Once
you have taken a step forward in faith, never look backwards or
start regretting what you have left behind. Simply expect the
most wonderful future and see it come about. Leave the old behind,
it is finished. Be grateful for the lessons you have learnt and
for the experiences you have had, which have all helped you to
grow and have given you a deeper understanding, but never try
to cling on to them.
What
is waiting for you is far, far more wonderful than what you have
left behind. When you have placed your life under direct [inner]
guidance and direction, how can anything go wrong? It is when
you have taken a step forward and then wonder if you have done
right, and you allow doubts and fears in, that things begin to
crowd in on you, and you find yourself bowed down by the weight
of your decision, Therefore, let go, release the past and move
forward with your heart filled with love and gratitude.
Opening
Doors Within
Eileen
Caddy
Welcome
to 2013... a 'trust and adjust' relationship year. The months ahead
provide support to 'spiritualize' all that has occurred since this
nine-year cycle began in 2008. Life is moving at warp speed and knowing
how to make relationship adjustments becomes your trusted balance
point. Listen
to the Dalai Lama on this important topic. 2013's primary 'tools
for change' are respect, communication, and poise. To achieve
these qualities take responsibility and care deeply for all that you've
learned about change during 2012.
We
have arrived at the Sixth Global Year, which brings a spiraling-up
point in our nine-year pattern. 2013 is a 'grow up' year and helps
us learn deeper more genuine ways of relating to self, others and
life itself. This year, focus on the element of steadiness and
a return to Center. You have 365 calendar days to practice. You
might visualize a scale and what
needs to be dropped or added in order to bring your days into
a place of equilibrium. The years that carry this energy help us learn
how to 'come back home' to what is truly important. Speaking of home...
this is a year for turning attention to nest building and feathering
that nest with comfort and joy. You may want to brush up on your Feng
Shui skills.
The
twelve months/moons before us are going to be teaching us all the
next steps in learning to feel at home, stable, and relational so
that by September 2013 we'll recognize more about balance no matter
what's taking place outside and around us. There's a good deal of
serenity to be found within this year so incorporate a daily practice
of letting go of worry. Also be willing to practice recognizing what
steadiness feels like in advance of needing it. Sixth Level energy
is deeply reassuring, that's what it means to trust.
Weave
together your experiences; open the way to express trust and making
adjustments to the contribution your creative self-expression is ready
to make. You might imagine weaving a symbolic fabric of comfort and
calm to share with those that you come into contact with. Notice the
affect that your well-practiced equilibrium adds to any situation.
2013
teaches through balance. Balance acts as a foundation. Once you have
balance you can determine how you fall off center and then adjust
by bringing yourself back into alignment. The wobble is generally
going to be worry/trust, doubt/stability, and projection/ownership.
In
Buddhism equipoise is taught through practices where one imagines
standing in the center, between opposites or extremes, without getting
hooked by either what we want or what we don't want. We've
looked at these eight opposites before... pleasure/pain, gain/loss,
praise/blame, and fame/disgrace. They're called the worldly dharmas
(teachings) and the idea is that we all want the pleasure, gain, praise
and fame and none of us want the pain, loss, blame or disgrace. This
year we will do well to powerfully and consciously integrate these
opposites into our walk around the wheel. As an assist the year will
prompt you to be in sync with your inner vision.
TRUST YOUR INNER VISION
Inner
vision is difficult to describe. Seeing with the inner eye is a
quality recognized when it's experienced. No one can demonstrate
this yet you can learn how to engage this skill through the practice
of practicing. As the inner eye is engaged like a GPS system the
urge to bounce between opposites subsides and you can simply notice
what you're experiencing without attaching to it. Huge leap.
Inner
eyes: What do you see? Vision: What sights draw you? A Course in Miracles
states "Vision has no cost to anyone it can only bless".
This is called clear seeing.
Conversely:
What views are jarring? What can't you bear to look at? Who/what/where
do you turn away from? How and when do you hallucinate your experience?
What sort of phantoms do you create?
To
practice seeing with the inner eyes start with the way that you envision
your current life circumstances. What does your ideal environment
look like? Where are you? Who are you with? Why are you there? What
is your calling? How are you contributing?
Conversely
note what fogs up the screen of your inner seeing. Get more honest
about what it is that violates your personal worldview. Name what
it is that you can no longer stand the sight of.
There's
a need for adjustment when we move into deeper levels of the trust
that the sixth level requires. Caroline Myss in her work equates the
sixth chakra with the sacrament of Confirmation.
Within the context of Energy
Anatomy she reminds that what you see with the inner eye is more
empowering than what you view outside of yourself using the physical
eyes.
This
point in the nine-year pattern is about learning the next level of
Trust. Trust is a confidence that can't be shaken. Some of the words
that the thesaurus lists with trust are: faith, belief, hope, conviction,
confidence, expectation, reliance, care, protection, responsibility
and guard.
Who
do you trust? Do you trust yourself? Do you trust others? Do you trust
Life?
Look...
2012 was the Year of Change and it certainly held difficulty and challenge.
Many of us were pushed beyond limits and out of comfort zones.
See...
review the past year through the practice of inner seeing. Once you've
completed a brief appraisal turn and face the coming 13 moons.
Visualize...
the changes that took place in 2012. Open to a balanced direction.
When
you believe in your ideas and in your abilities,
and you trust in the Infinite Intelligence of the universe,
you know that your thoughts and deeds
will ultimately lead to a successful conclusion.
You cannot fail.
http://www.naphill.org
Make
corrections. In 2013 engage in your next evolutionary step. Hold
a vision and see the spiral move upward. Trust and adjust to what
arises. As one of my teachers states, "Don't be fragile!"
This is not the time to pull back and shrink in. This is the time
to peer into the shadows and fog and keep moving forward.
By
the sixth year we are well prepared to stay the course. There is no
longer the tendency to bounce about. We've had since 2008 to learn
to flow with the energy that surrounds while also being the change
that we choose to see. It's a very exciting time to be in balance
and to recognize when that is happening and also when it's not.
The
energy is set, on the global stage, to assist each of us to create
a personal vision that can inspire the world.
Clear
seeing is flexible. With clear seeing you can see another way. You
can create a different outcome.
Stay
on course with what you have invested in over the last five years
(2008 - 2012). It's time to confirm your vision. What do you see?
Pay attention to the areas that the sixth year offers: balanced relating
and adjusting to what is visible from within.
The
Tarot offers a rich and creative way to view life's journey. The
Lovers: Key #6 is the primary archetypal guide this year.
The Lovers... is the law of union. Oneness, through the marriage
of opposites, is represented by the mythological bride and
bridegroom, Solomon and Shulamite. The Lovers represent communion
with others, and the integration of inner self-polarities.
This outer and inner union creates an androgynous or whole
being... Find your inner lover, your inner "soul mate,"
and you will find yourself and your "earth mate".
The word "lovers," comes from the Indo-European,
leubh, which means "to care for, desire, love."
In our duality we are whole. To trust and embrace the opposite,
the other, the different, the foreign is to synergize, to
bring together and weave one world, one self, one family,
one basket.
The Lovers number is six, the product of Three(synthesis)
times two(antithesis). Six represents "together but not
together," "unity but disunity." Live with
ambiguity, contradiction, and paradox. Embrace the opposites
and maintain the center.
Wholeness is love, which is the nonjudgmental acceptance
and embrace of the dualities. To be the rose torn in two,
and to transcend into one lotus is the law of life, sweet
and sour essence of love.
James
Wanless, Ph.D. from The
Voyager Tarot
|
The
challenge is to embrace opposites and balance the masculine/feminine
energies within. Last year the way in was to change and change again.
The physical spotlight this year is on the third eye chakra, the sixth
of the seven major power centers in the body. In the chakra
system this sixth level can be viewed as a doorway into kindheartedness
and a way to encourage unity.
The
last Level Six year was in 2004. Take a look back.
