Happy Full Moon in Virgo!

Moon Art by Kondratenko Gavriil Pavlovich

“One of the most important emotional aspects of this moon is that there is some big cumulating energy here that ties back to whatever was going on in September for each of us.  It’s been six months of in-depth changes and a lot going on underneath a seemingly calm surface. Sometimes it’s been frustrating because it seems as if things haven’t been moving as fast as our egos would have liked.  But the thing that we have to remember is that even though things may look one way—the reality can be very different.  This time we are being asked to open our eyes to what we’ve previously chosen to stay blind to.  We are being asked if we just want to float along, or ride the hell out of whatever wave comes our way.  Being the first full moon in the Chinese Year of the Fire Monkey, it’s no surprise that we are up for some serious game changing energy.  Some full moons show us the light of truth and others help to shake us free of some outdated routines and worn out patterns, but this moon is not just about changing the rules of the game, but the players too.  Simply speaking, the rule for this full moon is that there aren’t any.  Now, not only are we being shown where our heart lies, but we are being challenged to gamble everything for what we desire.  It is the time when the heat gets turned up just a bit more and we have to decide exactly how this will all end.  Yes, we are at the climax of our story.  Yes, there is a lot at stake.  But the final choice lies within each of us as to whether this will be the ending of a chapter, or just the point where all the pieces suddenly fell into place and we find the courage to take the steps into the life that we want to create.  If we can balance our emotions and listen to the truth in our heart, then we may fare on the side of winning whatever battle has been taking place.  But in order to do that, we need to go into this moon not just tipping our hat at the truth, but wallowing in it.  Absorbing it into our very being and then being prepared to do something about it.  It’s up to us to have made these past six months count for something—it’s up to us to decide that we aren’t going to stand in our own goddamn way of happiness any longer.  Not only are we ready for the next chapter of our lives, but we are welcoming it.  The truth is there has been a war over our hearts.  However, now is the time that we are being empowered to fight for what it is that we truly want.  And not give up until victory is ours.”  ~Kate Rose, via Elephant Journal

Art by Kondratenko Gavriil Pavlovich

“Hold on to your hats, folks, the circus is about to begin. Say farewell to the introspective Yin Wood Sheep year of 2015, and open up to the expansive Yang year of the amazing Fire Monkey! It promises to be a bonfire of a year, and through it all, the wily Fire Monkey will be skillfully swinging along, constantly looking ahead for the best opportunities to make his inspired dreams come true. As we collectively embody this Yang Fire Monkey energy in 2016, we can reach for the stars. The phrase ‘Carpe Diem’ says it all–seize the day! Large or small, profound or mundane, line up your desires this year and ACT on them. Let the Yang Fire Monkey energy carry you across the bridge between the seen and unseen worlds to reach those goals, for yourself and for us all.” ~ Karen Abler Carrasco, From Mystic Mamma

fire monkey

Happy New Moon!

Art by Tang Yau Hoong

“As one world dies, another is born. As one Age of the world passes away, a new Age is being born in secret places of the heart
We are the midwives and healers, grandmothers and grandfathers of this new world, for each of us is bringing in this new collective life force.
The more whole we are, the more we know and love ourselves, the more embodied we are, the more aligned and true this new energy will be, laying a strong foundation for the Age of Aquarius…
So with this New Moon in Aquarius, we have to stay true to our uniqueness but drop the exclusivity that makes us think we’re better than others. Aquarius is concerned with the group Mind. That means how we all contribute to this Mind.
Many of us want to live in a grown-up world, where people actually are courteous, creative, cooperative and capable. Where each of us is responsible for the world we live in.
To live otherwise is to act childish in the worst possible ways. That is what our patriarchal society would have us do. Stay children and we’ll take care of all your needs IF you do what you’re told. This old story has had its day.
We each know in our hearts that the most important things in life are love and our connection to each other, our animal cousins and the Earth. So let’s expand our sense of community to all these realms and find that future story that benefits all of us.”
~Cathy Pagano
 
Art by Tang Yau Hoong

“The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn’t live boldly enough, that they didn’t invest enough heart, didn’t love enough. And that’s how we measure out our real respect for people—by the degree of feeling they can register, the voltage of life they can carry and tolerate—and enjoy. As Buddha says: live like a mighty river. And as the old Greeks said: live as though all your ancestors were living again through you.” ~Ted Hughes

Art - Fabio Napoleoni

Art by Fabio Napoleoni

“Years of research among the records of olden peoples available in libraries, museums, and shrines of ancient cultures, has convinced me that there exists in the world today, and has existed for thousands of years, a body of enlightened humans united in what might be termed, an Order of the Quest. It is composed of those whose intellectual and spiritual perceptions have revealed to them that civilization has a Secret Destiny–secret, I say, because this high purpose is not realized by the many; the great masses of peoples still live along without any knowledge whatsoever that they are part of a Universal Motion in time and space.” ~ Manly Palmer Hall

evolution

Happy Leo Full Moon! “This full moon wants to remind us that we are creators, not consumers. We are giant hearts walking around in small bodies. We are wizards that think they are muggles. We are always, at every turn, co-creating the world anew. To hold back, to fear of or to admonish our way of self-expression, or anyone else’s, is to hold back the continuing creation of the world. We are the creators we need.” ~Chani Nicholas

Moon people

LISTEN TO ME, MISFIT…

Art by CARRIE HILGERT.jpg

to the impulsive child
to the daughter who was criticized more than praised
to the son who was told to stop crying
to the weird shaped star stumbling through the universe to the sound of the ghosts of your past:
who won’t stop chattering about being careful
who won’t stop warning
who won’t stop being concerned
who won’t stop telling you this isn’t how life is lived
who keeps saying to work harder
sweat more blood
but hold some of those cards back

to you, the one who felt so different
but tried anyway
to be like the other kids
because it was safer
because you were fed fear instead of the honey of the gods

maybe they saw a glimpse of your light
and it scared them
for sure they were just handing you what was handed to them

it was never you
ever, ever, ever

and now here you are
a Grown Up
and you feel your heart threatening to take you on a wild ride
you hear the wolf’s howl
the roar of the lion
the trump of the elephant
it’s shaking your bones

so you stumble toward that
and you say THIS. This is me
but you keep falling in that pit
you keep hearing those voices
Don’t go too far.
Don’t draw too much attention to yourself.
Don’t be such a narcissist.
Don’t make people too uncomfortable.
Remember that one time when you fucked everything up?
Because you have some very real issues.
But do you? What is beneath them? Who told you that?

Didn’t you just do what you could in every moment of your life?

I’m telling you right now:

you. are. not. broken.

you are not too much this or that

you, in fact, can believe what you want.
it is your birthright.
No one can tell you what to do.
Or how to be.
Or what to believe.
And furthermore, you are a cycle breaker
you are a renegade
against generations of fear based living

Stand up right this minute
and know that I see you
because I see me, too.
I see your magnificence.
You don’t belong here, it’s true.

You belong to the world that is waiting for you to see yourself for who you are.

Glorious. Magic. Powerful. Perfect. Just. As. You. Fucking. Are.

Period. Let that sink in awhile.

~ Art and words by Carrie Hilgert