For those of you looking for rituals, prayers, or meditations for the Full Moon eclipse on June 26, 2010, I’m not providing a full-length ritual but I do have some powerful suggestions that you may wish to incorporate into your spiritual work.  I realize that many of you are doing work specifically for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and for health issues, so I’m focusing on those here today.  I think you’ll like the imagery.

Using the astrology signs:  This particular Full Moon is always very powerful to me, especially if it’s close to the Summer Solstice (earlier this week on June 21, 2010).  That’s because the Sun is in Cancer and it’s very much a father-feel to this time of year as the Sun is at its height and the days are longest.  Sun in Cancer is a gentle and fluid form of masculine, protective energy, yet Cancer is ruled by the Moon, which is feminine, fluid, emotional, nurturing.  And this particular Full Moon is in decidedly non-watery, non-fluid, non-emotional, structured and staid Capricorn, an earth sign.  To me, this is about as opposite as you can get.  But…it’s the perfect time for manifesting, especially manifesting emotional things or things that need…”flow.”  Capricorn is the best of all astrological signs for manifesting.  Think of making something rock-solid.

Recommended tool/image to incorporate for a beautiful ritual or prayer: 

Water.  Leave a sealed container of pure water out overnight in the light of the full moon. 

Try to time your prayer/ritual/meditation for the time of the eclipse—here on the Gulf Coast of Florida where we’re watching the oil overtake our white beaches and threaten our groundwater if Tropical Storm/Hurricane Alex comes ashore, the timing is 6:31 AM  Central Time, with the Ascendant in Cancer and the eclipse in the Sixth House of Health and Daily Life.   

During your spiritual work, focus on the some aspect of the water that you would like to manifest solidly .  For example, the water may represent purity of the Gulf of Mexico.  If you’re seeking to improve your health, it might represent contamination in the body being washed away.   It might represent the flow of emotion in a relationship or the ability to be fluid under hard times.   Since this eclipse is under a T-square formation and has many sharp and upsetting angles,  think not so much of disruption but of change to something purer, something that flows better for you. 

Drink the entire container of water during your spiritual work as you visualize it purifying, flowing, etc.

Throughout the next 28 days, drink water as often as possible instead of other liquids, and each time you do, recall this working and bless yourself.

Don’t forget to read the other astrology articles focusing on the eclipse this week!

One of my favorite methods is the one used in this short “instructional” novella, Salt and Fire: Cleansing and House Purification Rituals, by Lauren Hartford.  It’s told in fiction-form to show you step by step how it’s done and any potential hazards to watch out for.

What I like most about the Lauren Hartford Method is that it combines four elements, even though it seems that it would combine only two.  Salt, of course, represents the element of Earth.  Alcohol becomes a burning liquid, so the elements of both Water and Fire seem to play together.  The strong, fresh smell–the element of Air–is the result as the other three elements react to each other. 

Get the book.  It’s only a few bucks and you need to know the dangers before you try such a serious “house-cleaning.”

PDF version. $3.00 Retail Price. Download pdf file now.

Enjoying the sugar-white sand of the Grayton Beach – Destin area at Thanksgiving, pre- Oil Spill. Photo copyrighted; all rights reserved.

Since I posted A Pagan Point of View of the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico a few weeks ago, I’ve been inundated with requests for rituals, spells, and prayers–both pagan and Christian–for the oil spill.   For those of you who know my style of spiritual leadership, you know that I don’t believe in standardizing much of anything, including passing out canned prayers.  HOWEVER, I will give you some ideas to incorporate into your own spiritual work in regard to the oil spill.

I do not believe in publishing one or two rituals for everyone to use because I believe the most effective spiritual work is work you do yourself, work you put yourself and your thoughts into.  That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go write an extensive ritual and perform it at a particular degree of the zodiac or phase of the moon, in my opinion.  I believe that it’s far more important for anyone doing spiritual work for the Gulf of Mexico right now to make a personal connection with Deity, however simple or complex, and then focus on your intentions in your spiritual work.   If I gave you a specific prayer, then it would be a prayer that resonates deeply for me but it would never have the power of a prayer YOU can offer up. 

Here are a few ideas:

Unfortunately, we have a lot to pray for.  Your prayers can go several different directions, depending on which facet of this catastrophe is most important to you or which you feel the need to focus on.  You may want to focus on all of them.

What’s done is done.  Tar balls are already washing up on my beautiful white beaches near Destin, Florida.  The air is thick with a stifling petro smell that triggers my asthma and sends me into coughing fits.  Oil-covered sea life is already being reported.   There is no need to create a ritual to stop this from happening because it’s too late–though perhaps you might want to pray that this will never happen again, especially since it’s so much a repeat of the 1979  oil spill in the Gulf, except exponentially worse.  Imagine our entire country being spurred to come up with real solutions to energy that will make us less or non oil dependent and demanding our politicians work together to help us clean up our world.

You may also want to focus on damage control and on stopping the leaking oil.  After all, the longer the oil is uncontrolled, the more damage to the coastline, wildlife, human health, and the local economies.  Spend some time in your prayers visualizing the best and brightest minds coming up with innovative, fast solutions.  (Granted, at this point, they probably won’t be wearing BP shirts, so really use your imagination.)  Think of the people, companies, think tanks,  and even other countries coming forth to offer solutions that really work.

You could concentrate on the clean-up effort, on creative and bold new ways to counteract any more damage before it can be done.  Give thanks for all the volunteers who are helping to protect the coastline and tend to the ailing wildlife.

Create your own ritual for the protection of the environment from further damage and the healing of all its creatures.  Consider working with Yemaja, the African Goddess of the Ocean, if that appeals to you.

Pray for prosperity to return to the already hard hit local economies that depend on fishing and tourism.  We already recognize the bad economy our country is trudging through right now, but restaurants, hotels, and beaches are empty along the Emerald Coast because tourists are quickly cancelling their vacations and heading to Atlantic beaches or inland instead.   Pray, too, for those families who depend on the fishing industry for their livelihood. Pray that perhaps  help will come for the local communities with as much enthusiasm as other Americans have had for helping the hapless victims of earthquakes in Haiti and natural disasters throughout the world and that the locals won’t have to wonder why they don’t deserve a little help, too.

Pray for those who deal with dark emotions in the wake of this catastrophic oil spill.  What was disbelief and then resignation to the inevitable has become bitterness, anger, and depression for the people who are seeing their shores and their communities tainted with oil.   Pray for those cynics who try to lighten their bitterness with jokes about which BP executives should act as personal filler for the leak, because I dont’ know of anyone apologizing for their feelings.

I suppose you could also pray for the companies responsible and for the men who run them, and that we’ll all find whatever it is that we need to forgive them.  Honestly, though, I can’t do that myself.  I haven’t really witnessed any remorse that felt authentic, and that’s usually what it takes for me to be in a forgiving mood.  It would be disingenuous of me to say otherwise.

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So you see, I could not possibly give you one standardized prayer, ritual, or spell that would cover so very many things this oil spill has visited upon us here on the beaches of Florida.  You’ll have to choose for yourself where to begin. 

I first discovered that I needed a technique for getting the most out of such sites back in 2008.  I was attending a large festival that included some sacred spots.  The group hosting the festival conducted both an opening and closing ritual, and I arrived too late and left too early.

After attending this festival for several years, I noticed a difference when I did not attend the seemingly minor rituals that connected me to the place and then helped me disconnect.  I never even realized that aspect.  I’d thought the opening ritual was just to give me the list of rules for being onsite and the closing ritual was merely a way of thanking the few remaining participants for their hard work.

Without the opening ritual, I found I had a hard time settling into the spot.  I was cranky.  Instead of being excited at being there and having a great time, it took me a full day to feel at home and start to connect with the holiness of the place.   Upon leaving, I spent several very cranky days before I seemed to disconnect from where I’d been.

The next time I attended the festival, I knew I’d miss the opening and closing rituals so I developed a little technique that helps me to get the most out of any ritual area, spiritual festival, or even a historical monument (and yes, I really wish I’d done this when I left Gettysburg with all its extreme empathic energy blasts).

When I first arrive at a spot, as soon as I can, I walk the perimeter.  Barefoot. Preferably in a clockwise circle or direction.  As I walk, I contemplate the physical and metaphysical properties of the place.  If I feel that there are unseen beings or guardians there, I try to give them respect and present myself as a visitor of honor and one who is honored to enjoy this place. I am able to connect quickly and find pleasure in the being there at a very deep spiritual level.

Upon leaving, I walk the perimeter in reverse, barefoot.  I contemplate with humility the place I have experienced spiritually.  I bid it good-bye, with gratitude for the experience.  I’m able to walk away gently as I disconnect.

Lorna Tedder, Ostara 2010

From the upcoming book, Passion to the Third Degree; originally published in 2007.

I am exhilarated, mellow, happy, calm, peaceful, powerful, amazed, excited, sleepy, and awake all at once. Ah, I feel wonderful.

