Third Quarter Moon Sabbath (for Art and Garden)

Today is the Third Quarter Moon: This waning moon energy is yin - quiet, internal, heart-driven, intentional Being-ness. At this phase we can ease off a bit on actively pursuing goals, slow down, go within, and attend to inner work and self-care.

It's also my sabbath, and I'm giving gentle attention to my art and my garden.

Agenda:

1. Read "The Creativity Book"

2. Renewal plan

3. Evaluation House

4. Monthly journal brainstorm

5. Do the smallest thing

6. Surrender, rest, recuperate

A Week of Virtue

Virtue is ethical behavior. It encompasses a wide array of very nice things like honesty, compassion, temperance, and so on. I think I'm mostly a good person, but I'd like to be better... I disappoint myself all the time.

A few years ago, I made virtue my theme for the whole year, and it was great! I've decided to make it the theme for this week to see how I might improve my virtuousness this summer.

When I first researched this, I ran across Ben Franklin's system for virtue improvement. Ben devised a small chart that he carried with himself, to record his behavior day-to-day in 13 areas. If you do a Google search you will see that MANY people are interested in Ben's system! You can buy journals and download charts if you want, but I knew I wouldn't be happy unless I personalized mine.

Agenda:
1. Create a virtue chart
2. Daily review

3. Practice optimism

4. Read "It's a Meaningful Life"

Full Thunder Moon and Asalha Puja

The full moon of July is called ameku, the mid-summer moon, by the Kalapuya of our area, and the thunder moon by others. July days have the humming energy of a summer storm (and we had a long, slow thunder storm all through this last night!) It's a month of passion and activity: I'm challenged to find integrity in my actions and expand into my Truth.

The sun is at the peak of its power, lighting all corners with its radiance, and burning away all non-essentials. We are now at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, and will soon begin the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon.

Today is also Asalha Puja, a Theravada Buddhist festival that takes place on the full moon of July. Asalha Puja celebrates the Buddha's first sermon, in which he set out the teaching of the four noble truths. The day is observed by donating offerings to temples and listening to sermons.

Agenda: 

1. Take a vision walk

2. Study the Four Noble Truths

3. Read Writing and Being

4. Celebrate integrity

Grandmother Artist

I'm adopting a new persona as Grandmother Artist: Loving-wise-woman-creator-guardian-and-guide. This naming is internal, to give me a better framework for my daily interactions, and for choosing projects. So, when I plan my time with my grandsons I will think, "What would Grandma Artist do?", and when I decide to start new projects I'll think - "What would Grandma Artist make?"

Agenda:

1. Read "The Creativity Book"

2. Parameters for Grandma Art

3. Do the smallest thing

Good Fortune for Nature

Fierce Chickadees

I'm working on a series called "Good Fortune for Nature", that visually articulates my deep yearnings for the earth, and for all of us.  

Wendell Berry said, "There is in fact no distinction between the fate of the land and the fate of the people. When one is abused the other suffers." 

My wishes for good fortune focus first on the smallest butterfly and bee, but spread to include us all: I hope that my grandsons will see butterflies in their gardens throughout their lives, and that bees will survive to pollinate their food.

Agenda:

1. Daily moment for Earth Unity

2. Read Nature's Best Hope

3. Set parameters

4. Write good fortunes

5. Creative visualization

First Quarter Moon of July

The first quarter moon was a couple days ago; we are one-quarter of the way through the moon cycle. The moon is waxing - growing in light and energy, creating a time for decisive action. 

I use this July quarter moon's energy to help me to discern my Truth and then act on it; this requires some discipline.

The ancient Stoic philosophers used discipline as a tool in their journey towards a life lived well. Epictetus listed three disciplines: Amor Fati, or the loving acceptance of one’s fate, which was for living in harmony with the nature of the universe as a whole; Hormê, or the impulse to ethical action, for living in harmony with humans; and Sunkatathesis, which is mindfulness, for living in harmony with our own essential nature, with reason and truthfulness in both thoughts and speech.

