Category: Gnosis
The image of the Hanged Man in the Tarot carries a silence more profound than many volumes of theology. A man is bound by one foot to a living tree, suspended head down, his hands tied, his face calm. Around him branches have been cut away. These severed limbs speak of something that must be…
The philosopher Agostinho da Silva remains a luminous key: “my destiny is my freedom.” In this paradox lies the union of two ancient measures in astrology, the Lot of Fortune and the Lot of Spirit. Fortune points to what falls upon the body, the givenness of fate, the portion that descends from above and anchors…
The memory of Portugal in the thirteenth century preserves one of the most luminous signs of the Spirit in history. The Festas do Espírito Santo appeared as sudden irruptions of grace in villages and towns; prisoners were released, debts were suspended, bread and meat were given to all, and a poor child was crowned as…
The image of Jacob lying upon the stone at Bethel and beholding the ladder reaching to heaven is among the most luminous passages of Scripture. Angels ascend and descend; the Eternal One speaks; a promise is sealed with the ground as altar. This moment has often been read as a covenantal assurance, but, when placed…
The promise of apokatastasis is a word that reverberates through the writings of the early Fathers and the hidden currents of Christian thought. It is the hope that all things shall be restored, nothing remaining outside the final embrace. This vision does not end with the redemption of souls alone but extends even to the…
The language of the ancients spoke of fate as a wheel turning without pause, grinding down lives under a law beyond appeal. The stars moved with mechanical precision; the four elements wove together the frame of the world; earth, fire, air and water bound the body to necessity. Astrological tradition carried this: each house and…
The beheading of John the Baptist is one of the most solemn passages in the Gospel. His head is served upon a platter of silver in the midst of a feast of corruption, and the disciples take away his body in silence. Within this tragedy unfolds a mystery of Light. John himself had said, “He…
Today is August 28, the anniversary of the death of Augustine of Hippo, who touched the soul with such clarity that his words continue to echo. He affirmed that body and soul belong to two categories distinct in essence. The body is tri-dimensional, woven of the four elements: earth, water, air and fire. The soul…
Augustine of Hippo stands at a crossing between philosophy, scripture, and mysticism. He fought against the gnostic sects of his age, but his own writings pulse with movements close to the hermetic ascent and to the kabbalistic work of restoration. He did not design magical systems, but his confessions are themselves initiatory. They reveal a…
In Mark 1:29-35, the gospel scene moves from the public space of the synagogue into the intimacy of a dwelling. The voice that expelled the spirit in the assembly enters the silence of a home. A woman lies in fever, unable to serve, her strength consumed by fire. The fever is more than a medical…
