The Cosmic Story: June is the month of Nurture: Gemini New Moon 2022

 

The Cosmic Story: Gemini’s June Story

June is Juno’s Month

 

Juno

June breezes in on the fragrances of May, as the blossoms blow away and the buds and leaves begin to appear. Much more secure and comfortable than in early Spring, we feel summer on the way. June is the month of Nurture, for it is the goddess Juno – Queen Mother of the Roman pantheon – who holds rulership over this month.

As the Sun approaches Summer Solstice, its gifts of life and warmth promote growth and ripening in nature and in our human lives. June’s warm comfort is like the contentment and feelings a mother has nursing her newborn baby – or any parent with a bottle and a rocking chair. If any of you have experienced that calm and peace of feeding your precious child, you know how the Romans experienced the month of June. (Remember, they didn’t have heat or electricity!)

During June, we begin to feel contentment; we know life holds promise. The month of June was dedicated to the Goddess as Mother nurturing her young, the Queen of Heaven and her Child. It was also a time when Heaven and Earth join together to produce Life, this Sacred Marriage celebrated at the Summer Solstice.

Both these acts are her Blessings. Juno, Mother of the Gods and Queen over Rome, was both nurturing mother and equal partner with Jupiter. (Italians and their mothers!:) She represents a vital energy of life; the energy of youth, of possibilities. That’s what mothers do while they nurse their babies – they dream a life for them. 

 

Juno, Queen of the Gods 

She was like her Greek counterpart, Hera, who was called ‘the perfect one’ and who was celebrated as the Full Moon. Juno was the Goddess of Love and Marriage, and we all know about the ‘June bride’. Yet, Romans considered it dangerous and unlucky for a woman to marry until June’s Full Moon. Romans believed that the Moon brought good fortune to women – perhaps in memory of that earlier Goddess, who could be perfected at the Full Moon.

While the Romans honored their Divine Mother and Queen during June, the Goddess Vesta was also honored. Vesta was the goddess-energy of Fire – the village/city/home fires. Vesta was the life-force of the village, and later for Rome, the state. For Romans, the Vestal Virgins had to stay virgins. But their real purpose was to be a light to their community. We remember them whenever we do rituals, for all ritual begins with the lighting of the sacred fire. That is Vesta, the sacred fire of life, used for life. And that’s what was – and still is – celebrated in June.

June’s Astrology

June begins with an end-of-May Gemini New Moon on May 30^th. There are a few astrological energies that occur in this last week of May that are connected to June’s astrological signature. 

The Sun entered Gemini on May 20^th and on May 21^st met up with Mercury retrograde in the first degree of Gemini, initiating a new 4-month mindset that will (hopefully) make us look within ourselves and at our shadows (both collectively and personally). The Sabian symbol for 1* Gemini is: A glass-bottomed boat reveals undersea wonders. Will we see monsters or mermaids, horrors or exquisite beauty? Will we see the Other and know that it is really ourselves we are seeing?

 

 

First though, our collective task is to deal with the planetary energy that is already creating waves in the U.S. and around the world. Mars left his deep dive into the undersea wonders/horrors of Pisces and entered his own sign of Aries on Tuesday May 24^th, just hours after the horrific elementary school massacre in Texas. Mars is associated with anger, violence and battle. But it is also the energy of engagement, of stepping up, of protection. It’s time to force our leaders to do something or vote them out!  Integrate your Mars and become the protector of life!

 

 

Mars was in the last few hours of his stay in Pisces (where he met up with Neptune) as the tragedy occurred, creating a tsunami of cries for a better world. Our collective unconscious wants to get it through our thick collective heads that our leaders are complicit in all these deaths by not doing anything to stop the violence. In fact, they are creating the violence with their hypocrisy and vitriol.

Hopefully, the death of these children will finally open people’s eyes to the state of our decaying political system – our Pluto return can show us the swamp and also how to drain it. Hopefully, we will rise up and have a peaceful revolution this year and let this tsunami of sorrow and anguish over unnecessary deaths and twisted psyches wash away the ‘old white boy system’ here in the U.S. and around the world. These ‘dominators’ keep allowing our precious babies to die to defend the ‘freedom’ to buy a gun, yet want to force women to have unwanted babies. Their so called prayers are worthless, for their connection to the god-force is lost. They are not leaders. They are dominators.

