The full Moon at the beginning of February found me feeling all the energies of all three of these symbols: the groundhog, the owl and the heron. Hibernating a bit, living beneath the surface, I still found myself also peering above the rim of daily life seeking balance and stability—and seeking wisdom. By new moon, I find myself stepping off the edge, I guess! Into the unknown I go!

I’m enjoying learning about the Moon and it’s cycles in the yearlong Moonshine class I’m taking with Effy Wild, creating Moon paintings each month (goauche on watercolor paper) for the new and full moons.

I have a lot more to learn still about the Moon, and one good source I recommend is Moonology by Yasmin Boland. You might want to check it out. I appreciate how Boland explains that physically, the moon travels around the earth, the earth travels around the sun and it’s consistent change in shape from a sliver in the sky to a full circle to a sliver again is caused by the changing angles between the three—which I think we all understand.

What I find interesting is that humans have long studied the energies of this repeating “light-play of the lunar cycle”—for eons—and we noticed that, as living, connected beings of the universe, we follow the same patterns in the cycle. We are all at least subconciously aware of it!

With the new Moon, we tend to be action-oriented. We set intentions and then as the Moon waxes—gets larger—we set forth to manifest what we set out to do. Two weeks of this and then we’re at the highest point of this monthly cycle—and that’s when emotions come to the surface. Whatever has happened for this cycle has happened. We often feel anxious (I have often literary felt like howling at it, especially in my pre-menopausal days!), and we have to face what is unresolved—instinctively knowing that whatever hasn’t manifested won’t come to be in this cycle.

And then in the next two weeks, as the moon wanes—gets smaller—it’s a time of letting go —to feel gratitude for what is, to relax, accept and prepare for the next cycle.

It’s fun to paint and express where I’m at at each lunation this year, but honestly, it’s reconnecting with the Moon that I’m most excited about. Right now as I write, for example, the Moon is waxing and will reach its fullest point on March 7th—which happens to be my birthday, in the zodiac sign of Pisces.

Apropos to the moon’s cycle I’m currently moving forward creatively and personally with a good amount of energy. I set down some solid intentions to free myself from some of that inner judgemental chatter and I’m moving toward acceptance. Maybe I’ll talk about that more next week. But in the meantime, I’ll leave you with this lovely passage from the book:

“Watching the Moon from month to month and year to year will put you in touch with her cycles and rhythms—it will help you to remember that we’re all a part of something much bigger; that we’re kids of the Universe. We’re stardust. We’re so much more than people who struggle to get to work on public transport and, once there, compete with others for promotions.

“We’re makers of magic on a journey towards enlightenment. We’re at one with the skies and the heavens and all that lies beyond, and even if we can’t observe the heavens fully, or even give too much time to contemplating nature, connecting with the Moon reconnects us with the Divine—with our Divine selves and with the cosmos.”—Yasmin Boland, Moonology

If you want to reconnect to the moon, too, I highly recommend reading more about it, but also it’s simply a matter of paying attention to the phases of the moon, watching it when you can, and maybe thinking about where you are are in the cycle that month. Not a bad practice, right?