We see our own mind in meditation—at least potentially. That is if we can get past emotional debris. Virtue or said another way, a recent unkind, impure heart limits or inhibits clarity. The mind becomes, in effect, dirty and dull if one has been angry or self-centered. Attachment to particular desires or having a greedy mind creates potential blockages that prevent feelings of bliss and beauty in meditation.
It is said by meditation teachers that when we meditate we see images of one’s own mind just as we see our image when we look in a mirror. The truest image of mind occurs when there is stillness in the heart. I don’t know about you but for me, this stillness and calmness happen when feeling most at peace with life – not resisting whatever experience occurs and most especially when feeling kindness and having good will toward others. Most of all, feeling good will toward those who challenge my ability to maintain the highest virtues, our highest ideals.
The physically enforced retreat has been the name of the game for this past week in my personal experience. Always, it is in divine order and for a higher purpose—or this is the way I choose to view it. Right, so basically, even though I had the flu shot and haven’t had even a slight cold for years, chills, head, and chest congestion arrived in my life. A meditative retreat is how it has been processed which enabled the mind to heart to be clear and deep meditative bliss and beauty enhanced.
When one is able to look directly at one’s own mind in this way, it becomes clear what needs to change in one’s daily life. Speaking only kindly, practicing generosity and good will toward others and in other words walking the world with a pure heart being kind and gentle toward one’s self and others.
I have always known this (and taught it in the psychic development course) that virtue is an essential ingredient for success in receiving insight and guidance in meditation.
When one is able to see directly into one’s own mind—beautiful light and blissful states blossom.
This past week of retreat has been a reminder that a beautifully peaceful life enables a beautiful mind and easily successful meditations.
Mistakes. Learning opportunities — that’s what they are. Negative karmic behaviors sometimes cause us to dump the toxic spills of our own minds onto others–loved ones, friends, etc., and we create oil slicks. If we allow our emotional fires to run rampant, it causes destruction. Compassion and forgiveness put out the fire and is what begins the cleanup and restoration in the emotional aftermath.
Yet, sometimes our own mental corruption is deeply ingrained. Healing deep imprints of karmic, habitual behaviors can be a challenge. It can feel like uprooting one’s very identity!
It is wise to recall that this identity is ego itself.
Lately, I’ve become more aware than ever before of where my energy is focused and what exactly is a good use of that emphasis and why. I have a few thoughts to share about that.
Energy, of course, is better spent on tending to our own gardens and enjoying our own flowers.
Smelling the roses is more worthy an endeavor, even if garbage dumps are around *and there always will be to some extent*. Enjoy the accomplishments of what you have grown and how you are progressing down life’s path–thus speaks my inner guidance.
Meanwhile, compassion and forgiveness make the best traveling companions.
New Moon times. Could these be times in which the door to the psyche is open for us to enter and redirect our play just a little bit–at least emotionally? And is it a time for us to create and debate and elevate as well as fixate about our emotional nature? New Moon times could be the most important part of our creative nature since it sets the tone for how we interpret the world. Each month the dye is cast so-to-speak by our response to life at the New Moon time. If we could mark the time and be aware of it, we could control the nature of the dye we cast for the upcoming 28’ish to 30-day lunar cycle.
If you happen to know the house that the New Moon is in (for you), you can derive more insight from the vibes but even if you don’t know that information, it’s still beneficial to open to setting a new tone for your emotional responses to life. (If you should happen to know what house 0° Aquarius falls in your natal chart, this will give you an idea for the areas of your life that will be activated and in what life categories the potential for renewal will be natural and beneficial to cast your emotional die for the next 30-day cycle. But even if you do not know which house your 0° Aquarius is located, you can still benefit from simply knowing the sign itself.
So we have a New Moon in Aquarius! This sign rules the 11th house of hopes, dreams and also carries a humanitarian and “friends” as general meaning archetypes. Innovative thinking is part of the Aquarius vibe as well as freedom seeking qualities being a part of this energy. In evolutionary soul astrology, it also links with “the wound” of the past lives.
