A New Time For Compassion

{Cathedrale St-Lazare, Autun}
“There are times to cultivate and create, when you nurture your world and give birth to new ideas and ventures. There are times of flourishing and abundance, when life feels in full bloom, energized and expanding. And there are times of fruition, when things come to an end. They have reached their climax and must be harvested before they begin to fade. And finally of course, there are times that are cold, and cutting and empty, times when the spring of new beginnings seems like a distant dream. Those rhythms in life are natural events. They weave into one another as day follows night, bringing, not messages of hope and fear, but messages of how things are.” ~ Chogyam Trungpa

New Moons are always times for new beginnings and for fresh starts. They signify something that is about to take place in a new cycle of your life. As all things in nature affect each other so does the moon’s energy affect its closest neighbor: The Earth Terra. As inhabitants of this planet, as well as other life here, we are likewise affected by the shifts of the tides and the energetic fields that emanate, not to mention gravitational pulls and etc. etc. Quantum physics aside, this is a time for you to look at your life and find what needs “freshening.”

As in keeping with my 101 Things to complete before the year is up, my third new moon card is the Three of Hearts, more known as cups. This signifies what I must refreshen and it is a key card. Threes usually are the product of some sort of creation, two transmorphs into a third, two becomes three, procreation, and you get the idea. This card signifies a celebration, a fruition, and a time for utter joy. Not too shaby! I could use some happy news right about now. This celebration of something new, could quite possibly relate to my new relationship, since we are indeed (and unrelated to the card in any way) having a party, a cosmopolitan party at that! So all I can say is “!!FIESTAMOS!!”

Now more on the New Moon in particular, it begins at 12:15 EST and will be in the constellation Pisces. Pisces is a wonderful time! It is a space of time we should look into our dreams, into balance and into compassion. Here is a list of some varying correspondences:

1. Take a leap of faith—believe in something that you always wanted to believe in, but were too afraid to put your trust in;

2. Accept imperfections in yourself and in others as a different kind of “perfection”;
3. Start a creative, imaginative project;
4. Consciously put aside time for peaceful, rejuvenating activities—these can include yoga and meditation, but can be as simple as recognizing your need for “down time” on a regular basis;
5. Practice putting yourself into others’ shoes, and let some things go (such as judgments, annoyances, and the like);
6. Revitalize yourself through experiences that require imagination, compassion, or that simply represent a “break” from the routine;
7. Connect or re-connect with a lover on a romantic level;

8. Share a dream.

What I like the most about this is a revitalization of self and of compassion, which I think more people should do everyday, not merely on occasions of lunar locale. Sure it is a reason, and prompts us to do so, however there is no higher form of humanity than examples of human compassion in a world controlled by insecure egomaniacs, with low self-esteem and a happy trigger finger. I think we should do more, and teach more about compassion and about equality and in doing so at least attempt to make a better world, however small…