Memorial Day and Flowers for sim-eh-tary!

That is southern dialect for cemetery 😇.  First Memorial Day without Mom.  As kids we always went to the graves of our ancestors and paid our respects.   A few of them were veterans but none made the ultimate sacrifice in battle.

Our family burial plots are far away so I am not able to place an offering in person.    A few years ago we started a new ritual that is closer to home.     A long time friend of my dear husband asked us to place flowers on his Mother’s grave.     She is in a cemetery close by so we started taking something to her grave site on Memorial Day weekend.    Sadly this friend died a couple of years ago and all the pictures we took of his mother’s grave were unbeknownst to him.    We have kept up the tradition and I do believe he knows what we have been “up to” all these years.   I’ve always seen Memorial day not just as a day to remember our veterans but as a day to remember all those who have gone on and to pay respect.

I thought this year’s offrenda to be especially fun!     Will go pick it up after the holiday weekend and bring it home.     Hopefully it will like it’s new home for the summer by our living shrine at the front door to our kitchen.

 

Guest post from Bonnie Orgren

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Venus and the Moon Join Today in Aries,May 22nd
Comments by Stardust Seven Ray Services

Venus is also bringing in the Aries archetype, the Warrior Goddess, Bold, Courageous and Pioneering, during the current synodic cycle. After Her rise as Morning Star, She began discarding Her garments, one each month beginning with Her crown. Her vestments are symbols of power and role which are to be transformed until She rises as Evening Star. Venus and the Moon join each month while Venus is the Morning Star and again when She ascends as the Evening Star. On Her ascent, empowered with Her Initiations, Her transformations, She regains Her vestments, one garment at a Gate beginning with the 1st chakra, the root, the Gate of Manifestation. In January 2018 Venus joins the Sun and will begin Her rise as the Evening Star and Her reclaimation of garments, incorporating new attributes into Her chakras. Most cultures of the world have recognized the significance of Venus and Her heavenly dance. The 3000 year old Sumarian story of the Goddess Inanna and her journey to the underworld to see her sister, Erishkegal, corresponds to Venus’s cycles. Inanna is Queen of Heaven, her sister is Queen of the Dead. It is a complex tale about meeting shadow, duality, cleansing and release. On her descent Innana passes through 7 gates in her journey to the underworld and at each gate has to give up some important item of apparal. At the 7th gate she is killed. However like Osiris, Innana is resurrected and ascends back to the heavens through the 7 gates in reverse order. At each gate her vestments are returned. The 7 gates are the Venus/Moon conjunctions in the morning and evening skies. There are many astrological symbols in the ancient myth such as the crescent moon representing Venus’s boat. Each gate and vestment is associated with a lesson that relates to the 7 chakras. Occasionally Venus meets with the Moon 8 times; that gate isThe Death of Intent [Dec17th this year ]. Keep in mind the the significance of Venus, a 5th Ray planet carrying a “will” Ray of Concrete Knowledge involving unemotional observation, impersonal research, with a drive to search for knowledge with clarity and harmony. In April at the Gate of Authority and Understanding, Venus gave up Her crown, now at the Gate of Perception and Intuition/Imagination, She is giving up Her royal staff. The Sabian symbol as presented by Dane Rudhyar in “An Astrological Mandala” for the Venus at 17 degrees of Aries is “Two dignified spinsters sitting in silence; the ability to transform a natural lack of potency into poise and inner serenity…the value of a dignified inward withdrawal.”‘ It seems that in the face of much opposition and resistance that this is a recourse during these time of polarization. Not that we can’t take action but that whatever efforts that are expressed need to arise from our own inner serenity. Worry and fear are blocks to manifesting, indicating a lack of trust. The symbol for the Moon at 16 degrees of Aries is “Nature spirits are seen at work in the light of sunset; attunement to the invisible forces of nature…In this planetary organism those nature forces act as guiding and balancing-harmonizing factors-somewhat as the endocrine system does in a human body, and behind this system the more occult web of chakra energies related to prana-the solar energy. It is when this energy becomes less dominant-thus symbolically at sunset-or when the body energy is weakened by illness, fasting or sensory deprivation, that it becomes easier to perceive these ‘ nature spirits’ and to give them forms…When this Sabian symbol reaches into the consciousness of a man seeking meaning, it should be seen as an invitation to open his mind to the possibility of approaching life in a holistic and nonrational, intuitive manner…’becoming like a little child'” The two symbols compliment each other. Aries, a fire sign, isn’t always blazing but quietly, in red hot heat, smolders with potency. There is a special inspirational quality to sunset, one can sense the devas and it is said that the Christ approaches the Earth each day at that time. As our Solar Logos sets, disappearing from view, many people feel a sense of awe and reverance.
“What is to give light must endure burning.” Viktor Frankl
” Since you are like no other being ever created since the beginning of time, you are incomparable. Brenda Uleland

