GOING DEEPER
In what areas of your life do you feel paralysed and helpless?
In what ways specifically?
What would stopping feeling paralysed and helpless in these areas feel like? Look like?
What needs to happen for you to go from where you are right now to where you stop feeling paralysed and helpless in these areas?
What do you need to let go of so you can stop feeling paralysed and helpless (or at least start to)?
What resources do you need so that you can take action? Internal as well as external resources.
How can you get/develop these resources?
Once you get these resources, what is the first action you will be able to take?
What small action can you take today/this week?
In what ways do you feel blessed in your life right now?
How often do you focus on gratitude and what good you have in your life?
How does it feel when you do?
How often do you focus on what you feel you are lacking?
How does it make you feel when you do?
Do you have a regular gratitude practice?
Is it something you would like to include in your daily life?
How could you introduce such a practice into your life?
What will you hope for from this practice?
I’ve never really been an outdoor person, although when I do go out for a walk in nature, I really do feel energised and refreshed. Since lockdown #1 started (10 months ago) staying home has been my default mode and I have really struggled to go out for a walk in nature to our local park only a couple of minutes away from us.
In our crazy lives, before COVID and now, I have felt the need in the last couple of years ( more or less since started meditating regularly) to connect with nature.
I am a mixed media enthusiast and when one of my favourite mixed media artists, Jennibellie, created the class Manifesting With The Moon, back in December 2020, I saw this as a sign from the Universe that it was my chance to easily connect with something of nature. Jennibellie describes in this class the phases of the moon and presents her two Moon Rituals, one for the New Moon and one for the Full Moon. This is such a great class, especially for beginners like I was, and highly recommend it.
I have been doing these rituals since then. But a month or so ago, I felt drawn to expanding this practice. I literally spent a full week researching, collating information on all phases of the moon, what each means, what activities are best, crystals and essential oils to use, card reading spreads, affirmations, journaling prompts...
The books Moonology by Yasmin Boland and Lunar Living by Kirsty Gallagher, as well as YouTube channel Elevation 44, have been such a great help to gather and make sense of all this information. For a great overview (and quite detailed, I found) of each phase of the moon, check Elevation 44’s video series playlist Working With The Moon Phases (4 videos). She also regularly does a designated video for each coming full moon and new moon, linking it to the current zodiac energy, which gives extra guidance, meaning and direction to the Rituals.
I have also created some playlists on Insight Timer of moon music and meditations that I would find useful to choose from-
I have also created some moon cards -
From doing a New Moon Ritual and a Full Moon Ritual each month, I now have added journaling sessions in between for each phase of the moon, where I light a candle, have a crystal by me, review since my last ritual or journaling session, use journaling prompts dedicated to the current moon phase, do a card reading spread for the specific moon phase, giving me more guidance, and create affirmations out of the journaling and guidance from the cards.
I have also expanded my Moon Rituals (New and Full) from 1 hour with art journaling included, to about 2 hours without painting (although for Full Moon Rituals, I am intending on occasions to paint over words to release instead of burning pages)
Just to give you an idea of how I “structure “ my rituals, here are my personal guidelines I use:
NEW MOON RIRUAL:
. Setting space: first I do Moon Day activities to define the day as sacred(sacred bath or shower with oils, making body scrub with my current moon essential oils I would be using in the evening for the ritual, making tea blend, making moon oil, doing a yoga flow on YouTube for the specific moon phase...)
Then in the evening, I prepare for the ritual creating a sacred space: incense around my room to remove negative energies and purify the space, occasionally I would create a circle around me with clear quartz in 4 directions and black obsidian in between. I prepare the crystals I want to use for the ritual, choose my essential oils (as I have 2 cats, I don’t use my diffuser anymore, I put a drop of each on a tissue that I keep with me during the ritual. Some essential oils are toxic to pets), the card deck I feel drawn to for the reading, and any symbolic pieces I want to use (I have a black moon and a silver/gold moon necklaces my friend Louise sells on her shop - instagram @ukelooloo).
. Grounding meditation with holding my crystals from Insight Timer, whichever one I feel drawn to when I’m ready to start (from the playlists above - Moon Visualisations especially) - maximum 10 minutes
. I review previous cycles, what I did, journaled , reflect on it. That’s the Dark Moon work, the first day of the cycle where there is no illumination, which is perfect for shadow work, introspection, resetting.
