I first created this guide to help people explore the practice of counting the omer in an earth-based, embodied, witchy way — many years ago for Peeling a Pomegranate and then later refreshed for Devotaj Sacred Arts. And I continue to mildly update and edit it every year.

I hope if you engage in the practice this year, you’ll share your experiences with me and the community in the comments

Devotaj Guide to Counting the Omer

On the second night of Passover we begin the process of “counting the omer.” Remember that the Jewish day, at least in Rabbinic Judaism begins at sundown.

This 49 day period is what I’ve called before our, “trek in the desert.” It is the time of purification and growth between leaving Mitzrayim and receiving the revelation at Sinai on Shavuot. The practice that many people use is based in kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism. This omer-counting practice uses the 10 sephirot, emanations of divinity, also referred to as the tree of life.

Don’t worry — you don’t have to know anything about kabbalah to give this a try! And if you want something totally different, check out the Karaite approach to counting the omer in the resources below.

And remember — this practice started as a physical offering of barley each day — so explore what works for YOU! For example many years I use tarot or the Netivot Oracle paired with prompts created by Rav Kohenet Rabbi Jill Hammer to mark the days and explore the spiritual meaning. You’ll find others also using tarot and cards for counting the omer on Instagram and Twitter using the hashtag #taromer.

A quick explanation of the Rabbinate (aka Rabbinic)practice is well summarized by the folks at RitualWell.org:

For many people, the “counting of the Omer”—these 49 days—provides a time for reflection and growth, often using the seven “lower” emanations of God in the kabbalistic system as spiritual themes for each day and week.

Week by Week

Each week there is a “lead” sefira and each of the others is put “within” that lead.  You’ll see it phrased as Chesed within Chesed(חסד שבחסד) or Gevirah within Chesed (גברה שבחסד).  In this way, you can explore the spiritual meanings of these concepts as they sit within each other — what is the impact when Chesed (loving kindness ) is within Gevirah (strength/boundaries) vs Gevirah within Chesed.

Check back each week in 2023 for the guide of that week, or check the Substack Chat where I’ll be posting them instead of emailing them out.

• Week 1: Week of Chesed

• Week 2: Week of Gevurah

• Week 3: Week of Tiferet

• Week 4: Week of Netzach

• Week 5: Week of Hod

• Week 6: Week of Yesod

• Week 7: Week of Malkhut

Omer Resources

• Offerings from Beloveds

  • NEW FOR 5786 (2026)

    • Making Creativity Count (K’ Bekah Starr)

  • Counting the Omer (Telshemesh)

  • Omer Calendar of Biblical Women (Telshemesh)

  • Omer Calendar of Biblical Women Book by Rav Kohenet Rabbi Jill Hammer (Ayin Press)

  • Abel & Grain (Telshemesh)

  • Omer Oracle (Nomy Teaches)

  • Diving Pleasure Omer Oracle (Taya Mâ)

• Wider Jewish Community Offerings

  • How to Design an Artistic Counting Practice (Ritual Well)

  • Counting the Omer (My Jewish Learning)

  • Counting the Omer: The Basics of the Jewish Ritual (Bim Bam Video)

  • Counting my Genders: A Neo-Kabbalistic View of the Omer (Keshet)

  • Counting the Omer (A Way In)

  • How to Count the Omer (NeoChasid)

  • Karaite Approach to Counting Omer (Karaites.org)

  • Counting the Omer (Aish.com)

• Omer Calendars

  • Devotaj Omer Calendar Board (Pinterest)

  • Omer Calendar of Biblical Women (Telshemesh)

  • Omer Calendar of Biblical Women Book by Rav Kohenet Rabbi Jill Hammer (Ayin Press)

  • Rami Shapiro Omer Calendar (dropbox)

  • Omer Calendar Coloring Book (amazon)

  • The ‘Homer’ Calendar (website)

Have a resource to recommend?

Leave a comment

Note: Links to Amazon.com contain affiliate code that allows authors to earn a small commission on purchases.

If the concept of counting the omer is new to you — check the introduction for more about this practice.

Remember that each week there is a “lead” sefira and each of the others is put “within” that lead. 

The fourth week of the Omer focuses on Netzach.  This sephira …

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If the concept of counting the omer is new to you — check the introduction for more about this practice.

Remember that each week there is a “lead” sefira and each of the others is put “within” that lead.

