Welcome to the Year of the Dragon
Blessed equinox and zodiacal new year!
Dear Soul Family,
It is with great love and gratitude in my heart that I write this Equinox Light Letter ~ the year of the Dragon! Someone asked me recently, what does this mean for us? What is the year of the dragon energy all about? Well, I will tell you my dear friends that it's very good news indeed, for the dragon is all about positive change and transformation, good fortune, health, wealth, strength, courage, intelligence and (re)newed beginnings ~ a very welcome change for all after the recent few years! Though 2024 will prove to be another year full of intensity, conflict and revelations within the collective, for those who are willing to do "the work" within themselves, it becomes a year of opportunity, personal growth and transcendence.
Dragons are resilient and courageous creatures. Fierce and also compassionate, dragons can fly and breathe fire; they are indeed mystical and ethereal creatures and yet incredibly and deeply connected to the earth and all the elements of Nature. In Chinese astrology this is the year of the Wood Dragon, which represents Nature's lush, vibrant and harmonious nature. It is the nature of Nature to always be evolving, which sometimes it feels as if humanity has forgotten.. Thankfully the energy, intelligence and power of the esteemed Dragon is here to remind us that is also what we are here to do.
Therefore, what this means, dear friends, is that this is a year to Carpe Diem and begin anew. If the last few years have "rocked your world" as much as mine or any of us, then now is the time to align with the Divine in a purposeful and passionate way because it is a foundational year. The things we put into motion this year will be supported by the Universe and Nature, especially if they are aligned with your own True Self and Soul purpose, for the highest good of all.
So it truly begs the question, what is foundational to anyone's life? What creates the kind of life we truly wish to experience? Not a life that just "looks good" on social media (tho it certainly can do that too), but what creates a life that feels good from the inside out; a life with meaning, purpose and deep joy? After all, isn't it true that the reason anyone wants anything at all is because they believe they will feel better in the having of it?
"Jato Dharma, Tato Jaya" is the Divine teaching Krishna gives Arjuna in the Baghavad Gita (the seminal scripture of yoga), meaning, "where there is Dharma, there is victory". Dharma is many things, including true Nature, Divine order and Being, but here and most commonly it refers to "living a purposeful and evolutionary way of life". It means making one's personal, spiritual evolution primary in life rather than allowing it to come last. Like my teacher says, "if someone asks you if you meditate and you say "sometimes", you don't. It's like if someone asks you if you brush your teeth, "sometimes" is not a good answer."
The past few years have been challenging for everyone, myself and the world stage included. From breakups to breakdowns, not much has stayed the same for most and no one has gone without challenge. Humanity is being asked to grow and mature in many ways, which ultimately is creating big shifts in consciousness. Dark times have been, and continue to be, experienced by many as suppressed and repressed subconscious, shadow energies surface into our conscious awareness to be seen, acknowledged, cleansed and transcended. This is hard work, but as yogic wisdom teaches us, if you don't acknowledge it, you can't transcend it.
For myself this has involved a process of deep healing, shadow and soul work. In order to recover emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually and financially from bankruptcy and then a traumatic breakup, which once again took my main source of income with it, I went into a year of much solitude, deep meditation, spiritual study, reflection and contemplation. Rather than seeking immediately to replace all I had "lost" on the external, I consciously chose instead to follow intuition, listen to my Spirit guides and take a sacred pilgrimage within.
As within. So without. This is, of course, Universal Law, but one we often ignore as our senses and our conditioning draw our attention consistently and persistently to the outer world. It takes effort, commitment and discipline to go within and surrender to what one finds. It isn't always pretty "in there" and one has to learn how to "outwit" the ego's persistent desire to escape uncomfortable feelings, but what I can say for sure is that it's worth it. Eventually one discovers that there is no difference between the within and the without ~ the experiencer is the experience.
The 13th C mystical poet, Rumi is perhaps most well known for bringing light into the darkness and most difficult experiences a human being has to face. It was Rumi who said, "the cracks are where the light gets in", reminding us that it is during these hard, and most challenging times that Spirit / Brahman / God / Source Light has the opportunity to find us and show us the way home.
This pilgrimage, as with all pilgrimages, is a Soul Quest; a journey into the most intimate unknown and therefore, really, a journey of remembering. I knew this was "the work" that I needed to do in order to integrate some big shifts and life changes that began for me in 2017 with a series of intense spiritual awakenings. These awakenings led me to see life much differently and with each new layer that peeled away I realized how far away from my True Self I had strayed. Although it appeared to many on the outside world that my life was "falling apart", I knew within myself that everything that was happening was bringing me closer to Soul and back into alignment with Dharma. I knew the Universe was guiding me and that if I could trust it, seeing everything that happened along the way as a sign, that it would guide me home.
That is not to say that it was easy, but inside this cosmic heart yogi there was a knowing of deeper truths; realizations yet to be experienced that could set me free from fear and allow me to move forward in life feeling truly soul-connected, fulfilled, abundant and embodied as living yoga and living love.
What quantum physics is currently revealing to the scientific community and the world is what yogis have known for millennia: WE ARE ONE. Each one of us who courageously steps into their dharma, reconnects with their Divine Soul or, higher Self, raises the consciousness of all. Everything is connected, but the healing journey starts within.
I devoted myself more deeply than ever to a daily spiritual practice of kriya, mantra and meditation yogas. I studied and practiced with my beloved teacher and guru from afar and went beyond resistance, limitations and obstacles by learning how to embrace them as the very vehicle for transformation. I cared for and walked dogs everyday in the forest for work, and that too became a spiritual practice as I listened intently to Nature and the wisdom of the trees speak in dynamic stillness.
