Whew! Has it ever been a long while since I posted here! *cough, cough* I could get cyber-allergic-reactions to the byte-bunnies gathering underneath everything. :P Lots of stuff's been happening in my corner of the Universe...
I'm still puzzling over the many mystical dreams I've had since 2006...
I'm still reeling over the fact that I got to go see Jon Anderson TWICE in 2011!!!!
And as always, I am forever inspired to walk my path, thanks to Jon...okay, I know, I hear you saying the guy is still human, he ain't totally perfect, etc...but unlike so many folks I hear about in the news these days, Jon actually manages to walk his talk as much as humanly possible. He speaks his Truth, lives it to the best of his ability, given his hectic schedule (hey, he is clearly not choosing to sit round feeling sorry for himself after his major health scare! THAT ALONE is inspiring to me!).
And in my opinion, to watch this guy do his best to live, speak and sing his Truth while having the potent experience of being in the physical world, is nothing short of being a beautiful sight. Which is why I can't understand why people are so freakin' critical of him.
Just like I can't understand why folks were so critical of my own dad. No, my dad isn't perfect...but a lot of his thoughts and feelings have been shaped by the wounds he's had to bear most of his life.
Yet I admit I follow Jon's example a bit more because my dad's learned to be too fearful of certain things. In order to make my way in the world of earning my own way with my own creative career, hearing Jon's inspiring, powerful words has been the best medicine in the world for me...and I hope I don't have to stop taking it...because if Jon's music could manifest as physical medicine, it'd be pretty damn tasty! :-) It would have all the earthy, heady power of red wine, mixed with the heavenly golden color and magick of orange juice--and maybe some etheric bits from the Elven world (Jon technically IS part Irish)...
There's something about Jon's own feisty-yet-gentle nature that has shown me it's okay for me to be the same. A balance between the Love of Heaven and the need for a scrappy nature in order to survive and thrive in the current economic and social conditions we're all in...in order to rise above the conditions of poverty (which Jon knows well from his childhood) to thrive and live one's dreams--as Jon has. And he of all people knows just how strong a work ethic one has to have in order to get to where he is now...
And seeing just how strong a work ethic he's got--I know I need to sharpen MY game a great deal! Which means summoning up the Divine Force that is Badger Medicine (whose card I pulled last week!) is in order...
And I stand and say, "Challenge to sharpen my work-ethic-game accepted, Captain Anderson!"
Yeah, the other Yes guys may not have wanted him for a leader, or "captain," but I DO! If the "Moorglade" from his debut solo album ever were to be made physically manifest, he'd be rightful captain of it--and I would ever so gladly serve on the crew!
...and, truth be told...I would love to meet a guy like Jon...and I've rather made it one of my goals to be a person worthy of being with a guy like him...because even though he's in physical form like the rest of us, my heart tells me he's definitely not like other men.
Does this mean I have "self-acceptance" issues? Maybe...but I am thinking also that I'm not living up to the potential that I see now within myself--thanks to Jon's music. Oddly enough, I don't really judge myself too much for not seeing what I'm capable of...but now that I see the potential I have inside, my new aim is to reach that potential, and maybe go a bit further...doing this while working a full-time job is SO NOT easy...it's stressful as anything, but it's worth it...
Of course, part of that potential is getting healthy, physically...but an equally bigger part is learning the things I need to know to run my life--and my creative career--successfully...and those things they may not teach in business school...things like developing drive, perseverance and patience.
So here I carve a new future for myself...forge a new life for my soul to travel, and leave the traps, triggers and mental prisons behind..."No question, I'm not alone--Somehow I'll find My Way Home!"
May we ALL find our Way Home to our Hearts, our True Voices...
Blessings,
Kat ^.^
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Here It Is! The Masterpiece Completed!
Here it is: the final version of my collaboration project with Hiroko Saito:
Blessed be my sister, for her intuitive knowledge on how to work with the art I presented to her...
Blessed be Jon Anderson, not just for his inspiring way with music, words and Earth-Loving philosophy, but also especially for one of the most beautiful and joyous celebrations of Cosmic Love: his song "How It Hits You." (And like I've always contended...if you wanna know PRECISELY how Cosmic Love can hit you, listen to and watch Jon!)
And most importantly...
Blessed be the Mother-Father-Source for sending Jon and all other Way-Showers of Light and Love here to Earth, for they are the ones who keep the Cosmic Love flowing everywhere, letting people know they are not alone in this world.
And it's this very feeling I have when I listen to Jon that I want to do and be the same thing...I can't not do it...
But until I manage to finally master the guitar and get back onto keyboard work, making art for the song "How It Hits You" and asking Hiroko to help with the video editing was one of the best ways I knew how to help Jon spread that Cosmic Love around everywhere, especially as the new Aquarian energies flow in!
Happy Solstice/Christmas and Have a Happy, Creative New Year!
Much Love,
Kat ^.^
Blessed be my sister, for her intuitive knowledge on how to work with the art I presented to her...
Blessed be Jon Anderson, not just for his inspiring way with music, words and Earth-Loving philosophy, but also especially for one of the most beautiful and joyous celebrations of Cosmic Love: his song "How It Hits You." (And like I've always contended...if you wanna know PRECISELY how Cosmic Love can hit you, listen to and watch Jon!)
