If you can't admit to even the tiniest smidgen of good in your life, how could you ever recognize true abundance or blessings or gifts......

HAVING TO HAVE IN ORDER TO HAVE
A Teaching from Gershon Winkler

There is this strange concept in ancient Jewish wisdom: You cannot fill a vessel that is empty. Only if it’s got something in it, of any quantity. To receive Blessing you need a “Vessel capable of grasping Blessing”, the ancients insisted, for “Less grasps More” (Midrash Bereisheet Rabbah 5:7). This seems puzzling on the surface of it because why else would I be in need of Blessing if I weren’t running on empty? It is precisely because I am lacking that I am in need. So if I am empty, please fill me up!

Hello!!

Let me tell you a story. About 2800 years ago, there was a great Jewish prophet named Elisha. He was the foremost disciple of the prophet Elijah (Eliyahu), and he was a seasoned miracle-worker, a real true-blue shaman. One day a guy comes to share some bread with him,and Elisha instructs his aide to share the bread with everyone. The aide looks around at the several hundred people gathered around the prophet and says, “No way. There are only like twenty loaves here.” And Elisha again insists that he share the bread with everyone. So the aide goes around, and lo and behold the loaves of bread multiply and keep multiplying until everyone in the crowd has been fed (Second Kings, 4:42-44). So he was that kind of guy. Well, one day, a widow who had fallen on very hard times came to Elisha to seek his help. She had lost everything, was very poor, and in deep debt, to the point that shewas going to have to offer her sons as indentured servants unless some miracle occurred soon. Elisha then asked her “What do you have in your home?” She says, “I have nothing in my home other than a teeny-tiny drop of oil.” Says Elisha, “Go to your neighbors and borrow from them as many empty vessels as you can. Then go home, shut the door behind you, and pour that teeny-tiny drop of oil into all the vessels.” The woman went to her neighbors and with the help of her sons schlepped dozens of empty vessels to her home, then went inside, shut the door behind her, and began filling all of them with oil as her teeny-tiny drop of oil miraculously swelled into gallons and gallons until she ran out of vessels. Elisha then instructed her to sell the oil, which she did, and soon she recouped financially and lived happily ever after (Second Kings, 4:1-7).

The Zohar teaches us the following about Blessing, that Blessing is drawn to us from Above by what we already possess if we cherish the gift of what we already have. When we cherish what we do have, no matter how little of it we possess, the appreciation itself is potent enough to draw further blessing from the Root of all Blessing. This is why, when that poverty-stricken woman came to the prophet Elisha seeking his help, he didn’t ask her what it was that she lacked. Rather, he asked her what it was that she already had, that she didn’t lack, that she cherished already having. Her reply sounded pathetic: “I have nothing in the house. Well, I do have a smidgen of oil” – which the Zohar elaborates on, “Meaning, just enough to spread across the tip of her finger”. Elisha’s reply, the Zohar elaborates, was: “Oh! You have consoled me. I was worried you might feel like you have nothing at all. But what you acknowledge that you do have is more than enough to draw Blessing from Above”(Zohar, Vol. 1, folio 88a).

In other words, you took the time and effort to look beyond the obvious scenario of your situation to uncover the hidden, the blessings in your life that were overlooked, overshadowed by your problems.The woman could have said, “I have nothing whatsoever.” Because what is a smidgen of oil? But since she demonstrated her awareness of even so little being precious enough to consider as a blessing of some degree – it sufficed to draw down further blessings of further degrees, enough to fill all of the pots and pans that she had borrowed from her neighbors. Great teaching. In order to invite more of what you need, you must first come to grips with what you already have, and acknowledge the gift of it, even if it’s just the shirt off your back, or your health, or enough of your health to move around, and so on – even if you have absolutely nothing at all but peace, it’s a good start, “for there is no greater vessel capable of grasping Blessing than Peace” (Midrash Bamid’bar Rabbah 21:1).

