Following the Moon: Sparkle and Shine

Young Artists Entranced by Andy Warhol Silver Pillow, Drozda, MOCA, 2012

Welcome to Following the Moon…it’s the First Quarter phase of the Illumination cycle. Each year at this time we have the opportunity to push out and make contact with ‘lightening up’.

Once again I’m sharing my artist/friend Sandra’s writing. She publishes an essay on the First Quarter each moon/month… 

The New Moon in Gemini on May 20 began a 29.6-day cycle, during which the emphasis is on information. The quality of our thoughts shapes the quality of our lives. Throughout this lunation, we are choosing what to bring into our consciousness, and thus into our experience. The results of our efforts will become evident seven months from now, during the Capricorn lunation. Consider the differences between reporting and gossip, knowledge and intelligence, versatility and superficiality. 

 This is a good cycle to engage in remedial studies, address transportation issues, or to make contact with others via correspondence and telephone.

 Gemini correlates to Illumination on the Medicine Wheel. Arriving from the place of Wisdom developed during the Taurus lunation, we now occupy a place of illumination. Illumination allows us to interpret and make use of the clarity and wisdom gained thus far in the cycle that began with the Aries lunation. At this place in the cycle we develop a road map of sorts to guide us through the rest of the year.  

During the 1st Quarter phase of this cycle it’s important to be discriminating. Pay close attention to everything heard and said. Filter out facts from speculation. Identify and break away from old mental patterns and styles of communication, especially as they occur in your daily activities and routines. Cultivate habits which make your communication more efficient.

 Sometimes the smallest actions can have far-reaching effects and that is certainly true during this phase.  Simple practices like counting silently to ten before responding to another in conversation. 

Here are some additional suggestions for “Moving With Spirit” during this 1st Quarter phase (May 28 – 31):

• Exercise with a Hula Hoop.
• Write a book review or recommendation.
• Attend a neighborhood meeting or block party.
• Contact your siblings.
• Sign up for a class or register for school.
• Practice Yoga. 
• Play some mind games and tease your brain.

 Physical activity during this phase should be detailed and well-considered. All actions this phase need to be taken from a place of service and humility.

 Questions to consider during this phase:

• How do you express your feelings of appreciation? 
• When are you most verbal and what words do you use repeatedly? 
• What triggers your curiosity? 
• Where and with whom would it serve you best to speak your truth and communicate with greater clarity?
• How are your relationships with siblings and/or neighbors?
• What situations bring out the student, teacher or debater in you?

 Affirm: “ I communicate with honor and sensitivity.” 

 May we walk the path of illumination together with humility and grace. 

Cosmic, Joanne Warfield, Photo, 2012

 On Friday, June 1 and until Monday, June 4 at dawn, go over all the ‘Illuminating’ material that you’ve gathered since the cycle began (on May 20) create the  beauty that only you can share.  This entire cycle has us adventuring with words… see how lightly you can play with the way in which you communicate.

You might  enlist lists as a tool…I have a favorite prompt :

“But along through those years I began to make lists of titles, to put down long lines of nouns. These lists were the provocations, finally, that caused my better stuff to surface. I was feeling my way toward something honest, hidden under the trapdoor on the top ofmy skull. The lists ran something like this:

THE LAKE. THE NIGHT. THE CRICKETS. THE RAVINE. THE ATTIC. THE BASEMENT. THE TRAPDOOR. THE BABY. THE CROWD. THE NIGHT TRAIN.  THE FOG HORN. THE SCYTHE. THE CARNIVAL. THE CAROUSEL. THE DWARF. THE MIRROR MAZE. THE SKELETON. I was beginning to see a pattern in the list, in these words that I had simply flung forth on paper, trusting my subconscious to give bread, as it were, to the birds.  Zen in the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury  

May your week sparkle and shine…

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