You know it’s a great ritual when you feel the energy coursing through your body to the extent that your whole body is rocking with the waves and your ears throb from the pressure. I love the way a good rit can do that to me.

The sounds of the night birds were beautiful, as was the moon, so clear and full.

No Great Rites this Beltane. The Goddess had something else in mind. I’m eager to sit back and watch. There’ll be rites enough.

No doubts. None.

Now if my ears would just stop pounding….

And of course, I do reek of dragon’s blood, rose oil, and wine….

When I was first looking for a like-minded spiritual group in Northwest Florida, I found several existing circles rather easily.  These were people who were either pagan or pagan-friendly, with anything from a nice mix of different religious beliefs to a finely honed circle with a specific focus.  I contacted each of them and, without their knowing anything at all about me, they all told me that they were currently closed to new members. I felt a little miffed and rejected at the time–weren’t they even willing to meet me and give me a chance?–but now I understand.  A few did offer an explanation  about energetic harmony but having not had my own group before then, I didn’t understand the precariousness of the balance of energy among a small spiritual group, circle, or coven.

Last year, I closed my own group, my fourth, to the public.  Why?  To maintain the “good energy” we’d achieved.  I didn’t want to close it completely and I did want to be able to grow it here and there as members deployed or moved away, so I made to closed to strangers but current members could bring a guest or two occasionally if they thought it would be a good fit.  And, of course, I could bring in other people whenever I wanted, given that it was my group and I was the High Priestess-slash-Facilitator of it.

Wow, have there been lessons!

1. If you’re starting the group, set the rules to suit you. I’d had several small circles between 2003 and 2006, but internal politics always played a role.  Some members wanted to host at their homes, and that just didn’t work.  For the circle I started in March 2008, I decided that the meetings would be at my house every single time.  No exceptions. I enjoy having friends in my home, but I also didn’t want to go back to the problems my second group had where I was often making my way home at 2 AM from a healing circle I’d been misled to think was 40 minutes away instead of 2 hours away.  I wanted the control of when the meetings would be, how often, and without having to worry about babysitters or, more importantly since I was having some problems with my night vision, I didn’t have to drive after dark.

So, in exchange for that control, I set it up so that I provide dinner–usually something simple and buffet-ish, we socialize and discuss the previous gathering’s lessons for the first hour while enjoying dinner, and then I teach an hour-long class or workshop that ends in a free-for-all of questions.  That’s the way I wanted it, and the energy in my house is usually pleasant and steady.  This is a far cry from driving an hour at night to have dinner that won’t be ready until 9PM, teach a class, and have to break every few minutes because the hostess allows her unruly kids to interrupt almost as often as she and her husband yell at each other.  Hey, I don’t think that makes me a control freak…but if I’m making the effort to start a group and teach it, then I make the rules to suit myself.  The people whose energy is congruous with mine will show up.

2.  Be aware of the strangers you allow into your house because they can be the best and worst things to happen to your circle. You never know where that energy’s been! My previous circles had been crafted from friends, best friends, and friends of friends–often with their own agenda.  Circle #2 came to a screeching halt after a married member of the group began inviting her newfound married lover to our meetings so they could meet in a safe place…not to mention sneaking off during my workshops to have loud sex in my bathroom.

When I started my current group, it was after looking around and meeting one-on-one with potential candidates for over a year.  I finally decided to just see who was out there and started the original Wiccan Concepts group in Niceville on Meetup.  I paid all the fees myself, didn’t charge admission, provided dinner and class, and still had at least 75% of every RSVP list turn into a no-show.  That’s a frequent problem on Meetup, yes, but in spite of that, I met my core group through that service.  The first three people to show up  on the first night are still tried and true members after two years, and one of the three chose to pursue Wicca as an Initiate.  Other core members joined within the year, and we had a really nice energy together with true caring among the members.  That kind of balance of energy is what you want to aim for because if the participants are in harmony, then you’re working together with that energy instead of using it to pull in different directions.

Just a side note here:  Though I didn’t originally intend it, my home is a sanctuary for members of my circle.  It’s the one place that some feel they can come to get away from stress and drudgery and luxuriate in an evening of magic and friendship.

Of course, if you’re inviting the general public into your home, you really don’t know what you’re getting.  I got wonderful and I got…problem children.  Normally someone whose energy didn’t mesh with the group would show up once, insist everything be his or her way, and then stomp off in a huff.  I didn’t cry over it.  Occasionally, someone with their own set of problems would show up and spend the evening putting me down or being disrespectful of what I was teaching–I still cannot abide people talking on their cell phones or via sign language while I’m trying to hold a class.  Some would show up and really mesh well with the group but had too many issues with parents or family not wanting them to attend and soon they faded away.

The final straw that caused me to close down my Meetup group and move it to a private, invitation-only basis was  when my daughter caught one of the first-timers going through her things in a cabinet, and later we realized that some of my daughter’s cherished possessions were gone.  Okay, big hot button:  you don’t steal from me.  The Wiccan Concepts group is still on Meetup but–little did I know when I canceled the group–MeetUp allows other people to take over a canceled group and claim it as their own if the moderator steps down.  Otherwise, it’s a good option for meeting candidates for your group whom you’d never meet.

3.  If someone doesn’t show after several invitations, drop it. I’ve had several cases where someone begged me for an invitation, then never showed–usually after I’d cooked for them and made sure enough parking was available so as not to upset my neighbors.  On one hand, I’ve not really understood.  How can you beg to be invited because you’re sure I can show you the one thing you’re looking for and then stand me up several times?  The irony is that the thing they’re looking for is almost always at my house and available to them.  Perhaps the thing I have to offer them is something they shouldn’t really have?  I don’t know, but my rule is, if you turn down my invitation three times, you don’t get invited back.  If you ask to come repeatedly and yet never show, you don’t get invited back because I don’t think you’re serious.

4. Beware of inviting people you’re romantically involved with. I’ve done this several times and have had great and terrible luck, depending on the guy.  In an earlier group, my date was welcomed with open arms and enjoyed the evening, with lots of good input; however, the other women really wanted his attention, and not spiritually.  In my current group, my sweetie quickly became part the group and was adored for himself and for his Tarot talents.  He attended multiple meetings  and was very much a part of the group harmony.  The energy was powerful and balanced.  More recently, I’ve invited three different guys I’ve been involved with.  They’ve all either turned me down instantly because they weren’t comfortable with subject matter or simply didn’t show.  The difference is that the first two men were held similar spiritual interests while the other men in my life haven’t been interested in either attending a gathering or becoming part of the group because their relationships with me lacked the spiritual element.

5.  Other than the lack of consideration, don’t worry about the no-shows. Not long before I decided to pursue formal training in Wicca, I learned a valuable lesson from Maggie Shayne, who created a special open circle with Evelyn Vaughn and me at a Romance Writer’s of America conference in Washington, D.C.   Someone on the way to the open circle, which we led out in a park-like area, had twisted her ankle and couldn’t participate.  Maggie passed on to me that sometimes people aren’t part of the ritual because of reasons we aren’t meant to know.  If they’re supposed to be there, they will be.  I’ve seen people come to rituals and celebrations with anger and jealousy that disturbed the balance of energy, so I no longer question that…though I will question why someone can’t pick up the phone and let me know not to plan for them.

6.  Just because a person is your best friend (or even your spouse) doesn’t mean she should be part of your circle. I brought my open-minded, pagan-friendly, New-Age-Christian, bestest-friend-in-the-world into the periphery of my first circle and more heavily into my second and third.  It wasn’t smooth.  We both wanted it to work but it just didn’t. She was used to being a teacher whenever she was in a crowd and those natural instincts always took over.  No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t be a student.   She struggled with being in “learn” mode vs “teach” mode, and  only occasionally was the energy nicely balanced, usually when we were working together to help someone else.

7.  Just because a person is harmonious with you doesn’t mean he’ll be harmonious with the group. I have had people I adore shock me. I have had friendly, balanced relationships with individuals who shared many of my beliefs and were open to learning and I’ve excitedly invited them to attend a couple of meetings, only to drop them from the invitations later.  I couldn’t believe how different they were in a group–patronizing, negative, disruptive.  It was as if they suddenly forgot they were guests or students in a class, or that the other attendees were  not there for a newcomer’s advice but rather, for what I had to teach them.

8. When inviting new people, try to meet them one-on-one before considering bringing them into the group. There are people I’ve lunched with and never looked back at.  There are others whom I lunch with regularly, but will never invite them to a group function or a workshop.   The energy just isn’t right for the whole group.

9.  When inviting new people to join the group, start on a trial basis. They don’t have to know it’s a trial.  After attending once or twice, you’ll have a feel for whether they contribute to the group energy or detract from it.  You don’t want to commit yourself and then have to end a friendship because the rest of the group can’t bear to have them in the same room.

