Ready. Set. Flow.

2012 is quickly coming to a close and reviewing the past year is usually a natural occurrence for most during this time.  The energy created last week with Mercury in retrograde, the solar eclipse, and a new moon phase all taking place, made for intense energetic conditions perfect for slowing down and taking a look back.  I know for me I felt the affects of all this the strongest on Tuesday, November 13th.  I believe we are not victims of these universal events, but I do find my mood and mental stimulation shift much like when weather conditions change.  I was trying my best to be productive during this time, but no matter how hard I tried it felt like I was trying to move a brick wall.  Message received.  I set all the work I was getting nowhere with aside and slowed down to almost an unbearable pace.  I took the time to rest, rejuvenate, and reflect.  Here are some things to think about if you are able to allow yourself the opportunity to review your past year in service to the present and in preparation as we embark on a new calendar year.

First, really take this time to reflect on life and I mean seriously reflect.  Take more than just a couple of moments, take hours or days if possible.  Ask yourself questions like "What is working for me and what is not?  What would I like more of?  What would I like to create?  What would I like to heal?  What else is possible?"  Asking these types of questions during times of reflection will begin to stir the pot of creativity that can lend to future generative steps of action.  You do not have to know the answer immediately simply ask the question and see what appears.  By asking these types of questions you are asking yourself what you know to be true for you. Simply be open to receiving your own awareness. 

Second, be in allowance of the information that surfaces free of any judgment.  Take some time to acknowledge what comes forward.  This could be in the form of limiting beliefs, self-doubts, victim stories, broken relationships, unhealthy habits, etc.  Allow the energy to bring all that up to the surface right now and experience it to whatever degree you may need.  Then give yourself permission to let it go.  It is not serving you any longer.  This year, this time, this energy is a gift. Some of these experiences may be consciously brought to the surface specifically to be let go on order to live your truth.  Release can happen through tears, laughter, sweat, exercise, rest, meditation, detoxing, whatever works best for you.  Right now the universal conditions are ideal for clearing your mind, body and heart.  

Third, be compassionate with yourself and others.  Be understanding with yourself during this time in your process. This transition isn't always gentle. Try being completely compassionate with ourselves, each other, and the process. Bring compassion forward for yourself.  Be conscious that others are experiencing this in their own way.  Allow yourself the time and space to process and recognize this in others.  Life is a flow, instead of pushing upstream, surrender and let the current take you to what you have been creating.  Have you ever tried to control a river?  Near impossible right?  Well think of your life energy like that.  We can put up dams to stop the flow, but how is that working for you?  Thank the dams for the service they have provided for you and then knock them down.  Flow with power, force, confidence, love, truth, gratitude, perseverance, desire, and anything else that makes you light enough to float.  

Everyday is a new possibility to create.  Create from your heart.  When you are not living, creating, and exuding your truth you are not only doing yourself a disservice, but the rest of us as well.  Please contribute to this world who you truly are and exude that beautiful contribution to us all.  Allow your heart to be your vessel and your intuition to be your guide.  These are all components every one of us is blessed with on this planet.  They are yours, wake them up, ask them questions and use them.  This is the time to slow down and listen.  Use this time and your past experiences to your advantage and masterfully flow into 2013.  

THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS

I recently traveled from my current home in Los Angeles, CA to my previous home in Denver, CO.  I grew up in Southern Wyoming and have lived in Northern Colorado, as well as in the Denver area before relocating to LA.  This part of the world will always be near and dear to my heart as the energy and the people are so very special.  The purpose of my trip was to connect with new clients, re-connect with existing clients and spend time with my beloved family and friends.  I had a wonderful time compressed into just under a week and I accomplished everything I intended to do.  However, upon review of my trip once I returned to LA through sharing my experiences I realized a very strong reoccurring theme was present; forgiveness.  Opportunities to forgive others for small annoyances and inconveniences to forgiving people for extreme upsets that happened over a decade ago that had hurt me deeply came to fruition.  I found myself almost instantly working through these situations with a resolution of forgiveness and sending the person who caused me the upset love and light.  I experienced the release that resulted in forgiving, instead of holding onto the pain and suffering that their actions had caused me.  This space of instant forgiveness was new to me and I was proud of myself for recognizing the process.  Instantly forgiving what a concept!  I was filled with a sense of peace, understanding, love, and confidence for having recognized these lessons as I thought "I got this!"

