SUMMER STARTS AT THE SOLSTICE

Three months of light lie ahead of us. It’s time to celebrate, to pursue what gives us genuine, deeply felt JOY. It is not the time to start thinking too much about the return of the dark period of the year, that will come soon enough. Just as at winter solstice we celebrate the spark of light that will grow from that point onwards into the summer, so here at the summer peak of light we are aware that the nights will start to get shorter and the inner journey will come – but for three months of summer our attention would be better focussed on the outer, on living life rather than navel gazing about it! That is, on being and doing, on creating, exploring, enjoying. Reflection and contemplation will happen of course, but they should not be allowed to dominate our time. This is probably not the best period to be doing intense inner healing work, the winter suits that better. This is the time to be living – and seeing how the inner work of the winter now long past has changed us.

 

For three months we have been in the energy of spring, which is the season of the element of air. It is the time for fresh ideas, communication, creativity and growth. Nature rushes into activity after the long winter, and so do we. Life gets busier and we sometimes struggle to keep up.

 

Traditionally in farming culture summer solstice was the time to down tools after the spring period of planting the crops. A time to pause and have some fun before the next phase of the annual cycle of work – the harvest – began. At solstice the noon day sun has reached its zenith and so is said to ‘stop’. For us now the solstice can provide a hugely valuable moment to stop and reflect…..

 

What were those intentions you set at the winter solstice? Where were you internally at that time and how has that changed? How have the energies of spring affected you? Are you growing in a way you intended, and a way you like? The strong energies of sunlight on this the longest day have the power to illuminate our life issues clearly, banishing shadows and enabling us to release the past. Summer is the season of FIRE, when the hopes and dreams we nurtured back in the EARTH time of winter will manifest. Winter was the body time, the cave time… now after the growth period of spring we enter the fire season when our spirits should be at their brightest, most active, creative and expressive. Let them.

 

Solstice is one of those points of the wheel of the year that is celebrated as a time when the ‘worlds’ – ie the various levels or dimensions of existence – are connected. The faerie nature spirits are said to play with the forest animals at this time, throwing parties around roaring fires, making music, dancing naked….. and of course if we go out into the forest we become part of the natural world, with both animal and faerie spirit kicking and playing in us…….

 

While the light is strong and the worlds are connected, solstice is the time to affirm the best and most bountiful vision we have of ourselves – individually, collectively. At solstice the sun moves into the sign of cancer, water sign of the emotions – the energy of which moves us to appreciate deeply the things that are closest to our hearts – home, family, tribe, the places that make us feel good. It is a good moment to express our love, affection and gratitude – to take a break from the speediness of life and feel the stillness that lies at the centre of everything, that gives rise to all existence. Then we can dive into the summer, confident in who we are and our connection to the whole. Solstice often calls us into nature, to feel the power of the moment and the immense healing presence that exists there.

 

This year the sun is joining mercury and venus who have already arrived in cancer. Jupiter meets up with them all next week. Mercury in cancer motivates us to seek quality rather than quantity in the information and connections we choose to bring into our lives. Venus in cancer influences us to be nurturing, protective, cautious, sensitive. It brings out our caring, romantic and tender sides. (Venus moves into fire sign leo on 27 june). Jupiter’s arrival in cancer (for a year from 25 june) magnifies the emotional energy of the sign, and we might expect to see plenty of expression of and growth through emotion in the months to come. At some point the collective grief about the way humans kill, abuse and use each other and the planet will surely hit the world. And anger, though there is plenty of that expressed already. And hopefully also compassion, flowing on the loving vibration of the sign of the crab.

 

Saturn is currently on a three year journey through another water sign – scorpio, gradually pushing us to reprogramme the subconscious, to face our fears and addictions, and to sort out our karmic relations and debts with others. The solar system’s planets act as symbols of the archetypes of our consciousness, which are indeed flowing and affecting us constantly. The solar system acts as a model of, a reflection of, the nature of consciousness. We learn how consciousness ‘works’ by studying the models the universe gives us – reflection and resonance are crucial energies of that universe, through the patterns of existence we can understand how the underlying currents flow. And currently they are flowing in a way to wake us up – by connecting us to our higher selves, revealing to us how the cycles of nature affect our lives, and attuning us to the interconnectedness of all life.

