Michael Domitrovich Michael Domitrovich

Ritual for the Vernal Equinox

EdibleSpirit Ritual for Spring Equinox 3.2017

The Vernal Equinox on Monday, March 20th marks the first day of Spring. The moment the equinox is exact (10:29 UTC) is the the moment when day and night are of equal length in the northern and southern hemisphere. It is the moment when you can balance an egg on its end. It is also the commencement of the solar new year, when the sun has made a full round through all the pie slice signs on the zodiac wheel and returned to its starting point.

If you’ve been following my goings-on this year you will hopefully have encountered Elements of Spirit - the free weekly reading series I’ve been doing on my YouTube channel. The readings are based around the elements of Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Ether.

In the zodiac, each of the signs are associated with one of these elements. The grouping of signs by elements are known as triplicities, as there are 3 signs assigned to each element. 4 elements, 3 signs each, to complete the zodiac wheel of 12. The 5th element of Ether can be thought of as the whole wheel of the zodiac, the circle which contains the 12 slices of pie.

The elements, the triplicities, even astrology as a whole are ways of approaching an understanding of the truth within yourself by using a frame of reference outside of yourself. By assigning meaning to the elements as they manifest in the world, you can search for those corresponding elements and their meanings as they manifest within yourself.

What’s cool about something like an equinox (or a solstice) is that they are moments of observable phenomena outside of yourself which can connect you to a corresponding manifestation within yourself. Honoring an equinox through ritual, like the one I’m offering today, is an opportunity to formally recognize the outer event and its meaning, so that you can then create the space for that meaning to manifest inside of you.

Example: Spring Equinox is associated with Cardinal Fire. The initiatory spark of flame. This is because the Equinox occurs the moment that the sun moves into the sign of Aries. The Cardinal signs make up 1/3 of the zodiac - they are the signs which mark the start of the seasons: Summer is Cancer, Fall is Libra, Winter is Capricorn, and Spring is Aries. They are associated with initiatory energy, the beginning of things, and the vibe of breaking through.

To get a better sense of this, imagine a piece of water logged wood that has been sitting outside in the middle of a flooding winter rain throughout the time of Pisces (this year from Feb 18-Mar 19). That wood is so dang wet. Now imagine the amount of heat it would take to ignite that wood from deep within, from its wettest place. The moment when that spark emerges from the wetness, the spark that will grow to dry and then consume the entire log as fuel… that’s Cardinal Fire, Sun entering Aries. 

So when you honor a moment in time that is visible, and measurable, (like the equinox, like the sun moving from Pisces into Aries) and recognize that moment as a moment when stuff POPS OFF, you are creating the space within yourself for a corresponding manifestation. You are preparing a space for YOU to pop off.

I’m going to give you a simple, yet thorough ritual to honor and harness the power of the Spring Equinox, honoring the moment, the elements, the cosmos, and your place in it. You will acknowledge that which is water logged, that which is ready to burn, and in the space of that burning I give you an opportunity to create intentions for that which you’d like to manifest in the coming year! I am also including a list of tools you will need. Happy Spring.

RITUAL FOR VERNAL EQUINOX

Needed:

1 candle
1 fireproof bowl for ceremonial burning
2 pieces of paper and a writing implement
A small bowl of salt
A bigger bowl of water
Sage or incense

  1. Assemble all of your tools on a flat surface, with or without a protective cloth. State your intention: “This is a ritual to honor the vernal equinox, the first day of spring, the moment of equality between night and day, light and dark, sun and moon, God and Goddess.
     
  2. Get grounded and centered. Imagine tree roots growing out of your feet into the Earth below you. From the center of the Earth, imagine Mother Earth reaching up her hands to grab those roots and pull them all the way down into her deepest places. Alternatively you can stomp your feet on the ground several times and feel the vibration under your feet and say aloud 3 times - “I am fully grounded and present NOW.”
     
  3. Call upon the elements to oversee this ritual, starting with fire. Light your candle and say aloud, “I honor the principle of Cardinal Fire, and the initiatory spark that emerges from the darkness. I call upon the element of Fire to oversee this ritual. Let the purifying flame of fire consume and transform. Thank you to the element of Fire.” Gaze at the candle flame for a few moments and imagine yourself as a candle flame with its source in the center of your belly.
     
