Eclipse!

Even though this morning's total solar eclipse wasn't visible from the U.S., we're feeling its effects. Here are some extraordinary photos to help you get up close and personal with the energy, courtesy of NASA.

With the Earth, Moon, and Sun in alignment during an eclipse, we connect with our destiny's deeper calling. At the Lunar Eclipse on March 14th, we cast a light on our interior shadows for purification. And it was intense! (See March 28th entry, Emergence).

At the Solar Eclipse, we're called to dive even deeper, to bring forth our highest and best selves. Pluto, planet of transformation (its calling card reads, "Sex, Death, Rebirth"), is at the Galactic Center--which it hasn't visted in 248 years. Individually and collectively, we are ready to clear the blocks to greater common-unity and healing/wholeness.

Eclipses are an intense point in "time", shining the Light into Earth's darkness as well as our own. Emotion (energy in motion) is at high tide (the Moon rules emotion.)

Knowing this allows us to be more consciously in control of how we respond, rather than reacting by rote. It's a time of loss, of blessing and releasing the old with gratitude for its teaching. Then we have space for the new to enter us.

Pluto and the Galactic Center are shifting the 3rd dimensional reality template. While this process is underway, the best place to be is quiet and calm within your own core. Meditation, yoga, drumming, dancing, journaling, walking in nature, are all good practices for now. Remember, too, to drink lots of pure water to aid toxin release, as necessary on the emotional plane as the physical one.

At the same time as all this is happening, the New Moon is in Aries, planet of forward motion and action. So, once we've made peace with the old and space for the new, it's time to welcome Spring full-out, embracing life with the sensual, Earthy ecstasy that is the Ram's hallmark.

Blessed Be!

Emergence

In the year preceeding my dark night of the soul journey, I felt very "out of phase" with my old life, although I didn't have the language then to describe it. I tried psychotherapy for four months, and one of the first tasks I was asked to do was complete a drawing of where I was in my life. I labelled my picture, "Emergence" and told the therapist it was a baby--but what I meant was, a fetus: something gestating, not yet ready to be born. My soul knew I had a profound transformation to undergo before I'd be ready to birth myself anew.

The past months, especially March, have been a global gestation. Karen Bishop's latest alert, Coming Through the Gates, describes the process precisely--especially the hard-won awareness that what our ego/mind says we're ready for, and what we're really ready for, may not necessarily be in sync. And boy, was March 16th ever a doozy for me; I felt raw and vulnerable in a way I haven't since 1994. Fortunately, it was all part of the release process. Here's an excerpt:

"If there is anything in our lives that we feel we absolutely must have, then we are not yet ready for it. When we reach a point where we are happy where we are and can see great beauty in what we interpreted as darkness, then we usually receive everything in the palms of our hands. It is when we get out of our own way and let Source fill us up that we receive what we no longer want. And in this state, we are being much more of Source.
 
"These past few months have greatly assisted us in getting to this place so that we would be good and ready to receive what is to come. It basically involves getting out of our ego before we receive ways and means to create and be in the higher ways.
 
"The energy shift and big surge of March 16th really assisted as well. We had completed much purging and were now a little more empty so that we could fill up again with a higher vibration. During this time I had ascension symptoms that I had not experienced for several years, and I'm sure many of you did as well. Although brief, I had heart strain, pain and palpitations (trying to accommodate the higher energies), experiences of living in non-linear time where I was in the past, present and future all at the same time (not my favorite one!), some underlying panic and anxiety (more of the ego leaving), a vulnerability (ego defense mechanisms now gone), a period of a loss of creating ability and disappointment (learning not to create from ego), the shoulder pain (right for getting out of the way, left for learning to receive) and then...the darkness.

"There is a pattern in ascension that occurs when we are in an energy surge and bumping up. Darkness arrives but great creativity arrives as well. One is about moving out and the other about moving in. And in this space, if one needs to go back to the old 3D reality it can feel downright awful and leave you plummeting into a darker and denser reality. Best to stay here and in your creativity and oneness with nature and the Earth as much as possible. Letting go and not being afraid to 'leave' can give one the fuel to 'jump across.'"

