Damam, Stillness, Part 4...

Aug 17, 2008 16:54

I'd like to look a little more at Damam.

Damam is spelled Daleth-Mem-Mem.  Mem can be a suffix in Hebrew meaning "from".  Dam, Daleth-Mem, means blood or, figuratively, wine.  So, if Mem is seen as the suffix, Damam means "from blood" or "from wine".  In the Tanakh, blood is related most often to sacrifice and to life.  Life and death are in the blood, but so is redemption and forgiveness.  Blood provides hope, just as Kavanah is hope.  Hope comes from the blood, from the Stillness of Damam and manifests as Kavanah.  Stillness is like death, but in Stillness, blood still flows, so it is from the blood that we know it is Stillness and not death, or death and not Stillness.  When Cain killed Abel, his Dam (blood) cried out and G-d heard it.  It is from the Blood that the Divine hears us, and responds to us.  It is in Stillness that we can speak clearly with the Divine.

Damam can be seen in dance.  When we are walking, stopping is not part of walking; it's not walking.  And stopping is distinct from walking.  Not so with dance.  Movement and Stillness work together to form the dance.  These stops that are still part of the dance are Damam.  A life of Damam is a dance.  Sometimes you are in Stillness, sometimes you are in action.  Damam leads to action and action leads to Damam.  Both are needed.  Both are part of the dance.

~Muninn's Kiss

blood, kavanah, damam, stillness, intention, action, dance

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