  4. Welcome in the other elements. Use the candle flame to light your incense or sage and say aloud, “I call upon the element of Air to purify this space. Let the wisdom of Air clarify and refresh. Thank you to the element of Air.” Dip the fingers of your left hand in the bowl of water and say aloud, “I call upon the element of Water to encourage connection in this space. Let the fluidity of Water heal and soothe. Thank you to the element of Water.” Place the thumb of your right hand into the bowl of salt and say aloud, “I call upon the element of earth to consecrate this space. Let the weight of earth strengthen and fortify. Thank you to the element of Earth.”
     
  5. Using your right pointer finger, extend your arm in front of you to its full length, like you’re pointing across the room. Rotate your body in a clockwise motion, tracing a circle around you and all of your tools. Say aloud, “I welcome all the benevolent forces of the Spring Equinox into this circle. Please ensure the perfect working of this ritual. Thank you.”
     
  6. On one piece of paper write down something you’d like to release into the past. Something that occurred, a memory, a feeling, a pattern, a behavior. Something you are ready to release once and for all, for good, to the abyss. Write it down and now imagine three scenarios involving whatever you are releasing. They can be things that actually happened, or things that you remember, or even symbols or colors that are associated with whatever you are releasing. There is no exact science here, it could literally be three of the same things - like three pink circles representing all that you are releasing. What really matters is that you are specific. As you run through these scenarios or images imagine them playing out on a movie screen. Let the image on that screen descend through your forehead, through the center of your brain, down into your brain stem, and all the way into your heart. do this for each scenario or image. Now fold up your paper and, holding it in your right hand, submerge it in your bowl of water, saying aloud, “I release all that is not needed to the waters of Pisces and the forces of the abyss. And it is done.”
     
  7. Now write down something you want to welcome into your life on the second piece of paper, something you want to manifest. Be specific and phrase it as though you already have it. So don’t say “I want to win a Peabody,” say “I am a recipient of a Peabody.” Now imagine three crystal clear situations in which you have what you want. Be certain that you do not imagine specific people in this visualization as that would violate the Law of Free Will. Imagine each scenario playing out on a movie screen in front of you, then let the scene and its imagery enter through your forehead, passing through the center of your brain, descending down to your brain stem and finally anchoring itself deep in your heart. Say aloud, “I release this manifestation into the fire of Aries. I allow it to manifest in perfect alignment with my higher self and the divine plan of creation. I ask for this with full faith, knowing that it is already mine, in my highest good, and the highest good of all involved, with harm to none. And it is so.” Now fold the piece of paper and light it in the candle flame. Place it in your ceremonial burning bowl and imagine yourself burning brighter as you watch the paper burn.
     
  8. Bring your hands to your heart center in prayer position. Bow down to your heart and thank the light within you. Think of the sun, moving in the sky, and know that good things are to come. Give thanks to the elements by saying, “I give thanks to the elements of Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Ether as they shape and manifest in my life. I honor the mystery of all that is unknown and obscured from my view.”
     
  9. Using your right pointer finger, extend your arm in front of you to its full length. Trace a circle in a counterclockwise direction by turning your body around with your pointer finger still extended. Say aloud, “I release this working and all of its forces into the space of the universe. Let this working unfold perfectly, in the highest good of all involved with harm to none. And so it is.” Declare that the working is finished by saying aloud, “This circle is closed and this working is complete.”

Now, Chillllllll.

With love, and perfectly balanced light and dark,
MD

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Michael Domitrovich Michael Domitrovich

A Holiday Healing Fair

A Holiday Healing Fair - 

December 28th from 2pm-8pm at Theater for the New City

155 1st avenue, between 9th and 10th street, East Village, NYC 10003

EdibleSpirit Events is proud to present:

A HOLIDAY HEALING FAIR

Wednesday, December 28th from 2pm-8pm
at Theater for the New City, 155 1st ave. between 9th and 10th

We will have a skilled group of healers, mediums, readers, shamans and hypnotists offering their services at the extremely reduced rate of $20 for a 20 minute session. Advance tickets are available at theaterforthenewcity.net.

