Greetings Friends - I am swooping in on this Tuesday of Holy Week after swirling in fellowship with my Temple clan - Conducting initiatory rites in the TX Lodge - & a Sacred Pilgrimage full of affirmations & synchronicities – Decorating the grave of the Ozark Wizard – Honoring the Elementals at the Eureka Springs Grotto – Going deep & wide in our communion round the campfire – Conducting a mighty Michaelic Rite at the overlook between Sun & the Full Vernal Moon, sparking the intensity of ‘The Jealousy of the Gods’ - Standing with the ‘Christ of the Ozarks’ – Peering thru crystal at the Thorncrown Chapel - Eating BBQ - ETC … This quote sums it up: “In the new mysteries the whole earth becomes an altar…Our friends & colleagues become for us, the terrible & wonderful actors in the ceremony of our initiation.” ~Adam BittlesonAnd now, before I head off for another ‘Soul Excursion’ let us commune in these days of Holy Week thru indications inspired by Christian Community Priest Emil Bock:
On the morning of Holy Tuesday Christ Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem with His disciples once more. The waves of applause & joyful enthusiasm have long since died away. JC is immersed in the tension of the impending completion of His ultimate mission. A hoovering mood predicts that - He - is the sacrifice to be offered. From day to day the powerful sense of His spiritual presence in the city has increased. The people’s confused antipathy is already surging up to Him as flames that will consume the sacrifice. Now the day of Mars has come & the conflict flares up in earnest. The crowd is mute; but their leaders full of anxiety speak volumes; their fears produce the hatred that fuels their attack, which they have been stoking for some time. Every hostile group in the powerful elite sends out assailants. One after the other they accost Him with their questions meant to trap & condemn him. What would otherwise be a blow in the face or a dragger-thrust takes the guise of scornful questioning.
First of all the members of the Jewish Sanhedrin approach – the High Priests, Scribes & Elders; asking Jesus what authority He has for His actions. They push Him to legalize Himself with the letter of the law, not understanding the spirit behind it all. Then come the Pharisees who put the insidious question: “Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar?” Others try to pin Him down by asking His opinion concerning the resurrection of the dead. Finally, a single question, intending to expose Him before all the people, asks which commandment He considers the most important of all.
These attacks, marking the outbreak of hostilities, are the proof of how strongly the Being of Christ was making Himself felt – Stirring to the surface the darkness with His light. Just as dogs bark & bite only when they are afraid, so these alleged questions, which are arrows of hate, are the outcome of fear. Jesus answers each of the four questions. (Interesting to see the parallel to the 4 questions asked at the Seder table today) But Christ Jesus doesn’t want to just dodge the blows aimed at Him; He accepts battle & fights back with weapons of the Spirit.
During the 3 previous years, He has spoken to the people in poetic parables, & to the disciples in pictures of deep mystery. To His opponents He now speaks moral tales of conflict. He tells the Parable of the workers in the vineyard entrusted to them by the landowner; & how they refuse to surrender the harvest, instead they slay the owner’s messengers, & even his son. The elite opponents realize that they themselves are being called out. In fact, Jesus is spelling it all out that His enemies will indeed slay Him. His parable is a last endeavor to reach the souls of His enemies, to awaken them from their unconscious fear which causes them to have such hatred for what they do not know. A hope that they could be shocked into self-knowledge.
The pictures of the Tuesday of Holy Week, are relevant to every battle of light verses darkness. Goethe’s statement that world history is nothing but a continuous fight of fear against hope, touches the truth of this day. All opposition to the true Being of Christ, which is a hostility to the Spirit, has its root in deeply hidden weakness & fear. The battle is not only fought in the outer world. It must be met within ourselves. In each human soul, fear & courage, are mingled. To approach the mystery of Love takes courage & strength.
In the Orthodox tradition on this day, JC also shares a parable about being ready for His return: “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five were wise, and five were foolish...” ~hag, from Luke 21: 5-38, Matthew 25:1-12, & indications from Emil Bock
“The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence.” ~T.S. Eliot, “Tradition & the Individual Talent” (1919)
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 Americana5 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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Tuesday, 15 April 2025
The Social Altar
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