By Cheryl Glover, New Thought Kabbalah

This weeks newsletter is about The Red String. Many of you have purchased the Red String from me. I received an urgent call from a customer who bought the Red String that I get from Israel that has been blessed by a Kohan (Jewish High Priest in direct descendant from Aaron (Moses' brother-- the first Kohan.) She said, mine was not the "right" one, said the Kabbalah Centre.

As we all know, Madonna made this famous by sporting the Red String. I also sell the String from the Kabbalah Centre, so I am very familiar with it.  Right now, on the web,  you can get:

• wool red strings -- that have never touched Rachel's Tomb

• cotton red strings that have been blessed by a Kohan and tied around Rachel's tomb

• cotton red strings that have been wrapped around Rachel's tomb 7 times and prayed over by genuine Kabbalists who know what they are doing

• factory made red strings that have never been to Israel

• home made one's of various materials, not blessed, not anything

• individuals who take red strings of various materials and go to Israel and pray over Rachel's Tomb

• Evil eye bracelets that have painted "evil eyes" on them

• Probably more out there, etc. etc.

Let's put this in perspective.

What is the power of the Red String? Why wear one? Which one is authentic? Which one is just a piece of string? Why do we need this?

Here is what is on my Red String page:

The Holy Bible teaches us of the unique compassion of the Matriarch, Rachel, the wife of Jacob, who after many barren years, gives birth to two sons, Yosef (Joseph), and later Binyamin (Benjamin). During the latter birth, Rachel passes from this world, and is buried on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

The prophet Jeremiah singles out Rachel as the compassionate mother who weeps at the departure of her children from the Holy Land during the Babylonian exile, promising them that they would return to the land of their fathers, and to her presence, in the future.

An ancient tradition teaches us that a red string, wound seven times around Rachel's Tomb, is endowed with mystical powers.

According to this tradition, by tying the string around his or her wrist, the wearer is protected from the destructive power of the Evil Eye, thus preventing disease, poverty, accidents or other misfortune from befalling the wearer.

Connecting with the energy of the Matriarch Rachel raises our attention to divine Love and caring, warding off the evil stares.

This is the distinguisher: "TIED AROUND RACHEL'S TOMB."   To be authentic it has to connect you somehow to Rachel. To be powerful-- it has to have been tied around Rachel's Tomb. How does this power work? We connect with the Matriarch, energy which reminds us to be compassionate, loving, sharing, caring and maternal. These are the characteristics that assist us in not attracting jealousy and envy from others.

This is the main clue, it is about working on ourselves.  I had the fortune this Sunday to be at Rutgers University and hear the Dalai Lama. His message was about world peace. However, he spoke more about our personal responsibility than about the world.  The phrase that impacted me most was "personal disarmament." He admitted that even he gets angry and this impacts other people. Similarly in his Nobel Peace address he said," True peace with one self and with the world around us can only be achieved through the development of mental peace."  Amazingly, this is the message of the Red String. It is a reminder to connect with the peaceful energy demonstrated to us through Rachel. It is a reminder that, peace begins with us. Finally, it is a reminder that we need to disarm our own negativity, thoughts and actions. It is through this that we will not attract negativity to our selves.