Category: Nature + Moon + Tea

Everyday Sacred – Free 7 Day Email Campaign

Do you want to begin the magical month of December in a sacred space?

I’ve been working on something special for all of you wonderful subscribers.

As way of saying  thank you for your love and support, I’m running a FREE 7 Day Email Campaign called “Everyday Sacred”. The Everyday Sacred Campaign runs from the 1st to 7th December 2014.

For this 7 day period, you will receive an inspiring email with text, images, poems and journalling prompts to bring your attention to the SACRED and magic present in Nature and Life in general each day. Please do come along for this sacred journey. 

Click here to sign up…

Everyday Sacred banner

Exploring the Lunar Cycles with Tea and Tarot: New Moon

New Moon blessings to you all!

What seeds are you planting this cycle? What does your wild essence call you to?

The Tea

I’ve decided to explore the new lunar cycle in with tea and tarot, intuitively selecting a tea for each phase of the moon, and drawing one tarot card for guidance and meditation for each phase too. Since the new moon is a time of seeds, intentions and setting dreams in motion, the tea that I felt called to work with is Chai Spiced tea. It felt fitting and symbolic to draw the energies of a tea made up of bits of bark (cinnamon), root (ginger) and most importantly – seeds (cardamom and fennel) – into my body at this time. And it helps that the warm and deliciously spicy aromas of chai tea always put me in a dreamy mood too, which is the perfect space to get into when setting intentions and painting visions for future manifestation. The words that come to mind when I look inward to draw out what it is that my wild essence desires to see more of in my life are specific and simple – Finding the Goddess in everyday, Resting in the embrace of inner peace and De-cluttering and releasing whatever stands in the way of the vibration of simplicity that I crave so much.

The Tarot

The tarot card that I drew for the new moon is – Father of Earth. This card brings messages about groundedness, connecting with the earth to find stability and inner firmness, finding satisfaction in the discipline of soulful work and thoughtfully focusing on your strengths and self-confidence to complete unfinished projects in order to harvest the benefits. The earthy masculine energy of the card gives me a sense of a provider who is focused on their purpose, with clear set intentions and a sureness that comes from being grounded in the present and grounded in their inner truth. Looking at the card, the clay bowl full of grains in the earth father’s arms stood out to me. I got the sense that the grains are the harvest, the fruits of our soul work, but they are also seeds. While we enjoy the bounty we reap at the end of one cycle, some of what we harvest needs to be stored and planted for a new cycle. Each completion is also a new beginning. Some of the rewards we gain from completing a project need to be invested wisely into a new cycle of production. To sustain ourselves we need to keep something for to replant and continue the cycle of life. We need to invest in ourselves, in our dreams and in our well-being.

This tarot message resonates a lot with me, especially in the context of self-care and my writing life. So I am taking the guidance to heart.

Crystals and Essences

Two other things that are accompanying me through this new moon journey are crystals and African Tree Essences. I’m working with clear quartz and amethyst crystals. They always help me connect with my inner world, visualize and bring the intuitive visions of my wild essence to the fore. The Platbos African tree essences are my all-time favourite flower essences to work with. Platbos is an ancient forest along the Western Cape coast of South Africa. So the wisdom and energetic vibration of the essences made from the blossoms of these ancient trees always have a profound effect on me. For the new moon, I am working with the Pock Ironwood essence, the essence of intuition, to draw out my wild intuitive resources and to allow greater receptivity to the wild whispers of Goddess.

lunar tea new moon

Fairy Feet and a Tree Breathing Meditation

I took midday break with my husband and we went walking at one of our favourite spots today. The weather was temperamental, hot and sunny in parts, but mostly overcast – the kind of undecided weather that precedes the African afternoon thundershowers. Though I usually walk with my hiking shoes, today I wore my ‘fairy shoes’. They are cute pointy-toed gold and black satin flats that make my feet look dainty and me feel like a fairy waltzing through the fields. Silly, I know, but I like the way I feel in them.

fairy feet

We took a different path today, one that diverges away from the grandmother quaking aspen that I love to climb and meditate in. All around, the grass was long and lush, a consequence of the plentiful rains we’ve been having. I love the eerie air that unkempt fields of tall grass and wild flowers create. It makes me feel untamed and free too and the Goddess is near too.

tree breathing

On the water’s edge of this unfamiliar path, I met a great mature tree whose name I do not know. I stopped a while, requesting to enter her space and placed my hand on her bark, honouring and breathing with her for a few moments. Inhaling and exhaling while consciously sharing my breath with a tree is simple yet precious process that connects me deeply with my inner essence and the sacred thread of light woven through all life. It leaves me humbled every time and my heart full with the love that Nature seems to share so willingly, especially on those low days when melancholic feelings set in. Tree breathing is such a basic yet uplifting form of meditation. If you haven’t done so already, then please do give it a go. Below are some brief guidelines on how to go about it:

How to do a Tree Breathing Meditation:

  • Find a tree in your garden or a nature space to connect with (always ask permission first).
  • Sit on the ground near the tree, or stand next to the tree and place your hand on its trunk.
  • Take a deep breath in. As you do, give thanks to the tree for the life giving gift of air. Give thanks for the breath that fills your lungs and feel your life force expand.
  • When you exhale, offer you breathe back to the tree and to Mother Earth.
  • Honour the tree and Mother Earth for this sacred connection.
  • Inhale and then exhale again, repeating the process of focused attention. Say “I thank you for this breath” each time you breathe in, and “I offer you my breath” each time you breathe out.
  • Bring your attention to the fact that all life is connected in Oneness and we are all connected through breath. You are part of this beautiful network of sacred mystery.