Category Archives: Kabbalah & Western Hermetic Tradition

Alchemy, shmalchemy!

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by in Kabbalah & Western Hermetic Tradition, Satire, Tarot

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Are you one of those venerable spiritual tourists  seekers who, like me, somehow doesn’t happen to have at their disposal four to five years which should be spent in self-imposed isolation, studying some ancient texts and awkward illustrations coded so heavily that all of it seems to be a rather impossible mission?

Do you really believe something, anything can be turned into gold? Bupkes, neither do I! And even if it could be – i mean, really, there are several  easier ways to get gold, especially for a girl, if you know what i mean!

Why bother? Why turn your place into some medieval laboratory and cramp your head with weirdest of formula? Nah, i don’t get it either! Except if, like me, you happen to hang around some  knowledgeable folks where you sort of feel that your thorough ignorance on the matter is rather inappropriate AND/OR you overdosed on Gustav Meyrink‘s novels and now wonder what is it all about?!

I hear you, but i am equally lost here! One way around it is to get yourself The Taoist I Ching translated by Thomas Cleary and start from there; MA in Chinese Philosophy and fluent Mandarin are not obligatory – but indeed are recommended.

Or you can always get yourself a proper Alchemical Tarot , created by someone as wise as Robert M. Place and – after taking 3 to 4 years to learn Tarot itself, you can launch full frontal attack on Alchemy from there. (That’s what i tried to do, yet Alchemy resisted by completely defending itself!)

You can also get Adam McLean’s fantastic courses on Alchemical symbolism, but i’ve done courses with Adam and he means business – no patting on the back from him, no ‘alchemy for dummies’ stuff – so this alternative, i believe, is filed as a part of those initial 4 to 5 years, which, as it is, i don’t see myself devoting to Alchemy!

But, if seriously, why 4 to 5 years? Well, it’s the 10000-hour rule. In his book Outliers: The Story of Success,  Malcolm Gladwell goes in-depth into how successful people become successful and the 10,000 hour rule refers to the fact that most people get really, really good at something after 10,000 hours.

That’s about 3h a day for 10 years – or, if you are ambitious, 6h per day, during 5 years. Right. I know many will scream: it doesn’t take that long! It does. Try a foreign language, Kabbalah studies, violine, anything; if you want to be good in it, that’s what it takes (if not more).

The way i am wired, i hate things superficial – think of  Stellium in 8th house, my natal Sun, Moon and Mars being in the house of occult – and you get an idea where i am coming from.

There is that famous kabbalistic story of a newbie who, having been dismissed by other sages, approached Hillel the Elder asking him how to learn Kabbalah while standing on one leg – which is in briefest possible period of time (there is also a more religious version where it’s a convert asking about Torah); and the answer was: “Love thy neighbor as thyself,  now go and learn!”

So it’s the intent that matters in the first place. I can’t recall misers who got great at something. Right, we are all human and there is, as they say, ‘plenty of good in the worst of us and plenty of bad in the best of us’, but i really don’t remember encountering  a mean person who achieved impressive knowledge; it seems that latter requires  a kind of thinking which, in its turn, somehow includes love for the proverbial neighbor. Or something like that.

I read numerous hostile texts where various authors – who presumably achieved greatness in some rather obscure by ordinary criteria fields – were going like: don’t think you can achieve this and that without the metaphorical blood spitting! Oh, yes, you can. Not that every path doesn’t have it challenges – of course it does, but if it’s meant for you, you’ll somehow have all the endurance it takes.

I am all for free will concept and although, obviously, absolute freedom is an abstract category – i am keen on Swedenborg who, for what i know, was the only philosopher/ mystic who claimed we keep the free will even after physical death.

That being said – nobody knows exactly where desire arises; discipline is great, but on it alone, without the desire no one arrived too far. Who or what grants us the desire – is another topic.

I had that desire – and still do – for several (for the lack of better wording) ‘occult’ subjects, but sadly, Alchemy per se doesn’t seem to be one of them.

I meddle with all the Alchemical sources i listed above – but not on a regular bases and while lacking that drive, that incapability to be get busy with anything else – except the chosen subject.

I pulled a card randomly from the Alchemical deck, which was gifted to me by an amazing author and one of the most popular figures in the worldwide Tarot tribe, my dear friend and spiritual sojourner, Frances Ajamian Ktenas.

Here is what the accompanying book has to say on the Nine od Stuffs: “A wolf is sacrificed in a fire. This is an alchemical symbol representing the restoration of the king, who was devoured by a wolf.”

Hmm, knowing Robert’s work, i am certain he does know what he is talking about – but i certainly don’t! I have a vague feeling it has something to do with restricting one’s negative impulses and, like, “sacrificing ” those for personal empowerment which – inevitably – has to go together with the highest good of everyone involved.

But then, that’s Kabbalah and the story of Binding of Isaac when read in-depth, where the horror-like depiction of the presumably capricious and potentially cruel Deity who commands the poor guy to slaughter his own son  – turns into a manual on keeping cool and tempering one’s desire to receive for the self alone with the desire to receive for the sake of sharing, if you know what i mean.

Further, the book says: “the message also suggests sacrifice, especially for a higher purpose, like suffering for the good of others, or being a martyr, or subduing the animal passions for spiritual purpose.”

Right, so my intuition was not all that off! But, if you are counting on me to come up with Philosopher’s stone – please, don’t hold your breath!

