SPIRALINEAR TIME IN JUDAISM AND BEYOND with Kohenet Sarah Esther Richards — Tuesdays, April 7, 14, and 21, 7-8:15 pm ET / 4-5:15 pm PT
Spiralinear Jewish Time Nearly all societies form a calendar to help its members navigate seasonal realities as well as the subjective experience of time’s passage. Our Jewish calendar was informed by the agricultural needs of ancient Israel, as well as various political and spiritual priorities among early Jewish groups, and even cultural influence from surrounding lands and peoples. Our bodies now experience this calendrical rhythm and flow in far away places, and against the backdrop of dominant secular structures. The model of Spiralinear Time helps us understand how holidays function as spiritual “vectors” through time, tying us deeply to our ancestors’ experiences, and helping us step out of ordinary time into a different spiritual dimension.
In this three-session course with Kohenet Sarah Esther Richards, we will begin by exploring the history and development of the Hebrew calendar, including the push and pull of various influences on the calendar version we now use today. We will compare and contrast the Hebrew calendar with those of other societies in order to further understand what our forbeears held as most important, as well as to understand which elements are core to all human experiences of time. Finally, we will delve into the Spiralinear time model: what it is, how it functions in Judaism, how it functions in calendars in general, and how we can use it as a personal and communal tool for discovery and growth.
This series will be taught via Zoom and can also be accessed via phone. Though live attendance is encouraged, all sessions will be recorded, allowing you to engage with the material even if you’re unable to attend in real time. For financial assistance and scholarship opportunities, please contact liviah@beitkohenet.org.
Cost: $100 + $25 non-refundable registration fee
Kohenet Sarah Esther Richards
S.E. Richards has a BA in Jewish Studies from Emory University, an MA in religious studies from the University of Georgia, and she was ordained in the Bet cohort of the Kohenet Priestess Institute. Sarah’s scholarly work focuses on the anthropological experience of the flow of time, and how yearly religious ceremonies and traditions help us navigate and provide structure to that lived experience. Sarah Esther has worked for many years in Jewish education within various settings. She also teaches courses in art, archery, and reptile biology. S.E. keeps a large personal collection of nonvenomous snakes from around the world, currently 20 species from five continents. Sarah Esther’s spiritual work often trends towards bringing ideas into fruition and bringing conceptual structures into physical reality. For this reason she chose the title “Priestess of Manifestation.” Finally, S.E. creates and sells artwork, often infused with multicultural, feminist, and spiritual motifs.