Jewitchery

In this present day, there are many people who are studying the Kabbalah. However, many of these people study it from books. The problems with this is that books do not tell you how certain words are pronounced. This is an important factor if the words are not in English to begin with.

In the Kabbalah, much of the terminology is in Hebrew. If the words are written in the Latin alphabet, there is a huge probability that the words will be mispronounced. If one tries to use these same words in some sort of ritual or magickal operation, and the words are mispronounced, the results could be disastrous.

Some of the terms that are most often mispronounced are the names of the Divine emanations known as the Sephirot. I will therefore now attempt to teach the proper pronounciation of these terms.

1. Ketter. This should be pronounced "keh-tayr".
2. Chochmah. This should be pronounced as "khokhmah". The "kh" should be pronounced in the same way as the"ch" in the Scottish word "loch" or the German word "ach".
3. Binah. This should be pronounced "bee-nah".
4. Daat. This should be pronounced "dah-aht".
5. Chessed. This should be pronounced "khess-sed.
6. Gevurah. This should be pronounced "g'voo-rah".
7. Tiferet.  This should be pronounced "tee-feh-ret".
8. Netzach. This should be pronounced "neh-tsakh".
9. Hod. This should be pronounced "hoh-d".
10. Yesod. This should be pronounced "y'soh-d".
11. Malchut. This should be pronounced "maul-khoot".

This is about as close as I can get to the correct pronounciations using the Latin alphabet. Hopefully, this information will be of some use to someone.

If anyone's looking for a very Jewitchy Yom Kippur service tomorrow in the Pittsburgh area, please contact me privately for details.

Posted via m.livejournal.com.

Illumination Expo 2011 is a series of events being hosted by local Free Illuminists to celebrate art, music and illumination.


http://lightofthegnosis.org/blog/2…


To begin we are hosting a musical performance by Amodali featuring tracks from her new project Liber Incarnadine. Amodali is traveling from the UK. Previous projects include Six Comm/Mother Destruction. This new project brings together many threads of Amodali’s work and research into the relationships between sonics/language/sexuality and magick.

Event: Amodali – Liber Incarnadine
Date: Wednesday, September 14th
Time: 8 pm to 9 pm
Location: Spring4th Center, Annex Location
Entry Fee: $10 (this event only)

VENUE INFO FOR LIBER INCARNADINE EVENT

The address for Spring4th Center, Annex Location is:

728 Spring Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30308

For more info about Spring4th Center, visit
www.spring4th.com

Illumination Expo 2011 continues on September 23rd and 24th with two days of art, music, presentations and workshops.

Event: Arts, Music and Illumination
Date: Friday and Saturday, September 23rd and 24th.
Time: 6 pm to 1 am on Fri., September 23rd. 3 pm to 1 am on Sat., September 24th
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall
Entry Fee: $15 (for a two day pass)

VENUE INFO FOR ARTS, MUSIC AND ILLUMINATION

The Address for Atlanta Freethought Hall is:

4775 N. Church Lane SE,
Smyrna, GA 30080

For more info about Atlanta Freethought Hall, visit:
www.atlantafreethought.org

TICKET OPTIONS:

There are three ticket options with associated pricing as follows:

1) $20 – the discounted price for an All Events Pass. Includes entry to all events (September 14th, 23rd and 24th).

2) $15 – includes entry to Arts, Music and Illumination only (September 23rd and 24th).

3) $10 – includes entry to Liber Incarnadine only (September 14th).

ARTIST INFO FOR ARTS, MUSIC AND ILLUMINATION EVENT

Art and Photography by:

Tau Roger
Caleb Storms
Darian Parker
Max Grimm
J.M. VonKotterhausen
Tau Osania

Presentations by:

Pixie Bruner
Caleb Storms
T Allen Greenfield
Tau Naamah
Michael Crowley
Howard Pendragon Phillips
Bill Zenn

Spoken Word, Poetry and Selected Readings by:

Max Grimm
Alice Renard
Pixie Bruner
Michael Crowley
T Allen Greenfield
Bill Zenn

Music by:

DJ Light
Sid Reflux
DJ Carma
Andrew Van Baümer


http://lightofthegnosis.org/blog/?…

Oh my G-d, I'm not the only one!!!!!!!

***does a happy dance***

If anyone's in Pittsburgh and looking for a non-traditional Rosh Hashanah service tomorrow, the Pillar of Smoke is having our annual services in Frick Park. They're designed for Jews who don't really relate to modern synagogue services, or who enjoy a more mystical approach to Judaism, and include poetry, songs and a picnic. We ask that you bring some kind of food item and a drum or other instrument if you have one, and also that you wear white with one colorful accessory.

For more information, and to RSVP, check out the event's Facebook page here.

So, a number of slightly related things are floating around in my head right now.

I was watching an episode of Numb3rs, and in it Amita gives this stressed out Indian girl all the tools she needs to make a puja.  Amita asks her what the red string is for, and the girl tells her that afterwards, you tie a bracelet to remember.

