April 2011: Practicing Resurrection
"All beings are other Christs...Christ is the light in all beings. (Today’s science teaches that photons or light waves exist in every atom in the universe.) To destroy rain forests or other species is to crucify the Christ all over again."
~ Matthew Fox, Creation Spiritualist
Good Friday, an important holy day in the Christian tradition, coincides with Earth Day this year. In the Christian mythology, Good Friday was the day that the Christ-figure Jesus was crucified, only to transcend death and rise again on Easter. As Neptune and Chiron have moved into Pisces, I’m thinking a lot about these themes of redemption, crucifixion, and the need to liberate ourselves with compassionate wisdom.
Last year, when Chiron moved into Pisces, the worst oil spill in American history crucified the Gulf of Mexico. This year, we are again facing a kind of collective death as the oceans around Japan are being degraded with radioactive contamination from the damaged nuclear reactors. What are the appropriate responses to such overwhelming catastrophes and how can we stay present in these times?
To free ourselves from the bondage of suffering, to heal the undeniable wounds now gripping our planet, what is required is that each of us look deep within at the roots of our suffering and find the willingness to feel our pain. Only by feeling it can we be transformed.
So much of our pain – whether personal or collective – comes from holding onto our suffering or denying our suffering. Out of unwillingness, emptiness, or fear, we stifle our hearts and withhold compassion. Either way, we are kept out of the present moment and trapped in an unreal state. Only by moving through these states of emotion can we begin to see solutions.
This Earth Day, I encourage you to find the courage to unleash your INNER-LIGHT. To do this requires much of us, for we begin by facing the darkness and touching the flames of our own suffering. There are no easy answers here, only the various shades of gray that color a living, breathing morality.
What will bring about our own resurrection? Well, as the story goes, death, doubt, and suffering come first. If we stop blocking our feelings, understand the nature of our own darkness, maybe we can step into the light with healing and unity.
So hold yourself as sacred, see others around you as sacred, and return sacredness to its rightful place: not in empty rituals or moral platitudes, but all around us, everyday.
To honor Neptune’s initial entry into its home sign of Pisces, take time over the next four months to connect with the spiritual dimension of life. Some of the areas ruled by Neptune/Pisces include prayer, meditation, working with dreams, dancing, listening to music, singing or playing music, being in nature, utilizing psychic skills, developing your intuition, tapping into the collective unconscious, death and dying, altered states of consciousness, the completion of cycles, being in water (especially the ocean), reading or writing poetry, any spiritual practice.
Your own mental health will benefit from a regular connection to spirit - whatever form that may take for you. And our planet’s health will benefit from sane, reverent people working to mend the human relationship with the natural world. Sink into these healing waters and get ready to experience wholeness.♥
Learn about the Wheel of the Year and a special Beltane Ritual by clicking here.
