New Moon Wishes: Pisces

I've got my trusty New Moon Astrology out again - in preparation for the new moon in Pisces tomorrow lunch time.

Pisces is a big theme in our household with my partner a Pisces and my son's moon in Pisces. It's always been a challenging part of the astrological wheel for me, with three prominent Pisces women in my life causing quite a bit of grief over the years.

It's only recently that I have discovered how well I gel with Pisces men (I'm not surprised now that I have come to share my life with one!) and that there were some close Pisces female friends in my adoloscence.

I've come to the decision that perhaps those Pisces females I clashed with were not given the love and security they needed as young girls and that's what spawned their high maintenance natures and their terrible need to control/manipulate? Discussions late last week seem to show that Pisces, like Sagittarians also seem to flock together.

Personal musings aside, Jan Spiller's book suggests that the Pisces new moon is a good time to make wishes associated with:

- imagination
- inner happiness
- psychic sensitivity
- trust
- mystical awareness
- spiritual healing
- compassion
- releasing helplessness

It's also a good time for asking for healing with colds, feet, the lymphatic system and poisoning/toxicity. I've been doing pretty well with my no sugar life style - but perhaps asking for some extra support wouldn't go astray?

I'll be back tomorrow after the new moon to share my wishes for this lunar cycle.

Image: Pisces by Kirk Reinert

New Moon Wishes for Aquarius Moon

Today was the super charged new moon in Aquarius - coupled with a solar eclipse. Sadly it couldn't be seen in Australia (China was the best place to view it this time around) and I was asleep and missed the opportunity to have a little ritual I'd planned. So be it.

Jan Spiller, author of New Moon Astrology:using the new moon power days to change and revitalise your life, writes that new moon wishes for the Aquarian moon can include requests for:

• inventive solutions
• seeing the future
• humanitarian attitudes
• revelations
• humour
• friends
• avoiding excessive detatchment

Here are the writing wishes that I've made (personal ones are over at Shine A Little Light)

• I want inspiring new ideas to occur to me regarding my dream of being a paid and published writer.
• I want to easily find myself courageously and successfully following my dream to be a paid and published writer.
• I want clarity in seeing those long range goals that give meaning to my life.
• I want to greet unexpected events as positive opportunities for growth.
• I want to easily find myself open to attracting exciting revitalising experiences.
• I want right insights that lead to my dream of being a paid and published writer come true.
• I want to easily find myself graciously accepting help, love and support from others.
• I want to find myself easily networking with other writers and publishers to manifest my dream of being a paid and published writer.

This time around I've really spelt it out - being a writer isn't enough any more - I want to be both published and paid. Call me greedy! These wishes, combined with my list from earlier on this month (which I will rename a 'list of intentions' - thanks Karen for the reminder!) should have me set for the creative year that lays out before me.

My intention is to work with the lunar cycles this year. I have lots I want to accomplish and 13 lunar cycles seems to be a good way to attack it. It is also a natural way to use the energy - this was how our forebearers created their lives, under the waxing and waning light of the moon.

I feel as though I am dropping and leaving behind all the things that no longer work for me - thus the Remedios Varo picture to accompany this post. Very Ecplise-ish! It's a brave new era and I do feel brave!

I'm also feeling refreshed, recharged and full of courage! What better place to be?

Thank you for the Year of the Rat

Today is the final day of my creative year. While the Western calendar runs from 1st January until the 31st December and that’s the way life goes if you live in a Western country, I choose however to run my creative year as a writer, to the Chinese Calendar.

As a lunar calendar, the Chinese Year seems such a better idea to work with as a creative type. I guess you could say this is almost the darkness of the new moons for the year – the last one of the year. Tomorrow not only does a new lunar cycle start with the new moon, but a whole new lunar year.

