140: Solar and lunar energies

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Cani Crystals, the podcast. As always, I hope that you're all good. If you listened to my podcast episode last week, you will know that My little doggie JJ had his operation on his leg this week, and honest to God, I'm trying to hold it in now because I absolutely broke my heart today and yesterday. It's been something that's been causing me quite a lot of stress because it's all I've been thinking about. So he's 11 years old, and I know obviously dogs don't live anywhere near as many as us humans do, so I just think that took it out of me because you know, he was evidently stressed going into the vets and then having to come out of the room, leaving him behind. It was just awful. He was almost like wanting to be back in the room with us and wanting to come out with us, little poor bugger, honestly. Anyway, we collected him, uh, this afternoon, and as I record this, it is Thursday, and we weren't allowed to collect him until about 5 PM because he was on a lot of medication and they wanted to obviously wean him off the painkillers and things like that and just make sure that he actually was able to run around on his own on three legs, bless him. Anyway, we collected him, surgery went well. There were a few complications, meaning that he'll probably develop osteoarthritis, but that could be in one year, could be in 5 years, or even 10 years' time. So, you know what, I'm just grateful that he's alive. He's absolutely fine, but we have a really long road to recovery ahead. I think it's about 3 to 4 months of cage rest, which you try telling a Jack Russell to do because they have so much energy. It's absolutely awful having him here in a cage as well. Because he's always just had free rein across the whole house, bless him. But he's safe, he's recovering well. He's constantly whining and crying, so sorry if you can hear that in the background. I'm trying to keep on top of these meds and everything. Oh God, it's stressful, isn't it? That's the main thing anyway, he's safe and well. We're giving him lots of love and attention, so thank you all for your lovely messages. I do see them all. I don't get the opportunity to, you know, respond to every single one directly, but I do see them all, so thank you. Um, a couple Some of you have even sent him some beautiful toys in the mail as well, and honestly, it made me cry as they came in the post when I realized what they were this morning. So you lot are just too cute. So thank you from the bottom of mine and Johnny's hearts. So, so grateful for each and every one of you. So this week, it's just been so draining, if I'm totally honest. Obviously, this was all looming over me, him going in for surgery, and you know how we're going to cope with that afterwards. And I'm not sure if you all are feeling this energy too, because I'm feeling quite intense. On Monday this week, I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept a wink, and to be honest with you, I'd probably had a good 7 hours if I'm totally honest. So I went down the office, and you know when you're just not feeling it? I had that exact feeling, and it was almost like the Monday morning blues, and I never feel like that on a Monday. I'm usually raring to go for a new week ahead, and I definitely think that the energy of this summer solstice in conjunction with the full moon this weekend end just made me feel like I had no energy to go to work or to exercise for that matter or anything else. But then by the Tuesday, I was pretty much back to normal again. It was very weird, almost felt like a little hangover maybe from the weekend, but I hadn't even had a drink. So on Tuesday anyway, I met up with Jude, my life coach, and we went to something called Atomic Con, which I've never heard of, to be honest with you. But apparently that was the third year that it was held here in my hometown of Newcastle. So it's basically an event for small businesses, you know, wanting to grow and scale their businesses. So on the agenda were past podcast guests and Hay House authors like Suzy Ashworth, Jen Gottlieb, and then Davina McCall even did a talk on resilience. We had Linda Plant, who is Alan Sugar's aide on the BBC show The Apprentice. She's the older lady that basically rips everyone a brand new asshole, you know, she goes through all their business plans, rips them to shreds. But it was a really fun day, and I came home and I actually felt good about my business again because lately I think I've just been feeling so overwhelmed with everything going on at home, everything with my workload, looking after baby and the likes, and I've just not had time to do anything that I love doing in my business purely because of capacity. So I've not even put out a single new piece of content on socials this year. Not sure if anyone's noticed, but I'll let you in on a little secret here. Everything that I've posted since January have been videos that I took last year or the year before, and I've just rehashed them from TikTok. I do apologize. It feels very lazy for me, but at the same time, it has saved me a whole lot of time that I just haven't had capacity to work on my business. So this business day out just really lit a rocket under my arse, and I came home with lots of new ideas for the business and a real flair for it all over again. And afterwards I'd messaged Susie Ashworth and I said, "Oh, your talk was amazing. It really lit that fire under me arse. It's exactly what I needed." And the message that she sent me back just, I don't know, it just empowered me. It was just like all I needed to hear was exactly what she said. And her message to me was probably only about like 2 sentences, but I just thought, "Yeah, I can do this. I can cope, I can manage. I just need to get me head down and focus and find that real love for my business all over