Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse/Solstice

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I am wide open and my mind feels like it's running 90 miles an hour. That's not so unusual for a Moon Child at the time of any Full Moon. However, tomorrow we have a Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse/Solstice all on the same day! This doesn't happen very often. The last time was in 1638. So this is a BIG astrological event. What does that mean for each of us?

Over the last week I've been receiving information from a lot of different sources about what this celestial event means for humanity-for Lightworkers in particular. These sources state that in addition to the obvious (full moon/lunar eclipse/solstice), the alignment of the planets at this time will be very close to the alignment we will have in two years on December 21, 2012. That in addition to everything else, we will experience a shift in energies tomorrow. (Perhaps the energy shifts we've been going through for the last ten years, and which seem to be intensifying and becoming more frequest, are preparation for the Great Shift in 2012?)

After reading all of this material, I understood that my own emotional state and intensification of my empathic abilities is connected to the event we will experience tomorrow in the early morning hours. We are once again being asked to release, release, release any- and everything that no longer serves us, including old emotions and beliefs. I know-we're all really tired of purging and releasing. However, if we are going to ascend, we have to set down any remaining burdens and return to our simplest state(s).

Those of us who incarnated at this time to serve the Light in particular are going to want as little baggage as possible for the next couple of years. It came to me yesterday as I was contemplating the information that's been coming to me that we are really going to have to commit to the service we came here to render. There's no time or room for straddling the fence any more. Yes, this is an "either/or" situation. If any of us decides to say "no" there will be no judgment or retribution. However, for those of us who go forward with our "plan" to usher in the Age of Aquarius, we need to understand that the ride won't be without its ups and downs. It's already been quite a bumpy ride-I don't think it's going to smooth out for awhile.

So, where and how do we start? I can only answer that question for myself. Knowing what I do now about tomorrow's celestial alignment and the power behind it, I've set my intention to open my heart as fully as I can. To allow the emotions to well up, be what they are, and release them to the Universe for transmutation. And I will commit myself once more to assisting in our transition from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age, integrating within myself whatever polar opposites exist, and radiating love, peace and understanding to all beings.

May you have a blessed and happy Solstice, celebrating the return of the Sun, the Son, the Light-however it is appropriate to you to acknowledge.

Blessed Be!

Related articles

• Syzygy ~ The Full Moon of the Winter Solstice (auntiemoon.wordpress.com)
• Rare Event: Upcoming Full Moon to Align With Solstice (space.com)

What Gift Do I Have...

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One of my fondest memories of Christmas past is that of my mother reading Christmas stories to my little sister and me before we went to bed each night. Mama was a drama major in college, and she used her gift to bring joy to her children and family, her church and her community. Reading A Christmas Carol, she brought each character to life. From Ebeneezer Scrooge to Tiny Tim to the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet To Come, the stories she read became real as if we were living them ourselves.

The story that touched my heart most, both as a child and as an adult, was The Littlest Angel. The story of a little boy who had transitioned and become one of the Heavenly Host before he was necessarily ready brought tears to my eyes when I was a child. When my own children were growing up, it was all I could do to get through reading it without crying myself-I don't know how Mama did every year. And there were many hours of merriment as my children grew older to see just how far Mom could get into the book without tearing up!

The Littlest Angel has a terrible time adjusting to heavenly life. After all, he is still a child. He likes to run up and down the golden streets and swing on lamp posts. He isn't very good at flying yet, still having very small wings; and his halo, always slightly tarnished, is too big for his small head and is always slipping down or falling off his head so he has to chase it! He is a bother to all the other angels, and he really is just miserable in heaven where there is so little for a young angel to do.

As the birth of the Christ child approaches, each of the Heavenly Host is preparing a special gift to present Him at His birth. The Littlest Angel, however, can think of only one thing that might bring a smile to the face of the Holy Infant. He pulls a box from under his bed, and places it at the foot of the throne of God among all of the other beautiful and grand gifts placed there by the citizens of Heaven. When he sees the grandeur of all the other gifts, he is ashamed of the crude, unsightly box he has offered as his gift to the Christ child.

Before the Littlest Angel can remove the box from the mix, the hand of God picks it up and opens it. In it are a butterfly, a sky-blue egg, two white stones found on a river bank where he had played, and a leather strap that his mongrel dog had worn. In the end, these lowly child's treasures are the things that the Almighty sees as the greatest gifts offered to the Christ child, and the box begins to glow and becomes the Star over a stable in Bethlehem. (Yep, I'm cryin' again! And when I asked little Mama to be sure I was telling the story right, she cried too!)

How often do we hide under the bed or simply throw in the trash the gifts we have to offer the world? What things do we overlook or simply omit an opportunity to share that seem to us a meager amount with another just because it seems so meager? Could it be that what we have kept hidden and considered most abhorrent are the very gifts that are most needed in our world at this time?

Each of us is a gift, and each of us has a very specific gift to give to the world. Don't worry if you don't know exactly what that gift is. Like the Littlest Angel, open your heart and let your true light shine. Know that you are the gift and the blessing the world awaits-yes, that the world needs at this time. It is our own birth as the Christed Ones that we await at this time of year. And in the words of Tiny Tim, "God bless us, every one!"

Namaste!

Good Grief!

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The grieving process is something I strongly encourage all of my clients to embrace and walk through. My opinion is that completing the grieving process is one of the most important things we can do to attain and maintain our overall health. Unexpressed grief can shut down our throat chakras, causing an imbalance in our energy systems, not to mention manifesting in all kinds of physical dis-ease.

Grief is the emotion that allows us to say good-bye when we aren't ready. It's a vital part of the human experience that is often ignored and avoided. No one likes the pain that accompanies the grieving process. Yet once we are done, we are empty vessels, ready to be filled with something grander than was there before.

Years ago I was told the importance of grieving every loss we experience-even the loss of a contact! I thought that was rather trivial at the time. However, today I'm grieving the loss of a television of all things. This is really a humbling experience for me. I don't like grieving, and I sure don't like grieving over a television. I am feeling way too human--no I'm feeling down-right childish!

The television wasn't mine. I was using it until my sister wanted it back. (Yesterday she wanted it back!) But it was part of the little corner I've set up for myself in the one room that is the only space in the world that is totally mine. It was a small television and fit perfectly in my little work corner I've arranged in my room. It's not even that I watched it that often or that there isn't another television set in the house. But it was part of my little corner where I could flip it on whenever I wanted and watch whatever I liked at a decibel level that doesn't damage my eardrums! (For the record, there is more noise in a house with two octagenarians than in a house full of teenagers!)

