Halfway through spring. Okay, so technically we’re a little more than halfway through spring. Just as I neglected to properly mark May Day in a timely fashion, I neglected to observe Beltaine altogether. Don’t worry (as if you were worried!), this isn’t altogether that serious. The spring has a way of making itself entirely impossible to ignore.
If your life is anything like mine, you are suffering greatly from seasonal allergies, a very blunt outward manifestation of the bursting forth of life. If not, you’ve still surely noticed the leaves and the grass, the change in the wind, the different smell in the air, the shedding of the jackets and the preparations for planting the harvest and for the summer to come. Like I said, it’s impossible to ignore.
Most important to today’s message, however, is that it has been quite some time since we last explored the current spiritual conditions of our land and what the implications of these conditions are for our lives. We have about five more weeks until the brilliance of the summer solstice, the pinnacle of light and positive energy for the entire year. What can we learn now that will help us get through the next five weeks?
Firstly, before taking a peek at where we might be just over a month down the road, it’s key for us to examine where we find ourselves standing today. Pause for a moment and think about that. What kind of place do you feel yourself inhabiting? Perhaps not a place of terror and flight, but I’d be surprised if you feel the circumstances of the present to be ideal. No. We are not weak or at the brink of destruction. We are capable and steadfast, heads down, getting our work done – but this isn’t saying much, is it? Beset on one side by what may seem like a cruel Inquisition and held back on the other by the as-yet-incomplete, life-giving, sacrificial death-and-resurrection that is the spring.
Indeed, this has not been and is not now the proper time for us to leap ahead with bold action or to display bravura and leadership abilities. Quite the contrary. Hidden just beneath the surface, these are dangerous times. Stand out even just a little bit and you risk awakening the anger of a powerful and dangerous enemy, or of the system itself. Now is the time to maintain our reserve and stay out of sight. We’re not in charge and now is the time to act in accordance with the times, not to attempt to shape them all by ourselves. If we understand this now, if we accept this fate today (or soon, at least), we’ll find the guidance we need. We need, right now, to be on the lookout not merely for the wise advice of the sage but for the true friends we need to help us along. We want to blend in, stay below the radar, as it were, but that’s not to say there isn’t any work to be done.
Indeed, if one is to but scratch the surface, what is revealed to be underway already is magnificent and overwhelming and profound. Nature – or the universe in general – does not tolerate imbalances. Imbalances are always evened out, the low made high and the high made low. Now is the time for the kind of Great Evening-Out that happens from time to time as a corrective measure in accordance with the laws of the cosmos itself. We may not be able to see this explicitly most of the time, and we may indeed in our weak position seek compromises and capitulations that may be wise – but also may be disastrous. The key lesson is that of the archetypal Gardener. At the coming of the spring, the Gardener plants his seeds and without any air of performance or stagemanship goes about the prudent work of cultivating the garden. Whatever else may be transpiring around us, it is time to begin doing the same.
The heavens are beginning to move. It may feel at the moment like the force of fire in the world is detached from its spiritual sources and has become dangerous and destructive, but all that is about to change. The Wheel of Fortune is set to turn once more, with the outlook ordained to be positive, and the Sacred Feminine Law of the universe is emerging to come to our aid. Indeed, when elements combine together to form the new, it is not merely a new world but a work of art that is created. In order that this come to pass, we have the strength and purity of our unmovable will along with a spirit of balanced grace, liberating our minds even as we dance through the imperfections of these times.
The time is soon coming when it will no longer be necessary for us to hide our true selves, when it will no longer be dangerous to stand tall with confident excellence. A force is coming over the horizon, a force that is in tune to the needs of the people, a force that adjusts itself to the needs of the people. Quite naturally, the people respond to this. (See Days of Change XVI for more information on this phenomenon.) There is enthusiasm among the people, and everyone marches onward together. In joining with one another, we no longer have any fear of reprisals.
Just as the cups of our vitality have filled to the brim and are about to spill, bringing about inevitable disturbance and conflict, the excess water is evaporated by the coming of fire and the establishment of solid means to govern our lives and our ways. This established “government” ensures that we employ grace and consideration in all our interactions with others, ensuring our success.
In the days to come, we will derive joy in the blasting of music, not merely music to sing in the car on the way to work but the type of sound and rhythm that moves our very souls themselves.
This is the image which we are left with in closing. You know what this is. It’s very simple, very tangible. It is the thunderstorm that arrives in late spring and early summer. The rains quench the earth. The electricity relieves the tension in the air.
It’s coming, and in response, we will sing and dance.
Salaam, go in peace.
Christopher J. DiLoreto 