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Art Journal with the Moon for May 27-June 2, 2024
In this post, I explain how to work with manifestation magic in a way that is gentle on your nervous system when you’re a highly sensitive witch who feels things deeply. Scroll down further and you will also see a summary of the moon’s energy from Monday – Sunday with daily prompts you can explore in your art journal so your deep inner work and magic is in alignment with the moon.
How to Work With Magic When You’re a Highly Sensitive Witch
Life has a way of teaching you lessons, doesn’t it?
A surprising lesson I had to learn is that when you’re a witch who feels everything and you have a history of trauma or difficult childhood experiences, you need to practice your magic differently.
I don’t think my twenty-year-old self could have predicted that would be one of the biggest life lessons I had to learn. But it was.
In this blog post, I share tips on how to work with manifestation magic when you’re a highly sensitive person who feels even subtle shifts in energy and emotions deeply. As always, when you scroll past all that goodness, you’ll see I describe the comings and goings of the moon this week as well as the daily prompts you can use to art journal with the moon and align your emotional healing with lunar magic.
Before I talk about all this though, don’t forget, if you want to stay updated on how to work with the magic of the moon in your art journal, sign up to my mailing list. Every Monday, you’ll get reminders of the moon’s energy for the upcoming week and how you can work with it in your art journal to practice magic, tend to your soul or do your deep inner work. You can sign up here.
Magic and Your Nervous System
When I was younger, no one told me that engaging deeply with the spirit realm and practicing intense manifestation magic could strain my nervous system due to my high sensitivity. No one even knew how highly sensitive I was, including me.
This caused me to push my nervous system beyond its limits too often, which not only stressed my body but eventually led to more serious health issues, including Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and dysautonomia. These conditions were not caused by my spiritual practices, but my deep connections in these areas certainly played a role in aggravating my nervous system issues.
Eventually, my body forced me to rethink and modify how I practice magic. I had to learn to approach my spiritual practices, and everything in my life for that matter, in a way that was gentler and more nurturing to my nervous system.
This journey, though tough, has been incredibly valuable—not just for me but also for others like me. It taught me critical lessons about the unique needs of highly sensitive people in the realm of witchcraft and magic. Now, I can share these insights and strategies, helping others who are similarly sensitive to practice magic in a way that honors their body’s need for gentleness and safety.
Trust your body. It will show you what works for you and what is truly aligned with your soul.
How Do You Know You’re a Highly Sensitive Witch?
If you’re wondering whether you might be a highly sensitive person, there are several signs and feelings to consider. Firstly, you likely feel emotions and energy deeply, not just your own but also those of people around you – and probably even the emotional memories the land carries and the emotional states of the creatures you encounter, and other subtle energies other people don’t feel or pick up on. This can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially in crowded or emotionally charged environments. You might find that you are particularly attuned to the subtleties in your surroundings—small changes in mood, shifts in energy, or even the unspoken vibes of a place or person.
Additionally, as a highly sensitive witch, you may have a strong intuitive sense, often knowing things without understanding exactly how you know them. This intuition can manifest in vivid dreams, strong gut feelings, or even messages through synchronicities in everyday life.
You might also notice that you need more downtime than others, requiring periods of solitude to recharge after social interactions or busy days. This isn’t just a preference for quiet—it’s a necessity for maintaining your emotional and mental health.
Moreover, you may have a deep connection with nature or feel drawn to practices that involve the earth and its energies, finding peace and rejuvenation in these environments more so than others might.
If these descriptions resonate with you, and you find yourself feeling the world deeply and intensely, using your sensitivity as a guide in your magical practices, you might very well be a highly sensitive witch.
This trait is a special part of who you are, allowing you to experience the magic of the world on a profound level.
You might also be a highly sensitive witch because of trauma or because you lived through difficult childhood experiences like emotional neglect.