I knew there had to be more to this reaction than just the loss of a television set. I've never had a problem manifesting televisions in my life-at one time I had four in my home. So why was I having such a terrible time with this loss?

Very often when doing healing work with clients, they apologize to me when their tears begin to flow. I always tell them they never have to apologize for crying in session with me. That if there are tears now, they haven't cried the tears they need to in order to complete their grieving process. Not that I've been crying about the television--but I have been dealing with a terrible sense of loss. Looking back over the last couple of years, sadness does wash over me. There has been a lot of loss-the business where I worked, my home, my youngest child moving 1,000 miles away to go to school... Could it be that I-the one who insists that her clients walk through the grieving process-have failed to take time to grieve myself?

This has been a very humbling experience for me. I've had to admit to my own failure and to my own humanness. I've had to open myself up to emotions that I thought I'd already processed. I'm opening myself to fully grieve the losses and release what was left of the life I had before. I'm really glad to say good-bye to that little television-it wasn't mine, anyway. And I'm open and willing to fully experience-Good Grief!

Related articles

• When Lazarus died, Jesus wept - grief, mourning, and "getting on with life" (westernthm.wordpress.com)
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Being... Me

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I've heard so many people talk about how difficult it is to grow up in homes where their parents were alcoholic, abusive, negligent, or just plain mean. My heart goes out to anyone who grew up in such circumstances. I was very lucky to have wonderful parents. My childhood memories are good ones for the most part. I was truly blessed.

However, I can tell you that when your mother is a living saint, it can be difficult, too. All of my life when people met me and learned who my mother is, inevitably I would hear, "She's the sweetest person I've ever known!" It's not that I didn't love hearing that. My mother truly is one of the sweetest people in the world. I love and admire her greatly. What I learned of God, goodness, and unconditional love I learned from Mama. But when I was growing up, and even as a young adult, I kept trying to live up to the example of "perfection" she set for me, and I always came up short and lacking.

I tried to pattern my life after Mama's. Grew up, went to college for a couple of years, got married, had three children, taught Sunday School, was "super soccer mom." And one day I was just burned out. I had given and given and there was nothing left inside me. I developed some interests outside my home, much to my husband's consternation. Push came to shove, and the marriage dissolved. I knew as I walked away that I was a failure not just to my husband but also to my mom.

I lived with a lot of guilt over the dissolution of my marriage for many years. I stayed away from my parents' home because I felt ashamed that I had so totally disappointed them. It was during those years away, though, that I discovered facets of myself that I didn't know existed. These hidden traits instead of being "bad" were what gave me strength. I learned that I could be independent and self-supporting. More important I found that I am passionate and powerful beyond my wildest imagination. I also learned that although Mama is a living saint in the eyes of most people, I'm not her.

When I was growing up, every Christmas we had a pageant at our church. Over and over again I was asked to play the part of the Virgin Mary in those pageants. That was great for me then. I was a young innocent girl much like Mary must have been when Gabriel told her she would give birth to a son. Even the part of Mother Mary fit me for so many years as I played the part of the mother with young children. But to be complete-to be whole-I needed that touch of raw passion that the Magdalen has to offer. So I have welcomed all three aspects into myself.

I am not my mother. I'm not a living saint. I have a lot of her attributes-I'm loving, caring, tolerant, understanding. But I'm also full of life force, fire and passion. I am Martha, and today that's more than good enough.

Namaste!

The Divine Feminine in Christmas

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As I did the research for my doctoral dissertation on the return of the Divine Feminine, I became more and more convinced that the Goddess, although having been hidden for more than 2,000 years, is not returning at all. She has remained with us, silent and waiting for a time when humanity was ready to honor Her and welcome Her back into our consciousness.

I attended a beautiful Hanging of the Greens service at my mother's church yesterday. Part of this service included members of the congregation hanging Chrismons on a tree at the front of the sanctuary. (Chrismons are tree ornaments that are Christian symbols made of white, silver and gold.) Each of us were asked to pick the Chrismons we wished to hang on the tree during the service.

I was surprised and pleased as I searched through the Chrismons for those I wished to hang on the tree to discover how many of the symbols had a history based in the Goddess traditions. The serpent on the Tau Cross; the equal-armed cross with a rose in its center; the pentagram; the triquetra. All of these beautiful symbols and more can be traced to a time when the Goddess was the center of religious tradition and myth.
So in the middle of this traditional patriarchal celebration of the birth of the Christ, the Sacred Feminine made herself known to those who could see. After all, at the birth of the Christ, the Virgin became the Mother.

Initiates of the Christ Mysteries traditions went through intense purification in preparation for giving birth to the Divine Feminine during Advent. Christmas, of all the Christian holidays, is the perfect time to celebrate and acknowledge the Sacred Feminine, to allow Her to unite with the Sacred Masculine, and to give birth to the Holy Child within each of us.

Namaste!

Let Your Light Shine

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Like anyone else, I deal with those little voices or old tapes in my head that ask me, "Who do you think you are? You can't do that! What makes you think you can do things on such a grand scale? Don't even try-you're doomed to fail!"

Last Spring I got the nudge to start a women's talking circle at my mother's church. The people of that congregation had given so much to me and my family while my father was in the hospital for six months. I saw a need in that congregation for the women-women of all ages-to be able to come together, take off their masks, and share in an environment of compassionate listening. There were a couple of hurdles I had to jump over-like talk to and get permission from the preacher...

This was one of those things that I knew was a grand idea and would be a blessing and benefit to the entire congregation. But then that voice piped up in the background and grew louder as it always does-"Who do you think you are??? Do you really think you have anything of value to share with these people? Do you think anyone will be interested?"

I tried to put the idea and the project away and to rest. That would work for awhile. Then someone would say something or I would see something that let me know this was not an option. I got the message that my light was needed and that I should share ideas and inspiration with these women. I even got the message that as I shared my light with them, they would discover their own light and shine it in a way they never thought possible.

Oh, wow-who do I think I am? Who am I kidding? I'm just one little woman with a little idea. Am I having delusions of grandeur or what???

Thankfully after allowing all the voices to have their say, I did start a talking circle. It was a wonderful experience for all of the women who participated. Younger women and elder women discovered that they had something of value to share with each other and that together they could accomplish more than they ever dreamed. And I discovered that heeding inspiration and following through on it is a blessing.

