summer solstice 2021

Summer Solstice marks the high point of light in the northern hemisphere - the longest day, the shortest night.

Midsummer celebrations held throughout the United States are largely derived from the cultures of immigrants who arrived from various European nations since the 19th century.

The Lake - Central Park, NYC

With the rise of earth-centered spirituality, many including Unitarian Universalists celebrate the summer solstice as a religious holiday. Seeing how the Big Apple is faring this Father's Day weekend - is cause for fervent prayers indeed.

Juneteenth 2021

Especially after the past year of protesting, donating and talking about race and racism in America, we are all just too grateful to have a US president who values the significance of the day! 

Happy Juneteenth to all! 

Juneteenth (also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day or Emancipation Day) is a day to honor and celebrate liberation. It was 156 years ago on June 19, 1865 that all Americans became free from slavery (despite the Emancipation Proclamation occurring two years prior). 

Today, the holiday is about celebrating Black culture, history and life. Bringing people together to honor all those who came before us and fought for the rights and privileges we hold today. 

celebrating the end of slavery in the United States

Juneteeth gives us the opportunity to support, appreciate and educate through a host of activities. So, whether you’re hosting a barbecue or buying from Black-owned businesses, be sure to celebrate Juneteenth this year - as loudly and boldly as you can! 

Corpus Christi

Sunday, June 6 is the Feast of Corpus Christi (Ecclesiastical Latin: Dies Sanctissimi Corporis et Sanguinis Domini Iesu Christi. 'Day of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ the Lord' also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

It is a Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Western Orthodox liturgical solemnity celebrating the Real Presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of the Eucharist.

monstrance on the altar

Two months earlier, the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper is observed on Maundy Thursday in a somber atmosphere leading to Good Friday. The liturgy on that day also commemorates Christ's washing of the disciples' feet, the institution of the priesthood, and the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

our current collective consciousness

Healing from the illusion of separation - believing that we are separate from nature, each other, and God.

We are kept in this space of illusion through the structures, systems and stories of our society. We reinforce this illusion through unhealthy mental thought processes and ego driven action.

On our planet today, the symptoms of our illusion manifest as disregard for the earth, warring with ourselves, constantly being in motion to avoid sensations, shame, judgment, comparison, doubt, and isolation. We separate ourselves and wonder why we feel so alone. 

The truth is we are never alone, consciousness soaks through and surrounds us in continuous cycles. 

The air we breathe is the same air as our ancestors, and the exhalation of all trees.

The blood in our veins carries the same waters as the ocean, rain, and all streams.

The matter within our being is formed from the fruits of the earth.

Upon our last breath, we return to her.

We are all connected to the life force that is always within and around us.

cosmic change

We are moving at the speed of light as humanity is shifting into light body and hopefully growing less dense. A change in consciousness as well as a change in the stars. How do we mark this change as we step forward?

Love without enabling, nurture without over-protecting, accountability with love and compassion. Planets call for an open-hearted compassion with family, friends, and community. Feeling sensitive and generous, we are reminded that boundaries are important but are often semipermeable at best.

Women's Fire Circle © Flame Bilyue' 2009

What affects one person, one circle, one nation - affects us all. Their pain, our pain - serving others can make our world better too. Strange events may call for this compassion - how we think, feel, and communicate.

Our passion and warrior nature both out of bounds. Having less restraint - for better or worse. Coming back within bounds by the end of May - when Mercury turns retrograde. Problems that arise will come churning up - to be processed throughout June.

Throughout our many lifetimes cycles are always changing. The seasons and stars change. Shamanic cultures marked time by watching the changing cycles. The new changing cycles meant important work needed to be done. 

Ceremonies were performed for balance and healing, Spirits in the divine realms listen to all our prayers and answer whatever way possible. Chants and altars change to mark any movement. 

Cycles change all the time - having family makes it is easier to mark change. But for loners in life you must find other ways to acknowledge your own shifts. Build sacred space and perform special ceremony to honor this however way you can. 