And most importantly...
Blessed be the Mother-Father-Source for sending Jon and all other Way-Showers of Light and Love here to Earth, for they are the ones who keep the Cosmic Love flowing everywhere, letting people know they are not alone in this world.
And it's this very feeling I have when I listen to Jon that I want to do and be the same thing...I can't not do it...
But until I manage to finally master the guitar and get back onto keyboard work, making art for the song "How It Hits You" and asking Hiroko to help with the video editing was one of the best ways I knew how to help Jon spread that Cosmic Love around everywhere, especially as the new Aquarian energies flow in!
Happy Solstice/Christmas and Have a Happy, Creative New Year!
Much Love,
Kat ^.^
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Time, Words and Art
Much has happened in the last few months.
Including the creation of some art for a video that I and my Divine-Spirit-Sister Hiroko wanted to do...
We both love Jon Anderson (originally of Yes), and his song "How It Hits You" from his holiday album "3 Ships" is a mutual favorite. No one else on YouTube had posted much of anything so we took on the idea...and inspired as I am by Jon himself, I came up with 8 pieces of art to go with the lyrics that "hit me" the most. :)
Because the art turned out so well, AND I am wanting to eventually get my own music out there, too, I think it is time perhaps to turn this blog into something even semi-professional, somehow...
And so far, my whole life has pretty much been about change and transformation--with a LOT of inspired musical help from Jon and his many collaborative peeps, among which are Vangelis, Kitaro, Mike Oldfield, Tangerine Dream..and most recently, Rick Wakeman, also originally of Yes, with whom Jon has created one of the most beautiful albums ever, the review of which I will give at some point in the future.
So...keep your eyes peeled for less random yakkity-yak and more focused items of note regarding where I go with my art and music...
Blessings,
Kat ^.^
Including the creation of some art for a video that I and my Divine-Spirit-Sister Hiroko wanted to do...
We both love Jon Anderson (originally of Yes), and his song "How It Hits You" from his holiday album "3 Ships" is a mutual favorite. No one else on YouTube had posted much of anything so we took on the idea...and inspired as I am by Jon himself, I came up with 8 pieces of art to go with the lyrics that "hit me" the most. :)
Because the art turned out so well, AND I am wanting to eventually get my own music out there, too, I think it is time perhaps to turn this blog into something even semi-professional, somehow...
And so far, my whole life has pretty much been about change and transformation--with a LOT of inspired musical help from Jon and his many collaborative peeps, among which are Vangelis, Kitaro, Mike Oldfield, Tangerine Dream..and most recently, Rick Wakeman, also originally of Yes, with whom Jon has created one of the most beautiful albums ever, the review of which I will give at some point in the future.
So...keep your eyes peeled for less random yakkity-yak and more focused items of note regarding where I go with my art and music...
Blessings,
Kat ^.^
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Re-Investigating the PRS, Dreams and Creativity...
Since I've been working a steady job with crazy hours that do not allow me to really catch "Paranormal State" or Chip Coffey's new show "Psychic Kids," I've had to google the Paranormal Research Society at Penn State which was originally begun by director Ryan Buell, whose career as a paranormal investigator is really taking off! I've bookmarked his blog, and would have bookmarked Chip's but Mssr. Coffey has not updated his blog in, like, a year!
I would really love TiVo, but it's beyond my budget...so I'm hoping Ryan, Sergey and their PRS buddies will think about putting "Paranormal State" on DVD.
I REALLY loved the episode where they went out west to investigate heavy UFO phenomena...that was last year--sometime before I got hired at Meskwaki. It got a UFO dream sequence started again later that night, thanks also to a favorite Jon Anderson song running through my head while the "Paranormal State" episode was showing.
So far, I have not experienced too many UFO dreams since that night last year, which is sadly disappointing because when I do have them, they are always a bit fun, if somewhat frightening at first because they sometimes come unbidden. Granted, I do choose to try to induce and influence such dreams, usually, to see what happens. Because ultimately, I am usually not super-terrified.
And hang it all, I LOVE having those sorts of weird dreams, if only in order to reconfirm to myself that dreams need not always be about work, school, my beloveds (friends, families, etc). Though I did rather have a hybrid dream the other night...I was in a small room with a time-clock, hanging out with my Hispanic friends Carmen and Miguel, who work in Bingo-Concessions. This room was darkly lit, and the scene had something of a "sepia" tone to it, like an old "tin-type" photograph from two centuries ago. But what caught my eye was a library cart filled with vinyl LPs...and there was a copy of my favorite musician's 1976 masterwork "Olias of Sunhillow." I could tell what it was by the gold and green cover, with Jon Anderson's famous "Moorglade" logo on the back...and my heart just filled with all levels of heavenly joy to see it in my dreams...a manifestation of high-level creative work...
In my mind, right now, all I can think is that by choosing to pick up the LP and hug it to my heart and dance around with it, not wanting to let it go--instead of hanging with Carmen and Miguel before punching in to work---tells me that on a deep soul level I have truly chosen a creative life and that nothing is going to keep me away from the life I truly wish to live.
And so I close with a favorite Jon Anderson quote, one that's spoken very clearly to me over the last year or three:
"Never underestimate the power that's given to you!"
And heed these words I shall, for always...
