Cancer New Moon Mandala
June 23, 2017
The Cup
Spring is a time of revival and renewal – of coming to life again from the “dead” of winter. In Summer, we tend to growth and fruitfulness: What has been planted? To what are we tending? What do we hope to harvest come autumn? And, if we’re paying attention to the events of our lives, we may find the bread crumbs that God leaves for us that will lead us to His plan for our lives – plans for future and further growth. These bread crumbs are a process I often refer to as “Connecting the Dots” – a series of similarly themed events. It might start as something small like a drip-drop on the head… then a little nudge… a tap on the shoulder follows… Eventually, if we’re really not paying attention, we get hit by a Mack Truck! Not literally, of course, but what He wants to show us will be SO obvious that it feels like being hit by a truck. All of this to say, “Wake Up! I have a better way. Come… follow Me!”
The Mandala
Sometimes a mandala pattern surprises you. You think you know what you see and yet when you get to working on it…it shows you something else.
At first glance the central star looked to me to be comprised of five intersecting drops of water. Cancer being a water sign it seemed to fit. But when I began to work on it, it became clear to me that the star was created using cups…five intersecting, open-ended, U-shaped cups. It appears to me that these cups have been shattered and put back together. They remind me of the centuries old Japanese art of Kitsuji or golden repair/joinery – broken pottery put back together with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum.
In my mind from the beginning, these cups were outlined in a dazzling white. I may yet put glitter or silver pen on them. The star itself in the calming colors of the sea – plus purple… a color I associate with “knowing who you are and Whose you are.”
Around the star are five mandorlas – almond shaped thresholds…gateways… representing the almost but not yet… the space between here and there. I often think of them as the threshold between heaven and earth. Not sure why, but they wanted to be white (purity) and pink (unconditional love) – colors I associate with God energy.
Behind these are two interlocking triangles – one pointing up…the other down. These feel to me to be a joining or reconciling of opposites – in jasmine (yang/masculin) and yellow ochre (yin/feminine). There is a sense of wholeness about them.
Behind the two triangles is a square on point. This always represents a shake up to me… something foundational that is changed somehow… seen in new light… or somehow done differently.
These central figures are on a bed of twelve sections (12-wholeness). I would have liked to have used Prismacolor’s Deco Blue – such a lovely color – but alas, they discontinued it. So sad… A rim of white (purity/newness) separates the inner circle from the outer ring. They almost don’t seem to go together and yet to me this outer ring tells me that brighter, lighter, happier days are on the horizon. The ribbons in deco pink and deco yellow with joining points in deco orange lend a carefree and light hearted feel to the outer ring… a simplicity and sweetness if you will.
The Month
At the beginning of the cycle Sunny posted this beautiful picture on Facebook… a silhouette of kitchen cupboard things… cups… mugs… and bowls… all manner of kitchen cupboard things that hold liquid… soup, tea, coffee, water… mostly comforting… all of them nourishing in one way or another. I was so drawn to the picture which became the first “bread crumb” in a series of “bread crumbs” that led me to a book I had forgotten that I had purchased.
The second “bread crumb” came while watching a showing of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday. Funny…I never watch the show. I had taped this particular show because I had learned that Fr. Richard Rohr was going to be on the show. Truly, the man gives me hope! Anyway, the bread crumb had nothing to do with the meat of the show…it came at the very end where Oprah spotlighted Nova Scotia artist, Louise Pence. Louise began her career making all manner of vessels in various patterns. She began with a definition:
Vessel
- Container: bowl, jar, jug, pitcher
- Boat – journey of life
- Vein or artery – lifeblood, connectivity, all our stories from previous generations
- ..we are containers for the Spirit
At one point in her career, her heart left her work and she began to question:
“Am I contributing to the problem by my silence? Use the material to say something you care about… “
Through her HeArtwork she became an advocate for women’s issues.
“If everyone did what they could, gosh… it would be pretty interesting. I think people who perpetrate hateful things on others… they’re banking on our silence. Recognize it. We all have power. Now what? What are you going to do with it?”
~ Louise Pence, artist/women’s activist
You can watch her story here:
https://englishsubtitles.online/videos/mother-earth-supersoul-sunday-oprah-winfrey-network-104490
“Bread crumb” #3
Later in the cycle I was getting ready for a Prayer Shawl ministry meeting. I went in search of a gathering prayer as I wasn’t finding what I needed in the usual book. So I went to my little stack of Joyce Rupp. Looking through the stack not only did I find the perfect prayer but, in that stack was another book that I had forgotten I had purchased called The Cup of Our Life. Bingo! Jack pot! Golden Ticket! All this talk of vessels brought me to something I had all the time…something that had spoken to my spirit earlier this year… and it was time, time to deepen my relationship with God through the lessons found through a common, ordinary cup. ~http://www.joycerupp.com/cupofourlife.html
I started the book at the full moon. I have four more weeks to go. Interestingly enough, it will take me to the solar eclipse on August 21st. Rather auspicious I think…
A simple series of events, connected by a theme, occurring in a life that if lived in too much of a hurry or distracted by worldly things might be easily missed. I look forward to the next cycle, continuing the lessons of the cup and deepening my relationship with God…wherever He might lead.
Love, Hugs and Blessings,
L xoxxx
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