Divine Unknowing

ב' טבת תשס"ט
Grael 3

The thirty-sixth shaman stone in my Temple Collection corresponds to the spirit of Unknowing - the power to reach into and create from one's core nothingness, unknowability, unrootedness, and experience of meaninglessness. Without a folklore of its own, I have designated the unwritten stone quantum quattro to correspond to the spirit of Unknowing. The colorful four mineral combination of royal blue shattuckite, robin's egg blue chrysocolla, forest green malachite and forest green dioptase (in a smoky quartz crystal base) found in quantum quattro corresponds to the mystical four-letter essential Divine Name. With this stone, from nothing, all is written.

So mote it be, amen.

Mystery Of Manifestation

ב' טבת תשס"ט
Grael 3

The thirty-fifth shaman stone in my Temple Collection corresponds to the spirit of The Key, symbolic of the vital power to unlock inner secrets, open doorways to the mysteries, reveal portals of magic, animate manifestation, and unleash the power to spiritual evolution. The Key imparts life force, vitality, breath, soul, energy and vigorous drive into shamanic work, bringing objectives to fruition.

As the shaman stone to signify The Key, I hereby designate a natural honey citrine cluster. A Stone of Manifestation, honey citrine adds vitality, evolves creative ability, enhances mental abilities, expands awareness, and brings success to any endeavor.

Artful Discipline, Sacred Sight

א' טבת תשס"ט
Grael 2

In follow-up to an entry from last month (A Witch's Familiar), the thirty-fourth shaman stone in my Temple Collection corresponds to the Feline spirit. As written in A Witch's Familiar, Felines epitomize "the archetypal qualities of grace, elegance, charm, deep insight and intuition, agility, speed, strength, ferocity, deadly claws, patience, affection, motherly protection, birth, bounty, luxuriant simple pleasure, playfulness, music and the dance of joy."

In Celtic shamanism, whether big or small, cats exemplify the lunar qualities of stillness, quiet watchfulness, waiting, patience, biding one's time, being in the right place at the right time, making one's move at the right time, and not being thrown by anxiety such that one makes the wrong move. The Feline spirit imparts the ability to practice patient self-discipline.

Cat is a guardian creature, especially in out of the way places, near stone circles, in ancient forests, on lonely country roads, along ley lines, in valleys, and in other zones of mystical power.

The Feline eye enables the witch to see through the darkness into the light. Wise, powerful and artful clairvoyance is a gift from Cat. This ability naturally flows from Cat's inclination not to rush, but rather to stalk, circle and wait in the shadows, allowing even deeper insights to rise to the surface over those immediately apparent. True wisdom develops with the power to willfully withhold.

As the shaman stone for the spirit of Feline, I designate a rare natural chrysoberyl cat's eye from Sri Lanka. In the gem trade, the term cat's eye alone always refers to chrysoberyl cat's eye. Chrysoberyl is highly esteemed for it's tendency to display a sharp cat's eye which can be seen in any kind of light. The thin bright band of light characteristic of cat's eye will open and close as the stone is rotated - this phenomenon is called chatoyancy.

Qualities associated with chrysoberyl include: discipline and self-control, the ability to focus and concentrate, clear thinking and foresight, and protection. Because chrysoberyl also transforms negative energy into positive energy, it promotes healthy tolerance, harmony and true peace.

Playful Survivor

א' טבת תשס"ט
Grael 2

Thank Goddess for friends through whom She communicates! My friend Makay has brought into my awareness the identity of the thirty-third spirit in my Temple Collection of shaman stones.

It is the spirit of Squirrel.

For about a year and a half now I have been steadily employed full time after a very long stretch of years of unemployment (sprinkled with a few months here and there of significant underemployment). Given my current experience of steady full time employment I have been on a minor spending binge to obtain ritual tools - like a squirrel stocking up should winter come again.

On Squirrel as a power animal, it is written (Beyond the Rainbow):

Like most people who have bird feeders, I have had battles with squirrels, most of which the squirrels have won. Despite my frustration, I have learned to feel a deep respect for this animal.

The idea of insurmountable obstacles is not part of Squirrel's viewpoint; nor is giving up. I once saw a film about an obstacle course designed to prevent squirrels from getting to bird seed. It included slides, revolving doors, and at least a dozen other obstacles. It took the squirrels less than a month to figure out what had taken scientists over a year to create.

Squirrel is a survivor of relentless determination!

As the shaman stone for Squirrel, I am designating chrysoprase. An apple-green chalcedony, chrysoprase is a magical amulet of protection which helps make conscious the unconscious, strengthens workings of the higher consciousness and brings fresh insight. Other shamanic qualities include: bringing success, joy, happiness, friendship and material abundance. It aids in bringing clarity to issues so that a solution may emerge.

Squirrel also likes to have fun and play!

And the winner of the game is ultimately Squirrel!

Into The Moment

ל' כסלו תשס"ט
Grael 1

In follow-up to my previous entry I hereby designate heliotrope (also known as bloodstone) as the thirty-second shaman stone in my Temple Collection and correspond it to the spirit of The Magic Word. Heliotrope is a dark green or green-blue form of chalcedony dotted with red jasper blood-like inclusions.

Associated with the sefirah Malchut and the base chakra, heliotrope brings magic 'into the moment' of the 'here and now'. The power to bring magic into the moment embodies the seal of spellcraft (so mote it be) and the seal of ritual prayer (amen).

Other correspondences associated with heliotrope include: abundance, wisdom, magic power, alignment, courage, detoxification and stabilization, stimulation of immunity, organization, promotion of smooth energy flow, and restoration of boundaries. The word heliotrope means "turning". The stone signifies fertile time.

Heliotrope specimen with a river of fire in it.

The Magic Word

ל' כסלו תשס"ט
Grael 1

As I was waking up this shabbat morning, a mysterious magic word came into my conscious awareness. The word I saw was 'pesenesach' (pronounced in my mind as pay-seh-neh-sock). The magic word, which means nothing to my normative awareness, brought with it the immediate meaning of worthiness.

In the magical Hebrew alphabet, pesenesach could be spelled פסנסח.

Drilling down into the word to find more meaning, the 'p' sound corresponds to the Hebrew letter pei (פ, pronounced 'pay') and pertains to communication and to the transmission of esoteric knowledge.

The next letter samech (ס) corresponds to the ideas of circle, sphere and encircling.

The next two letters (נס) spell nes which means miraculous event.

The final letter chet (ח) corresponds to both the lifeforce and to the gateway to the mysteries.

The last three letters (נסח) in combination form the shoresh (root) nasach meaning to 'pluck up'. In Jewish meditation, nasach pertains to clearing the mind of all distraction. In my own experience, nasach is intimately related to my epiphany of 1967, where I was 'plucked up' into the mystical experience of a lifetime.

Taken together, the magic word pesenesach contains the code:

worthiness -> active communication -> circlecasting - > miraculous event -> pluck up

Higher Ground

ל' כסלו תשס"ט
Grael 1

In response to one of my dreams last night, the thirty-first shaman stone in my Temple Collection corresponds to the spirit of The Kindred. The Kindred are spiritual allies and coworkers, guides to the inner mysteries, teachers of ancient ways, ancestors of both blood and soul, and guardians of the way. Kindred beings aid the witch in shamanic work, to help maintain balance between the spiritual and the physical, and act as supports toward spiritual evolution.

Designated as the shaman stone for The Kindred is the Stone of Truth, a rich royal blue marbled, deeply veined natural specimen of sodalite, a gemstone formed in the heart of the earth. Nearly as old as the earth itself, sodalite is associated with fellowship, secrets of the ancestors, truth and wisdom, communication, balance between rational and intuitive modes of thinking, objectivity and detachment, peace and harmony, the planet Mercury, endurance, and healing. Sodalite also enhances creativity and self-expression, calms emotion, eliminates confusion to create clarity, and facilitates spiritual progression.

The white calcite veins which run through sodalite enhances the ability to meditatively center. The quality of double refraction found in calcite 'doubles the power' of any rite, ritual or spell. Kabbalistically, the white calcite vein corresponds to 'double portions' and to the rectified mystical power of the gid hanasheh.

