Spring Equinox - approx. March 21st
When you think of spring, one of the first things you may think about is spring cleaning. Time to clear out winter stagnation, or your cluttered closet, and freshen things up!
The whole northern hemisphere is waking up from winter’s slumber and is filled with renewed energy, ready to jump into new projects, revisit old ones, and rejuvenate all aspects of life. This time of year is very conducive to creating new habits. You have the energy to back up your intention, and now is the time to act!
Archetypes
Astrological Sign: Aries
The first sign of the zodiac, Aries is a fresh energy full of possibilities and is ready to make them ALL a reality! Aries is action, an assertive masculine energy that likes to get things done. This is powerful stuff when used wisely and balanced by the feminine wisdom of the cycles of life and death.
However, much like cancer cells who turn off their “cell death” signal, an imbalanced Aries will keep building and “progressing” without any thought or care for the destruction left behind.
Knowing when to stop, when to let things die, is crucial to life! The wisdom to know when that time is comes with a strong connection to your intuition and the divine feminine.
Chakra: Root
What does home mean to you? Safety and security? Or does it conjure feelings of restlessness, stress, or scarcity?
This is the time of year when we sort our homes (or home life) – cleaning, organizing, and throwing out – or renovate or build new ones, just as the birds do each spring.
The root chakra governs our basic survival needs and instincts. And when this energy is imbalanced, it may be more noticeable this time of year.
Abundance mindset versus scarcity mindset is the result of the root chakra’s state of balance. Too little or blocked energy may find someone always lacking, falling short, or barely scraping by. Too much and someone may become miserly. Balanced root chakra energy supports a mindset of plenty, ease, and gratitude, trusting in an abundant universe.
Tarot: The Emperor
The archetypal father: kind but just, strong, responsible, courageous – a balanced masculine energy. This card is associated with the zodiac sign Aries, ruled by Mars, the planet of men.
Aries and Mars are often portrayed as imbalanced masculine energy: force, aggression, headlong and unchecked action, a tendency to leave a wake of needless destruction. The extremes of Aries and Mars signal the dangers of the repression of the feminine.
But when balanced by the feminine, the quiet strength and authority of the emperor are revealed. Force isn’t necessary as the feminine teaches the power of allowing.
Exercises
Body: Medicinal Herbs
Mama Gaia naturally provides us with both bitter and nourishing tonic herbs during this time to simultaneously clear out any winter stagnation and nourish the body as it rebuilds itself. Nettles, dandelion, cleavers, and bitter greens are just a few of her medicinal offerings.
Emotions: Journal Entry
I suggest you create a journal of some kind for this course. There will be specific exercises that I ask you to do, such as the following exercise for examining the archetype of the divine masculine, and there may be other times you have a sudden insight, thought or even recipe you want to write down. All this can be recorded in one place and used as a reference to refer back to year after year.
Journal Exercise: Where do you fall on the scale of the Emperor? Are you just and kind, but firm in your boundaries? Has imbalanced masculine energy made you stiff, unyielding, forcing others to bend to your will? Or have you leaned too far to the feminine, allowing boundaries to be crossed, unable to stand up for yourself? Where did you learn this behavior?
Write down your answers and whatever else comes up for you. This exercise is for your benefit, so I encourage you to really dig in and think deeply about these questions, not dismissing anything until you’ve nonjudgmentally examined the possibility of its presence in your life or behaviors.
Mind: Scarcity vs Abundance
Healing a scarcity mindset does not happen overnight for most people. This is a lifetime of beliefs and training that has led you to this place. A lifetime of thinking thoughts of scarcity over and over again. Imagine a path that is walked every day, multiple times a day, for decades. That path would be very well defined, broad, and take many, many years to finally disappear. The same is with an idea or belief thought over and over again. That neural pathway is familiar, frequently used, and will take a long time without use to no longer become the default.
What can make the process even slower is the likelihood of obstacles or blockages that sent you down that path in the first place! Imagine a path in the woods and on one side is a sheer cliff. On the other, a fallen tree. No matter how much you might like to take another path, obstacles block your way and force you back onto the one you’ve taken so many times before. In our minds, these obstacles are other beliefs we’ve been taught or ways we have perceived our experiences that keep us thinking the same unhealthy thoughts over and over again. Without removing the obstacles, you will likely not be able to create a new mental path of abundance.
Prosperity vs Greed
Pigs symbolize abundance as well as its shadow, greed which is, in reality, anotherform of scarcity mindset - the belief that there will never be enough.
It can take quite some time to dismantle years of programming. Chakra clearings can be very helpful, if not essential, to the process. But one of the simplest things you can do is to become aware of your limiting beliefs about abundance. Then, having become aware of them, looking for their source in your childhood – your parents, your schooling, your culture or religion. Now that you have shone the light of awareness on these limiting beliefs, you can begin the arduous –but well worth it! – task of choosing a thought of abundance every single time you have a thought based in scarcity.
The insidiousness of scarcity-mindset can take some time to root out, maybe even a lifetime, as you become aware of new and subtler ways it impacts your life. (Hoarding, “saving the best for last,” and even low self-esteem are signs of scarcity mindset.) The good news is, you can do it with conscious awareness of your thoughts and perseverance.
Spirit: Connecting to Mama Gaia and the Sun
This entire course is based on the relationship of the Earth to the Sun – archetypally, the balance of the divine feminine and masculine. The first three exercises – body, emotions, and mind – are focused on your current incarnational experience. They don’t encompass the whole of you – your spirit. The final exercise in each section will address spiritual needs and growth, fostering a deeper connection to your Highest Self and strengthening your intuitive abilities.
The simplest way to connect to Mama Gaia and the Sun is to get your hands dirty. Put them in the earth. Whether you have a space for a large garden or a few small pots, plant something, no gloves allowed! Physically connecting to the earth through your hands is powerful not just for your energetic body but for your physical health as well!
Energetically, your auric field is grounded to the healing field of Mother Earth which is, in turn, heavily influenced by the Sun’s rays. Physically, the microbes in the dirt support skin and digestive health. So, providing you grow your plants organically, when harvest time comes, just give your veggies or herbs a gentle rinse before eating! Cooking will kill the microbes, so try to eat as much of your bounty raw as you can.
