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Moving Toward the Thunder Moon

Yamamoto Masao –
Gelatin silver print with mixed media

The movement from last month’s Strawberry Moon though the July 2nd New Moon Eclipse in Cancer, culminating in another Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn, the Full Thunder Moon, on July 16th, could be described as transition, but this year, it is more like a wake up call, and a hard one at that.

Unidentified artist, Running Before the Storm – Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Thunder is the voice of the Gods, perfecting those in heaven and devastating those in hell. There is a choice, a reckoning, to face the revelations that eclipses bring and choose to release old patterns in favor of our own health and spirit. The process of leaving patterns and structures that no longer serve is sustained and guided by trust. This trust knows we are headed in a more sustainable direction and that we must adhere to the mandates of our own metabolism.

Thunderstorm at Tateishi
Takahashi Hiroaki (Japan 1871-1945)

Taking care of others before we take care of ourselves is not taking care of anyone. We can not be our most lucid and patient selves without the fortification of appropriate boundaries and physical health.

This period of time is an opportunity for change. We are still in the energy of the “blessing in disguise” from last month, to the extent that beginning on July 7th with Mercury, seven celestial bodes will turn retrograde. Although this may feel inconvenient, even painful to some, this is a gift of slowing down, of catching our breath. This is the time to surrender.

Thunder is a profound discharge of energy. This Full Moon brings that violence in order to liberate us from fruitless narratives cluttering our past and reminding us that we already know the way.

Monthly Divination

Six of Swords

The upright Six of Swords reiterates and affirms the message of the Thunder Moon: this is a rite of passage. The psychological effect of the rite of passage is cognitive dissonance. This is an uncomfortable state triggered by a situation in which a person’s belief clashes with new evidence perceived by the person. When confronted with facts that contradict beliefs, ideals, and values, we try to find ways to resolve the contradiction, to reduce discomfort.

The wisdom of the cards, however, tells us that the highest human potential is a state in which we learn to live in the mystery. We do this through faith, surrender, hope, and curiosity. Use this as an opportunity for changing your beliefs about yourself, moving away from whom you used to be and towards whom you want to be. Do not prematurely fill this new space from a place of desperation.

The Six of Swords asks you to reflect on any emotional or mental baggage you may carry as you move from one phase to the next. Your ‘swords’ may be memories, relationships, habits, behaviors, thought patterns and beliefs that are no longer serving you. Decide what you need to take with you and what you can leave behind.

Masao Yamamoto

The Clod and the Pebble

by William Blake

Love seeketh not itself to please, 
Nor for itself hath any care, 
But for another gives its ease, 
And builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair.” 

So sung a little Clod of Clay 
Trodden with the cattle’s feet, 
But a Pebble of the brook 
Warbled out these metres meet: 

“Love seeketh only self to please, 
To bind another to its delight, 
Joys in another’s loss of ease, 
And builds a Hell in Heaven’s despite.” 

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Moving Toward the Strawberry Moon

Rose and Skull Pile by Sonia Romero

I’m tracing the movement from last month’s full moon, through the Gemini New Moon on June 3rd in preparation for the upcoming Strawberry Full Moon in Sagittarius on June 17th.

Follow Your Own Clock

Last month’s Full Milk Moon taught us to anchor the ecstatic birth energy of April into committed and disciplined action, with a view toward service and the greater good. We looked at how our behaviors and activities succeeded or fell short of our intentions when we examined our priorities. The lesson that emerged became about listening to our own body-clock and our own metabolism and resisting the pull, the undertow, of other people’s expectations, status, and the illusions of progress and productivity instilled by a capitalist economy. The message came in a vision of motion: RISE. This was contrasted to the image of moving forward.

