I’ll try to keep this short-(ish). After all, time is a fast evaporating commodity in our runaway world with its apocalyptic fervour hanging over every social and political excruciation we consume with morning toast and tea. Of late, too much precious time is absorbed in the latest inane headlining affront to human dignity, too much toxic energy battling ghosts, gargoyles, and demons in the online stratosphere, and too many ah ha moments saving yet another revelatory, pithy, brilliant analysis to read later.

Yes, for sure it’s been a shadow dance of ginormous proportions over this last … how long ??? (What do you think, these days ten years inner process time is about one year in actual time?) Each long-short day, we warp speed plunge, again and again, into the heart aching depths of processing our human shadow as every piece of our hurt history explodes from the edges of long repressed, mouldering and distorting narratives now being aired in the full light of the sun (our conscious minds). All well and good actually.

Today we have the energy of the full moon leading into a historic solar eclipse on August 21st, which, astrologers say, is the finger of the universe burrowing down into America’s soul for some kind of Kingly death throes transition (God HELP us all!)

Meanwhile, in South Africa, (my other borrowed home base), as the August full moon draws out the currents of the subliminal, we’re in a turning point. (If anyone outside the thrall of THE tweets has noticed.) We have been long on the ropes due to State Capture, basically meaning the ANC, the great liberation party of Madiba (Mr. Mandela – please google) under Zuma (the president) and his overlords, the Guptas (continue with the googling)…… anyhow, to cut to the quick, Zuma is at the heart of a Coup d’État that has hemorrhaged money into very wrong pockets. So today the ANC are conducting a secret ballot to decide whether to pass a vote of no confidence on the President.

But with about six billionaires (Zillionaires??) now owning half the world’s resources; Zuma is small fry, though not for us in S.Africa of course. But, the overarching truth is that our time of global oligarchic, billionaire capture is killing our collective political, economic, social, and likely actual survival. Which means we have a David and Goliath battle on our hands to ensure a sustainable, just, and equitable world, a battle in disappearing time that we cannot, and should not, avoid.

But right now, in these next few weeks, there is an opportunity to shift into another gear. (I’ve finally managed to get to the main point, which I know I should have got to sooner.) This full moon of finer consciousness radiance, is a time to attune to the planetary forces that are interacting with our consciousness. In short, a portal has opened up.

So, this is a radical ‘to do’ practice. Forgive everyone.

(I know the problems with this statement, believe me!) But let’s just have a go. Forgive ourselves, the beautiful people that have it all, the asuras that are grabbing it all, the perpetrators, the abusers, the historic wrongs, the tiny handed one (hmm), the Zuma’s, the shrivelled billionaires, the pantheon of demons, the whole lot of aching hearts – the pain of it all. Let’s just take a pause and let go. Let go our resentments, our ‘look what they did’ narratives. Take a deep breath and let some air and light in. This moon energy will bring us the wings we need to help shift the energetic vibration of the planet.

In case you’re wondering, “has she gone looney” (I admit to a leaning into the lunar side of things), I’d like to say that the Buddha knew about full moons. The main events around his life and teachings happened on full moons for a reason. (I’ll just leave that there for now.) But more important than planetary influences is the Buddhas message to us. He diagnosed the cause of our ills as the fundamental greed, hatred, and delusion nestled right within the mind (that would be ALL our minds.) We are here right now for this global storm because we all carry responsibility. (Who has not grabbed, distorted, been hateful and deluded.)

So, picking up that practice lightly, here’s a way into the territory. However we understand, or do, prayer, meditation, chanting, compassion practice, sharing merit-blessings, ceremony, let’s do that the next few weeks (well actually whenever we can), but particularly now. Send out light, love, forgiveness to all hearts. Breathe into the whole mass of yuck with compassion, transcendent wisdom, and Eros cherishing that protects the tenderness of our collective vulnerability.

This isn’t idiot compassion. It doesn’t mean we now have permission for collective historical amnesia, or that we are excused and can carry on grabbing, harming, and violating. It doesn’t mean we won’t be held accountable (at least by karma, which is another inconvenient reality.) It doesn’t mean we don’t continue the struggle for a better, fairer, more just and beautiful world, or that we go stupid and abdicate from the biggest fight of our collective human history, which is addressing systemic injustices and arresting the wanton destruction of our eco-systems.

So that is what it doesn’t mean.

What it does mean I can’t exactly say right now. But what I trust is that the leap to conscious compassionate forgiveness, which is the giving over of our righteousness, blame, indignation, and wounds, has been done before with speculator outcomes. It was done by Mr. Mandela. Today, here in South Africa, as the radiance of this glorious full moon crosses the skies here at Dharmagiri-Mvuleni-Bamboo Mountain in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg, on the south-east edge of the great Mother Continent of Africa, may Madiba’s spirit be with you South Africa. And may his courageous example inspire and lead us all in these perilous times.