Waxing Moon for December 2011

I somehow was locked out of my blog for the past week.  Then tonight, when I checked it once more-voila.  I was once again able to post.  I can only take this to mean that it was not the time for me to post.  So, I missed writing about the Dark and New Moons that graced us of the thanksgiving holiday.  THe waxing moon starts at the same time as the season of advent in the Christian faith.  Seems like a perfect dual energy for making changing and taking advantage of the energy available to us this season.

The time between the new and full moons is a time frame for developing the strategies and support system that will help you manifest your goals for your chosen Aspect/Element.  The Waxing moon is about development and strengthening changes needed to fulfill intention and goals.  This may be inner work, relating more to thought patterns and beliefs, or it may be about behaviors and actions.  The energy of this part of the moon cycle helps us be aware the work needed to manifest our desired changes and goals.  If we tune in to this part of the moon cycle, we can get an energetic boost to our efforts.

FYI:  The dates for the waxing moon for December 2011--novemeber 26 to December 9.

Life With Out News

 

It seems that I have been traveling a lot over the course of the past few months.  One of the things I’ve noticed is how little I heard the news. The people I was staying with didn’t watch the news. If it hadn’t been for the Washington Post updates on my blackberry, I wouldn’t have had a clue to the latest disaster or crisis. We have developed a habit at our house to turn on the news every morning and every night.  I grew up listening to news radio, and after we got television, watched the 5 o’clock and 10 o’clock news.  I found myself wondering about Syria, the latest housing numbers, the results of the most recent political fall-out, the Penn State drama.  All the things that were in the headlines when I left home, I wondered about them, and I recognized how they had infiltrated my thoughts. For what purpose do I listen to the news?  Do I feel somehow more in control? Safer? Informed (which means what??)  The point is, that while all these events were going on around the globe, life at the ranch, life on the road, life at my friends’ home went was not overtly impacted.  We talked about things that were relevant to our daily and local life.  I don’t feel those I was with didn’t care about world events, rather attention was given to the life they could have an impact on-immediately. It’s just that focusing on that news is one more way I avoid living in the present moment.  It’s one more way I being present with myself, living in my own life.  I avoid my issues, my responsibilities and my purpose.  I hadn’t realized how much my energy was drained and distracted by all the watching and reading.

I’m traveling again.  I’ll have another week without easy access to the news.  I intend to take it in and know myself better!

Daily Inspirational Reading Makes a Difference

I am traveling just now, and in my rush to pack and leave home in the predawn hours, I left my current Daily Inspiration Reading. (Jamie Sams'  Earth Medicine).  I felt the missing piece (peace, too) the first morning I woke and reached for it at the bedside table. I was able to do a short centering exercise, I connected my thoughts, with my heart, with my gut feelings and my intention for the day.  Still not the same, though, I'd gotten used to Jamie's words settling in throughout my day and helping me remember, (re-member) myself, my intention, my purpose.

It's been three days of traveling so far and each day I miss my inspirational reading more.  It's not that I don't have any reading material (if you ever travelled with me, you would know I tend to take more books than clothes). It is that my daily inspirational reading has been doing what it is meant to do-inspire me, help me stay connected to Divine Source and stay focused on my purpose.

Blessings to us all as we begin the 11th Moon Cycle and prepare our bodies, hearts, minds and spirits for the coming winter months. 

Weaving the Web of the Full Moon/Living in the Present Moment cont.

Yesterday was the full moon for October.  The tenth moon cycle of the year and from my experience one of the most powerful moon cycles for creating in our life.  You can read about the 10th moon cycle on my Circle of Self site at:  http://www.circleofself.com/Pdfs/MoonCycle/10OctoberMOONCYCLE.pdf

