The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Matthew 13: 1-23

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

Luke 11: 24-26

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Matthew 23:13

The two Babylons are 1984 and Brave New World.

Each lives in the shadow of the other.

Brave New World says “beware 1984”

and 1984 says “beware Brave New World”.

1984 is the justification for Brave New World

and Brave New World is the justification for 1984.

The Cold War between the two Babylons

did not end with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Perhaps it will never end.

But the real choice is not between 1984 and Brave New World.

It is between God and Babylon.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

Mark 8:36

Whether we are conscious of it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not, we are all religious in the sense that we have an ultimate good that gives meaning to our lives. The worship of this ultimate good, this summum bonum, is what constitutes our religion.

Do you worship mammon (money)? Then your religion is all about consumerism and material possessions, wealth and prosperity. Do you worship power and influence? Do you worship popularity and honour? Do you worship pleasure and gratification?

Whatever you worship is your god, is your religion. It may be that you worship several gods, that you are a “polytheist”. Some of these gods may be abstract values, some may be admirable historical personalities and great thinkers, some may be pop idols. In the Biblical view, they are all idols, all falling short of the only proper summum bonum, which is God.

But what is God? God is love. Not affection (storge), friendship (philia) or sexual attraction (eros) but the transcendent love (agape) which flows through them. Not care, fairness, loyalty, authority, sanctity or liberty, but the transcendent love which flows through them.

The summum bonum of a healthy soul oriented rightly (righteously) to God is love. The summum bonum of an unhealthy soul is pretty much anything else, even “mental health” or “psychological well-being”. This is the god of the modern religions of psychotherapy and personal development.

Psychological well-being is a human good, of course, but like wealth, power, honour or pleasure, becomes an idol when we worship it as our ultimate good. It eventually becomes a psychological trap, a “happiness trap” as Russ Harris put it, a god which is never satisfied, however many sacrifices we bring to its altar.

Just as affection or care are reduced and inadequate versions of the transcendent love of God, so is psychological well-being. It is a form of self-love, even where it tries to be more loving to others for the sake of psychological well-being. The motive is not love but health. At the extreme it breeds narcissism, “therapy narcissism” and “spiritual narcissism”.

This is a particular pitfall for mental health professionals, spiritual directors and shamans. In worshiping their own spiritual and psychological health, as well as the spiritual and psychological health of their clients, they lose sight of the true end, the true goal, the true aim, which is the love of God, pure and simple. Their self-concern eclipses their proper summum bonum.

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31

The Ray of Creation proceeds from emptiness to plenitude through seven distinct levels:

Amun (emptiness)

Ra (energy)

Atum (matter)

Ka (life)

Ba (individual consciousness)

Gaia (planetary consciousness)

Jah (universal consciousness)

Here we have succinctly summed up the whole of existence, visible and invisible. All is contained within the One God, which is Jah, the Father, and all subsists in the One Tao, which is Amun, the Mother.

Amun is the Mother of the universe.

Ra is the Holy Spirit.

Atum and Ka are the Creation.

Ba is the Son.

Gaia is the Daughter.

Jah is the Father.

The four member of the Holy Cosmic Nuclear family are thus Amun (Mother), Jah (Father), Ba (Son) and Gaia (Daughter).

We can envisage the cosmic family schema more precisely and completely as follows:

Between Amun and Ra is the Mother.

Between Ra and Atum is the Holy Spirit.

Between Atum and Ka is the Creation.

Between Ka and Ba is Mind.

Between Ba and Gaia is the Son.

Between Gaia and Jah is the Daughter.

Between Jah and Amun is the Father.

Modern human beings exist primarily in Mind (between Ka and Ba) with a primarily scientific understanding of the Creation (between Atum and Ka). Only the spiritually awakened have any conception of the immanent and transcendent holy cosmic family, Mother and Holy Spirit within (Amun, Ra, Atum) and Daughter and Father beyond (Gaia, Jah).

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

The Son is both immanent and transcendent, which is to say, incarnate. He is the blueprint for spiritual human being. This is the Christ Consciousness (between Ba and Gaia) that gives access to the the Father and to the rest of the holy family. But the way is open only if we are in true, lively, spiritual communion with him: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” (1 John 4:13)

To worship the cat god is idolatry

but to deny the cat spirit is iconoclasm.

o

The spirit of something is its essential nature,

its character or personality.

o

An individual cat has a particular spirit,

but it shares the spirit of catness with all cats.

o

More abstract categories

also have their own spirit.

o

The spirit of Englishness

is in this green and pleasant land,

o

in the English hymnal,

the sound of leather on willow and the lark ascending.

o

The list is not exhaustive,

indeed cannot be exhaustive.

o

The spirit is not in the list,

but it animates the list.

o

To worship Englishness is idolatry

but to reject the spirit of Englishness is iconoclasm.

o

An idol is opaque like a stone statue

but an icon is semi-transparent like stained glass.

o

The idol points to itself

but the icon points beyond itself.

o

Paganism tends to idolatry

and monotheism tends to iconoclasm.

o

But this perennial feud is instantly over

as soon as you understand

o

that icons point to the spirit

and that all spirits are part of one spirit.

o

Monotheistic iconoclasm is worship of God the Father

without the Holy Spirit.

o

Animistic idolatry is worship of the Holy Spirit

without God the Father.

o

Those who worship both are the true children of God,

in communion with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The finger should be unerring and straight.

The sky should be cloudless and clear.

The moon should be full and bright.

o

The finger is pistis.

The sky is kenosis.

The moon is gnosis.

o

Christian Zen Shamanism

Is the psychedelic lunar cycle

Of pistis-kenosis-gnosis.

What the mind hears as music, the body feels as vibration:

The bass below the belt, the mid-range in the torso, the high notes in the head.

Good music is healing for both body and mind,

Especially when psychedelically sensitized.

My poetry is jamming your machine

It broke the photo-copier, I’m to blame,

With pictures copied from a world unseen.

o

My poem is in the works -I’m on the scene

We free my verse, and I confess my shame,

My poetry is jamming your machine.

o

Though you berate me with what might have been,

You stop to read the poem, just the same,

And pictures, copied from a world unseen,

o

Subvert the icons on your mental screen

And open windows with a whispered name;

My poetry is jamming your machine.

o

For chosen words can change the things they mean

And set the once-familiar world aflame

With pictures copied from a world unseen

o

The mental props give way, on which you lean

The world you see will never be the same,

My poetry is jamming your machine

With pictures copied from a world unseen

o

Malcolm Guite