Moon Dreamboards

First published on Able at Heart on 1 October 2013

I have been busy since Friday, when Susannah Conway interviewed Jamie Ridler.

I was really struck by her Full Moon Dreamboards... I've never made a dreamboard as I don't really subscribe to the whole manifestation philosophy.

But I've always been aware of the Moon and her phases. So I made this...

... and I've done this so far...

It's the New Moon on Friday/Saturday. My plan is to make the Full Moon spreads double-paged, so this is to just set the tone of the journal...

By the way, the lunar calendars on the inside cover are from We'Moon diaries, which I just adore. I cannibalize the poems, articles and artwork from them when I'm finished :)

Like Jamie suggested, I looked for white space in the pictures I chose, so I could write on the  images. But I need to find an all-surface pen, as I struggle to write in pencil, even though I have these coloured all-surface pencils, bought before the stroke.

Also, I've added a new badge to the sidebar which links to this month's prompts from Jamie for the Harvest Moon, if you wish to join in :)

I'm really looking forward to this new practice - it just seems 'right' for me.

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First published on Able at Heart on 18 October 2013

Feel free to click on the image to enlarge :)

Here's my first ever Full Moon Dreamboard!
(I share how I made the journal on the Libra New Moon here.)
I really had fun with this - gathering images from my stash box mindful of Jamie's question for the October Harvest Moon: What do I want an abundance of?

Starting from the top left:
Long awaited Autumn (a favourite season!), a cute typewriter (I want to write more), Inspiration (always want more of that!), handmade books *sigh*, and Sisterhood (image of some suffragettes for International Women's Day). Then, the words 'Growing confidence...' and 'Beauty and tranquillity combined', with a gorgeous image of a turn-of-the-century artist at her easel (I want to paint more), and an amazing quote:

Clear your mind, quiet your thoughts. You are a vessel.

What you need will come to you.

Christy Santaro (2006)

clipped from an old We'Moon diary. My 'word' for 2013 has been Be a Vessel :)

Then on the right: Jamie's prompt/focus, a card of a fabulous stained glass window where I've written October 2013 and Harvest Moon. Then the words: 'Exciting, watching, relaxing, haunted' clipped from a World of Interiors advert, the words 'Making Your Mark' and another gorgeous image of a Victorian writer/student/scholar.

Ending with another We'Moon page with these words:

Each Woman carries within her the medicine for her healing. Sometimes it is hard to see and feel the one who holds the medicine bag. She is there. We must never stop listening for her arrivals. Shhh... Silently she comes bringing what is now needed. Believe...

Shiloh Sophia McCloud (2007)

On which I've stuck a found, fallen leaf...

I've found making this dreamboard very healing... I knew I would, as soon as I saw Jamie's interview with Susannah Conway (I just took Susannah's Journal Your Life course), and she mentioned her Full Moon practice.

Now, each month, I will look for images for my own healing, for I know the Moon brings medicine and healing in all her phases...

Thank you, Jamie! I'm so happy I found you :)

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First published on Able at Heart on 17 November 2013

Feel free to click on the photo to enlarge :)

Under the Full Frost Moon, allow that fresh chill in the air to wake you up to your dreams. Let creating your dreamboard be a clarifying act, bringing into focus the dreams that are in your heart. As you create your board, hold gently a request for clarity. Notice what is revealed.

So writes Jamie on today's Full Moon post...

I made this, my second Dreamboard, yesterday evening, and like my first one last month, I held the questions Jamie posed on the New Moon, 'What is clear about your dreams? What further clarity do you seek?' in my heart as I chose the images.

I find it so interesting that while I affix images with no clear plan in mind, you can see the two distinct pages - the left page all blues and cold winter images, the right page much warmer earthier colours. This wasn't a conscious decision!

Again, I used several pages from old We'Moon diaries - clearly the artists and poets featured there speak to me! And images from mail order catalogues, including a clipped quote by Claudia Black, 'Trust in yourself. Your perceptions are often far more accurate than you are willing to believe.'

These images - again using two We'Moon pages - and the image I made of the hand holding the spring leaf, under the star/sun, seem to indicate a flowering...

As the poem 'At This Time' by Margot Henderson 2004, says:

At this time we stand

upon the earth as winter trees.

We are called on to release.

To strip our branches

and to shed our leaves...

Till we are left reaching

our bare branches to the sky

surrendering,

only then

can the emerging buds be seen

only then can we bring light

to our unfolding dream.

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December 2013

(Click on the photo to enlarge and see more detail)

Sadly Jamie Ridler isn't doing her Full Moon Dreamboards any more, so there was no prompt on the New Moon :-(

But I so enjoy doing this practice, I've decided to go it alone...

I discovered December's full moon in the Northern Hemisphere is called the Full Cold Moon. As we approach the longest night of the year, the Winter Solstice, on the 21st, the focus is on warmth, shelter and family, and I've chosen words and images that reflect that.