2004:
How did you view the world?
Looking
back to this specific point in time allows reflection and retrospection.
What did you see as possible for your life? In 2004 we saw the politics/terror
of that time along with the desire to evolve and inspire one another.
What do you look for? How has your view changed you? What can you
see as possible? This is a good time to quietly review your own journal
and then reflect upon 2004
in review... this time in list fashion.
Reading
the works of Wisdom Teachers who inspire you and contemplating their
gifts can expand your worldview.
Here
is William Martin's poetic contemporary translation of the sixth verse
of the Tao Te Ching from The
Sage's Tao Te Ching:
WE
CANNOT EXHAUST THE TAO
We
are not dying, merely changing
We are a dance of atomic energy
that can never be destroyed,
only transformed.
Each breath we take is a rebirth.
Even our last breath
will bring something new.
We cannot exhaust
the energy of the Tao.
The
physical atoms that make up your body
have been completely replaced
in the past nine years.
Yet you remain.
You may feel the effects of age,
but your spirit is always renewed
in each moment.
Remember this when you are tired or ill.
Let each breath renew your spirit.
|
Close
your eyes. Visualize the past five years trials and challenges. See
through the Soul's eye how enduring these have helped you grow.
During
2013 strengthen your ability to see life as spiritualized, mystical,
otherworldly, nonphysical, and transcendent. Express the sacred that
you see.
I
have learned that what I have not drawn
I have never really seen,
and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing
I realize how extraordinary it is,
sheer miracle.
Frederick
Franck
The
hand is directly connecting us
to the pathways of the heart.
What we make with our hands
keeps those pathways humming.
Barbara
Bash
|
LIVING
WITH CALMNESS
The
work this year is spiritual and relational. Look at the past five
years and make a commitment to trust that you are spiraling upward
in a direction that serves you, others and all of life. You can intuit
when relationships feel spiritually balanced and when they're off
kilter. Gain insight by looking at circumstances through your Third
Eye ... the portal to your internal guidance system.
The
Choice!
By Medea Bavarella Chechik
STOP!
Stop
everything you're doing,
Go
inward... know the whole universe is waiting for you!
It
has been waiting for you patiently and expectantly... it
is nudging you to wake up!
What
are you waiting for?
Open
your inner eyes... Hush!... listen to the melodious sounds
of the universe... it is
beckoning you.
Imperceptible
to the human ear, yet, very audible to the ready soul...
the soul that has been waiting for her time to awaken.
You
have the key to the limitless universe... and beyond!
Choose
to use this key to open the gates of heaven... let your
being pass through it.
Whole,
liberated, awaken, alive!
Go
ahead... Put a smile on your face... let your whole being
smile, there are reasons to
rejoice... for the time has come for you to take your rightful
place in this unfolding universe.
Human
and divine fusing together as One!
Medea
|
Look:
You can liberate yourself. You can see a better way this year.
You can visualize being the one who spiritualizes your Art/Life. Apply
a humble confidence and gift yourself with comfort and a sense of
home no matter where you are.
This
is a 'walk in balance' relationship year. Visualize walking the wheel
applying these keywords to each moon/month:
The
3 Northern/Winter 'MYSTERY' moons:
January
look: for purification through cleansing
February look: for renewal
March look: for integrity through purity
The
3 Eastern/Spring 'ME' moons:
April
look: for clarity
May look: for wisdom
June look: for 'light'
For
the 3 Southern/Summer 'OTHERS' moons:
July
look: for growth
August look: for trust
September look: for love
The
3 Western/Autumn 'LIFE' moons:
October
look: for experience
November look: for death and Look for rebirth
December look: for strength
LOOKING AT THE UNIVERSAL YEAR
The
Universal Year (UY) for the previous twelve months (2012) brought
the energy of Level Five bringing changes that teach deeper levels
of empathy, compassion and communication. If you gained a true sense
of your capacity to change and speak it out loud... then welcome in
2013! It's a relationship year ... and your inner self... those
around you... and the world need the expression of your gifts and
talents!
In
addition to spiritualizing the past five years this 2013/6 level of
energy also provides the opportunity to deepen your communication
with Life-force itself...set aside meditative time and hold conversations
with your Higher Self... develop trust in guidance and conviction
in your ideas.
Without
judging the means by which some have and some have not,
you can simply imagine how you might enjoy living so as to enhance
the relationship between your active and receptive sides. Spiritualize
all year as you create the Art called your Life.
In
2013 you will continue to learn much about the need to balance the
forces of light and dark. This past year most certainly helped you
to endure challenges regarding your capacity to communicate from a
place of clarity. Challenges endured presented you with additional
communication skills.
Contemplate
the 12 months/13 moons before you. Ask, 'Am I ready to evolve?' 'Do
I trust my own Higher Self and our relationship?' 'Do I share a vision
in common with my Inner Guidance?' 'Am I able to trust my inner vision?'
'Do I muse and reflect?' Most importantly this year: 'Do I hold space
for life to be trusted?' Maybe I do... Maybe I don't. None of us are
at 100%. Yet in asking questions of this nature you can unwind, moon
by moon. You can deepen into the spirit of 'we're all in this together'.
You can trust the present moment.
This
practice of trusting and relaxing is admirable provided that while
on this adventure you don't ignore or deny the shadowy parts of yourself
ever calling to be illuminated. During this past year many of us discovered
or uncovered aspects of the fear-filled dark-side, individually and
collectively. All people have monsters, dragons and strange beliefs
that are found lurking and hidden in the physical/mental, emotional
or spiritual zones. These collective shadow forces have escalated
their dance on the world stage attempting to keep us distracted. A
sizable segment of the human population is reeling in terror. Some
of us are hallucinating and projecting our demons outward. Psychic
trauma and collective violence occur as we peer through the lens of
political, financial, climatic upheaval. We continue to move deeper
into the new millennium and there is an alarming energy shake-up taking
place. There is also unspeakable beauty.
These
twelve months will offer people globally the greatest chance within
the context of this current nine-year cycle, to trust in the inevitable
potential of a peaceful world view. In fact, this is a perfect year
to notice if your greatest vision gets blurred by seeing demons, dragons
and strange beliefs. These hallucinations can be compromising to your
deepest in-sight. Invite visions to come to you brilliantly with aliveness
and an open clarity.
WHAT
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
The
2013 Lifecycle Forecast describes the Universal Energy that acts as
a support force spanning the globe. To create your clearest connection
reconnect with whatever you were learning to accept nine years ago.
Those physical, emotional and spiritual experiences are matured now.
It's
time to spiral upward. Hold a vision of what upward looks like for
you. You could consider this the year of High Heart.
2012
was the year to practice communication skills, to negate the negative
and to make change move through the heart. From here we can truly
to trust what life brings and to adjust when trepidation slides under
the door.
I
value the ability to evolve inner vision. I've applied this energy
work with dedication for more than three decades and ask that you
do likewise.. .keep notes that remind you of how you can trust yourself,
those that you choose to invite into your life as well as the unfolding
of Life itself.
I
thank my trust-worthy friends, teachers and tools for helping me to
do my best in practicing daily balance. I'm conscious of the conversations
shared by Master Artists and Teachers whose words have buoyed my interaction
with the Art/Life.
Gazing
into the year ahead you can trust that your Higher Self is conversing
with you... perhaps in the form of a beautiful love poem...here's
one that came to visit Rumi...
THE
GUEST HOUSE
This
being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A
joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome
and entertain them all!
Even
if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The
dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be
grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
--
Jelaluddin Rumi
translation by Coleman
Barks
from The
Illuminated Rumi
|
IT'S
ALL IN THE NUMBERS
By
reading the vibration of energy fields, for the year ahead we find
2013 to be a Universal Year # 6. The universal quality of any
given year points in the direction of how best to align with the role
of being a conscious Planetary Citizen. The UY also lets us see, sense
and feel when we miss that mark.
