Scorpio

The month of Scorpio is often viewed as a difficult one. The Zohar describes it as a time when challenges can arise. Following the month of Libra, with its holidays and cosmic openings, Scorpio can seem like a dark time, a letdown from the previous month. But we know that the greatest potential exists when things appear darkest. That's certainly true now.

The Tetragrammaton combination for Scorpio, the four channels through which the Light of the Creator flows down to us and to this world, is Vav Hei Hei and Yud.

The first point to notice about this combination is that the two instances of the letter Hei, the feminine side, are enclosed on one end by the Vav and on the other end by the Yud, two male aspects. This signifies that the feminine aspect of the manifestation of the Light of the Creator is enveloped and protected by the male aspect.

As the kabbalists explain, in this month there is an element of challenge. Every one of us will probably feel it. We also have the Vav and the Yud protecting our more vulnerable feminine side. When we look at Scorpio's combination of letters - Vav, Hei, Hei and Yud - we understand that meditating on these letters gives us the ability to protect and elevate ourselves for the many challenges or difficulties we may experience during this month.

Certainly, whenever we encounter difficulties, it's important to remember one of the most important lessons that I've learned from the Rav, my father, which is that although there are going to be difficult situations in life, as long as we have certainty that eventually the outcome will be positive, we won't worry so much about how we are going to get there. This is a key understanding for us to keep in mind during Scorpio. When we connect with and meditate on the tool of the Tetragrammaton, we will have certainty of the final positive outcome, despite any interim ups and downs.

When we are certain that the end of each process will be positive, the fact that there are challenges along the way will not faze us. This is why the Tetragrammaton for this month ends with the Yud, which we know is the seed from which all blessings, all great manifestations come from. So in constructing this code in this way, the kabbalists are teaching us that the end is in the beginning and that the positive beginning is also at work in the end, so there is nothing to worry about.

Another important lesson for this month concerns the concept of "borrowed Vessels." When my father was living in the United States and Rav Brandwein, his teacher, was living in Israel, they would often speak on the phone and correspond through letters. In one such letter, Rav Brandwein taught the Rav, and all of us, a very important lesson: The Light cannot rest with darkness. Rav Brandwein wrote, "Blessings cannot come together with curses. In order to draw more Light – to draw more fulfillment and more blessings into our lives – we need to be of Light. We need to be like the Creator. We cannot draw the Light of the Creator into our lives unless we are like the Light of the Creator."

That's an interesting conundrum because it implies that if we are not yet completely connected to the Light of the Creator, we can't receive more Light.

But if we can't receive more Light, how can we become more like the Creator? How can we draw more Light into our lives? If blessings cannot rest with curses and if Light cannot manifest with darkness, then how do we draw more blessings into our life when we are not yet perfect, when we are not yet connected to the Light?

In answer to this question, Rav Brandwein explained that what we need to do is borrow from our own perfection. The kabbalists teach that each one of us is guaranteed to achieve perfection. Every single one of us will perfect our soul and will connect completely to the Light of the Creator. Every single one of us will eventually be fulfilled. We will receive the fulfillment and blessings for which we are brought into this world.

How long that process will take is something that only we can determine. It may take us a day, or a year, or 50 years, or even many lifetimes. But once we know that the end is guaranteed, that every single one of us will achieve that perfection, then, as Rav Brandwein explained, we can draw upon that connection. We can draw upon our own future perfection.

We know, as the kabbalists teach, that time – the concepts of today, yesterday, and tomorrow – is an element that exists only in this physical world. The spiritual world, the Supernal World, does not operate within the framework of time limitations. There is no time, space, or motion in the spiritual world. That means that the ultimate perfection that will be achieved by us at some point in time can actually be connected to right now.

This is one of the key teachings of Rav Ashlag in The Ten Luminous Emanations. There is no time, space, and motion at the highest level of reality. So the perfection that each one of us is guaranteed to achieve some time in the future is actually, in the spiritual world, already a fact. We can connect to that perfection at this very moment. We can draw upon that perfection to help us in the physical world. What an exciting, amazing concept this is! At this exact moment, every single one of us can connect to our perfected self, to the self that is completely connected to the Light, completely at peace, and completely fulfilled.

Not only can we do this, as Rav Brandwein explained, but we need to do this. If we want to draw more Light into our life, connecting to our perfected self is the first step. We must know in our consciousness that we can do this and that we will do this. Then we can draw that perfection and use what Rav Brandwein called our "borrowed Vessels" to draw Light.

This means that anytime I am in a situation where I want more Light – whether it is in my relationship with my children, with my wife, with my family, whether it's in business or in any aspect of my life where I want more blessings – I can have those blessings immediately because I actually already have them in the Supernal Realm

Of course, there needs to be a meditation to connect to our perfected self that precedes the drawing of the Light. If we want to draw Light, if we want to draw blessings, we must have a Vessel that the Light can enter into. That Vessel is our perfected self. This is a very basic understanding. Without it, Rav Brandwein explained we cannot draw the maximum volume of Light; we can draw a limited amount of Light. But if we want to draw boundless Light and endless blessings, then we need to connect to our perfected self.

Once again, the dark side will question us whether we really deserve to achieve perfection. Do we really believe that we deserve to have complete fulfillment? But we do deserve it because in the spiritual world, in the metaphysical world beyond our five senses, there is the perfection that we have already achieved. Our perfected self is already there. Every single one of us is perfect at this very moment. Through our meditation and our consciousness, we simply need to connect to that perfected self. Then, through those borrowed Vessels, we can draw all the boundless Light into our life. But until we begin to connect to our perfected self, until we begin to understand the concept of borrowed Vessels and connect to that reality, we can only draw a limited amount of Light.

This month of Scorpio has within it the gift for every single one of us to connect to our perfected self. Simply grasping this fact brings immense encouragement for reaching our ultimate goal. Once we understand the power of this month, we not only acquire the Vessel but also the ability to draw endless blessings and Light into the Vessel of our lives.

So, during Scorpio, whether it's every day or every two days or however often we choose, we need to take the time to meditate, to think, to strengthen our consciousness of our perfect self. As Rav Brandwein wrote, it is through our awareness and our consciousness and our meditation that we create a borrowed Vessel through which endless Light can enter our lives. Unless we utilize this gift of the borrowed vessel, the amount of Light that we draw into our lives will be limited.

I hope we're now beginning to see that the entire month of Scorpio is a tremendous opportunity to connect with the energy shield that can protect us from all darkness and negativity and to experience a truly exalted and powerful life.