. Now this is New Moon fun - manifesting: visualisation to identify what I want to manifest ( from the Insight Timer playlist) and sending wishes and intentions to the Moon
.Creating affirmations and statements out of your visualisation and what you want to manifest, to put you in a state where it has all already happened, and feel the energy. I say them out-loud and it really makes a difference to hear you say the words. I feel much higher vibrational energy. It is a bit like saying spells.
. I then meditate and let it all soak in, the intentions, the affirmations, the energy, seeing it all in my mind.
. Next step, I journal about this soaking in, what I felt, what I saw, any insights or ideas that came to me and that I want to think about or do something about.
. I love the next step - time to get the cards out! I choose a simple spread from a google search that relates to the new moon and pick my cards at random. I read intuitively first if I can, writing down what I see on the cards, one at a time, and what it reminds me of, how I feel. Then I may check the booklet for extra messages and meanings.
. Finally, I end the ritual by sealing my intentions, blessing and releasing them to the universe/moon. I usually just journal and writing a massive thank you at the end, whatever I feel, I start by setting space in exactly the same way as for the New Moon. Something else I might do on Full Moon is to gather all my crystals on a tray and place them by my window sill for the full moon’s energy to energetically cleanse them. You can also add any jewellery or tools sacred to you.
. I also do a grounding meditation with my chosen crystals, same as for my New Moon Ritual.
. I listen to a Full Moon visualisation and journal on it, what I’ve seen, felt...
. Next step is to review all my moon journaling since the new moon and review my action plan - what has worked, what has not worked, what has come to light from the New Moon manifestations and previous cycles. I celebrate these and reflect on what resources and support I need to carry and how I can get them.
. I then move on to Full Moon journaling prompts to help me see deeper or other aspects that I have not considered. Both in Full Moon and New Moon Rituals, I check Elevation 44’s video on the coming moon and pick up prompts from her video as well to add the zodiac element. This is something that is very new to me so I don’t go particularly deep on these - yet. The video also helps me choose my essential oils and crystals.
. Next step is the card reading spread for Full Moon (again from google search). The process is same as for the New Moon Ritual. You can also pick only one card, which I do if I use my SoulCollage cards, or choose a book that inspires you and open a page randomly and see what words, sentences messages jump out at you. You don’t have to use cards if you don’t have any or you don’t want to.
. Then I start my Release phase of the ritual. I journal on anything I want to release (energies, lack of, people’s influences and behaviours towards you, events, traumas keeping you in the past, limiting beliefs, fears...) and journal on forgiveness (who I forgive, what, what for...)
. I finish my ritual with journaling on gratitude (that one usually last a while, as I find that the more you write, the more you find) and sealing the work in a similar way to what I do for my New Moon Ritual.
These 2 rituals last about 2 hours.
WAXING PHASES JOURNALING SESSIONS:
. I cleanse my space with sage incense (my bed, which is where I journal), light a candle, and do a short grounding meditation (I might just have a couple of minutes focusing on my breath or doing a body scan), maximum 5 minutes
. I then re-read the journaling from my previous phases, reflect and journal, and use journaling prompts for the current moon phase (again, google search).
. My next step is a card reading, using a waxing phase spread (google search)
. Next, I journal on the reading’s insights and messages and create affirmations which I repeat out loud.
. Closing my session the same way that I close my Moon Rituals.
WANING PHASES JOURNALING SESSIONS:
My waning phases journaling sessions are very similar to my waxing phases journaling sessions. The only difference is that I include a Releasing guided meditation and journal afterwards just before I create affirmations. It brings an extra layer to the phases in my moon journaling practice.
For all Moon Phases, I can use my Moon Cards for ideas on activities or yoga sessions I would like to include.
Here are a few photos of what my Moon Rituals set up look like:
This was my set up for my last moon ritual (Full Moon) - the chocolate is my sacred snack 😉❤️
CARDS TO USE FOR READINGS
I use any oracle or tarot cards deck that I have. I even use my self-made SoulCollage cards (see my SoulCollage article in Archives to see what they are). I choose my deck intuitively just before the ritual when I am gathering my “tools”. For my journaling sessions (waxing and waning phases) I similarly choose my deck before I start the session, at the same time I pick my crystals and light my candle.
