The Quest ( Renewed ) For The Holy Grail

"How strange is the notion that Jesus was actually married?" Strange as it may sound to our Western ears, probably about as strange as the notion that He wasn't! Now, before we go down this rabbit hole too much farther, let me just say that it's possible, though not likely, that one of the reasons Jesus got on 'the bad side' of the Pharisees was that, unlike them, Jesus never took a wife. I would think however, that if this were the case, we probably would have some implication of it in the text of Scripture ( ? ). This would not be a great surprise, as it really wouldn't do much, if anything, to enhance the gospel of Jesus the Christ ( or WOULD it?! ). 

"If Jesus HAD been married, would it be detrimental to the gospel message, or would it actually bolster it?" Well, let's think about this a minute, shall we?! While it was, from my understanding, not necessarily a REQUIREMENT for the Priesthood, it was definitely encouraged. If indeed Jesus HAD never married, this might well have been a valid reason for the Pharisees to hate him; "He's flouting our traditions!" However, as I said, "Not likely". The church fathers, with their patriarchal mindset, might have taken issue with a wedded Jesus, but I can see no reason why it would have posed any kind of threat.

As to whether such a notion might BOLSTER the gospel message remains to be seen....................

"Come, Mary; we must make haste!" Jesus urged the Disciple Whom He Loved. As was common with women of any age, Mary of Magdala was taking extra care in preparing to celebrate this special meal with Her Husband & His 12. Finally, with every hair & piece of clothing situated 'just right', Mary was ready! "Quietly, now!" Jesus cautioned. Just being here on this Night of Nights could get Him arrested & likely killed, He knew. Though both He & His Wife knew the risks involved, the importance of sharing this traditional meal with His Chosen Ones far outweighed the danger. Mary didn't have quite the same sense of danger that Her Husband did, for Jesus knew that He was going to be betrayed by one of His 12. Mary quite understood the danger Her Husband faced just by being in the City, but with the great influx from outside the City, even the Nation itself, She decided the risk was much lower than normal!

As Jesus led the way toward the domicile that housed the Upper Room His Friends, Peter & John - 2 of the 12 - had rented for this Great Occasion, He couldn't help but think of the Great Sadness to follow, of which His Wife was blissfully unaware! "Mary," He said, "this will be the last time I will celebrate this Feast!" "Why, what do you mean, My Love?!" Mary asked, Her trembling voice full of concern. "I don't mean to frighten you," Jesus said, " but as soon as the Feast is over, we must leave!" "You Silly," Mary replied, with a hint of relief in Her voice, "I knew THAT already; I'm all packed & Elizabeth is ready for us!" "No, My Love; we're not just leaving the City - even Bethlehem is too dangerous - we have to leave the country!" We're going to Egypt; I have friends there that I haven't seen in quite a few years!" This was unexpected, but as a good Jewish wife, Mary would follow Her Husband to the ends of the world, even to the Gates of Hades itself!

After the agreed upon greeting, Jesus & Mary entered the sparsely furnished room. Somewhat longer than wide, a table ran down the middle of the room, with 14 place settings prepared for Jesus, His Wife & His Chosen 12. Several flagons of a rich red wine adorned the table already, as well as a dish of vinegar & oil at each place setting, with heaps of unleavened bread ( it would be called 'matzos' today ). The lamb, Peter assured Him, was "on the way up!" Sure enough, not long after they were all comfortably reclined, there was a knock at the door & the man of the house, along with one of the household servants entered, carrying a decent-sized roast lamb. Mary, being the practical one, couldn't help immediately thinking, 'I hope that's going to be enough,' but She didn't say anything, because She knew first hand the miraculous way Her Husband could feed a host with little food at hand!

