Monthly Archives: March 2013

Spring Equinox

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{ Sequinox }

{ Sequinox }

Even though in Calgary, Canada, the snow has been flying (in spite of longer days, because we moved our clocks forward a week ago). . .on March 20th, dark and light are in equal proportion.  And in the Northern Hemisphere, it means that Spring is finally here. . . .

 This is a time of new beginnings. Throughout the ancient and indigenous world the Vernal Equinox is a sacred day of celebration and ceremony or ritual. The ancient European Fertility Goddesses’, like Eostre and Ostara (who gave their names to the Christian “Easter” holiday when Roman Christianity conquered Europe) are a metaphor for the union of all opposites.  Dark and light, virility and fertility, death and life, male and female, the ritual HIEROS GAMOS (sacred marriage)—are all a metaphor for moving beyond duality into transcendent unity consciousness.

{Eostre by BeruangSakin}

{Eostre by BeruangSakin}

Take time to unify all the opposites and contradictions in your own nature and in our world.  Take time to unify with yourself in a sacred ceremony. Ceremony focuses our intention and makes it sacred.

 March 20th is a day to re-align with, and embody your inner spirit.  Unify your personality with your soul to give birth to and embody your true Spirit.

1. Meditate on those areas in your life that are dying, or calling for change, release or transcendence.  Light a candle that honors the release of the old. Hold the intention that as the candle burns down, that you are burning through all obstructions

2. Meditate also on what is being born in you—those seeds that you are planting and wish to harvest over the next several months.  Light a candle that represents the seeds you are planting in your life.

3. Light a third candle that represents the reconciliation of opposites. Through prayer and meditation, enter into the mystery of Creation. . .and make contact with Creator.   Ask for a blessing. . .that the seeds of new life grow, sprout, blossom and bear fruit; that your soul is nourished; and that new life be nourished and sustained for your own sake and for the sake of others.

4. Close the ceremony with prayers of gratitude.

 

If you have time, take the ceremony to a feeling of full embodiment through celebratory activities that awaken feeling fully alive— joi de vivre.  Consider. . .listen to music, dance, make love, walk in nature, work in the garden if the weather and environment is conducive; sing, or create an art piece (a painting, a collage, sculpture), share a meal with friends and family.

 

 

What The Shadow Knows

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“This is undoubtedly part of why I cried. Maybe even the most part. The painting depicts the feelings…crying for all in the world that are in sorrow and pain.”

This photo and statement was received in an email by someone of the February Embodied Awareness seminar.  It was an amazing reflection of an experience of ‘senseless fighting’ and ‘losing battles’ –a phrase that was shared by one of our other group members—and an experience that all of us could relate to in our own way.  The pain of the shadow!

Pain is universal. Sometimes one may become a conduit for universal pain—feeling overwhelmed by sorrow, anxiety, anger, worry, fear,  loss.. . .

And healing is also a universal experience.  Pain calls us to bring in healing. . . to become conduits for universal healing.  Shift the energy by not only exposing those areas which have been in the dark – but also by attending to unconscious needs, by caring for ourselves through addressing those forgotten and often painful experiences that seem to block our progress. Intuition helps us to ‘see in the dark’ beyond the shadows, into the unconscious drives and motives, and in this way awakens insight.

“Learn to See in the Dark: Make Friends with the Dwellers on the Threshold.  Blocks to intuition and barriers to Self-trust are metaphors. They are the Guardian presenting you with a riddle. These dwellers on the threshold of greater awareness challenge you spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and materially in the form of perceived blocks or barriers:

1. Spiritual Blocks lead to mistrust of one’s vision and purpose

2. Emotional Blocks lead to reactivity and mistrust of one’s values, desires, needs

3. Mental Blocks lead to rationalization and judgmental attitudes

4. Material Blocks impinge on one’s sense of safety and impact how one acts. Actions may be ineffective or self-destructive and lead to health problems, relationship problems, financial problems and crisis in work or life vocation “ (Radical Self-Care, Beth Hedva)

What shadows are you aware of?

What is calling for healing within you?

How are you healing your blocks?