In his inaugural speech in 1994, Nelson Mandela so eloquently encouraged us to allow our light to shine as brightly as possible when he said, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't benefit the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone! And as we let our light shine, we unconcsciously give other people the permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Think what would happen if each of us let our light shine as brightly as possible everyday! I think we would surprise and amaze ourselves at how fast we create a new world full of love, peace and blessings for all.

Namaste!

Knowing God

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Several years ago Deepak Chopra wrote a wonderful book called How to Know God. I found his descriptions of the different ways an individual's concept of and relationsahip with God changes as the soul evolves and grows. The seven steps to knowing God he describes are similar to our personal growth through the resonating stages of the chakras as we mature.

Certainly as we grow, our concept of God changes. I grew up in a liberal Christian denomination. I was taught all of the stories in the Bible, and through these stories I developed a concept of what God looked like. To me, He was a very old man in the heavens. He had white hair, although I could never see His face, and wore a long white robe. The resemblance to Michaelangelo's depiction of God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (which at that young age I'd never seen) was uncanny. All-powerful, very stern, a bit unyielding. He was a lot like my earthly father, whom I have always loved dearly but until very recently felt was unapproachable and a bit scary. Of course, I could never live up to what He expected of me, a lowly sinner. Thank goodness concepts can be changed!

Even though children may have what some would consider an undeveloped understanding of God, I think sometimes the very young and the handicapped have the purest relationship with Her. I remember observing a little girl with Down's Syndrome participating in a charismatic worship service. Everyone in the congregation had raised their hands to receive the gifts of Spirit. The adults seemed to be reaching, grasping, desperate for something they believed was unattainable. Yet that child stood so still and peaceful as light flooded around and through her. She had complete trust that she would receive the blessings for which she prayed.

As I grew older, the strong masculine image of God just didn't encompass everything that my experience told me God is. The concept of God's unconditional love was easy for me to embrace because my mother loved so unconditionally. It wasn't that God wasn't masculine-strong, protective, powerful. But God was also unconditionally loving, all-knowing, creative and nurturing-feminine traits. Hadn't I been taught that God is everything? Then He must also be She. As I incorporated the idea of Deity as both masculine and feminine, I felt a more constant and comforting connection with Father/Mother God.

I had a client who was a gifted psychic. She was a member of a very fundamentalist Christian church, and she and God as she understood Him had very interesting dialogues. She came to my office with a message one day after having talked with God about me. She told me that she felt I was a piece of art and that God had told her I was a masterpiece. Then she quoted a scripture from the Bible, explaining to me that God would now be my husband and that he would provide for me in a way neither of my earthly husbands had been able to.

Now I'd been presented with a whole new aspect of God-He was my husband! He was my protector and my provider. But the God of my client's understanding and the God of my understanding I found are quite different. I can tell you that after a few years of waiting for God to provide for me, I got disgusted and told Him I didn't think He did a very good job in the husband department! Of course, I'd kinda' taken a step backwards with that, thinking I didn't have to do anything... Same thing when I'd considered Him my employer-I didn't like the salary and the benefits sucked!

Developing our communication and relationship with God is a deeply personal journey, and there are as many ways to know God as there are people on the planet. When Bill W. and the founding members of Alcoholics Anonymous were drafting the 12 steps that would become the basis of their recovery program, one member insisted that all references to God should include the phrase "God as we understand Him." Thus the 12 steps were and continue to be a program that anyone of any belief can use without theological or philosophical debate. I love the unlimited possibilities available when we are free to develop a relationship with "God as we understand Him!"

I love partnering with God. As I've grown and gotten to know the many facets and faces of God, the creative aspect of God and making that creative aspect my partner I find to be most satisfying and fulfilling. When I make God my partner, I no longer am submitting to a capricious Deity who will punish me or strike me down for making mistakes. I've come to know the Divine as something within me, available to me whenever I choose to be aware. Sure, I forget the connection from time to time. But it doesn't take me long to realize how uncomfortable I am when I'm running on self-will instead of partnering with the Source of all things. The wonderful thing is that just as I was free to ignore the connection, I can turn things around just by acknowledging it again. No judgment, no punishment-only experience. Through my experience and conscious awareness I am free to create whatever I desire. When God is my partner, things go much more smoothly and results are far beyond my wildest dreams.

These are just my own thoughts about God, Great Spirit, Prime Force, Source-whatever you are comfortable calling the Divine. As with everything else, my knowing of God changes all the time as I raise my vibration and my awareness. I love the freedom and limitless this gives me-to become all I can become and to bless all other on their quest to know God. I love seeing God in nature and in the eyes of everyone I meet. And I love feeling God within my heart and soul and expressing "God as I understand Him" to all those who accompany on this earthly journey.

Namaste!

Related articles

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• Original Alcoholics Anonymous 'Big Book' reveals how AA founders watered down the religion (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)

Shifting Energies

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We all go through major shifts in our lives. Some are more subtle than other like shifting from childhood to puberty, from adolescence to adulthood. Other shifts are not so subtle such as when we graduate and are no longer students or when we become parents. These shifts happen a bit faster, but usually we see them coming. Then there are energy shifts. Shifts in energy are non-linear, interdimensional and spiritual in nature and therefore can be a bit more difficult to maneuver through.

The last four months of 2007 were an extremely difficult time for me (as well as everyone else on the planet). That year had been a time of major change and transformation for me. I underwent surgery, lost the job I'd held for 18 years, and had two 17-year-olds to raise on my own. The loss of the job was a blessing. I knew that when I was told I had to have the surgery. So I went forward, having faith that somehow the Universe would provide for all my needs.

I did pretty well until December. Kept my awareness on the larger picture and my attention on what I wanted to manifest now that I was free to do so. Even as I did all the "right things," however, it seemed like everything I tried to grasp slipped through my fingers. By December, I was quite discouraged and even shouted at the Universe, "Please just take me now!!!" Of course, I wasn't the only one shouting at the Universe at that time.

I wish I'd understood then the way energy works when it shifts. It wouldn't necessarily have changed my circumstances, but I would have at least known that my apparent failure wasn't my fault.

All of us have different ways of getting to where we want to go. Some of us take the interstate highways because they usually offer the fastest route. Others, preferring to stay away from the hectic pace of the interstates may take major arteries through the city that provide the most direct route. Then there's me. I like to take a more circuitous and scenic route that offers a more relaxed ride.

