Justice from The Mythic Tarot

In image: 

The card of Justice portrays a severely beautiful young woman, dressed in silver helmet and battle armour, seated on a silver throne. In her right hand she holds an upright sword. In her left she holds a pair of scales. Her pale hair and white robes echo the purity of the two white columns and portico which frame her. Beneath her feet is a floor of patterned black and white marble squares. An owl perches on her left shoulder. 

Myth: Athena, Goddess of Justice was born of the great father God, Zeus who was warned by Uranus that if his first wife Metis, Goddess of Wisdom, had a child, it would be more powerful than he was!

 So Zeus  swallowed Metis, and had a terrible headache. Hephastos, the smith God, took a bronze axe to the head of Zeus, and out sprang Athena with a triumphant battle cry wearing a full suit of armour. 

Passive Mantra Method

The meditative state is a special state of mind that is quiet, and devoid of active thinking.

In a passive meditation method you repeat your mantra a couple of times and then listen for the echo of your mantra to repeat itself in your head. Here's an example... Imagine you are in a great forest or at the opening of a cave on the edge of a lagoon. Now, call out "HELLO"!! Then be silent and listen. You will hear your call return to you as an echo again and again, each time becoming more faint and dim.

With the passive mantra technique you are focusing your attention on hearing that echo for as long as possible. Your mantra will fade sometimes, get louder sometimes, and maybe even disappear for a bit leaving you in silence.

Moments of silence are the edges of the meditative state arising. As you become aware of moments of silence, relax and let your self slip into that state and remain there for as long as the silence remains.

Fritz Perls and Gestalt

Who was Fritz Perls?

Fritz Perls was an innovatory humanistic practitioner whose Gestalt Therapy became very popular during the 1960s. The word 'gestalt' comes from a German word which explains foreground and background images. Perls was a rather controversial figure but his psychotherapy provides fast insight and change. 

The Benefits of Fairtrade

Fairtrade is a commodity registered trade mark which provides a better deal for third world producers. It pays them a fair price for products, gives up front payments and guarantees long term trading partners. It exists to improve the lives of those abroad, it promotes development through education and improved quality, and prevents exploitation and promotes social justice for children, women, etc. Of the products available on the Fairtrade market are foods, clothes, handicrafts, footballs, roses, and cotton wool. Precious metals and gemstones are being considered for this label. Why should people in the rich West not pay a few pence more to ensure those living in the poorest ways get a fair price for their work!

Last words of Jacob de Molay

“I think it’s only right that, at so solemn moment, when my life has so little time to run, I should reveal the deception which has been practised and speak up for the truth. Before heaven and earth, and with all of you here, as my witnesses, I admit that I am guilty of the grossest iniquity - but this iniquity is that I have lied by admitting the disgusting charges laid against the Order. I declare, and I must declare, that the order is innocent. Its purity and saintliness is beyond question. I have indeed, confessed that the order is guilty, but I have done so only to save myself from terrible tortures by saying whatever my enemies wished me to say. Other knights who have retracted their confessions have been led to the stake. Yet the thought of dying is not so awful that I shall confess to offences which I have never been committed. Life is offered to me, but at the price of infamy. That’s a price that life is not worth having. I do not grieve that I must die if life can be bought only by piling one lie upon another.

It is just that, on so terrible a day, and in the last moments of my life, I should discover all the iniquity of falsehood and I make the truth triumph at last. I declare, in the face of heaven on earth, and acknowledge, to my eternal shame, that I have committed the greatest of crimes in acknowledging of those accusations foully charged against the Order. I attest,  and truth obliges me to an attest, that the Order is innocent. I made the contrary declaration only to suspend the excessive pains of torture and to mollify those who made me endure them. I know the punishments which have been inflicted on all the Knights who had the courage to evoke a similar confession, but the dreadful spectacle which is presented to me is not able to make me confirm one lie by another. The life offered me on such infamous terms, I abandoned without regret.”

Fritz Perls and Gestalt

Friedrich 'Fritz'  Perls (1893-1970) was born in Berlin (Germany) but left there when Hitler came to power. Originally Perls studied under Freud. He was a psychiatrist and an innovatory humanistic practitioner whose 'Gestalt Therapy'  became very popular during the 1960s. The word 'gestalt' comes from a German word for form, an organised whole which differentiates foreground from background images. Only parts of ourselves are known, and gestalt exposes the whole, the integrated parts that bring us from dependency to self sufficiency, from authoritarian behaviour to authenticity and self reliance. Top dog and under dog engage in dialogue! Perls was a rather controversial figure at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur but his psychotherapy model provides fast insight for therapeutic change. “Reality therapy for the walking well”. 

Perls joined the German army and was posted to the trenches in WWI. He worked as a psychiatrist with brain injured soldiers at the end of the war, studying under Wilhelm Reich, Jacob Moreno and Otto Rank and other leading lights of the therapeutic movement. As Hitler became more powerful, he and his wife and family fled abroad. 

