The Fall

An excerpt from Sage Weston's The Wonder Of Witchcraft:

In the race for recognition many fall at the first fence and in their humiliation generally pick themselves up and continue with renewed vigor. By contrast, there are equally well those who find that the fall to earth is not at all unpleasant and it is with a great sense of relief that they lie there, discovering the pleasures of contemplation and allowing their contemporaries to streak ahead.

Many seek a life of solitude or limited social encounters and those who realize their spiritual connections may well lean towards a mystical path.

Within this category lies the witch - male or female.

The Woman In The Mirror

Shabbat HaGadol

I'm a few years shy of fifty, but the following excerpt from Sage Weston's The Wonder Of Witchcraft speaks to me similarly as did the poem Warning, When I Am An Old Woman (Jenny Joseph) when I was a younger woman.

A face is a face is a face. The witch of old was reputed to have a hooked nose that met her pointed chin, a sprinkling of unsightly warts, an occasional wicked grin and eyes that would wither anyone at ten paces. No doubt many of them were sour, no doubt there were many who were downright wicked, equally there were many who were simply psychic and quite innocent of evil, struggling to survive against impossible odds, quite possibly suffering from one chronic complaint or another and worn down by poverty and persecution. Today, in more enlightened times, the white witch strives for tranquility and wisdom - in consequence her expression will mirror this. It is said that 'we all get the face we deserve over fifty' and it is as well to bear this in mind as the years clock up and we continue to embrace resentment, frustration and self-pity, not fully appreciating that these burdens are difficult to shed as middle age approaches. At fifty, with youth's bloom well and truly faded and perhaps a certain amount of hardship both behind and ahead of us, which of us can look ourselves in the eye and see not a trace of bitterness? This is the acid test, and the modern witch, who does not flinch from her own shadow, must be able to face her mirror image, to see a mellow and mature reflection from which all early struggles have been erased. Here we differ considerably from our ancient sisters; we have learned that natural beauty comes from within and is in no way dependent upon circumstances or family genes - whether pointed or rounded, a witch's face should tell many profound tales. The look in the eye speaks of other worlds, dreams and visions and an unshakable faith in the future.

Wild Tresses - Nezer

י"א בניסן תשס"ז

I think I'm going to let my hair grow. Since I turned - egads - middle aged, I've kept my hairstyle rather short and "tailored" looking. In other words, I've kept an appropriately professional looking hairstyle.

No more. I'm going the wild tresses look (wicked evil cackle). I don't have any grey hair yet, but even when it does turn grey, I think the wild look will stay. I'm going witchy all the way (another wicked cackle). I'm going to grow into one of those elderly ladies with long grey hair someday. Freedom, yay!

A few weeks ago I trashed the lighter blonde highlights and colored my hair all over with my natural dark ash blonde color. I actually like it better. So, the highlights are a thing of the past too.

Long wild natural tangled tresses. I'm going to do it.

(rubbing my hands together with evil delight!)

Understated Elegance - Kelil Tif'eret

י"א בניסן תשס"ז

This is my amazingly simple yet exquisitely elegant witch's crown circlet for my forehead.

I searched through so many very beautiful and intricate designs, but as soon as I saw this one, I knew this one was meant to be mine!

Saturn's Bizarre North Polar Hexagon

Bizarre Hexagon On Saturn
(full article link)

Technology News Daily

An odd, six-sided, honeycomb-shaped feature circling the entire north pole of Saturn has captured the interest of scientists with NASA's Cassini mission.

NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft imaged the feature over two decades ago. The fact that it has appeared in Cassini images indicates that it is a long-lived feature. A second hexagon, significantly darker than the brighter historical feature, is also visible in the Cassini pictures. The spacecraft's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer is the first instrument to capture the entire hexagon feature in one image.

The new images taken in thermal-infrared light show the hexagon extends much deeper down into the atmosphere than previously expected, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) below the cloud tops. A system of clouds lies within the hexagon. The clouds appear to be whipping around the hexagon like cars on a racetrack.

"It's amazing to see such striking differences on opposite ends of Saturn's poles," said Bob Brown, team leader of the Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, University of Arizona, Tucson. "At the south pole we have what appears to be a hurricane with a giant eye, and at the north pole of Saturn we have this geometric feature, which is completely different."

Based on the new images and more information on the depth of the feature, scientists think it is not linked to Saturn's radio emissions or to auroral activity, as once contemplated, even though Saturn's northern aurora lies nearly overhead.

