Jeff Russell

Again, we might be bumping into something that is mostly about definitions - to my mind, what makes something a "blessing" is that it is good for the recipient, and (usually, at least), meant as such.

Which gets us to your second point/questions - what does "good for them" mean? If you accept the teachings that JMG shares, that each of us are "really" a divine spark, a true self, coming into and going out of incarnation, does "good for them" ground out at that level, or at the level of the personality (this incarnation)? If, in either case, we accept the idea of "good for someone, but not seen as good by that person," then we are implying some outside standard of goodness - a more extreme example featuring reincarnation might be, say, that my current incarnation is utterly miserable and I hate every minute of it, but that this is "good" for my soul, as it works off a lot of karma that will help it get where it's going. A more grounded example might be an addict taken against his will to rehab and kept there for the rest of his life. He's living healthy and drug free, and maybe everyone around him sees this as better, but every day he wants to go back to drugs and making his own choices.

To call either of these good, and therefore to make wishing for it a "blessing" in the sense I'm using it, would require that there's a standard of evaluation outside of the (at least current) perception of the folks involved. I won't say that such can't be done, but it strikes me as likely very thorny and difficult and prone to getting wrong, which is one reason the weight JMG (and Spangler) put on consent strikes me as a good idea.

So, I might perhaps amend your proposed blessing to "May the Gods give you what you deserve, when you're ready for it" if I were going to offer it.

But yeah, it's difficult (and interesting!) so thanks for prompting some exploration.

Cheers,
Jeff