Michael Berkowits’ Tiramisu

כ״ה באדר תשע"ב
Keowulf 28
Alder 2

"It is my hope that through telling stories like Michael’s, we are reminded of how easily society can change in the face of evil– how even today, large scale human tragedies are happening around the world. We must never forget our past, in order to ensure that a catastrophe of this magnitude never happens again." ~ May there be no more crusading burning times for any of us.

Michael Berkowits’ Tiramisu

Magical Jericho, Unlocking The Land

ה' טבת תשס"ט
Grael 6

The sabbat of Imbolg (alternatively, Imbolc) will be upon us February 2. Marking the midpoint of the dark months, Imbolg nurtures the return of new light, new growth, and new beginnings.

For this magical time when slumbering consciousness reawakens to new awareness, I am going to craft and dedicate my own perfume oil blend. This perfume will be my own one-of-a-kind, beautifully unique, lovingly handcrafted witch potion. I have forthnamed my perfumed witch potion - Magical Jericho.

Carefully blended by smell, Magical Jericho will contain notes of frangipani, rose of Jericho, Egyptian jasmine, zanthoxylum, guiacwood, amber in a pheromone oil base, leather fragrance, mimosa, sandalwood, tuberose and vetiver.

Between now and Imbolg, I'll be studying the magical art of perfuming.

This is going to be a wonderfully witchy woman's smell! The scent of enchantment.

Related entries:
Notes Of Magical Jericho
Perfume Making

Scribal Ink Base

י"ח באלול תשס"ז

I've found a recipe for the base ink I will handmake as an alternative to using archival black India ink in my original Temple Pathways scribal ink. The recipe I will use for the base is one used in sofrut that I've modified for my own work. My modified base ink recipe can be found here. The Temple Pathways scribal ink recipe in which the base will be an ingredient can be found here. The acid-free archival India ink base will be used in the preparation made for writing in my Book of Shadows, while the handmade base will be used in the preparation made for spellwork.

Of course, I may change my mind about the India ink base if I find or create a better base recipe for acid-free archival ink.

Temple Pathways Scribal Ink

י"א באלול תשס"ז

My newest original recipe, Temple Pathways scribal ink here.

Strengthening The Light Which Surrounds

ל' בניסן תשס"ז

Tonight, Wednesday evening, April 18, we count sixteen days, which is two weeks and two days of the Omer.

Day 16 - Gevurah of Tiferet, standard Ari array
Day 16 - Chesed of Gevurah, Gra array

To strengthen the transcendent Light Which Surrounds, an inscribed hand-dipped beeswax candle dressed inwardly with Feminine Clarity oil and the following herbal blend will be burned:

2 parts ginger
2 parts nutmeg
1 part saffron
1 part clove
1 part white sandalwood
1 part anise
1/2 part thyme
1/2 part sassafras
1/2 part mace
3 drops frankincense
1 drop spikenard

The herbal blend is being prepared today, under the influence of Tiferet-Da'at of Gevurah, during the planetary hour of Pluto (Da'at, the inner essence of Tiferet). The beeswax candle will be lit tonight, also during the planetary hour of Pluto.

UPDATE: The blend Gevurah-Da'at-Chesed and the candle have both been prepared as described, with the waxing crescent moon 3% full.

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Witch's Brew - "Goblet Of Peace"

ה' בניסן תשס"ז

Vayikra - "The peace-offering (shlamim) has the spiritual capacity of increasing peace in the world." [Rashi]

Tzav - On the "strange fire" of Nadav and Avihu, the role of being a "pure vessel" for peace is the role of Woman, not Man.

The following incense recipe brings together into the world of action a link to the supernal Goblet Of Fire (Eliyahu's Cup) as discussed in a previous post.

The Goblet of Fire corresponds to the "place" on the Tree of Life where Keter of Beriyah (water) and Tiferet of Atzilut (fire) are One. In other words, in Keter of Beriyah (which is Tiferet of Atzilut) peace is made between fire and water. Thus, the goblet of fire is exactly this place where peace is made in the heavens [1]. Importantly, we can also understand from this information that the Goblet of Fire is also the Goblet of Peace.

