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Feb. 22nd, 2004 01:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vaxjediThe Rapture Tradition
a work in progress 2/22/04
Intro
The point of this particular tradition is to develop the things in my head. It isn't 'fictional' in the sense that I made it up from whole cloth. However, it isn't derived from any particular tradition - it is a verbalization of subtle and personal revelations. These revelations may not resonate with anyone else, nor do they need to. However, if they do, I'd welcome it.
The Nature of the Divine - the lakashim - the Pulse
The Divine isn't necessarily a personality or a personification (though it can be), but an underlying principle and inherent property of the universe. While science concerns itself with the what, when, where and how of the universe, the Divine is the fuel for the why of existence.
The quintessence of existence and meaning flows through each individual object. This flow is the Divine Pulse, the lakashim. It is the life's blood of existence, feeding all things, material or ephemeral, with the basic components needed to maintain existence, reality and meaning.
Certain archetypes and patterns emerge from the lakashim as it filters through and nourishes the constituents of reality and the beings in it. These patterns and archetypes form the expressions of Divinity. Some of these are personifications of thought and consideration. Others are patterns reflecting human life in space and time and culture.
These patterns are incarnations of meaning and order, but without inherent form. They must play themselves out by ordering physical things and inhabiting the manifest world. Thus the Gods are like software, ephemeral constructs of meaning, running on the hardware of matter and energy and life. They are entities of a Divine programming language.
The Role of Humans
Human beings are the bridge between this iconic world and the world material. People exist in a sort of inbetween state, as they are composed of material and the more subtle components of raw meaning and iconic aspect. One might consider them an alloy of these two paradigms, existing in both, but at the same time inherently different from one or the other. As conscious beings, we act as interpretors of these iconic forces, we are part of the hardware on which this spiritual software runs.
My Path
As one of these spiritual bridges, I am providing my interpretation of the iconic world. And as any software that runs on a piece of hardware, the result is colored by the nature of the hardware. Thus this view of the Gods is through my filter, and I focus on the aspects of them that resonate the most with me.
I am primarily a humanist - I am interested in the nature of people, and the divinity and power with which they are filled. I can see the signs of the lakashim more easily through people, as I see their role to be vessels and expressions of the vitality and diversity of the Divine Pulse. Thus my relationship to the Gods and how they view them are human-centric. I focus on the pulse as it expresses itself in things like language and society and sexuality. My view of this tradition is, thus, decidedly sexual,with liberal amounts of my linguistic, technological and spiritual obsessions sprinkled in.
While the tradition I describe is much more diverse than what I describe, it is not my intention or desire to be ecumenical in my presentation. Part of the role of a person who is called to these Gods is to discover how they relate to them. If it's similar to mine, then great. if not, then great. Either way, I encourage people to explore and communicate.
The Gods
The Jade Mother - 'shaladal
She appears as a voluptuous woman with vaguely matronly features. She's the sort of beautiful woman that most American media would call 'fat' but really isn't. She has a round, soft, pleasing figure. Her skin is the color of creamy green jade, though it is soft and warm to the touch. Her eyes are devoid of iris or pupil and have a slight green tint to them. She has long wavy black hair with green highlights. Her movements are fluid and graceful, like a dancer's, and are extremely expressive. She radiates a presence that is equal parts motherly, sensual and quietly mischievous. The Jade Mother doesn't speak often. She communicates through body language or through actions.
She is the coolness of earth, the refreshing flow of water and the personification of tezhme, the sense that everything is right in the universe. She is a lover who loves us and desires us for all that we are. She holds no flaw or vice against us and delights in every glimmer of beauty and pleasure that we possess. She takes many roles and personae so that she may love us as many ways as possible. She wishes to inspire us past the limits of our potential for joy. She inspires adoration and desire and reverence. She asks us to burn with joy and desire for one another, to revel in each other's flesh, soul and essence. She is our benefactor, our desire and our consort. 'shaladal has given us the pleasure and power of joy, and she asks us to use that gift to its fullest.
