Summer Solstice Peak Of The Light Theology Religion Essay

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

<Fig 207 Find a Stonehenge Summer Solstice or use one provided>

In summer, when your gaze dissolves in the endlessly clear sky, penetrate this light that is the essence of your own mind. – vijnana bhairava tantra

<H1>Cross-Cultural Summer Solstice Celebrations

Summer solstice celebrations have occurred worldwide for millennia. In Celtic tradition, celebration of the apex of the Light symbolized crowning of the Oak King, God of the waxing year. In ancient China, the earth, the feminine, and yin forces were celebrated. In ancient Gaul the people celebrated fertility, sovereignty, and agriculture.

Ancient tribes in Europe (Germanic, Slavic and Celtic) lit bonfires to "boost the sun’s energy," hoping that it would remain potent throughout the rest of the summer and provide an abundant harvest. Within Christianity, the Feast of St. John the Baptist, mirrors at summer solstice the celebration of Jesus around the winter solstice. In India, the Summer Solstice marks the beginning of the Dakshinaya period, when for six months the earth moves in the southern or "dakshina" orbit of waning light.

During this period the sun is at its peak in the Northern Hemisphere, reflecting the peak of some fruits and fertility of the earth. The full moon in June is called the "Honey Moon" as it is traditionally the best time to harvest honey from bee hives. The sacred union of the Goddess and God at Beltane in May made June a traditional time for wedding to bring to fruition the powerful union of earth, moon and sun.

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<H1>Summer Solstice Sacred Retreat

Prepare your home altar with the colors of the Sun: choose brilliant golds, reds, and oranges in fabrics, fruit, and candles. Celebrate the wildflowers of your area by including them on your altar, making sure to water any plants you gather flowers from. Choose a symbol to honor your ancestors, whether from your immediate family or cultural symbols of the past. Adorn your body with the sun’s colors to bring brightness and radiance into your being.

In a journal or in meditation, reflect on your journey over the past six months. Remember the intentions you planted at Winter Solstice, the seeds fertilized at Imbolc that begin to flower with the Spring Equinox, rise up in fullness with the Beltane Maypole, and peak with the Summer Solstice. What has transpired for you in this first half of the journey around the sun, the period in yoga known as the Uttarayana?

Place a jar or bowl filled with water in the sun to be energized with the Solstice sun. Drink it in the afternoon to receive the vital energy of the sun. Place any gold jewelry you may have near a window to be recharged and blessed by the solstice sun.

Bring the light into your heart and feel the power of completion and renewal. Continue to follow that energy all the way into the next new moon cycle.

<H1 Text Box – Firekeeping practice – Free-form movment around the Fire – Midsummer Festival Energy

<****Fig. 208 Suggestion of image of collective dancing around the fire or fire spinning>

The many music festivals around the summer solstice period from Glastonbury to Wandelust awaken the ancestral memory of all-night celebrations where there is little darkness as the sun-sets late and rises early. I have witnessed in many Summer retreats the most conservative, non-movers thaw out in a wonderful wilderness of freedom – a liberating experience of the inner fire and passion given complete full expression of the peak of light. Find a place in the urban or outside of the urban where you can make a bonfire or just a great outdoor party with fire represented in torches. Enjoy the collective celebration with your whole being in this holy-day of the peak of light.

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<H1>Guru Purnima

<Fig 209 Find a full moon in nature image or Guru Mandala>

Guru Purnima (Full Moon of the Guru) is the day for disciples to offer worship and respect to their spiritual teacher, or satguru. The mother is considered to be a child’s first guru, and mother and father together are responsible for the child’s upbringing. Later in life, a satguru initiates deeper spiritual training. The guru embodies everything the spiritual seeker aspires to be, allowing the student to see his or her own infinite potential.

Guru Purnima is considered the beginning of a four-month initiatory cycle and is an auspicious time for spiritual advancement and for beginning new endeavors. You can create your own initiation at this time. Connect with all forms of the Guru that are in your life now. Look into your own heart for the guru’s perfection.

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<H1>Balancing the Fire – Summer Ayurveda Rtucharya

<Design with qualities of summer>

Summer is a time when the earth is most dry and arid receiving maximum solar energy. All the radiant light is activating but depleting and so we tend to be physical weaker during this time and our digestive fire is the weakest in the summer time.

According to Ayurvedic seasonal cycles, summer is considered to be Pitta season, where the energetic principles of fire and water are strongest. It is during summer that Pitta dosha, inherently driven by solar force, is most predominant, as it is comprised of the fire and water elements. Pitta dosha is the expression of radiant energy, both within our bodies and in the universe. As we move in and out of the Summer Solstice it is a time where the Earth is receiving the most sun, heat and radiant energy thus bringing the qualities that are sharp, hot, bright, and penetrating. We mostly feel the drying effects of this time of year via the hot sun and for some areas dry winds as well. Ayurveda considers this a time of dehydration that occurs both inside and outside the body. Following the principle of like increases like we follow a summer guide based on Pitta pacification measure to balance what is predominant in our environment.

