Golden Dreams of 5781 Intro

Dear Reader,

With glimmering golden light in dew drops, the Shabbat candles reflected in your loved ones’ eyes, and the bright promise of calendula petals, we welcome you. This is Golden Dreams of Olam haBa, The World to Come 5781 calendar.

Our friend and mentor Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb speaks of Shechinah (a word for the goddexx, the feminine essence of the earth spirit) in her book, She Who Dwells Within: “Shekhinah, herself the bird of golden feathers, whose flight is the heartwing of our spirits, and in whose reflection we become one. So it is written, ‘each created being is a limb of the Shekhinah.’” This is a planner born of many limbs, the essence of Shechinah infused in each turn of the page.

We created this calendar because we are both big dreamers, of the sleeping kind and of the visioning kind. As multimedia artists and ritualists we dream with what we create. We have both spent a lifetime reflecting on and cherishing the dreams we have during sleep, letting them guide our waking lives, connecting us to something greater and inspiring our relationships. We have also both spent time connecting with the essence of gold, cultivating this radiance as part of our soul expression. We see gold’s essence as an alignment with an unfolding of the earth’s beauty, humming herself back to the psyche of the human species. Gold’s offerings are part of an unfolding world that is emerging from the trauma of colonialism and climate crisis.

All we are, everything on this blessed earth is here because of our beloved star, the sun. Warmth of friendship, heat of passion, spark of creativity and fire for justice are all fueled by the golden globe in the sky. The moon is the receptive energy that reflects the sun’s light to us in the darkness, revealing her ever-changing face to us as a mirror for the tides that pull on our bodies. Our ancestors knew this and attuned their calendars to the cycles of the moon and sun. We can remember our way back to the wisdom of our ancestors with this tracking of time.

Olam haBa, the World to Come, is a concept in Judaism that can be interpreted in many ways. We like to think of it as a time when there is reciprocity between the earth and all her beings, when we understand as humans that we belong to the earth. We think of it as a time when there is acknowledgement of the deep trauma of our past, the wounds of slavery and oppression have opportunity to heal, and those who have been most hurt guide us to a new way of life. This life is when all humans listen to the heartbeat of the earth, tell the stories of our past, and live in our most true expression. We believe Olam haBa comes because of our history of hurt. The horrible atrocities humans have committed are used to bring about a greater evolution and healing, they have not been in vain. They are acknowledged, amended, and used to understand we have a deeper expression to come into.

Our sleeping and waking dreams are essential ingredients to bringing about Olam haBa. Our subconscious dreams form our actions and lives. We dream when we speak our truth. We dream when we work for justice. We dream when we practice the rites of our ancestors. We dream when we make art. We dream when we love plants, animals, rocks, berries, stories, song and hope.

We count time together to bring our human bodies into alignment with the pace of the seasons, the plants, the animals and stars. We dream together to bring about the world we want to see become.

As you write your dreams and visions, share them with your loved ones and the world, you join in this collective dreaming project and bring about the World to Come, Olam haBa.

Rosh Chodesh

In ancient times, Jews lived in small communities and relied only on the lunar calendar. Likely Shabbat fell on the new moon, the waxing moon, the full moon and the waning moon. Rosh Chodesh, the holiday that begins the Jewish month, falls the day after the dark moon, on the new moon, when you can see the slightest sliver of her smile in the dark sky. Rosh means “head” and chodesh means “to make new” or, “month.” When there was a completely dark night and then a small sliver, the ancients could be sure to begin the new month. There is mythology that on the night of Rosh Chodesh, a fire was lit on a mountain top. When the next community saw it, they too would light a fire. This was how people counted time together.

As agriculture developed, the lunar calendar synced to the solar calendar so people knew when to plant and harvest. The lunar/solar calendar offers seasons for harvesting fruit and grain, celebration of such harvest, grief during change and loss, planting new seeds, dreaming, and going deep. Because of the standardization of the ancient calendar, Rosh Chodesh occasionally falls on the dark moon instead of the first sliver of the moon. You will also notice that sometimes there are two days of Rosh Chodesh, when a month has thirty instead of twenty-nine days. You will see this in the transition from Tishrei to Cheshvan, Shvat to Adar, Nisan to Iyar, Sivan to Tamuz, and Av to Elul.