So we humans go about our everyday lives getting to our destinations in our own unique ways. But these are all linear routes that work very well for us until there is a shift in the energy. When energy shifts, we can't just change the route we take. We have to more or less jump the tracks to plug into the new energy.

In order for us to ascend, the energy has to shift. Of course, we're facing THE BIG ONE in 2012, so learning how to work with the smaller shifts from now until then will help us to prepare for what's coming.

From September through the end of 2007, the energy was getting ready to shift. When energy shifts, it changes form. The process it must go through to do this involves the energy actually pulling back from us to a kind of zero point before bursting forth again at a higher and more powerful vibration.

When the energy pulls back in this way, it can feel like we have been totally abandoned from all the loving support of the Universe-for me it's a painful experience. This is actually what happened with Christ on the cross when he asked, "Why have you forsaken me?" The energy he had relied upon during his life and ministry pulled away from him. But, as it does for all of us, it reconfigured so that he was able to plug into it at the higher vibration. This is how he was able to ascend. By the middle of January, 2008, the energy that had pulled away from us during the last months of 2007 had reconfigured and was available to us as we continued our own ascension process.

My understanding this process of the energy shifts doesn't change the way it works, nor does it make those times when the energy has pulled away from me any less uncomfortable. However, it does help me to continue to have faith that the Universe knows what it's doing. I have chosen this ascension process for myself and to benefit humanity. The truth is that this is what we all came here to do at this time.

For years we have been purging and releasing, purging and releasing, and when we thought there was nothing left, we purged and released some more. Purging and releasing are not always pleasant things to do. However, when the energy, in preparation for shifting, pulls back from us, the more we have released, the lighter we are and the better able we are to plug into the new reconfigured energy at a higher level.

As we purge and release more and more, the core of who we are appears. Thus we are able to find our unique gift and to offer it to the world in a way that raises the vibration of everything and everyone on the planet. It's important for me to remember especially when these shifts occur that I'm not alone. Everyone on the planet is going through this process even though we may be at different levels. Our light is needed now. May our light shine as brightly as possible as we offer our gifts to the world!

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To Everything There is a Season

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I find that as I am more aware of the cycles of nature-day and night, the quarters of the moon, the changing of the seasons-the more easily things flow in my life. Being a Moon Child, the phases of the moon and its astrological aspects profoundly effect my moods and the way I deal with things day in and day out. Understanding that when the moon is in Cancer my maternal instincts are at their highest but that in two days I will want to roar and express myself as the moon moves into Leo makes the natural roller coaster of my personal life's journey more manageable.

The same is true of the seasons and the turning of the Wheel of the Year. People in ancient times were always aware of this turning. They spent more time outside, made their lives and their livings in cooperation with nature's cycles. As we have moved more of our daily lives indoors, we have moved away from this cooperation with nature and into domination of nature and her cycles. Many of our activities are played out as if in defiance of life's natural cycles. Yet even as we proceed with our daily lives in ignorance of these natural cycles, the planet continues her movement through the seasons, ever reminding us that we are a part of a great Whole.

I'm not saying that no one notices or uses these powerful forces any longer. There are many who belong to nature-based religions who celebrate the turning of the Wheel. There are others who, although they have no formal ritual, are aware of the seasons and work in cooperation with them. Personally, I fall somewhere in between, because I find that when I go with the natural rhythm of the planet my life has a flow to it that is impossible to achieve otherwise.

We are approaching the Autumnal Equinox. Known as Mabon to those of the Wiccan belief, it is also known by other names such as Kirn Feast, Ingathering, Harvest Home. In Ireland, the celebration of Michaelmas coincides closely with the Autumnal Equinox. Vela Laiks, or the time of the dead, is celebrated in Latvia. Regardless of the tradition, the time of the Fall Equinox coincides with a celebration of thanksgiving for the harvest. It is a good time to acknowledge what has been accomplished during the previous year and to give thanks to all those, including oneself, who have supported us to manifest those accomplishments.

The hours of light and dark are equal on the day of the Equinox. In the Fall, the days are beginning to get shorter, the hours of dark, longer. They will continue to do so until the Winter Solstice. Just as in nature, the plants are pulling their life force in and down, it is time for us to begin pulling our energies inward. It is time to rest after working so hard for the recent harvest.

The Autumnal Equinox marks the time when the energies are drawn to the heart for cleansing and transmutation. There is celebration for what has been accomplished, but as we draw the energies inward, we examine what remains after the harvest. What continues to serve and what no longer serves? As we go inward, we release that which we no longer need, we purify our hearts and our minds, we balance the body, mind and soul. And as we do this, we begin to decide what new seeds we wish to plant for the coming year. The next few months of darkness will be a time for us to clarify what those seeds are and to bless them as we prepare them for sowing.

To everything there is a season-may we all know the greatest bounty of each harvest and the brightest blessings as we turn the Wheel of the Year!

Blessed Be!

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Hearing Gabriel's Trumpet

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There are days in every life when events come together in a way that change our lives forever. When the news we receive is so impossible, so filled with horror, that time seems to stand still and all is silent as we try to wrap our minds around what is happening. Forever after such times, if someone brings up those events, we vividly remember exactly where we were and what we were doing as the news unfolded for us.

Today is the anniversary of one of those events-9/11/2001. I was driving to work that beautiful Fall morning when the news of an airplane flying into one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. In my innocence, I wondered how in the world a pilot could make such a mistake. This was a horrible accident. And as I was still trying to make this fit into my concept of what our world here in the United States should look like, the news that a second plane had just flown into the remaining tower... I saw a plane flying across the freeway toward the airport, and the thought came to me that there would be no planes in the air for quite some time. It actually took hearing the news of another plane crashing into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. to shake my reality to a point where I could fathom that we were under a terrorist attack. Yes, I'm very naive when it comes to such things, and it takes me awhile to catch up to what's really happening sometimes.

I remember the horror that morning. I could feel the heat and the panic in New York City. I kept sending up prayers to Whoever would listen-"No! No! No! This can't happen. Make it stop! Help!" Being an empath is NOT a blessing on a day like 9/11. And I continued in a state of confusion, trying to understand what was happening, hoping that it wasn't what it appeared to be...

My son who was 21 years old at the time called me that morning. Of course, the news is all any of us were talking about. He told me he had been watching news coverage after the first plane flew into the first of the Twin Towers, and he had watched the second plane hit the second tower. "My God," I thought, "what kind of world have we created when our children are watching this kind of violence unfold on television?"

