Entries tagged with an esoteric advent

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An Esoteric Advent: Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

Today is Christmas Eve! This means we've nearly made it.

Now, unlike the Feast Days of half-forgotten saints, the celebration of Christmas Eve is one tradition that most of us do keep and keep well. For this reason I don't think I need to spend much time telling you what it is. Instead, I'd like to discuss the traditional observance of Christmas Eve and share some thoughts on the the meaning of Christmas from an esoteric perspective.

A Day of Fasting

Christmas Eve was traditionally a fast day. In fact, on Christmas Eve, the Advent Fast was at its most severe, beginning at sunrise and lasting through the day until the Vigil Mass. In many different countries, the fast was broken after mass with a very specific traditional meal.

In my own family, we preserved at least a remnant of this custom. When I was young, Christmas Eve was a workday; there were many children in the house and we were all set to various work-stations, cleaning or icing cookies or stringing popcorn. We weren't given much in the way of food besides a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. The day ended with the Christmas Vigil Mass-- midnight, when we were older; an earlier service, when the youngest children could not have made it that late. Upon returning from mass, my grandmother would serve up a beef stew she'd been cooking in a colossal pot on the stove all day, cookies were broken out, and beer and wine flowed freely; the tree was lit and decorated, carols sung.

These days, especially if your kids weren't raised with this idea, a severe fast on Christmas Eve is probably difficult. I would suggest, though, doubling down on any technology-fasting you're doing. (For me, by the way, this especially means avoiding social media and any form of online news or political discussion!)

A Reading from the Holy Gospel

Reading the Christmas story together as a family from Saint Luke's Gospel is a very nice way to close the day. Let's read together, and talk a bit about what we're really seeing in this passage.

[1] And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. [2] This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. [3] And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. [4] And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David, [5] To be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.

[6] And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. [7] And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. [8] And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock. [9] And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. [10] And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people:

[11] For, this day, is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. [12] And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. [13] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: [14] Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. [15] And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath shewed to us.

[16] And they came with haste; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. [17] And seeing, they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child. [18] And all that heard, wondered; and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. [19] But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. [20] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Every story in the Bible can be read on many levels, and each level itself contains many layers of meaning. Notice the opening: Caesar has ordered a census of the entire world. In ancient times, a census was no mere work of bureaucracy. Every ancient city conducted a regular census as a religious rite. At Rome, it took place every five years; at Athens, it was an annual affair. Ancient cities, you must know, were not random agglomerations of people. They were religious institutions, gathered around a temple, and presided over not by men but by the city's gods. No man, then, was an island, nor could he think of himself as such. Religion pervaded the whole of life, and there was nothing like what we call the "secular sphere." The father was the head of the religion of his household, and a member of the religion of his extended family, his clan, and his tribe. if he was a citizen, he was a member of the collective body of the city. And that means that the sins of any citizen impacted every citizen. In such circumstances, it was necessary to regularly gather all the citizens together, and collectively atone for the sins of the city as a whole, re-uniting the people of the city to the will of its presiding gods. This gathering was called the census; it began with the gathering of every citizen outside the city's walls and their registration with the censor. The presence of any stranger, or the absence of any citizen, would be disastrous; the censor's power was, therefore, very great at this time.

And so our Gospel begins with a census. But this isn't just any census-- now the entire world is going to be enrolled. And this means that the entire world is going to make its atonement-- not to the presiding gods of a house or a hearth or a clan, or even an entire city. No-- for the world to make its collective atonement, it must re-unite itself to the will of the God of the entire world.

When we fast through advent and fast severely on Christmas Eve; and when we then come together with our families, and read the story, and attend mass if it is available to us, we re-enact this atonement in the little worlds of our own homes, communities, and churches. And if we do so, we are then blessed the next day with the birth of Christ.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

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The Christian Wheel of the Year: The Winter Solstice

Alban Arthan

This post is going up a bit late, as the labors of winter have kept us very busy around here. But we're still within the time frame of the Winter Solstice, or Alban Arthan, as it's called in the Druid Revival tradition.

