Priestess in Blue Jeans

Imbolc, Brigid & "A Habit of the Wildest Bounty"

There is a rich history associated with these early days of February.

Connecting with the deeper meaning and natural rhythms can provide us with sustenance in an age of hyper-speed, tech-connected disconnection.

Read the full entry for the magic of Imbolc, Brigid & "A Habit of the Wildest Bounty" in the Feminine Mojo Blog (and sign on to receive it via email - new posts will be posted there!).

Blessings Aplenty,

Jamie

Energy Weather Report: A good time to go gently

Are you feeling it? Between the mania associated with the holidays and the current astrology, the energies can feel more intense than usual. Given that the year has been generally intense, with lots of initiatory energies, that's saying something.

So, all in all, it's a really good time to go gently, be compassionate with ourselves so we can be more compassionate with others, reconnect to the deeper meaning, and remember to breathe.

At times like this, we may see more clearly the truth of Eckhart Tolle's humorous little gem about 'pain bodies' interacting with 'pain bodies' and a whole lot of triggering going on.

The Experience

Usually pretty empathic and clairsentient, I felt the build-up over the weekend. As I did normal errands on Sunday, like wandering through the grocery store, I felt the waves of anxiety and sadness from more than a few people I passed, to the point where it all felt a bit overwhelming or just kind of crappy.

I've also heard from quite a few of you about similar experiences, or about odd 'outbursts' from people around you, or about a lot coming up from within. At times like these, our usual sensitivity may feel magnified.

During these times, I usually notice that my sleep patterns are disrupted, I feel more emotionally sensitive (my own emotions and those of people around me), and I have more mental chatter. I can also easily feel more dispersed, like I'm spread too thin.

The Weather Summary - What IS up?

I always appreciate having some context -- like a heads up -- about what's helping to create an intense energy environment So what's that?

Well, the holidays and 'shopping season', with all of its attendant pressures and stresses around high expectations and, for many of us, financial stresses. Add to that a real sense of 'acclerated time', described quite neatly by Mayan cycles expert Carl Johan Calleman -- time not only feels like it's flying even more quickly than usual, but many of us have felt a weird, surreal sense of time-warping or bending as well.

Yesterday, we had a super-intense meet-up between Mars (assertion, drive, passion), Mercury (communication), and Pluto (deep, deep material, initiation, transformation-catalysts), adding spice and possibly stress to what's coming up from within and what's triggering from outside. And we're heading into the Solstice (12/21), which will feature a full-moon lunar eclipse. 

This all unfolds on the backdrop of Mercury Retrograde (more introspective or internal process). Astrology comes in handy not because it's predictive 'fortune-telling' (I'm not much for that), but because it offers a language for framing the energies we experience.

It's a recipe for heightened sensitivity (or what some might experience as tension or feeling more emotional), and a whole lot coming up...and out. Depending on how well we can be aware of what's coming up from within and what our triggers are, what comes out can be constructive, or decidedly unconstructive.

The Rx - What Helps

My own prescription when I feel this way is to go gently, slow down, take my practice back to the basics -- simple, sitting meditation; walking and/or qigong; full, conscious breathing; getting enough sleep; and using essential oils that are calming and grounding, like lavender, rose, and cedar, for example. And definitely heart-centering practices.

Things that soothe, and bring me back to heart-and-center, so I can respond rather than react, and receive the insight and intuitive guidance, and even magic, that's coming up.

And the always-challenging work of being aware of when I'm getting 'lit up' or triggered is even more important, so prayer, and meridien-based modalities like EFT (emotional freedom technique, or tapping) and TAT (tapas acupressure technique).

As ever, being aware and re-dedicating to the practice -- it's all practice -- is both the key and the doorway to navigating even intense energies with greater grace, graciousness, and ease, so that we're able to make the most of the opportunities that these times offer us.

The 'Power of Your Heart'  audio-session from the most recent Feminine Mojo Mystery School call offers some great practices along these lines, and the Journey of Persephone audio-session speaks a bit about initiations and includes a lovely guided visualization-journey. You can find both in the Feminine Mojo Mystery School archives.

Wishing you joy and wonder during this holiday season.

FeMojo Blessings,

Jamie

Image Credit: Fireworks image thanks to Goldengames12.

