Journey from Adar to Nisan to Iyar, illustrated with the Transparent Tarot
~Excerpt from Nisan 5770 Rosh Chodesh Guide – Subscribe today for the full Guide ~
With Nisan we leave the lunacy of Adar behind. Rosh Chodesh Nisan is the New Year of Kings, so it makes complete sense that the Emperor (קֵיסָר) is the card for the month. In the Transparent Tarot, the image is of a city. It is the man-made world, well organized and structured. What does this mean for us? In Nisan, we are challenged to once again leave slavery behind us and take responsibility for our lives. In Egypt we built cities for Ramses with nothing gained for ourselves — not even a decent meal. The Emperor reminds us that now we are responsible for ourselves and the cities we build.
The Emperor in the Waite-Smith Tarot sits on a throne with rams’ (טלה) heads as ornaments and wears a garmet with a rams’ head on it. The throne is solid and stable, and under the cloak with the ram’s head on it, he wears armor. This image reminds us of the interconnection of the ram and the Jewish people. In his writings on the shofar as spiritual practice, Michael Chusid says:
“A totem is a symbol, usually an animal or other natural object, used to signify a tribe or group of people. More than just a mascot, emblem, or iconographic signature, a totem embodies a tribe’s self-identity. It carries the tribe’s spiritual energy, informs decisions about behavior, and often acts as an intermediary between a people and its god or gods. Jews do not erect totem poles like those of Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest; our biblical proscription against graven images is too strong to allow that. Yet our totem is alive and well and deeply rooted in our history and liturgy; our totem is the sheep; more specifically, the ram. ” (Hearing Shofar, Book 3)
Astrological Symbol for Aries
Take a look at the astrological symbol for Aries (on right). It’s also a symbol for female reproductive organs if you just look at the imagery. The Ram that is the strength of the Emperor is also the potential life giving force symbolized by the Maiden in menarche.
Once we understand this, we can move into the month of Iyar and meet the High Priest, the Kohen Gadol (כּוֹהֵן גָדוֹל), to understand the faith of our people. Following the Exodus the battle over who speaks for G!d(dess) is a major theme of the Torah portions. We must connect with the High Priest as holder of the tradition, before we can stand at the supernal chuppah in Sivan and be wed to YHVH through the revelation at Sinai on Shavuot (Lovers is card of Sivan).
~Excerpt from Nisan 5770 Rosh Chodesh Guide – Subscribe today for the full Guide ~
Tags: astrology, earth based judaism, jewish year, judaism, nisan, Passover, pesach, rosh chodesh, tarot, totems, Wheel of the Year
Planning a Passover seder meal is a big deal for me. It is such a huge part of the overall experience that I think it needs careful consideration. The traditional Ashkenazic menu of brisket and tzimmes are lovely — but not the only option.
For me there are additional considerations like:
- What is local and in season?
- What foods spiritually align with my kavannah for the seder?
- What foods will inspire a sense of wonder with the seder participants?
- What foods will create a delicious, cohesive menu?
Over the years, I’ve created some menus I’m pretty proud of and decided that I should compile them all together along with some of my favorite sources for new ideas. It’s important to know that my menus are not traditionally kosher in most cases and I tend to follow the Sephardic guidelines for kosher for Passover. I hope these help you to create your own amazing menu for your Passover seder.
Ketzirah’s Recent Passover Menus:
Menu Planning Resources:
- Oasis Menu Concept
- Epicurious Passover Menu Guide
- JCarrot.com Recipe Archive
- Eating Well Passover Guide
- Food & Wine Passover Menus
- Diabetic Recipes for Passover
What are some of your favorites for Passover?
This is Joseph's cup that he used for divination. Look into my cup and I'll tell you the future.
There are so many amazing things you can do to add a little more magick to your Passover Seder. Needless to say, using the fabulous Peeling a Pomegranate Haggadah is an easy way to do this, but there are so many others that you can do (all of which work great with my haggadah and others, too). Considering that so much of the Seder is about creating a sense of wonder to engage your body, mind, and spirit. It’s intended to be experiential. Here are a few ideas to bring a little more magick to your Pesach.