I have been cleaning out my inboxes and getting rid of emails that have been sitting there unread. While I have taken to doing this on a regular basis to stop everything being jammed up (I’m certain now that creative qi on your computer gets trapped in old emails and the likes) – it was an all out clean up today. Once I have posted this – I will go and attack my desk – strip out all the books, move my printer, and clean down everything. Later on I’ll give the whole area a thorough smudging.

While the house was quiet, and my son and partner were out having an adventure, I took out the coloured blank greeting cards I’ve had for about six months and made some thank you cards. I wanted to give thanks and to show my gratitude to those who have really been a tour de force for me in my first creative year as a writer.

At the end of 2007 I did a Thirteen Thursday recognising the special people in my life for that year. This year I would be struggling to add 13 people I had regular contact with. It’s been one of those years.

This year my thanks go firstly to my loving and supportive partner Dave, and also to my ever patient son Dylan, who both encouraged me and were enthusiastic about my writing pursuits. I tease Dave, good naturedly about being a patron of the arts, but I am grateful for him allowing me the space and the opportunity to write – while he sits 50 hours a week in a crappy office (though it does have a nice view over the river!) and commutes with a bus full of people rain, hail or shine to get there. I know there are other places and other things that he would prefer to be doing. I am grateful darling to allow me to do want I want to do.

I know my influence as a Mum and a writer is rubbing off when yesterday Dylan told me that he would be writing an article every day from now on with the new pen and notebook that he won in pass the parcel at a birthday party. His first article yesterday was a cutting piece on hop scotch!

Secondly my thanks go to my partners in crime Annie Evett and Paul Anderson, who I have had the joy and challenge of collaborating with this year. Annie and I co-wrote and then designed and built the website for Reclaim Sex After Birth, as well as sharing crazy moments writing Captain Juan. The Reclaim Project pushed my buttons in all types of ways, but I grew not only as a writer but as a woman as a consequence and I’m feel so blessed to have had that opportunity. I’m also appreciative of the space that opens to write when our kids get together to play and generally leave us to it. I’m also glad for the trips to Dalveen and the writing that has come out of sitting drinking red wine at the kitchen table at Annie’s parents house. For those regular readers of Captain Juan – that’s how he ended up naked and sunburnt in the crows nest.

Paul shared not just his Captain Juan character, but also another character Dr Pietersen from one of his podcasts with me for my NaNo project Blue Melissae. I honestly don’t think there is a greater gift a writer can give. Captain Juan for me is like lollies to a kid – it’s fun and it generally requires no effort on my part.

I remember Paul commenting on Intercontinental, saying that I write best when I go to places that are uncomfortable and I used that insight to really push and probe myself as a writer – which in turn allowed me to experiment and discover stories and new writing styles I would have missed out on. Thanks for that Paul. I’m also grateful for Paul’s ear and patience, when I’m on a crazy rant at 1:00am in the morning – time differences are sometimes useful.

Paul has also shared coming on 12 months now, two wonderful business/writing plans that I know will see the light of day this year. It’s been a pleasure and thrill to watch these plans grow, blossom, go to seed and to again be waiting to shoot into something even more wonderful this year.

Thirdly I give thanks and my heartfelt appreciation to the ladies in my writing circle Edwina, Marion and Janette, who have read my work, offered critical and insightful feedback, been my friends, offered encouragement, celebrated my triumphs and bemoaned my failures with me. I didn’t realise how wonderful a writing circle could be until I was a part of one. Thank you ladies!

Fourthly I would like to acknowledge Karen at Write Anything and all the writers there for the inspiring and thought provoking posts and to Dale for Fiction Friday. I also want to acknowledge those as the Office of Letters and Light who run Script Frenzy and the National Novel Writing Month. Special thanks to Brisbane Municipal Librarians for the effort and energy that went into the Brisbane meets. Finally in this category – thanks to the organisers of the Byron Bay Writers Festival and to the staff at the Queensland Writers Centre.

