Welcome to the Wesak 2019 Full Moon in Scorpio, Taurus Solar Festival Cosmic Weather Forecast. Warm greetings from South Florida from your editors, Jane Sherry and Curtis Lang. This week we celebrate the Festival of Wesak, commemorating the birth, enlightenment and death of Taurean Gautama Buddha, at the time of the Taurus Solar Festival and the Scorpio Full Moon.
The Full Moon in Taurus peaks at 5:11 pm Eastern time on Saturday May 18, 2019 at 27°39' Taurus, opposed by the Sun at 27°39' Scorpio. Mercury in Taurus conjuncts the Sun and opposes this Full Moon, indicating a potential conflict between heart and mind, between unconscious lunar drives and submerged emotions, on the one hand, and the focused, penetrating energy of the rational mind.
On the upside, we could use this energy to uncover our own hidden desires, unconscious motivations, and repetitive self-sabotaging behavior patterns, aka karma, in order to bring these murky elements of our nature into the light of consciousness, facilitating their release, and triggering a true expansion of consciousness.
On the downside, we could find ourselves identifying strongly with the egoistic personality, prioritizing the rational mind over the emotional side of our nature, and creating internal conflicts and polarized arguments with others.
The Sun and Mercury in Taurus are also trine the Pluto/Saturn conjunction in Capricorn, which lends depth and intensity to our meditation practice, and to all mental activity designed to improve ourselves and our environment. This energy is extremely supportive of all efforts to investigate the root causes of behavior patterns in ourselves, in our loved ones, friends, neighbors, competitors, enemies, or other important people in our lives. We may be able to penetrate to the truth about relationships of all kinds this Full Moon.
Mars in Cancer is sextile a Venus/Uranus conjunction in Taurus, which creates an openness to people with whom we seem to have very little in common. Under this influence it is possible to develop empathy, warmth, even love for people whose lives, value systems and beliefs are totally different from our own. This energy supports spiritual practices and communications designed to promote loving kindness among all peoples, even those with whom we have had conflicts, misunderstandings or communication problems in the past.
Over the next month, there are major outer planet developments centering on the waning square between Jupiter in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces. These two expansive gas giants signal optimism without limits when in a positive aspect, while the square between them, which persists from November 2018 through November 2019, challenges us to rip off our rose colored glasses and take an unflinching look at the potentially harsh realities around us.
If we lose ourselves in astral glamours, feel-good emotional cocoons, unwarranted look-on-the-bright-side wishful thinking, or an it's-different-this-time approach to our perennial issues, we may get a nasty wake up call from the Universe.
June 16 this square is exact, and its energy is peaking. The Sun will be in Gemini June 20, making a mutable T-square formation to the Jupiter/Neptune Square, intensifying the strength of the illusions permeating our collective consciousness, while challenging us to rapidly readjust our views of reality as we react to unexpected, perhaps negative, events on the global stage. Watch out for bellicose rhetoric to degenerate into warlike behavior. Levitating financial markets may suddenly wobble, dip and soar without warning.
On a personal level, we may find we have been seeing a person or a relationship through rose colored glasses. We will likely be challenged by embarrassing or disappointing outcomes on a personal and collective level.
The best response to such circumstances will be to cut our losses quickly and exercise greater discernment going forward in our lives. Mutable signs call for flexibility, speedy responses to rapidly changing situations, and a willingness to change long held beliefs and patterns of behavior without hesitation.
Neptune turns retrograde June 21, and on June 23-24 Venus in Gemini makes a T-square with Jupiter and Neptune, so the illusory, conflicted energy will continue to peak during this time.
Also during this next month, Mars in Cancer will oppose both Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, June 14-19, making it extremely difficult for us to work our will in the world. Mars is in its detriment in Cancer, so energy is somewhat sluggish to begin with, and when opposed by Saturn and Pluto we may become frustrated with our inability to move forward with our plans and projects. This may make it difficult for us to respond quickly and effectively to any unexpected events connected to the Jupiter-Neptune square that could puncture one or more of our sacred balloons.
So enjoy this Full Moon and the Wesak spiritual festival, and take this moment to prepare for a potentially surprising and upsetting June. During Wesak ask for deep insights into your Higher Purpose and your spiritual assignments for the next year. Ask for enhanced will forces to help you stay strong during turbulent times, and petition your Guides and Teachers for penetrating discernment to help you navigate the fog of misplaced optimism permeating our collective consciousness at this time. You will likely need all of the above in the month to come.
The Complete Guide to Wesak
Over the last hundred years, countless meditators, lightworkers, spiritual seekers and aspirants have told stories of dreams and meditative visions they have experienced on the Full Moon of May.
Over time, their stories have coalesced into a larger collective Story of Wesak, which has its foundation in the initial writings of the Theosophist and medium Alice Bailey.
