Litha 2014: Counsel, Gluttony & But-less Desire

 Litha 2014: Counsel, Gluttony 

& But-less Desire

My, what a powerful Beltane Season it has been. So much to do, so much fun & so much magick since our Beltane Ritual in the beginning of May, a lot went down that day & since. There are a few hints in my last Beltane Blog.

To start with we flash mobbed our own ceremony at Beltane. We held secret rehearsals, about 30 Women / Maenads & myself. I asked two of our ministers from The Silver Broom Ministries to write the worst ceremony they could, on purpose. They did.  

The circle cast had zero umph (on purpose) the quarter calls were also umphless & in the wrong order (again on purpose) & they scripted the Statement of purpose before Invocations, which is a procedural no-no. Really, it was a masterpiece of faux ca-ca ritual design.

Because I am known as a rather lightning-ish Zeus Archetype, we scripted that I would halt the ceremony, practically terrifying all in attendance, even those in on the joke. I stood up, scolded them, took control, did an invocation to Dionysus then said, HIT IT! 

The music began & Pharrell Williams' Happy blasted from the stereo. We got practically the whole place dancing & really, it was so much fun to watch my people cut loose & dance without inhibition. A few keenly intuitive people figured it out when they saw 2 really skilled ministers doing it all wrong. 

But on the whole, people were shocked, pissed at me, then stunned when they realized it was all a set up when we started dancing in unison. What a pisser! I had to swear to never try & pull that off again. (I had my fingers crossed, you never know what I will cook up for Beltane.)

There are no pictures of the "Happy Ritual" because part of the pact we made was that there would be no physical evidence of us dancing without inhibition.

Then, about 30 minutes later a major part of my Sacred Mother Maple, split off & crashed to the ground. We were all set to trim her down the next day in a sacred way, so she got the job started for us. That was magick in action folks & everyone was a bit astounded by it all. It was certainly a prelude of the many powerful changes & manifestation to come. BTW, no one was near it when it happened & no one was hurt.

That said, we are now at Litha / Summer Solstice & I am personally ready to step into those energies that my coven calls, The Full Moon of the Sun. Litha is the longest day, so it would correspond to Full Moon in the sense that the Sun is at its peak. The God born at Yule has matured & is now a KING, ready to rule & guide us through the dark half of the year.

Here’s the thing that had been puzzling me about Litha though. The Sun God is at his peak, but it is the first day of the Sun moving into the sign of Cancer, a feminine, cardinal, water sign. 

Part of it makes sense, when Summer hits, we do slow down a bit because it just gets so hot for the next 3 months, at least on Long Island. It is the perfect time to literally & figuratively chill out, rest, take vacation & look back upon all that has happened in the last 6 months since Yule. But the Sun, is a King, in the sign of Cancer? That made no sense. So, I asked my Gods about this.

Cancer is the sign where my Hera/Queen - Mother Archetype is placed in my chart. So when She said to me that She joins the King / Zeus in rulership as his Queen, it all clicked into place. This isn’t literal of course, but it does speak to the Anima/Animus balance, or the Yin/Yang, Lunar/Solar, Goddess/God energies within us. 

Though this flash of inspired insight came quickly & was greatly clarifying, it also came with a warning. It is an extremely powerful, creative & very Emotional time. I was reminded of a quote from Abraham-Hicks.

 

“If you were driving your vehicle at 100 miles per hour and you hit a tree, you would experience a very big crash. However, if you were to hit the same tree while your vehicle was traveling at just five miles per hour, the outcome would be considerably different. See the speed of your vehicle like the power of your desire. In other words, the more you want something, or the longer you have been focusing upon your desire, the faster the Energy moves. The tree, in our analogy, represents the resistance, or the contradictory thoughts, that may be present. 

It is not pleasant to run into trees, and it is also not pleasant to hold powerful desires in the midst of great resistance. Some try to remedy the imbalance by slowing down their vehicle. In other words, they deny their desire, or they try to release it, and sometimes, with great effort, they are able to diffuse the power of their desire to some degree, but by far, the better remedy would be to reduce your level of resistance.” Abraham

This means that we have the potential to increase the power of our desire / Fire / Solar energies, but have to keep an eye on our emotions to navigate, avoiding the ‘trees’ as it were, by reducing our resistance to the things we want to be, do & have. Not easy, but doable. It does take practice & since I’m not very good at slowing down in that sense, I am getting better at avoiding the trees through something my guides call ‘But-less’ desire.

