Crossing the Threshold with Wisdom & Authenticity
Happy New Year! As we cross the threshold into a new year, we are given the opportunity to reflect upon months and years past, casting an eye to the times in our lives when we were younger and less aware. We see the progress we've made through time, acknowledging the lessons and gifts we've received from being open to life's journey. We look forward to where we're headed, and to what we're hoping to create and manifest in the world of form based on what we now know about ourselves and life itself. We allow ourselves to sink into the gift of the present, honouring the deep knowing that lives within and guides us to actualize our most full potential with every choice we make in the here and now.
At this pivotal time I am reminded of the Greek goddess Hecate, who is often known as the triple goddess, and that of thresholds, torches, keys, and magic. Her 3 phases represent the 3 phases of our lives: that of the maiden or young man, the mother or father, and the crone or wise one. Her story reminds us that wisdom isn't a virtue that is simply given; rather, it is something that is cultivated and hard-won as we learn to move through time and face challenge with both openness and resolve. Hecate is the goddess who leads Demeter down into the Underworld after her daughter Persephone is kidnapped by Hades/Pluto, guiding the way with her torches that shine light in the darkest of places. And she is also the one who leads Demeter and Persephone back into this realm, having had a brush with death in order to more thoroughly embrace the fullness of life.
In this way, Hecate embodies the energies of both Pluto and Saturn: she invites us to move across the threshold with the light of Consciousness we carry inside, as well as outside, in order to visit the Unconscious Realm. It is here that old wounds and traumas live, just waiting to be transformed through the light of our Awareness and our ability to move through an alchemical process that invites awakening and true perception. She reminds us that we always have guides when we’re ready to cross this threshold into the Unknown, and the more willing we are to show up for this transformative process, the more clearly our lives will unfold before us, for we recognize that we cannot be limited by our wounds unless we choose to be. And though the process of transformation may be intense and at times uncomfortable, what we gain by going through it is more than worth it, for our perception is made clear, and we are able to embody our most authentic selves, where before, the old wound would block the energy of life from moving clearly within our minds, bodies, and spirits. Pluto's name means, "the Lord of the Underworld" and "the Lord of the Riches," and Hecate's guidance in this process facilitates the alchemy from unconsciousness to awareness when we choose it.
As well, Hecate creates an innate link with Saturn, known as Father Time and often the wise sage, an energy that is willing to move through life in a way that cultivates wisdom. Saturn reminds us that we all have a choice to humble ourselves to Life and learn the lessons we’re meant to. If we open ourselves to the teaching available in each moment, choosing to let go of old habits and patterns that once served us in earlier years but don’t anymore, we cultivate our paths in a way that serves our movement through time and our becoming the elders that we can be. If we choose to close ourselves to life’s lessons, becoming rigid and inflexible in the midst of what we’re being offered, we become more begrudging through the passage of time, stopping life’s flow through us rather than facilitating it. In this way, we become the grouchy curmudgeon who has forgotten how to laugh and to celebrate, to be reverent and grateful. Yet how freeing it is to do away with old, outworn habits that have been wreaking havoc in our lives, turning instead toward those that facilitate growth and expansion, nourishment and ease! Saturn, too, welcomes this shift, for he reminds us that we literally all can be the elder with a twinkle in her eye and a pep in his step. It’s all in how we choose to approach each moment.
And here we are at the threshold, with Hecate as a guide if we so choose her to be. We are invited to put the transformations and lessons we’ve integrated over time into place, while welcoming new possibilities based on what we now know. We are able to unlock parts of ourselves that were once closed to us because it wasn’t yet time for us to reveal this aspect of Self. Yet here we are, on the precipice of what is waiting to be called forth from the depths of ourselves, birthed in a process that is joyful and powerful, pivotal and life-changing.
How have you and your intentions shifted over the last year or cycle in your life? What patterns and behaviours have you outgrown that are wanting to be updated and refined? How can you hold yourself accountable even when the old ways try and pull you back into outmoded habits?
During this process of becoming the wise being you always have the option to be, may you be inspired and uplifted, and may you always know the power within to be your most authentic self.