I think that was the point at which I heard Gabriel's trumpet sound. Things had slowed to slow motion for me. Even as events continued to unfold on the news, I was in this silence. And I heard this loving voice say, "Indeed-see what you have created. What will you do now?" There was no judgment, anger or disappointment from the being who spoke to me. I knew, however, that on that day I, along with Lightworkers around the globe, were being charged with stepping into the roles we came here to play during the times of transition ahead.

During the week that followed 9/11, my heart opened in a way it never had before. I felt real love for all humanity as we move through this chaotic time and also a oneness with the planet Herself that I'd never felt before. People around the globe expressed their outrage and mourned with us at all that we as a people lost that day. I was humbled by this expression of love for America. When was the last time I'd shared the grief of a people in similar circumstances? Had I ever done so? And even as I asked those questions of myself and felt my shame at my own answers, there was the voice of that loving being in the background saying, "and I love you..."

Gabriel's trumpet sounded for me on 9/11/2001. Maybe it didn't for anyone else. But I knew that day in the midst of so much destruction that the time had come to express who I am and to do what I came here to do. For me, to do less, or, worse, to ignore the call, means living in misery and disappointment.

May all of you hear Gabriel's trumpet when it sounds and may you understand what it means to heed the call. Each of us has an important role to play during these times. Each of is necessary to the Whole.

Namaste!

Our Bridge to the New Age

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The Elizabethan Age, the many appearances of the Virgin Mary, as well as the women's rights movement along with other equal rights movements of the last 150 years were indications of the momentum of the Goddess's return. Each time She appeared there was more insistence that She be acknowledged. She has appeared as the Virgin, full of new ideas and ideals, as the Mother, nurturing and loving, and when ignored, as the Crone or the destroyer, making way for a New Age.

World events over the last two decades have made it clear that if humanity is to survive, all peoples will have to come together as a global community. The challenge of the Y2K crisis as the new millenium approached was just an inkling of things to come. The Age of Aquarius began with the threat that computers around the globe would crash as the clock ticked over to the year 2000. The last two years before this momentous date were years of combining the Masculine technological, logical know-how with the more Feminine aspects of cooperation and community to successfully "patch through" to the new millenium.

On September 11, 2001, terrorists launched an attack on American soil. The symbolism of this attack on the World Trade Center in New York City was a clear statement that terrorism is a global threat. People from around the world watched in horror as airplanes were intentionally flown into the Twin Towers and grieved with the American people. For America that day marked a massive loss of life, of structures and most of all a loss of innocence and a false sense of security. No longer did terrorist acts occur only to "the other." Now it was clear that "they" are "us." As a result of those attacks, humanity came together to mourn along with the families of those who lost their lives in those attacks. The Goddess again was calling the global population to work in cooperation and build community.

Politics has changed drastically as the Feminine gains strength. During the last presidential election in the United States, two powerful women, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, predominated. Even though neither was elected to office, the president who was elected is representative of the integration of opposites, having a white mother and a black father. This president has appointed many women to positions of power in his administration since his election.

The planet Herself is doing Her part to bring balance back to a very imbalanced world. Natural disasters of a larger magnitude are occurring with more frequency. Massive earthquakes rock the planet causing even larger quakes in other parts of the world. Following those quakes tsunami warnings are issued for nearly the entire Pacific Ocean. The technology developed during the Age of Pisces is being used in an Aquarian manner to warn those in harm's way. In the midst of disaster, the Goddess brings Her message of unity and unconditional love.

During the period of time when the Native Americans were persecuted a prophecy of hope emerged and was revealed to a very few. According to that prophecy, "When the Grandmothers from the four directions speak, a new time is coming." (quoted from Carol Schaefer's book, Grandmothers Counsel the World.) The first gathering of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers took place in mid-October, 2004. This Council is made up of thirteen Grandmothers from indigenous tribes around the world. Their message is one of love, forgiveness, and hope for all humanity. They know that through diversity a New World will be created where peace and harmony reign.

The Goddess's return may seem a slow process to those who await Her. Even as the Jews in Biblical times awaited-and still await-the promised Messiah, humanity as whole now waits for the Feminine to return. Many believe that Her return means that She will usurp the throne of the Sun God and establish a matriarchy in opposition to the patriarchy that has ruled for 2,000 years. Some believe that the chaos and destruction in our present world are portents that our planet will be destroyed. Others have even given up hope of a New Age when love, tolerance, understanding and unity prevail.

The Sacred Feminine has been here through the Ages. Often She appears in places where darkness rules, silently watching and waiting for Her children to hear Her message. Other times She seems to wield the power of darkness Herself as humanity is plunged into chaos and confusion. Her message, always one of love and peace, is a reminder that specific events-good or bad-are not so important. It's how humanity chooses to move through those events that matters. She waits to be reunited with her Sacred Partner, and when She is, She will serve as our bridge to the New Age.

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The Goddess and the Church

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Since the Goddess has always been an icon in spiritual tradition, examining the effects of Her demise and her subsequent "return" from the religious aspect gives clarity to her journey. The Goddess was the central Deity in religions as far back as 25,000 BCE. Prehistoric peoples who had no concept of science and medicine could not relate sex with the event of birth. It was natural for them to assume that since life came forth from the female body, Deity, which gives life, was also feminine. Therefore, that which gave life was honored in their everyday lives as well as in their myths and religious observances.

By the time the Hebrews invaded Canaan, a dominator mind-set had deeply taken root. Hebrew laws regarding the treatment of women were excessive and brutal by today's standards. Women were considered the personal property of men-first of their fathers and then of their husbands. They were treated as commodities over which men had complete domination and control. A woman who was accused of not being a virgin could be stoned to death if the accusation was proven true because she was no longer of any economic value to her father or to a prospective bridegroom. Regulation of the sexual morality of women was an economic necessity. Adoration and worship of the Goddess had to be reversed to sustain the ideology of the dominator societies.

As the God replaced the Goddess as the Deity, a dualistic consciousness developed. The Goddess had taught the interconnectedness of all things and a natural unfolding of things. This unity consciousness was suppressed by the more compartmentalized God who is Light. The Goddess was now equated with Darkness, evil, and those things which must be hidden.

