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undereveningstars · 1 year

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Mercury Retrograde in Taurus

Mercury will station retrograde early tomorrow morning (Eastern time) in the second decan of Taurus. To understand the meaning of this retrograde, I considered the decans it will take place in and the corresponding Tarot cards. If you’re interested in what this retrograde might mean and how it lines up with the Tarot, keep reading below the cut!

Mercury in Taurus is the Magician in the realm of the Hierophant. Here, the Magician walks a well-worn spiritual path. The collective experiences of the many travelers whose feet have defined this path are distilled into texts and archived in the Hierophant’s sacred library. The realm of the Hierophant is well-charted; it is hard to get lost in this place. Such is the advantage of tradition: there is always a map, or someone to ask for directions.

The correspondence of the Hierophant with Taurus is a reminder that Venus (Taurus’s ruler) has been associated with priesthood*. Venus works for comfort and harmony, protecting our spirituality from disruptive forces by organizing spiritual teachings and practices into traditions and creating beautiful sanctuaries within which those traditions may live – places like temples and monasteries. Things tend to happen on a schedule in these places. Within the container of ritual, we enjoy a certain amount of protection from outside intrusion. But something may yet stir within us, struggling against the boundaries of tradition. Perhaps there is a voice of doubt, or an experience of personal gnosis that contradicts traditional teachings.

Even the least dogmatic tradition requires some boundaries, or its coherence begins to fall apart. Venus is always trying to keep things together, to maintain coherence and cohesion. Spirituality becomes coherent in Taurus. But Mercury, the Magician, invites contradiction, chaos, and doubt into the sanctuary of Venus’s High Priest. The first decan of Taurus (the Five of Pentacles), which Mercury rules, is a decan of anxiety and doubt – here, we fear being excluded from the sense of safety and belonging we enjoy in the Hierophant’s realm. What if there are essential parts of ourselves we can’t reconcile with what our spiritual traditions expect of us?

Mercury may find some answers in the second decan of Taurus, presided over by the High Priestess (the Moon) – the natural counterbalance to the Hierophant. The spirituality of the High Priestess is not dictated by tradition, but by intuition. She is the heart of the sacred, which, despite the efforts of the Hierophant, cannot be organized, defined, or made coherent. That she has an office in the Hierophant’s realm – in the second decan of Taurus – tells me that within a healthy spiritual tradition, there is room for contradiction, for unique personal gnosis, for innovation, for flexibility, for change. The exclusive boundaries of the Five of Pentacles make way for the generous inclusivity of the Six. In the second decan of Taurus – in the Six of Pentacles – everyone has a seat at the table.

I used to be an active member of the Anglican Church. The director of the kitchen ministry at my home parish was an outspoken atheist who would engage in good-natured theological debates with our incumbent priest. This church was a house of contradiction without losing any of its meaning or coherence. When the parish gathered together for a service, we entered the realm of the Hierophant – we spoke and sang the same words at the same time. The ritual followed a familiar, predictable schedule. But the Hierophant is only the visible part of spirituality. What could not be seen during the service was the very real presence of the High Priestess within each parishioner – the collection of deeply personal encounters with the sacred (whether they be encounters of faith or doubt, or some mixture of both!) that, if compared against each other, would be an absolute mess of contradictions.

Mercury, as befits their association with the Magician card, presides over the hermetic arts of astrology, magic, and alchemy. Interest in these Mercurial arts is growing, as are communities of practitioners. As old traditions are recovered and new traditions establish themselves, I hope those of us who practice astrology and magic take inspiration from our patron’s role as a rule-breaking, boundary-defying trickster. When technique and tradition are given priority over intuition and inspiration, the Hierophant and the High Priestess become unbalanced. Mercury’s extended stay in Taurus is a reminder that the Hierophant’s role is to provide a container within which contradiction, paradox, intuition, and personal gnosis may thrive.

*Venus corresponds to priesthood in the writing of Vettius Valens, and to “houses of worship, virtue, adhering to religion, performing devotions” in the writing of Abu Mashar.

#astrology #mercury retrograde #taurus #tarot #the hierophant #the high priestess #mercury #five of pentacles #six of pentacles #retrograde #decans #the magician

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genshin-impact-trash · 1 year

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Zhongli/Tartaglia Fic Rec List 1

All We Hold Within Our Hearts – series (teen, wip, 4k) A series of character studies featuring Zhongli and Childe and how they relate to each of the five love languages.

Begin Anew, O Lost Child (explicit, complete, 200k) You may find time is too relentless to control and you cannot change your role. Zhongli’s expression is painfully gentle. It sends a flutter through his chest that anyone would look at the bloodthirsty Harbinger like that. He is silhouetted beautifully by the golden light. A golden prince for a golden city. “They say that souls never truly die. One day we might be so lucky to meet old friends again. Perhaps those we cared for most will find us again and we might learn the foundations of our friendship once more. I always thought time a relentless enemy but maybe time gifts us these moments of joy as well.” The hero Ajax walked the lands of Teyvat and his legend shaped the future. Heroes die but legends live forever. Their names are passed on, one generation after another. Those who bear the names of heroes are forced to confront the legacy they inherit. Childe grows up in the shadow of his namesake and rises to meet the challenge of legend.

bottom of the bottle and at my wits' end (teen, complete, 7k) While he's hunting down Scaramouche to reclaim the Electro Archon's Gnosis, Childe spends a night alone with his thoughts and a bottle of Fire-Water. AKA Childe character study

hung up (explicit, 45k) Childe moonlights as a phone sex operator to pay for his bills. Zhongli is a grieving man looking for a stranger to listen to him, rather than help him get off. It breaks the growing monotony of his late night calls, but Childe eventually finds himself falling for the deep-voiced man he knows only as "Rex."