Blessed Be,
Rev. Kat ^.^
I would really love TiVo, but it's beyond my budget...so I'm hoping Ryan, Sergey and their PRS buddies will think about putting "Paranormal State" on DVD.
I REALLY loved the episode where they went out west to investigate heavy UFO phenomena...that was last year--sometime before I got hired at Meskwaki. It got a UFO dream sequence started again later that night, thanks also to a favorite Jon Anderson song running through my head while the "Paranormal State" episode was showing.
So far, I have not experienced too many UFO dreams since that night last year, which is sadly disappointing because when I do have them, they are always a bit fun, if somewhat frightening at first because they sometimes come unbidden. Granted, I do choose to try to induce and influence such dreams, usually, to see what happens. Because ultimately, I am usually not super-terrified.
And hang it all, I LOVE having those sorts of weird dreams, if only in order to reconfirm to myself that dreams need not always be about work, school, my beloveds (friends, families, etc). Though I did rather have a hybrid dream the other night...I was in a small room with a time-clock, hanging out with my Hispanic friends Carmen and Miguel, who work in Bingo-Concessions. This room was darkly lit, and the scene had something of a "sepia" tone to it, like an old "tin-type" photograph from two centuries ago. But what caught my eye was a library cart filled with vinyl LPs...and there was a copy of my favorite musician's 1976 masterwork "Olias of Sunhillow." I could tell what it was by the gold and green cover, with Jon Anderson's famous "Moorglade" logo on the back...and my heart just filled with all levels of heavenly joy to see it in my dreams...a manifestation of high-level creative work...
In my mind, right now, all I can think is that by choosing to pick up the LP and hug it to my heart and dance around with it, not wanting to let it go--instead of hanging with Carmen and Miguel before punching in to work---tells me that on a deep soul level I have truly chosen a creative life and that nothing is going to keep me away from the life I truly wish to live.
And so I close with a favorite Jon Anderson quote, one that's spoken very clearly to me over the last year or three:
"Never underestimate the power that's given to you!"
And heed these words I shall, for always...
Blessed Be,
Rev. Kat ^.^
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Forgiveness
What a loaded word, "forgiveness," eh?
But it seems to be the lesson I'm working on right now.
Two things are weighing the most on my mind. One is my grandmother, and her incessantly cruel, unfeeling words and actions towards her family, immediate and extended. That is tough enough to deal with, especially now that she's deceased, since the pain still lingers like Frodo Baggins' Weathertop wound.
The other weighty topic is how Chris Squire, bassist and holder of the band-name copyright for Yes, has recently been a complete douchebag towards Jon Anderson, their frontman, these last 18 months by going behind Jon's back and hiring a replacement singer from a Yes tribute band based in Quebec...and then reannouncing the 2008 tour without even consulting Jon, who is more or less considered by most to be a cofounder of the group.
Considering my views of simply treating people with respect, I have found it very difficult to forgive Chris. He's made the future of the REAL Yes--the one with JON at the helm--very tenuous at best...even though Jon says he's more than ready, physically, to come back and sing. (I have proof of this via Jon's Facebook page, btw.)
Why have I found it difficult to think of Chris without either extreme anger or sadness?
Because, plain and simple, I, and thousands (if not millions) adore Jon. We see his Light and we just can't quite wrap our heads around why Chris would be so blind to that beautiful Energy-That-Is-Jon as to be totally disrespectful.
Here's the thing that sort of mollifies me, though: this would not be the first time the rest of the Yes-lads have lost sight of the real reasons they chose to make music together: spreading the ideals of Love, Peace and Harmony that united them for so many years. And of course, Jon has ever remained at the core of those ideals, embodying them so beautifully with his lyrics, compositions, his Sun-God voice, whether or not he is singing for Yes.
So I do still have some vestigial hope that Jon will raise his voice once more with his Yes-brothers...and it's that hope that prompts me to work at forgiving Chris...after all, there is that axiom of "hate the sin, not the sinner." I don't necessarily believe in "sin," but I do believe in karma, which is simply "cause and consequence." Chris decided to listen only to his ego, and to be disrespectful of Jon--and by extension, those who would not listen to Yes without Jon--and so Chris has caused a lot of suffering, which has naturally manifested as feelings of betrayal and deep disappointment, to say the least.
My first question about forgiving Chris for his actions was: "What would Jon do?" He's already answered that question for me by showing that he's allowing himself to be enveloped in the love that his wife Jane, and his kids, Deborah, Damion and Jade provide, and simply engrossing himself in his other creative endeavors, whether it's more music, his paintings (which I absolutely adore, they are SO gorgeous!), or sharing his spiritual insights. Not that he does not feel disappointed about the recent events surrounding him and Yes, for he loves making music with Chris, Steve, and Alan (Rick has left the band for health reasons and his son, Oliver, has replaced him on keyboards). But he's truly being a Mensch about it all...
And that right there humbles me, making me feel ashamed of my anger at Chris, even though my ire has been on Jon's behalf all this time. But every beautiful, positive thing Jon posts on Facebook keeps wearing away at my stubbornness, and all I can do is say, "I have to forgive Chris, for he knows not what he does." All I can do is humbly walk in my Muse's loving footsteps...for the love he shows to humanity through his music is a very earnest attempt at showing Cosmic Love itself via Krishna, Gautama Buddha, Yeshua, Quan Yin and any other Ascended Master one cares to name off.
