Translation Notes:

This translation is intentionally framed for use in Psalmic Magiq.

I offer Psalm 39, historically used to protect against the evil designs of a king, in the shadow of the President of the United States threatening to wipe a civilization off the face of the earth — in the middle of Pesach. May evil be bound. May no more harm be done. May we walk in the ways of Being and Becoming.

April 7, 2026
20th Nisan 5786

Following a practice I learned from Rav Kohenet Taya Mâ, Divine pronounces are Zhe/Zheir. Following a practice I learned from Rav Kohenet Jill Hammer, and that has been adopted in the Tehomic tradition I work in along with Kohenet Angelique(YA), the Divine is named as “Being and Becoming.”

TL;DR

This song is Psalm 39 in a nutshell!! If you want another way into the meaning, put your earbuds in, turn this up, and sing loudly.

Psalm 39

לַמְנַצֵּחַ לִידוּתוּן מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד
La-m’natzei-ach li-Yedutun, mizmor l’David

For the One Who Overcomes; for Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

NOTE: מְנַצֵּחַ (m’natzei-ach) — root נצח: to lead, to conduct, and to overcome, to prevail, to endure. In the working, both meanings are active simultaneously.

אָמַרְתִּי אֶשְׁמְרָה דְרָכַי מֵחֲטוֹא בִלְשׁוֹנִי אֶשְׁמְרָה לְפִי מַחְסוֹם בְּעֹד רָשָׁע לְנֶגְדִּי

Amarti eshm’rah d’rachai mei-chato vi-lshoni, eshm’rah l’fi machsom, b’od rasha l’negdi.

I resolved: I will watch every step so my tongue does not betray me — I will bind my mouth shut while the evil one is watching.

NOTE: רָשָׁע (rasha) — the evil one, singular and present. מַחְסוֹם (machsom) — an actual muzzle. “Betray” is deliberate: to offend, and to give away. This is tactical silence — the practitioner controls what the king can use.

נֶאֱלַמְתִּי דוּמִיָּה הֶחֱשֵׁיתִי מִטּוֹב וּכְאֵבִי נֶעְכָּר

Ne’elamti dumiyah, hechesheiti mi-tov, u-ch’eivi ne’echar.

I was bound into silence; held mute even from good words — and my pain festered.

NOTE: נֶאֱלַמְתִּי (nifal): imposed, not chosen. Bound from outside — not the deliberate muzzle of verse 1, but silence done to the speaker. נֶעְכָּר — muddied, troubled, roiled from the root עכר (same as Elijah’s accusation of Ahab).

חַם לִבִּי בְּקִרְבִּי בַּהֲגִיגִי תִבְעַר אֵשׁ דִּבַּרְתִּי בִּלְשׁוֹנִי

Cham libi b’kirbi, ba-hagigi tiv’ar eish, dibarti bi-lshoni.

My heart burned within me; in my brooding, fire blazed — and I spoke.

NOTE: בַּהֲגִיגִי (bahagigi)— “in my meditation / brooding / murmuring.” The interior fire is Chashmal: primal energy connecting all things, which the practitioner shapes rather than passively receives. The silence held the pressure until the deep could no longer be contained. This is not loss of control.

הוֹדִיעֵנִי יְהֹוָה קִצִּי וּמִדַּת יָמַי מַה הִיא אֵדְעָה מֶה חָדֵל אָנִי

Hodi-eini YHVH kitzi, u-midat yamai mah-hi, eid’ah meh chadel ani.

Make it known to me, Being and Becoming — what my limit is, the measure of my days — that I may know what I lack.

NOTE: חָדֵל (chadel) — ceasing, bounded, the kind of thing that ends; also: lacking, deficient. The practitioner is not lamenting finitude — they are orienting to it. To know what you lack is to know where the working must go. This is the beginning of shaping, not the end of hope.

