Eve of Gratitude – Day 381

Bare trees – Photo: L. Weikel

Eve of Gratitude

I’d heard a forecast that today and tomorrow, Thanksgiving, were going to be marked by high winds, winds that could wreak havoc on trees and power lines. As the day progressed and I watched charcoal colored clouds crowd into the sky from the north, I braced for a shift. Only a splatter of rain made an appearance, though; it came and went so fast I almost thought I’d imagined it. But no wind. Nor a drop in temperature. The day, while overcast, was almost balmy.

It’s nighttime now and everyone in this house is in bed except me. About an hour ago, the wind chimes started clattering. Gusts started huffing at our shutters, rearranging the furniture still on our porch. And as Goddess is my witness, as I was typing that last sentence, our massive wooden front door blew open.

A Whole New Perspective

Since I had to get up to close and lock it, I stood for a moment in the doorway, facing the road but (gratefully) not able to see it in the darkness. Oddly, the wind that had dramatically opened the door was not blowing from the south. Standing there, I was not buffeted by any wind whatsoever. But I could hear it swirling above and around by listening to the trees that surround our home.

I could sense if not see the older, thinning pines that line the property across from us waving their top branches frantically, as if they were evergreen head-bangers.

I expected the temperature to be much colder than it was this afternoon, but it is not. In fact, it’s so mild, I walked outside in bare feet, just to immerse myself in the wildness for a moment, the door blowing open acting as an invitation to join the dance. A snap and a clatter caused me to run inside to fetch a flashlight. A decent sized branch – big enough to get snagged under a passing car  – lay in the center of the road. I tossed it to the side and returned to my post (literally and figuratively).

So now I find I’ve lost the thread of where I was going with this at the outset.

Nothing That’s Not Been Said Before

I know I was going to mention a few of the things for which I am grateful, possibly some of the more obscure aspects of my life. Certainly nothing that’s not been said before. But now I find most thought has been swept away.

My eyes close as I listen to the wind sweeping the fallen leaves across the lawn, yanking at those that tenaciously hold on to the branches of the maples, cherries, and ashes that lean in protectively.

It was dark when I went outside just now. New moon dark. The black of the night sky rich with possibilities, like moist, fecund soil, the old being swept away to make room for the birth and nurturing of fresh ideas, dreams, and aspirations.

I’m sitting here feeling an abounding expansiveness of gratitude. How happy and grateful I am to have a warm home that can stand against the wild winds and keep me and my loved ones (two and four legged especially) sheltered while we dream our dreams, whatever they may be and wherever they may take us.

P.S.: Our opossum visited yet again this evening. That makes it four days in a row.

(T-730)

New Moon Coming – Day 377

 

New Moon Coming

Next Tuesday morning (November 26th, 2019, at 4:06 a.m. EST) the moon will be new – in Sagittarius.

I’m not sure why I’m so acutely aware of this coming new moon, but I am. It feels like it will be a particularly auspicious time to plant the seeds of what we’d like to manifest in our lives.

Perhaps it’s because my natal moon (the placement of the moon in the zodiac at the exact time I was born) is in Sagittarius that I feel drawn to the power of this particular transit. Or maybe it’s because Sagittarius is a fire sign – a mutable one at that – and the whole concept of change (mutation) and the vibrancy of fire have me imagining big shifts happening.

Pre-Holiday Reflection

I’m writing about the new moon now, tonight, because it is a Saturday evening and there still remains another day in this weekend for potential quiet time. We all know that once Thanksgiving arrives, it feels like an untethered toboggan ride down a ski slope to Christmas and New Year’s. It feels important that we sit back and take a few breaths this weekend before Thanksgiving to reflect on what we’re bringing to the Gratitude Table this year and what we would like to bring next year.

Thus, unlike most of my musings about the moon’s phases, this time I’m trying to give everyone a heads up with a little time to spare.

Time to spare? Yes. I’m getting such a strong sense that 2020 is going to be a year that holds enormous change that I feel it is essential to give us all as much of a chance to get ahead of the curve as possible. Major disruption in 2020 is a distinct possibility, perhaps, but ultimately sets a tone and establishes a foundation for many years ahead.