Because of these feelings, recently, I wonder if there truly is such a thing as "righteous anger."
But that's a topic for another time.
Blessed Be,
Rev. Kat ^.^
But it seems to be the lesson I'm working on right now.
Two things are weighing the most on my mind. One is my grandmother, and her incessantly cruel, unfeeling words and actions towards her family, immediate and extended. That is tough enough to deal with, especially now that she's deceased, since the pain still lingers like Frodo Baggins' Weathertop wound.
The other weighty topic is how Chris Squire, bassist and holder of the band-name copyright for Yes, has recently been a complete douchebag towards Jon Anderson, their frontman, these last 18 months by going behind Jon's back and hiring a replacement singer from a Yes tribute band based in Quebec...and then reannouncing the 2008 tour without even consulting Jon, who is more or less considered by most to be a cofounder of the group.
Considering my views of simply treating people with respect, I have found it very difficult to forgive Chris. He's made the future of the REAL Yes--the one with JON at the helm--very tenuous at best...even though Jon says he's more than ready, physically, to come back and sing. (I have proof of this via Jon's Facebook page, btw.)
Why have I found it difficult to think of Chris without either extreme anger or sadness?
Because, plain and simple, I, and thousands (if not millions) adore Jon. We see his Light and we just can't quite wrap our heads around why Chris would be so blind to that beautiful Energy-That-Is-Jon as to be totally disrespectful.
Here's the thing that sort of mollifies me, though: this would not be the first time the rest of the Yes-lads have lost sight of the real reasons they chose to make music together: spreading the ideals of Love, Peace and Harmony that united them for so many years. And of course, Jon has ever remained at the core of those ideals, embodying them so beautifully with his lyrics, compositions, his Sun-God voice, whether or not he is singing for Yes.
So I do still have some vestigial hope that Jon will raise his voice once more with his Yes-brothers...and it's that hope that prompts me to work at forgiving Chris...after all, there is that axiom of "hate the sin, not the sinner." I don't necessarily believe in "sin," but I do believe in karma, which is simply "cause and consequence." Chris decided to listen only to his ego, and to be disrespectful of Jon--and by extension, those who would not listen to Yes without Jon--and so Chris has caused a lot of suffering, which has naturally manifested as feelings of betrayal and deep disappointment, to say the least.
My first question about forgiving Chris for his actions was: "What would Jon do?" He's already answered that question for me by showing that he's allowing himself to be enveloped in the love that his wife Jane, and his kids, Deborah, Damion and Jade provide, and simply engrossing himself in his other creative endeavors, whether it's more music, his paintings (which I absolutely adore, they are SO gorgeous!), or sharing his spiritual insights. Not that he does not feel disappointed about the recent events surrounding him and Yes, for he loves making music with Chris, Steve, and Alan (Rick has left the band for health reasons and his son, Oliver, has replaced him on keyboards). But he's truly being a Mensch about it all...
And that right there humbles me, making me feel ashamed of my anger at Chris, even though my ire has been on Jon's behalf all this time. But every beautiful, positive thing Jon posts on Facebook keeps wearing away at my stubbornness, and all I can do is say, "I have to forgive Chris, for he knows not what he does." All I can do is humbly walk in my Muse's loving footsteps...for the love he shows to humanity through his music is a very earnest attempt at showing Cosmic Love itself via Krishna, Gautama Buddha, Yeshua, Quan Yin and any other Ascended Master one cares to name off.
Because of these feelings, recently, I wonder if there truly is such a thing as "righteous anger."
But that's a topic for another time.
Blessed Be,
Rev. Kat ^.^
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Somethin' About Yeshua, Pt. 2
In a continuation of last week's post, I have further the pondered the significance of Yeshua ben Joseph and his impact on the world just by showing up on this planet and being who he was.
No less than several significant thoughts have floated around in my mind about this whole thing...I will share with you the two most prominent ones.
1) What's the deal with the belief of Yeshua supposedly "dying for our sins"?
Last I checked, Yeshua only died because the Sanhedrin got jealous of Yeshua's popularity with the people to the point of being really pissed off. The idea of him dying to "save us from our sins" didn't come along till the philosophical doctrine of "original sin" entered the world playing field. Now, you talk about us humans getting creative with our power dramas...you'd think we'd be smart enough at the first to see through the papal bullshit. But no. A good many of the Christian followers were illiterate, and the Church counted on this illiteracy to stay in power.
So because of this illiteracy, the idea kept getting perpetuated that we're no good unless we acknowledge Yeshua as some sort of almighty savior who's going to rescue us just by allowing himself to get whipped severely, nails put into his hands and feet and being left for dead until some devout followers (and still-observant Jews) come and have him cut down before sundown on the Sabbath.
Sounds like another "ghost story to scare the kiddies into behaving" type of thing. And then there's the whole "worthy is the lamb who was slain" thing. Yeah, Yeshua was a pretty upstanding dude...I mean, the most passionate of hippies--including my Druidic self--could get behind this fella. Not only did he have long hair and sandals, but he said some pretty deep, yet simple stuff like "Love thy neighbor," "Turn the other cheek," and "Take the plank out of your own eye before you remove the splinter in someone else's." But apart from some feelings of awe from his followers at his trippy tidings of joy (and believe me, I've felt that same awe at Jon Anderson's gorgeous, inspiring lyrics), I wanna know what qualifies Yeshua to be "worthy" of "being slain," which goes right into that whole "Lamb of God" thing.