10.  Consider having long distance or deployed members join the meetings by Skype or speaker phone. I’ve done this with members of different circles, and while it wasn’t the ideal of having them physically present, it does allow for some interaction we’d all be sadder without.  It’s still very possible to “attend” a class by webcam or phone, and even to allow different members of the group to pair off with the phone or webcam for a Tarot reading or detailed discussion.

For me, the hardest part of having a successful group is in maintaining the balance of energy.  I’m now enlisting my daughter to help more with hostessing and sergeant-at-arms duties, mainly because I feel I need to give some attention to newcomers while not forgetting about my tried and true core group.  Sometimes newcomers demand a lot of attention–which has more of a “take” feel that pulls on the group energy, and those people don’t tend to be a good fit for the group.  But every now and then, someone new attends who is respectful and willing to share and just fits in from Day One.  Those people don’t drain and lower the group energy:  they amplify it.  It’s a delicate balance but well worth it if you can achieve it.

Today’s Book Spotlight is on Salt and Fire:  Cleansing and House Purification Rituals.  Lauren Hartford uses a “novel approach” to explaining how to perform a complicated (and possibly dangerous) ritual to cleanse your home.  All details are provided in the form of a short novella, covering the materials needed, the actual process, the dangers, safety precautions, helpful hints and tips, possible results, and various considerations that you won’t find in the usual “how-to” book.

As with all of Lauren’s books in her Priestess Diaries series, these novels, novellas, and short stories  are “teaching fiction.”  They stand alone or can be read as part of a whole if you like the characters Lauren presents.

Salt and Fire is one of the shorter books and can be read easily in one sitting.  Even slow readers can finish it within an hour.  It’s available only in pdf, so you can download it to your computer or mobile phone.   Retail price is $3 – good info, and for the price of a quickie vending machine snack!

Download pdf file now.

Other books by Lauren Hartford focus on protection rituals, hypnosis and guided meditations, the Law of Attraction, and real witch wars, with two upcoming books on listening to your intuition and building inter-dimensional portals.

Understand and amplify your magick and rituals by using the Law of Attraction, whether your intent is to manifest love, prosperity, healing, protection, or something else.

Making your rituals and spells work is easy if you understand Universal Law.

Ever since The Secret garnered popularity a few years ago, you’ve heard plenty of hype about manifesting the life you want–which is, of course, the change that magick brings. Most of what you’ve heard on TV or in the news really is nothing more than hype. It’s only part of the stary, and if you try to use the Law of Attraction without really understanding it, you’re likely to misuse it and bring the reverse of what you really want, like in Lauren Hartford’s Fire Burning in Water.

The real Law of Attraction is about intent, belief, and tuning your feelings to the frequency of what you want– which some regard as “to know, to will, and to dare.”

I am truly blessed.  I had the honor during this Solar Eclipse of January 2010 to facilitate the Third Degree Elevation of my youngest student, Lord Midlight, who began studying with me in August 2007.   During this time, I watched him really come into his own, and especially as a powerful manifestor.

I had to laugh afterwards as the group I was with went to dinner and out for some fun, and Midlight was still bouncing off the walls.  I give him 30 days for his feet to touch the ground!

Not that it was easy for him.  I don’t really know of anyone who goes through a multi-year series of spiritual lessons who breezes along.  The course itself is designed to challenge even the most grounded, and there are times when the lessons feel more like a curse than a spiritual path.    That said, I do think he had an easier time than many, strictly because he fully embraced the spiritual lessons and didn’t resist as hard as most of us do.  Or at least, that’s how it seemed from the outside.    He not only “got it,” but he wholeheartedly went after becoming a better version of himself.

When I was Initiated, I was under the impression that my Second Degree, not my First, would be the most difficult but I have seen differently in my own students.  For me, both were awfully hard, but largely because I couldn’t muster the courage to act on where Spirit was leading me during my First and so, even upon my Second Degree Elevation,  the lessons were piling up and the work became even harder and harsher.    The difficulties for me started within minutes of leaving my Circle behind right after my Initiation and didn’t stop until shortly after my Third.  Not that everything’s been all blue sky and ponies since then, but it was a rough ride.

I’ve noted in my students and in the students of others over the past few years that the First Degree seems the hardest for them.  Lots of trauma, drama, separations, heart-wrenching surprises, and points of nearly giving up.  For those who’ve embraced the lessons and moved forward, I’ve seen the amazement in their eyes at how much life has opened up for them.  For them, getting through that dreaded Second Degree was only a matter of fine tuning and really taking responsibility for their lives.

I sometimes wish I’d learned my own spiritual lessons earlier.  Or rather, that I’d acted on them earlier.  I learned them–I just didn’t do anything with what I’d learned until another year had passed and I’d had enough.  Sorta like being held down until I finally cried “Uncle!”  Or, in this case, “Morrigan!”

I’m very proud of Lord Midlight and have so enjoyed watching his growth as a person, a friend, and student.  I hope to continue to watch his growth now as a person, a friend, and equal.

The September Full Moon in Pisces, aka the Corn Moon, occurs on September 4, 2009 at 11:03 AM Central time here in the Florida Panhandle. Last month’s Full Moon was about letting your dream take you by the hand. This Full Moon, I feel, is all about…instead of hoping someone or something will inspire your dream, YOU are the inspiration for your dream. More on that….

Aquarius, an air sign, is generally about revolution, vision, individuality, humanitarianism. It’s ideas. This time it’s about allowing the idea of something beautiful to take form and offer you a hand, particularly at the time when you feel like you don’t need a hand but you can certainly enjoy it and accept it.

For some reason, this Full Moon in Aquarius with the Sun in bold, creative, and dramatic Leo is always…CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE ECLIPSE AND RITUAL

Capricorn, an earth sign, is generally about practicality, business, and manifestation. It’s solidity. It’s bringing the…MORE

Note:  We’re moving portions of this site to a new website, http://www.spiritual-pagan-paranormal.com.  We’re not quite finished, so bear with us!

Sagittarius, a fire sign, is generally about learning, travel, fellowship, freedom. It’s about being “in the moment.” With the Sun in the idea-fringed sign of ideas on the fringe—Gemini—this particular full moon in Sagittarius will be more about ideas, insights, and putting the pieces together than about emotion.  More….

This Special Post on the Full Moon  is sponsored by

Check out 2 new sites we’re working on:  http://www.life-strategies-to-go.com and http://www.spiritual-pagan-paranormal.com.  And…don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for the latest updates.

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The April Full Moon, aka the Pink Moon, occurs in Libra on April 9, 2009 at 9:55 AM Central time here in the Florida Panhandle. This Full Moon, I feel, is all about…moving into new territory with relationships and how we want things to look.  More on that in a moment.

Libra, an air sign, is generally balanced, romantic, charming, idealistic. This particular full moon will be rather intense, considering that Venus (love, money, creativity) is retrograde and squaring an obliterating-then-rebuilding Pluto.  For a lot of people,  this Libra full moon balancing a fiery, move-it-forward Aries sun will bring about an urgent desire to make something happen in a relationship, bringing old drama to a head in a perhaps less than ideal way.  (But it will clear the deck for something better.) Last month was so filled with turbulence but this month?  There’s a sense of the Tarot here, a Lovers’ card.   A chance to find some grounding and make choices about relationships and partnerships and whether to be with a particular person, and at the same time, an opportunity to have many different relationships or partners but still say to one special person, “I choose you, regardless of how many people I may love, and choose one does not lessen the love for anyone else.”  There’s an intimacy to it of two people, but at the same time, an openness of loving groups of people who are not family but we choose to make them family, regardless of social templates.  This isn’t so much about lovers but multiple loves and not so much about a choice but choices, and the tension of Venus squaring Pluto will force some kind of decision in how we handle those relationships.

For those of you who routinely read my suggestions for meditations, you know how this works. I share this unraveling of images I have just before a New Moon, Full Moon, and/or Eclipse and you’re welcome to use what makes sense to you. For most of last year, I’ve been following this “story” of a river of emotions connected with Moon phases–everything from bridges over rivers to the structure that holds the river in its banks, to surfing the river, to becoming the river, to rising above the river in a parasail…all taking me “around the riverbend” to a beautiful new vista that is lush and green. For those of you who know me personally, you’ve watched in amazement and then horror at how some of these influences have played out in my life and how I’ve been healing from some heartbreaks and reached a place of happiness again.

For links to previous meditations, just search the Astrology or Ritual category on this site.

Thus far, the past year’s meditations have included Bridges, Riverbanks/Structures, Surfing/Sailing, Parasailing, Becoming the River, Rocks, Rebuilding the Riverbanks, Covered in Healing Mud, Washing off the Mud and Dancing Naked in the Sunlight, Beginning to Play in the River Again, Full-on Splashing in the River, Speeding around in Fun but Directionless Circles in my little boat, and Picking up a Passenger or two as we zip forward.

