As Chani Nicholas so flawlessly said this month, "If your self-care system is any good at all, it will not protect you from your growing pains. If your self-care system is built to last, it will reveal your truths without apology."
Revealing the Truth is what this month has been all about. The deepest truth of who we are, who we want to be, what we need at the core to live a (just and kind) life that really matters, and the ACTION we need to take in order make that happen.
There's a lot going on personally and collectively with this Moon. It might be a little gnarly. It might feel a little raw. Your wounds might reopen. But it's because this Moon wants you to get it. It wants you to gain conscious awareness around what's been going on for you.
It wants you to be real when it comes to your virtue and your values and to see where you're in line and where you need to course correct.
Then it wants you to let the truth sink in even deeper.
Pisces can dive deep into the emotional realms, which is good, but this Moon asks you not to go too far down the rabbit hole. It wants you to be vulnerable but stay objective. Not to get caught up in the story of it. Not to relive the drama or the trauma. But to look it in the eye and choose the truth. To see the lessons and meaning behind the events that have unfolded over the past month or continue to do so.
This Full Moon we have the Harvest Moon (a sight to behold) which is the time of year the ancients would (and farmers still do) take stock of the harvest. To see what was reaped and sowed and review the rewards for their blood, sweat, and tears up until this point in the year - so that (in the Western Hemisphere) they could plan accordingly for the oncoming seasonal shift into darkness.
So on one hand, this Moon wants you to take stock over your life. To take stock of your growth and your evolution, your gains, your boon and your bounty so that you can use this time to plan for the months ahead. Who do you want to keep becoming? What do you need to do to make that happen? Take time to give yourself credit where it's due. Celebrate your wins and acknowledge your losses.
Because not only is it a Full Moon, a time of Illumination, Awareness, Completion of the past month which included an intense series of Eclipses, it's also a Pisces Full Moon with Mercury and Mars rearing their truthful and fiery heads as they fall dangerously close to where they were astrologically when we hit the last eclipse, which can re-trigger the emotions of the past month.
Add that to Mercury going direct (aka revealing what might have been hidden during the past month while it was retrograde) and we have a lot of potential for individual evolution or devolution.
IF you've been avoiding your truth, your self-care or compromising yourself in some way or resisting the lessons as they appear on the path, then this Full Moon could be super intense for you.
IF you've been doing the work (and depending on how you keep showing up to do the work) if you can continue to stay objective and reflect honestly, then this moon could afford you some huge opportunities for evolution.
Whichever side of the fence you fall on, know that evolution isn't always (that is a kind way to say, rarely is) comfortable. In all honesty, it's usually pretty intense and uncomfortable. But if it was easy, everyone would do it, and that's why it takes so much courage to be who you really are.
So I repeat: If your self-care system is any good at all, it will not protect you from your growing pains. If your self-care system is built to last, it will reveal your truths without apology.
The more you're willing to witness whats coming up for you in the form of pain, shame or resistance, the more you'll be able to swim with the current of change instead of struggle against it.
The biggest challenge is not to get caught up in the repeating of unconscious or unhealthy patterns that might have been triggered for you over the past month or might be getting re-triggered with this Full Moon.
This Moon says, KEEP YOUR EYES WIDE. Let your perspective take it all in, bring awareness and curiosity to what arises instead of judgment.
As the always wise Danielle LaPorte says:
"Lightwork can be a fight. If you think being on the “spiritual” side of progress guarantees you harmony, then either you haven’t been at it long enough or you’ve been playing it safe. Harmonizing, healing, serving, shining…it’s messy work. Beautiful. Worth it. But messy."
If you’re working for the Light you’re going to face some darkness — a resistance that’s beyond you.
If you believe that everything is energy, then be prepared for equal and opposite reactions to your expansion.
If you understand that we’re living in a multi-dimensional universe, then know you might contend with other forces, policies, narrow-mindedness. And there will be friction.
Friction creates turbulence. Which creates focused strength…for lift off.
Challenges on the cusp of your success aren’t always “self-sabotage”. Sometimes it’s a cosmic call to arms, an opportunity to prove your devotion. An initiation that can come in the form of back attacks, derailed plans, shocking political upsets."
Chances are (if you're human like the rest of us) something this month came up for you in the form of anger, a mistake, a fuckup OR you had a significant experience that caused you to make the call; and you know that was the right thing to do, but there's some feeling of uncertainty or shame still lingering under the surface that's masking the ability to own your integrity in relationship to it.
But this Pisces Moon says: be aware of your thoughts, actions, "patterns" and what you view as "mistakes" ... are you getting caught up in your same story, or are you able to step back and take stock of the bigger picture?
Sometimes mistakes lead us towards our truth.
Sometimes fucking up is what wakes us up.
Sometimes breaking down is what allows us to break through.
The biggest question to ask yourself during this Harvest Moon as you take stock of the quality of your life is, are you making choices that lead you deeper into your virtue?
Virtue, otherwise known as morals or values aka how you show up in life in relation to WHAT MATTERS TO YOU. The choices you make, the thoughts you think, the way you move through the world is all related to your virtue.
But first things first, you have to identify what virtue means to you.
It's very difficult to make choices that keep you in alignment if you don't know what you're aligning with.
So allow this Full Moon to be a review and an inquiry.
Are you on track? Have you taken a path that's veered you off course? Maybe you're stumbling, flat out falling or what really matters now is new for you.
The most important thing is to get firm on what you want, what's true for you, and how to take action that keeps you moving towards your values.
And it's not to say you won't fuck up or feel the pain because you definitely will. And that's probably what this Moon is about for you. But pain and mistakes are all a part of the cosmic learning curve. Learning how to rewire your patterns is a part of the process. The most important thing to do, despite the discomfort or drudgery, is to remember you're human, to keep giving yourself the courage to feel and to KEEP GOING.
More specifically with what Femme Rising stands for, the call to action this month is to check in with your body and your sense of self. How are you doing with both?
What is draining your life force? Where are your energy leaks? How well are you honoring your body and your health (physically, emotionally, sensually, sexually)?
How's your body Confidence? Your self-confidence? Your sense of purpose and fulfillment in the world?
Where are you compromising yourself? Where are you compromising your desires? Where are you compromising your nourishment?
If you need some help getting back to your body, giving yourself permission to feel and to experience sensual comfort and confidence in your body, stay tuned for a special announcement coming in the next few days (and make sure you're signed up for the newsletter if you aren't already because all those ladies get first dibs)!
"Make sure that no matter what you are faced with, no matter what choices you have to make, you choose the road what will reveal the most about you. Choose the path that is the most healing for this point in your life. Choose the path that helps you clarify your beliefs and put them into action. Choose the path that helps you honor your feelings and the wisdom they bear." Chani Nicholas
Whatever has come up for you in the past month or during this Moon has done so to get your attention. It's likely done so to be an entry point for your highest good, the question is whether or not you'll see it that way.
This Moon wants to strip you down. To get you vulnerable. To not shy away from your truth or what you need. Most of all, this Moon is bigger than you. Yes, it's about you, but it's also about your ability to stand strong in your own truth so that you can stand up and speak up WITH A SENSE OF VIRTUE for all the others whose voices are trying to be silenced.
These days call for mindfulness in faith, action, and virtue. They call you to get real with yourself so that you can be a force to be reckoned with.
Keep going. Don't back down. This world needs what you've got.
To the friction, we need to make this world better place for all of us,
Ashly
PS. This month's playlist is here to help you move through it. Physically MOVE YOUR BODY and emotionally move your emotions ... and don't miss the to the 2 songs by Burgs. Get it HERE.