 

When we see and accept the unity of life things change for us – but for the process to be really deeply transformative and lasting we need to engage it – ie weed out the life-denying, negative, judgemental and fearful parts of our own being, bring everything we believe, think, say and do into alignment with the knowledge of unity. Only then can we hope to fully enjoy this ride called life. Until then we will be pulled and pushed around by the tides. When we honour those tides and start to understand them, work with them instead of against them, we ascend into the next stage of human evolution. Many people have glimpsed this place, some are living in it. Until we all reach it the work of awakening continues.

 

When the light is strong and a long (maybe even glorious?) summer lies ahead solstice is the moment for celebrating the fullness of life, generating so much joy that any remnants of the dark half of the year are blasted away, along with any despondency lurking within, raising our energy to attract abundance into our lives and manifest our dreams. Life is a divine and marvellous miracle. Live the summer.

when love is the ground of our being

When love is the ground of being

we will see through the eyes of the heart

mysticism will be the new art

we’ll see all people deserve compassion

all conflicts arise for resolution

you are my sister my brother

let’s help each other out of confusion

that made us believe that logic is greater than the heart

separated us into boxes and pulled us all apart

let’s merge in love and discover

the whole world is the beloved.

 

When love is the ground of being

we will stop abusing the earth and her creatures

harmony and beauty naturally emerge

we will know that the tide has finally turned

when love is the ground of being.

 

When love is the ground of being

we will arrive at a time long foretold

when the intelligence of the heart leads the way

everything we know will change

no longer isolated

one in spirit, one in flesh

uniting light love and matter

dimensional shifts and mystical gifts

when love is the ground of our being

we see the true nature of life is bliss.

Faith and Spirit at PRIDE LONDON: in the Zone

There will be a FAITH AND SPIRITUALITY tent at Pride 2013, situated in the top north eastern corner of Trafalgar Square, near to St Martin in the Fields. A touch of queer sacred space in the middle of the celebrations. Prayers, chants, meditations from the world’s traditions will happen at certain times and there will be space to chat with spiritual queers from various backgrounds. A crew of healers will be around offering various activities or just mingling.

Pride 2012 was rich in emotion. Fierce determination and anger marched alongside pride and joy. We felt like a community making a statement, not simply showing off. (Hedonistic revelry was not much in evidence, there being no floats for dancing gogos to strut on). Trafalgar Square and the west end buzzed like a neon rainbow nation festival. All races, all ages, all sexualities swirling around together smiling and laughing in the sunshine. In our multi-coloured spectacular we turned the centre of the city into a zone of unconditional loving acceptance and highly charged celebration of life’s diversity.

Taking a few steps out of the queer zone towards the tube at tottenham court road the colour scheme changed. Grey and blue, black and white took over from the rainbow extravaganza, as I headed home there was a gradual shift to a less relaxed reality where faces were not smiling, glares were sometimes intense and guards were up.

Pride is a political and social action, vital over the years in the struggle to secure freedoms and equality for the non-heteronormative minority, but also celebrating life’s spectacular diversity as more supporters have become involved.  Pride is VITAL NOW because there are parts of the world where it seems we are still so feared and misunderstood that our celebrations are banned and our self expression repressed.

Pride is also a spiritual statement – we gather as a tribe to celebrate our lives, opening our hearts and letting our spirits shine. We pump joy into the world, spreading those ‘good vibes’ even conservative parts of society like us for now……. When we gather at Pride we celebrate the right of all people to love whom they choose, the right to be safe in expressing who they are, and of course we also celebrate the glories of the body and the pleasures it can give us. These are profoundly spiritual statements from a people that has no church, though maybe the glitter ball is our symbol for divinity, gracing the centre of the dance floors that have been our haven even when the outside world continues to hate.   The glory we take in sexuality and the body does not have to cut us off from spirituality – in fact it shakes the religious establishments to the core, as centuries of denial and repression of natural sexual energies are exposed, with all the secrecy and corruption that has gone with it.  Sexuality was once understood as profound spiritual expression by ancient cultures and that knowledge is still avaialbable to us today.  In an age when sex is largely commodified most of us yet know that it can open the doors to heaven.

