Full Blue Moon in Taurus 🌕 The Unspookable

This weekend, we welcome a Full Moon on Samhain/Halloween, Dia de los Muertos/All Souls’ Day, All Saints’ Day, and a Blue Moon on October 31st. Mercury is still retrograde, and we are in the middle of an election that can only be described as tragicomedy. Kids are struggling to stay in brick-and-mortar school, the slightest scratchy throat brings paranoia, friends ‘n family relations tense up when it comes to heated topics such as anti-vaxxers, mask-wearing, race relations and oh hey, what about the environment?

After all, we are about to experience a Full Moon in the fixed earth sign of Taurus, tightly conjunct Uranus, the Great Awakener and planet of disruption, earthquakes, tornadoes, Kundalini rising, surprises and shocks, the totally unexpected and the flat-out bizarre. What’s a body to do? How to cope? Do we hide out like trolls, burrowing even further down into our bunkers? Hold our breaths and stress out? Implode in a news consumption frenzy?

Is there another alternative? Of course there is. 

Come along with me…

Imagine if you will that you are in a carnival or adventure theme park. You’re around twelve years old, and about to board, for the very first time, a massive wooden roller coaster. This could be the Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, or the old Cyclone at Coney Island.  You’re simultaneously scared, and super excited. You’ve absolutely no idea what to expect once they strap you into your seat and pull the safety bar over your lap. Such is the nature of our upcoming days on Planet Earth…

Or, apropos of the season, imagine you are touring a pitch-black Halloween funhouse at night – terrified – as you put your hands through black curtains to feel something in the dark. “It’s the decapitated bloody head of Lizzie Borden’s axe-murdered mother,” your guide whispers to you. Your brain knows it’s actually a mannequin head with a wig soaked in greasy oil – after all, you know it’s not real! – but it’s fully freaking you out, nonetheless.

You place your hands in the next hole in the black curtain. “These are the eyeballs,” your guide whispers. You know it’s a bucket of peeled grapes but – O.M.G! – it sure feels like eyeballs! Completely grossed out, you turn to see a posed couple in turn-of-century garb soaked in blood. You know it’s ketchup – it’s got to be! You’re about at your limit when you see a man dressed as Freddy Krueger revving up a chainsaw in the corner. Quickly, you try to get out – get out! – of the haunted fun house.

Are you having a good time? Stumbling into the outdoor courtyard, you squeal, groan, and laugh with your friends and say simultaneously, “Never again!” and “That was so great!” “Totally excellent!”

Yes, you know it’s a haunted house. You know it’s a nightmare. And, you know deep in the truest part of yourself, that the truth of who you are IS SAFE.

“We live in illusion [and] the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing you are everything. That is all.” – Kalu Rinpoche, as quoted by Ram Dass

At this time of wild world happenings, we may have the luxury of getting spooked. This is the luxury of consciously experiencing the power of the human mind. The ability to believe. To believe that the stories you hear, imagine, watch are, in fact, real.

We all know about suspending disbelief, such as when we are watching a scary movie on Netflix, or tripping through a haunted house. Yet the real angst – the suffering – comes when we actually suspend belief. Suspending belief gives an appearance of a happening – which is all perspective – the illusion of a duration in time and space. Belief gives the appearance the quality of realness. It is a quality like stickiness – this belief stuff. The appearance seems to stick due to the nature of the mind. Embodied understanding of this illusion is the key to freedom – true happiness.

When you get spooked by what you hear, see, smell, sense, simply STOP. Halt, and wait. Do it quietly and internally, on the spot. It’s easy to watch the nature of the mind.

Can you allow yourself to watch the movie of current events, even feel the blood pressure rise, the sweat on the palms, the rising pulse, i.e. the somatic responses labeled as anger, fear, anxiety – when you tune into what appears on the movie screen known as “The World”? Can you realize it is a response of the conditioned mind, perceiving conditioning itself, and that it is all Consciousness playing the starring role, writing the script, and producing the show?

You can see the mind grasping concepts like a Venus flytrap snaps its jaws shut to claim its prey. It reaches out and gobbles up an idea – some news bit, something a friend sends you on social media, some advice or opinion from a family member about this or that. Whatever your mind takes in, consumes, it then must alchemize, digest, spit out the junk. It adds more work. Not ultimately a problem, nothing to blame, but also not necessary.

