Daily Signet

O Beloved Spirit, Speak to us of all that is Yang – of crossing boundaries, of journeys that cross the lines and brave new worlds and new insights; speak to us of the eternal masculine—of winged flight of ideas that transform and change, of athletic adventures of competing and winning and losing and testing strength; speak to us of the masculine—of marking the journey with the generative and looking for the new life that is to follow; speak to us of male—of the crossings into death and the return with the boon, of the caduceus wrapped in serpents and winged with transformative power and healing. Speak to us of the eternal masculine—of the upending of shapeshifting and trickery and cunning and calculating koans that spur the unpredictable. Speak to us of all that is Yang –where ideas flourish and inspire in an oratory of persuasive conjunction of meaning and elocution. Speak to us of the eternal masculine—where we free imprisoned matter with fire when others see only wood.                                                                                                                                                                      

Benjamin Martin

On This Day…

St. Pantaleon (Panteleimon): 4C martyr under Diocletian in Turkey

Daily Signet

Sometimes it takes the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Now, now, now.
And in the wilderness, the altar—often between a rock and a hard place,
sometimes between a tiger and a dragon.
And in the wilderness, the alchemical alembic
where to pray is to become prayer inacted,
when one’s very next breath
is both the answered prayer and grace enough,
and from honeyed lips, we speak the very boon we seek.                   

Teri Martin

Daily Signet

Hannah Szenes on her first day in Palestine. Haifa, Palestine, September 19, 1939.

Who better to call into view when it comes to the Yang but Hannah Senesh, one of Israel’s most important heroes, who lived what she wrote:  

Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame.
Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart.
Blessed is the heart with strength to stop its beating for honor's sake.
Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame.

We partake of the Yang—that we might metabolize Yang—that the kindling flame of unknowing can transform us into a food for God. And as the fire unknows us and burns in the secret fastness of our hearts, we pray that we may be consumed by God. For what other purpose do we wear this cloak of a body and carry within us the seed, besides the desire to know the Beloved completely? The fire is about transformation and in our communion we call upon this fire, that we might be transformed in ways pleasing to an the All-Consuming, to that which is to be eaten, to be partaken fully.                                                            

Benjamin H Martin

On This Day…

St. James the Greater: Apostle, martyr

St. Christopher: 3C Irish martyr (and still a saint as far as we are concerned!)

Daily Signet

Image by Chip Vincent on Unsplash

Successful kayakers, when the kayak turns over, simply turn it up and keep going. They may have made a mistake, but they did not fail. Mistakes do not imply failure; only what you do with your mistakes determines failure or success. Successful people may make many mistakes, but they rarely fail. Unsuccessful people fail once and never try again.

William M. Boast

On This Day…

Asalha Puja Day: Buddhist remembrance of the Buddha’s first sermon, setting out his doctrines

Pioneer Day: Mormon anniversary of the entry of the LDS pioneers into the valley of Great Salt Lake after their 1300 mile trek across America (1847)

Daily Signet

In Christuman, it is not the average man we look to but to the great men on Christuman's Golden Chain. Instead of making generalizations about men, we draw out the essential principles of the male that come not from dividing the sum by its parts, but by experiencing the immutable spirit of maleness, Yang. Artist and teacher, Rowena Kryder, who studied many years under the great Zen Master, Suzuki Roshi, held that “Yang, the creative, reveals the fullness of being an unique individuality.” Or, as Christuman says, it is through my origo, the Yang, that my unique potentia can be activated. Kryder points out that the “Yin, the receptive, is not just being open, it is the dissolution of the ego, the void. And this void is not experienced as a loss, but as the fullness of reality.” Christuman says it is in the death of the least of me, through the Yin, that the Mystery can be experienced.

We know the two are in union when the death of the least of us gives a place for the best to be manifested. Finding and maintaining this union is not easy. Because the two principles are constantly in motion, one must have nano-now awareness. Both men and women must let go of the ego. Both must move from the origo.  But the results will be different. Creativity without attachment indicates union under the yang principle. Intuition in action, union under the yin principle.

Alexis Drabek

On This Day…

Rastafari remembrance of the birthday of Haile Selassi I

St. Bridget of Sweden: founder of Briggittine Order (1303-1373)