Before Constantine: The Real Origin of “Synagogue of Satan”

Why Modern 2000s Christian Churches Got This Wrong and Why the Truth Sets Us Free

If you’ve spent any time around modern 2000s-era Christian churches influenced by the Seven Mountain Mandate, you’ve likely heard a very confident claim: that the phrase “synagogue of Satan” in Revelation was manipulated, shaped, or inserted by Constantine.

It sounds compelling.

It feels dramatic.

But it’s historically impossible.

The Seven Mountain Mandate is just empire wearing a cross, power disguised as prophecy, hierarchy masquerading as holiness.

Many modern churches shaped by the Seven Mountain Mandate have built an entire theology on fear, control, and the belief that Christians must “take over” cultural institutions to usher in God’s kingdom. This movement often rewrites history to fit its agenda claiming, for example, that terms like “synagogue of Satan” were manipulated by Constantine or created by later political conspiracies. But none of this is supported by actual history, early manuscripts, or the lived spirituality of the first followers of Jesus. The Seven Mountain Mandate replaces Jesus’ nonviolent, compassion-rooted Way with a dominionist system obsessed with power, hierarchy, and cultural domination. In doing so, it distorts Scripture, promotes fear-based interpretations, and encourages believers to see enemies where Jesus saw human beings in need of healing, mercy, and awakening. Recovering the real history frees us from these modern distortions and brings us back to the original, liberating message of Christ: that the kingdom is within, not seized through political conquest.

The more closely you study early Christianity, the more obvious it becomes:

Constantine wasn’t even alive when Revelation was written.

The phrase predates him by almost 200 years.

And its meaning comes from Jesus’ own spiritual lineage, not from Rome.

This matters…not just for accuracy, but because reclaiming the original meaning frees us from the fear-based, empire-influenced theology that still shapes American Christianity today.

Let’s look at the real history.

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Revelation Was Written Long Before Constantine

Revelation was composed around 90–96 A.D.

Constantine was born in 272 A.D.

The phrase “synagogue of Satan” appears in:

• Revelation 2:9

• Revelation 3:9

That’s it.

No later additions.

No Roman edits.

We possess physical manuscripts and quotations from before Constantine existed that contain these verses.

This alone breaks the Seven Mountain Mandate narrative.

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The Phrase Comes From a Much Older Jewish Tradition

“Synagogue of Satan” isn’t Roman language at all.

It’s Jewish sectarian language rooted in the Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

If you’ve ever read the Scrolls, you instantly recognize the pattern:

• “men of the pit”

• “lot of Belial”

• “congregation of deceit”

• “sons of darkness”

These are spiritual classifications describing groups aligned with corruption rather than God.

This exact dualistic moral vocabulary appears in:

• the Dead Sea Scrolls (150 B.C.–50 A.D.)

• Jesus’ teachings

• Paul’s letters

• the Book of Revelation

Which means:

The language used in Revelation is older than both Constantine and Christianity itself.

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Jesus Himself Spoke Like an Essene

Whether or not Jesus was formally Essene, His teaching vocabulary mirrors theirs:

• “children of light”

• “evil one”

• “your father, the adversary”

• “wolves in sheep’s clothing”

• “den of violent ones” (mistranslated as “robbers”)

• “blind guides”

This is the same symbolic worldview Revelation uses.

It is emphatically not Roman, imperial, or Constantinian.

It is Jewish, prophetic, and nonviolent.

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Early Church Fathers Quote the Phrase Before Constantine

Another inconvenient fact for modern prophecy churches:

Writers who lived long before Constantine quote Revelation — including the “synagogue of Satan” passages — exactly as we have them today.

• Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110 A.D.)

• Justin Martyr (150 A.D.)

• Irenaeus (180 A.D.)

Irenaeus even reproduces material from Revelation 2–3 directly.

This proves:

• the text was stable

• the phrase already existed

• Constantine didn’t insert anything

That’s not speculation.

It’s archaeology.

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What Constantine Actually Changed … And What He Didn’t

Constantine changed:

• Christianity’s political status

• the structure of the church

• the relationship between bishops and empire

… he even united pagans and Christians by combining certain aspects of each faith for holidays.

But he did not:

• influence Essene vocabulary

• change first-century Jewish symbolism

The claim that he created “synagogue of Satan” language is simply not factually possible.

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The Real Meaning of “Synagogue of Satan”

Once you remove modern distortion, the meaning becomes beautifully simple:

“Synagogue of Satan” means

an assembly aligned with injustice or spiritual blindness — not an ethnicity.

