Red Cord Of Unity & The Shabbat River

י"ט בשבט תשס"ז

I had originally planned to tie my Book Of Shadows (BOS) with a 9 to 10 foot braided red cord. But, I changed my mind and decided to bind my BOS when not in use with a witch's cord, also called in the craft a witch's girdle and a cingulum. Many witches also use the cingulum as a girdle-belt to tie our ritual robes. I will also use mine to embrace my BOS.

To make my cingulum, I purchased 3 strands of dark red ribbon-cord each measuring 4 yards (12 feet). Together, the total footage of the 3 strands is 36 feet. The 4 yards correspond to the 4 worlds/universes, the 12 feet to the 12 boundaries [1] of each universe/world, the 3 strands to the 3 lower worlds of creation-formation-making, and the 36 feet to the Essential Unity that still exists between Light and Darkness.

I tied 3 ends, one from each strand, together with a "crown" charm bound up in the knot, then tightly hand braided the 3 strands together. I used a hebrew-english Tanakh as an anchor weight at the bound end as I braided (so that the intertwining would be tight and even). Reaching the other ends, I tied them together with a pentagram charm and knotted it.

By the time the red cord cingulum was completed, it measured 3 yards and 11-13 inches, depending on how tightly or loosely I stretched the cord to measure it (from crown to pentagram). In other words, the entire length of the originally 12 foot single strands was a braided cord measuring 9 feet and 11-13 inches. Eleven [2] is the number of incense spices of Tohu, and represents the rectification and elevation of "evil" back into the realm of holiness (kedushah). Thirteen is the gematria of Echad (אחד).

My witch's cord symbolizes in its construction the first tzimtzum and my trip into existence through the River of Fire (Nahar Dinur). The River of Fire is also called the Shabbat River and the Sambatyon. The braiding symbolizes pivoting over "stones". I still to this day remember the "pivoting everywhichway" through it. The "stones" are the essence of the "letters of creation". We may not all remember the trip, but it is a trip we all made into existence nevertheless.

I do remember "seeing" from "both shores" of the River of Fire. Thus, my red cord is for me a tangible link to both shores of this mystical river which I truly consciously remember, and back into the Malchut of Ein Sof.

Footnotes:

[1] Sefer Yetzirah 5:2

[2] Inner Space, R. Aryeh Kaplan (p. 86)

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