Tag Archives: walks in nature

Beltane Rituals. Soothe Yourself With Beauty.

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“Ritual is the act of sanctifying action – even ordinary action – so that it has meaning. I can light a candle because I need the light or because the candle represents the light I need.”
– Christina Baldwin
The Yin and Yang are always at work. April taught us lessons, some difficult, some compelling. May teaches us sweetness. It comes to our aid absorbing the pieces into its vast well of beauty that we can tap into all month long.

In diverse cultures around the world, Summer is the midpoint between the vernal equinox and summer solstice. May 1-2 is Beltane (Fire of Bel) or May Day. May 4 in the Chinese lunar calendar is Lixia, (The Inauguration of Summer).

The beginning of each season provides an opportunity to create a fortuitous beginning. In sanctifying the season, we invoke our own potential laying the path for abundance and success. In January I shared Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) rituals. Now, four months later, life begins anew with the imminence of Summer. Its energy potential fertilizes the seeds of intention we plant during this time. This blog will focus on Beltane. The Beltane rituals below are simple and easy to implement. Select what feels right for you.

May your day be blessed, your morning bright, your evenings filled with fae and sprite…. Beltane honors life and new growth. One of the eight solar sabbats celebrated by Wiccan cultures, humans offer their prayers and gratitude to the Earth and human fertility is celebrated with rituals. Traditionally groups come together but you can create a private Beltane ritual in your home or backyard. So ring a bell to scare away bad spirits (yes, we do that in Feng Shui too!) and add candles to your spring altar to welcome the Fire of the Sun. Here are eleven easy  Beltane rituals to celebrate abundance and the promise of prosperity.

• Create a bonfire. Bel is a Celtic Sun God. He is the father/protector/husband of the Mother Goddess, often known as nature/earth. Bonfires are a way to symbolize Bel and his fire, and encourage him to bring life to the earth.

• Leave an offering for the Fae. The veils are thin between the worlds. Fairies are mischievous beings who often cause chaos. Offerings of Rowan branches or hawthorne placed above the windows and doors were a sign of protection. Food is left on the steps for fairies. Leave what is seasonal in your area which can include crystals and little lavender cakes to show your respect.

• Arrange Flowers At Your Front Door. Flowers’ beauty and fragrance represent nature and the fertility of the season. It was common to gather flowers and weave crowns or wreaths from them. Hanging them on doors is a sign of abundance and prosperity. Flowers traditionally associated with Beltane are roses, lilacs, bluebells, primrose, daisies, and marigolds.

• Bathe To Welcome Summer. The element of water is refreshing and rejuvenates our senses. It is believed that if you bathe in the dew gathered before dawn on Beltane morn, your beauty will flourish throughout the year. Draw a bath for yourself and add essential oils of lavender or lilac. Light yellow, green or pink candles. Saying a prayer of appreciation for all that you have is the theme of this day.

• Dress in Green. Emerald or any color of green refreshes your body and spirit. Green is a common color in nature – grass, trees and vegetation – it can help us feel grounded, creative and calm. Green shades have a stress-relieving and rejuvenating effect. In color psychology, colors of shorter wave lengths relax and cool the human body and mind. Green invests you with tranquility. Jade, forest, mint, sage or any variation of green is easy on the eyes and you can look at green for a long time and not experience eye strain. Green equalizes, relaxes and balances painful processes. Need to address an issue? Wrap yourself in a deep sage or an emerald green throw. Quietly sit by candlelight, touch your heart with your hands and breathe.

• Make An Altar. An altar or shrine in your home helps you manifest the abundance and fertility of Beltane. Add lilacs, daffodils, budding branches. Place oats and honey too.

• Stroll In Nature. Connect to your inner child. Explore the woods, run through a field of flowers and absorb the abundance of new life all around you.

• Adorn Your Home. Wreaths, bouquets or garlands of containing yellow flowers celebrate Beltane and the b. Marigold and for wild flowers: Golden Ragwort, Yellow Sorrel, Yellow Goat’s Beard, Dandelion and Coreopsis.

