Full Moon; Lunar Eclipse: Nature's shift



http://www.owlsdaughter.com/2010/05/blessings-of-the-full-moon-in-sagittarius-3/

 If  you haven't been feeling an intensity to the world these days I can't imagine where you've been, certainly not the dimension I'm living in! All this may be building up to tonight's Full Moon in Sagittarius. It's a pretty powerful moon, the last full moon before Summer Solstice in fact. This full moon is also called the Strawberry Moon, Rose Moon, or Flower Moon.  Today's picture comes from Owl's Daughter website and she gives a beautiful description from 2010 of what this Full Moon is about.

The Owls will likely be out tonight.  http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2012/07/animal-signs-owl.html  They are the spirit animal in Shamanic Astrology that corresponds to Western Astrology's Sagittarius. Like this moon the Owl Spirit is about expansion, increased consciousness and wisdom brought from awareness. 

This moon brings the energy to unite physical and spiritual.  It's about bringing your knowing into your reality, letting go of limitations of thought and physically or spiritually imposed restrictions. This is powerful energy for moving forward in the flow. You should expect intuitive insight and inspiration.

In my part of the world, according to my ancestors, this is a planting moon.  Crops that produce above the soil are to be planted just as this moon waxes full.  Yesterday my tomato babies gleefully screamed at me that they needed to be planted. I listened to them even though the weather forecast suggested today might have been a better day to plant. They seem very happy today safely tucked into their "big kid beds"  their toes stretched out and spacious, ready to receive the full power of the moon to allow their roots to expand.  Crops that produce beneath the soil are to be planted just as this moon wanes. My potato patch will soon be vibrant once again. It's humming in readiness now.  That kind of connection with plant allies is what this moon is about. It's time to listen to what nature is telling you and work with them.

As if that most powerful of Full Moon's isn't enough to pull us along, today also marks a Lunar Eclipse.  A Lunar Eclipse signifies the energy to finish up the past, close off a chapter, and move on a new path with greater illumination. This particular eclipse is almost "imperceptible".  It isn't obvious from any vantage point on earth.  You won't see it happen.  That doesn't mean it isn't happening.  It means, like many things, something is occurring that is beyond your sight and intellect.  There are things we feel that we can't explain, see, or prove. Hmm....

Tonight's Full Moon is also known as the flower moon so it only seems right to consider some Bach Flowers if you're having trouble to fully connect with the energy in the way you want to.  Clematis, Scleranthus, and Honeysuckle  all come to mind.

Clematis might be helpful if you're got the dream but are having a hard time bringing it into your present reality.  In fact, you might not even be particularly trying to bring it to reality.  You may be spending more time off in dreamland without taking any tangible steps to plant your aspirations.  A few drops of Clematis might help you ground your inspiration and provide a sense of purposeful movement.  Exactly the kind of energy this Full Moon provides.

Scleranthus might be helpful if you're going back and forth between what you know and what you feel.  When the Moon is in Sagittarius the sun is in Gemini.  Gemini is quite a flip/flop energy.  It's hard to settle on a decision because the pros and cons seem equally valid. If you want more information about this Gemini energy check out this week's (May 22nd) Pele Report at  http://newparadigmastrology.com/  . Scleranthus can help you unite logic with intuition so you can find the balance in the middle. That energy is freely available during this Full Moon, but a few drops of Scleranthus might help you find that certainty and decisiveness to move forward.

Honeysuckle could be helpful for you, particularly if the Lunar eclipse energy of letting go of the past is something you want to tap into but are struggling with. Honeysuckle can help you live in the present without experiencing the past as overpowering in either a positive or negative way.  Honeysuckle can help you accept the past for just what it is-the past- allowing you to move forward into a new light.

In my opinion, this new expansive energy is freely available and offered to us.  It's in particular abundance right now and a nature's offering to us.  That doesn't mean you have to take it, or feel it, or believe it. If you want to stay with past ways of being, old habits, tried and true paths, secure patterns, the pull of the moon isn't going to change that. You don't even have to notice the moon or nature if you aren't ready or don't want to go there. Life doesn't have to change. But it could...