The full moon energy and the energy of the waning moon, especially during the autumn months can remind us, on a daily basis,of two things:
1.  Like the shedding of leaves from the trees-we are reminded to drop what is not working, release what we have created and completed to make way for the new that will come with our next cycle of work, and to let go of what we hold on to that keeps us from having the full energy of our essence.
2. Harvest:  We are called in the autumn to harvest the fruits of our effort and to share this harvest with others.  The earth does not hoard her abundance for a select few. Nor does she hold on to her fruits-apples, squash, corn and pumpkins let go from their stems.  My tomatoes have gathered one last burst of energy, a sudden ripening by the branch-full after weeks of staying green. Mother Earth's fruits are meant to be available for all who need them.  If you take time to watch the squirrels gathering and hiding their winter stash-they do not hide more than they need-and in their gathering and hiding are actually planting for the next season for all of their fellow creatures (even if that is not their intent). 
Go outside and take some time to TRULY be in the fully moment of a fall day and see if you can connect with all your senses to the energy of autumn.  Be as much as possible in the present moment of the day and rest there for a while.  Notice what comes to you when you ask yourself these questions:
What are you called to shed , let go of, release, launch?
What are you called to harvest in your life at this moment? How are you called to share your harvest (your creation-s)?

Routive Versus Living in the Present Moment

I woke up the day before yesterday with the thought"Oh My God, the blog!" I seemed to have lost an entire month.  Traveling to the far reaches of both sides of our country in a four week time span can do that to a person-I guess.  This is a good review of 'being in present timet' for me-I remember again how much routine can substitute for living in the present moment.  OF course, it took me a day and a half to work through resistance and false guilt and remnants of school-girl shaming to open up the computer and click on the blogspot.  I have compassion for other peoples struggles and I learn more about patience and perception everyday.  AND, I am learning about the difference between honoring right-timing and excuses.

It is easy to say there are no easy answers, yet there is sometimes an easy answer-just 'do it'.  It's just that it's not so easy to 'do it'. Every time we re-member, re-connect with body, emotions, mind (thoughts), spirit and soul we are as complete as we can be in the moment. We have RE-membered ourselves.  put all the parts (members) together into our wholeness.  The meaning of the saying 'the parts are bigger than the whole' becomes clear.  Really connecting with the whole of the Self: we are bigger, more capable, more able to respond, more aware. I have experienced that sensation for myself, and I have witnessed it on numerous occasions with those I have worked with.  That sensation can feel too much to contain.  We forget we do not contain it alone, but as a part (a member) of something bigger.  I will write about that tomorrow.

September Moon: Answering Our Longings

The new moon for September was on the 29th of August this year-and it totally slipped by without my notice. Having my granddaughters here from Montana was just too much of an attraction and I misplaced my daily inspirational reading which would have reminded me of the approaching new moon. But, the whole idea is about the practice of living consciously and in the present moment--not about doing it perfectly-just about living it.  I cut myself some slack-those beautiful 18 month old and a 3 year old brought so much life into our house, that was enough. 

But now, I am reflecting on the arrival of the season of Autumn-it is one of the seasons that sneaks in on me, before I am ready for it-every year.  The ninth moon cycle is about honoring our longings.  Acknowledge them and do something about them.  Maybe not fulfilling them, but recognizing them and treating them as living viable energies.  Make a list of your longings-the things you long for in your life.  I don't mean passing longings,but the stuff, ideas, dreams and prayers that have been around in more than a passing moment or two.  The ones that keep coming back. Or wake you up at night.  After you make your list, imagine that each one of them is a living being-give them a an image of a body or a form.  Then, face to face, talk to each one of them about your feelings about them, your plans for them-whether you intend to let them go or out them on the shelf or do what you need to do (change what you need to change in yourself) to bring them into reality, not just imagination.  This exercise could take some time.  You might need to grieve the longings you recognize you must let go of to move forward in your life.  You might also grieve the habits and addictions you need to let go of to bring others into fruition.  And you can cherish the ones you are setting on the shelf for the future-they will keep you growing.  Fall is the time for harvest.  You are harvesting and sorting your longings this month.  I am,too.

Working with the Healing Moon of August

For the next 10 or so days we have the opportunity to gather healing energy,feelings thoughts, behaviors and prayers into our lives as we live in the waxing cycle of the August Moon.  In Eath Medicine, on page 207, Jamie Sams writes, "There is nothing that has been done to you or that you have done to yourself that the Great Mystery and the Earth Mother cannot heal."  What if you really lived this truth for even the next ten days.  How do you think it would change your perception of your self? of your life and your world? 

