Celebrating Earth Day – 22 April

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Earth Day – 22 April

 
“Loving our Earth all year long – celebrating it today!”

Earth Day was first created on 22 April 1970 as a means to bring attention to the environment. It was an emerging concept at the time in terms of general public participation. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin came up with the idea for setting aside a day to honor the environment.

Over the years, the event has gained momentum and it is fêted in the U.S. as well as other countries. There is even an Earth Day Network where you can connect to various events and environmental campaigns.

Joyfully we sing our song to the Earth – a song of healing, a song of repair.

Caring For Our Earth

We should hold the Earth in great tenderness. Perhaps our notion of "having dominion" over the Earth has always been a terribly bad translation of an ancient text.

It should read that we "have responsibility" for the Earth; a great responsibility to care for and tender the Earth and all its inhabitants, most notably the plants and animals. 

What a different energy that would be for us. Instead of blithely taking, destroying, and wantonly discarding the Earth; we would protect and love it, and nurture it in every way that we could.

Perhaps a large majority of us will achieve that level of responsibility one day.

Arbor Day – Plant A Tree

This day is also shared with Arbor Day that emphasizes planting trees. The Arbor Day Foundation states:

 
“We inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees.”

We can always have more trees, can't we? It's delightful to listen to the wind moving through their leaves. This is a favorite tree planting quote:

 
“The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.
The second best time is now.”

Earth Day With The Radiance Technique®

Students of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) can participate in Earth Day. Plants benefit from the universal energy in your Radiant Touch®. Students of The Second Degree of The Radiance Technique® can direct radiant energy to matters that concern them.

We certainly don't lack in topics that need attention.

For example, our honey bees need help and our marine life, such as whales and dolphins, need protection.

Others are working to bring balance to the deforestation and to promote clean drinking water. When you direct energy with TRT®, you will not control any outcomes. Rather, you offer radiant light from deep within to support clear and right choices.

A wonderful meditation for both The First and Second Degrees of TRT® – picture the Earth in your heart and do TRT® hands-on in Front Position #1 for an extended amount of time. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes – more, if you would like.

Celebrating Earth Day

The most common way to observe Earth Day is by participating in activities designed to preserve the environment and our natural resources. These include collecting garbage  for sorting and recycling, avoiding the use of gasoline-powered vehicles, picking up roadside trash and planting trees. 

There are many activities, especially for teaching our children. If you're stumped for ideas, this page at Family Education has a list that includes 10 Eco-Friendly Crafts and Top 10 Earth Day Books for Children.

 

Spring Is Springing Into The Equinox

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Spring Equinox Is Upon Us

The calendar tells us that spring is about to make an entrance, even if we can't see it outside our windows.

Spring is certainly arriving on the West Coast here in California. The flowering pear trees are happily blooming in a profusion of white. In this photo, their eager blossoms are given an early morning kiss by the rising sun.

For the East Coast, I fear that Spring will arrive with a bit of a limp. Another "chilly front" is predicted there for the Spring Equinox. The weather pattern "favors below-average temperatures in the eastern states late in the week and into early next week, including the first day of astronomical spring on March 20."

The East has already struggled through quite a severe winter. February was the second-coldest February since modern records began in 1895 for the Northeast.

Whatever our temperatures, we will, nonetheless, greet the Spring Equinox as we reach the equal balance of light and dark before heading into our longer days of summer.

Students of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) can focus their meditations on this change of seasons. In particular, we can join our TRT® friends in the U.K. with their celebrations of the Spring Equinox. The Radiance Technique® Association for Great Britain (TRTAGB) has gone all out with planned events.

If you're able to be there in person, here are some of the activities offered.

Events for TRTAGB Spring Equinox Celebrations 2015

Thursday 19 March 3 – 5 pm: Meeting for alumni of The Third Degree 3A for Attunements and Directing at Woburn Walk, London, near Euston station. Followed by gathering for tea.

Friday 20 March: The New Moon is at 9.36 am. In Britain, the Eclipse begins about 8.30 as the moon begins to touch the edge of the Sun, reaching a maximum around 9.30 and moving away by 10.30. In the evening the Equinox is at 22.45.

Saturday 21 March: Morning meeting for TRT® Hands-on and Directing near Stroud, Gloucestershire.

Sunday 22 March: Meeting for TRT® Hands-on in Leicestershire

Monday 23 March: Visit Leicester Cathedral to participate in the historic Richard III ceremonial.

 

Doesn't all of that sound delightful? How I wish I could be there for the Richard III ceremony. The story of a King fallen in battle, and then whose remains were discovered under a parking lot, has captured the imagination of the world.

The Richard III ceremonial is just one of the events of this Spring Equinox.

The Richard III ceremonial is just one of the events of this Spring Equinox.

However, if you can't attend in person, fear not. There is a wonderful Inner Planes celebration and students of TRT® can join in from around the world.

