GENTLY.... VENUS RETROGRADE IN SCORPIO Is not messing around. Dark underbelly of the past. Mercuy will join her later on in the month, SO be advised—love, relationships, etc, hold tight. I have a self imposed gag order. Don't cut the bangs, make major purposes etc. if you can help it. WAIT until Nov 14th. I appreciate this astrologer. She offers amazing insights and encouragement for spiritual growth via astrological understanding. Mollymccord.online. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6zNCZztOM8 Moose symbol Its patience is physical rather than decorative. A moose may spend hours feeding, taking what the season offers, then standing motionless among trees until the Forest seems to have grown around it. It does not rush to make a point. Yet this quiet body can run quickly, swim strongly, and defend itself with hooves when a predator or person closes the distance. The symbolism is not passive endurance. It is stored force, kept available instead of scattered across every demand. Antlers sharpen the image, especially in the bull, whose enormous seasonal rack grows from the skull, is used in contests during the rut, and is later shed. The antlers are not permanent proof of rank. They arrive, become useful, and fall away. That cycle gives Moose a meaning beyond masculine dominance or visible achievement. Strength can be seasonal. A feature that helped win one kind of contest may need to be released before the next season begins. The cow moose adds another line to the symbol. She raises a Calf with fierce attention and can attack when a person, wolf, or bear approaches too closely. Her protection is not sentimental. It is a body placed between danger and the young. Moose therefore speaks to a form of gentleness with boundaries: feeding quietly, keeping watch, and becoming formidable when someone violates the distance that keeps life safe. Because moose live in bogs, lakes, and dense northern woods, they also symbolize passage through conditions that punish haste. Long legs make uneven ground manageable. Broad hooves spread weight. A powerful swimmer can cross cold water, but the animal still chooses when to enter. The archetype asks for a similar accuracy about effort. Not every obstacle deserves a charge, and not every quiet stretch is a Retreat. The result is a large, understated meaning: solitary strength that remains connected to nourishment, protection, and place. Moose does not promise that the world will become less demanding. It offers another way to meet demand, with patient movement, selective force, and enough self-respect to stop explaining why the trail needs room. "Find your still waters, and know when to charge through the brambles." (https://mymythos.org/archetype/calf/) ANVAH: Is 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. [נָהַל] NAHAL: GENTLE PURPOSEFUL LEADING verb Pi`el lead, guide to a watering-place or station, and cause to rest there; bring to a station or place of rest; lead, guide; refresh LEAD TO WATERING STATION BRING TO A GOAL OR LOCATION LEAD GUIDE PROVIDE REST REFRESH WITH GOOD. HITPAEL: JOURNEY BY STATIoNS. James 3:17 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. "gentle" in the sense of truly fair by relaxing overly strict standards in order to keep the "spirit of the law." 1933 /epieikḗs ("justice beyond ordinary justice") builds on the real intent (purpose) of what is really at stake (note the epi, "upon") – and hence, is true equity that appropriately fulfills the spirit (not just the letter) of the law. Matthew 11:29 Jesus invites, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart." Poto taken from Bible Hub. A beam of balance. Learn from me. I am MEEK: Strong but gentle DEFINING "PRAUTES" (GENTLENESS, MEEKNESS) PRAUTES AS DEFINED BY THE ANCIENT GREEKS... To describe persons or things which have in them a certain soothing quality... -- E.g, having a humble and kind demeanor which calms another's anger To describe gentleness of conduct, especially on the part of people who had it in their power to act otherwise... E.g., a king forgiving a servant who failed a particular task The king has the authority and power to render punishment But chooses instead to show kindness and forgiveness Such a king would be praised for his gentle and meek behavior To describe the ability to take unkind remarks with good nature... E.g., as when embroiled in controversy Being able to discuss things without losing one's temper because of unkind and unfair personal remarks Most often, to describe the character in which strength and gentleness are perfectly combined... E.g., a horse obedient to the reins, a watchdog friendly to the family owning him There is great strength present, but it is tempered by a gentle spirit Aristotle had this to say about "prautes"... "the ability to bear reproaches and slights with moderation, and not to embark on revenge quickly, and not to be easily provoked to anger, but to be free from bitterness and contentiousness, having tranquillity and stability in the spirit." (On Virtues And Vices) This does not imply that there is never a place for anger in the gentle man Indeed, the man who displays "prautes" is angry "on the right grounds, and against the right persons, and in the right manner, and at the right moment, and for the right length of time." (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics) "he will err on the side of forgiveness rather than on the side of anger" (Barclay) Taken from: https://executableoutlines.com/topical_series/flesh-and-spirit/fs_16.html O gentle weariness by Hafez O gentle weariness, Thine is the power that can all spirits free From bonding-trouble, thou art a goddess To all the suffering slaves of misery. Thy sanctuary No suppliant vainly seeketh; wheresoe'er Desperate grief is, then unfailingly Is thine all-hallowing rest & refuge there. Our sorrow hath outgrown Solace, yet still in thine all-mothering hand Is balm of soft oblivion, who alone Our never-ending needs dost understand.
