Studies In Advanced Set Theory

Bamidbar

וְהַלְוִיִּם--לֹא הָתְפָּקְדוּ, בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel ... Bamidbar 2:33

כָּל-פְּקוּדֵי הַלְוִיִּם
all those numbered are Levites ... Bamidbar 4:46

It seems clear that the Levites were not numbered among the children (as a subset) of Israel because the Levites are numbered as representative of the entire set of Israel. This is not such an enigma. It's mathematics.

There are alot of numbers in this Torah portion, which is why in English the book of Bamidbar is called Numbers as we all know. Maybe Bamidbar should be subtitled Studies In Advanced Set Theory.

That's all folks.

Peace In The Land Of Promise

Bechukkotai

Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time; and ye shall eat your bread until ye have enough, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid ... Vayikra 26:5-6

וְהִשִּׂיג לָכֶם דַּיִשׁ אֶת-בָּצִיר, וּבָצִיר יַשִּׂיג אֶת-זָרַע; וַאֲכַלְתֶּם לַחְמְכֶם לָשֹׂבַע, וִישַׁבְתֶּם לָבֶטַח בְּאַרְצְכֶם.

וְנָתַתִּי שָׁלוֹם בָּאָרֶץ, וּשְׁכַבְתֶּם וְאֵין מַחֲרִיד

As I lay me down to sleep the shabbat night during the 37th day, which is five weeks and two days of the Omer ...

I note today a vision I had last night in response to caressing the new Sage Witch Elder Wand (made from the branch of an Elder tree in Wales) I received yesterday from the UK.

As I lay down to bed last night after 'oo-ing' and 'ahh-ing' over each nook and cranny and knobby knot of my new wand, I was startled by the joyfully smiling vision of myself as a little girl when I was about seven or eight years old, my life so full of promise, beaming her radiance directly at me. I was embraced by waves of joy in loops of loops, and continue today to be wholly embraced and permeated by the profound simple joy and contentment of meeting myself face to face in this Land of Promise.

In the tradition of Irish Faery Witchcraft, the Land of Promise is called Tir Tairnglre.

In Jewish Kabbalistic tradition, the Land of Promise is called Ha'aretz Hamuvtachat (הארץ המובטחת).

Here, now ... I am in it.

Related entry - Magical Joy

Ketirah, Book Of The Dark Moon Jubilee

B'Har

תשבו איש אל-אחזתו ... Vayikra 25:13

and reflecting then
on the thought, shaking my tail
vowing remembrance

of my own story
through the fire river around
the world I came in

remembering back
before, how I can I tell it
my whole story, how

contemplating how
feeling this what, suddenly
who, is here with me

asks from the head who
around in circles I turn
unwinding myself

turning turning I
looking I pause to do what
who is here with me

in this darkest place
cool water in night, winding
around me your voice

spiraling about
binding me up speaking some
what say you to me

I trying turning
looking pausing to hear you
what say who to me

where have you rested
in wait for me, only me
you waiting for me

struggling down through worlds
into edges of edges
hearing your voice call

me into being
binding me about voicing
here I am, I am

[My original poem, also published under the titles Chamber of the Nest and HaTorah Emet.]

The central root in the Hebrew phrase above is אחז (meaning to grasp) in contradistinction to the root חזר (meaning to hold back development).

Related entry (The Book of Yashar, The Song of Amergin) and the beauty of ketirah - the entire Hebrew phrase has a total gematria of 1172, with a digit sum of 11 (the number of the spices in the Temple Incense).

Related entry - Two New Chapters of Destiny in my whole story, of my own story.

Handcrafting Reality

Emor

אֶת-מֹעֲדֵי יְהוָה ... Vayikra 23:44
declaring the times of Creating Consciousness

Feminine et (את) comes to add quantum-like "uncertainty," where the word מעדי is from the root מעד meaning to waver, to tremble and uncertainty. The phrase here, namely את-מעדי, is plunging awareness into Creative Consciousness (יהוה) - where reality is handcrafted (where the magical Hebrew letter yod - י - at the end of the word מעדי means "my hand" and refers to the "first clear point" of individual conscious awareness).

Karet - Cursed By The Ancestors

Achrei Mot - Kedoshim

one who does as directed to be like everyone else, that one shall be cut off from among the Ancestors ... Vayikra 17:4
דָּם שָׁפָךְ, וְנִכְרַת הָאִישׁ הַהוּא, מִקֶּרֶב עַמּוֹ

דם שפך - to pour out one's lifeforce (witchblood) as one is told to do in sacrifice to conformity, to be like everyone else, to fit in - to fail to be true to oneself, to lust after similarity to the group norm at the expense of one's uniqueness - this results in the curse of karet (וְנִכְרַת). To be cursed with karet is to be cut off from among the Ancestors (מִקֶּרֶב עַמּוֹ).

In Celtic Faery Witchcraft, it is known that the Ancestors mediate, guide and empower passage of the soul beyond the Guardian of the threshold into the redemptive mysteries of the Otherworld. Thus, to be cut off from this mediating ancestral power, is to be cut off from access to the Sacred Witchcraft of Sitre Torah.

Dare to be true yourself - for the consequence of failing to do so is karet.

דם from the root דמה means to resemble and to lose unique distinctiveness

שפך means to move as directed, to do as one is told, to pour out one's lifeforce (one's witchblood) as instructed to do by others or even by the Divine

Oil Of The Left & The Secret Of The Red Cow

Tazria-Metzora

some of the oil that is in his left hand ... Vayikra 14:27
מִן-הַשֶּׁמֶן, אֲשֶׁר עַל-כַּפּוֹ הַשְּׂמָאלִית

The oil in the priest's left hand pertains to oil produced by the 'left hand' path of the Divine Feminine.

Potential roots of the oil (השמן) from the gate of שם (the middle path):

שׁמן - nourish, eight (right hand path)
שׂמל - cover (as in kaparot), left protected side (left hand path)

In the priest's ritual, the oil must come from the left hand path, from the root שׂמל in contradistinction to the right hand root שׁמן. Importantly, a root traditionally believed to have given birth to the "oil root" שׁמן is also the root of neshamah, namely נשם meaning to breathe and to move air. Interestingly, the root נשם can also mean an impure creeper. We can see then, why the priest must use oil from the left hand (from the root שׂמל) as opposed to oil from the right hand (from the traditionally linked roots שׁמן and נשם) in this purity ritual. The left hand path's root will not give rise to an impure creeper.

Traditionally believed to be pure, the neshamah in this element of the ritual will enable introduction of impurity into the whole rite. Traditionally believed to be impure, the left hand in this element of the ritual makes pure.

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Torah Only A Behimah Is Fit To Do

Shemini

this is the law of the beast, to make the difference between the bound and between the pure ... Vayikra 11:46-47
זֹאת תּוֹרַת הַבְּהֵמָה ... לְהַבְדִּיל, בֵּין הַטָּמֵא וּבֵין הַטָּהֹר

This is the law of the beast, the behimah. Interestingly, Torah does not tell us that this is the law of the Divine soul, but rather, Torah tells us that this is the law of the beast, the animal, the behimah. What is a behimah exactly?

The root of behimah is בהם, which means "subordinate to another" - like a slave in Mitzrayim even. Consequently, this Torah law is the law of slaves - in other words, of regular people as we live our everyday lives.

Consequently, the Torah suggests that the act of "making differences", of distinguishing between the bound and the pure and making a united sacred ground - this is Torah only a behimah is fit to do. The Divine soul cannot do it.