The Ember Man - 'ezexom
He is a strong man, just taller than average with reddish, brown hair and a beard of the same color. He doesn't have chiseled features, but definitely strong and robust. His skin is a pinkish color, as if he is continuously flushed. His hands are not delicate, but nor are they rough. His eyes are a bright auburn and in times of strong emotion, they burst into a bright yellow flame. His moods are variable, but his emotions always burn strongly. He laughs easily and loves life. He can be terrible like a forest fire, or comforting, like a fire in a hearth. Or he is the fire that burns in your veins when you need and desire.
The Ember Man is like the phoenix, the essence of that which dies and is reborn. He is the ember of hope and strength. He is the antithesis of depression and cruelty, who guards us and nourishes us when we feel empty. He is who we resurrect to counter the abyss, who sacrifices himself so that others may continue. He reminds us that while we may burn out, he is always there in that last ember of human compassion and decency, waiting to be ignites and to rise from the flames again.
The Twins in Silk - 'zolaga orozish
They are a matched pair of slender, fair people with long raven hair. They are both hermaphroditic, having both sets of genitalia and breasts. One is male-aspected, with the build, skin, face and hands of a man and is called Wisdom ('timi). The other is female aspected, with the build, skin, face and hands of woman and is called Genius ('togoshi). They are both covered from head to toe with tattoos of arcane symbols and words in languages dead, living and imaginary. They each always wear a simple cloak with hood made out of royal blue silk. They both have melodic voices, Genius being an alto and Wisdom being a low tenor. They often speak very precisely, without being robotic. They display a very dry wit. All of their movements seem to be made with a calm deliberateness and they never appear angry.
The Twins are the keepers of knowledge and the personifications of the knowledge of artifice and mystery. They are the alchemical ideal of the symbiotic union of gender polarities. By combining these essences, they are the crucibles of the acts of inspiration and sophistication. They are the teachers of magick and wisdom and are patrons to the creation and discovery of wisdom. Genius is the purveyor of knowledge, of language and magick. Wisdom is the caretaker of morality, of prudence and insight. Together they hold the insights and mysteries of life and the lakashim.
The Protean - 'woere
The Protean is without definite form. It can appear to be any person, or animal or mixture thereof. It can even be any object, though it almost never takes an inanimate form. Its mannerisms change to fit the situation and its current form. The only invariable thing about the Protean are its purpose and a distinctive laugh that it uses often.
The Protean is the harbinger of forms. It is the stormcrow of change and the messenger of the Gods. It works through all sorts of different mediums to get us Its message - through the curve of a lovers body, the lyrics of the song on the radio, the sounds of the birds in the trees. It is not just the personification of change, but change with purpose. It encourages change and evolution. It delights in the diversity of functions and forms, laughing as it explores and re-explores each one. The Protean is a sort of trickster, amused by the world and its rigidity.
Other Metaphysics
Axis Mundi - 'epeshuzma
By the time I was born, Yggdrasil had been cut down. The fires of the Inquisition had burned away its leaves. The age of reason had chopped at the roots of the World Tree with Occam's Razor, felling the connection between worlds. Axis Mundi is the great city built on the ruins of Yggdrasil. Out of stone and steel and will and shattered dreams, we have raised edifices into the sky. With drills and shovels and need, we have sunk wells into dark places. In the void between spheres, we have built Worldscrapers, modern unbroken towers of Babel.
Roads criss-cross the spaces between the WorldScrapers, names like Styx, Ganges, Lethe, Shannon, Sambation, Pishon, Phlegethon, Gihon. Street shamans walk the ley lines between lanes, traced in reflective yellow and white paint until they merge with the freeways of Ymis and Oceanus. We drape the city Indra's electromagnetic Net under metal stars, as Comsat 5 enters Aries and the ISS is in conjunction with Pluto. We live in the buildings of Axis Mundi.
