Spring Equinox ~ Earth Magic with Sianna - symbolism, stories + rituals

Transcript

the wheel of the year. So now the wheel of the year is a way to really be in a ritual with the whole solar calendar and there's four points in this solar calendar that most people are quite aware of and that is winter solstice, summer solstice, spring equinox where we are now and then the fall equinox. So those are the crossarter days and if you look at the top and whoever is um monitoring the screen share just point up at ule that's winter solstice. Then go straight down a line straight down and that now is summer solstice. Then go over to the spring equinox the oara there's spring equinox also known as oara and then take it straight over and that is the fall equinox known as Mayabon. That's the those are the four crossquarter days. Now we're going to turn that at a slight angle and we have the in between. We have the quarter days. Sorry, those are our quarter days and now we have the ones in between. Go to the upper right and that's imbulk and that is in the early part of February and it's the earliest stirrings of the earth. Then go down to Oara and after that is belt pain and that's the next fire festival and that's a time of aeros and love and just really going for the full power of aeros and love. Then go over to Lugnad and that's the time of the year at the beginning of August where we celebrate the first of the harvest. all those golden grains and the fruits and the apples and all those beautiful foods. And then go up and we have what's called sawin and that is the time of the deep ancestors deep divination time. The veil between the worlds is thin heading into the cauldron dream realms. So there's the whole wheel of the year. And now go to the next slide and where we are in the northern hemisphere is spring equinox. One of the names for spring equinox is oara which means the dawn or to shine. This is connected with a a Germanic goddess known as aristra where we get the English word Easter from which is coming up soon and you'll find a lot of connections here and the goddess Oara and the goddess Astra. This is the goddess of the spring, of all the awesome spring flowers and the bunnies and all the new growth and life and the creative energy, the mating season that's opening up, the birds that are singing, and it really invites us in to our inner and our outer beauty. We are invited to really feel the aliveness of the earth, the energy of new life blossoming all around us and within us. And the next one and so some of the key themes of OAR and you see an image of a goddess energy there especially with the hairs, the egg and the flower. Those are key symbols of this gateway. So here it is as a quarter festival equal day and night. It's right in between the winter solstice and the summer solstice that equidistant point. It's right around this time. It corresponds to the end of Pisces season and the initiation of Aries. And in the southern hemisphere, this then is the fall equinox. And our key theme thing themes of spring equinox are fertility, growth love self-care play joy lots of play. So that's going to be part of our ritual. Play, play, play. The joy is the magnet. Beauty, balance, and what I refer to as the sacred pause. So let's actually do that right now. Just have a moment of the sacred pause and just whatever we're feeling or doing right now, we just take a moment to rest our awareness in the flow of the breath. And in this moment, feel a balanced pulse between the inhale and the exhale. Feel the connection with the roots in the earth and the expanse of the sky. And we honor the equal day and night, night and day. And we invoke this. We invoke it for our lives, for our relationships. We invoke this and through the flowing spirit of awen we call upon the land, the sea and the sky and the rhythm of the sun and the moon and the stars and the empowerment of harmonizing energies within each and every one of us. Take this in for a moment. Just feel how nice that is to just rest in the sacred pause. And that's what this part of the wheel of the year represents too. Okay, now let's go to the next one. Here are more themes and symbols. So we see all the beautiful spring colors. Really encourage you. My beloved Massud and I are going out tonight into the mountains for the spring equinox sunset. Like do something. Be in your garden. Be with a tree. See if you can go be in nature and just take in the colors of the earliest of spring. Foods are a lot of these green leafy vegetables and the honey and the honey cakes. Eggs of course are a key symbol for us. everything in the form of flowers and the hot cross buns become one of the great symbols of this time. And we have in our priestess mystery school, we work a lot with spell crafting and green witch elixirs. So this is a great time of the year to make your own tea elixirs with some of these beautiful plant friends that are rising up out of the earth. a great time for cleansing, for renewal, for the earliest spring greens, for dandelion leaves. And one of our sisters from the ritual priestess mystery school, she's going to write in the chat box for you an oara spring green witch elixir that you can try to make at home, too. This is a great time to really have like a food that makes you feel really like open, clear with a lot of vitality. It's a juncture in the