Creating Containers

“Act the way you'd like to be and soon you'll be the way you act.” —Leonard Cohen

On Monday, the day of the Moon, comes our First Quarter Moon, rising up behind the silhouette of buildings, rising over the outlines of mountains, a peculiar half-lit-up song that everyone hears differently. Have you got more momentum? Able to clear your throat more easily? Today is the first day of the Sun in Gemini, the Moon is in Virgo, and Mercury must be celebrating: the fast moving genderqueer planet rules them both.

The theme of the New Moon was about defining all the aspects of your expansive manifestation goals. This prompt is all about creating containers for your magic, your mindset, and your 
actions around setting forth on what your soul is singing for.

There’s a difference between being arty and being an artist.
There’s a difference between being crafty and a craftsperson.
There’s a difference between being witchy and being a witch.

That difference is simple. Time. Effort. Energy. Intentionally creating containers, cultivating the soil within them, focusing on growth, and returning to the work. The doing of the thing. The action that saves us and stifles us in equal measures. Think: the Eight of Pentacles card, or Eight of Wands, if you prefer. Both Tarot cards are about flow, movement, alignment, and inspired repetition. To be clear: this is not how the world views us. This is how we are doing the work and how we feel about it. If the work is nourishing to us and sustains us, and us alone, if it is interesting and provides solace and contentment to our souls, we are in the yes zone. It’s okay if it doesn’t do this all the time! Sometimes the work feels uncomfortable or maybe even boring. Sometimes we must cultivate our inspiration.

There are books written about it and courses designed for this and coaches and therapists and accountability buddies, and at the end of the day, the promise is mostly between you and yourself. You and the work, the time spent embodying your pursuits and carrying them out. No. Matter. What.

If this cultivation alone—the time spent fostering a craft, hunkering down on the bench—doesn’t make you happy or satisfied at least once in a while, at least enough so that you are reminded why you are doing this, you may wish to rethink why you are doing it. It could be that there is still some ego tied up in outcomes. That is completely normal—it would be strange if there wasn’t. There could be some disconnect around expectations. Not every training run a marathon athlete goes on is mind-blowing. Maybe not even every third run. It is the longer journey, the greater place where all the moments, once added up, fall on the abacus wire in the structure of someone’s purpose. Taking out the garbage and collecting the award are both parts of the same trajectory. The mountaineer sweats and strains, climbs to the top of one mountain. After that, they put on their hiking boots the next week and climb another.

For your current goals, you can revisit some of your journaling and thoughts around the New Moon’s exercise. Have you begun working on bringing some of those desires and dreams into your life, tangibly? Are there a few more new structures, habits, or practices based around these? If these haven’t yet been instated, no worries. This time would be optimal to do so. The time for waiting is over. The saying, “Good things come to those who wait,” is slightly inaccurate. A truer version would be: “Good things come to those who are patient while working steadily towards the goals that are in alignment with their soul’s purpose.” Doesn’t have quite the same ring, though! (Wocka wocka.)

We can create containers for a variety of things in our lives that we wish to invoke. For the body: a set time when we walk, stretch, or lift weights. For the mind: set times when we meditate, practice visualization, read, and learn new skills. For our spiritual center: at least one time a week when we do spell work or ritual, communicate with our higher self. Schedule a few times a week where we work on our dream, after our day job ends or one day during the weekends. Building consistency is key. It doesn’t matter if no one is watching, or nobody seems to be listening. Hold yourself to a consistent task: sending out a set number of applications a week, writing a couple of blog entries a month, and so and so on. Over time, this adds up. 
Over time, the practice becomes the reality.

If you need deadlines, draw up your deadlines. If you need an accountability buddy, get an accountability buddy. If you need an air conditioned space, go to a library. If you are still waiting, be clear about what you are waiting for. Then realize, fully, that you are just waiting for yourself. If you have more excuses, write them all down until the excuse well has been drained dry.

During this First Quarter Moon, as we shift into Waxing, into a different gear, consider where you must consistently tend to your containers. If you are meeting resistance, ask yourself: have I done similar tasks as this before? Take time to count your accomplishments. Realize that this particular goal might seem especially hard or painful because it is the current particular goal. Perhaps the goals met before this, the moves made in your life previously, also felt utterly 
impossible at one time.

As the energy of the Moon ramps up, filling up the sky with her glow, make a plan. Begin the work. If you are meeting resistance, consider if you are asking too much of yourself, too soon. Are you wanting a blockbuster movie to be made out of your words when they just need to be fragments for a minute? You may have to face yourself as a bit messier, a bit less buttoned-up in the beginning phases of tangible manifestation. Think about a thorough closet clean. Everything is everywhere at the start. Allow there to be a certain amount of rawness with the first drafts, the first tries of your process. Allow yourself the time to fill your containers fully.

As the week is just starting, get very clear about your objectives. Perhaps one of your containers is just to attempt to foster the enthusiasm about starting. Perhaps you have to treat yourself very carefully in the beginning stages by treating yourself: putting on your favorite music, your very favorite flavor of tea, or setting out your very favorite snacks, to set yourself up for success. Maybe before beginning, you close your eyes, take deep breaths, and visualize how happy you will feel after a fruitful work session—after allowing your hands to dig in the dirt that is fostering and nurturing your wildest dreams.

—From Many Moons, 2018 vol 1.

Buy Many Moons, 2018 vol 2 here.