Happy Groundhog's Day - Let Our Animal Allies Support Our Transformation

So this was an interesting New Moon, very potent.  I've never had to call in a weather delay.  And in truth the weather wasn't that bad but I had some aha's afterwards that made it perfect and entertaining to the theme.  So it was Groundhog's Day and Imbolc, a Celtic/Wiccan Holiday) on Wed. and Chinese New Year bringing in the year of the Rabbit on Thursday.  Imbolc pronounce Im-Olk, is significant as it is celebrating the mid-point between the Winter Solsitice (longest day, day with most dark) and the Spring Equinox (day of balance and equal light and dark).  It is the in betweens that aid us in our transformations and feels very connected to the groundhog, that is said to live on the edges.   I've also learned that Groundhog's Day was the way that those who wanted to celebrate Imbolc and wanted to avoid being judged celebrated it. But I am getting ahead of myself.

As you know there is some leverage that I use based on when it is new moon and when I first debated, my heart said let's do the groundhog that can be fun.  So the funny thing is like in the movie there was a weather interruption and we got a do over day (not exactly like the movie) and have it on the New Moon.  The reason this was perfect is that I had been hand making part of this months surprise and just couldn't get myself to complete the final pieces.  Weather doesn't impact me, but I wanted to be considerate of the people that were attending.  So after I decided to shift the date, I realized aha, I needed to complete making the gifts on Groundhog's day.  So here is a little picture of the surprises.

Yes they are hearts, from mine to yours.  I'm going to refrain from the story that inspired them but needless to say the inklings started back in Oct or Nov and they were birthed at the perfect time.  Like our hearts they have different textures and colors and some of the stitching even shows.  Each one is inidividual and are perfect in their imperfections.  These are coming from someone that only passed Home Ec to get me out of the class.  Yes I so loved making these and the real surprise and why they needed to be complete on Groundhog's Day/New Moon was because I have put a piece of groundhog hair and rabbit hair in each of these hearts.  So you can carry the medicine of the groundhog and rabbit, our celebrated animal ally hosts of the ceremony, with you.  They can be kept on an altar but are really meant to be carried with you or to have out as reminder of your beautiful and diverse hearts and that you are loved.  So much appreciation to the hosts and transformational assistants of the evening.

From The South

From The North

In addition here are photo's of the ceremonial altar just prior to the start of the ceremony.  So we opened the mesa as always by calling in the directions and calling the dream worker and lite participants.  I shared a quote from Thoreau that I had read earlier in the week on Facebook from a friend Lata and it really explains why I do the New Moons every month.


"Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there and I am prepared to expect wonders."

We started with the surrender process so I spoke of the medicine of the Groundhog.  This information was included in the dream work but I'm going to put it as footnote for those that need a reminder or so attendees and lite participants have it in print.  Much of the content is from Animal Speaks (parts in quotes and italics) with some of my comments in between.  I humbly admit that I had known of the rabbit as a medicine ally, but had underestimated the shamanic assistance the groundhog can bring.  I encourage calling upon the groundhog frequently.  And also I was very curious as I had been completing those little heart pillows for each of you, what medicine the movie would provide.  I hadn't watched in many, many years and mostly remember it as entertaining but I knew there had to be a line or moment that was clear that he went from reliving the same day over and over again.  And it was when Phil (the Bill Murray character) said,

"No Matter What Happens tomorrow or for the rest of my life I’m happy now because I love you."

So the key word there is Happy Now and also because Love.  And when he says you in the movie, it is to his love interest played by Andie McDowall; however, the you can be left off or in remembering that the you is really just a mirror of ourselves.   And as I say often it starts with love of our selves and our lives first and that is what the heart pillow is intended to remind you of.  Well that and, if you ever doubt, I love each and every one of you.  And it's a clear reminder to make Now the most important time and to love it for what it is and the gifts it has to offers.  By reliving the day for what seemed like an eternity for Phil, he learned how to make the most of the day that helped him move forward.