In
the Sixth year of a cycle you are asked to practice inner conviction
and to notice the responsibility that results from the adjustment
to that inwardly guided choice.
All
over the globe this will be a year for calming down. We will collectively
self-correct, and navigate toward higher levels of relating. Keep
motive and intention directed toward stability and let your vision
see kindness for all living beings. As Planetary Citizens we can trust
that our individual adjustments help to create a conscious capacity
for all to evolve... in the process we do no harm.
Here
we go:
ARE
YOU ABLE TO HOLD A VISION?
2013
is a year to self-correct and get the doubt out. Benefit will
come by being relational. Look for opportunity. A fitting mantra:
'no drama'.
Visualize
expansion. Imagine connection.
Some
keywords/phrases that will create encouragement throughout 2013:
accommodating, adjustment, artist, breath work, cheerful, compassion,
devotion, discernment, divine plan, empathy, Feng Shui, fresh, friend,
inner vision, intuition, justice, kind, harmonize, home, marriage,
music, new, relationship, responsibility, truth, trust, visualize
Some
keywords/phrase that will discourage throughout 2013: anger, arrogant,
distrust, domestic violence, endangerment, out of balance diet, unbalanced
emotions, under-earner, violence, war, wicked, worry
Take
any of these words or phrases and look them up in the dictionary or
thesaurus. Do the same with the words listed in the individual monthly
moon listings that will be added throughout the year. Don't judge
the words rather experience each one in its relationship with you
and whether it brings balance or discord within. Ask for insight and
guidance to tell you about the way in which each quality lives through
you. Journal, draw, paint, dance, sculpt or craft your responses.
Gain awareness as to how to move forward being peaceful, being balanced
and stable. Listen for clear guidance in relation to your personal
year goal.
"The
same stream of life that runs through the world runs through
my veins night and day and dances in rhythmic measure. It is
the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
into the numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous
waves of flowers."
Rabindranath
Tagore
LOOK, VISUALIZE, IMAGINE
Homework
for the year ahead:
- spiritualize
the last five years (2008-2012)
- get
the doubt out
- adopt
a muse
- relate
with balance
- trust
your Self, Life and those that you are most simpatico with
- cultivate
inner vision
- visualize
spiraling upward
- meditate
on that which is Greater than yourself
- look
inward/be a visionary/inspire
- release
and expand beyond the experience of the last five years
- trust
inner vision
These
are spiritual uplift indicators that will inspire those whose lives
you touch. You can teach a class on any one of these. You can relate
with a fresh outlook today.
THE UNIVERSAL YEAR: 2013 MOON-BY-MOON
Throughout
this Year of the Black Water Snake, I'll insert inspirations and insights
from a collection of Transformational Teachers. The Sixth Year is
meant to be filled with a spiraling upward above the battlefields
that surround, not as an escape rather as a model for evolution.
In
the book Living
in Balance by Joel
& Michelle Levey, the question that can serve as a frame for
the entire Sixth Level year is asked on page XIII...
What
does it mean to live in balance in our world today?
On
page 274 in the margin we find this indicator attributed to the Buddha:
"Put
away all hindrances, let your mind full of love pervade one quarter
of the world, and so too the second quarter, and so the third,
and so the fourth. And thus the whole wide world, above, below,
around and everywhere, altogether continue to pervade with love-filled
thought, abounding, sublime, beyond measure, free from hatred
and ill-will."
To assist you on your journey look at how you might align your inner-vision
through each progression of the moon as she cycles through the Universal
Year # 6. Keep in mind that the descriptions offered here are referring
to the umbrella-like energetic qualities that affect us all. Additionally
there are Personal Year Energy fields that are unique to each of us.
If
you've read this far... thank you! I send you all best wishes for
a grand adventure in 2013. My gift to you at any time this year is
your 2013 Personal Year Energy descriptor.
I
wish you a year of transcendent relationship. Moon by Moon let's hone
our sacred skills so that we're trusting and poised helping to transform
the suffering where we see it.
I
look forward to seeing you Dec.13, Jan.11, Feb.10 as we walk the Natural
Wheel through the Winter Quadrant of the Mystery.
|
A
review of the First Lunation 2013: Strength/Cleansing Moon
December 13, 2012 - January 10, 2013
December
21: Winter
Solstice
|
A night
filled with talking that hurts,
my worst held-back secrets: Everything
has to do with loving and not loving.
This night will pass.
Then we have work to do.
Rumi
(1207-1273)
Welcome
to Luna See and the sinking further within provided
by the Strength/Cleansing Moon!
What
we're doing, all year long, is following our natural energy patterns.
Conscious awareness of natural patterns and the energy that they carry
brings meaning and with that meaning creative benefits accrue.
Luna
See 'walks the wheel of the year' by following the moon. The particular
model used here is based upon the four directions of the wheel and
the moon/months that connect those seasonal directions. We apply the
12 keywords gifted to us by Shaman Sun
Bear. Each keyword for the moon/month provides a focus point.
Year by year, as we walk the Natural Calendar we gain insight and
evolutionary growth.
We
are now at the exciting place of pause. There is brilliance in
taking the time to pause long enough to sense into what it is we've
been creating.
The
first 19 days (remaining in December) point to mining a deep inner
Strength. Energy gifts abound during this season of lights. Now
we become aware of the hidden responsibility necessary to fulfill
this year's vision and goal. In this first moon of the 90-day Mystery
quadrant remember to dream BIG.
The
wheel pays dividends and interest from your investments in the ME,
OTHERS, & LIFE Quadrants of the year. Integration during this
cycle allows the 'Great
Rays' of dazzling radiance within to become clear and visible.
Moving
from one quadrant to another creates a spiral of energy... within
that spiraling...
something wonderful emerges; something wonderful comes your way.
The
wonderful emerging spirals up from the point of Solstice as we bridge
into this final quadrant of time and space leading to the Equinox.
Our focus point is the MYSTERY. This moon/month leads into the stillness
of the Unknown. Being drawn into the Mystery (once every year for
the 3 moon cycles between December Solstice and March Equinox) creates
a soothing inner space deeply rooted in the Divine Feminine. Notice
how you savor a slower more receptive pace. Root deep and relax into
this part of the journey which is destined to take you to places not
yet imagined. This quadrant offers highly creative discoveries that
can provide return on investment for the entire year.
Ask
yourself: What can my relationship with the Mystery bring in terms
of constructive inner expansion and great inner strength?
The
December 21, 2012 Solstice... the darkest day of the natural year...
opens us to the MYSTERY. This year we get there by exercising order
and harmony. An inestimable wealth comes from this point as we turn
deep within. We're traveling through the Underworld. It's our yearly
visit. Pause, regulate and relate with dreams linked to the Unknown.
Be willing to lean into the Mystery. Let there be uncertainty. Revel
in the 'not known'. Consider how each step of letting go of that
which cannot yet be known is a preparation for walking through
the East Gate and into a new beginning at the Spring Equinox.
Life
is rushing onward. In too many ways to count days remain potentially
stressful. It's hard to juggle all responsibilities with grace and
yet a clearer figure ground is provided now. Take time to say thank
you for all that is as you turn attention toward the contrast of possibilities.
Our primary contrast is that masculine energy wants to keep on. It
wants to DO through taking action and asserting itself. Feminine power
helps us learn to BE, aligning with nurturing, soothing and allowing
ourselves to open to receive in a relaxed albeit dynamic and natural
way. We need a relationship with both the doing and the being. One
isn't better than the other. We require a balanced and conscious relationship
with each so that we don't confuse ourselves and spin.
The
keyword for January is Cleanse. Discover what this means for you.
January, when culture is telling us it's all new, the Natural Calendar
is saying, not just yet, take this time to cleanse the year. Engaging
with the Mystery will help you to instinctively recognize what needs
to be cleared from your physical, emotional and spiritual life...
how can you be with that awareness during this cycle? As you journal
your discoveries you make the relationship with the Mystery come alive.
