My, time certainly doesn’t stand still! October is moving further down the pike. The weather is cooling down, days are getting shorter, and the nights are getting longer. Leaves are falling and colorful. In the Northern Hemisphere at least. This is a time where we turn out clocks back and move yin-ward into the mysterious dark and feminine waters of our souls.
In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s a different story. Down yonder, they’re moving away from the Vernal Equinox and toward the Summer Solstice.
If you look at the squirrels out in Nature, you’ll see they reflect the human energetic embodiment of working overdrive. They’re building up their stockpiles of acorns and getting them ready for a wintery rainy day fund when supplies are short. My biggest takeaway from watching squirrels is that they reflect Social Learning Theory at play; the power of learning from modeling. Monkey see, monkey do. We are all mirrors for each other.
Awakening a light-hearted sense of play in our work is good energy medicine for co-regulation. It’s no secret that meditation as a form of self-care is this writer’s biased for inspiring inner peace in humanity. Healthy humor can also really help relax anxiety or the Chattering Monkey Mind, as the Taoists say. I call it the attack of the Nervous Woodland Creature energy, and it can drive you nuts if you let it.
For some, November can’t come soon enough. Is there a preference to whisk away certain moments and specific events like holidays?
Keep in mind that when you get down to it, the present moment is what it is. We might as well say yes to the present moment and accept it for what it is. That doesn’t mean we like or condone it. We all suffer. But there is less suffering when we accept the present moment as it is, and maybe even find a way to embrace or make friends with it. I like to think of sitting with this tension of opposites as recognizing the paradox of being comfortably uncomfortable with whatever the ‘isness’ might look like. That’s how I keep it real.
Remember: What we resist persists!
Everything else is just chatter; whether in the external world of 10, 000 things or within our own individualized Inner Tapestries. Whether we are making projections into the past or into the future; those projections are illusionary and become part of our suffering as humans. Time traveling into the past can easily turn into depression, while moving into the future can lead us down the trails of anxiety.
It is the clinging and grasping to feelings about the past or future that can weigh heavily on our souls. We might feel regrets about past transgressions or feel unsettled about the unknown of what’s next in our quest? Tossing these thought forms into the fire is a good ritual for releasing the ways of the old self to clear space for the awakening of the New Self and the next chapter along the journey. Many people I know are feeling called to let go of their old selves but also uncertain about how the New Self will manifest in their Next Chapter. The one constant in life is change.
A Libra New Moon Solar Eclipse will happen on October 14. In alignment with regular New Moon experiences, we can look forward to new beginnings. Further, the eclipse status of this New Moon, it’s like a regular New Moon on steroids, and it will be very powerful.
The real magic in the intensity of these energies is the power of surrender. Feeling out of control will be amplified during this time. With faith and trust, we can take the leap and trust that we will land where we need.
Paradoxically, a control free zone can actually be empowering to let go and trust that you will be guided by the Universe. If only we can go with the flow, we can allow ourselves to receive what we need for our current state of consciousness.
Meditation on the interplay between giving and receiving and their energies can inspire us to find balance in this area. Picture staying in the center of a circle on the razor’s edge without getting too far swayed in either direction.
When you allow yourself to receive, you clear space to give. The diametrical opposite is true for those in a pattern of otherwise. Along this novel terrain, we awaken equanimity in our lives. In this experience, spirit grows in power, while the ego relaxes its grip, and becomes more of a servant rather than a master.
As such, we will likely come out of this transition with increased strength, leadership capabilities, and maybe even some newfound skills or talents. It will be a time to reinforce deeper and higher new intentions with great power. With the spirited energies at our backs, our capacity to become the change we want to see in the world will be amplified during this time.
Maybe instead of being caught up in the duality of the situation, we can find a way to collaborate. Perhaps one of the most powerful lessons when working with Libra energy is to find our sense of collaboration rather than compromise in relationships. A certain relationship may be triggered in our lives, and we may find ourselves having to assess our interactions with this person.
Sometimes, we have a hard time keeping our own power or might find ourselves getting sucked into someone else’s energy field. Moreover, the tensions of opposites can feel like an internal tug of war about how to handle a certain situation or person or let go of an old relationship that no longer services us.
We cannot bypass the work or smooth it over with love and light. We have to venture deep into the dark, and we have to make peace with the shadows so we can transmute them to the light. It gets us to delve deeper into all of those shadowy crevices that we often like to ignore.
Even though we may hold wounds and traumas, it’s never too late to reclaim our inner child, and lead a beautifully authentic life that we are meant to live. Our wounds can be our strength. May we harmonize with what will result from this Eclipse. If we have been caught off balance initially, may we follow a path toward greater peace and self-acceptance with where we are.
The Hunter Moon will occur on Saturday, October 28. Like all moons, this moon goes by many names. Traditionally, game animals are fattened on late summer bounty, and hunted for winter storage. Falling leaves and less brush during the day brings better visibility for day tracking or hunting, while the moonlight makes it easier to see or hunt animals at night.
As the veils thin, may we co-regulate with these powerfully spirited energies in a way that leaves us awakening to the realm of inner peace. But not without grieving the dirge of past loved ones that can leave a heavy heart. Honoring a loved one who has left this earth with an item of power or keepsake to remember them by can bring levity to your soul by awakening a spirited connection to them. You can even use this time to re-work your earthly relationship in a way that is healing for you now, as well as their spirit. Think of this as a win-win Karmic clearing exercise.
Pop culture’s iconic Halloween gets its spirit from the traditional Samhain on the 31st, All Saint’s Day, Day of the Dead & All Soul’s Day November 1st & 2nd. Our cross-cultural ancestors observed and named this period as the thinning of the veils- where the spirit & material realm are believed to more readily intersect, co-mingle and potentially co-regulate with each other.
From a consciousness perspective, the wearing of the masks can awaken shapeshifting and portals into other alternate or imaginative realms. Brain science has confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that brainwaves do change during this extra or non-ordinary states of consciousness. Simple shifting your awareness to your Third Eye can help bring you into a perceptual shift into a different dimensional vibration. People who become consistent meditators change their brains, their DNA, and their general experience with life. That’s why it’s really hard to go back to the old ways once you awaken to these novel neuronal pathways. This transformation is Alchemy.
Finally, a consistent meditation practice can become a strong ally in the development of listening and sensitivity skills, as well as reinforcing empathy and compassion in our approach regarding our interactions with each other. Our world can’t get enough of that now more than ever. There is so much help from the spirit realm. All we have to do is ask. And of course be open to allowing ourselves to receive.
Take care of yourselves everyone,
Ari
Classroom Mothership Earth 