The coming equinox and solar eclipse

18 03 2015

Emmanuel Dagher’s article came across my desk this morning. I rarely re-blog, but I feel it is important information to share with you! Thank you, Emmanuel ~ Rebekah

My Dear Friend,

We have so much to catch up on! How have you been feeling lately?

There was a palpable shift that occurred after the 19th of February that brought many of us an overall sense of peace, even though there were a few days in between that still had some residual effects of Mercury in retrograde.

For those mindful that their reality is a direct result of their projected ideas/thoughts about it, those few days provided clear feedback as to what things we can continue to polish up, as we enter a gentler year ahead.

The Equinox and the Total Solar Eclipse

Beginning in early March, the energies start to build toward the equinox (spring for the Northern Hemisphere, autumn for the Southern Hemisphere).

This occurs on Friday, March 20 at 6:45 PM EDT (10:45 PM GMT). To add to this already exciting time of transformation, we will also be experiencing a total solar eclipse on the same day as the equinox!

So what does this mean for us?

The equinox serves as a doorway between the spiritual and physical world, enabling a powerful renewal to occur. This renewal elevates our consciousness to be able to seed greater love and wisdom into the very real, present moment.

It’s Divine Alchemy in its full glory!

The equinox is also a time when the creative gifts we’ve been nurturing throughout the summer and winter months can fully be realized and expressed, to inspire the kind of world we’d like to experience more of.

An equinox is an ideal time to:

  • v Simplify our living space/environment, so that we are able to release many of the things we haven’t been using. The general principle I follow is, if I haven’t used it in the past year, it can now find a loving new home with someone who will truly benefit from receiving it.
  • v Try something new that feels to be out of our comfort zone.
  • v Switch up our routine every few days over the next few months, to keep ourselves open, fresh, and available to the opportunities presenting themselves to us.
  • v Begin a new class or spiritual practice, to reconnect ourselves to our true nature of love.
  • v Forgive any and all people, places, and experiences in our lives that still trigger us emotionally in any way.
  • v Create a balance between our Divine Feminine aspect (our creative, nurturing, playful side) and Divine Masculine aspect (our passionate, action-oriented, motivated side).
  • v Begin a new project or creative venture that feels more aligned with our heart’s desires.

If any of these suggestions feel expansive and joyous to you, know that it’s a confirmation that it may be time for you to integrate them into your life, so that you can make room for the fresh new blessings that are aligned with your heart’s desires.

In addition to the equinox, we will also be gifted with a total solar eclipse on March 20. This will magnify the equinox energies, which can feel quite intense for those who are quite sensitive or emotional.

To not be affected in a challenging way during this time, all that is required is that we be more mindful of our thoughts, words, and actions.

This will allow us to be open and available to the powerful energies of the eclipse and equinox, and work with them in a much more productive way. It will also help us to dissolve any lingering residue of resentment or discord we may still be experiencing.

During a total solar eclipse, meditating on the Sun strengthens our internal Sun (located in the solar plexus/stomach region), which represents our Divine power. This helps us to express ourselves more openly and freely, without holding back. It also helps us build confidence in ourselves, including our gifts, talents, and overall presence in this world.

So it’s safe to say that this month will be a time of great internal and external transformation that can be significantly pacified through mindfulness and spiritual practice.

Behind the Scenes

As we are all internally and externally shifting, there’s even more magic going on behind the scenes.

Have you had profound dreams lately? Are you remembering more and more of them?

Are you feeling waves of energy move through you that sometimes feel like electric currents running through your body?

Are you noticing more and more sparks (mini shooting stars) in your peripheral vision? Are you finding your appetite is fluctuating a bit more these days?

What about feeling a bit more sensitive to the people and experiences around you?

Our Spirit is now fully focused on lifting the veils within our minds right now, so that we will be able to understand, digest, and integrate our True Self into the reality of every present moment.

This is BIG! This is what IS anchoring a “heaven on Earth” type of collective reality.

For millennia, the conscious mind has conditioned itself to operate and function mostly in linear time. Now, with the help of our Spirit, the Universe, and all the Beings of Love whom we each resonate with, the mind is being taught how to thrive outside of linear time, so we can be at our most powerful.

