Young Tam Lin

כ" בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 20

Traditional Scottish Ballad

The King forbade his maidens a'
That wore gold in their hair
To come and go by Carterhaugh,
For young Tam Lin is there.

And those that go by Carterhaugh
From them he takes a fee,
Either their rings or their mantles
Or else their maidenheads!

So Janet has kilted her green mantle
Just a little above her knee,
And she has gone to Carterhaugh
Just as fast as she could flee.

She had not pulled a double rose,
A rose but three or four,
When up and spoke this young Tam Lin,
Crying "Lady, pull no more!'

'How dare you pull those flowers!
How dare you break those wands!
How dare you come to Carterhaugh
Withouten my command?'

She says, 'Carterhaugh it is my own
My Father gave it to me,
And I will come and go by here
Withouten any leave of thee!'

There were four and twenty ladies gay
All sitting down at chess,
In and come the fair young Janet,
As pale as any glass.

Up and spake her father dear,
He spake meek and mild,
'Oh alas, Janet,' he cried,
'I fear you go with child!'

'And if I go with child,
It is myself to blame!
There's not a lord in all your hall
Shall give my child his name!'

Janet has kilted her green mantle
Just a little above the knee,
And she has gone to Carterhaugh
For to pull the scathing tree.

'How dare you pull that herb
All among the leaves so green
For to kill the bonny babe
That we got us between!'

'You must tell to me Tam Lin,
Ah you must tell to me,
Were you once a mortal knight
Or mortal hall did see?'

'I was once a mortal knight
I was hunting here one day,
I did fall from off my horse,
The Fairy Queen Stole me away.

'And pleasant is the Fairyland
But a strange tale I'll tell,
For at the end of seven years
They pay a fine to Hell.

'At the end of seven years
They pay a fine to Hell,
And as I am of mortal flesh
I fear it is myself.'

'Tomorrow night is Samhain,
And the Fairy Folk do ride;
Those that would their true love win
At Miles Cross they must hide!

'First you let pass the black horse
Then you let pass the brown,
But run up to the milk white steed
And pull the rider down.

'First they'll change me in your arms
Into some snake or adder,
Hold me close and fear me not,
For I am your child's father.

'Then they'll turn me in your arms
Into a lion wild,
Hold me close and fear me not
As you would hold your child.

'Then they'll turn me in your arms
Into a red-hot bar of iron,
Hold me close and fear me not
For I will do no harm.

'Then they'll turn me in your arms
Into some burning lead,
Throw me into well-water
And throw me in with speed.

'Last they'll turn me in your arms
Into a naked knight
Wrap me up in your green mantle,
An hide me close from sight.'

So well she did what he did say
She did her true love win,
She wrapped him up in her mantle,
As blythe as any bird in Spring.

Up and spake the Fairy Queen,
And angry cried she,
'If I'd have known of this Tam Lin,
That some lady'd borrowed thee,

'If I had known of this Tam Lin,
That some lady borrowed thee,
I'd have plucked out thine eyes of flesh
And put in eyes from a tree!

'If I'd have known of this Tam Lin,
Before we came from home,
I'd have plucked out thine heart of flesh
And put in a heart of stone!'

Beyond The Pale, Legends Of The Goddess II

י"ז בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 17

Newest music CD - Beyond The Pale, Legends Of The Goddess II by Laura Powers

"The musical journey continues enfolding the listener in a place that is both ancient and new. Circle and soar over the moors with the "Sisters of the Wind", experience nature's wisdom (Answer Me With Silence) and smell the jasmine wind as the goddess of the sea guides you through unknown waters (Goddess of the Sea Mist). Enhanced by Celtic instrumentation such as uilleann pipes, tin whistle and Irish flute the music radiates a haunting beauty that captures the heart and soothes the spirit."

Walk Carefully

י"ה בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 15

In follow-up to earlier entries (Two Streams, One Winding Line of Consciousness and My Dream In The News ... Again), news today from northern Illinois:

Chicago Street Becomes River

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- A 3-foot-diameter water main burst on Chicago's North Side early Tuesday, gushing out thousands of gallons of water that crumbled pavement and turned a major street into a small lake.

Police closed several blocks around Montrose Avenue and Wolcott Street and the Chicago Transit Authority briefly shut down a nearby train station and rerouted buses.

