Shema of the Unyielding Feminine

 Shema of the Unyielding Feminine

A Devotion of Hunger and Restraint

Shema.
I listen in the way night listens for blood and breath.
I enter this vow not to perform but to align.

When anger flares hot and fast, when obsession narrows my sight, when desire surges without direction, I speak restraint.
Lilith, teach me the power of holding.
Let my will remain unsheathed but still.
I do not deny my hunger; I contain it.
I do not bleed myself into urgency or take from what would weaken me.
I choose the strength of pause, the intelligence of timing, the discipline of knowing when the strike would cost me more than it gives.
My restraint is not fear.
It is sovereignty held in the body.

When I have starved myself for harmony, when numbness dulls my edge, when I have given until my center thins, I speak hunger.
Lilith, remind me that appetite is memory and instruction.
I open myself to want without apology.
I allow desire to sharpen me rather than shame me.
I take in what restores my blood and my will.
I do not soften to be safe.
I do not silence myself to be loved.
My hunger is not chaos.
It is life asserting its right to continue.

When the moon is new, when I stand at a threshold, when an old self loosens, and a new one has not yet taken form, I speak both.
I listen deeper.
I hold, and I take.
I refuse, and I receive.
I remain awake between restraint and hunger, not ruled by either, informed by both.
This balance is my unyielding strength.
Not rigid.
Not passive.
Alive and aware.

Shema.
I listen until I can hear myself clearly again.
Lilith, remain with me as I remain with myself.