Once I believed I had mastered the process of instant forgiveness yet another test showed up, as is par for the course with spiritual curriculum.  It was my last 24 hours in Denver and I was attempting to check-in online for my flight the next day and the website kept bringing me to an error page, informing me in bright red text it was not yet 24 hours before my flight.  "This is ridiculous.  What is wrong with this stupid website?" I thought.  Upon closer examination I noticed that I had in fact booked my flight for March and not February for my desired day and time of departure.  What a disaster I created for myself!  I went right into upset, got emotional and felt extreme frustration.  My sister did her best to calm me down and suggested I call the airline and explain what had happened.  After composing myself I decided to follow her advice and give the airline a call.  Feeling hopeless that they would not be able to help me I got in touch with a customer service rep who I am sure could hear the panic in my voice.  She helped me get on the right flight for the right day and time, and even worked her magic so I could afford getting back to LA without spending my life savings.  I was extremely appreciative to this woman and was able to get a good nights rest knowing I would leave Denver as originally planned the next evening.  My last day in Denver was great as I was able to work with a client I enjoy very much, spent time with my sister, and had one last catch-up-with-old-friends dinner.  I arrived home safe and sound, and as I was sharing my adventures with my close friend I came to a very interesting conclusion; that I had been able to forgive others with ease and grace, but when it came time to forgive myself for pain and suffering I had self inflicted that was the most difficult lesson to see and accept.  I did not practice instant forgiveness with myself and it took me well over a day to realize the opportunity and the lesson that had surfaced.  I realized as important as it is to forgive others, it is just as important to practice self-forgiveness.  Self-forgiveness paves the way for releasing self-judgement, and knocking down the walls that prevent us from connecting to our authentic/higher-selves.  Holding judgment on yourself can only prevent growth and through forgiveness we manifest self-compassion, self-understanding and create space for our inner core of love to expand.

Learning the process of forgiveness can release us from repeating lessons or experiencing karma, because when forgiveness is present karma is released.  We no longer have to keep playing out the same lesson because forgiveness is the tool that wipes the slate clean and signals to the Universe that we have cleared this space of misunderstanding and confusion and allowed love and peace to enter.  According to the video created by David Wilcock entitled Divine Cosmos, forgiveness is the key to understanding ourselves as a collective consciousness.  He states "True forgiveness is an acceptance of others and by accepting others you have accepted yourself.  The reason for this is that your mind is ultimately the cosmic mind.  The cosmic mind is your identity and in truth there is only one of us here."  If you would like to see Divine Cosmos in it's entirety I have included the link below.

I had an amazing time in Colorado and I learned and experienced far more than I ever expected.  I invite you to notice any reoccurring themes in your own life and see if applying forgiveness might be the answer to breaking your own repeat cycles.  Whether it is the forgiveness of others or forgiving yourself know that you always have the choice to forgive and expand the essence of love and consciousness that resides within each one of us.

If you feel inspired here is the link to Divine Cosmos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/davidwilcock333

DECONSTRUCTING: MERCURY IN RETROGRADE

Mercury in retrograde is frequently perceived as a time when the cosmos are working against us on planet Earth.  It is undeniable that during Mercury Retrogrades there seems to be an increase of miscommunications, misconnections, and electronic devices taking a nose dive.  I myself have slipped into negative thought patterns concerning Mercury Retrogrades.  In effort to understand what is happening and how to best utilize this special time I sought out the opinion of a professional.

Recently, I had a very insightful conversation with Phyllis Mitz, M.A. and professional Astrologer.  She very effectively broke down what happens logistically in the Universe, how to prepare, what energies are created, and how to most effectively utilize a Mercury Retrograde.   

Tarot by Megan: I don’t really know too much about astrology outside of the 12 sun signs and some basic characteristics of each.  Would you mind telling me what it means when Mercury is retrograde?

Phyllis Mitz:  What it literally means when Mercury is in retrograde is it is going further out into orbit then it normally is in relation to us.  So it looks like to us it is going backwards, but in fact it is not going backwards.  It is designed for a period of reflection and re-tracing recent steps.  It is a time to reflect to see if the decisions and the involvements we have been in lately are going to work.  People say “Mercury retrograde is going to cause problems,” but my feelings are there is a blessing to that because, basically Mercury retrograde says “If there are problems with what you are up to, here they are!”  It is not a punitive kind of a thing as much as it is set up for the inner work and the inner life.  More so than getting what we want in the outer life to work well.  Sometimes it can mean missed appointments, technology going nutty, definitely misunderstandings, and things not working correctly.  Usually it is little things that disrupt our plans, not things that completely screw us up.  In that way annoyance is unavoidable.  For people that are the sign that mercury is retrograde in, because it can be retrograde in any one of the 12 signs, those people feel it very much.  When Mercury is moving quickly in the sky that seems to be easier than when Mercury slows down.  Those are the Mercury retrogrades when people go “Oh my God!”  It can be an annoying period.  It can be a period when you are not supposed to hire people, buy a car, or sign contracts.   But if you do just know that later when it goes direct you might have to tweak it a little bit.

