The End and the Beginning
היום הרת עולם
HaYom harat olam
Today is pregnant with eternity.
L’Shanah Tovah!
Happy new year, and welcome to it.
The World card and Rosh Hashanah both have a message for us about return, about cycles, about the nature of life, death, and fulfillment. Both of these archetypal symbols seem to know and understand that there is no end without a beginning, just as there is no beginning without an end.
After all that you have been through, this month of teshuvah (and don't forget, you still have 10 more days before Yom Kippur if there's work yet to be done), this year, now is the moment of completion. We balance today on a precipice, full of the hopes and dreams of tomorrow, all of our future held within us.
Today, almost anything could be so.
The World is followed immediately by the Fool, and perhaps now we understand why. Yet the World is not the Fool. While almost anything could be so, our futures are also limited by our past. Most of us will never be a world-class ballerina. It's too late for that. But you can be a world-classYou.
And today, just for today, you know everything. In the card of the World, the purposes you've turned toward have come to their natural conclusion, and here it's a good one. Whether or not you've fulfilled your dreams, you've gotten what you were supposed to out of this cycle, and it's time now to move on.
“Now promise to make different mistakes next year and get on with the business of healing.
”
You Do Not Belong to You
by Marcia Falk
You belong to the universe
and you will be reclaimed
by its constant,
ever-changing heart—
your wise body
and your spacious mind
when you are joyful
or not,
whether you are ready
or not,
even as you turn away—
to be buffeted
and set aloft,
a twig in the wind.
Goodbyes
Beloved, thank you so much for joining me in this Elul experiment. I hope that this month of posts has been meaningful for you, and a support for your season of teshuvah.
I'd love to hear any feedback you have about what worked or didn't, and what sorts of spiritual things you might be seeking for the future.
Sending love and blessings,
Selah
My it be Your will, our God and God of our ancestors, to renew us for a good, sweet year. Amein.