Weekly Sabbath

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
by Georges Seurat., Art Institiute of Chicago

“Anyone can observe the Sabbath, but to make it holy takes a week.” ~ Alice Walker

“Some keep Sabbath by going to church.  I keep Sabbath by staying at home.”  ~ Emily Dickinson

Excerpt from Sabbaths 2011

by Wendell Berry

VI

Sit and be still

until in the time

of no rain you hear

beneath the dry wind's

commotion in the trees

the sound of flowing

water among the rocks,

a stream unheard before,

and you are where

breathing is prayer.

I don’t know about you, but for the past couple of months I feel like I’ve been running non-stop.  My schedule looks something like this:  Wake-up, shower, wake up child #1, 15 minute meditation, make sure child #2 is up, eat breakfast and journal, tidy-up, say have a nice day to both as they head to school, go to work, come home, oversee soccer practice and/or game for child #1, oversee soccer practice, band and/or game for child #2, make sure children’s homework is done, make sure my homework is done for Wednesday night, eat supper, clean-up after supper, tidy –up, and go to sleep.  Repeat four more times and when Saturday comes around everything that didn’t get done during the week around the house (e.g., oil change, grocery shopping, bath room cleaning) needs to get done.

The problem is I’m finding this busyness is seeping into Sunday and everything is blending together and I can’t think and I’m trying to locate the cord for the emergency brakes because the train is moving very fast and there are still things needing to get done and it is Monday all over again.

Does this sound familiar?

I heard this story last week about a medical explorer in the Amazon.  Apparently, it is a well-known story.  The explorer is hunting for medicinal plants by traveling with an indigenous tribe. The first day of the journey happens quickly. They hike many hours through the swamp and jungle and cover lots of ground looking for a specific plant. The same happens on day two and three.  On the morning of the fourth day, the explorer eagerly hops up from sleep and prepares for another day of trekking. The tribesmen, however, are all sitting down.

“What are they doing? Tell them to get up. We have to get going!” urges the explorer who is also looking at his watch.

The translator explains that the men have pushed themselves too hard and had moved too fast. They are now waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies

I can relate to the tribesmen.  I need some time for my soul to catch up with my intellect and body.  I need to find the cord for that brake.

~#~

Six days shall you be a workaholic;

on the seventh day, shall you join the serene company of human beings.

Six days shall you take orders from your boss;

on the seventh day, shall you be master/mistress of your own life.

Six days shall you toil in the market;

on the seventh day, shall you detach from money matters.

Six days shall you create, drive, create, invent, push;

on the seventh day, shall you reflect.

Six days shall you be the perfect success;

on the seventh day, shall you remember that not everything is in your power.

Six days shall you be a miserable failure;

on the seventh day, shall you be on top of the world.

Six days shall you enjoy the blessings of work;

on the seventh day, shall you understand that being is as important as doing.

How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household - Blu Greenbert

~#~

I recently completed the January series of Deepak Chopra’s Mind, Body and Spirit 21 day meditation.  One of the nuggets that I took away was about breathing.  Between the inhale and exhale there’s a point, the top of the mountain sort of speak, where everything stops before you exhale.  In that moment you are connected with you mind, soul and spirit.  This connection allows us to connect with others and with Motherfather Spirit.  I see this moment as having a personal choice concerning the next breathing cycle: Will I be more conscious, more loving and more connected with others?

I believe taking a day for Sabbath is supposed to be like this only more extended.  A day or at least two hours, when I can stop this need to get things done.  A day when I can be fully in the moment connected with Motherfather Spirit.

I think Barbara Brown Taylor says it plainly:  

“At least one day in every seven, pull off the road and park the car in the garage. Close the door to the toolshed and turn off the computer. Stay home not because you are sick but because you are well. Talk someone you love into being well with you. Take a nap, a walk, an hour for lunch. Test the premise that you are worth more than what you can produce—that even if you spent one whole day being good for nothing you would still be precious in God's sight—and when you get anxious because you are convinced that this is not so, remember that your own conviction is not required. This is a commandment. Your worth has already been established, even when you are not working. The purpose of the commandment is to woo you to the same truth.”

Inhale then exhale……

~#~

I don’t know how many are familiar with the blue laws.  These laws restricted purchasing of alcohol and times stores could be opened on Sunday.  By the time I was in college many had disappeared.  Stores were opened 24 hours a day even on Sunday.  Ironically, when I visited Europe it was one of the things I wished we still had.   It forces people to focus or in my case practice.

Within ten minutes of coming home from school, I’d hear one of my parents saying, “Have you practice yet?”  If I’d answer no they would follow-up with, “How do you expect to be good at something if you don’t practice?”  The same can be said for getting better at your spiritual craft.  If you only practice recipes and rituals on the holidays how do you expect to become an expert?

