Thursday, December 31, 2009

Tales From A Small Closet

ט"ו בטבת תש"ע
Grael 17

Commentary on Vayechi from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - Tales From a Small Closet.

Treasure Moon

ט"ו בטבת תש"ע
Grael 17

The full moon is so beautiful in the clear night sky tonight! It is also a blue moon. In the witches' calendar, tonight's beautiful full blue moon is called the Treasure Moon.

What an excellent beginning to 2010!

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Two Letters Of The Shem 'Chai'

י' בטבת תש"ע
Grael 12

In follow-up to entries describing my two most recent dreams (One Name and Secrets of the Name), I note now an interesting continuity and connection between the two dreams.

In the first dream, the letter chet (ח), the first letter of the shem chai (חי), is brought into being. [Shem Chai means Living Name.] The fully reduced digit sum of the name Ner-Itta (נר-אתתא) is 8, the value of the letter chet.

In the second dream, the letter yud (י), the second letter of the shem chai (חי), is brought into being. I stood firm upon a mountain suspended in midair; this symbolism corresponds to the letter yud.

It all just flows - extraordinarily, naturally - through my dreams with a grace smoothly orchestrated within the depths of the Divine soul.

Walking On Fire [Kindle Edition]


The Kindle Edition of Walking on Fire may now be purchased at Amazon.com.

Iconoclastic explorations of a Kabbalistic Witch of Celtic, Germanic, Jewish and Native American ancestry.


Blog Description:

Dare to be true to yourself ... Walking On Fire is the online written record of an eclectic solitary witch who dares - and whose nature-based ritual practice incorporates elements of Kabbalistic Judaism, Celtic Witchcraft, Germanic Paganism, Druidry and Native American Shamanism to wyrdly weave the elements together into a unique, inseparable and extraordinary wholeness. Many of the written studies focus using mystical-magical alphabets - including Hebrew, Ogham and Runes - to channel creative consciousness.

A witch born of known Welsh, British, Irish, Germanic, Jewish and Native American American (Cherokee and Potawatomi) ancestry, the Witchblood which runs through this witch's veins is a beautiful tapestry of many peoples. The spiritual traditions of all of her ancestors are legitimately her own. Blessed are the Ancestors, Descendents and the collective Folksoul of all her peoples through this pathworking.

Secrets Of The Name

ט' בטבת תש"ע
Grael 11

December 23, the Celtic calendar day of the secret of the unhewn dolmen, I drew the rune of gestation and energy transformation, Ingwaz. Then, I dreamt a dream (One Name).

Yesterday, on spirit cords, I read in Wheel of the Year, Living A Magical Life (Pauline Campanelli):

The purpose of this cord, like the circle it represents, is to contain power. These cingulums, or cords, are often knotted and are specifically four and a half feet in length, so they can be used as a compass with which to measure inner and outer circles. This cord has an ancient history and appears in some of the earliest Egyptian texts as the oval that surrounds a cartouche, or name, separating it from other hieroglyphics. The oval around a cartouche is in fact a cord tied with a knot, and its purpose is to contain the magical power of the name.

My black handbraided spirit cord (also called a cingulum and a witch's ladder) is as tall as I am. Yesterday, on my spirit cord, I measured to a point of four and a half feet, and marked that point by tying a knot interwoven with handdyed sunset sparkle black ribbon into the cord. With this point now marked, my spirit cord is now prepared to mark the boundaries of a traditional nine foot magic circle.

Last night (the night of the ninth of Tevet) I wore my spirit cord to bed and dreamt.

I was beautiful in my dream. I climbed a ladder to get to a school I was attending - the building of the school was like my old high, state university and grade schools combined. I was sitting in a college physical chemistry classroom (which looked like my sixth grade classroom) and had just completed the college physical chemistry coursework.

It was now time for a new year of classes. I had been scheduled in the system for college microbiology, but I had already taken that class in a past year. So, I left the classroom where I had completed college physical chemistry and went into the hallway (which looked like one in my old high school). I walked across the campus (which looked the campus of the state university I attended) and into the office where class scheduling changes are made. In place of college microbiology (which I had already taken), I took an advanced level course - that course was a Goddess Chemistry course.

