Renewal - Returning from exile and Enmity

Festivals of Light and Peace

2012-01-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Work on how to nourish peace within and beyond different faith paths

I would add a fundamental re-look at traditions behind the various festivals of lights in a contemporary 'light'. Writing a festive card to local 'occupiers'; i was reminded how fundamental the spreading of warmth and light is to almost every culture in the mid-winter, with colder days to come but longer days promising the return of luminosity and hope. Solstice, Diwali, Channakah, Ed ul-Adha, Christmas, important differences but vital connections interwoven over generations of interchange, adoption, conflict, friendship and the brighter aspects of human nature and community understanding. Interfaith work is potentially really strong at this time.Look closely enough and this community light share and outreach to the world is within so many, if not all, faith and humanist paths. Maybe we should help one another see?

I look forward to lighting the branches of the menorah; symbolizing the tree of life, seen in other cultures as Yggdrasil / world tree / web of life of which we are all part and the command of the great oneness within us and outside us to spread light across the world. For Jews the lighting of our tree of light also reminds us of the re-dedicating of sacred space after an ancient war and that, despite the fact the olive oil supply was incredibly low we found enough to light the lamps all the days and for all our needs. This miracle of abundance and the oil of peace is a story to be remembered today; a miracle of community and hope. The Green Menorah Covenant looks at this ageless story of finding truer wealth, peace, radiance, hope in a time of limited oil and peace-building in contemporary setting of peak oil, climate change, conflict; it offers support, guidance and a challenge to create changes. See the Shalom Center for more information http://www.theshalomcenter.org/node/1276. The pomegranate is also a symbol, of the inter-connectivity and abundance of life in its seeds, of origins, of feminine power, oneness, unity, womb and yoni. It has a six pointed star, magen david; the balance / harmony of light and dark, male and female at its crown. Cut into it holds a pentagram, which links ether with all the elements of life, cut another way it can show a CND, peace symbol. Eaten it can heal many ailments. It is Ancient pagan into Christmas traditions of bringing in evergreens and the realm of holly and oak is an interplay of understanding what is past and what lives in permanence in our lives; the vital sap that holds humanity and all life in balance and continuance and welcomes life and light in the coldest months. It is one of many projects connecting to year round projects. I am also always deeply warmed by other religious communities work at this time including Christian fueled anti-poverty work and the immense work in getting fair-trade into the public arena. Many communities, religious and not, work hard at this time of year, getting people off the streets, providing warmth, comfort, hope for vulnerable groups at home and internationally. It is a recruiting time for NGO support. Festivals of light speak deep within us to our roots as we place the world tree / menorah / Christmas tree in our homes, as we light candles, share food and dreams. So for me i feel it is a time to re-examine our faith; in divinity, humanity, the Earth or all three and to recognize those beliefs and ideals manifest in one another, even and esspecially when that light is a different hue to our own.

Peace in your heart, its the best place to start! Wishing you all, your families and communities, warmth, joy, light, connection, hope :)

One Story-Weaver's World View

2011-05-15T15:06:00.001-07:00

'Given the fact that two thirds of Man's brain is dormant it never ceases to amaze me how little he uses the one third which is active. If Man pushed just a little harder what miracles there might be!'
(Albert Einstein, 1932)

To me story-weaving is drawing the circle back into ourselves; being more ourselves and connecting with life's cycles. In doing this we see more life and encourage others to do the same. We recognize the power of words and use them wisely together because they come filtered through the eye of the heart. Story-weaving recognizes the story does not belong to one voice, it is choral, be that with one another, as humans finding ways to flourish, or within the chorus of nature and the voice or source that unites. Whatever you choose to do, may you find joy and love within it.

Such ways of seeing and walking through life can be found hidden in plain sight everywhere. In almost all creeds and religions if you look closely enough and disregard that which seeks to lessen and control us. Open eyes have, for centuries translated writings and scriptures understanding that we as humans were moulded in the image of a divine oneness, as in part meaning of this is that we are imbued with the image-creating power of a divine whole. Within our imagination lies the power to create; to manifest and change our realities. Descartes said 'I envision therefore I am.' It is possible we are each a part of the universe envisioning itself; characters and weavers of the great narrative, the greatest story yet to be told is peace. That great story is the circle made whole. It is beyond words that may be spoken and involves all life and every sense. I believe divinity, whatever we choose to name it, is in us all and within all life, that it has both male and female forms and is all genders and none. It is the 'All', 'The Oneness', 'The Name', 'The Source' and 'The Light and Experience'. I see it as the breath behind the wind and within all life, the spark in our thinking, the fire in our bellies and the joy in our hearts. It brings stories within the water of our healing the cycles of the earth that bears our footprints and fruits. We may learn to know it through living and loving; through ourselves, one another, within writings and voices ancient and modern and through our contact with animal friends. We may hear the power from the source in laughter and in tears and feel its presence and power both in the daytime and at night. Our lives as well as the narratives of belief, understanding, imagining tell the stories of humankind and nature's past, present, future and yet a good story is timeless.

Working towards thinking, living and being in awareness; closer to divinity / oneness requires, in my eyes, creativity of thought and an ability to listen to life; it asks for us to be able think outside accepted ideas where it is appropriate, even vital so to do. It also asks that we find our ways of walking the path towards oneness and reminds us all beings are interconnected. No one can be truly free from want and fear until all are thus we free ourselves and enable others. Eco-systems and global currencies, hearts and imaginations are all connected. Living with awareness comes with a responsibility to see how all beings, lives and energies flow in and out of each other and how we are all part of a full spectrum unity with many currents and tides. It is to recognise and celebrate change; to be part of it; to be navigators of the tides and a part of the tides themselves. This is of course my own opinion and I welcome others. The story-weaver's path deals with hidden places, into worlds and realities beyond that of everyday being but part of the same web of life.

To me story-weaving is about living with awareness; with roots and branches, creativity, connection, intent, focus and joy; about sending out and receiving energy and about actively visualising and working towards a future and inviting other energies to work on that plan. Speak and envision what we may help come to pass. We mayreceiveand share from others, past and present through an eye and a voice within our hearts. We may see them written in flame, hear them in wind, reflected in water. They may nourish us like fruits from the earth. All is connected; we are all linked and our actions, words, dreams and ways of seeing have a ripple affect. Just as when we give out smiles we welcome others to share being happy and the opposite can happen when we trade harsh words, I see that joy given to one can lift many, pain given to one can hurt many. For this reason I try to exercise my will through love, to protect others' right to live and be within love and to take the path of no or least harm.

'Love is the law, love under will.' AL I:57
(I would add the vital tenet: 'will all through love')

I’ll be Davening, I’ll be Dukkerin

2011-02-17T03:43:00.000-08:00

I’ll be Davening, I’ll be Dukkerin,
Traveling as the Earth does spin,
Sing blessings into changing winds
A song never-ending, a new voice begins;

I’ll be weaving my weaving ways
Along the Great Spirit’s pathways,
Opening with dreamer’s eyes and soul,
The wheel is turning, life is whole,

I own no-one, no-one owns me;
Neither slave, nor master will I be,
We’re of the land and we are free,
To sow and share is true prosperity,

I’ll be Davening, I’ll be Dukkerin,
Travelling as the Earth does spin,
Sing blessings into changing winds
A song never ending, a new voice begins -

Antonia Zenkevitch

Esther - The hidden one

2011-02-17T02:20:00.000-08:00

Esther and the hidden feminine divine,

In Hebrew the name Hester /Esther means 'hidden'. (Megillah 2:7)Tells us she is without living parents. We are told she is of the ancient mother line; from the matriarch, Rachel and Jacob, the one to whom is first given the name Israel, meaning straight from the divine / struggles with angels. As mortal she born with free will. Esther is Khoshen; chosen and placed in a position of choice.

Esther is told that, should she choose not to act the Jews will be saved by another source, in a different time and place while she and her line will perish.(Megillah 4:13-14). It has been written that in this dark time for Jews, G-D appeared hidden. The uncovered face of Esther, the hidden one was not only a rekindling of mother and father line. It was also a re-awakening of feminine power and a revealing of divinity that seemed hidden. It was a woman and the feminine aspect of the divine Oneness that were hidden, then revealed at the right time and amount for balance to be restored.

Esther’s story is a reminder of the hidden amongst humanity; within each human heart, that can rise up against injustice. Esther’s story is a love story and a chronicle of redemption, with the sovereigns being only microcosms of the peoples they represent. Esther, of veiled royal lineage, weds into kingdom at war with her own kingdom, thus a battle between kinship and conflict rages in the hearts of Sovereigns and the nations they represent.