What we are seeing in the world is the transition out of the “fear” that the mind created and got comfortable with, as a result of thinking it would lose its identity if it entered nonlinear time—that it would no longer exist.

However, our Spirit is showing our mind right at this very minute, that this belief could not be further from the truth of what’s really happening.

The mind is being shown how much more of its unique self it will get to experience when it is no longer confined by linear time, where it uses fear, lack, doubt, worry, confusion, guilt, shame, or judgment to cope with life’s challenges.

Our Spirit and the Universe are now opening the doors to ultimate freedom, where we are fully able to recognize our eternal, whole, and True Self once more.

To speed this process along, all that’s asked of us is to be willing to love and have compassion for our mind. The mind’s only mission was to keep us safe the only way it knew how, and for that we are grateful.

It’s also important to make sure we are well hydrated, getting plenty of rest/sleep, continuing with the spiritual practices that help us live in the present moment, and putting nourishing, real foods into our body.

This will support our Spirit with the blessings it is creating for us now.

As always, I am so grateful to share this journey with you, and am holding the space that this month is a phenomenal one for you!

Till next time,

Miraculously yours,

Emmanuel

©2009-2015 Emmanuel Dagher All Rights Reserved www.emmanueldagher.com You are absolutely welcome to share and distribute these forecasts with others as you feel guided. Please make sure to keep the integrity of this article by including the author & source website link.





Sunny rain

14 03 2015

This is the oil I’m working on now. A tiny diptych. Two times out on location en plein air. Somewhat of a limited palette. I like the looseness of a sketch. It’s not finished. Being careful to not overwork it. Not too likely since my painting hand has limited mobility from overuse. Sunny :-). Rain :-(.

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“Sunny Rain” © 2015 Rebekah Luke

 





Aging in public

8 03 2015

Hardly anyone talks about it, this thing called aging. I think it’s because when we’re younger, we don’t consider getting older. Others, yes, like our parents, but not us. Not me! And to listen to others talk about their aches and pains—oh, please.

Notice I said “older,” not “old.” I learned to say it that way from my cousin Elly, who was born six months before I.

Today I’m going public, and I’m talking about aging for those who might benefit.

As it happens in our Western health care system, our family is assigned a primary care physician. Like all doctors, he has many patients, and the system allows him to spend only 15 minutes with each, whether or not all your questions are answered.

Oh, I know it’s possible. DH had a good experience in Hong Kong, for example, when he had appendicitis on a trip, but in Hong Kong they were much more efficient. Here, it can be time-consuming in the long run (lots of 15 minutes) and frustrating to get care.

I decided to ask for another PCP through my gynecologist. She said she couldn’t be it because she was a specialist. So then, I thought, how about a gerontologist? Can I be ahead of the game and start seeing one now? I remembered the time I (tried) to get care for my aging father and how by luck, after being sent to department after department (including a “hospitalist” who I asked, because he was wearing a flower lei, if it was his birthday, and he replied, “No, it is my last day here!”), a gerontologist came to our aid. She was the most compassionate and informative of the lot.

My gynecologist was helpful. “Let’s see, how old are you, 66? You know, past 65 I think you can.” I’ll give the system credit for that. She referred me to a geriatrician, that’s what they’re called, I learned.

My issues were physical signs that to me appeared suddenly. Thinning skin, dull hair, brittle nails. (In the meantime I found a supplement containing biotin to address just that.) Soreness in my hands; arthritis or something else? When people spoke to me, responding too often with, “What?”, and having to turn up the TV volume. Some trouble with my balance. And taking longer to speak my words because my brain seemed slower to find them; memory loss? I’ve already had my right colon removed successfully for a large but benign tumor.

When the “new” department phoned to confirm the first appointment, they made sure I knew to bring someone with me, that I brought a health care directive, etc. This freaked out DH who said to me, “This is not the end game for you. Why?” I replied, “Of course, it isn’t, but I want to be proactive and cover all my bases. I want a baseline for the future.”

Checking in as a “youngster,” I explained my reasons for the visit with the receptionist, who informed me, and the doctor confirmed: a geriatrician is a specialist and cannot be my PCP. But wait.

While an assistant gave me a memory test (my memory in their terms is fine), the doctor invited DH in to start the conversation about why she likes to talk to families. In my case, she was concerned that we have our finances in place, meaning, if one of us becomes unable to function normally in the future, does the other have access to money if needed. Not when we die, but if we become ill.