100% of the profits will go to charity: theaterforthenewcity.netstandwithstandingrock.net and 22untilnone.org (See the links and blurbs below for more information)

We are offering this event in order to provide a safe place for ALL PEOPLE to feel, heal, and be… to process using “non-traditional” means in these non-traditional times.

If you’ve ever wanted to try a Reiki healing, a past life regression, or a tarot reading, this is your chance. Everyone working this fair is doing so on a volunteer basis, so ALL of the profits will benefit the institutions mentioned above. For more information check out ediblespirit.com.

To buy tickets in advance, head to theaterforthenewcity.net. You can also just show up at the fair on the 28th and buy your tickets then!

Theater For the New City is a cultural institution in NYC’s east village, dedicated to producing 30-40 new plays a year. They are a space for artists and stories of all races, creeds, orientations, and identifications.

Stand With Standing Rock supports the Standing Rock Sioux and Oceti Sakowin camp - an historic gathering of tribes allies, and people of all walks of life standing in solidarity to protect our water and our earth. 

22 Until None is an organization that aims to end veteran suicide, one step at a time, through emergency financial assistance, VA benefits help, advocacy, illness services, camaraderie and a 24/7 crisis hotline. All the staff at 22 Until None are volunteers and dedicate full time hours to the cause. 

 

 

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Michael Domitrovich Michael Domitrovich

Suggestion for a Winter Solstice Celebration

A template for observing the Winter Solstice (Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 5:44 AM EST) and an explanation of the how and why.

The darkest hour is just before dawn.

The winter solstice occurs at 5:44 am EST on the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 21st. This ceremony is best done in the hours before dawn on Wednesday morning, or after dark on Wednesday evening.

A ritual like this is designed to honor a key moment in the solar cycle - one of four major downbeats in the score of the solar year - when the sun changes signs and a new season begins. We have a general vibe of when the seasons change - we can all sense the difference between spring, summer, fall and winter - but the solstices and equinoxes are the mathematical points of exactitude when we switch from one season to the next. 

Why does this matter? Whether you care about the astrology or not, when the sun does anything, it affects us all. It’s the source of light, of energy, of warmth that connects us and gives us life. Metaphysically it represents all of that, but in a more immediate and deeply personal way - the sun is considered to be the source of consciousness and our connection to life itself. So observing the solar cycles is an opportunity to honor this point of public connection to each other, while also considering our personal connection to ourselves and our very existence.

The other seasons have their reasons, but the winter solstice is my fave because it’s kind of goth. It’s the moment that our ancestors stopped to consider, “what if we don’t make it through the winter?” The common sense thing to do at this time of year is to be eminently practical (as the sun enters Capricorn), and to release absolutely everything we don’t need while carefully conserving what we do need to get us through the cold dark winter. But there is always the nagging feeling that even if we are meticulous in our conservation of resources we might not make it anyway. So it’s a time for reckoning, of giving so much thanks for what we have - to eat, to sleep on, to keep us warm - while recognizing the true value we have in the things we cannot hold or taste or snuggle. It’s pretty stark. Kind of sweet. Kind of goth. 

Spiritually speaking, its a time of inner housekeeping. If I don’t make it through this winter, what actually matters RIGHT NOW? From where does your power come? What is your power really? What really matters to you? What really gives you life?

We are compelled to say “family,” during the holidays, but even if your family is the best ever, that’s still a tangible, external support, and all that is external and tangible is subject to disappearing in the cold dark winter. At this time of year we are urged to rely on that which is internal and intangible. I’m keeping it pretty non-verbal this year. I’m grateful to be alive, to breathe, to think. When all else is taken away from us we are left with the light, the inner radiance that is metaphysically connected to the sun.

The most potent symbolism of the winter solstice is has to do with light and dark. Today is the shortest day of the year and the longest night (in the northern hemisphere), thanks to the sun being at its lowest point in the sky relative to the angle of the Earth. That’s what the sun is doing while staring down at our pale, sniffly faces. That is the thing that our body feels even if our minds are illuminated by one LED screen or another. That is what connects us to our ancestors, and to each other. We honor the shortest day and the longest night, and treat it as a symbolic dark night of the soul, the darkest hour just before dawn.