 

 

Adam McLean’s website : http://www.levity.com/alchemy/

Bonnie Cehovet’s excellent review of newly relesed book by R. Place: http://theworldoftarot.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/review-alchemy-and-the-tarot/

Alchemical Tarot: http://alchemicaltarot.com/

Frances Ajamian Ktenas’ website: http://www.nineofcups11.com/

Daily Draw: The Daughter of the Firmanent

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in Kabbalah & Western Hermetic Tradition, Tarot

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

English: High priest offering a sacrifice of a...

English: High priest offering a sacrifice of a goat, as on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur; from Henry Davenport Northrop, “Treasures of the Bible,” published 1894 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Every man and every woman is a star. The Book of the Law 1:3

Crowley’s own description of the Star in the Book of Thoth (1) is completely useless  in terms of card’s working knowledge; as brilliant as most of his other observations are , here he sounds as a baffled newbie who,  not knowing how to interpret the card in a reading, starts describing its artwork ad nauseum.

It is possible that Crowley didn’t get it – after all, he was (as arrogant as he is presented usually) humble enough in his correspondence with Frieda Harris  to admit that he personally did not grasp all of the cards, and the confusion arising from his infamous Emperor/Star swap (2) makes this explanation sounds even more logical…

Usually enlightening Lon Milo’s book here is merely paraphrasing TBOT and Waite, in his ‘Pictorial Key’ is , if possible, even more vague: “The summary of several tawdry explanations says that it is a card of hope. On other planes it has been certified as immortality and interior light. For the majority of prepared minds, the figure will appear as the type of Truth unveiled, glorious in undying beauty, pouring on the waters of the soul some part and measure of her priceless possession. But she is in reality the Great Mother in the Kabalistic Sephira Binah, which is supernal Understanding, who communicates to the Sephiroth that are below in the measure that they can receive her influx.” (3)

The thing is that Waite (un)necessarily mystified his writings, Lon Milo has kept a lot of what he had to say for his course “Sexual Alchemy of the Thoth Tarot” and as per A.C., he actually puts it all there, albeit veiled: “I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice.”

Because the Star is the female orgasm,  her male counterpart being the ejaculation  depicted on the Tower.

Observing the sperm being formed in goat’s testicles on the card numbered XV, the Devil, the ejaculation of the Tower (XVI) and, following the Star (XVII), womb-like Moon (XVIII), some go as far as to name it ‘The Sperm’s journey’…

I guess that’s tongue in cheek to the usual combining the elements of Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey ‘ with Tarot, which to me is equally inapplicable to it as Jungian stuff is. (I dare you to do a Tarot reading using Sallie Nichols’ “Jung and Tarot”! )

Which is – i do think that any story can be told through Tarot – and more so any mystical  or philosophical system can be applied to it – but does it have anything to do with Tarot itself, and more so – with Thoth Tarot, is all another story.

Apropos, Joseph Campbell knew close to nothing about Tarot, and as erudite as he was, Tarot has never been his main focus.

Anyhow, back to Thoth. Whether it’s actually The Star that goes attributed to Sephirat Binah or it’s the Empress, is anyone’s guess; to me, for various mostly intuitive reasons, it does make sense that it’s the Star that’s related to the Supernal Mother – and to me personally that’s exactly why it is so difficult to explain.

According to Kabbalists, the only they day in the year when we can experience this energy in its totality, is Yom Kipur, the so-called ‘Day of Atonement.’

Traditionally, one is repenting for the transgressions during the process of ‘Teshuva’ – asking forgiveness from other people – while Yom Kippur is the day  crowning the process when the forgiveness is asked from God.

Kabbalistically, Teshuva is a process of returning to one’s own unadulterated self and in many ways it resonates with Crowley’s ‘do what though wilt’, probably one of his most misinterpreted concepts.

In this vein, i must add that what’s usually labeled in Kabbalah as ‘desire’, the driving force behind all our actions, is what’s Crowley names “will”; more or less it is the things to which we are naturally drawn to and feel attraction for. Usually, these are distorted by  socialization and i believe that by late adolescence most of us are pretty much at loss about what we actually want.  Thus our most important choices are mostly conditioned by outer circumstances at the end usually have little to do with our own affinities and preferences.

Teshuva, mystically, is the way of the Kabbalist to re-discover his own Self.

Yom Kippur is a full fast, from sunset to darkness the following night, and, besides all the restrictions of Shabbat, it carries four additional ones – washing and bathing, anointing one’s body (with cosmetics, deodorants, etc.), wearing leather shoes , and engaging in sexual relations are prohibited.

One would say – what a challenging day it must be! The truth is that it is the only day when we can ascend to Binah – and experiencing its energies does feel (for the lack of better comparison) as a prolonged orgasm. It’s the only day when we can free ourselves from the domination of the physical body and other conditioning – and i must say that nothing can beat the experience.

That’s the very feeling i recall as i am watching the Star which choose to come out for me in the Daily Draw, as i start remembering what my own soul’s urges were once upon a time…

Copyright © L.R.S., All Rights Reserved

(1) TBOT, XVII The Star http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/crowley/libro_thoth05.htm

(2) Why did Crowley switch the Emperor and the Star?  http://www.psyche.com/psyche/tarot/RevivedTarot/crowley.html

(3) The Pictorial Key to the Tarot http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/index.htm

(4) Kosher Torah, the Secret of Yom Kipur http://www.koshertorah.com/PDF/yom-kippur.pdf

The Lord of Swiftness and The Secret Service

10 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by in Kabbalah & Western Hermetic Tradition, Tarot

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

English: Aleister Crowley's unicursal hexagram.

