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blue moon scrying 2018

Blue Moon Watercolor Scrying

This is an art ritual to perform during the full moon, particularly a blue moon, to receive messages from Spirit.  I created it to offer a simple method of using common watercolors in a sacred way and to help visual thinkers communicate with their angels and/or spirit guides.  Scroll down for printable step-by-step instructions.

As a child, Once in a blue moon is a saying I never gave a lot of thought to. I knew it meant a rare occasion but I never was curious about what an actual blue moon was. Now I know a blue moon is when two full moons happen in the same calendar month. This weekend is the second blue moon of 2018. There haven’t been two blue moons in the same calendar year in a very long time and the next time it will happen won’t be until 2037. Being an infrequent celestial event makes this blue moon feel a little more magical to me. Personally, I think it makes it one of those times where the veil between the seen and unseen is a little thinner which makes it a great time to slow down and connect with Spirit.

In this particular art ritual, I wanted to use the element of water. In my imagination, when I think of the blue moon, I imagine a moon covered in gentle ripples of crystal water. I dream about what it would feel like to bathe in waters that sparkle and feel alive. I imagine those waters being a meeting place where my angels and spirit guides can join me and share their wisdom and insight. Yes, my imagination is a busy bee buzzing from one spiritual adventure to another. But this imagery gave me the perfect idea for the blue moon art ritual I wanted to perform and it centers around water.

Water is my favorite element. It’s one of the most important tools in my art studio. I use it to clean, dilute, blend and bless. In my rituals, I think of it as a conduit or a sacred container. I imagine I can whisper to it and it will carry my whispers in it’s molecules. I imagine I can sing to it and it will shape itself around my song. I imagine it is a secret messenger carrying my prayers to the realm of Spirit. To harness this power, I gathered a jar of water, my blue paints (I used acrylic inks but this art ritual would work just as well with watercolors), some watercolor paper, my brushes and my candle and I created a series of blue moon mandalas that I used to peer into and receive messages from my angels.

Before sharing the instructions in more detail, I want to remind you that when engaging in one of my art rituals, there are a few steps I perform before I sit down to do the writing, painting or creating part of my ritual. They include gathering my materials, clearing my mind and my physical space, inviting or calling in my spiritual helpers and setting boundaries or placing a circle of protection and blessing my tools and material. I outline these steps in more detail in my “Beginner’s Guide to Preparing for Art Rituals” which I send, along with other helpful goodies, when you subscribe to my Moon Sisters Art and Ritual Magazine.  If you would like the guide delivered to your inbox, you can subscribe to the magazine on my home page.

To support my emotions while I performed this art ritual, I used a placed a few drops of doTerra’s Myrrh essential oil in my difuser.  My doTerra oils are just as helpful to my Spirit and emotional well-being as they are to my physical health so I always include them in my art rituals. Myrrh is like a warm hug from Mother Earth. It’s a rich earthy scent that wraps the heart and helps me feel safe, nurtured, warm and grounded. If I’m already feeling airy and like my energy is more above my head then in my body, I like to use an earthy oil during my art rituals to keep me balanced as I attempt to peer into other realms.

Once my oils were going and I could breathe them in, I moved onto the first step in this art ritual which was to gather the materials. This is a simple art ritual. You don’t need a lot of supplies and it shouldn’t take over an hour to complete. This is what I gathered together and used:

  • water
  • acrylic inks in different blue tones (watercolors are also an option)
  • candle
  • paint palette
  • watercolor brush
  • 3 squares of watercolor paper (I cut mine to each be 8″ x 8″)
  • compass
  • pencil
  • masking or painters tape
  • writing journal or paper to write on
  • white wax crayon (optional)

I started by drawing a circle with my compass on each of my squares. I then used my white wax crayon to trace around the circle. The wax prevents the water I will apply next from expanding past the edges of my circle. I want to keep the water contained within the circle I drew so this little trick helps. It’s not a necessary step but it can be helpful.

Next, I dipped my brush in the water and spread the water around the entire circle ensuring that the whole surface of the circle was wet. You’ll note here that I didn’t tape down my paper which was an oversight. Not taping down the paper causes it to bend and distort its shape when it is wet. You may want to tape down your squares before soaking the surface of your circle.

I then chose the blue paints I wanted to work with and added a tiny drop of each color to a well in my paint palette. I filled each well with water to create a very diluted color. This technique works best with very watery paint. I then dipped my wet paintbrush in one of the wells of blue paint.

I gently touched the wet circle with my wet paintbrush. Because the circle is so wet and the paint is diluted the paint instantly spreads and expands as soon as it touches the circle. I continued to dip my brush in different tones of blue paint and continued to create bursts of blue color within the circle I drew.