The observance of the Solstice as its own entity is relatively recent. The name of "Alban Arthan" comes from Iolo Morganwg, the Welsh trickster-poet who launched the Druid Revival in the 18th century. In Barddas, Iolo's collection of poetry, forgery, and scraps of "authentic" Bardic lore, he writes:

There are two calculations of years: one is the year of the sun, consisting of 365 days; the other is the year of the moon, having 354 days. The days which are over and above the number of the lunar year are called days of days, and they are thus distributed among the Albans, that is to say;--two days of days to Alban Arthan, three to Alban Eilir, three to Alban Hevin, and three to Alban Elved. They are free days, and let any one come from any place he may, he will be free, and exposed to no weapon or stroke, since there can be no court and law of country on those days.

Suggestions for Practice

If you've been reading this, you probably either have your own methods of observing the Solstice, or else prefer to stick to thsoe celebrations rooted in Christian tradition. I'd like to suggest three possibilities to enhance our Solstice celebrations.

1. Tie the Solstice in with the Ember Days. The Ember Days have just passed; and they consisted of a three-day fast. As we discussed, the Ember Days are specifically meant to attune us to the energy of the season. As the Ember Days were celebrated in a penitential manner-- that is, by fasting-- let the Solstice be celebrated by feasting. On this day, we can repeat the invocation of the element of Earth and of St. Uriel the Archangel in our meditations, focusing on gratitude for the gifts of the season. We can invite the archangel to be present with us during the day and to share in our feast.

2. A free day. While any fasting from technology should continue, let this be a day in which food-fasts are loosened; if you're abstaining from meat or drink during this season, let the fast be lifted for the day, or at least the evening. It's probably impossible to avoid work this day, but make an effort to make it a "free day," in which responsibilities are loosened and conflict is avoided.

3. The rebirth of the light. John Michael Greer suggested a very simple Druid Solstice celebration at his blog, and we can borrow it for our purposes here. The practice consists of turning all the lights off and sitting in darkness, contemplating the season of Winter and the element of Earth. After a short while, a single candle is lit, to signify the re-birth of light. We can tie this into our Esoteric Christian practice by beginning our Solstice Dinner this way. Let the family sit at the table, and let all the lights be turned off. Someone (perhaps the youngest child, if this is possible, to signify the year reborn) can then recite a suitable prayer, and the family can sit in silence for a moment. Then the candles of the Advent Wreath are lit, starting with the central white candle if there is one. Then let dinner commence.

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From now through the Feast of the Epiphany, every item at the shop is 25% off. I offer natal astrology, tarot, geomancy and more. Come check it out!

Happy Alban Arthan, everybody!

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An Esoteric Advent: Saint Thomas's Day

Saint Thomas's Day

Today is the Feast of Saint Thomas. This is another day little celebrated in America, but one with many fascinating traditional customs, worthy of a revival.

Saint Thomas himself was, as you know, one of Jesus's apostles. After the Resurrection, Thomas made his way to India, where a community of Saint Thomas Christians exists to this day. He remains the patron saint of Indian and Syrian Christians to this day. Of course the Gospel attributed to him is very old, and may in fact pre-date the Canonical Gospels.

His Feast Day was one of many days during this time of year especially devoted to children. Given that, it seems appropriate to quote one of my favorite passages from the Gospel of Thomas:

Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, "These infants being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom."

They said to him, "Shall we then, as children, enter the kingdom?"

Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then will you enter the kingdom.

Traditional Celebrations

In Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Clement Miles opens the section on Saint Thomas's Day by simply saying: "Many and various are the customs and beliefs associated with the feast of St. Thomas." In Denmark, it was the last day of school for the year; the children would bring their masters an offering of candles, and he would provide them with a feast. More interestingly, in some areas the children were made masters of their own schools for a day; testaments to their scholarship were written out, and they were given titles like "Pope" or Emperor." In some areas, the children would lock their schoolmaster out of the building, or even tie him to his chair; he had to buy back his freedom with punch and cakes. In other regions, the schoolmaster provided his charges with hens, and let them chop their heads off.

During the age of Christendom (the "Middle Ages"), there were many such festivals, known collectively as "feasts of misrule." What they all had in common was that ordinary social customs were suspended, or upended; lords served their serfs and parents their children. These sorts of customs are, or were, found in many parts of the world. At Rome, this is how the god Saturn was celebrated at his great feast of Saturnalia, which fell during what is now the Christmas season. These customs have a re-balancing effect on society, allowing grievances to come out and tensions to relax.

