Full Moon in Libra

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My Equinox

I absolutely love this time of year!  Autumn is by far my favorite season.  I love afternoon’s warmth, the smells on the breeze, and the Autumn Sunsets are magnificent.  I love the golden haze that cloaks the mountains.  The colours of the changing leaves on the trees. 

The Equinox is also one of my favorite Seasonal Celebrations.  The second Harvest Festival so we have an abundance of beautiful fruits and vegetables.   We are at the mid point of between the two Solstices where night and day are of equal hours.  Creating the perfect balance of Light and Dark.  Inviting us to go within and see what needs to be brought into balance within us.

Following the Seasons and honouring the journey is not just about celebrating the Festivals.  Honouring our bodies by eating the foods that are being harvested fresh.  Emotionally we need to go within to find what we need to let go of to help invite in more of what we want, so we can create the balance we need.  Spiritually, reconnect with the earth as the Wheel turns.

It is a bit like doing a stock take on ourselves.  We need to go through all the baggage and get rid of the excess “stuff” that is taking up much needed space to fill with more of what nurtures us and cares for us. 

Tonight, to honour the turning of the Wheel I will be cooking up a feast to share with the family and then watch the sunset before I go within and begin the process of shedding what is out of balance. 

However you choose to spend today, at least take a moment to connect with the earth and honour her for all of her abundance.

Ange

Archie Update #1

Hi Everyone,

I am really excited today and had to let everyone know why.  Mum is getting ready to work in her new outdoor office today.  I love the mum’s new office; it means on really nice days we get to spend all day outside.  Mum seems to like it too.  It was funny when it rained on the weekend mum had to run outside and cover everything.  We both got really wet. 

There’s something else happening today too.  I’m not sure what yet but mum is really happy and excited too.  Yesterday mum came home with bags of yummy smelling things again so I think it might be one of those special days.  Oooo I hope so, we all have so much fun on the special days.

I will let you all know what happens.

Bye!

Archie

Office Assistant

Essence of an Angel

Take a walk on the Dark Side.

As we approach the Autumn Equinox next week it also marks the time that we enter the dark half of the year.  Looking at the dark or shadow side of ourselves can be scary but we can not walk in the light until we have walked in the dark.  Remember the Equinox is about light and dark being equal, balanced so now is a good time to start looking within to find that balance.

Shamanic and Native American Celebrations and Traditions

Shamanism has always embraced and understood the true nature of darkness.  Shamans work with the darkness.  Journeys are usually done with a blindfold. In some cultures shamans were even deliberately blinded, to help them develop their other senses.  Some of our earliest evidence for people practicing shamanism comes from cave paintings, some of which are over 35,000 years old.  These paintings are deep inside caves, where people have deliberately sought out places of total and utter darkness.  In many tribal societies, shamanic rituals and ceremonies are always performed after sunset, and throughout the night.  For shamans, the darkness, by shutting off our outer visual sense, actually allows us to 'see' the reality that lies

beneath surface perception. 

The physicist David Bohm said that there are two levels of reality.

The surface reality we live in most of the time he called 'explicate' reality. Behind the explicate Bohm says lies a deeper reality which he called the 'implicate', where all things are connected together.  Shamans have known this for tens of thousands of years. Shamans the world over have similar terms; it is a central concept of shamanism.  Light, and external sight, tends to keep us focused in this, surface reality.  Letting go of light and external sight helps us to let go into the deeper, implicate, reality. 

Potentially the darkness is a place of great richness and riches.  Entering it draws us into introspection and contemplation.  If we work with it, it brings us a stillness of mind and an opening up of our other senses.  We can open up to what we would otherwise have overlooked and not noticed, and we can 'see' the truth below the surface of things.  

Famously of course, the psychologist Carl Jung said: 'Filling the conscious mind with ideal conceptions is a characteristic of Western theosophy, but not the confrontation with the shadow and the world of darkness.  One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.'  So shamanism has always embraced and worked with the darkness.