If you truly want to expand your consciousness, reach a new level, experience a new path and a letting go, now is a good time to do it.  Tap into that "jump start" being offered right now and enjoy the journey. I believe we have three choices at this point.  The first choice is to ignore nature, our sense of knowing and deep feelings and just continue on in our physicality making every day decisions.  There's nothing wrong with that if that's your choice. The second choice is to tap into this energy, focus on it, feel it, experience it and be awed by it, but resist the change it offers. In this choice we talk about the energy, we read about expansion and new opportunities, we consider how life might be, but we don't really "pull it in".  We stand in awe and wait for the moon to change us. We drift into "Clematis dreams", but we consider them a different space than our physical awakened reality.  There's nothing wrong with that choice as long as you don't expect to really "be" in a different place. The third choice I believe is available to us, is to truly connect with that available energy. It's not about standing in awe or feeling something amazing, it's about working with that force of nature, bringing that energy into your physicality without question, indecision or fear. It is a choice.

Owl's Daughter suggests during the Full Moon in Sagittarius you "let your mood expand and become more adventurous and optimistic".  That's a choice. 

Contrasting Energies: Bach for that!

I'm still into my "nature energy measurement" phase. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2013/05/reading-natures-energy.html So today, my first impression of nature's energy was that of strong contrasts.  One moment the sun was shinning brilliantly, the next moment dark clouds had moved in.  I could walk through pockets of warm currents, that suddenly change to cold winds. Part of my recent "take the pulse of nature" experimentation includes observing what animals are doing.  While delivering hay today I watched one horse obviously try to pick a fight with her brother. It was pretty clearly unprovoked. The Blue Jays were out and about this morning as well, making their presence known  http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2011/10/animal-signs-blue-jay.html Oh, that kind of a day I figured.  A day of conflict with no clear winners? 

In my opinion, we are very affected by nature's energy.  I believe the contrasting intensities of today could cause some unsettled behavior.  To find the balance in the contrasting energy, a number of Bach Flower essences might help. The most obvious would be Beech, Scleranthus, Wild Oat and Holly.

Beech would be a good essence to take if you really felt like taking a chunk out of someone "just because".  Maybe their hay crunching sounds are just ticking you off today, or you don't like the way they are standing. If you've responded to contrasts of light and dark, warm and cold, cloud and sun by feeling a bit irritated and intolerant of the changes, Beech is a good essence for you. 

When weather patterns are staying constant and nature seems in flux, a lot of people have a hard time to find their point of integration. It's hard to decide between what your left brain tells you is the right and logical thing to do, and what your right brain tells you would feel right.  You leave the house with a raincoat on because you can see those clouds and you read the forecast, and yet you feel more like it's a sandals and t-shirt kind of day. Scleranthus can help when you can't make those simple decisions. If you are bouncing back and forth between opinions, ideas, thoughts and actions, Scleranthus can help you find a settled balance. Might be a good remedy to have on hand today.

When nature is swinging a bit through intense contrasts, there can be a tendency to respond with real internal uncertainty in my opinion.  This goes beyond the indecision of Scleranthus where you can't figure out how to choose between two things.  In a Wild Oat frame of mind you can't find any direction.  Everything seems possible and nothing feels right. It's the "spin your wheels" state where you flip from project to project without finishing any, or you just sit in a daze unclear where to start. If you're around other people when this state kicks in, you might just find yourself in conflict without even realizing how you got there or which side you want to take! Wild Oat can help you pick a clear path and stick to it.

If your feelings tend to be stronger than mild intolerance or irritation, and you feel down right bad-tempered and suffering with nature's contrasts, Holly might be a good essence for you. Conflict often develops because of feelings of jealousy, envy and insecurity.  That's where Holly can help. If you find yourself arguing everywhere you go today it might be because you really are feeling quite insecure. If you're rising to the intensity of the day by engaging in conflict, perhaps fighting your way to convince yourself you're right, Holly might help you find that inner harmony.

Today is the kind of day when people in casual conversations say things like, "the sun is sure trying to shine out there", or "I think those clouds are going to win over- looks like rain".  I guess this type of energy can put people at odds with each other. However, as I continued in my musings, I realize the idea of conflict is not something from nature- at least not in my opinion.  That's a human (and perhaps horse!) interpretation from nature's energy. But maybe, if I follow along on my musings, and use the energy nature presents to match with human behaviors, I need to look a bit deeper than what seems immediately obvious.  This doesn't have to be a day of conflicts or irritation. Nor does it need to be a day of avoiding conflicts.  Instead it might just be a day of strong contrasts. It might just a day of power.