The gunas and qualities of Summer to be balanced are:

Hot and Sharp with relaxation

Oily and liquid with dry but nourishing

When these attributes build up within the body due to wrong diet and lifestyle, Pitta accumulates and begins to manifest various imbalances. This imbalances can more easily arise in the summer whether you are of Pitta prakriti or not. However, for those with Pitta in their constitution this season is an especially sensitive time of the year for you because during the summer season, due to the hot quality, Pitta people become more susceptible to heat related ailments.

<H2>Anchors for the Summer Season

Five Anchors for the Summer Season

Balance excess fire that overstimulates "Pitta Dosha" by staying relaxed, calm and cool and tending the fiery emotions like impatience and irritation.

Shift ones rhythm from manifestation to celebration. Taking time to slow down, enjoy life outdoors but avoid activities that are overly exerting between 11 pm and 3 pm. Stay cool and indoors.

Enjoy Sleeping outside to enjoy the fresh air and absorb moonlight or up moon bathing: sit outside under the moonlight and absorb the watery, cooling nectar from the moon

Summer body care is focused on cooling the skin with calming and soothing practices (see body rhythm)

Eat and drink in ways that balance Pitta Dosha enoying cooling fruits and vegetables in season (see food rhythm) and sip on warm water or herbal water it helps maintain and regulate body temperature

<H2>Food Rhythm

Due to the strong properties of the sun and the body’s need to stay cool and release internal heat, our inner fire, Agni, is pulled to the extremities to keep the body cool and therefore digestive Agni is compromised weakening our digestive capacity. That is why in the summer we are often less hungry and want to eat less. So it is good to eat lighter and smaller meals during this time of year.

Drink a tea of cumin, coriander, fennel and rose or Mint tea to pacify the hot quality, improve digestion and calm the mind.

Increase sweet, bitter, and astringent tasting foods that are light in nature; Eat plenty of bitter salad greens such as lettuce, arugula, radicchio, basil, and endive are particularly Pitta balancing. Favor: coconut water, watermelon, cilantro, leafy greens, okra, zucchini, asparagus, olive oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, ghee, cucumber, soaked/peeled almonds, kale, broccoli, pomegranate, apples, cranberry, mint. Dill, fennel, cardamom, coriander, saffron.

Avoid: tomatoes, eggplant, chili peppers, garlic, dry ginger, black pepper, fermented foods, spicy foods, sour fruits, heavy protein, mustard oil, molasses, coffee.

Include cool drinks and raw foods in the diet, including cucumber, mango and coconut water; Natural fruit juices without added sugar, mint teas, and raw berries are good choices.

Reduce sour, salty, and pungent tastes.

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<H2>Body Rhythm

Give yourself a slow and loving full body massage before taking a shower. Use Pitta massage oil, Coconut oil or Sunflower Oil. Pitta season can create conditions for inflammation and over-activity of certain metabolic processes and secretions.

Having a rose water mister is a wonderful refresher for the face and body ; Cooling milk + mint bath or milk + rose petals; Make a sandalwood face mask with rose water; Have fresh aloe nearby for any pitta-skin conditions that may arise from sunburn to rash.

Summer essential oils/scents include: sandalwood, rose, lavender, jasmine, lotus, gardenia, khus, and vertivert.

Wear clothing of light texture and color. Excellent choices would be cotton, linen and silk of white, blue and green. Red and yellow shades tend to increase the fire that is already present.

<H2 Energetic Vinyasa for the Summer Season

Kala –Continue to synch with the sun gradually getting up earlier before the sunrise; this is the peak time of growth so synch your movements with that waxing light. Offer yoga outdoors beneath the shade so you can take in the fresh prana of the elements at this time.

Desa –Relate to the transition of spring to summer according to your ecology. In Souther California, we often have June gloom and the peak of summer heat doesn’t get started till mid-August into September. If you are already experiencing the heat of summer, be aware of the effects of summer on excessive fire in your body. Begin to wear more cooling colors and white to stay in the bhava of summer.

Bhava –Bask in the summer joy but be aware that the sun has reached it’s peak in the northern hemispher and has begun its journey of waning for the next six months. The relaxing, easy going quality of a more lunar, fluid nature can be integrated into the expansiveness of summer qualities – celebratory, sukha (intrinsic happiness), loving appreciation of the best of life and the ease you feel in your body.

Dosha – The summer season is the most vulnerable time for those who did not cleanse fully in the spring to experience accumulated ama or toxins which can burn "impurely" during the excess heat imbalances of summer. The summer yoga practices and a real clean food sadhana can with some mild cleanses can really help you feel more balanced and clear in the prana flow of your body which is the most open during the summer.

Yoga Practice – This is the best time of the year for Sringara Rasa to nourish the water element to balance excess heat as well as to real tend the fires of love and appreciation. Cultivate lunar or shanti rasa practices as well if you are feeling the blissful laziness quality of a natrural shift into ida nadi or the lunar current. This is the best season for flexibility and ease of range of motion that can be enjoyed in fluid backbends, namasksars to increase flow and agility, and sringara rasa circular movement for increasing the love flow.

Enjoy stimulating cooling practices at this time: sitali (hissing breath), slow and deep ujayi pranayama, nadi shodhana.

To prevent excess Pitta from accumulating in the physiology, we should enjoy light exercise during the summer. We must not overdo any form of vigorous aerobic exercise, since that would overheat us and aggravate Pitta. Therefore avoid long-distance running, spinning, and other forms of exercise that heat the body.