The only remotely logical reason someone would create an ephithet like that is that waaay back when, animal sacrifices were made to God (or whatever deity the tribes decided was high enough--and therefore perhaps vindictive enough--to need regular appeasement) in order to be granted boons, favors or other special requests. The base of such requests was fear that the deity or deities in question would be angry at us humans for making some silly mistakes. Another fear-belief was that the deities supposedly had specific rituals that we were supposed to follow just for the sake of following the rituals, and if we did not do so on a regular basis, we'd be punished somehow.
Can you see how the concept of "if you are bad, God will punish you and send you to hell" might have gotten started? And of course, this extended into the whole "Santa Claus will give you coal if you are naughty" spiel parents often have given their children. Oh, the ideas we dream up to keep people under our petty tyrannies of fear and mind control.
As for Idea #2?
The part of me that continues to believe in Love, Peace and all that good stuff keeps telling me that what will 'save us' from our 'sins' is not the whole crucifixion thing Yeshua went through. That was a very violent result of what he came here to do, but that's not really what we should be focusing on...neither that or the supposed 'resurrection' thing. Yes, the 'resurrection' might have happened literally, but I think it was more shamanic than anything.
No, I think the key to Yeshua's purpose on earth was to be yet another embodiment of the kind of heavenly love that might make you regret the things you've done, but you'll still feel accepted by the Divine Presence despite all that...because heaven is Home. What is true Home but being accepted and loved despite your missteps and failings? THAT is what will help humanity get it together again...that is what will stop us going wrong.
Love...
So perhaps I can once again feel comfortable with the word "savior" being applied to Yeshua. It's a bit of a messianic, apocalyptic hyperbole of a word, IMO, but if we apply what Yeshua set out to teach us, along with what Buddha has given us as well, then we'll perhaps have helped fulfill whatever mission it was that Yeshua set out to accomplish. Maybe he wasn't meant to "save us" outright...but that he was to kickstart us on a different way of being.
I have yet to puzzle it all out...all I know is:
1) I still enjoy the Nativity story because it signals a new beginning for humanity (and considering this guy was born, like the rest of us, of a female, I relish the notion that the Divine Feminine part of the Force was behind Yeshua's arrival all along!)
2) Christmas is definitely more than just Rudolph and Frosty, and paired with the Winter Solstice (known as 'Alban Arthuan' in the Druidic parlance) that we Pagans celebrate, the holidays are that much more magickal when all blended together. (Remember, I have that 'Happy-Everything' Sagittarius ascendant kind of running the show in my chart)
3) As always, no matter what you believe, the Time is Now...the Word is Love...
Blessed Be,
Rev. Kat ^.^
No less than several significant thoughts have floated around in my mind about this whole thing...I will share with you the two most prominent ones.
1) What's the deal with the belief of Yeshua supposedly "dying for our sins"?
Last I checked, Yeshua only died because the Sanhedrin got jealous of Yeshua's popularity with the people to the point of being really pissed off. The idea of him dying to "save us from our sins" didn't come along till the philosophical doctrine of "original sin" entered the world playing field. Now, you talk about us humans getting creative with our power dramas...you'd think we'd be smart enough at the first to see through the papal bullshit. But no. A good many of the Christian followers were illiterate, and the Church counted on this illiteracy to stay in power.
So because of this illiteracy, the idea kept getting perpetuated that we're no good unless we acknowledge Yeshua as some sort of almighty savior who's going to rescue us just by allowing himself to get whipped severely, nails put into his hands and feet and being left for dead until some devout followers (and still-observant Jews) come and have him cut down before sundown on the Sabbath.
Sounds like another "ghost story to scare the kiddies into behaving" type of thing. And then there's the whole "worthy is the lamb who was slain" thing. Yeah, Yeshua was a pretty upstanding dude...I mean, the most passionate of hippies--including my Druidic self--could get behind this fella. Not only did he have long hair and sandals, but he said some pretty deep, yet simple stuff like "Love thy neighbor," "Turn the other cheek," and "Take the plank out of your own eye before you remove the splinter in someone else's." But apart from some feelings of awe from his followers at his trippy tidings of joy (and believe me, I've felt that same awe at Jon Anderson's gorgeous, inspiring lyrics), I wanna know what qualifies Yeshua to be "worthy" of "being slain," which goes right into that whole "Lamb of God" thing.
The only remotely logical reason someone would create an ephithet like that is that waaay back when, animal sacrifices were made to God (or whatever deity the tribes decided was high enough--and therefore perhaps vindictive enough--to need regular appeasement) in order to be granted boons, favors or other special requests. The base of such requests was fear that the deity or deities in question would be angry at us humans for making some silly mistakes. Another fear-belief was that the deities supposedly had specific rituals that we were supposed to follow just for the sake of following the rituals, and if we did not do so on a regular basis, we'd be punished somehow.
