OCTOBER 19th: New Moon In Libra:

Separately and Together: Rituals for Peace, Exercises in Collaboration 

Hey, women! ALL women! Hey, non-binary folks! Hey, witches! Yes, ALL of you! Trans, queer, Cis, straight, lesbian, asexual, fat, thin, first-generation, poor, rich, old, young, quiet, loud, artists, activists, doulas, temp workers, politicians, musicians, landscapers, retirees, the woman over there in the grocery store comparing labels, the woman over there walking her three rescue dogs in the park before work, the woman enjoying an ice cream sandwich while watching reality television, the woman who only drinks green smoothies for breakfast before 6:00 am Yoga, the woman in the parking lot with two kids in the backseat, the non-binary person in the bathtub with a favorite book, the woman who has three grandchildren that she helps watch full-time, the women runners and the women in wheelchairs and the women with no boobs and the women with one boob and if you are on crutches or if you suffer from invisible chronic pain and if you own a company with thousands of employees or if you work three jobs and are barely making ends meet or if you are on Medicaid and disability and live with four roommates and if you pray every day or never pray at all and don’t believe in the God or Goddess or Spirit or if you don’t fit into any of the above or more than one or if your identity changes so fast no amount of hyphens exist to describe you because you are more expansive and more brilliant than any amount of strange-looking letters strung together could ever try to describe you…

Hey, beautiful you! Yes, YOU! I need you! And you need you! And we all need one another! For far too long, all the lengths they’ve gone to with the sole purpose of keeping us divided have kept us apart. Our own self-hate, or our fear of the other, or the unknown, our scarcity complexes, our timidity, our fear of saying the wrong thing, or being vulnerable, has kept us from reaching out, linking arms, and joining together. And yes, of course, we are doing it. Doing the work of uniting many different experiences and viewpoints and perspectives. Doing more than we ever have, in every way. Some of us could do better. And some of us need a break. Have needed a break. This isn’t meant to discourage, chastise, or use as an excuse. It is a call to invite in a greater consciousness, together.

You all are a love song to me, a most treasured poem, one that hasn’t been written yet because words can’t express all of your beauty, together, and separate. You are both the medium and the messenger. I need to read your words, to hear your voice, to know that even though the world right now seems to be the darkest it’s been in recent memory, that you’re gonna promise to somehow, some way, keep going. So that I can keep going, too. Because some days, it was only because of you: the freaks, the outcasts, the bitches, the whores, the queers, the sluts, the weirdos, the crones, the genderqueers, the poets, the doulas, the coders, the witches, the wild ones, the survivors, the kinksters, the loudmouths, the musicians, the punk singers, the warriors, the introverts, the artists, the writers, the DJs, the organizers, the activists. It was only through looking at your art, watching your speeches, reading your books, hearing your stories, having you pick up the other end of the line at midnight, it was witnessing your breathtaking magnificence, that spurred on the hope inside of me. And that hope gave me a reason to survive.

The ask at this time, this New Moon in October, a bridge month, is to come together in ritual and meditation. In support and linked invocation. There is power in numbers. There are potentially thousands of you reading these words, thousands of powerful beautiful brilliant humans. If even some of you get together tonight, Friday (which is ruled by Venus), or Saturday night with others, to visualize harmony and peace, to offer one another support and witness, the energy will ripple outward in harmonizing pink, green, orange, indigo, violet, and silver waves.

New Moons can be invocations. We can’t actually see the Moon; it is a blank slate. An invitation to a new way of thinking, a different mode of life. A fresh form of inquiry, of speaking about things, of beginnings. How do you handle beginnings in your life, new phases? Is there a catch in your throat? Do you hurtle yourself into them wholeheartedly? Why? How come?