The Kindred divination card of Witchcraft depicts the forms of four faerie beings (two by two) who come as spirit guides. Following connections, the ancient text of Ireland Annals of the Four Masters is linked through the Elder tree [see Elder Staff, Faerie Door and Gate 9 3/4] with the ogham letter tinne whose celestial current pertains to the concept of Mastery.

Dark Moon Magic

ל' כסלו תשס"ט
Grael 1

inside shattered dreams, insight licks the mind
a beautiful mysterious height, the deep deep night

[From my poem originally posted here.]

Radiant Being

ל' כסלו תשס"ט
Grael 1

In follow-up to an earlier post (No Ordinary Gargoyle, My Gargoyle) in which Gargoyle was further transformed into Radiant Being, I hereby designate my thirtieth shaman stone (shown below in magnificent glory) to be this exquisite specimen of absolutely stunning rust, exotic, rare, orange, reddish, radially transparent to translucent Creedite crystals on sky blue to dark aqua blue-green Fluorite crystals from Rodeo Durango, Mexico.

Appropriate for the spirit of Radiant Being, creedite [1] is connected to the Crown, flows with a high spiritual vibration, attunes to the Universal Wisdom embodied in ancient texts, imparts energy to spiritual evolution, improves and guides the ability to move between different states of consciousness, and harmonizes the physical with the changing spiritual vibration. Fluorite [1] grounds and integrates evolving energies, reorganizes and orders disordered energy, heightens intuitive powers, promotes quick thinking and delivers impartiality (justice in decision-making).

Totally awesome!



Footnote:

[1] The Crystal Bible, Judy Hall

No Ordinary Gargoyle, My Gargoyle

ל' כסלו תשס"ט
Grael 1

In follow-up to previous posts (Transformation of a Demon Creature and A Safe Home For Gargoyle), I had another odd vision regarding my gargoyle before I went to sleep last night. Many other "demons" were coming en masse to attack my gargoyle, to remove him from being under my protection (odd that my protector is under my protection, but nevertheless he is). They were jealous of him and wanted to tear him apart.

I reinforced his position as being within my circle of protection, added energy to him, and cast the condition such that when any others approach him, he transforms into an awesome radiant being of great power, brilliance and majesty. Others become humbly awestruck by the brightness of his countenance when they encounter him. He's surely no ordinary gargoyle, my gargoyle! I'm taking care of him!

I whispered 'good night' to him, my friend, before I went to sleep.

Hoopeston Witch School Documentary

כ"ט כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 30

The entire 4-part documentary on Witch School's experience in Hoopeston, Illinois can be viewed here.

Elder Staff

כ"ט כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 30

The twenty-nineth shaman stone in my Temple Collection represents the spirit of Elder Staff, the card I drew last evening in a Hidden Path divination. On Elder Staff it is written [1]:

In ancient times, among some tribes it was believed that trees were the dwelling place of a god or goddess. This is one reason why sacred groves were established. A branch was taken from the tree and carried by the priestess or priest as a sign of her or his connection to the diety of the grove.

This is particularly interesting to me given that this divination occurred in the evening of the morning that I had my waking vision encounter with a tree and it's faerie door. Thus, for me, Elder Staff represents both my own inner Druid Priestess and my link to other Elder Druids throughout all time.

On Elder Staff it is also written [1]:

The Elder Staff informs us that the path we walk takes us through worlds not known by the average person in life. The message of this card is to live and walk the chosen path with lasting devotion and represents the inner mystery that light is at home in the darkness, and that enlightenment is found by passing through the night.

The appearance of Elder Staff officially marks my rite of passage from the dark night of the soul into a period of enlightenment.

As the shaman stone for Elder Staff I have designated an exquisite specimen of agatized coral. The fossilized skeletal remains of a sea creature, coral contains the "life essence of the Mother Goddess who dwelled in the ocean in a tree of coral." [2] Coral's powers include healing, peace, wisdom, regulating menstration, agriculture, and protection (against the evil eye, demons, furies, succubi, incubi, phantasma and all manner of ills, accidents, violence, theft, poison, possession, shipwreck and sterility).

Footnotes:

[1] The Seeker's Guide to the Hidden Path, Raven Grimassi and Stephanie Taylor

[2] Crystal, Gem and Metal Magic, Scott Cunningham

Related entry - Transformation of a Demon Creature

Entrance To The Mysteries

כ"ח כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 29

Torah commentary on Miketz from Garden Of The Dark Moon Jubilee - Entrance To The Mysteries.

A Safe Home For Gargoyle

כ"ח כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 29

The twenty-eighth shaman stone in my Temple Collection represents the spirit of Gargoyle (Golem). Once a demon creature magically sent to destroy, yet compassionately transformed and given a safe home instead, Gargoyle is an ever-faithful and loyal guardian.

A traditional witch's familiar derived from occultism in general, the stone designated for Gargoyle is carnelian. Of projective energy and elemental fire, carnelian promotes peace and harmony, dispels depression and negativity, prevents skin and blood diseases, prevents insanity and mental instability, stills anger and envy, confers eloquence and patience, bolsters confidence and courage, strengthens the voice and astral vision, and guards against malicious enchantments and storms.

Transformation Of A Demon Creature

כ"ח כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 29

Last night I dreamt.

A demon-like creature with wings landed on the roof over the closet to my bedroom. I heard the thump of its landing. Someone had sent it to invade through the closet and destroy me. From outside on the front porch at the opposite the end of the house where the closet and the creature were, I looked and saw very unusual dark stormclouds in the skies. This storm had been magically created to carry the demon creature here. The storm carried firestones in it - there were no fires in my yard, but I saw one in the yard across the road. Nevertheless, I wasn't afraid of either the storm or the creature. Neither could penetrate (דקר) the sanctity of my space.

I woke up and considered what to do about the demon creature on the roof. At first I thought I might create an expanding energy shield to send the creature off into space. But I decided against that, and decided to keep him. To do that, I simply redirected his face, turning his gaze from toward the closet to toward the space off the roof. I made him into a protective gargoyle and loyal guardian.

Sent to destroy me, the once demon creature turned gargoyle now protects me with steadfast fidelity.

Related entries -
Entrance To The Mysteries
Elder Staff

For My Friends Who Observe Christmas ...

Faerie Door

כ"ז כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 28

The twenty-seventh shaman stone in my Temple Collection corresponds to the living spirit of Faerie Door (in follow-up to my previous post, Gate 9 3/4) and green moss agate. As the gardener's stone, green moss agate connects to the spirit of plantlife in general and provides a point of access into the magical realm of the fae and to the mysteries.

Gate 9 3/4

כ"ז כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 28

This morning I had a waking vision of walking with someone. We were going somewhere. To get there, we walked toward a southwest direction, where a lone tree was standing near a road. We approached and walked around to the side of the tree, and then, I could no longer see us - we had disappeared into thin air in my vision. Immediately, Gate 9 3/4 (like in the Harry Potter stories) came to mind. We had gone through Gate 9 3/4, the magical door visible only to students of the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unlike Hogwarts students (who went through a wall at Gate 9 3/4), we went through a tree.

In my vision, Gate 9 3/4 is like a faerie door.

Greater Than Dark Or Light Alone

כ"ז כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 28

The twenty-sixth shaman stone in my Temple Collection is dedicated to the medicine of steadfast remembrance (corresponding to my preincarnate memories), represented by the spirit of Penguin, whose wisdom includes life altering mystery, intrigue and transformation. Penguin waddles and cares for its single egg (or baby penguin) with steadfast determination and focus. With fluid grace Penguin swims, and with complete connection to it's inner rhythm Penguin toboggans on it's stomach with joy and agility at speeds up to 25mph. In the manner of royalty and perfect derekh eretz, penguins often bow to one another in acknowledged respect of the other.

The black and white colors of Penguin represent the unification of dark and light into a single state of actualized being, one greater than either dark or light alone.

As the shaman stone for Penguin, carrying the energies of overall wellbeing and living knowledge of the perfection of the Universe, I've designated tourmalated quartz, a white crystal with well-defined black tourmaline inclusions.