Starting top left corner, I found a full moon image from an old We'Moon calender (Drombeg Circle by Kathy Glover 2005), and stuck on top a small poem by Mary Anne Radmacher from her book Lean Forward Into Your Life. I found the book in a charity shop, and once read, I've torn it up to use in journals, etc. (I cannot believe how daring I'm becoming in my old age...!!)

It reads:

as the moon wraps the end

of our day

we sit with the consequences

of our intentions

and pour a warm cup of gratitude 

for our family, our friends,

with such grace 

we prepare for another day.

Below that is another We'Moon image - a painting called Mother and Child by Barb Levine 1999.

To the right of it as an image from Toast's Winter catalogue on which I've stuck the words 'The gift of hope' clipped from a fairtrade catalogue.

On the right-hand page, is a large frosted berries image from World of Interiors, on which I've stuck the words 'Made It' and added, 'through another 12 months' (yay!)

To the left of the berry photo are more words by Mary Anne Radmacher:

i lean forward

full of the

possibility, the

hope of color,

growth, warmed soil

and being loose of

the chill of this

garden's long winter.

And underneath is another page of hers: 'celebrate the holidays that make sense', which I interpret to mean ignore the world's definition of what we should be celebrating, and make your own sense of the holiday season. Hence, my focus on the Winter Solstice, the primal need for warmth, shelter and family, and the chance to gather with loved ones and celebrate their being in my life.

And finally, there's a small picture of a farmhouse on the hillside, lights blazing as the daylight fades and the fog rolls in...
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January 2014
Well, a new year and a new way of doing my dreamboards...

A lot has happened since December's Full Cold Moon...

I had a natal report done, where I discovered many things - not least that I was born under a full moon! Maybe a reason why I deeply connect with this practice! 
I'm not sure what I really think about astrology, but the descriptions of what heavenly bodies were in what houses at the time of my birth almost 50 years ago does make very interesting reading, and Sherry described many of my personal traits rather accurately!

Also, I bought an e-book from Amy Palko called Bloom by Moon, where she gathers four traditions of moon lore - Astrological, Celtic Tree, North American and Global Perspectives - and poses journal question for each. 
I have actually printed out the whole book, and gathered the pages into the respective lunar cycles, and put them in a ring-binder.  I've been working through some questions for this first lunar cycle of 2014 since the New Moon on New Year's Day.

I'm naturally drawn to Celtic Tree lore, which calls January's Full Moon a Birch Moon, where the focus is on new beginnings. Birch branches were used for brooms, so the journal questions Amy posed were: What am I making space for? What am I ushering in? What is dying to be born?

On the left-hand page are two photos from Country Living - one of a frosty field, the other of a bunch of sage (which for the American Indians is a cleansing, purifying herb). Below those are two images from old We'Moon diaries - one of the Goddess of the Wheel of the Year showing the 8 pagan festivals (copyright Sheila Brown 1991); the other, a stunning painting by Toni DeMello called Ascend (2005), which the editors used one year to represent the 'Stillpoint' of this lunar cycle.

Finally, there is an image from last year's A Woman's Diary by Susan Seddon Boulet of her painting Calling the Eagle (1986) with the quote:

Your own words are the bricks and mortar of the dreams you want to realize. Your words are the greatest power you have. The words you choose and their use establish the life you experience.

Sonia Croquette

And underneath are the words 'The closer we look, the more we discover' from a Aptamil  baby's milk advert(!)

The right-hand page shows Lady Birch - a favourite tree from the the end of the road where we used to live, the word FOCUS, a picture of woman meditating from a Harper's Bazaar holiday ad on which I've written the journal questions, the words 'Express the essence of you' and 'What better time than now?' both from different magazine adverts. Finally, a photo of a very Bloomsbury-style sitting room (I cannot remember from where I clipped it), and a photo of several stacks of books!

If I were to interpret these images, based on the journal questions, I'd say I'm clearing space to think and focus and meditate, because I'm trying to find the words to express my inner essence, which eventually I hope to publish in book form... 

I know this year is significant in so many different ways - I turn 50, we celebrate our Silver Wedding Anniversary, our son leaves school after completing his A levels, and our daughter takes her GCSEs. A dear friend is getting married in April, and another dear friend is visiting from the US in May...

And I want to be in the best possible spiritual place to experience all this to the full, for these days will never come again!
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February 2014
Well, this month's Full Moon Dreamboard (FMD)has been very interesting... 
Jamie Ridler has a new venture producing a year's worth of FMD workshops, so I decided to try this first month's - sadly I won't be able to afford a year's worth, but I wanted to try at least one.

There's a video introduction, and an audio workshop, and a guided meditation and journal questions to print out and fill in. I'm done them all except the 'Go deeper' questions which I'll do tomorrow, when I've had time to ponder my board...

Jamie prefers the Native American names for the moon, and February's is the Snow Moon. I'm keeping with the Celtic names, and this month's moon is a Rowan Moon, so I have written both on my Dreamboard. And the main question Jamie asks is, What are my deepest dreams?

I completed Jamie's first 10 journal questions straight after the meditation, writing the first things that came into my head... Then I chose images from my stash, and the themes are quite clear...