Can you see beyond the appearance of good and bad, notice that it is all conditioned preference? Whether the emphasis is on personal freedom, the environment, justice, health, responsibility? Or mystery, intrigue, shadow, conspiracy theory, the Dark, the Light, peace, conflict, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera?

Currently in the world play (lila), as always, it is much simpler to stay seated in the Self. Know that You Are the Eternal Self. Rest there. If you are not seated (or seeded) in the Self, it’s going to be a sticky mess when it comes to picking up ideas, notions of intentionality, cause and effect, and playing with them as if they are real. Check to see if you are truly ready for the PG-13 movie, let alone the R-rated director’s cut.

If, on the other hand, you know the Truth of Who You Are, as Consciousness, then – ONLY then – it’s no problem at all diving headlong into the land of maya, with politics, pandemics, plans, or purposes. Once it is all seen through… when there is no suspended belief in any of it – then go ahead and play fully in the divine lila game – the fun house. Play in it, and be happy all the time.

Live in samsara and be happy all the time

Nirvana and samsara are one.

Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary 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.

*Weekly nondual satsang in the advaita vedanta lineage is held Thursdays, 9am Pacific. Email Erin for more information. The November 13-15 retreat in the High Sierra has one spot remaining!

Summer, Serenity, and the Beauty of Inanimate Objects

“Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift.”  ~ Albert Einstein

Hello Beloveds,

With the recent Summer Solstice and New Moon Eclipse in Cancer, we have entered the time when the solar life force is the strongest in the Northern Hemisphere. With so much intensity on the planet, it’s critically important to notice what helps you feel in alignment. If you’re feeling out of sync, off-kilter, confused or garbled, it might be a sign that you are not living in a way that is congruent with your soul, your authentic self.

When we live in accordance with our True Nature, we feel good. We feel good even when we feel “bad.” There is a residing peace and contentment, daresay happiness or even joy, underneath even the so-called “negative” emotions. When we are seated in our self, we experience grief, anger, sorrow, loss, even frustration, with an ease that permeates all. There is a knowing, a holding, a basic trust that we are exactly where we need to be.

Think about it. Think about times when you’ve felt the blood-boiling of rage, or the bone-core-barrenness of deep grief, and you’ve just flat out felt good about it. This is because it is TRUE. It is real, it is here, and it is the authentic You.

When you’re living out of alignment with True Nature, even that which is supposed to feel good has an edginess to it. This is a sign you’re coming from ego, from separation from Source. You’re living from an idea that this is what is supposed to be happening, this what you are supposed to be doing. But it’s an idea. It’s not reality.

Reality is always easeful. It is always here. It is the place of rest, no matter what is unfolding.

The Beauty of Inanimate Objects

In summer, as in all seasons, we are urged to listen to the land. Listen to the wind, the trees, the flowers, the clouds. Listen to the rivers, the lakes, the sky. Listen, and you shall know exactly what is needed and called for in each and every moment.

These days, I’m reminded of the beauty of inanimate objects, not just of those found in nature, but also things human-crafted, human-made. I love that in most other languages besides English, we have feminine, masculine, neutral articles (e.g. German, der/die/das; French, le/la; Spanish, el/la, etc.) to indicate the gender of an object. We refer to objects as “she” or “he” and the whole object comes alive even more. “Der Zug,” or “the train” in German gives us the impression of a mighty creature huffing and puffing up the hill as we say, “there he goes! Watch him climb!” “Die Blume,” or “the flower” becomes She. “Look how beautiful She is!” as we gaze at the perfect rose.

Even the most unlikely candidates become alive through hints in language. This is a great pointer to the fact that All is Consciousness. Recognizing the Consciousness and beauty inherent in inanimate objects, we find aliveness, alertness, consciousness and story even in a hayfield. Above and below are photographs I took last week of two pastures and their recently collected haystacks and hayrolls. We can have an entire conversation with a hayfield when we really look. I am enamored with their beauty.

Aliveness is everywhere…

The other morning, my Beloved and I were driving across the valley and we had to slow to a stop as the most beautiful pronghorn antelope was standing right before our vehicle. Gorgeous markings shone vividly on her face, as die Antilope stared directly at us. She was looking for an opening to the prairie but was blocked by the cattle fence. Luckily, no cars were coming behind us, so we were able to sit and wait for her to find an opening in the fence. After a moment, she dove into a small opening in the barbed wire and pranced quickly across the cowfields, off into the sunset plains. Free again!