wheel of the year where our where our food changes and so we'll start craving different things. But I want to encourage you to eat a lot of young fresh greens. Get those salads in as much as you can. animals, the rabbit, the hair, the lamb, the bear, the swan, the hummingbird, the stag that sheds, the antlers in the autumn and then regrows them in the spring. We have symbols of the egg, the sacred fertility symbols that are drawn on eggs, all spring flowers, clovers, dragon line energies in the earth waking up out of hibernation, and all sorts of liies, and that's an ancient pagan kind of reference there of the the lust that's starting to come forth, you know, into the life force energy. and the next. So, I'll tell you a little story. There's lots of different stories of the goddess Ishtra and I'll tell you just a few and how we end up with Easter becoming with the uh bunny and the eggs. So, there's a few different ways that we can tell this story. So, I'll tell you some and just enjoy it. So in the in the springtime, all the animals of the forest and the plains and the mountains, they all gather and they're so excited for the goddess of the spring to return to the lands and to give them blessings and they all want to have a gift for her. And so each of the different animals, they're all figuring out what their gifts are. And then there's the hair. And the hair um is just really really a humble animal friend in the in the forest. And the hair hair also feels like I don't have anything to give the great goddess of spring, the goddess of Aistra herself. But the hair finds one tiny little egg. Just a tiny little egg. And the hair scoops up that tiny little egg with all of its love, with all of its devotion, and gives it to the goddess of the spring. And from that moment forth, she's so um moved by this act of devotion and humility and reverence that she always keeps the hair by her side and travels with the hair. And then we have all of these myths and traditions. Let's go ahead and stop the screen share for a moment just so I can just be with you and I'll tell you just a couple more of the fun stories. Now, another story of the goddess Ishtra and is that she's out in the forest and it's early spring and she finds a little bird that's been wounded on the forest floor. And so she scoops up the little wounded bird and she holds it in her hands and by her heart in her heartbeat and she begins to blow the blessing breath, the healing life force energy into this little bird. And now just even think of some part of yourself that's traveled through the winter months and something that is ready inside our own self to be renewed by the breath of spring by the life force energy. Really feel that inside yourself because this is a new moment for healing and vitality. So she blows it chanting the awen perhaps too. And as she blows this breath the little bird begins to shapeshift and transform and becomes what? Becomes the hair. And so as the bird transforms into the hair, it keeps one of its gifts that it had in its bird form, which was to lay eggs. And so now this hair of revitalized energy then can lay the eggs and give them as a gift. And what does the hair love to do most? But when the goddess of spring returns, the hair loves to paint the eggs and put all kinds of beautiful symbols and give the eggs to the goddess. And so then she carries a basket of colorful eggs all around her and goes around and gives them as gifts to all the children especially. So these are some of the very beautiful legends and lore and myths of the goddess Astra and then you can see how Easter then picks up on these ancient themes. Okay. And now let's go back to the slides. And it's kind of good and fun to know where things come from and how they assimilate and weave and how they then become part of you know our own current modernday um practices and traditions. There are lots of gods and goddesses associated with this particular time in the wheel of the year. Adonis the Greek god of rebirth. Aphrodite the Greek goddess of love and beauty. Artemis, Greek goddess of the wild animals. Ais, the lover of the goddess Chibelli and the resurrection of Chibelli, that deep earth, dark earth, fertile goddess, the all dog, the Irish god of the cauldron where the uh cauldron is the cauldron of plenty and always gives nourishment. And then there's Eos, goddess of dawn. Hot door, Egyptian goddess of love and joy. I was in Egypt one year ago, right about now and I fell in love with the goddess Hattorur and it said and we went to her temples and we prayed and you know just was so amazing and she really this energy of hatur the power of joy and love. It said that anyone who comes forth with true gratitude in your heart then hatur will come and bless you with the most radiant power of joy. There's the Norse goddess Eduna of the spring and rejuvenation. Oara of spring and new beginnings. These are the goddess energies of the dawn and the bringing of light which is what Oara actually means. the power to shine and the power of the dawn. It is, think of it like this, the dawn of the holy fire. And that holy fire is what? It's the power of our creative energy and the magic of the gifts that we ignite and bring to this world. And the next one, so some Oara magic. I wrote a few here and then we'll come into a visualization and a little ritual space