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?