Kislev 5785: May this Dream be a Good Dream
🌒 Moon of Dreaming 🌒 begins at sundown on December 1, 2024
In my naming of the moons, Kislev is the moon of dreaming. As the nights grow longer and the days grow shorter, we are treated to Torah portions about the power of dreams and the power and risks of being an interpreter of dreams. This is also the month of the Baalat Ov (בעלת אוב), the witch, the shamaness, the spirit vessel.
To embody the Baalat Ov [shamaness, witch], we have to change our relationship to fear. Fear is a sign something powerful is happening. It lets us know we are in the Presence. When Tzlelponit, mother of Samson, describes the angel who visited her in a field, she says: “His face was like the face of an angel of God; very frightening.” The word frightening, nora, is from the same root as yirah, reverence. She knows the angel is real because of the yirah she feels. We too can become aware of the Real by learning sensitivity to yirah.
Rav Kohenet Rabbi Jill Hammer
The soul trait for the month of Kislev is yirah (יראת) awestruck. When we have a moment of yirah, we have a choice — to close down to the potential for wonder or to embrace the mysterious, liminal, unknown. Does the moment of yirah crack you open to new possibilities or do you panic at the cracks and close yourself off even more tightly?
Like many I find myself afraid right now; stuck in the liminal. But I am a witch, I work in the in-between. I engage with the Divine as Being and Becoming. Fear is a sign that something is wrong. But in this moment, I (and many others) are not actually in danger. There is a fear of “what may come.”
But energy follows attention. So do I focus on my fear of “what if” or do I focus on the future I’d like to leave for my descendants? In this moment, how do I learn from the past to live in the present for the sake of the future?
Kislev Resources
Kislev: Overview
Moon: Dreaming
Constellation: Keshet (קשת) Sagittarius
Soul Trait: Yirah (יראת) Awestruck, Radical Amazement
Tribe: Benjamin (בנימין)
Tarot: Temperance
Netivah: Baalat Ov (בעלת-אוב) Witch/Shamaness/Spirit Vessel
Looking Ahead to Tevet
Tevet: Overview
Moon: Clarity
Constellation: G’di (גדי) Capricorn
Soul Trait: Sakranut (סקרנות) Curiosity
Symbol: Candles
Tribe: Dan
Tarot: Devil
Netivah: Doreshet (דורשת) Seeker
Find source citations for correspondences and so much more.
MAKING MAGIQ
One of the most powerful intersections of prayer and magiq in Judaism, is the Amidah, THE Tefliah, the standing prayer. It’s used in prayer services and repeatedly the whole and parts of it are used in Jewish magiq, and I believe that the prayer itself contains powerful daily magiqal opportunities. And like most of Jewishness, it has changed with us as we have moved through time and place.
Here is the first verse, which invokes our ancestral lineage and for me that means not only human ancestors - but ourselves as part of the all that is Being and Becoming.
Blessing of Ancestral Lineage (Imahot v’Avot)
Blessed are you, Being and Becoming, our source and source of our ancestors Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel’v Bilhah, Leah v’Zilpah of Avraham, Yitzakh, and Yaakov — and of us as the ancestors we will be.
Elah, great tree, strength and fire of Immah Ilaah whose loving-kindness and goodness flow in endless reciprocity - received by our ancestors who returned these gifts through reweaving webs of abundance, as we now weave them into wholeness for all generations.
Weaver of the cosmos and its weaving, aiding us in our brokenness and bringing us to wholeness.
B’rucha at Elah, ma’gen avraham ve’ezrat sarah.
Blessed are you, Holy One, shield of Abraham and helpmate of Sarah.
Note: passages in bold text are unique phrasings incorporated from the translation in Siddur HaKohanot by Jill Hammer.
Baba Yaga’s House
I find myself very drawn to the wisdom and magiq of not only Baba Yaga, but of her house. In my imaginings, her house is a sheyd, a “demon” or otherkin, which we can recognize by its chicken feet. I am inspired and filled with the potential of this as a magiq of radical belonging as resistance and resilience.
It’s moved me to start cræfting travel altars again, both with and without Baba Yaga’s house on it. I’ll be sharing more about the magiq behind these workings, but if you want to learn more now — you might want to visit my new “Tea Room” on Discord. Auntie Ketzirah’s Tea Room is virtual space for Jewish Witches, Witchy Jews, and Allies. If this sounds familiar, it’s because I tried something like this last year on a different platform.
Want to drop by and say hello? Visit Auntie Ketzirah’s Tea Room.
SHOP UPDATE
The shop is well stocked with stickers, golem pins, and Netivot Wisdom Oracle decks, but after Thanksgiving I’ll be updated the shop with lots of new offerings like the travel altars, wax seal stickers, and more.
EVENTS
Virtual: Soul Trait Studio
Date: Sunday 12/08/2024
Time: 3-4:30pm ET
Where: Register for Zoom Link
Cost: None, but donations gratefully accepted
You can also purchase a copy of my ebook: Introduction to Mussar Practice.
The soul trait that corresponds with Kislev, in the Kesharim K’doshim approach to mussar, is Yirah/t (יראה/ת) Awestruck, Radical Amazement.
In-Person: Tarot Card Reading
As part of Your Magick Aunties, I regularly offer spiritual guidance through tarot and oracle card readings at Atlas Brew Works, Ivy City location, here in Washington, DC.
Date: Saturday 12/07and 12/28/2024
Time: 3-6:00 pm ET
Where: Atlas Brew Works (Ivy City)
Cost: $15 for 3 card | $50 for deluxe reading
Dive Deeper
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What I’m Reading
The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub re-envisions the wild child daughter of Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) as a witch. I won’t say much else, but it’s a delightful read that truly brings new dimensions to the story.
Baking Yesteryear by B. Dylan Hollis is my favorite new cookbook — part a a haul of new cookbooks I picked up for my fun new Kobo Libra Color! It has me falling down rabbit holes of vintage and historic recipes. So far I have a dozen recipes picked out from the cookbook to explore.
Note: Links to Bookshop.org and Amazon.com contain affiliate code that allows authors to earn a small commission on purchases
Love your comments about fear and working in the in-between. We don't know what is to come and sometimes just the not knowing is scary - not to mention intergenerational trauma of past lived experiences. Thank you for reminding us that we are witches, survivors who work in uncommon spaces.