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Fall Equinox Greetings Dear Friends,
In Celtic Tradition, this is Mabon, or the fall equinox, and it is the second of three traditional harvest festivals (August 2nd and October 31st are the others). On the day of the autumnal equinox the sun crosses the equator from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere. For 2012, this occurs on September 22nd, when the sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west. Day and night will be the same length.
What is extraordinary is that this state of balance occurs only twice a year for one day. When the relationship of the Sun to the Earth is in perfect balance, it is cause for celebration yet that balance is not static and neither are we. People express the desire to live a balanced life yet I would suggest that if the Sun and Earth only achieve this twice a year, perhaps we can embrace an expanded concept that includes the ever moving and changing states of our lives. Think of the metaphor of a gyroscope: we spin through life on an axis that is our essential self. Sometimes we do feel that perfectly balanced moment and it is certainly something to savor. Yet it does not serve us to fearfully cling to this as the only safe place since living inevitably includes the dips and wobbles that we call our life lessons.
So how can we learn to navigate these wobbly times and reset the gyroscope?
I have found it useful to work with the concepts of the Mesa, (similar to the Native American Medicine Wheel). It is a common image in most Earth Honoring cultures: a circle with the four directions on the perimeter and a center representing transformation. The particular wheel I work with comes from Peruvian traditions as interpreted through my Shaman.
We live in a world of both complimentary and opposite energies: opposites are Mind and Heart, Body and Spirit. Indigenous wheels may differ in the location of each of these aspects but for this writing, I’ll suggest North for Mind and the element of Air, South for Heart and the element of Water, West for Body and the element of Earth and East for Spirit and the Element of Fire, with the Center for Transformation. The Heart is emotions: longing, fear, love; the Mind is memory, beliefs, thoughts. The Body is sensation and movement; the Spirit is creativity and connection with Source.
When you experience the dips of your gyroscope, you can look to the opposite energy for a balancing force and also incorporate the complimentary element (Water with Earth, Air with Fire). For example, if your heart is broken, look to the beliefs that may be holding you stuck, but also seek the comfort of healing touch. If you are stuck in never ending analysis, the purview of the mind, you can allow your emotions and intuition to inform you, also seeking spiritual practices that help you connect with Spirit. The moments when the gyroscope is perfectly balanced as it spins are extraordinary and when you are in your center, your point of balance, it is truly a transformative experience that enlightens and strengthens you. And then you continue to grow through all your experiences.
I find this mapping of consciousness quite useful as I navigate my own wobbles and any of you who would like a copy of this Mesa, I will be happy to email it to you if you send me your email request. I hope you will tune into this time of celestial balance and harvest all that life offers.
Blessings,
Linda
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