Even though the Masculine dominated much religious practice at the time of the crucifixion, it is apparent that during the early years of the Christian church women held important roles as teachers and ministers. However, their positions of responsibility and authority in the new church were gradually usurped by early church fathers so that eventually women had no voice in church affairs. The myth that evolved along with the church told the story of a heroic journey by a Jewish man who never had a wife or a sexual relationship. Although there is no mention in the gospels that Jesus was celibate and Jewish tradition dictated that men should marry, the myth surrounding his life omits a marital partner. In their efforts to establish that Jesus was divine by omitting his physical being, the Christian church fathers built their institution on a foundation that was missing a vital piece-the Feminine.

The 2,000 year journey of Mary Magdalene is a perfect example of the systematic banishment and suppression of the Feminine from human consciousness and Her gradual return to mankind's awareness. There is evidence that, contrary to what the Christian church has so long taught, Jesus was married at the time of his crucifixion, that reference in the Bible to the Bride and Bridegroom is literal as well as metaphorical. Following the crucifixion, Jesus' family, including his wife, Mary Magdalene, was forced to flee and go into hiding. In her absence, the church pronounced she was a prostitute and sinner upon whom the faithful should not gaze.

For centuries following the crucifixion the world's great religions systematically banished the Feminine from ritual and worship creating an imbalance that affected not only those religions but also all other societal institutions. Women, who in prehistoric times held the highest positions in religious organizations and government, until recently were denied places of power and honor in the most central institution to our societies. By denying Jesus his physical, human nature, the church has denied its followers the feminine attributes of intuition, gentleness, and nurturing as well as the sacredness of the physical experience.

In 1969 the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church finally rescinded its position that Mary Magdalene was a sinner and prostitute, noting that nowhere in the Bible is she given such status. Interest in Mary Magdalene as a very important part of Jesus' ministry and as a powerful teacher and healer in her own right has increased ever since. Gradually, the Bride is reuniting with her Bridegroom, and as this occurs individuals are reuniting with themselves.

Acceptance of Mary Magdalene as the Biblical Bride to her Bridegroom, Jesus, as well as acceptance of the Sacred Feminine into our lives, is a stormy process. The Church, in its admission that it stigmatized as a prostitute one who was quite possibly "the beloved disciple," opened itself to worldwide scrutiny. The myths that have been the foundation of the Christian Church and much of Western society for 2,000 years must now be changed. The Sacred Masculine must now embrace and welcome the Sacred Feminine as His equal partner. Celebration of the Sacred Marriage must be restored. When this occurs, humanity is made whole once more.

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Making Herself Known

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During the Age of Pisces, the Goddess and anything connected with the Feminine were repressed, ignored, suppressed. Yet as the visions and prophecies indicate, She was always present. From time to time She made an appearance, as an apparition, in an individual, or in the desire of a group of people. Each time She appeared, She grew stronger and more insistent that Her presence be acknowledged and that She be embraced as part of the self. Her return has been a slow process. The pattern over the last 150 years indicates that She will no longer stay in the background of human consciousness.

In the 1830s a group of women in New York began an equal rights movement originally aimed at the abolition of slavery. Women, whose opinions were customarily ignored, found that without the right to vote their voice would not be heard. This movement stalled in 1861 with the beginning of the Civil War when the feminists were asked to instead focus their energies on the war effort. After the Civil War was over, the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery and the Fourteenth Amendment which secured the rights, privileges, and immunities of citizens were passed. These Amendments represented huge forward movement for the Negro cause. However, the rights secured by the Fourteenth Amendment were secured only for men-not women.

Until the passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments women's suffrage was merely an idea that was discussed. Women themselves were afraid that they would not be taken seriously. When these Amendments were passed referring only to men, the women's suffrage movement became a reality. A new generation of suffragists took over after the turn of the century. These women were far more visible in their efforts to secure their right to vote, organizing demonstrations and parades and even hunger strikes. The results of their efforts was jail time for many. Although the Masculine authority considered these efforts to be nothing more than feminine hysteria, these women persevered and gained the right to vote on August 26, 1920.

The women's rights movement made a resurgence in the 1960s. Just as the Sacred Feminine who revealed Herself, went back into hiding, then reasserted Herself again ever more forcefully, women again told men they wanted equal pay, equal treatment in the home and in the workforce, an equal voice in the eyes of society and the law. Women were no longer satisfied with being only housewives and mothers, defining themselves by their relationships. The assumption that they should work only as secretaries, teachers or librarians was no longer acceptable. Women were capable of managerial positions or becoming doctors, lawyers, government officials or whatever they desired. The Goddess having revealed Herself as the fresh and innocent Maiden/Virgin and as the nurturing Mother, now asserted Herself in Her most extreme aspect-the destructive Crone.

The women's movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s can only be described as extremist. Women who had been abused and ignored in the home, in the work place, even in religious institutions, took this opportunity to vent their anger. As these radical women's libbers burned their bras, refused to shave their underarms and legs or to allow a man to open the door for them, the movement came across as anti-family. Women were told that they were prostitutes if they married and married women should refuse to have sexual relations with their husbands and that if they did, they should never lie beneath him. In their efforts to be equal with men, women tried to be more like men. They denied the feminine aspects within themselves-the nurturing, mothering aspects, their sexual selves, their intuitive, creative selves-in order to be heard and taken seriously. In the process they created in reverse the things they were reacting against. The needs that all men and women have for nurturance and love that are fulfilled by the family were ignored and even violated by feminists who used the women's rights movement as a forum to vent their rage at injustice and abuse from their own personal pasts.

At the same time so many feminists were espousing a man-hating, anti-family philosophy, many women became disillusioned by religion's manipulation of their sexuality and left the church. Yet the women's movement was possibly the greatest single effort at moving the planet from patriarchal authoritarianism to creating a new equal partnership paradigm unlike anything humanity has experienced before. The goals of the women's movement-the humanization of women and self-actualization of the creative human spirit-would liberate not only women but the human species.

The gay rights movement, having also begun in the 1950s alongside the civil rights and women's rights movements, gained momentum in the 1960s, the 1970s, and into the 1980s. All three movements struggled with internal conflicts that threatened to defeat their purposes from within during those decades. Some gays and lesbians used the movement to vent rage both at outsiders who had persecuted them as well as at each other. Yet leaders of all of these movements as well as leaders around the world would come to see the necessity of working together for the good of the planet.

Every time one of these movements stalled due to the individual issues of their members, a greter challenge presented itself on a global scale. As the year 2000 approached, humanity faced the Y2K challenge. The threat of computers crashing around the globe brought people together who before would have ignored each other or refused to work together. On September 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the United States, there was a global outcry at this brutal act. People everywhere knew that no one is immune to this kind of destruction. The Crone, through chaos and destruction, is determined to reunify the planet.

