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Art Journal with the Moon for January 22-28, 2024
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 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.
Consider the Positive Impact Your Creative Dreams will Have
We greet a full moon in Leo this week.
This moon brings with it themes of bold self-expression, creativity, and the courage to let your true self shine. Leo, known for its vibrant, expressive energy, encourages you to embrace your unique qualities and share them with the world. This full moon is perfect for amplifying intentions related to expressing yourself creatively and authentically. It’s a time to celebrate who you are, what you love and the things that make you stand out. It’s also a great time to take bold steps toward your creative dreams for 2024.
In ancient astrology, Leo is ruled by the Sun, which is seen as a source of life and vitality. The Sun represents qualities like brightness, self-expression, and the essence of one’s true self. It symbolizes the core of who you are – your individuality, your ego, and your personal identity. In astrology, the Sun is about your journey to express yourself and shine in your own unique way.
When considering your creative goals for the coming year, the influence of the Sun encourages you to focus on what truly represents you. It’s about finding your voice, your style, and your message in whatever creative endeavor you pursue. The Sun’s energy pushes you to be authentic in your expression, to create not just for the sake of producing something, but to create something that is a genuine reflection of who you are.
Additionally, the Sun inspires confidence and the courage to stand out. In terms of your creative goals for the year, this might mean taking bold steps, perhaps showcasing your work publicly or trying a new form of creativity that you’ve always wanted to explore. The Sun’s influence is about embracing your unique talents and not being afraid to let them shine brightly. The Sun teaches you to be true to yourself in your creative pursuits, to seek out what makes you happy and fulfilled, and to confidently share your creative light with the world.
To work with this Full Moon in your art journal, create a sun with beams of light shining out.
In each beam, write a promise you make to yourself about how you will celebrate when you reach your creative goal.
When you achieve your creative goal, how will you celebrate it? Will you book a retreat or perhaps a weekend getaway or a day at a spa, to relax and celebrate your accomplishment? Will you buy yourself a special gift you’ve been wanting like a piece of art, a new instrument, or a special book, as a reward for achieving your creative goal? Maybe you want to host a small celebration with friends and family to share and enjoy the success of your creative project. Maybe your celebration will involve more creativity.
When you reach your creative goal, do you want to treat yourself with a workshop or class you’ve been interested in? Or would you prefer to make a donation to a charity or cause that’s meaningful to you, linking your success to a greater purpose. If your goal involves a physical creation like a painting, maybe you want to promise to professionally frame and display your work in your home or studio? Do you prefer quiet celebrations and a personal ritual to celebrate, like a solo picnic in a beautiful place, a long walk in nature, or a day doing your favorite things sounds more your speed? Maybe you want to celebrate by promising to share your creative journey and achievement through a blog post, video, or social media post to inspire others. Or one of my personal favorites, maybe you’ll choose to invest in some new tools or materials that will support your future creative endeavors as a way of celebrating achieving your creative goal.
Don’t forget to describe in the sun’s beams how you want to share your creative goal once you’ve accomplished it. Do you want to submit it somewhere? Do you want to host an exhibition or a showcase to display your work? Is it something you’ll be able to wear as a way of sharing it with the world? Or maybe you want to gift it to others when you’re done?
Not being afraid to shine brightly often means having the courage to share what you’ve created with others. It can be hard to do because it involves vulnerability. When you share your creative work, you’re opening up a part of yourself for others to see and judge. This can be intimidating because it exposes you to potential criticism or rejection. However, it’s important and incredibly rewarding to share your creations. Doing so allows you to connect with others who can appreciate, enjoy, and even be inspired by your work. Sharing also opens up opportunities for feedback, which can be a valuable tool for growth and improvement. By putting your work out there, you’re not only affirming your own creative abilities but also encouraging others to embrace their own creativity. Remember, every great artist started with the brave step of sharing their first piece. Your creations have the power to move, provoke thought, and bring joy to others. Embracing the spotlight might feel daunting, but your creations and your unique voice and vision are valuable contributions to a world that very much needs them.
In the rest of the sun’s beams, describe the things you imagine the positive things other people will say when you share what you’ve created with them.
Exploring, imagining, and envisioning the positive responses you might receive when you share your creations can be a powerful exercise. By picturing others appreciating your work, you remind yourself of the potential impact it can have. Imagine people expressing admiration for your creativity and the effort you’ve put into your work. They might say things like, “This is incredibly inspiring,” “Your work really moved me,” or “I’ve never seen anything like this before!”
Visualize how your creation might spark joy, provoke thought, or offer a new perspective. Perhaps you want people to feel uplifted, to find solace, or to be challenged in their thinking. Maybe you hope to inspire others to pursue their own creative endeavors. Envisioning these positive outcomes helps shift the focus from your fears to the potential joy your work can bring to others.
Whether or not you work with the full moon in Leo this way, I hope you give yourself a moment to appreciate all the things you’ve already created and imagine all the things you will continue to create in the years to come.
By the way, if you’d like to deepen your spiritual and creative journey alongside me, please check out my new “Art and Spirit Quest” program. It’s currently 50% OFF until February 1, 2024.
