It's a beautiful day - for the Dead

I've been talking a lot with Betty Louise lately. Betty is the chateau houseghost (kind of like a houseguest except they never leave). It's not just me - my housemates know her, too. I've been talking to Betty Louise about the light. I mean The Light, and the possibilities for her if she should ever decide to go to The Light. She seems very confused when I mention a place of healing and renewal, a place of reunion with beloved family and friends she used to know a long time ago. She is not the first ghost I ever met who doesn't really get the point of going to The Light.

Some of the dead worry a bit about The Light because they know, in some way or another, that sometimes a soul needs a period of de-tox before moving into the pure goodness of The Light. The living sometimes think of soul rehab as Hell or the underworld. OK I'll admit it isn't a pretty place and yeah it stinks like rotten eggs. I took one shamanic voyage to the underworld. Peee-ewww! Won't be going back there anytime soon. Yuck. Anyone who has ever done any kind of de-tox can tell you the process isn't very fun. Ask Lindsay Lohan.

I've never seen the underworld as a place to be punished for sins. That doesn't make any sense to me - but as a place of purification and release? Yeah. As soon as they're clean, souls can move up up and away into The Light (at least according to the cosmology of Reya). It serves a purpose, but isn't punitive.

I'm thinking about all this today because it came to me that tonight's full moon/eclipse/Mercury retrograde winter solstice could be a GREAT opportunity for the dead to cross over into The Light. All day (between clients) I am going to encourage the ghosts of Capitol Hill to gaze at the fully eclipsed moon. I think they'll feel themselves being lifted up by strong, angelic arms into the mystery of The Light.

For those of us still living, it could be a discombobulating experience. The rush of many souls passing through all of a sudden is always disconcerting, even if we don't consciously register what's happening. A gate opens and a strange, non-wind blows through, and then, just as mysteriously, the non-wind stops and it's all over.

Here in DC the eclipse will reach fullness in the very wee hours of the night. It's overcast right now so it might not even be visible to the living. That is alright by me. I plan to be tucked securely into my bed, perhaps with the covers pulled over my head when the celestial gate opens. Though today would be a great day to die in terms of fast transit to what we think of as Heaven, I don't plan on this being my day.

However, for those already dead, you who are lonely, confused and wandering around, it's your E ticket outta here, dudes. All aboard, shalom and bon voyage!!