Hydro Resonance (explicit, complete, 6k, includes Tartaglia/Yelan) Childe is looking through his correspondence when Ekaterina arrives with a nondescript wooden box. "Sir, someone from the ministry of civil affairs left this for you." He opens the box without much thought. He gets a lot of letters, and a package or two isn't anything too unusual. He frowns at what, at first glance, looks like a very strange bead necklace and a bottle of oil. The beads are all different sizes, sphere after sphere of glimmering cor lapis connected by a stiff string. Why would anyone send him jewelry? His eyes widen as he notices the note lying innocently over the thing. For you to train with. -Y Childe almost drops the box. No way. The beads are supposed to go inside him. --- Yelan and Childe have a mutually beneficial arrangement. Mr. Zhongli is just a friend, or so Childe keeps insisting.

In a family way (explicit, complete, 12k) “You-“ Zhongli’s voice is hoarse, face contorted in utter bewilderment. Still, he does not move, keeping Childe’s legs straight in the air. “You asked to be my mate. You wanted me to breed you. Ajax, you said that to me.” Oh, Celestia, they’re still connected. It’s all going to his head. Childe thinks he’s delirious. This can’t be real. “That was-“ His voice breaks in an awful squeak. “-that was dirty talk!” He never thought- Oh, fuck. Zhongli moves inside of him, and he can feel the cum sloshing through his guts. All this time. He’s an idiot. The signs, in retrospect, were so obvious. Zhongli has been trying to impregnate him. … Or, Childe learns the hard way to be careful what he wishes of an (ex) god. It might just get taken literally.

Oceans Between Us – series (mature, wip, 200k) There was more to the contract than a gnosis and test of Liyue. It seemed like a simple deal five hundred years ago: so long as Morax never had a soulmate, the Tsaritsa would never harm Liyue and she would not get his gnosis. But the moment he gained a soulmate, all that belonged to him was forfeit. He thought the deal left Liyue safe—he'd lived thousands of years without a soulmate. The Tsaritsa would be dead and gone by the time she'd have a chance to collect. Five hundred years later, Childe appears in Liyue, Zhongli gains a soulmate mark, and everything falls apart. (The obligatory soulmate AU, featuring a Zhongli with trauma, an oblivious Childe, and demon-worshipping cultists.)

The Inaccuracy of Infinity (mature, complete, 250k) Zhongli finds himself in quite the conundrum when a simple day trip with Childe, gone wrong, ends with him turning Childe immortal instead... And how he fails to inform the harbinger about this new development. Though, Zhongli supposes there'll be time to fill him in on this small detail sometime during the journey around Teyvat Childe has managed to rope him into.

To the Rhythm of Your Racing Heart (teen, complete, 90k) A mysterious shopkeeper offers Childe a bottle of wine that will make him forget about the one he loves. Childe is more than willing to accept it.

Two Truths and a Lie (teen, complete, 13k) There is a popular game in Snezhnaya, one that originates as an activity to keep children occupied during the long winter days stuck indoors while arctic winds howl outside, knocking against doors and windows and carrying with it a violent storm of ice and frost. The game has since been adopted into a drinking game by bored young adults similarly trapped inside those cold, dark grueling months. The game’s rules go something like this. Each person takes a turn telling two truths and one lie about themselves while the rest of the participants have to pluck out the lie. If the guessers guessed wrong, the person telling the information gets the point. If the guesser guessed right, then the person gets no points. There is no real end to this game. Children play it until they become bored, adults play it until they become drunk. Childe plays it until… Come to think of it, Childe’s not entirely sure why he’s playing. -- A Childe introspection story where he tries to find his heart.

Weighing Contracts (teen, complete, 150k) The final contract of Liyue. That’s what Rex Lapis had called it. An agreement to test his people, to see how they would be able to stand on their own and to allow them to move on from the age of gods and monsters into the dawning age of man. Rex Lapis knew they would be challenged in ways they had never been before, but despite appearances, he would be there to catch them if they fell. However, there were things he hadn’t accounted for despite all his careful planning. He had known that the Tsaritsa’s Fatui were sent to cause chaos - that Childe was a Harbinger and therefore would be at the epicentre - but he hadn’t expected this. As his ancient foe rose from the depths of the Guyun Stone Forest, the Archon weighed the final contract of Liyue against the first and made his decision.

