The moon’s wisdom holds the secrets of the Divine Feminine. The moon’s wisdom informs us how to live, die and be made anew.
The moon’s wisdom teaches us how to be “reborn from our scars.”
As I have been connecting more and more to the energy of the Divine Feminine and the Goddess, I have been following the moon as if it is a map for my own feminine spirit.
I have been opening myself up to absorb the moon’s energy, its messages, and its feminine wisdom. The moon’s wisdom tells us that all things come in cycles. The moon’s cycles show us that there is a time for new beginnings, a time for growth, a time for peak fullness, and a time to retreat. It tells us that there is a time for closure during which we allow the darkness to nourish us and prepare us again for new beginnings.
The moon’s wisdom reminds us that “… we can be beautiful no matter how much of ourselves we choose to bare. That we can be cherished even when we change- when we regress and when we grow. That each of our phases are worthy, but we are at our most remarkable (unforgettable) when we are full and wholly ourselves. “ Becca Lee
This month’s full moon falls on the 4 year anniversary of my bi-lateral mastectomy. In these past four years, I have been striving to come to terms with my body post-surgery. I have been trying to learn how to embody my full feminine spirit without one of the most feminine parts of a female body, my breasts.
I know in a cognitive, logical way that the feminine spirit goes beyond one’s body and that the Divine Feminine Spirit is not about what one’s body looks like. But still, because my breasts represented so many important aspects of the feminine within me, I have deeply grieved the loss of them and have struggled to find new ways to feel the most feminine in my body.
My breasts were connected to my feminine expression and how I presented myself in the world as a woman. They symbolized part of my feminine power that allowed me to nourish and grow lives as I nursed all three of my babies. They were a big part of my sexual self.
So how do we fully embody our divine feminine spirit when we struggle within our bodies? When our bodies have been hurt, traumatized, ill or in pain?
As I have been pondering this, I have come to realize that women’s histories are histories of scars; physical, emotional, relational, cultural.
Since the beginning of time, women have endured deep woundings that have hurt us, imprisoned us, kept us from stepping into our fullness. We have been shunned, silenced, burned, coerced, criticized and marginalized. We have been lied to, taken advantage of, rejected, and made to feel fear.
We have been valued only for the things that make others comfortable; things like our youthful looks, our thinness, our full breasts, our meekness, our cooperative spirit.
While the things that make others uncomfortable like our strong voices, our intense emotions, our inner knowing, and amazing strength and resilience have been criticized, minimized, and even, pathologized.
We have been told that unless we adhere, comply, and cooperate with the dominant voice of patriarchy, we are unworthy of love, of being cherished, of being seen.
We have been told that unless we follow strict, narrow, unspoken and spoken sexual rules we are either “frigid” or we are a slut.
But in all of this, in all of our experiences, since the beginning of time, (and there is not a woman alive on this planet who has not experienced some of this), we have always had the gift of the Moon to guide us, teach us and comfort us.
Like the moon, we have been able to be birthed out of the darkness, grow, change, come into our fullness, die and then rise up again.
Just like the moon, we come through the life/death/life cycle every month.
A way to honor our divine feminine spirits when we have struggled or are still struggling in our bodies, is to know that, just like the moon, our bodies change, and at times our bodies feel pain and suffer.
But even when our bodies feel pain, suffer, and change, there is immense wisdom to be discovered. Like the moon teaches us, the more we integrate this wisdom, then the more we can learn from it and the more we cultivate the ability to release the pain and suffering at the exact, perfect time. And in this releasing, our true beauty is revealed to us.
On this particular full moon, we are also going to experience a partial lunar eclipse. Eclipses are times for CLOSURE. Times to release, let go, and put to rest anything that no longer serves us. Time to honor the pain and darkness, to learn from the lessons they have taught us, and then to release them from our entire beings: spirit, mind, heart and body.
It is my hope that all of us will honor and then release the challenges we have faced in this last decade. That all of us will honor our unique beauty, power, and wisdom, regardless of what our bodies look like, the color of our skin, our age, our weight, our abilities.
For it is not what our bodies weigh or how they look, or how youthful they are. It is not about the scars that mark our bodies or our hearts. It is about carrying ourselves with such love that we radiate the Divine Feminine Spirit, the true source of Love, that never changes or fades. Carrying ourselves with this love reminds us that our spirits are more enduring than our physical bodies.
During this lunar eclipse and full moon, I will be asking Grandmother Moon, in all Her wisdom and fullness and power, to help me put to rest and let die all the pain, shame, and struggle I have experienced in my body post-mastectomy.
I will ask the Moon to help me honor my own strength and resilience.
I will ask the Moon to help me follow Her lead and allow the parts which no longer serve me, die.
I will ask the Moon to help me create space for a new beginning, so that I may, once again, come into my truest essence as a fully embodied, sacred feminine spirit.
I leave you with a verse from one of my most dear colleagues on this planet, Alexandria Moran.
“Grandmother Moon, Eclipsed in Closure
Bring me the same, at full exposure
I hope that you will find time to honor your divine feminine spirit during this beautiful and powerful full moon/lunar eclipse.
I hope that you will release all the things that no longer serve you.
I hope that, like the moon, you will accept that the pain, heartache, fear, shame and darkness in your life has had its moment; that these experiences are worthy to be honored for their lessons and for how they have made you stronger and wiser.
And I hope that, like the moon, you will be able to put them to rest, release them and experience renewal as you fully embody your most sacred self.
New beginnings are waiting; even when we cannot yet see them.
Peace in the journey,
Jane
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