After making the change to my schedule of classes, I walked outside onto the campus. I felt a rumbling behind me - someone with power was not pleased that I had signed up for Goddess Chemistry. That person's displeasure was directed at me through a curse upon the campus ground. The curse directed the ground to collapse in upon itself (thereby swallowing me up in it - as Korach was swallowed up in Bamidbar 16:30). But, the ground upon which I stood didn't collapse - I was left standing upon the summit of a mountain floating suspended in midair (like one of the floating mountains of Pandora in the movie Avatar, and as described in the mystical teaching on the hebrew letter yud). I looked around, my floating mountain was among a sea of floating mountains.

I woke up, washed up, got a drink of water, made my bed and drew the rune Ehwaz, the rune which harmoniously unifies dually arrayed forces (such as the body and its souls). Pronounced ay-wawz and ay-woh, Ehwaz has the phonetic values of the English e and Hebrew hei (ה).

Ehwaz is the nineteenth rune in my personal runerow.



Related entries:

Runes 1-3: Transmission of a Sacred Secret
Rune 4: The Wholiness Code
Rune 5: Mysteries of the Staircase
Rune 6: The Ship of Safe Passage
Rune 7: The Ætheling
Rune 8: Communication
Rune 9: The Nature Of My Work
Runes 10-11: Wyrd Shema
Rune 12: The View From My Room
Rune 13: Thurisaz On The Falling Man
Rune 14: Power To Do It
Rune 15: Wyrd Preparation
Rune 16: Mother Of Manifest Blessing
Rune 17: By Force Of Destiny
Rune 18: The Othala Force

Friday, December 25, 2009

Revisions

ח' בטבת תש"ע
Grael 10

I've made several revisions to my Torah commentary (One Name) on Vayigash, this week's parsha. I think I've made the last one for today. We'll see.

One Name

ח' בטבת תש"ע
Grael 10

Commentary on Vayigash from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - One Name.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Connections

ז' בטבת תש"ע
Grael 9

I went to see the new movie Avatar last night. It was fabulous! The Na'vi exemplify Goddess spirituality. I am totally enchanted by this movie.

Read about Avatar and its connection to pantheistic Paganism here [from The Wildhunt blog].

Read about Avatar and its connection to monotheistic Judaism here [from my friend Lisha's blog, Always Sababa].

Sunday, December 20, 2009

No Evidence Of Daas Torah

ג' בטבת תש"ע
Grael 5

A scathing spot-on observation by Yerachmiel Lopin concerning the leaders tainted by association with the Leib Tropper scandal on Emes Ve-Emunah:

You are focusing too much on Tropper because he was caught with his pants down. More important is that he was able to manipulate, bribe, flatter, and intimidate rabbonim who are dayanim and poskim.

R. Moshe was fearless and uncorruptible. But we seem to have a generation of pygmies.

Stop asking even if they knew or did not know about this or that detail. It makes no difference. An inspector general can also be fired even if he was diligent and honest if he cant discern what half the world knew.

We need proof to figure out who was clueless, who was corrupt, and who was intimidated. We don't need proof to know that a whole group of leaders showed that they are not up to the job of being leaders. There was no evidence of daas, let alone daas torah.

That certainly strikes at the heart of the matter.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Action Packed Adventures

ב' בטבת תש"ע
Grael 4

I had one action-packed dream after another in rapid-fire succession all night last night and through this morning. I and my group were superheroes in all of them. The dreams were a continuing saga, like 'episodes' of our adventures. I only remember a few details at this point, having been up and about for many hours and having not written them down right after I woke up completely for the morning.

One detail - I saw the feet and lower legs of a man as he was walking on fire (like the name of my primary blogspot). He was wearing brown casual suit pants and leather dress shoes.

One additional detail - I and my group were on a fast train out of a tight situation heading into the land of the living. Our enemies (along with the long and newly dead) were on the opposite track on a fast train heading into the land of the dead. This is the last detail of the last dream I dreamt this morning before waking up for the morning.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Nachash - The Advance To The Future

ב' בטבת תש"ע
Grael 4

Commentary on Miketz from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - Nachash, The Advance To The Future.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

One Yule Light

כ"ו בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 28

This is the handcrafted candle I am lighting for Yule. "Scented with traditional Yule fragrances of Pine, Cedar, Oak and the warm essence of Cinnamon, the fragrance is completed with a a bit of smoke from the fire. The smokey, woodsy and traditional fragrance of this Yule Log Candle will fill my sacred place with a very Yule illumination. Each candle is adorned with a silver Holly charm and tied with festive red and green ribbons."