הִנֵּה טְפָחוֹת נָתַתָּה יָמַי וְחֶלְדִּי כְאַיִן נֶגְדֶּךָ אַךְ כָּל הֶבֶל כָּל אָדָם נִצָּב סֶלָה

Hinei t’fachot natata yamai, v’cheldi ch’ayin neg-decha, ach kol hevel kol adam nitzav. Selah.

Look — a human life is short. What I am in this world is nothing before You.
All is breath. All who stand. Selah

NOTE: הִנֵּה (hinei)— behold. Note the shadow of Hinei Mah Tov (Psalm 133): “behold how good to dwell together.” Same opening word, opposite universe — community and permanence against isolation and brevity. Both are true. כָּל כָּל — the doubled “all” is a drumbeat. Everyone standing: the practitioner, the people under threat, the king who threatens. All return to tehom. The deep receives everything equally. The shmita covenant names this: what is hoarded must be released. The release is not a choice. It is a law of Being itself.

אַךְ בְּצֶלֶם יִתְהַלֶּךְ אִישׁ אַךְ הֶבֶל יֶהֱמָיוּן יִצְבֹּר וְלֹא יֵדַע מִי יֹאסְפָם

Ach b’tzelem yit’halech ish, ach hevel yehemayun, yitzbor v’lo yeda mi-yos’fam.

Surely we each walk as the image of Being and Becoming — and as its shadow; surely in mere breath we roar — piling up what will pass to hands they’ll never know.

NOTE: בְּצֶלֶם (b’tzelem) — the word of Genesis 1:26-27: “in Our image.” Also shadow, phantom. Both meanings are true at once and cannot be separated. We walk as expressions of Being and Becoming itself — and as its passing shadow. The king who designs evil is equally image-and-shade. What he piles up will pass to hands he’ll never know. The deep shaped him and will unshape him. This is not a threat. It is a description of how things are.

וְעַתָּה מַה קִּוִּיתִי אֲדֹנָי תּוֹחַלְתִּי לְךָ הִיא

V’atah mah kiviti, Adonai? Tochalti l’cha hi.

And now — what support am I waiting on? My hope is rooted in Being and Becoming.

NOTE: אֲדֹנָי (adonai)— not petitioned here as a sovereign above, but named as ground: the bedrock from which hope grows. In Tehomic Magiq we partner with Being and Becoming — we do not pray at it from below. The hope is not a request waiting to be granted. It is already rooted in what cannot be destroyed.

מִכׇּל פְּשָׁעַי הַצִּילֵנִי חֶרְפַּת נָבָל אַל תְּשִׂימֵנִי

Mi-kol p’sha-ai hatzileini, cherpat naval al t’simeini.

Rescue me from any transgression that would make me useful to the vile — do not let me become their trophy, their proof, their instrument, the evidence their agenda requires.

NOTE: נָבָל — the vile: one whose existence is a desecration, root נְבָלָה — outrage, carcass, the thing that should not be. חֶרְפַּת — not fear of shame. Refusal to be used. The vile king needs people to break and display as monuments to his power. This line is a severing: I will not serve that function. My transgressions will not become his leverage.

נֶאֱלַמְתִּי לֹא אֶפְתַּח פִּי כִּי אַתָּה עָשִׂיתָ

Ne’elamti, lo eftach pi, ki atah asita.

I was bound to silence; I did not open my mouth — the plan is not mine. it is you who moves, not him.

NOTE: Lowercase is deliberate. “you” is partner-address: Being and Becoming is worked with, not prayed at. The ambiguity also holds toward the king — you think you are the agent of this. You are not. The practitioner knows whose hand truly moves in the tehom. The king does not. That asymmetry is the working.

הָסֵר מֵעָלַי נִגְעֶךָ מִתִּגְרַת יָדְךָ אֲנִי כָלִֽיתִי

Haser mei-alai nig-echa, mi-tigrat yadcha ani chaliti.

Lift this silence off us — the silence that presses and crushes. We have waited for your hand long enough. We are being consumed by the waiting.

