I used to think God was a stranger.
But one day I opened the door and God moved in.
For someone without belongings?
There was soon no room for me.
Category: Uncategorized
Good Monday Morning…Sweet Surrender (con’t)
Tripping Over Joy
What is the difference
Between your experience of Existence
And that of a saint?
The saint knows
That the spiritual path
Is a sublime chess game with God
And that the Beloved
Has just made such a Fantastic Move
That the saint is now continually
Tripping over Joy
And bursting out in Laughter
And saying, “I Surrender!”
Whereas, my dear,
I am afraid you still think
You have a thousand serious moves.”
― Hafiz, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy
I wake up for nine days with the chin of an eternally optimistic chocolate Lab resting on my hand or arm, with tail wagging and bright eyes imploring, “let’s play!” Because she is the sweetest and most well behaved critter on four legs, I surrender to the hour, 6:15, throw on some clothes, harness her up and we explore the neighborhood–new to me and always new to her no matter how many times she has sniffed that patch of ground.
She doesn’t know me but loves me regardless and I don’t know her but the feelings are mutual. It is the wonderful thing about dogs and I personally am grateful for a little extra LOVE this week! Thank you Lily.
New Moon in Cancer: Sweet Surrender
New Moon July 27th, 2014 @ 5 degrees Cancer 37 minutes
04:08 a.m. EDT 01:08 a.m. PDT
The title for this New Moon is ‘sweet surrender’. In the early degrees of Cancer when the soul is vulnerable to all the external stimuli and still basking in the love-light discovered upon the recent venture into familiar and comfortable interior caverns. Gentle, tender wrapped in your arms safe and loved you unfold, surrendering to the glow of love that radiates from your heart. Love flows everywhere—no boundaries. Incapable of turning the tide of pure emotion, you rise and fall, the ocean, inhales and exhales so consistent, eternal, where can there be fear in such Love? Only knowing soothes the mind, rocks the mind into obedience.
Stillness penetrates deeply in the darkness. Thoughts are absorbed into soft mesh, the fabric of consciousness that slowly lets go of all the debris collected over numerous ages of participation. You are free, limbs search for ground in the void only for a moment. Without thinking, the need for ground suddenly has no meaning. You move with the rhythm of truth, guided by the essence that is your nature. No thinking necessary. No problem solving, planning, pretending. From the cocoon you emerge and fly for the first time with the Beloved as your guide.
During this New Moon prepare your self for a dip into the well of divinity and see if it doesn’t usher you into life anew—softness, kindness, caring and easing into everyone and everything you meet with out resistance. The Crab is being coaxed from its shell by the forces of the deep. Neptune’s powers of persuasion are based upon the desired dissolution of any harsh or hard elements standing between you and your liberation. You will gladly be wooed by this immensely attractive influence. Not to become prey to but to become one with. Frivolity rejected in favour of intimate excursions, explorations of each petal as it unfolds and watching as it floats downstream and finally out of sight.
There are very few distractions now unless you go looking for distraction. There is little to call you in any other direction as your direction stands out as clearly as one cloud slowly spreading its edges across the sky, so thin that white becomes blue and is lost.
These few days before and after the New Moon put us in touch with Yin energy—gentle, sensitive, compassionate with appreciation for the human condition and wanting to engage from a place of peace rather than conflict. It emphasizes Love and receptivity and a willingness to ‘sacrifice’ what does not serve the highest good.
Wherever this New Moon falls in your own chart will generate deeper consideration of those aspects in your life.
1st House: The Self. Be sure to allow your self the time and space for inner reflection.
Self inquiry—who is this ‘I’? A different process than getting your feet right way up after first arriving.
2nd House: Self-worth and security. Big issues around how you perceive your self and place in the world. This may show up as emotional insecurity. Stay focused knowing that thoughts are based on the past and none of it is true in this moment.
3rd House: Communicating the Self. Some of your basic ways of expressing your self with others may come up for review. Don’t take things personally. Remember that you are wearing your heart on your sleeve.