A hole in the street quickly grew to 25 feet long and the torrent ripped a light pole and several parking meters from the sidewalk.

"It was a dramatic scene," said Tom LaPorte, spokesman for the city's Department of Water Management. "That's lot of water to come out of the pipe all at once. The deepest was about 4 feet of water."

Read full article at link above.

Open News

י"ה בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 15

I was planning on being away from home Monday through Wednesday on business. However, the hotel (not cheap) where a room had been provided for me through a sister facility where I was going to help the new data coordinator get her systems in order (originally for 3 days) had drapes fixed in the "open" position. The drapes had been designed that way - they weren't faulty functioning. The only thing between the outside world and I was a pair of sheer panels! Have you ever heard of such a thing?!!!! Needless to say, I'm no longer there. It's Tuesday morning and I'm at home. I'm sorry I had to leave after the first day, but to be provided an indecent room with drapes fixed "open" and to consider such a room acceptable business accomodations is totally inconceivable. Unbelievable! That's right. As everyone else in the conference room yesterday afternoon, I too am a professional, and as a professional, this is a business standard I will not accept.

More "in the open" news this Tuesday morning - CNN reports that stocks plummeted more than 400 points at the opening bell.

Bad news it seems, with the open.

Unified Aspects Of Tradition

י"ב בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 12

In follow-up to my earlier posts, Advent Of The Black Crow & The Exodus and Raven Of The Land, I also want to point out that my one dream as described in the first entry contains within it three major aspects of transmutative Tradition (just as the Morrígan is sometimes perceived as a triple goddess and sometimes as a single goddess), namely:

1. The Black Crow, symbolizing the archetypal Feminine Power of the UnderWorld.
2. The Guardian and the Guide, symbolizing guardianship of Sovereignty and guidance toward one's correct developmental path.
3. The Summoning of the Ancestors, evident in the correlation of the Green Lion alchemical stage with both the greenfield of the dream and my Jewish ancestors, Will and Sue Grunwald (meaning Greenfield); and Remembering the Future, evident in my dream's interpretive link to my chotimah (the flame of the future world).

Raven Of The Land

י"ב בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 12

Black ravens are members of the Crow family. Typically associated with terror and cruelty, ravens/crows are alternatively associated with righteousness and mercy.

Rav Fraund writes of Eliyahu's raven:

There would come a time when a righteous person would make the land dry (Eliyahu the prophet). There would be a tremendous famine in the land and the ravens would bring him food and meat.

Consequently, not only is Black Crow associated with transmutation of consciousness in esoteric Celtic Tradition, but so too is Black Crow associated with transmutation of consciousness in esoteric Jewish Tradition, where I, myself, am a tapestry of both in peaceful harmony.

Celtic Morrígan and Hebrew Lilith.

Morrígan as the guardian of Sovereignty.

Advent Of The Black Crow & The Exodus

י"ב בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 12

I began reading my new book, Underworld Initiation by R. J. Stewart a few days ago. Nearly three weeks ago, I posted my dream, Cleave Land, writing in that post of red birds and of the advent of one black bird:

Off to the side of the road there was a huge field completely full of singing red birds. There were so many singing red birds that the songs and the birds themselves blurred into one sound and sight of indistinct red chaos, yet I concentrated (almost as if pulling myself inward together) to listen for a distinct message to come out from among them.

I focused. Many of the red birds suddenly just disappeared as if lifted off the page of the "place" I was seeing. No longer was there a blur of song and redness. Though the field was still full of birds, now I could see individual birds, whereas before they had all blurred together. Most were still red birds, but I could now see that there were birds of other colors scattered among them as well. Now, there was even a particular black bird whose voice emerged from the group and pulled my attention toward it. The black bird's song rose up as an individual song directly into my ear distinctly, out from the field of many birds.

In Underworld Initiation, R. J. Stewart writes:

This sphere is in fact, Feminine ... acting as a bridge of pure catabolic power between the Dark Mother and the Light or Instructing Mother. In Celtic lore, She is the Morrígan, the Red Bird of Battles, the active power of Death and Breakdown.

Mr. Stewart additionally writes of the Morrígan, whose totem is also a Black Crow, as the Archetype of Female Power as it pertains to further esoteric transformation of consciousness:

The Universal Tree may only be experienced direct, so words are of little value other than as loose instructions upon the way. Let us, like alchemists of old, seek the advent of the Black Crow.

