Bandit said:
that string thing you mention-i remember doing that in my hands. it had cup & saucer, witches hat, cradle, jacobs ladder & several others but what were they all?
they all folded in & out into different designs made by the fingers. it was actually very cool.
in parts of the south pacific the "chanter" or "story teller" would make the string figures while singing the story of creation, or other legends and information .... there are hundreds of figures and some of them cannot be replicated today (the knowledge is forgotten) .... but a lot of it was connected with mythology and legends of the first people ....
genesis comes in many different forms .... here is another perspective on
the question of the "light" .... aloha nui, poh
"In The Essential Kaballah there is a description of the hidden light
God said, "Let there be light!" and there was light.
God saw how good the light was
and God separated the light from darkness.
Rabbi Isaac said,
"The light created by God in the act of Creation
flared from one end of the universe to the other
and was hidden away,
reserved for the righteous in the world that is coming,
as it is written:
"Light is sown for the righteous"
Then the worlds will be fragrant, and all will be one.
But until the world that is coming arrives,
it is stored and hidden away."
Rabbi Judah responded,
"If the light were completely hidden,
the world would not exist for even a moment!
Rather,it is hidden and sown like a seed
that gives birth to seeds and fruit.
Thereby the world is sustained.
Every single day, a ray of that light shines into the world,
keeping everything alive;
with that ray God feeds the world.
And everywhere that Torah is studied at night
one thread-thin ray appears from that hidden light
and flows down upon those absorbed in her.
Since the first day, the light has never been fully revealed,
but it is vital to the world,
renewing each day the act of Creation."
When powerful light is concealed and clothed in a garment, it is revealed. Though concealed, the light is actually revealed, for were it not concealed, it could not be revealed. This is like wishing to gaze at the dazzling sun. Its dazzle conceals it, for you cannot look at its overwhelming brilliance. Yet when you conceal it - looking at it through screens -- you can see and not be harmed. So it is with emanation: by concealing and clothing itself, it reveals itself.
With the appearance of the light, the universe expanded.
With the concealment of the light,the things that exist were
created in all their variety.
This is the secret of the act of Creation.
One who understands will understand."
Whoever attains the hidden light of the Torah can see from one end of the world to the other ....
the above is from "The Essential Kabbalah, the Heart of Jewish Mysticism" by Daniel C. Matt