Before the moon is made new on March 13th at 5:21am ET in the USA, it returns to the place on the astrological Wheel where it began its moonthly journey. The energy gathered through the moonth now flows away into moonless nights. What will you send with this energy to be transformed in the dark?

The moonth we are concluding began and now ends in Aquarius which corresponds to the Tarot’s Star card. In the Dark Goddess Tarot The Star is Spider Woman, the Hopi Goddess of Thought and Creation (XVII, Stars). Ellen Lorenzi-Prince, creator of the Dark Goddess Tarot, description of Her includes:

She creates the stars to shine upon her people in the darkest night. She arranges the constellations to show her people there is meaning in creation. A single star in the sky may appear a small thing, but be significant in relation to another, through the patterns they make together, and in the feelings the expanse of a starry night evokes.

Spider Woman reminds us that we are connected to each other, to the earth, to the sky, to the Whole – and invites us to release all that separates us from flowing with this connection. During the 3 – 4 days before and up to the  new moon’s arrival is an appropriate time for engaging in reflection and ritual to make this release.

Reflection

Take a sheet or paper or open up your journal and make a place for 2 lists:

Times I felt connected to something greater ~ Times I felt disconnected

Now look back on the happenings of the moonth that began on February 11th. If you journal, you’ll have a handy record, but even just looking back at your appointment calendar can jog your mind about what’s been going on in the past few weeks. Make entries on each list.

If you need help making entries on your list, you can always turn over Tarot and oracle cards to show you images to inspire entries.

When your lists are complete, let yourself be for a while with the connections you have found and how they have enriched your life. You might reflect on what made them possible – and think about how to keep building that into your life. You might offer gratitude to others, the Divine, and/or yourself for making these connections possible. You might finish with creating a small art work, writing a poem, or saying a closing prayer.

Then you can turn to your list of disconnections. What will you do with these broken and fragment parts of your life? Maybe some need further reflection to better understand what wisdom they are trying to offer you. Maybe some are so clear and now you can let this part of you know that it can rest and no longer work in your life this way. Maybe some stir up strong feelings and you should walk or box or scream with them.

After you have spent a while with your disconnections, identify which ones you want to release into the dark moon time to be dissolved and transformed.

Dark Moon Ritual

Inspired by The Stars’ focus on consciousness and creation, an internal meditative process would be appropriate.

Find a comfortable place to sit and close your eyes. Take some time to tune into your body and your breath. Feel how you are supported by the earth through a chair or the floor you sit on. Imagine stars above you and their light flowing down to you to connect you to the cosmos. Remember your connections. You might imagine that they are a circle of pulsating energy that supports you and that ripples out, connecting you to the Whole.

Now you might call to mind individually each of the disconnections you wish to release. They might rise up in your mind’s eye as a shape, symbol, or even a Tarot/oracle image. Let it float in front of you and when you are ready circle your lips and blow toward the image and watch it float away. Your breath might match the intensity of work to release. Some might be gentle, others fierce.

When your disconnections are gone, let yourself be under a clear starry sky on a dark moon night and bask in your connection to their luminous light.

Source Note: The reflection is inspired by my encounters with Ignatian Spirituality and the practice of doing an examen to name consolations and desolations each day and look for a pattern. I have borrowed the form and made it more general rather than specifically Christian.

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