Red Egg Meditation for Spring Equinox 2012

Red Egg Meditation for Ostara/ Spring Equinox, 2012

The egg is widely used as a symbol of the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg when the chick hatches out.   As a source of new life, the egg was a symbol of creation, spring, and fertility in many cultures and religions, long before the advent of Christianity.  The ancient Persians painted and exchanged eggs for Nowrooz, their New Year celebration, which falls on the Spring Equinox; Romans gave red-painted eggs as gifts at the new year; an egg is one of the symbolic foods on the plate at the Passover Seder which celebrates the new life of the people of Israel when they were redeemed from slavery in Egypt.  

Christianity inherited this rich natural symbolic tradition.  However, the great spring festival of Easter, the Christian Passover, added a new meaning to the symbolism of the egg, for just as the hard shell of the egg is broken open so that new life can emerge, so was the rock-hewn tomb of Jesus broken open when he rose from the dead on the third day.   Ancient cultures saw the egg as a symbol of the rebirth of nature, but Christians came to see it as a symbol of the rebirth of mankind.
Christians see the Easter egg as a symbol of resurrection: while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it.  In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ, shed on the Cross, and the hard shell of the egg symbolized the sealed Tomb of Christ — the cracking of which symbolized His resurrection from the dead.

A sacred tradition among followers of Eastern Christianity says that Mary Magdalene was bringing cooked eggs to share with the other women at the tomb of Jesus, and the eggs in her basket miraculously turned brilliant red when she saw the risen Christ. 

This meditation is to help you clear out the old energy within your astral body so that new possibilities can fill you.  Sit and relax and close your eyes.

1.      Ground and Center.

2.      In front of you is a spiral staircase going down into the Earth. Slowly walk down the spiral staircase, sinking deeper into mediation to the count of 10.  At the bottom, you see a door.  Open it and walk through.   You find yourself in front of a silvery, misty lake.  You can make out trees along its edges, shimmering darkly. The air is a silvery mist.

3.      Undress and step into the waters.  Swim out until you are cradled in the mists and waters.   Now lay back and float.  Breathe.   After a while, you can no longer tell if you are suspended in water or mist.  Relax.   

4.      Take 3 deep breaths and open your crown chakra.  Your next breath draws in the watery mists through the top of your head.  The silver mist settles around your crown chakra.  As you gently breathe into your crown, name the belief that connects you to your highest ideals.   Thank it for sustaining you – and let it go – let it dissolve into the mist.

5.      Now take a deep breath and exhale it through your 3^rd eye.  Let the silver mist descend to your 3^rd eye and encircle it.  Breathe into your 3^rd eye and see what story you imaginally live in – optimistic/pessimistic/spiritual/etc.  Thank it for guiding you – and let it go – let it dissolve in the mist.

6.      Now take another breath and exhale through your throat chakra.  Let the mist fill your throat and let it speak your truth (silently or aloud).  Then thank it for defending you and let it go – let it dissolve in the mist.

7.      Your next breath goes through your heart.  Open it wide.  Let what you love fill your heart.  Thank them for giving you comfort.  And let them, too, go into the mists.

8.      Rest in your heart.  With each breath feel the empty chakras above your heart.  They now only contain the stardust of creation, matter in its dormant stage, waiting for the spark of life.  Let the stardust fill these higher chakras.  Rest in the silence.  Breathe.

9.      Now breathe into your solar plexis.  Let the silvery mist descend to your center of self-identity, your ego.  Who are you?  See yourself reflected in the mists, both the reality and the ideal.  Thank your ego for taking care of things, and let it go, let your identity dissolve in the mist.  What does it feel like?  (Ride the fear, breathe in the unknown.) You are Free!

10.   Let your breath fill your abdomen and feel your sacral chakra expand and contract with each breath.  Let the silver mist descend into your belly and let it take on the shape of your feelings, your hurts, and your yearnings.  Thank these desires for energizing your life.  Now let them go flowing back into the mists.

11.  And now feel your breath at your root chakra, down in the place of engendering and birth.  How are you rooted to your life?  What makes you feel solid and secure?  Feel your connection to the Earth, bless it and let it go.  Yes, even this, let go into the mists.

12.  Pull the silence, the emptiness, the original matter of creation down through your body.  Let it fill you as you wait for re-birth.

13.  Breathe.   Now stand up in the water which is mist and sink your ‘empty’ awareness down into the fires at the center of the Earth.  Pull Earth’s hot, raging fires up your spine.  Now lift your awareness through the top of your head and feel the pulsing energy of the stars.  This is a cool, subtle fire.  Pull Heaven’s eternal fires down your spine.  Let the fires meet and flow through you until they blend into a golden light in your heart.  You have taken in the power of the new light and it is entraining with your energy signature.  Breathe in and out, just feeling the energies. This is the energy of engendering creation, the great God of light come to fertilize the great Goddess of life. This is the energy you will use for your rebirth this year.