It does not mean:

• Jews

• synagogues

• ethnic groups

• political states

• religious institutions

It means:

any community whose actions oppose compassion, justice, and sacred consciousness.

This aligns perfectly with:

• the Essenes

• Jesus

• Paul

• Revelation

• and the whole apocalyptic tradition of ancient Judaism

It is not about identity.

It is about alignment.

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Why This Matters Today

Many 2000s-era prophecy churches teach a theology shaped by:

• the Seven Mountain Mandate

• 20th-century Zionist politics

• 19th-century dispensationalism

• anti-historical end-times charts

• fear-based spiritual warfare language

These systems tend to make Constantine the villain behind every biblical “hard saying.”

But the truth is far more grounded:

The ancient followers of Jesus were speaking from within their own Jewish tradition —

not reacting to a fourth-century Roman emperor.

When we return to the real roots, we rediscover the spiritual brilliance of the early Jesus movement:

• truth over distortion

• compassion over fear

• awakening over control

• inner liberation over outer empire

• justice over violence

This is the Jesus whose teachings were hijacked by empire, but not created by it.

And this is the Revelation written long before Constantine, calling communities to walk in light, love, and discernment.

Because “synagogue of Satan” was never about a people.

It was always about a posture.

It was always about a choice.

It was always about a community’s alignment with compassion or with injustice.

And that message is more relevant today than ever.

The Women, the Wisdom, and the Animals: What We Forgot About Easter

Posted by Julie Tourangeau

By Julie Tourangeau | Good Friday, 2025

Before the tomb was empty…

before the stone was rolled away…

before the anointing and the rising and the glory…

there was a moment we rarely talk about.

And it didn’t happen on a hill.

It happened in the Temple.

It was there that Jesus walked in, looked around, and did what no one else dared:

He freed the animals.

The Cleansing of the Temple Was a Liberation

All four canonical gospels record the Temple cleansing, but what most people miss is why it mattered so much.

Jesus didn’t just flip tables to make a scene.

He drove out the sellers of doves. He freed the lambs and oxen being sold for sacrifice.

According to the Gospel of the Nazarenes, a lost early gospel aligned with the Essenes:

“He drove out the animals and said, ‘Cease your wicked sacrifices! Do you not see that innocent blood cries out from the earth?’”

In that moment, Jesus publicly rejected the sacrificial system—a system that normalized bloodshed and called it holy. He saw through the illusion of substitutionary violence and revealed the deeper truth:

The Holy Spirit is not found in the shedding of blood, but in the honoring of life.

And from that moment on, the system moved to silence him.

The First Step Toward Resurrection Was Setting the Innocent Free

Let this sink in:

It wasn’t the miracles that got Jesus killed.

It wasn’t the healings or the parables or even claiming to be the Son of God.

It was the moment he freed the animals that the wheels of execution began to turn.

This was the turning point—not just in his story, but in ours.

Because Jesus wasn’t just liberating animals. He was exposing a system—religious, economic, cultural—that had come to depend on suffering.

And he showed us what it looks like to say:

No more.

The Divine Feminine Knew

Many people associate Easter with the idea that Jesus died to pay for our sins—but that interpretation came later. The earliest followers of Jesus saw his life and death not as a blood payment, but as a revelation of divine love and a call to awaken the Christ within. Texts like The Gospel of the Holy Twelve remind us that his suffering was not about appeasing wrath, but about healing hearts, breaking chains, and showing us the path of compassion, even in the face of injustice.

What followed was suffering, yes—but also sacred initiation. And through it all, the ones who stayed near were not the theologians or temple authorities. It was the women.

Grief was his first initiation, through Miriam, the young woman with whom Jesus lived for seven years before her death. According to The Gospel of the Holy Twelve, it was her passing that opened his heart to the deeper path. According to this gospel, « Grief didn’t weaken him. It awakened him. »

Before knowing about this grief story of Jesus, I wrote about my own:

“Without my dark night of the soul, and without having challenging circumstances, I wouldn’t have grown my blessings… Painful change is sometimes exactly what we need to shake things up. Living through trauma, family drama, and the grief of losing a loved one can feel almost like an endless dark tunnel… Grief is just love with seemingly no place to go, but when you realize love shared is eternal, you can finally let go of the pain and gain the wisdom that is rightly yours.” — Free Yourself from Grief, Chapter 5

Compassion was his final anointing, through Mary Magdalene—not a sinner, but a priestess. She anointed his feet, honoring him with a sacred rite passed down through feminine lineages.

