Moon, Lunar Cycles, and the Body of Water

With the New Moon on Monday (or Moon Day!) in the astrological sign dubbed the Moon Child, Cancer, I felt it fitting to give a Moon Salute today. I found this graphic (below) of the Moon Salutation for you to peruse. The moon rules our emotions, mothering, and felt sense. The moon reflects the light of the sun, and at the new moon, we get an opportunity to plant the seeds for what our internal emotional desires would like to manifest. In the sign of Cancer, the moon is particularly potent and moody. Cancer is a water sign, and with the physical body being made up of 65% water, we may be at least half as effected by the moon as the tides are.

I am a real emotional girl. It is not even so unlikely that one of my many nicknames growing up was Moon or Moonie. (Incidentally, it was also my mother's nickname.) When I was a little girl, these emotions were likely to get the best of me. Initially, this lunar state was uncontrollable, yet as I have grown and learned that feelings are not facts, I have also learned the undeniable power of fierce emotional intensity. When channelled positively and properly directed, that energy is what gets the job done. In fact, emotional energy is one of the primary motivators in life.

A lunar cycle is approximately 28 days. Women's menstrual cycles are lunar, and farmers use a lunar calendar to tracy weather and tide patterns. The moon, which represents home, nurture, and sustenance, has a great effect upon our homeland and food supply.

The moon is reflective and luminous. It gives a glow to our nocturnal secrets and allows us to share what we may not otherwise share by the light of the sun. The internal life is as powerful as all the rest, so it makes sense to honor this celestial body as a reflection of our own emotional body.

With this New Moon, we are being asked to release old emotional issues that no longer serve our lives. As with all patterns that have become habitual, we grow comfortable aligning with them, and they become a part of who we are. I ask you today, to use the supportive New Moon to access your deeper feelings and desires, and to part with what is now only a shadow of what used to be. Ritualize this by trying something different: a Moon Salutation. Then take a cleansing bath to wash away any left over debris.