Helter-Skelter, Topsy-Turvy, Pell-Mell

No, I’m not speaking gibber-jabber here, but these                                                             three terms do suitably help todia-de-los-muertos-art-rj2-new describe the current times along with the current astrological influences (this will be a Western Astrology post). Today is All Hallows Day, the first day of the Celtic month of Samhain, which marks the beginning of the dark half of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Beginning with sunset on Halloween until sunset All Hallows Day, it is said that the veil, the illusion, between the material/living world and the spiritual/dead world is the thinnest. Ghosts, demons, and spirits appear among the living, and the living pretend they are zombies, goblins, and fairies. Which is witch (haha, a pun! Yes, I’m having fun with language today!) can be unknown and confusing.

We are in a period on Earth in which we are moving towards greater awareness and higher consciousness. We are in the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius as we slowly transition out of the Age of Pisces. Pisces is a water sign ruled by Neptune, who opens us up to transcendental, mystical, and spiritual experiences. Neptune is the god of the oceans, the watery depths. In order to for us to open ourselves up to these experiences, we have to remove all the murky water from our lives that causes deception, illusions, and false realities, including deeply hidden emotions (water). Currently, Neptune is in his own sign of Pisces (until 2025) accentuating the task of discerning what is illusion and what is true.

Neptune

Along with Neptune in Pisces is the asteroid Chiron (until April 2018). According to Ancient Greek mythology, Chiron was a centaur, who became a great and wise astrologer and oracle, and most of all, a healer. While Chiron and Neptune are traveling together through Pisces, many of us, especially those with strong water signs in our natal charts, will experience intensely deep emotional healing. Turbulent waters will cause upwellings of emotions and old emotional issues will rise to the surface. We may feel emotionally confused and make hasty decisions during these emotional tidal waves. We need to experience what comes up so that we can learn to ride the waves instead of letting them toss us around helter-skelter.

There has been much going on in all the water signs lately, which only adds to the emotional ebb and flow. Jupiter is in Cancer (until mid-July 2014), a water sign ruled by the Moon. The Moon itself influences the ebb and flow of the tides on Earth, the flow of the menses, and the rhythm and cycles of other animals and plants. Some even say that the Moon also throws their emotions all topsy-turvy. In general Jupiter is a benevolent influence, especially in connection to the Moon. Though these are emotionally transitional times, this aspect indicates things will turn out fortunately.

In the third water sign, Scorpio, things are very busy right now. Scorpio is the sign of transitions, change, death, loss, the occult, the mystical and spiritual, and the unknown. It is symbolized by the scorpion and the eagle. A strong Scorpio influence gives us a choice: to soar like the eagle toward the light or to hide in the dark and murky waters. With the Sun in Scorpio for a month, it is fitting that this is the time of year that in many cultures we celebrate the mystical, spiritual, ghostly, and the dead. On the physical level we are faced with all things scary; on the emotional level we should try to face our fears, understand from deep within, and accept the transitions that make life life. Without death, there would not be life on this planet as we know it. Death should not be feared, but honored and celebrated.

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Saturn

Also transiting Scorpio are Saturn (until late Dec. 2014) the North Node (until late March 2014), and Mercury (until early Dec. 2013). Amidst all the pell-mell emotions, Saturn can be our rock. Saturn is the slow wise teacher. His Greek name is Chronos, Father Time. He throws hurdles and obstacles in our path, not to strike us down, but to make us slow down, take our time, and fully experience the present moment for there is likely much more going on and much more to learn right now than we may realize. Saturn is also represented by the Grim Reaper because by surrendering to the process we can bring about great change and transitions both in our physical lives and to our inner spiritual selves.

The North Node represents our material/physical drives and our karma and lessons to be learned. Along with Saturn, this indicates incredible growth is in store, but growing pains and difficult lessons must be endured. Mercury in Scorpio adds a very intellectual view to all this emotional healing. While retrograde until the 11th, the desire to over-analyze our emotions and intuition may cause some delays and set-backs, but this can also help to clear the waters and put things into a clearer perspective.

Retrograde motion usually intensifies and deepens a planet’s influence, both the positive and the negative, and need not be feared. Just remember to slow down and be open to seeing and listening to the messages and synchronicities. Currently Neptune (until the 14th), and Chiron (until the 20th) are also retrograde, with Jupiter turning retrograde on the 8th, encouraging us to go even deeper into the waters, into our emotions, into our old wounds, and into our psyches, and stir things up so we can sift out what needs to be let go.

