Day 20 - Changing seasons - Constellations (2005)

Dear friend,


Let me start thanking my friend Rebecca for sending me a joyful email reminding her friends of the symbolic and important role the March Equinox has to many ancient cultures. This changing seasons, as I live in the Southern hemisphere, is changing from Summer to Fall, moving towards darkness and cold! 

So Happy March Equinox, Fall here, Spring there in the North, where most of you are, moving towards the Light and warmth. The magical pendulum of the seasons is shifting again, to balance the Earth's energy around the sun, happy changing seasons to everyone.


When I was a little kid, my family used to take time off to enjoy the March equinox, there was always a sense of wonder of nature's power. During the end of March, thunderstorms would bring heavy dark clouds full of lightning, thunder, water and ice! Electric power turned off and black outs spreading quickly in the largest city of South America, turning everything dark on the streets and inside home, no noisy distracting TV or radio, only candlelight. Nature was showing who's the boss! 
A spetacular show of lightning sparks striking and drawing colored tree branches and blue rivers in the sky.  Drums made of thundercracks creating waves in the air shaking glass windows and walls, filling our bodies with fearsome power and commotion.


During these Equinox evenings, my family used to gather close to the window to appreciate mother nature's show, while my gradmother used to cook rain cakes, tell stories about her ancestors, my father and mother used to invite us to sing along funny songs, tell jokes, dance and shadow-play by the candle light. Every thundercrack brought us closer and closer, laughting and shouting of fear and happiness for being there alive and together.


Moments of Fall Equinox like these are so vivid in my memory, they make me smile and laugh. The voices of my family still echoe inside of me as the most powerful and happiest moments in my life. Exactly on the Equinox, 3 years ago, my daughter Eva was born alive by natural birth, even though she had a short life in this earth, her arrival is now part of the Equinox celebration, my "little star of the buriti grove" is a lightning bolt and a thundercrack. And for her and for this beautiful thunderstorm that hit Brasília today, I sing and dance this sweet Jack Johnson's song Constellations! 
But before we dance this song, please enjoy this short meditation chant for the changing seasons, a gift of joy and hope for all of us in this equinox:



"I am a soul
A divine spark of the Infinite
That gave birth to this universe.

I remember Who I am
and serve the Greater Purpose of Life
as One with All That is.

I came here with many other souls
to assist in the expansion of Light
on this living planet Earth.

I accept to let Love
Be the guiding beacon of my life
and to shine Its radiance in every moment.

I am a soul
and the sole purpose of my existence
is to be All That I Am.

So be it."

 Namaste!


"Constellations" (in Between Dreams JJ 2005)

The light was leaving in the west it was blue 

The children’s laughter sang 

And skipping just like the stones they threw 

Their voices echoed across the waves 

It’s getting late 


And it was just another night 

With a sunset and a moonrise 

Not too far behind to give us just enough light 

To lay down underneath the stars 

We listened to Papa’s translations 

Of the stories across the sky 

We drew our own constellations 


The west winds often last too long 

And when they calm down, nothing ever feels the same 

Sheltered under the Kamani tree 

Waiting for the passing rain 

Clouds keep moving to uncover the sea 

Stars up above us chasing the day away 

To find the stories that we sometimes need 

Listen close enough and all else fades
Fades away 


And it was just another night 

With a sunset and a moonrise 

Not so far behind to give us just enough light 

To lay down underneath the stars 

Listen to all translations 

Of the stories across the sky 

We drew our own constellations