A Thought on the Solstice

June 21^st 2015, the shortest day in the south and longest in the north, marked the first day of winter and of summer. Mars kicked the moment off with a blast and the newish Moon joined Venus and Jupiter in a breathtakingly beautiful celestial display. A few thoughts on this moment:

Solstice

The solstice is a point of change, a shift of seasons. The Sun occupies one of the four essential cornerstones of our existence. Subtle awareness filters into our minds reminding us to build on something, to strengthen something – perhaps it is of an emotional kind (inner security), perhaps it is to do with a family matter, perhaps it is business related. Strength of character, particularly of an inner kind is built on.

Problems from the past are dealt with more effectively. Ever so gently an old pattern born from the maternal line creeps into a current situation – it could be one of those typical problems that arises from a childhood experience where the absence of love or not enough attention from the mother caused insecurity and feelings of inadequacy. This solstice point of change is when strength is found to overcome these inadequacies, to develop the security to build our own life structures rather than constantly hoping, even expecting them to come from someone else.

Sun / Mars Conjunction

Mars escorts the Sun through the change of season and onto the cornerstone, adding an essence of boldness and urgency to the influence mentioned above. It spurs us on and should it encounter resistance, obliges with exactly the right amount of irritation, even anger, needed to break through the resistance and into action.

 We simply cannot ignore the surge of passion. There is desire to act on an idea and to stop thinking and thinking about it. There is courage to proceed with a plan and to stop talking and talking about it. There is ego strength to act on an intention and to stop intending   to do, rather to get on with the doing.

Venus, Jupiter and the Moon

One only had to gaze up at these three in the evening sky to understand their influence. At the very moment when their sheer beauty caused a gasp of amazement, we felt the love in Life, we knew exquisite loveliness, and understood the meaning of harmony. With ingenuity we discover a way out of the past and over the Wall.

I received insights from two people on how to tackle the Wall - see below. Hugest thanks for taking the time to share these insights. They are most valuable and very much appreciated.

With love for the beautiful sky

Sharron.

You want to break through to the other side?

1. Dream and Imagine

2. Get information

3. Believe and Choose

4. Make a plan

5. Persevere

6. Easy all the way

7. Consciously smile more every day

8. Embrace acceptance and gratitude as your core foundation

Anonymous.

 

Ohhh dearest Sharron, so many thoughts and experiences about the wall and how to move beyond it…

So many incredible metaphors for life and its processes in sailing…

I am figuring out how to record and do it all justice…

And in doing so, of course I hit my wall…
Just “doing” it now then…
No over analysing
No procrastination
Just finally writing…..
And to you first….

Of course to you, one angel on our path acknowledged in huge amounts of gratitude!

The experience is so big, so over whelming just don’t know where to start – there you go,  a few aspects of the wall, as you’ve named it for all of us, identified….

Not knowing where to start keeps us staying in same old patterns

Shackles really
Hence the great urge of course to just go and cross that ocean…..

One of the first lessons I learnt from sailing is that one preferably choses a destination with the wind behind you…

That’s why we went to the Caribbean.
The trade winds behind us.
Surfing the waves all the way across the beautiful big wide ocean, alive with possibilities.

Either way, I learnt relatively quickly that: North, South, East, West and everywhere in between really are all new and exciting options!

Really having that positive and open minded attitude, every direction the wind is blowing you to, has gifts in abundance to offer.

But only if one can be decisive in this philosophy and not feel, at all, one is missing out elsewhere!
I learnt that when we didn’t leave St Helena when there was a nice wind and Captain Dave said ‘let’s go’.
I still felt a great desire to explore more, since we will probably never go back to St Helena…

Not bad reasoning, but…

The next day, when we did leave, there was no more wind…
We had to switch the motors on.
Motors move you forward, but in a pushy kind of way.
They are noisy and diesel costs money.

I realised then that this adventure was about the journey of going with the winds.

The winds that move you forward.
This journey was not about exploring any one place in depth.
That is land life.

