Once In A Blue Moon
Moodiness or Motivation?
Image by Syaibatul Hamdi from Pixabay
I was guided by a pretty full moon, (it was 99% full), on the way to work this morning. The sky was clear; it was such a wondrous and romantic sight, so big and bright. It aroused in me, thoughts of Artemis, the Greek Goddess of the Moon.
The Virgin Goddess
Artemis, like all of us, has her own story but in a nutshell and a tiny snippet of the bigger picture, she was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and Apollo’s twin sister. She became known as the Goddess of fertility and childbirth due to her nurturing her mother and acting as a midwife during Apollo’s birth. Artemis is known as the Virgin Goddess; this isn’t to be taken on face value. The term Virgin Goddess means to be complete within oneself, not the abstinence of sex.
The Power
There are two full moons this month, the first later today and the second one is on Samhain, (Halloween). The Puritans declared that a moon is said to be “blue” if it’s the third of four full moons in any given season, a season is deemed from solstice to equinox or vice versa. The most popular accepted interpretation in the modern world is when there are two full moons within the same calendar month.
It is believed that this rare and extraordinary Blue Moon phase, is a “power” moon. It is considered to wield extraordinary power that can assist the individual in establishing deep insight, healing, strength, protection and unconditional love.
The moon has influenced humankind for centuries; she has been scientifically proven to influence the tides we see daily; she is also said to be influential on one’s mental health. The term “lunacy” originates as far back as the 4th century from peoples’ tendencies to appear mad at the time of a full moon. There are numerous studies on the internet concerning the significant impact of a full moon. They range from heightened sleep deprivation to emergency departments seeing a vast increase in their intake of patients and so much more in between, it truly is fascinating.
Changing faces
The moon is changeable, it’s feminine, nurturing and caring to name but a few of her attributes, and because of its phases, it is associated with the triple Goddess, the three faces of the divine feminine. The moon is associated with many things but the most dominant for me at this time is the mother and the nourishment element.
The greatest gift we have is being able to choose what we want to work with at any given time. The moon has the ability to help us connect to our past, present and future. It offers us the opportunity to go within and work with the not so good bits of ourselves from our past or present that we would rather keep hidden to the outside world.
We are given opportunities to heal ourselves and rewrite our personal stories. We do not have to maintain the status quo; we do hold power within to make desired changes. It may not be easy, but it is achievable for all those who tread the path of personal awareness. Knowing what energies the moon will deliver in any given month enables us to decide how we want to behave towards ourselves and others.
Moodiness or motivation?
The moon is responsible for the tides and our emotions, how could it not be when we are 70+% water. Water is synonymous with emotions, so it isn’t any wonder that how we feel can be influenced by the phases of the moon. The moon’s journey around our planet takes approximately twenty-eight days, have you ever woken up one morning to discover your mood has changed dramatically from the previous day and you don’t know why?
Have you found yourself oversensitive for no apparent reason? Or maybe you find yourself occasionally becoming really needy to people, food or your home? Perhaps you find yourself so creatively inspired at certain times of the month. Have you ever woken with a spring in your step, raring to embrace the day ahead that you’ve been so motivated, you’ve ticked off your to-do list by midday? Why can we feel so motivated one day and completely deflated the next? Have you ever considered why it can be so difficult to sustain motivation? Could it be due to the changing moon?
What can the moon do for us?
One way to discover if our moods are tracking the moon is to keep a daily journey. Recording our daily feelings and the phase of the moon for at least a month will identify any obvious patterns. If we allow the moon to reveal something in us that we do not like, we are then able to change how we feel by putting in place an alternative to our normal. Having a simple daily writing practice of one or two keywords is all that we need to monitor our emotions and the impact the moon’s cycle may be having on us.
If we then take time to reflect over our journal and identify a pattern, we can then forward plan our actions. We can become responsive instead of reactive. Becoming aware means, we can schedule a massage, a long soak in the bath. We can take the day to lounge around in our comfies and read a book, eat chocolate and/or ice-cream without attaching any guilt. We will know that it is due to how we are responding to the changing energies of the moon. In turn, we will be able to give ourselves permission to take a step back from the hustle, bustle and busyness of life and simply “be”.
If we can identify the times throughout the month that we are at our most productive and happy, we can plan our workload accordingly. Maybe one day we can do a full day, while the next day we need to take time to rest.
If we can take the time to monitor our emotions for at least one complete cycle of the moon, we can gain so much insight into ourselves that we can be better prepared for the next upcoming cycle of the moon. We will have a better idea of when we need to avoid people, places and situations and when it’s the best time to sit down and plan our week or month ahead. Most importantly, we can discover when it’s the best time to eat ice cream, cake and chocolate!
Until next time, namaste.