HeArtful, Passionate Leo New Moon

We're in the dark of the moon, hours before the Leo new moon (11:08 p.m. Eastern Time, U.S.). The new moon is a time of planting seeds, and each Lunar cycle is ruled by an archetype - in this case Leo and it's planetary archetype, the Sun.

According to Steve Nelson, Mythic Astrologer, this new moon, following the Lammas power-portal (August 6-8),is powerful -- it is "...a bridge is created between the old world and the new and a channel is opened for knowledge of the past to flow through and combine with the new spirit of the time to meld the consciousness of a new world."

It also, Nelson says, falls at the beginning of a particularly powerful two-year-period ruled by the High Priestess archetype -- think Mary Magdalene, Persephone, the Goddess, the Feminine. More on that in another post, coming soon. In the meanwhile...

Our Leo-Sun new moon seeds, intentions, or desires center around the qualities and themes of love, heartfulness, creativity, and 'shining our authentic self'.

Think of the Sun, radiating its light and warmth, calling the plants to stand up in their fullness. The Sun is also the center of our solar system, having been the 'attractor' that drew the rest of the planets into its field.

Out of balance, entrenched in ego-personality, Leo can be unhealthily self-centered, forgetting the generosity of spreading light, inspiration, creativity, and warmth.

In Taoist Five Elements, this is the Yang element of fire, the catalyzing element of alchemy and transformation, inspiration, Spirit, and vision. It's a highly creative element, since it transforms the idea (wood) into manifested form (earth). Fire is also the only element that helps to thaw what is frozen and transform what might have become too rigid (metal) into a more liquid, flowing, malleable state.

Generosity, grace, and graciousness are qualities of fire-element types, as are passion and joy. We might think of the benevolent, magnanimous, generous-of-Spirit leader as one embodiment of these traits.

Of course, fire with too much fuel and not enough fire-tending can quickly burn out of control, engulfing everything in its path. While this transforms, it also burns itself out and scorches more than a few things along the way! Unchecked anger falls into this category as well. We think of 'burning bridges' as an example of this manifesting in our life, or 'burning out' when we've not allowed the wise, rebalancing, and nourishing of Yin.

Not enough fire, though, and we feel as if 'the fire has gone out' or we've lost that 'fire in our bellies'. Fire, in whatever form it expresses in our lives, needs tending -- that means in love, creativity, purpose, inspiration, or otherwise.

In ancient Celtic traditions, these qualities were the realm of the fire goddess, Brigid -- the cauldrons of creativity, Love, inspiration, Spirit, and transformation. As in Taoist Five Elements, Brigid's cauldron or hearth fed inspiration to the poets, craftspeople, artists, and smiths. And there were always Brigid's sacred wells nearby for that nourishing Yin energy to balance the fire.

So these are some of the themes we can work with as we plant our Leo New Moon seeds and reflect on our intentions for the coming cycle:

* Your purpose - your own unique way of shining

* Heartfulness and Spirit within yourself, and in your experience

* Creativity, Love, inspiration, graciousness, inspiration, joy, and alchemical transformation

* Your unique magic (or mojo), and shining more brightly and joyfully

* What of these (and other Leonine-Sun-Fire qualities) would you like to experience more of?

* What needs to be alchemized and transformed in the creative cauldrons of fire?

Consider doing a simple fire ritual (candles work nicely) or visualization before the new moon to transform the energies of what needs releasing, and then working with the freed energy to feed your Leo new moon seeds and intentions.

As with everything, what we perceive and experience begins within us, and this new moon begins a cycle that is ripe for cultivating, embodying, and expressing these fine Leo-Sun-Fire qualities.

Happy Leo new moon! Here's to all heartful, artful, inspired, passionate, and Big-Loving pursuits!

Blessings,

Jamie

Find inspiration on purpose and power in the Ivy Sea VIP collection (there's a Leo New Moon and Leo Sun special going on right now), or schedule an individual session on bringing forth your own Leo-Fire qualities and purpose.

* Image Credits: Majestic Leo the Lion thanks to Vegetarian Friends & the Peaceable Table; fire photo thanks to Public Domain Pictures.

It's all about the Love

With Monday's new moon in Leo coming right up, we're reminded to reorganize around and touch into the Big Love, one of the big-hearted Leo's qualities. How do we let our big Love-Light shine more fully, so it warms and energizes everything we do?

