August 11, 1999: An Opportunity To Heal Through The Heart

My exuberant article on the August 11, 1999 eclipse. Originally published in now-defunct Conscious Life magazine, and exceedingly relevant for our upcoming eclipse on 8/11/18:

  

Before our ripening millennial moment arrives, we’ll face another potent portal to either walk through or ignore: the total solar eclipse of August 11, 1999.

This is no run-of-the-sky eclipse. It’s a card-carrying galactic gateway. Astrological adepts have been waxing prophetic about the date's significance for a while; it also precedes, by just two days, the Aztec-prophesied "day of destiny."

What’s so special about this eclipse? If we’re willing to meet our celestial shadow at the level of metaphor, we’ll be insight.

Consider: the Moon blots out the light of the Sun. Perhaps our hidden, dark, or "feminine" side is asking our fiery, now-now-now, tick-tock, "masculine" energy to take a nap. The Moon signifies the night side, what’s unexplored within us, inviting receptivity, nurturing, allowing, rather than the solar-aggressive, "go-for-the-gold, the burn, the competitive edge" that plays out in our daily dramas.

Becoming One with Ourselves

Coming to wholeness — embodying our masculine and feminine energies, both within ourselves and as a planetary organism — is the quest and question of our time. First, are we willing to go there, and second, do we know how? It’s a call to alchemical union, this wedding of the light and the dark, and we could use a transformational map.

As a longtime student of ancient wisdom traditions, especially Mayan cosmology, I walk in both worlds, following an indigenous calendar that corresponds to seasonal and biorhythmic cycles, alongside our more linear Gregorian one. So I was intrigued to see what "natural time" might reveal about this auspicious access point. (The traditional Mayan symbols have been translated into modern equivalents, so decoding a day’s "energy" is like a game — it’s fun, and it expands one’s ways of thinking and perceiving.)

August 11, 1999 is an epiphany.

In the Mayan sacred calendar, August 11^thwill be a White Planetary Dog. The dog archetype is about loving through the heart, and loyalty — sounds a lot like "man's best friend", right?  

"Planetary", in this case, is a frequency, like a note on the musical scale. It’' the frequency of manifesting, and it vibrates to how we perfect ourselves in order to produce a desired outcome.

"White" is one of four colors that correspond to the four directions, the four elements, and our four "bodies" (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual). White is north and air, a dimension of mind.

Finally, each archetype has a guiding energy, like a wise teacher or mentor. The guide for White Planetary Dog is the Mirror, which of course is about inner and outer reflection. It also connotes endlessness (ever been in a funhouse hall of mirrors? Did you gain an enhanced perspective on where "you" end? Look deeply into the mirror…) The Mayans even have a saying that reflects the mirror: In Lakech, I am another yourself.

The complete energy for the day reads:

I perfect in order to love

Producing loyalty

I seal the process of heart

With the planetary tone of manifestation

I am guided by the power of endlessness.

Head Heart, Wholeness

It’s a fantastic window of opportunity calling to us. Listen: "Hello, humans! By connecting your head and your heart, you perfect your love. In so doing, you produce loyalty to one another and to the greater good, which will manifest as unending heart-centered love all over the planet!"

This is our possibility, our invitation, our initiation, our healing.

And this is the beauty of Truth: it doesn’t matter what vehicle takes you there. The message is always the same. Come home to yourself.  Remember the Love that you are. 

However it's expressed, there's a universality that’s unmistakable. Tears of recognition flood your eyes as you choose to see clearly, as you inhale back your authenticity and power.

You're unconditionally invited to join in the cosmic celebration on August 11^th, as the Moon of Communion eclipses all the old ways that no longer serve. Joy is waiting on the other side of the window. Let's ride the carrier wave of the frequency of the heart into the ocean of resonance with all that lives. You are Love. Let Freedom Ring!

© Copyright July 1999-2018 by Amara Rose. All rights reserved.

