The Key Focus and Service work of the 5th Ray Ashram and 5th Sphere of Life is to Focus every moment on what one Wants from a Situation,The Thoughts Feelings and Experiences One Wants to Create,The States inner and outer that One Wants to experience.It is the Higher Octave of the 3rd Ray so it is a Mental Ray that allows one the ability to think consistently,This Laser Focus allows one to Know anything one sets on Mind to,it is therefor the Ray of the Scientist and all Great Discoveries in Science have come through this Laser Focus.All Knowledge from Nature has been obtained this Way and The Great Mother Herself gives her secrets Forth to those that Directs the Fires of Mind Focus into the Deepths of Bosom,Those who direct the Spiritual Mental Emotional and Physical Energies into the Deepths of the Mother Receive the Blessings Gifts Bounty Abundance Knowledge Peace and Perfection that is the Mothers Gifts.This Relates esoterically to the Dual SPhere of Scorpio and Taurus.
The Key Pracrtice of the 5th Ray is to focus ones attention and energy on manifesting Ones Goals and aspirations by Firing the Sub Conscious Mind with the Conscious Mind the Impressions of the Super Conscious Mind at all times and in all situations.This requires Constant Dilligence for the Instant One is not causing ones reality One is being Caused by Reality,The Instant One is not being a Master One is becoming a Victim.The Instant one is not Focusing on what they want they are focusing on what they dont want.So we can see the Requirements for Mastery of the 5th Ray which is basically unbroken Dilligent Unceasing focus on ones Manifestation process and then taking action to that end.Action is the Key here to and after taking action one should review ones actions During the Yin Cycle(Night Time and New Moon).During the Yang Cycle(Day Time and Full Moon) One should be unceasing in ones Focus attention on ones goals desires and aspirations then take action to the attainment Realization Integration and Demonstration of those Ideals on the Earthly Plane.All Practices should be around these keys as well as focusing the Energy and Mind at the Throat Chakra and the Space Element.One should also request to attune to Master Hillarion and the 5th Ray Ashram and to be bi located to that Ashram all day and Night.By this way one is moving into the Upper Trigram of the 5th SPhere of Life,by Ones “Un Relenting Focused attention on ones Manifestation Process!” Namaste Dear Friends!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
What Does it Mean to "Believe in G-d"(By Mais Freindman
What Does it Mean to "Believe in G-d"?
Tevet 23, 5771 · December 30, 2010
By Manis Friedman
Even the honest atheist will agree that a first cause, an original being, must have preceded the universe. This original cause or source is what so humbled Einstein, although he incorrectly described it as a religious experience. The questions of faith begin with how we understand this First Cause, its nature, and its relationship to us and to the universe.
The statement, "I believe there is a G-d" is meaningless. Faith is not the ability to imagine that which does not exist. Faith is finding relevance in that which is transcendent. To believe in G-d, then, means not that you're of the opinion that He exists, but that you have found relevance in Him. When a person says "I believe in G-d" what s/he really means is "G-d is significant in my life".
In discussing our relationship with G-d, the question we first need to ask, is, Who cares? In what way is He relevant?
For some people, G-d is relevant because they are concerned with the origins of existence. For others, G-d is relevant because they are concerned with the afterlife, and faith is a prerequisite for getting to heaven. Finally, for others, G-d is relevant because they believe that life has purpose.
In Judaism, particularly in Chassidism, the interest in G-d comes from the conviction that life has meaning. The recurring question in Chassidic thought is: Why is a soul sent into the world to suffer in a physical body, for 80, 90 years? We know there is a purpose, that G-d is the author of that purpose, and we want to know and understand it.
Chabad Chassidism teaches that the mind is the soul's capacity to detect logic, the heart is the soul's capacity to respond negatively or positively. The respective functions of the mind, heart and soul are often confused.
One who lives by his heart exclusively, trusts only what he feels. One who lives by his mind exclusively, trusts only what fits. But neither of these tells you the truth. The mind demands that logic be trusted, the heart demands that the emotions be trusted. Yet both can be mistaken. They do not reveal inherent truth. For that, we turn to the soul, the neshamah. Because the soul is a part of the Divine -- and that is truth. When we have faith, when we find relevance in G-d, we are trusting that instinct in the soul that tells us that G-d is the purpose of life.
In pragmatic terms, the mind, the heart and the soul must each fulfill their function: when we know all that can be known, when we come to the edge of knowledge and logic itself tells us that we have reached its outer limits and it cannot handle what lay beyond this point, faith enters. Where the mind is no longer adequate, the soul responds to truth. This is faith.
This faith, this soul response, is necessary in the fulfillment of that category of mitzvot known as chukim, supra-rational laws, laws that do not subscribe to reason.
If someone has difficulties with these particular commandments, that is an indication that they may be relying on the mind and heart at the expense of their own capacity to react to truth -- the expression of their soul. When a Jew fulfills a mitzvah before they've fully intellectualized it, they are allowing their neshamah to respond to truth.
It is an ability that often needs to be cultivated. The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950), recounts in his memoirs that as a small child, he once asked his father to explain to him why we follow a particular custom with regard to the saying of Modeh Ani upon waking in the morning. Instead of giving the answer, the Rebbe's father led him to an elderly, simple Jew, and asked the Jew, "Why do you say Modeh Ani in this particular way?" To which the man responded, "Because that's how my father taught me to do it." The Rebbe's father might have just as easily given him the rational reason for the custom. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity to exercise his ability to respond with faith.
This is why in Chabad-Lubavitch it is our approach to invite a Jew -- even one who claims not to believe -- to do a mitzvah, before we engage them in a discussion on faith. Because in consideration of the existence of the soul, we can assume that we don't have to convince people of life's Divine purpose. We just have to get them started, and with each mitzvah they do, their neshama asserts itself more, and questions become answered of themselves. By way of analogy, if a woman's maternal instinct appears to be absent, you don't argue the philosophy of motherhood with her. Just put the baby in her lap and her maternal response will emerge.
The relevance we find in Him will differ from person to person. Being that He is everything, people will experience G-d in every possible way. He is the G-d of Abraham and Isaac, of Benevolence and Might. And it is also true, as G-d says, "I am known according to my deeds." Some will know Him as a rewarding G-d, others as a G-d who punishes, who provides, who saves, who enlightens, who inspires, and so on and on..
In the beginning, G-d revealed Himself as the creator, master, king -- all very impersonal roles. In Halachah (Torah law) G-d reveals His laws, but doesn't allow His "personal feelings" to show. Later, in the Kabbalah, G-d makes Himself vulnerable; He shares intimate details. He is humanized in a two-way relationship. So the Halachist has great respect for the wisdom of the commandments, while the mystic sees G-d as taking the mitzvot personally. When G-d says, "don't cut down fruit trees," if we were sensitive we would not only hear a commandment, but we'd see something about G-d. Kabbalah reveals that something. The halachot are the details; Kabbalah reads between the lines.
Kabbalah gives us a very different perspective on G-d's "anthropomorphic" behavior. It reminds us that Torah comes to teach us about G-d, and that expressions such as "G-d spoke," "G-d's hand," "G-d's anger," need to be considered from Torah's or G-d's perspective. We are not the reference point for G-d's behavior; G-d should serve as a reference for our behavior. He created the world. Speech, hand, anger, jealousy -- these are all His creations, these are all Divine rights. Our speech, our hand, our anger, our jealousy -- these are only metaphors for the real thing, not the other way around. When we read that "G-d raises His hand" and splits the sea, we need to measure our own hand against that. When we raise it, what happens? Nothing. We learn then that we are not quite as powerful as G-d. When we read that G-d gets angry and punishes because He created a world with a Divine purpose, and that purpose is frustrated, we ought to measure our own anger against that. What have we created? Nothing. We may not, therefore, get angry and punish as G-d does. Considering G-d's anger and other attributes in this way brings us to a humbling recognition. Only when our anger or jealousy is an expression of moral indignation does it reflect true, Divine qualities. Only then, may we exercise such expressions. Whatever truth there is in anything in us, it is the extent to which we embody what it is He tells us about Himself.
Tevet 23, 5771 · December 30, 2010
By Manis Friedman
Even the honest atheist will agree that a first cause, an original being, must have preceded the universe. This original cause or source is what so humbled Einstein, although he incorrectly described it as a religious experience. The questions of faith begin with how we understand this First Cause, its nature, and its relationship to us and to the universe.
The statement, "I believe there is a G-d" is meaningless. Faith is not the ability to imagine that which does not exist. Faith is finding relevance in that which is transcendent. To believe in G-d, then, means not that you're of the opinion that He exists, but that you have found relevance in Him. When a person says "I believe in G-d" what s/he really means is "G-d is significant in my life".
In discussing our relationship with G-d, the question we first need to ask, is, Who cares? In what way is He relevant?
For some people, G-d is relevant because they are concerned with the origins of existence. For others, G-d is relevant because they are concerned with the afterlife, and faith is a prerequisite for getting to heaven. Finally, for others, G-d is relevant because they believe that life has purpose.
In Judaism, particularly in Chassidism, the interest in G-d comes from the conviction that life has meaning. The recurring question in Chassidic thought is: Why is a soul sent into the world to suffer in a physical body, for 80, 90 years? We know there is a purpose, that G-d is the author of that purpose, and we want to know and understand it.
Chabad Chassidism teaches that the mind is the soul's capacity to detect logic, the heart is the soul's capacity to respond negatively or positively. The respective functions of the mind, heart and soul are often confused.
One who lives by his heart exclusively, trusts only what he feels. One who lives by his mind exclusively, trusts only what fits. But neither of these tells you the truth. The mind demands that logic be trusted, the heart demands that the emotions be trusted. Yet both can be mistaken. They do not reveal inherent truth. For that, we turn to the soul, the neshamah. Because the soul is a part of the Divine -- and that is truth. When we have faith, when we find relevance in G-d, we are trusting that instinct in the soul that tells us that G-d is the purpose of life.
In pragmatic terms, the mind, the heart and the soul must each fulfill their function: when we know all that can be known, when we come to the edge of knowledge and logic itself tells us that we have reached its outer limits and it cannot handle what lay beyond this point, faith enters. Where the mind is no longer adequate, the soul responds to truth. This is faith.
