Pisces New Moon Mandala
February 26, 2017
Here Comes the Sun!
I remember reading that its good to take care of our feet during the cycle of Pisces and that the color of the spectrum associated with Pisces is Red-Purple. I find it interesting that four of the six weeks of the Christian season of Lent is celebrated in the cycle of Pisces. The color of this season is the same as the color of the spectrum for Pisces, a red-hued purple, and we discern where we stand…what we believe and, when well celebrated, we deepen our relationship with God.
In addition we celebrated the Spring Equinox during this cycle, the energy shifts and we begin the process of moving from Yin to Yang… from interior to exterior… from being… to doing. This day often gives me a gift. Last year the sun looked like the moon… a lingering moon. Often my posts were late this year… I always seemed to be lingering over each cycle – perhaps due to the adjustment to the newness of empty nesting? You’d think I’d have more time and energy, and yet there was a lingering, indwelling sadness. Normally it would have bothered me to be late. On this day last year, I was given permission to just be with what was. As I recall, it took me six months to make the connection to the lingering moon. This year, the day was a busy one and time will tell what gift God offered me on this day.
The Mandala
Three concentric circles are the base of this mandala: “Three was considered he number of harmony, wisdom and understanding. Three is the number of time: Past/Present/Future, Birth/Life/Death, Beginning/Middle/End. Three is the number of the divine…a sacred number in many religions.”
~ http://mysticalnumbers.com/number-3/
The “pie” is divided into eight equal sections and then divided again north to south and east to west with four additional lines of irregular placement, which produce the rays which extend from the interior shape to the edge of the perimeter.
Eight: is “the symbol of harmony and balance; symbolizes the ability to make decisions; symbolizes abundance and power.”
~ http://mysticalnumbers.com/number-8/
Four: “is the number of stability, order and completion of justice; of earth and mankind; a strong foundation; the four cardinal points: NSEW”
~ http://mysticalnumbers.com/number-4/
It is also the sign of the cross.
In the exterior there are 12 triangle like shapes
Twelve: “symbolic of cosmic order; of space and time; months in a year; 12 signs of the zodiac, Piscesis the 12th and last sign (February 18-March 20); Tarot: Hanged Man symbolic of self-sacrifice and mediation, reversed represents selfishness.”
~ http://mysticalnumbers.com/number-12/
There is a sense of completion in 12…no need to continue compiling… looking… collecting… gathering – it’s all here…it’s “all done.”
Six additional triangles (green) reach to the edge. Six: “symbol of completeness; beauty and high ideals; symbol of Venus, the goddess of love; in Tarot, is the card of the Lover which naturally symbolizes anything to do with the heart; love and also inner peace and harmony. Reversed it warns of separation or temptation.”
~ http://mysticalnumbers.com/number-6/
Green was chosen for this six…the green of Hildegard von Bingen’s “veriditas” – vitality, fecundity, lushness, growth. There is a peace and comfort about this six.
Opposing these angular, yang-type shapes are nineteen, multi-color, overlapping circles which take center stage…star-like in composition… yet soft…round… yin. And yet, a masculine/yang number, nineteen represents both beginning (1) and the end (9) and in the Tarot is the Sun.
~ http://mysticalnumbers.com/number-19/
The five circles at the center create the interior five-pointed star, which for me represents the human body – head, arms and legs, fed and filled which divine energy (the ray from above) shares that light with the world.
Five: “man, health and love; the human being”
~ http://mysticalnumbers.com/number-5/
NOTE: after posting I came across this… and it is perhaps more to the core of this central five… from Your Days are Numbered by Florence Campbell: Five: Freedom/Flexibility: Get away from the details.
“Make a new song for a tale that is old –
Blaze a new trail to a land unknown;
Find a new love for your heart to hold,
Open a flower as yet unblown.”
The Month
Shortly after the new moon, we celebrated Ash Wednesday (March 1st) and were marked by the sign of our faith (the cross) and committed to deepening our faith and our relationship with God. During this cycle our parish offered small group faith sharing…”forget about giving up chocolate – join a small group!” our pastor encouraged, and so we began to move through Lent, not alone, but, in community.
On the 3rd we began offering an evening session of the Prayer Shawl Ministry – such a beautiful ministry. We’re now offering Fiddle Mitts for dementia patients and portable mini prayer cloths, requested by a local hospital, which can be placed in a purse, pocket or hand for comfort and as a symbol that reminds them that others are praying for them.
My little Pisces spent her spring break at home having her tonsils removed. She has had a great deal of difficulty with them and just wanted them out. So, out they came. She was not yet ready to fly on Sunday so Lovie and I drove her back to school while winter storm Stella made her way through the Midwest to the east coast. Thankfully we were able to avoid her and we were able to spend an extra day or two with our daughter.
I am very grateful to be able to have spent a week in Arizona visiting with my parents. They are quite the inspiring couple. They are in good health and both in their mid to late 70’s often hike upwards of 6, 7, even 10 miles on a given day in what I would describe as some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring and challenging countryside I’ve seen and experienced. “Everything in the desert picks,” warned my father.
On the equinox, I visited with the quilting group my mother helps teach and went to see the wild Salt River Horses. That afternoon mom had more to do with her student so I brought my yarn and sat with the “Happy Hookers,” a group of women who knit and crochet items to be donated to those less fortunate. I felt right at home. That evening Mom and I feasted on an American-Norwegian delight – lutefisk, lye-soaked cod what has been well rinsed and baked or boiled, and lefse, a flat bread made out of potatoes! Well, for some “lute” is a delight – my cousin Mark and many others would say otherwise – but that just means more for those of us who love the stuff! Typically served at Christmas for our family, but as we are all over the country those days are no longer. It was a wonderful visit and I look forward to returning next year.
As I mentioned, a gift is always offered on the equinox. Was it the horses? (power, grace, beauty, freedom, nobility, strength (http://www.whats-your-sign.com/horse-symbol-meanings.html) The communities of women gathering? Or just the fact that I was connecting with my parents in a special way during this time? I find it interesting that my dream wheel makes the connection to my parents as well. This, found in the lower left hand corner, reminds me so much of them:
And as I walk today, there’s a kind of hush… though the birds are singing there is a stillness in the world. There is evidence of the early death of flowers that “impatiently” bloomed too soon, and still, new life springs forth as the tiniest of flowers make their way into the warming and growing light in world. Our future yet uncertain, we continue to place our faith and trust in God, knowing that what is ours will come to us and the way will be shown in its appointed time… all in God’s good time. “Precious,” my word for the year, is deeply felt and love fills me.
Love, Hugs and Blessings,
Lynn xoxxx
[x_share title=”Share this Post” facebook=”true” twitter=”true” google_plus=”true” linkedin=”true” pinterest=”true” reddit=”true” email=”true”]