again." So yeah, I've said it once before and I'll say it again and again and again, but if you ever get the chance to go to any kind of conference, you know, or convention or anything like that, there are such good ways at networking, meeting people in your field, you know, just getting amongst like-minded people and finding that inspiration for what it is that you love. And it actually made me think about a little, you know, mindset and manifestation convention that I could potentially pull together next year. So keep your eyes peeled on that. I'm in the very early stages. It's something that I've been thinking about for so, so long, but I would love nothing more than to have like an entire day, maybe between like 10 AM, 5 PM, and have on some amazing speakers, you know, the likes of Susie Ashworth, Jen Gottlieb, Francesca Amber, Emma Mumford, Victoria Jackson, those kind of people. I would absolutely love to host a manifestation convention. Let's all just put it out there now. We might as well. Let's put it out there that this time next year we will all be going to a manifestation convention together. There, I said it. Anyway, let's get into today's episode because like I mentioned earlier, today as this episode comes out, it is the summer solstice. So it actually peaked last night on Thursday at 9:50 PM, but the energy will still be potent as you listen into this episode today. So today technically is the longest day of the year, but this weekend it's also the full moon in Capricorn on Saturday. So we have got some huge lunar and solar energies to play with and manifest with, actually. So did you know that today also holds significant spiritual and energetic power? So I don't know if any of you have done this, but if you live down south here in the UK, people tend to gather at something called Stonehenge, which for those of you living abroad It's kind of like this— how can I describe it? It's this huge prehistoric kind of monument. Is that right? It's made up of probably about 20 or 30 large standing stones, and they are basically arranged in a circle. And when I was actually Googling this to see when it was built, it was around 4,500 years ago. I was shook. So still to this day, I don't think anyone really knows its purpose, but That said, it's believed to have been used for ceremonies or as a kind of an ancient calendar. And like I say, today it's a famous tourist attraction, and it's also a symbol of ancient human creativity as well. So on the summer solstice and the winter solstice as well, the one in December, hundreds— well, probably thousands of people actually attend this site to watch the sunrise and the sunset. I would absolutely love to go one year as well. Maybe we should all have a Canny Crystals meetup at the winter one. Eh, maybe I should just be an events planner. There's an idea. Anyway, the summer solstice basically marks a time of heightened energy and light because obviously it's the longest day of the year. So for those of us that are practicing manifestation, this solstice is going to offer kind of amazing opportunities to amplify our intentions and just to harness that full potential of our mindset. So when we align our actions with the energy of the solstice, we can then supercharge our manifestation power, and that's going to set the stage for some real personal and spiritual growth. So in today's episode, we're going to look into how the summer solstice can enhance our manifestation practices and how it can also provide actionable steps to activate that power as well. So we're going to talk about sun salutations, mantras and crystals as well, probably lots of other techniques as well. So scientifically speaking, let's put me Einstein hat on for a second. The summer solstice occurs when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined towards the sun because that's going to result in the longest day and the shortest night of the year. So historically, that event has been celebrated with festivals, rituals, and probably even ceremonies like honoring the sun's life-giving energy in cultures such as the ancient Egyptians, Druids, Native Americans, they all recognize the solstice as a bit of a time of renewal, abundance, and spiritual connection as well. So symbolically, the summer solstice represents that peak of light and the pinnacle of life force energy. So it's a time when the sun's power is at its maximum as well. And true to form, today as I'm recording this on the Thursday, it's been the hottest day so far of the year. Who would have known? So it provides a really energy-rich, important source of energy for personal transformation and growth, and that abundance The absence of light can also serve as a metaphor as well, really, for clarity or enlightenment and kind of the illumination of our deepest desires. So what do you desire? We know that manifestation is all about bringing our desires into reality through focused intention, positive thinking, like attracts like, all that jazz. And by maintaining a positive mindset and aligning our thoughts with our goals, we attract the desired outcomes into our lives. So the summer solstice, with its abundant energy, it's going to serve as an ideal time to enhance these manifestation practices that we have. So what I'm saying is today is a perfect day for you to get clear on what you want and manifest the life that you dream of. So the heightened energy of the solstice is just going to amplify our intentions. It's going to make it easier to attract what we desire. And when we align our manifestation practices with the solstice energy, we're going to be able to tap into a powerful source of support for our goals as well. So what I want you to do at some point today is just think about one thing that you want in life more than anything else in the world, and I want you to set a clear, specific goal. Just go with the first thing that comes