One Light - Lighting The Coel Coeth

כ"ו בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 28

The Lesser Sabbat of the winter solstice (namely Yule, Geul, Giuli, Meán Geimhridh, Lá an Dreoilín, Modranicht, Alban Arthan, ...) in the northern hemisphere of the earth (my location) falls after sunset on the evening of December 21. This date is the seventh of Grael in the witches' calendar and the fifth of Tevet in the Jewish calendar; both dates fall within the month of the Elder Moon in the Celtic tree calendar.

On Yule and its connection to the magic circle of the witch, Mike Nichols writes:

"Ultimately, of course, the holiday is rooted deeply in the cycle of the year. It is the Winter Solstice that is being celebrated, seed-time of the year, the longest night and shortest day. It is the birthday of the new Sun King, the Son of God -- by whatever name you choose to call him. On this darkest of nights, the Goddess becomes the Great Mother and once again gives birth. And it makes perfect poetic sense that on the longest night of the winter, 'the dark night of our souls', there springs the new spark of hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth." At the Winter Solstice, the Circle is not yet a Circle; it is a Point. Specifically, it is the point at which spiritual energy manifests itself into the physical world. It is the divine spark, the sacred seed, the single cell, the incarnation, the universe in a mustard seed. In some ways, the Point is more inclusive than the Circle, since the Circle always implies a boundary, and a separation of that which is outside from that which is inside. The Point, however, can symbolize the All. At the Winter Solstice, we bless and purify this tiny dust-mote of Being, this Birth of the Circle, which is also All That Is. The Circle Is A Point.

Thus, Yule is the perfect sabbat in which to ground and from which to cast a magic circle in and with sacred time. Blessed be our circles this Yuletide, every one, with the amazing sacred power and joy of Yule -

- the Hebrew word for the redemption of humankind's collective consciousness is called Geulah (גאולה). The Germanic and Northern European words for Yule - Geul and Giuli - would be spelled in Hebrew גאול and גאולי. The Hebrew shoresh (three letter root) of all these words is גול (gule, yule) meaning rejoice! and express joy!

Have a blessed and deeply joyful Yuletide season! So mote it be! אמן

Related entry - The Seed

Related video - The One Light Of Chanukah (This evening we light the third/three Chanukah candle(s). The Hebrew letter gimel - ג - has a gematria of three and is the single letter root of the root word גול discussed above.)

Festivals Of Fire In Time

כ"ו בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 28

In follow-up to Through the Fires of Time, there are four festivals of fire in stellar time. These are the Greater Sabbats, the High Holy Days, of traditional Celtic witchcraft.

The four Fire Festivals can occur anywhere between 29-59 days following the preceding solstice or equinox. Apices of feminine power in time, these sabbatot are Imbolc (between Yule and Ostara), Beltane (between Ostara and Litha), Lughnasadh (between Litha and Mabon) and Samhain (between Mabon and Yule).

The Lesser Sabbats of the solstices and equinoxes (namely - Mabon, Yule, Ostara and Litha) are yearly lunar power points linked to the earthly feminine biological cycle. While times of imbalance in the solar cycle, they are times of power for the feminine Earth.

The Lesser Sabbats ground us with the full feminine power of the Earth Mother. The Greater Sabbats, the cyclical Fire Festivals in the wheel of the pagan year, expands our consciousness into the otherworlds of the heavens, and fill us with the full power of Goddess.

Empowerment

כ"ו בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 28

This morning another friend of mine tells me she has been told that when teeth shatter in dreams it indicates weakness and loss of control. She likes my interpretation better - for my interpretation is empowering whereas the other interpretation is disempowering.

Indeed, as written in Called Up By Goddess, the shattering of illusions is very empowering. This is an important distinction to understand.

When our illusions (which are inherently false and disempowering by nature) are shattered, we are being made stronger and our minds are being sharpened [1] - both resulting in true empowerment. Contrary to the other interpretations which have been told to my friend, we are NOT WEAK to have been chosen by Goddess to have our illusions shattered, rather we ARE STRONG enough. And, we may indeed lose control of our illusions, but through it, we GAIN CONTROL of our minds.

So, I reiterate - teeth dreams are good dreams to have. Moreover, they are blessings from Goddess through which we are empowered toward and brought closer to our own inner Goddess.

Footnote:

[1] Another meaning of the name of the Hebrew letter shin (ש) is 'sharp.'

