In my naming of the moons, Elul is the moon of making space. As Elul begins, we know we are just a month away from the High Holy Days — and that this a month of spiritual preparation. But the work is not just in preparation, the work has value unto itself.
The soul trait for this month is hineni (הנני) presence, which literally means, “I am here.” I feel like this whole month is a time to figure out how we show up during the Days of Awe ready - but not knowing what is to come.
A practice of mine for many years has been to begin listening for how I will name the coming year. To claim how I will be written into the Book of Life, should I be granted another year. I call this practice Minshar Cholem (aka Dream Decree). One reason I really love this practice is that it flips the script from beginning the “Holy Court” for mercy, to actively participating. It also brings in the aspect of name change, which is found in the same passage of the Talmud that teshuva, tefilah, and tzedakah are found.
One of the inherited practices for Elul that I also love is the daily recitation of Psalm 27. It’s such a great prayer for resilience and remembering what is really important in life. I’ve updated and expanded my offerings around Psalm 27, so take a look if that interests you.
How do you use this month? I’d love to learn what practices are meaningful to you.
Elul Resources
Elul: Overview
Moon: Making Space
Soul Trait: Hineni (הנני) Presence
Tribe: Gad (גד)
Tarot: Hermit
Looking Ahead to Tishrei
Tishrei: Overview
Moon: Gathering
Soul Trait: Achrayut (אחריות) Spiritual Responsibility
Tribe: Ephraim (אֶפְרַיִם֙ )
Tarot: Justice
Netivah: Gevirah (גְבִירָה) Matriarch/Queen
Find source citations for correspondences and so much more.
MAKING
The Netivot Wisdom Oracle is in the final stages. The art for the final card is complete, and now I’m working on updating a few new bits for the book. And I decided to change from a tuck box to a slightly nicer rigid box — so that means also designing a new box. But, I think we’re still on track and I’ll keep updating backers via Kickstarter every couple of weeks. If you missed the Kickstarter, stay tuned. I’ll offer a pre-order for other folks once I receive the printed decks.
The Process of Teshuva (in process)
This piece is inspired by a quote from Hilchot Teshuva that I learned about from a call for proposals sent out by Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari.
“A person stops whatever is causing them to miss the mark, becomes aware of and redirects their thoughts and resolves in their heart not to do it again."
I like that creating this piece is slow. And while I work on it, I know it’s about hte process of teshuva, but I don’t remember the details of the quote. It lets the work become the meditation that I want the piece to be about teshuva. I only get a couple of hours a week to work on this piece, but I’m realizing that also means I may finish it during the Days of Awe.
MUSSAR
Date: Sunday 8/27/2023
Time: 3-4:30pm ET
Where: Register for Zoom Link
Cost: None, but donations gratefully accepted
The soul trait that corresponds with Elul, in the Kesharim K’doshim approach to mussar, is Hineni (הנני) Presence .
You can also purchase a copy of my ebook: Introduction to Mussar Practice.
There is no cost to attend Soul Trait Studio, but registration is required.
Register this and every month at devotaj.com/soultraitstudio
And if you can’t attend in real time, all registrants also receive the recording the following day. And you can add your thoughts and experiences on the monthly Practice Guide (posted the day of each session).
MAGICK
Last month I asked you how you define magic/k/q.
This month I am excited to announce that I’ll be speaking at the Occult Humanities Conference this fall!
KAMEOT: JEWISH AMULETS FROM THE TORAH TO TODAY
Judaism has a long and complicated relationship with witchcraft, sorcery, and anything deemed occult. From the very beginning with passages like “you shall not suffer a witch to live,” found in Exodus 22:17 witches and occult practices were, in theory, prohibited. But the lines between prohibited and permissible can be fuzzier than one might think, as evidenced by the long history of Jewish amulets. Ketzirah haMa’agelet will offer a tour of Jewish magick from the Torah to today through the creation and use of amulets, known as “kameot” in Hebrew.
And no doubt a side benefit of this will be a newly updated enhanced resources for you all about kameot.
Do you have answers or more questions? Leave a comment and let me know.
Resources & Rituals
Just a reminder that I’m in the process of moving the Wheel of the Year resources from devotaj.com to devotaj.substack.com, which will become the unified home for all my writing.
Here’s a few of the relevant and recent additions to the Resources & Rituals on Substack that don’t fit cleanly into Making, Mussar, or Magick. Most of these are only for premium subscribers, but all have a free preview.
» » » Explore all posts about Elul « « «
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Watch | Listen | Read
Key: Shows & Movies 📺 | Books 📚 | Articles 📄 | Music 🎼 | Podcast 🎙
🎙 + 📄 I think I’ve gushed about it in the past, but I’m loving the podcast 60 Songs that Explain the 90s (available where ever you get your podcasts). It started in 2020, so I’m still catching up and recently got to the episode about the song Common People by Pulp. On its own, it’s a great listen, but in my head I kept thinking about one of my favorite comic book series of all time: Phonogram. If you aren’t into comics or graphic novels, here’s a couple of great articles about that series from Vox and the Comics Alliance.
🎙In case you missed it last month, I was recently interviewed for the The Hearth and Hedge podcast; a chat with host Amerbele about all things magick, Eit/Aht: a Netivot Wisdom Oracle, and I shared the Zoom Circle Casting available in Rituals on devotaj.substack.com
What are you listening, reading, or watching?
Note: Links to Bookshop.org and Amazon.com contain affiliate code that allows authors to earn a small commission on purchases
Our tradition is to play the shofar every day in Elul. The tradition of hearing the shofar every day is an ancient one, to help the listener with their spiritual preparation. As a brass player, I realize that the other origin of the custom is to give the shofar player a good month of daily practice to build up the muscles of the embouchure, slowly strengthening those delicate muscles to play an unfamiliar and quite odd-sized mouthpiece, so as to be in shape for the very long series of one hundred calls required on Rosh haShanah.
We actually broadcast it daily on the page of our synagogue, Havurah Shalom in Portland (Oregon). You can watch it (we think) on Havurah's YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@havurahshalom7822
Chodesh tov!