What dream are you ready to recommit to during this month’s new moon?

Reflect

The energy of this particular new moon invites us to set new goals, rebuild and reconnect to our dreams but it’s hard to dream when the world feels like its falling apart and that’s how our reality sometimes feel, doesn’t it? Even in the media, it seems as if we’re constantly breaking into pieces and crumbling down. I understand those feelings because they are valid. There is a lot of brokenness in the world that needs our attention and things keep intensifying (which I don’t think is going to stop happening any time soon) but there is also a lot of innovation and connection and positive change happening too. The world still needs us to keep dreaming. We need to keep dreaming even when we’re struggling. How do we create better ways of being in this world if we can’t dream them into reality? We can’t keep our attention solely focused on destruction and chaos. If we’re grieving, we have to give ourselves permission and support to feel what we need to feel but when we’re ready, it’s helpful to recommit to our creative dreams.

The trouble is, creative people tend to also be highly sensitive people. Our nervous systems naturally absorb more information from the energetic environment than other people. The general mood of the collective unconscious affects us more. The emotions and thoughts of the people we are in contact with affect us more. When we’re not mindful of setting our energetic boundaries or we forget to allow the energy we absorb to move right through us, we take on more than we can emotionally and energetically process and that bogs us down. It’s hard to dream when you’re swimming in heavy waters.

This month’s moon page is an invitation to recommit to a dream despite those heavy emotional waters we’re all swimming in these days. Recommitting to a dream will naturally get your energy moving and shifting. It will organically invite any heavy energy you absorbed to move through you. That’s why I LOVE moon rituals. They support our energy bodies and nervous systems in fun and creative ways. It’s healing work that feels light and playful but still gets serious results. Before you print out this month’s moon page, think about a creative dream you’ve had for a while but you’ve been procrastinating moving forward with or a dream you really want but you’re scared to let yourself have. Or even a creative dream you are ready to pursue but you want to call on Spirit for help because you can’t seem to move forward on your own (don’t worry, most of us highly sensitive creators can’t move forward on our own either and need more support than we’re used to asking for).

Once you have a dream in mind, follow the instructions I outline below.

If you are not on my email list and haven’t received this month’s moon page, visit my homepage and sign up. You’ll receive a link where you can download the hand-drawn page I created for this particular moon. Print it, grab a tea and a cozy blanket, get comfortable then follow the instructions below.

Create

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 a past blog post. Take a look at it before moving forward.

Print out the May new moon journal page.

This month’s moon page is a visual prayer. I wanted a visual way of showing my dreams being protected. I imagine the pregnant woman is Spirit (or more specifically, the Great Mother) holding my most sacred dreams safe in a womb as they quietly grow protected from the noisy world around me. The snake on her neck is symbolic of the ability to shed an old skin which to me means letting go of what isn’t working for me so I can express who I really am. Isn’t that what our dreams are? When they are pure and true, they are an expression of our most sacred selves. The snake is around her neck because our necks is the area of our throat chakras which is where energy around how free we feel to express ourselves collects. You may want to color the snake blue to help strengthen that symbolism during your ritual. As you color it blue ask Spirit to help you unblock the energy in that chakra and think of all the ways you want feel free to be yourself. I don’t know about you but the closer I move toward my truest self, the happier I am. I don’t have fancy dreams. I don’t have loud dreams. I have quiet, simple creative dreams but they are MINE and they matter. So do yours.

The wolves in on this moon page represent three things you need to achieve your dreams. You need to:

1. Trust your instincts. Wolves have highly attuned instincts but so do you. Your subconscious mind is constantly absorbing more information than you are aware of. When you get a gut feeling to move in a certain direction, you may not be able to logically understand why you’re being pulled in that direction but it isn’t random. Your Spirit is calling you and your desire to follow a creative dream is more on purpose than you might realize – even if it feels frivolous or grandiose. Don’t let your inner critic silence your instincts and stop you from following a dream your heart really wants to pursue.
2. Guard your dreams. Wolves protect their territory. Your dreams are sacred and precious and deserve your protection. Don’t share them with people who cannot see how sacred they are. Don’t let other people put them down. Speak of them only in company that can treat them with the respect they deserve.
3. Use your rituals. Wolves have rituals and they use them to communicate to each other and to keep each other safe. Use your moon rituals to communicate your dreams to Spirit then use daily or morning rituals to stay focused on your dreams. It is so very easy to strand away from your dreams. Rituals help keep you moving in the direction your Spirit wants to go.

