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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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: 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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Following the Moon: Like the Heartbeat of the Universe

Journal Page, Drozda, media blend, 12x9", 2011

Welcome to Following the Moon and the Disseminating Cycle which extends through the early morning of Wednesday, January 26. The Disseminating Phase is the place to be for sharing what you have gained thus far. Since the New Moon was January 4 you have only to look over your shoulder to reconnect to what you've learned, and now, in a way that reflects the energy of the Natural Wheel, discover your own way to express this learning out into your Art/Life.  Demonstration can relate to any area of the Art/life and generally provides you with the chance to be reminded what you're up to, what interests you and how you would move this information out into the world. What's your platform?

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~Thank you so much for being a Luna-tic with me~


See you next Monday

Come to my Heart Work Retreat weekend of the Spring Equinox

To subscribe to the monthly Luna See

To read the full length article for 2011 The Year of Heart

Following the Moon: Each Heart is a World

Journal Page, Drozda, 2010

The January cycle continues the turning inward of the Winter season. Even though the days are lengthening and the pull of the year is exerting itself on each of us, the Wheel continues to offer space for deep inward connection.


Introspection is a major component of the Art/Life no matter what the season. I tend to see this point in the calendar year as pendulum-like. There's a swing from 'where you've been' to 'where you're going' and you recognize that you're actually in an in-between state.
You're chomping at the bit one minute because it's the New Year and there are all these new dreams, visions and goals. Yet the natural energy is saying be quiet, continue to rest, relax, snuggle deeper into your womb-cave, hibernation is not yet complete. No wonder you may feel 'out of sorts and uneasy'. There's an undercurrent.

Think of the inland rivers and streams. In January the ice is thin. We can peer beneath the frozen surface and see the water's current is increasing as the melt begins. How is your Art/Life mirroring this state?

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Please leave your comments here or on the main page.
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Following the Moon: Heart Work

Journal Page, Drozda, collage, 12x9", 2011

Our time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

                                  Steve Jobs (there's a fabulous 15 minute TED talk at this link)


Welcome to the Newest Year in your Art/Life and to all the practical work that the year will offer.

I've just completed the writing of my yearly Lifecycle Forecast: a creative overview of the energy that will be visiting us for the coming twelve months. I post the full article at one place only and that is here with my good friends at Zodiacarts, David and Sandra Mosely...you may choose to bookmark it so you can drop in from time to time to 'tune in and tune up'.

Each month, moon by moon, I also scribe the Lifecycle/Luna See newsletter where I offer ideas for crafting your Art/Life~Heart/Business using the natural rhythms of the lunar cycle and the seasons...

read more here

feel free to return here to leave your much appreciated comments ;-)

 

see you next Monday for the next installment of the Cleansing/Renewal Moon

~Iona

 

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Following the Moon: Something Wonderful is Emerging

http://

Persephone's Dream, Drozda, mixed/canvas, 72x72", 1999

Welcome to ‘Following the Moon’ and the last day of the Strength Moon Gibbous Phase.


The Gibbous phase is where we filter our work thus far in the cycle and create create create to beat the band. Isn’t it energizing to tap into the idea that every cycle we have this segment set aside for generating, constructing, initiating (and even destroying if we chose) the outgrowth of the previous two weeks. The image I’ve included is to remind that even so we are still ‘beneath the surface of things’ dreaming of what will come to meet us as the light advances.


Tomorrow, December 21, is the shortest day of the year and as such marks the turning point of the season. The big news is the Lunar eclipse taking place. There’s a plethora of information available to you about the depth of this year’s event. I trust that you’ll learn what you need to apply to your amazing Art/Life...read more...read about the lunar eclipse and the strength of making a list of your accomplishments...


Please feel free to leave comments here if it's a hassle there

Following the Moon: Journeying On

Winged Moon, Drozda 2009

9 x 12 inches

white ink, prismacolor / black illustration board

for August entry of the Lunar Calendar 2010

I am sleeping under the stars and wandering among the wildflowers and the Tall Ones along the streambed.