So I'm sitting here watching this episode for the second time when I realize that this is actually a handy way of ... "binding" a working.  Sort of, declaring the *ritual* to be complete without saying that the *intent* is over.

THEN, I started thinking about knotwork, and how I've never really done it, even though I've read about it, mostly because I don't know what I'm doing.

And THEN, I was thinking, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool to learn how to tie tzitzit in at least one or two of the cooler ways?  I could do something like that!  And make it into a bracelet!"

And then I was like "… but wait, I'm not sure that's okay, even if I don't say a bracha before I make them and even if I don't make them with the intent for them to be tzitzit…"

And then I realized I could ask you guys.  Y'all are smart and have brains!  So, uh, if I tied strings tzitzit style as a meditative exercise or something, but did NOT make a bracha, did NOT do it with intent for them to be worn on a garment, and did NOT lead anyone to believe they were to be used as such, do you think it's a halachic Problem?

I welcome your thoughts.

If anyone's interested in attending a Purim
party in Pittsburgh with belly dancers, fire spinning and fire eating, among other festivities, full details are at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=341486350434 . (Figured I'd keep this announcement short and sweet this year... Apologies for the cross-posting anyway though.)

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

The Pillar of Smoke will be holding its first-ever Rosh Chodesh (new
moon) ritual, Saturday, July 18 at Four Quarters Farm in Artemas, PA.
Since the Rosh Chodesh ritual will also include Havdalah, we'll be
doing a short Shabbat service the night of the 17th as well. Rosh
Chodesh is normally for women only, but I've written it as co-ed, with
women leading it and men serving food to the ladies at the close of
the ritual. There will also be bathing in the mikveh (a.k.a. creek)
afterward for anyone who likes.

(Yes, I realize this is not the actual date of the new moon, but moon
rituals are always held on weekends at 4Q for obvious reasons.)

For those who may not know, Four Quarters is an interfaith sanctuary
of earth religion, a campground whose members are mainly pagan, but
which is friendly to anyone who can treat the land with respect. I've
been spending time there this year and last, and I have to say it's a
really beautiful place full of amazing people. Please think about
camping there for the weekend if you can... on Saturday before we run
Rosh Chodesh, we can go walking in the woods, swimming in the creek,
walking the labyrinth, swinging on the giant swing, or whatever else
people like. For non-members, I believe camping is $10 a night, but it
might be waived for your first night there. You can ask the office
via the web site (http://www.4qf.org) . The site is roughly
equidistant from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and DC... 2.5 to 3 hours in
each case.

Please feel free to bring anyone you think might enjoy a somewhat
nontraditional Rosh Chodesh ritual; Jews, non-Jews and anyone in
between are all welcome. Please also bring drums or other percussion
instruments if you like. The service will include a ritual sacrifice,
updated for the modern times - rather than sacrificing livestock,
which few modern city-dwellers really find too relevant, we will be
burning money. You don't have to bring a lot - just a dollar or two
will do - but I suggest burning an amount that you will miss, even if
only just a little.
Sacrifice is, after all, about giving up something you value to show
your devotion to the divine. (Some amount of the collected funds can also
be donated to a cause of the participants' choice, since in ancient
times it was traditional
for the priests to consume part of most food offerings.) We could
also really use a Kohen, so if you are one or have access to one (yes,
I know how that sounds), please let me know if you're planning to
come.

If the reaction to the ritual is good - which I anticipate it will be
- I would like to do this again at Four Quarters, and I may also want
to start doing Rosh Chodesh monthly in our ritual space in Frick Park
in Pittsburgh.
(Four Quarters has monthly rituals for both the full moon and new
moon, so this could be the new moon ritual there again). I should have
at least two or three spots in my car if you'd like to come but don't
have transportation.

I hope to see many of you there. (Please let me know if there's any
way I can help you to get there if you'd like to come.)

Jason

P.S. For those who'd like to read the ritual ahead of time, it's
located at http://www.mastros.biz/a23/smoke-f….

The number of mailings for the local churches for this Sunday seem to have multiplied this year.

Does anyone on this list do anything for Easter - even to Mithra, Krishna, Dionysis or another deity who also 'died' and was brought back on the 3rd day? (I like to remind/tell Christians this if they don't know and bring up Easter beyond the bunnies and 'official' spring!)

Sorry to kabitz but beyond sucking down Cadbury eggs, i'm tired of hearing about Easter... morseo than Xmas this year.


Thoughts/Doings appreciated.

If you're in the Chicago area, you're invited to our seder in the western suburbs.  Our seders tend to be fairly liberal, Pagan-friendly but only occasionally explicitly Pagan, and lgbt & ally friendly.  We do a lot with tikkun olum, but mention G-d more than Darfur and are not specifically focused on any particular cause.  It's a night of questions, discussion, and good food for both carnivores and vegetarians.  And it's a lot more fun when we have a crowded table. 

RSVP to gordonr at iit dot edu.