John the Baptist’s Story

“Repent for the Kingdom of God is at Hand!” John the Baptist was a forerunner of Jesus, proclaiming  “Make straight his Paths,” “There is one who will come after me, whose sandals I am not fit to lace.”

We do not know very much about the teachings of the Baptist, but it would have included a vow of extreme poverty and humility. The character of the Baptist is thought to be modelled on Elijah who gave his cloak- a symbol for his responsibility - to Elisha upon his death. As Elisha succeeded Elijah so Jesus succeeded the Baptist who was of the Levite caste, of the line of Aaron. They served as Rabbis/High Priests. The rabbis took turns to attend the Jerusalem Temple, burning incense, sacrificing animals, tending the lamps, renewing shewbread, all pertaining to the 23rd chapter of Leviticus. John could have continued the privileged work of the high priest, but he chose to baptise pilgrims in the name of forgiveness in the Jordan. This was another type of priestly work, unrelated to the purchase and burning of animals, so he was called a prophet, not a priest.

Just as Abraham and Sarah bore a son in their elderly years, and the hero Samson was born also of elderly parents, the Baptist was born of an angelic miracle. His elderly mother Elizabeth, a descendant of the high priest, Aaron, was too old to have the child she had always prayed for. Her husband, Zachariah was the High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple, of the eighth class, that of Abia. 

Q : Were Templars Heretics?

Last words of Jacques de Molay: “I confess that I am indeed guilty of the greatest infamy. But the infamy is that I lied. I lied by admitting to disgusting charges laid against my Order. I declare that the Order is innocent. Its purity and saintliness have never been defiled. In truth, I have testified otherwise, but I did so from fear of horrible tortures.”

Adam of Murimouth and Christian Spinoza vouched for the Templars’ innocence. 

Baptised and confirmed Catholics, the Templars took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and accepted further rules of restriction and aceticism not required of other monks. They honoured the Cistercian monastic rule from their founder St Bernard (which can be found online). They were monks and not priests, so therefore they had no initiation beyond what the ordinary person had. When they joined the Order, they gave up their ancestral lands, often placing female relatives in convents. Templars, like all monks, attended mass - a public event - and there they recited The Apostles Creed (which can be found online), so we know what this man of integrity believed without doubt. They heard the old and new Testaments readings and exegesis, they gave public confessions where they would be humiliated for the least personal sins, and they received holy communion, wine and unleavened bread, celebrated in remembrance of the last supper before Jesus was betrayed, judged, tortured and crucified. They kept the canonical hours with prayer 8 times throughout day and night. 

The Story of Jesus

From the earliest written gospels, we have the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. “Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven, give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us, our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. 

The name Jesus is a corruption of Yeshuah; in the Old Testament name, it is Joshua. 

Jesus spoke the language of the people, Aramaic, he also read in the synagogue, so he knew Hebrew, and when interrogated by Pilate, the Roman governor, he may have spoken to him in the Latin language. 

Herod Antipas thought that Jesus was John the Baptist who he had imprisoned on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea in the Machaerus fortress and his death was by beheading. Jesus was also, like John, a revolutionary spiritual teacher whom Herod also feared. It is likely that John and Jesus were of the true royal line, unlike the King (tetrach) Herod. We know a little about John, an ascetic who proclaimed the end of the world and who baptised all people without exception in the Jordan river in the name of forgiveness of sins. He also, like Jesus, had a miraculous birth and was a messiah in his own right. During his imprisonment, he asked if Jesus would step up to take his place, and Jesus accepted the role. We know far more about the life of Jesus, his birth, miracles, teaching, his disciples, his torture and death and resurrection. We know also that he fulfilled the Old Testament scriptures where the life of the messiah was foretold of a glorious king, a conqueror who would give sovereignty to the nation,  a suffering messiah, humble victim, whose destiny was sacrifice. 

A Moveable Feast!

A Moveable Feast! 

Our word ‘Easter’ comes from the Old English word ‘Oestre’ which was the name of a pagan Goddess of fertility. Her feast was held on the 21^st day of March. This is the Vernal Equinox and the accepted first day of Spring. The female hormone ‘oestrogen’ is named after her. 

Our Easter is named after this pagan festival. Easter is a moveable feast which is celebrated on the first Sunday, after the first full moon (known as the Pascal moon) after the 21^st March. 

Oracle Reading for April

For April, I have chosen the colour Amber as it reflects the gold of the sun which we anticipate is arriving in greater strength as the springtime progresses. This card is from Liquid Crystal Oracle by Justin Moikeha Asar and it carries the angel, Merbayel, and the anchor of laughter. Amber is fossilised pine tree resin and it often contains plant or insect material buried within its luminosity. If you feel trapped in life, the sunlight reflected within the amber will lift your spirits and will show you new paths, and give you the strength of endurance to remove yourself from any sticky situation. Amber is a link to the Egyptian God, Bes and also the Lord Buddha, both in their roles as laughing deities. Use the affirmation: I laugh; it is the voice of my true spirit!  