Trauma and difficult childhood experiences can significantly impact a person’s sensitivity and the overall functioning of their nervous system. When someone goes through trauma, especially at a young age, it can lead to what’s often referred to as a heightened state of alertness or hyper-vigilance. This means the nervous system is always on guard, constantly scanning the environment for potential threats. This state was originally designed to protect you from danger, but when activated too frequently or intensely, it can lead to increased nervous system sensitivity.
This heightened sensitivity means the nervous system reacts more intensely and frequently than it normally would, often to everyday stimuli that wouldn’t bother others. Sounds might seem louder, lights brighter, and emotional reactions stronger. Over time, this constant state of alert can be exhausting and stressful, making it hard for the body to relax and recover. It can also lead to anxiety, fatigue, and aggravate and worsen physical symptoms like headaches or muscle tension or more serious conditions like MCAS or Chronic Fatigue.
For those who have lived through trauma, this increased sensitivity is not just a physical response but an emotional one as well.
You might find yourself feeling overwhelmed by intense emotional responses to situations that others might find manageable. This can make navigating daily life challenging, as your body and mind are often in a more reactive state than those who haven’t experienced similar traumas.
Understanding this link between past trauma and increased sensitivity is crucial for healing and managing your well-being – especially when you’re practicing magic.
It helps in recognizing the need for certain adaptations in daily life, such as creating calm environments, practicing mindfulness, and perhaps most importantly, seeking therapeutic support to process and heal from past experiences.
How Does Manifestation Magic Impact Your Highly Sensitive Nature
I’m currently working with manifestation art in the Shine Your Light 30-Day Art Challenge. If you follow me on Instagram or TikTok (@danadaponte) you can see the reels I create showing my daily manifestation art.
Manifestation magic involves using your will, intentions, and magical rituals to bring about desired outcomes. It is grounded in the belief that you can influence your reality. Witches typically use tools such as candles, herbs, crystals, and symbols to enhance their intentions and direct their energies more precisely. I use my art supplies and my art journal.
The process typically starts with setting a clear and specific intention—what you want to achieve or bring into your life. This intention is then charged with personal energy through visualization, where you vividly imagine the outcome as already achieved, feeling the emotions and seeing the results as real. Spells or rituals are performed to reinforce the intention, using elements that correspond symbolically to the desired outcome—for example, green in your art for prosperity, or roses for the divine love of the Great Mother.
Manifestation magic also emphasizes the alignment of your actions with your magical intentions. This means taking practical steps towards goals while also performing magical work, creating a powerful collaboration that enhances the likelihood of success.
Manifestation magic is not just about wishing for things to happen but actively weaving your desires into the fabric of your reality through a combination of magical practice, mental focus, and practical action. This approach makes you an active co-creator in your life, using both the seen and unseen forces of the universe to achieve your goals.
Manifestation art therefore is not just regular art; it’s a visual representation of your goals and aspirations. Each piece you create is infused with your intentions—what you hope to achieve or bring into your life. For example, if your dream is to publish a book, you might create art that symbolizes this goal, using images, symbols, or words related to writing, books, and success. This process not only helps clarify what you want but also serves as a constant visual reminder of your goals.
The act of creating this art is itself a powerful tool. It helps align your subconscious mind with your conscious goals by repeatedly focusing your energy and thoughts on what you desire. This focused attention and intention set the stage for these desires to manifest in the physical world. By actively engaging in this creative process, you are essentially telling the universe that you are ready and open to receive these opportunities, setting the magic of manifestation into motion.
But…
Manifestation magic, while powerful, can sometimes unintentionally trigger old emotional wounds, leading to various forms of resistance. For those of us deeply attuned to our inner worlds, this resistance can manifest in many ways, such as physical symptoms like unexpected pains or aches, emotional disturbances like sudden feelings of anxiety or sadness, or even mental blocks like confusion, procrastination, or indecisiveness. These responses are your body and mind’s way of signaling unresolved issues or fears.