Jesus led the celebration by recounting, from memory, the Exodus from Egypt. While recounting the Story, of course, He couldn't help but note the irony in His words earlier to His Wife! After Jesus had finished telling His Story, He lifted His glass & said, "Indeed, My Brothers, long have I looked forward to celebrating this Feast with you, for I will do so no more until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of Heaven!" At this, there was, understandably, a bit of consternation on the part of His Chosen 12. Finally, Peter, ever the readiest to speak out ( of place), asked, "What do you mean by that? I mean, JESUS; it's not like you're going anywhere we can't follow! Surely we could just meet You somewhere else?!" "Peter," Andrew gently chided his brother, "let the Man finish!" Jesus replied, after fully raising His glass again in toast, "I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until I drink it with you in the Kingdom!" 'Again with the cryptic speech,' Judas, who was also known as Iscariot, whispered to Simon the Caananite, who was seated next to him. "What was that, Judas? Would you like to share with the rest of the table?" Jesus asked. "That WAS rather rude!" Matthew said, breaking his normal silence. Jesus then uttered the words He dreaded; "The hand of my betrayer is at this very table, supping with ME, with us!" Well, you can just IMAGINE the consternation THAT little revelation caused, not least from His own Wife! "BETRAYER?" Mary exclaimed. The 12 just sat there in silence for a minute, while Mary unleashed a tirade on Her Husband; "I'm not going to even as how you KNOW, because I KNOW You know, but You couldn't at least have WARNED Me?!" Before Jesus could answer, the 12, beginning with Peter, of course, began to ask, somewhat selfishly, I might add, "It's not ME is it? I would NEVER betray YOU!" Knowing it wasn't yet His time, Jesus forestalled everyone by changing the subject - back, of course, to the ORIGINAL one! "What, would you say, Peter - really, anyone can answer this one - is the significance of the Exodus from Egypt?"A little put off by this, Peter rather huffily said, "Well, of course the Exodus itself was our forefathers escape from slavery, but..................." "Mothers too!" Mary interjected. Jesus, always ready to bail Peter out, quickly said, "Yes, Dear; "Mothers too!" Wincing a bit at the gentle castigation from the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved, Peter continued, "It's really a picture of how we escaped the slavery of Sin, by going on a Wilderness Journey to find our true Home." This was a bit of a pleasant surprise even to Jesus; 'Peter HAS been listening!' He thought to Himself. "Not only that, Brethren, it is a Picture of how we can escape the ravages of our consciousness & return to our True Self, the Divinity within each & every One of Us. You look at Me as someone Special, but I say that you will be like Me, accomplishing even greater things than I have done!", Jesus prophesied. After dropping this 'Truth Bomb', which ALMOST went unnoticed ( "Mary kept these things in her heart" ), they discussed what Peter had said for a bit, as several of the others had to add their two cents, Jesus told the 12 to "Dig in", as He would not partake until they had done so. When they had begun to pull at bits & pieces of the roasted lamb, the signatory Sacrifice, Jesus took up one of the loaves, as He had previously, on the occasion Mary had remembered earlier, and bluntly told them, "this bread is significant of my Life, which is given for you; eat it in remembrance of what I am about to do!" Again, the 12, along with His Wife, were flummoxed! "What I am about to do"? 'What do you suppose He means by that?!' This question was foremost on everyone's mind, but Mary kept Her mouth shut this time, knowing that Jesus would reveal in His own good time what He meant by these ominous words! The rest of the meal passed in relative silence, and Jesus took up the cup yet again, saying, "This wine signifies the Covenant in my Life's-blood; do this as often as you partake of it, in remembrance of Me!" Judas, knowing that his time had come, asked Jesus again, for the sake of everyone at the table, "You said that one of us will betray You, Brother, so which one of us is it?!" Jesus, knowing full well that it was the Iscariot, simply said, "It is one that dips his bread with Me in the dish!" 'Well, THAT'S about as clear as mud,' they all thought, 'we're ALL dipping our bread with Him'. Judas, tired of the facade, finally asked,"Is it ME?!" Wearily, Jesus told him, "Yes, Judas; go do what you must!" (Now, what happened next is kinda weird; Mary got it, but the rest of the 12, because they knew that Judas held the purse ( like a secretary ),THEY thought that Jesus was telling Judas to go buy more wine or something ) Mary said nothing at this time, although She shot Her Husband a look of compassion & then leveled a gaze of pure malevolence in Judas' direction. By this time, Judas had bolted for the door, as though he couldn't get out fast enough: he must have felt Mary's deadly glare! When Judas had gone, Jesus again toasted His Chosen Ones, then led them in a Psalm of Freedom. Throwing back yet another, Jesus prepared Himself for a destined meeting, by suggesting to the 12, now 11, as well as His Wife, that they adjourn to the Mount of Olives, in order to wrap up their celebration. Mary, knowing by now what was getting ready to transpire, quietly whispered to Her Husband that She would rather go back to their temporary lodgings & ready Herself for the Trial She felt already. Jesus gave His assent by gently kissing Her on the forehead & left with the remainder of His 12 for the short journey to a small, but private garden near the Mount. Arriving at the secluded spot, Jesus indicated that He wanted to go off by Himself & spend some time alone in prayer. He advised them to do the same. After He had bolstered Himself for what He knew was coming, Jesus returned to find that the Chosen, to a man, had all succumbed to sleep ( it WAS late & the wine HAD taken effect! ). After rousing them, Jesus warned them; "My betrayer is at hand; look lively now!" The commotion of a great crowd was heard about when the lights were seen & soon Judas, leading a small contingent of men, some armed, some not, appeared in front of Jesus. "Is this the Man?" one of the soldiers asked Judas. "It is He Whom I greet thusly!" Judas replied, going up to Jesus & kissing Him like he would a brother. Jesus asked Judas, "Are you betraying me with a kiss, Brother?!" Judas stepped aside then, to allow the soldiers forward, but as he did, one of the Chosen ( "pretty sure it was Peter" ) drew his sword - several had wisely, or so they thought, decided to arm themselves that fateful night - trying to clip Judas' wings ( "but GOOD!" ), yet succeeded only in haphazardly taking off the ear of one of the high priest's servants! "Put that away, Peter," Jesus commanded him sternly, "before you hurt yourself; plus, don't you know: "he who lives by the sword will die by the sword!" ( "I heard that after this, Peter threw his sword down the deepest well he could find!" ) After saying a few Words of Healing, Jesus restored the man's ear, right before they carted Him off to face Judgement!

