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Being happy and fulfilled in life is important to us all, yet somehow we miss out on it. Why is this? Why can’t we just be happy?

Well, maybe we’re paying too much attention to the news of the day. At the beginning of 2020, threats to collective human happiness and prosperity seem to be looming. News feeds and social media are laden with foreboding. Astrological omens are gloomy. The present transits of heavy-duty outer planets through the stern sign of Capricorn are bringing up challenges for everyone.

Can we survive climate change? Can we survive the mad behaviour of tyrants and politicians, whose toddler temper tantrums seem could escalate to another world war? Can we cope with economic issues, both at a personal and a national level? How can we go about our daily business, free from anxiety for the future for our children, grandchildren, for all those we love?

If we have any spiritual maturity at all, then we are aware that life will always include events that we don’t enjoy. We also know that what does not kill us makes us stronger (so said Friedrich Nietzsche).

To find the good news that makes us happy, we need to look towards eternal truths and avoid allowing our mindscape to become entangled with the temporary noise of the day. The mystical poet and painter William Blake said:

Joy and Woe are woven fine,
As clothing for the Soul divine,
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.

So here are my suggested seven activities that can reveal the ‘silken twine of joy’. Get going as soon as possible to make yourself happy…

1. Be happy by meditating twice a day

As you know, I offer the Shefa Method as a remarkable and powerful ‘super meditation-plus’ technique. If you are already happy with a meditation technique you have tried and tested, then continue with that. But 2020, with all the additional pressures on your life — personal and global — is a time when you need to expand your consciousness. This will benefit you, your family, your community and the whole world. So take an advanced course or retreat, and refresh your spirit, mind, heart and body. Everyone needs you to be at your peak this year, so do some about that now!

2. Declutter your environment to bring joy and happiness to others as well

This is a heart-expanding exercise and 2020 is a year when as many people as possible need to find way to be open-hearted. This counteracts any tendency we may have shrink into fear mode and become overly self-protective. Choose your charity with care, so that the whole process becomes spiritually meaningful as well, as an act of personal cleansing. Also, give ‘stuff’ away, and find opportunities to offer your time to support  charitable activities that call to your heart. If you are selling unwanted goods on eBay, opt in to their system where you can give a percentage of your earnings to a charity of your choice. You can find some good help in your quest for a decluttered life here.

3. Make sure real fire plays a part in your new happy life!

It would be brilliant if you could find a place for a regular bonfire, preferably in your own garden or back yard. There are excellent outdoor products designed for gardens that keep fire well contained, even if you only have a small area. (I found a basic fire pit on Amazon for under £30).

Fire is the most powerful spiritual element – Zoroastrian priests have kept a sacred fire burning in Yazd in Iran for over 1,500 years! (See it in this YouTube video).

Your personal fire ritual can include cleansing your life of old papers or photographs. So this process could be an extension of your de-cluttering activities (see above). But this could also be an act of reconnecting with your divine spark, the fire inside you. Don’t just use the fire to burn rubbish. Make a ceremony on a special day and add incense, especially frankincense, to your fire. Invoke Archangel Michael, who is the planetary spirit for the Sun. This ritual will be especially helpful during the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere, when sunshine can be scarce.

4. Find a place where you can bathe happily in natural surroundings, preferably naked

Do this in on your own as a spiritual exercise of surrender to the element of water, from which you were born. Make sure you dip right under the water, like a full baptism, or mikveh. This is not only emotionally refreshing, but reclaims our innate awareness that Nature is benevolent. A very good time to do this would be on, or near, your birthday. Much more joyful than eating cake! But you could also celebrate by lighting candles.

If your timing coincides with cold weather, or if natural water is not available for you, then create an at-home version. Make a ritual in your own bathroom. Make sure you will not be disturbed for at least an hour. Use quality natural mineral salts, such as Epsom, Dead Sea or Himalayan Pink, but not bubbles or commercial bath products. However, filling the room with natural aromas, such as pine, cypress or other essences will help create a feeling of being in a natural environment. Surround your bath with tea lights.

Read more about bathing naked and maybe even join in one of their summer events at The Great British Skinny Dip.

5. Plant anything you can, anywhere you are allowed

This is a lovely thing to do, especially with a view to the long-term – trees are brilliant. If you don’t have your own space to plant trees, check out your area to see if there are any tree-planting projects, or community activities focussed on reclaiming neglected land. (A good list of tree planting organisations can be found on Dr James Borrell’s blog page here).

The least you could do is grow your own herbs in pots by your kitchen door, or on your windowsill. Whenever you plant anything, make a ritual process to honour the spirit of the plant, and make a commitment to nurture it as it grows. You might like to explore which herbs and plants are special for your significant zodiac signs (your Sun, Moon and Ascendant signs).