As you color the wolves on this moon page, think about what needs to change in your life so you are better able to do these three things to help you achieve your dreams.

When you are ready, complete the sentence on this moon page by writing everything that comes to mind in the moment. Allow yourself to write without editing yourself. Trust what flows out of you.

If you end up completing this spiritual art ritual, I’d love to hear how it went. You can even take a picture of a part of your process and share it on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #danasartrituals or email me at support@danadaponte.com and share with me how it went for you. It’s fun for me to know there are others out there enjoying the moon with me.

with love,

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Invite the spirit of an animal to protect your inner light with this moon page for the April new moon. 

Reflect

Last month I felt discouraged and weighed down by the events surrounding the covid pandemic. I live near the Rocky Mountains where, on top of dealing with the psychological burdens of living in this time, the sky was cloudy and the snow kept falling. I was so tired of snow. I wanted spring to greet me with a warm sunshine hug but it just wouldn’t show up. I struggled to feel on purpose in my life and when I lose my sense of purpose, joy slips away too.

I can’t be of service to love when I’m feeling like an old blanket being dragged through the dirt and it’s really important to me to be in service to love so I know first and foremost when I start my day I need to do what I can do to shift my mood and my thinking. Protecting my inner light is important work that must be given priority.

I have a feeling as time goes on it is going to become more and more important to protect our inner light. In this world, there are so many circumstances and factors that do more harm to our inner light than good. It’s exhausting but it’s imperative we navigate through the mud and the muck and become intimate with our beauty and power. We are divine beings. We are limitless. We are magical. The more we understand just how magical we are, the better we grow our inner light and if there is anything this world needs right now it is a lot of glowing hearts.

This month’s moon page was created to help you invite an animal to help you protect your inner light. You will find the instructions below but before you read them, I encourage you to read these words from Tad Hargrave of Marketing for Hippies. He created a Facebook live video and I loved his words so much I wanted to share them here. I think they fit perfectly with this month’s moon page.

Whether you believe this covid pandemic is real or not both are an indication that we’re in troubled times. Could it be that you are your ancestors best response to this time? You are needed in this world and you come with gifts to give and if you don’t offer them it places more burden on the rest of us. Nobody else has the exact combination of gifts and nature and wounds that you have. Perhaps there is a reason you were born NOW and HERE with the gifts you have. Maybe everything you carry is to be put together in service of the world. I’m not saying that’s how it is but what if it’s true? What’s your role in the community going to be because the world needs a lot of help? There’s a place for everyone. The skills you have, the things that come easily to you that don’t come naturally to someone else, those might be yours to use as a gift to the rest of the world.

If you are not on my email list and haven’t received this month’s journal page, visit my homepage and sign up. You’ll receive a link where you can download the hand-drawn page I created for this particular moon. Print it, grab a tea and a cozy blanket, get comfortable then follow the instructions below.

Create

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 a past blog post. Take a look at it before moving forward.

Print out the April new moon journal page.

You’ll notice the page shows four animal cards laying on a table and a hand holding a blank card. The four animals are the ones that came to me when I asked Spirit to guide me and show me which animals wanted to step forward and offer their spiritual support during this time. I saw a porcupine, a herring, a sparrow and a beaver.

A porcupine may have quills but they are actually very gentle creatures and don’t actually use their quills unless they are afraid or defending themselves. I see that as a reminder for us to be mindful of how fear skews our perspective. It has become easy to be gripped by fear. Nowadays it can take a lot of work to live with an open trusting heart. Some days it is easier to achieve than others but it’s important we keep trying otherwise we run the risk of shooting quills and hurting others when it is not what we actually want to do.

When I looked up the spiritual symbolism of herring, I saw that it is a sign that we may face financial problems that seem difficult to solve but that in the end everything will work out and our efforts to make changes will prove successful. It also offers a cautionary message and asks us to be aware of thoughtless action we will later regret so like the porcupine, we’re being advised that protecting our inner light means moving from a calm, centered state not a fearful reactionary state.

