This newsletter is a publication of the Mystical Order of the White Rose, a multi-faith devotional and spiritual support organization.  We support and share information about mystical, monastic, contemplative and creative ways of living.  We encourage prayer, the reading of sacred scripture(s), lectio divina, meditation, journaling, solitude, fasting, silence, kindness, hospitality, worship, simplicity, creativity,active involvement in spiritual and/or religious communities, and  loving service to others.  You can view past issues here and you can subscribe to it here .

Table of Contents

--    Connecting With the Kabbalah by Cynthia Kiteley Lee

--   Video:  The Book of Creation - Sefir Yetzir (3800 Year Old Kabbalistic Wisdom)

--   Video:  The Five Basic Principles of the Kabbalah

--   Poetry:  Poems Written Under the Influence of the Kabbalah by Cynthia Tedesco

---  Video:  Jewish Mysticism by Rabbi David Aaron

---  Website:  Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism

http://www.jewfaq.org/kabbalah.htm

--   Links of Interest

--   Multi-faith, Multi-Media Daily Devotionals for August 2009
 

 

 

 

by Cynthia Kiteley Lee

 

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The Book of Creations - Sefir Yetzir

(3800 Year Old Kabbalistic Wisdom)

 

 

 

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The Five Basic Principles of Kabbalah

 

 

 

 

 

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Poems Written Under the Influence

of  Kabbalah

 

by Cynthia Tedesco

 

YOD HE VAV HE`

always face East

for it is here light

can enter our world

imagine the sacred letters

forming a circle

upon the  ground

contemplate these letters

standing like a wall

for they are the ceiling

over your mind

begin with Aleph

& with Aleph all

then with Bet &

proceed with the dance

say the letters & signs

YOD HE VAV HE` …

& with every vowel pair

move your head just so

 

if you hear a voice say …

            speak to me oh Lord

then do not utter a sound

but bend your body

toward the wind

if you do not see

or hear anything at all

you are released

from this cycle

for one week

begin again with Aleph

& with Aleph

always facing east

for it is here light

may enter our world

 

Tedesco's poems have appeared or are forthcoming from publications such as: Apex of The M, Barrow Street, Black Buzzard Review, Black River Review, Caliban, The Cape Rock, Coffee House Poets Quarterly,Columbia Poetry Review, Gargoyle, Italian Americana, The Lucid Stone, Montserrat Review, No Roses Review, Orphic Lute, Outerbridge, The Panhandler, Prophetic Voices, Space & Time, Talisman, Tamarind, Weirdbook and Yefief. A short story, 'Suitcases' is archived at www.archipelago.org. Her first book of poems, 'Letters Found After...'was published in 1997 by Sesquin Press. 'Chthonic Luminosity' is Tedesco's second book of poems in progress. She lives in NYC with her husband and their two Havanese dogs.

 

 

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Jewish Mysticism

 

by Rabbi David Aaron

 

     Click here to view a very thorough collection of information. 

 

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Daily Multi-Faith, Multi-Media Devotionals

    Each day we should expose ourselves to the inspiration of others.  Thousands of saints and wise men and women have left us messages of hope and encouragement.  Read what is honest.  Read the scriptures and the commentaries.  Read great literature and poetry.  Read the psalms.  Read that which expresses the anguish and the exhilaration of experience, and teaches us that we are not alone.

                    -  John McQuiston II,  p. 88, Always We Begin Again--The Benedictine Way of Living 

 

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 Wednesday, September 2, 2009

 

 

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NATIVITY OF MARY (Christian-Catholic)

DESCENT OF HOLY SOPHIA  (Gnostic)

 

  Sophia is the mercy of God in us.  She is the tenderness with which the infinitely mysterious power of pardon turns the darkness of our sins into the light of grace.  She is the inexhaustible fountain of kindness, and would seem to be, in herself, all mercy.