I repeated this process until I was happy with how my circle looked. Then I moved onto the next square of watercolor paper and once again repeated the process until all three circles were completed. This step was done with prayer and intention. In my mind, I was talking to my angels and spirit guides and telling them what I wanted to release this full moon and asking them to please come and speak to me in my art. I took my time and entered a relaxed meditative state as I watched the colors bleed and form shapes and images.

I was left with these three circles.

The last step in this art ritual was to grab my writing journal and sit down with each image. One at a time, I gazed into each circle and waited until I saw something familiar. I then wrote about what I saw. I saw whole stories in each circle. The first circle delivered a message about my health and directed me on some next steps to consider as I continue to heal. The second delivered a message about being of service. It reminded me that my art is as much in service of the Divine as my work as a professional intuitive is. I cried as the words “My art is my service” came to my mind.

The third circle was interesting. I saw Jesus in the clouds leading two young children and my body buried under a body of water and my spirit rising up from my body and becoming a butterfly flying out of a cocoon. Then I saw a woman standing over a man’s body as he was lying on a table, as you would do if you were receiving energy healing or Reiki. The woman was receiving a ray of light from Jesus and sending that ray of light to the man laying on the slate. The imagery felt like it was speaking of death and being reborn. I was confused by this last circle. The other two made me cry as they struck deep chords within me. This last one had me stumped. I couldn’t figure out what it was saying. Was a part of me dying? Was I in a process of metamorphosis? I wasn’t really getting anywhere until I realized it was Good Friday and Easter weekend. In my Catholic upbringing, Jesus dies and in three days rises again. I realized this circle was telling that story but was adding two elements. It was showing Mary praying over Jesus’ body when he died and actively sending it light. My angels then asked me to consider what I would have learned about myself that part of the story was shared with me as a child. If I had known what an important role Mary had in the resurrection, would I feel differently about being a woman? Why or why not? If Mary did have a bigger role than my childhood religion shared with me, why might people have chosen to leave that out? And lastly, the final question I heard was, “If there is something from your childhood you would like to resurrect, what would it be?” Wow! I need to sit with all this last circle gave me. It was far richer than I initially suspected it to be.

Below are the step-by-step instructions of this ritual in a format you can print for your convenience. If you do perform this ritual publicly or share photos of the ritual or perform the ritual with a group, please respect the work of this artist and creator by mentioning the source and/or providing a link back to this original post. Also, if you end up performing this ritual, I’d love to see what you completed. 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.

with love,

Dana da Ponte

 

Blue Moon Watercolor Scrying
Author: 
Moon Phase: Full Moon or Blue Moon
Suggested Month: Any
Prep time: 
Performance time: 
Total time: 
 
An easy art ritual to harness the power of the full moon and receive messages from Spirit.
Supplies
  • water
  • acrylic inks in different blue tones (watercolors are also an option)
  • candle
  • paint palette
  • watercolor brush
  • 3 squares of watercolor paper (I cut mine to each be 8″ x 8″)
  • compass
  • pencil
  • masking or painters tape
  • writing journal or paper to write on
  • white wax crayon (optional)
Directions
  1. Set a sacred space and prepare for ritual.
  2. Cut three squares of watercolor paper.
  3. Draw a circle with a compass on each square of paper.
  4. Follow the outer line of each circle with a wax crayon to prevent water from seeping past the outer edges of the circles.
  5. Wet a circle with water.
  6. Dip a wet brush in one tone of blue paint.
  7. Gently touch the brush and paint to the wet circle.
  8. Allow the blue paint to spread across the water on the circle.
  9. Repeat dipping the brush into different tones of blue paint and adding the colors and watching them spread until you feel the circle is complete.
  10. Repeat the process until all three circles are complete.
  11. When the paint has dried, take a pen and paper and write the thoughts and images that come to your mind as you gaze into one of the circles. Do not question what comes even if it does not seem to make sense.
  12. Repeat this gazing and writing process until you have meditated on all three circles.
  13. Consider what messages Spirit was sharing with you through the images and thoughts that came to your mind as you gazed into your circles.
  14. End with a prayer of gratitude.
Notes
Thank you for honoring my work and creativity. The photos of this craft and/or ritual and content above are copyright protected. Please do not use the photos without prior written permission or without a link back to this blog post. If you wish to share this art based ritual, please provide a link back to this post on my blog. And if you like this art based ritual but want to make changes to it, please do so in your own words and link this post for credit. Thank you!

 

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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.

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