I sometimes smile when Mother Nature shows she doesn’t know which day it is for me to honor which Angel in accordance with my Essene Gospel practice. For instance, last Sunday (day of mindfulness of Angel of Sun in the morning per my “schedule” –  easy to remember!) we had rain and snow. And on Monday (Angel of Water day and another easy one for me – “moon day,” and moons govern the tides and waters) we had sunshine.

So what to do? Well, I go either of two ways. On days when the Sun is obscured I can think of its presence behind the clouds – or just honor the Angel of whatever is happening that day. If there's no snow or rain on Monday, I can think of Water by either noticing dew or frost, or the water that comes out the kitchen faucet -- or  bringing to mind rivers, lakes or oceans. Or I can be mindful of whichever Natural energy is predominant that Monday.

This lack of coordination seems to happen often with Angel of Air day… That’s Tuesday, but we often have winds for several days in succession. Just about any day we have breezes or blustery weather,       I like to think of the Angel of Air coming in to clear out the "baggage" of our mental bodies.  All that fear, anger, sadness, guilt, judgment (feel free to add your own) gets swept away and cleared out by the air. Ideally, sending all those energies packing  leaves us open to create more positive, health-ful and compassionate thoughts from that time forward. (I know, for however long that lasts…. Which is why I have to bring my thoughts back as often as I can to the belief that every little bit helps. It’s certainly better than nothing at all!)

It’s pretty neat when the weather or my location on any given day affirms the aspect of Nature for that day per the Essene Gospels. (By the way, the writings don’t tell  you what day you’re to honor which. There are segments that talk about “on the first day, greet the Angel of ____”  –  but that first day is not specified.) However, The Law (the Essene's understanding of the Supreme Being) apparently did not pass the schedule on to Nature. This allows us more variety in our practice, and many ways to be mindful of the Life that exists in our natural surroundings on any given day. :-)

The Angels of the Morning are: Sun, Water, Air, Earth, Life and Joy – and on the Sabbath we are told to honor all the Angels of Mother Earth.  I think the important thing is to work on mindfulness and appreciation of them – in whatever order you choose!

Yesterday we were treated to a morning of delicate, lacy frost decorating our trees, lawns and shrubs.

It was Monday – the day when my practice of the Essene Gospels honors the Angel of Water in the morning. So as I walked through the winter wonderlandy landscape, I thought of the different forms that water takes.

In The Essene Book of Creation, author Edmund Szekely refers to the ability of water to take its different forms: vapor in the air, liquid form in rain and bodies of water, and its solid form of ice. He claims that, in the Essene tradition, this underscores the varieties of Life experiences: thinking (air), feeling or emotional (water) and physical (the solidity of ice).

The fact that water evaporates, moves upward into the air, condenses there, and falls to the Earth again in the form or rain (or ice or snow if conditions are such) represent the constant interaction of Life. Water shows us all the conditions of Life in the forms it is able to take. And all forms of water are the simple two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen – illustrating to us, through nature, that all physical manifestations are made of the same “stuff.”

Nature reflects our “nature” back to us. And yesterday, in its shimmering beauty accompanied by the soft “tick, tick, tick,” of these small shards of frost hitting the pavement as they were blown off the trees by the gentle breeze, was a treasure. For me, it brought to mind the Beauty of Life -- the beauty inherent in all Life. Something I'm not aware of very often.

What is nature telling you today?  

I smiled on my morning walk today to see a lighted window sign, “Joy.”  Someone had it up from the holidays, was my guess. But it was fitting for me to see on this Friday, which is the day I am mindful of the Essene Gospel’s Angel of Joy in the morning.

Funny thing was, on my return past the house the sign was gone! Guess someone was taking down their Christmas décor. So I’m glad I was able to get a visual reminder to supplement my internal affirmations on at least one leg of my tour around the neighborhood.

It’s a New Year – and Joy is a fitting sentiment. I hope it becomes a greater part of your life as the days, weeks and months unfold.

