Vardlokkur

י׳ בתמוז תש"ע
Faunus 11

Last night in the middle of the night a storm blew out our power for five hours. But, my alarm clock is battery-operated, so I woke up anyway. After being out for five hours, just as it was time to stop hitting the snooze button and to actually get up, the power came back on. I got up. And wobbled to the bathroom, feeling ill and exhausted.

Yuck, there was no way I would make it through the day feeling like I did - power or no power. The power coming back on just didn't entice me to disregard what my body was telling me. I went back to bed and promptly fell back asleep. I slept until nearly noon - and woke up feeling so much better. It is truly amazing the miracles enough rest can work on a body. I must've really needed some.

Later this afternoon, I drew a magic rune from the bag which rests within my altar space. That rune was Ansuz - the rune of order from chaos, divine communication, ancestral transmission of knowledge, the power of the mind to use words and symbols for transformation and of the Vardlokkur.

Vardlokkur is an Old Norse word made from combining two words - vard meaning "warrant, guarantee, answer for; guard, watch, defend”; and lokkur meaning “magic song, magic charm.”

As physical rest guarded and restored my body, so too this vardlokkur answered the resting spell with a song of shabbat, restoring my mind.



Runerow 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
Rune 19: Secrets Of The Name

The Wyrd Numbers Of Urcanaan

ז' ברמחשון תש"ע
Phasma Priscus 8

Yesterday, early shabbat afternoon, I wrote my Torah commentary on parashat Noach, The Mystery of Urcanaan. Immediately following that, I wrote Samhain Mitzvah Runes, designating runes for this mystery through which the darkness of a curse is transformed into the light of illumination. Bear with me for the rest of the story.

Just last weekend, my brother and his wife turned me on to a television series I had never seen before called Lost. Last weekend and this past week, I started watching episodes of the past five seasons to learn the story and prepare for transmission of the final and sixth season beginning May 2010. After the first episode, I was hooked. This series is an amazing mystical mythology. I love it. The mystical connections in it are real.

Thursday night, I dreamt of an ancient ever-changing mystical mechanical structure hidden in the ground from which I emerged through a normally impenetrable door in the ground penetrable through a secret code only known by a few. The next day, I didn't make the connection of this dream to the hatch found in Lost, but after Shabbat's precognizant blog postings and the episodes I watched Saturday evening right after making the postings, I saw the connection.

Motzei shabbat I watched the episode called Numbers - the numbers (4 8 15 16 23 42) in the episode are believed to be cursed, just like Canaan was believed to be cursed (in the Torah portion of my commentary) until I transformed that 'irrevocable' curse into a manifest blessing through the stones of transformation (וַיֹּאמֶר, אָר וּרכְּנָעַן) in my first precognizant blog post, The Mystery of Urcanaan. The 'cursed numbers' are revealed in Numbers to be written on the side of the mechanical structure hidden in the ground (like in my dream Thursday night), excavated by a few of the lost survivors.

Motzei shabbat, after watching the episode Numbers, I watched the episode Deus Ex Machina. This episode ended with "Locke disappearing into the jungle to return to the hatch. Pounding on the door and screaming in anguish atop the hatch, Locke laments what has happened. Suddenly the hatch window is illuminated, sending a shaft of light into the sky," - just like the uruz rune was illuminated, sending a shaft of light into the world in my second precognizant blog post, Samhain Mitzvah Runes!

Totally wyrd. The dream of the hidden mechanical structure and the blog postings occurred before I watched Numbers and Deus Ex Machina.

I emerged from 'the hatch' in my dream. I haven't yet seen the Lost episode where the hatch is opened, but in researching it, I see that through the hatch is found The Swan. In Celtic tradition, swans possess the healing powers of the sun and water. Swan also represents radiant divinity and feminine royalty.

Rune Of Shabbat Rest

כ"ו באב תשס״ט
Lughnasadh 27

There are seven runes and one 'empty space' in my runic name. The seven runes of my name shall correspond in my life to the seven days of the week.

As Odin is the chief Divinity in Germanic tradition who guides souls, mediating between the conscious and unconscious realms, so too shall Odin's day (Wednesday) guide the week in my runic practice. Thus, the first rune in my name corresponds to Wednesday, the second rune to Thursday, the third rune to Friday, the fourth rune to Shabbat ... the fifth rune to Sunday, the sixth rune to Monday and the seventh rune to Tuesday.



Interestingly, under Odin's guidance, the fourth rune in my name corresponds to Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath day of rest. The fourth rune in my name is also the rune of rest, namely Isa. Beside Isa, rests the empty space in which the Soul of Shabbat Consciousness is pulled into manifest existence.

All my Ancestors and the mysteries of the magical alphabets I've inherited from them are in harmony within me. Peaceful and full of well-being is my inheritance. It is כל טוב, all good.

The Sabbats - HaSabbatot

ה' באב תשס״ט
Lughnasadh 6

The mystery of sabbat sabbatot and the high holy days emerge from the Divine Feminine.

Sabbatu, Women's Magic and Sacred Time

The word sabbat (שבת) is derived from the Babylonian word sabbatu, meaning 'heart's rest' and refers to the bleeding (menstrual) time when women's Goddess magic was particularly potent. In Hebrew tradition, Goddess is called the shabbat queen. The Hebrew letter ש can be vocalized as either 's' (שׂ) or 'sh' (שׁ). In Hebrew, the plural of sabbat/shabbat is sabbatot/shabbatot (שבתות). Interestingly, sabbatu spelled in Hebrew is שבתו. Ending with the Hebrew letter of connection, namely vav (ו), sabbatu itself carries and connects together all the sabbatot.

