The Moon  - Peace in the Darkness

Tarot of Transformation

Willow Arlenea and Jasmine Lee Cori

Original writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

The full light of day has a way of exposing the cold, facts of life. With no shadows to filter the constant incoming stimulation, information, and interactions of life we are vulnerable. Fantasies and dreams spill out unprotected. Disappointments can cause us to feel overextended and unprotected. Some days we just want to crawl away and and shield ourselves from the glaring and unrelenting light. Instead of celebrating life and its joys we can find ourselves running for cover.

Fortunately, there is relief. The great Queen of the Night, the Moon comes to wrap her mantle of darkness and shadow around us to provide shelter and allow us time to slow down and reflect. The moon calls us to go within and to follow her filtered light to illuminate and guide us.

The moon invites us to awareness of our own presence, to let the shadows provide shelter for us to let down our masks and armor as we receive her light and recognize our own wisdom. Here in the quiet shadows we can more safely open our hearts and delve below the surface to discover what might be hidden in the waters of our emotions.

As we observe the images being shown to us it is like looking into a still pool; we might see our own reflection but also reflections of what is around us - especially behind us that we cannot see without the water’s mirror. The surface image reveals a bigger picture but we have to be still in order to see it. If we roil the waters we cannot see any images at all. We must wait for the waters to calm to allow us to see through the shimmering, moonlit surface. As the moon reflects the light of the sun we realize we could easily be reflecting other people’s light - and darkness - rather than holding our own light up to shine. Do  those feelings and moods belong to our own self or have we been mirroring what others feel and do?

Our emotions are a deep pool of hidden  memories, fears, dreams, joys, and experiences. As we embrace the shadows and surrender to the journey, we can come to a place of peace. We can rest from chasing dramas and reacting to the outer world’s chaos and confusion.  It is “just me and the moon” and the waters, quieting now that stillness is present. If we listen, we begin to hear our voice of wisdom that comes in peace and silence, rising up through the waters of our emotions and feelings as we take time out to sit and be still and reflect. That inner knowing, which is now illuminated by the moon’s soft light, can rise and teach us what is most appropriate for us now.

The moon reminds us that we are always in change, always in the midst of a cycle that will complete even as a new cycle is rising up to new momentum. We cannot control the moon and we cannot control our emotions but as we learn to align ourselves with the rhythms of the moon and attune to her cycles, we learn to allow and be present with our own cycles and know that, as the moon,  we are always in flux and always in change. As we learn to trust our own intuition we can better navigate the shadows, the changes, and the unknown. We connect to a larger picture, a bigger sense of our own process and can find comfort in understanding that not all problems, grief, or even fantasies will be resolved today.  The harsh lessons and challenges are softened with compassion for ourselves and others.

We can find peace in the darkness.

......Kathryn Ravenwood 7.18.20