For instance, if you’re trying to manifest a new relationship but have unresolved feelings from past heartbreak, the intense focus on your desire for love might reopen old wounds. This can lead to feelings of sadness, fear, or unworthiness that you thought were long resolved. These emotions act as forms of resistance because they conflict with the positive intentions you’re trying to set, making it harder for you to fully believe in or feel deserving of the outcomes you’re working toward.
This resistance might manifest in several ways, such as procrastination, self-sabotage, or even physical symptoms like anxiety or fatigue, which are your body’s way of signaling unresolved issues.
The key to overcoming this resistance is to acknowledge and address these emotional wounds.
You need to process and release these emotions. By doing so, you clear the path for your manifestations to unfold more smoothly and affirm your readiness to receive the positive changes you seek. Plus, your body no longer has to suffer through the pain and discomfort that inner resistance creates.
How To Practice Manifestation Magic in a Gentle Way
When you’re a witch who feels everything deeply and you have a history of trauma or difficult childhood experiences, practicing magic requires a more careful and tailored approach.
It’s important to ensure that the practice of magic is not just about casting spells or manifesting desires, but also about healing your emotional wounds and aligning your inner child parts, your past life parts and your ancestral parts with your manifestation goals. And it’s crucial to create a safe, sacred space where you can practice magic without fear of retraumatization.
Considering all parts of yourself in your magical practice: your inner child, any past life influences, and ancestral energies that might still impact you today ensures that your magical practice is both effective and safe. This allows you to explore your manifestation magic without the risk of retraumatizing yourself.
When you do this, you can more confidently address deeper emotional issues and align all parts of your being with your manifestation goals.
There are several ways to ensure that your magical practices don’t overwhelm your system but my favorite method for ensuring gentle magic is using the MAP (Manifesting All Possibilities) Method.
This technique involves identifying and directly communicating with different parts of your subconscious to resolve internal conflicts and release emotional blocks. It rewires your brain, clears subconscious blocks and neutralizes heavy emotional memories. By using the MAP Method, you can specifically target and heal those inner child parts, past life parts, and ancestral influences that might be hindering your manifestations or causing your magic work to hurt your nervous system. It provides a guided way to bring your inner parts into harmony with your current desires, ensuring that your magical efforts are not only more potent but also gentle and kind to your body.
Incorporating the MAP Method into your magical routine allows you to support your deeper healing while actively working towards your dreams and goals, creating a balanced approach that honors both your past and your potential.
This approach is particularly effective because it involves minimal effort with profound impacts. While practicing MAP, all I need to do is listen to recordings with specific commands that are designed to communicate directly with my subconscious mind. The process allows my subconscious to identify and resolve internal conflicts or traumas that could be affecting my nervous system. This method does not require intense focus or visualization, which can sometimes be taxing; instead, it lets the subconscious do the work, making it a less stressful and more gentle way to do my deep inner work.
How I Bring Art and Science Together to Manifest and Heal at The Same Time
As I created my manifestation art to manifest my creative dreams in the Shine Your Light 30-Day Art Challenge, I noticed physical symptoms popping up, specifically pain in my knee that was severe enough to affect my ability to walk. When I used the MAP Method to explore these symptoms, I realized they were not just physical but a form of resistance from my inner parts, which were not aligned with the creative life I’m envisioning.
This resistance was rooted in deep-seated ancestral beliefs and generational trauma stored in my body, triggered by the changes I was trying to manifest. To address this, I continued with my daily manifestation practices but also incorporated daily evening healing sessions with the MAP Method. So, in the morning or during the day I was creating my manifestation art, and, in the evening, I would work with the MAP Method to clear any heavy emotions or subconscious beliefs that were working against me.
This approach allowed me to directly engage with and soothe the underlying emotional and psychological barriers, preventing them from manifesting as physical symptoms or more severe forms of resistance.
More serious resistance can look like significant health issues, profound emotional disturbances, or major life disruptions, which can all stem from deep internal conflicts or stored traumas being activated. These might include severe anxiety, depression, or even circumstances that seem to repeatedly sabotage your progress towards goals.