In the book “Medicine Cards”, the authors describe the message of beaver as inviting us to accomplish our goals by working with Group Mind. Imagine how well we can protect our inner light when we all work together. I suspect community will become one of our greatest allies in the coming years. Beaver also asks you to protect the creations which you put your love and energy into. Your dreams and creations are expressions of your inner light. They deserve protection too.

In the book “Animal Speak”, the author speaks of sparrow as a symbol of triumph after long suffering. I find it interesting that in the book the author also shares a story of how sparrow, in the Middle Ages, was a symbol for the peasants and lower classes who felt powerless over nobility. They loved to hear tales of how the insignificant sparrow triumphed over stronger animals like wolves and bears. Sparrow reminds us to protect our inner light by not forgetting what we are worthy of.

On this moon page, the blank card is for you to draw the spirit of an animal you want to invite to help you guard your inner light. If an animal doesn’t immediately come to mind, spend a few moments in meditation and allow the spirit of an animal to show itself to you.

If you end up completing this spiritual art ritual, I’d love to see a part of your process. You can even take a picture of a part of your process and share it on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #danasartrituals or email me at support@danadaponte.com and share with me how it went for you. It’s fun for me to know there are others out there enjoying the moon with me.

with love,

Pinterest pins:

This month’s journal page was created to inspire you to spread a little kindness and gratitude during these challenging times.

Reflect

I’m so excited to see this month’s full moon in the sky. I’m planning a whole family night out just to enjoy this big beautiful moon. I don’t know if the sky will cooperate with me. It’s been so foggy in my neck of the woods. I drove into town to get some much needed groceries with my son the other day. It was midday but the sky was bleak, the air was dense and the grey mist hid the mountains from us. We talked about how we were both hitting a low point from the days of isolation we’ve endured. We didn’t try to cheer each other up. We simply shared how we were feeling and my son decided that it wasn’t very nice of the sky to look the way it did during a pandemic. The least it could do was allow the sun to shine.

As we were out running errands, I realized that since the pandemic grocery shopping has become an emotional experience for me. I didn’t expect that. It’s been much harder than I anticipated. The masks and gloves, the line ups to enter the store, the plastic screens, the chemical smell of disinfectant, it all weighs a little heavy on my heart. I don’t want it to. In fact, there’s a part of me that thinks I should be stronger than this but I’m not and of course, I shouldn’t be. None of us should be. This is the kind of reality we only enjoy in fiction.

I thought about this when I created this month’s full moon journal page. I wanted to focus on what we could release into the world to counter the heaviness. One of the lightest feelings I know is gratitude so I thought it would be nice to inspire us to send a few positive postcards out into the world.

If you are not on my email list and haven’t received this month’s moon page, visit my homepage and sign up. You’ll receive a link where you can download the hand-drawn page I created for this particular moon. Print it, grab a tea and a cozy blanket, get comfortable then follow the instructions below.

Create

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 a past blog post. Take a look at it before moving forward.

Print out the April full moon journal page and gather your pens, scissors, glue, paints or pencil crayons and collage items like magazines and scrapbook pages.

I also collected an image in a magazine to inspire my color palette for my postcards. I often look for color palette inspiration. It makes the creative experience less stressful for me. Colors overwhelm me. I love them all and want to use them all at the same time. When I choose an image to inspire my color choices, gathering my mixed media material is a lot more peaceful experience for me.

Once you’ve gathered all your supplies, think about who you want to express gratitude for. Is it the nurse you know is putting her life in danger to care for others during this pandemic? Is it a doctor friend who is feeling overwhelmed by the choices she might face? Is it a sister who has been so helpful to you during this time? Is it a neighbor who could use a little pick me up?

Color the back of the postcard if you like then decorate the front of the postcard with your own art. Let yourself have fun and don’t feel the need to be perfect. When you are done, mail or drop off your postcard to brighten someone’s day.

I’ve included a video below of me creating my postcards. Enjoy!

