Finding Alingment

This past Sunday unless you were living under a rock or an overcast sky you probably got to experience the complete lunar eclipse or the "Super Bloodmoon." Since I am no genius when it comes to astrology I decided to google- Blood moon. According to How Stuff works, it happens when the Earth's shadow blocks the sunlight from directly illuminating the moon's surface. There was some stuff interesting stuff I won't remember about these two shadows called Umbra and Penumbra and some more info about the different orbits of the moon. Basically the only way for these shadows to cast out from behind the sunny side of the planet to eclipse the moon is when the moon is full and the moon and sun are on opposite sides of the Earth.

According to space.com this occurs roughly ever 2.5 years. What made Sunday's eclipse special is that it was the last to occur as part of a Tetrad or 4 lunar eclipses over two years. It also it occurred as during a supermoon, which made for spectacular views of a huge reddish moon as the moon became blocked by the Earth's Shadow. The last time we experienced a eclipse like this was 33 years ago. 

As I stood in my alley staring out form my garage, a couple of thoughts came to mind. First, in order for this spectacular event to occur the Earth, Sun and moon quite literally had to be perfectly aligned. Now, I don't often immediately get or think of metaphors but this struck me as a metaphor for life. As living beings we cycle through periods of highs and lows in regards to circumstances. We can be in a period of darkness such as that time during a new moon or a period of brightness such as the time when the moon is full. How we react to those circumstances is up to us but I will come back to that later.  How often do we experience perfect alignment in our lives that stops us in our tracks in order to take hold of it's awesomeness?

The second thing I saw in this metaphor was my posture. I recently did a 50 hour yoga training thus have been keenly more aware of my body. My eyes were directed toward the sky. My heart was open. My arms were relaxed and my shoulders were back. You almost have to have perfect posture when you are looking towards the sky, provided you do not have you head tilted too far back, craning your neck. 

Third, the moon is dependent on the light of the sun for how it appears. If the light is blocked by the Earth it doesn't changed the composition of the moon nor does the Earth change the composition of the sun. The output of light from the sun is the same in regards to it's own lifespan. A mere shadow does not change the emission of the sun. 

This all kind of struck me as parallel to my own life. We don't often find perfect alignment. If we are lucky every 2 and half years, but a truly spectacular event might only occur every once or twice in a lifetime. In order to experience these spectacular events we have to remain open. We have to both metaphorically and literally keep our head up in order to find that alignment. It is essential to remain positive through the waxing and waning in our lives, but it is most important during the dark times. Finally, the light is always there, it is always the same whether it appears it is shining on us or not. I equated this to God. He is always there with the same intensity. It does not matter if we are in darkness or not, the light is always there. 

 Namaste.