For a complete rendering of the Wesak story and a guide to participating in the global Full Wesak Moon meditation on Friday read our article entitled Wesak: Buddha's Birthday & the Shamballa Gathering.
During the Wesak Full Moon a gathering of incarnate and discarnate disciples, Guides and Teachers from every corner of the Earth gather in a valley high in the Himalayas for a yearly Festival in which the Christ and Buddha appear to bless the assembled gathering and all the faithful throughout the world.
On this High Holy Festival of Wesak we celebrate the secret Unity that underlies the apparent duality of the Wisdom Teachings of East and West.
That ineluctable truth, that secret Unity is expressed in the Sanskrit word Satya, and that expressed mystery is the foundation and guiding star for Satya Center. We thank you again for being part of our work.
The Festival of Wesak is a Global Celebration of the work being done by the Ascended Master Teachers in Spiritual Worlds and by the New Group of World Servers in the physical realm on planet Earth.
As we recall today, the Buddha taught that the individual Self, experienced as the egoistic personality, is an illusion, and that each of us is indissolubly united with the vast web of life that interpenetrates the physical and spiritual realms, extending throughout the space-time continuum, encompassing past, present and future.
Much of the work that the New Group of World Servers must accomplish in this New Age is to bring the activities of human beings into harmony with the myriad beings of the mineral, plant and animal realms on planet Earth, restoring a balance to the environment and preserving the lives of countless species during this period of global climate change and transition.
The New Group of World Servers strive to elevate human consciousness so that we will all recognize the existence of the many devas, elemental spirits and nature spirits active in the realms of nature, whose work equilibrates and optimizes the growth of all sentient beings on this garden planet.
Ultimately, humanity's consciousness of the interdependent nature of all existence will result in the realization that the Earth is indeed a living being, and that all life on the planet represents one big family, the offspring of Mother Earth, aka Gaia.
Let us meditate upon life on Earth this Wesak Full Moon Festival.
Trees, algae and all photosynthetic organisms produce most of our planet's oxygen, and help to regulate the concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere, so it will not become overly flammable.
Microorganisms and mycorrhizae in the soil connect trees, crops, and the entire plant kingdom in a woody world wide web that allows trees and other plants to communicate with one another and even share resources needed for survival, keeping entire ecosystems in balance.
Ocean plankton get their energy from carbon dioxide, like plants on land, and provide an important source of carbon dioxide sequestration, which helps maintain the fragile, dynamic balance of the Earth's ecosystem, so that it can support complex life forms.
Seaweed, coral reefs and shellfish store huge amounts of carbon, keep the oceans' chemistry in balance, and provide the world's shorelines with coastal defenses against extreme weather events.
Animals as diverse as elephants, prairie dogs and termites continuously disrupt and reconstruct the Earth's crust at the surface, dynamically reconfiguring the flow of nutrients, water and air across the globe, to the benefit of all complex life forms.
Insects pollinate the majority of food crops and beautiful flowers that play such an important role in sustaining animal life.
All life on Earth is interconnected and interdependent, and all life on Earth contributes to the overall balance of nature. The Earth's ecosystem exhibits a continuously self-adjusting, dynamic equilibrium that humanity has yet to fully comprehend.
The vast diversity of life forms on Earth are her children, and her children continuously remake and remodel the face of Earth, the depths of the oceans, and the atmosphere itself. Just as the myriad of cells in the human body continuously die and replace themselves, while maintaining the dynamic equilibrium that is human life, the life forms on planet Earth die and replace themselves, creating ever new variations on the dynamic equilibrium of the planetary ecosystem that many spiritual teachers and even some scientists have characterized as a global, conscious organism, aka Gaia.
First articulated by the British chemist James Lovelock in the early 1970s and later refined with the American biologist Lynn Margulis, the Gaia theory proposes that all the living and nonliving elements of Earth are “parts and partners of a vast being who in her entirety has the power to maintain our planet as a fit and comfortable habitat for life.”
This theory fell into disfavor over the last decades with the rise of evolutionary biology and the ascendance of rational materialism. Many scientists were deeply disturbed by the concept of a living planet.
“Gaia — the Great Earth Mother! The planetary organism!” the microbiologist John Postgate wrote in New Scientist. “Am I the only biologist to suffer a nasty twitch, a feeling of unreality, when the media invite me yet again to take it seriously?”
That skepticism is changing as scientists confronting the spectre of runaway climate change increasingly explore the myriad of ways that life on Earth arises from deep structures of Earth's land masses and oceans, and the ways that the innumerable living organisms inhabiting the planet structure Earth's climate, weather events, seasonal cycles, and ecosystems.
“It’s definitely time to revisit Gaia,” said Adam Frank, an astrophysicist at the University of Rochester. Lately, some brave scientists even postulate that the Earth is in some meaningful sense alive.