The hexagon appears to have remained fixed with Saturn's rotation rate and axis since first glimpsed by Voyager 26 years ago. The actual rotation rate of Saturn is still uncertain.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Sixth Sense, Shadows Of Resurrection

ט' בניסן תשס"ז

I have a "sixth" sense. It is rather nonspecific. I tend to sense "energy" or rather energy tends to channel through me.

Though it channels through my entire body, it can localize sometimes too, like in my forehead between my eyes. That seems to be a favorite collecting place for the vibrations when they localize (and they don't always).

I kabbalistically "read" this energy when it localizes to a particular body area, as a function of sefirotic combinations. Letters sometimes emerge spontaneously from these combinations.

Sometimes I actually "see" letters in my mind. The letters don't "look" like any of the scripts for hebrew letters I've ever seen, but I "know" in my mind that they are "hebrew" letters. In fact, the actual "form" of the letters I can never remember. They retain "formlessness" to natural awareness. All that is left of them is the "impression" of letter identity. Many times there is a chaotic mess of letters that I "see" as the vibrating "fabric" of spacetime.

Of course, this vibrating chaotic mess of "almost something" is not something I've newly discovered. I've been able to see it for as long as I can remember. Nevertheless, only as an adult have "letters" emerged from this soup of almost something into awareness.

I wrote this poem about the vibrating soup, when I was a teenager:

reverberating
caught from the corner of my eye, many times
space something like static electricity
shadows of shadows of shadows
flitting by so fast, so little, so many, so mashed
into one another
that no
distinction of otherness exists
when seeing
into the light against the darkness
quiet and still, yet somehow flowing bursting full
like a river of no thing really
... focusing, it's all gone ...
and only, when again
without direct intention, tricking the mind with intention
playing hide and peek
looking out sideways, from a corner of the soul
only then, can no thing
be seen
really

Practical Kabbalah Advice

ט' בניסן תשס"ז

It was asked on a forum I belong to "how to tap into" storm energy. This person's question led me to realize that I tap into storm and weather energy naturally and without intention.

This energy can build up in me to annoying proportions and a few nights ago, I had to experiment with various methods by which to release and ground it well enough to enable me to go to sleep. I got rid of enough of it to go to sleep, but I'm not sure that just releasing it wildly (undirected) into the world is a good thing. But, I didn't know what else to do with it. I released it in a rather odd manner and trusted my gut even though it might seem weird if I wrote how I did it. I feel I was deeply guided as I did it and all is fine, but still, I did it in ignorance and I am uncomfortable with remaining ignorant on the matter.

I understand that weather can affect all people to greater and lesser degrees - I'm not talking about normal effects the weather can have on biology. My body can sometimes literally vibrate with atmospheric energy. Some energies are pleasant and some energies are not. The experience of pleasantness has nothing to so with energetic intensity really, but rather seems linked to some quality of the energy itself.

The energetic accumulation that I experience is not "normal". It crosses over into the occult realm and I'm not quite sure how to work effectively with this energy. Is there a book out there that deals with this phenomenon?

I need some guidelines. Don't even bother to respond to this post to tell me what I'm doing is wrong. This is a natural evolution of my development and it's going to happen with or without my acquiescence. I have this energy, it's increasing in frequency and intensity, and I need to know how to deal with it.

I need real guidance, not moralizing.

Liveblogging The Return To Chomesh

Jameel @ The Muqata is currently liveblogging the situation in Israel and the return to Chomesh here.

I am the Top Evil One in the Jblogosphere!

Jack at Random Thoughts is under some cute delusion that he is the voice of evil in the Jblogosphere.

Let's get one thing perfectly clear - the position of Top Evil One is mine, all mine, I tell you!

Sanhedrin Plans Temple Mount Pesach Sacrifice?

Say it isn't so Joe.

Saturday, March 24, 2007
Sanhedrin plans for sacrifice of sheep (full article)
RELIGION NEWS SERVICE

In a donated apartment concealed among the narrow streets of the Jerusalem suburb of Nahlaot, 13 Orthodox Jewish men meet every Tuesday to debate matters of Jewish law. They are the management team of a larger developing Sanhedrin, or religious court, in Israel.

They plan to sacrifice sheep on the Temple Mount on the day before or one month after Passover, which will start at sundown April 2. Either date is permissible under Jewish law. "If the government will not resist," said Rabbi Dov Stein, 68, a member of the group, "we will do it."

The Passover sacrifice is the latest of more than 40 legal decisions issued by the modern Sanhedrin.