גבעי = 85 = 8 + 5 = 13 = "my goblet"

Brew ingredients by gender and elemental correspondences:

Masculine & Feminine Ingredient (1):

2 parts benzoin (m & f)* - air (avir)

Feminine Ingredients (4)

1 part vanilla (f) - water
1 part white sandalwood (f) - water
1 part myrrh (f) - water
1 part barley (f) - earth

Masculine Ingredients (4):

1 part pomegranate juice (m) - fire
1 part cinnamon (m) - fire
1 part nutmeg (m) - fire
1 part mugwort (m) - earth

Essential Oils (4):

1 drop hyssop (m) - fire
1 drop spikenard (f) - water
1 drop myrrh (f) - water
1 drop cinnamon bark (m) - fire

In this blend there are 9 (a vessel for peace ט) primary ingredients and 4 (Malchut ד) essential oils, for a total of 13 ingredients.

Benzoin is the ingredient where both fire (atzilut, feminine pillar) and water (beriyah, masculine pillar) combine in peace, resulting in elemental "air" (yetzirah and avir kadmon, the middle pillar as above, so below). The entire formula, written out and performed through actually making the incense is the "earth" (assiyah) where One Peacefully Dwells. Just like in the conclusion of the Amida.

Footnotes:

[1] He who makes peace in His heavens, may He make peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen. (Oseh Shalom, Conclusion of the Amida)

* Benzoin is a "masculine botanical" by virtue of its hexagonal aromatic ring and is a "feminine botanical" by virtue of its vanilla-like scent, where the hexagonal aromatic ring corresponds to the masculine partzuf zer anpin and where vanilla is etymologically derived from a Latin word meaning "vagina".



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Unique Abramelin Blend

ט"ו באדר תשס"ז

The following unique blend is my modified version of both the biblical Holy anointing oil (Shemot 30:22-25) and an incense oil described by Abramelin the mage.

Liorah-Lleucu's experimental Abramelin recipe:

2 parts myrrh
1 part cinnamon
1 part clove
2 parts labdanum
7 parts olive oil

Cinnamon, clove and myrrh all function to augment, raise (in terms of making energy available) and lift spiritual vibrations. From experience, in my own spellwork, cinnamon when burned has certainly proven to pack a whollop. I'm ready to try it again. This time however, I am focusing that previously unfocused power toward recollection of preincarnate memories.

In contradistinction to the typical Abramelin/anointing recipes, I am substituting labdanum for cassia and clove for calamus.

Clove, like cassia, is cinnamon-like. Clove also functions to drive away hostile and negative vibrations.

Labdanum penetrates the deep mind to bring out subconscious and superconscious memory.

My experimental blend has been formulated to bring more fully my preincarnate memories into conscious awareness. I plan to make the incense on Wednesday, under the influence of the archetypes of Moshe and Rhiannon.

I'm currently working on a ritual to accompany using this incense. Likely, I will precede any use of my "Abramelin" incense by banishing negativity using the incense described in the previous entry.

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Incense Named "The Delight"

ט"ו באדר תשס"ז

My newest incense recipe to banish negativity is called "The Delight" השעשע.

2 parts frankincense (olibanum) שש
2 parts organic rosemary עע
1 part dragon's blood ה

The kabbalistic Hebrew letter correspondence for each ingredient is listed above and was abstracted from a standard table of correspondences, with the exception of rosemary. The Hebrew letter correspondence for rosemary was derived as follows:

Rosemary = כליל-הר
total gematria = 90 + 205 = 295
digit sum = 16

The 16th letter of the aleph-beit is ayin ע.

Shashua is the first level of revelation of the Essence of the Divine Aur Ein Sof. From the Inner Dimension:

The twice repeated syllable sha (shin ayin) represents in Kabbalah the number (370) of lights that radiate from the countenance of God. When they shine out of and then back into the consciousness of the Divine countenance a sha'ashuah, delight, is born.

I prepared my first batch of השעשע this evening, 15 Adar 5757, during the 6th night hour, under the "planetary" influence of the moon, which holds the keys to heaven and earth [1].

Footnote:

[1] Sefer Yetzirah, R' Aryeh Kaplan (p. 180)

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Peaceful Potion

י' באדר תשס"ז

Tonight I will blend the magickal ink I will use in petition spells to be under the influence of peace. Peace implies comprehensive balance and hishtavut.

After sundown, it will be "Thursday", according to the Hebrew calendar. Thursday is under the influence of the vowel shurek, the Hebrew archetype Aaron and the Celtic archetype Lugh.

Shurek [1] corresponds to the sefirah Yesod, the vessel of peace. Aaron, as a priestly archetype of peace, corresponds to the sefirah Hod. Hod corresponds to the Temple and to the "power of the soul which causes negative phenomena to disappear while simultaneously causing positive phenomena to appear."