And yet it’s not just about the dark. When the sun hits rock bottom, the only place for it to go is back up. When the days are at their shortest, the only thing they can do is get longer, and that’s what happens. The solstice, from the latin sol, meaning sun, and sistere, to come to a stop, is the point where the sun appears to stop at its lowest point before it begins its upward climb. We honor the depth and dark of the stopping, and the long winter that is to come which could even cause our own lives to stop… but we also honor the implicit climb that is to come. This is the return of the light, the dawning of the new, slightly longer day and somewhere, in the not too distant future, the return of spring and the promise of new life.

Note that we don't ask for anything during this ritual. It's not the ideal time for manifestation or making things come to fruition. It's better to cut back, let go, and give thanks.

There is so much more symbolism and meaning that can be discussed here. But for now I leave you with an urging - what I’m writing down to encapsulate this moment in simple verbal form:

“Go in. Quiet down. Let go. Give thanks. Look into the darkness and face your fear. Continue to give thanks. Rejoice at the light in the midst of the darkness. Give thanks for the light. Watch it grow.”

Hope is never impossible.

Don't forget the Holiday Healing Fair is happening in NYC on the 28th of December. It's a great way to give thanks for the light within us and around us. More info HERE.

With love and steadily growing light,
MD

WINTER SOLSTICE RITUAL


What you’ll need - a taper candle, a bowl of water, a bowl of salt or dirt, a pen and paper, and a bunch of little tea lights. If you have a tree or menorah or some other kind of celebratory holiday centerpiece, do this ritual nearby.

1. Turn off all the lights in your house or the space in which you’re doing the ritual. 

2. Arrange all of the tea lights in your ritual area, or place them all over your living space.

3. Pick a clean flat surface and cover it with a cloth if you like. On it place the larger taper candle, a bowl of water, and a bowl of salt. If you don’t have a taper candle that’s ok. Light the candle and burn some sage or incense. If you don’t like smoke, pick a scented candle or just give the room a spritz of perfume.

4. Call on the directions: Turning to the East, say “I call upon the spirits of the East and the element of AIR. Please join this sacred circle and support this sacred space.” Turn to the South and say, “I call upon the spirits of the South and the element of FIRE. Please join this sacred circle and support this sacred space.” Turn to the West and say “I call upon the spirits of the West and the element of Water. Please join this sacred circle and support this sacred space. Then turn to the North and say “I call upon the spirits of the North and the element of Earth. Please join this sacred circle and support this sacred space. Now bend down and touch the ground, and say, “I call upon Mother Earth to ground this sacred space and support this working. I offer thanks for all that you do, Mother, in nourishing and supporting me, my loved ones and all beings on Earth.” Then stand tall and raise your arms to the sky, saying “I call upon Father Sky to inspire and illuminate this working. I give thanks to magic, and all the energies of the higher planes and ask for their to support in this sacred space.” Then, bring your hands into a prayer position at your heart center and bow deeply into your heart and say, “I honor the 7th direction, the center of my being that is the center of all beings. Please let this connection strengthen and support this sacred working.” If you don't like these forces or names for God/Goddess/All That Is, we cool, pick your own. Just pick something that is bigger than you, beyond yourself (archangels, astrological signs, planets, or deities from some other lineage).

5. State your intention clearly: “This is a ceremony to observe and honor the winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year. I (or we) perform this ceremony to honor the darkness, and to affirm the strength and power of the light as it returns.”

6. Using your pen and a small piece of paper, write down your fears for the winter to come. Write them down and fold them up when you’re done.

7. Holding these fears in your hand, say, “I release these fears to the darkness and surrender them to the void from which all things come and to which all things return.” Bury the paper in the salt, extinguish the taper candle and imagine your fears dissolving in blackness. You can even close your eyes and imagine yourself dissolving in blackness. Use this moment, even if it’s JUST this moment, to let everything go.