Beautiful in itself with many lessons to be learnt and implemented.

Out of the 21 islands visited in 4 1/2 months I really had no favourite.

It is the journey as a whole, especially with myself and together with David that has had most significance.
When we left Trinidad I still needed to learn more about the lessons the wind had to offer me.
I had read and heard so much about Tobago…I really wanted to go to  Tobago… But Tobago is North East of Trinidad and the winds always blow North East in the Caribbean…

This time David put his foot down.

We were going to North, to Grenada and that was a tough enough passage as it was.
Tougher than any weather we encountered on the crossing….
Got smacked around
That is when I got the message.
Follow the wind energy whenever you can!
Why do the same type of lessons on land recycle and take so much longer to receive???
I think that with sailing you simplify life enough to fully engage and experience and learn…. So much

Anyway, I am digressing in the detail.

My main point here is that when you don’t do your homework and get your information (weather forecast, currents, in this case) and go into the wind, you have a horrible ride, you get knocked all over the place, everything is falling, sea sickness frustration, fear…

Wind behind you however, with goose winged sails…

WOW

The ride is magic!

One literally flies, surfs the waves of life and the universe really keeps providing support for all your needs…

 

The second lesson was equally profound in its logic and simplicity.

Once you on that course, with the wind behind you, I realised we mostly really only made small adjustments to the sails, to keep catching that optimum wind energy moving us for ever forward.

Breaking through the wall and the transformation we all seek in our day to day lives, I’ve realised is far more to be found in the metaphorical small adjustments of the sails.

Then the ride is gentle, efficient and exhilarating at the same time.

Only when necessary, when the wind dies, or changes direction, we make the metaphorical bigger adjustment ‘tack or jibe' in our lives again.

The real real real sweetness for me however is mostly to be found in making those small, simple, long expressed, deep within, changes in our daily land lives journey in order to break through that wall and get to ‘peace’. 

Having said that crossing an ocean and cruising the Caribbean was hardly a small adjustment in our lives.

It was huuuuuuge

On a gut level I knew it would bring transformation: empowerment, wisdom, and adaptability to change, acceptance, patience, gratitude, ability to be in the moment, ability to deal with pain of letting go and grow, ability to express in words, letting go of attachments and then peace.

To get to change we need the big and we need the small adjustments.

We need to be decisive yet remain open minded

Continuous balancing, as one does on a boat, the extremes life offers to get to that place of balance and inner peace where there are no walls and where all is possible

I get asked if I feel I’ve changed.

My first thought then goes to a greater sense of general peacefulness in my being with the process of life
It takes 7 weeks to cross the Atlantic
Flying/rushing there in 40 hours you miss a whole lot of detail
Taking the time…..

Acceptance of what is….

The owl or the ocean or the hike continuing to provide space and perspective in providing the bigger picture with the next small adjustment required.

I could carry on and on…

Which I will
Another time…

As the wind is blowing me into my day now

All my love to you

Lea
    

Maybe there never was a wall and maybe the wall was just another illusion.  Maybe we just need to break through the illusions to be in the truth. The owl already lives in the truth that is why it can take us there and remember it can turn its head right the way around and can see past and future in one swivel and it can see in the dark when sometimes we get lost in the dark.

Thanks so much for these moon and stars stories – I love them.

Let us stay in Love with trust and hoot and toot the truth

Love Pammy
  

 

A Thought on Mercury Retrograde 

Mercury has been retrograde during most of the current moon cycle. It pulled the handbrake on plans made in haste, the ones made without thorough preparation. It may feel like the enthusiastic push to get over The Wall, is being throttled.

Viewing the landscape of possibility from the wings of the wise old owl requires patience and careful assessment of all available options before making a decision or hurtling impatiently into action.

This is the gift of Mercury Retrograde – to pause, to think, to check and re-check and to properly prepare.

It goes direct on Thursday 9^th June at 22h29 (GMT) but its reflective influence will be felt for about a week after this date.

