A dendritic pattern —a word that comes from the Greek dendron, meaning “tree”.is a common natural formation in river systems, mirroring the way tree branches or even our own veins spread out. It’s the geometry of life, repeated in the sky, soil, and body.
Opening Letter:
“Evil only gives rise to more evil, and violence to more violence, in a spiral that ends by imprisoning everyone.” – –Pope Francis
To take this line of thought from the lighter side, good only gives rise to more good, and loving service to more love in a spiral that never ends and frees everyone.
This is the direction that we have been given– to be Light bearing servants, uniting all faiths, working together to share and maintain the fruits and labors in a loving and peaceful garden of paradise.
John 12:35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.
History abounds with groups who have attempted this on every scale, with few having achieved lasting permanence; so achieving this dream seems a bit out of our reach at present. But can we at least be on a path that leads us towards this goal? The Creator, the Supreme Being, the Father-Mother God in its love for us, the creation, has sent many messengers through the ages to enlighten us and show us the way. Of the most recent, Jesus put it more simply than most theologians can comprehend: Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And love thy neighbor as thyself.
Basically, if we use our God given free will to express our gratefulness, our willingness to listen and respond and serve, then we are directed towards divine Power and the Spirit of Love that will lead us to lay our burdens down. This will allow us to overcome fear, to forgive and receive forgiveness, see our way out of darkness, be guided on our earthly mission—and recognize the Divine Spark in ourselves and our neighbors, and open the door to experience heavenly joy and eternal life while still on earth.
So, we come to understand that the dream can only come true from the inside out. It’s the only dream that matters; it’s the Creator’s dream for me and you.
Love from the dream that we are all part of.
-Rev. Mark
Fall Equinox this year is on Monday September 22nd 8:19 a.m. EDT With a Partial Solar Eclipse and the Moon in Libra on the same day, the focus shifts to diplomacy, balance, and healing after a period of intensity and change
Excerpts from the Feast of the Fall Equinox service
At this time of the year, we have arrived at equinox, the point of balance between light and darkness…
For this being the balance of Light and the absence of Light, we may therefore stand in the shadow of Jeus Christ and take on the Christly principles into our own flesh after we have been purged by the divine fire, which burns in the celestial sphere within us…
Consider the mystery of the Holy Spirit, for in this miraculous fire that is not created by man, lies the secret of all life.
Every night during retrospection we stand before this one and judge ourselves according to the needs of the body; we stand in mortification and great humility, and we look only to the Light, that we may see the true way, weighing our obligations and virtues at the brazen altar and are then called to the point of justification, the first point of attainment on the path of the ancient way.
The rich young man asserted he kept the law, but he was not ready to follow the Christ; to give up, to let go, the content of the world. Too many are content to escape condemnation; they are luke warm, they fail to seek commendation such as the diligent merit of service, to gain and to have that “well done good and faithful service” from the God within…
BOOK Of ACTIVITY, Class by Father Paul
This morning I want to (I wonder if we can turn that light off a moment, directly over my head here. I thought at first I was really getting illumination or something! All right, thank you.) I want to start in with the eighth chapter of the Book of Activity, and the tenth verse:
“To him that would be silent that he might hear my voice, without speaking to his brother let him also look within, that he shall see my Child.”
This particular verse can be read over very easily, and if you don’t know too much about the Master and his ways of speaking, you might misunderstand the great impact that this particular verse has. When a person sets aside himself in silence for the purpose of making himself accessible to Jesus Christ, the Father, to the Host, he is attempting to place himself where he may be of greater service, and become a true messenger of the Almighty. For until you have learned to be quiet, both physically and spiritually, mentally, you will not be able to hear the true Voice or the communication of the Brothers, the Master, or any of these, for even without speaking you must learn to be silent and quiet and yet stay active to receive. Your act of being silent and quiet is a distinct prayer and it will be answered by those above.
But the impact of this particular verse comes right at the last: “Let him also look within that he shall see my Child.” Here is where Jesus has declared and is letting us know that it is not merely a matter of us being with him and in unity, and becoming a part of the body of Christ, but it also is saying this: “You are my offspring. You are not – I am not trying to hold you as a composite part of me. You are my child. I want you to grow up in this universe. I want you to get to understand your Father in heaven, as well as myself. My child. I want you to get yourself to the place where you too can live as an adult on a cosmic level.”
