SCORPIO MOON

I stand before your light
My shadow cast
I listen to the breath 
of a nearby animal

Witnessing 

The pouring of my soul
like the spanning roots of 
the redwood grove
My Will webs wide 

I stabilize 

Your mist shifts my image
Your vines tighten
My pulse runs deep
Pulled by your compass

Weightless

I am free
​

As part of Unbeaten Path's local community Yoga work - I take a moment each month to put together some reflection on the NEW or FULL Moon (phases for setting or identifying intentions).  I find these thoughts can apply on so many levels - on tour, at work, with friends, family and co-workers. I hope by sharing these thoughts it can give us all the opportunity to think on our path.  Kundalini Yoga is all about duality, extension - it's about expanding in opposites, to be ever evolving.  As David Bowie once said, "I love getting older - you get to become the person you have always wanted to be" ..  Well said.     

The facts: 
Today's New Moon (at 6:57PM, April 15th 2018) is in the Zodiac sign of Kick Butt Aries!  Boldly go with horns high!  
Featured song: "Shining Ghosts" by French artists Burning Peacocks (it's about letting the past be just that ... PAST!) 
Featured saying:  "Memories affect how we move forward ... OR NOT" from the documentary David Bowie, the last 5 Years

Today the new moon is in my birth sign ARIES.  My husband is also an Aries.  We have a piece of artwork that hangs on our wall. I bought it when we first married almost 20 years ago.  It is a small sculpture of two seriously long-horned rams locked in defiance.  That's us!  No one said marriage is easy.  But what I love about this sculpture that would take on so much meaning for us is that it represents how we LOVE A GOOD CHALLENGE (each and every day!).  That's what ARIES LOVE - being explorers and blazing new territories and they are either incredibly stubborn in how they do just that or, as I am, are quickly bored, constantly wanting to learn and renew (to shear their coats, if I may say). 

This new moon speaks so much to taking on the new, shearing our shaggy coats and committing to living the naked "NEW" fully and completely!

WITH THAT SAID... this new moon also has a wicked awesome astrological line up.  Joining team NEW MOON is the SUN, MERCURY and URANUS.  Holy hot dogs!  That's pretty heavy duty! I am no astrologer - but I do love a good line up! I love viewing things from a different perspective and comparing them to what is happening in the here and now.   The Sun represents the Self, one's way of being in the world. It can represent, on different levels, both the ego and the higher Self or soul purpose (our SAT NAM - our true identity) and the planet Mercury, well, that's all about communication ---->  so what are you saying or thinking about yourself  - how are you putting yourself out there in the world?? 

and URANUS... Uranus is that jerk at the party who blurts out the obvious.  (That jerk, by the way, sometimes being me, constantly putting my foot so completely into my mouth only to be followed with  "why on Earth did I just say that!!!?" except it sounds a bit more muffled than that).  It's totally embarrassing but so on the mark it makes you stop and reflect.  That's why I like jerks (and myself, ha ha!) because it's the jerks in life that help us shake our "Ego Technicolor Dream Coat" we so lovingly adorn (look at all its shiny colors!). Well, you can count on Uranus to dump some bleach on that program! It turns upside down the notion of what we THINK WE WANT or ARE SUPPOSED TO BE only to find ourselves struck by a deep and shaky breath in an effort to understand our inner most self, if even for just a moment. When I am on tour with Unbeaten Path I am constantly (and literally) walking a fine line along steep cliffs, talking with guests, engaging them, all while peering at harbor seals 80 to 100 feet below.  As I talk with guests about history, architecture or some other subject, there is ALWAYS the thought in the back of my mind "watch it, Margaret .... your reality is right down there ... splattered on the rocks!" That's exactly what URANUS can do for you! - It's that cliff reminding you that there is more to you than just the obvious!  THANKS, URANUS ... I better take advantage of your obnoxiousness NOW before you split tomorrow and head towards your next Zodiac sign for continued torment and awakening!

In addition to this line up, and what is really super awesome about this new moon, is that the planet MERCURY IS NO LONGER in retrograde!  YAHOOO!  Personally, I couldn't be happier - so much drama these past weeks. As hard as it is - I identify deeply with those people in our lives who love holding onto drama and trauma (speaking as a pro, that is). There is a song I play during yoga class at times - it is called SHINING GHOSTS by the BURNING PEACOCKS.  Holy smokes... their words are a great reminder of the fact that WE ALL HAVE A BACK STORY.  It is what has shaped us, made us ... and, sadly, it is also what has played us for so long! The thing about the song Shining Ghosts is that we tend to put our past trauma on a pedestal. PLEASE resist the temptation. It takes so much effort to placate these shining ghosts - to keep them on that pedestal - it is so truly exhausting.  Talk about tapping the well.  By the end of the day you have no more energy left to nurture yourself let alone those you love. In my opinion, I love the things that helped shape who I am today but it is nicer to know that it is I who is IN CHARGE of those things (or at least making the effort to be in charge). Just know that it takes more strength and courage to get back on the horse than it does to fall off! - trying matters!  I know that those shining ghosts are no longer looking at me with their eyes of gold.  As they say in the song "let your anger be your light" (your determination).  We are not responsible for the things or circumstances that happened to us.... BUT WE ARE RESPONSIBLE for how we manage those things.  Resist using your past as a necklace and remember: Our MEMORIES affect HOW WE MOVE FORWARD .... OR NOT.  It is up to you. 

With this said, the ARIES NEW MOON and this crazy line up fortifies us with COURAGE, CREATIVITY and the ability to commit to living fully!  As a strong ARIES I love learning and initiating new projects. Gods know, I get bored easily!  I love a challenge and I love peering over the cliff of potential failure - it's scary in a good way and that energizes me. BUT TO MANIFEST takes PURPOSE< PRACTICE <PREPARATION and <PERSISTENCE! It takes DOING!  

This NEW MOON helps us see more clearly and to choose more wisely the things we want to devote ourselves to.  It allows us the OPPORTUNITY to sort through our notebooks, to edit and amend - to clarify what we know in our hearts to be what shall be!  It may not be easy - we may have that urge to cling on to our SHINING GHOSTS... but raise the hand high and slay those ghosts! as you lift your horns higher and CLIMB NEW GROUND. 

As I (we) always recite at the end of every class.... 

I AM HEALTHY, HAPPY and FULFILLED .... I AM POTENTIAL MANIFESTED. 


You are!  Sat Nam. 

M