Check out my newly written, non-fiction short story that was recently published in the Edge of Humanity Magazine. Please feel free to click on the link below to see this inspirational writing that captures the the spirit of the “thinning of the veils” season. This writing was inspired by real events that took place in my life many moons ago and honors my Grandma’s presence in my life today. And while you’re at it, give our friends at Edge of Humanity Magazine a buzz by supporting the great work they are doing there:
Mercury In Retrograde ends on October 2, 2022. Reflecting back, our souls experienced a myriad of opportunities to review, re-process and re-program during this Twilight Zone rewind time.
During Mercury Retrograde, this writer was revisited by old bodily wounds that afforded him with a renewed opportunity for resistant free zones of being present, letting go and the gift of awareness. It’s less painful that way and we suffer less when we are in this space.
In much the same way as people and left brain faculties, it isn’t uncommon for machines to break down and amplify emotional intensity in the humans that rely on them.
For example, we had a particularly stressful day at the school that I work at recently. One of our coworkers just about blew her cork during an intersection between a student’s dysregulated behavioral episode that was amplified by a copy machine’s oppositional behavior.
But as we have discussed in this blog before, co-regulation is an empathic experience where humans can harmonize with their environments and support each other in relaxing.
Thankfully, my coworker friend used her words and stood in her personal authority by speaking her truth and letting go of it. Tempting as it was during that crazy train episode, I refrained from cracking any puns. Sometimes, silence is a higher form of honesty. Remember that inner peace is always a choice even amidst chaos. It is a dimensional shift.
Paradoxically, as the fog lifts after Mercury in Retrograde, our days will get darker as our clocks are turning back yin-ward. Peak radiant foliage brings leaf peepers throughout New England in early October, while November is typically the gloomiest month in Maine.
But it won’t be the darkest day of the year till the Winter Solstice in December, at least in the Northern hemisphere.
Furthermore, the Hunter’s Moon will reach peak illumination on Sunday, October 9. In Ojibwe, this moon is called the Freezing Moon, reflecting colder temperatures. This Hunter’s Moon always comes after the Harvest Moon, which is always closest to the Autumn Equinox.
Our ancestors understood this moon cycle signaled the time to go hunting in preparation for a long season of cold winter storage. Moreover, our animal friends understood that it is time to fatten up before winter.
Farmers cleaned out their fields under the brighter moonlight of the Harvest Moon. This gave our ancestors effective night vision to see the deer and other animals that came out to root through the remaining scraps. Also, it was easier to see foxes and wolves coming out to prey on them.
When I meditate alone in the woods, I reflect on Lao Tzu’s observation that “nature is the best physician.” There is magic in co-regulating with Mother Earth and we all win when we make this part of our sacred rituals.
Looking ahead, an October-November 2022 eclipse season will feature a partial solar eclipse on October 25, which is also a New Moon in Scorpio. Solar eclipses invite creations of new beginnings and bright new opportunities, as New Moons also reflect.
A total lunar eclipse arrives on November 8, which is also a Full Beaver Moon. Lunar eclipses are more emotional, for they bring on final endings, like the climax of emotional tides of Full Moons.
In the Universe’s energetic medicinal deck of cards, Eclipses are like powerful fanned out wild cards that inspire us to pay attention to areas in our life that need to change. They uproot us, surprise us, and light a fire under our asses.
During the intensity of Eclipses, our lives are rapidly shaken up so that we can transform into our new selves. The one constant of Eclipses is that they are change agents for rebirth. A death of the old self is taking place.
It is an interesting synchronicity that the New Moon in Scorpio, Full Beaver Moon and Eclipse Season intersects with the Samhain, All Soul’s Day, All Saint’s Day and The Day of The Dead at the end of October and beginning of November.
Of course the modern tradition of Halloween captures some of the spirit of our ancestors, who recognized that the veils between the physical and spirit realm appear thinner during this time. The ritual of wearing masks is a spiritual portal into alternate realities in consciousness and transformation.
The thinning of the veils can play tricks on us. But it can be a real treat to reconnect with the spirits of our ancestors who have left this Earth.
Meditation on Bat can empower your ability to hear spirit, if you wish to do so.
Try not to get spooked by your fears because negative energies tend to feed off of that.
