First Ogham Casting

כ"א בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 22

Today, on my Hebrew birthday, I made my Wisdom Casting Cloth and cast my Ogham staves for the first time. The casting ritual was performed during the planetary hour of the sun. Briefly, the interpretive line is as follows:

Keter-Malchut: transformation, memory
Right Pillar: wisdom, mastery, elation
Left Pillar: elation, purification, wholeness, communication
Middle Pillar: communication, passion, transformation

That's it for now.

Emtsa

My poem, Strength To Strength, originally published here on my musical website.

simply
an ever forming question leading through it
winding deep
deep deep deep
height beyond the arms of the universe
spread between one and nothing
thoughtbare, solitary, with truth yoked in the balance
pivotal
constricting yet emerging
collapsing into naught center bound
like a rock, essential, neither light nor dark
establishing the faithful gate of wonder
ignorance
perplexing, bewildering, curious, unknown, unshackled, unshakable
existence
and the thrill of discovering
ignorance

Two Near Hebron Murdered

כ" בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 21

Two Israeli Hikers Murdered Near Hebron

Two Israelis were shot and killed in an attack in the West Bank on Friday, police said.

The two were near Hebron Mountain, between the settlements Telem and Aduran, west of Hebron when they were shot, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

According to Israel Radio, the two were hiking through the hills outside Hebron with another woman when they were approached by a jeep carrying several Palestinian gunmen, who opened fire on them. The woman fled and hid while the other two, who were armed, returned fire.

In the exchanges of fire that ensued, the two managed to hit several of the gunmen before being gunned down themselves.

Hat-tip to IRIS Blog.

More related news:

The Hebron Shooting Attacks - What Is And What Isn't Being Reported

True Will & The Enduring Seed Of Stillness

כ" בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 21

Knowest thy will truly ...

R. J. Stewart (who is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors), in Living Magical Arts, writes:

The effect of [religious - my addition] magic is limited according to your own belief and understanding of reality; so rigid is this law that it may be stood upon its head by the experienced magician to prove that understanding of reality is only limited according to the effect of magic. What must be emphasized in this context is that we are dealing with the genuine or true beliefs of an individual or group; what we assume we believe, what we think is our understanding of reality, and what we actually do believe, are often radically different or even contradictory to one another. One of the effects of magical training is to fuse these two levels of belief and understanding into one balanced conceptual model ... a model that is open ended and without specific limits. During the early stages of magical development and training, in which the individual is often emerging from a period of skepticism or anti-religion, this conflict is very apparent. The law of belief in magic is not merely a matter of auto-suggestion, credulity, or self-reinforced delusion; it runs far deeper than such superficial manifestations. In old fashioned terminology it is one of the great secrets of the universe, taught as 'be what thou wilt, if thou knowest thy will truly'. Our history is full of sciences, achievements, even empires, built upon systems, practices and beliefs now known to be false, yet such systems worked very well for those who believed in them. This was not due to delusion on the part of the believers, but because the power of belief is more potent and active than the object or system believed in. Expressions or forms change ceaselessly, but consciousness is eternal, and has an enduring seed of stillness at its core.

Sanctity Of Mind

כ" בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 21

Initially, it was reported that the fatal wound Benazir Bhutto sustained was damage to her spinal cord. Today, Foxnews reports:

Bhutto was killed Thursday when a suicide attacker shot at her and then blew himself up as she left a rally in Rawalpindi. Authorities initially said she died from bullet wounds, and a surgeon who treated her said she died from the impact of shrapnel on her skull.

But Cheema said she was killed when she tried to duck back into the vehicle, and the shock waves from the blast smashed her head into a lever attached to the sunroof, fracturing her skull, he said.

A colleague of mine also fractured her skull this week, Monday morning. While Bhutto died, apparently now from her fractured skull, my colleague did not and her prognosis is good today. Thank Goddess. Baruch dayyan emet. Blessed is the True Judge.

Yet, I am left to wonder why the run of fractured feminine skulls in the cosmos before my eyes this week? Why am I one willed to see as opposed to two fractured be?

The spinal cord injury originally reported to be Bhutto's fatal wound corresponds to the sefirah da'at. The fractured skull, as now reported to be the fatal wound, corresponds to the sefirah keter, the internal aspect of da'at. Kabbalistically, keter refers to the "origin of will".

Her Vision Of Tomorrow Never Came

י"ט בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 20

Today's news of the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto reminded me of a dream I had in March of this year about a strange woman trying to demoralize me by telling me that major world war would be ignited by Pakistan. I think that message and her vision of tomorrow bit the dust today.

Repost from March 9, 2007

The dream I had last night was a rather low level dream. Nevertheless, one character's presence in the dream was so "out of place" within the dream, as was the message in context of the content of the dream, that I am going to document what the strange woman reported to me within the dream.

Her odd message to me was namely this:

Major war is coming soon, maybe as soon as tomorrow. The war's formal initiation involves Pakistan in some way.

That's it, although two other points to note about this strange woman oddly out of place in my dream:

1. She eyed my father as she spoke to me in the presence of my mother in the dream also. Hmmm.

2. Her implication while telling me this message was that all my attempts to order and fix the lives of myself, my children and my grandchildren were futile because war was coming soon.

May political correctness never blind us to danger.

Related news:

Seeing Bhutto Without The Rose-Colored Glasses

In The Middle & The Cord Of Individuality

י"ט בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 20

Here is an interesting excerpt I read yesterday evening - Scottish magician R. J. Stewart (The Spirit Cord) writes of the Cord of Individuality, the "middle cord" of life:

During our lifetime, we are supported and enabled by a cord. This is, of course, the spinal cord without which nothing could happen in our manifest existence. While the cord of the womb gave sustenance before separation, the cord of the spine gives individuality and operational potential, and the practical ability to move in the individual's separate and manifest life. The Cord of Individuality manifests with the spinal cord as a central core. From there it manifests through the many associated cords and connections of the body that all link into the spinal cord from which they receive their complex instructions that enable life to function in time, space and movement. There is another aspect to this Cord of Individuality, which is transpersonal, and may arise over many lifetimes. We will return to this when we explore ideas about the Cord of Continuity, and the concept of continuity between lives. In this preliminary outline we can recognize this transpersonal quality of intense individuality when we see, or live, dedicated lives that seem to have a strong direction, be it in the arts, sciences, spirituality, or any other field of activity.

Pakistan In Chaos

י"ט בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 20

Benazir Bhutto Assassinated
Thursday, December 27, 2007

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — Pakistan's paramilitary forces were on red alert Thursday following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

The former prime minister was murdered by an attacker who shot her in the neck and chest after a campaign rally and then blew himself up. Her death stoked new chaos across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.

A doctor on the team that treated her said she had a bullet in the back of the neck that damaged her spinal cord before exiting from the side of her head. Another bullet pierced the back of her shoulder and came out through her chest.

She was given open heart massage, but the main cause of death was damage to her spinal cord, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Read full story at link above.

Read more about the spinal cord as the middle cord of life here.

More on the Bhutto assassination at CNN:

She Rose & Fell Down Through The Sunroof

The photographer who took images of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto moments before her assassination Thursday told CNN he was "surprised" to see her rise through the sunroof of her vehicle to wave to supporters after delivering her speech.

"And then suddenly, there were a few gunshots that rang out, and she went down, she went down through the sunroof," he said. "And just at that moment I raised my camera up and the blast happened. ... And then, of course, there was chaos."

Television & Serious Magical Work

י"ח בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 19

I don't own a television and haven't for several years. I don't feel television is morally "wrong" - I do watch a few selected shows (Planet Earth is awesome) or movies on the televisions of others at times, but for myself, I don't own one. I don't watch it enough to make owning one worthwhile. I enjoy silence and have a real physical aversion to senseless noise.

It is of little wonder to me that television is considered by many mystics to be the "enemy" of serious magical work. R. J. Stewart (The Spirit Cord) writes:

If you are serious about your spiritual/magical work, television is your enemy.