The
Northern Winter Quadrant (December 21-March 20) of the Natural Calendar
is mythic in its power to transform stress into calmness. Consider
the three moon/months of this Northern Quad as an access point or
beacon illuminating your inner life. What can you shine a light on?
Where is your radiance illuminating your Art/Life?
This
cycle shines light into Feminine Mystery. It's time to ask for expansive
dreams of possibility.
Here's
my short story: this past cycle I deeply experienced the slowdown
of the year. I practiced a pace that has everything to do with the
sun's rising and setting and the beauty of the space between. Days
were enhanced by time off the grid (no electricity) staying in our
new camp/cabin on our tree farm.
Day
after day I spent as much time as I could outdoors taking a break
from social media... no blogging, Face Book, Pinterest or email. This
experience allowed me to actually feel spaciousness. Having experienced
this prolonged slowdown has increased my awareness of distractions
that I will choose to clear away. Not being distracted makes room
for new dreams and inspirations to enter.
Of
course there's always the opposite energy to contend with. There's
the challenge point and knowing what it is also brings an opportunity
to cleanse. I've been able to watch my kicking and screaming parts
wanting me to be doing more. I respect that and watch and gently soothe,
mother myself and remind those parts that right now my intention is
to practice being more calmed down.
You
may or may not be able to orchestrate a retreat however this is one
of the most empowered times for making changes to your dreams... one
meditation at a time.
We're
helped during this Winter Quadrant to sink deeper and wider into relationship
with the Mythic
Feminine. The Feminine
Principle of the self is receptive. She listens with her inner
ears to access her power. Her power is fierce and lies beyond the
intellect yet doesn't deny the usefulness of thought. She doesn't
let us to only think our way through our dilemmas but rather requires
that we sink into the depths of experience. From depth we can relax
and surround ourselves with balance, which we then radiate out into
the world through relationships.
It's
critical now to relate to the Feminine nature. This quieting principle
never leaves us. It lives within each of us. On the Natural Calendar
wheel she arrives in a concentrated form for the Fall/Winter Quadrant.
This principle naturally connects us to experiences that are breaking
us down so that we attend to the yearly practice of deep introspection
leading to strength. It's helpful to remember that crisis in the form
of confusion and chaos is the necessary first step in the creative
process. Heading deeper into the wheel by moving into the Winter Quadrant
we acknowledge breakdowns as they break us through into new fields
of creative dream strength.
We
are in the season of lights. In many cultures this celebration symbolizes
the light within being turned on allowing the Inner
Feminine to embrace a fierce appreciation of her mystic roots.
Ask
yourself: How might I clear away the old... mother
myself well... and expand into the mythic art/life of my dreams?
Equation
to consider:
Clearing out old thinking patterns + heroism on the threshold
of possibility = evolution of calmness and clarity of presence
Creative
Exercise:
Consider what part of your Art/Life needs soothing so that you
can retrieve and regulate deeper balance.
Engage
in breath-work meditation such as Shamatha/Vipassana.
Best
action for this Moon: dream your biggest most expansive Mythic
Dream.
Keywords
that enhance Strength/Cleansing energy: air, beauty, breath, calm,
clear, dream, esteem, interdependence, intuitive, light, listen, meditation,
mystical, mythic, mystery, quiet, relax, roots, studio
Keywords
that pull the energy of Strength/Cleansing away: cold, confuse,
competitive, distant, deprivation, dread, envy, fearful, overextended,
secretive, suspicious, unavailable
Strength/Cleansing
Homework: return to ZodiacArts weekly throughout the Moon/Month.
Follow the phases of the moon. Add Strength and find the opportunity
to clear away that which is over. Dream of what's possible as you
add color to this moon's mandala design.
|
Second
Lunation 2013: Cleansing/Renewal Moon
January 11 - February 10, 2013
February
1-3: Cross-quarter
day: Imbolc
(the fire festival between Yule and Vernal Equinox)
|
Welcome
to Luna See where we walk the wheel of the year by following the moon
and the natural cycles of the seasons. Throughout the calendar year
we'll learn to adjust and trust.
Using
Luna See we align our creative focus. With focus we become more and
more familiar with the evolving inner relationship between our assertive
(masculine) and receptive (feminine). From there the natural energy
patterns of the cycles and the seasons of the year become the container
for our creative vision
Mindful
awareness of natural patterns and the energy that they carry brings
meaning to life. This increase of meaning creates benefits for self,
others and all of life as we express our experiences as a contribution
to life.
The
particular model used here is based upon the four directions of the
wheel and the moon/months that connect those seasonal directions.
We apply the 12 keywords gifted to us by Shaman Sun
Bear. Each keyword for the moon/month provides a focus point.
Year by year, as we walk the Natural Calendar, we gain insight and
evolutionary growth.
During
the 13th moon of 2012 (December 13- January 11) which is also the
1st moon of 2013 we've made the exciting turn into the Mystery Quadrant.
The first step in entering the Mystery is to conduct a clearing away
of what no longer fits. The brilliance in taking the time to clear
away what is no longer needed makes more sense now than ever... as
we spiral in to a deeper center of creative potential and possibility
throughout this relational year.
The
21 days remaining in January allow time to address your own variety
of cleansing. There are so many ways to do this... Google and
see what you relate to. Simultaneously begin to make space for what
you want to renew. The last nine days of this moon cycle opens us
to the energy of restoration. In this second moon of the 90-day Mystery
quadrant remember to aspire that stretches you. During this cycle
there is the paradox of continuing the slowdown of the Solstice entrance
into the Mystery while at the same time beginning to sense into the
quickening of the natural year and a thawing sense of renewal.
From one quadrant to another, in rhythm with the natural pace that
each quarter of the year supplies, an uplifting spiral of energy is
created and from this an astonishing and superb renewal comes our
way.
Our
focus point continues to be the MYSTERY. Move into the stillness of
the Unknown. Look further. Create a lull within each busy day; what
writer Christian
McEwen calls "an island known as Slow". Cherish an unhurried
tempo. Root deep and relax into this yearly part of the journey which
is destined to take you to places not yet imagined. The Mystery Quadrant
is here to inspire. Encounter your biggest impossible dream while
traveling here. Invite your Muse to guide you.
Ask
yourself: How can my relationship with the Mystery/Muse inspire greater
dreams and renew my creative focus?
Since
the Solstice point of December 21 each new day opens us to the profound
returning/renewing of the light. There's no way or need to rush this
quadrant. While here in the deeper hidden recesses of the Mysterious
Underworld it's best to look around and become more aware, than ever
before, of those parts of the self that attempt to stop forward/upward
evolution of creative spiritual unfolding. Get to know the shadow/fear
that attempts to thwart your dreams during this this period. Once
you've faced and cleared the naysayers turn and relate with the beauty
of your Impossible Dreams. Notice how all big dreams are deeply linked
to the Unknown. Continue to motivate yourself to lean into the uncertainty
of Mystery.
Slow
down. Culturally we benefit from models of what it looks like, sounds
like feels like to walk in balance. Make a conscious request to relate
to yourself with grace. Listen to your self-talk. Notice how and when
you push to keep going when you know it would be far saner to slow
down. Calm that push a bit. We remain in the nurturing segment of
the wheel for another two cycles. We haven't even reached the depth
of the possible dream. If we haven't got the wherewithal to cease
and look inward the richest treasure waiting to be discovered will
remain hidden from view.
The
keyword for January is Cleanse. We've had two weeks (as this cycle
opens) to sense into what it means to wash away that which has built
up that is no longer needed or appreciated or valued. We can look
at our physical experience, our emotions or our spiritual practice
and in each find the layer of obscuration that covers over what has
meaning now. Journal your discoveries and make the relationship with
the Mystery/Muse come more alive.