It’s like the Kabbalistic take on Creation, that the fledgling primeval universe was completely empty, and therefore when the Light of Creation entered it, it exploded, it shattered, because it was not a “Vessel capable of grasping Blessing” – having nothing within it. Shattered, it became filled with the sparks of the Light of Creation that it failed to contain, and thus, by becoming filled with something,even the debris of the implosion, it became a vessel capable of receiving the subsequent unfolding of existence as we came to know it. Blessing is primarily drawn not by virtue of what is obvious to us that we have, but to what is not obvious to us that we have (Talmud, Baba Kama 42a).

What is conspicuous to us, is in that moment measured, large, small, worth five dollars, worth three dollars, worth a buck fifty, great, not so great, etc. On the other hand, taught the 16th-centuryRabbi Yehudah Loew of Prague, what we have that is not right off obvious to us is in the realm of the immeasurable and draws Blessing because Blessing is immeasurable as it emanates from the realm of the Infinite as opposed to the Finite, “For the eye casts boundaries and limitations, whereas Blessings are without either” ( _Maharal in ChidusheiAggadot_, Vol. 3, folio 21).

This is an exercise that requires us to look deep inside our life situations, to seek out what gifts we have been in possession of all along but have been oblivious to all this time. This takes effort, this takes introspection. “The Blessing Flow from Above comesto us in strengths and quantities commensurate with our desires and efforts to draw it Below.

This is akin to breast milk, abundant and ready to flow forth, but dependent upon how determined the infant is in suckling” (Kitzur Sefer Yo’nat Ilem, No. 122). The widow in the story of Elisha did not stop at declaring that she had nothing in the house. She stayed with the question, examined deeply her situation to see if there was anything of any value in the house, and remembered that there was a teeny-tiny drop of something worth being thankful for.

The Hebraic New Year 5771 is almost upon us, sneaking up on us earlier than usual this year. What an auspicious time to examine Blessing in our lives. Often we become frustrated and skeptical around this time that promises renewal in the year to come. And then the new year comes, and it’s same-old, same-old. Perhaps that is because we expended so much energy and intention praying for a better year than we had without really examining the good stuff that came to us during the past year, the Blessings. Instead, we skimp right over all the wonderful things that happened and pray for something better. This Rosh Hashanah, it would be refreshing for a change to spend a little time being thankful for whatever went right this past year and only then praying for a good year ahead. By so doing, we will create in our lives “A Vessel Capable of Grasping Blessing.”Like the ancient rabbis taught: Before you ask God for what you lack, thank God for what you have (Midrash Devarim Rabbah 2:1).

A Pair of Mysteries

First:

Tuesday night, during my Full Moon work, I asked that I be told where I should place my "Thank You" offerings at the next (Harvest) Full Moon. That night I had a very clear and vivid dream, and I am pretty sure that the answer is here, if I could only tease it out.

I was sitting in a restaurant, at a long table. Crowded together at
the head of the table were my two daughters, my (deceased)Grandmother and myself. I remember feeling quite impatient and hungry in the dream. Finally, the waitress (who, in "real" life owns the restaurant) brought to the table a single, hard boiled egg. My Grandmother took it and placed it in front of herself, halved it, but didn't eat it. My younger daughter, knowing I was hungry picked it up to pass it to me, but my Grandmother took it from her and said, "It isn't for you" and put it down again at her place.

Eggs, and hard boiled eggs have many symbolic meanings. To most, the clearest meaning of the egg (at least the non-hard boiled variety) is that of fertility. To Jews, and those of Jewish background and learning, it is also a symbol of the sacrifice given at the Temple in Jerusalem. By extension, the hard boiled egg is generalized to be a symbol of sacrifice and also of mourning, because the Temple is no more.

So what is my Grandmother trying to tell me?


Second:

How is it that this blog gains readers when I don't post? I'm not complaining, mind you, but it does surprise.