The advent of the Black Crow in alchemy is a further development of the carrion crow who haunted the battlefields of ancient wars. The Crow is the Totem Beast of the Goddess of Death, breaking down the body that the spirit may be released. In our alchemical context, it is often described or shown in pictoral form as one of the stages of Transmutation.

Significantly, emergence of the Black Crow of liberation brings forth from the battlefield a particular path from among the various open paths which will lead one to the castle of the Kingdom.

The Red Sea of Birds of my dream symbolized wrestling with Judgment and the limitations of physicality (the Massa Confusa of Red Birds which lifted). The Red Birds which remained (Pelican stage of alchemical transmutation) in the (green) field of my dream acted as an anchor to physical incarnation. The "greenfield" of the dream correlates to my Jewish ancestral name Grunwald (meaning Greenfield) and to the alchemical stage of the Green Lion. The Birds of Many Colors in my dream refer to the Peacock's Tail stage, "the turning point" and signify that I am on the right path for my particularity. The Black Crow symbolizes liberation of consciousness from the pressing restrictions of the physical and psychic bodies, and an exodus from the dire straits of Mitzrayim. It's flight (as described in Cleave Land) symbolizes the rising of the Phoenix from The Flame:

The difference between my dream symbolism and that of typical alchemical transmutative processes is the absence of the "whitening" and "White Stone" stages. My particular chotimah is not only white, it is both a whitish (white flame and aura) and blackish (dark flame and coal) Flame of the Future World.

The cosmological Morrígan - an archetypal vehicle of deciding who will live and who will die.

Celtic Morrígan and Hebrew Lilith.

Morrígan as the guardian of Sovereignty.

Pharaoh Explained

ח' בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 8

After the Hebrews had lived literally hundreds of years undisturbed in Mitzrayim, all of a sudden Pharaoh has a psychotic break and decrees all the male Hebrew babies to be thrown to the crocodiles? We must ask, what triggered Pharaoh's psychosis?

Well, midrash tells us that Pharaoh's astrologers had warned him of a particular unnamed Hebrew coming down the line (sometime forward in the future) who would seriously disturb the "kingdom" (his daughter's kingdom eventually). The news stories of those times reports (Torah records) Pharaoh's immediate response to the news that "someone" (Calev! LOL) was coming down the line - Pharaoh decreed burdens upon all (keep the Hebrews busy) and kill the male Hebrew babies (these decrees were initiated many years before Moshe was born and "received" by Batya).

You see, Pharaoh thought that by nixing out Calev at birth (whichever baby he might be), his daughter would never rebel. LOL. I can hear him say even now, "there will be no shotgun wedding!" (figuratively)

Ohmygawd, this is just too funny. Of course, back in those days, a Pharaoh could make sure there would be no shotgun wedding by killing every potential baby who "might be" the future partner-in-rebellion with his daughter. He thought.

Pharaoh was only acting as any powerful dad gone psycho would do in his shoes trying to proactively protect his daughter from "going astray" back in those ancient days. He was just wrong to think he could succeed. LOL. The rebellion was in her blood too.

Batya & Calev, The Rebellious Children

ח' בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 8

LOL. Well, well.

In follow-up to my earlier posts, the first regarding my dream of being "Batya" (the rebellious daughter) and the second regarding the ben sorer u-moreh (the rebellious son), I've found another "rebelliousness" that ties the two rebellious children together. Apparently, Batya (alias Miriam, the bitter one) married Calev (alias Mered, the rebellious one). This is so funny!

These two incredibly rebellious souls gave us Moshe Rabbeinu and the Promised Land! Isn't that funny? Also from the rebellious couple were born Heber (to unite) and Jekuthiel (God will nourish).

See, a little (okay, alot) of rebellion ain't so bad. LOL.

Al Shem Sofo

ז' בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 7

The Kotzker Rebbe teaches regarding judgment al shem sofo of the ben sorer u'moreh (a rebellious child who is teaching):

The expression al shem sofo, translated literally, means "according to his end." While we interpret this as reference to what he will do later on in life, it may have another meaning. Al shem sofo, "according to his end," refers to the end of his title: ben sorer u'moreh. The word moreh, which we have translated as rebellious, can also be understood to mean "and he will teach." A moreh is a teacher. Our fear is that this rebellious child will not just simply isolate his iniquity; he will share it with others, teaching them to be rebellious.

