Cat Charissage, (c) 2018

Dear Friends,

A new moon, Valentine’s Day, the first day of Lent, Chinese New Year — all in these three days of Feb. 14 to 16

Ever notice how people around the world celebrate the New Year on different dates?  Lots of ways to proclaim something new.  Day One.

I’ve taken on a gentle practice of noting and doing simple ceremony on each month’s new and full moons.  Noticing the moon, feeling the passage of time, feeling the circle moving round again yet one more time, extends my mindfulness outside of my own psyche.  It’s a challenge to be aware of what is outside of and around myself without also getting caught up in the daily new cycles, overwhelmed by the same old same old of  “if it bleeds, it leads”.  There is plenty of bleeding.

Yet this, too, is true:  as our earth moves through space, we each day can see a different face of the moon.  Things change, and things return, again and again.  There are rhythmic points of newness (first sliver of moonlight after the dark of the moon) every month, and any of us can call any day our “new year”.  Day One.

What new cycle are you moving into?  What kinds of rhythms are you paying attention to these days?

This painting, acrylic on watercolor paper, is one I did two weeks ago on the Full Moon.  I was thinking of fire and passions (not necessarily romantic), of the difference between bonfires and hot coals.   Fire contained and directed can cook up the next alchemical transformation. . .

What’s being cooked up in your life?  Something new?  Something tried and true?

With much love and many blessings,

Cat