14.  The golden light glows brightly then condenses into a snake of golden light which crawls down your spine and out your root chakra.  It coils around a red egg that is floating in the watery mist.  The egg is the Goddess’ gift, her sacred temenos of life.  The golden snake flows over to the egg and circles around it.   It glows golden and crimson with new life, new possibilities. 

15.  Now the golden snake of light sinks into the red egg of life.  It is done!  Give thanks. Your new life is fertilized!

16.  Now take up the red egg and imagine placing it on your crown chakra.  Let an image come to you.  This is what you are ready to believe in this year.   

17.  Place the red egg on your 3^rd eye.  What do you see, feel, think?  This is your new story.

18.  Take the egg and place it on your throat chakra.  Listen for your new truth to arise.

19.  Hold the red egg in front of your heart.  Let those you love be with you, and let something new to love be born amongst you.  This is your heart’s desire.

20.  Take the egg and put it on your solar plexis.  What new thing do you know about yourself?  How would you name yourself now?  This is your new identity.

21.  Nestle the egg against your belly.   Feel what’s energizing within you.  What excites you, intrigues you, pleases you?  This is your motivation, the engine that drives you.

22.  Tuck the red egg down in your root chakra.  Feel the vibrations.  Look to see how the upper chakras are glowing, pulsing, dancing with light.  Let an image arise of what grounds you in this life.  Why are you here – what holds you?  This is your purpose.

23.  Now hold your egg and turn around 3 x’s.  In front of you is a wooden door.  Look at it – does it have images on it.  This is the doorway to inner realms.  Go through it and turn and close it until you return next time.  There is a spiral staircase in front of you.  Slow walk back up to the count of 10 to 1, becoming more aware of your surroundings until you reach 1 when you can open your eyes.

Welcome back.  And happy Spring! 

Tend your inner red egg home and warm it every day with the fires of life.  Let your imagination feed it; let your passion give it warmth. It will grow quickly if you care for it.

Grand Earth Trine Magic: Time to Manifest

Magic is in the air today.  Make sure you go breathe it in.  Then do a ritual to help you manifest your heart's desire, because there is a grand trine forming today and tonight in the earth signs of the zodiac.

That means manifestation.

A trine is a triangular aspect which contains the flow of energy in a positive, creative way.  It often reveals past life talents in a chart.  See what past life (or lost dreams) energies want to help you now.   Use this trine with confidence because it can help you magnetize favorable outcomes.  Don't forget that you're not in this alone. Trines are generous with their riches.  They want us to share.  Magnetize something that will benefit all of us.

The earth signs are Capricorn, Taurus and Virgo.  The planets are Pluto, Venus, Jupiter and Mars.  If your sun, moon or ascendent are in earth signs, you'll add a stronger energy to your ritual.  If any of these 4 planets are your ruling planet (meaning the ruler of your ascendent and if you want, the ruler of your sun sign), you'll probably have an easier time focusing the energies of this trine. 

So center your ritual or meditation around these images.

1.  Pluto is in the cardinal sign of Capricorn.  That means it drives the energies of this trine. Pluto is the energy of Death and Rebirth, of the passion that drives evolution, and the riches that come to us when we let the old die to make way for the new.  Pluto in Capricorn is slowly shredding the fabric of the patriarchy, leaving openings for new and better ideas about how we can live our lives here on this beautiful home of ours.  What aspect of this disintegration really speaks to you of the need for healing or rebirth?  Trust that feeling.  Follow your passion.

The Sabian Symbol for Pluto at 10* Capricorn is: On a sailboat, seamen are feeding an Albatross.  This symbolizes our interdependence with all of life.  Helping, nurturing and cooperation are important aspects of any society.  A sailboat uses the wind and the waves to travel over the waters, an apt symbol for working with your dreams - both your night dreams and your day dreams.  Seamen work with the energies of wind and water, hot and cold, above and below.  There is a belief that an albatross is the soul of a dead seaman, and so this would become a symbol of our need to feed our lost souls.

2.  The 2nd earth sign is Taurus.  This sign 'fixes' the energy of transformation from Capricorn, concentrating it because Taurus is where manifestation begins.  Both Jupiter, the planet of expansion, of luck, of travel and cosmic law and Venus, the planet of Love, beauty, sexuality and money are conjoining tonight in Taurus.  Go out and see it in the western sky after sunset.  Venus rules Taurus as the Empress in the Tarot decks, the Earth Mother and Queen of new Life.  Jupiter rules the Tarot card called The Wheel of Fortune, bringing in positive change.  Jupiter brings us more room to grow, to plant, to become in Taurus.