St. Thomas's Day was also a good time for magic of various kinds. In some regions, divination was practiced of the same sort as on St. Lucy's Day, with girls performing various rituals to learn the names of their future husbands. In others, St. Thomas himself turned up in the churchyards, riding a flaming chariot. Then all the dead men whose name had been Thomas in life rose from their graves, and accompanied the saint to the cross, which now glowed red with power. At home, the people listened for the sound of the chariot. When it was heard, they would pray to the saint for health and protection.

St Thomas's Day was a "smoke night" in Austria-- one of the nights in which the house was blessed with incense. Elsewhere, it was also a good night to bless the animals, especially the cows. In certain parts of Germany the cows and their barn were blessed with holy water and consecrated salt by the father of the household. "St Thomas preserve thee from all sickness," he prays as he sprinkles each cow with salt. In other areas, the cows are fed with a blend of consecrated bayberries, bread, and salt, in order to avert evil and illness.

Suggestions for Practice

The customs traditionally associated with this feast day are many, and quite different from one another. Some of them are probably unavailable to us in modern America-- our villages won't be crowning a boy bishop, nor will most of our children have a chance either to behead a hen or to lock out their schoolmasters. But with some creativity, we can catch the spirit of Thomas's Feast Day celebrations of old-- and add some new ideas of our own.

So here are a few possibilities:

1. The Feast of Misrule. This requires a bit of preparation-- or, at least, mental preparation. But if you have children, this might be a good day to grant them-- well, if not the entire day, then a part of it in which they can run the house. (Because I'm a masochist, I just told my ten year old son about this, and suggested that, in the spirit of St. Thomas's Day, he and his baby sister could be in charge of the house tomorrow evening. My only stipulation was that he listen to me discuss the saint at dinner and share in a prayer. He was delighted by the prospect.)

2. Divination. Like Saint Lucy's Day, this is a good traditional day for divination practices.

3. Meditation. Today, consider taking some aspect from the traditions of Saint Thomas as a theme for meditation. If you are an orthodox practitioner, the appearance of Jesus to Thomas depicted in the icon at the top of this page would be appropriate. If you're willing to dip into Gnostic ideas, consider the passage from the Gospel of Thomas I quoted above.

4. Blessing the House and the Animals. Most of us don't have cattle or barns, but we can still bless our homes and what animals we do have on this day. Holy water for blessing can be found at most Catholic or Orthodox churches. The stuff you find at Catholic churches these days is rather weak, as the ritual used to bless it was deliberately hobbled during the "reforms" of the last century. Weak doesn't mean useless, though; I just find its energy rather thin and pale. If you don't have it, you can take an ordinary cup of water (rainwater is best, but your tap will do), make the sign of the cross over it, and say a prayer like "May this water be blessed and become an agent of divine grace in the service of Thy mysteries, to drive away evil spirits and dispel sickness, so that every-thing in the homes and other buildings of the faithful that is sprinkled with this water may be rid of all uncleanness and freed from every harm. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."

A Ritual for the Censing of a House

You will want to use good quality incense for this. Any combination of frankincense, myrrh, sandalwood, or benzoin, will do nicely. Palo santo sticks are also good-- you can use them by themselves, but I also like to melt a couple of grains of frankincense resin onto one. If you are using stick incense, good choices are Korean jing kwan or any of the daily incenses offered by Shoyeido.

Set up your prayer space as usual, and put an extra bit of incense-- a stick or loose resin-- in the center of your altar or working table.

1. Standing, make the sign of the cross.

You can enhance the sign of the cross by visualizing a fiery column of light descending from an infinite distance above your head. Draw the light to your brow with the words "In the name of the Father." Lower your hand to your solar plexus, and visualizing the light descending into the heart of the Earth, with the words "And of the Son." Extend the light outward into infinite space to your left and right as you touch your shoulders and say "And of the Holy Spirit." Bring your hands together at your heart and chant the word "AMEN," in such a way that you can feel a vibration in your chest. As you so so, visualize a sphere of golden light surrounding your heart. Now, all the sphere to expand until you and your prayer space are surrounded with a sphere of golden divine light.

