A SENSORY EXPLORATION OF LIBRA SEASON

Libra season invites us to soften and play with polarities, say Cara George & Bess Matassa of Mojave RisingHomepage main image: Awave Awake

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Libra season asks us to strap on our lightsabers, corral our unicorns, and celebrate both the ever-elusive quest and the already-realized ideal. It’s a month for playing with polarity, equilibrating between extremes, and recognizing that we contain even that which we claim to disavow.

The zodiac’s high-minded empress reveals both the perils and pleasures of building castles in the sky, as she switches between rose-colored glasses and magnifying specs. Her ultimate gift lies in the gap between sleeping beauty visions and early morning reality, where the full range of our humanness lives.

So let’s make a wish, grab each other’s hands, and take a leap across the cavernous divide with all our glorious, dynamic contradictions in tow. The good, the true, and the beautiful may truly be in the eye of the beholder. But we’ve got the compassionate courage to stand face-to-face.

The keyword: synergy.

The song lyrics: Hey now, hey now/Don’t dream it’s over/They come, they come/To build a wall between us/We know they won’t win”—Crowded House, “Don’t Dream It’s Over.” Check out our Libra season playlist, complete with aspirational anthems, synth stylings, and polarity points. 

pink shirt awave awake fall 2016 on The Numinous
Awave Awake Fall 2016

The color palette: sophisticated, clear-headed shades and ballerina pastels. Think gray, navy, black & white, icy mints, pale violets, and slipper pinks.

The style: French New Wave meets Royal bridal shower—clean lines, classic cool, and simple trench coats collide with white satin, velvet brocade, ruffles, and empire waists.  

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The scents and flavors are eye-opening citruses, culinary pairs, and candied confections—lemon Pellegrino, sweet-salty snacks, and tea-time petit fours.

French fancies for Libra season on The Numinous

The healing: anything that’s energetically and aesthetically equilibrating—yin/yang yoga, art museum and topiary garden wandering, photography classes, and hot/cold saunas.

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Sensuous Invitation of the Month: Weather Patterns (by sign below) With Mercury and Pluto stationing direct in earth signs, Mars entering Capricorn, and Venus entering Scorpio, Libra’s high-minded idealism gets an infusion of crystalline clarity, and the willingness to work with the “real” world exactly as it is. It’s a month for invigorating our sense of responsiveness as we use current climatological conditions to build our castles in the sky.

ARIES
Libra season invites you to soften your gaze as you incorporate compromise that still feels courageous. Weather pattern: Morning mist—let yourself get a little bit lost in the haze as you experiment with slow navigation without forcing forward.

TAURUS
Libra season invites you to get full-on Venusian as you revel in the sweet sensations of ideological and sensual love in all its forms. Weather pattern: Blue skies—celebrate the majestic aesthetics of an absolutely perfect day.

GEMINI
Libra season invites you to settle some of your endlessly curious chatter and exercise judgment in a way that feels liberating rather than stifling. Weather pattern: Sunbeams—stand directly in the path of the sun’s rays and watch how these solar streaks illuminate a single patch of ground.  

CANCER
Libra season invites you to adopt perspective on closely-held emotional narratives and to step outside your story without losing any of your penchant for poetics. Weather pattern: Crisp & breezy—let the subtle dance of wind inspire you to become gently unstuck.

LEO
Libra season invites you to loosen fierce personal identifications as you recognize the self in the non-self. Weather pattern: Partly cloudy—trust that the sun still lurks beneath the ever shifting white fluff, even when it’s unseen.  

VIRGO
Libra season invites you to experiment with the sweet sense of collaboration without always having to work it out alone. Weather pattern: Humidity—notice how its closeness to your skin can feel safely supportive rather than oppressive.

LIBRA
Libra season invites you to acknowledge the polarities that exist within you as you sample both ends of the spectrum with ease. Weather pattern: Daybreak—bear witness to the darkness that comes just before the dawn.  

SCORPIO
Libra season invites you to balance your desire to penetrate beyond the veil with a little faith in wide-eyed magic. Weather pattern: Chasing rainbows after the storm—celebrate the gorgeous luminosity that can come after turbulence.  

SAGITTARIUS
Libra season invites you to fuse your penchant for emotional honesty with a truth-telling that considers the consequences for others. Weather pattern: Lightning storm—harness your electrical energy while understanding how these bolts work with the storm and lessen as it passes.