NOTE: The plague named here is passivity — the un-shaped tehom, potential that has not become action. Silence as passivity, hope deferred, waiting for Being and Becoming to act for us rather than through us. Lifting the silence is not a request: it is the working itself beginning. מֵעָלַי — “from upon”: עַל is weight, pressure from above. The silence presses down. Lowercase “your” — partner, not sovereign. We are co-shapers of creation.

בְּתוֹכָחוֹת עַל עָוֺן יִסַּרְתָּ אִישׁ וַתֶּמֶס כָּעָשׁ חֲמוּדוֹ אַךְ הֶבֶל כׇּל אָדָם סֶלָה

B’tochachot al avon yisarta ish, va-temes ka’ash chamudo, ach hevel kol adam. Selah.

Hear this rebuke

carried by the force that disciplines all things — what you have hoarded will be consumed, silent as moth through cloth. Every human is breath. Selah

NOTE: It is a description of the deep order woven into Being itself. Transgression calls forth its own undoing. כָּעָשׁ — moth. Silent. Patient. The king makes noise; the tehom is quiet and has its way regardless. The moth does not hurry.

שִׁמְעָה תְפִלָּתִי יְהֹוָה וְשַׁוְעָתִי הַאֲזִינָה אֶל דִּמְעָתִי אַל תֶּחֱרַשׁ כִּי גֵר אָנֹכִי עִמָּךְ תּוֹשָׁב כְּכׇל אֲבוֹתָי

Shim’ah t’filati YHVH, v’shav-ati ha’azinah, el dim-ati al techeras, ki ger anochi imach, toshav k’chol avotai.

Hear my prayer, Being and Becoming; give ear to my cry; do not be deaf to my tears — for I am a sojourner with You, a resident-alien, as all my ancestors were.

NOTE: גֵּר / תּוֹשָׁב — the formal compound for one who lives among but does not fully belong: protected but without full standing. The practitioner claims this not as shame but as the condition of all who work in the tehom. We are eternal wanderers — wherever we can see the stars is home. The ancestors were sojourners. We are sojourners. Even in the presence of Being and Becoming, we belong to no fixed place. The king cannot revoke what was never his to grant. Our belonging is rooted in the deep itself.

הָשַׁע מִמֶּנִּי וְאַבְלִיגָה בְּטֶרֶם אֵלֵךְ וְאֵינֶנִּי

Hasha mei-meni v’avligah, b’terem eilech v’eineni.

Avert the evil eye; let it pass over us — before we go, and are no more.

NOTE: הָשַׁע — rare verb: to look away, to avert the eye. The evil eye is the king’s gaze as destructive force — the eye of power that destroys what it fixes on. The practitioner breaks the line of sight: deflect it through the deep, let it find nothing. וְאַבְלִיגָה — to recover, to brighten, to gain relief. “Pass over”: the destroying force moving past without finding its target. This is Passover. This is tonight.

Leave a comment

May we find our voices and be moved to action.
Do not be complicit in evil done in your name, whether that be against Iran, Palestine, or America.
We are the hands, eyes, and bodies of Being and Becoming.
May we find our way through this Narrow Place and bring the mixed multitudes with us.

Be safe. Be active. Do not be silent. Do not comply.
If not now, when? *
If not us, who?

May this gilded emperor’s reign be short.
May it end swiftly in our days.
May it bring as little harm to us all as possible.
May we finally learn from the past, to live in the present for the sake of a better future.

AI Disclosure

This translation was developed with the help of a custom trained agent utilizing Claude (Anthropic’s AI) for assistance in research and translation.

The process works as follows:

1. I bring the theological and spiritual framework, the working context, and the interpretive questions.

2. Claude offers philological analysis, surveys possible readings, and drafts translation options.

3. I then verify word definitions and root meanings independently using Sefaria, often checking nearly every word, before making final decisions about which readings serve the text and the intention.

All interpretive choices — including the diasporist approach, the gender-neutral divine language, and the theological framing — are mine.