There is juxtaposition of male and female, the inner encounter with soul, the conflict and love between people; between man and woman, between matriarchal and patriarchal paths; between science and faith and between the Earth and ourselves. Each of these must find balance and oneness; each must be married in unity, truth and justice, but this takes time, discretion, patience. The story of the hidden queen and her wedding of the foe is the story of the cycle of life restored through taking time to see, to love, to find, examine and then reveal inner truths. We celebrate the unveiling of the secret queen as the Earth unveils the glory of spring.

There are the mother lines and wisdoms, including those thought died out, that are resurfacing and will continue to resurface in travelling and hidden peoples, books of splendour and wisdom and the craft of love and healing. These hidden peoples divided to travel and unite other peoples through story and traditions whispered, stolen, shared, diversified, forgotten, lost, remembered and through relationships. As the female divine reveals herself so does the matrix of hidden connections and relations between peoples, ideas and understanding; between languages and histories and faiths.

The cycles of the moon and sun bring life and balance. This is a time to honour the tides and the moon and the cycles of life. This is a time to choose joy and life over deception.These revelations are in part opening our senses to the Earth, to music and voice, to scent and touch, to light, reflection, colour and translation.

The Crown and Women

2011-02-07T03:20:00.000-08:00

King Solomon recorded 'A woman of valor is the crown of her husband,' The immature man translates this as adornment, that a man would wear and own a woman. Yet where sits a crown upon a person and upon the tree of life? Chassidic masters interpret that there will be a time when the feminine will rise above the masculine, as a crown is placed above the head.

This is the gold that could not be given away to form a fake calf to sacrifice. Here we glance upon the realm of alchemy and kabballistic thought. King Solomon may in fact have been alluding to the tree of life; to the act of manifestation of and within life from divine source. To say that the crown is female and in valor rests above mankind would be to recognize the 'goddess' or feminine aspect of the source from which sprang all life. As husband suggests partnership and love; an inexorable connection between male and female in creation and the divine energies, for what is a king without a crown or a crown without a king? Is this the crown of Shekhina or Shekhina hersself; Shekhina the soul and breath of the light. Yet gold must be tested and what tests metal but valor? Perhaps the testing of womankind during the patriarchal age was just this, a raising through valor; a messy, painful alchemy that helps us recognize feminine and male energy as part of the circle ever cast. The question remains, which do we seek more; to have gold or to lift ourselves up to be golden?

“I sing hymns to enter the gates of the orchard of holy apples.
A new table we prepare for Her,
A lovely candelabrum sheds its light upon us.
Between right and left
The Kalah approaches,
In sacred jewels and royal garments…”

--16th Century poet Isaac Luria

But for the music of their voices ...

2011-02-06T14:14:00.000-08:00

For the music of her voice ...

Who are the mothers and fathers of the prophetesses in the Torah? Little is said of the family of women, but more of who their husbands and their fathers. Yet, when the first temple was to be destroyed it was not the prophet Jeremiah that King Yoshiayhu sought for truth and compassion, nor, if he were absent to the other male prophet,Tzephaniah. He called for the prophetess, cousin of Jeremiah, named Huldah. It was kept within the family, a family that descended from Moshe's student, Joshua and his wife Rachev, who was both convert and prophetess and from whom descended great prophets of both sexes. Huldah took Shallum as husband. They salved weary travellers with water at the gates of the city and received prophecy for them. Huldah, being woman, was prophetess to women, yet it was her voice in which the King wished to hear the hardest words. After words of dark times to come, the words that then came from Huldah's mouth that the King's gentle heart, he would not see the pain of his people and would instead find his grave soon and in peace. So Huldah, least known of the prophetesses, was the voice chosen to sing a king and an age to sleep amidst turmoil. What richness and compassion and depth in that voice that its musicality held compassion even when telling of the horrors mankind visits upon itself? When the second temple was built 70 years later, The Gates of Huldah were built too. Were these the gates of hope built upon the voice of mercy and hope? Temples are built and fall each day. A sacred space can be a circle in the sand, a clearing in the woods. Internal temples are the worst to tumble and yet we rebuild them everyday. It is that voice of compassion between and within ourselves that can be the gateway of hope that helps us rebuild ourselves, our lives, our personal sovereignty. What more do we know of the woman with a voice that sings hope and compassion even in the words that shake kingdoms to the ground? We know of her loves. After Shallum is returned from the otherworld where death nearly held him, they are given a son, Chen. The names here, as ever, have spiritual significance. Shallum, fits his name which comes from the root of the word for peace. When peace unites with hope favour is born, even after all seems lost.

She who sang to the sea ...

The voice of woman, of Miriam, sister of Moshe and Aaron, with Moshe's raised staff is said to be the voice that sang a people to freedom; that took them through the sea to promised safety. The voice that parted waters or understood their powers and gave the ailments of her people to the healing powers of the sea, mitigating its awesome power to destroy. I have written before and will again of Miriam and other women's voices.

Wherever there is prophet(s) there is at least one prophetess. Always there is balance of male and female in every genesis; every transformation. When things do not make sense, re-read with both the female and male voices and hear the music.

Fishing for Fortune and Joy

2011-02-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

We are in a time once again as the wheel turns; Adar 1 (Aleph, Dalet and Resh), known as a time of fortune, of joy bringing and of choosing. It is this choosing that helps create the transition into joy. In Tarot terms we move from the month of the star and the water-bearer into the month of the moon and the fish.

Ketzirah at http://www.peelapom.com writes well on this subject as many others. Whilst I am inspired as I often am by her thoughts my own differ. If we use the Magen David or six pointed star to illustrate the moon-tide from New Moon to New Moon of Shevat, we see that the star contains the cup of life or womb filled with water and the flame, light or male principle. These conjoined triangles are equal, opposite and in perfect balance. This is male and female, light and reflection.

As any scientist or artist would tell you, creativity cannot come with stasis or immovable balance. The moon is imbalance, transition and refection. It is the joy of night as well as its danger. It is also the promise of light within darkness and of the cycles of the year and all bodies bringing life. We have come from the moon-tide of the star to the lunar month of the moon. From Rosh Hodesh,or each New Moon marking the beginning of a month or moon-tide, we know the full moon and light sits at its center. At the center of this moon-cycle is the choosing of joy and life. Choice and the recognition of light even in darkness and the balance therein is central to Joy, as well as the recognition of our part in the cycles.

Let us leave tarot to look at the more accepted translations of these months. Shevat holds the festival of trees. Adar of the fish. The festival of trees links to the tree of life, to the dispersal of light into vessels of creation. True conception of life as interconnected and channeling the divine is seen here. This is the staff of Moshe; the channel from and towards sacred light. It is a good time to pick and fashion a staff. In nature we understand we need the celestial light of the sun, fuel and food for all life. First of this life is vegetation; trees before humankind. Trees that breathe carbon dioxide and give oxygen as we give them CO2. Trees that turn C02 into that Oxygen but also use water to create sugars and nutrients that are the building blocks of eco-systems. Such is the balance of the universe; the balance of our breath and the 'breath' of trees; of sunlight and water made into life and the sustenance of life. Each tree translates water and light into different energies; different vibrations; different scents and foods, textures and shapes; a different voice in chorus with the rest in which we can atune and place intent. This is recalling balance and harmony, illustrated, as in many other ways by the star. In this month is the ancient festival of wassailing, or blessing the orchards of apples.

Adar and the fertile fish come next. The fish a recognized symbol of abundance and good fortune in Jewish thoughts, particularly during Adar. A symbol used by countless other faiths and esoteric paths as well as in understanding of evolution. The fish in the seas and the astral waters show hope of spring-time in the wheel of the year. The astral fish and fish of Adar swim in opposite directions showing the current and counter-current; the choice and in a different way to the star, balance of life. This is balance through transition; through change, not rootedness. It is important to note roots came first; security before the navigation of the waters. Celtic legend holds Salmon as a wisdom bearer. The Chinese see the fish as a symbol of fortune. These patterns are not accents but primordial understanding.

We return to choice, to thelema, for within these cycles is our own freedom and free will. We participate in the world practically and in terms of ideas, belief and focused intent. It is choice and sharing love and joy that are vital components to this time and future cycles being hopeful and happy, for people are guided but never ruled by the stars. Made in divine image we are choosers; our hands, actions and words are co-creating our future and the future of the world. A living spring, eco-systems, fertile seas are in our guardianship. To be koshen, we must embrace this responsibility in joy.