Can you see how the concept of "if you are bad, God will punish you and send you to hell" might have gotten started? And of course, this extended into the whole "Santa Claus will give you coal if you are naughty" spiel parents often have given their children. Oh, the ideas we dream up to keep people under our petty tyrannies of fear and mind control.
As for Idea #2?
The part of me that continues to believe in Love, Peace and all that good stuff keeps telling me that what will 'save us' from our 'sins' is not the whole crucifixion thing Yeshua went through. That was a very violent result of what he came here to do, but that's not really what we should be focusing on...neither that or the supposed 'resurrection' thing. Yes, the 'resurrection' might have happened literally, but I think it was more shamanic than anything.
No, I think the key to Yeshua's purpose on earth was to be yet another embodiment of the kind of heavenly love that might make you regret the things you've done, but you'll still feel accepted by the Divine Presence despite all that...because heaven is Home. What is true Home but being accepted and loved despite your missteps and failings? THAT is what will help humanity get it together again...that is what will stop us going wrong.
Love...
So perhaps I can once again feel comfortable with the word "savior" being applied to Yeshua. It's a bit of a messianic, apocalyptic hyperbole of a word, IMO, but if we apply what Yeshua set out to teach us, along with what Buddha has given us as well, then we'll perhaps have helped fulfill whatever mission it was that Yeshua set out to accomplish. Maybe he wasn't meant to "save us" outright...but that he was to kickstart us on a different way of being.
I have yet to puzzle it all out...all I know is:
1) I still enjoy the Nativity story because it signals a new beginning for humanity (and considering this guy was born, like the rest of us, of a female, I relish the notion that the Divine Feminine part of the Force was behind Yeshua's arrival all along!)
2) Christmas is definitely more than just Rudolph and Frosty, and paired with the Winter Solstice (known as 'Alban Arthuan' in the Druidic parlance) that we Pagans celebrate, the holidays are that much more magickal when all blended together. (Remember, I have that 'Happy-Everything' Sagittarius ascendant kind of running the show in my chart)
3) As always, no matter what you believe, the Time is Now...the Word is Love...
Blessed Be,
Rev. Kat ^.^
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Somethin' About Yeshua...
Christmas fast approaches. And even though I consider myself a Druidic sort, the scholarly "Happy-Everything" Sagittarian in me can never quite resist going back and revisiting the topic of Yeshua, aka "Jesus." After all, his birth has been celebrated on December 25th for centuries now, starting around 354 CE, within the Roman Empire.
This date is approximate, given one particular fact: The Jewish calendar is lunar and so the attempt to calculate the day based on solar measurement places the date of Yeshua's birth around December 25th...or April 6th, depending on the source of info. In fact, there has not yet been a month in which scholars have NOT tried to place Yeshua's arrival, simply because he was truly born so long ago, we don't know precisely when his birth actually took place. For all we know, it could have been December 25th and no one would truly be the wiser.
Oh, sure, my fellow Pagans are keen to argue that the December 25th date is also the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which also falls on the week of the Winter Solstice, a scientifically provable solar event, whether or not you are a Pagan or any other spiritual path. :-P My fellow Pagans--particularly the more vociferous ones--also opine that the date of December 25th was chosen solely for the purpose of converting the pagans of the time to Christianity.
Upon researching further, I discovered a few interesting tidbits.
In the year 354, (the earliest time recorded for celebrating Yeshua's birthday on the 25th of December), Constantius II, one of the sons of Emperor Constantine I, was Rome's head cheese, the direct predecessor to Julian, another of Constantine's sons. Julian himself went back to being a Roman Pagan, and thus earned the title "Apostate." But that's a topic for another time.
Constantius II partly subscribed to the philosophy of Arianism, NOT to be confused with "Aryanism." A church priest named Arius posed the question "Is Jesus unbegotten?" The upshot of this challenge to the more popular trinitarian view of Yeshua (The whole Father-Son-Holy-Ghost schmere) was that Yeshua was created like any other human soul, and Arius backed up his hypothesis by referencing John 14:28, in which Yeshua says that the father "is greater than I", and John 17:20-26, where Yeshua requests of his disciples to "become one as we are one." Both scriptures indicated, at least as far as Arius was concerned, more of a oneness of will and thought, rather than ultimate unity within a Trinity.
End result? Arius was branded a heretic, but his ideas ended up becoming the longest-running controversy within the Church. (This tells me he was likely onto something, at least philosophically speaking, because if something challenges the political powers-that-be, that means their ideas are not very solid and they darn well know it.)
So, what about Yeshua, anyway? Begotten or not? After all, the word "begotten," in this sense meant that the Divine Essence had always existed, and theforefore Yeshua did, too...that is, if one believed that Yeshua was the "only begotten Son of God."
Whether or not Yeshua was "begotten" or "unbegotten" does not necessarily matter to me, personally. His intent was Love, and that is that, to my mind. Same thing with the whole "Messiah" deal. The concept of his being "begotten" and the idea that he was THE Messiah are long-intertwined, but as far as I am concerned, Yeshua was simply a good, loving man with some pretty extraordinary gifts for healing, if the Synoptic Gospels have any ring of historical truth to them, regardless of what time they were written.
That being said...
