“Whether it’s science or magic, if it’s of fun benefit, enjoy!” ~ ed.

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“Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all. When there’s a big disappointment, we don’t know if that’s the end of the story. It may just be the beginning of a great adventure. Life is like that. We don’t know anything. We call something bad; we call it good. But really we just don’t know.” ~ Pema Chödrön

Are you, like me, looking forward to the refreshing energy of each new moon?

I find this phase to be as a mini-spring each month, sprouting fresh seeds of possibility, a window open to an invigorating wind, a chance for us all to exercise inspiration.

In these past several difficult weeks, when we have questioned what our collective and individual lives are about, I have witnessed many of my friends and clients riding a roller-coaster of emotions. At times we’ve been elated that our strange new reality would bring a collective shift, while other times, we’ve been processing powerful emotions of anger, fear, dissolution, and melancholy.

COVID-19 has seemingly opened deep trauma, mostly associated with the Mother Wound—a sense of abandonment, rejection, feelings of un-groundedness. In total, we’ve experienced a disconnection from self and home.

Even for those who have done extensive work in this area, we find ourselves on another journey around the spiral, seeking deeper meaning and healing in places we thought were already released from cell memory.

It is difficult to find a “normal” in our outside world these days. This New Moon, and indeed, the Dark Moon just before it, calls us into solitude and silence, where we can remember that our inner world is the garden we need to tend with diligence.

According to my Wise Woman Tradition, the mystical path of witches and alchemists, we will be experiencing the Dark Moon in Taurus on April 23, at 3.25 a.m. UTC, and the Witch’s New Moon between April 24th and 25th in Taurus and Gemini respectively.

On April 23rd, the moon at 03°24′ Taurus is conjunct Uranus which suggests unexpected changes. However, because it is also squaring Saturn, a difficult position, the changes may appear as more of what we don’t want, rather than what we hope for. Piled on top of last years’ eclipse season and many challenging moons and planetary alignments in months previous, Luna energy will bring us to the raw edges of ourselves.

It is at the edges of ourselves that we find our true magic.

We can discover all kinds of things at the edges. It can manifest as what we deem negative or positive. The planets point to violence, anger, frustration, and death. But at the edges, we can also manifest the best of humanity—love, compassion, innovation, transformation, kindness.

From our edges, we can honor the raw energy that is coursing through us; we can harness the sadness, the rage at what is, the complete lack of control that we feel these days, into something that will benefit us in the days to come.

Any emotion we feel, whether it heightens us or depletes us, is purely unbiased energy. We can use any kind of force to benefit the earth and its inhabitants. So while we feel into what is difficult, while we honor the parts of ourselves that are having difficulty coping, we can still use that energy to fuel positive outcomes.

I compare it to the way we can use old cooking oil from restaurants to run a car, or compost waste to power a renewable energy plant. It looks like trash, but it is full of potential.

A few good practices to consider during difficult times are perhaps surprisingly the same practices we turn to in optimistic times. If we try to medicate ourselves through whatever means to avoid what is going on around us, we can never find that raw edge which allows for transformation. But we can find that edge if we relax into ourselves, if we reach that sweet spot of, “I’m okay with whatever happens. I allow the falling apart and coming together of life—an endless cycle that I have been through many a time for many an incarnation.”

The cycle we are in right now seems extra long. None of our technology has yet solved this puzzle. We are required to sit with it. And so we practice:

Patience

It’s been so easy to be triggered lately, or to rush into something because we’re trying to fix what’s not working right now. Tempers are shorter. There’s no knowing anything for sure. Can we even trust the information or news anymore? Patience allows us to take a step back, to take a deeper breath, to filter, and make sound decisions. Especially at this moon, our steps, though hopeful, can and should be founded in careful introspection.

Silence

If you’re thinking there’s been too much silence, too much isolation, consider this: not the outer silence, the inner kind. In silence we find our true center. We come to know what is real for us, instead of being in a loop of worry. When we go inward, we tap into our infinite, divine beingness which truly understands that home is something we carry within. As long as we can tap into that reality, we can feel safe in the world and not depend on circumstances to provide us with assurances.

Moon in Taurus square Saturn brings home and self-sufficiency to the forefront. These are good times for practical matters, such as spring cleaning, restoring peace and order to our nest, or even investing in real estate. Working from home is a main theme these days, so why not create the best environment possible there. Stay away from frivolous spending, as comforting as that may seem at the moment.

Taurus is stubborn, ambitious and materialistic—an earth sign ruled by Venus, which brings us to the other side of the bull: it appreciates the sensual—art, and hedonistic pursuits. We must balance these polarized impulses with feet planted firmly on the ground, rooted to our instincts, keeping our family and friends close to the heart (if six feet away!). Taurus does not like to be pushed, and I do feel that the main message here is to not push our way into the next lunar cycle but to allow things to unfold gently and organically.

Activities for Dark (Crone) Moon

>> Making peace with your shadows, embracing your wholeness. Write a long love letter to yourself.
>> Banishment magic.
>> Meditation, yoga nidra, restoration, sleep.
>> Journaling the past lunar cycle and insights.
>> Paying attention to dreams and signs.
>> Connecting with ancestors.
>> Practicing gratitude by sharing resources with others.
>> A solitary sex ritual. Developing a self-pleasure practice.

Activities for New (Maiden) Moon

>> Organizing and cleaning.
>> Journaling desire.
>> Setting intentions.
>> Chakra cleansing.
>> Casting dream seeds.
>> Deciding on actions to support journaled intentions.
>> A partnered sex ritual—voice your intentions at time of orgasm. Sex magic is the most potent form of manifesting.

The human spirit is hardwired for creating beauty. In the last month, new music has been written, new art has been imagined, love has been made (probably lots), people the world over have dreamed of a new Earth. From our raw edges we have overcome and adjusted to unbelievable changes within society. We have learned new habits. We don’t know what will be, but we do know that all this has made us reach deep within ourselves; we have found that we are indeed capable of evolving into a more mindful existence.

New Moon in Taurus is the beginning of another cycle where we can show up tenaciously for ourselves, each other, and our Mother Earth.

And so it is, wild ones.

Does following the cycles of Luna help you to find equilibrium in these times? I’d love to hear your experience.

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