Ritual 4: Monday, January 22, 2007

Waxing Moon

The moon has just passed from new to waxing. A new beginning is underway. Bundle up and go outside tonight to see the early crescent smiling at you from the inky canopy overhead. Indoor rituals are comfortable and cozy, but outdoors you're in direct contact with the earth and sky. Urban women, in particular, must take special care to connect with the elements, since most of us don't have gardens to dance in.

This Monday is a sacred opportunity to breathe fresh air that tingles your nose. If there's a park or patch of grass nearby — or if you are fortunate enough to have your own land — go there and stomp your feet or jump up and down. It will help keep you warm and get you in touch with the earth.

Everything that we eat comes from the earth. The fibers in your clothes — even the synthetic ones — all come from the earth. Your furniture, your paper, your coffee are gifts from the earth, grown with water, sunlight, and air, cultivated with human ingenuity, brought to you through human invention. These are wonderful things, like the crescent moon, for you to smile about.

Think of the things in your life that make you smile. Lift your face to the night and say them out loud. Be real about it. If your favorite new shoes give you smile or the way your butt looks in your well-worn jeans, then say that. The moon has no judgment on your happiness. Your smiles could be about your friendships, your family, your career, your creativity, the old man you pass on your way to work each day, your freedom, your love, your dog, the lines of a poem, the card your sister sent you, the way the stars twinkle against the dark fabric of night right now.

Carry your smile back inside. Slough off your layers of clothes. Brew a cup of tea or cocoa. Sit down with your smile, and write a little letter of appreciation to someone you haven't corresponded with in a while, if ever, by mail.

In our world where email flies as fast as type-click-send, postal mail is a warm gesture of caring. Remember how you smile when there's something in your mailbox that's not a bill. Your note is a way of sharing this night's lunar blessing. Your message can be short and sweet. A simple "thinking of you" is enough. Thank your hairdresser for your fabulous new do. Or write a "nice to meet you" note to a new colleague.

Be sure to smile while you write and your reader will feel it. Add a little crescent near your signature, and say out loud as you seal the envelope:

This smile is a gift
To make your spirits lift
From the moon to me to you
May it warm you through and through.

The beautiful thing about giving a smile is you also get to have it for yourself. Your night's magic is complete... just remember to put the note in the mail tomorrow!

After the ritual, share your experience in our community section.