Lastly I want to give thanks to my very special friend Danae Sinclair. It was through Dan that I first learnt about Fiction Friday and it was at her invitation that I ventured to do The Artists Way in late 2007 and then again in 2008. Without Dan being the catalyst for both these, I may not be writing now. I could still be plodding away producing Down to Birth and denying my inner most passion to write. Thank you Dan ... my love and appreciation and gratitude will always be coming your way.

So 2008 was my year of authenticity, but I understand that it was also a year of composting … of the breaking down of my old life, my old ways and habits. When you garden, you mix the compost in with the soil, to make new and fertile ground in which to plant seeds. That’s what 2008 was for me. 2009 and the year of the ox (which is my year as a little grey ox!) is going to be my year of growth. I originally conceptualised it as my year of action – but that seems too harsh and somehow sort of reckless. So instead, I am dedicating the 2009 year of the ox to growth.

May yours be a happy, fulfilling, prosperous and loving one.

PS: apologies to all who missed out on having links inserted here - my internet is very temperamental and posting this is a trial in itself!

Image from Kim Falconer's astrology website.

On the dark dark moon

It's a dark moon energy, loitering about in Scorpio. For some reason the Scorpio vibe never gels well with me. It's a time when I sleep badly (especially when its a full moon) and seems to heighten my sensitivity to lots of things. I feel on edge, as if I can hear things that aren't there, and see things from the corner of my eye that don't exist.

While I haven't yet smudged the parts of the house that I want/need to (including my writing space) - I'm hoping I'll be up early enough to warrant setting my white sage alight and wafting it through the house, accompanied by a few well chosen words. I often wonder if the neighbours look at each other in bewilderment as to what I could possibly be smoking - as I normally smudge the house when Mr D's gone to kindy. Sadly no funny ciggies here - just bunches of cleansing sage.

Today, after the box having literally sat in the lounge room all year, I gathered up a collection of birthday presents and sent them. No I didn't sew the Red Riding Hood cape that was to go with it, nor the dinosaur tail. I thought all year was long enough to get motivated to do it - and seeings I haven't it was time for the presents, and the box that has literally been gathering dust to go. I also looked in the other box that's been sitting on the coffee table. It's got the odds and ends in it from the last make over of my creative space. It now has my unfinished curtains in there, the fairy lights and other bits and pieces that never made it back onto my desk. I think I'm resolved to hanging the curtains unhemmed and living with it. I always planned on sewing little silver bells to the bottom ... though Mr D will probably have grown up and left home (if the current rate of progress is anything to go by!) before that ever happens.

As NaNo begins on Saturday, my writing space could have a make over - not necessarily a functional one (ie. clean up all the stuff that hasn't quite been organised yet) but a beautifying one ... treat myself to the curtains - so the afternoon sun doesn't fry me, and put up the fairy lights, however impractial and ecologically nasty - it will remind me that there is something magical and special about writing!

And the desk and the present weren't the only parts of the house to get the treatment. I went through the fridge and felt embarrassed about all the biology experiments happening on various shelves and the composting project that appeared to be conducting itself in the vegie crisper. All clean and tidy now ... and Phil's back from Canada, so I started but didn't have to finished the dishes. Ahhh ....

And now I'm sitting here amusing myself, to be honest, distracting myself, while I wait for sleep to descend on me. I realise now that watching The Happenings, with this particular lunar energy, was probably not a terribly smart move. Even now I feel spooked, as I chant over and over again, it's just make believe, it's just make believe. But it got me thinking about time wasting and the plethora of distractions modern society has. What are we all escaping from. I'm OK with saying tonight that I'm escaping dark and scarey thoughts evoked from the movie ... but what are others out there distracting themselves from.

In the The Artist Way one of the exercises is to go on a reading drought - that is you aren't allowed to read ANYTHING (remembering of course that the book was published before the internet explosion). Cameron says that people medicate themselves with words ... and that's probably a very apt, and rather uncomfortable evaluation of the internet.

Tomorrow's a new day (actually it's today given that we've just clicked over midnight) ... and a new moon. What a lovely energy to begin NaNo with - but more on that soon.