I will continue journeying during this Trust cycle...perhaps by next Monday/Moon Day there will be a new post and the 'Big reveal' ;-)
...perhaps.

Until then ...Merci33 ( Thank you, All is Well) and I am so happy that we will resume our communications soon...I have so missed visiting you in blog land.

Trust the Creative Process
~Iona

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Follow the Moon: Trust the Process

Journal page, Drozda 2010

detail

This is a brief note to let you know that there will be no 'Luna See' post for this Monday, August 23 ...as mentioned previously this is a time of year when I make changes...I'll be introducing you to some of them in the very near future...till then...

Journal page, Drozda 2010

10x8"

Bali Guardian

Trust the Process.

Yours in Luna See,
Iona

Follow the Moon: Celebrating Quirkiness

Shrine the Divine I, Drozda 2010

7x5"

An encaustic experiment

  

Here we are one week into the Trust/Love Moon! This is an excellent time for discovering creative avenues to explore.

'Luna See' is presented as an artist's tool to help you find a gentler and kinder way to work with time. 'Luna See' will do no harm and may bring you much joy. I offer it as an instrument for affecting the quality of the day as the highest of arts.

In order to obtain and maintain balance, 2010 requires that you have a basic understanding of intent, intuition or a 'gut feeling' about situations. Throughout this year, self-esteem will be the indicator for the direction to take. Notice what is asked of you as you feel your capacity to endure. Stamina and fortitude are going to show you what you're made of and what can be accomplished.

Walt Whitman brings this brilliant touchstone:

O I could sing such grandeurs and glories about you!

You have not known what you are,

you have slumber'd upon yourself all your life,

Your eyelids have been the same as closed most of the time...

Whoever you are! claim your own at any hazard!

These shows of the East and West are tame compared to you,

These immense meadows, these interminable rivers, you are immense and interminable as they...

There is a poetic component to all that unfolds this year. Whether you deem the experience as favorable or unfavorable, there is action needed. The quality of the year requires your participation. It's a good time to apply the adage of 'this ain't no dress rehearsal' to every moment and to all that you get involved in.

The spotlight this year is on the solar plexus chakra, the third of the seven major energy centers in the body. In the Eastern tradition, this area is referred to as the balance point or center of balance. It lies behind the umbilicus, and placing your attention there is a reminder that you are always connected to the Eternal Mother. Be capable, balanced, expressive, creative and poetic in 2010.

 
Between today, Monday, August 16 and next Monday, August 23, the moon's phases (First Quarter and Gibbous) bring the opportunity for initiative and analysis regarding this cycle's goal. Taking initiative requires action. Get involved with the change you need to be making so that you can consciously trust your life more. It helps to participate fully by moving your body as much as you can. Dance, sway, fast-walk, swim laps while holding your goal in your heart. You have until Friday morning to actively feel and move your vision/goal for this Trust cycle. Naturally you don't stop moving from then on...that would be silly to consider...however this phase is particularly geared to get you flowin' with your goal. How great to take advantage of that. Come Friday the timing of this Trust/Love cycle opens out so that you can revise the vision you set at the New Moon on August 9. Sink into a deeper level of Self-Trust.
 
Be impetuous, and with your goal in mind, do one thing that is spontaneous and electric. One thing that gives you a feeling of s t r e t c h. Can you feel the heat when you allow space for a bit of wildness in conjunction with your objective? You have between now (Monday, August 16 and Friday morning, August 20 for this to happen. Funny, isn't it, that you can 'plan' to be unstructured? Of course you can. Life is all about paradox and polarities. By Friday the experience will naturally lead you to filter, digest, revise and ready for the illumination to follow next week.


Trust is analogous to faith, belief, confidence and Self- reliance. As mentioned last week: Summer each year offers the peak of possibility. Please continue to consider the positive, determined, venture-forth aspect of your innate inventive powers. The 8 moon slices of the monthly pie that unfold from New Phase (August 9-12) through Balsamic Phase (September 5-8) provide ground-breaking focus. Conviction and expectation are powerful adjuncts to manifesting your dream during these busy summer months.