I spent time in sacred ceremony, deepening my relationship with Spirit Plant Medicines and allowed them to teach and guide me along the path. As I cleansed, fasted and detoxed, studied and meditated, practiced and experienced multiple dimensions of reality, I faced dark shadows with a warm embrace and learned to thank them for what they had to teach me. From the inside out I released pain in great swells of tears and shook the trauma from my body's cellular memory banks. Along the way, I connected with several new Spirit Guides and transcended new levels of consciousness. I embodied the deep, infinite journey that enlightenment truly is ~ not seeing it as some of kind of "end goal" that one works to achieve "one day", but as a living, breathing, continuous process of giving and receiving more light ~ an infinite spiral of evolution in consciousness and the birthright of humanity.
I tuned even more deeply into ancient wisdom teachings with daily practice to realize the power, beauty and joy of living enlightenment along the Divine path of yoga. Not the kind of yoga most westerners think of when mentioning yoga. In other words, it is not "just" the physical asana practice one does for an hour on the mat ~ not to say that's a bad thing, it's wonderful, but it reduces yoga to an exercise practice and ignores the spiritual science, ancient wisdom and enlightened way of living that it truly is. This is the living yoga which is a trinity including the state of yoga consciousness, the practice and the experience of yoga, which is unity. Yoga does not ask you to believe in anything, it is not a belief-based faith or religion, but rather it is transcendental, existential, experience-based spiritual science of the cosmic, multi-dimensional reality in which we live; and, it awakens and tunes the multi-dimensional human being so that we may remember who we are in Truth.
Yoga is unity of self with Self and Self with Source, and since Self is Source and Source is ALL then we are never really apart from the Divine to begin with; therefore, just like enlightenment, unity consciousness, Divine Union with Source is less of a goal one aims to reach than it is a remembering of what is ~ it is not that we need to "become someone" other than ourselves to be whole, but rather that we must peel away all the layers of conditioning that keep us distanced from our True Nature and our Dharma. It is in this state, the illusion of separateness, in karma rather than dharma, that most of humanity still exists and, though we have come so far, it remains the root of all conflict, misery, loneliness and fear. When we remember who we are in Truth the illusion disappears and life becomes what in yoga is known as Leela, or "play". The great play we get to play in for a little while.. for "all the world is a stage"...
So what does all this mean and why am I writing and sharing all this with you now? Good question.
I could tell you that I feel called and inspired to reach out and share my journey and hope that it resonates with you on some level, offering some sense that you're not alone in your challenges and dark times with perhaps a few tidbits of helpful and healing wisdom, that I do not claim as my own, but am privileged to channel and that is true. I could say that I feel called to connect, to wish you good fortune and infinite blessings moving forward during this auspicious time of the Dragon, and that is true.
I could tell you about my upcoming journey to India where I will be diving deep into the ancient wisdom and practices of the Yoga-Vedantic and Tantric teachings, which has been a life long dream. I will be living in Rishikesh for three months and will also receive training in Jyotish, the ancient Vedic Science of Light, also known as Vedic Astrology, which will allow me to offer readings upon my return. All of this training I will receive at the Source and learn from a Himalayan Master and many other Divine beings and master teachers for which I feel deeply grateful and privileged. To receive these ancient teachings at the source from whence they came is such an honour and I do seek to share it with those who wish to receive in upcoming letters.
I could tell you about the book I have been writing, which I imagine will be available later this year in the Fall. However, these things have not yet come to pass and what is also true is that it is always NOW. Life only exists in the now. Even when we get "there", we will be here now for that is the only place and time where we can ever truly be. Even when we get "there", "there" becomes "here" for that is the only place we can ever be. Everything else exists within our minds, which are so powerful that they create everything we see and experience in this world, we just don't always realize it.
The truth is we are all master manifestors, creating our reality all the time. It's just that most of us are doing it unconsciously, without awareness, all the time, but I believe that's changing. I also believe that the year of the Dragon is an ideal time to start "brushing our teeth" every day, twice a day; and if we're already doing that, it's the perfect time to deepen our daily spiritual practice and discover and unfold the next level of our own personal evolution.
Many years ago I wrote and published a local newsletter called "The Dharma News", which circulated in print and online. Locally in the Okanagan, where I lived at the time. It was well read and received as it seemed to somehow tap into the changing consciousness of the time. It was something I really enjoyed, especially after writing for newspapers for several years, because it allowed me to allow Spirit to write through me and share without hesitation. It has taken me years to get back to writing with true purpose, with dharma and with soul, but I realize now that those are the years that helped me to peel away so many layers of this onion and prepared me to have the courage and the humility to keep peeling, and keep evolving...
If these words resonate with you in any way, I invite you to subscribe and take the journey with me as I continue to walk the spiral and share what is found. I do not promise anything because I don't know what I will find, but I can say that the insights are as real as the journey and there's great bliss in sharing this journey called life with one another.
May the spirit of the Dragon be with you in all ways you choose to invite her in! Please feel welcome to respond to this post with any thoughts, comments or questions and please let me know how I can serve and support you in your journey in health, healing and happiness. I'd love to know how life is for you and I also invite you to share this little letter of light with anyone you feel would benefit from or resonate with it.
In gratitude,
- c. xxx
And So It Is.
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti. Hari Om Tat Sat.