Today is Ash Wednesday, an important day to the historical Knights Templar as well as esoteric Christians in ages past. It begins a sacred 40-day period during which we try to give up certain pleasures or things that we are better off without anyway.
Doing without something we normally enjoy teaches us valuable self-discipline, a skill that comes in handy throughout life! Fasting does the same thing, which is why many denominations teach fasting. Both Lent and fasting, of course, help us to walk that holy path that leads to the Divine One.
The Templars had four 40-day periods they honored each year. This one — Great Lent — is of course the most sacred of them all.
Why is it called “ash” Wednesday? Because on this day we are to go to a priest who will dip his right thumb into a pot of ashes and make a equal-bar cross on our forehead. The Templars did this and Catholics all over the world are doing it right now. You then go the rest of the day walking around going about your duties with the cross made of ashes on your forehead. You are not supposed to wash it off.
If you can’t get to a priest, you can make your own cross out of ashes.
Today, October 13, is Templar Remembrance Day, the day the historical Templars were betrayed by the King of France and arrested en masse to be tried and executed as heretics. On that fateful day in 1307 it also happened to be Friday, and this is the origin of the unlucky Friday the 13th.
Ash Wednesday is today. It was an important holiday to the Knights Templar who followed four of these forty day fasts each year, this one — Great Lent — being the greatest.
The Hidden Lighthouse says:
“In the Catholic churches the branches of the sago palm are blessed on Palm Sunday. The acceptable way to dispose of such blessed palms is to burn them.[The ashes are then saved all year until Ash Wednesday comes]
The ashes from these burnt palms are applied to the foreheads of Catholics on Ash Wednesday and the remainder of the ashes are left in shallow bowl at the entrance of the church as a reminder of our ashen mortality during the rest of Lent.
There in that ancient ritual of the Catholic church is the phoenix, the palm, and the ashes all tied in together. Plus it helps one to see the deep spirituality that [J.K.] Rowling has embedded in the stories of little Harry Potter, the quintessential Ego, a young kid taking on the ancient dark forces of evil and conquering them.
Smith also notes the connection between phoenix and the palm tree because Phoenix in Greek means palm tree.”
Gnosis.org says:
“The significant rite of the beginning of Lent is the signing with the ashes on Ash Wednesday. The sign of the cross is traced upon the forehead with the words, “Remember Thou, O soul, that thy body is dust and unto dust it shall return.” These words signify a release from the identification of the self with the mortal and corruptible body and personality. A detachment from our conventional identification with our mortal shell can result in an altered state of consciousness where our bodies can communicate to us a spiritual reality and we can develop in actuality a more caring attitude toward it. St. Francis often referred to his mortal frame as his humble and dutiful “donkey” that bore him through this life, like the donkey that bore the blessed Virgin to Bethlehem.” — Read the rest of this Homily for Ash Wednesday here.
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From ‘The Second Coming of Christ’ by Yogananda
“Today is Ash Wednesday, starting Lent, the lead-up to Easter. On Ash Wednesday traditionally the palms from Palm Sunday are burned and the ashes are placed by the priest on devotees’ mid-forehead (same place as the spiritual eye).
The eight days of Hanukkah began tonight at sunset. It continues until December 24th, this year.
Ancient Jewish Coin of the Maccabees
Yeshua & Magdalene, and Mary the Holy Mother all observed this beautiful holiday in their day. I wonder if their local synagogues had small menorahs to light, or if they had miniature ones at home like modern Jews use.
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is probably the “newest” festival on the Jewish calendar (though it still predates all of Christianity!). Even so, Jews celebrate Hannukah as fervently – perhaps even more fervently than – their other festivals. Hannukah is derived from the Book of Maccabees, and it commemorates the eight-day celebration that occurred when the Jews were able to recapture and rededicate the Temple in 164 B.C. In addition to celebrating this military victory, it also celebrates a miracle.
