What a load of bollocks.

I suspect it was not bollocks. I suspect they truly invited the various spirits, gods, and goddesses into that cathedral and danced with them. The people of God have been doing that for at least four centuries, and God repeatedly punishes them for it.

If the Christians ever get St. John the Divine back, the first thing we do is an exorcism.

The same thing (exorcism), Mr. Michael D., would have to be applied to that “National Cathedral” and pretty well EVERY LAST Episcopalian/Anglican building wherever paganism of this sort – or any and every non-Christian religion – was invoked!!

Those people are virtual Satanists!!!

I recently heard that Catholic University of American is “one of the good ones”, so I looked around some.

Here’s the Newman Guide’s take on CUA: basically, it was a Catholic school that went south in the Silly Season, but got a good president a few years ago and he is trying to get it back on track. This is the school where Fr. Charles Curran taught theology until he got run out back in ’86. The School of Social Work gets a specific note of caution. I poked around the Social Work pages: it seems mildly new agey without any specifically Christian or Catholic content, but not radically so.

http://www.catholichighered.org/TheNewmanGuide/TableofContents/CatholicUniversityofAmerica/tabid/416/Default.aspx

The Newman Guide, btw, reviews Catholic schools it can recommend, even with reservations, so inclusion of CUA is a good sign. However, it’s in the section called “Fighting the Tide”.

Here’s the website for the Center for Spirituality and Social Work. It doesn’t seem to have been updated in a few months and has nothing about the NatCat shindig.

http://csisw.cua.edu/

The CUA Mission Statement:

As the national university of the Catholic Church in the United States, founded and sponsored by the bishops of the country with the approval of the Holy See, The Catholic University of America is committed to being a comprehensive Catholic and American institution of higher learning, faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ as handed on by the Church. Dedicated to advancing the dialogue between faith and reason, The Catholic University of America seeks to discover and impart the truth through excellence in teaching and research, all in service to the Church, the nation and the world.

http://www.cua.edu/mission/

“The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, offered continuing education credits through its Center for Spirituality and Social Work to intrepid women journeying towards the Feminine Divine.”

Ummm…..just to be sure here, but is the “Catholic University” actually Catholic? If so, would y’all be good enough to send this off to his holiness, as while TEC worships the divine feminine in 40 of its dioceses, I suspect the Pope takes a dim view of such things in the course content of his universities.

Karen Armstrong was there. Well, of course she was.

I have no objection to lectures on Shakti (though I rather imagine these people did the Western Appropriation Of Cool-Sounding Foreign Mystic Stuff version), but for pete’s sake, if they want to talk about the Sacred Feminine (excuse me while I snort in disdain), why not go crazy and have something about, y’know, the Shekinah? Something authentically Biblica that we can relate to Christianity – oh, yeah, right.

Sorry – forgot myself for a moment there.

I also see that Ms. (Dr? Professor?) Lesser conveniently forgot to mention, when she was spouting off about the Lupercalia, that some cynical Romans (according to Livy in his history) said that Romulus and Remus weren’t suckled by an actual she-wolf, but that this was a nickname for the wife of the shepherd who found them, she being a prostitute:

“The tradition is, that when the water, subsiding, had left the floating trough, in which the children had been exposed, on dry ground, a thirsty she-wolf, coming from the neighboring mountains, directed her course to the cries of the infants, and that she held down her dugs to them with so much gentleness, that the keeper of the king’s flock found her licking the boys with her tongue. It is said his name was Faustulus; and that they were carried by him to his homestead to be nursed by his wife Laurentia.

Some are of opinion that she was called Lupa among the shepherds, from her being a common prostitute, and that this gave rise to the surprising story.”

Yeah – nicely romantic for St. Valentine’s Day

Mark my words…in 10 years or so men will be barred from the ministry in TEC…then from holding any official office from vestry on up. This of course is given that there will be any men left by then other than the Nancy-boys.

And those ‘Rabbettes” need to take a hike too. Load of hooey.

I went to one of these New Age Goddess things once…..at La Salette in Atleboro if you can believe it!!!. They set up four altars in the actual church, and this is a Catholic place!

We made these “prayer beads” based on the days of the menstrual cycle, with a little goddess or something at the end. One dear Catholic woman said “Why do I need this? I have Mary’s Rosary!”

