Hear now my prayer, you Graces three. For in your gift are all our mortal joys, and every sweet thing, be it wisdom, beauty, or glory, that makes rich the soul of man.— Pindar, Olympian Ode 14. (Greek lyric 5th century B.C.E.) At this time of the year, many cultures clear space for new growth … Read more
(sorry about the title…I just couldn’t resist!) Fasting is the greatest remedy–the physician within! — Philippus Paracelsus, one of the founders of Western medicine As we continue our journey, we are making sacred space in order to receive the gifts of the Graces, by exploring the many traditions that encourage sacred renunciation at this time … Read more
Manifest plainness,Embrace simplicity,Reduce selfishness,Have few desires. — Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching Today is Fat Tuesday, Mardis Gras, sometimes called Shrove Tuesday. On this day, Christians prepare for a season of purification and deprivation, in alignment with their God’s vision quest. I love what author and Wise One of Time Waverly Fitzgerald has written about how … Read more
If you give birth to the genius within you,it will free you.If you do not give birth to the genius within you,it will destroy you. — from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas Throughout history, humans have found pathways that are aimed at awakening our consciousness to those transcendent levels that we may occasionally, or accidentally, … Read more
Life’s splendor forever lies in wait about each one of us in all its fullness, but veiled from view, deep down, invisible, far off. It is there, though, not hostile, not reluctant, not deaf. If you summon it by the right word, by its right name, it will come. — Franz Kafka We’ve been getting … Read more
To find your own way is to follow your bliss. This involves analysis, watching yourself and seeing where real deep bliss is — not the quick little excitement , but the real deep, life-filling bliss… — Joseph CampbellThe gift offered to us by the beautiful youngest daughter of the Titans, Aglaia, is the call that … Read more
All things, oh priests, are on fire . . . The eye is on fire; forms are on fire; eye-consciousness is on fire; impressions received by the eye are on fire.— Gautama Buddha As we journey to Graceland, we are exploring the gifts of the Graces, starting with the youngest of these beautiful Goddesses, Aglaia, … Read more
Creativity comes from awakening and directing men’s higher natures, which originate in the primal depths of the universe and are appointed by Heaven.— I Ching Yesterday, I wrote that in some Hermetic magickal traditions, Aglaia is the Grace who calls forth the Serpent-fire, or the Secret Fire that is the kundalini energy of fully aroused … Read more
InspirationMove me brightly,Light the song with sense and colorHold away despair. — Robert Hunter The Graces, also called the Charites (sometimes spelled Kharites), are three beautiful daughters of Zeus, the supreme ruler of Olympus. Their mother was the sea-nymph Eurynome, daughter of the Titan Oceanus. The Graces, then, would be related to Zeus’ other children, … Read more
Illustrious Kharites, mighty named, from Zeus descended, and Eunomia famed [Eurynome], Thalia and Aglaia fair and bright, and blest Euphrosyne, whom joys delight.– from The Hymns of Orpheus, translated by Thomas Taylor (1792) The Graces, also called the Charites (sometimes spelled Kharites), were three beautiful daughters of Zeus, the supreme God of ancient Greece. Their … Read more