Hello you. And Happy Spring (or Autumn)!
The season of light and growth is here - and I have been soaking it in with all that I am. After the pause on the equinox last Thursday, I really do feel a shift in the energy. I feel empowered and alive, as if I am waking up to a new day, with new possibilities.
The weather here in Sweden has given us the perfect early spring vibe. Blue skies, warm in the sun, chilly with the wind. Of course, we have a long time until true warm weather returns, trees bud, and flowers bloom here in Sweden, but small grasses are beginning to poke up in different places, snowdrops are abundant, and even a few daffodils have peeked out from the softening ground. All I want to do is open my windows, head outside, and soak it all in. Enjoying the smallest moments that tell the story of my life.
Today we move into the last full week of March and the last week with the ALTAR card as our monthly anchor. So far this month, I have focused on leadership, tending to my soul, and preparing myself for the shift into the season of spring. It has been a month of deep grounding, inspired by spiritual practices and rituals meant to ready my soul for the renewal of not only the earth, but also my self.
After embracing the call to clear out and detox last week, in order to cut out the old and make space for all things new, it is time this week to officially welcome ourselves into the season of rebirth. And, what an amazing card we have to guide us through these first steps into spring.
The card for this week is the RAIN card. When I took a minute to reflect on my first reaction to this card, I imagined a rush of water flowing over me, washing and cleansing and purifying me. I imagined a waterfall I often visited, deep in the wild mountains of North Carolina - ancient, free, powerful. Rushing over rocks and through trees, providing life and sustenance to the earth. I remember standing under the falls, with the cold water washing over me, feeling the magic of letting nature cleanse and refresh me. I thought also of the relief of a cold glass of water on a hot summer day. Or the relief of cooling my tired, hot feet with a random sidewalk hose spewing water on a sweltering New York summer day.
Wherever it is found, water hydrates, refreshes, and renews. That is the power of water. It brings life, sustains, cleanses, purifies, and initiates growth.
My poor exhausted feet on that sweltering NYC day weren’t reborn, of course, but they did feel a sense of renewal after a refreshing dip in the cold sidewalk water. They were given a new start and I was ready to walk on, ready for new adventures and opportunities for exploration, inspiration, and memories that would last a lifetime.
As a theologian and a spiritualist, when I think of water, I immediately connect it with the idea of baptism.
Now, I don’t want to get into any great debates on who and why and how one is baptized right now. Instead, I want to focus on the idea of baptism as a water ritual of initiation. Because, of all of the differing opinions out there on who and why and how one should be baptized, the idea of baptism as a sacramental (sacred) rite of initiation seems to be one on which we can all agree.
Baptism by water, no matter if it is a sprinkling, a dip, a bath, or an immersion is a symbolic act that marks a change in one’s life. It is often the moment in which one is recognized as part of a community. And it initiates a new birth into a new way of being. A physical, earthly, bodily act that connects us with the divine spark that is within each of us.
In the mystery cult of Isis, new believers went through a period of preparation, spiritual discipline, and learning before completing their final act of cleansing and purification by water. A bit like how my oracle cards have guided us through March. Dressed in white, new initiates into the Isis community went through a watery baptism of sorts, and emerged as members of the community, feeling a sense of new life and rebirth. And, most importantly, a calling to a new way of being.
Of course, one is not literally, physically reborn when one is baptized or uses water in a ritual. We cannot reenter our mothers’ wombs. But, baptism and water rituals do initiate a spiritual rebirth. They symbolize a change in being and a commitment to a new way of being and living in the world. They are often statements that one is now made new, for the sake of a higher purpose.
I suppose I see the emergence of spring as a baptism of sorts into a new way of living.
In the life-death-rebirth cycle of nature, spring is the season when everything begins again. It is the point on the wheel of the year in which the earth is brought back to life and made new. And, I believe that this an invitation for us to also experience a rebirth and a calling to new life.
This is the perfect time of the year to recommit to who we are becoming. To, in a sense, renew our vows to live as our higher selves as we continue to evolve and grow. To see what this new beginning, this new life of living as our higher self has to offer us throughout the coming year.
This week, as we step slowly into spring and feel the energy continuing to rise within us and within all of nature, is the perfect moment to practice our own quiet, solitary water rituals.
Here are just a few suggestions:
Celebrate and welcome spring by planting seeds and watering them to initiate growth.
Take a ritual bath or shower, as an act of cleansing and commitment. Step into the water as your winter self, and step out of the water as your spring self, ready for all of the newness that the season of light and growth bring. Let the water initiate a new cycle for you and a new way of being over the next six months, until the darkness arrives again.
Leave water out under the new moon next weekend and then drink it in the morning, as an act of initiation and to celebrate the beginning of a new moon cycle.
Simply commit to mindfully drink only water all week long in order to cleanse, purify, and hydrate your body.
Find your own way to honor the life-giving properties of water this week. And use whatever you create as a way to baptize yourself and initiate a new cycle of growth, evolution, and life for both the earth and your soul. There is no one, correct way to bring spirituality and rituals into your life. Just listen to your soul. Let inspiration guide you. Feel the energy of the air and the earth and water, and let it whisper to you ways to honor how you are waking, changing, and beginning again.
Wishing you the most inspiring feeling of renewal and rebirth this week, my friend. Here’s to welcoming a new season and a new way of being.
xoxo. liz.
It’s the last week with the March playlist
The light half of the year has arrived. New energy is rising. After the long, dark winter, we have come to the soft, gentle, bright season of awakening and rebirth. Something new is slowly beginning. Celebrate the last full week of March with this cozy playlist to get you in the spring mood - as you wake and rise and come to life.
Sacred Days + Folk Festivals this week
29 New Moon in Aries
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