Showing posts with label avukah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label avukah. Show all posts

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Fire By Night, The Divine Torch


ט' חשון תשס"ת
Phasma Priscus 11

Today marks astological Samhain, and last night I dreamt a dream of fire preceded by the idea of a "monopoly" game. Monopoly is a word which brings unity and multiplicity together into a singular word.

As the idea of a "monopoly" game ran with wings through my sleeping mind last night, the dream emerged.

I was traveling west toward town with my mother and other family members in a vehicle down the road which runs in front of the house. A few miles from the house, as we neared the bend in the road which swerves off toward the north, and exactly the moment before we entered the curve toward the north, the ground beneath the vehicle began rumbling mightily - indeed a major earthquake was in the making. The road buckled and upheaved like a wave, sending the vehicle in the opposite direction - sliding east back toward the house front first (and always I was primarily seeing through the vehicle's windshield - in other words, the vehicle was always facing the direction it was traveling).

As the vehicle slid down the road toward the east front first, the road began to glow red hot as if the core of the molten earth was coming to the surface. It glowed so brightly fire red that I wondered how the wheels and the bottom of the vehicle were remaining intact and not melting away. Surely, the road was turning into pure molten fire.

Yet, the vehicle remained intact somehow and I felt no heat at all sitting inside it, though I realized that the power of the fire was fully capable of dissolving all material substance into pure energy. The road was melting into firehot energy, and though I could clearly see it through the windshield, I felt no heat.

Then, as we arrived in front of the house, the upheaving wave of the earth shifted toward the opposite direction, sending the vehicle back again toward the west. The road glowed hotter and hotter and I felt we were surely going to be swallowed up by the molten earth, be dissolved as material beings, and die. I have never before in a dream felt the real possibility of actually dying, but last night, I did. Yet, even as I feared that I might actually die, I had no feelings of panic. My feelings and thinking were that I was facing some sort of finality, contained some wondering of what lay beyond death (would I dissolve or go on in some manner), and peace that I would die free of the heaviness of guilt, having lived an honorable life to the best of my ability. I was thinking - this is it, this is the end.

As we again neared the curve north, in front of me through the windshield I saw it - a wall of pure molten fire loomed up and we were going to plunge into it. I shut my eyes and prepared to die. As we plunged into the wall of molten fire, I woke up.

It was still night. I wrote a note of the dream down to remember and went back to sleep.

"Only the Torch is found by itself ..." Klach Pischey Chochmah 55

Friday, August 22, 2008

The Three-Fold Cord At Dawn

כ"ב אב התשס"ח
Lughnasadh 23

A three-fold cord of the Divine Feminine is not easily broken ...

In follow-up to my earlier entry (The Inverted Seal) describing my dream last night, my friend Muninn's Kiss notes in Two Wells, One Name some relevant similarities between Miriam (Jewish prophetess and guardian of Miriam's Well) and Mimir (Norse god and guardian of Mimir's Well).

Muninn's Kiss provides interesting quotes for both wells:

On Miriam's Well from The Inner Dimension - "The Well of Miriam was for drinking and also for washing clothing. Water serves two purposes. One is for drinking, when it becomes part of the person's life force. The second purpose is for cleansing the body and clothing. The skin itself is also clothing of the inner dimensions of the body. The fact that water is necessary for washing, is the way to meditate on the Chotam Hamithapech. The water of the Well of Miriam, in addition to being used for drinking, comes to wash the clothing of the Jewish People."

On Mimir's Well from Wikipedia - "Mímir's Well (Old Norse Mímisbrunnr) is one of three wells at the roots of the world tree Yggdrasil in Norse mythology. The well is named after Mímir, the god charged with guarding it and is fed by a fountain inside it called the fountain of Mímir, which granted wisdom and the power to see the future. Mímir is known as the wisest of the gods; his name translates to "memory." As told in Ynglinga saga, in his youth, Odin desired the wisdom of Mímir's Well, and visited Mímir. They struck a bargain – Odin sacrificed one of his eyes in exchange for the privilege of drinking from the well. This wisdom helped him lead the Æsir, but showed him a vision of the destruction of the Æsir at Ragnarök. This knowledge of the future weighed heavily on Odin, who was said never to have smiled again."

Note the three-fold cord of connection to my dream - the inverted seal (from Miriam's Well), the eye/pupil (from Mimir's Well) and the concept/command of memory/remembering (Mimir's Name).