Here is the catch, however, that in my eperience, both personally and with clients, which keeps us from being able to embrace Sams' words. (And certainly, she is not the only one who has written or spoke of this truth.  You can find similar teachings about healing in the words of all our great teachers and healers through out history.)  The catch is, particularly in our western culture that we confuse 'healing' with 'curing'. 

As I struggle with some hip pain and a lump in the bottom of my foot that has been 'coming and going' for over a year I am reminded that I still wrestle with my belief of what it means to be 'healed'.  At the very least, this struggle keeps me from judging clients who also insist that to be healed means their malady (which sometimes is very serious) must go away. 

For today,  contemplate what healing meansto you?  Is it different from being cured? 

Dark of the Moon

We are closing the 7th moon cycle for this year.  We move from the moon energy of love for all of creation, and embrace the energy of healing (first the injured and ill parts of ourselves and then those of our fellow human beings and of our community and the earth).   I had a month of the practicing living my calling from the focus of the energy of 'love'. Now I am going to focus my energy in the coming month toward healing those places brought to my attention from last month's focus. 

As I reflect on my Circle of Self work during the past month, with my focus on my Creative Aspect/Work Self, I have made some great progress toward completing the Website for a new complete launch. I also completed my commitment to write daily for 28 days, which I did.  But, what I noticed during this pat month, was how difficult it was for me to hold a place of love for my Self when I struggled with lack of inspiration, distraction and self-doubt.  These three things are human conditions that are not likely to EVER be absent from my life, so noticing my reaction and self-criticism and pairing that with the moon cycle energy to be with my self in a 'loving' way. That didn't (and doesn't) mean to let myself off the hook.  Rather, I continued to work with reactions. Where was I procrastinating? Where was I being impatient with myself? How was my tendency toward perfection interfering with my progress?  Where was I lacking in discipline to complete the work?  Perhaps the biggest question I have for  monthly reflection my is how often did I take my focus off my life calling and purpose as it relates to Creative Aspect and my Work Life. 

This kind of reflection and self questioning is the exercise for working with the dark of the moon.  In the deepest, quietest time of the moon energy, we can more easily go deep within ourselves and with love see where we need healing (in body, mind and spirit) to live our calling more fully.

Enjoy this quiet time, and may you have abundant healing in your life in this coming month.  May our country also have abundant healing from the stress, anger, hatred and divisiveness and fear we are currently experiencing.  It is my hope and prayer that our 'leaders' are supported by the new  moon energy of this August moon month for healing our country and our woundedness.

July's Waning Moon-Releasing Loving Energy for the Creation of Our Future Selves

Yesterday I wrote briefly about the Full Moon and the repeating cycles of the moon. These cycles remind us of how Divine Love invites us to begin again and again and again, as many times as we must, to live our calling and fulfill or purpose for our life.  While it may never be easy to stay focused, having a routine and living in our familiar and usual environment can help us to keep stay in alignment with our intentions. Not that we can't use whatever is going on to sabotage ourselves! 

So, what happens when we are not in a space or environment where it is easier to stay with our intention for living what we have identified as our life calling?   This long road trip has been great for exploring this question in my own life. 

Two thoughts come to mind. The first one, I mention just briefly: our Life Calling should be broad enough to encompass the moment to moment of our daily lives. 

The second is that our Life Calling is an anchor for our future, which draws us toward our life purpose, even when the path we are on becomes rocky, crooked or takesa detour!  The moon cycle energy for this month-and the energy of summer and the cycle of the south, all  are reminders for loving what is, loving ourselves,for love is the most nurturing nutrient there is for growing a healthy human-a healthy life-style,whether in regards ot others or ourselves.

It's the Full Moon for July

Days and nights and moon cycles come and go whether we pay attention to them or not.  I have four posts, begun, interrupted and languishing in the drafts folder. I have spent the last three weeks on the road. Somehow, I thought having nearly three weeks away from home would offer me lots of time to focus and concentrate on my writing commitment.  But, the great out of doors, grandaughters and socializing proved more inviting...this is so much of what I experience in my own life, as well as in the work with my clients.