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Prophecies of the Return of the Sacred Feminine

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In addition to the return of the Sacred Feminine as described through the precession of the equinoxes, the Goddess's return has been foretold by many people, both indigenous and non-indigenous, for hundreds of years. Through prophecy and visions, lore and legend, She has appeared, reminding humanity that a time would come when She would merge with the Masculine who kept Her repressed for so long. The Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers tell us that now is the time when every man and woman will find their female part emerging to be integrated into the whole.

According to the Grandmothers, prophecy is messages received from Spirit and it is available to each man and woman. It is given to each individual depending on where they are in a manner they can understand if they will open to it. Prophecy is not a story that is told and then remains stagnant. It evolves as the people who receive it evolve. Expectations of those receiving the prophecy has much to do with whether or not the story has a happy or an unhappy ending.

Indigenous peoples of the Americas look forward to the fulfillment of the promise that "when the Eagle of North America and the Condor of South America unite, the spirit of peace will awaken on Earth." (Quote from Jonette Crowley's book, The Eagle and the Condor.) In accord with this prophecy, the Condor was driven to near extinction by the Eagle in the 1400s. Then for 500 years the power of the Eagle, representing the mental and materialistic, predominated over the spiritual, heart-centered, intuitive power of the Condor. Now the Eagle and the Condor have the opportunity to reunite and soar together once more. It is believed by the indigenous people who received this prophecy that the Eagle would have to help the Condor to soar once again.

This prophecy of polar opposites reuniting is being carried out figuratively and literally today. Ceremonies and rituals designed to bring together the masculine and the feminine, the light and the dark, within each individual are being done on behalf of humanity. In her book, The Eagle and the Condor, Jonette Crowley describes her experiences on her trips to Lake Titicaca in South America as she and her guide, Mallku, dance for the reunification of the masculine and the feminine within them.

According to Hopi legend, about five hundred years ago as the white people were discovering the Americas humanity broke the circle of life. The Creator at that time told the people of the Earth:

"I am going to send you in the four directions, and over
time I am going to change you into four colors. But I am
going to give each of you certain teachings, and when you
come back together, you will share these teachings with
each other. Then you can live together and have peace
upon the Earth, and a great civilization will come
about." (from Grandmothers Counsel the World)

The legend predicted that it would be the Fire people, or the white people, who would begin the reunification of humanity.

In North America the bald eagle was almost extinct before the Endangered Specie Act was enacted to ensure it survival. No one had seen a condor in the State of Oregon for 200 years. Recently, there were two condors born in captivity in that state. Literally, the Eagle is now helping the Condor to soar once more.

The Goddess in her aspects of Crone and Maiden appear in the Hopi legend of the butterfly. According to this story, the caterpillar goes into the darkness of the cocoon. While there, the caterpillar experiences a total destruction of what it was, ultimately transforming into a butterfly. This creature is a butterfly even before it emerges into the light. When it does, it is completely transformed from a creature of ignorance with a narrow-minded view to one that knows the interconnectedness of all things and sees the world from a broader viewpoint of compassion, hope and wonder. This legend beautifully illustrates how the Crone through destruction and chaos makes way for the Maiden with her fresh ideas and unity consciousness.

The Goddess, although suppressed, has not remained totally invisible. Appearances of a woman referred to as "the lady" or "our lady" have occurred in such places as Fatima, Lourdes and Medjugorje. When she does appear, this apparition, who many believe to be Mary the mother of Christ, is always silent. People travel from all parts of the world to witness these appearances, many to receive healing, blessings, and forgiveness. Regardless of who she is, believers and non-believers alike come away changed.

In 1991, author Judith T. Lambert, made the last of four pilgrimages to Medjugorje to observe the appearance of an alleged female apparition making herself known to the people of that area. She was a skeptic when these trips began in 1986. Lambert, who had studied ancient goddess traditions, saw a correlation between the apparition at Medjugorje and ancient pagan goddesses. Most of those making the pilgrimage to witness this appearance were of the Catholic or other Christian faiths, so to them, she appeared to be Mother Mary. However, regardless of the specific identity of the woman making her appearance in these places, she represents a Mother Goddess for all people. Seeing the imbalance between the masculine and the feminine principles and the perpetration of dominator patriarchal societies, She comes now to balance the archetypal forces and to remind us that we are all connected. (for more information about Lambert's experiences in Medjugorje see her book, A Mother Goddess for Our Times.)

Prophecies from Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, even the Christian Bible point to the coming of a New Age that will be heralded by the return of the Sacred Feminine. Each of these prophecies predicts cataclysmic events that will change the world as we know it. Worldwide natural disasters are occurring accompanied by destruction of homes, businesses, and loss of life. The global economy is in a downward spiral. Countries, the United States in particular, that were previously considered leaders and super powers appear to be disintegrating. Some believe this is the end of the world. Others know that great forces are at work and that what matters is not so much the specifics of what happens as how humanity moves through these events. Humanity is not victim, but creator.

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Suppression of the Feminine

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It wasn't just those of the feminine gender that were wuppressed by the masculine Sun God. The Feminine represents those aspects of self that are kept hidden. The angry parts, the parts that have thoughts and feelings that cause shame because parents and church leaders tell children that they "aren't nice" if they think or feel "that way." The Feminine does represent the half of humanity that is born female; but the Feminine represents more than that. The Feminine represents all that has been suppressed for the last 2,000 years-women, children, our elders, minorities, the poor. In this process creativity, authentic community, even people's voices have been suppressed also.

During the Age of Pisces while the Masculine dominated, the Feminine from time to time made a resurgence in her aspects as Maiden/Virgin, Mother, or Crone as a reminder that she never left. In early Greek civilization the Virgin Goddess, Pallas Athena, was allowed to be a guide to her people. Even during this period, the more structured Masculine knew that somehow it was the Feminine qualities of intuition and inspiration that kept the truth alive. This is evident in Native American tribes that never make a decision affecting the entire community before consulting with the grandmothers of the tribe.