You see, the putative problem is that the rebellious child dares to teach against the flow of deeply entrenched communal conformity. Can we imagine the ire directed toward a child with such moxie?

Against the communal opinion which judges a rebellious child to necessarily be teaching iniquity comes the final judgement that such a "rebellious teacher" will be Divinely dealt with al shem sofo, that is, according to his/her end.

The word "his end" (sofo) derives from the Hebrew shoresh סוף. One meaning associated with this shoresh is the concept of "growth at water's edge" [Shemot 2:3]. Thus, the ordained fate of a rebellious child who dares to teach against the established way of doing things rests with what grows at water's edge.

Hmm. I just had a dream about growing messianic consciousness at water's edge. Read about it here.

Scepter Of Selection

ו' בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 6

Though I am currently employed using my qualification as a registered nurse in the area of clinical data management for reimbursement purposes, once upon a time, I was employed as a biologist-biochemist in pharmaceutical discovery research (my university degree is in biochemistry, not nursing). As a biologist-biochemist, much of my work involved investigating interactions between cells of the immune system in the bloodstream within the contexts of protective or pathologic inflammatory responses. For those unfamiliar with immune cells in the bloodstream, a subset (T Lymphocytes) of the cells I worked with during my investigations into cell-cell interactions are also intimately involved with positive and negative selection processes critical to a healthy functioning immune system. When I became a kabbalist, I wrote the following poem in recognition of the work I did as a research biologist-biochemist ...

Scepter Of Selection

cell to cell, receptor to receptor
a fit communication
an exchanging interaction, immortalized, specific
naturally essential, particularly recognized
the only true selection
universally evident in the matter
with perfect complimentary
positive and negative
working completely together for good
ordering with chaos
a most functional system of defense
in the complex environment
full of simple orchestrations
a developing music into being
playing through generations and times
turning over
the epiphany of history
through her handle on blood biology

Temperance & The River Of Sparks

ו' בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 6

Last night (see Gateway), following my cord ritual and gift of blessing given reishit "with perfect love and perfect trust" (codewords of The Craft) to the elementals, nature spirits and faeries of the crossroads, I dreamt.

It was a perfectly temperate beautiful sunny day. I had moved into a beautiful big house filled with exquisite antiques made of dark wood with my "father". The big house sat at the edge of a peaceful community. A wide sparkling river ran beside it's northern side, shining like many diamonds. The waters of the Great River river flowed peacefully west to east. I went to bathe in the miraculously sparkling pure water in my dream this sixth day of Shevat/Imbolgen (days of the growth of messianic consciousness/days of reclamation).

The house of my father and I was held in awe by the people of the peaceful community. A woman approached me. She wanted to come and stay in the big house by the wide river of sparks with my father and I, to learn the mysteries.

The soul of a person can teach her ... the Baal Shem Tov, tzadik of the Hasidic Traditon

And ultimately, it is only in perfect love and perfect trust that we may abide by the Law ... Karl Lembke, witch of the StarKindler Tradition

Gateway

ו' בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 6

I literally and physically took my spirit cord to the crossroads this motzi shabbat.

Just as there is a 3-shin and a 4-shin in Hebrew, and just as there are 3 and 4 Celtic fire festivals, there is a liminal crossroads of 3 and 4 roads in witchcraft. The crossroads of 4 represents the 4 directions (E-N-S-W), while the crossroads of 3 represents a central locus of consciousness experiencing involutionary (above, surrounding, moving inward, mekabel) and evolutionary (below, projective, moving outward, mashpiya) movements with respect to the central mediating locus of consciousness.

With 7 directions, governed by the Queen of Witches, particularly on this motzi shabbat sixth day of Shevat/Imbolgen, the crossroads is a liminal no-man's land, a chalal hapanui, and a gateway to the extraordinary.

The crossroads ritual was performed with the waxing crescent moon 21% full.

Following the ritual, I gave a gift of blessing to the peaceful elementals, nature spirits and faeries who dwell at the crossroads. The physical vehicle for the blessing gift consisted of dandelion soaked in olive oil from upon my altar, pomegranate seeds, salted bread, myrrh, mugwort and cedarwood.

Deficiency Free Audit

ב' בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 2

Mazel tov to all my excellent colleagues at The Waters! We had a deficiency free state survey!

