Monday, December 28, 2009

WELCOME 2010!

As the end of 2009 approaches, I have been searching the Internet, looking for inspiration. Every December I spend time reflecting and envisioning the upcoming year, writing my new "story."  This year it seems even more important because New Year's Eve is a Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse - extra power for illumination and manifestation.

I found this inspirational saying and wanted to share it. It resonates with thoughts I have been having about creating my new life for 2010.

"I enter the new year with the understanding that I am making a fresh start. I begin by discarding thoughts, attitudes, and habits that are not compatible with an excellent life. I let go of whatever caused past discouragement, disappointment, or disagreement. I know that seemingly negative outcomes are desires or goals that are yet to be fulfilled. I am open and receptive to new ideas, activities and relationships.

Each day, I can follow a fresh plan of fulfillment. I act on divine ideas that I receive in moments of prayer and inspiration. These ideas flow through wholesome, positive thoughts. As I use creative thinking to build upon divine ideas, my activities become more dynamic and my abilities are enhanced. Therefore, I enter this new year with optimism, joy and enthusiasm." (Anonymous)

Welcome 2010!


Sunday, December 20, 2009

Hope Inspires Endurance

Change. Transition. Hope. Change is inevitable. Transition requires letting go of our comfort zone to move from one place to the next. Hope is what inspires endurance for the passage.

My life has been filled with change, transition and hope: marriage and divorce; themes of love and betrayal; career, travel, change of career; loss of parents and birth of grandchildren. That's the gift of 60 years! Hope has been the glue that has sustained me throughout the many changes and transitions. Some of those changes I intentionally chose. Some felt forced upon me. But all have grown me as a person and developed me as a spiritual being. Throughout I have seen the reflection of Divine Love and grace, not always during the process but certainly upon reflection. And at the end of each transitional period I have recognized that hope is what has inspired me to endure uncomfortable changes and anticipate the transition that will lead to a new beginning. Hope.

My niece is one of the people who recently inspired me to reflect upon the importance of hope during difficult life experiences. She and her husband struggled with infertility for years, finding their way to the adoption that brought our beautiful Asher into the family three years ago. Their faith provided the foundation to allow hope. They continued to pray for another child, preferably one carried by her. Disappointments abounded during the transition period, ultimately leading to a miracle pregnancy and reviving hope in miracles. Now our family is awaiting the birth of Asher's baby brother. This brings added inspiration and hope for all of us who love this family and yearn for our own miracles.

The following passage about Divine Love comes from A Course in Miracles. It is a beautiful reflection on the truth of Divine Love and our responsibility to BE love as we walk through our personal challenges and transitions.

"Divine Love is not human 'romantic' love. It is of a spiritual nature, it is all-encompassing and unconditional. Divine Love is often attributed only to God and/or spiritual beings. Yet as we are all sparks of the Creator (the Divine), and as the Creator IS LOVE, we are therefore also Love - Divine Love is who we really are, yet in our human state and using mostly only our five senses, we have forgotten this and we perceive other people and animals and nature as 'separate' from ourselves. But we are all made of the same 'stuff' and are all therefore ONE and all connected. This is confirmed on a scientific level with Quantum Physics. It is our perception of separateness that causes all the woes we have in this world. What we do to one, we do to ourselves. There is NO separateness, only ONE-NESS."

Matin Luther King Jr. wrote about hope stating, "If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream." (The Trumpet of Conscience)

May we never lose hope. No matter the challenges we face through periods of change and transition, may hope inspire endurance and encourage us to trust in the power of miracles, the Divine Love that brings about change, with ease and grace. May each of us become the inspiration that invokes hope in our friends and family, honoring Divine Love within ourselves and each other. Hope inspires endurance.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Once in a Blue Moon ~ What a Way to End 2009!

Mercury is retrograde between December 26th and January 15th and there is a partial lunar eclipse on the second full moon in December, a Blue Moon!

Mercury is the closest of all the planets to the Sun, taking only 88 earth days to make a complete circuit around the Sun. Since Earth takes about 365 1/4 days to go around the Sun, we observe Mercury's motion from a moving platform, like two cars moving along two different lanes of a racetrack at different speeds. One effect of the two motions is that Mercury appears to us to go backwards (retrograde) in the zodiac for about three weeks at a time, roughly three times a year. This if the fourth Mercury retrograde of 2009 and there will be four in 2010.

Mercury rules thinking and perception, processing and disseminating information and all means of communication, commerce, education and transportation. All the planets, except Sun and Moon, have these retrograde periods, but Mercury is most famous for them, probably because Mercury represents our very essential communication abilities. While people speak of Mercury retrograde periods that screw up computers and television sets, today's astrologers believe the mishaps happen in more personal realms. Mercury rules communication, but more informal communications, like writing, speaking, short shopping sprees and other erranding endeavors. Mercury is all about mental clarity and the power of the mind, so when Mercury is retrograde these intellectual faculties may not be as acute.

But do we need to be afraid of Mercury retrograde? If we believe that intention is everything and that we manifest what we focus on, aren't we strengthening the possibility of things going wrong if we believe that Mercury retrograde brings chaos? So how do we change our focus? What universal purpose could this astrological planet of communications and networking possibly serve by appearing to travel backwards in the heavens for 21 days out of every 88-day orbit?