Lunar Sabbats and Earth Shabbats, Power Points of Feminine Power in Time

In ancient times, Babylonians called the four quarter days of the lunar cycle - the new, first, full and last quarter, one of which occurred about every seven days - sabbats. The modern weekly shabbat day of rest is fixed at every seven days. The sabbatot focus otherworldly (lunar-stellar) time, the shabbatot focus earthly time.

Stellar Sabbats, Points and Apices of Feminine Power in Time on the Earth

Through the feminine power of the lunar cycle, the masculine solar cycle of the year was designated and astrologically brought into alignment with the four feminine quarter days of the natural stellar cycle - the solstices and the equinoxes - the oldest holy days known to humanity. Ancient ritual observances of the quarter days can be found worldwide, from the ancient pyramids of Egypt to the cliff-wall dwellings of the Anasazi. The quarter days of the stellar cycle are the 'Lesser Sabbats' or 'Low Holy Days' of Witchcraft. The Lesser Sabbats are Ostara (spring equinox), Litha (summer solstice), Mabon (autumn equinox) and Yule (winter solstice).

The solstices and equinoxes are times of longest and shortest nights and of longest and shortest days of the year. While these days are days of imbalance in the masculine solar cycle, they are days of feminine lunar power.

The days of balance (equinimity) in the solar cycle are days in the masculine solar cycle between the powerful lunar points of the quarter days and form apices of feminine power between the feminine lunar power points - these are the cross-quarter days of the stellar cycle brought down to earth as 'earthly power points' for women's magic. The cross-quarter days of the stellar cycle are the 'Greater Sabbats' or 'High Holy Days' of Witchcraft. The Greater Sabbats are Imbolc (between Yule and Ostara), Beltane (between Ostara and Litha), Lughnasadh (between Litha and Mabon) and Samhain (between Mabon and Yule).

The Greater Sabbat of Lughnasadh is upcoming on the horizon here in the northern hemisphere of the earth. Lughnasash is traditionally observed on August 1, and astrologically observed this year on August 6-7. The Greater Sabbat of Imbolc is upcoming for those located in the southern hemisphere of the earth.

May all our שבתות be blessed with revealed good! So mote it be! אמן

Tzohar, Mountain Of Time With The Sun In A Circle

ד' סיון התשס"ח
Alban Heruin 5
Yesod of Malchut

I dreamt. These are the details I can clearly remember, which begin somewhere in the middle of the dream. The beginning of the dream has since faded beyond discrete memory.

There was a mountain. I and two other women were in a room within the mountain. A man was there with us. He and his father were doing and had been doing experiments over time with time. They kept trying to stay one step ahead of time "catching up" to their whereabouts in any particular time, because if it did before they "fixed it", all creation would be annihilated.

The man and his father had set up a nuclear-like bomb to go off deep within the mountain, which would destroy the mountain built of time. We would be killed or forced into another time. That is, those of us who were eternal would be forced into another time. Real, manifest time.

The man and his father knew each of them were eternal, but wasn't sure about we three women in the mountain's room. We would either be destroyed in time when the bomb went off or, if we were also eternal, we would jump through time with the man and his father.

The bomb went off, destroying the mountain of time. We were all thrown through time into a huge enclosed room rapidly filling with water. A serpent may have also been in the water with us. We would all drown in the room if I couldn't really do magic and get us out.

Suddenly, we were in a gypsy camp. A woman was reading my timelines off lines on each side of the spine appearing on another woman's back. The man was employing the woman to read my timelines on the other woman's back to see if my timelines were related to his. He was doing this because, on my back, my 'timelines' existed as a single timeline directly over the spine. For some reason, the one timeline on my back could not be easily read directly and had to be read as two timelines on the other woman's back. It was dangerous and would be lethal for a man to read the single timeline of a woman whose timeline was not directly connected to his.

The woman reader's words as she spoke to the man regarding my timelines were increasingly suggesting to the man that I was the one whose timeline was connected to his throughout all time. The woman upon whose back my timelines were being read didn't like this news the reader was providing to the man. I felt the woman whose back was being read was a rival of some sort. She didn't want the timelines on her back to lead to me and refused to let the woman reader read my timelines any further. The woman upon whose back my timelines had been read, got up and informed the man that he would have to read the single timeline directly on me if he wanted any more information. In other words, she wasn't going to give up her place in the running of potentials and concede victory to me so easily. She got up and walked away from the reading place. The man had no choice but to try and read my single timeline directly from me if he wanted to ascertain surely the connection of our timeline. He decided to try.

Suddenly, I alone was a woman underwater. I rose up to the surface of the river-sea and found myself near the door to a wooden boat-like raft-like house. I had been escorted to the surface and to the door of the rafthouse by two male corpses with copper pennies covering over their eyelids. (It reminds me now of the River Styx.)

The door opened and the rafthouse became more raftlike. A man stood upon its surface deck with a wooden staff like a ferryman. He saw the two corpses with the four copper pennies over their eyes. Then, he accepted me and plucked me up with his staff out of the water and pulled me onto the raft where I rested.

Suddenly, an iron framework came down from above or rose up from below around we two on the wooden raft. The iron framework consisted of four equally spaced iron poles turning inward and upward toward an iron circle zenith to which they connected. It was the framework of a temple room. The circle was open at the top like a paneless window, a tzohar. The four iron poles came out from the outer surface of the circle window. Its broad dome-like form reminded me of the temple of Newgrange.

I was laying upon the surface of the wooden raft looking up through the iron encircled window above me into the moving grey sky.

I woke up, laying in my bed. Yet, the visions of my dream continued. Even as I listened to the thunder outside, I saw tattered storm-cut video tape flapping in the wind off the wooden joints of the raft upon which I was laying. It reminded me of the video tape used to make the wooden raft in the film Cast Away, which I had watched last night. Near the end of the film, as the man is about to be rescued at sea, there is a scene of the man laying on his wooden raft after a storm with a brief scan of the battered and storm tossed raft still being held together by tattered video tape.