The WorldScrapers rise high into the clouds, which endless floors, elevators and stairwells. They are built in odd shapes, with huge patios and verandas. The floors and hallways of the Scrapers contain vast worlds in themselves with endless variety. A few floors up, you can find the chambers of Heaven or an endless garden or the overrun ruins of cubicles as far as the eye can see.
Eventually, the spires of Axis Mundi thrust through the layer of clouds and reach into the stratosphere into Skyeline, the city above the clouds. This is the realm of the iron angels, steel thunderbirds, and fiberglass phoenixes. Here the roof shamans jump from rooftop to rooftop, between the penthouse suites of the sky gods.
The basements, tunnels, sewers reach down into catacombs of Subwaye, the dark underworld of filth and refuse. Here the tunnel priests tend the river Acheron as the remains of the world transform under the weight and pressure of reality, like rock pressed into basalt and lava. The gods of earth and stone mine this quintessential ore, and forge the superstructure of reality, the framework on which of the facades of the world hang.
The city is full of spirits, both pastoral and urbane. It is where Rat, Cockroach, Dog, Cat and Spider share with Subway Car, Computer, Automobile and Streetlight.
The Elements - etiga
The role of the elements are as metaphysical cornerstones to the sacred universe, both in the macrocosm and microcosm. Not only do they provide an iconic representation for the constituent ingredients of the mystical, they act as heuristic landmarks in order to provide a method compass points for reckoning in magickal work.
There are six elements, corresponding to the points of an octahedron (which signifies space). The octahedren is situated so that four of the points point to the four cardinal directions, and one points up and and one down.
Earth - karuhm - North
Earth is gross matter and fertile soil. We are earth in bone and tissue. We grow our food in the soil and build our monuments out of stone and metal, the bones of the world. Earth is stability. Earth is limits and foundation. It is the cradle and framework in which thing grow.
Air - wus - East
Air is breath and sound and wind and gas. Air expands to fill all available space. We are connected by sounds carries by air and sustained by air in our lungs that has sustained a legion of others. We exchange parts of ourselves through air, through sound. Air is what connects people to people - communications, sounds, particles and wind currents.
Fire - xos - South
Fire is energy and power. Fire transforms wood to ash and stone to slag. It fuels engines, thaws ice, cooks meat and ignites fury. It is warmth of flesh and the heat of friction. It is the drive for glory and the purity of transformative redemption.
Water - shim - West
Water is liquid. It is the shifting of tides, the swell of passions. It is blood that pumps in our hearts and drives our hate, love, despair and nobility. It is the quenching of thirst and the damp taste of a lover's lips. Water nourishes life and drives us in waves.
Sun - rek - Up
The sun is light. It is constant. It shines down on us and fills the world with life, warming earth, wind and sea and igniting blazes. The sun shines in our minds and through our nerves. The sun casts out phantoms and illuminates dark places. The sun is the zenith of power, both spurring life and burning flesh in it's steady glare.
Shadow - tuhr - Down
Shadow is the space between. Shadow is the hidden place. It is a place to hide and a place for mysteries to be taught. Shadow is where dreams are born and where wisdom is tested against oblivion and existence. Shadow is a sanctuary. It is sleep, a place to heal, to recover and regroup. It is the darkness behind your eyelids when you close them at night.
Rapture - sazhda
Rapture is the internalization of the awe of the beauty of human existence. This holy passion is the faith in the inalienable grace of life and its expression through the mediums of joy, ecstasy and benevelonce.
The expression of Rapture is the vital consequence of its internalization. Through the sacrament of the sharing of joy, we confer that grace to others. We ourselves are the eucharist that we share with those who seek this grace. All parts of our self are components of this host, the flesh of our bodies, the empathy of our hearts, the wit of our minds and the energy of our character. We share all of these facets of ourselves in symbiotic offering to each other as vessels of sanctity and as pilgrims in search of that same consecration.
Principles of Rapture
The Cultivation of Truth - No one path has the monopoly on truth. Each path has seeds of inspiration and dross. We must scour these paths to find the kernels that fit our garden so that we can cultivate a crop of truth.
