Elul is the Hebrew name for the month that begins this weekend with the New Moon in Virgo. It is the month when, according to the Kabbalah, we are called to turn within, examine ourselves, repent and draw closer to God.
The mood of turning within pervades all Nature now. For those of in the Northern Hemisphere it's easy to recognize the signs that this time is now upon us. Leaves begin to change colour and fall from the trees. Days are becoming shorter and the darkness is encroaching. The weather changes, too, and frequently sends us rain and gales, all the more inducement to stay indoors, read, ponder and reflect.
Summer holidays are over. Schools and universities prepare for the new term, and Work groups begin to meet again after the summer break.
The period beginning now lasts for 40 days and culminates in the Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShanah. It's a time for cleansing and purification, which the number 40 symbolizes in many traditions. We recall the 40 days of Noah's flood, when the Earth itself was cleansed and purified; the 40 years of the Israelites' wandering in the wilderness, to allow them to shed their old, slavish attitudes and get ready to enter their new life of freedom in the Promised Land; and also the 40 measures of water with which God prescribes the ritual purification bath - the origin of Christian baptism - to be filled.
In his "Theory of Celestial Influence", Rodney Collin shows us a diagram of the year divided into periods of 40 days, the period of time for each cosmic "energy shift" to be fulfilled. The conscious men and women who created the Jewish and Christian calendars knew of these periods, and designed religious festivals appropriate to maximize the energies of each 40-day span.
Other religions also utilize these energies and celebrate festivals that reflect them, but its most accurate form in the West is given to us in the Judeo/Christian traditions. They are what most of us have grown up with, and Gurdjieff always recommended that the religion we followed in our childhood is the best and most suitable for us as adults.
Forty, then, is the number of repentance and renewal.
And Elul gives us the chance to carry out this process with the assistance of those particular cosmic energies that reach the Earth in greater strength at this nodal point of the year.
Kabbalists renew their studies and prepared themselves spiritually to meet God in the Heavenly Court. Of course, we will all one day stand before this Court at the end of our earthly life, when we shall see ourselves exactly as we are and experience all we have done from the point of view of others who've been affected by us, for better or worse.
Christian tradition tells us that we will already be cleansed if we've truly repented of any harm we have done, and the Work reminds us that real repentance involves reliving difficult situations with the empathy that the Work calls "external considering".
With this in mind, we go back and imaginatively live through difficult situations, entering into the feelings of the other person or people. It's an exercise called in the Work "Blessing the Past", and it's essential to carry it out every time there has been a painful or difficult interaction in our lives. It frees us from its effects and releases the other person. It leads to Remorse of Conscience, the basic state we most need to experience if we are to make true progress in the Work. Without real remorse, in fact, there can be no spiritual progress at all. The spiritual life is not all "roses, roses", as Gurdjieff pointed out.
Normally, we shun painful memories and block them out. But this does not remove their effects, and the negative I's in our False Personalities may be busy plotting revenge or feeling self-pity in the dark. Some of these I's may stem from early childhood neglect or abuse, for in the unconscious mind there is no sense of time. What happened long ago feels as raw as if it were yesterday, and they steal our energy today.
In the Work, we are told that light must be shed on these very dark areas of our psyches. If this process is too painful to be borne, we can seek the help of counselling to face the inner demons that may plague us and hinder our progress. But somehow or other, it is a necessary task and nobody can evade it forever.
In Twelve Step groups, great importance is given to the making of our personal inventory, in which we honestly disclose to God and to one other human being "the exact nature of our wrongs". Unless we carry out this step, we can't go on to fulfill the others. Without it, the addict or alcoholic will inevitably drink again some day, and that drink could lead to his death.
The Bible tells us that everything that is now hidden away shall one day be known; Christians, Jews and Muslims all believe that after death God will see us as we really are, and we shall see ourselves in this way. The more willing we have been in our lifetime to undergo the suffering of repentance and purification, the easier will be our passage to a different realm when we die.
The most important aspect of Elul is the fact that God Himself begins to draw closer to mankind now.
He asks us the important question, "What are you living for? What is the real purpose of your life?" and examines us to see whether we are truly living up to our sacred aim.
The Kabbalists affirm that the real purpose of life is to become as close to God as possible. When we do this, our attitudes to everything are cleansed and changed. We long to serve Him, and to help others to find Him. We awaken to our poor stewardship of the environment, too, and our need to care for the beautiful planet on which we live. If we do not, the conditions for our very existence will disappear.
We realize how far mankind has wandered from the heavenly purpose for which we were all created; how wars, abuse of every kind, cruelty and neglect have entered into the sphere of the Earth through mankind's sleep.
In the Work, we make extra efforts to wake up now, at this time when our efforts are so royally supported by higher forces - by Conscious Humanity.
We willingly do whatever we can to repair the damage we have caused in our own world, whether that be in relationships, in our lack of care for the Earth, in indifference to the suffering of others
Before the 40 days of purifications are complete we will encounter the magnificent archangel, St. Michael, if we have properly prepared ourselves for this meeting. On September 29th, his feast day, we celebrate his leadership of the forces of good, of spiritual evolution, in their battle against decay, entropy and corruption, which are all objectively evil.
The Archangel Michael is Christ's own representative in this battle, and he will lead us too if we make ourselves fit to be used by him in this great battle.
Our life on Earth, our participation in the Work, is the preparation we must undergo so that we become useful to Conscious Humanity.
And Elul offers the needed energies to all who wish to be of that number.
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