Awakening to the Wisdom of the Fifth World

We are re-birthing ourselves in a whole/holy/healed new way, as our collective consciousness rises to a higher octave. Aluna Joy Yaxk'in, sacred site guide, author and mystic, has spent much time in the Mayan lands and shares this extraordinary missive about what's coming: Prophecy of the Fifth World. It's long but infinitely inspiring.

Here's an excerpt:

The Prophecy of the Fifth World...

The Prophecy of the Fifth World is yet to manifest. But when the ancients ones looked ahead, this is what they can share that we can understand at this time. The Four Worlds that we are moving from were all on the same level of time, space and dimension. The Fifth world is a step above previous worlds and marks an enormous transformation.

The Fifth World will be a blending and harmonization of all four worlds, but taken to a different level. These four worlds together, in a cosmic equality, will bring about a new kind of life. Mineral, plant, animal and human will be looked at as being equally alive. There will be a type of intelligent communication between each world. The ancient ones know that it is hard for us to imagine this right now.

In the Fifth World, the new life will not use other kingdoms (mineral, plant, animal) to manifest what they want or need. More over, it is a symbiotic relationship or type of cooperation between the four world life types to create what is needed. A lot of what the Fifth World will be for us, we can't conceive as yet. But as time grows closer to the unveiling the pearl of the Fifth World, the clearer it will become.

Most important…when the Human Kingdom leaves the Fourth World, it will leave the world of force behind. The four integrated worlds will enter the cosmic law of Gravitation. Gravitation is one of the laws of the Fifth World. Life will not manifest by force in order to make something happen. The new life will use gravitation or allowance for manifesting. People will not pray or affirm things into being, but instead assume it is so…and allow it to gravitate to them. This is Fifth World Alchemy. Some of you are already living this way.

There were some ancient civilizations that did live a similar form of this Fifth World for brief times upon the planet. They did this to anchor the possibility for the future of the Fifth World. It is like if you didn't know what chocolate tasted like, how could you explain it? The lands you call Atlantis (most of which is now under the sea except for Santorini in Greece, and the Bahamas in the Caribbean), the Peruvian Andes and some places in the Himalayas are some of the places the ancient ones anchored the memory or, should we say, lived the prophecy of the Fifth World. Many of you are drawn to these places for mysterious reasons. Now you know why!

They are many of you out there that this message will speak very loudly to. You are the ones that could never understand why the world is the way it is. You may have never felt at home. You also might have felt that you hid secret knowledge somewhere that you have yet to uncover. You feel soul tired. If you know this in your heart, you are one of these ancient ones who have come back from the future to this important time…you are the ones who have come back to reawaken the blueprint of the Fifth World.

Verging on the Vernal Equinox

Tomorrow's Spring Equinox is a potent moment to sow the seeds for the future you desire to manifest. At Equinox, when the Sun is directly over the equator, the days and nights are of equal length all over the world, representing a time of balance between the light and the dark. Many ancient cultures built their greatest architecture - tombs, temples, and sacred observatories - so that they aligned with the Solstices and Equinoxes. The early Egyptians built the Sphinx so that it faces directly towards the rising sun on Equinox.

Visionary activist astrologer Caroline Casey says this particular Equinox is "a particularly strong time of coming back to life, followed so closely by a total solar eclipse in the Middle East (Libya and Turkey) on March 29th, as Pluto, principle of powerful metamorphosis, stations on that day. Re-connect with the power of storytelling, bring the old stories alive by fresh language and metaphor. We toss into the spiraling cauldron of this time, all we don't need, all past poisons."

I did exactly this yesterday, at an alchemical sound healing event to clear the ancestral lineage and welcome back our generational gifts. Led by shamanic ceremonial sound practitioner Kathleen Casey (no relation to Caroline), the ritual helped me release, forgive, regenerate and integrate on a cellular level material I've been resolving by layers for years. Today I feel radiant.

I was even graced with a fresh way of describing my work, which came to me just as we sat in circle introducing ourselves: "practical alchemy to help you transmute poison to power and wounds to wonder."

Let your inner Sun shine, dear ones! We need your Light more than ever now, as the entire planet rises in Love and comes back to life at a whole/holy/healed new level of awakening, awareness, joy.

Forgive — for Your Health!