The Distillation of Passion - We are miracles. We are full of the holiness of joy and beauty and excellence. We are crucibles of the sacred power of the lakashim, the Sacred Pulse of Life. And it is our duty to distill passion from all things in life. Otherwise, the gift of life is wasted.
The Proliferation of Joy - All things that share joy without mishap or harm are sacred. They are the kiss and the caress of 'shaladal, the Jade Mother. All ways of sharing unsullied joy, whether they are yours or not, are sacred. We must offer this sacred power to all those who will accept it. It must be encouraged to grow and diversify. Holiness in the world does not come from its scarcity, rather the world becomes more holy through its contact with the sacred. Holy Passion is not a coin to be hoarded. It is a gift to be spread - an anti-disease to counter a world of pain.
The Observance of Respect - Each person walks a different road and it is their road to walk on. We cannot intrude on their journey without being asked. We must respect the turns they take and the fences they build. And similarly, not all who are asleep wish to be awaken. Just as we are allowed to walk our path, so must they. While we may offer our joy to them, we must understand that their path may take them elsewhere. If they refuse, we must not press. We must aid them in their path if we are allowed, however, as we must aid all who seek the sacred in all of its forms.
The Exploration of Mysteries - We must explore places that are both dark and warm. Our job is to experience and embody these mysteries and to offer them, as they are beyond the full description of words. We dwell in places that are beyond the paths of others. However, the paths that we must follow are not necessarily for all peoples. We act as keepers of these mysteries lest they be forgotten. We tend to them so that they may be found by those who seek them.
The Promotion of Compassion - Our Holy Passion connects us to others. We must offer them our love and benevolence. Many are the burdens of others, and we must strive to understand them, whether they are similar to our own or not. We must regularly offer kindness, both personal and anonymous, through charity, solace and mercy.
The Initiation of Neophytes - Those who do embrace the Mother should be met with caresses, kisses and joy. We offer them the dikuhsham bond. We guide the neophyte with compassion and love, we teach by sharing mind, heart, soul and body. We catalyze and connect and become more ourselves through their progression. And we must remember that we too learn from those we guide. We must become neophytes again ourselves so that we may be renewed.
a work in progress 2/22/04
Intro
The point of this particular tradition is to develop the things in my head. It isn't 'fictional' in the sense that I made it up from whole cloth. However, it isn't derived from any particular tradition - it is a verbalization of subtle and personal revelations. These revelations may not resonate with anyone else, nor do they need to. However, if they do, I'd welcome it.
The Nature of the Divine - the lakashim - the Pulse
The Divine isn't necessarily a personality or a personification (though it can be), but an underlying principle and inherent property of the universe. While science concerns itself with the what, when, where and how of the universe, the Divine is the fuel for the why of existence.
The quintessence of existence and meaning flows through each individual object. This flow is the Divine Pulse, the lakashim. It is the life's blood of existence, feeding all things, material or ephemeral, with the basic components needed to maintain existence, reality and meaning.
Certain archetypes and patterns emerge from the lakashim as it filters through and nourishes the constituents of reality and the beings in it. These patterns and archetypes form the expressions of Divinity. Some of these are personifications of thought and consideration. Others are patterns reflecting human life in space and time and culture.
These patterns are incarnations of meaning and order, but without inherent form. They must play themselves out by ordering physical things and inhabiting the manifest world. Thus the Gods are like software, ephemeral constructs of meaning, running on the hardware of matter and energy and life. They are entities of a Divine programming language.
The Role of Humans
Human beings are the bridge between this iconic world and the world material. People exist in a sort of inbetween state, as they are composed of material and the more subtle components of raw meaning and iconic aspect. One might consider them an alloy of these two paradigms, existing in both, but at the same time inherently different from one or the other. As conscious beings, we act as interpretors of these iconic forces, we are part of the hardware on which this spiritual software runs.
