Rosh HaShana! Shana Tova u'Metuka - Happy New Year 5776

As we approach Rosh HaShanah 5776 I want to bless us all for a sweet, healthy, happy New Year. 

May this be a year of revealed blessings, a year of tender mercies, a year of unexpected delights, a year of profound connectivity to the Divine root of our own souls, and a year when we see the face of G*d reflected in the faces of both our dearest loved ones and total strangers. 

May we all be signed, sealed and delivered for LIFE.






 
G'mar Chatimah Tovah l'Kulam
Shana Tova u'Metuka

- Lorelai Kude ("Astrolojew")

New Moon / Solar Eclipse Erev Rosh HaShana 5776

The New Moon / Solar Eclipse (at 20 Degrees Virgo) Sunday at 9:41am Jerusalem time makes Erev Rosh HaShana the energetic doorway to the fourth and final "Blood Moon" of the rare "Blood Moon Tetrad", which will occur on Sukkot.

These upcoming "Days of Awe" are indeed awesome days. The New Moon / Solar Eclipse conceals and the Full Moon / Lunar Eclipse reveals. Many will look at the upheavals, chaos and fear in this world and point outward. Those who are wise will look inward and see where upheavals, chaos and fear are hiding inside our own souls, and root them out entirely. When we've taken out the proverbial trash, then we'll understand how much of our external reality is being created by our own internal perceptions. May the light illuminate all that seek it.

Tikkun Elul

Shavua Tov! It's the 29th of Elul, the final day of Tikkun HaChodeshim 5775!

We've been counting down the months from last Tishrei until this Elul in preparation for Rosh HaShanah 5776. Tikkun Elul is all about "Fixing Discernment". Elul is the month associated with Virgo, and the function of Virgo is that of "borer", separation of what is useful from what no longer serves a purpose.

In Elul we refine our discernment, and the morning Shofar call is meant to be an auditory attunement of our souls. Without the right attunement, we go "off key", and that manifests itself in a critical spirit and punishing perfectionism. 

"Attunement" is very close to "Atonement" - the way to atone for being out of tune is to deeply, profoundly integrate the reality that nobody and nothing is "perfect". Fixing the distortions of context and perspective heals discernment, and healthy discernment becomes wisdom.

Tikkun Av

28 Elul, "Tikkun Av", fixing the Ego (the very last thing that wants to be fixed, and it will assure you, even as you try, that it doesn't need fixing)!

Av is associated with the Tribe of Shimeon, the zodiac sign of Leo and the Sun. So powerful is Leo's energy that Av is the only month capable of holding all the destructive, negative power of ego gone wild. At the same time, Av is the month destined to herald the birth of the Messiah.

"Ego" is where the greatest danger AND the greatest deliverance comes from. Ego can go to pride and hubris, or great strength and dignity. The Sun, the most powerful influence on humankind, shines on the good and the wicked alike.  

Where has Ego blocked the (proverbial) Sun from shining in our lives? Where Ego casts a giant shadow, that's where the fixing must happen. If it's ever time to say: "I'm sorry", it's now. 

Tikkun Tammuz

27 Elul, "Tikkun Tammuz", during which we fix our emotions. Tammuz is the Sign of Cancer, associated with the Moon, and vulnerable to the most extreme emotional fluctuations. Reuven, the patriarch of the Tribe associated with Tammuz, was told by his father Jacob that his nature was as "unstable as water". Today we fix our emotional instability. Easier said than done, right?

Yet Reuven himself demonstrated the secret of this fixing when he acknowledged his father's frank assessment without bitterness, rebellion or resentment. Self-awareness and honest self-assessment anchors unstable emotions to a fixed reality: We are all Works in Progress. Neither veering towards morose nor grandiose, but aiming for equanimity in our in our daily lives and integrity in our relationships. Being able to accept critique from those with our best interests in mind without going off the deep end is emotional maturity. 

May Tikkun Tammuz give us the energetic opening to fix where we've been off the deep end or stuck in the shallow end with our feelings!

Tikkun Sivan

26 Elul, "Tikkun Sivan", we're "Fixing Communication". Sivan is the month associated with Gemini, the Twins, the Planet Mercury ("Kochav"), and the Tribe of Zevulon. The holiday of Shavuot occurs during Sivan, and the energy of the month was given to us to refine and elevate the way we communicate with ourselves, each other, and G*d.