And when he was crucified, it was Magdalene who remained. While the male disciples fled, she stood at the cross, and three days later, she was the first to see him risen.

The resurrection was not first revealed to Rome or religion. It was revealed to her.

And wisdom—Sophia—was the soul behind it all.

The Spirit of God that hovered over the waters in Genesis.

The voice crying out in the streets in Proverbs.

The divine spark in all life, calling us home.

What if Easter was just the beginning?

While many see the resurrection as the end of Jesus’ story, ancient traditions—especially in southern France—tell a different tale. According to Provençal legend, Mary Magdalene journeyed to France after the crucifixion, carrying not only the memory of Jesus but the living essence of his teachings. Some say she preached love and liberation from a cave near Sainte-Baume, others believe she brought with her the sacred feminine that was erased from the official story. The Holy Grail Legends say she brought his bloodline to France, and they still walk Earth among us to this very day.

Easter Is the Unveiling of Compassion

This Easter, I invite you to see the resurrection not as a distant miracle, but a living pattern.

The pattern begins with letting go of violence.

It moves through grief.

It is held by the feminine.

And it ends in freedom—not just for ourselves, but for all of creation.

Resurrection isn’t just rising from the dead.

It’s refusing to live by death.

It’s refusing to justify harm.

It’s the choice to let the doves go free.

To Walk the Lost Path to Freedom This Easter Is To Remember:

• The animals were the first to be freed.

• The women were the first to understand.

• Sophia is the wisdom that lives in you.

• The Holy Spirit is the breath that animates all life.

• And love is not proven through suffering, but through liberation.

This Easter, may we not just celebrate a risen Christ,

but live like him.

May we be the ones who open the cages,

who hold the grief,

who anoint the new day.

May we rise—not above the world, but for it.

Free the animals.

Free the heart.

And the stone will roll away.

The Obedience to Authority: How Society’s Meat-Eating Norms Parallel Milgram’s Experiment

Posted by Julie Tourangeau

As humans, we tend to follow what we’re taught—whether it’s in school, from our families, or through societal norms. But what happens when these lessons go against our values or better judgment? The answer lies in psychological studies like Stanley Milgram’s famous obedience experiment, which shows how easily people conform to authority, even when it contradicts their moral compass.

Milgram’s Experiment: The Power of Obedience

Milgram’s experiment in the 1960s tested how far people would go in obeying authority figures, even when it involved inflicting harm on others. The results were eye-opening: a majority of participants followed orders to administer what they believed were painful electric shocks to another person, despite their obvious discomfort and moral hesitation. The study demonstrated that obedience to authority could override personal ethics and empathy.

The Connection to Meat-Eating

So, how does Milgram’s experiment relate to the common practice of eating meat? Consider this: society teaches us from a young age that eating meat is normal, necessary, and even healthy. It’s so deeply ingrained in our culture that questioning it often feels like a rebellion against established norms. Just as Milgram’s participants obeyed authority figures, many of us obey societal pressures—eating meat because it’s what we’ve always been told to do.

Why Conformity is a Problem

The issue with this conformity is that it leads to a lack of critical thinking. People don’t question whether eating meat is truly necessary for health or if it’s ethical to cause harm to animals in order to eat. Much like Milgram’s subjects, we often follow what we’ve been told, not because it’s right or even because it’s good for us, but because we’ve been conditioned to believe it’s the way things should be.

Breaking Free from the Norm

It’s time we break free from this autopilot obedience and think critically about our choices, especially when it comes to our food. Just as Milgram’s participants could have chosen to defy the authority figure, we have the power to challenge the status quo. We don’t have to follow harmful traditions or blindly accept things because they’ve always been done that way.

By questioning the norm and embracing plant-based alternatives, we can make ethical, health-conscious choices that align with our values and better serve the world. Like those who resist authority in Milgram’s experiment, challenging the meat-eating norm isn’t easy—but it’s necessary for creating a more compassionate and sustainable future.

Conclusion

Conformity can be comforting, but it can also keep us from questioning what’s right. Milgram’s experiment is a powerful reminder that we need to think for ourselves, challenge harmful norms, and make choices that reflect our true values. It’s time to break free from the senseless murdering of sentient beings tradition and embrace a healthier, kinder way of living.

A Call for Compassion: The Case for Marie Antoinette

Posted by Julie Tourangeau

Marie Antoinette and her children in a portrait hanging in Versailles.