The Crystal Cave Of Hitbodedut

כ"ז כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 28

When I was a child my parents frequently tried to coax me out of my bedroom where I was engaged in solitary play, reading, working with my microscope set or frequently, just thinking and being alone. They called my self-initiated retreat into my own space hibernation. I still hibernate to this day, whether at home or at the office. The drive to hibernate is integral to who I am, to my purpose in life and to my destiny. Importantly, I have naturally hibernated in my crystal cave of solitude (whether literally or thoughtfully) from my earliest memories of existence.

In light of this tendency toward cave-dwelling hibernation, linked from the dark depths to the Great Bear constellation and stars, the twenty-fifth shaman stone in my Temple collection corresponds to the spirit of Arth (the Welsh word for Bear), whose primal powers include hibernation, deep introspection, meditation (hitbodedut, self-seclusion), healthy vitality, reclaiming truth through unconventionality, attaining altered states of consciousness, astral travel and dreamworking. Arth is also associated with the winter solstice (the sabbat of Yule), bringing light from darkness (Chanukah), the North Star, the ancient stellar goddess, the throne of the queen of heaven, the realm of the crystal castle, the realm beyond time and the realm of causes. All of these associations link together through the idea that the great spirit of Arth is the great Crystal Cave spirit of crystal caves (which extend the field of apprehension), like in my poem The Magic Ladder.

As the shaman stone for Arth I've designated a natural peridot crystal specimen, a visionary stone whose shamanic qualities include protection, health, wealth, sleep, inner balance, peace and connection to destiny.

Active Disenchantment

כ"ז כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 28

The twenty-fourth shaman stone in my Temple Collection is a recently acquired three-specimen set of aqua aura crystals which represent, with the force of three-fold Law, the spirit of Mermaid (tachash and dugong). The wisdom myths of Mermaid (tachash and dugong) communicate the ability to overcome and break free of harmful enchantment, to connect mind with heart, and to recognize truth. This shaman stone is connected to my previous entries, Pathwalker and Ketonet Pasim.

Myths Of Active Disenchantment

The little mermaid, who gives up her tail for enchanted love only to find herself trapped in lovelessness, returns to the deep in an act of active disenchantment and becomes a spirit of the air.

The enchanting mysterious tachash is skinned (representing an act of active disenchantment) and its skin is used in constructing the tabernacle.

The dugong is a rather homely sea creature who represents the ability to withstand the enchantment of the sea sirens' song.

Legends Of The Rise

כ"ז כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 28

The twenty-third shaman stone in my Temple Collection represents the spirit of Mouse, the creature who shared the extraordinary and stellar experience of traveling consciousness with me in the epiphany of 1967. Today I received a surprise gift with one of my supply orders - a moonstone, the traveler's stone - and my twenty-third shaman stone.

Raven Grimassi (The Witch's Familiar) writes of Mouse:

In old legends witches were believed to be able to transform into mice. Some tales include the belief that the soul of a witch appears as a mouse.

How very interesting to me, as a witch.

As a power animal, Mouse's wisdom includes "scrutiny, order, examining life's lessons, shyness, quietness, understanding details, seeing double meanings, stealth, guidance in signing contracts, discovery and the ability to be unseen." This last characteristic - the ability to be unseen - may account for Mouse's scrutiny of me and surprise that I could truly see it followed by Mouse's question to me in 1967 "what are you looking at?" Indeed, what was I looking at with such stealth, examination, scrutiny and interest to discover that I was propelled into the experience of a lifetime?

Pathwalker

כ"ד כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 25

The twenty-second shaman stone in my Temple Collection represents the spirit of Pathwalker, one who is engaged in the Great Work of unification. As a tool for attracting spiritual partners in this work, I've designated a witch's finger (of quartz crystal with actinolite, mica, and rutile inclusions) to the spirit of Pathwalker.

Ketonet Pasim

כ"ד כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 25

Last night I dreamt. I was The Observer.

They were soul mates, yet there was some issue between them which held him back. He would not walk beside her any further down the narrow private path she was walking through the woods in the afternoon light.

Facing one another, they spoke words I could not hear, but nevertheless it was clear that she was going to go forward and he was going to go back. This path of hers had been forbidden to him by the culture from which he came. He had to make a choice, to walk beside her and continue on through the woods to the protected village or to leave her and go back. He stood still as she turned and began to continue her walk down the path toward the village.

He painfully watched her beautiful form walk away, quickly calling out to her to come back. Yet he refused to go forward toward her. She stopped, turned and tore open her blouse to him in a painful gesture of goodbye. Then, she turned and continued walking down the narrow path through the woods to the village.

The scene changed, he was back in a dark place, regretting his decision to return there. On a dark rainy night, a car stopped on the road to pick him up as he walked to find his way back to the path he had left her on. As the driver of the vehicle opened the car door for him, the driver had a gun and was going to kill him, but the man wrestled the gun from the homicidal driver and killed him. Then an officer pulled up with a shotgun and also attempted to kill the man, but the man pulled the driver's revolver from between the car's seat cushions and shot the homicidal officer through the side of his head, killing him. As the homicidal officer was dying, he said the most hurtful thing he could think of to the man - "this night as we speak someone is going to take the body of your wife", (meaning that someone was going to rape and kill her). Of course, I knew the officer was lying (the murderer had not been able to find her as arranged) and was saying that just to hurt the man with his last dying breath, but the man believed the officer and was anguished.

The scene changed - the two were now together in the village. Apparently, the man had found a way to shorten his travel down the path she had been walking, he had shortened it, walked it and made his way to the protected village where she was.

They were now walking a public road lined with houses together. The feeling of mortality was thick in the air. Time was short in this life and they had not yet been together. If not now, there may never come another time. They both entered one of the houses at the side of the road to lay together. A woman who had been staying in the house ran out.

I woke up.

Shaman Stones Summary Page

כ"ד כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 25

Shaman stones summary:

01. Wolf - moqui stone
02. Raven - first yard stone [lilac bush / bedroom window as a child]
03. Deer - deer creek fire agate
04. Blodeuwedd (flower) - jet (witch's amber, black amber)
05. Blodeuwedd (owl) - second yard stone [twin 1, closet wall]
06. Butterfly - third yard stone [twin 2, closet wall]
07. Evening Star - emerald
08. Well of Knowledge - tektite
09. Toad - river stone from woods
10. Fire - garnet
11. Star Woman - blue sapphire
12. Unicorn - infinite (serpentine)
13. Faerie Cow - whole uncut geode
14. Snake - moldavite
15. Child - hagstone
16. Hare - amber
17. Gryphon (Kruvim) - herkimer diamond
18. Weasel - black obsidian
19. Dog - carrollite in clear dolomite
20. Dragon - labradorite
21. Swan - salrose in cobaltian calcite cluster
22. Pathwalker - witch's finger
23. Mouse - moonstone
24. Mermaid (Tachash, Dugong) - aqua aura quartz, set of 3
25. Arth (Bear) - peridot crystal
26. Penguin - tourmalated white quartz
27. Faerie Door - green moss agate
28. Gargoyle (Golem) - carnelian
29. Elder Staff - agatized coral
30. Radiant Being - creedite on fluorite
31. The Kindred - royal blue sodalite with calcite veins
32. The Magic Word (Fertile Time) - heliotrope (bloodstone)
33. Squirrel - chrysoprase
34. Feline - chrysoberyl cat's eye
35. The Key - natural honey citrine cluster
36. Unknowing - quantum quattro

Link to this page in sidebar Featured Topics.

Yule & Chanukah Blessings!

כ"ד כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 25

Yule started at sundown tonight, with the winter solstice event occurring at 0604 in the morning tomorrow in my time zone. Tomorrow evening, the first candle of Chanukah is lit. To all my friends, have a blessed Yule and a blessed Chanukah!

Swansong

כ"ג כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 24

The twenty-first shaman stone in my Temple Collection represents the gentle spirit of Swan, a creature who mates for life with eternal fidelity. Faithful swan's lifespan can be as long as a human lifespan. During courtship, swans dance on the water with their necks and heads forming the heart shape traditionally associated with love and romance. The song a swan sings to its mate cannot be heard through ordinary hearing, for the swansong is a song of spirit. In Celtic tradition, Swan teaches that "everyone carries the potential for a radiant and everlasting beauty of mind and spirit." [1] For gentle Swan I have designated this rare salrose and cobaltian calcite natural cluster specimen from the Congo. Baroness pink in color, the stone's crystals overlap and embrace one another. It's simply and enchantingly magical.

