Some of my best friends in Mexico are Jewish. One of the things I’ve always been curious about is Dia del Perdon, which translates as Forgiveness Day: Yom Kippur. Whereas we Catholics confess our sins to the priest, with varying degrees of remorse, and then say a few Hail Mary's - my Jewish friends went and said "I'm Sorry" to each and every person they hurt that year. And the offended party was under no to obligation to forgive, or hear them out.
Ouch. That sounds harder than going to mass and confessing in anonymity. In either case, the Jewish or the Catholic version, you are meant to have remorse and change your actions for the "all clear" to be valid. Praying a few Hail Mary's isn't going to wipe away the consequences of whatever we did - whether it's damage to a relationship, or bad karma because you knicked something. The intention and consciousness behind the apology counts.
Yesterday's Kabbalah class was on the steps that we need to take in the run up to Yom Kippur. Though it would probably be better if we apologized as soon as as soon as tempers cool and clarity sets in, how often do we do this? Pride often gets in the way. Memory fades, and sometimes rationalisation sets in (it wasn't that bad, was it?). Our homework is to think about one thing that we could have done differently. It might be one really awful thing we said, did or thought in a particular situation. Or an area where we are repeat offenders, hurting lots of people little bits at a time. What do we want to apologize for and change?
In the next few days I will write about how we apologize to make it count (according to Kabbalah). Generally, the idea is to think of why it matters that we hurt someone (what we do to them, how they feel, and why it hurts our soul to cause them pain). This puts the whole process, from offence to forgiveness, into perspective.
My next blog post will be on karmic consequences and how we Erase - Rewind. Along the same lines, some musical inspiration!
My next blog post will be on karmic consequences and how we Erase - Rewind. Along the same lines, some musical inspiration!
Erase Rewind by The Cardigans
Reiki hugs,
Regina
> This is part of my series on World Religions.
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Regina Chouza is an Energy Healer, Angel Medium and author of A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer & Love and Chakra Healing & Magick. She studied angel intuition and astrology at