Smoke and Mirrors

We choose our way, our path, our life with every breath, and the Full Moon this week, a Super Moon accompanied by a partial lunar eclipse, is a reminder to us of our absolute power and personal responsibility to direct our human journey.

The way we are, the way our environment around us is, the relationships in our lives, our work, our health – all reflect the choices we have made, and we, modestly and honestly, may take all the credit, and the blame, for how it is.  September’s Full Moon is the Harvest Moon, rising just before the Equinox, and so more than ever this period is a reflection of the seeds we have sown and the abundance - welcome or otherwise - we have earned.

Every year brings a Harvest Moon and Equinoxes, but 2024 is different from what has gone before:  personally and collectively we are in a period of self-imposed challenge that tests our strengths and weaknesses, and these will differ from person to person and nation to nation.  We may feel undefined anxiety, self-doubt, anger, pain, obsession and suffering, deep-hidden emotions that we are calling into view now in order to decide once and for all if we will succumb to them or overcome them.  The shadow side of us is our new mirror.

As the sense of crisis around us grows, we are being called by soul and Spirit to choose whether to succumb to the negative or enhance the best of ourselves through wisdom and example.  Depending on how we choose to hold it, our mirror will reflect light or dark:  it could be either way, and our personal and spiritual future really is in the balance.

Chaos is all around, and the world does not feel to be running smoothly as talk of war swirls around us and as politics and politicians look increasingly debased and untrustworthy.  We do not know if there will be another pandemic and, if there is, whether it is introduced as a weapon of control or is just a misfortune; if climate change really exists, and whether the Net Zero solution is realistic or misplaced ideology; and we do not know if the next leader of the Western world will be visionary in his/her desire to create a more peaceful world.  Uncertainty is everywhere, and it is up to each of us as to how we deal with it: which side of the mirror do we look at?

As we confront our own inner demons as they reflect themselves back at us, the chances of making them strengths not weaknesses are enhanced by how far we can view the external world with realism and compassion.  It helps to look at the global situation as a spiritual crisis that is the precursor of great change for good, rather than imagining inevitable and undesirable disasters that could occur, but which may never happen.

We have direct charge over our own world, and the more we can eliminate chaos, simplify our lives and appreciate in the moment all the beauty and love that is around us, the more the mirror will reflect our light back to us and far beyond us.  Shadows oppress, light uplifts.

This special Super moon is only days away from the September Equinox, a time of profound spiritual significance when the light and the shadows, within and without us, are in harmony.  As you rest in the peace and balance of this time, feel the strength of Earth as she grounds you, the power of the Sun and the wisdom of the Moon.  Above all, feel the love of the divine upon you and, as you look in your mirror, see God reflected back, and remember that, amidst the smoke and mirrors, all is well.