Continue to establish awareness of the places in your art/ life where you could tear out, strengthen, and rebuild. Keep your eye on the prize while the year and all of your experiences shape your newly defined character. Since these changes can only happen if you restructure you may as well sink a little deeper into believing that what you want for your Art/life is what your Art/life wants for you. Trust that.
 
 

The Encaustic Retreat Gang:

Judy, Sheila, Betsy, our host/teacher/guide Karen, Me

 
I began the week attending a day-long encaustic retreat. The company, environment and the opportunity to dip into a new medium were all superb. In the middle of the week I took a huge plunge into the unknown...it has everything to so with trusting in one's deepest intention...more about that in the months to come. The week ended with an 8 mile kayak journey into the Great Dismal Swamp. In each of these situations I had to trust myself to do something new without fearing that I'd fall short of self imposed limitations/expectations.
 
 

Lake Drummond, Drozda 2010

 
Each August I consciously make changes and make space for new things. I do this precisely because this is an unnerving time of the year for me. I don't plan it to be so...but there it is and I don't mind admitting it. Perhaps it's an ancient echo of the biggest challenge of this life. Or maybe it's the place on the wheel where the greatest opportunity lies. I don't pretend to'blind trust walk' haven't you? Disconcerting at best. And what's needed? Trust. Capitol... T R U S T.

I feel fortunate since in the Art/life I am educated in: 'trust the process'. I have materials and media at hand. I have ideas and inspirations and BIG DREAMS. The question: how to allow all of this greatness to find its natural flow in the world (smile)... how to permit unhurried expansion and sharing to advance? I love a good challenge and so comes each years Trust cycle.

Art Light Heart Light Calendar page 2009

In line with this dynamic cycle I delight in sharing with you a page from the calendar produced by Dana Cunningham Anderson of Art Light Studio at The Bend at Moon Creek. She says in "how i make a calendar":

Each quotation is chosen over  the period of the preceding year AND in a last -minute search to create a balance of ideas. I stamp each quotation by hand, most often in black ink on white paper--a relished meditative process. Time slows down.I sit in a room with some old medieval  monk I've known a long time. He hand copies his manuscript, letter by letter, as i stamp my hand-carved letters at a small writing table next to his. We talk. He misses me when I am not there, welcomes me when I return..."

For many years Dana's work has held its place within my studio. Hers is a subtle and yet radiant work. She brings a reminder to me that what we produce is of value not due to its pomp and circumstance so much as for its heart. She reminds me of the quiet import of living with the Muse within AND beside me.

Between now and next Monday spontaneously engage in at least one new thing that somehow relates to your current Art/life goal. Once you've gone for the s t r e t c h filter and digest the experience so that you squeeze out the goodness.


The height of summer is the appropriate time to celebrate your quirkiness and individuality. This month's reminder: as artists we have a justified and historic obligation to be singular. Rejoice. Trust your process while you keep in mind the spacious and organic impulse to explore your edge place. Doing that now is being genuine in this area of the years wheel.

Continue to imagine the possibility as you trust your creative process. It is like no other creative process on the planet. How grand that is.


Special thanks to all dear commenter's this past week...what with retreats, studios and kayaking I didn't get in my replies..Thanks!

Shrine the Divine II, Drozda 2010

7x5"

An encaustic experiment

~Sing the day~



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Following the Moon with Gratitude

Rescue, Drozda 2001

24x30"

Acrylic on wood

'Luna See' looks at time and gentling our movement through time.  It offers an art/life resource for affecting the quality of the day as the highest of arts.

Welcome to the last hours of the Disseminating Moon phase where the emphasis is upon demonstration and sharing.  Pay attention to whether sending your vibe out into the world helps you to Trust the process of your art/life at this time. Often we learn to trust life best when still, quiet and solitary. Other times we need to be active and in touch. July has just provided you with 31 days of Growth so that you could access and activate deeper levels of Trust. Trust happens now....can you lean into the opportunity?