EXAMPLES OF CARD SPREADS (from internet)
WHAT THE RITUALS AND JOURNALING SESSIONS BRING ME
Connecting the moon enables with nature in a way that is not dependent on the weather, my mood or my energy levels. It also puts me back in focus of the natural cycles of life and our need to rest after effort, and opens my trust to what comes my way for my greatest good, raising my vibrational energy.
It also gives me a reliable and in-real-time system to journal, reflect, set goals and intentions, monitor them, review them, “perfect” them to suit my needs, and be fully open to gratitude and forgiveness. Plus, it’s really fun and relaxing, and enables you to use your creativity as your rituals are YOUR rituals - you design and structure them in any ways that you like or feel you need. It is definitely an integral part of my self care, by making my rituals sacred, I am also giving myself sacred time to myself, and only myself.
I hope that this article would have shed some light and brought you some helpful sources of inspiration as well as a desire to research, to embrace the moon and the cycles of your life.
How can the Moon support you?
New beginnings - what a fitting theme for a new year, wouldn’t you agree?
We always talk about New Year’s Resolutions, which are a perfect example of new beginnings. You make the commitment to yourself that you will exercise every day, or that you will eat healthy, or will start that new hobby you’ve always wanted to try. It is a conscious decision that things can no longer stay the same and that a change is needed in order for your life to improve - the quality of your life.
New beginnings can happen in a new year, a new decade - and we would all agree that the 2020 decade started with much hope, and quickly disappointed, to say the least. And with 2021 staring, even greater hopes are arising, for a better future.
These are most noticeable New Beginnings time frames, but we need to remind ourselves that no matter the month, the year, the decade, every single day is a new beginning. The sun rises every morning for us and tells us, here is a new beginning for you, here is another chance, new opportunities coming your way. And when the sun sets at the end of the day, it is time for us to review, be grateful, and let go of what dragged us down, annoyed us, no longer serves us. Every single day you have this opportunity to start afresh. It is also a conscious decision in the same vein as New Year Resolutions, but maybe more manageable as, it is well-known that New Year Resolutions often get forgotten after a few weeks, whereas every day is more definite and not as long a time commitment. If you feel you fail one day, it does not mean you will fail the next day. It is up to you. You always have a choice how you can respond to events around you and how you feel. Every morning, at the end of my meditation, I always tell myself an intention for the day, such as “today is gonna be fun/amazing/full of joy”, “today I will focus on doing my best in everything”. Obviously depending on how I feel and what is scheduled for that day, I will model the intention to what I will need.
Of course, some new beginnings are somewhat forced upon us, such as losing a loved one, losing a job, as many have in 2020 with the pandemic. In this case, the grieving process is essential in order to be able to build the foundations of a strong, stable and positive new beginning. There is not a lot more that I will offer as advice or guidance in this matter as I strongly believe, first, that the grieving process is very personal and takes many forms that need to be respected by all - including the person grieving -, and also that it needs to be supported by professionals and trained personnel or organisations such as Samaritans (there are many more around the world, just do a Google search in your area or country). Only when you have grieved and accepted your loss, whatever it may be, will your mind be clear enough to decide what to do next, what your next step needs to be.
What new beginnings do you wish for?
What are you going to do to put them into plan and action this year?
What new beginnings did you choose in 2020?
What new beginnings were forced upon you in 2020?
How did both of these feel?
We all have had new beginnings throughout our life, that is what got us where we are right now. So while new beginnings can be and feel scary, especially when forced upon us and feel out of our control, but not exclusively, you are strong enough for the next one, because you have done this before, and you made it. Reviewing the challenges and new beginnings of the last year, last decade, even just the last few months, will bring you more awareness on what you have gone through, what you have overcome, give yourself some credit, what your strengths are and how you can use them for any future new beginnings, all can get you prepared and pumped up to initiate the new beginnings that will transform your life into the one you were put on this earth to live, fulfilled and happy, and enjoy.
Many blessings for your new beginnings ❤️
GOING DEEPER
What happened this year, month by month?
How did I feel?
What lessons have I learnt?
What did I lose?
What did I gain?
What are my regrets from this year?
What can I do to turn things around?
What will bring me peace?
What will bring me happiness?
What do I need to let go of to achieve these?
What am I grateful for?
Regardless of our background, current circumstances, past experiences and health levels, we all have at one point (or more, hopefully) in our life, experienced joy. That's for sure.
But what is joy? How does it feel like?
According to dictionary.com, joy is "the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying".
So what is the difference between joy and happiness?
