Grace

[Sophie]

According to the Bible we are all sinners, deserving an eternity in hell (an actual place, not a bad word), but God was merciful toward us, and bestowed His grace toward us by making a way for us to escape hell, and spend eternity with Him, if we are willing to accept it.

You mean according to the Christian Bible? Because in my Bible (Jewish) that is not the case. Nor was it what my Protestant son-of-a-pastor father taught me of Christianity. He explained that Grace was God's love filling the world & giving us meaning. Sin was the act of a human being rejecting that Grace. So all we need to do is receive that Grace & accept to be loved. To me, the Ace of Cups shows that receptiveness & that wholly giving love exactly.

Tarotbones, once again in a few words you have opened my heart to yet another layer of the tarot & its function as bridge to the Divine. Thank you.

 

[contradiction]

Helvetica, I stand corrected. That was a case of a one track mind. It's easy to forget that not every one who call themselves christian believe the same. I was just trying to give a good example of what grace is, not trying to preach, I do hope I did not offend anyone.

MercyMe, Wonderful post, I love the way you explained the card correlations.

To every one else, there are some truly good post, I have seen grace in ways I have never thought of it. I have learned some good things from this discussion.

Let me give one more example, Your spouse (or S/O), comes to you and says, I have been having an affair, but I realize I am wrong. I am truly sorry please forgive me. And, you do. (s)he does not deserve forgiveness, but you do it because you love them. That is grace.

Grace is something that every man, woman, and child needs to learn, and show. The world would be a bettter place if we all showed a little more grace. It would cover so many things, that we would began to see a difference in our homes, then in our towns, our countries and eventually the world. It would start out with small changes in our attitude, then in our way of life, which would then effect the one's around us. Thereby eventually effecting the whole world. But, grace is one of the hardest things to show. Temperance is hard but can be shown, forgiveness, is real tough to do, but can be done, tolerance is (or seems to be based on the actions of the majority of the world), almost impossiable, but it is even easier than grace. I am speaking of tolerance in the aspect of not being predujiced, sometimes we can tolerate people of a different race or culture, but to love them just because is another story, (again I am speaking of the world in general, I am not commenting on anyone one in particular, please do not be offended at that statement, I know that most of the people here actually show not only tolerance, but grace also, otherwise this we would not be able to have this discussion.) Just the fact that we have so many different cultures existing on this forum, shows that grace is possiable. I am not speaking of culture as in race, but in belief's, there are Jews, Protestants, Christians, Wiccans, Athiest, Agnostics, Hindu, Muslim, and others all co-existing peacefully, and lovingly. If only the rest of the world could learn from us. Even though, we do not agree, and at times we are even offended because someone says something hurtful toward us, we forgive them and move on. This is grace being displayed. I for one think we are all better because of it. Thank you, for showing mercy, and grace toward each other.

 

[carly]

Hey gypsy_morrigan, I love His Dark Materials, I just think there's so much depth to them and a great story. Im reading PPs Sally Lockheart Trilogy again atm.

I always thought Grace was in children, because like Adam and Eve in the Garden they don't know wrong. That's why i immedietly like of the lovers, that just a pictue of Adam and Eve to me

But all these posts are great in the way that they talk about how Grace can be regained. Hmmmm. I'm stumped now. regained Grace = tower is a good one (who ever said it, I cant find it again )

Going to ponder...

Carly

 

[Bean Feasa]

I had a convent school education and there was a lot of talk about grace. One of the big instances cited was during the Annunciation when the angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her she would be bearing a divine child. She said: Not my will but His be done. Hence the prayer 'Hail Mary full of grace etc.' So grace was defined in the Catholic teachings as a kind of openness to God's will, an egolessness that allowed one to accept difficult or daunting (or wonderful) things in the faith that God's will was being done.

Not sure how comfortable I am now with that obliteration of ego thing - the cynical part of me can't help thinking that it suited the Church very well to portray that kind of meekness, humility, obedience etc., especially in women as grace. I far prefer some of the definitions people have given in preceding posts. But I thought I'd mention anyway what the official Catholic line was on this, in case anyone's interested.

Temperance was the card that sprang to mind for me too.

 

[carly]

I also kina saw Grace as virginity, hence the High Priestess. Because we all know sex is so WRONG, ;-), so when you break your virginity you're breaking you're Grace too.