Oneness is not Sameness

2010-04-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

Oneness is not 'sameness'and diversity does not mean we are not one!

How often do we comprehend a sense of unity. Ancient mystic traditions speak of the symbiosis of polarities; of the union of male and female, of light and dark.This is found in nature, in myth, in religions. The balance and interplay of male and female is central to scientific understanding. Goethe's science, Paracelusian thought, Darwinian, universalism, Newton's Alchemical treaties, Jewish Kabbalah, Islamic and Christian mysticism, Pagan, magickal traditions could be considered branches of this tree of life. Life is evolving in its translations yet adhering to principles or lores.

Here science, art and faith combine. Let me, for one moment introduce my own growing understanding of 'the tree of life'; of interconnectivity of all life as manifestations of light and shadow. There are many interpretations of how energy is diversified into all and how all are still, in the end, of 'one'energy. Energy moves from form to form, from state to state. To be in awareness; in creative process, in open analysis of subject, in reverence, in choice, in free will, in connectivity, in davening, is to be navigating and channelling energy. It is to be open to life and living, to transition; to source. Personal sovereignty or true free will may be possible by navigation of the Fool's path.

Kether - quintessence, energy of origin that may be known as divine source or G-d by many names and none. When we see light refract full-spectrum from white light this is a sense of this energy and its place in all things. All colours, all life, all sound is born of and made of this energy. Kether is the crown never to be worn by one individual alone but to be shared. Thus we have the problem of religion often creates when one body or corpus of people alone is said to own the crown. Thus we have the problem of non-life honouring science, where a sense of kingship over all, that sense often rooted, albeit often unknowingly, in the human-god didem or in the religious idea of kingship that does not recognise stewardship, in a sense of superiority. Kether can never be one person, one thing, one principle, it is in all principles and all beings, it is energy, source and power and recognition of the oneness in all diversity.

Chochmah - Next on the tree of life as passed down many ages and sages of spirit, science, art and other streams of conciousness. Chochmah is seen as the father of creation; the seed of knowable creation. Often, patriarchal religious belief sees this as the highest plain of being. Those that study many of the mystery traditions within these religions will still find Kether glimmering there. It is a limited, unbalanced aspect that sees only the male aspects of all manifestation. Yet many that rest upon this point seek beyond constantly and beautifully. It is impossible to truly comprehend any aspect or sphere. To do so would surely be to understand every atom and whisper of life. Chochmah is identified with true will or universal wisdom.

Binah - next on the tree of life, the mother figure, second spiritual manifestation and first reflection of the light; the first balancing and creatively conflicting force. Binah is interpreted as the state of love or understanding to Chochmah's knowledge; without understanding how could knowledge be transmitted? In science, in the human mind, in all nature, in the cycles of life, in fire and water, said by many global creation stories to be the beginnings of creation, this balance and conflict is necessary.

Daath - the voice, the word, the first meeting of mother and father and the unnamed and unnumbered, perhaps because it is the voice of all names and numbers? Often associated with sacrifice and death, but also breath. This is the power of the word; language and ideas vocalised and worked towards and creative manifestation. The power of positive (and negative) thought and of goodwill (and badwill) towards others, may also be of note here.

Chesed - expansive, merciful, compassionate, sharing, festival, shabbos, rest, loving kindness and loving friendship.

Gvurah - opposing chesed, consequence of actions, restrictive, blocks and diffuses light, division and diversity, variety, differentiation, destruction, honour - the beginning of physicality and pro-activity.

Tiferet - Balance and beauty, symmetry, core, heart, inner sun, meeting point of 'source'; original energy; light of creation spiralling downwards and the upwards spiral of humankind's aspirations. They meet at the heart. This can be considered the falling in love with life.

Netzach - Victory & physical sharing, expansive, the male fertilising principle and the masculine principle of sex, right-brain processes, the artist and dreamer.

Hod- Glory, the egg and human conception, feminine fertile principle, left brain and prophesy or the acknowledgement and analysis of unseen or immeasurable in a scientific / creative process.

Yesod - Foundation, reservoir, the basin or cauldron of energies, the womb or cup or vial that receives via the process above and from which their is birth.

Malchut - kindgom / universe / phyisical world / home / abode / child / manifestation via the above process and reflection of 'the crown' or orginal energy / source / light of creation, 'as above, so below'.

Counting down the Omer and the principles of evolutionary theory have more in common than we may at first think. I do not suggest a sludgy beige world where we stop thinking, cease debating, curtail spiritual, scientific and creative endeavour, merely that we understand a little more about those endeavours and our shared kinship and understanding. Diversity and evolution are multi-form and multi-hued but interconnected in complex energy chains into the tapestry of life. All religion, science and thought may not be one. Much is still part of one unfolding understanding; a paradigm of unity and trans-gnosis. As eco-systems are connected, so are ideas, so is all life. This we know. In the magic of connection we can try to recognize when we see different angles of a complex whole, each of us perception points in one eye made of many. Sight requires reception and interpretation of many shades and hues, full spectrum. Perhaps we may even be the transmitters and not just passive receptors of light.

Coffee - The ancient healing energy

2010-03-12T03:10:00.000-08:00

So, have you had your daily Judaic healing exorcism? Probably ... in a way.

Sephardic medicine of the home honours coffee as a great healer and protector. Coffee is a big part of Jewish culture and cuisine; we've been doing the caffeine kick longer than most. For other's tea cakes we have coffee cake.

The 'Mode Ani' or prayer of waking and restoration of body and soul, the 'Netila' or washing of shadows, is followed by the Asher Yasar. Here we give thanks for be awoken; lifted from the dead towards oneness.

For many, reaching for the coffee cup is a ritual still. Yet this connection of its use in ritual as something that washes away shadow and 'con grace del dio' lifts us from a waking death, is one only passingly, unknowingly bidden within us. Used in rituals of exorcism or casting away evil, used for protection, cleansing and opening up to light, this is a powerful healing tool. It reminds us that our rituals and prayers of being and becoming are part of every flow of every day. There is no division between the practical and the spiritual quest. 'All' is halakha if walked with will, heart and connection.

Coffee is now used by some as an enema, said to help cleanse deeply and attributed by many as an aid in fighting cancer. There is of course, as ever, much discourse on these points. However, some evidence suggests such practice may have been used by some in the practice of preparing for Mikvah; the cleansing of every crevice for the sacred, living waters to touch and sooth into living, vital tissue once more.

For those who feel this is a waste of a good cup of coffee, such cleansing, with the open heart and will, can be enjoyed through the mouth that speaks the word with care and honour.

As a child I would never take coffee instant, only when I heard the song of the coffee machine and tasted the first notes of the voice of coffee on the air; smelling its scent, did I want it. Black with hazelnut syrup or bitter and aromatic, scented with fresh mint, iced or frothed into cappuccino or gingerbread latte (just as easily made with soya), there is a coffee for so many an occasion, celebration and healing need. Here are some ideas for coffee from my own kitchen:

Cardamom coffee (best black) ... crush pods and blend with fresh grounds, allow to infuse and settle for at least a day or so. A warming blend and good for nausea and nerves.

Orange or citrine coffee ... finely grated organic peel of oranges or lemons or bergamont blended and left as above. Uplifting, cleansing and 'bright'blend.

Coffee with 'Sephardic' sugar, spice blend. This sugar blend is full of warming, soothing spices said to remind the tongue to speak sweetness and the soul to sing love. The coffee can be latte for black.

Blend fair-trade brown sugar with a wee bit of cinnamon, a pinch of coriander, a dash of intense vanilla extract (fair-trade ndali vanilla is best). This sugar is easily used in baking and on fruits too and has healing effects of its own. Sugar and all spices mentioned, used carefully towards love and to sweeten the spirit. We are very big on the giving of sweets, are we not?

ethical, economical, eco-logical, enjoyable living - Welcome!

2010-03-11T16:47:00.000-08:00

ethical, economical, eco-logical, enjoyable living - Welcome!

