emotions

The February 19 Full Moon—called the “Snow Moon” by Native American Indian tribes—will also be a SuperMoon because of its closer-than-normal proximity to Earth at the time the Moon reaches its full phase. The Moon reaches “perigee”—its closest point to Earth in its orbit— just hours before the Full Moon, making this the largest Full Moon SuperMoon of 2019! A SuperMoon phenomenon makes the Moon appear about 15% larger and up to 30% brighter than normal.

Wandering the streets of India, I notice the smell of cardamom fills the air, especially when approaching a sweets shop. I had never been immersed in its heady fragrance before my sojourns to India, but now it is one of my favorite scents and flavors. Perhaps it is because in all of its uniqueness, cardamom encourages a sense of self-responsibility, an owning of what is.

Pisces New Moon –  March 17, 2018 

A New Moon is a time to set intentions for what we’d like to see come to fruition by the time of the Full Moon. Having a better understanding of the luminary and planetary energies allows us to make better choices and helps ensure that our actions will provide the positive results we are looking for.

We are wild ones. The more we pretend otherwise the more twisted things become.

If we try to pretend we are not angry, we blow up when we least expect it. When we try to ignore energies like attraction, they can grow into a giant that drives us into situations that lack grace and integrity. If we instead tap into our wildness we can experience our insights and emotions as they come. We can see things as they are and see ourselves as we are, but we have to be fearless enough to let our wild self out.

With the sun moving through the constellation of Virgo we are influenced by the element of earth and Virgo’s strong organizational and precise way of viewing the world. In order to more easily connect to what Virgo offers, both the clear quartz crystal as well as the carnelian stone can help offer both heightened precision as well as grounding support for the month.

Recently, I learned of the unexpected death of a colleague. In addition to grieving, I’m learning a lot about intimacy.

So often when I think about intimacy, it’s in the context of a romantic relationship, but the truth is, intimacy is not confined to a romantic partner. Real intimacy is like unzipping yourself and displaying your insides, and that can be done with anyone, something I’ve witnessed in this process.

I was first introduced to the concept of Turiya when studying and practicing yoga nidra at yoga school in India. It was described to me as a fourth state of consciousness, which encompassed the three most familiar: the unconscious, the subconscious, and the conscious mind.

Lately I find myself wading deeper and deeper into the realm of emotion. That may sound funny because people often describe me as “emotional,” but what I mean is instead of flirting with an emotion, I’m embracing it. The despair, the anger, the disappointment. All of it. Not only am I embracing my feelings, I’m also no longer trying to fix them.

The watery sign of Cancer has arrived with the height of the summer solstice. With the turning of her tides we find ourselves moved by our emotional bodies more than any other time of the year. Cancer is the Mother, the Moon, and the protective crab and to best support the energies she brings we lean on the Moonstone and wear Pearls.