#zhongchi #tartali #genshin impact #原神 #tartaglia #zhongli #fic recs #trash speaking #tartaglia/yelan #I like to make lists out of the fics I read recently #since i'm fairly new to genshin this is probably mostly pretty well known fics right now haha #but I've been reading more and more #such good fics in this fandom ahhh

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fearfades · 2 years

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In response to @alphawolfylva47 's tag, imma just...put this here lol

(Also this was from like a month or so ago)

Genshin Impact x INUYASHA X-over Zhongli's POV

Zhongli first sees her when Osial begins his attack on Liyue Harbor.

She's ushering a group of children into the Ministry of Civil Affairs building, yelling out orders to the other civilians. The Millelith nearby seem quite confused by her presence, each of them sharing glances amongst each other. He retreats further under the veranda while he continues to watch, intrigued by how the soldiers begin to defer to her orders. It's clear this isn't the first disaster she's been in nor does she have any problem taking lead.

Her stance holds true with each surge of water from the sea, never once faltering even as people rush past her.

Their eyes meet across the way, striking cerulean piercing straight through him like a freshly sharpened spear. She has a ferocity that hides in the furrow of her brow, the uptick of her chin, that speaks of a readiness to become as lethal as need be at a moment's notice. He dips his head in acknowledgement, gaze never straying from hers and feels a thrill go through him when hers falls straight to where his gnosis is hidden. It's instinctual, the way he knows that is what she is looking at.

And yet...

She turns away from him, the brief moment they shared there and gone, the momentum of her orders never having slowed once.

By the time the battle has ended and his appointment to the Northland bank draws near, he has lost sight of her.

When Lumine steps into the lobby, it occurs to Zhongli that what caught his attention was the same yet different sense of 'other' that came off the unknown woman.

Interesting.

I kind of imagine with this piece the inner thoughts of what each character would think when they first see her or how others react to her.

#higurashi kagome #zhongli #kagome crossover #kagome xover #genshin impact xover #genshin impact crossover #anime x video game crossover #morax #geo archon #last and certainly least #inuyasha crossover #inuyasha xover

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albertfinch · 2 years

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PROGRESSING TO THE NEXT DIMENSION

Ephesians 1:17,18 -- "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling..."

The dreams and visions God births in us bring revelation, illumination, and inspiration. The Holy Spirit instantly reveals spiritual knowledge about God and His ways through direct or indirect revelation to a person's spirit. Revelation is not learned through the intellect (Greek - "gnosis" – assumption or scientific, methodical knowledge) -- it is imparted into the depths of the spirit, which brings an exact, truthful knowledge (Greek - "epignosis").

Revelation comes from the Greek word "apokalypsis".

It means the unveiling of mysteries which have been hidden or concealed, and are revealed or discovered by removing a covering. Revelation comes to bring an accelerated transformation that births change, and that forwards one's movements or quickens their actions in the spirit. The spirit realm moves at a much greater speed than the natural realm to allow miracles to occur.

Habakkuk 2:14 - "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea."

Without revelation knowledge we will never progress to the next dimension of supernatural glory. The glory realm requires a humble spirit that is motivated by total dependence upon the leading of the Holy Spirit.

FAITH AND DOMINION

Faith is the gift God gave to everyone. We all have a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). However, the faith of the Believer allows us to take dominion in the natural realm and also over satan in the spiritual realm.

Walking in His authority is actually more than just a right that has been given to us, it's our responsibility. As joint heirs with Christ, we have a responsibility to walk in His authority TAKING DOMINION.

He has called us to be good stewards of His Kingdom while we are here on earth, and walking in His authority goes hand in hand with being a good steward of the Kingdom.

"It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch."—Mark 13:34

We must ask, seek, and knock until we understand and implement God’s purpose for our life so we may be effective in bearing fruit that remains for God’s Kingdom.

Matthew 7:8 AMP - "For everyone who keeps on asking receives: and he who keeps on seeking finds: and to him who keeps on knocking, (the door) will be opened."

DISCIPLING OTHERS INTO THEIR CHRIST IDENTITY

Hebrews 5:12 - "For by this time you ought to be teachers...."

2 Timothy 2:2 - "You should teach people whom you can trust the things you and many others have heard me say. Then they will be able to teach others."

Discipling others (individually) is essential to the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

Are you willing to spend and be spent; not seeking to be ministered unto, but to minister?

If we allow the Holy Spirit to move through us, we will be constantly searching for those whose lives are formless and void. We will become a bridge for them into the glorious, creative purposes of God.

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

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thepete77 · 1 month

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Daily Walk, day 5

Absently caressed into a lulled sleep, during the rays full brightness, dispensed from demands, and hostile gestures of aggression, recognizing the municipal factors of my soul, bequeathed by the divine.

The sentient demonic intellect spirits are stilled this morning and a quiet ambience has struck my mind, in reflection of the plutonic lakes and rivers of the earth and chasms of my soul. I have no hostilities of the world ‘round as a simple mortal man, in curious nature to leviathan, Satan, and the legions of hell.

Nothing is new under the sun,, it has been all done before, brothers of demons, darksome delights, women of Babylon, and priests of might. Nothing is new under the sun…

But I have found the way of my heart, and stand as a gospel ronin of occult ways. The scriptures reveal the teachings, the word of god taken so highly, that those who hear beget their faith, and those who know his voice shall know him. These methods applied are methods of gnosis, with inclusion of logos, divine living consciousness and words within making me alive as a sentient being, as a mortal man, a son of man.