Recommended exercises include those that are more cooling: Lunar Yoga, tai chi, walking, swimming, bicycling, restorative Yoga, etc.

Favor yoga asanas that remove excess heat from the body instead of building heat. Forward bends, twists and mild backbends are the best peak asanas for this time of year. Use caution with inversions, arm balances and standing asanas that build too much heat as it is important to counter-pose any heat building during this time of year. Cooling Pranayama such as Sheetali Sheetkari, Chandra Bedhana, Nadi Shodhana

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<H1>Sacred Rhythm - August 1st Lughnasadh Fire Festival

<Fig 210 Find a fire-spinning image>

Lughnasadh or Lammas is the third of the cross quarter festivals makring the half way point between the summer solstice and fall equinox. Pronounced "loo-nus-ah," Lughnasadh means "the commemoration of Lugh." As a god of fire and light, Lugh’s name may well come from the same root as the Latin lux, meaning light a time where we may feel the peak of summer light and the harvest even more fully.

August 1st marks the peak of summer, the beginning of the harvest, and the preparation that our ancestors began in storing food for the waning months of autumn and winter ahead. As we begin to reap what we have sown, it is a time to reflect upon the ‘vinyasa of our actions’ and what will bring completion to all the hard work that we have gathered. This includes celebration as August was a time where the great outdoor bonfires of the hillside were a central part of harvest festivals as the bonfire represented the sacrafice of the first sheaf of wheat is ceremonially reaped, and baked into a loaf. This harvest recalls the legend of the fire god Lugh who undergoes death and rebirth just as the growth of the body of the harvested so that the people may eat and live.

Bonfires offer a last praise to the power of the sun that begins to wane at Summer Solstice – a celebration that is funeral for the "Sun-King" as the sunlight now begins to fade.

<H1>Reflection

What has not yet come to fruition? What are you letting go of? What have you harvested this year? What new seeds are sprouting for harvest later in the year?

<H1>Text Box: Fire-keeping Practice – Fire-spinning Ritual Burning

<Fig 211 Buring Man Temple>

Set your life on fire and seek those who fan your flames - Rumi

You can safely learn to spin fire – a cross-cultural movement art that with ancient roots from Polynesian to Celtic and Indigenous forms in India. Starting with simple circles around one’s body to the full on art-form that brings more than a thousand fire dancers around the Burning Man at the peak lighting of the Man and the silent "temple burn" the following sunset during this anuual week-long festival of creativity and collective expression. Move fire around your body as an expression of your inner fire transforming fear and limitations into creative effulgence.

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<H1>Raksha Bandhan

<Fig. 212 Find a picture of tying a Raksha Tie>

The Raksha Bandhan festival has beautiful origins. It’s usually described as a festival supporting the relationship of brothers and sisters and their protective bond with one another symbolized in the giving of wrist ties between brothers and sisters. Connect to your

<H1>Krishna Janmashtami

<Fig. 213 Find a image of Krishna>

Lord Krishna’s birthday is celebrated in August with a day-long fast, often culminating at midnight when Krishna is said to have been born in prison on the eighth night of the waning moon. Usually depicted as the cowherding, flute playing, mischievous embodiment of love, Lord Krishna is also a spiritual warrior, slaying all that is against the flow of dharma.

Krishna dances in relationships: with his parents, his friends, his cows, and even the trees around him.

<H1>Ganesh Chaturthi

<Fig. 214 – Ganesh from Rishikesh>

Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvati, lord of the Muladhara Chakra (root chakra at the base of the spine) and auspicious energy. He is depicted with the head of an elephant, denoting wisdom, and a human body representing the earthly existence of human beings. He removes obstacles, selfishness, and pride and opens the way for fruition. Ganesh Chaturthi is the day Shiva declared Ganesha to be superior to all the gods. It falls between mid-August and mid-September each year.

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Chapter 13: Fall Equinox—The Sacred Return

"In the end

these things matter most:

How well did you love?

How fully did you live?

How deeply did you let go?"

― Siddhārtha Gautama

"Mythically, this is the day of the year when the God of Light is defeated by his twin and alter ego, the God of Darkness. It is the time of the year when night conquers day…the only day of the whole year when Llew (light) is vulnerable and it is possible to defeat him – Mike Nichols

<Fig. 215 Find an image of the Fall season>

As we begin the journey of the year at the Fall Equinox or Alban Elfed in the Celtic tradition, we are given an opportunity to embody the meeting point of life and death, light and darkness, sun, earth and moon that the cosmic body and earth are reflecting all around us. No matter where we are in a country or urban setting – the changes are occurring – the sun is rising and setting differently, the plant world is peaking and drying, the colors are changing, our activities are shifting and the world at large is also at a turning point.

Fall is the season of the New Year in both Hindu and Jewish cultural traditions which is why the new year begins with the strong sadhana period of Navaratri - Diwali, and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – both yearly cycles begin with a period of prayer, reflection, eating healing foods or fasting and grounding into the mysteries of life – creation and dissolution – so embodied in the fall equinox moment of light balanced in equal darkness but moving towards the peak of greatest darkness mirrored in opposite in the spring. The Spring movement towards greatest light and the Fall movement towards fertile darkness is a theme that goes deep into our psyche – the mythic unconscious where our own shadow forces are churning to be held, understood and released in the same cycle occurring within the earth.

