Peace On Earth & Good Will to All

-Artwork © 2023 Jan Ketchel

Our Daily Soulbytes and weekly blogs are on pause while we pull inward after a year of beautiful interaction with the many people we are privileged to be in contact with and as we enter into a time of deep, soulful contemplation. If we are right within ourselves then our world also has the opportunity to get right as well.

First postings in the New Year begin on Monday January 8, 2024. We look forward to reconnecting then.

Peace on Earth and Good Will to All.

Love,
Jan & Chuck

Soulbyte for Friday December 22, 2023

-Artwork © 2023 Jan Ketchel

Maintain balance in all you do so that your body, mind and spirit are in balance as well. Make decisions based on whether something is right for you, whether it will keep you in balance, or at least not take you too far off so that it is difficult to reset. Sometimes the body says no in dramatic ways and sometimes its communications are more subtle. Get to know your body so you are aware of how it communicates to you on a daily basis. To maintain balance is to offer yourself a smooth ride through life, with enough energy to do the things that really matter to you. For when you are engaged in something that you are passionate about you might notice that you have all the energy in the world. And, thus, you learn what it really means to be in good balance.

Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Soulbyte for Thursday December 21, 2023

-Artwork © 2023 Jan Ketchel

Find your place in the world by first finding your place within yourself; within your body that walks the Earth, within your mind that inhabits your body, and within your spirit that encompasses all that is you. In body, mind and spirit find your grounding so that each day you anchor a bit more in the you that is fully awake, present and ready for adventure. Like a plant growing in the woods, allow yourself to grow too, nurtured by the experience of what life brings. Each day ask for the help and guidance of nature and the offerings of the universe to ground you and teach you. In this manner find your place in the world you inhabit, in the body that you are and in the spirit that encompasses you.

Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Soulbyte for Wednesday December 20, 2023

-Artwork © 2023 Jan Ketchel

Reset yourself throughout the day to remembering that you are more than your thoughts. You are more than the person you see in the mirror. You are more than the voice that speaks from your mouth. Reset your spirit self, acknowledging this eternal self who accompanies you throughout life, always has and always will. Anchor more frequently in memories of this spirit self who knows and loves you deeply, who wishes only for you to be fulfilled. Accept that this is your true self and you will be more than well on your way to fulfillment.

Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Chuck’s Place: Retrograde in the Chaos of Creation

Practice patient introspection during Mercury Retrograde…
-Artwork © 2023 Jan Ketchel

The shadow of Mercury in retrograde hovers over this current holiday season,  between December 13, 2023 and January 1, 2024. Mercury is the planet of communication, hence miscommunications, poor communications, confused messages and misunderstandings in relationships are likely.

These events can cause frustration, anxiety and brain fog that can also disrupt communications within the self. On the first day of this current Mercury retrograde, I had three clients oversleep and nearly miss their appointments! Don’t take it personally, it’s in the stars!

During a Mercury retrograde, the technological instruments of communication, like cell phones, computers and printers, can also experience disruptions and breakdowns. In fact, all technological instruments and physical objects are vulnerable to breakdown.

The trickster quality of Mercury in retrograde counsels one to exercise caution and prudence when making important decisions, or entering into contracts, during this period. In effect, Mercury retrograde disrupts the homeostasis of habitual or planned life with objective occurrences that can, on a dime, create a traffic jam that precludes a coveted gathering.

The best guidance is to recognize the objective nature of the energetic impact of this astrological event; meaning, don’t be so quick to blame or take things personally, and surrender with patience to all things. They will ultimately pass.

If it’s not the time to greatly accomplish things outwardly, or in relationship, it is however the perfect opportunity to go inward and examine the thoughts, feelings and memories that are triggered by association to outer mishaps.

The other morning, I pulled the Tarot card of Ruin, the 10 of Swords. This card highlights mental states of despair, helplessness and hopelessness. It easily projects itself into matter and can generate first chakra fears of financial or relational collapse.

Guidance is to reflect upon old fears of ruin lurking in the shadow, which may be associatively activated by this current Mercury retrograde. From this reflective place of recapitulation, the opportunity presents itself to fully release and deactivate the energetic impact of old fears. This is the growth opportunity offered in a time of Mercury retrograde, which is particularly well-timed, as we clean house and prepare for New Life in the New Year.

New life is indeed the chaos of creation. Chaos is creative energy taking form in a new pattern of life. The I Ching represents this birthing process as the third hexagram, Difficulty at the Beginning. Amidst thunder and rain, the air is filled with teeming, chaotic profusion, as new life struggles to break through the earth’s surface.

Old life, where we’ve lived, has been dominated by repetitive, habitual patterns of behavior. When people set intentions for the New Year they conceive the intent for change in new, uncharted patterns of living.

The time of Mercury retrograde disrupts the trance of familiar life, as  the ground is prepared to nurture new life. Creative energy is freed from stuck places during Mercury retrograde, as it gathers around and prepares to serve new creative intentions.

Many a myth depicts this struggle for new life. The Titan god of time, Cronus, ate his children at birth to secure his continued rule. The subconscious mind is like Cronus, as it rules our lifetime with established archetypal patterns of behavior that can snuff out the spark of our new, conscious intentions.

It was the trickery of Rhea, Cronus’ wife, who gave her husband a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes to eat, instead of baby Zeus, that brought the change that gave birth to the rule of the Olympian gods.

For humans, the employment of trickery that will break through to new life consists in maintaining the faith of unbending intent, as suggestions are repeated to the subconscious mind that will eventually supplant the rule of habitual patterns.

When we light a candle on New Year’s Eve, we ignite the light of consciousness and affirm our intentions to expand beyond the dominance of purely instinctive reactions to life.

With the support of Mercury retrograde energy this year, already jarring us from the trance of the predictable, we are empowered to take life creatively in a whole new direction. May that be a direction that serves the greater good of all.

Peace on Earth,
Chuck