When I walked into her office to join the conversation, she confirmed my hunch. “Did you practice at (another hospital) before? [She had.] You are the one who took care of my father, and the only one to give us satisfactory answers!” Yes, the same doctor, who at that time explained to me, “It’s not a perfect system, but it is a system.”

While she cannot officially be my primary care physician, in fact that is what she has become. I am so grateful. She ordered all the necessary tests for me. As a result, I found that I have lost some of my hearing, and I now wear a very smart and hi-tech hearing aid in both ears. It’s takes practice to learn how to wear it, and I trust the person who is fitting the device for my needs.

Next, tests found that I am deficient in Vitamin D. The doc said even in sunny Hawaii people become deficient in D.

For the pain in my dominant right hand, I was sent back to my assigned PCP, who said it is tendonitis in two places, but one unrelated to the other. What do you do, he asked? “I paint.” Then stop painting, he said. What?!! Personally I think, if it is indeed tendonitis, it is from too much computer, that is the unfortunate side effect of today’s technology.

Or, an emotional cause. For that, my geriatrician was compassionate and suggested psychotherapy. I have been there and done that. For now I prefer talking to my cherished friends and family first. Perhaps Reiki or lomilomi or acupuncture.

This week I go in for hand therapy, referred by my PCP, and next week sports medicine. Sports medicine because of some numbness in my arm.

I asked DH, why is it that you are older than I, but you don’t show as many signs of aging. He reminded me that he just had new “eyes” installed, a result of cataract surgery in both eyes. 😉 You see, I am not alone, and neither are you!

Copyright 2015 Rebekah Luke

 

 

 





Harmony and balance

26 02 2015

Aloha, studio fans. Today’s post is inspired by musical harmony and spiritual harmony. I don’t know why so many of us have struggles this season, but know that you are not alone. You are not saying so, because you are not a complainer, but I am aware that many friends are facing challenges now.

In whatever way you or someone you love is sidelined from regular activities and loving relationships, I hope that you will heal and find a way back to harmony, balance, and wellness. Not necessarily back to the former comfortable routine, but perhaps to something better and filled with more joy.

That is my wish for myself, too. It is a time to consider a new direction, perhaps. A reconstruction project at home and trying to age gracefully (oh, my) when inside I feel much younger is why I’m adjusting, but I won’t bore you with all that! 😉

One of the things that gives me joy is good music, or making good music, to be more exact. Singing with a choir for me is like pressing a reset button because of the sounds our voices make, because of the way the singers have to listen to each other to blend in harmony, and because of the “high” we come away with after a good rehearsal or performance. Choral singing requires being in the moment, and for the moment any other worries, anxieties, or fears are put aside. That brings me to:

Travel tip:Ke Ahe Lau Makani” (The Comforting Gentleness of the Spreading Wind)

You are cordially invited to a concert of sacred Hawaiian choral music at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 7 at Kawaiahao Church, King and Punchbowl streets in Honolulu. Admission is free.

The concert will be the culmination of “Ke Ahe Lau Makani,” a Hawaiian music festival that takes place from 2 p.m. on the same day. The Royal Hawaiian Band will accompany a new choral number. Kawaiolaonapukanileo, the music ensemble directed by Nola A. Nahulu, sponsors the event.

Anyone who wishes to sing, individual or choir, may participate. Included in the festival fee of $20 per person for March 7 festival are a music packet, rehearsal from 2 to 5 p.m., and a picnic of Hawaiian food on the lawn at 5 p.m. Registration is due by March 2.

Another rehearsal is scheduled for Monday, March 2, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Na Mea Hawaii store at Ward Warehouse in Honolulu. Attendance will give singers an advantage to learning the music—some familiar, others not—written or arranged by Hawaiian composers.

My first exposure to Hawaiian choral music was as a child, with my parents, who took me to Sunday service at Kawaiahao Church. In those days the choir sang from the loft in the back of the sanctuary with harmonious voices, energetic and strong. Hawaiian voices comprised then and now a unique and beautiful blend. My mother, a piano teacher, pointed all this out to me. My father, a Hawaiian, simply came along and appreciated the music.

