The thirty-sixth bead of the blessing cord is the blessing of Generosity. This is the earth of Tipereth. Tipereth has an energy that brings forth our True Will or our Great Work, what we came here to this world to complete, and how we choose to answer that calling. You can see the hallmarks of True Will by looking for how it serves not only the person but also the web of life. It takes a generosity of spirit to be able to do this Great Work as a gift to the divine that is within us all. This generosity shows our nobility of spirit and our inner sovereignty.
Generosity comes from the Latin word generōsus, meaning “of noble birth”. A good noble took care of their community by allocating resources, planing, implementing, and educating. They did so because without the community they would not be in the exalted position they were in. To take that into our spiritual realms, a good noble or sovereign is sufficiently in control of their own lives that they can give of their time, energy, resources, and wisdom to help those were less fortunate or in their charge. We each have this sovereignty within us, no matter our wealth, class, time, schedule, or energy level. We can adopt the noble path of generosity and give in the name of the gods. They love when we make these types of offerings and help to refill us so we can give again.
The community you aid with your generosity or your Great Work may take many forms, and not all of them are on a grand global scale. It could be once a year giving a homeless person an old jacket or a tent. It could be helping with the school bake sale for your kids’ marching band. You may feel called to go to an impoverished community or disaster area and offer your help and expertise. Generosity doesn’t have to be a grand gesture. You can generously give a smile or a complement. You can buy a friend a coffee or tea because they are having a tough time. Give a friend a book you enjoyed and think they will also.
The blessing of generosity teaches us how to give and share our gifts with community. Many cultures and religions have tithes that they give to their religious institutions or charities. A tithe is a percentage of your income that you give back to the community with no expectation of return. Even if they didn’t expect return they still might get it in form of the rituals of the temple or from the gods themselves. You may also want to give a tithe of time in service to your community, if you do not have physical wealth to offer.
Generosity can feel like a sacrifice of time, energy or resources that could be used for yourself and your goals. We turn to the solar gods of Tipereth for our model. Most of the solar gods have a cycle where they sacrifice themselves to the land or its people. Many of the pagan solar gods sacrifice themselves so that we may take in their blessings by consuming a part of them. The young Oak King is sacrificed by the older Holy King at the summer solstice to bring his energy into the land so the fields will ripen. This also brings about the turning of the “wheel of the year” as the darker time of less daylight begins. The change of wheat from green to gold symbolizes the god’s energy in the land. From his sacrifice the wheat and all the plants ripen. This is an archetypal example of the generosity of the gods. We pagans are not alone in this, the Christian faith’s Christ sacrificed himself to take on the world’s sin. The rite of transubstantiation is to make the wine and host into the blood and body of Christ. People take some of the energy of his holiness, his sacrifice, into themselves with the sacrement. We pagans have the Great Rite in token, where we drink in the blessings of the gods after an athame is used to gather energy and it is brought into the wine as a symbolic ritual of the male giving up his seed and energy to the womb of life.
These divinities show their generosity by giving freely of what they have to help their people, just as the Sun, the symbol of Tiphereth, gives freely of its light and warm. We are only seeds of gods and don’t have the same expectations because we are human. Our sacrifice to generosity doesn’t have to be big or even something that we need or use any more.
This generosity has great benefits to it as well. Generosity has been scientifically proven to make people happier. I have never met an unhappy generous person. It improves your self-esteem and feelings of self-worth. It can connect you deeply to what your Great Work is in this world, something beyond just your vocation or career.
In this meditation we move into the energies of Tipereth and ask: “How can I offer up a service in generosity?” Our answer comes from our own Holy Guardian Angel, the Watcher-self, the god seed within us. Your answer may come in the meditation or be an encounter with a need you can fulfill in the days after the meditation. Take this chance to be an answered prayer for someone else.
Meditation of Generosity
Hold the thirty-sixth bead, the bead of the blessing of Generosity, the blessing of earth in Tiphereth.
Count yourself down into a meditative state.
Allow the screen of your mind to expand into a sphere around you. Feel a rising sensation as your sphere begins to fill with radiant golden yellow light. Vibrate the God name of Tipereth: Yod-heh-vauv-heh el-oh-ah Vah-dah-ath.
The golden light surrounding you call out to your Holy Guardian Angel. You may see it as a golden ball above you or coming toward you. They may look like any appearance that they wish. Thank your Holy Guardian Angel for being with you in this time.
Ask them “How can I offer up a service in generosity?”
They may give you a feeling, a word or phrase, some sage advice, or a image of someone. They may also say nothing at all.
Ask what you can give to your Holy Guardian Angel in thanks for its help and communion. You may be surprised at the answer. It may ask you to do a generous service for yourself or someone else.
Ask any other questions you might have about becoming a more generous person. Know that your Holy Guardian Angel has heard you and is willing to guide you after this meditation to a situation where your generosity is needed.
Thank your Holy Guardian Angel again. The golden light begins to fill your screen of the mind around you, obscuring your Holy Guardian Angel from view. The golden light begins to fade and the screen of your mind returns to its normal size.
Count yourself up to waking consciousness and ground and center yourself.
Contemplation
What can you give back to your community? What types of need call out to you? Do you look at what you want to do and what the need is in the world and make a compromise of the two? How can you be a more generous person?