The Immaculate Conception
1618-19, Diego Velázquez
‘immaculate‘ – ‘free from mental or moral pollution’
‘conception’ – ‘that which is conceived in the mind, spirit’
The Queen of Heaven is standing on the Moon, looking down to Earth and has the 12 stars, or constellations, around her head. She lights the Heavens with wisdom, grace, purity and compassion. She is the essence of every form of the Divine Mother. Her dress and robe are fluid and subtle like the passing clouds; she is without constraint and has the power of manifesting form – she is nebulous; she is Creation’s Mother and gives birth to Galaxies.
Today is both a Full Moon and the Summer Solstice – talk about synchronicity and auspicious events!
Being in tune with the Moon is easy and free. Listen to Tom Evans describe how you can tune in to improve the rhythms of your life: it’s as easy as 1,2,3 and 4
In the esoteric philosophies, every aspect of the physical world, down to the smallest nano-particle, and out to the farthest reaches of the Universe, has another, more far-reaching meaning. This is sometimes called Hermetic Knowledge, or ‘As above, So below’.
THE MOON
The Moon orbits the Earth, does not rotate, and moves with us in our orbit around the Sun.
The Moon has a fluctuating character and because of its closeness to us, it influences the water on our planet and causes rising and falling tides, both in the oceans and in every living thing.
As it moves around us, its gravitaional influence pulls water with it. It ascends in the east and descends in the west, in its path across the sky and appears to change in size and shape, as the shadow of Earth and the light of the Sun move across its surface. We call it waxing and waning.
When the Moon is full, the half of the moon facing us is lit by the Sun. When the old Moon disappears, the shadow of the Earth covers it.
The reflected light radiating from the Moon affects our light, growth rate, sleep and dreams. The movement of the Moon affects our internal organs, brain function, thought and emotional responses, creativity and physical energy levels, and the height of the Moon in its trajectory, affects the length of time it influences us.
For example:
When the Moon is full, and is on its highest ascent path across the sky, more living things, for a longer time, will be affected.
When the old moon crescent disappears on its lowest descent path across the sky, fewer living things will feel its influence.
A full Moon, at the lowest descent mark, will shine its light almost horizontally across the Earth’s surface. It will be ‘in your face’.
A full Moon at the highest ascent mark will shine its light vertically down from above, and will be closer to you.
The Islamic flag has an ‘old Moon’ crescent because it is more apparent in the East in the early evening, with the evening star, Venus. (It appears in the early morning in the West)
Old Moon
All these different combinations have differing effects on us mere mortals.
Some of us are born in a season of increasing daylight hours, others in decreasing daylight hours.
Some of us are born around an equinox, or a solstice.
Some of us are born at night and some during the daytime. Some with the setting Sun, or Moon, and some with the rising Sun, or Moon.
And then there are all the other planets to take into consideration!
So we can see that the time we are born, and the unique set of circumstances in which we find ourselves arriving, can produce a very unique response to the world in each and every one of us. In Astrology, our Moon sign is as important to understand as our Sun sign. ( Click Here to get your Moon sign and Click Here to see how your moon will reveal aspects about you.) Those circumstances will go on affecting us in some way, in a repeating pattern, for the whole of our lives.
Apart from that, on any one day, the circumstances of that time and place will effect us all, collectively.
If the Moon is influencing us in a particularly strong way, most of us will feel it, either positively or negatively.
Some people Moon-gaze, are fascinated by it, and others never give it a second thought.
1. Blue Moon is the thirteenth Moon. (Magic)
Usually there is one full Moon in one calendar month. There are different opinions on this, but once in a while there is a ‘Blue Moon’. This can either be two full Moons in one month, the second one being ‘Blue’, or four Moons in a season, instead of three.
In one calendar year, there are thirteen Moons, so a Blue Moon occurs about once a year. “Once in a Blue Moon” is a saying in our language for a very rare occasion, when something fortuitous happens ‘out of the blue’. But your particular ‘Blue Moon’, may be a unique configuration, that means something specific for you.
If, your Blue Moon occurs, you may find that your emotions start to increase, decrease, or mis-behave. If you are prone to moods, depression, tearfulness, highs and lows, manic behaviour, excitability, euphoria, grief, melancholy, bliss, or just plain old happiness, it may arrive more intensely and unexpectedly.
2. Red Moon is seen as an omen of war. It is red at a Lunar Eclipse. (Blood)
3. Yellow Moon, (or gold), is the Harvest or Hunter’s Moon. (Abundance)
Ice Moon
4. White Moon, or Ice Moon, is the Moon high in the meridian, near the Winter Solstice. (Death)
5. Green Moon is the Mid-summer Moon. (Life)
6. Black Moon is when it disappears, or the ‘Dark Side of the Moon’. (Fear)
7. Pink Moon is when its light filters through the atmospheric dust. (Love)
Earth Medicine – the Moon is Feminine applies to Water, and water applies to Emotions.
