Are you able to cultivate new Hope?

Hello human beings, I hope you are enjoying the lightness of this New Moon!  I always feel a little bit lucky and lighter around a new moon, but this one in particular has some 'magic' to it.  Not magic in a flighty, insincere way.  It has a deep, grounded, tangible, presence... 

We entered into Aquarius Season over a week ago, and with the shift in energy, I have been feeling more HOPE.

Hope hasn't always felt tangible over the past few years.  There has been a lot of change, delay, and uncertainty, which over a prolonged period of time, can begin to wear away the shine.

But it is at these times that Hope is really learned.  It is through practice of active hope that we really are able to embody this powerful virtue.  

Hope is not a passing fancy, a lazy wish.  Hope is not indecision.  It is not illusion, or an attempt to fool ourselves (though we often try to use it in this way).

Hope is an active, empowered focus towards the future, into the truth of the consequences of what we are creating now.  Hope comes when we take a step forward, not when we disengage or avoid.

In the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, there wasn't passive hope that Frodo would somehow make it to Mordor.  There was hope because he was brave and resilient.

Neo wasn't 'the one' because he sat back and wished for change.  He engaged in the challenge and found a way through it.

Hope is never passive, it is never wistful, it is never weak.  It is one of the strongest of our virtues because we must engage in life, we must be 'in the arena', for there to even be a glimmer.

And Hope is what can sustain us when we feel that obstacles are relentless, that our dreams seem too far away.  One of my favourite quotes that keeps me going is this: 

"You are not required to finish your work, yet neither are you permitted to desist from it"

It means that we can know that utopia or heaven won't be fully realised in this lifetime, but that we can still do our part, for ourselves, for our ancestors, to make it more possible, to pave the way.  Hope guides us into a future that holds the promise and potential of a more complete experience of love.  And I believe that this is what inspires so many of us...

For the remaining weeks of the Aquarius Season, and especially with this Aquarius New Moon, the potential for hope multiplies.  The fixed air of Aquarius creates a container for alchemy.  It helps us to hold focus on our hopes and dreams, to creates space for us to plan and work, it holds potential for the breath of life to enter into desire.

If you feel that you are lacking today, it is time to go deep within, and ask yourself what you could lean into that would help you to feel it again. 

Ask yourself a few questions...

* What has inspired Hope in the past?

* What could I begin to build today that could inspire growth, love, transformation in the long term?

* What has dampened my Hope, and what can I do differently?

* Who (people, characters, archetypes) can I learn from, to amplify more Hope within me?

Remember that we are here for a reason.  Not to be 'The One', but to be one of those that builds the future we want to live now.

-Jennifer <3