Miscommunication comes from lack of understanding. Sometimes we have to slow down just to hear ourselves think. Do you regret misunderstandings which occurred this past year? Is there a way to go back and refine what you meant to say? What have you left unspoken and unshared, what have you been carrying around in your heart which should have been out in the open long ago? 

Fix your own internal communication system by listening to your own heart and shutting off all the noise in your head. Once you know what your heart is really saying, you'll know how to share your truth with others.

Tikkun Iyar

25 Elul, "Tikkun Iyar". The last time Iyar was upon us (April 19 - May 18, 2015), we were counting the Sefirot haOmer. Does that seem like a long time ago? Or just yesterday?

Iyar is connected to Taurus, the Fixed Earth ("Establishing Manifestation") sign, and the Tribe of Issachar. Were you taking the opportunity to build yourself up last time around? How have you manifested what you laid the foundation for during this last Iyar? If manifesting the reality you've built from the ground up is eluding you, reflect on where you may have missed a step or two. Take the time for a do-over, if the do-over will make the foundation of what you're building in your life stronger and more secure. 

Issachar is said to be the Tribe of Torah Scholars. Nobody ever got to be a Chocham by skipping steps or calling in their performance. Take the time to shore up your foundation so you can build something worth keeping.That's what "fixing manifestation" is all about.

Tikkun Nissan

It's the 24th of Elul, "Tikkun Nissan", we're fixing those things we can still fix from last Nissan (21 March - 18 April, 2015). Nissan is the month associated with the sign of Aries and the planet Mars ("Maadim"). Mars is your energy, your "koach", your "Chi" (life force), it's your Yetzer - neither "tov" (good) nor "ra" (bad), but simply the impetus, the get up and go, the raw energetic "Ummmph" a person needs to do anything at all in this world.

Nissan is when we inaugurated the Tabernacle, it's the time of the Exodus from Egypt, it's a time of energetic rebirth and the raw power that accompanies newness. It's about INITIATIVE - taking initiative with courage. The Tribe of Yehuda is connected to Aries. Yehuda is about overcoming discouragement and accepting the mantle of leadership. So too in our own lives we allow discouragement to tell us others must lead and we must follow, because (as Yehuda himself did after the incident with Yoseph being sold into slavery) we've made mistakes and feel unworthy. 

When you allow life to take the initiative, you become reactive. Did you lose your individual initiative somewhere along the way? Has the world beat you up so badly you feel like "it's no use even trying"? Are you discouraged? Today's energy is to fix discouragement and re-energize your individual initiative so that you may boldly go where you've never gone before - to the next level! Chazak, Chazak! Be strong and of good courage!

Tikkun Adar

It's 23 Elul, Tikkun Adar, we're halfway through Tikkun HaChodeshim and only 6 days from Rosh HaShanah!

During Tikkun Adar we're fixing our belief. We look at what we believed in this past Adar (February 19 - March 20th, 2015) and where our faith might have sprung a few leaks. Adar isn't about dogma and it's not about doctrine - it's about pure faith, starting with faith in one's own self. How many times have we let ourselves down by not believing in ourselves when we really needed it the most? 

At Purim during Chodesh Adar, we drink "ad lo yodeah", until we don't know, can't tell the difference between Mordechai and Haman (between our "light" and our "shadow" selves). We can fix our broken belief when we get to "ad lo yodeah" - beyond "knowing", into the realm of pure faith. 

Believe in yourself because G*d believes in you. Don't give up on yourself because G*d hasn't given up on you. Keep on going "ad lo yodeah", no matter what, until you can't tell the difference between "you" and G*d's illuminating spirit within you. Because - truth - there's no difference. That spark of Divinity IS "you". 

23 Elul - Energetic Potential for both "Universal Peace" and "World War"

Today is the 23rd of Elul, in Jewish history this is the day the dove returned to Noah's ark with the olive branch in his mouth. This motif has become the universal archetype of the cessation of hostilities between G*d and man, and the beginning of humankind's "Second Chance" on Earth. 

