September/Light

Posted on August 26, 2011 by

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” - Mother Theresa

September 11th, 2001, a day that changed our world.

The day after 9/11, I was inspired to begin researching the origins of world belief from 20,000 BC to present day, in search of our shared roots. The Tree of Life became a touchstone for my personal healing and the archetypal journey of mankind. Along the way, the number seven became a guiding symbol, which curiously is what September is named for.

This year, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the full moon of this “seventh moon” month falls on September 12th, 2011. September 12th was the day that marked the beginning of my healing journey toward peace, that quickly became my passion. The Full Moon is a beautiful reminder that we are one, as we connect with the larger family tree we all share.

So what does the word September mean?

September is originally from the latin word “septum”, meaning “seven”.  It was used to describe the “september mensis” or “seventh moon month”.

Lunar calendars are still in place, based on ancient traditions and sacred time.  Within the Judaic and Muslim community, the lunar calendar plays a primary role in everyday life. Christians use it to determine the date of Easter, a formula created by the early Roman Church, so it would never coincide with the Jewish Passover.

The roots of the Monotheistic Family Tree:

Abraham is seen as the father of all three monotheistic beliefs (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), which basically means the belief in one God. Up until the time of Abraham, there where multiple beliefs with Gods/Goddesses that represented ancestors, elements of nature, the sun, the moon, the stars etc… Each continent had its own unique belief system based on the natural world around them.

Abraham was born in Sumeria around 1800BC, the area we now know as Iraq. He traveled throughout the Middle East as a merchant with his wife Sarai. He began following the guidance of a voice that came from the beyond, a voice he named YAHWEH, who he saw as the one and only creator God.

Sarai, Abraham’s wife, was not able to bear him a child, which Abraham desperately wanted. During a merchant trip through Egypt, the Pharaoh gave Sarai a female companion named Hagar. Sarai then gave permission to Abraham to conceive a child with Hagar.

Abraham’s firstborn son was named Ishmael. A few years later Sarai surprisingly gave birth to Isaac. Eventually Sarai became concerned that Ishmael would inherit his father’s wealth instead of Isaac. She asked Abraham to cast Hagar and Ishmael out to the desert, a place now known as Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

What happened is interpreted differently by Judeo-Christians who follow the Book of Genesis and Muslims who follow the Islamic Qur’an.

According to the Book of Genesis, Hagar and Ishmael are cast out to the desert when YAHWEH speaks to Hagar letting her know that Ishmael will be the father of a great nation. Later, Abraham is asked to prove his loyalty to YAHWEH by sacrificing his favorite son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah, in Jerusalem. After Abraham binds his son with a rope he is told to stop because his loyalty to YAHWEH is proven.

According to the Qur’an, Abraham is asked to sacrifice Ishmael, his first-born son, in Mecca. The story is similar to the Book of Genesis, same outcome, different son, different place and a different name for God, Allah.

Both stories demonstrate the shared lineage of Abraham and his loyalty to one creator God. His family tree continued to grow through the legacy of his sons, who went on to become the fathers of the Ishmaelites (Muslims) and the Israelites (Jews) and also (Christians) through the Jewish lineage of Jesus.

What is most interesting is that Moses, an Israelite married Zipporah, an Ishmaelite. Moses is a central figure in all three monotheistic beliefs. The Qur’an speaks of Moses more than any other Prophet or man. Moses is seen as the great Prophet and lawgiver for all three beliefs. In actuality Israelites and Ishmaelites worked together and fought together for thousands of years.

On the Seventh Day he rested….

(The seed of life, sometimes referred to as the creation matrix, contains six circles representing the six days of “creation”. The middle circle is the “resting” point or seventh circle)

Monotheistic cultures see the number seven as sacred.

Judaism - “It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested” - Exodus, 31:17

Jews recognize Saturday as the Sabbath, the day of rest. The word Sabbath means completion, to cease or to rest. It is from the root word for “seven”.

Christianity – “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” - Genesis 2:3

Christians define this day of rest as Sunday. Sunday was named by the Romans long before Christianity was created to honor the Sun, but after the Roman Empire converted to Christianity they replaced the concept of the “Sun God” with the concept of Jesus being the “Son of God”.  This was also another way to separate from the Jewish Sabbath (Jesus was Jewish, as were most of his early followers) from the newly forming Roman Catholic Church.

