Amber as Divine Tears

Amber as Divine Tears

Helios was the ancient Greek god of the Sun, who drove the solar chariot across the sky. When his son, Phaëthon, attempted to drive the chariot without his father's permission, he lost control of the horses and drove the sun towards the Earth. Zeus had to strike down the chariot with a lightning bolt in order to save the Earth from burning up. The Milky Way was thus formed by the scorched path of the Sun across the sky.

Phaëthon fell to his death, and his sisters, the seven Heliades, grieved and mourned for four months. The gods turned the sisters into poplar trees, and their tears into amber, which often washes up on the Baltic shores. According to Apollonius of Rhodes, in his Argonautica, the Celts said that the amber drops are the tears of Apollo himself, after his banishment by Zeus to the land of the Hyperboreans. Among the Norse and Vikings, amber was believed to be the tears of Freyja, the goddess of love and beauty.

In the Middle Ages, amber was also known as glaes, glas, or glass. The "amber islands" of the Frisian archipelago, or Glaesariae, were named after these terms. When the Greek geographer Pytheas of Massalia wrote about the origin of amber, he referred to the north Frisian island of Abalus - a name which may have been distantly related to "apple" or "Apollo".

Apollo and his amber-glass tears may have also lent their names to the English region of Glastonbury, the former Isle of Avalon, where the sword Excalibur was forged, and where King Arthur was taken to heal after being gravely wounded at the Battle of Camlann.

Baltic amber is often believed to have pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties, and to have a calming, relaxing effect. Some healers also believe that amber helps to balance the chakras, cleanse the aura, and protect the energy body. Have you ever tried wearing amber for pain, inflammation, or anxiety, and if so, how did it work for you? Please leave a comment below!

(This blog does not constitute medical advice and the author is not liable for any loss or damages that may occur. Please consult your medical professional before starting or stopping any treatment, supplement, exercise, or therapy.)

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Hosea 2:19-23 (KJV) - Betrothed to the LORD

Hosea 2:19-23  -  Betrothed to the LORD

19. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.

21. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

22. And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel (God Plants).

23. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

- Hosea 2:19-23 KJV (King James Version)

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A Theosophical and Esoteric Interpretation of the Zoroastrian Karshipta Bird

A Theosophical and Esoteric Interpretation of the Zoroastrian Karshipta Bird

The ancient Zoroastrian scripture named Vendidad or Vidēvdād (“The Law Repudiating the Demons”) mentions a holy bird sent to humanity by God (Ahura Mazda), for the purpose of bringing to them the true religion of Mazda. This holy bird was named Karshipta (sometimes spelled Karshipt, Karshift, or Karšift, from the Avestan Karšiptar).

"O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! 

Who is he who brought the Religion of Mazda into the Vara (Enclosure) which Yima made?

Ahura Mazda answered: ‘It was the bird Karshipta, O holy Zarathushtra!’"

- Vendidad 2:42

According to the Bundahishn, chapters 19 and 24, "The bird Karshipta dwells in the heavens: were he living on the earth, he would be the king of birds... He brought the Religion into the Vara of Yima, and recites the Avesta in the language of the birds."

Theosophist H.P. Blavatsky, in Volume 2 of her Secret Doctrine, offers an esoteric interpretation: "Karshipta is the human mind-soul, and the deity thereof, symbolized in ancient Magianism by a bird, as the Greeks symbolized it by a butterfly. No sooner had Karshipta entered the Vara or man, than he understood the law of Mazda, or Divine Wisdom."

A literal translation of the Avestan "karšiptar" would be “the black-winged” - from karši- “black” and -ptar “wing”. This name possibly hints at the bird's identity as the raven, who played the role of divine messenger in many Indo-European legends. Interestingly, karši- “black” comes from the same root word as Sanskrit kṛṣṇa, or "black" - from which comes the name of Vishnu's Avatar, Lord Krishna. In Middle Persian, another word for raven was warāɣ, which was also related to the Avestan vārǝɣna- “falcon”.

A commentary on the Vendidad associates the Karshipta with the Chakravaka or ruddy shelduck (Anas casarca), also known as the Brahmany duck of India, with its black flight feathers. It may be likewise related to the Hamsa, the goose or swan of Brahma. From a theological standpoint, one may also notice the close resemblance of the Karshipta to the dove of the Holy Spirit from Christianity, as well as to the various sacred birds of ancient Egypt, such as the Horus falcon - and to the Persian Simurgh, which has its nest in the Tree of Life or Tree of Knowledge.

