A Month of Working to Elevate Ourselves and Others

The first three months of the year – Nissan (Aries), Iyar (Taurus), and Sivan (Gemini) - are the months when Light is being revealed. In the month of Aries, we have the days of Passover, a time when great Light is available for all of us. In the month of Taurus there is Lag B’Omer, another time when great Light is revealed in this world. And in the month of Gemini is Shavuot, the revelation of Immortality.

So, while in the first three months a tremendous amount of Light shines down onto this world, in this month of Cancer, or Tamuz, we now begin the process of Returning Light. That is why the next three months are often viewed as challenging; however, they're not challenging without reason. They're challenging with a purpose, because we need to come to understand that the reason we are in this world is not simply to sit there and receive Light, but rather, to use whatever Light and gifts we have received and do something with them: elevate ourselves and others.

Therefore, as we enter the month of Cancer, we have two opposite possibilities. Whereas in the first three months of the year we can be relatively passive because Light shines down and we can receive it, during this month, we can't be passive. We are entering into the months during which time Light will only be revealed if we fight for it. Light will only be received if we have earned it. And that's why for some people, and historically, the months of Tamuz and Av, Leo, have been challenging. Negative things have happened, but it’s not because these months are inherently negative. It's simply because the energy that is being put into the world in these months is now the time for work. Now is the time to take whatever Light, gifts, and blessings we have, and elevate from them.

So these months, beginning with this New Moon of Cancer, have two opposite potentials, and it should be very clear to us what we have to do in order to make sure that we elevate them. In order to make sure that our experience will be positive, we have to work and we have to fight. These are the months of Returning Light, the months when we have to take our gifts. We cannot be passive with them. We have to work to elevate ourselves and others. If we do that, then these next months, beginning right now with the New Moon of Cancer, can be the most positive of the year. Because as we know, kabbalistically, we cannot have the potential for great Light unless there is potential for challenges as well. And that's the first very important understanding we have to have about this upcoming month of Cancer.

It is a month of work. It is a month to fight for Light, blessings, growth, and change. If we do that, this can be the greatest month of the year. The kabbalists teach that when the world transforms, and this is true of individuals as well, these months will be the greatest, the most elevated, and the most filled with Light and blessings of the year. It starts right now, with the New Moon of Cancer. That's the choice that we have in this moment. How are we going to create the next month, and the month that follows? Are we going to grab the opportunity for great Light, or are we going to be relatively passive and have those challenges come to us? This is the first consciousness we want to come to this month of Cancer with. It is the month when we have to work, fight, and be active, both spiritually and physically, in order to receive its great potential.