One episode of  "We'll Meet Again" focused on a couple of men who had survived the Holocaust.        In one case, the very close friend that one man wanted to reconnect with had passed away – but he was able to travel to Israel to meet his friend’s children. They shared something interesting (if I’m recalling this correctly in terms of it being the children who shared this…. Perhaps it was the man seeking the reconnection): That their father did not share any stories about his experience in the death camps – but what brought out the memories was when the grandchildren asked questions.       It turned out that both men, in their later years, realized the importance of keeping the memory of the atrocity of those times alive and had reached out to the younger generation to tell them about their lives in Dachau. The visiting man told the other’s children, “Yes, we didn’t want to contaminate our children with that information.” (My emphasis)

So, war has no impact? From this little blog post to our administration’s ears! (I wish!) It brings to mind the Native American teachings that our actions have been impacted by seven generations before us, and will affect not only our life, but seven generations that come after us.

OK, the "We’ll Meet Again" story was a little digression…. I tend to be prone to those… But did it illustrate my point?

Digressions aside, what’s the upshot of all this?  The potential of opposites is always a clash.                   It seems rare that both sides are able to honor the difference and find ways to use each position to advantage.  Yet, birth happens from the union of two opposites to create a third distinct entity.          (And if we consider children as our model for this, the third – or child – contains within it aspects of each of the two who created it.)

I think our country is ripe for a Birth. There’s  a lot  of energy stirred up in the many levels of                    our conflicts. In meditation this morning the thought came to me that all this pain could be likened      to the pangs of childbirth. Often mothers think they are dying in this process – yet usually they survive and a new life is born.

Will this come to fruition in 2019? Of course, I don’t know. Nor do I know what qualities this new “being” will possess. I am hoping for a better sense of cooperation, wisdom and respect. However, the potential is that a rising Feminine will be “clothed” in women’s bodies, yet throw their own agenda around in a way very similar to the Masculine that preceded them.

I don’t know what will unfold, but I don’t think anyone can deny that the process is in the works.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2019!  If the birds around our house are any indication, this year will be met with lots       of excitement! I suppose one could see that heralded in the past couple weeks by the way the         U.S. stock market is behaving.

Which leads me to consider all the fluctuations and conflicts that are occurring – at least, in our country. Following the Nov. elections, the Democrats took a majority in the House of Representatives. The Republicans retained majority in the Senate. New laws enacted require passage by both these parts of our legislative body and already the power struggle is on. Which reminds me of the legislative gridlock that fell into place when President Obama came in and the Republicans did all they could to grind law-making to a halt. Hmmm…. Karma, possibly?

But it’s not just that. The Masculine and Feminine “balance” (which I put in quotes as I don’t believe it’s in the best balance currently) is also being challenged.  The Masculine has been throwing its power around without thought for potential fall-out. The MeToo movement is saying “enough!” and women are speaking out about how this treatment has been affecting them.  And it’s not just women. 

The Masculine rattles its sabers demanding respect and control, sending young men off to war to show our strength (and hopefully get whatever it is the powers-that-be want from the other country.)  Do they consider the damage caused to this new generation of the Masculine? Doesn’t seem so. Apparently, it’s worth the physical, emotional and spiritual damage.

And thought seldom seems to be accorded to the families of those soldiers when they return home.    If Dad (or Mom these days) harbors anger about physical injuries that impact their quality of life, where is that released? If traumatic brain injuries have changed their mental functioning, how are thoughts and feelings now expressed? What about the impact on the family of their loved one’s flashbacks;      the hypervigilance of PTSD; beliefs held by the soldier about the people they were fighting, and so many other aspects of having to fight to the death against another person? And if anger or depression impact the children, what’s the impact on the grandchildren? The higher rate of suicide among veterans is well established – and somehow, it’s still worth it.

My husband and I have been watching episodes of the PBS series, “We’ll Meet Again.” It tells the stories of a variety of people, all impacted positively by someone who they then lost contact with. As they get into their later years, a strong urge develops to find that person, reconnect and thank them for the experience they shared so long ago.

....  To be continued in next post  :-)