This New Moon falls in the astrological sign of Libra, while the Sun is also in Libra. Double air, double speech, double clear communication. There’s the potential for bright words between the conscious and the subconscious. Libra is ruled by Venus, she who came out of the sea in a shell. A pearl come to life, perhaps. Across cultures, there are scores of similar myths of goddesses of the sea, coming out of the sea. Oshun, the Yoruba deity of the sea. Yemanjá, giver of all. Mami Wata, the ocean goddess of Ghana. Even the Greek sea god Poseidon was first the female Posidaeja in ancient Minoan culture (Barbara G. Walker, The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects). The symbol of Libra is that of a scale; the Sanskrit name for the sign of Libra was “Tula,” which meant the Balance, and the scale of Egyptian Goddess Maat (also associated with Venus) weighed hearts in the afterworld. Other aspects that Venus rules are love, beauty, relationships and partnerships of all kinds, pleasure, earthly delights, harmony, charm, contracts, and artistic pursuits. You can work spells on your own around these subjects, as well as with others.

When I think of this harmonic energy, it makes me think of the Three of Cups card in the Tarot. This card represents the harmonic power of the joyful collective. Manifestation is at its most potent when done as a group, in the form of spiritual altruism. The figures in the Three of Cups symbolize celebration and harvesting successful outcomes together. This card is about collaboration and selfless hard work. Of course, this card, three women, evokes the Triple Goddess. It also references the three Graces, as well as the three Fates. Sometimes when this card appears, it signals a moment where those around you can help you with your destiny, with what you know you must work on growing. For Romans, a word for signs of the Goddess’ blessing was “venia,” the blessing of Venus—which, later on to some Catholics, meant a sin.

This leads me to apples.

Apples are ruled by Venus. In Christian mythology, they correlate to original sin: Eve and the snake and all the damage to women that came after that. But apples have also always been a symbol of deep magic. Slice an apple open and its sacred, secret sign inside appears: the pentacle. The poison apple shows up as a metaphor for the fear that mankind had of powerful, magickal women. Apples have shown up as magical arbiters across many cultures over time, from marriage ceremonies to death rituals, to feasts and divination purposes. Later this month, people across this continent will be bobbing for them. Apples and apple seeds can be used in love spells, luck spells, abundance spells, and attraction spells. From a health perspective, apples can help with many different issues: digestion, heartburn, circulation, and nerve and brain function. Among many other uses, apples can help with arthritis, and help clean tartar from the teeth (Robin Rose Bennett, The Gift of Healing Herbs, pg 400). These fruits are a one-stop shop for health, magic, and loaded folklore!

In October, apples are plentiful. Can you bake an apple pie or crumble to share with your group?

October New Moon Ritual: Collaboration Stationing, All of Us Venus 

Suggested Affirmation: “I call in love and peace when I behave in a loving and peaceful manner. I invoke beauty and abundance through my beautiful and abundant behavior.”

Decide to come together with at least two other friends.

Together, collaborate on a ritual or spell that invokes love, peace, and harmony for one another and that also invites in love, peace, and harmony across the planet. Have components of beauty, relaxation, and joy in this coming together. It could include lots of food, candles, essential oils, pedicures, and fizzy fruit drinks. It could involve yarn and pizza! Be true to the group.

Take time to share with one another what you are working on in your own life, internally or externally. Take time to listen and connect.

Call on one another for support and peace. Together, imagine and visualize this healing energy moving out of your bodies, through your city or town, your state, the country, the northern hemisphere, the whole world.

Commit to doing one thing for yourself in the next week to invoke more love, beauty, harmony, and peace for yourself. Commit to doing one thing to extend peace, beauty, love, and harmony, in the next week for your community—whether you know everyone in it or not. Listen to your friends and affirm their intentions.

For the next week, move through the world knowing you have the cosmic support of at least two other friends. Imagine you have the support of the hundreds, if not thousands, of other people who did a similar October New Moon Ritual. Can you feel it, take it inside your cells? Move it around in your heart, translate it into your heartbeat, course it through your blood, knowing it beats in others’ blood as well?

Togetherness is wonderful. Sisterhood is powerful.

Happy New Moon!

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