• Walk Your Property. Give thanks and ask for protection for the coming year.

• Decorate A Tree. Use colorful ribbons that represent your wishes for the coming year.

• Take Action On A Project. The planets are lined up to nurture a project(s) that is near to your heart. It will gain traction and meet with success.

Allow me to help you arrange your home where you feel fully supported. I am available for a full consultation service or for an hour telephone conversation. Details are at this link Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Polishing The Mirror

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“As you live deeper in the heart, the mirror gets clearer and cleaner.”
– Rumi

With tonight’s Mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebration I am reminded of the tens of thousands who venture out of doors to dine on moon cakes, drink wine with loved ones and pay homage to their ancestors. I too have worshipped the moon as I held my sake cup up high to the sky at the Portland Japanese Garden. In ancient China women would bring out water-filled basins to absorb the perfectly round moon used to purify their homes when they cleaned. This gentle influence can pull an entire ocean from shore to shore. And because of its power, it has been collected for centuries to remove heat from an angry heart or clear a furrowed brow of confusion.

Like the water basin filled by the moon, mirrors can also be filled–sometimes it is the moon’s yin essence, sometimes the sun’s vitality, yet it is always filled with intention. A “programed” mirror can create soft words between partners, pull water across a bed to attract money or flip an oppressive building upside down. Understanding how this esoteric magic works has largely remained untapped. If you desire to understand the transcendental nature of your mirror cure or if you are a first time seeker of Feng Shui, the following wisdom may give you a greater appreciation for an ordinary mirror.

Mirrors Help Us Release Judgement “The Mirror is an ancient Buddhist symbol for clarity, completeness of perception and purity of consciousness. A mirror reflects a thing objectively but what we see in the mirror is not the thing itself. Because the object is not seen directly, it may be seen more accurately – more clearly, without judgement and with great perspective. This can lessen the tendency to see a thing as fixed or solid and encourage better understanding. The mirror or perception, more effectively propels the mind toward insight and compassion than mere argument or lecture.”
–Baronet 4 Tibet

Mirrors Fill With Whatever Is Before Them A mirror has no color, no image and can fill itself with whatever is before it. This “empty” nature is what makes it possible. Take an object like a vase of red flowers and it becomes the flowers and the vase. Take it away and place a bowl of oranges and it becomes the fruit. We, humans, are also capable of reflecting what is before us. However we may not be conscious of the effect of the content of what fills us. Often this leads to unhappiness and limitations.

Mirrors Give Us Insight Looking into the mirror’s reflective surface reminds us of the impermanence of nature and bends the limitations of our thinking. We may experience a sudden insight that the thing is not good nor bad, not beautiful nor ugly. And we begin to see ourselves in the same way and embrace our true nature.

Polish The Mirror In Your Heart Sprinkling your day with meditation, spiritual breathing, chanting a mantra, for example, Om Mani Padme Hum, and taking walks, help you shift from a busy mind into focused perception. These precious, out-of-time still moments create a direct path to living deeper in your heart. The stillness polishes your mind and with your intention refreshed, your wish projects into the mirror and beyond the wall on which it rests, expanding all possibilities and opportunities.

Mirrors

  • Bagua mirrors protect everything that are behind them. Most often they are hung outside to protect everything within. Their power rests in the power of the eight trigrams, the five elements and theory of yin and yang.
  • Convex Mirrors widen an area of view, they broaden the scope of an adjustment creating an array of possibilities.
  • Concave Mirrors widen an image and soften a potential threat such as a knife-edge or an oncoming road.
  • Sun Moon Mirrors create balance that is represented by yin and yang, night and day, the moon and the sun. This universal balance of light can create clarity, cultivate good judgement, keep you safe and strengthen your prosperity. When life gets a little frenetic, this mirror can be like the ocean–calm, steady, rhythmic and pure.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Have you decided this will be your year? “Boldness has genius”…start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.