Nittel Witch & Karnei Hod

Leil Nittel is a Jewish custom to not study Torah on Christmas/Christmas EveAlternatively, among the more orthodox, nittel is observed January 6th as opposed to on Christmas. Christmas is the day Christians honor as the birthday of the one they recognize as mashiach. January 6th is associated with his "recognition" by La Befana, the witch sought out for directions by the 3 Wise Men on their way to Bethlehem, celebrated by the Christian holiday called Feast of the Epiphany.

According to Christian legend, the first few times asked, the witch refused to assist the 3 Wise Men. She changed her mind when she saw a great light (i.e., the "star of Bethlehem" in Christian teaching) in the skies.

From this little bit of information, one can glean that the rabbis may interpret the "great light in the skies" seen by the witch as the masculine light (vav ו, aur yashar) of Torah learning. Consequently, the practice of nittel aims to blot out the light which gave rise to the witch's recognition of a "false mashiach" (according to Jewish tradition). In other words, the aim is to force emergence of a returning Dark Light (aur chozer).

You see, the problem is not with Christianity really. The problem (in Jewish understanding) is both misrecognition by the witch and the masculine light of Torah in the skies which gave rise to it (through the witch's abdication of her own inner feminine guiding light in deference to it). The witch doubted the value of her own Dark Light.

True recognition (proper acknowledgment) is a function of rectified Hod, a feminine soul power central to the meaning of Chanukah (see karnei Hod). This is of the Dark Divine Light, and a power of the Left Emanation. Therefore, true recognition of the true mashiach will not come via the masculine Bright Light, it must emerge from the Darkness Herself. Only through emergence of the letter zayin (ז, representing the feminine aur chozer) can the letter chet (ח), representing the soul of mashiach, become completely manifest.

So, both the witch and the "rabbis" of that era erred in that both the witch and the "Wise Men" rabbis believed that a Bright Light would guide them to mashiach. But the truth is, that recognition of the true mashiach must emerge via the feminine Dark Light Herself.

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Tikun Olam In Action, Stand Up & Be Counted

Jewish Wiccan priestess Paula Johnson writes of one victory for legal recognition of pagans and witches of all flavors:

In spite of the December chill, more than 75 people came together to attend the public dedication of Sgt. Patrick Stewart's plaque on the Wall of Heroes in Fernley, Nevada. In addition to family and friends from the local area were Pagans from other parts of Nevada and from other states, including Utah, Florida, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio. They gathered to honor Wiccan war hero, Sgt. Patrick Stewart who was shot down in Afghanistan on September 25, 2005. Earlier this year, when his widow, Roberta Stewart attempted to order his memorial plaque from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) her request was denied. The reason, she was given, was that her husband's emblem of religious belief, the Pentacle, was not one of the 38 symbols of belief approved by the US Department of Veterans Affairs for inclusion on the memorial markers it issues.

Roberta Stewart finally was able to lay her beloved husband to rest, on December 2, 2006, more than a year past his death. This happened because the Governor of Nevada, Kenny Guinn, intervened and provided a memorial plaque with the Pentacle on it, saying that Sgt. Patrick Stewart had died for his country and that was all he needed to know.

read the full article

May G-d bless the struggle for legal recognition of the pentacle as a sacred symbol with success. Amen. So mote it be.

Related article, Stand Up And Be Counted:

Some people believe that if we stay silent and burn enough candles the bigotry will magically go away. But the last time we ignored the religious intolerance, it was called the Burning Times. It is time to stand up and be counted.

read the full article

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Athame, Finger Of The Endless

deep deep complete
creature of the night eternal
a touch divine, a bit insane, off the edge
plunging into a cutting clarity
relentless, wild
stark and undistorted
without echo, raw tradition
a serpent song, a scorpion tale
thirsting inside out, like a finger of the endless
casting kisses
from the heart of the dark

ויקרא למשה ולאהרן לילה, ויאמר קומו צאו מתוך עמי
She called to Moshe and Aaron by night and said, "rise up, come forth from among my people ..."
Shemot 12:31

artist of painting "Athame" unknown

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Mezuzah & Athame

Rabbi Yosil Rosenzweig writes regarding the mitzvah of mezuzah and the oht (sign) of blood:

The Mitzvah of Mezuzah is actually commanded in Devarim 6:9. But in Shemot 12:3-15 the reason for the Mitzvah is explained: "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel, saying: On the tenth of this month each person shall take for themselves a lamb or a kid, for each household...[on] the fourteenth of this month, the entire congregation of the assembly of Israel shall slaughter it in the afternoon. They shall take some of its blood and place it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they will eat...I shall go through Egypt on this night, and I shall strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast; and against all gods of Egypt I shall mete out punishment. The blood shall be a SIGN for you upon the house where you are; when I see the blood I shall PASSOVER you; there shall not be a plague of destruction upon you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be a remembrance for you and you shall celebrate it..."

