#sheydim

[phoukanamedpookie]

If you want a lot of stories about sheydim and Jews interacting over the centuries, get your hands on a copy of LILITH'S CAVE.

I feel like the reason there aren’t any ‘Jewish hero fights the Fair Folk’ stories is because we’d easily get out of that situation.

Like, put Hershel of Ostropol in any situation involving the Fair Folk and bro would talk his way out.

[sheydgarden]

a really fun recent commission: this custom bookplate for the curator of Judaica at the Museum of the Bible! it's based on a variety of texts that describe (at least some) sheydim as observantly Jewish - especially the Talmudic stories of Yosef Sheyda, a demonic scholar or possibly even a rabbi himself. the quote in the window is from Psalm 24, "the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it" which is often written above an owner's name in Jewish books, but provides double meaning here for the fact that sheydim too are divinely created. Jesse shares my love for sheydim as transgressive, marginalized figures who are nevertheless deeply Jewish, so this was an ideal collaboration & a delight to make!

also done entirely in Procreate, inked with True Grit Texture Supply's "Rusty Nib" engraver brushes - totally in love with this new process & the relative ease of accomplishing this type/level of hatching vs. traditional media (giving me added respect for the 17th century printmakers I've been studying). i will always love working traditionally but adding more digital techniques to my repertoire has been super useful.

[ashmedy]

Nor should one imprison the demons, who are everywhere, by shutting the doors and windows of a house tightly. Their paths of ingress and egress are prescribed, along with their functions, and to impede their freedom of movement is to invite their displeasure. Far wiser is it to pierce a small hole in door or window and thus enable them to move about freely.

— Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion by Rabbi Joshua Trachtenberg

[freespiritlilith]

i see people are talking about this again so, from a queer trans jew:

LILITH IS OPEN! IF YOU WANT, YOU CAN WORSHIP HER! BE YOU JEWISH OR GENTILE 💖

Four points:

lilith is open, but making jewish pregnancy protection bowls and saying its idk a modern michigander witch invention, THAT is appropriation. Just saying a prayer to Lilith as a gentile is, can’t believe i have to say this, not appropriation.

lilith is jewish, as known from oral tradition, ancient and medieval apotropaic artifacts, Zohar, and of course the Alphabet of (falsly attributed) Ben Sirach ~ she’s jewish but, just like judaism, she’s is an amalgam of common experiences witnessed by peoples in antiquity

lilith is actively worshipped, observably, in reality, by jewish and gentile women and queers for decades. My friends aren’t antisemitic just for me inviting them in, that’s batshit talk.

don’t tell anyone who to worship. this includes unsolicited suggestions to “swap” Lilith with anyone else. Imposing your religious beliefs on others is very, very culturally christian, so stop that. please.

[thegayhimbo]

I already answered this in one of my reblogs, but this is something that needs its own post because I am truly sick of people like this:

Seriously? 😒

"Hammers is not a great answer to that IDK." You're really being wishy-washy about someone claiming a traumatized man deserves to be killed with hammers? Do you hear yourself? 🤮

Also, you think there's a "whiff of blood libel" behind the child-stealing allegations (Gee, I wonder why? 🙄) but you're "not ruling it out at all" because you allegedly claim to have seen an example of something like this, which we're supposed to take your word on while you provide zero evidence in the tags to back this up?

Are you kidding me?

For future reference, if you post crap like this, you're getting blocked automatically (as I did to this person). I don't have the time or patience for people who have a moral compass that's either broken or non-existent, and choose to indulge in this kind of bullshit.

[shtetlcore]

Shtetl Swag Competition Round 1

Masterpost

ROUND 1:

1. The Golem of Prague vs. The Tavernkeeper WINNER: GOLEM

2. Lemml (Indecent) vs. The Little Goat WINNER: LITTLE GOAT

3. The Rabbi vs. Fruma Sarah WINNER: THE RABBI

4. Leah (The Dybbuk) vs. The Shadchan WINNER: LEAH

5. Sheydim vs. Manke (God of Vengeance) WINNER: MANKE

6. Menachem Mendel vs. Tevye WINNER: TEVYE

7. The Wooden Shul vs. Mirke (Hereville) WINNER: THE WOODEN SHUL

8. Miryem Mandelstam (Spinning Silver) vs. The Klezmer WINNER: THE KLEZMER

9. Dybbukim vs. The Shnorer WINNER: DYBBUKIM

10. Yentl vs. Asa Heshel (The Family Moskat) WINNER: YENTL

11. Little Ash vs. The Feldsher WINNER: THE FELDSHER

12. Joseph’s Grandfather (Something From Nothing) vs. The Zogerke WINNER: THE ZOGERKE

13. Hershel of Ostropol vs. The Klogerin WINNER: HERSHEL

14. The Shammes vs. Anon’s Great-Grandma Babushka Riva WINNER: BABUSHKA RIVA

15. Shomer Dapim vs. The Wise Men of Chelm WINNER: THE WISE MEN OF CHELM

16. And They Were Chrevrusas vs. Shretlech WINNER: THE CHEVRUSAS

[urielthegolem]

Having a really witchy day.