I long for better discipline - to give me stability and structure, and help me to be responsible; to allow me to keep promises to myself and to others, and maintain the integrity and self-control that I want; to empower me to grow and reach my dreams. But I also hope that this growth in discipline might lead to a transcendent state where I no longer rely on discipline because I love and understand myself enough to follow the right path naturally!

Agenda Today:

1. Journal queries
2. Read "Writing and Being"

3. Make a full effort plan

July Sabbath for the Light of Summer

The month of July is a golden time of passion and activity. Nature celebrates the peak of its power, the sun reaches her highest point, and I do the same; every day I get to share my light with the world. I put my best and brightest energy into my projects, my garden, and my art. I seek out chances to be courageous, and extend myself beyond what’s comfortable.

The question for July is How do I shine through the clouds?

“Hold the sadness and pain of samsara in your heart and at the same time the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun. Then the warrior can make a proper cup of tea.”

~ Chogyam Trungpa

Agenda:

1. Keeping the Sabbath

2. Read "Total Chakra Energy Plan"

3. Sacral chakra practice

4. Exceptional Care practice

The July Garden

July is hot in our valley - hotter than I enjoy. We are experiencing 100+º weather most of this week (which is nothing compared to other parts of the world but more than we are generally used to.)

Luckily, we still have cool mornings. Most big garden projects have been completed, the yard is blooming with lots of flowers, and we have dragonflies and all sizes of bees. It's too late to plant most summer veggies, and too early to start fall crops, so my focus is on garden care - watering, weeding, mulching - and on HARVEST.

Agenda:

1. July harvest

2. July tasks

3. Drying peas

4. July planting tips

Tanabata

Tanabata is a Japanese summer festival, observed on the evening of July 7th. Tanabata means literally "Evening of the seventh", but it is also known as the Star Festival, because it celebrates the story of two heavenly lovers.

The story goes that Shokujo the Weaver (Vega), and Kengyu the Cowherd (Altair) were two young star people who worked for the gods, making cloth and milking the heavenly cows. They fell so much in love that they forgot to do their chores. The gods became angry when they found they had run out of cloth and milk, and put the two lovers on separate sides of the Milky Way.

The lovers were so sad to be separated that the gods eventually took pity on them and agreed that they could meet once a year on the night of Tanabata, if the sky was clear. It is said that the birds fly up to make a bridge so that the lovers may cross.

Agenda Today:

Wish for Wisdom

1. Shinto prayer
2. Hang paper streamers
3. Make a tanzaku wish
4. Kigan-sai (Wishes Ceremony)
5. Make Hiyashi Somen (Cold Noodles)

Al-Higra

Al-Hijra is the first day of the Islamic month of Muharram, the Islamic New Year; it began at sunset last night, when the crescent moon was sighted. 

Hijra means migration, and also an escape from a dangerous situation. The original hijra was the journey of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, after he learned that another Arab tribe was trying to assassinate him.

Islamic years are calculated from that day, called 1 Muharram, 622 CE. They are followed by the suffix AH, which stands for "After Hijra". Tonight begins 1446 AH.

Agenda:
1. Journal queries

2. Prayers

New Lotus Moon (for Integrity)

The sixth new moon is know as the Lotus Moon by the Chinese. The lotus is the "flower of open-heartedness", an emblem of purity, fruitfulness (because of its many seeds) and creative power. And since lotus leaves protect the goldfish under them (a symbol of prosperity), the lotus also symbolizes abundance year after year. 

Detail from "Connect", acrylic

A lotus flower grows out of the mud, and blossoms above the muddy water surface. Buddhists teach that, like a lotus, we can rise above the suffering and conflicts of life. The Lotus Moon, then, is the natural time to dig into the mud of my life, and seek out the best ways to grow above the fray.

Agenda:

1. Retreat Day

2. Read "It's a Meaningful Life"

3. Choose a month theme

4. Set intentions

5. New moon altar

Summer Abstraction

My summer art goal is to explore and experiment with mixed media, using watercolor, fabric, and items from nature (sticks, leaves, shells...) to create abstract pieces on the theme: Good Fortune for Nature.

 

Agenda:

1. Read the Creativity Book

2. Abstraction plan

3. Do the smallest thing