The sun just shines. Every day it shines whether there are clouds in front of it or not.  It's truly in the sense of "being".  I don't think the sun actually cares if a cloud passes by or not.  Nothing about the sun or it's internal actions change just because clouds roll over or park themselves directly in front of it.  Kind of like my more self-assured horse, the sun could care less rather the clouds are "trying to pick a fight" or not.  As his sister tried to egg him on, and threatened to take a bite out of his neck, he had no reaction.  Just kept eating. Just kept "being".  She gave up and moved on. He didn't really care about that either.

I don't think the clouds are trying to "take over" anything either.  I think the clouds themselves are "just being", perhaps happy to allow  the wind to move them to "wherever". Not in an uncaring way, but in a trus in all outcomes, way.   They too are just "being".  I don't believe there is a battle going on in nature. In fact, it's more of an equal balance between light and dark and within each there is power.  The Blue Jay I saw today wasn't  bullying anyone or fighting.  Perhaps he was  just a sign that today can be a strong day to do whatever feels and is right.  And maybe it's a good day to do things that even seem to be in opposition. 

I think nature is suggesting you can harness this power to do whatever you want to do today, and perhaps accomplish multiple things in seamless transition. It might be a good day to focus internally if you have that luxury and really do some self-directed actions. If you do find yourself with "group projects" just being aware that others may try to take a chunk out of you can help you avoid the conflict and recognize the power in contrasts.

Enjoy the power!

Reading Nature's Energy



 http://www.psychicreadingswithmarie.com/palm-reading.php

 I'm a weather watcher.  I love observing the weather predictions. I  follow storm tracking sites.  I expand my observing beyond earth weather or climate and sometimes check in with space weather and solar activity.I feel we are all affected by atmospheric and natural phenomenon so it's interesting when things seem to match up.  I often write about moon cycles and how that brings a particular energy to us. I believe solar flares can affect how we feel  http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2012/02/solar-flares-and-temper-flares.html   It's an interaction that I think is worth observing.

I feel affected by weather. On stormy days I feel that kind of high energy. Good solid rain or snow days are perfect for writing or developing stuff- the thoughts seem to pour out of me then and I can be quite focused.  I thought this connection probably was linked to the past and an ancestral rhythm when we were more in tune or in cycle with nature.  There are some days that are just good days for making Dandelion Wine for instance. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2013/05/dandelion-wine-part-ii.html

In my part of the world, the last few days have been pretty up and down, quickly switching from one weather pattern to the next.  We've had hot sunny days, then lots of rain and everything in between. Today feels different yet again. That set me on a "ponder".

As we open up our consciousness, become more sensitive, and realize we are part of something bigger than ourselves, surely we must open up to a connectedness with nature as well. So when everything is bursting into bud, or soaking up the rain, or braced against the wind, perhaps we feel that energy. Hmm...

Seems like this increased sensitivity presents some choices. We can choose to ignore this energy and go about our daily earthly lives without changing our patterns.  We can choose to be very in tune with this energy and increase our connection to nature- meeting nature on nature's level.  This seems to me to be what people do when they create essences on certain days, plant crops or flowers according to moon cycles, or plan their daily activities based on planetary alignments.  I write about things like that.  But suddenly, it occurs to me there might just be a third choice.

What if we were to tap into that abundant nature energy and bring that vibration into our daily lives, using it to move forward on a human level.  Maybe it isn't about going "back to nature", a much as it could be about "using nature" to help us with human, even technological pursuits.

It seems to me this would like palm reading, hence today's picture which come from a very interesting website, if round about now you need a a distraction. What if,  every morning you sat still for a moment and really took a feel for what nature is "sending out".  This feel would be a collection of earth weather, space weather, moon influences, planet influences, and many other dimensions we aren't aware of, but somehow seem to sense in some way if we allow.  Based on that collective nature reading, you then could plan your day.