Election Day is also on November 8th. The figure 8 is the sign of Infinity. It may seem like the Tao centered politics of a New Aquarian Age and Paradigm is far off in the future.
But a simple shift in mindset reveals that the New World is already happening. The old world is fading away into the backdrop and falling away, like the leaves on the trees.
May the forthcoming Eclipse Season become an infinite Election of new politics in our collective lives, if you’ll pardon the pun.
Mercury in Retrograde, which has spiritual connections to Hawk, begins on September 9th and ends on October 1, 2022. Meditation on the energies of Hawk reveal spirit vision and guardianship.
Pay patient purposeful attention to the signs that will clearly reveal opportunities for you to see. Remember that we live in an energetic and sacred Universe. Hawk is a good reminder of the magic in it if our hearts and minds are open to it.
In a way, Mercury in Retrograde is like receiving messages from the gods of yesteryear. Relax and let go of left brain attachments and soar into the realm of right brain, intuitive faculties. Logic and rationalism are important forms of cognition.
But they are not the only way of thinking. Sometimes, it is best to let them rest and surrender to the irrational and creative forms of non-linear and non-localized thinking at this time.
It is a good time to get in touch with extraordinary states of consciousness.
For example, during meditation, our brain waves change form. Like with humor, changes in brainwaves gets us to look at things in a different light.
As always, be kind to your mind- machines too because they don’t always operate as seamlessly as they’re supposed to, especially when Mercury’s in retrograde. The Twilight Zone experience does not appear to discriminate.
Ever noticed how when your internal wires are crossed, machines also seems to short circuit and appear disassembled? Sometimes, I give Reiki to a machine that isn’t working properly and sometimes it will work. Other times, it doesn’t and I remember that it’s OK to walk away.
Distractions are everywhere, inside and out, in this world of 10,000 things. Mercury in retrograde is somewhat akin to AD/HD experiences, where we are can’t tell if we are going nuts or just forgot where we buried our acorns, like the squirrels in Nature.
Stay focused and keep your eye out for the signs to point you in the right direction. If anything, it’s a good time to sit with what is and not make any big decisions if you can help it.
Our old selves have very different lenses than our future selves. If hindsight vision is 20/20, then we can stand to allow this rewind time to inform us about the changes that we need to make.
Take flight, pause and reflect on this old episode retrograde rewind time period by reexamining what you see in the rearview mirror. It is likely that you will be revisited by past relationships in the form of dreams, visions and even in person encounters.
September’s Full Harvest Moon will peak on September 10. This Full Moon always happens closest to the Autumn Equinox on Thursday, September 22nd.
As we discussed in the last blog entry, in Ojibwe, the Full Moon during this time of year is called the Falling Leaves Moon. Watch the leaves falling and observe their process of changing colors. Seasons change no matter what we are doing or not doing. Might as well go with the flow of changes and embrace them as gracefully as possible.
Just after the official transition into Fall, a Libra New Moon awakens on September 25, 2022. New Moons are always symbolic of new beginnings and also a cycle of power for the energies of Hawk.
May the energies of the Libra New Moon ignite your soul’s expansion beyond the securities of your comfort zone and be open to exploration for all of life’s offerings. Spiritual wisdom reminds us to have an open heart and align with the Universe.
If only we can calm down and harmonize with our environment. This requires balancing tension of opposites, like the intersections between joy and pain, sunshine and rain. How do we make friends with that?
Libra symbolizes peacemaking. It wouldn’t be a stretch for a Libra working their soul energy in the positive to be an effective social worker, educator and civil rights advisor with children. This is an example of the love they embody.
Awakening to your soul purpose is in alignment with Hawk.