The
Northern/Mystery Quadrant spanning from Yule December 21 to March
20 and the Vernal Equinox is a period of time that contains depth
capacity. Here we are given the space to transmute patterns of pressure
and anxiety. No longer is this time a harrowing passage through the
dangerous foreboding of cold and possible starvation. Now we endure
another kind of threat and can take this time to look and see how
the fast track wears us down and leaves us wondering where the meaning
went. Serenity that can change our relationship with everything that
we come into contact with accrues. During the three moon/months of
this Northern Quad contemplation fits naturally into the scheme of
things. What dreams are waiting? What will come to meet your Art/Life
telling you of your own renewal?
We
are traveling further into the land of Feminine Mystery. This is an
expansive landscape of the dream. It's filled with nourishment for
the soul that's rooted deeply into the heart.
Here's
my short story: this past cycle we've added two new pups to the household.
One is perhaps a year old. She was discovered abandoned in the home
where her people left her when they moved away. I adopted her from
the local SPCA on Dec. 10. The second pup is a twelve week old from
a Virginia mountain home. The two of them met for the first time at
our tree farm on Dec. 15. They had a three day period to romp and
play and wander while we all got acquainted. As there is no electric
in the camp/cabin we tend to follow the natural rhythm of sleep
when it gets dark and wake when it gets light, albeit during that
stay the pup got her twice nightly housebreaking trips out under the
stars. It was quite special for me to experience this day into night/night
into day cadence with animals present.
I
swooned over the privilege of simply being there and observing the
pup pattern: play, snooze, eat, play, snooze, eliminate, play, snooze...
repeat. We smile a WHOLE LOT and then we add in the Dog-Whisperers
guidance of even more exercise plus affection and discipline as this
renewed life rhythm begins.
My
Winter Quad intention is to practice being more calmed down. This
is being supported as the focus in establishing my relationship with
the two new arrivals is placed on being "calm/assertive".
Returning
home to Wren House the pups begin to learn that this heavily wooded
zone is shared with hundreds of squirrels, regular sightings of rabbits,
a resident fox pair who will soon be raising their family and myriad
dogs being walked by the house. Now my 'puppy practice' helps identify
my willingness to cleanse away my opposing energy of tense/tentative
making way to create a balanced relationship with my four legged family
members.
During
this time we want to hone in on and clear space around our challenge
points. I'm not necessarily going to stop being tense/tentative when
I hear the fox barking at one another just when the pup has to go
out at 3am. But I am going to remember to calm myself and be in my
body and completely aware of what I'm doing as I'm doing it so that
all goes well.
What
do you have the opportunity to cleanse? I value being able to step
back and observe my kicking and screaming parts however and for whatever
reason they appear. I regard those parts of myself as a good mother
would with gentleness and composure.
This
cycle is an excellent time for noticing what feels most authentic
to you as you sink deeper and wider into relationship with the Mythic
Feminine. The Feminine
Principle of the self is responsive. She observes her landscape
with inner eyes and relates with what is surrounding. Her power is
noble and recognizes the direction being traveled.
It's essential now to relate to self, others and life through the
eyes of the Feminine. She is the guidance needed to quiet and direct.
She lives in you. She makes her presence most clearly known during
the Fall/Winter Quadrants. The Inner
Feminine/Goddess Guardians lead us toward the Underworld to facilitate
a deep clearing away of that which robs us of our true nature. Refreshed
creativity will result. Renewed creativity brings meaningful opportunity.
Ask
yourself: What does renewal look like? What does renewal sound like?
Who shares my interest in clearing away the unnecessary to make space
for renewing the dream?
Equation
to consider:
calm + clearing = renewed dream/vision
Creative
Exercise:
Notice how your Art/Life needs renewal and begin to hold a vision
for this vision to unfold.
Best
action for this Moon: John Ruskin, the nineteenth century artist,
encouraged all his students to draw. "The greatest thing a human
being ever does in this world is to SEE something, and tell what [they]
saw in a plain way." Even if you don't feel you're especially
good at it... draw by taking the time to simply see what you see.
Keywords
that enhance Cleansing/Renewal energy: authenticity, balance,
composed, contemplation, draw, enigmatic, inhalation, instinctual,
look, numinous, peaceful, philosophical study, reverie, structure,
unobtrusive
Keywords
that pull Cleansing/Renewal energy away: anxiety, depression,
financial confusion, manipulative, resentment, strained, under-earning
Cleansing/Renewal
Homework: return to ZodiacArts weekly throughout the Moon/Month.
Follow the phases of the moon. Wash away what is over. Dream of renewal
and what's possible as you add color to this moon's mandala design.
Welcome
to Luna See! Throughout 2013 our focus will be on relationship and
balance. Here at Luna See we allow our center to be held by following
the natural cycles of the seasons. We imagine the beauty of our creativity
being enhanced by a conscious relationship with Earth Mother and Sky
Father; we'll have a grand year exploring this connection. I'll do
a bit of a review of how Luna See presents this balance. You may want
to send this issue along to someone who is stressed. How powerful
it is to discover this renewed relationship with time. Being mindful
of natural patterns and the energy that they carry brings meaning
to life and an increase of meaning creates benefits for self, others
and all of Life.
As
you align your Art/Life to the recurring seasonal patterns a relationship
grows and provides a container for creative vision; each moon and
each season holds a wealth of innovation and motivational prompts.
The
partnering between action-oriented (masculine/Sky Father) and receptive
(feminine/Earth Mother) acts as our foundation. The richness of Life;
its wealth, abundance and infinite creative mystery come through to
enhance our experiences and inspire our contributions.
Our
Luna See model is based upon the four directions of the yearly wheel,
the spring/summer half of the year is primarily masculine directed
action; fall/winter energy is naturally feminine receptive and attuned
to creation. Breaking each season into manageable chunks creates a
slowed-down way to relate to time. I heard an artist refer to the
idea of "teaching slow" and Luna See fits that model.
Within
the seasonal rhythms come the moon/months, the tides of time. By harmonizing
with natural coming and going the ability to slow down and take things
as they come unfolds with ease.
There
are 12
keywords gifted to us by Shaman Sun Bear who felt that we move
to fast. Each keyword for the moon/month provides a focus point...
we address these points of focus moon by moon.
Our
current 90 day segment remains strongly connected to the feminine
capacity to receive.
The
3 Northern/Winter 'MYSTERY' moons:
January
look: to cleanse away that which is done
February look: for renewal and what will be
March look: for purity (a refreshed energy) as you
prepare to begin again
The
February 10th New Moon takes place within the Feminine Mystery Quadrant,
this is where we have the chance to stop a moment and feel into our
roots to find what we want to Renew. Ask the Feminine Mystery/Earth
Mother to assist the revitalization of your perfection; that which
best fits for you. Pay close attention to all your relations?that's
where you'll find your greatest opportunities for refreshment and
new beginning. Take time in these six weeks prior to the March Equinox
to lean into what it is you'll repair, replenish, and restart in your
most valued relationships.
During
this third moon of the 90-day Mystery quadrant give yourself time
to simply BE. These 90 days are perfect for the 'slow flow'? travel
inward and shut out all distractions.
Go
deeper into last moon's inquiry...
Ask yourself once again: How can my relationship with the Mystery/The
Divine Feminine/My Inner Muse inspire greater dreams and renew my
creative focus?
Here's
my short story:
My
dear friend and mentor, Ann Vernon, underwent a procedure in August
of 2011 essentially turning her into a bionic woman. She was implanted
with an LVAD.
All went well for 18 months and during that time she had a whole new/renewed
relationship with creativity and activity. The many paintings produced
became a series of works titled 'My
Mechanical Heart'. Then in December: HALT... she suffered a massive
stroke. She is now in rehab and will be moved from her exceptional
little artists' home to an assisted living facility.
Her
unique circumstances, combined with her legions of friends, required
the hospital to restrict visits. That's been hard and challenging
for those of us who love and miss her. After some sadness and frustration
I sat quietly and listened to my Muse. An idea came and over the past
weeks I've created a tribute to Ann's Heart and Soul.
