Why at this time??

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Shaktipat > Why on the Solstice & Equinox?

 

> Some reasons why the Shaktipat is now only offered on the Solstice and the

Equinox. The bathing and the bonfires and the honoring of the Divine Female and

the Divine Male would be most appropriate during the seven days of the Shaktipat

if you can find a clean river or lack or the Ocean. Anyway you can work it out

for your experience. This isn't required just helpful. The Shaktipat is as a

merging of many opposites including the past and present by awakening the

Kundalini flow in a person. By doing these ancient rituals we are joining past

and present. Honoring those that sleep in our DNA.

 

> Solstice & Equinox

> Connection to the earths early cycles are subjects that have not been

satisfactorily researched. Here are some astronomical events that have been used

to mark holy days in many different religions for thousands of years.

Celebrating these events recognizes both the continuity of humanity over

thousands of years and how humans have progressed from the simple agrarians who

depended upon astronomical sightings for their survival.

 

> Winter Solstice

 

> The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, with the sun at its

lowest and weakest. In the Northern Hemisphere it usually occurs around December

21st. In pagan Scandinavia the winter festival was the Yule, celebrated by

burning the hearth fires of the magically significant Yule log. In the Celtic

Druid culture the Winter Solstice was celebrated by hanging sacred mistletoe

over a doorway or in a room to offer goodwill to visitors.

 

> Germanic tribes decorated a pine or fir tree with candles and tokens. The Inca

held midwinter ceremonies at temples that served as astronomical observatories

like Machu Pichu. Romans celebrated this event with Saturnalia, a festival of

merrymaking, and decorating their homes and temples with holly and evergreens.

Also popular was the exchange of small gifts thought to bring luck on the

recipient. In the fourth century AD, Christian authorities in Rome attempted to

eliminate the pagan festivities by adopting December 25th as Christ's birthday.

 

> Celebrate the Winter Solstice with these ancient customs, recognizing our

links to the rest of humanity, past and present.

 

> Spring or Vernal Equinox.

 

May day and the planting of crops the sowing of the seeds for the survival of

the species. The union of the genders for the creation of another physical

expression. The divine marriage of life as is given on this planet is very

pronounced in the Spring time. Easter and the idea of a resurrection from

winters death in the announcements from the buds bursting forth from the plants

and the flowers exploding into the air and vision. This is a dynamic time of

rebirth and the combining of the opposites towards the expression of life in all

of its variations. Kundalini exploration is enhanced at this time as a force

behind the wave of life.

 

Easter, and St. Patrick's Day, occurs in the middle of March in the Northern

Hemisphere. It marks the beginning of Spring and the time when days and nights

are of equal length. Megalithic people on Europe's Atlantic fringe calculated

the date of the Spring Equinox using circular monuments constructed of huge

stones. Germanic tribes associated it with the fertility goddess Ostara.

 

> The Mayans of Central America still gather at the pyramid at Chichen Itza,

which was designed to produce a shadow on the Spring Equinox. The Ancient Saxons

held a feast day for their version of the fertility goddess, Eostre, on the full

moon following the Vernal Equinox. Eostre is associated with the symbols of

decorated eggs and hares. Ancient influences from the worship of the goddess

Ostara or Eostre have persisted in the form of fertility symbols of Easter eggs

and the hare or rabbit. By the use of these symbols of spring, rebirth, and

fertility we reinforce our connection to humanity's past.

 

> Summer Solstice

 

> Summer Solstice, sometimes known as Midsummer, Litha, or St. John's Day,

occurs around June 21st in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a celebration of the

longest day of the year and the beginning of Summer. The first (or only) full

moon in June is called the Honey Moon. Tradition holds that this is the best

time to harvest honey from the hives and was a popular time to get married

because of the events association with fertility gods and goddesses. Harvests of

St. Johns Wort were used in potions and woven into garlands to decorate and

protect houses and domestic animals.

 

> Slav and Celt tribes celebrated Summer Solstice with huge bonfires and people

would jump over the embers for luck. In Scandinavia women and girls ceremonially

bathed in rivers. In Portugal, people say that St. John's Eve water possesses

great healing power. Before dawn both cattle and young children are bathed in

rivers or dew, to ensure health and strength. In Russia, the Summer Solstice

celebration is called Kupalo. Kupalo comes from the verb kupati, to bathe

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Autumnal Equinox

 

> In the Northern Hemisphere the Autumnal Equinox, occurs around September 23rd

or 24th. It is also known as Michaelmas, Mabon, and Harvest Home. Traditionally

the Japanese marked the spring and fall Equinox with higan, a seven day period

in which they remember their ancestors by visiting the family grave, cleaning

the tombstone, offering flowers and food, burning incense sticks, and praying.

> The Polish Feast of Greenery involves bringing bouquets and foods for blessing

by a priest, then using them for medicine or keeping them until the following

years harvest. The Roman celebration of the Fall Equinox was dedicated to

Pomona, goddess of fruits and growing things.

 

> A feast was celebrated with a traditional well-fattened goose, which had fed

well on the stubble of the fields after the harvest. Another tradition of the

Autumnal Equinox is the use of ginger. All manner of foods seasoned with ginger

are part of the day's menu from gingerbread to ginger beer.

 

> In England, the last sheaf of corn harvested represented the `spirit of the

field' and was made into a doll. Corn dolls were drenched with water

representing rain or burned to represent the death of the grain spirit.

 

> Large wickerwork figures were also constructed to represent a vegetation

spirit and burnt in mock sacrifice. Farmers and merchants gathered at fairs.

Often a large glove was suspended above the fair, symbolizing the handshake of

promises and openhandedness and generosity. The tradition of celebrating the end

of summer with a 'burning man' has been enthusiastically revived in the US as a

festival of performance art and creativity. Participating in your own burning

man celebration is a powerful way to connect with humanity, past and present.

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