I've been reading and enjoying Elen of the Ways by Elen Sentier this month, so it is no surprise there's a definite Celtic shaman theme, and a desire to connect with my ancestors, the wise women of my near and ancient past...

The shaman walks close to the edge of consciousness, and beyond the boundaries of reason, knowing 'The power of otherness'. S/he walks the path between heaven and earth. The image on the bottom right of this page is of Ancient Hands (Annie Ocean 2006) from an old We'Moon diary with the words

Now gold runs

in the veins

of the bone flower 

of her hands.

(excerpt Cora Greenhill 2007)

On which I've stuck a poem from another We'Moon diary

Awakening

Down, down

deep into the well

that is my own

true source,

deeper and deeper,

emerging

on the other side -

a woman, alive

with her hands

full of gold.

(e.g. wise 2012)

And to the left of the hands image is a small image of Moon Crone, Planning Her Next Endeavour by Kay Beyer 2008, and some love stamps salvaged from a letter. The tag on the far left, to which vintage lace is attached, is from a journal I own made by Nellie Wortman. I found the words Heaven' and 'Earth' in my stash and stuck them on the tag, on which Nellie had already stitched a felt heart with the word 'path'.

The right-hand page has more We'Moon images - top right is Sacred Hearts (Meinrad Craighead 1990) showing a shaman with the title BETWIXT, and bottom left is Between Two Worlds (Rachill 1999). Across the two images, I have stuck on a cut-up affirmation card, which reads 'I open myself to love', And the words 'hidden depths' and 'past & present' are from magazine adverts. 

The final piece is a journal card on which I have written these words from Susan Seddon Boulet's book Shaman: The Paintings of SSB, 1989:

If you want good dreams,

pray to the Grandmother Moon.

If you want to walk the good red 

road, then rise before dawn

and pray the sun up.

As an early riser, I connect deeply with these words - I always pray to the moon, and the sun, Mama Spirit, God giving thanks for the new day's dawning, and for seeing another day...

I so love this Full Moon practice (this is my 5th month so far), and these 'messages' which emerge are truly precious and magical to me!

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March 2014 missed through illness :(
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April 2014

I missed March's Dreamboard with a stinking cold, so I was most keen to make this month's! 

Also, it's the Willow Full Moon - under which I was born almost 50 years ago (in 1964, the Full Moon was towards the end of the month - I was born on Tuesday 28 April), so it feels extra significant!

Add to that, Pesach (Passover) starts today and it's Easter on Sunday!!

Following Amy Palko's Bloom by Moon e-book prompts, a Willow Moon invites safety and shelter and space... space to be... to be vulnerable... And I think the Dreamboard shows that with less colour, less busyness than other boards I've made.

On the left-hand page are several pages from old We'Moon diaries (my go-to resource in making these dreamboards!)

Top left is an untitled image by Deborah Koff-Chapin (1995) - I'm sure I subconsciously chose it for the large egg that's being held...
To the right is Creatrix by Rowan Wildash (2008) with the words Artistry/Alchemy, and below there is a wee print by Cathy Cullis, whose work I adore - I own several pieces!
Then there's a written piece 'How Art Can Heal Broken Places' by Lily Yeh from Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the Heart, Park Street Press, 2010.

This right-hand page is my favourite. A dreamy postcard by Micki Wilde - another fav. artist of whose work I own several pieces, a photo from Country Living magazine of a potter sketching out designs, with the words 'feels like nothing else' clipped from some advert! The main piece for me is a card I bought for just this dreamboard(!) from Holistic Creations (though her stock is very different at the moment). Inside the card was written:

You have huge common sense and are very bright,

Very intuitive, into other realms you have good insight.

You may keep your beliefs to yourself, being a spiritual seeker,

Which gives you an air of mystery, an imaginative dreamer.

You are articulate, artistic and very creative,

You're family orientated, of partners and children you are very protective.

This feels a very special, and important, dreamboard to me, and I sense I need to sit with it for a while and ponder its significance...

I'd appreciate any thoughts/comments/insights - I learn so much from your wise words :-) xx

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May 2014 missed through having too much fun with B on her first visit to the UK for over a decade :-D

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June 2014

Under this almost (98%) Full Strawberry Moon I made my June Dreamboard last night. I took the photo at 10pm - can't you tell we're approaching the longest day of the year??

So here's the Dreamboard spread...

Once again, I took my journal cues from Amy Palko's Bloom by Moon - choosing to focus on the Celtic calendar, according to which this is an Oak Moon...

I always learn so much reading Amy's ebook, for example - the Gaelic for Oak is duir which means 'door' - and this is a powerful Moon as we stand on the threshold of the height of the year, waiting to step into the second half and counting down to Midsummer, the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year.

So here, on the left-hand page, we have a Full Moon under which I've written:

Gaelic for oak is duir - door. Stepping into 2nd half of 2014...Powerful place to stand

under which is a beautifully carved oak door bearing the name of the month and a paper butterfly. Under this are two wee images I found in my stash of a keyhole and a set of keys...

