Outer And Inner Magic

ה' באלול תשס"ז

DovBear writes about "Raccoon Club Judaism" and discusses how many strictly observant men participate in religious ritual similar in social design to the way many men participate in fraternal organizations - in other words, to engage in exclusively male camaraderie. From what I have observed at 770 and on the streets of Brooklyn during Sukkot, I think this indeed may be a significant force driving the observance of religious men. The dancing together on Shabbat in shul and in the streets during Sukkot all clearly reveal the "perk" of being included in some kind of male mystical camaraderie.

In contradistinction to ritually-inclined men, one doesn't find a need for female camaraderie among ritually-inclined women, typically. Take witches, for example. Most witches, who like chasidic men are heavily into mystical ritual, are solitary practitioners by choice. Even those witches who belong to an organized coven do not often gather together for a coven ritual. Female witches tend to be eccentric solitary creatures who engage in ritual because it's "in the blood" to do so.

Given these differences between "ritualistic" men and women, it seems that male mysticism tends to be extroverted in nature, while female mysticism tends to be introverted in nature. Generally, anyway.