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Art Journal with the Moon for January 8-14, 2024

January 7, 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.

Happy New Moon in Capricorn

We greet a Capricorn new moon this week. Yay!

I love this Capricorn new moon kicking off the new year. It feels like it has a lot of great moving forward energy and after the sluggishness I felt after the holidays, I’m needing it. I have big plans for this year but I think I need a little push from the moon and the stars to get me there and in good form, they’re showing up for me – and you!

The New Moon in Capricorn carries themes of ambition, discipline, and long-term planning. Capricorn energy is all about setting practical and achievable goals, particularly in areas like career advancement and long-term achievements. This makes it the perfect time for setting intentions related to your professional goals or any significant projects you wish to undertake. Mars is also in the sign of Capricorn which gives us even more energy and motivation.

Think about your dreams for 2024. It’s hard to dream sometimes when we’re witnessing so much tension and conflict and devastation in the world but at the same time, your dreams are important too. You are important. Maybe your dream for 2024 is to complete a big creative project, start a new artistic endeavor, or even turn a hobby into a career. The disciplined energy of Capricorn can help you structure your plans and set realistic steps to achieve these dreams.

In ancient astrology, Capricorn is ruled by the planet Saturn, known for its qualities of discipline, responsibility, and structure. Saturn is often considered a teacher, one that brings lessons about hard work, patience, and perseverance. This planet teaches us that achieving significant goals often requires time, effort, and enduring challenges. When it comes to your creative goals for the coming year, Saturn’s influence can be particularly instructive.

Saturn encourages us to take a disciplined approach to our creative projects. It’s about setting realistic timelines, creating structured plans, and sticking to them. This planet also teaches the value of patience. Creative work can be fulfilling, but it often involves periods of slow progress or even setbacks. Saturn’s energy reminds us that these challenges are part of the journey and that persistence is key to eventual success.

Additionally, Saturn emphasizes the importance of responsibility. In the context of creativity, this means taking your art seriously, honoring your commitments to yourself, and understanding the impact your creative work might have on others. By embracing Saturn’s qualities, you can approach your creative endeavors in the coming year with a more grounded, focused, and resilient mindset, increasing the likelihood of achieving your creative dreams.

To work with this new moon in your art journal, create a page in your art journal that breaks down your creative goal for the year into manageable steps. This feels very Capricornian to me – breaking a bigger, long-term goal into smaller, more manageable steps that you can start acting on in the coming weeks. Visualize where you want to be by the end of the year then think about what steps you need to take to get there.

Breaking down your creative goal for the year into smaller, manageable steps is crucial for several reasons. First, it makes a large or overwhelming goal feel more achievable. When you look at a big project as a series of smaller tasks, it becomes less intimidating and more doable. This approach also helps keep you motivated because completing each small step gives you a sense of progress and accomplishment, which can be encouraging.

To break down your creative goal, start by defining the end result you want to achieve. Then, work backwards to outline the major milestones needed to reach that end goal. For each milestone, list the specific tasks or actions required. For example, if your goal is to complete a series of paintings, your milestones could be sketching concepts, completing the first painting, the second painting, and so on. The tasks for each milestone might include gathering materials, scheduling dedicated painting time, and so on.

By breaking down the goal into these specific milestones and tasks, the process becomes more structured and manageable. Each step is clear, and you can focus on one small task at a time, making your dreams or goals much more attainable.

You can read more about the new moon and discover the area of your life it is bringing it’s goodness to according to your rising sign by scrolling down to Thursday’s moon update.

I’m posting my thoughts for 2024 in my “Art Journal with the Moon to Plan and Vision the Year Ahead” course. I think the Capricorn new moon would be a great time to sign up and start that course. It’s also a great time to book your year-ahead reading. If you haven’t booked a year ahead reading yet or joined the course, you can click on the links below to do so:

Book a Year Ahead Reading Here

Join the Course Here

Monday

Today the balsamic moon is in the sign of Sagittarius. The moon is also having an intense relationship with Venus.

The moon is in an intense relationship with Venus today. I call it intense because astrologically speaking they are close together and this amplifies and intensifies the energy the moon is reflecting down to us from this relationship with Venus.

Venus wants to bring fertility and growth. Venus loves the idea of reigning more beauty, grace, softness, love, friendship, harmony, passion, sensuality, intimacy and happiness into your life and relationships. The energy of Venus also brings playfulness, pleasure and joy. Venus wants to help you enjoy your life. Venus isn’t great at making you get your work done or motivating you to put effort into something but Venus does love to help you express yourself artistically and with love.

The moon is intensifying all this goodness so it’s a great day to focus on love, affection and pleasure. Venus wants us to see what its like to thrive not just survive. It’s a lot of good feeling energy to soak in so let’s magnetize all that goodness and anchor it into your body and spread it to a place in the world that needs it.

In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that represents the goodness you imagine being shared with a part of the world you feel needs it.