Islam – “He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then established Himself on the Throne. He knows what enters within the heart of the earth, and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven, and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wherever you may be. And God sees well all that you do” – Qur’an 57:4

Muslims do not recognize an official day of rest, but they do observe Friday as an official day of prayer and assembly called Jumma.

In summary, all three faiths agreed on the concept of the seven days of creation but they each interpreted and created a separate day to honor it: Judaism – Saturday, Christianity – Sunday, Islam – Friday.

So where exactly did the idea of seven come from?

Among the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians there were seven planets that could be seen with the naked eye. They included the Sun and the Moon along with Mars, Mercury, Jupiter,Venus, and Saturn. This observation formed the concept of seven as a sacred number, especially among the Western mind. The seven days of the week were then named after these seven planets based on Greco-Roman translations: Sun – Sunday, Moon – Monday, Mars – Tuesday, Mercury – Wednesday, Jupiter – Thursday, Venus – Friday, Saturn – Saturday.

In Hebrew the number 7 means Sheh-bah, which means completion. Hence it is the root of the word Sabbath, the seventh day of rest.

To the Greeks, 7 was referred to as Hepta or the seven sided Heptagon. From this came the creation of the Heptatonic Scale which was based on seven musical notes. The Greeks also held the belief that their were Seven Sages or Wise Men that lived before the great flood. These seven sages influenced Judaism and subsequently all three monotheistic faiths.

Judaism - the Seven Branched Menorah, is “a light unto the nations.” – Isaiah 42:6.

Christianity – the number seven is used more often than any other number in the Bible except “one”. “When thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light” – Jesus – Luke 11:34

Islam - “Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. Light upon Light!”
 - Quran 24:35  

During Muhammad’s “Night Journey” he traveled through the Seven Heavens of the Tree of Life and received the word of Allah, through the Archangel Gabriel.

So why does “light” play such an important role with the number seven?

Light has always been connected to the concept of God, whether it is the light shining from the Sun, the Moon, the Stars , a Fire. Light is life-giving. Our modern understanding of light and color begins with Isaac Newton in 1672AD. He was the first to understand how to refract white light with a prism into its component colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. Due to pressure from the church, Newton followed the pattern of seven based on the seven days of the week and the seven notes of the musical scale. He then identified a seventh shade called indigo that fell between blue and violet.

Modern day artists use the color wheel originally set up by Isaac Newton based on the original six colors. The seventh “color” is actually white “light”. The absence of light is the color black.

(The “Color Wheel” as the “Seed of Life”.)

Ancient Hindu yogi’s identified another sort of “Sacred Wheel” they called a ”Chakra”. The Chakras are seen as energy centers within our body that are affected by emotional and physical factors. The goal of the yogi was to clear and open these chakras so that the life force energy would flow unobstructed allowing for spiritual union and physical health. These chakras also work in harmony with the concept of seven, the colors of the rainbow, the musical scale and white light.

So where is the all leading?

During the last ten years of research and pondering how we are all one, I have created a way to look at the number seven in combination with world belief and our energetic body. I like to refer to this as the “Tree of Life” within us.

There is also an eighth chakra that surrounds us reminding us that we are “one”.

1. Red – Root Chakra – Indigenous Belief/Feeling Grounded

2. Orange – Sacral Chakra – Taoism/Harmony of Opposite Forces of Nature

3. Yellow – Solar Plexus Chakra – Hinduism/Life Force Energy

4. Green – Heart/Soul Chakra – Buddhism/Love with no Conditions

5. Blue –  Throat Chakra – Judaism/The Power of the Spoken Word

6. Violet – Third Eye Chakra – Christianity/Inner Knowing and Trusting our Intuition

7. White/Light Violet – Crown Chakra – Islam/Connection to Source

Tens years later….a vision of oneness for the future

May we begin to see how we can sing a new song, paint a new picture, and create a new story of peace within ourselves and each other for the next seven generations…

May loving kindness be what guides us….

For more information visit www.treeoflifeawakening.com

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August/Prayer Beads

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

“The mystic discovers symbols. . . symbols are windows through which we can view the essential nature of our being.” – Ngakpa Chogyam

It is always an amazing journey when weaving together the linear left brain of our Western mind with the circular right brain of our Eastern mind. In doing so, we see the beauty of being fully human.