AI assists with the philological labor. The intent, discernment, and choices are 100% human.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

This particular translation involved bringing the Tehomic Magiq framework created with , and working context to the psalm, along with the theological conventions developed in the Psalm 48 working. The process included: working through the psalm's two silences — the practitioner's chosen muzzle in verse 1 vs. the imposed binding of verse 2 (human discovery of the nifal distinction in נֶאֱלַמְתִּי); excavating נָבָל beyond "boor" to its root in נְבָלָה — outrage, carcass, the thing that should not be — and reframing חֶרְפַּת as refusal to be used rather than fear of shame; discovering the evil eye reading of הָשַׁע and its Passover resonance; unpacking the dual בְּצֶלֶם reading (image and shadow simultaneously, tied to b'tzelem Elohim of Genesis 1:26-27); working through the diasporist ger-toshav reading of verse 12; reframing אֲדֹנָי as ground and support rather than hierarchical lord; naming the plague of verse 10 as paralysis rather than divine punishment; and grounding the working throughout in Tehomic Magiq principles accessed through the practitioner's own documentation. Multiple full iterations of the interlinear before the final document.

Created by Ketzirah ha’Ma’agelet

Translation Notes:

This rendering is intentionally diasporist — holiness located in community and wakefulness rather than geography. The key verse is 9, where דִּמִינוּ (dimminu) is read in its past tense: we could only picture the chesed from outside. The psalm enacts the crossing it describes, from imagining to seeing, from longing to presence. I created it for a specific working and found it had power worth sharing beyond that specific use case.

Following a practice I learned from Rav Kohenet Taya Mâ, Divine pronounces are Zhe/Zheir. Following a practice I learned from Rav Kohenet Jill Hammer, and that has been adopted in the Tehomic tradition I work in along with , the Divine is named as “Being and Becoming.”

The image is from the specific working it was cræfted for and used as a part of.

—

שִעׁיר מִזְמוֹר לִבנֵי־קֹרַחׄו

A song, a psalm — from the children of Korach

גָּדֵול יה וּמְהֻלָּל מְאֹד בְּעִיר אֱלֹהֵינוּ הַר־קֹדשׁׄו

1. Great is Being and Becoming, immeasurably praised —
   in the community of our G!d/dess, on Zheir holy mountain.

NOTE: עִיר — standard rendering is “city,” but the root carries the meaning of wakefulness, watchfulness, community of the vigilant. In Aramaic the cognate עִירִין refers to the Watchers, the angelic wakeful ones mentioned in the book of Daniel. “Community” is chosen here for the diasporist reading: holiness located in people, not geography.

Read more

Rabbi Isaac Vorecki once woke up in the middle of the night with an urge for a pinch of snuff. He reached across his bedside table for the box, which was just beyond his grasp. “Should I get out of bed and get it?” he thought to himself. He began to debate the matter in his mind: “If I don’t get out of bed when I need something, I’ll become lazy! But if I take a pinch of snuff then I’ll be giving in to my cravings!” So the Rabbi made the following vow: “I will get up and get the box, but I will resist my impulse to take a pinch!” (Chassidic Tale via Yalkut Sippurim)

Read more

Bless Shekhinah, my soul.
Shekhinah, my Goddess, you are very great.
Clothed in majesty and glory; wrapped in a robe of light,
You stretch the heavens like a bolt of cloth.

The waters are your rails; the clouds your chariot.
You walk with breath as your wings.
You make messengers of life-breaths
And your servants to burn with fire.

You set the earth o…

Read more

This project has been five years in the making, directly. And far more than that indirectly. I began exploring the practice in 2009, after receiving teachings about them as part of my training at the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute (z”l).

Around 2018, I went on a deep dive and wondered — where are all the books that focus on the practice?

I found ONE.

…

Read more

It is the month of Kislev, which is associated very much with dreams. And like many right now — my dreams aren't great. I don't usually remember too much of my dreams, dream practice isn't a big part of my craftwork, but sometimes there's a moment that you have to explore in the waking world. And I had one of those recently.