My Path
As one of these spiritual bridges, I am providing my interpretation of the iconic world. And as any software that runs on a piece of hardware, the result is colored by the nature of the hardware. Thus this view of the Gods is through my filter, and I focus on the aspects of them that resonate the most with me.
I am primarily a humanist - I am interested in the nature of people, and the divinity and power with which they are filled. I can see the signs of the lakashim more easily through people, as I see their role to be vessels and expressions of the vitality and diversity of the Divine Pulse. Thus my relationship to the Gods and how they view them are human-centric. I focus on the pulse as it expresses itself in things like language and society and sexuality. My view of this tradition is, thus, decidedly sexual,with liberal amounts of my linguistic, technological and spiritual obsessions sprinkled in.
While the tradition I describe is much more diverse than what I describe, it is not my intention or desire to be ecumenical in my presentation. Part of the role of a person who is called to these Gods is to discover how they relate to them. If it's similar to mine, then great. if not, then great. Either way, I encourage people to explore and communicate.
The Gods
The Jade Mother - 'shaladal
She appears as a voluptuous woman with vaguely matronly features. She's the sort of beautiful woman that most American media would call 'fat' but really isn't. She has a round, soft, pleasing figure. Her skin is the color of creamy green jade, though it is soft and warm to the touch. Her eyes are devoid of iris or pupil and have a slight green tint to them. She has long wavy black hair with green highlights. Her movements are fluid and graceful, like a dancer's, and are extremely expressive. She radiates a presence that is equal parts motherly, sensual and quietly mischievous. The Jade Mother doesn't speak often. She communicates through body language or through actions.
She is the coolness of earth, the refreshing flow of water and the personification of tezhme, the sense that everything is right in the universe. She is a lover who loves us and desires us for all that we are. She holds no flaw or vice against us and delights in every glimmer of beauty and pleasure that we possess. She takes many roles and personae so that she may love us as many ways as possible. She wishes to inspire us past the limits of our potential for joy. She inspires adoration and desire and reverence. She asks us to burn with joy and desire for one another, to revel in each other's flesh, soul and essence. She is our benefactor, our desire and our consort. 'shaladal has given us the pleasure and power of joy, and she asks us to use that gift to its fullest.
The Ember Man - 'ezexom
He is a strong man, just taller than average with reddish, brown hair and a beard of the same color. He doesn't have chiseled features, but definitely strong and robust. His skin is a pinkish color, as if he is continuously flushed. His hands are not delicate, but nor are they rough. His eyes are a bright auburn and in times of strong emotion, they burst into a bright yellow flame. His moods are variable, but his emotions always burn strongly. He laughs easily and loves life. He can be terrible like a forest fire, or comforting, like a fire in a hearth. Or he is the fire that burns in your veins when you need and desire.
The Ember Man is like the phoenix, the essence of that which dies and is reborn. He is the ember of hope and strength. He is the antithesis of depression and cruelty, who guards us and nourishes us when we feel empty. He is who we resurrect to counter the abyss, who sacrifices himself so that others may continue. He reminds us that while we may burn out, he is always there in that last ember of human compassion and decency, waiting to be ignites and to rise from the flames again.
The Twins in Silk - 'zolaga orozish
They are a matched pair of slender, fair people with long raven hair. They are both hermaphroditic, having both sets of genitalia and breasts. One is male-aspected, with the build, skin, face and hands of a man and is called Wisdom ('timi). The other is female aspected, with the build, skin, face and hands of woman and is called Genius ('togoshi). They are both covered from head to toe with tattoos of arcane symbols and words in languages dead, living and imaginary. They each always wear a simple cloak with hood made out of royal blue silk. They both have melodic voices, Genius being an alto and Wisdom being a low tenor. They often speak very precisely, without being robotic. They display a very dry wit. All of their movements seem to be made with a calm deliberateness and they never appear angry.
