The Gamma Normids: Adjusting Your Beliefs

The Gamma Normids is a yearly meteor shower visible in the southern hemisphere, but no matter where you are on the globe it is an annual invitation to reassess your beliefs and create new, better ones.

This meteor shower takes place over the constellation Norma which has ties to the Enlightenment Movement of the 18th century, a time when long-held beliefs in Europe were quickly changing and shifting on a collective level.

What is a Meteor Shower?

We’re all familiar with the idea of a night sky lit up with shooting streams of light, whether we’ve seen it for ourselves or just on TV, but where do these beams of light come from and what exactly is a meteor shower?

These trails of light are meteors, which are made up of small pieces of space dust and debris that fall at high speeds through our planet’s atmosphere. Because these little pieces of space are falling so fast they leave behind brilliant streaks of sparkling light that can be observed by the naked eye here on Earth. Sometimes they even fall onto Earth itself, but most burn up before that can happen.

• Astrology

What You Need to Know About the Gamma Normids Meteor Shower

Each shower is visible from Earth annually and the Gamma Normids can be seen in the southern hemisphere from February 25th through March 28th. Every meteor shower has a night or two where there is peak activity, meaning you’ll see the most meteors per hour, and because of that, this is when it is suggested to go out and view the shower.  March 14th is the peak for this shower and you can expect to see about 4-6 meteors per hour.

The beginning of the year is not a notable time for meteor showers, so those of us in the northern hemisphere will not be able to see this shower, but even our friends in the southern hemisphere will have a hard go of it. The meteors that will be visible will be bright but few and far between.

This shower takes place in the Norma constellation near the star Gamma2 Normae. The stars of this constellation are light years away and the meteors are much, much closer to us here on Earth. So, the stars and constellations merely act as a map of the night sky from our vantage point on Earth, meaning that the Norma constellation is the part of the sky where we can watch the meteors fall brightly.

• Points in the Sky (Sun, Moon, and Planets)

Norma and the Enlightenment

The constellation Norma was named by the 18th century French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille while studying the sky for two years in the Cape of Good Hope. Lacaille observed and cataloged over 10,000 stars during his stay and named the constellations he saw after tools of the Enlightenment.

The Enlightenment was a period of time in Europe following, and perhaps overlapping with, the Scientific Revolution in which the philosophical ideas of personal liberty and religious freedom were espoused. Norma, which is shaped like a square, was named for the set square or triangular ruler used for technical drawings.

How to Use the Gamma Normids to Change Your Beliefs

The concept of belief is an interesting one since it means there is a certain level of faith that we are giving to a concept, idea or religion. Whether you are religious or not, each and every one of us adhere to a set of beliefs that shape and color our life.

Most of our beliefs are actually inherited from the people we spent the most time with growing up, the first 12 years of our life being the most formative time for setting those beliefs. Naturally, most of these inherited beliefs come from our parents and adult family members, whose own beliefs were formed and set long ago.

There are all sorts of beliefs we adhere to, some to our benefit and some not. “Limiting beliefs” is the term commonly used for the things we believe about ourselves and our lives which hold us back from things such as love, friendship, career success and trying new things. Since most of these beliefs have been with us since childhood, changing your relationship to a certain belief is quite challenging but certainly not impossible!

Try this ritual on the night of March 15th to help you recognize your limiting beliefs and work to deprogram them in the spirit of the Enlightenment and the Gamma Normids meteor shower!

The Ritual

If you are already conscious of a limiting belief and the way it inhibits your life, then you’re ready to go, but if not let’s start with a quick journaling exercise. The best way to work with journal questions is to make sure you keep writing every thought that pops up into your head, without judgment and only stop writing when you’ve learned something new about yourself.

• Start by answering the question: what is a hurdle I’d like to overcome at this point in my life?
• Then work with this question: how have or haven’t my family members overcome this or a similar hurdle?
• You should have a good idea of what kinds of limitations you have in your belief system after those two, but if you need some more help uncovering your personal bias then work with this journal question as well: What would change if I believed in the best possible outcome for myself?

While the Gamma Normids are at their peak on March 14th, grab two pillar candles and a piece of twine. Designate one candle to hold the energy of your limiting belief and the other to represent you. Now wrap the twine around both candles so that they are attached to each other. This represents the way that the limiting belief has attached to you. Light both candles and watch them burn down, making note of the size and flicker of the flames and how quickly each candle burns.

Eventually, the twine will ignite and as it does so imagine the hold that this limiting belief has on you is being extinguished. Once the twine and the candles have fully burned down the ritual is complete and you are free!

Be sure to take fire precautions such as placing the candles in a baking dish, pie tin or large metal bowl. Putting the candles in a bed of salt is both fire safety and works as an added energetic protection for releasing the belief.