CAPRICORN
Libra season invites you to marry your keen sense of the difficult with a full-hearted celebration of goodness and ease. Weather pattern: Downpour—recognize the beauty in the overcast as sheets of rain soften and wash things away.

AQUARIUS
Libra season invites you to equilibrate your radical eccentricity with an occasional blending  that’s in service of the whole. Weather pattern: Nightfall—let yourself feel deliciously small as you witness the vast, star-studded sky.

PISCES
Libra season invites you to celebrate the mystical beauty of your most ethereal dreams while moving towards coalescing them into solid form. Weather pattern: Hail—Investigate how these mysterious waters congeal into solid shapes.

MATERIAL GIRL, MYSTICAL WORLD: SHIVA ROSE

Meet Shiva Rose, Earth mother and holistic creatrix, and discover the fashion and beauty finds that rock her Mystical world…

Shiva Rose of The Local Rose featured on The Numinous

“We escaped Iran when I was ten years old, one cold winter night as the country was in the throes of a bloody revolution. We traveled to Germany, then London and finally to California, where my mother and her family is from. We settled in LA.”

So speaks actress, activist and curator Shiva Rose, whose lifestyle blog and online store The Local Rose celebrates her local community of artisan makers and mystics. And it was going from “a childhood nurtured on imagination and nature to life as a refugee,” that in fact fueled her passion for fashion and paved the way for her current incarnation as a woman dedicated to promoting a holistic, healthy and authentic lifestyle.

“I was a bit shy and awkward, and the trauma of escaping a revolution didn’t help. My refuge and escape from this reality was immersing myself in what I loved best, which was old European/Hollywood films and great books. I fell in love with story telling and being told stories,” she says. “I feel today I do this with each product I create and curate. The story behind the power of the ingredients rules me.”

Shiva Rose currently lives with her two daughters, Colette Blu, 19 and Charlotte Rumi, 10, in the Santa Monica Mountains, where the family is virtually self-sufficient. In itself an important part of her evolution as a woman.

“I feel like I have only become an adult in the last five years. There have been immense challenges and yet I have so much strength now that things that I couldn’t even dream of doing a few years ago are a welcome treat now. Things like fighting off a pack of coyotes that are trying to get my chickens by the light of the moon in my garden!”

The most vital lesson of all on her life path, however; “is that i have finally realized no one is going to make me happy unless I am happy, content and fulfilled on my own.”

Here’s a peek into the Mystical World of Shiva Rose, Earth Mama and Material Girl.

:: MATERIAL GIRL ::

My label
“Clothes designed and made by my community like Awave/Awake and Rachel Craven.”

awave awake fall 2015 collection shiva rose for the numinous
Awave Awake Fall 2015 collection

My shoes
“Celine on a fancy day. Hand made moccasins most days.”

manitobah handmade moccasins shiva rose for The Numinous
Manitobah handmade moccasins, $149

My scent
“Faith Essential Oil (on my site shop) or Rose oil from Amma.”

Essential Faith oil from the local rose featured on The Numinous
Essential Faith Oil, $65

My jewels
“Tantric pearls worn through meditation to soak up the high vibrations.”

tantric meditation pearls shiva rose featured on The Numinous
Tantric Meditation Pearls, $595, Nine Treasures

My pampering
“Daily evening goddess baths with my handmade Moon Rose Salts and then my Nectar Body Oil.”

rose moon sea salt bath salts from the local rose featured on The Numinous
Rose Moon Sea Salts, $50, The Local Rose

My home
“Minimal astral treehouse!”

My food
“Organic and hand picked from my garden ~ fresh salads and fruit crumble with raw cream.”

organic garden salad shiva rose The Numinous

:: MYSTICAL WORLD ::

My Awakening
“I awake before my children and creatures so I can have a few cups of Living Tea in meditative silence. If I am bending time that day, I will do a few Kundalini sets.”

My sign
“Aquarius with a Scorpio Moon, thus the dance between light and dark.”

My mantra
“Wahe Guru” and “I am Love.”

My guru
“Mama Earth and Father Sky.”

My reading
“So much to devour and learn. At the moment Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Living Your Dreams; books on bee keeping, and The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy.”

My transformation
“So many, I’m always evolving and transforming ~ but the most recent when I got divorced 7 years ago, and my life broke apart and then open.”

My mission
“To raise compassionate daughters, to walk in beauty every day, to be a custodian of Mama Earth.”

Read more about Shiva Rose and shop her collections at Thelocalrose.com

Shiva Rose of The Local Rose featured on The Numinous