Tuesday

Today the balsamic moon moves into the sign of Capricorn. The moon is also in a happy relationship with Saturn, an intense relationship with Mercury and a tense relationship with Neptune.

The moon moves into the sign of Capricorn, where it will be during the new moon, while also having a happy relationship with Saturn.

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 which, I think, is beautiful energy to play with in your art journal as we move towards the new moon.

In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that explores your dreams for the future.

Wednesday

The balsamic moon is in the sign of Capricorn. The moon is also having a happy relationship with Jupiter and Saturn and an intense relationship with Mars.

I call the relationship the moon is having with Mars intense because, astrologically speaking, the moon finds itself really close to Mars and this causes them to combine their energies.

Mars is associated with the element of fire and it is a planet of courage and action. It wants to help you be bold and decisive. It can bring energies of violence, conflict, aggression and destruction but it can also support you in being daring, confident, determined and steady.

The moon and Mars are blending their energies today and depending on what area of your life that energy is affecting you personally, you might find yourself feeling ready to take action and move forward. It’s great energy to have alongside the new moon in Capricorn.

Think about where in your life you would like to take action in the next couple weeks. Imagine you are marching forward, proud and confident, what are you accomplishing and how are your accomplishments affecting your life?

In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that represents you taking confident action towards your dreams.

Thursday

It’s a new moon in Capricorn!

Capricorn energy is pragmatic, deliberate, persistent, disciplined, and conservative. Capricorn energy can help you be practical and focus on actions that move you forward in your life. It can also help you consider the importance of the future and what you need to do now in order to create future experiences you want. This is GREAT energy to set intentions in.

What kind of energy do you want to carry into the new year?

What does dreaming in a realistic way mean to you?

What kind of practical actions can you take in the new year to make sure you accomplish your goals?

Don’t forget that the new moon energy lasts for a couple of weeks so thinking about your long-term goals doesn’t have to happen just on the new moon. You can sit with it all and give it time and keep pondering your long-term goals for a while.

This new moon happens to also have a lot of planets in Capricorn sitting alongside it. The sun, moon, Pluto and Mars are all hanging out in Capricorn as well. And Mars is having a happy relationship with Jupiter, that planet of blessings and expansion. Jupiter is giving more energy to Mars’ desire to help you go for what you want. The actions you take during this time might prove to lead you exactly where you want to go and when you look back one day, you might realize, “Wow! That was actually a pretty big turning point. I’m glad I followed where my heart was leading me.”

This means the area of your life that the sign of Capricorn is in in your birth chart is getting a lot of energy, support and focus. As you read in the descriptions below about the topics in your life that Capricorn manages according to your rising sign, consider what kind of new beginnings you want to vision for those areas of your life.

To personalize this new moon, let’s get specific and see the area of YOUR life that this new moon energy is focused on.

To figure out what area of your life the new moon wants you to focus on, you simply need to know your rising sign. Once you know the area of your life the Capricorn new moon is affecting, you can consider what you what new moon intentions you want to set to move that area of your life forward.

To figure out what area of your life the new 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.

If your rising sign is Aries, the new moon is inviting you to set long-term goals when it comes to your career, reputation or ideas of success. During this new moon, visualize your biggest and brightest dreams for your career, the kind of success you want to achieve or the kind of reputation you want to build.

If your rising sign is Taurus, the new moon is inviting you to set long-term goals when it comes to your faith, spiritual practices, travel or future success. Think about these areas of your life and consider what intentions you want to make during the new moon in order to follow your most meaningful and soulful dreams around your spirituality or travel or your goals for the future.

For Gemini people like me, the new moon is inviting you to set long-term goals in the area of death, taxes, your psyche or any debt you have accumulated. What dreams do you have that will help you clear any energetic, emotional or physical debt you may be carrying (your own or your ancestors’)? What BIG dreams can you imagine for your emotional or mental well-being? How do you want the money you share in a partnership or marriage to change? What bright new dreams can you imagine around these topics?

If your rising sign is Cancer, the new moon is inviting you to set long-term goals when it comes to your close, intimate relationships or partnerships. Think about your marriage or partnership or best friend and consider what the most meaningful and soulful dreams you can imagine for the closest relationships in your life.

For Leo people, the new moon is inviting you to set long-term goals when it comes to your daily routines, daily work tasks, pets or wellness. If you were living your dream life, what would these areas of your life look and feel like? Consider what intentions you can make during this new moon in order to welcome your biggest and brightest dreams for these areas of your life.

For Virgo people, the new moon is inviting you to set long-term goals when it comes to your children, hobbies, pleasure or your creativity. Think about these areas of your life and consider what intentions you want to make during the new moon in order to welcome your wildest and most meaningful dreams to your parenting life, a creative hobby that’s dear to your heart or those activities in your life that bring you joy.