The darkness of Rosh Chodesh offers a time of rest, like Shabbat. Our bodies naturally want to slow down and rest when things are dark. When the moon is our guide, she gently instructs us in our pace. Slowing down makes space for deep reflection, intention setting, and beginning anew. Many people who bleed monthly or who are tuned into the moon’s cycles find the new moon to be a time of greater psychic ability and insight.

Many people meet monthly in Rosh Chodesh groups or practice a monthly ritual to celebrate the new moon. Each contributor of this planner has offered insight into the month to come and some kind of ritual or practice related to it. These are wonderful suggestions, and we provide the following as further framing for cultivating your practice. Please pick and choose what feels most meaningful to you.

The new moon is a time of renewal and reflection, but also a time of celebration and starting anew. Many gather with a consistent group to form a Rosh Chodesh circle each month, and discover through embodied practice that the ways of old kindle a present connection to our ancient roots. Forming this kind of group creates a bond and valuable support in one’s life. Gather materials such as cedar for burning, candles for blessing, photos of ancestors for remembering (of cultural, identity, or family lineage), and food to share for celebrating. Traditionally, people assigned female at birth would take one or two days off from doing work for Rosh Chodesh. We believe Rosh Chodesh is now for whomever chooses to practice it, whether you are a trans woman, a gender expansive queerdo or a cis man who wants to honor the moon and our ancestors. In these modern times it is nourishing to take an evening to be together.

Start by greeting and checking in with each other. If you are with close friends, this could be a time to share life updates and relish in being together. As you transition to the more formal ritual, you may want to light a fire in the wood stove or fire pit, or light candles and make an altar together. Begin with a song or a wordless melody and as you sing, connect with the light reflected in your friends’ eyes. Praise the light you see, knowing this light you notice in others is also a reflection of your own. Burn some cedar to welcome any benevolent ancestors who wish to join in your celebration. Talk about the themes and energies of the month to come, to inform your intention setting. This may also be a time to honor a recent loss, celebrate an upcoming life event, or witness a big emotional change. Other components of the ritual can include: burning things that you want to let go of, journaling together to set intentions and sharing them aloud, giving each other personal blessings of support, telling jokes or stories, and anointing each other with water or oil. Close with a song, or sing several. Bless the wine / grape juice and bread / gluten free treat. End with a shared meal to help ground and integrate.

All of these practices can be adapted for solo rituals as well. There are times we aren’t able to meet in groups, or we may feel the need to be alone during this special time.

Blessing for the new moon (from the Kohenet siddur)

Bruchah at shechinah eloteinu ruach ha’olam, mechadeshet et halevanah.

Blessed are you, presence enlivening the world, who renews the moon.

QUESTIONS FOR ROSH CHODESH REFLECTION AND JOURNALING

• Take a moment to just be, breathe, and feel:

• What are the physical sensations in my body?

• Where do I feel stuckness? Numbness? Pleasure? Calm? Pain? Tingling?

• Is there a part of my body that has something to say? Can I allow a moment for that part to have a voice?

• What childhood associations do I have with this time of year?

• What current associations do I have with this time of year?

• Are there ways my body is reflecting the mood or qualities of this season?

• What do I wish to release from the past month?

• Is there a promise or a dream I have let go of that I want to renew to myself this month?

• Where have I grown in the past month?

• What are my personal dreams, goals, visions for this next month? What are my collective dreams, goals, visions for this next month? How will I honor my ancestors in the month to come?

In this planner you will find a distinction made between the dark moon and new moon, or Rosh Chodesh. The dark moon is what is commonly referred to as the “new moon” on most websites and in astrological literature. Please note that the exact times for dark moons and full moons are listed on the calendar in Pacific Time, because that is where we live. Times that fall between sundown and midnight are difficult to resolve between Hebrew and Gregorian calendars. For tracking purposes, dark and full moons are marked according to where they would fall on the Gregorian calendar. They will be indicated with an asterisk so that you can remember that, according to the Hebrew calendar, this is actually considered to be the next day.