Such an apocalyptic view of someone--ANYone--anticipated to be a Messianic figure in the time of John (Yohannan) the Baptist and Jesus (Yeshua) was a popular one, given that the Israelites were under the harsh thumb of Rome at the time. I mean, if I were in that time cycle, in that tribe of people, having to deal with the way Roman emperors made such dictatorial--and often cruel--decisions about the populace, I'd kinda be a bit anxious for some relief, political or religious, or a bit of both.
And when you put that anxiety together with some pretty convincing prophecies by Micah, Nahum, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and a bunch of others, you have a recipe for the multitudinous cries of "Save us!"
Add a pinch of "original sin" doctrine of one type or another, and you have a religious mixture that lends very well to the well-entrenched belief and action of "taking Jesus as one's personal savior," and "Jesus is the reason for the season" holiday cards and lighted yard signs at this rather magical time of year.
Do I believe in original sin, as put forth by many religious scholars and priests? No. I do not. "Adam and Eve" to me are simply symbological names given to the evolutionary jump from Homo Erectus to Homo Sapiens. In evolutionary theory, there existed no such being as "the Devil," no matter what form such a being might take. "Sapiens" is loosely translated, according to my inferences of the phrase "sapiential eschatology," as 'human being with the ability to think or reason.' "Sapiential eschatology" in this sense, is the concept of using reason to act in a 'Godly' manner, thereby not requiring God to intervene as far as the concept of the "end of the world" is concerned. Perhaps it is a philosophical stretch between one 'tribe' and another, but I think the Hopis said it best: "We are the ones we have been waiting for."
Besides, I have personally come to the conclusion that we never really were "separated" from the Divine in the first place. Okay, so we lower our vibrations in order to manifest in, and "operate" a physical body...but does this mean we are somehow "faulted" or "weak" because we are embodied spirits and have been this way since humans first existed as a result of some sort of "temptation"? Not by my reckoning. The only "hell" that exists is within our minds and hearts, in our false assumptions about ourselves and others, in our illusions about human nature ("we behave badly therefore we are inherently bad").
My point, and I do have one, in all this meandering around from subtopic to subtopic is this...
In my readings about Yeshua and other topics (inside and outside of my college religion classes), I have come to understand three salient ideas:
1) Yeshua very likely existed; he was raised in the extant faith of the time, but seemed to develop some very controversial ideas that, in the minds of the Sanhedrin, posed a religious threat to their power as well as a threat to Rome, who might punish the Israelites for "aiding and abetting" someone who might advocate the beginnings of a revolt against the Empire.
2) Yeshua did not come here to purposefully BE a revolutionary, though his ideas of "love your enemy" and to be self-sacrificing on behalf of someone else who is in trouble were certainly eyebrow-raisers. This dude was more like Gandhi or Buddha and less like the "uber-warrior" that the politicos of the time thought he might be.
3) Ultimately, he came here and showed us a very beautiful way to live in the Divine Light of Love.
Is the fact that his approximate birth date, (at least according to the Jewish calendar day, which has been roughly translated into the solar day of December 25th), happens to fall during the week of both Winter Solstice (a scientifically observable occurrence) and the old Roman holiday of Saturnalia a coincidence? We have no real way of discerning the factual truth of it, considering Yeshua was alive and kicking a good 2.5 millenia ago.
So perhaps we may be allowed to put aside our scientific hats for a time, and put on a more meditative mystic's robe, and ponder a while the mystery of the healer and teacher so many have come to revere. Whether or not he is some sort of "savior," is doubtful to my reasoning mind (what a burden that ephithet must be!), but what I am never doubtful of is what he taught, and what he taught can be used by the rest of us reasoning members of Homo Sapiens to better ourselves in the hopes that swords CAN be made into plowshares, that we will one day taste the sweet juice of peace and never again the bitter flavor of war.
In the words of my Yes-brothers: "The Time is Now, the Word is Love."
Always Love...
Brightest Holiday Blessings,
Rev. Kat ^.^
This date is approximate, given one particular fact: The Jewish calendar is lunar and so the attempt to calculate the day based on solar measurement places the date of Yeshua's birth around December 25th...or April 6th, depending on the source of info. In fact, there has not yet been a month in which scholars have NOT tried to place Yeshua's arrival, simply because he was truly born so long ago, we don't know precisely when his birth actually took place. For all we know, it could have been December 25th and no one would truly be the wiser.
Oh, sure, my fellow Pagans are keen to argue that the December 25th date is also the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which also falls on the week of the Winter Solstice, a scientifically provable solar event, whether or not you are a Pagan or any other spiritual path. :-P My fellow Pagans--particularly the more vociferous ones--also opine that the date of December 25th was chosen solely for the purpose of converting the pagans of the time to Christianity.
Upon researching further, I discovered a few interesting tidbits.
In the year 354, (the earliest time recorded for celebrating Yeshua's birthday on the 25th of December), Constantius II, one of the sons of Emperor Constantine I, was Rome's head cheese, the direct predecessor to Julian, another of Constantine's sons. Julian himself went back to being a Roman Pagan, and thus earned the title "Apostate." But that's a topic for another time.