Creator Destroyer Preserver via Ariel Spilsbury

How does "I AM ENOUGH" inform Creation, Preservation, Destruction? This moon An invitation A reminder I AM ENOUGH!! Where ever you are on the continuum of the cycle, and SO much is turning, what potentiality lies inherently in  BETWEEN Creation and Destruction with "I AM ENOUGH"? In breath Space between Out breath Space between A Cycle Infinite potentialities existing simultaneously, Ceaselessly There is enough "I am enough" "You are enough" How aware are you of the position from which your actions arise, release, and arise again? What are you aware of in the spaces between? I am aware of a need to go on and on here, yet the message this moon is simple. Play with writing "I AM ENOUGH" on your mirror, your hand, on the books and mirrors of loved ones; in your hallways, on paper, with crayon. "I AM ENOUGH", inhale, "I AM ENOUGH", exhale. Whatever is occurring in your life at this time, or perhaps you are witnessing in loved ones - how does rooting in "I AM ENOUGH" shift or alter your relationship to those events? Does it shift your buying habits? Alter what you eat? Calm your nerves? Inspire an illuminated response? How does it shift what gets created or destroyed? Inhale. "I AM ENOUGH". Exhale. "I AM ENOUGH". This moon, may you lie back and receive yourself (and others) in I AM ENOUGH! I AM ENOUGH!! I AM ENOUGH!!! "Kalieyei Swaha! Kalieyei Swaha! Kalieyei Swaha!"

Boost Your Manifestation Momentum Now!

August is a fiery month; it's all about the sun, which ignites robust masculine energy. Yet we've just experienced the 8:8 Magdalene Stargate, a feminine portal to expanded consciousness, as light from the center of the Milky Way permeates our DNA. This is a potent feminine infusion, no matter what body we currently inhabit. The feminine is lunar energy, Luna is the Moon, and this is Moon Day (Monday) — a perfect moment to "womanifest" what we most desire, in concert with the cosmos. READ MORE

Ecstatic Disharmony

"The longest night

The wheel is turning

What will we give to the night?"

This is the sacred Winter Solstice chant Caroline Casey included in her mythological trickster-redeemer  sharing on Tuesday night at Earthrise Retreat Center in Petaluma, CA. Situated in verdant silence far above the freeway, with a full Gemini moon casting a luminous spell, we drank deeply of the darkness with a fervent urgency. 

"Ecstatic," Caroline reminds us, literally means, to stand outside ("ex" + "stasis") — which is what those of us called to midwife this transitional time on the planet feel, to the marrow. Embodying the sacred means returning from the Otherworld with wisdom gained. "To love disharmony back into harmony creates a greater harmony than existed before," according to author Michael Gruber.

What will YOU give to the night? The old way (but not the Old Ways!), the one right answer, outmoded beliefs and behaviors, fear of the unknown? Whatever it is, toss it into the cauldron and affirm, "xxxx is gone with the night!"

~ Blessed Be ~

Lammas and the Olympics: A Richer Harvest

This year's cross quarter gateway of fire, Lammas, takes place on a full moon, in the middle of the only event to harness at least half the entire world's attention: the Olympic Games. And in this momentous year, says Patricia Cota-Robles, the Olympic opportunity is truly what its name implies:

"A plan has been set into motion that will take advantage of the powerful celestial alignments and solar flares that are flooding the Earth during this awesome summer of 2012. This plan requires that people around the world create a collective Cup of Consciousness through which the Light of God will flow to transmute the surfacing negativity and pave the way for the birthing of a New Renaissance of Divine Love.

"The only positive event that has the potential of drawing the global focus of humanity's attention in the numbers necessary to transmute the amount of negativity being pushed to the surface all over the world is the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games are truly a global event, and they draw the attention of an estimated 4,500,000,000 people during the 17-days of competition. The Olympic Games signify the Family of Humanity setting aside our differences so we can come together to attain our highest level of excellence. This is the perfect thoughtform and intention needed for the collective Cup of Humanity's Consciousness. Together we will magnetize enough Light to transmute our human miscreations.

"The more Light we can project into this surfacing negativity the faster it will be transmuted and the sooner the patterns of perfection for our New Planetary CAUSE of Divine Love will tangibly manifest in our lives. The Olympic Games are providing an opportunity to catapult this process forward at warp speed.

"Pay attention to the positive things that are being brought to your awareness and you will confirm this for yourself. Do not focus on the bombardment of negativity that is designed to polarize people and to perpetuate fear and separation. Focus instead on the evidence of positive changes that are happening everywhere. Remember, where your attention is, there YOU are. Empower only what you want to create in your life, not the things that you do not want."

What Is Lammas?

August 1-2 marks the mid-point between summer and fall. Known as Lammas, or Lughnasadh (LOO-ne-sah), it's one of the eight cross quarter days on the Wheel of the Year (the others are the Summer and Winter Solstices, Spring and Fall Equinoxes, Candlemas (Feb. 2), Beltane (May 1) and Hallomas/Samhain (October 31). (Of course, the dates are reverse for our southern hemisphere allies.) Lammas is a celebration of abundance, the harvest time, and a potent moment to bring ourselves back into alignment with the natural world.