This is my new website and project. It is linked to workshops and courses I am running with the added expertise of other multi-disciplinary artists, performers, thinkers and weavers of the future. The website beginning to fill with free information, resources and ideas on how to make ethical, sustainable living more enjoyable and economical and how living more sustainably can save you money and hassle and make life more creative, inspiring and fullfilling. The first courses go into more depth and cover introductions to making gorgeous, safe and effective 'green' cosmetics and household cleaning products, wonderful accessories from 'waste' things. It includes clothes exchanges, information connections and debates on issues of food, travel and transport, wondrous holiday, home and style ideas and what is new in the world of business and policy. I have studied at The Eden Project, Cornwall, The Sustainability Institute, South Africa and worked with Wildlife Trusts, schools, businesses, care homes, theatre companies and environmental organisations. My fellow facilitators are international artists, creatresses, performers, teachers. Come to a workshop, visit the website, add your voice.

An ongoing empowerment project looking at ways to live ethically, creatively, sustainably and enjoyably whatever our life-style and budget.There are links, workshops, information & ideas from multi-disciplinary artists, creators, thinkers, teachers & practitioners of sustainable Enterprise. Learn how to make, exchange & reclaim your choice.

Elements in Ritual and Understanding

2010-03-03T09:33:00.001-08:00

All these elements and aspects I will write about more closely over time. Here are some connections and attributes of different elements and aspects of the 'All' and how they translate into ritual, transformation and daily life:

air

- the word, mightier than all else, the word manifests, choice and voice, prayer, davening, Torah, Tarot, sigils, grimoire all included here. Words have creative and destructive power. Ancient, sacred words carry great power as do words of love and hate, of giving or envy. It is the breath of the All-mighty 'One' that flows in us when we speak.

- dagger of Avraham (links to the Athame)
- sword of Saul (the dark of the sword and air)
- temple incense
- music
- voice / prophesy (also fire)/ Torah

fire (aish)

- burning bush
- staff of moshe (the trunk of tree of life; the spine and channel, used in other magickal and healing paths)
- fires of sodom (the destructive element of fire)
- the sun
- candles
- menorah
- spark of understanding
- judgement
- creativity and destruction

water

- water in the desert,
- singing the crossing
- healing the way of miriam
- miriam's cup (link to chalice, see also the below)
- kiddish cup / cup of life (wine / blood contains all elements)
- seaweed and (dead)sea minerals
- mikvah - immersion in living waters
- moon-tides and the lunar months
- reflection, envisioning, scrying
- mirrors
- compassion
- cleansing and toiviling
- fertility and death

earth

- ultimate manifestation
- us in balance / the great rite
- bread, grapes, olives
- apples / pomegranate / fruit
- gold / metals
- Magen David - equity of all, male and female in balance
- melenzia di kaza y de Korizon (medicine of hearth and heart)
- the 'kosher' cooking pot / dutch oven (links to cauldron)
- anointing oils (these link earth to ether)
- rose of sharon; flowers in general (though these are also of air)
- clay and soil
- sugar, sea-salt, honey, coffee; food

ether - the crown that is not to be worn until all wear it
Shema (links back to earth through all elements)

Purim, raising the cup of life again

2010-02-26T12:45:00.000-08:00

'A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi, planto amicitia per wolves, agnitio vestri pennae, fossor persevero , ad astra per aspera'

The tarot has astrological and alphetical associations. In a sense it is a pictoral exploration of the lunisolar cycles of the year. We are in the phase of the year heralded by the moon. In tarot, the depiction this is a path of intuition and illusion, of liaisons and deceptions and of two paths stretching out, one of illusion, one of truth. It is our choice and voice that decides. Arch Angel Gabriel comes to help; angel messenger of changing tides and times. This is Adar, month of Queen Esther's choice. In order that we examine this more closely a look at the numeric pathway of the tarot through major arcana can provide insights. Let's give it a go!

In the Fool's beginnings (card 0, the birth and beginning card), he is pictured with a precipice before him, a wolf or wolves at his heels. Here he must recognise his wings and make friends with wolves. To the stars he travels with difficulty. His path is one in the embrace of Urania, planet associated with inspiration from 'The All' via the messenger of Arch-Angel Uriel. Here we understand that inspiration too far is madness. We are limited in our understanding for protection yet we must always seek and this is how we find and tread the way of walking. This is how we begin each journey towards illumination. The Fool is creativity and valour and the will to begin and to begin anew. It is also the power and vulnerability of 'not knowing'. This can reflect many characters in our historical story of Pirum. I will say it can be seen as a people under threat. Faith and bravery trusting that there is something ahead in this pivitol point of transition. Today we may see it as our need to change and think creatively in order to take radical steps to become more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable.

Thus, comes the Magician, to guide or to trick the Fool. It was Ketzirah's Blog,'Peeling a Pomegranate', that inspired me to think of Kesilah in this light. The Magician is known by many names and with many faces. He / She will seem to have all elements at their command but if they have not sweetness of soul and kindness of tongue all is nothing but vapour. Yet this illusionist has their place. They test our foundations and, even in their deceptions, remove deeper falsehood and self-deception. The Fool within is asked to laugh at themselves and to dance away from our own delusions. In our responce to the Magician we see more clearly our greater story and our part in things; we see our truth when we dance the dance and laugh our past mistakes away. This is Kesilah, King of illusion.

So enter the Queens, dressed this time as Esther but also as Vashti. This is the power of women, of the feminine energy to transform. High Priestess; intuitress and balancing force to the illusionist, who refuses to debase herself for the pleasure of drunken men and has been spoken ill of for her virtue, and the Empress; the beloved mother and nurturer, saviour. These are kick ass women who deny the will of others when it offers hurt for many or debasement of their worth. This is the feminine power to see beyond the hatred of war-mongering and the ignorance of greed and selfishness and cherish truth. This is love, hard work and sacfice celebrated in a community sustained and well fed because they have found balance. Here stands, in Adar, Pirum delivered joyously by the arms of great women and brave men. Here stands the point of dancing away and through our dellusions and unfirm foundations to find the nurturing ground beneath. Here we drink from the cup of life again.

Anointing and Healing Oils

2010-02-24T15:57:00.000-08:00

As in so many cultures the act of anointing in healing and ritual is used in a big way in Sephardic and other Jewish healing and transformational rites. Myrrh, frankincense and other precious resins were carried with them from Egypt, Olive Oil was expressed by loving hands from nurtured groves in Israel, in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Morocco and other lands.

These were perfumed with sacred mixtures of Frankincense, Myrrh, Casia and Cinnamon and 'Gold', or spikehard, rose of sharon (lilly of the valley) and the soothing mysteries of rose oil from Turkey, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom. These sacred oils spoken of in 'The Song of Songs' and in many other texts and still used today in various ways in oils and incense. There are special preparations said to bring death if prepared wrongly. The below are simpler oils for anointing, healing and cleansing.

Calendula / Marigold / Rosa Sita is known throughout the world as a true healer. It can be known as Miriam's flower, as she was able to use the light of her envisioning to channel the healing of the waters with the grace born of love of her people and love of 'The great Oneness'. It is an antiseptic bloom, anti-inflammitory, anti-fungal and pro-life, uplifting, protective, with the energy akin to sun warmed flowing water. It's name Mari-gold, when we look at the latin, belies its properties as 'sea-gold' or 'mother gold'; an oceanic-alchemy flower, connecting with the primordial energies of sun and sea can be done in the making of these delights.

Creation songs speak of sun becoming water, light made liquid in order to reflect and recognise itself. This is the duality of the One manifesting into creation as male and female energies born to balance eachother.

Olive Oil is associated with abundance and peace. It was used to light the temple lamps and the home, used in anointing, in cleansing, in cooking and healing.

Ocean-Alchemy Oil:
Do this between 4am and 6am or the more sociable 8pm to 10pm. These are the hours of Sun and Moon, the hours of Angel Micheal of right action and the flaming sword and the Angel Gabriel of healing and fertile blessings of waters. Both are messangers of the 'One'.

Part used: calendula petals flower
2-3 oz fresh or dried petals
1 cup olive oil - enough oil to barely cover
Put the dried herb into a ceramic double boiler and cover with olive oil. Lovingly, gently warm the oil and petals for 1 to 2 hours, keeping temperature low. Stir often and sing. Heat until petals feel "crispy" and done. Strain the oil through a clean muslin cloth into a dark class bottle.

Miriam's Vision Oil:

as above but with 2 oz only of calendula and one once of kelp

Always lable your products with a complete list of igredients and date and symbols of the angels and elements.

