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Showing posts with label the Lilith Institute. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the Lilith Institute. Show all posts
Monday, December 12, 2016
Class with the Lilith Institute
Lilith is so important for our time, because she represents the wounded and disenfranchised feminine, and the de-sacralization of sexuality. She is the archetypal Dark Goddess. I'm pleased to share here a forthcoming class with my friend D'vorah Grenn.
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Hymn to Inanna by D'vorah
 |
| Inanna by John Singer Sargent |
She of all knowing, dark
wisdom....She of the deep abyss, snake’s descent, owl’s knowing...woman of the
dark, the light: We praise you, we stand in awe
marveling at the myriad surprises you hold in store for us. Your power,
your mystery.
Lilith-Ishtar-Shekhinah, we
worship you, in all your aspects; we sing your name.
Walk with us as we yearn to
understand you... Never let us forget your presence in, around and through us,
as we seek to proclaim and praise you in every corner of the world, in your
many guises, by every name.
Walk with us as we love you,
when we are angered by you, when we fail to comprehend you and when we renew
our resolve to serve...
Be patient with us as we must be
with ourselves, and each other... holding your presence even when we doubt or
despair. Let us continue to walk in this
new millennium as healers, casting new roles for ourselves and others, weaving
new threads of oneness and wonder Ishtar-Lilith-Shekhinah, keeper
of the mystery:
Be with us through ecstasy and
harmony through death and destruction
And You, Inanna, who were given
the setting up of lamentations, the care of children, the rejoicing of the heart, the giving of judgments, the stirring of sexuality, the making of decisions.
In the eye of this wisdom,
rising forth from the power of your being, your foresight, your intent...how is
it we ever got lost, taken over, subsumed?
How did we ever become convinced
we were not worthy to serve you, that you were the god/not the goddess? How did
you, or we, allow ourselves to be
sidetracked
sidetracked
trampled
silenced
and burned?
As we build a new world, allow
us always to remember our inner strengths, to come from a place of
understanding and compassion. Yet let us not be swayed from our goals, and never let our kindness become
weakness. Help us to remember the
lessons of our strongest foremothers and so defend ourselves when necessary,
without apology,
speak for what we believe in,
take unpopular action,
take what is rightfully ours
with or without “permission.”
Work with us, inspire us, protect us as we weave your work - our work.
Help us, sweet dark lady of the
night, holy winged figure of the light—rageful, wise judge, warmest heart,
soulful visionary... highest priestess of the Temples to whom every knee must
bend and every tongue give homage.
It is your word we write now
upon the doorpost of our house and upon our gates…
Your word, acts, images and
thoughts we share, rage at, weep with and learn from.
For It is You who makes rise our greatest laughter and love, happiness and
peace, passion, tenderness and compassion.
You who sees and
gives us our greatest anger and storm, temper and venom, jealousy and
vengefulness; You from whom and with
whom we learn to combine these things in the best ways possible... as we embody and become You, in Our divine
selves.
Sweet, dark Goddess/es of the
earth and sky, river and mountain, night and day, Heaven and Hell.
We seek to
embody your passion, your wisdom, your strength.
Be with us
now.
D’vorah bat Rita 2008
(Adapted from a liturgy
written in 1999)
Monday, July 4, 2011
Liturgy for the Ancient Goddess
This beautiful Liturgy was written by theologian D'vorah J. Gren, founder of The Lilith Institute. She kindly gave it to me when I was working on my book, The Masks of the Goddess.
I've also been privileged to be included in Talking To Goddess, a beautiful collection of blessings, prayers, invocations and other writings by 72 women in 25 spiritual traditions, edited by D'vorah. D'vorah teaches at the California Institute for Integral Studies, and she is also the author of Lilith's Fire: Reclaiming Our Sacred Lifeforce (2000).
Inanna-Ishtar-Lilith-Shekhinah...
She of all knowing, dark wisdom....She of the deep abyss, snake’s descent, owl’s knowing...woman of the dark, the light.
We praise you, we stand in awe marveling at the myriad surprises you hold for us always respectful of your power, your mystery.Lilith-Ishtar-Shekhinah, in all your aspects; we sing your name.
Walk with us as we yearn to understand you... Never let us forget your presence in, around and through us, as we praise you in your many guises, by every name.
Be patient with us as we must be with ourselves, and each other... holding your presence even when we doubt or despair.
Let us continue to walk as healers, casting new roles for ourselves and others, weaving new threads of wonder....
Ishtar-Lilith-Shekhinah, keeper of the mystery.....
Be with us through ecstasy and harmony through death and destruction.
And You, Inanna, Ancient Mother who was given the skill of lamentations, the care of children, the rejoicing of the heart, the giving of judgments, the stirring of sexuality, the making of decisions:
In the eye of this wisdom, rising forth from the power of your being ..how is it we got lost, taken over, subsumed?