You'll see it phrased as Gevurah within Tiferet ( גברה שבתפארת ) or T…

Read more

Welcome to the second week of the counting of the omer!

If the concept of counting the omer is new to you — check the introduction for more about this practice.

Remember that each week there is a “lead” sefira and each of the others is put “within” that lead.  You’ll see it phrased as Gevurah within Chesed (גברה שבגברה) or Gevurah within Gevurah (גברה שבגברה). 

The second week of the Omer focuses on Gevurah.  There are so many ways people interpret this sephira.  You see it described as severity, strength, judgement, discipline & measure,  might, courage, and power — just to name a few.  For me, my mind leaps directly to the Gevirah Netivah from Kohenet teachings — the Matriarch or Queen.

This second week, which explores Gevurah (strength/boundaries),  looks like this:

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Welcome to the first week of the counting of the omer!

If the concept of counting the omer is new to you — check the introduction for more about this practice.

Remember that each week there is a “lead” sefira and each of the others is put “within” that lead.  You’ll see it phrased as Chesed within Chesed (חסד שבחסד) or Gev…

Read more

Moon of Speaking (March/April)
New Year of Kings
In Nisan we are challenged to speak the truth so we may find freedom and take responsibility for our lives.

Basics:

• Linear Month: 7

• Torah Month: 1

• Season: Spring

• Holidays: Pesach, Counting the Omer

• Offerings¹: Bread Crumbs, Grain, Parsley, Matzah, Blood/Bone, Barley, Shofar B…

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Moon of Revealing (February/March)
Be perceptive to the things that may be hidden from plain sight and reveal things in their right time.

Basics

• Linear Month: 6

• Torah Month: 12

• Season: Spring

• Holidays: Purim, Vernal Equinox

• Offerings¹: Hamentaschen, Poppy Seeds, and Myrhh   “As myrrh (mor) is the foremost of spices so Mordecai was the foremost of the righteous in his generation” (Esther Rabbah 2.5)

• Element²:  Aphar (עָפָר) Earth within Ruach (רוּחַ) Air

• Symbol: Hamantaschen

• Spiritual Focus³: Personal connection to Divine through creative expression

• Netivah: Leitzanit (ליצנית) Sacred Fool

• Constellation: Dagim (דגים) Pisces

• Letter: Kuf (ק)

• Tribe: Dinah (Adar I) and Naphtali (Adar II)

• Sense: Laughter

• Tarot Card⁴: The Moon

• Soul Trait⁵: Zehirut (זהירות) Illuminated Awareness

Note: Letter, Tribe, and Sense are derived from the Sefer Yetzirah. Sense is first from “Return to the Place” by RK’Jill Hammer and tribe from charts in the Aryeh Kaplan edition.
See NOTES below for additional information for sources all other correspondences.

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Naphtali is the second son of Jacob and Bilhah, a handmaiden of Rachel. His name, as relayed in Genesis 30:8, means, “And Rachel said: 'With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed.' And she called his name Naphtali.”  When

I read this, I immediately went to check and see if this was the same word used in Genesis 32:25 to describe Jacob wrestling with the angel, and it is not.  That word seems to be translated “struggled” (יֵּאָבֵק) where as the root of Naphtali’s name (נַפְתּוּלֵי) seems to translate more truly as wrestling, or “twists.”  I find the translation of “twists” to be fascinating.  It seems lighter and less ominous than struggling.

Naphtali is traditionally symbolized by a leaping dear.  This is from Jacob’s blessing in Genesis 49:21, “Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.”  According to some commentaries, this refers to how quickly the fruit in the tribal district of Naphtali ripened, which gave cause for blessings.  In Moses’ blessing, Deuteronomy 33:23, Naphtali is describe as, “O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the sea and the south.”  If nothing else we can see from these blessings that Naphtali was favored, and I think good with words.  

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Adar I (אֲדָר א) is Dinah’s (דִּינָה) month, at least as far as I’m concerned. 

Rabbinical tradition equates Naphtali with both Adar I & Adar II in a leap year, but many modern feminists have argued well that the extra month should belong to Jacob’s daughter, the 13th tribe.

Dinah is the seventh child of Leah and Jacob, and the only named daughter, although Genesis 37:35 indicates there were others.  Dinah’s name means judgement, but I’ve also seen it as “vindicated.”  Her story is one that few women like to read, at least as it is traditionally interpreted.  In Genesis 34, we read of the “rape” of Dinah. It’s an ugly story with very little redeeming value anywhere.  

