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~ Tarot inspired essays and more

moderndayruth

Tag Archives: Rosh Hashanah

From the Narrows I Was Liberated

18 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by moderndayruth in Photography, Poetry

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

David, God, Montenegro, Rosh Hashanah, Talmud, Tashlikh, Zohar

 

 

 

 

Ottomans called this land Karadag
the black land
where black mountains encircle
the black lakes
and women with black eyes
save the black wine
for men with black mustache
when they come back home from the battle
in the Bright Dawn of May*
L.R.S.

Last night (Mon, 18 September 2012/ 2nd Tishrei 5773 ) at a poetry festival in Northern Montenegro:

 

Montenegrin authors Tanja Bakic, Lena Ruth Stefanovic, Gaga Trpkovic, Jelena Nelevic

 

(right to left: Jelena Nelevic Martinovic, Dragana Tripkovic, Lena Ruth Stefanovic, Tanja Bakic standing)

we speak on behalf of generations who were silent
we speak for your mother and her mother and her mother’s mother
who kept silent
in a “male world”

 

we speak for those who kept covering bruises 
and wept into the pillow
for they still had to keep the light 
for they still had to feed the kids

yet it was them – your mothers
who built this male world for you
it was them who spared you the truth
that it is a woman
running the world
while you are showing off boys’ toys
in the sand of the global playground
only for grown up little boys
L.R.S.

Hebrew word tashlich means “you shall cast away” and the esoteric ritual itself is performed in the afternoon on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, preferably near running waters. As we stand by living water, the barriers to spiritual and personal growth are washed away and we hear the voice of King David echoing “Out of the narrows of distress I called upon God, God answered me with liberation.”

“Min ha-meitzar, karati Yah, anani ba-merchav Yah. Out of the narrows of distress I called upon God, God answered me with liberation (Psalm 118:5).”

As we cast off the pain and transgressions into the river Moracha near city of Kolashin in northern Montenegro, this guy appeared -as it seemed – out of nowhere…

He hung around us for couple of moments

before trotting off into the approaching dusk…

Photo&text content copyright ©Lena Ruth Stefanovic 2012. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

*The Bright Dawn of May is the national anthem of Montenegro

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Bulgakov, Facebook Protocols & The New Year 5773

16 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by moderndayruth in Photography

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

Komsomol, Margarita, Master, Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov, Mitt Romney, Rosh Hashanah, Woland

 

I liked this freshly pressed post by Steffan Postaer: Are perpetually happy online personas a big lie or simply a matter of protocol? But, I instantly knew its author is nowhere near my circle of Facebook friends and probably will never be.

I hardly ever see such sugar coated photographs of “duck face” smiling couples or read statuses on life being all pearls and roses, sprinkled by fairy dust…  Could be due to my being facebook friends with really cool crowd, could be something else, who knows.  But truth to be told, one needs to be subjected to lobotomy so to forget how badly life hurts on some occasions… and how ecstatic it gets on some other.

You don’t need to know that last time i did Brazilian waxing it hurt like hell because i forgot to take the painkiller that everyone in their right mind takes 2h earlier… Ok, now you know. But that’s indeed too much information.

Oh, and there will always be Brits. And Montenegrins. And Dutch. And other people who traditionally don’t rave about their privacy.

Or maybe they were thought (as i was, albeit i gave up on that) “smile – the whole world will smile with you cry and you’ll cry alone.”

I think reality tv did it. I think general dumbing down did it. And the greed behind it and the publicity HOs with sitcoms where everyone confesses and all together cry… That’s fake – the infamous public atonement and the following forgiveness of sins by a millionaire/ tv show host who is so filthy rich that they basically forgot what it feels like to be a mere mortal.

If you know what I mean.

But that’s publicity, and your usual sinner –turned-tv-Saint shall write a book which will become a best seller among other beach reads – the ghost writer will probably remain anonymous, and the ex sinner won’t care about anything (and probably  is not capable of self-reflection in the first place)… What happened there was down to someone’s idea of making money out of it all – out of the sin, the repentance , the forgiveness, the tears of relieve… I call that BS, not the human discretion and privacy concerns or simple unwillingness to share with whole wide world what one goes through in the privacy of their bedroom – or bathroom per that matter.

