☾✩☽ Guest Luminary ☾✩☽
Alexandra Pope is co-director of Red School with Sjanie Hugo Wulitzer. Together they have developed a radical new approach to health and wellbeing, creativity, leadership and spiritual life, based on the power of the menstrual cycle.
They are the co-authors of Wise Power: discover power of menopause to awaken Authority Purpose and Belonging andWild Power: Discover the Magic of Your Menstrual Cycle and Awaken the Feminine Path to Power, bringing 45 years of researching and revealing the power of the menstrual cycle and the initiatory journey from menarche to menopause. They have created a new lexicon that describes this psychological and spiritual process, and in so doing have spearheaded the emerging new field of menstruality to support all people who menstruate.
☾✩☽ Astrological Resources ☾✩☽
Here is a selection of some of our favourite Astrologers you can tune into across 2023.
↠ Blue Rose School https://www.andrewsmith.ie/introduction/
↠ Mystic Mamma https://www.mysticmamma.com/astral-insights/
↠ Chani Nicholas https://chaninicholas.com/about-chani-nicholas/
↠ Virginia Rosenberg https://virginiarosenberg.com/about-virginia
↠ Lorna Bevan https://www.hareinthemoonastrology.co.uk/lorna-bevan
↠ Paramatma Siri Sadhana https://spaceweathertransmissions.com/paramatma
↠ Matthew Stelzner https://www.youtube.com/channel/
↠ Jennifer Racioppi https://jenniferracioppi.com/
☾✩☽ Other Recommended Resources ☾✩☽
↠ Red School website here
↠ Red School’s IG here
↠ Wise Power: Discover the Liberating Power of Menopause to Awaken Authority, Purpose and Belonging. (Hay House, 2022)
↠Wild Power: Discover the Magic of Your Menstrual Cycle and Awaken the Feminine Path to Power (Hay House, 2018)
↠ Alexandra’s self-care tips and guidance for menopausal symptoms here
↠ Menopause: The Great Awakener - a 6 week live online course, running from the beginning of November 2023
↠ Wise Power Retreat Series - a series of interviews with women on the gifts of their menopause
☾✩☽ Cosmic Intel + Teachings ☾✩☽
Full moons are a time to look at everything in full light and make changes as needed. They can represent endings, completions or something coming to a ‘peak moment,’ The lunar qualities of emotions and instincts reach their peak at a full moon. The energy of a situation is at its fullest potency and potential. We fluctuate with the moons energy and the Full Moon is time of release. La Luna affects the gravitational pull of tides, birth rates, can regulate menstrual cycle, sleep, moods, plant growth, Emergency Room, Crime Rates. Every 29.5 days the Moon reaches its full phase and so do we…..
The Moon in astrology is associated with the feminine and in particular the Mother archetype. She rules the emotional body connecting us to our instinctive wisdom and our most basic needs. She helps protect and guide us by gifting us with information about our feelings and about the wellbeing of our nature. She enables us to penetrate our deepest recesses in the personal and collective unconscious and our roots in the past, our ancestral inheritance.
We are in a time of collective and personal awakening to what has been in the shadows, oppressive and imbalanced across our implemented systems as well as our personal realities. The process of awakening can be painful, because new realities precipitate trajectory shifts. In the process of things dismantling, disassembling, and crumbling, we can feel unstable and this is why change is often so dreaded. But we are the change makers of this time, and we are here at this time for a reason. We each carry our own truth, but a universal truth is that we’re all here ultimately to learn to love and be loved.
Leo Moon Aquarius Sun
About Leo: Royal, Queen Sovereign
Leo is courageous heart, lion’s heart, alchemical heart and the Raj/ Royal Frequency. Leo is warm, inspired, expressive and performative. Leo risks everything in order to be received by its audience. Leo brings welcomed warmth and inspiration to our lives again. With the Sun as it’s ruler, Leo ignites a fire and likes to be in the spotlight and shine! Leo reminds us to live from our hearts. Discover our passion and move in the direction of our desires.
In its lower, and most misunderstood form, Leo is associated with the ego. With craving attention, needing recognition and above all, performing for an audience.
Axis of Opposition – dancing with the opposites
GREAT PERSPECTIVE OPPORTUNITY – what’s right in front of you?
As with any Full Moon, we work on both sides of the axis. On the one hand, we have our values – those things we care for, no matter what. On the other hand, the Full Moon comes to illuminate a higher truth, and puts things into perspective.
Leo and Aquarius are two sides of the same coin. Every sign is contained within us. The zodiac is a story of the unfolding of human consciousness. Every full moon is an opportunity to experience both sides of an equation. Month by month we live through the entire mythic journey.
Aquarius is ruled by Uranus, the planet with electric bolts of evolution. The Water bearer has a mind for the universal and is known for being the cosmic downloader. Aquarius emanates from the analytical frontal cortex, unlike Leo, who operates from the heart. So if Leo is the heart, Aquarius is the mind.
This moment in the journey is about the need for personal self-expression (Leo) and the need to serve the collective (Aquarius).
Leo’s heart without Aquarius’ mind is reckless, and Aquarius’ mind without Leo’s heart is dangerous. But when we pull our heart and mind together, we are unstoppable.
So Below
Imbolc + Brigid - In the belly
Imbolc marks the Quickening. This is a time of emergence and possibility. New life beckons as sap surges and the first green shoots of Earth awaken. Here in Ireland as we prepare cross the threshold from one season to the next, we are witnessing a re-awakening in the landscape.