English: Aleister Crowley’s unicursal hexagram. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am drooling over my new Giant Thoth and i must say that to me personally there is no deck like it!

It’s been a while now – a decade or so – that i didn’t do daily draws for prolonged periods of time, these scattered thoughts are mostly about enjoying on a daily basis the amazing artwork of Lady Harris, backed up with genius Crowley’s thought.

It’s interesting how these images – and their derivates* speak to the observer when he is unfamiliar with all the nasty myths related to Crowley and, more so, when he is not familiar neither with Tarot nor with Qabala…

With a friend we’ve been working on a project – i am completing the cycle of Thoth inspired poems and she is doing the illustrations; the teasers, selected poems and illustrations, were just published in June’s edition of Ars Literature Magazine.

It’s freshly out of press and i haven’t seen it yet, but today a life-long family friend, whom i hold in high respect, Mr Vladimir Kekovic, has called me to share his impressions, he happens to be one of the people on whose judgement of my work i rely the most.

Mr Kekovic is an amazing gentleman, a polymath, a popular and somewhat controversial public figure, author of several non-fiction bestsellers, famous art connaisseur and collector, father of the famous Montenegrin painter Biljana Kekovic and former Minister of Internal Affairs, which would say – chief of the secret service  during the times of former Yugoslavia when this very service was ranked among the world’s top four, together with CIA, KGB and Mossad.

Someone with such references and public standing mazel tov-ing you on your work makes it up for the countless hours of research, for sleepless nights spent penning, for the whole process by which a poem is born into this world – which, as rewarding as it is, oftentimes is downright painful.

So, Mr Kekovic says he is moved by the poems and he shares with me what impact they had on him… and as he speaks, i bless god because that’s exactly why i spent the last year studying Crowley’s thought and O.T.O. materials religiously, performing the rituals, scrying andmeditating up to 16h a day! Last summer (2011), upon passing my PhD exam in philosophy in Moscow, i had returned to Montenegro, my mind still ‘trained’ from the seven months long preparation for the exam, i stocked up on all available materials on Thoth and locked myself with it in my apartment for four consecutive months – that is, during that time i focused exclusively on this deck of cards… (Since then, after managing to grasp an overall idea of the system, i devote to it some time every single day and at least one whole day of 8 effective working hours a week.) And it’s a tough cookie, i must tell you.

To get Thoth, one has to un-learn all one knew about reading RWS or Tarot de Marseilles. One needs to get beyond the urban myths about Crowley and their own fears – that’s not easy – and it’s just a first step.

Basically, Crowley and Lady Harris crammed all occult knowledge in existence into these 78 images – there are plethora of Greek myths included, the sacred geometry, biblical hermenautics, Qabala, Astrology and pretty much anything else you can think of.

Not to forget that both Crowley and Harris were geniuses in their own right, so getting their work takes much more than mere intellectual understanding; the images , with their meticulous selection of symbols and colors, when scryed on in preset combinations   – have an expanding impact on the consciousness, which by far exceeds both verbalization and logic.

I do not think theirs can ever be surpassed; what can be done though – and what my friend and i tried to accomplish while working on this project – is to present your own perception of the deck and the ways it has impacted you.

For that purpose, i can’t recommend highly enough “Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot” by Lon Milo DuQuette, which i believe to be essential in Thoth studies – alongside with Crowley’s “Liber Theta” and Jim Eshelman’s “Liber Theta: Tarot Symbolism & Divination”. (Wang’s “Qabalistic Tarot, a Textbook of Mystical Philosophy”  is an excellent source too, albeit often hard to follow and, to my view, excessively detailed.)

Lon Milo gives the qabalistic formula behind 8 of Wands aka “The Lord of Swiftness” : 8 (Hod) of Wands (Aziluth) + Mercury in Saggitarius;  Harris’ design depicts the way in which energy becomes matter.

Crowley, without mentioning Einstein or mass-energy equivalence (E = mc2), states that: “this card, therefore, represents energy of high velocity, such as furnishes the master-key to modern mathematical physics. ”

Let’s try to understand what does it mean. (If you are not so much into Kabbalah and it derivatives, do skip the text in italics.)

Essentially , there are two ways of approaching the Tree of Life:  from the “top-down” and  from the “bottom-up.” “Top-down” is the analysis of the process of creation, beginning with what we can know about God, descending through the heavenly realms, down to earth and man himself. In Kabbalah it’s called the Work of Creation, and stems from the first chapters of Genesis.

“Bottom-up” begins with man and continues “up Jacob’s Ladder,”following his spiritual journey into the spiritual realms, towards God. This method is based on the analysis of Ezekiel’s vision, and called the Work of the Chariot.

Generally, the Sephirah on the right “pillar” of the Tree of Life are “active”  and those on the left a “passive”. The outer pillars are also associated with the ideas of “force” and “fire” (on the right side) and “form” and “water” (on the left side). The central pillar is balancing the two, and is associated with “air” or “spirit.”

