Earth Wisdom

Dogs believe they are human; cats believe they are God

Colette

Free to a needy therapist – a portable therapy couch. Collect from Hove.

The next Dark Moon coincides with what most people call the New Year on January 1st 2014.

The Dark of the Moon is the time just before the crescent sliver of the New Moon appears, signifying the emerging lunar energy which builds up to the gorgeous Full Moon of Mid-Winter, known as the Quiet or Wolf Moon.

Before the Romans decided to add two months to the existing ten in 700BC the new year was celebrated in March, coinciding with new growth of Springtime. The month of January was named after the god of gateways and new beginnings, the two-faced Janus – looking both back to the past and forward to the future.

Even if we work within the Wheel of Nature, and celebrate the Sabbats of the eight-fold year rather than the structured human-devised festivals, there is nothing to stop us co-joining with the energies of new beginnings on January 1st, and putting out our intentions for 2014 with the New Moon. The more energy sent forth visualising new, positive changes  the more likely they are to manifest.

So I sincerely wish you all a magical year ahead as the Goddess grows in power. There will still be conflict throughout the world as the old order fights for one last spark of defiance in its death throws. The light of Love and Respect for all life on Earth is growing stronger. Stand up and demand it. Those who sneer at it and try to smother the truth are trembling with fear.

Wishing you a joyous year ahead, as the light gets stronger.

I wonder what the momentous year of 2013 brought forward for you?

I have run some very interesting workshops, worked on my self-esteem (a continuing task!), taught Celtic Earth Wisdom at home and in Japan, spent time with some wonderful people, witnessed inevitable signs of change for some brave lightworkers, and said goodbye to my dearest friend.

It will be interesting to see how the Divine Feminine shows her power in 2014. A lot of Magic afoot, I reckon!

Happy Solstice!

Isn’t it wonderful when synchronicities occur? Of course we have to be aware and open to listening to the message they bring. Sometimes this means suffering some discomfort, and this is what I have been shown lately.

Suppressing our dark, or shadow side because we say we only work with the light; putting out only positive thoughts; sending only love, forgiveness and compassion is admirable and worthy, yet are we really being honest with ourselves? REALLY honest?

Isn’t our Shadow that impulsive, wild, reckless, passionate, careless, self-serving part of us that was so out there when we were children? Isn’t it the Puck within? Were we ashamed of him then? Didn’t we carry him on our shoulder, laughing along with him with no thought of guilt, shame or reparation for the delight we felt in our open, guileless conspiracy?

Lately I have been been listening to tales of deceit, manipulation, cruelty and carelessness of feelings towards gentle and honest Lightworkers. As a Scorpio I have worked hard to suppress my natural tendency for the undoubted sweetness of Revenge. I write the word with a capital letter because it still holds a delightful satisfaction.

I know now that there is no need for me to exact revenge, as the Universe will work in its own way, so I can focus on releasing the trauma that ignited that emotion in me, freeing me up to get on with my life’s purpose.

However, isn’t there sometimes a need to fight like with like? Calling upon the Kali or Boudicca energy within can give us a strength and confidence to fight injustice. It can give us words of eloquence, passion and truth. It can show others that we are not to be walked over, manipulated or ignored.

Working as healers and living with light doesn’t mean that we are to be passive, submissive and permissive of others’ actions against us. When we stand up and say “I choose not to accept this” we are honouring ourselves as having the right to justice, to fair play and to respect. Allowing others to get away with diminishing us is, in a way, a cowardly action. It is almost saying that we deserve to be treated badly. We are telling the world that we are worth less than the other person.

So, next time someone raises their foot to take that first step towards walking over you, shout “STOP!” in your head, and bring out the bad guys, all guns blazing.

Why, when one shares a home with a cat, do we end up feeling guilty about crimes we didn’t even know existed?

For instance:

Using a lap top or iPad
Going out
Going away
Talking on the phone
Vacuuming
Discarding empty boxes
Vegetarian eating
Lack of heat/sunlight
Visitors
Visitors with children
Having a man in your bed/kitchen/life
Clocks going back
Having a lie-in
Sitting in a chair which has been designated for feline use only
Neighbours’ cats/dogs
Washing food bowls
Moving furniture
Reading a book/newspaper

Oh yes, spitting logs too. Even though I am supposed to put up with spitting feathers without complaining.

