Why Now? A Deeper Calling To Be ‘In Flow’
Almost exactly a year ago I went on a retreat to learn the art of tea ceremony. It was a divinely timed calling that catapulted and grew the visions I had from a very different kind of (psychedelic) tea ceremony I participated in almost exactly two years prior to it. It’s all a natural extension of the natural products world I’ve dedicated my career to and an even stronger connection to the teachings of the Tree of Life I’ve inherited and have been studying more deeply over the past ten years.
The teas I’ve now learned how to serve in tea ceremony are NOT psychedelics. They are sustainably sourced, small batch tea leaves, crafted and curated by an herbalist, acupuncturist and practitioner of Chinese Medicine. When steeped properly, they serve up gentle doses of plant medicine, healing and wisdom. One of the foundational philosophies of Chinese Medicine and ways practitioners categorize teas, revolves around finding harmony in the natural cycles of the Earth’s seasons via what are called ‘The Five Elements.”
Water = Winter
Wood = Spring
Fire = Summer
Earth = Late Summer
Metal = Autumn
Future blog posts will dive more deeply into the properties of each of these elements that guide my approach to Tea Ceremony. For now, it’s important to note that these Five Elements are very different from the Four Elements of Astrology, in that they are more connected to circular phases, processes and seasonal energies, as opposed to personality archetypes.
The Wood Element and Counting of the Omer
To help answer the main title question of this blog post, let’s start by honing in on the Spring Season of the Wood Element that we’re currently in. It’s a time centered around renewal that asks us to expand upon our visions of growth, kind of like those that I had last Spring and three Springs ago during my personal tea ceremonies. There is an eruption of energy that happens in the Spring Season, much like the budding and blossoming of trees and flowers. It’s born of the hibernating inner wisdom found in the Water element of the Winter Season. It’s also the resulting feeling of freedom we celebrate on the Jewish Calendar every Spring, when we honor the holiday of Passover.
Similar to the sentiments and timing of the The Five Elements’ philosophy of the Wood Season, we are currently in the Jewish tradition’s practice of the Counting of the Omer, which starts on the second night of Passover and continues through for 49 days of working on ourselves to refine the qualities of 7 out of the 10 soul centers of the Kabbalah’s teachings of the Tree of Life.
Chessed = Kindness
Gevurah = Discernment
Tiferet = Harmony
Netzach = Endurance
Hod = Thought
Yesod = Subconscious
Malchut = Nobility
The above 7 soul centers live in 2 of the 4 Worlds of the Tree of Life and 2 of the 4 Elements that correspond to each of the 4 Worlds of the Tree of Life. They are part of the emotionally driven Worlds of the Water and Earth Elements. These Four Elements are very different from The Five Elements of Chinese Medicine and the Four Elements of Astrology.
Kabbalah’s Four Elements flow through and draw energy down from a vertical hierarchical path of divine emanation that starts from the top of the Tree of Life or what’s referred to as the Keter Soul Center, and trickles all the way down to the physical realm of Malchut, which is the only Soul Center found in Kabbalah’s Earth Element. The source of fuel for all of these Soul Centers is the Ein Sof (translates to infinite light) that comes from the Creator / G-d / Hashem.
Like the Five Elements of Tea Ceremony, we’ll delve more deeply into each of Kabbalah’s Four Elements and Ten Soul Centers in future posts and perhaps those of Astrology at some point (I’m not as well versed in those, yet). For now, I just wanted to share a lay of the land in philosophies I’ve studied on my path to getting here. They all feed a similar theme of how to feel ‘in flow.’
The Overlap of Flow
When ‘in flow,’ there is no need to control; the energies of the above outlined teachings or ways of being help us “just know;” kind of like that sometimes annoying and illogical response people give about how they knew he or she was ‘the one’ when they first met them or why they chose to go on a retreat they randomly found on the internet. Sometimes what shows up for us when we’re ‘in flow’ is just so divine that we can’t even put it into words. Too good to just be coincidence and more aligned with the teachings of ancient systems the world seems to be waking back up to these days (sometimes thanks to better working online algorithms, but never without the systems of energies we have yet to discover).
A quick recap of those teachings // ways of being:
Kabbalah // archetypal soul states of being that emulate the map of creation according to the Tree of Life
Chinese Medicine // cycles of change that tune us into the senses of the Earth’s seasons and elements
Astrology // temperament and personality patterns driven by the positioning of the solar systems
Choose or combine whichever ways of being help you feel ‘in flow.’ That’s what I did and tried to encapsulate in what I’ve come to name as my “Remember, Reclaim and Rejoice” journey that I’m now sharing with others.
WHY NOW?
Nature Retreats, Tea Ceremonies, and what I’m calling Meditative Torah, all helped me tune into the beautiful rhythm of life and own more fully what’s divinely mine. This year, season, month and day feels so ‘in flow’ with that for so many reasons:
This Hebrew year of 5786 that we’re in is seen in Kabbalah as holding the energy of closing the gap between our inner spiritual intentions and our outer real-world physical actions.
This Season of Spring we’re in is all about cycles of renewal, growth and vision according to Chinese Medicine.
This Hebrew month of Iyar that we’re in is all about healing through the hands of Hashem.
Today is the 28th Day of the 49 Days of Counting the Omer, when we work on refining and connecting the Kabbalistic soul center of Malchut (nobility) with the soul center of Netzach (victory).
The Torah book of Vayikra that we’re currently reading means ‘to be called’ just like I was called to this ‘Remember, Reclaim and Rejoice’ journey.
This week’s Torah Portion of ‘Emor’ means ‘Speak’ and encourages us all to speak up about any holy truths that honor the Creator in ways that generate light, kindness and wisdom.
All of the above spirited bullet points around the vortex of time we’re swirling in right now has been part of the unraveling of my life’s journey so far and serves as the fuel for what’s yet to be revealed. They are tools and wisdoms I feel called to share with others. They are my BEING and my BECOMING, of all the more of what I can’t wait to share with you in future blog posts, tea sits, retreats, meditative torah, and wherever I’m called to next (there’s something else brewing and it’s not tea).