Let’s Ch-ch-change Our DNA*
(This is not travel writing, but fuck it, it’s my blog!!)
On March 20th a total solar eclipse new moon in Pisces and equinox heralds a time of rebooting our faith and aligning with the universal mind to live our lives with the flow—not let our egos desperately try to flail against the current.
“Man is subject, like other mammals, birds, and even insects, to that mysterious law, which causes certain normal processes, such as gestation, as well as the maturation and duration of various diseases, to follow lunar periods.” –The Descent of Man, Charles Darwin
There’s so much work that we as individuals must do in order to break through the false and limiting beliefs that society radiates.
“The purpose of human incarnations is to realize G-d. to know Him, to see His face, to feel His presence, and to do His will and work on the Earth during our lifetimes.” – Gottfried Muller, philanthropist
I’m not totally comfortable with the G word per say, but regaining my faith in something good—energy, the universe, whatever name you choose to give it—has been integral in my personal healing. It has helped me rebuild and strengthen myself. Giving my problems “up to the universe” has eschewed some anxiety from my neurotic mind.
I was taught to believe in hard facts; our culture pushes proof over faith, because, like it says in The Prophet’s Way: “Science is something unique to those cultures who were influenced by the Greeks. In Indian, Chinese, and Native American cultures, there is no equivalent. They have philosophy and spirituality, which integrate what we call science with what we call mysticism.”
Still, I felt so empty after I rejected all mainstream religion (I don’t knock other people’s beliefs though because fuck, life is hard, cling to whatever gives you hope as long as you’re not hurting anyone or yourself). But I kept feeling broken down by life and not believing there was a higher force looking over me. What was the point…of anything? The void was gnawing at me.
I’m technically a Cashew (my mom is Jewish & my dad’s Catholic), but my parents didn’t push either religion upon me. As a child, I chose to become Catholic so my grandparents would love me (but that’s a completely different story). I went through the rituals, but nothing with Catholicism ever stuck with me.
In fact, as I grew up I started to see Catholicism as the ultimate hypocrisy—cheat on your wife? No problem, just go to confession and the priest will probably prescribe a few Hail Mary’s and poof you’re absolved.
However, I was somewhat fascinated by the mystical side to that religion’s traditions. And that’s what I think is imperative: unearthing the kernels of truth in all these religious texts. Our rational minds might be hesitant to accept that those truths are in fact pretty “out there.”
Years before I started learning about lunar cycles and astrology, my mom dragged the whole family to see this woman who was speaking at some spiritual center here in NYC. This woman photographed orbs, which were supposedly “highly sentient Light Beings she calls the Extra Celestials that she originally met in a crop circle in 2004.” My mom thought it was important for us to go see her but I swear she’s not crazy hahahaha. (In all seriousness, through my own experience, I’ve come to embrace the paranormal beliefs she holds true.)
Even though I fully indulge in esotericism, I just could not buy this lady’s story. They turned off all the lights and claimed the Light Beings would make this statue of the Virgin Mary dance and move around. Nothing happened. None of us bought it. It was totally wacky.
But, what stuck out was this Indian man sitting in the back who just kept muttering “paradigm shift, paradigm shift” throughout the woman’s entire lecture.
The point about this strange story is that the Indian man was right, we are indeed on the verge of a paradigm shift with the new moon and this is an essential time to recalibrate. We must do our best to see past the facades of patriotism, capitalism, and every other institution that is meant to keep us disempowered from achieving true enlightenment, to find G-d and spread that love and light, as Herr Muller duly noted.
So maybe we should have a call to kindness. I believe that kindness connects us to our Higher Selves and helps us remember the ancient knowledge we’ve been conditioned to forget and repress. We need to infuse more kindness into our cultural DNA. I know it’s not the most original idea, but just go out and commit a random act of kindness, even if it’s just holding the door open for someone.
“It is so pleasant to explore Nature and oneself at the same time, doing violence neither to her no to one’s own spirit, but bringing both into balance in gentle, mutual interaction.” –Goethe
*PS: If you know where the title is from, I love you