Despite the adversities in our lives, we are a portion of humanity that always likes to party.  Could it be that we queers are here to teach the rest of the world how to lighten up and enjoy life!?! How to love, how to play, how to accept each other, how to face the taboos, how to remember that life is a precious sacred gift, and enjoy it. Edward Carpenter, Walt Whitman, Harry Hay are amongst those who thought so, and dared to say it.

The homophobia still acting out in the world is usually justified with religious references. Although much of the religious world has moved to accept queers, with flocks often way ahead of shepherds, and although the monotheistic religions have dumped almost all the arcane rules from the book of leviticus, an angry and violent minority insist on the righteousness of their hatred for us, and demand the right to discriminate against us. In the West, the socio-cultural fear and dislike of us has reduced vastly over a few decades – though not gone by any means – but in african and middle eastern cultures there is still deep ingrained conditioned hate against us. Also in eastern Europe and Russia. Typical homophobes, these cultures need to look at their own homosexual history, of which there is plenty.

But faith, spiritual love and transcendence are not the preserve of the uptight and fearful. Far from it. Religion is actually about re-connecting to the divine source, and celebrating it. Religious rites are various kinds of celebration intended us to connect us to love, light and joy. Queers do appear to be particularly drawn to explore joy and love, we put a lot of energy into seeking blissful connection, and, whatever paths we choose to walk along, we usually find it. From the disco to the sauna to the yoga mat, faerie circle, tantra workshop, or religious service we are all finding the delight of connection to something greater than our individuality. One of our greatest heroes is called Divine, because that’s the gay secret – life is DIVINE, designed to be enjoyed compassionately, guilt free and erotically!

The rainbow celebration of pride brings the whole world together, at least those who are ready to get over their fear based bigotry and prejudice. Queers really don’t care so much about the differences, we celebrate them. We see so much more in common between people – like the love they seek and share and bring to the world. The creativity, the healing, the laughter, the art, the joy. These things count more to us than the stock markets. Life’s quality is measured from the heart. It is my belief that religions serve a purpose in human evolution but our understanding of god and spirit evolves over time, just as our understanding of everything else. Once we saw god as the mother, or as the sun, or we believed in many gods all around us, then we came to see god as a demanding father figure in the sky and became alienated from him. We noticed that religion does more to control us than liberate us. The way to break free if religion has left a bitter taste is to follow its original message. Love. Closing our hearts closes down our lives. We were born to be gay, ie happy -  for which we need an open heart. Love opens us and can lead us to profound discoveries about life, if we let it.  Spiritual teachers across the world have taught that love is god.

As all the world’s philosophies and faiths mingle and interact certain profound truths shine forth. From looking for god in the sky, or in sub atomic particles, there is increasing understanding among the spiritually sincere that God is found within. There is not one religion that doesn’t say it, but they hide it.  Jesus advised the Kingdom can be found within ourselves. Medieval Christians who said this got into trouble, but it is what every person who turns inwards in meditation finds.  It is through we humans that divine qualities enter into the world, or diabolical ones – we are the channels, created as Genesis tells us ‘male and female in His image’ ie transgendered from the start, everyone of us. It is a queer universe.

But it’s time to focus less on religion and more on the divinity of who we each are, every one of us a creative, joy-seeking love-tastic embodiment of LIFE, of the divine LOVE SUPREME itself. Thousands of pride goers will be participating in a gay day of love and joy, shining as they bring out the best of themselves – whatever they believe about the philosophy of life, they are spreading the love. That is what changes the world.

At the heart of gay pride queer sacred space will honour the power of this moment. I wish to pray for the fear of our kind to cease, and the whole world, us included, to see ourselves for the whole and holy, loving and compassionate, playful and ecstatic beings we really are, deserving of every joy, every deep feeling and wonder available to human nature. Please come join us in the Zone.