Through The Fires Of Time

כ"ו בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 28

In follow-up to Called Up By Goddess, here is another photo of my handcrafted Book of Shadows. In the creation of this truly magical book, the edges of the pages within it were handburned. Each timeless page has been called up by Goddess through the fires of time.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Called Up By Goddess

כ"ו בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 28

A friend of mine inquired this evening as to the potential meaning of a dream in which her teeth are shattered. While we are each the ultimate masters and mistresses of our own dreams, I too, have had recurring "teeth dreams" ever since I was a little girl (and I am now a grandmother of six). Consequently, I am inclined to believe that my own significant experience with "teeth dreams" qualifies me to interpret such dreams in a general manner.

Generally, the turnover of teeth can represent a period of powerful change or transition driven by the Divine Feminine force of fire. Teeth dreams are good dreams signifying that Goddess is driving forward a major transition in one's life. Goddess is calling the dreamer up to the task of further spiritual development, to do greater magic.

When teeth are shattered, this usually signifies that our illusions are about to be shattered. How strongly we hold onto or how easily we surrender the illusions Goddess wishes to remove from us largely determines how painfully or peacefully we may experience the transition through which our illusions will be shattered.

Letting go of our illusions is a very important part of spiritual development - to be engaged and challenged by Goddess to do so is a challenge that is merited in some way. Only the worthy are called up to the test.

Teeth are also directly related to time, and specifically to the witches' wheel of the year, through the Hebrew letter shin (ש).

The Thin Veil Between Worlds

כ"ו בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 28

In additional follow-up to Between the Pages of Time, in Hebrew the word for the color pink is ורד. From the shoresh (three letter root) רדד (meaning to render pliable), the root of the color pink also means thin veil. From this root is derived the Hebrew word mantles (וְהָרְדִידִים), as in the mantles of the daughters of Zion.

Consequently, the color pink in my dream this Shabbat morning pertains to the thin veil which separates between the worlds and designates Sacred Ground in time and space as taught in Celtic spirituality. This thin veil is composed of the magical mantles of the daughters of Zion. The daughters of Zion in Jewish spirituality means daughters of excellence.

It is with this sacred energy that a witch may cast and create her magical circle, within which she may do wonders.

Choice Gold

כ"ו בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 28

In follow-up to Between the Pages of Time, on the significance of the color orange (to scribal writing and to the time of faerie/niddah), Balashon writes:

Katom כתום - orange - is also a "new" color, coined for the first time in Modern Hebrew. Klein writes that it derives from ketem כתם - gold.

As far as the connection between gold and writing, Steinberg claims that ketem refers to choice gold, and was so named because it was marked to indicate its value (see a similar opinion here).

and

In post-Biblical literature, ketem refers exclusively to the signs of niddah (menstruation) blood.

Thus, the color orange in my most recent dream connects scribal writing directly to the archetypes of feminine leadership (and specifically to the time of faerie/niddah).

Between The Pages Of Time

כ"ה בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 27

Commentary on Vayeshev from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - Between the Pages of Time.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

The Hei Connection

י"ט בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 21

Interestingly, my waking vision this Sunday morning (The Seed), my Shabbat dream (The Comet), and the new banner I designed for my blogspot (Walking on Fire) on Friday are all connected to the magical Hebrew letter hei (ה).

In The Seed, I took a seed ... הֵא-לָכֶם זֶרַע (Bereshit 47:23). The name of the letter hei, namely הא means to 'take seed.'

In The Comet, the King and I behold ... the name of the letter hei also means 'behold.'

In my new blogspot banner, the letter hei in cursive Hebrew script is seen to give birth to the proverbial 'light from darkness' and to all other letters. All of the Hebrew, Ogham and Rune letters in the banner were intuitively and mindfully chosen.

Here is a smaller version of the banner:

The Seed

י"ט בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 21

A second waking dream vision I had very early this morning was that of a whole pomegranate being presented to me out from the darkness of night. I was to reach inside it and choose a single seed. I did. With my astral-spirit hand, I reached into the pomegranate (as it remained completely whole) and chose a single seed. I removed my hand and brought a single seed outside the body of the pomegranate. It was now a seed belonging to me.