together. So, this is the time. Color and paint eggs for joy and renewal. Have fun. I have a a question for you that I'm going to give you in a little bit. That's one that you can say all day long that really ignites the spirit of play. But one of the primary codes of spring equinox is how can I play more? In what way can I have so much more fun in my life? Right? create egg hunts. We all know about the egg hunts with Easter. And then celebrate the awe, the wonder, the joy of the child within each of us in the triple goddess mysteries of maiden, mother, and crone. This is the season of the maiden. So, it's the awakening of the joy, of the wonder. This is the season of the young child, of the inner child. It's really the power of being like a child of the universe. Now for my friends who are bleeding and have the the blood mysteries in the form of menstrual fluid, then one of the ancient kind of traditions is to take an egg and dye it red uh for the blood mysteries. And you can even use your own menstrual moon blood. And then it would be buried in nature as a symbol for the power of rebirth for hope and vitality to feed all of life. And you call in as you bury that egg. So you can just paint an egg red or you could take an egg and use a little Sharpie and draw some symbols in red if you like. and then plant the egg in the earth and really plant your dream seeds. What is being called forth you know and you at this time to be made manifest. Now you can also bury a raw egg at the entrance of your home and then you call in abundance for that year and the fertility of your garden and the prosperity of your home. They're really really fun and I I do all of these. So, I just wanted you to have a few fun ways and let's go to the next slide. Okay. Create an altar. I have a beautiful altar right next to me and I'll soon be dying and coloring eggs as well. But really bring forth symbols on your altar that represent fertility, balance, and the power of manifestation. One of the key symbols, I have all different forms of eggs near me. And when we stop the screen, I'll show you those. I have egg rattles, which we'll use in a moment. I have yoni eggs that I work with. And then I have a rose quartz egg. And I have an actual egg that I'm going to show you in a moment as well. And then bring in the energy of the spring flowers. Think of what symbols maybe write in the chat box right now symbols that represent balance and the restoring balance and harmonization in your life. I love the infinity sign and I use it all the time. I also love the yinyang and the Celtic cross. So, write in some symbols that represent balance for you. I love trees where you show where you draw the tree and then draw the roots under the earth and then see the trunk of the tree and then the branches and the fruits and the leaves. That's a beautiful symbol of balance. So keep writing in so we can inspire each other and be inspired by each other. And now the next one. Okay. So we're going to just come into a little bit of a ritual space. Um let's hold this here for a moment. And what I would like for you to do infinity sign hearts and circles. Hi Tama. Tamika and I were just together in Costa Rica. Portoida. Tamika. Hey, I forgot about my most favorite symbol of balance. You all know what it is. It's the heart with the wings. Tama helped me to remember it when I saw a heart. So, I love hearts with that flow and the power of the wings and that's a key alchemical balance symbol for me. So, what I'd like for you to have um and you may not have anything at all and that's fine. But if you have a candle, let's have a candle. And we all have four directions around us. So we might turn to those four directions. We all can breathe. And so that's awesome. And before we come into this ritual space, I would like for you to consider I'm going to bring us into a visualization and we'll consider these soul reflections. How am I restoring balance, harmony, and joy in my own life right now? So let's take a moment to feel that. If you have a journal, you might like to just write or draw a little bit. So how am I restoring balance, harmony, and joy in my life right now? In what ways am I ready to give my my attention, my focus, my clear energy and the full power of my joy and my love to a new creation in my life? Another way we can think about this is where have we been holding back? you know, for whatever reason, like there's a dream that we have, there's something we want to go for, and yet for whatever reason, we've just put the brakes on. We hold ourselves back, we get stuck in our resistance, um or thinking that we're not worthy or not enough, whatever that place is, just see it for what it is, and just give it a blessing. Okay, thank you. And guess what? Now we're moving forward because this is spring equinox and we've got the juice and the power to make it go. So this is the go for it moment. How am I ready to play more with my creative energy and with the joy the joyful gifts of my soul? Annette Richards Bins is one of our great teachers in the priestess mystery school and she holds the full radical power of joy and really lifts every space with full beaming joy. How are we joy beings? Joy is the magnet that opens up the gateway for everything to manifest. What do I love about myself? How am I deeply grateful and appreciate myself? And in what new ways