The Laughing Mystics: An unorthodox journey through the liturgical year

The 16th Sunday of the Kingdom of Heaven is Now.

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We dive deep into all three readings. Laura references the book " Abraham : the man and the symbol ; a Jungian interpretation of the biblical story."

What Laura forgot, "... the Sages also divided the functions of the angels’ mission int...

The 15th Sunday in the Kingdom of Heaven is Now time.

Laura mentions another podcast, This Jungian Life.

She also mentions alchemy and this quote -"A fool who persists in his folly will eventually become wise"

-William Blake

Marci mentions a prayer from Thomas Merton and this bible quote.

Laura quotes from Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese

She also mentions her work teaching emotional intelligence.

We also talk about Matthew Fox and Th...

14th Sunday in the Kingdom of Heaven is Now.

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We discuss the power of home. Laura mentions "nous," a concept she's heard from Ilia Delio. Heavy stuff.

"Pierre Teilhard de Chardin saw the emergence of a new type of person with computer technology, an evolution of consciousness that led to a new level of cosmic life, what he called the “noosphere” (from the Greek “nous” o...

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In this episode Marci sings a song! We talk about miracles, doubt and faith.  

A joke from Joseph Campbell (also attributed to Thomas Merton!)

And another Campbell quote that made Marci laugh.  

Laura mentions the noncanonical Gnostic books featuring St. Peter. The Apocalypse of Peter, Letter of Peter t...

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Marci shares some of her research on Julian of Norwich.

Laura struggles in this episode. We confess: some of the material (latter third) was added later.

Lots of poetry in this episode, including a section from Blessing the Bread by Lynn Unger, Marci's poem, Learning Slowly, and Laura’s poem, Take One...

Marci talks about her use of different pronouns for God.

We reflect on what we learned during a recent talk from Ilia Delio.

We mention Teilhard de Chardin (as we often do) and the challenge of using words like “god” or “love."

 We discuss Jung's concept of “eros” and “logos." And Edinger's thoughts on endurance.

We talk about individualism and faith, and the book The Gift and The Serviceberry.

"Christ, as...

We talk about fire and wind and the sometimes unpredictable power of groups under the religious impulse.

We discuss the work and a video of Ilia Delio, outlining her inspirational message. And a juicy quote from her.

Laura  talks about her ecstatic experiences in prayer.

We  struggle with the second reading (Romans) and explore the meanings of the word “love.”

Marci suggests Mirabai Starr's book Wild Mercy.

 The Sunday Readings.

Than...

We talk about the problem of “always looking up.” Laura mentions Jungian James Hillman

 We talk about the the political and economic power of the church.

 Laura and Marci swim in the deep waters of Hebrews and Atonement theory.

[There is a] . . . continued and progressive divine incarnation. Thus man is received and integrated into the divine drama. He seems destined to play a decisive part in it; that is why he must receive the Holy...

We talk about controversies in the early church and today.  

Marci offers a great exercise for listening deeply to others.  

We explore following literal laws of the church vs. the law of love.

 We talk about Laura’s love of rocks and her gift of petoskey stones.  

Marci recommends "Ordinary Mysticism :Your Life as Sacred Ground" By Mirabai Starr

"Christ, as a particular concrete manifestation of the Holy Spirit, must die in order for ...

A thought-provoking and joyful discussion. 20% more laughter in this episode!

We talk about the apostle Barnabas and his Epistle, and the Gnostic Bible.

Also the conflict of opposites and quotes by Edward Edinger and Carl Jung

We explore the connotations of the word "glory" as well as the Jungian terms, inflation and conjunctio (from Jung's study of alchemy).

We reflect on brokenness and share more personal stories as p...

Laura and Marci talk about faith. Laura offers this quote by Carl Jung.

Also this quote, talking about the Apocalypse. Christ was the first attempt of the God-image to incarnate and transform itself. Now, the second time around, humanity as a whole and not just one person is going to be the subject of that process. God is going to incarnate in humanity as a whole....
Edward Edinger, from his book- Archetype of the Apocalypse.

Marci m...

A happy conversation. We talk about the change in consciousness within the early Christians. We explore the concept of the "Second Coming."

Marci reads this poem -

Antiphon for Divine Wisdom By Hildegard of Bingen, Translated By Barbara Newman

Sophia!

you of the whirling wings,

circling encompassing

energy of God:

you quicken the world in your clasp.

One wing soars in heaven

one wing sweeps the earth

and the third flies all aroun...

Laura reflects on her powerful and unexpected experience of Holy Week.

She recalls the scene/joke from the Tony award-winning musical "Passing Strange." (Great musical - with adult language and themes)

We talk about the forms of worship, from traditional to modern and the effects they produce. Joseph Campbell had strong opinions on this. "....they've translated the Mass out of ritual language and into a language t...

We talk about Thomas as the "literal man," "wounded healers," the value of our woundedness, healing vs. cures, and what does it mean "to believe."

Mandala like paintings of the Book of Revelation.

Also the work of Robert J. Schreiter and his book The Ministry of Reconciliation

Marci mentions this video about Christ in all things.

The mystical paintings of Fra Angelico.

Link to the readings.

Thank you for li...

We discuss the Easter readings.

Laura imagines the scene and wonders- would you go into the tomb or wait outside?

Marci reads her poem, "Sneaky Jesus" and she recalls Mary Oliver's poem, "The Summer Day."

Link for the Sunday Readings

"The imitation of Christ, then, is participating in the suffering and joys of the world, all the while seeing through them the radiance of the divine presence."

--Joseph...

Marci shares her excitement and knowledge of the 3 holy days of the Triduum. Our original discussion was 1 hour and 20 minutes, now down to 46 minutes. Laura runs out of steam at the end. Please forgive the shortened Easter vigil description.

Holy Thursday Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041725-Supper.cfm

Good Friday Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041825.cfm

Easter Vigil Readings : https://bible.usc...

This was a tough episode for many reasons. Moving into the Passion is hard and Laura struggles to have the courage to share her perspectives on it. Palm Sunday has 4 readings. Here we cover the first three. The next episode is our reading of the Passion and the third episode is our discussion of it. Thank you for sharing this journey with us!

Readings:

Procession with Palms – Gospel Mk 11:1-10, Is 50:4-7, Phil 2:6-11

https://bible.us...

We continue our Passion journey.

Reading - Mk 14:1—15:47

Scroll down to last reading. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032424.cfm

Edward Edinger in "Ego and Archetype" re: the crucifixion: "This state is a transition period. It is the limbo of despair following the death of an old life orientation and preceding the birth of a new one. Jesus’ resurrection symbolizes the birth of a more comprehensive personalit...

We continue on the journey of the Passion. Reflecting on how the media portrays it and our own ability to witness suffering.

"Another aspect of the Gethsemane image that it emphasizes the fact that suffering is a crucial part of the process. The important part is to accept the suffering one encounters. You know we all have the deeply ingrained infantile notion that we’re supposed to be happy. That’s not true. We are supposed t...