Revolution is in the air. Corruption is coming to light at a fast pace and the question of accountability is on everyone’s lips. Humanity has been through shifts like this before, and I think it’s important to reflect on how we’ve handled these shifts of consciousness for humanity in the past.

I discovered during 2023 that my family on my mom’s side, the French Rose line have lineage going back to Jean Jaques Rousseau in France. We were once Rousseau and changed the last name to Rose when we left France. Because of this, I paid special attention to his influence on France during my visits.

Jean Jacques statue at Chateau de Chenonceau in the Loire Valley.

Jean Jacques Rousseau’s philosophy writing the social contract and questioning the natural order of things spurred the dramatic shift in thought patterns of the French, ultimately leading them to revolution. He described the current state of affairs as artificial, a sort of Matrix like reality disconnecting us to the true peaceful order of things.

Unhappy with their lives under the Royals, and blaming individual people for their suffering, the French subjects had a true insurrection at Versailles, trashing the castle, and eventually killed the entire royal family, including the infamous Marie Antoinette. In many ways, I felt my ancestor’s influence lead to her death so I feel a sense of responsibility for it.

Walking through Versailles, I got a true sense of who Marie Antoinette was as a person. As an empath I could feel her. I was also surprised to find Kirsten Dunst’s portrayal of her personality was fairly accurate according to both my tour guide and my inner knowing. She came from privilege and responsibility in Austria, and married a soon-to-be French king to solidify the relationship between the two countries. In many ways, her life was bound by the deeds of others and not of her own making.

Walking the grounds of Le Hameau de la Reine July 2023.

It becomes abundantly clear that Marie tried to escape the demands of Versailles by building her country home, known as Le Hameau de la Reine, The Queen’s Hamlet. She lived and loved a simpler life in nature, growing food, baking sourdough, reading and meditating on the property. She felt the way her life was at Versailles was unnatural. She even had window coverings in her Hamlet, a true invention of pulleys and black out curtains not seen otherwise at her time. She yearned for a private life where she could just enjoy her days. Her decisions were meant to bring her own life peace in a difficult situation, but ultimately was perceived as uncaring and disconnected to the French people.

Marie was a fan of Rousseau, which is the ironic part of her demise. She is portrayed as reading a passage he had written while basking in the sun with her ladies outside at her Hamlet in the Sophia Coppola movie.

Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette reading Rousseau, 2006.

“Rousseau says: If we assume man has been corrupted by an artificial civilization, what is the natural state? The state of nature from which he has been removed? Imagine wandering up and down the forest without industry, without speech, and without home.”

I see Marie as a gentle soul. A true lover of the natural world, which in many ways is what the French Revolution was all about.

To quote Marie’s cousin’s mother, the infamous Anne Boleyn who rose from commoner to queen, « To be a king and wear a crown is a thing more glorious to them that see it than it is pleasant to them that bear it. »

Marie’s cousin Elizabeth I quoted this passage by her mother in her famous « Golden Speech ».

This important sentiment shows the pressures the Royals were under and that it is a very different experience than those who perceive Royalty.

As we move yet again from subjects of the world governments into individual sovereignty, it’s important to see those who have demonstrated perceived crimes against humanity with compassion. Did they grow up in this matrix? Did they feel pressure to behave, act and think in a certain way? Is it possible someone is moving with the status quo out of concern of self preservation ? Like Marie Antoinette, the answer is yes, absolutely.

Unfortunately, she suffered gravely at the end. Her hair apparently turned white from fright as she approached her untimely death. The blood thirst of the French Revolution was unquenchable. They wanted the Royals to suffer like they felt they had suffered.

This is a call for compassion, a true case for the Marie Antoinette’s of today. They may be ready for change and yearning for a different life just like the rest of us. Violence begets violence. Is it possible to take the high road during revolution ? I think it’s time we try the Golden Rule even in the most extreme of circumstances. May the next revolution truly be a Golden one. ✨🫶

Vegan No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Posted by Julie Tourangeau

Compassion begins on your plate! These rich, no-bake peanut butter chocolate bars will satisfy even the most mouth watering sweet tooth while being vegan and gluten-free diet friendly.

You only need Four Ingredients:

Filling

2 cups peanut butter (I prefer 365 brand, organic & unsweetened)
1 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Topping

2 cups vegan chocolate chips (I prefer the Enjoy Life brand)
1 cup peanut butter

Combine filling ingredients in large bowl, until it becomes difficult to stir.

Line a large pan with parchment paper.

Press peanut butter “dough” into large pan, ensuring it is evenly spread, and set aside.