Some of the anthems on the March 7 program are part of the Kawaiahao Church Choir repertoire. This church choir and other choirs will be singing together, and with you, too, if you come. I hope you will!

Kawaiahao Church is on the corner of King and Punchbowl streets. A plaque describes its construction

Kawaiahao Church is on the corner of King and Punchbowl streets. I’m singing with Kawaiolaonapukanileo here in the March 7 Hawaiian choral music festival.

Copyright 2015 Rebekah Luke

 

 





Artist drop-off day 2015, Punahou Carnival Art Gallery

1 02 2015

Whether you are an art buyer or art appreciator, thank you so very much for your interest and patronage!

Guests of the school’s Board of Trustees and “motivated buyers with a keen interest in fine art” get first dibs at the Punahou Carnival Art Gallery tomorrow and Tuesday at by-invitation-only previews. Others will get their turn from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6 and 7, during Carnival hours. 

Today is Artist Drop-off Day. These are my contributions to the fundraising event, perhaps the highest grossing event for the sale of fine art in Hawaii. 50% of art sales is donated for student financial aid. Come, see the originals!

Waipao, 18" x 24" oil, ©2014 Rebekah Luke

Waipao, 18″ x 24″ oil on canvas panel, © 2014 Rebekah Luke

At Anchor, Kaneohe Bay, 16" x 20" oil, © 2014 Rebekah Luke

At Anchor, Kaneohe Bay, 16″ x 20″ oil on canvas panel, © 2014 Rebekah Luke

Bayfront, 18" x 24" oil, © 2014 Rebekah Luke

Bayfront, 18″ x 24″ oil on canvas panel, © 2014 Rebekah Luke

The Carnival takes place on the Punahou School campus. The main pedestrian gate on the corner of Punahou street and Wilder avenue, Honolulu.

For my descriptions of previous year’s events, please enter Punahou Carnival in the search box in the right column.

Copyright 2015 Rebekah Luke




Winter In Kaʻaʻawa

15 01 2015

ʻAkekeke flock,
Golden Plover, Shama Thrush,
Peacock, Rooster, Hen.

Egret, ʻIwa, Chick,
Mynah, Bulbul, Zebra Dove.
Bird inventory.

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Copyright 2015 Rebekah Luke





Resume play

7 01 2015

It’s time to hit the Resume Play button of my life. The elves have left to help someone else.

Indeed, it feels like a brand new life. The 12-month year for me starts on my birthday this Friday. Then I’ll turn 66. With much gratitude I say good-bye to 66 years (especially the year 2014) and say hello to today.

Since DH’s birthday on Dec. 20—we had a little party here on the 21st—so much has occurred, I really don’t remember exactly what, nor am I able to put the events in chronological order. No matter. That was yesterday.

Since the fire and for the last nine days, New Year’s Day and Sunday excepting, a professional after-fire cleaning crew has been at the studio, removing soot and odor from everything inside the structure. Four to nine people at a time, depending on the tasks. Such hard workers. I called them elves.

What a blessing. This morning, when I awoke, the din of the four air scrubber machines was gone. I could hear the birds and the surf again. The air smelled sweet. I had slept soundly through the night. I could look forward to a day with no visitors (perhaps?).

I can’t find any-Thing, but I know it is here somewhere and that it is clean!

“Sorry, we rearranged your things,” one of the elves said smiling. The cool thing is, I like the rearrangement. When I go through my things systematically in one direction to find something and come across something I don’t need any more, I toss it into the trash or set it aside to re-bless someone else. And, truthfully, I don’t need much.

In a new setting, I can keep only what I need or what brings me joy!

Some of the things are in cardboard boxes because the elves did a partial “pack out.” It was obvious to them the next step was a kitchen renovation. The result is “out of sight, out of mind.”

The clichés have meaning: “Every dark cloud has a silver lining.” “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” “Fire purifies.” “Out with the old, in with the new.” “Let it go.”

To keep my feet on the ground and because I like to honor commitments, I’ll resume teaching and writing in a few days, but that’s it. I can say Aloha to the past, start over, reset, choose to (re)act in a new way to events in my life and create a different and joyful experience.

Thank you, dear friends. I’ll certainly keep you.

Copyright 2015 Rebekah Luke