23 Elul was also the date on the Hebrew Calendar that the horrific tragedy of 9/11 occurred in 2001.

How to reconcile the tremendous moral gap between these two events? 

It's a spiritual principle that whatever has potential for kedusha (holiness) also has the same degree of potential for evil (and the other way around as well - those with the biggest "Yetzer HaRah" - "evil inclination" - become the highest and holiest when that energy is turned around for good). 

If 23 Elul has inherit energetic potential for the expression of "peace on Earth", it must also have the energetic potential for "world war". We've seen it used both ways. We can use it ourselves in our everyday lives. Today when that energy is available to us, let's use it for good.

Tikkun Shevat

Shavua Tov! It's 22 Elul, Tikkun Shevat in the process of Tikkun HaChodeshim, and we're "fixing" knowledge.

Shevat is the month associated with the Sign of Aquarius, the Water Bearer, and is the "New Year of the Trees". 

Serach, a daughter of Asher (The Tribe of Asher is the Tribe associated with Shevat) taught the secret of fixing knowledge by the way she broke the news to her elderly, sad and frail grandfather Jacob that his son Joseph was still alive in Egypt. By her gentle, gradual and sensitive way of breaking dramatic news, Serach shows us knowledge can be a weapon, and isn't something to hit someone over the head with. 

How have we used our knowledge against others, or ourselves? Have we been arrogant and unteachable? Is it more important to be right than it is to be fair, sensitive or open to learning from others? This is our opportunity to "fix" our knowledge and our knowing. 

As Reb Shlomo said: "What do we know"? May we "fix" our knowing in the deepest way!

Tikkun Tevet

Tonight is 21 Elul, the fourth night of Tikkun haChodeshim תיקון החודשים, and we're fixing the Month of Tevet of this past year (December 22, 2014 - January 20, 2015).

Tevet is associated with Saturn ("Shabtai"), the Tribe of Dan, the sign of Capricorn, and the ability to structure, organize and use the material and spiritual world in tandem and with responsibility and maturity. The greatest threat to Tevet's power is the destructive force of anger.

This is your opportunity to sweeten the judgement of anger that may have been destructively expressed this last Tevet. Can you see where your anger may have come from fear, hurt, mistrust, or the disappointment of a broken ideal - even a broken heart? Let the healing power of this day of Fixing Tevet give you a fresh perspective and a fresh approach towards impediments you may have brought upon yourself because of anger.

Tikkun Kislev

Tonight is 20 Elul, the third night of Tikkun haChodeshim תיקון החודשים . We are now fixing Kislev (November 12th - December 12th, 2014). 

"Fixing Inspiration" is one important aspect of what may have gone wrong this last Kislev. Associated with the Tribe of Benyamin, the Sign of Sagittarius and the Planet Jupiter ("Tzedek"), Kislev is the month that supplies us our yearly dose of inspiration. 

Did we drink deeply enough? Did we appreciate it, or did we take it for granted? Did depression, anxiety or doubt make the abundance of inspirational Kislev energy unable to be absorbed? Can we use this day to fix our ability to receive, retain and reflect inspiration?

The Mecurial Kim Davis

Kim Davis (September 17, 1965) is a Virgo with Moon in Gemini, making her Sun/Ego and Moon/Emotions a double-dose of Mutable (changeable)Mercury, Planetary ruler of both Virgo and Gemini.

Adding to her Mercurial nature: Jupiter at 29 Degrees (the "Ultimate" or "Critical" Degree of any sign) of Gemini, and North Node in Gemini enlarges and enhances her changeability.  With her Moon in Gemini as well as her Jupiter and North Node, Kim Davis is a woman whose very sense of destiny is dependent on adaptability to circumstances in which she finds herself and not upon the impetus of her own will. "Stability" is not her middle name - at least not in the areas ruled by the Moon (her emotional self) and enhanced by Jupiter's expansiveness and the North Node's sense of destiny. 

When a personality such as this meets a dogma such as "Not my will, but Thine, O Lord", this is what we call "a match made in heaven". 

Mercury in it's home sign of Virgo, right behind the Sun in Virgo, Uranus and Pluto conjunct in Virgo, and Saturn, the Planet responsible for things like structure, order, responsibility, etc. is OPPOSITE all that Virgo - Saturn in Pisces: the sign least likely to have functional, strong personal boundaries. 

