The House of Ravenbrook
**Vision Statement for The House of Ravenbrook Incorporate:**
"At The House of Ravenbrook, we envision a vibrant community where spiritual seekers and magickal minds unite to explore, learn, and grow. Our passion is to empower individuals on their unique journeys, illuminating paths of wisdom and wonder through enriching education and transformative experiences. Together, we celebrate the enchanting dance of knowledge and creativity, fostering a supportive environment where every member can thrive. With our heart-centered approach to sharing metaphysical insights and enchanting products, we aspire to inspire joy, connection, and a deeper understanding of the universe's mysteries—making every day a magical adventure!"
This Podcast covers topics within The House of Ravenbrook - The Ravenbrook Tradition and the books, articles and teachings of Richard Ravenbrook.
The House of Ravenbrook
What If Jesus Was Actually a Revolutionary?
What happens when a radical spiritual movement gets absorbed by the very power structure it once challenged? The story of Christianity's evolution from grassroots revolution to imperial institution offers fascinating insights for anyone questioning inherited spiritual traditions.
Jesus wasn't the mild-mannered, passive figure often portrayed in sanitized religious art. He was a strategic disruptor who consistently sided with society's outcasts—touching lepers, debating theology with women (scandalous in his context), and delivering scathing critiques of wealth and religious hypocrisy. His ministry represented a direct challenge to both religious and political authorities, emphasizing radical inclusion and community care over hierarchy and exclusion.
Yet after Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century, something profound shifted. The countercultural movement began mirroring imperial structures, developing elaborate hierarchies that distanced ordinary believers from direct spiritual experience. Augustine's emphasis on original sin further cemented the idea that institutional mediation was necessary for salvation. The radical edge of Jesus's teachings—his criticism of wealth accumulation, his elevation of women, his challenge to purity codes—became domesticated and reinterpreted to maintain rather than challenge social order.
This transformation offers critical lessons for modern spiritual seekers. How do we reclaim the subversive compassion at the heart of Jesus's message without creating new hierarchies? What does it mean to practice faith as activism in our own context? Who are today's "lepers and tax collectors," and how might we show up for them in ways that challenge systemic injustice? Perhaps most importantly, how do we build spiritual communities that embody justice rather than just talking about it?
Whether you're a long-time Christian questioning church teachings, someone exploring spirituality outside institutional religion, or simply curious about how radical movements become mainstream, this conversation offers thought-provoking perspectives on resistance, inclusion, and the ongoing work of building beloved community. As we suggest in the episode—if your spirituality isn't making you at least a little uncomfortable, you're probably missing something essential.
Subscribe to House of Ravenbrook for more conversations at the intersection of spirituality, justice, and radical inclusion. We're committed to exploring the edges where traditional religion meets contemporary challenges, always with a healthy dose of irreverence and hope.
Find books by Richard Ravenbrook on
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Welcome back to the House of Ravenbrook. I'm Eric Marquette and, as always, I'm joined by the ever-irreverent Ruby Sturt. Ruby, how's your day going?
Speaker 2:Oh you know, Eric, just trying to subvert the empire, one cup of tea at a time, and prepping for this episode has me feeling a bit like a first-century troublemaker, which, honestly, is my natural state.
Speaker 1:That's fitting because today we're diving into the radical roots of Jesus, specifically how his teachings got well hijacked by empire and hierarchy. I mean, the story of Christianity's evolution is basically a masterclass in how power reshapes a message right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And it's wild to think about how the early Jesus movement was this grassroots, almost underground thing focused on the outcasts, the sick, the folks nobody wanted to touch, literally and metaphorically. But then you get Constantine rolling in, making Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, and suddenly it's all about order, obedience and keeping the status quo.
Speaker 1:Yeah, constantine's conversion in the fourth century is such a turning point. Before that Christianity was persecuted, a bit of a thorn in the side of the empire. But once it became official the church started to mirror the empire's own structures, hierarchies, power, even the architecture. And then you've got Augustine, who I mean, he's a complicated figure but his emphasis on original sin and the need for church mediation really cemented the idea that you needed the institution to access the divine.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's such a shift from what you see in the gospels. Jesus is out there touching lepers, eating with tax collectors, talking to women in public. He's constantly breaking the rules. It's like if you were on the margins, you were exactly who he wanted to hang out with. But the institutional church over time kind of flips that on its head. Suddenly. It's about purity, obedience and, honestly, keeping certain people out.
Speaker 1:It's almost like the radical edge gets sanded down. The message of challenging power structures, of upending social hierarchies, gets replaced with let's keep things tidy and predictable. And, as we've talked about in previous episodes, like when we discussed the spiral of spiritual growth and questioning inherited beliefs, there's this real need to reclaim that original subversive spirit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think that's why so many modern spiritual traditions, including Ravenbrook, are interested in going back to the roots, like what happens if you strip away the imperial layers and just look at what Jesus actually did. How do you resist those hierarchical interpretations that have been used to justify well a lot of dodgy stuff over the centuries?
Speaker 1:It's a good question. I think a lot of people are hungry for a spirituality that's less about gatekeeping and more about radical inclusion and, honestly, that's what makes the Ravenbrook approach so interesting. It's about reclaiming agency, questioning authority and, as we've said before, trusting your own experience, which, in a way, is pretty close to what Jesus was doing in his own context.
Speaker 2:Totally. And you know it's not just about nostalgia for the past. It's about asking what does it look like to live out that kind of subversive compassion now, like who are the lepers and tax collectors today? Who's being pushed to the margins and how do we show up for them in a way that actually challenges the systems that keep them there?