The Sanhedrin bought a herd of 12 sheep - 110 to 150 pounds each - from a farm in southern Israel. Anyone wanting to eat of the sacrifice can pay seven shekels ($1.67) for an 8-to-10-gram slice, the minimum required by Jewish law, Stein said. The group is hoping to collect 30,000 signatures through its Web site to prove its influence to the Israeli authorities, and gain access to the Temple Mount area.

Hila Lipnick, a 28-year-old Orthodox woman who lives in Cambridge, Mass., used to live in Jerusalem and traveled daily to Gush Etzion, a settlement in the West Bank, for school. Although she says she believes in the eventual rebuilding of the Temple, she is unsure about sacrifice.

"I can't see rivers of blood going all over Jerusalem," she said, "and society just accepting it."

Neither can I. I can't see it and I can't accept it as a Jew or as a human being.

At this point in history, to re-enact literal animal sacrifice on the Temple Mount is such an incredibly barbaric religious de-evolution, it is hard to imagine that the Sanhedrin is even considering such a thing - let alone acting on that consideration.

While I support rebuilding the Temple and even re-establishing a Sanhedrin, I do not support resurrecting animal sacrifice on the Temple Mount at all. It's neanderthal.

New Townhall Blog - Jewitch On The Issues

I've created a new townhall blog - Jewitch On The Issues.

I've created the new blog for two basic reasons:

1) to educate myself on issues through exploring and eventually articulating my own opinions, and

2) to educate myself on issues through exploring the opinions of others.

I'm rather uninformed and not particularly interested in politics. Nevertheless, it behooves me to become educated to some degree regarding current political issues. Right now, or at least until I think I might understand politics a bit better, most of my posts on the new blog will consist of collecting articles and ideas which may, at some point, contribute to the formation and elucidation of my own opinions. In other words, I am "collecting opinions" which I have a "budding opinion" about. Make sense?

Don't expect stellar political ideas from me on it at present. I have none in this area.

Dark Glory

neverending streams
of some humble brilliance
expressing a human tale
of the dark divine
now
here
as wonders run to life
through this tapestry of night casting kisses
of endless light
oh! how the heights envy
the depths of darkness breathing with the glory
of one perfect peace

Kli Tahor - Shlamim

ה' בניסן תשס"ז

Vayikra - "The peace-offering (shlamim) has the spiritual capacity of increasing peace in the world." [Rashi]

Tzav - On the "strange fire" of Nadav and Avihu, the role of being a "pure vessel" for peace is the role of Woman, not Man.

Kli Tahor & The Goblet Of Peace
Kli Tahor & Artistic Obligations

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Witch's Brew - "Goblet Of Peace"

ה' בניסן תשס"ז

Vayikra - "The peace-offering (shlamim) has the spiritual capacity of increasing peace in the world." [Rashi]

Tzav - On the "strange fire" of Nadav and Avihu, the role of being a "pure vessel" for peace is the role of Woman, not Man.

The following incense recipe brings together into the world of action a link to the supernal Goblet Of Fire (Eliyahu's Cup) as discussed in a previous post.

The Goblet of Fire corresponds to the "place" on the Tree of Life where Keter of Beriyah (water) and Tiferet of Atzilut (fire) are One. In other words, in Keter of Beriyah (which is Tiferet of Atzilut) peace is made between fire and water. Thus, the goblet of fire is exactly this place where peace is made in the heavens [1]. Importantly, we can also understand from this information that the Goblet of Fire is also the Goblet of Peace.

גבעי = 85 = 8 + 5 = 13 = "my goblet"

Brew ingredients by gender and elemental correspondences:

Masculine & Feminine Ingredient (1):

2 parts benzoin (m & f)* - air (avir)

Feminine Ingredients (4)

1 part vanilla (f) - water
1 part white sandalwood (f) - water
1 part myrrh (f) - water
1 part barley (f) - earth

Masculine Ingredients (4):

1 part pomegranate juice (m) - fire
1 part cinnamon (m) - fire
1 part nutmeg (m) - fire
1 part mugwort (m) - earth

Essential Oils (4):

1 drop hyssop (m) - fire
1 drop spikenard (f) - water
1 drop myrrh (f) - water
1 drop cinnamon bark (m) - fire

In this blend there are 9 (a vessel for peace ט) primary ingredients and 4 (Malchut ד) essential oils, for a total of 13 ingredients.