Real magic involves rectification and elevation of the imagination. Television, when not used judiciously, works against achieving this.

Convergent Havdalah Consciousness

י"ד בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 15

Earlier this evening I posted a few entries pertaining to the kabbalah of my new concave black skrying mirror, noting in one of the entries (Mirror Magic) that a concave mirror (as described by Wiki) is "where a parallel beam of light becomes a convergent beam, whose rays intersect in the focus of the mirror" and that the mirror rests upon a bed of letters symbolizing the concept of yovel (jubilee).

The graphic collage I used to illustrate that entry is the left (first) image shown above. The right (second) image next to it was (later this evening after my entry was posted) shown on Foxnew's online frontpage (until they changed to a different image consisting of a row of power lines and headlights in a blizzard).

Kabbalah Of My Magic Mirror

י"ד בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 15
Motzi Shabbat Yule

Brought together this Shabbat of Yule, the period of the winter solstice occurring this year on the day of shabbat - The Kabbalah Of My Magic Mirror.

Heritage Facts

ז' בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 8

* I am the 6th great grandniece of American founding father and statesman Benjamin Franklin through my mother's father's mother's line. *

* Classic American author William Faulkner is another distinguished member of my family tree on my mother's side. *

* The Faulkner clan arrived in America (Maryland) via Wales 22 January 1665 on the ship Agreement, setting out from Bristol. Their passage was paid for with 300 pounds of tobacco. This family consisted of John Faulkner (son of William Faulkner "citizen & draper of London" and Elizabeth Filmer, daughter of Sir Edward Filmer & Dame Elizabeth Argall) and Elizabeth (daughter of Reginald Filmer & Jane Travis), and their children John, Thomas & Francis. The Faulkner British connection is through my mother's mother's father's line. Patriarch John Faulkner was born in Wales. He and Elizabeth were married in Wales. *

* My direct ancestors from my maternal Faulkner family line fought in the American Revolution. *

* In addition to Wales and London, other areas in the UK from which I have ancestors include Ecton, Northamptonshire, Banbury, Oxford. *

* My Jewish family line (Grunwald family name) came from England to the United States in the 1800's. I have little specific information regarding where they came from in England as of yet. William and Sue Grunwald were both observant Jews. The Grunwald British connection is through my mother's mother's mother's line.*

* My paternal Native American ancestry includes both Cherokee and Potawatomi. I have Native American family members who walked on the Cherokee Trail Of Tears and on the Potawatomi Trail Of Death during the 1800's. I was born in a town through which the 1838 Potawatomi Trail Of Death passed. *

* My maternal heritage is Jewish, British and Welsh. *

* My paternal heritage is Native American, Irish, British and German. *

* I am an American. *

More Hate Than The Mayor Could Handle

ג' בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 4

In follow up to an earlier post (Tale Of Two Displays) about the witches' pentacle display set up beside the nativity display on governmental property, Jason of The Wild Hunt Blog writes:

It looks like a storm of criticism, and an investigation into a possible hate-crime were more heat than the defiant Mayor wanted to deal with. Mayor Carucci claims that the incident with the Pentacle was mere vandalism, but John and April Garlow, who erected the Pentacle, claim there were threats made against them.

Read Jason's entire report at the link above.

Circuit Of Initiation

ג' בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 4

Elisheva's recent livejournal post on magical-mystical initiation energies (Power, Knowledge, Integration) prompted me to consider my own thoughts about the energy dynamics of mystical-magical initiation processes. This is what I think:

I agree with the general concept that energy dynamics are part of any mystical-magical initiatory process, and that the "initiation energy" needs to be integrated and processed by the student-initiate, who is more likely than the teacher-initiator (who also must integrate and process the initiation energy) to not be able to handle as well as the more experienced teacher the newly released energy born of an initiatory process.

For example, when I returned to Torah in 1996 and went to the mikveh, part of the ritual involved a release of energy possibly catalyzed through the blessing of the Kohen who "initiated" me. Nevertheless, I don't think initiation energies are simply transfers of energy from teacher to student.

I think the release of "initiation energy" involves the creation of a circuit of energy. Necessarily, both the teacher and the student participate in its creation. This is why some initiations fail - the initiation isn't a one-sided transfer of energy, it's a circuit in which the consciousness of both teacher and student participate. Without the wholehearted participation of both the student and the teacher, nothing happens. The dynamic of energetic circuits is also why "when one blesses, one is blessed."

Rabbi Ishmael said: "I once entered the innermost chamber to burn incense. I saw Akhteriel Yah the Lord of Hosts sitting on a high and exalted throne. He said to me, "Ishmael my son, bless Me." Talmud, Berakhot 7a, Shoshan Sodot 52b

This kabbalistic teaching pertains to a mystical-magical initiation process.

Tale Of Two Displays

Yule Display Vandalized In Olean
Dec 11, 2007 08:09 AM CST

(Olean, NY, December 11, 2007) - - Police in Olean are investigating the vandalism of a holiday display.

Police say someone opposed to a Wiccan pentacle decided to express his or her opinion by running it down Monday night and then sped off into the night.

Olean Mayor David Carucci says the vandalism happened around 10:15 last night.

"Someone has backed up over the curb and run over the pentacle," Carucci told News 4.

Police, meanwhile, are treating it as a hate crime.

"We're going to be treating this as a hate crime," said Olean Police Chief Terry Schnell. "This has gone far too long, this is getting ridiculous."

The pentacle stood only a few feet away from a nativity scene that sparked a public debate about the separation of church and state.

Read full article at link above.

Yule, the winter solstice observed by witches, is traditionally December 21-22.

Essence Of Understanding

א' בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 2

Question - does the Dark Moon always fall on the fifth of the eight days of Chanukah? It did this year.

Related entry: Secret Of Shalhevet

The Truth About Bullies

כ"ז בכסלו תשס"ח
Shamash 29

"It is true to say that in the end all bullies are, at heart, cowards in whatever context." Dion Fortune

Apopsi Anti-Psi Deflective Filtering

כ"ב בכסלו תשס"ח
Shamash 24

I've found a phrase which describes the phenomenon where news items seem to reflect in a similar manner dreams I've had immediately preceding the "news event" - the dream Peace Talks and the murder of Sean Taylor, for example. That phrase is apopsi anti-psi deflective filtering.

Phaedra Bonewits in Real Energy writes regarding anti-psi talents and the specific anti-psi talents of filtering and deflection:

Anti-psi is a categorical term for psi talents that operate primarily by affecting other psi talents. Several of these anti-psi talents seem to involve the generation of certain psi fields [1] to alter the content, directon, or power levels of other psychic energy fields. Catapsi is the generation of a psychic field of "static" in order to disrupt the data of other psychic energy fields. Similarly, splodging is a kind of psychic yelling meant to drown out competing data. Apopsi is the generation of a field into which other psi fields cannot enter, possibly accomplished by changing these other fields into other forms of energy or apporting them elsewhere. Deflection alters the directions (force vectors) of incoming psychic energies and sends them elsewhere; if they are reversed 180 degrees, the talent can be called returning or reddopsi. Negapsi, or inverting, is the generation of a psi field in which all or most of the information content (data) of an incoming psychic field is reversed, thus turning creative energies or blessings into destructive energies or curses, for example. Filtering is the ability to use apopsi or deflection selectively, thus allowing only certain portions [2] of an incoming psi field to come through. The talent for boosting energy fields is called amplication [3], and dampening for lowering them (also called amping or damping).

Isaac Bonewits writes in Real Magic about the usefulness of anti-psi talents:

The various anti-psi talents can be very useful if you have them under control, for both attack and defense purposes. Anyone who has ever been psychically attacked will know what a miserable condition it can be [4]. There are indeed such things as psychic attacks, though conditions of real disease or hypochondria and paranoia are often responsible for illusions of psychic persecution. Attacks usually take the form of a general feeling of unease, nausea, pain in the pit of the belly, and a definite lack of self confidence. You literally want to crawl into a hole and die. In nine cases out of ten, the attacker will be in your immediate vicinity, and s/he may not be aware that s/he is attacking. How can you defend yourself? If you can master types of anti-psi, you can use (these) as well (for defense).