I apply this to the demonic divine, the shades and whispers of the caverns within, the black flame illuminating the dancing figures on the walls, my records of life, my footsteps on the earth.

The gospels declare the disciples and apostles of Christ continuing his ministry ‘head. But cloaked from prior legends and actions of spirit in great detail. The scriptures reveal in part of the miracles, deeds, and words, and allude directly to the fact that Jesus was trained and lived in Egypt, the great metropolis and fatherland of modern religion:

In these declarations of discipleship the modern Christians have failed, and have brought injury and sickness and death, instead of power over it, acting as the sons of Abraham, denied by his very self for falsely preaching his name.

Hyperbole and metaphor are evident within scriptural intent. Having the knowledge of them and applying them. Having stanza and haiku knowledge as well, living in festered pestilence of weakness and sickness of spirit. Distortion of the demonic divine leads to the constipated efforts of levitation and metallurgy and mumbling and groaning of foamed mouth ignorance.

The lethal mistake of leisure on the path to immortality is imparted upon the Christian worship to open themselves to failure of spirit. Their hope is futile and they become even further blind of malicious gossip and hateful injury in distraction by those who take advantage and proclaim hypocritically the way of grace and forgiveness and non-judgement. Don’t put it past them to not misrepresent even their own words and the words of scripture that they have departed from.

This is a warning I personally take to show cruelty and no mercy to the bickering and whining fraudulation of mortal spirit.

This is how I know the practitioners of the synagogue of Satan, and the false declarations of the reproved sons of Abraham, who are lukewarm and spewed from his mouth. The left hand of god, the goats aside from the sheep, are in triumph in adherence.

God the Creator can not be suppressed, mutilated, or corrupted, for he is incorruptible, immutable, and in full glory as the nameless one of spirit. The most high god of invisible spirit, the all that the aether binds together, I worship, and the demonic divine I work with and call my brothers and friends. God alone is my father, and his will I seek to accomplish.

Who is this immutable king of glory? His names attributed by those without are many, for they have adapted polytheistic paganism to his name and have sought to suppress his worship through their declarations of the lord is one. El is a prominent name applied to him from Canaanite regions of ancient days, as well as attributes of Mendes and Khmun, and Khmuns consort Satis, as well as rips from Adonis. The origination and likeness of the baphomet being the goat of mendes and the likeness of the name Satis relative to the name of Satan, and the fact that Heka was a deity aside Khmun, and has very much relevance to the Greek Hekate, I feel is no coincidence, and is something to learn from. The idea that in Sanskrit the definition of Tan and Sat as Satan’s name divided and reversed can be translated to Trust and Confidence in the true unchangeable essence, and the Japanese word for enlightenment being Satori, I find no coincidence either. These are the names I reflect on in matters of the character of the word I use, God, in relation to the invisible and immortal incorruptible spirit that no man has seen at any given time, and in Egypt is typically viewed as Ahmun-Ra in major application, I attribute all of this to Satan. Apollo was ripped into Apollyon, and Lucifer was adapted entirely from the separate Roman Latin deity. The John Milton and romantic styled imagery of Satan is ripped directly from the Greek Pan, and combinations from the goat of mendes. This collaboration of multiple sources of imagery and function of separate deities causes some confusion for secular interests in the communication of the practices of devil worship and why we apply the worship that we do.

In order to know god, you must know who god is, and you must recognize god’s stature in the first place, god is god, and we’re not in most respects. Figuring out god’s will is not the constipated and putrid contemplation of what god knows or asking simple questions if god knows everything, or why bad things Happen to good people. These are not ways to draw close to god.

The idea of hearing god’s voice is mostly metaphorical of recognizing scripture and spiritual teachings as an occult method of study, and taking confidence in life application and continual recognition and reflection about god, aka Satan.

The ways of devil worship in prayer and reflection have different application that have become more relevant within esoteric witchcraft teachings, as chanting and invoking, and energy related practices because they are functionable practical uses and systems of spiritual application related to heritage practices of earth, including elements all the way to sacrificial offerings and votive offerings, in the truest and accurate methods and meanings thereof for the undeniable impact in a person's life as a whole system, I personally do not believe, and eschew practices of, common standard words of casual use, like god is right beside you in the same room. I believe this leads to disastrous effects in even Christian living.

The way of ascension is the mystery traditions focus from ancient Egypt, the way I adhere to the brotherhood of the serpent as the ones who dispersed the teachings of Egypt that had effect on all the ancient cultures throughout civilization, and they did provide structure and practice to foreknowledge and after knowledge, related to the gift of prophecy. They were white people, not just in white robes, that was a description of later translations as an excuse to try and diffuse the idea of racism. They were white. There are several educational aspects of study in African culture of Indo-European ethnicity amongst cultures of Africa like India, that I stress on the relevance of Caucasian genetics. I often even wonder sometimes about the weakling attitude that people feel inclined to show favoritism for African or Asian spirituality in their genetically context on matters of distorted relation to equality, and confusion related to how mortal men are punished differently and some do not receive rewards of their effort, and bad things happening to good people. A quote from slipknot, “I am not a number that is equal to any of you.”

