learning ~ poetry ~ another discount for 13 moons

As I was writing my previous love letter, I was thinking about how the January new moon felt like an additional new year's day - the start of a cycle of 13 new moons for the next year.

My next thought was about the January full moon, which starts the cycle of 13 full moons for the next year. Another new year's day, if you will.

Then I looked at the calendar and saw that the full moon is the week after the presidential inauguration. That definitely feels like a new year's day as well, I told myself. I chuckled at how many new year's days I had collected into a single month: January 1st, 13th, 20th, 26th. I laughed at my multiple new year's days of 2021.

And so I sent that love letter, feeling at ease with the world for the first time in a while.

Within the hour, all of that sentiment was gone. I don't want to rip into that horrible day, but I do want to share something that teaches and uplifts me—which is always needed in this country with so much violence embedded in its fabric. 

In the past year, I learned about Whitney Plantation in Louisiana. It's a place I'd like to visit someday, as the depth of education, art, and advocacy is so powerful.

But even without visiting, I appreciate having Whitney Plantation in my FB and IG feeds. Every post teaches me, moves me, inspires me. I hope it's something that teaches, moves, and inspires you too.

Given the recent events, I was holding my breath yesterday. My favorite moment was Amanda Gorman's poem. Any occasion that reminds people of the power of language, the enchantment of poetry, is magic for me. I've seen lots of excerpts quoted, but in case you missed the broadcast or video, this is the entire poem:

"The Hill We Climb"

When day comes we ask ourselves
Where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
A sea we must wade.
We braved the belly of the beast;
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace.
And the norms and notions of what just is
Isn’t always justice.
And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it.
Somehow we do it;
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
A nation that isn’t broken but simply unfinished.
We, the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny black girl descended from slaves
And raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president,
Only to find herself reciting for one.
And yes we are far from polished, far from pristine,
But that doesn’t mean we aren’t striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge a union with purpose,
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.
And so we lift our gaze not to what stands between us,
But what stands before us.
We close the divide, because we know to put our future first,
We must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms
So we can reach out our arms to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew,
That even as we hurt, we hoped,
That even as we tired, we tried,
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious—
Not because we will never again know defeat
But because we will never again sow division.
Scripture tells us to envision
That everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree,
And no one shall make them afraid.
If we’re to live up to our own time,
then victory won’t lie in the blade but in all the bridges we’ve made.
That is the promised glade,
The hill we climb if only we dare it.
Because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded,
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
It can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith we trust,
For while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.
This is the era of just redemption.
We feared at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour,
But within it we found the power
To author a new chapter,
To offer hope and laughter,
To ourselves sow. While once we asked:
How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert: How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was,
But move to what shall be,
A country that is bruised but whole,
Benevolent but bold,
Fierce and free.
We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation
Because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might and might with right,
Then love becomes our legacy
And change our children’s birthright.
So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.
With every breath of my bronze pounded chest,
We will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the golden hills of the West.
We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lakeland cities of the Midwestern states.
We will rise from the sunbaked South.
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
In every known nook of our nation,
In every corner called our country,
Our people, diverse and beautiful,
Will emerge battered and beautiful.
When day comes we step out of the shade,
Aflame and unafraid.
The new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it,
If only we’re brave enough to be it.

~ ~ ~ 

What a force, what a reckoning. Maybe, like me, you've bookmarked the video. Maybe, like me, it brings you to tears every time you watch it.

Yes, I followed her on IG and joined her email list. Currently deciding how many copies of her books (on pre-sale) to order.

All that to say, I'm grateful that moving into this full moon feels a lot brighter than what led into new moon. So, I want to offer the same discount as my last love letter, in observance of the full moon on January 28th.
Same as before: this is an Intuitive Dive that is dedicated to drawing 13 cards for each of the 13 full moons in a year. In addition to digging into big themes for the next year, the session also digs into timing of the equinoxes, solstices, and more.

All the specs:
The first 13 people to schedule an Intuitive Dive that happens between now and the end of the week of the full moon (from today until January 31st), for a reading about the next 13 moons, get the session at $122 — which is right around 13% off.
Go here for the scheduler.
Discount code: [redacted]

So, get learning, soak in the magic of poetry, and expand in this full moon light.

I truly believe that to be alive in these times is a blessing. Even before hearing that poem, the phrase buzzing around me was "a new dawn." Let's all step out of the shade and shine, shine, shine.

To this new year,
S.


—
she / they
Siderealchemy