Benzoin is the ingredient where both fire (atzilut, feminine pillar) and water (beriyah, masculine pillar) combine in peace, resulting in elemental "air" (yetzirah and avir kadmon, the middle pillar as above, so below). The entire formula, written out and performed through actually making the incense is the "earth" (assiyah) where One Peacefully Dwells. Just like in the conclusion of the Amida.

Footnotes:

[1] He who makes peace in His heavens, may He make peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen. (Oseh Shalom, Conclusion of the Amida)

* Benzoin is a "masculine botanical" by virtue of its hexagonal aromatic ring and is a "feminine botanical" by virtue of its vanilla-like scent, where the hexagonal aromatic ring corresponds to the masculine partzuf zer anpin and where vanilla is etymologically derived from a Latin word meaning "vagina".



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Eliyahu's Cup & The Goblet Of Fire

ואת-גביעי גביע הכסף ... Bereshit 44:2

The phrase "and put my chalice, the silver goblet" (in Hebrew above) has a total gematria of 752, the same gematria as the Hebrew word for the phase "in a cleft" (בנקרת) in Shemot 33:22.

Shemot 33:22 - And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand until I have passed by.

Chalice (goblet) is derived from the shoresh גבע, meaning to "elevate". Magickally, a chalice can correspond to either water or fire, although most commonly in the craft it corresponds to water. Why?

In kabbalistic tarot, the suit of "cups" (chalices) pertains generally to the universe of Beriyah. Keter of Beriyah occupies the place of Tiferet of Atzilut [1]. Elementally, Beriyah corresponds to water, while Atzilut corresponds to fire.

Given this information, the "goblet of fire" corresponds to the "place" on the Tree of Life where Keter of Beriyah (water) and Tiferet of Atzilut (fire) are One. In other words, in Keter of Beriyah (which is Tiferet of Atzilut) peace is made between fire and water. Thus, the goblet of fire is exactly this place where peace is made in the heavens [2]. Which heaven is it made in? Aravot [1].

Taking all this together, we can also see that the "cleft" which sheltered Moshe while Goddess's Glory passed by is the "place" on the sefirotic tree corresponding to the goblet of fire and Aravot.

Interestingly, I had an experience of Aravot in 1996. I've written a poem about it previously (notably here and here). Consequently, I have a goblet of fire both "in the heavens" and "here" in this lowest world.

Yirah Ila'ah, Eliyahu's Cup, The Goblet of Fire

from a sidefolding
looking, seeing something yet not yet
like a great plain of immaterial fire and space
rolling and unfolding
like billowing waves of timewater and lava
empty of place
sensing
in it, deep deep eternal
trembling in sight of it
balancing, returning the gaze
burrowing
into the folding, where I
I was, looking feeling the mind
expanding greatly
one
mo-ment longer
going
past boundaries trembling
in awe of it
the greatness and power of it
from fear and being no thing
admitting I, I looked until
I could look no
more
the last great drop of awesomeness
in it


Footnotes:

[1] Kabbalah, Tradition Of Hidden Knowledge, Zev ben Shimon Halevi (p. 41)

[2] He who makes peace in His heavens, may He make peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen. (Oseh Shalom, Conclusion of the Amida)

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Rosh Chodesh Nissan Personal Healing Segulah

א' בניסן תשס"ז

This is my custom made Book Of Shadows, except that the leather of my sefer is black. (See larger photo here.) The leather is deeply and exquisitely wrinkled. The spine has five corded sashes with a pentacle set into the spine at the third cord. Brass appliques adorn the classic raised corners of the cover. The end papers are marbled black. The inner aged parchment pages are huge - 11 by 14 inches! The edges of the 500 blank pages are hand-burned, like the book has been plucked from a fire. This book is a gorgeous piece of handcrafted artwork! My Torah-kabbalistic-shamanic witchcraft is going into it as an heirloom for my children.

I'm in heaven!

With the Rosh Chodesh Nissan purchase of this book, I hereby mark a new chapter in my life.

Although a huge expense for me at a time when cash is not plentiful, the purchase itself - to me - is sacred and invested with my hopes and dreams for the future. The purchase is a personal segulah for healing.

It's amazing how deeply this book and I connect. Even as I was placing the order, specifying the custom details, I was teary-eyed and trying to restrain a flood of joyful emotion most of the time. Feelings stirred inside that haven't stirred for a long long time. My relationship with The Book has already started its healing work and its not even in my hands yet!

This is not just a book. It sings to my soul.