TBM:  What are some things that people can do to that Mercury retrograde would benefit?  

PM:  Activities I would recommend taking part in; retreat, reflection, going over agreements, decisions, and contracts that you have already done.  Confirming what you have already decided.  Back tracking recent decisions and ideas.  I am not saying sit in your room and don’t do anything, as much as take a moment for reflection and check what you have already done.  It is a good time to go over things and make sure that what you think you have in motion is correct and it is a fantastic time to check things out and ask yourself if this is what you really want and indeed working the way you thought it was going to work.  It is not necessarily a forward movement period, although it has a reputation where some people think “I am not going to do a thing with Mercury in retrograde” and I think “that is YOUR Mercury retrograde, you are loosing opportunity.”  It is just more knowing that there is a little bit more of a wild card and things can get a little freaky, but the headline with a Mercury retrograde is take a minute; meditate, journal, and take a little more time during Mercury retrograde to go inside, because that is really all it is asking. 

TBM:  In general how long does a Mercury Retrograde last?

PM:  On average three weeks and it takes place three times a year.  The Mercury retrogrades for this year are; March 12^th through the 4^th of April.

TBM:  That’s interesting the first Mercury Retrograde of the year ends the day before my birthday.  Is that a good or a bad thing? 

PM:  I feel that is very powerful for you.  I am going to get technical for a minute.  You see a planet going along through the degrees of the zodiac and then it seems to sit still and that would be on the twelfth of March.  Then it appears to us as going backwards and then when it goes direct it goes back to where it was to begin with.  This is called the shadow.  Right after your birthday it is hitting the shadow and it means that this could be a little bit more active/crazy time for you because that Mercury retrograde is very strong around your birthday and your sign.  I would love Mercury to go retrograde around my birthday, as nutty as it sounds, because more people will be thinking about me, more people will be calling me, more things will be offered to me and even if they fall through who cares!  Because Mercury makes it happen so just know around your birthday things are going to get exciting.  I look at a Mercury retrograde as buying us a couple of extra weeks to think things through.  Concentrate on the inner work by journaling, going inside and checking things out.  It is a mental practice.  Take walks, meditate, contemplate, talk with friends, and take a moment to unwind your mind and reflect.   More mercury retrogrades for 2012 are July 15^th to August 8^th and November 6^th to 26^th which should be interesting because it is right after the upcoming election.

TBM:  What are steps people can take to prepare for Mercury retrograde?

PM:  Two weeks before Mercury goes retrograde that’s the territory Mercury is going to be going back over.  If you sign a contract the day before Mercury goes retrograde that is just as wobbly as signing a contract during the retrograde.  Mercury is going to retrograde all over it!  So the two weeks before check your signatures on your agreements make sure you avoid the same things you would during a retrograde.  Mainly check things out, have a plan B if you are traveling, don’t completely rely on technology, and understand that your computer or car could go berserk.  If you have to get a repair to your car or computer I would recommend doing so before a Mercury retrograde, but even the weeks before that is basically the stuff Mercury is going to go back over.  Watch your thoughts, dynamics, and what kind of things pop up.  What kinds of things are decided before a retrograde?  These kinds of things require a review.  For example: In my past I used to sell real estate and if I sold a house right before Mercury went retrograde, that deal I would watch more carefully.  Mercury retrograde might bark at that one and it is more likely I would have to redo parts of that deal.  None of this is to fear.  Mercury retrograde is so rarely bad.  Unless we are trying to do something that is not for our highest good.  Let’s say someone wanted to buy a house and during Mercury retrograde it fell apart and I would have to look at it like that was apparently not the right house for them.  It was never an undermining feeling like I just got screwed, it was more like weird, freaky things would happen and it would just fall apart and basically I would look at it like that wasn’t for you. 

TBM:  I feel there is a lot of general misconception and fear around times of Mercury retrograde.  Can Mercury retrograde be thought of positively?

PM:  People that fear Mercury retrograde just don’t understand it.  It is really a time of reflection, even though there can be annoyances that is not the headline.  This is a more spiritual, reflective time of year.  Use this time to your benefit, just have a plan B and allow for flexibility and tweaking.  Mercury going retrograde is a blessing!

I hope this has shed some light on what is really going on during a Mercury Retrograde.  As Phyllis said it is a very powerful time that is best used for reflection and evaluation of life decisions.  I plan on harnessing this next Mercury Retrograde's energy positively.  I am looking forward to March 12th to begin my first conscious review process with the help of Mercury.  

If you are interested in learning more about Phyllis Mitz’s work you can contact her through her website at www.astrologerphyllis.com.