Now one of probably the most, to me, idiotic statements, and certainly a tremendous ego statement which is used so prevalently by the metaphysical people, is, “Let us be in unity with God.” Who on earth do they think they are? That they have the purity and the love that they could even approach the Father, hardly?
“Let him look within that he shall see my Child.” Why, and how is it that Jesus would say and call us his children? He did call us his flock in the Testament. But remember one thing, he did go to Calvary for the forgiveness and the atonement of our sins, as well as the atonement of the earth. He did make it possible for us to be reborn, not in the sludge and dirt which had at that time existed, but as a Child, purity in Light, and become a part of a cosmic Family. Now this isn’t some way-off-yonder fou-fou, but a Reality. And this is one of the things that we are going to have to learn.
For until we feel that we can take the place of those whom we have heard him say and quote the Testament, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” Until we can take the place of those little children, we aren’t going to get very far. For here is exactly what he was talking about, “My Child. Look at my Child. This being, the Self, soul, this is my Child. I have given the blood and the Way. I have brought it through redemption. I gave birth to it on the new earth, and therefore it is my Child. There’s not only the rebirth, not only that new birth, that rebirth of a spiritual being, but the physical body. For being born again is really a birth, the whole body is reborn. There is a whole new function, a whole new vibration, a whole new reality, to that being who is truly reborn. But he cannot be reborn unless he can be the Child of Christ.
This is something which the conventional church has avoided to talk about, because they were afraid to get into the – they were afraid to reach that cosmic level, because they would find that the people themselves would start to have revelation, they would start to see the realities, and they’d have to start to answer questions which they did not want to answer. So they have avoided the true reality of rebirth of the earth and the people, so that they could keep away from freeing them in reality.
And he did not say, “You are my subjects.” He said, “You are my Child.” You are an offspring of that birth which I gave to you through the cosmic reality and initiation that comes to us, which we celebrate through the Holy Season. That rebirth is a reality and we can experience it, if we haven’t before. That rebirth is a rebuilding and producing a new body which is a reality in Jesus and the Father. And if you are a child of anybody, you know that you have been born, because you couldn’t be the child of somebody unless you were born of that person. That is impossible. And if you are born of that person, that person has given you off and set you up there. You are his son, his daughter, and he says, “My son, or my daughter, it is now time for you to grow, because we have cast you off and you are now an individual being.”
And he didn’t say, “I want you to become in unity with God.” He said, “You are my Child. You belong to this family. Now grow. Grow up in my image. Grow up in the image of him who gave birth to you.” He sought to make you an independent, a free, a real Christian with a cosmic background, not something of the old school, of the Old Testament.
“Look within that he shall see my Child.” For your father, then, is not only the Father, the Creator, but the father is the Christ who paid that price for your transgressions – speaking of the past out there – and has brought you into the Holy Family, has made you a part of the Cosmic Family and the reality, and has become the father of the people. (I guess that would make God kind of a Grandfather, wouldn’t it? Well, He’s old enough.)
Now that’s – you see the difference between the Reality and something that somebody would ask you to believe, out here, after they got through mauling it over for years, and taking out what they want and putting in something else? It’s a vast difference, isn’t it? It’s a vast difference. These are his words!
In fact, I just discovered this the other day myself, because I am learning one thing out of this book, even though I have spoken it for him. I am learning that this book has many, many things in it that is going to build a new Christian life, a new Christian reality and way, and it’s pretty potent. That I will say, it’s pretty potent. But unless you look very carefully at this book, you will not see the realities that it is really talking about, because you have to get away from the old way of thinking, the old way of approach and take it clean and clear, just as it is spoken, and everything it implies as it is spoken, and you will find that this way which he has prepared for us is really vastly different than that which we had before.
“For he who would tell of God’s wonders in riddles is an abomination of the Spirit.”
Oh, boy, glory to God, I say! Let’s cut it out, let’s cut it out, for we’ve had two thousand years of that fakery, and it’s time we cut it out. “For he who would tell of God’s wonders in riddles is an abomination of the Spirit.” And I have never read anything that was so true as that is; because that is just where it fits. That is right where it gives the theologian a chance to work his magic in turning the words of God into the words of men and what they would like. And of course you know as well as I do that you can’t have something that they like and have it worth anything, because it’s what some creed or somebody or group has set up that they are willing to accept. And I don’t think God asked them if they were willing to accept it at all, not if I’ve seen anything or remember anything back over the years. You know He’s not exactly that sort of a boy.
