Christianity, Islam, and Judaism revere the Archangel Micha-el as the great protector of humankind and Western Christianity celebrates the archangel on September 29, Michaelmas.
But there is much more to the archangel than the role of protector. This being also carries the scales of balanced judgment and offers rays of the sun to illuminate the darkness of our inner lives.
I have written a blog on Michaelmas for many years (see below). Yesterday, I reread all of them.
Three words stood out for me in the rereading of several thousand words: courage, calmness and clarity. I realized these were to be the focus of my post this year.
Michael is the source of our inner courage, calmness and clarity, especially in the fall season.
He brings us:
- Courage to protect our intentions from all kinds of attacks of doubt and overwhelm.
- Calmness to bring stable and centered compassion to our crazy self-judgments.
- Clarity to bring the light of order to our thoughts and priority to our activities.
Last night when I woke up about 2AM I was restless with anxious anticipation, some guilt, some excitement, some doubt…my usual middle of the night demons. Affter about 45 minutes of struggling, I remembered the three words I had read in the afternoon.
I began a quiet Michaelic mantra: courage, calmness, clarity…courage, calmness, clarity. Courage in my will. Calmness in my feelings. Clarity in my thoughts.
Within minutes I was asleep.
I woke up today knowing that for these autumn months I would be questioning everyday. Is there courage in my will today? Is there calmness in my feelings? Is there clarity in my thoughts? And I will imagine Micha-el’s gaze looking into my soul.
To strengthen the presence of these Micha-elic qualities, let me suggest:
- Take some time this weekend to enjoy imagining courage, calmness, and clarity.
- Maybe journalling your thoughts after a long afternoon walk. Or writing a poem…poetry crystalizes meaning and surprises the heart. Or, as I suggested in another Michaelmas blog, make a sword collage of words and images.
- Or, this just came to me and it feels great, make a dragon-shaped bread and as you rhythmically knead the dough repeat the mantra: courage, calmness, clarity.
- Invite some friends over for tea or a hearty red wine and talk about the Michaelic Feminine. Utterly courageous. Utterly calm. Utterly clear. Utterly feminine. (Spiritual beings are without gender and express both the masculine and feminine forces)
I love the cycle of the Inner Year. Micha-el is with us every moment of our lives, but every autumn we get a chance to reflect on, attend to, and embrace the Micha-elic mysteries and powers in the world and within our souls in a new way.
Here are links to other Michaelmas posts:
https://imagineself.com/2014/09/discerning-dragons-michaelmas/
https://imagineself.com/2009/09/michaelmas-and-continuous-improvement-2/
https://imagineself.com/2008/09/michaelmas-the-souls-season-of-dragons-and-courage-2/
https://imagineself.com/2013/09/what-are-your-inner-dragons/
https://imagineself.com/2010/09/a-sword-to-protect-your-soul-forged-in-the-heavens-2/