Archetypes Of Feminine Leadership

י"ט בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 21

Early this morning, I dreamt many dreams. One of the dreams was the waking vision of a faerie door. Simply, it opened before me in wordless recognition of my presence as we came together face to face. We came together as if the two of us were one - the faerie door and I - the faerie door is integrally part of me, it is my own. It opened before me. I briefly woke up.

According to Celtic Faerie traditional witchcraft, portals between worlds were built long ago by the Faerie Queen. I then, am the Faerie Queen. What then is She, this Faerie Queen? She is an archetype of transcendental Divine Feminine power.

Lieutenant Colonel Prisco R. Hernández (excerpts from Jung’s Archetypes as Sources for Female Leadership) writes:

Despite the presence of matriarchal systems, in most cultures, social and political power has been disproportionately exercised by males. Western culture, which evolved within a predominantly Christian context, has its religious sources in the Jewish-Semitic Middle East and the Greco-Roman political and philosophical traditions, both of which are distinctly patriarchal. This means that in the political, religious, and economic spheres the majority of leaders have been male. In those cases where women have been called upon to exercise leadership roles, they were expected to master “trans-gendered” roles and exercise male-like leadership. For example Queen Isabella of Castile was admiringly described by her contemporaries as a mujer de ánimo varonil (a woman of manly temper).

Nonetheless, Western civilization has not been entirely dismissive of the female psychic energies. The four female archetypes of the Faerie, the Wise One, the Lover, and the Queen are found in most cultures and provide insights into female patterns of leadership. As is the case with her male counterpart, the King, the Queen is the most complex and mature of the female archetypes. This is because the image of a Queen who serves as a center for the mature ordering of things includes and transcends the other archetypes of the Feminine. Indeed the most powerful embodiment of this archetype is the Great Goddess—The Great Mother. This cosmic image is the equal to that of an all powerful God, the source of complete cosmic power, but at the same time is more accessible, less menacing. Images that may point to such a Great Mother, a supernatural Queen, are among some of the earliest human depictions of a higher power.

On a human scale, a powerful woman who is entirely confident in herself and is capable of serving as role model would necessarily reflect on a more modest scale the attributes of the Queen. However, all the essential attributes of the archetype of the Queen are present in a real woman who plays that role, regardless of the scope her real responsibilities—be she queen of a nation, a clan, or her own family.

Since the archetype of the Queen is the richest, most mature form of the Feminine, it cannot arrive at the pinnacle of life-enhancing majesty without first participating in the attributes of other important feminine archetypes. Just as the King is not born as a King, but must start life as a Prince, the Queen begins life as a Princess. The Princess is called to evolve to the fullness of her potential and must earn her Queenship through a path that necessarily involves trials and suffering as the way to experience and maturity.

Interestingly, there is a triform (Maid-Mother-Crone) Goddess path to Queenship.

If the Prince must normally develop through the path of the Warrior, the Princess develops through that of the Faerie. This is the one archetype that is distinctly different for male and female development. Just as the Warrior is the most natural complement to the King and embodies a set of virtues that are necessary to Kingship, the Faerie is the most natural first step on the road to Queenship. The explosive centrifugal energy of the male Warrior archetype is balanced in the cosmic order of things by the attractive, centrifugal energy of the female Faerie archetype. The Faerie is not just a Princess, she is the symbol of all that is fair, all that is beautiful, all that transcends material existence. These concepts are not merely ornamental niceties but are at the very center of Being.

Just as the Warrior appears most fully when he gives himself over to death in an act of self-denial, the Faerie appears most fully when she denies herself all intercourse with men. This is the source of her power. She places herself outside any man’s power; thus, she has the power to inspire, to attract. Consider the real-life women who have embodied the Faerie—Joan of Arc, known as La Pucelle (The Maid), Elizabeth I “The Faerie Queen,” the Legendary St. Barbara— who is invoked as the Patroness of artillerymen in many armies throughout the world—St. Cecilia—the Christian embodiment of Musica; all eschewed conventional attachment to men.

Joan of Arc, who like a Valkyrie takes up the arms and armor of a Warrior, is also a Faerie—inspiring many warriors to heroic feats and an entire country to seek freedom. Her words demonstrate the power for active leadership generated by the Faerie archetype: “Go bravely; all will be well. Have no fear. We shall find none who can harm us; indeed, we shall meet with no resistance. I have no fear for lack of men. There will be many to follow me.”