Back in the day when Julius Caesar was warned, "Beware the Ides of March!" forgiveness probably wasn't big on his agenda. He scoffed at the portent, and didn't live to regret it.

Fortunately, we've come a ways since then. British teammate Anne Naylor reports that March 15th is International Forgiving Day, a creatively conscious recasting of the Ides. I encourage you to especially focus on self-forgiveness, since most of us tend to be our own harshest judges. One of the many e-mails I've received around the intense celestial dance currently in motion contained the delightful suggestion to "take yourself by surprise!"

If you're going to be in London on March 18th, you might wish to participate in Anne's upcoming workshop based on the John Morton book, The Blessings Already Are. E-mail Anne to learn more.

Blessings!

Plutonic Power Eclipse: Inner Wealth Builder!

To many people, the planet Pluto, which represents sex, death and transformation, is only slightly less petrifying than the words, "Mercury Retrograde." Since we are already deep into the current retrograde (from 3/2 - 3/25), tomorrow's full lunar eclipse with Pluto smack dab in the center of our galaxy might seem to portend utter emotional chaos.

Yet it's actually a homecoming of the highest order. See my March 10th entry, All Hail the Dark Mother, and may the inspiring words of Free Will Astrology creator Rob Brezsny, in his book, Pronoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You With Blessings, fill your chalice as it fills mine:

"In the best-known version of the Greek myth, Persephone is dragged down into the Underworld by Hades, whose title is 'Pluto'. But in earlier, pre-patriarchal tales, she descends there under her own power, actively seeking to graduate from her virginal naiveté by exploring the intriguing land of shadows.

"'Pluto' is derived from the Greek word plutus, meaning 'wealth'. Psychologist James Hillman says this refers to the psyche-building riches available in Pluto's domain. Hades, he says, is 'the giver of nourishment to the soul.'"

The Color of Light

This morning I completed a new "treasure map" of words and images to help guide my soul cartography--that is, mapping my geographic Earth journey in right relation to my planetary service. To read about this concept in depth, please contact me and ask for the March issue of my e-newsletter, What Shines.

Soon afterward, I was driving through yet another of the odd rain/sun showers that have been gracing northern California lately, glanced to my right, gasped, and pulled off the road, as many other drivers were also doing. There in the sky was the first true double rainbow I've ever seen: magnificently arching into the perennial pot o' gold on both ends, with its sister rainbow appearing a yard or so higher. Between them they held a smoky blackness like the Feminine, like the inner darkness we're all releasing, like the promise of Night. I lifted my arms and began invoking blessings, joyously affirming as the droplets cascaded onto my face and clothing, "Anything is possible!"

These are the exact words I exhulted silently after completing my birthday firewalk on February 4th. Fire and water, which I've also written about often, are perfect complements: the masculine and feminine essences.

We are, quite literally, in our element. These rainbows, like the ones that appeared singularly, two hours apart, on February 28th, were in the eastern sky. Fire, sunrise, new beginnings. Let the fire and water burn cleanly that which no longer serves us, cleanse and renew us in wonder.

Here's to awe: Awakening Wonder-filled Earth!

All Hail the Dark Mother!

The upcoming eclipse on March 14th ushers in the Feminine frequency more potently than any other celestial event since the Transit of Venus in 2004. Prepare to surrender into your deepest self and open to the Mystery! Canadian astrologer Tara Greene does a terrific job of explaining what in Heaven is going on. Long, and worth the read:

"Eclipses are Gateways to new consciousness and beginnings. Every six months the Earth, Moon and Sun align precisely enough to eclipse each other. Think of it as a race or a competition, the Heavenly Olympics. As the shadow of the Earth obscures the Light of the Moon we have a special opportunity, a gateway to see in the dark, through our fears of being without the Feminine, the Goddess, the comfort and innate memories of the womb, and uncover new truths. Eclipses occur in relation to the Lunar Nodes, the points in space where the Moon crosses the ecliptic — the Celestial Equator. Formed by the Moon, the symbol of the Feminine, the Lunar Nodes represent where we get our nourishment from on a Cosmic Level and feel it in a 'down to Earth' way. The North Node indicates for all of us what current and future intentions support our spiritual development and the South Node what has nurtured us in the past. The Nodes of the Moon are karmic in nature, specifically representing, feelings, emotions, the womb, memories, Source, the primal Feminine energy, the Goddess.