Myth*ing Links, an annotated and illustrated collection of worldwide links to mythologies and folklore, sacred arts and sacred traditions, offer an evocative description of this turning:

"Lammas...is a hot, lazy, delicious time of the year. Bees buzz in the heat of the day, the air is still, and the force of the sun remains strong, even though its sway over the earth is slowly diminishing day by day. In the cooler nighttime, frogs and crickets keep us company. It is here, in the gloaming, when so many rituals begin...

"This is when the powerful gods of the grain harvests are honored. They are in their prime, sometimes generous, sometimes quixotic, and always aware with a bittersweet pleasure that their time will wane, as it always does, and they will die, as they always do, and yet nevertheless they will return to another delicious summer next year, as they always do, and have, and will, for this is the endlessly circling Wheel of the Year, and they ride it proudly.

"Yet there is a darker nuance, one that surprised me, for I had thought that this was a purely masculine god's festival. I learned however of Lugh's touching and loving devotion to his foster-mother, the royal Tailtiu, whose fate may be even more intimately woven into this season than his..."

Parabola magazine author Mara Freeman on the further genesis of Lammas:

"...Lugh dedicated this festival to his foster-mother, Tailtiu, the last queen of the Fir Bolg, who died from exhaustion after clearing a great forest so that the land could be cultivated. When the men of Ireland gathered at her deathbed, she told them to hold funeral games in her honor. As long as they were held, she prophesied Ireland would not be without song. Tailtiu’s name is from Old Celtic Talantiu, 'The Great One of the Earth,' suggesting she may originally have been a personification of the land itself, like so many Irish goddesses. In fact, Lughnasadh has an older name, Brón Trogain, which refers to the painful labor of childbirth. For at this time of year, the earth gives birth to her first fruits so that her children might live..."

As Cota-Robles explains, our collective negativity and fear are what needs to "die" so that we may be reborn into 5^th dimensional abundance and grace.

Canadian tarot reader and astrologer Tara Greene says that Lugh's festival points Southwest, and resonates to the element Air. "Southwest represents the Place of Healing, of the Dreamer and the Dream. It is the place of both your Personal Dream and the Sacred Dream of the Planet. What is your Personal Dream? What is your Sacred Dream? The Sacred Dream is your Highest Spiritual Dream."

This August, especially if you've never honored Lammas before, remember your relationship with the Earth and her cycles. Give thanks for the beauty, harmony, love and healing you are inviting into your life and into the collective. Image-in your sweet Sacred Dream.

Leap Year: Why Our Calendar Is So Weird - And What You Can Do About It

You probably take it for granted: every four years, we add an extra day to the month of February. The month is day-deprived, after all; deserving of an additional 24 hours every now and then.

This may not strike you as peculiar; it's akin to the grade-school rhyme we memorized in a futile attempt to become better spellers: "'i' before 'e' except after 'c', or when sounded as 'a' as in 'neighbor' and 'weigh'." Heck, the English language is way more whacked than the Gregorian calendar!

But this anomaly is only because we adhere to an off-kilter solar cycle. Using the time-keeping system most of the world's been accustomed to since the Middle Ages, we need Leap Years to align the calendar with the Earth’s revolutions around the sun.

Why Leap Year?

It takes the Earth approximately 365.242199 days (a tropical year) to circle once around the Sun. Since a Gregorian calendar year consists of only 365 days, we'd lose nearly six hours every year if we didn't "course correct" every fourth year.

But it gets stranger, Horatio.

Qualifying to be a "Leap Year" is a bit like applying to get into Calendar College: three crucial criteria must be met:

• The year must be evenly divisible by 4;
• If the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year, unless;
• The year is also evenly divisible by 400.

Yikes! Good thing we have built-in calculators now.

This means the years 2000 and 2400 are Leap Years, while 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500 are NOT leap years.

Got that? There'll be a quiz next lifetime.

The year 2000 was also somewhat special, as it was the first instance when the third criterion was used in most parts of the world since the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.

Holy Roman Empire, Batman!

If only Julius had stuck to salad dressing. Still, he was more flexible about what constituted a Leap Year than today's criteria. When Caesar introduced Leap Years in the Roman Empire over 2000 years ago, the only rule was that any year evenly divisible by 4 would be a leap year. Evidently Julius' crowd didn't contain too many math wizards. This system has far too many Leap Years, though it wasn't corrected until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar more than 1500 years later.

There may not be a perfect calendar, though there have been other creative options used over the years, such as a 30-day February.