I've just started reading Paulo Coelho's book, The Witch of Portobello. My partner gave the book to me as a gift, and when I was moved to put it on the top of my reading list this week, I knew it contained messages that are timely. That's so often how it works these days!

In keeping with the upcoming Leo new moon, an excerpt in the book leapt out at me. The wisdom is shared through one of the story's characters, Father Giancarlo Fontana. He was talking about the book's protagonist, and how she had a gift for "possession by the sacred."

"...to a greater or lesser extent, all creative human beings have such experiences, which are known as "possession by the sacred." Suddenly, for a fraction of a second, we feel that our whole life is justified, our sins forgiven, and that love is still the strongest force, one that can transform us forever."

He continues, "But at the same time we feel afraid. Surrendering completely to love, be it human or divine, means giving up everything, including our own well-being or our ability to make decisions. It means loving in the deepest sense of the word. The truth is that we don't want to be saved in the way God has chosen; we want to keep absolute control over our every step, to be fully conscious of our decisions, to be capable of choosing the object of our devotion. It isn't like that with love -- it arrives, moves in, and starts directing everything. Only very strong souls allow themselves to be swept along..." (p. 30-31)

I had to laugh a bit at that; it's been so true for me, recovering 'control freak' that I am. I know that I've yearned deeply for things, desired or wanted something, and of course had my own agenda for what that would look like and when and how it would arrive. Often, more and more, things take shape and unfold in quite a different way!

As Father Fontana says, though, "It isn't like that with love...".  Often, more and more, things take shape and unfold in quite a different way that I might have planned. Such is life in the Via Feminina during times of shapeshift and transformation.

It's a mighty practice to allow ourselves to be swept along by it, or, let Life and Love lead ... to let the Mystery move us.

At least in my experience, Life, Love, and the Mystery have a much more elegant way of unfolding things, so far beyond my expectations, so much more alive and creative. Yet it's a true 'thrill ride' to let go of the reins and trust amidst the uncertainty, to watch the signs, follow the guidance and clues, step by step.

How about you?

I'll explore more musings on the Leo new moon over the next few days - it's a great time to plant Big Love seeds.

Love,

Jamie

Spark your own Big Love - Check out the wisdom and inspiration in the Ivy Sea-Sophialon VIP collection (there's a special going on now).

* Image Credits: NASA public-domain photo of our Sun, and Antonio Canova's Psyche & Eros (The Louvre)

And it's a mighty practice to allow ourselves to be swept along by it, or, let Life and Love lead ... let the Mystery move us.

At least in my experience, Life, Love, and the Mystery have a much more elegant way of unfolding things, so far beyond my expectations. Yet it's a true 'thrill ride' to let go of the reins and trust amidst the uncertainty, to watch the signs, follow the guidance and clues, step by step.

How about you?

I'll explore more musings on the Leo new moon over the next few days - it's a great time to plant Big Love seeds.

Love,

Jamie

Spark your own Big Love - Check out the wisdom and inspiration in the Ivy Sea-Sophialon VIP collection (there's a special going on now).

* Image Credits: NASA public-domain photo of our Sun, and Antonio Canova's Psyche & Eros (The Louvre)

Wild, Wild Energies (and More on the Way)

Well, this has been a wild two weeks, I don't mind saying. From what I've been hearing from different people, maybe it's been that way for you, too?

There is a lot going on astrologically, so that no doubt contributes to the dance. In the last few weeks, Mercury went direct (after its retrograde in Taurus), and Saturn is readying to shift out of retrograde and move forward this weekend.

Adding to the fiesta-kind-of-feel, Uranus -- this Aquarian's co-ruling archetype -- just shifted from Pisces into Aries (a very different energy) yesterday, the same day in which we saw a brilliant full moon in Saj.

Plus, there seems to be a good bit of collective tension brewing, over the economy, political and corporate shenanigans, and ecocidal bungling  of the Gulf oil spill response. These things also add to the energetic atmosphere, all just fomenting away in the collective cauldron.

Since we're connected with all that's dancing, shifting, brewing, and moving around us, through that 'morphogenetic fields' Rupert Sheldrake and other scientists and mystics talk about, this all contributes a particular type of energetic (and thus mental) atmosphere.

As both a participant and an observer, I've noticed some big shifts, a flow of ideas and insights, and what I'd describe as a gathering momentum. Lots of things coming up for release or energy shifting.