This faith, this soul response, is necessary in the fulfillment of that category of mitzvot known as chukim, supra-rational laws, laws that do not subscribe to reason.
If someone has difficulties with these particular commandments, that is an indication that they may be relying on the mind and heart at the expense of their own capacity to react to truth -- the expression of their soul. When a Jew fulfills a mitzvah before they've fully intellectualized it, they are allowing their neshamah to respond to truth.
It is an ability that often needs to be cultivated. The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950), recounts in his memoirs that as a small child, he once asked his father to explain to him why we follow a particular custom with regard to the saying of Modeh Ani upon waking in the morning. Instead of giving the answer, the Rebbe's father led him to an elderly, simple Jew, and asked the Jew, "Why do you say Modeh Ani in this particular way?" To which the man responded, "Because that's how my father taught me to do it." The Rebbe's father might have just as easily given him the rational reason for the custom. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity to exercise his ability to respond with faith.
This is why in Chabad-Lubavitch it is our approach to invite a Jew -- even one who claims not to believe -- to do a mitzvah, before we engage them in a discussion on faith. Because in consideration of the existence of the soul, we can assume that we don't have to convince people of life's Divine purpose. We just have to get them started, and with each mitzvah they do, their neshama asserts itself more, and questions become answered of themselves. By way of analogy, if a woman's maternal instinct appears to be absent, you don't argue the philosophy of motherhood with her. Just put the baby in her lap and her maternal response will emerge.
The relevance we find in Him will differ from person to person. Being that He is everything, people will experience G-d in every possible way. He is the G-d of Abraham and Isaac, of Benevolence and Might. And it is also true, as G-d says, "I am known according to my deeds." Some will know Him as a rewarding G-d, others as a G-d who punishes, who provides, who saves, who enlightens, who inspires, and so on and on..
In the beginning, G-d revealed Himself as the creator, master, king -- all very impersonal roles. In Halachah (Torah law) G-d reveals His laws, but doesn't allow His "personal feelings" to show. Later, in the Kabbalah, G-d makes Himself vulnerable; He shares intimate details. He is humanized in a two-way relationship. So the Halachist has great respect for the wisdom of the commandments, while the mystic sees G-d as taking the mitzvot personally. When G-d says, "don't cut down fruit trees," if we were sensitive we would not only hear a commandment, but we'd see something about G-d. Kabbalah reveals that something. The halachot are the details; Kabbalah reads between the lines.
Kabbalah gives us a very different perspective on G-d's "anthropomorphic" behavior. It reminds us that Torah comes to teach us about G-d, and that expressions such as "G-d spoke," "G-d's hand," "G-d's anger," need to be considered from Torah's or G-d's perspective. We are not the reference point for G-d's behavior; G-d should serve as a reference for our behavior. He created the world. Speech, hand, anger, jealousy -- these are all His creations, these are all Divine rights. Our speech, our hand, our anger, our jealousy -- these are only metaphors for the real thing, not the other way around. When we read that "G-d raises His hand" and splits the sea, we need to measure our own hand against that. When we raise it, what happens? Nothing. We learn then that we are not quite as powerful as G-d. When we read that G-d gets angry and punishes because He created a world with a Divine purpose, and that purpose is frustrated, we ought to measure our own anger against that. What have we created? Nothing. We may not, therefore, get angry and punish as G-d does. Considering G-d's anger and other attributes in this way brings us to a humbling recognition. Only when our anger or jealousy is an expression of moral indignation does it reflect true, Divine qualities. Only then, may we exercise such expressions. Whatever truth there is in anything in us, it is the extent to which we embody what it is He tells us about Himself.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
"The 4th Ray Mission!"
The Incarnation of Ones Unique Divinity and Fullfilling Ones Personal Soul and Monadic Energies upon the Earth are our Focus and Service work today.The Focus of the Day is Incarnation of Ones Divinity,In Expressing Beuty and Harmony.In Incarnating Divinity in the Body upon the Body of the Earth Mother,as a Demonstration to the Heavenly Father.It is therefor an Alchemical Process of Uniting the Cosmic Mother and Cosmic Father upon the Earth.It is the Culmination of the Previous 26,000 Year Cycle of Evolution and Even Great Periods of Development,This Ray relates to the 4th Ray and 4th Ray Ashram as well as the 4th Initiation which the Earth Mother is herself taking at this time.We can see this Culminating in the Many Areas of Music Art and Creativity of all Kinds taking Place across the Earth at this time.Music Has brought the Opportunity of all Earth Souls in the Human Kingdom to experience the Higher Energies of the 4th Ray and Experience the Expression of Harmony Beuty and Divinity on the Earth.There are of Course Higher and Lower Octaves of this Expression for a Great Deal of Modern Music is Governed by the Ego and Negative Ego Programming as a lot of the these 4th Ray Souls and adepts have not learnt how to Control their Own Negative Ego,Inner Child,Psychology and Past Life Programming so to a great extent they are Victims and are being run by the Negative Ego.They are also then demonstrating this Negative Ego Example to many young impressionable Chelas and Aspirants and there by Continuing the Cultivation of the Negative Ego as oppose to the Christ Consciousness.It is a great call and service then for light workers to take up the Rod and Flame of Ones Christed Power Love and Wisdom and all the Other Ways in a Balanced and Integrated way so that one may set a Christed Example in the Musical World as this is so much needed.Where ever one can intuite and is guided by God and the Masters to any area where Modern Musicians are being Run by the Ego,To the Degree that one can learn from that and learn what not to do,is the degree to which one will be moved forward in the Spiritual Hierarchy and Ones Ascension Mission on Earth.God and the Masters are looking for 4th Ray Adepts who can stay out of their Negative Ego and Creative Beutiful Harmonious Music in co creation with thier Brothers and Sisters for the Glory Victory Power Love Wisdsom Balance Hamony Science Devotion and Magical Power of God!All Work on this Ray should be as on all other rays and in all other Ashrams used to Serve God and the Masters not the Lower Seperative Fear Based Illusionary Negative Ego.This is the Great Clarion call then to all 4th Ray Personalities Souls and Monads to step into the Higher Octave of the 4th Ray and Brining the Higher Energies of Harmony to the Earth through Ones Personal Mission.By doing this one will be all the more effective at Realizing and Demonstrating Ones Personal Puzzle Piece and thereby find the Peace and Perfection that Passeth all Understanding!One will have the Blessing of God The Masters The Angels The Elhoim The Christed Extraterrestial the Elementals and all the Elements of the Cosmos and therfor will have the Blessing and Support of the 12 Great Kingdoms of God and all of Creation!Who or what can be against one then and how can one not succeed and be totally successful in ones Mission and Work at all times,if ones keeps to the Spiritual Christ Buddha Krishna Mind and stays out of Ones Negative Dualistic Fear Based Seperative Lower Self Mind!One will be blest in all one does and Moved on in Ones Cosmic Ascension!One will come to learn as much about ones Self and the Great Cosmic Self as one is allowed.And One will feel so blest and abundantly Supported Nourished Satisfied Fulffilled Peaceful Harmonious Full of Knowledge and Devotion and Magic that one will want only to share and give to others.One will be a Blessing to the World and by this God and the Master will pour out Blessings through Ones Self!One will become a Transmiting Force for the Spiritual Hierarchy and a Great Blessing to the World!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
“The Vaste Oceanic Expanse of the Water of Planetary FullFillment!”
The 2nd Sphere of Life which we cultivate Developing integrating and demonstrating is the Sphere of The Great Cosmic Waters of Life and Light,It is the Realm of Emotional Fullfillment,(Which saw its Planetary Culmination in the Height and Peak of the Atlantean Age)It is the Sphere of Sexuality Creativity and higher Christed Emotion.It is the Center of Satisfaction and gives a sweetness of Life that has been term the Exqusit Jewel in Eastern Yogic Parlance.It is that area of Life where we fullfill and nourish all our Emotional Desires and experience the Delight and joy Peace Gratitude and Perfection from Doing so.It is the Sphere of Great Planetary Fullfillment and each part of the Whole must do its part to fullfill itself so that the greater whole of the Great Being Known as God/Godess The Tao The Dharmakiya the Great IAM Might be Fullfilled and completed as is the Will of that Great Being!We must all fill our Own Cup first and then assist in filling others Cups.In this way we gain the Infinite Energy of the 2nd Great Sphere and Become Masters of the 2nd Ray the 2nd Initiation and the 2nd SPhere of Life!
The Oceans of Life are So vaste that they hold the Total Emotional Experience on an Etheric Level of all Terrestial Life Forms,they Hold both Poles of Love and Fear and all Emotions and Experiences therein.They hold and vibrate or are vibrated through all Life Forms so that each Life Unit or Entity of Energies Life and Emotional Experience is vibrated at a particular rate through the Waters of ones Being,THe water Content,The Blood,The other Waters within the 4 Body System.These Waters and there degree of Balance and harmony and lack there off vibrate either within the frequencies of Fullfillment or the frequencies of Disatisfaction Craving Desire and Aversion.Our Job then as Extended Soul Sparks of the Spirit of the Spirit of the One God,the Great Cosmic Monads,God/Godess the Most High Itself,is to make sure we at all times are vibrating on the Positive aspect and degree of this Spectrum.We do this by fullfilling all our Emotional Mental Psychological Spiritual and Physical Desires and Aspirations,then once our “Cup Runeth Over” on all levels within and without,we can begin assisting our Brothers and Sisters in all Kingdoms of God to attain similar and greater Things.We can assist all life in achieving emotional Fullfillment.The ways in which we do this will be up to our Ray type our Psychological make up and our particual Puzzle Piece and the way God Created us and the way we created ourself in our many past lives and through out our Social Political Cultural Conditionings and choosings as well!We can get busy then serving as the Lord of the Worlds would have us serve.