This was before I woke up and realized what a load of BS it all was, but that woman was absolutely right!

I thought O remembered who this Phyllis Berman was.
Have a look:

http://www.shamayim.org/images/SmallBermanWaskow.jpg

Another hairless woman who refuses to put on a hat or a wig!

This came from this blog:

http://terimurphy.blogspot.com/

She was there and had a loverly time, apparently. How the hell does a Jewish woman who supposedly takes her religion seriously enough to call herself a rabbi, share the podium with the celtic gods?

Never mind the supposed “Anglican scholar”, since anything passes for Anglican these days.

Next came Anglican scholar Esther de Waal wearing black and gold with a necklace that appeared to be a large iron cross. In a formidable Teutonic voice she called forth the Celtic gods. (I am mis-remembering some of the theologic details, but you get the idea.) And finally came a beautiful bald woman in dangling, red earings and cream-colored robes that appeared Buddhist but for the starburst on the back. This was Rabbi Phyllis Berman who told us she lost her hair as a young person because of an allergy. After 20 years of hiding under a wig, she learned that facing the world as she is brought her the gift of being able to see others as they are, as well. With a radiant smile she led us in a Hebrew chant she translated as “Expand the boundaries of my tent.”

Mark my words…in 10 years or so men will be barred from the ministry in TEC

Well that is one way to get rid of Robbie anb Beers

One of those “sacred guardians” had a house dropped on her as I recall and so probably wasn’t able to respond to the invitation.

I would have thot that Benedict had put the smackdown on this stuff as far as the Romanists go.

Well, it was in the 1990′s, so perhaps that has changed.

And here I thought feminist prayer beads were called “birth control pills”

I have to wonder whether the 10 or so American Indians who have any knowledge of their pre-Columbian religions are just as offended by this stuff.

“You betrayed Shiva!”

They burned TOBACCO!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I guess I’ll light up a nice fat double corona the next time I’m there.

What a day! Karen Armstrong! Oprah’s guru! Pathetic.

For more information on Grace Ogden, the organizer of this event take a look at this article on another
Women’s Spirtiuality Event

And, yes, all the 1300 participants at this latest event noted above, were women – especially women of a certain age. (from what I can see in the picture that accompanies the NatCat news.)

Makes me long to sing (starts humming…)

Give me some men who are stout-hearted men,
Who will fight, for the right they adore,
Start me with ten who are stout-hearted men,
And I’ll soon give you ten thousand more.
Shoulder to shoulder and bolder and bolder,
They grow as they go to the fore.
Then there’s nothing in the world can halt or mar a plan,
When stout-hearted men can stick together man to man.

JanJan, Re: “How the hell does a Jewish woman who supposedly takes her religion seriously enough to call herself a rabbi,…”

Well, she obviously isn’t an Orthodox Rabbi, because I don’t think they have “rabbi-esses.”

Very informative and instructional. I come away with a better understanding of the opposite sex.

I had always wondered what women who can’t get a date do on Valentine’s Day. Now I know.

“From February 13 through February 14, the conference included such topics as Rediscovering Ancient Paths of the Divine Feminine, Inspiration from the Soul, and Dancing with Shakti, which is the Sanskrit name for sacred feminine creative power.”

1 Timothy 2:12: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man”

Colossians 3:18: “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.”

ACNA and GAFCON permit WO. The Institutionalist-Idolator-Enablers determined to remain yoked to the apostates and heretics in TEc tacitly approve WO or are married to priestesses such as Ephraim Radner, Philip Turner, Christopher Seitz, Kendall Harmon, +Mark Lawrence, et al.

WO, reap what you sow.

What an abomination. Antiochus is in the temple.

Hey, was this a lesbian-type event? I thought St. Valentine’s Day was for girls AND guys. This freak show looks like it only had “womyn” attending.

“I think it’s time for us women to take back Valentine’s Day,” to “take it back for Lupa the she-wolf and Juno the fertile goddess, and Valentine.”

Course we’ll take it back and then trump all that mothering and fertility with sacred abortions….

Janjan, I was once watching C-Span as a rabbi was holding a press conference at the National Press Club in his capacity as the head of an association of “freethinkers,” i.e., atheists. Finally, a woman in the back asked the obvious question of how he could call himself both rabbi and “freethinker.” He answered that “rabbi” means teacher and that he taught Judaism not as a religion, but merely as a culture.