8. If your eyes are closed, start to watch the darkness for a point of light. Let that light begin to grow within you. If your eyes are open, or whenever you open them, re-light the taper candle and say, “We celebrate the return of the light, the hope that will guide us through the winter to come, the hope that is always with us, the light that is eternal.” Now you can use the taper candle to light all the other little tea lights, or just use a lighter or matches.

9. Return to your bowl of salt. Sit with it for a moment and watch the quiet, gently flickering lights around you. Look at the bowl of salt and imagine your favorite flower growing up from within. Watch all the stages of growth - from sprout to shoot to stem to leaves. When it starts to blossom let it be the most vividly colored bloom you’ve ever seen. Hold the beauty of that bloom in your visualization for as long as you can, then let the petals fall, let the leaves wither, and watch as the stem wilts and disintegrates. Visualize this cycle fully once, or as many times as you like. Appreciate the cyclical nature of life, and the sweetness of this moment. You’ve just moved through the portal of the solstice, from darkness into light.

10. Stand again and go through the directions in reverse. Give thanks to the sky above, the earth below, and the 4 directions and their associated elements - Earth in the North, Water in the West, Fire in the South, and Air in the East. Return to the central space of your heart with hands at heart center. Give thanks to yourself, to anyone you’ve done the ritual with, to your family, your loved ones, to all of human kind, and to all beings on earth and to the forces of the universe. Thank whomever and whatever you are grateful for. Then pronounce clearly, “This working is complete.” You can leave your fears buried through the winter or dispose of them and the salt or earth by burning, flushing, or burying them when you see fit.

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Michael Domitrovich Michael Domitrovich

Bubble What

Are you an accepting witch? Or a resistant witch? Which witch is which?

Today’s Full moon is in Aries. I’m feeling this as a moment in which the energy released by the last new moon in Libra is now asking to be dealt with. It’s like the new moon presented some questions, the past few weeks have turned up some answers, and this full moon is asking that you take stock of what’s come up so you can decide what to commit to, and how to proceed.

There’s also something pushing us to break through. Everyone I’ve encountered in the last few weeks seems to have worked really hard to integrate all the craziness of the last few months, and wonderfully enough, everyone seems to be taking it in stride.  There is an awareness of what has been dealt with, worked through, and accomplished... even if the experience has been harrowing. “Thank goodness that round is over!”

But there is something else happening simultaneously, something that feels like acceptance, “Now that all that is over, look at where I am right now. There’s no revelation. There’s no fanfare. I’m not even sure what happens next but (sigh!) here I am.”

Acceptance - In the midst of natural disasters, extreme elections, and geez, everything else - if you feel it, that is pretty amazing in itself. I say it a lot, but I am amazed that any of us can get through the day, let alone accept that day as it is. But that’s the thing about acceptance - it’s not emotional. There’s no feelings involved. You either accept or you don’t.

In my healing practice acceptance is associated with the root chakra. The root is the energetic center at the base of the spine, the tip of the tailbone, the perineum, the taint. If the chakras were a string of christmas lights, the root would be the plug, and Mother Earth would be the socket.

Physically the root is associated with survival - the preservation of the entire physical organism - as well as the organs of excretion and the process of elimination. Emotionally it has to do with feelings of security and safety. Mentally it has to do with self-preserving or self-defeating beliefs - the ideas you learn or develop to preserve and prolong your existence. 

Existentially, the root is pretty stark. It says, “I exist.” When I work with clients who have trauma in their roots the opposite holds true: they are usually hard pressed to believe that they are even alive. They lack a certain vitality. They sometimes act as though their life were happening to someone else. This is because the root is so black-or-white. There’s very little emotion in there, as emotion is usually associated with the sacral (2nd) chakra. The root is much more primal, even animal, evaluating most situations as life or death, period. So even if the root is just “off balance” the experience of it is more like, “OFF”.

This instinct can be problematic if you’re trying to have a relationship, or do your job, or forgive someone. The root doesn’t make a lot of room for complexity. But that’s it’s function. Let the heart or the mind (4th and 6th chakras) do all that, just don’t let the root make you an animal, desperate for survival. When you use the starkness of the root’s consciousness effectively, it can help you to see your life SIMPLY.

How to activate the root? Acceptance, duh.