can I be curious about my life to restore this wonder, this awe, this curiosity? Now, what I'm going to do is I'm going to um light a candle and show you a few ways that you can do this at home as well. and go ahead and pause uh the screen share. So, here's I have a whole altar right here. I'm going to shake this egg rattle um in a minute so that we can just shake it out. I'm just showing you a few things. Now, here's a cool thing you can do. You can work with a bowl of water. Okay. So, I have this filled with water. And then simply go outside and find what beautiful green allies there might be or maybe some spring flowers. So, I picked rosemary, thyme, and lavender and lavender fl. And then what I'm going to do is I'm just going to trace uh blessing symbols of balance into the water once we come into the ritual space. And this water then um we're going to breathe into but you can just do it in the space without any water at all. And we're going to chant that awen. So remember awen is the flowing spirit. It's the way that we acknowledge the land, the sea and the sky, the sun, the moon and the stars and the rhythm and the life of all beings. Then another cool thing that I'm going to do with this water and you can do this. You can take an egg and just break it in half and then have a little tealight that you're going to put inside the egg. And then take some paint or a Sharpie and draw some cool symbols on the shell of your egg and then we're going to float them in the water. So that's one cool thing you can do. Then I'll just show you one more fun little magic trick is that if you have a special oil like an anointing oil or a special essential oil or just something maybe infuse a few spring flowers in some olive oil like that you can take whatever that is and anoint a candle. Okay. Okay. So now just take a note of this because I want to give you something that can hold you from today all the way until the full moon in Libra. So remember we are entering the sun in Aries in a little less than 8 hours. Then we're going to move through this week and at 12 midnight on March 25th is when we have the full moon in Libra. So, if you have something that you especially want to manifest, this is your moment. From spring equinox all the way up to that full moon in Libra, this is full power juice. The magic of the universe that's saying yes, yes, yes to you. I want to remind us that all planetary powers are direct right now. There's nothing in retrograde. And this is just the biggest yes, the biggest cosmic. and the biggest earth manifestation yes that we can have. So you take a candle. I'm working with green all the way up through the full moon for the green vitality of spring. And you can just draw a little symbol in it. So I'm going to draw a few little symbols in mine. And you can do this too. And then I'm going to light it in our ritual space. So, what I'll do is I'll invoke the space and I'm going to use that egg rattle so we can just like shake it out and free ourselves up. And then I'll guide you internally in an inner visualization. So, we'll take it as an inner ritual space. And those of you who have candles, then I'll we'll light the candles at a in a given moment. Okay, you ready? So this will be fun for us and just organizing everything. Loving the ritual space. Okay. Thank you family. Now hold in your heart. really holds in your heart just a deep love for yourself, deepest gratitude for this gift of life and the deepest respect and trust in the journey of your life in the process exactly right now. Call forth anything that you especially want to blossom and grow and draw in this fertility, creative magical energy to flow through the whole of your being. Call this in. If you're like to write or draw, just go for it. Here we go. [Music] [Laughter] By the power of awe when we invoke this space by the land, the sea and the sky. By the flowing spirit of all creative energy, by the power that is source itself, we call in the rhythm and the ritual of the sun and the moon and the stars and the wheel of the year that is right now the spring equinox of Oara. We call forth balance in our lives. We call forth to restore harmony in our lives and on this beautiful earth. We call forth our creative energy. We call forth a deep, deep trust in our journey. For anyone who has water, you can draw symbols of balance and spring in the water or you simply do it in the space right around you. So you just take one hand and try your non-dominant hand too so that we bring balance here and draw your symbols in the space all around you. I will even invite you to draw them to the east and to the west and the south and the north. So you really bless your space with these symbols of balance and spring equinox. And now that you have done that, we're going to light a candle. If you have one, light it. If you don't, no worry. Visualize that you light up from within the central channel of your own being. If you have a candle, hold it up and simply trace with the flame another symbol of balance for your life. Trace with the flame. Symbol of balance of equinox equal day and night. Now, if you have the flame or you're visualizing the flame, if you're visualizing, go like this so that we ignite the flame with the heart fire power. And then take a big breath in. Lift this flame. And now bless yourself with this flame. This flame that