Issue 7, August 2007

   Moon Magic
  

We'll be back with a longer newsletter in September.  In the meantime, take full advantage of what passes for the summer here in Ireland.  And hoping that our more distant readers are having better luck. 

Enjoy!
Ingrid and Barry.

Moon Magic

“ The Harvest Moon
  
The flame-red moon, the harvest moon,
Rolls along the hills, gently bouncing,
A vast balloon,
Till it takes off, and sinks upward
To lie on the bottom of the sky, like a gold doubloon.
The harvest moon has come,
Booming softly through heaven, like a bassoon.
And the earth replies all night, like a deep drum.

So people can't sleep,
So they go out where elms and oak trees keep
A kneeling vigil, in a religious hush.
The harvest moon has come!

And all the moonlit cows and all the sheep
Stare up at her petrified, while she swells
Filling heaven, as if red hot, and sailing
Closer and closer like the end of the world.

Till the gold fields of stiff wheat
Cry 'We are ripe, reap us!' and the rivers
Sweat from the melting hills.”
Ted Hughes. 

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun shines warm and luxuriously golden as it moves through Leo, caressing ripening apple orchards and tawny fields of wheat and swaying seas of barley.
On July 30th, a ripe tangerine Full Moon in Aquarius drifted through inky clouds, heralding a time to reap, and celebrate this time of summer harvest with music, song and dance. 

Today, August 1st many people in Ireland will celebrate Lughnasa, dedicated to Lug, a powerful solar god in Celtic myth.

Lughnasa is one of the four main Celtic fire festivals, celebrated with hand fastening ceremonies, feasting, music, song and laughter.  In Nature, August is a time of fecundity, fullness and abundance.  In our asphalt and concrete cities, we can review the past eight months and take stock of what it is that we are bringing to harvest in our lives.  A fruitful idea or creative project, harmonious and supportive relationships with family, friends and work colleagues, a healthy body, financial abundance.  Focus on each of those areas in your life and review what you are reaping now.

New Moon in Leo

The sign of Leo rules the heart.  With a silvery sliver of the New Moon in this sign on August 13^th, sit somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed, and gently bring your attention to your heart chakra.  Use the breath and direct energy to that part of your physical body.  Ask the question: Who am I?  What does my life mean?
Bring your attention to the concept of The Harvest.  What creative ideas and images are you in process of seeding today?  What do you wish to bring to form at this new cycle of the Moon? 

Witness yourself and recognise those parts of Self that are creative and playful and need acknowledgement.  What now will make your life more meaningful?

Like the story of Parsifal’s quest for the Grail, the motif of this New Moon for us all is our heroic journey this lifetime, and the expression of our unique individual potential.  For this quest, we require courage, endurance, and the willingness to answer the call to adventure so that we will ultimately become bigger or greater – the grandest vision of ourselves.

We are all The Hero who seeks the journey’s goal.  Our aim is to discover that The Holy Grail is the Chalice of our own sacred heart. 

Full Moon in Pisces

“ Dance Me To The End Of Love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love ”
Leonard Cohen. 

Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac and it represents the Collective.  Pisces is all of us, our soulful yearnings, our unfathomable dreams, our creative outpourings, our pitiful undoing.  As always, the theme of the Full Moon is Harvest.  Reaping what you seeded at the New Leo Moon.

The Moon is ripe on the night of 28^th August in this watery sign, so emotions may be exaggerated, feelings high.  Nothing can be contained or defined by logic.  A time to reflect on past loves, past losses. A time to hold on with gratitude to the precious love you have now.

So let the music play. Compassion, insight, and limitless imaginings are the oceanic realm of Pisces.  Surrender to the enigmatic chaos of the feminine, and dance, tenderly and lightly, and long to endings and new beginnings.  The cycle of Life and Love...