As
I've worked on the project calm has returned to my body and my emotions.
I'm reminded of the natural cycle and a Buddhist teaching: be awareness
that this moment is all we have and that none of us will be here in
100 years. Make the best of each day.
I
thank Ann daily as she has clearly mentored me in joie de vivre.
What
do you want to renew? Make your list... journal what deserves to be
revitalized in your precious human life.
Own
your strength. Here's one of mine; I come naturally to Renewal...
I was born in February so this is my gift point on the wheel.
Own
your challenge. It's found on the opposite side of the wheel. My challenge
point is August the keyword 'Trust'... that's when my edge place and
tension comes to meet me.
You
receive the gift of your birth month and you also receive the challenge
that lies on the opposite point of the wheel. This tension is a relationship.
Find your opposites... or
your birth month and I'll send your gift and challenge keywords along
to you.
Dream
a Bigger Dream
This
cycle is an excellent time for remembering your dreams. Not just sleeping
dreams but also those ideas and inspirations that visited you as a
child. This is the time to sleep with those impulses and passions
to bring them in and hold them close to your heart. Sing to them.
Rock softly and speak with them, let them know that they aren't forgotten.
Relate
to self, others and life through the heart of the Feminine. She is
the Spiritual Guide, the Medicine Woman within. Visit the Earth Mother;
we are fed by her quiet and direct support. She is ever present. From
the Tao Te Ching:
Without fail, she reveals her presence. Without fail, she brings
us to our own perfection.
Ask
yourself: What does spiritual support feel like? What is my dream
'for forever'? Where am I best suited, where can I not fail at accomplishing
my dream?
Equation
to consider:
renew + dream = aspiration revamp
Creative
Exercise: Aspire to dream the passion of your childhood
Best
action for this Moon: Slow down. It may seem like a challenge
at this point and that's appropriate. Notice what resistance comes
up when you intentionally stay focused on the seed dream for the new
natural year.
Keywords
that enhance Renewal/Purity energy: ambition, balance, brotherhood,
constructive expansion, cultivation, discipline, dreams, faith, generous,
good judgment, great inner strength, joy, tolerant
Keywords
that pull Renewal/Purity energy away: abuse, conflicts, dilemma,
disappointment, disillusion, pushy, scam,
Renewal/Purity
Homework: Follow the ZodiacArts
Moon Phase Calendar. Dream more deeply of renewal and the purifying
necessary as you add color to the New
Moon Mandala Design.
Year
by year, as we walk the Natural Calendar, we gain insight and evolutionary
growth. Come back to ZodiacArts each moon and follow the rhythm seeing
how it syncs in with your Art/Life.
Our
next new moon is March 11... see you then.
|
Fourth
Lunation 2013: Purity/Clarity Moon
March 11 - April 10, 2013
March
20: Vernal
Equinox
|
Welcome
to the Fourth Lunation, March Equinox and the beginning of the Natural
New Year!
The
2013 focus is on relationship stability. As Luna-tics we consider
this within the context of relating with the inner masculine and feminine.
We can look at the map above and imagine that the light side represents
the masculine 'go forth' quality of the coming six months of spring/summer
in the Northern Hemisphere. We can look at the shadowed side as the
intuitive/receptive feminine of fall/winter.
In following the natural cycles of the seasons we can foresee the
beauty of our creativity being enhanced by relating with our personal
light and shadow. Exploring the action-oriented masculine and the
quiet/responsive feminine can bring an extraordinary and sustainable
harmony.
During
the days between now and the equinox release impurities that might
hamper the birth of the Art/Life vision that you have been dreaming
during the past ninety days.
With
the Vernal Equinox we enter the East Gate of the natural calendar
and shift away from the feminine focus of the past six months and
turn toward the masculine desire to accomplishment. Herein lays a
paradox: even as the masculine energy begins to move us forward into
the new growth and evolution of the six months ahead the feminine
energy isn't disappearing... you can still feel the pulse. To help
integrate the feminine quieting of the last six months into the masculine
ability to stake claim to new territory we have the help of the ME/muse
(the inner feminine intuitive urge). It's a wobble of sorts as we
adjust our relationship with these two aspects of the self... requesting
that they work together as the new 90 day pathway opens creates a
fertile ground for your seed vision. The feminine desire to rest and
dream now relates to the masculine need to push forward and outward
with the aim to achieve. This will be an exceptional natural year
as we work consciously with this infinitely inexhaustible greater
realm of creativity and self-expression.
The
3 Eastern/Spring 'ME' moons:
April look: clarity in areas where you sense confusion
May look: for wisdom and understanding
June look: for illumination and the AHA! Light
bulb going on
The
March 11th New Moon brings us full circle on the natural calendar.
Ten days into the cycle places us on the threshold of the Spring Quadrant.
This is an exciting, enlivening, radically uplifting for visualizing
the seed idea that we intend to plant, nurture and grow during this
first 90 days of the new circle walk. Ask the Masculine/Sky Father
to assist the 'art of the start' for you. During the last cycle you
took note of your relations... now you can see your greatest opportunities
for new beginning. Take time in these days prior to the March Equinox
to hold an image, make some sketches, and write in your journal about
the value of the situations, circumstances and relationships most
in need of your investment. How much stronger can you become this
year?
During
this first moon of the 90-day Spring/ME quadrant take time to visualize
your direction.
These 90 days are perfect for bringing out into the open the inward
dreams that came to visit you since December 20.
Having
gone into the depth of your Art/Life intentions over the past 8 weeks
you now have a conscious relationship with the Mystery/The Divine
Feminine/Inner Muse. You've inspired your greater dreams and renewed
your creative focus... now the joy of visualizing what's possible
comes into play.
Here's
my short story:
I
slowed myself down over the past six months.
I
tapped into natural time and really invested in a gentle pace and
a going deeper within.
I
discovered a very uncomfortably edgy place. I began actively dreaming
and reconsidering the next step in my Art/Life. From there I sensed
a change coming and the desire to adjust my direction. Having walked
around the wheel of life 64 times (23,376 days) I felt the need for
a more current, truer fit.
For
my birthday, I gifted myself with a re-dedication to the 60-Day
Non-Human Program... I've invested in this experience many times
and I can highly recommend it during the Purity cycle of any year.
If there is ever a time when you feel the need to release a buildup
of energy that feels off center this 60-day practice can purify areas
that you didn't even realize you contained, much less held fast to.
Appreciate
Relationship Balance
This
cycle is an excellent time for initiating your goals in any area of
your Art/Life. Goals provide focus and framework. Goals allow intention
to unfold. The ninety days of the spring quadrant are tailor made
for your best goal setting advantage. This is the time to wake-up
the impulses and passions that are in your heart. Dance with your
goals. Drum out the rhythm of your goals... make them come alive.
Tell your inner masculine and your inner feminine what your goals
and intentions are... let these inner partners assist and represent
your strengths moving forward.
This
month relate to self through the eyes of the masculine. The masculine
lives in the realm of 'let's make it happen'. At the same time practice
balancing with your feminine side by recognizing her role in inspiring
the masculine action that will unfold in the coming six months.
Ask
yourself: What does a balanced relationship with my inner masculine
and feminine feel like? What is my most balanced relationship model?
Where am I out of alignment?
Equation
to consider:
pure intention + vision = healthy goal
Creative
Exercise: see, sense and feel what you intend to grow this year
Best
action for this Moon: be alert. Be awake. Pay attention
Keywords
that enhance Purity/Clarity energy: action, compassion, completion,
evolve, finish, forgive, humanitarian, impersonal love, mercy, service,
still, visualize, volunteer
Keywords
that pull Purity/Clarity energy away: aimless, debts, judgmental,
narrowed interests, narrow minded, neglected friendships, self-righteous,
unfulfilled
Purity/Clarity
Homework: Follow Zodiac
Arts Monthly Moon Phase Calendar. Visualize your goals as you
distill and clarify your dreams adding color to the New
Moon Mandala Design.
