Getting Through the Maze of Life

Welcome to the month of Leo! To start, I want to explain a little bit about this sign. First of all, Leos, even the quiet ones, generally have strong personalities. When a Leo enters a room, people can feel his or her presence. By nature magnanimous and generous, Leos like to be acknowledged and praised.

It’s no surprise, therefore, that this particular month is governed by the sun. And because the sun is the preeminent power in our universe, Leos are often born with this feeling of being sort of God-like. When friends or family are faced with problems, a Leo might say something like this: “I know exactly what your problem is and I know how to answer it. I know what you have to do to make things right.”

Because this Leonine energy pervades the cosmos at this time, it’s appropriate that we revisit an important concept that we learn in Kabbalah: that there are two conditions that must be met before we can tell another person what to do.

1. We are sure they will listen.
2. We love them.

There is no question that many times, we believe that we know better than everybody else. What we often forget, however, is that a truly spiritual person steps aside, listens, and helps others learn what their problems are.

The month of Leo is a time of spiritual testing, and for most of us, this testing can be hard. We are all going through a tremendous change—in our consciousness, in our lifestyles, in our relationships. We are turning, thank God, greener and are becoming more aware of the world around us. We may even find ourselves more involved in the simple things in life.

What we are learning, in fact, is to hear and to connect with that quiet voice of the Light inside.

The Zohar says that during this time, the Creator will “refine us as gold is refined.” Webster’s Dictionary says that “to refine” means “to free (as metal, sugar, or oil) from impurities or unwanted material.” Although you and I and all of us would probably prefer to have a month that is wide open and all bright and beautiful, we need to remember that that is not what we are down here for. That is not the game. The game is to be able to go through the maze we call Life and to see through to the end of the tunnel, to transform our negativity into Light.

We are being afforded a huge spiritual opportunity this month, and we have two choices. We can hang on to our certainty, our beliefs, our reasons for being. Or we can say, “To heck with this, I am going to try another course. Whichever you choose, I wish you luck, and I hope that next month, some of you will say to me, “You were right; it was difficult. But even so, it was a great, great, great time.”