Hello Everyone:
My goodness, I truly do not know what astrological source I was looking at last month when I announced that the New Moon of this month would be August 2nd . LOL and Yikes! I surely lost focus somewhere. It is begins July 31 at 9:11:48 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time. The First Harvest Celebration of Lammas, often honored as August 1st , is August 7th as it is a quarter festival and arrives when the Sun is presenting itself at 15 Degrees 0 Minutes of Leo. Many of you have already noted that on the website.
I do hope the rise of the full moon (lunar eclipse) through the Oak lunar cycle lifted the spirits of many of you and opened the doorway of more joy and creativity. It has opened the doorway for many of my clients for their particular form of art, decisions to make life changes, healing, and intuitive wisdom. With the onset of the Holly cycle more light can be recognized and opportunities before you can be seen.
Of course, we also give honor to the wisdom of the First Harvest noted at this time of the year. Certainly the Celts held several days of festivities. They brought their arts and crafts and particularly their breads to the altar to give thanks to the Great Goddess for they knew She had aided them in fertilizing, growing, and harvesting the seeds they had planted earlier in the year. They danced, played rigorous games to reveal their strength and agility and intentions to win. They committed to partners and to new pathways, or to remain dedicated to the pathways they were traveling. Thus, it is always a time for use to honor and give gratitude for the harvest we are gathering, to stop and play, reveal our strength and agility, and to commit or recommit to our intentions. Using the ritual of Lammas is encouraged for this purpose.
Of course, you can find the Lammas ritual and comments on Cosmic Influence of the New Moon on the website: Cosmic Influence on www.katherinebell.org.
I thought it quite interesting that last month the key word was Love and this month the key word is Light. I pondered these words for a while. Fifty seven years ago I entered a path of spiritualism and metaphysics. I met a lot of people who were “Seekers of the Light.” That is still a key phrase used today. Each of us wanting to Live in the Light, Be the Light, Radiate the Light, be Light Workers; and so on. As I pondered the words Love and Light this month, I had another one of those “aha” feelings and insight. “We will never be the true Light Workers until we can be the True Love Workers,” I surmised.
I realize that I have been searching more and more to find the way to love everything I don’t like, which includes all situations of our world that stirs my angst and desires to make “wrong,” anything or anyone that I don’t deem to honor everyone. LOL, as soon as I can’t honor those who are unhappy with mainstream, off-stream, different skin colors, religions, hairdos, clothes ones wear (or doesn’t wear), genders, sexual orientations, and so on, then I’m off the path of Love. I have to love all not matter what…if all is created by the Creator, then what is not to love? If I’m off the path of Love, I’m surely not on the Path of Light. Aha, No Love, No Light! So we are in a month of reaping, and Holly reminds us to continue reaping love so we may reap True Light.
Light is seen as the First Creative Work of the Divine. It moved out of Darkness and said, “Let there be Light.” From that Light began the flood of creation, the power of wisdom used, and the evolution of soul(s). That Light was imbued with Love and would not have occurred without Love. Thus, Love first, then Light can be seen and creation of all things can occur. When creation occurred, every soul was given the inalienable right to create abundance on all levels of existence. When we bring ourselves through the gateway of Love and live in Light, we re-create our true self and reinstate our inalienable right to be abundant on all levels and we will reap our harvest.
So, to all who want to create their harvest: Be Love and Be Light. How do we do this with Holly? I would say to all who have traveled through the teaching of WomanSpirit with me to recall that Holly is part of an axis of love (with Rowan)…thus embedded in Holy is Love. This Face of the Divine Goddess calls on every soul embodied in the human temple to remember not only are they loved, but to love their self so they may love all others (Holly 4 Rowan). Holly’s active partner is Suil, the brilliant Celtic name of the Sun. The Heart Light of the Tree of Life is noted as the Sun, amongst other correspondences. Correspondences certainly help us see how Love and Light come together through the glow of Holly. Now let us exam the trio of consciousness for the Lunar Cycle and review how we may unify them into the blessings of Love and Light and renew our soul blessings given to us at First Light.