I have no idea who to attribute this eerily photograph - however it was found at Iris39

A little housekeeping

It's currently the dark moon, the very darkest aspect of the moon. As night is darkest just before the dawn, the same is with the moon. And it's the perfect time to clear space. I've been taking to heart the Feng Shui advice given by author and comic Nury Vittachi at the Byron Bay Writers Festival - clear the space. Nury commented that each piece of correspondence we receive is an energy transaction. What do we do with each piece of paper we receive - we file it in a pile on our desk, and when the pile grows unweildly, well then we take the pile and put it under our desk.

The amount of laughter in the marquee was testament to the number of people who know the routine. Nury remarked that it was no wonder that writers working in such an environment, with so much dead energy around them, struggled to find inspiration. In this age paperless environment (sure you only need to look at my desk a few days ago to know how true this isn't!) the 2500 emails in our inbox cause the same congestion of energy on our computers. Nury's advice - read and delete, or read-reply-delete. Don't keep the dead energy hanging around.

The past two days I've been doing just that. It's embarrassing to admit the amount of time it has taken to scour my inboxes (I run two email programmes) and delete out all the unwanted emails. The sad truth was that around 99.9% of the emails went. I have an adversion to deleting emails, after three years of editing, it was always after one of these huge clean ups that I would be searching for 'that particular email' that I had of course designated the week prior as having no future value. It's wonderful to open my email and see only a couple of emails in there ... and no they haven't merely been filed away to all those wonderful side folders. I even went through my filing system and delated out all the old emails from there.

As for my desk - I have one bill to pay, some kindy photos to order. All the books from the recent book fair have found homes downstairs and I'm contemplating the perfect place to store the growing number of filled notebooks that constitute almost a years worth of morning pages. I think I'll build my altar on them downstairs? Also on the list of contemplation is a shuffle of my books - wondering what should leave for shelves else where and what might be needed closer to home. And then some stage tomorrow or Friday morning, I'll wave my smudge stick around, give my creative space a psychic clean and leave all the neighbours to wonder if I sit and smoke funny cigarettes while my son is at kindy. After all - isn't that how all mothers of four year old boys cope?

So - my challenge to you before the new moon hits on Friday evening (in the Sth Hems or around 11am if your in London, 6am-ish in LA) be savage, be rampant, be unforgiving in your decluttering - even if it's just attacking your indominable inbox. Seriously - you'll feel better for it.

Photo from Antishay.com which incidentally has some articles on it about decluttering! How's that for a spot of synchronicity!

Taurus Dark Moon

Today was a dark moon, ebbing energy, in Taurus ... and I went on a cleaning rampage in the kitchen. I even took down the curtains, washed, ironed and re-hung them. When I told Dave what I had done - he asked if I was ill. No - I'm just guilty about the fact that I haven't done ANY house work since he's been in the Northern Territory - nor done much cooking. So in addition to playing Sadie in the kitchen, I also cooked up a pasta bake and some scotch broth (that will be all the better for having sat in the kitchen over night!)

But the big bang for the day came just after I woke up - switched the computer on a discovered an email discourse that had gone on while I as blissfully asleep (early) last night. Let me back track for a moment though.

Sunday Annie and I went to a world building master class run by the Queensland Writers Centre. It was something that we almost didn't go to - got our dates mixed up etc - then discovered this error on Friday, rang up immediately and booked. The masterclass was held by Sonny Whitelaw. This was a huge step for me as a writer - to go along to a masterclass in a genre I know very little about. For my NaNo this year I want to explore the world and the stories that I've briefly presented in my Adam & Eve short stories. To do this I realised I had to know how to build the world in which they live in - which is set about 30 years from now. Thus - I decided to do the workshop.

We got an opportunity to take along 10 pages of manuscript for Sonny to read - which I did rather sheepishly because my 'manuscript' is a collection of four short stories that don't really flow in any order. And upon reading the first few pages - I realise just how far my writing has come since January this year when I wrote the first installment. But I did hand in my work for comment.