Even in accurate Christian application sin is punished individually and separately and not conglomerated on the whole entire human species, making most of the uses of the original sin model invalid.

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wolint · 1 year

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FRESH MANNA

GNOSTICISM

Acts 8:9-12

Gnostic is related to knowledge, especially esoteric mystical knowledge. This was a second-century religious movement claiming that salvation could be gained through a special form of secret knowledge. We know that’s not true because according to Acts 4:12, salvation is in no one else but the name of Jesus.

Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "to know" or "knowledge." This knowledge is not intellectual but mythical and is believed to come from a special revelation by Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, or through his apostles. The secret knowledge reveals the key to salvation.

Gnosticism religion or philosophy is even now having an impact on Christians. Gnosticism is mystical and charismatic, not rational. Rational means "relating to, based upon, or agreeable to reason." Mystical means "having a spiritual meaning or reality that is neither apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence." Gnosticism was reclusive and exclusive, and it relied heavily on magic.

Verse 10 says everyone spoke of Simon as “the Great One—the Power of God.” Was he really though? Because as soon as Philip came on the scene in the following verse, the people’s interest and hunger shifted to the true message of the good news being preached by Philip.

There’s nothing magical about the Christian faith, it’s all about the supernaturality of Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection-the incarnate word of God becoming flesh.

Everything in the bible has been given to us to help and enable us to enjoy our relationship with the Lord. Outside of the Lord, we can not use gimmicks, tricks, and magic to manifest the power and presence of God. It’s not only impossible, but it’s also blasphemous.

The authenticity of the gospel of Christ is yet again established by the apostles in 1 John 1:1-4, which even goes as far as helping us understand that false teachings and teachers with pomp, pageantry and shows would only lure people away from the faith.

Religion- “the letter” according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:6 kills. Any doctrine contrary to the principles, laws, and word of God, opposing the word of life-Jesus, kills. It’s after all, the Spirit of God that gives light (life) and understanding (knowledge) to the simple as stated in Psalm 119:130 and not mere religious knowledge.

Anything outside the word of God is pure heresy. This is the belief or opinion contrary to Biblical and Christian doctrine: it’s

blasphemous opinion profoundly at odds with what is generally accepted as the truth of the gospel.

Colossians 2:8 warns us strongly against heresy, saying to be sure and see to it that no one takes us captive. Takes us captive! We should not allow the elemental spirit of the wicked world and wrong doctrines to steal us away from the gospel of Christ and the truth of God.

The secret of the kingdom of God according to Mark 4:11 is only revealed to the children of God, rooted in His word and not the charlatans’ practising sorcery and diviners using magic to mislead the desperate looking for truth and help.

As believers, we must be careful what “Christian” media we listen to, watch, and read, they may sound and look right but are not entirely scriptural and true.

Salvation is not a “secret knowledge” that is given only to a few, special people as taught in Gnostic Gospels but a way for everyone who desires to come to God.

Let’s be careful what doctrines we preach and chase after.

PRAYER: Lord, you alone are the truth and every man a liar, help me Lord to know your truth that sets free in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Shalom

Women of light international prayer ministries

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donveinot · 1 year

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coldalbion · 6 years

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The boy sits there, his head down. He feels stink; he knows all the adults are there to talk about him, about what's wrong with him.

He's always been told off for being so fidgety, for not paying attention. He knows it's a bad thing.

But when the talking begins, it's not about how to fix him. They're telling a story about atua, the gods, and one of them sounds exactly like him! He's called Uepoto, and he's always curious. He's full a mischief, a tutū.

The boy looks up.

"That's where the healing starts, with an exchange of words," says Poutu Puketapu, 25, a mental health worker at Gisborne service Te Kūwatawata. Only, that's not his title here - in this space he's a Mataora, or change-maker.

And the boy isn't a patient, or client, or even a consumer. He is simply whānau.

"Instead of labelling them and making them feel like they are part of the mental health system, we reach them with these narratives. When they hear the pūrākau (stories) you see a little spark in them."

Mahi a Atua is a form of narrative therapy that focuses on recovery from the trauma of colonisation. Māori creation stories are used as a form of healing, connecting alienated Māori to their whakapapa.

The pilot programme began in August last year as a response to the disproportionate mental health issues among Māori, and is backed by the Ministry of Health's innovation fund and Hauora Tairāwhiti District Health Board.

Māori youth are two-and-a-half times more likely than non-Māori to commit suicide. Māori in general are more often underdiagnosed, and once in the mental health system are more likely to be secluded and imprisoned.

Mahi a Atua is driven by Dr Diana Kopua, an Otago University Māori health academic and clinician who is Head of Psychiatry at the DHB, and her husband Mark Kopua, a tohunga and Tā Moko practitioner.