Suddenly, I saw an alignment coming and looked up toward the iron circle above me. The sun was moving into alignment with the circle's opening over me. The sun moved left to right into perfect alignment within the circle. The sun perfectly fit into the frame of the circle from which its light focused down. Exactly onto me. It reminded me of הנץ החמה.

The waking vision ended. I got up and recorded it.

Mount Sinai & The River Styx Connection

Sheydim In Beit HaBechirah

י'ב באייר תשס"ח
Mab 13

In contrast to today's earlier entry on the collapse at Angels Camp, here is an entry on sheydim (commonly, yet incorrectly, identified as demons).

Excerpts from Magic Of The Ordinary: Recovering The Shamanic In Judaism (Gershon Winkler):

The book of the Zohar, one of the most classical of the Jewish mystical texts, describes the sheydim as "half human, half angel" ... (beings who) dance between both the spirit world and the physical world ...

who await their completion during Shabbat*.

"And the Source of Powers said: 'The earth should bring out of itself the Life Spirit ...", taught Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, "these are the sheydim, whose souls the Creator fashioned and whose bodies the Creator was about to form when the Settling Time (Shabbat) arrived ..."

Jewish tradition recounts quite extensively how sheydim were invoked by people for evil or good.

Although "demonized" by religious scripture and folklore, sheydim are also mentioned in more positive contexts. Shlomo, who was Chief of Hebrew tribes during the ninth century B.C.E., is recorded as having made positive use of sheydim as have several of the early rabbis. Dabbling in the arts of invoking sheydim is therefore not to be confused with "demonology" and was never prohibited by Jewish law except in instances when sheydim were invoked as primary source powers rather than supplemental aids in "supernatural" maneuvering [1]. But invoking sheydim as aids for effecting "supernatural" phenomena rather than as primary causes of such phenomena, is althogether different and permissible in Jewish shamanic practice.

In Jewish shamanic practice, the "supernatural" is none other than a deeper "natural", and there really is no such thing as the "supernatural":

The various permutations of the various Sacred Names can effect or rearrange the "natural order" of things, since the natural order of things and their makeup are animated by Creator whose creative essence is concealed within many Names. The kabbalistic rite of the permutation of the Sacred Names would then be like rearranging molecules with the intention of altering their structures to effect any variety of manifestations.

The MaHaRaL noted that the realms of both the physical and the spiritual share the same Primary Root Cause, the Creator's ineffable Name, which, when pronounced properly constitutes an invocation of that attribute of the Infinite that manifests in the ever-unfolding dynamics of ever-continuing creation. Therefore, a supernatural occurence invoked by chanting the Sacred Name constitutes no disruption of the order of the physical universe. In other words: there is actually no such thing as "supernatural" ...

The secrets of sorcery and of ancient mystery wisdom altogether are exclusively to be discovered neither in books nor in workshops but deep down in the cobwebbed cellars of each and every one of us, buried within the murky mystery of our Essential Self. After all, the masters quoted in these ancient and early medieval texts must have gotten their inspiration and wisdom from somewhere other than books. For the main part, this body of wisdom was transmitted orally since Avraham, who in turn may have learned a lot of it from Eber and Malchizedek, whom the ancient rabbis considered the primary mentors of the first Hebrews.

One idea (inserted above*) regarding the sheydim that I will bring down into Rabbi Winkler's excellent instruction is this - the sheydim are made Holy when completed in the beauty of Shabbat consciousness. So mote it be. אמן

Footnote:

[1] Rabbi Menachem M'iri in Beit Hab'chirah on Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 67b

Soul Of Shomer Shabbat

כ'ו באדר א' תשס"ח
Keolwulf 27

Interestingly, in further follow-up to previous entries discussing my astrological natal charts, I note that in both the Tropical Placidus and Sidereal Whole reckonings, 4 of the 8 Elemental Fire signs of my chart concentrate in the fifth house of the zodiac.

On the fifth house of the zodiac (About Astrology):

The Fifth House is commonly referred to as the House of Pleasure. Oftentimes, pleasure is the result of a creative act. The simple act of creating is, essentially, giving of oneself and making something -- making another? Yes, the Fifth House does speak to procreation and children, but it also addresses the creation of art and culture.

Simply, the fifth house concerns pleasurable creative endeavors of Shechinah (see Shechinah & The Mystery Of Zero).

The 4 signs in the fifth house, written in my soul, are:

Jupiter - tav (ת) with a gematria of 400
Saturn - reish (ר) with a gematria of 200
Mercury - pei (פ) with a gematria of 80
Sun - dalet (ד) with a gematria of 4

The Hebrew letter tav represents the "time" of Shabbat.

The letters רפד mean to "surround, envelop with loving affection" (MorFix). In other words, the letters suggest a "guarding action", that is, by surrounding with love and affection.

Justice, justice, it follows (תרדף).

It's truth.

The Witching Hour

י'ח באדר א' תשס"ח
Keolwulf 19

Old Timer comments at DovBear:

I heard something very strange in shul this past Friday night. Someone heard from his Rebbe that you are not allowed to make kiddush between 6PM & 7PM because the "shaydim" are active during that hour. If one came home from shul and could not make kiddush before 6PM he must wait the full hour until after 7PM to do so. I thought that as Jews we are not allowed to be superstitious. Has anyone else heard of this new "chumrah"? It seems that new ones keep popping up every day.