Melt vegan chocolate chips in pan using the double boiler method. I personally boil water in a medium pan, and place a smaller pan over it to melt the ingredients. Stir in cup of peanut butter as chips begin to melt.

Pour melted chocolate mixture over peanut butter dough spread in pan. Make sure melted chocolate is spread evenly.

Cover and place in the freezer for 45 minutes.

Remove pan, and cut chocolate and peanut butter layers into bars. (Store in the refrigerator.) And enjoy! 💚🌱✨

28 Day Plant Based Challenge

Posted by Julie Tourangeau

Compassion begins on your plate!!! Tomorrow starts Day 1 of the 28 day challenge. Tonight, get really clear on your goals for the month of February. With this full moon, it’s the perfect time to manifest some healthy achievements for yourself. Whether you are going vegan for 28 days, or are already vegan and refining your diet more, write down your goals tonight.

Me? I will be going oil free. Now I don’t mean I won’t be eating avocados or nuts with natural oils. The right kind of oil can be great for your brain. What I won’t be doing is frying my food, or ordering tempura veggies (which I love). This also means I’ll be grabbing oil free hummus and avoiding vegan cheeses with added oil. Luckily, brands like Kite Hill and Engine2 don’t use oil!

Also, I have a planned cheat day to help keep me on track. We have two veg festivals in my area per year, and one of them falls during the challenge. To keep me on track, that’ll be my one allotted oil cheat day as I try all the new vegan things in my area.

Be compassionate with yourself through this process and do your best! That’s all we can do, and that’s what helps us avoid feelings of guilt as we work towards transformation. Have a happy healthy day, and don’t forget, write down your goals tonight!! Tomorrow is Day 1. What will you do with it?

Southwest Tofu Scramble

Posted by Julie Tourangeau

Compassion begins on your plate!

I genuinely do not miss eggs as a vegan, and a major reason is that I’ve experimented and perfected my favorite vegan breakfasts. I am often asked how I cook my tofu scramble, and after lots of trial and error, I wanted to share my favorite recipe and cooking process that I’ve developed. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

You will need (serves two):

1 package organic, sprouted extra firm tofu

1 tbsp garlic granules*

2 tbsp turmeric

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

2 chopped basil leaves

1 dollop of your favorite salsa

1 organic avocado

2 organic golden potatoes

1/2 organic white onion

1 package of washed organic spinach

Wildbrine Kimchi Probiotic Sriracha*

Celtic Sea Salt*

Ground black pepper*
*Proportions can be modified to taste.

🌱Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

🌱Slice potatoes into circles. In bowl, evenly toss potatoes in salt and pepper.

🌱Place sliced potatoes on cookie sheet, and cook on top shelf in oven until golden brown. (Cook times may vary per oven.)

🌱Slice tofu package.

🌱Pour “tofu guts” into a medium saucepan. Crumble extra firm tofu and place in the pan, turning on medium heat.

🌱Add turmeric, garlic granules, basil, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper to pan.

🌱Stir as needed.

🌱Once “tofu guts” water has started to cook away, add a dollop of salsa to the scramble mix.

🌱Slice onion. Add to sauce pan with a little water. Cook over medium heat until onions start to caramelize. Add spinach, and top with salt and pepper.

🌱Cut avocado in half. Spoon out green avocado onto a cutting board. Sprinkle pepper. Cut into slices.

🌱Pour finished tofu into two bowls. Add spinach and onion mixture divided evenly to both bowls. Dress with slices of potato, avocado slices, and finish with Kimchi Sriracha. I love this Sriracha since it tastes amazing, and adds probiotics to any meal to help aid with digestion and support immunity.

🌱💚And, voila! You have mastered the tofu scramble. 🙌🏼💚🌱

Compassion Begins on Your Plate: How Plant-Based Eating Can Transform Your World

Posted by Julie Tourangeau

As a child, I basically ate whatever my parents decided to put in front of me. Until one day, I started questioning the choices of my parents. I was 14 years old when my dad’s side of the family all decided to be on the Atkin’s diet. I watched my dad order a beef burger without the bun, eat as much bacon and sausage as he wanted for breakfast, not eating many vegetables and completely cutting out carbs. Being someone who never particularly enjoyed eating tons of meat, I was repulsed by it. I called it the “flesh” diet. I declared I was a vegetarian and started preparing my own dinners. I didn’t really know how to be a healthy vegetarian, I just knew I didn’t want to contribute to the killing of animals. Once I researched documentaries like “Kentucky Fried Cruelty”, and saw the brutal treatment of animals in factory farms, there was no turning back. I often ate pasta drenched in garlic and olive oil, or omlettes covered in cheese. It wouldn’t be until years later that I truly would make the connection between food as medicine and vitality.