“All the Sephirot on the passive pillar are receptive and have the qualities of Form, in the Understanding (Binah) is the formulation of ideas, Judgment (Gevurah) is exercised in response to something, and Reverberation (Hod) is the echo to an impulse coming from any one of the other Sephirot. It is the same with the active pillar. Here the impact of revelation is seen in Wisdom (Hokhmah), while the power than must be behind Mercy (Hesed) is enormous. Eternity (Netzah) is the principle of repetition, the incessant input necessary to make the world go round. The central pillar is concerned with Will and with the Grace which descends from the Crown (Keter) through Knowledge (Da’at) to Beauty (Tiferet), which is the Sephirah which reflects the top to the bottom of the Tree. Foundation (Yesod) and Kingdom (Malkut) are respectively the manifestation of an image plan and the actualization of it in the Divine material.” (1)

(It should be noted however, that as the Sephirot interact with, and contain aspects of each other, that any of the ones on the passive side can act forcefully, and vice-versa. For instance, Gevurah (Judgment) can be “passive” in terms of mediating between understanding and truth, or it can be “active” in terms of meeting out punishment in the face of continued evildoing. )

The Four Worlds of Kabbalah, the stages of the “creation process”are read out from Isaiah 43:7, “Every one that is called by My name (Atzilus “Emanation/Close”), and for My glory I have created (Beriah “Creation”), I have formed (Yetzirah “Formation”), even I have made (Asiyah “Action”). 

The simplest way of understanding the four worlds and descending chain of Existence is to compare it to someone building a house:

The person determines that one day they would build their own house (emantion);
they plan the style they would design it to (creation);
they draw up the specific blueprints to fulfill this design (formation);
they acquire the materials and construct it  (action).

Hod is the eighth sephira of the Kabbalistic tree of life; and, mystically, as a placement 
on the roadmap to higher consciousness, it’s the key to the mystery of form.

In Western Esoteric Tradition (Hermetic Qabala)Hod is viewd to be the sphere in which the magician mostly works. Dion Fortune gives example of a primitive man, meditating in the wilderness, who comes in contact and begins to understand some energy that surrounds him. To grasp it better, he creates some form, perhaps the form of a god or a symbol, so he has something he can relate to. He uses that statue or symbol in future ceremonies to contact that intangible energy once again and this is the role that Hod plays in magick.

Long story short – it’s somewhere here that the word is imbued with its creative powers and charged  with whatever it takes to manipulate the outer reality.

Astrologically, according to Marcia Moore and Mark Douglas, “Mercury is in detriment in Sagittarius because of the disproportion between the planet of specific facts and the sign of general possibilities. Sagittarian expansiveness stimulates Mercury to a fitful brilliance which may be alternately superficial and inspired… The mind darts from one conclusion to another but, unless it is deliberately reined in, continuity and judgment are lacking.

At best, the Mercury-Sagittarius blend gives a profound sense of purpose and the ability to focus on distant goals. A far-reaching ambition to comprehend the mental and moral laws of the universe and to reconcile scientific and religious approaches to life results in a tendency to study several subjects simultaneously, to carry on more than one occupation, and to become involved in a number of different but related projects.” (2)

Lon Milo compares 8 of Wands to two people who spend the night drinking coffee and talking tirelessly – adding that obviously there is a lot is to be learned, yet that ultimately they’ll crash. (I say – that’s unless those two switch to drinking herbal tea, munch on a healthy snack and get a nap – very little can be understood in a single night, albeit a lot can be said.)

As per the working use, the main Key Words for the card are ‘hasty communications and messages’.

As we know, Lady Harris among else used her knowledge of Decans* in choosing the colors and those are all but accidental.

As i look at the planetary Glyph of Mercury depicted on the card, i think to myself how was blessed i was to spend this Saturday on my own, in gracious presence of my fur baby, Manya, who is mostly minding her own business.

The yellows and reds of the card remind me of the burn out and exhaustion i felt ever since last Tuesday, when i got back from the most demanding and tiring work trip to Brussels – it did feel like being in the sun way too long.

Communicating extensively, giving speeches and participating in conferences for several consecutive days for me is an unusual and extreme mode of being and as i look at these red arrows zig-zagging from the center outwards – i do feel how i am retrieving my own energies the other way around, being on my own, centering and enjoying the silence; going deeper from the upper fiery colors – towards the bottom of the card are the blue shades of spirituality and the green of rejuvenation.

Copyright©20012 Lena Ruth Stefanovic, All Rights Reserved

Thoth Tarot scans (all cards) http://www.tarot.com/tarot/decks/index.php?deckID=5

O.T.O. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordo_Templi_Orientis

Lon Milo’s Book on Thoth – Review http://supertarot.co.uk/wp/2009/06/understanding-crowleys-book-of-thoth-review/

Liber Theta: Tarot Symbolism & Divination (free download) http://www.thelema.org/publications/

Alester Crowley , The Book of Thoth (free download) http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/crowley/libro_thoth.htm

The Four Worlds of Kabbalah http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/361902/jewish/The-Four-Worlds.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Worlds

* The Golden Dawn Minor Arcana, Mary K. Greer’s Tarot Blog:

http://marygreer.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/the-golden-dawn-minor-arcana/

(1) A Kabbalistic Universe, Z’ev Shimon Halevi, Samuel Weiser, Inc., York Beach, Maine, 1977, p. 16.

(2)Astrology, The Divine Science. Marcia Moore and Mark Douglas: Arcane Publications; 1st edition,1978 (OOP)

the 25th hour, going vegan and other adventures of mdr in the black mountains

08 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by in Kabbalah & Western Hermetic Tradition

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

pic of meditation setting for the new moon of gemini

This month i celebrated 42nd birthday – and that number is big in all the traditions; according to Kabbalists the world was created by 42-letetrs name of God , the main kabbalist prayer is Ana B’Koach – built around the sequence of 42 letters, encoded within  first 42 letters of the book of Genesis etc.

