Happy Tekufat Tammuz/Summer Solstice
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Happy Tekufat Tammuz/Summer Solstice! There’s a Jewish tradition taught by 14th century Kabbalist Rabbenu Bachya to go out and bless the sun today with the blessing “Brucha osah bereishis” (or the trad. masculine version: Baruch oseh bereishes), which can mean “Blessed is the One who creates creation” or “Blessed is the one who creates beginnings.” (Many meanings are packed into ancient Hebrew words.) Perhaps there is a new creation or beginning in your life that you want to hold in your heart as you look to the sun and recite these words.
Tekufat Tammuz also marks an energetic shift from hidden knowledge to the opening of the chain of transmission. The Jerusalem Talmud tells us that it is at the summer solstice that “maaseh merkavah” —the “Workings of the Chariot”—a very esoteric branch of mysticism to do with ecstatic or shamanic experience and our relationship to the Spirit world and its relationship to us—began to be taught, teacher to student. Mystically, we can understand this to mean that if we are seeking clarity or revelation or deep wisdom about our lives, there is a great well of energy that we can access right now. It’s a good day to meditate. It’s a good day to spend some time with a teacher, in person or in text.
May you be blessed to enjoy the radiance of this holy day, to celebrate the beauty of the earth and our sun and the beauty of being a sacred animal, part of it all, fed by the sun and the bounty it pours on the earth.
Happy Tekufat Tammuz!
Photo by TMS Sam