Kavanah
At the beginning of your seder, set the intention for your seder. You can turn it into a magickal working this way. Maybe you want to set the intention that this seder will set one enslaved person free. You could even have a specific person in mind. Maybe you want to use the energy of your seder to free minds or end persecutions of a particular people. You could also use your seder to remove the chains of your own biases that you don’t even know.
Be sure to restate your kavanah at least a couple of times and use it as a framework for discussion through out so you can build some energy. You can add a final prayer to send the energy out into the world.
Learn More: Prayer and Kavanah, Meditations for the Passover Seder
Afikomen
There is a great deal of folklore around the use of the afikomen as an amulet for good fortune and protection. While it’s traditional to share the recovered piece and eat it as part of the seder, it doesn’t have a lot of meaning for most people anymore. The idea of it as “desert” just doesn’t resonate. What if the recovered piece was broken and given as an amulet for people to take home? You would have to explain it, but people understand the idea of a lucky charm. You could have pretty little mojo bags for people to put their piece of the end of the seder.
I also like to save the other half of the middle matzah for tashlich at Rosh Hashanah.
Learn More: Afikomen Customs from Around the World, Afikomen Customs, Afikomen as Amulet
Food Magick
The Seder plate and meal are two of the least utilized elements of the seder. The table is the altar for the seder. The seder plate is generally there, quickly mentioned, and then forgotten. The food is often just thrown out at the end. The seder plate could be revisioned as a food offering akin to those mentioned in the Torah. Think about different things you could do with the food or the wine in Elijah’s cup to honor its sanctity and power after the meal.
The meal is generally just tasty food. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but what if you layered the metaphysical meanings into your menu planning? Can you focus on only local foods? How about a meal where every recipe has to be made in18 minutes or less? It might mean you move away from the brisket and matzah ball soup, but maybe not. Either way, think about the meanings of your food choices and discuss them with your guests!
Learn More: Food at the Time of the Bible, Rosh Hodesh Table, Figs, Dates, Laurels, and Myrhh, Symbolic foods at Rosh Hashanah
Making Matzah
I am a huge fan of making your own matzah. It’s not always the tastiest. It’s not glatt-kosher — but it’s an incredible experience. The whole process seems arbitrary when you start. What’s with this 18 minutes thing? Then you start to get it. First, the frenzy of trying to quickly bake the bread before you are trying to escape. Then you start to think about the number 18. It’s the numerical equivalent of the word “chai,” which means life. Matzah the bread of affliction, is also the bread of life. Bring a group of women together a day or two before Pesach and you could have a matzah making ritual.
Learn More: Baking the Matzah, Making Matzah the Old Fashioned Way,Matzah Baking: an 18 Minute Project
Ancestral Oracle
Create a Pesach oracle to get messages from the ancestors. Create slips of paper with quotes from the matriarchs, patriarchs, talmud, and other areas of the Torah. Choose a time that feels right and have people draw out the “lot” and see what the message the ancestors have for them. It could be styled as messages from Elijah and Miriam and be included during that portion of the seder, or as messages from the Four Children. You could even make kosher for Pesach “fortune cookies.”
Learn More: Rituals for Miriam’s Cup and Elijah’s Cup, Divination in Judaism, Divination
Tags: earth based magickal judaism, fun, haggadah, ideas, judaism, magick, Passover, pesach, seder
Elements, (CC) Daryl Sim
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the elements lately, so I wanted to post this work in progress. A while back I had the opportunity to take “Elements of Magick” with Katrina Messenger. The class is a core one for the Reclaiming tradition, and while I’m not trying to return to the world of Wicca — I knew it would be a valuable one to take. The benefit for me of taking this with Katrina, is I knew she would respect my path and help me make the necessary translations. I mentioned to her then that I really wanted to create an “Elements of Jewish Magick” that would focus on the aspects unique to my path. Needless to say she was really supportive.
Since I’m going to be teaching a workshop on Jewish Magick at Sacred Space next week, I thought I would finally pull this together in some form so I can have it ready for that! I based this on a handout Katrina gave us in the class that was chock-full of elemental correspondences. I kept some of the general ones, but really wanted this to focus on uniquely Jewish correspondences. For the curious, the directions are based on the Zohar correspondences and of course the work of RK’Jill Hammer is a major influence in all this. Some sources are cited below, and I’ll keep updating this to improve the citations. I hope to add the Kohenet Netivot, the letters of the aleph-bet, and more biblical and midrashic figures over time.