August in the Western Mind

The month of August is named for Augustus, Julius Ceasar’s grandnephew, who defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra, becoming the emperor of Rome. 

The Roman Senate decided that he too should have a month named after him. Not only did the Senate name a month after Augustus, but it decided that since Julius’s month, July, had 31 days, Augustus’s month should equal it: under the Julian calendar, the months alternated evenly between 30 and 31 days (with the exception of February with 29), which made August 30 days long. So, instead of August having a mere 30 days, it was lengthened to 31, (they shortened February to 28) preventing anyone from claiming that Emperor Augustus was saddled with an inferior month.

August in the Eastern Mind

The “August Ones” also known as the Three Sovereigns (2852 – 2205 BC)  were mythological Shamans or Sage (wise) Kings. 

In the Taoist creation myth, the Supreme Unity or Wu-ji, is limitless and produces the delimited. The Tai-ji divides into heaven (Yang) and earth (Yin). Heaven and earth then rejoin each other through human (male and female) form and experience supreme unity. This is a circular creation story where one can not exist without the other. 


Tao or Dao means “the way” and embodies the harmony of opposites. Taoists believe that nature is a continual balance between yin and yang, and that any attempt to go toward one extreme or the other will be ineffective, self-defeating, and short-lived. Yin and yang are often described in terms of sunlight playing over a mountain revealing what was obscured and obscuring what was revealed. The appearance of “things” is considered to be Yin, and their resolution back into their more subtle “no-thing” is Yang. 

The August Ones

Heavenly August One – who represents the “light/masculine” or Yang energy

Earthly August One – who represent the “dark/feminine” or Yin energy

Human August One – balances the Yin and Yang energy through human form

            Man – Yang on earth – creative, hard, solid, aggressive

            Woman – Yin on earth – receptive, soft, fluid, yielding

“When the world began, there was heaven (yang) and earth (yin). Heaven mated with the earth and gave birth to everything in the world. Heaven is Qian-gua, and the Earth is Kun-gua. The remaining six gua are their sons and daughters”.

Together this creates a family of eight or “Ba”. “Gua” is the word for aspect.  The Bagua began as a practice of divination by casting bones. This system is the foundation of both the I-CHING and FenG Shui. 

I – Ching/ Feng-Shui Coins – A Chinese coin that is round with a square hole in the center representing the union of heaven and earth (the circle represents the heaven and the square represents the earth). The yang side has 4 characters while the yin side has 2 characters.

Coins are generally arranged in sets of three, tied together with a red ribbon, symbolizing the unity of man, earth, and heaven. Some have theorized that counting prayers naturally evolved from the abacus, the Chinese counting instrument that also used round beads or coins.

Prayer Beads and Knots from around the world

sha sha - The first beads were grooved pebbles, bones, and teeth made over 40,000 years ago and had talismanic and symbolic meaning. “Sha” is the Egyptian word for luck.  These beads were used as a way to pray or divine by casting them on the ground or wearing them for good luck. Divination was man’s earliest way to communicate with spirit. Stones, beads, sticks, shells, leaves, metal coins etc…were all used as tools for divination. Eventually divination gave way to prayer beads or talismens that people could wear and carry with them. 

japa-mala - Means “muttering chaplet,” which refers to a prayer beads function as a means of recording the number of prayers said. In addition to helping keep one’s place in structured prayers, prayer beads also symbolized the commitment to a spiritual life. With their circular form, a string represents the interconnectedness of all who pray.

 

Mala – Buddhists and Hindus use 108 beads divided into four sections of 27 by three resting beads. The mala is used for counting mantras, chants or prayers. Preferred woods are sandalwood or sacred wood from the Bodhi tree. The Meru is a larger bead, not part of the 108. It is not tied in the sequence of the other beads. It is the guiding bead, the one that marks the beginning and end of the mala. It also stands for the wisdom that comes with emptiness. Mala means “rose” or “garland” in Sanskrit. The earliest known mala is around two thousand years old.

Shiva Malas have beads made from rudraksha (Shiva’s eyes). Vishnu Malas usually use beads made from the tulsi (Holy Basil) The 108 beads represented the cosmos, in which people multiplied the sum of the twelve astrological signs by the nine planets.

