Thursday, October 28, 2010

Horsecrap, and then some techines

Two days post removal of my wisdom teeth - all four of the little buggers, not just the impacted bottom two - I'm finally experiencing the puffy chipmunk cheeks and "wom, wom, wom" jawbone throbbing sensation everyone has been promising me.  So here I am, package of peas-on-face, cutting out the soft innards of potato/cheddar pierogies so I can strategically mush them into tiny swallowable bits.

Aren't you thrilled to know that?  Please don't be alarmed; this sort of resplendent horsecrap is not the only thing I intend to shovel at you via this blog.  I also do lots of other neat tricks.  For instance:  as part of my seminary studies, I write updated versions of Jewish women's devotional literature, which I am bound by the terms of my syllabus to share with you on this here website.  Behold:  techines!  

Techines (not techina - that's sesame seed paste, yo), written primarily from the 16th century until somewhere around your great-grandmother's time, were meant to fill the spiritual void felt by women who didn't understand Hebrew and were therefore left out of pretty much 100% of all standardized liturgy and theosophical discussion in their communities.  Most revolved around family and domecile (ie, "a nice techine to say when you are baking bread"), and a good number of them were written by men.  But a handful of anonymous and not-so-anonymous learned women got into the business of producing original techines to meet the needs of their contemporaries, which is a pretty sweet find for those of us who get off on the idea of homegrown, relevant liturgy (a topic that will surely form the basis of much of this blog).  

My techines come from my location as a twenty five year old theological student with a particularly dry sense of humor, and a somewhat irreverent approach to things that she is actually quite reverent about.  I use strong language sometimes, not to shock or offend, but because it's honest.  I think of techines as personal, handwoven postcards that tease divinity out of the most mundane, unlikely places or activities.

Anyhow, enough horsecrap.  Here's the first one, with more to follow as they come into existence.


To say while backcombing dreadlocks

Knit a network
of lovingkindness

around my head
a platform of your guidance

beneath my feet
and for my body

a blanket of your warmth
that I might carry joyfully

even when I am not aware
of my needing it



1 comment:

  1. Wonderful...have you read "Hours of Devotion" ed. Dinah Berland

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