For example, just in these last two weeks, I've been moving forward on a new vision for my livelihood and business based on ideas, insights, and momentum that have been gathering force and clarity since the start of 2010. The whole concept really got a boost of clarity and momentum in the last several weeks. Here's how it all unfolded:

During the couple of weeks of Mercury retrograde in Taurus (my rising sign), I received and sat with a couple of concepts, like Reclaiming Your Feminine Mojo, that really focused and wove together themes and activities that have been unfolding since December. I worked with the new concept behind the scenes.

Then on the 13th of May, I loaded some new intro text on Ivy Sea-Sophialon Online. As soon as the new intro 'went live' online, I felt as though my heart was gripped with terror, as if the Inquisition was going to knock the front door down and drag me out by the hair. The Inner Shaman-Priestess says, "Okay then, time to clear that one!" Whether ancestral or race memory that we all hold in our cells, that was a biggie -- one of those memory patterns that keeps a lot of us playing small and silent. So I did several energy and clearing practices on that one. A friend tells me, "Well, I guess that tells you you're on the right track!"

The next day, Friday the 14th, I was in the zone, refining the intro text, doing some redesign around the new Reclaiming Feminine Mojo concept, loading it online (with none of the afore-mentioned heart-gripping terror!), and brainstorming an aligned project with a friend and collaborator (to be launched in June!).

That sense of focus continued, with a high level of energy and momentum. At the same time, over that five-day period, two other 'biggies' -- those embedded patterns that lurk and hold us back -- came popping up for release and clearing.

In one case, I experienced several instances of people strongly advocating a particular agenda and course of action, each with a sense of urgency. They weren't telling me what they wanted to be doing; they were telling me what they thought I should be doing. In the course of each interaction, I noticed that I was feeling the pressure of their strong opinion and urgency, and could feel myself teetering off my own center and that momentum. Suddenly, I was second-guessing myself.

At the same time I was noticing how it felt in my own body -- and that I didn't necessarily agree with either of them. What came up clearly was this guidance: "Notice this. See how you have regularly allowed others' agendas and sense of urgency and pacing take you out of your own guidance, intuition, and instinctive pacing." Big 'aha'. I did see it and feel it in those moments; and I saw how I'd acquiesced many times over the course of my life -- away from my own intuition about the best approach, timing, or next step and into someone else's agenda. The Inner Shaman-Priestess said, "Okay then, time to clear that one!" Another round of energy and clearing practices ensued.

Over the course of that week, I noticed I felt more calm, centered, and present, particularly when I tuned into and went with my intuition and energy flow. The insights and ideas for my work with clients and on my own emerging, re-visioned business concept were flowing. I was able to go with the focus and momentum, and relax and refocus when my energy guided me to do so. I could be in interactions with others, notice what was coming up, and notice where I could either 'trigger' and react, or just be present and not take on the energy or urgency or projections.

None of this is particularly new to me, yet I did experience the increase in intensity these past two weeks, as well as a heightened clarity of when something felt aligned for me and when it didn't. As always, it gives me a renewed respect for the blending of energy and shamanic practices with every day 'doings'. Like another rung of the evolutionary spiral, remembering how we dance and co-create with Life based on how we perceive and how we respond.

Attuning to, observing, and honoring the ways we each receive information and are guided by our intuition and instinct is powerful.

My astrologer friends tell me these wild energies will be continuing, inviting us to see, engage, be present, create, practice, and dance in new ways.

The dance continues...

Blessings on the Way,

Jamie

Image/Photos: Mt. Etna volcano pic from USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory. Pleiades pic photographer unknown. Sirius pic by Yuuji Kitshara

New Moon - Authentic Vision, Creative Imagination, Inspired Action

"This is a time to discover /rediscover our soul’s purpose
and orient toward realizing our ultimate dream."

~ Steve Nelson, Mythic Astrologer, 2/28/10

We're just 30 minutes or so past the new moon in Pisces, so entering a potent seed-planting time centered around authentic vision, creative imagination, and the inspired action that grows from the wellspring of Spirit within and around us.

Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, the end of one journey, where the wisdom gained from our walk around the wheel informs and inspires the next cycle of activity. Pisces is associated with psychic and energetic sensitivity, the mystical awareness and experience, the rich guidance from the unseen realms, and the spiritual path. It is the archetypal well from which the waters of deep compassion are drawn. If we're operating from shadow, it can mean overly porous boundaries, illusion, and even addiction (to numb and avoid the sensitivity).

