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| Purple Magesty Catherine Al-Meten |
The closest I think I will ever come to being in the embrace of Leo the Lion is in being nuzzled by my big black and white tomcat, Frederico who woke me this morning at 3:00 to hold an early morning conference. He reminded me that we have to be aware of the fire energy within each of us, that stirs us in the night, spurs us on during the day, and meets us at dawn and dusk to get moving into and out of consciousness. When we sleep, our conscious mind closes down, and our the unconscious begins tapping at our door, through dreams and through the workings of the Universal Consciousness takes us into whatever places we need to be woken up. Our consciousness is like a garden that is always in need of care, attention, and appreciation. To care for the garden, we need to enter it. To be open to what our Consciousness is signaling us, we need to be willing to be awake. What we do with what we learn, is what our life journey seems to be about. What is knocking at the door of your consciousness at this time? What needs tending in the garden?
Everything we experience becomes part of who we are, and we continually process this through our senses, our intellect, our heart, emotions, and physical body, and within our spirit. At each new moon, we watch as the tides rise and fall, seasons come and go, and life progresses onward. Some are caught up with the limiting thought that aging is something to fear or dread. Rather with each New Moon we are reminded of how we are coming along on our journey as a spiritual being having a physical experience. We sometimes sense our limitations and fears, and allow those both to be excuses, rationale, or bars on the cage of our own making. Look to this New Moon in Leo as a time to reexamine your own views of life, its purpose and meaning, and whatever blocks your good. This New Moon in Leo is an auspicious time when you are once again invited to honor the life and gifts you have, release what needs releasing, and be open and receptive to your highest good.
New Moon in Leo joins Jupiter in Leo to expand energy, infusing us with an abundance of creativity and passion. Jupiter also represents generosity of spirit that comes on the wings of grace.
Sri Ramakrishna, C19 mystic, from a poor Brahman family in Bengal, India, taught, “The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail to catch it.” One of his first teachers, an ascetic woman, Bhairavi Brahmani, introduced him to Tantra, most beautifully described by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, as such. One who practices Tantric yoga is “A person who, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, aspires for spiritual expansion or does something concrete {toward that end}. Tantra in itself is neither a religion nor an "ism". Tantra is a fundamental spiritual science. So wherever there is any spiritual practice it should be taken for granted that it stands on the Tantric.” Ramakrishna would go on to found a spiritual path based on the principles of God as Mother of the Universe and all religions hold the seeds of truth.
This month with the Sun in Leo, the New Moon in Leo shines its light on the sea of light, and we are on that sea of light. During Jupiter’s passage through Cancer, our hidden nature, emotional resources, and spiritual essence have been recharged, and now as Jupiter transits through Leo, we are infused with the passion, energy, and enthusiasm to create, discover, heal, and grow. Prepare to expand your awareness, fire up your curiosity, and join your energies with those who seek to know the Divine within as it connects to the Universal Soul.
This is one of the best times possible to begin a new venture, set forth on a new journey, envision a new path, and raise our sails in readiness for the grace that flows through our lives at this time. This is one of the most fortuitous times of this year, and is an excellent time for allowing yourself to create, dream something into life, or initiate new projects and relationships, or stages of relationships. This is the time to let loose of fear and anything else that blocks you from your good. It is a time to embrace your gifts, and to open yourself to receive blessings, inspiration, and guidance. Become accustomed to living in the question as you cast off old patterns and perspectives and take on a new purpose and lightness of being in living ever mindful in the present. Time to let go of expectations, emotional baggage, and negativity so that you can move in light and purpose, to love and serve others and fulfill your purpose. Time to remember the words of the beautiful song by John Talbot, “Be Not Afraid”:
Be not afraid
I go before you always
Come follow Me
And I WILL give you rest.
New Moon at 3 degrees Leo is at the place in the Leo constellation that includes the Great Bear, Ursa Major. Sitting on the front paw, the star, Talitha, this New Moon represents the biblical story of Jesus being called to revive a dying girl. Jesus says to her, “Talitha arise.” This star, Talitha, represents healing through compassion―compassion and forgiveness of one’s self and of others. We cannot forgive others, if we have not already forgiven ourselves, for it is through self understanding and forgiveness that our compassion and empathy deepens and grows. Part of the energy of healing and learning compassion is dealing with our own resistance to learning or coping with our woundedness. The shadow side of this New Moon is becoming over protective, defensive, and if pushed too hard, striking out and projecting our own fears out onto others. Healing is a necessary component of what needs to happen for learning how to live in peace with ourselves and with others. When we are unconscious to our selves, we walk around striking out, judging, and viewing others through the lens of our own wounds and fears. To be able to give and receive love, we need to be ceaselessly turning our lives over to the Divine to direct and guide us toward whatever is within us that needs healing.
