March 4th: Cleansing and Centering

No one wants to wake up, randomly wondering what the day is all about spiritually, though that is exactly what many of us do unless it is a holiday, sabbat, equinox or solstice. Luckily, I have many resources, all around me, in hard copy as books and through my numerous online groups. Today though, I consulted what is like a devotional to me, “365 Goddess” only to discover today could be quite an amazing day.

What Telesco says about today’s Goddess dove-tails so nicely with my current spiritual direction. March 4^th is devoted to the Japanese mother goddess Kishi-Mujin. She offers safety and invites us to welcome spring. Her guidance is focused around grounding and centering as well as striking a balance between the polar forces.

So today can be dedicated to prayer, meditation, gentle earth invocations and cleansing. Offerings using water can be made and my beloved pine, is important today. Pine is used in Buddhist rituals today to ward off evil spirits. How this is done is a wand is made from a pine branch that is set on fire and left to smolder. People are invited to catch the ash and use it in banishment work. This observance is called Omizuturi in Japan.

I said Omizuturi is important to my work because in African American healing traditions pine is revered. It is used in floor washes, which I shared some recipes for in (Sticks, Stones, Roots and Bones ) and which I explain the earth-based spirituality connection in (A Healing Grove )

Balance, grounding and centering is vital to pagans and shaman who walk between the worlds. Balance is also critical to creative people who must balance their visions, imagination and mundane or day-to-day concerns. At the heart of this balancing act is grounding and centering, for if you can activate those principles you will achieve balance.

I encourage you to consider ways you can employ Kishi-Mujin and the observance of Omizuturi in your day today. If you can’t think of anything, here is a suggestion:

Bring in a small pine branch for outside.

Dip it in a sacred water source that you may have such as lightning water or water collected from a healing spring.

Sprinkle this very delicately around you home working counterclockwise while you focus on balancing the opposing energies in your living space.

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