to your head, by the way, but I want you to set a clear, specific goal that resonates with the themes of growth, abundance, and light. Because that alignment is going to ensure that our intentions are in harmony with the natural energy cycle of the Earth, and that's going to increase the likelihood of a successful manifestation. So during the solstice, we can focus on goals related to personal development, spiritual growth, and kind of the expansion of our capabilities. So it's all about growing, not just like who we are as a person, but also spiritually as well. So to fully harness the manifestation power of the summer solstice, solstice, we can engage in, you know, specific practices designed to align our energy with the solstice itself. And these practices include things that I've just mentioned, like Sun Salutations, mantras, meditations, rituals, and they're all going to add and amplify our intentions and connect us with that solstice energy. So for those of you that have done yoga before, you'll have done these before, no doubt. But for anyone else listening, Sun Salutations are basically a series of yoga poses performed in a sequence to honor the sun. And it doesn't just provide like physical benefits, you know, like increased flexibility and strength and all that jazz, but it also enhances our connection to that sun's energy. And performing sun salutations on the summer solstice, that helps us align our physical and spiritual energies with the peak solar power. That's just one way of praising the sun today. Now I know my local yoga club, I saw them advertise this on Instagram the other night, they were going to do 108 sun salutations. Now I actually had to Google why 108 sun salutations because, because I thought, isn't that going to take forever? And aren't people going to be absolutely knackered afterwards? But there is some significance to it. So the number 108, like 1-0-8, is considered sacred in lots of religions and philosophies, and it's believed to represent the universe's entirety. For instance, there are 108 beads on a mala, which are like prayer beads, and, you know, performing 108 sun salutations then can be seen as a form of worship or devotion, and it's going to connect the person doing the yoga to the divine and the universe's energy. So that's what it's all about. But yeah, my yoga club, I think it was about a 90-minute class as well, but I was thinking, I just couldn't think of anything worse than doing yoga for full 90 minutes. I can barely do it 40 minutes and I'm absolutely knackered. But that repetitiveness and the rhythmic nature of Sun Salutations, that can almost induce a bit of a meditative state because you're going to have to kind of be mindful to get through it, you know what I mean? So you're going to kind of zone out. So that's going to help to calm the mind and reduce stress as well. It's going to require you some focus, determination, mental strength, and that's going to help build resilience and discipline as well. So yeah, maybe I should have done it in hindsight, but never mind. Another way of honoring the solstice is that obviously you want to get your crystals out, you want to get them charging in that beautiful solar energy because it's just going to be so potent, so strong, so intensified, so amplified. So let's just hope that we get a clear day for it. I did a post on me Instagram yesterday about what it's all about, which crystals to use, so if you're not sure, go and check that out on Instagram if you haven't already. My handle is @CannyCrystals. So some crystals that you would find beneficial to use today would be Sunstone for a start, because it's associated with the energy of the sun. It's got sun in its name, speaks volumes. It brings light, joy, vitality, and it also enhances leadership qualities as well. That's going to encourage independence and originality. So citrine would be another great choice today as well. I know a lot of you will have a citrine lying around somewhere in your house. It's a crystal of abundance and manifestation, and it basically attracts wealth, prosperity, and success, but it also promotes creativity and clarity as well. So carnelian would be another choice of mine because it's all about motivation, endurance, leadership, and courage. So it's an excellent choice for restoring vitality and stimulating that creativity as well. And then fourth on my list would be clear quartz because it can amplify your energy. So by amplifying your energy, it's also going to amplify your intentions, and therefore it can be programmed for any single purpose. And then fifth on my list is tiger's eye because it brings good luck and prosperity. It has grounding and stabilizing energies as well, and they're going to help you stay balanced whilst we go through the high energies of the summer solstice.. And then the last choice on my list would be pyrite. So pyrite is a crystal of luck, abundance, and prosperity, but it also encourages a positive attitude and a strong mental focus as well. So at some point today, you can hold or place these crystals around you during meditation to connect with your energy. You might want to pop them all the way around yourself as you do your 108 sun salutations. You might even just want to create a crystal grid with a specific intention such as abundance, joy, or creativity. Using kind of a combination of those crystals, or you might even just choose to wear them because wearing crystal jewelry just allows you to carry their energies with you throughout the rest of the day. So performing any of these during the summer solstice can basically help to activate and balance your energy. So if we move on to mantras and affirmations, so mantras and affirmations are powerful tools for setting intentions and but also for reprogramming the mind. And when we repeat positive statements, we just reinforce our goals. We align our thoughts