| Dear Heart,
We are embarking upon a rare and most holy season as Passover, Easter and Ramadan all occur simultaneously in this 2022 year. In a rare conjunction, these three major holy-days of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are occurring at the same time this year with Passover today, Ramadan today (this is a weekly holiday, within the month of Ramadan, which began on April 2 and ends on May 2) and Easter on Sunday. As I reviewed all three spiritual traditions, I discovered that Passover is a freedom celebration and that Ramadan is a month of spiritual cleansing and purification for Muslims in which there’s an increase in worship time, good deeds and acts of charity. And that Easter Sunday, from a Christian perspective is said to be the most important and sacred Sunday of the year as it marks the anniversary of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to heaven.
As Easter is the only one of these three holy-days that has also become a fun holiday separate and apart from any spiritual worship practices with Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, egg hunts and more, I looked into the roots of these traditions and found they have root in pagan beliefs that the Anglo-Saxon goddess, Ostara, had a pet bird who would lay brightly colored eggs. Ostara would perform a magic trick in front of children where she would turn her bird into a rabbit (who continued to lay eggs), thus creating the tradition of the Easter bunny. All of this history and tradition brings to mind what a dear friend once said, “there are many views to the canyon,” so you can take your pick of how you want to honor and celebrate this special weekend.
Observing this holy-day weekend from a spiritual perspective whatever your religion is (or isn’t!!) can teach us all a lot more about faith than bunnies. Drawing from the traditional Easter season that begins this Sunday and then continues for 50 days affords us a time to reset, finetune and recalibrate where and who we are as we move into and through the second quarter of 2022. Following this 50-day tradition affords all of us, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Pagan and all others, an opportunity to cultivate a spirit that defines who we are as Divine Sovereign Beings of Love Light and Service to Source, to God, to the Universe. The idea is to live in the spirit of the Easter Season during these next 50 days so that we open more fully in the second half of the year (beginning at the end of those 50 days), to what more is possible for each us, of what more we are here to be, do, have and create.
Here are three practical ways to live in the Spirit of Easter over the next 50 days:
Live with Joy
Pure joy is a deep-down happiness and delight, a gladness flowing from the heart, that cannot be taken away or altered, even in the midst of sorrow, challenges, and pain. Suffering (even deep suffering as seen with the crucifixion of Christ) can always be transformed or alchemized into a higher vibrational frequency (as when Christ was risen given the energetic transformation through faith and belief in his resurrection). With a deep abiding faith that all is and will be well, we can open to and hold on to an enduring sense of joy even in the midst of the sadness we experience from the loss of a loved one, a failure to achieve an important goal, financial setbacks, or any other challenge put before us. It is always available for each of us to choose higher and choose joy.
Live without Fear
Jesus the Christ’s Resurrection teaches us that God, Source, the Universe can overcome and transform anything, even death. Think of the bible passage when the Christ is resurrected and appears to the women at the tomb and later to his disciples, and his first words are said to have been “Do not be afraid!” (Mt 28:5,10) These words speak to our hearts, and invite us to let loose the fear from the loss of a job, a serious illness, a crumbling relationship and all else we hold in fear. With faith, trust, strength, joy and surrender, we can overcome and move through the most serious problems and challenges when we live without fear.
See From New Eyes
The Easter season invites us to live with a sense of newness, of a new beginning. Just as the return of spring starts the growing and blossoming season in nature, it also lifts our spirits and invites us to experience the whole world as new (as is said that the Resurrection of Jesus makes “all things new.” Rev. 21:5) The Easter spirit is a spirit of renewal that empowers us to show up each day with a fresh, high-vibrational positive attitude, to renew relationships that have been dormant, and to express appreciation and affection to those closest to us and even to all those who momentarily cross our path. Seeing ourselves and all the world through new eyes, through the eyes of the Divine builds strength and courage to move on through to what is next for us in the rest of this 2022 year.
I invite you to use these 50 days to cultivate an Easter spirit where daily you consciously, mindfully, embrace joy, live free without fear, and see the world again as if for the first time every single day. Develop an Easter Season practice where you pause several times during each of these 50 days to affirm “I AM embracing joy, living free and fearlessly and seeing each moment with fresh eyes of love, light, ease, grace and abundance.”
Look for and find symbols of rebirth and resurrection that speak to you and use them to enhance this 50-day practice. The butterfly is only one of several traditional symbols of rebirth and resurrection. Another popular symbol of this is the egg, which seems to be lifeless but then breaks open to release new life. The lily is yet another as it begins as a dry and seemingly lifeless-looking bulb that blossoms into one of the most beautiful and fragrant flowers on earth. We find other such symbols in Greek mythology ~ the Phoenix was a bird that fell to earth and burned, and yet from its ashes arose another bird ~ artists sometimes show this as an eagle rising out of a flame. Another such symbol of this rebirth and resurrection is the peacock, a bird that roams free here in Southern California. The peacock has a spectacular, extraordinarily beautiful tail, which loses its beauty during the molting season. And then when the molting season ends, a new and ever more beautiful tail appears. Find the symbol of rebirth and resurrection that speaks to your heart and then use that along with your I AM intention to ponder, contemplate and invite your own rebirth and resurrection in these 50 days. Taking the small amount of time asked herein to develop a daily Easter Season practice between now and June 4th will surely set you on a higher path of flowing happily and abundantly through the rest of this 2022 year. |