The Twins are the keepers of knowledge and the personifications of the knowledge of artifice and mystery. They are the alchemical ideal of the symbiotic union of gender polarities. By combining these essences, they are the crucibles of the acts of inspiration and sophistication. They are the teachers of magick and wisdom and are patrons to the creation and discovery of wisdom. Genius is the purveyor of knowledge, of language and magick. Wisdom is the caretaker of morality, of prudence and insight. Together they hold the insights and mysteries of life and the lakashim.
The Protean - 'woere
The Protean is without definite form. It can appear to be any person, or animal or mixture thereof. It can even be any object, though it almost never takes an inanimate form. Its mannerisms change to fit the situation and its current form. The only invariable thing about the Protean are its purpose and a distinctive laugh that it uses often.
The Protean is the harbinger of forms. It is the stormcrow of change and the messenger of the Gods. It works through all sorts of different mediums to get us Its message - through the curve of a lovers body, the lyrics of the song on the radio, the sounds of the birds in the trees. It is not just the personification of change, but change with purpose. It encourages change and evolution. It delights in the diversity of functions and forms, laughing as it explores and re-explores each one. The Protean is a sort of trickster, amused by the world and its rigidity.
Other Metaphysics
Axis Mundi - 'epeshuzma
By the time I was born, Yggdrasil had been cut down. The fires of the Inquisition had burned away its leaves. The age of reason had chopped at the roots of the World Tree with Occam's Razor, felling the connection between worlds. Axis Mundi is the great city built on the ruins of Yggdrasil. Out of stone and steel and will and shattered dreams, we have raised edifices into the sky. With drills and shovels and need, we have sunk wells into dark places. In the void between spheres, we have built Worldscrapers, modern unbroken towers of Babel.
Roads criss-cross the spaces between the WorldScrapers, names like Styx, Ganges, Lethe, Shannon, Sambation, Pishon, Phlegethon, Gihon. Street shamans walk the ley lines between lanes, traced in reflective yellow and white paint until they merge with the freeways of Ymis and Oceanus. We drape the city Indra's electromagnetic Net under metal stars, as Comsat 5 enters Aries and the ISS is in conjunction with Pluto. We live in the buildings of Axis Mundi.
The WorldScrapers rise high into the clouds, which endless floors, elevators and stairwells. They are built in odd shapes, with huge patios and verandas. The floors and hallways of the Scrapers contain vast worlds in themselves with endless variety. A few floors up, you can find the chambers of Heaven or an endless garden or the overrun ruins of cubicles as far as the eye can see.
Eventually, the spires of Axis Mundi thrust through the layer of clouds and reach into the stratosphere into Skyeline, the city above the clouds. This is the realm of the iron angels, steel thunderbirds, and fiberglass phoenixes. Here the roof shamans jump from rooftop to rooftop, between the penthouse suites of the sky gods.
The basements, tunnels, sewers reach down into catacombs of Subwaye, the dark underworld of filth and refuse. Here the tunnel priests tend the river Acheron as the remains of the world transform under the weight and pressure of reality, like rock pressed into basalt and lava. The gods of earth and stone mine this quintessential ore, and forge the superstructure of reality, the framework on which of the facades of the world hang.
The city is full of spirits, both pastoral and urbane. It is where Rat, Cockroach, Dog, Cat and Spider share with Subway Car, Computer, Automobile and Streetlight.
The Elements - etiga
The role of the elements are as metaphysical cornerstones to the sacred universe, both in the macrocosm and microcosm. Not only do they provide an iconic representation for the constituent ingredients of the mystical, they act as heuristic landmarks in order to provide a method compass points for reckoning in magickal work.
There are six elements, corresponding to the points of an octahedron (which signifies space). The octahedren is situated so that four of the points point to the four cardinal directions, and one points up and and one down.
Earth - karuhm - North
Earth is gross matter and fertile soil. We are earth in bone and tissue. We grow our food in the soil and build our monuments out of stone and metal, the bones of the world. Earth is stability. Earth is limits and foundation. It is the cradle and framework in which thing grow.