I give clients an exercise when their root is wonky - To draw a dot, then surround that dot with words and phrases that remind them of the people places and things in their life that matter to them at this moment. What are the most important circumstances in your life? Job, family, friends, hobbies, vacations, crippling anxiety, unprocessed trauma, addictions. I ask them to go nuts, to let it all out, and to keep the items as close to the dot as possible. The end of the exercise is to draw a line around all these words and to take in the whole mass of circumstances. Look at the whole picture, and accept it as it is. And that’s it. It sounds simple but it’s very powerful. It tends to ground the plug and turn the lights on.

Why? Because when you get it all out and draw a line around it, you are cultivating basic acceptance. The moment you have even a drop of acceptance, guess what happens. RESISTANCE IS NEUTRALIZED.

Yup. The fidgety bastard cousin of acceptance is resistance. I used to think it was struggle. But struggle is natural; avoidable, but natural. Resistance is a waste of time and energy.

Technically, resistance is anything that is not acceptance. And that's where the starkness of the root becomes awesome. If you are doing anything other than accepting, you are resisting. Sometimes resistance is ok. Even rejection. If something is not good for you and you know it, push it away, don't let it in! The problem comes when we are UNCONSCIOUSLY resistant. When you don't know, for whatever reason. Maybe stuff has piled up and you're overwhelmed, maybe you are low energy and in a foul mood. Maybe you're sick. It's all fair game. But if there is unconscious resistance anywhere in your existence... you're wasting time and energy. All the resistance in the world will not yield acceptance. The good news is, just one drop of acceptance neutralizes an ocean's worth of resistance.

I’m offering a 3-dimensional version of the above acceptance/grounding/root chakra exercise. Because it’s 3 dimensional, there’s an added component in there - about how you’re relating to the circumstances of your life. Once you know how you’re relating, you’re basically assessing your level of resistance. Once you know how much you’re resisting, it becomes much easier to accept. Let me know how you the practice vibes with you.

 

An EdibleSpirit Practice for Cultivating Acceptance

  1. Close your eyes, get settled, and take three deep breaths, in through the nose, and out through the mouth.

  2. Imagine yourself surrounded in a perfect, spherical bubble. Spend a moment visualizing the thickness of the bubble, the light, opalescent hue, the simultaneous delicacy and durability.

  3. Invoke the present circumstances of your life. Imagine the most pressing events that have just occurred, that are occurring, or that are about to occur. No big deal, just use the power of your mind to call up the present circumstances of your life. Don’t judge, go with the first stuff that comes up.

  4. As the first set of circumstances arise, imagine the whole event floating up to you INSIDE ITS OWN BUBBLE! The entire kaleidoscope of people, places, and things, feelings, thoughts and beliefs - all the associations with these circumstances are swirling around inside the bubble. As it gets close to you, you can see, hear, feel, and sense the entire situation in the bubble. Spend a few moments just observing the various elements.

  5. Now imagine the event bubble floating closer until it lands on your bubble! As it lands and touches your bubble, notice your immediate reaction. Do you want to pull this bubble to you? Do you want to push it away? Do you not want to do anything? Then go deeper, ask yourself - HOW AM I RELATING TO THESE Circumstances? Am I pulling them to me? Am I pushing them away? Am I touching them lightly? Or am I not engaging at all? Try not to get into complicated feelings, stick with these very visceral responses - pulling in, pushing away, touching gently, or doing nothing. 

  6. Once you get a sense of how you are relating to those circumstances, awesome, good job. Now, simply ask yourself, “What is the most effective way for me to relate to these circumstances?” Pulling in, pushing away, touching gently, or doing nothing. If you’re unsure - PRACTICE! Imagine swatting the event bubble off your own bubble. Imagine pulling it into your own bubble. Imagine gently touching the membrane between the two. Imagine sitting, doing nothing at all.

Which feels right? Which feels best? You can cycle and explore and try different options. You can go through the whole process with another set of circumstances. You can also imagine relationships, conversations, and work projects inside the circumstantial event bubbles. You could even imagine an event which hasn’t happened yet.

