Building the Temple

"Casting the circle is also called Building or Raising the Temple, and perhaps this is a more accurate naming. It is one of the great privileges and wonders of this path that we can celebrate our rites anywhere, that all the world is our temple, all ground holy ground, and the power to create a sacred sanctuary lies within us.

Whether we cast circle by walking three blessings round or by visualizing our center expanding to enclose us, the Circle we create is sacred, the temple built to welcome our gods. Thus, circle casting is a solemn and joyous event - by the power of our love and the magic that flows in our veins, we make the profane sacred, we step between the worlds, between moments, to face Truth and Beauty.

Casting circle, raising the temple, in the same place changes the energy of that place. The residual energies permeate the place, even though the circle is closed at the end of each rite."

This is an entry from a journal I kept several years ago. It surprises me sometimes to read old entries and hear them echoing things I'm rediscovering now.

The Best 404 experience

Google Image Result for http://www.shell.linux.se/simon/gif%20bilder/nya%20bilder/taxi.jpg

Ok, so this is off topic, but isn't this the most wonderful 404 you've ever seen?

Found this thanks to stormphyre.com

Liberals cannot conceive of morals?

Forum: When worlds collide - The Washington Times: Commentary - December 12, 2004: "'[L]iberals cannot conceive of morals in the sense conservatives do, because this would require acknowledging a God who has set standards for thought and behavior, and then striving to meet those standards (which, of course, we can't, thus our need for a Savior).'"

This is the core of what bothers me about the so-called conservatives: they would make infants of us all. I cannot find joy or comfort in Divinity that would create us incompetent, incapable of reaching the standards they set. What sort of loving Creator would create a system guaranteed for failure?

Many other belief systems "set standards for thought and behavior" and expect followers to strive "to meet those standards." The main difference seems to be that they (including some liberal Christians) expect people to grow and better themselves, to strive rather than simply relying on a Savior to pick them up when they feel lazy, or when things get hard.

How can a person see themselves as responsible to themselves and others with a belief system that assures them they are incapable?

Thoughts on the Tree

Insomnia took my sleep last night, but it was almost for a good cause. Trying to trick the white night into letting me sleep, I started working my way through the Tree, and it suddenly all came clear--numerology, astrology, the tarot--how it's all connected, all perfectly interlaced like a beautiful piece of knotwork. From the 0 of Da'ath to the culmination at Malkuth and back again, in a pure, ringing chord...

So, probably not so much a revelation to a good kabalist, but I'm not a good kabalist...yet. I've read the tables of correspondences dozens of times, memorized chunks of them, but never felt them before.

Of course, it did nothing for my insomnia.

Beginnings...

My husband and I enjoy having conversations. The problem is they're not always...uncomplicated. For example, my husband recently said to me, "I think the Kabala is interesting, but I don't like that whole Tree of Life thing. I think I'll just ignore that part."

I don't consider myself a traditionalist, but really... can you actually talk about Kabala without the Tree?

So I'm hoping to widen the conversation. Maybe someone can explain to me how to talk about Kabala without the Tree, or answer a few other of the lovely riddles our journey through magic brings up.