Air - wus - East
Air is breath and sound and wind and gas. Air expands to fill all available space. We are connected by sounds carries by air and sustained by air in our lungs that has sustained a legion of others. We exchange parts of ourselves through air, through sound. Air is what connects people to people - communications, sounds, particles and wind currents.
Fire - xos - South
Fire is energy and power. Fire transforms wood to ash and stone to slag. It fuels engines, thaws ice, cooks meat and ignites fury. It is warmth of flesh and the heat of friction. It is the drive for glory and the purity of transformative redemption.
Water - shim - West
Water is liquid. It is the shifting of tides, the swell of passions. It is blood that pumps in our hearts and drives our hate, love, despair and nobility. It is the quenching of thirst and the damp taste of a lover's lips. Water nourishes life and drives us in waves.
Sun - rek - Up
The sun is light. It is constant. It shines down on us and fills the world with life, warming earth, wind and sea and igniting blazes. The sun shines in our minds and through our nerves. The sun casts out phantoms and illuminates dark places. The sun is the zenith of power, both spurring life and burning flesh in it's steady glare.
Shadow - tuhr - Down
Shadow is the space between. Shadow is the hidden place. It is a place to hide and a place for mysteries to be taught. Shadow is where dreams are born and where wisdom is tested against oblivion and existence. Shadow is a sanctuary. It is sleep, a place to heal, to recover and regroup. It is the darkness behind your eyelids when you close them at night.
Rapture - sazhda
Rapture is the internalization of the awe of the beauty of human existence. This holy passion is the faith in the inalienable grace of life and its expression through the mediums of joy, ecstasy and benevelonce.
The expression of Rapture is the vital consequence of its internalization. Through the sacrament of the sharing of joy, we confer that grace to others. We ourselves are the eucharist that we share with those who seek this grace. All parts of our self are components of this host, the flesh of our bodies, the empathy of our hearts, the wit of our minds and the energy of our character. We share all of these facets of ourselves in symbiotic offering to each other as vessels of sanctity and as pilgrims in search of that same consecration.
Principles of Rapture
The Cultivation of Truth - No one path has the monopoly on truth. Each path has seeds of inspiration and dross. We must scour these paths to find the kernels that fit our garden so that we can cultivate a crop of truth.
The Distillation of Passion - We are miracles. We are full of the holiness of joy and beauty and excellence. We are crucibles of the sacred power of the lakashim, the Sacred Pulse of Life. And it is our duty to distill passion from all things in life. Otherwise, the gift of life is wasted.
The Proliferation of Joy - All things that share joy without mishap or harm are sacred. They are the kiss and the caress of 'shaladal, the Jade Mother. All ways of sharing unsullied joy, whether they are yours or not, are sacred. We must offer this sacred power to all those who will accept it. It must be encouraged to grow and diversify. Holiness in the world does not come from its scarcity, rather the world becomes more holy through its contact with the sacred. Holy Passion is not a coin to be hoarded. It is a gift to be spread - an anti-disease to counter a world of pain.
The Observance of Respect - Each person walks a different road and it is their road to walk on. We cannot intrude on their journey without being asked. We must respect the turns they take and the fences they build. And similarly, not all who are asleep wish to be awaken. Just as we are allowed to walk our path, so must they. While we may offer our joy to them, we must understand that their path may take them elsewhere. If they refuse, we must not press. We must aid them in their path if we are allowed, however, as we must aid all who seek the sacred in all of its forms.
The Exploration of Mysteries - We must explore places that are both dark and warm. Our job is to experience and embody these mysteries and to offer them, as they are beyond the full description of words. We dwell in places that are beyond the paths of others. However, the paths that we must follow are not necessarily for all peoples. We act as keepers of these mysteries lest they be forgotten. We tend to them so that they may be found by those who seek them.
The Promotion of Compassion - Our Holy Passion connects us to others. We must offer them our love and benevolence. Many are the burdens of others, and we must strive to understand them, whether they are similar to our own or not. We must regularly offer kindness, both personal and anonymous, through charity, solace and mercy.