"This eclipse is extremely potent and powerful! This eclipse finds the sun, source of Light, Life and the Soul, (they don't call it SOL for naught!) near the North Node in Pisces at 24+ degrees of Pisces, the last and most spiritual of all the Signs of the Zodiac. The Light beckons us to return to the Source of all. The Moon opposite is at 24 + degrees of Virgo, near the South Node (at 4 degrees of Libra) a sign which seeks perfection of the earthy, body levels and of the mind. Pisces knows all is already perfection. Virgo/Pisces polarity is about integrating the seeming opposites of Mind/Body and Spirit. This is a very important eclipse as Pluto, the great Redeemer, is almost perfectly squaring (90 degree angle) the Sun and Moon. Squares are tense and push us into action. I would call it a Plutonic Eclipse.

"Pluto is almost exactly on the Galactic Center (G.C.) of the Milky Way galaxy, the galaxy we call 'home.' Galactic means 'mother's milk'. The G.C. is a huge black hole sucking in all light, all matter that comes its way. The essence of a black hole is change, sudden, dramatic, reversals of the status quo reality. To the ancient Mayans the G.C. was the great maw, mouth, yoni, gateway where all souls pass after death, before physical birth into and out of their journey through this galaxy. Pluto will be hovering around the Galactic Center all year, magnifying the alignment of our consciousness with our origins and radically magnifying the evolutionary impetus of the galactic impulses in the yoniverse.

"In this number 8 year, 2006, the Galactic Center is the pivot, the x crossing of the infinity symbol. Black holes are metaphorical crossing over points, galactic gateways of change, which is the nature of all in the universe. Life is growth and change, death, rebirth. The Galactic Center is the place where time is destroyed, and space as well. Time flows 6,000,000 times more slowly at one centimeter above the surface of the event horizon of a black hole.

"This eclipse is a harbinger of galactic time, an opening into hyper-dimensions of reality. Black holes destroy time and space. The Galactic Center is the ground of our being, the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Some see it as YHVH, the nameless source of the 'I AM' presence. The Galactic Center emits massive amounts of infrared radiation that arouses the subconscious portions of the brain and provides intense stimulation to the root chakra. This activation of the subconscious promotes the retrieval of information from the past, of this life and many other lives that interact with the self-preservation instincts of the root chakra. We are actually being cosmically stimulated and affected from the Galactic Center at all times.

"So with this eclipse, Pluto, the 'psycho pomp' guides us and helps us to see beyond the myths of the Fall to see ourselves truly as the divine messengers that we all are of God, forgiving ourselves for forgetting our divinity and knowing that we are souls playing the game of duality in this 3D Galactic Playground Center. Pluto is the grounding rod for integrating in-depth soul level transformational power. We can bravely go into the black hole's depths, our origins, and retrieve the mythologies that have blinded us unconsciously and bring that back into consciousness with the sun in Pisces, and experience galactic integration. We are all one. One galactic heartbeat. All born of the same Galactic Mother's womb."

Surviving the Spiritual Gauntlet

This urgent and extremely healing message just came through from Aluna Joy Yax'kin. May it carry you through these transcendent times...

"Having entered the first couple days of March, it has become quite apparent that we have hit some really powerful energy. I have been watching Equinoxes over the past 12 years, and they just seem to be getting more and more powerful. I have been having powerful visions/dreams...and nightmares (unusual for me) where I see dark beings rising up from the underworld, and I fight to stop them. The last couple of nights I could not tell if I was still here, or if I had crossed over to the next world. I can feel my nervous system getting re-wired or short circuited...it is hard to tell which in this moment. Some of the pieces that I have collected over the last 20 years are just now coming together. All this makes me feel like everything is about to change. I wonder sometimes how we can endure the rise in intensity. But somehow we do.

"The entire month of MARCH, that surrounds the Equinox, will be an intense emotional roller coaster month. We will feel far more sensitive to the world. Things might seem so dark that we wonder if we can survive this time. Many people have been having unfounded fears of dying or that the world is ending. Will this shift be comfortable? NO! But will we emerge Masters of it? Absolutely YES! We are going to get REALLY CLEAR about what is not working anymore to the point that we will be forced to make many shifts in our lives to continue on. The world is going to change. Our lives are going to change. We cannot tolerate the injustices and misuses of energy and power in this world anymore.