2. With hands together at your chest, lower to your knees, bow your head, and pray the Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, and Glory Be. Know that the Hail Marys also invoke the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity.

3. Perform the asperges with holy water and the censing with incense, using the prayers previously given. In a pinch, you can use ordinary water into which a little bit of salt has been added. Before using it, make the sign of the cross over it and ask God for his blessing.

4. Standing, with hands in the orans posture, pray the prayer of the Holy Spirit:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.

Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray.

O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation, through Christ, our Lord. AMEN.

5. As you chant the word AMEN, visualize a great torrent of white light pouring down from the heavens, above you. Slowly lower your hands over the extra piece of incense, and imagine the white light of the Spirit pouring forth from your hands. Continue until the incense is filed with pure white light.

6. Trace the sign of the cross over the incense, and say a prayer, such as: "Creature of incense, I bless thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Receive the blessing of God, and become an agent of grace, that whatsoever is blessed by thee shall be purified of all spiritual darkness and opened to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Through Christ our Lord, AMEN."

7. Light the incense stick or place loose grains on the charcoal in your incense burner. Raise it up high and say, “We offer thee incense, O Christ our God, for an odor of spiritual fragrance. Receive it upon your heavenly altar and send down upon us, in return, the gift of your Holy Spirit.”

8. Now you can use it cense your home. I usually do this by drawing a small cross in the corners of every room and another very large one in the center, the last one accompanied by the words "Let this room be blessed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, through Christ our Lord, AMEN." I also draw large crosses in front of the door, with words like "Let this door be blessed and let all who walk through it be blessed, and let no spiritual darkness or machination of the Enemy enter into this home. Through Christ our Lord, AMEN." At the end I'll stand in a place which represents the center of the house-- this is usually the kitchen-- and draw another large cross, and ask for divine blessing over the whole home and all its inhabitants.

9. Close in the usual way, returning to your prayer space and saying a suitable prayer, such as the Fatima Prayer or the Prayer of Saint Francis.

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An Esoteric Advent: Saint Lucy's Day

Saint Lucy

Today is Saint Lucy's Day, a feast little kept in America, even among Catholics. Historically, it was celebrated throughout much of the Old World. Let's talk about Saint Lucy, and some of the traditional customs of her feast day, and then discuss how we might engage with her in our magical practice.

The Life of Saint Lucy

Saint Lucy lived in Syracuse during the time of the Emperor Diocletian's persecution of the Christians. A Christian herself, she dedicated her virginity to the Church. Unfortunately, when she was young her father died, and her mother decided to find a husband for her; she therefore had her betrothed to a wealth young man from a pagan family. Before we condemn her mother, it's worth remembering those times, "property" was still a kind of religious institution, held by males in a particular family line; it consisted of tending a family sacred fire, and making offerings to the spirits of the family's ancestors. Lacking a male head of household, women were more or less out of luck.

Now, it happened that Lucy's mother had a bleeding condition, which had troubled her for quite some time. Either Lucy's mother or Lucy herself--stories vary-- made a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Agatha; in either case, St. Agatha visited Lucy in a dream and told her that her mother's faith would heal her. Lucy's mother was promptly healed, and agreed to give away all of her considerable wealth, even as Jesus enjoins his followers in the Gospels.

Word of this reached Lucy's fiancée, who was less than pleased, as the wealth that Lucy's mother gave away had necessarily to include Lucy's dowry. He ratted the girl out to Paschasius, the governor of Syracuse, who had her arrested.

While imprisoned, Lucy foretold the death of Paschasius and the end of Diocletian's persecutions. Enraged, the governor had her eyes torn out, and sentenced her to be defiled in a brothel. When her guards attempted to take her to the brothel, however, they found they were unable to move her. Resolving to burn her instead, they heaped wood about her, but it refused to light. Finally, one of the guards thrust his sword through her throat, and it seems that did the trick. One very often finds these two or three part deaths in the lives of the saints, and I suspect a close examination of them in meditation would be very fruitful. At her funeral, it was discovered that her eyes had been miraculously restored; of course, her prophecies later came true, as Paschasius met his end, and so did the purges of Diocletian.