With respect for reflection

Sharron. 

 

Over the Wall and Beyond   

In my previous blog I asked for help to get to the other side of the Wall (of blocked creativity, bottled feelings, repressed needs, swallowed anger and a host of dysfunctional behavioural patterns) to reach the Something Marvellous. Thank you Lisa and Pam for your insights. They are hugely helpful.
 

The June full moon on the 2^nd at 16:20 (GMT), offers a way over the Wall. Out of the darkness appears a wise old owl, the silvery light of the moon reflected in its beautiful blinking eyes. Imagine if you will, climbing onto its wings and soaring up and over the Wall. Perhaps it is not the owl that lifts us up, perhaps it is an understanding or belief  in ourselves or trust that automatically floats us over the Wall or out of a difficult situation.
 

The June full moon’s influence is expansive. It is fiery and positively inspiring. It amplifies opportunities to adventure beyond the personal comfort zone, to explore, to search for things that enable us to become more of who we are or to enlarge a part of ourselves or our lives.
 

This influence is most useful for more clearly understanding a current life situation. Perhaps we find ourselves in a problematic situation or we are unsure of where to go next. Perhaps we don’t know how to proceed in a specific set of circumstances, perhaps we are uncertain of which part of our lives to expand. What to let go? Which way to go? What to expand?
 

This is when we call on the wise old owl and just before falling asleep at night, we imagine ourselves soaring on its wings, up, up and above the pesky problem. From this elevated place we see the whole situation, we see what surrounds it, and we see a wealth of solutions, answers in abundance and various options we were unable to consider whilst subjectively entangled in the problem. From the sky, the best way forward is obvious.
 

For those who are more practical, night flights on an owl may not be an option so a little trip up a mountain, or a hill could work. Looking out over vast space will help with cultivating fresh perspective. In fact, simply creating a bit of distance between ourselves and a problem is advised, because reviewing the difficulty from afar enables us to see previously hidden components. Or it may just be that we need to consider our lives from a different angle.
   

There is another theme that caught my eye in the myriad of planetary influences. We see the fear, irresponsible actions, excessive behaviour or the problems of a loved other. It is with crystal clarity that we know how to resolve the problem or find a more responsible way to tackle a tricky situation or maybe a better way to behave if we were in their shoes. Advice is given with the best possible intentions and it is with a warm heart and enormous generosity that we help the loved other. 
  

Then during the journey through the moon phases, understanding slowly seeps into our minds. We learn that the fear, irresponsible action, excessive behaviour or the problem of the loved other, is in fact, our very own. The gift of course, is that we have already figured out the solution and can apply the great advice we so generously offered, to our own situation.
   

It is so much easier to see the problems of another than our own, so if we don’t soar with the wise old owl or climb a mountain, we simply have to look at the reflected image of our personal failings in a loved other. If brave enough to admit the personal failing, we have the benefit of our very own generous advice.

 This full moon offers a clearer vision of what lies beyond. It shows what in essence, is at the heart of a challenge. It stirs belief in personal talent. It inspires trust in what is true and good in this beautiful old life. 

 

With love for the wise old owl,

Sharron.

Insight into the Mystery of the Wall

Thank you Lisa for responding with this exquisite insight: 

About the wall, I can’t help thinking about the story of the dyke and the little Dutch boy who put his finger in the hole to keep a leak at bay. There is nothing like water to find a way through something and once that hole has been made not even a very determined Dutch boy can keep it from pouring through. With intention we can chip a small hole through the wall and then in a place of safety allow all that emotion to start to seep, to drip, to pour and eventually to crash through to the other side. The secret is to find that safe space, someone one loves or a group of friends who can listen to one, an art group, a pottery lesson, where trust is cultivated and buckets are ready for when that water stuff pushes through. 

Lisa Liebermann.

It seems there is just another brick (or few) in the wall to knock through to the other side and anyhow – somewhere over the rainbow we are all off the wall – dancing, singing and playing in the light of the silvery moon.

