THE SACRED HOOP By Yvette Neshi Lokotz
Spring for Hope Life is all about change — everything in our life changes. Energy is constantly flowing and changing. When we consider nature, the most apparent changes are each of the seasons. We can see how change is a common thread between the seasons and they show us the thread of change through all things. On the Native American Medicine Wheel, each season: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter are in the cross quarters, the crosswinds. This placement is one of continual change. These changes' wind or spirit can be subtle, or they can be like downdrafts and turbulent. I live in Wisconsin. Our change of seasons is very dramatic. There is no subtleness found in tornados, blizzards, autumn leave colors, and hot, humid weather. There can be beauty within these dramatic changes, even though the changes can be experienced with some uncomfortableness and pain. The Spring Equinox is about change, new beginnings, dawn, balance, and hope. We begin to work toward the energy of the Equinox at the energy of the Solstice. At the Winter Solstice, many of us ponder our recent past. We weed out items we want to release and not take with us into the New Year. We begin to dream about what we want in our lives in the coming year. This planning is much like when gardeners begin to plant their gardens and select what to grow in the Spring. Our dreaming is preparing the soil, the soil of our life, for what we want to create. When the ground is thawed and warmed up, we begin to turn the soil to start planting the seeds of our dreams. We have hope that our seeds will germinate and start to sprout in the Spring. For many years, I have written about the Equinoxes and Solstices. This year is a bit different for me. I am just now realizing what needs to be released. I am in grief. My mourning for my Mom does take my energy. With her death in November, then my mother-in-law's death in December, our focus was on them and not on the Solstice. The release of our mothers left a huge void. Neither Paul nor I took time to recognize the release or set the intention for what to create in the new. We are just finishing up dispersing their belongings, finalizing financial records, and physically cleaning the rooms in which my mother lived.
Star Nations Magazine • March 2021 • 36
