Ellen F. Franklin, PhD & Donna Carey, LAc
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings. —Wendell Berry
This quote from Wendell Berry, speaks volumes about the season of Winter and the element of Water. Embraced by rich, cold, winter darkness, there is silence, stillness, and calm. The Water Element and winter provide a potent invitation to find balance and our inner light. Rich, melodic voices rise up in song, an invitation for our imagination, of all that could be, to take flight.
Last night a surprise snowstorm blanketed us with more than 8” of snow. It is our second winter storm this season, and every drop of moisture is received with gratitude. No electricity, total darkness, no sound, only snow. It was not that long ago that our valley was threatened with fire, and we had to evacuate. Yin and Yang in all their manifestations, fire, and water. Water is adaptable and flowing and winter itself is a time of gathering what we need for the seeds of spring, the seeds of our own creative inspiration to sprout and flourish.
This newsletter includes many contributions on how to adjust our treatments during this season and fully embrace the Element of Water. As you explore the rich perspectives on the Element of Water try some new combinations in your sessions. Place yourself in the flow of the element’s purity, Yin time. Water has the ability to fully embrace. It contains the rich infinite potential of creation itself. As we stand between this time of Yin and Yang, when we know that light will return, we have an opportunity to rebalance polarities.
“In order to flow well in life we need the qualities of water of being able to rebalance extremes, of being still and pure in our own essence, of being unafraid of plunging forward, and being able to reach profound depths.” – Debra Kaatz, Charters of Wisdom
Jude and Donna had a recent conversation about polarities and the use of contralateral pairings when treating the Eight Extraordinary Meridians in Acutonics. We plan to offer a forum on the topic early next year. The rationale for working contralaterally has always been tied to the idea of creating space for growth, and expansion. As we apply the sound tools in this way, we create an energetic matric of the lemniscate or the figure 8 within and invite the body to recognize its inborn power to heal. It counters internal polarization or a misalignment between yin and yang, and it creates space for transformation and knowledge of complementarity.
It was a timely conversation, as the mid-term elections in the US approached. Friends and colleagues expressed deep distress over the political polarization, and extreme views present that had the potential to destroy democracy. However, the midterm election did not deliver the violent upheaval that was projected. Candidates, for the most part, who have lost have conceded with grace. The fragility of democracy remains a constant, needing to be nurtured, as election deniers were still elected, fascism, racism, and antisemitism have not gone away, but the deep anxiety that many of us felt prior to the election has lifted.
The recent Blood Moon and Lunar Eclipse provided genuine power to tap into our emotional well and deal with our own and Earth’s shadows. In order to flow, create and taste something new, we must release the cork. This is a glorious, fluid opportunity to address the gifts of the Sun and Moon polarities to access potential, essence, the buried or hidden life. New forms of light are emerging to illuminate, birth, and bring forth opportunities to access hidden riches.
Here at the Mothership, fresh snow blankets the Earth. The growing dome continues to provide the bulk of the ingredients for our vegetarian meals including beets, chard, kale, spinach, watermelon radishes and an abundance of fresh herbs and delicious Meyer lemons. There is stillness, the pure white newly fallen snow, an opportunity for reflection as we look toward 2023 to wake things new.
As a day of Thanksgiving approaches, we give thanks to each of you for the profound work you do each day and send blessings for peace, harmony and light to prevail.