Cancer
June
21 - July 22
“May all creatures,
all living things,
Every
being, one and all,
Experience
only good fortune.
May
no harm come to any”.
Buddha,
Aṅguttara Nikāya 4.67
Dog Days start
Festival of Asala,
Buddha's
first sermon: "The Wheel of Truth".
Mary
Magdalene Feast Day,
Keeper of the Holy Grail, both in Catholic
and Eastern Orthodox traditions
Saint Ann Day,
Christian,
mother of Virgin Mary
Blue Moon. The second full Moon
occurring within a calendar month is
usually given this title.
_________________________________________________________________
Native
American:
The
Full Buck Moon,
when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of
velvety fur. It was also called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being now
most frequent, a time to be highly intuitive.
Wiccan
Moon:
Blessing Moon, this is a great
time to practice divination and dream-work. Find a way to incorporate the watery
energy of the Blessing Moon into your spell crafting and ritual.
____________________________________________________________
Attributes:
Duality: Feminine
Element: Water
Position: Cardinal
Symbol: The Crab
Planet: Moon
Flower: Larkspur,
delphinium
Gemstone: Citrine
Anatomy: Breasts, womb and stomach
Best Foods: Calcium fluoride, egg yolks, whole grain rye,
yogurt, beets,
fish
and oysters.
Avoid: Eating
disorders
Colors: White, silver
Action needed: Understand trust and
nurturing.
Motto: “I Feel”
_________________________________________________________________________
Vedic:
The process of manifestation from Cancer and onward is
becoming more complicated as it transforms into many from the Absolute
One. Cancer represents the pranava, four states of consciousness, as well as
four states of Brahman called Vaisvanara, Hiranyagarbha, Prajna, and Isvara. These are presented by Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshvara, and Sadasiva.
__________________________________________
Character:
Cancer is the sign of motherhood, emotions, sensitivity,
and the care of the home. Your lesson is to learn to take care of people, as a
mother takes care of her children. The feminine, motherly aspect of this sign
reveals itself here in its finest light, if you are open to it.
You are a person who takes care of others and gives them
protection. You care about people and don’t want anyone to feel excluded. The
great test you face is the building of your own home. You can either build a
home that gives warmth and love to everyone, or build a wall behind which you
isolate yourself from the rest of the world.
The house you build must be based on light, and allow
the light of love to enter. If it is built on fear, desire or separatism you
will retire into your shell, and the end result will leave you unhappy. If you
search for “security“ in external objects you will close the door so that love
can’t enter; you close the door to your own heart. “Lock the door and lock out
love.” Your lesson is to learn that material possessions are to be used, but
they have no value in themselves.
You will learn the true meaning of taking care of
somebody. For the immature soul this means that you want to give to other
people what you like most yourself. You want to help and to protect, but always
on your own conditions. This is the first step of true motherhood, but a bit
selfish. This also creates an overprotective mother, be on alert to let your
children try their own wings and let them make their own mistakes.
As you grow into more maturity, you will gradually
understand the difference between your own desires and the needs of other
people. When you meet someone and listen to the inner voice in the heart you
will sense what the other person really needs. Listen to what your soul tells
you that other people really need. As time passes you will also learn to find
your own inner and true needs, and these will often be different from what your
outer desires tells you.
Cancer is the sign of home, and home is always
important. You have to build a house with love and warmth, so that the
soul-energy can enter your home and benefit everyone who lives there. In this
home you develop compassion and sense the true need of all people who enter.
Cancer is also the sign of masses, this will make you either too dependent on
what other people think and of public opinion or for the older soul the
capacity to tune in to the masses and to understand what they need.
By your great love, softness, warmth and gentleness
(that yet carries much strength), and by your mere presence you can transmute
your surroundings, giving love and healing psychological wounds, helping people
to understand that they are loved for who they are.
_________________________________________________________________
Myths and Legends: The symbol
of the crab
The summer solstice
occurs in Cancer (the Crab), which the Egyptians called the scarab. We receive
the special blessing of the Buddha in His festival of Asala, the full moon of
Cancer. This full moon finishes the cycle of the Chaitra, Wesak, and Asala full
moons.