4th House: Home and Emotional Expression. A sensitive house as it is our roots, the Mother. Matters of Self nurturance and feeling—loved and accepted or not. Again be prepared for deep connections to how you feel without becoming engrossed in the past. The moon does represent past patterns. Here they come up for review.
5th House: Self expression, Self realization and Romance. Obviously the combination of the Sun/Moon here in Cancer is a great opportunity to stand up and Be ‘it’. No words necessary fortunately. Its all about what comes from the Heart and in this case it is only Love. On a mundane level it certainly will achieve a lot in terms of any relationship plans you have.
6th House: Mentoring, Work, Health. So, realize that you are vulnerable. Take care of your self. The tendency is usually to look after others first but in this case, you are number one then everyone else and they will show up for a good shoulder—yours is it.
Also the house of small animals. They may show up too.
7th House: One on one relationship. Marriage house. Kindness and caring of those with whom you relate on a personal level. Lucky them! Do not allow your incredibly sensitive and perceptive self to be disillusioned by what may look like the opposite coming from partners. It gives you the chance to Be Love regardless of what comes at you.
8th House: The cycle of humanity and others possessions. Sex/sexuality. Super sensitivity and heightened awareness of the needs of humanity. Everything you give out comes back tenfold. The desire to give may be outstanding but be prepared to receive the same. Be aware that whomever you connect with sexually will have a deep impact on you energetically. If it is not someone that is committed you may feel loss at their leaving.
9th: The Holy Grail. Higher Self. Internal drive for Self realization and an interest in exploring whatever channels will carry you to ‘higher heights’. Setting out on a journey or quest for the apparently elusive freedom to BE and a strong inclination to share that with others, to shine your light and spread the Truth. People will be attracted to your confidence and your inner peace.
10th: Recognition. Career/Ambition. Structure of humanity. There is no holding you back! Your ability to affect those around you, to add to the expanding sense of community and awareness of what it takes to truly make a difference may bring you recognition for services rendered. Global healing through Love is the motivating factor for which you may find your self feeling enormous gratitude.
11th: Community. Goals. Friends. Feeling a deep connection to humanity and aspiring to engage with everyone in brotherhood/sisterhood. We are all in this together. We are all the same. Many hands joining together in Love and peace. Feeling the strong bond that unites us all. Love elevates us to new heights of human expression and freedom.
12th House: Absolute. Not two. Knowing. There really are no words to describe the 12th house adequately. Why is that? The 12th house is what remains after one can no longer describe anything about our true nature. Here there is a deep knowing and anything that stands in the way of that will be seen as worthless—a frightening process for some. Fear may arise as a result. It will pass as it is seen that there really is nothing to fear and that vulnerability is necessary to freedom.
Good Monday Morning…for the Love of…
…humanity.
“The first essential is that the human units shall draw closer together, not merely under the pressure of external forces, or soley by the performance of material acts, but directly, centre to centre, through internal attraction. Not through coercion, or enslavement to a common task, but through unanimity in a common spirit. The construction of molecules ensues through atomic affinity. Similarly, on a higher level, it is through sympathy, and this alone, that the human elements in a personalized universe may hope to rise to the level of a higher synthesis.” ~Pierre Teilhard deChardin, Let Me Explain
Good Monday Morning…for the Love of…
…all the kind and sincere sharing that occurs every day in thousands of ways, demonstrations of the Love we are that is expressed but cannot be talked about.
Someone posted this on face book. Children read to cats at a cat shelter. Adorable!
Love itself speaks through every pore of your body,
you need not open your mouth. There is no word for Love…
Love is the spontaneous Indweller of the Heart.~Sri H.W.L. Poonja, Papaji, This
Full Moon in Sagittarius…
Full Moon June 12, 2014 @ 22 degrees Sagittarius 06 minutes 0:11 a.m. EDT
9:11 p.m. PDT
“Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door.” ― Emily Dickinson
We have this glorious moment, this present and our heart the jewel that provides us everything.
A Full Moon in Sagittarius, what a glorious opportunity to see our full potential! This chart supports every inch that we proceed in that direction or every mile our heart leaps in pursuit of our desire. What is that desire? If the answer to this question is unclear, gazing at the fullness of the moon may provide important clues. As you peer into the luminous surface allow your self to proceed deeper into the light—fall into the light. Immerse your self in the light and observe what springs up all about you.
