Great Eggy Saturday and Full Hare Moon

Today is Great Saturday or Holy Saturday, the day between Jesus' death and his resurrection. In the Church, it's celebrated with watchful expectation and funeral hymns.

This is the day that our family usually dyes eggs, but because we have a big party today we dyed early. 

Eggs universally symbolize birth and potential. For Christians, at Easter, eggs stand for hope and spiritual rebirth.

And tonight is the full moon; this one is called amanta kotantal or "Time for pounding camus" by the Kalapuya of my area, and the Hare Moon by others, because it's the month when rabbits leap and play and mate.

Carmella and Toffee

We are now at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, and will soon begin the shift to the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon. 

Agenda Today: 

1. Take a vision walk

2. Celebrate balance

3. Gratitude practice

4. Eggs

1. Take a vision walk:
The full moon shines a bright light on everything, and I might experience intuitive and creative breakthroughs. I might be shocked by the clarity of my insights. I might see some ugliness - the full moon illuminates all the things I've left in the shadows, some heavy truths and some embarrassing mistakes.

Today I'm going to settle in to silence and access my intuitive mind - my connection to the Creator and the Inner Guide - by putting myself into a relaxed, trance-like state, and seeking a leading of the spirit with an open mind and heart.

Today I call on the Spirit of Light to guide me, bring me clarity and open my eyes. What is the Truth that is coming into focus for me now? 

1. Where am I experiencing a feeling of balance and equanimity now, and how can I celebrate that?

2. What tricks and techniques do I use for keeping all my balls in the air? What do I fear most about loosening my control?

3. With whom or what do I seek unity (or long to seek unity)?

4. In what areas of my life (at this time) could I benefit from listening for guidance?

 

2. Celebrate Balance:

My theme ​this month ​is Balance: I'm not speaking about the illusion of balancing your work and your life - like a juggling trick. This is the balance of Taoism's Tai Chi, the circle around and the point between yin and yang energies. The image is of the celestial ridgepole, the place of ultimate equilibrium, where chi is always available, where energy is replenished and then moves on. The center is the place where my soul lives; it touches all other areas of my life. My life flows around this solid base. 

I think about balance as "being in unity with the universe": The feeling that I can let go of my opinions and wants, and let God work through me, and feel calm and centered in that.

Today I remind myself of my intentions, and then celebrate my accomplishments and reaffirm this theme for the next two weeks. Each month I choose a different way to celebrate the full moon, and today I am ready to celebrate balance in three ways:

1. Ground myself in the focused work of seed starting.
2. Revel in calm  equanimity as I set up for my son's wedding shower - turn control over to Spirit.
3. Enjoy the party: Release my social anxiety, remember to breathe, and delight in the visual spectacle. 

3. Gratitude practice:

I have not been able to keep a gratitude journal with any continuity - I get bored and it becomes a chore. But last year I started a small gratitude banner, with sticky notes, above my desk - and at every full moon I add a few new notes. 

When I remember to feel grateful for my blessings, my days take on a different tone: I have more vigor, optimism, compassion, and peace. By noticing how I am blessed, my impatience decreases and I realize how satisfied and fulfilled I really am.

4. Eggs:

Permelia and Madeline

Eggs are part of the spring celebrations of people all over the world. It is a fact of science that wild bird eggs are laid only after the eye of the female bird is stimulated by more than twelve hours of light per day, which doesn’t happen until springtime approaches. 

The people of long ago noticed the connection between eggs and warmer days, and so the egg became a symbol of spring. Folks began to color and pattern eggs, and trade them during their spring festivals. They may have thought that eggs were a charm that helped the sun to grow warmer.

Tumeric = gold, onion skins = red-orange, red cabbage = moss green.

Check out last year's post to see recipes for natural egg dyes, how to make confetti eggs, and how to dye pysanky eggs.