The whole point of this exercise is to objectively observe how you are already engaging your life’s circumstances, maybe even subconsciously or unconsciously. Once you have an awareness of how you’re already relating, you then get to decide whether that is the most effective way. You can make your unconscious behavior conscious. Sometimes you’re doing nothing when it’s really time to disengage. Sometimes you’re drawing something to you that you’d really rather do nothing about. Going through these steps will give you a handle on where you’re at regarding basic acceptance or resistance. You get to decide how to proceed from there.

Happy everything, everyone.
All my love
MD

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    Michael Domitrovich Michael Domitrovich

    What the Flip Is Freedom?

    Freedom ain't just a song by George Michael.

    Freedom. It seems like we know what it means.

    Ditto with independence.

    But did you decide on your definitions or were they fed to you like so many burgers and dogs? NOTE: This is not a leading question, and I am not throwing lazy anti-establishment shade at the USA on Independence Day.

    Linda.

    Linda.

    I’m a word-nerd. I like words with multiple meanings, and I even enjoy tracking how meanings change, and when, and in which contexts. What I don’t dig is when I assume I know what a word means and how to use it, when it’s not actually clear.

    When we use words that are defined for us by someone else, without clarifying what they mean to ourselves, stuff can get pretty messy. The problem is that even if the meaning of a word is hijacked, the word doesn’t lose its power. It retains the original power and adds another, often distorted, dimension to it. This distortion seems innocuous but carries concealed toxicity.

    The real trouble hits when the word is used. We use language to express ourselves. But when we express ourselves with someone else’s idea, without knowing that we’re doing so, the storedpoison proliferates, even if it remains undetected. If this goes on for a long time, it’s possible for the poison to spread in ways we can’t imagine, until all of a sudden it’s leached into the earth, air and water and people start dying. Words can actually cost lives. 

    Today is the day the US was born. It’s a birthday! And birthdays are complicated. I wonder if America is nervous that people won’t show up to her party? Or if she feels guilty for being born? Or if she is gonna get inappropriately wasted? Does America get birthday sex?

    We are celebrating her Birth and her freedom! Independence! From the British! Right? Is that what we’re doing today? Or are we celebrating something else?

    Again, I have no horse in this race. I am grateful for what I have. I love the US because I was born here, and I think we’re born where we’re born for a bunch of good karmic reasons. By karmic I don’t mean to imply that we are born where we deserve to be born because we did well or screwed up. I mean that our birth place is part of a huge set of given circumstances that make up the foundation of what we’re working with in this life: what we have, what we don’t, what we have to overcome, what we use to learn.

    Mostly I love the US because I am aware that the freedoms we take for granted here are inconceivable in so many parts of the world. I may have been taught definitions for freedom and independence, but I was eventually able come to my own conclusions about the meaning of the words. The very fact that I can write a post about freedom, today, without someone stopping me is proof of the freedom I have that so many do not. That has to be honored.

    All I want to offer here is how I’m thinking about freedom today, and hopefully to get you thinking about freedom as well.

    Naomi.

    Naomi.

    What does it mean to be free? Is it about escaping tyranny? Then you’re free?

    Is it about overthrowing your oppressors? Conquering? Then you’re free?

    I argue that if your freedom requires you to retreat or attack, it’s not really freedom.

    True freedom, as I see it, cannot be relative to anything. It must be inherent, unconditional, unaffiliated. It must be able to stand alone. Otherwise how can it be free?

    If you have to attack, that’s not freedom because you are being compelled to engage something. If you have to rebel, that’s not freedom because you are still rebelling against something.

    There may be plenty of reasons to fight for freedom (like WWII) or surrender for freedom (like Gandhi), but these reasons are not freedom in themselves. They are actions taken on behalf of freedom, or in the name of freedom. They are actions that use the idea of freedom as a justification.

    This is the equivalent of using a word that you don't know the exact meaning of. It's probably fine at first, until, little by little, it's not fine anymore. Not at all.

    Christy.

    Christy.

    The good news is, there's a little space inside of us all that is always free. I might argue this is the only space inside of us that matters. It is some part of us, somewhere within us, that is totally unconditioned and unaffiliated; that is pure, that is clear, that is free.