The Earth evolves, and as it evolves it births innumerable organisms whose existence is interdependent with one another and with the large ecosystem that shelters and nourishes them. Those organisms evolve as the Earth evolves, and as they evolve these innumerable living organisms reshape aspects of Earth's land, the oceans and the atmosphere itself.
“Life is not something that happened on Earth, but something that happened to Earth,” said David Grinspoon, an astrobiologist at the Planetary Science Institute. “There is this feedback between the living and nonliving parts of the planet that make the planet very different from what it would otherwise be.” As Dr. Margulis wrote,“Earth, in the biological sense, has a body sustained by complex physiological processes. Life is a planetary-level phenomenon and Earth’s surface has been alive for at least 3,000 million years.”
This Wesak Festival let us all contemplate our own interdependence with the myriad of living, sentient and non-sentient beings inhabiting our Mother Earth, with the devas, elementals and nature spirits that structure and equilibrate the templates for growth and development of plants and animals, insects and fish alike.
Let us contemplate the role of the Hierarchy of Angelic Beings who oversee the the activity of the devas, elementals and nature spirits on planet Earth.
Let us meditate upon the constant flow of love and wisdom emanating from the Hierarchy of Ascended Master Guides and Teachers we cherish and respect, and upon the recurring majesty of the moment in May when Christ and Buddha appear together in the Himalayas, at the yearly gathering of Lightworkers, meditators, Buddhists, Christians, and seekers of all religions and spiritual traditions known as Wesak.
Let us ask to be given guidance to help us recognize our own spiritual path in the year to come, and to pursue that path as we seek to manifest the highest and best possible life outcomes for ourselves and for all those myriad of beings with whom we are connected, and especially for the health and well-being of Gaia, herself.
“The Wesak Festival is in recognition of a present living event. It takes place ... whilst some great and heavenly event is going on, and it is in the nature of a participating ceremony,” says Alice Bailey. . . .There is release upon Earth (according to the measure of man's demand) of the blessing of God Himself, transmitted through the Buddha and His Brother, the Christ.”
High in the Himalayas, in the general area of Tibet, there lies a remote valley, all but circumscribed by lofty mountain ranges. Beginning on the third day prior to the Wesak Full Moon in Scorpio, a slow but steady stream of adepts, high lamas, magi, monks, priests, nuns, high priestesses, clairvoyants, spiritual teachers, and yogis begin to travel through a small funnel shaped opening in the mountains, to the northeast of the valley, and to set up camp on the valley’s plains.
Toward the northern end of the valley lies a large flat rock. Shorn of trees and shrubs, the valley is covered with a kind of short grass, but the mountainside surrounding it is full of tall trees.
Throughout the days prior to the Full Moon and up to the night thereof, the growing gathering is augmented by the addition of many Beings of Light -- Ascended Masters, Guides and Teachers, Rishis and Bodhisattvas whose subtle bodies pervade the valley with auric light visible on the etheric, astral, and causal planes of existence.
During this period, many lightworkers and disciples, spiritual teachers and yogis who inhabit the earth in a physical form and who cannot attend the gathering in person perform spiritual practices, meditations and prayers designed to join their energies, their souls, and their spirits with this elevated gathering.
In the hidden Himalayan Valley, this gathering congregates in groups according to their various grades, religions, paths, affiliations and lineages. Each one individually, and as part of a group, performs intensive spiritual practices to prepare themselves to receive a great spiritual gift.
Through these practices, the adepts open the heart, strengthen the will, illuminate the mind, and set up a ceaseless petition to heaven asking the Divine Source to instruct them concerning humanity’s pressing needs for the upcoming year, and asking the Divine Source to provide them with the grace and guidance they need to be of maximum service in the world.
On the evening before Wesak, as the time of the Full Moon nears, the congregation looks to the northeast of the valley, concentrating their attention upon the vast flat rock lying there. A vast crystal bowl, full of the water of life, sits upon its grey expanse.
The Cosmic Christ takes up his position among the congregation in the valley, and the various groups begin to move, forming human, moving mandalas that inscribe through sacred geometry the wisdom teachings of East and West upon the valley’s floor. Chants and mantras rise up into the night sky. As the chanting and the rhythmic movements of the groups quicken and strengthen, mere minutes before the exact time of the Full Moon, a saffron dot appears in the northeastern sky, soaring over the mountains and descending into the sacred valley.
The Buddha appears in his saffron robes, hovering above the great rock, in a full lotus meditation posture, his hand extended in blessing. 
At that moment, the Cosmic Christ intones a secret mantram, and the congregation falls upon their faces in a gesture of supplication, gratitude and devotion.
At that moment, the combined energy of the congregation reaches its highest pitch and is met with a vast outpouring of Loving Wisdom in the form of the blessing of the Buddha, conveying energies direct from the Divine Source essential to humanity’s evolution during the coming year.