And in case the anti-gay christian brigade turn up better have the nail varnish, LIPPY and hairspray ready. Let’s remind them the whole of life is really GOD IN DRAG.

no separation

‘This is to be understood by the heart, there is no separateness at all.’ Upanishads

 

sages have always appeared on this earth

to tell us we are more than a physical birth

the kingdom of consciousness lies within

when we know this an age of love will begin

 

quantum physics tells us matter is an illusion

inside the atom there is mainly space

we desperately need to break out of confusion

and move forwards the story of the human race

 

religions scream at and fight each other

while others deny spirit all together

when will we see all as sister and brother

and embrace the fact that we exist FOREVER

 

you are not that personality

you are not that body or mind

get over the effects of gravity

and open to what’s there to find

 

the body is the temple of the soul

and the brain the receiver that lets consciousness in

if we open to spirit we have the chance to be whole

and a new age on earth can begin

 

I am You, You are I

we are one being on the way

no more separation

this is the day

 

the mystery of enlightenment

the promise of salvation

secrets are out in the open

there is no separation.

 

Equal Marriage Muse

Equal Marriage – leading the way to a more tolerant, diverse and happier future, or the end of civilisation? The shocking truth some homophobes can not seem to grasp is queer people are driven by the urge to love, not simply the need to fornicate. The marriage bill is a sign that some of society has accepted that, and welcome it. The marriage bill is also flushing the vestiges of homophobia into the open, but seeing the line up of nice looking grey haired ladies outside parliament last week with their ‘marriage = man + woman’ banners was very sad. Gay boys and girls go and talk to your grandparents!

 

Equalities minister Maria Miller was the voice of reason and freedom on BBC Radio 4′s Question Time programme yesterday. Sun editor Trevor Kavanagh received grateful applause from the Surrey audience for stating his belief that marriage is a heterosexual relationship that should be left in the jurisdiction of the churches not politicians. Ruffles and shouts were heard as Maria Miller as then described the equal marriage bill as being about fairness, about society being more tolerant. Host Jonathan Dimbleby asked for a show of hands from the audience to say if they were glad the marriage bill is going through. A ‘large majority’ were not glad.

 

The programme was recorded in a church in West Byfleet, and we can probably assume that many of this Surrey set base their objection to gay relationships on biblical grounds. CHRISTIANS taking this stance are simply hurrying along the collapse of their own religion, which has been far too powerful and influential for far too long anyway. Reasonable, rational people can see the hypocrisy going on here. ‘Love each other’ was the direction Jesus gave, and despite the fact that over the centuries many of the strictures and attitudes offered to us in the Bible have been dropped as society developed (eg we no longer stone adulterers, we no longer keep slaves), some Christians insist on hanging on to this phobic and hateful view of same sex love. They are revealed through this to be narrow minded, prejudiced, fearful and pretty stupid. They simply need to follow the logic of the only commandment Jesus left us, find the place of love in their hearts and allow us queers the right to love too. Recent opinion polls showing massive growth in acceptance of the idea of same sex marriage over past few years suggests that many have already made that step into freer and fairer thinking.

 

The book of Leviticus, on which the non-acceptance of same sex relationships is based, does not mention love. The Ten Commandments do not mention love. They were written at a time of fear, when patriarchal authority was establishing itself. The stricture that ‘a man not lie with another man as with a woman’ has nothing to do with love – the rule comes from a time when reproduction was crucially important for the survival of the tribe, and when the hetero family model was being formed. Love came later it seems, Jesus brought in that message. The debate around same sex marriage is challenging Christians to look in their hearts, and to think for themselves – to ask ‘what would Jesus do?’ As with equality for women, or attitudes to people of different races, reason and love need to teach these people about the meaning of their own faith.

 

 

Once gay people are accepted more in society, we will start to contribute more to it – we will be empowered to bring out our gifts to society, which are gifts of love, compassion, tolerance, peace, healing, play and revelation. While so much of society stands firm in its fear, rejection of or outright hostility to us, our light will always be partially in the shadow, with all the traumas of addiction, disease etc that the shadow brings continuing to ravage our queer universe.