Footnote:

[1] The Book Of Celtic Symbols, Joules Taylor

Sacred Fire

כ"ג כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 24

The twentieth shaman stone in my Temple Collection represents the spirit of Dragon. Protector of hidden treasures, Dragon is a traditional witch's familiar and fearlessly carries within her the magical fires of the earth. She is a Dark Priestess from ancient, ancient times able to unleash powers of the imagination and overcome limitations. For Dragon, I have lovingly designated this exquisite Labradorite specimen from Madagascar. Gracing this collector's quality gemstone are "lustrous metallic reflections in gold, amber, electric blue, lime green and more as the piece catches the light." Every color in the rainbow is dancing in the spirit of this Dark Priestess.

Earthlight

כ"ג כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 24

Last night I dreamt.

My children (as they were when they were little) and I were at home preparing. We had a frolicking happy puppy dog inside (initially) and big guard dog outside (additionally as the dream progressed).

There were sweet cakes in the dream, brought out from a bottom corner cupboard-like door-like drawer of the mirrored dresser in the bedroom. This drawer had once been dark and avoidably spooky, but now it had been cleaned out and cakes placed in it. I took some of the cake out and ate a bite. It was a little bit dry from sitting uncovered for a period of time in the cupboard drawer but without deathly poison, so I took some cake out for my children as well.

Going back into the living room, the front door was wide open on a sunny early summer morning, letting in the bright sunshine, as we were awaiting the arrival of someone. The sweet smell of the earth like after a rain was in my nostrils, carried to me on the light of the morning as it struck the land in my front yard. There was no danger as the door stood open to the smell of the Earthlight - the big dog outside kept predators away from the safe neighborhood in which we lived.

I went to find the two dogs some food to feed them too.

I woke up and designated my nineteenth shaman stone.

Essence Of Connection

כ"ג כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 24

The nineteenth shaman stone in my Temple Collection represents the spirit of Dog, an ever alert noble guardian who exhibits unconditional love and guards against all forms of attack. A beautiful steel gray Carrollite with a large octahedral point in clear Dolomite speckled by Chalcopyrite cluster from the Kambove Mine, Katanga, Zaire is the natural specimen I've chosen for Dog.

Dogstone also corresponds to the essence of connection, in follow-up to my seventeenth shaman stone (Between The Kruvim).

Crimson Thread By The Light Of The Moon

כ"ג כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 24

Commentary on this week's Torah portion Vayeshev - Crimson Thread By The Light Of The Moon.

Witch Weasel

כ"ג כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 24

The eighteenth shaman stone in my Temple Collection is black obsidian. A naturally occurring volcanic glass of super quick-cooled lava, this stone represents the stealth spirit of Weasel. With ferocious single-minded focus Weasel is able to bide time, know, will, dare and be silent. Weasel imparts the ability to perceive beneath the surface of things. For these reasons, nocturnal Weasel is a spirit able to withstand, avoid, and if necessary, counter malicious magic. A loner, graceful, solitary and silent, of fierce courage, Weasel is very intelligent and often underestimated. Bold and confident, weasels have been known to take animals larger than themselves, and to kill hawks who were trying to kill them. Weasel does nothing half-measure - the whole being of Weasel is invested in whatever Weasel is doing.

University Advanced Mathematics Class Dream

כ"ב כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 23

Last night I dreamt.

I was in a university classroom on the first day of class in an advanced mathematics class. I was there as a prodigy in math and had not been part of this particular group of students through the years. The professor filled the blackboards with equations and began lecturing and asking questions about them. There was a variable among the equations which I had not seen before. It was a capital 'D'. I raised my hand to ask the professor to define the capital 'D', asking my question among the students' discussions and questions going on about the math.

Then, I heard a group of girls behind me talking badly about me amongst themselves and to the other students in the class. They didn't want me there. They were angry that I was there. They belonged there. They already knew the definition of the capital D. See, they said to the other students, she wasn't so smart, she didn't even know the definition of the captial D.

The ringleader of the group of girls (who was sitting in the desk behind me) reached over and grabbed my books and class learning materials from off my desk. She and her group of girl-bullies began advocating for me to be kicked out of class. No one came to my defense or made the girl give me back my books peacefully. So, I stood up from my desk and grabbed my books and class learning materials back from her. I had learned all my advanced math up to this point on my own and without them, and my knowledge and self-taught skill had gained me placement in the university's advanced math class. I didn't need either them or the professor to learn what was going to be taught in this class. I was quite capable of learning it on my own without them - I had my own books and learning materials for the class and I would learn it without them. I walked out of the classroom.

I woke up.

Between The Kruvim

כ"ב כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 23

The seventeenth shaman stone in my Temple Collection is a two-pointed crystal herkimer diamond, represents the unified spirit of the Kruvim (cherubim), and is linked with the mythical creature, the Gryphon. Like in my dream last night with a diamond in the sky between us,

from here I have met with you, and I speak with you from above the ark-cover, from between the two cherubim ... [Shemot 25:22]

... which we are.

Diamond In The Sky

כ"ב כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 23

Last night I dreamt.

An enemy had done me harm. I didn't know who he was, but he knew who I was. Like in the movie Ghost, on account of this enemy's treachery, I had been murdered and had crossed over into the sky. My soul mate was left bereft.

Then, I saw my enemy find his karmic "reward" - he was involved in a high impact collision. His legs were smashed like an accordion clear up into his belly such that his shoes were laying on his stomach. He would surely die from this injury, but he would survive long enough to experience the extent of his body's mangling and to realize this had come to him because of that which he had done to me. Suddenly, a snake came out of his body and devoured him still alive, swallowed with a look of sheer terror on his face.

Then, I saw my soul mate below trying to communicate with me who was "in heaven". In the sky between us I caused a crystal diamond to appear. He could see the crystal even as he could not see me. Like the penny used to communicate the man's spiritual presence to his still living soul mate in Ghost, the diamond in the sky was to us. We both touched the crystal and connected through it.

I woke up.

Dare To Dance Your Own Dance

כ"א כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 22

The sixteenth shaman stone in my Temple Collection represents the spirit of Hare. Strongly associated with witches as a traditional familiar, Hare shapeshifts into a powerful ancestral wise witch of one's female line who knows all the secrets of the Earth, of cunning craft and of mysterious synchronicities.

Hare dances with eccentric joy and leaps with abundant happiness under the sweet moonlight. She teaches us to dare, to run across fields, to dance on the hilltop, to feel the wind in our faces, to hear what we never hear, to see what we never see, to be aware. Hare sniffs the air and knows with clear mindedness.

Often occultly associated with physical birthmarks (for example, hare lip or other 'witch marks'), Hare's gifts are oddity, eccentricity and the potential for rare creative, spiritual or prophetic greatness.

The stone I've chosen for Hare is actually the fossilized resin of coniferous trees from the Oligocene epoch known as amber. Once a living substance, amber corresponds to the 'fifth element' which unites and binds together earth, air, water and fire. Rubbing amber against silk or wool produces an electric charge and consequently, corresponds to the sweetening of reality through the kabbalistic concept of chashmal.

Codes From Wonderland & The Staff Of Moses

כ' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 21

I had a most odd dream last night. The tone and nature of the dream was nonsensical, with creatures and fantastical scenes in it which reminded me after I woke up of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. Right now, I'll leave it at that and consider that perhaps there were codes and mathematics hidden in this dream which are eluding my normative consciousness at the moment.

I also think it's very interesting that I had this Wonderland-like dream (found to be linked to Moses' staff in a google search of dream symbolism for this post) after this dream which I had previously also linked to Moses' staff.

A Witch's Foundation Stands

י"ח כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 19

In follow-up to my entries of Thursday and Friday this past week (Accidents In The Air and Mississippi And The Staff Of Moses), I just found an interesting angle to the Madoff scandal which broke Thursday with Bernard Madoff's arrest by federal law enforcement officials on charges of securities fraud. The Jewish Journal reports:

The first known charity victim, according to JTA, is the The Robert I. Lappin Foundation in Salem, Mass. which gave away about $1.5 million to Jewish causes.