Kiddush Levanah

A little known or practiced ritual that also celebrates the moon is called Kiddush Levanah, blessing of the moon. This practice is done at night, anywhere from three to fourteen days after the new moon, when the moon is fully visible in the sky (no clouds). Prayers of celebration are sung and there is a practice of jumping (physically or metaphorically) toward the moon three times.

Shabbat

Shabbat (or shabbes, shabat, the sabbath) is the day of rest. This is a full 25 hours every week when we get to receive, when we are not tasked with being creators of our world, when we get to revel in our sensual experiences and be grateful for all that is available to us. Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday, marked by lighting the candles, washing hands, blessing the wine and challah, and welcoming the shabbes bride. Boi kallah, we say, Come bride, come to me, my beloved. Judaism has ritual technology for opening us up to our connection with the Divine during this time, acknowledging the miracle of our bodies and our breath, the interconnectedness of life, the abundant love available to us, and the oneness of creation. It is also considered a mitzvah (way of connecting with the Divine) to have sex on Shabbat! On this day we are brought into deep conversation with our source, as a point of direct relationship, and as one to see if you can identify any themes in your dreams from the week, check in with your altars and the magic you’ve been weaving.

We may choose to observe Shabbat by restricting certain behaviors. Many people will not drive, write, or use machinery on Shabbat; some of us choose to restrict screen time, or find other ways to mark this time as sacred and different from the rest of the week. In this Olam haBa daily planner, we offer ample space for Shabbat dreaming and receiving. We include a full page every week to reflect, integrate, and feel into what the world is offering and how you might best honor it. You can use this time to reflect on the teachings of the various Jewish mystics who offer wisdom and practice for each month. You might want to see if you can identify any themes in your dreams from the week, check in with your altars and the magic you’ve been weaving. 

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT ON SHABBAT

• How is your body?

• How is your spirit?

• How can you best honor yourself and your world? What does receiving feel like for you?

For those who don’t write on Shabbat, you might want to make time after Havdallah to reflect on and answer these questions (or whatever questions come up for you). Or, leaving a blank page might be a great way to make space to receive.

Havdallah means “separation,” and is the ritual that signifies the end of Shabbat. It takes place about an hour after sunset on Saturday, when you can see three stars in the sky. We are given one extra hour to savor the sweetness of Shabbat before we say goodbye and prepare ourselves for the week ahead. The Havdallah ritual includes sipping wine or juice to remind us of shabbes sweetness, lighting a beautiful braided candle that reminds us of the many strands we weave, and smelling the besamim, sacred spices that awaken our senses and nourish our spirits for the week ahead. The Havdallah blessing reminds us that Shabbat is sacred in a specific way, because we have chosen to designate it for a special purpose: a time of receiving. At the end of the short ritual, the flame of the braided candle is doused in the wine, the sizzle of the extinguished flame offering a distinct visceral experience of separation. This ritual is a portal that we travel through each week as we move from infinite time back into worldly time, and reminds us that the end of a process is as important as the beginning. We can use this as a tool for asking ourselves, how do we honor what we leave behind? How do we complete a cycle in order to be prepared to move into the next phase?

You can find a new tune for the Havdallah blessings by Nomy as well as a ritual guide and Havdallah ritual objects here: www.narrowbridgecandles.org/collections/havdallah-bundle-collection

Holidays

Like all Hebrew days, the Jewish holidays begin at sundown. We welcome our festivals and holy days in the erev, the evening. Unlike our modern western conception of time where the day starts at midnight while many of us are asleep, in Jewish time we are meant to witness the transition from one day to another, to welcome and honor the mixing of light and dark, the liminal space, the slow unfolding of what is being born. In this Olam haBa planner, you will see that the erev of most holidays is marked on the night before the holiday, but know that *every single day* actually begins and ends in the evening. It is a reorientation of our flow of awareness, to begin in the evening instead of the morning, and it is a difficult one to translate into a daily planner.

