Moon Energy, Plants, Rituals and the Crown Chakra
Welcome, beautiful friends, to our first July blog of the month, a celebration of all things MidSummer! Over the next few weeks we will be delving into this magical season and exploring the abundance of things it has to offer. Join us now on our journey to empower you to deeply to explore the world around you and continue with us on the path leading to greater wellbeing for the body and soul.
Midsummer is a wonderful period during this season centered around the Summer Solstice in June, the longest day of sunlight in the calendar. This magical time of year has been celebrated throughout history as a time to delight in NATURE'S BOUNTY! All over the world people gather in incredible ceremonies to give thanks for SUNLIGHT and WARMTH and to honour LOVE and LIFE by singing and dancing, holding festivals and lighting bonfires.
There is still an abundance of traditions and rituals surrounding this season of fertility and during these longer hours of sunlight we can find ourselves experiencing more feelings of positivity...warmer temperatures and longer days mean more chances to be outside and to immerse ourselves in GLORIOUS MOTHER NATURE.
As well as celebrating the Solstice, we welcomed a new Moon on Saturday. A new Moon is the first lunar phase and is an especially powerful time to set intentions and start new projects. Choose some affirmations by feeling into what is important for you at the moment and what your heart is calling for. Ground your thoughts by writing them down or visualizing the feeling of them and allow those affirmations to guide you as we go towards the next full moon.
For a more intense meditation, water based rituals work particularly well with lunar energy and we will explore this more deeply below...
SoulNatural - the SoulSimple Guide to the Natural World:
For this beautiful month of July, we are celebrating the abundant Elder! Fragrant and delicate, their pretty clusters of tiny flowers become the epitome of summer countryside. As the seasons change, the Elder performs her natural wonder of transitioning into rich, purple elderberries which can be used as powerful healers.
With the glorious transformation, the Elder is symbolic of ENDINGS and REBIRTH. This week, we will explore the history of this amazing plant...
The tree has long been sacred across Europe and was a powerful presence amongst our ancestors. Thought to hold a spirit within it known as the Elder Mother, the spirit lived inside the tree and practiced powerful magic. All parts of the plant were considered a blessing including the bark and root and its stem was often hollowed and used for making flutes. Burning Elder wood was believed to bring bad fortune.
In medieval times, Elder was planted outside homes to ward off evil spirits. Twigs were carried to give protection and they were said to be especially potent if gathered just before midsummer.
More recently the fruits of the Elder, both flowers and berries, have been used to make wonderful remedies and tonics. We see it in cordials and gins on supermarket shelves and as flavouring in cakes and jellies but the plant can be used for much more than this. In our next blog we will show you how to utilise this amazing plant for it's rich healing properties and understand how it can boost our immune systems and help alleviate allergies. We will also discover the poetry of the beautiful Elder and how it can be used in rituals.
SoulWoman and SoulTouch: An introduction to Sacred Self Care and Heartfelt Healing
As we discovered, this weekend we greeted a new Moon. A new Moon INVITES US IN and therefore it is a wonderful time for us to introduce Sacred Self Care to you and help you build this divine practice into your daily rhythm.
What is Sacred Self Care? Self Care is about giving yourself the most HONEST LOVE AND CARE that you possibly can. It is acknowledging your inner fears and anxieties and then allowing them space to surface so you are no longer controlled by them.
Why is it important? So often we are disconnected within ourselves, Sacred Self Care encourage you to bring yourself from your mind INTO YOUR BODY and be one with your intentions and emotions. Our lives can be so busy that we forget our essential needs...breathing, resting, eating well and allowing ourselves time to just BE.
How can we practice Sacred Self Care as part of our daily lives? An easy place to start is with the small things that are already part of your day. Taking time to really FEEL the water cleansing your skin in the shower, TASTE the food you eat, TUNE IN to the music that you're singing and dancing to or spend some time outside just being QUIET and STILL in nature. Do what feels good and you will want to do more of it! And, above all, try to remember to cherish your body, honour your mind and respect your emotions. You are a beautiful, divine being.
As we touched on above, water based rituals are very powerful at this time of the lunar cycle and are also wonderful for starting your self care journey. EMBRACE THIS WITH US! Take time to put fresh lemon, mint, or cucumber into your water and use a glass that reflects the purity and simple beauty of the refreshing liquid. Add relaxing salts to your bath and light candles whilst you soak. Include an ocean salutation into your yoga practice.
SoulSource: Lifelong Healing
As a salute to the summer sun, we have chosen to focus this month on the crown of the head. This incredibly important part of our bodies is the highest point of your head and serves to protect our soft tissue. It is also an INSPIRING ENERGY CENTER!
There is so, so much to discover and learn about the crown and we will be delving into it much more deeply over the coming weeks. As with any part of our bodies, in order to understand how to strengthen and nurture this miraculous part of ourselves, we must look at why it is so vital to our wellbeing.
The head is home to all of our main sensory organs, the most important being the brain. Our knowledge of the brain has expanded enormously over time; Aristotle famously believed that the primary function of the brain was to stop the heart from overheating and was a place in which the spirit could circulate freely. We now know that our brains are extremely complex organs that contain approximately one hundred billion neutrons and are completely unique to the individual! The brain grows and develops with us as we age and, like the liver, is capable of regeneration.
In all cultures, the brain and head have long been considered as spiritual centres. The crown is the location of seventh chakra of the body and the head also holds our third eye. Balance in this area is vital for wisdom and self awareness and also for allowing us to feel CONNECTED to the world around us. Next week we will turn our focus onto ways in which we can rebalance our crown chakras and reap the rewards of nurturing this special part of ourselves.
At SoulSimple we share with all of our guests the power of your majestic crown and how here we can meet ourselves and all that we experience by learning how to connect at this point of body.
SoulScapes: Emergent Art
Midsummer is an incredibly potent time when our SENSES and EMOTIONS can create beautiful things. Here at SoulSimple Vittoria, Herry and Linda are working together to create something wonderful which we would like to introduce to you....our new project 'Emergent Art'!
Herry is the wizard of 'Soul Scapes', art which comes from within. Fuelled by emotion and the environment which surrounds you - it is immersive, responsive, evolving and totally unique. We are developing a platform for artists who work in this way in all mediums to come together and be encouraged and supported by each other. We want to honour and recognise this beautiful way of expressing yourself.
We hope that Emergent Art will become a busy hub, accessible to all, where we can work, learn, teach and inspire alongside one another. Emergent Art is a fully immersive experience calling upon all your senses, our exhibitions will be a total sensory experience inviting you to join us in the moment.
Until next time!
Lots of love,
Vittoria and the SoulSimple Family x
SOUL SIMPLE - WELLBEING FOR EVERYONE FOREVER