Top right of the page is a B&W photo from Countrylife magazine of a castle ruin, on which I've stuck words from a vintage ad 'Gateways to the "Land of Enchantment"', a cut-out orange oak leaf, and a piece of cotton ribbon saying 'follow your dream'. 

Bottom right is a page from my quote-a-day 2014 calendar with these wise words:

It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to.

Jean-Luc Godard

On the right-hand page there are two postcards of Greg Spalenka's artwork, which I bought several years ago - I love this man's work!!
On the left-hand one, I've stuck a wee Rumi quote: May you stay in your infinity.

And on the right-hand one, a piece of a magazine advert - Window on the new - if you enlarge the photo you can an art fairy/sprite (with palette wings!) painting a landscape through an arched window she's drawn on the blank wall...

Underneath are several small images - a flower and girl dancing under which is this quote:

Just to be is a blessing.

Just to live is holy.

Abraham Heschel

And a butterfly, the words 'Beautiful by nature' from a magazine advert, another page from my calendar declaring 'Believe in your Dreams', on which I've stuck more cotton ribbon with the words carpe diem stamped on it...

Phew!!

Actually, I found making this Dreamboard very energizing and very exciting...

I'm really looking forward to the second half of 2014. I do sense I'm on the threshold of something... I feel I hold the keys to open the heavy, oak door onto something new and exciting... if I'm brave enough to use them...

I'd love to hear what you think of this Full Oak Moon, the Summer Solstice, what you think the rest of 2014 may hold for you... 

xxx

PS I found this quote and just to share it - Molly-cat was definitely acting a tad crazy last night...

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July 2014

This was the first of three 'perigee' supermoons, as the Earth and the Moon are closer together - it certainly was very bright at its fullest on Saturday!

Due to my erratic internet connection, I haven't been able to post this month's dreamboard before now, so here it is

This is a Holly Moon, as the Celtic Holly King defeated the Oak King at the Summer Solstice and now reigns over the waning year...

Amy Palko's journal prompts suggested looking at the phrase 'coming back to the Source', and what it may mean. This was in my heart and mind as I made my dreamboard, and I notice there is quite a balance between words and images...

Left-hand page
Top right is a Man Ray image of Lee Miller on a blossom background with a quote by Ingrid Goff Maidoff

The world sparks and hums with radiance. Even when we fail to notice all still shimmers and shines.

Underneath are with words 'Emotions in Dreams' and a lovely image of a dreamcatcher girl under a full moon (I don't know who it's by), and an engraved image of a rustic study room.

Under that is a page from my quote-a-day calendar

Live your questions now, and perhaps even without knowing it, you will live along some distant day into your answers.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Then towards the spine of my dreamboard journal is a black & white image of a wooded lake, a small painting of a woman, and Greg Spalenka postcard on which I've stuck a Yogi tea tag with the words 'The beat of your heart is the rhythm of your soul', and the words 'Touch the deep knowing within you'. I also drew a spiral over the solar plexus of the image - that's wear I 'feel' my knowledge :-)

Right-hand page

Top right is a lovely Polaroid of a barn and a field of flowers (from an old desk calendar, I think) on which I've stuck this quote

You must return with the bliss and integrate it... The return is seeing the radiance everywhere.

Joseph Campbell

Looking at it now, I'm struck by how it reflects the quote on the left-hand page in the same spot!

Under this, there's a striking image of a weeping moon and a girl catching the tears in a bowl (again, I don't know where it's from). 

Next to it I've written out this quote on a journal card

Learn to get in touch with silence within yourself. And know that everything in this life has a purpose.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

And underneath is a lovely printed journal card with the words 'Finding the Artist Within Me'.

To the edge of the page is another striking image of two figures opening a box of stars... It looks like the work of the same artist of the weeping moon image.

Under that is a wee sketch by a favourite artist, Cathy Cullis, and another page from my quote-a-day calendar which reads

Deep in their roots all flowers keep the light.

Theodore Roethke

I'm seeing some definite themes as I look at it now - deep dark and radiant light, silence and knowing, questions and answers...

It's all there - at the Source...

I'd love to know what you think as you see my Dreamboard, and was the Holly Moon extra-bright in your sky last Saturday?
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August 2014

Before I share this month's Dreamboard, I want to show this which I bought last month from Jane Samuelson. The 'poem' sits in the beautiful pouch and perfectly expresses why I love the moon so much... she never shouts like the sun, she always whispers...

                                                                              Click on image to enlarge

... and yes, I wore the necklace as I made the Dreamboard :-)

This month is a Hazel Full Moon - a very significant tree for the Celts connected with wisdom.
Amy Palko asked this question:

What veils are keeping you from seeing your Truth?

I'm afraid I can't remember where any of this images originally came from, but each time I make my Full Moon Dreamboard, I realize I've been collecting such beautifully evocative images for years now, without knowing why... And each month this is the perfect way to gather them together.

The two quotes are

Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.

Joseph Campbell

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.