    It might be the quietest place within you, or the stillest. It might be the loudest, or the freakiest. But it's there. You'll know it when you encounter it because it feels like you. It is enough. It works. It makes you feel fantastic.

    And most importantly it doesn't require you to DO anything. It needs no step forward or step back, no attack or retreat. It is still, and in it's stillness it is untethered, unfettered, unlimited.

    You are unlimited.

    And yet, the shitstorms keep raining. Awesome. What then?

    When I was a kid I was chubby, and I was really good at floating. Like the best. I didn't like running or jumping or pretty much any sports. I tolerated swimming because I liked the water. But I frickin' LOVED to float. I was the best at floating.

    When I hit puberty I dropped some pounds and then, one summer, at the beach, I realized I couldn't float anymore. I did not like this. My legs kept sinking, my arms flailing, my head bobbing under the water. "Must be cuz I lost weight," I thought. Maybe it was all my blubber that let me chill like a whale. But that wasn't comforting. I loved to float, I was the best floater. I got pissed.

    Getting pissed didn't help. Then one day a wise teacher said to me, "You're tense. Relax, let go, let the water hold you." It was weird. He was right. I struggled some more, then suddenly released, and bam. I was floating again.

    Freedom is like floating. You have to relax into it whenever you get the chance. The problems will come, the atrocities will occur (and it's more and more likely that they will occur, are occurring, and have already occurred outside our own doors), but if you know what YOUR FREEDOM FEELS LIKE, you will smell it, feel it, sense it coming. 

    This is good, because these days, real freedom, real floating is hard to come by without looking for it. You can't just float anymore. You can'tt get too comfortable with your freedom, because the meaning of that word may have changed since you last checked in. But the acceptance, the relaxation, the release required to float are all criteria that can dramatically increase your ability to find freedom in the midst of the crappiest currents.

    Cindy.

    Cindy.

    My mom woke me up too early this AM. I didn't want to wake up. I wanted to rebel, to conquer, I wanted to escape, to go back to sleep, to frickin' whine. But mom was up. She wanted to go the beach. I was not floating. I was not free. I was tired, and I was pissed. I felt the absurdity of myself being an idiot and creating so much unnecessary drama. I put my suit on and went to the beach with my mom. I didn't attack. I didn't retreat. I went to the beach and I sat.

    "This is freedom," I thought. In this moment, I am lucky enough to have no problems. This moment is always available, even if only for a moment. I sat completely still. I wanted to write this feeling down so I could share it. But I didn't dare. I sat so still.

    And THEN the cutest, whiskery-est, slipperiest, greyest seal poked his head out of the water directly in front of where my mom and I were sitting. We jumped! I grabbed my phone and looked up Seal medicine. 

    I found this, from www.shamanicjourney.com: "Seals are (obviously) sea mammals, and are highly symbolic of our feeling, sensual selves. The seal helps us to remember our connection to our deep inner rhythms, feelings, and knowing, as represented by the sea... When we are afraid of drowning in these depths, Seal being a good swimmer and knowing how to flow with the ever changing current, reminds us how to swim with the current. When we do this, the negative feelings we have created such as worry, fear and anxiety are released form our minds. If Seal enters your life you are being asked to review the ebb and flow of your thoughts and emotions and find and keep up a point of balance."

    I like the idea of flowing, so very much. But in that moment, when Seal popped his snout out of the blue, I prefer to think he was floating. Still. Happy. And Free. Whatever he did next would be in his flow. I respected the his flow. It made me want to be like him. Good thing I'm growing my beard out. I dove in the water and practiced.

    This is my best early morning "running seal pose," (photo by my mom). All the gifs are from George Michael's music video, "Freedom 90"

    This is my best early morning "running seal pose," (photo by my mom). All the gifs are from George Michael's music video, "Freedom 90"

    I floated. I flowed. I went up, and down. And I felt pretty free. On this Independence Day, may we all find the perfect balance between flowing and floating. May we all know freedom.

    Millions of thanks to everyone and everything that has created, sustained, and supported true freedom, in the US and around the world. Oceans of love to all those living under tyranny, delusion, and separation. May we all know freedom now. Today.

    With Love and Firecracker Light,
    MD

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