I have been writing like a maniac and have much writing ahead of me tonight and tomorrow.  But tonight I have kissed the final sunset of July good-bye, I have facilitated a Full Moon ritual at Mother Grove Goddess Temple and I am now listening to Steeleye Span.

Lured thither by a search for John Barleycorn, I have settled onto "Now We are Six" and am drinking hard cider from last season's harvest.  I have considered my options for the evening--finishing two pieces that are due tomorrow, washing the dishes, tidying up and printing tomorrow's ceremony for our public ritual or drinking cider and singing Steeleye Span.

Full Moons always set the stage for the next couple of weeks, and in upcoming Full Moon chart (June 2, 12:20 PM ET) Mercury, the planet of the Trickster God, rules from a throne sitting right at the top of the chart cast for Washington DC (predictive for the entire US) Yes, Mercury is retrograde, too, making the Trickster even trickier to handle, bringing out his sense of slapstick humor (we don’t always find it funny) and offering us some clever puzzles to work on in the first half of June.

Looking Within

The first puzzle that we are presented with is the enigma of ego. As individual nodes of creative life force currently functioning from the home base of a body, we develop an ego as part of the maturation process. We identify with something we call me, myself or I. It’s a necessary and — if properly nurtured and balanced — healthy part of the human psyche. But many religions and spiritual philosophies tell us to renounce, or at least keep a tight rein on our egos — and their definitions of just what the ego is vary.

There are countless books which will tell you the right way to do your initiation.  I’ve read a number of them, both for covens and for solitary.  None of them spoke to me. 

Normally I’m a simple, as little fuss as possible, type of person.  Once I felt I was ready to declare my beliefs, I decided to do a ritual – full out, go for broke ritual.  I had it typed up, planned out, everything was going to go PERFECT. 

 April 4^th: Total Lunar Eclipse occurs at 14° Libra at 5:01 am PDT. As the Lunar light wanes recall the first gaze of love that shone upon you. In the dwelling place of the heart, raise joy for all you are.
Sandra Pastorius © Mother Tongue Ink 2014
*Eclipse visible in Asia, Australia, the Pacific and Americas

 Full Moonlight Riot

Oh moon, you don’t play fair.
Rising later and later each night like this,
and each night more unbelievably
full of light. Later and later I wait for you,
studying the undersides of leaves,
holding my breath, testing the strength of my will.
When in the dew and the depth of midnight
your other lovers float out from behind trees
and between shadows, I invite them to lounge at my side
in the wet grass and wait for you.
We wait for you together,
breathing mist, sipping the dark with our open eyes.  

Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltain, Litha, Lammas, Mabon--the eight points in the year that we stop and celebrate the seasons. In the six to eight weeks between each Sabbat, changes have been taking place--some so subtle that you might not be aware of them. The nights get longer--or shorter--by only a minute each day. The weather warms up, or cools down. One of the things that the Sabbats call us to do is to stop and look at the changes that have taken place. It's a time to regroup, reflect, and plan ahead. So in addition to the celebrations, family traditions and seasonal crafts, it's a good idea to spend some time grounding or balancing yourself to deal with the season that's coming up. It's not hard to do. It just takes a little time, a little quiet, and some concentration.

In about two and a half weeks we'll arrive at the Spring Equinox. It's time for those things that were stirring to life at Imbolc to "spring" up--thanks to a warmer environment and nurturing Spring rain. The element of water is considered by many people to be the mother of us all. Think about it. Life started in the sea. And what about you? You floated around in your mom's tum for months, breathing, eating, and growing in water. About 80% of the human body is made of water! People really feel it when water is missing in their lives. Periods without rain--droughts--can cause failed crops and wildfires (we've seen that in the past year in Australia, and over here in the state of California). But just like everything else, balance is essential. Too much water kills plants, animals and people. Flooded areas can breed danger and disease. Remember Hurricane Katrina? That happened several years ago, but the people of New Orleans are still recovering from an overdose of water.

Here are some quick thoughts on tonight’s Full Moon. I’ve been hearing more than a few of those “WTF is going on with the stars these days?” inquiries that astrologers so often get, and it’s been interesting to see how many of them are from people with significant natal placements in Leo or Aquarius (including myself!). Tonight’s Full Moon in Leo emphasizes these signs, and if you feel as though your life is careening out of control lately, I would suggest that you remember to go to the waters, and to go to the Earth. That is where you will find healing and some peace.

Many of you will, in your magical and astrological studies, have worked with the four classical Elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth. These are the magical building blocks of matter. (They are also the four scientific phases of matter — gas, plasma, liquid and solid.) Many magicians believe that balancing these elements within themselves is an important part of the work we do, a path to personal growth and earthly agency. Astrologers know that elemental imbalances in a chart can manifest as obsessive focus and/or lack of awareness which often cause pain and setbacks in people’s lives.

On October 30th, I gave birth to a new baby boy. He was born at home in water, my fourth homebirth, but my first waterbirth (his birth story is available here). On the full moon of his one week "birthday," we took him outside for the first time in his whole life--to meet the world, to feel the fresh, cool air, to be introduced to the moon and the Earth as a member of our family. Here is an outline of the very simple ceremony of welcome we held for him. While we did this with just our other children present, it could easily be expanded to include additional guests.