While the Earth changes intensify, patriarchy goes on a killing spree – it would rather kill everybody and everything rather than die. Instead of turning our energies to healing ourselves and the Earth, we are being led to turn our energies to fear and hatred. It’s time to break out of our old paradigm of power, domination and death, for it is killing us and killing the Earth.

With Mars, Jupiter, Chiron and Eris in Aries as May ends, it’s time to discover who we really are and what we really want. Mars and Jupiter will meet up on Sunday, May 29^th. Jupiter will lend its expansive energy to whatever Mars actions we choose to take. Will we choose more death and destruction, or will we stand up for a better world? Find Aries in your natal chart and see if you have any Aries planets – they will help you channel Mars and Jupiter’s energies, as will planets in any of the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn).

 

Mercury

Mercury has backed up into Taurus, grounding our Minds in our bodies again. How do we feel now? The world is in total chaos, the hypocrisy is overt, the climate is extreme, and people are devastated by the inflation caused by corporate greed and monopolies. What keeps us as complacent as cows in a field? What stops us from participating in creating a new, better world?

Mercury’s initial energy this retrograde calls for us to re-align ourselves with the cosmic OM, the vibration of creation. Mercury is slowing down at this New Moon so it has a more powerful effect on us. What are we going to do about our world, our life?

When Mercury, the divine messenger, turns direct on June 3^rd at 27* Taurus, it squares Saturn at 25* Aquarius, as Saturn stops to turn retrograde on June 4^th. This aspect touches on the idea that we have to focus on what benefits the whole. But we also have to stay open to new ideas, not letting old, rigid beliefs hold us back from opening to the future. Watch your language and see if you go to extremes – always, never etc. It’s a time to stay balanced and hold the tension of opposites.

The Sabain symbol for Mercury turning direct at 27* Taurus: An old Indian woman selling the artifacts of her tribe to passers-by. This is a symbol of bringing our gifts back into the collective in a wiser way. 

 

 

The Sabian symbol for Saturn turning retrograde at 25* Aquarius is: A butterfly with the right wing more perfectly formed. The butterfly is an ancient symbol of Psyche or Soul. This image speaks to the need to use our right-brain imagination the way it is meant to be used – as a spiritual tuning fork that aligns us with Nature’s evolutionary genius. If we open ourselves to our imagination, it will show us how to meet these multiple challenges.

Mercury will rise in the morning sky a few days after this New Moon. It will appear in the morning sky along with Mars, Jupiter and Venus. If you wake up early, go take a look at this beautiful sight.

 

 

Will our collective (Aquarius) Mind stop and focus on the real issues facing us? Will we grow up and take responsibility (Saturn) for our world and our society? Are we willing to sacrifice some of our comforts (Taurus) to make the changes necessary to create a healthy, peaceful world – a better world (Taurus). Can we play with our imagination to discover new ways to understand what is happening in our world?

Find the natal houses where your Mercury and your Saturn are, to understand how you are affected by these planets. And then find the houses where Taurus and Aquarius lie to see where these planets are moving through your chart, so you can look deeper into your soul to discover what you are being called to.

Gemini New Moon

The Gemini New Moon occurs on Monday, May 30^th at 4:30 am PDT/ 7:30 am EDT/ 12:30 pm GMT.

 

 Gemini New Moon 2022

Gemini is the first air sign of the zodiac wheel. It is the sign of the Twins, of our binary nature, of duality, of knowledge and perception. This duality can also symbolize the two sides of the brain – our rational, left brain and our imaginative, right brain. Reason, intuition, feeling and sensation help us understand our world. These are the Gemini tools that help us shape our world.

