Now my preparations are finished, and I can relax with my family, do a puzzle, eat, drink, and generally wallow in joyful abandon. In some old traditions, this season was seen as a sort of Sabbath: Prepare ahead of time and then spend the Twelve Days doing as little work as possible. It's a good time to rest, reflect, and find peace within.
And tonight is the Full Moon! The full moon is my monthly time for action and release: I look again at the “seeds of intention” I planted 2 weeks ago at the new moon and decide on my next steps to take, I take those steps, then I release my expectations in order to clear space for new ideas and new intentions.
The full moon of December is called the Cold Moon, for obvious reasons. Nature is resting now in preparation for the growing season, and so should I be! No matter how busy I feel, I can slow down, rest more, and pay better attention to the inner growing going on.
Agenda today:
1. Give gifts:
Celebrate the birth of Jesus by giving gifts to those I love.
2. Altar:
It's time to discern what to put on my altar for the next 30 days. (For my thoughts on altars see About Altars). I generally keep it simple and choose only things that speak to me and feed me, and reveal what I believe in. I ask, what quality of Spirit do I want to invoke?
Today I add-
- a green candle for strength, vitality, and inner growth; a color to support change, and bring new ideas into being.
Strength does not come from physical capacity.
It comes from an indomitable will.
~Mahatma Gandhi
3. Journal:
Review the intentions I set 2 weeks ago, at the new moon. Review also the goals I set at the beginning of the year.
Do these aims all still seem vital?
How have I moved closed to my vision?
What new steps might I take in 2015?
4. Practice at my theme:
My theme this month is strength & health. I am recovering well from my accident, but it's going to be a slow process. When I overdo it, my broken ribs and shoulder begin to really ache- and I remember that my pace needs to be restrained.
My intentions-
5. Have a feast:Review the intentions I set 2 weeks ago, at the new moon. Review also the goals I set at the beginning of the year.
Do these aims all still seem vital?
How have I moved closed to my vision?
What new steps might I take in 2015?
4. Practice at my theme:
My theme this month is strength & health. I am recovering well from my accident, but it's going to be a slow process. When I overdo it, my broken ribs and shoulder begin to really ache- and I remember that my pace needs to be restrained.
My intentions-
- Eat a bone-mending diet: High calcium foods, lean protein, vitamin C, and zinc. Also, (sigh) cut back on alcohol (which increases inflammation), sodium, sugar, refined grains, and caffeine.
- Exercise to accelerate healing.
- Continue to take a nap everyday.
- Practice guided meditation to help with pain. (Many are available on YouTube; I found this one helpful.)
- Research other pain relief ideas.
This is a day of unrestricted feasting. The table is filled with goodies- breads, cheese, apples, tangerines, nuts, chocolates, and cookies. We will snack all day long.
Tonight we will reheat the Christmas pudding I made a month ago by steaming it again for about an hour, and slide it out of the pudding basin onto a plate.
Then we will put some brandy into a metal ladle (about 1/4-cup), heat it over a candle flame until it steams a bit, set it on fire with a match, and pour the flaming brandy over the warm pudding. This is really worth the effort! We turn the lights out and the blue flame dances all over the pudding for a minute or more.
7. Take Action:
The full moon is a time to celebrate life, stay up late, see friends, exercise harder, and be more creative and outgoing. This crazy full moon energy is a little counter to the quiet healing energy I need right now, so I will acknowledge it , and moderate it so it doesn’t throw me off balance. I will channel this surge of energy into healing, and growing strong again.
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