Mother-Gold, Healing Cream:
2 oz cocoa butter
5 oz oil -use your calendula oil
2 oz rose, lavender or orange flower water
1 tsp grated beeswax or soya wax
2 drops of lavender or rose essential oil
2 drops of myrrh
2 drops olbinam (frankinsence)
Gently melt butter and oil over double boiler or carefully in microwave; use low heat and stir until blended.

Cocoa Butter is a mother butter, used to ease scars and stretch-marks as well as to moisturise and renew everyone. It smells of chocolate and like chocolate of which it is kindred of the branch, it is sacred to many cultures, beginning in Africa. Said to nurture and inspire love.

Lavender is soothing, anti-septic and good for those with fretful spirits and skin, including sensitive and blemished. It helps relax, helps heal wounds and improve scar appearance and is tonic used by many

Rose is queen of flowers, good for sensitive souls and skin, including mature. It is a love oil and lifts the spirits

Myrrh oil was anointing and embalming bitter oil. It preserves and strengthens the nerve, the nails, hair and skin

Olibinum / Frankincense is celebration and anointing oil, it is meditative and medicinal, good again for mature skin

Put flower water into blender or mixer bowl and dance it around.
While flower water is spinning, slowly pour the oily mixture into the flowerwater. Continue mixing until emulsified. The sound will change as the cream congeals.
Remove cream, while still warm, into clean, dark glass containers and leave open until completely cool. Label each jar with contents and date.
Store in a cool, dark place; should stay fresh for a year or so. Sniff before using and look for mold after 6 months. If the oil and water seperate, just stir before using

From Source to Manifestation - Images of Natural Wonder

2010-02-24T15:12:00.000-08:00

Chosen? Moi? Well, sort of, aren't we all?

2010-02-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

There is much controversy and confusion around the notion of Jews being the chosen ones. Ch`osen (Khosen), in Hebrew is more intricate in meaning, as is all Hebrew, being an ancient language. The ancient alphabets aligned each letter with multi-textured meaning and associations. This is true of Celtic Runes, for Aramaic, for Arabic, for all ancient tongues. Khosen means treasured. We are told therefore that we are treasured, but at no point are we told we are superior. Only those who are not mindful expound that particular ego trip. We are told we anointed ones or 'holy' too. This makes me feel uncomfortable! We then see we are not the only ones, that this is a message of the sacred nature of humanity, that we have power to manifest and create and that we are each made in the image of the great source. Thus we are each made with the power to envision, to manifest and to love. 'Holy' links to 'holistic' and 'holism'; to everything as one. We see the connectivity between people, across eco-systems, in cultures, in monetary systems across the globe. Everything is interconnected and interdependent.We are told to shine a light to all nations but a part of that is recognising the light that shines back. This is part of believing in 'One', or the Oneness, The Almighty Source of which we are all made, of which all creation has the breath of, of which we are all children, of which we are all a part. We are sparks of a great fire. We are one eye made of many. Jews are an ancient travelling people, born in Egypt, whose songs and lives and bloodlines have mixed with those of other ancient peoples. The rule of being set apart was to keep those traditions alive; that way of walking. Since the lost tribes however, this has often not been the case. The tides of creation and destruction have let us weave our bloodline and our spirit with other peoples and to return, like the lapping of ocean tides. The leaving, discovery and connections are, at least to me as precious as the returns.

Another thought of being Khosen or Chosen. The subtitles and complexities of Hebrew also suggest this can be translated as 'one who chooses' This is vital to our understanding! This links to free will and to thelema. We are given the map of Halakha or 'way of walking' yet our choice is the compass. Our choice according to our heart and will and sense. The two translations blended into one duality in ancient tongue offer the idea of those who choose to 'be khosen' or precious. Those who choose to walk a path to oneness. Judaism is a tradition and a community of souls that can, in true connection and walking the walk help enable each-other. Our interpretations of the traditions and rituals I would argue has become imbalanced, male-centric and un-whole. It is in other treasured peoples, others who choose, in their many ways to be chosen, and within songs deep in our own souls and shared ancestral roots that we re-discover and give back to the world lights long since hidden and miscomprehended and to blend these lights with those of all.

Uncovering The Moon and Still Hidden Women's Mysteries

2010-02-24T13:37:00.001-08:00

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They are the night-wardens who light the candles at sunset and sing the return of moon's watchful light in the darkest times. The myserty keepers burn cedar, make incense, reaching their roots into earth and opening arms to heaven like branches on the tree of life. They stand within a circle, a sphere, they sing, they dance, they are still, they connect with life-force, they celebrate birth, renewal, they manifest; they envision a future connected to the source and they craft towards its formation knowing, as in davening, that parts of the way forward may be danced in the dark. Looking back many hours have been danced in the dark. They believe in a source, in an Almighty Power; a breath and spark of life. That Power they sense within them and within all life as it was this breath that birthed creation's dance. That Almighty power is female and male, light and shadow. It is all. Theirs is an esoteric path, a path of rituals and wisdom. They are not pagans, though they are kin and their paths entwined at roots and in their growing. They believe in different aspects and manifestions of one divine. Often they call this power HaShem, from 'Shem', meaning the name; the light, the source, the experience. Many believe in different manifestations or aspects of this source in other energies and presences but they are not in essence multi-deity as all have their root in one. They do celebrate the seasons, the wheel of the year. Their calender follows the moon-tides more than any other, each month beginning with celebration at the new of the moon. Each moon-time of each woman marked by ritual. They see source manifest in all creation and they part of this manifestation; this creative process. This is a form of deep magick yet their are forms of magick that are seen as deadly, even worthy of death. Such can be true of many pagan paths in a sense of getting back what you send out, multiplied. They are kindred yet different in interpretation and in the lines drawn in sand and stone that guide them. I will speak about the embraces and refrains of the millennia many times, of empowerment and oppression upon, within and between these ways of walking the tides and becoming closer to the great giving and receiving power.

Once their temple was made of cedarwood, a wood and temple understood to keep away the insects and plagues and snakes, yet the temple was destroyed by hatred. Hatred has moved in tides over their people before but something stronger holds them together. These cycles have been broken, these mother's truths have travelled below ground because people feared and misunderstood. It was always 'thou shalt not suffer a poisoner to live', a line too often misinterpreted as not allowing a witch to live. That is not to say that forms of witchcraft were not forbidden; the forms that poison and destroy life and will. There was always the witchcraft of the ill heart that was feared, that which tries to control another's will, that which seeks to determine another's fate without empowering them to make choices, that which casts darkness and works against source. This magick is rare and is generally reflected back on the caster.

In the dark so many have been for so long, truths scribed in books of shadows share the paths with other branches of the tree. They sing the Song of songs; the song of Solomon and his keys. They sing the song of Miriam who sung apart the seas and gave all her people's woes unto them. They sing their mother songs and their prayers of healing are woven in scent and dance and sound and ancient word.

The best among women practices ancient magick... Jerusalem Talmud, Kiddushin 4, 11.

Are we yet reconcilled to the meaning of that time in the dust, when heat and exhaustion and hunger and loss bred the dwindling of hope and questioning of faith? This is when Moshe, despite and because of all, walked higher to that burning desert sun, climbed up Mount Sunai to be as close to the whispering heavens and to hear and take to his people the word of the Great 'One'. He saw the word in the very lines of the mountain, this too the skin of the divine. Are we reconcilled to the desperation of his brother, hetherto wise Aaron, who, tortured by his beloved people's plight, sought to create the golden calf as a cure all? Are we reconciled to the bravery of the women who saw the calf for what it was, something that could not hear prayers, could not be eatten and would have to be carted around the wilderness? Are we reconcilled to the fact women were honoured for this and other protections, with the duty to be renewed, to lead the celebrations of the new moon that starts each month, to hold the times and tides of the people? Have we forgotten how to trust ourselves? Forgotten that 'idolitary', which the women were seen to refuse in their refusal of the golden calf, sees material gold as more precious than spiritual alchemy; that idolitary recognises fragments and divisions of one uniting force?

The fear of idolitary within the mysteries these women traditionally kept seems ironic considering it was in the aftermath of their refusal to partake of idolitary that they earned the right of renewal and the rites of ritual for the new moon. These women saw one almighty power that was both feminine and masculine, above and within all things. Idolatry was to divide and place any one aspect or element above the 'All'; the 'Great ONE'. These women knew that idolatry could be seen in placing material gold above alchemy of spirit and that the crown was always meant to be shared, all creation manifested through 'Shema' that is pure light, vibration, colour, experience, study, understanding and prayer. This form of healing is akin to Reiki and can be traced to the roots of Judaism and beyond, no doubt to pre-Babel, where Torah tells us all humanity spoke with the same tongue. This, in Aramaic, is 'Quadash Shem', Quadash: holy, hallowed, oneness and separation, infinity and renewal, cleared, fertile space. Shem, the Aramaic version of 'Shema': Pure Light, sound, vibration, experience; the process of manifestation; the voice calling the kingdom to fruition; the act of becoming. This is healing based on making space for the realisation of our shared divinity that is 'The All'. This is energy channelled. This is East Gate stuff. This links with Kabballah and The Zohar.

