It's Moonday again

My favorite day is Moonday because it's named for the Moon.

For me it's a day to take stock of the week behind and the week ahead. Not in the way of organizing and planning, but by the light of the Moon. I study my dreams for the week past, the night ones as well as the day ones, to guide me in the coming week. The night time ones tell me things I need to know about myself in ways that don't always make sense to my rational mind. Sometimes they highlight hopes, sometimes fears. But always dreams offer something to learn from. Taking time to play with dreams is giving yourself the gift of Lunar perception and intuition. It's a way of getting to know the dark, starlit sky of your own inner wonder and mystery.

I opt for a Jungian perspective on dreams. That means when I look at my dreams my first interpretation is to see everyone in the dream as me. When I share that viewpoint with others, their first reaction is: Huh??? I understand. What if someone dreams of murder? Or some other horrendous thing? I explain that dreams are not to be taken literally. Dreams are symbolic. 

So if you dream you kill someone, I ask what in your life needs to die? Or what do you want to get rid off? Or what's killing you? Symbolism takes the pressure off seeing the dream as literal, and usually, most people have an answer right off the bat. 

It's also important to notice how you feel in dreams. Feelings give the best clues to what's going on in the unconscious. If you take the time to pay attention to your dreams you will learn that dreams are completely honest and guileless. If you are hiding anything from yourself, the dream will disclose that to you by way of feelings. The dream will reveal what your heart needs you to pay attention to. A dream is your closest friend and ally.

Daydreams reveal what you most want to happen in your life. Simple daydreams are easier to decipher. Like daydreaming of a new car. Or a scrumptious Thanksgiving meal. Other daydreams are more like journeys that unfold without conscious direction. Listening to music without lyrics or to tracks with repetitive drumming while relaxing with your eyes closed is a really good way to invoke daydream journeys. If you are the kind of person that doesn't remember night dreams, daydreaming is a great alternative to entering the symbolic world of your psyche. 

Moonday is also an opportunity to notice the 'waking dream'. 'Waking dream' refers to synchronicity or things that happen to appear magical in some way. Maybe you find an unusual feather. Or a friend who you've been thinking about calls. Or things happen in 3's. 

The waking dream is also looking at the events, experiences, and feelings of life as if it is all a dream. As if it all has symbolic meaning. 

For instance, this past week was unusual because of the minor remodeling and maintenance work going on in my home. I can look at it all as if I dreamt it to find how it mirrors symbolically speaking what's going on in my psyche. I can tell you that there's definitely some restructuring going on within me. There's some things that I've been wanting to shift and reprioritize. Some passions I've wanted to rekindle and some feelings I've been ignoring that I need to acknowledge. These are things my Soul requires. 

The work on the atrium, which is in the heart of my home, symbolizes work my heart wants - more beauty and authenticity in friendships. The river rock we added to one wall exemplifies the love and connection I have to rivers - their contained flow and sweet water, but also their power to flood and completely change the terrain. The hard work my husband did to aerate the root-bound soil and replenish it with fresh peat and hummus guides me to look at where energy has been stuck in my life, and what needs a refreshing so new life can grow. This all has deep meaning for me and helps guide how I will consider making decisions in the week or weeks to come. 

The phase of the Moon is also helpful in giving symbolic meaning. Tonight we have a Gibbous Moon. This means the Moon is more than half but less than full. From a Moon Phase perspective, this phase signifies a time for us to look at our dreams optimistically and with confidence. The astrological sign also sheds meaning, and tonight the Moon is in the sign of Taurus. Briefly, Taurus is an earth sign and has much to do with creating Beauty in our daily lives. If nothing else, meditating for a few minutes on what a Gibbous Taurus Moon might mean for you and your life is enough to set a soft, dreamlike intention for the rest of your week. When we work with the Moon in this way we work, not only on our own individual Soul, but with the collective psyche as well.

We can all enrich and deepen our lives with a more Lunar frame of reference. Consider can we bring a little more beauty and optimism to this week? What can we cultivate in our lives that will revitalize our heart's passion and longing? 

Carpe Noctem, dear friends. Seize your inner Night.