***Harvest Powerful Moon***

Today is a very special Full Moon, the Harvest Moon, the one which occurs closest to Autumn (Fall) Equinox, sometimes a few days after or before, depends on the year. It's usually the biggest full moon in the year and more 'pumpkin colour'. Perfect time for an abundance ritual!
The Moon will be in Pisces and comes with a Lunar Eclipse, presenting us the Alchemy of light and dark, yin and yang - Full Power Time!!
"Eclipses are the most powerful transits that you can experience." Kelly Rossano

This Pisces Moon relate with sensitivity, intuition, mysticism and dream power, spiritual evolution, expansion of consciousness and subconscious seeking inner truths.

With your Moon Magic (even if just lighting up any candle: what is important is your intention and focus) you can ask the Grandmother Moon to support you in all the above and anything related with this energy, specially to your dreams come true!...

And what is Moon Magic? Magic is no more than a change of consciousness, and the Moon representing psychic energy, or the unconscious that holds the secrets of wisdom, can be a great ally or supporter in this.
Here a my suggestion:
Light a turquoise (or violet) candle and burn oil or incense of ylang-ylang, or eucalyptus, or sage. Repeat an affirmation three times, facing the moon (if possible) even when indoors. Let the candle burn until the end. 

You can create your own affirmation based on the Pisces virtues, here an idea:
"Moon in Pisces, bright your beam, Bring to me my sweetest dream".

Why not put you Pisces Moon magic with a ritual of Abundance to make the most of this energy in the air!
'Magically speaking' this is indeed a great time to focus on abundance.

You can create your own ritual to connect with your inner self and let this golden moon illuminate and inspire you; be clear and assertive in your requests and be aware of the same (be careful that what you ask the Universe is what you really want...).
Ideas of things you may use in a ritual for abundance:

• Gold (or/and green, orange) candles, oranges, rice, milk, corn, cinnamon, money (big notes and coins), gold. Some crystals relate with abundance: citrine, carnelian, jade; and totems: buffalo (or/and cow) and sardine.

Remember follow your intuition you can never go wrong, and for something to happen, the belief must come, not just from the mind but from the heart and soul.
My Last year Harvest Aries Moon (is why the red candles) Abundance Ritual.

© Anamarta

Sexuality & Spirituality in the Taoist Tradition in Modern Lives

How are sexuality and spirituality bound together in the Taoist tradition, in a way that's relevant to modern women?

In the Taoist Tradition sexuality and spirituality are bound together, as the Taoists focus on harmonising mind, body and spirit.  Spiritual development requires a balance of physical health and mental clarity, and our sexuality plays an important role in that.
Sex is natural and we are sexual beings – women, born with hundreds of eggs, they have the capacity to generate hundreds of lives! (And man with a single ejaculation could repopulate North America!).   The Taoist believes that if we were not to use this energy to create life itself, we can use it to enhance our own life. This happens by internalising the intense sexual energy, all the hormones and nutrients; the ancient secrets of the Art of Bedchamber that can be applied to benefit our modern lives.

In this light sexuality is beyond sex, being the most powerful energy of creation, the expression of our creativity, that can be used for pleasure, healing, to cultivate health, rejuvenation, longevity; to attain goals, to realise dreams, and ultimately, to connect with the Divine, the universal source or ‘Re-Union with the Tao.’ In other words, by using the sexual energy for spiritual development, we come by ‘the short path to enlightenment’.

When we consciously tap into the energy of creation, we have in our hands the power to heal, transform, and create what we want!  Creativity is present throughout our day, from the moment we get out of bed and choose what to wear, what to eat…  And the fact is that when we get up our sexual organs don’t stay in bed: they are always with us! 

Why and how is this energy important for having sex that is spiritual. Is this energy a fusion of body & spirit?

