Unconditional Love Archives

A SACRED SPACE RITUAL FOR VALENTINE’S DAY

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Laurey Simmons

Laurey Simmons of The Colourful Dot Boutique, shares a sacred space ritual to open your heart this Valentine’s Day…

Beyond the chocolates and red roses, Valentines Day for me is a precious reminder to keep our hearts open. As psychotherapist and spiritual teacher John Welwood says, our heart’s true purpose is really: “to be an open channel through which great love flows into this world.”

One of my favorite ways of opening this channel is by spending time in my sacred space. A sacred space is simply one corner of our home environment where we keep beautiful objects that are special or sacred to us. The space can be as large or as small as you want. Even if you only have a small section of a shelf, this too can be a perfect place to make your sacred space.

Keeping a sacred space is a precious gift to our soul, a reminder of how we want to be in the world, a mirror reflecting back to us our Inner Beauty.

Read on for a sacred space ritual for an open heart…

1. First thing to do is to cleanse the energy of your space. One of my favorite ways to cleanse is by burning Frankincense resin. Dropping a few pieces of the resin onto a burning charcoal disc allows for the heavenly smoke to rise and fill the surrounding air. Breathing in this aroma, I find my mind-chatter settles, my body relaxes, and my energies become grounded.

2. With the theme of Love in mind, I’ll be adding a few drops of Rose Oil into my diffuser. The combination of Frankincense and Rose Oil smells seriously divine! Rose of course exudes love and beauty, both visually and through her perfect scent. Did you know that Rose essential Oil has been proven in studies to reduce anxiety and produce deep levels of relaxation?

3. Now for some visual beauty. Nothing opens my heart more than beautiful objects from Mother Nature, especially crystals. Three pink, heart-centered stones I’m working with a lot at the moment are Rose Quartz, the mother of Love stones; Mangano Calcite, which radiates the energies of the heart in a very gentle, nurturing, and soothing way; and Pink Morganite, also known as the Pink Emerald, and a wonderful tool to help cultivate qualities of the heart, like compassion. I also love to add fresh flowers to my sacred space—in this case, either fresh pink roses or a bowl of dried pink roses.

4. The next step is to connect to the energy of those who radiate an open heart or Unconditional Love. It could be a spiritual teacher, a historical or mythical figure, a friend or family member. At the moment, the chosen beings of light in my sacred space are Ram Dass, Maya Aneglou, Thich Nhat Hann, Joni Mitchell, and Heqet (the Ancient Egyptian goddess and symbol of new life). Ideally, print off some small images of these people so they can beam their light right back at you from the heart of your sacred space.

5. An open heart is only truly open if we can keep it so in challenging situations. With this in mind, I like to have an object in my sacred space that symbolizes this challenging situation or person. This practice is taken from one of my spiritual teachers, Ram Dass, who spoke about his own puja table and how he’d have pictures of his teachers there, Buddha, Hanuman, Maharajah, Mary, and how every morning he would greet them with love. This included a picture of one of his most difficult people, Caspar Weinberger, President Reagan’s Secretary of Defense. An alternative to a picture of a specific person is simply to include a broken or damaged object. I sometimes use a decaying leaf to, reminding me of those spaces in my heart that sometimes struggle to stay open, allowing feelings of compassion towards that situation or person that challenges us.

6. To finish this ritual, I love to place my hand on my heart and set a little intention: to keep the people who inspire me and the beauty, especially the beauty of imperfection, in my heart throughout the day, so I can be a more compassionate and loving person in the world. I also recommend placing your hand on your heart throughout the day, especially if you ever feel it closing up. This simple gesture can bring you directly back to that inner space of Beauty and Love.

Discover more about Laurey and her work at The Colourful Dot Boutique, an online sanctuary for Inner Beauty. Pre-order her new book, The Inner Beauty Bible: Mindful rituals to nourish your soul, today.