The masterclass blew my mind - so much stuff to consider ... but at the same time, so many wonderful story possibilities. The thing that struck me the most, was Sonny telling us how little sci fi nowdays explores social themes and issues, like old school sci fi did. This allowed me to say at our second break, how Annie and I weren't sci fi writers - per se - but we have some themes and issues that we wanted to explore and we needed to create worlds in which to do so.

Last night, while at Annie's, the phone went and it was Sonny. Good news - we don't write crap! That was the biggest thing I thought that I could have heard. She suggested that Annie and I consider collaborating - that our styles are very similar and the issues we want to explore are on the same path (there's no suprises there) ... our strengths and weaknesses balance out ... if we could get over our egos. EGO? I don't think I've had one of those since I pushed a baby out into this world. Motherhood doesn't leave much room for ego. So to collaborate we're not going to have to climb over our egos, or deflate them, in order to do it.

With this wonderful news hanging in the air, and the invitation for us to use Sonny's name when we were submitting work to some sci fi magazines she suggested ... you wouldn't think it could get better than that. It wasn't a matter of feeling like 'I'd arrived' as a writer... it was desperately needed validation (because you don't realise just how much you need that validation until you get it) of myself as a writer, and my abilities to write within the sci fi genre (as any of you who are regular readers of my blog and short stories - that's not really the direction my writing has taken).

And it did get better. While I slept - Sonny emailed an editor friend of hers in the States as a means of introducing Annie and I, saying she believed that we had the makings of good writers. Glad to know someone believes in me. I found out this when I logged in and downloaded my email this morning. It's wonderful - but it drags up for me a whole raft of issues that I have - best explored through my morning pages for the time being.

Among them is 'But I dont write sci-fi' - apparently I have the capacity to. It's just getting myself onboard to believe it.

With the dark moon hanging around - I should bid goodbye to all those doubts I have ... and welcome in a whole swath of new beliefs tomorrow ... that don't begin 'I can' ... but with 'I will!'

Mercurial Observations

Mercury went retrograde yesterday. 'What's that?' you ask. Mystic Medusa sums it up brilliantly in her most recent Mercurial Musings "Mercurial Bats: Blithe Spirit":

Mercury is the mythological Messenger of the Gods and the planet that rules such phenomena as e-mails, couriers, gadgets, computers, phones, letters. In short, communications and intellect. Three times a year it goes ‘retro’ and can produce complete utter chaos. Mercury Retrograde rules missed calls, delayed flights, lost data and stupid vile misunderstandings.

Activities to be avoided include:

• signing contracts (or singing them as I've just typed three times!)


• Buying big items - especially electrical equipment, phones and computers


• making significant moves or life altering decisions


• beginning a book, a marriage or a business


• gossiping

For us writers it's a great time to enjoy our favourite old novels (especially if writer's block is biting!)

With all the communication and travel bungles, combined with what Mystic has intuited for this period, to be 'trouble with locks' ... there's always some great stories going around about what's happening with this energy. For example:

1. Dylan somehow converted the language setting on my mobile phone to German (while he was playing Sonic in Spanish!) and I have no idea where the language setting is ... oh and I can't read German to be able to find it.


2. In addition to changing the language (if that was not bad enough!) he has also replaced the text writing setting so now I've got predictive text back (and whoever thought that was a time saving device was sorely deluded!) so my phone for texting is useless. And again - can't fix it because everything is in GERMAN!


3. Leaving Annie's house this morning ... I decided to take Annie's advice and do the Indianna Jones under the electric garage door trick ... got under only to discover the door had bounced back up. Then worried that I'd trip the alarm ... only to reset the alarm and then trip it ... all at the same time I was trying to get the electric door to go all the way down and yell to Dylan that I'd be in the car in a moment. In the end I gave the alarm the middle finger, as well as the electric door (when it did finally go all the way down!) and left via the front door.


