The Victory Of Boudicca & The Temple Of Hod

ג' באדר א' תשס"ח
Keolwulf 4

In follow-up to my previous entry discussing the first leg of the matter, Bitachon, Shlomah's Catacomb & The Magic Megilah, I note that in addition to receiving both my 9 Magic Redemption Keys and my one Magic Megilah in the mail yesterday, I also received in the mail a further Craftwork order - the second leg of the matter, a Boudicca Talisman (shown). Crafted of highly polished lead-free pewter embellished with a sparking clear Swarovski crystal, my talisman is associated with the courage, victorious tenacity and the deep inner perserverance (namely the Temple of Hod) of the great Celtic leader, Queen Boudicca. הּ

Se'or - Sourdough Starter & The Amulet Of Challah

י"ד בניסן תשס"ז

Dave at Balashon posts (via Orrin Tilevitz on Mail-Jewish) regarding se'or and the myth that yeast is forbidden on pesach:

To the extent this myth exists - and I don't know anybody who thinks baking soda and baking powder are inherently not kosher for Passover - it may be a result of the widespread mistranslation of the word "se'or" (see, e.g., Exodus 12:15). Beginning with the King James and continuing through the original JPS and the current Art Scroll translations, the word is rendered as "leavening", which could include baking powder and soda - or, for that matter, egg whites. I once spoke to an Orthodox rabbi who told me that "se'or" meant yeast, and therefore yeast was inherently prohibited on Pesach. (My response was to ask whether he drank wine on Pesach, a question lost on him because he seemed not to understand what fermentation was.) But se'or doesn't mean any of these things. It actually means "sourdough starter" (see, e.g., Rav Saadia Gaon's commentary, and the supercommentary on it, in Torat Chaim), which is a mixture of flour, water and yeast spores from that air, that is left to ferment, in the process of which the yeast grows. AFIK, until recent times sourdough starter was the leavening agent in bread; bakers in chazal's era did not have yeast as a separate product.

Consequently, we can see that all "things of the ego" are not forbidden. Merely those "things of the ego" which ultimately lead to "sourness" are forbidden.

A sour ego, necessarily then, retards development and is an obstacle to psychospiritual redemption. This idea is connected to the fact that my challah tray (the one I've had for nearly a decade) broke this year. It won't be around for pesach.

Challah is from the hebrew root חלה meaning to "retard development", "weaken", "hurting", "hindering well being", "appeasing", "losing control of senses", and an "amulet or necklace against illness" [1]. Thus, and importantly, we can see that the mitzvah of challah acts an amulet against illness, suffering and losing control. Ultimately however, using the amulet of challah to avoid tikun of the feminine retards feminine psychospiritual development.

Thank Goddess my challah tray broke!

There is a well known understanding in The Craft that if one uses a protective amulet or talisman, when the amulet or talisman breaks, this indicates that it is no longer needed, it has successfully fulfilled its purpose of protection, and the danger has passed by. In other words, the danger the device was protecting against has "passed over". A real pesach kinda thing.

Footnote:

[1] Etymological Dictionary Of Biblical Hebrew, R' Matityahu Clark

Technorati tags: Torah Talmud Torah Judaism Kabbalah jewish mysticism mysticism jewish meditation meditation shamanism jewish shamanism kabbalah iyunit kabbalah maasit witchcraft jewitchery jewitch witch jewish woman sacred feminine divine feminine shechinah lilith spiritual development spirituality kosher spirituality challah mitzvot pesach passover

Totafot, She Who Rears Up

כ"א באדר תשס"ז

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

From About.com:

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

From Wiki:

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

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

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

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

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

Technorati tags: Torah Talmud Torah Judaism Kabbalah jewish mysticism mysticism jewish meditation meditation shamanism jewish shamanism kabbalah iyunit kabbalah maasit jewitchery jewitch jewish woman sacred feminine divine feminine shechinah lilith spiritual development spirituality kosher spirituality

Amulet Or Talisman

כ"א באדר תשס"ז

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

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

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

Technorati tags: Torah Talmud Torah Judaism Kabbalah jewish mysticism mysticism jewish meditation meditation shamanism jewish shamanism kabbalah iyunit kabbalah maasit jewitchery jewitch jewish woman sacred feminine divine feminine shechinah lilith spiritual development spirituality kosher spirituality

Tyet & Techiyat Hametim

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


Technorati tags: Torah Talmud Torah Judaism Kabbalah jewish mysticism mysticism jewish meditation meditation shamanism jewish shamanism kabbalah iyunit kabbalah maasit jewitchery jewitch jewish woman sacred feminine divine feminine shechinah lilith spiritual development spirituality kosher spirituality