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Holy Days

Celtic, Norse, Babylonian, Ancient Jewish, Egyptian, Holidays in May

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Here are the ancient alternative holy days for May’s first twelve days.

May 9 thru 12 looks rather freaky…  At Christmas many families put candles in the window in order to encourage this very event. Looks like our ancient forbears believed their dead returned home during the second week of May.

Ordained minister pastor church Bishop like Pharoah shepherd staff
Pharoah holding the shepherd’s crook of rulership, called the heqa. Modern bishops of the church carry the same staff

Today, May 6, is Shepherd’s Day, a day for Shepherd gods many of which pre-date Jesus by millennia – Osiris, Shiva, Dumuzi / Tammuz (pictured below right). The Shepherd’s crook can be seen in ancient tombs held by Pharoahs — it was the mark of the god Osiris and also the staff of office for a Pharoah.  A Christian bishop to this day must carry a Shepherd’s crook as proof of their high office. Pastor is a term for both ordained ministers and priests that means “shepherd.” May 6 Shepherds Day is an ancient holiday.  See below…

May 1 – May Day (European holy day)

           –  Babylonian Celebration of Asherah, also Called the Queen of Heaven.  Asherah is in the Bible. She was Yahweh-God’s wife. Women in the Old Testament actually complain to the corrupt ruling priesthood how bad life became after Hebrew women stopped “baking cakes” for Asherah. (This can be found in the Bible)

Wedding of Inanna and Dumuzi self officiating their sacred marriage
Sumerian Goddess Inanna and God Dumuzi one of the earliest Sacred Marriage bride and bridegroom couples

May 2 – Elena’s Day (Welsh)
– St. Helen’s Day (British)

May 4  – Celtic Festival of Cerridwen and Brigit – Corn Goddesses of fertility, healing, and poets.
– St. Monica’s Day (Irish)
– Veneration of the Thorn (Irish)
– Festival of Sheila Na Gig (Irish)

May 6  – Shepherd’s Day – Day to meditate on Deity as Lord of Animals and God as a Shepherd King: Dumuzi (Old Sumerian), Osiris (Egyptian), Pan (Old Greek), Shiva Pasupati (Hindu).

The Sumerian god Dumuzi was also spelled Tammuz. Sumeria was current-day Iraq, and near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers where the Garden of Eden supposedly stood. Tammuz’s initial was considered very sacred. The letter T, later called the Tau, was said to be “God’s mark” placed on the foreheads of the Hebrews in one of the Old Testament Bible stories. God told his prophet to make sure all his people got the Tau drawn on their forehead with oil or ash so they would be saved when an invading army came.

Another story in the Hebrew Bible has the priests aggravated because the women are carrying out an annual weeping ceremony for Tammuz / Dumuzi on the steps of the Temple! Maybe Mother Mary knew about that ancient “pagan” ceremony, it is said she was one of the temple “workers” aka priestesses. Then again, we know all the Divine Feminine elements were suppressed by Jesus aka Yeshua’s time, but the people of course still remembered them.

We discuss that in our God Has a Wife! slide show here.

May 6 – is also Eyvind Kelve Day, a Norse / Viking saint’s day.  Eyvind Kelve was a martyr for his faith, refusing to give up his old norse beliefs, put to death by a Christian-pagan King on this day (May 6) in 965 A.D.

LEMURIA  May 9 thru 12, or by some reckoning May 9, 11, and 13 (only the odd days) Lemuria or Lemuralia was a Roman festival when the spirits of the dead are thought to revisit their homes. You should place bowls of beans out or sprinkle beans around the house to make sure the ghosts don’t turn malevolent. Vestal Virgin priestesses would make a special salted wheat cake for the people to use on this day as an offering to their dead.

Become an ordained minister Mother Mary is a Moon Goddess and Queen of Heaven like Asherah Inanna Artemis and Diana
Mother Mary as a Moon Goddess and Queen of Heaven riding the moon holding her divine son, God of Humanity

May 9  – Greek Feast of Artemis.  Diana is her Roman name, she was very important moon Goddess to the ancients and many of her attributes — the moon at her feet, etc. — were later given to Mary, the Goddess of Christianity. Mary is also called the Queen of Heaven like Asherah mentioned above and like Inanna pictured above with Dumuzi.  When Christianity was still new and still quite pagan, Jewish and gnostic, priests were asked who was the mother of Mary? It isn’t listed in the Bible. They told them, her name was Anna — from In’Anna, the ancient Mesopotamian Goddess.

