A few weeks ago, astronomers announced that in 2022 something truly spectacular is to occur: a new star will appear in the heavens. It will be the first such event visible with the naked eye for over 400 years. Created by the collision of two relatively dim stars, the resultant explosion is known as a “boom star.”
Enlightenment is not the by-product of avoiding the darkness in favor of the light. It is the by-product of taking the light of consciousness
Two Catholic cardinals warn that the Pope's confusing teachings are a sign of the End
It is popularly held as a period when Britain and the rest of the world fell into a deep decline.
Enlightenment is not the by-product of avoiding the darkness in favor of the light. It is the by-product of taking the light of consciousness
Editors Choice at 500px A Hundred Million Suns by Avi Revivo Looking up the skirt..... of an icon by Kevin Pepper A Splash of Rose by Anthony Chang I´m coming by Ondrej Pakan Vatican Monk by Dan Kwon Jr Salt Storm by Mike Reyfman Maghrib by Beno Saradzic untitled by Matthias Heiderich What we…
I'd like to thank Celestial Elf for sharing this wonderful article about the Midwinter Solstice with us. You can read more about Celestial Elf and his amazing machinima film work in the Artist Interview we conducted with him earlier this year. The Mind Body Spirit Odyssey wishes all of our readers a happy Holiday Season and a wonderful New Year! In Ancient Northern Europe the mid-winter Solstice (between 20th/23rd of December) was called 'Earth Mother's Night', and as the shortest day of the year it effectively represents the turning point of the season. The Romans called this Sostice the Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The Roman midwinter festival of Saturnalia (17-25 December) celebrated Saturnus (god of fertility, harvest and time) and his wife Ops (Mother Earth). Whilst Temples and homes were decorated with stars and suns and evergreens symbolizing life's continuity, Processions of people with masked or blackened faces symbolizing the dark of winter danced through the streets, which has survived in the custom of 'Mummer's Plays'. Masters also feasted with their slaves and a 'King' was appointed from their number to take charge of the revels giving rise to the 'Lord of Misrule' of medieval Christmas festivities, which tradition survived into the 17th Century." In Northern Europe the winter festival was called the Yule (Juul). As the people thought the Sun stood still for twelve days in the midwinter, plunging Mother Earth and all her growing things into the dark, coldness of death, It was thought that spring could not come without their celebration of midwinter. During this time the Druids began the tradition of burning the Yule Log to conquer the darkness and to evoke the return of the Sun for the new year, the Suns divine male energy was needed to return and quicken the Earths sacred female energy for the Rebirth of spring. A Yule Tree was also illuminated with candles, to further this effort to attract the Sun. Therefore 'Yule' is the midwinter festival of light, as the length of daylight progressively increases after the winter solstice. Along with the Evergreen, the Holly and the Ivy and the Mistletoe are important plants of this season, symbolizing fertility & everlasting life. Mistletoe, also known as The Golden Bough (and called Allheal, used in folk medicine to cure many ills) was held sacred by the Druids and Norse people, who cut it with a golden sickle (symbolic of the Sun) on the sixth night of the moon. Both Druids and Romans hung sprigs of mistletoe in their homes and places of celebration to bring good fortune and peace & the Scandinavians would halt and call Truce in battle if they came across mistletoe in their Forests. In addition, its fertility endowing powers have by tradition created its modern role as a symbol of love (a man should pick a berry when he kisses a woman beneath the mistletoe, when the last berry is gone there should be no more kissing!). The myth of the Holly King/Oak King probably originated from the Druids to whom these two trees were highly sacred. The Oak King (Lord of the Waxing Year and identified with the 'wren' symbolizing the Old Year and Shortened Sun) kills the Holly King (Lord of the Waning Year, son and successor of the Oak King, identified with the 'robin redbreast' symbolizing the New Year and New Sun that begins to grow) at Yule (Winter Solstice). The Oak King then reigns until Litha (Summer Solstice) when the two fight again and the Holly King is victorious. The Holly King is still seen in some representations of the modern Santa Claus." Of the Wren itself (which was also called 'magus avium' - the magic or druid bird) this hapless bird was for many years hunted and killed on December 26 by young boys because it was recognized as a sacred bird to the early Druids. It was targeted by Christian believers as their Pagan purges were frequent and relentless. The boys would receive money as they paraded their dead trophies from house to house... The Nordic Yule began in the evening of winter solstice 20th-23rd December, with the sacrifice of a wild pig (boar) to Mother Earth. This gave strength to Mother Earth (Freja), so that she could give birth to her Son (Balder) on 24th of December who represented both the next generation and most importantly, light ie the New Sun (which was also echoed in the Rebirth of the Persian Sun God Mithrais {as well as the Greek Apollo} on 25th December, a significant date later co-opted by the Christian Church...) The ham as the Yule dish is particularly significant because in ancient times the pig was considered a holy animal and personification of Mother Earth, symbolizing her fertility. Thus the Yule ham is Mother Earth herself. Regarding such