We forgot the balance of male and female and exiled the feminine. Shema,'for many, got lost in a wilderness of half-truths and was driven below ground. Here kabballah informed and was interwoven with other ancient traditions. The new moon has been feared or embraced by some paths as a gateway into dark rather than a heralding of light coming as is the Jewish way. The tree of life met the Yagsidril. The Psalms, Solomons Seals, the kabballah and tree of life are embraced by many western esoteric paths, many of whom will have influence, like the early Jews, from Egypt from which they were exiled.

Sephardic Calling up the Cures of the Waters

2010-02-24T13:31:00.000-08:00

Waters and the Ocean play a massive part in traditional healing of the Sephardim and in the origin of customs of all Jews. This, one more is akin to many if not all ancient customs and religions to some extent. Pagans speak of sea-witches, mermaids, sirens and I have been called each of these by pagan friends, such is my connection to the waters. I find, however, that the draw I have to daven; to connect with life's cycles through the tides, to cleanse, to heal, to forgive, to pass on from, to let go of, to recharge from, can be seen so strongly in the Sephardim!

I have drawn my symbols in the sand since childhood, I have cleansed tools and self always in ocean waters or ocean-origin gubbins before rituals. I have sung songs to the sea and found that my songs/prayers/spells of the years are in content and often form, that of the 'Prekante' before I knew what it was. These often link back to Mother Miriam giving all ills and harm of her people to the sea and curing all, to the singing the sea for safe passage. Here is a simple version I created in Ladino, then English.

En Ladino, en la lengua de leche del Sephardim:

Con el nombre del Dio, con gracia de Dio de muestros padres Avraam, Issac y Jacob, Moshe, Aaron, David, Salomon y Elijah; el Dio de muestras madres, Tehom, Hava, Sarah, Rachel, Zilah, Leah, Devorah, Asnat, Ester, Yocheved, Miriam. Esto es melezina de muestras madres, las buenas mujeres, las madres di mi madre, las mujeres del pasado, mujeres bendichas, muestras madres, buenas di alma y korason; las bavas, las ermanas y simcha de Miriam, en una lengua de la leche. Yo meto la mano como la senora de Miriam a-nevia que sanava y melezinava y todo el mal, la avla mala y ojo vazio eya quitava y a la fondina de la mar lo echava, l'agua di la mar si vieni a mizurar k'in esti kuerpu nu va tiner dingun mal. Todo il mar lu echu a la mar, la mar es ancha y todu lu puedi reivar, lu puedi reivar y simportar. Kon el nombre del Dio, de muestras madres y muestros padres, con gracia de Dio, el Dio ke de la komplida.

Translation in English:

In the name of the great 'One', with the grace of the divine source of all; G_D of our fathers Abraham, Issac and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon and Elijah; the divine one of our mothers, Tehom, Hava, Sarah, Rachel, Zilah, Leah, Devorah, Asnat, Ester, Jocheved, Miriam. This is the medicine of our mothers, the creatress women, the mothers of my mother, the women who have passed onwards, the blessed women, our mothers, those of warm, good soul and heart; the grandmothers, the sisters and children of Miriam, in a language of milk (mother tongue). I take in my own hand, like the prophetess Miriam who soothed and gave medicine against all ills and harm, all ill words and empty, shadowed eyes and cast these ills to the depths of the sea, the vast sea that cannot be measured and will not suffer ill or harm. The whole, great ocean that will tolerate and endure. In the name of the great divine oneness, of our mothers and our fathers, with the grace of that one divine whole, may that oneness that is God offer completion.

Magick of Mikvah:

In addition the below is something that links to preparation for Mikvah. This means ritual well or living waters. Within these are sacred cleansing rituals linked with life transitions, passages of moon and the women's moon-cycles. Men use the Mikvah too, especially in transition to Rabbi. It must be flowing water from natural source. Impliments for cooking are ritually cleansed too, blessed for use. Jewish communities have Mikvahs in their Shuls but these are often chlorinated, which renders them, in my opinion, no longer 'living waters'. There are specific words for Mikvah and you must be touched in every place by the waters. Natural springs and the ocean are ideal and connect more easily to the cycles of life Mikvah celebrates. A limited interpretation of Mikvah and I would say a twisted one, is that a women cleans herself for her man. It is more true that she is celebrating the chance of new life in all senses when she takes the customary ritual after the dark of her moon and that this and the period before are a time for her own reflection and renewal, her own inner cleansing and taking time away from the demands of men or of home life. It is also of course a break for the men! These rituals are being reclaimed for other life transitions and healing, including after rape, sexual abuse, dealing with beginnings and endings in love and life, in illnesses, etc...

Another one of my word clusters:

I cried so many tears i thought i would make my own mikvah

Mikvah Magick
sage of the mikvah, lady of living waters
since mother miriam sang the seas apart
with G_Ds great breath in her mouth
and Moshe at her side with staff and cup
all in balance in the synphony of life

so I sing with the ocean, to a waves,
I sing to the spring and bubbling brook
i sing with the river's roar and fountain call

Halakha of the Heart - mapping the path with a chorus of voices

2010-02-24T13:27:00.001-08:00

I see Halakha (the way of walking, or 'law' according to Judaism) as a map with our hearts as the compass. We each use our hearts and insights, when two Jews speak of Torah there are three opinions given air. Limited by modern interpretations of 'law', we speak surely of the way of navigating, of walking closer to Oneness? We are given free will and it is my belief thelematic principles and principles of hermetic and alchemical paths can be seen in Halakha; that Halakha is 'The Fools' path in its fellowship form and perhaps its purest form. I also argue this 'way of walking' can be seen echoed in many cultures, displaying its primordial essence. It is not my belief this essence originated in the Jews or any one culture but grew from the first life and first humanity as a way of living in connectivity. Halakha and Torah is a map manifest from early words and understanding, one of mankind's first expressions in grimoire of their connection with all life and the Great Energy; the Great Source, The Name that breathed life into the world and the word.

The many shimmering meanings of each word of Torah, the many nuances, subtlies and complexities of an ancient, shared language, birth different interpretations and the truely observant and liberal Jew alike must surely create space for the individual voice and delight in our diversity of hearts in chorus. There is a living symbiolis between 'the way of walking' and the narrative, mystery, science and philiosphy of Aggadah (the collected works of Rabbis). They grow together from secure roots and connection to a greater light, branches of the great tree of life. The Mishnah and the Talmud have nurtured generations. Yet there were always 12 stones to the breastplate; 12 tribes and two sexes.

There have been voices lost in or sent to the wilderness who have found other directions. Those voices will often have continued singing, paths of wisdom passing down generations and dancing with other peoples and different places as a reminder to look to see light in our neighbours, in other nations and peoples. Perhaps this was part of spreading the light, to recognise it in other, to remember we are all of one creator, to blend our stories with those of others, to build our hearts? Who knows? Celtic tree oracles, the druidic yagsidril, link to the tree of life and its branches. Customs, sayings and superstitions displaying an obvious kinship which I will explore more in word later. The same is true of other ways and other nations. We, as one are whole but not recognising difference as well as connection leaves the world beige and us uncomprehending of our own journey within things that we cannot choose for ourselves.

Our stories and traditions are at risk of being lost through utter submerssion. We may trip in our way of walking if we become either too alinated from our roots or utterly aliented from all else; too concentrated on on one of two branches of the tree. We must always ask ourselves, if we are a chorus, who are the voices less heard? Which are the stories less told?

