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.

Palm - Passion Sunday

The name of ‘Jesus’ is an English derivation of his true name. His Hebrew name was ‘Joshua’. In those days, son followed father in work and in disposition and we know that Joshua assisted Moses and succeeded Moses as leader of the tribes in the Promised Land. In some ancient sects, reincarnation was a firm belief as, on so many occasions, there are parallels over generations. 

Jesus came into his ministry when he was baptised by his cousin John in the Jordan River. John’s mother was Elizabeth, a close relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus. John’s father was the High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple of which there was no higher religious authority and his son, John was a wandering ascetic, living on what he could find in the desert to eat and drink and wearing a garment of goat skin. He was extremely popular and bathed people in the river water and told them that their sins were forgiven. John was a radical preacher without thought of his own safety. He criticised the Roman governor for marrying his brother’s wife, and for that he was imprisoned. Within time, he was beheaded. Jesus began his teaching and healing ministry when he was around the age of 30 years old. He collected around him 12 men to represent, and to re-unite the twelve tribes that united the northern and southern provinces that had been torn apart during the Assyrian conquest 700 years previously. As Elisha was to Elijah, so Jesus was to John. 

Black Madonnas

I have long been fascinated with the wooden and stone statues and Byzantine-like paintings of the black and crowned Mary with the Christ child on her lap. They have a reputation for having mystical healing and miraculous powers. There are approx 500 of these images in Europe, mostly in France. They date back in to the mists of time, as far as we can discover to 12th century Pauline Fathers, beyond the time of Saint Augustine, and St Bernard, both of whom had a special devotion to her. Bernard had an awakening while meditating on the Black Madonna of Chattilon. She was the patroness of the Knights Templars and the Teutonic Order. She was symbolised as a dove and was associated with the Holy Spirit. Isis was known as the Gatekeeper of life's mysteries and many think of the black madonna as a continuation of the Goddess Isis, with the child Horus on her lap after Osiris had been murdered by his brother Set. 

Home Ecology

Sharing top tips for Home Ecology Students:

Eat vegetables and fruit, pasta, potatoes, rice and other not meat staples - organically grown if possible.

Switch to an ecologically sustainable renewable energy supplier, avoiding fossil fuels.

Templars Story Four

The story of Pope Sylvester II (Gerbert of Aurillac) who lived 940-1003 was the first Frenchman to be Pope in 999. His life story begins as a poor shepherd boy (like King David) in the rich Aquitaine in France, and he became the first Christian alchemist. He was born in Aurillac with its black Madonna and golden statue of Saint Gerard. The area of his birth was noted for its golden fleeces, as sheepskins left in the river Jordan attracted particles of gold and were transported across the pilgrim routes. The area had strong links with Compostela where he studied mathematics in the universities of Cordoba and Toledo under the Arabs. He introduced Arabic numbers to the west, and he invented the astrolabe, a hydraulic organ and a clock. Prior to being made Pope, he was Bishop of Rheims and Archbishop of Ravenna.  Most interestingly, he kept a head that talked! 

Helinand, a popular medieval author on the Grail, was greatly influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) who had been personally responsible for obtaining the Papal rule for the Knights Templar. There were deep connections between Bernard’s monastic order, the Cistercians, and the Nazoreans, who fought and died for Jerusalem in 70AD. The Cistercians wore white robes, as did theNazoreans, and so did the Knights Templar before adding the red cross. 

Templars Story

The Templar Order was founded in 1119 after 300 pilgrims were killed the previous year at Madeley. It was a white robe with red cross mantle, a monastic order under Cistercian monastic rule with dedicated contemplation and prayer, and with additional responsibilities to protect religious tourism to holy sites, handle the pilgrims’ valuables, and fight for possession of the Holy Land, and to bring back relics for the new cathedrals! 

Templar monks were the elite fighting groups of the Crusades, that involved many fighting Orders of monks. Monks were the lowest ranks in the hierarchy of the Church. They were often lacking education, but were highly principled, ascetics who made money fir the. Hutch, but were allowed no personal wealth. 