I would love feedback, so comment away!
FIRE (אֵשׁ): North, Summer, Noon, Pillar of Fire, Strength, Issac, Rebekah, Candles (Sabbath, Havdalah, Yahrtzeit, Chanukiah, Menorah) Ner Tamid, Bonfire of Lag B’Omer Burning Chametz, Sun, Gabriel, Gold, Priesthood, Divine Connection, Cooking, Aaron, Staves, Burnt Offerings, Letters on Parchment, Salamander, Myrtle, Phoenix (חוֹל Job 29:18), Snakes, Burning bush, Spiritual authority, Light, Atzilut, Existing, Chayah, Divine connection
WATER (מַיִם): South, Winter, Midnight, Well of Miriam, Love, Sarah, Abraham, Silver, Michael, Mikvah, Washing, Dipping Greens in Salt Water at Passover, Tashlich, Bat Yah, Moses, The “Whale”, Water libation, Willow Branches, Reeds, Sea of Reeds, Wine, Miriam, Joseph, Noah, Annointing oil, Divination, Intuition, Dreams, Willow Branches, Lotus flowers, Water lillies, Emotions, Leviathin,Darkness, Yetzirah, Feeling, Ruach, Creativity
EARTH (עָפָר): West, Autumn, Sunset, Ten Commandments, Raphael, Shekhinah, Rachel, David, Iron, Challah, Salt, Lulav, Etrog, Fruit, Flowers on Shavuot, Trees and tree planting, burying foreskin, earth in coffin, burying sacred texts, shoveling earth on grave, building of stone altars (cairns), bones, gardens, fields, Ruth, Boaz, the Shofar (not blown), Stones, Behomot, Life, Assiyah, Doing, Nefesh, Resources we Consume
AIR (רוּחַ): East, Spring, Dawn, Cloud of Glory, Balance, Leah, Jacob, Bronze/Copper, Uriel, Scent, Incense, Blowing of Shofar, Besamin, Sukkah, Greggors, Singing, Chanting, Speech, Spoken Prayer, Dancing, Breath, Blades/Knives (air feeds fire), Tzipporah(?), Inspiration, Imagination, Bells on Priestly garmets, Keturah, Tzovah, Ziz (aka Renanim, Sekewi), Cloud of Glory, Judith, Solomon, Joshua,Wisdom, Briah, Thinking, Neshamah, Community
CENTER (ABOVE/BELOW): Sabbath, Mt. Sinai, Wilderness, Liminal Space, Transformation, Gestation, Calendars, Mishkan, Temple, Passover Table, Seder Plate, Garden of Eden, Mystery, Sheol, Shamayim, HaSatan, Lilith, Sound of the Shofar, Baalot Ov, Circles, Shamir Worm, Foundation Stone, Moon, Torah, Lulav & Etrog, Talit and Tzittzit, Magen David, Menorah (6 branched), Containers, Vessels, Tohu v Vohu, Yechidah
Tags: correspondences, elements, ideas, jewish, judaism, magick, magickal judaism, structure
Journey from Shevat (Star) to Adar (Moon) to Nisan (Emperor), illustrated by the The Transparent Tarot
The moon, the card of Adar, is the card of lunacy, which makes sense. The traditional Waite-Smith card shows a remote landscape at the edge of civilization with a dog, a wolf and a crustacean howling at the moon. There is a long path ahead in this card and it is not an easy one. We’ve passed the Star (Shevat), the card of Adar which restored our sense of wellbeing and guided us to this place. Now the moon is the brightest object in the sky. This is a month of lunacy and heightened sensitivities. While loaded with humor, it is also fraught with dangers. As the Story of Esther
In this month of Adar, use humor wisely. Be perceptive to the things that are hidden from plain sight. Be aware of the things you should not be revealing just yet. Use stagecraft and good planning to ensure that you, and your community, flourish and prosper.
~ Excerpt from Rosh Chodesh Guide for Adar. Like what you see? Subscribe and get this and much more ~
Tags: adar, esther, jewish, judaism, Purim, Wheel of the Year
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