Moon Knight, Severance, and Kabbalah

Before I begin, a few announcements. The first total Lunar eclipse of 2022 is making an appearance this Sun/Mon, it falls on the day Siddhartha was born, attained enlightenment, and died. I will be covering the auspicious lunation on the Sunday Cosmic Navigator Show (on Zoom and live Insta). If you are already registered, the meeting ID is 870 5603 5555 and password 531978. I also added another retreat on Oct 14-16 at Omega Institute: Learn to Read Your Astrological Chart. Many of you have been asking for a weekend dedicated to learning the astrological language of symbols and signs, so you are welcome to join me on this journey. Mid-Oct is the best time to spend at Omega with the foliage in full display. I will also be in New York May 24-29 and available for private readings and past lifetime regression. To book a session, you can email me at [email protected] I will also have an in person live workshop on May 26 7pm on the Power of Your Name. To register: HERE

Mercury is retro. Total Lunar eclipse looming around the corner, in other words: living ain’t easy…

So, for this reason I wanted to share my thoughts on a good escape from these turbulent times: binging on television shows. We are lucky to be living through the Golden Age of television shows, which origins can be traced to David Lynch’s Twin-Peaks back in the 90s, but got going with Alan Ball’s Six Feet Under. While movies are considered a medium of directors, television series are the brainchild of writers, which affords them a great deal of freedom in developing multidimensional characters and engrossing plots.

I wanted to recommend two shows that made an impact on me lately. I’ll start with the miniseries Moon Knight on Disney+ staring Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke, created by Jeremy Slater and directed by Mohamed Diab. The original soundtrack (Egyptian composer Hesham Nazih) as well as the tunes that were selected are not only great pieces of music, but their lyrics add another layer to the developing narrative. What I liked the most about the production is that the cast, creatives, editors etc, are a mix of folks from Arab and Jewish background. The main character (also in the original graphic novel) is Jewish, son of a Rabbi, who becomes an avatar of Khonshu, who is the Ancient Egyptian god of the moon, time, and also healing. It is interesting that the show was released two weeks before Passover, considering the show’s protagonist is a nice (split-personality) Jewish boy who finds himself back in the land that supposedly enslaved his people 3000 years ago.

Moon Knight – the word moon has Germanic origin and relates to ‘month,’ from an Indo-European root shared by Latin metiri ‘ to measure.’ Both in Hebrew and Ancient Egyptian culture the moon is masculine and is associated with the keeping of time. That’s the reason most Jewish holidays fall on the new or full moon. Of all people available to be his avatar, the Khonshu, the moon god, chose a rather mentally challenged man. I guess like attracts like, and the moon god, being lunatic, wanted to find someone that could channel his eccentricities authentically.

First of all, don’t underestimate or dismiss TV shows sprouting out of the intellectual properties of Marvel, DC Comics, and Star Wars. I know, some of you are fed up with caped men and women pretending to be spiders, bats, aliens, doctors, and demigods. I hear you, but as someone who studies Kabbalah, I see it differently. These shows are based on somewhat crude or primitive comic books published a long time ago by a different generation for a different generation, but all have a kernel of truth, a powerful core that proves timeless. These comic books were reworked into sophisticated and rich mythologies which deal with current issues, like race inequalities, gender identity, abuse of power, disinformation etc. The development of Kabbalah followed the same trajectory as these comic books.  The Old Testament was sealed in the second century BCE, and soon after, the characters and stories of the bible inspired the creation of new mystical and supernatural stories that were transmitted first orally and then written down. The Zohar and other Kabbalistic texts are filled with angels, demons, wizards, spells, talisman, all improvisation on biblical themes. Since Moses forbad any artwork (Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image), Kabbalah is a graphic novel, alas, without graphics.  

The Kabbalistic rabbis over the centuries went through the same creative process that showrunners and writers in Hollywood do these days, they take dated material and augment it by updating as well as infusing it with magic, subliminal messages and tools that help people deal with current events. Moses, a stern, grumpy, unforgiving lawgiver who massacred his opponents (3000 people were killed after he returned from Mount Sinai), is transformed by the Kabbalists showrunners into a compassionate wizard who possess supernatural abilities.    