So we called in the groundhog to assist us in our surrender process. Like the dream workers did I wrote the surrender on one side of a piece of paper.  This piece was a bit longer than fortune cookie size I recommended to the dream workers.  Next came the planting of seeds with the assistance of the very clever and creative rabbit.  So on the mirror side of the surrender paper, I transcribed the seeds.  For the dream workers, I recommended you offering this to the earth and I will do this, but first I used the metaphor of the mobius strip.

For those that were part of the Full Moon Wholeness renewal this may seem redundant, but I'm a big fan of this as an example of how to embrace life.  So for those that are not familar here is a picture of a mobius strip and a circle, which is also used as a metaphor in the wholeness of life.  So if you would imagine a piece of paper with one side having what we are surrendering and one side with seeds of our dreams for our future if I taped them together as a circle.  There is no fluidity, the surrender stays on the inside and the seeds stay on the outside.  But just flipping one end of the paper in making this we get a mobius strip and that more accurately reflects life.  Our surrender, our denisities flows out into our lives like compost for a garden.  And it really shows the fluidity of life.  Needless to say it looks like the infinity sign aka lemniscate; reminding us of the infinity of life and that although we feel the pressure of time, we have all the time in the world.

The images were taken from a book that I'm really enjoying by Parker J. Palmer called "A Hidden Wholeness, The Journey Toward An Undivided Life.  And parts that resonate and I chose to share from the book, are:

Circle

 Mobius Strip

 “...we have only one choice: either we walk the Mobius strip to its continual interchanges, learning to co-create in ways that are life-giving for ourselves and others, or we sleep-walk on the Mobius strip, unconsciously co-creating in ways that are dangerous and often death-dealing to relationships to good work, to hope...

We can survive, and even thrive, amid the complexities of adulthood by deepening our awareness of the endless inner-outer exchanges that shape us and our world and of the power we have to make choices about them.  If we are to do so we need spaces within up and between us that welcome the wisdom of the soul--which knows how to negotiate life on the Mobius strip with agility and grace. “ 

So I took the longer strip with the surrender and seeds and placed it on my mesa to stay there until the full moon.  I was going to offer it at the full moon but have decided that I'll keep it as is until the full moon and then shift it from the East/West axis which represents us as human beings living spiritual lives to the North/South axis which represents us as spiritual beings living a human life until the next New Moon at which point I will offer it to Pachamama, the Earth Mother, the best nurturer there is.

In the tradition that we have been using and works, I then transferred the seeds into individual rose blossoms.  For the dream workers you will see the pieces of paper in the roses, those are your seeds that get individually transferred into the blossoms.  The Lite participants all get a shared blossom.  Together our dreams were woven into the garland of dreams with one pink rose representing our prayers for others and the planet.  Also as is the custom, I completed the evening by offering the garland of dreams to the east river.

Garland on Mesa Through Completion of Ceremony

Offering to the East River, NYC's Ganges

The garland was well received and travelled quickly North up the river.  Every month I'm delighted with what mother moon inspires for our transformation.  In Sacred Relationship We Remain Always!!!