6. Go on a pilgrimage to a place of special joy

This doesn’t need to be to a religious site (although there are still places on the Chartres Labyrinth pilgrimage I’m offering in March!) This is a personal exercise to make you happy. You could choose to visit a place where you felt joyful as a young child. Or the place where you met your partner. This could be a building or town with personal connections, or a place in a natural environment that just makes you feel truly happy! You could use this pilgrimage to pay respects to someone you want to honour, either in your own history or ancestry, or someone you revere as a wise teacher, or a creative who has inspired you. Remember also, pilgrimages are about the journey as much as the destination, so it begins as soon as you leave your door. You may want to watch this YouTube conversation with Rupert Sheldrake, who, as I’m sure you know, is not just a great scientist but also a great fan of pilgrimage as a spiritual process.

7. Create a special meal – for any reason you can come up with!

Not the usual birthdays, anniversaries and so on. Just make an excuse to spend time making a feast, then invite people round for lunch, afternoon tea or supper. Make sure the table is beautifully laid with any lovely decorations you can find. Include greenery and flowers growing nearby. Choose dishes that challenge your cooking expertise. You might like to identify a special theme and keep all the food within certain culinary traditions. Or you might like to indulge in nostalgia and make party food that your guests would have enjoyed when they were children.These days, even mainstream chefs are embracing vegan food. Jamie Oliver, for instance, has some good ideas.

As this will be like a party, you might like to have a lucky dip gift box. Cover a large cardboard box with decorative wrapping paper. Fill it with shredded paper or packing raffia (which is reusable). Ask everyone who comes to bring a surprise low-cost but fun gift, purchased from a local charity shop. Let them know the maximum amount to spend. They need to wrap their gift and hide it in the box, with no identifying label.

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I enjoyed writing this and I’m already mulling over ideas for my number seven – I’ll keep you updated!

Ancient mythologies and old folkloric tales always include the archetype of an old man who brings gifts around the time of the Winter Solstice. This splendid white-bearded chap is Ded Morez or Saxta Baba – Grandfather Frost. He is a popular winter folk character in Russian and Slavic countries. Usually he wears blue, but sometimes he is dressed in red – just like Father Christmas. He brings gifts for good children – usually on New Year’s Eve, since this tradition is celebrated in Muslim or secular countries, where Christians are in the minority. Ded Morez has a long white beard, walks with a magic staff, like a magician, wears a fur hat and felt boots. He rides in a troika – a sleigh with three horses – and is often accompanied by his granddaughter, Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden:

The well-known Christian story describes the arrival of three men, described in the gospels as ‘magi’ – not ‘kings’ – who bring gold, frankincense and myrrh as gifts for the Christ child.

The magi were Zoroastrian magician-priests, who were also astrologers. It is likely the ‘star’ they were following was a conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter, which would have been bright in the skies around the year 7 CE.

Both the Ded Morez tradition and the gospel story of the magi are echoes through the ages, echoes of our ancient ancestors who practiced divination and magic. At the time Jesus was born, magic was an accepted reality across the Roman Empire. It was not until Christianity was established as a state religion that astrology and magic were marginalised, we could say ‘excommunicated’. Perhaps that was why the ‘magi’ became ‘kings’ (who have a very different status).

In later Christmas traditions we meet St. Nicholas. He also brings gifts, often oranges, for poor children who have left out their clogs on the night before his feast day December 6^th.. He eventually morphs from a high-minded Christian saint into the jolly Santa Claus we know today. Old images of St Nicholas show him dressed in his bishop’s gown, with his staff and mitre. But Santa Claus and Ded Morez are definitely wearing pre-Christian garb. The trousers worn by Santa, tucked into boots, and the wide belt buckled round his tunic, as well as his fur-edged cap, are most likely derived from the garments worn by Scythian warriors. The Scythians were originally a nomadic people who lived in southern Siberia, but they developed the trade routes still known today as ‘the Silk Road’ and founded a rich powerful empire centred on the Crimea. Maybe the bringing of gifts was associated with their trade in spices, silks, precious metals and gems.

These traditions all tell us a similar story about how, at the winter solstice festival, there is some magic in the air! Jupiter is the god of jollity and he rules the December sign of Sagittarius. Think of the Spirit of Christmas Present we find in Charles Dickens’ story A Christmas Carol:

So this is definitely the best time of year to bring gifts to friends and family, and to make donations for the poor.

 

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The reason I write my books, newsletters and blogs, the reason I teach The Shefa Method, is to take you by the hand, so to speak, and lead you to knowledge of your own Divinity.

The appearance of an old man is the archetype for this season, representing maturity and wisdom. In fact, two old men come face-to-face at this point in the year and they are represented in mythology by Jupiter and Saturn. The two representations above were created in the Victorian period for Cardiff Castle, here in Wales where I live. You can see Saturn is carrying a scythe – he is Old Father Time. His Greek name is Chronos.