Holly – The Foundation of Consciousness for this Lunar Cycle
Commitment is a key word in the field of Holly. In the symbology within her picture we find three maidens from the Isle of Avalon. The word “Avalon” means: The Other World. In the picture, and in ancient practice, the maiden novices who were devoted to the Goddess and sacred practices, committed their life to “the other world” for a year. They did nothing that would take them from their mission. They served their community as handmaidens, healers, and teachers. They did not become involved in sexual relationships that year; or any relationships that swayed them from their mission to learn, serve with a deep devotion, pure sense of purpose, and living for the Holy One. Once that commitment was anchored within their cognitive mind, their human emotions, and their ego raised into higher intentions, then their lives could be shared with everyone as they so desired for their commitment to the Isle of Avalon was always a part of their life. But until they were fully fixed into that reality, they held true to their learning. Thus, at Lammas, a time when ones were novices and could be highly influenced to lose their way into the land of play, they tied a rope around each other to help them stay true to their vow of commitment to their year-and-a-day of strict service to the Isle of Avalon.
How might we look at our commitment to Light in Holly? We can look at it in many ways and ask: Are we committed to the love of self and others? That is the first step. Are we committed to what Light means and being conscious of it? Here are different meanings of Light:
-Awareness and Devotion to the Holy One
-Clarity of Mind
-Right use of Knowledge
-Pure Kinetic Energy
-The Divine
Holly teaches us to remain strong with the perseverance to change as many times as we may need to in order to stay on the path of our commitment to Avalon. Holly teaches us to maintain the power of commitment through the axis of love: love of self and love of others. Holly teaches us that each individual holds a quality of creation that is to be developed and shared by ones own talents. This creation is to be woven in to the threads of the tapestry of one’s life and the life of others. For as we do this, we are truly lighting up the “already created” tapestry of the Divine. We are allowing the individuated quality of the Divine (our self) to be seen and through the Pure Kinetic Energy of Holly, we are called to stand up and be proud of this very ray of light that we are.
What challenges might Holly present to our consciousness? Since she is a call to join groups, we may feel like we don’t fit in or our talents are not good enough, so we stand back. We may get disrupted easily if we believe we know is correct and have not given ourselves room to feel the opinion of another. If that occurs, we may stand back and say nothing, or we may get on the defensive and let our ego take over the discussion. Our true light dims and the ego monster comes out and flexibility hides. Anger might take over as the defense mechanism or righteousness moves us into action to prove a point. Of Course, being committed gets in our way when challenged. It may be we cannot commit to a relationship…even to our self. It may be we cannot commit to the path we have chosen for self growth, self actualization, or self realization. We might think we are, but the “proof is in the pudding,” so we say. We simply have to look at what we are manifesting to realize if we have remained committed to our true intentions. If not, then we have the good blessing to change directions and recommit.
Suil – the Active Consciousness of Holly
On the Tree of Life at the very Heart of the Tree we see the brilliant yellow circle. This also has many correspondences to speak about. It is stated as the placement of the Higher Self or the Master Self of the Human Soul. The Sun is considered the satellite frequency of Divine Consciousness that guides the soul through its sojourn…always providing light, always having The Light within it.
As Holly reminds us to Love our Self so we may know the Light of our self, then with Suil (Sun) as the active part of this cognitive month, we have a tremendous Light to guide us. In fact, when we consider that Avalon is the Other World, or the World of our Higher Self, then we may use the symbols in the card of Suil to contemplate how we can let go and allow the guidance of love and light direct our daily process.
Observe, the Horse and the Lion are pulling the chariot. The Red-velvet tufted seat is ready for us to sit in, facing back rather than forward. We simply relax and allow our Higher Inner Nature to guide us. Behind us is an Eagle in flight. The Eagle is another symbol of the Divine, and thus always has our back as well. As we are being drawn toward the Sun, it becomes obvious that when we let go to our inner power by of our highest nature of love, we will be drawn to the light. As we blend in Love and Light, we become powerful Creators Creating! And thus, live a given quality of Holly. We can take Self Dominion and live in joy, create as we desire and need, interrelate and have fun and with delightful support, and reap the harvest of our highest intentions.
The Subconscious/Unconscious World of Holly – Elder with the Active quality of Suil
Can anything stop us from this power? I’ll bet some of you are laughing at this question. Some of you may be saying, “Now that is a ridiculous question. Of course something can. We can. I do.” You are right. The old saboteur of the subconscious level can get right up and do a scary dance, send a few thought-forms into our emotional fields, and stir the old pot of memories of just why we are not able to, aren’t good enough, …..la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
You know the story as much as I do. With Elder as the fiery nature of our subconscious, we have the most critical judge going. Our subconscious mind sizzles with messages that just burns our a- -. Our inner mind does not stop the judge. It judges our self in so many ways I cannot even begin to list them. It turns on all others who might be around us, or not even around us. How about those affirmations we see every day, or constant advertisements for “this is the way to permanent success?”