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<H1> Text Box: UN International Peace Day and Global Mala Project

<**** Fig 216 suggested image of global mala>

In 2007, the Global Mala Project was started as a way to bring people around the world to work with the collective heart field by syncopating our breath, intention and global awareness through yoga practices connected to 108 (from surya namaskar to mantra japa) to raise consciousness and funds for good causes.  It was initiated as a call to action for global warming and through the power of yoga to activate individual and collective awakening, empowerment, and unity. The Global Mala is an opportunity to connect with the yoga community at large: across all borders, all styles of yoga, forms of yoga each year on the Fall Equinox that coincides with United Nations International Peace Day.  This ritual of going beyond the norm, from 108 sun salutations to 108 japa mantra combines yoga with action by offering the power of that energy and funds toward a greater purpose by supporting the organization of your choice. There is a profound ripple effect of coming together as a mala - a circle of unity and peace - from students and teachers coming together within one yoga studio to yoga centers coming together within a city to the global vibration generated through all of the actions on UN International Peace Day.

Poem from Gandhi or MLK Jr.

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<H1>Rosh Hashanah – needs to be edited down to a paragraph

<Fig. 217 Find an Image of Sounding of Shofar with candles>

The festival of Rosh Hashanah—the name means "head of the year"—is observed for two days beginning on the new moon of the first day of the Jewish calendar. The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the shofar, the ram’s horn a call beginning the first of the "Ten Days of Repentance" which culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. And considered to be the holiest day of the year

<H1 Yom Kippur>

Everyone can symbolically participate in the Day of Atonement whether you are of Jewish blood or just want to connect to the inner process of atonement. There are two levels to atonement- the first one being your relationship with the creator, relationship with God. Each of us has his or her thing that needs to be resolved at a personal level – a way of returning to that original state or breath. The other level that is very much customary is to forgive and move forward, to speak to the people you may not have spoken to in a while—or people that have said or done something to you. Its unfinished business. It’s a good moment on Rosh Hashanah to clean up the situation, to make a phone call or send an email. There’s a secret to the word atonement - "At One Ment" it’s about being at one looking beyond the situations that separate each of us and looking for what is common within each of us.

Five additional practices are traditionally observed: Fasting - no eating and drinking; no wearing of leather shoes; no bathing or washing; no anointing oneself with perfumes or lotions; and no marital relations. Refraining from these symbolically represents a return to a pristine state, which is the theme of the day. Wearing white clothing and going to temple or a sacred place is traditional to symbolize one’s purication on this holy-day.

Text Box: Fire-keeping Practice – Lighting Shabbat Candles

<****Fig 218 suggested image of Shabbat candles>

Whether one is Jewish or in relationship to a person of Jewish descent or just wants to honor a beautiful firekeeping custom, the lighting of Shabbat candles 18 minutes before sunset (or as close as possible) is a beautiful ritual with collective power every Friday night. One can visualize as you light your Shabbat candles – the customary two white candles or a candle for each child in the family, or seven candles for each day of the week – that the light is passing all around the world as millions of Jews honor a period from sundown to sundown of unplugging and restoration. Lighting Shabbat candles with your own prayer or the traditional Hebrew prayer:

After lighting the candles, the woman covers her eyes with her hands and recites the blessing or your own prayer.

Barukh atah Adonai E1oheinu, melekh ha'olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Shabbat.

Blessed are You, Source of the universe, Who has made us holy through His commandments and commanded us to kindle the Sabbath light. After the blessing is recited, the woman – the Shabbat queen of the family -uncovers her eyes and takes in the "mitzvah" or special occasion of the weekly feast.

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<H1>Pitra Tarpan

<Fig. 219 Find an image of an ancestor altar or Shiva will provide>

Pitra Tarpan is a time to offer respect to the ancestors. By offering ritual to them, we ask them to guide us in the maintenance of good health, peace, happiness and enrichment. Today is a huge day in India to honor your ancestors (pitra paksha). Create An Ancestor Altar - Bring them to your heart or altar today. Offer light and little nourishment (literally food) on your altar or give your memory from your heart as an offering. They will come alive in you. What they gave us with love - the light and the shadow - is a precious gift. Let us remember and offer back our life, our actions, our tenderness and love.

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<H1>Navaratri – Nine Nights for the Mother

<Fig. 220 Find an Image of Durga Fig. 221 Image of Lakshmi Fig. 222 Find am Image of Saraswati (Note: perhaps from Mandala publishing…can be designed in a triptych across double page spread)>

Ya Devi aarva bhuteshu shanthi roopaena samsthitha

Namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah

I bow to the Great Monther who manifests in all beings in the form of peace.

Navaratri is a nine (nava) night (ratri) period dedicated to the triple form of the Shakti that helps us transform the shadow world during the changing of the fall season (Ma Durga), to celebrate the sublime creative flow (Ma Saraswati), realize abundant of love, beauty and generosity (Sri Lakshmi) and celebrate the victory of consciousness as the culminating point of the sadhana period (Vijaya Dashami).  While this celebration is additionally honored in the spring season, the autumn festivities often come with more grandeur. 

