Busy day, busier night
Dec. 25th, 2005 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trystinnDefinately not a white Christmas here. Its in the sixties, slightly overcast with alternating blustery winds and rain. Oh well, so much for the songs. Poor Josh has been slaving in the kitchen, making both secular and Jewish chocolate sand cookies for friends and later, Hannukah this evening. I've got my Sandra Kravitz Tree of Life Menorah packed up and ready to go - cannot find my dreidels to save my life! Argh!
"What I'm reading:
"A New Kabbalah for Women" by Perle Besserman. Probably not what most people think it is or should be by this title, but nonetheless a great read. The book is separated into three sections: Perle's discontent with orthodox Judaism and conversion to Zen Buddhism, her search for a feminist KBLH throughout America and Israel, and her findings and exporations on feminist KBLH meditations. An extrememly useful book for women who wonder about the misogynistic teachings of the Dispora era and where/whom they come from, as Besserman spends a lot of time researching the misogynistic texts and the Rabbe who wrote them in historical context to Jewish culture of the time.
* Of singular note: Besserman reminds us, once again, that modern Jews are in a bizarre reality, living in America, within an Occidental culture with an Oriental soul. Very interesting stuff.
"The Orientalist" by Tom Reiss. Reiss follows the life and writings of Lev Nussimbaum, aka Kurban Said (author of "Ali and Nino") through his childhood in Arabic Baku "at the edge of the czarist empire". Growing up during some of the most revolitionary and violent years of Russia and coming to adulthood during the ramp up toward WWII, Nussimnaum somehow manages to re-write his own life, re-creating his Jewish oil baron father into a Muslim prince. Some of this was to escape Jewish persecution by the Nazis, but also to establish his own birthright in the Orient. Reiss explores the world of those Jews known as Orientalists, whom sought out a balance between Judaism and Islam within the cultures of the Middle East. Having a grand uncle who did this, I'm intrigued by Jews who went not to Israel to find their roots, but to Oriental cultures and lands.
* Of singular note: Again the concept of Jews feeling out of touch with an Occidental culture and philosophy, returning to the Orient to find themselves.
"Games of the Gods" by Nigel Pennick. Dry, but fascinating, this book explores the divinatory origins of some of our most classic games and mental puzzles. I'm particularly interested in a form of Geomancy that has both Jewish and Nordic origins, very intriguing stuff.
"The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest" edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. An amusing anthology of modern writers writing of the experiences of the spirit of the wood. Among them, Neil Gaiman, Tanith Lee, Charles de Lint, and Jane Yolen.
"The Witches Tarot" by Ellen Cannon Reed. Having fallen in love with this very much culturally "witchy" and very KBLHic deck, I'm reading her companion text. I'd very much recommend having her book "The Witches Qabala" handy while reading this, as you'll definately find things you wish were explained more thoroughly. Between the two, probably some of the best writings on the subject of witchcraft and pagan KBLH.
The book I've not yet gotten to crack open: "The Last Templar" by Raymond Khoury. Sadly, looks like a "Divinci Code" copycat and not quite what I was looking for with such a glorious title, but we'll give it a chance.
So now, dear friends, what are you reading???"
"What I'm reading:
"A New Kabbalah for Women" by Perle Besserman. Probably not what most people think it is or should be by this title, but nonetheless a great read. The book is separated into three sections: Perle's discontent with orthodox Judaism and conversion to Zen Buddhism, her search for a feminist KBLH throughout America and Israel, and her findings and exporations on feminist KBLH meditations. An extrememly useful book for women who wonder about the misogynistic teachings of the Dispora era and where/whom they come from, as Besserman spends a lot of time researching the misogynistic texts and the Rabbe who wrote them in historical context to Jewish culture of the time.
* Of singular note: Besserman reminds us, once again, that modern Jews are in a bizarre reality, living in America, within an Occidental culture with an Oriental soul. Very interesting stuff.
"The Orientalist" by Tom Reiss. Reiss follows the life and writings of Lev Nussimbaum, aka Kurban Said (author of "Ali and Nino") through his childhood in Arabic Baku "at the edge of the czarist empire". Growing up during some of the most revolitionary and violent years of Russia and coming to adulthood during the ramp up toward WWII, Nussimnaum somehow manages to re-write his own life, re-creating his Jewish oil baron father into a Muslim prince. Some of this was to escape Jewish persecution by the Nazis, but also to establish his own birthright in the Orient. Reiss explores the world of those Jews known as Orientalists, whom sought out a balance between Judaism and Islam within the cultures of the Middle East. Having a grand uncle who did this, I'm intrigued by Jews who went not to Israel to find their roots, but to Oriental cultures and lands.
* Of singular note: Again the concept of Jews feeling out of touch with an Occidental culture and philosophy, returning to the Orient to find themselves.
"Games of the Gods" by Nigel Pennick. Dry, but fascinating, this book explores the divinatory origins of some of our most classic games and mental puzzles. I'm particularly interested in a form of Geomancy that has both Jewish and Nordic origins, very intriguing stuff.
"The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest" edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. An amusing anthology of modern writers writing of the experiences of the spirit of the wood. Among them, Neil Gaiman, Tanith Lee, Charles de Lint, and Jane Yolen.
"The Witches Tarot" by Ellen Cannon Reed. Having fallen in love with this very much culturally "witchy" and very KBLHic deck, I'm reading her companion text. I'd very much recommend having her book "The Witches Qabala" handy while reading this, as you'll definately find things you wish were explained more thoroughly. Between the two, probably some of the best writings on the subject of witchcraft and pagan KBLH.
The book I've not yet gotten to crack open: "The Last Templar" by Raymond Khoury. Sadly, looks like a "Divinci Code" copycat and not quite what I was looking for with such a glorious title, but we'll give it a chance.
So now, dear friends, what are you reading???"
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Date: 2005-12-25 11:24 pm (UTC)Otherwise, I'm still trying to get through How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker. Got stalled on chpt. 3 and haven't been able to budge since.
Do cookbooks count? I've been reading a lot of them lately . . .