Which brings me back to something I detest… Among all the damage the  false tv-messiahs and alike have done is the acceptance of fiction and non-fiction that’s of extremely low quality, not to say – garbage.

A friend of mine, when the going was tough, started writing chick lit – the weekend romance series, she signed those with pseudonym and albeit it sold well, she wouldn’t admit dead it’s her who wrote them. Nor we would admit we read them – dead or alive, that is.

Dumbing down is not democracy. Someone’s  ignorance is not as valid as another’s being educated. We need elite; we need the avant-garde, because it was never the majority who ignited the progress, only individuals… and those come in all shapes and sizes and are never perpetually happy in a cheap way.

Recently two of my own statuses got numerous likes, those were:

“I get up, the world spits to my face, I clean it and say: I love you too.”

And another

“I love it when I Ching tells me off.”

The ones I like the most have to do with Tarot, riddles, heavy sarcasm and mocking Mitt Romney.

Most of my friends are indeed happy , most of the times. And so am i. And even when i am not all that happy – i remember the ancient Judaic commandment  ”you must be happy” (and are allowed to fake it, until you make it ;))  – not because you are stupid and fake – but because, if you are somewhat smart and honest, over time you will realize it is all for good.

Mikhail Bulgakov , put it this way:  But would you kindly ponder this question – what would your good do if evil didn’t exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared? After all, shadows are cast by things and people. Here is the shadow of my sword. But shadows also come from trees and living beings. Do you want to strip the earth of all trees and living things just because of your fantasy of enjoying naked light? You’re stupid.”

Had i mentioned his “ Master and Margarita ” is my favorite novel of all times?

“Take these as essential ingredients: Satan, Jesus, Stalin, Pontius Pilate and Caesar’s Empire, assorted literary critics, a great Artist and the woman who loves him, life in 1930s Moscow, a poet on the bitter road to truth, and various demonic henchmen including a big black cat. They add up to one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century…” (From the review of The Master and Margarita, edition Penguin Classics )

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

“At the hour of the hot spring sunset two citizens appeared at the Patriarch’s Ponds”. This is the opening line of The Master and Margarita. The literary authority Berlioz and the young poet Bezdomny are debating on a bench. Subject is the existence of Jesus when a third man is joining the discussion. Later he will introduce himself as professor Woland. He predicts that Berlioz will be decapitated that very day by a Russian woman, a member of the Komsomol. And it was inevitable, because “‘Annushka has already bought the sunflower oil, and has not only bought it, but has already spilled it”.
According to the legend, they sat on the third bench from the left – its this one in the picture i took last year.

The bench is still at Patriarch’s Pond, close to Tverskaya Street in city’s center:

Patriarch's Pond, Moscow, Russia

 

And oldsmobiles are still parked in the nearby cobbled alleys:

Oldsmobile Chaika

With that i am wishing you Happy New Year! L’Shana Tova! May 5773 overflow with sweetness and genuine happiness!

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Kabbalist’s Survival Kit for the Month of Virgo

03 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by moderndayruth in Kabbalah & Western Hermetic Tradition

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Baal Shem Tov, Elul, Gregorian calendar, Hebrew alphabet, Judaism, Kabbalah, Rosh Hashana, Rosh Hashanah

Solemn month of Elul is all about introspection, going through the last year’s events and getting ready for the new year ahead. There are as much as four New Years in Hebrew/Kabbalistic tradition and added the Western Calendar – all of it could just seem bit over the top… It is not so, there is enough room and it is indeed meaningful to be aware and prepare for all of them.

Personally, to me Civil NY by Western calendar is more like a mark of my work, what i do and where i am with my career, where as by Hebrew/Kabbalistic calendar i measure my inner, psychological time.

Rosh Hashana, accurately or not translated as a Jewish New Year, is a chance for all of us – regardless of the religious denomination, Jewish or not – to reset the movies of our lives, to write the new script if needed – and even to hire a new cast if the production so far wasn’t going as planned.

