New Sleepy Moon

Tonight is the new moon; the Chinese call the third new moon the Sleepy Moon, because the drowsiness of spring is in the air. 

On the first three days of this moon, the Chinese in Beijing celebrate the birthday of Hsi Wang Mu with a temple festival. Hsi Wang Mu is the Grandmother Goddess of the Western Heaven, also called the Great Yin. She controls the cosmic forces of time and space, determines life and death, and controls disease and healing. She watches over the tree of the peaches of immortality.

Agenda for today:
1. Journal queries
2. New Moon Meditation
3. Plan
4. Have a yin kind of day

1. Journal queries:

The New Moon invites us to start a new cycle, to renew promises, and set intentions. Today I will write down the dreams I have for this next few weeks, and then give my dreams a period of gestation, like seeds in the soil, before I take action.

My focus has been on balance this month. 

How can I honor the yin energy (reflecting, waiting, non-doing) in my life?
What am I dreaming of, and what am I going to do about it?
What would make me more whole?

List my intentions for the next weeks in these areas-
Self, Friends and Family, Teaching, Artwork, Writing, Home and Garden, Work/Business, and Volunteer work.

2. New Moon Meditation:

Light a small white candle. Center, and feel myself fill with thankfulness for all I have now in my life. 

Meditate on the Great Yin- all that is dark, quiet, soft, and mysterious- and how grateful I am for this energy in my life. Do this each day until the candle is gone.

3. Plan:
As the moon waxes in the next days, I expand-- plant seeds, make connections, and begin new projects. Today I will plan my first small steps.

My new moon intentions:
1. Finish my summer camp schedule and send it out
2. Finish the duck coop and get our new ducks!
3. Continue to pare down my possesions and put each thing in its proper place (especially in the studio)
4. Plant more food! Beets, pumpkins, and more peas

4. Have a yin kind of day:

Spend one day in yin mode, not doing, but rather being. Hang out in the garden, relax in my home, drink water, read a book, daydream, go for a long walk, take a bath, take a nap, linger over dinner, and go to bed early.