My voice is that of a woman, that of one who has a mix of blood; whose Sephardic songs have blended with other nations. I follow mystic paths as well as scientific and my davening is done often with scent and dance, with spice and song and candle light and honouring the earth and sky and stars and waters as siblings and mentors and living energies breathed life into by 'The Oneness' as I have been. Many may choose to disregard my voice as part of the chorus for those reasons. This would be their choice, valid no doubt in some ways of seeing. I believe none-the-less, that they would be mistaken because all voices and hearts and eyes are important; because that is who we are and how we survived. The unheard voice goes elsewhere to sing, knowing the creating force of all hears even in the darkest places. This is part of the story of my family and why I am now re-finding the stories, the songs, the traditions of my mother's mothers and fathers. With each discovery I find so much we still do, so much of what I wrote as a child and women, so much of what we choose to eat, so much of 'our way of walking' still echoes the footsteps of the Sephardim. I hope you choose to hear my voice, and connect with and debate my words. I love to argue in that creative conflict instead of destructive conflict way. I am learning and if ever I forget that I have ceased to live.

In a country where Ashkenazim have found the fortitude to have flourished despite all challenge, and where the nurturing mother tongue of Yiddish hold strong, it is vital that other traditions are looked upon as equal and honoured for their differences. Anavah (long-term rescue) makes It is paramount that doors and ears are kept open. With the closure of one gathering place for Sephardim in Manchester, with the seemingly dwindling of ancient healing practices, mysticism, food and folklore, I worry. I see Ladino and I understand it more than book learning would suggest I should. I have to search to find this particular 'Lingua de la Leche' of Jewish people though, and much of the prayers, poetry, stories and healing is written in this melodious, dissapearing tongue; much of the Aggadah. This language that is union of Latin and Hebrew holds much wisdom and varies in each settlement country but is Judo-Spanish. Perhaps it is the case that Sephardic and Yemenite and Mizahri Communities are thriving and flourishing in Britain. Perhaps it is my isolation, geographically and through the tides of time that leads me to see and fear it otherwise. These things I do not know. I know little and talk much, this I do know. I do know too that we can sing as the different rivers over the rocks leading to the sea; with many voices, many waves and undulations, and one ultimate direction, towards the Source. Jews are generally not well thought of in the world at large, their cultures miscomprehended and coloured by aspects of Israel/Palestine issues. Whereas many cultures and old stories and traditions are honoured, those old rituals and stories in the 1000s of years of Jewish tribes are often ridiculed and misunderstood, including between themselves.

If we are humble enough to recognise our shared roots too, with other peoples and tribes, we may see that Shari'ah from the Arabic, also means 'to walk the path' and that our words for peace and light and prayer come from a shared linguistic root and interconnected heritage that speaks of the Almighty power that sings all life into being. Celtic and other world superstitions show some kinship with some of our ways of walking and these may be starting points, not for loss of identity but for connection and truth. I think maybe it is trust in our voices to the point of hearing others without loosing our own that can make the vital difference.

Of those saving, harmonising voices too are those of the mothers, of the mother tongues, of the rituals of healing and balance within the home and community. The issues local and international we face in terms of health, commerse, environmental change and challenge, education, peace-building are given balm of reason and mysetery, science, business, tradition and innovation cannot be growthful and enduring without the connectivity of the femininie, without the voice of all. A fire cannot burn bright with disconnected sparks. The world calls for Hatzalah (short-term rescue) and Anavah. We call for it yet know the answers are written and sing for us to hear if we listen to the 'All'. Women are traditionally the keepers of the tides and cycles of life, those that traditionally light the candles to carry light into those darker hours. We are those who pass the (kiddish) cup (Chalice / Cup of Mari / cup of Miriam), our cup of life, to our men to bless and our children to drink of. We sing the words into being, into form. We bring the herbs, spices, oils and foods that are fit for life, fit for ritual into the home. We dance and sing and cook and cleanse our Halakha.

We give the sweets that sweeten the spirit and the salt that absorbs and cures harm. There is a hidden Aggadah of women, a Talmud of the milk tongues that moves beyond that of the home into the community and the world. Women's choices within the home and within their chosen work is no less than each man's. Likewise the way in which a women works, the chosen carreer when careers are chosen is as part of the path as each man's. A man's role in the home is likewise vital too. The domestic ritals of healing, balance and nurture have the power to extend into the workplace and the world when voices are heard and recognised. I know too well as so many do what it is to live outside balance and to live seeking it with every part of me but away from what nurtures most. The more we hear eachother, the more we are heared. The more we hear, the more we are able to recall and embrace and nurish both our roots and the fragile, vibrant new shoots of the tree; our shared tradition and our new interpretations of it. The less we hear the less we are heared, the more we loose meaning and connection and are cast adrift.

We must also honour the male and female aspects in each one of us and each word of Torah and how these translate into our world and ways of being, for we each have both mother and father within and each the playful Simcha too. There are different calibrations of the role of man and women, different ways of living, loving, nurturing, protecting and being within home and community based on the balance within. This balance of male and female as one, this union within, can be seen in global cultural symbols, not least The Star of David. We each find our routes and ways of walking. Wherever we each, whatever our gender, find our roles in home, community and world we must see as equal and symbiotic the feminine and masculine elements of life and soul within ourselves, others and our traditions and interpretations of the map before us. We must hear all voices. Men are heard more when they hear women, men hear more when they hear eachother. Women have a gift for speaking, I know I do! We must also listen to our sisters, to our menfolk, to our children. We must listen to the word in the wind and waters and in the ground that bears our footsteps and our fruit. We must listen to the light in the words of our elders and our young and to the light and reason in the words of friends, strangers and seeming foe. If we listen well enough, we will hear the word of The Great One in all these voices. I am waiting for your thoughts. I am needing your voices. I am listening.

Why Coca Cola Aint Kosher - Consuming Passions for a 'New' Kashruth

2010-02-24T13:24:00.000-08:00

Ancient civilisations all evolved ways to live and eat sustainably, they had to! Kosher is, in its purest sense, one that could help us tackle issues of sustainability and bio-diversity, of animal welfare and ethical trading. That is if we re-evaluate the map it offers us. We have different global agriculture, trade and cross-cultural understanding than we once did. We once survived in desert regions. My premise here is to look at the guide of kosher in modern context of globalisation. It is amongst a number of blog entries I hope to write on the topic. I hope, over time, to place this in context with different ancient civilisations and modern diets to inspire and re-discover insights that will help make empowering choices.

If what you consumed poisoned ground water and land or involved discrimination of fellow humans would you consider it Ok to it; would you consider it Kosher? Kosher is derived from the Hebrew word "kasher," which means 'proper' or 'pure', 'ritual and life worthy'. The opposite is 'Treif', derived the Hebrew word 'teref', which means 'torn'. We are guided against consumption of torn produce, for example from animals harmed unnecessarily. There are many meanings attatched to 'consuming', pridominantly eating, but in modern society consumption means shopping too. I believe this is relevant to Halakha, for what in life is not? If we extend the notion of kashruth to how we shop in the broader spheres of our influence on food production we must surely embrace ideas of how people and animals and environment are treated along the supply chain with greatest scrutiny. 'Those who have the capacity to eliminate a wrong and do not do so bear the responsibility for its consequences'. (Talmud, Shabbat 54b).

The official 'kashering' of Coca-Cola demanded much tact and endeavour on the part of Rabbi Tobias Gefen, who inflenced the company not to use beef tallow glycerine at all or alcoholic derivatives from grain kernels at passover, in the drink. This lead to certification in 1935. All change and enquiry was ingredient based, not supply chain based, yet how much goes on in the supply chains of commerse? 1966, Moshe Bronstein of Tel Aviv, accused Coca-Cola of boycotting Israel to appease its Arab market. This echoed issues bought to the fore in 1961 when an Egyptian civil servant reportedly mistook Amharic writing on a Coca-Cola bottle for Hebrew, accused Coca-Cola of trading with Israel and was told that would never happen. Of course it did but its vital to look at the roots of something as well as its new branches. We have issues of Israel the people / nation state debate here so let us move to the larger picture before we loose ourselves:

In the last decade Coca-Cola production practices were allegedly accussed of polluting ground water in India with carcenogenic pesticides 30 times over safe levels espoused by the Economic Eurpoean Commission. The corporation was criticised in 2008 for their impact on the local water supply. In 2004 Coca-Cola sold the British Public bottled mineralised tap water under one of their many brands, 'Dasani' and had to remove all products from the shelves. Taking water from places where water is scarce, thus robbing land and mouths must render a food source 'torn'. 'One who destroys a single life is considered to have destroyed an entire world, and one who saves a single life is considered to have saved an entire world' (Talmud, Sanhedrin 4:5). When water sources and other resources are used up or undermind the corporation moves on, taking any jobs and revenue with them. On 10 December 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that Coca-Cola's product Diet Coke Plus was is in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Full sugar Coca-cola is often blamed for tooth decay and obesity. If you subscribe to a translation of 'Kosher' as 'fit for life' or 'fit for ritual' you may start to see a problem here.