Aries is the first sign on the Zodiac. From a Western Astrological perspective, Aries reflects the energies of both the new beginnings of a new year, as well as a New Moon on April 1, 2022. Feelings of uncertainty make it tempting to run the hurry up offense by trying to solve problems faster than is natural. Do not rush as if there was a deadline. It is wise for the Ram to try to slow down their steps so that they can decide what they want to do and proceed at their own chosen speed. In the heat of the moment, remember the cool, wintry transitional shoreline tides of Pisces to take a deep breath, relax and go with the flow.May this be a gentle letting go of the heavy blanket of Winter, including any judgements you have been carrying in your backpack.The mystical, soulful travels of other dimensions are as important as the practicality of knowing how to live on this Earth.We all go through ages and stages in our life cycles. As humans, we all get insecure and suffer. We have neglected and even discounted our spirits. Vanity and glorifying youth culture can become a barrier to embracing our cosmetic imperfections. No, we can’t turn back the clock. With meditation, the aging process can be slowed down and even reversed. But meditation isn’t a cure nor is it a cosmetic approach. Developing a regular meditation practice is an inside-out approach to nurture our spirits (as well as our bodies and minds) that can have a meaningful and sustainable impact on our everyday lives. As we change the way we look at ourselves in the mirror of the mind, the way we look in the mirror changes.
Aries the Ram brings the element of fire and is a life force to be reckoned with because they can be fiercely deliberate in their approach. Aries is the part of our personality that embodies the power of our will, which is masculine or yang. Keep in mind that all women have masculine energy in them, while all men have feminine energy in them. So as the yin and yang, these energies flow within all of us and have a natural desire to be expressed. The Billy Joel classic song, My Life, captures the self determination of Aries to do whatever it wants. An intentional selection of crisis reflects the mountains we choose to climb. This writer remembers tapping into his inner ram during some radical hiking adventures, where being present with secure footing and listening to the elements could literally mean the difference between avoiding serious injury, or even life or death on any given moment. There were times that he lost his way, ran out of water and had to pull from resources that he didn’t even know were there. But the spirit of Aries is an intense and direct warrior and they will be sure to bring fire to their target. It won’t be a question of how to avoid stress because Aries attract stress like a magnet. The question is what form will it take. It’s as if the Aries positive self talk mantra asserts: pick your battles, as its signpost. Energy is energy. It’s what we do with it that counts and our approach that matters.We do not need to draw our swords or go to war with each other.Nobody likes feeling like they’ve been thrown under the bus or ambushed in relationship with each other. Remember that anger is the bodyguard of our fears, which explains why most, if not all emotional reactions come from a place of anxiety. Like the yin and yang, order and chaos are always at play with each other.
Check out this Civil Rights oriented video that captures the intersection between the powerful energies of Aries and feminine youth poetry in motion:
A Full Pink Moon, which gets its name from vegetation known as moss pink, arrives on April 16. The Cree Indigenous People called this Full Moon the Frog Moon. It is also known as the Paschal Full Moon because it is the first Full Moon of Spring. Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday after the first Full Moon of Spring, following the Spring Equinox, which was on March 20. This year, Easter falls on Sunday, April 17th. Like humans, flora and fauna; traditions have been mixing since creation. The light rises till its climax on the Summer Solstice on June 21, 2022. After that, the sunlight will slowly start waning until light and dark energies are equal again on the Autumn Equinox in September.
Artwork by Barbara Merlotti
When Frog sings in the torrential downpours of rain falling onto your Being . . .
No need to let it dampen your spirits!
Soak up the cleansing shower of Heavenly tears
by letting yourself bathe in a colorful
rainbow that shines on your golden soul.
What does Frog have to say to you about cleaning up
your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors?
Is there something you need to release or let go of?
How are you weathering the spirits of your daily routine?
A Full Pink Moon reflects an early arrival of spring vegetation in our outer world.
Let Frog guide you into an internal spring cleaning.
Clean, purify, detox and release any dirty, stagnant energies
that muddy the waters your soul wants to set free.
The winds of change are in the air!
Here we are hopping further along into Spring . . .
Frog showers us with purifying songs of April rains!
We branch out of a wintery coffin after a soulful energetic spring cleaning.
Rainbows reflect colorful flowers blossoming with clean care;
A Full Pink Moon signals an early arrival spring of flowers spreading outside –
Abundance and fertility are in the air!
Time to clear away the internal clutter . . .
Are you remembering to take deep, cleansing breaths to stay grounded?
Might as well transform the way we hop through life.
Call on the positive vibrations to reverberate in your soul’s acoustics.
Metamorphosis abounds as May flowers whisper in the winds of change.
Frog awakens magical elemental forces of water and land;
What needs to be released from your mind-body-spirit?