Again, with the fire of Sagittarius warming the soil of possibility, and the added guidance and expansive tendencies of both Jupiter and Venus, both of which are also enjoying their last moments in Sag as well, I urge us all to begin the process of reflection, assessment, and dreaming-into-being now. Not only ahead of this Tuesday’s new moon, but also ahead of the eclipse season that arrives on the next new moon (December 25th), then the start if the calendar year, and then the solar eclipse on January 11th. (The subject of another post or two down the road.)

Seeds of Intention

What intentions do you want to set this new moon? These can be the same ones you may have noticed lurking recently in the corners of your mind, the aspirations you were toying with bringing out into the light around December 31st.

What activity, cause, or idea lights you up or sparks your passion? How can you bring that passion more directly into your life and, beyond that, expand on it?

Are you yearning to plant seeds of change in how you think about yourself? Your love life or partnerships? Are you thinking about having children or creating in some other, perhaps artistic manner? Are you feeling a call to further your education? Is there a burning desire in your soul to explore the bigger existential questions, such as why you are here, or how you can use your unique gifts or skills to make the world a better place?

A Potent Warm-Up

This will be the last new moon occurring in Sagittarius until 2030, so it feels important to take advantage of the unique energies associated with it. It also feels like these next few days before this new moon are a powerful warm-up.

I’m bringing all of this up so that you start the process of seriously contemplating the feelings you want to cultivate in your life. Start by giving yourself some attention this weekend, set the intentions (plant the seeds) on Tuesday – but also realize that you can hone these intentions over the next six to eight weeks as we move through the holidays and celestial events. Sometimes the hardest part is getting started; allowing ourselves permission to begin the process of becoming aware.

Awareness is such an essential aspect to growth and evolution. Use these shorter days to retreat into a cocoon of reflection and self-kindness. Ask your soul what s/he really wants to feel going forward.

(T-734)

Lughnasa  – Day 262

Lughnasa – Photo: janebaileybain.com

Lughnasa      

I was going to write tonight about the Festival of Lughnasa, a Celtic holiday traditionally celebrated on August 1st. Lughnasa celebrates and honors Lugh, the God of the Sun, and kicks off the season of harvest.

Lughnasa is one of the four seasonal holidays, the other three being Samhain (celebrated on November 1st), Imbolc (February 1st), and Bealtane, (May 1st).

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, today (tonight, actually, at 11:11 p.m. – a moment on the clock near and dear to my heart) was the New Moon, and I believe also a ‘Black’ ‘SuperMoon’ thereby making it particularly powerful as a result.

New Moon and Lughnasa

It is intriguing to me that that a new moon is the time of planting seeds to bring forth something new into our lives. And here we are, also celebrating harvesting, in the form of the holiday of Lughnasa.

Seems to me that this could portend that the seeds we plant at this new moon could, in fact, manifest instantly and therefore call for immediate harvest.

I’d say that ‘coincidence’ bodes well for the people who have had sessions with me over the past two days, too. This is a very powerful time right now and people having sessions with me generally want to effect major change in their lives. Thus, the seeds we plant in their newly cleansed energy bodies will thrive and manifest much more quickly than might otherwise happen (and things manifest pretty quickly on the slower days, so…).

Taking Stock

So, as I contemplate this night of the Dark Moon, I urge you all to join me in taking stock of what you are sowing. Personally, I have a lot going on right now, including major shifts to the way I’ve ‘always’ done things, as well as gauging and tempering my reaction to certain situations. I have a deep-seated yearning to respond from a place of patience and gratitude.

It’s easier sometimes than others.

At this time of total darkness, the time of the Dark Moon, I ask Lugh to come and shed a whole bunch of light on some of those situations. And I’d love to harvest the abundance that I know can come out of them.

Right now, however, I’m going to plant the seed of sleep.

May all your harvests be plentiful and free of blight.

 

(T-849)

Tomorrow: New Moon in Leo  – Day 261

Cassiopeia via smokymtnastro.org  

Sticking with the theme I’ve been on for the past couple of days, cosmos-wise, I want to remind you that tomorrow is the New Moon, and it is in Leo.

So I’m thinking it would be of benefit to hit your personal ‘refresh’ button, set new goals, step outside your old ways of thinking and being, and set some new, bold, creative intentions.