"This month is beginning to really look like what I would call a Global Dark Night of the Soul. This sounds really scary, but it is not. Dark Night of the Soul, by nature, is deliberately transformative. It feels like death on all levels. While we may feel battered and worn in the transformation, realize that our Spirits are being tempered in the process. It is MOST IMPORTANT to surrender and trust the process. These unrelenting and intense times help us build spiritual strength by showing us our weak spots. It shows us where we are becoming Masters in our lives. This is a necessary step for our ability to evolve into the 5th world. What a great opportunity for all of US!

"It will be imperative at this time of powerful energy, coupled with the Equinox, to be helpful and cooperative with each other. Be good to each other. Love each other. Help each other. This is the beginning of the new world and the birth of a new community. We are the baby chicks struggling to get out of the egg, the caterpillar fighting its way out of the cocoon. The birthing process is hard but well worth the effort. We are not going to give up. We are about to bust free of the limitations that we have tolerated for way too long. The time is so close now...the times are so powerful...We are letting go of this world...

"This Equinox is going to be emotionally challenging for most all of us, but it will also prepare us for the entire year of HUGE transformation and spiritual awakening. This awakening cannot be stopped. I bet you have tried to stop it, so you could be comfortable, at one time or another. It is not going to work this time. This is a time of breakdowns, losses and dissolving old paradigms on all levels. This is a time of GREAT OPPORTUNITY. We can build a new temple without tearing down the old one. It is time to get BRAVE...get out the spiritual work clothes and go to work.

"The two eclipses in the month of March will light up any shadows in your back closet that you have yet to clean out. Eclipses shine light into our own darkness. On March 14th there is a Full Moon lunar eclipse triggering even more emotional tidal waves.

"In these most powerful times, it is very helpful to give yourself time in a sacred place in nature. Sacred places, like mountaintops and temple sites, hold and support higher frequencies, so the transformation comes MUCH EASIER and with MORE CLARITY. If you can get away sometime in the month of March, especially around Equinox, it will ease the transition considerably. Also, high altitudes (over 7000 feet), forks in rivers, waterfalls, the oceans (silicon beach sand can elevate the issues), or deep deserts can clear our heads and lighten the heart.

"This is a time where our Spirits are being tested to reach and maintain a higher level of impeccability and personal mastery. Becoming Masters is NOT about avoiding our feelings and emotions, but being master over how we react to them no matter what the outer circumstances. Not feeling our emotions is flatlining. We are here to LIVE. So feel the issues, do not take them personally, rise above them and help those around you."

Interview with God

This lovely flash movie has been floating around for awhile, and just returned to my inbox this morning. An uplifting reminder for a retrograde...

The Interview With God

Breathe in the beauty...remember your own magnificence...

Retrograde Wisdom: Testing Your Water Wings

Mercury, also known as Hermes, the Winged Messenger, turns retrograde today in the water sign Pisces until 3/25. Astrologer Judith Goldberg, who penned an excellent article on retrogrades during the last one, entitled Retrogrades Without Regret, shares these words of wisdom for now:

"Pisces rules spirituality, intuition, emotion, the unconscious mind, dreams, art, music, poetry and dance. During this time be more conscious about your boundaries. Keeping a dream journal can be helpful. Your unconscious mind has messages for you. Turn on your inner ear."

Slowing down is always so key, and never more so that when walking (or dreaming) through water! My e-mail delivery time is operating as though the server has relocated to a tropical island, and I've already watched myself make an embarrassing goof this morning, trying to operate in too-linear, rational mode.

I like to think of Mercury Retrogrades as an opportunity for us to live the old Aretha Franklin song, "R-E-S-P-E-C-T", in which she sings, "Re-re-re-re..." That's what retrogrades are all about: re-vision, renew, review, remember, reclaim, reimagine...in my case, relocate! Judith says that as long as I'm focused on the "re" aspect (i.e., "relocate", rather than "move") I'll be an attuned traveler.

I also realized retrogrades are an auspicious time to answer e-mails, 'cause EVERY message you repond to begins, "Re:"

Blessings and reconnections,
Amara