By integrating manifestation art with brain rewiring through the MAP Method, I am able to pursue my creative and professional goals while also caring for the deeper parts of myself that need attention and healing.
While the MAP Method is a powerful tool for rewiring your brain, clearing subconscious blocks, and neutralizing emotional memories, it’s important to recognize its limitations. Complex emotional, psychological, and physical responses require specialized treatment. Therapists are trained to handle sensitive issues with the necessary care and have tools specifically designed to help individuals process and recover from trauma. This type of support is crucial because it offers a structured approach to healing that is based on psychological research and proven methodologies.
While something like the MAP Method can significantly support your journey and provide valuable tools for personal growth and emotional management, they are not substitutes for professional treatment. For deep-seated, unresolved trauma, professional guidance is essential to ensure comprehensive care and effective healing.
If however, you are like me and have done your inner work with professionals and on your own and you’re in an emotionally stable place, this dual activation method of creating your manifestation art in the morning and clearing subconscious blocks, rewiring your brain or neutralizing heavy emotional memories with the MAP Method in the evening ensures that you move forward without overwhelming your system, maintaining both your physical health and emotional well-being.
This approach is at the core of my new program, “Shine Your Light Summer,” designed to help others like me who are highly sensitive manifest their creative dreams while healing their deepest wounds.
If you like the idea of empowering your inner witch, unleashing your authentic art and manifesting your creative dreams and you like the idea of learning more about this gentle way of approaching your magic, join my waiting list. In 30 days, using simple morning manifestation art and evening healing sessions, we’re going to play, have fun and awaken your creative and spiritual potential.
Get on the waitlist NOW to receive an exclusive $100 off this new program when I’m ready to launch it.
Join the Waitlist Here
with gratitude,
The Moon This Week
If you want to work with the moon to manifest, do your emotional work or deepen your creativity, here’s a summary of the moon’s energy from Monday – Sunday with daily prompts you can explore in your art journal.
Monday
Today the disseminating moon moves into the sign of Aquarius. It is also having a happy relationship with Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter and Venus and an intense relationship with Pluto.
The disseminating phase is when the moon is just starting to become smaller. It is a time to rest, relax and rejuvenate and move inward and focus on self. This usually isn’t a time to start anything new. It’s a time to reflect.
It’s also a great time for expressing your devotion to Spirit and for presenting offerings to your Divine helpers, your ancestors or the Earth. It’s also a great time to share the wisdom and knowledge you’ve harvested. There’s a generous or giving back quality to the waning phases of the moon. We’re taking note of the bounty we received as the moon was growing in power and feeling grateful and wanting to share what we learned or received with the people we love and care about or with a greater community we feel connected to.
How do you feel acknowledging your wisdom?
Do you see yourself as a teacher?
Do you acknowledge your accomplishments and celebrate what you’ve learned?
Take a moment to think about the last time you acknowledged one of your accomplishments.
In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that celebrates one of your accomplishments.
Tuesday
Today the disseminating moon is in the sign of Aquarius. It is also having a happy relationship with Venus.
Aquarius, an air sign, is often associated with innovation, intellect, and a forward-thinking approach. Emotionally, the Moon in Aquarius encourages a more detached and objective view of our feelings. It’s less about getting swept up in emotional tides and more about understanding emotions from a rational perspective.
Spiritually, the Moon in Aquarius opens up avenues for unconventional and progressive spiritual insights. This is a time when you might find yourself drawn to new or unconventional spiritual practices or philosophies. It’s an excellent period for engaging with community or group activities that have a spiritual theme, as Aquarius values collaboration and social reform, especially reform that aims to relieve suffering and improve the quality of life for people. The moon is Aquarius is driven by a sense of compassion and a desire to help others. It is committed to the principles of human dignity, equality, and respect for all individuals.
It’s a good day to explore how your personal spiritual journey can contribute to the collective well-being. It’s also a great time for envisioning new possibilities, not just for yourself but for the wider community.
How is your personal growth intertwined with the betterment of us all?