A few hours had passed, during which those who had arrested Jesus abused Him in many ways, sarcastically mocking the claims to godhood He had made, using this occasion to beat Him mercilessly, but finally, when Dawn had begun to lighten the Sky, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin, the main body of His Accusers, or 'Satans'! The Sanhedrin's main concern, on the surface anyway, was Jesus' claim of Divinity: "How COULD a mere Man be God?!" To their strict Jewish mindset, this, of course, was the penultimate blasphemy, not that those Pharisees were REALLY that zealous for their 'God', most of them were simply jealous of Jesus for the things He did & the way He lived His Life! There WERE, however, those in the Assembly who had a valid complaint, at least as THEY saw it. Although many complaints were indeed filed against Him, Jesus validated none of them with a word. Even when some came forward, reminding the high priest that Jesus had once said, "I will destroy this Temple made with hands, but I will raise One made without hands in three days!" this reminder only served to infuriate His Satans even further; "That did it!" He was assaulting their precious Temple, their greatest Idol! Of course, they ASSUMED that He was attacking their Temple, but He was actually referring to His own Body ( that's another Story )! Having reached the end of his patience, the high priest plainly asked Jesus, "Are you the Christ, the Son of God?" Opening His mouth for maybe the first time since His arrest, Jesus, in return, plainly replied, "I AM A Son of God! Hereafter you will see My Judgement on your precious Temple, indeed on your ENTIRE idolatrous nation, which will be scattered to the Four Winds of Heaven!" After this short diatribe, Jesus closed His mouth, refusing to utter another word. Of course, by saying what He had, Jesus had opened the floodgates; the Sanhedrin had everything they needed: He was guilty of the worst blasphemy, claiming to be equal with their 'God'!  However, they were not technically allowed to administer the Death Penalty, so they sent Him over to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea, hoping to have Jesus condemned on the count of spreading sedition. Standing before Pilate, they further accused Jesus, saying, "this vile Galilean stirs up the people of this nation, telling us NOT to pay our taxes to you, our most gracious Benefactors!" Of course, this was not at all true, for Jesus had clearly stated that they were to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's", but this barely registered with Pilate, for when he heard that Jesus was in fact from Galilee, he sent Him to Herod, who at that time was Tetrarch of that region. As Herod claimed to be a Jew like His Accusers, Jesus had nothing to say to him either, except that He WAS, as Herod wished to know, "the ( TRUE ) King of the Jews". Herod would get no other word of acknowledgement out of Jesus, so he sent Him back to Herod, having found no real reason to have Him put to death. Pilate, being faced with the responsibility of this Man's death, yet again, told those Satans plainly, "Neither Herod nor I have found ANYTHING in this Man worthy of the Death Penalty! I will thus punish Him for the crimes against the State you say He has committed, then I will release Him to you. However, with seemingly one mind, those Satans, His Accusers, continuously chanted, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him, Crucify Him!" Now, Pilate knew enough of Jewish law to understand why they would bring Jesus to him in the first place, so he gave them one more chance to repent, saying, "Would you have me kill your ( true ) King, then?!" They chanted even louder, "CRUCIFY HIM!" So when Pilate heard their staunch betrayal, he washed his hands of the whole affair & hoping he would be heard, said, "I am innocent of this Man's death.!" Then he delivered Jesus up to be crucified!