“Keep not my Father’s Glories from thy little children, lest thy soul wander in darkness for thy negligence.”
Now here’s one that goes right home to the bull’s eye. It is our responsibility, everyone of us, to see that the children born in this order are trained and taught from the word go, of the Reality. Not what we want to teach them, but the whole ball of wax, everything. “Keep not my Father’s Glories from thy little children.” And then he goes on and he says, “Here’s the punishment. I didn’t say you’d have to do penance. I didn’t say that you would have little problems now and then;” but he said, “lest thy soul wander in the darkness for thy neglect.” He laid it right on the line. He was saying, “Boy, you’re going to get cut right out there in a no-man’s-land and you’ll wander for a long time, because I won’t have any sympathy on you at all, because you’ve misguided a new soul coming into this earth that is ready to do my works. Because these are my elect. These are the chosen people of the world and you’ve misguided one. Now pay for it! That’s plain and simple and right to the point.
You speak and teach of the glories of God as they are and you’ll never have any trouble. But you try to teach those youngsters any dogma and I promise you I would not take your shoes for all the earthly glories that you could find anywhere. I would never want that.
“For my mantle shall protect him who looketh at the Christ, and the ways of the Path of Attainment shall be lighted by the Christ.”
“For my mantle shall protect him who looketh at the Christ, and the ways of the Path of Attainment shall be lighted by the Christ.” Now this was Jesus speaking. He didn’t say, “I am the Christ”, did he? But he said, “My mantle will protect you.” In other words, I’ll ease it off so that you can take it and follow that path, the path lighted by the Christ. I’ll help you to take that extra step here and there as you follow the Path of Attainment. You’ll be able to understand these wonders that you haven’t been able to understand before. You’ll be able to know and feel and understand this Holy Family, this cosmic family that you are in, so that you can stand up and be a part of it truly.
“The path of attainment shall be lighted by the Christ.” So in other words you would have to follow every one of us. You would have to follow the path of attainment that is lighted by the Christ. You can’t walk any more and grope in the darkness, and if your eyes aren’t used to it, well, he’ll help you to kind of shade it off while you, till you get to the point where you can see a little more. But there’s no more darkness on that path. That path is going to be lighted, the Path of Light, the path for only illumined people, because we couldn’t travel very far on that path that’s lighted by the Christ without being so. You couldn’t take it, couldn’t stand it.
“He that blocketh the Christ Light with his will buildeth a dam that must break, under the surge of Power.”
H’m. I know there are some people that have done that here. There are some people that have refused the Light; there are some people that have tried to keep others from the Light too, not just here right in this room, but I mean here. And it isn’t very – that’s why he spoke of this surge of Power. This is why I say, take it easy. Keep it going but take it easy. Don’t try to do it in twenty-four hours because sometimes when that does let go it’s quite an impact. So keep with it; don’t let anybody get in the way.
“For he that willeth himself into the Glories of God taketh God’s place, and he finds but confusion, for he sees a reflection in himself.”
“For he sees a reflection in himself.” Now, I’ve seen this happen. I’ve seen somebody being worked with on the path of attainment, and as we did they really willed themselves into this. Well, when you’re ready, there is no question when you’ve gotten it all ready, you’re going to get it. It is God’s will that you so will receive it, because He’s the one that laid down the path of initiation and He finds when you do this, when you will yourself into it, you will find but confusion. That confusion is because you will see in the Light and the ether around you a reflection of yourself, and you’ll wonder where God is about that time, and you won’t be at all happy with it. And I know one person that I – some time ago – he was not a member of this order because the order wasn’t born at that time, that we had to feed him sedatives for about six months because he tampered with this and he was in a pretty rough spot. It’s so simple, so easy, and so safe. All you have to do is do what you’re instructed to do and you’ll never have any trouble.
“Accept my words that I give you as a child, and thou shalt manifest the wisdom of the sages.”