The only two decks i use for kabbalistic connections are The Kabbalah deck and 72 Names meditation deck; among all the Kabbalah-inspired decks on the market and among numerous decks of a kind i own – these are the only two i find ‘glatt kosher’ and fit for the purpose.

The former was recommended to me by great Bonnie Cehovet – and i didn’t regret the effort and funds to acquire it in the distant land of Hong Kong; the 72 Names deck is published by Kabbalah Center, was gifted to me by a dear friend and fellow Kabbalist, Eliyahu – and i can not recommend it  strongly enough.

The Hebrew letters of the month of Gemini are Reish and Zayin (see the pic of meditation setting, from right to left).

Reish starts Hebrew word for holy spirit (ruach ha-kadosh) – the divine attributes of prophecy and wisdom – available to each and everyone of us depending on diligence and effort; Hebrew words for healing (rafooah) and healer (rofeh) also start with Reish and both are connected to ruach, breath.

Throughout history, the mystics of Kabbalah such as Abraham Abulafia, thought methods to achieve higher consciousness by combining Hebrew letters, breathing exercises and  body postures – and that’s one of the practices which i personally intend to commence.

The letter Zayin starts the word zachaer, to remember – the mystics contemplated on it so not to get overwhelmed by the mundane tasks and forget the soul’s real purpose on this earth; letter Zayin is also a reminder to slow down and introduce ‘spiritual time management’ into one’s daily life.

The Hebrew letters that correspond to my current birthday – and a meditation that is strongly advised on the occasion of it – are Mem (numerical value 40) and Bet (numerical value 2).

Bet starts Hebrew words for home and blessing (respectively: bayit and beracha) and Mem, among else, denotes the cycles and periods of time necessary for human efforts to reach fruition and manifest.

So, anyway you look at it – this year is big for me and there are several most important areas i need to focus on.

Those of you who are my facebook friends probably know i decided to go vegan; i don’t believe anymore in ritual slaughter (kosher/halal thing);  and, in full honesty, i believe that whomever buys into “certification” thingy after Rubashkin and alike cases – videos were taped at plants of cattle stumbling around, their throats cut, their windpipes pulled out – is naive (cruel?) by choice. And i do hate watching the fish dying in agony when it’s taken out of water. So… vegan it is.

I don’t like the taste of products of animal origin, and that’s not my concern the least – the only thing i need to find an answer to is the ritual foods and how to substitute them.

The thing is that many Kabbalist/ Jewish holidays and connections revolve around food and big part of it is meat – think of the inevitable lamb for Pasha and the red meat which we are commanded to eat on Shabbat; the story behind those ritual foods is amazingly profound, basically it is believed that human souls  might be (for this or that reason) trapped in an animal, the ritual slaughter presumably agrees beforehand with the animal that after being killed it will go to the higher planes of existence, it doesn’t suffer the least during the very brief procedure and, after it’s meat has been made fit for human consumption – the kabbalist by reciting the blessings and consuming the meat, frees and elevates the souls trapped in it .

It’s a nice theory – but after seeing in practice how those animals actually suffer, and knowing that many (most?) ritual slaughters do not have the needed level of consciousness, i refuse to be part of it.

It was a difficult decision for me to make, because i firmly believe in the tenets of the tradition to which i belong, but i feel i need to rely on my own judgement here.

As per per the time management – there the situation is way more complicated; basically i’ve never learned to manage time and the only way i found so far to juggle my numerous professional goals and hobbies is – to get OCD about one thing at the time; like for couple of months i’d write manically; then for some period i’d exclusively work on my thesis , then i’d focus on fitness – i can say it did give me good results so far and the possibility to pursue very different interests and careers; but i think i can do better than that – and less stressful too.

I presume becoming a minimalist of a kind is necessary for that – albeit i prefer the term ‘elitist’ – minimalist reminds me of medieval asceticism and that’s not my thing definitely; to me that means engaging into activities and being involved exclusively with people who  at the end of things contribute to my own ultimate fulfillment – as selfish as it might come across.

There are many philosophies both to support and to deny such choice – and, no, i do not think of Ayn Rand who’s odious to me, both as a person and as teachings.

I rather think of Crowley and his ‘will’ philosophy which i personally found true – only that which is shared from pure heart and of true desire – at the end does good both to the giver and the receiver.

I passed the external validation phase – mostly, i can’t be guilt-tripped that easily, if at all and, basically, in my 42 years i did realize i am best off when i think for myself.

Wish me luck.

Bonnie Cehovet’s review of the Kabbalah deck: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/kabbalah-deck/review.shtml

72 Names meditation deck : http://store.kabbalah.com/72_Names_Meditation_Cards_Deck_p/t-medc-72.htm

Abraham Abulafia: http://www.learnkabbalah.com/abraham_abulafi/

Ana b’Koach prayer: http://www.kabbalah.com/wisdom/anabkoach

Why number 42 matters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42_(number)

42 according to Kabbalist http://www.inner.org/names/nameloka.htm

Everything you always wanted to know about Kabbalah*

28 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Kabbalah & Western Hermetic Tradition

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

from left to right: L.R.S., I. Lazarevic, T. Bakic, V. Simunovic[slideshow]

*but were afraid to ask

notes from the lecture ‘Let my people know’, held on May 23d t.y. in American Corner, Podgorica in the framework of Jewish American heritage month

Kabbalah , that ancient mystical worldview, at the same time, paradoxically, is the most interesting contemporary philosophical phenomenon.