Which brings us to this Full Moon’s meditation: In this meditation, I am well past that point of standing beside the river, licking my wounds after the bashing from last Autumn. I have been dipping my toes in the river, dancing tentatively in the sunlight, and splashing watch all around. I have hopped into my little boat, the one without oars or a rudder. In spite of all the hurt of this past year, I’ve decided that it’s worth it to get back on the river and see where it takes me, even though I’m not steering. My motor has been running and I’ve been moving forward even though I don’t really know where I’m going, but along the way, I have picked up a passenger…a travelling companion for this journey.  I have leaned out the boat and linked arms to pull him into my craft with me, to this safer place I have to offer.

But here is the new part of this progressive meditation: as I move forward down the river, swirling this way and that in the current and not steering at all, I realize that I’ve picked up not just one passenger, but several.  These are lovers and dreams, wishes and desires.  These are those who support me on this journey and those whom I support.  The boat is so heavy with passengers that the rim is only inches above the water, that deep emotional current I’ve been in for the past year.  The boat lurches forward and swerves and…runs ashore.

This is not a bad thing.  One more passenger, and we might have been gurgling to the bottom of the riverbed.  Instead, we simply express mild surprise that we have found ground, something solid after so much emotional wateriness and uncertainty.   We climb out of this boat, onto solid ground, this time lush and not muddy.  I’m barefoot and feel the cool moss-like grass under my soles.  We can decide to get back in our boat, leaving someone behind so that we stay afloat, and continue along the course of the river…or we can explore this adventure that’s presented itself to us.   Ahead of us, opposite the riverbank, is a deep forest, and this is our other choice.  It is vast and beckoning with mysteries in the shadows and enchantment in the light.

Watch for choices to be made in the next month.  You may feel both restless and relentless in reaching a decision but ultimately, it’s about how you want your relationships to look—a very Libra kind of quality!

Check out 2 new sites we’re working on:  http://www.life-strategies-to-go.com and http://www.spiritual-pagan-paranormal.com.

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The March Full Moon, aka the Full Worm Moon or Full Crow Moon, occurs in Virgo on March 10, 2009 at 9:37 PM Central time here in the Florida Panhandle. This Full Moon, I feel, is all about…some unexpected healing or service, even if the service is to yourself. It carries a six of swords kind of energy, the Tarot card that usually reflects travel or service to mankind. But more on that in a moment.

Virgo, an earth sign, is generally practical, perfectionist, analytical, and—sometimes—woundingly critical. This particular full moon will herald some surprises, I think, because there are some strong influences around it. Surrounding this full moon, we have a Sun-Uranus conjunction (potential for upsets and shakeups), a Moon-Saturn conjunction (heaviness or restriction of emotion), Sun opposite Saturn (frustration and conflict), plus a conjunction of Chiron (healing), Neptune (uncertainty), and Mars (aggression) giving us a need to take action but being uncertain of it in light of our past wounds. Expect the unexpected this week and watch for opportunities to heal, though it will be up to you whether you want to take them.

For example… In just the last 2 days of this moon’s influence, I’ve had several near misses in my car from people not paying attention, seen cars driving the wrong way down one-way streets, people accidentally mis-dialing and getting someone from their past, and general turbulence from unexpected corners with strange opportunities.

My favorite was getting a call from a guy who chickened out of a date at the last minute—over a year ago–and then blew me off whenever I said hello afterward. It was off-putting back then because we’d hit it off. I guess he never took my number out of his phone directory because he called to ask for a reference for his commercial appraisal business. When I returned his call, it became clear very quickly that he’d mixed up my name with someone else’s. He was very embarrassed and stammered his way off the phone with promises to call back. But his unexpected confrontation presented a new possibility: after no contact for so long, I had a second chance at reconnecting. He’d bruised my ego by ditching me 15 minutes before our date, though at least he called. When I examined my current feelings about the situation and what I wanted to do about it, I discovered quickly that I’m not interested in him anymore, at all, and that old bruise faded on the spot.

For those of you who routinely read my suggestions for meditations, you know how this works. I share this unraveling of images I have just before a New Moon, Full Moon, and/or Eclipse and you’re welcome to use what makes sense to you. For most of last year, I’ve been following this “story” of a river of emotions connected with Moon phases–everything from bridges over rivers to the structure that holds the river in its banks, to surfing the river, to becoming the river, to rising above the river in a parasail…all taking me “around the riverbend” to a beautiful new vista that is lush and green. For those of you who know me personally, you’ve watched in amazement and then horror at how some of these influences have played out in my life and how I’ve been healing from some heartbreaks and reached a place of happiness again.

For links to previous meditations, just search the Astrology or Ritual category on this site.

Thus far, the past year’s meditations have included Bridges, Riverbanks/Structures, Surfing/Sailing, Parasailing, Becoming the River, Rocks, Rebuilding the Riverbanks, Covered in Healing Mud, Washing off the Mud and Dancing Naked in the Sunlight, Beginning to Play in the River Again, Full-on Splashing in the River, and Speeding around in Fun but Directionless Circles in my little boat. Which brings us to this Full Moon’s meditation: In this meditation, I am well past that point of standing beside the river, licking my wounds after the bashing from last Autumn. I have been dipping my toes in the river, dancing tentatively in the sunlight, and splashing watch all around. I have hopped into my little boat, the one without oars or a rudder. In spite of all the hurt of this past year, I’ve decided that it’s worth it to get back on the river and see where it takes me, even though I’m not steering. My motor is running and I’m moving forward even though I don’t really know where I’m going.

I have been content in the past month to enjoy the sunshine and let my motor propel me to wherever it will without waiting for the things I want in life to hop in the boat with me. I’m moving forward, regardless.

But here is the new part of this progressive meditation: as I move forward down the river, I am aware of a passenger ahead. Whether that passenger is a person or a desire, I don’t know. But I can see him in the water, not as secure as I am in my boat and perhaps being bashed against the same rocks as I was last Autumn. I lean out of the boat, hooking my arm for the drowning man to catch. He is an unexpected passenger, and I am able to link arms and pull him into my boat as I move ever forward. It is a service to him, yes, that I have brought him into a safer place with me, but for me, I have a travelling companion now on my journey, whether he be a dream, a lover, or a need.

Watch for unexpected things coming into your life over the next month. Some will seem difficult or heavy to deal with and other may be filled with confrontation. All, however, are an opportunity to bring something aboard with you that can make your journey more enjoyable. It may require a degree of service you didn’t expect, but it can clear out the old wounds and shape a better future for you.

Photo by Marty (S); Creative Commons License

This Special Post on the Full Moon Eclipse is sponsored by The Long-Awaited Honest-to-God Secret to Being Happy, available at half-price to readers of The Spiritual Eclectic.  Click here to download.

The February Full Moon, aka the Full Snow Moon, occurs in Leo on February 9, 2009 at 8:49 Central time here in the Florida Panhandle.  The extra oomph for this full moon is that it’s a lunar eclipse, meaning the Earth eclipses the moon, at 20 Leo 52.  Lunar Eclipses are all about culmination, particularly of what started at the previous new moon eclipse two weeks ago.  The timing for this eclipse, if you like to incorporate eclipses into your rituals for a good “slingshot” effect, is 8:38 Central time, so you might want to take a look at what planets in your natal chart are near 21 Leo (see this previous post for more explanation).  I recommend creating a free natal chart at astro.com, (not affilitated with this blog) if you don’t have one already and looking specifically at the area of your life where this eclipse will affect you.

This Full Moon, I feel, is all about…transformation into who you really are.  It’s like that last extra push into becoming the fully realized person you know yourself to be, even if you keep it hidden from the rest of the world.  You know what’s really right for you, so step into it!  Live it!   And live authentically, happy in knowing who you are.

Leo, a fire sign, is generally a sign of boldness, authenticity, confidence, self-assurance, playfulness, really knowing who you are and what’s right for you.   Sometimes, it’s a bit arrogant because it’s so self-assured.  Several years ago, a Leo friend was telling me that his students were challenging him on some issues with astrology and how dare they because he was a Leo and he knew what he was talking about.  When he realized what he’d just said, we burst into laughter because it was so true to a Leo.

That sense of authencity and opening up to more playfulness and confidence has been a growing theme in the past month of my ritual/moon meditation suggestions.  I certainly didn’t plan it that way, but that’s the way it’s unfolding, and right now with quite a few planets in visionary Aquarius opposite Leo, it’s a good time to start your own personal revolution and change your world.

For those of you who routinely read my suggestions for meditations, you know how this works. I share this unraveling of images I have just before a New Moon, Full Moon, and/or Eclipse and you’re welcome to use what makes sense to you. For most of last year, I’ve been following this “story” of a river of emotions connected with Moon phases–everything from bridges over rivers to the structure that holds the river in its banks, to surfing the river, to becoming the river, to rising above the river in a parasail…all taking me “around the riverbend” to a beautiful new vista that is lush and green. For those of you who know me personally, you’ve watched in amazement and then horror at how some of these influences have played out in my life and how I’ve been healing from some heartbreaks.