My surname is Lappin and Salem, Mass. is well-known historically for its witchcraft trials of 1692 and currently has a large community of witches, the city having been reclaimed from history as a spiritual center for American witches in this century.

Uncanny, the synchronicity. Thank Goddess my personal foundation as a witch wasn't caught up in that huge roll out of judgment.

Perfect Love And Perfect Trust

י"ז כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 18

The fifteenth shaman stone in my Temple Collection represents the magical spirit of Child who lives naturally, simply, purely, truthfully, with spontaneity, joy and wonder, in perfect love and perfect trust. Designated as the shaman stone for the sacred spirit of Child is the natural amulet, a hag stone. In witchcraft, the hag stone is associated with faeries, is a key to the doorway into the mystical Otherworld and dispels the evil eye.

Karl Lembke explains perfect love and perfect trust as a Law of the Craft:

Perfect love and perfect trust are not blind devotion and obedience, to people, to institutions or to the laws of the Witches. We trust that the laws that have developed over the years are crafted with the best interests of the Craft and its followers in mind. We also trust that the people who crafted the laws had the time to test them, and see that they dealt with the problems they were intended to address.

But sometimes a law turns out to be a bad law. Sometimes a law yields a result contrary to its intent, or requires that people adhere to standards they are incapable of meeting. When a law fails in these ways, it is incumbent on Witches to resist it, and to do everything in their power to change it. And this we are required to do by our love of those whom the law is supposed to benefit. If a bad law is allowed to stand, it damages the faith of the people in the law, and makes the law as a whole untrustworthy. We need to be able to trust that the law will not guide us to a bad result, or demand of us things we're unable to give.

Read the entire article at link above.

Little Bottles And The Magic Mitzvah

ט"ז כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 17

Commentary on Vayishlach from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - Little Bottles And The Magic Mitzvah.

The Exquisite Fallen One

ט"ז כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 17

The fourteenth shaman stone in my Temple Collection represents the spirit of Snake, guardian of the "deep jewelled palaces", who brings the power of profound healing to life. The rare tektite moldavite, fallen from the sky only once about 14.8 million years ago as a gift from the Universe, is the stone I've lovingly chosen for Snake.

Mississippi And The Staff Of Moses

ט"ז כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 17

In follow-up to my previous post (Accidents In The Air and its enigma Mississippi), last night I dreamt.

Little bits first - I was gathering up my kabbalah books. There was a group at my house. It was raining lightly. I was aware of the old bomb shelter nearby. Then I with my boyfriend, and then we and our little group, were in a bicycle-balloon-like ancient flying machine. My boyfriend and I were co-navigators of the flying machine. I had the feeling we were rebellious children in a way - LOL. Nevertheless, we were correct in what we were doing, in whatever it was we were rebelling against.

We were flying toward a highly fortressed castle, in some sort of indirect challenge - as if getting to the castle was a well-known, longstanding and indisputed impossibility. Of course, rebellious children that we were, we were set upon successfully doing the impossible.

As we flew toward the front of the castle, the guardians readied to shoot us down, with bows and arrows and such. Suddenly, our flying machine veered from its straight-on approach, swerved around and landed on the older, more ancient "hidden dangerous side" of the castle, where the guardians refused to go. The guardians and everyone else in the castle (even the "royalty" who lived there) refused to go to that side because a giant primordial mystical snake inhabited that part of the castle. No one ever dared go there. In ancient times past, the few who had tried had not survived. Of course, against the eons of darelessness, we dared. We landed there at the summit of the castle's snake-side tower, avoiding the arrows which would not now be shot - for the guardians would not even go to the snake's side of the castle, and neither did they think we'd survive the snake.

We landed at a cafe-like landing, got out of our flying machine, and refreshed ourselves with some soda or coffee or something. We sensed the snake coming up from deep inside the place as we drank our refreshing drinks.

The snake was after me. We all knew it. The ancient giant snake appeared shortly after we finished our drinks. It was going to eat me and eat me it did! LOL. I went in its mouth feet first, but then, after it had swallowed me whole, I shrunk its size down to manageability from inside its insides. Then, I emerged, as whole as I had been when I had entered it, from another opening at its other end. The snake was visibly shaken. I think the snake was seriously perplexxed about the entire experience because it hurried off to reorient itself after I stood up following my reemergence. I rejoined my companions, who were also a bit stupified, and then, we prepared to go snake hunting (to capture it sort of, not kill it - I felt a bit of affection for it now, actually).

We prepared trucks full of ice for the snake-hunt. The feeling was that we were somehow protected by the ice as if the snake couldn't smell us with ice filling the sefari-like trucks we now had. We were going to take this castle, I knew it.

I woke up.

Laying in bed after I woke up, the dream reminded me of the story where Moses got swallowed up by a snake. My story is not quite the same though. LOL. Still, both Moses and I emerged whole from our swallowed by a snake encounters.

Accidents In The Air

ט"ו כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 16

Vehicle-related accidents are in the air. After reading a post over at Mystical Paths, I realized I had not yet posted regarding my own experience with vehicle-related accidents recently.

First, a week ago (last Thursday), my daughter slipped on the ice and sprained her ankle. It could've been worse, but thank Goddess it wasn't. She had been dropping her two smallest children off at her sister-in-law's home while she attended class at the junior college. The toddler was on the porch when she slipped on the way to get the baby out of the car. She could've been holding the baby when she fell. The toddler could've run out into the street while she was incapacitated on the ground with what was thought to be a broken ankle. My daughter could've had a broken ankle, but she didn't. I took her to the ER, and thank Goddess, my employer was very understanding that I had to attend to my daughter. All ended well.

This past saturday, my eldest son's truck slid on the ice on the interstate and rolled over a few times. It could've been worse, but thank Goddess it wasn't. He could've been hurt. He could've been seriously hurt, in fact. As it was, the only scratch he sustained from the whole event was in the ER from the hospital bedrail. I met him at the ER, and thank Goddess I arrived safely despite the slippery conditions on the road. All ended well.

Last night, I had a dream. I had "missed" also having a car accident earlier the day before (preceding the dream). I recalled after the dream that, the evening before, one car approaching mine from down the road whizzed by me very fast in the dark on my way home from work yesterday. It had come very close to my car, over near or into my lane, such that it caused a weird sound to be created in the air current between our cars as it whizzed by mine in the dark. My "just missed" accident is linked (in a good way) somehow to the word Mississippi. Dunno why or how yet, but the word came out in the end of the dream as I was waking up and is connected to "missing" an accident that may have been fated for me as well.

Accidents are in the air, yet despite that, all is well for my family and I. Thank Goddess.

I Held The Moon

י"א כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 12

Exquisite and pagan-friendly, this darkwave neo-classical piece from the rare CD Zal (which I now own) by sToa is hauntingly beautiful.

Joyous Hollow Heart Of Sekhel Tahor

י' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 11

Mystery - joyous, even as my heart is hollow within me ... David HaMelech

The thirteenth shaman stone is my Temple Collection is a geode, whole and uncut. Geodes are earthlike spherical hollow rocks (with the power of clarity into and throughout Assiyah, the physical world of action) whose hollow insides are lined with crystals (joy), like diamonds in chaos.

Each geode is unique. With the spirit of Faerie Cow, this shaman stone symbolizes a return to nature, and more specifically, a return to one's own unique nature. Whole and uncut, geode corresponds to sekhel tahor (pure consciousness).

Related entries -

The Magic Ladder
The Magic Mandrake

An Incomplete Lamed

י' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 11

DovBear comments on Vayetzei:

The word "well" appears seven times in the story of Jacob and Rachel's meeting ...

Interestingly, the word "well" appears 4 times (Bereshit 29:2,3,8,10) in the first 10 verses of chapter 29 (which is not chapter 30, symbolizng a complete lamed). The first use of the word "well" in 29:2 is spelled באר. The other 3 uses following this first use are spelled הבאר. Taken together, the 3 latter "wells" are different from the first "well" in that the prefixes which distinguish the 3 wells from the 1 well come together to form the shoresh ההה (meaning to "express pain"). Thus, this shoresh, brought down by the "3 wells" of verses 3, 8 and 10 are the source of Jacob's Tears of Anguish in verse 11 (where 11, we know from kabbalah, symbolizes the universe of Tohu). The first "well" represents that able to elucidate Torah. Therefore, Jacob's tears of anguish may be related to the idea that the ability to elucidate Torah was lost to Rachel.

