Following the Moon: Renewing the Self

                                                                  Journal page, Drozda, 2008

Save the self by the Self, never upset the self. The Self is the only friend of self, the self is the only enemy of Self. 

These are some of my favorite words and I share them with you as we now come close to the next New Moon, the Purity cycle, which begins on March 4 and extends through Tuesday, March 8. Between now and then reflect upon the ways in which you have experienced a sense of Renewal permeating your Art/Life. If you can't quite grab a hold of this try opening your window. Listen for the first sounds of spring.  Movement is taking place.

Dream your dream. Treasure your Self. Imagine what is waiting to be born as you step into Spring cherishing your Art/Life

Whether in art, in manners, or in social structure the trend to intricate elaboration often falls of its own weight, and men and women again seek a simple direct relationship to life and one another as human beings.                                                                                        John Gardner

Today, Monday, February 28, we begin the Balsamic Phase of the Renewal Moon. This Phase continues through mid-afternoon Friday, March 4. It signals the time each year for beginning to dream of the possibilities before moving forward with the Natural Year ahead. In a few short weeks we move through the East Gate at Spring Equinox and start a new walk around the Wheel...

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Following the Moon: Renewing the Heart

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

Welcome to ‘Following the Moon’ and the Renewal cycle. A four week period that comes each year, at this time, offering us a sense of replenishment and self-renewal. The Natural Wheel turns and carries energies of our Art/Life through mystical depths as we melt into the flow of our lives. I’ve just finished reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and, in this Year of the Rabbit, I recommend it’s sweet story of the heart.
Today Monday, February 21, we’re in the Disseminating Phase of the Renewal Moon. This phase is about sharing what we’ve learned. There are two approaches to this. The first is to simply look back over the past three weeks. Formulate what has come to make you aware of being refilled. The second is more profound and challenging…it offers the space for traversing the terrain that you’ve crossed carrying you all the way back to last Spring and the New Moon of April 2010. I prefer the long view.

I realize that each year spirals into the next and, taking into account where I’ve been throughout the last twelve months, makes for a more inclusive review and seeding of the year ahead.
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Follow this blog and celebrate the natural rhythm of your Art/Life

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See you next week for the Balsamic Phase of the Renewal Moon and the start of the Purity Cycle.
Sing the day
~Iona

Following the Moon: Search Your Heart

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Journal Page, Drozda, 2010

There is no need to run outside for better seeing….rather abide at the center of your being; for the more you leave it, the less you learn. Search your heart and see the way to do is to      be.                                                                                                                                                             Lao Tzu

Welcome to ‘Following the Moon’. I trust you’re finding ways to feel the quality of replenishment and self-renewal as the Wheel turns and carries your energies through this mystical depth. Today Monday, February 14 we’re stepping into the Gibbous Phase of the Renewal Moon. This phase is building toward the Full Moon which comes to meet us in the wee hours of Friday, February 18.

This is a fabulous week, Monday through Sunday, to truly stretch yourself out. Think of your Art as your yoga. Think of your Art as your dance. Dream of being on your stage. Feel your life force coursing like the rivers running under the thinning ice. Visualize your energy mounting, bubbling, coming closer to the surface to be expressed.
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Following the Moon: The Heart Soars

Bird Dance, Drozda, Acrylic/canvas, 12x12" 2011

The heart soars up like a bird

From a nest of care

Up, up to a larger sky

To a softer air.

No eye can measure its flight

And no hand can tame;

It mounts in beauty and light,

In music and flame.

Of all the changes of Time

There is none like this;

The heart soars like a bird

At the stroke of bliss.

The Flight of the Heart

Dora Reed Goodale

 Welcome to Following the Moon and the beginning days of the 'Renewal' Moon cycle. We stepped through the door into this cycle on the New Moon February 2. This is clearly one of my favorite times of year. Between now and Friday the Crescent Phase brings its gifts. Stay in sync with whatever you are currently investigating. You might ask, 'What in my Art/Life could benefit from a bit of revitalization, replenishment, rekindling, repair, restoration or... going for the gold...where do I feel a renaissance taking place?

This is when you can take the time each month to do your focused research.

Delve into the area that you would like to renew. Make inquiries, exploring your options. This very lively place in the Winter/Spring quadrant of The Mystery is a natural intention setting zone.

'Renewal' energy abounds between now and Friday, February 10 (predawn EST). 
I love this quote from Faith by Sharon Salzberg, "...when I complained about feeling inadequate, Khenpo challenged me with, "Why be so anemic? Why not aspire to be a liberated being, for the sake of all beings? Why not? and later she, again quoting Khenpo, "The price of gold goes up and down, but the value of gold remains the same. Your experiences will always change, will go up and down, but what is of innate value in you lies in your awareness and love."

And another renaissance thought form from Igor Stravinsky, "In order to create there must be a dynamic force, and what force is more potent than love."

All year you are being given the opportunity to put these kinds of teachings into place within the context of your Art/Life realizing that you living in a period of Renaissance right now.

As the Crescent Phase wanes on Friday, February 10, in the predawn (EST) catch the shift that opens the door to the First Quarter Phase when it's all about action pertaining to what you are choosing to renew.

I did a bit of sleuthing this morning and was pleased to find reminders everywhere I looked of how easily attached I get to certain ways of thinking and doing. I notice how I can seize up and go into overwhelm. You know the feeling. So much to do and no way to get it all done.

In my investigation I came upon this gift. I placed it into my calendar so that, in addition to my morning sitting time/formal meditation I will renew myself at midday with a 5 minute breathing break. I've done this several times in the last few days and find that now even when I'm doing other things my breathing is deeper calmer more rooted. Let me know what you think if you give it a try.

I find that this time of year is rather perfect for breaking some sort of pattern of rigidity. Remember that ice is hard yet it's water just the same.

Symbolically there is space now to thaw some aspect of the Art/Life in preparation for movement.

See you next Monday for the Gibbous phase of the Renewal Moon,
~Iona~
 
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