Traditional Celebrations

Over the long centuries of Christendom many different customs sprang up around Saint Lucy's Day. In Sweden it was called "Little Yule" and marked the beginning of the Christmas festival. There it was the custom for a girl to dress in a white robe with a red sash, wear a crown in which 9 lit candles were placed, and wake everyone up early with coffee and a special song. The family then had a fine breakfast together in a room lit with candles, and even the household animals were given special treats.

In Sicily St. Lucy's Day is celebrated with torchlit processions and bonfires. We can see that one of the main themes of her celebration is the presence of light. Lucy's name is a cognate of the Latin lux, meaning light, and it's been speculated that this is the reason for the focus on light during her festival. I would suggest, rather, that two things never resemble one another by "coincidence," but only because they participate in a common energy. Our forebears, wiser than we, knew this, and so knew that God would not have given Lucy a name to remind us of Light for no reason.

Other St. Lucy's Day customs relate to divination in particular. In Denmark, girls traditionally made use of St. Lucy's Day to discover the names of their future husbands. In Austria, it was a time to cense the house to ward off witchcraft. Miles also describes a very interesting St. Lucy's Day tradition from the same region:

At midnight the girls practise a strange ceremony: they go to a willow-bordered brook, cut the bark of a tree partly away, without detaching it, make with a knife a cross on the inner side of the cut bark, moisten it with water, and carefully close up the opening. On New Year's Day the cutting is opened, and the future is augured from the markings found. The lads, on the other hand, look out at midnight for a mysterious light, the Luzieschein, the forms of which indicate coming events.

In America, immigrant communities from Sweden, Sicily and elsewhere have preserved versions of the St. Lucy's Day custom in certain parts of the country, particularly the Midwest. Unlike the Christmas Tree, however, these traditions haven't spread beyond those communities into the country as a whole, and now they are in danger of dying out altogether as the patchwork of European cultures that marked the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries continues to fade into the crumbling postindustrial gray of the 21st. The question before us is whether we can revive the older traditions, or, what would in my view be much better, re-work them into something suitable for our own time. And, I would add, for my countrymen (who compose the majority of this blog's readership), rework them into something uniquely American, rather than European.

Suggestions for Practice on Saint Lucy's Day

We can see from the foregoing that there are two major themes associated with St. Lucy's Day. These are the celebration of light in the darkness of Winter, which is, of course, the major theme of the Christmas season as a whole and the practice of divination. Of course, these are not at all unrelated. Rather than vain or anxious fortune-telling, the true purpose of divination is to open our inner eye to the Hidden Light of the spiritual world, in which Time does not run the way it does here.

In meditation, today, we can contemplate the life of Saint Lucy, asking for the courage to face death as she did, and the wisdom to know hidden things, as she did.

We can also use this day as an opportunity for divination. Sitting at our altars, with a candle lit, we might imagine that a new light begins to enter the world today, bringing with it the first hint of the year to come. Taking a moment to be aware of the light, we might then make our divinations, asking what we might need to know about the year ahead of us.

Now, many of you already read tarot cards or geomancy, or practice horary astrology, and these methods will do just fine. For those of you who don't have a regular practice of divination, you might consider taking down a Bible, asking for a particular verse to guide you in the year to come, and opening it at random.

Now, it needs to be said that divination can be, and often is, misused; this is one of the reasons that many spiritual traditions warn against it. Its proper use is best described in the book of Acts, Chapter 1, Verses 23-26. In this scene, the apostles are trying to figure out who should replace Judas, the traitor:

And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

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An Esoteric Advent: Gaudete Sunday

Gaudete In Domino Semper

Today is the third Sunday in Advent, called "Gaudete Sunday." Gaudete is a Latin word, meaning "Rejoice*;" the Introit for the day begins "Gaudete in domino semper," or "Rejoice in the Lord always."

* (Or, more properly, "Rejoice, ye!"; "Rejoice, all of you"; or, if you happen to be in Pittsburgh, "Rejoice, yinz guys!")

On Gaudete Sunday, the third, rose-colored candle on the Advent Wreath is lit; at the mass, the priest may wear rose-colored vestments. Remember that the violet of the other three candles signifies darkness, sorrow, and repentance. Today the rose candle is lit, as this is also a season of joy.

