It's interesting so many people do so much to invoke the fae, but historically, the widespread charms were to keep them out of placate them rather than draw them ( Read more... )

I addressed this some in my post, Cup of Life, Cup of Death: The Two Hands of the Poisoner (which I didn't get posted to LiveJournal, it appears), and have touched on it in other posts, but I'd like to talk about it directly ( Read more... )

 In the Garden of Eden, G-d planted two trees.  One was the Tree of Life.  The other was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which the Zohar calls the Tree of Death.  G-d told Adam that he could eat of any tree in the Garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  If he ate of it, he would surely die.  Then He made Eve.  Some ( Read more... )

No man is so good as to be free of evil, nor so bad as to be worth nothing.
~ Norse Proverb

The final, 22nd, letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Beit is Tau, the Mark or Cross.  Mystically, Tau is the Seal of Creation.  Tau represents faith being passed from Malkuth in one world to Kether in the next world, from one generation to the next generation.  It represents Malkuth, Kingdom, G-d's Kingdom, which leaves an impression on the Ancient of Days ( Read more... )

The 18th letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Beit is Tzaddi or Tzaddik (the name changed; Tzaddi is the older name).  Tzaddi means "to hunt" or "fish hook".  Tzaddik means righteous.  In Aramaic, one of the two (I'm not sure which) means Chaos.  The first two letters of both, Tzaddi-Daleth, is the world for "side".  Mystically, Tzaddi is the Faith of the ( Read more... )

The 17th letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Beit is Pe, the Mouth.  The mystic meaning of Pe is communication and the Oral Torah, both of which come from the Mouth.  The Zohar teaches that the power of Da'ath (Knowing) is concealed in the Mouth.  Da'ath is the intimate coming together of two things, like a husband and wife Knowing each other.  But it's ( Read more... )

The 16th letter of the Hebrew Alehp-Beit is Ayin.  Ayin is the Eye, but can also mean Spring or Fountain.  Ayin as a word is first used in Genesis when the serpent tells Eve that when she eats of the fruit, her eyes would be open.  The first time the letter is used in in the second verse of Genesis, in the word על, 'al, meaning upon.  Ayin as the ( Read more... )

The ninth letter in the Aleph-Beit is Tet. Tet is the serpent, but its meaning is greater than that. Tet is associated with Tov and is considered inverted in form, hence being considered inverted good, or hidden good. It is good that can't be seen on the surface. Tet is the number nine, and hence represents nine months of pregnancy, hence Tet is ( Read more... )

There is an expression in Hebrew that is often translated as congratulations. Mazal Tov (מזל טוב) literally means "good fortune", and refers to having good things happen to you. But there are a lot of interesting things that can be looked at in these words. I'm going to explore these words and use them to better clarify some concepts of the ( Read more... )