@NLauterius@DJ__Bolger The Bible states that Lucifer is the morning star (Venus) and it mentions that Jesus is the bright and shining morning star (Venus)
Thinking connects us to the past
(what has already formed)
Feeling lives in a kind of living present.
Willing
(your impulses, actions)
points toward the future.
People think of Zen as a path that leads somewhere….to some distant state of consciousness called “enlightenment” that they’ll reach if they practice long enough, read enough, or understand enough. Zen is not a path to enlightenment. It is the practice of it. It begins the moment you stop trying to become something else. Enlightenment isn’t rare or exotic. It isn’t reached through rituals or found inside sacred texts or holy books. It’s just being here, fully, without reaching for anything beyond what’s already present.
Over and over, Zen brings us back to direct experience. No reliance on doctrine, no dependence on ceremony…just attention. Just presence. The moment you stop searching for something more, you realize there was never anything missing.
@hussein_9797@ZherkaOfficial@TheKanehB When you grew up with your parents did you love them because you were afraid they would punish you if you didn’t or did you love them authentically but also fear their punishment for acting a fool?
Persephone’s descent into the underworld is more than myth
it’s a story of initiation
When Persephone was taken by Hades
only Hekate heard her cry
Not the distant gods
but the one who stayed and walks in shadow
Hekate became the torchbearer
The guide between worlds
The presence that sees in darkness
Persephone returns not as a victim
but as Queen of the Underworld
And Hekate remains beside her
guardian of thresholds
keeper of the path
This is the truth
We don’t avoid the descent
We learn to see within it
True prayer is the act of spending time in the company of some aspect of the Divine. It's at least as much a matter of listening as of talking. Approach the deity to whom you pray as you would a much older and wiser friend and you're likely to get it right. Speak and then listen attentively, or just be in the presence of the deity.
Maybe you had the experience in childhood of sitting with a beloved grandparent. The two of you might not have exchanged more than a few words, if any; there you were, side by side on the sofa; Grandpa was reading the newspaper, and you were reading a picture book and slowly piecing together what the letters spelt out -- and yet the memory is one of great closeness and comfort. That's a very powerful kind of prayer. Mystics call it the prayer of simple regard, or when it's turned into a sustained discipline, the practice of the presence of God.
The important point is that you build a relationship with the Divine the way you build any other relationship, by spending time with the other person. Prayer in all its many forms is how you do that with the Divine.
Time for the next installment of: becoming a wizard.
THE MIND PALACE
What I'm going to teach you now works perfectly in conjunction with MASTERING THE SPHERE.
The goal of these meditations is to become adept at using your imagination purposefully, vividly.
THE MIND PALACE is a place that you design in your mind. Not only do you design the environment, but you embody yourself in your mind, in the mind palace and you move around and interact with the environment.
Mastering the sphere alone can be daunting, but the more immersed you can become in your inner dimension, the easier it will be to master any object of your design.
To begin I'd recommend starting out with a medium-sized room with no details. Embodying yourself in this room and moving around will give you something to concentrate on that will feel familiar.
From here you can add things to your room, go through a door into a different room, create shapes, items, talismans, weapons. Creating something in your imagination and returning to it daily is a great way to improve your imaginative abilities. As more details emerge, that level of detail becomes the norm.
Build your MIND PALACE.
MASTER THE SPHERE.
You almost have all the tools you'll need to begin doing astral magick.
The 9 choirs of angels
1. Seraphim ("burning ones")
The highest choir, closest to God's throne. They burn with intense love for God, continually worship and praise Him (singing "Holy, holy, holy"), and contemplate His divine perfection most directly.
2. Cherubim ("fullness of wisdom")
They contemplate God's wisdom, providence, and knowledge. Often depicted as guardians of sacred spaces (e.g., the Garden of Eden or the Ark of the Covenant), they protect divine mysteries and special holy places.
3. Thrones (or Ophanim)
They represent God's justice, stability, authority, and judgment. They reflect divine steadfastness and submission, and are associated with carrying out or manifesting God's righteous decrees and cosmic order.
4. Dominions (or Dominations)
They oversee the broader government of the universe, acting as angelic "managers" or regulators. They direct lower choirs, mediate God's authority, and ensure the execution of divine will across creation.
5. Virtues
They govern natural laws, miracles, and the causes/effects in the physical world (sometimes described as overseeing elements like gravity or natural forces). They strengthen creation's order and enable God's power to work through natural and supernatural events.
6. Powers (or Authorities)
Warriors of the heavenly host, they combat evil forces (especially demons), protect the cosmic order from chaos, and maintain balance against spiritual threats or disruptions.
7. Principalities (or Princes)
They oversee large groups of people, such as nations, cities, churches, institutions, or leaders. They guide and influence collective human affairs, cultures, and societal structures according to God's plan.
8. Archangels
Chief messengers for major divine announcements and missions. Known examples include Michael (protector and leader in battle), Gabriel (announcer of key events like the Annunciation), and Raphael (healer and guide). They deliver God's most important messages to humanity.
9. Angels (guardian angels or simply "angels")
The lowest choir, closest to humans. They act as personal messengers, protectors, and guides — most notably as guardian angels assigned to individual people to watch over, pray for, guide, and assist them throughout life.
Here’s all the scriptures that deal with this topic.
We “be to do” not “do to be” - God has declared you GOOD so now you do good, not that you do good so that God may declare you GOOD.
Faith and dependence on God (“Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner”) is what justifies someone. While these verses may seem works-based it’s actually their faith in God being evidenced by and proven through their works.
“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Daniel 12:2
“Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”
John 5:28-29
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46
“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 20:12-15
“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayedthus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.””
Luke 18:9-14
Trying To Figure Out Gnosticism
Mindy Robinson joins Alex Stein to discuss the idea of Gnosticism and what the belief entails.
@alexstein99@alexstein69420@iheartmindy