Labyrinths

This is an actual labyrinth found on the floor of a church in France, believed to be a church associated with the Knight's Templar, who were also gnostics, by the way. And were burnt at the stake by their government and the church for being heretics and devil worshipers. They were neither, but that's another story.

Chartres' labyrinth is 200 m long by the way, quite a walk. Pilgrims used to walk around it on their knees... All the large cathedrals in France had one (Amiens, Reims, St. Omer, Chartres,...) but several were destroyed at the time of the Revolution.... Above is a picture of the labyrinth of St. Omer:

Interestingly enough, it was made of 2401 tiles, and guess what?
2401 = 7 x 7 x 7 x 7
Don't tell me it's a coincidence...  (seven is a mighty important number in esoterica and religion) and your own body by the way.

If labyrinths weren't built by the Templars, they were made by people whom they had a close relationship with: the guilds of builders who, very often, worked under their supervision.

Labyrinths were a symbol of the quest, of the pilgrimage (the one above has clearly a cross at the center). The different twists and turns symbolized the difficulties encountered on the way (the physical and spiritual path to Jerusalem). It also represented the difficulties encountered in the alchemical path of the "Magnus Opus" (the Great Work).

The quest , spiritual path to Jerusalem, Magnus Opus, are all metaphors for finding your higher self or inner self or your spirit. Hidden within yourself with twists and turns and dark corners and endless chambers is a wondrous thing, a wondrous being of light, and that is you. Go find it.

  More reading on Labyrinths

Sleeping Beauty

'A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
silivren penna miriel
o menel aglar elenath!
Na-chaered palan-diriel
o galadhremmin ennorath,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
nef aear, si nef aearon!'

 Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear!
O Queen beyond the Western Seas!
O Light to us that wander here
Amid the world of woven trees!

Gilthoniel! O Elbereth!
Clear are thy eyes and bright thy breath!
Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to thee
In a far land beyond the Sea.

O stars that in the Sunless Year
With shining hand by her were sown,
In windy fields now bright and clear
We see your silver blossom blown!

O Elbereth Gilthoniel!
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees,
Thy starlight on the Western Seas.'

(From the Fellowship of the Ring by JRRTolkien)

Lost and forgotten for eons is the power of the feminine -  But what does this really mean?

Shekhina; The Feminine Aspect of God ~
The Esoteric Teachings of Jesus and the Nazarene Essenes

The word Shekhina, in Hebrew, is derived from the Biblical verb shakhan, meaning "the act of dwelling" but taking the feminine form. Therefore, at the beginning of the Talmudic era, the word Shekhina meant the earthly aspect of God that dwelt among people and could be apprehended by the senses. 

 The Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

The true Shekinah is Man?

What can that quote mean?  This thoroughly confused me, I thought that Shekinah meant the feminine presence of God, and his dwelling place. Then I remembered this - The kingdom of God is within you, and all around you.
Luke 17:21

So, saying that Man (i.e. Humanity) is the true Shekinah, is tantamount to saying we are co-creators.

Indeed, each of us is the presence of God. Namasté (that which is divine within me acknowledges that which is divine within you). 

Read more: http://tamrin.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=esoteric&action=display&thread=1751#ixzz2NlF1GdFI

 Anyway, Shekinah is a word not found in the Bible. It literally means in Hebrew, "residence," or "dwelling." It is from a Hebrew root that is in the Bible, often translated as "to dwell." For example, "God dwells among His people." If you were to look that Hebrew term up, you would see the similarity to the word Shekinah.

It came to mean, over time, instead of literally "residence," or "dwelling,"—"God's visible presence." That word "visible" is very important—God's visible presence. Or, as I saw in one place, "The visible Majesty of the Divine Presence."

The feminine holds the mystery of creation. This simple and primordial truth is often overlooked, but at this time of global crisis, which also carries the seeds of a global transformation, we need to reawaken to the spiritual power and potential of the feminine. Feminine qualities belong to both men and women, and they draw us into the depths within us, into the mysteries of the soul whose wisdom is called Sophia. Without the feminine nothing new can be born, nothing new can come into existence—we will remain caught in the materialistic images of life that are polluting our planet and desecrating our souls. We need to return to the core of our being, to where the sacred comes into existence. And the mystical feminine holds the key to this work of redemption and transformation.

Over the past two decades Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee has given different teachings on the feminine and the anima mundi, the World Soul. They are compiled here for the first time. His book The Return of the Feminine World Soul is filled with wisdom and calls for a new way of thinking which we can all agree is needed to rescue Planet Earth. "A vital contribution to the Great Work of rescuing the human soul . . . Few are able to define and evoke the Feminine in the way that Vaughan-Lee does; Women and men alike will welcome and treasure this book."  —Anne Baring, coauthor, The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image

It has been interpreted by Jungian psychologist Marie-Louise von Franz interpreted fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty as symbolizing the 'rescue' or reintegration of the anima, the more 'feminine' part of a man's unconscious, but not wisdom or sophia per se.

"Sleeping Beauty", by Henry Meynell Rheam

 The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood

The Amazing Promises of the Zero Point Field

 

Amazing Properties of the Zero Point Field

The story that you’re about to read has created quite a stir among our editorial staff. The subject touches upon everything, literally everything that we humans do in our lives. And this is confrontational, disturbing and hopeful all at once. But that wasn’t the only reason for the commotion. There was also a continual discussion about the way this topic should be introduced. After all, writing about an energy field that connects man and matter and continually affects everything and everyone is not as quite as simple as the average article. Tijn Touber, who locked himself away for weeks to write this amazing story, must have come close to desperation. Not only because of the comments we made and the continual discussions we had with one another, but also and especially because of the complexity of the issue. The words of Niels Bohr, the renowned Danish scientist, should have been a warning to us: ‘Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it.’ Hence, dear readers, you are forewarned. But there is some consolation: if at any time you cannot follow the story, you are in good company. Hold on tight. (Or better yet, let go.) — The editors

Tijn Touber | November 2003 issue

- See more at:Ode Magazine, Amazing Promises of the Zero Point Field
An amazing article connecting quantum physics and spirituality, and human beings.