Constantius II partly subscribed to the philosophy of Arianism, NOT to be confused with "Aryanism." A church priest named Arius posed the question "Is Jesus unbegotten?" The upshot of this challenge to the more popular trinitarian view of Yeshua (The whole Father-Son-Holy-Ghost schmere) was that Yeshua was created like any other human soul, and Arius backed up his hypothesis by referencing John 14:28, in which Yeshua says that the father "is greater than I", and John 17:20-26, where Yeshua requests of his disciples to "become one as we are one." Both scriptures indicated, at least as far as Arius was concerned, more of a oneness of will and thought, rather than ultimate unity within a Trinity.
End result? Arius was branded a heretic, but his ideas ended up becoming the longest-running controversy within the Church. (This tells me he was likely onto something, at least philosophically speaking, because if something challenges the political powers-that-be, that means their ideas are not very solid and they darn well know it.)
So, what about Yeshua, anyway? Begotten or not? After all, the word "begotten," in this sense meant that the Divine Essence had always existed, and theforefore Yeshua did, too...that is, if one believed that Yeshua was the "only begotten Son of God."
Whether or not Yeshua was "begotten" or "unbegotten" does not necessarily matter to me, personally. His intent was Love, and that is that, to my mind. Same thing with the whole "Messiah" deal. The concept of his being "begotten" and the idea that he was THE Messiah are long-intertwined, but as far as I am concerned, Yeshua was simply a good, loving man with some pretty extraordinary gifts for healing, if the Synoptic Gospels have any ring of historical truth to them, regardless of what time they were written.
That being said...
Such an apocalyptic view of someone--ANYone--anticipated to be a Messianic figure in the time of John (Yohannan) the Baptist and Jesus (Yeshua) was a popular one, given that the Israelites were under the harsh thumb of Rome at the time. I mean, if I were in that time cycle, in that tribe of people, having to deal with the way Roman emperors made such dictatorial--and often cruel--decisions about the populace, I'd kinda be a bit anxious for some relief, political or religious, or a bit of both.
And when you put that anxiety together with some pretty convincing prophecies by Micah, Nahum, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and a bunch of others, you have a recipe for the multitudinous cries of "Save us!"
Add a pinch of "original sin" doctrine of one type or another, and you have a religious mixture that lends very well to the well-entrenched belief and action of "taking Jesus as one's personal savior," and "Jesus is the reason for the season" holiday cards and lighted yard signs at this rather magical time of year.
Do I believe in original sin, as put forth by many religious scholars and priests? No. I do not. "Adam and Eve" to me are simply symbological names given to the evolutionary jump from Homo Erectus to Homo Sapiens. In evolutionary theory, there existed no such being as "the Devil," no matter what form such a being might take. "Sapiens" is loosely translated, according to my inferences of the phrase "sapiential eschatology," as 'human being with the ability to think or reason.' "Sapiential eschatology" in this sense, is the concept of using reason to act in a 'Godly' manner, thereby not requiring God to intervene as far as the concept of the "end of the world" is concerned. Perhaps it is a philosophical stretch between one 'tribe' and another, but I think the Hopis said it best: "We are the ones we have been waiting for."
Besides, I have personally come to the conclusion that we never really were "separated" from the Divine in the first place. Okay, so we lower our vibrations in order to manifest in, and "operate" a physical body...but does this mean we are somehow "faulted" or "weak" because we are embodied spirits and have been this way since humans first existed as a result of some sort of "temptation"? Not by my reckoning. The only "hell" that exists is within our minds and hearts, in our false assumptions about ourselves and others, in our illusions about human nature ("we behave badly therefore we are inherently bad").
My point, and I do have one, in all this meandering around from subtopic to subtopic is this...
In my readings about Yeshua and other topics (inside and outside of my college religion classes), I have come to understand three salient ideas:
1) Yeshua very likely existed; he was raised in the extant faith of the time, but seemed to develop some very controversial ideas that, in the minds of the Sanhedrin, posed a religious threat to their power as well as a threat to Rome, who might punish the Israelites for "aiding and abetting" someone who might advocate the beginnings of a revolt against the Empire.
2) Yeshua did not come here to purposefully BE a revolutionary, though his ideas of "love your enemy" and to be self-sacrificing on behalf of someone else who is in trouble were certainly eyebrow-raisers. This dude was more like Gandhi or Buddha and less like the "uber-warrior" that the politicos of the time thought he might be.
3) Ultimately, he came here and showed us a very beautiful way to live in the Divine Light of Love.
Is the fact that his approximate birth date, (at least according to the Jewish calendar day, which has been roughly translated into the solar day of December 25th), happens to fall during the week of both Winter Solstice (a scientifically observable occurrence) and the old Roman holiday of Saturnalia a coincidence? We have no real way of discerning the factual truth of it, considering Yeshua was alive and kicking a good 2.5 millenia ago.
So perhaps we may be allowed to put aside our scientific hats for a time, and put on a more meditative mystic's robe, and ponder a while the mystery of the healer and teacher so many have come to revere. Whether or not he is some sort of "savior," is doubtful to my reasoning mind (what a burden that ephithet must be!), but what I am never doubtful of is what he taught, and what he taught can be used by the rest of us reasoning members of Homo Sapiens to better ourselves in the hopes that swords CAN be made into plowshares, that we will one day taste the sweet juice of peace and never again the bitter flavor of war.
In the words of my Yes-brothers: "The Time is Now, the Word is Love."
Always Love...
Brightest Holiday Blessings,
Rev. Kat ^.^
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