You might want to take a look at where Leo (which is not only where the sun is at the moment, but also exactly where the moon is – hence the moon being ‘new’ and therefore ‘dark’) falls in your own birthchart. Whatever ‘house’ Leo is in on your birthchart may be the area of your life where those new intentions might be most effectively planted.

Mercury Stations Direct, Too

At the same time that we’re planting the seeds of what we want to change or create new in our lives, Mercury is stationing and going direct again tomorrow too. So, yahoo for communications flowing more easily and technology not going on the fritz unexpectedly. Your efforts to plant and grow those newly planted intentions should flow more easily.

Jupiter Also Stations Direct

One other astrological phenomenon that’s happening tomorrow is that Jupiter, too, is stationing direct. I’ll see what I can find out there to help us understand and isolate the specific areas of our lives that are being activated by these aspects, and share what I find tomorrow night – if I locate something particularly fascinating or enlightening.

I have to admit, my Sky Guide app assisted me in recognizing Jupiter’s presence in the sky over the past couple of nights. It sure is a big, bold, bright spot in the sky.

Cassiopeia

For some reason, my eyes kept being drawn to the constellation Cassiopeia. It’s from the direction of that constellation that the Perseids appear to originate. I’m not at all sure why, but the geometric precision of the triangular placement of the stars just kept calling to me.

I’m still being called to look upward, both physically and metaphorically. Maybe you are, too?

(T-850)

New Moon/Total Solar Eclipse – Day 233

Trying to see the forest for the trees – Photo: L. Weikel

New Moon/Total Solar Eclipse                  

Considering what’s been going on in the heavens today, I’m wondering how your day went. I heard from a handful of close friends and it sounds like the day, for them at least, provided opportunities for experiences that completely changed their perceptions and attitudes.

That’s not something you can say every day. And it’s exciting.

I’ve barely had a chance to think about how this eclipse season is impacting me. I suppose I may not have felt any direct effects yet.

I can’t tell you how many sentences, even paragraphs, I’ve written and then deleted. I think I’m over-tired. As a result, pretty much everything I type looks odd to me. For instance, I don’t like the way the words line up when I allow myself to just talk through my fingers. I start second-guessing comma usage. I start doubting word choice.

Ha – just reading that last paragraph makes me laugh.

Planting Seeds on this New Moon

One seed I know I want to plant today/tomorrow is recommitting to my writing. Thanks to my 1111 Devotion to Karl, and the discipline I’ve attempted to bring to my life through this Act of Power, I feel like I’m getting closer to seriously making time for the book. One of the reasons I know this is true is because of the anticipation I feel even when I just write that intention.

Another seed I know I want to plant today/tomorrow is announcing my new “Walk Your Talk” Sessions.

And yet a third seed is announcing a Listening Retreat at Amadell the weekend of August 9-11. I’ll write more about that tomorrow.

There are other Listening Retreats taking shape as well, but I’ve not yet set firm dates. I’ll let you know when I do.

Here’s hoping that any revelations you’re experiencing in your life are rocking your world in a way that will make you smile, maybe even laugh, and will bring you the insight and change you seek deep within.

(T-878)

Eclipse Season Commences – Day 232

 

Eclipse Season Commences           

Just a quick post on the astrological event that’s most prominently being discussed at the moment: tomorrow’s (Tuesday’s) solar eclipse. Tomorrow’s new moon in the sign of Cancer kicks off eclipse ‘season,’ as eclipses never happen in isolation.

The eclipses occurring this month (the full moon lunar eclipse will occur on July 16th) are considered to be particularly significant and powerfully influential on human behavior (although it is not limited to human behavior) because of some of the other influences being created by the position of our celestial brothers and sisters, such as the aspects being created by Saturn and Pluto and their relation to the Sun and Moon.

Other Players Doing Their Dance…

Mercury and Mars are dancing around together, which can lead to some, um, incendiary words. And perhaps a little extra special caution might be warranted as they take their ‘dance’ from the watery ‘feeling’ space of Cancer and move into Leo – which is a fire sign, and thus could lead to putting those words into action.

As I’ve done before, here are links to two of my favorite sources of information on astrological events and how they might play out in our personal lives as well as the greater world environment, Kaypacha’s Pele Report and the report of Chani Nicholas.