Ancient mosaic discovered in Israel
The Temple-liberators, the Maccabees, were only able to find one jar of consecrated oil, which was used to keep the Eternal Flame alight in the Temple. It should only have burned a day, but it ended up lasting eight days, long enough for more oil to arrive and be consecrated. In addition to this patriarchal military victory, two women are honored at this time of year: Judith, who saved Judah from being conquered by a general under Nebuchadnezzar; and Hannah, the mother of seven sons who died with them instead of bowing to a foreign idol. There is a plethora of information on Hannukah, please do research it. Hannukah is a celebration of light overcoming darkness (good overcoming evil, God’s chosen ones overcoming oppression) and is therefore a very rich part of our Esoteric tradition.
When the Maccabees reclaimed the Temple, not only was there no pure oil accessible, but many of the Temple vessels were ransacked, including the Menorah. When the Maccabees finally found a small flask of oil, they made a make-shift menorah out of spears, and lit the oil which should have lasted only one day. God made an incredible miracle and the oil lasted for eight days.
Why did the miracle come about through oil? Why didn’t God miraculously create a Menorah?
Hanukkah is about remembering the hidden essence, the beauty based on what’s inside, not the external façade. Thus the miraclehappened with the oil, not the Menorah itself. There was plenty of oil around, but they were missingspiritually pure oil.
You may know the basic props of Hanukkah: a menorah, a dreidel and chocolate coins. But here’s the inside story on Hanukkah, which began Tuesday at sundown.
Q • Isn’t this a no-big-deal Jewish holiday that’s pumped up just because it falls so close to Christmas?
Hanukkah is considered a minor Jewish holiday, and the story it commemorates — the ancient and outnumbered Maccabees who triumphed over their Hellenistic oppressors to preserve their faith — is not based in the Torah, the Hebrew Bible.
And there’s no denying that Hanukkah is a bigger deal in majority Christian nations because it’s celebrated near — and sometimes on — Christmas. With all the Christmas hoopla, it’s not surprising that Jews have turned Hanukkah into a grander celebration than it might have been otherwise.
But Hanukkah is still important, and underscores one of the most significant themes in Jewish history: the struggle to practice Judaism when powerful forces seek to extinguish it.
Q • Why does the miracle of Hanukkah lead Jews to eat jelly donuts?
It’s all about the oil. When the pious Maccabees reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem, around 165 B.C. , they found only enough unadulterated oil to light the temple’s candelabra, or menorah, for one day. But miraculously, according to the Talmud, a body of rabbinic teaching, the oil lasted for eight days.
To celebrate Hanukkah, aka the Festival of Lights, Jews light a candle on the first night of Hanukkah, two on the second, and one more on each successive night of the eight-night holiday. Gastronomically, Hanukkah focuses on foods cooked in oil, most typically latkes (potato pancakes fried in oil) and jelly donuts.
Q • Hanukkah? Chanukkah, Hanukka. How come there are a million different ways to spell it?
Variations abound mostly because of the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the “chet,” with which the word “Hanukkah” begins in Hebrew. “Chet” doesn’t have an equivalent in English. And the double K’s? In classical Hebrew, there’s a dot in the middle of the Hebrew letter “kaf,” which indicates an especially robust “k” sound.
Q • OK, now that I know how to spell it, what does it mean?
Hanukkah means “dedication” in Hebrew, in that the temple, which had been turned into a pagan shrine, was rededicated to God.
Q • Do Jewish children get presents on all eight nights of Hanukkah?
Ah, the Jewish parents’ dilemma: They want their kids to appreciate Hanukkah, and not be jealous of friends who will be visited by Santa; but they don’t want children to equate Hanukkah only with presents. A common practice is to give a biggish present on the last night and small to medium presents on other nights, taking breaks with no-present nights.
Q • What’s with the spinning top?
Spinning a dreidel, chocolate coins called gelt
It’s called a dreidel (from the Yiddish, the language of many European Jews) and it’s practically the official game of Hanukkah. The dreidel (pronounced “DRAY-del”) has four sides, each with a Hebrew letter that stands for the saying “a great miracle happened there” — “there” being Jerusalem. If you’re in Israel, the letters stand for “a great miracle happened here.” Depending on which letter the dreidel lands on, you get a certain amount of chocolate coins, paper clips, raisins … whatever you are playing for.
Q • How come there are no good Hanukkah songs?