HONOR + PROTECT: A READING FOR THE 2016 CAPRICORN FULL MOON

Posted on July 18, 2016November 12, 2018 by Sandy Sitron

The message of the Capricorn Full Moon is to create structures that allow you to honor and protect your most emotional self, says Sandra Sitron.

We experience a Capricorn Full Moon on July 19th at 6:57pm EDT.

THE MOON AND ITS MESSAGE
“We can be parents to ourselves by adoring and providing for our own Inner Child. Let’s figure it out. Let’s help ourselves grow.”

A Full Moon always creates awareness between two opposite energies. And since it requires a lot of energy to expand into greater awareness, Full Moon vibes are always active, outward, and high-intensity.

The opposite energies involved in this Full Moon are: Sun in Cancer and Moon in Capricorn.

The ancient archetype of Cancer is Mother. Cancer teaches us to actively nurture. Cancer is focused on the personal and the private. Emotions, home and family.

The ancient archetype of Capricorn is Father. Capricorn shows us the importance of building structures and organizations that can function efficiently. This energy teaches how to prioritize what is important to us. Capricorn is focused on the formal and public. Career, institutions, society.

And so the polarities of this Capricorn Full Moon have to do with home vs. professional life, and emotion vs. rationality.

When I did a journey to understand the energy of this Full Moon more clearly, the symbol that came through was: A lizard half submerged in water.

The lizard reminds us to slip down into our emotional waters. To center ourselves in our inner truth, yet adapt to our environment. To find a way to be fluid in where there is structure. To become so efficient and effective that we can remain emotionally robust.

And so any time your actions out in the world feel at odds with your emotional needs during this Moon phase, lean in to what feels self-supportive instead. For example, if you are feeling overwhelmed remember you can always soothe yourself with empathetic words.

To find balance in the beam of this Capricorn Full Moon, call in archetypical Mother and Father energy.

Father: (Capricorn)
Protect yourself. Create structure in your life. Make sure you are safe and provided for.
Mother: (Cancer)
It’s all about nurture and love. Show yourself how cherished you are. Give yourself unconditional love.

***

URANUS IN ARIES
“We are training the vine in a new direction. We are wild, free and autonomous. We take bold action in service of our growth.”

The Capricorn Full Moon also forms part of a T-square, with Uranus in Aries as the focal planet. The symbol that came through for this t-square aspect was: A duel in the wild west.

The Sun and Moon are in the signs that manage the emotional and the vocational. They are trying to reconcile with each other and are simultaneously in a tense aspect to Uranus in Aries—the planet of change in the sign of leadership. The energy of this moment is fraught. This intensity can feel like it leaves us with no option but to make hard and fast decisions, simply for the sake of survival. Impatience, and a desire to take action are running the show.

This aspect can feel like who you are and what you do are being questioned. It can feel like shifts need to be made immediately. Freedom becomes of utmost importance. I call this “eject button” energy. Something’s got to give and it’s got to happen now!

But whenever there is a T-square (which looks like an arrow in the sky, and holds both motivating and challenging energy) we can look to the sign that is unactivated to find resolution—the logic being that if three signs are activated, it’s like a table that has three legs and is missing the fourth. Thing’s are a little wobbly.

The signs that are activated right now are Cancer, Capricorn and Aries—while the unactivated sign (or missing table leg) is Libra.

Libra reminds us that relational skills are needed now. So to work with this Capricorn Full Moon, try to put yourself in other people’s shoes. Veer toward compassion. Communicate with diplomacy. If you get angry, go slow. Allow the adrenaline to subside before you speak. Unless you are facing a true emergency, know that you have time to breathe and decide rationally how to set a boundary.

***

MARS SEXTILE THE MOON
“We are comfortable with our light and our shadow. We support ourselves by allowing our emotions to flow.”

Action planet Mars is another supportive force for this Capricorn Full Moon. He makes a tender trine aspect to the Sun and a harmonious sextile to the Moon.