The Oceans of Life are So vaste that they hold the Total Emotional Experience on an Etheric Level of all Terrestial Life Forms,they Hold both Poles of Love and Fear and all Emotions and Experiences therein.They hold and vibrate or are vibrated through all Life Forms so that each Life Unit or Entity of Energies Life and Emotional Experience is vibrated at a particular rate through the Waters of ones Being,THe water Content,The Blood,The other Waters within the 4 Body System.These Waters and there degree of Balance and harmony and lack there off vibrate either within the frequencies of Fullfillment or the frequencies of Disatisfaction Craving Desire and Aversion.Our Job then as Extended Soul Sparks of the Spirit of the Spirit of the One God,the Great Cosmic Monads,God/Godess the Most High Itself,is to make sure we at all times are vibrating on the Positive aspect and degree of this Spectrum.We do this by fullfilling all our Emotional Mental Psychological Spiritual and Physical Desires and Aspirations,then once our “Cup Runeth Over” on all levels within and without,we can begin assisting our Brothers and Sisters in all Kingdoms of God to attain similar and greater Things.We can assist all life in achieving emotional Fullfillment.The ways in which we do this will be up to our Ray type our Psychological make up and our particual Puzzle Piece and the way God Created us and the way we created ourself in our many past lives and through out our Social Political Cultural Conditionings and choosings as well!We can get busy then serving as the Lord of the Worlds would have us serve.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
"The New Moon Spell"
Welcome to the Rhythmic Lizard Moon of the Noos-Letter
With this edition of the Noos-letter of the Foundation for the Law of Time, we enter the Rhythmic Lizard Moon of Equality. This is the sixth moon of the Planetary Service Wavespell. Since the purpose of the annual 13 Moon wavespell is to determine how to live our lives in accordance with the Earth in a way that brings about a greater state of peace, during this moon we learn a fundamental lesson for creating peace: Equality.
Watch the movement of this moon's totem animal, the lizard: It moves with perfect rhythmic equality. In the pulsar cosmology of the wavespell, the sixth position or tone, corresponding to the sixth moon, belongs to the first dimension life pulsar. This position is where, like the lizard, we extend the rhythm of our action and command equality! What does this mean?
First of all, in our mind when we equalize our thoughts and bring ourselves to a state of equanimity, then nothing can really disturb us. All thoughts have equal value; each disappears just as it appeared. What excited us a moment ago is replaced by another thought that appears to occupy our mind. When we do not value one thought or life activity over another then we are commanding equality. Doing the dishes is as important as writing that next song. When we command equality we are balancing our life.
When we treat everyone as equals (in lak'ech!), knowing everyone to have the same ultimate soul potential as ourselves, and not favoring anyone whether they believe as we do or not, then we are commanding equality. When we command equality we are taking a positive step toward the noosphere. In the noosphere the equalization of thought and life brings about universal telepathy, which can only occur when we are at peace with ourselves and no one is deemed mentally, spiritually or morally inferior or superior to anyone else.
This sixth Moon is the second (of three) in the year coded by the same solar seal as codes the annual wavespell. Just as the first day of the Magnetic Moon was Red Overtone Moon, so the first day of the Rhythmic Moon is the Red Lunar Moon. In the Telektonon prophecy of Pacal Votan, it says: "When the Lunar Moon overflows its banks, the G-7 will be no more." Since the G-7 refers to the world banking system, this is an advisory regarding the continuing failure of the world monetary system. What next after Ireland? Take note.
So welcome again to the Noos-letter of the Foundation for the Law of Time! Our goal is to anticipate the noosphere by expanding our minds into the universal time of synchronization. Thank you for participating in this great cosmic process!
Moon at a Glance
Synchronicity follows a set of universal principles based on a mathematical matrix. This matrix is the primary structure that connects all events, people and reality as we know it. The more we tune into this matrix, the more we experience the synchronic order. This is the purpose of the 13 Moon, 28-day calendar. The following are some examples of how the synchronic order can be read on a day-to-day basis. If you are new to this please see the 13 Moon tutorial.
Star Traveler's Synchronicities
Red Overtone Moon Year
Rhythmic Moon (Moon 6 of the 13 Moons)
13 December 2010 - 9 January 2011
In the Rhythmic Moon we ask ourselves: How can I extend my equality to others? This moon we take the self-empowerment we generated in the Overtone Moon and extend it to others. The lizard is the sixth totem animal in the 13 Moon calendar. The Lizard is a master dreamer and shapeshifter. It is attuned to the subtle vibrations of the Earth making it able to detect what needs balancing. Lizard is also associated with the power of change and new beginnings, presenting us the opportunity to gracefully shed old patterns and embody new ones.
(13 December 2010) Rhythmic 1, Red Lunar Moon
Today is the first day of the Rhythmic Lizard Moon of Equality and the last day of the Red Galactic Spectrum, Season of Life Force (65-day cycle). A day for endings and beginnings - a great day for purification and assessing the new patterns you wish to install into your life.
14 December 2010) Rhythmic 2, White Electric Dog
Entry into the White Galactic Spectrum, Season of Love (65-day cycle). This is the Moon of equality: Consider that the average yearly income of the richest 20% of people in the world is about 50 times greater than the yearly income of the poorest 20% of people. Let's envision the power of love and compassion to eradicate inequality and poverty forever.
'All you need is love' music video created by children from SOS-children's villages in Zambia, India and Zimbabwe.
(16 December 2010) Rhythmic 4, Yellow Overtone Human
Today is Kin 252. In vigesimal notation, the number 252 is written "12.12". Today is also the 144th day of the 13 Moon calendar year: 144 = (12 x 12). Vigesimal math.
(21 December 2010) Rhythmic 9, Red Planetary Earth
Solstice, Full Moon, Total Lunar Eclipse - entire eclipse visible in North America, western South America, and East Asia; partially visible in Australia and Europe. A lunar eclipse occurs at full moon when the moon passes into the shadow cone of the Earth. Next solar eclipse: Crystal Moon 17, 2011 (15 June 2011).
(25 December 2010) Rhythmic 13, Red Magnetic Dragon
"How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts!" (Benjamin Franklin). "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Jesus) This is similar to the Mayan term, In Lak'ech (I am another yourself). On the 13 Moon calendar, Christmas Day is always the 13th day of the Moon. Christ was the 13th among the 12 disciples. On this day in 1758 Halley's Comet was first sighted.
Today is a day for rebirth as we begin another 260-day Tzolkin spin - Red Magnetic Dragon is Kin 1 - We are One: "One Tribe" (Black-Eyed Peas)
(26 December 2010) Rhythmic 14, White Lunar Wind
Kwanzaa begins, honoring universal African heritage and culture. Created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa is the first specifically African-American holiday in the United States. In 2009, Maya Angelou narrated the award-winning documentary The Black Candle, the first film about Kwanzaa.
(30 Dec 2010) Rhythmic 18, White Rhythmic Worldbridger
Magic Turtle Day (Tone of the Moon, and Tone of the kin are both Rhythmic). How can we equalize and balance our perceptions to stay attuned to the reality of the here-and-now while also extending a continuing consciousness of the higher galactic orders of cosmic time? Through balance we attain the strength to change - as Albert Einstein (Kin 260) put it: "You cannot solve a problem with the same consciousness that created it."
(1 January 2011) Rhythmic 20, Yellow Galactic Star
Gregorian New Year. The Star corresponds to the planet Venus bearing the archetype of the Artist. For more information on the galactic archetypes see Book of the Timespace, Cosmic History Chronicles Volume V.
(4 January 2011) Rhythmic 23, Blue Spectral Monkey
New Moon. Partial solar eclipse, preceded two weeks earlier by the total lunar eclipse (10 Dec 2010). This set of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days (sign of Galactic Earth). Solar birthday of mathematician and astronomer Sir Isaac Newton (1642), who discovered gravity. Galactic signature of Jose Arguelles/Valum Votan who discovered the Law of Time (1989): "Who owns your time owns your mind; own your own time and know your own mind."
(9 January 2011) Rhythmic 28, Yellow Electric Warrior
Rainbow Bridge Meditation day. Each of us is a rainbow. "When we speak of "rebuilding the rainbow bridge" we mean putting the two halves of the brain once more into harmony with each other, unifying the flow of our intuition with our rational thinking." (Dhyani Ywahoo).
With this edition of the Noos-letter of the Foundation for the Law of Time, we enter the Rhythmic Lizard Moon of Equality. This is the sixth moon of the Planetary Service Wavespell. Since the purpose of the annual 13 Moon wavespell is to determine how to live our lives in accordance with the Earth in a way that brings about a greater state of peace, during this moon we learn a fundamental lesson for creating peace: Equality.
Watch the movement of this moon's totem animal, the lizard: It moves with perfect rhythmic equality. In the pulsar cosmology of the wavespell, the sixth position or tone, corresponding to the sixth moon, belongs to the first dimension life pulsar. This position is where, like the lizard, we extend the rhythm of our action and command equality! What does this mean?
First of all, in our mind when we equalize our thoughts and bring ourselves to a state of equanimity, then nothing can really disturb us. All thoughts have equal value; each disappears just as it appeared. What excited us a moment ago is replaced by another thought that appears to occupy our mind. When we do not value one thought or life activity over another then we are commanding equality. Doing the dishes is as important as writing that next song. When we command equality we are balancing our life.
When we treat everyone as equals (in lak'ech!), knowing everyone to have the same ultimate soul potential as ourselves, and not favoring anyone whether they believe as we do or not, then we are commanding equality. When we command equality we are taking a positive step toward the noosphere. In the noosphere the equalization of thought and life brings about universal telepathy, which can only occur when we are at peace with ourselves and no one is deemed mentally, spiritually or morally inferior or superior to anyone else.
This sixth Moon is the second (of three) in the year coded by the same solar seal as codes the annual wavespell. Just as the first day of the Magnetic Moon was Red Overtone Moon, so the first day of the Rhythmic Moon is the Red Lunar Moon. In the Telektonon prophecy of Pacal Votan, it says: "When the Lunar Moon overflows its banks, the G-7 will be no more." Since the G-7 refers to the world banking system, this is an advisory regarding the continuing failure of the world monetary system. What next after Ireland? Take note.
So welcome again to the Noos-letter of the Foundation for the Law of Time! Our goal is to anticipate the noosphere by expanding our minds into the universal time of synchronization. Thank you for participating in this great cosmic process!