with our desires. Therefore, our manifestation is going to come to us. So during the summer solstice, using mantras that kind of reflect that energy of light, growth, and abundance, they're going to enhance our manifestation efforts. So you could say these aloud at some point today, or you might just even want to repeat them aloud as I say them now. So the 3 that I've wrote down that I've been saying are number 1: I am filled with the light and energy of the sun. Number 2 is I embrace growth and abundance in all areas of my life. And number 3 is my intentions are powerful and my desires manifest effortlessly. And just repeat those mantras during meditation, yoga, or even just throughout the day, just to maintain that positive and focused mindset. And then, as we know, meditation and visualization are essential practices for manifestation, because when we quiet the mind and we visualize our goals, we create that mental blueprint of our desired reality. So the summer solstice, with its heightened energy, just provides that optimal time for deep meditation and powerful visualization. So at some point today, find yourself a quiet, comfortable place to sit Close your eyes, take a few deep calming breaths. You might want to visualize a bright golden light surrounding you that represents the sun's energy. Then you can focus on your intentions, you know, seeing them clearly in your mind's eye. Feel the emotions that are associated with achieving those goals, and then just hold that visualization for several minutes and just gradually bring your awareness back to the present moment. If you would prefer a longer guided meditation, you can get my Summer Solstice Meditation from the website kannycrystals.co.uk. It's usually £3, but I'm giving it to you for free. You just use the discount code, which is the word solstice, at checkout. Um, or you can even check out my YouTube channel, it's also on there. Just head to YouTube, type Kannie Crystals Summer Solstice, and it'll come up. I've had some lovely feedback on this yesterday, so thanks if you've already downloaded or listened. It's totally free, there is no catch whatsoever. But practicing meditation during the summer solstice It's just going to help to embed your intentions in your subconscious mind. That's going to make them more likely to manifest. And we all want that, don't we? So then if we move on to rituals, you can create yourself a sacred space and, you know, perform rituals or ceremonies that can further enhance the manifestation process. So rituals just provide a bit of a structured way to honor that energy and to focus your intentions. So it can include just simple things, you know, like lighting a candle, or using crystals, as I've just said, or even just writing down your goals. This is all ritualistic. It's all kind of a ceremony because you are honoring yourself, you're honoring the light of the sun, you're honoring the summer solstice. That is a ritual. So I'll give you an example because there's a very simple solstice ritual that I did this morning, which was that I prepared my space. So I cleansed it with sage or incense. I set up a small altar with symbols of the sun. So I got myself some sunflowers, some candles, and then I just sat down and I set my intentions. So I wrote down all my goals and my intentions on a piece of paper, and then I lit a candle. And as I lit that candle, I just visualized the flame representing the sun. So it was representing the whole solstice energy, basically. And it was kind of all of my intentions were being illuminated by that candle. And then I meditated. I spent a few minutes meditating, just focusing on my goals. And then I burnt the paper with my intentions when I felt the time was right. That symbolized the release of my desires into the universe. So you can just do something as simple as that. It really doesn't have to be a ritual, you know, where you sacrifice a small goat or something like that, or you drink the blood of a virgin. Doesn't need to be anything drastic, okay? I'm not talking about witchcraft here. I'm just talking about little rituals that we do to bring our manifestations into fruition. The summer solstice just basically offers such a powerful opportunity to enhance our manifestation practices because it's allowing us to tap into that abundant energy of the sun. And when we align our intentions with that energy, we engage in practices such as Sun Salutations, mantras, meditations, rituals. We can then supercharge our mindset. That's going to amplify our manifestation power. So we just need to embrace this time of the solstice as a time of growth, light, and transformation, because it's ultimately going to allow us to harness its full potential for personal and spiritual development. And as we celebrate that peak of solar energy, we just set the stage for a future that's filled with clarity, abundance, and kind of the realization of our deepest desires as well. So then we get onto the lunar energy, because when we move into Saturday, we will have the full moon in Capricorn this weekend. And oh boy, so this is where the energy gets a little cray cray. So not only will we have the sun at its most powerful point, but to have a full moon directly after with intensified lunar energy— this is wild. It very rarely happens, in fact. So the summer solstice and the full moon are only 2 days apart. Obviously, the summer solstice was Thursday, June 20th, and the full moon is Saturday, June 22nd. So these events aren't just random celestial occurrences. No, no, no, these are opportunities for huge spiritual growth and transformation. Okay, so the summer solstice, the full moon, they're powerful on their own, but when they happen so closely together, their energies can dramatically enhance your spiritual journey. So both of these together can positively impact your emotions, your behaviors, your spiritual well-being. So