An Oht (a sign) is significant because it is a reminder of an act that occurred before the eyes of the entire nation.

The mezuzah (מזוזה), representing the protective blood sign, is spelled with two letters zayin. The two letters zayin united together (זוז) within one word for the Jewish ritual item upon the doorpost is like "one dagger of double edges (זוז) of her (מה)." In other words, the "blood sign" on the doorpost which protects a Jew's home in mitzrayim is a woman's double-edged dagger. The contemplative power to "connect and interrelate all elements within creation", bringing down Divine Will into Understanding, is a function of the letter vav which forms the spine of the dagger of double-edges.

The witch's double-edged ritual dagger is called an athame (pronounced a-tham-ay). Silver Ravenwolf writes regarding the Celtic history of the athame [1]:

We know from Celtic history that, for a time, their weaponry through use of iron was far superior to their contemporaries, and that they were feared because of it. We also know that such folklore practices as hanging a knife above a door to cut any negativity that might enter the home (which means that the knives were not used to physically cut, but to defend on the astral plane) were highly popular in that culture.

A witch's athame is never ever used to draw blood. If it ever does, it becomes ritually unfit and can never be used again. It must be buried. Thus, in ancient Celtic culture the protecting blood sign upon the door was a double edged dagger which never draws blood. In other words, like the mezuzah, it is a protective blood sign which never draws blood.

Putting these ideas together, we can see that the Jewish ritual mezuzah and the Celtic ritual athame both refer to the same essence of spiritual protection - to guard the house from all negative influences that might attempt to enter it. Even the construct of the word mezuzah contains within it the idea of a woman's double-edged dagger as the protective device.

Footnote:

[1] Solitary Witchcraft, Silver Ravenwolf (p. 125)

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Sacred Ritual Seals

אתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא
Selah.

To seal a spell [1], witches say "so mote it be," meaning "it is so." In a similar manner, Jews seal prayer spells with the words amen (אמן) or selah (סלה). In the Temple, in place of amen, the words [2] are said:

Blessed be His Glorious Majesty forever and ever.
ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד

The witch's "so mote it be" and "amen" mean the same thing. This seal reinforces Divine Will with the soul power of emunah (interincluded within all levels of one's soul) and kavanah to make the prayer spell manifest. It is a formula of confirmation and agreement. By pronouncing "so mote it be" and "amen" one becomes bound to that uttered. One doesn't say either "so mote it be" or "amen" in vain or with evil intent. It is a serious utterance of creation-making for which one is held accountable.

Selah is an untranslatable term found 71 times in Tehillim (Psalms) and 3 times in Habakkuk [3]. Interpreted as a musical or liturgical sign, it implies raising, lifting, extolling, exalting (the voice of the singers) and in medieval Hebrew texts, it means "forever".

Consequently, we can see that selah "seals" a prayer spell, by raising it up into the Presence of the Divine. Amen and the the witch's blessing seals a prayer spell, by bringing down the Divine Presence and becoming personally bound to it and to the Divine Will by confirming the contract contained within the prayer spell. The Inner Temple blessing is reserved for the Most Holy of prayer spells in the Most Holy of spacetime. It should only be uttered in complete kedushah with the purest kavanah. It contains hashra'ah of Divine Essence, as does the form of the Temple blessing which alludes to the Kingdom of the Divine Feminine:

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

Amen. So mote it be.

Footnotes:

[1] Power Spellcraft For Life, Arin Murphy-Hiscock

[2] Encyclopedia Of Jewish Concepts, Philip Birnbaum (pp. 46-7, 438-439)

[3] Habakkuk 3:3, 3:9 and 3:13

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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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Jewitchery On The Edge Webring

New webring featuring Jewitch websites: Jewish witches, wiccans, kabbalists, shamans, pagans, earth-based practitioners, and mystics welcome.

Submit a site here to Jewitchery On The Edge, and follow the instructions for inserting the navigation code. Once the webring navigation code is validated through the system, it enables me to add the website into the ring from the queue. If you have a problem with the code, email me and we'll figure it out how to get it done.