How did we become convinced we were not worthy to serve? How were we silenced?
As we build a new world, allow us to remember our inner strengths, understanding and true compassion. Let us not be swayed from our goals. Help us to remember the lessons of our foremothers and so defend ourselves when necessary, without apology,
to speak for what we believe in, take unpopular action, and take what is rightfully ours with or without “permission.”
Work with us, inspire us, protect us as we weave your work - our work.
Help us, lady of the night, holy winged figure of the light—rageful, wise judge, warmest heart, soulful visionary... highest priestess of the Temples to whom every knee must bend and every tongue give homage.
It is your word we write now upon the doorpost of our house and upon our gates…
Your word, acts, images and thoughts we share, rage at, weep with and learn from.
For It is You who makes rise our laughter and love, happiness and peace, passion, tenderness and compassion,
And from You our anger, the storm, temper and venom, jealousy and vengefulness; You from whom and with whom we learn to combine these things in the best ways possible...as we embody and become You, Our divine selves.
Sweet, dark goddess/es of the earth and sky, river and mountain, night and day, Heaven and Hell.
We seek to embody your passion, your wisdom, your strength.
Be with us now.
( 2008)
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
LILITH as Archetypal Guide
Sculpture by Lorraine Capparell"Originally the Goddess ruled, or co-created, the magical life cycle forces of sexuality, birth, life and death. With the coming of patriarchal religions, the power of life and death became prerogatives of the male God, while sexuality and magic were split off from procreation and motherhood. In this sense, God is one, but the Goddess became two."
Barbara Koltuv, The Book of Lilith
Further reflections on things Liminal - I felt like re-printing a 2001 interview with visionary artist and song writer David Jeffers of San Francisco, who is also a mystic and scholar of the Kabballah. David lives in the Bay Area, but I'm not going to provide a link, as he requests anonymity because of the personal nature of our conversation.
Lilith, according to some Biblical stories, was created with Adam from the original primordial red clay. Because she would not submit to his authority Lilith was banished from Eden, and fled into the wilderness, becoming a fearsome demon, and partnering with Sammael, a fallen angel. Then God created a second woman, Eve, to be Adam’s companion (in some versions, from a spare rib). All was well until Eve was seduced by a mysterious serpent (often portrayed as Lilith) to eat an apple from the Tree of Knowledge, which she unfortunately also offered to Adam. She was thus doomed to suffer God’s punishment and Adam’s dominion for her disobedience.
And what of Lilith in later patriarchal tradition? Lilith, at home in the night world of her moonlit desert, became “The Great Whore“*, a succubus who flew on black wings to men’s beds, arousing them as they slept, and to the cradles of women to steal away their children.
In ancient Sumaria, Lilith was a moon goddess, possibly the night-time version of Inanna. She may have assisted women with night births as a midwife figure. Many suggest that Lilith represents the instinctual force of female Eros: capricious, creative, potent, self-willed. In the language of myth, throughout the course of Western religion, no Goddess was more "scapegoated" than Lilith.In the interview below, David shows how the "Goddess who became a demon" is not only misunderstood, but she is a great teacher. For him, Lilith is what we are most terrified of: the fire of erotic desire, self-expression, and the profound rage of the disenfranchised. Repression can mask psychic energies, but it cannot eliminate them. Driven into the "night side", the unconscious, they have destructive shadow power. During the Inquisition, millions, mostly women, were killed as witches. The wound of Lilith continues today in may guises. I find David's insights profound.
LILITH'S DOOR
An Interview with David Jeffers (2001)
I think Lilith has always been with me. Before I learned that Lilith is often shown with the feet of an owl, my first talisman was a pair of owl’s feet. My brother wanted to teach me to shoot a gun, and when he took a shot an owl fell to the ground. I cut off the owl's feet after it died, and tied them with a black ribbon. I was about 8 years old at the time, and I always carried them with me when my father beat me. I didn't know it, but that was my first talisman.
My first encounter with Lilith as an adult was in bed, in that state of wakefulness just before sleep. Suddenly, an enormous force seemed to come over me. I couldn’t move. Only when I surrendered was it no longer frightening. I remember a terrifying sound, like screaming whistles and grinding stones, deafening. I had this experience for quite some time, finally changing when Lilith came to me in the dream state, when she took on a human form. What was the meaning of that sound? I think it is what we perceive as "sound" when people cross thresholds, interplane abysses. The threshold experience that inspires terror. We misunderstand terror: our ideas of fear fall under superficial notions of duality. Nice things are good, scary things are bad. Terror is, in fact, often the prelude to transformation.
There are times you need to recognize there are powers so much greater than yourself, powers that are undeniably potent. It brings you to your knees. Which means to me Lilith is anti-ego. Lilith is about going beyond our small selves. How can one aspire to contact the divine without recognizing the difference between that vast power, and your own small, limited self? If you believe your understanding or personal power is comparable, you cannot access the influx of divinity. It doesn't work. That's what devotional mysticism is about.