Mars is currently in Scorpio, reminding us that all the answers we are looking for are available when we dig deep. Go inward. Find the places in our body where old emotions have been stored. Mars in Scorpio gives us permission to let go. To cry. To go all the way down into our center, to where we feel feel grounded.

Feeling all the things we never let ourselves feel before actually helps us feel safe. To feel whole. It shows us that we are complete. This cathartic process of grieving and letting go is how we can mother ourselves through any conflicting emotions the Capricorn Full Moon may bring up at this time. Your job is to simply allow.

The symbol that came through for Mars sextile the Moon was: A magical cloak that can transport us to faraway lands.

Maybe there is some tool or technique you can use to heighten your experience in this world. Look around. Is there something you can utilize that’s actually right next to you? Something that can help you better navigate your emotional state? It may be a mindset, a meditation, a favorite healer, yoga practice or book. Open you eyes, your heart and your mind, and it will be be easy to find and emotionally supportive.

The symbol that came through for Mars Trine the Sun was: A very young tree growing straight toward the Sun.

This image helps us remember that we find true alignment in striving for our essential truth and nourishing our root system. If you are looking for motivation, pay attention to your emotions. Make peace with limiting beliefs around your family and ancestral system, where you came from. Make sure that you are tenderly telling yourself the whole truth about how you feel.

***

IN SUMMARY
During this Capricorn Full Moon phase, which will color the two weeks ahead of the August 1 Leo New Moon, make unconditional self-love your guiding principal—and choose your actions accordingly!

Protect and nurture yourself. Be loving toward yourself and create efficient structures designed to make you feel supported. Break free where you need to, but not at the cost of what you have so carefully built. Give yourself time. Through bravely investigating your emotions you will find relief and understanding. You will find your truth and discover new ways to protect it.

To book a private readig with Sandra email her at [email protected] or visit www.strongeyeastrology.com

JOURNALING BY SIGN FOR THE CANCER NEW MOON

Posted on July 3, 2016November 3, 2018 by Ruby Warrington

Deep, sweet healing is available under the July 4 Cancer New Moon—on a personal and a collective level, says Ruby Warrington. PLUS a New Moon journaling exercise by sign…

Buckle up, bust out the tissues, and get ready to feel some serious feelings under the cashmere blanket cover of the July 4 Cancer New Moon. But rather than a hair-raising roller-coaster of emotion, forming part of a tender, loving trine to Neptune in Pisces and a newly direct Mars in Scorpio, this feels more like a loving embrace of the most sensitive, idealistic aspects of our beings—both individually, and as a collective.

And MAN does the world need this all-enveloping, watery hug right now—which is not here to drown us, or invite us to get swept away on on a tide of sentimentality. Rather, here comes a clarion call to see past the drama, the blame, and the collective pain so many have been experiencing, and simply feel all that is ready to be healed.

The Moon is at its most potent in its home sign of Cancer, the nurturing care-taker of the Zodiac, where it is being charged by the life-force energy of the Sun. Joined here by PR planet Mercury, and Venus, planet of peace, love and beauty, not only is this stellium sending us a beam of pure hope; voicing our vulnerability and caring so much we cry won’t look weak during this Moon cycle—it will reveal us at our most beautiful.

Cosmos willing, we’ll see the same from our world leaders too—since the Cancer New Moon, along with her stellar backing singers, is opposite a retrograde Pluto in Capricorn, shining a light on just how ugly things get when it becomes all about the power plays, at the expense of truly empathetic, authentic leadership. A taste of which we’ve been getting already.

And so the bigger opportunity now is for us all to use whatever influence we wield—in our own lives, within our family constellations, and with whatever voice we put out in the world—to transmute anger and defensiveness to pure, unadulterated compassion. To an mother’s unconditional love. And from this place, to harness the fiery power of Mars direct in Scorpio to assist the downtrodden in rising, Phoenix-like, from the ashes.

Oh, and you know that expression about drinking your cares away…? Not even the most kamikaze-strength cocktails will be able to mask the outpouring of emotion (that which we care about) that must accompany this healing process. If anything, we can all expect to be crying into the guacamole way before Monday’s Cancer New Moon rises.

