We’ve started this journey toward the equinox + the changing of the seasons with a call to break free from all of the stuff that is holding us back. Everything that is keeping us from reaching our potential. Everything new that is just waiting to be born from us with the coming of the equinox. The process of breaking free + rebirth doesn’t happen overnight, though. It’s just that… a process. And it begins from within.
I am so sorry that I missed my post on Wednesday, and that I have to cram together the 3rd + 4th cards of this ritual; but it turns out that they are a perfect couple. And I didn’t realize that until I pulled out the card for today + started to wonder how I was going to “make up” for the post that I missed earlier this week.
Also, there is a loooot of powerful spiritual energy swirling around this week + it has prompted me to reclaim my sacred morning rituals of yoga, writing, and meditation. I am finally waking earlier again + ready to rise in order to have time to still + focus my soul before the day starts.
About this powerful spiritual energy. On Tuesday, I wrote everything down in my journal that was potential energy that I could tap into. Of course, it depends on your own spirituality whether you tap into the same things I tap into or not; but, for me, I find my inspiration in living a nature-based (earth + cosmos) spirituality, acknowledging my roots in the mystical Christian tradition. So, with that said, here’s the stuff going on this week:
Mercury Retrograde: a 3 week period that happens a few times every year when it seems that the planet Mercury is moving backwards + not orbiting like the rest of us in our solar system. It is not actually moving backward, but it is an illusion based on the placing the the planets in our revolutions around the sun.
The thing about Mercury Retrograde is that it is a time to go within. To tune in + listen to the soul. It is a chance to wonder how we might want to begin to rewrite our story. The legend is that communication, travel, and other material things go “wonky” during this period, so it’s just as well to simplify, settle in, and slow down. And I always think that slowing down to reflect is a good thing.
New Moon in Pisces: The new moon was on Tuesday + we are just now coming our of her energy of closing out one phase + beginning a new. Now is the time to set our intentions not only for the month ahead, but also for the year, as Pisces is the last astrological sign before the new astrological year begins. It really is time to dream big + to think about what wants to be born within you. What do you really want deep down?
Ash Wednesday + Lent: Wednesday began the reflective, mystical Christian of Lent. It is 6 weeks meant to basically contemplate much about who we are. It is a wilderness time, filled with solitude, quiet, challenges and uncertainty; inspired by the story of Jesus who, before he began healing + preaching + living out his calling, wandered in the desert for 40 days.
Lent is the season before Easter. A time set aside to listen, accept, struggle, and discern who we are + who we are called to be. It is the perfect grounding period before a season of rebirth.
With all of that energy, and the two cards from days 3 + 4, it is empowering-ly obvious to me that this is a time to start from within. This little 3 week journey towards the equinox starts with us. It starts with being disciplined + setting aside time to contemplate. It starts with little daily rituals that bring meaning + grounding presence to our everyday lives. Things as simple as washing our face when we get home at the end of our day to mark the shift from work to rest. Things as simple as giving thanks for the farmers, the nutrients, the earth as we prepare food. Things as simple as lighting a candle or breathing deeply for a couple of minutes to recenter ourselves.
The journey to something new always begins with a pause. This, right now, this moment, or this weekend if we are lucky, is that chance. The spiritual energy all around us is speaking to us, offering us a sign that this is how to begin. We begin with the quiet, still, moments that will usher us forward into who we want + who we are created to be.
I deeply believe that we must to the silent, solitary work of seeing our shadows, looking honestly at who we are + who we have been + who we are becoming. We must enter the sweat lodge in order to purify, clear out, let go of, and release all that does not serve us. We must wander in the desert some… embracing the unknown. We must sit under the dark shadow of the new moon. We must let the inspiration of the wild, dark north energy teach us of magical, ancestral things.
This is the beginning of the process. This is the energy that we are to harness right now. And, if we do, then I know that it will guide us forward with even more clarity, hope, power than we ever knew we had. We will emerge on the equinox, and then over + over again as we continuously evolve, as transformed, deeper versions of our true selves.
Happy weekend, wild souls. And welcome to a most special, spiritual time. xoxo. liz.