Bring Order to Chaos

This month, we moved through a confusion-generating New Moon in Gemini. This New Moon brought intellectual and mental activity as well as multiple opportunities or possible paths forward. This activity generated enthusiasm perhaps bordering on anxiety. Thankfully the Full Moon in Sagittarius anchors that multiplicity and gives us the opportunity to refocus our minds and actions. The Sagittarius symbols, the arrow and the archer, help keep us aligned with our original birth-purpose associated with the Full Egg Moon back in April. This Moon brings reassessment, re-evaluation. It considers the commitments and actions of this new life we’ve been given, as well as the earthly temptations that form the shadow-side of those engagements. It considers the many paths the intellect generates and offers. Yet the Sagittarius arrow reminds us of our sure course, our purpose. This arrow is the intuition that connects us back to our birth-decision. This original decision is called by various names: God, Holy Spirit, Inner Voice, Soul, Conscience, even Confidence. This arrow directs the many decisions we must face in the spirit of our origin.

Arctic Cod and Strawberry Pile by Sonia Romero

Receive (or surrender to) the Fruits of your Labor

The symbols of this month’s Full Moon, Honey, Strawberries, and the Rose, are all symbols of a kind of bounty. In the Catholic mythology, Strawberries represent good fruits of the righteous man. A rose bush was said to have grown at the site of Christ’s death. The rose also symbolizes hope, new beginnings and balance. Honey suggests the sweet reward of unified work and communal focus (this image harkens way back to the divination from April: the Three of Pentacles). Last month we focused our commitments through disciplined action and we are starting to see the fruits.

Monthly Divination

The Star – Reversed

The divination for this month, The Star, reversed, can be summed up simply as the “blessing in disguise.” The card suggests that there is a collective feeling of overwhelm, perhaps because of that Gemini New Moon. Our faith is being tested by “fruits” that we do not see as the sweet strawberries or honey promised as a return for our disciplined actions. We are questioning our path and our confidence in our intuition because we can’t find the “evidence” we want, the confirmations are not coming at the pace of our expectations. The lesson of the Star is to view the “fruits” we are granted as the gifts that keep us on course. Things do not always appear as we expect. It is a call to shift perspective.

Finally, the Star reversed calls us to re-connect with our intuition through meditation, rest, and our connection with nature. This is essential to ensure we are aligned with our purpose. This divination illuminates our relationship at this time with the Sagittarius Archer: we must nurture ourselves so that our arrows can be swift and sure.

Faith is the True Perspective

Implicit in the New Moon in Gemini is a restlessness of mind that needs to be relieved by a renewed clarity of the Sagittarius arrow. As we move through life we accomplish goals and we create new ones. This Moon reminds us to align those new goals with our highest purpose illuminated by our intuitive voice. The Star reversed encourages us to keep the faith.

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Milk Moon

Full Moon and Wave by Kamisaka Sekka 1866 – 1942.

This time calls us to move forward in earthly action, committed to and guided by our higher calling, defined through April’s decisive, full moon. There will be the temptations of the ego, selfishness, and overly analytical thinking pulling us back as we attempt to commit the ecstatic energy of rebirth into focused practice. Fear and lack of clarity cling to the self that died in order to be reborn under last month’s powerful Egg Moon. The antidote comes in this Flower Moon, this Milky abundance: self-discipline and service.

Don’t look for the living among the dead.

Join our gathering in Brooklyn this Sunday May12th, Mother’s Day, from 1pm – 3pm at Domestic Performance Agency.

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“Nothing is in the mind, that is not first in the senses.”

The Tarot revelation for the preparation of this month’s Full Moon Gathering, while at first a surprise, soon settled into sense on multiple levels and relevance for many close to me. The primary card, the Two of Swords depicts a woman, blindfolded, under the moon, in front of the water. Her choices are weighing equally upon her. On what grounds should she decide? She requires light, the removal of the blindfold. This light can be interpreted as intellect and clarity. She will also need to marshal her intuition, represented by the moon, prominent above her.



April’s Egg Moon symbolizes renewal and rejuvenation. It is important to reflect on where we are coming from in this transition from one moon to the next, in order to embody and contextualize the change. Last month’s Worm Moon thaw prepared for the coming of the egg. It readied the ground. The theme of the Worm Moon was chaos, a primordial and undifferentiated state. Like the ancient cosmic egg, this moon signifies the imminence of light, not yet manifest. It is the first movement out of the chaos, but still a sort of suspension, a period of interiority before fully entering the world. We are in SUPERPOSITION. Possibilities abound. This is the image of the Two of Swords.