According to Sefer Yetzirah, the hour of 6-7 p.m. Friday evening is governed by the planetary energy of Mars, which influences such things as "blood, strife, wickedness, external injury, war, hatred and jealousy." The planet Mars corresponds to the letter Gimel, and thus through the Gimel/Mars connection, the hour in question creates a bridge into the physical world for the reality of "reward and punishment" to manifest. Should one be due for punishment, this might not be a good hour to make kiddush. Should one be due for reward, this may be a very good hour to make kiddush.

Graphic - my Witching Hour black sand timer made of handpainted cold cast resin and designed by Nemesis Now.

Meforash

Horse Rider, By The Light Of The Moon

כ"א בתמוז תשס"ז

This morning, I dreamt.

There was alot of action in the beginning of the dream that I've now forgotten. That action concerned my husband or boyfriend or significant other (in other words, my other-world bashert to which I have no current real relationship) and I were running to escape those trying to harm us in some way.

Arriving to the part of the dream I still remember in detail [1], I was now heading home on the road which leads to the house of my parents. I was riding a regal looking dark horse bareback. I am the horse [2] (סוס) rider (פרש).

At a corner, where Brewer [3, 4] road meets Perrysville [5] road (in real life and in the dream), sits a bar called Moon Glo [6, 7]. I came riding fast down Brewer road. Turning the horse I was riding onto Perrysville road at the corner by Moon Glo, I was heading home.

Now traveling on Perrysville road, shabbat had also arrived. It was dusk and the sun was going down over the horizon. On the roadway before me was like a roadway cafe where evening diners sat at fancy dinner tables eating an evening restaurant meal from Moon Glo. The tables with diners dining were scattered in the lanes (rows) of the road as opposed to being at the side of the road. I slowed my horse to a walk as I approached the roadway tables as they sat by the Moon Glo on Perrysville road.

It was shabbat, and I had to get past the dining diners to get home. Yet, they were sitting at tables on the road. I sat up straight on the back of my horse, securely gripping with intention the reigns for guiding the path of my horse precisely among the diners dining.

I guided the path of my horse. We walked with expert precision a clear path, through the aisle winding among the tables without touching or disturbing the meal of those dining at all. My horse moved regally with perfect and exact control, as if it and I were of one mind.

Past the tables of dining diners, I and my dark horse regally headed home.

I woke up.

Footnotes:

[1] perush (rider, elucidator) - "Ezra promoted the approach of perush. This is an empirical method of analyzing a subject by examining all of its details. Details are compared to one another, without attempting to determine the underlying principles. The word perush comes from the root paras, 'to spread forth' [see Isaiah 25:11]. This form of analysis is less risky, since it limits itself to the material at hand." Chanan Morrison, Rav Kook on Devarim

[2] horse (sus) - "The average value of the three letters which compose the word sus, samech, vav, samech, 60, 6, 60 is 42. 42 is the secret of that one of G-d's Names, which represents the power of creation. This continues the thought that the word sus represents the stages of progression in the evolution of nature." Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh on the word sus (horse)

[3] biur - "From the time of Moses until Ezra, the Torah was clarified through the method of biur. This word comes from the root be'er, meaning a well of water. Like a well, the creative outpouring of learning flowed "like an overflowing spring and a river that never dries up" [Avot 6:1]. This form of analysis begins by deducing the underlying principles; then, all of the details may be derived from these fundamental principles, the hidden foundations of the Torah." Chanan Morrison, Rav Kook on Devarim

[4] hebrew - "The Talmud [Sanhedrin 21b] states that Ezra was a scholar of such stature that the Torah could have been given to Israel through him. While this did not occur, Ezra nonetheless made a revolutionary change in the Torah, by switching the writing in the Torah from the ancient Hebrew script to the square Assyrian script. Why did Ezra make this change in the letterforms? The two scripts reflect different needs of the nation." Chanon Morrison, Rav Kook on Devarim

[5] perush (פרוש) - see fn. 1

[6] klipah nogah, the Land & the walls of Jerusalem - "One klipah (husk) is not unclean which safeguards everything so that the unclean [forces] will not be able to derive benefit from the holy Light. It is recorded in Ezekiel 1:4, "and a Nogah (brilliance) surrounded it". It [the Nogah] protected them (the children of Israel) on all sides, as has been explained." "This is the secret [why] the Shekhina guards over Israel all by Herself, [but] only in the land of Israel. This is not the case outside the land, Heaven help us. When the klipot seek to dominate the land of Israel, to destroy it, then does the Shekhina depart from the land and ascends above to the [spiritual] palaces and then afterwards the entry to the palace is sealed and closed. Then is permission given to breach the walls of Jerusalem, which are the "klipah Nogah" (the brilliant husk) which separates [the good from the evil]. Then enters the nations who contaminate [everything], who send forth their hands upon the children of Israel and destroys all the physical chariots and exiles them. The Shekhina runs after her children to see what is to be with them outside of [their] land . . . For being that her children are cast away, it is impossible for Her to let go of them. Therefore, [does the Shekhina] dwell in the lowest of chariots . . . " from NeHora on Rabbi Avraham Azulai

[7] light of the moon - Rabbi Avraham Azulai's "book Ohr HaLevana (Light of the Moon), he wrote corrections (hagahot) regarding the Zohar text." from NeHora on Rabbi Avraham Azulai

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

Time Of Messianic Power

ז' בתמוז תשס"ז

Next shabbat morning marks the full moon of power in Capricorn, the mazal of my birth. The sign of capricorn is characterized by maturity of the Good Eye (Ayin HaTov), full rectification of nachash consciousness and transformation of nachash power into messianic power.

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

והיה אור

ב' באייר תשס"ז

Shabbat candles were prepared this afternoon during the planetary hour of Pluto (Da'at) with the waxing crescent moon 16% (הוה) full [1]. This afternoon's sefirotic correspondence is Gevurah of Gevurah, using the Gra array [2].