13 Moons of Synchrony

Personally, I've long lived by the 13-Moon, 28-day lunar calendar envisioned by José Argüelles, who proposed it as a way for humanity to leave mechanized time and enter harmonic, natural cycles — the path of synchronicity. In a 13-Moon calendar, every month has a harmonious 28-days (which also corresponds with the female menstrual cycle) — and 13x28 = 364. The additional day is celebrated between July 25th and 26th, which correlates with the heliacal rise of Sirius and is honored as a "Day Out of Time," of peace and celebration. And there's another bonus: on a 28-day monthly system, every Friday is Friday the 13th, a reclaiming of the number thirteen as a sacred symbol of transformation, not something to be feared and avoided.

So I invite you to experience the expansiveness of living in tune with all life. José used to say, "Whoever owns your time, owns your mind. Own your own time and you will know your own mind."

There's never been a better time to leap into this knowing than now, on Leap Day. Blessings!

Embracing Ereshkigal

This moon the Tao of Now (theme of my monthly inspirational newsletter, What Shines) is Embracing the Exponential, bridging the chasm between science and spirit, energy and matter, yin and yang, masculine and feminine … it's quantum, although for many of us, especially in this retrograde month of consuming fire, the dichotomy may loom much closer to home: namely, how to love our own dark side, our shadow, the part of our being that keeps us slogging through molasses, too tired to break free.

I've written and spoken often about "my Inannic journey," and my reverence for the Sumerian Queen of Heaven and Earth who descends to the metaphoric Underworld to e/merge with wisdom gained, bearing gifts for her people. What I haven't focused on is Inanna's dark sister, Ereshkigal, who summons her to the netherworld in the first place so that Inanna may expand her awareness.

For me, learning to love my root chakra, which grounds me yet is divorced from my perception of the Light, is my journey into essential darkness. In the original Star Trek series, there's an episode in which Captain Kirk is split in two due to a transporter malfunction, but the crew doesn't know this — and his "good" side becomes weak and unable to make decisions without his wild, primal essence to balance it out. Years ago I journeyed to the Underworld to meet my own darkness, and returned whole/holy/healed (all from the same root word, hale). Yet I've never loved Ereshkigal, even though she is part of Inanna, just as Kirk's split-off dark side made him the Captain he was.

I must welcome Inanna's dark sister home in order to be whole/wellthy/wealthy in the deepest sense. According to the classic Wheels of Life by chakra expert Anodea Judith, the first chakra resonates to Ereshkigal and the seventh vibrates to Inanna, anchoring me to both Earth and Spirit. Unified, I am greater than the sum of my parts, as true wholeness always is.

What parts of you are ready to be welcomed home during this fiery gateway? I invite you to embrace Ereshkigal, whatever the dark, split off, hidden, divorced aspects of your being look like, and expand the possibilities for who and what you may become on the far side of reintegration. It's time, and wholeness has never been more available for you than right now.

Blessings!

Imbolc: Groundhog Day to the nth Power!

February 2nd goes by many guises. In the U.S., it's popularly celebrated as Groundhog Day, when a small furry rodent supposedly either sees his shadow or doesn't, and the result determines whether we experience six more weeks of winter. The day has far deeper meanings than this — but yes, it is a potent moment to watch your shadow!

Celebrated cross-culturally, the day is both a Christian and Pagan holiday, known variously as Imbolc, St. Brigid's Day (Bride's Day), and Candlemas.

In Celtic and Earth-based traditions, Imbolc ("in the belly") is one of the most powerful portals on the ancient Wheel of the Year: the exact midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.

A harbinger of Spring, Imbolc celebrates the return of the Light in a profound sense. It's the first "cross-quarter day" on the Wheel of the Year, which honors the two Equinoxes and Solstices, as well as Beltane (May 1st), Lammas (August 1st), and Samhain (October 31st).

At Imbolc (Candlemas in Christianity), the energies begin to pulse with renewed life and hope. Fire festivals are common. Vicki Noble, co-creator of the Motherpeace Tarot and author of Shakti Woman: Feeling Our Fire, Healing Our World, which affected me profoundly during my own awakening, writes, "Traditionally a time of transformation and initiation, Imbolc brings 'big dreams' and a raised vibration …

"With powerful Pluto in the physical sign of Capricorn (until 2024), we look forward to momentous planetary and personal change. As old structures crumble, inside and all around us, imagine yourself sitting safely inside of Kali's dance of liberation."

In 2011, ten planets and asteroids congregate around the Moon and Sun conjunct Mars, portending a profound surge of alchemical fire power to ignite our dreams.

