February Moon Paintings

New Moon in Pisces 2-20-23

Full moon in leo 2-5-23

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?

Layers—52 Cards Project #47

Another week and we’ve covered a lot of ground—and water—on our Australia tour. So this week’s theme for my 52 Card Project is simply ‘Layers’. I feel like I’ve been moving through layers and layers of experiences.

The week began on Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays, which was a gorgeous tropical few days on the ocean. I got to snorkel the very southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef—and then we simply hung out by the sea (okay, the pool) for a couple of days. From there we headed out by plane to Hobart, Tasmania—where we’ve been for six days.

Again, I don’t mean to bore you with a long travelogue but I will just say that this island, the southern most tip of Australia (not that far north of Antarctica)…is amazing. It’s gorgeous, the people are lovely, the city is vibrant, but also calm and relaxing. It’s colonial history is shocking and truly horrible—but there is a strong sense of the original aboriginal people who continue their lives here in sacred connection to this beautiful land—and remind us to experience with reverence too.

Like I said, lots of layers!

Okay, onward we go to Melbourne for one more week. Farewell for now.

It's Not Too Late - 52 Cards Project #28

#28 of my 52 Cards Project for 2022—It’s Not Too Late

My weekly theme card for my 52 Cards Project will make more sense when you understand what happened this week. I received a book in the mail that I had pre-ordered months ago. All it took was a quick flip- through and I knew that first, as a project launched by preeminent change agent Seth Godin and created by hundreds, this book is an amazing resource and tool, and second, this is a call I must answer.

Now my tiger’s eyes might make more sense.

Like you I’m sure, I have long felt growing concern for our poor earth. I’ve made some changes over the years to live more “sustainably”, I’ve read up on the climate crisis so I’m quite well-informed, and I’ve wanted to do something—but like most of us, I have felt helpless. What can one small human even do, really, to save the earth?

Well, reading some of this book and diving into just a handful of the book’s further resources found online, it became clear that there is a lot we can do and in fact—it’s absolutely not too late. Not only that, but as I thought about it, I almost feel like I was given a download of action steps that I can and will take. I feel very grounded, calm and resolute. And excited. I will share more, soon.

But in the meantime, since this is my weekly post about my weekly theme card, I’ll talk a little more about why I chose this image. Actually, like a lot of images for these weekly cards this one just kind of came to me. Tiger’s eye? Eye of a tiger?

Of course, with a little inquiry I understood that I was tapping into a human/cultural symbol (made popular by the song and Sylvester Stalone). To be ‘in the eye of a tiger’ is to be threatened by the king of predators—or in our case, the king of existential threats.

BUT, to have the eye of a tiger is to be laser focused on achieving a goal.

Like averting climate disaster, perhaps?

Hoo? 52 Cards Project #26

This week the theme is Mother for my 52 Cards Project—for a lot of reasons. My own mother’ birthday was July 1st, and while she’s been gone now for nine years, it’s a good day to appreciate her life.

My youngest daughter came home for the week—and I got to enjoy all the benefits of being a Mom—lots of hugs, good talks and, yes, the opportunity to take her shopping!

And on a much darker note, this is the first week in 49 years that women in many parts of this country are commanded to give birth when becoming pregnant, in some states no matter the circumstances including rape, incest, ectopic pregnancy, threat to their own lives…because five Supreme Court justices reversed the law of the land and handed over power of women’s lives to the states.

I sit in grief as mother, woman, and human. I wait for justice to prevail.

An owl hoots outside my bedroom at night. Mother Earth keeps spinning.