On the long and arduous route, by land and sometimes sea, and whilst at their destinations, many pilgrims were in poor health, so caring for the disabled, their animals and often their own Templar band, was part of their many serious responsibilities. Israel, Syria, Turkey, and Jordan, and cities such as Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Tyre were in their sights. Jerusalem was the main destination, and source of revenue. King Baldwin I of Jerusalem was the Christian head of the city under an Egyptian authority who gave permission for pilgrimages. The Hospitallers, with white crosses on their black robes and under Benedictine monastic rule, were already established in the region on a site previously owned by the seventh century bishop of Alexandria, St John the Almsgiver. 

From the Champagne region of France, Hughes of Payens developed a small coterie of knights under oaths of poverty, chastity and obedience, and they were invited by King Baldwin II and were installed in a wing of the Kings Palace in the Temple area. In 1120 Fulk, the Count of Anjou, and future King of Jerusalem (and also the grandfather of King Henry II of England) stayed with the knights. In 1126, Hugh and Andrew of Montbard and a small number of others, travelled back to Champagne. This was an important visit. There they met with Count Thibault and Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux.

The Temple Church, London

A baptismal invocation survives in the Bible of the Temple Church in Holborn, London. It  reads: 

Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light!

The prayer of this church states: 

“Most gracious God, we give you the most hearty thanks for all such liberties and rights as are held well and peacefully, freely and quietly. Most gracious God, we give you the most hearty thanks for all such liberties and rights as are held well and peacefully, freely and quietly, fully and completely by ourselves and all in our land. We pray for all who serve in the maintenance of our laws, that they shall serve faithfully to your glory and to the present and future welfare of our nation, shall truly and indifferently minister justice, and shall so order all things brought to their care that peace and happiness, truth and justice shall be established among us for ourselves and for generations yet to come. All this we ask through the mediation of Jesus Christ, who shall return to judge all humankind.” Amen. 

Templars Story Two

The Setting: 

1095 Pope Urban preaches for the first Crusade. 1099 Crusaders capture Jerusalem. 1128 the Order of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon was founded. 1180 Pope Alexander III condemns the Waldensians. 1187 Saladin captures Jerusalem. 1204 Third Crusade sacks Constantinople. 1305 The Papacy moves to Avignon. 

Siege Perilous: 

One can hardly imagine the privations of those who had entered the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon. After giving up their lands, their freedom and their family and friends, they took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to the Church and Pope -  a vow was a vow and they pledged their life to the most difficult of tasks for as long as they might live, by the grace of God! They ate little, prayed much, and were religious ascetics in all their behaviour. When not enduring extremely dangerous battles and sieges in heavy metal armour, they were facilitating sea crossings, avoiding piracy and shipwreck dangers, and travelling with baggage trains through arduous and perilous countryside with responsibility for often sick animals, and for unprepared pilgrims who I suggest might well have felt very disillusioned on reaching the destiny of their many months of immensely strenuous efforts. Pilgrimages were immense hardships but battles were even harder. The mortality rate was high as was the sickness, accident and disease rate. Any crimes were dealt with with brutality. They were thrown into a body of water? If they sank they were innocent. If they floated, they were guilty. Did they spit on a crucifix, one wonders! Their lives were of little importance. Their soul had an immense price. They lived each hour, maintaining the purity of the soul so when they died, which could be at any moment, their soul would be welcomed into heaven. Every deed was closely examined, the smallest omission of commission could mean hell fires for eternity. 

Templars!

The Templars had great success in defeating the poor peasants of the Holy Land, but Templars were trained warriors who fought on large and heavy armoured horses. The Crusaders wielded expensive swords and wore expensive armour, how could the poor people of these areas fight and win against them? God was said to support the Crusaders as they rode through the countryside, many hundreds of miles, taking from local peasantry whatever they needed in terms of food and other necessities, sometimes they returned home with great stolen luxuries! Over the course of 200 years, the local people gathered and trained themselves to fight against these Crusading intruders. Losses occurred, and God no longer supported Crusader successes! This would lead to the downfall of the Templars. 