Henry David Thoreau

I wasn't at all melancholy when I made this page, but melancholia is my natural default position... By this I don't mean sadness per se, but a sensitivity to the feelings of others, empathy, a certain delicacy of spirit.

This time, I made a wee tag which I've tied to the spiral spine. On the back is written another of Amy's journal prompts 

Hazel rods were traditionally used as divining rods for finding water. And under the image of the woman/goddess on the front of the tag, I put these stickers

Kindness is a very under-rated quality. It's that gentleness of spirit I think of whenever I remember the Dalai Lama quote: 'Kindness is my religion' and this from Mother Teresa

In the top right of the page is a postcard from Liz Lamoreux showing a soul mantra locket which says 'Open up and Live', under that is a picture of an open door with a raven/crow, and this quote from Emily Dickinson:

Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.

Then at the bottom of the page are two black and white images - a medieval-looking woman and a feather - on which I've written:

Thus am I a feather on the breath of God.

Hildegard von Bingen

Hildegard is one of my favourite mystics - such an incredibly talented, inspirational woman!!

So that's my August Dreamboard! Once again I'd really appreciate any thoughts, insights... Each month I gain so much from your wise comments, so thank you :-)
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September 2014

I wasn't able to see the moon last night - too many clouds... But I'm hoping they'll part enough tonight to let me see her at her fullest and ripest :-)

September's Moon is all about harvest, fullness, and the sweet ripeness of the Vine...

Starting on the right-hand page, which I made first for some reason

The background photo is of a Japanese maple from an old Country Living magazine - they have the best nature photographers...

The Empress is a card I pulled from an old tarot deck - she's all about the fullness of creation, the feminine archetype, the Big Mama of us all...

Then, there's a brilliant piece from an advert - no idea what it was for (a car, maybe?), but I just love those words:

One part imagination

One part inspiration

One part stimulation

One part intrigue

One part exhilaration

They perfectly describe 'The pleasure of creation' which is clipped from another magazine advert - at the top of the page. Underneath which is a piece called Flexibility with a quote by Caitlin Matthews

May we never be so straight that we cannot bend;

May we never be so unapproachable that children

Cannot climb up into our lower branches.

It's a piece I think a friend sent me - all about taking our inspiration from trees: 'Visualize what kind of tree you are. Check on how vital your root system is; assess the flexibility of your trunk, the reach of your branches...' Which is just perfect given the ROOT journal project in did for 30 days in August :-)

And finally there's a craft skeleton leaf I found in my stash.

On the left-hand page, which just didn't seem to go right... there's a piece from an old diary on the Harvest Moon (another name for this month's Full Moon), and another on Mabon (the Autumn Equinox which is 2 weeks today on September 22), which invites us to

Take note of the changing seasons and the leaves as they begin their colourful display. This is the season of Dionysus, lord of the vine. The grape harvest is in, and wines are being produced... 

With this idea of harvest in my mind, I attached a wee purse, which I picked up years ago in a charity shop, and in it I've put some Tim Holtz Adage Tickets - words I want more of:

Hope

Dream

Bliss

Story

Live

Trust

The page is finished with more Country Living photos - a crate of ripe tomatoes, and an artist's sketchbook in which is painted a tree, a dove and a leaf...

As I finish writing this post, I realize there's actually a lot in this Dreamboard... It didn't seem to flow as readily as I was making it last night (maybe because I couldn't see the moon behind the thick clouds?) But this morning, I can see more clearly the themes and the desires being expressed.

I'd love to know what you think - and if you make a Dreamboard, do share :-)

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October 2014

Ah, the Full Ivy Moon... it's all about releasing and letting go... something very close to my heart as our son left for university a couple of weeks ago!!

Left-hand page
Top left - I recently found some Halloween-themed backing papers in my stash, and this one of the full moon behind branches was just perfect!
To the right of that is a postcard of a Natasha Newton painting of a tree shedding its leaves, on which I've stuck 'Let Go'. I love her earthy palette and naive style, but can only afford postcards and stickers of her work...
Under the moon image is a postcard of a painting by Jess Purser. I don't know why this image leaped out at me, maybe I secretly want a crystal ball to see not only my future, but that of my kids, as they forge out on their life path...
I'm sure that was in my mind when I chose this 'Carve your own Path' image from my quote-a-day calender... And the typewriter wooden cut-out and the words 'Important' and 'Take Note' say it all... I am journalling each day through this 'letting go' process in preparation for this amazing e-course which starts on the New Moon on 23 October, the timing of which couldn't be better!

Right-hand page
Top left is a black and white photo from an old Toast catalogue, on which I'm written the Anais Nin quote: 

Life shrinks and expands in proportion to one's courage.

It was printed on the back of the Greg Spalenka Warrior postcard (top right). I love the androgynous figure, as I see it presenting both me and our son...
Below these two images are works by Gillian Lee Smith, whose work I just adore. The little doll figure was on an old business card of hers, and the painting is from her current exhibition 'We all Cast Shadows' at the Heart Gallery. I have stuck on the quote 'Love will find a way' - no prizes for guessing why!!
Finally, on the bottom left is a postcard of a tree collage by Anna Mackellar, on which I've stuck a wee image of the Leaf Goddess by Nadine C. Butterfield 2003 from an old We'Moon diary. And finally is a lovely pine-cone illustration from my stash (no idea where it came from).

