It’s time again for a little “Moonday Magique” ladies and gentlemen! For this installment, we will be focusing our intentions on gratitude, the most magical of the spiritual elixirs. This virtue just happens to be the fairy dust of existence, putting a spell on the universe and drawing all that is divinely aligned straight to you.  In other words, EVERY day should be Thanksgiving!

So, this is where the trouble begins. Often we focus on the things we DON’T want in our lives and bemoan the lack of the things that we DO want. This focus of our energy automatically gives more “life” to the very things we are wishing to let go of and attracts more of the same. So, by beginning to focus on just what it is we already appreciate, have, and love, we start attracting more of that to ourselves. Score one for an attitude of gratitude.

In addition to that, the act of looking around at your life and realizing just how much you already have aligns you with your frequency of abundance. It’s sort of like when you clean out your closet and are astounded at just how much you have that you didn’t even realize. You may even have an item on your shopping list that you already own and had forgotten about! Just this simple practice of assessment reorients you to a state of abundance as opposed to lack.  So if that is something you long for (and who doesn’t desire abundance?), then start looking around on a regular basis and give thanks for what you’ve already got. Score two for giving thanks.

Similarly, we often dream of attaining something or having something, but soon after the “newness” wears off, we are already looking for the next things to achieve or buy. We barely take a breath to feel satisfied! Again, if you don’t stop to feel fulfilled and actually appreciate all that you have or have achieved in your life, you are continuing a vibration of dissatisfaction, longing, and emptiness. So relaxing the getting and just being with or using what you already have will probably lead to actual contentment, and even happiness.  In the same way looking back to see how far you’ve come helps you appreciate and love yourself a little more.  Score three and we’re still on a roll.

Finally, there are some things that come into our lives that are beautiful and healing, but they are disguised as challenging, irritating, or even as disasters. This is the time when you should be the most thankful of all! If we return to the cleaning out your closet metaphor, this is when the old shit that no longer serves you or excites you is being brought up for evaluation and tossed into the trash or the donation pile. It’s life’s (sometimes annoying and painful) way of clearing out the clutter that is sitting in your soul so your path ahead is unobstructed.

So again, even though it might be messy, give thanks that the old is being let go to make way for the new. One of the biggest blocks to receiving all the wonders the world wants to offer you is resentment.  Resentment is the cord that ties us to the past, and it always points to a belief that we have lost something we can never get back.  But often the things that were lost pale in comparison to the version that is to come, so in truth there is nothing to be angry about – the loss is an illusion because the best is yet to come, as long as you are open to it.  Once you realize that, you can see the true gifts you received from everything in your life and thank them for what they gave you, whether it was a catalyst to grow or discover yourself, an experience that strengthened you in a much needed way, or a love that opened your heart like no other.

So, here’s a little practice you can start to help get into a gratitude mindset, or should I say heartset. You’ve probably heard of listing 3-5 things each day that you are grateful for. Well I’m taking this even further! Spend 15-30 minutes every day finding something to be thankful for with everything you come into contact with during that time, good or bad. It might look something like this: as I get ready to leave work, I notice my gloves and how beautiful they are and remember they were a thoughtful gift from my sister. Then I notice my scarf and how soft it is and feel lucky, remembering it was a beautiful gift from my boyfriend. As I walk home, I notice that it’s not too cold out yet and it’s still light enough to see the trees and think I’m lucky to get to walk back and forth to work and enjoy nature.  As a crazy angry stranger passes me by, I give thanks silently that he left me alone.  As I walk into my apartment, I appreciate the warmth and feel lucky that I can afford the heat.

You get the idea.  I’ll tell you the truth – this practice can be pretty intoxicating.  Your heart might actually burst open!  I usually think one of three things, as I notice each item:  I notice what I love or appreciate about something (this could be a physical trait or a sentiment), I think of how lucky I am (this usually applies to a certain circumstance), or I actually say thank you out loud or in my mind (often to a person or to a situation I find challenging).

Do this for 15-30 minutes straight, and I GUARANTEE that your mood will shift.  You suddenly realize that all the little things in your life add up to a pretty happy existence.  This practice is especially effective to do when you are in a bad mood, or when everything seems to be going to shit in your life. Stop and see what is still good, but more importantly, see what gifts the shit has to offer you. After all, manure makes the very best fertilizer when growing something new, so see what present is offered in your present and experience for yourself the Magique of Gratitude!

Tomorrow the last quarter moon occurs, bringing with it the winter season of the moon’s magique. This is so resonant now following Halloween, which marks the official end of summer and beginning of winter in the Celtic calendar.  This time of the lunar month is all about emotional (and even physical) hibernation, and integration of all the healing and changes you have gone through over the past few weeks while riding this lunar cycle through its hilly ups and downs.

This is also the time to make any final refinements to your creation and get rid of anything that doesn’t work. If issues have come up for you that need to be healed, this is when you need to really pamper yourself and let yourself feel whatever is tugging at your heart strings. Whether you need healing or not, make sure to eliminate outside distractions and obligations this week, turn within, and discover all of the wisdom your womb has to offer you.

To help with this, I have created the final meditation track in the series, and this one includes orgasmic breathing! Trust me, this technique will help you feel things you may never have before, so make sure to try it out and use it as regularly as possible : )  Then take a nice hot, beautifully scented bath and imagine washing all of your wounds down the drain, so you can enter the next moon cycle fresh and reborn.