There are many explanations you can find online and in books, but to me, joy is more exuberant, more colourful than happiness, which I feel as more contentment and more a stable and durable state. I see joy as moments of bright light, flashes of colours, like your toddler walking his first steps with a big smile on his face and aiming for your arms while feeling so proud of himself.
While happiness feels to me as a constant lightness, openness and groundedness, joy feels more like little sparks popping here and there, more intense and more special. Obviously, these can mean and feel totally different to you, after all we are all unique human beings with different perceptions and ways of feeling what is going on around us and inside us. It is all good.
Dr Patty Hlava from @AwakenPeace Healing, on the Insight Timer app, led this live session on Tuesday 15th December 2020 (a replay may be available at some point in the future but, currently, is not available). Her guided meditation/ visualisation was so insightful, powerful and an open door to feeling joy.
Some of the highlights for me were the following:
Thinking about a joyful moment you have experienced in your past (remote or recent), visualising, reminiscing as if you were back there and focusing on how you feel.
Keeping that feeling in and gathering more by opening your hands, receiving more joy energy from the Universe, and bringing it in to your heart space, keeping going while you open up your hands/arms more and more each round.
I am quite an introvert at heart and only with very close friends and family will I be demonstrative; so as I was opening up to receive joy from the Universe, at one point in the meditation/visualisation, I actually caught myself having my arms wide open. My instinct had told me to let go of the restrictions and boundaries I put on myself, and just be literally open to receive what the Universe had for me. I know that it will sound for many people rather airy-fairy, and that's totally OK. It does not in any way diminish the experience for me. But it just shows that, instinctively, we all yearn for this feeling of joy, open up when it is there for us and that a lot of it is meant for each and every one of us - we just need to trust and open up to receive it without resistance, fear or mistrust.
If you're into guided meditation, on Insight Timer, I really like "Joy" by teacher Shelly McSween-White, MS - it is 1 hour and 20 minutes long so you go really deep. If this is too long for you or you are a beginner, I also recommend Lo Madigan's "5-Minute Meditation for Cultivating Joy" (the whole audio is less than 7 minutes) or Sono Lumin/Jonas Malvik's "Joy - Increase Vibrational Frequency" if you prefer music (only 9 minutes long).
From a vibrational point of view, joy is a positive, uplifting emotion of a high vibration and frequency. It is 540 Hz and is expansive, meaning that the more joy you feel, the more you get.
If you're into Chakras, it is the frequency closest to the Sacral Chakra (under the navel - 417 Hz) which corresponds to creativity and pleasure.
Practising gratitude regularly (ideally on a daily basis) can also help you connect with joy and raise your vibration to start your day. Smiling is also a great way to connect - more with happiness in my view, but it is still one step forward.
With so many ways, and more, to connect to and explore joy - try and observe your relationship with this emotion. Can you fully connect to joy? What events, people, experiences help you connect to joy? I invite you to explore with this emotion, visualise, meditate and journal so that you have an imprint of joy for when you need it the most.
GOING DEEPER:
What is your story?
What patterns do you see in your story? What do they tell you?
What parts of your life do you wish you would have done differently? Why?
What parts of your life are you happy with and/or grateful for?
What are the main lessons you have learnt in your life up to now?
How have these lessons shaped who you are today?
This quote holds a special place in my heart. Even before consciously practicing gratitude, I have always loved this quote - it feels so right, doesn’t it? ❤️❤️❤️
For this article, I've made a couple of videos for you to show you my wisdom cards and my process for making them.
Wisdom cards (or inspiration/guidance/help/truth cards, whatever name you want to call them) are a little bit like the index cards you use for making your revision for exams and tests at school. In many ways, it works the same. The wisdom cards remind you of what is important in the "exam" of our daily life. We are often put to the test, confronting challenges and blocks, and these cards are here to help you know (or refresh your memory, because your inner wisdom already knows, after all, you've made the cards) what to do.
They are one of your many tools in your survival kit, but such an important tool. They are what I call your maps to your true north.
In the first video, I go through my cards and explain a bit more where they come from and what they are to me, what themes I like to focus on. You can watch the first video by clicking on the image below (you will be directed to Youtube. The video is on my artsy channel, Christelle's Art Factory)
Your Wisdom Cards are gift you give yourself to never forget what is important to you and that you always have all the tools you need to face challenges and find your happy in this life.
I hope this process inspires you to make and use your own.
Enjoy xxx