WILLOW MOON – BELTANE 2013

“Radical Faeries are a collective of unique individuals who consciously express Divinity in their every day lives.  The word “radical” doesn’t only mean politically extreme, it also means going to the root of things.  Radical Faeries honor the “Sacredness of Everything”.  This includes the psychic world as well.”  (Luc Edouard Georges in ‘NYC Radical Faeries’ published 2006

 

BELTANE is our time, our magical season of celebration, community and going between the worlds.  Faeries flock to beltane gatherings to ignite their spirits, fill their souls with magic and love, and get the chance to live and breathe as the two spirit shapeshifters that we are at the core.

It is the radical exploration of spirituality and mysticism that makes us faeries unique in the queer universe.  We get in touch with the raw roots of spirit, the earth energies that manifest through dressing up, painting our bodies, drumming, dancing, sex…..  When we dance through life as a prayer we open the gates of consciousness and love, revealing to ourselves, and to those others that can see, that divinity is utterly joyful, playful, colourful … and horny.

 

Beltane is a festival of sexual energy rising as we attune ourselves to the spectacular growth that nature is rushing into.  We can grow along with it, dropping issues and fears from the past and allowing life itself to lead us into discovery, expansion and ecstasy.  Having shaken off the cobwebs and dust of winter, now we can emerge as, and grow into, the light bearers that we were born to be.

 

The new moon in Aries on April 10th brought in the long awaited energies of spring, which had felt stifled, held back, across the northern hemisphere.  We are now in the month of the WILLOW MOON, earth energies are accelerating and taking us with them.  This new moon brought a sense of optimism – a sense at last, 3 weeks after the equinox, that spring was arriving, and the chance for psychic and psychological renewal.  This is good to remember when the initial optimism of the moon period wanes – and is a chance to take some rest and recharge before the high energies of the full moon period whisk us up into beltane frenzy.

 

WILLOW is associated in celtic pagan terms with the Triple Goddess, particularly the transformation from her young maiden aspect to mother.  Willow has always been regarded as a tree of enchantment, and is used in ceremonies intended to enhance psychic abilities, leading to clearer understanding of the world.  At the Temple of Delphi in ancient Greece Orpheus received the mystic gift of eloquence by touching a willow in the sacred grove of Persephone.  Willow is the most flexible of trees, and teaches us to be flexible on our spiritual paths.  It also grows prolifically, reminding us to keep growing and reaching higher, no matter what happens along the way.

 

The energies of Neptune, at home in Pisces, are encouraging us all towards a more mystical relationship with existence, it brings out awareness of invisible realms, where earth spirits, ancestors, angels, deities wait to work with us in the creation of a divinised multi-dimensional world.  This Neptune energy has been recently boosted by Mercury passing through Pisces – and now Mercury is in Aries, where he is following the transits of, and tying together the energies of Mars, Venus and the Sun, This all points to this being the time to step out confidently and be the reborn self, after the winter – after many years of journeys, trials and triumphs.  We may still need to invoke forgiveness and release the past to move forwards with this, and it would be worth it.  Life is offering the chance to escape duality, or at least to put more ‘unity-orientated’ views into our minds.  Make peace with the past by honouring all setbacks and pain as steps on the way to becoming who we are now – embracing the fullness of that now we can step, alongside others, forwards into the next manifestation of our magnificent soul energies.

 

The Sun reaches the sign of Taurus on April 20th.  After a month of ‘selfhood’ (the Aries month this year has provided a deep realignment of who we are due to the presence of Mars and Venus alongside the Sun) we enter the sign of sensuality and connection to others.

Full Moon in Scorpio will arrive a few days later on 25th May and brings the first of a series of three eclipses that bring the opportunity to make deep shifts, even to be remade from the inside out, emerging from this time with new and inspired outlooks on life.  The full moon in Scorpio will shine light on anything we are hiding, or in denial about.  This is the time to remember clearly that through adversity we gain strength – by facing the shadows within us we learn there is nothing to fear, nothing to run from.  This full moon can be about claiming absolute sovereignty over our emotional and psychic selves.

 

On May 1st the moon arrives in Aquarius,  fuelling our beltane ceremonies with a sense of purpose, providing ideal energies for group mind and spirit.  