For The Record

ב' בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 2

In follow-up to my previous entry, Lashes Of Fire, here are additional "coincidental" data for the record:

1. Lead-Pouring, Fire & "The End Of Orthodox Judaism?" - see linked article

2. There was a funeral this past Monday for a woman who recently passed away in the local Jewish community.

3. "Handle her"

4. The Jewitch's Flame Tells A Story

Are these things all connected? I don't know, but here are the real world data.

Lashes Of Fire

ב' בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 2

I have to consider the question - was somebody trying to "handle the Jewitch" and the attempt went bad, falling out into the life of another?

In a previous entry, describing the hazardous jumping flame of my black ritual candle this past shabbat, I wrote:

This Shabbat, the black wax of my main ritual candle was cut quickly and completely down one side like a river cut into the wax (as the deep melted pool of wax drained from around the wick) to the candle holder (over 1-2 inches depending on the perspective of timeline) by the very high radically jumping and leaping flame connected to the wick’s fire. It happened so fast that I only noticed it as the melted black wax was already pouring down the side of my altar. The flame was so unusually high-jumping (I’d estimate it reached 6-9 inches at times), it was so furiously energetic, that I had put it out with a candle snuffer lest it reach over and catch fire the cloth which covered my crystal ball. After putting out the potential fire hazard, I stuck a fingertip into the melted, still warm but cooling, wax on the side of my altar cloth. I’m not sure why I did this. I just did it. I wanted to know the feel of the wax. What was the story it had to tell?

Now, three days later, this is in the news:

2 Girls Killed in 'Strange Ritual' Slaying in Iowa
Tuesday, January 08, 2008

DES MOINES, Iowa — A man has been charged with the stabbing and strangulation murder of his two stepdaughters in what police are calling a "spell gone bad" in the family's Sioux City, Iowa, home.

Lawrence Douglas Harris Sr. was charged with two counts of first-degree murder after authorities arrived at his burning home and found the girls in their second-story bedroom and blood on Harris, police said Monday.

Police Lt. Marti Reilly said Harris had been performing "some strange ritual" and told officers he cast a spell that had gone bad. Reilly said he could offer no other details on how the girls were killed.

"You're talking about people casting spells, spells gone bad," Sioux City Police Chief Joe Frisbie said at a Monday press conference, according to the Sioux City Journal. "Obviously, there is a lot more going on here than a straightforward homicide."

The fire, which started in the basement of the home, caused only superficial damage, Reilly said. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

Professor Helen A. Berger, author of three books on witches, told the Sioux City Journal she doubted anyone claiming to have killed children while casting a spell is a true practitioner of witchcraft.

"This is not a group that participates normally in violence, but it is a group that doesn't have firm boundaries, which means that anyone can make a claim to be a member," she told the newspaper.

Professor Berger speaks the truth. True witchcraft is not a violent craft, it is a nature-based spirituality. Nevertheless, there are sick people to be found among all religious or spiritual groups. Witches are not excluded from the ills that plague all humanity, and all religious groups.

Impulse, Chasdai David Hane'emanim

כ"ח בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 29

In follow-up to earlier entries (Two Streams, One Winding Line of Consciousness and My Dreams In The News ... Again), a old poem (Impulse, with an address "host") and graphic from my musical website are relevant:

furiously alive, pouring into life
released lishmo
a driven cacophony, a roaring host of orot into keilim
a multitude of jumbled sparks flowing together
fashioning and perfecting, a kneading dew of truth
pivoting wavelets of night dancing down the light
as one unique note
beholding
bound together, yet blooming from the action
like an ibbur of resurrection
stringing kuzu bemukhsaz kuzu
darkly brilliant, the most gentle impulse
moving through it

graphic artistic credit:
the main figure in the graphic is from the photographic art of Leonard Nimoy

Note the position of the arms of the woman in the graphic and their positional similarity to the wax formation connected to my ritual Shabbat Witches Brew black pillar candle in the entry, Two Streams, One Winding Line Of Consciousness.

Also on the musical website page where this poem was first published many years ago is the animated "heartbeating" 4-shin (my original creation) made for Walking On Fire (musical website) with the caption "chasdai David hane'emanim". The impulsing 4-shin can be seen in this blog's sidebar.