Working with the lunar cycles is one way we can ground and center ourselves in what otherwise can feel like a whirlwind. It's also one way to make sure 'time doesn't get by us' when it comes to our highest visions and deepest values. And Time does seem to have stepped on the accelerator!

At the new moon, we open to our higher wisdom (and Divine Guidance if we're so inclined) to receive the visions, insights, and intentions that we plant like seeds, tend, and watch grow to ripeness and harvest.

Each new moon has its archetypal energies, and with Pisces, just before the Spring Equinox, we open to more inspired, authentic vision, and work with the great gift of our creative imagination, to guide wise, soul-aligned action that is compassionate and dedicated towards the higher good (the Aquarian energy that precedes Pisces on the wheel).

"Support abounds for those with dedicated creative purpose.
We are getting ready to ride the tide of the imminent Spring thaw."

~ Caroline Casey, Visionary Activist, Coyote Network News

So, to what will you dedicate your 'creative purpose'? What small green shoots want to be tended in your Life-garden this year? The answer doesn't come from your mind; it's not a matter of intellect, which brings old  (albeit sometimes valuable) news. Yep, that's the kicker, isn't it?

The inspired vision and intentions you seek -- that will inform unfolding action -- comes from within, and through that deep center and its imaginal playground, a greater wisdom and genius than the mind can offer.

Starting this week as the new moon begins to show its crescent, and through this lunar month, ask for vision, dreams, insight, and guidance to illuminate the joyful way through this next year. The energy of Mars (March, and Aries' ruler) is building for release towards a higher, devotional cause (lest it be misspent in a youthful and reckless jaunt). What vision and wisdom will guide it? And towards what?

The next few weeks are perfectly timed and energized for this work of imagining, receiving vision, and shaping the intentions that will guide the energies of the coming months -- in a way that has a feeling of joy, heartfulness, and purpose for you.

For inspiration and deep-Feminine juju to get you into the Pisces New Moon, visionary zone, check out the new SophiaLogues at Ivy Sea-Sophialon.

Blessings on the Vision Way,

Jamie

Candlemas, Venus Year & Diamonds in the Dark

"The more powerful the vision,

the more powerful the work that results."

Roderick MacIver (Heron Dance 335)

Each year, I write about the Candlemas cross-quarter celebration, called by different names in various traditions. You'll find previous entries at my Sophia's Children blog.

Candlemas, or Imbolc, 2010 offers unique, rich opportunities for clearing, visioning, and setting or empowering our intentions. Why? Because it follows a powerful lunar and solar eclipse cycle, and occurs in what Steve Nelson, author of Mythic Times, calls a 'Venus Year' -- a time in which "all things Venusian prosper."

Let's look at the symbolism, in which we can ground ourselves for rich inspiration as we look into this Venus Year, 2010.

Candlemas is a cross-quarter time -- midway between the Solstice and Equinox, or vice versa. Traditionally celebrated in the first several days of February, it's 'exact' when the Sun reaches the mid-point of Aquarius. So in 2010, Candlemas is February 1-4.

Candlemas symbolizes the beginning of the new cycle, the 'diamonds' of light that we birth in the darkness of inner Wisdom and externalize in new expression and inspired action. The seeds of Spring have already begun their journey upward through the frozen soil of Winter, ending the season of fallowness with new life ready to bloom.

Candlemas has also been a traditional time of purification -- releasing that which no longer serves, including old thought-forms, patterns, habits and beliefs -- and planting those 'vision seeds' that will grow in the new cycle that follows.

Traditionally, Candlemas rituals include those elements: water for purification, an intention to release what no longer serves, fire (candles) for inspiration and transformation, and those vision-seeds that come as diamonds from within, ready to illuminate your path forward and shine through new expression.

That Candlemas in 2010 follows a powerful eclipse cycle is considered to magnify the potentials and energies. Steve Nelson calls eclipses 'Mother Nature's re-set button' because, energetically and psychically, 'the old' is eclipsed, and we get a re-boot to allow for something new to take root, or take shape.

Nelson writes, "When an eclipse occurs there is much greater possibility for eliminating patterns of thought and behavior that have troubled the world. This is an opportune time to clear away what stands in way of our dreams being realized. The more old patterns are eliminated, the more energy is freed for a new creation."

