Greetings Friends – Congratulations – you have made it to the mid-point of Holy Week. Wednesday, is Mercury Day, & Today we meet the Mercurial figures of Lazurus, Mary Magdalene, Martha & Judas. Towards evening a scene unfolds in the quiet town of Bethany, beyond the Mount of Olives, where not too long ago the scene of the raising of Lazarus took place - The ‘miracle’ that pushed the authorities into murderous action. Lazarus along with the disciples of Christ are gathered round his table - Lazarus who has earned the title John - ‘The one whom Jesus loved’ the one described as resting on the heart of JC at the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday.
Martha & Mary Magdalene, are the sisters of Lazarus-John, it is in their ancestorial home that they have gathered. Each one of these 3 has had their own specific karmic event - bringing a radical transformation in the fulfillment of their life’s destiny.
For Lazarus it was the awakening from the grave – the 1st Christian Initiation outpicturing the redemption of the physical body, & the coming in of new “I” forces, thru the spirit of John the Baptist, who was working with him across the threshold, as well as the Magdalene who held the sacred space during his descent.
For Mary Magdalene, Myrrhophores, & former Priestess of Isis, it had been the freeing & purifying of her astral body, with the casting out of the 7 demons.
The long-suffering Martha is said to be the woman who was healed of the issue of blood. Thru the Christ, her etheric formative forces were restored.
As they all sit at the table with the disciples, Mary Magdalene anoints the feet of Christ with precious spikenard ointment, wiping his feet with her hair.
Spikenard is a sacred oil used for thousands of years by Death Doulas, as a spiritual tool to assist in bringing a clarity of self-reflection to those about to cross the Threshold. The scent is described as an evocation of the perfume of the lost Garden of Eden – It is sacred to the Planet Venus, & the honeybees, & is associated with the Crown Chakra. Nard oil has strong, warm, musky notes, similar to the aroma of healthy earth. This oil inspires right deed & harmonizes the relationship between heaven & earth.
St John’s Gospel says that the whole house was filled with this heady mystical fragrance. Mary Magdalene had performed a similar act a year & a half previously. But what does her act of anointing signify now? It is a sacramental act – the fulfillment of the ‘Rite of Last Anointing’ performed right before death.
And yet, the solemn stillness is suddenly broken by the green demon of jealousy that has seeped into the unconscious soul corners of the disciples, especially in the one who forms an opposite polarity to Mary Magdalene. When Judas sees the deed of the Magdalene, he loses all self-control. He says that the precious oil could have been sold for supplies, or given to the poor. The Magdalene’s selfless anointing enrages him, providing the final impetus to his betrayal - For in his mind Jesus was meant to publicly lead an earthly political insurrection. But this was not to be.
Interestingly enough both Judas & Mary Magdalene are typical Mercury people; they are active & temperamental. One of the virtues of their nature is that something is always happening around them. Mary Magdalene, however, trains her restlessness & transforms it into devotion, peace & the capacity for love. This intense devotion allows her to be ‘The One who anoints the Anointed One’, the first to meet & behold the Risen Christ – Becoming the ‘Apostle to the apostles’. Judas pretends to want something for the poor. But no matter how ‘good’ & commendable social activity may be, it is often only self-deception. The underlying motive is not a genuine social impulse, but his own inner desire for power - which leads to his betrayal - & his own dark fate. Such a soul cannot show devotion; & above all, it cannot love. A selfish person is not capable of real love; for love is possible only where the soul has turned passion into compassion & peace. So, we see in these 2 diverse individualities, 2 separate paths - like at a crossroads - One leads to the Christic Wisdom of Love - the other, into tragedy & suicide.
Marta, the other sister of Lazarus, is transitional type, somewhere between those 2. Martha is constantly active as well, but her service & devotion are genuine - & yet, the unrest which was healed in her body, has remained in her discontented soul. These Mercurial characters of Holy Wednesday show us the crossroads which we must face before we can hope to find a place at the table on Maundy Thursday – able to truly participate in the mystery of the Sacrament.
Judas is the man without ritual. He loses self-control when he comes into the realm of true ceremonial worship, so foreign & anathema to him. Mary Magdalene is the sacramental soul. Martha is the striving soul.
Mercury, the God of Healing, is a messenger of the gods – But he is also the patron of merchants & thieves. On this Holy Wednesday He comes into the orbit of the Christ Sun. The scene in the house of Lazarus & Mary & Martha shows how Mercury, the God of Healing, can himself be healed by the Sun imbued Christ impulse. Mary Magdalene, as a great Initiate, was able to serve her role, knowing the right time to perform the last anointing. This relates to: The third stage in the Rosicrucian Initiation - Inspired Cognition - Reading the Occult Script. We go beyond Imaginative Cognition, letting the relationship of these pictures speak.
~hag, inspired by the Gospel of Matthew 26:3-16, the Gospel of John 12, & indications from Christian Community Priest Emil Bock
16 April 2025 - “Speaking with the Stars”
21-27 - Anthroposophical PsychoSophy Retreat at Camphill Kimberton where my New Mystery Drama: Soul Excursion - makes its premier as a Readers Theatre - Thursday 24 April 2025 in Rose Hall starting at 7pm with original Harp music by Jessica Schaeffer.
30 April - 1 May - Beltaine Song-Circle (email for dets)
3 May - UNION w/ ~hag at the Bridget Center This indoor and outdoor celebration offers the opportunity to learn about how ancient traditions honored this season of greening, bird song, plantings, birth and fertility, and how our old and new traditions and actions can align and contribute to the healing and abundance of the natural world. Learn from storyteller-wisdom keeper-interdenominational minister Hazel Archer Ginsberg about the Celtic tradition of Bealtaine and how other ancient cultures revered these seasonal markers in the Cycle of the Seasons. We will offer gratitude and blessings to the land, soil, plants, and all those that care for and steward the earth and its animals by making and applying biodynamic farm preparations to enliven and restore the soil. We will learn about Bridget’s Gardens, its permaculture design plans and participate in planting perennial native wildflowers, black currants, red osierdogwoods, willows, and elderberries. Come plant with us and take some home too! Clark Stamm (Acting Director of Bridget Center, Permaculturist, and Artist), and Angela Curtes (Grounded LLC and fellow Bridget Center Mission Circle member) will facilitate these activities.
The Alchemical Marriage w/ Mysteria Mystica Americana & Friends5 May 2025 at 7 pm CDT on ZoomEnjoy our many free on-line Seasonal offerings HERE
If you want to support the Biodynamic Farming done on Zinniker Farm, you are invited to become a paid subscriber, with all donations going directly to the farm
Greetings Friend, you currently a free subscriber to Cognitive Ritual. Thank you for receiving my workings freely offered. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. ALL donations go to support Zinniker Farm - The oldest Biodynamic Farm in America! Together we can spiritualize the Universe. XOX ~hag
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Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Healer or Thief?
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