The Sacred Heart of Jesus

1 July in the Anglican and Catholic Christian traditions is the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This year 1 July is also New Moon (click here for our article)

The Sacred Heart is traditionally depicted as a flaming heart gleaming with divine light surrounded by a crown of thorns and bleeding. A typical illustration shows Jesus pointing with his left hand to the heart and with his right hand to the sky in the act of blessing. This is an exemplification of the function of the hands in many healing practices, such as AstroshamanicHealing Touch, which will be a primary focus in our seminars this month. 

Spiritual Diet for Dummies: On the Eucharist and the Zodiac Sign of Cancer

The Virgin of the Host

By Franco Santoro

In the article titled Gospel in the Stars or Stars in the Gospel? (click here) I referred to the intimate association between the Bible and astrology. I also mentioned the Gospel of Mark and its division in 12 sections, each corresponding to a zodiac sign, set in the natural order from Aries to Pisces. According to this structure, described in details by Bill Davison in The Gospel and the Zodiac, the part associated with the sign of Cancer goes from Mark 6:30 to 8:26.

The sign of Cancer is associated with giving and receiving nourishment, both at a physical and spiritual level, and according both to our separated and multidimensional perception. A major theme here is nourishment, and the discrimination between what feeds our separated identity and what supplies energy to our true Self.

This is a crucial area encompassing ordinary food and healthy diets, as well as spiritual nourishment. Here in both respects individuals seem to have different requirements. Food items that benefit some people may cause harm to others. Nevertheless there are certain elements in food that are vital for every human being, that are typical of all healthy diets no matter how diverse they are, while there are others that are poisonous for all mankind in general. The same situation applies to spiritual food. Hence a few questions on the Cancer’s front are: 

Who is the Holy Spirit?

For most Christians the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is celebrated on the day of Pentecost, this year on 12 June.

According to the biblical narrative (Acts 2:1-6) on that day while the Apostles were together “suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance…”

According to traditions and cultures there are various ways of describing the Holy Spirit, ranging from “a Person really distinct as such from the Father and the Son, God and consubstantial with the Father and the Son” (Roman Catholic) to “a peculiar effect of divine flatulence hissing into the ears of a few chosen of God” (Voltaire).

Pentecost: Birth of a Holistic and Shamanic Church (by Franco Santoro)

There are three major holidays in the Christian calendar.

Two of them (Christmas and Easter) are widely known to all people, Christians and non-Christians.

The third feast, Pentecost, officially taking place this year on 12 June close to one of the longest total lunar eclipses (15 June 2011), is more unfamiliar and even several believers do not know much about it.

Perhaps this is because, unlike the other festivities, it does not involve extra days of vacation, specific things to buy or culinary associations, such as Christmas pudding, turkey, Easter eggs and lamb.[i]

Yet, in actual fact, this feast does relate with food consumption, since it originally celebrates the Jewish fruition of the harvest. In Christian imagery it also refers to Jesus as “the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20) exemplified by “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry, he who believes in me will never thirst.” (John 6:35). This may sound like a catering slogan, yet it does not necessarily promote ordinary business and consumerism, which is perhaps why there is not much fuss about Pentecost.