Merry Winter Solstice 2015!

Are you ready for the new energy coming our way?

I love this night, the longest night of the year.  I find it mysterious, empowering, challenging an exciting!

For the past few years, the Winter Solstice not only marks a change in season - it's officially winter even though it's the warmest and rainiest December I've experienced - it also marks a change in energy.  I used to think that the whole Solstice, Aztec Calendar, 2012 predictions, Stonehedge ceremonies were just a bunch of New Age hocus pocus...  but then I noticed.  I noticed the subtle and not-so-subtle changes in my life that are seeded at the Solstice.  I noticed my change in outlook.  I noticed my change of energy.  I noticed the changes in my clients, colleagues and friends.  I experienced major shifts in my energy work, with more Guides, more precise energy, more confidence.  Strong with this experience, I now consider this night very special and holy indeed.

I love how this night is quiet - and yet is filled with energy.  If you really stop to listen, you might just hear your Guides speaking to you.  You might just hear messages from your animal spirit tribes.  You might hear love notes from deceased loved ones.  This is a night of deep magic.  This is a night of hope and love and learning.  This is such a special night to connect the different pieces of you that you've tried to hide but are now holding you back.  This is a night of healing.

As I write this, I see the ancient Egyptian Goddess Isis coming forth with her deep blue wings, opened wide to welcome you in her embrace.  She is ready to help you on your journey to feeling whole, spiritually connected, empowered.  You only need to accept her Love and her help.

In her mythology, she travelled up and down the Nile River to find the pieces of her husband, the God Osiris, who had been dismembered by his vengeful brother in a struggle for the Egyptian throne.  Isis found all the pieces, created the first mummy, and the first mummification ritual to bring Osiris back to life.  In doing so, she also brought back Light (Osiris is the Sun God) and order to the Kingdom.  Hers was a journey of Love, of service, and deep life-giving magic for the highest good of all.  I love that she is stepping forward to be our guide this year!  She is one of the most ancient and powerful goddesses; let's get ourselves ready to work with her!

How?  Here are a few ideas:

• Give yourself some quiet time to reflect on pieces of you that you have left behind due to pain, shame, or the need to fit in.  Is it a funky, spunky part of your personality?  Is it your inner rebel?  Is it the part of you that truly believes in magic?  The part of you that believes in true love? Write about it in a journal, or draw a picture, or paint what this piece means to you.  Then close your eyes, and ask for help to make peace and find forgiveness.  Know that you are now strong enough to reintegrate that piece of you in your current life.  See yourself bringing that piece of you in your body.  Where does it fit?  Your heart?  A chakra?  Breathe it in, feel it... and take time to rest.  Now that you acknowledge that piece of you, what is possible for you?
• Put on your favourite music, and move your body!  Dance!  Too often, we allow our minds to direct our life...  for just a few songs, allow for your heart and your spirit to move you.  Find balance as you integrate your body, your spirit, your soul.  Enjoy your body and how it moves.  Speak lovely things to your body.  Listen for its wisdom.
• Light a deep blue candle in a gold dish.  Burn incense.  Meditate on your biggest dream, your biggest desire.  Ask for the courage and strength to find all the pieces of the puzzle, all the resources you need, and the wisdom to see your dream or desire manifest.  Remember that your quest will include action, not just wishful thinking.  Ask about your next right action step, listen for the answer, and DO IT.

Enjoy this special night and all the nurturing energies that are coming forth to help you to your own greatness.  Always remember your beauty and your magic.  Always remember that you are not alone on your journey, even though it might feel like it on the darkest of nights.  Walk through this new energetic portal with grace, and with a new feeling of wholeness and enchantment.

Do you need some extra help?  I'd love to help you uncover pieces of you that you've buried so deep you don't even remember what they are.  They hide under beliefs and patterns.  They might feel heavy or sluggish in your chakras.  They might feel like empty space in your heart.  See what can shift in a session with me.  Click here to book.

I am surrounding you in Love, and wishing you much Joy in this new year.

Goddess Blessings on this Equinox!

Happy Equinox!

Goddesses are both happy, joyful, bountiful...  AND can be angry and spiteful.  This is a time to honour them in all their humanity.  It's also a reminder to embrace our own Light AND Shadow.

“…but Jaz, what’s an Equinox?”  

The Equinox marks the time of the year when the amount of daylight is equal to the amount of darkness.  If my Latin is right (and I make no claims at being a savant, here)…  equi = equal, and nox = night.  Daytime is the same duration as night time.  On September 22nd in the Northern hemisphere, it marks the official beginning of Autumn, while down-under, it’s the official start of Spring.  And that’s the scientific explanation.