An 8 inch red candle was inscribed in Hebrew with the words והיה אור (let there be light, 3), אמן (amen) and dressed inwardly with both lavender oil and the Gevurah-Da'at-Chesed blend described in a previous entry.

A 4 inch black candle was dressed inwardly with Feminine Clarity from the ruby crystal vessel, also as described previously.

To further bring clarity to the surface of consciousness, an earthy brown citrus bergamot votive will also be burned in tandem with the red and black shabbat candles this evening, as will cinnamon-vanilla-ginger [4] incense.

והיה אור, אמן so mote it be

Footnotes:

[1] הוה is found in Bereshit 27:29 in Yitzchak's blessing to Yaakov.

[2] Tiferet of tiferet, using the standard Ari array.

[3] Using the form of "be" implying joy, "the word והיה is used to convey gladness" (The Wisdom In The Hebrew Alphabet, R' Michael Munk; Megillah 10b; Pesikta Zuta 6:10).

[4] cinnamon, kinamon [קנמון]; vanilla, [וניל]; ginger, zangvil [זנגביל, זנגוויל].

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

Purim Torah, Mysteries Of The Night

ג' באדר תשס"ז

לה Five sacred times fall out this year for this Jewitch on Saturday, 3 March. Each time is represented by one of five Welsh goddesses of Avalon (Isle of the blessed). (Goddess information from Avalon Traditions)

Shabbat - Blodeuwedd is the Lady of Initiation.

She calls us to cast off the garments of expectation and to peer into the darkness of the self to find, and ultimately live, our inner truth. She teaches us to fly where others would see us grounded. Mythological Sources for Blodeuwedd – The Mabinogion - "Math, Son of Mathonwy"; Hanes Blodeuwedd.

חזק חזק ונתחזק

Lunar Eclipse in Virgo - Ceridwen is the Lady of Transformation.

She calls us to enter into our darkness to seek out the seeds of our wholeness. She teaches us that the only path to wisdom is through trial and experience [1]. In Her Cauldron, the mysteries of death and rebirth are revealed, and we emerge to initiate the process once more. We ride the Wheel with our newfound insight and understanding, so that we may illume the next phase of our journey with what we have learned. Mythological Sources for Ceridwen: The Tale of Gwion Bach and Hanes Taliesin.

חזק חזק ונתחזק

Full "Worm" Moon - Arianrhod is the Great Teacher.

She holds the energy of the active principle. She is the embodiment of the Wheel, yet not Herself subject to it. She is the force of Bound and Rebound, the Karmic Lesson Bringer that brings the Universe into Balance. All cycles and time are within Her realm of influence. Arianrhod is the Source of Awen, the Divine Spark of Inspiration, although it is through Ceridwen that Awen is bestowed. Mythological Source for Arianrhod: The Mabinogion - "Math, Son of Mathonwy".

חזק חזק ונתחזק

Rhyfeddod Lleiaf o Rhiannon (begins at sundown) - Rhiannon is the Lady of Manifestation.

She calls us to stand strong regardless of the challenges to our truth. She teaches us to ask for what we need, and grants abundant and loving support to carry us through our dark times. Mythological Sources for Rhiannon: The Mabinogion - "Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed" and "Manawydan, Son of Llyr".

חזק חזק ונתחזק

Purim (begins at sundown) - Branwen is the embodiment of Sovereignty and is the Guardian of Avalon.

She holds the energy of the passive principle. She is the Whole, the Center, the Axis Mundi. The primal Feminine energy, all things emanate from Branwen. She is the Goddess of the Land Manifest, as well as the Spirit of the Land. On Avalon, Branwen was primarily consulted in matters dealing with Her Realm – that is, concerning the full tapestry of Avalon, rather than the individual stitches. She is the Goddess of the grand scheme of things, the broader perspective that allows the greater patterns to be revealed. Mythological Source for Branwen: The Mabinogion - "Branwen, Daughter of Llyr".

חזק חזק ונתחזק

Footnote:

[1] "No one is wise (in Torah) but the mistress of experience." - Akeidat Yitzchak 14

Note: Rhyfeddod Lleiaf o Rhiannon lasts for 3 nights, from sundown March 3 through dawn March 6. Purim and Shushan Purim last for 2 nights, from sundown March 3 through sundown March 5 - for a total of 5 nights (where 2 of those nights are "double nights") followed by 1 dawn.

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Red Cord Of Unity & The Shabbat River

י"ט בשבט תשס"ז

I had originally planned to tie my Book Of Shadows (BOS) with a 9 to 10 foot braided red cord. But, I changed my mind and decided to bind my BOS when not in use with a witch's cord, also called in the craft a witch's girdle and a cingulum. Many witches also use the cingulum as a girdle-belt to tie our ritual robes. I will also use mine to embrace my BOS.

To make my cingulum, I purchased 3 strands of dark red ribbon-cord each measuring 4 yards (12 feet). Together, the total footage of the 3 strands is 36 feet. The 4 yards correspond to the 4 worlds/universes, the 12 feet to the 12 boundaries [1] of each universe/world, the 3 strands to the 3 lower worlds of creation-formation-making, and the 36 feet to the Essential Unity that still exists between Light and Darkness.

I tied 3 ends, one from each strand, together with a "crown" charm bound up in the knot, then tightly hand braided the 3 strands together. I used a hebrew-english Tanakh as an anchor weight at the bound end as I braided (so that the intertwining would be tight and even). Reaching the other ends, I tied them together with a pentagram charm and knotted it.

By the time the red cord cingulum was completed, it measured 3 yards and 11-13 inches, depending on how tightly or loosely I stretched the cord to measure it (from crown to pentagram). In other words, the entire length of the originally 12 foot single strands was a braided cord measuring 9 feet and 11-13 inches. Eleven [2] is the number of incense spices of Tohu, and represents the rectification and elevation of "evil" back into the realm of holiness (kedushah). Thirteen is the gematria of Echad (אחד).