                                                                    -  Thomas Merton

       Hagia Sophia in Thomas Merton:  Spiritual Master, edited by Lawrence Cunningham (New Jersey:  Paulist Press, 1992) p. 263 

 

A Gnostic Homily On The Descent of Sophia and the Nativity of Mary

     Let us call upon the Holy Sophia, the supernal mother of our souls, and celestial bride of our spirits: Daughter of Infinite Light, born of enlightened love; merciful and compassionate, embodiment of perfect wisdom; begotten in Eternity, beyond Time and Space, With what words shall we praise Thee, or with what thoughts comprehend Thy majesty? Utterance must profane Thee; silence itself can bear witness to Thee. How shall we extoll Thee? In what shall we shadow forth Thy great glory among us?

    From:  http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/lect153.htm (the Collect)

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History, painting, prayers and more relating to the Nativity of Mary

Additional Information on the Nativity of Mary  

Prayer in honour of Our Lady's Nativity, written by St. Anselm:

     Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O sacred Virgin; give me strength against thine enemies, and against the enemy of the whole human race. Give me strength humbly to pray to thee. Give me strength to praise thee in prayer with all my powers, through the merits of thy most sacred nativity, which for the entire Christian world was a birth of joy, the hope and solace of its life.

When thou wast born, O most holy Virgin, then was the world made light.

Happy is thy stock, holy thy root, and blessed thy fruit, for thou alone as a virgin, filled with the Holy Spirit, didst merit to conceive thy God, as a virgin to bear Thy God, as a virgin to bring Him forth, and after His birth to remain a virgin.

Have mercy therefore upon me a sinner, and give me aid, O Lady, so that just as thy nativity, glorious from the seed of Abraham, sprung from the tribe of Juda, illustrious from the stock of David, didst announce joy to the entire world, so may it fill me with true joy and cleanse me from every sin.

Pray for me, O Virgin most prudent, that the gladsome joys of thy most helpful nativity may put a cloak over all my sins.

O holy Mother of God, flowering as the lily, pray to thy sweet Son for me, a wretched sinner. Amen.

 

Thursday, September 10, 2009     

 

 

Friday, September 11, 2009      9TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11 TERRORIST ATTACK

 

http://www.spiritap.com/   Awakening the Divine - Aaron Pyne

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Saturday, September 12, 2009

Astronomy Photo Of the Day

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Sunday, September 13, 2009

 

        Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and in God.  Think of all the beauty that's still left in and around you and be happy!

                        -  Anne Frank 1929-1945

   Jewish teenager killed in a concentration camp. Famous for the diary which she kept while in hiding, which was discovered and published after her deatj/

 

 Video of Anne's father Otto Frank  talking about her.  Photograph of Anne Frank is included.

France's own Anne Frank - Video.

 

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Monday, September 14, 2009

Astronomy Photo Of the Day

      Even under the best of circumstances, life is challenging, and much of the time it is difficult.  It is always uncertain, constantly changing, and mostly out of your control.  Whether it is taking you on a wonderful ride or stepping on your toes, life will move you with the rhythm and in the direction of its own unfolding, irregardless of our best intentions.  Life dances and you must dance with it.  This is the necessary price and mysterious gift of being incarnate---alive in a body.

      If life is going to dance with you, then what kind of dance partner do you wish to be?  Can you have a conscious, peaceful relationship with your own life's dance as characterized by a sense of ease, empowerment, and meaning?  Certainly it is possible to affect the course of your life.  Hard work, discipline, and self-development enable you to be a better partner when life comes to dance, but finding a way to be at ease with the dance itself is a crucial skill in finding freedom and meaning in life. 

                                                                    -  Phillip Moffitt

p. xxv of his book Dancing With Life - Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy In the Face of Suffering copyright 2008 by Phillip Moffitt; published by Rodale

 

Dancing With God

When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word.

I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.

The movement doesn't flow with the music,

and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,

both bodies begin to flow with the music.

It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.

The dance takes surrender, willingness,

and attentiveness from one person

and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.

When I saw "G: I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i".

"God, "u" and "i" dance."

God, you, and I dance.