But what if we look at this through another lens?

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Moon of Centering (January/February)
Shevat is our cosmic opportunity to center ourselves and determine our priorities for the busy growing seasons of late spring, summer, and fall.

Basics

• Linear Month: 5

• Torah Month: 11

• Season: Winter

• Holidays: Tu B’Shevat

• Offerings¹: Pine Cones, Tree Fruits, Nuts, Branches, Bark, Sap and Syrup, Water

• Element²:  Aish (אֵשׁ) Fire within Mayim (מַיִם) Water transitions to Aphar (עָפָר) Earth within Ruach (רוּחַ) Air

• Symbol: Cups

• Spiritual Focus³: Personal connection to Divine through creative expression

• Netivah: Ohevet (אוהבת) Lover

• Constellation: D‘li (דלי) Bucket / Aquarius

• Letter: Tzadi (צ)

• Tribe: Asher

• Sense: Thought

• Tarot Card⁴: Star

• Soul Trait⁵: Ahavah (אהבה) Love

Note: Letter, Tribe, and Sense are derived from the Sefer Yetzirah. Sense is first from “Return to the Place” by RK’Jill Hammer and tribe from charts in the Aryeh Kaplan edition.
See NOTES below for additional information for sources all other correspondences.

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Shevat (שְׁבָט) is a breath of fresh air.  We may have a way to go, but we can see the light at the end tunnel.  We are released from the bonds of Tevet (טֵבֵת) and get our first promise of the spring to come with the holiday of Tu b’Shevat (ט״ו בשבט‎) and feed the birds on Shabbat Shirah. Even if the earth is still frozen around us, this holiday represents the turning of the wheel; the gate between the seasons between Fire within Water and Earth within Air (as explained in the Jewish Book of Days). Even in the frozen north, sap begins to flow in the trees during this time of the year.

Just like the traditional tarot card, our wells, our springs are refilled in Shevat so we can make it through the remaining month(s) of winter. On Tu B’Shevat we can refill ourselves through tasting the promise of the four worlds and the world to come. Shevat is a moonless night filled with twinkling stars and one that is ready to guide us. Maybe the star is just illuminating the many riches available to us if we simply take the time to notice?

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Some practices and rituals to try out or adapt during the month of Shevat.

• Create or update your altar with symbols and offerings of Shevat.  Start with a cup or goblet then bring in pinecones, tree branches, b…

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Asher was the eighth son of Jacob through Leah’s handmaid, Zilpah.  According to the Torah, midrash and rabbinical tradition Asher is a symbol of happiness.  There seems to be fairly strong consensus on this.   From his naming (Genesis 30:13) to his final blessing from Yisrael (Genesis 49:20) – Asher was blessed with happiness.

“And Leah said: ‘Happy am I! for the daughters will call me happy.’ And she called his name Asher.”  

Genesis 30:13

Asher’s emblem is the olive tree, which makes sense since the tribe of Asher was situated in an area that had them responsible for the production of olives and olive oil in ancient Israel.  The tribe of Asher was known for having an abundance of male children and daughters so beautiful they were sought out by “princes and priests.” (Jewish Encyclopedia)   Asher is also known for his daughter, Serach whose goodness was rewarded with eternal life and is said to walk among us this day like Elijah.

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The month of Shevat and the holiday of Tu b’Shevat are our chance to rebalance ourselves and our energy before the season of real growing begins. 

I bet you expected this month’s symbol to be all about trees and planting of trees — but that’s so easy to find! Here we’re going to talk about drinking and drinking vessels!

How did I get to cups (כוסות) and the drinking of wine as the practice which symbolizes the month of Shevat. It was an easier leap than you might think. While the Tu B’Shevat seder may not be as ancient a practice as the Passover Seder, it has grown and grown in awareness and popularity. While both also have four cups of wine, the Tu b’Shevat seder is even more focused around the drinking of these cups than Passover is. It also aligns well with the astrological sign of the month, the bucket or vessel. So cups is our object for the month and the act of blessing and drinking a cup of wine, is our action.