So, it is now full moon, and faithfully ever month, our grandmother moon invites us again (and again and again) to recommit, begin anew, start over.  This month's moon energy focuses "Loving All Things"...and that does include ourselves-with a good bit of compassion!  As I rush to go out the door for one more School visit, I remind myself, and my readers, we have the extra support of Grandmother Moon today, to consciously birth our intentions and bring them to more fullness in the coming weeks. 

Dream Messages and the time of the dark of the moon

The waning moon of June is coming to a close, moving this evening to the dark of the moon, preparing for the coming new moon on July 1st. 

I always feel a thinness in the veil I imagine separates me and GOd.  I feel more keenly The Hands of God at this time of month. Either a squeeze of encouragement during a challenge. being held in the palm of respite when I am exhausted, a gentle push (well, and sometimes a whack) when I need to get moving, or a high-five of "you go woman" when I've lept into the unknown!  I love knowing The Hand is always there,I only have to take a breath and remember to notice.  This month I notice some encouraging waving on-"go-keep going The Hands seems to be saying.

The closeness between the Sacred and the Self at this time of month adds power to the practice of reflection and focusing for movement into the next cycle of growth and movement in our life.  It is during this time as well, that I notice dreams get stronger, clearer and at times more urgent in their messages.  I had one of those dreams this morning. It pertains to the seasons of the year.  I woke to this message: "Winter is the Season of loving the Self".  Spring is the Season of loving All Living Things".  "Summer is the Season of loving Human Beings".  "Winter is the Season of loving God".

June 15th-the full moon for the 6th Moon Cycle

This is the month of Storyteller, the grandmother of the sixth moon cycle.  It seems fitting to have a storyteller as the energetic personality as we begin to work with the energy of relationships of the course of the summer months.  We can tell story to teach and to share history, or we can tell stories to deceive and manipulate.  What kind of stories do we tell, and to whom do we tell them?  The full moon energy always invites us to send out into the world what we have been working on creating in our life over the past weeks-as well as to release and offer up for cleansing what no longer serves us or others.  Are there any stories you need to share-or stop sharing/telling yourself?

As I read my daily inspiration today, from the book Earth Medicine by Jamie Sams, the reading for June 6 was a telling of the tale of woodpecker coming to clean the bugs off the White Pine-the Peace Tree, so that the Pine could perform its' duty as peacekeeper for the people without distraction from the bugs that were burrowing under its' bark. Full moon energy is a good time for cleansing-if you keep or use crystals, you know about setting them in salt water in the full moon to clarify and cleanse them.  We too, need clarifying and cleansing so that we can fully shine.  A good sea salt scrub bath is a wonderful way to clear what is bugging us no matter what the source.

Working with the June moon cycle: Relationship Aspect/Partner Element

This current moon cycle is specifically oriented toward reflecting on our relationship with others in terms of partnering.  I wondered if this is one of the reasons June has been considered the month for weddings, but is that too trite and corny?

What in fact is your purpose of having a partner, creating partnership? Most people think about partnering in terms of their love interest, usually in terms of marriage or a committed union which means sharing a home and house holding responsibilities, children, financial responsibilities, vacations, religious orientation, etc. Probably the second most common form of partnership is a business relationship. While there are is a lot of common ground between these forms of partnership, at this point, we will focus on the partnership in terms of a committed personal relationship, as in our life partner or spouse.

Our Element of Partner differs from our role as friend/colleague in the Relationship Aspect in a number of ways, primarily in the intention behind the relationship. Partnerships are negotiated, either consciously or unconsciously, and there is generally a consensual agreement between the partners concerning the rules of the arrangement. Again, this may be a conscious and overt commitment or it may be unconscious and covert or manipulative on the part of one or both members of the partner relationship.

The partnership archetype has very strong and energetic component, perhaps more so than any other element of the relationship aspect, other than the child element. Because of this, making shifts in our partner relationships really does require very conscious and purposeful focus and change. Any time there is a strong archetypal element at play, we are working not only with our own individual issues, needs and wants, but also with the collective imagery of the archetype. If you want a deeper understanding of archetypes, written in understandable and useful way, I suggest looking up Carolyn Myss’ work Sacred Contracts (see resources).

