Moon Talk

On our Medicine Wheel, tomorrow’s Full Moon (sept. 23rd, 2010) is called Breaking the Masks. We often approach this moon through exploring duality especially truth or lies, and illusions or reality. Breaking the Masks is about facing the facts about ourselves, our world and the people in it. I’m not sure that it’s simply about investigating reality versus illusions. I believe that it is about being brutally honest and crystal clear on what we’re living; how we are living it; and what we would like to live. It’s about shedding the pretence.

Everyone is touched by cosmology no matter if they believe in it or know anything about it. If you’re born on Planet Earth, then you are inevitably touched by the laws of nature and cosmology the same way the trees, the animals or the tides of the ocean are impacted by the Moon. When my children were toddlers, on each Full Moon, we would step outside and stare up at the sky. I would tell them stories which referred to each Moon of the Wheel so that they could learn how to inter-relate with cosmology and learn about each Moon’s personality. With time, KT an CT added details to the legends; expressing their awareness of the Moon’s themes and lessons.

Traditionally the Full Moon represented Goddess energy and definitely spoke of the feminine. We all know that when women live together for a while they synchronize their menstrual cycle with each other and the Full Moon. I always pictured the Full Moon as the Grand-Mother in the house who gathers her sisters, daughters and grand-daughters together while she’s cooking in the kitchen. If they are anything like the many women that I have met in my life in the exact same setting, there’s no doubt that they fill up the room with laugher, talk, arguing, crying and affection. Obviously every moon offers a different story which shows the Grand-Mother inter-relating with her family. If you as a witness begin to focus on the month’s Moon and the themes or lessons that she triggers or brings forth you’ll come to see how your life isn’t much different than the life of our cosmological Grand-Mother. You’ll also get to benefit from the lessons and start walking towards living a Goddess life too.

Since June of 2009 (the start of a dark moon cycle) I’ve been keeping a moon journal. Every journal entry starts with the phase of the Moon and the actual name of the month’s moon. With the help of a basic definition of the Moon I look at my life and speak of how my personal story relates to the moon. Half through the 30 day cycle I’m suddenly picking up the themes and lessons that the Moon is emphasizing cosmologically. I’m constantly impressed with the fact that the Moon always delivers the unexpected and opens me up to new perspective and attitudes.

The Moon speaks of inner children and Goddess energy. When keeping a therapeutic journal we usually look at the Moon from the perspective of an inner child. The difference for me between a therapeutic journal and a Moon journal is that the Moon journal considers both aspects of the Moon (inner child and Goddess). To bring healing to inner child issues and trauma the presence of a Grand-Mother is definitely a must. I’ve found that Moon journals have revealed Goddess presence to my inner children and therefore brought some healing to my personal story. I’ve always encouraged my children to look up to the heavens for guidance when adult, human assistance doesn’t seem to be enough.

“Learn to dream, to develop your senses, to be intuitive,” I’ve often repeated, “and to creatively think. Never settle, never give up and never get to a point where you think there’s no way out – you are never alone, and you’re never without resources if you believe in all of Creation rather than just the adult humans within it.”

There are three components to writing a Moon journal. The same way that there are three parts to the soul: Ego, Totem and Ancestor.

• First, you need to write your personal story: Talk about your Moon.
• Second, you need an image to represent the thousand words that you couldn’t bring yourself to write.
• And third, you need, a legend to describes the event you shared with Grand-Mother in the kitchen.

For example, last month we explored the Moon of Surrender. Much of my story related to the passing of my 14 year old dog, Lucky. From the moment Lucky had a heart attack on my 22nd wedding anniversary which just happened to be on the Full Moon of August to caring for her for several weeks; to witnessing her passing and grieving the loss -- my Moon of Surrender focused on this story. Grand-Mother Surrender brought me back to 14 years of family living and asked that I look at the details with appreciation and awe. She also hoped that I would take responsibility and acknowledge the consequences to living life with doubt, resistance, denial and bitterness.

“Look at how much can be accomplished,” she seemed to say, “when you trust, and surrender to others, to the dream time, and to the Goddess energy.”

At the end of the 30 day cycle my story basically drew a picture of the Goddess of August, the Moon of Surrender. With the help of my archives or my personal story I allowed the face of the moon to appear. I saw a young woman with a great big smile but tears in her eyes and wet cheeks. She sat in water surrounded by lily pads, kin to frogs. Since I went to Quebec city for my wedding anniversary to see Totem from the Cirque du Soleil that night Lucky’s heart stopped it became synchronically clear that my Moon of Surrender looked a lot like one of the characters in this show. It took flipping through the book we received as a complementary gift to finally find the image that expressed the thousand words that I left unsaid in my journal entries.

The legend which seem to emerge as the pieces of the puzzle came together was one that surprised me and continues to awaken me to the power or medicine of surrender. I saw the Goddess of Surrender literally juggling bowls of corn chowder and pumpkin soup to a long line of children, grand-children and great-grand-children. Some happily caught the bowl, others dropped it, and a few angrily complained about the experience; but everybody was fed. There were seven generations of family members in Goddess’ kitchen and they were singing to me the wisdom it takes to keep a loving and supportive family together. Grand-Mother laughed, shouted, frowned and even stared down some of her family members; she even cried along the way showing how deep her heart pumped the delicate balance at the roots of her family.

“Unconditional loving,” Goddess explained, “comes with the respectful and conditional expectation that each member surrenders to the full potential of their unique nature.”

Every moon introduces the next moon – such is the way of the Circle. Tonight, I start a new month with a new Full Moon and look forward to learning new lessons and exploring new themes. The Moon of Breaking the Masks although connected in some shape or form to the Moon of Surrender will offer a whole new rainbow of possibilities and experiences.

I’ll mare sure to definitely keep you posted on what goes on in my World.

I’d like to remind everyone that the Moon of Breaking the Masks greets us at the Full Equinox, so there’s an added element to be considered this coming month. In my next blog entry I plan to talk about the seasons, hence the anchors. It should give you some information on how to combine the Moons and the Anchors together. Since some of you e-mailed me some questions on this topic – I thought I’d inform you that the answers are coming up soon.

Thank you for reading.

To everyone: Have a great Moon of Breaking the Masks and please don’t be shy in sharing your story with the Moon of Surrender. If you are interested in being published on my blog – send me your story via wapeyit@hotmail.com and leave me a note at the bottom that says: “OK, can be published.” You may see your story on my blog in the coming month.

P.S. As soon as I scan the image of “my” Goddess of Surrender from the Cirque du Soleil booklet I’ll come back and add it to the top of my blog entry. Keep track of it… It’s worth it.