Add to this the idea of 2010 being a Venus Year (sign on to Steve Nelson's newsletter for more on this in coming weeks), and we have a Motherlode of inspiration and beautiful potential with which to fortify our vision-seeds.

Venus, in addition to being related to the Great Goddess and a symbol for the Feminine, also stands for -- as fiercely as it takes -- beauty,  harmony, prosperity, love. Wonderful characteristics and energies to weave through your intentions and visions.

Astrologer Kelley Hunter, in her early January musing, reminded us that Venus, like Pandora and other Feminine images, is often shown with a mirror, along with other symbols of beauty, wisdom, and abundance.

Traditionally, through a Patriarchal lens that has misunderstood, feared (or envied), and thus exiled the Feminine, the mirror has been thought to symbolize vanity. And perhaps this is one perspective -- the dangers of allowing ourselves to be guided by our shallower ego-mind.

Yet when I reflected on this, what arose within me was another possible perspective: That Venus with her mirror is signaling to us that all that we see is but a reflection of what's within us. We look around and see in that 'mirror' a reflection of ourselves, our own Divine essence, our thoughts and projections. With this wise reflection, we're able to make inner-adjustments, so that what we're projecting and experiencing is more beautiful, harmonious, loving, and abundant.

As within, so without. These are the inner Mysteries of the Feminine which nourish, inspire, and wisely guide the conscious Masculine -- wise, inspired 'doing' begins within.

Grounding ourselves in these celebrations throughout the year allows us to center ourselves as time and events around us seem to accelerate and magnify themselves. If we ground ourselves in 'clock time' and to-do lists, in the context of news headlines, we can easily find ourselves overwhelmed.

The antidote to that more myopic view and its understandable overwhelm is an expanded vision, and rooting ourselves in -- or devoting ourselves to -- something greater than ourselves, greater than any detail or circumstance. Then our more detailed manifestations and 'doings' reflect those greater, deeper values of love, harmony, consciousness, beauty, and abundance.

Happy Candlemas. Happy Venus Year. Happy Venusian Visioning!

Jamie

* Photo/Image Credit - Eclipse January 15, 2010 - Randity.com

The perfect time for power-intentions.

If you're feeling a little bit behind in setting your intentions and resolutions for 2010, you can relax. Not only can you cut yourself a little slack because of 'accelerating time' (which means, blink, ten days have passed), but also because later this week opens a several-week period considered to be an ideal time to focus in on your new year intentions.

While I truly believe that any time is a great time to set or revisit intentions, vision, and resolutions (which I prefer to call 'dedications', as in 'what am I willing to dedicate myself to'), I also believe that there are particular times or 'portals' in which the macro-energies are especially supportive.

The upcoming power-portal begins on January 14-15 -- a new moon (always a great time for intention-planting), a solar eclipse (magnifies the other energies), and a few other juicy happenings in the macro-speres of influence that reverberate for weeks or even months into 2010.

Since these 'power times' are powerful, and have an effective on us whether we're consciously working with them or not, we may as well work with them consciously, with a greater focus on intentions, thoughts, and a vision that feel energizing and positive to us. The alternative is to default to old habit, old beliefs, and old 'culture think' that feeds off of fear and scarcity belief, and we can read the headlines or feel the knot in our guts to see where that's gotten us.

Said another way: Later this week is actually a particularly great time for consciously tuning into and refining intentions and dedications for the coming year! (I'm in a bit of a swirling space with the shifting energies right about now - can you tell? My power-intentions are getting shaken and stirred in the cauldron of creative potential. Yee ha!).

Given that now offers a great opportunity, let's stop clinging to the side of the pool, climb up to the high diving board, walk together towards the very edge, and prepare to take the most beautiful, elegant dive into new and wonderful possibilities for 2010.

What gets you there? Intentions, vision, aligned thought and focus, which flow into inspired, graceful action (and get you through those few gnarly, growling twists and turns).

Make some space on your calendar for Thursday and Friday (I'll be doing it, too!), and open to the intentions that really want to live in and through you in the coming months -- that come from your very heart and soul, not just old thought-forms from the memory bank of yesterday and yesteryear. Write them and imagine those intentions taking shape, until you've got them worded and envisioned in a way that stirs your heart and passion and energy in the best of ways.

