SHEVAT: FULL MOON IN CANCER & TU B'SHEVAT 01.17.2022 (Copy)
in lenapehoking, we are now deeply encompassed by winter- the anchored stillness of branches stripped bare, the emptied trees, nests, homes. the gentle sharpness of each breath of cold air filling our lungs that feels fresh & crisp, like energy in wait.
now a full lunar cycle since the solstice, we're seeing sunlight slowly return to us & are feeling the deeply rooted anticipation of springtime, life, and nature's rebirth whispering to us from afar. like longing for touch in solitude, yearning for a lover, for warmth & the intimacy of closeness in the coldest months.
the slowly churning energy of cardinal earth capricorn season has been shifting the tectonic plates of our routines & belonging beneath our feet. deeply embedded questions of ambition, stability, compassion, & care have been sent vibrating through our bodies for careful questioning. on the horizon we feel the starlit energy of aquarius season starting to echo over the mountains, as if calling to us through our dreamscapes.
Make it stand out
just like the moon returning to her home domain, we are all being asked to return home to ourselves in winter.
the cancer full moon asks our hearts what we most yearn for in moments of transition- the ways we can fall more deeply into faith, comfort, & safety during hibernation. the importance of not only returning to our intuition & emotional processing; but of truly letting ourselves witness & FEEL our deepest desires. our most profound, earthshaking thirsts. our deep oceans of love. the ways we care for, nurture & reparent ourselves through heartbreak & change.
and just like the trees surrounding us in capricorn season, i'm thinking of the ways we are firmly rooted in earth yet also stripped bare and exposed in this moment. trees gift us so much; life, oxygen, companionship, protection. but perhaps the greatest honor is to witness the openness with which trees transform & show their vulnerability. it is an honor to witness them at their fullest, when they bring forth fruit and leafy homes for ecosystems of animals and birds. and it is an honor, when every leaf has been shed & fallen away, to bear witness to their truest, innermost, divine core. their essence.
on a walk a few months ago with naima, we marveled at the autumnal transition from the bountiful plumage of full, leafy trees to their winter forms. and it was in that moment that i realized it's only when the trees are bare that we see their true selves. it is only when every leaf has fallen away that we see the full intricacies of their strength, support systems, and identity. their scars from lightning, storms, and the passage of time. the interconnectedness between their root systems, branches, & crowns, like witnessing their love, friendship, community.
it is only when we are stripped bare, when everything else falls away, that we start to see this innermost truth of ourselves. sometimes this comes as ego death. sometimes this feels like heartbreak and loss- of life, love, patterns, or ways of being that suddenly change. but in these moments when we are most vulnerable, lonely, or weary, we can look to the trees for guidance. the truth is that we need to let others in. to be vulnerable is to let ourselves be seen through love.
six months ago i journaled that: "to leave the soil and grow and bloom in the world is a scary thing. but to do so is to be rewarded by the infinite beauty of being seen, deeply, for who i am. to be met by soulmates and kindred with the truest love, the greatest acceptance, the vastness and depth of real trust.to open myself, even in moments of immense sadness and pain, even in moments of memories stirring feelings of unworthiness or fear, is to be visible. is to see the beauty in myself. is to love myself so bravely and fiercely that i open myself to others loving me bravely and fiercely."
INTIMACY ASKS FOR OUR COURAGE TO BE VULNERABLE. TRUST ASKS FOR OUR GIFT OF VISIBILITY. LOVE ASKS FOR THE DEVOTION TO OUR HEARTS TO BE TRUTHFUL, OPEN. THIS IS SACRED.
IT IS A WHOLENESS, AND HOLINESS, ONLY MEANT FOR THE FEW. SO IN THE WORDS OF @SACREDBLOOMING, WHO DESERVES TO HAVE THE HONOR OF SEEING YOU?
in the beautiful, wise, transcendant words of dori midnight:
"Jewish tradition is a tree tradition: our cosmology is mapped onto the body of a tree, one of our names for god is 'holy apple orchard,' and we call the Torah 'a Tree of Life.'
in the zohar, god is a tree & we are the apples, god is also an orchard and we are the trees; they are a horticulturist, and we, the trees. like trees, we are earth bound beings arching towards mystery."