Coming from a background of violence and trauma I can state without doubt that this has been my most challenging point on the wheel...the main event that catapaulted me into 16 years of gripping post traumatic stress took place in the month of August. Yet step by step healing happens. And there is rarely any situation that has to hold you captive when you Trust the manner in which the art/life grows to meet you. Its quite stunning and often so unexpected isn't it?

Wren House Garden, Drozda 2010

                                                     Steep thyself in a bowl of summertime.
                                                                            ~Virgil ~

Tuesday, August 3 through Friday, August 6 we're in the Last Quarter/Third Quarter phase of this four weeks. This is when we have the chance to be mindfully grateful for all that has visited since July 11. It's a lovely time for reflective gratitude and realization of all the gifts that your art/life offers.

So often we confuse ourselves thinking that as the artist we must be constantly creating in order to justify the title. Here's the beauty: we are artists. We don't cease being creative and gifted and even skilled no matter how long we must sometimes be removed from our media of choice. The lovely and instinctive transition from the active sharing of last week to the realignment that comes now can help us to assimilate this truth. You might interpret this 3.5 day phase as if it were a sigh. Ahhhhh. Let it all go. Drop it. What's the hurry? Where are you trying to get to?
Paradoxically the push of this very active time of the year that we're in still functions best when we make haste slowly.

On Friday the Balsamic phase of the cycle enters and we have from then until the New Moon on Monday, August 9 to withdraw even a bit further so as to contemplate.
  
Are you beginning to feel the flow of the lunar phases and do you get a sense of how your art/life can flow with them?

Within each 29.6 day cycle we recieve these last days of the moon's passage to heal, lie fallow, so as to dream of what will be. From Friday through Monday... take time to rest. Naturally life goes on yet take the time to imagine that you will be birthing a new/renewed part of yourself.  For this brief time imagine that you are lying still, in utero, visualizing what you may bring forth when the next cycle begins. It's one of the grand wonders of being the artist that we are giving birth continuously simply by sending our breath out into the world. We are enough.

As we step into August 2010 the overall vibration shifts. Notice light. The dazzle and the shining. Really practice being conscious. Be your own dazzling light. I appreciate what Suzanne has to say in her recent post.

The idea might be similar to the Buddhist teaching which suggests that we practice as if our 'hair were on fire'. Consider that image. That's dedication.

Where is your dedication right now? There isn't any standard that says that you have to be doing your being in any prescribed way...actually it's really healthy if you can simply trust that what is happening for you now is exactly what is meant to be happening. This is a courageous act. Most of us are busy thinking 'it ought to be different than it is'. Yet to Trust is to do just that. Let all things be exactly as they are.

To begin to connect with the best quality of August consider how breathing helps to direct your thoughts. Gently be with that idea for a moment. Take that in: your breath directs your thoughts. In line with that is; this month watch your thinking patterns and notice your conversation. Pay attention to the way you use words. How do you talk to yourself? I was behind a car this week that had a bumper sticker reading: HUMAN KIND: be both.

Really notice the way you speak, how you describe, explain, depict, illustrate, express. Does your language lift you? Do you drag yourself and others down? Just notice.

TRUST is the keyword for August and it brings reminders, lessons and tests. Each experience arrives to help  us see how well we actually trust the challenges and the sweetness of the art/life. See if, for you, there is an inner urge to express your ideals, launch an invention (as in a new art form), align with your highest inner directives, gain a clearer connection to your spiritual vision. There is no need for pressure.
In Buddhist teachings we're advised to recognize that as humans we bounce continuously between the 'Eight Worldly Dharmas'. They are pleasure/pain, gain/loss, praise/blame, fame/disgrace.

We think that if we get pleasure, gain, praise and fame we'll be happy. We run away from pain, loss, blame and disgrace and judge them failures.

