The Moon Maven

Tis the season for… all the things. Tomorrow is my absolute most important/cherished day!

Born Jewish, chosen independently spiritual/nature witch, my husband is non-religious but with Catholic roots and we celebrate everything! For us December holds celebrations of Hanukkah, Christmas, Yule/Winter Solstice, and my likely favorite, the New Moon Before the New Year (yeah I capitalized that shit because that’s how it feels to me). For many years now I’ve held a powerful manifesting ritual for myself on the NMB4NY, at some point friends asked if they could join. There have been years where many friends have joined me and plenty of times that I’ve practiced alone. This year, with Covid, the gathering is just me, unless my husband joins, he sometimes does.

I have shaped my life in terrific and powerful ways with the assist of this ritual.

I’m always grateful for the work it asks of me because I find the focus of manifestation really important. The world is in constant change but individuals have a real tendency to set unmoving goal posts and then we wonder why our happiness is misaligned with our lifestyle and goal fulfillment. I know already that there has been much change in my life and the world around me but I’ve not yet truly taken the time needed to assess it all and reclaim/redesign my life to its new and most joyous state.

Recently, someone close to me noted that they don’t care for manifestation practice because it is superficial and materialistic. That is far from the truth of my relationship with manifestation but I understand how it can appear that way to people, so I hope to clarify the emotional truth alignment in this work and how it is essential in this practice. To be clear, it is 100% okay – even exciting and encouraged – to ask for things in your life. By all means, manifest yourself a new car, even a fancy expensive car, but do the work to make sure the car you are asking for supports the life that truly makes you joyous and to strip away the manifestations that creep into the psyche through the incessant sales pitch of consumer society but don’t truly bring fulfillment.

When I practice release with the full moon and manifestation with the new moon I feel tremendous balance, and though my language is with the moon, my practice is not dissimilar from something commonly practiced in business with annual plans and short term goal posts and obstacle removals. This NMB4NY is the annual plan.

To start: Free write. Free write on your joy. Get a page and let it flow. Strip away pretense, no need to say things you have said before. Find truth given the circumstances of today. I KNOW THIS YEAR HAS CRAZY NEW CHALLENGES. I know it is likely you are manifesting/designing something so different from previous life plan because of current circumstances. Do not worry that the circumstances of today may shift the answer to the questions below, when/if circumstances change you can change these answers again and manifest anew. Embrace the direction of being present with what is and finding fulfillment in what you can do that feels good. You also do not need to live in the box created by circumstances you imagine to be true because the HOW is not important, the WHAT is important. In other words, if I’m likely staying home because of Covid do I need to just imagine within that safe bubble? NO. Because who knows what opportunity exists beyond – what I can identify through that thinking is that I have fear around being safe going out and so I need to make sure that I include being safe and healthy in my manifest journey. Example: As an actor I could say, “A substantial television role.” If I then try and shrink that down because of Covid fears I may rob myself of a safe television role booking. So in order to address that reaction I can instead say, “a television role where I love the character I present, and audiences agree, and the experience is in company of actors and directors I treasure working with, and we are all healthy and safe. Feel the difference? Be free and honest. Create what you really want. Let the universe come up with magic way to make that happen for you. *Promise I will talk about the active role you must take to fulfill manifestation at the end of this ritual explanation.

Some prompts for your free-write: What makes you smile? What makes you smile in your home? Are there items that would transform your life experience, things that could empower you? How do you like to feel in your body? What do you like to do with your body? When are you most joyous and fulfilled in work? What does the work that fills you up look like? What do your ideal relationships feel like? Picture interacting with friends/lovers/coworkers in ways that make you smile, what did that look like? What kind of relationship do you seek with the world at large and people who you aren’t emotionally or physically close with? Feel free to go on your own journey, keeping in mind that the final work in ritual will be categorized by HOME, BODY, CAREER, RELATIONSHIP in order to maintain balance, so brainstorming in all categories is useful. Go big picture, this is for the entirety of the next year.

Now, you’ve opened the dream portal and given yourself permission to play, and most importantly you have linked your life design to your feelings, your joyous and most highly vibrating feelings. Have fun!

READY TO RITUAL!

4 pieces of loose paper with a title at top of each page: HOME, BODY, CAREER, RELATIONSHIPS. Now you will write 4 things of manifesting on each page. Do not write “I want a _______” because then you are manifesting a want… which you already have. Use decisive and affirming language. Then at night you will tell this to the sky, where you see no moon. I chat easily with mama moon but you must just start somewhere and there is great power in literally calling out what you forecast for yourself. I will say, “For my home I X, I Y, I Z,”. I will thank mama moon for looking after me and my family and ask that as she grows her light in the sky so to does the life I have seen for myself grow its light and shine it brightly for all. I often also enjoy a fire on this celebration, via a candle or a fire pit or a fireplace, as you like and have.

NOTE: Sometimes, when manifesting, you may surface things you need to release before you can call in the new. That work can happen too! Example: Relationship writing on what brings you joy unveils that you have relationships not meeting that standard and you no longer wish to hold space for them. Write a separate sheet of paper for what you are releasing and burn that shit away BEFORE you have your manifest ceremony. You will simply say, “mama moon I need to get rid of some clutter before I bring in the new. I am done with XYZ. I release it all and replace it with love and light and the new design I will now share with you.”

A story of my history with this ritual: One year I opened up a very small home I had for others who hoped to participate and 30 people showed and it was beautiful, this flow of people through my home to my shared and small yard, where each sat with a candle I had gifted and a notepad on a very cold night, and everyone separately did their work and ritual in the chilly night air. I was suddenly hosting this flow of people so much that I had very little time to do my work and so what I called out was fast and clear, a new space for me that was much bigger – a home that was safe for spiritual practice and could welcome myself and my people with freedom. I had no means to move or leads on moving but this work demands you do not say HOW, just say WHAT and let the magic of the universe open the opportunity to you. Three months later I moved into the house in which I now live and the second I walked in the door I knew I could raise a family there. Two months later I was dating the man who is now my husband and now we live in the house with our child. Active role I took to fulfill this manifestation: I saw a posting from a friend of a place she had for rent and I asked to see it immediately, regardless of the fact that I was unsure of certain practical aspects of how I’d make it work. I went to the appointment. When I liked the place and was still unsure of the practical components, I called it out to the owner and to my community. I needed a roommate, I called it out and I found one.

Active role work: There is a notion that manifesting is some lazy hippie situation. I’ve never been lazy but I’m great with manifestation. The work is to free the mind and dream the true fulfilling dream and then to listen as the opportunities unveil for you. I will publish a book in the new year. Opportunity may knock in time to write, in people who will proof read, in publishers or agents aligned with my vision. I don’t sit back and wait for it to come to me with a knock on my door that says, “hey I’m ready to publish your work.” I listen daily to what pings me. An idea for a book, write it down. An article on a publishing house that gets emailed to me. This is how manifesting really works. It’s active. Speak out. Let the world know what you are designing, let opportunity hear you and present itself and take every step as it appears. “You may not see the entire path laid out before you, but you will see a step. Trust and take that step.”

My dream juices are flowing and I’m ready to free write! I hope you have fun doing the same and enjoy tomorrow’s New Moon Before the New Year! #NMB4NY