“…so, Jaz, don’t you typically write about spiritual feel-good themes?  What does the Equinox have to do with this?”

The way I celebrate my spirituality is informed not only by my intuition, but also by the cycle of Nature and by history.  These are the three most important aspects of my inner life, and what I LOVE sharing with you.  I turn to these elements when I try to understand what the heck is going on in the world around me, and within me.

And at this time, “what the heck” is a very mild way of putting things.  Haven’t you noticed your computer going haywire for the weirdest thing?  Have you not felt a rise in your anxiety, stress, anger or state of confusion?  Do you not feel that “something’s gotta change” - but you don’t know what, or when, or how?  All this jittery energy is right on cue with the Equinox, believe it or not. The Equinox marks a change in season, a change of mood, a change in self-care, and time for introspection.

The Cycle of Nature
At this time of year, the squirrels in my backyard are literally going nuts (yes, I went there!).  The birds, insects, all forms of critters are busy building their food cache and putting on weight either for the upcoming hibernation, or their migration to warmer climate.  As for the farmers, they are deep in harvesting time.  And so many homemakers and kitchen witches are busy drying herbs and canning preserves for the year ahead.  The natural world is abuzz with activity.  With this in mind, reflect on your life:

• Look at how you’re dealing with work, family, projects.  Do you feel there’s too much on your plate?  What can you save for later?  
• Take a good look at your daily activities: are you just being busy for the sake of keeping busy - or are you being productive?
• In your energy, health, and wealth: what are you keeping in reserve?
• This is also a time of balance. Daylight and nighttime are equal. Take time to center yourself and mirror the balance of the equinox in your life. Remind yourself to play as hard as you work and love your Light as much as you embrace your Shadow.

History
Traditionally, our ancestors have marked this time of year with a harvest festival and a time to reflect on the past season’s abundance.  They celebrated the second harvest and the start of winter preparations. They made plans to care for the tribe during the winter months, and decided on how the harvest would be shared.  Several tribes made preparations to change from their summer hunting grounds to their winter grounds, often following their source of food.  With this in mind, reflect on your life:

• When you feel the jitters and you want to move, change scenery, go somewhere warm for the winter - you are vibing with the migratory animals.  If you’re not moving for the winter, see if you can do a day trip or a weekend getaway.  Maybe you’d like to redecorate one room in your home, or take out the Fall decorations to change the scenery and feel of your environment.
• Give thanks for your many blessings and reflect on how you can improve yourself and your community.   
• Celebrate your business and personal successes.  Make an inventory of the seed-ideas you want to keep, those that need time or research before growing, and those that you want to release.  Clutter clear your office.

Spirituality, Intuition, and the Goddess
In Greek mythology Autumn is associated with the return of the goddess Persephone to the underworld.  Just the thought of loosing her beautiful daughter, even for only a few months, caused Persephone’s mother Demeter to act out in grief, anger and sadness: she created winter and her sorrow caused snow to cover the land and it was impossible to grow food.  Demeter went as far as making a pact with the Lord of Darkness and the underworld, Hades, to ensure that her daughter would be able to emerge to the surface for a few months every year - but how she grieved the absence of her daughter!

• To celebrate Demeter: acknowledge what gives you grief and anger at this time.  Write it out.  Yell it, cry it, dance it.  Keeping it in will only make matters worse, not only for yourself, but for the other people in your life who still depend on you.  Let it out, get the help you need…  and know deep down that “this too shall pass”…  Call upon Demeter’s energy to give you courage and strength to face your darkest fears.
• To celebrate Persephone: she was taken to the underworld against her conscious will.  Others decided her fate, and she had very little to say.  Acknowledge those things in your life where you feel lost, confused, and not in control.  Call upon the energy of Persephone to help you get out of the victim or martyr mode.  Ask her to keep your imagination and your curiosity open - so if Destiny brings you to a dark place…  what can you discover there that could be brought back up to the Light at a later time?  If you’re not in control of the situation, you can still be in control of yourself, your emotions, your reactions, and your fears.  What can you learn from your darkness?  Persephone can help light your way.

Can you see how tapping into the cycles of Nature, History and Spirituality can give sense to your every day life?  Does it help you understand the subtle energies that are currently influencing your mood, sleep patterns, choices and behaviours?  Do you need help navigating your darkness?  Would you like to learn to leverage your grief or deal with your jitters?  Let's talk.

I am wishing you an enlightened, joyful, and spirited Equinox.  May the Goddesses shower their gifts of wisdom upon you.