#TimesUp, #MeToo, and Kabbalah

Little could I have imagined when I titled the first chapter of my book "Reconnecting to the Divine Feminine" that Energy Healing with the Kabbalah would be released during a time of such unparalleled feminine awakening. Every day the news is filled with stories of women speaking up and finally being heard.The #TimesUp and #MeToo movements, along with the marches and political activism of women at every level all over the planet, are society's reaction to what kabbalists have been expecting for many hundreds of years. Its teachings about the relationship between the sexes, although written long ago, resonate with current events in surprising ways.

Kabbalah is the collective name for the mystical teachings of Judaism. Most kabbalistic teachings are based on the Zohar (Book of Radiance), an ancient work of secrets, cryptic discussions, and interpretations of the Torah (Old Testament). Kabbalah was a man's world, and for centuries it was an oral tradition transmitted by men to men. The Zohar and all the classic kabbalistic texts were also written exclusively by men for a very select group of learned men. Only in the recent past has it become possible for anyone, regardless of age, gender, or religion, to study these texts. After I had been a student of kabbalistic healing for many years, I was led to a brilliant Zohar teacher, Sarah Yehudit Schneider, the author of Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine. What a gift it has been to study the Zohar as interpreted by a woman!

Judaism is a monotheistic religion. One of the reasons the ancient kabbalists kept a low profile was that, in addition to the traditional masculine expression of God as Creator, they espoused a feminine expression of God called the Shechina. This is not an idolatrous belief, although it might have been interpreted as such. There is only One God in Judaism. The Shechina is the symbol of the immanent expression of divinity we carry within ourselves. Shechina can also be symbolized as Earth. She is the partner of the transcendent divine masculine Creator, Heaven. Together they are One.

According to the Zohar, connection to the Shechina was something men needed to consciously strive for. Kabbalists honored their wives as human expressions of the divine feminine. Indeed, the greatest vehicle for this connection was through sacred sexual intimacy, which would reflect the divine marriage between Heaven and Earth.The Zohar actually provides foreplay instructions, coaching men, directing them in ways that would arouse their wives enough to want to have sex with them. Besides giving her compliments it was suggested that a man express his genuine feeling of heart connection with his partner. He should experience their souls bound as one and communicate this not just through words but by action. According to the Zohar, a man must never coerce a woman to have sex. It is not his right and she must never be forced, even if they are married. This was quite a remarkable idea for the times and even today, where, in some places, marital rape is not considered a crime. Whatever power a man may have, he must never use it in abusive ways.

This model of sacred sexual relationship represents an ideal situation and one that the kabbalists, hundreds of years ago, declared as the final step in creating the egalitarian society of the future where diversity and multiplicity will be respected and fully manifested. The upheavals brought on by the revelations of the women of #TimesUp and #MeToo are right on time, for we are approaching the end of an era of hierarchy. We have lived for a very long time under the unspoken shadow of sexual misdeeds, which are now being revealed in order to be healed by individuals and societies both. The consequences of women feeling empowered to speak up safely is necessary for the healing of this last frontier, inside marriage and relationships of all kinds, both sexual and non-sexual.

This perfected world, called by kabbalists the Olam Haba ("the world to come") although predicted, is not a foregone conclusion. We each need to do our part to midwife it into reality. It may help to re-examine the creation story in a kabbalistic light. According to the Book of Genesis, the first being called Adam (from the Hebrew word adama, meaning "earth") was created in the image of God as an androgynous light being. The primordial Adam, template of our original soul DNA, was both masculine and feminine. Even after the two parts were separated, the Zohar interprets Adam and Eve's "eating of the apple" and resulting expulsion from paradise as a mutually shared responsibility…not solely the fault of the woman. Whoever created the myth of women being to blame should have studied the Zohar! This myth has colored history for thousands of years, and justified placing women under the domination of men.

But, the time has come to view this story and ourselves in a higher light. No matter what our gender, we all have both masculine and feminine aspects.These parts of us are a microcosm of relationships at all levels, from our physical bodies all the way up to the divine union. Bringing them into balance with love and respect will help us find our way back to the en"light"ened beings we once were. The women of #TimesUp and #MeToo, all women I suspect, are looking for just this kind of balance, relationships created and maintained through genuine respect and honor.

Since Energy Healing with the Kabbalah delves into mystical subjects, maybe I should not have been surprised that this one topic, the sacred relationship between the sexes, chose to call attention to itself. A key teaching presented before the description of a sacred sex practice is based on the Hebrew words for man/eesh and woman/eesha. The words eesh and eesha each contain the word for fire/aish. The remaining letters, when combined, spell out the word Yah, a name for God that unites masculine and feminine. The interpretation presented is that without Yah the fire of passion can reduce a relationship to ashes. This conclusion separated itself from the rest of the topic and is actually found, in the first printing of the book, on a separate page altogether. The reader must consciously put the two halves together. This discrepency is clearly calling out to us out how crucial this current healing process is. We must each strive to be conscious of the sacred nature of all relationships, sexual or not.

Energy Healing with the Kabbalah provides practical exercises that help balance and heal the relationship of masculine/heaven and feminine/earth as representing all the opposites in each of us. Balance will help us navigate more steadily through the turbulent changes we are facing today with the intention of creating a better society of tomorrow.

Get started with a practice called Connecting Heaven and Earth, a sneak peak from Energy Healing with the Kabbalah. The original exercise probably dates to antiquity, as drawings of it have been found in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Versions can be found in both qi gong and Eden Energy Medicine. Among its many benefits, it helps to move fresh energy through the body, release unwanted emotions, ground and center, activate the aura, and connect the life force of earth to that of heaven. It is like creating the divine marriage in yourself.

It is presented here in simplified form.

1. Inhale, resting the hands over the heart.
2. Hold the breath, flex both hands. Stretch up with one and down with the other as if you were holding on to heaven and earth at the same time.
3. Exhale, returning both hands to rest on the heart.
4. Repeat on the other side.
5. Hang over your legs, take a deep breath and slowly roll up.

Please note: Parts 2 and 3 of Energy Healing with the Kabbalah consist of energy/Kabbalah practices, including a healing you can use to help another person. Videos of many of the exercises can be found at energyandkabbalah.com. If you are interested arranging for a workshop, learning and practicing these exercises in a group, or being placed on an email list of upcoming events, please email me at devi@dragonflyhealer.com.