Month: September 2015

A Rosh HaShana Meditation

I entered the year 5776 sitting on cushions around a meditation circle of five in the living room of Eva and Juan’s apartment in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City. As Juan practiced sounding the shofar that Eva had brought back from her last trip to Israel, we cut apples in to thin circle-shaped pieces, placed two bottles of wine and a jar of honey on the floor in the middle of our circle. On the wall were posters of Buddha and various yantras. A corner table displayed traditional objects of prayer and meditation from Buddhist to Pagan to Jewish traditions. Juan grabbed two incense sticks and a pair of candles, which he lit on silver Shabbat candleholders decorated with a Star of David. He explained the idea behind the celebration, in particular to the two other women in our circle, who learned about the Jewish New Year for the first time. He spoke of the ten days of repentance and purification that begin with the New Moon and culminate in the last hour of the 25-hour …

On Dreams and Husbands

THE LAND OF DREAMS | There was a huge, open-air camp. Singing plants and illuminated chilis sprouted from magicians’ hats and everyone offered dreams for barter. Some wished to trade dreams of travel with dreams of love; others offered dreams of laughter in exchange for sad dreams to release a long-needed cry. A man walked about looking for the bits and pieces of his dream, which was shattered by someone who smashed into it: He collected the shreds of his dream and pasted them together to make with them a banner of colors. The water bearer of dreams carried the water in a vessel on his back and dispensed it in tall cups to whoever got thirsty while sleeping. A woman wearing a white tunic stood on a tower and combed her tresses that reached her toes. The comb shed dreams with all their characters: the dreams were born from the hair and glided out into the air. Excerpt from _El Libro de Los Abrazos_ by Eduardo Galeano. Trans. Nathalie Alyon “But how is Nathalie going to find a husband …