Mercury, as the ruler of Gemini, is a god who travels between realms, uniting different dimensions and different perspectives and learning how to communicate what he sees and understands. Gemini brings two opposites into a tension that can result in a new, 3^rd thing or idea through the transcendent function. This brings about the new insight, the new understanding, the new integration.

This Gemini New Moon is interesting because the Sun and the Moon only form an aspect with each other. There are only weak energetic connections between this New Moon and the other planets – meaning there are no major aspects to this New Moon. Therefore this Gemini New Moon is openly on-track with the realizations of this Mercury retrograde. Is your mind free? Is it free to let your imagination shape your thoughts? Is your mind free to look at those thoughts and choose how you want to work with them – will they control you or will you use those thoughts to understand something new about your life? And where do your values comes in (Mercury in Taurus)? Can you come to an understanding of yourself and the world based on those values you want to shape your life?

With Mercury retrograde in Taurus, values will need to shape our thinking going forward. The world, our country, our people are at a cross-roads – we really are! The only resolution to this chaos is for each of us to contribute whatever our gifts and talents are to our families, friends, communities and world.

With this free-floating Gemini New Moon, we can shape what we want to plant without other energies shifting things. What do we really intuit/feel/think about the world (Gemini Moon)? What do we want to do about the world (Gemini Sun)?

Take all those Aries planets – Mars, Jupiter, Chiron and Eris – and use their energies to figure out who you are. You can always change things at a later date when you know more about yourself. But just be who you are now.

Be Here Now!

With Venus, Pallas, Uranus, the North Node, and Mercury retrograde in Taurus, let your body lead the way. Venus conjuncts Uranus on June 11^th, so stay open for surprises. Listen to your body. What does it feel like? If you’re tired, rest. If you’re hungry, eat. If you’re nervous, go out into nature. Get back to your original nature. We’ve been so cut off from our body and its wisdom. It’s time to pay attention and begin to let go of old destructive behaviors that were generated by patriarchal advertising agencies and big corporations. Get over your negative body image and just be and love it.

Gemini/Sagittarius Full Moon

This Sagittarius Full Moon occurs on June 14^th at 4:52 am PDT/ 7:52am EDT/ 12:52pm GMT.

 

 Sagittarius Full Moon 2022

The message of this Full Moon, which squares Neptune in Pisces, is this: are we going to listen to the voices of those in need – the children, the elders, the poor, the war-torn – and re-adjust our beliefs. Can we focus on what we’ve learned since the New Moon and reflect on our lack of understanding of the forces at work in our world? Can we be curious about what is happening around us as well as to us? Can we finally understand that we depend on each other to make life worth-while?

 

The Sagittarius Moon is out-of-bonds, meaning that it can embrace and encompass more than usual.  Hopefully, we can embrace new beliefs and ideas and possibilities .

This Sagittarius Full Moon comes about a week before Summer Solstice, so I’ll end here and write something for the upcoming Cancer season.

Until then, stay grounded. Bring in peace, love and understanding to whatever you do. The world needs it.

Cathy

 

 

For a Parent on the Death of a Child

No one knows the wonder
Your child awoke in you,
Your heart a perfect cradle
To hold its presence.
Inside and outside became one
As new waves of love
Kept surprising your soul.

Now you sit bereft
Inside a nightmare,
Your eyes numbed
By the sight of a grave
No parent should ever see.

You will wear this absence
Like a secret locket,
Always wondering why
Such a new soul
Was taken home so soon.

Let the silent tears flow
And when your eyes clear
Perhaps you will glimpse
How your eternal child
Has become the unseen angel
Who parents your heart
And persuades the moon
To send new gifts ashore.

~ John O'Donohue ~

(To Bless the Space Between Us)

In memory of those lost

in Manchester, United Kingdom

The Cosmic Story: Late April Astrology, Earth Day, Taurus Solar Eclipse

The Cosmic Story --

Pink Full Moon 2022

Before we turn to the energies of May and Taurus, I want to recap what’s happening at the end of April. And of course, Earth Day on April 22^nd.