Twenty-seven-bead smaller wrist malas were created to prevent the prayer beads from touching the ground during prostrations.

In Tibet, malas of inlaid bone originally included the skeleton parts of holy men, to remind their users to live lives worthy of the next level of enlightenment. Today’s bone malas are made of yak bone, which is sometimes inlaid with turquoise and coral. The 108 beads represent the number of worldly desires or negative emotions that must be overcome before attaining nirvana.

Baha’i  - consist of either 95 beads or 19 beads strung with the addition of five beads below.

Chinese Su-chu – Chinese Buddhists and Taoists use a 108-beads, which has three dividing beads, so the su-chu is divided into three parts of 36 each.

Jewish Tallit – Jewish Prayer shawls are made of wool and linen or silk with fringe all around its rectangular shape. Five knots that create four tassels called tzizit are attached to the four corners of the shawl.

The tallit indicates obedience to a passage in Numbers 15:37-41. “Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribbon of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.”

Catholic Rosary – The person widely believed to have introduced prayer beads is Saint Dominic, after he had a visitation by the Blessed Virgin Mary. And Thomas of Contimpre first called them a rosary, form the word rosarium or “rose garden,” since the faithful used strung rose petals and beads made of crushed rose petals to count prayers. A rosary is divided into groups of 10 beads, called decades, a Catholic repeats the “Our Father” and “Hail Mary” prayers as he or she marks off the beads with the fingers while meditating on the life of Jesus and Mary. 

Roman Catholic rosaries have 150 beads, the same number of psalms in the Bible. In the twelfth century, religious orders recited together the 150 Psalms as a way to mark the hours of the day and the days of the week. Those people who didn’t know how to read wanted to share in this practice, so praying on a string of 150 beads or knots began as a parallel to praying the psalms. It was a way that the illiterate could remember the Lord and his mother throughout the day. 

Eastern Orthodox – use knots and beads. Shorter knotted ropes are worn on the wrist. Often made of wool, the Greek prayer ropes – called kombologion have 33, 50, or 100 knots. Russian chotki have 33, 100, or 500 knots. Sometimes the faithful use bead strands resembling a ladder (each end of a bead touching two parallel strands), which signifies the soul making its ascent to heaven.

Islamic Tasbih/Masbaha/Subha – Islamic Prayer Beads consist of 99 or 33 beads. During the Prophet’s time, date stones, olive seeds and pebbles were used to make tasbish beads. Muslims use strings of 33 or 99 beads with one “leader” bead, which represents the 99 names of Allah found in the Koran and the one essential name.

Muslim prayer beads include markers after the 33rd and 66th beads representing the word “praise”. Masbaha or subha is from the Arabic word “to praise”. Often subha are made of wood, or from date pits produced in the Islamic holy city of Mecca.

Native American - first used seashells, bones, wood and quills for their beadwork. These tiny beads were called “little spirit seeds” by some tribes, who felt that they were a gift from the gods.

African - beads represent the qualities of spiritual wisdom, the power of the gods, and the gods themselves. The Yoruba believe that using beads in ritual or on ritual objects will enhance their power. Diviners wear special bead necklaces that identify them as spiritual leaders and enhance their power.

The Masai find beads so meaningful to their culture that their language includes more than 40 words for different kinds of beadwork.

Huayruro Seeds – (Ormosia amazonica) plant is native to Peru, and has been an important part of Peruvian culture for centuries. Huayruro seeds are found in pods in the tall trees of the Peruvian rainforest. The solid red seeds are seen as feminine, the red and black seeds are masculine. Together they bring balance, prosperity, health and good luck.

Watana – Peruvian glass beads thread along a braid of seven colors of the rainbow. It represents our journey from being human to being a star person and back to human. The beads are set on each side representing our true nature as having both masculine – father and feminine – earth mother energies.

Connecting to our circular nature allows us to open our hearts and minds to the unlimited potential of what came before and what lies ahead. I encourage you to create your own unique set of “beads” as you reconnect to the sacred circle.

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.”  ~ Meister Eckhart


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Summer Solstice/June

Posted on May 23, 2011 by

Summer Solstice - June 21st -  love blossoms as Summer begins.

The Summer Solstice is also referred to as the Midsummer Solstice because it falls between the planting and harvesting of crops and marks the time to celebrate the union/marriage/balance of the feminine (mother/earth/moon) and masculine (father/sky/sun) energies.  