4. My spam has amped up - and now I'm not just getting the Nigerian bank transfer scam (in all its shapes and sources), but emails about pills, computer programs that I've never had.


5. My MSN messenger continues to turn itself off for no reasons


6. If my cat could talk - he'd mention the fact that when we stayed over at Annie's house last night ... he got locked out of the house and had to sleep outside for the first time in his 16 years!! Poor puddy tat.

But on the other hand ... Annie's internet woes were fixed (it alway seems a fortuitious time to fix existing issues ... my burner suddenly started working for the first time in 18months Mercury Rx in January!) and I finally got on their wireless network. So it's not all bad.

As I mentioned a few days ago ... I'm back reading Magician again - but in true Mercury Rx mode ... I decided today that I wished I'd chosen to re-read Dean Koontz's Lightning, which I've never had a chance to read again. Ahh ... the wisdom of hindsight ... and that's what Mercury Rx is all about!

What interesting computer, telecommunication, electrical, locking or travel issues have you had in the past few days? (Honestly - in hindsight they're always hillarious!)

What Tarot Card are you

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

In my pack, the number 10 card is simply called THE WHEEL, and has a picture of a woman drawing a circle around herself in the sand, in front of a cave. It speaks to me of cycles - of beginnings and endings that continually meld and merge into each other. It's also a card of synchronicity - which is a big thing in my life now since completing The Artist Way. As for success ... I'm happy to just take each day, one step at a time, one line of writing at a time. Anyway, it depends on what your definition of success is?

Roar

In the Western zodiac the fifth sign is Leo - ruled by the sun and symbolised by the lion. Leo embodies self expression and vitality - which is not surprising considering that the Sun is considered to represent 'the self'. Leo's are bold, beautiful (you'll pick them from their immaculate, and perfectly coiffured mane of hair!) and said to be born to rule. They are generous of heart, affectionate, magnanimous, creative and full of simple joy. And I probably should point out here - that my soul sister is one of these adorable creatures (she's just like a lioness too - gorgeous, radiate and cuddly, but do not under any circumstances get on the wrong side of this lioness - all she has to do is LOOK and you quake!)

Representing the self , the sun can also be called our 'ego' or our solar self (as opposed to our lunar self - denoted by the sign the moon was in when we were born). Over the past year I've been making an effort to shrug off the shroud that came over me when I became a mother. I am still a mother and I do still operate from my moon sign, but I feel much more connected with what I would call 'the real me' (my solar self).

In the early years of mothering I felt alone and strange within my own skin ... walking the shoes of my lunar self was tough. I longed for my solar self, wondering 'who the hell I had become'. My moon sign is Virgo and I fought desperately against it - to me it represented everything that I did not want to be, become or even have a vague signature of. Over time, and especially since attending my friends 'Circle of the Sun' workshops once a month, I've begun to reconnect with my solar self (the Circle of the Sun was begun last year while the sun was in Leo to signify the beginning to rediscovering the self through creativity!) And in doing so I feel as though finally the two of them are integrating into a workable unit - I feel a little less like I have a split personality in which I more often than not teeter near the void in between.

Using different modes of creativity has been one of my ways of getting in touch with 'the old me' - and it hasn't just been writing (though that has been the main one). I've painted, and sketched, I've made a mask, sculpted with clay, drawn a mandala, and I long to collage (hopefully this year). I've also been trying hard to get out walking. If I can do it for once a day for at least half an hour I regain that sense of freedom I had before I was a Mum - before I had to put everyone else's needs before my own.

So for me the Lion is inextricably tied up to self expression and vitality, and is why getting a

means so very much to me ... it tells me that my attempts at self expression are vital and are touching (perhaps even influencing) the lives of others. Thank you so much Smiler.

The instructions that come with this award are: Each recipient is instructed to “distribute [the award] to those people who have blogs we love, can’t live without, where we think the writing is good and powerful. [...] and accompany the image with three things they believe are necessary to make writing good and powerful.”