My Dream In The News ... Again

כ"ח בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 29

In follow-up to my post Two Streams, One Winding Line Of Consciousness (describing a dream this morning of a raging river set free upon a street in Danville), I just came across this photo (shown) on the frontpage of Foxnews online this evening, about a massive levee break in Nevada. It looks amazingly similar to (but also not the same as) the "cut river" form made of the melting candle wax which preceded the dream last night (see graphic in linked post). This is yet another case (see here and here) where a dream (or focused action) of mine has clear immediate synchronicities with subsequent news events.

The caption of a second photo in the photo essay associated with the news event reads, "Jan. 5: A Reno HASTY team worker surveys the flooded area on Canary Circle in Fernley, Nev."

Describing my dream in the earlier post, I wrote, "I told everyone to walk carefully, not quickly, and to “feel out” each step each took “for him or herself” as they followed my footsteps across the raging river."

Nevada Levee Breaks; 3,500 Being Rescued
Saturday, January 05, 2008

FERNLEY, Nev. — Helicopters were rescuing Nevada residents from rooftops on Saturday after a levee broke, sending 3 feet of frigid water into hundreds of homes and endangering thousands.

Some 3,500 people were being evacuated in 26-degree weather as emergency crews worked to rescue the stranded after a 30-foot section of the levee broke along the Truckee Canal at 4:30 a.m.

"Our street was flooded, water to the edge of our driveway and rising quickly ... there's some cars there, the water's up to the doors," resident Bill Sanchez said.

There were no known injuries as of Saturday afternoon but officials had issued a flash flood warning.

The break might have been started by burrowing rodents, an official said.

Ernie Schank, president of the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, said the break may have been caused by a rodent burrowing and weakening the canal's earthen bank.

Read full story at newslink above.

Two Streams, One Winding Line Of Consciousness

כ"ז בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 28

This Shabbat, the black wax of my main ritual candle was cut quickly and completely down one side like a river cut into the wax (as the deep melted pool of wax drained from around the wick, see graphic, click to enlarge) to the candle holder (over 1-2 inches depending on the perspective of timeline) by the very high radically jumping and leaping flame connected to the wick’s fire. It happened so fast that I only noticed it as the melted black wax was already pouring down the side of my altar. The flame was so unusually high-jumping (I’d estimate it reached 6-9 inches at times), it was so furiously energetic, that I had put it out with a candle snuffer lest it reach over and catch fire the cloth which covered my crystal ball. After putting out the potential fire hazard, I stuck a fingertip into the melted, still warm but cooling, wax on the side of my altar cloth. I’m not sure why I did this. I just did it. I wanted to know the feel of the wax. What was the story it had to tell?

I read a bit of my new book, The Spirit Cord (whose esoteric disciplines I have begun to practice already), before going to sleep.

Following these things, Shabbat night I dreamt.

There was a pervasive catastrophe that devastated the area that included the city of Danville. The devastation bringing death concentrated east (tiferet) of Vermilion Street (which cuts through the center of the downtown business district in Danville). The raging torrent of a mighty river came with the devastating energy, flowing north (gevurah) to south (chesed) down Vermilion Street. Vermilion Street formed the “bed” (choshen mishpat) of the raging river which separated between the camp of life (located on the western side) and the camp of death (located on the eastern side).

Initially in the dream, my children and I lived on the eastern side where the death energy was beginning to concentrate. To escape it, we had to go west (yesod) and across the raging river. Unlike the Ba'al Shem Tov (who used a secret knowledge of Divine Names), I simply gathered up (enfolding involutionary stream) my children, who took the forms of a neutral colored slippery little earth-worm and a leather shoulder bag (like a Benjamin's bag) with a matching leather shoulder strap. I could easily and safely carry these forms with me across the raging river to safety. Before starting across the raging river, as I was about to tell the little earthworm form to get into a clear protective sandwich baggie (so it wouldn’t slip out of my grip as I carried it in the raging water), the little worm did it automatically as if it knew instinctively what it should do or what I was going to tell it. I had dipped the baggie into the river water so that it also contained a manageable amount of water to keep the worm wet and hydrated. As soon as I had done this and/or as I was doing it (simultaneously – tohu - yet distinctly in order - tikun) the worm entered into the clear baggie, which I carried in my hand. Similarly, the leather strapped-purse placed itself/was placed by me upon my shoulder.