The Summer Solstice represents the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. As we enter into this time of blossoming, those living in the southern hemisphere are going within, by honoring the longest night of their year with the Winter Solstice. A continual reminder of how we live in balance on this earth. 

In Celtic tradition the first full moon in June (June 15th, 2011) is called the Honey Moon because this was the best time to harvest honey from the hives. Mead was made from honey collected on the “honeymoon” and later used as a part of wedding ceremonies. 

The month of June itself is actually named after the Roman goddess Juno. The Romans identified her with the Greek goddess Hera, and she took on many of Hera’s attributes, roles, and myths. Juno was the wife and sister of Jupiter, the chief Roman god, just as Hera was the wife and sister of Zeus, the chief Greek god. As worship of Juno spread, she also came to be considered the principal goddess and protector of the Roman state. Eventually, she became a sort of female guardian angel, representing the female principle of life. In Roman belief every person was thought to have a personal protective spirit; a man’s was called a genius, and a woman’s was called a juno.

This celebration of the union of the Archetypal Feminine with the Masculine is symbolic throughout all world beliefs. In Taoism it is seen as the balance of the masculine yang energy with the feminine yin energy.  “When the world began, there was heaven (yang) and earth (yin). Heaven mated with the earth and gave birth to everything in the world. Heaven is Qian-gua, and the Earth is Kun-gua. The remaining six gua are their sons and daughters”.

In Hinduism it is the sacred Sri Yantra for the Mantra of Aum, depicted as intersecting male (upward/heaven) and female (downword/earth) triangles.

Indigenous cultures see it as the marriage of Father Sky with Mother Earth which creates all life. This is also the place within our hearts that helps us soar like an Eagle to see the bigger picture of our lives. From this place we can fly above the stories that hold us and admire all the beauty in our lives as well as the ability to smell the flowers we have grown.

In sacred geometry the Summer Solstice can be seen as the Flower of Life. This pattern is created when the seven circles of the Seed of Life blossoms to become the Flower of Life revealing thirteen interlocking circles representative of the feminine energy and the cycles of the moon. 

  

Another symbol associated with the Summer Solstice is the Merkaba, which represents the joining of the masculine and feminine energies in the heart chakra. The Merkaba itself is mentioned in Judeo-Christian texts as a circular vehicle that helps to transport people between the heavens and the earth.

 

A beautiful way to celebrate this sacred day is with dancing, drumming or sitting around a fire. Some believe that if a couple in love jumps over a small fire on this night their love will last forever. Either way, it is a wonderful time to reconnect with the people you love and the love that is blossoming in your heart and the world around you.

“Whatever is dreamed on this night, will come to pass.”

- William Shakespeare (From A Mid-Summernight’s Dream)

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Spring Quotes

Posted on April 16, 2011 by

“I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.” ~ Ruth Stout




“No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.” ~ Proverb




“Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day.” ~ W. Earl Hall




“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” ~ Anne Bradstreet




“April is a promise that May is bound to keep.” ~ Hal Borland



“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” ~ Margaret Atwood




“Every spring is the only spring – a perpetual astonishment.” ~ Ellis Peters




“Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men.” ~ Chinese Proverb




“O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?” ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley




“I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a garden in the spring.  Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature’s rebirth?” ~ Edward Giobbi




“Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.”
~ Robert Frost




“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” ~ George Santayana




“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another.  The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.” ~ Henry Van Dyke




“If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.” ~ Terri Guillemets




“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” ~ William Shakespeare




“If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.” ~ Nadine Stair




“The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other.” ~ Arthur Rubenstein

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Beltane/May Day

Posted on April 13, 2011 by

cherry blossoms

In many ancient cultures this day marks one of the two great “doorways” celebrating the “light” after six months of “dark”. Beltane/May Day marks the beginning of the New Year when the veil of darkness lifts. Samhain/Halloween signals the beginning of the end of the year when the veil begins to fall. Both are seen as “in between days” when this veil is at its thinnest. May provides us the opportunity to open to our fullest potential, to in essence, birth ourselves.