And so instead, we invite you to turn your back on the BBQs and the inevitable, albeit beautiful, public crying this July 4. To carve out a day for some Cancerian self-care, to retreat into your shell, and to engage in the below journaling exercise—which is designed to help each sign plumb the depths of what personal healing is available beneath the benevolent beam of this Cancer New Moon, and during the next two weeks of this Moon cycle.

If you find yourself stuck drop back into your gut—using the keyword as an anchor for your musings. And above all remember to feel it all, to keep feeling, and then to feel some more.

ARIES :: ARIES RISING
My deepest family or ancestral wound is… The personal power I have access to when I move beyond this is… So, what healing modality is my intuition guiding me towards this Moon cycle? What shift could this create in my career, and in my being a role model for others? Keyword: Mother

TAURUS :: TAURUS RISING
What am I most reluctant to voice right now? To whom? How might my connections and close relationships move forward this Moon cycle if I could just find the courage*? What wider impact could these honest conversations between me and my collective have on the world? Key word: Vision
*NB you can

GEMINI :: CANCER RISING
What do I value the most about myself? My greatest talent is… How can I bring more of this to my day-to-day during this Moon cycle? Of what service could this ultimately be to others? What new levels of depth would this bring to the legacy I am imprinting on the world? Keyword: Abundance

CANCER :: CANCER RISING
The creative project I am ready to invest in this Moon cycle is… What is the love note I need to receive from myself this week to get started? Why is it difficult to write? How does this shift when I see myself through the eyes of my dream lover? When I express my creative gives, how does this shift my relationships with others? Key word: Vitality

LEO :: LEO RISING
Where and with whom in my tribal system do I need to exercise more compassion this Moon cycle? This will also be healing for me because… What are the limiting beliefs I hold about my my personal power? Seeing beyond these, how am freed to be proactive in doing my dharma? Keyword: Integrity

VIRGO :: VIRGO RISING
My role in the group currently is… To what extent does this allow me to flourish as a creative being? And what part of myself is being stifled? The conversation needed this Moon cycle for me to express my true gifts begins with… In what ways might my relationships, in love and business, flourish as a result? Keyword: Innovation.

LIBRA :: LIBRA RISING
My greatest ambition for 2016 is… How can I expand on this vision to also be of service in the world? What limiting belief am I holding about my capacity for attracting financial abundance? Who in my family tree am I most inspired by career-wise? This moon cycle I will connect to their energy by… Keyword: Reputation.

SCORPIO :: SCORPIO RISING
Five new ways I can find creative inspiration this moon cycle are… My dream travel location would be… What does my highest self find so fascinating about this place, and its culture? What emotional need does this speak to in me? Speaking from this place, my message for the world is… Keyword: New horizons.

SAGITTARIUS :: SAGITTARIUS RISING
The great mystery I am being called to investigate this Moon cycle is… Five ways shining a light on this area will improve my family relationships are… What in my own life could be healed as a result? This will make me feel more confident in my ability to experience abundance because… Keyword: Obsession.

CAPRICORN :: CAPRICORN RISING
In my close relationships I am always the one who… How can I experiment with being more authentically myself this Moon cycle? Three things I would like people to know about the real me are… In what positive ways might this shift the way I am perceived by the people in my life? Keyword: Respect.

AQUARIUS :: AQUARIUS RISING
I have been neglecting my overall wellbeing lately by… How has this impacted on my ability to truly value myself? What ambitions have I achieved in the past as a result of instilling healthy habits and routines? What new way can I find to connect to my higher self this Moon cycle? Keyword: Efficiency.

PISCES :: PISCES RISING
When I am in my creative flow I feel… But the limiting beliefs I hold about my creative self are… What actions can I take this Moon cycle to challenge myself creatively? In an ideal world, in what ways would this transform the way others see me? Keyword: Play.

@NUMINOUS_BOOKS