Ritual Poetry

Jewish liturgical poetry, or “piyyutim”, was often composed by mekubalim as a means of drawing upon spiritual forces. Traditionally, they are written in acrostic style, encoding within themselves, certain divine names. While the following poem is not acrostic, but rather written as a tail rhyme, it nonetheless serves as a poetic initiation into the theurgic mysteries. It’s written in 7 stanzas and 49 lines; an allusion to the period of time between Passover (Pesach) and the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) when mekubalim would engage in the ritual practice of the Counting of the Omer (Sefirat Ha-Omer) to reflect upon the self, dive into one’s psyche, rectify the ego and explore the depths of the soul.