The Cosmic Christ receives these potent energies, transforms and transmutes them into energies appropriate for the vehicles of the various participants in the Valley and around the world, and distributes these energies to all those receptive and prepared to receive them.
All this takes approximately eight minutes. The Buddha’s annual sacrifice being complete, he returns to that inconceivably elevated place from which he came, at great personal cost, to aid suffering humanity.
The crowd rises to its feet. The water in the bowl is distributed in small portions to the attending Master Teachers, initiates and disciples, and they go their own way to their places of service. The crowd shares the waters of life with one another.
This is symbolic of the initiation of a New Aquarian Age of World Service, in which human beings, symbolized by the Water Bearer, recognize the essential unity of all humanity and willingly share with one another all that is essential for human life and human spiritual evolution.
Instructions for a Wesak Meditation
Here are some ideas for those who would like to participate in this great Festival of Love and Light.
1. During the time prior to the full Moon, accelerate your spiritual practice as much as possible. Attempt to remain somewhat more quiet than normal. Listen to some uplifting spiritual music, chants or mantras, instead of watching TV if possible. Or simply make some silent time. Meditate. Pray. Ask for the grace and guidance you need to achieve your loftiest spiritual goals. Ask that you be ever more consciously connected to inner spiritual guidance. Ask that you be given golden opportunities to be of maximum service in the world. Give thanks. Perform random acts of kindness.
2. This evening just before the Full Moon, fill any crystal bowls or vases you may have available with water, and place them outside at sunset. Allow these containers to sit outside during the night, and bring them in the following morning after the full moon.
Put the water from the crystal containers into sealed glass bottles. You can use this holy water, infused with the magnetic energy of the Loving Wisdom embodied by Lord Buddha and the Cosmic Christ, to heal your environment, yourself, and others. Place the water in a crystal bowl on your altar, or by your bed, or on your mantelpiece, and simply allow the water to evaporate. Then replace the water as needed. This will elevate the energy within your living space.
Occasionally pour some of this enlivened water into your bath to purify your body and soul. Occasionally drink the water for self-healing. Offer the water to others who are in need of healing. Tell them what they are receiving. Pour this water upon the earth in areas where human beings have damaged the environment, and ask Grandmother Earth for forgiveness.
3. In the room where you meditate, place a crystal bowl full of water on the altar or nearby you. Light a candle and some incense if you have these available. Play some appropriate spiritual music the evening of the Wesak Full Moon. Meditate during the evening hours whenever you have the time to do so.
The Wesak Full Moon occurs at 5:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time Saturday May 18, 2019. By 4:45 PM, at the latest, try to be sitting in meditation. Connect with your spiritual guides and teachers, and with inner spiritual guidance. Ask for help with any and all issues you are currently addressing. Ask to be graced with guidance that will help you understand what is to come in the next year, and how you can be of maximum service in the world.
If you are awake at that time, chant or pray as the Full Moon approaches. By 5:00 simply enter into a deep meditative state. Try to visualize or hear or feel the presence of a vast energy grid surrounding the Earth, energized by the combined will and intent of the entire Spiritual Hierarchy and the New Group of World Servers around the world. Feel your own energy uniting with that vast collective outpouring of love and light.
However, all of those who wish to participate should feel free to simply tune in to this global meditation at any time during the evening, and early morning hours, join in and participate. You may have some very interesting early morning dreams!
4. Sit in peace during the eight minutes of Buddha’s visitation, at the time of the Full Moon, and when that is over, simply give thanks. Allow yourself time to feel the inpouring flow of Loving Wisdom from the Divine Source. Once again, if you are on the East Coast or in Central time zone, just meditate during the evening and be sure to keep a dream journal near your bed.
5. Join in the Wesak water ceremony of communion. When you have finished your meditations, and tomorrow morning when you wake up, take up the crystal bowl nearby you and see the light reflected within the liquid. Know that light is the Path of Spirit, and that as you partake of the water of light, that light will dwell within you, lighting your path during the coming year. Mentally dedicate yourself to selfless service and healing the Earth.
6. Recite the Great Invocation:
THE GREAT INVOCATION
From the point of light within the Mind of God
Let Light stream forth into our minds
Let LIGHT descend on Earth.
From the point of love within the Heart of God
Let Love stream forth into our hearts
May LOVE increase on Earth.
From the center where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide our wills
The PURPOSE which the masters know and serve.
From the center which we call Humanity
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door
where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
Let LIGHT and LOVE and POWER
restore the Planet Earth!
If you go to bed before the actual Full Moon moment, say the Great Invocation before retiring. The next morning you can get the crystal bowls you set outside, take and drink some of the collected water, and once again say the Great Invocation.
7. During the three days following