The April 16^th Libra/Aries (Pink) Full Moon was squared by Pluto in Capricorn, which is slowing down to turn retrograde on April 29^th which makes its energy of death and rebirth/evolution even more powerful. This Full Moon was all about POWER and who welds it. In a perfect world, this would be about how we each use power to work with others, and includes self-empowerment (Aries Sun conjunct Eris, the warrior of the heart) as well as empowering others (Libra Moon). 

 

OR, as we’ve seen on the world stage in Ukraine, it is about how the old order uses power to dominate, kill and control others. It’s important to understand that this is the year when the OLD will try to take over and smash all that is new and free. In Russia, instead of excommunicating Putin for pursuing an unjust war, his Russian Orthodox patriarch, along with Putin’s buddies, condone this war: “in reality, we embody the forces of good in the modern world because this clash is metaphysical…. We are on the side of good against the forces of absolute evil…. This is truly a holy war that we’re waging, and we have to win it and of course we will because our cause is just. We have no other choice. Our cause is not only just, our cause is righteous and victory will certainly be ours.”

This ‘battle between good and evil’ is also being played out by the American religious right wing. They are working to take over our government on local, state and national levels, to bring us back to a ‘moral, Christian country’ where we’re not allowed to use contraception or have abortions and where we’re not allowed to talk about our individual rights. While my fellow astrologers have talked about last week’s Jupiter/Neptune conjunction in Pisces as a time a great spiritual awakenings and visions, they didn’t concentrate on the religious fanaticism that could – and did – arise with it. The Religions of the Book – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – all think that their God backs war and murder if it’s in their cause. Shame on them! This is the default setting for all of the wars fought in the last 2,000 years. These religions have become death religions instead of the life-giving ones they were meant to be.

These are the people who believe we’re living in the End Times (which in some ways we are, except not as they see it – we’re at the end of the Piscean Age and at the beginning of the Age of Aquarius). For them, the End Times is a time of being Chosen and of judgment and punishment – of the battle between Good and Evil. That’s also why they aren’t bothering with climate change because they actually believe that Jesus is going to rapture them away to heaven, so why take care of the Earth! (Also check out The Doomsday Clock – how scientists see nuclear and environmental threats in the world.)

 

 Lancelot crossing the sword bridge

We each are being called upon to walk the ‘sword bridge’ – that narrow blade that symbolizes the Mind and how we use it. Can we balance what is going on in the world with our own values and beliefs? Can we look at what is going on without falling into fear and despair? Can we think for ourselves and stand up for our values, even when it gets painful? (it’s the sword’s sharp edge Arthur’s knights had to walk on.)

I was listening to a climate podcast called Climate of Change with Cate Blanchette and Danny Kennedy where they quote Mary Robinson (who has her own podcast on climate change called Mothers of Invention) who quotes Desmond Tutu saying “We are prisoners of hope!”

Can we be prisoners of hope – staying positive in the face of seemingly hopeless circumstances.

While our individual work is to shine our light into this dark work, we are also called to action. What can you do to stand up for the Light? Start in your local communities and your state. Go to school committee or town council meetings and see who is running your town and what they want to do with your tax money. The only way we’re going to change our world for the better is to collaborate with like-minded people. Find your people and work together to bring about change from the ground up!

 

April 22, 2022 is Earth Day. With climate scientists chaining themselves to government buildings to protest the fact that governments are not taking climate change seriously, we the people need to step up the pressure. If governments can shift their economies to wartime needs as they did during WWII, why aren’t we being asked to sacrifice some of our personal habits for the good of the world? Why aren’t we transitioning to sustainable models of life that no longer include conspicuous consumption? Hint: Because our corporate overlords don’t want us to – they already own land that will keep them safe while the rest of us suffer the hardships of climate change.

I can’t get to Washington, D.C. for the climate protest on Saturday April 23^rd, but I can gather my sisters to dance for Mother Earth – to dance in our hopes and blessings. Please take time on Friday to acknowledge and bless our beautiful, wounded planet and its people.

Now back to Pluto turning retrograde. 

