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Art Journal with the Moon for April 24-30, 2023
This is a summary of the moon’s energy for the upcoming week and the inner work and magic you can do in your art journal to make the most of the opportunities the cosmos is gifting us with.
Every week the emotional and magical opportunities the moon is sending you are different because the energy she is drawing down from the planets and stars changes moment to moment. Planets and stars and moon phases and moon signs each carry their own unique energy .This is my weekly update (Mon-Fri) of the moon’s comings and goings to support you in aligning with her energy.
Get your art journal or a scrap of paper you see lying around, your art supplies or those pencil crayons you have hidden away somewhere and have fun. Spend 10 – 20 minutes focusing on the themes the moon is supporting you to explore that day while you play with colors and shapes and watch what happens over time.
It’s amazing what a little consistent creative time can do.
A Few Thoughts About The Moon This Week
Last week, with the wild eclipse activating all that Aries energy, I contemplated the idea of living with an open heart and a strong spine. I learned that phrase while reading Cyndi Brannen’s book, “Entering Hekate’s Cave” (you can check out my podcast episode about that book here if you like). It feels like an important contemplation to me these days because the eclipses are kicking off a new cycle that will be with us until January 2025 and my rising sign is Gemini so they are activating the eleventh house of my birth chart which has to do with friends, groups, communities and hopes and wishes. I am definitely not living with an open heart and a strong spine in those areas of my life. Instead, I notice I’m living with a very protected and guarded heart in those areas of my life.
Eclipses typically bring themes of major beginnings and major endings in the areas of our lives they are activating in your birth chart. This is very much happening to me. My psyche, in a series of events that are too numerous to mention, is unraveling years of trauma and hurt that I’ve accumulated in my social life and in my friendships. At the root of my pain lies a little girl who felt confused, alone and afraid. She does not know how to live with an open heart. I want her to but she’s just not ready yet. That’s the truth of it. She’s just not ready to trust that people could love her for who she is and she’s definitely not ready to believe people are safe.
Not all my inner parts think and feel as she does but she is a part of me and she guards my heart fiercely and she is not yet ready to let go and live with an open heart and that’s okay. For now.
When I read those words in Cyndi’s book about an open heart and a strong spine, I knew the upcoming eclipse energy would initiate a deep spiritual journey for me where the invitation is to learn how to live with an open heart and a strong spine in my social life and in my friendships.
There are a lifetime of reasons why I can’t yet live with an open heart and a strong spine in those areas of my life. Some of them have to do with childhood emotional abandonment. Some of them have to do with sexual trauma. Some of them have to do with heartbreak in love and friendship. Some of them have to do with the medical trauma of living through the last ten years in a body that had unpredictable, intense, life-threatening reactions happen instantly and repeatedly without time to emotionally process and recuperate between attacks. In the end, the reasons I’m still learning to live with an open heart and a strong spine aren’t really important to me. What’s important to me is that I’m here doing the work with patience as my heart learns how to let love in and feel safe again.
The most ideal expression of Aries, in my opinion, would be living with an open heart and a strong spine. I believe Aries lives in my eleventh house of friendships and groups and hopes and wishes for this very important reason.
The most ideal expression of Aries is being in relationship but not losing yourself in it. It is loving someone deeply but not hurting yourself to remain loyal to them. It’s setting healthy boundaries – not harsh boundaries that don’t take other people’s needs into consideration or expect them to handle it all on their own and are set in demanding ways without any room for the other person’s experience but kind, relational boundaries that make room for all the inner parts of both people so even the youngest, weakest, most afraid parts know they can exist in the relationship. It’s feeling safe enough to love not because I know I will never be hurt again but because I can trust I will make my needs a priority. I will have my own back. I will soothe and comfort and care for myself when I need to and I will walk away – with an open heart – when I need to.
I suspect, during the next 18 months, while the moon’s eclipse energy bounces from Aries to Libra, this is the inner journey I will be on. I already feel the mess and the heaviness of it but I also feel a hint of the freedom this journey will bring me.
Do you know the areas of your life where Aries will be activating growth and healing for you during this new eclipse cycle?
The last eclipse cycle was happening along the Taurus/Scorpio parts of your birth chart so it was bringing great beginnings and great endings to those areas of your life over the last 18 months or so. The new eclipse cycle will last until about January 2025 and it’s activating the Aries/Libra parts of your birth chart and bringing great beginnings or great endings to those areas of your life. Understanding what areas of your life the moon will be activating every time an eclipse happens until 2025 is helpful because it’s a longer lasting lunar event. It doesn’t just affect you over the next 28 days. It affects you until 2025.
We will be exploring this in more depth and working with this new eclipse cycle in your art journal and with the MAP Method to understand where this energy is affecting you personally and what areas of your life will be implicated until 2025 in my next Tuesday Live Online Class so please join me there if you’re interested. Click the image below to register or learn more:
Monday
Today the moon is in the waxing crescent phase.