☕️ This morning, when I added creamer to my coffee and stirred it in, I stirred clockwise to bring the intention to fruition and I just asked for a good, positive day.

🍓 For dinner, I went over to my partner’s new apartment and brought a jar of strawberry jam which I read was a Sephardic tradition upon moving to a new place. My partner took a spoonful of the jam and placed it in a small dish I picked out. It was for the sheydim of the house to snack on as a sort of introduction and to prevent negative feelings from the sheydim.

❌ Then I looked into curses and hexes. I don’t think I’m quite ready to do that yet and I’m a little hesitant karma-wise, but there’s some politicians and transphobes that really have it coming, so I’m studying it and on the lookout for a good beginner one.

⚧ When I got home, I cleaned and organized my space lightly. I carved the trans symbol into my candle and lit it with the intention that it should strengthen the trans community (myself included).

🎵 Now I’m listening to one of the songs on my witchy playlist, watching the candle, and reading up on some low energy magic for spoonies.

🧿 I’m also wearing my new evil eye necklace and it’s so comforting and makes me feel powerful and safe and connected to my ancestors

[ouroboros8ontology]

The tendency to push into the background those demons that are named in the Talmud, to deny them an important rôle in the contemporary demon world, is demonstrated by the comparatively few references to them, and by the nature of these comments. The demon Shibbeta, for example, who strangles people, and especially children who eat food touched by unwashed hands… this demon no longer frightened medieval Jewry. “The reason why people no longer observe the precaution of washing before feeding their children is that this evil spirit is not to be found in these lands.” This attitude was applied to many of the Talmudic superstitions which lacked the element of contemporaneity.

Joshua Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion; The Powers of Evil: “Jewish” Demons

​

[negative1humans]

Costume idea: shirt that says “Sheydim” with a picture of chicken feet on it except you’re wearing clown shoes so no-one can tell if it’s true without trying the weird ashes thing

[fallen-sams-blog]

Somehow this manages to turn heads of creepy old men that insist I have a drink with them. Gotta be careful out there with my charms ✨️

[garvgoyle]

Angel and Demon for inktober

[haymarketvtubestuff]

Me, a shadow worker who works with spirits, holding up a picket sign: LET SHAPESHIFTING DEMONS BE TRANS

[sheydgarden]

full J-card, cover art & assets for the cassette tape release of Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation) by Yotzeret Sheydim, 2022

(layout by Deathbed Tapes)

a really fun collaboration with a Jewish musician who makes experimental music (harsh noise, dungeon synth & more) inspired by mysticism, folklore, queer/trans experience, etc. - this album is based on & titled after the foundational Kabbalistic text. Alyx is also a visual artist who makes interactive musical sculptures and instruments, so some of these are based on her actual creations! we're both dedicated to bringing more sheydim into the world so this was a really special project. the tape will have a limited release and special editions with copper etching, available from Deathbed in January. you can also listen already on Bandcamp!

[image descriptions in alt text]

[punchyfeeley]

If you want a fun podcast about Jewish Demonology I highly recommend Throwing Sheyd!!

Hi Mr Gaiman! What do you think of Good Omens being rewritten from a Jewish perspective instead of a Christian one? (not for profit or anything just a fun idea to explore the theological differences through a work I adore)

If by "a Jewish Perspective" you mean, not using any material from the New Testament, you'd need to tell a very alternate universe version in your version of the story. Demons (and dybbuks) would exist, although there are different Jewish traditions about what they are -- but the concept of Fallen Angels isn't ever part of the story, so the Crowley and Aziraphale story might be a little harder to pull off. You'd lose the Four Horsemen, of course.

Here's a lovely article on Demonology from a Jewish perspective over the centuries: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/demons-and-demonology

You still have the apocalypse, of course (lots of lovely apocalypses predicted) but they tend to tie in to messianism. So you'd probably have Crowley and Aziraphale working to stop the Messiah from turning up and ending the world.

(Here's a great set of essays on Jewish Apocalypses: https://www.associationforjewishstudies.org/docs/default-source/ajs-perspectives/ajsp12fa.pdf?sfvrsn=17fadb06_2)

It's not really theological differences, though. Both Good Omens and your hypothetically More Jewish version would primarily be leaning into cultural myths and stories and stuff that aren't anywhere in the Bible anyway.

(And the original Good Omens was at least half-written from a Jewish perspective: mine.)

[freespiritlilith]

Yes, it is ok for gentiles to worship Lilith

[shtetlcore]

Manke is a sex worker who falls for Rivke, the daughter of her brothel’s proprietor. Can she convince Rivke to run away with her, or will she have to watch Rivke be married off to some man she doesn’t love?

Sheydim are demons. A thousand on your left side, ten thousand on your left! If you want to see evidence of their presence, sprinkle flour on the floor, and in the morning you’ll see their footprints, which resemble those of chicken feet.