Ritual keeps my egoself focused so my soulself can rise | Andrea de Michaelis – Creating my own reality, one thought at a time

“The planet Jupiter will shine brightly next to the full moon at midnight. Full moon in Cancer, emotions, sentimentality at an all time high. Stay mindful, don’t take anything personally, give everyone a wide berth and lotsa slack. Then you have zero to regret when the mood passes. I burn what I am ready to release, every 28 days at full moon –> the ritual here. I’ve learned the power of ritual to keep my egoself focused so my soulself can rise within me.” Even though moonrise was at 6:30pm, it takes about 2 hours for it to make it over my east treeline. At midnight, the sky still had a deep cloud cover. I’d gone out to my firepit about 11:00pm. It’s something I do each full moon, however I’d already done my ritual at Monday’s fire session. The only thing left to release was a little guilt.

I’ve been nose to the grindstone all week. I feel guilty when I can’t make time to see my partner, although we text and phone several times a day. I’d like to release that guilt. To do my spidey sense work, I need a particular mindset and that mindset is cultivated in my quiet alone time. The clientele and subject matter is confidential, so I need privacy when I work. The Horizons work is mostly an all day flurry of calls and emails and texts. I admit, I’m a workaholic but I am a woman with a mission. Part of that mission is to release on a regular basis anything in my personality makeup, my thoughts or behaviors, that has outlived its usefulness. My guilt about choosing mission over mate has finally outlived its usefulness.

About 11:00pm it was 54 degrees as I put on my sweats and boots to walk out to the firepit. I took a sweet potato wrapped in foil, a handful of kindling and 2 branches for firewood. YinYang, my black and white kitty, came out with me. She perched atop a cut pine trunk as I made a small fire and tossed my foil wrapped potato in. I breathed in the energy of the night. The air smelled sweet and fresh.

I’d also brought out dried branches of the camphor and bay trees, with leaves attached. I spoke my intentions into the fragrant branches, lit them and let all guilt float away on smoke and wind. I sat awhile and watched the fire burn down. I reflected that I’m blessed to live the life I live. I’m thankful to learn about myself because that teaches me about everyone else as well. I’m grateful to everyone who helped me peel back the layers to reveal me to myself. I basked in a blessed lightness of being as the embers died down.

I sat for a while longer in the dim light. I felt filled with peace and Love. I know exactly how much wood to have for an hour’s fire. I keep the water right next to me, to dowse it before going inside. YinYang knows that’s the signal and she dashes ahead of me on the trail back inside. She spooked two raccoons who had been watching from the sidelines. I saw the armadillos rooting away in the mulch under the west pines. I heard something move under the big shed to the south, settling in for the chilly night.

No matter how busy and rushed I am, after an hour out here, I feel transformed. I feel recharged and rejuvenated. Like rebooting the computer, it brings me back to center, ready for a fresh start. To me, that’s the power of nature, and the power of ritual. To give my egoself something to focus on to allow my soulself to rise within me, to remind me who I really Am.