Equinox Blessing for Wall Street

Living in New York City, the meltdown on Wall Street seems even that much more frighteningly real. Last week's events were a rollercoaster ride of the market going up, up, up and down, down, down. Seeing that the Autumn equinox occurred today at precisely 11:44 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time), it made sense to perform a special blessing just for Wall Street this past Monday.

A group of us who have in the past worked with Urban Shaman, Mama Donna Henes agreed to meet right in front of the New York Stock Exchange this autumn equinox to chant special blessings. Why? Says Donna: "Monday marks a new week. And a new season. A good time to make a clean sweep and set off on a fresh start. The perfect time to purify the culture of greed that has poisoned not only the economy, but also the popular psyche."

She continues: "On the Equinox, there is a total equilibrium of darkness and light. Let us offer blessings of health, balance and sustainability to the financial system that supports us all."

We all wore white to signify our pure intentions. I was struck by how many tourists were walking around the Wall Street area, taking pictures of the New York Stock Exchange. I, of course, became one of them - as witnessed by the above photo. After we attuned ourselves at the moment of the Equinox, we waited until noon for our special blessings. Sage was lit, my drum came out and we cleansed the building and all it represented of greed, imbalance and other negativity. Nary an eyebrow was raised, although I did notice several of the tourists with cameras were now taking more pictures - of us this time! Whether the ceremony was a success remains to be seen but we all felt much calmer and centered after the ceremony.

Readers interested in a tarotist's take on the Wall Street meltdown may be interested in Joanna Powell Colbert's three-card spread on the situation, which may be found here. Obviously, this is a situation that has long-term repercussions and brings its own particular brand of stress and anxiety along with it.

In the meanwhile, our own blessing group had very little anxiety at the end of the cleansing ritual, as this picture of our happy faces demonstrates. A happy Autumn Equinox to all!

P.S. The ceremony got a write-up in the New York Observer today, in an article called "At the Emergency Equinox Blessing on Wall Street." Read it here.