Year
by year, as we walk the Natural Calendar, we gain insight and evolutionary
growth. Come back to ZodiacArts each moon and follow the rhythm seeing
how it syncs in with your Art/Life.
Our
Fifth lunation begins April 10... see you then for the Clarity/Wisdom
Moon.
Welcome
to the Fifth Lunation and our yearly opportunity for bringing Clarity
of vision and Wisdom of intent to living the most meaningful and magnificent
Art/Life.
I
thank artist Dana Cunningham Anderson/ArtLight
Media for granting permission to share this beautiful hand-carved
letters/hand-printed poem from her 2013
Artlight Quotation Calendar...
You
might consider this message from Rumi
as a Luna-tic's clarion call as together we spiral further into this
new natural year.
This
cycle we learn to relate with the infinite Wisdom and Clarity that
surrounds. We do this by being AWAKE! We do this by listening to our
inner masculine/feminine archetypal
guides. Through the spring and summer quadrants the masculine
'go forth' quality pushes forward with a gusto that serves us well.
The
beginning three moons of any natural year set the tone for the entire
year...
BE
AWAKE!!
Do not be distracted!
Do not waste this precious and passionate point of the year!
Art/Life
clarity of vision becomes possible now. In the four weeks ahead explore
the concept of accomplishment and what this means to you. Bring wisdom
to actions and embrace a healthy and whole relationship with the masculine
desire to achieve your Art/Life goal/vision.
See
achievement as a healthy masculine drive that emanates from within,
albeit, at a pace that is yours alone. Are you a tortoise
or a hare?
What
can you see yourself accomplishing in this natural year... at your
pace? Why are you choosing to move in this particular direction?
What distracts you? Do arrogance and/or self-judgment play a part?
The
3 Eastern/Spring 'ME' moons:
April
look: clarity in areas where you sense confusion
May look: for wisdom and understanding
June look: for illumination and the AHA! Light
bulb going on
With
the April 10 New Moon we see before us twenty-one days for sensing
into an Art/Life vision for the natural year ahead. This is the second
new moon of the Spring Quadrant and continues to pertain to issues
related to 'wise selfish/first attention on self'. With this foundation
set we move into May and garner the Wisdom that comes from following
your vision. We aren't talking crystal ball and we can't know what
the future holds yet we can trust the process of setting out in the
spring with a clear-seeing eye toward what we want to have come of
this time. A Course in Miracles states "Vision has no cost to
anyone it can only bless". Consider the dividends such an outlook
can play in your Art/Life at this time.
Visualize
the seed idea that you planted during last month's cycle beginning
to push its tap root into the earth stabilizing and anchoring into
the ground of your being. Ask the Masculine/Sky Father to assist you
in 'feeling firmly planted'. During the last cycle you took note of
your visions for the months ahead... now you can see your greatest
opportunities for being grounded. Take time in this cycle to anchor
your vision; think of it as building the foundation for a structure...
how large is it? What materials are best for longevity? Draw out your
ideas and journal the clarity and wisdom that come. Lean into your
strength.
During
the 90 day Spring/ME quadrant take time to note what needs to be researched.
Where can you find mentors and models showing the direction you choose
to go?
The
East Gate of the natural calendar opened on the March 20 Equinox.
Now your Art/Life visions for this natural year have a fresh opportunity
to be birthed and shared. Consider what's possible to experience,
express, create and contribute as the natural year spirals forward.
Here's
my short story:
Having
slowed down over the six months between the Equinox of October and
March was disconcerting and energizing at the same time. I'm a born
tortoise... and I love the 'steady as you go' pace however last spring
and summer had been moving at warp speed.
As
mentioned last month I gave myself a birthday gift in February and
surrendered to the gentler pace modeled by the 60-Day
Non-Human Program. I completed my two months on April 2. I can
sum up the experience in two words: delightfully uncomfortable. I
released whatever wanted me to push to 'make it happen'. I saw what
I needed. Those needs came without effort and with ease. At times
I felt like I was going against the grain of the sixty day program
but then I would remember to turn every aspect of my Art/Life
over to my Higher Self. It turned out to be two months of playfully
creative prosperity. I was invited to be a visiting artist at three
different schools making magic happen with over 1000 kids. Here's
some evidence...
Me
with a gang of first graders making Art/Life fun
Additionally
I've invested in solitude thus hearing clear guidance that supports
choices. I identify joy and anticipation as fuels physically, emotionally
and spiritually. This helps me to feel the pulse of this first moon
cycle of the spring quadrant. Knowing how I'm doing as I start the
year provides a touchstone that I can return to as needed.
Plan
for Balance
This
moon's cycle offers the perfect time for training
your brain and planning for a balanced natural year. Fuel the
creative fire in your belly that is part of this season.
|
The
creative process includes the right combination of visible and
invisible forces. You will not always be able to predict how
much of the process you can see and organize, and how much is
beyond your ability to determine. But if you do not allow for
invisible realms, you would stifle the process.
When
building a fire, if you use too much wood, the fire will go
out. If you use too little wood, the fire will go out. If you
use wood that does not burn well, the fire will be harder to
get going and might go out. A good fire feeds on itself. A good
creative process does this as well. Energy is generated by what
has gone before...
If
you have a place to go, you will generate more energy than if
you do not. In fire building, a log on top of the pile will
drive the flames upward. In the creative process, a place that
is bigger and higher than where you have gone so far can increase
momentum, energy, and creative power.
Creating
by Robert Fritz
|
All around us the natural world is burgeoning. The spring quadrant
prompts us, even taunts us, with the idea of expansion.
Each
year we come into this time/space at a higher level of development
than the year before. There is the sense of 'let's do this thing!'
There is the inner urge to be more, do more and have more. It can
be overwhelming. We can end up getting distracted in countless ways
rather than taking advantage of the natural inclination to increase
and accomplish.
This
month relate to your High Self holding the masculine vision for achievement.
Ask
yourself: What needs clarity in my Art/Life? Where do I intend
to 'wise up'? How will achievement be accomplished this year (in relationship
with the wisdom of my inner masculine/feminine balance)?
Equation
to consider:
clear focus + insight = accomplishment
Creative
Exercise: post on the Earth Day link listed above
Best
action for this Moon: Be AWAKE! before taking any action!
Keywords
that enhance Clarity/Wisdom energy: achievement, AWAKE, calling,
cycles, directed, focus, friendly, goal, intention, invention, orientation,
passionate, pilgrim, pioneer, playful, solutions, spiritual strength,
vitality, vocation
Keywords
that pull Clarity/Wisdom energy away: arrogance, burdened, certainty,
distraction, ego, heavy, judgmental, lack of vision, overwhelmed,
seriousness, sluggish
Clarity/Wisdom
Homework: Follow ZodiacArts Monthly
Moon Phase Calendar. Visualize and clarify the wisdom of your
goals. Playfully add color to the New
Moon Mandala Design.
Year
by year, as we walk the Natural Calendar, we gain insight and evolutionary
growth. Come back to ZodiacArts each moon and follow the rhythm seeing
how it syncs in with your Art/Life.
Our
Sixth lunation begins May 9... see you then for the Wisdom/Illumination
Moon.
Welcome
to the Sixth Lunation! This is our yearly opportunity to bring forward
a conscious gratitude and Wisdom of Intent as we open to the Illumination
of the heart. This is the third moon of our spring quadrant giving
us this cycle to lean into the power of the feminine ME and all the
ways in which she guides and enlightens our path of action... hand
in hand with the masculine... she offers much for which to be grateful.
In
Pocketful
of Miracles, Joan
Borysenko writes:
|
May
is a month of gratitude and celebration of the feminine aspect
of God
— God the Mother —
who creates and nurtures all things, including ourselves.
The
beauty of May draws us out of hibernation
into a natural mindfulness of the blessing and abundance of
nature.