What most astonished me was discovering that St. Brigid (in the Irish tradition) is the Patroness of Midwives. Since my birthday is February 4th and I've long referred to myself as a midwife for our global rebirth, it was a clarifying reminder of "what we know, before we know that we know!"

Enjoy this poem by Dawn Callan, which symbolizes and summarizes this moment eloquently:

Some By Fire

~ Dawn Callan
from Awakening the Warrior Within

Like a Phoenix from the embers
Ashes to ashes
Burning, burning
Some by fire
Some by water
Until we remember returning.

Some by the arts of the necromancer
Some by the sword
Some in the trance of the Sufi dancer
Some by the word.

Prodigal daughter
Walks the Warrior's path
Some by water
Some by tempting God to laugh.

Woman's body
Warrior's soul
Dance the ancient rite
Free the dragons of desire
Into the Light
Some by fire.

Summer Solstice: An Opportunity to Become More Whole

Summer Solstice celebrates the sun at the peak of its power. Both the sun (male energy) and the moon (female energy) are waxing, or increasing, now. June 21st marks the longest day and shortest night of the year, in the northern hemisphere (Winter Solstice for our southern hemisphere allies). It's a stillpoint. A time to reflect. A potent moment to set your intention, because the manifestation momentum is strong.

The day goes by many names: All-Couples Day, Feast of Epona, Gathering Day, Midsummer, Litha, Vestalia. In ancient times, June was a popular marriage month, since summer offered a window between the sowing and reaping seasons. The June full moon was considered the best time to harvest honey from the hives, and newlyweds were fed honey during the wedding feast to encourage love and fertility. The tradition lives on in our modern post-nuptial getaway, the honeymoon.

How might we translate our ancestors' emphasis on love and union at Solstice to our lives today? In other words, how can we best live this light? READ THE REST!

The Magdalene Awakening: Reclaiming the Divine Feminine

For me, the Great Remembering began in illness. On a descent to the depths of my being, I found myself throwing my arms around trees and sobbing, feeling their loving embrace. I began talking to crows, paying tribute to their visceral wisdom in a poem that concluded, "A coded conversation/In guttural cries/Opens my eyes/And lifts me higher." Stunned from exhaustion, I'd never lived in such clarity. With my brain on an extended vacation, I was forced to access a more primitive part of my being, to participate in the instinctual world, not merely watch.

I devoured books such as The Feminine Face of God by Sherry Ruth Anderson and Patricia Hopkins, and The Moon Under Her Feet by Clysta Kinstler, rapt with recognition. I became Inanna, the ancient Sumerian Goddess who symbolizes death and rebirth, with wisdom gained.

These are just a few examples of the myriad ways the Divine Feminine began showing up in my life, as she is now showing up for women (and many men) everywhere. Shannon Andersen, author of The Magdalene Awakening, is a powerful voice in service to this remembering, sharing the essence of the journey she's lived, decoding the sacred symbols and synchronicities that herald the re-emergence of the Divine Feminine on Earth, as reflected in the archetype of Mary Magdalene. READ THE REST!

A Question of Balance

Mayan time cycles maven Li Walter, PhD, says we're entering into a balancing act as we prepare to close out 2008, and it's an opportunity for integration on all levels:

"Coming in the Moon of Balance, this is a journey to find a new balance in our lives and in our society.

With so many planets in Capricorn at the moment, including the New Moon in Capricorn (and Sun in Capricorn) on 1 Skywalker (Saturday, Dec. 27th), this is clearly a journey in fundamentally re-balancing and re-structuring how we live. Mars and Pluto in early Capricorn provide some push, while Jupiter and Mercury in late Capricorn help to pull us toward the possibilities of Aquarius.

On Dec. 31st, Saturn in Virgo goes retrograde until mid-May, so here too we are given the indication that a practical re-working of how we work is in order. Also that night, just after sunset you can see the crescent Moon with Venus in the southwest and Mercury with Jupiter very low in the west.

January 1st falls on a 6 Mirror portal day, so here again is a call to reflect upon balance, and allow more balanced perceptions to lead us into the year to come.

This Skywalking journey toward greater balance manifests on the 10 Wind day on Jan. 3rd as Jupiter moves into Aquarius for the next year. It's time to take a big breath. Jupiter is much more comfortable here, able to go big, take risks, expand into the exploration of innovative possibilities.

And just on the very last day of this Moon, the World-bridger wave connects this new balancing into the attunement of Moon 7 to come. Moving from balance as we bridge different worlds is vital, whether between our personal world and another's, between work and home life, or between this dimension and others."