SolarEclipseOn top of all this emotional intensity, on Sunday November 3rd, we will have the New Moon and Solar Eclipse in Scorpio. Solar eclipses usually indicate new beginnings, new perspectives, and possibly sudden changes, all of which require an ending or death of something old to make way for the new. All this emotional disorder, confusion, and hasty change is not to be feared. We and Mother Earth herself need to churn our waters to do the deep healing we need to do to learn, grow, and transition physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These astrological influences are there to energetically support us and give us the assurance that we are on the right track.

Have faith that the Universe has our back. Trust in the process even if to get to that place of growth and emotional health and peace we need to sail some turbulent seas. Let’s all, in however way we choose, celebrate these times and this season of death and transition. Happy Halloween, Samhain, All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day, and El Dia de Los Muertos!

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Butterfly Journal: Truth (Entry #3)

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The Banyan Tree

This past month I’ve been contemplating and working on healing my root chakra, Muladhara, and in this process have come to deeper realizations to the truth of my roots, and how, by making this life-changing transition, I have been bringing the deeply rooted truths both full circle and out of the shadows. Like the banyan tree, whose roots come forth out of the ground to form woody “trunks” and whose branches grow downwards, that which is deep in the unconscious and in the spirit realm is interconnected with and reflected by this conscious and physical world. What is deep within is also the light that is deep with-out, and this physical plane is but an illusion, a reflection, a shadow of the true reality.

Until working through Butterfly Journal, I had never given much conscious thought to my own shadow, though indirectly I have addressed it through all the self-healing work I have done. But through this journal process I have become aware of a shadow I had not seen before. This shadow is ‘shame’, which extends all the way back to my childhood roots, and which had affected my choices through the course of my life. It is shame of being neglected, abused, and abandoned. It’s a fear that keeps a child from speaking up, and a fear that for a long time had prevented me from saying anything when others ignored, let down, flaked out, and continually took from me as an adult. For a long time I allowed my needs to be neglected and stomped on, but have since learned to not let others take advantage of me.

images-1Addressing this truth about this shadow that has been hiding in my roots and bringing it to the surface has been a releasing experience. Returning to the home, family, and place of my roots has enabled it to come full circle. I do not believe that this cycleimages-2 could have nor would have come to completion had I not taken that leap into the abyss by completely ending one life and starting a new one from scratch. I seem to have traversed the Tarot’s Journey of the Fool: I stepped completely alone into the unknown and having come full circle, I now feel connected to the entire World.

By bringing our shadows to the surface, we expose them to Light, to Truth. Shame carries with it anger and the hurt caused by others. I had forgiven all who had hurt me a long time ago, but what I realized was the truth that I had not forgiven myself – for feeling guilty or somehow responsible, for feeling I somehow deserved it, for not stopping or walking away sooner, for not standing up for myself, and for not listening to my intuition (which I 110% trust now no matter how crazy it seems! It’s always right.). But, I am also aware that no matter how many missteps or mistakes I made because of my shadow, all those experiences have provided me with some of the most amazing and beautiful lessons that have enabled me to grow into the person I am today. Because of this I have great gratitude for all those people, things, and experiences. Shadows are cast because of the light we have within. We are here to learn to shine our own light brighter and brighter until it is so bright there are no shadows, and we can shine on for others.

The shadow is the person we’d rather not be.  – C.G. Jung

There is synchronicity with writing this post and with Halloween/Samhain coming up, for it was on Samhain that the Celtic god Dagda, protector of the tribe and earth, united with the phantom queen, the Morrigan, the fairy spirit goddess of psychic powers. This symbolizes the alchemical union of the physical world (Dagda) and the spirit world (Morrigan).

In addition, the planet Mercury is now moving retrograde in Scorpio (in Western Astrology), the sign of all that is hidden, secret, and unknown: occult knowledge, spiritual knowledge, nature spirits, our shadows, intuition, psychic abilities, even astrology. When in retrograde a planet’s influence deepens and intensifies. Mercury is the messenger who assists communication between the gods (spirit realm) and man (physical realm). These weeks surrounding Halloween/Samhain, when the veil (the illusion) between the physical and spirit worlds is thin, is a time for all of us to dig and dive deeper to bring what is hidden into the light, and to see what truths we have deep inside.

And this, in truth, has brought this post full circle. 🙂

God offers to every man its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please; you can never have both.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

To read previous Butterfly Journal entries, Click Here.

To learn more about and purchase Butterfly Journal, Click Here.

