[Opinion] Use of religious items

[Morell]

When I visited Izrael, I bought myself a Talit there, linen, kosher, real thing. Not the most costly one from sheep wool (a shame). Linen, but nice, with blue stripes. It has some prayer over the strengthened collar that holds it on your shoulders. Sometimes I use it as a blanket when meditating, either when sitting, or to cover myself with it in "corpse" position.

No, I'm no Jew, not part of the people, nor the religion, but I like this specific item and its use. Though it makes me wonder, how legit is use of these things connected with specific religion... well, outside of this religion. What do you think?

 

[svinno777]

id avoid all jewish things and items but thats just me. I hope it works for you. Is it working?

 

[Amadeus]

I suppose it depends what item, from what religion, consecrated specific stuff or something else, what exactly is done with it, the purpose, goal.

Tallit, ah yes the specific thing they wear. I think it is perfectly fine for you to use it for meditations, it's not that special item like say the tefilin. I remember checking some western wall cameras from Jerusalem and lots of them were either wearing the tallit or the classic black "MIB-men in black" suits with fedora hats. It looked quite hilarious at certain times when a bunch of men were all together doing the woody woodpecker moves, all wearing the same tallit looking thing.

I use some Orthodox prayer beads for sufi dhikr readings. Also used them for Hindu stuff They were consecrated on the altar by some priest I know, not really supposed to be used for sufi stuff but oh well seems to work fine.

 

[Sabbatius]

The neck band writing is the prayer of the Atarah, which reads "Blessed are You, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to enwrap ourselves in Tzi'tzit.

Does your Tallit have a single blue strand(Tekhelet) on any of its fringes?

 

[Morell]

Does your Tallit have a single blue strand(Tekhelet) on any of its fringes?

No, those knots things on the corners are all white. It could be bought extra and be remade to include blue one, but all white is accepted too, as far as I know.

id avoid all jewish things and items but thats just me. I hope it works for you. Is it working?

Oh yes, it is working well. Actually it works as it should I should say. When I started using it, I encountered a blue light, some being that was blue light and came to visit. Though I didn't know what it was so I kindly told it to leave and it did. Friends told me that it is related to YHVH, so maybe...

But very interesting experience I got when I was listening to one of my favorite ambient. This one. I got a vision where I was standing at the top of some very high tower with very pointy roof. I was at the very top, standing there in strong wind, having dragon wings in colors of the tallit, including the stripes, that I used to balance there. Somehow I enjoyed it. Later I found out that one of the symbolisms of Talit are wings. Angelic I guess because when looking at someone waring it, it reminds me of pigeon wings.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 6:00 PM

Took a picture of it, not wanting to look among the stores for it... It's a nice one.

 

[Sabbatius]

No, those knots things on the corners are all white. It could be bought extra and be remade to include blue one, but all white is accepted too, as far as I know.


Oh yes, it is working well. Actually it works as it should I should say. When I started using it, I encountered a blue light, some being that was blue light and came to visit. Though I didn't know what it was so I kindly told it to leave and it did. Friends told me that it is related to YHVH, so maybe...

But very interesting experience I got when I was listening to one of my favorite ambient. This one. I got a vision where I was standing at the top of some very high tower with very pointy roof. I was at the very top, standing there in strong wind, having dragon wings in colors of the tallit, including the stripes, that I used to balance there. Somehow I enjoyed it. Later I found out that one of the symbolisms of Talit are wings. Angelic I guess because when looking at someone waring it, it reminds me of pigeon wings.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 6:00 PM

Took a picture of it, not wanting to look among the stores for it... It's a nice one.

Nice one! I have a similar Tallit, but it is older than most people here as I inherited it. It needs to be cleaned.
The Tekhelet is obviously not on all tallit but the symbolism behind it is why this is the case. The blue thread symbolizes the closeness to the throne of God, as it represents the sky, the ocean, the throne itself. Blue is the color of Yahwism, or Judaism if one follows the Talmudic writ.

 

[MorganBlack]

Neat! I'm Jewish and British on my dad's side. But fuck if I know!

I say do what you like, as long as you don't set up shop a rabbi

Magicians are magpies. We will steal anything not bolted to the floor, run off with the silverware, and seduce your daughters.

As a pantheist I'm a thief of myths and magical tech, because everything is the One Thing. I can't speak for anyone else but I think magicians, in part, are always siphoning off 'belief energy' , from large groups of people in the mainstream religions. It's more complex than that, stepping into mythic narratives, but it helps to see it as hot-wiring and joy riding in their cars through time. Just don't advertise nor do any real damage.

 

[AbammonTheGreat]

When I visited Izrael, I bought myself a Talit there, linen, kosher, real thing. Not the most costly one from sheep wool (a shame). Linen, but nice, with blue stripes. It has some prayer over the strengthened collar that holds it on your shoulders. Sometimes I use it as a blanket when meditating, either when sitting, or to cover myself with it in "corpse" position.

No, I'm no Jew, not part of the people, nor the religion, but I like this specific item and its use. Though it makes me wonder, how legit is use of these things connected with specific religion... well, outside of this religion. What do you think?

I have vajras and bells from tibetan monasteries, Islamic prayer beads blessed by an imam, holy water from catholic churches, i use kosher salt in all rituals, I use mazzuzahs as part of my wards for my ritual room and blessed benedictine crosses...

So really think about what is going into that object or tool, it is consecrated or used by other holy men or mystic men. It is charged with their power, their belief, and the authority of their paradigm. If you lay belief in the authority of wisdom, of the world's different sages and wisemen, then these tools have authority and use for you. These men that make and bless these objects do so with intention and passion, they do it with belief, and that is something I deeply respect as a magician. I see power in them and I recognize the authority of those dedicated to their paradigm. These tools, even if from a different tradition, hold incredible potency for the magician. I have a deep love for the journey, and I personally recognize the experience of all travellers i witness on it.

 

[Morell]

Something definitely does go into the objects with blessing. My Tallit was safely not blessed by anyone. Though there might be an effect of it being manufactured in Izrael:

I think that Jewish path is about connecting with the past, definitely the tallit tells me that. From visions I got that it is reminder of being a wandered in the world, like their ancestors were in the desert. There seems to be a memory in these items as the land and people they come from.

With exception of encountering that blue light there doesn't seem to be any bad influence on the practice.

 

[MorganBlack]

The only real danger for magicians is taking anything overly literally. The Mystery is always bigger than what we can think and say about it. AbammonTheGreat use of a number of items, tools, and prayers from multiple religions is a great way to lessen that danger or inclination.

I would also say don't stand back from it all so much. Modern magic is so intellectual and hostile to other myths and stories that are not central the D&D Marvel Movie rationalist oeuvre. The Book of Abramelin advises to “inflame thyself with prayer,” and in my view the best places to learn how in the States are from African-American Baptists and Catholics.

A number of years ago I had advised my son, when he was first exploring, to join the Church, attend Mass, to learn how to get caught up in the myth, prayer, and ritual. Learn from them and use it. Observe how the prayers, stories, and myths are woven into their daily lives and over the cycle of the year. We went over the psalms and the different stances in them toward The Mystery, to give him a more personal framework, and keep him grounded.

I also advised him to be very careful, because the Catholic myths , stories and spirits will come alive and be so vibrant they will outshine other myths - particularly ones almost no one believes in, or are basically weaksauce. In a vibrant living tradition they will come alive, sometimes unbidden, and might become so powerful an experience you will want to go all in , at least here, full Catholic. Which it did, and he did, in spite of my warnings. He’s coming out of it now, keeping what he learned and met there, to become more of a heretic like myself.