It goes like this. So many of us want things, we feel the desire & then we follow it with a big BUT. Like, I’d really love to travel the world, BUT…  I’d really like to eat that chocolate, BUT…  I’d really enjoy having a partner in life, BUT…  You see this is conditioned in us since childhood, let along the thousands of past lives where we learned to but into our desires.

So, I’ve been practicing just holding my desires, fanning the flames as it were without sticking my but in it. I think this is what visualization is about at its core. We visualize the things we want to be, do & have without the resistance of why we can’t have it. We imagine ideal scenes free of resistance, just letting ourselves have the experience of what it would feel like to be, do or have what is wanted, without the rest of the contradictory stuff getting n there.

Then we open our eyes, the logical mind takes over & we wipe our buts all over the energy we just generated via visualization. I see well trained witches do this too. They will spend hours drafting a spell, writing it like a contract, going over every line, gathering the right correspondent magickal carriers, even working with astrological timing for the perfect day & moment to cast.

Then, we start spreading our buts around like it’s last call at the singles bar. Enough of that says Zeus & Hera to me. Just hold the delicious feeling of the desire & watch what happens. This isn’t about faith, or belief. It is about knowing. Know that you came into the world from spirit to create. Know that it’s all just a quantum hologram, an illusion of separation, a dream, an hour upon the stage to strut & hopefully not fret so much.

 

So it is that I encourage you to choose what you think & especially say these next 3 months. Litha corresponds to the 5^th Chakra, the Throat. 

The Grace of the Throat is Counsel, the Shadow Passion is Gluttony. Since the power of the Throat Chakra is Will Power or Choice Power, this makes sense. Will we choose to speak to ourselves & others in a way that calms & soothes, speaking positively & in an uplifting way? Or, will we be gluttons of negativity, chewing on ‘what is,’ or even worse, ‘what was’ rather than 'what could be?’

Thankfully we have a whole season to practice & perfect our choices of empowerment, choosing thoughts words & attitudes that empower us & speed us along, but-less & free of hitting trees. 

Maybe that’s what Mother Maple was trying to say. “I’ll take care of the trees, you just stay happy, because Litha is coming & the heat is going to be turned up, as it always is this time of year."

I really wish you all the very best of the season & that you can keep your but out of your dreams. Do the Cancerian Crab thing, keep your dreams to yourself or share in sacred space with those you trust & enjoy the fresh breath that uncontradicted / but-less desire always brings.

Blessed Be & Blessed Litha!

Rev. Mark A. Lyons, President
Drawing the Circle Productions INC.
DrawingtheCircle@aol.com
631-968-8307 @ProfWitch on Twitter

The Will of Litha/Summer Solstice

The Will of Litha/Summer Solstice

Litha is the peak of the annual solar cycle. We call it the full Moon of the Sun in our coven. It is the 6^th Sabbat & corresponds to the 6^th Chakra, the throat, which manages our Will Power. Because it is midway through the Wheel of the Year, it stands to reason that the intentions we set at Yule/ Winter Solstice 6 months ago, have either grown from their seeds or we have amended our intentions since Yule.

So it goes with the planting/agricultural archetype of the Witch’s Wheel. We have to tend our fields, weed, fertilize, water, etc. Since Litha is linked to the Throat Chakra, there are going to be a lot of choices & life changing decisions in this coming 3- 6 month season. This will take a growing & strengthening of our individual Will.

Growing up, Will Power was a phrase I connected to hard work, giving up stuff & just being a hard ass in general . It was always linked to losing weight or giving up smoking or some such. But as I have grown I have learned that Will really means Choice. Your last will & testament is a list of your final choices about what you want done after you croak. So if you can look at Will Power as Choice Power, you’ll get the connection to the Throat Chakra.

I call the Throat the ‘Spit or Swallow Chakra.’ Of course I would. Not for any sexual innuendo alone, though that makes it fun for me, but more in that it illustrates how we either speak up or shut up in life symbolically. We know sometimes what we say might wound another. We may choose to chew on it for awhile to soften the blow, or just let them have it between the eyes. This is doubly so, especially if it is truth we mean to speak. However, truth without compassion is brutality. Often we are challenged to speak up or just ‘spit it out.’ 

But how do we know the when of which?