I'm not really suggesting that you pick and choose what you do in the day based on this reading.  That's going back to nature in my opinion.  In today's "world of humans", I don't think we can always do that.  Most people have routines that need to be followed, it's part of how we have agreed to socialize and do things together.  We do some activities during "work hours", some places are closed at certain times, we organize meetings based on availability, not moon phases.  But what you can choose is how you do those things in the day.

Here's an example.  Today, in my part of the world, I read nature's energy as "absorption energy".  When I really tune in, it feels to me like nature is in  "pre burp" mode.  That sensation that you've really gulped everything down and now you need to let it settle. Yesterday roots were open, the ground was shifting and nature was slurping up water and nutrients as quick as it could.  It was high energy in an almost competitive, somewhat panicked, perhaps a bit desperate way, due to a previous dry spell. We went through a cycle of a New Moon in Taurus on Thursday, had an eclipse, lots of intense changing, growth stuff and everything was struggling to "take it in".  We had intense sunlight, heavy rains, and changing winds. Today nature feels in an "I'm so full" mode with a  need to let things shift into place.  It's a grounded, calm, deep energy.  It's the process of breaking down nutrients into useful energy and releasing what isn't needed.  The ground is full of the outer shells of tree buds. Those shells are being absorbed back into the soil while the buds themselves allow water to flow to the their tips, giving leaves their form. It's a bit foggy and that mist seems to hold things close to the ground encouraging a "soaking in effect".

So, to use that energy in everyday life seems to me to be something like this.  Whatever you do today you do with the thought that you have everything you need inside you.  You don't need to "gather more stuff", you need to let the energy move and flow and find the very depths of your soul and the end of your toes. You could read a book and really absorb the information, the words, the language and let it find a place in you.  You could meet with friends, or go to a meeting and absorb the ideas other people put on the table and allow your mind to choose what should be kept and what should be let go. You could bring the calmness of the energy nature is offering  into peaceful action, secure in the fact that your body and soul knows what to use and what to let go of.  Whatever you do today could be done with calm confident assurance. It's a safe day, with the assurance that whatever you are doing, it's the right thing to do.

If all of that is just a bit too much to absorb, toss out what you don't need and won't need. Allow yourself a delicate burp and enjoy the sensation of being pleasantly full.  Ahhh...

Dandelion Wine: Part II

The world feels very unusual to me the past few days.  Well, maybe it's been the past year or more, but honestly the past couple of days feel quite indescribable.  Maybe the "veil between worlds is very thin" sort of feeling that occurs sometimes? 

In this vein of thinking an old recipe flew out at me the other day.  It jumped out of an old cookbook I had buried away in the closet while I was looking for something else.  It just so happened to fly out of my Grandmother's cookbook.  It was written on a piece of paper so old it was brown and crinkly. It was written in pencil and signed by a friend of my grandmothers to her.  It just so happens the recipe was for Dandelion wine.

If you've followed along with this blog for awhile, you'll know I've tried Dandelion wine before.  I feel just a wee bit obsessed with this adventure I guess, because I had been considering the notion once again a day or so before the recipe made it's appearance. I was seeing a great bumper crop of dandelions and feeling just a bit "itchy to try again".  Last year, I thought I had a revelation about Dandelion Wine  http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dandelion-wine-living-in-moment.html and a new way of being.  It sounded good at the time, but I've changed my mind. 

I wouldn't have thought my Grandmother would have been the Dandelion Wine making type. Perhaps I just didn't have her around for long enough to know this.  Maybe that's a wisdom you don't share with a less than 10 year old.  I feel a little disappointed to have missed the knowing, but then again, maybe that's why she flew the recipe in my face!  I do know the author of the recipe.  I would suspect her of making Dandelion Wine.  If I had eight children and lived to be over 100 as she did, perhaps I would attribute the success to the wine! 

I was still thinking about making the wine and not actually doing it, when this morning I got a great email from a friend with a long explanation of the healing benefits of dandelions, including this link  http://www.care2.com/greenliving/dandelion-weed-or-medicinal-powerhouse.html and a beautiful picture of dandelions.  Okay, okay, I hear you!!!  I'm making the wine!!!