Spring Equinox TRTAGB Inner Planes Celebrations: 19 – 23 March

This year the weekend of 19 – 23 March is special. A New Moon, an Eclipse of the Sun, and the Spring Equinox are all within a few days of each other.

Friday, 20 March: a Total Eclipse of the Sun is visible in the Faroe Islands with a partial eclipse visible in Britain. This Solar Alignment is a time of transformation for Planet Earth. It’s a wonderful occasion for renewing our commitment to our regular practice of the Cosmic Science of The Radiance Technique®.

Students of The First Degree of TRT®, as well as students of all other degrees can participate with TRT® hands-on.

“..in the Inner Planes from Thursday 19 March to Monday 23 March. Devote extra time each day for revitalizing with TRT® hands-on.

If you’ve studied to The Second Degree (or beyond), pattern the Cosmic Symbols and use the techniques you know for Directing Energy and Attunements.”
— TRTAGB

Whatever your plans for the Equinox on 20 March, the date marks the promise that Spring is on its way. We welcome the rebirth and blossoming on many levels.

Happy Spring Equinox.

If you have a keen eye for detail, you'll notice that the URL in the photos is RadiantNursing.com.

Exciting changes are taking place here. We've got a new name and we're thrilled to share all the details with you soon.

There may be a break between blog posts as we migrate to our new website with our name: Radiant Nursing. New name, same great content.

Actually, even better. We look forward to seeing you there!

Hearts, Love and Saint Valentine

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Saint Valentine

February 14 – It's a day of flowers, chocolate, hearts and proclamations of romantic love.

On this day we commemorate St. Valentine as the patron saint of lovers.

Valentine earned this elevated standing with the greatest of sacrifices, his life. He chose to marry Christian couples against the edicts of the Roman Emperor, Claudius II.

 
 

Valentine In The Year 270 AD

The origins of St. Valentine are unclear, but it is thought he was executed on February 14 around the year 270. While imprisoned and awaiting execution, he befriended the jailer and his daughter who was beautiful and blind. St. Valentine performed a miracle and restored her sight.

Legend tells us that on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to the jailer's daughter and signed it...

 
“From your Valentine”
 

This was the very first Valentine.

St. Valentine is also the patron saint of bees and beekeepers. (Image above from Ithelda.) That makes sense if we're talking about the birds and the bees, but I think it's also due to the sweet nectar of honey. It's certainly a labor of love by our sweet bees.

 

Hearts Are For Everyone

Long ago, I abandoned the notion that love only exists between a romantic couple. While it's wonderful to celebrate romance, love is so much bigger.

Love takes many expressions and colorful hues.

As we get older, our lives reflect the expansion of this love. We start with love of only our nuclear family and then we often include someone else as a life partner. Children, relatives and in-laws are added into the mix.

Our Love Becomes Wider

Time passes and cycles shift. Children grow up and leave the house. Our love stretches out into wider circles, perhaps towards grandchildren and into the greater community. Our love expands like ever-widening ripples on a pond.

For the meditator, the journey shifts when love moves past a state of doing and becomes a state of being. In my post, The Winding Road of Life, I write about moving beyond the idea of "I love you" and into the discovery of simply being in a state of love.

You move past the idea of only loving someone. You begin to love nature and animals, ideals and causes. 

You move past exclusive love and widen your heart into inclusive love. A love that sees past your inner circle and embraces it all.

Expanding Our Hearts

In The New Expanded Reference Manual of The Radiance Technique®, Authentic Reiki®, Third Edition by Dr. Barbara Ray, Ph.D. — the entry on LOVE is found on page 144:

 

LOVE — Has the aspect of human or brotherly love which is referred to as love of the outer heart - love with an object. This kind of love is the warm feeling of affection felt or sensed from the chest/heart area, love from the lower planes. This kind of love is different from the love known as divine, spiritual, universal, Radiant Love that simply IS without external, outer stimulus or object.

You can use The Radiance Technique® for expansion of both of these kinds of love by focusing for extended times as a meditation the hands-on Front Positions #1 and #3; also Head Positions #2 and #3 for deeper insights into the vibration of Real Love.

 

In this text, Dr. Ray writes you can expand "both of these kinds of love" – neither excludes the other, we embrace it all. Our journey with our human heart is a part of our spiritual journey. All along the way, we learn more about real love.

Students of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) can use their TRT® hands-on to expand their awareness of love in their meditations. One of the great aspects of TRT® is that you can use it in any situation. Even when you're not meditating – you still benefit from the supportive, loving energy.

Celebrate Heart Day

If we see St. Valentine's Day as more than romantic love, we enjoy it as one day of the year when we celebrate hearts of all kinds.

As in the quote from Mother Teresa, you are invited to burn with love not only for your heart throb, but for your family and community, your ideals, and the world at large.

What a day to celebrate our joyful hearts burning with love.