With respect to reading Chani’s assessment of what’s going on astrologically and how it might impact you and your life, it’s important to know both your sun sign and your ‘rising’ or ‘ascendant’ sign. I’ve discussed this before, and here’s the link to help refresh your recollection on one of the sites you can go to that will calculate both your sun sign and ‘ascendant’ or  ‘rising’ sign. That way, you can read both and see which resonates with your experience.

My Observations

Eclipses tend to be revelatory in nature. In other words, when the moon gets between the Earth and the sun and blocks out all the light shining upon us from the sun, the metaphoric result is that things that were hidden or in the shadows, things that we couldn’t see because the sun was too bright, are revealed. And with the planet Pluto aspecting all of this, we’re in for some dramatic revelations of things we didn’t know about or failed to see before this.

Quite amazingly, within the past three days or so, as we’ve approached this initial total solar eclipse, I’ve personally witnessed people I know suddenly and unexpectedly discovering information (the ‘truth’) about, a variety of circumstances, such as:

(1) their life partner’s interests ‘elsewhere;’ (2) a health situation that a loved one was attempting to hide from both my friend (and probably themselves); (3) significant misrepresentations and subterfuge being propounded by a company represented by a friend of mine; and (4) six years of royalties not having been paid by the publisher of a book written by someone I know.

Each of these ‘truths’ were exposed literally within the past three days, which I find rather astonishing.

Remember – What’s Your Ascendant?

I urge you to pay attention and take notice if you or the people around you (family, friends, co-workers) are discovering new and often dramatic or significant information touching upon their life in some way.

The links above to Kaypacha and Chani can provide you with more in-depth information that you can apply to your personal situation.

Again, believe me, I know. This stuff is complicated and your eyes may glaze over when you hear a description of all the ‘aspects’ (i.e., the Sun is conjunct the Moon’s North Node in Cancer while in direct opposition to Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn).  It can definitely sound like gobbledeegook. But both astrologers take that technical information and translate it into fascinating understandings of how they can be interpreted.

Plant the Seeds of Your Highest Intentions

Finally, I encourage you to remember that New Moons are the perfect time to plant the seeds of new beginnings! And this New Moon tomorrow is particularly powerful not only because of the eclipse but also because it is a ‘super moon.’

So plant the seeds your soul yearns to cultivate. Create something new. Take a risk. Be courageous. Dream big.

(T-879)

A Tough New Moon – Day 204

 

A Tough New Moon                                    

Today was the new moon. So tonight, it is dark but for the light of the stars, which sometimes can feel very far away.

My post tonight is short. That’s because I’ve been listening.

Today was a hard day for a lot of people. I didn’t realize quite how hard until late this evening, when I heard from a couple of dear friends.

I could do nothing for either of them but listen. And even that ability could only go so far, especially with the situation I just became aware of within the hour.

While one friend’s day just went from bad to worse, with insensitivity, confrontation, and uncharacteristic lack of appreciation and kindness in her face, the other friend is profoundly worried about a young family member whose health is in great peril.

All I could do was listen.

And send love.

The dragonfly above was on my walk today. I’ve never seen a golden dragonfly before. Maybe there’s some magic left? I hope so.

(T-907)

Fuzzy Brain – Day 144

Photo: L.Weikel

Fuzzy Brain

I just wrote several paragraphs on the subject of me making up a new word: ponderable. Actually, it’s already a word, but used only as an adjective. I wanted to make it into a noun.

Don’t ask me why. I can’t really answer, except for the fact that I’m tired. I think perhaps the tree buds bursting forth and coating everything with a slightly yellow-green coating of pollen (that almost looks like peach fuzz) has caused me to contract a touch of ‘fuzzy brain.’

Details Deferred

I would like to share more with you about my experiences yesterday, starting with those creatures who ‘visited’ me while I sat beside the creek, and the significance I read into each of those amazing moments. But I fear I’m going to have to defer to the effects of fuzzy brain syndrome.

Perhaps I need to attempt to write my posts earlier in the evening, at least during allergy season.

It’s interesting to see how variables we’re not even expecting to hold sway over us suddenly do.

Complications of Context

Part of the reason fuzzy brain may be having an impact is because the events of yesterday are not simply relayed seriatim. No, their import cannot be fully realized without some context, which thus necessitates further explication of events that took place some weeks ago.

