SUMMER

May 5, 2009

Welcome to the season of Fire. Growth, joy and spiritual awareness between the heart and mind are the focus during this season. Fire is associated with the qualities of dynamism, strength and persistence; however, it is also connected to restlessness. An excess of the fire element can bring aggression, impatience and impulsive behavior. Fire is necessary to provide warmth, enthusiasm and drama. It creates community through passion and compassion.

March 21 we began a six month period of yang, or masculine energy. Masculine energy is forceful, action-oriented and focused. From March 21 to December 20, our energy moves outward, impacting and changing the world around us. Combined with this surge of masculine energy, we are now entering a 3 month period of creating stories. From May 5 to August 5, we are in a unique period of yin/yang balance. Fire is the archetype of the Magical Child - the part of us that sits in awe and wonder, believes the best in all things, speaks clearly and compassionately from the heart, and transforms the energy moving between masculine and feminine with love.

Fire governs the stories that come from our higher selves. Politics, religion, and tribal perspectives are all stories that try to make sense of the world and explain our actions. With the ability to instantly access any corner of the globe, it is easy to see that stories are competing for your attention. In addition, as the bedrock of our cultural beliefs begins to crack and break apart, we need to examine our own stories to determine what designates our personal truth.

Where do you get your stories? The media? Books? Your imagination? Children? Wherever we go for our stories, we need to be clear about the fact that where our attention goes, energy flows. So the stories we read, or watch, are fed by our attention. And that means we become responsible for the content of the stories in which we engage.

This period of Fire, 3 months of heart balance combined with 3 months of masculine action energy, is a perfect opportunity to change the stories. Let's start with your family of origin stories. Growing up with 7 siblings, I distinctly remember the day I realized that we may have shared the same environment and the same experiences, but not one of us remembered or interpreted those experiences in the same way. It was eye-opening. Over time, I learned that my "memory" or interpretation of an event was simply my own perspective. As I spent more time on self-evolution, I discovered how much energy it took for me to hold those stories in place. Once I understood the lesson of an experience, why not let the story go? Maybe I would find another story that I liked better. And that is exactly what happened. As I listened to other people's stories about past experiences together, I learned that both our viewpoints were valid and TRUE FOR US! There was no ONE truth - there were two, or three, or seven, or.....you get my meaning. Each of us has our own personal experience, no matter how close we are to another person. By choosing to see any story with an "either/or" filter, we lose the gift of empathy, collaboration and compassion.

So now, in this three month period, we are blessed with a natural energy that we can use to heal our stories. Remember, when the energy of the season is tapped into, you can achieve a great deal more than if you make the same choice at a different time of the year. This is high yang (focused, committed action) married to high compassion. It is a perfect time to clean up the closet of past hurts.

How does that look? Call someone you have unresolved issues with and invite them to a picnic, or a walk, or someplace beautiful where you can be fairly private. It's best to meet on neutral ground. Then share your story of the unresolved issue. Practice speaking from a place of "my experience was this, and my interpretation was this, and I now know that I can only see one side unless I can also share your perspective". Then give them the same space to speak. It's good to set up some ground rules before beginning. One is, each person gets to speak their entire story without interruption, and the other person only begins to speak when the first is done. Another ground rule is, no blame. If that seems hard, you can use phrases like "I really wanted to blame you, and I DID blame you, for so long, and now I understand that we co-created this experience together. Here's what I learned about it for myself. I would love to hear what you might have learned".

I know this may be scary, especially is you have a large amount of hurt buried around a certain issue. Practice this technique with someone you have less charge with, and see if that helps. The point of the exercise is two-fold. First, you will be releasing energy that has been hurting your ability to receive. The heart must be open to receive, and that includes ALL forms of abundance, including money.

Second, you will be actively healing the collective wounds we all carry. Each time you reach out to someone with which you share old wounds, you send a wave of healing and hope through the collective emotional body. This hope is desperately needed right now, as we struggle for new stories that make sense and inspire us.

In your perfect world, what kind of relationships would you like to have? These are all possible, if you can find the courage and take the plunge to heal old wounds. Let the child within come forth - the child that loves to play and get along, and that knows how to speak the truth without hurting anyone. The earth herself is on your side in this; allow her to help you create understanding and compassionate communities. You will find your life so rich and fulfilling that all the world will conspire to shower you with joy. And that's a story we can all support!!

Blessings!

Cat

"You see, this, I think, is what Francesca did for me: she began to show me that doubt, tension, grim resolution, are no good. It merely steels one into rigidity, and usually in defense against a pain or difficulty, or an enemy that does not exist. She made me feel that life, gifts, greatness is in all creatures, even animals, and that if we saw it and believed in it and generously loved and admired it and praised it in them, it grew. Yes, that is why we like praise; it is just a corroboration of what we are trying to do, and a sign that perhaps we are succeeding, so we can take heart and go on".
Brenda Ueland