Originally posted on our Random Religion and Spirituality blog at:

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Matthew 26:14-25 (KJV Bible) - Judas Iscariot Betrays Jesus Christ for 30 Pieces of Silver

Matthew 26:14-25 (KJV Bible) - Judas Iscariot Betrays Jesus Christ for 30 Pieces of Silver

14. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,

15. And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

16. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

17. Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?

18. And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.

19. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.

20. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.

21. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

22. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

23. And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.

24. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

25. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

Originally posted on our Random Religion and Spirituality blog at:

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The Legend of How the Holy Grail Came to Britain

The Legend of How the Holy Grail Came to Britain

The Holy Grail (or Cup of Christ) was the drinking vessel which Joseph of Arimathea used for catching the blood and water which poured forth from Jesus' side after the Crucified Messiah was pierced by the Spear of Longinus. It was the same sacred chalice which Jesus used during the first Holy Communion ritual at the Last Supper. 

According to Robert de Boron’s version of the Holy Grail legend, Joseph of Arimathea was incarcerated within a Jerusalem prison by the Jewish authorities after the body of Jesus suspiciously disappeared from its tomb. One day, while in his prison cell, Joseph miraculously found the Holy Chalice placed at his feet by God. Suddenly, a voice emanating from the vessel proceeded to explain the "secrets of the Grail", including the Mysteries of the Eucharist and how the rites of that Sacrament reflect the Passion of Christ. Food and drink also spontaneously manifested within the Holy Grail, and by this means Joseph was kept alive for many years.

The Holy Grail continued to nourish and sustain Joseph of Arimathea until Jerusalem was conquered by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 70 CE, upon which he was released from prison. Fearing re-imprisonment, Joseph escaped to the desert with his family, and even in such harsh conditions they were continually sustained with food and drink from the Cup of Christ throughout their journey.

In de Boron's version of the story, Joseph passed away soon after fleeing Jerusalem, but not before placing the Holy Grail into the care of his brother-in-law, Bron. The Holy Spirit subsequently lead Bron and his family north to Glastonbury, England, where he was told to deposit the Grail. Thus, in de Boron’s version of the legend, it was Bron who carried the Cup of Christ to Glastonbury. There are, however, more popular versions of the legend which state that Joseph himself brought the Holy Chalice to the sacred British city.

According to an alternate version of the myth, when Joseph of Arimathea was still in Jerusalem, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him and eleven other missionaries. Angel Gabriel instructed them to travel to Glastonbury, England in order to build a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. 

Joseph and the eleven missionaries left Palestine/Israel with the Holy Grail and eventually reached the coast of Britain after a very long journey. They sailed down an inlet leading to the future site of Glastonbury, which at that time was only a marshland covered with water. They disembarked on an island now known as Wearyall Hill, named after the weary and near-exhausted state in which the missionary group arrived. It was here that Joseph planted his staff into the ground and watched with jubilation as it sprouted leaves and flowers, signaling that he and his companions had completed their journey. The unique flowering tree which sprouted from Joseph's staff later became known as the Glastonbury Thorn.

Once Joseph and his companions settled into their new English homeland, they followed Angel Gabriel’s instructions and constructed St. Mary’s Chapel, which became one of the earliest Christian churches in Europe. Twelve dwellings were built in a circle surrounding this chapel, each facing the central church, which housed the Holy Grail and, by implication, the sacred Presence of Christ Himself. Joseph’s little Chapel was eventually torn down and a larger chapel constructed in its place, one that would later be incorporated into the structure of Glastonbury Abbey by the 8th century CE.

According to legend, before Joseph died, he buried the Holy Grail in Chalice Hill beside Glastonbury Tor.  An alternate version states that Joseph secreted the Grail within the Chalice Well, from which continually flows blood-colored water to this day, symbolizing the salvific blood of the Messiah. Many people over the centuries have received miraculous healings as a result of drinking or bathing in the waters of Chalice Well.

Another legend states that Joseph of Arimathea did not die in Britain, but left Glastonbury soon after constructing St. Mary's Chapel. From there, he sailed south with the Holy Grail to Spain. According to the story, he landed at Barcelona and then proceeded overland to either Montserrat in Catalonia near the Pyrenees, or to Montsegur in the former region of Languedoc, France. Both of these mountain sanctuaries later became associated with the Holy Grail and its Mysteries, and have often been equated with Munsalvaesche or the Mount of Salvation, the castle of the Grail King Anfortas (or the Fisher King) in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval romance, Parzival.

