Photo by Rick Leche; creative commons license.
The January Full Moon, aka the Wolf Moon, occurs in Cancer on January 10, 2009 at 9:27PM Central time here in the Florida Panhandle. This Full Moon, I feel, is all about…the heart.
Cancer is generally a sign of emotions, nurturing, motherhood, nesting, home. Right now, the Sun is in Capricorn, to me (Pisces that I am) a rather cold and harsh sign. This moon feels like something gentle and overwhelmingly loving in the midst of a harsh and bright sunlight. It’s more like an opening of the heart, and there is something child-like in this one. Some innocence, some playfulness.
For me personally, this moon is extra special because my Jupiter is now in exact conjunction with this Full Wolf Moon.
For those of you who routinely read my suggestions for meditations, you know how this works. I share this unraveling of images I have just before a New Moon, Full Moon, and/or Eclipse and you’re welcome to use what makes sense to you. For most of last year, I’ve been following this “story” of a river of emotions connected with Moon phases–everything from bridges over rivers to the structure that holds the river in its banks, to surfing the river, to becoming the river, to rising above the river in a parasail…all taking me “around the riverbend” to a beautiful new vista that is lush and green. For those of you who know me personally, you’ve watched in amazement and then horror at how some of these influences have played out in my life and how I’ve been healing from some heartbreaks. Here are the links to previous meditations:
Riverbanks/Structures — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/serious-moonlight-ideas-for-your-july-full-moon-meditations-and-rituals/
Surfing/Sailing — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/1-august-2008-solar-eclipse-rituals-and-meditations-for-the-new-moon-in-leo/
Becoming the River — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/harvest-moon-in-pisces-september-2008s-full-moon-meditation/
Rebuilding the Riverbanks — http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/tension-vs-recovery-november-2008%e2%80%99s-full-moon-in-taurus-meditation/
Covered in Healing Mud – http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/tension-vs-recovery-november-2008%e2%80%99s-full-moon-in-taurus-meditation/
Washing off the Mud and Dancing Naked in the Sunlight– http://thespiritualeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/meditations-and-rituals-for-decembers-full-moon/
Which brings us to this Full Moon’s meditation:
In this meditation, I am still standing by the river. Yes, the river that battered and bruised me against the rocks and nearly destroyed me a few months ago after a beautiful turn around the riverbend to a lush countryside that was like heaven on Earth. The currents are deep, unseen by most unless I speak of them as I do now. I have spent my time building little structures on the riverbanks, one tiny stone at a time, and slathering on deep healing mud like a cocoon to hide my scrapes and wounds. I have washed away the medicinal mud, finding myself fresh and pink and sitting naked in sunshine by the river. I have not chosen to dive back into that strong emotional current but I have dared to wash myself in the water and enjoy the unexpected sunshine.
Even now, I am still not ready to dive back into that river. I have been content recently with the safety of the shore. Now I notice more how the sunshine sparkles on the water, thousands of glittering diamonds as the current moves forward, telling me it really never is the same river twice but that the water can be pleasant again.
I don’t dive in or even wade, but I do step forward just enough that the clear waters cover my bare, clean feet. I feel the cool water on my skin, the mud between my toes. I dip my hands into the water and fling the droplets across the river’s seeming stillness. It’s a moment of smiles and playfulness, of being able to play like a child or a new lover. Not ready yet to explore again the river’s murkier depths or unseen obstacles, but happy to play in sunlit gentleness and an opening of the heart.
I did see this beautiful moon last night. I always wonder how many more I will be blessed with.
Barbara! Don’t look at it that way. None of us knows how many more we’ll be blessed with and that’s why it’s so important to enjoy them when we get them. Think of all the ones you’ve been blessed with in the past and how beautiful the current one is. These moon cycles will go on long after we’re gone, and our descendants will look at the same moon we do now, just as people we love who are far away see the same moon we do. It connects us all, across time and space.
yes…