Unlike a joyous witch whose altar is home to the most pleasing of aromatic candles, incenses and other witchy tools, Rachel was separated from her own inner joy.

Uncle Ben & Cheshbon HaNefesh

י' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 11

An interesting post is on RabbiSedley's blog about my 6th greatuncle, American founding father Benjamin Franklin and the sefer Cheshbon HaNefesh.

The Magic Mandrake

טי כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 10

Being a witch makes joy in me. Truly. There is no separation between joy and I. Joyful am I. Neither do I have cause to pray as one separated from herself.

Rachel said to Leah: 'Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.' Bereshit 30:14

In follow-up to my earlier commentary from Garden Of The Dark Moon Jubilee on Vayetzei discussing The Magic Ladder, the question exists for many reading this Torah portion - was Jacob's vision in the night really a dream?

I can't answer that, but I can answer that my own experience, as described in The Magic Ladder and correlated to Jacob's ladder, was no dream. The experience I described was one I had before I was born, before "I" was incarnate or connected to a physical body or bound up with any psycho-spiritual form or structure of any kind. Thus, the words of my poetic discourse on my particular magic ladder do not create a "picture", but rather, they elicit an apprehensional perception of pure Acting Awareness. Without structure, form or physicality, my experience was one of pure consciousness, known in Sefer Yetzirah as sekhel tahor. In practical kabbalah, sekhel tahor corresponds to the magical botanical called mandrake.

Sekhel tahor ... "purifies the Sefirot. It tests the decree of the their structure and the inner essence of their unity, making it glow. They are then unified without any cuttoff or separation." [Sefer Yetzirah, The Thirty-Two Paths Of Wisdom]

The Magic Ladder

טי כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 10

Commentary on Vayetzei from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - diVisions of the Night.

Wisdom, Understanding And Knowledge

ז' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 8

This evening's divinatory reading was simply complex, performed with the waxing crescent moon 32% full, during the planetary day of Mercury, and during the planetary hour of Mercury.

First, I ritually drew a card from my Hidden Path deck. The card was mortar and pestle. It's signficance in a reading pertains to refined integration, incorporation and merging.

Second, I ritually drew three Hebrew letter cards. They were tav-yud-hei (תיה). A permutation of these letters is tav-hei-yud (תהי), meaning "let there be" (as in "let there be light"). In light of this understanding, I interpret my permutation to mean "there is" (as in "so mote it be", "and there was light" and "amen").

Third, I ritually drew an ogham stave from my newest set (this reading is my first use of them). I drew the fid coll. Coll corresponds to Mercury, wisdom and knowledge, and is the fid of attaining second-sight, wisdom, prophecy, true judgment, discernment and understanding.

Each system's elements supported the others' elements in this reading, integrating them into one perfectly coherent message, to actively bring forth wisdom, understanding and knowledge.

Tortured, Executed

ג' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 4

Disturbing new information is reported that the Israeli hostages murdered in Mumbai were tortured before their execution. Story here.

Tears of Anguish

ג' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 4

Commentary for Vayetzei on Garden Of The Dark Moon Jubilee - Tears of Anguish.

Elixir Of Life & The Mitzvah Of Witchcraft

ג' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 4

The twelfth shaman stone in my Temple Collection is the healing Unicorn Stone, Infinite (a variety of Serpentine). Infinite is known by healers as "the miracle-working stone."

Shamanic qualities of Unicorn include the transmutation of suffering and of poison. When the spirit of Unicorn has drunk of a poison water, all the water is cleansed, enabling other creatures to drink of it safely.

In terms of Torah, this stone symbolizes the transmutation of the Elixir of Death into an Elixir of Life.

Mythically, this stone has correspondence to transmutation of the illuminating poison (as in the novel Dune) to expand consciousness and unlock "Other Memory".

As a Jewish witch, this stone corresponds to the transmutation of the halachic prohibition against practising witchcraft into the mitzvah of practising witchcraft.

A Home In Paradise

This exquisite little home is located on the Hebrides Islands, some of which allow no cars. Can you dream it? Of ancient mysteries and magical landscapes, the islands are paradise.

A Witch's Familiar

ב' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 3

Black cats are the epitome of a witch's familiar. Embodying the feline mysteries of the Divine Eternal Feminine, they represent the archetypal qualities of grace, elegance, charm, deep insight and intuition, agility, speed, strength, ferocity, deadly claws, patience, affection, motherly protection, birth, bounty, luxuriant simple pleasure, playfulness, music and the dance of joy.

Myfanwy's black cats:

My ritual Bast statue. Graceful and elegant, she is beautiful.



The black jaguar guarding Myfanwy's CovenSpace.

The Black Cats

ב' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 3

In continuing follow-up to the rescue of the Mackoff family from Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace Hotel during the recent days of terror there, CNN reports on the rescue through eyes of the Black Cats, the commandos who carried out the rescue operations.

Inside the blacked out Taj Mahal Hotel, hallways were littered with bloodied bodies.

Thirty three hours after the assault began, Indian Army commandos decided it was time to go back in -- only to be met by terrorists firing mercilessly, throwing grenades and continuously switching positions.

The sound of gunfire ricocheted through the hotel's atrium, making it difficult to discern where shots were coming from.

Through it all, the commandos walked through pitch-black halls, trying to navigate the partially destroyed hotel without knowing the layout, according to a spokesman for the commandos.

At 6:30 a.m. local time Friday the battle with the terrorists at the Taj reached a head with a final firefight at the room where the 200 hostages were held captive, the commando, who was wearing a scarf and glasses to conceal his identity, said at a news conference.

When the gunfire ceased, commandos entered the room and freed all 200 hostages, he said.

The difficulties for the commandos -- known as the Black Cats -- were apparent from the beginning, he said.

"We did not know the layout of the hotel," the commando told reporters. "There was one person on the hotel staff who was helping to guide us around."

During the three-day assault, the attackers fired indiscriminately, but the commandos were forced to use caution.

"Let me tell you one thing," the commando said. "Within the first exchanges of fire, we could have got those terrorists but for -- there was so many hotel guests -- there were bodies all over and blood all over. And we were trying to avoid the causalities of civilians. We had to be more careful in our fighting."

Read entire article at link above.

A Crown Of Shoes

ב' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 3

In follow-up to an earlier entry regarding the Friday morning rescue of the Mackoff family, it is interesting to note that Carol Mackoff (from Illinois, my tribal state) describes the rescue of the six people in her group particularly:

They took us down a back service stairway that was very quiet. We were tiptoeing through glass and blood and discarded shoes from people who it appeared had recently died."

Interesting connections exist between the rescue of these six from Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace Hotel (pharaoh as a big house or palace), the exodus from Mitzrayim (dire straits), the Divine Feminine, the flaming sword of Gan Eden and the malach Gabriel.

With shoes on their feet, they left in haste as the night terror passed over [Shemot 12:11 and Tehillim 91:5], significantly through glass (the world of Chaos) and blood (the feminine sefirah of Binah) and discarded shoes (spellworking-prayers found in Gan Eden and described in the book, Gabriel's Palace by Howard Schwartz).

וְכָכָה, תֹּאכְלוּ אֹתוֹ--מָתְנֵיכֶם חֲגֻרִים, נַעֲלֵיכֶם בְּרַגְלֵיכֶם וּמַקֶּלְכֶם בְּיֶדְכֶם; וַאֲכַלְתֶּם אֹתוֹ בְּחִפָּזוֹן, פֶּסַח הוּא לַיהוָה.

לֹא-תִירָא, מִפַּחַד לָיְלָה; מֵחֵץ, יָעוּף יוֹמָם.

The enemy said: 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.' [Shemot 15:9]

In the end, the family from Illinois survived, and the terrorists are no more.