Imbolc - stirrings of Spring and how that translates into the activation of creative lifeforce in the world. At Imbolc, having emerged from the darkness of the Winter Solstice, we welcome the returning light. During this time, we explore the emergence of this new light, invoke it into
our hearts as we tend our emerging dreams, hopes and possibilities. As we cross the threshold into Imbolc we connect with the powers of the great Creatrix and Craftswoman Brigid. The name Brigid means exalted one, while her earliest Gaelic name, Breo-Saighead, means fiery arrow. We will honour this Celtic Triple Goddess known for her fires of inspiration, hearth and the forge. In Irish Mythology, Brigid the pagan goddess is the daughter of Dagda and a member of the Tuatha dé Danann.
Then there’s the 5th century girl from County Louth. Born into slavery, St. Brigid founded the first convent in Ireland. During her years in Kildare, St. Brigid is credited with many miracles. The historical and spiritual significance of Brigid of Kildare to the people of Ireland is
undeniable. It is said that her fire kept a flame for nearly 10 centuries before finally being extinguished during the reign of Henry VIII and the Suppression of the Monasteries. In 1993, the Brigidine Sisters of Kildare re-lit the fire of Brigid and the Perpetual Flame continues to burn at Solas Bhríde to this day.
Brigid – as a bridge between worlds – pagan and Christian, Goddess and saint.
This Brigid is the goddess who became a saint, the slave who became a kind of queen, an abbess almost as renowned for her homebrew as she was for her alms. Brigid, whether fire goddess, patron saint or both, compels us to ritualize life returning to Earth through flame, light and purification during the festival of Imbolc.
“The goddess Brigid is a bridge, crossing the threshold from pagan to
Christian, winter and spring, water and fire, masculine and feminine”.
Brigid’s Fire is truly the fire of creativity. It is responsible for the kindling of the earth in early Spring, the kindling of passion, the kindling of the body in healing, the kindling of the heart in poetry and song, the kindling of the mind in science and craft
Her Portfolio:
Matron of babies; blacksmiths; boatmen; cattle; chicken farmers; children whose parents are not married; dairymaids; dairy workers; fugitives; infants; mariners; midwives; milk maids; poultry raisers; printing presses; sailors; scholars; travellers; watermen; creativity scholars and poets.
Brigid stands at the threshold of the old and the new and refuses to budge. Thresholds, or liminal spaces have always been seen as a place of power and magic.
☾✩☽ Moon Medicine Rituals ☾✩☽
Create an altar. Create a sacred space in your home - see our guide in aftercare.
Connect with the Moon. Whether or not you subscribe to astrology, the moon is always in the sky, and attuning yourself to the moon's cycle can guide self-care.
New moon: At the beginning of the lunar month, the moon is a new moon. Metaphorically, it's a time to plant the new seeds of goals, intentions, and actions.
Waxing phase: Her growth from new moon to full moon is the waxing phase. This the Warrior Phase—where we gain momentum in our actions.
Waning phase: The Sage Phase happens as she wanes from full, —where we gradually power down, restore ourselves, and integrate lessons learned.
Dark moon: The last few days before the new moon is called the dark moon. Here's when we retreat to our proverbial caves to rest and reflect, preparing for a new cycle ahead
Cleanse. Sage your Home, Bedroom, Chariot & Office. Energetically cleanse the energetic wombs of your life, where you find yourself “creating”.
Observe. Select a journal, and record your dreams, thoughts, insights, experiences and observations.
Collect items: pen, paper, tarot cards, candles, incense, herbs, symbols to represent Luna: mirror, mother, water, seashells, etc.
Have Patience. Have patience with yourself and the journey you’re embarking. Allow yourself the emotional space to process, release, learn, develop and heal.
Lavender Oil. Have lavender in your home, bed or altar. Lavender can bring stillness, and calm an overactive mind.
I Feel. Acknowledge your emotions and journal with what emerges.
Breathe Deeply. The pull of The Moon can bring up strong sensations and emotions – and sometimes this is uncomfortable. However it’s a prime opportunity to feel more and allow the emotion to unfurl. A very practical and grounded way to do so is to focus on the breath and breathe a little deeper than you would normally. Place your hands on your Womb and Heart and take a few deep breaths and feel.
Go For A Moon Walk. Walking in the lunar light in nature can be particularly magical.Watch how the trees move and interact; with The Moon, the wind, with you, and listen, really listen in to the sounds of nature. Moon Bathing can be a truly magical and intimate experience.
Take A Long Luxurious Bath. The Moon affects the tides, the Oceans, the water in our body.
To get in touch with this aspect of nature within and around us – take a long bath.Add in Epson Salts, your favourite essential oil, play some soothing music, light candles and relax.
Tending to your Temple: BodyLiving consciously starts with taking care of your body; the temple that houses you, here on this planet. So, scan yourself from head to toe. How does your body feel? Give yourself all the O2 and H2O your body needs.. Your body will thank you for that.
Ground, Ground, and Ground
The magnetic pull of The Moon is strong so Grounding is super important. If you do nothing else at The Full Moon – ground. It’s especially helpful just before bed as being rooted in the body aids a better sleep.
Beannachtaí 💚
from Kathy and all at The Trailblazery xo