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Animal Spirits: The Mouse/Rat

Mice and rats are prolific creatures, who reproduce                                                 abundantly and thrive abundantly allimages-1 over the world. They are intelligent, resourceful, and stealth, all of which has enabled them to thrive, sometimes unfortunately as an invasive species. Whether you see them or not, there are likely to be some somewhere nearby wherever you go.

In the past few months I’ve had several encounters with rats and mice. One afternoon this summer while walking my pups, I saw one lying next to a house. She was alive, but I knew she was resting there to die. The next morning I saw that she had passed. Around that same time, one of my cats, Apollo, had brought me a dead mouse or small rat at four in the morning. A second one that must have been injured had crawled into the heating vents and died. Again about a week ago, Apollo brought me another one early in the morning. (Though I appreciate his loyalty to me, I’ve asked him to please not bring them from the garden to the bedroom any more!)

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Mama, don’t you like the mousie I caught for you?

At this point I had not yet decided to write about the mouse and rat, but then I read that one of the sacred creatures of the Ancient Greek god Apollo was the mouse, symbolizing his omnipresent abundance (the Sun). The mice were also the food for the snakes that belonged to the Pythia, the oracular priestess at Apollo’s temple at Delphi. I was also reminded that Ganesha, the Hindu god of removing obstacles and of abundance and intelligence, rides a mouse or rat. The mouse and rat also represent desire, greed, and always craving new tastes/things to eat and new experiences. With the rat as his vehicle, or vahana, Ganesha is seen as having the wisdom to ride his senses and having control over his desires and cravings.

images-3And then just last night I dreamt about rats: In the dream I went into a (unknown) bathroom to take a shower. I turned on the water and only then noticed a dead rat over the drain. Then another one ran out from behind the tub and hid under a cabinet. I saw a plastic bag I could use to remove the one in the tub, but did not know how to remove or catch the other one. 

Most of my mouse and rat encounters in the conscious realm and in the dream world have involved death. I do not have any sense of “doom and gloom” from these experiences, nor do I feel that they are portending a death or ending in this instance. Death is a transition, and it signifies a time of a new cycle, new beginnings, and evolution. This is a time of transition into greater expansion, growth, and abundance.

In summary the Mouse and Rat symbolize:

  • Abundance
  • Expansion
  • Fertility
  • Wealth
  • Determination
  • Intelligence
  • Conservation
  • Resourcefulness
  • Voraciousness
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Animal Spirits: The Owl

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Barn Owl

I tend to rise early in the morning, and with the days getting shorter, that means I’m up taking my Alaskan Malamute pups out for their morning walk while it is still very dark out. This time of year also means I have the opportunity to do some stargazing while out and about. This has been very exciting lately as Jupiter has been very visible with the twins Castor and Pollux in Gemini (as was red Mars before he moved along) as well as Sirius in Canis Major and all of Orion. It is quite the morning experience to be greeted by this as I walk out the front door.

A few mornings ago as I was looking up into the heavens, I was greeted with a surprise: an owl! In all my life, I have never seen nor heard of anyone in the generations of my family having seen an owl in the city. Though I am sure there are some in the vast city parks, this was truly a surprise. This owl flew right above me as I was looking at the constellations. His large wings with a golden hue flapped silently with power. I watched until he flew over Twin Peaks and out of sight. I was in awe. The wise and majestic owl, the master of the night, the keeper of secret knowledge, and dear friend of the Moon just unexpectedly flew by.

Most of us have probably heard of the wise owl, but the owl’s symbolism goes much deeper. As creatures of the night, they are connected with death as the keepers of spirits, companions for souls going to the underworld, protectors of the dead, and guides for transitions. They are a link between the world of light and the living and the world of darkness and the unknown.

Besides bearing wisdom, insight, and intelligence, owls are keepers of sacred (and secret/hidden/occult) knowledge, and are even thought to be seers and mystics that have shape-shifted. Like all birds, owls are also messengers, particularly of secrets and omens. Owls have keen sight and are silent and stealth flyers, who hunt by the light of the Moon. Thus they also represent dreams, psychic abilities and awareness, and the shadow self.

One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.

How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also if I am to be whole.

― C.G. Jung

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Book Review – Butterfly Journal

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Click pic to visit Litebeing Chronicles

I am pleased to present my review of Julianne Victoria’s  Butterfly Journal. It has been wonderful to work with this lovely lavender book that captures the essence of Julianne’s intuitive spirit. I was given a copy of the book in exchange for this review.

