It is so amazing that the Western New Year is in alignment with the Moon of Welcoming, which follows Natural Laws. I don't know how rare this phenomenon is because I haven't been keeping track that long.
At our Woman's Moonlodge, the topic seemed to center on loss and death. The women ended up sharing stories of abortions and miscarriages and the death of baby in the first month of life. They still grieved the loss of these children.
Personally, I was perplexed at this because I also lost a baby and although there was a period of mourning, I went on with my life, knowing that it was what had to be. This experience made me a better person and a better Mom in the long run.
I shared my story of how I met up with the soul of this unborn child later in life when I became a Nanny. I was her "Mother" for the first year and a half of her life. She seemed to need to be with me for some reason. I know I was depressed at the time. It was after coming out of major surgery and a life-threatening illness. She must have needed that depressive energy in her life to balance out the family she chose since they were Westerners who lived life more on the surface.
Our bond was so strong that she thought I was her Mom, which made sense because I was with her all day long. I was happy to see her off to her start in life and to leave her with a family who could take good care of her physical needs much better than I could.
We may lose a child, but if they are meant to be with us, they will find their way back again. There is no death really....
At the Moonlodge, we had to work with one woman who was not able to make peace with the loss of a child. She said she thought she had let it go, but what she had done was to rationalize it, go into her mental body. We all saw and felt the pain and anger in her physical. It was great that she was able to share her story as it triggered issues in some other women around having, not having and losing babies. It is great that she was able to hear us and is willing to do her healing work some more.
I explained to them that we were starting this Moon year on the dark side of the Moon by looking at the shadow issues around welcoming. I believe that this is a theme and an indication of what is to come for us all in 2012.
Another topic that came up was around Elders. One woman was entering her menopause and we did a lovely ritual for her. Then another Elder and myself also were honored in the same way. It was wonderful to accept and appreciate myself as Elder. It has taken me years to make the adjustment. I kept looking in the mirror and not recognizing or accepting what I saw. I wanted to look like I did when I was 30 or 40. How silly, I thought finally, I am letting society dictate how I am supposed to look, feel and act at my age. I am 60 years old and if I look at myself without the judgments and programs, I think I look damn good for my age! LOL.
Better yet, I feel good, I feel strong, I feel like I earned my wisdom all the way through. I have lived an extraordinary life and still have many good years ahead of me. Yet, I am not denying the fact that I have more years behind me than ahead of me.... I am looking at my own immortality and preparing for when I pass over. I am journeying with my "Angel of Death". There is still lots to do before my time comes, so I better get busy.
At the end of the Moonlodge, another Elder confided in me that I challenged her to grow by my example. She saw how I tackled my challenges head on and she realized that she needed to do the same in her life. I felt honored by this. You never know how you impact others unless they tell you.
So this years Moon cycle is off to a good start. The Moon of Welcoming is asking us to look at our fears and issues around rejection, death and loss. We have one month to do this before the next full moon. Journaling, talking about our fears and issues is one way to go. Looking at our unresolve with our losses in life is also crucial. It seems that we all have work to do be ready to welcome death!
(The image above is a death mound that Windwalker and I built last year to release our limitations.)
(The image above is a death mound that Windwalker and I built last year to release our limitations.)
6 comments:
It was wonderful to see all the Elders. I know that when I went home and journalled I was in awe of the connections the women had that night. It helps me see the journey that we all have to take to letting go and healing. Your story of meeting the soul of the unborn child was very touching and helped me see that there is a bigger plan on this Earth its comformting.
A lovely post - I wish I could join you, but at least with you writing about it, it is the next best thing!
I am realising that the Moon of Welcome has a recurring theme for me of illness. At 14 I came down with Glandular Fever which turned into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. At 27 I took a break in my studies because I felt unwell and a few days later I ended up being admitted with a bad infection. I am beginning to wonder how many of my illnesses have coincided with this moon.
Why is this a recurring theme for me and what is it trying to teach me? Oh and I am ill this moon again!
Not to say this is always a difficult moon for me - I met my husband during this moon and moved to my childhood home during it as well.... So some of the best things in my life have come from it too...
You are a great Matriarch, leader of the Moonlodge Michelle. Just remember to ask for what you need to balance all that you give.
It is true that there is more to life and death than what we can see, we just have to be open to other perspectives.
The dreaming works in extremes Rose. It sounds like you worked through some issues with your Moon of Welcoming. It is good to welcome ALL experiences sent to us by the Universe!
Remember that illness is not a negative. Use the time to dream, to rest, regenerate. It puts us in a sacred place.
I too have been sick since the onset of this Moon. We are doing a lot of work this year, major cleansing of old stuff! Something is being shifted at a cellular level. That is a good thing! Our Western society judges illness as weakness. In the book "Black Elk Speaks", he gets a high fever and that is when he goes into the spirit world and receives an amazing vision. As he lays there, the Spirits chant... "He is lying in a sacred manner."
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for giving me a different perspective on illness - I was struggling to find one. I did sleep a lot and I did dream a lot but they were fragmented bits I could not hold on to...
I hope you are feeling well now!
I am fine, Thanks
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