For links to previous meditations, just search the Astrology or Ritual category on this site. Thus far, the past year’s meditations have included Bridges, Riverbanks/Structures,  Surfing/Sailing, Parasailing, Becoming the River, Rocks, Rebuilding the Riverbanks,  Covered in Healing Mud, Washing off the Mud and Dancing Naked in the Sunlight, Beginning to Play in the River Again, and Full-on Splashing in the River.

Which brings us to this Full Moon’s meditation:

In this meditation, I am no longer standing beside the river, licking my wounds after the bashing from last Autumn.  I have been dipping my toes in the river, dancing tentatively in the sunlight, and splashing watch all around.  I now find myself in a boat. It’s a small boat, but one without oars or a rudder (or whatever that thing is that gives you direction…you can tell I don’t boat, huh?)  Somehow, in spite of all the hurt of this past year, I’ve decided that it’s worth it to get back on the river and see where it takes me.  I’m not steering though.  And at the same time, I’m not simply letting the river flow with me further around this lush riverbend that’s been part of my life since last August.  My little boat has a motor, and it’s revved and pushing me forward.  I move in swirls and splashes, not in a straight line and not sure of where it’s taking me.  But…the sun is shining and I know I’ll be okay and I’m having fun.  The most important thing that comes to me is that while not everything I want is in the boat with me at the moment, I’m not waiting for it to hop in the boat with me.  Waiting, I’m told, never helps.  It does not matter if I sit and wait for my passenger to swim upstream to find me here with the boat or if I pick up that particular person/dream/desire downstream, it will appear when the time is right.  Meanwhile, waiting is wasted effort and I’m to enjoy this sunshine  and splashing until my next passenger swims out to meet me, breaks apart some boulders in the way, jumps from a bridge  to splash beside me, or washes ashore.  That particular desire will show up at the right point.  Meanwhile, I’m adding to what I have to offer by creating playful new life experiences for myself, and for sharing and building on later.

Photo by Aphrodite ; creative commons license

“How can I release old resentments and anger?” a friend asked.   She’s a very wise and together person, and very spiritual, so the question surprised me a little.  There’s always that expectation, you know, that spiritual people don’t get angry or carry resentments but some wounds are deep and take a long, long time to heal.

It’s only in looking back over the past four years that I realize how much old anger I’ve released.  It’s made a big difference in healing my life, and though I don’t quite have everything I want in my life just yet, I have a life I enjoy and one that’s vastly different from a few years ago. 

The first step for me to begin to release old resentments and angers was in realizing that it really was anger that I was carrying, from as far back as my early childhood.  I’d never considered myself an angry person…but inside I was furious.  I so seldom got “mad,” but I did get hurt a lot.  That was the key.  I grew up in a Southern Baptist home amidst a church upbringing that taught me that anger was a deadly sin and that I needed to be a good girl, good and forgiving and great at turning the other cheek.  The way anger manifested in me was not as rage but as “hurt.”  I couldn’t tell the difference, and to be honest, I sometimes still can’t.

The second step in releasing my anger was to honor it.  I had to stop thinking of anger as a “bad emotion” I wasn’t allowed to have.  Anger was my way of refusing a certain path of oppression and of demanding that I be respected and valued.  I learned to let it out in mostly constructive ways, to stop apologizing for it, and to use it as a reminder not to allow certain people to abuse either me or my compassion.  It’s saved me many times from letting an old wounding be repeated.

The hardest part of releasing anger is to meet it head on and investigate its root cause.  That means a lot of self-inquiry.  It means looking in shadowy places, shining the light on them, and dispersing them.  For me, it took the shape of a healing journal where I poured out millions of words that later became articles, books, e-courses, and workshops that help other people deal with similar issues.  The writing, for me, was cathartic, but I’ve also written poetry and songs, and if I were talented at dance or painting, I might have tried those methods as well.

Some old angers could be released only through ritual; in particular the Ho’ponopono ritual has been helpful to me.  It’s doubled as a funeral for my tyranical father and a divorce meditation for my ex. 

Another way for me to release old resentments has been to recognize the situation for what it really was and then rewrite it the way it “should” have been.  My article, The Day My Parents Killed the Pedophile,  is a good example and is recommended by many online communities dedicated to healing sexual abuse. 

It’s not that all of those old angers have been banished.  They’ve been released into the wild.  That means some have vanished, maybe for forever, but other still roam around and revisit from time to time to feed, or try to.  It helps to realize that in most cases, the people who wounded and angered me were doing the best they could with what they had and weren’t intentionally trying to hurt me.  It was just part of their personalities, but not something I have to bind myself to.  Some old resentments still float around me, unseen  and unnoticed until one lands close by or bops me on the head, and with those I can sometimes reach out from a different perspective and pop that bubble and it’s gone for good because it no longer has any power over me or chains on me.  There was nothing left but a thin sheen of oily color and no substance at all.

To keep new angers from forming, I’ve become more vocal, allowing my anger to show where I might not have before and with little regard for whether I particularly upset the other person or not.  Not every time, but exponentially more often than a few years ago.  Sometimes it becomes a major confrontation and sometimes it might ensure the partnership will not thrive (it won’t anyway if I hold in the anger) but holding it in only transforms the anger into a cancer (sometimes literally) that eats away and tastes like hurt. 

The big question for me to ask myself is, when my feelings have been deeply hurt, is it really hurt?  Or is it anger?  Or both?   It’s more often anger at injustice and disrepect than anything else.  And if I express myself as “I am so hurt that you….,” do I really mean “I am so angry that you…”?  If I express it as hurt and the relationship is truly a loving one, it can manifest for the other person as guilt rather than as a chance to clear the air.  Guilt only keeps it inside to fester.

photo by PakyuZ; Creative commons license

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Every time there’s a New Moon, Full Moon, or an Eclipse, I get thousands of search engine hits from readers looking for rituals/meditations and information on the upcoming event.  Some of this I can help you with, and some I can’t.

If you’re here for a step-by-step ritual, you won’t find it.  That’s because you need to do the work yourself.  Yes, you can find online rituals, free, word for word, but you’re missing the point.  (And yes, some are good for ideas.)  But the point is to do the spiritual work yourself, and that’s as unique for you as you are.  Spiritual work is not something you can copy from someone else’s homework and get the same result.  Their homework is specific to their spiritual needs, not yours.  It’s like attending an aerobics class to slim down–others may be doing the same or similar moves in different bodies, but if you don’t move yourself, you won’t gain the benefits.  You can observe others moving all you want, but if you don’t put your own energy into it, nothing’s going to happen for you.

So instead of giving you a step-by-step ritual so you can perhaps manifest what I want, I’ll walk you through my process so you can understand how to get the most out of a ritual or meditation to bring to you what you want.  Are you with me?  Join me, the Queen of Metaphors….

Event:  New Moon–and it’s a solar eclipse.

Why elipses are important:  Eclipses tend to bring big changes.  What, you think I just made this up? I’ve watched it in my own life and of my loved ones for years.  Look to history and how so often eclipses have been considered omens and the events that have been linked to eclipses, whether they happened as a result of a natural build-up of forces or people used the eclipse energy to force the event. 

Astrologically, they tend to have the regenerative effect of Pluto conjunct a House or Planet, sometimes decimating what was there before to remove it from your life and moving you forward to rebirth that area of your life.  I usually see the biggest blast from this laser-life focus of energy within 3 days of an eclipse, but sometimes, it hits exactly 30 days later.  [Side note:  after the last solar eclipse, I had a major but wonderful life-changing influence enter my life about 3 days later with a related intense and good turning point exactly 30 days later.] Sometimes I think of these eclipses as big erasers, slowly covering and erasing something from my past and making room to write something new.

The change is after the eclipse, not before, unlike with other conjunction patterns.  Think of a massive light focused through a lens and burning across an area of your life–it will either sear it or illuminate it.

Where:  This annular solar eclipse will be seen mainly in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.  Here in Florida, I do believe I’m out of luck…but that doesn’t mean I can’t use the power of this eclipse to aid me in my spiritual work. 

When:  1:55 AM, Central time here in the Florida Panhandle, January 26, 2009 (January 25 if you’re in an earlier time zone)–which means I’m happy to have Monday off because I can stay up latelatelate on Sunday night to acknowledge the moment–and the change I want to come into my life.

Signs:  This solar eclipse is the first half of a pair of Aquarius-Leo eclipses, with the lunar eclipse coming on February 9.  This eclipse is in Aquarius–specifically at 6 degrees 29 minutes Aquarius.  This is important to the type of energy or influences at play.  Also notable is that the Sun is in Aquarius and the Moon is also a New Moon in Aquarius and they’re conjunct Jupiter in Aquarius.  I think here in Northwest Florida, Scorpio will be rising at the time of the eclipse, so it should be extra intense here.  The Sun-Jupiter conjunction is a great sign for hope and wondrous new things coming into our lives.

Aquarius energy, to me, is all about visionary, revolutionary, unique ways of doing things–and ways of being.  That’s the energy I want to attune to for my meditation.