The Goddesses Vesta and Hesta urge their followers to stop and take time to focus and create the sacred.  These Goddesses embodied the notion that wholeness and inner peace was related to the time one focused on their spiritual center.    It is ironic that hearth means focus in Latin.  The image of an older woman knitting, rocking – staring into the fire comes to mind.  I see that woman as a symbol of what is important – a time when I’m not working and exerting force, but reflecting, paying attention and working in concert with Motherfather Spirit.  That woman is living a magical life.

I take a weekly Sabbath as part of my recipe for magical living.  It is an extended time period devoted to the craft and my connection Motherfather Spirit.  It’s my time to practice new recipes by blending herbs and spices; to sew blessings and tie blessing knots into a baby’s quilt, to pull weeds and harvest vegetables by singing songs of thanks, to hold a crystal and listen to it talk, lite a candle for the health of a friend, and to make a nice Sunday dinner to share with friends.

Activity:

Focus Sabbatum (Hearth Sabbath)

Carve out at least 2 hours to devote to your craft and your spiritual gifts.

Intaglios-Learning to Read Road Sign Etchings

Hermit

 “Intaglio are techniques in art in which an image is created by cutting, carving or engraving into a flat surface and may also refer to objects made using these techniques.”  Wikipedia

"Mythological symbols touch and exhilarate centers of life beyond the reach of reason and coercion.... The first function of mythology is to reconcile waking consciousness to the mysterium tremendum et fascinans of this universe as it is." Joseph Campbell

Whenever I see the Hermit, I think of all the “ah ha” moments that I’ve been alerted to turn right now, cautioned to look more closely and grow here, or warned to make a U turn on my spiritual journey.  As I glance at the picture, the Hermit is holding up a lantern and to me is lighting my way back to Motherfather Spirit. But, there is something deeper going on. The Hermit is not only exposing the familiar stop signs, but also the ancient mythological symbols that many cultures and belief systems have left for us. Joseph Campbell would say the Hermit is shining a light into our collective human subconscious revealing myths and symbols that help us to understand how life works.

I studied tarot with Marti Sinclair in Columbus in the late 1980s. I liked how she compared what’s going on in the tarot cards by observing children’s movies. For example, understanding the differences in what an 8 year old sees in Mary Poppins versus an adult. To that 8 year old self, the movie is an entertaining and has many catchy tunes: Chim Chim Cheree or Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.  However, there is another layer that is revealed in that film as the adult. The eight year old surely didn’t catch political messages regarding women’s suffragette and working class versus wealthy class during the Edwardian era. Same is true with the tarot deck. There are other signs and symbols appearing in the pictures that are overlooked by the novice. Yes, it’s easy to memorize the traditional card meanings, but adding the other nuances brings with it other layers in meaning.

Gotland Rune Stone

Marti’s class has led me on an adventure to read and understand signs and symbols the ancient ones left. On vacation, I feel a lot like Dan Brown character or Indian Jones who’s interest lies in understanding religious iconology and symbology. Last summer my adventure put me in front of Denmark’s Jelling Stones and Gotland’s Rune Stones.

Triquetra

Triangle and Triquetra
“Three – two get together and give birth to three, a new circle or Universal egg of Maiden, Mother and Crone.”  Shekhina Mountainwater (Stein, Diane The Women’s Book of Spirituality. Llewellyn Publication, St. Paul Minnesota. 1989. 205)

The triangle is one of those symbols for me.  It alerts me to: coorperation and harmony.  It asks am I disconnected from creation or Motherfather spirit? 

Look closely at the Hermit’s lamp light you see a six pointed star. The star is made of two triangles. Some would say that the star represents a balance between male and female energy. Meaning the triangle with its point at the top represents male energy and the triangle pointing down female energy. In many traditions, the triangle symbolizes a balance between mind, body and spirit; past, present and future; or aspects of a triune God or Goddess. The triangle pattern is seen in the pyramids of ancient Egypt or etched in a symbol pattern to awake the Celtic dragon. The ancients (i.e., Sematic people, Greek, Phoenician, Early Christian Church) believed the triangle to be the symbol of a doorway between earth and the heavens.

So going into a church and seeing the dove (i.e., Goddess aspect) within a triangle puts a whole new spin on things.

In the Celtic tradition, the trinity knot is another form of the triangle.  It is a design that is unending.  The design can be found on ancient crosses and stones throughout Ireland.  It can also be found in the Book of Kells. 

The Celtic triquetra knot reminds me that we are all interconnected.  That there is an unending love between Motherfather Spirit and creation.  It reminds me I need to do my part to keep the circle strong. 

Activities:
Sew your own triquetra

Copyright BEM

Materials needed:

6” x 55” piece of fleece
Thread
Sewing Machine
Stuffing
Needle
pins

Fold over right sides together and pin.

Sew ¼” seam.
Turn tube so that the right sides are out.
Stuff (I used a ruler to help with the stuffing)
Fold into triquetra knot and sew ends together.