Astrologically, Jupiter rules Sagittarius, and the last degree of Sagittarius is the Winter Solstice, when Jupiter hands over to Saturn, who rules the next sign, Capricorn. These characters represent cosmic ‘yes’ and cosmic ‘no’. Jupiter is all about expansion and Saturn brings contraction – both essential to the cycle of creation. Jupiter encourages you to spend on seasonal gifts, then Saturn brings the credit card bills!

Both these gods encourage wisdom: Jupiter is about joy, delight and gifts of the heart. William Blake, born under Sagittarius, said the path of excess leads to the palace of wisdom. Beethoven, also born under Sagittarius, wrote Ode to Joy  – included in his ninth symphony – when he was deaf. Nine is the number of Jupiter and December is the ninth month from the Spring Equinox. Nine is the last number before ten, the culmination of the series when using our base ten counting system.

During the coming year the planets named after these two wise archetypes, Jupiter and Saturn, will meet in a ‘conjunction’. There are many changes ahead for all of us. How that will affect your personal life depends on the significations in your birth chart. Whatever intensity or drama lies ahead for individuals, or for the collective social order in Western culture, the most important thing to remember is that you do have a Divine Soul and you can deal with life’s ups and downs when you maintain connection with your Soul through your meditation practice.

Your personal confidence and mental clarity depends on you being able to access the inner wisdom represented by these two wise old men. They teach us when to go forward, when to hold back; when to spend, when to save; when to explore further horizons, when to stay at home.  I am a great advocate for the use of astrology to identify the best timing when making big choices, but adding meditation to the wisdom of the stars brings your decision-making process to a new level. Captains in ancient times needed to understand the tide-tables, but they also need to consult their inner guiding star – their personal daimon – before finally choosing when to set out to sea.

 

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The reason I write my books, newsletters and blogs, and the reason I teach The Shefa Method, is to take you by the hand, so to speak, and lead you to knowledge of your own Divinity.

Most pre-Christian cultures maintained ceremonies for honouring the ancestors. Traditionally, the quietest period of autumn, just as winter is settling in, offers us all a between-the-worlds opportunity to summon ancestral spirits and commune with the dead. The shaman lights fires and beats his drum to call the ancestors, hoping to gain wisdom and inspiration for the tribe.

At this time of year, the Mexicans celebrate the Day of the Dead. On the eve of November 1, the Celts lit bonfires for Samhain. The invisible worlds open their gateways to human visitors – but this is a time fraught with danger. The dark gods of the underworld may be tricksters. This is how Hallowe’en originated. The Christians converted ‘spirits’ and ‘ancestors’ to ‘saints’ – and the festival was renamed ‘All Saints’. But the underlying archetype remains the same: you can choose to enter the dark night in order to meet other-world helpers. Be willing to get spooked and hold on to your amulet, talisman, crucifix – whatever. Remember, the dead are not automatically or necessarily wiser because they have died, although they may bring a new perspective. They can help us realise that the flowing process of life will always come full circle to a point of dissolution and death.

When we explore the archetypes and discover their power as guardians to the gates in our inner worlds we can open our hearts to revelations, especially at this time of year. The god Pluto, also called Hades, is ruler of the underworld, and he demands a high price if you want to explore his treasure house. What is the price? It is dedication and commitment to the quest. You only get to find the Holy Grail, hidden secretly in a quiet chapel in the mystic forest, if you are obsessively driven to explore your own inner kingdom. You surrender daily concerns in exchange for a pearl of wisdom beyond price. You dive deep and meet the Divine where the darkness encloses your heart. As the mystic George Fox said, this is a journey across an ocean of darkness to discover the ocean of light.

The name Hades is Greek, meaning ‘not-see’. In the myth, Hades is not a dark god, hidden away. This is not why we cannot see him. He has created a mask to conceal his true brilliance, because humankind cannot, as the poet T.S. Eliot said, bear too much reality. Hades’ hidden light reminds us of the story of Moses, who asked to see God ‘face-to-face’. ‘Hide behind the rock and peep through a crevice as I pass by,’ God tells Moses: ‘You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live.’ (Exodus 33:20)

In the turning cycle of the year we recognise our own mortality. We look Pluto/Hades in the face and realise this god is gatekeeper to a bright world. Pay the coin. Step into the boat. Enjoy the ride down the river. Your ancestors – all the ancestors of the human race – have taken this journey before you. They are a constant presence reminding you: death has no dominion over your Soul.

 

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The reason I write my books, newsletters and blogs, and the reason I teach The Shefa Method, is to take you by the hand, so to speak, and lead you to knowledge of your own Divinity.