Metaphorcast 7/5-11, 2021
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There is a new moon coming this week on Friday, July 9th. Maybe you are wondering what is so special about a new moon. Well, let’s ponder it, so we can better enjoy it when it comes!
New moons occur when the moon is in between the earth and the sun, whereas for a full moon, it is the earth that is between the sun and moon.
The full moon is the popular one. It makes a dazzling spectacle that is usually impossible to miss. With the earth at the center, full moons are ‘centered’ around earthly things. Sensory things. Beauty, tastes, aroma, textures and so on. Some people are lucky enough to find their ways to a moonlit swim. Others may find a simple walk home to turn into the most mystical of experiences, all because of these heightened senses.
A few weeks back we had a Full Strawberry Moon and I was lucky enough to eat some of the best tasting strawberries I’ve ever tasted!
But we are now going to ponder the new moon, which finds its ‘center’ with the moon itself. With the new moon it isn’t the senses in the middle of it all, it is the intuitions, the instincts, the songs in our blood. In the darkened night distant stars appear with startling clarity. In the same way, meaningful ideas and connections may find you, bright with purpose, and seemingly out of nowhere.
The ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides said “Gaze steadfastly at things which, though far away, are yet present to the mind.”
A full moon may light up the details of a flower, but a new moon brings a vast distance into your own place of detail-making; your own mind that makes order out of chaos.
Distant stars, coming into focus from so far away.
Tennessee Williams said that time is the longest distance between two places.
But what if the light of the stars is a world beyond time? A world where myths are made as living guides, changing as the people that made them continue to change. Where would we be without these myths that made us?
Where would we be without these new moons?
Also fun with a new moon is watching for its return. In the depths of winter she is gracious enough to return with a smile! Though now, in summer, she will return with her signature right-sided waxing crescent. Thankfully she never returns with a frown.
Look to the western sky this weekend just after sunset. After being new in Cancer, she will be visible again in Leo, and… ready for her closeup.
As always, happy astro pondering!
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