The first 3 nights are dedicated to Ma Durga. She is often on a tiger or a lion; she is resplendent in a red sari. She has ten different weapons of consciousness, and her primary text is the Devi Mahatmyam. Ma Durga is the invincible force of consciousness. She can overcome any forces of regression, negativity, or obstacles that do arise, particularly in adult life. Often these are psychological forces, although sometimes may literally be physical obstacles. It is important during the Durga puja phase to reclaim one’s personal energetic magnetic field.

Over the next three nights, a connection is made with Ma Lakshmi, who is the abundant flow of creation in all forms that sustains both our own life and the lives of others – this includes all forms of sustenance food, money, vitality. She is often seen seated on a lotus flower, and her primary text is the Sri Lakshmi Sahasranama Sthothra.  

The final three nights are spent worshipping the Mother as Saraswati, the Goddess of wisdom, creation and intelligence.  She is primarily seen with a peacock or swan, and her foremost text is the Saraswati Veda.  This final phase of Navaratri is an auspicious time for transformation, manifesting prosperity, creating shifts towards more balance, and feeling supported in academic and literary pursuits.

Honoring Navaratri may include ritual fasting, large or householder-style pujas, daily ritual offering of mantra japa and deeper study of the different aspects of the great mother.  Fasts can vary in intensity from eating just fruit, fasting with milk, or a kitchari fast.  Other ways of fasting include eating vegetarian or vegan, or eating just once a day.

Text Box: Firekeeping practice - Aarti

Aarti is waving of light at the culmination of one's practice or puja (offering) and derives from the original Vedic-Tantric fire ceremonies. One can take a candle or a special aarti lamp with a long handle and wave the flame before your altar while ringing a bell in the left hand or you can offer with with song. In a temple, aarti is offered in the sandhyas of the sunrise, noon, sunset as well as the early morning and late evening. Circulate the light around your altar in a clockwise circle circle representing our journey of life illumined by the source. Aarti during Navaratri is often accompanying the following hymn to Devi or the Goddess. You can walk around your whole house to bless your space with the aarti as well as offer to other family members to bless themselves with the light.

Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu Vishnumaayeti Shabdita

Namastasyei Namastasyei Namastasyei Namo Namah

Salutations to Divine Mother - Shakti Devi

The power of Lord Vishnu, who abides in all beings

Who abides as the eternal consciousness in all beings.

Who manifests as power in all beings.

Who abides in all beings in the form of forgiveness.

Who manifests in all beings in the form of peace.

Who manifests in all beings in the form of faith.

Who abides in all beings in the form of beauty.

Who abides in the form of compassion in all beings.

Who abides in all beings in the form of delusion .

The ruler of all senses and sensation

The ruler of all elements

The ruler of all creation and beings

To This Divine Mother, My Heartfelt Salutations

Shakti Devi pervades this entire universe and abides in

all beings in the form of consciousness.

Salutations to Her again and again

- Devi Mahatmya

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<H1>Vitality Rhythm and Flow – Ayurvedic Wisdom for Fall Season

<Note: Design with Fall quality and colors>

Ayurveda’s emphasis on purification in balance with regeneration, activity and rest, stimulation and restoration is a perfect complement to the fall season where we begin our journey by being honest with what is happening as we enter the cycle of the new year.

During the Fall season, Vata dosha is the aspect of nature that is predominant. Made up of the ether and air elements, Vata is the generation of movement within the universe which initiates all motion inside and outside of the body. Thus Vata and Prana, our vital life-energy, are connected, for life is movement and movement is the sign of life. Vata orchestrates all forms of circulation from physical movement (actions), mental activity (perception, thoughts, insights), communication (words), respiration, the pulse and function of our heart and the flow of our nervous system. Vata brings the positive mobile qualities of inspiration, creativity, spontaneity and initiation, which when disturbed become insecure, anxious, worried, fearful, and overwhelmed – all qualities that can become exacerbated under stress.

This is why the other elements of fire (for warmth), water (for lubrication) and earth (for grounding) are so vital to the fast-moving pace of the Fall’s air and space elements’ predominance. Fall is the time to balance and nourish ourselves wisely for the coming season of darkness and shadows as the earth regenerates in the Northern Hemisphere. Staying close to the earth is reflected in completing the harvest of one’s creativity from the beginning of the year with the steady, calm, grounded qualities that are so healing to Vata.

The gunas or qualites of Vata that we seek to balance are:

dry with lubrication

cold with warmth

light with guru (heavy in positive sense)

subtle with presence

rough with smooth for the nervous system

mobile with steadiness and grounding

When these qualities are in a balanced state, the Vata season can be enjoyed with its celebration, changes and insight from inner work.

When out of balance, Vata qualities accumulate within the body and mind due to aggravating lifestyle choices. Vata imbalances may manifest within the body as constipation, bloating, dry skin, insomnia, joint pain and stress. Harmonizing Vata during the cooling, dry Fall season is an art that can be cultivated through wisely tending the fire of your life-force.

<H2>Five Anchors for the Fall

1. Slow down: try not to eat on the run, multi-task but rather stay present and move mindfully and consciously.

2. Keep grounded: enjoy activities and food that keep you connected to the earthy and heavy qualities. Keep to your routine – daily rituals.

3. Protect the body from cold and wind: wear hat and scarf to protect from excess Vata in the head (ears) and keep the lower back covered so that excess Vata does not build up in the pelvis/colon.