ignites the creative energy within the whole of your being. when if you decide to float tealight in some eggs and you want to do that later today. It's really fun and you can draw some of your symbols right onto those eggshells and float them in the water. And this just makes it really fun and beautiful. And then light those as well. And now you'll have these candles floating with maybe some spring flowers and some herbs. Just let that really hold you. Now what I'd like to do is if it's possible, you can stay seated. If you have the space, I'd love for you to stand up so we can take an earth sky pranayyama for balance. And then we'll come into this inner ritual through the visualization. So for earth sky pranayyama or stay seated separate your legs wider than your hips and let your body open up so that the legs are wide and down. The arms are wide and high. Feel this. And then exhale, release your hands. And as the arms come down, send your energy with gratitude into the roots of the earth. And from those roots, inhale, reach wide and high to touch the sky. And exhale, pour it back down. And inhale, reach it back up. Do this a few times in earth sky pranayyama with equal balance between the inhale and the exhale. And now as you inhale imagine that your roots get even stronger. So your rooted power is what lifts you higher. And as you exhale just keep yourself lifted and expanded as you anchor back down. So they are in balance with each other. And through this balance, they harmonize and amplify the energy. Once more, okay, now let's take some wave like breaths. Exhale, pour it down. Inhale, breathe it up. And take a few wavelike breaths through your body. also honoring this equal flow, this equal balance of day and night and night and day. Okay. And I'm going to give you one last one. See if you can try this. Inhale, sweep it up. And then exhale, take your arms wide. So you've got your heart. Okay, big magic in the house. Inhale, lift it up. And exhale, sweep it wide. And now from side to side. And take it a couple more. So that these are your own awesome heart wings. Last one. And now I'm going to give this egg rattle. And just you know what to do. Just shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Shake it out. Shake it out. Shake it out. Shake it. Shake it. Shake it. And keep shaking it. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. And now let's take a seat. So we have that little bit of embodiment to really open up the pathways. Now as you take this seat, let's chant awen three more times. Deep inhale [Music] when the third is when. [Music] Now place your hands anywhere on your body that calls to you. Any place in your body that like that little bird that the goddess Astra picks up with all her loving healing energy. any place or part in you that just feels like it's just ready to be transformed, to be seen, to be held, to be renewed. Really feel that and place your hands anywhere on your body that represents that for you. And now allow your breath to rest there and the life force energy to expand in this part of your body, your psyche, your life. And begin to visualize now that you're in a place of nature that most calls to you. And as you come to this place of nature, you feel the power of the earth. You feel the power of what's hidden deep within the roots. You feel that resource that groundedness, that deep power of the earth that supports, grounds, and renews. And you begin to feel it rising up through you. And as it rises through you, it just lights up the cells in your body with a new kind of vitality. The earth is awake and reaching now through the sprouts, from the roots to the sprouts to the stalks to the flowers to the leaves. There's a new awakening power and you fully can receive this right now. Keep feeling that. And then open up so that there is a lift of energy high above the crown of your head. And a great luminous force pours down through you. A healing nectar pouring through you, meeting this joy that's rising and surging up out of the earth. And your whole being is renewed by the vitality of the spring. Then look around inwardly at this place in nature where you find yourself and begin to see the young new flowers and the sprouts and the new life that's born all around. And as you begin to feel and see what you see and hear what you hear and feel what you feel, a great being of the springtime energy, perhaps a plant, an animal assemble, a divine being appears before you as the empowerment, as the codes of spring and is right before you and offers you special gift just for you right now for your life offers you a gift of the spring energies of renewal, fertility, creativity. This is a magical gift. Receive it with your full gratitude and maybe offer back some blessing of praise to this spring being that gives you this gift. As you receive the gift, know it is the inner mysteries of the spring codes and then place it inside your psyche, inside your body. Place it and install it with the breath of spring, with the hope of renewal, with the power of the earth surging through you and the radiant allloving light healing pouring down through you. And then travel down into the earth. And now begin to see that the whole place in nature is lit up with the dawn of spring. Travel through the dawn of spring through the day through the manifest power and then all