Interestingly, in Kabbalah it is taught that the two streams of prophecy (represented mythologically by Miriam's Well) and wisdom (represented mythologically by Mimir's Well) are destined to combine into a single stream of enlightenment. The two streams come together peacefully without Miriam's bitterness or Odin's sacrifice in the three-fold cord of connection of my dream.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Mystes, Epoptes, Hierophantes, Avukah

י'ט בחשון תשס"ח

Quotes from Ancient Mysteries & Secret Societies:

The Nine Days Of Initiation The Initiation - Candle In The Womb and A Mystery of Consciousness

Just as the Lesser Mysteries discussed the prenatal epoch of man when the consciousness in its nine days (embryologically, months) was descending into the realm of illusion and assuming the veil of unreality, so the Greater Mysteries discussed the principles of spiritual regeneration and revealed to initiates not only the simplest but also the most direct and complete method of liberating their higher natures from the bondage of material ignorance. Like Prometheus chained to the top of Mount Caucasus, man's higher nature is chained to his inadequate personality. The nine days of initiation were also symbolic of the nine spheres through which the human soul descends during the process of assuming a terrestrial form. The secret exercises for spiritual unfoldment given to disciples of the higher degrees are unknown, but there is every reason to believe that they were similar to the Brahmanic Mysteries, since it is known that the Eleusinian ceremonies were closed with the Sanskrit words "Konx Om Pax."

The Mystes The Initiate - Dark Torah

The mystics of Eleusis also laid stress upon the evil of suicide, explaining that there was a profound mystery concerning this crime of which they could not speak, but warning their disciples that a great sorrow comes to all who take their own lives. This, in substance, constitutes the esoteric doctrine given to the initiates of the Lesser Mysteries. As the degree dealt largely with the miseries of those who failed to make the best use of their philosophic opportunities, the chambers of initiation were subterranean and the horrors of Hades were vividly depicted in a complicated ritualistic drama. After passing successfully through the tortuous passageways, with their trials and dangers, the candidate received the honorary title of Mystes. This meant one who saw through a veil or had a clouded vision. It also signified that the candidate had been brought up to the veil, which would be torn away in the higher degree. The modern word mystic, as referring to a seeker after truth according to the dictates of the heart along the path of faith, is probably derived from this ancient word, for faith is belief in the reality of things unseen or veiled.

The Epoptes The Seer - HaTorah Emet

In contrast to the idea of Hades as a state of darkness below, the gods were said to inhabit the tops of mountains, a well-known example being Mount Olympus, where the twelve deities of the Greek pantheon were said to dwell together. In his initiatory wanderings the neophyte therefore entered chambers of ever-increasing brilliancy to portray the ascent of the spirit from the lower worlds into the realms of bliss. As the climax to such wanderings he entered a great vaulted room, in the center of which stood a brilliantly illumined statue of the goddess Ceres. Here, in the presence of the hierophant and surrounded by priests in magnificent robes, he was instructed in the highest of the secret mysteries of the Eleusis. At the conclusion of this ceremony he was hailed as an Epoptes, which means one who has beheld or seen directly. For this reason also initiation was termed autopsy. The Epoptes was then given certain sacred books, probably written in cipher, together with tablets of stone on which secret instructions were engraved.

The Hierophantes The Communicator-Torchbearer - Maggidah Of Raz

In The Obelisk in Freemasonry, John A. Weisse describes the officiating personages of the Eleusinian Mysteries as consisting of a male and a female hierophant who directed the initiations; a male and a female torchbearer; a male herald; and a male and a female altar attendant. There were also numerous minor officials. He states that, according to Porphyry, the hierophant represents Plato's Demiurgus, or Creator of the world; the torch bearer, the Sun; the altar man, the Moon; the herald, Hermes, or Mercury; and the other officials, minor stars. From the records available, a number of strange and apparently supernatural phenomena accompanied the rituals. Many initiates claim to have actually seen the living gods themselves. Whether this was the result of religious ecstasy or the actual cooperation of invisible powers with the visible priests must remain a mystery.

The Torch Avukah - Mysteries Of The Flame
"Only the Torch is found by itself ..." Klach Pischey Chochmah 55
From my musical website .. The Torch

when facts tell lies and confusion reigns
when knowledge and ignorance with futility dance
when hope is dying and faith is failing
truth remains

when pain is endless and pleasure empty
when will lies heavy like stone and clarity is obscured
when wisdom reeks and reason flees
truth remains

when the heart staggers broken
with shattered strength and love drowns lost in the abyss
truth remains

when darkness reverberates blindly
and eternity is filled with hell
truth remains

when life is crushing and all is torn, when hiding cannot conceal
and wretching waters burn the naked dust
truth remains

when the pause is pregnant like a rock of hate against us
truth remains

Dare to be true to yourself.