If only she would deign to sit on my lap I would be so happy, but of course, my happiness is not in her remit.

When discussing or contemplating sharing a reading with Tarot cards the one card that most people are fearful of is “Death”.

Usually this depicts a skeleton in various poses. Devoid of flesh, sinews, blood vessels and all vestiges of the features which make us stand out from other humans; stripped back to the very bones. Nothing left to tell others who we were when alive upon the Earth.

In the 1835 Classic Tarot the skeleton is gathering up symbols of individual lives with his scythe. Helmet, sword, bishop’s mitre, a royal crown, artist’s easel and scholar’s book are all piled together in a heap.

The Victorians were obsessed with death. We only have to visit Highgate Cemetery in London to see how they viewed it. Heaven and Hell were real places to them. It seems that the larger and more ornate the edifice to the deceased the more likely their place in Heaven was secured.

In the Rider-Waite Tarot, created 1910 by Arthur Waite and Pamela Colman-Smith, members of a metaphysical group, the skeleton rides gracefully, yet indiscriminately past a fallen king, a priest, a young child and a youthful beauty. Chiron steers the dead across the river Styx in the background, yet on the horizon the sun rises between two towers.

Death is a gentle rider. His bare bones are disguised by a suit of black armour. He rides the archetypal pale horse. Black and white are non-colours; neutral, just as Death itself cuts down without compassion or judgement. The king’s crown lies in the dust. The young girl turns her head, the full-blown rose dropping from her hand.

My favourite Death card comes from the Druidcraft Tarot.

Here the Goddess as crone, The Cailleach, lovingly places a skull into the cauldron of death and rebirth. It is Samhainn, when the ancestors are closest to the living. At this time we honour those who have walked upon the Earth before us. We rejoice in the gifts and lessons they have taught us. We know that they are still around us, guiding us with their love.

For those who have shared part of our lives, and whom we have loved, we remember all those times of sharing, of laughter and sorrow. Our loved ones acknowledge our uniqueness, our vulnerability, our frailties. We miss dreadfully their physical presence, yet they are still part of us, as within this life, however short, our hearts  have connected with love. Therefore our energy fields still hold their essence. This can never die.

Death is no enemy. It signifies the beginning of a mysterious and beautiful transition which we will all experience. Honour the beloved ones who have passed through this transition. They still live in our hearts.

I am outraged and in despair!

I have just read the word “measuring” spelt as “measauring” IN THE TIMES!!!!

REALLY looking forward to Samhainn this year! I am usually working in Japan, where health and safety makes it really difficult to have a fire, and as it is a fire ceremony, it always feels as if something is missing, even though the company who invite me out there do a great compromise with a group of LED lights!

This year I am inviting people to join me on 30th, which is when I will be facilitating my monthly spiritual circle to celebrate this festival of honouring the ancestors. We will be in my stone circle, calling in the spirits with rattles, drums, clap sticks, bells etc, and placing any messages, wishes and outgrown negative beliefs into the flames. After the ceremony we will share a little food, and give thanks and blessings for the gifts and talents our ancestors have given us.

Traditionally Samhainn was the time for withdrawing into oneself, for summing up our year, and looking to our future path in the present lifetime.

It is a time for sitting by the hearth, telling tales and sharing divination readings. The harvest  is past, and hopefully we have enough food to keep us going through the coming Winter months. We look to our neighbours, making sure that no-one goes without, is cold and hungry, or lonely.

Of course, this is a fantasy of mine. These days we tell ourselves that we don’t have time for self-reflection, for gathering together to share tales and predictions learned from watching the changing seasons in Nature. Our modern lifestyle is unnatural, but don’t you think it would be good to celebrate the essence of Samhainn, instead of focusing on the dread of the expense, worry and expected over-indulgence which most of us associate with the lead-up to Christmas?

Bring back the simple celebrations of the changing seasons, that’s what I say! Plus there is the bonus of a party every six or seven weeks!

What does your cat get up to at night?

How come when I go to bed and try to say “good night” she cannot be bothered to even lift her head, and yet, in the morning I wake up to find a dead shrew on the table, a long line of fresh sick ending with a turd-shaped furball, rolls of fur everywhere that look as if they belong in a spaghetti western, and biscuits all over the floor? She doesn’t look as if she has moved from the night before. What goes on without me hearing a thing? One of life’s great enigmas, which is sacred feline knowledge.