I Wake, and my Heart Opens Wide

‍“Certain mornings, I wake, and my heart opens wide. On those mornings I believe the world is big enough for all of us. Today is one of those days. The world is big enough for all of us.”

~Alex Carr Johnson, selection from Earthly Love,
an anthology from Orion magazine

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Is this one of those mornings? Days? When my heart is open and I make room for everything? Will this be a year in which I fully embrace life with an open heart? What does that mean? 

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We probably each have our own version of what that means, to fully embrace life. One thing all of us may agree on; that reaching, stretching beyond our present state of being (right now, many of us are subject to conditioning) is a prerequisite for expansion. Expansion succeeds a willingness to step out of the illusion and into the unknown. 

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“The one thing humans need to learn so they can live a different way, so that there’s an inner freedom, is the complete transcendence of the conditioning of the past.”

~Eckhart Tolle, Awakin’ 12.26.23

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Expansion in physical reality, relies upon us recognizing how thoroughly we are conditioned in order that we might become more aware of a deep, innate desire for knowing Truth. Truth is what is when all conditioning is absent. This is something that we try to imagine but rarely succeed at. Any thing we can imagine right now is determined by how we ‘think’ which is the result of, most often, conditioning. 

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There is nothing magic about knowing ‘Truth of Self’ as it is our natural state. It is, when thoughts are no longer effectively in charge. The illusion that I am the body/mind becomes apparent. Words cease to have meaning. We are set free. In the freedom is magic.

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Magic suddenly shows up everywhere, is as abundant as miracles. We overflow with gratitude for everyday magic and miracles. Life shines, we shine with enthusiasm and optimism! We effervesce with Life. This moment is magic! And the next, and the next. 

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“It (magic) does not belong to the logic of good or bad, but the totality of existence. Therefore magic is always available to us...It is self-existing.”

~Chogyam Trungpa, Cynicism & Magic*

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The open heart is free to experience everything without judgment, without limitation. We are limited as a result of fear. How do we become open hearted? How do we dispense with our fears? One step at a time. First, willingness to proceed into unknown territory. Second, the awareness to listen, not to your thoughts but to the deeper voice that arises from stillness. This ‘voice’ is ever present. Calls us ‘home’. And third, is to be patient. The journey home is often a long one. If we honour our self and the courage it takes to often go it alone, the ups and downs are no longer something on which to focus. They come and go. We focus on the eternal. We know that ‘I’ will only get in the way; that ‘I’ is limited.

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 “When faced with the most transformative experiences, we are ill-equipped to even begin to imagine the nature and magnitude of the transformation — but we must again and again challenge ourselves to transcend this elemental failure of the imagination if we are to reap the rewards of any transformative experience.”

~Marginalian Maria Popova 12.18.23

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How does the first new moon of the year, in Capricorn, assist us with our goals? Capricorn is the last earth sign and has knowledge not only of all the material elements but is also innately aware of the nature of the structure that supports us. Those born under this sign can be fearless or rather highly confident in their competence and they can also be rather fearful as they realize how delicate is the nature of our survival when based upon material elements alone. 

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Capricorn is the sea goat, has depth, resiliency and the fortitude to scale the highest summit. They are also practical in the sense that they want to see ideas take physical form. They know how to execute their vision expertly. 

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Now, this new moon in Capricorn is at 20 degrees. According to the Sabian symbols** this degree relates to a ‘relay race’ in which the key component is team work, passing the baton to your team mate.

Working together we are successful. Working together we are ‘winners’. Working together we recognize the innnateness of all being ‘one’. 

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Capricorn is the alchemist. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Alchemist: Someone who transforms things for the better. So, we begin this year being guided by the desire to ‘work as a team’ and to ‘transform things for the better’. Early on we will strive to resolve old situations of disharmony and lay the groundwork for a path with fewer obstacles. Obstacles in fact, are simply challenges to our usual way of proceeding. They offer us opportunities to create from nothing, tapping into the infinite source without preconceived ideas, how any thing should look.

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This relates to the work of Bill Reed, an internationally recognized planning consultant, design process facilitator, lecturer, teacher, and author in sustainability and regeneration. He is a principal of Regenesis, Inc. The regenerative process he undertakes with corporations in order to accomplish projects sustainably, consists of being completely receptive to the unknown. Thinking or perceiving in ways that are not within the bounds of what we know. This demands personal development. Agreeing that there are better solutions to current problems that require an openness to allow these solutions to show up asks a lot sometimes from people.

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“A fractal of who I am will help realize what the earth is to become.”

~Bill Reed

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To further guide us on our journey this new moon has a prominent small talent trine. Small maybe but big on gifts! This trine has Mars (5 deg. Capricorn) trine Jupiter (5 deg. Taurus) both sextile Saturn (ruler of Capricorn, 4 deg. Pisces). Trines provide ease of movement while sextiles include a measure of challenge that provides motivation. Mars is the energy and in Capricorn the determination that feeds the optimism of Jupiter and its view of the big picture. Saturn at the apex provides stability, focus and discipline for successfully attaining our goals. In Pisces that generally relates to collective development.

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Again at this new moon, Uranus aspects the sun/moon. It is a favorable connection, that of a trine. The flow of energy between these planets is easy. Therefore we are aware of the need for change and the revolutionary ways in how this might come about. It makes more sense what some activists have been saying all along—that transformation on many levels is needed in order that we might continue to flourish here as a species. Uranus plugs us into a transcendent vision of collective evolution for greater well being for all. It all seems natural.

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The ship that carries us forward, upon which we have always relied, is on the same course it has always travelled and we, the constant travellers, become confident in knowing that we do not know to which land we are headed or even if we are headed toward land at all. Our comfort is in knowing that we do not know. We do know that we limit our selves if we allow the past to define us.

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“In the land of “I know”, there is competitiveness...In the land of “I don’t know”, the inhabitants move without conflict and are naturally quiet, happy and peaceful.”

~Mooji

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*Available at Paradise Found

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**The Sabian symbols are 360 short pithy descriptions which are associated with the 360 degrees of the zodiac, so that each degree has its own symbolic meaning. The symbols were developed by the astrologer Marc Edmund Jones (1888-1980). Jones himself wrote that he discovered them in 1925 "with the help of clairvoyant powers".