The Hebrew calendar is oriented to the moon, and many of our holidays fall on either the new moon or the full moon. Rosh Hashanah, the head of the year, coincides with the sliver of moon that begins the month of Tishrei. Where the new moon offers opportunity for seed planting, intention setting, and deep dreaming, the new year offers a time to commit to this practice for a larger cycle. Sigd, a holiday unique to Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) communities, falls just before the new moon going from Cheshvan into Kislev, 50 days after Yom Kippur, marking a completion of the High Holy Days. Chanukah falls during the transition from Kislev into Tevet, during the darkest time of the month at the darkest time of year.

Full moon festivals include Sukkot, the harvest of joy, Tu b’Shvat, the new year of trees, Purim, the carnival, Pesach, the festival of liberation, and Tu b’Av, the love holiday. There are some holidays that don’t seem to fall directly on a new or full moon, most notably Shavuot, the festival of revelation, which originated as a harvest festival falling 50 days after the first night of Pesach. This 50 day portal is also known as the “Counting of the Omer,” see the month of Nisan for more information.

This calendar will help you track and plan for the holidays, and the twelve visionaries we called upon for wisdom help us go deeper into the offerings of each holy day or festival.

Netivot

The Netivot are pathways or archetypes that embody different aspects of Jewish priestexx energy. The twelve Netivot were identified by Rabbi Jill Hammer and Taya Mâ Shere, the founders of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, based in their explorations of biblical women and the mystical Jewish text the Sefer Yetzirah, as well as Elizabeth David and Carol Leonard’s “Women’s Wheel of Life.” We also find some of these archetypes explored through the work of Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, and undoubtedly by others we do not know of.

The Maiden or Na’arah is the pure wisdom of youth, the uncorrupted belief in what is possible. Meyaledet, the Midwife, dedicates herself to bringing forth what is new and essential. The Neviah is the Prophetess, whose visions become action. Eim, the Mother, tucks her creations under her arms and shows them their world. The Wise Woman, Chachamah, has learned from her experience and knows what and when to give. The Tzovah is the Temple Keeper, who tends her space and her community with dedication and tenderness. The Queen, or Gevirah, has inner strength and outer influence; she makes things happen. The Mourning Woman or Mekonenet honors and digests the gifts of grief. The Ba’alat Ov is the Witch, who knows the ways of the spirits and communicates with their realms. The Doreshet is the Seeker, open to being changed by the journey ahead. Ohevet, the Lover, meets the world with a kiss, a wellspring of pleasure. And the Leitzanit is the Fool, a sacred annoyance who brings needed reorganization and honors chaos. Each Netivah holds a specific energy that we live into at different moments in our lives. They show up for us, and we show up as them. We hold all of these pathways in our kaleidoscopic selves, mirroring the Weaver or Oreget, who tends the many threads and makes them one.

Mystical Associations

Tarot, Astrology, and the Hebrew Letters are different mystical systems that many of us use to reflect our spiritual moments and make meaning in our lives. We have included the associations for each month, and we invite your curiosity about how they relate to each other.

Tarot is a system of divination with historical connection to playing cards. In addition to the four “suits” that relate to the four elements, there are 22 Major Arcana cards that relate to the development of the soul. At this point there are so many different decks that interpret the archetypes and elemental systems in so many ways, we invite you to explore options that rewrite the more patriarchal and colonial aspects of the old system, while honoring the structure. (We recommend Cristy C. Road’s “Next World Tarot.”) Tarot is a tool that is primarily used by women, queer, trans, and nonbinary folks, that values and lifts up the feminine divine, and makes beautiful art and playfulness out of oppression. Tarot is one of the many tools of the diaspora that we use as part of our resistance, a way to study and play despite oppression, reflecting a deeper level of reality, which the capitalist, sexist, colonialist system we are indoctrinated into can’t define or control.

