Peeling a Pomegranate

The Jewish blogosphere is all abuzz about how to interpret the shmita year. Several extremely thought provoking articles got me thinking about how I can honor the spirit of the shmita year in my own life. I could demand that my non-Jewish husband let his garden lie for the year, but that seems unlikely. I could not eat any vegetables or plants, other than what I find growing wild….again, unlikely. I have been working on my foraging skills, but I’m thinking I’m not ready to live on them yet. So what’s a nice Earth-based Jewish girl to do?

I’ve decided to take a different approach. The past several years have been years of sowing seeds and working hard on so many things. This year, the shmita year — is one where I need to stop sowing and let things lie. I need to see what happens without me trying to control and cultivate the world around me. This doesn’t mean I’ll stop working, but no new projects and with a few — I’m going to intentionally let them grow on their own, more naturally than I otherwise might have.

The shmita year is the Seven of Pentacles from the Tarot deck. The work has been done. It’s time to rest and allow nature to take her course.

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