Once again it fits to bring in Pema...she's wise, feisty and makes it so understandable:

From When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron:
"The irony is that we make up the eight worldly dharmas. We make them up in reaction to what happens to us in this world. They are nothing concrete in themselves... In meditation, we can notice how emotions and moods are connected with having lost or gained something, having been praised or blamed, and so forth. Gradually our practice evolves. We start understanding that, just like us, other people also keep getting hooked by hope and fear. Everywhere we go, we see the misery that comes from buying into the eight worldly dharmas. ... [This is] the beginning of growing up... When we begin just to try to accept ourselves, the ancient burden of self-importance lightens up considerably...Having compassion starts and ends with having compassion for all [the] unwanted parts of ourselves, all those imperfections that we don't even want to look at. Compassion isn't some kind of self-improvement project or ideal that we're trying to live up to. There's a slogan in the Mahayana teachings that says, 'Drive all blames into oneself.' The essence of this slogan is, 'When it hurts so bad, it's because I am hanging on so tight.' What it implies is that pain comes from holding on so tightly to having it our own way and that one of the main exits we take when we find ourselves in an unwanted situation or an unwanted place, is to blame."

Tara's Mantra, Drozda 2010

10x8"

Media Blend

commission 

The energy this August is helping you learn to trust that no matter what your experience you can observe your reaction and response with a 'wait and see' attitude. This can help you take a long view or an eagle's eye view...either way the idea is to take this opportunity to learn that we're all in this together. You are not alone.

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.

William Shakespeare

Every 90 days there's a turn to the wheel and you can set a new goal or build onto what you have already manifest. It's so focused and at the same time so open  to your own interpretation.

August 1, was the cross quarter point between Summer Solstice and Fall Equinox...that places you at the midpoint in this current 90 day pattern. What do you want to accomplish by September 22? No need to push...it can be subtle and for yourself alone.

Or you can gather and share the joy of what has been created and what is yet to come.

Parade of the Animals 2010

Contemporary Art Center of Virginia

Always be ready to see what you haven't seen before.

 Corita Kent

 

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~May you sing the days~

       Iona

Following the Moon and Sharing Your Luna See

'Healing Hand', Drozda 2010

journal page

Media Blend

Welcome. I invite you to pause a moment in your busy day to take a look at the coming week's 'Luna See'. The idea here is that you can choose to slow down a bit. You can recognize how you already intuitively align or you can start now to become more consciously tuned into the eternal rhythms of lunar patterns.

Note: Keep in mind that 'Luna See' is presented as an artist tool for looking at time and your movement throught time. It is offered as an instrument for gentling through the day.

In the June 28 entry from Joan Borysenko's Pocketful of Miracles she writes:

Seed Thought:

The beauty of nature clears our mind because it draws us into the present moment. Kallistos Ware, a Greek Orthodox priest, said that the present is the place where time touches eternity.
In Greek, chronos means "clock time". Kairos means "the eternal present." Now is where chronos and kairos meet, creating a space of limitless possibility. This is the space in which miracles occur that defy the rules of time and space as we know them. This is also the space in which mystics [artists] have visions and angels [Muses] appear.



Between today, Monday June 28 and next Monday, July 5 the moon's phases continues to provide you with creative focus points for reflection  and sharing. Until Wednesday morning you have the opportunity to stop and look at what you are doing and why. As a reminder, and as a way to keep a gentle sense of flow, take yourself back to June 12. It was then that we stepped into this cycle with the New Moon.

June, each year, brings with it the keywords of Brilliance and Illumination.  Recall what you were visualizing on June 12. The idea is to continue tapping into that vision for the 29.6 days as each phase provides a focus.

Remind yourself what you're willing to create.

Reflect on what has happened over these last two weeks. Ask yourself how it feels to review this time period. Be honest with yourself. This whole year is about feeling what is happening 'in the gut' as you forge a new sense of identity. That involves knowing how to endure. Don't be stoic if you feel like crumbling. Crumbling is a one stage of learning to strengthen through endurance. When Things Falls Apart  it is useful to keep in mind that it's temporary. The world deserves to have brave artists who can demonstrate what's possible. Brave artists are courageous enough and can endure what comes as they look the truth of their experience in the eye.