And then let them evolve into (or from) a full-fledged, whole-bodied vision that pulls you forward, that invites the mighty forces to come to your aid, and that gives you a new, fresh sense of commitment and resolve. Something that feels really, really delicious.

Happy power-intentioning! Want some extra guidance and inspiration? See the link below.

Jamie

Photo credit: Thanks to Carlitosway85 for the Creative Commons fiery fractal image!

Don't feel like going it alone? Send along an email to schedule a session or series (see the special new-year offer!), or register for the upcoming Vision & Manifestation tele-series and good-juju manifestation tele-circle, to focus and empower your new year's power-intentioning and visioning!

Rituals for a new year & new decade

Happy 2010 and happy new decade!

We ushered in the new year and new decade with a powerful full "blue moon" and a lunar eclipse. Did you feel it? Pretty powerful energies, and the timing makes these events a sort of "power portal" as well.

And that means an even better time than usual for powerful rituals that really help us to 'let go of the old' and open to new and wonderful possibilities and perspectives. Rituals can be powerful both personally, and for our group or business as well.

Not all that long ago, I would have told you that I wasn't the ritual type. Yet this very decade that we've just ended gave me the gift of recognizing and experiencing how powerful conscious ritual can be. And fun, joyful, magical and satisfying, too. As I bridged the old year and decade with the new, rituals were an important feature.

The Double-Oh Decade - 2000-2009

I don't know about you, but as I looked back at the last decade -- 2000 through 2009 -- I was pretty amazed at all that took place, both for me personally and also collectively. And that 'look back' was part of -- and inspiration for -- several powerful rituals. I'll share a bit about them, in case they're helpful as you release the old and open to the new.

Time Magazine called the 00s The Decade from Hell, recounting a historical blend of global and national events that affected many people around the world. Pretty dramatic, and they give their reasons.

For me, the 00s decade was a blend of heaven and hell, amazing grace and blessings woven in with some of the steepest challenges of my life. The last decade started off with my own 'near death experience' -- coming face to face with my own mortality and the resulting shockwaves that rippled  through the following years, unhinging my ideas about myself, what had motivated me up until then, and my sense of connection to my vision, inspiration, motivation, and the Divine. That's the short list. There I was, bobbing along in 2000, and suddenly got sucked into the abyss -- the Inanna Journey.

Like Inanna, the journey strips all layers of 'worldly identity'; she dies to her former sense of self and is born anew. Hence, the 'hell' part of it.

'Hell' tends to stick with us mentally, energetically, emotionally, and physically. That's where the 'clear, release, and let go' rituals are vital as we begin new cycles of experience and expression.

Inanna's Journey, and  my own, also featured the ascent from the Underworld, stumbling back above the surface with parts of your psyche wiped clear, and finding your way in the "three-dimensional world" with a completely different worldview ... that hasn't fully taken shape or become conscious.

So my walk through the mid-to-late part of the recent decade included just that: an ascent from the depths, and literal re-membering, and then learning to walk in the world with an emerging new perspective. In the more recent years, and this past year in particular, I've slowly been able to see more of the journey with the blessing of hindsight, even as I continue to emerge.

That hindsight perspective also highlights the grace, the blessings, and the many ways that Underworld journey reshaped me, carving new valleys and opening new facets of my being that had been long protected or locked away.

The rituals I did before and following the 'blue moon eclipse' new year featured both -- a recounting of all of it, a releasing and letting go; noticing what I appreciated, what I gained, and how I grew; and also noticing what habits of thought, energy, and behavior were no longer serving me.

New Year Rituals - Emerge & Take Flight

Letting go:

In many spiritual, energy, and shamanic traditions, you have to 'empty' before your cup can be filled anew. To try to move forward without releasing what's no longer needed, is like trying to walk forward with cement blocks tied to your feet. You can do it, but you never quite get the momentum you're really needing. I learned this the hard way!

So one ritual, or one part of your ritual, might begin with releasing and letting go, to prepare the 'container of You' to receive something new and even more wonderful, and that which is more appropriate for you at this stage of your journey. This can be specific, or more general, or include both.

All three of the rituals that I did between New Year's Eve and yesterday included some facet of letting go to make space. One ritual addressed it specifically: I wrote down the radically abridged version of 'my story of the last decade' and then burned it. As the last bits burned to ash, I literally felt a heavier energy lifting out of me. No joke; it was palpable. Try it (remembering to burn it carefully!). You could also dissolve it in water or bury it in the earth for a slightly slower metamorphosis.