Saturn: The part of her personality in charge of saying "no" is disabled and overwhelmed by its placement in Pisces, the boundary-less sign, and its opposition to the Sun (Ego), Uranus (Unique Self) and Pluto (Death and Resurrection, Transformative Self) in practical, constantly sifting and evaluating Virgo. 

Basically this woman is someone who has spent her life changing from one thing to another. The only stability she has exhibited is in her employment (over 25 years at the same job). But wait, there's more.

Her Venus, Mars and Neptune in Scorpio give her a strong, passionate, stubborn, intense, secretive,  and focused sexuality. At the mercy of all that Mercurial energy, her passionate need for intimacy may have taken all sorts of twists and turns along the road of life. 

Kim Davis is a woman whose lifetime of boundary-less enslavement to her darkest passions resulted in repentance and a deep need to set a boundary and stick to it - a boundary in the area she herself perceived as the mortal enemy of her soul - that of forbidden and secret sexual desires. 

I'd love to know her birth time to determine which Houses these Planetary clusters fall in! I'm guessing she might have Sagittarius Rising, putting all that Gemini drama into her 7th House of Marriage and Partnerships, all that Virgo into her 10th House (public persona, career and vocation) where she is perceived as both "steady" (employed at the same job for almost 30 years), analytical (critical/picky) and in some ways, "purer-than-thou" (Virgo's shadow side). Sagittarius Rising would also put her Venus/Mars/Neptune in Scorpio in her 12th House, right where she'd feel the most guilty about her "secret" passions (and most likely the place from where she "repented" when she became a born-again, Apostolic Christian after four marriages and a set of twins born out of wedlock). 

If anyone discovers her birth time, please forward me the information at: astrolojew@gmail.com - thanks! :)

Tikkun Cheshvan

I9 Elul, Tikkun Cheshvan - Day Two of Tikkun haChodeshim, תיקון החודשים , the "Fixing" of the Months of this past year as we count down to Rosh HaShanah.

Cheshvan is about the deepest and most intense intimacy, the kind that transcends time and space, circumstances and limitations, even life or death. Think back to last Cheshvan October 24th - November 22nd, 2014. What or whom are you missing? If intimacy was breached, can it be repaired? Intimacy is impeded when secrets exist between two people. Which secrets are you no longer obligated to keep now?

May we go together from strength to strength as we move through the months of 5775 in preparation for 5776!

Tikkun Tishrei

It's תיקון החודשים Tikkun haChodeshim and today, 18 Elul, is Tikkun Tishrei.

We look back to last Tishrei - September 24th through October 23rd, 2014. Where were you? What were you doing?

Tishrei is concerned with PARTNERSHIP relationships. How did you relate to your partners last Tishrei? A spouse, a business partner, a significant other? Is there something you left unsaid, or wish you could say all over again in a different way?

Tishrei is associated with the Planet Venus - "Noga" in Hebrew. Bright and beautiful, romantic and inspiring, "Noga" is the Star connected to Libra/Tishrei and the Tribe of Ephraim. Meditate on that Venus/Noga energy when you close your eyes and think about last Tishrei. What kind of "light" shines for you? Is there anything you can change? 

I bless you all (and thank you for blessing me back!) that you should find the deepest depths of spiritual connection, release and transcendence during Tikkun HaChodeshim.

Tikkun haChodeshim, 5775

Tuesday, September 1st at Sundown begins 18 ("Chai" = "Life") Elul, the Baal Shem Tov's birthday AND the beginning of Tikkun haChodeshim - the fixing of the months of the previous year (5775), as we prepare for Rosh HaShanah 5776.

On 18 Elul we examine ourselves for what we did, said and thought during this past Tishrei. On 19 Elul, we look at ourselves as we were this past Cheshvan, etc. etc. until we arrive at 29 Elul, and our self-examination for what we've said, done, thought, etc. for this month.

Good tools for doing Tikkun haChodeshim yourself - use a journal. Write down your reflections. Check your Facebook history, your personal calendar, journal or datebook from past months for where you were at during different times of the year. 

 

May we "fix" whatever can be fixed, may we let go of what is beyond ours to fix, and may we have wisdom to know the difference!