This is not to say at all that shamanism values the dark more than the light.  In fact shamanism (unlike the western religions) stays clear of making any such judgments, and sees all as having its place and part in the wheel. 

On a psychological level, embracing the darkness means embracing our shadow; the bits of our self that we deny or have locked away, and which lie unresolved and un-integrated.  Most people think they can ignore the shadow side.  Many religions and new age beliefs support this, and encourage people to focus only on the light.  In fact, we can never be whole by doing that.  Instead, the shadow becomes stronger the more we deny it.  At worst, we even project it out onto other people (hence the sky religions' willingness to judge and persecute others).  To quote Jung again: 'Projections change the world into the replica of one's own unknown face' (Aion, 1955). And so many people are uneasy with the dark, as in it lies their own un-owned issues, and so they find the decent into the winter darkness hard as it brings them into closer contact with their own unresolved issues and emotions.

★   Ange   ★

 

The Wheel of the Year - Autumn Equinox

The Wheel of the Year is turning and  here in the southern hemisphere we are approaching the mid-way point between the Summer and Winter Solstices, Mabon or the Autumn Equinox.  This is my favorite time of year.  The days are still warm, daylight is still in abundance and the amazing colours of the natural world changing around us.  

 

Why not add to your To-do-List some time to get outside and enjoy the beauty of the world around you.  While you are outside think about where you need to find balance in your life.  

Mabon - The Autumn Equinox

Southern Hemisphere - March 20^th

Northern Hemisphere – September 21^st

At Mabon (March), the God has died. The Earth has received His body and given up the last of the harvest. Leaves are falling from the trees and the Earth is preparing for the long, cold winter without the light of the Sun.

Mabon is the 2nd of the 3 harvest festivals.  It is also the Autumn Equinox, which means that day and night are equal.  This is because the earth is tilted at a right angle to the sun, and the sun is directly over the equator. In Latin, the word equinox translates to "equal night."   After the equinox the days begin to get shorter and the nights longer as the earth moves into winter.

Harvest festivals are celebrated by many cultures around the world since the beginning of time.

Symbols of the Season:

The harvest is a time of thanks, and also a time of balance, after all, there are equal hours of daylight and darkness.  While we celebrate the gifts of the earth, we also accept that the soil is dying. We have food to eat, but the crops are brown and going dormant.  Warmth is behind us, cold lies ahead.

Some symbols of Mabon include:

Mid-autumn vegetables, like Pumpkins and Zucchini’s

Apples and anything made from them, such as cider or pies

Seeds and seedpods

Baskets, symbolising the gathering of crops

Sickles and scythes

Grapes, vines, wine

You can use any of these to decorate your home or your altar at Mabon.

Feasting and Friends:

Early agricultural societies understood the importance of hospitality, it was crucial to develop a relationship with your neighbours, because they might be the ones to help you when your family ran out of food.  Many people, particularly in rural villages, celebrated the harvest with great deals of feasting, drinking, and eating.  After all, the grain had been made into bread, beer and wine had been made, and the cattle were brought down from the summer pastures for the coming winter.  Celebrate Mabon yourself with a feast and the bigger, the better!

Magic and Mythology:

Nearly all of the myths and legends popular at this time of the year focus on the themes of life, death, and rebirth.  Not much of a surprise, when you consider that this is the time at which the earth begins to die before winter sets in!

Demeter and Her Daughter

Perhaps the best known of all the harvest mythologies is the story of Demeter and Persephone.  Demeter was a goddess of grain and of the harvest in ancient Greece.  Her daughter, Persephone, caught the eye of Hades, god of the underworld.  When Hades abducted Persephone and took her back to the underworld, Demeter's grief caused the crops on earth to die and go dormant.  By the time she finally recovered her daughter, Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds, and so was doomed to spend six months of the year in the underworld.  These six months are the time when the earth dies, beginning at the time of the autumn equinox.