If awareness comes to you then so may the gift of being here fully. The truth spreads about us in a way that we can not deny our greatest desire—to Be present, authentic and all that flows from the heart without fear or hesitation—embracing our humanity, embracing humanity.
There are several exact aspects in this Full Moon chart that point directly to what we will integrate over the next several days. Other than the Sun/Moon at 22 degrees, Jupiter in Cancer occupies this number as well, quincunx Moon and semi-sextile Sun. Not going to overflow with enthusiasm or an expanded sense of self unless it applies to the greater understanding of Self. There is no knowing other than not knowing. There is no personal sense of identity as this does not serve Truth. There is no sense of personal accomplishment as it has little meaning compared to beauty of full expression. Truth, wisdom, expression from the heart is the only expression that matters. Then the sense of expansion into source, am that source is embodied. Blissful, peaceful, love-ful swim in the light of this Full Moon.
Next we take a look at the Saturn/Venus opposition that includes Chiron also at 17 degrees, trining Saturn and sextile Venus exactly. Chiron, the healer makes easy aspect to the planets in opposition suggesting that to heal, release of insecurity, feelings of inadequacy and self judgment come about through a deep knowing of the self as perfect. As perfection there is no need for any thing external to fulfill me and suffering ends. My greatest desire fulfilled—recognizing my self as the object of my love—one and the same.
The last two planets in exact aspect are Pluto and Mars at 12 degrees in square to one another.
“Mars square Pluto is generally seen as a very difficult aspect, since the forces symbolized by Mars and Pluto and shown to be in conflict by the square are both associated with power, force and violence. The square suggests that powerful forces block your actions and prevent you from fulfilling your desires. These forces may be external to you or they may be your own subconscious “darker” forces.”—Gargatholil, DepthAstrology2.com
The brilliant aspect of these two powerful forces at 90 degrees inhibits one way or another, the fulfillment of desires that serve only to support the individual. Confronting the darker side of human nature is a way of eventually creating energy free of this need in order to eliminate such influences from one’s experience. We may all have an opportunity to examine some sliver of sordid human behaviour in order to transcend same. It is also an opportunity at the same time to recognize that it may be someone else perpetrating a ‘wrongdoing’ but in some way I too am responsible as we are all one here. No one suffers alone. Just as when one awakens to the Truth we are all lifted into the light.
Jupiter rules Sagittarius so has significance as a result of this relationship. We have seen that it aspects the Moon and the Sun. It also squares the north and the south node. The point to which we aspire based on what we have learned in the past (north node) and leaving the past (south node) to be present now. South node in Aries, searching for Self, bringing forward all that one has experienced in this pursuit through the wisdom and expansive nature of Jupiter en route to knowing Self as balanced through surrendering to, accepting and allowing the Truth to arise, dissolving illusion. Jupiter is the optimism through which we know everything is possible, there are no limitations and in Cancer, love embraces us in the womb of creation, endless, effortless, eternal—nothing to resist.
The degree of the Moon is 22, a master number that refers to understanding the nature of duality. When this is accomplished and we are immersed in the knowing of Reality, all things come to us easily, with grace. In physicality we are the Divine, Beloved and so experience existence from knowing that it is as it is—and why not? No resistance. The arrow of the archer, Sagittarius, points heavenward. In the tautness of the bow is enormous potential to attain great heights. Optimism and the passion to realize Truth point in the direction we travel always with an added measure of encouragement during these several days before and after this Full Moon. Let your destination be the very place from which you began.
Good Monday Morning…for the love of…
…this glorious moment, this presence and our heart, the jewel that provides us everything.
The Stairway of Existence
We are not in pursuit of formalities or fake religious laws,
for through the stairway of existence we have come to God’s door.
We are people who need love, because love
is the soul’s life, love is simply creation’s
greatest joy.
Through the stairway of existence, O through
the stairway of existence Hafiz,
have you now come, have we now all come,
to the Beloved’s door.