Historically, there were brief periods, such as the Elizabethan Age, when a resurgence of interest in the arts, the spiritual, and the welfare of the populace occurred. Although each resurgence of the Feminine was accompanied by cultural evolution, the dominators would allow this to go only so far before it struck out once more with hostility and violence toward women, children and those in the minority. Those in power in the fear-based dominator societies knew that the Feminine had to be suppressed and controlled in order for their way of life to continue. Stories of the Holy Grail were written around 1200 CE during a time when the Feminine was expressing Herself. Approximately 100 years later the witch hunts began in Europe.

Individual women in particular who threatened the survival of patriarchal society that was the established norm were in danger. In the 1400s a young girl named Jeanne d'Arc claimed that she received divine guidance directing her to save France from invasion by the British. Jeanne's popularity with the French monarchy lasted until after she led an entire army to victory, thus guaranteeing France's independence. She was subsequently given to the British by France's King Charles, was tried for treason as a heretic and ultimately met her demise by burning at the stake. The dominant male authorities of Jeanne's time knew that the threat of a powerful woman-in particular a young girl-regardless of her contribution to her people could not be allowed to continue. Jeanne's fate was played out over and over again during witch trials over the next 500 years.

In his book, Fractal Time, Gregg Braden states, "Patterns identified for an earlier time in history tend to repeat themselves with greater intensity at later dates." There is a pattern to each resurgence of the Feminine throughout history, and She becomes more insistent on being acknowledged each time She appears. Threats of loss of home, family, social standing, incarceration, and bodily harm no longer discourage Her from moving toward taking her rightful place as an equal co-creator with the Masculine.

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Precession of the Equinoxes

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For centuries astrologers have followed the precession of the equinoxes, our planet's journey through the constellations. Even the ancients-the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Sumerians-and indigenous tribes such as the Hopi have all left evidence showing they understood the changing of the ages. The transition from one age to the next is a process rather than a sudden change. As we come to understand the movement of our planet through the heavens, we also aquire clarification as to why this is the time for which the Goddess has waited to reunite with the Masculine.

With the approach of December 21, 2012, the date which is designated as the end of the Mayan calendar, humanity is nearing the end of two cycles. The longer cycle is the planet's journey through all twelve zodiac signs. Each zodiac sign is assigned to a constellation. It takes approximately 26,000 years for Earth to move through all twelve signs of the zodiac. Earth's movement through the signs of the zodiac is further divided into five world ages, each lasting 5,125 years.

The shorter of the the two cycles is also connected to the planet's movement through the zodiac. Each of these shorter cycles lasts approximately 2,160 years and correspond to Earth's movement through one sign of the zodiac. Any time Earth moves from the end of one cycle to the beginning of the next, there is turmoil as humanity experiences the influence of both astrological signs. Some hold on to the way things were, tryig to maintain the status quo, while others welcome forward movement into the next age.

At the end of any age there is polarization which causes fear and conspiracy theories. With the approach of the end of the Mayan calendar, many have predicted an end of this world. However, looking back at events that have taken place as the planet has moved through the precession of the equinoxes what becomes apparent is that similar events have happened in the past that correspond to the ending of one age and movement into another. Many current earth changes are repeating themselves.

During the Age of Leo from 10,000 BCE to 8000 BCE there was global warming and glaciers melting. This was an era of personal power and authority as represented by the Sphinx built during this period. The Age of Cancer, 8000 BCE to 6000 BCE, was the Age of the Great Flood described in the Bible. From 6000 BCE to 4000 BCE during the Age of Gemini the intellect and communication was the hallmark. Alphabets and writing began to appear and develop during this period. Agricultural societies developed and flourished during the Age of Taurus from 4000 BCE to 2000 BCE. This was a period when societies were matrilineal and the Goddess was revered. Much has been learned from ancient Egyptian civilizations that flourished during this period. This was followed by the Age of Aries from 2000 BCE to 0 CE. Known as the Iron Age, the patriarchy or dominator cultures eclipsed the Goddess in favor of the Sun God during this era. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was the culmination of the Age of Aries, the Ram. Jesus, who was called the Lamb of God, was slaughtered as the Age of Pisces, the Fishes, was ushered in. With the crucifixion, the Feminine was torn from her Bridegroom, and women were suppressed and even demonized for the next 2,000 years.

The Age of Pisces from 0 CE to 2100 CE corresponded with the birth of Christianity. In matters of religion and spirituality during this period human beings looked outside themseves for answers. Certain church leaders or gurus were only too happy to dictate to others how to live their lives, promising hell-fire and eternal damnation to those who refused to follow the prescribed path. A sense of "we" and "they" developed as a result of separatist attitudes and this led to holy wars.

As long as authority was placed in others-governments and religious leaders-people busied themselves with other things during the Piscean Age. Since humans no longer had to look within for answers, they had to do something to occupy their minds and spend their time. Money and material gain took precedence over spiritual matters. The masculine tendency to compartmentalize and specialize, divide and conquer, led to feelings of separation-from God, from self, and from each other. The symbol for Pisces-two fish swimming in opposite directions-is an apt representation of the fundamental prevailing philosophy during the Piscean Age.

Where the Age of Pisces was an era of separation, the Age of Aquarius into which humanity is now moving is an age of holism. On a soul level humanity has a desire and knows the need for working in cooperation to build a global community, for integration of the body, mind and soul, and the necessity of the Masculine to the Feminine and vice versa. Although the Age of Aquarius has not fully begun, humans can feel the push and pull of the polar opposites as they are now reconciling themselves with each other to create a new whole.

When things become too structured, the Crone steps in with her destructive aspect and chaos seems to reign. To many this may seem like the end of the world, and this has been predicted by some. However, examination of the patterns of the world ages as the planet has moved through the precession of the equinoxes indicates that we are moving through the end of one age and forward into a new era of living together in peace and cooperation.

It is important to keep in mind that one age is not "better than" another. During the last 2,000 years while the male dominated with separatism, dividing and conquering, there have been great discoveries and developments in science, medicine and technology. The linear mind-set of the Masculine was a necessary component for these advances. However, true creation requires both masculine and feminine components. Humanity has reached an apex in its evolution, and in order to continue it must acknowledge, own and integrate that which has long been ignored-the Feminine aspect of itself. The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers who gathered for the first time in October, 2004, has given this message to humanity:

"The Grandmother of all Creation, the One who is the
maker of life, the One whom we have forgotten, is
calling us. She is not angry with us, but She is sad
that we have forgotten who She is."

Humanity's choice at this time is stagnation by refusal to embrace the Feminine or creation by embracing Her and integrating Her, both men and women, and welcoming Her influence into the world.

Mitakuye Oyasin!

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