Do not forget that it is us who are the directors – the Light (kabbalist’s euphemism for Creator)  through outer circumstances provides us the movie studio so to say and the cast – but, at the end of things, it is us who direct the movies of our lives, so let’s get ready to make the next year’s movie – an Academy Award material!

The days of Elul are also known as the days of Teshuva or repentance, which etymologically comes from LaShuv לשוב – to return, meaning the return to our own selves and our own inner truth. There is nothing to lose on the way – except for suffering and pain which we hope to leave behind as we approach the new beginning.

It is said that at Rosh Hashanah planets align as they were in the moment of creation and that thus we are given the chance to start anew, from the scratch – it is here that we reboot our system and restart our lives.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov was pointing out that Hebrew word for correction –  tikkun תיקון – has the same letters as  tinok תינוק – a baby; and that very state of innocence and purity is the one we are striving for on our journey through the Month of Elul… and that’s the purpose of creation itself, according to the Kabbalists.

As you probably know by now, in Kabbalah the 22 Hebrew letters are considered to be energies (angels) that created this world and letters.

Reish is linked to higher states of consciousness and it starts the word for Holy Spirit, ruach ha-kadosh; it also starts the word ruach, denoting wind and breath.

Rabbi Moses Luzzato pointed out that albeit it is ordained that one should naturally be able to teach himself, understand and reason with their intellect – there is another mean of gaining knowledge and that’s what we call ruach ha-kadosh – the way of gaining knowledge unattainable through logic alone.

Focusing on letter Reish and also setting aside some time every day to practice breath awareness will bring tremendous benefits during month of Elul and enable us to connect to these higher state states of consciousness where both prophetic abilities and spiritual bliss reside.

To study and practice kosher Kabbalah might seem demanding because it is a way of living, a way of eating, and – before all – it’s the very awareness, the consciousness one imbues into every single word that comes out of their mouth and, last but not the least – into every single thing they put into their mouth; it comes naturally though, usually – gradually, and for many it is the only way, because you feel it is the right way for you, personally.

That being said – not all will feel that urge and it simply means they don’t need it at this level of development or in this period of time, but there are still amazing benefits and advantages we can get from the Month of Virgo – even if we apply only some of the spiritual tools available in this month and even if we can’t really be bothered with somewhat complicated dietary laws and all that jazz.

There are two out of 72 Names of God – the sequence by which it is believed Moses had parted the Red Sea – that are recommended for this period (scanned from right to left):

1. Vav Hei Vav, Time Travel 2.Yud Lamed Yud, Recapturing the Sparks

An alternative way to practice Teshuva, as thought in tradition of the famed Kabbalist Isaac the Blind, which doesn’t involve the letters per se – is when you go to bed, to recall and remember every single event of the preceding day and all the things you said while – if possible, imagining that you are in the place of the person to whom you spoke, that you are them. Most of us go through life – better to say – schlep, in the perpetual state of dormita, asleep, not being aware of the effect of our own words and deeds; Teshuva is the way to reverse that and to become awaken.

I can’t recommend strongly enough the book by Catherine Shainberg PhD – Kabbalah and the Power of Dreaming; beside detailed instructions for the above mentioned practice of Teshuva, it also includes what’s probably the best available manual for lucid dreaming and many other techniques to reverse the unwanted events and developments in our lives.

It’s being said that the name of the month is the abbreviation of אני לדודי ודודי לי “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” (Song of Songs 6:3), because it is during this very  month that we can connect to the love story between the soul and the Creator. In words of Shaul Youdkevitch: “Since we all get some of Virgo’s virtues during Elul, it is the time to review, cleanse and redecorate our thoughts and feelings. Let us use Virgo to return to ourselves and gain freedom from all emotions and thoughts that keep us away from perfection.”

further reading:

 

Elul/ Virgo, Live Kabbalah

Zohar Study Ki Tavo with Shaul Youdkevitch

The Kabbalah Deck

The Hidden Treasures of Dreaming; article by Catherine Shainberg, PhD

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