In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that represents what contributing to the collective well-being means to you.
Wednesday
Today the disseminating moon moves into the sign of Pisces. It is also having a happy relationship with Mars and a tense relationship with Mercury, Uranus and Jupiter.
When the moon is in the sign of Pisces, it creates an atmosphere rich with intuition, creativity, and imagination. Pisces is a water sign, known for its deep emotional reservoirs, spiritual depth, and boundless imagination. This sign is associated with dreams, mysticism, and the unseen worlds, making the moon’s stay in Pisces a time when your intuitive and creative energies are heightened.
For highly sensitive people, especially those with creative dreams, this period can be particularly supportive. The energy of Pisces encourages you to tap into your innermost feelings and to trust your intuition. It’s a time when the veil between the tangible world and the realm of imagination seems thinner, allowing creative ideas to flow more freely.
The moon in Pisces offers a gentle reminder to embrace your sensitivity as a strength, especially when you’re working on a creative project or using your creativity. Your sensitive nature supports you in delving into the depths of your imagination, exploring your dreams without restraint, and expressing your findings in whatever medium speaks to you. Whether it’s writing, painting, music, or another form of artistic expression, the emotional and spiritual properties of this lunar placement provide a fertile ground for creativity to blossom.
The moon in Pisces also encourages a kind of compassionate self-reflection that can be incredibly healing. It’s a time to be gentle with yourself, to allow your dreams and desires to surface without judgment, and to explore the possibilities they hold. The intuitive energy of Pisces under the moon’s influence also helps you to connect more deeply with your true desires and to find creative ways to bring them into the world.
Ultimately, the moon in Pisces invites you to dive into your imagination, to trust your intuition, and to allow your creativity to flow uninhibited.
In your art journal, draw, paint or create a collage that celebrates a piece of poetry you love.
Thursday
The last quarter moon is in the sign of Pisces. It is also having a tense relationship with the planet 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.
Unfortunately, in the kind of relationship Venus is having with the moon today, it makes receiving Venus’ energy difficult so you might struggle to see your beauty or the beauty in your life or in others or you might long for pleasure and joy but feel incapable of doing what brings you happiness. Or, since Venus isn’t in the best state in this kind of relationship with the moon, you might feel lazy or jealous, act with indulgence or extravagance or find yourself hanging out with people you’d rather not be with.
Think about what it’s like to struggle to see the beauty in your life? We’ve all had times in our lives where it was difficult to see the beauty that was right there in front of us.
What beauty might be right in front of you today that you might otherwise have missed had you not taken this moment to consider it?
In your art journal, draw, paint or collage a page that represents hidden beauty in your life.
Friday
Aries is ruled by the planet Mars so the moon is carrying a little of that planet’s energy as well.
In its most helpful form, Aries supports you in setting healthy boundaries, knowing who you really are and feeling connected to your inner power.
Aries is action, quick responses and impulses. It values action, leadership and assertiveness. When the moon is in the sign of Aries as it is today, it can bring abrupt energy that is blunt and harsh – maybe even sometimes aggressive but it also helps to light a spark in your spirit and connect you to your passion and enthusiasm.
Think about your inner power.
Your inner power refers to the deep, innate strength and resilience that every individual possesses. It’s the driving force that helps you overcome challenges, remain steadfast in the face of adversity, and pursue your passions and dreams. It’s rooted in one’s beliefs, values, and experiences.
If you struggle to feel and connect with your inner power, you are not alone. Many factors, spanning personal, familial, and societal realms, can obscure your connection to your inner power. On a personal level, experiences such as persistent criticism, trauma, or struggles with mental health can make you doubt your self-worth and capabilities.
In your childhood, a lack of emotional support, or unresolved dynamics can suppress your sense of autonomy and erode our confidence. Experiencing traumatic events can deeply affect a person’s self-perception and sense of control.