For information about the new fall class/discussion group exploring spiritual themes in Homer's Odyssey, please visit: mandybgreen.com Matthew 20 Alma 30:8-9: For thus saith the scripture: Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve. Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him; but if he did not believe in him there was no law to punish him.
Photo Courtesy of Utah Museum of Natural History For the Odyssey Book Club Lecture Series visit: Mandybgreen.com To learn more about Books and Bridges: https://www.booksandbridgesforum.org The Eclective Substack: https://eclective.substack.com Notes from Lev Tolstoy's "A CONFESSION." https://amzn.to/4gRvLcf
Image credit: Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, Fresco, Sistine Chapel. Welcome back after our long hiatus! Season 5 begins with a discussion of our Ineffable, Unbridled God. For more information about Project Illumination's new Book Club: Diving Deeper into Homer's Odyssey, please click the following correspoding link: TIER ONE: https://projectillumination.thinkific.com/products/live_events/project-illumination-book-club Tier TWO https://projectillumination.thinkific.com/products/live_events/new-event Tier THREE https://projectillumination.thinkific.com/products/live_events/project-illumination-book-club-1 For Show Notes please visit: mandybgreen.com/podcast
SABBATH: IN THIS SMALL AND SIMPLE THING SALVATION LIES: COME FOLLOW ME: Terrence C Smith's commentary: Noah fashioned the ark exactly as he was instructed to do. The Lord was very specific in His instructions to Noah. It was to be made of certain specified materials. It was to be of a certain height, length, and breadth—300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in width and 30 cubits in height (which is about 137 × 22.9 × 13.7 m. or 450 × 75 × 45 ft. – about 11⁄2 football fields long, 4 stories high). After God had told Noah what to do (v. 14-16), then God told Noah what He would be doing at the same time (v. 17-18), then He went back to what Noah was to do (v. 19- 21). God did what He said He would do, but...What if Noah had decided to make alterations, cut a few corners? Cutting all that wood was doubtless very tiring; and there were, after all, only eight of them...He had to carefully follow the revelation that the Lord had given to him. It required an exactness, a completeness in following the commandments of the Lord, even when the reason for every bit of counsel might not have been apparent to him. This is a part of the faithfulness and courage required to have a saving faith. The Seventh Day (Exodus 16:22–30; Hebrews 4:1–11) 1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished. Root Concept: Ceasing and Rest שָׁבַת is the verb that gives rise to the noun "Sabbath"; at its heart lies the simple yet profound idea of stopping ordinary activity so that God-ordained purposes may prevail. The word appears in settings that range from the grandeur of creation (Genesis 2:2-3) to the mundane rhythm of farming (Leviticus 25:2-4) and even to the cessation of manna (Joshua 5:12). Whether God, land, beasts, nations, or speech are in view, the verb always carries the nuance of deliberate disengagement from what is common in order to honor what is holy or to herald a divinely appointed change. "Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day." — Deuteronomy 5:15 "It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:12)? The Pharisees said to Jesus, "Look, why are your disciples doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath." — Mark 2:24, 27-28 In the meantime, we are not meant to construct a world where suffering ceases so much as we are meant to transform suffering forever into love.This Is Grace By Tyler Johnson Sadness and mourning. "The Sabbath does not 'do away' with sadness and sorrow," writes Pinchas H. Peli in The Jewish Sabbath; "it merely requires that all sadness be 'tabled' for one day so that we may not forget that there is also joy and happiness in the world and acquire a more balanced and hopeful picture of life." Even mourning is suspended in order to rejoin the community for Sabbath. "The Sabbath, by its very being, comforts and heals." From Practicing our Faith by Dorothy Bass