Illinois Family Rescued From Taj Mahal Hotel

ב' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 3

CNN reports on an answered prayer:

Illinois Family Rescued After 48 Hours In Taj Hotel Rooms
Friday, November 28

Carol Mackoff and her family were rescued Friday morning after being trapped in their rooms in the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai for more than 48 hours.

Mackoff, her husband, sister and friend were on a three-week trip to India.

"In the beginning, we heard shots and we didn't know what was happening," she told CNN by phone. "We saw men running down our hallway and we could see through the peephole in the door -- we could see guns in their hands."

Mackoff said they received a call from hotel staffers telling them to stay away from the door and lock it. For 20 hours they sat in the dark. At one point they taped the peephole so nobody could see in.

The Chicago, Illinois, resident said the attackers rang their doorbell twice, but she and her family didn't answer.

"We locked every possible lock on the door and put heavy suitcases against it," she said. "When the explosions started and smoke filled the hallways we put towels at the bottom of the door."

She said she was told that attackers opened doors across the hallway and had thrown grenades inside.

"All we were thinking was 'Please don't try and blow this door open,'" Mackoff said.

Read full article at link above.

While we mourn all those who lost their lives in this terror tragedy, I give thanks to Goddess from whose womb were delivered the circumstances necessary to make possible the rescue of those who survived, and thanks to the rescuers who made the rescue of the survivors real.

Thanksgiving

ב' כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 3

Life over many years has been hard for my family and I. We've experienced much suffering. I thank Goddess for the turn of our lives toward goodness and that this year we are all happy, healthy, employed and were able to share Thanksgiving together. I am so blessed with beautiful children (both born and acquired through relationship) and grandchildren, and for my entire family, I give thanks.

Cauldron Of Gold Sparks

כ"ו חשון תשס"ת
Phasma Priscus 28

This morning's waking vision was simply one of a light-filled cauldron turning to pour down on me a myriad myriads of brilliantly radiating gold sparks, dancing with the heartbeat of eternal life. The brilliance of the golden sparks of light was mesmerizingly beautiful. They fell gently all around where I lay and bathed me in their brilliance.

The cauldron of golden sparks of light reminded me of the elusive pot of gold that rests at the end of a rainbow. In kabbalah, gold represents the highest level of teshuvah (return to Divine consciousness).

Related Entry - Witchcraft Of A Biblical Matriarch

Witchcraft Of A Biblical Matriarch

כ"ה חשון תשס"ת
Phasma Priscus 27

In follow-up to previous entries positing that the daughter of Avraham was a witch, why wouldn't the daughter of Avraham be a witch? Her mother Sarah, a biblical matriarch, was a witch. "In the Midrash Genesis Rabbah the rabbis write that Sarah tried to use witchcraft against Hagar."

Interestingly, in another biblical incident involving Sarah, "shutting off the wombs" of rivals is a black magic fertility spell. In Vayera (Bereshit 20:18), the wombs of the women of Abimelech's house were closed up "because of Sarah" (through witchcraft). Perhaps Sarah's longstanding barrenness was somehow connected to her own use of black magic to shut up the wombs of rivals. The later births of Isaac and Avraham's daughter suggest that Sarah did teshuvah for a possibly longstanding malignant use of this kind of magic.

Related entries:

Bakol & Transmitting The Torah Of Atzilut
Best Among Women
Kwisatz Haderach, A Daughter's Blessing

Kwisatz Haderach, A Daughter's Blessing

כ"ה חשון תשס"ת
Phasma Priscus 27

Toldot - Generations

וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת יִצְחָק, בֶּן-אַבְרָהָם
And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son ... Bereshit 25:19

DovBear writes of another opinion in the Talmud, namely that:

one of the Rabbis argues that Abraham had everything, specifically he had no daughter, and therefore no worries about marring her off.

Why no daughter, did he refuse to acknowledge his daughter because she was a witch?

The Jerusalem Talmud also shares (Kiddushin 4, 11) that "the best among women practices witchcraft." Avraham's loss. She received the Torah straight away (a kefitzah haderekh) while Avraham's patriarchal line had to wait a several more generations.

Why is this important?

She received Torah straight away, while Avraham's patriarchal line of descendents had to wait several generations to receive it. The "shortening of the way" experienced by the daughter of Avraham is called a kefitzah haderekh. Alternatively, kefitzah haderekh or "shortening of the way" is called a kwisatz haderach.

Kwisatz Haderach" is the name of a prophesied messiah in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. KWISATZ HADERACH: "Shortening of the Way." The origin of Kwisatz Haderach is most likely from the Hebrew language expression Kefitzat Haderech (קפיצת הדרך), which literally means "jumping of the path/road/way", and translates to "the great breakthrough" or "the big advancement." It is also similar in meaning to the Hebrew expression Kitzur Haderech (קיצור הדרך), which literally means "shortening of the path/road/way" and translates to "the short cut."

If Avraham refused to acknowledge his daughter because she is a witch, clearly, it was a big big mistake with cosmic consequences.

Related Entries:

Best Among Women
Bakol & Transmitting The Torah Of Atzilut

She Is Eternal

כ"ה חשון תשס"ת
Phasma Priscus 27

About the song Inama Nushif (She Is Eternal) sung entirely in the Fremen language by Azam Ali. The lyrics.

El Rey De Francia

כ"ה חשון תשס"ת
Phasma Priscus 27

Enchantingly witchy melody.



From Poets, Bards and Singers

"The origins of El Rey De Francia, as with other Sephardic music, lie most likely in 13th or 14th Century Andalusia with versions of this gentle erotic song having surfaced in countries all across Mediterranean Europe and Turkey. The poetry is Ladino."

The Heart Is A Mirror on El Rey De Francia

Woman Of Destiny

כ"ד חשון תשס"ת
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The eleventh shaman stone in my Temple Collection is this shabbat designated to be a blue sapphire Stone of Destiny, representing the spirit of Star Woman. Though there may be many possible fates, there is only one destiny. Destiny contains all.


Sapphire Spirit Of Star Woman

Related writings:

Bakol & Transmitting The Torah Of Atzilut
Best Among Women
Star Sapphire With All

Star Sapphire With All

כ"ד חשון תשס"ת
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As I woke up this shabbat morning, I had a waking vision. It consisted of a sapphire tree of sparkling dark blue gemstone with a radiant white 5-pointed star of gemstone on top of it. The radiant light surrounding the pentagram like halos within halos within halos formed a radiant pentacle. It reminded me of both a pagan yule tree and of an exquisite dark blue star sapphire gemstone.

Googling 'star sapphire torah' for some clue as to what my waking vision might symbolize, I discovered (Hidden Torah Codes) that "many of the Jewish sages believe that the Torah was given on two star sapphire stones" and that blue sapphire crystals form the hexagonal star of David.

Consequently, my witchy vision this morning symbolizes the two stones (the blue sapphire and the white pentacle, together constructing a 'star sapphire') from which the Torah is ever given. The hexagon crystal of the blue sapphire and the pentagram of the pentacle, in my vision, unify the vav and the hei of the Tetragrammaton. The halos within halos within halos represent the Presence of yud-hei and its im hakolel within my vision. Taking it all (כל) together, my vision envisions unification of the Divine Name.

Related writing - Bakol & Transmitting The Torah Of Atzilut

Best Among Women

כ"ד חשון תשס"ת
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"The best among women practices witchcraft" ... Jerusalem Talmud, Kiddushin 4, 11

Bakol & Transmitting The Torah Of Atzilut

כ"ד חשון תשס"ת
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Commentary on Chayyei Sarah from Garden Of The Dark Moon Jubilee - The Daughter Of Avraham And Transmitting The Torah Of Atzilut.

A Good Day Even Going To The Dentist

י"ח חשון תשס"ת
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Unbelievable day.

I finally went to the dentist this afternoon to have the back molar I had somehow split weeks ago extracted. First of all, I don't have dental insurance so I had to pay for it. Do you believe what it costs these days just to have a tooth pulled? $260! Wow. But, I had the money to pay for it. Yay!

The dentist told me I should've been a diamond cutter because my molar was split perfectly and flawlessly down the middle. It is a beautiful split, he said. LOL. The wisdom tooth coming in and pushing on it may have actually had something to do with splitting the molar, so my wisdom tooth is so wise it can cut diamonds flawlessly. Yay!