Beltane is named in honor of the ancient Chaldean/Mesopotamian Goddess Belta, who represents fertility, vegetation and flowering. She is the female counterpart to Bel, the Lord of the Worlds and Father of the Gods. Bel is a part of the ancient male trinity of Bel, Anu and Hea. Together they became known as Ad or Adonai meaning “my lord”. Belta was a part of the feminine trinity made up of Belta, Anata and Davkina. Together they became known as Astarte or Ishstar meaning “star”. In many cultures this star became recognized as Venus or Aphrodite,  the embodiment of love and beauty. Venus, is the second closest planet to the earth next to the moon, and can be seen as both a morning star and  an evening star.

The month of May is actually named after Maia the primordial Greek/Roman Goddess  of Spring.  She was also the eldest and most beautiful of the seven sisters who formed the constellation of the Pleiades, whose rising in the Eastern sky signaled the beginning of summer.

Pleiades

Other names associated with Maia are symbolic of the Mother Earth Goddesses including Gaia, Tellus, Cybelle and Tera Mater to name a few. 

Maya is also the Hindu name given to the virginal/fertile aspect of the primordial triple Hindu Goddess known as Devi, the divine feminine. Maya means illusion, for she is seen as the great mother spider who weaves the heavenly aspect of Devi with Tara the primal earth. Maya weaves the two worlds together creating the world we live in now which can only be seen in human form. By understanding that the world we live in is an illusion we begin to allow ourselves to step out of time and open to our multi-dimensional selves. This concept of awareness, nirvana, moksha or enlightenment, is also similar to the concept of attaining Da’at in the Kabbalistic cosmology. 

Some speculate that this early understanding of Maya was brought to the Americas and formed the basis of the Mayan cosmology in Central America. Both the Hindus and the Mayans share a complicated celestial calendar system which marks long cycles of human evolution. Both cultures have predicted that now (2000 – 2012) marks the end of a great cycle and the beginning of a new cycle in which humans will wake up from the “illusion” or a time of  ”awakening”.

The beginning of May was a very popular feast time in early Rome/Greece as they celebrated fertility and the sacred feminine. Tellus/Maia was seen as the original earth mother Goddess who had two daughters Flora and Fauna.

Flora, Goddess of flowers and fertility, was honored with the wearing of a crown of flowers in the hair; while Fauna, Goddess of animals and fertility, was honored with the letting loose of rabbits. The festival eventually focused on the worship of Flora. It was in her honor that a celebration, called the Floralia, was held. The Romans brought the Floralia festival to the British Isles where they were added to the celebrations of Beltane. 

May Day Girl

May Day is often celebrated with flowered wreaths worn by women and girls. Children dance around the May Pole holding onto long ribbons representative of the circular dance of springs unfolding. By the Middle Ages every English village had its own Maypole. The bringing of the Maypole from the woods was a great occasion and cause for celebration. The Maypoles were of all sizes, and villages would compete to see who could produce the tallest Maypole. Maypoles were usually set up for the day in small towns, but in London and the larger towns they were erected permanently. It was believed that every tree had a spirit, and as the town would choose the tree for its Maypole, they hoped they had also chosen a Tree Spirit that would bless them with fertility and good luck for the coming year.

May Pole Tree

Trees have always been symbolic of human nature and the world around us. They were seen as ancestor spirits that carry great wisdom. They symbolize the four seasons of birth (spring), life (summer), death (fall) and rebirth (winter). The Tree of Life is represented in every culture as a way of symbolizing our connection between the earthly world, the present world, the divine world, and the unknown world.

The Mayans believe that when the Tree of Life (which is seen as a “maypole” that runs through the center of our world creating the axis that we rotate around) aligns with the center of our Milky Way Galaxy we will enter the Golden Age of awakening. This is in essence the 2012 prophecy.

Beltane customs in Celtic cultures also included the gathering of trees for a fire that would bring new life to the springtime sun. Cattle were driven through the fire to purify them. Men and women who were in love, passed through the smoke for good luck in preparation for the joining and blossoming celebrated during the Summer Solstice in June. 

Beltane/May Day poem created by Rudyard Kipling: 

“Oh, do not tell the Priest of our art.
For he will call it sin,
but we shall be in the woods all night,
conjuring Summer in!
We bring good news by word of mouth for women and cattle and corn. The Sun is coming up from the South by Oak, and Ash, and Thorn.”