Shielding-An Experiment

It is Renaissance Faire season, and my "home" faire has opened. This means that there is a more or less public place that I shall be at, where I am not habitually shielded. I pretty much go "shields up" every time I leave my home, dropping them only when I have arrived at what feels to me is a safe place. Public spots rarely qualify. My home faire is one of those places, and I've been known to say that my faire day doesn't really start until I've been served my first hard cider and a small child has seen me and said "Look, a witch!"

This past spring, I attended two other faires and had a chance to run a small experiment. At the first one, I dressed identically to the way I've dressed at my home faire. But this one, held on an open college campus, did not say "safe" to me, and so protections stayed in place. I spoke with people, including children. Not one looked at me twice, I was a tourist faire attendee, just as they were, watching the chess match and debating the wisdom of eating a turkey leg.

The second non-home faire was held in a park, although in a somewhat enclosed area. Many of the attendees were familiar to me. I was not wearing my usual attire. I wore bright blue, with a circlet of gold flowers in my hair. But the place felt safe, so the layers of protection came down. And a little girl pointed at me and said "Mommy, a witch!"

I am glad that I do not scare these children when they really see me. But except for those rare and special places, the shields will stay in place.

Space

The tree circle is nearly 4 years old. I find that odd to think about, because I know that there were other things in that yard before then. There was a swing set, and it was fenced, so the dog could run and the kids could play safely. The dog, the swing set and even most of the fence are gone, but the idea, the sense of safety, of sanctuary is still very much part of the personality of the space.

We started the planning of the circle not long after DH started his adult (as opposed to his teenage) studies and foray into Western Ceremonial Magic. Up until that point, I used our bedroom for my altar and working space (with the exception of anything that require large fires, actual outdoor doings, etc). But after DH had started working there, it took longer and longer for me to step into the proper psychic space. It bothered him greatly that he "threw me out" of space that I had been using, but I've come to the conclusion that it was more a case of pointing out the deficiencies of the space for what I had been using it for. I still have altars in the room, and I still use it for some ritualwork, but all of my more organic ritual and magic have moved outdoors.

We live in one of those suburbs "overrun" with deer. While we had our wolfhound, they never came in the yard. But I suppose the last generation of deer to "remember" the dog that was bigger than they were is now gone, and the last few years has seen more deer damage on our property. This year, with the seemingly wanton destruction in my tomato garden and apple tree, I declared war on the deer. (This war has not been without a few good points-the wonderful scene of DH, hair unbound, wearing nothing more than a pair of gym shorts and brandishing his Renn Faire Wizard prop staff while chasing a buck out of the yard is a picture I happily call to mind on a regular basis.)

We chase them. We yell at them. Most effective have been the rags, soaked in neem seed oil and tied to the garden fences and (soon) to the tree branches. The deer now know (at least this season) that we are not welcoming them. And yet...

I came home midday from a session with a client on Friday to see a pair of very small, spotted fauns reclining in the middle of the circle. They were clearly visible to the street and the neighbors dogs, and yet they looked perfectly relaxed and comfortable. Mama was nowhere to be seen, but it was clear that she had put them there and told them to "stay." There was no sense of fear from them as I walked towards them.

A safe place. Sanctuary.

Point lost

I think the point was lost in the (admitted) pathos of the previous post. My experiences were not unusual, but unless you have lived in non-Christian communities in this country, you would probably not be aware of such happenings. And, by non-Christian, I am not referring to the "we are Pagan, but we have a Christmas tree, only, you know, we call it a Yule tree, community." I am speaking of the Jewish communities, the Bahai, the Hindu, the Muslim, perhaps the Buddhist (I currently have no experience with intact, distinct Pagan communities in the mode of the others I've refered to, so I am not including them here.)