the way to the sunset of spring and into the night and now in the nighttime in this place. Bless the night. Bless this darkness that is a fertile strength. Bless the darkness, the equal day to night. Bless the darkness that allows you to restore, to rejuvenate, to regenerate. Give your worries and your fears to the transmutational power of the night sky. Just see yourself giving your worries, your fears, the not enoughness, whatever it is, just give it and know that the power of this dark night sky takes it and transmutes it fully and then lifts you back into the dawn of the next new day. Keep this circuitry. Bless the night and the day, the day and the night. Begin to inhale and exhale equal to each other. And then say to yourself I trust the journey. I trust the blossoming of my life. I trust in the power of the springtime, in the power of this equinox to hold me, to renew me, and to help me to blossom perfectly. And now beautiful family, keep breathing into [Music] that and bring your hands gently. Give a little heart fire. Take a big breath in and blow this blessing breath and gently sweep and bless yourself. Now, if you'd like to write into your journal or in the chat box a gift that you've received, a way that you are renewed, do this. And we're going to put up the last slide. And I'm going to give you this very powerful question to say to yourself through the whole day and the whole night and hopefully for the rest of your life. What do you love and celebrate about yourself? And then really ask because now after equinox in the northern hemisphere, the spring one, the day is going to grow longer and longer and longer all the way to the summer solstice. So we ask ourselves, what do I most want to expand in my life right now? Because from spring equinox to the summer solstice, there's a very big power of expansion. What are my goals? Know that the spring equinox gives us enormous energy with the Aries sun, especially moving to a full moon, especially all planetary powers are direct. What are my goals, my deepest desires? How do I feel about them? And how can I truly bring in more play, awe, joy, and wonder into my life? Now, here's the question, everyone. And so just go ahead and say I'm going to say it once and then we'll say it in different ways. What would it take for the spirits of play to take action on my dreams, goals, and heartfire desires? So let's go to the next one. So coming deeper into your magic. I hope you had a great awesome journey al together in community and I want to invite you to keep deepening your magic with me. and the next. So, if you're ready to say yes to your true role as a co-creator with the universe, thank you. Thank you for saying yes. Let's go to the next. Okay? And you're ready to really just hold the whole of your being. You know, to fully face our fears, but not let them govern us and then radically transform in the alchemy of sisterhood. Come with us. And now the next. Okay. And for anyone who really has just been desiring a deep connection and sisterhood and to transform in the realms of magic, I'm here to serve that. And welcome to ritual 13 moon pre uh 13 moon mystery school. I was initiated as a priestess in 1993. You can just keep traveling through the slides. And the what um through my initiation in 1993, I've been serving as priestess all over the world for these last three plus decades. Ritual itself is an acronym and it stands for the power of remembrance and that's remembering who we truly are and remembering the fragmented parts of self. The I is for initiation and those initiations we go through in life that just make us so much more of who we truly are and can be. T is for transmission so that we ground ourselves and open up as a conduit as a channel to receive spirit and the flowing currents of divine energy that gives us insight and revelation and ways to help humanity. You is for the deepest understanding within our being. The right divine clear perception as well. And also to see what usually isn't seen. Like think of it as the the standing that is under something. What is beneath something or is hidden in what we usually see. A is for alchemy and the full power of our transformation. And L is that we cultivate ourselves as love and action here to serve. and the next and so ritual is a modern uh 13 moon mystery school of embodied wisdom um I my roots are in the Celtic ways my family is from Gway Ireland and so I traveled there many years ago looking for my teachers in Ireland to teach me these ways this is a year-long soulful immersion of magic and with women all over the world and it is deep fun and the next okay So we get together every month for 13 moons. We have full moon activations, new moon insight, understanding, priestess sword dancing, power of prayer, dance, a green witch elixir, uh spell crafting, all sorts of cool things that happen. And the next one, this is some of the different key aspects of the entire mystery school. So you can really feel the whole power that it is and how deep we go and how profound of a transformation this traveling together. One year in this mystery school changes the whole course of your life and it gives you so many new ways of being in the deepest kind of connection with the power that you actually are and then to find ways to bring that into the world. so that we really are here in deep service.