4. Eat moist and warm foods: stay away from cold and raw foods.

5. Make oil your best friend: oil the entire from head to toe to prevent dry, rough skin.

<H2>Food Rhythm

Autumn is an ideal time for using more healthy oils in foods (ghee, coconut oil, sesame oil, olive oil and hempseed oil are all oils I recommend). Oils create inner lubrication, which keeps our bodies in balance during this time when our bodies and the earth begin to dry up along with the drying winds of the season. *

Teas Fenugreek, Star Anise, and Cinnamon

Special "Vata " Tea – 4 Cups water 1 tsp Fennel Seeds 1 tsp Coriander seeds 1 tsp CardamomProcedure: Boil water in a pot. Add slightly crushed fennel seeds, coriander seeds and cardamom pods. Boil for 2 more minutes. You can add honey or sucanat to sweeten. Serve hot. Or you can try another warming digestive tea of fresh cut ginger (about an inch), cardamom and cinnamon to enjoy

Sipping warm water and herbal teas throughout the day enhances warmth and hydration.

As for foods, try to oily, lubricating foods to your diet.

Eat foods that are warming, grounding, predominately cooked, sweet, salty and sour and in season. Soups and stews can be made from carrots, beets, yams, pumpkins, root vegetables, rice, quinoa, mung beans. Be aware of bitter taste such as from too much dark leafy greens or heavy beans or gassy foods which can aggravate vata: Eat warm and moist oatmeal, rice or whole grains for breakfast rather than toast or cold cereal. Other good grains include basmati rice, wheat (un less gluten intolerant), oats, quinoa and amaranth. • Sweet fruits like Banana, Apricot, Apples, Pears, Peach and red grapes are good. Steam or sauté veggies – and prepared with olive oil, ghee, or almond oil.

Mild spices for your food such as cumin, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, mint, sage, spearmint or thyme. Better herbs are ajwain, cinnamon salt, ginger, black pepper, hing, rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil

Triphala is a very good herb for regularity with elimination to prevent constipation.

Chywanprash is a great herbal jam that is healing for all, irrespective of age and gender, and creates a harmonious synergy in the body leading to better metabolism.

Avoid dry and bloating foods such as popcorn, toast, rice cakes, junk food, and too much alcohol, cold salads, cold water, cold juices and ice cream.

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<H2>Body Rhythm

One of the most important ways to keep Vata in balance is through a regular rhythm of your dinacharya (flow of the day). The primary ways of pacifying Vata is by balancing times for sleep, eating, yoga, love and work. Look at the rhythm and flow your daily, weekly and lunar rhythm for two-week periods. Beginning with the Fall Equinox or Amavasya, maintain a commitment to all of these areas. If one’s life rhythm is going through a high-intensity phase, try to focus on making one time cycle steady.

waking rhythm (best before 6:00 a.m. to maintain a good flow – if you need to rest on a weekend or after travel – then make that a loving sadhana for you and your family) best time to wake up is 45 minutes to one hour before sunrise. Vata usually needs the most sleep – rest

sleeping rhythm(turning home into a shantishala – house of peace)

eating rhythm (breakfast and dinner as well but lunch is most important)

rest rhythm - energy sabbath days (choose your half or full-day retreat times during the ritual times of new and full moon, Navaratri, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur for unplugging, tuning in to you and your family’s deeper rhythm).

work rhythm boundaries around working time in the evenings (unless in unusual creative cycle) bonding rhythm creating sacred bonding time for being with oneself, family and community

<H2>Massage for the Fall Season

Snehana – morning slow and loving full body massage before taking a shower or bath. After dry brushing, as a base, heat sesame oil by placing in hot water glass or a copper pan for heating massage oil, which is warming and deeply nourishing. Essential oils for pacifying Vata include jatamamsi, ginger, lavender. Add geranium, orange, ylang ylang

<H2>Yoga Rhythm

Energetic Vinyasa for the Fall Season

Kala - The Fall Season is the time to synch with the setting sun, the season of culmination and letting go; practice a balance of stronger practice with the waxing moon and more restorative with the waning energy of the moon.

Desa –Begin to move inwards, drawing earth colors and the harvest seasons around you; follow the earth’s inward pull towards the darkest last six weeks of the year before the winter solstice.

Bhava – cultivate wisdom in action, fullness with awareness of allowing change, equanimity, ability to stand in your truth

Dosha – The fall season is the most vulnerable time for those with wavering fire or vishama agni, Vata and Pitta dosha can feel imbalanced from the quick changes and stress of the vata season;

Yoga Practice – Cultivate Sringara and Shanti Rasa practices, a balance of solar moving towards more lunar in namaskars and practice; softening your lower abdominal cavity, grounding your feet into the earth, building strength and stability and allowing yourself sufficient rest after your practice. Standing balance and lower hip openers to release tension from lower pelvis and thighs - main sites of Vata dosha

Remember to move smoothly and slowly and stay grounded and centered in your daily flow to bring the year to the most auspicious close.

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<H1>Oct 31st Samhain – Halloween

Look upon life and death; there is no separation between them,

The right hand and the left hand are one and the same. – Kabir

The great wheel turns, another year 
Old, bright gold with death. 
Bare branches now, the Old Lord's limbs,
Chill wind the Old Lord's breath.