Moon at a Glance
Synchronicity follows a set of universal principles based on a mathematical matrix. This matrix is the primary structure that connects all events, people and reality as we know it. The more we tune into this matrix, the more we experience the synchronic order. This is the purpose of the 13 Moon, 28-day calendar. The following are some examples of how the synchronic order can be read on a day-to-day basis. If you are new to this please see the 13 Moon tutorial.
Star Traveler's Synchronicities
Red Overtone Moon Year
Rhythmic Moon (Moon 6 of the 13 Moons)
13 December 2010 - 9 January 2011
In the Rhythmic Moon we ask ourselves: How can I extend my equality to others? This moon we take the self-empowerment we generated in the Overtone Moon and extend it to others. The lizard is the sixth totem animal in the 13 Moon calendar. The Lizard is a master dreamer and shapeshifter. It is attuned to the subtle vibrations of the Earth making it able to detect what needs balancing. Lizard is also associated with the power of change and new beginnings, presenting us the opportunity to gracefully shed old patterns and embody new ones.
(13 December 2010) Rhythmic 1, Red Lunar Moon
Today is the first day of the Rhythmic Lizard Moon of Equality and the last day of the Red Galactic Spectrum, Season of Life Force (65-day cycle). A day for endings and beginnings - a great day for purification and assessing the new patterns you wish to install into your life.
14 December 2010) Rhythmic 2, White Electric Dog
Entry into the White Galactic Spectrum, Season of Love (65-day cycle). This is the Moon of equality: Consider that the average yearly income of the richest 20% of people in the world is about 50 times greater than the yearly income of the poorest 20% of people. Let's envision the power of love and compassion to eradicate inequality and poverty forever.
'All you need is love' music video created by children from SOS-children's villages in Zambia, India and Zimbabwe.
(16 December 2010) Rhythmic 4, Yellow Overtone Human
Today is Kin 252. In vigesimal notation, the number 252 is written "12.12". Today is also the 144th day of the 13 Moon calendar year: 144 = (12 x 12). Vigesimal math.
(21 December 2010) Rhythmic 9, Red Planetary Earth
Solstice, Full Moon, Total Lunar Eclipse - entire eclipse visible in North America, western South America, and East Asia; partially visible in Australia and Europe. A lunar eclipse occurs at full moon when the moon passes into the shadow cone of the Earth. Next solar eclipse: Crystal Moon 17, 2011 (15 June 2011).
(25 December 2010) Rhythmic 13, Red Magnetic Dragon
"How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts!" (Benjamin Franklin). "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Jesus) This is similar to the Mayan term, In Lak'ech (I am another yourself). On the 13 Moon calendar, Christmas Day is always the 13th day of the Moon. Christ was the 13th among the 12 disciples. On this day in 1758 Halley's Comet was first sighted.
Today is a day for rebirth as we begin another 260-day Tzolkin spin - Red Magnetic Dragon is Kin 1 - We are One: "One Tribe" (Black-Eyed Peas)
(26 December 2010) Rhythmic 14, White Lunar Wind
Kwanzaa begins, honoring universal African heritage and culture. Created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa is the first specifically African-American holiday in the United States. In 2009, Maya Angelou narrated the award-winning documentary The Black Candle, the first film about Kwanzaa.
(30 Dec 2010) Rhythmic 18, White Rhythmic Worldbridger
Magic Turtle Day (Tone of the Moon, and Tone of the kin are both Rhythmic). How can we equalize and balance our perceptions to stay attuned to the reality of the here-and-now while also extending a continuing consciousness of the higher galactic orders of cosmic time? Through balance we attain the strength to change - as Albert Einstein (Kin 260) put it: "You cannot solve a problem with the same consciousness that created it."
(1 January 2011) Rhythmic 20, Yellow Galactic Star
Gregorian New Year. The Star corresponds to the planet Venus bearing the archetype of the Artist. For more information on the galactic archetypes see Book of the Timespace, Cosmic History Chronicles Volume V.
(4 January 2011) Rhythmic 23, Blue Spectral Monkey
New Moon. Partial solar eclipse, preceded two weeks earlier by the total lunar eclipse (10 Dec 2010). This set of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days (sign of Galactic Earth). Solar birthday of mathematician and astronomer Sir Isaac Newton (1642), who discovered gravity. Galactic signature of Jose Arguelles/Valum Votan who discovered the Law of Time (1989): "Who owns your time owns your mind; own your own time and know your own mind."
(9 January 2011) Rhythmic 28, Yellow Electric Warrior
Rainbow Bridge Meditation day. Each of us is a rainbow. "When we speak of "rebuilding the rainbow bridge" we mean putting the two halves of the brain once more into harmony with each other, unifying the flow of our intuition with our rational thinking." (Dhyani Ywahoo).
Thursday, December 9, 2010
"Checklist of 10 things you can do to move out of Mass Consciousness"
Checklist of Ten things you can do to Move out of Mass Consciousness
1. You must strive for integration, balance, synthesis and full spectrum prism consciousness in all ways and all things. Mass consciousness is exactly the opposite: it is fragmented and imbalanced.
2. You must have discipline and structure in life.
3. You must develop an incredible work ethic.
4. The way out of mass consciousness is through denial and affirmation: denying the consciousness of the masses and affirming the group consciousness of the New Group of World Servers.
5. You must claim your identity to the level above you instead of the level you are living on.
6. You must live your Spiritual ideals.
7. You must be in integrity within yourself: If you learn a thing force yourself to practice that thing.
8. You must be 100% determined to not let anything stop you from your mission and vision in life.
9. Rest when needed and embrace the horizontal plane of life, but see these things in the context of your Spiritual path.
10. If you cannot run up the mountain, walk! If you cannot walk, crawl!
The Integrated Ascended Master is 100% committed to step out of mass consciousness because he realizes that he is not born to fit in – he is born to stand out! He chooses to stand out of mass consciousness, and instead of following the path of the masses, he forges his own path and leaves a trail for others to follow!
1. You must strive for integration, balance, synthesis and full spectrum prism consciousness in all ways and all things. Mass consciousness is exactly the opposite: it is fragmented and imbalanced.
2. You must have discipline and structure in life.
3. You must develop an incredible work ethic.
4. The way out of mass consciousness is through denial and affirmation: denying the consciousness of the masses and affirming the group consciousness of the New Group of World Servers.
5. You must claim your identity to the level above you instead of the level you are living on.
6. You must live your Spiritual ideals.
7. You must be in integrity within yourself: If you learn a thing force yourself to practice that thing.
8. You must be 100% determined to not let anything stop you from your mission and vision in life.
9. Rest when needed and embrace the horizontal plane of life, but see these things in the context of your Spiritual path.
10. If you cannot run up the mountain, walk! If you cannot walk, crawl!
The Integrated Ascended Master is 100% committed to step out of mass consciousness because he realizes that he is not born to fit in – he is born to stand out! He chooses to stand out of mass consciousness, and instead of following the path of the masses, he forges his own path and leaves a trail for others to follow!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
"Going with the Flow"By Dr Robert Anthony
We often talk about "going with the flow". Why? Because that is
what you were created to do! Think about this...everything that
has been created has a natural flow and when it operates in that
flow there is no struggle.
Water does not struggle to flow.
Grass does not struggle to grow.
Wind does not struggle to blow.
Rain does not struggle to fall.
Sun does not struggle to shine.
Earth does not struggle to rotate.
Flowers do not struggle to bloom.
What does this tell us? Struggle is unnatural. Why sentence
ourselves to a life of struggle when it is clearly unnatural?
In short, struggle is a "learned response" that has been taught to
us by those who are in a trance of struggle. This "learned
response" has become an UNCONSCIOUS HABITUAL PATTERN.
Awareness is the first step to making any change in our lives. If
you are aware that struggle is not "normal" and that it is a
learned UNCONSCIOUS HABITUAL PATTERN, you can CONSCIOUSLY make the
choice not to live your life paddling upstream.
Focus your attention on this; NOTHING YOU WANT IS UPSTREAM!
Everything you want is DOWNSTREAM. This means you do not have to
struggle (paddle up stream) to have it. All you need to do is put
your boat in the stream and let it carry you. In fact, you don't
need to paddle at all. Even if your boat is pointed in the wrong
direction (upstream), as soon as you stop paddling the stream will
turn your boat around without any effort on your part. Then you
will be going in the direction where everything you desire takes
place.
It is a simple but powerful metaphor. Give up the struggle once
and for all. Let go of the paddles, trust that Source Energy will
guide you downstream to your desire and start enjoying the trip.
It's a heck of a lot easier!
Today will bring you a new awareness, a lesson or a manifestation
that you are making progress - IF YOU LOOK FOR IT! No matter how
large or small, please record it in your Evidence Journal. It will
only take a few moments and will AUTOMATICALLY put you in the Flow.
Truly Caring for Your Success!
Dr. Robert Anthony
what you were created to do! Think about this...everything that
has been created has a natural flow and when it operates in that
flow there is no struggle.
Water does not struggle to flow.
Grass does not struggle to grow.
Wind does not struggle to blow.
Rain does not struggle to fall.
Sun does not struggle to shine.
Earth does not struggle to rotate.
Flowers do not struggle to bloom.
What does this tell us? Struggle is unnatural. Why sentence
ourselves to a life of struggle when it is clearly unnatural?
In short, struggle is a "learned response" that has been taught to
us by those who are in a trance of struggle. This "learned
response" has become an UNCONSCIOUS HABITUAL PATTERN.
Awareness is the first step to making any change in our lives. If
you are aware that struggle is not "normal" and that it is a
learned UNCONSCIOUS HABITUAL PATTERN, you can CONSCIOUSLY make the
choice not to live your life paddling upstream.
Focus your attention on this; NOTHING YOU WANT IS UPSTREAM!
Everything you want is DOWNSTREAM. This means you do not have to
struggle (paddle up stream) to have it. All you need to do is put
your boat in the stream and let it carry you. In fact, you don't
need to paddle at all. Even if your boat is pointed in the wrong
direction (upstream), as soon as you stop paddling the stream will
turn your boat around without any effort on your part. Then you
will be going in the direction where everything you desire takes
place.
It is a simple but powerful metaphor. Give up the struggle once
and for all. Let go of the paddles, trust that Source Energy will
guide you downstream to your desire and start enjoying the trip.
It's a heck of a lot easier!