The beginning of the sign is called the Tropic of Cancer,
and when the Sun arrives in this sign it has reached its limit of north
declination and seems to remain stationary a few days before it begins to
decline again to the south. This stationary altitude is called the Summer Solstice,
or "Sun standing still". The
Crab as a symbol of this House, is appropriate because in order to move forward
the crab is compelled to walk backwards, which illustrates the apparent motion
of the Sun when it begins to move backwards towards the Equator.
Cancerians finds their strength in instinctive,
emotional responses, they are known for their remarkable psychic sensitivity,
absorption of memories and receptiveness to psychic impressions. This sign is
of the most psychic sign of the zodiac and people born under this sign usually have
a marked interest in the occult, a vivid recollection of powerful dreams, and
strong symbolic appreciation.
___________________________________________________________________
Dog Days of Summer
The Dog
Days of Summer (Latin: diēs caniculārēs) are the hottest days of
summer. In the northern hemisphere, they usually fall between early July and
early September. In the southern hemisphere, they are usually between January
and early March. Dog Days can also define a period of time or event that is
very hot or stagnant, or marked by a dullness or lack of progress.
The name comes from the ancient belief that Sirius, also
called the Dog Star, in close proximity to the sun, was responsible for the hot
weather. It is during this time that food is most likely to spoil if left out.
Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled and
wine turned sour”.
In July the star Sirius will rise
before the day-star, our sun. Sirius is known as our Spiritual Sun, it is the heart and
soul of our physical Sun. During the Dog Days when Sirius disappears into our
Sun's light, our physical Sun is embracing our Spiritual Sun.
Even in modern times, the Prologue of Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt in 1975 sums up our modern thoughts: "These are strange
and breathless days, the dog days, when people are led to do things they are sure
to be sorry for after."
The
modern French term for this summer period (and for heat waves in general) "canicule",
derives from this same term. It means "little dog", again referring
to Sirius. It is a time to meditate on the Antahkarana.
_____________________________________________________________
Full Moon
of Asala
In the month of July we receive a special blessing from
the Buddha at His festival of Asala, the full moon of Cancer. This is
the celebration of Buddha's teaching his first sermon, "The Wheel of
Truth", after his enlightenment.
This full moon finishes the cycle of tree full moons - Chaitra, Wesak and Asala. Each year
special work is accomplished by the
Great Ones.
In this month, the Celestial Play between the two powers
of creation brings to expression the tender primordial light, in which a new
cycle is already preparing, even before the previous cycle of growth and
fruition is completed.
The
fire of the Mother in the heart of Her Temple has been lit and now in the
middle of summer it s ready to shine out into the world. This month especially
it will affect humanity, mostly through its feminine half, as Cancer is the
sign of the fertile pregnant waters. In this way, the fire of the Mother,
carried by the waters of life, is preparing and enhancing the great outpouring
of the full Moon of Asala.
At this time the blessings will come as close as
possible to earth as permitted and we can touch the great energies of the
Buddha, Hierarchy and the Great Mother, Kwan Yin, the Merciful Comforter,
who heals all pains and sets the feet of humanity on the path of perfection. New
opportunities are available for finding the still point of peace within us and
creating peace around us in the world. It is a time of new beginnings.
__________________________________________________________________
Mary Magdalene
July 22 is Mary Magdalene’s feast day. In early Christian
writings she is presented as "the apostle to the apostles." In
apocryphal texts, like the Pistis Sophia, she is portrayed as a visionary
and leader of the early Christian movement. It is written that she was loved by
Jesus in a different manner than the other disciples. She is often depicted
opening a vessel of ointment or balm, which suggests she was a healer. Speculations have emerged claiming that she was
the wife of Jesus and bore him a daughter named Sarah. (See note on St Sara in
May).
The idea that Mary Magdalene was a fallen woman was a
story invented by medieval clerics who wanted to make her into a reformed sinner.
She was in fact a high priestess of the College of Virgins (similar to a Vestal
Virgin) dedicated to the Great Mother Goddess. Her name means Miriam of Magdala
or (Mary of Magdalene). She lived in a temple in the middle of the community of
Jerusalem. These priestesses had the capacity to interpret visions, she could
hear her inner voice. She is the patron of women's preaching and ministry. This
makes the slurs on her character an even greater sorrow.
