The Diamond Ring

During a total solar eclipse, the first reemergence of sunlight is referred to as the diamond ring. It is more officially called third contact. It occurs to me now that, metaphysically speaking, this holds the greatest meaning of a solar eclipse.

We all know that during an eclipse, something typically lit becomes darkened for a brief time. Either the moon enters the Earth’s shadow, or we enter the shadow of the moon.

The Metaphysical point of an eclipse, some say, is to immerse us into our shadow to reveal something that is otherwise hidden. During a solar eclipse, the planets and stars pop out of the darkness. We cannot see them during the brilliance of daylight. So too, they say, can we not become fully aware of our shadow without passing through the dark night.

So third contact, when the light returns, is not only made more beautiful by the still-eclipsing moon, but is also symbolically the bringer of the light. For just a second longer, you can watch this phenomenon, but then the brilliance of flooded sunlight urges you to look away.

Spiritual circles have touching upon the idea of the shadow self for some time. We are told that we all have one. I think Christianity describes this with the idea of original sin. Spirit (God, angels, Gaia, the Divine Feminine, the Goddess, Source, etc) is considered without sin, without shadow. We…mere humans…are differentiated by our physical bodies and our dirty (shadowed) minds.

It has taken weeks, but I now see what this eclipse has illuminated for me. It is two-fold and decidedly about the idea of shadow: my personal shadow, and the shadow the collective continues to wrestle with. The insight came through a combination of two cards—two twos: The High Priestess and the Two of Pentacles.

[Astrological note: I noticed that Mercury stationed direct two weeks after the eclipse at nearly the same degree of Leo; furthermore, Mars passed over that spot at nearly the same time. This extended and enhanced the eclipse’s influence, which agrees with what I have observed in my life, others around me, and current events.]

The High Priestess is the keeper of the occult (hidden) wisdom. It is not that it is hidden, like a secret, rather it is subtle, so much so, it requires acute vision to behold.

The Two of Pentacles, like many cards in the minor arcana, describes a mundane, human experience. It is the juggling of two responsibilities vying for our attention. It feels like a struggle. We often think of them as the rock and the hard place or maybe as an either/or situation. We can comfortably have (manage) either one, but seemingly not both. “You can’t have your cake and eat it too,” we are often told.

The final popping of the epiphany I now hold came through these two cards, but it had been in the works for a while. Much of the knowledge and wisdom came through Abraham’s teachings, and the rest directly from my own inner being.

Pamela Eakins is the author of the best Tarot book I have ever read: Tarot of the Spirit. One line of hers has bounced around in my head ever since I first read it: “…recognize that all that is good has the potential for evil; all that is evil has the potential for good;” We’ve heard this in different forms before.

Abraham says that every particle of All-That-Is contains within it positive and negative. On a more personal level, they say that every subject we can ponder is like a stick with two ends: the having of it, and the lack of it. When we desire something, thinking about having it feels good, thinking about the lack of it feels bad.

The High Priestess sits between two columns: one black and the other white. The image encodes a similar idea. Call it light vs. dark, having vs. lacking, good vs. evil, or positive vs. negative, it is all the same idea. You don’t have to be metaphysically or spiritually inclined; just looking out in the world has us question the presences of bad.

But then the epiphany came…and now I get it. Through this, I caught a glimpse of infinity…not the whole of it, but the unending nature of it.

Abraham taught us about the emotional scale. I wrote about it earlier this year in Love Vs Hate. On that scale is the emotion of anger, for example. Anger is not on one end or the other. It is therefore not fully good or bad, by their measure. However, anger is good or not-so-good relative to you in any moment. In other words, if you are feeling distraught, for example, than anger is a movement in the right direction. It is thus good for you (an indicator that you are moving in the right direction)! If you are above the vibration of anger, then getting angry is a movement in the wrong direction, away from what you want and thus not as good for you.

Abraham has also told us this: every person is in a different place relative to any subject. We are a unique mix of vibrations regarding any idea and furthermore, we change all of the time. We resonate with some people in some ways, and other people in other ways.

Because there are people at every level, there are teachers and teachings at every level. When a teacher or teaching resonates with you, it is beneficial for you. When it resonates with another, but not for you, it is for them and not for you.

If you have read any of my writings, you know I have received this message repeatedly: there is no Right and Wrong. Abraham tells us that nothing is inappropriate. They say there is no source of darkness: there is only light and resistance. The light cannot be extinguished, but it can be eclipsed for a time.

In a conversation with a friend, I found myself saying (channeling) the following.

Things are not worse now then they were before. There is not more darkness than before. People cannot create darkness, they can only collect it around them. It looks like it is growing, but it is not. There is always an abundance of light. Individually, we can collect whatever we like, and that will be our experience. We can observe and push against darkness, and collect more of that around us, or we can focus on and appreciate the abundant light and collect more of that around us. It is always our choice.

I will now verbalize the epiphany that I received:

There is nothing inappropriate in this world because everything has the potential to serve someone. You, like everyone, are where you are, on every subject. The infinity of All-That-Is means there is that which is just below you and that which is just above you. What shows up in your life encompasses the full range. Furthermore, your mind can think beyond that…thus inching you further one way or the other. If you focus on a thing being wrong, you focus on wrongness and thus move yourself in that direction.

But that thing, which may be wrong for you relative to where you are and thus bringing you further away from what you desire, may be right for another, bringing them closer to what they desire. Like anger, it can be empowering to them and thus on the journey to where they want to be.

Given this, one cannot ever state what is right or wrong in absolute terms. One can only discern what is right or wrong for them. Your feelings in every moment tells you that.

The journey upward (or downward) is unending. There is never worst or best, only worse or better. The more you tend only to your own journey—focusing only on what is better for you—the more quickly you will progress, the better your apparent results will be, and the better you will feel. That last point is really the only one that matters.

So there is no evil in this world or beyond it. There is simply an infinite spectrum. Each of us is somewhere within it and surrounded by those vibrations on either side of us.

There is no sin; there is simply focus that moves an individual toward that which they desire or away from it.

All teachers, teachings, and experiences have something to give someone. If it resonates for you (and thus feels good) focus on it to reap benefit. If it doesn’t, then you needn’t spend any more time pondering it, since that will simply move you away from where you want to be. Pivot toward what you do desire as soon as you can, and you will find yourself moving toward it once again.