But I don't really believe it, and i don't have a clue about Grace cos Ive never thought about it before

tata xx

 

[silmarillion]

i think of the harmonius aspect of the temperence card when i think of the christian aspects of grace. to some extent the hermit is also imbued with this quality.......as grace is about the essence of yourself being in touch with the godforce and the serenity achieved by that deep level of spiritual communication. the hermit typifys grace

 

[kwaw]

i think of the harmonius aspect of the temperence card when i think of the christian aspects of grace.

In the English hermetic tradition Temperance is allocated to the letter Sameck [60], and according to some versions of SY is attributed the kingship word 'SHYNH' sleep [for more of which see my above post on the card Judgement and Grace]. The word BChN, the numerical value of which is 60 [Samekh - temperance] means 'with grace'; it is also the anagram of BNCh, which is the name of Noah with the prefix 'b' which means 'in', 'with' or 'by', and so means 'in', 'by' or 'with' rest [the name of Noah, NCh means 'rest', 'comfort' or 'peace'].

We may also relate this to Temperance as the virtue of the nefesh, the
appetitive soul. The concept of 'rest' brings us to the sabbath, the
day of rest. What has the appetitive soul to do with the sabbath? For
the sabbath is a day to find joy in the consummation of the feasts and
in the union of man and wife:

"The heavenly part of it consists of transcendental holy bliss and
sublime delight in the resplendency of the Ancient of Ancients; while
in the terrestial part there is the physical enjoyment of the repasts.
It behoves therefore, a man to cheer that day with sumptuous food and
drink, with noble raiment, and with whatever conduces to joyfullness.
And when the terrestial portion is duly decorated aand is properly
tended is ascends on high and becomes merged into one with the heavenly
portion; so that the 'point' becomes an amalgam of the upper and the
lower worlds, and a unification of the elements...The term 'vayinefash'
(and He rested) may be resolved into 'vai'(woe), 'nefesh' (soul), that
is woe to the soul forlorn. Now we may well argue that it should rather
be woe to the body that loses the special spirit with the departure of
the Sabbath. But the truth is that man possesses a certain nefesh that
attracts to itself the special spirit on the eve of Sabbath, so that
spirit takes up its abode and resides within it the whole of the
Sabbath. It thus becomes a superior Nefesh, with greater power and
resources that it possessed before. It is in reference to this that we
have learned that the nefesh of every Israelite is decorated on the
Sabbath day, that decoration consisting of the special spirit within
them. But at the conclusion of the Sabbath that spirit departs, and
then woe to the nefesh that is thus bereft. It has lost the heavenly
crown and the holy energy it thereby possessed." [zohar 204b]

This exaltation of the nefesh [the appetitive soul] is represented in the tarot by the exaltation of its corresponding virtue temperance, and also in the card by the two vessels that represent the celestial and earthly sabbath [Binah and Malkuth], and the Nefesh is raised through the spirit of Grace. Note
that the nefesh is 'decorated' and adorned with the superior spirit;
and this gives us the clue that it is the spirit of 'Grace' [which is
rooted in the concept of cleansing, adornment and beautification, which I explained in the above post on connection between Grace and Judgement].

In Christian terms the story of Noah is interpreted as a prefigurement
of Christ, as the flood cleanses the world of sin, so Christ to shall
cleanse through water [baptism]. 8 souls are saved on the ark, and 8 is
the number of christ, who converts the covenant of circumcision
[carried out on the 8th day] to one of baptism. The wood of the ark
that saves becomes the wood of the cross. The mixing of wine with water
between the two vessels of Temperance symbolises the blood and water
that emerges from christs side when he is pierced by the spear. He
transforms the covenant of fire [circumcision, cutting connects with
Shyn, teeth and fire], that is of harsh judgement, with one of mercy
[the water of baptism].

Kwaw

 

[brenmck]

Uncreated grace

I think the notion that "uncreated grace" from RC theology is best represented by the Ace of Cups, too. It is often described as "an unexpected source of help." A free gift, in other words. I think the Hermit, the Star, and Temperance more appropriate to "states of grace," where the soul has spent a great deal of conscious effort to put itself exactly there. Uncreated grace just drops from the sky, like the Ace of Cups. Manna.

~B~