This year, Ramadan and the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere fell within just two days of each other. I was wondering if that meant anything, and yesterday I heard that there is also some kind of Pluto conjunction happening astrologically that is making this an overall time of great change.
One part of me wonders: when is that not the case these days in our sandpile world of sudden and unpredictable shifts? But both spring and Ramadan are seasons of renewal, rather than disruption and destruction (which tends to be the case when the word change is used in the corporate or economic context).
After two years of trying other practices for Ramadan, I am back to fasting this year... and remembering what is challenging about it! The hardest thing for me is actually not being hungry, but just feeling weird a lot of the time: fuzzy and out of it, like being jet-lagged in an unfamiliar place that's sunny and hot. Right now it's overcast and still chilly in Berlin but I still feel like I am squinting and blinking as I go about my day, relying on autopilot because the brain is offline...
Yet one of the paradoxes of Ramadan is that despite the body-brain dullness, there are sudden moments of clarity. Fasting strips away the veils: that is its true purpose. With a full belly, you're insulated against things you don't want to know or think about, but also things that would be of benefit if you were open to them. Also, in the past I have just felt much more connected to other beings and the world around me. The walls of the ego become softer and more porous, able to let the light through...