Bonnie Orgren, M.S.W.
Astrologer, Counselor, Radiant Healing

From Lesley on the bodhisattva vow

Learning to meet this mystery with the full realness of our being — to show up for it with absolute clarity of intention — is the dance of life.

“Spirituality doesn’t mean a blind belief in a spiritual teaching,” Nhat Hanh writes. “Spirituality is a practice that brings relief, communication, and transformation.” One of the most transformative forms of secular spirituality is communication itself, in its most sincerest semblance — the intimate bravery of letting ourselves be seen, of connecting with our fellow human beings with the vulnerability necessary for openhearted living

The bodhisattva vow:

May I be a guard for all those who are protector-less, A guide for those who journey on the road, For those who wish to go across the water, May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge. For all those ailing in the world, Until their every sickness has been healed, May I myself become for them The doctor, nurse, the medicine itself.

Another version of the Bodhisattva vow

“May I become food and drink in the aeons of famine for those poverty-stricken sufferers. May I be a doctor, medicine and nurse for all sick beings in the world until everyone is cured. May I become never-ending wish-fulfilling treasures materializing in front of each of them as all the enjoyments they need. May I be a guide for those who do not have a guide, a leader for those who journey, a boat for those who want to cross over, and all sorts of ships, bridges, beautiful parks for those who desire them, and light for those who need light. And may I become beds for those who need a rest, and a servant to all who need servants. May I also become the basic conditions for all sentient beings, such as earth or even the sky, which is indestructible. May I always be the living conditions for all sentient beings until all sentient beings are enlightened.”

Lama Anagorika Govinda writes in A Living Buddhism for the West:

“Fearlessness is the most prominent characteristic of all bodhisattvas and all who tread the bodhisattva path. For them, life has lost its terrors and suffering its sting. Instead of scorning earthly existence, or condemning its ‘imperfection’, they fill it with a new meaning.”

The Practice:

1. Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same things (to be happy and be loved) and we are all connected to one another. 2. Spend 5 minutes — breathing in – cherishing yourself; and, breathing out – cherishing others. If you think about people you have difficulty cherishing, extend your cherishing to them anyway. 3. During the day extend that attitude to everyone you meet. Practice cherishing the simplest person (clerks, attendants, etc., as well as the “important” people in your life; cherish the people you love and the people you dislike). 4. Continue this practice no matter what happens or what anyone does to you

A prayer written by Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, chanted by brother Phap Niem

 

May the sound of this bell penetrate deep into the cosmos Even in the darkest spots living beings are able to hear it clearly So that all suffering in them ceases Understanding comes to their heart And they transcend the path of sorrow and death. .. The universal dharma door is already open The sound of the rising tide is heard clearly The miracle happens: a beautiful child appears in the heart of a lotus flower One single drop of this compassionate water is enough To bring back the refreshing spring to our mountains and rivers. .. Listening to the bell I feel the afflictions in me begin to dissolve My mind calm, my body relaxed A smile is born on my lips Following the sound of the bell My breath brings me back to the safe island of mindfulness In the garden of my heart, the flowers of peace bloom beautifully.