“Really?” Your saboteur’s sarcasm responds. “I’ve done it all, tried it all, and what????? I’m a failure and why bother?” Oh the saboteur is very strong in this dungeon of darkness. It sees the blackbird as an omen of the bugaboo who is lurking and ready to attack. However the action of Suil brings the power of the Unconscious (Soul) into nature to calm the subconscious and guide it to the Light of Truth.
When we capture the reality that are inner mind is tumbling in negative thoughts and lurking in the darkness of judgment we can use the positive power of Elder and purposely enter the realm of Silence. We can choose to quiet our body, perhaps through light exercises, yoga, swimming, slow walking in nature, etc. We can quiet our emotions and our mind by resting and listening to meditation music, and finally, we can enter silence through all levels of our self. As we adapt to the quiet places, we can let the light of our higher mind guide us to the Other World where angels may teach us, and ultimately we can enter the realm of the Holy One. Peace will prevail. In this state of being we:
Surrender to Love
Surrender to Light
Surrender to the Divine Mind
Surrender to Divine Creation
Surrender to Faith
Surrender to Patience
Surrender to Peace
Surrender to Harmony
Surrender to Kindness
Surrender to Joy
Surrender to the Love and Light of our Soul!
The Supernal Consciousness of Holly is revealed in Alder
“I AM THAT I AM.” A master heard those words as he asked the unseen Source who it was. Yes, that was the Master Moses. Unto him the Great Creator who Moses new as Gd, was communicating to him through a burning bush, “The Fire of Creation.” Alder is a great fire of purpose, passion and power of our Supernal Consciousness. It is the Driver of Light and Love and the foundation of Creative Ideation. What is required of us to see that burning bush and know its power within our highest mind?
We have to turn our sight inward, burn the debris of falsehood about our self, repeatedly. We must get rid of the dross and even the good plants that have been growing. For every good farmer who knows that her crops can be assisted by performing a “prescribed burn” to enhance the plants that are yet to grow by burning good plants and let them aid in creating healthier soil. We must bring our inner soil through a prescribed burn, and clear the land of our unconscious so it may let the seed of our Supernal Conscious rise up through a nutrient rich field. Thus the Fire of Elder helps Alder and Alder helps Elder. Start here.
In the symbols of Alder, we see one person on the path walking toward the Hut of the Supernal Consciousness where the I AM THAT I AM, can be met. Others are left in the field of wisdom in the Unconscious. They, just like in a prescribed burn, are plants that are growing and healthy, but they will come through the burn to aid in the new growth. Old wisdom becomes fodder for new wisdom. The three women under the tree are not representing challenging thoughts of our negative trends of the subconscious, they are wisdom bearers ready to expand and grow when new inspiration is provided when they empty and regenerate the soil and birth a new creation. This we will see by the active process of Suil with Alder as the Supernal Consciousness.
Active power of Suil in our Supernal Consciousness with Alder
The Light of the Supernal Consciousness provides the flame of regeneration. It burns the patterns of the present, uses the wisdom learned as fertilizer, and provides the rays of light for new growth. Our senses (as noted in the Sunflowers) are enhanced: Our sight, sound, hearing, taste, touch, insight and intuition are regenerated. They are sharpened by the Light and nurtured by the Love of the Divine Nature that we are. We are strengthened and our commitment is unlimited. Our creative powers are used in ways that support the ultimate living of harmony for our self and all others.
We can recognize that Alder helps Elder and ultimately, together, they l aid the power of Holly to be the union of Love and Light.
May you revive your commitment through the action of Love and Light and the honoring of the Divine.
New Moon Blessings,
Katherine
Rev. Katherine Bell, PhD, DD
~Lunar Phases of Holly~
New Moon – July 31, 2019
Crescent Moon -Aug 4
First Quarter Moon – Aug 7
Gibbous Moon – Aug 10
Full Moon – Aug 14
Disseminating Moon – Aug 19
Last Quarter – Aug 22
Balsamic Moon – Aug 27
Hazel-Grapevine Aug 30
Please know these are not exact dates, but very close.