When it comes to the mystical traditions in the framework of Judeo-Christianity, we can say that since Victorian England and A. Crowley’s Thelema, not a single school of philosophy has caused such a stir as postmodern Kabbalah did. (Not to forget that Crowley’s Qabala is also rooted in Jewish Kabbalah, albeit way more liberal and adjusted for those who aren’t religiously observant.)

Postmodern Kabbalah is a phenomena that developed in two directions: first religious Jews during 60es  imported Jewish Kabbalah to America; which is, in 1965 rabbi Filip Berg and his teacher,  rabbi Yehuda Brandwein, founded outpost of the prestigious Yeshiva Kol Yehuda  in USA; from there, couple of decades later, liberalized and emancipated triumphant Kabbalah returned to the Holy Land, where many – including names like Gershom Sholem, had written it off.

This very lecture is based on the positions of the Department of Philosophy of Ben Gurion University – academically the highest rated university in Israel – and it’s leading Kabbalah scholar, professor doctor Boaz Huss.

Root of the word “Kabbalah” comes from Hebrew verb  le kabel – to receive, it’s a kind of knowledge that can not be acquired individually, from books only, but requires a teacher who has appropriate Kabbalistic lineage.

(My own teacher is a student of Yehuda Berg, son of rav Berg who founded Kabbalah Center.)

Back on the topic of Kabbalah. Today, some  13% of American Jews are traditionally observant (“orthodox”); they lead the same way of life as their grand grand fathers did in the old world; by choice they refute secular education, modern culture and media, while living in insular and self-sufficient communities.  Personally, i find it a positive occurrence, because in that way traditional Judaism is preserved – but to me such way of life is alien and unacceptable.

Here we arrive to the biggest challenge of the contemporary spirituality – organized religion’s popularity is declining everywhere in the free world, religious institutions with educated parts of the society cause almost exclusively contempt and disdain – yet the need to find meaning in life probably has never been bigger.

In that “no one’s land” between dogma and atheism – Kabbalah is reborn, as an American phenomena, child of the intermarriage of Orthodox Judaism and American liberalism – all together with the red string, whistling Madonna’s  “Im nin alu”.

In US, western civilization is generally referred to as Judeo-Christian, which is the most obvious indicator of the acceptance of the common source of both traditions – such attitude and KC’s fundamental position that Kabbalah is appropriate both for Jews and non-Jews, contributed to the popularity of the movement and of the wisdom itself … that is – the science itself.

Ben Gurion University does define Kabbalah as science, albeit in this definition some methodological challenges are acknowledged – the only available method for academic research of Kabbalah – is linguistic.

As we know – Kabbalh is basically gematria – Hebrew letters have numerical value – and total sum of all numeric values of individual letters in a word is compared and juxtaposed with other words with same numerical value; that grants us the possibility for an indepth reading of the Torah.

Thus, for example, the numerical value of Hebrew word for vine, yayin, (spelled:yud-yud-nun, equals 70)  is identical to that of the word for secret (sod); thus, on the forth, deepest level of reading of the Bible, the infamous Egyptian Pharo becomes our own ego made of uncertainty and fears, and Israel – the individual soul craving freedom and love.

When it comes to the teaching itself  – Hillel, a wise man who lived at the very turn of the era – formulated its essence in the following manner: Love the neighbor as yourself, now go and learn.

The main text of Kabbalah – Zohar, which is a commentary on the Torah, is of Encyclopedia Britannica’s volume; except that – Kabbalah is a way of life which includes adherence to a different calendar, dietary rules, special praying books and numerous holidays; what matters the most is the particular intention one has, the  consciousness if you wish (kavvanah), while performing these rituals and observances.

Calendar which Kabbalists use is the traditional Jewish calendar, dietary rules as well, and so are the holidays – it’s the approach itself that is very different. Traditional approach is historical – religious holidays are the celebration of some ancient events, important for the history of the Jews; kabbalistic approach is mystical – every single holiday is viewed as a possibility to connect to the Light of the Creator and thus to achieve both spiritual and worldly progress.

Here we arrive to one of the most bitter arguments against Kabbalah – that it is not suitable for non-Jews; professor doctor Boaz Huss deconstructs the former position as follows: kabbalistic premise is that the Light of Creator is undifferentiated, how could  there be such separation in the first place?

Not to forget that the strongest opponents of neo Kabbalah and KC itself are some orthodox rabbis who have their own schools of Kabbalah – albeit by far not as successful    as KC.

Oftentimes, the argument of “authenticity” is used – firstly, there isn’t a definition of authentic Kabbalah, secondly – scanning of Zohar, red string, devoted studies of astrology and belief system based on reincarnation are typical of all Kabbalah schools; regarding the canonical adherence, in KC the traditional Sephardic canon is observed, so these accusations are insubstantial.

From the other side, it is this very traditionalism that some liberal American thinkers find outdated and reactionary, even cult-like; when it comes to the latter, we do know from history that the difference between a cult and a religion – is merely a hundred years.

Presumed commercialization and involvement of entertainers with the movement are also often used as contra arguments  – i believe it goes without saying that life was very different once upon a time in Ukrainian and Polish shtetls, than it is today in contemporary north America in the times of liberal capitalism; to judge one by the measurements of the other i find ridiculous.