Lilith occurs in the Kabbalist Tree of Knowledge within the mystical traditions of Judaism. There are also medieval paintings in which Lilith is shown perched on a certain branch of the alchemist’s “Tree of Wisdom“. Eventually, the seeker will meet her. When I prayed, "send me one who is divine", it was not a nurturing aspect of the Goddess that came: it was Lilith. I had to be unraveled, I had to be re-woven. She was the appropriate guide for the emotional work I was doing. Lilith was the only deity within those mystical traditions who could help me with my rage, my pain, healing my abuse. I could only go so far in therapy.
I didn't know at first it was Lilith who came to answer my prayers, but when I met her in my dreams, there was no doubt in my mind. She appeared as a disheveled young girl - her clothes were ripped and her hair was matted. In my first dream of Lilith, I took a gardenia from her room. She came screeching after me as a pubescent girl, utterly enraged. “I can keep the flower if I want,” I told her, “because it's my dream." And Lilith told me I was wrong. "All dreams are mine," she said, "because you are in my world. You come here when you are asleep, and you will respect that I am the queen of this dimension."
The key to understanding Lilith is what happened when I realized I was wrong, and said, "I'm sorry". The pain of Lilith is so much about the universal sanctity of human pain. I remember telling my therapist "All I ever really wanted was for my father to say, "I'm sorry", and mean it." Anyone could have said that to me, and it would have been healing and good. This is the same feeling I had in my dream. Apologizing changed how Lilith dealt with me. She received something she needed, and our relationship could become "Well, maybe we can work something out." She was willing to bargain, which is very Middle Eastern. You are expected to negotiate.
I asked Lilith if I could pay for the flower with a five-dollar bill. She said she would give me change, and put five ancient coins into my hand. Each was worth a fortune, worth so much more than what I offered to pay! She gave me a gift of immeasurable value, and then those gold coins melted in my hand, to become absorbed into my bloodstream, my being. “Now,” Lilith told me, “we can speak the same language; we can communicate with each other.” And that was the beginning of a dream relationship that lasted for over 10 years.
Lilith, to me, is the most intelligent archetypal power. She rules the liminal landscape between the subconscious and the conscious mind, and can help make that information conscious and usable in your life. Lilith is the bridge. She is about the origin of the soul. In medieval art, Lilith is often shown as the serpent in the tree of knowledge, which is considered evil in fundamental religions. But why did she want to make Eve wise? Because it is good for your eyes to be opened. That's all Lilith offered Eve.
"What you believe" is just a shell. Lilith is about breaking the shell. Sometimes you have to fall apart to be put back together, because that's the only way to be re-integrated. You cannot veneer Lilith’s teachings on top of who you think you are. She’ll change you first.”
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*"Whore" possibly derives from an ancient Semitic word, "Hara" or "Hora". It's original meaning may go back as far as Babylonia and Sumaria, when women served as priestesses, thus, it was related to a title for a fertility priestess. To this day, "Hara" is an esoteric term used for the womb or 2nd Chakra center, the center of creativity and sexuality. And a circle "fertility" dance, the "Hora", is still danced at Jewish weddings.
"Seeing in the Dark" (2009)Lauren Raine
Monday, February 2, 2009
Interstices
I was a hidden treasure and desired to be known:
therefore I created the creation in order to be known.
-- Sufi creation mythI love that funny little Sumerian stele of Lilith (which is posted on my previous post). I always imagine her in some ancient desert, under a starry sky, suddenly appearing amid the flickering light of a campfire, with her owls and her beehive hairdo. To learn more about Lilith, visit the Lilith Institute, founded by Deborah Gren Scott, who teaches women's studies at the New College of the California.
Lilith certainly got her share of mythological scapegoating.
From the "night side/dream side" aspect of the great Mother Goddess Inanna,as well as the midwife who helped women to give birth at night, she evolved through time to the innumerable Hebrew "Lilits" endlessly tormenting otherwise chaste men in their beds and dreams, even as their wives slumber innocently beside them. Lilith was called the "great whore" - the archetype blamed and punished throughout history in various ways for those "unchaste lustful thoughts" which surely would not arise otherwise. Feminist writers including Susan Brownmiller and Germaine Greer have written brilliantly about this.
I cannot end this ramble about Lilith without throwing in one of my favorite homilies. The word "Whore" derives from earlier Semitic words that originally meant "Priestess" and/or "Fertile": Hora, Hara. "Hara" is a term still used to indicate the 2nd Chakra, "womb" or sexual/creative center. And to this day, the "Hora", a Circle Dance, is still danced at Jewish weddings. The evolution of this word within our language, from a term of respect and possibly a sacred term, to the worst kind of insult that can be cast on a woman, is telling in many ways.