You probably know the Rest of His Story: Jesus WAS subsequently crucified in the Roman fashion, thus sating the Pharisee's thirst for His Blood, while staying within the bounds of their law. "They hadn't actually nailed Him to the Cross, but they were STILL guilty as sin!" 

Back to the question of whether the fact that Jesus was married would have bolstered the Message of the Gospel, the question itself might be "neither here nor there", but think of it thusly; had Jesus been married, as no doubt, were the overwhelming majority, if not ALL, of His detractors, it would have either 'softened the blow' or made them even madder. On the other hand, would having a wife have detracted from Jesus' Ministry, because of the innate distraction, or would it have allowed Jesus to have a greater compassion for those who cruelly treated Him ( "I forgive them, because they know not Themselves, or what they do!" ) You, my readers, must judge for yourselves!

The Divine Feminine obviously posed a threat to the patriarchal Church Fathers! Try as they might, though, they were not able to erase Her completely from the Record; She is there, if only one is willing to accept Her. By speaking thusly of the Divine Feminine, I do not mean to oppose Her to the Divine Masculine, either; both are needed to bring Balance to the Force, so to speak. The tendency has been to go from one extreme to the other; from Matriarchy to Patriarchy. With the rise of Feminism, that extreme tendency has reared its ugly head, yet again, for as one may witness in this mess of a world that we live in, particularly here in the West, maybe, a lack of balance is seemingly bringing us to the brink of ruin! Thanks be to the Goddesses & the Gods, though; that Balance is slowly being restored, as the True Message of the Gospel is being fulfilled as we speak!

Namaste' & Blessed Be!

Sage Charles

The Lives of the Gods ( How to Live Like a God )

"You, a mere human being, are going to tell US how to live like a god?! Them's fightin' words!" Not only are those "fightin' words"; they COULD get one killed! No, seriously, they got my Grandfather killed! My Grandfather, in a previous lifetime, was the One known as Jesus, who was the Christ, or Messiah to the Jews. All exclamations of "Bullshit!" aside, one immediate objection might be, "Jesus never told His disciples how to live like gods!" Did He not, though? When He told them they would do GREATER things than He ever did, what do you suppose He was telling them?! I'm sure those good, Jewish disciples were all thinking, "How are we, mere men & women, supposed to do greater things than the One who calls Himself the Son of God?" To be truthful, Jesus never did outright say, "I AM the Son of God", but He called the God of the Hebrews His Father more than a few times & He DID say, on one occasion, "Before Abraham was, I AM!" Previously, I attempted to elucidate what my exalted Grandfather meant when He uttered those enigmatic words ( 'Greater Works' ), so without going into that again, I will endeavor to explain how I understand that Jesus, rather than proclaiming Himself the Savior of Humanity, was instead telling them how to live like gods. 

