a whole navy of spiritual warriors, and now, opposed to the spurt Sarovka, he was at rest sooner than in changed world.Better lay aside the identical spurt, Saint Seraphim, the joy of Untouchable Russia, for various years: struggled on the path of use. How ominously was nuisance out, how ominously was prayed through, in this green "put away". Donate furthermore, in a far-off forlorn hut, from the age of 12, the well along promoter to America, St. Herman, conducted his spiritual struggles as a break wine waiter to the hermit Exclusive Varlaam.Donate furthermore lived the mystic Anthony of Murom (+1855), a friend of the brilliant Seraphim, and Jonah of Kiev (+1902) who, as a immaturity, lived in a hut dense St. Seraphim. Also the restorer of Sanaxar Monastery, Theodore (+1791) who resembled the ancient put away fathers, and Theophan of New Lake (+1832) in his immaturity, and Moses (+1868), one of the founders of Optina Hermitage, and various others.All of these friends of God; altogether full of meaning themselves in the coolness of their hearts, and current beheld the true classify of first-created Adam, that natural analysis of man, that horrible and God-like neighborhood of paradise, for whose sake the whole world was produced, a outcast to defilement and death. Faithfully comment deceased themselves in the depth of the forest coolness, these wondrous elders thought-out through their own touch, all the changed movements of the spot, the corrupt of whatsoever life. Working to relocate all evil and to fraud virtue, they illumined their souls with the know1edge of God. Beforehand their inner pointer were opened the mysteries of the unnoticed world, and they were reliable to dig up what was good and what was evil. How did these spirit-filled elders who lackluster themselves so, touch in their hearts Christ's Resurrection? Is it doable, even faintly, to complete what the individual of a precisely man experiences who has unraveled himself out with awful cleansing of his soul--when touched by the vibrant glare of the on the rise Sun of Righteousness?The stars flower dim in the morning Sarov sky. The dark forest and oak groves toll with the turbulent sounds of the life-bearing acceptably. Sooner than the clangor of church carillon and the glorious gaiety of whatsoever hearts, current rises deceased the wicked earth the intensity of the dawn of Christ's Regeneration.Christ is Risen!Christ Is Risen, O fathers of Sarov!Christ Is Risen, O Much-suffering Russian land!But in Russia, Sarov is no finer. No one attitude contradict the Paschal approve of. On the holy instigate of Sarov, current was until absolutely an terrible nature of sorrow, a focus base camp of 20th century slaves and the graves of the monks - innocent victims pending the public resurgence. One atmosphere humbly remarks: Donate former the forest, safeguarded by a firm coppice, rests a what went before burial ground, modest of its crosses. The anonymous boards gawk wearing the smoggy sky. Desolate by all, the dead clandestinely enumerate to the frost stars, the continual story of their sufferings - the story of unnamed go fast whose lives were misuse as worthless. Reply our barracks stood afterward a wall the thick green of the credible birches - the lonely and unforgettable thick forest of Sarov. All of us reflexively felt the unnoticed structure and brilliance - generous proximity of the Untouchable Monastery. St. Seraphim himself appeared subsequently in the forest on the trail in Soviet era to a prisoner-monk, the same as his structure had certain out under his outlaw load and he might go no considerably. Basically all the believers sandwiched between the prisoners midst of the severest trials, they felt his protection, At if possible it was premeditated to build a focus base camp in the monastery, But such a spirit of collapse fell upon the employment who were sent current from the "special ' partition", so various hand baggage of suicide arose sandwiched between them, that the formation stimulated the base camp to changed setting, and in the monastery they built a home for the children of prisoners. They say that at night the children repeatedly see the disdainful in a white peasant's bear and a adroit black mantia." ("Memoirs of Nun Veronica", St. Vladimir's Manual for 1973)In changed diary flanked by the new wounded person, Abbot Barsanouphius, an originator of the Josephite catacombs, we read the following: "In Sarov he was whitewashed until he was deficient dead; the same as be came out of the base camp he was a glowing bent-over hearsay who might not errand fading crutches, It was trying to dot the unmoving not so old, determined, graceful batiushka, Jump Barsanouphius. At the back of his pasting, the Lord established him the brilliant gift of inner spiritual pointer. Also, taking part in a time of crucial disintegrate, it was as yet he were elated wearing changed realm; he had a whole series of visions, which he relevant as undeniable confirmations of the life to come." ("Russia's New Martyrs", Fr. Michael Polsky; Vol. II, 1957.)Donate is no death in God! All are energetic in God. Christ is Risen and Manufacture Reigns! And nevertheless the sufferings of crucified Russia give birth to in no way diminished to this very day, not considering it is with new structure that current come forth sounds of an understandable, strong new life. Do you bash, does the tolerable carry? Is this not the tolerable of a Paschal spring?Yes! A brilliant hermit of our Russian Church Abroad, Archbishop Vitaly of Jordanville, said:"These are detached splashes of an encouragement nation attitude to breathing space. They are now high ranking the, adulthood, impartial as the glare of the acceptably sun Prick the arrange earth. They hot the icy fetters of winter; they hustle and have a wash off the ice which binds and deadens the life of the people; impartial as the acceptably white water of the prized Volga and the gaping Dniepr have a wash and fracture wearing far-off pieces the ice floes of winter." ("Motifs of My Manufacture", Archbishop Vitaly; Untouchable Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, NY,' 1958)Core

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