Tag Archives: prayer

שמע ישראל Receiving Home: A Simple Qabbalah of Shema Yisrael

A beautiful bit of wisdom along with a very meaningful tapestry.

The prayer on the bottom of the tapestry is the most essential Jewish prayer, the Shema:

Shema Yisrael, Adonai Elohanu, Adonai Echad

It has great significance in many layers and is especially sacred written in the Hebrew alephbet. The prayer can translate directly to:

Hear Israel, "G-d" is "our Lord", "G-d" is the one

The Hebrew word for “G-d” as used in the Shema has deep meaning and is associated with the allso profound Tree of Life, as shown in the above tapestry.

One mystical interpretation is:

Hear, inner spiritual 'Home': The ALL is (All) our world, The ALL is One.

A brief but potent reminder about a metaphysics of panentheistic panpsychism – two words with much to unpack, put less academically as: One Love אהבה אחת

שלום שלום שלום

Point Pros of Animism

  • Poetry and singing prayer and blessing for food and all other things to be thankful for. May it be healthy, come from good health, and go forward in good health. May it be for the best, may it be of minimal suffering.
  • Ancient and prevalent tradition of theurgy, as in Greek cults bringing statues to life with spirits of the gods, or Jewish Kabbalists trying to repair the world by awareness of the oneness of the spheres of the Tree of Life. Visualizing the color of an object as blue red and white is one simple theurgic exercise, serving as a means of conveying blessing to minerals, plants, animals, and humans (practice patiently in that order). Imagine practices along those lines and Greek mystics animating statues, or mystic Christians seeking connection with their higher self in All.
  • Connection to place, relationship with being. Even the ________ (e.g. toaster oven), what is one’s relationship with it? What is its Source? What are its connections? In oneness one recognizes the valuable ripple effects of mutual benefit.
  • Focused gratitude and well-wishing for the well-being of an entity. As in the exercise of imagining the highest and best potential for ___________ (e.g. land as in ecological restoration), casting blessings from an animistic awareness can help bring about a better world.
  • Lessons from ecosystem restoration: “Connection to place”, “Love”

שלום Receiving Peace: Exploring Qabbalah of Shalom

I give thanks to the Source. And I say shalom שלום.

Introduction to Qabbalah and Hebrew Alefbet

Qabbalah קבלה means ‘receiving’ in Hebrew. It is a mystical discipline of Jewish and alchemical traditions. At its heart is the role of language in Jewish thought. That is a subject in and of itself – one brief angle:

In Hebrew, there’s no word for objects, only names. “Things” exist essentially as name, as language in thought and breath create the potential and material universe.

The Hebrew alefbet is of great significance. It is the fruit and pathways of the Tree of Life. Each letter having many associates such that, as a whole, the letters of the Hebrew alefbet contain, correspond with, and create All of creation. An elementary particle if you will, near the Source of All.

In this post and possibly others I will share some simple glimpses of the qabbalah of simple words, songs, prayers. Through that receiving will be more information on Qabbalah, or you can read about it at https://www.crystalinks.com/kabala.html or ask about other approaches.


שלום

שלום: Peace; hello; goodbye; a name of the One, synonymous with ‘the Lord’ or Allah الله. Shalom is a common word used by Hebrew speakers, and its equivalents in other languages are common as well. Arabic says salam سلام, Latin pax, English peace. Peace.

Peace has many forms. I will not speak on that in this post. I encourage you to seek and dis-cover peace in your life. “May peace be upon you” as these ancient languages say.

ש ל ו ם – letters read from right to left: shin, lamed, vav, mem – Sh L U M – four letters form shalom, representing four sounds or ways of breath. Or four classical elements, or . . .

Here is a table of each letter and some of its correspondences, after which is a stream of meaning of the letters together to spell peace ש ל ו ם

Continue reading →

A Prayer for the Food

Dear G-d, Source most high

We give thanks for The Present.

(And for the 5 senses through which we perceive All gifts.)

And Mother Earth, we give thanks for this food,

And for All the creatures who enable us to enjoy it.

May it help us to be healthy and well, in service to The All.

Said as grace before a meal. Culturally appropriate deity names may be substituted as needed.

When giving thanks for The Present, let attention settle on to the 5 elements expressed through one’s senses; let your mind relax into what you smell, hear, taste, see, and feel with all your ways of feeling.

When giving thanks to the Earth and all creatures involved in the food, be mindful of the supply chain – material, institutional, cultural – at the source of this meal.

When hoping for health, hope for holistic wellness for you, for those close to you, for those you most resonate with, for those you feel compassion for, and work to expand that sphere of compassion.