new moon, not Black Friday
Well, this is a poignant week. The holidays can be a warm, joyful time for many. For others, they are complex and painful, and often a time for deep grief. For me, they've been both, sometimes simultaneously.
At this point in my life, I've been very disengaged from Thanksgiving for the past several years. The story I learned as a child feels like fiction (because it is). I'm quite happy that this year, none of my family wants a big celebration.
AND I recognize that gratitude and the opportunities to gather together are essential to our wellbeing. So while I don't appreciate Thanksgiving as it is, I do appreciate the foundational values and sentiment of it.
Which is exactly why I'm grateful that new moon falls today, on Thanksgiving eve. It means that we have a new moon circle in The Spiral. We'll share our intentions, in a space that honors everyone's totality of experience.
If you've been around me for a while, you already know I'm not a "thoughts and prayers" bypassing person. I also find "love and light, we're all one" to be insufficient.
Honoring the totality of people's experiences allows for other things to come into the space, that are not specifically related to intentions or the moon.
For example, in past moon circles, the following things have come up: ongoing protests in Iran, stress about political situations, a certain entertainer who frequently stokes controversy.
AND: gratitude for poll workers, celebrations of small steps towards goals, blessings for a turtle someone saw on a walk.
Given the timing of this new moon, I'll be bringing in the acknowledgement of yet another incident of domestic terrorism, as well as being the cusp of the complexities of the holidays.
If you're in The Spiral, or you've attended classes or workshops, you know I open with acknowledging the totality of life: the mess and the blessings, the magic and the horror.
I mention that because sooooo many (like, most) sacred spaces I find tend to fixate on the positive. And while I'm all for optimism, finding the good, etc, I find them incomplete, because they ignore the accompanying challenges.
Tonight, I'm holding a space that supports both joy and grief, as we all grapple with being human in a complex, heartbreaking, magical world.
If you're feeling isolated, unseen, or unable to be fully present, I hope you have spaces that honor your totality of experience. And if you want to share anything with me, I read (and respond to) all your replies.
Take exquisite care of yourself. May you be surrounded by blessings.
In gratitude,
S.
—
Siderealchemy
she / they