The astrological archetypes and constellations associated with the months are part of our popular consciousness, and star charts hold meaning for a lot of people. While cultures all over the world have developed complex astrological systems, the ones most referenced in western culture come from the Greek and Roman system. Jews in the ancient near east were historically interested in astrology, before the Greeks and Romans introduced their system. This interest was likely influenced by astrological systems developed in Africa.

In Judaism there is fantastic mysticism around the Hebrew letters. The Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Creation), the earliest known written text on Jewish mysticism, teaches us that the Hebrew letters are the energetic and physical components of creation. Each letter is a world unto its own and by combining them, more worlds are formed. Each letter is connected to a number, offering a Jewish system of numerology, called gematria. The letters are symbols for understanding our divinity as humans living in a world of many wondrous beings. Meditating on the letters can be a portal to our subconscious. Drawing them, embodying them with movement, and singing about them can show us new ways of living. In many ways the Hebrew letters are the foundation for all mystical Jewish teachings. We include them here because there is a letter associated with each month. Enjoy exploring them and researching them. (To learn more about the Hebrew letters visit Rebekah’s website: www.RebekahErevStudio.com)

VOCABULARY

Throughout this planner, you may find words that you’re not familiar with, or that you thought you were familiar with but we’re using in a different way. Here are some of our working definitions.

Jews: People who share ritual practices connected to the Torah, with many variations. Jews have experienced ourselves as a cultural group, and are sometimes treated as a racial group. There are Jews of many ethnic and cultural backgrounds, with different experiences of racialization. (Only a few are mentioned here.)

Diaspora: The scattering of a people from their place of origin throughout the earth, offering opportunity for solidarity and cultural evolution based in “hereness” (doikayt in Yiddish)

Sephardim: Jews from the Mediteranean including parts of northern Africa and southern Europe

Mizrachim: Jews from Mesopatamea and parts of northern Africa

Beta Israel: Jews from Ethiopia

Ashkenazim: Jews from Eastern Europe, including the Pale of Settlement, who often receive white privilege

Jews of Color: Non-European Jews & mixed race Jews 

Shechinah: The indwelling presence of god/goddess/goddexx 

Midrash: Commentary on the Torah

Talmud: Many many volumes of conversations between ancient Rabbis who were trying to figure out how to live according to the Torah after exile

Torah: Ancient sacred texts preserved in a scroll (first five books of scriptures)

Teshuvah: Returning to wholeness

Mitzrayim: Narrow place

Tallit or Tallitot: Prayer shawl(s)

Erev: Evening, twilight

Rosh Chodesh: Head of the Month

Allies: Stones, plants, animals, or other beings that have been deemed “inanimate” by patriarchy and white supremacy, which many of us (and our ancestors) experience as living, supportive collaborators

Restorative Justice: Strategies for addressing harm that can include both victims and perpetrators in trying to find a way to heal or recover from harm. These practices may happen within, in conjunction with, or outside of punitive or carceral justice models.

Transformative Justice: Strategies for responding to conflict without involving the criminal justice system, by looking at root causes of social problems and seeking to address those rather than relying on punishment to control populations.

Days of Awe: The High Holy Days (10 days, Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur)

Rosh Hashanah: Head of the Year (2 days)

Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement

Sukkot: Harvest Festival (7 days long)

Shemini Atzeret: Rain Festival

Simchat Torah: Celebration of the Torah, re-rolling the scroll back to the beginning

Chanukah: Festival of Lights (8 days long)

Tu B’Shvat: The Birthday of Trees (15th of Shvat)

Purim: Carnival Holiday, story of Esther

Passover/Pesach: Festival of Liberation (8 days long)

Lag B’Omer: 33rd day of Omer, bonfire ritual

Shavuot: Festival of Revelation (2 days)

Tisha B’Av: Destruction of the Temple / day of inconsolable grief (9th of Av) Tu B’Av: Love Holiday (15th of Av)

Leil Slichot: Day to begin prayers for forgiveness said in preparation for High Holy Days 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As collaborators, we have deep gratitude to each other for moving through this process together. This project would never have come into fruition if it wasn’t for our collaboration on all aspects. We each gave the other the impetus to keep things moving, to track the gazillion moving parts and communications and to attune to our personal and collective prophetic visions. We are queers who have spent our entire adult lives dedicated to using the tools of art and spiritual practice to guide our justice work for liberation. This ritual tool you hold in your hands is a manifestation of a life’s work for both of us. We acknowledge and value the queer ancestors who have come before us, the abolitionists, the unseen spiritual leaders, the healers, the plants, mycelium, animals, insects, and bacteria who have supported us and our work.