The Art and Spirit Quest program is where I take you on a spiritual journey in your art journal.
These are 60 minute private one-on-one sessions where I guide you to connect with spirit, find your inner answers and practice magic in your art journal.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to have an art journal yet or even know what one is. This is a beginner-friendly journey and I will guide you every step of the way but trust me, your creativity is a tool that will help you connect with the world of spirit and I’ll show you how. If you can color in a coloring book and you can cut and paste pieces of paper and trace your hand, you have everything you need to go on a spiritual quest in your art journal.
The Art and Spirit Quest sessions are about empowering you to find your own spiritual path and open the door to the spirit world, which can sometimes be challenging to do alone. I’m here to support and guide you on this journey, helping you to unlock and explore these aspects in a creative and magical way.
LEARN MORE HERE
Monday
The gibbous moon moves into the sign of Cancer today. It is also having a happy relationship with Saturn, an opposing relationship with Venus and a tense relationship with Neptune.
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 some self-care you promise to gift yourself with this week.
Tuesday
Today the gibbous moon is in the sign of Cancer. It is also having a happy relationship with Saturn and Jupiter and an opposing relationship with Mars and Mercury.
The moon is in a happy relationship with Saturn today.
The moon wants to illuminate the darkness, bring about change, be a mirror to reflect us back to ourselves and awaken our receptive and intuitive powers. She represents your body and emotions and reminds you that life is an ever-changing cycle of birth, death, decay and rebirth. She wants to bring kindness, nurturing, novelty and adaptability.
Saturn is associated with the earth element and it wants to bring responsibility, seriousness, deep thought, reflection, wisdom, strategy, maturity, structure, sensibility, frugality, discipline, routine and actions that inspire order in your life.
Saturn brings this stability to your emotions and intuition today. I think of it as emotional maturity. You can feel confident trusting what you feel, including your gut feelings. You’re more likely to respond when you feel emotionally triggered versus reacting. Saturn and the moon being in this kind of happy relationship also helps you to see your dreams and your future with clarity and have realistic expectations of what it will take to become who you are working on becoming.
In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that explores the future you are creating for yourself.
Wednesday
Today the gibbous moon is in the sign of Cancer. It is also having a happy relationship with Uranus and Jupiter and an intense relationship with Pluto.
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.
In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that represents the changes you want to see in your life this year.
Thursday
Happy full moon.
Today, the full moon is in the sign of Leo. It is also having a tense relationship with Jupiter and an opposing relationship with Pluto.
Leo’s fiery nature might stir up drama and high energy in your life, leading to outbursts or a feeling of pressure building up, eventually bursting out. This is a time when emotions can run high, and you may feel more active or compelled to express yourself in dramatic ways. You might want to extend grace to others when their emotions run high today and if you can, pause and breathe before you react. It’s also a period for cautious decision-making – avoid impulsiveness and take time to reflect on the deeper implications of your actions.
This full moon’s square with Jupiter in Taurus amplifies these effects, adding an expansive quality to your emotions and actions. It’s a period where revelations might come to the forefront, particularly about leadership and power dynamics in your personal life. This could manifest as conflicts or realizations regarding authority figures, or your own role as a leader or influencer in your environment.
In the context of the Leo-Aquarius axis, you might want to explore the tension that naturally exists between personal achievements and collaborative efforts. This could create a tug of war between wanting to stand out and be acknowledged for individual efforts versus working as part of a community for the greater good. What does it look like to balance these aspects and recognize the importance of both personal expression and collaborative success?
Spiritually, this full moon encourages introspection about where you are exerting your energy. Are you focusing too much on your own success at the expense of other people in your life? Or are you neglecting your own needs for the sake of the group?
The full moon might also bring eye-opening realizations (full moons like to illuminate things) that help you understand your priorities better and guide you towards making decisions that are more true to who you really are and what you truly care about.
Magic-wise, focus on rituals that bring clarity, increase your self-esteem or celebrate your creativity. This could be a good time for spells or intentions related to boosting your self-confidence like doing a self-love spell.
To celebrate your creativity, think about it in terms of how what you create influences others. Your creations can inspire, provoke thought, offer new perspectives, or provide comfort.
However, if you’re like me, acknowledging your influence can be challenging, especially if you struggle with feelings of insignificance or low self-esteem. You might have inner child parts that were hurt or neglected. These parts might carry beliefs that you’re not good enough or that your work doesn’t matter, which can overshadow the positive impact you have through your creativity.
When you start to heal these parts and embrace your whole self, you can begin to see more clearly the true value of what you bring to the world through your creativity. Remember, every piece you create is a reflection of your unique perspective and voice.
To personalize this moon even further, let’s get specific and see the area of YOUR life that this moon energy is focused on.
To figure out what area of your life this moon wants you to focus on, you simply need to know your rising sign.
If you don’t know your rising sign (it’s different than your sun or moon sign), then you can read more about it here and you can calculate what it is here. I also show you how to calculate your birth chart using the whole sign house system here. When you create your birth chart in this way, you will see your rising sign is the zodiac sign that occupies the first house in your birth chart.