Readings for Gaudete Sunday

The Epistle for Gaudete Sunday is taken from St. Paul's letter to the Philippians. In keeping with the theme of the day, it reminds us of the constant presence of God:

Brethren: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety, but in every prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God. And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

And the Gospel reading comes from the first chapter of John. In this selection, John the Baptist, who we will meet again soon in our journey through the Christmas season, is being questioned about his identity:

At that time, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to him, to ask him: "Who art thou?" And he confessed and did not deny: and he confessed: "I am not the Christ." And they asked him: "What then? Art thou Elias?" And he said: "I am not." "Art thou the prophet? And he answered: "No." They said therefore unto him: "Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself?" He said: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias." And they that were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him and said to him: "Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?" John answered them, saying: "I baptize with water: but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not. The same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose." These things were done in Bethania, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Meditation for Gaudete Sunday

Today in your meditation, consider the various themes drawn from the readings, and the symbolism of the rose candle. In John the Baptist, we see that the current of initiatic power that will be fully manifested in the person of Jesus has persisted all through the times of darkness before his coming. In the letter of St. Paul, as in the introit to mass, we are instructed to rejoice always. In the joyous rose candle, set amidst the penitential purple, we are shown the possibility of dwelling in the spiritual world-- keeping the eye of our souls singular and fixed on the True Light, even as we sojourn in the darkness of the material world.

Happy Gaudete Sunday!

By the way...

I don't write these posts ahead of time, for the most part; if you're seeing something here, you're seeing it the day it was written. This allows me to stay in the energy of whatever ideas I'm working with, but it has the drawback that it's hard to go back and change something if I want to correct course. When this series of posts is published as a book, it will include more details on the Sundays of Advent in particular, with meditations and a ritual of self-initiation at the end.

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an esoteric advent

An Esoteric Advent: A Season of Giving

Advent and Almsgiving

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Matthew 6:1-4

In the Christian tradition, almsgiving isn't optional; in the words of the Gospel quoted above, Jesus doesn't say "If you give alms, do so in secret"; he says when you give alms, do so in secret.

The practice of giving alms has a number of important effects on the soul and on the spiritual development. Let's take a moment to review the anatomy of the soul, and then talk about why we give alms, and how almsgiving can be used strategically to bring about changes we desire in our world and our lives.

Psychic Anatomy

In the old tradition inherited by the Christian fathers from the Platonists before them, the soul is understood to consist of three parts. In Greek, these are called nous, thymos, and epithymia. Now, the Nous refers to our minds; it includes our reason and our opinions, but at its highest, it is our capacity to perceive spiritual reality. Thymos is hard to translate-- it is often rendered "spirit," but this is used in the sense that we would talk about "a spirited horse," or about someone being "in good spirits," rather than "spirit" as in "eternal soul." Its best translation in English is probably "heart," in the sense that this term is used in sports. Epithymia, meanwhile, is appetite, and includes all of the appetites, drives, and passions of our bodies.

Each of these components of the soul has its proper mode of functioning, and each has its particular disorder. The appetite wants to rebel and become our master, driving us to indulge every craving for food or drugs or sex or facebook it can come up with. The nous wants to cloud over and forget its true nature, becoming a mere repeater of worldly opinion instead of a seer of heavenly truth. And the thymos? Well, the thymos just wants to fight.

The work of spiritual advancement is called repentance in the Gospels. This is a translation of the Greek word metanoia, which literally means "to change the nous." Through this work of metanoia we change every aspect of our souls, re-orienting them away from the created world and toward eternal things. For each component of the soul, there is a particular spiritual discipline given to us as a sort of medicine, to heal and restore it to its proper functioning. For the nous, we are given prayer; for the epithymia, fasting; and for the thymos, almsgiving.

(There is a very good talk on this subject from an Orthodox perspective here. If you have more time on your hands, you can also read about these things in Plato's Republic and Phaedrus.)

Fridays In Advent

Advent, as we have seen, is a penitential season. This means that we make use of it to double-down on our works of repentance, to purify our souls and prepare them for the coming of Our Lord at Christmas-- which is, as we've seen, itself a preparation for the coming of the Lord to us at our own deaths, and to the whole world at the End of Time.

