Posted on

Into the Dark

The Wheel of the Year

Today marks the cross-quarter day (halfway point) between Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere. The wheel of the year turns and the entire northern half of the planet enters into the dark part of the year. It is the time of year when the Sun drops lower and lower on the horizon, and the dark of night lasts longer and longer.

Ancient Celtic tribes celebrated Samhain (pronounced sow-in) to mark this auspicious time. According to the Celts and other pagan tribes, the veils between the worlds grow thin at this time of year. That means we can more easily connect with loved ones who have crossed over into the land of the dead. It is the perfect time to honor and celebrate our ancestors.

Celtic Samhain is also about celebrating life. The last of the harvest has been gathered up in our fields and orchards. The natural bounty of Mama Earth will bless and nourish us all winter.

As you enter into the dark half of the year, pause for a moment or two. Offer love and gratitude to Mama Earth for the water, food and shelter she provides. Say a prayer for any loved ones who have moved beyond here and now. Express thanks for everything you have harvested in your life this year.

May the Spirit of peace
bring peace to your house
this Samhain night
and all nights to come.

☾☽

Posted on

Stream of Life

Aspens in Fall by Henry Percy

The same stream of life 

that runs through my veins night and day 

runs through the world 

and dances in rhythmic measures. 

It is the same life that shoots in joy

through the dust of the earth 

in numberless blades of grass and breaks into 

tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. 

It is the same life that is rocked 

in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death 

in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious 

by the touch of this world of life 

and my joy is from the life-throb of ages 

dancing in my blood this moment.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Posted on

Fiery Warrior Moon

Elemental Force

Fiery Aries full #moon in the sign of the #badass spiritual #warrior. Our souls are #burning — burning for justice, for truth, for love, for change. 

Time to Step up, Speak out and #Fight for what you believe in.

Step up.  It’s time.

☾☽

Posted on

The Equinox has Arrived

Today marks the autumnal equinox in the northern hemisphere and spring equinox in the south. The equinox marks a time of transition as we move from one season to the next.

This morning our Sun rose directly in the east and tonight it will set due west.  Day and night approach equal length at the equinox as well. This is a time of natural balance.

Take a moment to pause and honor Mother Earth and Father Sky for their sacred dance of light and dark, autumn and spring, yin and yang.  Light a candle in the dark and express your gratitude for the abundance of our sacred planet. Bless the energy of life that pulses both without and within you.

∞

“…Wherever we find ourselves on the spectrum, it is the time of balancing the dark and the light. In the Northern hemisphere, as the days get shorter and the outer light recedes, we move inward to kindle our inner light. In the Southern Hemisphere, as the days grow longer, we we move our way back into the world and bring out our inner light to share with the world.

Everything in nature is constantly giving and receiving. This balance is essential, and it is part of the expressive energies of yin and yang that we are re-balancing as a collective…”

Excerpt from Mysticmamma

Posted on

Dance of Light and Dark

Fiery Light and Deep Dark

Tonight, a Leo new Moon and a partial eclipse of the Sun.

Sacred dance of Light and Dark in our Sky.

Meanwhile…

Moon and Sun square Jupiter in Scorpio

with 6 planets in retrograde

and yang Mars squaring wild card Uranus.

Time  to reset.  Tie up loose ends and clear the decks.  Clear first and then set new intentions. Choose what you want to focus on going forward.

This current Earth-Sun-Moon cycle is 

“a call to dig deep and be fiercely honest about
what needs to change inside so that the outside can follow.” 

~Kate Rusko

“a beautiful window within which to set intentions around
a higher vibration of self-love and acceptance.”

~Cayelin Castell

☾☽

More thoughts on this new moon / eclipse time.

#CycleswithinCycles
#newmoon
#solareclipse
#resetwindow
#setintentions

Posted on

Sun and Moon Dance

Summer Forest
Summer Forest

It is summer solstice. Every year in June, the Sun returns to its northernmost point in our sky. This solstice time signals the peak of summer sunlight falling on the northern hemisphere (and the peak of winter darkness in the southern hemisphere).

Traditionally summer solstice is a time of celebration, a time to rejoice and offer gratitude to the Sun for continuing to bless our Earth with life giving sunlight. This particular solstice is extra special because the Moon is full at the same time.  This combination of solstice Sun and full Moon hasn’t happened in 40 years.

Our moon is full and bright in the fiery sign of Sagittarius, the truth seeker. Meanwhile, our Sun is dancing out of Gemini and into the watery sign of Cancer, the nurturer. Both Sun and Moon are in their most expansive state, creating a potent interweaving of the sacred feminine and masculine energies.

Mystic Mamma offers insight into the significance of this special full moon summer solstice time:  full moon solstice insights.

Posted on

Beltane Magic

Beltane flowers
Beltane Blooms

May 1st

We honor the fertility and magic of Nature

on this day the Celts called ‪Beltane‬.

Even with snow on the ground here in the Rockies,

the flowers are in bloom!

☀️

“Beltane is so much about the urge to connect, to blend and merge;
to feel a part of something extraordinary; to at once lose one’s sense of self in that merging
but also to paradoxically feel more absolutely and truly oneself because of it.
In the desire to penetrate life’s mysteries, we need also to open ourselves to them,
surrendering to the power of love that it may have the opportunity to transform us.
Great things are born in us at such moments of union;
this place of merging is where the tap root of our creativity feeds,
without it we feel dry and disconnected.
If that magical, alchemical moment of connection and merging were a colour,
I suspect it might be perceived as many beautiful, vibrant shades but its foundation,
I feel sure, would be the green of spring: ecstatically joyful –
the irrepressible life and desire that leads us to love.”

~ Maria Ede-Weaving

 

Posted on

Spring is Coming! Spring is Coming!

Vernal Equinox
Vernal Equinox

Every year, in the 3rd week of March, spring officially begins in the northern hemisphere. This date is known as the vernal equinox. This year it occurs March 19th at 10:30 PM Mountain time. Vernal equinox marks the moment that our Sun crosses the celestial equator – the imaginary line in the sky above Mother Earth’s equator. Vernal (or vernus) is actually the Latin word for spring. The term equinox is used to acknowledge that the length of day and night are equal or in balance at this time of year.

Traditionally, vernal or spring equinox is a time to celebrate new life, rebirth and new beginnings. Quite appropriate, given that spring is the time of year when Mama Earth “wakes up” and offers shoots and buds of new growth everywhere. Spring is also the ideal time to sow seeds that will sprout and grow as our days lengthen and the soil of Mama Earth warms up.

Our ancestors built many monuments honoring the return of spring. The Great Sphinx, an ancient Egyptian symbol of resurrection and rebirth, is precisely aligned with the sky so that the Sphinx stares directly at the rising sun on spring equinox. Angkor Wat in Cambodia is positioned so that the sun rises up the side of the central tower of the temple and crowns its pinnacle on spring equinox. And at the Mayan temple of Chichen Itza, a magical sun serpent appears and slithers up the pyramid stairs each year on spring equinox.

Here at Sacred Earth Institute we like to be a bit more informal and simply shout with joy that spring is coming!