Gathering In: V’Haviayni l’shalom

09/05/2011 Alia Meira

V’Haviayni l’shalom mayarba kanfot ha’aretz
Uriel! Mi’cha’el! Rafa’el! Gavri’el!
Gathering In Hebrew text
(Bring us in peace from the 4 corners of the Earth.)

4 Archangels chant

This phrase comes from the paragraph before the Sh’ma and I use it to prepare myself for that moment of focused attention that the Sh’ma is meant to be. I gather in all the disparate energies so that I can stand in Oneness and receive the mystery of Unity. For me, the archangels personify the energies of each of the direction, the four winds that blow into my life and make me whole.

When I face East and call in Uriel, I am opening to the New and allowing myself to be renewed.
When I face the South and call in Mi’cha’el, I am calling in warmth, comfort, love and constancy, and allowing myself to be held in that love.
When I face the West and call in Rafa’el, I am opening to a vision of where I am called, and allowing the healing power of my path to transform me.
When I face the North and call in Gavri’el, I am opening to the power of my ancestors and receiving the challenges of my life with grace and courage.

To hear the chant, use the audio player. To download the chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

Gathering In

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Gathering In PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 235.

Chants, Psalms

Encountering the Living God: Tzam’ah Naf’shi

08/09/2011 Alia Meira

Tzam’ah Naf’shi L’Elohim L’Eyl Chai

My soul thirsts for God, for The Living God (Psalm 42:3)
[Click (or tap) to see the entire Psalm 42 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985).]

Deep inside of us there is a soul-thirst to know God, the Underlying Unity, the Mystery within and between all the things of our world. The word Elohim is a God name that is in the plural, alluding to the many faces of the One… what Taoists might call “the 10,000 things.” We enter through this world of multiplicity so that we might encounter “The Living God”… Eyl Chai, who can only be experienced with the wholeness of presence in this very moment. The God of the past, my own or other peoples’ conceptions, beliefs, or expectations will not suffice. They will not open the doors to The Living God. My soul thirsts for direct encounter with God/Reality in each moment.

To hear the chant, use the audio player. To download the chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

Encountering the Living God

< For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 284.

Chants, Scripture

Ruth: Amaych ammi

06/03/2011 Alia Meira

Amaych ammi vaylohayich elohai.

Your people are my people and your God is my God. (Ruth 1:16)

A Shavuot Practice

On Shavuot, we read The Book of Ruth, which recounts the story of love and loyalty. As we chant Ruth’s vow to Naomi, we can each find our own love and loyalty. Though Ruth was a Moabite (enemy of Israel) she became the honored ancestor of King David. Through her steadfast devotion to Naomi, her people and her God, Ruth found her own way. So too may we find a sense of belonging, and birth Maschiach consciousness into the world.

To hear the various parts of the chant, use the audio players. To download a part, right-click a note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Ruth PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 264.

Chants, Psalms

Soul Perspective: Elecha Yah

05/25/2011 Alia Meira

Elecha Yah nafshi esa.

To You God I lift up my soul. (Psalm 25:1)
[Click (or tap) to see the entire Psalm 25 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985).]

Sometimes it feels like I am a human who is in search of the expanse of my soul… yet in my clearer moments I know that I am that expansive soul, enjoying and learning from the experience of being human. This practice of Soul Perspective, lifts me up into that clarity. In difficult circumstances that don’t make sense from my human perspective, I use my holy imagination to access the soul contract. For example, when I am involved in a serious conflict with someone… I imagine our two souls hanging out before birth, making a loving agreement. “Let’s meet when we’re in our 20’s, OK? And we’ll have this amazing attraction, and then we’ll gradually find out how different we are and begin learning from those differences. I’ll help you heal that old rigidity that you’ve been carrying so many lifetimes, and you can help me get rid of my fantasies about love so that I can eventually open to real Love.”

This chant helps me to remember that, when I open to the Soul Perspective, even the most difficult encounters can be transformed into opportunities for Soul growth. After chanting this, you might try writing an imaginary dialogue between from the soul perspective between yourself and someone who triggers you. Let it begin from a premise that as souls, we come to love and serve each other, but that love and service often take forms that are difficult and troubling as forces of awakening.

To hear the chant, use the audio player. To download the chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

Soul Perspective

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Soul Perspective PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 283.

Chants, Psalms

My Rock and My Redeemer: Atah Tzuri

03/26/2011 Alia Meira

Atah Tzuri v’Go-ali

You are My Rock and My Redeemer (adapted from Psalm 19:15)
[Click (or tap) to see the entire Psalm 19 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985).]

These two names of God describe the process of liberation. When I know God as “My Rock,” I am feeling the loving support that holds me; I am leaning into a sense basic trust in Reality. From that sense of trust I can receive God as “My Redeemer.” I can allow the force of liberation to move me; to send me to new challenges and into the unknown.

As I address myself to these two Divine aspects I can allow the feeling of support to send me towards liberation, towards opening, flowering, and self-realization. The steady rock beneath me allows me to take that necessary “leap of faith.”

To hear the chant, use the audio player. To download the chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

My Rock and My Redeemer

To download the PDF file for this chant, click My Rock and My Redeemer PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 294.