Tomer Devorah (The Palm Tree of Devorah)

This is cool.....

Tomer Devorah

Who is a god, like unto Thee, that beareth iniquity
And passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?
He retaineth not his anger forever,
Because he delighteth in mercy.
He will again have compassion upon us;
He will subdue our iniquities:
And Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham
As Thou has sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

Solitary Bird

For today when it feels really apt:

"The conditions of a solitary bird are five: First, that it flies to the highest point. Second, that it does not seek after company, not even its own kind. Third, that it aims its beak to the wind. Fourth, that it has no definite color. Fifth, that it sings very sweetly." (John of the Cross: Sayings of Light and Love)

Order of St Esclarmonde

March 16th is Montsegur Day. The Cathars, a 13th century Christian sect centred in provincial France, had long established Montsegur as a place of refuge for their small community. On this day in 1244, approximately 220 Cathar Perfecti and Sergents-At-Arms were marched out of Montsegur by the armies of the King Of France, and in the name of the Catholic Church were burnt alive.

On this day in 2008 I took my vows in the Order of St Esclarmonde, a solitary order of monks and nuns devoted to Gnosis in the contemporary world. St Esclarmonde refers to the noblewoman of Languedoc, Esclarmonde of Foix, a Cathar Perfecti who had part in helping to rebuild the first Montsegur, and who established hospitals and girls' homes in the area.

In an old shepards tale from Languedoc, a beautiful portrait is painted of Esclarmonde as the keeper of the Grail. When Montsegur is surrounded by the armies of Lucifer, a dove comes and splits Montsegur in two with its beak. Esclarmonde throws the Grail deep into the split in the mountain (Montsegur), and the mountain closes up again. In this way the Grail is preserved against the thievery of the enemy. The enraged army storms Montsegur, ransacks the Castle and burns all of the Perfecti in the Field of the Stake. Esclarmonde does not burn, and escapes by turning into a dove, and flying away.

Rich in symbolism, no?

Hospitality, mindfulness, contemplation and awakening. In a structured praxis.

Holy Mother,
Rightful Queen of faithful souls,
Who never erred,
Who never lied,
Follower of the rightful course,
Who never doubted
lest we should accept death
in the realm of the wrong god;
as we do not belong to this realm
and this realm is not ours –
teach us Your gnosis
and to love what You love.

The Poimandres of Hermes the Egyptian

'Keep in mind the things that you desire to learn and I will teach you.

At these words he changed his form, and instantly everything opened up to me, and I saw a limitless vision, everything having become a light, serene and happy, and I was enraptured by the sight. After a little darkness, produced bit by bit, came bearing down, and it was terrifying and abhorrent, coiling itself in spirals like a serpent, as it seemed. Then this darkness was changed into a kind of moist nature, indescribably shaken, and exuding smoke as from a fire, and emitting a kind of voice, an unutterable groaning. Then from it came an inarticulate cry, which it sent forth, like a voice of fire, and from the light a holy Logos came upon Nature, and an unmixed fire leaped forth from the moist Nature upwards towards the height. It was light and swift and active, and the air, being light, followed the fiery spirit, rising up from earth and water to the fire, so that it seemed suspended from the fire. The earth and water remained where they were, mingled together so that the earth could not be seen apart from the water. But it was moved in obedience to the spiritual Logos which was "borne over it"".

Cor ad cor loquitur

Cor ad cor loquitur : Heart speaks to heart

Ex Umbris et Imaginibus in Veritatem : From shadows and appearances into truth

The Busy World is hushed is a prayer by Cardinal Newman.

A Catholic Cardinal with an Anglican Priesthood and a Huguenot childhood.


Heavens. This is a dude with an intriguing life story..........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Newman

Empyrean

Empyrean, from the Medieval Latin empyreus, an adaptation of the Ancient Greek, "in or on the fire (pyr)"

Empyrean refers to the highest reaches of heaven, believed by the ancients to be a realm of pure fire or light. In the Chaldaean scheme of the universe, this is the realm of the 'Second Mind' beneath the Intelligible World of Supramundane Light. The Second Mind is the divine power of the Empyrean World, and equates with Briah in the Qabalistic World.

And Suzanne found this picture, and I've needed her words today:

'Noli illegitimi carborundum'

To know my own heart, and carry forth, resolute.

What Is Sleep But A Little Death

I saw a wonderful, sensitively written and acted piece of theatre today and I owe a bundle of thanks to Judy, who sat beside me while I cried.

The Busy World Is Hushed

Sometimes synchronicity hits me like a punch in the stomach (though I did see it coming when I got invited to see this play). Winded, but immensely grateful for the opportunity to see it, it's hit me today on so many levels that I walked, six kilometres, home, to think it through.

The story, about an Episcopalian minister and her gay son, showing each other up in the offset of a man who's father is dying, hit chords within me, not only because part of the premise of the story is the ministers' exposition of the 'Lost Coptic Gospels' (think Nag Hammadi), not only because of the question of whether 'we are only whole while ever we are in relationship', not only because I completely identified with her dilletante son Thomas who refused to place any stakes in the ground but mostly because of her reasoning, her jealousy, of those who get to go to church on Sunday for an hour and get a satisfactory fill of spirit in that small allocation of their time. Those for whom spirit is an exoteric connection, that only happens once a week, at largely the responsibility of someone else (the minister).

I wish. The short answers have never satisfied my hunger to know. And so the chase continues...

So the Vespers prayer from which the title comes goes like this:

May he support us all the day long,
till the shadows lengthen and the evening comes,
and the busy world is hushed
and the fever of life is over and our work is done.
Then in Your mercy Lord
grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest,
and peace at last with you, Amen.