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If people know that there are Jewish observations of the solstices and equinoxes, most align them with directly with the astronomical solstices or equinoxes, but according to the Jewish Encyclopedia they may actually fall up to 14 days after this.  For example, think about the fact that the Winter solstice is called the “Tekufat Tevet (תקופת טבת).”  Some years the Winter Solstice actually falls in the month of Tevet, but this is not always the case.

In case you are wondering why I chose the mosaic from the Beit Alpha Synagogue as the photo -- just look at the angel in the top right corner.  See the Hebrew letters? It says - Tekufat Tevet (תקופת טבת) - the winter solstice.  Most likely that is the Angel Gabriel, who is the angel overseeing the season of winter.

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In my naming of the moons Tevet is the Moon of Clarity. Tevet is a month to seek clarity on our path; even though the days are still short and the nights are long and dark.

We enter Tevet as we light the final candles of Hanukkah, and regardless of if you light your menorah Hillel-style or Shammai-style the light, darkne…

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Moon of Clarity (December/January)
Tevet is a month to seek clarity on our path; even though the days are still short and the nights are long and dark.

Basics

• Linear Month: 4

• Torah Month: 10

• Season: Winter

• Holidays: Hanukkah, Tekufah Tevet (Winter Solstice)

• Offerings¹: Symbols of Seeking and Light

• Element²:  Aish (אֵשׁ) Fire within Mayim (מַיִם) Water

• Symbol: Candles

• Spiritual Focus³: Personal connection to Divine through creative expression

• Netivah: Doreshet (דורשת) Seeker

• Constellation: G’di (גדי) Capricorn / Kid Goat

• Letter: Ayin (ע)

• Tribe: Dan

• Sense: Anger

• Tarot Card⁴: Devil

• Soul Trait⁵: Sakranut (סקרנות) Curiosity

Note: Letter, Tribe, and Sense are derived from the Sefer Yetzirah
See NOTES below for additional information on sources of these all correspondences.

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Tevet is a month of seeking clarity in darkness.  Tevet is the month our vices have the most opportunity to enslave us. Tevet is the crucible.  Without this difficult month the promise of Kislev’s rainbow can never be realized as the Star card, which corresponds with Shevat. Anything we did in Kislev that we shouldn’t have, will rear its ugly head in Tevet.  Spend too much?  Bills arrive in Tevet.  Eat too much?  Step on the scale and you’ll see it now.

But that’s the negative way to look at it.  The devil card also offers us the opportunity to realize that things that we think are binding us, aren’t.  It allows us to see that often we bind ourselves to these situations.  So you spent too much, now’s your chance to address the emotional and spiritual reasons you may have done that and free yourself from debt.  So you ate too much; now’s the chance to really start addressing the emotional and spiritual reasons you aren’t caring for your body.

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How do we know the difference between good and bad judgment?  How do we know the choices we make are the right ones?  What do we allow to influence us?  What we do allow to blur our vision?  What do we use to clear our eyes, our hearts, and our minds to turn back to the right path? Where do we cross the line between right and wrong, and do the ends justify the means?  These are the questions that the Tribe of Dan, the tribe associated with the month of Tevet (טֵבֵת), asks us.

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Tevet, the Jewish month that falls during December and January, is a tough month to pick an object or spiritual practice to be its symbol.  Hanukkah does fall during Tevet, but only first couple of days.  The only other holiday is Asara b’Tevet, which is a minor fast.  When you look at the themes surrounding Tevet it’s all about vision,clear sight, and breaking through darkness. With this in mind, we turn to the practice of lighting candles in Judaism for our Tevet focus. We light a LOT of candles in Judaism.  In Tevet alone, if you take advantage of all the traditional opportunities to light candles you will light at least 27 candles.  This includes the last two days of Hanukkah, the Sabbath and Havdalah. Granted Hanukkah certainly raises the bar for volumes of candle lighting, but even in another month there are a lot of candles. So what’s with all the candles? In Jewish tradition, the flame of a candle represents the human soul. Even those who are not religious are often drawn to rituals around candle lighting.  The Society for Humanistic Judaism says this about candles:

Humanistic Jews find in candle light a reflection of the human spirit. In lighting candles, we seek a connection with the past, with each other, and with ourselves. Candles, at their brightest, communicate strength, vitality, vision, and warmth. As they burn down to nothingness, they demonstrate the fragility of life. Humanistic candle blessings are blessings of peace and light in the world. They express comfort in the warmth of togetherness and connection, joy in the accomplishments of human beings, and a commitment to humanity.

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