So in any of those ways we can cast the dye for this next month–changing our emotional responses to life in those areas.
(Again, if you know the house of your natal chart that holds 0° Aquarius, you can factor in that information as well.)
I just had a brilliant idea! (Now that’s the stuff that Aquarius is made of actually–brilliant ideas.) Anyway, why not draw a few tarot cards to add insight to the Aquarius New Moon meaning here? Why not? It’s my blog and I can do what I want!–that last sentence (too) is very ‘Aquarian’ in nature. 🙂
Let me first reiterate that a New Moon relates to heightened sensitivity to a particular energy for the purpose of casting new dye for the purpose of renewing the potential of that part of your psyche. Using emotion to rededicate yourself in some way–that’s another way to say it. We can toss in “desire nature” as well here in that what we desire usually has a rather significant emotional derivative so using that energy to create something new in our lives.
Let me draw two cards now to help us to know more about this month’s New Moon in Aquarius, asking how we can best use this time for our highest benefit and therefore highest benefit of all. I’m going to use the Hanson-Roberts tarot deck for this one; here we go. (By the way, I love the images on this deck and the cards are small and fit nicely in my hands during the shuffle. This is a deck that I used to program meanings from the divinitory method using my own memories.)
I drew THE CHARIOT and QUEEN OF CUPS.
Well, first impression: male image/female image so a hint at balance confirmed by the yin and yang on the Chariot. All those stars on the Chariot card really do remind me of the sign of Aquarius and now the Cup the Queen holds, definitely relates to emotions (cups equal emotion in the tarot system).
The Chariot also speaks of using one’s will, directing one’s energy and being determined; it is also about practice and practice making perfect. Practicing what? The Queen holds that answer–understanding your emotional reactions. Satisfaction comes from practicing using one’s will to understand emotional responses and to keep on that path and exerting control in some way to achieve a goal.
Sometimes we let our emotions spin out of control. Yet, these cards speak of the suggestion that this New Moon cycle the directive is about making it a goal to control emotions so that they do not spin out, causing us to break down, go off our intended path and by failing to maintain our balance and by neglecting to keep the positive/negative pull of our nature (yin/yang) under control.
I think of the Queen of Cups always as it relates to intuition and also empathy/compassion — those energies, too, need to be balanced so that emotions don’t spin out.
The Queen sits by an ocean and this hints, to me, that water can help in our endeavors this month and if there is a goal that you believe you’d like to reach regarding water in any way, this New Moon in Aquarius would support that. Many people feel very “at peace” near water or even in water. Aquarius, after all, is the “water bearer” (despite it being an ‘air’ sign. The Chariot does relate to the Sign of Cancer and Cancer is ruled by the Moon and Moon energy always relates to water.
The Sun and Moon are joined together to create something new during the New Moon time
So on all levels I do get that a message for this New Moon time relates to emotion and the goal of harnessing those in some way that relates to Aquarius energy — friends, hopes, dreams, humanitarian causes, group energy or perhaps it relates to a person with the Sun sign Aquarius with the understanding that the Sun and Moon are neck-in-neck right along side one another at the same degree when there’s a New Moon.
Give it another go here–what I mean is to consider reading this post over again with what your intuition tells you Aquarius means to you! Cast the dye consciously.
Final thought: is there a way that you can balance emotions for a new cause, a new reason in this new lunar phase?
We see our own mind in meditation—at least potentially. That is if we can get past emotional debris. Virtue or said another way, a recent unkind, impure heart limits or inhibits clarity. The mind becomes, in effect, dirty and dull if one has been angry or self-centered. Attachment to particular desires or having a greedy mind creates potential blockages that prevent feelings of bliss and beauty in meditation.
Mistakes. Learning opportunities — that’s what they are. Negative karmic behaviors sometimes cause us to dump the toxic spills of our own minds onto others–loved ones, friends, etc., and we create oil slicks. If we allow our emotional fires to run rampant, it causes destruction. Compassion and forgiveness put out the fire and is what begins the cleanup and restoration in the emotional aftermath.
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