we'll move on to the spiritual effects of this full moon and discover how to combine its power with the solstice for an even more energized spiritual transformation. So Saturday, the full moon will be blazing brightly in the sky, you know, showcasing its complete luminous form on Saturday. But the full moon isn't just that visual spectacle that we all think about in the sky. No, it holds significant spiritual meaning and influence. So this full moon, it marks the climax of the lunar cycle, symbolizing completion and combination. So it's basically a time when the moon's energy is at its peak, making it super important for heightened emotions and spiritual activities. And like I was saying at the start of this episode, maybe that's why I've been feeling so crap, and I know some of you have as well because you've been messaging us about it. So this full moon in particular has also often been linked with romance and love because many cultures believe that confessing love or proposing marriage under this full moon will bring good fortune to you. So, you know, ladies, if anyone out there is close to popping the question with the partners right now, maybe try and get them drunk, try and get them down on one knee this weekend. The full moon basically symbolizes the time of release and completion, and this phase marks the end of a cycle where the energies and efforts that you've invested over the past month will come to fruition. So it's an opportune moment to reflect on what you've accomplished. You want to really acknowledge your progress here, and you want to celebrate your achievements more so than ever before. Doesn't matter how big, doesn't matter how small. It might just be that you managed to get out of bed today when you haven't all week because you felt so down or depressed or anxious. That is a win. Small wins mount to big wins, okay? It will snowball. You'll get all of these small wins, and then all of a sudden you'll knock this big domino over and voilà, you'll then be celebrating your big wins. So the full moon provides the perfect opportunity to let go of things that no longer serve you. So this could be negative emotions, could be lingering grudges or unfulfilled goals. And by releasing these, you're just clearing the path for new intentions and fresh energies for the next lunar cycle. So the full moon also represents heightened emotions and spiritual growth as well. It's connected to water and tidal movement as well. I don't know if you know this, but the— oh, what's it called? Is it the gravitational pull? Something like that. The gravitational pull from the moon basically controls the tides on Earth. It pulls the water in, it pulls the water out. It's all influenced by the moon. So that suggests that our own emotions, just like the tides, can be influenced by the moon as well. So these emotions often rise to the surface, and they offer insights into our deepest spiritual and emotional states. Now, this can be emotionally intense, okay? As I've already said, I've been emotionally intense all bloody week, but it's super important to acknowledge these feelings without judgment. So don't be so hard on yourself, okay? I'll also be posting on Friday night about the full moon on me Instagram properly, so check that out. Or you can come and join us in Manifest with Mart on the Canny Crystals Academy, where every full and new moon we go live in the group for an hour to do some journaling, tapping, some meditation, some tarot pulls. We have a Q&A session and much, much more. You can even get a free 7-day trial, and then it's just £10 a month. The website is cannycrystalsacademy.co.uk. Hit view courses, hit Manifest with Mart Tweedy, and sign up. You can cancel at any time as well. We would love you to join our little circle because this is exactly the kind of thing that we talk about in there, you know, especially when it comes to lunar energy, because lunar energy has so much power when it comes to manifestation. So both of these events hold immense significance, okay? But when their forces combine, the potential for passing on spiritual growth is magnified, and it offers kind of an unparalleled opportunity for spiritual growth and transformation. So create yourself a little ritual that just blends the symbolism and energy of both the solstice and the full moon. Think about this, for example: what if you started your day today with the Sun Salutation to honor the solstice,, and then you ended it with my Connie Crystal's Full Moon Cord Cutting Meditation. That's super powerful. This rare alignment of solar and lunar energies is just gonna make it such a perfect weekend for deep reflection and renewal. So just maybe take stock of your accomplishments, express gratitude for your progress. What goals do you want to set yourself for the second half of the year? Use the clarity provided by the full moon to set yourself some new intentions. Align them with that powerful solstice energy, because that's going to provide such a wonderful opportunity for you all to celebrate and connect with others. So I hope that this episode helped you. I really enjoyed doing a little digging on the summer solstice, getting a bit of info there, and just reading about the energy shifts that it brings as well. Because believe me, for probably 35 years of my life, I just went along with life like, you know, oh, it's the longest day of the year today. End of. No, no, no, it's such a powerful time for us all. So happy manifesting, happy summer solstice, happy full moon in Capricorn. And if you've enjoyed this episode, please feel free to leave me a rating, a review, or even just to subscribe. Come and follow me on Instagram and TikTok. I am @cannycrystals on both, and I will see you all next Friday for another episode. Thank you so much for listening. Get charging those crystals in the sun this weekend, and I'll see you all later. Bye!