Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Counting the Omer with Body Movements

Each day of the Omer can be counted with the movements of the nikudot (Hebrew vowel signs) for the sefirot of that day.  For example, tonight (April 21st) we count the 18th day of the Omer which corresponds to Netzach ShebaTiferet.  Netzach corresponds to the Chirik and Tiferet corresponds to the Cholam.  A person can do the movement for the Chirik followed by the movement for the Cholam in three pairs, one pair for the fixing of any blemish in each of our three levels of soul: our nefesh (appetitive functioning and awareness, creative imagination, vitality), our ruach (emotional awareness, intentionality [linking the physical and spiritual], song), and our neshamah (intellect, spiritual manifestation, creative thought, inspiration). 

Below are some words that might help you better understand the sefirot of Netzach and Tiferet.

Netzach (Chirik):  sense of purpose, endurance, awareness of eternal structures, decision making
Tiferet (Cholam):  beauty, harmony, compassionate balancing of the limitless and the structured, surrendering to a larger all-encompassing perspective

See www.otiyot.com for mini-movies and descriptions of how to do the movements for the Chirik and Cholam.  The descriptions for doing the movements for all the nikudot which correspond to the sefirot on the Tree of Life can also be found on this blog under Otiyot Hayyot, and my descriptions for all the sefirot on the Tree of Life are listed under Kabbalah.  You can watch me performing the movements for the nikudot from Keter to Malkhut in descending order on my youtube channel:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjrxaCnflQk.