This night we gather in vigil, to commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ, recalling with it, the history of our spiritual path, seeing in it, our own journeys from life to death, and experiencing through it, the initiation from death to life.
Divine Beloved, out of the tomb of separation you have called us, to rise into the Kingdom of God. The ancient mysteries of sacrifice speak to our journey.
Incarnate in each one of us, the Sacred Flame is transfixed upon the cross of space and time, May we never fear to descend into our lowest reaches, like the Logos and the harrowing of hell, to reconcile the lower with the higher- that we may rise transformed in this very life, and in the fullness of time ascend into perfect union.
– Easter Vigil of the Apostolic Johannite Church
These are the opening words of the Easter Vigil which the Apostolic Johannite Church celebrates at this most solemn time in the journey of the liturgical year.
Ritual, scripture, art and story, as I have noted before and elsewhere – can become landmarks because they do not change but we do. Points by which we can measure both distance and depth, and triangulate our present moments and spiritual trajectories. A favourite piece of music, for example, might have different meaning, import and power when heard before, during or after a particular experience or moment. It is also a way to discern at which point we are standing.
But – this great power doesn’t exist solely in the realm or context of us to ourselves, it is also a means of discerning, reconciling and reintegrating Self and Other.
With one set of words, one canvas of imagery and so forth, these things reflect back a different landscape of meaning to each who experiences them. Both within and beyond community, there is an opportunity to create a common ground, a bridge point for different experiences, whether they be myriad difficulties, or distinct joys – and otherwise might be a chasm between us and our fellow humanity. We may at times feel we seemingly lack a bond of common experience with those around us, but these things can be tools to pierce that veil of perception and create one.
We may not share or understand each other’s experiences but we can share or understand the means each other uses to understand them. If we cannot connect to another’s experience, we can still connect to the ways they connect to it.
Think on well known and loved scripture and poetry – whether Corinthians on Love, a Shakespearean Sonnet, or even perhaps, the lyrics and rhythm of a popular song. We might not always have shared experience, but we have a shared mirror that can angle the light in such a way as to make the image of another come more fully into view. A common ground without an immediate need for common cause, that can create a space where the ground can come into being.
What are the rituals, scriptures, symbols, art, poetry or musical notes that give tangible shape to your interior world? I might not be able to perceive that world on its own but knowing how you express it or find it so expressed outside of yourself, I now have a way to connect to something which can lead me to it. They are threads in a labyrinth that we can follow back to navigate the innumerable externals that separate us from each other.
In this liturgical year to come – my hope for you is that you will listen to the ritual snd scripture, see, hear and touch the art, or become enrapt by the stories that those around you use to encapsulate, express or make sense of their own journeys. My hope is also that you share your own in turn. That these threads and breadcrumbs can be laid and followed to lead us into the sanctuary of being wherein each one of us resides. Better still – that they can lead us more readily into a mutual place of transformation that we can inhabit together. A mutual space that is not wholly you, not wholly me, but fully us.
In a world of separation, the very condition Gnosticism and Gnosis seeks to alleviate, we cannot wait for these to appear of their own accord – they are opportunities to be sought and created. Community is one such place we do this, but it can also and must be done person to person – indeed, this is how persons become more than just people, and become community to begin with.
Ritual, scripture, art and story creates a space where Gnosis of the Divine can break through – but it can also create a space where a Gnosis of each other can break though, and this itself is a path to the Divine.
Please take my blessings, good wishes and prayers for all the Johannite Parishes, Narthexes, Missions, Oratories and Chapels, our solitary sisters and brothers who keep the flame burning in distant places, and all those who call the Apostolic Johannite Church home, deepening and sharing their journey here.
My thanks and gratitude on behalf of the Apostolic Johannite Church to the Johannite Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Subdeacons, Seminarians and Narthex Leaders, the Grand Master and Initiates of the Friary, Oblates and Knights of the Order of the Temple and Saint John, and the Talk Gnosis team, for all their hard work and dedication- not only to the people we work on behalf of, but also in their own spiritual paths and in their service to each other.
Blessings and Easter greetings also from the Apostolic Johannite Church to the many Churches, Orders and spiritual communities of good will, the Ecclesia Gnostica Mysteriorum, the Ecclesia Gnostica, Ekklesia Neoplatonismos Theourgia, the Ancient Apostolic Church of Alexandria, l’Eglise Gnostique Apostolique (New York), The Templar Collegia, the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Ecclesia Lucis et Umbrae, our Martinist and Masonic sisters and brothers, and the many individual friends, family, laity and clergy of good will.
May the coming year find your work and paths rich and rewarding with fruitful challenge and blessing, and balanced with rest and reflection. May your work be noble, your spirits be humble, and your hearts always full.
+ IOHANNES IV
Sovereign Pontiff and Patriarch