Today will bring you a new awareness, a lesson or a manifestation
that you are making progress - IF YOU LOOK FOR IT! No matter how
large or small, please record it in your Evidence Journal. It will
only take a few moments and will AUTOMATICALLY put you in the Flow.
Truly Caring for Your Success!
Dr. Robert Anthony
Sunday, December 5, 2010
The December 5, 2010 The Lunar Month of December 5, 2010 - January 4, 2011 Self Mastery, Personal Responsibility, & Passageways of Change
The December 5, 2010
The Lunar Month of
December 5, 2010 - January 4, 2011
Self Mastery, Personal Responsibility,
& Passageways of Change
The New Moon of December 5 begins the last lunar cycle of 2010. Conjoining the Centaur Pholus, the New Moon resides in sidereal Scorpio and the constellation of Ophiuchus. It conjoins Sarin, the shoulder of Hercules and Restaban of Draco, eye of the Dragon. This area of the zodiak is about self mastery and being personally responsible for our freedom and well-being, and aiding others in their pursuit of the same.
Several events occur in this lunar cycle, including a Mercury Retrograde and the start of a new 116-day Earth Mercury synodic cycle, with a theme defined by the stars in early sidereal Gemini. Juno, asteroid of colleagues, partnerships and mutual cooperation, opposes Jupiter and Uranus, which are about to make their final conjunction on the following New Moon. Juno will also conjoin Makemake, one of our newly discovered planets, bringing attention to the administration of resources in partnerships.
The Full Moon, occurring on the December 21, 2010 Solstice, produces a Total Solar Eclipse in early sidereal Gemini, on the "Gate of Man" of Earth's Precessional Cross; conjoining Betelgeuse of Orion and Menkalinan of Auriga. The eclipse is visible throughout North America and western South America. Our Solstice Full Moon Eclipse also creates a dynamic Grand Square with Juno opposite Jupiter-Uranus. The entire Solstice Grand Square Total Eclipse Full Moon creates a primary activation of Earth's Precessional Cross--our sacred geometry of evolutionary change. This produces a dynamic and potent passageway--a challenge for radical action to change and shift into a new octave of experience--especially regarding relationships and partnerships of all types.
These are just a few of many events occurring in this lunar cycle. The Monthly Lunar Planner explores the details of these events and more, the underlying cycles upon which we evolve and which guide our daily lives--based in star-level astronomical astrology and synodic astrology.
For an in-depth stellar exploration of this Lunar Cycle and
the planetary cycles ahead, visit The Lunar Planner.
The stars would not be in the heavens
if we were meant to walk in darkness.
The Lunar Month of
December 5, 2010 - January 4, 2011
Self Mastery, Personal Responsibility,
& Passageways of Change
The New Moon of December 5 begins the last lunar cycle of 2010. Conjoining the Centaur Pholus, the New Moon resides in sidereal Scorpio and the constellation of Ophiuchus. It conjoins Sarin, the shoulder of Hercules and Restaban of Draco, eye of the Dragon. This area of the zodiak is about self mastery and being personally responsible for our freedom and well-being, and aiding others in their pursuit of the same.
Several events occur in this lunar cycle, including a Mercury Retrograde and the start of a new 116-day Earth Mercury synodic cycle, with a theme defined by the stars in early sidereal Gemini. Juno, asteroid of colleagues, partnerships and mutual cooperation, opposes Jupiter and Uranus, which are about to make their final conjunction on the following New Moon. Juno will also conjoin Makemake, one of our newly discovered planets, bringing attention to the administration of resources in partnerships.
The Full Moon, occurring on the December 21, 2010 Solstice, produces a Total Solar Eclipse in early sidereal Gemini, on the "Gate of Man" of Earth's Precessional Cross; conjoining Betelgeuse of Orion and Menkalinan of Auriga. The eclipse is visible throughout North America and western South America. Our Solstice Full Moon Eclipse also creates a dynamic Grand Square with Juno opposite Jupiter-Uranus. The entire Solstice Grand Square Total Eclipse Full Moon creates a primary activation of Earth's Precessional Cross--our sacred geometry of evolutionary change. This produces a dynamic and potent passageway--a challenge for radical action to change and shift into a new octave of experience--especially regarding relationships and partnerships of all types.
These are just a few of many events occurring in this lunar cycle. The Monthly Lunar Planner explores the details of these events and more, the underlying cycles upon which we evolve and which guide our daily lives--based in star-level astronomical astrology and synodic astrology.
For an in-depth stellar exploration of this Lunar Cycle and
the planetary cycles ahead, visit The Lunar Planner.
The stars would not be in the heavens
if we were meant to walk in darkness.
Today's Tanya Lesson
Today's Tanya Lesson
Likutei Amarim,
כי השכל שבנפש המשכלת כשמתבונן ומעמיק מאד בגדולת ה׳
For when the intellect in the rational soul deeply contemplates and immerses itself exceedingly in the greatness of G-d,
איך הוא ממלא כל עלמי
how He fills all worlds,
i.e., how G-d animates all of creation with an immanent divine light and life-force (just as the soul fills and gives life to every part of the body) — a life-force which clothes itself in and unifies itself with each creature, and which adapts itself to the individual needs of that creature,
וסובב כל עלמין
and when one further contemplates how He encompasses all worlds,1
He illuminates the worlds with a G-dly light and life-force that is far beyond the capacity of the worlds to receive internally; rather, it affects them in an encompassing manner.
וכולא קמיה כלא חשיב
Or, when one contemplates another aspect of G-d’s greatness, namely, how in His presence all creation is considered as naught, —2
נולדה ונתעוררה מדת יראת הרוממות במוחו ומחשבתו
Upon contemplating and immersing oneself in any of the above-mentioned aspects of G-d’s greatness the middah of awe for the Divine Majesty will be born and aroused in one’s mind and thought,
לירא ולהתבושש מגדולתו יתברך, שאין לה סוף ותכלית
to fear and be humble before His blessed greatness, which is without end or limit,
i.e., the fear will be coupled and permeated with humility, as in the awe one feels in the presence of a very wise or righteous person, which expresses one’s bashfulness and humility before him,
ופחד ה׳ בלבו
and there will also be born a dread of G-d in his heart.
This explains how contemplating G-d’s greatness arouses a fear and dread of Him — an expression of the attribute of Gevurah.
ושוב יתלהב לבו באהבה עזה כרשפי אש, בחשיקה וחפיצה ותשוקה ונפש שוקקה
Next his contemplation will give birth to the attribute of Chesed, expressed as a love of G-d, so that his heart will glow with an intense love of G-d like fiery flames, with a passion, desire and longing, and a yearning soul
לגדולת אין סוף ברוך הוא
(each of these expressions — “fiery flames,” “passion”, and so on, denoting a different grade of love) toward the greatness of the blessed Ein Sof.
והיא כלות הנפש, כדכתיב: נכספה וגם כלתה נפשי וגו׳, וכתיב: צמאה נפשי לאלקים וגו׳, וכתיב צמאה לך נפשי וגו׳
This is what is meant by the term kalot hanefesh (“a consuming passion of the soul”), as it is written:3 “My soul longs [for You]; indeed, it faints…,” and4 “My soul thirsts for G-d …,” and again,5 “My soul thirsts for You.”
So intense can one’s love become that the soul risks being consumed in the fiery flames of its love of G-d, and totally leaving the body. In fact, were one not to forestall this danger, and contain this great love, he would indeed expire. But he restrains himself so that his soul will remain clothed in his body — the only condition in which it is possible for him to fulfill his G-d-given mission.
והצמאון הוא מיסוד האש שבנפש האלקית
This loving thirst is derived from the element of Fire in the divine soul.
וכמו שכתבו הטבעיים, וכן הוא בע׳ חיים, שיסוד האש הוא בלב
As students of natural science affirm, and so it is in Etz Chayim, the element of Fire is in the heart,
ומקור המים והליחות מהמוח
while the source of [the element of] Water and moisture is in the brain,
וכמו שכתוב בע׳ חיים שער נ׳, שהיא בחינת חכמה שנקרא מים שבנפש האלקית
As explained in Etz Chayim, Portal 50, [the source of the element of Water] is the level of Chochmah which is called “the water of the divine soul.”
Inasmuch as the heart is the seat of the emotions — of warmth — we say that it is the abode of the element of Fire. In contrast, the brain — being the seat of “cold” intellect, calm and measured intelligence — is the source of the element of Water. One creadily observe this by comparing the demeanor of an emotional person to that of an intellectual.
So, too, with the intellect and emotions of the divine soul: the heat and passion of one’s love of G-d is expressed in the heart, an ultimately leading him to expire in kalot hanefesh. The mind, however, remains cool. This capacity of the intellect for calm appraisal of a situation leads it to comprehend that G-d’s intent is that the soul remain clothed in the body so that it will be able to fulfill the Torah and its commandments. This realization cools the fiery ardor of the heart and thus prevents the soul from actually expiring in kalot hanefesh.
The Alter Rebbe’s discussion of the birth of middot from the intellect has thus far been centered on two emotions: love and fear of G-d. What of the others?
ושאר המדות כולן הן ענפי היראה והאהבה ותולדותיהן, כמו שכתוב במקום אחר
The rest of the remaining five middot are all offshoots and derivatives of fear and love (and obviously they, too, are born of Chochmah and Binah), as is explained elsewhere.
All the above explains why Chochmah and Binah are called the “father” and “mother” of the middot, for it is through the contemplation exercised by Chochmah and Binah that the middot are born. Chochmah is called the “father”. Just as the drop of semen which derives from the father’s brain comprises, in concentrated and concealed form, all the organs of the child’s body, similarly the seminal point of Chochmah contains, in a concealed manner, all the details of an idea, as explained above. And just as it is the mother who reveals the child’s organs from their concealed state, and brings them to a state of completion, similarly, Binah reveals, expands and elucidates the concept in all its details.
But what of Daat, the third of the intellectual faculties? Daat too, as explained earlier, is a “mother” and source of middot. What does it contribute to their birth? This issue is now addressed.
והדעת הוא מלשון: והאדם ידע את חוה, והוא לשון התקשרות והתחברות
Daat, whose etymology may be found in the verse,6 “And Adam knew (ידע) Eve,” implies attachment and union.