Picture a Frog to help you develop a deeper respect for boundaries.
Visualize transformative travels through powerful conductors of water and sound;
Your creative powers want to spring forth!
Now is the time to let go of stale, stuck energies
that want to uproot your soul’s impetus to evolve and grow!
Commentary:
Showers in April are a good reminder that it is time a good Spring clean-up. Time for cleansing, purification, detoxification and release. Nature reflects our inner world for us to examine. The beauty of a rainbow could not exist without the storm that preceded it. It’s when we feel lost and alone that a rainbow appears that brightens our spirits. Otherwise, we would not be able to differentiate a dark sky from a clear day. From a spiritual perspective, we are living in a time of transition, where there is the death of an old world and rebirth of a New Earth. We are literally taking our first quantum leap onto the lily pad of the Aquarian Age. In this process, we need to let go of divisive us and them, stale, boxed in thinking, old ways of being sacrificial lambs, dog eat dog, you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, male dominating female, fear of feminine power and unbalance of power by subjugating Black Indigenous People of Color and Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer people. The awakening New Age of Aquarius is a time where we can find our way in our own uniqueness by aligning who we are as individuals that mixes with group consciousness. Diversity within Unity. We are moving into a time period where the ego does not dominate the playing field anymore. It is about us becoming what is in tune with our Higher Selves or our Better Angels, as President Lincoln said. We can be aligned in our heads and our hearts with each other and come from a place of authentic soulful recognition. Yes, we have our prewired and learned fears, negative self talk and voices of trauma. But we don’t have to be seduced or submerged by them. Sitting with the Lotus flower out in Nature will help show you the way by becoming the change you want to see in the world.Observe this transformative process unfolding within yourself.
A New Moon in Aquarius on February 1, 2022 aligns with the same date as the Chinese New Year of theTiger. It is also the Imbolc/Groundhog Day on February 2nd. Our ancestors honored the Imbolc because it is the approximate midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. At this time, we are reminded that, in spite of the colder temperatures outside, daylight is gaining, and Spring is on its way. This is a complicated time with emotions, as there is a strong need for emotional freedom now. We are in the early stages of the Age of Aquarius, and this transition into a New Age and Paradigm is not without the experience of labor pains. Can’t you feel the contractions on the Planet right now? Life is always with its tension of opposites, or duality. As we have discussed, the Chinese symbol of the Yin and Yang reflects this. Meditation on the energy of Duality helps you feel at peace with your own inner duality. It helps you live in balance, in oneness and harmony, so that you may continue your path in a cosmic consciousness. It helps you discover life through enjoyment and play.
Truly, the energy of Aquarius has an assertive need for being an individual with a fiercely independent streak. But Aquarius also begs the question of how do I be my authentic self, and at the same time, fit in to group consciousness? As such, among groups, it can be easier to understand your feelings and free yourself from negative emotions such as fear, anger and jealousy. Linking up to the right groups can support us in accessing our inner genius, to think in new ways, even divergent from what we have been taught by family/societal conditioning. Getting in touch with inner freedom can be liberating for a soul in a way that transcends rules and defiance of them. Diversity in Unity is the Aquarian mantra. Gone are the days of the Lone Wolf.
Also, a Full Snow Moon arrives on February 16th. The Ojibwe called this moon the Bear Moon, while theAlgonquin called it the Groundhog Moon. Winter is a good time for human forms of hibernation and nurturing our inner cubs before they are ready to come out into the sunlight for the spring thaw and begin manifestation on the Spring Equinox.
Artwork by Barbara Merlotti
When Turtle swims into your stream of thoughts
Remember to picture Mother Earth
loving you with patience and kindness
The river does not need to be pushed
Slow down and take it one step, one breath, and one
moment at a time
How does slowing down help you stop and smell the roses?
What happens to the river’s rapids, when we go with
the flow instead of pushing the river?
Do you need to curl up in your shell and hide, or do you need to come out
into the sunlight and be with people?
Our ancestors celebrated the Full Snow Moon as the peak snowfall accumulation.
Beneath Winter’s dirge,
stirrings of Spring are beginning to think about coming out of Plato’s Cave.
Picture a Turtle protected by an invincible shell,
securely anchored deeply into Mother Earth.