Here's my short story. These first two weeks of this moon cycle have been different. I thought I'd be involved in a large studio project that has been anticipated for months. However my right, primary work hand, has been out of commission since May 21. My body is tending to the business of mending two broken bones in my wrist. With this reality I've had to step out of my normal studio routine. I translate that to: I've made a decision to step out of the way I usually engage time (chronos). During this two weeks I've been journalling and drawing with my non dominant hand. This intuitively guided practice has led me on a quiet journey that I can imagine as an 'engaging with kairos'. Deep in my bones I've been 'turning on the light'.  As it turns out (no surprise here) parts of me were very much in the dark. I didn't know that they were because I'd been too busy...for too long. I received my first big message of the year to really slow down back in March. I knew better than to keep up the pace. I thought that I was meditating but I didn't take the time to listen. I thought I was listening but I didn't hear.

It has been these past two weeks when I stopped making and instead spent hours in the studio quietly scribing, followed by long hours of not doing anything, that there was a sudden flash of light followed by the proverbial AHA moment.  BIG SHIFT.

This is the cycle, each year, when you can take the time to notice your language. How do you talk to yourself? Silence is as important as speech in this context. 'How can you hear when you're always talking' may be a way to frame this phase. Gently. No guilt.

Thursday the door opens into the Disseminating (or waning full) phase. That will give you until Sunday morning to consider what you have to share that has a relevance to your original goal for accessing your Brilliance during this cycle. Makes sense doesn't it? First you take the time to gain insight then you extend yourself to share what you have learned.



Don't have a goal? Don't know what this 'Brilliance' cycle is about for you? No problem. Your Muse knows and is gently, silently waiting for your engagement. Ilumination/Brilliance leads to Growth. That's July's keyword (using this Luna See model). In July you can begin to turn your attention to: what are you growing within the ground of your creative soil.

The marvelous Miro said, "Every blade of grass has a beautiful soul. Courage consists of staying home and close to nature. Nature who takes no account of our calamities."

There are artist's all around us who offer a sane world view. Take a deep breath and step into the sacred sanctuary created here or here. 

In our artist community you can model a different way to move through time. With our collective vision you may find more and more the urge to 'stay home and close to nature' consciously weaving your movements out into the world and back home to create your work. 

Between now and next Monday notice how you feel illuminated, radiant as you move with time. During this busiest season of the year share your awareness with your community and be sure that you start by talking first to your Brilliant Self.

'Lotus Focus', Drozda 2010

Journal page

Media Blend

~May your days sing you

Lunar Eclipse/Luna See

'This is My Home' Drozda 1996

detail of 72x72"

Acrylic/unstretched canvas

A 'Luna See' Special report ;-) ...
This is the exact minute of the Lunar Eclipse as I post. I thought, as artists that we might really really really enjoy and benefit from the share that I am including here. Take out your jouranl and make some notes anchoring your feelings and ideas regarding what is posted below. This information comes through the brilliance of my dear artist sister friend Sandra. She and I are both trained as teachers of moon phase connections to our creative spirit...what I call 'Luna See'.

I felt that we could all bask in the glow of wherever we are as we take this information written so clearly and beautifully by Sandra. Please breathe it in... like a balm... for our time. Read using the intuitive eyes of your heart and you will be enriched in your creative direction and voice.

Sandra writes:
A lunar eclipse is a time of beginnings, endings, exposure and major changes. It always has something to do with "relationships". The changes are tied to how we relate and will have a lasting impression. Emotions run high, causing upsets and feelings of disorientation. Actions taken often do not have the expected results, but they do bring awareness and enlightenment. The energy of an eclipse is at its strongest during the two days before and three days after its occurrence.