First I had to do a lot of math.  Crazy conversions from quarts, gallons, and pounds to cups.  I'm still not sure if I really have the right amount of yeast and my head hurts just a wee bit from trying to sort out all those figures, but here's what I went with:

8 cups of Dandelions tops
16 cups cold water
(boil these two together for 20 min., then strain)
Add 6 cups sugar and the juice of 2 lemons to the water minus the tops, and boil for another 20 minutes
Let the mixture cool and add 1 teaspoon of yeast.

Now the whole mixture is sitting in a place of honor on the kitchen counter.  Unlike the previous year when I bottled it right away and put it away in the dark to brew, this one stays front and center.  I am told, by my ancestors, that I am to let it stand for 4 weeks but skim it every day. After 4 weeks I am to bottle it. 

There are no fancy spices in this mix unlike the last one.  Well, my ancestors were pretty "plain jane" about things like that- so I guess that make sense.  It smelled very earthy while cooking- healthy for sure. I wonder if my Grandmother ever actually made the recipe or did it just sit idle in her book- perhaps on her "list of things to do" for years.  No one around to ask that question, so I'll just make up my own story.  I think I will decide she never did actually make it but was always meaning to "give it a go".  Makes me feel like I am completing a circle a bit and am making my Grandmother's Wine for her. 

Cheers Grandma M!

Surrender: A Bach Combination Remedy

Every once in awhile a particular word kind of "strikes" me.  This was the case the other day while talking with a friend. We were tossing around the word "surrender".  This seems to be one of those words that a lot of spiritual advisers use as advice to live by. We are told we should surrender.  It almost becomes a mantra.  Sometimes a word like that just slips into our everyday language and we don't really consider what exactly it means or maybe we use it so frequently and flippantly that we lose site of what it means. I started to think...

I started to question how you would know when you reached the point of "surrender".  If it's something we are supposed to do, practice, achieve, how will we know when we get there?? Hmm...

I drove my friend a little crazy with my questions and analyzing I think, but like all my friends, she is very patient with me and later sent me a definition she found  on Wikipedia for "surrender":

"To surrender in spiritualtiy and religion means that a believer completely gives up his own will and subjects his thoughts, ideas, and deeds to the will and teachings of a higher power."

Hmm, maybe.... But the picture I can't quite get out of my mind when I hear the word surrender is of someone waving a white flag of surrender.  The kind of flag flown when battles were being fought and lost in civil wars maybe.  Or maybe even a scene from a wild west movie when the tavern is being shot up by the bad guys and someone sticks a white handkerchief out a window and waves it in an act to promote cease fire.

The more I thought about it, the more I figure surrender means the act of giving up control.  More particularly, giving up a false sense of control. In so doing, you actually gain control.  If I go back to the tavern scene.... the handerchief of surrender is extended when you have run out of bullets anyway and you know you are completely outnumbered.  Rather than really loose the fight, and perhaps your life, you decide to give up the false idea that you can protect or control something . The point is, you realize you don't have control, you can't win this one, so you extend the flag.  But once extended, you actually do win.  If the other side is playing by the rules, they stop shooting or fighting you.  You are actually the one that calls an end to the battle and it would seem, in this way, you actually maybe come out the winner?

At least in the movies, the flag of surrender is always white. Sometimes it's a big white flag designed for that purpose.  Sometimes it's a delicate white lace handkerchief.  But it's always white.  That's how it is recognized.  White is the symbol for peace I guess.  It's also the color that resonates with the Crown Chakra- that higher self again, that knowing, the part of you that knows you don't actually "control" anything when you hang on tightly, but only when you let go.  Hmm...

Although it's easy to I don't think it's easy to find that place of surrender.  It's back to finding the place of trust again
http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2013/04/a-new-paradigm-of-trust.html  It's a place where you aren't attached to outcomes, or methods, but just find a place of peace.  Not easy but well worth finding.

I believe there are some Bach Flowers that can help you find this place of surrender.  I include in this combination; Cherry Plum, Rock Water, Cerato, and Elm. 

Cherry Plum is included because it is the remedy for the fear of loosing control.  I've written about this before. It's helpful when you are holding on so tight it hurts. The Cherry Plum state can be one of deep despiar where you fear you may lose control of your behavior, or are on the verge of a breakdown.  It's the fear that if you start to cry you'll never stop.  Cherry Plum can help restore your calm mind.  It can help allow you to wave the white flag in the most rational of all acts.