Houses:  My natal astrology chart gives me an idea of how this pair of eclipses will affect me.  If you don’t believe in astrology, no problem–just consider it as a language you don’t speak and not a science or math.  What patterns that have been in existence long before the English language this post is written in are in play right now?  Astrology is all about patterns, personified by celestial bodies.   For me, this pair of eclipses takes place in my Twelfth House (spirituality, secrets, the unknown, the subconscious) in Aquarius and in my Sixth House (work, daily life, health) in Leo.

So for me, the January 26 eclipse in Aquarius will be mostly felt in my spirituality-secrets-subconcious sector where I tend to find a lot of my own inner transformation.     With a stellium of planets in my Aquarian Twelfth House, I’ve had the tendancy to put up with a lot of crap and I’m putting that in the past and forging a more positive and tranquil place to be, where spirituality and love blend as one for me and where I can explore all the secrets of the subconscious and spirituality, preferably with someone.  These are areas where I want to concentrate when meditating on changes and improvements.  I could focus on other areas but if I can match the energies, then it’s like getting a tail wind to give me extra mileage.

If you don’t have a natal chart already, I recommend http://www.astro.com where you can find out quickly, at no $$$, but please don’t ask me to cast your chart for you.  This informative article is free but my time isn’t

Conjunctions:  As I mentioned above, eclipse energy is like a Pluto conjunction (use the search feature in the right-hand column to look for prior posts on eclipses and conjunctions).  I check my natal, or birth, chart to see if I have any planets, asteroids, etc, at 6 Aquarius 29 (or very close) where this eclipse will fall in my chart.  In this case, I have Saturn at the exact degree.  In the past (see prior articles), I’ve had the eclipse exact on a specific planet or my ascendant.  These are like nuclear explosions in my life!  I’ve seen several intepretations for an eclipse-Saturn conjunction and they range from blowing apart restrictions to beginning a new relationship to an end of certain fears.  The fact that it’s an Eclipse-conjunct-Jupiter (expansion, luck, broadened horizons) conjunct my natal Saturn (restrictions/structure) makes it feel very lucky and hopeful to me.  The last time an eclipse was in conjunction to anything Jupiter in my chart, it heralded a mind-blowing new relationship that opened amazing new vistas for me in both heart and mind, so I promise to report back on how this eclipse manifests for me.  Saturn seems like a scary planet to have at this position but the last “bad” eclipse I had was conjunct my Ascendant, which many interpret as good but it was extremely stressful and disenchanting, so I’ll wait to see what this eclipse brings to my Saturn and not automatically assume the worst.

If you’re noting which planets you have that are “lit up” by this eclipse, the energy of the eclipse will feel like whatever qualities that planet represents are getting intense attention, whether you want it or not.   For example, an Eclipse conjunct Natal Venus may mean a major shakeup in your love life or your creativity.

Length of Meditation/Ritual:  Personally?  I love to use the slingshot effect combined with eclipses (I do this when Mercury comes out of retrograde, too, if I need to increase or improve communications).  Eclipses lasts different periods of time.  I didn’t do my homework on one a while back and thought my meditation would last an hour…not four hours!  I like to begin my meditation (or ritual or prayer or whatever I choose) as the eclipse begins or as the moon in a lunar eclipse is completely blotted out.  I begin wrapping up my meditation when the eclipse is over or when the first glimmer of the moon shows as the lunar eclipse passes.  This varies from eclipse to eclipse, depending on the purpose of my meditation.  Sometimes I want to really focus on wiping out the old stuff in my life that no longer serves me, and sometimes I want to focus on the return of the light and what that means to me. 

Meditation Images:  In previous posts, I’ve shared my images for my own meditations and others have found them useful as well.  (search meditation or ritual for those posts). I have, for several months now, been seeing the moon’s emotional energy as a river.  In June 2008, I was drawn to the idea of BRIDGES over the river of energy, connected past to a new future.  WIth the July Full Moon, I was drawn to the idea of the riverbanks or walls and how they structured that emotional energy. The last series of eclipses in August 2008 brought a tremendous sense of joy, sailing, and parasailing, and simply rising above and having fun.  Later in the Autumn, I went through a period of despair and grief, before which my meditations saw me bashed against the river rocks and walking on the bottom of the river.  The meditations have progressed through a healing process over the Winter months, which bring us now to this new set of eclipses.

In my meditations for this New Moon eclipse, I have a sense of everything beginning to sparkle again and I step back into the river’s water, not so nervous around it since healing and not so disdainful of what it offers.  In my visions, I see myself no longer content just to dip a toe in this once-rocky-but-now-sparkly river but wholeheartedly splashing and happy.  It’s a sweet feeling that I’ll incorporate into my meditation as I find myself in that river, just having fun and feeling very serene in this place of spirituality and hidden secrets. 

This eclipse is all about hope–and the fulfillment that comes thereafter.

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Lorna Recommends:

Her last commercial novel about Joan of Arc’s legacy

Her favorite cookbook for those “unusual” feasts

Her favorite website gear

Her personal website

Photo by Rick Leche; creative commons license.

The January Full Moon, aka the Wolf Moon, occurs in Cancer on January 10, 2009 at 9:27PM Central time here in the Florida Panhandle.  This Full Moon, I feel, is all about…the heart.

Cancer is generally a sign of emotions, nurturing, motherhood, nesting, home.  Right now, the Sun is in Capricorn, to me (Pisces that I am) a rather cold and harsh sign.  This moon feels like something gentle and overwhelmingly loving in the midst of a harsh and bright sunlight.  It’s more like an opening of the heart, and there is something child-like in this one.  Some innocence, some playfulness.

For me personally, this moon is extra special because my Jupiter is now in exact conjunction with this Full Wolf Moon. 

For those of you who routinely read my suggestions for meditations, you know how this works.  I share this unraveling of images I have just before a New Moon, Full Moon, and/or Eclipse and you’re welcome to use what makes sense to you.   For most of last year, I’ve been following this “story” of a river of emotions connected with Moon phases–everything from bridges over rivers to the structure that holds the river in its banks, to surfing the river, to becoming the river, to rising above the river in a parasail…all taking me “around the riverbend” to a beautiful new vista that is lush and green.   For those of you who know me personally, you’ve watched in amazement and then horror at how some of these influences have played out in my life and how I’ve been healing from some heartbreaks.  Here are the links to previous meditations:

Bridges — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/ritualmeditation-what-this-june-moon-is-good-for/

Riverbanks/Structures — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/serious-moonlight-ideas-for-your-july-full-moon-meditations-and-rituals/

Surfing/Sailing — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/1-august-2008-solar-eclipse-rituals-and-meditations-for-the-new-moon-in-leo/

Parasailing — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/16-august-2008-lunar-eclipse-rituals-and-meditations-for-the-full-moon-in-aquarius/

Becoming the River — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/harvest-moon-in-pisces-september-2008s-full-moon-meditation/

Rocks — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/hunter-moon-in-aries-october-2008s-full-moon-meditation/

Rebuilding the Riverbanks — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/tension-vs-recovery-november-2008%e2%80%99s-full-moon-in-taurus-meditation/ 

Covered in Healing Mud –   http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/tension-vs-recovery-november-2008%e2%80%99s-full-moon-in-taurus-meditation/

Washing off the Mud and Dancing Naked in the Sunlight–  http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/meditations-and-rituals-for-decembers-full-moon/

Which brings us to this Full Moon’s meditation:

In this meditation, I am still standing by the river.  Yes, the river that battered and bruised me against the rocks and nearly destroyed me a few months ago after a beautiful turn around the riverbend to a lush countryside that was like heaven on Earth.  The currents are deep, unseen by most unless I speak of them as I do now.  I have spent my time building little structures on the riverbanks, one tiny stone at a time, and slathering on deep healing mud like a cocoon to hide my scrapes and wounds.  I have washed away the medicinal mud, finding myself fresh and pink and sitting naked in sunshine by the river.  I have not chosen to dive back into that strong emotional current but I have dared to wash myself in the water and enjoy the unexpected sunshine.

Even now, I am still not ready to dive back into that river. I have been content recently with the safety of the shore. Now I notice more how the sunshine sparkles on the water, thousands of glittering diamonds as the current moves forward, telling me it really never is the same river twice but that the water can be pleasant again.  

I don’t dive in or even wade, but I do step forward just enough that the clear waters cover my bare, clean feet.  I feel the cool water on my skin, the mud between my toes.  I dip my hands into the water and fling the droplets across the river’s seeming stillness.  It’s a moment of smiles and playfulness, of being able to play like a child or a new lover.  Not ready yet to explore again the river’s murkier depths or unseen obstacles, but happy to play in sunlit  gentleness and an opening of the heart.

Lorna Tedder, adding a little spice to life…or at least to a wonderful Winter Solstice feast.  Photo by Aislinn Bailey; all rights reserved.