As I've written previously regarding Lugh and the 37th chanukah light, the specifically Welsh-Celtic name of Lugh is Lleu Llaw Gyffes, Lleu Strong Hand, where the name is etymologically derived from a proto-Celtic compound conveying the meaning "flowing vigor" and "flight, flying, soaring". This latter meaning of Lleu Llaw Gyffes links back to the function of Aaron, who kindles the lights of the Temple menorah and causes them to ascend.

With respect to the ritual hour, the calculations:

sunset tonight 5:40 pm
sunrise tomorrow 6:24 am

total minutes of night = (60 X 6) + (60 - 40) + (60 X 6) + 24 = 764

minutes per night hour = 764/12 = 63.6
*rounding to 64 and subtracting 1 minute every 3rd calculation to adjust for fraction:

hour 1 = 5:40 pm to 6:44 - sun
hour 2 = 6:44 to 7:48 - venus
hour 3 = 7:48 to 8:51* - mercury
hour 4 = 8:51 to 9:55 - moon
hour 5 = 9:55 to 10:59 - saturn
hour 6 = 10:59 to 12:02* am - jupiter
hour 7 = 12:02 to 1:06 - mars
hour 8 = 1:06 to 2:10 - sun
hour 9 = 2:10 to 3:13* - venus
hour 10 = 3:13 to 4:17 - mercury
hour 11 = 4:17 to 5:21 - moon
hour 12 = 5:21 to 6:24* - saturn
sunrises at 6:24 am

Among Jupiter's influences is peace. Consequently, I will blend my magickal ink during the sixth night hour tonight. The sixth night hour was also the favorable time to perform the Simple Moses Spell. It may be that the sixth night hour is a personal power time for me. So mote it be.

magickal ink recipe:

small vial of black ink
1 pinch name incense, undissolved
1 drop name incense infusion, steeped and dissolved in alcohol**
1 drop dragon's breath oil
1 drop sandalwood oil

While most ink recipes call for the resins to be steeped and dissolved in alcohol, I'm choosing to also add a small undissolved chunk into the ink as well. The dissolved portion will blend into the ink, while the undissolved portion will form a "foundation" within the ink. It will also be symbolic of being both in (immanent) and out (transcendent) of the world simultaneously - in velt ouis velt.

**70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol used in actual preparation of infusion.

Footnote:

[1] Meditation And Kabbalah, R' Aryeh Kaplan (p. 185)

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Kabbalistic Name Incense 1.1

י"ב בשבט תשס"ז

Here is an example of creating a kabbalistic incense blend corresponding to one's name in Hebrew. The following is a recipe for my names Liorah Chanah (לֵיאורהּ חנה ) and Lleucu (ללאכי), revised from a previous recipe as described here.

The new recipe is as follows:

5 parts chelbenah (galbanum) - 3 lameds, 2 alephs
2 parts daffodil (shin kokonoe) - 2 yods
2 parts dragon's blood - 2 heys
1 part storax (benzoin) - 1 vav
1 part saffron (כרכם karkom) - 1 kaf
1/2 part onycha (שחלת shechelet) - 1 chet
1/2 part labdanum (שחלת shechelet) - 1 chet
1/2 part olibanum (frankincense) - 1 resh
1/2 part cinnamon - 1 resh
1 part opononax (sweet myrrh) - 1 nun
9 drops olive oil
8 drops red wine
7 raisins
6 drop of honey or juice from a date
5 drops essential vanilla oil
1 drop Night Queen oil

The night of the Dark Moon, following preparation of the raisins as described in the procedure post, the onycha and labdanum will next be ground and mixed together into the 9 drops of olive oil, then set aside in a cauldron mortar.

To the midnight mortar, add and grind all 5 parts of the chelbenah (32 paths of wisdom, לללאא).

יהיה

Add 1 part shin kokonoe, grind together.
Add 1 part dragon's blood, grind together.
Add 1 part shin kokonoe, grind together.
Add 1 part dragon's blood, grind together.

כור

Add saffron, grind together.
Add benzoin (storax), grind together.
Add olibanum and cinnamon, grind together.

חן

Add opoponax to the onycha-labdanum-olive oil mixture previously set aside, grind together.

Add this mixture to the mixture in the mortar.

Add drops of red wine (used to soak raisins), mix. Add raisins, mix and grind. Add dates, mix and grind. Add drops of essential vanilla oil, mix. Add drop of Night Queen oil, mix.

Dry overnight and store in sealed vessel.

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Chelbenah-Kapet & B'Yad Ramah

chelbenah-galbanum

ה' שבט ה'תשס"ז

During the same first Dark Moon on which I will prepare the first reversal candle as described earlier, I will ritually prepare my "name" incense. This is one recipe for my names Liorah Chanah (לֵיאורהּ חנה ) and Lleucu (ללאכי).