Oh, my. We were talking about that last night. “Accept my words that I give you as a child. I’m talking to you as a child. I’m instructing you as a child.” he’s saying. “I will talk and teach the great wisdom and the great mysteries as a child. Now, if you try to be a man in your thinking, you aren’t going to understand, because I’m talking to the child that I gave birth to here on this earth. And thou shalt manifest the wisdom of the sages.” That’s because you are thinking as a child; you are receiving this as a child, so you have the pure wisdom, the pure answer, unadulterated by anything that you want, that you would like; or there is nothing that you have shoved away because it didn’t fit with what you thought it ought to be. Because a little child takes these things as he’s taught, just as they are.
You give him a red fire engine and he doesn’t care whether it’s that long or that long, as long as it’s a fire engine and it’s red, you see. And it doesn’t make any difference whether it goes this fast or this fast. He’ll play with it and be contented with it as long as you don’t tell him different. But if you show him another fire engine that goes faster and makes more noise, he’s going to want that one, and it’s natural. And you know that same thing happens right here. As quick as someone gets to see a little light, and we’ve found out that he’s really seen it working, right away they want to drop that. And they get a little perspective of the Self or something, right away they’ve got to have that, right off the bat. No, they can’t wait a minute. Well, you’re going to have to. And if you just forget what you want, you’d probably get far more than you ever could have anticipated, and I’m sure that that’s true.
“The Path to my Father is strewn with people of great knowledge.” (Please remember that.)
“He who lays his body upon the altar of my Father receives everlasting Life.”
Jesus said that in another way in the Testament, said he that would save his life shall lose it, but he who loses his life shall save it. But he put it here in a realistic way.
“For these words are my words. Obey ye them, and thou shalt be fruitful and flourish. Amen.”
“Thou shalt be fruitful and flourish,” and I think that’s what we all want to be, but sometimes we – and very frequently – we get to the point where we see so much around ourselves and so many opportunities that if we are just a little bit like a child, we’re just like a youngster with a two-pound box of candy. He don’t know which one he wants to eat. Well, you aren’t going to be faced with this problem at all, because all you’ve got to do is just keep on moving. Never mind about what you want, and it will all come just the way it is.
“Look ye within thyself and see my child.” See my child. He has taken you in to that Family and acknowledged your blood kinship. Jesus of Nazareth has made you a part of his Family.
Women in the ancient world: 2,500 year old tomb of honored women hints at a goddess of the crossroads.
Work on a water pipeline near a deep Negev ancient crossroads, remote from any known settlements of antiquity, revealed 57 skeletons, possibly all female, interred with care at apparently various times, in an elegant structure, with burnt incense, other signs of ritual reverence, and a multitude of beautiful artifacts from a thousand miles around of types typical of the late Iron Age to the early Persian Period (i.e, from when the Babylonians conquered the Levant, followed by the Persian Empire a few decades later). Among the precious objects, a faience amulet of the Egyptian god Bes, protector of women and children; and a copper fibula (brooch) associated with the burial of women in southern Europe. Virtually no weaponry was found — only two arrowheads. Similar tombs are known near Dubai, and in Oman, possibly also Yemen.
The common speculations abound about ancient women found generously interred, if perhaps contradicted by the remarkable abundance and value of the grave goods. Initial findings reveal no signs of violence. And although isolated, the tomb resides at an important junction between ancient trade roads by which caravans connected Arabia at the south, the Aravah Valley and Edom in the east, and all points beyond.
Ancient religions are known to associate crossroads with divine feminine powers. In Ezekiel 21:26, a crossroads is called em-haderech — אֵם הַדֶּרֶךְ— mother of roads, described as a locale where pagans conducted divination, and in the classical world, Hecate was the Greek goddess of crossroads and magic. [More ancient women and their roles next issue]
From last issue, by Mother Ruth: In the New Age, woman will not need to ask man to perform miracles as Mary asked Jesus at Cana; she will herself do such this, and transmute water into wine. Perhaps Jesus will give her the “push” to step forward, as she gave him then.
Evening Prayer for the Missionaries
IMPERFECT AS I AM, I BESEECH THEE TO ABSOLVE ME OF MY ERRORS AND MISGIVINGS SO THAT THE LIGHT OF THY FIRST BORN SON MAY RADIATE TO THIS ENTIRE COMMUNITY THROUGH ME.
