Photo: L. Weikel

Another New Moon

Ah yes, tonight is yet another new moon, another new beginning in the lunar cycle that definitely and peculiarly influences us, whether we realize it consciously or not.

There is a period of time each month known as the ‘dark moon,’ when the night sky is the darkest because no portion of the moon is illuminated. The ‘upside’ to the time when Grandmother Moon is invisible is the way her absence allows our eyes to take our star-gazing to a whole new level. In the darkness, we’re actually able to see a whole lot more of what’s really out there.

Is This a Metaphor?

I don’t know why, but this new moon I am more acutely aware of the darkness than I’ve been in a very long time. It feels like we’re cloaked in darkness at the moment – our country, our world. And yet, at the same time, precisely because we’ve plunged into this darkness, we’re seeing things that have been there all along, but we’re only just now allowing our eyes to adjust enough to really see.

As I’ve written about a number of times before, at the time of the new moon, it’s a time of new beginnings. I’m usually enthusiastic about the opportunity a new moon gives us to plant new seeds, to set the intention of what we want to start cultivating in our lives over the next month or year, cultivating as our future.

Something’s Different

I feel a need to shift my focus a bit this month, take a bit of a different approach with this new moon. Yes, I want to set some intentions and call in new energy. I want to infuse new life into some of my greatest hopes and cherished goals. Absolutely.

But for some reason or another, I feel like the power of this new moon lies more in its ability to reveal a whole lot of stuff that’s been lurking behind the scenes, hiding in plain sight, but remaining unseen because we’ve been blinded – or at least distracted – by the light. And it feels like it’s time. It’s time to stop for a moment, in this Time of the Dark Moon, and take stock of what it is that’s right there, right in front of us, being revealed for us to finally see.

Because right now, if we don’t take the time to look and see what’s been there all this time – and deal with it – it will be a huge missed opportunity. Why? Because nothing we plant at the time of this new moon will flourish the way it could, the way we hope it will, if we don’t act on what’s being revealed in this darkness and get rid of that which either never or no longer serves the highest good.

What Light Nurtures?

It’s important to remember, sometimes, that the light that’s been distracting us hasn’t even been ‘Light’ – meaning light that originates from its own source – light that’s generative, warm, and nurturing. No, it’s been reflected light. Illusory light. Light that can seem pretty bright and even dazzling at times, but doesn’t warm us, doesn’t feed us, doesn’t coax us to grow toward it.

So I am finding myself contemplating this a lot the past few days. Yes, the full moon is usually when we realize the completion of things, the realization that some aspects of our life may have reached their peak and need to be released.

But the new moon, with its attendant darkness, is also an opportunity to let go. It gives us the chance to see what’s been hiding in the light, hoping we’ll be entranced by the brightness and fail to notice the stuff that perhaps doesn’t have our best interests at heart but wants to remain undetected.

Perhaps, in our own lives, these cloaked beasts are lies we tell ourselves about situations or people, lies about our fears or our weaknesses. They hide in the dark. But maybe this is the window when we can see them and face the truth.

Bring Them Into the Sunlight

If we bring those hiding saboteurs into the sunlight, everything can change. The entire landscape of where we plant the new seeds of our desires and intentions is cleared.

Take a look at what might be lurking in the darkness. Don’t be afraid to see it and call it out for what it is. Only then can we plant the Seeds of Our Becoming without fear of the distractions of a false light.

(T-494)