Scorpio New Moon Mandala
23Scorpio18
November 14/15, 2020
Go Deeper
A: The future can change here. You can choose a different path….
I: And be nothing
A: And be what you are. Fighting to hold onto what you were,
it’s destroying you.
~ Angel, S5E19
“The endgame of Scorpios – to live every minute as if it were their last.”
~ Steven Forest
The Inner Sky
Crystal: Epidote, Go Deeper
And thus began the work of this cycle…. like the trees shedding their leaves, to release what is killing us (or more likely at the very least no longer serving us) and to live life as if it were, indeed, our last moment on earth. I imagine that life could take a different form for each of us. In this year of Covid, these themes are most prominent. Letting go and realigning our to desired life in the moment as is needed. The grief of letting go… of loss… and the freedom to chose another path. I must confess, I felt a strong resistance to this invitation. Go deeper…. Be vulnerable. Open up. Go deeper… connect. Go deeper… who are you?… what do you want? Go deeper… Why are you here? Go deeper… like the leafless trees, stand naked and unafraid. Here I am! This is me! Go deeper… let go. Go deeper… embrace life. Go deeper…. Go deeper… Go deeper…
This mandala has more color than most of my Scorpio mandalas. I knew I wanted to go with blue-green, the color of the spectrum for Scorpio, so the ocean was a natural inspiration. What, on the planet, is deeper than the ocean? But what to do with the rest of it? The six crescents needed to be dark… there is a sense of unfolding here for me… of revealing LIGHT! If the light is within… then what is covering it is in shadow. So dark with light around the edges, in this case dark blue and metallic silver… rather moon-like. Black had been considered… choosing safety over the unknowingness of mystery. Three levels are revealed underneath the crescents – each progressing deeper into the void. For the various shapes, I decided for the most part to take on the colors of coral, which speak to me of an inter-connected community. A quick google of the barrier reef revealed among others, magenta (higher self), red-orange (my favorite color for Spirit) and peach (compassion) – required for any deep dive. All of these in the number 12, of wholeness. At the deepest level a nine-pointed flower suggests completion, symbolizing perfection and unity. I chose white for purity, pink for unconditional love and metallic silver – like a mirror giving us an opportunity to really see ourselves. At the very center of the flower, echoing the six crescents mentioned earlier, is a six pointed star. An aspect of the same shape, a sextile, produces excitement… stimulation… vitalization between two planets. “They are intense, colorful, dynamic… There is magic. There is humor. There is high energy.” (Forest) That is perhaps why I was inspired to choose so much color. ?? The entire “pie” is divided into 8 pieces, suggesting that the underlying energy reflects power, expansion, ambition, will, strength. Great support for a deep dive!
“Often we have amnesia about who we really are –
precious parts of a larger whole.”
~Tara the Liberating Power of the Female Buddha
Rachel Wooten, PhD
Twenty years ago I had an experience of Mysterium trememdum et fascinans. It is something I rarely speak about much less write about for fear perhaps that others will think I’m crazy. In the words of eminent German Lutheran theologian, philosopher and comparative religionist, Rudolph Otto:
Mysterium – Wholly Other, experience with blank wonder, stupor
tremendum – (What I experienced was) awe, absolute unapproachability, ; overpoweringness, majesty, might, sense of one’s own nothingness in contrast to its power; (fear and “wrath of God” are some other expressions).
fascinans – potent charm, attractiveness in spite of fear, terror, etc.
Nearly twenty years ago Lovie gifted me with a short trip to the southwest for my 40th birthday. While there I tried to learn about journaling as I was having difficulty connecting with my words much less putting them down on paper. However, the session kept getting canceled due to the instructors car troubles. On the last day, a lovely woman came to my door, suggested perhaps journaling was not for me and handed me a journal. Not long after that I was introduced to mandalas and my love affair with them ignited. I often said that my colored pencils were my words.
The highlight of my time there was an experience of an Ayurvedic treatment which involved massage with herbs and ground, dried flower petals and then the pouring of warm oil over my head while cocooned in a warm wrap. When the oil met my forehead in the area between my eyebrows, I saw in my mind’s eye a beautiful white lotus flower edged in pink arise from where I could not see and station above my head. I followed the flower with my inner eye(s) and tilted my head upward slightly to follow it. The flower then turned to face me and I began the journey to the center of the flower. What appeared at first to be a small tiny flower turned out to be a distanced, magnificently massive flower with a gazillion petals. “Gazillion” – too many to count. Way too many… When I was finally close enough to see the center, I saw a circle holding a triangle, holding an eye – gazing at me with indescribable purity love. The energy itself was w-holy pure. I felt wholly inadequate and did not dare gaze back yet could not resist. I would describe it as God energy and it is the source of the pink-edged white in many of my mandalas. After the session I recall feeling emotional and this energetically buzzing feeling throughout my body. I needed time to settle and walk it off. That feeling of purity and intense, unconditional love, however, has stayed with me – though I may forget from time to time.
Typical for the month of December a sacred Word makes its appearance as a guiding word or phrase for the coming year. This year Soli Deo Gloria made it’s very early appearance. Soli Deo Gloria… to God alone be the glory… used by artists like Bach, Handel and Graupner to signify that the work was produced for the sake of praising God. It gave me great joy to think that I could live each day Soli Deo Gloria. It makes me smile just to say the words… Soli Deo Gloria. Proves to be a beautiful practice for 2021.
Go deeper…. To remember… to embrace the preciousness of who we are – truly loved and treasured beyond words giving us the courage perhaps to live our best life. And to remember… that we’re connected to something greater – something beyond words – that makes each of us part of a greater whole.
Love, Hugs and Blessings,
L xoxxx