Considering that my blogroll is modest at very best ... I dont think that I can reciprocate to five people (especially since Smiler tagged Square1) but I will try.

To make writing good and powerful I believe it must have

<

PASSION ... which is the difference not just between writing that is entertaining and writing that is deathly dull, its what can change the world - or leave it wallowing in ambivalence. Passion is the fire that makes writing speak, not just to your head, but to your heart and your soul.


CONNECTIVITY ... that is the ability for the reader to connect with their writer, as well as the writers ability to connect their own thoughts and beliefs with others in such as way that it crosses all barriers of culture, religion, geography, age and any other barriers you can think of, to find a common ground. Writing can be a force for uniting if the right hook is offered.


AUTHENTICITY ... and we're not talking plagerism here! Writing that comes not just from the heart, but come from the space of truth, with humility and without pretentiousness has the ability to transform the reader. And as Square1 commented the other day - you always know where you stand with someone who is authentic - and that is what you should expect as a reader.

And now - five people to bestow this wonderful award on ...

Dan at Danae Sinclair
Paul Anderson at Clamouring to become visible
Carmi Levy over at Written Inc(who I quite honestly do not visit often enough - note to self to change!)
Annie at Annie's Musings (you can bop me on Wednesday for dobbing you in for this)

and honourary awards to Square1 at Fanciful Muse (who's already been nominated), Smiler who first sent this award over and to all my fellow Artist Way journeywomen over at Cluster of Artists (our private blog!)

Wishes for a New Moon: Capricorn

• I want to consciously and easily use time to my best advantage


• I want to easily find myself demonstrating my competency in fiction and non fiction writing


• I want to be filled with confidence and self discipline, successfully reaching my goal of being a published writer.


• I want total clarity in setting appropriate goals that lead to success in the area I desire.


• I want to easily find myself recognising and utilising opportunities when they arise


• I want to easily find myself filled with the right ideas leading to success in the area of writing


• I want to easily find myself seeing life in a way that bringsjoy.


• I want to easily find myself managing my time in a way that allows plenty of time for work, play and family.


• I want to easily find myself filled with optimism and faith, pursuing directions that make me feel free.

Themes for the current Capricorn new moon:

future security

handling responsibility

reaching goals

success and recognition

management skills

authority figures

releasing controlling tendencies

Jan Spiller, author of New Moon Astrology (where this information and the above wishes is derived) suggests casting or making your wishes within eight hours of the new moon, for best affect, but at any time during the 48 hours past the new moon (unless the moon goes void of course). She also suggests making more than one wish, but no more than ten. The last two points she suggests are that they wishes must always be handwritten (I have a special diary that they are written n) and that you go with your gut feeling on the wishes - I guess without the aid of the book it opens you to go with your intuition for what you want to wish for based on the above themes.

I've been doing this since May last year, and find that it helps to chart my course, by best harnessing the energy present at the beginning of each month. It's not surprising I guess that a lot of my wishes are focused on writing - seeings this is the major aspect of my life that I want to nurture and develop in the coming year. It also seems to bring together what is going on in my life at the time, and synthesizing it into a positive format with which to work with.

At the end of my little writing ritual I always go to my Goddess pack and draw two cards - the top and the bottom cards to see the energy that I have to work with to allow the wishes to materialise ... and as always there is a definite synergy between the cards at the wishes. I got a new pack of Goddess cards for Christmas, so this was their first trip out for the lunar wishes.

This month I drew on the top (which I refer to as the conscious, or what is definitely 'on top' for me in my life at the moment) Nu Kua, who is a Chinese goddess who embodies "Order". With all the reordering that has been going on - this was no surprise. Her wisdom to me:

"Now is the time to nurture yourself with order that assists rather than chockes your life force ... when life is ordered in a natural way, you nurture your path to wholeness."