שמקשר דעתו בקשר אמי׳ וחזק מאד, ויתקע מחשבתו בחוזק, בגדולת אין סוף ברוך הוא, ואינו מסיח דעתו
(As applied to Daat of the divine soul, this means) binding one’s mind with a very firm, strong bond and firmly fixing one’s thought on the greatness of the blessed Ein Sof, without diverting his mind from it (i.e., the subject matter conceived in Chochmah and developed in Binah is absorbed in the mind by concentration, Daat.)
כי אף מי שהוא חכם ונבון בגדולת אין סוף ברוך הוא, הנה אם לא יקשר דעתו ויתקע מחשבתו בחוזק ובהתמדה
For even one who is wise (by utilizing his faculty of Chochmah) and understanding (by exercising his faculty of Binah) in the greatness of the blessed Ein Sof, yet, unless he applies his Daat and fixes his thought firmly and diligently on his understanding of G-d’s greatness,
לא יוליד בנפשו יראה ואהבה אמיתית, כי אם דמיונות שוא
he will not produce in his soul true fear and love, but only vain fancies.
He will only imagine that he fears G-d and loves Him. True fear and love are attained only by way of Daat.
ועל כן הדעת הוא קיום המדות וחיותן
Thus, Daat provides the substance and vitality of the middot (and is therefore termed a “mother” of the middot, another parent side by side with Chochmah and Binah).
והוא כולל חסד וגבורה, פירוש: אהבה וענפיה ויראה וענפיה
It comprises Chesed and Gevurah; that is to say, love with those other middot that are its offshoots, and fear with its offshoots.
Likutei Amarim,
כי השכל שבנפש המשכלת כשמתבונן ומעמיק מאד בגדולת ה׳
For when the intellect in the rational soul deeply contemplates and immerses itself exceedingly in the greatness of G-d,
איך הוא ממלא כל עלמי
how He fills all worlds,
i.e., how G-d animates all of creation with an immanent divine light and life-force (just as the soul fills and gives life to every part of the body) — a life-force which clothes itself in and unifies itself with each creature, and which adapts itself to the individual needs of that creature,
וסובב כל עלמין
and when one further contemplates how He encompasses all worlds,1
He illuminates the worlds with a G-dly light and life-force that is far beyond the capacity of the worlds to receive internally; rather, it affects them in an encompassing manner.
וכולא קמיה כלא חשיב
Or, when one contemplates another aspect of G-d’s greatness, namely, how in His presence all creation is considered as naught, —2
נולדה ונתעוררה מדת יראת הרוממות במוחו ומחשבתו
Upon contemplating and immersing oneself in any of the above-mentioned aspects of G-d’s greatness the middah of awe for the Divine Majesty will be born and aroused in one’s mind and thought,
לירא ולהתבושש מגדולתו יתברך, שאין לה סוף ותכלית
to fear and be humble before His blessed greatness, which is without end or limit,
i.e., the fear will be coupled and permeated with humility, as in the awe one feels in the presence of a very wise or righteous person, which expresses one’s bashfulness and humility before him,
ופחד ה׳ בלבו
and there will also be born a dread of G-d in his heart.
This explains how contemplating G-d’s greatness arouses a fear and dread of Him — an expression of the attribute of Gevurah.
ושוב יתלהב לבו באהבה עזה כרשפי אש, בחשיקה וחפיצה ותשוקה ונפש שוקקה
Next his contemplation will give birth to the attribute of Chesed, expressed as a love of G-d, so that his heart will glow with an intense love of G-d like fiery flames, with a passion, desire and longing, and a yearning soul
לגדולת אין סוף ברוך הוא
(each of these expressions — “fiery flames,” “passion”, and so on, denoting a different grade of love) toward the greatness of the blessed Ein Sof.
והיא כלות הנפש, כדכתיב: נכספה וגם כלתה נפשי וגו׳, וכתיב: צמאה נפשי לאלקים וגו׳, וכתיב צמאה לך נפשי וגו׳
This is what is meant by the term kalot hanefesh (“a consuming passion of the soul”), as it is written:3 “My soul longs [for You]; indeed, it faints…,” and4 “My soul thirsts for G-d …,” and again,5 “My soul thirsts for You.”
So intense can one’s love become that the soul risks being consumed in the fiery flames of its love of G-d, and totally leaving the body. In fact, were one not to forestall this danger, and contain this great love, he would indeed expire. But he restrains himself so that his soul will remain clothed in his body — the only condition in which it is possible for him to fulfill his G-d-given mission.
והצמאון הוא מיסוד האש שבנפש האלקית
This loving thirst is derived from the element of Fire in the divine soul.
וכמו שכתבו הטבעיים, וכן הוא בע׳ חיים, שיסוד האש הוא בלב
As students of natural science affirm, and so it is in Etz Chayim, the element of Fire is in the heart,
ומקור המים והליחות מהמוח
while the source of [the element of] Water and moisture is in the brain,
וכמו שכתוב בע׳ חיים שער נ׳, שהיא בחינת חכמה שנקרא מים שבנפש האלקית
As explained in Etz Chayim, Portal 50, [the source of the element of Water] is the level of Chochmah which is called “the water of the divine soul.”
Inasmuch as the heart is the seat of the emotions — of warmth — we say that it is the abode of the element of Fire. In contrast, the brain — being the seat of “cold” intellect, calm and measured intelligence — is the source of the element of Water. One creadily observe this by comparing the demeanor of an emotional person to that of an intellectual.
So, too, with the intellect and emotions of the divine soul: the heat and passion of one’s love of G-d is expressed in the heart, an ultimately leading him to expire in kalot hanefesh. The mind, however, remains cool. This capacity of the intellect for calm appraisal of a situation leads it to comprehend that G-d’s intent is that the soul remain clothed in the body so that it will be able to fulfill the Torah and its commandments. This realization cools the fiery ardor of the heart and thus prevents the soul from actually expiring in kalot hanefesh.
The Alter Rebbe’s discussion of the birth of middot from the intellect has thus far been centered on two emotions: love and fear of G-d. What of the others?
ושאר המדות כולן הן ענפי היראה והאהבה ותולדותיהן, כמו שכתוב במקום אחר
The rest of the remaining five middot are all offshoots and derivatives of fear and love (and obviously they, too, are born of Chochmah and Binah), as is explained elsewhere.
All the above explains why Chochmah and Binah are called the “father” and “mother” of the middot, for it is through the contemplation exercised by Chochmah and Binah that the middot are born. Chochmah is called the “father”. Just as the drop of semen which derives from the father’s brain comprises, in concentrated and concealed form, all the organs of the child’s body, similarly the seminal point of Chochmah contains, in a concealed manner, all the details of an idea, as explained above. And just as it is the mother who reveals the child’s organs from their concealed state, and brings them to a state of completion, similarly, Binah reveals, expands and elucidates the concept in all its details.
But what of Daat, the third of the intellectual faculties? Daat too, as explained earlier, is a “mother” and source of middot. What does it contribute to their birth? This issue is now addressed.
והדעת הוא מלשון: והאדם ידע את חוה, והוא לשון התקשרות והתחברות
Daat, whose etymology may be found in the verse,6 “And Adam knew (ידע) Eve,” implies attachment and union.
שמקשר דעתו בקשר אמי׳ וחזק מאד, ויתקע מחשבתו בחוזק, בגדולת אין סוף ברוך הוא, ואינו מסיח דעתו
(As applied to Daat of the divine soul, this means) binding one’s mind with a very firm, strong bond and firmly fixing one’s thought on the greatness of the blessed Ein Sof, without diverting his mind from it (i.e., the subject matter conceived in Chochmah and developed in Binah is absorbed in the mind by concentration, Daat.)
כי אף מי שהוא חכם ונבון בגדולת אין סוף ברוך הוא, הנה אם לא יקשר דעתו ויתקע מחשבתו בחוזק ובהתמדה
For even one who is wise (by utilizing his faculty of Chochmah) and understanding (by exercising his faculty of Binah) in the greatness of the blessed Ein Sof, yet, unless he applies his Daat and fixes his thought firmly and diligently on his understanding of G-d’s greatness,
לא יוליד בנפשו יראה ואהבה אמיתית, כי אם דמיונות שוא
he will not produce in his soul true fear and love, but only vain fancies.
He will only imagine that he fears G-d and loves Him. True fear and love are attained only by way of Daat.
ועל כן הדעת הוא קיום המדות וחיותן
Thus, Daat provides the substance and vitality of the middot (and is therefore termed a “mother” of the middot, another parent side by side with Chochmah and Binah).
והוא כולל חסד וגבורה, פירוש: אהבה וענפיה ויראה וענפיה
It comprises Chesed and Gevurah; that is to say, love with those other middot that are its offshoots, and fear with its offshoots.
"The 7th Great Labour of Life"
“The 7th Great Labour of Life is to use the Magical Energy of all the Bodies and Minds in service of the Highest Integrated Ascended Master Ideal and the Incarnation of that in your Daily Earth Life!The 7th Great Labour is to use all Spheres of LIfe all Ashrams and Offices and to attune to and align with the Higher Aspect of each of the 7 Major Shperes of Life and Express that in all you do.This work should be done in Synchrony and Harmony with all the Lords of the World,as you are now and extension of their work.This should be done under Melchedizek the Universal Logoas,The Mahatma the Avatar of Synthisis and Metatron,the ArchAngel of all Archangels.With this Cosmic 3 Fold Power and the Full Power of your 7 Ray Empowerment Study and Demonstration as well as your 12 Brain Centers and Higher Nerves,With all your Higher Minds and Light Bodies acting in Perfect Synch and Harmony create perfection action in the World to create Victory to the Plan of God and the Masters!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
"The 12 Labours of Heracles!"
Birth
Hercules was the Roman name for the greatest hero of Greek mythology -- Heracles. Like most authentic heroes, Heracles had a god as one of his parents, being the son of the supreme deity Zeus and a mortal woman. Zeus's queen Hera was jealous of Heracles, and when he was still an infant she sent two snakes to kill him in his crib. Heracles was found prattling delighted baby talk, a strangled serpent in each hand.
