If you’re anything like me, you’re seeking a shell right about now. I love celebrating. I love lights and music and trees in my house and treats so abundant I start to consider dental insurance. But two weeks into the season of winter and I’m ready to WFC (work from a cave). Or.. not… work at all…
To honor this shift, I slow waaaay down. I gather my ideas in notebooks and let them gestate there for a few weeks. I tune into my internal rhythms and adjust my routines as need be. Lately, I’ve been getting creative surges at night. I take a few notes and then let it go, the pressure to do something with it. Sometimes I’m up walking at dawn, sometimes I sleep in. I prioritize filling my own cup, and only with my favorite ingredients. Because it is this cup that I sip from when the immediacy of the collective ego comes barreling in.
If you’ve been following along with the Human Design New Year (link at the bottom if you’d like to), we’ve collectively moved out of the pressure of defining ourselves through opposition and into the drive to commit to something that will improve our station. We tend to experience this as the pressure to set radical New Year’s resolutions and the impetus to start them without inquiring whether or not it is something we actually want to do. The lesson here is to recognize that the haste with which we transition into a new year is not only out of step with the natural world, but completely arbitrary. Of course you can’t control, say, your boss’s deadlines. But you can make the case for yourself of limiting the number of projects you take onto your tray.
We started 2023 with three planets retrograde, not the least of which is Mercury, our dear messenger. It is important to take your time now. Set the precedent that your nervous system is not at the will or hands of anyone else this year. Protect your peace and it will ferry you safely.
The Full Moon in Cancer is the tender middle of Capricorn season. Capricorn is only so serious and so dedicated because of love. And Cancer energy is that soft and loving pillow to lay your head on when you need a good cry. This Full Moon is also asking us to move slowly. Opposite Mercury Rx, we could feel a strain on our communication. We may not be able to find the words to express our feelings. Take time in your relationships to listen without distractions, and to communicate from a place of trust and transparency.
This doesn’t mean you have to put everything on pause. In fact, this Full Moon is an ideal one for manifestation, for making plans, and for being receptive to something new. Cancer and Capricorn are cardinal signs; initiatory and influential. And with this Full Moon well aspected to Uranus, we will likely see things shaken up a little over the next week or so. Think of it as the Cosmos giving us the ole "razzle-dazzle." What we focused on at the New Moon in Capricorn might have a completely different meaning to us now.
What can you build from the combination of earth and water?
FOR THE BODY
Cancer rules the stomach, mucosa, ovary, womb, vagina, breast, breastbone and pleura.
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Chamomile is the guardian herb of Cancer. Lovely in tea on its own or in combination with other herbs and teas. You can also sprinkle the flowers in your bath, press them into cookies and cakes, or keep them in bunches in a vase.
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Make sure you're staying hydrated and moisturizing with aloe, another guardian of Cancer.
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What gentle activities of care can you make time for this week? Pick something you don't normally do like braiding your hair, doing a salt scrub, or buying yourself flowers (like, chamomile!)
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Cancer is the keeper of our lineage. Look into the folk magic of your ancestors. Every culture has a history of magic and medicine worth exploring.
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Work with moonstone to calm your worries, clear your mind and wrap yourself in a blanket of protection.
*I am not a doctor nor registered dietician. Please consult your PCP to make sure that any changes are correct for you and your body.
When I started the Moonsletters, I desired to connect with you on a personal level; to share what I have been observing and learning in dedication to my human experience. I knew the Moonsletters would change form over time and my hope is to eventually create a space where you are also at liberty to share with a circle of like-minded folks. As if we were having an intimate dinner party.
Speaking of filling cups, one of the ways I fill mine is through skin contact with nature. Don't get me wrong, I love a good gear haul and it can be vitally important to have the correct tools with you on the trail. But all those memes about touching grass have their truth. On New Year's Day, I thought I was going to do a cold plunge in the river. I was flushing with excitement the entire drive out there. But when I got to the edge, naked as a jaybird, I paused. An immense sense of beauty poured over me and I couldn't disturb the glassy water. A chill breeze kicked up, finding places on my body long hidden under layers, now beaming with reflected gray light from the clouds. Instead of forcing the original plan, I just let myself exist there at the shoreline. The sand acquiesced. The knuckled poplar trees mirrored back my own knobby frame. I sat down and leaned against cold, wet driftwood until we came to a shared temperature at our places of contact. Then I put my clothes back on and ran until the blood was pumping through my feet again.
I can still recall the sensation of the wind in the soft creases where my limbs meet my body, the forgiving cushion of the beach under my feet.
It's these bodily sensations that I sip from when I catch myself rushing, fretting, or otherwise bending to the demands of the collective ego. When I reached the water, I recognized that maybe the “cold plunge” idea wasn't my own. But the profound feeling of communion I felt all over my body at the water's edge was exactly what I had been looking for.
To follow along with the Human Design New Year and embody this transitory season, join the list here.
Are you a current or former client looking for more clarification? Send me an email and we’ll get a Counsel session on the books.
As always First name / my dear friend, I hope that this resonated with you and I am so excited to share more about what's to come. I'm happy to answer any questions via email or DM (@honoredbody). If you want to share the Moonsletter with others, feel free to pass it along! And if you're reading this and you haven't signed up, join here!
