Starting Afresh

It’s been a wee while since I posted here, and that because lots of things have been going on in the background. Lots of endings and beginnings, lots of changes and transitions. It’s all really positive, but it has meant that this blog has been rather neglected.

So I’m calling this a fresh start.

September has always felt like a time of beginnings for me. I think perhaps because this is the start of the academic year. Accordingly, I am changing the way I deliver my own Bloom by Moon course materials. Since I started developing and sharing this course, I have relied on Ning to help me organise the structure, deliver the content and to host the conversations. I am now lovingly embracing Bloom by Moon into the Me, Myself & I site. And as I do so, it makes me wonder why on earth I didn’t do this before. *So* much simpler!

I have also decided that on the new moon I am going to be sharing the introduction to the moon guide here on this blog. I’m hoping that by giving you this small taster, you’ll be tempted enough to join us on this beautiful journey through the lunar cycles. If you are indeed enticed, you can find out all about Bloom by Moon here, including details for how to purchase access either to the individual moon content, or to subscribe and receive a regular dollop of deliciousness including stories, creative exercises, visualizations and journal prompts.

I do so hope you’ll join in and give yourself the precious gift of me-time by venturing onto this voyage of self-discovery.

Here’s the introduction to the September Moon E-Guide (in full the e-guide is a 20 page document which includes 4 cultural interpretations of the current lunar cycle and 20 journal prompts for you to explore):

Smirr: the softest of soft Scottish rain. Rain so fine that it dresses your skin in a veil of tiny droplets, coats your hair and your eyelashes, sinks into the fabric of your clothes, penetrates your bones, and leaves you more drenched than if you’d been standing 5 minutes in a tropical rainstorm.

Smirr: a strange in-between state of rain and mist which seems more prevalent in the lead up to autumn, which is, perhaps, appropriate as September is an in-between kind of time, isn’t it? We see the change in light more significantly now, as the night arrives earlier and leaves later. We watch the change in the foliage as it transitions from bright green to striking shades of russet and gold. We feel the change in our bodies as the temperature drops and the air grows fresher – cleaner, somehow.

September is the month that we welcome the Autumn Equinox, one of only two points in the year when the hours of daylight equal the hours of darkness. In the Wiccan calendar this festival is known as Mabon, and is celebrated as a time of thanksgiving and to recognize the return of the goddess to the underworld.

From this new moon to the next we will be focusing on this bountiful time through honouring the full Harvest Moon. We’ll be exploring what we are harvesting at this point in our lives – what seed-dreams did we plant and how have they fruited.

We will also be looking at the Vine Moon, which follows on from the celebration of the harvest as it too focuses on fruition. However, the means to which this specific fruit are applied through fermentation, gives rise to questions of ecstasy and the shrugging off of inhibitions. Traditionally a time to celebrate with Dionysius, the God of Wine, we’ll be engaging with the energy of the maenad to find where we are holding back in our lives.

Astrologically, we are continuing our journey through the constellations as we enjoy a full Pisces Moon. A time that permits profound insight into our unconscious, the moon in Pisces asks us to pay attention to our dreams, to recurring symbols in our waking life, to the messages of spirit that just seem to drop into our understanding of ourselves and our place within the world.

Finally, we’ll be visiting Japan as this is the moon of Tsukimi: a name which literally translates to moon-viewing. This ancient festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Moon, focuses on the beauty of the moon in the night sky as it is believed that the moon is at its most beautiful at this time of the year.

So this cycle I invite you to embrace the end of summer by celebrating all the goodness that it has brought us, and that we look forward to autumn as a time of checking in with ourselves and connecting with our inner climate.

Together we can stand in the smirr, the soft Scottish rain, that in-between state of grace, and step forward into the approaching autumn, washed clean and grateful.

So looking forward to sharing more with you both through Bloom by Moon, and here on the blog!

PS If you have any questions about Bloom by Moon at all, then please do feel free to get in touch with me at amy(at)amypalko(dot)com