On Thursday, September 19, millions of people gathered in crowds around the world to demand attention and action from our leaders about our Climate Crisis. There is no doubt about it. This is a crisis. Life literally is on the line, for millions of plant and animal species, for vast tracts of land and sea, for acres of forests, fields of snow, rivers and lakes and streams. Our Earth will become uninhabitable. Our crops will fail. Millions if not billions of people will migrate. We will become a global population of starving, desperate migrants. We will face an Armageddon of our own making. If we do not address it now, we will become yet another lost civilization.
Cheery way to start a Good News Mondays, right? Trust me, I do have good news. A passionate generation is stepping into its power and taking responsibility for our planet. In a Good News post back in April, I wrote about Sunrise, an organization of teenagers who have created a Green New Deal network and work tirelessly to inform and alert their communities. They are calling themselves the GND generation, taking back their identity from the consensus that named them, ominously, Generation Z. These kids know who they are and what time it is. It’s WAKE UP! time.
But there is a new heroine making the headlines. I’m sure by now you have seen and heard about Greta Thunberg. This remarkable 16 year old girl has become the champion of Mother Earth. She lives in Sweden with her resilient parents who recognize that she has a mission and they support her completely. There’s a great model for parenting!
Greta’s parents have adjusted their lives in accord with Greta’s passion about preserving our precious planet. Greta travels all over the world speaking with heads of state, warning them and encouraging them to take responsibility. In a year’s time she has become a phenom.
This young woman is the real deal. She is 100% authentic. She is intelligent, articulate, passionate and completely committed to saving this planet and the human race in the process. She is an inspiration and today, on the Autumnal Equinox, Greta will address the U.N.!
To demonstrate her commitment, Greta has stopped flying and came to the United States on a sailboat. If you search for her on YouTube, you’ll find dozens of clips from Time Magazine, USA Today, The Washington Post, ABC and NBC news plus several of her speeches. Watch her on The Daily Show.
Greta has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize! She’s 16! I remember when I was 16. I worried about my hair, my skin, what I was going to wear, did people like me, will I ever get a boyfriend. I blush when I compare, but then I realize two things: desperate times call for desperate measures and elicit their heroes; also, that we have evolved! This child, and the millions like her, are modeling for us who we must be. They are challenging our values, demanding their rights, speaking truth to power and standing firm in their selfless conviction. And best of all, they have come together for a common cause. Each of them cares about survival. We all do. But these children care not just about themselves. They care about all humanity. They care about the whole planet, one intertwined organism, facing possible extinction.
Today is the Autumnal Equinox. It’s the moment when night and day, light and dark are in perfect balance. It’s also the official end of summer. The Sun hastens its trip South, the days shorten and the Earth goes dormant. It’s time to appreciate the harvest, be thankful for abundance and slow down.
Equinoxes and Solstices are the four cardinal points of the year. The Sun moves into a new sign with a new quality and energy. A new phase of the year begins. In the Autumn it’s Libra, an air sign ruled by Venus. Libra is about relationship, balance, harmony and justice. It’s a time to exercise our intellect, reflect on our values, bring our minds into balance with our hearts. I refer you to a previous post on Heart Coherence. It seems a good time to remember that practice.
What makes this particular Equinox so significant for the USA is that the Moon is conjunct the North Node in the 7th house. It also happens to conjunct the natal Sun of the USA. Our national identity is up for review. How are we doing? Where are we going? The North Node represents the future, the direction in which we are evolving. It’s a doorway into potential.
Remember The 5th Dimension? – “When the Moon is in the 7th House, and Jupiter aligns with Mars? . . . This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” Indeed this age is dawning. The moon is in the 7th house and next year Jupiter will align with Mars in Capricorn then move on to conjunct Saturn at Zero degrees of Aquarius. I see that as the kick off of the Aquarian Age.
The Equinox Moon and North Node are exactly opposite Saturn conjunct the South Node. The South Node holds our conditioned past. We have much dysfunction, unconscious trauma, unresolved issues and underworld shadow material stored in this node. Saturn is there right now, opening Pandora’s box, manifesting the harvest of our Karma, putting it out there for us to see: impending war, political unrest, the rise of Totalitarianism, polarized populations, acts of terrorism, displaced people, genocide, race hatred, maltreatment of immigrants, poverty, children starving, and of course, a dying planet.
I know, more good news, right? But we need not be victims. We can wake up and make a difference. These are all things to think about during the next three months. Remember that Saturn is the planet trying to grow us up. He teaches responsibility. How do we want to feel at the Winter Solstice in December? What can we change in ourselves to make that difference?
I see this Equinox as an opportunity to change our relationships – to ourselves, to each other and to our planet Earth as well. How would we treat the Earth if we saw her as a living, breathing, conscious Being, an embodiment of Spirit? What if we saw each other that way? How would our world be different if we knew that we are all manifestations of the Divine?
Wouldn’t we feel Awe? Wonder? Respect? Humility? Wouldn’t we care deeply about each other’s welfare? Wouldn’t we be able to work together?
If the world’s children can stand up for Mother Earth, can’t we? Can’t we also demand an end to war, an end to inequality, an end to the tyranny of poverty? The answer to all these questions is “Yes, we can.” Will we choose it?
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