 

On Friday, April 29^th Pluto turns retrograde at 29* Capricorn and will back track to 26* Capricorn on October 8^th. The Sabian symbol for 29* Capricorn is: A Woman reading tea leaves. This is a call for each of us to sharpen our intuition and vision. To see the archetypal energies at play in the world. Can we envision a better world?

This retrograde also means the U.S. Pluto return will be revisited. It was just after our first Pluto return hit on February 22, 2022 that Putin invaded Ukraine. While horrific, this invasion showed the world that America’s experiment with democracy did work. That the people of the world will fight for their freedom when under attack by the old order.

So with Pluto retrograde, each of us is asked to take a stand for our freedom. What are we willing to do to create a better world? A free world where each of us is valued? A world where we no longer seek to dominate and control others, but where each of us takes responsibility for ourselves as a member of a free community.

It might seem as if we are far from the horrific war in Ukraine, but here in America, as well as all over the world, the autocrats and corporations want to dominate us. As the old order dies, it is fighting back. So we have to start taking a stand for our values – that’s what this Taurus season with the lunar nodes in Taurus is all about.

Taurus Solar Eclipse April 30^th

Partial Solar Eclipse

The Sun enters the sign of Taurus on the evening of April 19^th here in the U.S. and on April 20^th in the rest of the world.

As Aries is the Fire of Life, so Taurus takes that fire and makes something of it. Taurus is the builder of the zodiac, the energy that takes the fire of life and grounds it and grows it.

Taurus is the sign of embodied spirit.

Taurus is the Garden, the world of Nature that is beginning to blossom now in the northern hemisphere. The green force of Life here on Earth is awake and wants to grow into something of value and worth. Like its ruling planet Venus, Taurus wants to awaken our senses to the beauty and goodness of life.

Venus bestows beauty and truth on new life and asks us to value it. So during this season of Taurus, we’re asked to examine our values. Are we living by them or are they just ideas that we forget to manifest in our lives?

Venus is the Goddess of Love – and love takes work. As the poet Rilke says: There is scarcely anything more difficult than to love one another. That it is work, day labor, day labor, God knows there is no other word for it. … So whoever loves must try to act if he had a great work: he must be much alone and go into himself and collect himself and hold fast to himself; he must work; he must become something! (Rilke On Love and Other Difficulties)

If we love our world, our children and our people, then it is time to take up the work of Love. If we value love and connection, compassion and peace, we have to do the work. No matter how difficult. The future is counting on us!

The lunar nodes, which create eclipses, are moving through the signs of Taurus and Scorpio. With the south node in Scorpio, we have to leave the trauma, betrayals and emotional wounds behind us. They’re to teach us about life, but we tend to hold onto them rather than learn the lesson and let them go. Scorpio is the sign of shared values and I see it as the sign of psychological growth, because it’s the sign where other people impact our souls. So for the next year, our assignment is to let go of these old traumas and accept, as Caroline Casey says, our beautiful, dangerous assignments.

The north node in Taurus asks us to re-discover our own values, to honor Earth’s creative genius (lots of new technology for healing climate devastation is based on Earth’s natural systems), and to remember that we are temples of spirit. So we have to learn, once again, to honor our body, to own our instincts and intuitions, and to follow our heart’s desire, since Venus rules here. For too long, our patriarchal culture has either degraded love into pornography or elevated it to ridiculous romantic proportions.

Work on Love and see what you find.

The Taurus solar eclipse occurs on Saturday, April 30^th (the beginning of Beltane) at 1:28 pm PDT/ 4:28 pm EDT/ 9:28pm GMT. This is a partial solar eclipse.

 

The Sabian symbol for this solar eclipse at 11* Taurus is: A woman watering flowers in her garden. This is a symbol of cultivation, the need to attend to what we want to manifest. And of course, it needs to be beautiful in all ways – sight, smell, touch, taste and sound. We need to pour our love into the life we want. But we have to pay attention!

 

Solar eclipses are extra powerful New Moons. The Moon and Sun come together in a sacred marriage, uniting our conscious self with our unconscious Self. What do we want to plant for this year? What will we take the time to water and cultivate? With the tumultuous energies of change this year, start with grounding into your home, your group, your family – this is not about your work in the world, but your work as a soul.

