{"id":5557,"date":"2016-12-28T09:40:24","date_gmt":"2016-12-28T16:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=5557"},"modified":"2016-12-28T09:58:41","modified_gmt":"2016-12-28T16:58:41","slug":"joseph-gikatilla-the-nut-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/28\/joseph-gikatilla-the-nut-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Joseph Gikatilla – The Nut Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nut Garden
\nby Joseph Gikatilla<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by Peter Cole<\/font><\/p>\n

The Nut Garden holds things felt and thought,
\nand feeling for thought is always a palace \u2014<\/p>\n

Sinai with flames of fire about it,
\nburning though never by fire devoured.<\/p>\n

On all four sides surrounded so,
\nentrance is barred to pretenders forever.<\/p>\n

For one who learns to be wise, however,
\nits doors are open toward the East:<\/p>\n

he reaches out and takes a nut,
\nthen cracks its shell, and eats\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492<\/a>, Edited by Peter Cole<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Tatters<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I was trying to think of a poem in honor of Hanukkah today. This short selection by Joseph Gikatilla doesn\u2019t directly deal with the traditional themes of Hanukkah like light, endurance, and renewal, but it came strongly to mind this morning, and so I thought I would share it with you\u2026<\/p>\n

This poem is from Rabbi Gikatilla\u2019s major philosophical work of the same name \u2014 Ginnat Egoz or the Nut Garden. The title itself is imbued with layers of meaning \u2014 the nut (\u201cegoz\u201d) being a symbol for esoteric knowledge, and the word \u201cginat\/GNT\u201d being an acronym composed of the three main elements of his school of Kabbalah: Gematria (numerology of sacred texts), Notarikon (use of sacred acronyms), and Temurah (rearranging the letters of words in sacred texts to gain deeper esoteric insight).<\/p>\n

But also, and perhaps most important, the reference to the \u201cnut garden\u201d or \u201cnut orchard\u201d evokes lines from the Song of Solomon :<\/p>\n

I went down to the nut orchard,
\nto look at the blossoms of the valley,
\nto see whether the vines had budded,
\nwhether the pomegranates were in bloom.
\nBefore I was aware, my fancy set me in a chariot beside my prince.
\n(Song of Solomon 6:11-12)<\/i><\/p>\n

In other words, this reference to a nut garden is also associated with a chariot. That image of a chariot is especially significant in Jewish mysticism. It is the Merkavah, the vehicle that transports the awareness to the eternal realms of the \u201cprince\u201d or the Messiah.<\/p>\n

So, in the title alone, we have the \u201cnut\u201d of esoteric knowledge \u2014 difficult to open, but sweet and nourishing. It is discovered within the \u201cnut garden\u201d \u2014 the inner world, the psychic and spiritual landscape of the mystic. (And for the practitioner of this school of Kabbalah, this landscape is especially revealed through meditation on the permutations of letters and words within the sacred texts.) Entering this garden of secret, sacred knowledge, we discover the inner life budding and blossoming\u2026 and we find ourselves aboard the chariot of divine communion.<\/p>\n

Sinai with flames of fire about it,
\nburning though never by fire devoured.<\/i><\/p>\n

These lines are a reference to the overlapping Biblical images of the burning bush encountered by Moses, and the description of Mt. Sinai being surrounded by fire and lightning. These, too, are important images for mystics, interpreted by some to be a reference to the blissfully burning fire that often marks deep communion. When the mystic experiences that purifying and refining fire, it is as if the entire world is consumed, even one\u2019s own outer self, and all that remains is what is eternal and lasting within \u2014 the inner Mt. Sinai.<\/p>\n

On all four sides surrounded so,
\nentrance is barred to pretenders forever.<\/p>\n

For one who learns to be wise, however,
\nits doors are open toward the East\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

The summit of this inner mountain is holy ground that cannot be entered under false pretenses or with a selfish heart. One must approach in all humility, purity, and honesty, barefoot, without buffer or separation.<\/p>\n

And then, \u201cfor one who learns to be wise,\u201d the entrance is found to the East. The East is the direction of the rising sun, dawning awareness, the light of enlightenment. This the direction of awakening and new vision. This is why many sacred traditions pray and meditate facing East\u2026 it is the direction of opening.<\/p>\n

he reaches out and takes a nut,
\nthen cracks its shell, and eats\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Joseph Gikatilla<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nGates of Light: Sha\u2019are Orah<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n<\/td>\n\nJoseph Gikatilla<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Spain (1248 \u2013 1325?) Timeline<\/a>
\nJewish<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Rabbi Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla (also written Yosef Gikatilla or Yosef Giqatilla) was a greatly respected master of Spanish Kabbalah. He was one of the most prominent students of the Kabbalist Rabbi Abraham Abulafia. And, although this is not known for certain, there is reason to think he may have also associated with Moses de Leon, who brought forth the Zohar text.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Gikatilla was born in Medinaceli, Spain in 1248.<\/p>\n

While still in his twenties and strongly under the influence of Rabbi Abulafia\u2019s teachings, Rabbi Gikatilla composed his first Kabbalistic work, Ginnat Egoz or the Nut Garden.<\/p>\n

Gikatilla wrote several other important works on philosophy and Kabbalah. Perhaps his best known work is the Sha\u2019arei Ora or Gates of Light, which appears to have been influenced by Moses de Leon\u2019s Zohar.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Gikatilla became known for his depth of knowledge of Kabbalah and the inner mysteries, to the point that he gained a reputation as miracle worker and was sometimes referred to as Joseph Ba\u2019al ha-Nissim, or Joseph the Thaumaturge.<\/p>\n

He lived much of his life in Segovia, and died sometime after 1305 in Pe\u00f1afiel, Spain.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Joseph Gikatilla<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Nut Garden by Joseph Gikatilla English version by Peter Cole The Nut Garden holds things felt and thought, and feeling for thought is always a palace \u2014 Sinai with flames of fire about it, burning though never by fire devoured. On all four sides surrounded so, entrance is barred to pretenders forever. For one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2027,146,922,264,926,2026],"class_list":["post-5557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-ginnat-egoz","tag-jewish-poetry","tag-joseph-gikatilla","tag-kabbalah","tag-nut","tag-the-nut-garden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5557"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5563,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5557\/revisions\/5563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}