Monday, January 23. We were blessed this morning with the aftermath of yesterday’s snowfall, continuing through the night – the marsh in fresh, white snow cover, every tree lit with snow-light, our footsteps muffled. We are transported to another world. In the middle east, of course, spring weather begins, and the first crops are sown – peas, chickpeas, and vegetables. The sap is rising in the trees, and buds are fattening.
Although here in the Great Lakes, we are still officially in winter, there is a change. The light is growing – sunset is past 5 pm, days are brighter – birds are starting to sing on good days – and soon enough the sap will rise in the maple trees for syrup season. Shevat is noted by our sages as a month of turning – from the darkness and waiting of Tevet, to a sense of coming rebirth, looking toward a positive future.
The zodiac sign for the month of Shevat is Aquarius, a water and air sign, and our sages note especially that we are under the planet Uranus, which looks to the future. Uranus, planet of the “higher mind”, makes us think of new projects, possibilities, opportunities, and new directions.[1]
One final thought, Shevat is also the month of Tu B’Shvat, the new year of trees. So trees have a special place in our thoughts this month. Maria Popova quotes Herman Hesse[2]:
A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail.
A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.
May we all go forward in optimism into this month, as faithful as the trees, ready to bud and blossom. — Kirby
As has been our tradition, we will be holding a full moon walking meditation to honor Tu B’Shvat on Monday morning, February 6. Our next Rosh Chodesh walking meditation will honor the month of Adar on Wednesday, February 22. Both are at 7:30 am. Contact us for location. Hope to see you there, rain or snow or shine!
[1] See our source Mindy Ribner’s Kabbalah Month by Month, p. 114.
[2] See https://www.themarginalian.org/2020/05/04/natascha-mcelhone-wander-hesse-kew/
Rosh Chodesh Cleveland 