Holy Days

April 30 is May Eve — open your window a crack for the fairies to rest!

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It’s May Eve, (April 30 also called Valpurgisnacht) the night when European children (especially in Germanic and Celtic countries) open their windows a crack to allow the fairies to come in and rest.

Why do the fairies need to rest? Because they are flying around (some on brooms?!) battling the forces of darkness, chasing away the last vestiges of “dark” powers of non-growth aka winter and the cold half of the year. On May Day the warm half of the year begins.  At last.

Six months later to the day we always have another such battle when the “mean” fairies aka witches kinda win the sky battle. That would be Halloween of course.

If a fairy takes rest on your windowsill (because you left your window open for her) she will leave you a coin.  It’s like the tooth fairy, you see, both are old Germanic traditions.

 

Holy Days

Mother Earth Day, Sophia’s Day, Beltane and more esoteric holidays

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Earth Day esoteric online mystery school celtic priestess, goddess priestessApril 22 Earth Day – Day to honor the Earth and to meditate on Deity manifesting as Mother Earth
– Festival of Isthar (Babylonian)
– Feast of the Divine Couple (Japanese)
– Feast of Elaphebolia (Greek)

                  – Odin’s Day – Norse festival.

April 23        – European Festival of the Green Man, Spirit of Vegetation and Forests
– Sigurd’s Day (Germanic)

April 25    –  Holy Prophet Mani’s Day (he was born on this day in the 3rd century A.D.) Manichaeans were his followers, predecessors of modern gnostics
– Spring Festivals – Dedicated to Herne, Pan, Horned God.

Roman Robligalia – Corn Mothers (Ceres and Demeter) and Harvest.

Arbor Day – Day to honor trees, to plant trees, and to meditate on Deity manifesting as trees, such as Goddesses Helice/Willow (Greek) and Yggdrasill/Ash (Norse).

April 30 – Walpurgisnacht (Germanic)

        – Floralia Ends (Roman)

       – Beltane Begins at Sundown (Celtic, Wiccan)

       – Salus

       – St. Sophia’s Day

April 30 to May 2  –  Old Norse Feast marking the end of the dark half of the year, and beginning of the fruitful warm half of the year.

April 30 to May 2 – Beltane – three-day Celtic festival marking the arrival of summer in ancient times, celebrating Blodeuwedd (Goddess of Flowers) and Llew (Oak King, God of the Waxing Sun).

Holy Days

Esoteric Meaning of Easter, other April Holy Days

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Easter Holidays are called “MOVABLE HOLIDAYS” because they are based on the moon’s changes and on Spring Equinox, causing the dates they fall on to change every year. This year the Easter Holy Days — the High Holy Days of Christianity — start and end all in April. (Last year we had a rare March Easter).

Technically the Easter Cycle began with Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday — the beginning of 40-days of Lent back in early March. Now we are coming out of that long journey of Lent.  Why is Lent called a “long journey?” For centuries upon centuries, beginning in ancient times, people  sacrifice something during these 40 days. Meat has been a popular thing to give up for 2000 years, but nowadays people give up things like sodas, desserts, drinking alcohol, partying, movies, etc. and instead focus on spiritual study.

Esoteric Easter Holy Days this Week:

Today is PALM SUNDAY – Christian feast marking Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem to teach love and justice for all humanity and to sacrifice Himself for the liberation and redemption of all.

HOLY THURSDAY: Last Supper of Jesus – Women, children and men attended. Yeshua / Jesus washed the feet of his students to teach them by example their duty was to BE OF SERVICE to fellow humanity, gave them bread and wine symbolizing His body and blood, the spiritual forces that would bind them together forever. Yeshua also told of the Paraclete (aka the Holy Spirit) who would come  to guide them internally after they no longer had Him physically present.  To see another painting showing men, women and children at the Last Supper, visit our page 11 Esoteric Days in Spring, The Kristian Easter Cycle Events

PASSOVER – Jewish festival recalling their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and celebrating freedom from oppression. It is connected to the Last Supper because Jesus / Yeshua, his family and students, were  celebrating Passover, having a Seder Meal, with special flat bread and wine, like Jews still celebrate it today.

