Tonight we enter the new moon of Pisces.
It is said that the month of Pisces is a time of recovering lost dreams and rekindling our passions. Our greatest work during Pisces is to become filled with joy. It is the month that brings us the balance of Spring Equinox and the hope that comes with those glimmers of connection to the light. Yes, we are still in rain, but we KNOW, that spring is just around the corner, it’s coming. How will you greet it?
When we celebrate Mardi Gras, Purim, Easter and any of the myriad Springtime holidays (holydays), we stop to notice and participate in the wonder of Spring life and we open ourselves to the potential of feeling restored and renewed, reborn like the fresh lilies out in the yards, and the plum blossoms on the bare branches. In Chinese medicine this is the energy that restores the Liver and our vision. It is the energy that moves us and balances or wakes up our hormones and compels us to cleanse/detoxify – hence the dictum of Spring Cleaning.
Last month I spoke of the qualities of that moon according to the Jewish calendar, the moon and month of Adar. Adar is the only month that occasionally repeats itself in a single calendar year. Because of the difference between the lunar and the solar year, the sages add an extra month to the lunar year in order to balance the two. The months are then referred to as Adar I and Adar II. This instance occurs 7 times every 19 years. When we experience two months of Adar, we are given an extra dose of that powerful JOY and radiant LIGHT energy.
There is X-tra Moon Magic this Month. There may even be XXX-tra Moon Magic as we are in a 13th month.
Every several years, when the Hebrew calendar’s lunar cycle falls close to a month’s worth of days behind the solar cycle, we add an additional month to the last month, Adar, and call it Second Adar. In these years, we have 13 moons in the lunar year, not 12. 13 is a special number and Adar II is a special month. For healing guidance we are asked to follow the story and the tribe of Dinah, not one of the 12 sons or tribes as in the other months. This 13th moon also invites us to play with the myths of the great sea dragons, to follow the north star, to alchemize gold, to contemplate the sound before all sounds in the hebrew alphabet, and to celebrate the holy day of Purim where we are supposed to get so drunk we don’t know the difference between good and bad, or do we?
In her book, Ancient Moon Wisdom, Miriam Maron says that Second Adar arrives when it is needed, when it is called for. She goes in to great detail about the archetype of Deenah, the elusive and mysterious thirteenth tribe. “She is the life force that streams, dances, and slithers through all twelve tribal archetypes, threading them into a single weave. Without her, the twelve splinter into disassociated fragments. Deenah stems from the Hebrew word for judgment deen דין, discernment, differentiation, the capacity to distinguish, to individuate; to see clearly each in their own right.”
Maron connects this 13th moon with the Great Sea Dragon, Leviathan, as it is often called in English renditions. It is a representative of the elusive and mysterious life force that moves all of Nature. Leviathan is the great mythic sea dragon who swirls and wallows in the elements —in water, Earth, fire, and wind. At times, the forces of Nature that result from this wallowing and swirling are beautiful and friendly and inspiring, and at times they seem harsh and merciless and destructive.
Kabbalists teach that at the beginning of any month, on the New Moon, all the Light and blessings that we want to manifest for that entire upcoming month can be awakened. Just as a seed contains the DNA of the entire tree, the first day of the new month contains the DNA of what will be revealed that month. Each New Moon, therefore, is like a one-day window in time we are given to plant the seeds for the month ahead we hope to create. How will this 13th moon inspire you? Light a candle and look to the North Star. Walk outside in the rain and invite the forces of nature to show you the first footprints of Spring. Notice the magic in the mushrooms, in the stars, in the everything!
Happy Flowering,
Amanda
For Springtime bodywork , email me at Amanda@HealingMama.com or call 510-213-0793
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Manzanita Wellness Spring Equinox Clinic Sunday, March 24th,
click on the link: https://www.manzanitawellness.com/workshops
~ Make your own Herbal Vinegar ~ QiGong for Spring ~ Massage Mini-Sessions ~ Meditation & Spring Cleanse Mini Workshop on Getting Unstuck: Transformation in the Midst of Challenges ~ Teishin Acu for Spring ~ Restorative Yoga Lounge to Encourage Circulation & Breath ~ CranioSacral Sessions ~ Activities in our Medicine Garden ~ Massage Workshop for All Levels ~ Ultimate Energetics sessions ~ Lymphatic and Breast Health Self-Care ~ Sound Healing
Donations gladly accepted. Please RSVP by emailing info@manzanitawellness.com
+ THIS SUNDAY, an X-tra special workshop at my home in the Berkeley Hills
Mystory Body-1day Retreat
https://www.facebook.com/events/266857124224674/
“Mystory Body” – Have a #MeToo story? We will work with the power of body based resilience and dynamic creativity to transform and heal our stories. In “Mystory Body” we practice restorative yoga, movement, massage, expressive arts therapy, visual arts and creative writing. Nechama Shaina and Amanda Nube will be facilitating a one day retreat at a private beautiful home in the Berkeley hills.
For more questions, call Nechama at 415-261-2238