As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust

that I would get guidance about my life.

Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God's blessings

and mercies be upon you on this day and everyday.

May you abide in God as God abides in you.

Dance together with God, trusting God to lead

and to guide you through each season of your life

 

 

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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Astronomy Photo Of the Day

 

 Ah to be alive
on a mid-September morn
fording a stream
barefoot, pants rolled up,
holding boots, pack on,
sunshine, ice in the shallows,
northern rockies.

Rustle and shimmer of icy creek waters
stones turn underfoot, small and hard as toes
cold nose dripping
singing inside
creek music, heart music,
smell of sun on gravel.

I pledge allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the soil
of Turtle Island,
and to the beings who thereon dwell
one ecosystem
in diversity
under the sun
With joyful interpenetration for all.

 

                   - Gary Snyder

 

  Video of Gary Snyder talking about:  Ecology and Poetry (Part 1)

  Video of Gary Snyder talking about Ecology and Poetry (Part 2)

 

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY

History of Mexican Independence

Between going and staying the day wavers

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Thursday, September 17, 2009

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Friday, September 18, 2009

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Saturday, September 19, 2009

 

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Sunday, September 20, 2009

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Mondy, September 21, 2009

 

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

 

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

 

Thursday, September 24, 2009

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Friday, September 25, 2009

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Saturday, September 26, 2009

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

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Monday, September 28, 2009

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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

MICHAELMAS  -- FEAST OF ARCHANGEL MICHAEL (Christian)

 

 

 

Video (just one and a half minutes long) of powerful images of Archangel Michael. No text; just music and images.

 

      During the summer months the souls of men and women have been drawn upwards and outwards in sympathy with Nature.  They have followed with their heart's delgith the season of growing, blossoming and ripening, but now Nature is fading and withering.  The turning-point of the year brings a crisis to human souls, who must make at this season the change from the outgoing interest of summertime to the inwardness of wintertime.  They must seek within themselves the forces that give life and strength when the world around is filled with fading and decay.

      The presiding genius of Michaelmas is an archangel.  He it is who goes before the heavenly hosts, leading their march through human history.  All the angelic company, who send their influences into human affairs, are remembered in this festival, which is called after Michael.   .... In this festival we recognize and acknowledge their working in our life.  We human beings should grow thereby in understanding of our fellowship with them, that, instead of receiving thier influences unconsciously, we may accept them knowingly and gratefully. 

                               - Evelyn Francis Capel, The Christian Year  p. 213; p. 215

 

     O glorious Prince St. Michael, Leader and Commander of the heavenly hosts, Guardian of souls, Vanquisher of rebel spirits, Servant in the house of the Divine King, and our glorious Guide, you are brilliant in holiness and power.  Deliver us from all evil, for we turn to you with confidence and enable us by your gracious protection to serve God more faithfully every day.

                                   - Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V. D.

 

Angel Guide -- All About Angels

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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

 

 

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http://www.spiritap.com/   Awakening the Divine - Aaron Pyne

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     A clear crispy day -- dry and breezy air, full of oxygen.  Out of the same, silent, beauteous miracles htat envelop and fuse me -- trees, water, grass, sunlight, and early frost -- the one I am looking at most today is the sky.  It has that delicate, transparent blue, peculiar to autumn ....  I watch dazzling through the interstices of a knoll of big trees -- darts of fire and gorgeous show of light-yellow, lover-color and red, with a vast silver gaze aslant on the water -- the transparent shadows, shafts, sparkle, and vivid colors beyond all the paintings ever made.

     I don't know what or how, but it seems to me mostly owing to these skies, (every now and then, I think, while I have of course seen them every day of my life, I never really saw the skies before), I have had this autumn some wondrously contented hours --  may I not say perfectly happy ones?

                                               - Walt Whitman

 

Biography, Poems & Photo of Walt Whitman

Video of Whitman's Poem "Song of Myself" (first two verses)

Thoughtful PBS Analysis and Bio of Walt Whitman With Video Clips

 

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