There is no ‘sacred’ focus, all human sex being sacred in the union of Yang, the force of Heaven, with Yin, the power of Earth.
The idea is that by keeping the body – the vehicle to generate, transform and project energy – healthy, we keep mind, soul and spirit healthy too. And to keep the body (also seen as the ‘temple of spirit’) healthy we learn how to avoid losing energy, which women lose through menstruation and childbirth (and men through ejaculation). We also learn to take the most of our energy circulating it through all our being, which includes redirecting the orgasmic energy through the whole body, instead of just staying in the genitals.
These Taoist Healing Love practices are internal alchemical methods to harmonise both right and left sides of the brain, balancing the intuitive and the rational, when to do and when to be. Besides the enhancing of sensation, transcendental pleasure and becoming a more effective lover, the practices bring the benefits of hormonal balance and vitality, empowerment and fulfillment in all levels (physical, emotional and energetical).   Being holistic, merging qigong and meditation, the specific yin (feminine) and shamanic practices, also bring the benefits of grounding, being centred in one’s own power, and unconditional self-love and self-acceptance.
The Taoist holistic practice brings awareness of our infinite inner resources and opens the path of self-healing and self-mastery to live life to the full!

If you want to learn more about these you are welcome to the:

Coming Annual Jade Egg Initiation Workshop: Tao of Feminine Empowerment. 

Questions answered to Angela Kennedy from UK Soul&Spirit magazine I was featured in the beginning of the year. 

© Anamarta

Image of the Taoist Eight Immortals by Shen Quan

LOVE or LUST?...

Both!...

***Love or Lust - How can you tell the difference and does it matter from a spiritual point of view?

Love is the warm feeling that starts in our heart and can spread through our whole being, with the power to heal and transform.  Love and the way it is felt is unique to each individual, transcending mere words.
Lust triggers desire, which can also spread through our whole being, releasing sexual hormones, bringing a sense of vitality, stimulating all our senses, like the Spring when everything bursts into life!

Love and lust, both have the power to energise, and are equally important: as in the Taoist philosophy of Yin & Yang. The aim is to find harmony within which will spread into our outer world - to tune into the feminine and masculine, the emotional and the sexual, and to bring this balance into our life. 

We have meridians (energy lines) in our body.  As blood flows in the veins, energy flows in the meridians.  The ‘Conception Vessel’, running from the perineum (the point between the anus and genitals) up the front of the body to the tongue, connects our heart center (in the middle of our chest) with the energy of love, with our sexual center (our womb, genitals) and the energy of lust.

You are welcome to learn more about the Jade Egg Initiation Workshop: Tao of Feminine Empowerment.

***Question answered to Angela Kennedy from UK Soul&Spirit magazine I was featured in the beginning of the year. 

© Anamarta

Happy Chinese Monkey New Year: Follow Your Heart Desires!

Today with the New Moon we enter in another cycle, a New Year in the milleneum Chinese (Taoist) calendar.

The Wood Yin Sheep trots out, the Yang Fire Monkey swings in!!

"This cheeky animal bursts with exuberance, bringing a lightning pace and fantastic motivation. The Monkey increases communication, humour and wit, helping us get through stressful times with grace and ease. The Monkey’s gift is the ability to find unconventional solutions to old problems. Daring to be different can lead to success"

The Monkey is a trickster, playful, funny, intelligent, inventive (great problems solvers), strong minded, adaptable, curious, creative and last but not least youthful! 
Fire Element: "Fire dances, fire warms, fire burns, fire creates and fire destroys" Kris Deva North in Finding Spirit in Zen Shiatsu

A year  that anything can happen, the way to respond to the unexpected is to be flexible and grounded - sounds contradictory? Well it's the principle we use in Tai Chi, as the flexibility strengths our ability to respond to any situation without letting the situation itself take over, and the grounding gives the necessary stability to be in the here and now: this makes us centered in our power, open to wide vision and harmoniously living.

 

And you heard the expression "monkey mind"? The mind jumping around, being faster than the body, so practice breathing in and out, and focus on the moment rather than yesterday, or tomorrow, or later.  The scientific world is already agreeing with the benefits of ancient methods of meditation and body movement as Tai Chi, Qigong, Martial Arts, dance, yoga, etc...

The creative mind may also be bubbling with ideas - great!! Channel them, put them in practice, even if involves taking risks... Monkey energy supports success and innovation!!

But be aware if you find yourself spending too much time in mind, remember your body, the grounding helps: even if this just being barefoot, especially in nature. Our body needs more activity: exercise more, move more, whatever works for you and in an enjoyable way. Otherwise if the mind takes over can be overwhelming, depleting, and losing touch with inner wisdom; and for us women the most powerful compass we have within filled with ancestral knowledge, our womb!