My witch's cord symbolizes in its construction the first tzimtzum and my trip into existence through the River of Fire (Nahar Dinur). The River of Fire is also called the Shabbat River and the Sambatyon. The braiding symbolizes pivoting over "stones". I still to this day remember the "pivoting everywhichway" through it. The "stones" are the essence of the "letters of creation". We may not all remember the trip, but it is a trip we all made into existence nevertheless.

I do remember "seeing" from "both shores" of the River of Fire. Thus, my red cord is for me a tangible link to both shores of this mystical river which I truly consciously remember, and back into the Malchut of Ein Sof.

Footnotes:

[1] Sefer Yetzirah 5:2

[2] Inner Space, R. Aryeh Kaplan (p. 86)

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Barley - Evidence Of Reconnection

ז' שבט ה'תשס"ז

Note that today's Hebrew date rests like a double shabbat, a shabbat shabbaton, and like the double edges of a witch's athame, between two letters zayin (ז ... ז).

The second product of the Land that we traditionally eat during Tu B'Shevat is barley. The word in Devarim 8:8 is ושׂערה meaning "and barley", where the first [1] letter is a vav (ו) of connection called a vav hachibur. This is the vav which reconnects the letter yod to the letter chet in the word wheat (חיטה) as discussed in my previous entry, Wheat - From Galut To Geulah (from exile to redemption).

Evidence for this reconnection is found in the root שׂער of the word for barley, which implies a strong movement from within [2]. The first letter of the root is sin ("s" sound) as opposed to shin ("sh" sound), with a nikud (dot) over the left pillar as opposed to the right pillar. Consequently, we can see that the movement manifests through action of the feminine left emanation.

What is this movement? It is the movement described in Sefer Yetzirah 1:6 and 6:1 as a stormwind, the se'arah. Ruach se'arah [3] is a klipah (as I've distinguished previously here, Sufah and Se'arah), in contradistinction to ruach hakodesh or divine inspiration. Like its ezer knegdo, the shoresh "against it" (שרע), it implies stretching and extending in response to a strong inner movement. In other words, it is deliberate, measured, active work. This klipah gives the soul something to push and pull against enabling growth. As a yetziratic "agitating wind" meant to loosen distorted complexes in the soul for removal and/or reconstruction, ruach se'arah is neither as powerful nor as potentially destructive as Ruach HaShem. Ruach se'arah results when the human moves toward the divine. Ruach HaShem results when the divine bestows upon the human. Consequently, the powerful presence of the "chaotic dynamic" described here is evidence that the reconnection has been established.

In my own life, this dynamic is discussed most notably here (Soul Of A Bat Kohen) and here (Modah Ani).

Footnotes:

[1] Hebrew is read right to left, as opposed to from left to right as with English.

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

[3] Inner Space, R' Aryeh Kaplan

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Consecrating My Athame

כ"ח טבת ה'תשס"ז

Tonight is the esbat of the Dark Moon. In contrast to Rosh Chodesh, which notes the first sliver of silvery light sighted each month, the Dark Moon is fully within the Shadow of Night. Light represents activity. Darkness represents rest. In other words, while Rosh Chodesh celebrates rebirth, the Dark Moon rests symbolically as a tzelem Elohim within the Dark Essence of Ein Sof.

Consequently, with the Light resting within the completely Dark Essence of Ein Sof, the Dark Moon esbat represents a shabbat of the moon. The moon generally corresponds to soul power of Emet (אמת truth) and to the sefirah Yesod (יסוד foundation). Thus, this esbat of Tevet, my athame will be infused with the Essential Foundation of Truth and the power of shabbat consciousness.

The esbat nocturnal ritual (performed surrounding midnight):

Complete steps 1, and 3 as found in Jewitch Shabbat Ritual.

Set up altar to basically include a central black taper candle standing upon a pentagram tile, a red pomegranate votive candle, and an incense blend [2] prepared with a teardrop within cauldron censer.

Light black taper (projective energy), saying:

Beruchah at Shechinah HaShem Chai, malchat shel Shabbat v'Esbat b'laylah, who transforms darkness into brilliance.

Use flame from the taper to light pomegranate votive (receptive energy) candle, saying:

Beruchah at Shechinah HaShem Chai, ruach shel Shabbat v'Esbat b'laylah, move through the Shadow of Night and be One with the Light.

Use flame from the taper to light the incense, saying:

Blessed are You Shechinah Acknowledger of Life, ruler of the universe, who has gifted me with a portion of Truth.

Beruchah at Shechinah HaShem Chai, malkat ha'olam, she'natnah li chemdat emet.

Wipe down both sides of the blade of the athame with a magnet.

Rinse with consecrated water [1]. Don't wipe dry.

Pass athame through incense smoke, saying:

ישמך אלהים השם חיי כאמת וחנה
Y'simech Elohim HaShem Chai k'Emet v'Chanah.

May the Goddess who acknowledges life make you as truth and favor.

Go outside and under the Dark Moon, cast the circle (step 7 here) using the index and middle fingers of the right hand.

Hold athame straight up with both hands directly over the crown of the head, saying:

With the Dance of Holy Darkness, I dedicate, consecrate, awaken, charge and infuse you.

Encircling the tip deosil overhead 8 times, saying each time:

ברוך שם כבוד מלכותה לעולם ועד
Baruch shem kevod malchutah le'olam va'ed.

Blessed is the Glorious Name, Her Kingdom stands forever and ever.

Following the eighth blessing, bring the athame parallel to the heart, point up, saying:

אמן
Amen.

Turning athame, point down, saying:

So mote it be.