The Labors
When he had come of age and already proved himself an unerring marksman with a bow and arrow, a champion wrestler and the possessor of superhuman strength, Heracles was driven mad by Hera. In a frenzy, he killed his own children. To atone for this crime, he was sentenced to perform a series of tasks, or "Labors", for his cousin Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae. By rights, Hercules should have been king himself, but Hera had tricked her husband Zeus into crowning Eurystheus instead.
Labor One: The Nemean Lion
As his first Labor, Heracles was challenged to kill the Nemean lion. This was no easy feat, for the beast's parentage was supernatural and it was more of a monster than an ordinary lion. Its skin could not be penetrated by spears or arrows. Heracles blocked off the entrances to the lion's cave, crawled into the close confines where it would have to fight face to face and throttled it to death with his bare hands. Ever afterwards he wore the lion's skin as a cloak and its gaping jaws as a helmet.
Labor Two: The Hydra
King Eurystheus was so afraid of his heroic cousin that when he saw him coming with the Nemean lion on his shoulder, he hid in a storage jar. From this shelter he issued the order for the next Labor. Heracles was to seek out and destroy the monstrous and many-headed Hydra. The mythmakers agree that the Hydra lived in the swamps of Lerna, but they seem to have had trouble counting its heads. Some said that the Hydra had eight or nine, while others claimed as many as ten thousand. All agreed, however, that as soon as one head was beaten down or chopped off, two more grew in its place.
Labor Two: The Hydra (continued)
To make matters worse, the Hydra's very breath was lethal. Even smelling its footprints was enough to kill an ordinary mortal. Fortunately, Heracles was no ordinary mortal. He sought out the monster in its lair and brought it out into the open with flaming arrows. But now the fight went in the Hydra's favor. It twined its many heads around the hero and tried to trip him up. It called on an ally, a huge crab that also lived in the swamp. The crab bit Heracles in the heel and further impeded his attack. Heracles was on the verge of failure when he remembered his nephew, Iolaus, the son of his twin brother Iphicles.Iolaus, who had driven Heracles to Lerna in a chariot, looked on in anxiety as his uncle became entangled in the Hydra's snaky heads. Finally he could bear it no longer. In response to his uncle's shouts, he grabbed a burning torch and dashed into the fray. Now, as soon as Heracles cut off one of the Hydra's heads, Iolaus was there to sear the wounded neck with flame. This kept further heads from sprouting. Heracles cut off the heads one by one, with Iolaus cauterizing the wounds. Finally Heracles lopped off the one head that was supposedly immortal and buried it deep beneath a rock.
Labor Three: the Cerynitian Hind
The third Labor was the capture of the Cerynitian hind. Though a female deer, this fleet-footed beast had golden horns. It was sacred to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, so Heracles dared not wound it. He hunted it for an entire year before running it down on the banks of the River Ladon in Arcadia. Taking careful aim with his bow, he fired an arrow between the tendons and bones of the two forelegs, pinning it down without drawing blood. All the same, Artemis was displeased, but Heracles dodged her wrath by blaming his taskmaster Eurystheus.
Labor Four: the Erymanthian Boar
The fourth Labor took Heracles back to Arcadia in quest of an enormous boar, which he was challenged to bring back alive. While tracking it down he stopped to visit the centaur Pholus. This creature -- half-horse, half-man -- was examining one of the hero's arrows when he accidentally dropped it on his foot. Because it had been soaked in poisonous Hydra venom, Pholus succumbed immediately. Heracles finally located the boar on Mount Erymanthus and managed to drive it into a snowbank, immobilizing it. Flinging it up onto his shoulder, he carried it back to Eurystheus, who cowered as usual in his storage jar.
Labor Five: The Augean Stables
Eurystheus was very pleased with himself for dreaming up the next Labor, which he was sure would humiliate his heroic cousin. Heracles was to clean out the stables of King Augeas in a single day. Augeas possessed vast herds of cattle which had deposited their manure in such quantity over the years that a thick aroma hung over the entire Peloponnesus. Instead of employing a shovel and a basket as Eurystheus imagined, Heracles diverted two rivers through the stableyard and got the job done without getting dirty. But because he had demanded payment of Augeas, Eurystheus refused to count this as a Labor.
Labor Six: The Stymphalian Birds
The sixth Labor pitted Heracles against the Stymphalian birds, who inhabited a marsh near Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. The sources differ as to whether these birds feasted on human flesh, killed men by shooting them with feathers of brass or merely constituted a nuisance because of their number. Heracles could not approach the birds to fight them - the ground was too swampy to bear his weight and too mucky to wade through. Finally he resorted to some castanets given to him by the goddess Athena. By making a racket with these, he caused the birds to take wing. And once they were in the air, he brought them down by the dozens with his arrows.
Labor Seven: the Cretan Bull
Queen Pasiphae of Crete had been inspired by a vengeful god to fall in love with a bull, with the result that the Minotaur was born -- a monster half-man and half-bull that haunted the Labyrinth of King Minos. Pasiphae's husband was understandably eager to be rid of the bull, which was also ravaging the Cretan countryside, so Hercules was assigned the task as his seventh Labor. Although the beast belched flames, the hero overpowered it and shipped it back to the mainland. It ended up near Athens, where it became the duty of another hero, Theseus, to deal with it once more.
Labor Eight: the Mares of Diomedes
Next Heracles was instructed to bring Eurystheus the mares of Diomedes. These horses dined on the flesh of travelers who made the mistake of accepting Diomedes' hospitality. In one version of the myth, Heracles pacified the beasts by feeding them their own master. In another, they satisfied their appetites on the hero's squire, a young man named Abderus. In any case, Heracles soon rounded them up and herded them down to sea, where he embarked them for Tiryns. Once he had shown them to Eurystheus, he released them. They were eventually eaten by wild animals on Mount Olympus.
Labor Nine: Hippolyte's Belt
The ninth Labor took Heracles to the land of the Amazons, to retrieve the belt of their queen for Eurystheus' daughter. The Amazons were a race of warrior women, great archers who had invented the art of fighting from horseback. Heracles recruited a number of heroes to accompany him on this expedition, among them Theseus. As it turned out, the Amazon queen, Hippolyte, willingly gave Hercules her belt, but Hera was not about to let the hero get off so easily. The goddess stirred up the Amazons with a rumor that the Greeks had captured their queen, and a great battle ensued. Heracles made off with the belt, and Theseus kidnapped an Amazon princess.
Labor Ten: the Cattle of Geryon
In creating monsters and formidable foes, the Greek mythmakers used a simple technique of multiplication. Thus Geryon, the owner of some famous cattle that Heracles was now instructed to steal, had three heads and/or three separate bodies from the waist down. His watchdog, Orthrus, had only two heads. This Labor took place somewhere in the country we know as Spain. The hound Orthrus rushed at Heracles as he was making off with the cattle, and the hero killed him with a single blow from the wooden club which he customarily carried. Geryon was dispatched as well, and Heracles drove the herd back to Greece, taking a wrong turn along the way and passing through Italy.
Labor Eleven: the Apples of the Hesperides
The Hesperides were nymphs entrusted by the goddess Hera with certain apples which she had received as a wedding present. These were kept in a grove surrounded by a high wall and guarded by Ladon, a many-headed dragon. The grove was located in the far-western mountains named for Atlas, one of the Titans or first generation of gods. Atlas had sided with one of his brothers in a war against Zeus. In punishment, he was compelled to support the weight of the heavens by means of a pillar on his shoulders. Heracles, in quest of the apples, had been told that he would never get the them without the aid of Atlas.
Labor Eleven: the Apples of the Hesperides (concluded)
The Titan was only too happy to oblige. He told the hero to hold the pillar while he went to retrieve the fruit. But first Heracles had to kill the dragon by means of an arrow over the garden wall. Atlas soon returned with the apples but now realized how nice it was not to have to strain for eternity keeping heaven and earth apart. Heracles wondered if Atlas would mind taking back the pillar just long enough for him to fetch a cushion for his shoulder. The Titan obliged and Heracles strolled off, neglecting to return.
Labor Twelve: the Capture of Cerberus
As his final Labor, Heracles was instructed to bring the hellhound Cerberus up from Hades, the kingdom of the dead. The first barrier to the soul's journey beyond the grave was the most famous river of the Underworld, the Styx. Here the newly dead congregated as insubstantial shades, mere wraiths of their former selves, awaiting passage in the ferryboat of Charon the Boatman. Charon wouldn't take anyone across unless they met two conditions. Firstly, they had to pay a bribe in the form of a coin under the corpse's tongue. And secondly, they had to be dead. Heracles met neither condition, a circumstance which aggravated Charon's natural grouchiness.But Heracles simply glowered so fiercely that Charon meekly conveyed him across the Styx. The greater challenge was Cerberus, who had razor teeth, three (or maybe fifty) heads, a venomous snake for a tail and another swarm of snakes growing out of his back. These lashed at Heracles while Cerberus lunged for a purchase on his throat. Fortunately, the hero was wearing his trusty lion's skin, which was impenetrable by anything short of a thunderbolt from Zeus. Heracles eventually choked Cerberus into submission and dragged him to Tiryns, where he received due credit for this final Labor.
Death
Heracles had a great many other adventures, in after years as well as in between his Labors. It was poisonous Hydra venom that eventually brought about his demise. He had allowed a centaur to ferry his wife Deianara across a river, and the centaur had attacked her on the other side. Heracles killed him with an arrow, but before he died he told Deinara to keep some of his blood for a love potion. Deinara used some on Heracles' tunic to keep him faithful, little realizing that it had been poisoned with Hydra venom from the arrow. Heracles donned the tunic and died in agony.
Afterlife
Heracles was the only hero to become a full-fledged god upon his demise, but even in his case there was his mortal aspect to be dealt with. By virtue of his spectacular achievements, even by heroic standards, he was given a home on Mount Olympus and a goddess for a wife. But part of him had come not from his father Zeus but from his mortal mother Alcmene, and that part was sent to the Underworld. As a phantasm it eternally roams the Elysian Fields in the company of other heroes.
Hercules was the Roman name for the greatest hero of Greek mythology -- Heracles. Like most authentic heroes, Heracles had a god as one of his parents, being the son of the supreme deity Zeus and a mortal woman. Zeus's queen Hera was jealous of Heracles, and when he was still an infant she sent two snakes to kill him in his crib. Heracles was found prattling delighted baby talk, a strangled serpent in each hand.
