Forgiveness Practice for the Full Moon

Formerly titled: June 4/Full Moon

Here is a link to my primer on setting intentions for every time the new moon rolls around. Let awareness of intentions lead the way for the first couple weeks of a lunation and then, when the full moon comes, what to do?

That’s when forgiveness practice comes in. I wrote about forgiveness in my first post of this year (January 6/Full Moon). See the quote below.

Forgiveness … involves facing mistakes and wrongs and the feelings engendered therein. With forgiveness there is an acknowledgement of the wounds and an incorporation of that loss into your future, so the future can hold less of what caused that wound and more of your strength and resilience. Forgiveness is letting go of the outcomes that you held tight to that never transpired. It frees up the energy that gets tied up in blaming. It brings in more relaxation and ease. Forgiveness is a gift to yourself that makes taking action towards the world we want ever more possible.

So how do I know what to forgive? For me, this part isn’t always obvious. As far as I can tell, I’m not harboring any big resentments towards myself or anyone else, right?

With the moon practices, get clear about what you desire first. Then when the full moon rolls around, it is time for a reality check. Are the things that I thought possible at the beginning of the month, still possible? What adjustments do I need to make? For me, the obstacles to my intentions are often mind tricks, like boredom or apathy. Obstacles like these are often like icebergs. The bit of “what’s the point” on the surface that bars the way of my action, is only a tiny more visible portion, and underneath is a whole frozen bulk of the beast.

Forgiveness is an action that I can take that can make all the difference. I take the time to peer into this body of mine and take some notes on what is felt and where, acknowledging the whole bulk of the iceberg with its facets and surfaces and how freaking cold it is. Hold it non-judgementally, without pushing it away. It makes space for the whole thing.

Full moon time is also friend time, so get out there and be with them. Talk about the things you are working to let go of and listen to what they are releasing. As Kevin, my sometimes partner in fieldwork says, teamwork makes the dreamwork (he is a former school administrator). The new world cannot be created by yourself. And neither can your intentions without a circle of friends. Happy full moon.

Dream Yoga

Speaking of dreams, I have been working to remember my dreams since friend Renae asked me if I can stay aware all the way until I fall asleep. No, I can’t.

I have owned this book for a long time. The first time I tried to read it in 2017 I gave up. This time through I can tell I am much more ready. Also I love this teacher and have been working from this recent February 6, 2023 article from Lion’s Roar Magazine.

I have long longed to be able to remember my dreams and have never been very good at recalling them. I have relied on others for my dreamwork. In recent years, Dad and his partner Linda have shared their dreams. They tell their dreams and the other share their interpretations, “If that were my dream, it would mean to me that…” I have received messages through other peoples dream, like my friend Kara’s dream that I shared here. In my archives, I have notes and slips of papers of my kid’s dreams when they have shared them with me. Nathalie’s book inspirations from a dream on a road trip years back. Henry’s dreams when he first moved to London. I remember my uncle’s recurring dream that he must of shared with me years and years ago. I found it so vivid that I’ve recalled it this long. Do I remember my own recurring dreams? I do remember Josh’s dreams of busses going over cliff and going to collect the paper on the front stoop even while he is the guy delivering it.

And I apologize to all if I got any of the details wrong. That is the nature of dreams, they change and morph under the fingers of your mind. When I woke this morning I remembered my dream, albeit, indistinctly. So first thing of my day was spent floating in between trying to remember and falling into the dream again. It was an experience of the things that I have been reading about with dream yoga, that being lucid in your dreams (dreaming with awareness that you are dreaming) is a balancing act somewhere in between dreaming and being awake. It makes me think of what Nancy said in class the other day about letting go of the things we can’t control. For me, letting go of remembering the details of the dream, and doing the things I can control, like keep bringing in the practices. The main practice, so I read, is strong motivation or intention. I need to let go of the trying to remember and instead focus on my motivation to do the practices.

A Little More About Dreamwork and Death-Cleaning

Here’s an image that I saw this morning that spoke to me. Although it spoke more about my assumption of what my progress will be like, compared to what it is actually like.

This image was taken from Kara Norman’s Substack “Under a Spell, ”a page she photographed from Geena Davis’s memoir Dying of Politeness.

Expectations of Travel Season

I will be camping next weekend, so next week’s post will be set up in advance and will post to you on the event of the Third Quarter Moon phase while I am gone. It’s the beginning of experimentation as I work out how the summer is going to go around here. I expect that some of my posts will be scheduled in advance, some will be travelogue and some will be photo essay. And that will be determined in the next couple weeks. The first thing I do is make a calendar map of our time and plans and where all the primary phases will fall and where we shall be at the time. Then I will have to think through where I will likely have time to sit and write, the connection to post it to the internet, and the wherewithal to share it. Hiking and driving take a lot of energy. What about the other things we shall be doing? Ashes scattering for my dad, spending time with family, friend time, and together time.

Next week I hope to publish my first installment of Mom’s writing. I am going to experiment with some technology to make it easier. Wish me luck.

I’d love to hear what you’d like and I will try to make more of that happen.