More sinister lawsuits and allegations abound. As this is the largest drinks company on the planet and worth a few coins we must take it all with a pinch of salt. International and widespread litigation, however, ranges from obesity and tooth-decay to maltreatment of staff and locals, to pollution and misuse of land and water, to collusion in intimidation, torture and murder in Columbia. It is surely within Halakha to be mindful of these issues and interested in finding truth beyond rumour to know whether we can feel a product fit to consume.

If the business of Coca-Cola and its innumerable incorporated companies is to make money above all else this condemnation hardly sets it apart. The global financial shabang we have been living through hints that perhaps looking solely at profit margins is ultimately unprofitable as well as unethical. Many economists and business leaders are beginning to understand this but we must understand it too and act accordingly. There is rising conciousness in the business world of the sustainable economic sense of looking at social and environmental need too, providing more stable environments in which to trade and more realistic resource management. Part of this evolution of business is bought about by the ethics and choice of the consumer. I believe kashruth principles looking into supply chain management have a great role to play within this. Monopolistic Business to me snacks of putting gold above all else and there is a distant echo of the desperate worship of a golden calf. Philanthropic guestures can nurture the few. The massive drinks company does give a infantasimal fraction of its inconcievable profits into very worthwhile projects. Few of us would say that leaving the corner of the field for the poor makes it OK if all other land is rendered torn and useless. Here we need corporate citizens not corporate muggers. More recently Coca-Cola and other corporations have feet in either court. There are large corporations trying to stabilise themselves to empower local economies and communities by trading with or ethically incorporating small and medium sized businesses and working with stakeholders to try and make things fit. It is a massive undertaking. Corporations taking what they need and moving on, leaving nothing but destruction, social, environmental, economic must be a thing of the past. We are part of every business we buy from and the choices they make.

If we are looking at our 'way of walking' we must surely take into account our carbon footprints and any stomping on human-rights our purchasing choices may involuntarily have. Here we have Anavah" (Long-term rescue), "Hatzalah" (short-term rescue), "You shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor" (Leviticus 19:16) You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). Certification processes thus far have been thorough in the areas they have looked at, yet this has limits and has yet to address many of these issues. It is up to us to seek and desemble too. The paradigm of 'Human Security' exists on the premise that unless everyone is free from extreme want and fear, no one is; that if some live in truly insecure environments then we are none of us secure. Treif lands, trief hearts, trief life. We are not voiceless or powerless. Global voices so far resulted in the corporation Coca-Cola joining the UN Global Compact in 2006 as they begin minutely to engage in discourse and become corporate citizens. There is hope, but they have a very, very, very long way to go.

We are able and arguably called upon to change the world a little with each daily ritual, each purchase of a cup of coffee, each lighting of a candle, each peeling of a pomegranate, each choosing of a gift or shoes, or dress or how we heat and light our homes. We can ask where everthing comes from, who has held in in their hands, whether they were mindful, whether they were treated fairly. We can enquire what materials were used and their origin, what animals or habitats were harmed and how this can change. We may look at where and how we get rid of things past our use. If we throw something 'away', we may ask where 'away' is and what and who lives in 'away'. We must ensure we are not creating Treif Lands but enabling lands that flow with milk and honey for we are told 'It shall come to pass in that day that mountains shall drip sweet wine and the hills shall flow with milk.' (Joel 4:18). To my eyes there are issues of sustainability implicit in the rules of kashruth, including those rules less observed. From the time of Adam we were soverigns and guardians of the garden; a good ruler recognises that his power is no greater than his kingdom and thus greed within the garden looses us paradise. It is an odd kingship, being also a kinship, any sense of belonging expressed in Hebrew often considered more one of pocession but never ownership, ie belong with not to; have stewardship over and being servant to.

Many Jews offer much of ourselves as this is custom, honour and joy. The sacrifice of a calf once meant much of a family's livelihood together with an animal a righteous man will have known the soul of. 'The Righteous man knows the soul of his animal' (Proverbs 12:10). If what we offer G_D and our neighbour echoes this generousity of spirit and humbling of pride in the giving, then we might be cooking kosher again. Until that time, certain brands will not be on my menu until they can sing Anavah in 12 tongues.

Change runs slow for the largest drinks company in the world and it needs our exacting standards prodding it into action on supply chain management as Rabbi Gefen began with content. The same is true of many Corporations. I am not suggesting for one moment I have either knowledge nor authority to dictate the interpretations into minds nor onto tables other than my own. I do, however, want to throw some observations into the pot and see what cooks. We are guided against, not just eating meat and dairy together but also fish and meat. Beyond health benefits this sings to me of not wasting but instead respecting life. We are in this way asked how needful are we of so much protein and telling us to limit how much life we take. Meat and fish, dairy and eggs were not on the menu at all before the great flood and then in enjoyment, respect and moderation. There was a time when most fishing came from sustainable fisheries but now we have to seek and choose. There was a time when we ate what was caught locally and we ate a variety of fish. Now we have limited palate and we cast much fish, dead, back into the water. We ship as much of our caught fish across continents as we ship back to eat! I am happy to say that a friend's father, an Orthodox Rabbi expounds the virtues of kosher dolphin friendly tuna. This makes spiritual and logical sense to me. It means little waste of life. I ask whether eating too much fish and meat together means we run the risk of spiritually 'consuming blood' through the splilling of it unecessarily?

It can be seen as beneficial to separate, not only dairy and meat and meat and fish for the health. I have never been convinced of the absolutes here, of the absolute necessity of separate plates and pots. This is born of a time with little water and no soap. This does not preclude the ritual benefits for many, nor the need for my mother to keep a separate cup that never sees hot milk for her black coffee, because hot milk makes her ill. Perhaps it does make sense and I am just lazy!!! However, for the heart and soul, for healing, sustainability and peace, focusing on one protein or food of animal origin at a time may help. Here we enable renewal and preservation of a balance that was in nature in the time of our forefathers but elludes us today in this time of climatic change, over-fished, rising and acidifying oceans, hormone fed, mass bred cattle and birds and toxic soil. A world where much of our food is grown in arid regions, with fragile and unreliable irrigation systems.

Keeping the ritual and joy of food; keeping kashruth, is surely at least in part about awareness and attention to detail? Should we not be world leaders in fairtrade, in organic and local produce and in more ethical larger enterprises? Attention to detail is not something the Jewish people shy away from. There was a time when observance of kosher was based on trust and interpretation of the heart. If you did not trust a slaughterer you would not eat the meat. Halakha illustrates the intricacies of the effects of our actions and that there is no such thing as non-action but rather unconcious action and conscious action, passive action or empowered action. Many peoples live with these consequences. Many peoples navigate a path to sustainability in different ways of walking. If we know the far reaching implications of how we choose to live, eat and trade the arm of positive, empowered, concious action must surely seek to fit the reach of each choice's consequences.

How can certain corporations be considered kashruth when we become aware now in ways Rabbi Gefen could not possibly have known in the 1930s; of the spheres of action and consequence in globalised commerce? There are arguably 'kosher' certied products, inadvertantly propping up unjust international trade laws, poor practice and unsustainable and even inhumane methods of growing, rearing, harvesting and transporting foods. These cannot be fit for ritual, not 'pure' or ' proper'; not truely kashruth. For example, it is written, In Exodus 22:30, "Do not consume meat from an animal torn in the field." We may ask if battery farming, intensive rearing or hormone fed birds and beasts can be considered Kosher. Surely only organic and free-range animals in the field not the barn fit the word and then in small amounts, if any. We are in danger of bowing to the idolatry of commerse and loosing the very essence of the laws that mark food as a blessing and a joy. I love coffee and chocolate and sweet things and am not suggesting a world where we live off lentils (though I have a wondrous spice lentil soup recipe for anyone who wants it.) My call to Rabbi, cook and executive director alike is simply this, re-examine enterprises in the light of Halakha, examine foods, examine trading practices and farming practice even more deeply, look at what is health-giving, and work out whether you can deem each product as 'pure', 'proper' and ritual fit, or if lives and lands have been torn to bring it to your table. My soul is calling for us each to do what we will and what we are able to keep food, within reason and enjoyment, a sharing, a ritual, a blessing for those beyond our dwelling places as well as those within them. Invite the world to your table!