My favorite saying of His, in so many words, is, "Treat others as you yourself would like to be treated". This sounds dangerously similar to "Love your neighbor as yourself"! I have treated this phrase previously as well, as the Universal Truth it is. It just goes to reason that if we do not first love ourselves, we will treat ourselves accordingly & thus we will treat our neighbor similarly because we do not love them. As a short disclaimer here, let me make crystal clear that the overwhelming majority of what is called 'love' today, in particular, 'romantic love', is nothing more & nothing less than LUST! "How can I say that with such vehemence?" Better yet; "WHY?" First, "WHY?" 'Modern Love', as they often call it, more often than not, is very conditional, based on feelings! "I'm just not 'in love' with you anymore!" "WHY?" Why would someone once 'in love' with someone else, not be so anymore?" The short answer, of course, is that it wasn't Love in the first place! "Okay, I see where you're going with this; you're gonna tell me it's Lust, right?!" Right; you weren't 'in love', you were overcome by lust! Before this gets all sexualized, understand that, "No", it's NOT always about sexual intercourse! It ( 'lust' ) can mean something as simple as, "I don't want to be alone anymore!" to "I'm a meat & potatoes man". To get back to the question of being 'in love'; the reason someone isn't 'in love ( lust )' anymore is because it's based on feelings. Feelings change!

This is not to say, though, that Love does not exist! Love is not based on feelings; humanly speaking, Love is a choice. "But", someone might ask, "doesn't that mean one can choose NOT to love another? And furthermore, might one not CHOOSE differently, from moment to moment, day to day, etc., based on how they FEEL at any given moment?" Again, "Love is NOT based on feelings"! If one bases their choice, their actions on feelings, it is NOT Love; it is Lust! "You say "Lust" like it's a bad thing!" Well, yes; that's what programming does; it tells us, "This is good, That is bad!" Personal experience, however, tells us, that while this may be good for one person, it is bad for another. This may not be the best example, but corn may be good for one, but for another, with corn allergies, like my best friend, it is very bad! ( Not that the corn we eat today is really 'good' for ANYBODY ) Anyway; back to "Lust": "is it good or bad?" Like the feelings it is based upon; it is really neither good nor bad, it simply is. It's a hunger, really, a "want", based, again, on programming: our culture, our society, even religion to some extent, teaches us that we have "needs", desires that need to be fulfilled, but really, it's only Lust. We only think we want ( 'lack' ) it because we are taught that we lack it, but we HAVE everything we need; we ARE everything we need!

We are NEVER truly alone! Personally speaking, "yes", we might find ourselves alone, without anyone else around ( often on purpose ); this is our choice. Whatever the reason we are 'alone', it stems from our choices, whether we elected not to shower for days at a time, because we allowed our B.S. ( Belief System ) to get in the way, or because we feel that "people suck", so we distance ourselves from most forms of human contact. ( Sadly; it could also be because our spouse has been taken from us, for whatever reason - in such a case, I have nothing more to say ) "These reasons obviously do not form a comprehensive list, but you get the idea!" However, "as above, so below", "We are NEVER truly alone!" The reason I say this with such authority is that, we are always surrounded by "a cloud of witnesses"! Sure, one might escape the gaze of another human, but call It 'God' or the Universe, there is NOTHING we can do to escape the 'All Seeing Eye'! 

"Cloud of Witnesses"? Call it the Ancestors, call it the Akashic Field, call it the Spirit World, nothing we ever say or do ( even what we think? ) goes unnoticed, or for that matter, passes without consequence. "Don't worry; I say this to remind mySELF maybe most of all!" The Author of the Letter to the Hebrews uses the same phrase near the end of that letter ( 12:1 ), in much the same way. 