“Right around noon the Sun in Taurus will trine Pluto in Capricorn. Earth powers shine. This is great transformative weather. More constructive than light-hearted. Seriousness prevails. Just … don’t wear light pink. Sex is, of course, implied. Meaningful and productive conversations.

“This time around, the truth doesn’t hurt.”  (quoted from surpriseastrology.com which gives a day by day faerie overview of astrological energies during the beltane period).

 

Two weeks later the willow moon ends with a solar eclipse in Taurus, which will close this period of intensely magical earth energies as spring takes hold, and force us back into some kind of ‘normality’ that could leave us wondering if the wierd and magical events of the previous weeks were real or fantasy.

 

But that is a healthy feeling showing that we have concluded our time ‘between the worlds’ for now.  Not that we have to lose our sense of connection to spirit, and indeed it is through honouring spirit’s presence in all our activities that we keep the channels of love and light flowing through us, that we keep in touch with the pulsating, sexy divinity that yearns to manifest through us.

What makes us faeries?  Love of community, nature, play – and ritual.  When we faeries recognise the oneness of life, drop judgments and bitchiness to live in subject-subject consciousness, allowing our hearts to open, risk being vulnerable and offer love unconditionally to all, we honour the divine feminine and open the gates that make our souls shine and our bodies thrive.  We are a tribe of sacred adventurers, blasting away centuries of fear and shame about the body and misinformation about the divine.  We have important things to do on this planet, and every year at beltane the magical energies of the willow moon push us to open our wings, expand our hearts and minds, and learn to fly.

 

The age of aquarius is being born through groups of people transcending the limitations of separation, overcoming the prejudices and fears of the past.  ”The sages of all ages have advocated that we can live in harmony with nature if we bring the FIrst Principle, which is “LOVE” to consciousness.” (Luc Edouard Georges).  

What a ride, merry beltane ye’all: may our loving be super strength, super sized and supernatural.

the rainbow people

We are the rainbow people
we appear in every race and nation
we are people of love and joy
we are not our sexuality
we are the ones who bring peace
tolerance and colour
we are passion and liberation
found through pain and pleasure
we are the rainbow people
love joy and liberation 
is the mission of our nation

some of us are gay
some lesbian, bisexual or transgendered
but it’s our hearts and minds as well as our sex
that makes us who we are
we are both male and female
made of flesh and spirit
connecting worlds is our calling
now comes the time for us to live it

yet most of us seem blind
to the spirit that we are
so many lies are told about us
so many seem to hate us
we haven’t found our own worth yet
haven’t unlocked all our treasures
is it any wonder 
we get so hooked on pleasures?

In our lusts and in our passions
burns the fire of life
in our open minds and unfurling love
lies the way to light

light of many colours
rainbows shall fill the void
we are channels, vessels and lightbeams
born to show there is more to life

Here to reveal and paint the rainbow
peace, love and understanding for everyone
children of moon and sun 
rainbow warriors, multidimensional
sexy souls simply sensational
love joy and liberation

Springtime of Aquarius

SPRING EQUINOX is a point of balance, when day and night are equal length all over the world and we stand at the meeting point of the watery, inner-world spirit of Pisces with the the fire driven, active outward energy of Aries. The cycle of the astrological year begins again here, inviting us to shake off the winter journey of healing and launch ourselves into a time of growth and creativity, rebirth ourselves into the world.

 

For three months since the winter solstice the natural flow has been inward and downward, taking us into our roots and hidden, often hurting, parts. If we run with this flow great opportunity for healing and renewal are there in the underworld for us. If we resist the inward pull, try to keep up the same pace of life we enjoy at other times of year, chances are nature knocks us down, we get sick, drop out of the daily routine and to some extent the healing work is forced upon us.

 

At the equinox point of balance we can prepare ourselves for the active period by consciously balancing the polarities within us, especially the energy of the rational, analytical mind with our intuitive, instinctive natural wisdom. We might do this through drawing or other creative activity, taking time to listen within to our inner guidance, or journey to music, allowing images to arise and flow in the mind. Tarot cards and other divination tools can offer insight into the journey of the year ahead.  The logical mind is so highly praised in our society, that we tend to neglect the intuitive, creative side of our nature, so any action to bring balance also brings rewards.