But first, a word of advice: don’t judge a book but its cover, nor a TV show by its pilot, so give the miniseries a chance, the show progresses in a very unique way, questioning the boundaries between magic and reality, madness and sanity, good and evil. While some parts of the show do justice to the mystical Ancient Egyptian mythology, some other parts bend the gods to fit the plot. For example, the show’s antagonist is the terrifying goddess Ammut, (a hybrid of lion, hippo, and crocodile) who is presented as the goddess who weighs the heart of the deceased against the feather of truth. This is not accurate. In fact, it is Maat, the goddess of universal justice, who is assigned with that task along with her pals, Anubis and Thoth. But it is true that at the Hall of Osiris, Ammut was the one lurking under the scales ready to devour those whose heart was heavier than Maat’s feather of truth. Interestingly, in Hebrew the word Ammut means “I shall die.”

I won’t spoil it for you guys, but the titular vigilante suffers from an acute case of multiply personality disorder. One side does not recall the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the other. A complete dissociation. When I was watching this show along with the other show I wanted to recommend (don’t worry it is not another superhero), I realized there is a new zeitgeist (spirit of the time) taking shape in politics, arts, and our inner worlds: a severe case of disassociation. Two competing entities occupying the same space. Russia and Ukraine are one and yet two. QAnon with their cognitive dissonances. Politicians who appeal to their base even though they despise them. People calling themselves prolife and yet fight to keep their semi-automatic rifles loaded. It is indeed the age of cognitive rupture.          

The second show I wanted to recommend is playing in Apple TV and properly called Severance, created by Dan Erikson and brilliantly directed by Ben Stiller. As you can see, we remain under the auspice of the 5^th Sphere of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life called Severity, the sphere associated with red-caped Mars, the god of war and vigilantes, as well as surgery.

The psychological thriller has a luminating cast of great stars: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, to name a few. The premise is both simple and brilliant: a draconian corporation developed a surgically procedure that allows workers to severe their work from their personal life. How many of us secretly wished for this? Work without thinking of our personal life and have our personal life separated from work. How many times we were told to, “stop bringing your work home!”

The show’s protagonists have two personalities that are not aware of each other, one at work, the other afterwork. A complete severance, a total disassociation. A surgical multi-personality disorder. This severance is a way for the protagonists to deal with a trauma that happened to them in their personal life. Just like Marc, the Moon Knight, developed a new personality early in his life to help him deal with an abusing mother, do did Mark, the protagonist of Severance split his personality to deal with the death of his wife. And as you can see, Mercury is now retrograde in Gemini, the twin, and Marc (Moon Knight) and Mark (Severance) share the same namesake. Mark or Marc meaning of name is “consecrated to the god Mars,” which as I mentioned is the planet that rules the sphere Severity, in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

The moral of this disassociated “spirit of the time,” as depicted by both shows is that the whole cannot function if its parts are conflicting and or not aware of each other. In both series, the protagonists use literature, mythology, technology, gods, goddesses, and psychiatrists, to bridge between the two aspects of their personality. It is a lesson we all need to adhere. There is no Great America unless the Democrats and Republicans come together to acknowledge each other’s needs. There is no peace in Europe until Russia recognizes Ukraine is a country and Europe finds compassion to Russia’s fears of survival. There is no healing if our reptilian brain and cerebral-cortex are not on the same page. Yes, splitting our personality can help deal with undesired aspects of our lives, but it can only work for a short time, pretty soon, Oneness knocks on the door and demands unity in order to thrive. All is One and One is All…

And if we are talking about the Moon Knight, don’t forget moon-bathing on May 16’s total lunar eclipse in Scorpio, the sign of magic, transformation, and the occult, which is also ruled by…Mars.

Happy synchronicities hunting, we are in the season of serendipities and meaningful coincidences.        

May the Moon god shine upon you!