Butterflies tell us the story of being in flux, lingering in darkness, feeling isolated, embracing the state of limbo and then finally and miraculously emerging brilliantly reborn and free. Meta – morphosis means beyond form.  This interactive journal takes the reader through a monthly process of prompts that support the inner work required for lasting personal transformation. Each month builds upon another as you  reflect, write and/or draw and then reflect some more, taking with you the wisdom gleaned from the previous month. For example,  the first month focuses on  self – reflection and taking a self- inventory, month two is devoted to an examination of truth, and month three  is an invitation to live in faith and love of self. You can start the journal whenever you like. I started mine immediately after the Autumn Equinox .

Continue Reading Here…

Butterfly Journal is available here or Amazon or Barnes & Noble, and also: Amazon CanadaAmazon UKAmazon India, and other international Amazon stores.

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Butterfly Journal: Truth (Entry #2)

Muladhara

Lam, the seed mantra for Muladhara chakra

In this Butterfly Journal entry I will briefly discuss the first chakra. See all previous entries here.

The root chakra is called Muladhara मूलाधार. Mula, or moola, means root, and thus this first chakra at the base of the spine is the root, or foundation, chakra. The Kundalini serpent rests here, and it is here where it is awakened. This chakra has to do with matters of worldly success, mastery of the body, grounding, stability, family roots/upbringing, security, courage, and patience. When it is weak, either excessive energy or depleted, one may experience self-centeredness, paranoia, fear, and struggle for survival.

As I mentioned in the last entry: Fear of feeling safe is a root chakra (Muladhara) issue, so it is very interesting that I have returned to the city and home of my roots to heal this unconscious fear. Through the assistance of my dreams I have come to full realization (truth) that I need to address this fear of feeling safe, by emotionally entering into this fear (versus hopping on the water/suppressing the fear and emotions to survive), working on releasing it, and working towards healing my root chakra.

I have done much healing in this area, but obviously there is more work to be done. This morning I synchronistically came across these Moola Mantras at Anoop Astrology Sutra, which I am going to add to my mantra repertoire:

Moola Mantras:

Overcome Obstacles and Success in Endeavours                                       Ganapathi Moola Mantra

Aum shreem hreem kleem glaum gum ganapathaye
Vara-varadha sarva janam-mey vasamaanaya swaha

Good Health, Overcome Ill Health
Dhanvantri Moola Mantra

Aum namo bhagavathey vaasudevaaya
Dhanvantraiye amritha kalasa hasthaya
Sarva aamaya vinasanaya
Trai loka naathaya sree mahavishnave namaha

Wealth and Prosperity
Mahalakshmi Moola Mantra
Aum sreem hreem aim
Mahalakshmiyai kamaladharinyai simhavahinyai swaha

Kubera Moola Mantra
Aum yakshaaya kuberaaya vaisravanaaya
Dana daanya adhipathaye
Dana daanya samrithim
Me dehi daapaya swaha

For more about mantras, click here.

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Butterfly Journal 2nd Month: Truth (Entry #1)

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Art by Josephine Wall

After a month of self-reflection (see last month’s entries here) with Butterfly Journal: Monthly Contemplations for Spiritual Metamorphosisit is time to clear our vision further. Here is the prompt for month #2:

The process of self-reflection to make new beginnings requires us to be truthful with ourselves. We cannot change, grow, or move forward if we do not know where we are starting from. Being truthful with ourselves opens up pathways we may not have otherwise seen. In Truth, the journey is now underway.

For the second month, continue to develop the clarity that comes from being honest with yourself. Also, reflect upon the ways and situations that you may not be honest with yourself or others, and ask yourself: “why?”

I will stick to the theme of my major life transition for the Butterfly Journal posts here on the blog, as well as discussing my dream series that relates to it (as long as those dreams continue, of course).

I’ve had to contemplate this month’s prompt quite a bit. Overall, I’m a very honest person. I mean what I say, and I say what I mean. So I’ve been digging deep inside to discover what truths are hidden in my unconscious. The dream I had just a couple of nights ago brought some insights about this to my consciousness:

Dream #6: 10-3-13:

I was running around my old city, around the south end of the lake. I continued and ran past the home of some people I used to know. Access to the larger lake was right behind their home. There were square cement blocks that looked like they were floating on the water. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to jump the distance from one to the other, but I was afraid they would see me passing through. I decided that what they thought did not matter, and then I knew I had the ability to run/leap across the blocks on the water. This I did. 

Across the water was a large pagoda shaped building filled with foreign visitors waiting for buses. I entered an enormous, room-sized elevator with some of them, and then I was on a bus back to downtown. I got off on the first stop. By the street signs I knew it was not a good area, but also that I just had to cross to the other side of the freeway to be safe.