If your rising sign is Aries, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity and your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with your children, hobbies, pleasures or creativity.
If your rising sign is Taurus, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity and your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with family, your ancestors or your home and living situation.
If your rising sign is Gemini, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity, your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with learning, communication, siblings, the goddess or earth-based rituals.
If your rising sign is Cancer, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity, your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with money, income or livelihood.
If your rising sign is Leo, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity and your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with your identity, your body, your appearance or your true essence and spirit.
If your rising sign is Virgo, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity, your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with your subconscious mind or deep inner shadow work.
If your rising sign is Libra, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity, your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with your friendships, community and your hopes and wishes.
If your rising sign is Scorpio, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity, your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with your career, reputation or ideas of success.
If your rising sign is Sagittarius, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity, your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with in faith, spiritual practices, long-distance travel or future success.
If your rising sign is Capricorn, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity, your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with your psyche or in the area of your life that has to do with debt, shared money or taxes.
If your rising sign is Aquarius, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity, your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with your close, intimate relationships or partnerships.
If your rising sign is Pisces, the full moon is inviting you to celebrate your creativity, your unique light and how you naturally shine it in the area of your life that has to do with routines, work tasks, pets or wellness.
In your art journal, create a page that represents your full moon intentions.
Friday
The full moon is in the sign of Leo. It is also having a tense relationship with Uranus.
The moon is in a square, or in other words, a tense relationship with the planet Uranus today.
Uranus is a planet that can bring unexpected changes or shocks into your life and these changes usually inspire you to awaken or grow emotionally and spiritually but not always in a gentle way. Sometimes these changes are welcome and wanted and sometimes you don’t want them or welcome them whole-heartedly. It’s great energy for surprises, innovation, experiments and creative genius. It wants to overturn things in your life that have lost their usefulness -even if you’re not entirely ready for that change.
The tension between the moon and Uranus might have you feeling constricted by responsibility. Because the moon rules the realm of emotions, you might feel annoyed by the expectations other people place on you or the expectations you think other people are placing on you or even the expectations you place on yourself. The benefit of this, of course, is that you end up wanting to break free from the expectations that are not aligned with your highest self so shake it all off my friend. I support you following the beat of your own heart instead of living in the land of shoulds and should nots.
Bring to mind an expectation you or someone else is placing on you.
Do you actually want to meet this expectation or is it time to let it go?
In your art journal, create a page that represents an expectation you are ready to let go of.
Saturday
The full moon moves into the sign of Virgo. It is also having a happy relationship with Venus and an opposing relationship with Saturn.
When the moon is in a happy relationship with Venus, it invites emotional grace, beauty, and a deep sense of harmony in your relationships (including your relationship with yourself). The moon reflects feelings of love, artistic inspiration, and a strong connection to the pleasures and joys of life.
Venus is the planet of love, beauty, and relationships. In ancient mythology, Venus is the goddess of love and beauty, who was born from the sea and symbolizes the power of attraction and harmony. Venus is often depicted as a figure of irresistible charm and aesthetic grace, embodying the qualities of love, artistry, and the ability to bring people together in harmony.
When the moon, which governs our emotions and inner world, is in a happy relationship with Venus, these Venusian qualities become intertwined with our emotional landscape. You might feel more inclined toward expressing love and affection, seeking beauty in your surroundings, and indulging in activities that bring pleasure and joy. It’s a time when relationships can feel more harmonious, and you might find it easier to connect with others on an emotional level.
This harmonious aspect also enhances creativity and artistic expression. Whether it’s through music, art, or any other form of creative work, the moon today encourages you to explore and express your artistic side. It’s a perfect time to appreciate the beauty around you and within you.
Spiritually, this alignment is a reminder of the importance of love, beauty, and harmony in our lives. It’s a call to balance the messiness and pain we experience in this world with the beauty we can create and experience in it as well. This period invites you to cultivate and appreciate the soft, gentle, kind and loving aspects of life, encouraging a deeper connection with your sense of beauty and love.
In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that represents beauty.
Sunday
The full moon is in the sign of Virgo today. It is also having a relationship with Venus, Jupiter and Mars and an opposing relationship with Saturn.
The moon moves into the sign of Virgo today. Virgo is ruled by the planet Mercury so it’s carrying a little of that planet’s energy as well.
Virgo energy is nocturnal and of the earth. It is mutable and versatile. It supports you in being efficient and organized. It wants to help you find the most effective way of doing things. It brings practicality, attention to detail, a love of quality and precision but it can cause you to get lost in the details.
When the moon is in Virgo, it’s the perfect time for review and adjustments.
Do you like what you’ve been creating in your life lately?
You’re not in control of creating everything you experience in your life but of the things you do have control over, which situations and experiences that you’ve been creating do you enjoy and which situations and experiences have you not been enjoying?
If you don’t like what you’re creating, what adjustments can you make?
In your art journal, create an image that represents an adjustment you want to make in your life.
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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