black swan

Accepting the Light and Shadow at Autumn Equinox

Preparing the Waters at Autumn Equinox

Today at around 4.15pm we experienced the exact point of the Autumn Equinox. We sat on the line between light and shadow when both day and night were at exactly equal lengths. If only we could always sit so comfortably with our shadow nature as our light. Tonight I am preparing the mineral spring water collected from wells in the Wombat Forest for shamanic balancing sessions this week and for new essences that I am calling Aura Veil's - we are losing the need to always shield and block energy, instead I prefer to use the essence of the stone Kyanite to keep our own energy strong and authentic with a veil of water to purify & illuminate. The powerful Kyanite stones were found by my dear friend Martina of Nature's Art Melbourne in the desert of the Northern Territory and are known to hold no energy but their own - I love to focus on this essence as I prepare the water.

Here are two gifts I received last Friday and they are wonderful examples of light & shadow moments happening within minutes of each other. I took the first photograph as I sat on Williamstown Beach talking to my grandmother Cassie & thanking her for the gifts she has passed to me. I am told that my grandmother knew things before they happened, that you could not tell her a lie and that anyone with a problem would find their way to her kitchen table where she would sit with them & listen. My grandmother died while my mother was pregnant with me & so we never got to touch in the physical but I feel her around me, teaching me more and more each day. As I thanked her, this beautiful crow flew slowly around me. In the distance you can see two black swans (totems for Tony & I) and a large ship - I saw this as a symbol of my ancestors and their journey across the ocean from Ireland. The message I received from the crow was: 'let go, go slow, be simple and free' - and as I sensed this message I could feel my whole body & heart becoming lighter.

And on the way home I passed by an opshop in Williamstown & saw this wee treasure sitting in the front window. I call her Our Lady of the Opshop! A gift from my Irish Catholic granny for sure and it had come all the way from Lourdes. I was delighted to get home and find that everything worked perfectly including a little wind-up music box that tinkled as the lights twinkled!  
And so here is my goddess of the healing waters, aglow as I prepare and pour tonight. Perhaps it is time for us all to stop looking for what is wrong or right, and accept that everything just IS as we ARE, a beautiful dance of light and shadow. 
Oceans of love, Julia xx