"for in truth a person is called 'a tree of the field,' as it is written, 'the tree of the field is human,' except that the human is an upside-down tree. for a tree's root is sunk below in the earth, but a person's root is above, for the soul is their root, and that is from heaven. and the hands are the branches of the tree, the legs are branches on branches, the body is the trunk.” [Netzach Yisrael 8:27]
"the deep connection with trees in Jewish imagination may have roots in the worship of Asherah, an ancient Canaanite goddexx. tree theology sings throughout Jewish tradition - in rabbinic text, folklore, healing practices, and liturgy.” @dorimidnight
this time inspired a collage that was inspired by the seven species: pomegranates, olives, figs, wheat, barley, grapes, & dates. (שבעת המינים)
as described by myjewishlearning, "the special significance of the seven species is accentuated by the great kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria (Arizal), who attributes the spiritual energies of each fruit to one of the seven lower sefirot (spiritual emanations) that we count during each week of the Omer. their correspondence is according to the order they occur in the Torah verse. the medical properties of the seven species are synchronized with their spiritual energies."
wheat is chesed (kindness), barley is gevura (restraint), grapes are tiferet (beauty), figs are netzach (endurance), pomegranates are hod (majesty & glory), olives are yesod (foundation), & dates are malchut (kingdom).
thank you also to hadar cohen for compiling such a gorgeous guide, with some of my favorites below, of tu b'shevat, trees, & mysticism:
ראֵה אֶת מַעֲשֵה הָאֱלקים כִי מִי יוכַל לְתַקֵן אֵת אֲשֶר עִוְתו, בְשָעָה שֶבָרא הַקָדוש בָרוְ הוא אֶת אָדם הָראשון, נְטָלו וְהֶחֱזִירו עַל כָל אִילָנֵי גַן עֵדן, וְאָמַר לו, ראֵה מַעֲשַי כַמָה נָאִים ומְשֻבָחִין הֵן, וְכָל מַה שֶּבָראתִי בִשְבִילְָ בָראתִי, תֵן דַעְתְָ שֶלא תְקלְקל וְתַחֲריב אֶת עולָמִי, שֶאִם קלְקלְתָ אֵין ,מִי שֶיְתַקֵן אַחֲריָ
"look at god's work - for who can straighten what god has twisted? (Ecclesiastes 7:13). when the blessed holy one created the first human, god took them and led them around all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to them: “look at my works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are! and all that I have created, it was for you that I created it; pay attention that you do not corrupt and destroy my world; if you corrupt it, there is no one to repair it after you."
עֵץ־חַיִים הִיא לַמַחֲזִיקים בָה וְֽתֹמְכֶיהָ מְאֻשָֽר
"she [Torah] is a tree of life to those who grasp her, and whoever holds on to her is happy.” [proverbs 3:18]
ְכֹל שִיחַ הַשָּדה, כָל הָאִילָנות כְאִלו מְשִיחִין אֵלו עִם אֵלו. כָל הָאִילָנות כְאִלו מְשִיחִין עִם הַבְריות. .כָל הָאִילָנות לַהֲנָאָתָן שֶל בְריות נִבְראו
”and every growth of the field, all the trees converse with one another. all the trees are conversing with human beings. all trees were created for human pleasure.”
[bereishit rabbah 13:2]
וְהָיָה כְעֵץ שָתול עַל־מַיִם וְעַל־יובַל יְשַלַח שָֽרשָיו וְלא יִראֶה כִֽי־יָבֹא חֹם וְהָיָה עָלֵהו רעֲנָן ובִשְנַת בַצֹרת לא יִדאָג וְלא יָמִיש מֵעֲשות פֶֽרי
”he shall be like a tree planted by waters, sending forth its roots by a stream: it does not sense the coming of heat, its leaves are ever fresh; it has no care in a year
of drought, it does not cease to yield fruit.” [jeremiah 17:8]
all of this being said,
reminder that so many of the ecosystem and re-forestation efforts happening in occupied Palestine under guise of environmentalism have been weaponized & used explicitly to displace Palestinian villages, homes, and prevent the return of communities.