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Impulsing Resurrection

כ"ח באדר תשס"ז

I dreamt two dreams, both containing similar elements which included animated stone giants reminiscent of those found on Easter Island. The dream I choose to report, ended with a head of one of the stone giants crashed through the front wall of a court room which was sheltering a group of people (my family included) from an incredibly huge black cosmic storm.

[The court room in the dream, with the head of a stone giant in it, therefore corresponds mystically to the psychological reality portrayed by the "giant head" stone art of Easter Island. In Jewish kabbalah, the giant stone head represents the psycholgical aspect of Esau and the court room represents Gan Eden.]

I was the observer.

The opened area allowed the pursuers (who had controlled the stone giants) to enter the court room. The pursuers were seeking to eliminate The One carrying the messianic spark of resurrection. This person was in the room. A pursuer shot a gun randomly, striking several people. One woman was shot in the back at the base of the neck [1]. She collapsed, dead. After exhausting his round of bullets, the pursuer disappeared. He had succeeded in striking down The One. He somehow had sensed it.

The woman whose neck had been shot rose up as a ball of impulsing light [2] exited her neck wound and floated about in the air. She plucked it out of the air with her hand and returned it to its place, healing the wound as she did it. All those shot in the room came back to life as I observed the wounded place on the woman's neck heal up.

I woke up.

Footnotes:

[1] This area of the neck corresponds to the luz bone (tarvad shel rachav - p. 4) of Jewish kabbalah. The luz bone represents the potential for resurrection. Luz (לוז) has a gematria of 43, the same gematria as "challah" (חלה) "belonging to one" (לאחד).

[2] This represents the luz bone "activated" by the dew of resurrection. See Zohar 2:28b on Yishayahu (Isaiah) 26:19. (Inner Space, R' Aryeh Kaplan, p. 225)

Coarse Grained Histories

כ"ח באדר תשס"ז

In response to Greg's post over at Presence, Quantum Indeterminacy Does Not Equal Free Will:

Natural probabilities may or may not be "indeterminant", but free will can craft the weight (mass) of any given probability, influencing its improbable but very real outcome.

One can create "crafted probabilities" over natural probabilities. Just as "mass" and the ability to make free will choices among a range of probabilities influence outcome, another quantum concept which figures into the process is called "coarse grained histories". True free will can operate through these processes to influence the outcome of any given "natural" probability.

I know this, even if I am neither a mathematician nor a physicist. For example, in my dreams this morning, I dreamt of two potential outcomes, i.e., two alternative realities as they exist prior to manifestation. As a human being with free will, I can choose which alternative reality will manifest by the mere act of choosing (and reiterating that choice throughout the layers of reality). My reiterated choice gives weight (mass) to one probability over the other, despite that the natural probability may prefer an outcome opposite my choice. The "mass" I give an improbable reality by consciously choosing it will make it manifest against the natural one because my choice will "fall into" reality before the other one by virtue of its "weight", canceling out the natural one.

"Weight" is added to a premanifest probability by pouring one's will into a choice at the level of binah. The "higher" the binah (and will), the greater the weight which can be added to any given alternate reality, influencing it into manifestation over any other.

There are many nuances to this dynamic, but the basic idea comes through, I think.

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Link To Messianic Peace

כ"ח באדר תשס"ז

ויהוה נתן חכמה לשלמה
Sefer HaBahir, verse 3 excerpt

Traditional interpretation: "And G-ddess gave Wisdom to Shlomah."

There exists within Judaism the idea that wisdom (chochmah) is generally preferred over prophecy (nevuah). Moreover, the kabbalah [1] teaches:

The only individual for whom wisdom and prophecy merged into a single stream of enlightenment was Moses, who was able to receive prophecy while still in possession of his routine faculties.

Thus, for Moses, wisdom and prophecy were equivalent chameleons, in a manner of speaking, co-existing together in a single stream of awareness.

How does this relate to the phrase above from the Bahir? Let's examine the phrase.

First, the word chochmah has a gematria of 73. Interestingly, the word הנביאה - "the prophetess" - from Shemot 15:20, also has a gematria of 73. Here then, in the awareness of "the prophetess", is where wisdom and prophecy merge into a single stream of consciousness. Here then, dwells the link to the messianic consciousness of Moses.

Second, a dynamic of this phrase can be observed in the numbers:

32 paths of wisdom (ויהוה)

500, upper hey of binah (נתן)

73, the single stream (חכמה and הנביאה) containing both wisdom and prophecy, where 73 has a digit sum of 10 and a final digit sum of 1 (malchut-keter connection permeating this messianic consciousness throughout all the sefirot)

405 (לשלמה) with a digit sum of 9 (ט), the value of the sefirah-vessel of peace

Taken together, the phrase impregnated with the single stream of messianic enlightenment begins with the Divine and ends contained in a vessel of Peace.