I ASK THEE, O MASTER JESUS, FOR THY PERSONAL GUIDANCE, AND WISDOM THAT I MAY BE A BETTER SERVANT ON THIS DAY TO COME.
I ACCEPT OF THEE A PERFECT BODY—EVERY ORGAN PERFECT, EVERY FUNCTION PERFECT, EVERY PROCESS PERFECT, IF IT PLEASES THEE.
IT IS DONE.
I GIVE MYSELF UNTO THEE THAT I MAY REST IN PEACE AND RISE TO GO FORTH IN FULL VIGOR IN THY SERVICE ON THE MORROW.
There is a misconception that Buddhism is a religion, and that you worship Buddha. Buddhism is a practice, like yoga. You can be a Christian and practice Buddhism. I met a Catholic priest who lives in a Buddhist monastery in France. He told me that Buddhism makes him a better Christian. I love that. -Thich Nhat Hanh
Solar tree is a structure resembling a tree that generates solar energy using photovoltaic (PV) panels. It employs principles of biomimicry, using a natural system—in this case the form of a tree—to help solve a pressing global challenge: Replacing greenhouse gas-emitting energy sources like coal, oil, and gas with renewable energy.
These attention-grabbing installations generally have a sturdy metal, plastic, or stone base that extends up and out into “branches” on which solar panels are mounted. Beyond this basic structure, there is great diversity in the design of solar tree units, reflecting innovative responses to particular environments, climates, and local energy needs. One of the most recognizable collections of solar trees in the world is in Singapore, where in 2012 the National Parks Board unveiled Gardens by the Bay, a remarkable botanical project that included an installation of 18 artificial solar-powered Supertrees towering up to 150 feet high with canopies resembling upside-down umbrellas. These colorful steel trees not only generate solar energy, but help regulate temperature, collect rainwater, and serve as vertical gardens for flowers, ferns, and climbing vines. – vines.https://0www.treehugger.com/what-are-solar-trees-5207944
Sunflowers are not only beautiful, but highly effective for phytoremediation due to their adaptability to live in various environments and their capacity to uptake a wide range of pollutants. These hardy plants can bind, extract, and clean up contaminants such as pesticides, petroleum, pollutants from oil spills, and vehicle emissions metals like lead, cadmium, and arsenic.
Black Elk and the Great Peace
Black Elk’s vision at Harney Peak, highest point in the Black Hills: “Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.
And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father, and I saw that it was holy.”
Black Elk’s vision and his prayer when he returned to Harney Peak as a very old manBlack Elk’s prayer at returning to Harney Peak as an old man:
“Here at the center of the world where you took me when I was young and taught me: here, old I stand, and the tree is withered, Grandfather, my Grandfather! Again, perhaps for the last time on this Earth, I recall the great vision you sent me. It may be that some root of the Sacred Tree still lives. Nourish it then, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds! Hear me, that they may once again go back to the Sacred Hoop, and the Good Red Road, the shielding tree. In sorrow, I am sending a feeble voice, O six powers of the world. Hear me in my sorrow, for I may never call again. O make my people live.”
The stars that sing. In the mid-20th century, Laurens van der Post recorded a striking encounter with Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert. Sitting around a fire, he confessed he could not hear the stars. At first, they thought he was joking. Surely everyone could hear the stars—they sang as clearly as birds or wind.
From Mother Ruth:
This morning’s Bible reading was the parable of the servants, and finally the son, who were sent to the vineyards to collect for the owner. The tenants said, we will kill him and the vineyards will be ours.
When a great teacher leaves, some feel that if they can get the use of his artifacts, or occupy his chair to wield authority, they may assume also his spiritual stature and wisdom. But words without understanding are barren, and the artifacts are mute without the
spiritual presence. The teacher was able to demonstrate the inner side of life which is needed to elucidate the teachings. Nor can it be forced. Without an effective physical channel, spiritual truths may sit untapped,
unrecognized, until another of similar stature is sent from heaven to earth.
Might this partially explain the mystery of the Grail? A receptacle of the wisdom and healing grace of God, difficult to recognize because the contents are so subtle, not of physical substance. Invisible, hidden by necessity within the heart, unseen by the unworthy, not even touchable except by Spirit, the Spirit in the person
reacting to the Spirit-touched receptacle.