5 parts chelbenah (galbanum) - 3 lameds, 2 alephs
2 parts daffodil (shin kokonoe) - 2 yods
2 parts dragon's blood - 2 heys
1 part storax - 1 vav
1 part saffron (כרכם karkom) - 1 kaf
1 part onycha (labdanum, שחלת shechelet) - 1 chet
1/2 part olibanum (frankincense) - 1 resh
1/2 part cinnamon - 1 resh
1/2 part siamese benzoin - 1 nun
1/2 part opononax - 1 nun
9 drops olive oil
8 drops red wine
7 raisins
6 drops honey
5 drops vanilla oil
1 drop Night Queen oil


midnight mortar and pestle

One night preceding the Dark Moon, in an earthenware vessel, completely cover raisins with red wine and soak until the Dark Moon. Cover loosely while soaking.

To the sound of Native American drumming (on CD):

On the night of the Dark Moon, before midnight, add chelbenah to midnight mortar and grind into a nearly fine powder with pestle. Add the other resins and dry herbs or spices to the ground chelbenah and grind all into a fine powder.

Add drops of olive oil, mix. Add drops of red wine (used to soak raisins), mix. Add raisins, mix and grind. Add drops of honey, mix. Add drops of vanilla, mix. Add drop of Night Queen oil, mix.

Allow to dry loosely covered within the mortar overnight. The next afternoon as the sun sets, place the incense into a glass jar and seal until use (during reversal and protection ritual during full moon esbats).

~~~~~

There are 10 primary dry ingredients and 6 adorning moist ingredients in this unique chelbenah-kapet incense blend - for a total of 16 (ביד) unique components - which when burned, whose smoke will rise (רמה).

Mortar - A vessel in which substances are crushed or ground with a pestle.

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מדוכה, מכתש, מרגמה‬
v. tr. - ‮הפגיז (במרגמה)‬
v. intr. - ‮הופגז במרגמות‬
n. - ‮טיח, מלט‬
v. tr. - ‮טייח‬

Pestle - A club-shaped hand tool for grinding and mixing substances in a mortar.

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮עלי‬
v. tr. - ‮כתש בעלי‬
v. intr. - ‮השתמש בעלי‬


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Mashiach's Brew

In my previous entry I "engraved YaH", the letters of the tetragrammton pertaining the the higher unification of The Name and brought down how this higher unification was naturally evident in the Venus Transit. In follow-up to this idea, we note that the 11th of Shevat reveals the secret to the lower unification of VH (the secret of messianic consciousness) [1]. To raise up the lower unification into revelation, I've created a recipe for the following brew:

2 parts frankincense (olibanum) לבונה
1 part myrrh המור הטוב
1 part dragon's blood דם-תנין (spell in Hebrew?)
1 drop olive oil שמן-זית
1 drop vanilla וניל
1 drop red wine אודם יין

With the onset of the full moon which began this morning, through this month until rosh chodesh Shevat, I will be burning black candles rolled in the above brew I'll name Mashiach's Blend. What is the symbolism here?

First, frankincense in Hebrew (לבונה) clearly corresponds to the sefirah Binah בינה, the feminine Left Emanation, and also to the sefirah Malchut through the ASMaB expansion ben בן. Both correspondences are connected via the 2-letter root (sha'ar) BN, and its shorashim, BVN and BNH. Within these roots is the feminine power to perceive, build and bring down understanding to the level of action. Frankincense resin is white.

Second, regarding myrrh, through the Hebrew words המור הטוב comprising this botanical exists the power to transform and raise up the bitterness into The Good - in other words, into the ultimate good which is redemptive revelation of Torah. Myrhh resin is reddish-brown, like soil of the earth.

Dragon's Blood has been discussed previously, notably here and here. This botanical puts the power of rectified feminine expressive energy (mashpia) into the cauldron.

Olive oil anoints and infuses the ritual with the power of transcendent miraculous transformation. Vanilla represents a feminine organ of reception. And wine reveals the secret.

Initiated with the full moon, this small ritual is empowered to work toward complete accomplishment. As the moon wanes, bitterness is transformed and raised. With the dark moon comes the month of Shevat, an empty vessel, a pail. A watercarrier.

The Ba'al Shem Tov said that when one meets a water-carrier carrying pitchers full of water, it is a sign of blessing. On Shevat

Footnote:

[1] Studies In Ecstatic Kabbalah, Moshe Idel

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