The Sabian Symbol for 10* Taurus is: A Red Cross nurse runs to aid a wounded man.  Here is another call for unity with all of life, our compassion and our need to be of service.  How will this new life you want to manifest be of service to the world?  Don't forget to make it be beautiful, feminine, nurturing and compassionate.  It's not all about the money.

3.  The 3rd earth sign is Virgo, a mutable or dispersing energy that wants us to 'get real' and down to the practical issues involved in manifestation.  Virgo pays attention to the details and makes sure everything is working well.  Mars is our desire nature, our action-oriented energy that can either carry anger and aggression or determination and willpower.  

The Sabian symbol for 10* Virgo is: A man with two heads looking out into the Beyond.  This is a great symbol for our ability to look both within and without, above and below.  It seems the basic paradox of life is that while we all appear to be separate, we're really all One Being.

Virgo is good at ritual, so when you set up this ritual, call in your Virgo/Mars energy to direct where you want this magical energy to go.  Then call in the four energies.  Let them work on your imagination and see them combine into a triangle of Light.  Set this triangle as a seal over whatever it is you want to manifest behind your 3rd eye.

Have a magical day!
Cathy

Summer Solstice: The Union of Opposites

SUMMER SOLSTICE:

THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

          Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, and stands opposite the Winter Solstice in the Wheel of the Year.  It is the time when the new life and light that was born at the Winter Solstice is manifest in our lives and in the world.  Summer Solstice has been celebrated in practically every culture on Earth, and is a time of joy and celebration of the powers of life.  The Sun is at its fullest power, and the darkness of winter is a fading memory.  But just at this moment of greatest light, we begin to face death, for now the days begin to shorten and the darkness grows.  Solstice literally means "sun stand still", for at the solstices the sun seems to stop on its course before it reverses itself.

          Many traditions have grown up around the Summer Solstice.  The Native Peoples of America had many ceremonies celebrating the Sun, especially the Sun Dance which ritually commemorated the life-giving powers of the sun.  The Sun Dance of the Great Plains peoples was a dedication to the divine spirit, held during summer solstice when all of nature was rejoicing and the sage plant was succulent.

          Summer Solstice was the most important and widespread festival in Europe.  In Celtic countries, it was celebrated on Midsummer's Eve and was a vegetation-fire-water ritual, when all the elements of life were celebrated and honored.  It is a time of magic, both good and bad; a time when the faerie folk once again come out to dance.  Fires are lit to help the Sun in its course, the waters bring blessings, and dreams are potent. 

          But most of all, Midsummer is a time for lovers, for it is the moment of the marriage of Heaven and Earth.  The Sun fertilizes the Earth with His heat, and She becomes pregnant with Life.  But there is a cost to all of this, for the Summer King must fight the Winter King for his Flower Bride, and although he overcomes the darkness, yet will the darkness overcome him as well.  For after this weekend, the days will get shorter and nights longer.    

          But for now, all is happiness.  The Sun goes into Cancer and the Moon will be in Pisces - very sweet energy for this day.  It is the Marriage Feast, the Hieros-Gamos, love and desire, flesh and spirit.

The Bride:

You open me wide

To the Mystery of Love

And I penetrate

The darkness to the depths.

My Beloved encircles me

In the strength of his arms.

With his encircling Love

He guards my sweet softness.

My Bridegroom waits upon me

He watches my comings

He watches my flow

My Beloved waits upon me.

Is there anyone like my Beloved?

His is the swiftness of the Stag,

The far sight of the Eagle

The strength of the Bear.

My Bridegroom comes like the Sun

His warmth is radiant.

His beauty shines out

He is my Light.

I look for my Beloved in the daylight

And I see his face in every green leaf.

I wait upon my Lover in the night

And I find him in the depths of a forest

          pool.

Oh, my Bridegroom!

Come to me in my marriage bower.

Come and enter into me

And let me bring you delight!

For my love is sweeter than honey

My love more intoxicating than wine.

For I will open myself to you

And let you penetrate my depths.

The Bride welcomes her Beloved

With the fire of her desire.

With the Love of a free heart

I call the Bridegroom home.

The Bridegroom:

In the first days, I was reborn

In the very first days, life was renewed.

In the first nights, I learned sweet delight

In the very first nights, I surrendered

          to Love.

In the freshness of the first morning

My Beloved lay in our bed of living green,

In the first light of morning

We awake to wonder and delight.

The whiteness of her shoulders

Blinds me with desire,

The softness of her white flesh

Excites the hardness of my own.

Her neck offers itself to me,

Her neck extends itself to my kisses,

And when I lose myself in its strength,

It kindles the sweetness of my desire.

