Masterfully weaves together Christian mysticism, Hermetic philosophy, and esoteric Wisdom traditions to illuminate the path of spiritual development.
Exploring one of Plato’s four cardinal virtues: Wisdom, Courage, Temperance (sobriety or hygiene), and Justice. [The image: The higher vessel exchanging with the lower, or perhaps the reverse—an unbroken circuit of transformation. Gurdjieff might call it a depiction...
“It's very, very good to be a hanged man vis-a-vis a spiritual discernment, because the head is going to be the last to catch on.” Cynthia Bourgeault The Nature of Spiritual Discernment "An exploration of Plato's Four Cardinal Virtues: wisdom (prudence, discernment),...
"The states or stages of the soul corresponding to concentration, meditation and contemplation are those of purification, illumination and union." Meditations on the Tarot The Nature of Contemplation "What is the gnostic sense? It is the contemplative sense....
The Angel and the Lion constitute the other pair of opposites on the cross of man’s instinctivity. The Angel’s moral conscience unites with the Lion’s moral courage. The Nature of Courage "Exploring Plato's four cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, temperance and...
“These laws of the Work cannot remain forms of blind external obedience but become things that you acknowledge and understand and eventually will for yourself.” Maurice Nicoll The True Nature of Obedience "Obedience means ob-audere, listen to the depths, or listen...
“It’s not the nature of the Divine providence to lay on us more than we're really willing to bear. You won't be able to hear what you're not yet able to live.” Cynthia Bourgeault The Nature of Revelation "No real truth in the world has ever been revealed apart from...
The idea of justice on this Earth is illusion. All of sleeping humanity belongs to a tiny planet which is a kind of lunatic asylum. There is no justice, no spiritual justice. The Classical Understanding of Justice "Plato's four cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage,...
“The Gospel of John is written from the marriage of Good with Truth. For this reason at the very beginning of John's Gospel, the grace and truth of Jesus Christ are contrasted with the Truth (the ‘law of Moses’).” Maurice Nicoll The Nature of Grace and Truth "You must...
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The Nature of...
Lectio Harmonia I offer the term ‘Lectio Harmonia’ to describe a contemplative practice of discovering resonance among Wisdom teachings. In Greek philosophy, Harmonia referred to the underlying order and unity of the cosmos—the patterns that connect apparently...
The paradox of spiritual discernment through sensation is at the heart of these teachings. What seems most material and worldly (our physical sensations) becomes a refined spiritual instrument. These passages reveal sensation as both ‘wound and healing’--both exposure...
The Christian hermeticism of Meditations on the Tarot. This Mt Everest of mystical Christianity had remained shrouded in mist and mystery whenever I approached. After I began this project of writing Impressions, however, I approached by searching for themes,...