Speaker 1:And maybe how do we avoid just recreating new hierarchies in the process? It's a bit of a tightrope, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's messy, but I think that's the point. If your spirituality isn't making you a bit uncomfortable, you're probably missing something. So, speaking of discomfort, let's talk about Jesus and women Because, honestly, if you read the gospels with even a slightly feminist lens, it's kind of shocking how much gets glossed over. Like Mary Magdalene is everywhere, but she's been reduced to this caricature of the repentant sinner for centuries, when in reality she's front and centre, first at the tomb, first to see the resurrection, basically the apostle to the apostles.
Speaker 1:Exactly. And then there's the Samaritan woman at the well. That story is so loaded. She's a double outsider, both as a Samaritan and as a woman with a complicated past. But Jesus doesn't just talk to her, he has a full-on theological debate with her. He treats her as an intellectual equal, which in that context is pretty radical.
Speaker 2:And don't forget the women who supported Jesus financially Joanna, susanna, all these women who are basically bankrolling the movement. It's like the early Jesus community was way more gender inclusive than most churches are now. And yet over time the institutional church just kind of erased that, or at least minimised it.
Speaker 1:It's a pattern, isn't it? The radical gets domesticated. And it's not just about gender, it's about wealth too. I mean, the parable of the rich fool is a scathing critique of materialism. Jesus isn't just saying don't be greedy. He's saying if you build your life around accumulating stuff, you're missing the point entirely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the parable of Lazarus and the rich man is even more brutal. The rich guy ignores Lazarus at his gate and then, after death, the roles are reversed. It's not subtle? It's a direct challenge to the idea that wealth is a sign of divine favour. If anything, it's a warning that wealth can actually be a spiritual liability.
Speaker 1:And that's so relevant now, isn't it? We still have this narrative that if you're successful it's because you're blessed and if you're struggling it's your own fault. But Jesus flips that he's constantly siding with the poor, the sick, the excluded. It's a call to rethink our values, not just as individuals, but as a society.
Speaker 2:It reminds me of this debate I had at uni, classic Ruby Tangent incoming, where the question was can faith ever be separated from social action? And I mean, I tried to argue that you could have a private, apolitical faith, but the more I read, the more I realised that's just not how it works, At least not if you're taking Jesus seriously. His faith was activism. Every parable, every healing, every meal with the wrong people, it was all a challenge to the status quo.
Speaker 1:That's such a good point, and it's something we've touched on before, especially when we talked about the Ravenbrook tradition's emphasis on social justice and community engagement. It's not just about personal enlightenment, it's about changing the world around you, and that's a thread that runs straight from Jesus to now, if you're willing to see it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think that's why these stories still matter. They're not just ancient history, they're blueprints for how to resist systems that dehumanise people, whether it's patriarchy, economic injustice or any other form of exclusion. The challenge is to keep asking who's being left out and what are we going to do about it.
Speaker 1:And maybe how do we make sure we're not just talking about inclusion but actually practising it? Because, as we've seen, it's easy to pay lip service to these ideas and much harder to live them out because, as we've seen, it's easy to pay lip service to these ideas and much harder to live them out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a lifelong project but honestly, I'd rather be part of a messy, inclusive community than a tidy, exclusive one any day.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about resistance, because if there's one thing that stands out in the Gospels, it's that Jesus wasn't just a nice guy handing out free bread. He was a strategist. The cleansing of the temple, for example, it's not just about religious purity. It's a direct, non-violent confrontation with economic exploitation and corruption. He's flipping tables, but he's also flipping the script on what power looks like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the parables too. They're not just cute stories, they're subversive. Like the Good Samaritan isn't just about being nice to strangers, it's a dig at the religious elite and a challenge to the whole system of who counts as neighbour. It's activism in story form.
Speaker 1:And that's where non-violent resistance comes in. Jesus doesn't advocate for violent revolution, but he's constantly undermining the legitimacy of the powers that be. It's strategic, it's risky and it's deeply political and that legacy carries forward. I mean, look at the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr explicitly drew on Jesus's model of non-violent resistance. It's a lineage of activism that's about transformation, not just protest.
Speaker 2:And it's not just about the big headline-grabbing moments. It's about building community, creating alternative spaces where people can experience justice and dignity. That's something we see in the Ravenbrook tradition too. There's this emphasis on practical magic, on daily rituals that are about empowerment and solidarity. Not just personal gain, it's activism, but with a spiritual backbone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that's where Ravenbrook both echoes and diverges from Jesus's model. There's a shared commitment to inclusion, to challenging injustice, but the methods are adapted for a different context. It's less about confronting a literal empire and more about resisting the subtle, everyday forms of exclusion and oppression, but the spirit is the same non-violent, creative and rooted in community.
Speaker 2:And, honestly, that's what keeps me hopeful, because, as we've said before, the work of justice is never finished. It's a spiral, not a straight line. You keep coming back to the same questions, but each time with a bit more wisdom, a bit more courage and maybe, if we're lucky, a bit more love.
Speaker 1:Well, said, and I think that's a good place to wrap for today, we've covered a lot, from the hidden politics of Jesus to radical inclusion, to the ongoing work of resistance. If you're listening and feeling a bit unsettled, that's probably a good sign. Keep questioning, keep challenging and keep building those communities of justice and compassion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and don't be afraid to flip a few tables metaphorically, or you know, if you're feeling bold. Thanks for joining us, eric, and thanks to everyone listening. We'll be back soon with more magic, mystery and a healthy dose of rebellion. Catch you next time.
Speaker 1:Take care, Ruby, and goodbye to all our listeners. Until next time, keep the spirit of resistance alive.
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