Happy Beltane to all of our community! Spring is well established here on the West Coast – flowers and trees are blooming, gardens are sprouting, and the breeze has the beautiful scent of growth and promise.
At this time of year, we humans are desiring more growth and time outdoors, generally. Barbecues, walks on the beach or in the forest, planting in the garden, and, dare I say, outdoor ahem adventures? Wink, wink!
Yet here we sit, in the midst of a pandemic. Some provinces and states are opening back up, and even in the ones that are still under physical distancing restrictions, there is talk of loosening the boundaries a little.
In the Southern Hemisphere, it is Samhain, the turning to the dark and dying of the year, instead of the birth and growing. In many ways, we are experiencing that same energy in the Northern Hemisphere – the contraction, looking over your shoulder for souls (alive or dead), the wariness and weariness.
Beltane is a time for love, though. It is the Sacred Marriage, the union of the God and Goddess. Even while practicing safe physical distance from one another, we can still open to that energy of growing love. In fact, it is vitally important that we turn that love the one place it desperately needs to be right now. Inward.
Now is the time to practice self-love – fiercely, joyously, selfishly and selflessly. Sit with your comfort and discomfort, your loneliness, your fear and inadequacies, your anxiety and pleasure, your desire to do something or nothing, your coping mechanisms… Notice what is going on in your body, your heart, and your mind, and send it all love.
We have been given the opportunity to be fully self aware, to move forward creating a new reality, to evolve to our next level as human beings. That shift requires love to make the jump – love for self, love for others, love for the planet, love for all species. It starts with the self.
I’m working on loving myself deeper and stronger. Will you join me by loving yourself?
Happy Beltane! May love shine it’s light on all areas of your life, and blossom into abundance for all areas of your life.
With love and blessings in service,
Rt. Rev. Mary Malinski, APS