If you think you might be a Jewitch, submit your website or blog!

Star framework from Lilitu.

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Smudging For Spiritual Renewal

I purchased a Native American made sage bundle (similar to the one pictured, except that mine is also wrapped with pink string) and performed my first Rosh Chodesh Esbat shamanic smudging ritual:

'Smudging' is the common name given to the Sacred Smoke Bowl Blessing, a powerful cleansing technique from the Native American tradition. However the burning of herbs for emotional, psychic, and spiritual purification is common practice in many religious, healing, and spiritual traditions. It is a ritual way to cleanse a person, place or an object of negative energies or influences.

More about smudging, ritual herbs and sacred smoke.

Shamanic Smudging
Smudging - How To Do It, How Not To Do It
Of Shamans & Smudge Sticks

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The 37th Chanukah Light

Later this week, December 21, 2006 (Rosh Chodesh Tevet 5767) marks the winter solstice, known among witches as the lesser sabbat, Yule. Spiritually, Yule corresponds to the "dark night of the soul", which in Jewish kabbalah corresponds to an experience of the chalal hapanui as a trial in the course of prophetic development.

This year, the winter solstice marking the darkest astrological night of the year is also the night of the 7th Chanukah candle. Falling on Thursday, the Hebrew and Celtic archetypes corresponding to the winter solstice of 5767 are Aaron and Lugh, respectively.

Aaron is the kohen gadol who kindles the lights of the menorah in the Temple and causes those lights to ascend.

In the Celtic myth, The Coming Of Lugh, Lugh is given the sword-scepter of Light by the one who rules the endless sea. As one is a silent aleph (א), so too are the letters "gh" at the end of Lugh silent. Pronounced "Loo", similarly to the Divine Name [1] Hoo (הוא), the silence of the Gaelic-Celtic "gh" of Lugh corresponds to the aleph of Hoo. Consequently, the phonetic transliteration of Lugh into Hebrew letters is Lua (לוא).

Lua (לוא) has a gematria of 37, making it the im hakolel of lamed-vav (לו) , where lamed-vav represents the 36 total lights lit over the 8 days of Chanukah (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8), the lamedvav tzaddkim and the concept of hitkalelut.

In Jewish kabbalah, it is taught that the mashiach will arise from one of the 36 lamedvav tzaddikim in existence. Consequently, the gematria of 37, and thus the name Lua, corresponds to the elevation of a lamedvavnik to the "next level"; that is, to become the catalyst of messianic consciousness using the power of "reverse vision", changing "not" (the translation of Lua) into "not not".

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.

Blessed Be, Amen.

Footnote:

[1] Sha'are Orah, R. Yosef Gikatilla

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Instruments Of Divine Experience

Chatzot Of The Year, 29 Kislev 5767
Erev Rosh Chodesh Tevet, 5th Chanukah candle
new moon in Sagittarius Wednesday morning, 8:01 a.m. U.S. CST

According to Sefer Yetzirah, Wednesday is ruled by the planet Venus. The Hebrew and Celtic archetypes corresponding to Venus are Moshe and Rhiannon, respectively.

Moshe is an archetype of messianic consciousness whose name means "drawing out". In Celtic mysticism, Rhiannon is an archetype of the "great mother" whose name means "great queen".

Transliterated phonetically into Hebrew letters, Rhiannon רי ענן suggests the concepts of "clarifying and consciously experiencing" (ר) the concentration of something "infinite within the finite" (י) of a cloud (ענן), where the cloud represents the manifestion of the yud (י) of Hashem's Name. Taken together with the name of Moshe, the two archetypes (masculine and feminine side by side) correspond to the ability to clarify, experience (Rhiannon) and draw out (Moshe) the concentration of something "infinite within the finite" to reveal that concealed within a cloud (of consciousness). In other words, together Rhiannon and Moshe are instruments enabling revelation and experience of the Divine Glory.

What is the function of "the cloud" contained within the name of Rhiannon?

Rabbi Efrayim of Lunshitz, author of the Kli Yakar commentary, explains:

"The cloud covered the Tent of Appointment, and the Glory of God filled the cloud" (Shemot 40:34) - from this it appears that the Glory of God is not the cloud, but rather the fire and the light, i.e. the Glory of God was seen from within the cloud; were it not for the cloud, it would have been impossible to gaze upon it, for man cannot gaze into the light of the sun, kal va-chomer he cannot look at the brilliance of His Presence. Therefore the holy light was always seen from within the cloud ...

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