Next is from Ancient Feminine Wisdom of Goddesses and Heroines by Kay Steventon and is titled Hygieia, a nature goddess who honours the union between the natural and the supernatural worlds. This card is for Health and she is adorned in green cloth and her symbol is the snake, symbol of regeneration and divination. The ancients believed that a snake like energy inhabited the body and provided vitality, illumination and wellbeing. She is balanced and her body and soul, heart and mind are aligned for maximum health. She requests that we attend to the soul's deeper meaning and that this heralds greater wellbeing. When our soul is without nourishment, illness will follow. 

Lastly, I have chosen from Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom by Christiane Northrup, a card of Fertility and Creativity which is subtitled, Hierarchy-v-Partnership. We are asked to look at the relationships we attract and whether we can share power with others in an equal way or is one person making the bulk of important decisions. A true partnership has equal value and equal power. Is there one person who always leads or who always follows? Working effectively together with others involves knowing when to give way, and when to be proactive. The person who assumes most responsibility also takes the most risks and makes the rules. Do we have power without responsibility, or responsibility without power? Mutuality is the best way forward.  Offer and seek out true equality. 

Readings by Wendy Stokes www.wendystokes.co.uk 

Get Your Oracle Cards Published

These are the key points of the Get Your Oracle Cards Published workshop :-

Sending your proposal to a publisher:  

If you have a name, a pen name, a website name, a Facebook name, an unregistered business name, etc. etc., I suggest you use one professional name only, and the best name is your real name as this is the only one you want on your royalty cheques. Put all your eggs in one basket under your real name where publishers and others can quickly find you! Publishers invest in their clients, and will research you! I heard of one case where a very good deck was turned down because the person had been working as a telephone line card reader at the same time as working the sex lines! 

Creating an Oracle Deck

A question often asked is about whether to publish in a pen name, but publishers prefer real names because there is less confusion with royalty payments, and tax offices also prefer it.

      A proposal to a publisher requires information on what qualifies you to write the deck (your journey), and why you have chosen your illustrator and what media the illustrator works in.

     Who is a typical purchaser or seeker for this deck? Why did you chose your particular theme? In what way will the cards help with life’s problems, what type of guidance is described, what type of direction or life path does your deck offer? 

Mother Mary’s Story

All saviour gods have virgin mothers! 

Mary and Joseph made a powerful team. Both of the royal line of David, the shepherd king, their first born son would have been a contender for the role of King of Judah. Like many female visionaries, Mary was around the time of her menarche when she became pregnant by an Angel. Angels at this time were not winged. They were always men and their meeting often resulted in a pregnancy. But this illegitimacy of Jesus may have caused him embarrassment. Joseph was not mentioned in the gospels after the childhood of Jesus. And what caused Jesus to be scathing and rude to his mother? She was a young mother, and maybe she was seduced and deceived  by one who presented himself as an ‘Angel’. It dashed his chances of a bid for the legitimate throne. 

Her correct name was Miriam and in legend, she was the daughter of Joachim and Anne. From the canonical gospels, we are told that Mary’s story begins when she was described as a virgin - a young girl before marriage. She would have been betrothed around the age of puberty and would have been living in an extended family in Galilee, such as the tribe of Ephrahim. She would have sat by the river bank, watching the water ripple as the breeze created waves. This Galilee sea is shaped like a harp - it’s a beautiful and romantic setting. Whilst engaged to be married to Joseph, the Angel Gabriel is said to have visited her and told her she would bear a son who would become the long prophesied messiah. Both she and her fiancé Joseph were of the royal line of Judah, and therefore their son would be the rightful royal heir. At that time, a ruthless puppet king, Herod the Great, sat on the throne who would do all he could to destroy the lives of Mary and Joseph.

Origin of divination cards

The origin of playing cards goes back more than a thousand years to ancient China. They were carried by traders and travellers, soldiers and pilgrims through Mongolia to the Middle East and then into Europe. Cards provided games of chance, skill and entertainment and they developed as they passed from one hand to another. The casting of lots with sticks, bones and dice was common throughout many cultures and cards became yet another way to give advice.

Playing cards with 4 suits and including court cards in each suit with the 10 pip cards, created a card deck of 52 cards. Some believe that the cards were used to represent the weeks of the year and the four weeks of the month or perhaps the seasons, so cards may have been an educational value. Playing cards came to Europe in late 1300s and by 1440 there is a letter from the Duke of Milan requesting several decks of playing cards for a game known as ‘triumph’ which was similar to bridge and included the playing card deck and 22 extra picture cards. Around 1530, in Italy, these cards were called ‘Tarocchi’ and in France ‘Tarot’. By 1781, they were used in England for divination. During the Victorian era in England, there was a revival of alternative spirituality and occult pastimes became popular. From that time to the present day, Tarot cards have been increasing in popularity; the market has grown and developed with new ideas and understanding for using the cards in sophisticated ways for fortune telling, personal development and meditation, and are now made in their thousands with creative focus far beyond the original images, such as animals, angels and fairies.

Labyrinths and Mazes

A labyrinth is a single route to a central place, such as one sees upon the floor of Chartres Cathedral, whereas a maze is a puzzle with many possibilities that lead to the centre, such as the hedge maze at Hampton Court. Labyrinths are dotted across the world, Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, some extremely ancient and many are modern. They can be made of turf, brick, tiles or anything to demarcate the route that one must travel.