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Footnotes

GROUNDHOG - It is about "Mystery of Death without Dying-Trance-Dreams"  As soon as I read this I realized that groundhog is the perfect shamanic ally.  We refer to shamanic death all the time which is s synonym for rebirth.  In shamanic death it is some of our beliefs and understandings that do the actual dying so that we can re-create ourselves.  We often use journey work to aid us in our work.  The groundhog can help guide us with ease.  The cycle of power for the groundhog is strongest in the winter.  "The groundhog or woodchuck is a burrowing rodent, actually a member of the squirrel family.  It has chisel-like teeth, and it lives at the edges and open areas of woods and forests.  It is known for its digging and tunneling ability.  Symbolically this reflects the ability to get deep within an area of interest.  It is not unusual to have a groundhog appear at a time when a new area of study is about to open up.  Since a groundhog does not fully mature for about two years, its appearance as a totem can reflect an endeavor that may take two years to come to full fruition... The groundhog makes elaborate dens with multiple exits and storage rooms.  It spends half its time underground...Groundhogs are generally non-territorial, but they will not allow others in their tunnel.  Groundhogs can tell if a burrow is occupied, as fresh dirt will be piled outside of its entrance.  For anyone with groundhog totem, it is important to give definite signals to the boundaries you wish to have respected for your life.  Groundhogs go into a true hibernation and spend about four to six months in that condition.  They prepare for this by fattening themselves...They will curl up in a frost free chamber of their burrow, and their life processes will slow...They achieve a state of unconsciousness and will usually awaken in the late winter or early spring."  Again the ground hog is good model demonstrating its synchronization with the natural rhythms.  Rather than trying to defy the forces of nature they go with the flow.  This is important as humans with a mind to remember how to use the flow of nature to our advantage and knowing when it's time to hibernate and when it is time to forage.  "Hibernation has always had great significance to it.  It symbolized death without dying.  Some societies used methods to induce these states as a symbolic ritual of death and rebirth.  Thus hibernation reflected a time of initiation.  Winter is the season of power, for that is when the groundhog reveals and uses its most effective medicine--hibernation.  It is also a symbol of opening fully to the dreamtime, the heavy winder sleep, allowing the individual to use the dreamtime more powerfully.  Those with a groundhog totem will find that there will be increasing ability to develop lucid dreaming...Any time groundhog shows up, the clarity and power of altered states will be amplified.  Dreams will become more significant.  Many shamans, yogis, and mystics would teach methods of slowing down the metabolism of the body.  This was often used to create trance conditions.  This could facilitate healing or be direct toward out of body contacts.   It can be used to develop shamanistic trance...to learn and bring back knowledge.  When groundhog shows up as a totem, there will be opportunity to explore deeper altered states of consciousness.  Lessons associated with death and dying and revelations about its process will begin to surface.  Groundhog holds the knowledge of metabolic control.  Its medicine is that of going into the great unconscious to touch the mystery of death without dying"

RABBIT - It is about "Fertility and New Life".  The cycle of power is year round.  "The rabbit is an animal whose essence and energy is a paradox."  In order to leave a whole life we need to embrace both sides of any paradox.  "It is found in both myth and folklore, and, depending on the society, it was perceived in a variety of ways...In Egyptian hieroglyphics it is associate with the concept of being."  So here is a paradox for you, are we spiritual beings living a human life or human beings living a spiritual life.  The answer isn't as important as remembering that we are BEINGS and not DOINGS.  "In China...considered a most fortunate sign, giving those born under it the ability to process the powers of the moon."  No I didn't make that up and even laughing at the perfection of this as I type it.  "Hare individuals are considered sensitive and artistic.  The hare is imbued with ambition, finesses, and virtue, along with living on the moon...The rabbit is known for its ability to procreate, its fleetness, its ability to make great leaps and hops.  It moves primarily by hops and leaps, and individuals with this totem find that their endeavors do so as well...It is active both day and night, but is most visible at dawn and dusk.  There are times long associated with the Faerie Realm of life, and because of this, the rabbit is often seen as an animal that can lead one unknowingly into the Faerie Realm.  The most common example of this is found in Lewis Carroll's story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in which Alice follows a white rabbit down a hole into a wondrous world of adventure.  Rabbits and mice are the two most common prey animals.  Because of this Nature compensates them with a tremendous fertility.,,The mother only feels the young in the morning and in the evening.  She spends the rest of the day away from the nest, feeding herself." This is said to be to protect the children but it shows the rabbits balance between serving others and serving the self. "Within one month, 28 days, the young are able to be out on their own.  They stay in the nest, but they can survive on their own."  Hmm 28 days, very much like the Moon Cycle.  "Although some associate fear with the rabbit, it has wonderful abilities for defense...Rabbits often create forms to use for hiding and resting...Rabbit people should plan for possibilities...You do not want to box yourself in a corner.  Rabbits have a knack for avoiding being seen.  They can freeze holding perfectly still...If you are involved in competition--in work or in play--it will be important not to foreshadow your moves"  Or in other words be present in the now and a sense of being.  "Rabbits are vegetarians.  Those with this totem may need to examine the kinds of foods being consumed.  For the greatest health and healing, a vegetarian diet, even if temporary, will strengthen and heal.  Rabbit can show you how to recognize the signs around you.  It can help you to attune to the lunar cycle and recognize the tides of the movement within your life.  This in turn will enable you to become even more fertile in your life."