Now my family and others who were walking with me toward safety stood together on the eastern bank of the raging river that was Vermilion Street, in the downtown business district. I was going to lead our little band across the raging river. I told everyone to walk carefully, not quickly, and to “feel out” each step each took “for him or herself” as they followed my footsteps across the raging river. They were to feel first before committing a foot to “stepping down” on the floor of the riverbed. The torrential churning current could wipe out the ground underwater and create a hole in the riverbed at any moment between individual steps. I explained, if a new hole arose, they were to take an alternate step than the one I took. "Don’t just step there because I did. See,” I said, feeling a new hole in the riverbed as I “felt” my own way as I started across, “here is a hole, and I am not stepping here (where my foot had originally been directed underneath the water and where those who followed could not see the redirection of my footstep in the churning water).” They indicated they understood. Carrying my children in easy-to-carry forms, one as a slippery worm in a river water-containing plastic baggie and two as the strap and bag of a leather purse, I continued through it, carefully feeling each step of the way. Many others followed my example across the raging river in one long winding single line (this is relevant to the purchase my besom yesterday morning, to the unbroken chain - mi'Sinai - of esoteric transmission, and to messianic consciousness) that extended from beyond the eastern (where death was concentrating in the dream) horizon behind me, across the river and onto the western shore.

I soon stepped centrally upon the western bank of the raging river to safety, as did all those behind me who had followed and were still (on the eastern side of the river) coming to join the “winding line” connected to a proven safe journey out of the camp of death and into the camp of life. I sat down for a moment to rest my aching (but not hurt) left hip muscle that had borne the primary portion of the burden of the workload of making it across.

As my children and I rested there, we “unwrapped” (unfolding evolutionary stream) ourselves in the atmosphere of safety on the western shore. I recognized an acquaintance (no form of any particular person I know in real life) sitting to the north of me who had also made it across the raging river. He appeared emotionally at a loss. Recognizing me as well, he got up from where he was sitting and walked over to me. He told me he had lost his family in the catastrophe and was alone. We reached out to one another simultaneously and placed our hands on the other’s opposite shoulders in a comforting gesture. Then, we leaned forward and touched our foreheads together, also a comforting gesture.

I woke up.

Just Two Shabbatot

כ"ד בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 25

In my previous entry describing this morning's dream, Cleave Land, I wrote:

There were so many singing red birds that the songs and the birds themselves blurred into one sound and sight of indistinct red chaos, yet I concentrated (almost as if pulling myself inward together) to listen for a distinct message to come out from among them.

I focused.

The first mystical action of "concentrating to pull myself in" is related to an entry posted nearly 2 shabbatot ago, Mirror Magic, where I wrote:

A concave mirror is "where a parallel beam of light becomes a convergent beam, whose rays intersect in the focus of the mirror." (Wiki)

The second mystical action of further "focusing" is related to last shabbat's entry, Wisdom Casting Cloth, where I wrote:

The square of the cloth symbolizes the Middle World, ha'Emtsa.

The inner square (Midhe) is comprised of 7-7.2" lines and symbolizes focus or the powers of concentration, memory, recognition, and sensitivity to meaning.

Cleave Land

כ"ג בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 24

Among the many parts of a dream this morning, one scene stands out - I was traveling down and around the corner of a street named "Cleave"land. Off to the side of the road there was a huge field completely full of singing red birds. There were so many singing red birds that the songs and the birds themselves blurred into one sound and sight of indistinct red chaos, yet I concentrated (almost as if pulling myself inward together) to listen for a distinct message to come out from among them.

I focused. Many of the red birds suddenly just disappeared as if lifted off the page of the "place" I was seeing. No longer was there a blur of song and redness. Though the field was still full of birds, now I could see individual birds, whereas before they had all blurred together. Most were still red birds, but I could now see that there were birds of other colors scattered among them as well. Now, there was even a particular black bird whose voice emerged from the group and pulled my attention toward it. The black bird's song rose up as an individual song directly into my ear distinctly, out from the field of many birds. The black bird seemed to pull itself up out of the field and toward my face on the "string" connected to it's individual song which had attached to my attention. In other words, my attention gave the black bird's song a point of attachment at the end opposite the black bird, making the particular black bird's song a stabilized pulley. The other birdsongs were just unattached strings blowing in the wind. With an opposite attachment, a bird could pull itself up and out from among the many of the field. Why, it could even fly!

I woke up.