The bottom card (which I refer to as the unconscious, what is rising to the surface to be understood or acknowledged or is passing and becoming incorporated into life ... and the two cards always seem to work together - often what is on the top one month, is on the bottom the next month) Gyhldeptis is a North American Goddess who embodies 'Synthesis". Her wisdom to me:

"This is the time to find the common thread that will serve your needs in the best way ... wholeness is created when all the parts are honoured and listened to."

More musings on this beautiful Goddess wisdom later. And a Happy New Moon and astrological/lunar year to everyone.

Artwork: "To Be Born" by Remedios Varo, Sagittarian Surrealist ... painting came through with my AstroRave this morning and seemed quite fitting, not to mention beautiful.

Circle of the Sun: Hail Scorpio

Tonight was the Circle of the Sun ... this time in broody and intense Scorpio. The theme of tonight's gathering and the focus for our creative endeavours was the masks that we wear. Alex also spoke about the inner child, the artist we have when we are young and the censure that comes with adulthood (all themes of The Artist Way - that I'm now half way through!) To simply 'do the creative' and not 'think the creative.' About being in and part of the process, and not worried about the end product.

In the meditation we went deep into a primeval forest and to a pool of water. Beneath the light of a full moon, we had to look at the reflection in the water. I couldn't get myself to look into the water, and when I finally did it took forever for a reflection to emerge. When it did it was an ancient old crone, with her head covered. I didn't look away, I kept looking at her.

When we came out of the meditation, I wondered what the crone was telling me. She's been coming up quite a bit for me recently. I wondered, tying it in with Dan's comments on my natal chart over the weekend, if the crone was reminding me that I needed to dig deep, to find maturity and wisdom.

With the template of the mask in my hand ... I knew what I wanted to create. I wanted to create a bright, brash red mask ... I was drawn to the sacred whore, though this wasn't what I had seen in the pool. The face of the sacred whore is certainly not a mask that I am wearing at the moment, nor have worn for a very long time.

Exploring the art supplies, including a box of material remnants, I found some red material, along with some sequined red ribbon. It seemed like a good place to start. Looking at the template, I felt stuck ... blocked. It just didn't seem to go together. Looking across I saw some red tissue paper ... and I finally got it.

I began the creation of my mask, by drawing cat's ears onto the top of the template .. and felt as though I was creating a 'sex kitten' mask ... it seeemd to neatly symbolise the modern embodiment of the whore, and Mystic was talking about cat's being super edgy and spooky at the moment.

The tearing of each long strip of tissue paper was cathartic ... the trearing felt as though I was stripping the sexual wounds free of myself - disembodying them, so to speak. Then tearing each strip into its own little unit ... I symbolically created all the sexual wounds that I carry within. Once all the paper was torn up, I began to piece by piece, stick the paper, collage style over the mask. It represented a healing, a coming together, putting all the pieces together to create something new. Putting myself back together, if you like.

Over the 45 minutes, I just managed to cover the small mask with paper ... and then was stuck deciding on how to 'decorate' it. Around me there were all types of magnificent masks being born, and my small red mask seemed a little insignificant and quite plain in comparison. I reminded myself that this was about process ... all those small pieces of tissues paper stuck together.

I found some little silver stars, and glued nine of them on ... nine to honour the gifts of Aphrodite, that still seem to abound weeks after the Goddess conference.

With a stick stuck to the back, we joined back in the circle to dance a masquarade ball. It was thrilling, crazy, spooky and utterly out of this world ... can only imagine what it is like to actually be dressed for it as well.

Looking at my mask, I now, I need to find some falsh eye lashes ... put them on the other eye and then perhaps some black feathers and a coil of black ribbon down the same side.

It made me realise, just how important art is as a means and mode for healing. Perhaps this is the creative work that I have been looking for to base my sexual wounds healing circle around? This tearing, and reconfiguring .. taking from in here and putting it out there. Being in the right brain and out of the left brain ... allowing myself to be totally and utterly open, to be healing without consciously realising just what was happening.

My life continues to be truly blessed .... photo to follow tomorrow