Mercury retrograde is the astrological influence that revisits, retrieves, and reveals everything that managed to elude our conscious awareness in the preceding 88 days, because its one universal purpose is to provide us with an opportunity to reflect on what we have learned, created, and manifested in the previous months. This perspective can change our experience with Mercury retrograde! It becomes a universal instrument for bringing things to our attention; it provides an opportunity to make necessary changes in the way we've been communicating. Good things to do when Mercury is retrograde are: meditate, contemplate, edit the book/poem/song/essay you've been writing, clean house, talk to your pet, listen to music, paint, catch up on sleep!


And as if Mercury retrograde isn't enough, we have a bonus full moon this New Year's Eve! This is the Ice Moon, or the full moon following Yule - which is usually in January. There is much legend and lore about the Blue Moon but this particular one packs a powerful punch so that you can truly make a New Year's resolution and actually keep it!! This full moon in Cancer opposes both Venus and the Sun in Capricorn. This will be a time of remembering great traditions of another time as well as faces and places that speak of honoring our ancestors, a perfect time to be in gratitude for the healing received and the lessons learned in 2009 before ringing in 2010!

During this holiday season may each one of us take the time to appreciate life and reflect on who we are becoming. Take some time to sit quietly and reflect on what you are putting out into the world. Are your attitudes and words healing or is there room for improvement? What changes do you wish to make in your communication with others? Are you sharing healing stories? Are you a victim of circumstances or do you bring hope and inspiration to others? Life is a wonderful journey, filled with a myriad of experiences. The difficult times offer the opportunity to go deep within for strength and clarity, gaining compassion for ourselves and others.

May your holidays be filled with insight and inspiration! Remember that we are not human beings on a spiritual journey; we are spiritual beings on a human journey.

Happy Holidays,
Gretchen

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

TIS THE SEASON...

December brings up a variety of emotions and memories for people, depending on their childhood experiences and ancestry. Here in the United States we are surrounded by commercial reminders of the holiday in the hopes that we will spend, spend, spend! However this year brings financial challenges for many of us, offering the opportunity to rethink our celebrations during this season, creating new ways to honor the holiday with friends and family.


During December in the northern hemispere, most religious holy days are linked in some way to the winter solstice. This is a time of transition, of looking back at the old year and looking forward to the new. Many cultures around the world have celebrated this season for hundreds, even thousands of years as they watched the days grow shorter and waited for the sun to return.


In pre-historic times, winter was a very difficult time in the northern latitudes. The growing season had ended and the tribe had to live off stored food and the few animals they could catch. The people were troubled as the life-giving sun sank lower in the sky each noon. They feared that it would eventually disappear and leave them in permanent darkness and extreme cold. After the winter solstice they would have reason to celebrate as they observed the sun rising and strengthening once more.


Our ancient ancestors created ceremonies to honor this event, calling back the sun, the light. As we enter into this time of diminished sunlight, may we reflect on that which we have created during this past year and begin to imagine what we want to birth into the world in 2010. May we broaden our perspective and focus on the world we want to create for our descendents and ourselves. Let us imagine a world of harmony and peace, a planet of oneness, in alignment with Nature's cycles. May we envision balance and harmony, within and without. May we live in gratitude for what we have and honor the sacredness of Mother Earth and all sentient beings.


What do you want to create? How do you wish to honor this sacred season with loved ones? What family rituals do you choose to keep and what new traditions do you want to birth into being? There are many ancient traditions that you can add to your holiday celebration. John Matthews' book, The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas has many ideas that you might want to incorporate this year.
Here are some ideas…


2009 Holiday Season:

  • Dec 11, 2009: First night of Hanukkah
  • Dec 19, 2009: Final night of Hanukkah
  • Dec 21, 2009: Winter Solstice in northern latitudes, Summer Solstice in southern latitudes
  • Dec 25, 2009: Christmas
  • Dec 26, 2009: Boxing Day and the first day of Kwanzaa
  • Jan 6, 2010: Epiphany

Honoring Winter Solstice:
Many of these ideas come from the wonderful book by John Matthews, The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas. This book is filled with ancient traditions that can easily be incorporated into your family celebration.


A solstice candle, lit at sundown and allowed to burn in a safe place through the night, is a simple tradition deeply connected to ancient ways.


Sun-hued oranges are simple, and readily accessible, ritual and gift objects. In Japan, citrus fruits, especially the yuzu, a citron, as well as pumpkin figure prominently in traditions around winter solstice. A yuzu bath taken at winter solstice is said to bring health. Pumpkin is a traditional Japanese dish at this time of year. The traditions harken back to the days when Shinto, an ancient nature-based religion, was more prominent.
For a simple family ritual on Winter Solstice, you can pass around an orange. Each person peels off a portion of the rind, while thinking about one thing in their lives they would like to "peel away." Once it's fully peeled, the orange is passed around again. Each person eats a section, while thinking about one new wish or intention for the new year.


Honoring the directions: Many ancient cultures acknowledge and use the four compass points in their rituals. Here are some qualities for each direction in the Northern Hemisphere.

  • North: cold, earth, challenge, endings, ice and snow, things waiting to germinate and be born.
  • East: awakening, new life, air, peace, triumph of the spirit.
  • South: fire, heat of life ripening in the earth, roots of our lives, stability.
  • West: water, restless seas and wandering spirits, movement, emotion, seeking new directions.

Create a vision board: A vision board is typically a poster board on which you paste or collage images that you’ve torn out from various magazines. The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, your life changes to match those images and those desires.

I leave you with this blessing for you and your family at this sacred holiday season.


May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!