Take some time to list out the current relationships you think of as partnerships. Reflect upon how these partner relationships were formed. How much consciousness and active participation did you have in the formation of the partnership? Who initiated the partnership? Is it in balance? How or how not?

Even if you don't currently have a partner, or have never had a partner, it is likely that at some point in your life you have had some form of partnership-even if it were just a lunch line partner in grade school.  If that's your partnering experience, begin there reflecting on what experience of various partnering relationships have been for you. 

There are some helpful exercises for developng healthy partnership energy in yourself and creating healthy partnerships.  As of June 7, 2011 they have not yet been published on the webite, but I am be happy to forward them to you. Or, if you'd like to work in depth on the partner element in your life I would love to support your there as well.  You can contact me at drfaivre@circleofself.com or http://www.circleofself.com/ 

June 1: New Moon, New Season, New Direction, New Aspect

THOUGHTS ON RELATIONSHIP: THE ASPECT FOR THE SEASON OF SUMMER

What others do to us need have no lasting impact on the flow of our lives. However, what we do to others alters the course of our lives forever. I am not sure who said this, but it is profoundly true.

The season of summer brings us around to the focus on our relationships. Here we sit in the energetic connection with all living things. In the Lakota way one says “Aho Mitakuye Oyasin”, “All my relations”. In this greeting, spoken with humility and respect, there is a deep awareness of the connection between the self and all of life, regardless of its’ form-whether human, bird, plant, animal, mineral or elemental. In the Circle of Self, we work with the Aspect of the Relationship Self focusing on our relationship with other human beings (both living and deceased), as our relationship with other humans is the most direct mirror of our relationship with our self.

The relationship lists: I invite you to begin here as you explore this Aspect of Self--although this is no one right way to begin. Make a list of those with whom you have a broken relationship. Make a second list of those with whom you struggle in your relationship. Make a third list of those with whom you experience your relationship as being in balance.

There is likely to be a common thread running through each of these lists. Can you name what that is for each of list?
Every broken relationship needs to be resolved in some way in order for that relationship to no longer interfere with our current and future relationships. Many times these broken relationships reflect a part of our self that we have been unwilling or unable to face and to mature into our healed humanness.

In relationships, everything that we need to bring out from our own shadow will be revealed to us in some form during the relationship, so that we may grow into our full self with minimum distortion. Growing into this state allows us to experience maximum joy in life as well as minimize unnecessary pain and suffering. That is not to say that we will not have pain or suffering in our lives, only that we not need to feel victimized in our pain and suffering, and that we may take on the suffering consciously and on behalf of some healing, transformation or growth for ourselves or others.

Working with your lists: After you make your list of relationships, ask yourself these questions: “What if what I say about the other person is really true about me?” Or: “What if what I say this person has done to me is really something I have done to this person?” (Insert there name)

And—rather than try to answer the question, instead of answering the questions, notice your body’s reaction to the question. How do you respond physically? What happens in your gut area? What happens in your chest area? What happens in your throat? What happens in your groin? What happens in your hands? What happens in your shoulders? What happens in your back? What happens to your breath? Are there any other areas of the physical body that have a reaction or response to the question?

Then, notice your mind’s reaction to the question. Do thoughts immediately pop into your head? Does your head spin? Try to defend? Create an argument? Change the subject? Just notice the reaction your mind has to hearing the question.

Now ask the question again and this time, focus on the emotional response to the question. Go to the feelings that arise when you ask the question. Do you respond with fear? Do you respond with anger? Do you respond with shame? Do you respond with grief? Do you respond with resentment? What else?

Next we look to our spiritual self to see what the question brings up for us. The discomfort of this unfinished relationship helps us see where there is a disconnect between our perceived spirituality and the reality of. We are being called in our lives to live differently than the

Finally, asking the question from the place of the inner and outer soul can help us look at ourselves and this specific relationship from the perspective of our transformative journey for this lifetime and our life calling. This step in healing and maturing our relationship self requires courage and active reflection. We go beyond just noticing our reactions to mapping the repeat patterns of our relationships with others. To do so requires that we set aside any amount of shame that we may be carrying with us about the relationship with which we are working.