The Labors
When he had come of age and already proved himself an unerring marksman with a bow and arrow, a champion wrestler and the possessor of superhuman strength, Heracles was driven mad by Hera. In a frenzy, he killed his own children. To atone for this crime, he was sentenced to perform a series of tasks, or "Labors", for his cousin Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae. By rights, Hercules should have been king himself, but Hera had tricked her husband Zeus into crowning Eurystheus instead.
Labor One: The Nemean Lion
As his first Labor, Heracles was challenged to kill the Nemean lion. This was no easy feat, for the beast's parentage was supernatural and it was more of a monster than an ordinary lion. Its skin could not be penetrated by spears or arrows. Heracles blocked off the entrances to the lion's cave, crawled into the close confines where it would have to fight face to face and throttled it to death with his bare hands. Ever afterwards he wore the lion's skin as a cloak and its gaping jaws as a helmet.
Labor Two: The Hydra
King Eurystheus was so afraid of his heroic cousin that when he saw him coming with the Nemean lion on his shoulder, he hid in a storage jar. From this shelter he issued the order for the next Labor. Heracles was to seek out and destroy the monstrous and many-headed Hydra. The mythmakers agree that the Hydra lived in the swamps of Lerna, but they seem to have had trouble counting its heads. Some said that the Hydra had eight or nine, while others claimed as many as ten thousand. All agreed, however, that as soon as one head was beaten down or chopped off, two more grew in its place.
Labor Two: The Hydra (continued)
To make matters worse, the Hydra's very breath was lethal. Even smelling its footprints was enough to kill an ordinary mortal. Fortunately, Heracles was no ordinary mortal. He sought out the monster in its lair and brought it out into the open with flaming arrows. But now the fight went in the Hydra's favor. It twined its many heads around the hero and tried to trip him up. It called on an ally, a huge crab that also lived in the swamp. The crab bit Heracles in the heel and further impeded his attack. Heracles was on the verge of failure when he remembered his nephew, Iolaus, the son of his twin brother Iphicles.Iolaus, who had driven Heracles to Lerna in a chariot, looked on in anxiety as his uncle became entangled in the Hydra's snaky heads. Finally he could bear it no longer. In response to his uncle's shouts, he grabbed a burning torch and dashed into the fray. Now, as soon as Heracles cut off one of the Hydra's heads, Iolaus was there to sear the wounded neck with flame. This kept further heads from sprouting. Heracles cut off the heads one by one, with Iolaus cauterizing the wounds. Finally Heracles lopped off the one head that was supposedly immortal and buried it deep beneath a rock.
Labor Three: the Cerynitian Hind
The third Labor was the capture of the Cerynitian hind. Though a female deer, this fleet-footed beast had golden horns. It was sacred to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, so Heracles dared not wound it. He hunted it for an entire year before running it down on the banks of the River Ladon in Arcadia. Taking careful aim with his bow, he fired an arrow between the tendons and bones of the two forelegs, pinning it down without drawing blood. All the same, Artemis was displeased, but Heracles dodged her wrath by blaming his taskmaster Eurystheus.
Labor Four: the Erymanthian Boar
The fourth Labor took Heracles back to Arcadia in quest of an enormous boar, which he was challenged to bring back alive. While tracking it down he stopped to visit the centaur Pholus. This creature -- half-horse, half-man -- was examining one of the hero's arrows when he accidentally dropped it on his foot. Because it had been soaked in poisonous Hydra venom, Pholus succumbed immediately. Heracles finally located the boar on Mount Erymanthus and managed to drive it into a snowbank, immobilizing it. Flinging it up onto his shoulder, he carried it back to Eurystheus, who cowered as usual in his storage jar.
Labor Five: The Augean Stables
Eurystheus was very pleased with himself for dreaming up the next Labor, which he was sure would humiliate his heroic cousin. Heracles was to clean out the stables of King Augeas in a single day. Augeas possessed vast herds of cattle which had deposited their manure in such quantity over the years that a thick aroma hung over the entire Peloponnesus. Instead of employing a shovel and a basket as Eurystheus imagined, Heracles diverted two rivers through the stableyard and got the job done without getting dirty. But because he had demanded payment of Augeas, Eurystheus refused to count this as a Labor.
Labor Six: The Stymphalian Birds
The sixth Labor pitted Heracles against the Stymphalian birds, who inhabited a marsh near Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. The sources differ as to whether these birds feasted on human flesh, killed men by shooting them with feathers of brass or merely constituted a nuisance because of their number. Heracles could not approach the birds to fight them - the ground was too swampy to bear his weight and too mucky to wade through. Finally he resorted to some castanets given to him by the goddess Athena. By making a racket with these, he caused the birds to take wing. And once they were in the air, he brought them down by the dozens with his arrows.
Labor Seven: the Cretan Bull
Queen Pasiphae of Crete had been inspired by a vengeful god to fall in love with a bull, with the result that the Minotaur was born -- a monster half-man and half-bull that haunted the Labyrinth of King Minos. Pasiphae's husband was understandably eager to be rid of the bull, which was also ravaging the Cretan countryside, so Hercules was assigned the task as his seventh Labor. Although the beast belched flames, the hero overpowered it and shipped it back to the mainland. It ended up near Athens, where it became the duty of another hero, Theseus, to deal with it once more.
Labor Eight: the Mares of Diomedes
Next Heracles was instructed to bring Eurystheus the mares of Diomedes. These horses dined on the flesh of travelers who made the mistake of accepting Diomedes' hospitality. In one version of the myth, Heracles pacified the beasts by feeding them their own master. In another, they satisfied their appetites on the hero's squire, a young man named Abderus. In any case, Heracles soon rounded them up and herded them down to sea, where he embarked them for Tiryns. Once he had shown them to Eurystheus, he released them. They were eventually eaten by wild animals on Mount Olympus.
Labor Nine: Hippolyte's Belt
The ninth Labor took Heracles to the land of the Amazons, to retrieve the belt of their queen for Eurystheus' daughter. The Amazons were a race of warrior women, great archers who had invented the art of fighting from horseback. Heracles recruited a number of heroes to accompany him on this expedition, among them Theseus. As it turned out, the Amazon queen, Hippolyte, willingly gave Hercules her belt, but Hera was not about to let the hero get off so easily. The goddess stirred up the Amazons with a rumor that the Greeks had captured their queen, and a great battle ensued. Heracles made off with the belt, and Theseus kidnapped an Amazon princess.
Labor Ten: the Cattle of Geryon
In creating monsters and formidable foes, the Greek mythmakers used a simple technique of multiplication. Thus Geryon, the owner of some famous cattle that Heracles was now instructed to steal, had three heads and/or three separate bodies from the waist down. His watchdog, Orthrus, had only two heads. This Labor took place somewhere in the country we know as Spain. The hound Orthrus rushed at Heracles as he was making off with the cattle, and the hero killed him with a single blow from the wooden club which he customarily carried. Geryon was dispatched as well, and Heracles drove the herd back to Greece, taking a wrong turn along the way and passing through Italy.
Labor Eleven: the Apples of the Hesperides
The Hesperides were nymphs entrusted by the goddess Hera with certain apples which she had received as a wedding present. These were kept in a grove surrounded by a high wall and guarded by Ladon, a many-headed dragon. The grove was located in the far-western mountains named for Atlas, one of the Titans or first generation of gods. Atlas had sided with one of his brothers in a war against Zeus. In punishment, he was compelled to support the weight of the heavens by means of a pillar on his shoulders. Heracles, in quest of the apples, had been told that he would never get the them without the aid of Atlas.
Labor Eleven: the Apples of the Hesperides (concluded)
The Titan was only too happy to oblige. He told the hero to hold the pillar while he went to retrieve the fruit. But first Heracles had to kill the dragon by means of an arrow over the garden wall. Atlas soon returned with the apples but now realized how nice it was not to have to strain for eternity keeping heaven and earth apart. Heracles wondered if Atlas would mind taking back the pillar just long enough for him to fetch a cushion for his shoulder. The Titan obliged and Heracles strolled off, neglecting to return.
Labor Twelve: the Capture of Cerberus
As his final Labor, Heracles was instructed to bring the hellhound Cerberus up from Hades, the kingdom of the dead. The first barrier to the soul's journey beyond the grave was the most famous river of the Underworld, the Styx. Here the newly dead congregated as insubstantial shades, mere wraiths of their former selves, awaiting passage in the ferryboat of Charon the Boatman. Charon wouldn't take anyone across unless they met two conditions. Firstly, they had to pay a bribe in the form of a coin under the corpse's tongue. And secondly, they had to be dead. Heracles met neither condition, a circumstance which aggravated Charon's natural grouchiness.But Heracles simply glowered so fiercely that Charon meekly conveyed him across the Styx. The greater challenge was Cerberus, who had razor teeth, three (or maybe fifty) heads, a venomous snake for a tail and another swarm of snakes growing out of his back. These lashed at Heracles while Cerberus lunged for a purchase on his throat. Fortunately, the hero was wearing his trusty lion's skin, which was impenetrable by anything short of a thunderbolt from Zeus. Heracles eventually choked Cerberus into submission and dragged him to Tiryns, where he received due credit for this final Labor.
Death
Heracles had a great many other adventures, in after years as well as in between his Labors. It was poisonous Hydra venom that eventually brought about his demise. He had allowed a centaur to ferry his wife Deianara across a river, and the centaur had attacked her on the other side. Heracles killed him with an arrow, but before he died he told Deinara to keep some of his blood for a love potion. Deinara used some on Heracles' tunic to keep him faithful, little realizing that it had been poisoned with Hydra venom from the arrow. Heracles donned the tunic and died in agony.
Afterlife
Heracles was the only hero to become a full-fledged god upon his demise, but even in his case there was his mortal aspect to be dealt with. By virtue of his spectacular achievements, even by heroic standards, he was given a home on Mount Olympus and a goddess for a wife. But part of him had come not from his father Zeus but from his mortal mother Alcmene, and that part was sent to the Underworld. As a phantasm it eternally roams the Elysian Fields in the company of other heroes.
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