So there it is, my 'Letting Go' Ivy Full Moon Dreamboard. I have found it especially therapeutic this month, and I now feel ready to prepare for the New Moon and my own A Year and a Day adventures...

I know I'll revisit it whenever I miss Sam, but I'm so thrilled he's begun his new life as a student, that any sense of loss is balanced by a real sense of excitement for him. The Ivy Full Moon is all about holding on and letting go - and knowing when is the right time for each...

I'd love to know what you think when you see my Dreamboard - do share in the comments :-)

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New Reed Moon (October '14)

I have thought about making a Dreamboard for the New Moon for several months now, and today I did just that :-)

It's a new scrapbook and this time it's A3, so a double spread is pretty darn BIG!!!

The extra impetus to start this new practice is the beginning of A Year and a Day - a wonderful course hosted by Angel Sullivan. Who knows what the next 366 days will hold, but I'm ready and I'm drawing on the New Reed Moon energies of harmony, clarity, and a deep sense of purpose and intention for the coming month.

Here's the full spread. I used lot of images from my tear-off quote-a-day calendar - there's a definite 'ready for action' vibe, I think :-)

Left-hand page
Top left: Work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed Vaclav Havel (Czech playwright)
Top right: You see things and you say Why? But I dream things that never were, and say Why not? George Bernard Shaw
I think you can read the other quotes (especially if you click on the image to enlarge).
I've added a wee feather and two fallen leaves - gifts on my doorstep this morning!

Right-hand page
Again, if you enlarge the image, you can read most things, but the wee heart sticker in the centre reads' 'Unlock your heart, unleash your potential'.
Below it I've written out a quote I found,

What life can compare to this? Sitting quietly by the window, I watch the leaves fall and the flowers bloom, as the seasons come and go.

Hsueh-Tou (982--1052)

And bottom left is a page from an old We'Moon diary, which really spoke to me...

Leap of Faith

Standing before a fork

in the road

there is not a right answer

or truth cast in stone, there are

choices, plans and desire,

there is the heart of fire and

twist of fate,

there is the unveiling

of who you are and who you

are becoming.

This I have found after

bargaining with my hopes

and my destiny. There is only

a still quiet voice within

that tells me trust what you

know and then surrender,

leap of you must, let your wings

unfurl, let your angels play catch.

We drink dreams from a

sliver of moon.

Wendy L. Brown, 2007

It was especially the last phrase which summed up why I wanted to make this New Moon Dreamboard... I have always connected with the Full Moon, but I am only just beginning to recognize all Mama Luna's phases, and tap into the hidden potential of the New Moon...

As always, I'd be thrilled to read any responses/insights you have when you see my Dreamboard, so do share x

PS Wow, I've just realized this is my 250th post!!

Another reason to celebrate the wonder of the New Moon ;-)

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Full Reed Moon (November '14)

Making this Dreamboard felt a tad different, as I made a New Moon Dreamboard for the first time a couple of weeks ago, so the themes of the Reed Moon were very present - harmony, clarity and purpose - when I sat down to start it...

But as I look at the completed Dreamboard, I realize Samhain was probably more on my subconscious than I realized...

Left-hand page
There are several pages from old We'Moon diaries with a clear focus on words, rather than images...
Top left:

Blanket of Miracles

I stand on a blanket of miracles.

I am strange stuff and dark magic:

broken bones and black feathers,

chants, fire, wood and

so many tears.

Tears like drops of moonlight

along an evergreen path.

I am soft kisses and slick touch,

heavy and round,

like my grandmother.

I arch,

reciting fever prayers

to old forest gods,

breathing the rhythm,

and giving birth to the world.

This is no spell.

I am deep memories and 

lies long forgiven.

With tongue and teeth,

skin and spirit,

I drum.

I stand on my blanket of miracles

and dance, singing

I am 

the blood of my mothers,

dangerous knowledge,

fire and water and

salted bread.

I come to this place

to remember my beginning.

I come to this place

to honour my end.

Then I curl up

on my blanket of miracles,

exhausted,

to dream my daughters

into being.

Katharine Saunders 2012

Wow, what a poem!!!

Top right:

I, Wonder, say to you truly

all that we are

is just one motion of breath and divinity

rushing together - to fill the great lungs of life.

Let me stir in your body, this mystical cauldron,

where matter and spirit meet for a  moment -

the one long moment - of your life.

excerpt, Renee Hummel 2006

And a lovely image of the practice of Arati by Margaret Forbes 1996

There are two gorgeous images by Beth Wildwood - the wee owl tag I've attached the spine, and a gorgeous owl goddess, with the words 'sense of serenity' which a clipped from a magazine advert.

Bottom right:

A Dead Language

My tongue forks

a dead language,

one of owl.