The Templars honoured St John the Baptist and also Mary Magdalene, who were saints, but neither featured in the Christian Creed. Templars were dedicated to both these prominent saints but not instead of Jesus the Christ or his mother, Mary the Theotokos, Mother of God. There were two pillars of the church, John the Baptist and Jesus. Both had a powerful ministry. 

Templars - Story One

“I would rather die than be dishonoured” motto of Hughes de Payens. 

There was no higher calling that to be - not a knight - but a ”poor fellow soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon” the name of the Order, for whom these brave knights fought and died. 

This military Order was of a highly trained, mounted cavalry. The 'poor' part of their title involved  commitment not to be tempted by the great riches they handled on behalf of the Church as the earliest of international bankers. They answered and honoured the Pope, whom they were totally beholden to as their spiritual and practical leader, and they would no more steal from the Church than steal from one another.       

Most monks were pledged never to take life, even that of a Saracen, but this was a special force of warriors who fought for places within Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, Tortorsa, Tyre and especially Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the route through the desert to the river Jordan. They were hardy fighting men who provided safe passage for pilgrims through dangerous lands on perilous journeys to the sacred sites of Christendom, and they also pledged to get these pilgrims safely back home again! In 1118 three hundred pilgrims were murdered. As religious tourism was a lucrative source of revenue, pilgrims needed to be protected and looked after along the hazardous routes. If they contracted leprosy, which was endemic, they would transfer to the Order of the Knights of St Lazarus and continue to fight until they were incapacitated. King Baldwin IV was a leprosy victim. 

Story of the Dead Sea Scrolls

In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd was looking for a lost goat, and went into a cave at Qumran, just outside of Jerusalem, and found some old, sealed jars containing leather bound rolls. Inside were old scrolls. One jar he sold to his friend the cobbler for a pair of sandals! When others heard they contained ancient texts, they went searching and found 400 more rolls hidden in caves nearby. Until the discovery of these 2000 year Old Testament scrolls, the oldest texts were 1000 years more recent. They show that the text remained true to the more ancient versions. 

Women's Day article for Psychic News

We will celebrate International Women’s Day on 8th March. This year’s theme is ‘Embrace Equality’. Some Psychic News readers will ask whether those that 'think' like a woman, 'feel' like a woman, or have the 'physical' attributes of a woman, can be included in this category! We hope by sharing our ideas and knowledge, that we can shed some light on this - or will we perhaps make the topic even more confusing! 

Women collectively come together for mutual support every International Women’s Day. Women across the world have needed to fight hard for equality and despite legal equality in many modern countries, women are still not equal to men in many ways. They still suffer discrimination and have poorer life choices. They don’t earn equal pay, and they don’t reach positions of power as easily, or as often, as men. Their life is sometimes arduous, their health not taken so seriously, and they can be at major risk of being a victim of crime from those who they have loved. They usually accept caring duties that involve looking after their partner, their children and their elderly or disabled relatives. 

What is Oneiromancy?

The study of dreams and their divinatory interpretation. From ‘oneiros’ a Greek word meaning dreams and ‘mancy’ meaning divination. The Oneiroi were winged spirits of the realms of sleep. They lived in Erebos, Land of Darkness, and contacted sleepers through one of two gates. One gate was made of horn, the other of ivory. Prophecy and prediction came through the horn gate, fantasy and delusion through the ivory gate.

Quote: I do not hesitate to affirm at the outset that occurrence of dreams foretelling a future event with accuracy must be accepted as certain. Camille Flammarion. Premonitory Dreams and Divination of the Future. 

Quote: Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than in the imagination while awake? Leonardo da Vinci.

Quote: Man is a genius while he is dreaming. Akira Kurosawa.