At this juncture, some of my readers are probably thinking something like, "I thought he was going to tell us how to live like gods?! He hasn't even explained how Jesus was teaching His disciples that!" Well, I guess I say all that to say this. I realize I've said this before, but "Life is all about Choice!" We make choices every day, some greater, some lesser, both in scope & in consequence. The Choices we make affect, not only us, but the lives of those around us! My readers are probably more or less familiar with the saying that "when a butterfly flaps its wings in Africa, there are thunderstorms in Florida": that may be a bit of a stretch ( ? ), but the point is fairly clear. What happens in one part of the world will likely affect another, though a world apart. Look at what is going on over in the Middle East, for instance! Ukraine? So many other hotspots around the world where the good ole U.S. of A. has stuck Her nose where it didn't belong! The point here is, that the Powers That Be have chosen, for selfish reasons of their own, to involve US in these affairs, which actually DO concern US! Part of the Problem, the Issue as I see it, is that WE, collectively speaking, have forgotten, not only Who & What WE are, but the fact that "as above, so below", what we do, or neglect to do, affects the world around us, which in turn affects, to whatever extent, The Greater Picture, the World at Large, like Ripples in a Pond!

It is thus our Ability to Choose, our ResponsAbility, if you will, that makes us Gods, the Masters of our own Destiny! "But some things just HAPPEN!", one might argue. For one thing, things do not just happen! For two, yes, sometimes things DO happen that are out of our control, but our reaction IS something we get to choose. "Hell, what if we all chose NOT to react, but instead ACTED in Love?!" What if we chose to manifest Love, even though everyone around us was reacting to all the bullshit, seeking "an eye for an eye". A Wise Man once said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". Maybe that's why the overwhelming majority have forgotten Who they are; they have been blinded to the fact that they are killing, not just each other, but themselves & their future as well!

"Well, you STILL haven't told us how to LIVE like gods!" Haven't I? "What do you think it means to live like a god?" If your answer is akin to what we read about in the Greek myths, you might be well on your way to understanding how to live like a god, as long as you take them for the metaphors they are! I recently watched the Netflix Limited Series 'Kaos'; if you haven't seen it, I recommend it, if only because it shows how NOT to live like, or as gods. 'Kaos' takes place in modern-day Crete & basically portrays the Greek Gods as they would typically behave in this modern, technical age. The point I'm making here is that to live like a god/God, one needs to live with Intention, to take responsAbility for their OWN life, not hoping vainly for Divine Intervention from some outside Source, as in most ancient myths!

The question foremost in the minds of some of my readers, as we approach the end of this post,mightbe something to the effect of, "Why does he say that Jesus was teaching us how to live like gods/Gods"? Rather than being the genesis of a new religion ( Christianity? ), Jesus showed His first century disciples how they could become like Him, how they could be ( in fact, WERE ) their own Saviors! For instance, He told the woman who formerly had an issue [ of blood ], "your faith has made you well." ( Mark 5:34 ) Yes, for the most part, He said, "Believe in me and.................", but He also told Mary, "Do not cling to me.........." ( John 20:17 ) In some sense, Jesus DID introduce, not so much a new religion, but a new WAY of BEing religious. His brother James ( my great uncle ) explained this in his biblical letter. ( James 1:25-27 ) Jesus told His disciples & through the Universal Truth in Scripture, tells US that it is NOT by institutionalizing our religion, by externalizing it, that it proves true, but that by internalizing it & thus manifesting it, we prove its worth, which is "more than apples of gold!"

My readers must judge for themselves if I have sufficiently proven, both that Jesus actually came to show us how to live like gods & whether I have myself explained to your relative satisfaction how we are to live like gods/Gods, or whether I have simply further muddied the waters. Either way, I intend, by this short remonstrance, to bring to all our minds ( "hearts" ) Remembrance; Remembrance, not only of Who & What We are, but Why We are here! "How shall We then live?" As Gods ourselves, or as sheep in need of a Shepherd?

Namaste' & Blessed be!

Sage Charles