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Spring Equinox/Easter

Posted on March 9, 2011 by

Spring/Vernal Equinox: There are two days each year when the daytime and nighttime hours are approximately equal – each being 12 hours long. One occurs between March 19 and 21 and is called the Spring or Vernal Equinox, the other is the Fall or Autumnal Equinox in September.

Early cultures used a lunar calendar in which months alternated between 29 and 30 days. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar reformed the calendar by switching its base from lunar to solar. The day on which the spring equinox occurred was defined as March 25th. The length of the year was fixed at 365 days, with an additional leap year day added every fourth year.

Pope Gregory XIII, ordered a reform of the calendar in 1592. Under the new system March 21st became the date of the vernal equinox. The Gregorian calendar is what most cultures use today.


The Egg and the Seed of Life 

In ancient times, it was thought that the earth was created when the primordial egg/seed of the silent universe suddenly burst open and life began. The egg/seed became the perfect symbol of creation.

Spring was the season for celebrating the return of the “Sun”. The cold dark winter had passed and the “Sun” could now warm the soil where dormant seeds sprang to life. Chickens began to lay eggs and the cycles of life started over once again.


Ukranian Eggs/Pysanky Eggs – originated over 3000 years ago in the Carpathian Mountains. They were dyed in two or three colors in the same wax resist process that is used today. The eggs were believed to have great powers as each design carried significance and meaning. A bowl of decorated eggs was often kept in the home in the belief that they would keep the family healthy.

With the introduction of Christianity to the Ukraine in 988 AD, the “Sun” became the “Son” and the ancient customs were absorbed into the Christian celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The triangular designs, drawn on the eggs, represented nature and the elements of air, fire and water.  They instead became the symbols for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Celebrations connected to the Spring Equinox

Passover/Pesach - Begins at Sundown April 18th – April 25th, 2011. An ancient Jewish holiday that begins at sundown on the night of the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. Originally it was an agricultural celebration that represented the beginning of the planting season in Israel. Today it is related to the Jewish Exodus from Egypt. The name “Pesach” means to pass through, or pass over, referring to God “passing over” the homes of the Jews. “Pesach” is also the name of the sacrificial offering (a Spring lamb) that was made in the Temple on this holiday. Pesach lasts for seven days (eight days outside of Israel). In the story of Moses and the Jewish Exodus, God inflicted ten plagues upon the Egyptians before Pharaoh would release his Israelite/Hebrew slaves. The tenth plague killed all firstborn sons. However, the Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a Spring lamb, and upon seeing this, the spirit of death passed over these homes, hence the term “Passover”. The Israelites left in such a hurry that they could not wait for the bread to rise. In commemoration, no leavened bread is eaten, for which reason it is also called “The Festival of the Unleavened Bread”. 

A special dinner is prepared with a ceremonial Seder Plate to commemorate Pesach. One of the ceremonial foods eaten during Seder is a beitzah (hard boiled egg), which symbolizes Gods loving kindness, as well as the rebirth of springtime.

Festival of Eostre - March 20th, 2011. Celebrates the actual day of the Spring Equinox in honor of Eostre the Celtic/Germanic Goddess of Spring, Rebirth, Fertility and New Beginnings. Eostre gives her name to the direction of the East or the rising “Sun”, the new day, the new dawn. She is connected with life and death, resurrection and rebirth. Rabbits and eggs were symbols of fertility and birth during Eostre. A common custom was to hide brightly colored eggs for children to find. 

Easter - April 24th, 2011. The return of the “Son”. Easter is the central event of the Christian faith: the Resurrection of Jesus three days after his death. All of the Christian movable feasts and the entire liturgical year of worship are arranged around the date for Easter. When the council of Nicaea came together in 325 AD, they identified a moveable day for Jesus’s resurrection that would never coincide with the Jewish Passover. They identified the date of Christ’s resurrection as the first Sunday after the first full moon after March 20th, the nominal date of the Spring Equinox. The name “Easter Sunday” appeared many centuries later as the Germanic language was integrated into Christianity. Easter Sunday can fall on any date from March 22 to April 25th. The year-to-year sequence is so complicated that it takes 5.7 million years to repeat.

Good Friday – April 22nd, 2011.  Good Friday is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday as the day when Jesus/Yeshua was crucified on the cross. Jesus, was in Jerusalem observing Passover. Some believe that Jesus/Yeshua became one with the Tree of Life to remind us that we are not separate from God. Emperor Constantine asked his mother, Queen Helena, who had converted to Christianity before he did, to go to Jerusalem and identify the stations of the cross and to oversee the building of a church to honor Jesus death and resurrection.