We have been weathering stress - light to extreme - since the beginning of human consciousness. We learn to develop our way of coping to survive and thrive. We grow the strength and support to take the next steps in sacred ways that honor each and every moment. 

Wash away the fear and fill our homes and lives with love and light.

prickly times

This week we wish to introduce you to Dorothea Lucaci Healing Arts - offering alternative and holistic health services in timely and practical ways. 

Check it out. 

How are you all feeling this transit?

Pluto has been retrograde since the 27th of April, the day after the Scorpio full moon, and we feel its intensity.

It's like some unwelcome 'ghosts of the past' have dropped by for some tea and sympathy.

And though I know I need to have a deep and meaningful with them to smooth out some wrinkles, and clear the air. It's still not fun, and in fact, deeply uncomfortable to have those conversations.

Prickly times + Pluto Retrograde feels

This is the perfect time to explore. Spring and Autumn are our transitional months, our throw out the garbage months.

What beliefs can you clean out? Perfect time to do the work. ~ Dorothea Lucaci

celestial wonders

Beltane already? ! ? This is what happens when time becomes fluid and elastic. Speeding ahead or slowing down - shape shifting alchemy. 

Lunar Beltane comes early this year and is a super moon as well. A continuation of accelerated growth many have been experiencing so far this year. Beltane is a celebration of the first bounty of blossoms and fruits of the harvest year - a soul experience.

Kundalini Goddess Rising by Cosmic Collage

inertia & lethargy

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.” ~ Robert F. Kennedy

When does inertia stop us from connecting with others? How does the lethargy get in the way of fulfilling our purpose?

 

When does inertia stop healthy conversations? How does the lethargy hamper us from recognizing injustice and invoking change?

 

When does inertia douse a revolution waiting to happen? How does lethargy keep us complicit? Cushioned in our comforts, resistant to change, why risk it? 

Gerd Altman on Pixabay

Inertia is a power because it immobilizes. What’s tender, vulnerable, pure is eradicated. No attention, scrutiny, concern or criticism ever raised. There is tremendous control in being inert. What remains hidden is sealed off away from harm.

 

Powerful yes, but when does inertia turn from keeper to captive? When does it inhibit the natural impulse to speak, move, contribute? So many wait for an invitation, for permission to be granted, to be coaxed. But what if none of these happen?

 

If something important is left unattended, everything in its wake is less true or real. Some lives are intricately constructed around inertia. Maybe there was a cruelty, a violence, a volatility which terrify us? Perhaps we become too burdened, discouraged or overwhelmed? Are we led to believe the private language of things is too sacred to be exposed?

Whatever the origin or collateral against which inertia arises, over time it may isolate us from the pain but we suffer anyway because we are made complicit by it. 

Political and other power grabs rely on this to win - when we let them. 

sing away our blues

When the world weighs us down, women rise up and raise our spirit with their shared wisdom. Set to music and sang out loud, giving voice to all our troubles. 

Here's a compilation of the women who got me through last year - embracing the world in majestic power. Whose presence and authenticity send shuddering vibrations into the silent void. Returning a tsunami of ripples and resonance from those of us they have touched so deeply and understand so thoroughly. 

Artists. Writers. Speakers. Educators. Healers. Leaders. Voyagers. Questers. Divine Feminists. 

Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli, Uffizi, Florence

Pauline Oliveros | deep listening

Pauline Oliveros was a composer, performer, and humanitarian whose career spanned fifty years of boundary dissolving music making. She founded Deep Listening Institute, formerly Pauline Oliveros Foundation, now the Center For Deep Listening at Rensselaer in Troy, NY.

The Met gardens & cloisters

In the '50s she was part of a circle of iconoclastic composers, artists, poets gathered together in San Francisco. In the 1960's she influenced American music profoundly through her work with improvisation, meditation, electronic music, myth and ritual.