Lesson #51: Aligning with the moon

The only constant in life is change. — Heraclitus

Life is always changing

Life moves through cycles. This happens in all sorts of ways .. the seasons, the day, the moon, the process of birth, growth and death. Life is constantly changing.

As humans, even though we may feel completely stuck and like nothing is changing .. change is still happening. Sometimes the change is helpful, like evolution .. things changing for the better. Sometimes the change doesn’t feel so good, like weeds growing out of control or ageing sucking away vitality.

This lesson is about a practice I started last year that helps me bring intention and consciousness to my life — a new moon ritual.

The different energy cycles of males and females

Have you heard the concept that males and females experience energy differently? The essence of it is this: males operate on a 24 hour cycle, while females operate on a 28 day cycle. So males move through spring (beginnings) in the morning, summer (expansion) and autumn (shedding) as the day progresses, and then winter (rest) at the end of the day. But for women the cycle is different. The spring (beginning) phase starts at the end of menstruation, leading to summer’s expansion around ovulation, slowing down post ovulation and winter during menstruation.

Thus, the standard workweek structure is, according to this theory, aligned to the masculine energy cycle, the solar cycle, while the feminine cycle is aligned to the lunar cycle.

Aligning to the moon, or to a 28 day cycle, is therefore a more feminine way of structuring life.

A new moon ritual

This ritual, performed on the new moon, includes writing an ‘Abundance Cheque’ .. a simple, undated check that is undated, with the ‘amount’ “Paid in full” and signed “The Law of Abundance”. The first month I did this ritual, when the next new moon arrived and I reflected on what had happened that month, I was amazed. Since then I’ve used each new moon to record that cycle’s achievements and to set an intention for the next moon cycle.

Leading up to full moon

Leading up to full moon tends to be a time of heightened intensity. I’ve been using the full moon as the timing for getting things done. Then the period after the full moon seems to be about either recovering from the intensity or finishing off.

The waning

Right now it’s February 24 and a waning cresent. Full moon was 17 February and new moon is 3 March. In one of my business groups, Lead Your World, the leader, Merilyn Beretta, ran a ‘declutterathon’ just after the full moon, and suggested we continue the decluttering process through to the new moon.

The process continues

Life will continue to change and there is always more to be done, but using the cycle of the moon as a marker of time that moves through a build up and then a wind down and then a starting fresh, I get 13 cycles each year to refocus and realign my life.

We are now a week away from the next new moon. I need to look at the intentions I set at the last new moon to even remember what they were. But even so, I will check them in a week’s time and reflect on my achievements .. and then I’ll start out afresh for a new month of moving forward. Try it. Not only do you get a framework for moving your life forward, but you also gain a closer connection with the cycles of the world around you. It’s a win-win-win.