Power of Trip to the Sea

© ML Monroe 2016

Three months ago, a couple of friends contacted me. They were coming to the area in November and were wondering if I wanted to get together with them. Easy answer to that ~ Of course! As we talked, we decided to make an overnight trip to the beach ~ which would work out great for both of us since I would be their driver and they would make all the arrangements.

Little did we know as we made our plans the tenor of our travel time. Each of us brought with us some recently troubled or troubling experiences. Besides our own issues, the weather has been stormy and we're all still a bit off balance from both the elections and the holidays. Whew! Lots going on.

When we arrived, we barely settled ourselves in and set off for a walk on the beach. The rain that was misty turned to a downpour. The wind picked up and the temperature seemed to dip. A walk was simply not in the cards. So I snapped the picture and we set off to shop and find somewhere to have dinner.

Yet that simple moment when I was on the beach, looking at the sea and the fog healed my troubled heart. I felt calmer, stronger, safer even with the wind battering us with rain. When we got into the car, my friends mentioned the same thing. Simply being at the sea ~ Mama Ocean, Yemaya ~ we each and all breathed in Her Presence and it was enough.

What creates turmoil in your life? How do you work through it? Is there a place you go to find healing and solace? Where is it? Why do you think it has an effect on you?

All Souls Day of the Dead

All Souls Night by Loreena McKennitt

All Souls Day. The Day of the Dead. Another day to remember and honor our dead. Another day to recognize the thin veils between the worlds. An electrifying time of year as people feel the energy and pressure of those on the other side of that incorporeal veil.

Loreena McKennitt's song All Souls Night describes today in haunting terms:

Standing on the bridge that crosses
the river that goes out to the sea.
The wind is full of a thousand voices.
They pass by the bridge and me.

We find comfort in our search to know what's happened to our loved ones after death. We long to know they are safe, holding space for us. This day we honor our ancestors ~ as well as reiterate they are on the other side of the veil. It's a time to visit, to acknowledge our continued connection, to express our gratitude, to heal.

After spending most of our year in the solid reality of our daily lives, having a day or two where we feel or hear or see those who have gone before us can strike us as eerie, scary, unnerving. Many of our workaday worlds teach us that death means our loved ones, our ancestors are gone. So when we feel the breeze of their presence or hear a long lost voice or catch a glimpse of someone clothed with familiar clothing, we are shaken and assume we are crazed.

Not today. Not in this brief season from All Hallows Eve to All Souls Day or the Day of the Dead. Now we allow ourselves to be comforted by the watchfulness of our ancestors. We have them momentarily near us again. Watch for them. Thank them and let them go. Today is the perfect day for that.

Which of your ancestors do you most miss? To whom do you feel connected? How does this season show up in your life? How do you sense the passing of the souls on the bridge between the worlds? What rituals do you use to honor them? to let them go?

Leaving Stars

Images of the night sky always rumble deep within my being ~ as though the night time releases me to purr. Top that incredible sensation with Victor Hugo's insight that stars remain within when I open to the night ~ my innards unsure whether to implode or explode.

The brightness of the stars within the dark create imaginative heat when their light touches us. Yet we know that what appears to us in the night sky is an echo of what was and, despite what flickers before our eyes, is now darkness and cold.

And yet.... and yet.... we continue to wish on the stars, to look to them for answers, to place our hope in them. They remind us of both our fleeting presence and our quest for immortality.

I've always loved the night time. Velvet darkness surrounding me. Sounding silence penetrating my soul. Time standing still. Since earliest childhood, I've found myself deep within its solitude.

Hugo's insight hums within me. I've felt, as continue to feel, the pull of the stardust at my core as it brands me a Sister of Night. Tattoos star trails on my soul. Serenades my being with star song.

What do you think of the night? How does it affect you? Do you feel night within you? Can you feel the stars left within you? What time of day speaks most loudly to you? Why?

Loving Your Soul

Teabag Tarot....what an incredible, crazy, wonderful statement to awaken to!

Love. Your. Soul.

The words themselves, run together into a sentence as they are, appear simple to the point of being a no-brainer. Yet the number of people I see who clearly do not love their souls astounds me.

Clearly I don't always love my soul. I don't think about it, consider how the consequences of my actions reflect the care I have, or do not have, for my soul. When I allow stress to take over my life to the point where I eat everything in sight or sit around the house in a stupor....then I'm not showing care for my soul.

I don't show care for my soul when I disrespect myself. That can be by talking in a way that others may approve of, but that is not healthy for me ~ like gossiping or making fun of others. Or it can be the way I carry myself, from wearing clothing to "fit in" to using language I may or may not otherwise use or smoking. It isn't about whether or not I do any of these things, the actions themselves are neutral. It's about my intention when I do them.

Loving my soul ~ loving your soul ~ takes practice and presence. It takes paying attention to my thoughts and intentions. Sometimes it also means taking time to be alone so that I can check in with my soul, recognize how it responds when I act or speak or move or dress certain ways. I want to love my soul. That's where the entire practice begins.

How do you show love for your soul? What practices do you have to stay in touch with your soul? Do you recognize its rhythm? What will you do to keep in touch with that part of you?

Be Curious

This morning's tea bag came with advice: be curious. What a great focus for the day! I began with noticing the way the light played on the grass; the shimmer of bright reflected on the car; the rosy tint surrounding the clouds as the sun rose. My beginnings were about observation. What was different about today? The light? The sound? My focus?

At work I allowed the flow of the day to run its course. We had a meeting and I focused on being present ~ I know that's not the same as being curious, but it led to curious questions along with the discovery that answers were not necessary. Answers were not about curiosity, questions were.

• How is being present different from sitting there daydreaming?
• Why would I want to be present?
• What purpose does it serve?
• What can I do differently each day?
• Can I be present every moment?
• How can one NOT be present in one's life?

That teeny tag attached to my tea bag brought moments of diversion, joy and curiosity to my world today. I wonder what tomorrow's teabag will say....

Do any of your teabags carry message tags? If so, what does your message mean for you? Do you take teabag tag messages as omens? What other signs and wonders are in your life today?

Five Herons in Two Days

With two days of rain in the area, the ground's wet ~ around here that means a near-reclaiming of the wetlands. On the patch of grass next to the on-ramp, there was a heron standing there watching traffic pass by. There were two herons in another low spot that often turns to swampland this time of year. Two herons stood in a field ~ also reclaimed wetland. There may have been another one or two that I saw as well; these stayed in my memory.

In the Animal Wisdom Tarot, the themes for Heron are Inner Vision, Trust, Timing, Balance and Resolution. The message of Heron is "Take time to feel deeply and choose wisely."

Most notable in the inner vision of the herons over the past two days is their absolute Presence. Each one stood solo, looking around, awake, aware. The sense of Presence and Balance and Rightness was tangible with each one. They reminded me of my own need to stand in balance and presence. Like the heron, I am called on to stand alone even when with others, to be aware of and awake to my own dance and my own path.

What animal has crossed your path recently? What message is that animal speaking to you? How do you manifest the power and gift of that animal?