Draw a pentagram invoking earth into the soil. Wipe off any dirt from the tip of the blade with the middle fingers, using the left middle finger for one side and the right middle finger for the other.

Kiss both sides of the blade near the middle and the hilt.

Bring the athame inside and place on the altar, saying:

With the Divine Shadow be embraced. So mote it be.

Allow candles and incense to burn themselves out. Leave up circle of protection. Wrap athame in black cloth and store with altar tools after the flames and incense have become dark.

Footnotes:

[1] Banished of negativity and blessed.

[2] Dragon's blood, frankincence, myrrh, pinch of salt, drop of vanilla oil, drop of olive oil, drop of red wine.

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Jewitch Shabbat Ritual

Here is the first formal Friday evening shabbat ritual I have written for the solitary Jewitch. It may tweaked and refined as time goes by. This is the basic format from which I will build:

1. Take a bath or shower. Visualize washing away physical, emotional and spiritual impurity, letting all negativity flow down the drain with the water. Dress in ritual attire. Put on Jewitch pentacle (pentacle + magen David), saying:

Blessed is this Unity. Her Glorious Name is One. So mote it be.

2. "Sweep" (counterclockwise-"widdershins" and out) ritual space with besom. Visualize removing all negative energy from it, saying:

From this place, I banish all negativity and evil. So mote it be.

3. Perform ritual bath. Add herbs and oil of choice [1] to ritual bowl containing warm water.

Relax. Breathe. Stand facing north (Gevurah, fire) in front of bath bowl. Purify and consecrate the water mixture, placing tip of athame into the water, saying:

Out from you I cast all that is impure and unclean. Blessed are you, with the heart of the Shechinah. You are Holy. So mote it be.

Lay athame upon empty altar "place" (where altar will be or is permanently located). Face north/ritual bath bowl. Hold palms facing upward, saying:

Shechinah, fierce and intense, gentle and mild, blessed are You, and I am Your beloved child.

Dip finger of choice [2] in bath, close eyes. Anoint eyelids by drawing a small pentagram (invoking air [3]) on each with your finger, saying:

Open my eyes to see, my mind to understand and my perception to clarity.

Open your eyes. Dip finger of choice in bath, anointing lips in same fashion, saying:

Open my lips to speak the truth.

Similarly, anoint your breast, saying:

Open my heart to beat with compassion.

Similarly, anoint the palms of your hands, saying:

Open the strength of my hands to do rightly.

Similarly, anoint your loins, saying:

Open my lifeforce to flow with the Source of Peace.

Similarly, anoint your knees, saying:

Open me to be a revealed blessing.

Similarly, anoint the tops of both feet, saying:

Open the path to all good and guard my way upon it.

4. Cleanse the ritual space.

Sprinkle salt-herb water from ritual bowl, starting from the north and turning clockwise ("deosil", pronounced "jess-el", also called "sunwise" and the "holy round"); i.e. north to east to south to west. Repeat by carrying a representative of each of the four elements [4, 5], working with one element at a time.

5. Set up your altar.

Faced north, located on the eastern side of the room/space. Sprinkle salt-herb water over altar area. Set up table or other surface. Cover with black altar cloth. Individualize set up of altar space. Place candle trays upon the altar cloth now if you are going to use them. Place "circle" quarter candle (black anointed and consecrated tea candles in clear crystal circle holders) on each side of the altar north to east to south to west.

Generally, and in this order [3], place fire element (main illuminator black candle anointed, consecrated and inscribed using athame) and athame on the northern side of the altar. Place air element (incense in cauldron censor) and witch's wand (symbolizes "order from chaos") on the eastern side. Place water element (bowl of water) and chalice/kiddush cup on the southern side. Place earth element (stone or piece of wood) and pentacle on the western side.

Place besom on eastern corner (on or near the altar). Place other objects pertaining to your ritual intent upon the altar if desired [6]. Note, the only steel or iron item upon your altar should be your athame.

6. Call the quarters or watchtowers.

Pick up athame. With projecting hand (right), hold it point up parallel to your heart. Face north, raise up athame, drawing a pentagram in space with your athame in the manner invoking fire [3], saying:

Blessed is She, the Eternal Flame and the Essence of Truth.

Hail Guardians of the Watchtowers of the north, element of the fire, I, (your name), do summon, stir and call you forth to witness this rite, and to protect this sacred space and time. Welcome to my circle. Stand in strength. Blessed be in joy, love and light. So mote it be.

Point athame into (toward) the earth, walk/turn the circle clockwise (deosil), then return athame to the altar. Face the east, light incense, raising it and drawing a pentagram in space in the manner invoking air [3], saying:

Blessed is She, Mistress of the mysteries of spices and perfumes, the One over Death, and She who loves me.

Hail Guardians of the Watchtowers of the east, element of the air. I, (your name), do summon, stir and call you forth to witness this rite, and to protect this sacred space and time. Welcome to my circle. Stand in strength. Blessed be in joy, love and light. So mote it be. [7]

Holding censor, turning a complete circle (or walk the circle) deosil, reface the altar. Return censor to the eastern quarter of the altar. Pick up water bowl on the southern quarter.

Repeat with south-water, west-earth.

Blessing over water element:

Blessed is She who bestows Wisdom.

Blessing over earth element:

Blessed is She who sustains Life.

7. Cast your circle, pick up athame, extend it outward and down toward the earth, walking deosil starting from the north, saying:

I conjure you, O Circle, to establish in this place sacred ground, with the Brilliance of the Shechinah surround, Her Power within it found.

No place or time or barrier may there be, between Her, my word and me. So mote it be.

Baruch shem kevod malchutah leolam va'ed, amen.