The Consciousness present in this animal was clear as a bell, as we looked directly into each other’s eyes.

We instinctively and collectively know there is intelligence present as we anthropomorphize animals and inanimate objects in Pixar, Disney, graphic novels, fairy tales. A teapot transforms into a friendly trickster, a pelican embodies the wise old man, a sea turtle a surf bum.

Non-humans are smart, flawed, perfectly imperfect, and just as conscious as we humans. Any animal lover will know that True Love is there and a connection is made, eye-to-eye, when one truly looks. This goes for trees, rivers, lakes and streams as well. Who’s to say that the Love is not reciprocated? Perhaps we experiment with extending this idea to every apparent separate object, every inextricable part of the whole.

Consciousness is everywhere. May joy and aliveness fill you as summer reveals its splendor and gifts!

With love,

Erin

Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary intuitive, spiritual counselor, 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 spiritual 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.

  

What Is Wicked, Anyway?

I want to share with you the delight of seeing Wicked on Broadway in NYC last week. It’s still with me. Have you seen it? Spoiler alert.

First, I treated myself to eighth row seats in the Orchestra. On a Tuesday night, these weren’t so costly and I’m telling you – being up-close brings a power, and skin-prickling goosebumps. I’ve learned this over the past ten years. I save my pennies and invest on acts to get up close. I go to less shows, and the ones I go to, I’m RIGHT THERE.

The truth is, like the keynote song of the show, I’m “Defying Gravity.” My heart is soaring. I can’t get the song out of my head...

So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky!
As someone told me lately
"Everyone deserves the chance to fly!"

And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who ground me
Take a message back from me

Tell them how I am defying gravity!
I'm flying high, defying gravity!
And soon, I'll match them in renown

And nobody in all of Oz
No wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!

~ “Defying Gravity,” Wicked 

Like all good art, Wicked has got so many layers. Paying attention, we see commentary on being an outcast – which can be applied to racism, prejudice, looks, gender, what we value as beauty, image – you name it. There are political references in the show. Being controlled by the man behind the curtain (Oz) who of course has no real power. There are comments on the wisdom of animals – sentient beings who are at risk of “losing their voices” – which can be applied to any human animal who is losing their voice because of appearance, of being differently-abled. The list goes on and on, really.

But the most striking aspect of Wicked to me is the truth that one’s “do-good” actions are often motivated by image, as in the case of Glinda the Good. And the paradox: the people-pleasing, popularity-seeking do-gooder actually creates more problems and disaster for those around her. The witch labeled “wicked,” Elphaba, realizes that there is no real good deed. That even by trying to help the animals, her paramour, her friends – there is an ultimate powerlessness in the world. An inability to control the outcome.

Hannah Corneau prepares for her role as Elphaba Thropp in Wicked, NYC

This is the main crux, the double whammy of Wicked. It forces us to ask ourselves, what is wicked, really? Is the shadow really evil? Is the dark really the problem? What happens when we vilify that which we are averse to? Can we see how it creates an even bigger crevasse, a gap that perpetuates the disgust, the hatred and ill will, often to the point of total destruction (“ding dong the witch is dead”)?

When we look at reality as a whole, we see that it is all perspective. It is good and fine to try to do right by others, for others, but let’s check the motivation: do we have an expectation of how things should look, how they should turn out “for the better”? Or can we simply accept that we can do the best we can, understanding from the point of view of Totality, we ultimately have no idea what is going to happen.

We remember that there are an infinite number of causes and effects occurring simultaneously, and there is no separate volition. It is all interconnected. When this is realized, we understand and embody the wisdom of seeing there is no ultimate reason to impose unnecessary shame or guilt on ourselves or others; additionally, we aren’t entitled to taking full credit for any positive outcomes either. We understand that it truly is as it is, as it is. We find peace, there is acceptance, and the heart is changed for good. 

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you

Because I knew you

I have been changed for good

 ~ “For Good,” Wicked

We are not separate.

With love,

Erin

The Bow Bridge, Central Park, NYC

Erin Reese is a modern psychic, non-dual teacher, author, and intuitive consultant based in the SF Bay Area. Erin has a Master of Science in Counseling and has been reading the Tarot for over thirty years. She works with clients all over the world.