Now I have a name for what is happening. I also have begun to specifically identify some of my naturally developing "psychic" talents for influencing energy fields.

Footnotes:

[1] Perhaps it is some sort of psi field that has been affecting the function of my electromagnetic windchimes as described here.

[2] For example, selectively allowing a dream vision of an approaching malevolent psi field that has been directed at me, while simultaneously selectively not allowing physical manifestation of its malevolent energy into my life.

[3] See amplification of divine shabbat consciousness.

[4] Yes sir, I can indeed vouch that this is true.

Ehyeh & The Guardian Malchitzedek

כ"א בכסלו תשס"ח
Shamash 23

In follow-up to my Peace Talks entry on Monday, where I saw 4 of the 5 shots fired at me by a guard, the news report below emerges today about the murder of Sean Taylor which occurred on Monday. My birth surname is Taylor. The name "Sean" is similiar to the word "shin", where the 4-Shin of Binah "guards" the entrance to my musical website, Walking On Fire. Sean/shin - similiar, but not quite the same. ברוך דיין אמת

Four Arrested In Taylor Slaying
Saturday, December 1, 2007
By Michael Christie

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tipped off by the public and armed with a confession, police in Florida arrested four young men on Friday for the murder of Sean Taylor, a star defensive player [#21] with the National Football League's Washington Redskins.

Taylor, 24, who was the Redskins' first pick in the 2004 draft, was shot in the groin area during a home robbery on Monday, resulting in a severed femoral artery. He died the next day in hospital after losing massive amounts of blood.

The four men, aged 17, 18, 19, and 20, were arrested after tips led police to them in the Fort Myers area on Florida's Gulf coast, a police spokeswoman said.

Police said the men intended to burglarize Taylor's home on the other side of the state and had not expected to find anybody there when they broke in.

Police and family friends say Taylor and his fiancee were awakened by noises in the middle of the night and Taylor was shot in the groin when his bedroom door burst open as he went to lock it. He had grabbed a machete to defend himself while his girlfriend hid with their 18-month-old baby beneath the bedcovers.

The hard-hitting safety had five interceptions this season but had been sidelined the last two weeks with a leg injury.

In my dream Monday, with my back to the shooter, I had not seen the first shot toward my "Kaf Ha'Yareich". With no weapon (machete) in my hand nor ill-will (zayin hara) in my head, I did not "connect" with the single bullet I did not see. My connection is through another one. Understand this.

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying: 'Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, thy reward shall be exceeding great.' Bereshit 15:1

Foxnews reports:

MIAMI — The family of slain Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor will get little comfort from the arrest of four suspects, a family friend said, particularly since it appears the killing happened because of greed.

"They targeted him for his wealth," said Richard Sharpstein, Taylor's former attorney. "It makes his death even more pathetic, unnecessary and just actually disgusting."

Amen to that.

Victim Of A Botched Break-In at Truth Blog Celebrity

Witness To Clear Vision

י'ט בכסלו תשס"ח
Shamash 21

I ritually hand-magnetized my crystal ball this evening, with the waning gibbous moon 74% full during the planetary hours of the moon and Saturn. Following the magnetization ritual, I gazed into the sphere's depths expecting to see "cloudy" forms. Cloudy forms are not what I saw.

In the soft candlelight, the candlelight and shadows came immediately together in such a way as to form the clear image of an old large wooden table (like one from the middle ages) with a steaming iron cauldron set in the middle of it. Behind both of them was a firelit hearth with a broomstick resting beside it. The formation was so clear and distinct - even the darkness of the "wood" and iron cauldron. The soothing energy of the experience tenderly embraced me, leaving me feeling deeply satisfied inside.

Amazing.

Electro-Magnetic Field Disturbances

י'ח בכסלו תשס"ח
Shamash 20

I have a "wind" chime in my magic room that operates on electromagnetism. It operates using an electric current and a magnet. Sometimes, even though the current is always on, the wind chime doesn't always work - the magnetic pendulum fails to be moved by the current sufficiently to strike the chimes.

The chime has not been working for several days. Suddenly today, it is working just fine again. Right now I am listening the soothing peaceful sound of my chimes. This has occurred several times - it works, then it doesn't for a few days or weeks. Then, suddenly it works fine again.

Whatever recently has been "in the air" adversely impacting the functional ability of my electromagnetic "wind" chime is no longer present.

I welcome the sound of my chime's gentle music back into my magic room. I've missed it.

What could be causing this phenomenon? Is it happening via cyclic influences on the electric current? What would cause the magnetic domains within the magnet to autonomously dis-align and realign with the earth's magnetic field cyclically and randomly like it does? Maybe it isn't random, even though it is cyclical. I'm going to start documenting these periods. What is "in the air" impacting my chimes? I want to know, as my chimes have now "stopped" again as I complete this post and I'm not happy about it.

Any ideas are welcome.

But I am happy again, nevertheless, as a mere few words later, my new magic chamsa kabbalah bracelet from Israel just arrived. And with it, my chimes started working again.

Kaf Ha'Yareich

י'ח בכסלו תשס"ח
Shamash 20

In follow up to my previous post, Peace Talks, where I disclosed that within a dream yesterday my head (kaf כ) was targeted and shot at by a factory gate guard, I found these tidbits regarding Yaakov's wrestling match with the "guard of Esau" as it pertains to the "remembrance thread of techelet", lashon kodesh and the meaning of the word "yerech":

The posuk says that the guardian angel struck the “kaf ha’yareich.”

"Yerech" is Lashon Kodesh.

Yerech is the place of conception (see also Rashi Bamidbar 5:20 D"H Es Yirecheich), Yerusha which is mainly from the father is expressed as the leg which is an extension of the body.

Taking all this together, my dream is telling me of "the wrestling match" of my "husband" where the "guardian angel" of Esau struck at my head using the discarded weapon of Yishmael. Esau's angel sought to strike me through the place of conception of holy or unholy language (the difference between the two being good-will or ill-will). Had I been struck, all in the car would have been splattered with my blood and the shadow of murder (which would have stained Esau's guard as well).

Importantly, the guardian of Esau could not wound us. Had we harbored ill-will and been a genuine threat to Esau, the guard would have been able to harm us. So even more importantly than highlighting the failure to wound, perhaps my dream is establishing a foundation of trust for the children of Yaakov (as we were not harmed in the Arab couple's home), the children of Yishmael (as we came without any weapons) and the children of Esau (as the guardian angel could find no way to legitimately harm us as we harbored no ill-will).

Peace Talks

י'ז בכסלו תשס"ח
Shamash 19

This morning, I dreamt.

My "husband" and I were visiting an Arab family somewhere here in the U.S. My "husband" and I were Israeli-Americans in the dream. We were going on a recreational outing with the Arab man and his wife as two couples. To where, I didn't know. It was daytime. We had been invited into their home to wait as they settled their children to stay with older siblings while we went on our outing.

We took the Arab couple's car. The two men were in the front seat and the man's wife and I sat in the back seat. We had to make a quick stop somewhere before we proceeded on to our recreational destination.

The Arab man got out of the car at a place that looked like the entrance gate to an industrial factory. He spoke with one of the guards that occupied the booth at the entrance gate. He sold the guard his machine gun and got back inside the car.

As we were driving away, the guard at the entrance booth shot toward the car. He was shooting at me. "It's okay, don't worry, there were only blanks in the gun", the Arab man told us.

But that was not right. The shots being fired from the gun were live bullets. "See", I said, indicating the dents in the back windshield where the bullets had struck the back windshield right behind my head. Five bullet dents were there from the five shots that had been shot toward my head. I saw 4 of the dents being made as the guard man shot at me. The first one I had not seen as I had not been facing the back windshield to see it. The glass had not allowed the bullets to penetrate into the car - it must have been bulletproof glass. Nevertheless, the bullets had been live. Whether the blanks had been removed and the gun loaded with live bullets by the guard or whether there had always only been live bullets in the gun - I didn't know.

