Fire Horse: Re-wild the Soul

Whew! It's time to shed all that's binds.

Really.

It's time.

I'm not just talking shedding the restrictive, heavy layers of winter clothes

though I'm definitely on board with that

(Hello Spring!).

I'm talking about loosening and releasing

in mind-body-spirit ways any stuckness, stagnation, or tightness we fell into along the way.

RUTS.

Ruminations

or

Habits of Heart and Mind which bind.

This is your invitation to exhale and loosen.

Like how, during energy readings when I see rust color

 in someone's energy field:

sensing how a life season is emerging which involves loosening

and sloughing off of whatever binds.

Or/and being invited by The Universe, The Divine,

--by one's own soul,

to lean into the possibilities of getting unstuck.

We can co-participate with the Universe, The Divine, the longing of soul, to awaken and loosen. Doing so by getting out the spiritual, mental, physical and emotional equivalent of WD 40.

That is, instead of expecting all help coming from outside ourselves--or the opposite, the overwhelming feeling that everything is up to us--we co-participate in what we at times forget is a reality larger than ourselves of which we are part. A reality that is not only "out there", but in us.

Three thoughts on this as fodder:

First, when we learn from what age-old Christian contemplatives mystics call

The First Holy Book--The Book of Creation,

that is, from animals and plants emerging from winter,

we can tap back into wholeness.

We can receive medicine. Wisdom. Healing Encounter

Resonance retuning 

and re-awakening awareness of the non-doing Presence and power

of one's soul. The Eternal or deeper Self beneath the chatter and mental habits of thinking mind.

Tapping into the power and guidance of that Divine spark, Light or Life Force within us linked that's one with all beings.

For those of you who participate in Qi Gong offerings rooted in Taoist Chinese Energy based wisdom, all of this will sound familiar. Including as it applies to the wisdom of nature elements and seasons.

So back to the healing wisdom of Spring

(for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere):

Can we allow ourselves to melt, even if just a bit,

from our long winters (a grief. a sorrow. a slogging through).

To remain open to the surprise of joy.

To a warm breeze caressing your face.

Tenderly and gently loving you

and the rest of creation.

Waking something inside you.

An emerging seedling of possibility.

A greening..

New life springing from slumber.

Second bit of musing fodder for living into greater wholeness:

I recall sitting in a bar for scripture study and sermon prep with

a seeds of faith (literally, that's the name of the local ELCA church she helped found) fellow clergywoman as she gave the analogy of

a donkey on a rope,

staked to the earth,

walking in circles.

How we do that with our thinking.

With our beliefs too

(about ourselves, the meaning of lives,

that of others, and definitely our ideas of God).

Lots of ruts.

Kinda like the ancient Israelites who,

though liberated from slavery in Egypt,

still bore the mental chains of limiting belief and fear.

That's why, as my rabbinical commentary put it, they spent 40 years

wandering in circles in hope of finding the Promised Land.

Or as my husband used to say (borrowing from Albert Einstein)

when helping colleges and universities,

"we can't solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

So let's shake things up;

work with the upward rising energy of Spring

and all those seed casings within us and the rest of Creation longing to open. To live into resurrection and new life.

One way we can do that is tapping into inspiration from this auspicious The Year of Fire Horse according to the Chinese calendar which launched Feb. 17th on Chinese New Year.

Fire Horse happens once every 60 years blending the Fire Element (Heart fire--love, passion) with the forward movement, power, and wisdom or medicine of Horse.

Fire Horse is year for taking bold action.

To stop postponing those dreams and projects.

To break old patterns.

Or maybe better to hone in on just one goal or dream, and/or breaking that one habit. It doesn't have to be running a marathon. While it could be looking for a new job, it maybe be as simple as the practice of softening/relaxing when noticing you are bracing.

Doing so, like was named in my newsletter at the start of Lent, with the wisdom of St. Benedict:

"Always begin again."

Yes, Fire Horse is the Year for creativity, taking risks, and acting decisively.

Yet all this activating and re-energized forward movement comes with risk of burnout, quiting, or just too much drivenness (which some of us are already wired for). Thus there is need for ballast or harnessing the energy of this year through calming gentleness and flow. It's not an either/or.

Like Great Spirit Herself,

free and wild, yet wise, dignified and calm,

we can be both.

Maybe throw in some Donkey energy too,

to stay playful and not get oh so serious.

Blessings to you this Spring as you loosen and unfurl.

Love,

Cathy+

P.S. Consider partaking in this on-line offering: Horse Fire Energy Medicine, Sitting in the Presence & Power, & Yoga Nidra:

Sunday, March 29th from 2-3:40 cst