Gratitude
and mindfulness are intimately related,
for as we practice gratitude we come more aware, more present.
We
wake up.
Spring
calls us to simplify our lives
so that we can enjoy everything thoroughly and graciously—
our relationships, our homes, our possessions.
In
May our hearts remember what our minds sometimes forget—
life is a gift of inestimable value.
It
is time to unwrap the gift.
|
This
cycle we relate to the Infinite Wisdom and Illumination that dwells
within. We do this by being OPEN and expansive. We open to mother
ourselves and also to receive the beauty and abundance that surrounds!
We also do this through our willingness to straddle a fine creative
line of being able to 'make haste slowly'. The six moon cycles
of the spring and summer quadrants push us to pick up speed. The masculine
'keep it movin' quality constantly demands that we plant, sprout,
stretch and produce. All the more reason to be thankful for the ability
to keep to a balance point... to slow down at least once a day in
meditative quiet so as to listen to the grounding aspect of the wise
feminine as she teaches you to find your healthy pace.
The first three moons of spring create the rhythm for the remainder
of the natural year...
BE
OPEN!!
Do
not be resistant!
Do
not waste this intention-driven and materially-focused point of the
year!
Nonresistant
expansion becomes possible now. Throughout the four weeks of this
cycle move wisely ahead. Go with the flow.
Visualize
your healthy masculine nature being in the driver's seat. Ask and
take notes in your journal...
- Where
am I going?
- What
do I want to have come of this natural year... at my personal
pace?
- What
do I resist?
The
3 Eastern/Spring 'ME' moons:
April look: find clarity in areas where you sense confusion
May look: find wisdom and understanding
June look: find illumination and the AHA! light bulb
going on
With
the May 10 New Moon comes twenty-three May days for wisely choosing
to note any places where you contract and resist. Notice where you
dig in your heels and avoid forward movement. Notice where you surround
yourself with outdated thinking and things that need to be jettisoned
NOW.
This
is the third new moon of the Spring Quadrant. This point embraces
all that we've been able to give birth to as we've done our best to
place first attention on self since March 20. Look back to the
Spring Equinox and make journal notes. Hopefully you feel structurally
stable and prepared to move through May garnering Wisdom and expanding
into the unknown future. Trust the Wisdom of your process.
The
first week of June brings this cycle to a close with a dose of 'lights
on' all systems go! In June we experience the miracle of Illumination
with expanding light and soul growth... make space for this wonder
to occur.
Remain
motivated by the seed idea that you planted during last month's Aries
cycle.
Take
time in this Taurus cycle to not only own your vision as a tangible
thing, as something that you possess, but also to nurture your dream
idea as though it is an infant in need of your support and guidance.
Assess your vision for this year. Value your newborn ideas! Protect
them even as you project them into the world. They are worthy of
being here!
Do
you remember this wonderfully potent Martha
Graham quote?
|
There is
a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening
that is translated through you into action,
and because there is only one of you in all of time,
this expression is unique.
And if
you block it,
it will never exist through any other medium
and it will be lost. The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine
how good it is
nor how valuable
nor how it compares with other expressions.
It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly,
to keep the channel open.
You do
not even have to believe in yourself or your work.
You have to keep yourself open
and aware to the urges that motivate you.
Keep the
channel open...
No artist is pleased.
[There
is] no satisfaction whatever at any time.
There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction,
a blessed unrest that keeps us marching
and makes us more alive...
Agnes
de Mille on Martha Graham
|
Do
you notice how the idea of "No artist is pleased" resonates
for you? This point is of utmost pertinence now because in a year
of trust and adjust, as 2013 is, the whole point is to keep noticing
and paying attention and bringing focus back and back again to what
constitutes balance in the moment... it isn't about being pleased.
It isn't about getting accolades it's about placing one foot in front
of the other and staying the course.
Have
you located your mentors and models who will help you find direction
this year?
The
East/Birth Gate opened with the March 20 Equinox. Notice the Clarity
and Wisdom rising up to meet you. Even when you choose to ignore it
or engage in self-sabotage it waits silently to assist and support.
My
short story
Since
the last cycle my energy has been on a teeter-totter and I sense into
a disconcerting tendency to sputter, like a flickering flame I feel
I could be extinguished... I see a red flag. I research what's going
on and it leads me to 'channeling Dr.
Baron'.
Dr.
John Baron saved my life in 1979 and now, to keep myself moving forward
with a sense of balance, I need to remember what he taught me all
those years ago. The result is a weeklong cleanse followed by an adjusted
alkaline
balance and copious amounts of rest.
I also came across one of my Creativity Salon handouts... it's a fit
for this point on the wheel:
This
year is an adjustment point... think chiropractic... realigning each
of us and instilling a sense of trust in our deliberate choices. As
we notice our choices we'll also note the consequences of those choices
and increase our awareness.
Lean into Expansion
This
cycle opens the door to expanded thinking. Consider what's possible.
It's still the dawning of the new natural year. We have a long
way yet to walk. This isn't a race and it can be very helpful if we
remind one another to take 'er easy, no rush; don't burn out.
The
idea of thinking 'be all that you can be!' has become a cliché
through overuse in the advertising world yet in this year's walk around
the wheel it couldn't be more empowering to consider.
As
I consider what it means to be all that I can be I reflect on a beautiful
poetic descriptor that has worked for me for many decades:
|
... imagine what it means to have no cares,
no worries and no anxieties,
but merely to be perfectly calm and quiet
all the time.
This
is what time is for...
to learn just this and nothing more...
perfect calm,
perfect quiet
all the time.
|
This
month relate to your High Self holding the balance of your feminine
side nourishing your masculine's vision for achievement. Study
poise, equilibrium and stability. Make these concepts a very important
part of the infrastructure of the year.
Ask yourself: What is my current Art/Life intention? What in
me needs mothering/mentoring?
Equation
to consider:
purpose + lightening up = tutor others
Creative
Exercise: surprise yourself by the nurturing action of intent
that you can and do take
Best
action for this Moon: Be OPEN! Lean into expansion!
Keywords
that enhance Wisdom/Illumination energy: abundance, adjust, AHA!
amend, astute, beauty, diplomatic, ideals, intent, patient, poetry,
receptive, trust, wisdom
Keywords
that pull Wisdom/Illumination energy away: depressed, emotional,
foreclosure, hoarding, impractical, insecure, insincere, irritable,
jealous, moody, timid, trauma
Wisdom/Illumination
Homework: Follow ZodiacArts Monthly
Moon Phase Calendar. Hold a clear intent and open to receive the
'AHA/lights on' of your goals. Add color that represents vitality
to the New
Moon Mandala Design.
Our
seventh lunation begins June 8... see you then for the Illumination/Growth
Moon.
|
Metta to Your Beautiful Art/Life
May you be at peace.
May your heart remain open.
May you awaken to the light of your own true nature.
May you be healed.
May you be a source of healing for all beings.
|
Next
installment:
June 8, 2013 - Sixth Lunation: Illumination/Growth Moon
|
©
Donna Iona Drozda, all rights reserved.
Please feel free to share with friends while also including copyright
information.
Lifecycle Forecast: Luna See© is written by artist/author/educator
Donna Iona Drozda. If you have any questions or comments, please send
them to:
At
'Luna See' we share 'the art of personal energy management' following
the moon through the Natural Year: March Equinox to June Solstice
to September Equinox to December Solstice and back around to March...
spiraling through the cycles of the seasons.
There
are 12 keywords gifted to us by Shaman Sun Bear who felt that we move
through time with haste and waste. Each keyword for the moon/month
provides a focus point... we address these points of focus moon by
moon.
In
addition to the 'Luna See' monthly newsletter, there is the weekly
'Following
the Moon' blog post. There are also e-Studios that assist you
in aligning your creative energies with the natural rhythms of the
year-by-year spiral dance.
Join
our mailing
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