The September 2019 new moon is a great time to dream. The dark night sky invites us to look inward and connect to Spirit. What is it you really want? Is your heart open to receive? The journal pages I created for this new moon inspire you to stretch your imagination so you can better see what is possible for yourself…and the world.

Reflect

I often have a hard time imagining more for myself. It’s hard to stretch my brain to see something that isn’t right there in front of me. My guardian angel Cassandra used to encourage me to be more creative. She would point out when my mind was stuck in a box. In her opinion, too many people are unable to think creatively. I suspect this is because we’ve rarely been encouraged to do so and imagination is probably a lot like our body, it gets stiff and inflexible when it we don’t stretch it.

What I’ve learned from Cassandra over the years is spending time thinking about things that don’t yet exist is time very well spent. It used to be quite difficult for me to imagine my life looking differently than what I was actually experiencing but with Cassandra’s guidance and a lot of practice, I’m now able to visualize an imagined future with a lot more detail and feeling.

I like visualizing imagined futures for myself. I don’t do it because I need them to come true. I do it because it helps me understand myself better. It helps me peel back the layers of obligations and conditioning so I can see what makes me feel alive.

When I get to the core of what I really want, I usually close off a little as if I’m shy or embarrassed even though there’s no one physically present with me. Touching the dreams I carry deep inside my heart is still a tender journey. There are parts of me that don’t yet feel confident or deserving. It sometimes takes me a little while to encourage those parts of myself to open up enough to allow me to imagine.

It’s also sometimes hard to allow myself to imagine in front of someone. I meet with a friend online every week. We support each other by talking out what is bothering or confusing us in our lives and businesses. Before we take turns talking about what we need to sort out, we each spend time visualizing a moment from our imagined future. For the last couple years, I’ve been visualizing the same moment over and over again. Lately, it’s felt alive with more detail and feeling than ever before. It’s like a made a break through in my ability to imagine. My imagination never felt so real before. It’s like before I was imagining in 2D and now all of a sudden I can imagine in 3D. It’s wild.

I like to share that wildness with others. A big part of what I like to do in my work is help people imagine and play. I help them do it in the studio. I guide them through it in my Intuitive Therapy sessions and it’s one of the reasons I draw my full and new moon journal pages. I hope the page I created for this new moon helps your imagination stretch a little further than it is used to.

Create

I like to think of the new moon as an empty canvas or an empty garden plot filled with rich black dirt just waiting for me to plant a seed in.  The New Moon Phase is a time to go inward, be still and dream up what you next want to create in your life. During the New Moon, I like to perform art rituals around manifesting, getting clear on what it is I really want, looking forward, planning and thinking about what I want the next Moon Cycle to look like.

The New Moon is a perfect time to ask Spirit to help you stretch your imagination so you can better conceptualize what is possible in your life. We have a tendency to not see our value or our worth and feel as if we don’t deserve all the love and abundance available to us and consequently we dream and/or think small.   I like to spend some time during my New Moon art rituals asking God, Divine Mother and/or Spirit to help me feel worthy and open my heart to receive all the goodness, magic and adventure that is already there waiting for me.

For the September new moon, I created a journal page to use during my moon ritual to help me stretch my imagination and consider the future I want to create.

If you are not on my email list and haven’t received this journal page, visit my homepage and sign up. You’ll receive a link where you can download this month’s journal page.

If moon rituals are familiar to you, prepare your sacred space and invite Spirit to join you in whatever way works best for you.

If, however, you are new to moon rituals, I’ve included a quick guide to the steps I follow to prepare for my moon rituals in my last blog post. Take a look at it before moving forward.

When you are ready, print out the three journal pages. You’ll notice there is a path that runs along all three pages. Place the pages together so the path winds along all three pages. You can now follow the path from beginning to end or if you like to break the rules, go ahead and start at the end and make your way to the beginning.

As you move along the path you’ll see there are stops along the way. I’m going to enjoy this page by going from the end to the beginning so that’s how I am going to describe it here.

There’s a castle where you are asked to describe your dream. Further up on the path, a dragon guards her eggs. Each egg represents a feeling your dream evokes within you. There’s a village with a house for each person who supports your dreams. Keep winding your way along the path where a group of wild animals await you. There’s space here for you to consider which animal holds the qualities you most need to follow your dreams.

Stop at the picnic blanket and nourish yourself before walking up to the tree and writing about the things you are grateful for on the flags that hang from its branches. Cross the bridge where’s there is a basket of tools inviting you to think about what skills you already have to make your dreams come true. In the garden, describe the kinds of changes you hope your dream causes in your everyday life. A river runs through the second page. In its waters you are asked to describe what it looks like when your life is in flow.