I don't remember anything about this dream, except that on the cusp of waking up someone told me that I needed to learn the magic of the dung beetle.

Jacob got dreams of angels going up and down a ladder. But I get dung beetles.

Sure, why not?

But then I took some time to learn about the dung beetle, and I discovered they may be the perfect animal ally (or metaphor if you prefer) for the challenges that are facing us.

The first thing I learned is that while there are many types of dung beetles species all of them are split into three kinds of actions. So despite their background, or appearance, there's three ways they seem to exist: they live in the shit, they roll up the shit on the surface and get it out of the way and transform it, or they tunnel under it to create new pathways.

In these challenging times, we are called to be more than survivors. We can be architects of hope, turning what seems like collective despair into seeds of liberation. If dung beetles can navigate by starlight, creating pathways through seemingly impossible terrain, we too will find our ways. This is not just about "resistance" or even existence, but about reimagining possibility.

Just as dung beetles turn waste into life-giving resources, we can refuse to be defeated by oppressive systems and remember that we can alchemize hardship into collective healing and move impossible loads through collective effort so long as we remember to focus on coordinated, collaborative, persistent collective actions.

Blessed are we, rollers of possibility

Transformers of waste

Tunnelers of hope

By starlight we navigate

By collective breath we exist

In the darkest soil

In the most compressed moment

In the narrowest of places

Remember

Life finds its path

Our existence refuses to be denied

It is the season of darkness, but the light will come.

We know about persistence.

We know about hope.

May we learn from the past

to live in the present

For the sake of the future

May this dream be a good dream (3x)

Ken tehi ritzona

Amen.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Created by Kohenet Ketzirah HaMa’agelet with help from Zohara, with inspiration from specific Hebrew and translations in the Siddur haKohanot. Text in BOLD are specific turns of phrase from Siddur haKohanot. Some of the language also came in partnership with .

On Shabbat we say 7 of the 18 blessings. The ones in the middles…

Read more

Close your eyes...and breathe out

Imagine you are standing and around you on on the ground, is a glowing ring.  Look to your right you will find three small orbs, also within th…

Read more

Lulav (Palm, Myrtle, Willow)

It is made up of 3 pieces of myrtle, 2 willow, 1 palm branch as well as an etrog (citron).
In the choice of plants – it also illustrates the connection to water (EJMMM) 

• Palm is dry 

• Willow is connected to water, and dries out during the week 

• Myrtle retains its moisture during the week 

• Etrog is a vessel of moisture 

The parts of …

Read more

“Unpacking” is my approach to exploring the deeper or hidden meanings of Hebrew words. It’s a combination of gematria (Jewish numerology), letter meanings, grammar, and intuition.

Tieferet (תִפאֶרֶת) beauty, truth, compassion

I decided to unpack tiferet because it is the meta-soul trait for the 3rd year of the shmita cycle and the definitions seem so complex. How can something mean: beauty, truth, splendor, adornment, crown?

My direct translation: compassion is truthful beauty.

400+80+1+200+400=1081

10+8+1=19 (ק)

9+1=10 (ט)

1+0= 1 (א)

Tiferet (תִפאֶרֶת): The truest of truths is that all ends are beginnings and each moment is a beginning, a now, and an ending. The moments are what matter. Compassion. The lives we live. How we live them. The pleasure we take in the adornments we make reveling in the splendor of Being and Becoming. The unification of Divine diversity is breathing in the old to weave the present to exhale what may be, and that is glorious.

How did I get to this and what are the sources I used? Read on…

Read more

How do you define magick? This is a basic starting point for being a magickal person, living a magickal life, and being a practitioner of magick - but so many people seem to skip over it.

Here’s a few definitions I pulled together for a class that Angela Raincatcher and I led on this topic a few years ago. I’m curious whi…

Read more

Greetings from Zambia! I’m on my third and, probably, last trip to this beautiful country.