The effect of shame on relationships: A bit of information about shame may be helpful. Shame is a response pattern that develops through one person’s attempt to control the behavior of another through the use of power over. Shame has the effect of disconnecting the shamed person from their true self. Not so much in their feelings, but more in the attributes and their potential. This is a common storyline for many of the clients who have come to work with me, and I have my own shaming experiences myself. Unfortunately, I am sure I have also inadvertently brought a shaming experience on my children. There were times as a parent I felt disempowered to stand for my children when they were shamed by another, and fortunately times when I felt able to stand for them and relieve them of carrying this crucifying burden.

I am reminded of an experience I had in second grade. At that time I already loved writing. Sister Mary Josephina was a strict and crabby teacher. I believe her headdress was too tight as her temples puffed out over the edge of the stiff white pellon that held her long black veil in place. I can only imagine the headaches it must have caused. It was Thanksgiving time and our assignment was to write a thank you letter to our parents. Times were lean when I was in second grade. I do not ever remember doing without as a child, but I do remember my parents being careful spending the money they did have. A trip to town shopping was special, and if dad went along, it meant going to my aunt and uncle’s children’s clothing store or maybe Malone’s. Dad never skimped on clothes and I always loved those trips with him for it meant I was going to get something wonderful. That year I got a new winter ‘Sunday go to church coat’ (as Dad called it) Dark red wool, double breasted with black braided frog closures and black velvet collar. It had a hat and leggings to match. They also bought me a brown plaid sateen dress with velvet piping, a full skirt lined with crinoline, perfect for twirling, and an oversized bow tied in the back. I was counting the days until I would get wear them and that was the first thing that popped into my mind when Sister Mary Josephina gave us our writing assignment. I would thank them for my beautiful clothes.

I was so proud of my letter. While my handwriting was never neat, I had tried to be so careful to write each letter in perfect palmer-style, not pressing too hard and no erasures. I held up my finished product to Sister. Her liver-spotted hand appeared from where she kept it hid, folded up under the cape of her habit, and gnarly fingers pulled the letter from my hand. I waited for praise, and perhaps that is why what happened next was so impactful on my young life, because instead—“What is this, do your parents give you dust cloths?” and to the class: “Carolyn is thankful her parent’s give her cleaning cloths.” I had spelled the word wrong and she had shamed me. There is no doubt, Sister’s sneering words have impacted my ability to fulfill my internal longing and drive to be a ‘real’ writer, fearful to have my writing be seen in public, much less on the web! Sister Josephina is long dead, but her voice lives on in me, and overtime has attracted other voices to reinforce the shaming and keep my writing mind silent. This is one of the things mapping out the patterns in your relationships can help resolve and heal.

I invite you to work with relationship mapping over the course of the next three months. We can learn a lot from the stories that we tell ourselves about our relationships as well as looking at the cyclical nature of our relationship patterns. The June moon cycle gives a lot of energy to working with both.

May you receive many blessings this moon cycle. Aho Mitakuye Oyasin, All my relations!

Visions and Callings: Really Hard Work

I read my blog posting of a few minutes ago-It sure sounds idyllic!  I really need to add this: that it is damn hard work-ranching in this conscious, focused and visionary way.  This was the other thing that struck me watching my sister and her family be on the land: that the work is hard, repitious, sometimes inconvient, relentless.  But, done through the eyes of their Vision-they do it, their Vision is manifesting and growing.  I'm pretty lazy in comparison, and I am taking a lesson home with me from Wild Type Ranch, about the willingness to work hard and long and relentless for my own Calling and Vision.

Full Moon and Sacred Space in Texas

I'm in the central plains of Texas on my sister's Wild Type Ranch.  The land here is flat, the expansive pastures brown and dry from the current drought, but the scrub oaks and late spring wild flowers stand in stubborn resilience to the unrelenting wind and heat. Even under the hardship and stress the current drought brings, there is something magical and sacred here.  I've spent the past few days contemplating what it is that stands behind the magic of this place.