I woke up.

Annapolis Mideast Peace Conference

The "guard in the booth at the entrance gate to the factory" - this person/office is dangerous.

Poetic Rites Of A Jewitch

י'ו בכסלו תשס"ח
Shamash 18

In addition to my musical website at geocities, I'm creating a new no-frills blog to contain the best of my poetic writings. The new blog is:

Awendyn
Poetic Rites Of A Kabbalistic Jewitch

It's Here!

י'ה בכסלו תשס"ח
Shamash 17

My handmade Shades Of Grey quill pen to be used for spellwork and writing in my Book Of Shadows arrived today. Yay! It's exquisite! It's gorgeous! Well worth the wait!

Path Of The Just

י'ד בכסלו תשס"ח
Shamash 16

Acting with the energy of the lights of Tohu, in vessels of Tikkun ... because I can.

This shabbat full moon esbat at 6:33 am, I woke up and wrote down the major symbols of a complex dream so I would remember them.

I saw two Hebrew letters clearly in the dream, a tzadi (צ) was somewhat hidden behind a zayin (ז). The zayin "stepped forward" toward clearer closer identification. In the dream, I said,

"I claim the zayin for now."

In other words, while both letters were "mine", I indicated the one acting "for now" was the letter zayin.

There was another hidden letter as well.

Each letter was associated in some manner with a different and specific aspect of a dandelion.

The zayin, the clearer letter visually, was associated with a yellow dandelion set in a mid-horizontal line on a white door. (This mid-horizontal line corresponds to the path of the letter aleph (א) located "between" Gevurah and Chesed on the Tree of the Sefirot. Zayin is the letter corresponding to the path between Chochmah and Tiferet on the Tree of Life in the GRA array.)

The tzadi was itself somewhat hidden somewhat revealed in the background of directed observation, "behind the zayin", and was associated with a somewhat hidden, somewhat revealed red-like dandelion set opposite the yellow dandelion - out of the line of direct visual sight, but well within the higher mind's eye. In other words, though I didn't see the red-like dandelion with my dream eyes, I saw it through my higher mind beyond the eye - and as the tzadi was "behind" the zayin, the red-like dandelion was "opposite" the yellow one. In my mind, this kind of "seeing yet not seeing" is some "in between" form of quasi-reverse vision. (Tzadi is the path between Netzach and Malchut on the Tree of the Sefirot in the GRA array.)

Beyond both the zayin and the tzadi, and beyond both the yellow and red-like dandelion, I perceived the presence of both another "hidden" letter and another "hidden kind" of dandelion. I did not see directly or indirectly either the hidden letter or the hidden dandelion, but I perceived the Presence, associating the hidden dandelion with, not a color or color-like aspect, but with the essence of the dandelion - a dandelion essence. (This essence corresponds to all the "other" empty yet not empty space between the distinct letter paths on the Tree of the Sefirot which gives form to all the distinct letter paths. It is the pure Divine Feminine no-man's land of the vacated space, the chalal hapanui. This is complete reverse or negative vision.)

As I was waking from the dream, I clearly heard a word pronounced like "sern", spelled in English either as "sern" (like the enterotoxin-like microbial gene studied in medical research laboratories) or "cern" (like the high-energy particle physics laboratory). Both Sern and Cern pertain to "states in between" - the former (sern) to a place "in between" being a distinct toxin "code" or being distinctly non-toxin "code", and the latter (cern) to quantum non-localized fuzzy states existing "in between" distinct places in space. Like klipat nogah, both "sern" and "cern" point to a tachash state of being.

When I woke up from the dream, I remembered clearly that someone had been messing with my instrumental music CDs in my office at work. One of my CDs called Wishes has a dandelion on it - I noticed it had been moved slightly when I went in to work yesterday morning and returned it to its place.

Taking all this together, this dream in triplets pertains to 3 kinds of perception:

direct vision (physical/nefesh and psychic-dream/ruach, color-tzeva)
quasi-reverse vision (indirect/neshamah, color-like light-aur)
reverse-negative vision (hidden yet .../chayah-yechidah, radiance-aur gadol/darkness)

Interestingly, this dream follows the initial act shabbat evening of naming time according to the Witches' Year in parallel with the Hebrew date. The first Witches' calendar date I used for posting entries is today Shamash 16, where Shamash has correspondences to dandelion, the color yellow, the sefirah Tiferet, Hebrew Shemesh and the Hebrew letter meaning "door" (dalet ד).

The path of the Just is a great shining light emerging from within darkness.

The Generative Bone of Bereshit

Real Magic In Shades Of Grey

י'א בכסלו תשס"ח

Raising up sparks with Real Magic In Shades Of Grey by me.

Released

י' בכסלו תשס"ח

Yaakov Nathan comments today at Mystical Paths:

In honor of 9/10 Kislev, the birthday/hilula of the Mitteler Rebbe and the day of his geulah from prison ...

I had a dream last night about a prison. I was camping out in the lobby sort of, got up morningtime and walked out into the street. I wasn't behind prison bars at any point in the dream - it was almost as if I had been "waiting" for something or someone to be released.

Flourish Yesh M'Ein

ט' בכסלו תשס"ח

This evening's Hebrew letter tarot reading, performed under a waxing gibbous moon 61% full during the planetary hour of Mars, brought down 4 letters - 3 revealed letters and "the missing/hidden letter":

the missing/hidden letter - הנב

This particular configuration of letters follows previous entries dealing with "A Bud Appeared In The Land", "Secrets In My Soul" and "Kochava D'Shavit".

The prefix letter ה, as the "source of all the letters" yesh m'ein, gives birth to the entire array of creation energies (all the letters of the aleph-beit) and implies specificity in those letters which follow the prefix. In other words, the newly born creative energies are being specifically (as opposed to generally) directed. The sha'ar נב means "to grow" and "to flourish". Specifically, given the previous entries as linked above, what is being empowered to grow and to flourish is the soul-root of messianic consciousness, symbolized through the phrases "kochava d'shavit" and "the missing/hidden letter".

It is not only going to grow and develop, it is going to flourish.

Kochava D'Shavit

ז' בכסלו תשס"ח
Here is an artistic graphic of my bronze Jewitch star, my kochava d'shavit, which symbolically represents the two primary soul sparks of my Jewish neshamah - Dinah (the encircled hexagram of David) and King Solomon (the pentacle of Solomon) in Unity.

Secrets In My Soul

ז' בכסלו תשס"ח

In my previous post regarding the legacy of my grandmother Gladys Ruth Faulkner-Collins, daughter of Elizabeth Grunwald-Faulkner and George Samuel Faulkner, and granddaughter of Sue Turner-Grunwald and Will Grunwald, I noted that my grandmother has four daughters, each daughter corresponding to one of the Jewish matriarchs - Sarah, Rivkah, Leah and Rachel.

My mother, as the third daughter of my grandmother, corresponds to the matriarch Leah. I am my mother's only daughter, just as Dinah the daughter of Leah, is Yaakov's only recorded daughter. Thus, from this perspective, my particular soul has a significant root in the soul of Dinah (as well as Ruth and Leah roots).

My grandmother, Gladys Ruth, was born in Rosebud, IL. I, containing the soul of Dinah, the only recorded daughter of Yaakov and Leah, was born in Danville, IL.

From a second perspective, both Sue and Will Grunwald were observant Jews by family oral history. There is nothing in our family oral history to suggest that Sue was not born Jewish, and both reportedly lived Jewishly. Nevertheless, let's consider that Sue may have been a convert (as opposed to a "born" Jew), and correspond Sue Grunwald to Ruth, a central name given to my grandmother Gladys.

Ruth is the great grandmother of King David and great great grandmother of King Solomon. Sue is the great grandmother of my mother Cheryl and my great great grandmother. Thus, from this perspective, my particular soul has a significant root in the soul of King Solomon (as well as Ruth, Leah and Yaakov, and Dinah). Interestingly, Solomon's name in Hebrew is a feminine form - שלמה.

