New Moon in Leo: The Heart of a Lion

This Sunday, August 8, we have a New Moon in the fixed fire sign of Leo the Lion. This quality of time is a portal to higher consciousness known as the Lion’s Gate. This portal occurs every year on August 8^th; it’s super-charged this year due to the fact that it falls exactly on a New Moon. Seeds planted in your life, your heart, your relationships, and your community are extra-potent, and will bear fruit over the next six months to a year, so pay attention.

The energy of Leo has a charge in this life: stand up, stand tall – be courageous. Sometimes, Leo has to roar loudly and fiercely; most of the time, the Lion is content to proudly traverse his Serengeti and take care of his personal pride-community, and the lioness hunts and kills only that which is needed.

Wherever Leo is in our chart we will see where this new powerful fire can come in and ignite our lives. Leo rules the physical heart as well as the back. Pay attention to this part of the body in these days. Breathwork can help the heart center and back body to open up and receive more love and light. Alongside stretching and strengthening practices, it can help keep you healthy.

With so much fear and polarization spreading across the globe it can be hard or downright scary to speak up and out for our personal truth, for what is good and right and true for us as individuals. This is sovereignty – focusing on what we personally need and being willing to stand tall for it, alongside others, with love and respect.

Personal courage is needed these days. With Saturn in rebellious Aquarius opposing this New Moon, we are going to be challenged to hold strong in the face of opposition. Fear may arise, but that’s OK. Leo has courage, remember? Every single one of us has lionheartedness in our astrological charts somewhere.

Remember, courage is fear that has said its prayers. Fear and faith stand side by side. You may be quivering in your body-mind, but your feet will carry you forward and your voice will speak up even if it’s shaking.

Strength - VIII - Major Arcana of the Tarot

Trusting Your Heart: Discernment and Disinformation

In the media and social circles lately, there is much discussion of disinformation. Many alternative health practitioners and doctors are being censored, cancelled for recommending treatments and methods of staying healthy during the current pandemic. Individuals opting for natural immunity methods are being pressured and criticized for their choices. Information regarding access to affordable treatments or medications that may be helpful is disallowed on mainstream platforms. Why?

People are feeling confused, or even numb. Who can I trust? When is a fact a fact? What is going to keep me stay healthy or recover if I get ill? Can I trust my doctor or HMO? Can I trust the government? Why are videos and articles being taken down off of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook on the regular?

These are great questions. But the ultimate question here is, Can I trust myself?

Can you trust your gut? How practiced are you in listening to your own body, your intuition, your dreamtime guidance? Are you aware of your hunches when things ring true? How about when they feel “off” or “Not for me, thanks,” or even “I need more information” or “I need to wait for now”? Have you learned how to listen to your inner voice and trust it, 100%? This is what many of us have been working toward for decades. And it’s a great time to start practicing now if you’re new to other ways of knowing, aka “direct knowing.”

Think of how many times science and facts change over one’s lifetime. Eggs are bad for you. Fats are bad for you. Oh, wait, eggs and fat are good now? Asbestos is a great solution for insulation. Lead paint is the best for houses. Oh, wait, that’s now a hard no? I see, I see… everything changes. Facts are fluid. Information can be presented in a zillion ways. Reality is simply the agreed-upon collective narrative that we are aware of in any given moment. No one ever has the entire picture.

And yet, there is one way to know… And that is, trust the heart. Trust the gut. Trust your intuition. Learn to listen. Have courage. What is good and true and right for you cannot be falsified. It cannot be taken away. Stay present – one must be present to win the prize of direct knowing.

Keep your consciousness connected to the Divine, in Present Time. Because you are not separate from All That Is, whenever you act upon that which is good and true for you, your action’s outcome is going to be good and true for the other when it arises from a conscious and aware space. How could it not be?

There is no need to worry that you will make a mistake. From the perspective of the Infinite, there is no such thing. Rest your consciousness in the Self, as the Self, and know it is all unfolding perfectly.

And at this time of the Lion’s Gate, the portal of Truth and Courage and Strength, feel the natural resonance and strength and love and joy that comes from sovereign confidence. Your positive energy is a force of nature that will carry you, your loved ones, and your global community forth.

Stand tall. With love.

Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary non-dual spiritual teacher, author and guide. A modern mystic with over thirty years of experience, Erin Reese offers incisive, practical intuitive readings to her clients worldwide. She is a counselor, guide and mentor to those seeking an alternative to traditional psychotherapy or business coaching. Erin also offers non-dual meetings and retreats on embodied liberation and freedom from suffering. Visit erinreese.com for more information.  

 

 

 

 

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The author in Varanasi, India on the ghats of the Ganges

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Mahashivaratri: The Great Night of Shiva (video)

Mahashivaratri, Arunachala temple, Tiruvannamalai

This weekend welcomes the New Moon in Pisces and tonight is the great night of Shiva – lord of creation and destruction and preservation – all in one.

Shiva is not only considered an incarnate god. Shiva is Oneness, Consciousness, All that Is. It truly depends on whether one is speaking of manifestation, or the plenum. Even to speak of Shiva, is too much. You lose it straightaway in the naming. The best we can do is recite the name – Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, Shiva. I Bow to Existence.

I honor Shiva as grace on his Big Night, realizing that arises in whatever way Consciousness deems – no hopes, no expectations, Nothing. There is nothing and everything in the fullness of What Is. This evening, I’m going to soak up the sounds of a Piscean-led jazz trio in an intimate venue with my Beloved, his son, and son's girlfriend. Music is a great way to celebrate this lord of the dance, Nataraja. And jazz does a fine job of capturing the beautiful chaos of tandava, dance of creation and destruction. Shiva, Shiva, Shiva…

Shiva tandava with damaru drum, Rishikesh

THIS IS SHIVA

A few words from my satsang teachings to kick things off this weekend:

The non-dual. Consciousness. Beyond the Beyond. You are That. You must know this now. You must know that what is happening, is the Truth. This is beyond anyone's individual will, power, or comprehension. This must be understood. Any ego inclination of separation, of belief in separate intention or causality, is ultimately false, or an appearance.

How does this help right now? To know that there is nothing that can ever be done, or that will possibly happen, good or bad, positive or negative, that is not the perfect will of God, aka Cosmic Law, aka Existence. This removes any shame or guilt of what is occurring. Rest in What Is. That which you are is eternal. It is untouched by this play. Rest there. Even while taking apparent separate action, in duality. Consciousness is running the whole show - cause, outcome, all of it.

PILGRIMAGE (video)

There are no words to describe my connection to India. I’ve thought about reposting a few Mahashivatri stories from my past. I wonder if they will have any impact, or why I should repost. They hold so much shakti (energy, power) and I get emotional and start to careen internally when I reread them. I’ll suffice with an old-school video I made on one of my pilgrimages circumambulating Arunachala, holy mountain of Shiva, on Mahashivaratri.

Here you are:

Travel writer Erin Reese, author of The Adventures of Bindi Girl, takes us on a journey around the holy mountain of Shiva, Arunachala, in Tiruvannamalai, India. This 14 km pilgrimage is called "girivalam" (circumambulation) or Pradakshina (the Hindu rite of going round the object of worship).

With love and a deep bow to the Oneness

of which you are always a part of

and never not connected,

Erin

Erin Reese, M.S. is a spiritual teacher, author, and intuitive consultant based in the SF Bay Area. Visit her website at erinreese.com for more information on her intuitive readings, counseling services and non-dual wisdom.