Another path to Queenship leads through the archetype of the Wise One. If the Faerie inhabits ethereal regions where all appears as bright and luminous, the Wise One inhabits the shadows. She is at home near the earth, even inside the earth, inside the dark, moist, primordial womb, the source of all fertility. The Wise One is no longer young. She is mature, rooted. She is likely to be old and she is a Mother, or more likely, a Grand-Mother. In contrast to the Faerie, she has once been a companion to the male, she may have even loved a male, but she has now transcended all that and has reached a state of superior wisdom. In contrast also to her male counterpart—the Magician—her subtle mind seeks not to penetrate beneath the surface of things and probe the mysteries of nature, rather, she looks inward into the mysteries of Being.

It is natural for the Wise One to seek separation from her sisters who toil in the world. Her quest for special knowledge requires long hours of solitude for study and reflection. Most often, the Wise One becomes a seer, an advisor. But in some cases, the Wise One may [also] rise to be a Queen. She may then combine the attributes of the Queen and the Wise One, becoming the Wise-Queen. The Queen of Sheba, the counterpart to Solomon—the Magician King—illustrates this type of leadership. According to the Biblical narrative the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon as an equal, for she “…traveled to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions.” In the Story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba the Wise-Queen meets the Magician-King and she is satisfied. Notice how the Queen of Sheba—the Wise One—does not fall in love even with Solomon—the Magician-King. She is beyond easy infatuation; she is whole within herself, secure in her arcane wisdom.

The fourth archetype of the mature feminine is the Lover. Even more that in the case of its male twin, the female Lover archetype poses a problem when taken in the context of leadership. The Lover embodies the unrestrained embrace of the life-force. It is a life-affirming and creative archetype but one that eschews order, sacrifice, and rational knowledge. It is not easily reconciled with the orderly world of the Queen and its concept of noblesse oblige or inborn sense of duty, and is the polar opposite of the virginal Faerie. It is suspicious of the knowledge of the Wise One, because she has transcended this phase. And it also is dependent on the other—the Lover seeks to empty herself out and merge or become the Beloved. Could we then conclude that there is no place for the Lover in the spiritual makeup of the female leader? Given the importance of all archetypes to a mature and balanced human existence it would be wise to reconsider the paradoxical relationship of the Lover to the other archetypes. Can there be a Lover-Queen?

The powerful Ishtar/Astarte/Aphrodite/Venus mythological complex is a strong archetypical current that runs deep from the appropriately named Fertile Crescent through the foundations of Near Eastern and Western Civilizations. India has equally powerful images of female generative power in Shakti, and her three avatars or embodiments of Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Parvati. The Chinese Ying-Yang symbol represents in graphic form the classic Jungian mysterium conjuinctionem. Thus, the Lover intrudes powerfully into humanity’s collective consciousness. If a leader is enthusiastic, connects with her followers and is capable of inspiring them to accomplish the difficult deeds, she is partaking of the energy made available by the Lover archetype.

Thus, as is the case with the male Lover, the female Lover gains enormous powers of transcendence but she, and he, are subjected to “the other” and therefore lack the freedom of the other archetypes. This is the power and limitation of the hierosgamos—the cosmic marriage of opposites. It is equally apparent that the other virtues resident in the Faerie and the Wise One need to rein-in the Lover’s “oceanic” exuberance and desire to transcend all limits in order to allow her energy its life-giving role without creating chaos in the realm. But, in a different sense, if the Lover recognizes the One worthy of her love and subjects herself completely to Him, the results can be amazing. It appears that the Lover is as essential to good Queenship as it is to mature Kingship.

Of these [four archetypes of transcendental feminine leadership], the Queen is the leader par excellence. But the Queen must encompass other qualities as well. The road to Queenship takes an aspiring leader through the path of the Faerie and/or the Wise One. These two in turn remain puerile or sterile without the life-affirming attributes of the Lover. Thus, if we reflect on the archetypes of the mature feminine they offer aspiring women leaders models that may serve as sources of strength to help them protect, guide, and inspire their followers.

Where do I find evidence of all four of these archetypes in this weekend's writings and my own experience?