Taking all this together, the dynamic relationships in my family tree suggest that my particular Jewish soul contains the soul sparks of Ruth, Leah, Yaakov, Dinah, King David and King Solomon (where Mashiach ben David represents tikkun of the nachash). Of these 6 sparks, those of Dinah and King Solomon emerge as 2 significant sparks of my own soul's Jewish particularity.

The dabak is in the details.

A Bud Appeared In The Land

ז' בכסלו תשס"ח

Gladys Ruth Faulkner-Collins, daughter of Elizabeth Grunwald-Faulkner and George Samuel Faulkner, and granddaughter of Sue Turner-Grunwald and Will Grunwald was born in Rosebud, Illinois on August 5, 1915. One of her final gifts to her four daughters was to say "I love my beautiful, beautiful daughters! We've told a beautiful story, haven't we?" She was a gift we will cherish forever. She is survived by her daughters, Elizabeth Satterlee, Brenda Davis, Cheryl Taylor and Karen Bell. She also leaves behind eight grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, and eight great-great grandchildren.

שלמה

A bud appeared in the Land ... Shir Hashirim 2:12 ... the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our Land.

Through my mothers are "the powers of evil annihilated" and the destruction of generations prevented. Because buds appeared in the Land.

שלמא

Yes, Grandma, a very beautiful story.

Oppression At The Kotel

ב' בכסלו תשס"ח

The Jewish Press reports that 13 Austrian bishops were recently denied entrance to the kotel because they would not put their crosses inside their robes.

This is not right. I feel very strongly that it is a terrible thing to oppress another's expression of personal religious identity. Oppression, the antithesis of holiness, especially does not belong at the kotel.

Seats At The Tzadik's Table

ב' בכסלו תשס"ח

I dreamt.

There was some teaching event going on in a nearby town with a "tzadik". Only a limited number of "seats at the table" were available.

The table which was shaped like the letter kaf (כ). The open end of the kaf was toward the east wall where the doorway of the room was also located. My mother and I had acquired seats at the table. We sat next to one another on the north side of the room which was also the bottom leg of the kaf-table. The seats at the table filled up and no more were available.

The "tzadik" sat by the western wall of the room, in the center of the curve of the kaf-table. Before class started, while the room was being cleared of those who couldn't find seats, he got up from his seat and walked down the inner-side northern leg of table seats to see and/or speak with the students who occupied the places on this leg of the table. Coming down the leg (my mother and I sat in the center of the northern leg), he came to my mother first. He and my mother spoke as he was looking through her class materials - my mother's papers and my papers were kind of mixed together, but we were separating them into our own separate little piles of papers as he was talking.

We had been in a hurry to get there in order to get seats and had thrown our papers together into one carry pack to save time. We had figured there would be time before class started to separate and organize our papers. If we had done that first before we had left to attend the class, we may have missed getting a seat. As it turned out, we got our seats at the table, and there was time to before class started to separate and organize our papers after all.

Our papers were in order now and the signal for class to begin was given.

I woke up.

My Blog's Readability Test

Somehow, I'm not surprised. I was told a few weeks ago at work to "dumb down" my clinical care plans. I don't get it. I'm not a genius. Ok, I was in an advanced reading class in gradeschool, but I don't think that counts, even though my parents were told at that time that I had an above-average IQ (or so I am told). Other than the advanced reading class, my parents wouldn't let the school system place me in any other advanced classes - they thought I'd turn out "not normal" if they allowed it. I turned out "not normal" anyway, even if I'm not really a genius.

Cute blogthing.

Hat-tip to The Atheist Jew

Cultural Flexitime

כ'ט בחשון תשס"ח

It seems Britain is far ahead of the United States in providing its citizens "cultural flexitime" at their places of employment as a human resources "standard" policy.

Civil servants to take bank holidays on religious days of their choice
09.11.07 ThisIsLondon News

Civil servants will be able to take bank holidays on the religious days of their choice under moves to introduce "cultural flexitime".

Officials in the education department will be allowed to work from home on statutory days off and take the time owed to mark their own religious traditions.

It means staff will be able to work at home on Christmas Day for the first time this year and swap it for a different religious festival such as Eid or Diwali.

The pioneering arrangements also apply to cultural traditions, meaning a Welsh employee could move a bank holiday to St David's Day.

Some public bodies and firms already offer similar arrangements, such as allowing Christian holidays to be exchanged for festivals from other religions.

Staff will be able to switch all eight statutory days off, including Christmas, Easter and secular bank holidays.

The arrangements also apply to minority religions such as Baha'i and Zoroastrianism, and staff could ask for time off to mark pagan festivals such as the summer solstice.

"If the department continues to show it is committed to valuing its people, meeting their different needs and improving their working environment, then our people will be committed to working harder and going that extra mile to help us deliver the challenging agenda ahead." (Anne Copeland, human resources director at the DCSF)

Staff choosing to swap bank holidays for other key dates will not be required to prove that they follow a different faith.

"As a progressive department, we are more than pleased to meet the request, as we believe it's both good for employees and the business."

Read full article at link above.

Completely wow! Progressive at it's best!

Rider

כ'ז בחשון תשס"ח

In my previous entry I mentioned the Druidic concept of the airts, quoting Nigel Pennick:

The fourfold division of the world, and its further subdivision into eight directions known as airts is derived directly from the structure of the human body and its interaction with the physical structure and processes of the planet upon which we evolved and upon which we live.

According to Druidic teachings, there are 12 airts or "winds of the directions".

In my mind, these 12 Druidic airts (the fourfold division and the eight "directions" evolving from the division) correspond to the 12 elemental letters (shteym esarah pshutot) as described in Sefer Yetzirah 5:2 as 12 diagonal "Boundaries" or "Arms" of the Universe, which parallel the 12 "tribes" of Yisrael.

According to Sefer Yetzirah, above the "Arms of the Universe" is the "Place" of the Universe. Interestingly, in my dream, also posted earlier today, the lethal stormclouds were "passing over" my "locations", yet I was in a Hiding Place, where "Place" refers to a singular unified description of "locations" (where locations correspond to the infinite "Boundaries of the Universe").

As I was posting the earlier entry, I was perplexed of perception as to why "locations" was clearly the symbolism expressed in my dream as associated with the limited "sight" of the stormclouds. Thus, while it emerges that the stormclouds operated over the level of "locations", at the level of Place, looking for me, I was safely over even that, Dwelling in my "Hiding Place" "from where" I rode out (or outrode) the storm.

Axis Of The Land

כ'ו בחשון תשס"ח

Small excerpts from an interesting new book I recently acquired - Secret Signs, Symbols & Sigils by Nigel Pennick:

Writing and symbols, art and architechture, technology and warfare are all structured according to the human body.

The fourfold division of the world, and its further subdivision into eight directions known as airts is derived directly from the structure of the human body and its interaction [emphasis mine] with the physical structure and processes of the planet upon which we evolved and upon which we live. At the centre of this fourfold division is the individual person, the source, fount and origin, the naval, the relic of the point from which each of us developed as an embryo within our mother.

Naval points in the landscape [of feminine malchut, for example - my addition] are known in geomantic terminology by its Greek name omphalos. This terminology, calling the central point a naval, reiterates the slain giant motif of the primal creation of the world, where each part of the human being is reflected in its corresponding structure in the world.

In human beings, the naval is the vestige of the umbilical cord which once connected the unborn baby to the placenta in the mother's womb. Through the omphalos, the material world is linked by a cosmic axis "upwards" to the creative, generative upperworld and downward to its complimentary opposite, the degenerative or destructive underworld.

This pattern of a centre in this world linked by an axis to the upper world above and the netherworld below is the basis for traditional sacred cosmology. It exists throughout the world in different cultural contexts.

It is the stable structure of society without which there is disorder and disintegration.