My fragments 

have hidden

feathers

in broom closets

in the face

of Academy,

The War,

still.

Old ball and cannon

what's allowed

into this canon,

the precious words

of women

before,

yanked from the stacks.

The dead language shall rise - womanspeak the canary of seasons,

a land folding in on itself, creatrix - repairing the split.

excerpt, Shae Savoy 2012

Image The Bird Girls Denise Kester 2012

Right-hand page
Top left is a piece about Setting a Cup for Shadow 'For times of heart and mind meetings, conflict transformations, mediations, visioning and accountability processes and so forth' by rain crowe 2012, but it's too long to write out here. 

Top right: I've included the whole page from this month's We'moon diary as it's just too perfect. The stunning image is called 'Forest Madonna' by Barb Levine 2008.

Bottom right: Mother-Child Song by Amy L. Alley 2009, which I thought was ideal as they are blowing through reeds!

Other images: 'Keeping Vigil' by Anny Eastwood 2005, Nicola Taylor's business card, and a wee penny farthing sticker :-)

*****

Phew! I think this is THE longest post I've ever written! Thank you if you persevered to the end - you are a star *grin*

As always, I'd love to know what you see/feel when you see the Dreamboard, and do let me know if you've made one too!

PS The weekend and this week have been very busy and stressful, so I didn't draw a new Word for the Week - I still need to sit with Peace...

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December missed through illness...

~0~

New Rowan Moon (January 2015)

There are definite themes in this Rowan Moon - the first New Moon of 2015.

According to Amy Palko's Bloom by Moon 

Take these visions and ground them in practical action. Let them take root and gain strength from the energy that flows from deep within the Earth's core. Let them offer you their gifts of vision and protection.

And I've written this out on the right-hand page on a image on which I'm stuck a wee wooden house and a sticker with a heart kite withe word Fly

Another theme is 'the space between', which is written on the trees postcard - the space between the vision and the 'practical action', but also the space between mentioned in the poem 'Blessing' by Patrice Haan (2010) from an old We'moon diary at the bottom of the page

Grace meets you between two heartbeats,

In a blink, pulse, shift of breeze rippling cat's fur, all is changed,

All.

And the world, which leaned into its negative pole, glances,

fascinated by the positive, all

before breakfast, before the day's first tasks.

The great longing lifts

like a voice, like wings, and soars

effortlessly, splendidly, a thing of such joy

the bird stops singing and the animals 

come out to listen. All the people put down their masks and

tools and stand awash in the moment. What

will we tell the children? How remember the instant

we glimpsed grace and knew true peace like

stars at night, water in the desert, the first great

breath on surfacing.

I've also remembered St Brigid, whose feast day is in a couple of weeks, with the image She Tends the Flame by Megaera (2006) with words by Donna Henes (2003)

One by one, in tiny increments, candle by candle,

gesture by effort, wish by prayer, concern by care,

we feed the life-fires of the soul and light

the infinite universe, little by little from within.

The left-hand page is less busy and is pretty self-explanatory - with images from the Toast catalogue and various magazines...

As I sit with this completed dreamboard, I think of my visions, my seeds, my intentions for the New Year, for this New Moon...

Foremost is beginning the e-course Lunar Flow - the first part of Marissa's CMP course (there's a button on the sidebar)...

... I really can't wait to start and will be sharing as the weeks unfold. I've boldly written my intention for the CMP course in the course handbook:

To connect with my inner wisdom.

To learn to trust my gut using the moon, chakras, stones and tarot.

To build on what I've picked up on these things over the years and dive deep into my own real Knowing.

My Word for 2015 is DELVE and I intend to delve deeper and deeper through this course.

May it be so :) x
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Full Rowan Moon (February 2015)

What a morning! Flipping Google is making my online life a misery **ggrrrr**

But now I've finally been able to log into both Blogger and Picasa, and I can post my Rowan Full Moon Dreamboard, even if I can't get the image of the whole spread to upload... *sigh*

Left-hand page
Starting top-left is this year's We'moon Diary page for Imbolc which begins...

The NEW ONES are stirring. Feel the vibration of Nature in February. Every-thing in potential, teeming underground...

And underneath is an image from a card called 'Replenishing Her Spirit' by Laurel Porter-Gaylord, and I'm certainly feeling this deep in my belly as I make this Dreamboard...

Then, top-right is an image of a woman communing with a tree and the words 'A Walk on the Wild Side' from a magazine advert. Underneath is an image of a raven in the snow from a card and finally a gorgeous image of a winter goddess, her face illuminated by runes...

Right-hand page

At the top are pages from old We'Moon diaries showing a woman drumming a painting by Melissa Harris (2010) called 'With Soul', a wee image called 'Ancient Moonlight' by amara hollow bones (2009) and this powerful poem by Robin Rose Bennett (2011)

The Times We're Living In

It is not so easy to see what is birthing

Beneath the surface of the world, 

Getting ready to emerge

Like a newborn crowning.

As old ways of domination and violation

Fight to hold sway,

A great birthing has begun,

The birth of a new way

Of being in the world

A way of re-connection and shared power,

A way of cooperation and love.

