June 2018:  We have peaked.

Welcome to my favourite time of year.  We celebrate the festival of Litha (summer solstice) on June 21^st, the longest day, when the sun is at its highest in the sky and we can hopefully enjoy a full day of sunshine.  The sun moves into my own sun sign of cancer around this time too, so I really do feel full of energy and power and at my peak so to speak.

A few days ago (as I’m writing this) Liverpool  lost someone who was a much loved family member:  a mother, a wife, a daughter and a Nan, from the awful disease that is cancer.  It is always difficult to make sense of life, especially when someone is taken before it seems right and proper, and especially to such a malevolent illness which robs the person of every ounce of strength.  This remarkable lady fought her illness with such dignity and stoicism, never complaining and always humbled by the love that she was shown from friends and family who wanted to do their bit to help.  It is difficult to imagine how life can continue when someone’s world literally has come crashing down like this with the death of a loved one.  Indeed when I heard that she had passed I found myself angrily asking, ‘but where has she gone?  How can she have been here one minute and then all at once be gone in spirit but still here in body?’

Where do we go?  It’s  the 64 million dollar question isn’t it?  The one we all think we have an answer to except when we are really faced with it.  My sister gave me a quote from a book she was reading which really resonated with me and which I then passed onto the family.  ‘We are not humans having a spiritual experience but spirits having a human experience’

Weirdly enough today it was mentioned on the Chris Evans breakfast show too, which I felt totally validated its meaning.  When this kind of synchronicity appears in your life it is usually a sign that you are on the right path with your thoughts actions or words.

I love this quote because it absolutely affirms my believe that we are something more than just a body and a mind, we are firstly and foremostly a spiritual being which moves on when we no longer have need of our physical body, or when illness or accident takes our body from us.  Your spirit is indestructible, and it is this which comforts me and I hope will comfort the family.  This column is for you Eileen: as the sun shines at its peak this month may your spirit soar and shine brightly for all your family and friends to see and always know that you are close by.

Practical Magic

On the eve before summer solstice (i.e. June 20^th), welcome the coming day of the festival of Litha by reciting this Wiccan blessing :

‘As the sun spirals its longest dance;

Cleanse us.

As nature shows bounty and fertility;

Bless us.

Let all things live with loving intent

And to fulfil their truest destiny’

Do this as the sun sets, toasting its power with a glass of something that you will enjoy.  Take a few moments to check whether you yourself are living with loving intent and fulfilling your truest destiny.  Are you?  Are you being kind and mindful and caring of others as well as to yourself?  Are you living the life you feel you are meant to be living or are you unfulfilled and unhappy?  If it’s the latter then you need to make a silent promise to the sun that starting from the next day i.e. June 21^st you will start to live with intent.  You will start to realise your dreams, even if it means just working out on a piece of paper or in your head what you would really like to be doing with your life.  Once you know in your heart of hearts what you would like to achieve then you are halfway there.  All you have to do now is to work out how to begin to achieve them.  Believe me, simply by writing down and acknowledging what you want out of life is a massive step and it will empower you.  Don’t underestimate the power of placing those thoughts down on paper and getting those desires out there in the universe.

I will toast all my readers on this eve, I will toast for your happiness, your success and your refusal to live half lives.  I will toast that you begin to really live your lives in the way you were meant to.

Crystal of the month – Pink Agate

This stone is from the chalcedony family of crystals and gets its name from the place where it was first found: the Achates river in Sicily!  It comes in many colours: black, yellow, red, grey white brown and pink.  I do think the pink is the prettiest of them all.  All colours of Agate will have mostly the same qualities, but I think the pink is especially a good choice for emotional issues as well as for areas concerning the heart, due to its colour and the fact that the heart chakra area is usually represented by a pink (or green sometimes) stone.  Agate is a wonderful strengthening and stabilising stone, which will keep you calm and elevate and uplift you.  It ensures that positive energies flow through you non-stop.  It is useful during pregnancy and post-natal as it can help prevent an attack of the baby blues developing into anything more serious.  It’s also good for the eyes and healing for the skin.  All in all a positive stone which will help you keep upbeat and stable during difficult times. 

Angel Card of the Month- Positive Thoughts Create Positive Results

This card is telling you that the situation you are enquiring about requires you to bring uplifting thoughts to it.  Although you may feel that you already have a positive attitude Archangel Michael suggests that you really purge your thoughts and speech of any worries or negativity that could diminish your manifestations.  You can tell how constructive your thoughts are by looking at recent events in your life: there is a direct correlation between positive thoughts and positive results. 

Possible specific meanings: adopt a daily practise of saying positive affirmations/read a book or take a class on positive affirmations/ avoid blaming yourself or others, instead focus on solutions/ rather than worrying about something pray and practise a loving compassionate state of mind. 

Moody Moon

This month the new moon is on June 13^th at 20.43 in the sign of Gemini.  As Gemini’s is ruled by mercury the planet of communication this is a particularly good time for any new deals within the communication/media industry.  If you have an interview on this day you could easily talk your way into a new job, just believe in yourself!  Any kind of letter/phone call/ email bodes well today.  Take the plunge and pluck up the courage to make that call, write that letter or apply for that job. You will have the power of mercury behind you and the power of the new moon handing you exciting opportunities.

The full moon falls on 28^th June at 05.52 in the sign of Capricorn.  The full moon nearest the summer solstice is always the lowest full moon of the year, so if it’s a clear night look out for this.  Capricorn is the opposite sign of Cancer which is where the sun is at this time, these signs actually work well together, so any venture you are involved in today or any seed you sow for the future bodes very well indeed.  It will have the power and tenacity of Cancer with the steady foundation of Capricorn.    It may mean today that you have to make a choice between two very different options.  Both have their appealing features.  Only you in your gut will know which way to go.  Remember there is no such thing as a wrong decision. 

Summer solstice occurs on 21^st June at 11.07 when the sun moves into Cancer.  This marks the absolute peak of its cycle.  From this moment the light will start to decrease (believe it or not!!)  so make the most of these few moments leading up to 11.07.  What was gestated in the spring is now about to manifest! 

Eat: asparagus, radish, courgette, cod, lamb, raspberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, lettuce, artichoke, crab, watercress

Play: Embrace a hippy lifestyle for just one day.  Do Glastonbury or rock up to a field with a picnic and music or poetry or the seaside.  Don’t plan just go with the flow and let things happen.

Love: The seasons.  How great is it that we are in summer?  The weather is sometimes rubbish in the UK but instead of feeling fed up if its raining, don’t let that stop you from doing what you love.  Variety is the spice of life!