We, as colonizers, have spent generations engaging in a project of destruction and suppression of indigenous languages and stories. We have dismissed them as mere superstition, instead of highly conserved forms of identity and epistemology. Indigenous knowledge of identity, local flora, fauna, and the Deep Time of the landscape, narratives of self-and-Other providing insight into complex ecological relationships - all these are beginning to be (grudgingly) acknowledged as not only useful, but in some sense 'necessary' for wellbeing.

The mythopoetic arises from gnosis - the point of contact between living environment and humanity. For indigenous peoples, I suspect the gnostic interplay stretches for hundreds if not thousands of years - or at least would have, had we not, as colonizers, attempted to break and shatter those links which ran throughout Deep Time in an effort to reduce those peoples in service to capital and authoritarianism.

Ironically, we have even had these weapons turned back upon ourselves - the colonizing peoples having their own localised and highly specific forms of knowledge destroyed or dismissed unless their narrative power could be made to serve State or Corporate Imperialism.

To quote Ursula K. Le Guin: “A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper.”

Long live the tales of the Maori - and their tellers!

#black bird magic #stories #narrative therapy

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stmichaelsministryofgnosis · 2 months

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Recently uploaded to the Ministry of Gnosis Telegram Channel.

Ministry of Gnosis Telegram https://t.me/ministry0fgnosis

Ministry of Gnosis Open Forum https://t.me/ministry0fgnosisforum

#st. michael's ministry of gnosis #gnosis #ministry of gnosis #occult #esoteric #books #pdf download

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hybridmindthoughtsreloaded · 11 months

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Bill Cooper on Freemasonry

St. Michael's Ministry of Gnosis serves as a sanctuary for literature, religion, scientific research, history, gnosis, and art. Our main practice is the collection and application of knowledge.

Official Telegram Channel for St. Michael's Ministry of Gnosis The uploaded content, opinions, and views expressed here do not reflect the opinions or views of St. Michael's Ministry of Gnosis. https://t.me/ministry0fgnosis

The Ministry of Gnosis Open Forum Telegram Channel serves as a platform for content sharing and civil discourse. Join today and help the community grow! https://t.me/ministry0fgnosisforum

#ministry of gnosis

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anastpaul · 6 years

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Saint of the Day – 28 June – St Irenaeus of Lyons (c 135 – c 202) Father of the Church, Bishop, Theologian, Writer, Confessor, Defender of the Faith, Apologist. St Irenaeus was born in c130 in Smyrna, Asia Minor (modern Izmir, Turkey) and is presumed to have been martyred in c 202 in Lyons, France.

Catechesis of Pope Benedict XVI on St Irenaeus of LyonGeneral Audience, Wednesday, 28 March 2007

In the Catechesis on the prominent figures of the early Church, today we come to the eminent personality of St Irenaeus of Lyons. The biographical information on him comes from his own testimony, handed down to us by Eusebius in his fifth book on Church History.

Irenaeus was, in all probability, born in Smyrna (today, Izmir in Turkey) in about 135-140, where in his youth, he attended the school of Bishop Polycarp, a disciple in his turn of the Apostle John. We do not know when he moved from Asia Minor to Gaul but his move must have coincided with the first development of the Christian community in Lyons, here, in 177, we find Irenaeus listed in the college of presbyters. In that very year, he was sent to Rome, bearing a letter from the community in Lyons, to Pope Eleutherius. His mission to Rome saved Irenaeus from the persecution of Marcus Aurelius which took a toll of at least 48 martyrs, including the 90-year old Bishop Pontinus of Lyons, who died from ill-treatment in prison. Thus, on his return, Irenaeus was appointed Bishop of the city. The new Pastor devoted himself without reserve to his episcopal ministry which ended in about 202-203, perhaps with martyrdom.

Irenaeus was first and foremost a man of faith and a Pastor. Like a good Pastor, he had a good sense of proportion, a wealth of doctrine and missionary enthusiasm. As a writer, he pursued a twofold aim, to defend true doctrine from the attacks of heretics and to explain the truth of the faith clearly. His two extant works – the five books of The Detection and Overthrow of the False Gnosis and Demonstration of the Apostolic Teaching (which can also be called the oldest “catechism of Christian doctrine”) – exactly corresponded with these aims. In short, Irenaeus can be defined as the champion in the fight against heresies.

The second-century Church was threatened by the so-called Gnosis, a doctrine which affirmed that the faith taught in the Church was merely a symbolism for the simple who were unable to grasp difficult concepts, instead, the initiates, the intellectuals – Gnostics, they were called – claimed to understand what was behind these symbols and thus formed an elitist and intellectualist Christianity. Obviously, this intellectual Christianity became increasingly fragmented, splitting into different currents with ideas that were often bizarre and extravagant, yet attractive to many. One element these different currents had in common was “dualism” – they denied faith in the one God and Father of all, Creator and Saviour of man and of the world. To explain evil in the world, they affirmed the existence, besides the Good God, of a negative principle. This negative principle was supposed to have produced material things, matter.