Coming present:

This is straight-forward, if very counter to where most of us spend our time (in the past, in the future). Coming present is coming into your body, into the present moment and life as it exists, and releasing all judgment or resistance to what is. This puts you present, with a sense of allowance. Eckhardt Tolle's work is a good guide on this if you need some inspiration.

Why is this important? Again, I learned the hard way, so can just share what I've experienced. You've no doubt heard the saying, "What you resist, persists"? Very true. See above for 'cement blocks' reference; resistance wastes energy, wears you out, and as the Borg on Star Trek NG say, is pretty much futile.

In ritual, you can do your release, and then come present by proclaiming, "I embrace my current reality as it is, releasing all judgment and resistance, and coming fully into the present."

Looking forward:

Once you've cleared space and come present, you're ready to open to new vision and manifestation intentions that aren't bogged down by old stuff. We know the importance of intentions and vision -- we can manifest only what we can conceive of and envision. Our thoughts, words and actions flow from this wellspring.

The delicate part of visioning and manifesting is having a balance of the specific and having a sense of releasing expectations and outcomes. And every teacher I've ever had -- for good reason (again learned through trial and error!) -- reminds us to always include "this or something better, for the benefit of all, and under Grace."

Making it Yours:

If it calls to you, shape a ritual or series of rituals that really allow you to release the old, come present, and open into a beautiful new cycle of experience and manifestation.

And if you'd like some help with that -- individually or for your work or business -- I'd be delighted to help you craft something or even lead you through a visualization or two.

Blessings for a wonderful, blessed, joyful 2010. May this be the start of the Decade of Heaven on Earth, and may it begin with each of us.

Jamie

Scorpio New Moon: Phoenix & Magic

Today is the New Moon in Scorpio, the sign of the Shaman, the shapeshifter, the Magician, and the Phoenix. Or the Scorpion.

I started tuning in a bit more to the lunar cycles last year, though I'd been familiar with working with the New Moon to set intentions each month. Paying more attention to natural cycles is really helpful as time seems to be accelerating (and according to some sources, actually is accelerating) and being so technology centered makes us feel a bit detached and unrooted.

Noticing the moon phases literally lifts our perspective from what's going on around us, and if we have a clear night, we're also fed by the beauty of the moon and stars. Suddenly things don't seem quite so claustrophobic.

Depending on the source, the Scorpio archetype, like Pluto its 'co-ruling' archetype, is often mired in fear. Both are intense archetypes, associated with life and death cycles as well as intense feeling, change, release, and transformation.

But I don't find that finger-wagging gloom-and-doom all that helpful, to be honest. I'm more interested in the archetypes for how they guide us, how they help us to rise above, or dive below, so that we can find as-yet undiscovered treasure and bring it out for expression in the world.

Scorpio's symbols are the scorpion and the phoenix: the former 'unredeemed' and the latter 'risen' to its higher, fuller potential. The Scorpion is moody and likely to zing-and-sting you pretty nastily if caught off-guard; it's sting is its protection. The Phoenix has risen to its potential as Shaman, plumbing the depths for magic that has been lost and is ready to be found and expressed.

So the new moon has long been seen as a powerful time to set intentions that can grow to fullness with the moon, and then be harvested as the moon wanes. That means at least once a month, you're visiting with your intentions -- the seeds you'd like to see bear ripe fruit in the coming days, weeks, or months.

At the Scorpio new moon, you might play with intentions around recovering lost magic, adding magic to certain areas of your life, and renewing what's sacred in your life and making mundane things sacred. Since it's the archetype of Shaman, rituals are a natural complement.

It's also a great new moon for recognizing connection with all that is, including vast support from the Unseen -- whether in the form of spirit allies, ancestral allies, or guardian Angels. Call in support from allies one and all to aid in the manifestation of heartful, soul-aligned intentions in a joyful, magical way.

* Where would you like to experience more magic in your life?

* What deep feeling would like to find heartful expression?

* Where could adding ritual enhance your sense of connection and meaning?

* What needs too be released or transformed to allow greater magic, joy, and soul-aligned expression?

* How would you like to be an agent of transformation?

For more insights on the Scorpio new moon and prevailing 'energy opportunities', visit my friend Kim Gould's Love Your Design blog. She's a master at her craft.

Blessings on the Way,

Jamie