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Archive for August, 2012

Snakes Alive!

Posted in Spiritual Growth, tagged , , on August 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I have always has an ‘interesting’ relationship with snakes.

My initial difficulties stem from an early age. We lived in a street called ‘Adderbury’ and I was aware that in the summer there were lots of adders (the only poisonous snake native to the UK) at the bottom of our garden.

I can clearly remember walking down a narrow alley, near where I used to leave my bike whilst at school and having to jump over a small coiled snake. I was really scared and never used that short cut again. I know now that the snake I saw was a female adder, often more brown than the striking and classically marked male.

An episode at a Girl Guide camp in the New Forest did nothing to ease my fears. Whilst walking in the woods quite close to the camp I saw a huge grass snake (non-poisonous), with a body about 20cms diameter, curled up, sunning itself on a tree stump. I ran like hell!

My next significant encounter was during a visualisation/meditation as part of my yoga-teacher training in the late 1970s. Part of the visualisation was set beside a lake and we were asked to meet a creature that was to be your helper. Immediately a snake appeared. We were instructed to walk with the creature down to the water’s edge….. Yeah! Right!   The snake curled up my lower leg and I limped down to the lakeside, thinking to myself ‘this is stupid’! The next instruction was to pick up a bucket and full it with water. Then to let your creature carry the bucket back to the clearing……. Oh Yes! My imagination is now working overtime with various cartoon images of snakes carrying buckets with handles in their mouths; me limping away from the lake….. It was all too much and I started to giggle. At the end when the tutor checked with everyone he was at a loss to explain ‘why a snake?’ He had never encountered this before and I wasn’t the only person with a snake as a helper that day.

A short while later I had a lucid dream where I was bitten by a snake. I woke up sweating and in panic.

A year or two after that I had a similar dream. This time there was no panic. The thought was ‘no problem, there is a homeopathic remedy for that’.

Sometime later there was yet another similar lucid dream. By this time I had started to understand what the dreams meant for me.  This time the reaction was  “Oh b****r! That means another big spiritual transformation and shift! Damn!’.

The fear left over from my childhood has evaporated and replaced by fascination and curiosity – I even managed to touch a python about ten years ago at Paignton Zoo. I have seen snakes in the wild in the UK, Nepal and Japan,  in situations where they are seen as a blessing and signs of good fortune.

Dragons and nagas (serpent-like earth guardians) are now very close to my heart and are one of the main personal links I have to the subtle energies of Nature.

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Lammas Full Moon 2012

Posted in Earth Healing, tagged , , , on August 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The full moon on the 2nd August 2012 (0329 GMT) coincides with the traditional Celtic festival of Lammas and the Gaelic festival of Lughnasadh.

Lammas day, from sunset on the 1st August until sunset on the 2nd August is often thought of as the first harvest festival of the year in the northern hemisphere as it used to mark the end of the grain harvesting that began at midsummer.

In the Sovereignty Essences (see http://www.greenmanshop.co.uk) this time of year is linked to the Lammas Goddess. In Arthurian legends this is personified by Igraine, Arthur’s mother and similar to the energies of the Virgin Mary, Brighid and other female archetypes who are guardians of tradition and sustain and maintain life.

Light of Lammas by Simon H Lilly

This signature of the Lammas Goddess Essence helps with  the conception, gestation and birth of any project – whether it be physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. It activates the transformation of sexual energy into  creativity in all its aspects. It can shed light on the needs in any situation, allowing tasks to be planned  and skills to be managed.  It helps to highlight the underlying flow of communication that links people through generations in, either the same family, the same role or the same tradition, ensuring that a lineage continues.

The astrologiocal chart for this full moon indicates a shift from the fixed patterns of the last few months. With Saturn and Mars both in Libra there is an incesased willingness to fight for what is just and fair. This forceful combination is part of a larger pattern that shows communication on every level is speeding up. (Grand Air Trine: Mars/Saturn in Libra with Moon in Aquarius and Jupiter in Gemini). However there is significant karmic unwillingness on the part of people in leadership positions to let go of their fear (Mercury in Leo, retrograde, quincunx Neptune in Pisces). Conspiracy theories abound (see the video ‘Thrive’ as a good example of the people and corporations who are the real players) and those who have the real power to make big changes are unlikely to act as they wish to stay in control. The continuing backdrop of the consequences of the banking debacle has also reached a point where brave actions are required if we are going to emerge from this situation in the near future.

The full moon itself, from an astronomical viewpoint, happens when the Earth is between the Sun (the future) and the Moon (the past). This could be seen as the the world poised between the past and the future giving us the opportunity to see a way forward. Inspirations and perceptions gathered at any full moon  are best acted upon at the following dark moon when the Sun and Moon occupy the same portion of the sky, bring the archetypal male and female energies together to create something new.

The combination of all this challenges us to reflect on what we bequeath to the future generations. When we find changes are needed, we have two weeks until the 17th August (the next dark moon) to decide what to do and implpement them.

Astrologically, at the moment, the three slowest moving planets (Uranus, Netpune and Pluto) are all perceived as being in ‘retrograde’ motion. This is an optical illusion created by the orbits of each, from the Earth’s point of view. It has been noted over time that when any planet is in ‘retrograde’ the energies as we  perceive them, become internalised. This makes them harder to deal with and can create delays and frustrations.

Pluto stops being retrograde on the 18th September. This coincides with the Dark Moon in Virgo and is likely to mark a big shift both personally and globally. Astrologically, Pluto’s movements have reflected the banking mess, so hopefully the shift will be a positive one! Interestingly Neptune stop being retrograde on the 11th November, just before the lunar eclipse (and Dark Moon in Scorpio) on the 13th November. The following solar eclipse on the 28th is mentioned in previousposts). Uranus stops being retrograde on the 13th December which is also the date of the Dark Moon in Sagittarius………..  Mmmmmm.

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