And so we fast from food and other material goods such as technology to discipline our appetites; we re-commit ourselves to prayer, to open the eye of our souls to the vision of God--

And we give, to purify our hearts and participate in the nature of God, who by His very nature gives being to all that exists.

Fridays are particularly good days for giving, for the following reasons:

1. Friday is a penitential day. Friday is the traditional day for fasting in the Catholic Church; until the 1960s, Catholics were expected to abstain from meat on this day throughout the year and to keep the full fast during penitential seasons.

2. Friday is associated with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Each day of the week has its traditional spiritual association-- as we'll discuss in detail at a later time. Friday is particularly dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. By giving alms on this day, we imitate Jesus, who freely gave of himself, first, to bring the world into being; second, at Calvary, to redeem us; third, at all times, to sustain our ongoing existence and that of the whole world and everything in it. Remember that, in the magical way of looking at things, two things never resemble each other by "accident" or "coincidence." To imitate Christ is to participate in the very being of Christ.

3. Friday is the Day of Venus. In the astrological tradition, every day is linked to one of the seven classical planets. Friday-- in Latin, "Dies Veneris," "Day of Venus"-- is associated with Venus, the planet of Love and Beauty. In Christian Astrology, the planets are visible signs given by God to reveal something about His nature to us; each planet is governed by an angel, and is associated with a particular Christian virtue. The angel of Venus is named Hanael or Anael, and its particular virtue is Charity.

The Magical Uses of Almsgiving

Alms can, and should, be given at any time, to anyone, for any reason, with the only limit being that set by morality. It's a good habit to give for no reason at all, at no particular time-- Leave the occasional 50% tip; give a homeless person an unusually large bill; find a charity dedicated to a cause you rarely think about, and given them a hundred dollars. In a real sense, this is the highest form of charity, and we ought to engage in it regularly.

That said, there are also good reasons to give alms at certain times, and to certain people and organizations. And we can also use other methods to increase the power of our offerings.

1. Timing. Spiritual timing occurs in a couple of different forms. We have the liturgical calendar, including feast days and seasons of fasting. We have the traditional dedication of particular days and months to particular saints and causes. And we have the astrological cycle mentioned above. All of these days are like power points on the wheel of the year; appropriate activities, done at these times, are strengthened and enhanced by the energy of the time.

2. Saints and Offerings. We can increase the power of our offerings by making them in the name of a particular saint or angel. We usually do this in order to bring about specific purposes, related to the saint or angel's patronage. For example, St. Joseph is the patron of workers. We can make offerings to a church or charity named for him when we ourselves are looking for a job. We can also make the offering in his name to something under his patronage like a job training program, even if it isn't named for him. Similarly, St. Raphael the Archangel is the patron of healers; St. Francis is the patron of animals and ecology; St. Therese is an unofficial patron of alcoholics; St. Michael watches over police, soldiers, and firefighters; and so on.

3. Manifestation. It is a spiritual truism that whatever we put out into the world also manifests in our own life. It's not, as people sometimes say, that it "returns" to us-- because that implies that it goes somewhere else and then comes back. It is, rather, the case that whatever energy we participate in, for good or ill, manifests within us at that exact moment. If we bless another person, we are ourselves blessed; if we forgive, we are forgiven; if we give, we receive what we have given. Thus, if there is a change that you want to bring about in your life, giving to others will allow it to come to you as well. This is one reason why we should give what we can to our churches or spiritual leaders-- we want the grace and the teaching that they have to offer to manifest in our lives, and so we participate in sustaining them.

Time For Giving

Today, spend some time in prayer and meditation, and then make a donation to an organization, charity, or individual suitable to you. You can make a ritual out of this, first following the guide to prayer and meditation that I've posted here before, and then donating in the name or the cause of a suitable saint; or you can simply send a few dollars to a church or a nonprofit through their website. Always add a blessing, and always give without expectation of reward-- the reward has already manifested in your life by the very act of giving! "Thy Father which seest in secret shall reward thee openly."

I'm also, for the first time, including a Donation button at the end of this post. To be honest, I feel somewhat uncomfortable doing so-- but, as I just said, we give to our churches and our teachers in order to share in the life of their teachings. I think that the work that we're doing here is important, and if you feel the same way, I want to give you the chance to participate in it directly!

Click Here to Donate!