Here’s my guideline. Is it empowering? The Throat Chakra has an interesting relationship with the Saboteur Archetype, which governs our decisions. This archetype is always helpings us to learn how to make empowering decisions. It does this by highlighting the subtle & not so subtle ways in which we empower or dis-empower ourselves & others via our daily decisions. It makes sense then that during Litha, being such a powerful solar sabbat, that we must not only choose wisely, we must learn to make wise decisions.

Is there a difference between decisions & choices? I believe so. All choices have consequences, but the voltage of the choice implies the voltage of the consequence. For example, choosing a latte over a cappuccino is probably not going to change the direction of your life. But a decision to stop drinking caffeine will have immediate & long term effects in our lives. (Gods forbid)

Knowing that, look at Litha as a very fast moving season, like a car going at 100 mph. The slightest turn of the wheel makes a huge change in direction. For the next 3 – 6 months we will be traveling very fast, unless we decide to slow things down via meditation, prayer, contemplation or just plain chilling out. Even slowing down a bit is a wise choice that leads to more empowering decisions.

In my life as of late I have really learned a lot  about  the whole Heart Chakra thing of Beltane. I had an amazing Beltane. I gained great big huge momentum since May 1^st & now I’m traveling at very high speed, moving forward & creating my life as I will. WILL, yeah, there’s that word. But because my velocity is so fast, I really have to watch what I choose & decide.

 

The 2 Kabalistic spheres associated with Litha & the Throat Chakra are Gevurah/Judgment & Hesed/Mercy. When you are traveling at high speed, an unmerciful judgment can throw you off the road & into a ditch. Look at it this way, to paraphrase from the Teachings of Abraham. “If you hit a tree going 5 miles an hour it’s not such a big deal. If you hit that same tree at 100 miles an hour, it is a really big deal.” Do you slow down, or evade the tree? A little of both is necessary I find.

In other words, we have to watch what we decide to focus on if our momentum is going really fast. We can either keep the power high, choosing mercifully or downgrade it all at once, which causes an energetic crash or disempowerment. It’s not like unmerciful judgments aren't daily decisions we make. Try to go a full day without one any day of the year. But it is certainly highlighted for those of us who are magically inclined & working with the solar cycles of nature during Litha.

If you find yourself moving into irritating emotional territory, you can go there, but it is a decision that will change your life for a time. Instead use a spiritual practice to calm down, decelerate, chill out & decide yet again. Sure, vent, get it out of your system. Confession is the Symbolic Sacrament associated with the Throat Chakra. It is a way in which we call back the power lost through unmerciful judgment.

But after the toxins are out, as ever, forgive, forgive, forgive. Because that’s the only way we’re ever going to maintain the kind of high vibration we seek as spiritual pilgrims. It is essential if we want to be happy in this life, as the Course in Miracle states clearly, “Happiness is a decision I must make.” It also states "There is no healing without Forgiveness."

I strongly suggest that you take a few days & look over the decisions & choices you have in front of you short & long term. Then decide to do your best to keep your momentum high & your judgments merciful. For example: Everyone is doing the best they can. No one is perfect & we're all learning as we go. It's OK, I/we/they will get through this...  Implement what feels good & remember you can always ‘choose yet again’ if needed.

That said, I have a wild Witchcraft Weekend ahead of me & I’m going to do my best to live it Happy, Healthy, Wealthy & Wise, the very 4-fold intention I cast for at Yule/Winter Solstice. 

From my Yule 2012 Blog:

Yule Spell 2012:

Happy, Healthy, Wealthy & Wise

Ingredients:

Happy - Catnip, Lavender, Witchgrass, Blue Lace Agate

Healthy - Spikenard, Galangal, Nutmeg,

Wealthy - Basil, Cedar, Cinnamon Oil, Mint, Aventurine

Wise - Sage

As the Yuletide Sun does rise,

With all the power it implies,

Waxing Sun with full surprise

Now manifest before my eyes.

All the good that does comprise

Happy, Healthy, Wealthy & Wise.

For the Highest Good & Harming none,

as I will it, so let it be done.

So Mote it Be!

Yes indeed, I am seeing those seeds more than sprout; they are flowering & will soon be ready for the harvest season come Lammas/Lughnasadh around the beginning of August.

I wish you all the very best of the season & that this message finds you all happy, healthy, wealth, wise or willing to be so.

Blessed Litha,

Rev. Mark A. Lyons, President
Drawing the Circle Productions, INC
Drawingthecircle@aol.com
www.drawingthecircle.com
631-968-8307