Originally posted on our Random Religion and Spirituality blog at:

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Magickal Correspondences for Beltane (Wiccan Sabbat Holiday on May 1)

Magickal Correspondences for Beltane (Wiccan Sabbat Holiday on May 1)

Incense and Oils: Passion flower, frankincense, tuberose, vanilla, lilac, rose

Colors: Red and white (symbolizing God and Goddess), dark green, dark yellow, rainbow, blue, pastels

Animals: White cow or bull, goat, rabbit, hare, honeybees, horse, cat, snake, swan, crane, deer and stag

Mythical Creatures: Faeries, satyrs, giants, Pegasus

Gemstones and Crystals: Emerald, orange carnelian, sapphire, rose quartz, lapis lazuli, sapphire, yellow agate, bloodstone

Herbs: Almond, angelica, damiana, hawthorn, hibiscus, saffron, ash tree, bluebells, cinquefoil, daisy, frankincense, hawthorn, ivy, lilac, marsh marigold, meadowsweet, primrose, roses, woodruff, yellow cowslip, yarrow

Element: Air

Gods: May King, Jack in the Green, Horned God, Herne, Cernunnos, Green Man (European), Bel (Celtic), Baal (Phoenician and Canaanite), Cupid, Bacchus (Greek), Dionysus (Roman), Gods of the Hunt

Goddesses: May Queen, Flora, Maia, Flower Goddesses, Lady of the Greenwood, Aphrodite (Greek), Venus (Roman), Artemis (Greek), Diana (Roman), Blodeuwedd (Welsh), Lady Erzulie (Voudun), Baubo (Greek), Rhea (Greek and Cretan), Prithvi (Hindu), Divine Couples, Goddesses of the Hunt

Foods: Dairy, honey, oats, red or pink fruits, herbal salads, red or pink wine punch, round oatmeal or barley cakes or cookies, sweets

Symbols and Decorations: Maypole and ribbons, flower crowns, fires, bowers, fields, May baskets, white flowers and ribbons, daisy chains, flower chaplet, white wine in clear crystal glass, chalice, butter churn, blackthorn and hawthorn branches, seasonal fruit

Essential Ideas: Fertility, romance, sensuality, prosperity, compassion, youthful play, exuberance, pleasure, positive action, spring growth, new beginnings

Celebratory Meaning: Sacred Marriage of the Lord and Lady, arrival of the Tuatha de Danaan in Ireland

Magick and Ritual: The Great Rite, love, romance and fertility magick, elf and faery power, offerings to elementals, crop blessings, lighting sacred fires, divination, building shrines, altar set-up, fire-calling, honoring house guardians, snake dancing, bathing faces in the May morning dew to retain youthful beauty

Customs: Raising the Maypole, dancing around the Maypole, bonfires, jumping fire, mating, picking flowers, making flower baskets, frolicking through the countryside, archery tournaments, sword dances, feasting, drinking and music, moving the herds to high pasture

Time: Dawn

Originally posted on our Random Religion and Spirituality blog at:

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Transformative Effects of Out-of-Body Experiences

Transformative Effects of Out-of-Body Experiences

Out-of-body experiences often result in the following transformative effects:

- Spiritual awakening or divine revelation

- An expanded concept of Self which extends beyond the physical world

- Increased interest in (or motivation for) a personal search for knowledge and wisdom

- Increased awareness of spiritual connection or interconnectedness

- Increased respect and appreciation for life

- Reduction in feelings of anger, hostility, or violence

- Greater awareness and expanded concept of reality

- Increased sense of responsibility toward others as well as oneself

- Increased self-respect and self-love

- Personal verification of the immortality of the soul or consciousness

- Impactful psychological changes due to personal encounters with spiritual beings, deceased loved ones, or spirit guides

Have you experienced any of the above after astral projection or lucid dreaming? Please let us know in the comments!

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Matthew 14:14-21 (KJV Bible) - Jesus Feeds the 5,000

Matthew 14:14-21 (KJV Bible) - Jesus Feeds the 5,000

Today I was spiritually inspired by this Christian scriptural passage from the New Testament. The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 14, Verses 14-21 in the King James Version:

14. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

15. And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

16. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

17. And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

18. He said, Bring them hither to me.

19. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

20. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

21. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

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Sowing and Reaping - An excerpt from Above Life's Turmoil by Christian philosopher and New Thought author James Allen

Sowing and Reaping - An excerpt from Above Life's Turmoil (1910) by Christian philosopher and New Thought author James Allen

Go into the fields and country lanes in the spring time, and you will see farmers and gardeners busy sowing seeds in the newly prepared soil. If you were to ask any one of those gardeners or farmers what kind of produce he expected from the seed he was sowing, he would doubtless regard you as foolish, and would tell you that he does not "expect" at all, that it is a matter of common knowledge that his produce will be of the kind which he is sowing, and that he is sowing wheat, or barley, or turnips, as the case may be, in order to reproduce that particular kind.