ברוך שם כבוד מלכותה לעולם ועד, אמן
Translation: Blessed is the Glorious Name, Her Kingdom stands forever and ever, amen.

8. Light the illuminator-shabbat candle(s), (covering eyes) saying:

Blessed are You Shabbat, Goddess of all life, Who transforms darkness into light.

Uncover eyes and circle flame 3 times with hands (starting and ending over your heart), each time drawing light toward you.

9. Pour and bless wine, saying:

Blessed are You Shechinah, Goddess of all life, Who guides me to wise understanding, proper compassion and right action.

Take a drink.

10. Blessing over bread:

Blessed are You Shechinah, Who nourishes me with all goodness.

Take a bite.

11. Perform other specific observances, shabbat spellwork, meditative study, etc.

12. Release quarters and open circle [8] following havdalah.


Footnotes:

[1] Dragon's blood, frankincence, myrrh, pinch of salt, drop of vanilla oil, drop of olive oil, drop of red wine (may vary according to intent of ritualwork). Ritual bath general reference: The Craft (Dorothy Morrison).

[2] See Ari's chiromancy correspondences.

[3] Pentagram invocations and banishings according to correspondences of the Zohar (hat-tip to Jack Nathanson for Zohar reference).




[4] Examples of elemental representatives: earth (stone, small piece of wood, bowl of salt, pentacle), fire (small lit candle, athame), air (lit incense stick or feather, wand), water (bowl of water, seashell, chalice).

[5] Elemental correspondences according to the Zohar: north-fire, east-air, south-water, west-earth.

[6] Book of Shadows (BOS), cauldron, tarot cards, dream journal, ritual jewelry, cakes/cookies/challah, kosher wine or grapejuice.

[7] "Hail, Guardians ... so mote it be" - standard quarter call revised from Solitary Witch (Silver RavenWolf).

[8] Walking and moving widdershins (counterclockwise), using pentagram "banishing" formations at the quarters to return the energies from whence they came (if one desires to take down the circle).

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Chanukah & The Secret Of The Unhewn Dolmen

This Friday evening the eighth (ח) Chanukah light was kindled. At sundown, in both the Celtic and Jewish timekeeping, Friday evening became the day of Shabbat.

Honoring this shabbat, many over the world kindled eight lights for Chanukah, completing the 36 lights of the entire period. Also honoring this shabbat is the Celtic day of the Unhewn Dolmen, a day set apart from any month in Celtic timekeeping, marking the sacred "space in time" which is a tara'a-gate (ח) into the mysteries of God-consciousness. In the kavanah of hitkalelut, I kindled a black candle, the 37th light, ritually prepared for this glorious event which includes both sacred Holy Days, the eighth day of Chanukah and the Unhewn Dolmen, joined together in the mystery of Shabbat.

I am a wind on deep waters and a shining tear of the sea,
Who but I knows the secret of the Unhewn Dolmen?
lines from an ancient Celtic poem, The Song of Amergin

שבת שלום
ברוך שם כבוד מלכותה לעולם ועד, אמן
Shabbat Shalom.
Blessed is the Glorious Name, Her Kingdom stands forever and ever. Amen.
So mote it be.

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Sceptre Of Selection

This shabbat marks the observance of Celtic Gwyl o Rhiannon.

Rhiannon is the Lady of the Lake who gave legendary King Arthur of Camelot the mystical sword Excalibur (Caledfwlch in Welsh, meaning "hard lightning"). Interestingly, this discovery on my part follows Wednesday morning's dream where I am the woman emerging from the lake. Consequently, my dream suggests that I have integrated this "goddess" archetype psychospiritually with consciousness. In other words, it has emerged from the water of the concealed world and become revealed. This is an example of אתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא in action.

In Celtic mythology, the Lady of the Lake is She who gives (as described above) and receives back for safekeeping Caledfwlch:

As Arthur lay dying, he tells a reluctant Sir Bedivere (Sir Griflet in some versions) to return the sword to the lake by throwing it into the water. Bedivere thinks the sword too precious to throw away, so twice only pretends to do so. Each time, Arthur asks him to describe what he saw. When Bedevere tells him the sword simply vanished underwater, Arthur scolds him harshly. Finally, Bedivere throws Excalibur into the lake. Before the sword strikes the water's surface, the hand reaches up to grasp it and pull it under. Arthur leaves on a death barge with the three queens to Avalon, where as his legend says, he will one day return to save Britain from a threat.

From this we can see that Caledfwlch is interwoven with the Celtic messianic ideal. Among the sword's mystical abilities, is the ability to "select" the "destined" King. It is the Divine Scepter of selection. Caledfwlch, the scepter of Divine Truth which selects and the sceptre of Kings, represents spiritual evolution.

In Jewish kabbalah, both of these functions - selection and evolution - are characteristic of the letter zayin. Zayin epitomizes the Woman of Valor. Like the Lady of the Lake whose gift bestows enhanced survival skills, zayin "sustains" and provides sustenance for living. Her Divine Hand opens to extend the sceptre of benevolence and to select species for "leaps" of development and evolution.

As zayin also corresponds to the Shabbat Queen, feminine nevuah and the matriarchal archetype Sarah, so too do Caledfwlch and Rhiannon connect with these concepts. As previously written, Rhiannon has a correspondence with Tzipporah as well. Significantly - zayin, Sarah, Caledfwlch, Rhiannon and Tzipporah - all have mythic roles where a critical "selection" determines the outcome of history.

zayin, the letter of shabbat, pertains to natural selection of species
Sarah selects Yitzchak to receive the covenantal blessing
Caledfwlch (the sceptre of Rhiannon) selects the King of destiny
Tziporrah/Rhiannon selects the redeemer

It is fitting therefore, that this year 5767, Gwyl o Rhiannon observance begins on Shabbat.

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