The Faerie - First, immediately apparent is the faerie door (legendarily made by the Faerie Queen long ago) of this morning's waking dream vision. Second, in my own current life, I am in a time of faerie. To explain, the time of faerie is a time of separation from physical connection to any man. Having remained celibate as I wait for the arrival of my true bashert, I have been in a time of faerie by consciously determined choice and vow for two decades. This time of faerie of Celtic tradition parallels the time of niddah of Jewish tradition. It is a time for female solitude, middot improvement and development of devekut with the Divine. Third, in my dream, The Comet - one man was inspired to follow this Faerie during her time of faerie into Kingship and all the way to mountaintop summit - and beheld the comet. The comet kabbalistically symbolizes the soul-root of messianic consciousness. Consequently, the time of faerie (in Celtic tradition), and the parallel time of niddah (in Jewish tradition), are times of pure feminine development removed from masculine connection. Importantly, the times of pure feminine development are critically necessary for linkage to the soul-root of messianic consciousness and for both powers of Queenship and Kingship to actualize.

The Queen - Again, the faerie door, built by the Faerie Queen in Celtic legend, of this morning's waking dream vision recognized me. I am its maker. In yesterday's dream The Comet, I stood "the powerful woman entirely confident in myself to reach the mountaintop summit to find the the comet-palace, despite that 'they' might try to kill me." I became a Queen and another became a King whom the collective of our people followed. Not only did I become a Queen, but I became a Queen entirely confident enough in her own power to enable another's attainment of power beyond my own. I the Queen remained on the mountaintop, while he the King journeyed to Palace of the Comet to prepare and bring it home. We both couldn't go, one of us had to remain behind as a link to the Earth. It could have easily been the other way around.

The Wise One - Like the Wise-Queen of Sheba didn't fall in love with Solomon, neither did I fall in love with the one following me up the mountain to its summit. I relentlessly moved on in solitude despite his fears that I was crazy, that I was a fool, that they would kill me (us). I continued on unperturbed by any concern for his concerns. My singleminded ambition was to make it. I did not stop to comfort him, to soothe him, to assure him, to take note of his struggle - nothing. I don't even know who he is, let alone love him.

The Lover - I obtained and harnassed the transcendent power of the Lover archetype through the power of self-limitation (tzimtzum - creating a womb for new reality). I limited and subjected myself to the Other by remaining on the mountaintop while the King flew to the comet-palace. Importantly, the King's ability to fly to the comet-palace came into being precisely on account of the Queen's act of self-limitation through the Lover archetype, becoming a Lover Queen - as I am also a Faerie Queen and a Wise Queen.

Taking all this together, in witchcraft and Goddess spirituality, the Faerie corresponds to the Maid/Virginal aspect, the Wise One to the Mother/Maga aspect, and the Lover to the Crone/Transcendent Feminine aspect. The Queen herself corresponds to Goddess (both Immanent and Transcendent) in Wholeness, and is the archetypal essence of the Divine Feminine.

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Meheitavel

י"ח בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 20

Commentary of Vayishlach from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - Meheitavel.

Power To Bend Events

י"ח בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 20

In follow-up to The Comet, the 1940-style (יט ם) of the radio in the dream encodes the meaning - the power to bend events and to alter fate (יט). The letter mem (ם) is a signature letter.

The Comet

י"ח בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 20

I just dreamt it, and I woke up to record it.

Following me - he thought I was crazy, a fool even, for going so far - they would kill me for going so far. But so far, I went - with an unequaled awesome singleminded determination. And he followed me there - and when he arrived at where I had gone, I was standing on a mountaintop summit high within the clouds of heaven.

He climbed up and peered up over the ledge from where he was climbing up, and there I was - standing a Queen - and upon the mountaintop summit directly opposite mine, there it was - he beheld it and was amazed - the comet never before truly beheld by mortal eyes! At the summit of the comet stood a mystical palace. The comet-palace spoken of only in myth truly existed! and never before had it been beheld by mortal eyes, yet now, he the Prince beheld it! He climbed over the threshold of the ledge leading to where I stood upon the mountaintop summit and stood beside me a King, beholding the sight with me. The palace structure stood erected upon the summit of a comet!

The palace had a strange name and odd shape. (In my awakened mind, the nearest idea I can find to the shape of it is of an old 1940's-style radio with the taste of raidho. The strange name written on the face of the palace eludes description, but it was as uniquely and awesomely magical as is the palace on the comet which no mortal eyes had ever beheld until now.)

Next thing I knew, now they, whom he had thought would kill me, were no longer seeking to kill me, but were helping him instead. He now had a new awesome spaceship, and they were cheering him on - for he had found the magical comet and the palace on it. He was on his way there, flying to where no man had gone before.

I woke up.

Dare to be true to yourself.