Autumn Equinox
As we kiss the Dog Days of Summer goodbye let's take a moment to reflect on
the fullness of Summer.
Take stock of the fruits of your labours and Give Thanks!
For more on the astronomical phenomenon that gives this time of year its name ~
On Saturday the Pisces New Moon ushered in many vivid and prophetic dreams.
I can highly recommend following my friend Anya on Facebook for her insights.
Extracted from this lovely Reflection on the new season here are some thoughts as we prepare to rest over the long Easter weekend.
1. BALANCING DARKNESS WITH LIGHT –
On the autumn equinox, day and night are of equal length.
This signals the need to balance light and darkness within
us.
Often, we fear the dark and adore the light. Sometimes we get stuck in the
dark.
Thorp comments: "Sometimes there is no remedy for our
situation than to begin from a point of absolute darkness. Turning off (our
screens) can be both abrupt and transition making, and can leave us in a
different world. "
2. LETTING GO
Autumn is a time for letting go and releasing things that
have been a burden.
Buddhist teacher Sharon Saltzberg writes in "Lovingkindness"
about one of the offshoots of letting go: "Generosity has such power
because it is characterized by the inner quality of letting go or
relinquishing. Being able to let go, to give up, to renounce, to give
generously — these capacities spring from the same source within us. When we
practice generosity, we open to all of these liberating qualities
simultaneously. They carry us to a profound knowing of freedom, and they also
are the loving expression of that same state of freedom."
Autumn, then, is
the perfect season to give generously of your time and talents to others.
3. ACKNOWLEDGING IMPERMANENCE
Autumn reminds us of the impermanence of everything. We have
experienced the budding of life in spring and the flowerings and profusions of
summer. Now the leaves fall and bare branches remind us of the fleeting nature
of all things.
The poet Wallace Stevens once wrote, 'Death is the mother of
beauty.'
What those words say to me is that we should cherish the beauty of a
fleeting moment.
Autumn also brings home to our consciousness death and the
challenge to live every day to the fullest.
Finally, Cynthia Kneen in "Awake Mind"writes,
"When you are brave and have an open heart, you have
affection for this world —
this sunlight, this other human being, this
experience.
You experience it completely,
and when it touches your heart,
you
realize this world is very fleeting."
Dance:
Happiness, hit her like a train on a track
Coming towards her, stuck still no turning back
She hid around corners and she hid under beds
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled
With every bubble she sank with a drink
And washed it away down the kitchen sink
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming so you better run
Run fast for your mother run fast for your father
Run for your children for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind you
Can't carry it with you if you want to survive
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can't you hear the horses
'Cause here they come
And I never wanted anything from you
Except everything you had
And what was left after that too, oh.
Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back
Struck from a great height
By someone who should know better than that
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses
'Cause here they come
Run fast for your mother and fast for your father
Run for your children for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your loving behind you
Can't carry it with you if you want to survive
The dog days are over…
Breathe:
Sun breath
Move:
Surya Namaskara facing the West – Vinyasa Flow
Make:
The Eight Steps of the Zentangle Method
Step 01 – Gratitude and Appreciation
Get comfortable, take a few deep breaths and feel gratitude
and appreciation – for this beautiful paper, for these wonderful tools, for
this opportunity to create something beautiful.
Step 02 – Corner Dots
We teach beginning Zentangle Method with beautiful museum
grade cotton paper, 3.5 inches (89 mm) square. To answer a familiar question of
what to put on this beautiful paper, place a light pencil dot in each corner,
about a pen's width from the edges. Now it’s no longer a blank piece of paper.
Step 03 – Border
Connect those dots with a light pencil line, straight or
curvy, to create a square. This is your border.
Step 04 – String
Inside the border, draw a light pencil line or lines to make
what we call a "string." The string separates your tile into
sections, in which you draw your tangles. A string can be any shape. It may be
a curvy line that touches the edge of the border now and then, or series of
straight lines that go from one side of the border to the next.
Step 05 – Tangle
A tangle is a predefined sequence of simple strokes that
make up a pattern. Draw your tangles in pen inside (usually) the pencil strings
and borders. Tangle is both noun and verb. Just as you dance a dance, you
tangle your tangles. Draw your tangles with deliberate strokes. Don't worry
about what it's going to look like. Just focus on each stroke of the pen as you
make it. Trust that you'll know what to do next when the time to do it comes.
There is no up or down to Zentangle art so feel free to rotate your tile in any
direction that is most comfortable for your hand as you draw.
Step 06 – Shade
Add shades of gray with a graphite pencil to bring contrast
and dimension to your tile. The black and white two-dimensional tangles
transform through shading and appear three-dimensional. You can also use a
tortillion (a paper blending stump) to soften and blend the graphite.
Step 07 – Initial and Sign
This is art you created. You should sign it. Put your
initials on the front (many people create a unique monogram or chop for this
step). On the back, place your name, date, comments and observations.
Step 08 – Appreciate
Hold your tile at arm’s length. Turn it this way and that.
Appreciate what you just created.
 |
| Some of the tangle we untangled at Flow this week |
While working contemplate the 6 months that have passed.
Tally the many gifts given & received during this season of your life.
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