Footnote:

[1] The Advantage of Wisdom Over Prophecy, R' Yitzchak Ginsburgh

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Pure Clarity, Neither Salty Nor Sweet

כ"ז באדר תשס"ז

Just a quick observation about two shorashim: מלח and מלץ

מלח is the Hebrew root for "salt". Salt pertains to Gevurah and bitterness.

מלץ is the Hebrew root for "being sweet and pleasant". Sweetness and pleasantness pertain to Chesed.

Interestingly, the two shorashim are very similar, sharing the first two root letters (מל) and differing only with respect to the third root letter. The two differing letters cut from the shorashim together spell "clear" and "pure", in Hebrew צח.

Consequently, in terms of sacred femininity, we can see that pure clarity is not made of "sweet pleasantness" any more than it is made of "bitterness". Pure clarity is brought about by neutralizing and overcoming the obscuring effects of both circumstances and psycho-emotional dispositions.

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Fifth Tarot Reading, Additional Interpretation

S/Q 10 of swords

1 - Magician (Gwydion) א
2 - seven of pentacles
3 - ace of swords
4 - page of wands
5 - Hanged Man (Enchantment of Dyfed) ל
6 - six of pentacles
7 - king of wands
8 - queen of cups
9 - eight of wands
10 - ten of wands

Further interpretation of today's earlier tarot reading:

1 - querent is a force of art, creativity and independent thinking in relationship to current situation

2- forces in querent's favor: patience, fairness, goodwill toward others, ingenuity

3 - message from higher self: decisive change is being brought about

4 - subconscious is working to manifest the arrival of positive change

5 - past events giving rise to current situation, proper atonement and self-sacrifice

6 - "sharing" relationships with others

7 - overcoming disadvantage positively influencing situation

8 - unseen force influencing situation: a genuine heart, a true love

9 - hope for opportunity

10 - outcome of the matter: rising to the challenge, not flinching in the face of oppression

Ascent Of The Atarah

Regarding kabbalistic theurgy, Moshe Idel (Kabbalah, New Perspectives, p. 196-7) writes:

The ascent of the Atarah to the highest place in the divine pleroma was adopted by theosophical Kabbalah. Notwithstanding its being a classical symbol of the lowest of the sefirot - Malchut - Atarah is at times portrayed as ascending to Keter, in a way similar to that of the anonymous author whose view is preserved in the book of R. Eleazar of Worms. Already R. Ezra of Gerona had commented upon the verse in Song of Songs 3:11: "the whole structure will cleave and unite with and ascend to Eiyn Sof."

The ritual of composing the Atarah by prayer and its ascent and setting on the head of God is tantamount ot coronation of the king. This installation by ritual is clearly reminiscent of the ancient interconnection between ritual and kingship. Kabbalah may therefore be viewed not only as the cultivation of the Garden but also as the cultivation of the Gardener. If the symbolism of Lebanon pertains to the lower face of Divinity, that of the Atarah belongs to its highest aspect. The human range of activity therefore expands beyond those divine manifestations that are ruling the created worlds, to the most recondite layers of the Divine. But while the lower manifestations are structured or made by the ritual, the higher ones are ornamented by the addition of the crown or crowns; again, these ornaments originate from the ascent of a lower divine power - the Atarah.

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Dina D'Atarah, Reversing A Pulsa Denura

כ"ד באדר תשס"ז

Fifth tarot reading on myself, using my standard procedure and spread.

Wednesday, 3/14/07 @ 1:35 pm, Adar 24, 5767
13th portion of reversal candle to be burned tonight
parchment of petition spell to be burned tonight
mood: slightly depressed, health: tired

moon data: 29 deg. C Sagittarius, 25 deg. S Capricorn, waning crescent, 25 days old, 24% full

sun data: 2 deg. C Pisces, 23 deg. S Pisces
planetary hour: Venus

S/Q 10 of swords

1 - Magician (Gwydion) א
2 - seven of pentacles
3 - ace of swords
4 - page of wands
5 - Hanged Man (Enchantment of Dyfed) ל
6 - six of pentacles
7 - king of wands
8 - queen of cups
9 - eight of wands
10 - ten of wands

Interpretation:

First, a two-letter word immediately falls out into this tarot reading, namely - "no" (לא). In other words, the "Hanged Man" may be trying to stop the reversal ritual. The first month's final portion of the reversal ritual is due to conclude tonight with the burning of the 13th portion of the candle and the burning of the parchment upon which is written the petition spell.