Following a Jungian thread, this western Dark Goddess, the "Goddess of the Outlands", cast out into the mythic periphery as fearsome, but ever dangerous demon.... is also the initiator of fertility, priestess of the rich life of the unconscious, as well as the one who leads the "Circle Dance" of integral self-awareness.
I wanted to thank "Crooked Smilee" for her kind comment. Grief is indeed a strange mate. Her blog is "The In-Between Space" (crookedsmilee.blogspot.com) Here is how she describes her blog:
"The convergence point between the spiritual, social, & political realms in human awareness::: between illusion and reality...truth and lie.... discernment and denial....reason and intuition....emotion and deep knowing."
Surely Lilith is a Goddess of the "In-Between" spaces, the "Interstices". And that is also why she has so much power to transform us. Here's what David Jeffers, an artist and scholar of the Kabala, had to say:
"There are references in the Kabala to what is called "breaking the shell". The mind set of "what you believe" is the shell, and Lilith is about breaking the shell. You have to fall apart sometimes to be put back together; because that's the only way you can be reconstructed. You cannot veneer these teachings on top of who you think you are. "
Syncronicities to me belong to those "Interstices". They may well be, as physicist F. David Peat** suggested in his book SYNCRONICITY - The Bridge Between Mind and Matter breakthroughs that hint of the deeper, integral nature of reality. (see also the Pari Center ) Am I making any sense? Well, I'll continue to blunder around. In other words, here we are living our lives on three dimensional terms, making our plans in space/time as we understand it, and every so often a pebble, a dust mote, a breeze, a conversation from the fifth or sixth dimensions penetrate our perceptions, before vanishing again, leaving one confused, amused, but with just a tiny glimpse of something vastly unfathomable and yet strangely familiar.
"Syncronicities provide a bridge between inner and outer worlds, between our private thoughts and external, objective realities. Within a synchronicity, patterns of external events mirror an inner experience. To distinguish synchronicities from mere chance occurrences Carl Jung stressed that they must always involve "meaningful coincidence" that lie beyond any explanation involving causal links and connections. In this way syncronicities reveal to us an underlying world of patterns, forms and connections that transcend any division between the mental and the material."**
"I believe that all coincidences are messages from the unmanifest – they are like angels without wings, so to speak, sudden interruptions of life by a deeper level"
.... Deepak Chopra
"To Stars" is one of them - I hope it captures a little of those "between" places where other forms of perception live. And, within the awe, a great song of belonging.
To StarsWith age, I’ve learned to watch my feet.I’ve become cautious of falls, the true frailty of bones,and equally fragile,the choices found at every crossroad.Time, I’ve discovered, makes us bend -we learn the habit of looking down.After a summer rain,the smell of diesel and chaparralI was blessedly nowhere,just between “here” and “there”.A truck stop off I-40I was falling off the edge of the worldin a nameless little desert town,my feet disappearinginto a sweet black halcyon midnight:then you made your puddled, gracious descent:Luminous Orion,and faithful Sirius,the dog star Antares, the Scorpion’s tail,the Pleiades dancing forever,arms entwined in Indra’s shining jewel net,and the Big Dipperoffering, offering foreverI heard you singing:"Wait for me, Wait for me"
**From the catalog (2006) of the Pari Center, founded by F. David Peat and colleagues:
"Synchronicities are those mysterious and inexplicable coincidences that occasionally erupt into a life. At times we may feel that those around us are confined to a narrow world of logic and physical law, a world that admits no hint of mystery. This can give rise to a feeling of isolation within an indifferent universe and an increasing complex society whose members are reduced to ciphers. Synchronicities, by contrast, offer a doorway into a very different world. A world that also has resonances with the deep insights that have been revealed by the new sciences.
True synchronicities are more than mere chance occurrences. They are characterized by a sense of meaning and numiniousness. They provide a bridge between inner and outer worlds, between our private thoughts and external, objective realities. Within a synchronicity, patterns of external events mirror an inner experience; likewise dreams and fantasies may seem to flood over into the external world. To distinguish synchronicities from mere chance occurrences Carl Jung stressed that they must always involve "meaningful coincidence" that lie beyond any explanation involving causal links and connections. In this way reveal to us an underlying world of patterns, forms and connections that transcend any division between the mental and the material.
Synchronicities also act as markers of time, moments of transformation within a life that occur in chairos, when “the time is right”. Thus, while causality ties us to our past, synchronicity can link us to our future. They can also act as significant encounters when a door is opened through which we can pass. One notable encounter took place between the psychologist Carl Jung and the physicist Wolfgang Pauli. This meeting of people from two very different worlds led to Pauli’s series of dreams which caused him to explore the relationship between psyche and matter and believe that the time was at hand for the "resurrection of spirit” within the world of matter.
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