The determination of such a powerful cosmic centre [the teli - my addition], so vitally important in psychological as well as social terms, was one of the major tasks of the augur or locator - many folk tales recall these arduous quests.

Such is the mystery of the relationship between microcosm and macrocosm, "as above, so below". The central naval of the earth, symbolically represents the fixed point at which other states of consciousness and spiritual evolution may be attained by those attuned to such things by dint of personal effort or divine designation.

The discovery of such a place of symbolic power, its definition and the geomantic act is enshrined in the mythos of dragonslaying in the stories of such luminaries as the Pagan heroes Cadmus, Siegfried and Beowulf, and in the Christian mythology, saints such as Beatus, George, Leonard, Martha and Michael and knights like Lord Lambton [and in Judaic stories such as David and Goliath - my addition].

In each of these legends, the dragon, wyrm or serpent that is killed is often taken to symbolise the earth energies which, sensitive people assert, roam, bewilderingly and dangerously free in the soil and the underlying rock formations beneath our feet.

In traditional society, the determination of the most powerful and appropriate location for the fixation of these geomantic energies was the task of the locator. After long and meticulous scrutiny of the site, [the locator] would decide upon the correct time to undertake the geomantic act.

According to geomantic symbolism, at the designated instant, when the forces were at their most malleable, and when the energies could best be tamed, the locator would drive a peg or staff, or perhaps a lance or sword into the earth as the culmination of the foundation ceremony.

All would be applied with the greatest care to ensure the efficacy of the geomantic act.

Piercing the ground at the optimal location appears to fix these wandering energies permanently in an accessible place ... commonly called a place of power.

Many depictions of the geomantic act show the hero or heroine [emphasis mine] transfixing the dragon with a stave, sword or spear, which frequently runs through the head to pin it to the ground below [like Yael of "a mother in Yisrael" fame in Torah - my addition].

This mystical concept is found in many places, most notably in the epithet of King Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, high king of Britain. In Northern Tradition spiritual symbolic kingship, the strength and health of the monarch, as head of the nation, is indistinguishable from that of the land. When he or she is strong and worthy, the land flourishes in unity, peace, fruitfulness and prosperity. When he or she is weak or unworthy, the land distintegrates in crime, factionalism, greed and poverty. Also, once these magical aspects of kingship are no longer recognised, distintegration occurs. [My addition - once these magical aspects of kingship are again recognised, reintegration occurs.]

Symbolically, King Arthur's withdrawal of the sword from the stone to assert his right of kingship of Britain, is a reversal of the geomantic act. In removing the sword, Arthur frees the dragon power which, as Pendragon himself, the king can control. It appears to be of no coincidence that Arthur's military successes against the Saxon invader, were [like a wandering Jew - my addition] in mobile calvary warfare, not in static and centered defense.

when the pause is pregnant like a rock of hate against us
truth remains

[lines above from my poem The Torch]

The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, until that thou didst arise, Deborah, that thou didst arise a mother in Israel. ... Shoftim 5:7

Death Passed Over

כ'ו בחשון תשס"ח

After my grandmother's passing this past Halloween morning October 31, the date Samhain is typically observed, the festival of death and renewal (of death only in the eyes of some, whereas others consider Samhain to be a festival of scholars) continued to seek out souls to remove from the physical world. While my grandmother's passing was not so unexpected at 92 years of age with failing health (it was an obvious blessing toward renewal of life for my grandmother even as it was a loss for my family), a woman's husband at work died unexpectedly the very next day, Thursday evening November 1 (may she be comforted by the kindness extended to her by our coworkers). Both she and her husband work(ed) at the facility where I work.

I went back to work on Monday, but after additional work was piled onto me, along with work associated with the end of the month close (which was completed Monday morning before it was due Wednesday), with the recent passing of my grandmother, my body developed an allergic cold/flu yesterday, Tuesday morning at work. I sneezed continuously the entire day, despite a second dose of newfangled Actifed, becoming lightheaded, feverish and physically weak. So, Tuesday afternoon, I went home early, loaded up on Robitussin nighttime multisymptom cold medicine and went to bed, where I dreamt.

I dreamt of dark lethal storm clouds passing over my locations, from east to west they were moving even as they filled the sky. At one point there was a small break in the cloud cover, but it was only for a short time, while we took care of business.

I wanted to wait out the storm on the main floor of my house (which was a house trailer at times) - for some reason I wasn't worried that it couldn't weather the storm. Nevertheless, the man with us (somehow a relative, but I'm not sure who exactly this was) convinced me that it was safer to wait underground in the basement while the dark lethal storm clouds passed over. So, we all went down and waited in the basement as the dark lethal storm clouds passed over.

I woke up - to the news of a lethal school shooting in Finland.

From CNN: YouTube Linked To Deadly School Shootings

HELSINKI, Finland (CNN) -- A video posted earlier Wednesday, by "Sturmgeist89", was titled "Jokela High School Massacre - 11/7/2007." "Sturmgeist89" identified himself as Auvinen, and said he chose the name "Sturmgeist" because it means "storm spirit" in German.

At least eight people were killed when an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at a school in Finland Wednesday, according to Finnish police. The shooting appeared to have been planned out in graphic videos posted on Internet file-sharing site YouTube.

At a press conference this afternoon, police confirmed the dead numbered two girls, five boys and the school's headmistress at Jokela High in Tuusula, a quiet town around 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Helsinki.

The shooter, who police named as Pekka Eric Auvinen, is in a critical condition at Toolo Hospital, Dr. Eeero Hirvensalo told CNN.

Auvinen published a manifesto online demanding war on the "weak-minded masses" and pledged to die for his cause.

YouTube appeared to have removed 89 videos linked to his account, many of them featuring Nazi imagery, shortly after the incident.

Finnish media reported someone posted a message two weeks ago on the Web site, warning of a bloodbath at the school.

The site indicated that the youth appeared to be fascinated with killing. Throughout all of this, the single word "DIE" constantly flashed across the screen. Other video clips included Nazi-war-criminal footage.

In the rambling text posted on the site, Auvinen said that he is "a cynical existentialist, anti-human humanist, anti-social social-Darwinist, realistic idealist and god-like atheist.

"I am prepared to fight and die for my cause," he wrote. "I, as a natural selector, will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of human race and failures of natural selection."

Read the entire news article at link above.

Thank Goddess! for the cold I developed through this 11/7/2007 day, astronomical Samhain.

Girl Child In Box Found By Fisherman

כ'ג בחשון תשס"ח

The following story reported in Foxnews today reminds me of Pharaoh's decree to throw all the Hebrew baby boys into the Nile. Only, in this contemporary case, it was a girl-child.

Fisherman Finds Box With Girl's Body Parts
Saturday, November 03, 2007

HOUSTON (AP) — Authorities have released a sketch of what they think a young girl, whose remains were discovered inside a storage box that washed ashore on Galveston Bay, looked like.

Investigators also said a forensic dental examination has narrowed the girl's age to between 2 and 3 years*.

The girl, whom police call "Baby Grace," is described as white, 32 to 35 inches tall and weighing 25 to 30 pounds.

She had waist-long, wavy blond or light brown hair. She was wearing a Target-brand pink, flowing skirt, a pink or red shirt and white light-up tennis shoes with purple flowers on them.

A fisherman found the girl late Monday night. Her body was inside a blue plastic utility box that washed ashore along the Intercoastal Waterway.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Galveston County sheriff's Office at 409-766-2222, the agency's tip line at 866-248-8477 or any Crime Stoppers organization.

Read full article at link above.

*In contrast to my vision of "body parts", experienced between the ages of 3 or 4. In the vision mentioned here, I "saw" the upper portions of the bodies and the faces with red eyes.

PUBIC NOTICE Re: my primary email down

כ'ג בחשון תשס"ח

Apparently, my primary email service provider has deleted or lost my entire inbox at liorah@net66.com. They are and have been experiencing technical problems and power outages throughout today. Until further notice, please direct any email inquiries to me at liorahchanah@yahoo.com.

UPDATE: My primary email service is up again and my inbox restored.