The Hanged Man card mythologically corresponds to the Enchantment of Dyfed. In other words, it pertains to the situation where the kingdom has been "frozen" with respect to movement via a spell of black magick against it.

The fifth tarot position (which the Hanged Man occupies) corresponds to the sefirah Gevurah (also known as Din). This suggests that the black magick enchantment that has been cast over me may be a Pulsa Denura emanating from the sphere known as dina d'leayla. Given the fact that the curse is portrayed by a card of the major arcana (representing the universe of Kadmon), the curse is more likely to be a Pulsa Denura of some sort as opposed to some other type of low level curse.

However, the "Magician" card (in Keter, position 1) has flipped the Hanged Man's לא into "El" (אל). I will be enabled to finish burning the 13th candle portion and spell parchment, despite those who are trying to stop it at a mystical-magickal level. No! to no. So mote it be.

Second, the outcome of the matter is summed up by the ten of wands in the tenth position (from keter in kadmon to malchut in atzilut, dina d'atarah). The ten of wands symbolizes not flinching in the face of hardship and rising to the challenge. It will be done as long as there is still breath in my body.

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Underworld & The Sea

כ"ג באדר תשס"ז

I dreamt.

There was a staged contest of some sort between some other person and I. I was a participant, but I hadn't volunteered for this contest. I merely found myself "drafted" into it.

The set-up was like a minature golf course or something - we each had to aim and hit an object with a staff-like stick into one of several holes. We could choose which hole to aim for, but the harder the hole to make, the greater the "points" scored. We each had only one shot.

The woman with whom I was involuntarily competing was beside me in the next "lane" (our "testing" lanes were identical but separate). She chose to aim for the closest and easiest hole. She didn't think I had even a slim chance of hitting my object into any of my holes, so she opted for the easiest one. She made the hole. Her object fell into the closest and easiest hole in her lane.

I didn't know exactly what to do. I wasn't inclined to even try to hit the object into any hole. This was crazy. I had no intention of competing with anyone. I didn't even know this person. I think this may have been one of the reasons why the woman and her mentor-guide didn't think I had a chance - because I was clearly recalcitrant to even participate and clueless as to the game or to why I was there.

However, my spirit-mentor-guide beside me coached me into playing along. Okay. I hit the little object, not really aiming particularly, and my guide spiritually "guided" the object into one of the "harder" to make holes. Consequently, I got the greater amount of points and won the competition.

Then, the dream changed. I followed my guide into the Underworld to see. The ocean had broken into the Underworld at some point and catastrophically flooded through it. The entire ocean - all of it - cycled through the Underworld, torrentially filling most of its "space", and devastating it.

I also saw a more recent or upcoming second time the waters of the ocean would cycle through the Underworld. This time, the flood would be like a heavy rain - the waters maybe covering to the tops of a person's feet, and more nourishing in nature. The ocean hadn't really changed, but the Underworld had.

I woke up.

Totafot, She Who Rears Up

כ"א באדר תשס"ז

While researching the knot of Isis, I came upon the formation that developed in the wax of my reversal candle Friday night (the 8th night of the ritual)! It looked like the Uraeus (shown).

From About.com:

The Uraeus is the serpent emblem found in Egyptian portrayals of Royalty and Deity. It is a symbol of divine authority, representing the Goddess Wedjat as the all seeing eye of Ra, who was believed to protect the Pharoahs by spitting fire, and the emblem of the Lower Kingdom of Egypt. According to legend, the Cobra was given to the pharoahs as a sign of kingship by the God Geb.

From Wiki:

The Uraeus (plural Uraei or Uraeuses) is the stylized, upright form of an Egyptian spitting cobra (or snake / serpent / asp), used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity and divine authority in ancient Egypt. Uraeus is a Greek word that may have its origins in ancient Egyptian, meaning "she who rears up".

According to the Story of Re, the first uraeus was created by the goddess Isis who formed it from the dust of the earth and the spittle of the sun-god. The uraeus was the instrument with which Isis gained the throne of Egypt for her husband Osiris.

Another name for this is the term "Totaf" found also in the Bible.

Totafot has an Egyptian etymology. Moreover, it too, the the tyet, is an amulet. Dave at Balashon writes on the etymology of totafot:

Significantly in ancient Egyptian, ftu or fot means four, while tot can denote a gathering, resemblance, divine, or hard leather. Hence, totafoth may have had the connotation of a fourfold amulet, made of leather, as the Tefillin indeed are.