EASTER SUNDAY – Christian celebration of Jesus’ resurrection by the power of the Holy Spirit.

GOOD FRIDAY, ANOINTING DAY, & OTHER EASTER WEEK DAYS – For in depth coverage and esoteric meanings of the entire Easter Cycle, and to follow along with our observances of the alternative Easter Holy Days, visit this page:
11 Esoteric Days in Spring, The Kristian Easter Cycle Events

Pre-Christian Holy Days in April

April 14 – Norse Festival of Sommarsblot

April 15 – Celtic Tree Month of Willow begins
– Feast of Tellus Mater (Roman)
– Festival of Ba’ast, Feast of Bast (Egyptian cat goddess)

April 16  –  St. Padarn’s Day (Celtic)
– Feast of St. George (Byzantine)

April 15-17 Feast of the Seas – Honoring God-Goddess as Olokun-Yemaya (Yoruba/Santeria) and Okeanos-Tethys (Old Greek).

April 18 – Thargelia (Greek)
-Rava Navami (Hindu)

Ancient Order of Melchizedek

How to Pronounce the Ineffable Name of God

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The true Name of the Divine (God / Goddess / Deity / Divine Consciousness) according to Judeo-Christian belief is considered ineffable — unpronounceable. But the initiates know how to utter it. Actually they have to learn to “hear” it first.

For millennia Judaism has protected the secret of the sound of God’s name.  After the fall of Jerusalem, and the long exile that followed, it is believed the Jews lost the true pronunciation.  It is feared no one was teaching it, no one was passing down the secret of HaShem (code word for the Name of God) — they were all being killed.

But we know tiny pockets of initiates DID survive over the centuries,  for example in Babylon (Iraq) and Safed (Northern Israel near Galilee). The Babylonian Jews finally left Iraq, but they still knew the Sound of the Name. The Safed mystics and initiates are still there in Northern Israel.

The Name of God has been passed down in an unbroken line. How to “hear” it and then utter it (in one’s mind– always be careful about speaking it out loud) is one of the secret teachings of western mystery schools.

Our Ancient Order of Melchizedek carries on the tradition of protecting this secret. Melchizedek is the first high priest of the Judeo-Christian Creator God and is mentioned in Genesis. He is believed to be the one who first taught the Ineffable Name of God to Abraham, who then passed it on. Melchizedek also gave Abraham communion — a “sacrifice” of bread and wine in the Name of that same God. See more about Melchizedek below.

Even in our first set Mystery School lessons we touch upon how to take steps toward “hearing” the Ineffable Name. Come to think of it, we talk about taking steps both literally and figuratively!  We  teach new members an easy technique of walking-prayer and walking-chanting that facilitates the hearing / receiving of the Name.

Ineffable Name Order of Melchizedek Pronounce the Secret Name of God
Melchizedek gives Abraham the first “mystery” aka communion of bread and wine in the Name of the Creator-God

More about Melchizedek:
The Book of Genesis tells us the enigmatic character Melchizedek was “the High Priest of El Elyon”. He served this mysterious God-of-the-Name, the same God-of-Abraham and when these two men met, Melchizedek gave the first communion bread and wine in the Bible (right in Genesis) and in the entire faith tradition.  When a bishop makes a priest the bishop says, “Thou art a priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek”, because vestiges of this ancient priesthood have managed to survive — just barely — right in the Roman Catholic Church! In some of the “heretic” lines of the priesthood, the actual secret of the Name has been passed down. Becoming ordained a priest (including ordination as a woman priest) involves receiving certain secret teachings passed on by your bishop, which s/he got from his/her bishop.