Sometimes we intentionally choose not to see aspects of the decisions we face, or perhaps we don’t have all of the information. Sometimes, information is kept from us through deceit. Alternately, there is only one force that changes the egg from potential to actual: Consciousness. Consciousness, or awareness, is the spiritual catalyst that paradoxically separates and connects us to the external world. The superposition collapses into one or another of the possible definite states. 
The indecision reflected in the Two of Swords is resolved only with awareness. It is the moon – intuition – that makes way for birth.

There are two cards which further define the poles, or swords, considered by the Two of Swords. The two forces that must unite or yield for the hatching of the egg. 

On the one hand, the Six of Wands reversed suggests having reached a significant development in personal growth, but this is a private success, not ready for sharing with the world.  To move towards the Full Moon, we must ask, “Why am I resistant to share at this time?”

This is a card about developing your own definition of success, not comparing yourself to others or seeking approval from outside of yourself. To move forward, we must ask, “What does success look like for me?”

At times, the reversed Six of Wands suggests that you did not receive the public recognition you were seeking. There may be disappointment, discouragement, or expectations that were in some other way not met. This discouragement may have affected you more deeply, wounding your confidence or feelings of worthiness. If a particular project has not been as successful as you had hoped, you may be better off moving to a new environment so you can rebuild your personal brand rather than trying to fix something already broken.

Beware of EGO, the shadow side of this card.

The other sword, balanced in contemplation, is illuminated in the Three of Pentacles. This card represents collaboration and the first steps towards implementation. It is about manifesting that vision of success (provided in the contemplation of the Six of Wands) with the help of others who may be more experienced, but more importantly, who offer different and complementary skills.

This card suggests there is a long road ahead toward the building of a timeless and ambitious structure, but it encourages you along the path by affirming the personal growth and developments present in the Six of Wands.  The image of the Cathedral in the card suggests the goal, structure, or purpose aimed for is aligned with one’s highest purpose, and beyond the individual good. This card encourages patience, planning, and collaboration, but the assurance that you have an indispensable role, which you are already underway in playing.

The work of this month is a navigation between the self and others in service of a both deeply personal, yet higher cause. It is the very call to be born, an integration that resolves the tension between the one and the many. The consciousness that cracks the cosmic egg.

Please find more tarot insights here.

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Snow Moon Creative Workshop

Takahashi Shōtei (Hiroaki) (Japan, 1871-1945) – Winter Moon , Japan, before 1936 – Color woodblock print

What: A 90 minute workshop designed to  enhance intuition, connect to natural cycles, and enhance creativity.

When:  February 17, 1pm – 3pm, Full Snow Moon

Where: Morristown, NJ (details to follow upon registration)

Please join us for February’s Full Moon, the Snow Moon, to exercise our intuitive capacities and to co-create Lunar Mythologies. This workshop, designed as part of a monthly series, will heighten intuitive awareness and create clarity by collectively aligning our focus with the cycle of the moon and with the Snow Moon’s unique symbolism. In bypassing daily modes of thought and communication, we will find renewed sources of connection, creativity, and insight.

In this 90 minute workshop, we will practice a series of exercises based on guided meditations, repetitive actions, and process-based material strategies. These practices begin with an internal focus and move toward outward awareness and focused communal attention.

Through the exercises in the workshop, we will produce texts and images. These will be collected and published as a monthly manual. Each manual will contain within it the instructions for future manuals as well as all of the texts and images produced in this workshop. Each manual will also form part of an aggregate manual, the ongoing and collaborative Lunar Mythologies. This work will be published periodically by Female Background, digitally, in print, or both.

 

Tickets available via Eventbrite, or find more on Facebook.

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Manual for Observers of the Wolf Moon

Full PDF

 

This Manual for Observers of the Wolf Moon serves as a guide for the creation of Wolf Moon ceremonies. It also bears witness to a particular Wolf Moon gathering on January 20, 2019 in Harlem, New York. It unfolds in parts for contemplation and practice. This manual is part 1 of the 12 part Lunar Mythologies, a companion for the observation of the Full Moon throughout the year.

Print version available here.