Nature lovers, gardeners and farmers know that certain Moon phases are good for planting, sowing, and harvesting.
World Mythology has images and stories of Moon goddesses, especially Diana the Huntress, Artemis and Hecate. Also ‘lunacy’, (or Moon Madness), mystery and imagination, beliefs according to the feminine principle, dreaming, seership, psychicness, intuition and magic.
Old Rituals were conducted by the light of the Moon, especially a full Moon, and associations with witches and magic persist. People and animals of course will respond to the rising energy of a full Moon, as it brings on ovulation; mating orgies and pagan weddings were conducted according to this strong influence.
Astrology – The Zodiac sign of Cancer, (The Crab, June 21-July 22) has Moon as its ruling planet and represents Mother and Home.
Tarot – If the Moon appears for you, it may represent a time when the Unconscious Mind is very active and can cause uncertainty, and fluctuating emotions; but the Feminine Principle is at work and through dreams and images, a realisation will arrive, bringing insights and hope. It can auger a time when a woman enters your life, or when you are being asked to release the feminine in you to be receptive and intuitive, for the magic of the Moon is elusive.
Quarter Moon
Numerology of the Moon is 7. The 360 degrees of a circle is represented by the Sun, and is divisible by all the numbers one to nine , except seven, which relates to the quarter phases of the Moon cycle. (Also the four 7-year cycles within the 28-year cycles of Saturn.)
Honeymoon – Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him. He shall be exempt for one year for the sake of his family, to bring joy to the wife he has married.”
The Moon is elusive, changeable, of the night, mysterious, yet closely linked to us. It appears to be dead, physically, yet it is constantly metamorphasising, on the move, and has this strong influence over us – one in which we seem to be inextricably linked. There is growing evidence of life on the Moon: not only have the remains of a very ancient, highly-advanced technological and possible extra-terrestrial (and lunar) race been found, the secret military activity of the U.S. is now thought to be present on the Moon.
When considering that all things have Consciousness, inviting Moon consciously into your life will enrich it beyond words. It is the Source of reflected light, our inner secrets and of our indirect enlightenment, that is, through the Unconscious Mind.
When I look up into the blue sky I feel something extraordinary. I feel a rising of my spirit. I can feel it physically in my chest like a bubble and very often it brings a smile to my lips and small tears into my eyes. It’s not like crying when I’m sad. It’s like something wells up inside me and overflows.
I love the blue sky and I miss it terribly when it is stolen by the blanket cloud that moves over it sometimes. I can remember the first time I went up in an aeroplane, I was petrified and thought I’d never get in the thing, but when we took off and lifted up through the clouds I fell in love with flying forever. Going through the clouds was like being lost in a fog. It looked cold and dismal and floated past the windows like a faceless ghost. Then suddenly we came out above them and the sky was perfectly blue. It was heavenly.
I peered through the little port-hole window and looked as far as I could see in every direction. The blue sky was everywhere, untainted and empty and vast. Far below was the blanket of clouds that now looked like a sea of cotton-wool balls and the earth had disappeared. I had ascended and gone into Heaven, along with a hundred or so other people who were flying to Stockholm.
I am not a child living in a fairy-book fantasy. I am a grown-up, a grandmother. I have a simple belief, and that is this: I believe that the world around us, all the things we see, hear, feel, observe, and know to happen in a physical way also happen in another way, that is not physical. I believe that there is an alternative life that is very similar to the physical life but is different in that we cannot see, hear, feel or observe it with our physical senses. It is only detectable with our 6th sense, or ‘spirit’.
When the aeroplane was flying through the air, I could see the way the sun lit up everything. Up there in my blue Heaven the only thing that was there was the sun. I couldn’t stay there though and after a while the aeroplane started to descend. It brought us all back down through the clouds and then I could see the earth below. Slowly, more and more came into view and I could see the landscape, then fields and towns, then houses and finally, when we touched down and taxied into the airport, I could see other people.
Whenever it is a dull dark day I remember how the sky above the clouds is always blue, and up there the sun always shines, unless I am on the other side of the world. There, on the other side, the sun is hidden from view and the sky is perpetual darkness, except for the stars. The stars fill the Heavens with a myriad of little lights. We can’t see the stars in the daytime, when the sun is so bright it fills the world with its light. But at night, when the sun is absent we can see the stars.
What does this tell me about ascending to Heaven? It tells me that it is a place where we can get a different view on life. We can see how the world is, in relation to everything else. The world and the planets, the moon and the sun are all moving around each other in a cosmic dance and we can observe it. We can see things that are enlightened but we can’t see things that are in the dark. But the stars give us a glimmer of hope. We can watch in wonder at things and try to understand. It is all there. The world we can see and the world we can’t see.