Most people I know make New Year’s resolutions, manage to give up on them in defeat within two weeks, and feel like failures for the rest of the year because they couldn’t manifest a handful of changes in their lives in a few days’ time. I do something different, something that really works for me.  I call it the Burning Bowl Ritual, and it’s perfect for Winter Solstice, New Year’s Eve, or even special occasions throughout the year.   I’ve designed a ritual around it, one that can be adapted to almost any occasion or spiritual gathering.

Here’s how I adapted my usual ritual for a Winter Solstice “feast” that includes guests of all religions:

The timing of the Burning Bowl ritual is important to me.  I prefer to do it on the day of the Winter Solstice because of the symbolism.  Not only is this the longest night of the year, but it’s the day many cultures and religions celebrate the “Return of the Light,” as the days begin to lengthen after this night.  It’s also the first degree of Capricorn, an astrological symbol of manifestation–and the beginning of the new year of manifestation–whether you call those intentions or resolutions. 

For this year’s Burning Bowl ritual, once our feast was complete, I handed out sheets of paper to each guest and asked them to draw a big T on the paper. This was their personal list to take home, so they can put away their list and review it later in the year.   On the left column, they were to write down the things they want to honor and bid farewell to in the coming year.  Saying goodbye to these things will make room for better things to come.  I gave examples from my own list for the year:

Fretting over the lack of ——– in my life

Any insecurity or jealousy over ——–

Worry about ——-

Most of my dinner guests chose things like bad health habits, obsessions over certain people, money worries, unfulfilling jobs, and long-carried emotional pain. 

Once they were done with the things they wanted to say goodbye to, I had them turn their attention to the right column and write down things that they welcomed in for the next year.  Not things they resolved to do.  Not things they “invited” in, but may not come.  Rather, things they “welcomed” in because that implies that these things are definitely coming to them and they’ll be happy to have these things in their lives.  In my experience, the majority of things in this list arrive effortlessly throughout the course of the coming year.  I gave a few examples from my own very long list for 2009, beginning on Winter Solstice 2008:

Continue and expand my social circle and spiritual circle of friends and students, with wonderful lessons coming to me and from me

More loving relationships with family, friends, and daughters

An amazing, fun, intimate, creative, and intense sex life –and for my partner to be able to keep up with me

Learning new  things and meeting new people, including things like knife-throwing, archery, and motorcycles

Business opportunities that bring me many different streams of abundantly flowing income and allow me to be mobile in my workspace and hours

A deepening of my romantic love relationship with ————, to include much happiness, serenity, and a ————

My dinner guests welcomed in a huge variety of things that were very personal to each.  I thought that was funny that we tended to want to get rid of the same things that weighed us down but what we wish to come into our lives was quite diverse.  I loved some of the younger guests’ desires for good mentors, career guidance, confidence, and many of the things that my older guests didn’t consider until they heard these later.  I was amazed at the maturity of some of the youngest guests when it came to participating in this exercise.

When everyone finally had their list completed, I asked them to consider a verb for the next year and a simple phrase or mantra.  These are, in effect, my themes for the next year, and usually go hand in hand. I have to pick the exact words, and that sometimes means digging out the thesaurus to make sure each word has exactly the connotation I’m looking for.   My themes for the past few years and for the coming year? 

2006:  Manifest  and Risk Everything

2007:  Enjoy and Allow Miracles

2008:  Thrive and  Celebrate Everything

2009:  Enchant and Be Delighted

My guests began to think of their themes for the next year, some brainstorming with others to come up with the perfect word. Once they had their themes, they committed them to memory for later in the evening.  They chose words like Relax, Recalibrate, Have Fun, Be Adventurous, Succeed, Liberate Myself, Accept, Live Life to the Fullest.

For the next part of the evening, I brought out wine glass goblets that I’d bought for 50 cents each from a local pottery store.  I could have gone with plastic champagne glasses but I wanted something that my guests could take away with them.  I’d also tried to find those little rings–wine glass jewelry–that dangle from the stem, but couldn’t find them anywhere in town.  While walking through a discount store after a sushi lunch with my eldest child, I happened on an earring display and found not what I was looking for but something better.  I picked out about 10 pairs of deeply discounted gemstone and shell hoop earrings that closed the hoop with a clasp.  Each fit perfectly around the stem of a wine glass and made a nice souvenir to be imbued with the energies of the evening and taken away as a souvenir, to be worn later, attached to a car mirror or lamp pull, etc. 

Next, I handed out little inventory tags to my guests.  These were purchased at the local Office Max in the section where they sell tags and stickers for garage sales.  Each tag was about 2 inches long, with a string attached.  My guests wrote a symbol, picture, or word on the tags to represent what they wanted to say goodbye to and placed the tags in the goblet’s bowl.  These were placed inside the glass because their cups are already full of these things.

My guests then wrote symbols, pictures, and words on the tags to represent things they wanted to welcome for the coming year.  They tied these tags to the stem of the glass and let them dangle.

For the actual ritual, I’d hoped to gather in my backyard, but the below-freezing weather made it impractical, so we moved my grandmother’s aged cauldron into my open garage and started a very small fire in the cauldron, which served as our burning bowl instead of the usual barbecue fire pit in the backyard.

We formed a circle around the burning bowl, each of us holding a candle.  I lit mine and then then person’s next to me, she lit her neighbor’s on the left, and so forth until the circle was complete.  Because our guests were of varying spiritual backgrounds,  we asked the Archangels–something common to most belief systems present–to witness our intentions. 

After some brief explanations about the symbolism of the ritual, each guest tossed tags from inside their glasses into the fire, saying goodbye to the things that no longer serve them and that they wish to get rid of in the coming year.  Some called out these things proudly.  Most performed this part of the ritual silently, as was their perogative. 

Then, one by one, and in no particular order, the guests allowed me to cut the tags from the stems, leaving evidence of their desires in place around the stem, and offered the tags representing things to be welcomed in into the fire, with our intentions carried away by the smoke to come to fruition over the next year.  Some of the guests were exhuberant at this point and it was so much fun to see them enjoying this and feeling so much lighter and more hopeful.

When all the tags were gone, I then offered each guest a choice of grape juice or champagne and filled their glasses.  We each called out our themes for the new year and toasted to them, clinking our glasses.  Then we closed our evening with thanks to the Archangels for bearing witness.

The biggest difference, I think, in this Burning Bowl ritual filled with intentions toward what we welcome in and the usual resolving to do  a host of things that will get rid of bad habits to that so many of our intentions are not things we actually have to go do (and fail at) ourselves.  These are more like a wish list to God, the Universe, Goddess, or whatever belief system you follow so that we allow Deity to bring these to us and we simply welcome them when they get here.  Since I’ve been doing these Burning Bowl rituals, about 90% of my desires are fulfilled within the first 8 months of the year–and some are ones I just never thought would have happened, and certainly not on my own. 

As for this year, only 48 hours after the ritual, I’ve already had two unexpected things to welcome in that are stepping stones:  1.  I have reconnected with someone from my past whom I thought was lost to me and 2.  a colleague (who didn’t attend the party) dropped by my house to wish me a happy holiday and loaned me 3 sets of weighted knives so I can learn to throw them!

Around the riverbend, life is sometimes pretty amazing.

Photo by Chan Worley, Copyright all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Inexplicably, things suddenly seem shinier than they have in previous years.  Given the state of the world at the moment—and the state of my current social trend toward being, well, unsociable after several of my dearest ones had to move away—I had thought this would have been a darker time.  Instead, two weeks before the longest night of the year and the seasonal and spiritual celebrations of Winter Solstice, it feels as if the Light is returning already.  And yes, I’m really shocked, but pleasantly so!

My meditations have been noticeably different in the past few days. The Full Moon meditation (see link) startled me when I found sparkling sunshine all around me, especially after the previous two painful meditations and even more painful outcome.  In my private, regular meditations in my “Enchanted Forest,”  as of this week, it’s become a beautiful enchanted forest FORTRESS.  Last night, the venue was dark, a gentle and warmish night-time in the forest halls, with winter’s leaves on the ground and candles…oh, candles of all sorts!  Tall, short, pillar candles, tea lights.  All white. All burning brightly.  All lining either side of the forest halls and sparkling back with romance and charm.  It reminded me almost of my back patio with its sparkling Christmas lights outlining the edges.  Though my Enchanted Forest is always a beautiful and safe place, it had been decorated especially for me, like a surprise.  And it was a very joyful place to be, even when I’ve been there a couple of weeks ago and found it dark and cold, so that I quickly lit bonfires and found a hurting friend sitting, shivering in wait for me.  This was as opposite as it could have been—flickering, sweet lights—and the sacredness of the closeness I felt in that moment was tangible.

At the same time, my themes for the next year are beginning to gel.  Re-purposing is a huge part of the next year for me. I’ve looked at it in the past as re-formatting or re-packaging and gotten a good start on it but with new technologies and new markets, my guidance tells me it’s much more than that.  It is finding a new purpose for the things I already know and have, a higher manifestation of where I’ve been.  This isn’t just finding a new market for an old product or service but rather, a new incarnation that will be freer for me.

