And The Letter Is Longing

rabbi abraham abulafia 1240–1295?

And the letter is longing,

and sky desire
to know the will
that moves Him and lends
grace to spirit
and mercy to power
to rectify action,
Kingdom now foremost
and Law behind,
now Law foremost
and Kingdom behind—
and the letter and vowels
and song reveal
the mystery of blood . . .

(By permission. Copyright © 1982 Aryeh Kaplan. Red Wheel/Weiser, www.redwheel-

weiser.com.)

Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche, Volume 6, Number 1, p. 5, ISSN 1934-2039, e-ISSN 1934-2047.
© 2012 Virginia Allan Detloff Library, C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. All rights reserved. Please
direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of
California Press’s Rights and Permissions website at www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo/asp. DOI:
10.1525/jung.2012.6.1.5.

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