With the Moon in Leo square Jupiter in Cancer, we are further reminded how necessary it is that we face our fears, actively work to heal our wounds, and transform the way we are living, perceiving, and defining who we are and how we are meant to live and behave, and create. If we get too protective of ourselves, there is a danger of becoming tough or building up a shell to keep from perceived threats. We need to buffer from some types of energy, however, when we are shielding ourselves from our own learning, we block our own good and growth. We may find ourselves revisiting some old, unresolved issues, and finalizing some business, releasing certain energy, or changing our habits more mindfully as the Moon in Leo reactivates the Mars squares Jupiter (from April’s Grand Cardinal Cross). We want to find balance between being protective and being overprotective. In order to move forward, we now have to be willing to release and stop acting out of old patterns of thought and behavior. When we have seen or felt the truth of a situation for us, we cannot forget.
Armed with the new understanding, we can either go on as before, but be living a lie based on an illusion, or we can equip ourselves for learning new lessons that will lead us forward. The struggle within us right now, is an essential one for our own spiritual growth and evolution. This is a period when you need to incubate new ideas before moving forward. This is the time of creation and incubation―a period when ideas, visions, and goals our forming within each of us. Look to the house/area of your life where the Leo Sun, the New Moon in Leo, and Jupiter in Leo are transiting, and that will indicate where the main focus of this New Moon is actively churning things up and infusing your with ideas, intuitive knowledge, energy, and visions. Choose the life-affirming dreams, allow yourself to learn to more clearly discern what calls for your attention, and then allow yourself to sit in mindful presence of how you are being shaped, formed, and guided to the next stage of your life.
On this New Moon in Leo, with all the accompanying energy of the cosmos moving in harmony to help us lift ourselves and one another, onto a voyage of discovery, healing, creativity, and divinely inspired expressions of Love, Peace, and Truth. Whatever areas of our lives need healing, whatever desires, dreams, and intentions have merit and value, are now infused with the winds of grace to carry you forward.
New moons are always times of transition between what has passed and what lays ahead. At this time, a great spiritual awakening is possible for us to open our hearts and minds and spirits so that we may see how we are being called to use our gifts, talents, and lives. How have we come to serve others through our art, service, devotion, and care? We can come to understand this when we look to those places where we have been prepared. Where are the places where space has been created in our lives?
Goethe describes the nature of grace as filling “spaces that have been empty.” Where are the empty spaces―those places that have been cleared out, washed away, or devastated through loss of one type or another? “Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. . . .Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: "You are accepted."
Sri Ramakrishna taught that, “The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail to catch it.” At this auspicious New Moon in Leo, we raise our sails with the faith that we will receive what we need when we need it. We will be given grace for today, and we will step out in trust that we have what we need to create a more compassionate, peaceful as we heed the words of the ancient prophets (Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, Micah, Zachariah as they continuously delivered the Word of God as instructions to “beat [our] swords into plow shares, and [our] spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
While we might feel overwhelmed as we witness the cruelties, abuse, injustices, intolerance, and violence that we humans use against one another, we need to be reminded at this particular time, that we each have the seeds of peace within us. We have the power to love and live from a place of peace and compassion within. Thoughts and words are energy, and both carrying powerful ideas wherever they are sent. Our thoughts work like water within us, either to quench a thirst or to erode our gifts and blessings. Thoughts and words work their way into our individual consciousness and physical being, as they also work their way into our collective consciousness.
During these times we live in, we find it difficult to see how we can have any effect on the harm being done to others. We find no answers to why humans perpetrate violence against one another. This time is when it is vital that we set our intentions to high ideals, as we send our thoughts, words, deeds to where they are needed, and send out intentions on sacred missions. Use your power, gather your strength, screw up your courage, and send out prayers and meditations that bless and heal those in need, that honor the sanctity of life, and that trust that good outweighs bad and love is stronger than fear. Do the healing you need to do within yourself, and use the energy of the Leo New Moon, and this lunar month of Leo energy, to fire up your desires, strengthen your commitment, and open up to receive the blessings and grace that comes to you daily, helping shine a light and lift you to be your strength wherever your journey leads you.
Our lives are abundant with opportunities to grow in soul, mind, spirit, and heart. What we tend to in our lives, helps us on the journeys we take to meet life where it happens. How we equip ourselves for each part of our day, depends on what we are willing to pay attention to. Seek some time and find a quiet, still place where you can go within and listen. Where you can watch the world around you, and where you can find the connections you need to support you. Receive the gifts and graces that come your way, and show gratitude, practice forgiveness, and celebrate each moment as a gift the the Divine.
While I wrote this, I watched as the starry night sky gave way to the first streams of dawn's light, and then to the vivid colors of the day, the birdsong, and the movement of life, awaking, renewing, and restarting. Embrace the life you have been given, and live your gift of life in ceaseless thanksgiving.
“Give us grace for today; feed the famished affections.” Mary Baker Eddy (translation of the line “Give us today our daily bread” from the Our Father).
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