Firmly rooted in the biblical doctrine of creation, Irenaeus refuted the Gnostic dualism and pessimism which debased corporeal realities. He decisively claimed the original holiness of matter, of the body, of the flesh no less than of the spirit. But his work went far beyond the confutation of heresy, in fact, one can say, that he emerges as the first great Church theologian who created systematic theology, he himself speaks of the system of theology, that is, of the internal coherence of all faith. At the heart of his doctrine is the question of the “rule of faith” and its transmission. For Irenaeus, the “rule of faith” coincided in practice with the Apostles’ Creed, which gives us the key for interpreting the Gospel, for interpreting the Creed in light of the Gospel. The Creed, which is a sort of Gospel synthesis, helps us understand what it means and how we should read the Gospel itself.

In fact, the Gospel preached by Irenaeus is the one he was taught by Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, and Polycarp’s Gospel dates back to the Apostle John, whose disciple Polycarp was. The true teaching, therefore, is not that invented by intellectuals which goes beyond the Church’s simple faith. The true Gospel is the one imparted by the Bishops who received it in an uninterrupted line from the Apostles. They taught nothing except this simple faith, which is also the true depth of God’s revelation. Thus, Irenaeus tells us, there is no secret doctrine concealed in the Church’s common Creed. There is no superior Christianity for intellectuals. The faith publicly confessed by the Church is the common faith of all. This faith alone is apostolic, it is handed down from the Apostles, that is, from Jesus and from God. In adhering to this faith, publicly transmitted by the Apostles to their successors, Christians must observe what their Bishops say and must give special consideration to the teaching of the Church of Rome, pre-eminent and very ancient. It is because of her antiquity that this Church has the greatest apostolicity; in fact, she originated in Peter and Paul, pillars of the Apostolic College. All Churches must agree with the Church of Rome, recognising in her the measure of the true Apostolic Tradition, the Church’s one common faith.

With these arguments, summed up very briefly here, Irenaeus refuted the claims of these Gnostics, these intellectuals, from the start. First of all, they possessed no truth superior to that of the ordinary faith, because what they said was not of apostolic origin, it was invented by them. Secondly, truth and salvation are not the privilege or monopoly of the few but are available to all through the preaching of the Successors of the Apostles, especially of the Bishop of Rome. In particular – once again disputing the “secret” character of the Gnostic tradition and noting its multiple and contradictory results – Irenaeus was concerned to describe the genuine concept of the Apostolic Tradition which we can sum up here in three points.

a) Apostolic Tradition is “public”, not private or secret. Irenaeus did not doubt that the content of the faith transmitted by the Church is that received from the Apostles and from Jesus, the Son of God. There is no other teaching than this. Therefore, for anyone who wishes to know true doctrine, it suffices to know “the Tradition passed down by the Apostles and the faith proclaimed to men” – a tradition and faith that “have come down to us through the succession of Bishops” (Adversus Haereses, 3, 3, 3-4). Hence, the succession of Bishops, the personal principle and Apostolic Tradition, the doctrinal principle, coincide.

b) Apostolic Tradition is “one”. Indeed, whereas Gnosticism was divided into multiple sects, Church Tradition is one in its fundamental content, which – as we have seen – Irenaeus calls precisely regula fidei or veritatis – and thus, because it is one, it creates unity through the peoples, through the different cultures, through the different peoples; it is a common content like the truth, despite the diversity of languages and cultures. A very precious saying of St Irenaeus is found in his book Adversus Haereses: “The Church, though dispersed throughout the world… having received [this faith from the Apostles]… as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul and one and the same heart and she proclaims them and teaches them and hands them down with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which have been established in the central regions of the world” (1, 10, 1-2). Already at that time – we are in the year 200 – it was possible to perceive the Church’s universality, her catholicity and the unifying power of the truth that unites these very different realities, from Germany, to Spain, to Italy, to Egypt, to Libya, in the common truth revealed to us by Christ.

c) Lastly, the Apostolic Tradition, as he says in the Greek language in which he wrote his book, is “pneumatic”, in other words, spiritual, guided by the Holy Spirit, in Greek, the word for “spirit” is “pneuma”. Indeed, it is not a question of a transmission entrusted to the ability of more or less learned people but to God’s Spirit, who guarantees fidelity to the transmission of the faith. This is the “life” of the Church, what makes the Church ever young and fresh, fruitful with multiple charisms.

For Irenaeus, Church and Spirit were inseparable: “This faith”, we read again in the third book of Adversus Haereses, “which, having been received from the Church, we do preserve and which always, by the Spirit of God, renewing its youth as if it were some precious deposit in an excellent vessel, causes the vessel itself containing it, to renew its youth also…. For where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and every kind of grace” (3, 24, 1).

As can be seen, Irenaeus did not stop at defining the concept of Tradition. His tradition, uninterrupted Tradition, is not traditionalism, because this Tradition is always enlivened from within by the Holy Spirit, who makes it live anew, causes it to be interpreted and understood in the vitality of the Church. Adhering to her teaching, the Church should transmit the faith in such a way that it must be what it appears, that is, “public”, “one”, “pneumatic”, “spiritual”. Starting with each one of these characteristics, a fruitful discernment can be made of the authentic transmission of the faith in the today of the Church.