Pammy.



The Persuasive May Moon

 The full moon climbs the night sky with purpose on Monday 4^th May at 03h43(GMT), well in truth, the moon cannot climb with purpose but it sure can in my imagination. I see a brave moon trekking through the intensely powerful realm of Scorpio.

This moon persuasively encourages us to look at a wall - one we have (possibly for years) deliberately avoided. On the other side of the wall is something so deliciously appealing, we simply cannot resist its urgent pull. But the imposing wall stands between us and something marvellous.

The Wall was built slowly over time from bottled emotions, repressed needs and unexpressed anger. It blocks creative expression. It diminishes personal confidence. It sabotages opportunities. It imprisons us in a disempowered state of being. It keeps us trapped in destructive patterns of behaviour, predominantly the self-destructive kind. It locks us in self-sabotage.

And now the May full moon urges us to confront the Wall. The Something Marvellous on the other side appeals to our courageous nature, it begs the personal will to take action, to do something, anything to break through the Wall.

But these patterns are all rooted in pain and so we argue that we need the Wall. It protects us from pain, does it not? Surely we need to be safe from the evil manipulations of others? Better the devil you know, no?

The moonlight falls squarely on a problem that is alive and well in humans – the tricky business of self-denial. The moonlight specifically exposes the way in which we-ever-so-cleverly deceive ourselves, of course this deceit is justified because it takes the edge off a harsh reality or protects us from intense pain. Denial definitely has its place as a survival tool but when it settles in as a way of life we get trapped in self-deceit and a blissful bubble of ignorance.

We trick ourselves into not taking responsibility for the tough stuff. However, it is not possible to live life effectively through avoidance and soon all sorts of problems arise. We become stuck, operating from a disempowered place. Helpless and unaware we inevitably resort to destructive behaviour to break free of the problems caused by denial. Anger explodes in a desperate need to regain personal power.

The influence of the Scorpio full moon reveals the destructive force needed to break through the Wall. The challenge is not to blast it sky high with a stick of dynamite because it would probably also destroy the Something Marvellous, rather to constructively break down the patterns that make up the Wall, transforming them into a new shape. The exact way to do this eludes me as I am a bit of a ‘blow-it-sky-high’ sort of girl. Because this blog is not interactive and as I would love insights into the constructive use of a destructive force, please email them to sharron@candylwood.co.za and I’ll post them.

Now for the Something Marvellous. Naturally it will differ for each individual but what lies on the other side of the Wall is a flash of creative genius. This genius could be expressed artistically through music, writing, work with clay or painting but its purpose is to create a ‘way of being’ that is stronger, more stable, and more secure. This is a gorgeous opportunity to build strength to promote emotional and material comfort.

If brave enough to use the powerful force of Scorpio to get through the Wall, knowledge of the most alluring kind is available, not in the normal way we have been taught but through peculiar circumstances, situations that need courage.

A mixture of reflection and action is needed. Action to break through the Wall. Reflection to fully understand the nature of an aspiration, the essence of the creative genius. Action to use the creative genius to build the foundation to house the stronger ‘way of being’.

Harnessing the powerful transformative force of Scorpio in a world of corruption and self-denial is tricky territory to navigate but on offer from the May full moon.

With love for the Wall & the Something Marvellous,

Sharron.

Eclipse Time  

On this morning of Good Friday, I sit down with my hot cross buns & cappuccino and hope to find the words to express the importance of two total eclipses. The total eclipse of the Sun was on the 20^th March 2015 and the total eclipse of the Moon is on the 4^th April 2015 at 12h07 (GMT). I include the March solar eclipse because its influence continues to be experienced over the next few weeks (and because I neglected to write about it earlier).

    March and April brim over with powerful astrological influences. I searched for the essence of the various themes and laid them out in this blog.