I also include Rock Water in the combination I'm calling "Surrender". Rock Water types set really high standards.  They belief they have to defend the saloon no matter what and no matter the circumstance. They defend their sense of control because they can't really see another way to do it.  Rock Water will allow some flexibility to your letting go.  Who knows, maybe the new bartender can really make some great drinks!

I don't think you can find the point of surrender without trust. And for that, Cerato is the Bach Flower to turn to.  Cerato helps you listen to your higher self, your Crown Chakra, your place of knowing.  Once you listen and believe in what you're hearing, you've found the place of peaceful letting go- and ultimate surrender.

If you find yourself in a place to be considering surrender, you've likely been through a bit of a battle.  No battle is easy and the energy involved can be immense. No doubt by this time you are feeling overwhelmed by the sheer responsibility.  I think most people find surrender when they have exhausted their resources and got to the point of exhaustion. If that's the case, Elm can help restore your normal capable self.  If taken before you "hit the wall", Elm might help you put things in perspective so you can allow yourself the luxury of letting go (surrendering) some of that responsibility so you don't get to the point of being overwhelmed.

So, I think my personal definition for "surrender" would be "having the self trust to let go of those things overwhich you don't really have any control in the first place". Open the saloon doors and let in some new energy. 

I surrender. Ahhh....

Beltane: No talk, just dance!

It's been a long time since I posted anything on the blog.  Which is not to say there hasn't been a lot going on. Quite the contrary. In fact, it feels like so much has been, and continues to transpire, that I find myself "out of words".  I just can't find any words that adequately describe what seems to be happening.  Or if I can, it feels like they have already been said. "Been there, done that".  And when everything feels so different how can we possibly use the same words to describe it?

However, today is the first of May and that signifies new beginnings. It's May Day or Beltane in Celtic tradition.  I wrote about Beltane in 2011  http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2011/05/lunar-beltane.html 

Beltane is a celebration of new life. It's a transition from colder weather, perhaps colder hearts, and certainly a time to move from winter introspection into warm sunshine, release of grief, and a lightening of our hearts.  It's a time to get together with friends, perhaps the fairies, to dance and be free.

In my world, it feels like the time to analyze, discuss, and debate might just be over. Words don't seem adequate or necessary anymore and it feels like perhaps they should be replaced with feeling and action. Hmm...

Marian Spadone, in We'Moon 2013 writes this about Beltane:

"Weaving in and around one another, we thread our passions in the web.Warp and woof, spokes and runners, take up your strands with clear intent. Weave what you want into being, into Life!"

So are far as words can go, those seem pretty good to me. As the world shifts we become more connected in that web, but only as individual strands. It's about dancing in around other people and the events that touch our lives until we have a pattern we like and feel good about. Maybe it's not about repeating the same pattern, but mixing it up to see what you can weave.  You don't have to be able to explain it.  There may be no reason to explain it because we all have our individual journeys.  Sometimes we touch each other, run into each other and bounce off others, but we each have a different strand and a unique way of weaving.  We can share, but there is no need to compare. My dance is not your dance, nor should it be.  The point is not to be "in step" with each other, it's to connect as we pass by, let go, and perhaps connect again.

In that traditional May Day dance, each person has a brightly colored ribbon and although the ribbons are connected in the center, the dance is played out at the end of the ribbon, on the periphery. Dancers are connected not to each other but through the center and through that colorful, individual string. It is our uniqueness that makes us part of the whole. There are no complicated dance steps in the May dance.  It's all about feeling free; feeling the feeling, not thinking about your performance, or anyone elses'.

In my opinion, this winter in many ways, for many people, might have been pretty dark.  There were a lot of events going on that really took a toll on faith, hope, endurance, and most certainly the sense of security.  I guess that's what change is about. 

Today, the first of May, at least in my part of the world, was a bright beautiful warm sunny day.  The robin I wrote about almost a month ago seems here to stay. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2013/04/new-moon-new-beginnings-signs-from-robin.html He's got a buddy or two and they seem to be building a nest.  The flowers are starting to poke out and blossom and the grass is getting greener.  No mater what else is going on in the world, that kind of renewal seems worthy of a dance of too. 

No words, just dance.  Happy Beltane!