This solar eclipse New Moon is conjunct the North Node and Uranus in Taurus – opening us to new experiences of life. Uranus in Taurus aligns us with Earth’s creative genius, so expect the unexpected, allow yourself to be surprised by joy. And perhaps if your computer (Uranus) suddenly acts up, leave it inside and go out into Nature. That’s where all the juicy new ideas will come from.

Saturn and Vesta in Aquarius are squaring the nodes at this eclipse, so look at what goals are out of line with the needs of the present state of the world. Saturn transits test our maturity and our staying power, even as they slow things down and limit us in some way. Vesta says, let collective needs inspire your choices. (She the goddess of the village hearthfire.) What do we need to feel stable and secure in these turbulent times? Saturn in Aquarius says find your team, your tribe, your community and they will help you stay safe and secure, as well as work with you to bring in a better world. Aquarius is a group enterprise.

Since the Aries New Moon, we’ve switched from fire and air to earth and water energies. We have our Taurus lineup in earth, and we also have 4 planets in watery Pisces – Mars, Neptune, Venus and Jupiter. This energy in the collective unconscious can help us open our hearts to the real suffering in the world – perhaps suffering we ourselves aren’t experiencing.

With Venus and Jupiter exactly conjunct less than an hour after this eclipse, expect some blessings and spiritual insight into your life. Get out your paints and pencils, move your body and create ART to help you grow your Taurus seeds of life.

The Sabian symbol for Venus and Jupiter at 28* Pisces is: A fertile garden under the Full Moon reveals a variety of full grown vegetables. Here’s another image of gardening and harvest. This conjunction can bring us a big harvest and abundance. So watch for it.

At this New Moon, Mercury in Gemini is squaring the asteroid Juno, the goddess of relationships. What do we need to do about our relationships? Make them stronger? Let them go? Come clear on who you are (Chiron in Aries) and who they are and see how you can change the dynamics by talking to each other. Telling your truth is a necessity in a good relationship. Even better, write a letter – not an email – so partners can re-read what their ears couldn’t hear. We enter the Mercury retrograde shadow on April 24-25^th getting ready for the Mercury retrograde starting on May 10^th. More about that in the May newsletter.

As this Solar Eclipse occurs on the evening before Beltane, this is your chance to ground in the powerful energies of Spring with self-awareness, cooperation and joy. 

 

See you in May! 

The Cosmic Story: Leo/Aquarius (Blue) Full Moon 2021

The Cosmic Story: Aquarius Blue Moon 2021

Seek the Hope that lives in your Heart

The Day Sky gives us Life. The Night Sky gives us meaning.

 

 

Sunday’s second Leo Full Moon is a Blue Moon – the second Full Moon in an astrological sign that switches the lunar cycle. This Full Moon occurs on Regulus, the royal star which has just recently progressed from Leo to Virgo.

It is also a Full Moon that occurs on the same degree as the Great American Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017. The Sabian symbol for 29* Leo is: A mermaid emerges from the ocean waves ready for rebirth in human form.

 

Mermaids are magical beings who can navigate the great realm of the Collective Unconscious. Psychologically, they represent a new feeling and energy that arises out of our collective longing for a different life. For a mermaid to be reborn in a human form symbolizes the incarnation of that new feeling attuned to the World Soul. A new beginning for the Divine Feminine. It is the heart’s desire for a unified experience of life, one in which the head and the heart work together. It is a shared longing for a deeper, richer, more conscious, collective life.

A mermaid symbolizes a feeling, intuitive awareness of something that is still partially submerged in the collective unconscious. As this mermaid wants to take on human form, this awareness wants to manifest in 3D reality. And perhaps it has four years later.

What is this feeling – toned complex that wanted to manifest here in America? I would say it is the evolutionary urge for individual freedom, equality and our unique self-expression. Perhaps this is the energy that helped Uranus finally wake us up to take responsibility for our world.