And just in writing that, I see for myself why I simply cannot muster the necessary mojo, as it were, to begin this process.

Wow.

That’s a lot of words to say I’m not going to write a lot of words tonight.

Don’t Forget the New Moon – and the Seeds of Your Intentions

In closing, I’m going to simply remind you that we’re enjoying a day of a powerful new moon in Aries. It sounds as though this particular new moon is readying to shoot us forward into our futures like a slingshot.

As with any powerful surge forward, probably the best we can do is point ourselves in the direction of where we hope to go. Setting intentions, planting seeds, opening our minds to perhaps doing things in new ways than we’ve ever done them before are all wonderful approaches to this ‘dark night’ – when the moon is fully obscured and we wait patiently another day or so to see the first tiny sliver of reflected sunlight begin again to illuminate the evening sky.

I can’t say where the clarity to write that paragraph came from. But I think I should leave well enough alone.

Sleep soundly, sow well, and dream your world into being!

(T-967)

Getting Psyched for the New Moon – Day 143

Tohickon Creek 3 April 2019 – Photo: L. Weikel

Getting Psyched for the New Moon          

The moon will be ‘new’ at 4:50 a.m., EDT, on Friday, April 5th . When a new moon occurs, as I’ve mentioned before, it’s a perfect time to launch a new project, set intentions, or implement changes you’ve wanted to make in your life, etc.

The new moon that will occur on Friday will be especially powerful with respect to moving forward into something new and powerful because it will be in Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, symbolized by the ram. This will be the first new moon since the spring equinox – so there are just heaps and heaps of initiating energy bursting forth at this new moon.

What Seeds Do You Want to Sow?

I’m mentioning all of this now so you might actually give yourself a day and evening to seriously contemplate what new seeds you would like to plant in your life, now that we have the first full quarter of 2019 under our belts. Surely you want to take all of the energy associated with this new moon and ‘carpe diem.’ Take into account all of the life and circumstance review and reflection you engaged in over the past three weeks while Mercury was retrograde.

Personally, I had a day today that held so much magic in it, I have to admit that I am still contemplating what happened and deciphering the precise message(s) I received. Amazingly, most of the exact same messengers who showed up in my life throughout March made unexpected guest appearances today. And they were accompanied by truly some of the most spectacular winged messengers that I’ve ever encountered.

I will elaborate more as the days unfold.

Prairie Dog (Rx) / Dragonfly

In the meantime, I just want to let you know that I chose Prairie Dog reversed today with Dragonfly underneath. And the mood I was in when I chose these cards was, shall we say…dark. Indeed, I was so distraught within my own self that I could barely read our chosen cards out loud today without bursting into tears.

I am not one to cry easily.

I managed to keep it together, though – at least initially – getting the dishes done from the night before and then heading to the creek, my Tohickon, my life-long refuge when existence gets too hard to handle.

I parked in my favorite spot, put down my car’s window, and sat about four feet from the bank, the water rushing past on its way to merging with the Delaware (Lenape Sipu). After surrendering to my mood, shifting my gaze into neutral, and allowing myself to be bathed in the sound of Mama Tohickon’s voice, I started writing out my fears.

A Duck That Wanted to Play

My first visitor. Photo: L. Weikel

Within the time it took to write a paragraph, the first visitor arrived.  A beautiful duck that chose to just drift along following the current – then shot the rapids. Mind you, the ‘rapids’ might not be perceived as such by you or me – but for a duck that size? They were a wild ride. So much so – and so apparently much fun – that when it shortly flew back upstream, I wondered if it would drift by once more and ‘shoot’ them again.

He did, and he did.

But that was just the warm-up act. Oh. My. Goodness.

I’ll save the rest of that tale for tomorrow. As I said to Karl on our walk this evening, this was one of the single most magical days I’ve ever experienced. And trust me: that’s saying a lot.

The ‘rapids’ he shot. Photo: L. Weikel

Spirit Heard My Call and Held Me

As for my Prairie Dog reversed? I made a point of stepping back from all the tasks I had written in my Day-Timer that I wanted to accomplish today. I needed to retreat from the world before I created an illness that would ‘take me out.’ I needed to listen– and ultimately, I needed to be shown the illusion (Dragonfly).