Other code names for HaShem (the Name) are:

Codes used in Speech:
Adonai (means “The Lord”)
Ado-Shem (a combination of Adonai and HaShem meaning “The Name of the Lord”)

Codes used in writing:
G-d (is a respectful way to type the word God by leaving out the vowel and using a dash in its place. Modern Jews do this in all articles, emails, written materials, etc.)

When Writing it In the Bible:
YHVH:  which gave rise to Yahweh, Jehovah
Elohim (kind of means “gods and goddesses”)
Amen (survived from very ancient times, going back to Egyptian pre-historical era)

 

Knights Templar

Christians to be executed for Blasphemy in Pakistan

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Templars, protectors of all Followers-of-Yeshua, let us ride to protect condemned and persecuted Christians

Knights Templar Defend Persecuted Christians around the worldall over the world, in keeping with the original mission of the historical Templars. Let’s focus on this couple sentenced to death in Pakistan for “blaspheming Mohammed” in a text message supposedly. Send them Strength. Send Will to their public-defender to assist in getting their appeal.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26901433

 

 

Holy Days

Esoteric Alternative Holy Days for first week of April, Iroquois, Hindu, Ancient Greek, Roman

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Esoteric alternative occult goddess holidays
The Awakening formerly called The Return (of Persephone and of Spring) by Jonathan Earl Bowser

See the list below of esoteric alternative holidays this week.  Several are Divine Feminine holy days. We see Sky Woman, and Maha Devi, not to mention the return of Persephone, aka her ascension back from hell bringing the Return of Spring with her (pictured right). This painting used to be called simply the Return, but now it’s called the Awakening.  I like both since the latter implies a spiritual awakening alongside the physical “awakening” of the fertile mother earth.  Below are the rest of the holidays — Buddha’s birthday is cool this time of year, too.  And be ready for the Goddess of Fate day on the 5th! May Fortuna Smile Upon You, was the ancient Roman greeting…

April 1 thru 4  – Iroquois Thunder Ceremony – In thanksgiving for the rains. Iroquois believe Sky Woman descended from the Sky and Created Earth.

April 2 thru 10  – Hindu Festival honoring Maha Devi as Gauri – life, growth, and fruition.

April 3  – the Ascension of Persephone
–  Buddha’s Birthday  563 BCE (Although the Zen Buddhists celebrate his birthday on the 8th of April)

April 4  – Greek Megalesia of Cybele – Games dedicated to the Great Mother (Greek).

April 5 – Roman Day of Fortuna – Goddess of Fate (Roman).

Divine Mother

Sophia, Goddess of Wisdom, Earth’s God the Mother

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Pamela Lanides+ co-moderator of the Mystery School’s GoddessChristians forum finds all kinds of good stuff about the Divine Feminine, Holy Mother, Goddess in the Bible, etc. She posted the following interesting-looking Sophia links, the third one being from our own Mystery School  / Seminary website.

Gnosticism, Christianity and Sophia

Articles:  Gnostic Myths, Gnosis and Salvation, Gnostic Myths of Sophia, Sophia: Jewish Origins, The Disappearance of Sophia, Sophia and Feminist Spirituality

The Sophia of Jesus Christ

Excerpt:

The Savior laughed and said to them: “What are you thinking about? Are you perplexed? What are you searching for?”
Philip said: “For the underlying reality of the universe and the plan.”

Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom, God’s Wife, Prayers to Holy Sophia

This is our Seminary’s website:  http://www.northernway.org/sophia.html

And Pamela+ says this site seems to be a good summary of Gnosticism, in general. It’s a long article and covers Blavatsky’s Sophia beliefs.

Gnostic Christianity & the Myth of Sophia

Excerpt: the ancient truths have been released to the masses of humanity in the   form of allegory. The Myth of Sophia is such an allegory. It is the central   motif of the Gnostic books. Sophia is the Greek name for wisdom; to the   Gnostics she was revered because she was another symbol of the Gnosis.   Most of their cosmological texts contain variations of this story. The story   itself has parallels in many religious traditions.

First we will outline the myth, then present an explanation, seen  esoterically. There are many layers to any allegory; Blavatsky says there are   seven keys to unlock the secrets. These thoughts are offered merely as an   overview, a glance at a few of the most obvious aspects.