It’s the last word above that clued me into a deep-seeded truth. I have an unconscious fear of not feeling safe and secure. In the fifteen years I had lived in the previous city, truly closely bonded friendships were difficult to find, and I had experienced an abusive relationship and a frightening stalker situation. Without going into too much detail, my life there was very much about survival, not feeling safe, and not often having a family-like friend to help. I had no family there either.

On the conscious level, in spite of all that, I managed to create a pleasant life, successful healing practice, and a beautiful home. Though I have overcome, and healed, from a lot, on the unconscious level, the fear of not feeling safe and secure still needs some work. In The previous dreams in this series, I kept going back to my house. It was the place where I was safe; it was an oasis of creativity, but also of healing. In this dream I’m out running around the city, hopping above water (skirting my emotions), joining foreigners (I no longer feel I belong there?), and then finding my way to safety.

Fear of feeling safe is a root chakra (Muladhara) issue, so it is very interesting that I have returned to the city and home of my roots to heal this unconscious fear. Through the assistance of my dreams I have come to full realization (truth) that I need to address this fear of feeling safe, by emotionally entering into this fear (versus hopping on the water/suppressing the fear and emotions to survive), working on releasing it, and working towards healing my root chakra. I will go further into this in my next entry.

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The Feast of Saint Francis

In honor of both the Feast of Saint Francis and World Animal Day today, I am reposting the following:

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Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi came from a wealthy family. He had all the comforts of luxury for his day, but he saw that material things and pleasures could not fill his heart and soul with joy and peace. He left this existence of emptiness and suffering for the life of an ascetic monk. He chose a life of material poverty so that he could find abundance within his heart through teaching love and compassion and providing service towards others, not only to humans but also towards both animals and the environment. Today he is the patron saint of gardens and animals.

Though we do not have to choose a monastic life to find everlasting fortune and abundance in our own lives, we can choose to work towards finding the courage to let our egos die by not being attached to the material and fleeting, and to work towards filling our hearts with the same passion for compassion that Saint Francis exemplified. May The Prayer of Saint Francis be a mantra for us to live with our hearts:

Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me bring you love,
Where there is injury, your pardon Lord,
And where there’s doubt, true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.
Oh Master grant that I may never seek,
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving to all men that we receive,
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.

To listen to The Prayer of Saint Francis, click here.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. 

– Mahatma Gandhi

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Animal Spirits: The Moth

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Hummingbird Hawk-Moth

The symbolism of the moth is very similar to the butterfly, as they both go through the metamorphic process of: egg – larva (moth-worm/caterpillar) – pupa – adult (moth/butterfly). However, while butterflies move about by day, moths move about by night. This makes them intimately connected with the symbolism of the Moon and nighttime:

  • Moving about concealed and subtly
  • Ability to move through hidden/other realms
  • Having Faith to move forward into the Unknown/Darkness
  • Acting upon Intuition
  • Understanding Shadows
  • Having Psychic Awareness and an Inner Knowing
  • Understanding Esoteric, Secret, and Sacred Knowledge
  • Navigating the Dreamworld

Though I feel a strong connection to the moth’s symbolism, I was inspired to write about it because of what happened a couple of days ago. Twice within a couple of hours, first through a video and then later being unexpectedly shown photos of one, I came across the previously unknown (to me) moth, the Hummingbird Hawk-Moth. I consider the hummingbird one of my closest animal spirits, and so I was very fascinated by this discovery. The Hummingbird Hawk-Moth has a long proboscis (long tongue-like appendage) and both hovers and hums as it feeds on nectars. From the picture above, you can see how it could easily be mistaken for a hummingbird.

The most interesting thing about the Hummingbird Hawk-Moth, however, is the fact that it does not move about by night, but by day! This beautiful insect could be seen as a symbolic summary of the meanings of the hummingbird, the butterfly, and the moth. Of course, when we are presented with animal spirits, not all the “textbook” meanings are meant to apply to each of us and our lives at that given time, so I will have to meditate on the Hummingbird Hawk-Moth for a while to sense what symbolic meanings resonate with my soul and to understand it’s message(s) for me.

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International Day of Peace

I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you                                                             friendship. I see your beauty. I hear yourInternational-Day-of-Peace need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.

– Gandhi

September 21st is International Day of Peace. May today inspire all of us to live, act, and pray for peace each and every day of the year!

If you’d like to join the Peace Movement, check out Bloggers for Peace!

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