Welcome to April, also known as Uki-Ekhuen within the Kingdom of Benin's lunar calendar. Uki-Ekhuen acts as a pregame for Spring--transmuting all the lessons of the previous month into a steady rhythm. During this month is when throughout the Kingdom, people would clean their farming land with intention. This month drifts you deeply back into flow, bringing you back into sacred alignment with the Earth and all things. As you make your final rounds nurturing the soil that'll soon hold yam seeds, yam seeds that will materialize your abundance, you may notice serendipity. This month asks of you: Can you trust yourself? Can you act on your intuition? Can you choose flow over resistance?
As you can see, the preparation for Spring for this Kingdom is months long--beginning in February, Uki-Ifie, where we ideate and decide what our Spring harvest will ultimately bring. While March, Uki-Egbo, was meant to make you strong, pummeling you with a literal ax that chipped away anything that stopped you from transforming, April says, "What will you do with the lessons learned?" Spring is coming and you're approaching fertile ground. Uki-Ekhuen acts as a final clean-up for the new season, but this time, with quiet. Uki-Ekhuen is the soft contemplation that happens while doing work, the trance-like feeling you get attending to your errands, and the way that gentle movement opens you up to downloads and divine information. This month does behoove you to clean up, not in an in urgent or obsessive way that March may have had you doing. But in a way to circle-back to see what you have possibly missed. Uki-Ekhuen doesn't ask for your strength, but your softness. It's through this malleability, you become prime and ready for new beginnings that look a lot like your heart. Take this month to be a Creator of your new journey. Write new rules, shift your philosophies around. It may just bless you.
The best thing you can do this month is to cultivate a rhythm for yourself. Not out of resentment for a lack of discipline or pressure to be aligned with your highest self--but maintenance, a routine that emphasizes this gentle shift of energy. This is also an excellent time to revisit your resolutions you've set for yourself earlier this year. Do they align with where you still want to go? Never hesitate to make new ones! Have patience with yourself as this season change will encourage to you maintain these routines as we move more into Spring. Because this month energetically leads us closer to the Earth, it's a good month to figure out how you can be of service to the land and those on it. Volunteering, mutual aid, supportive work--especially to older people and elders--will bring a lot of satisfaction and peace to the heartspace. Do your best to stay rooted this month with actual physical rituals like Earthing; even taking good care of your feet via herbal scrubs could help open up this energy.
For those born in April, happy birthday! Naturally, people may feel gravitated to you due to your steadiness--you feel rooted and this is an alluring thing, especially for those searching for alignment. Your practicality, grounded, and step-by-step nature makes you an excellent leader whether you consider yourself that or not. You can look at something and spot what's missing, and that’s a true gift. There's a stability about you that is endearing, especially regarding your emotional state. Just be mindful to feel immediately rather than spend time analyzing or worst, wait to process until it fits neatly into your schedule. Your generosity is felt, you may be someone who enjoys being of service to their larger community. It's in your best interest to not overextend this service. Just because you can, does not mean you always should. Just because the routine worked before, doesn't mean it cannot be changed. Be mindful of living between two extremes. Sometimes the peace you're looking for often lies within the grey area.