Like dancing leaves on sleeping branches 
The dark tide of memory is stirred. 
The deepest thought-flame now is kindled,
Consuming, the fire in ancient words – Kenny Klein

<Fig 223 Find images of bon fires on the UK hillside>

Samhain marks the last six week period of the year..it is a magical interval when the mundane laws of time and space are temporarily suspended, and the "thin veil" between the worlds is lifted. Communicating with ancestors and departed loved ones is therefore considered easy at this time.

Originally the "Feast of the Dead" was celebrated in Celtic countries by leaving food offerings on altars and doorsteps for the "wandering dead. " [URL: http://mysteryoftheinquity.wordpress.com/category/music/]– a practice still alive throughout the United Kingdom and reminiscent of the exchange of candy and the dressing up of Any crops still in the field on Samhain were considered taboo, and left as offerings to the Nature spirits.

Bonfires were built, and stones were marked with people’s names. Then they were thrown into the fire, to be retrieved in the morning. The condition of the retrieved stone foretold of that person's fortune in the coming year. Hearth fires are also lit from the village bonfire to ensure unity, and the ashes were spread over the harvested fields to protect and bless the land. [URL: http://wicca.com/celtic/akasha/samhainlore.htm]

<H1>Dia de los Muertos – (This needs to be edited into own words)

<Fig 224 Find Dia de los Muertos altar image>

El Día de Los Muertos originated with the Olmecs in Meixco, possibly as long as 3000 years ago as a way to honor the relationship of the livng and the dead reflected in the earth cycle.

On November 1, Día de Muertos Chiquitos, the departed children are remembered. The evening is sometimes called la Noche de Duelo, The Night of Mourning, marked by a candlelight procession to the cemetery. On November 2, Día de los Muertos, the spirits of the dead return as families visit the graves of their ancestors, bringing favorite foods and alcoholic beverages as offerings to the deceased as well as a picnic lunch for themselves. Traditionally there is a feast on November 2nd with sugar skulls and toys for the children, emphasizing early on that death is a positive part of the life cycle. It is a festive time for remembering departed family members with love and joy. [URL: http://www.tomzap.com/muertos.html]

I too have heard the dead singing and they tell me that his life is good.

They tell me to live it gently with fire, and always with hope.

There is wonder here and there is surprise - in everything the unseen moves. ~ Ben Okri

 

Text Box: Firekeeping Practice– Transforming the old

As we enter into the last six week’s of the year, that which is dying, longing, begging to be transformed calls for us to release it and allow it to be transformed like the dry stalks into the fire of winter’s rebirth. Create a fire in your fireplace, outdoors, in a "cauldron" or iron pot that can withstand the flames or even a candle so that you can make an offering with Samhain or with the waning nights before the new moon or in the last days of Navaratri so that you can experience the liberation that death can bring as the closed fist lets go of what it has been holding onto – an old habit, thought, relationship, process that is calling to be transformed. Write it down on a piece of paper or symbolically infuse your offering into herbs from the land – sage or dried rosemary. Watch the offering burn all the way to ash.

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<H1>Diwali

Quote: The whole world could be choked with thorns- a lover’s heart will stay a rose garden.
 Even if every being grew sad, a lover’s soul will stay fresh, vibrant, light.
Are all the candles out?
Hand them to a lover- a lover shoots out a hundred thousand fires. - Rumi

<Fig 225 Find an image with Diwali candles and make a really beautiful big spread>

Diwali is perhaps the most well-known of the Hindu festivals. The word Diwali means 'rows of lighted lamps'. Diwali is known as the 'festival of lights' because houses, shops and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called diyas.

For many Indians this five day festival honours Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. People start the new business year at Diwali, and some Hindus will say prayers to the goddess for a successful year. Lamps are lit to help Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, find her way into people's homes.

The festival celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance, although the actual legends that go with the festival are different in different parts of India. The festival is a time for:

cleaning the home,

wearing new clothes

exchanging gifts (often sweets and dried fruits) and preparing festive meals

decorating buildings with fancy lights.

huge firework displays often celebrate Divali.

In India, families will leave the windows and doors of their houses open so that Lakshmi can come in. Rangoli or yantras made of rice flour are drawn on the floors - rangoli are patterns and the most popular subject is the lotus flower. [URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/hinduism/diwali.shtml]

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<H1: Text Box: Fire-Keeping Ritual – Filling one’s house with Light

Quote: The inward and the outward are become as one sky, the Infinite

and the finite are united: I am drunken with the sight of this All!

This Light of Thine fulfills the universe: the lamp of love burns on the fuel of knowledge

- Kabir.

It is beautiful to participate in the fall cross-cultural rituals of filling one’s outer and inner house with light. Our family celebrates every opportunity beginning with Diwali, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice and Christmas. Beginning with the three days before Diwali (usually around the new moon of November), clean your home of any old dust or clutter as a mirror of your own inner process at the close of the year. On the sunrise or sunset of the new moon of Diwali as well as the other festivals of light, light the doorway of your home including any hanging lights around the outside of your home (we love solar lights).