More generally, in Irenaeus’ teaching, the dignity of man, body and soul, is firmly anchored in divine creation, in the image of Christ and in the Spirit’s permanent work of sanctification. This doctrine is like a “high road” in order to discern together with all people of good will, the object and boundaries of the dialogue of values and to give an ever new impetus to the Church’s missionary action, to the force of the truth, which is the source of all true values in the world.

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albertfinch · 10 months

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PROGRESSING TO THE NEXT DIMENSION

Revelation comes from the Greek word "apokalypsis".

Habakkuk 2:14 - "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea."

FAITH AND DOMINION

He has called us to be good stewards of His Kingdom while we are here on earth, and walking in His authority goes hand in hand with being a good steward of the Kingdom.

"It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch."—Mark 13:34

We must ask, seek, and knock until we understand and implement God’s purpose for our life so we may be effective in bearing fruit that remains for God’s Kingdom.

Matthew 7:8 AMP - "For everyone who keeps on asking receives: and he who keeps on seeking finds: and to him who keeps on knocking, (the door) will be opened."

DISCIPLING OTHERS INTO THEIR CHRIST IDENTITY

Hebrews 5:12 - "For by this time you ought to be teachers...."

2 Timothy 2:2 - "You should teach people whom you can trust the things you and many others have heard me say. Then they will be able to teach others."

Discipling others (individually) is essential to the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

Are you willing to spend and be spent; not seeking to be ministered unto, but to minister?

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

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michaeljopetro · 3 years

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The Gnosis of God

We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. This is a time of faithful prayer and constant communion with the Lord, to intently listen for the Lord’s voice. We are down to days, not even weeks. Right now, the Jews are saying they know who the Messiah is - they’re saying it’s this man who is half Arab and half Jewish. This is who the Bible calls the son of perdition. At the same time, the Jews are preparing to build the third temple right in front of the Wailing Wall. They also have two potential red heifers, which is something that has not been seen since the time of Jesus. It has been prophesied that Elijah or the Messiah would slay the tenth and final red heifer. We need to ask ourselves why they are in such a hurry to build the third temple...Simply put, they want to slay that red heifer, and once that is done, the end is here.

We need to press in to understand the gnosis of God, which is the knowledge of God. We live in a generation where most people are Bible illiterate. What’s scary is that every generation that did not know the Word of God did not stand the test of time. The Early Church were intense in their study habits, especially for new believers. Are we that dedicated? What are we doing with our time? What is our priority? From what we are seeing right now, it’s clear that we are on borrowed time. To the Early Church, conversion did not come by a prayer - it came by having spiritual understanding of the Word.

The Early Church end time eschatology states that the church would be filled with hypocrites, people acting like they’re Christians but are not. The ones who will make it are the ones whose veils are being removed. Hebrews 10:20 tells us that the veil is the flesh. The veil is what prevents many from seeing the truth and blinds them from understanding what the Scripture is really saying. Paul referred to those whose minds are blind in their reading of the Old Testament. How can your mind be blind and what is it blinded by? It’s blinded by the veil. The veil is the flesh, which is the cares of this world. The vast majority are veiled and incapable of understanding what the Old Testament is really saying because the veil is taken away in Christ, through the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:16). The Law is not done away with; it is the veil that is done away with. Paul goes on to say that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. He is not referring to the freedom to live the way you want. Paul is referring to the freedom from the veil!

God’s Word is being released to set people free, and as veils are removed, we are in the process of being transformed into the same image (2 Cor. 3:18). The message is about getting these veils off to receive the divine knowledge of His Word which will transform us into a glorified body. In our ministry, we see drug addicts get set free because their veils are being removed. When God reveals Himself through the process of revelation, it has the ability to transform us into His image. What’s possible through the power of the revelation of the Word will never be achieved with things like Christian psychology.

We have a brother here at our ministry who went to a Christian program to help get addicts off the streets. Everyone he knows from that program is either dead, in jail, or strung out on drugs again. Many churches have Christian psychologists and programs, but no one is getting set free. That’s the problem with religion. Religion tells you what you can’t be and that you can’t be perfect, but Scripture tells us, “Be ye perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

God gave us the Holy Spirit to get us through this process. We should be able to see more in the Spirit, but the problem is we have too much flesh in the way. The more we stay in the flesh, the harder it is to see in the Spirit. Paul said that the ones who are spiritually dead are those who are veiled. Many choose not to believe and are blinded by the god of this age. These are people in the church, not in the world. It’s the church that is blinded to the Word and cannot see what the Spirit of God is saying to reveal it to others.

There is a fight against the demonic strongholds that try to exalt themselves above the gnosis of God. Next time you hear someone say that you don’t need knowledge just tell them, “Get behind me Satan!” There are those in the church who think you don’t need knowledge but Paul said that our inner man is renewed by knowledge (Col. 3 :10). The truth is that without revelation, we are spiritually dead and lost and will perish without this knowledge (Hos. 4:6). The sinner’s prayer isn’t going to cut it and ignorance is not an excuse to God. We need to stop playing church and step into what we’ve been called to do, which is to be the police and special forces of the spirit realm. The only way we can be saved and transformed into that coming glory is with an unveiled face. Amen.

Sincerely, Apostle Michael Petro

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