The bible mentions that Jesus cleansed her of
"seven demons." Some scholars contend this means healed from
illness, not forgiveness of sins. The body has seven chakras and
it would make sense that Jesus would have balanced her energies, as is done in
Reiki, if she asked him to.
Mary Magdalene was the leader of a group of women
disciples who were present at the cross. She witnessed Christ’s life, crucifixion
and burial. According to all four Gospels, she was the first person to see him resurrected.
Her presence at these important events is worth noting.
__________________________________________________________________
Cakes for the Queen of Heaven
The connection between ancient religions and
Christianity is ever present in the bible. God speaks to Jeremiah ,(7:17-18).,
saying:
“Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah
and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood and the fathers
kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes to the Queen of
Heaven and to pour out libations to other gods, in order to anger me!”
God
here is referring to the people keeping their ancient traditions. The answer
comes from the women:
“The women added, ‘When we burned incense to the
Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands
know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings
to her?’
Jeremiah 44:19
The cakes were probably made in molds. Modern archaeologists have found what seem to be baking molds shaped like female fertility figures.
The rituals to celebrate Her were most likely performed
on the roofs of the houses, suggesting they worshiped a celestial deity, a
deity associated with or represented by the stars in the heavens. This would
suggest that the queen of heaven was a cosmic mother goddess. A goddess
associated with the origin of mankind and a peaceful deity.
Madeleine's for Mary Magdalene
We can celebrate the feast day of Mary Magdalene with this easy recipe. Madeleines are in the shape of a scallop shell and are most appropriate, as a symbol for our Queen of Heaven, be she Mother Mary, Aphrodite or Mary Magdalene. These cakes were created to feed to pilgrims on their way along the route to Santiago de Compostela, in Spain, a Roman trade route, nicknamed the Milky Way by travelers, as it followed the Milky Way to the Atlantic Ocean. Also a path of initiation and knowledge for all those seeking information on alchemy, clues are hidden in the architecture of the Grand Place in Brussels, the beautiful Cathedral of Chartres and on coast of Spain.
The scallop, which resembles the setting sun, was a
symbol used in pre-Christian Celtic rituals of the area, remember Aphrodite
born of the sea?
The Pilgrims' road seems related to prehistoric cults of
fertility arriving at the Atlantic. The pilgrims, even to this day, wear this
symbolic scallop shell around their necks to identify themselves along the
road.
Madeleines
·
3
eggs
·
3/4
cup sugar
·
1
teaspoon vanilla
·
1/3
cup milk
·
2
cups flour
·
1
tablespoon baking
powder
· 6
tablespoons butter, melted and
cooled
Directions:
Beat the eggs with the sugar, vanilla and half of the
milk until thick and light yellow. Add the flour and baking powder bit by bit
and continue mixing until smooth.
Stir in the rest of the milk and the melted butter.
Carefully grease your Madeleine tray if necessary.
Spoon about two tablespoons of batter into each mold.
Bake for 15 minutes at 375°F. Cool on a rack.
Makes 24 Madeleine’s.
_____________________________________________________________
Saint Ann
Day
July
26 is the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary, and the
grandparents of Jesus.
Saint Anne (also Ann or Anna, from Hebrew Hannah
חַנָּה, meaning
"favor" or "grace") was from the clan of David according to
Christian and Islamic tradition. Mary's mother is not specifically named in the
gospels or the Qur'an.
St. Anne was the patroness of joiners and cabinet
makers, and for all those engaged in spinning, weaving, embroidery, sewing and
any sort of household arts and skills. She is also the patron saint of
horseback riders, grandmothers, unmarried women, women in labor and miners.
Although Anne's cult receives little attention in the Western
church prior to the late 12th century, dedications to Anne in the Eastern
church occur as early as the 6th century where she is much loved. In the
Eastern Orthodox tradition, Anne is given the title Forbear of God, and is
the feminine guide for Mary both by her birth and by dedicating her to the
Temple.
Anne is a revered woman in Islam, here she is recognized
as a highly spiritual woman, a priestess and a prophetess.
Religious
scholars speculate that Joachim was Anne's only husband. In late medieval
times, legend held that Anne was married three times, first to Joachim, then to
Clopas and finally to a man named Solomas and that each marriage produced one
daughter: Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Salomae,
respectively. The sister of Saint Anne was Sobe who was the mother of Saint
Elizabeth.