The Initiation of Neophytes - Those who do embrace the Mother should be met with caresses, kisses and joy. We offer them the dikuhsham bond. We guide the neophyte with compassion and love, we teach by sharing mind, heart, soul and body. We catalyze and connect and become more ourselves through their progression. And we must remember that we too learn from those we guide. We must become neophytes again ourselves so that we may be renewed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Wow.
You might want to edit in/reply with a pronunciation link, assuming the names are in Sinnish, since I don't remember what the leading 'apostophe means, and since I couldn't find that detail (which I know you once posted) when I searched back in your LJ.
Re: Wow.
Date: 2004-02-22 05:10 pm (UTC)Yeah, I understand that a lot of people don't have the same ideals I have or even a similar set of expressions of spirituality.
I hope I expressed the idea adequitely that I don't feel this is a One True Way(tm) sort of thing. One of the things that has stayed with me for many years was a story I heard about the World Council of Religions: the theologians were constantly arguing over the nature of God and such, but the rank-and-file ministers, priests and monks all got along famously. They understood that they were all people of faith, even if the expression of that faith was different. That's a true sign of grace, in my opinion.
It is mostly an expression of my own ideas. I'm just egotistical enough to think that it could be expanded by others in their own ways, though. I wouldn't pass up a Raptured coven if one suddenly formed ;)
The names are Sinnish (like I said, this expresses a lot of my obsessions *g*). The apostrophe has no phonetic value - it marks a proper noun, like having the word capitalized.
Re: Wow.
Date: 2004-02-22 05:55 pm (UTC)Then again, if I were to write down my own personal ideals, I probably wouldn't measure up to them as well as I'd like to either.
Re: Wow.
Date: 2004-02-22 06:05 pm (UTC)Re: Wow.
Date: 2004-02-22 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-22 06:46 pm (UTC)A very true statement. So few people realize this, they feel instead that if they have found a 'good thing' then it must be good for everyone else too! I am extremely impressed! It is wonderful to have made your acquaintance! I am so grateful that you have been brought into my circle!
I asked
In Troth,
Ayla
Re:
Date: 2004-02-22 06:51 pm (UTC)The things you wrote abotu Freyja really reminded me of what I was writing, so I decided to post what I had so far. If you are of a syncratist mindset, maybe Frejya and 'shaladal are different ways of looking at the same Goddess. Who knows? I like correspondences, but I realize there are not always any.
As for the thing with
-quietnodz-
Date: 2004-02-23 08:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-23 03:33 pm (UTC)The description of Axis Mundi was beautiful, it reminded me of something from Borges.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-24 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-25 03:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-23 05:25 pm (UTC)~Raven (who found you through Kyril)
my Master Plan
Date: 2004-02-24 05:38 am (UTC)Re: my Master Plan
Date: 2004-02-25 03:05 pm (UTC)Re: my Master Plan
Date: 2004-02-27 04:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-24 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-24 05:30 pm (UTC)~Raven
no subject
Date: 2004-02-25 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-19 02:12 am (UTC)Again, this part hit me like an arrow, so I must comment...
Street shamans walk the ley lines between lanes, traced in reflective yellow and white paint until they merge with the freeways of Ymis and Oceanus.
I am drab urban big tattooed skatepunk, sometimes on mountainbike slicing through traffic, sometimes waiting on the corner in a squat, trenchcoat and combatboots and disarming grin from a face tapped lovingly dozens of times by the ugly stick and other forces less metaphorical.
Many don't see me. More feel me, than want to admit it.
And like the idiotsage I am, I continue to grin.
Studentsensei.
Outside - in.
Thank you for being so generous with your efforts toward promotion of compassion. Focusing on my healer side rather than my warrior side is of vital importance on days like today...for I am about to belch forth a new moon and teeter on my axis as the Equinox tips us all.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-07 09:15 pm (UTC)Like the single crystal note from a song bird, or a crash of thunder, it resonates through my body until I vibrate on the same frequency.
Thank you.