Yehuda Berg himself, the leader of KC, last decade or so is inevitably included into the NY Times list of the most influential rabbis – and always somewhere close to the top of the list.

All of it is quite an unexpected turn both for the religious fundamentalists and for the academic scholars, followers of Gershom Sholem – not to forget that the latter claimed Kabbalah to be absolutely irrelevant once the Zionist project came to be and the state of Israel was founded.

Postmodern Kabbalah, speaking in Hebrew with thick American accent and proudly wearing the red string on the left wrist – has denied him irrevocably.

Spirituality lies where Santa resides

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in Kabbalah & Western Hermetic Tradition

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

The Destruction Of Sodom And Gomorrah, a paint...

Image via Wikipedia

Spirituality has become a term of such a vast paradigm, that nowadays its used just about anybody to describe just about anything.

By many it is still often confused and used interchangeably with spiritism, its used as an excuse to skip Church at Sundays (or alternatively – Shul at Fridays), as an euphemism for being too lazy to stick to anything demanding or scheduled, as a socially acceptable label for procrastination and what not.

Yes, yes – i’ve heard it too – religion is for those who are afraid of going to hell, spirituality is for those who have already being there.

But in what ways organized “spiritual” movements differ from organized religion? In my experience – in none, except that the former tend to be more costly and eventually, in the long run, can cause even more harm.

Before the internet – we’ve all read those enlightened books by some presumably spiritually advanced individuals – swamis, avatars, gurus, ravs, tulkus… whatever they choose to call themselves, and a range of titles that have no actual significance is as broad as the very paradigm in which the term spirituality is misused.

Few were the chosen ones who could travel to distant lands to meet these enlightened teachers of the humanity – and they were inevitably coming  back with accounts of witnessed miracles and spiritual heights unimaginable to you, the mortal.

Nowadays mere googling of  many (if not the most) of those super-human reveals an all another reality and sends chills down your spine – that of manipulators, rapists, con artists, pedophiles… Check out Rick Ross‘ excellent cult-watch site, if you can stomach it.

I’ve heard it too – the mad excuses – that the victim’s soul has agreed to that on a higher level, that whatever Guru does – is for the best… Spare me.

A blinded follower would excuse just about anything… just don’t call them a follower, as they call themselves  seekers.

Its one of the first phrases learned in a cult – we are not followers… Chances are that you are, and even way more sheepish than your average Church-goer.

Then the infamous lightworkers. What’s your occupation? Ah, i see you work for the Light.

The genuine torchbearers of humanity historically tried hard to conceal the fact that they were spreading wisdom, sacred texts and healing techniques, because they well aware which ramifications it carried since the dawn of humanity.

At this age – we have internet forums for lightworkers, with subforums for “start seeds” and   other kinds of multidimensional beings.

Its not that you spoiled your child rotten, she’s  an indigo or  a magenta or whatever.

There is no business like holy business,  its as simple as that.

Publishing houses cash in on our need to come up with fancy new words for our character flaws and life challenges and individuals short of morals but skilled in the new age jargon hyper-product all kind of manuals on how to become super rich, super thin – and more so, super enlightened, and all of it overnight.

Of course there are exceptions – personally i swear by a list of books by contemporary philosophers of Tarot – grab a Mary K. Greer‘s book, or Rachel Pollack‘s ; read an article by Bonnie Cehovet or a blog post by Lisa Fridenborg Lloyd; get Dan Pelletier’s ‘The Way of the Tarot Reader’ – you can’t go wrong there.

Interestingly, none of these great minds claim infallibility – and actually in a way compete each other in listing their own challenges…

And they don’t offer easy paths and instant solutions, all agree its a process, more so – usually a time consuming and often arduous one.

But there is no other way around it.

That makes me think of the Torah – all of those greatest souls – they were described in all their greatness, but with all their shortcomings too: Moses couldn’t speak properly and on occasions was quite vain; the way in which King David seduces Bathseva is all but honorable – and his reputable grandmother, matriarch Ruth – well she does come across as somewhat of a gold-digger.

Don’t dismiss it took those courageous people capable of countless miracles (albeit they were occasionally acting like bunch of spoiled brats), guided by a divinely inspired leader – forty years of wandering in a desert – after they had left the land of bondage and before they entered their destination, the land of mill and honey.

Nothing is by chance there – its meant to show us that we are humans and that no one expects us to be angels while on earth and in physical bodies and that ours is not even meant to be easy, it can’t be.

Personally, i avoid the worn out PC term spirituality all together as in this age its discourse is long gone.

Once upon a time, it denoted a non-dogmatic thinker, a philosopher and an authentic experimentalist   – Aldous Huxley was being spiritual when he was taking mescaline and writing “The Doors of Perception.”

Mahatma Gandhi was being spiritual, fighting for his country independence.

Being spiritual meant igniting the spark of light in everything you do, being spiritual denoted the supreme power of the spirit over the matter, opening the new horizons for your contemporaries.

Now it means close to nothing and its commercialized to such extent that to me personally it became quasi pejorative.

Were all those pseudo-gurus and their followers that enlightened, were their books really good – the world wouldn’t be a Sodom and Gomorrah that it is.

There is a widespread dogmatic thinking and habitual, yet void of meaning repeating of rituals – call it religion, call it spirituality – the benefits of it for an individual and, generally, for our planet, is non existent.

Repeating endlessly affirmations that all is good, while the reality bites you is as meaningful as confessing your presumed sins to a pedophile priest.

