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New Moon in Aries I Ching Divination
As I have been doing over the past few years I have cast an I Ching Gua – a six-line hexagram consisting of open, yin, lines and solid, yang, lines. I was particularly motivated to cast this gua to see where the Aries energies coming in with the spring equinox were going to lead, especially with the last gua for the Pisces New Moon which was all about “Keeping Still.” (Pisces New Moon Gua)
I was not disappointed and did cast an interesting hexagram. I’ve pictured it here on the right. It has two changing lines at the third position and the top; these two 9 lines are changing lines which means the solid line of 9 (odd numbered lines are yang lines and even numbered lines are yin lines) can change to 6 lines or yin lines. Master Alfred Huang, whose text, The Complete I Ching, I use, suggests consulting the lower of the two changing lines. This yields the “approached” gua, a new gua representing the movement of the energies through the month.
So, what does all this mean? The “initial” gua is named Gu which means “Remedying.” Master Huang equates this with “making a fresh start.” This is a great way to break out of the energy of “keeping still” from last month. This feels in right; it is time to begin, maybe even over again. We are two months into the Lunar New Year. For the year the gua I cast was “advance.” (New Year Gua) We got the year off to a fast paced start. A month later the gua advised to “keep still” – in other words pause, reflect, consider. Now here we are in Aries energy, spring is here and it’s time for a “fresh start.”
But there is a cautionary note in this gua, because the third line changes to a yin line. The interpretation here is to take small steps forward and not be overly impetuous. Aries energy can be fiery and highly energetic. This “new beginning” needs to be a thoughtful one.
King Wen’s decision for this gua advises “Before starting, three days. After starting, three days.” This is part of the cautionary emphasis in this gua; I believe care needs to be taken during this first week, up to the first quarter of the moon cycle.
The approached qua is Meng or “Childhood” pictured here with the changed line in place. The two trigrams (three-line diagrams) are Kan or Stream on the bottom and Gen or Mountain on top. The image here is of a spring flowing out from the base of a mountain. There is a freshness, a newness about this image. It is like the innocence of childhood; Master Huang uses the image of “uncarved jade” to describe the sense of this gua. The interpretation here is to carefully mold the child through an education process to bring out the original wisdom hidden in the child. This is a slow and deliberate process; again impetuosity needs to be tempered with deliberation.
In summary we move this month through the energy of a “fresh start” and cautious, studied steps forward. Study, do some research and act thoughtfully.
My astrologer friend, Gloria Hesseloff, offers this advice for the month: I particularly align with the idea that this is a time of preparation for a new beginning. This seems to echo the I Ching preacisely!
What’s Your Commitment Level? – Richard’s Commentary
Life Purpose; Commitment; the Universe is waiting. And:
I can assure you that no one’s Life Purpose is to play small in the world. Remember that there are a lot of other souls waiting for you to show up to play your part.
This is heavy stuff; a challenge! Am I ready? Am I already living my purpose? How can I know, for sure?
A number of years ago I did a values assessment exercise. I listed out my top five or so values, the usual. And I wrote my “morning pages” on each value across several days. I worked hard on this. Then I reflected on these values and I began to reduce them, to simplify them into a formula I could easily follow. The result is pretty simple:
Practice———>Love
A bit of time after I worked through this exercise, I learned about Scientific Hand Analysis. This approach, to determine things about ourselves from our finger and hand-prints is both fun and pretty amazing. Turns out my fingerprints are all of one kind, loops. And the simple meaning of this is my Life Purpose is Love! I also happen to be in the School of Love and my Lessons revolve around Love.
Now, this too seems pretty simple! (Believe me it’s not!). And it certainly aligns with my values nicely! But here’s the thing: that first word in my “simple” values statement is Practice! Oh, yeah. I’ve got to practice this! Every day, in every way.
And, following Rosemary’s reminder, I have to commit to this 100%. There’s no playing small here. There is no end either; no limits, no boundaries. No perfection!
But then just a day or so ago a poem came to me in an interesting context: on Sunday I had taken a day off, completely off, no practice, no schedule, no thinking, a real day of rest. Then as I reflected on this day off, I came back to my purpose, my values:
Practice———>Love
Values:
Two words,
A gesture.
A flow:
No striving
No stress
No cramming
No rush
No push
No list
No deadlines
No wish
No angst
No want
No grief
No fear
No anger
Only breath!
Rhythm
In time
With All.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: What’s Your Commitment Level?
When you decided to incarnate into the Earth Plane you agreed that you would have a Purpose for this lifetime, a reason you were being born, a mission to complete. You met with your Soul Group, those other spirits who have been traveling with you lifetime after lifetime. You all agreed on the roles you would play in each other’s lives this time.