Hexagram & Pentacle Sigils

כ'ג בחשון תשס"ח

Sigils at Craftwork Of A Jewitch:

Otiot Sofiot Of The Expressive Pentacle
Otiot HaShimush Of The Wise Pentacle
Sheva Kafulot Of The Shabbat Pentacle
Sheva Kafulot Of The Expansive Hexagram

There are 1 hexagram and 3 pentacle entries, for a total of 4. These numbers bring to mind the 3 or 4 phenomenon discussed in other entries throughout Walking On Fire.

Mystes, Epoptes, Hierophantes, Avukah

י'ט בחשון תשס"ח

Quotes from Ancient Mysteries & Secret Societies:

The Nine Days Of Initiation The Initiation - Candle In The Womb and A Mystery of Consciousness

Just as the Lesser Mysteries discussed the prenatal epoch of man when the consciousness in its nine days (embryologically, months) was descending into the realm of illusion and assuming the veil of unreality, so the Greater Mysteries discussed the principles of spiritual regeneration and revealed to initiates not only the simplest but also the most direct and complete method of liberating their higher natures from the bondage of material ignorance. Like Prometheus chained to the top of Mount Caucasus, man's higher nature is chained to his inadequate personality. The nine days of initiation were also symbolic of the nine spheres through which the human soul descends during the process of assuming a terrestrial form. The secret exercises for spiritual unfoldment given to disciples of the higher degrees are unknown, but there is every reason to believe that they were similar to the Brahmanic Mysteries, since it is known that the Eleusinian ceremonies were closed with the Sanskrit words "Konx Om Pax."

The Mystes The Initiate - Dark Torah

The mystics of Eleusis also laid stress upon the evil of suicide, explaining that there was a profound mystery concerning this crime of which they could not speak, but warning their disciples that a great sorrow comes to all who take their own lives. This, in substance, constitutes the esoteric doctrine given to the initiates of the Lesser Mysteries. As the degree dealt largely with the miseries of those who failed to make the best use of their philosophic opportunities, the chambers of initiation were subterranean and the horrors of Hades were vividly depicted in a complicated ritualistic drama. After passing successfully through the tortuous passageways, with their trials and dangers, the candidate received the honorary title of Mystes. This meant one who saw through a veil or had a clouded vision. It also signified that the candidate had been brought up to the veil, which would be torn away in the higher degree. The modern word mystic, as referring to a seeker after truth according to the dictates of the heart along the path of faith, is probably derived from this ancient word, for faith is belief in the reality of things unseen or veiled.

The Epoptes The Seer - HaTorah Emet

In contrast to the idea of Hades as a state of darkness below, the gods were said to inhabit the tops of mountains, a well-known example being Mount Olympus, where the twelve deities of the Greek pantheon were said to dwell together. In his initiatory wanderings the neophyte therefore entered chambers of ever-increasing brilliancy to portray the ascent of the spirit from the lower worlds into the realms of bliss. As the climax to such wanderings he entered a great vaulted room, in the center of which stood a brilliantly illumined statue of the goddess Ceres. Here, in the presence of the hierophant and surrounded by priests in magnificent robes, he was instructed in the highest of the secret mysteries of the Eleusis. At the conclusion of this ceremony he was hailed as an Epoptes, which means one who has beheld or seen directly. For this reason also initiation was termed autopsy. The Epoptes was then given certain sacred books, probably written in cipher, together with tablets of stone on which secret instructions were engraved.

The Hierophantes The Communicator-Torchbearer - Maggidah Of Raz

In The Obelisk in Freemasonry, John A. Weisse describes the officiating personages of the Eleusinian Mysteries as consisting of a male and a female hierophant who directed the initiations; a male and a female torchbearer; a male herald; and a male and a female altar attendant. There were also numerous minor officials. He states that, according to Porphyry, the hierophant represents Plato's Demiurgus, or Creator of the world; the torch bearer, the Sun; the altar man, the Moon; the herald, Hermes, or Mercury; and the other officials, minor stars. From the records available, a number of strange and apparently supernatural phenomena accompanied the rituals. Many initiates claim to have actually seen the living gods themselves. Whether this was the result of religious ecstasy or the actual cooperation of invisible powers with the visible priests must remain a mystery.

The Torch Avukah - Mysteries Of The Flame
"Only the Torch is found by itself ..." Klach Pischey Chochmah 55
From my musical website .. The Torch

when facts tell lies and confusion reigns
when knowledge and ignorance with futility dance
when hope is dying and faith is failing
truth remains

when pain is endless and pleasure empty
when will lies heavy like stone and clarity is obscured
when wisdom reeks and reason flees
truth remains

when the heart staggers broken
with shattered strength and love drowns lost in the abyss
truth remains

when darkness reverberates blindly
and eternity is filled with hell
truth remains

when life is crushing and all is torn, when hiding cannot conceal
and wretching waters burn the naked dust
truth remains

when the pause is pregnant like a rock of hate against us
truth remains

Mesorah Of The River Mnemosyne

י'ט בחשון תשס"ח

My maternal grandmother, Gladys Collins-Faulkner, granddaughter of Sue Turner-Grunwald and Will Grunwald, daughter of Elizabeth Grunwald-Faulkner and George Samuel Faulkner, mother of Cheryl Collins-Taylor and grandmother to Liorah Lleucu HaMasovevet, passed over early this morning of Samhain, Ram Cheshvan 19, האלון full of years at the age of 92.

Mnemosyne was also the name for a river in Hades, counterpart to the river Lethe, according to a series of 4th century BC Greek funerary inscriptions in dactylic hexameter. Dead souls drank from Lethe so they would not remember their past lives when reincarnated. Initiates were encouraged to drink from the river Mnemosyne when they died, instead of Lethe. These inscriptions may have been connected with a private mystery religion, or with Orphic poetry. (Wiki on Mnemosyne, Titan Goddess of Memory and Inventor of Words, One of three or four Elder Muses and Mother of nine Younger Muses.)

As a Mother of Eternal Life and a Mother of Muses, in the pure family tradition and mesorah of natural witches, may my grandmother, as I did preincarnately (described here and here), drink from Achdut, the River of Eternal Memory, the River Mnemosyne, and remember. Remember!

We are One.

I love you Grandma. May our memory be a blessing and carry us through it, to it, the brightening and the brilliance.

A witch is born, and by a witch a witch is made.

ברוך דיין האמת

Red-Handed With Shechinah

י'ו בחשון תשס"ח

I've uncovered another interesting tidbit related to my "chance" purchase of some red ochre, my "chance" encounter with a deer which followed that purchase, and my "chance" discovery following both of those that links both red ochre and deer symbolism to Shechinah.

As the deer symbol is kabbalistically associated with Shechinah, red ochre is historically and more practically associated with Shechinah. Specifically, red ochre symbolizes the immersive creative explosion characteristic of the hashra'ah of Shechinah.

Kathleen Kimball writes in Red Handed: An Inquiry Into The Meaning Of Prehistoric Red Ochre:

Perhaps our ancestors painted or tattooed hand prints on their bodies. Tattooing and painting red ochre hands on human skin likely went on for many tens of thousands of years before so called ‘creative explosion’ 35,000 or so years ago.

This ‘creative revolution’ was an intensified interest in permanence generally and in the human hand specifically. This is when our species outlines objects on stone surfaces. This outlining seems to me to be a kind of making permanent or ‘binding’.

Taking all this together, it may be that another historic bestowal of hashra'ah and creative explosion is in the making ... information all linked together and brought down through the intended purchase of a 15-watt lightbulb for the elegantly witchy little desk lamp which stands beside my computer. יה

Light From Darkness

י'ו בחשון תשס"ח

Yesterday, before I went to the store from which I returned to encounter the deer as decribed in earlier entries today, I had purchased some red ochre for craftworking. I had just "happend upon" the pigment, and had not gone looking to buy any. I bought it on a gut impulse that it could be useful for my magic-making. So, after purchasing it online, I went to the store for a 15-watt lightbulb. יה

Interestingly, the first color one sees when emerging from blindness or darkness is the color red. The first examples of human art were made with red ochre. The prehistoric art shown here is of a red ochre deer cave painting (thought by scholars to have been created during the Megathilic Period).