Everything that moves is moved by something you can’t see. Think about it. Every single thing that vibrates with life, that circles around and changes in time is motivated, moved, enlivened by …something you can’t see. But we can see the effect of this something that moves in everything, and when we ascend we can see it more clearly.
The worst time is when we are lost in a fog. We can’t see where we are going and we can’t see anything that can give us a perspective on things. It can feel quite frightening and we have to trust that the pilot knows how to take us through the fog in the right direction. On earth it can feel quite depressing when we can’t see the heavenly blue sky and there is no sun, and even the stars cannot be seen to give us hope. We then have to have faith that the clouds will pass, the winds of change will come and blow them away and then the sun will shine again and the stars will come out at night.
Our relationship to the sun in particular is paramount in our understanding of our relationship with light, especially the unseen light. The blue sky is only blue to us down here because of our unique atmosphere, yet the colour we see is important because the colour is an energy that affects us. It helps us to be happy. The moon, too, helps us understand and remember the cycles of time. And the stars, well if the stars weren’t there for us to wish upon, we’d have no hope. So the sun, sky, moon and stars represent a non-earthly component to the physical world that we live in. The rest is down here, where we put our feet. Non-earthly things we call spiritual. The virtual world of spirit is for us to know about but not touch, because it’s far away. Or is it?
Sunlight, the radiations from it, the warmth and light, give all living things what they need to grow. Without the sun we would be nothing. The blue sky helps us to feel happy because we can see the great ‘out there’ and then we don’t feel alone. The moon comes around like a true friend, with regularity and helps us remember we are going somewhere. Because it changes its appearance in cycles, we can see how time is progressing, and how we must be progressing, too. And the stars, there are so many of them, they seem like a token of all that has been and all that can be, places we can visit in our dreams, places for the imagination to be inspired.
Look around you and notice the living things on earth that respond in different ways to the things ‘above’ us. Animals look down, towards the earth. Even the birds that fly in the sky look down. Fish hide, protected, in the waters. Insects hide, protected under leaves, debris or the earth. But people, some people, look up. Those of us who look up are different to those who are mostly looking down. Those who look up aspire to something beyond the physical world. They dream, gaze into space for inspiration. They think a lot and wonder at the greater picture. They are connecting to something that is greater than ‘where’s dinner?’ or ‘where’s bed?’ or ‘where’s my mate?
While we are looking up, rising above the mundane, connecting to ‘Spirit’, dwelling on higher matters, ascending towards Heaven, it is really important to remember one thing. Our connection to Earth, the planet we call home is more important than just providing for our bodies. By lifting our thoughts, our imagination and our learning to higher things, we are raising our spirits for an important reason. That is, to bring that enlightenment to Earth. And for that reason we need to keep our connection to Earth by having deep roots that go right to the core of the planet. This way we, as individuals, and collectively as a human soul group, will ascend together with Earth. We will travel as on a space ship towards a higher world, where life is similar, but different in that it is as yet unseen. Heaven is all around us, around Earth, but the Light of the Living Sun will love us and give us life, both seen and unseen, until we re-unite.
I believe we are on our way. We have started the journey home and everyone who can incarnate from the human soul group has done so. We are all on board and heading back. Some will get there before others as we start to become less physical and integrate into the unseen version of life. Those who get there first will not be the winners, or the losers, because we will work together as we have always done, because we are not separated. We have to help each other. We have to work as a team, not in competition, not some exploiting others for their own benefit. It’s not a matter of the wealthy few getting an easier trip, because those who have nothing will have nothing to lose. Anything physical gained in this, the physical world, cannot go into the unseen world. Nothing except our own soul, the spirit that has come to drive the body of our choice, will pass through the transformation into spirit. All matter will disintegrate into its energy form once again, until we are the love and light that we started as, once more. All physical attachments are just baggage that will weigh us down. Release the attachment to these things and the journey for you will become easier and more enjoyable.
Imagine going through an airport check-in with nothing to hold, not even a boarding pass, or passport. With nothing to carry you, your-self, will be the passport and you will glide effortlessly to your first-class seat. Effortlessly you, along with a couple of hundred or so other good folk, together in groups, will lift effortlessly into the air, with no air-con, no duty-free sales, no cramped legs or safety belts, no over-head luggage racks, no safety exit routine, no plastic lunch pack, just a pilot and a couple of stewards to be there for you. Then off you will go, up through the clouds, through the fog of fear and confusion, and out into the wild blue yonder, the heavenly blue sky, towards the sun.
And when you look back, just for a second, you will see that there are others, millions and millions of others, all coming along for the ride, even the Earth itself!
AVIA..............................................wendy salter 