Back then I never could have imagined cutting out eggs and dairy. It took me seeing years later that it’s common practice that male chicks are ground up alive and baby calves are taken from their moms and slaughtered for veal- that there is no humane treatment of animals in any food industry. We are exploiting the most innocent beings on this planet by giving them a life of misery. This connection started making me think about energy in food and focusing on sourcing food that is “cruelty free”. If everything is energy, why would you ever want to consume a product sourced from an animal who lived in misery? It made me question how much negativity we bring into our own lives by absorbing that which we create from these tortured animals.

It wasn’t until I started working at Whole Foods Market did I really put the idea into practice. I set out to eat the highest energy, nutrient-dense foods. I finally learned how to not only eat compassionately for the planet, but also how to eat compassionately for myself. I took E3-Live, a super nutrient-dense algae high in 65 vitamins, minerals and amino acids, every morning with my orange juice. I ate chia pods on my breaks instead of bagels and cream cheese. I often grabbed organic pink lady apples, bananas, and cashews if I was hungry. I always had Lara bars on me, and drank chia kombuchas. If I was craving cheese, I bought cashew cheese and gluten-free crackers. I replaced my morning omlettes with my now favorite dish: the tofu scramble. I often ate at the salad bar, but mixed an avocado from produce with lemon juice over my greens instead of dressing. This diet gave me so much energy I had no problem working out for a couple hours after an 8 hour shift.

I was over 300 lbs when I first started working at Whole Foods. This change to a plant-based diet combined with regularly working out led me to drop over 90 lbs over the past year and a half. Little steps and daily decisions from the heart has led to a huge transformation in my life. It’s been less about the end goal, and more about how to make a loving decision towards myself and the planet in the moment. The weight has fallen off in the process. Every day we have choices to make. Every day we have the ability to channel love and light into every decision we make. It’s our little choices over time that lead to life-changing transformations. I truly believe compassion begins on your plate. What we decide to eat can literally transform our world: from our bodies, to our energy levels, to our environment.

Flavorful and Rich Vegan Shepard’s Pie

Posted by Julie Tourangeau

I personally want full-flavored, Irish goodness on St. Patrick’s Day. When you have decided to eat compassionately for the planet, you may find yourself feeling a little left out (and grossed out) amidst all the corn beef chomping population beside you. Luckily for all you plant-based eaters out there, I have decided to share my favorite Irish, vegan recipe. 💚

Start by boiling 8 red skinned potatoes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Filling

Add the following ingredients to a sauté pan with a little veggie broth:

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 yellow onion, cubed

8 cremini mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp fresh thyme

1 tsp fresh sage

Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

Add two cups of veggie broth, slowly.

Add 1 cup of tomato paste.

Add 1 cup of organic frozen peas.

Add a splash of red wine.

Let simmer until veggies become soft.

Add 1 tbsp flour, and continue to let simmer until thickened.

Potato topping

At about 15-20 minutes of boiling, the potatoes should be tender. Check with a fork or knife.

Drain the hot water from the potatoes. I usually cut the potatoes in half with a knife and leave them in the same pan.

Add 2 cups of your favorite nut milk (I use cashew milk).

Add garlic salt and pepper to taste.

The tender potatoes and added ingredients should be easily mashed and mixed by hand with a potato masher.

Putting it all together

I put a little veggie broth on the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking.

Completely cover pan with thickened veggie filling. Make sure it is even by spreading with the back of a spoon.

Evenly layer mashed potato mixture on top of the veggies. Make sure it is spread as evenly as possible on top to keep a good ratio between potato topping and veggie filling.

Cook pan on the top shelf of your oven for 30 minutes, or until potato topping starts to brown and crisp.

Let dish cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Voila! A delicious, full flavored vegan St. Patties dish!

Enjoy, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

The School of Life

Posted by Julie Tourangeau

Everyone you meet is a divine appointment and opportunity for growth. Remember that you chose to come here. You are not a victim of the human experience. The human experience is a choice. Earth is a school. Rumi believed that each of us is the universe experiencing itself and learning through itself. Every person you have ever met, every person you know, and every person you will ever meet is here to teach you something. Your interpretations of the lessons learned determines your outlook and your experience here. Choose your thoughts about others wisely. Look at others through the lens of compassion.