Ignite candles in every room of your house particularly any altars or altar like spaces from the central altar of your home to everyroom of your house. Make sure that these lights are well-protected in votice containers and ignite then with a prayer of goodwill in your heart. The lighting can be accompanied by the ringing of a bell or the carrying of incense, sprinkling of water and/or rose petals or all with other family members helping in your procession around your house. Leave the candles lit all night or extinguish by waving the light out with your hand or candle dampener after the sunrise or sunset sandhya has passed after a few hours. This ritual can be enjoyed every new and full moon at anytime of the year but is incredibly satisfying during the waning light as a triumph of the spirit, goodwill and the sacred space of one’s home.

<H1 Thanksgiving

<Fig. 226 Find an image conveying feasting and bonding>

Prayers of thanksgiving and special thanksgiving religious services are a part of the Judeo-Christian heritage, Pilgrims and Puritans who began emigrating from England in the 1620s and 1630s carried the tradition of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving with them to New England. Thanksgiving in North America had mixed origins which included Native traditions as well as European ones. Harvest festivals which involved giving thanks to God for the harvest,

<H1>Hanukkah

<Fig. 227 Find a inspirational image of a menorah>

Hanukkah is about God's protection of the Israelites celebrating a small band of faithful Israelites, known as the Maccabees, rose up and defeated the invaders, reclaimed the Temple, and rededicated it to God. The eternal flame in the Temple's great menorah (lamp stand) had to be lit. But the sacred olive oil needed to burn in the lamp stand took 8 days to press and purify. The Jews had only a one-day supply of oil. They decided, in faith, to light the flame anyway. And, a great miracle occurred. The jug of oil refilled itself every day with enough oil to relight the Temple's great menorah, and this continued for 7 days, the exact time it took to prepare new oil! [URL: http://www.wikihow.com/Celebrate-Hanukkah]

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<H1 Rumi’s Birthday

<Fig. 228 Find a picture of Rumi>

<Fig. 229 Whirling Dervishes>

Rumi’s Wedding Night – Honoring the Inner Fire

The world is celebrating the auspicious birthday of Mevlana Jelauddin Rumi, the great dancing mystic whose passionate poems have been sung, whispered, roared, remembered, revered and echoed in the hearts of millions of beings worldwide. Every being awakened by one of Rumi’s poems has experienced his words of tender wisdom and the fire of love that blazes across centuries, cultures and religions. We feel the shaking off of ho hum living with his call to live life fully:

You’ve been walking on the ocean’s edge
holding up your robes trying to stay dry.
You must dive deeper 
1000 times deeper…****Kristen coleman bars

Perhaps in an age of contradictions, Rumi reflects a way of being on the spiritual path as a firekeeper that embraces and integrates the full spectrum of the human experience. He expresses devotion with nakedness – exposing his wounds, despair and longing alongside his ecstatic celebration which is fully alive, passionate and a practice of Sema, whirling which has continued by Dervishes in an unbroken tradition for the last 800 years..

"Love has taken away my practices and filled me with poetry. 
I had to clap and sing. 
I used to be respectable, chaste and stable 
but who can stand in this strong wind and remember those things."

Rumi and the Heart Fire – Closing

Rumi’s burning passion outrageous, openly ecstatic and staggering love songs danced in free expression. They emerged from the same fire that liberates one from a detour and onto their evolutionary path.

These are the very sparks that create a life that could possibly echo 800 years later. Do we dare to live our life with full passion of the mystic firekeeping Rumi? What ways of being are covering, dampening our radiance? How are we holding back from the transforming fire of love? What turns your sparks into a bonfire of love?

Tending our heartfire is not fanciful poetry but an entryway into to our truth, deepest love, vision and wisdom in action. Rumi’s poems are the sacred fuel that is kindled in the moment to moment living – how we see, touch, taste, hear, feel and dance with life in the most everyday as well as its most sublime expressions. As Rumi the passionate, Rumi the full-spectrum divine rascal, Rumi the embodiment of blazing, liberating truth, encourages us firekeepers:

Your heart is a temple

Your essence is gold hidden in dust.
To reveal its splendor
you need to burn in the fire of love.

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<Fig. 230> Costa Rica image making an offering to the fire

<H1> Firekeeping Call – A Parting Message

Humankind is being led along an evolving course through this migration of intelligences and though we seems to be sleeping there is an inner wakefulness that guides the dream that will eventually startle us back to the truth of who we are.

Rumi

Our inner fire is connected to all the elements.

Earth grounding us in the presence of our body.

Water nourishing our lives from drying up.

Our heart transforming ordinary work into a living yoga.

Space as a realization of the vast field that holds all of life.

We are the firekeepeers and our heart helps us navigate through all of life's challenges and uncertainties by connecting to the true source of power.

Life is change and our heart is intimately attuned to the modulation being a continual pulsation of life itself.

Tending our heartfire turns everything into sadhana,

a process of integral alignment letting go of access

Like Shakti riding her sacred tiger,

our heartfire’s presence can be fierce and loving simultaneously.

Life in essence is still the savannah

where the gazelles must join the herd within an hour of being born.

To be born is to learn to walk in rhythm on your own, to be part of the tribe, to move together, hold your own and give back.

Firekeeping requires primal power and rhythm in order to be integrated into the fabric of our life.

We must kindle our ancestral qualitys humility, stamina, steadiness, ingenuity, ****

Tending the heart fire is to create a sacred expression of our life.