Adonis/Apollo and Astarte/Demeter - in ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, Minoa and Rome the Spring Equinox was a time to celebrate Adonis/Apollo as the God of light and prophecy. Romans later referred to Adonis as Apollo who urged forgiveness to all offenses. Adonis or Adonai, meaning “my lord”. “Adon” is a Semitic word for master or ‘lord’, “ai” means ‘my’, Adonai translates as ‘my lord’. His mother was seen as Astarte or Ashara, who was seen as the heavenly mother and the earthly mother, she was also referred to as Venus, the evening star. The word “star” is derived from Astarte. Astarte was the Goddess of fertility and light. Her name can also be translated as Eostre within the German language.

Demeter - An earth mother goddess who was the oldest of the Minoan Gods. Demeter’s festivals were held twice a year at Eleusis, one in Spring to celebrate her powers of fertility/birth and once in fall to celebrate her ability to destroy/harvest. Demeter is thought to be the inspiration that began the Eleusinian Mystery Schools, which are very agriculturally/metaphorically focused. The growing of corn became sacred knowledge with deep hidden meaning.

Cybele/Attis - Cybele/Rhea was known as the Great Mother Goddess, Mountain Mother. The Magna Mater, Mother Earth. She was depicted wearing a long belted robe with a cylindrical crown sitting on a throne or riding a chariot with two lions at each side. She was also associated with the Lunar Bull. Her sacred tree was the Pine. She was worshipped by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Attis is the son of Cybele considered half God/half man who died at the foot of a tree. His blood poured down into the earth and violets sprang forth. On the third day his soul entered the tree, a sign of rebirth. The Romans honored Attis with a Spring festival that began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated after three days of rejoicing his rebirth or resurrection.  This story is very similar to the Egyptian story of Isis and Osiris.

Isis and Osiris – Isis is the Egyptian Goddess of Wisdom and Creation, Osiris is the God of Resurrection and Reincarnation, and Thoth became the God of Truth and Writing. The Tree of Life is also connected to Egyptian mythology through Osiris when he was entrapped in a wooden chest and thrown into the Nile. The chest floated to the foot of a tamarisk tree which enclosed Osiris within its trunk. The tree was later cut down and used as a pillar for a palace. Isis retrieved the pillar and with the help of Thoth she was able to breath life into Osiris’s body. Isis became pregnant by Osiris and bore their son Horus. Osiris’ body was then cut into pieces by his brother Set, who spread them across Egypt. Isis gathered all of the pieces together and with Thoth’s help they brought Osiris’s soul back to life. This story is symbolic of the Egyptian culture that began almost 10,000 years ago and how they honored life, death and rebirth.

The Seed of Life in Sacred Geometry - has six circles that are evenly spaced completing one full rotation around a seventh central circle. This formation also creates a six-petal flower representing the beginning of creation. 

This is representative of the seven days of creation and the seven colors of the rainbow (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, and White). 

The seed of life is key to understanding the expansion of new ideas, information and light as it enters consciousness. It is affiliated with the Solar Plexus Chakra (yellow) within our energy body located in the area of the stomach. This carries the energy of fire and the Sun and is connected to the platonic solid, Tetrahedron or Triangle.

The Tetrahedron represents the element of “Fire” or the “Sun”.   

The Spring Equinox is a very sacred and special time to connect to what is growing within you. It reminds you to go outside and reconnect with the Sun as it warms and nourishes you. This is a time of new beginnings and rebirth. Enjoy the colors of spring as you enter this very creative, sacred and productive time of year.

Plant Your Love and Let It Grow 

“Standing at the crossroads trying to read the signs. To tell me which way I should go to find the answer, and all the time I know. Plant your love and let it grow. Let it grow, let it grow. Let it blossom, let it flow. In the sun, the rain, the snow. Love is lovely, let it grow. Looking for a reason to check out of my mind. Trying hard to get a friend that I can count on, but there’s nothing left to show. Plant your love and let it grow. Time is getting shorter and there’s much for you to do. Only ask and you will get what you are needing, the rest is up to you. Plant your love and let it grow.” – Eric Clapton


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