There are. You’re just not going to hear them on the radio in the U.S. because Jews are less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, and there isn’t a big market for these tunes. Plus, some of the best Hanukkah songs are in other languages spoken by Jews. But if you’re looking for a catchy Hanukkah song in English, try the Maccabeats’ “Miracle” or Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Light One Candle,” which is a famous folk song that many people don’t know is actually about Hanukkah.
On this day — October the 13th — in 1307 the Knights Templar members were declared heretics and rounded up en masse to be burned at the stake. It happened on a Friday the 13th and is the origin of that day’s unluckiness, say historians.
Our New Order of the Knights Templar has observed this day for a couple of decades now by wearing black and fasting. In this way we honor our Templars of the past and connect with them in the present.
Light fasting is okay for those of you whose health conditions prevent full fasting.
Knights Templar still battle today on the spiritual plane
The original mission of our Templar brothers and sisters of the past was to protect Christian pilgrims from Muslim attack as they traveled to worship at sacred sites. Millions of Muslims travel to Mecca each year, but about a thousand years ago, tens of thousands of Christian devotees would make pilgrimages to visit Jerusalem and other sites holy to their religion. The muslims in charge didn’t want them coming, so they gave their soldiers standing orders to murder Christian visitors on site — after robbing them and sometimes worse. The Templars were founded approximately a thousand years ago to stop these attacks and protect the Christian devotee pilgrims. They ended up in many a pitched battle with Muslim armies.
If a Templar were caught he would be automatically beheaded rather than offered the option to convert to Islam. Templars were not given the “traditional” option to convert to Islam because the Muslims knew they would never renounce their faith, even to avoid beheading. Every year since 1999 I post to our Templar members on YahooGroups about Templar Remembrance Day, how we observe it with fasting and wearing black, and mention this beheading thing. I looked at last year’s post. My words are almost identical. Last year I mentioned forced conversions of Christians in Syria and Egypt. I had no idea that this year we would ALL know what beheading was like. Who knew that vile practice would be revived again by the dark side of Islam? Of course they behead their own “criminals” in Saudi Arabia in a regular gruesome way (Saudi citizens are so oppressed), but this Muslims vs. the West beheading crap has not been seen for centuries.
Last year I also said this: The enemy is on the rise, so let us not forget today, our special Templar-Veterans Day. It is believed that those Templar “veterans” of the past rise up whenever religious minorities of the West (especially Christians and Jews) are under attack.
Join with your fellow Templars of the present in wearing black and fasting today. Renew your vow to protect religious minorities.
The Prime numbers magically stack up on the points of the famous Templar splayed cross. This is used in our Templar initiations.
Sophia Goddess of Wisdom presides over Sofia, Bulgaria. Notice the owl, symbol of Athena another wisdom goddess
Oct 2 – Druid Feast of the Guardian Spirits
Oct 4 – St. Francis of Assisi Day, one of the most “pagan” of the Christian saints, he coined terms “brother sun, sister moon”, and honored the covenant between humans and the animal kingdom. His mother is rumored to have been a closet Cathar heretic.
Oct 9 – 11 Feast of Divine Wisdom – Source of all knowledge, honoring God-Goddess as Odin-Frigg (Norse); and Goddess as Sophia / Wisdom (Christian), Truth / Maat (Egyptian), Metis (Greek), Sarasvati (Hindu), & Manat (Arabic-Sufi).
As we have done every year since 2002, please join Mystery School initiates and especially our Templar spiritual-warriors, in observing this day of remembrance. All you need is a candle and a bell — or a glass with a spoon to substitute for the latter.
From our Mystery School’s holy days of the year calendar:
September 11 Remembrance Day With Candleworkings and Bell-Tolling
Strike a bell one time at the exact moment of 8:46 a.m. Eastern Time when the first plane hit Tower One, the North Tower in NYC. If you don’t have a bell, you can strike a glass with a spoon. The ringing sound — called a tolling — has long been used to remember souls of the dead. You may also wish to toll at the following significant times (all Eastern Daylight Time):
9:03 a.m. when the second plane hit the South Tower
9:37 a.m. when American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon
9:59 a.m. when the South Tower fell
10:06 a.m. when Flight 93 hit the ground in Shanksville, PA
10:29 a.m. when the North Tower fell
Light a taper or small votive candle for each Sept 11 victim you knew by name, or knew of — such as a friend of a friend, distant acquaintance, or any victim you felt emotionally connected to such as someone from your home-town, alma mater, etc. You may also toll your bell for each name you know. If you didn’t know any of the victims by name, that’s fine, just perform the rest of the ritual as follows.