Majestic mountains stand in the horizon and they ask you to write about the challenges or obstacles you might face as you move in the direction of your dreams. You do not walk the path alone. A group of angels awaits for your instructions on how you would like them to help you. Mother Earth is always there waiting to help too. In the patch of crystals and plants, list the natural elements you can call on for support. You were born with everything you need to turn your dreams into reality. As the path winds along, presents are piled on top of one another. They represent the gifts you were born with. Finally, you arrive at an angel. She holds you, as a baby, in her arms. She asks you to celebrate the magnificent being you are. What good is a dream if you don’t feel worthy of it?

If you end up completing this spiritual art ritual, I’d love to see what you created. You can even post the finished piece on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #danasartrituals or email me at support@danadaponte.com and share with me how it went for you.

with love,

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This year, the September full moon is also the harvest moon. The harvest moon is the full moon before the autumn equinox. I created a journal page for this full moon that incorporates a breathing exercise to help you release the emotional, subconscious or energetic blocks it may be time to let go as you invite more abundance into your life.

Reflect

In the northern hemisphere, the days are getting shorter. The crops are being harvested. Fruit is being preserved. Cucumbers and carrots are being pickled. Peas are getting shucked and sorted into freezer bags and preparations for the cold season are underway.

This time of year soothes my nervous system. It’s like a big cozy blanket for my soul. The energy is more subdued than at the height of summer but the dark days of winter have not yet arrived. Sure the hint of frost lingers in the air and whispers of long black nights but the memories of summer are still alive. Sometimes the sun will even decide to get hot enough to tease me into thinking about beaches and popsicles. But it’s cool enough that everyone has retreated to their houses and the outdoor spaces I like to visit aren’t as busy.

As much as I love summer, my spirit prefers the slower vibes of autumn. It’s a great time to feel grateful for everything I had the opportunity to celebrate during the summer. It’s also a great time to reflect on the beliefs, emotions or memories I may be carrying that are preventing me from opening my heart to receive more goodness.

I find these times we live in challenging. It’s easy for me to close off in fear. I grieve for the lives that have already suffered because of the changing climate and I worry about the millions more that will be affected. And yet I can’t allow myself to be weighed down by feelings of powerlessness because that won’t help. I have to work even harder than before to continue to open my heart to love. Inspiration is found where love lives. Solutions and resilience exist there too. When my heart is open to receive love, everything else I need comes flooding in too.

For this harvest moon, I created a journal page to use during my moon ritual to help me release whatever is blocking my heart from receiving. I wanted to use the power of the exhale breath to help me with my intentions of release. I created a goddess to help us do that. I like the idea of partnering my creative and magical intentions with my physical breath. In my imagination, it invites my body and all elements of my physicality all the way down to my cells to join me in releasing what I’m ready to let go.

If you are not on my email list and haven’t received this journal page, visit my homepage and sign up. You’ll receive a link where you can download this month’s journal page. Print the page then follow the instructions below.

If moon rituals are familiar to you, prepare your sacred space and invite Spirit to join you in whatever way works best for you.

If, however, you are new to moon rituals, I’ve included a quick guide to the steps I follow to prepare for my moon rituals.

STEP ONE: CREATE SACRED SPACE

Ultimately, I believe the sacred space I need is already within me and setting up a physical space that feels sacred isn’t necessary – but it is fun. And over time, the more I use my spiritual tools, imagery, nature or my altar to enter the holiness within me, the more  quickly they help to open my heart and slip me into the holy wonder that lives there.

If you have an altar set up in your home, you can perform your ritual on or near it. If you are performing this art ritual with your kids, let them choose the spiritual tools and items they want to include and allow them to arrange their choices in a manner they prefer. There are no rules here. Just give yourself the freedom to play and create. Personally, I often start with a pretty piece of material then I lay my crystals, cards and candles on it. I add whatever tools, items and imagery match the intention of my ritual. Since this particular full moon is the harvest moon, I’ll be setting out items and plants that represent abundance.

STEP TWO: CLEAR

In this step the goal is to clear your physical, mental and emotional space. There are many ways to do this. Ring a bell. Play a crystal bowl. Meditate. Say a prayer. Chant. Spray a mist of water and essential oil around the room you are performing the ritual in. Light incense or sage and move it around to clear your physical space, your mind, your heart and your energy. Listen to a guided meditation or close your eyes and focus on your breath. Do whatever works for you to step out of your everyday busy monkey mind and drop into a more relaxed, open and still mind.

Try your best to release tensions, worries, negativity, anxieties, fears and stress. You can even ASK FOR HELP with this step. Ask your angels, Spirit, God, Divine Mother, the wind or whoever you pray to to take your worries, anxieties and negative thoughts away. Release feelings of unworthiness and self-criticism. I often call on Archangel Michael for help in this step. Do whatever works for you to clear away the mental clutter and any fears you may be hanging onto. Ask for your mind and emotional body to be cleansed and relieved of what no longer serves you. Ask the Divine for help to prepare your body, heart and mind to open to connecting with spirit and performing your ritual.