Its not good, more so – overall situation in the world is alarmant.

The only way out is magic – because its magic that’s opposite to religion, not spirituality; its magic – the scientific and artful way to cause the change to occur.

Lets have the intent to repair the world by magical means today, on the 15th day of the month of Aquarius, known among kabbalists as the New Year for the Tree(s).

Yes, you guessed it right – esoterically, its our chance to connect to the Tree of Life.

On an earthly level – lets honor mother nature today. Plant a tree. Eat fruits and whole-wheat’s mindfully and gratefully, say a blessing if you know one.

Most importantly – have a consciousness that its today that we plant new seeds for the year to come – those of growth and renewal.

If you have fifteen spare minutes – listen to  Zohar class for TuBeshavat by Shaul Youdkevitch, one of the leading kabbalists of our days (its free, albeit donations are welcomed)

http://www.livekabbalah.org/index.php/home/download-studies/

It is a process and we are running out of time. Let’s plant the seeds today.

Copyright © 2012  Lena Ruth Stefanovic
All Rights Reserved

Full Moon Chaos Magick, as performed by a kabbalist…

09 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in Kabbalah & Western Hermetic Tradition, Satire

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

English: A chaos magic ritual that uses videoc...

Image via Wikipedia

Right… You say too much of a good thing? Well, not really.

A disclaimer: i have absolutely no formal training in magic(k) nor do i believe in such. Magick is one of the very few words that haven’t been worn out from excessive use and that still have some inherent power to it – as a word, as a vibration, as a verbal impulse and that to me, as a linguist, is the best bet.

What’s magick? As Aleister Crowley puts it – its “the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will”.

Now, who opposes it the most? The Church. An institutionalized religion, branched out from another, earlier religion that is actually based on causing the very change to occur in conformity with the  will… Red Sea parting anyone?

When Moses, persecuted by Egyptians, looks up to the sky with desperation and the Allmighty nonchalantly answers : “Why are you yelling at me?”  Right…

Its because he himself had all it takes to part the Sea.

I won’t even go to  Christian Bible/ New Testament and all the miracles described there, turning water into wine and so on.

And that’s the guys telling you magick is evil? Whom are they kidding?

The problem here is that if you start doing it yourself – then you are bypassing the mediator – and then the clergy would have to look for real jobs… Oy gevalt!

Don’t even get me started on astrology… 12 Tribes of Israel? Well even a wanna-be kabbalist who ventured at the time into London’t Kabbalah Center – if for nothing else – then to peek at then Mrs Richie… even s/he knows the 12 tribes denote the 12 zodiac signs.

Christian Bible? How was it exactly that Jesus was found by the three wise men? Aghh, they were following a Star… they have read his natal chart… and your priest tells you it all is a matter of the Devil?!

I’ll save my opinion on the devil for another entry – but let me tell you… he doesn’t exist. What does exist is a lot of stupidity combined with plenty of superstitions and an inherently  human trait to blame things on someone else… be it a fairytale horned semi-human… Yeah.

Anyway.

I am a sucker for ceremony and protocol and all. Be it my will – i’d have a special embroidered robe and a fancy stuff and probably a bronze cauldron  and what not… Yet i have no way of getting those where i am, given that my plans at the given moment do not include robbing a bank and/or depriving my dearest&nearest of basic means for living so i could get all the fancy gadgets… i doubt all those powerful magicians and alchemists from the past had stylized robes and designer magickal jewels… it might help, it might give you an additional impulse – but it all is not necessary.

Also, studies of ceremonial magic take years – and they aren’t available in any of the locations which wouldn’t represent a true ‘geographical  challenge’ to me…

So i choose to get by with what i have. Some call it Chaos Magick and here is what trusted wikipedia has to say about it: Chaos magic is a school of the modern magical tradition which emphasizes the pragmatic use of belief systems and the creation of new and unorthodox methods.

That’s good enough for me.

So, here i am, in my magical outfit – Indigo jeans 2011 winter collection, a preppy sweater and woolen socks from Marks and Spencer. My magickal footwear consists of comfortable &worn out slippers, bought at the local flee market.

My devoted apprentice and my only follower is napping on the tv receiver while purring in her sleep.

I have performed serious research of the rituals performed on the occasion of the Full Moon – i subsequently googled : Full Moon Magick, Full Moon Rituals, Moon Magic

All i need to know there. Seems most rituals use candles, floating ones being  the preferred kind, yet i don’t have them handy, so i’ll stick with the ordinary ones from the supermarket.

Needless to say i absolutely have no intention of hunting for bats or some other rare mammal or bug kinds, nor do i plan to pop in to some remote Himalayan meadow in order to pick a very special flower that grows once in seven years when constellations are synchronized in a quite particular way…

The magickal equipment used in this ritual is the following:

one unspecified candle bought at a supermarket

an oil burner from a Dollar (euro that is ) shop in Belgrade

soup bowl

couple of silver coins, just for the sake of it

some oils, one of them perfumed – with very strong bouquet, that i bought in Cairo, near the pyramids in Giza – have kept for almost a decade, felt sorry to throw to garbage, yet didn’t know what to make of it exactly.

INTENT to burn out and release all i don’t need anymore – all the thinking patterns and attitudes that limit and hinder my overall progress and well being…

Whom i am invoking by this powerful magickal ritual? My own psyche’s aspects most probably…

…as its all in our heads – its just that we are not aware how big they are!

Abracadabra