Next light a column candle to symbolize all the victims. If you have one of those fat round column candles, they serve as a good representation for all victims. Red is a good candle color for remembrance. Multi-wicked column candles are especially appropriate because they represent humanity or large groups of people. The three-wick candles symbolize body, mind and soul, the three aspects of human beings.
After you light the candle or candles, hold each one up first toward New York City (where the first deaths occurred), then toward Washington DC, and finally toward southwestern Pennsylvania near the town of Shanksville. You may need a map to help you determine which direction these places are from your specific geographic location. Say in each direction, “Ignis Vitae Flagra In Aeturnum” or its English equivalent, “(May) this light-of-life burn in eternity.” Then place the candle with reverence in a window or on your altar or other special spot. Finish with a bell-tolling of three. If you want to go deeper into remembrance, you can look up the list of over 3000 victims and recite their names. Children of the victims did this recitation of names in 2002 and 2003, taking several hours to speak them all.
Keep in mind that in some places in the world today, as was done in Britain in 2003, there are groups celebrating September 11 as a sick kind of “defeat” or victory over the West. They honor the 19 hijackers, calling them the “Magnificent 19,” praising them with huge rallies and celebrations while screaming promises of future attacks against Americans, British, Christian and Jewish peoples.
You may wish to contemplate the Dalai Lama’s advice to Americans on Sept 11, 2003 as follows:
The Tibetan Buddhist leader, who in 2003 came on a five-city, 20-day tour of the United States timed to coincide with the Sept. 11 anniversary, called on Americans to channel their lingering grief “into a source of inner strength.”
“Big, unthinkable tragedies happen,” he said. “Now, instead of keeping that and developing hatred or sense of revenge, instead of that, think long-term. The negative event, try to transform into a source of inner strength.”
Aug 29 – Sept 11: Return of Isis & Osiris (star Sirius, rising Nile waters)
Sept 2 – Grape Vine Festival honoring Ariadne & Dionysus
Sept 8 – Birthday of Virgin Mary & DESCENT OF THE HOLY SOPHIA The Descent of the Holy Sophia falls on September 8th. In the Roman calendar this day celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and prefigures the sacred birth of Jesus. In the Gnostic tradition, part of Sophia returns to the aeons, to her true home, and part of her being symbolically returns to the lower regions or to earth. She comes to earth to be with us, her children, to be our consolation and the inspiration of our love. By this image we have the promise that we are not left alone in our darkness but have Sophia’s abiding presence in our lives. (from: http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/cal_mandala.htm )
Sept 9 – 11, Feast of Mother Earth (Greek, etc)
Sept 11 Remembrance Day Click to read our alternative church’s esoteric observance of this holiday — Knights Templar, Angelic Alliance
Summer Solstice at StonehengeIshtar Goddess of Syria and Babylon (modern Iraq) May she bring peace to her homeland
Summer Solstice!
Longest day of the year, a day most chosen to get married. This is the holy day opposite earth’s orbit from Christmas, the solar “birth” holidays. Luckily this is not a solar “death” holiday, although some in the “Dark Side” of the spiritual world do think of this day as a “death of god” day, the idiots. Never will understand the hardcore darkside — as if they would survive if the sun didn’t?!
Look at all the Goddesses connected to the Summer Solstice holiday. Some of them are from homelands in the news today. Iraq is certainly in the news currently, as is Syria. We have Ishtar, the Babylonian and Syrian goddess who gave her name to Easter, and whose birthday is considered Summer Solstice. Brazil and the World Cup are also in the news, and is represented by Yemaya, the Brazilian goddess honored on Summer Solstice.
Scroll on down to see the ancient Egyptian holiday, Roman holiday (this was Hera’s Day!), and even Native American, ancient Hindu, and Druid holidays. This is quite a day worldwide and has been for millennia.