Early tomorrow morning we will be blessed with a full moon in Taurus, so expect to glow with your full femininity!  This sign is ALL about fecundity, fertility, and the finer things in life – think silk and velvet, fresh flowers, and gourmet food and wine.  This is also an earthy sign though, so Taurus is not afraid to get down and dirty, especially with the Scorpio sun along for the ride.  If there was ever a time to embody the God and Goddess of sex, this is it, so amp up your full moon mojo with a little sexual ritual of your own sensual design : )

With regards to the “moon-ifestation” process we are in, the full moon is when our intention is first coming to fruition and we see a little preview of what it is we’re creating. This can be both good and bad! When growing our vision, this is the point when all of our shadows have been brought to light (especially true with sun in Scorpio), so we often have a taste of the heaven we are yearning for, as well as an experience of hell entangled with it.

The full moon is also the ripe egg in the sky, correlating with ovulation, so this is when the moon and we as women pivot back into contraction, turning into ourselves to finish the creative process. We began by creating in our minds, compelled by our desires, but now we will start creating on the physical level, just like a seed being planted in our earthy wombs.  If what shows up for us at this time is a dream come true, we can continue to fertilize that egg of intention and work it into our full blown baby over the rest of this moon cycle. On the other hand, if we find that what we thought we wanted doesn’t serve or fulfill us, we can choose to fully let it go and start fresh next month.

It’s also likely that the “moon-ifestation” process has uncovered old wounds that have been blocking us, which is where the “hell” experience can come in. So whether we want to continue the creative process or let our intention go, this is a beautiful time to focus on healing and releasing our old beliefs and fears, and the month of Scorpio is the perfect time to transform our fears and limitations into strengths and stability.

So, pay attention to what happens over the next few days in your life and in your heart. Start to figure out where you want to go from here. Then when you’re ready, listen to the meditation track and use it to help you either continue creating or begin letting go. During the upcoming week, pay attention to anything that comes up to either help you create physically what it is you desire, such as actions you need to take or materials and support you need to gather, or what you need to heal. Let this full moon be a fertile one for you and start making your dream a reality <3

All hail the first quarter moon as we enter deeply into the heart – so appropriate with our continuing Libra sun.  When we start manifesting things in our life, it begins to unearth all that has been holding us back from receiving or growing into it, so at first it might seem like you are getting the opposite of what you asked for, and this happens to be the point in the process when the first big obstacle to overcome is highlighted.

Tomorrow the moon grows into its first quarter phase, halfway between the new moon and the full moon. In fact if you gaze upon it, you will see it literally split in half between light and dark. In terms of the seed of intention we planted last week, this means that some of its growth has just started coming to light. Think of the first seedlings pushing through the earth! All of the obstacles that have been keeping you from what you want in your life (fears, insecurities, false beliefs, etc.) have most likely been appearing as real life scenarios. Even though it can feel like this is life’s way of confirming that you will never have or don’t deserve the things you want, it’s actually doing just the opposite! You are being given the opportunity to become conscious of all of all your blocks and strengthen yourself in the needed ways so you can finally make a “breakthrough.”

So how do you do that exactly, when it seems like the manure has hit the fan? You do the things that will nurture your little seedling to grow. Make sure to nourish your body and soul during this time, doing whatever it is that makes you feel safe, taken care of, and stronger. At the same time, become conscious of your deeper issues and be present for them, just allowing yourself to feel what hasn’t been felt in the past and seeing what has been hidden for too long. Look within and ask for solutions, and then take action on any inspiration that comes up. Little hint:  this action will probably need to be the opposite of what you have done over and over again in the past so that you can finally break your pattern. And finally, have compassion for yourself and for others. We are all wounded and trying to figure out what it is to live, and this is part of the process for all of us. This is what it is to be human.

This week’s “moon-ifestation” visualization can be used over the next week to help you grow from a struggling seedling into a majestic Tree of Life, so use it as often as you’d like. I’ll see you next week, when we start bringing our dreams to fruition.

Welcome to the new moon in Libra, where balance and relationship will be brought up for evaluation in all of their forms.  How are you balancing your energy output with times of relaxation and renewal?  How are you balancing the benefits received by both sides in all of your significant relationships?  How are you balancing work with family?  How are you balancing the needs  and limitations of your unique individual self with the expansive and oceanic grandiosity of your never-ending Divine self?  In this week’s post I’m giving you a free meditation to seed the intention of something you want in your life so you can grow it into its fullest glory.

So to prepare, think of something you deeply desire and long for in your life, whether it’s your soulmate, an artist studio in your home, those amazing shoes you saw online, or even the desire to feel ecstatically alive to life in every moment. What would you absolutely LOVE to have in your life?  Remember, Libra is all about beauty, love, grace, refinement, art, relationships, and balance, so anything that resonates with these energies will have an extra charge today.  Get very clear and focused on what it is you want, especially the way it will make you feel. Next, do the meditation, really feeling the potency of your desire while seeing what you want as clearly as possible. For extra credit, you can find a small object that symbolically represents this to you and/or write it down on a piece of paper, and then bury it in a special spot while still feeling the power and intention of your meditation. Give thanks that the seed has been planted and let it go.

For this next month, I will post here each “Moon”day, walking you through this process of manifesting your desires, aligning each step with the phases of the moon. This is something I do at the end of my Bellyoga classes and I call it “moon-ifestation”! WARNING: This practice is very effective and powerful, so don’t be surprised if things start changing and shaking up in your life immediately! But don’t worry, Ravyn’s here to walk you through the underworld of your subconscious and help you make your dreams a reality <3