 

Of course this approach will only hold any value to those of us who regard life as a journey of spirit, and not simply a random, chaotic, physical accident of evolution. Which came first – the matter or the spirit? – should be a priority debate in our modern world. The most prominent paradigm in the media, in academia and in politics – the three major influences on people’s opinions – is the physical first view. This says the universe resulted from an explosion that created all the atoms that exist, and somehow life emerged from non-sentient matter. It ignores the patterns and synchronicities that pervade life and the universe, and reduces our drives and desires to chemical reactions. Vast numbers of people have swallowed this whole, and despite the soulless, dark and empty picture it paints, prefer to believe in it rather than tackle the mysteries and challenges of spirituality. As humanity breaks the shackles of centuries of patriarchal religious domination over our lives, this is perhaps not surprising. But this physical existential paradigm does not deliver. It does not explain the passions and emotions, the inspirations and exaltations that are as important as the body in explaining who we are. It also leads to abuse and destruction of our planet and each other.

 

Religion is in the news daily at the moment, with this equinox week bringing turning points not just in the season, but in the two major Christian churches. Both the Roman Catholic and the Anglican churches are enthroning new leaders this week. How frustrating I imagine it might be for hardline atheists to see such prominence given to religious matters, I have seen several screaming that these men, these religions, have no importance or relevance in today’s world. Yet the devoted crowds filling St Peter’s Square tell another story. God is still highly relevant to many – most – people on this planet. To many – most – of us it seems simply obvious that we are not physical matter that randomly developed the ability to think and feel. We are part of a miracle that is in fact as much spirit as it is flesh. Our ideas, dreams, desires, feelings make up who we, and as much a part of our experience of the universe as are our bodies. Mystics the world over have always told us that our sense of self is the divine spark in us. Our consciousness is the cause and root of our being. This is the ultimate journey of exploration – into the self – and there are many teachers in the world to help us. These include the various drugs we use to shift how we feel and experience life. We can open and expand our consciousness until it connects with and enters other dimensions, non-physical planes of reality that have always been part of the human experience, and which were probably much more prominent in the lives of pre-modern people than they tend to be in ours.  If we refuse to believe in other levels of being, we keep our minds closed to them and do not go there.  But if we keep an open mind, and allow ourselves the chance to experience the interconnectedness of all life, the subtle play of sensual experience and emotional merging that are constantly underway, we unlock the gates of perception and move into fuller knowledge of our nature as spirit.

 

If we accept that spirit is real, we will be challenged to think again about all our prejudices and problems with religious teachings. Some people are so angry with, or hurt by, religion that they will not consider this. But we should remember that we are at a massive turning point in human history. We do not have to swallow the hell and brimstone scenarios propagated by certain religions. Instead we can learn from a globe full of spiritual wisdom, developed in every corner of the planet over millennia, but now easily accessible in our modern, technological age. We do not have to turn to priests and temples to get close to the divine. We simply have to give ourselves experiences that open and attune us to the vibration of connection and light. Experiences such as meditation, yoga, shamanic journeying and dancing, reiki, conscious sexuality, rebirthing, ritual etc. The way to knowledge involves a turn inwards, where the source of consciousness can be found. It is impossible to find externally, which is why all bleating from atheists about the lack of scientific proof of god is missing the point entirely.

 

Instead of buying into the conflicts between religious groups, or between non-believers and believers, we can set out to find the light, the truth – and the power and the glory – within ourselves. Equinox is a great moment, a natural spiritual moment offered by nature, when the energy of balance is prominent and available to us. We can know the balance of the material and the spiritual within ourselves, the balance of male and female, the balance of reason and intuition, giving a chance to the feeling nature within us to reveal its depth and wisdom, so helping to keep our critical, quick to judge, mental faculties in their place.