If your rising sign is Libra, the new moon is inviting you to tap into your wild imagination and set long-term goals when it comes to your parents, your ancestors, your childhood or your home and living situation. Think about these areas of your life and consider what intentions you can make during this new moon in order to welcome your biggest and brightest dreams for these areas of your life.

For Scorpio people, the new moon is inviting you to set long-term goals when it comes to learning, communication, your siblings, the goddess or earth-based rituals. Which one of these topics feels most important for you to focus on during this new moon? Choose one of them and consider what intentions you want to make in order to welcome your biggest and brightest dream for that area of your life.

For Sagittarius people, the new moon is inviting you to set long-term goals when it comes to money, assets, income and your livelihood. Think about these areas of your life and consider what intentions you want to make during the new moon in order to welcome your biggest and brightest dreams for your finances, possessions or livelihood.

If your rising sign is Capricorn, the new moon is inviting you to set long-term goals when it comes to your identity, body, appearance or your spirit. Think about these areas of your life and consider what intentions you want to make during the new moon in order to welcome your biggest and brightest dreams for your health, personal expression, identity or your relationship with your body.

For Aquarius people, the new moon is inviting you to set long-term goals when it comes to your subconscious mind and those things you hide from others and most importantly those things you hide from yourself. During this new moon set intentions around the kind of shadow work or brain rewiring you’d like to do and the biggest and brightest results you’d like to experience from that deep inner work.

Finally, for Pisces people, the new moon is inviting you to set long-term goals when it comes to friendships, community and your hopes and wishes. Think about these areas of your life and consider what intentions you want to make during the new moon in order to welcome your biggest and brightest dreams for your friendships, community or your hopes and wishes.

In your art journal, create a page that represents your new moon intentions.

Friday

The moon is still in the new phase and it is in the sign of Libra. It’s having a happy relationship with Venus and a tense relationship with Jupiter.

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 love, beauty and harmony.

Saturday

The moon moves into the sign of Scorpio today but it spends most of the day void of course. It is also in a happy relationship with Venus and Mercury and a tense relationship with Uranus.

The moon is void of course from early morning to later evening in the mountain time zone.

This sometimes happens when the moon is moving from one zodiac sign to another or when it’s not making any aspects with other planets – I think of it as though the moon is just hanging around alone and in the in-between space – no longer where it was but not yet where it will be. The moon likes reflecting energy down to us but when it’s void of course there’s nothing substantial for it to reflect so its reflecting that emptiness back to us.

It’s as if the moon takes a brief pause, suspending its influence and opening a window of stillness and introspection.

Embrace this pause, take a step back, and reflect. This period is not about making significant decisions or initiating new projects; rather, it’s a time for taking stock, for going inward, and for focusing on self-care and inner peace.

When the moon is void of course, it is a good time to engage in activities that nurture your emotional well-being. This is also an opportune time for self-reflection and introspection, allowing us to connect more deeply with our inner selves.

On the flip side, it’s best to avoid initiating new projects, making important decisions, or embarking on significant endeavors during this period. The energy of the void of course moon is not conducive to starting new things; rather, it supports wrapping up loose ends and investing in self-care.

Consider reflecting on these questions during a Void of Course Moon:

What areas of my life require my attention, but I’ve been neglecting?

How can I better care for my emotional well-being?

What loose ends do I need to tie up before moving forward?

The void of course moon invites us to embrace the pause, to indulge in introspection, and to nurture our emotional health. It’s a gentle reminder from the cosmos that in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, taking time for yourself, for stillness and self-care, is not only beneficial—it’s essential.

In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that represents how you feel about pausing and resting.

Sunday

The waxing crescent moon is in the sign of Pisces. It is also have a happy relationship with Jupiter and Mars and an intense relationship with Saturn.

Pisces is a water sign, known for being very emotional, imaginative, and spiritual. So, when the waxing crescent moon is in Pisces, it’s a great time for dreaming and tapping into your feelings. It’s like the universe is giving you a green light to explore your creative and emotional side.

Working with this moon in your art journal can be a powerful way to support your creative dreams. Pisces is all about emotions. Use your art journal to express how you’re feeling. You don’t need to write or draw something specific; just let your emotions guide your creativity.

Pisces is also about dreaming. Use your journal to jot down your wildest dreams and ambitions, no matter how unrealistic they might seem. This is the time to let your imagination run wild.

Since Pisces is a water sign, you might want to use water-themed elements in your art journal. This could be images of the ocean, rivers, or even just playing with watercolors.

Imagine where your creativity could take you. Draw, paint, or write about the path you see your creativity leading you on. It doesn’t have to be clear or detailed; just focus on the journey. It’s a time for getting in touch with your inner self and exploring your creative dreams in a deep and meaningful way.

In your art journal, create an image that celebrates your creative dreams.

Have fun with your art journal and the moon this week.

with love,

Dana da Ponte

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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.