At lunar eclipses we: merge, unite, announce, contact, present ourselves, bring something out into the open, make decisions, engage, rise to the challenge, make an effort, change, get a new perspective, join with others, take on greater challenges, travel at a faster pace, feel restless, feel pressured by deadlines and a buildup of emotions, and experience excitement and crisis.


During a Full Moon, the Sun and Moon are in opposition, also called the Full Phase, indicating the linking of soul to spirit and awareness of purpose gained through relationship with another. A lunar eclipse is a supercharged Full Moon. The blocking of the Moon's reflection of the Sun's light by the Earth suggests that our material viewpoint stands in the way of our "seeing the light". It serves as a reminder that we need to realize how we are held in the dark by virtue of our perspective.


The Sun is in Cancer and the Moon is in Capricorn during the partial lunar eclipse on June 26. Mundanely speaking, the corporate or political machine is out of balance with the emotional stability of the public. Personally speaking, professional goals are out of balance with emotional needs. In both situations, authoritative behavior blocks nurturing solutions. The challenge is to recognize the emotions while honoring responsibilities.

Pluto conjunct the Moon and opposite the Sun highlights an obsessive compulsive quality to this eclipse period, which is likely to manifest in attempts at emotional manipulation. Additionally the square aspect between Jupiter in Aries and Mercury in Cancer suggests emotional discourse about the needs of the people vs. the rights of the individual, challenging debates between progressive leadership and the security minded public, and political arguments over foreign concerns. Venus in Leo sesquare Uranus in Aries implies the need to reframe recent discoveries and refine newly-acquired values.





I'll see you Monday for our regular 'Luna See'.
~Sing the Day

Following the Moon

'Who Then?', Drozda, 2003 

19x18"

mixed/paper

"Always be ready to see what you haven't seen before." Corita Kent

The new moon will be here on June 12. Between now and then we have a period of time, called the Balsamic phase, to release all that has built up since May 14. In playing with the gentle and harmless symbolic rhythms of the moon's time frame we come to this place each month where we can consciously:
Drop it.
Let it go.

For these next few days the time is best invested in resting quietly. Of course none of us are going to stop our lives yet we can take some time now to dream. We can remember to meditate. There is something so nurturing and kind about setting aside the last days of the cycle to simply rest...to simply dream...to imagine what is possible...to consider what is worth our time and commitment. I often imagine that each Balsamic phase is similar to floating, waiting, quieting while dreaming the next piece of the dream called 'my life' preparing to birth itself into the new. Notice how this time feels for you.

The new cycle, the June 12 new moon, carries the keyword of  'Illumination'. Near the mid point, or Full phase there is a shift and the keyword turns to 'Growth'. Where would you like to have more light coming into your creative life? Think of the natural level of illumination taking place now as we move closer to summer solstice. Plants are burgeoning and there is a riot of activity going on beneath the surface of things. Here at the studio I watch, day by day, as the combination of light, earth's nutrients and water produce growth in every direction. I see if there are ways that I might emulate these natural patterns and fold them into the rhythm of my work.

'Wren House Garden', Drozda 2010

'Canada Goslings', Drozda 2010

today in the garden

This entire week can be devoted to clearing space and beginning to prepare for the new vision that you would like to create in the coming cycle. This creative vision is yours alone. Respect it. Embrace it. Your vision may be a continuation of what's currently unfolding or you may sense something rising up to meet you like new flowering growth. However you feel the energy, you may enjoy taking the time to honor it and journal/draw the way you're observing its patterns. The new moon phase will stretch through the coming weekend. During that time it can be very relaxing to collage a vision page or treasure map, to add color and pattern to the dream of the days between now and then.

For many of us the beginning of a cycle can also be a fine time to seek inspiration. Having a vision and holding steady as its nurtured is a great skill. Shakti Gawain's classic Creative Visualization might offer some excellent reminders.

Experiment and see how it feels to create in harmony with the phases of the moon. Doing so becomes a simply endless opportunity to chart the flow of time with a sense of grace and ease as you allow engagement with luna's calming rhythms.

Canada's and Guard Goose, Drozda

today in the garden

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~May you sing the days