As settlers and uninvited guests on lands of the Steh Chass/Squaxin Island people as well as Nisqually, Chehalis and other first peoples, we are grateful and honor the Indigenous people of the land we live on. We work as Jews in diaspora to be aligned with the many generations of people who have stewarded this land, who know it and love it and whose ancestors form the spirit of the land. May we live to see a world in which all lands are returned to their caretakers.

We acknowledge all the magic and labor of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) who have made our work possible, for they are the backbone of resistance and resilience work on Turtle Island. Our work is informed by, and in response to, the work of queer and trans people of color, Indigenous people, disabled folks, women and queers, and fat people. Collectively we hold some of these identities, and we honor those whose experiences we don’t share.

We pay reverence to who and what came before in our lineages. Our cells are their cells. We are Ashkenazi Jews from people who have thrived and survived in the face of oppression and who have also benefited from white privilege. We do this work in honor of our ancestors and to bring alive what has been lost through assimilation because of capitalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism.

Materials Genealogy

Thank you to the physical and technological materials that make this work possible. We acknowledge the intelligence of human design and our collaborations with technological tools (may they be transformed for the liberation and good of all!). Thank you to South Bay Press for printing these beautiful calendars. Thank you to the generous supporters who pre-ordered the planner.

More Thanks

Thank you to our designer Lizanne Deliz, you are a dazzling artist of form and function. Thank you to our contributors: Jill Hammer, Shoshana A. Brown, Jonah Aline Daniel, Zoh Lev Cunningham, Rayna Myriam Grace, Yael Schonzeit, Aurora Levins Morales, Matta Ghaly, Dori Midnight, Riv Shapiro & Shlomo Pesach, Gal-Or Yareakh, and Corina Dross. You all have brought such generosity and vision to this work, inspiring us every step of the way. We are so grateful to be in community with all of you.

Thank you to others in our community who have done similar or related projects, including the Radical Jewish Calendar, the Jewish Daily Planner, and the Many Moons Calendar.

Thank you to all our teachers, including Jill Hammer, Taya Shere, Shoshana Jedwab, Ketzirah Lesser, Keshira HaLev, and the Kohenet community. Thank you Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Aurora Levins Morales, and Tirzah Firestone for legacies of resistance work and Jewish leadership. Thank you to the radical queer community and disability justice community.

WHO WE ARE

Nomy Lamm is a musician, illustrator, voice teacher, creative coach, and Kohenet/Hebrew Priestess. Nomy is the Creative Director of Sins Invalid, a disability justice based performance project, and sings cosmic power ballads for the rise of the matriarchy in a band called The Beauty. Nomy leads a choir called Sacred Fragments Ecstatic Choir, and creates ritual tools for embodied Jewish feminist practice. They live in Olympia, WA on occupied Squaxin/Nisqually/ Chehalis land with their partner Lisa and their animal companions Dandelion, Momma, Calendula and Chanukah. www.nomyteaches.com

Rebekah Erev is an artist, teacher, kohenet/Hebrew priestess, dream worker, healer and community organizer living with disabilities. They are of Ashkenazi and Celtic Isles ancestry, and are grateful to live on the occupied lands of the Squaxin, Chehalis, and Nisqually people in Olympia, WA. In 2014 they self published the Moon Angels/Malakh Halevanah Oracle Deck. They are currently working in diaspora on Queer Mikveh Project, The School of Letters and collaborating with their benevolent plant, animal and people ancestors. www.RebekahErevStudio.com