I think that I must have enough material in inventory that I would not have to create anything new for the next year and could still be as busy as I could ever desire to be.  Worst case,  I could produce about 10% of new material and fling out new creations to new audiences for reasons very different from in their previous lives.  I have one project alone that I created 12 years ago for a free workshop I did for a tiny professional audience.  The information is still valid, still timely…at least 80% of it anyway. Maybe more with a little re-writing.  That 80% equates to about 8, maybe 10, different projects in different formats for different audiences.  Online workshops, ebooks, DVD’s, audio files, and e-courses are all very real possibilities.  Out of ONE project that’s been on a shelf for most of the past decade.  The material is done—it’s just a matter of some tweaking and applying current technology to its distribution! And that’s just one example.

Another is the material I put together for my monthly gatherings.  I have a rather unique spin what I teach, and there’s no reason it can’t be re-purposed into projects for other audiences.  The work is done, regardless.  So why just put that work on a shelf and ignore that additional good things it can do?

But it’s not just the work itself that I’ve done and now need to give a good push and go reap the rewards.  No, it’s also the work I’ve done on MYSELF that I need to now recognize and go reap the rewards.

And that’s a very nice Yule present from me to…me.

Photo by Angus Thermopylae; creative commons license.

The December Full Moon, aka the Full Cold Moon, occurs in Gemini on December 12, 2008 at 10:38 AM Central time here in the Florida Panhandle.  This Full Moon, I feel, is all about having an “idea of who we really are.”

Gemini is a sign of  mental processes—communications, ideas, intellect, flexibility, adaptability, changeability.  The usual easygoing qualities of this particular moon are tempered, as mentioned last month, with some rather tense struggles astrologically. This year, people are much more serious, more tense, still licking their wounds from the economy, from job layoffs, and from a general sense of restriction and cutbacks even in their favorite relationships.

For those of you who routinely read my suggestions for meditations, you know how this works.  I share this unraveling of images I have just before a New Moon, Full Moon, and/or Eclipse and you’re welcome to use what makes sense to you.   For most of 2008, I’ve been following this “story” of a river of emotions connected with Moon phases–everything from bridges over rivers to the structure that holds the river in its banks, to surfing the river, to becoming the river, to rising above the river in a parasail…all taking me “around the riverbend” to a beautiful new vista that is lush and green.   For those of you who know me personally, you’ve watched in amazement and then horror at how some of these influences have played out in my life.  (But don’t worry—I have a feeling that it’s about to turn back to amazement again.)  Here are the links to previous meditations:

Bridges — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/ritualmeditation-what-this-june-moon-is-good-for/

Riverbanks/Structures — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/serious-moonlight-ideas-for-your-july-full-moon-meditations-and-rituals/

Surfing/Sailing — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/1-august-2008-solar-eclipse-rituals-and-meditations-for-the-new-moon-in-leo/

Parasailing — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/16-august-2008-lunar-eclipse-rituals-and-meditations-for-the-full-moon-in-aquarius/

Becoming the River — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/harvest-moon-in-pisces-september-2008s-full-moon-meditation/

Rocks — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/hunter-moon-in-aries-october-2008s-full-moon-meditation/

Rebuilding the Riverbanks — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/tension-vs-recovery-november-2008%e2%80%99s-full-moon-in-taurus-meditation/ 

Which brings us to this Full Moon’s meditation:

In this meditation, I find myself in the exact physical spot as at the end of the last meditation, though time has clearly passed.  I am still on the riverbank after being bashed against rocks in the current, but I am no longer visibly bruised and I’m no longer bleeding or shivering.  I have caught my breath, rested, begun molding new riverbanks out of the mud and rocks in my hands.  The course of the river has not yet changed, but I have been steadily rebuilding the structures of my emotional life and reclaiming the joy of sitting in sunshine.

I am not in the powerful emotional flow of the river but close enough to it to leap back into it or scramble up the slight incline behind me.   I note that I am completely without clothes in this meditation.  It’s something I never think of in these meditations, but it’s important in this one.  Not because I am vulnerable and have completely bared my heart and soul and then crawled wounded and half-dead onto the riverbank.  No, the lack of clothes is notable because I am covered in mud, from head to toe.  Black, rich, river mud.  While I have been rebuilding, I have allowed myself to be coated in this dark sheath of comforting—but sometimes tingling and sometimes scratchy—mud.  But it’s cooling and it feels good because it covers the soreness of the bruises that are no longer evident.  It hides my wounds.

That’s not the only difference in this meditation.  While the last few mediations have been full of storm and dark, the sun is out now, shining warmly on me under this Full Cold Moon.  I would not have thought it. 

I walk lightly just beyond the riverbank, onto the lush green grass of the beautiful plains that were waiting for me just around the river’s bend, the ones I saw just before I hit the boulders in the current.  I feel the grass under my muddy bare feet.  I feel the sunshine warming the mud caked to my skin.  The mud is no longer slick but dry now, and flaking off.  I raise my face to the sun, and feel the mud drying in my hair and on my face.

Then I do something very unexpected…even more unexpected than wearing nothing but mud or the fact that the sun in shining in my world again.  I walk back to the river, back to the emotional current that hurt me so only two moons ago.

I dip my bare and gray-muddy feet in the water and wash away the mud.   Some takes a little rubbing, some does not.  In place of the mud, my normally darker skin that occasionally shows my Native American roots is now a bright and new pink, unlike skin I’ve ever had in my life.  It is healed and the blood flow has given it a fresh and unusually bright glow.  The skin on my bare feet sparkles in the water. 

I don’t dive back into the river.  No, not ready for that yet.  But I do crouch and wash my hands in the river, loosening the caked mud until it flows away and my hands are bright and fresh, almost shiny in the water and sunlight.  My feet and hands are in the water, yet my feet are on solid ground now.  No flailing in the water or flying recklessly.  Just enjoying the feel of the current over my flesh but anchored this time.  More conservative in my adventures, at least for the moment, but not afraid of the water either, and certainly not swearing I’ll never wade into it again. 

I scoop up handfuls of clear water and wash my skin until all of the mud is gone and I stand in the sunlight, fresh and new and a little sparkly.  The mud from rebuilding and taking time for myself is gone now, healing left in its place.  There are still some sore spots under the shiny new skin but only I know they’re there.  Some bruises take longer to heal than others, and even when the skin no longer shows the painful color, the damage is bone deep and takes a little longer.  Yet,  there’s a freshness now, a newness.  I walk back into the grass and sunlight, this time wearing only my fresher skin, and lift my clean face to the sunshine. 

Although there is much intensity and struggle around me, this moment marks a change that is coming quickly.  For all the agony of the boulders I could not navigate, for all the recuperation time I have given myself,  for all those tiny steps I have taken to get my life–if not the river–back on course…there is sunshine and newness coming, and everything around me seems to sparkle. 

Photo by Eladesor; creative commons license

Certain types of incense make me feel calmer, others put me in the mood for loving, and some just remind me of the serenity and sacredness of home.  Seems there’s some science now to back up my weird impressions. 

Discover Magazine reports  ( http://discovermagazine.com/2008/sep/26-smell-your-way-to-happiness ) that at least one incense has uplifting effects in an article that may have depressed people burning more incense.  That particular incense is frankincense, one of my personal favs.  I’m especially fond of frankincense and rose oil mixes. 

Others on my list of personal favorites–not including ones that are meant for specific rituals– are:

Nag Champa (the general incense of my home when I have summer guests)

Sandalwood

Dragon’s Blood  0r Dragon’s Breath (the favored scent for romantic company)

Rose

Sweetgrass

Jasmine

My favs remind me of sweet, erotic, sacred, and wonderful times and just make the whole house (or my bedroom) feel great.  It’s good to know that frankincense will give me an emotional lift.  I’ll keep that in mind for times when I’m feeling a little lonely or missing friends.  I like being a Happy Witch!

I know, I know.  After everything you’ve heard about Kristin being all evil from those Generation Hex authors, you probably expected her new cookbook to be about newt eyes and Hansel and Gretel cookies, but nope, sorry.

Instead, you get 188 pages of really wonderful and different recipes that will keep you from ever having another boring potluck dish to take to a spiritual gathering.  She covers menus, tips, feast planning, and lots of Kristin-humor. 

If you like dishes with an unsual flair, a Southwest touch, or even cooking at higher altitudes, you’ll definitely find some goodies in this one.

To order the 6×9 softcover cookbook or the pdf ebook from the publisher,

http://spilledcandybookstore.com/Festival_Feasts_Cookbook.html

Your local bookstore can order it through Ingram if they don’t already have it on their shelves, and you can order from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Festival-Feasts-Pagan-Celebrations-Cookbook/dp/189271874X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227830098&sr=1-1 and other online stores.