Consider what you enjoy doing or what makes you feel taken care of. Some days lighting my incense and saying a prayer is enough.  Other days life weighs heavy on my mind and I need more. On those days I slow down and spend more time in this step than I normally would. Effectively nurturing your heart and shifting your mental and emotional state is more important than robotically going through the motions of each step. Listen to your body and your heart and do what you have to do to shift into that sacred space.

STEP THREE: CALL IN

I like to think of this step as an invitation. I prepared myself and my space, I created a pretty setting and I quieted my monkey mind. Now all I have to do is invite Love and Spirit to join me. I’ve been lucky enough to witness the many miracles that unfold when I invite Mother Earth,  the four elements and directions, God, Divine Mother, my Spirit Guides and angels and my ancestors to participate in my rituals with and for me. This step is crucial in saving me time and effort. What I can do alone is nothing compared to what I can do together with Spirit.

My method of calling in Spirit is very simple. I close my eyes, take a deep, grounding breath and say a prayer out loud. I speak an open invitation by saying, “All those in Spirit that are here for my greatest and highest good and for the greatest and highest good of all the people participating in this ritual with me, thank you for being here. 
Thank you for sharing your wisdom, healing and guidance with us. Thank you for helping us receive your Divine messages and/ or healing clearly and effectively.” 

Then I pause for a moment and consider specifically who from my Spirit team I would like to invite. I speak their names and invite them to join me. I do this in an informal way and speak as I would if I were on the phone with a friend asking them to come over. I thank them for all the help they’ve ever given me in the past and gently request their presence.

STEP FOUR: PROTECT

The last step I do is ask my spiritual helpers to protect my sacred space. I establish clear, firm boundaries of love and light, stating that only those that are here for my highest and greatest good are welcome in my space. I also invite Archangel Michael to protect my boundaries.

When you perform this step you can also create a circle around you with items like stones or salt or oracle cards to affirm your boundaries. What I try to achieve in this step is a very clear boundary within myself and within my physical space by being very clear about what kind of energy and intentions I want to hang out with.

Finally, after all the preparing, clearing, aligning, inviting and protecting, its time to create.

Create

Print out the journal page and choose a color that represents letting go or releasing. To me, the color blue evokes feelings of letting go because it reminds me of air and the wind.

The goddess on the journal page has a figure 8 pattern on her body. The top half of the figure 8 pattern is smaller than the bottom half. Follow the figure 8 path with your pencil crayon in a continuous motion over and over again while you align your breath with your circular movements. There are written instructions on the figure 8 pattern showing you where to breathe in and where to breathe out. You breathe in while your crayon is follow the smaller loop on the figure 8 and you breathe out as your crayon follows the larger loop at the bottom of the figure 8.

I suggest breathing deeply. If you can’t see your body moving with each breath in and out then you’re breathing is too shallow. When I do this exercise, I’m going to exaggerate my inhale and exhale until my exhale is a lot louder than it normally is.

As you exhale, think about all the memories, events, experiences and beliefs you are ready to let go. What prevents your heart from receiving all the goodness it deserves? Is it rooted in fear or self-doubt? Does it stem from a childhood memory? Are you still carrying grievances that are blocking your heart from trusting enough to open wide? Is the stress you are carrying constricting the energy around your heart?

Continue to follow the figure 8 path around and around for as long as you need to feel a shift or a sense of release.

If you end up completing this spiritual art ritual, I’d love to see what you created. You can even post the finished piece on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #danasartrituals or email me at support@danadaponte.com and share with me how it went for you.

with love,

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This is a great art ritual to enjoy when the new moon is in the sign of Gemini.  A Gemini new moon day is a great time to think about the moments in your life you listened to your inner critic instead of your inner wisdom. Your inner critic isn’t your enemy. She usually shows up when you are hurting or scared but that doesn’t mean you should follow her guidance. This ritual asks you to consider following your heart and believing in your dreams instead.

Reflect

The voices in my mind aren’t always nice to me. They ask me to be different. They want me to change. They think I would be happier if I was better or stronger or more likable or a thousand other things I used to think was wrong with me. But nothing was ever wrong with me. Sure I made mistakes (sometimes really BIG ones) and yes, I made bad choices every now and again (sometimes daily) but the behaviors didn’t make me bad or unlovable.

One day, I refused to hate myself. I refused to change myself if my desire to change was rooted in judgement or shame. I would only pursue changes that came from love and kindness. This was revolutionary in my world because everyone always talks about what they need to change and how they need to be different in one way or another. So few people extend kindness and compassion toward themselves. I didn’t want to live like that anymore.