June 21: Summer Solstice (Click for more info on this ancient holiday) Here are all the deities — many Sacred Feminine ones — connected to this holy day through the ages.
– Day of Cerridwen and her Cauldron (English/Welsh)
– Day of Aine of Knockaine (Irish)
– Day of the Green Man (Northern Europe)
– The Great Mother (British)
– Alban Hefin (Druidic)
– Waa-Laa Ends (Native American)
– Litha (Wiccan)
– All Hera’s Day (Roman)
– Ishtar’s Day (Babylonian)
– Astarte’s Day (Canaanite)
– Aphrodite’s Day (Greek)
– Yemaya’s Day (Brazilian)
– Aine’s Day (Irish)
See also notes here about June Solstice holidays, including the other days coming after it.
June 23: Celtic Day of the Green Man – In honor of Herne, Cernernos, Lugh.
The Knights Templar Revered John the Baptist and were said to have preserved his head
June 24: TEMPLAR HOLY DAY. In the Roman calendar this day was thought to be Summer Solstice. The Church renamed this pagan holiday to St. John the Baptist Day. Templars revered it highly. On Jun 24, 1314 a mysterious band of knights joined Robert the Bruce of Scotland on the battlefield making his victory at Bannockburn possible. These knights could only have been the a troop of disbanded and now in-hiding Templars who had fled to western Scotland. St. John’s day was used by Freemasons in 1717 to found the first public (non-Scottish) Order of Freemasonry in London. Masonic teachings are said to descend from the esoteric Christianity of Templarism. St. John the Baptizer was beheaded because he wouldn’t give in and sacrifice his principles. This is a Templar ideal, as is the constancy and regularity — order out of chaos — of the solstices and equinoxes. So for both reasons, Christian and “pagan,” we observe this day. See also notes here.
– Feast of the Sun (Aztec)
– Feast of St. John the Baptist
– Midsummer Bride (Swedish)
– Inti Raymi (Incan)
– Lady Luck (European)
– Burning of the Lamps at Sais (Egyptian)
June 25 – Parvati Praise Day – Hindu Women’s Festival for Earth Mother. June 27 – Roman Day of the Lares – Household Deities honored and tended
– Initium Aestatis (Roman)
– Arretophoria (Greek)
June 28 – Festival of the Tarasque (French) June 29 – Shiva Day – Hindu Lord of the Dance invoked for blessings
– Runic New Year
– Petosiris’ Day (Egyptian)
– St. Peter’s Day
– Herb Harvesting Day (East Anglican)
Significantly, the article states “The text maintains a vision similar to Islam, contradicting the New Testament’s teachings of Christianity. Jesus also foresees the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, who would found Islam 700 years later.” It also states “It is believed that, during the Council of Nicea, the Catholic Church hand-picked the gospels that form the Bible as we know it today; omitting the Gospel of Barnabas (among many others) in favor of the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Many biblical texts have begun to surface over time, including those of the Dead Sea and Gnostic Gospels; but this book especially, seems to worry the Vatican.”
This is what the Assyrian International News Agency (an organization I have not vetted) had to say: “Muslims, liberal and secular organizations have portrayed this discovery as something that undermines Christianity, ignoring the many problems with this book and presenting it as virtual fact. In fact, in their zeal to support the anti-Christian narrative, they have withheld or suppressed information questioning the authenticity of this book. For these organizations and individuals, this is another tool in their arsenal for the attack on the foundations of Christian doctrine.” http://www.aina.org/news/2012022916569.htm
At one time, I just ignored posts such as the first one referenced, but now I respond to these posts with facts. For example: the statement, along with many others in the article, that “during the Council of Nicea, the Catholic Church hand-picked the gospels that form the Bible” indicates the poster is ignorant of basic historical facts.
Because so many people believe much of what they read on the internet, there will be many more of these high search result propaganda articles. Hopefully, accurate responses will rank higher in the search engines.
A primary mission of the modern Templars is responding to such posts in an accurate and factual manner.
+James
Teaching the Ancient Wisdom Mystery Traditions online since 1999