The problem with the concept of evangelism is that it is seen from the side of the "giver." "Ooh, look what I have to share!" There is no space available in the concept to ask whether the recipient is a willing one. And, no matter how enlightened, how "unpushy" some people may be in their beliefs, the history of humanity has shown that eventually, it becomes not "look what I have to share" but "you will take it, whether you want to, or not."

I made mention in one of my comments on another blog about the different versions of the Golden Rule. There are two (in English, at any rate) that I am aware of. The more common one: Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You. (attributed to Jesus, via Matthew)
and: Do Not Do Unto Others As You Would Not Have Them Do Unto You (attributed to Hillel)


So now I am curious. How many people are there who disagree with me and are neither Christian, nor of Christian background or heritage?

Framework, or some of where I am coming from

Imagine this.

A ten year old girl, going to sleep away camp for the first time. Being adventurous, the camp chosen is far out in the rural countryside, a world away from the city and suburbs that the girl knows. Before arriving at the camp, she knows no one else there. Adjustment is not easy, but since most of the girls at the camp come from the same area, she finds a friend or two. One day, the campers go on a field trip, to the local County fair. This being a bygone and far more innocent age, the campers did not have to walk through the fair in long strings, holding hands and counting off. Everyone wore shirts identifying them as from the camp, and as long as everyone showed up at the appointed place and time for attendance checks, the girls were free to wander.

Our girl visited the chickens and admired the 4-H rabbits, and then walked through the area with the craft and souvenir tables. Passing one table, a woman called out "Camp girl, do you know Jesus?" (yes, she actually called out "camp girl." damn t-shirt.) Politely, the girl answered "No, I'm Jewish." At which point, the woman came out from behind the table, along with 3 other people (2 other women, 1 man) and surrounded the girl. There was talk of Jesus dying for someones sins, even though she and her people killed him. There was talk of hellfire. There was no sense of personal space for the girl, nor any space between the sentences for her to speak, even if she had any idea of how to respond to this.

This is not the behavior of people sharing good news. This is the behavior of predators.

Finally, one of the camp counselors appeared, as the girl had missed one of the check-ins. At the sight of an approaching adult in a camp t-shirt, the girls hands were shoved full with pamphlets, "your mother will want them" she was told, and the 4 people went back behind their table. Needless to say, the counselor wanted to know what was going on, and as the girl and the counselor rejoined the rest of the people from the camp, the girl told the story. There was a bit of shrugging, but as the girl didn't get in trouble for missing check in, she was relieved.

During the car ride back to the camp, the driver (a local employee of the camp) stopped short and suddenly at an intersection. She then started joking about all the near accidents she has had over the years while driving campers and how even the "little Jewish girls" would start saying their rosaries. How she always had a extra one with her, "just in case one of them wanted one." She seemed to be completely convinced that she was being amusing.

This was not the behavior of a "born again fundie" but it was the behavior of someone whose religion and belief hold complete disdain (at best) for someone who does not believe as they do.

After Jason posted his Father Matthew video, http://strategicsorcery.blogspot.com/2010/07/blog-post.html
he professed surprise at the reactions he got to the post. While I can't speak for anyone else, my reaction, first and foremost was to this line: "Certainly among non-Christians, there is nothing that makes them less comfortable than the idea of Evangelism. The fact is though that it is a duty of Christians to evangelize."

Uncomfortable? Now why would you think that might be?

The video is not actually about evanglizing or reaching out to non-Christians, but rather counteracting, amongst Christians the onslaught of the fundamentalist movement. To which all I can say is: fine, clean your own house, and then we will talk about my discomfort.

Oh-and the reaction of the mother of the girl to this story and the pamphlets? Do you know the phrase "Hell has no fury...?"

Deb, at Charmed, I'm Sure

I don't know how many of the readers of this blog don't read Deb's blog : http://dropoutdilettante.blogspot.com/

but she has the lead essay at Witchvox this week. If you aren't a past reader of her blog it is an essay worth reading.

http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usnj&c=words&id=14051