The Light of Renewal

This article on the portion of the week was originally published in 2019.

At the end of every day, we have the opportunity to look back and reflect upon both our successes and where we might have gone off course. We do this so that we can begin the next day free and unencumbered by our past. At the end of the week, we have another opportunity to do the same. Then, at the end of the month, we can review the entire 30 days. We can reestablish our goals, assess any shortcomings, and prepare for the upcoming new month. A new lunar month is an opportunity to start again. We can leave our past behind and be born again. Each new moon is a renewal and a restarting of our spiritual path. These openings in our cosmos are there to help us and stave off the difficulties of life. It is an invaluable gift to be aware of these windows in time during the year so we can benefit from the energy as the Creator intended. This week, the new moon of Cancer begins. This is an especially powerful new moon, as the moon itself is our ruling celestial body for the next 30 days. This occurs only once a year. It is as though we come to the universe this week, with an empty chalice, ready and prepared to receive. Wherever there is a vessel, the Light will automatically fill it. This week, we come ready and willing to receive the Light of renewal.

"A new lunar month is an opportunity to start again."

Our portion and spiritual guide for the week is Chukat. Chukat comes precisely at the perfect time, as designed by the Creator, to assist us and coherently work with the energy of the cosmos. Chukat and the new moon of Cancer are gifting us, synergistically, with our annual cleansing and renewal for the coming year. In Chukat, the special healing formula created by the priest, made of the red heifer, is introduced to the Israelites. This special formula was created through the ashes of the red heifer and was used to purify the people. The human experience is one in which we are constantly going through stages of purification and cleansing. Look how each day there is a need to bathe our bodies. In this same way, our consciousness and spirits need renewal and cleansing. The ashes of the red heifer supplied the Israelites with the remedy and cleansing they needed, and this week, it will for us, as well. As the new moon of Cancer appears in our night skies, we begin a new opportunity to recharge our spiritual batteries and be restored. The moon most closely relates to our being and our world. It is no coincidence that it is closest in proximity of all the celestial bodies. The new moon of Cancer is a time of our personal renewal. It is a time when we can be purified and our spiritual vessel is capable and willing, once again, to receive the Light of the Creator, free from obstacles, blockages, and blind spots. Chukat comes to us during the month of Cancer to clear the cobwebs and make room for the Light that is coming our way. Whomever was sprinkled with the ashes of the red heifer was purified and then able to receive more blessings and further connection to the Creator’s Light. 

"The purest vessel to receive the Light of the Creator is a vessel of love."

Oftentimes, we wonder why life is not going the way we had hoped. We ask the Creator why challenges are appearing in our lives. We can be beset by illnesses and hardships. Is this the life the Creator intended for us? The answer is a resounding no. The Creator has only created good, anything other than good has been created by ourselves. We, like the moon, are vessels for Light. In the Light exists the satisfaction and fulfillment of every possible desire. We rely on this Light. However, we came into this human experience to learn how to draw this Light ourselves, thus “earning” it. Each night when we step out and peer into the night’s sky, the moon shows us a different face. It is searching for the Light, just like we are. We search for the answers to life. How do we have more of what we desire and less of the pain and challenges? We strive to find a way to connect to the Light and be only “full” with Its presence. A full moon only occurs one time a month, signaling to us our current restless and fleeting experience with the Creator. But, via a spiritual path, we can indeed change this. It is through the ability to open and purify our vessel to receive, that we are then able to take in the Light that we desire. We approach the new moon of the sign of Cancer and the gift of the ashes of purification found in Chukat, to give us just that: a worthy and ready space for the Creator to dwell. We are new moons ready to receive the Light that our spirits, minds, and bodies await. We are ready to receive the Light of renewal and healing. Our only task is to maintain this state, not just today, or this week, or this month, but the entire year. The purest vessel to receive the Light of the Creator is a vessel of love. The more we can remember to think of others, give to others, and show kindness to others, the more we purify and enlarge our own ability to receive more. We are the moon, and we come new and ready to receive, only because we are finally ready to give.

This week in your meditations, before the new moon begins, make a spiritual inventory of your life. What are you most grateful for? What have been the joys of your life over the past year? Focus upon your many gifts and write them down. Take a moment to also consider what you would like to see more of in the coming year. Whatever lack you may feel, write them down. This will bring your needs from the subconscious to the conscious mind. Review your year and recognize you are about to be given the chance to start again. It is time to thank the past for its gifts, but let it go. It is time to begin again with a new vessel, made pure and willing to receive all it was made to receive. Clean away the blockages, the fears, and welcome the new Light to enter your being. You are now a corrected vessel. You are a brand-new moon in the night’s sky. You are in a state of receiving for the sake of helping and giving to others. You are a channel of the Creator. You are healed, renewed, and full, beautifully shining like that great ball of Light in the night’s sky.