Vital Achdut

ז' בתמוז תש"ע
Faunus 8

Commentary on Chukat from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - Vital Achdut.

Heroic Achdut

כ"ב בטבת תש"ע
Grael 24

Blessed By The Ancestors

א' אייר תשס"ט
Annwn 2

In follow-up to my commentary (Karet - Cursed By The Ancestors) on this week's Torah portion, in contradistinction to the curse of the Ancestors is the blessing of the Ancestors. The curse is brought upon an individual and upon the individual's "collective folksoul" through failure to be true to and to actualize one's uniqueness in sacrifice to the group. The blessing is brought upon an individual and upon an individual's "collective folksoul" through active fidelity to one's uniqueness within the group and through active resistance to the tendency to move toward a group norm (which ultimately is corrosive to the evolving development of the "collective folksoul").

Two Half-Shekels - Arousing The Collective Folksoul

In Celtic Witchcraft, the blessing of the Ancestors is called hywl - "in Welsh the word more often refers to a complex and intangible quality of passion and sense of belonging that isn’t easy to translate but which has been said to sum up Welshness in a word."

In Jewish Kabbalah, the blessing of the Ancestors is called achdut - "in Hebrew the word more often refers to a complex and intangible quality of passion and sense of belonging that isn’t easy to translate but which has been said to sum up Jewishness in a word."

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.

Mesorah Of The River Mnemosyne

י'ט בחשון תשס"ח

My maternal grandmother, Gladys Collins-Faulkner, granddaughter of Sue Turner-Grunwald and Will Grunwald, daughter of Elizabeth Grunwald-Faulkner and George Samuel Faulkner, mother of Cheryl Collins-Taylor and grandmother to Liorah Lleucu HaMasovevet, passed over early this morning of Samhain, Ram Cheshvan 19, האלון full of years at the age of 92.

Mnemosyne was also the name for a river in Hades, counterpart to the river Lethe, according to a series of 4th century BC Greek funerary inscriptions in dactylic hexameter. Dead souls drank from Lethe so they would not remember their past lives when reincarnated. Initiates were encouraged to drink from the river Mnemosyne when they died, instead of Lethe. These inscriptions may have been connected with a private mystery religion, or with Orphic poetry. (Wiki on Mnemosyne, Titan Goddess of Memory and Inventor of Words, One of three or four Elder Muses and Mother of nine Younger Muses.)

As a Mother of Eternal Life and a Mother of Muses, in the pure family tradition and mesorah of natural witches, may my grandmother, as I did preincarnately (described here and here), drink from Achdut, the River of Eternal Memory, the River Mnemosyne, and remember. Remember!

We are One.

I love you Grandma. May our memory be a blessing and carry us through it, to it, the brightening and the brilliance.

A witch is born, and by a witch a witch is made.

ברוך דיין האמת