Even if you believe that you only have one lifetime, this is true.
So now you are in the middle of your life. Have you asked yourself if you are living your Purpose yet? Are you totally committed to doing so?
There is no reason to be afraid of living your Purpose but a lot of people are. They think it’s too big a role to play, or that they haven’t gotten the message straight about what they are to do. Some feel as if life has been a bit difficult and they are just trying to get through it.
Here are two truths that I can share with you:
1] You have a Purpose for your life! There is a reason you are here. Thank you for showing up for the rest of us.
2] The Universe is set up and waiting to support you in fulfilling that Purpose. Everything you need will be available to you when you need it.
The only question left is ‘How committed are you to fulfilling that Purpose?’
A half-hearted commitment will not get that done. You have 100% of you to give to your Purpose because it is not about DOing – it is about BEing the person you were born to BE.
When you make the decision to be wholly committee to BEing your Purpose, there is a relaxation that occurs, a sense that you can let down your guard and relax into being what your Soul has always known you are. It feels like a ‘coming home’ moment.
Are you ready to make that commitment?
Once you say ‘yes’ there are next steps.
Do you know what your Life Purpose is? Are you confident that you are on the track to fulfillment? Your Purpose is something that resonates at a very deep level inside you because it has been with you since before you were born. You will recognize it when you bring it forward into conscious awareness. It will feel RIGHT.
I have had clients start to cry with the resonance of hearing me say to them the words that describe their Life Purpose. They KNOW, inside, and may have been struggling to bring their life into alignment with that Purpose, or may have relationships that are not supportive of their pursuing that Purpose. But they know who they are here to be.
Have you had that moment yet in your life? Are you certain that you have identified your Life Purpose? If so, are you living it fully or is there something holding you back?
I can assure you that no one’s Life Purpose is to play small in the world. Remember that there are a lot of other souls waiting for you to show up to play your part.
The most important thing you can do is to COMMIT, wholeheartedly, to living your Purpose NOW. No matter how big it seems, or how afraid you feel, or what others are saying, this is the moment. Make the commitment.
And when your commitment is at 100%, watch the magic happen as everything you need becomes available to you.
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Be Who You Are!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Be Who You Are!
Conversations that Heal: On Shame
Shame is a deep and often dark subject; not an easy conversation subject, especially for men. I am posting this because I believe it is a very important topic and may open you to considering shame in a different light.
Rosemary recently had the privilege of participating in a Conversations that Heal Radio Show with host Susan Jacobi. They discussed the topic of ‘shame’ – what it can show up as in your life and some ways to clear shame from your timeline. I think you’ll find their discussion interesting, so here is the link to the 30-minute recording. Let us know in a comment what you think:
Leap! – Richard’s Commentary
Somehow it doesn’t seem like we have leapt into Spring yet! We are at the day of the Equinox and there is still snow on the ground from our Monday storm. The temperatures are slowly rising. But then did I hear something about snow next week?! I don’t know about you but I am ready to leap!
Or am I? There is a higher, broader “leap” The Divine Feminine are asking us to take in their message Rosemary channeled. And it’s a challenge; here it is:
You are being called to bring your heart, your feelings, your emotions into your daily interactions because it is through your heart that you can access your intuition. By allowing yourself to ‘feel your answers’ you can better interact with other people from a place of heart-felt love.
This is not the smallest task The Divine Feminine has asked of us! I think (note that word I just wrote) that it is difficult to “feel answers.” It is especially difficult for men to “bring our hearts” into daily interactions. And yet how else can we ever hope to make progress into becoming truly 21st Century humans?
While we wait for Putin’s next move in the Crimea/Ukraine arena of what we thought was a long-dead cold war, it is a challenge to bring my heart into the process and feelwhat is going on there. When I look at Putin I see a cold, hard, calculating menace to world peace. But where is my heart in this? Can I treat Russia as a being and accept that this may only be a defensive reaction? Is the heart of Russia threatened by the potential encroachment of NATO and Western Europe into her sphere of influence? Can this be more of a “heart reaction” than a cold, calculating grab for power?
What if I look at all of my interactions, day-to-day, ordinary-to-extraordinary, from my heart? Some days this is easier than others. Tonight Rosemary and I are going to a monthly social meeting of a local LGBT community. We always have a good time with these wonderful people. It is so easy to come from the heart in this group, to think through the heart and be genuine. I just finished assembling all of our tax return information to be sent off to our accountant. I will mail the package with heart-felt thanks that my taxes are going for the best our governments can do for me and us (and I may even get a refund!).