As for the National Cathedral, on my one visit there, while still an Episcopalian, I remember it being the most spiritually sterile place I’ve even been in my entire life.

All this silliness about the “sacred feminine” leaves no room for the God-Man, Jesus of Nazareth. It is no wonder that men are finding it hard to bother with “church” any more. Real men would not be interested in such tripe.

Unfortunately, this feminist disease is not just occurring in the Episcopal Church. Most of the other so-called main-line Protestant groups have somewhat the same problem.

ELCA has quite a bit of this “celebrating umphty-umph years of women pastors” foolishness. I have met some good ELCA female pastors. However, most of the ones I have met have a feminist agenda which leaves most men cold.

…Esther de Waal…

Pity. I owe de Waal for turning me on to St. Benedict and the Rule Way Back When™.

God have mercy.

peace,
Zach

First of all, the correct term for the ‘Piskie rock pile is not “Cathedral”… “Pantheon” is closer to the mark.

Q: “How … does a Jewish woman who supposedly takes her religion seriously enough to call herself a rabbi, share the podium with the celtic gods? ”

A: She doesn’t (take her religion seriously, I mean). After all, the bedrock of Judaism is … um… let me guess… How about “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me!”… Ever heard of the term MONOTHEISM?

A couple of observations:

1) I’m surprised they got away with burning tobacco in a city which has banned smoking in offices, restaurants, and bars.

2) Many of us who are single and unattached jokingly referred to Valentine’s Day as “Black Saturday.” However, this pagan celebration at the National Cathedral was no joke.

There was a book written about a year ago called Why Men Hate Going to Church by David Murrow that examines a lot of what’s wrong with mosern churches.

This Womyn’s Spirituality Con-fab ain’t it.

Let’s bring back the concept of muscular Christianity.

Let’s bring back the concept of muscular Christianity.

Misogynist.

Unfortunately, Episcopalians are not the only ones these days engaging in this kind of silliness. The following documentary was produced at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Durham, NC:

http://www.worshipinwomenshands.com/

Dave: Perhaps “Pantheon” isn’t even enough. I would suggest “Temple of Moloch” because I would assume that “reproductive rights,” i.e. sacrifice of innocents, would be a top priority among these worshippers of the “feminine principle.” By the way, the idea of Sophia, or Wisdom, has long been present in both Judaism and Christianity, e.g. the Book of Wisdom, and is even sometimes depicted as feminine. However, as Sophia is not considered to be a “god,” I doubt this would have much appeal to these polytheists and would also reek of “monotheism.” My, oh, My, the horror!

I would suggest “Temple of Moloch” because I would assume that “reproductive rights,” i.e. sacrifice of innocents, would be a top priority among these worshippers of the “feminine principle.”

Witches!!

And the word that rhymes with “witches”!

Murderers of unborn babies!! Repent or be anathema!!

Zach, I would give Esther de Waal the benefit of the doubt for the moment.

Given that we’re going by the blog musings of Ms. Murphy, and given that she was not exactly sure of what she was hearing (going by her blog, God love her, she’s not exactly sure what planet she’s on), and given that Esther seems to be into Celtic spirituality, there’s enough room for error here to fit an elephant in.

I cringe when I hear the term “Celtic spirituality” because I’m dang sure it’s less the ascetic rigour of Skellig Micheal they mean than a kind of fluffy-bunny “hello trees, hello sky” New-Agey concoction, but let’s assume that Esther was actually invoking Celtic saints like St. Bridget.

It’s popular amongst the Wicca/Neo-Pagan/Goddess spirituality types to say that St. Bridget is ‘actually’, ‘really’ the Goddess Bridgid, taken over and Christianised by the Church. Teri may have heard Bridget and thought “Goddess!” when Esther meant “Saint!”

At least, that’s what I’m hoping

Okay, that’s a good point about Esther De Waal, with whom I am not so familiar.

What Brize said…. TOBACCO??? Isn’t the NATCAT a non-smoking area?? Dear me, that IS heresy.

Not ‘smoking’: ‘smoldering’.

Cheers

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My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a pagan temple …

Despite their best endeavours, the world did not move or change for me. Did anyone feel the “movement of the feminine spirit” anywhere?