Every fact and process in Nature contains a moral lesson for the wise man. There is no law in the world of Nature around us that is not to be found operating with the same mathematical certainty in the mind of man and in human life. All the parables of Jesus are illustrative of this truth, and are drawn from the simple facts of Nature. There is a process of seed-sowing in the mind and life a spiritual sowing which leads to a harvest according to the kind of seed sown. Thoughts, words, and acts are seeds sown, and, by the inviolable law of things, they produce after their kind.

The man who thinks hateful thoughts brings hatred upon himself. The man who thinks loving thoughts is loved. The man whose thoughts, words and acts are sincere, is surrounded by sincere friends; the insincere man is surrounded by insincere friends. The man who sows wrong thoughts and deeds, and prays that God will bless him, is in the position of a farmer who, having sown tares, asks God to bring forth for him a harvest of wheat. 

"That which ye sow, ye reap; see yonder fields 

The sesamum was sesamum, the corn was corn; 

The silence and the darkness knew;

So is a man's fate born.

He cometh reaper of the things he sowed."

He who would be blest, let him scatter blessings. He who would be happy, let him consider the happiness of others. 

Then there is another side to this seed sowing. The farmer must scatter all his seed upon the land, and then leave it to the elements. Were he to covetously hoard his seed, he would lose both it and his produce, for his seed would perish. It perishes when he sows it, but in perishing it brings forth a great abundance. So in life, we get by giving; we grow rich by scattering. The man who says he is in possession of knowledge that he cannot give out because the world is incapable of receiving it, either does not possess such knowledge, or, if he does, will soon be deprived of it - if he is not already so deprived. To hoard is to lose; to exclusively retain is to be dispossessed.

Even the man who would increase his material wealth must be willing to part with (invest) what little capital he has, and then wait for the increase. So long as he retains his hold on his precious money, he will not only remain poor, but will be growing poorer everyday. He will, after all, lose the thing he loves, and will lose it without increase. But if he wisely lets it go; if, like the farmer, he scatters his seeds of gold, then he can faithfully wait for, and reasonably expect, the increase.

Men are asking God to give them peace and purity, and righteousness and blessedness, but are not obtaining these things; and why not? Because they are not practicing them, not sowing them. I once heard a preacher pray very earnestly for forgiveness, and shortly afterwards, in the course of his sermon, he called upon his congregation to "show no mercy to the enemies of the church." Such self-delusion is pitiful, and men have yet to learn that the way to obtain peace and blessedness is to scatter peaceful and blessed thoughts, words, and deeds.

Men believe that they can sow the seeds of strife, impurity, and unbrotherliness, and then gather in a rich harvest of peace, purity and concord by merely asking for it. What more pathetic sight than to see an irritable and quarrelsome man praying for peace. Men reap that which they sow, and any man can reap all blessedness now and at once, if he will put aside selfishness, and sow broadcast the seeds of kindness, gentleness, and love.

If a man is troubled, perplexed, sorrowful, or unhappy, let him ask:

"What mental seeds have I been sowing?"

"What seeds am I sowing?"

"What have I done for others?"

"What is my attitude towards others?"

"What seeds of trouble and sorrow and unhappiness have I sown that I should thus reap these bitter weeds?"

Let him seek within and find, and having found, let him abandon all the seeds of self, and sow, henceforth, only the seeds of Truth.

Let him learn of the farmer the simple truths of wisdom.

Originally posted on our Random Religion and Spirituality blog at:

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John 3 (KJV Bible)

John 3 (KJV Bible)

Today I was spiritually inspired by this Christian scriptural passage from the New Testament. The Gospel of John, Chapter 3, King James Version:

1. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

9. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

10. Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

11. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

12. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

13. And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

21. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

22. After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

23. And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

24. For John was not yet cast into prison.

25. Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.

26. And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.

27. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.

28. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.

29. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

30. He must increase, but I must decrease.

31. He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

32. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.

33. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.

34. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

35. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

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