This moon phase is when a silver sliver of the moon begins to appear in the night sky. The moon is moving from being dark, still and invisible to growing and coming into full power.
I like to think of this phase as the time when the dream seeds I planted during the New Moon are just starting to form shoots or tiny roots. I might not be able to see my prayers being answered or my dreams manifesting but I can have faith that despite the limited capabilities of what my physical senses can pick up, Spirit is conspiring in my favor and there are invisible forces at work in my life helping me to grow, heal, evolve and create.
In my art rituals, this is the time when I’m meditating on the intentions I set during the New Moon. I’m revisiting my intentions and trying to call them up in my imagination again and trying to tap into the emotions those intentions evoke within me. I’m feeding my dreams with the power of my imagination and my emotions.
How far can you stretch your imagination today?
How much goodness can you imagine growing in your life today?
How many invisible forces can you imagine are helping you today?
How many invisible actions can you imagine your angels and spirit guides are taking to help you reach your goals and manifest your new moon intentions?
In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that represents growing more good in your life.
Tuesday
The moon is in the water sign of Cancer today. Cancer is ruled by the moon so the moon is in a sign it feels most at home in.
Cancer energy is nocturnal in nature. It is sensitive, sentimental and carries the wisdom of cycles. It is connected to your ancestors, your roots and your feelings of home. It walks alongside your subconscious realm. It is the wise and whole mother within who knows how to wrap and protect and care for all your inner parts. It is calm, compassionate and nurturing but it is also emotions that move up and down and all around. It wants to help you meet your emotional needs and teach you have to feel emotionally safe. It can help you change and transform your inner landscape but it can also amplify your defensiveness or resistance.
Think about where in your life you could use some nurturing and tender loving care.
How can you take care of your body today?
How can you take care of your emotional self today?
How can you take care of your spirit today?
In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that represents taking care of your spirit today.
Wednesday
The moon is in a happy relationship with Neptune today.
Neptune wants to help us connect to source energy and experience what its like to reach our divine potential, feel unconditionally loved and feel our interconnectedness. It also wants to open our psychic gifts, help us receive divine inspiration and dissolve barriers so we experience wholeness and unity. It also wants to help us expand and use our imagination and see the unseen or know the unknown.
It’s a planet of intuition, psychic abilities, imagination, spirituality and dreams but it can also represent our delusions or our desires to escape, including our desire to escape our uncomfortable feelings.
Because it’s in a happy relationship with the moon, the moon gets to reflect back to us all this goodness. It’s a good day for tuning into your emotions, tapping into your creativity, trusting your intuition and using the power of your imagination to create the changes you want to see in your life.
It’s an energy that helps us connect to one another on a deep soulful level and our ability to comfort, soothe and care for the people we love is enhanced.
In your art journal, create an image that celebrates someone you love.
Thursday
Today the moon is in the first quarter phase.
Only half the moon seems to be lit up in the night sky during this phase. This is the phase in the creation cycle where there is a tendency to give up or doubt the process. Challenges or obstacles may come between you and your goals and your job is to remain committed despite whatever gets in the way. This is the time to observe your self-talk and heal whatever shadows surface. Make sure you are taking actions and making decisions from your Spirit and your inner wisdom rather than listening to your insecurities and doubt.
Emotional and spiritual themes you can explore in your art journal for the first quarter moon include themes around commitment, doubt, insecurities, body image, self-esteem, your inner critic, your passion, purpose and bigger reasons for being.
Take a moment to think about your new moon intentions again. Imagine what it will be like if your new moon intentions became a reality in your life?
What changes, big or small, will happen in your life when your new moon intentions become real?
What will it feel like to experience those changes?
What choices can you make this week to help your new moon intentions become a reality in your life?
In your art journal, create an image that represents what you are passionate about these days.
Friday
The moon is in the fixed fire sign of Leo today. Leo is ruled by the sun so the moon is carrying a little more of the sun’s energy today.
Leo energy wants to bring loyalty, dependability, power, radiance, generosity, warmth, optimism and solidity. It wants to help you shine your light in the world, believe in your worth and boost your confidence. It is warm and expressive but sometimes can bring energy that influences you to be abrupt or impulsive.
Imagine your inner light – the part of you that shines bright no matter what has happened to you or how you are feeling – the part of you that is forever radiant and worthy of goodness.
Now imagine that light grows a little brighter. As it grows brighter, it attracts more goodness to you today.
Imagine your light attracting goodness to you all day long.
What might that look and feel like in your everyday life?
In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that celebrates your inner light.
Have fun with your art journal and the moon this week.
with love,
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hi i'm dana...
This is a space where art and spirit come together. On the blog, I share art rituals for working with the magic of the moon. I also work with the subconscious mind to lighten your emotional load and follow your creative dreams.
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