This pageant is rooted in ancient times when the boar was sovereign of the forest. A ferocious beast, and menace to humans, it was hunted as a public enemy. At Roman feasts, boar was the first dish served. Roasted boar was a staple of medieval banquets. As Christian beliefs overtook pagan customs in Europe, the presentation of a boar's head at Christmas came to symbolize the triumph of the Christ Child over sin.
"Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." ~ Jeremiah 10:2-4
Ethics and the First Shaman
"The ethics of shamanic practice were brought by the First Shaman who was of Divine origins and not entirely human. The First Shaman brought knowledge and the skills across that broken bridge between the Creator to the humans in each shamanic lineage," explains shaman and host, Christina Pratt. "The First Shaman brings the teachings necessary for survival in all aspects of daily life, both ordinary and non-ordinary. The First shaman brought the teachings for how to live in good relationship with ones self, with each other, with the Ancestors and the beings of the spirit world, and with the physical environment. Cultures, traditions, and civilizations were all built on the knowledge brought by the First Shaman. The First Shaman taught the next shaman, a human shaman, how to work with the spirits, conduct ritual and ceremony and to serve the people. This is important for us as contemporary shamans to realize. Each shaman, though human, endeavored to walk the path of that First god-like shaman. From this effort comes the morals and the ethics of the practice as well as the continual need for personal sacrifice, cleansing, and ongoing transformation to stay on that path.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 11:00 AM Pacific
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Why Shamanism Now? on Co-Creator Network
Questions? Comments? Call: 1-512-772-1938
All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.
As many as 1.5 billion people worldwide will be able to watch when the Earth's shadow creeps across the moon's surface early Tuesday morning, the first time in hundreds of years that a lunar eclipse will fall on the winter solstice.
With the full moon high in the winter sky, the lunar eclipse will be visible from four continents, with the best views from North America and Central America if weather permits, scientists say.
. . .
Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years for NASA.
"Since Year 1, I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is 1638 DEC 21," Chester said, according to NASA. "Fortunately we won't have to wait 372 years for the next one ... that will be on 2094 DEC 21."
Aries (March 21st - April 20th)
Taurus (April 21st - May 20th)
The Vatican tried to stop Dublin church leaders from defrocking a particularly dangerous pedophile priest and relented only after he raped a boy in a pub restroom, an investigation reported Friday.
Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said he fully accepted the findings of the latest chapter in Ireland's investigation into child abuse by Catholic Church figures.
Martin called Tony Walsh an "extremely devious man" who should never have been ordained a priest, and said the report highlighted how the church had grown too powerful and arrogant in 20th century Ireland.
Seraphim, literally "burning ones", is the plural of "seraph", more properly sarap. The word sarap/seraphim appears three times in the Torah (Numbers 21:6-8, Deuteronomy 8:15) and four times in the Book of Isaiah (6:2-6, 14:29, 30:6). In Numbers and Deuteronomy the "seraphim" are serpents - the association of serpents as "burning ones" is possibly due to the burning sensation of the poison. [1] Isaiah also uses the word in close association with words to describes snakes (nahash, the generic word for snakes, in 14:29, and efeh, viper, in 30:6).
Isaiah's vision of seraphim in the Temple in Jerusalem is the sole instance in the Hebrew Bible of the word being used to describe celestial beings: there the winged "seraphim" attend God and have human attributes:[2] "... I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and His train filled the Hekhal (sanctuary). Above him stood the Seraphim; each had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew." (Isaiah 6:1–3) In Isaiah's vision the seraphim cry continually to each other, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory" (verses 2-3) before carrying out an act of purification for the prophet (verses 6-7). It is possible that these are winged snake-beings, but given that the word "seraphim" is not attached as an adjective or modifier to other snake-words ("nahash," etc.), as is the case in every other occurrence of the word, it is more probable that they are variants of the "fiery" lesser deities making up God's divine court.[3]
"Seraphim" appear in the 2nd century B.C. Book of Enoch[4] where they are designated as drakones (δράκονες "serpents"), and are mentioned, in conjunction with the cherubim as the heavenly creatures standing nearest to the throne of God. In the late 1st century A.D. Book of Revelation (iv. 4-8) they are described as being forever in God's presence and praising Him constantly: "Day and night with out ceasing they sing: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.'" They appear also in the Christian Gnostic text On the Origin of the World, described as "dragon-shaped angels".[5]
Shamanic Inheritance with Jonathan Horwitz
The shaman's heart is an awakened heart. The path the shaman walks to free the heart offers a metaphor for each of us to find the courage to heal our broken heartedness and step into spiritual adulthood. "Contemporary life can break your heart on any day," explains shaman and host, Christina Pratt. "And from that wreckage most of us learn to stand in our own way, habitually, practically, and fearfully rationalizing why we remain disengage from our heart and the hearts of others." What the shaman knows is that while the broken heart is real, the story that we wrap around it is not. If we have the courage to unwrap the story and feel again, we return to reality. In reality the heart contains its own medicine to heal. Where the heart has been emptied by grief and loss, it can be freed to fill its great depths again. Where the heart has closed in fear and protection it can be opened by the wisdom of what truly matters. Where the heart is weak with the struggles of life it can find power in honoring the essence of life. Join us this week as we explore how to engage the medicine of the heart to heal and allow the energies of the heart to flow with passion in our lives.
This week's gust:
Jonathan Horwitz
Jonathan Horwitz has studied and worked with shamanism since 1972. For eight years he was on the staff of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, USA. Jonathan has an M.A. in anthropology, and is a shamanic counselor (HMSC).
In 1986 Jonathan and Annette Høst began the Scandinavian Center for Shamanic Studies where the courses are centered on learning to use the ritual tools of shamanism, experiencing shamanism as a spiritual path, shamanic healing, and embracing the Circle and all of Nature. He also runs a small retreat centre, Åsbacka, in southern Sweden where her offers training in personal healing retreats, Sitting Out weekends and shamanic guidance for those who have previously worked with him.
Jonathan's focus on shamanism as a spiritual path centers around his own Three R's - Re-connecting with being alive, Re-discovering the spiritual power we are all born with, and Re-learning what it means to be a part of the whole. "The shamanic path is excellent for learning these things," he says. "And as soon as you feel you know, the Spirits show you something new... The road goes on forever."
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 11:00 AM Pacific
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Why Shamanism Now? on Co-Creator Network
Questions? Comments? Call: 1-512-772-1938
All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.
