Weekly Reading and Pre Equinox – September 19th

Happy Monday and happy nearly Fall Equinox (which occurs on Thursday September 22nd 14:21 UTC).  

I love Fall, the colours, it’s as if Nature is getting all dressed up and inviting us to celebrate and appreciate all the gifts and bounty we have received (think fields filled with gorgeous fat orange pumpkins).  The smell of the air, and the crispness of the early mornings, the harvest fairs and  there is a sense of urgency in the air.  For me there is also a melancholy that goes with Fall as I watch the trees release their gorgeous leaves and the ground starting to frost and chill, there is a sense of loss as the snow is coming and the clouds are going to drop down.  

Autumnal equinox offers us delicious lessons that run parallel with our lives.  Think about it; the first lesson is the balance of the dark with the light.  On the equinox night and day are in perfect equal balance and as human beings we are invited to balance our own inner dark and light.  Joyce Rupp, a Catholic writer and poet challenges us to befriend our inner darkness: “I gratefully acknowledge how darkness has become less of an enemy for me and more of a place of silent nurturance, where the slow, steady gestation needed for my soul’s growth can occur. Not only is light a welcomed part of my life, but I am also developing a greater understanding of how much I need to befriend my inner darkness.”

Another lesson is that of Impermanence.  Spring brought the glorious buds, Summer brought the flowers and expansion and now Autumn brings the leaves falling and bare branches.  Things change and they move through their cycles, they don’t stay in one space.  Imagine if you were a flower and you had gone through your budding process into your glorious blossoming period and then it was demanded of you that you continually stayed in that state.  It isn’t sustainable, you need to be able to turn inward, nourish your roots, cocoon if you will so that you can go into another state of budding and blossoming.

The last lesson I see that autumnal equinox reminds us of is Letting Go.  Think of the gorgeous leaves that gently flutter down to the ground.  The tree isn’t trying to cling onto them, nor are the leaves struggling to stay where they are, they are gently released and offered back to the earth to nourish the soil.  With this we are reminded that fall is a fabulous time for putting down our burdens, for letting go of things that no longer serve us and to get out of our way and allow Spirit/Universe/God to take charge for a while.  

(Can you tell I am passionate about Fall and the Equinox!)

So with that all in mind, let’s take a brief moment to get grounded and centred.  I invite you to gently close your eyes and take a luscious deep breath in, and as you focus on your breath see in your mind’s eye a gorgeous tree all be-decked in the glorious oranges, russets, reds of Fall.  Look at the leaves, each of them is different and glorious in their own way, their colouring is different, their sizes are different, some may be curling upwards and others pointed towards the earth.  Imagine each of these leaves holds a challenge, a burden, or a habit  that you have been carrying that no longer serves you.  It could be anything – procrastination, negative self talk, feelings of fear, anxiety or scarcity.  It doesn’t matter what they are gently see them attaching to a leaf.  As you finish doing this a blustery breeze picks up and causes the branches to dance and your leaves to release.  You stand there with your hands clasped in wonderment as your leaves create a gorgeous pattern in the air, whirling, twisting and then gently landing on the earth to be made into gorgeous compost to nurture the ground.  As you take your next breath in you feel your ribs expand, your shoulders gently lift from under those burdens and you lift your heart up and whisper – Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.  Gently open your eyes and know these things are released.  Trust!  And with that trust pick the card or cards that resonate for you with release of things that no longer serve you or your highest good.

So let’s go look, shall we?

DIVING FOR LIGHT

How brave you are!  You are diving for light.  It’s easier to look for light in the heavenly and sweet than to look for the light in that which is dark.  This is an advanced task that only a rebellious and brave heart will attempt.  

You may not feel that you have taken such a journey by choice.  Yet you have taken this wise challenge on from deep within your soul.  

This oracle speaks of a time when you are called into darkness through life circumstances, situations, relationship challenges or inner struggles that you don’t understand.  That darkness may be a creative  block, a sense of being in a void or feelings of depression, rage, sadness, fear or anxiety.  There may or may not be an obvious cause.  The darkness might be generally accepted and socially acknowledged because there is a socially acceptable or obvious reason for it.  However, there may be no obvious justification for your experience of darkness.  Just know that you are actually on track and right where you need to be.   

Our creative process and our spiritual path go through  similar turning of the wheel process.  You need to be alert to sabotage and criticism.  Don’t carry other people’s fear for them.  Stay in your heart.  Will you stay in your heart or will you be seduced by darkness and overcome by anger or sleepiness.  This is a spiritual test and a threshold for all true creative work.  Stay connected to your heart, all will be well.

RELEASING ALLEGIANCES

It is time to hold onto yourself and let go of another.  Even if just for a time.  You have gained all that was meant to be from that connection.  At least for now.  You have given and you have received.  The need to let go does not deny the value of what has been acquired, it is more that the time has come for greater productivity, creativity, abundance and consciousness in your life.  You have completed many cycles in the vibrational frequency of consciousness that you are now being asked to release.  It is now time to expand into higher frequencies of experience that will bring enhanced love, empowerment and peace into your life.  You will take the wisdom of what you have learned with you into something new – new connections, new relationships, new life experiences – at a higher turn of the spiral of life.  

Trust that you can step into solitude for a time without being consumed by loneliness.  It is time to reconnect with yourself.  This is a time for self-love, for paying attention to yourself, for nurturing, holding and being with you.  Back yourself!  You must be there for yourself because you are doing well, you are on the right path and you are growing.  Well done!

CONSCIOUS CONNECTIONS

There is a call for more intimacy in your immediate relationships.  There is an opening for heart to heart communication that can salvage and restore a broken relationship or friendship, if you are willing to honour your differences and look to what unites you.  

We are not here to judge each other, just to love, to be loved, and to let go of those that cannot accept us as we open up to those who can.  It may or may not be obvious at first but kindred spirits are going to enter your life to help you connect with your deeper feelings and creativity.  They will give wings to your inspirational ideas and big dreams.  

Sometimes webs that have joined people together are broken and that is appropriate as people may outgrow what once held them together.  Remain open to healing connections and to allow people to be close to your.  Trust in the process that draws people in and out of your life.  Resist nothing and seek wisdom in all.

Have a glorious Autumnal Equinox, take a moment and light a candle, release, release, release.  (Then drink water).  As Equinox falls on my birthday I am going to have a brief retreat, kayak, have a fire and burn some lavender and rose petals.