With burning lips

I fire the white slopes of her shoulders.

Glowing rosy now from the heat,

They lead me to the fountains of life.

As a man dying from the dryness

From the force of the fire,

My lips find a haven

In the fountains, in the deep wells.

The twin cups are offered to me

Their golden nectar offered to me.

Twin nipples dark as earth

Waiting for the pull of life.

I will suck the sweetness of life,

I will drink of the waters.

My softness hardens her cup,

My delight intoxicates her.

And now the waters flow freely

And I drink from every stream

I drink from every deep pool.

Ah, the sweetness of the Waters.

My Beloved gives herself to me

She shares her sweetness

She softly gathers me in

To her dark mystery.

My Bride calls to me

She calls me to the depths.

My Beloved opens me to Love

And I awaken to its Mystery.

And now I discover the deep red rose,

I discover the blood-red bower.

And the living greenness encloses us

As I come home to her hidden garden.

Neptune in Pisces: Renewing the Archetypal Patterns of Life

Neptune with his mystical vision, creative imagination and longing to dissolve back into unity with the Divine has arrived back home at last. 

  

Early this morning, Neptune, ancient King of the Sea and servant of the Great Oceanic Mother, dove into his watery Piscean realm from the heavenly heights of Aquarius.  Behind him, his golden nets swept up all the bright ideals and humanitarian impulses that his stay in Aquarius has inspired in us and carried them into the watery womb of the Collective Unconscious. 

There is something new in the collective mindset (Aquarius) , something that our telecommunications and the Internet make possible.   We know we are not alone!  We know that many people in the world want freedom, equality, peace, cooperation, and community - while their governments choose war and economic competition.   We know that many people want to stop ravaging the Earth.  We know that we need to get back in touch with the cycles of the Earth and of our human nature, so we’ll know how to meet the challenges ahead of us.  We know that we have to stop blaming ‘the Other’ and start looking at our own Shadow.  As a group, we know that we must inhabit our spiritual nature if we are ever going to be mature enough to meet these truly transformative times.   While these are not new ideas they are now collectively desired ideals.  

There is a new Spirit being born, the Spirit of Enlightened Humanity. 

So Neptune has gathered the light of all these aspirations in his golden nets and cast them into the Ocean, the womb of Life here on Earth, as well as the womb of the Collective Unconscious.  Here in Pisces, the world is water.  And Neptune shapes the waters for good or ill.

Neptune will not be happy when he sees what we humans have done to his home since his last stay in the 1860s.  Instead of honoring the oceans as the mysterious realm of possibilities that it is, humanity has polluted its waters and endangered most of the life within it.  Neptune will find that oil in the Gulf of Mexico and radiation off the coast of Japan and a floating garbage dump of plastic are not the only trouble spots in his homeland. 

That is where we come in.  All those shining aspirations and ideas that Neptune netted will attract the archetypal energies that enliven the world soul, our collective unconscious record of Life here on planet Earth.  We need t get in touch with the Source and let our ideals merge with these primal energies and engender new breakthroughs and new stories.  The next 14 years while Neptune is in Pisces will change our view of ‘Reality’ and the possible.   We will become a new humanity. 

My teacher Jean Houston calls this new Being   ‘the possible human’. This is our task when Neptune returns to Pisces.

New relationships with other dimensions of Life could open for us.  If we do the work!  

Neptune’s work is to engage the Creative Imagination and work with the Archetypes that shape Life in the Universe.  We have to let our old expectations, our old stories dissolve back into the Void and allow Neptune to work his enchantment and create new forms for the archetypal energies.  The old archetypes need renewal.  People are more conscious than ever before, and these energies that make us human want to evolve in us and make new myths and new patterns.  

Just before Neptune went into Pisces, I saw the Disney movie "Tangled" and was pleasantly surprised by the beauty and symbolism they employed in their re-telling of the old Grimm's fairy tale, Rapunzel.   It is a story that resonates with both Uranus going into Aries and Neptune going into Pisces.  Our collective fears of getting old and dying (Neptune in Pisces)  imprison the potential (Uranus in Aries) we each have in us for healing and renewal.  Rapunzel longs for the Light that celebrates her birth and intuits that she is somehow connected with the lights she sees every year floating up into the sky to commemorate the lost princess.  Her longing to be part of that celebration of Light makes her willing to risk everything to find the source of that Light - and of course, the answer to who she is.  She awakens to the courage of Aries, sometimes foolish but always fearless.  She is willing to trust her Pisces imagination to bring her to a new life.  (Neptune in Pisces also rules fantasy - I recommend this movie.) 

Go down to the waters and be refreshed.  Go down to the waters and greet the great Lord of the Oceans and welcome him home.