I needed guidance. I needed perspective. I needed hope.

I received all of that and more. More than I had a right to even hope for, much less expect (but am oh-so-grateful to have received).

In my photos, you have to look closely to see my rapids-shooting duck, because all I had was my iPhone. I did manage to video him shooting the rapids – but it’s a video –  and I’ve yet to figure out how to upload that somewhere where I can put a link to it here in the blog. (Oh technology, you foul temptress.)

I’ll try to identify him. Just not tonight.

Don’t forget to mull over your intentions for the new moon arriving Friday morning…

(T-968)

Happy New Moon – Day 115

The start of a ‘moonless’ night – Photo: L. Weikel

Happy New Moon

Yes, I know, new moons happen every 28 ½ days. Month after month. Never ending, just cycling over and over again.

So what’s the big deal?

Maybe it’s the simple rhythm of that cycle. The reassuring dependability that no matter what happens in the world, no matter what happens in our own lives, or in our country, or even on a global scale, the moon will experience a ‘new beginning’ every 28 ½ days. We depend upon it.

A Cycle That Never Deviates – Our Entire Lives

And then, with a precision and reliability that we simply cannot fathom being anything but what it is, the moon will proceed through her phases. Gradually waxing minute by minute, day by day, and thereby growing more insistent in her pull upon the waters of this planet (including each one of us, being mostly comprised of water ourselves).

Once reaching her apex of power and pull, bringing a sense of utter completion, the moon will bask in all her glory over us. Lighting our path so brightly, should we take a walk at night, that the shadows are as stark and well-defined as any might be in the full light of Inti Tayta (Father Sun).

And then of course she begins her retreat, once again, into hiding. As she begins to disappear, we are called upon to ask ourselves what it is we would like to stop hiding (from ourselves or others). It’s then, as we look forward to the ‘dark time’ of the new moon – and finally loosen our grip on how we think our lives are supposed to ‘go’ or how we wish they had gone over the past month and accept what is – that we embrace the exciting potential of a new start, a clean slate.

A Symbol of Hope

This unrelenting pattern of building and releasing and doing it again, and again, and again is a comfort to us, whether or not we pay attention to the moon.

For me, Mama Killa’s rhythmic waxing and waning is a symbol of hope. Each new moon gives me yet another opportunity to get things right or to do better ‘this’ time. Each one is a yardstick that can be held up to my life, giving me feedback on whether I’m making progress toward achieving my goals and dreams.

New Moon in Pisces

I am not anywhere near well-versed enough in astrology to have an opinion or even, really, a cursory grasp on the meaning of the new moon being in the sign of Pisces tonight. I can tell you that Pisces is the last sign of the natural zodiac, so it is the last hurrah. One might conclude, as a result, that today’s new moon could bring with it a huge set of metaphorical erasers. This represents a bigger cycle of endings and new beginnings than your average new moon.

And one last interesting twist to this new moon: Mercury goes retrograde today. For three weeks, Mercury will appear to our naked eyes, at least, to be moving ‘backwards.’ It won’t be actually moving backwards, as it is an optical illusion created by the movement and placement of the planets from our perspective here on Earth.

Mercury retrograde lasts approximately three weeks. This one begins on March 6th and does not end until March 28th.

Mercury retrograde is the perfect time to ‘re’ everything: retreat, review, rework, reflect – on our lives, our relationships, our projects and aspirations. It’s not usually a time to forge ahead. But it most certainly is a time to assess the progress we’re making toward achieving the things that matter most to us. (I think it also might be a time for me to get some Listening Retreats scheduled!)

The Dark Nights

So over the next three nights or so, when the moon is invisible because she’s gone dark and is actively hiding her light, when she is not reflecting any of the Sun’s rays, contemplate what you want to plant now. Given that we’ll also be experiencing the Spring equinox right around the fullest expression of the moon this month, it feels like that might be the first indication of how our seedlings are doing after two weeks of germination.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like the culmination – the fullness – of the moon coinciding with the Spring equinox seems exquisitely timed to create the greatest impact on all of us. My sense is that we are all building up to the arrival of Spring this year. It is going to bring change to all of us.

I’m going to bed now. I need to plant my seeds and contemplate how best I can nurture them into fruition.

(T- 996)