Elias Amidon - Murshid Teacher

“A Sufi is one who knows that nothing matters, yet acts as if everything does.”

— Murshid Fazal Inayat-Khan

Video from Conscious TV on the Information Channel featuring Elias Amidon leading a Murshid meditation. Elias Amidon has been a practising Sufi for more than 40 years. The International Sufi Way is an eclectic school which includes Indian Sufi teachings (Inayat Khan). The environment is at the forefront of his concerns. 

High Blood Pressure Advice

Blood pressure – or Hypertension – should be seen as an indicator, a “risk factor” for other diseases, but not as one in its own right. This very fact means that it should not be simply treated in a blanket and uniform manner, if found to be elevated, but examined in this broader picture.

The main reason for this is that treating it without this assessment means a “symptom” rather than a “disease” is being treated, and, as there are significant side effects to blood pressure medication, this is an important first step. Also you may be living in a fool’s paradise, where treatment lowers the pressure, but not the factors that lead to the increase in pressure and hence to the resulting disease.

But the principle question should be “what is elevating the blood pressure in the first place?” It may be that there is arterial or vascular disease, which usually provides a clear pattern on measurement, often with a wider than usual range between the two levels measured; that is, the systolic, or higher end, and the diastolic, or lower.

The Lost Land of Shambhala

Legends abound of a lost land of great beauty, a paradise where superhuman feats are conducted by its people who have great esoteric knowledge! Theosophists suggested this land was in the Gobi Desert, the Chinese say in the Kun Lun Mountains. Greek and Middle Eastern sources say it is in thevAltae Mountains and some Taoistscsay in Szechwan and Tibet. Hungarians say it is in the Syr Darla River and Russians say it is in the Belovodye. In 1923 an expedition was sent to the Kokushi Mountains but never returned.
Perhaps the person most likely to have known where this mysterious land can be found is a Tibetan abbot who wrote 'The Path to Shambala' who describes the entrance to the lost land as being in Mongolia. This mystical land is also known as 'Shangri'La'.

A Healing Meditation

 This video meditation created by Jo Barnard with text by Wendy Stokes. The meditation might cause a light trance, so do not drive a vehicle. Allow 30 minutes to fully relax without interruption. Make yourself comfortable, take a couple of deep breaths, close your eyes and enjoy the experience.  https;//wendystokes.co.uk

The Lakota Way of Life

Praise, flattery, exaggerated manners and fine, high-sounding words were no part of Lakota politeness. Excessive manners were put down as insincere, and the constant talker was considered rude and thoughtless. Conversation was never begun at once, or in a hurried manner.

The Philosophy and Psychology of Loneliness by Ben Lazare Mijuskovic

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Recommended Book Review: Feeling Lonesome: The Philosophy and Psychology of Loneliness by Ben Mijuskovic, 205 pages in hardback and kindle formats:

This book presents an intricate, interdisciplinary evaluation of loneliness that examines the relation of consciousness to loneliness. It views loneliness from the inside as a universal human condition rather than attempting to explain it away as an aberration, a mental disorder, or a temporary state to be addressed by superficial therapy and/or psychiatric medication. The book: 

Yoga Meditations

 

Yoga Meditations: 

Sit comfortably with your eyes closed.

Exhale and inhale deeply a few times.

Breathe naturally while you focus on the following:

Yoga is a deep well into which we can tap, drawing forth whatever we need to bring ourselves into wholeness and balance.  

Ask yourself what will bring wholeness and balance to your life. 

Wait for an image or an idea to arise. 

Be still with that vision or thought for  few minutes. 

Breathe.

The Charge of Inanna

 THE * CHARGE * OF * INANNA

Channeled by Helen Demetriou From Goddess Inanna

This charge has been channeled from the Goddess Inanna and can be used by the Priest/Priestess to open and/or close their ritual. It can be used as a prayer, for meditation purposes and for bringing the reader closer to the Goddess. Please respect these words as they are divine in origin and always remember to give the credit to the author should you wish to publish it to your website or blog.

"Hear, all you children of the Star, who is Inanna, She who is known as Ishtar, Astarte, Aphrodite, Anahit, Hathor, and many other names.

I am the lamp stand of a thousand flames; I am the illuminator and the Star Maiden of the celestial vaults. I clear the black clouds to allow the light of the sun, which is that of truth and justice, to shine upon the children of the gods. O! Hear the moon, hear the moon! She is placing the sun on the mantle of the Earth, the great altar of resurrection and life! Feel the essence of the divine chapters of the Book of Life rising from the pages that are the crusts of the earth. And as each page turns a new memory is born, a memory of when ye were free! Free to love, free to know the truth and free to worship the gods of the Earth!

Simone Weil

Who was Simone Weil?

Simone was born in France and lived from 1909 to 1943. She was an intellectual and mystic, and taught philosophy and the politics of socialism. During WWII she was an activist in the dangerous French underground movement and previously she was involved in the Spanish Civil War. She died of Tuberculosis and her correspondences were discovered and published posthumously.  

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