Sacrifices in these Ancient traditions; As they held that Divinity was inherent in all creatures as an expression of the God's powers within nature, so the most powerful of these rituals was when a God was sacrificed to share their divine energy. Those who ate of such sacrificial feasts received a part of the Deities divine power, just as the death of one creature gives life to others. For the ancient people such traditions were completely normal as they 'sacrificed' the seed in spring to earth, where it ‘died’, and later rose again to give life to many new seeds which in turn would both feed many people and beget many more new seeds. These principles are similar in theme to the Christian atonement sacrifice of Christ, the ritual of Eucharist and the Ascension. Be that as it may, I share with you now Bright Yule Blessings: Yule Blessings. Blessings to you from the Earth Mother. She is the Moon. She watches over all of us by. The light that she casts over the blessed earth. Walk her night lit path And happiness you will find at every turn. Blessed be! Blessings to you from the Sky Father. He is the Sun. He holds us up And brings us strength. Carry his sword To cleave the evil from your path And you will be unmolested. Blessed Be! Blessings to you from the Great Spirit. It binds us all together: Man to womyn; beast to beast; all. We are it and it is us. Blessed Be! May you have a wonderful Holiday. The time has come for the sun to be reborn He lies in his Mother's womb waiting... Awaiting his reappearance on this plane. Let us all rejoice in his rebirth and ours. Blessed Be! (by yusef) Merry Solstice, Happy Yule... After writing this post, a bit later I rewrote the famous poem The Night before Christmas and made the machinima film The Night Before Christmas Or Yuletide or Such.... to reinstate Odin and the ancient Norse traditions in place of Father Christmas per se.. which you can read by following the link above, or just enjoy the film below Follow the daily updates of the Mind Body Spirit Marketplace on Facebook
Spiritual alchemy is a process that turns our soul into a divine form of existence through its 7 stages.
Reference Article: A brief overview of the Enlightenment period of the 18th century.
Its political ideas sparked the French Revolution and inspired the American Constitution, its economics bore the free market, its reason gave birth to human rights, and its pursuit of equality …
“I remember running to the sea Remember falling to my knees I remember gliding off the shore Until I touched the ocean floor And the river flows beneath your skin Like savage horses kept within And...
At some point in your life, you will experience the 'Dark Night of the Soul' where it seems that everything that can possibly go wrong, will go wrong. What many people fail to realize is that this is a true blessing.
Do you know what Spiritual Death is? It's not death in terms of physicality but the death of false identifications we have with our ego, mind, and body.
“When the Sacred Masculine is combined with the sacred feminine inside each of us, we create the 'sacred marriage' of compassion and passion in ourselves.” ~ Matthew Fox The age of armored masculinity is dead and dying at our feet. It’s a bloody tangle of weaponry and bloated egos glued together by myopic one-upmanship and
Hey there, fellow seekers of enlightenment! Today, let’s dive into the fascinating realm of personal transformation guided by the principles of universal consciousness. Picture this: You̵…
Despite constantly hustling, you still feel unfulfilled. Disconnection from your feminine essence leaves you stuck in lack and unworthiness. It leaves you compromising...
Valiant explorers continued to bring back a bewitching treasure trove of scented materials to Europe. Men like think Vasco de Gama (1469-1524), Magellan (1480-1521) and Columbus (1451-1506) brought vanilla, pepper, Peru balsam, cardamom, sandalwood, clove, cocoa… Many were used for flavouring, but also found their way intro fragrant creations. There was a growing trade...
In the realm of psychology, the superego serves as the moral compass that guides our actions and helps us differentiate right from wrong. However, beneath its s
Based on the landmark Radio 4 series, this beautifully illustrated modern history of the connections between science and art offers a new perspective on what that relationship has contributed to the world around us. __________ Throughout history, artists and scientists have been driven by curiosity and the desire to experiment. Both have wanted to make sense of the world around them, often to change it, sometimes working closely together, certainly taking inspiration from each other's disciplines. The relationship between the two has traditionally been perceived as one of love and hate, fascination and revulsion, symbiotic but antagonistic. But art is crucial to helping us understand our science legacy and science is well served by applying an artistic lens. How exactly has the ingenuity of science and technology been incorporated into artistic expression? And how has creative practice, in turn, stimulated innovation and technological change? The Art of Innovation is a history of the past 250 years viewed through the disciplines of art and science. Through fascinating stories that explore the sometimes unexpected relationships between famous artworks and significant scientific and technological objects - from Constable's cloudscapes and the chemist who first measured changes in air pressure, to the introduction of photography and the representation of natural history in print - it offers a new way of seeing, studying and interpreting the extraordinary world around us.
Spiritual alchemy is a process that turns our soul into a divine form of existence through its 7 stages.
