We embark on the seventeenth day of a 40 Day Practice, based on the energy of the Labyrinth (releasing – contemplation – receiving). If you have a local labyrinth, I invite you to walk the labyrinth with today’s theme as your focus. If you don’t have a local labyrinth, you can create your own, take a walk somewhere peaceful, or even sit in contemplation in your own home. I will be scheduling various public labyrinth appearances, and you are welcome to join me when and where you can, if you feel moved to do so.

Today’s theme is Self-Knowledge. Above the portico at Delphi was the edict “Know Thyself.” The more you know yourself, the more empowered you are. The more you know yourself, the better you understand the Divine. Knowing your shadows allows you to work with them rather than against them, it removes their negative power, and you can no longer be broadsided or triggered in the same way.

Questions that might help you see what you can release: Where is my resistance? What am I afraid of? Where do I lie to myself? What do I try to avoid? What behaviors do I rationalize? Do I see things just as they are, or do I tell myself stories about situations and people in my life? What attachments do I have? What is my relationship to prosperity? Where am I ashamed?

Suggestions for contemplation: When I connect to the earth, how do I perceive myself? When I sit on the grass or under a tree or at the ocean, how do I perceive myself? How do I react to animals and small children? How do I deal with people in the service industry (wait staff, help desk, gas station, grocery clerk? Where and how am I of service? How does the Divine manifest through me?

Your mantra for receiving today could be “I open myself to greater knowledge about myself.“