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Amulet Or Talisman

כ"א באדר תשס"ז

An amulet is something that is worn which extends protection to the wearer. It functions passively, naturally. Generally, an amulet is considered to be an amulet (as opposed to a talisman) on the basis of its status as "crafted by nature".

On the other hand, a talisman is consciously charged for the purpose of protection. It works actively on behalf of the person who has charged it for a specific purpose. It is not "crafted by nature", it is crafted by normative human will.

Consequently, my prenatal memories function like a natural amulet, protecting me regardless of where my normative consciousness may rest at any given point in life.

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Tyet & Techiyat Hametim

כ"א באדר תשס"ז
The shared love of Osiris and Isis from the womb relates to my prenatal experience of quantum consciousness (here and here), and significantly, also pertains to Niddah 30b with respect to the "candle in the womb". The knot of Isis (tyet, girdle of Isis) symbolizes the link to resurrection (techiyat hametim) in the physical world of this eternal shared love. In other words, the knot of Isis is an ancient Egyptian consciousness symbol for feminine prenatal memory of the archetypal eternal love which reverberates through the story of Osiris and Isis.


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Love From The Womb

From Goddess Gift, on the love shared from the womb [1] between Nut's children, Isis and Osiris:

Nut wasted not a precious moment of those blessed (five epagomenal) days, giving birth to a different child on each of the five days. Hence, Nut came to be called the "Mother of the Gods".

First born was a son she named Osiris. He was the son of Re and later became the god who was to rule all of the earth.

The Egyptian Goddess Isis, daughter of Thoth, was born on the third day. Her father was Thoth.

Isis and Osiris loved each other deeply, even when they were still in Nut's womb. The myths of Isis and Osiris are among the most beautiful love stories ever told.

Ruling together as husband and wife they created the first great nation of Western civilization during what was called the "Golden Age of Egypt" (around 2,500 BCE).

Footnote:

[1] see niddah 30b, the candle in the womb (a story of quantum consciousness)

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Five Days Out Of Time

כ" באדר תשס"ז

This morning, I dreamt. One thing I will document regarding it is the mention of a name consisting of two names. Both parts of the name were longer that I can document, but the portions I retained in normative consciousness are: Shirl Nut

I also link this name to a dream I had some time ago and had since forgotten until now. The dream was called In Five Days. I had forgotten about the dream, because nothing significant to the dream seemed to actually happen "five days" from the date of the dream.

However today, I have a different understanding of "in five days". The dream was referring to the five days out of time created by Thoth for Egyptian sky goddess Nut to give birth to five principle Egyptian gods/goddesses [1]. The five days of the ancient Egyptian calendar are called five epagomenal days.

The five epagomenal days intercalate the solar and lunar cycles (sod ha-ibbur) into a single calendar [2]. Converting the ancient Egyptian epagomenal days to the Gregorian calendar for the sake of observance, the epagomenal days correspond to:

July 27 - Birthday of Osiris (Egyptian) - First epagomenal day
July 28 - Birthday of Horus (Egyptian) - Second epagomenal day
July 29 - Birthday of Set (Egyptian) - Third epagomenal day
July 30 - Birthday of Isis (Egyptian) - Fourth epagomenal day
July 31 - Birthday of Nephthys (Egyptian) - Fifth epagomenal day

While clearly the second part (Nut) of the abbreviated name Shirl Nut directly pertains to the Egyptian goddess Nut, the first part of the name - שיר ל - pertains to "giving birth". From the shoresh שרה, the name refers to "loosening" [3] the birth canal, making birth possible. Extrapolating from this, the "singing lamed" [4] refers to the actual birth (of expression).

Taking all this together, the five epagomenal days and the five days of the dream are speaking to the birth of messianic consciousness and expression. Messianic consciousness is the "ibbur" being born (into expression) "in five days" that is both in the world, yet simultaneously, out of the world (see "in five days" dream). The name Shirl Nut is the part of that process already revealed to normative consciousness.

Footnotes:

[1] See Peregrinating Among The Te'amim regarding the unified five and the expressive five, Binah and Malchut.

[2] The "secret" of the Hebrew calendar is called sod ha-ibbur and also pertains to intercalating the solar and lunar cycles into a single calendar.

[3] Etymological Dictionary Of Biblical Hebrew, R. Matityahu Clark

[4] Ibid., where the shoresh שיר means to express thoughts in poetic form

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