The Full Moon is tonight, though I am not sure it could get much larger and fuller than giant orb that hung over the scrub oaks, horses and cattle last night.  As I walked from the main house to my bunk house bedroom up by the cattle chute, the moon cast a silvery shadows on the out-buildings, the cattle and horses out in the pasture, and the big round bales of hay that lined either side of my path. All appeared more silver than black tonight, and seemed to glow in the the moon-dark.   It's a little scarey walking from the main cabin to the bunk house in the dark.  There could be coyotes, skunks, maybe a bobcat or a wild boar lurking out there in the wild, and the night-sounds seem louder and more unfamiliar tonight; I walked up the draw in a heightened state of alertness. 

Maybe it was the moon glow or my heightened awareness, but, I felt as if I had been transported to the magical land of a fairy tale-or into an alternate dimension.  I went to bed last night feeling certain I was in a very special place.  This afternoon, in the daylight, with no threat of coyote or skunk, I'm sitting alone, in the shade of main house arbor, reflecting on my experience from last night.  It strikes me that for my sister, this whole ranch is her Sacred Space.  Carefully, over time, she and her husband, cleared,  nurtured, replenished and honored this landspace. They learned to watch and listen to the subtle messages given by the land.  Things even most gardners would miss, let alone a suburban-girl.  What certain weeds mean about the condition of the soil; how to shift erosion patterns so the land could recover itself...truly seeing the land as a living being.  They are the same in their relationship with the animals-a true example of being in alignement with the cycles and rhythms of life.  My sister's Sacred Space isn't a stagnant-build it one time and it's done- place. Nor should the sacred spaces we create be.  As we care for the space in our own home, or workplace that we have created as a Sacred Space for supporting our personal growth and development, we care for nurture ourselves and all manner of what supports our life. 

This ranch, by it's nature requires an honoring of the rhythm and cycle of life.  I don't think my sister needs reminded by the full moon to birth her visions, and let go of the ones that have languished.  Being here, though has caused me to deeply reflect upon what I am call to birth and to release, and in this fifth cycle of the year, the cycle invites us to listen for what is being said beyond the spoken word and honor and care for ourselves as sacred beings.

New and Waxing Moon information for May 2011

NOTE:  I inadvertantly wrote this blog posting under my original blog, which does not post publicly.  Being confused as to why my post was not showing up on the circle of self muse blog, I finally had time to dig a little deeper.  Looks like the trickster was at work-again!  So, here is the blog posting for the new moon of May 2011.  It's still relevant as we move through the days and nights of the waxing moon

Tuesday, May 3, 2011
May 3--It's the new moon day/night!
May Moon This is the last of the moons for the season of spring. May invites us to work specifically with the Collective Aspect in the Element of Home. Maybe it is time for Spring Cleaning-not only in your physical home, but in your internal home. (Have you ever noticed that a person’s physical home is so often an outer manifestation of their perception of their inner self?) May moon is a great cycle to work with the Element of Mind in the Personal Aspect. In In this sense, the moon cycle for May invites us to listen to ourselves first-our inner voice, out out-loud voice (Is it whiney, seductive, open-hearted, compassionate, does it change depending on who we are speaking to?) Learn to listen from the metaphor of a ‘blank slate’ and in this sense, the color reflecting the May moon is obsidian or black. In deep blackness, there is no influence to what we hear-other than ourselves. The Celtic medicine wheel invites us to have compassion for ourselves during this cycle. Jamie Sam’ book, The Thirteen Indigenous Clan Mothers, ‘Listening Woman’ is the clan mother for this moon cycle. (see resources) We must know how to really hear ourselves above all the din and distraction of ruminating thoughts, worries, unfounded fears etc. All this takes practice, and having enough compassion for ourselves to keep re-committing to the practice of listening.

Listening, to oneself: what is it that I am REALLY saying? to myself? to others? What are others are saying. There are so many levels of communication. What would I need to change in my life to develop the skill of discernment and use it in my abilities to listen? Listen to what is really being said, listen to my intuition, listen to my conscience, listen to the voice of the Creator, and listen for the real NEED underneath the WANT, from myself and from those with who I am in relationship. Am I willing to listen, am I willing to hear and am I willing to take action on what I hear? Can I discern the differences in the voices of my ego, my spiritual essence and Divine voice?