If you end up completing this moon page, 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. It’s fun for me to know there are others out there enjoying the moon with me.

with love,

Pinterest pins

The March full moon is a great time to forgive yourself for your weaknesses and discover how strong you actually are. This month’s journal page was created to take you on a journey of helping you let go of whatever is in the way of accessing your inner power.

Reflect

I used to struggle with overeating and binge eating. When I became ill, I immediately blamed myself for my illness. That’s the way it is when you have an addiction; shame makes it easy to attack yourself. The doctors I looked to for support didn’t have answers but many years ago my naturopath asked me to eat a carb free diet because it appeared my system was reacting to the carbs by flooding my body with inflammation. At the time, I was addicted to sugar and carbs so I felt weak because I couldn’t listen to his advice. It seemed like other people I knew could easily restrict themselves if they needed to but for me, it was impossible. For a while, I was really hard on myself about that. I blamed myself for my pain. I didn’t consider myself strong. The changes I needed to make felt like they were too hard for me to make and at the time, they were.

What I’ve learned is trauma trumps will power. The way my body was sent into a trauma response every time my stomach felt empty would always be stronger than my desire to change but when I treated my trauma, I had the strength to do what I needed to do. I made drastic changes in my life. Everything I needed to do suddenly seemed doable.

Addiction isn’t weakness and most things we do that we regret doing isn’t because we are weak. We are eternal beings of unlimited beauty and power. We have inner resources that we haven’t even fully tapped into. Weakness isn’t the problem. Things like trauma and lack of connection and attachment wounds and difficult childhood experiences are the problem.

I didn’t know why I needed to draw a bear for this month’s moon page until I sat down to reflect on it but the events that unfolded this week are making me understand why the symbolism is important. My illness has taken a turn for the worse. My doctor suspects mast cell issues and is referring me to a hematologist. I’ve already changed so much about my lifestyle and diet in an attempt to improve my health. It was so discouraging for me to experience things getting worse. I cried for a few days. I bitched for a few more. Eventually, I found my strength again.

The three things that helped me find my strength again were conversations with my mom who reminded me there is hope, a treatment with Jessica Palik Bray who did a cranio sacral treatment where I felt emotionally held in a way the cells in my body seemed to be longing to feel for a very long time and all the nights I spent drawing this moon page. The imagery makes me feel strong and protected. I plan on making a few copies of this particular moon page and hanging them up in strategic places in my home like my fridge, my bathroom mirror and my office so my subconscious mind can continuously soak in the image that reminds me I am so much stronger than I feel and I am far more protected than I know.

If you are not on my email list and haven’t received this month’s moon page, visit my homepage and sign up. You’ll receive a link where you can download the hand-drawn page I created for this particular moon. Print it, grab a tea and a cozy blanket, get comfortable then follow the instructions below.

Create

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 a past blog post. Take a look at it before moving forward.

Print out the March full moon journal page and gather your pens, paints or pencil crayons.

The bear is truly the magic on this page. Bear symbolism is connected to the moon and the unconscious and all those wonderful things that live in the mystery. This bear is protecting the woman in the forest as she releases her magic to the moon. The trees stand tall as they root the energy of spirit and sky into the earth.

When food is scarce, the bear relies on what it stored inside its body to survive. Maybe when we enter our own dark times, we can remember that we have inner powers to draw from. What we need will be there.

The woman on the page is holding an open book. Stars are lifting up from the blank pages and swirling upward towards the moon where they spiral inward. In that spiral is room for you to write what ‘weakness’ you want to forgive yourself for. When you are done, take a moment to stare into the bear’s eyes and ask to be shown what quality or skill you will need to replace your ‘weakness’ with. What inner resources will you need to draw upon? What spiritual forces can you call upon? Who, in the world of spirit, can you lean on?  Then, if you’re okay will doing silly things like I am, speak to the bear. Let it know what you need. Ask it for help. Speak it out loud. You’ll be amazed how powerful the simple act of speaking it out loud can be, especially in ritual.

When you are done, hang this full moon page that now has your magic on it somewhere you will see it often until the new moon or burn the page on a fire and as you watch the smoke rise, imagine Mother Moon scooping it up in her arms and transforming the energy then returning it to your heart in a form that serves you better.

If you end up completing this moon page, 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. It’s fun for me to know there are others out there enjoying the moon with me.

with love,

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