As I write this I am writing from the heart. I am thinking of all of you, dear readers, wherever you are, and asking you to take a moment and think of two aspects in your life now. First think of something very pleasant, maybe some future event that you are looking forward to, and move into your heart to sense how you will feel. Hold that feeling. Now move into a situation you are avoiding (maybe it’s even pulling together your tax information!). Can you take that warm-heart feeling into this unpleasant situation and get a sense that you can come at this task from your heart? This takes practice, I know. But it is worth the effort!
It is time for change. It is time for humans to mold the world in the image of a heart! We can do this one person at a time as we, together, make the leap. And as The Divine Feminine urge:
Be the evolutionary human being that you were born to be. Make the leap.
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Leap!
A message from The Divine Feminine for Springtime:
“Dear Ones,
Where is your heart this Spring? Are you ready to move into a new way of being present in the world?
For your younger years you had easy access to how you were feeling. You learned, somewhere along the way, to hold in, repress, hide the fullness of your emotions so that you could get along in your world. Now, no matter what stage of life you are experiencing, you must reach into your heart and learn again to access how you feel.
The world of 21st Century Earth is as it has never been before in history. Human beings are connected with an immediacy that was never envisioned in the not too distant past. The ability to communicate across boundaries has never been easier or more instantaneously achieved. What does this mean to you as an evolving human being?
You are being called to bring your heart, your feelings, your emotions into your daily interactions because it is through your heart that you can access your intuition. By allowing yourself to ‘feel your answers’ you can better interact with other people from a place of heart-felt love.
We are not talking about romantic relationships alone here, but also about business and family and friendship interactions. When you approach every activity in your day from a place of love you imbue that activity with Light, a vibration, that lifts the interaction into a more meaningful plane. You elevate a business conversation when, instead of coming from a place of worry or fear or competition, you come from a place of love, love for the activity, the people, the service, and, most importantly, for yourself. When you decide to follow your heart, follow your intuition, you connect at a very deep level with the guidance available in your innerspace, your inner wisdom. And when you bring that wisdom out into your daily life, you en-lighten the situations in which you participate.
Spring is a time to move forward in your personal growth. It is a time to grow beyond the beliefs that you embraced as a child, feeling all of your emotions but without the wisdom to learn alternatives for actions. You had less control over your life so you made decisions that came from the perspective of a child. Are you aware that those decisions, those beliefs, are embedded in your unconscious mind today and may actually be guiding your choices from an unconscious place?
You CAN access these old beliefs and move them along. You CAN embrace new ways of being in the world, not based on decisions that you made as a child in a child’s world. You have the power to write a new story starting with this Springtime energy.
Doing the work of your personal growth will protect you from expressing immature feelings in those immediate communications. Give yourself permission to make a quantum leap in your life. Reach into your heart for your inner wisdom. Clear the blocks to manifesting your Purpose in the world.
Be the evolutionary human being that you were born to be. Make the leap.”
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Spring Forward!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Spring Forward!
MONDAY’S POEM: Moon Times
We moved through a powerful Full Moon in Virgo yesterday, 1:08 pm Eastern time. Unfortunately by dark and Moon rise we were under heavy cloud cover with the first flakes of snow falling! But I felt her swollen presence even if I could not see her.
In her honor I offer you this poem I wrote a few years ago. The Moon has been our constant companion across the eons; she helps us with time and she helps us remember.
Moon Times
(September 3, 2011)
The Moon waxes
Reminding us of the
Fullness of Time.
The Moon climbs
Reminding us of the
Need for effort.
The Moon appears
Reminding us of our
Inner work.
The Moon sets
Reminding us of the
Need for rest.
The Moon hides
Reminding us of our
Inner dark.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
A FRIDAY POEM FROM “RHYTHMS AND CYCLES” – A Hymn of Praise to Inanna
Inanna is one of the first Goddesses of Human history. She was written about and hymns composed to her in cuneiform preserved for 5000 and more years in clay tablets. I’ve included this hymn I wrote in the Rhythms and Cycles series because she was among many things the Goddess of agriculture and the harvest. She also, much like several later goddesses, including Persephone, spent part of the year in the underworld. She embodied the natural rhythms of Mother Earth. So we praise her:
A Hymn of Praise to Inanna
March 2, 2010
Inanna, Queen of Heaven
We praise your name
Holding it high.
We honor you, Holy Inanna!
Inanna, Mother of Earth
We hold you in gratitude
Praising your grace.
We honor you, Holy Inanna!
Inanna, Goddess of Under
We bow to you in awe
Singing our grief.
We honor you, Holy Inanna!
Inanna, Holy One of All
We offer this song of praise
Lifting our voices high.
We honor you Holy Inanna!
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Men and The Goddess 