Autumn
The 8 Sabbaths, is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals consisting of the year's solstices and equinoxes and the midpoints (cross quarter days). They are marker points to help remind us we are part of nature, mother earth AND the cosmos. The 7 Universal Principles helps the thinking mind and the intuitive mind ground and create from a more conscious awareness of time, space, dimensions, consequences and how the cosmos works. The Noble Eightfold Path is a practical tool to implement and assist in living a healthier, happier life in the physical/material world of everyday living with a greater innerstanding of how to live your life.
There are many paths on the spiritual healing journey. No one way is wrong and no one is right. Hence Mystic Pathways.
An Initiate's Path has been my practice and will continue to be my practice with deep gratitude and heartfelt thanks for all the teachers, guides and initiates before me, with me and after me.
And So It Begins....
“Sabbaths” -
Also known as the Wheel of the Year, is not only a spiritual practice but a practical practice that connects you back in with nature, earth and the age old cycle of seasons.
The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, consisting of the year's main solar events and the midpoints between them. Solstices and Equinoxes are the main solar events and the midpoints or cross quarter days are the start of the seasons and begin midway point between the solstices and the equinoxes.
Please note these Sabbaths are relative to living in the southern hemisphere. For the norther hemisphere they need to be swapped.
As this is a natural calendar, the Wheel of the Year does not begin on the 1st January, but rather the beginning of Winter and flows from there. To find the exact date the solstices, equinoxes and cross quarter days will fall on, besides the traditional days, please check this link for details:
"The Kybalion.” -
“The Principles of Truth are Seven; he who knows these, understandingly, possesses the Magic Key before whose touch all the Doors of the Temple fly open” The Kybalion, is a study of the Hermetic Philosophy. “The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding” – The Kybalion.
Studying and applying the 7 Principles of the Hermetic Philosophy is like comprehending the Universe at a sub atomic level. The Laws behind the Principles help us to walk through life forewarned. It is a guide on how to change at a fundamental level, not just a surface level. The alchemical process of change, the transmutation of matter.
The Seven Hermetic Principles, upon which the entire Hermetic Philosophy is based, are as follows: The Principle of Mentalism, The Principle of Correspondence, The Principle of Vibration, The Principle of Polarity, The Principle of Rhythm, The Principle of Cause and Effect, The Principle of Gender.
“The Noble Eightfold Path” -
The Buddhist Path for the Cessation of Suffering, and the fourth of The Four Noble Truths. The application guide for living a spiritually purposeful life. The Eightfold Path, although referred to as steps on a path, is not meant as a sequential learning process, but as eight aspects of life, all of which are to be integrated in every day life.
The Eightfold path consists of Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration.
February 1st
Autumn / Lughnasadh / Lammas
Cause & Effect Principle
Right Mindfulness
This Sabbath:
Autumn / Lughnasadh / Lammas
Lughnasadh (pronounced ‘loo-hus-uh’) means ‘the commemoration of Lugh’. In the Irish legends he was the leader of the mythical Tuatha De Danann. In the story of the Tuatha De Danann’s victory over the Fomorians, Lugh spares the life of Bres – one of the captured enemy leaders, and in return is given knowledge on ploughing, sowing and reaping.
And so, marks the start of harvesting. 1st February, the beginning of Autumn, not by man’s calendar but rather by the tilt of the earth and her rotation around the sun.
It is a time of joy, but also a time to begin preparing for Autumn Harvesting.
It is now that we begin to reap what we have sown. It is now that we begin to understand the wisdom of careful preparation, and the sowing of good seeds in our lives and the lives of others.
At the time of Lughnasadh, summer has reached its peak and while we bask in its afterglow, we too understand that Autumn has crept ever so closer and with-it darker nights and cooler days. So, whilst it is a time of rejoicing, it is also time for preparing for the coming cooler months.
Since this is a time of beginning and an awareness that Summer is ending, you may like to spend some time acknowledging this turning point of the year… where by letting go (harvesting) we receive (reaping).
The Kybalion:
The Principle of Cause and Effect
“Everything Cause has its Effect; every Effect has its Cause; everything happens according to Law; Chance is but a name for Law not recognised; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the Law.” – The Kybalion.
Play the game of life! Effort bears results – Harvest Season
For me this Hermetic Principle is the culmination & practice of the first 5 laws. When we apply the first 5 this assists in being the causer instead of being the effected.
February to May is Harvest… but I wonder what will be harvested… both literally and metaphysically. Look at what has risen in your world. It may not be what you envisioned, but then again maybe it actually is, just not in the form or way your imagined….
What were your prayers exactly?
Getting clear – between now and spring, working with the harvest energy reaping & harvesting. Realising and accepting that which needs to be cleared now and what you are gathering and grateful for.
And as we near the end of another earth cycle, I sit in contemplation of the past nine months and see what my harvest and what my reaping will be. I can see the changes I have gone through, where I have let myself and others down, where I have been stunted in my own growth and therefore the growth of others ~ harvesting.
I see also where I have stepped up and assisted not only myself but others. What I have transformed within myself and therefore transformed in others. I can see clearly that which matters and see those that matter also ~ reaping.
And with still more time before we begin to draw our energies and focus within, we can let go of even more and nurture what remains till then. And with harvest season now just around the corner, what will be your gain and what will be your loss? What was the cause that now you see the effect?
The Noble Eightfold Path:
Right Mindfulness
The Buddhist Path for the Cessation of Suffering, and the fourth of The Four Noble Truths. The application guide for living a spiritually purposeful life. The Eightfold Path, although referred to as steps on a path, is not meant as a sequential learning process, but as eight aspects of life, all of which are to be integrated in every day life.
The Eightfold path consists of Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration.
Seeing the 8 Rights as a guiding light along the path to self-mastery. As a tool to remind us to come back into balance, knowing and direction.
Right Mindfulness asks us to be aware of the journey in the moment, and to be clear and undistracted at that moment. Right Mindfulness is closely linked with meditation and forms the basis of meditation. While Right Effort may be an easy concept for most of us, Right Mindfulness is somewhat more trickier to grasp, and will very likely involve quite a change in the way you think.
Right Mindfulness means being aware of the moment, and being focused in that moment. Right Mindfulness asks us to be Aware of Things, Aware of One Self, Aware of Other Peoples and above all, Aware of Reality as it is.
Every day we have outside influences impacting us in some way shape or form. When we travel somewhere, we are hearing noises, seeing buildings, trees, advertising, feeling the movement, thinking of those we left behind, thinking of our destination. So it is with most moments of our lives. At times overwhelming.
Right Mindfulness is not asking us to exclude the world, in fact, the opposite. Right Mindfulness is asking us to be aware of the moment, and of our actions at that moment. By being aware, we are able to see how old patterns and habits control us. In this awareness, we may see how fears of possible futures limit our present actions.
Weaving them all together...
What were your prayers exactly? What are you harvesting (letting go) and what are your reaping (receiving)? Remember where Focus Goes, Energy Flows, Reality Grows, Results Show, but most people are not aware of their deeper thoughts and are acting from fear or auto-pilot. The answer lays with be present in the moment with how you feel and think and either do something about it or relax into the moment.
The practice now is then, trying the same walk as before but with a focused mind, which now concentrates only on the action of the walking. Observe your thoughts and become aware of your surroundings.
Sometimes you may be absorbed in what you are doing. Music, art, sport, work, so many things that enter-tain(hold)ment(mind) can hold our thoughts. Have you ever done anything where your mind is only with that activity? At that moment, you are mindful.
Being present in the moment in the mundane of life is where the magic is.
Blessings,
Mim WhiteWind
Links to further your study and knowledge:
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