 

Growth in life is inevitable. So is decay and death of course. We do not have to stay identified with the isolated, death-bound little me. Start from the point that consciousness pervades and pre-exists the material universe, and we become less stuck within the bounds of our limited portion of it. We may have had experiences of ‘becoming one’ with nature, or another person through love/sexuality/drugs – in fact our consciousness can become one with anything we choose to merge it with. Although our bodies must wither, we can continue to grow in awareness, light, love and wisdom – if we choose to. Stepping into the light of spring can also be a moment of stepping into the light of spirit, of expanded awareness. Ultimately we can merge with the impersonal, universal being, die to our individuality (ideally temporarily, occasionally) and so see life from a much greater perspective. When we have felt and seen and known this merging with the totality, and recognise that this is what we are, what we will always be, then our attitudes in and approach to life will undergo a deep transformation that comes in many stages. Luckily the seasonal journey of the calendar is there to guide us and help us to deepen that transformation. At Spring Equinox we are poised to step into the light of our Selves, as the Wheel turns life changes, and changes us with it. We can engage the process or, like getting sick in the winter, be dragged along by it to where we need to be.

 

For life is changing. The old story of separation and domination is dying. A new world of higher vibrations, cosmic connections, fed by direct experience of our core unity and the role love plays in our evolutionary journey is being born. Step into it, this is the Springtime of Aquarius.

 

 

Light, Life and C21

The billions of stars in the night sky are points of light reflecting the billions of points of life here on earth. We live in a fractal universe – simple patterns evolve and revolve, never quite repeating the same thing twice. We see this in the galaxies, we can see this in nature – eg in trees, and we can observe this in humanity. From a basic pattern, common to us all, billions of unique individuals are born. We have a vast amount in common but we are never exact copies of each other.

 

We are born with the ability to feel, as we grow we develop the ability to think, to reason, to communicate through language… and we tend to forget that feelings are at the root of everything. Through feeling and emotion we communicate in ways that are more ancient and primordial than thought, logic and words. Through feelings a child bonds with its parents, through feelings we bond with animals and nature. Words are great for expressing what we feel and discover, but when language and logic rule we lose our innate ability to communicate through the senses.

 

Getting back to feeling, focussing on sensation, we can find the common bond that unites us all.

 

In the dark void of space, stars give out Light. Light carries information. Light gives rise to Life. The light of the Sun is directly responsible for life on Earth. No wonder our ancestors worshipped the Sun as giver of life. We are the information carried in those sunbeams learning to feel and think for ourselves, and developing the ability to give individual expression, through art, science and religion, to the unified energy that creates our existence.

 

The solar system is a field of light, a field of consciousness. We are the physical manifestation of that light. All our dreams, our hopes, our ambitions are the expansion of this light. Our fear and suffering is its shadow. We cannot have light without shadow. When we are stuck in the dark places within ourselves, we would do well to remember that they exist only because we are made of light.

 

We are through the portal of 2012, the most anticipated year in spiritual history. We can try to pretend life has not changed, but on every level it is trying to show us that the game is now different. We can persist in believing in division, in competition and conflict – yet the earth itself is telling us this game cannot continue. Our planet is a space ship, well stocked with fuel and resources, but the stock is not infinite and we have to learn how to manage it wisely. We can continue to believe we are separate beings who must fight for our existence, but we would do better not only to wake up to the underlying unity, and interdependence of ourselves and nature, but to work out how to bring that unity into the light, fully into awareness.

 

If we are still pretending that life is an accidental physical phenomenon we are going the way of the dinosaurs. Life is the manifestation of light, which some call divine consciousness, our existence with all the depth of feeling and sensation available to us, is an absolute miracle in a vast, cold, dark universe. Recognising this, aligning our lives with this fact, and doing what we can to create a world built from this principle is the work of the 21^st century.

 

 

religions are the prism

 

religions are the prism

through which divine light is spread

into a rainbow world of many faiths

in which divine words are said

 

but religion is the prison

in which our spirits can get caught

we need a brand new vision

that doesn’t reduce life to naught

 

and religion can be a poison

that infects our minds with fear

it’s led to so much war and anger

it persecutes the queer

 

yet religions are the prism

of divine light so pure

at their core there is a message

that is better not ignored

 

at their core there is a message

that life on earth is One

that love must and shall prevail

all things shall be done

and a golden age shall come

 

when we wake up from our slumber

see the miracle we live in

we will radiate in divine light

our struggles will be forgiven

and a golden age shall come