When you zoom out to society, you see even more layers of complexity. Discrimination and prejudice based on attributes like race, gender, ability or sexuality can silence voices and diminish self-worth. The challenges of growing up in a lower socioeconomic class, faced with societal structures that often disproportionately favor the wealthy, can breed feelings of powerlessness and further contribute to feelings of marginalization for many.
These overlapping layers of experiences can act as barriers to recognizing and harnessing your inner power.
By actively unlearning negative self-perceptions and seeking affirming communities or support, you can begin to reconnect with their innate strength and potential but without those big systems changing, there is only so much you can do on your own.
Connecting with your inner power often involves self-reflection, understanding your purpose, and embracing your unique qualities and capabilities. It’s a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance and peeling back the layers of doubt, fear, and external influences to reveal the core strength within. It’s about recognizing and trusting in your own abilities, intuition, and worth.
What kind of relationship do you have with your inner power?
When do you feel connected to it?
When do you feel disempowered in your life?
What kind of situations or people help you grow your inner power?
In your art journal, draw, collage or paint an image that represents feeling empowered and strongly connected to your inner power.
Saturday
The last quarter moon is in the sign of Aries. It is also having a happy relationship with Jupiter, Pluto and Venus.
Jupiter wants to bring harmony, well-being, kindness, justice, abundance, growth, expansion, good luck and balance to your life. The moon is supporting Jupiter’s desire to do this in your life today.
The moon is the queen of the night. She 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.
Together, the moon and Jupiter are shining more peace into our lives today. They’re helping us feel open-hearted and generous. They’re supporting us in focusing on what connects us to each other and what brings us together. It’s energy that helps us feel calm and safe and willing to see and receive the goodness other people want to share with us. It’s energy that reminds us what’s good in our life.
One of the best ways to work with this energy is to drop into your heart and choose something in your life to feel grateful for.
Choose that one thing now and focus on it for a moment until you notice a calming, an opening or a small shift in your heart center.
In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that represents the center of your heart.
Sunday
The balsamic moon moves into the sign of Capricorn. It is also having an intense relationship with the planet Mars.
The balsamic or waning crescent phase of the moon, just before we plunge into the darkness of the New Moon, is a deeply spiritual time, ripe with opportunities for introspection and release.
This phase of the moon, characterized by the last thin sliver of moonlight before the moon disappears from our sky, is a symbol of endings, release, and spiritual preparation. It’s during this time that we are asked to let go, to surrender what no longer serves us, and to prepare ourselves for the new cycle to come. It’s a period of quiet introspection, mirroring the autumn season or the twilight hours of the day.
In the heart of the balsamic phase, the wisdom of the Dark Goddess or the Dark Mother comes alive. The Dark Goddess symbolizes the transformative power of endings, the wisdom that comes from facing our shadows, and the liberation of letting go. She calls us to courageously delve into our innermost depths, to explore the parts of ourselves we often keep hidden, and to lovingly release the aspects that no longer serve our growth.
During the balsamic phase, we can cultivate practices that echo the wisdom of the Dark Goddess. Consider performing a ‘letting go’ ritual, perhaps writing down what you wish to release and safely burning the paper as a symbolic gesture. I sometimes save the ashes from these rituals to use in my art journal. Or, use this time to meditate, focusing on your breath as a reminder of the cyclical nature of life — inhaling new life and exhaling what has served its purpose.
At this time, it can be particularly insightful to reflect on the following questions:
What is no longer serving me that I am ready to let go of?
What wisdom has the Dark Goddess offered me during this lunar phase?
How can I honor the process of release and prepare myself for the new beginnings to come?
To deepen your connection to the Dark Goddess during the balsamic phase, you might choose to create an altar with symbols of the Goddess in your art journal, include imagery of a black or dark purple candle, or meditate on the Dark Goddess archetype, seeking her guidance as you journey into your own inner darkness.
As we approach the darkness of the New Moon, we are reminded that even in the darkest night, the promise of renewal is just on the horizon.
In your art journal, draw, paint or collage an image that represents what you want to release and let go before the new lunar cycle.
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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