All my problems didn’t go away but how I treated myself changed. I’m patient now and when I notice thoughts rolling around in my mind that aren’t nice, I don’t believe them. I see them but I don’t get caught up in them. The mean girl in my head doesn’t pull me down like she used to. Instead, I understand my mean thoughts are just my mind’s way of letting me know something is bothering me so I get curious. The mean thoughts never say anything true. They are just a symptom. The mean girl that lives in my head is really just hurting. She’s lashing out because she doesn’t know another way to get her needs met but when I tend to my heart and whatever it’s been missing, she grows quiet and grateful.

If you have thoughts that put you down or hurt you, I hope you remember they aren’t true. Something inside is trying to get your attention. Your inner mean girl might just be trying to show you that somewhere inside you are hurting and that’s the only way she knows how to get your attention.

She might need your attention and she might be showing you something inside you is bothering you but that doesn’t mean she gets to make all the decisions. As you perform this spiritual art ritual, think about the one place in your life you will no longer allow her to take the wheel then express those intentions by writing a letter to your inner critic. I wrote my letter on a hand-drawn journal page I created that is rich with symbolism for transformation. If you’d like to receive my free hand-drawn journal pages, simply join my mailing list by entering your name and email address on the home page of my website. But don’t worry, you don’t need to use my journal pages. Use whatever you like. In this case, the tools are not as important as the intentions and the feelings with which you create.

Create

After you created sacred space, cleared the energy and invited Spirit to join you for your art ritual, create a page that holds imagery and symbolism of transformation. The new moon is a great time to plant new seeds of intention so any imagery that reminds you of birth or change or newness and growth will work well.

Once your page is drawn and colored (I colored mine with watercolor pencils), start a letter to your inner critic. Be kind. Your inner critic isn’t your enemy so it doesn’t make sense to be mad at her or want her to disappear but it’s also okay to set some firm boundaries. Imagine, as you are writing, you are speaking to a child you love. You want them to feel heard and safe but you also want them to understand you are the leader. Explain to your inner critic in what areas of your life you are stepping in and taking over and what changes you will be making. Think of all the times you didn’t follow your dreams or listen to the song in your heart because she took over. Let her know this won’t be happening anymore. You will be the one making the decisions, not the parts of you that are scared or hurt. You will tend to the scared and hurt parts but you will not let them choose your destiny.

When you are done, thank Spirit for being with you and hang your letter somewhere you can read it over again a few times during the next moon cycle.

If you end up completing this spiritual art ritual, I’d love to see what you created. You can even post the finished piece on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #danasartrituals or email me at support@danadaponte.com and share with me how it went for you.

with love,

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This is a great art ritual to enjoy when the moon is in the sign of Sagittarius.  A Sagittarius moon day is a great time to think about your dreams and the direction you’d like your life to go in the future. It’s also a great day to take carefully considered risks. Risks require you to say YES! even when fear or self-doubt begs you to stay comfortable. Sometimes the power of the word Yes!! is what you need. This spiritual art ritual is for those times.

Reflect

The ways in which you’d like you life to change often require you to treat yourself in kinder, more supportive ways. It also requires you to show up in ways that might push you out of your comfort zone. Staying comfortable is easy and the older we get, the easier it is to forgot how life-affirming it is to take risks and say YES!! to things we know will bring more joy and adventure into our lives.

Where in your life are you settling for the status quo? Are there things you want to do but fear has gotten in the way? What do you want to say YES!!! to? Who do you want to say Yes! to?

In this spiritual art ritual, you are invited to consider all the things you want to start saying YES! to. What kinds of experiences do you want more of in your family life? In which relationships can you open your heart and say YES! instead of building a wall? What kinds of opportunities do you want to say YES! to in your professional life? What kind of risks are you ready to take? How can you live a little more boldly?

Create

After you have created sacred space, cleared the energy and invited Spirit to join you for your art ritual, cut a piece of cardstock paper in the size and shape you want your YES! sign to be. Find three decorative papers and cut them in sizes to each fit a third of your cardstock paper. Glue each piece of decorative paper to your cardstock paper. Draw one letter for the word YES! on each piece of decorative paper. Doodle or decorate each letter in whatever way you choose.

I chose to fill in the letters ‘Y’ and ‘S’ in by writing the word YES over and over again. I did this intentionally as a meditation. Each time I wrote the word YES, I thought about all the things I want to say YES! to in my life. I want to say YES! to movement and strength and believing in myself. I want to say YES! to walking in the forest everyday and spending time with the river. I want to say YES! to finishing my book and doing things I’m afraid to do. I want to love myself boldly and unapologetically. When I veer toward the comfort of “No!”, I want to stop and consider the possibilities of “Yes!”

If you end up completing this spiritual art ritual, I’d love to see what you created. You can even post the finished piece on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #danasartrituals or email me at support@danadaponte.com and share with me how it went for you.

with love,

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