Then, the local anesthetic injections didn't really hurt much. Yay! And neither did the extraction. Double Yay!

It has now been seven hours since the extraction, the numbness has entirely left my jaw and face and you know what? I feel no pain. None. Nada, Nil. I obtained a prescription for Vicodin 'just in case' I might need it when the numbness wore off, but I totally have no pain from this. Unreal, but hey ... Yay!

No swelling or tenderness either ... even after messing around in the area to remove a piece of rice I had for dinner from the wound. Wow. Still pain free. Yay!

Following my dental appointment (with a mouth full of gauze), I went and had the locksmith make a spare key to my car, since I had taken the rest of the afternoon off 'just in case' I bled alot, which I didn't. And I now have a spare key. Yay!

Then, I changed my gauze and went to the mall to purchase a new bottle of the perfume I use, Cashmere. Yummmmm. It smells awesome! I absolutely adore this perfume. They had one bottle of the eau de parfum left - and it's mine, mine, all mine! Yay!

The weather was lovely this afternoon. I feel good. And this has been a good day. Yay!

Gavriel On Paganism

י"ח חשון תשס"ת
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From Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah on Gavriel, the angel of fire:

There are numerous passages in the Talmud that associate Gavriel with control of fire. This would certainly be consistent with the fashioning of the Menorah which obviously has a lot to do with fire. A closer look at a number of Talmudic passages about Gavriel reveal another side to this angel.

The Talmud relates that when Abraham was a young man he was sentenced to death by King Nimrod for being a monotheist anti-pagan. He was thrown into a fiery furnace. It was Gavriel - the angel of fire - who saved him. (Shabbat 118a)

Yes, it is Gavriel who saves Avraham from his skewed anti-pagan agenda ...

Gavriel was the angel sent to carry out the destruction of Sodom and Gemorrah. (Bava Metzia 86b) When Tamar was wrongfully accused of harlotry by Yehudah, it was Gavriel who protected and preserved the evidence of the justice of her case. (Sotah 10a) It was Gavriel who ensured that Mordechai's saving of King Achashverosh was recorded in the King's memoirs. (Megilah 16a)

From these and other passages (see also Sanhedrin 19b, Shabbat 56b) Gavriel emerges as an angel concerned with justice. He protects the wrongfully accused from unjust punishment, punishes the truly guilty, and seeks to ensure just reward for those who deserve it. In Kabbalistic terms, Gavriel occupies the left side - associated with the attribute of gevurah, i.e. strength or judgment.

... and walks on fire with me.

Devastation Beneath The Mountains Of San Gabriel

י"ז חשון תשס"ת
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Foxnews reports on the catastrophic fire now blazing in the Los Angeles area:

LOS ANGELES — Southern Californians faced a second straight day of devastation Saturday as a wind-blasted wildfire destroyed some 500 mobile homes, shut down major freeways and forced thousands of people to abandon homes in the path of flames.

For residents of Sylmar, which sits at the edge of the Angeles National Forest beneath the San Gabriel Mountains, the fire underscored the hazards that come with living close to nature when the dangerous fall and winter winds fan catastrophic blazes.

Read full news report at link above.

Be safe the souls who live there. So mote it be, אמן.

The Flaw Of Pure Selflessness

י"ז חשון תשס"ת
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In reply to my commentary on Vayera (posted in full at LiveJournal and on Garden Of The Dark Moon Jubilee), my friend Vashtivah commented:

I realize there is a concept of going in and seeking Divine Guidance or Self that is above selfishness, but I don't think it winds up being selflessness.

I think Vashtivah is right - pure selflessness is just as spiritually destructive as pure selfishness. Perhaps the failure to stop the development of Avraham's negative chazakah at the onset was with the construct of the initial choice presented to him itself (see Deeds That Ought Not Be Done). Pure selflessness lacked the power to alter Avraham's action because selflessness, like selfishness, is ultimately flawed. This kernel of truth supports the understanding as posited in my commentary on Vayera. The point with the power to alter Avraham's action was the point oriented toward integration.

The True Merit Of Avraham

י"ז חשון תשס"ת
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Updated and expanded commentary on Vayera from Garden Of The Dark Moon Jubilee - The True Merit Of Avraham - on chinuch v'hadracha.

Chazakah

י"ז חשון תשס"ת
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Commentary on Vayera from Garden Of The Dark Moon Jubilee - Deeds That Ought Not Be Done - on respect and the halachah of chazakah.

Precognitive Incident

י"ג חשון תשס"ת
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A peculiar thing happened today which suggests (but does not necessarily prove) an incident of precognitive perception. It is a possibility that the merchant in question read my blog entry on the dream and then decided to issue me the refund as described below (although this possibility doesn't necessarily disprove an incident of precognitive perception either).

On shabbat (a week ago), I dreamt that my purse was in danger of being stolen, yet wasn't stolen in the end.

Following this most recent shabbat, today I came upon a pleasant surprize - an addition to my checking account of $33.70 from a merchant with whom I have done business in the past year. I had had to wait an extended period of time for an expensive handcrafted item I had purchased from them months ago and they must have decided to refund to me some of the cost.

When I first discovered the odd transacted amount on Sunday when auditing my checkbook online, I had not noticed that the amount had been added to my account. When I saw an amount I hadn't charged or deposited, I immediately thought my account had been wrongly charged. Discombobulated by the unexpected, I couldn't even see the addition to my balance! I was so oblivious to it. But this morning, when I decided to check again before heading off to the bank to order a new debit/credit card and destroy the one I have, I saw that the amount had been credited and not subtracted. I could see it this morning. My checking account had not been robbed after all. On the contrary, it had been enriched by $33.70.

Anyway, a real life event this weekend has correlation with the dream I had the weekend a week ago and putatively suggests that I experienced an incident of precognitive dreaming.

In the dream, my purse was feared stolen, but then it was found not to be stolen after all. In real life, my money was feared stolen, but then it was found not to be stolen after all.

Machazeh

י"א חשון תשס"ת
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DovBear notes that the "word used for vision in Genesis 15:1 (machazeh) is unusual, and Aramaic. It appears only in the books of the prophets to introduce their visions."

After these things the word of the Divine came unto Abram in a vision, saying ...

This kind of vision (like the mitzvot) is "not in the heavens, that one should say, who can go up and get it for me that I may observe it" (Devarim 30:12).

Consequently, machazeh pertains to unified "spiritual" and "mundane" prophetic vision. It is not the lofty vision of Moses removed from common experience, nor the limited vision of constricted mundane consciousness - it is a synthesis of both kinds of awareness into something totally "awesome".

Like the state of yirah, machazeh has degrees of prophetic tolerance and refinement.

Bridge To The Land Of Eternal Life

י"א חשון תשס"ת
Phasma Priscus 13

A Hidden Path divination performed during the planetary hour of Saturn with the waxing gibbous moon 78% (הגמל) full brought out the card The Otherworld. This card's appearance in a reading signals a transition of consciousness, a crossing over from the state called the Land of Death into the state called the Land of Eternal Life.

Mother & Daughter Missing Near Phoenix

י"א חשון תשס"ת
Phasma Priscus 13


Missing Near Phoenix, Karen and Liliana

FoxnewsPhoenix reports that a mother and daughter have been kidnapped near Phoenix in Avondale, Arizona.

Mother and Daughter Missing in Avondale
Last Edited: Saturday, 08 Nov 2008, 4:46 PM MST
Created: Saturday, 08 Nov 2008, 8:54 AM MST

Arizona police are searching for a missing Avondale woman and her 3-year-old daughter, who allegedly were kidnapped from their home on or around Friday.

Liliana Beatrice Iboa, 20, and Karen Bianay Cervantes were reported missing by Iboa's husband, Benito Cervantes Mena, on Friday night.

Mena told police he had been out of town when he received a call Friday morning from an unidentified male suspect claiming he had his wife and daughter. The caller demanded a ransom.

When Mena got home he found his home had been broken into and burglarized. He told police he did not report the incident right away because he feared his family would be harmed.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Avondale Police Department at 623-333-7001.

Please be on the lookout for this missing mom and her daughter. May they be safe. So mote it be, amen.