Inanna Takes on the Underworld

The Sumerian Goddess Inanna is the incarnation of fertility and abundance.  Inanna descended into the underworld where her sister, Ereshkigal, ruled. Erishkigal decreed that Inanna could only enter her world in the traditional ways, stripping herself of her clothing and earthly possessions.  By the time Inanna got there, Erishkigal had unleashed a series of plagues upon her sister, killing Inanna.  While Inanna was visiting the underworld, the earth ceased to grow and produce.   A vizier restored Inanna to life, and sent her back to earth.  As she journeyed home, the earth was restored to its former glory.

Of course, the dark nights are not on us yet. The equinox just signifies a tipping point.  What it also signals is a time to get ready. If the year were a day, then we are only yet at early evening.

Traditionally it is a time of taking stock.  What do we need to let go of or resolve, in terms of getting ready for winter?  Traditionally this was a time of making amends; of sorting out any unresolved disputes; of getting things in order; and of putting finances in order.

If you choose to celebrate Mabon, give thanks for the things you have, and take time to reflect on the balance within your own life, honouring both the darkness and the light.  Invite your friends and family over for a feast, and count the blessings that you have among family, friends and community.

★   Ange   ★

 

 

Join me on my Journey!

Namaste and Welcome to my Blog Space.  I am really excited about starting this journey and sharing it with you along the way.  To start with I thought I would let you how I ended up here and creating this space to share.

From Burnout to now....

Not so long ago, a couple of years.  I thought my life was going along wonderfully.  I was studying and I had a job that I loved.  My job allowed me to stay at a motel once a week on a Wednesday night and then Thursday off.  It was a dream job.  In fact it was my dream job the one I had wished for many years before.  Running a free Complementary Health Clinic, I was the admin officer for 3 clinics and I loved it.  I was setting up referral systems to mainstream health and I was a part of making the 2 industries finally come together and take each other seriously.  We had GP’s funding us and referring clients to us and vice versa. 

Home seemed to be going well.  My Eldest had started her 1^st year at Uni and was settling in well.  My youngest had also started at a new school and seemed to be adjusting and even fitting in having found a group of kids who she felt comfortable to be herself.  Hubby had been promoted at work.  We were living in gorgeous house in the bush.  I was even starting to look at grieving my mother’s death as we approached the anniversary of her death.  I finally felt safe and ready to deal with it not just suppressed it.  As much as I was loving life I was working nearly 50 hours a week as well as juggling my seemingly wonderful life it was beginning to burn me out physically and my adrenals on the brink of Meltdown.

 I had gone corporate without even realising it.  My wardrobe only had office wear and I even missed my best friend (since we were 6 in fact) father’s funeral because I had a meeting at work.

On the outside and on the surface everything looked perfect.  Little to us surface dweller’s knowledge there was a sess pool of shit brewing away underneath just waiting to boil over and boil over it did!

On the anniversary of my mother’s death I returned home after my night away to find an eviction letter in the mail.  We had been ordered to vacate the premises in 14 days, which just happened to be my birthday.  I felt the floor fall away from below me, my stomach lurched and my chest tightened.  I could not believe or even fully comprehend what I was reading.  Some how my arse found a seat and started to read and re-read the letter.  

I was gutted.  Somehow I managed to move us into my mother’s house that was sitting there and not settled since her death.  I tried to keep life together, but felt like I was failing miserably.  My marriage was falling apart and my girls were suffering all because, at least I thought, I was falling apart.

I felt so betrayed and such a failure that I could not string thoughts together let alone words.  Work was impossible.  I stayed upright for about 4 weeks and then bang my back finally gave out.  I was out for the count.  Adrenals fried, brain fried and now body following suit.  By this point I was dependent on hubby because my body had given out.  I felt broken and beaten by life.  I felt betrayed by the universe and that my whole life had been shaken up and thrown all over the place.  I felt like I had no control in my life.

Then from a dark deep place inside me I heard something, I wasn't sure at the time but I knew I had to listen.  I declared to the universe that I was not going to rely on anyone anymore and life was all about me.  It became my mantra.  I was having massages, hypnotherapy and counselling sessions, Kinesiology and what ever else I could book myself into.   My eldest and I had a road trip and went to ConFest!  We were attending Red Tent each month and even signed up for an 8mth Women’s Course too.  I slowly began to heal my wounds and learn to care for myself.