This month, I thought I would share a couple of “artifacts” from the 4-part Understanding and Working with Lilith class that concluded just a couple of weeks back and make sure you all knew about and had access to the Cybermagi…

Read more

Notes

This casting was created for working with Lilith. The specific angels referenced are for working with her. You should change them out to appropriate angels, depending on how you are using this casting. A few ideas at the bottom of this post.

I originally created this for online use, but made it less focused on that here. But it’s easily adaptable back. I you are leading this in a Zoom ritual, have folks place their hands on their keyboards at the beginning to tune into the electricity (chashmal) that connects you all.

Created by Ketzirah haMa’agelet with the help of Zohara

Table of Contents

• Casting

• Releasing

• Angels

Casting

Take three breaths. In — out. In — out. In — out.

Read more

💡 Created by Ketzirah haMa’agelet in 2006

You are welcome to use this in private communities, but not repost it to listserves, emails, or online. Print outs are allowed, but only with credit and this reproduction requirement.

Instructions

Perform at the dark moon, or the very first day of the waxing moon. Perform this ritual to bring renewed strength or boldness to make/continue an untraditional life change.

If you live in a rural area where it is very dark at night, perform this ritual outside. If you live in the city, choose a dark room in your house. Dress in a manner that helps you transform the moment from mundane to magiqal.

Needs:

• Candle(s)

• Matches

• Black stone

• White Feather, covered in cloth. (optional)

🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔 🧿🕯️🧄🔮🧄🕯️🧿  🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔🜔

Ritual

Begin with the lights off, but candle(s) lit, have the stone nearby and the feather covered in cloth. Cast a circle in your tradition. Create for yourself a safe secure container for spiritual change. Sit down. When you feel like the circle is strong enough and you are prepared -- blow out the candle(s) and immediately close your eyes.

Read more

Doikayt

Artistically and magiqally, I wanted to explore how we heal a world that seems like it cannot be healed — just cut open again and again. I’ve come more and more to resonate with the concept of doikayt (דאיקייט) — Yiddish fo…

Read more

NOTE; resending because it went out coded for just paying subscribers last time and that was an error! It was intended for all subscribers.

I’ve been working on a new tarot/oracle spread inspired by a recent session with my magiqal chevruta of .

How do we bring the future into the now? How do we …

Read more

Yes, it’s Adar and I decided to go exactly where  you expected me to this month — Purim and Hamantaschen.  But as opposed to doing a history of the fabled, and delicious, Purim cookie — I’m going to explore some of the mythic and ritual opportunities these humble cookies offer us.

If you are unfamiliar with the history of hamantaschen, this post from Seforim Blog is a great place to start (thanks to of Velveteen Rabbi for the link).   For some the triangle shaped cookies represent Haman’s (the villian of Purim) hat, pockets or ears. 

There are also dozens of different recipes for the delicious cookies, and debates over whether jam or poppy-seed filling is the best. There are yeast dough recipes, regular old cookie dough recipes, and even this cream cheese recipes that seems to merge rugelach and hamantaschen.

And of course, different areas of the Jewish world have different Purim treats that gobble up different aspects of Haman.

• Turkish Jews prefer Haman’s Fingers

• French Jewry enjoys Haman’s Ears aka Palmiers

• Persian Jews mock Haman’s fleas

• And many just eat tasty treats.

But enough about the actual cookie.  Let’s talk food magiq!

Read more

I hope you all don’t mind an occasional mid-month update.

Trying to pack everything into the monthly newsletter is next to impossible, and then I feel like I’m shortchanging you all by just posting to Instagram. And well, the algorithm isn’t exactly friendly.

So, from time to time - when …

Read more

This ritual can be performed on your own or with a group. It’s great for Rosh Chodesh Tevet or the Winter Solstice

Start by writing down what binds you.  This can be in words or maybe in pictures, whatever is most clear for you.  And be specific.

You might want to do this on images of goats (scapegoat) or on a Devil card image that is very evocative for you.  If the traditional image is not inspiring, try the Gaian Tarot’s interpretation. 

Preparation:

Read more