Similarly, in the 4th century and then much later in the
15th century, a belief arose that Mary was born of Anne by virgin birth.
During the
late Middle Ages, however, belief in Mary's immaculate conception was strongly
opposed by many theologians, including most Dominicans. They did not like the idea
suggesting that Mary was miraculously conceived. Anne was informed she was with
child at the moment the angel appeared to her when she was reunited with
Joachim at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem.
_____________________________________________________________
Conclusion
Mass Work
In this month, many nations celebrate their independence
across the globe. This is an outward sign of the mass movement towards liberty so
common in Cancer.
Cancer is the sign of working together, this energy allows
governments to understand the voice of the people or on a darker side, it makes
the people too dependent on their leaders. Public opinion is based on emotion
and we can look to Cancer for emotional release. To maintain balance here, we need
to stay calm and have patience in celebrating our freedoms.
According
to Bailey, Blavatsky and Edgar Cayce, the first human incarnations occurred in
the sign of Cancer. They are all associated this sign and with the Cosmic
Mother. Even today, very young souls often
choose to incarnate into communes, tribal groups and close knit communities.
These will grow in the future as Aquarius calls us to work in groups. Each of us has retained qualities of this early experience.
These lie dormant until we reincarnate on the evolutionary spiral upwards in
the same sign of Cancer. In spiraling upwards, such qualities are heightened giving
us a new awareness of our past experiences.
When we are no longer young souls,
the average Cancerian, can now be aware of a mass consciousness. It is in solar
plexus where we sense the moods and feelings of others.
Fire and
Water, Soma
July is the turning point of the year, now the nights
are getting longer. We have arrived and a balance and are now heading inward to
interior reflection.
July/Cancer is a water sign and August/Leo a fire sign.
At this time we can now understand how Soma is created. It is the Life giving
result of the never-ending interplay between the two elements fire and water.
In our own being, we can see how the blending of emotion
and thought defines the character of our individual personalities. Looking at a different aspect of this, we see
the blending of Heart and Mind, the Heart being the seat of the Great Mother,
the Mind representing the fiery impulse of the Father/Creator. The balance of
these two energies working together creates a centered and loving individual. Through this Interplay on the highest and
lowest levels simultaneously is distilled the Elixir of Life: SOMA, which
brings the healing of Nations.
In the image below we can clearly see the water working
with the chakra system, the fire element reaching out mentally (telepathic) and
in the middle, Air or Soma principle. Here is the goal of a well-balanced body
and mind. It affects not only our own health but also, all those that come into
contact with us. This is the future for humanity, unity through telepathy and
physical balance.
When balance is created, showing both facets of our universe:
yourself and others, the Creator/Creatress and the created divine form. The perfect balance expresses itself bringing
to life a third element: the world. This Divine play, reminds us of the balance
we should try to reach within ourselves: inspire and expire, fast and slow, joy
and sorrow, attachment and non-attachment. New
opportunities for finding a still point of peace, of endings and new beginnings,
of creating peace around us and in the world, are available this month.
_____________________________________________________________
"In Cancer, God breathed into man's
nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. In those words you
have established the relation which exists in the mind of God between spirit
(the breath of life), the soul (consciousness) and the human being (the form).
As a human being passes around and around the zodiac in the ordinary manner, he
continually and consciously enters into life in Cancer, the constellation under
which the Law of Rebirth is applied and administered. It is not desire,
basically, which prompts return. The main incentive is sacrifice and service to
those lesser lives that are dependent upon the higher aspiration (which the
spiritual soul can give) and the determination that they too may attain
planetary status equivalent to that of the sacrificing soul. The point of
greatest interest lies in the fact that it is group rebirth which is taking
place all the time and that the incarnation of one individual is only
incidental to this greater happening.
The task in Cancer is to use the
available energy flow to release the soul principle imprisoned in all material
form. Form is necessary for manifestation but matter can and must provide a
vehicle for the soul to use. Energy in this sign can be directed in meditation
towards building the "new materialism", defined as the right use and
development of all the material resources of the planet for the welfare and
progress of the whole human race. The light and energy of the soul must be released
and turned towards this goal. (AAB)
No comments:
Post a Comment