Sister moon's pull on you
Why do I title this “sister” moon? The moon is a beautiful representation of the yin, the female energy in our lives. We need both the assertive/active energy of the sun’s energy, and the darker quieter, more fluid energy of the moon in our lives-this brings us balance. In our day to day lives, we need activity and rest-energy directed outwards and introspection.
The moon affects the tides and our emotions. The moon also reflects our phases of our lives. The moon makes us dreamy, romantic, poetic….
Our lives reflect these phases. So many spiritual traditions have descriptions of these life phases. A friend and I were just discussing this from our yoga teachings. In this tradtion we see our lives going through the student/householder/retiring/wandering ascetic stages, each stage reflecting what we are doing at different ages and stages. (I am personally very excited about this last part-the wandering ascetic, and refer to in on my travel blogs). We also see this idea of our life’s phases reflected in the triple goddess symbol I use for my logo. You may be familiar with the idea of maiden mother crone?
In this symbol the waxing moon represents the young woman. This is a time of excitement, the world is open to so many possibilities, wide eyed and bushy tailed, we make choices for our future. This time of life is also associated with spring. That feeling of newness and excitement!
The full moon represents the mama, full and ripe and pregnant, perhaps with a child, or with anything she has chosen to create in her life. This is the time in our lives we are productive. The times when we birth our ideas, our projects and our children if we choose. This period in our life is associated with lush summer days. I think of the empress tarot card here luxuriating surrounded by lush wheat and flowers.
The waning moon is the time when we have more time to turn inward, we have lived so many stories, yes we have more to come, so much more, but we also have an interesting vantage point. And we have many stories to share. We have more time to rest, we are perhaps more reflective about life, and our spirituality may become more of a focal point, we are discovering new aspects of ourselves here and have more freedom to pursue those things. This time in our lives is associated with fall and winter. And in my mind to the wandering ascetic in Hinduism. A time to explore and seek new adventures and more wisdom.
Poets speak about the moon and I have included some poems here. Poetry speaks to us softly, like the moonlight.
“As if you were on fire, the moon lives in the lining of your skin.” ~ Pablo Neruda
And so it is.
So how do we follow these phases during each month? How do we apply this energy of waxing and waning to our day to day lives?
As we work our magic and work towards our goals we follow these energies of growth and decline. We make plan on the new moon. I know many business folks who start things on the new moon-big launches of something new! This is an energy that is ripe for growth. The new moon is the beginning, it is when the moon and the sun are on the same side of the earth, there is little to no light. The new moon is always in the sign of the zodiac that the sun is in. When doing research for this blog, I found definition for knowing when it was the new moon is stated as the times we look to the night sky and the moon hides the stars behind it, and that is how we know it is there even though we cannot see the moon in this phase with the naked eye. We can see the other stars very clearly too.
“A new moon teaches gradualness
and deliberation and how one gives birth
to oneself slowly. Patience with small details
makes perfect a large work, like the universe.”
~Rumi
As we progress further along the phases, the moon lights on the right side, this is the waxing moon. The first crescent is the time to add action to your plans, as the visible light from the moon grows, so do our intentions, but we must also do things to grow these intentions. We are part of the magic and we add energy to our lives.
At the first quarter moon we take stock of how these intentions are building. Are there any obstacles we need to move through? Do we need to push harder? Shift gears? Surrender a bit?
“Becoming is not easy, Be patient with yourself, you are gardening your soul.” ~Alexandra Vasiliu
As the moon passes past this point becoming more light than dark it is called the waxing gibbous (remember learning this in middle school science class?), and the momentum of our intentions are building to the fruition of the full moon.
The full moon is when we bring things to completion, where we technically harvest what we have been building towards. This is a good night to release, to let go, to clear the plate.
In our house we do a money altar with each moon-a practice I learned from the book Kitchen Table Magic Melissa Cynova. Each new moon we clean the space off make a pretty altar and add money to it till the full moon. Then that money is donated. The space is cleared and waits for the next new moon. It’s a nice way to connect. A nice way to visibly see what we gather for that time period. What we can visibly grow and then share.
“That vision you created, goal you fought to attain, purpose you claimed, vision you saw repeatedly. It’s there, within reach, waiting for you, and no one else, you brought it to life, you believed” ~ Marla Scott
There is something magical about sitting under the full moon. Another nice full moon activity is to burn what no longer serves you (or a symbol of that). When my kids were growing up we had a lot of full moon fires, signifying completion, releasing our work! We always had a big one at the end of the school year-all the school papers in the fire!! Just make sure you practice fire safety if you choose to do that-hose on the ready!
During the full moon the sign of the moon is the opposite on the zodiac wheel as the sun, since they are on the opposite side of earth.
And then the cycle reverses-the light appears on the left side as the right side darkens. We have the waning gibbous moon-a time to start to look within, to engage in a practice of gratitude for what you have created/accomplished in this cycle.
As the moon wanes we see the third quarter and the waning crescent. Take time to examine your unconscious habits, and take time to rest. Apply the same intention and energy to these dark times too. We often are so go-go-go in this culture that we ignore these resting times. These are also important. This is a time of making space, so that when the new moon comes we are clear headed, and open to the new opportunities we want to embrace and build. Meditate, take a nice long bath, write, clean your spaces - all good activities now.
“And like the moon, we must go through phases of emptiness to feel full again”~ The Mind’s Journal
I am starting to keep a journal about how I feel through these cycles. How I react and add to the energy. This gives us another vantage point, so we can schedule things when we are at our highest energy, and make room for rest when we know we will need it. If you do this and want to chat about it I am always here!
I do try and plan things around the phases, big things especially. Our wedding was during the waxing phase-to grow our love! So far so good!
Some books to help you on your journey with the moon
A lovely planner that includes the moon phases is the We’moon planner this book is special bond, includes moon phases and lovely poems, and amazing art work.
Sarah Faith Gottesdiener’s book The Moon Book: Lunar Magic to Change Your Life is so chuck full of amazing information I highly recommend it to deepen your studies of this. One of the things she says to look at is which phase you were born under which I had been curious about. I find it so interesting that in our house we see a reflection-I am a third quarter baby and my husband is born under the first quarter. These compliment each other-we can draw on the strengths of the other persons qualities. Astrology never ceases to amaze me. I am by no means an astrologer but it is fascinating!
One more book I would love to recommend is Theresa Reed’s Astrology for Real Life: A Workbook for beginners . This is one of the first books that has really helped me be able to understand this stuff more fully.
I hope this little blog helps grow your love for yourself and your connection to the moon. I am always just an email away if you want to chat about this or have anything to add.
"Always remember we are under the same sky, looking at the same moon." —Maxine Lee
*The links to the book mentioned above takes you to amazon. I am an affiliate with them and will be paid a small commission which does not affect the cost.