Greetings my friends,
The weekend of January 31st to February 2nd is packed with ancient significance. The Chinese year 4712 begins on Jan. 31, 2014. Nearly five thousand years of tradition creates a lot of energy at this time that we can tap into in order to set goals for ourselves and to feel shifts happening within. On this same weekend we have one of the cross quarter days of the great Celtic Wheel of the Year on February 2nd. The Catholic Church calls it Candlemas, yet cultures have been celebrating the return of the light at this time for thousands of years.
The ancient festival was called Imbolc, which means “in the belly.” The signs of pregnant ewes meant lambs would be born in the spring. In the northern latitudes, people began to feel hope for new life even with winter going strong. The Celtic goddess associated with this time is Brigid (pronounced Bride or Breed). Before she was called St. Brigit, she was the Great Goddess of all the British Isles and known as a powerful triple goddess (maiden, mother, crone) who carries the Fire. Brigid is the spring maiden.
Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day of the moon. Chinese New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the Aquarius new moon and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is full. Also known as the Spring Festival in China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year. So let’s welcome in the year of the Horse who is considered a social animal, associated with travel and individual endeavors.
So what can we make of these powerful three days? New Moons are always the time to plant the seed for projects and to set intentions that focus on your heartfelt desires. Especially since millions of people will be celebrating the Chinese New Year, we can ride the wave of positive feelings. And we can especially focus on HOPE.
Make a list or create a Dream Board with pictures of those things manifested and still to manifest in your life that bring you feelings of hope. It is the first rung of the ladder for positive emotions. Positive feelings draw, through the laws of attraction, what you truly desire in your life. And don’t forget create that feeling of hope for our planet as well. You might want to turn off the news and stop reading depressing stories about the awful state of ________, (you fill in the blank). Give yourself an immune booster for a day or even half a day where you focus on hopeful messages for yourself, your loved ones, your community, and the planet. What are the hero/heroine stories you have heard, what do you see that is good? Find out about the grass roots efforts of organizations that contribute to the well-being of individuals and communities.
I am serious about the immune boost that hope and other positive emotions can provide. Cortisol, the hormone associated with stress, can be absolutely mitigated with a significant focus on positive emotions. And this means the more hope and love you feel and the longer you can sustain that feeling, the healthier and happier you will become.
Happy New Year, Happy Imbolc.
Blessings, Linda
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