Eretz Tzvi

י'ו בחשון תשס"ח

In follow-up to my earlier "deer" entries - Spared An Accident and Practical Hishtavut - where in the latter I wrote:

At some level, my nefesh already knew that the accident wasn't going to happen, even though my normal awareness perceived that, had the deer frozen, the accident indeed would have happened. In other words, my physical eyes saw accurately what was in front of me, but my spiritual eyes accurately saw the outcome - the deer would move and not freeze - and communicated this information in some very practical way to my nefesh, which responded by acting as if the (near) accident was not happening.

In this entry, I identify the "spiritual level" which perceived the outcome and was/ever is in integrated communication with my nefesh - it is the spiritual level called "the Land of the Deer" (Eretz Tzvi). Eretz Tzvi is one of the names by which the spiritual level of "the Land of Yisrael" is known.

From Kabbalaonline article, The Uniqueness Of The Land:

"The name of G-d is a tower of strength, through it a righteous man shall race and be strong"(Proverbs 18:10). The last three words beginning letters spell the word tzvi (deer). This implies that the tower of strength is called the "Land of the Deer (tzvi)", within which dwells the Name of G-d, which is the Shechina [The Divine Presence, usually connoting a feminine aspect].

It was no accident that happened last night. And "thank Goddess" was very appropriate.

Ruach Acheret

י'ו בחשון תשס"ח

A poem against the consensus from my musical website in honor of Lurianic Samhain, Ruach Acheret ...

wicked, wicked
yet every impulse, every inmost thought
is for you, only you, dog juan
so I rest my case, seeking justice straight, well almost straight
maybe just a little bit crooked, to the nonlinear end
finding you favor, giving you acid indigestion
and sharing shining observations
collapsing crazy equations absolutely looney tunes
with honeyed words iterating from the khoo-khoo rock of many colors
and for our land, one who hears, through a loco-mutt's ears
like a meandering stream of streams with a wandering headache
the song of songs peregrinating through it

The Kabbalah Of Samhain

י'ו בחשון תשס"ח

From the Witchvox article Samhain All Hallows Eve by Solaris BlueRaven:

With Samhain just around the corner the time is right for those of you wishing to conduct a Sacred Ceremony or ritual dedicated to beings who have transferred and those who may be trapped in form or consciousness.

After a serious discussion on this matter with Clergy we found there are many beings needing assistance in ascending beyond the veils of entrapment. Most Pagan communities create a ritual in resonance with those departed this time of year.

read entire article at link above

Sounds like raising-sparks Lurianic kabbalah to me.

Related, see my new spark-raising craftworking quill here - Klipat Nogah Quill Pen.

Also related, Samhain is the first night my crystal ball becomes ready for ritual use. Tonight is the seventh night of the 8-night active ritual consecration. Monday night is the eighth night. Tuesday night is the Night of Rest. Wednesday night is Samhain and the tenth night of the consecration, when my crystal ball is ritually complete.

Practical Hishtavut

י'ו בחשון תשס"ח

A comment by Fairiegodmother on my livejournal regarding my near-accident experience with a deer stirred me toward recognizing that, other than noting the actual occurrence of the event, I was not physically, emotionally or mentally discombobulated by almost hitting a deer last night.

Concerning last night's event - It was odd, but I wasn't shaken up at all. One would have naturally expected some sort of adrenaline rush or pounding heart or some kind of physical reaction to the emergency - like one usually gets in situations like this - but that didn't happen, at all. I was clear and calm through the whole thing, as if it was not happening. No beating heart. No increased respirations. No exclamation of the emotions or mind. No panic reaction. Nothing. Odd.

I was calm through the near accident as if it was not happening. The accident didn't happen.

At some level, my nefesh already knew that the accident wasn't going to happen, even though my normal awareness perceived that, had the deer frozen, the accident indeed would have happened (see link). In other words, my physical eyes saw accurately what was in front of me, but my spiritual eyes accurately saw the outcome - the deer would move and not freeze - and communicated this information in some very practical way to my nefesh, which responded by acting as if the (near) accident was not happening. It feared not what my physical eyes saw.

The accident was a "not happening" event.

Interesting.

Local Witches Should Convert Or Get Out Of Town

י'ו בחשון תשס"ח

From The Chicago Tribune:

Community on edge after Wiccans arrive
By Megan Twohey Tribune staff reporter
11:49 PM CDT, October 27, 2007

ROSSVILLE, Ill. — Things were already going downhill in this small farming community when the witches arrived.

Area factories had shut down. So had the local high school. A suspicious fire had gutted much of the downtown. The use of methamphetamine was destroying families.

So when a group of Wiccans from out of town moved into a storefront this summer and erected a sign advertising "Witch School," it was only a matter of time before alarm bells sounded and tempers started to boil in this village of 1,200, about 125 miles south of Chicago near the Indiana border.

"Remember the Salem witch trials?" resident Adam Marganski said. "That's what is happening here."

After percolating behind the scenes, anger erupted into public action last weekend when several churches canvassed the community with literature blasting the witches and organized a meeting to plan further steps.

In a town that sometimes feels closer to the Bible Belt than to the city, churches had been holding weekly prayer sessions for months in hopes of driving the outsiders away. They also had erected a billboard denouncing Wiccan beliefs, proclaiming, "Worship the Creator not Creation."

Fueling their sense of urgency was a ball held by the Wiccans last weekend to celebrate Samhain, their new year's festival, which falls on Halloween.

As more than 150 people filed into the shuttered high school Wednesday night for the meeting, Andy Thomas, youth minister at the Rossville Church of Christ, said residents had a spiritual responsibility to drive the witches out. If they didn't, he said, young people were in danger of being pulled off the Christian path.

At first, Rossville offered a warmer reception. The mayor said publicly they were welcome to do business downtown.

But some churches and residents were upset to see their village portrayed as witch-friendly. They feared the school could corrupt their children.

"We don't want them to go in there and get potions to put hexes on their friends," said Deb Robling, co-owner of a beauty salon on Chicago Street. Robling, also one of Rossville Church of Christ's 230 members, helped organize Wednesday night's meeting.

The high school brimmed with excitement as night fell and old and young filed into the gym.

But when Robert Kurka, the featured speaker, stepped to the lectern, an unexpected thing happened. Instead of leading a pep rally against the witches, the professor at Lincoln Christian College and Seminary delivered an academic lecture comparing Wicca and Christianity.

Kurka encouraged the crowd to try to convert the Wiccans rather than drive them away.

In other words, there are only two options the way the town sees it - the witches must be converted or be forced out of town.

Aren't there supposed to be laws against this kind of harrassment? Apparently, the laws of this country and the will of it's legal system are impotent to protect witches. First, Hoopeston. Now Rossville. A witch is just not safe around these parts from the hexes of the zealots.

read the full article at link above

Spared An Accident

י'ו בחשון תשס"ח

Tonight on the way home from a trip to the store for a 15-watt lightbulb, I didn't hit a deer on the dark country road outside of town. Thank Goddess! the deer didn't startle in my headlights and instead bolted out of my car's path when I slammed on the brakes. If it had frozen, I would have hit it. But as it happened, both the deer and I were spared this accident.

Thank Goddess!

Semikhah B'Yad Ramah

With the moon 100% full, י'ד בחשון תשס"ח

just noting connections ...

between the poem-entry Ram Cheshvan of ב' בחשון תשס"ח where it is written:

resurrecting raining drops like semikhah
from the heart of timeless times to come, into time

and the tarot-entry From The Onset Of Time of י'ב בחשון תשס"ח where it is written:

מ'אז implies something advancing "from the onset of time"

The second tarot-entry bringing it down is 10 days following first poem-entry mentioning semikhah "coming into time". The 10 days of bestowal correspond to yad ramah.