 
So: Keep calm and eat bananas!
Hehehe, joking... But indeed you need energy for this year, so keep an eye how you manage your energy; which for me is about the choices we make. In which, where and whom you decide to spend your energy, choose wisely!...

And saying all the above: 

How does the monkey, yes the animal itself, resonate with to you?

Just take a moment to allow any thoughts, images or sounds to fill your mind...

I had a few encounters with monkeys in my 13 times in India these past seven years.

In India one of their beloved Gods is Hanuman - the Monkey God - so monkeys run freely, mostly everywhere.

I saw so many people being robbed by monkeys from food to objects (not just in India, but also in Africa), and 'monkey gangs' really taking over a place, messing up a kitchen... Can be scary, but I never had a bad experience with them, thus I really respect them and my relationship with them honestly is "hi, bye", as with their unpredictable nature you never know what to expect from them.
I could share a few stories, but let me pick up the ones who mark me most:

** 2009 in Bagsunag, in the Indian Himalayas, when I was teaching my first Jade Circle Workshop, we were a big group on a rooftop which was covered with nice fabrics (imagine a tent); a monkey (red face one, which are the more dangerous in India, the black face ones are more gentle), just come in, the dog from the BuddhaHall Center felt him, ran to him furiously barking and the monkey responding to him showing his big teeth in a very aggressive way... OMG a slight panic started to be felt by the ladies; I thought "this has to finish otherwise is the workshop finishing here for today!..." I got up and went close to them, calm down the dog and look to the monkey and gently asked him if he could leave; the monkey looked at me, looked at the dog, and just before he left did a little jump to the dog (just to scare him, like if he was attacking him) and then off he went!...

** This one was more recent, a few year ago, in the edges of the Rajasthani desert. Was early morning and I went to the top of my guest house to sit on a wall (was wide enough for that) where I had an amazing view and breeze and maybe two floors high. I crossed my legs, clasped my hands together, closed my eyes and start to meditate... when suddenly I felt a very fluffy warm 'thing' passing by my back, the first thing that came to my mind, was: "do not panic!!..". So without moving my head I opened my eyes to see what it was: exactly what I suspected: a big red face monkey!! Big enough to just push me down; and I just realised I was in his territory!! I tried everything to keep calm, breathe deeply, closed my eyes again to continue to meditate; but my curiosity made me open them again. Keeping still I looked again and the monkey was exactly copying me!  Ok he didn't cross the legs, but his hands together, looking straight ahead with his eyes closed!!!... Meditating together!!... So I closed my eyes again, and then after a while I felt the 'fluffy thing' passing by again and off he went. I didn't abuse my luck, I found another place to meditate!

Do you know the Monkey is the 9th animal in 12 Chinese zodiac? And we are in the 9 year = 2 + 0 + 1 + 6 - reinforcing this number of completion; but in the Tao, 9 is our infinitive number.

Infinitive transformation indeed!... But definitely with this fast paced year, gives the opportunity to complete cycles, and don't waste time with anything that no longer serves us, let it go, thanks for the learning and move on.

When the energy in the air is strong for me the options are: to tune into it, I mean to understand it, which brings the opportunity to make the most of it and gives strength and ability to take the challenges and quickly transformed them into opportunities to change and grow; or if we resist the change is like swimming against the tide, procrastinating and complaining about things instead of doing something about them, we can have a really hard time.

"The year of Red Fire Monkey brings to humanity the possibility of tremendous growth and vast fulfilment; we begin to create our destiny through intention, desire and focus."
Glenn Stewart Coles

A simple ritual to welcome the Monkey New Year:

Light up a red candle(s), tune into the fire within and without, smile at your heart where the fire lives, smile at the Fire Monkey, ask to align with his energy and for him to show you how to make the most of it. Then set your intentions (reinforcing perhaps the ones you set for 2016) and speak them loudly.

I wish you a fiercely Monkey New Year, also filled with laughter and fun, may your passion drive you to follow your heart desires!

© Anamarta

Monkey and the girl by "Kindness Blog"; third image monkey by Jandkatl

Monkey "Joker" Zen painting by Kris Deva North