Hubby and I started counselling and began to heal our relationship.  We decided to have a re-commitment ceremony and we did it as a Handfasting, which was traditionally for a year and one day.  So we committed to working on our relationship during that time.

I am happy to say that we got through the year and one day and even celebrated our 10^th Wedding Anniversary.  It hasn’t been easy but we made it.  I wonder how sometimes. 

 

Now I am putting all my wisdom to work and I am re-filling the tanks and making real changes in my lifestyle that are finally starting to make a difference.

My body is beginning to wake up and feel again.  My head has started wake up and my soul is just being remembering its part of the whole equation too.  The road to recovery from burnout takes almost as long as the road to get there in the first place.  

I have reached that point in my life where I look around and ask who am I?  What makes me happy?  What makes me sad?  How is my life working out for me? 

From the outside it may not seem like I have not come that far, but on the inside I am stronger, happier and healthier. After all, when things looked perfect from the outside they were far from that on the inside so I am happy to shed the outer corporate layer and walk into the world as me.

I have a whole lot of choices, consequences, opportunities ahead of me, but I am excited about the next phase of my life.  I am becoming stronger and my life is beginning to be fun again.  I have completed my studies and am now completing my practical hours to become an accredited Health and Wellbeing Consultant.   I am at the point now that I can create whatever I want in my life and take it in the direction I want know.  As a mum with grown up kids and a Hubby that is happy for me to spread my wings who knows where I will be in another years time.  One thing I do know is that I won’t be hiding under the doona burnt out again.

So there you have it.  Now join me on my journey and see where we end up!

★   Ange   ★

 

Four Legged Pals

Lately I have been hearing of a lot friends talking about the loss of their faithful four legged pals. The love, friend and confidant of their lives, has been taken from them. My heart breaks when I hear this as I remember the grief of loosing my family members and dearest friends of the furry kind.

Last night after a long and stressful couple of weeks Chris and I were both feeling exhausted physically and emotionally. When we both were reminded of a beautiful memory of Harli, our German Shepard that shared our journey as our family grew.

It was a memory of her playing in “rain” with the girls when they were younger at the end of a hot day and we would hose out the Fernery making it into a rainforest during a rain shower (this was before the draught and water restrictions). The love and joy we remembered from such a beautiful time. We felt her presence with us and it reminded me that they are always with us when we need them most.

They never really leave us. Harli would always make us laugh and feel happy and it was exactly what we both needed to remember, the feeling and how to feel it. When life gets hectic it is our four legged friends that are there to remind us that there is still good in the world.

Meet Archie the Wonderdog

 Photo: Alison Templar

I’d like to introduce you all to Archie, my Office Assistant.

Archie is a Pugalier and is almost 10 years old.  My office would not be same without him.  Not only the office my life really.  He has rarely left my side since we got him, a tiny little pup that fitted in the palm of my hand.  He has been through some of the darkest times of my life with me as well some of the best days. 

Every morning starts with me rolling over to see him stretching out and giving me that look, you know the one, why are you waking me up it’s still early.  He then follows me outside where he does the rounds of the yard to make sure the perimeter is clear.

He then proceeds back to couch and goes back to sleep.  Giving me the eye if I dare disturb him while I go about my morning rituals. 

Then when it’s 9am and time to start work we head for the office.  This is where I sit down and start working and Archie …. Well Archie gets into his bed and goes back to sleep.  Which is where he stays until I get up from the desk.  I think I would be lost if he wasn’t there.  My little muse. 

The best thing about finally working from home I can now have my full time Office Assistant with me every day.  He listens very intently to all my
Articles as I read them to him before posting.  Nothing gets posted without his seal of approval.

When it’s time to knock off from work.  I put on my walking shoes and Archie don’s his harness and lead and we set off to meet Dad at work.  Once we meet Dad we can go off on all sorts of adventures.  Some of which I will share with you along our journey together.

So remember, as you read the articles, they have all been Archie Approved!