THE CABALA OF LEVITATION

It was 4:35 a.m. today when the block-long transporter carrying a 340-ton, 21-foot-high boulder wrapped in white plastic pulled up in front of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for the Levitated Mass exhibition.

This feat has already been accomplished 3000-years-ago when Shlomo, King of Israel, erected the Temple in Jerusalem; the massive stones used in the construction were precisely positioned one inch back from lower stone so when looking up, the wall would appear vertical.

If the stones of the high wall surrounding the Temple were set exactly on the edge, when looking up, the wall would appear to be falling thus causing fear; one of the commandments concerning the Temple requires a hospitable place where only God, with awe, is feared.

Granite, the stone brought to LA, is densely heavy, whereas the limestone used for the Temple is much lighter – the largest stone yet found at the Temple Mount is 200 feet long weighing 400 tons. The Cabala says, The Temple builders were able to fly the stones.

The Temple has remained for millennium because the cutting of the stones was precisely accomplished by a worm called the Shamir. King Sholomo, renown for his wisdom and ability to communicate with animals, could do more than technology because wisdom beats brains.

God’s Brain

Michelangelo’s depiction of the human brain and brain stem appears to be drawn on the neck of God in a panel high on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The reason why the Sistine Chapel was commissioned by the Vatican to be painted by Michelangelo was because the people were ignorant and could not read; an illustration was substituted though it clearly states in the beginning of the Ten Commandments: do not make an image of God from the forms of heaven or earth.

This atrocious act of hubris perpetrated by the Church has inspired many by the pure artistry, but to think there is some kind of message embedded within the art is alluring. What did Michelangelo mean by depicting the brain of God in the neck?

The Cabala uses the human anatomy as a guidepost through creation separated in four sections like the human body; the head, torso, limbs plus soul provide the format for spiritual understanding known as the Four Worlds–three of body and one of soul. Matter and spirit have form, but God has no form.

The Cabala explains how cognition is an extreme contractive form of the light; the neck is the most contractive part of the body called Mitzar/Confinement. The brain of the emotions arise in the neck in the form of external cognition through which the heart is inspired.

Crazy Creative

New research shows a link between mental health and creativity; researchers have shown that the dopamine system in healthy, highly creative people is similar to people with schizophrenia.

Crazy in our society is not being able to contend with or fit into a very tight mold; any deviation from proper conduct is deemed aberrant, requiring fixing. Even creativity is constrained by the necessity of making one’s art palatable for the public.

Serotonin and dopamine are mood enhancing brain chemicals that react favorably with hallucinogens like LSD and magic mushrooms. The state of being high or creative mimics the delirium of crazy people.

The first prophets as recorded in the Book of Shmuel/Samuel calls them Mashuganim/Crazies because they would travel throughout the land playing songs and being in revery–during prophecy they would tear off their clothes as not to have anything between themselves and the Creator. Creative people in this modern time are similar to the prophets of old.

Generally, human behavior is not considered crazy–just the many faces of human nature. My teacher related the following story: A woman once complained to a rabbi that her son was crazy because he eats pig and spends the night with strange woman; no, said the rabbi, your son would be crazy if he ate women and spent the night with strange pigs.

The Worth of Money

Andy Warhol artwork 200 One Dollar Bills has sold in New York for $43.8m–the second highest auction price for a work by the pop artist.

Oscar Wilde famously defined a pessimist as one who knows the worth of everything but the value of nothing; an artist’s job often is to reflect the state of society with hope to effectuate change in society.

Our vapid, pointless and many times inhuman society regards our mutual promise embodied in paper money more than the human being who produces the promise; willing to sacrifice our children, our environment and even our soul for the sake of money has skewed our perception of reality.

In Torah/Teaching artistry is more acclaimed than the art; for example, it is known the women who came out of Egypt at the origin of the Jewish People 3500 years ago had the ability to weave a different picture on each side of the cloth at the same time and the men were able to beat one solid piece of solid gold into an elaborate vessel.

The Cabala relates money to the concept of Kesef/Silver since this word is related to Kasafta/Desire; each human being desires to reflect our light back to the Creator like a pane of glass with a thin veneer of silver–too much silver and the mirror no longer reflects, but only absorbs.