Turtle’s spirit is an ancient reminder of our soulful connection to our living planet.
Our ancestors celebrated the Imbolc,
the mid-point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.
Also, this February brings the Chinese-Lunar year of the Tiger.
Now more than ever, meditation on Tiger can inspire a deep freedom for
cultivating ourpassions, power, devotion and sensuality.
Running a hurried up offense is a popular way to live on Earth today . . .
Might as well wise up to Turtle’s wisdom to remember
Do you need to escape from the worries of the world for a spell?
Mother Earth’s ancient wisdom to slow down our tempo and anchor in Her ground
Or do you need to come out of your of your shell and be more social?
Meditate on Turtle for a deeper understanding of
patience and planetary connection
A Chinese-Lunar New Year reminds us that Spring is arriving energetically
In spite of probable peaks in snowfall accumulation . . .
Do you feel the seeds underground starting to think about waking up?
Time to bury your ideas in the ground and let the sunlight do its business . . .
So that they may organically blossom in the Spring
Turtles are older than dinosaurs and carry an ancient wisdom on their backs. If there are any spirit guides to help us open up to the idea of Karma, Turtle is a good role model. Karma can easily be understood as the law of cause and effect. If you are paying attention to the big picture, you start noticing how cause and effect impacts your life and then have ability to transcend it. Have you ever noticed that the more you hurry or try to expedite a process, the more your hurried pace slows you down in the long run? Through patience and compassion, we become equipped to harmonize with our conflicts. T’ai Chi is often practiced in slow motion. The idea behind this slow and meditative internal martial art is that if you practice it at a slow pace, you will be fast if and when the situation calls for fast action. When we slow down, observe the moments as they come without judgment and learn to be with what is. May we cultivate energy gradually and powerfully like water.
In my orientation, I came into this realm strongly aligned with the energy of Rabbit. I remember Grandmother taking me to see story hour at the local library in my Preschool years. I had a hard time understanding the story of the tortoise and the hare. But that makes sense to me now, especially because I was raised in a culture that did not teach us about opposites. We were taught that it’s either this, or that . . . just say no, just do it. Living in America was a sea full of mixed messages that mirrors growing up as a child in a psychotic household. Meditating on Turtle helps relax any pressures of the cultural river we might feel we are pushing against. Just knowing that these creatures are older than dinosaurs helps me appreciate a long range perspective. Rome wasn’t built in a day. All we really have is right now. Might as well take it in. If you need to, go within your shell to take refuge from the worries of the world, or you can come out of your shell and congregate with others. Knowing when to turn inward, and when to socialize is about knowing balance within yourself. Some people are naturally more monkish and hermit like, while others are more pod oriented, and thrive on others to feed them. Nature just reflects to us where we are at and what we need to work with. Let Turtle guide you in wise council.
Like many, I have been in a place of wishing the weather was different from what it was. After I was a child, back when enjoyed being outside regardless of climate, I started to internalize an adult-centric perspective about certain weather being preferable to others, namely complaints about the cold, dark and stormy, and the like. For many people, it doesn’t really matter – it’s too hot, bright, buggy, windy, the laundry list is endless. But for those of you who live in a northern climate, and really hate winter – knowing the half way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox happens this month may help you appreciate that the sunlight is rising, and warmer temperatures are on their way. I remember being up in the Andean mountain range in South America, and the little Indigenous children were trying to sell us rotten berries for a buck or two. It was a sobering reflection for me to see such a pristine, natural habitat, and yet such abject poverty. Privileged first world people were traveling here to appreciate the natural riches of this land, and yet the Indigenous people who lived in this natural treasure were fighting for survival.
I remember some of my old football coaches telling us that we should play every down like it’s our last. It was a good metaphor for life. Like the Hopi say, we are in the 11th hour, and we are the one’s we have been waiting for. The time is now. We are at a point in our current experience that we have the power to make ourselves go extinct or awaken to a massive shift in our collective consciousness. The reality is that an old world is dying, while the trumpet of a new world sounds its call. Out of the ashes, a phoenix rises. May we become beacons of light in a world of darkness. Mindfulness isn’t a cure. It is a way of paying attention to the present moment, and noticing what it is, without getting sucked in to labels or judgment.
Classroom Mothership Earth 