We are flowering out of the mud

Of our darkest time of separation

Evolving from the time of me

To the time of we.

This time is difficult, yes,

But it is also juicy and joyous.

It is not easy to soar through mud

But mud is rich and fertile

And out of mud

The lotus blooms.

At the bottom of the page is another We'Moon image by Autumn Skye Morrison called 'A Keeper's Promise' (2007) and two quotes from last year's calendar, which just sum up this whole Dreamboard

There is nothing stronger in the world than gentleness.

Han Suyin

and

In the end, it's all about Love.

Before the end of this moon's cycle, we will encounter St Valentine's Day - not a day I've ever chosen to celebrate, for me Love is just so much MORE then romance, and flowers, and chocolates...

It is THE truly BIG concept, which covers every human interaction with the world in which we live - starting with the Love we have for ourselves... *eek* Probably one of the hardest loves to practise...

I don't see it as a coincidence that this is the 13th Full Moon Dreamboard I've made... It is the number of the goddess, of feminine spirit, and I can just feel the energy seeping out of it... Can you??
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New Ash Moon (February 2015)

.. on Ash Wednesday, no less :)

Another powerful board, which came together very easily...

Somehow, I knew this morning as this landed in my mailbox from the lovely folk at Panhala.net, this would be a GOOD Dreamboard. And yes, I read it aloud as an invocation as I prepared myself to make this New Moon Dreamboard

Invocation

Let us try what it is to be true to gravity,
to grace, to the given, faithful to our own voices,

to lines making the map of our furrowed tongue.
Turned toward the root of a single word, refusing

solemnity and slogans, let us honor what hides
and does not come easy to speech.  The pebbles

we hold in our mouths help us to practice song,
and we sing to the sea.  May the things of this world

be preserved to us, their beautiful secret
vocabularies.  We are dreaming it over and new,

the language of our tribe, music we hear
we can only acknowledge.  May the naming powers

be granted.  Our words are feathers that fly
on our breath.  Let them go in a holy direction.

~ Jeanne Lohmann ~ 

(Between Silence and Answer)

As always, I use Amy Palko's Bloom by Moon to learn about the Ash Moon...

The Ash has very deep roots to draw up the Earth's goodness. For the Celts it was the Tree of Life, for its roots went down so far into the Lower World, its branches reached so high into the Upper World, and its tall, straight trunk stood tall in the Middle World.

Left-hand page

Water and emotions are strong in this New Moon of Aquarius, but Amy also ties in the 'soft animal of your body' (from Mary Oliver's Wild Geese poem) as the outer expression of those emotions...

As the Ash tree connects the Worlds ('As above, so below'), can we in our animal bodies connect our deep, inner worlds and share them truthfully and honestly. Can we, as Mary Oliver says 

let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

I plan to ponder these things each day until my next Dreamboard on the Full Moon.

I'd love to know if you have any thoughts/insights...

And I just had to share this, taken this morning

Molly-cat knows her soft animal body loves to sleep in the warm sunlight (even though it's freezing outside!!)
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Full Ash Moon (March 2015)

As my Full Moon Dreamboard journal is A4 (as compared to the A3 New Moon one), each spread seems to fill up very quickly - a handful of images on each side, and we're done!

There are echoes of the words and images from the New Moon, and once again I repeated the 'Invocation' poem... I plan to type that out and mount it on card, so I can say it before I create each Dreamboard...

Left-hand page is pretty self-explanatory. 
The egg tag has the info on this Full Moon written on the back (date, main themes/thoughts). The stunning female torso wood carving is called 'Harmony' by Marsea H. Ilio (1989) image from old We'Moon diary. The 'Find Beauty in Rain' is from last year's 'quote-a-day' calendar and the Klimt tree of life is from a greetings card. The blue woman is called 'Prayer to Tara' by Molly Sullivan (2002) and links with Right-hand page

... where the words of the prayer are written

Self-Arising Tara

Ma

my source

creatrix of all

She's real

alive and

humming deep

in ancient space.

May we all

arise as Tara

May we all

be awakened

and free

like you Ma

like you Ma

please come

arise in me.

Other images include another page from the quote-a-day calendar 'Live Simply', a Papaya! Art postcard with  the Chinese proverb 'If you keep a green bough in your heart, then the singing bird will come.'

Below that is a card with the words 'Our ability to be compassionate and experience our humanness never leaves us' from my stash - I just love the yellow primroses being cradled in gentle hands...

Then an Art&Ghosts image of a typing rabbit (of course!) and finally another We'Moon image called 'Wisdom' by Meinrad Craighead (1983).

I have felt the power and the rhythm of this Ash Moon month, with the Celtic themes of 'As above, so below' - the sense of deep stirrings in the earth, in my belly, manifesting above ground in my body... And it will continue as this Full Moon shines brightly and then slowly wanes down to the next New Moon, which just so happens to coincide with the Spring Equinox (oh my!)

I suspect there will be even more of Nature's power to come...

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