–Hafiz, from a Year with Hafiz by D. Ladinsky
Good Monday Morning…for the love of…
Intoxicated by the Wine of Love.
From each a mystic silence Love demands.
What do all seek so earnestly? ‘Tis Love.
What do they whisper to each other? Love.
Love is the subject of their inmost thoughts.
In Love no longer ‘thou’ and ‘I’ exist,
For Self has passed away in the Beloved.
Now will I draw aside the veil from Love,
And in the temple of mine inmost soul,
Behold the Friend; Incomparable Love.
He who would know the secret of both worlds,
Will find the secret of them both, is Love.
–Farid ud Din Attar
…the heart that leaps all bounds, expresses joy and sadness, rounds the bend and meets us face to face with light so beautiful that tears flow; the ocean spreading itself with ease and grace as every inch of us, every cell within us explodes with rapture–freedom to be that here! what a gift–thank you dear Vanessa.
Good Monday Morning…for the Love of…
…everything that is offered to us, a smorgasbord, from which we nibble and sip and indulge our every whim so that eventually we are satiated and there is not much left that we yearn for except what has always seemed to elude us –it may look like the old man or the old woman sitting quietly by the window gazing out at nothing, upon whom grace and inner peace have settled. You turn around briefly for another glance at what might have caught your eye and when you return for a second look there is only a child skipping carefree, out the door, heart in hand.
New Moon May 28, 2014 in Gemini…Finding the Words
New Moon May 28, 2014 @ 7 degrees 21 minutes Gemini
2:40 p.m. EDT 11:40 a.m. PDT
Finding the Words…
…that simply express–what deeply motivates you as you interact on a daily basis. Gemini can find numerous words to describe any situation. Like the crow they are attracted to everything shiny and like a rat they can collect; for Gemini moon collecting information that offers a sense of emotional security. As there is a square to this Sun/Moon from Neptune in Pisces ‘mere’ words will prove to be inadequate and your quest for stability will be unsuccessful if you continue to think that what supports awakening has anything to do with what can be found outside of one self. Information contributes to building structure that on the surface appears to support our existence but in no way expresses the truth of Being.
At this time the illusion that we have constructed will sag, exhibit holes, deteriorate as the mind, that Gemini is famous for utilizing so adeptly, sees clearly its own limitations, dismantles it self allowing the light to permeate all things. All things are light and in that there is no separation. The mind rests and words become a tool for sharing the simplicity of what is, a very beautiful expression of that which motivates us on a deep level—inner peace. One word in the stillness has greater effect than any speech delivered from a scholarly pulpit. A single drop of water creates a ripple across the surface of a pond that like a mirror reflects to us who we truly are.
With the mind at rest during this New Moon or at least, discovering what perpetuates disturbance and nurtures weakness/fear, a clearing out occurs as balance and peace spread across terrain that once rose and fell with alarming abruptness. The roller coaster ride ends. There is no longer a desire to experience the sensation of weightlessness that two opposing forces create. For this to happen, the opposing forces must be in perfect balance, a very temporary condition in duality. The gift of Gemini is the opportunity to realize that perfection is, and balance is—it is duality seen for what it is and knowing that that is not reality.
A trine from Mars in Libra at this time lends energy to this recognition; to the ‘understanding’ that what we are not, the body, leads to not a complete demise of action but reveals that action occurs—not as a result of anything ‘I’ do but as the result of the constant eternal flow of “that”, our true nature. There is “that”, includes time/space, they too are relative. The freedom that results, the liberty to Be, is peace, is love, is beauty and gratitude for this awareness is eternal.
With Mercury at 29 degrees Gemini we can be sure that realization is the last bit of information that this sign assimilates. And with Venus at 29 degrees Aries we are aware of what truly motivates the individual here. These two planets hand in hand stimulate a powerful desire to overcome our attachment to who we think we are—this mind, this body. We realize the truth of what we have been missing that replaces this notion that I can get it through anything this mind or body does. Words do not remotely enter into an understanding of that and the mind has no idea of what that is.
Be Still 