April Moon: How we give life to our thoughts and emotions effects what we create

Sunday April 3rd began the New Moon cycle for April.  This is such a magical time of year-mostly because life changes so instantly in the spring!  I fall asleep to sleep snow and 26 degrees one night and the next morning, by the time I'm walking into town for a coffee, it's sunny and 68.  There's a crop of giant crocuses in the neighbor's yard that nodding their big smiling faces saying, "Notice Me! Notice Me!" And I do. They weren't there yesterday when I walked by.  I noticed it last evening, too,when we went to the city (Chicago). Sidewalk dining had sprung up overnight, their tables filled and the overflow of spring-hungry patrons spilling onto the street.  They weren't there last weekend.  This teasing of spring weather seemed to bring city out of hibernation as well as plants, birds and animals.  The energy of spring supports us in being more alive as well.

This April moon cycle energy this month is the energy for new-life. This 4th moon reminds us that our thoughts and emotions are  lasers that focus the energy of our life.  Our thoughts and emotions give life to what they are focused on.   We do have the capacity to create our own reality.  Unfortunately, many people do not understand that in order to create a desired reality, their thoughts and emotions must be finely tuned and carefully focused.  For many, more energy is directed toward feelings of guilt and not deserving, and a belief system based on the concept of win/lose, either/or.  Many times our creative energy gets sent through feelings of jealousy, anger and resentment, even revenge.  This creates a distortion of our deepest longing and our true needs and wants, and what we end up experiencing in our life is only more of the same or possibly worse.
Want to grow?  Create something new in your life?  Try two of the tools in Whole-Person
Counseling and the Circle of Self process.   By selecting and committing to read or listen to a Daily Inspirational Reading you will fine-tune the energy of your thoughts.  By committing to write a Daily Review, over the space of a month's time, you will become clearer about what emotions are directing the focus of your energy.  you'll find directions at http://www.circleofself.com/ .

Resistance

I wrote last about recommitting to commitment. Commitment starts with an intention-a mental and emotional process- and then requires action to become real. As I work with staying committed I am next aware of resistance, not to the commitment, but to the action which gives life to my commitments.  I came 'face to face' with my resistance a couple of days ago. I was struggling to give time to finishing some web pages necessary for the re-launch of the CircleofSelf website.  I could not grasp what was holding me back.  Resistance.  I said out loud (always talking to myself) "If resistance had a face-maybe I could understand what's going on."  Scripture from a number of sources say: "Ask and you shall receive."

The next morning I had a chance to create the face of my own resistance as mask-making was the activity presented in a women's group of which I am a part.  I didn't want to make a mask of my resistance, but the image would not leave me alone, and so I gave in to it and literally created a mask of my resistance.  (Mask making is a great exploratory tool for revealing the more hidden parts of ourselves and trying on 'new faces' so to speak. Ever been in a Halloween costume and started to feel and act like the character you had put on? It's little scary how easy it can be to embody certain characters!)  I now have a visual of 'my resistance' created from my intuition and imagination . 

I will be working with this mask for a while and share anything I feel might be helpful.  At this point, I have become aware of a couple of things- I had earlier in my women's group created a mask made as a visual of my 'Calling'. When I had time to look at the two masks, I saw the 'resistance' mask had all the same visual representations of my 'Calling' mask, but presented in a very different way.  If you want to know more about getting in touch with your own life purpose-or what I experience a "Calling", (of which life-purpose is a part) you can find instructions on the CircleofSelf website, or check out chapter three in Marian Baker's book "Wake Up Inspired"  New Story Press, 2006.  In this chapter, Marian has created some comprehensive exercises specifically for getting in touch with your purpose.

Re-committing to Our Commitment

After my morning prayers, this is what came to my awareness: Commitment is not static it is a process.  Commit to recommit on an ongoing basis.  The commitment looks different every day and even in every moment.  What is consistent is the process of recommitting each time we get off track-get distracted from our calling.  This is the consistent part of our life journey: coming back again and again to our commitment to our calling.