“Wouldst thou see what no human eyes have seen? Look upon the moon.”
Jorge Luis Borges1
This newsletter is part one of a series on the magical-creative properties of the planets, as well as how to begin embodying them yourself.
So much of astrological study nowadays is confined to book learning but my understanding of the planets improved dramatically when I began engaging them with my five senses. With the Moon, for example, this means not just moon-gazing, but partaking in herbs and foods of the moon, wearing moon colors and jewelry, as well as taking part in rituals and activities that are sympathetic to her. By doing this, I could conjure feelings, deeply-impressed images and great meaning behind the words I used.
This newsletter offers you a portal to have your own connection to the Moon. It’s one thing to say the Moon is about feeling or instinct but it’s another to be in the midst of taking a night walk or making a big pot of soup for your friends and realize “the Moon would like this too”.
This writing is intentionally not technical and meant to be understood even by those who have not studied astrology but want to connect more deeply to their world and themselves. Remember: these planets all describe fundamental parts of us. Whether you try to or not, you embody the Moon everyday. By learning what functions and activities with which the Moon corresponds, you learn more about yourself and your life, with nothing added but attention.
By reaching this felt understanding of the Moon (and the other planets), I believe we are also able to be better magicians and artists— two categories whose differences are slowly shrinking in my eyes. Do we not need the same centeredness and momentum to create a piece of art as we do to create a spell or scry into the future? Aren’t we vessels for something beyond our small self in both? This essay also delves into where in your creative-spiritual practice a dose of the Moon could serve you well.
To read Part I click here
🌙 For more Recent Bedrooms on the Moon see—
“Practical Dreaming: On ‘Parable of the Sower,’ and the Moon”
Part 1 of my Interview with astrologer and translator Shuly Rose
Ordinary Mind
One of the first things that confused me about zen practice were the exhortations to “be nobody”. Find your inner emptiness. Practice being ordinary. So much of my life thus far had been oriented around being somebody— unique, compelling, magnetic. I am not discounting this ambition or my glimmering core. I am simply setting them aside as Sun things, and turning instead towards what the other Luminary brings.
The Sun and the Moon are called the Luminaries because of their central role in bringing light. But while the Sun’s light is consistent, self-generated, and, at times, overwhelming, you can always gaze directly at the Moon, if you manage to catch her. Anyone can observe her waxing and waning with ease. This light of the Moon is accessible because it is borrowed, mediated, rather than wholly generated by herself.
That’s something to note when thinking about Solar living, which heavily predominates Western cultures, particular in the United States, where I live. The Sun generates its power and life all on its own. While we all depend on the Sun to survive, it would go on without any of us for millions of year. This self-powering, along with its constant burning, mimics, at times, our hyper-individualist capitalist culture, which focuses on continual growth and sacrificing more and more of your life to the grind.
But I digress. Because while the Sun prefers standing out, the Moon always belongs to all of us. She is comfortable in a crowd, standing with general admission as well as in the VIP line. There is no place too lowly or refined for the Moon to fit herself. Abu Ma’shar2 points out that the Moon has rulership over "reception among the people, and takes on quality of those it is with: a king with kings, a slave with a slave, popularity, and acceptance by masses". The Moon has a share in all that is common and shared amongst people.
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