This Blue Moon is conjunct expansive Jupiter_rx in Aquarius, bringing us a bigger vision of what is possible, even while the world is once again inundated by a resurgent Covid. It provides us with the opportunity to reclaim our sovereignty, while remaining conscious of our responsibilities to the collective. Symbolically, Aquarius is the energy of King Arthur’s Round Table, where all are equal and responsible to each other. The Leo/Aquarius axis speaks to how our creative expression feeds the Collective Mind. We are called to ‘love our neighbors as ourselves’. And that means sharing our creativity with the world.

Whether you believe in vaccines and masks or don’t, we can still exert our sovereignty by being responsible for the welfare of each other. Leo is the sign of our royal nature – we are the mediators between heaven and Earth. If we want to take our rightful place as stewards of the Earth, that includes the courtesy we owe each other. In this time of cultural transformation, let’s be the light of the world for those who still live in darkness. We can be examples of the best in human nature, even when confronted with anger, bullying and fear-mongering.

 

I want to tell you a story, since I believe that stories speak to our souls and organize our energies into wholeness. This story speaks to me about our times. Let it open your hearts to the mystery. This tale is by Anne Bishop in her series Ephemera.

 

Long ago, beyond my memory and yours, spirits who were the voice of the world walked among us. And they knew things no ordinary human could know. Like the secret to using the Door of Locks.

Now the Door of Locks was hidden in a garden that lived in the heart of a magic hill, and that hill was the country home of the spirits who resided in this part of the land. When a person had a powerful need for something that was just beyond his grasp, he would set his feet on the road and follow his heart—and if the spirits decided he was worthy, he would find that garden.

And when he reached the garden, which was protected by high walls and a barred gate, a spirit would appear and ask, “What do you seek?”

Now, a foolish man might say he was seeking gold or jewels or some other kind of treasure. He might be allowed to enter the garden after giving such an answer—but he might not. Because the correct answer to the question—and this is most important to remember—the correct answer is “I seek the hope that lives within my heart.” Give the spirit that answer, and the garden’s gate will always open.

And then, once you’re inside . . . It’s a lovely place, as beautiful as a dream, and you’re allowed to wander and look and sit for as long as you please. When you’re ready, the spirit takes you to the Door of Locks.

There are one hundred identical locks on the door, and while you’re standing there, trying to fathom it all, the spirit reaches into your heart and takes out a key, and says, “Every lock leads to a different place that lives within you. Some are dark places, some are light places, some are full of struggle and sorrow while others will shower your days with joy. Choose a lock. The key will fit any one of them. Choose where your heart needs to go. Choose.”

And that is what you must do—choose. Now, some people are hasty, ignoring the spirit’s warning about the nature of the locks and thinking that since the locks all look the same they’ll all be the same. And some people don’t ask for the lock they truly want because it’s high up in a corner of the door or too low to the ground and they don’t want to be inconveniencing the spirit and they figure a lock that’s easy to reach will do just as well.

But it won’t do as well. I’ll tell you that now. It won’t do, and if you settle for what is easy instead of what you truly want, you may never discover the hope that lives in your heart.

So you choose wisely, and you choose well, and you pick the lock that matters the most to you at that moment. Then the spirit takes the key that was plucked from your heart and slips it into that lock.

It changes you. It doesn’t matter if you end up in a place you didn’t know existed or in the village where you’ve lived your whole life. It changes you—and you will never again see the world in quite the same way.

Except we’ve lost the way of it, you see.

A dark and terrible Evil swept through the land in that long-ago time, and the spirits disappeared. Some say they were all destroyed in a great battle against that Evil. Others say that those who survived went into hiding and still tend the magic garden. No one knows the answer, just as no one knows how to find the magic hill or a spirit who can pluck a key out of a person’s heart and open the Door of Locks.

But I can tell you this. That magical place still exists. And someday someone will remember how to find it—and how to open the door that leads to all the hope that lives in the heart. ~ Elandar story

(Belladonna by Anne Bishop, ROC Books, New York, NY. pg. 211-212).

May you find your Heart’s Hope.

Cathy