Ending Off
The solar eclipse activates a degree of the zodiacal belt that symbolises an ending. The focus is not yet on the beginning that follows the ending, rather on bringing something to conclusion. The manner in which we do this is important because the tone of the ending is woven into the context of the beginning and it would be oh so dreary to carry tired old stuff into the freshness of a new start.

It is a fantastic opportunity to end something that is a drag on personal life force. It could be that same old, same old obligation-motivated behaviour that always seems like a good idea at the time - the honourable act of service or the lending of a helping hand which soon (if inappropriately motivated) deteriorates into self-sacrifice/self-undoing. Avoidance-motivated behaviour has the same effect.

It is a chance to bring an unhealthy situation to an end. It is the kind of situation where we discover that ever so slowly, we floated over a line into compromised integrity. Or it could be a situation in which advantage was taken of generosity, not intentionally with malice but rather in a dreamy unaware drift across the plains of kindness.

    This eclipse marks the end of:

·       A job

·       A project or a part thereof

·       A relationship

·       A way of doing things

·       Self-sabotaging behaviour

The number of endings will depend on how effectively we made changes in the past.  

Dark Intentions & Hidden Possibility

Eclipses have an awful reputation for ill-omened events. This carries some truth in that when the light of the sun is blocked by the moon (in a solar eclipse), or the shadow of the earth blocks out the light of the moon (in a lunar eclipse), we fall into darkness. In this darkness we are exposed to buried fears, dark thoughts, wicked intentions and personal demons. Now, what to do with the sullied elements of our consciousness? Do we give in to dark intentions to hurt those with whom we are angry? Do we give power to our fear? Do we turn dark thoughts into dark deeds?

Or do we face our demons, our fears and wicked intentions (or those of others), acknowledge them and consider them resourceful possibilities? Do we view each wicked thought as creative potential? All very philosophical, I know, but there are not too many options available in eclipse month.

Thankfully, evil is not all that dwells in the darkness but also undiscovered talent and hidden possibilities. When our eyes become accustomed to the dimness we find seeds of pure potential nestled in the shadowy crevices of our consciousness, waiting to sprout in the warmth of love and the light of awareness. During eclipse time we probe the gloom for new prospects and make marvellous discoveries. Life leaps from the darkness.

Redirection

I hesitate to mention the ‘Yod’ word but here it is again, a Double Yod Key gracing the eclipse sky. Fortunately it does not hold its formation for long and dismantles completely before the lunar eclipse.

 As we learnt during 2011, 2012 and 2013, the Yod pushes for a change of direction through loss or giving up something seemingly imperative to a secure life on earth. This particular Yod encourages a small change that leads to enormous gain. Small, however, does not necessarily mean easy. It may take a fair amount of mental and emotional anguish to make the little shift.

After the tumultuous changes of the past few years, we thought we were finally on track, yet this Yod in the eclipse zone has other thoughts.

‘No!’ it emphatically states. ‘Not that way at all. Let go, let it pass, redirect, find a better way forward.’ And things break apart again. Something must be given up. Loss must be endured. It is the way of the Yod.

The anguish of loss automatically stimulates a change in thinking, a change of plan. The pain automatically promotes a change of heart. Then in an ‘Open Sesame’ sort of way, a doorway opens, one that leads to something ten times better than what was lost.

It could be a change in how business is run. An adventure could be re-routed.  A project may need re-designing. A life course could be redirected. Whatever the change, there is the promise of a more prosperous route. The Yod points towards good fortune.

Alignment & Balance & Relationship

As the Earth, Moon and Sun move into perfect alignment, it is in the dark shadows that we see misalignment - with our true selves, within relationships, with our life path.

In a flash of intuition, we know fairness, we find balance, we feel empathy and we see what it is like to stand in another’s shoes. We understand. That elusive, gorgeous, much sort after equality within relationship is achieved. Not forever, but for long enough to appreciate the beauty of another and to see our own beauty, in reflection.

In this brief moment of harmony, we know love. In this place we shine. We find courage to take the risk, to change direction, to be true.

With love for the potential within the darkness and also for Easter eggs,

Sharron.