Celestial Phenomenon | August’s Second Full Moon

Awakened by the gentle shaking of a not-too-big earthquake at 1:05 a.m., I’m continually reminded about the depth of energies we can’t control — like earthquakes, hurricanes, solar storms, and planetary influences.

Knowledge is power, and while I can gather candles for an impending loss of electricity, I also can anticipate somehow being affected by the potency of August’s second full blue moon so it won’t be a complete surprise.

Photo by Frank Cone on Pexels.com

“How many ways can you describe the sky and the moon?” —Toni Morrison

Conjure up the magic
And there it shall be
A sky full of wild dreams
For all to see
A little poem by Athey Thompson

The Pisces Full Moon on August 30, 2023, is not just a celestial phenomenon but a conduit for spiritual growth. By engaging with its energies, we not only enhance our spiritual pursuits but also align more harmoniously with the cosmos.

When we witness the second Full Moon in a single calendar month, it’s referred to as a “Blue Moon.” Such celestial events are not only spellbinding but are also as rare as they sound, gracing our skies merely once every two and a half years or so.

The appearance of a Blue Moon isn’t just about its rarity; it’s an astrological nod for us to sit up and take notice.

What does having two Full Moons within thirty days signify? It pulsates with a potent energy of release, overcoming of past traumas or shedding psychic burdens that weren’t our responsibility to bear in the first place.

During this Pisces Blue Moon, the dance of the planets is equally noteworthy. Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto will all be in their retrograde phases.

With the nurturing and gentle vibrations of the Pisces Full Moon, the exploration becomes even more profound. This period will be marked by heightened intuition, dreamscapes revealing more than they typically do, and clearer cosmic signs guiding our way.

And in these silent, magical moments, don’t be surprised if you feel the comforting presence of departed loved ones or ethereal guardians guiding and watching over you. spiritualify.org

Hang on!!!

And One Day

And, one day
We shall look back and see
It was always those little moments
That mattered the most
Those little fleeting moments
Of innocence
Of happiness
Of laughter and dance.

A little poem written by Athey Thompson

the little moments

I captured the final glimpse of the sunset with my son still out there surfing. Can life get any better? I think not. #grateful

And, one day
We shall look back and see
It was always those little moments
That mattered the most

(A little poem written by Athey Thompson)

Word of the Day: Nemophilist

This is such a great word!

Nemophilist: One who is fond of forest or forest scenery; a haunter of the woods.

Photo by veeterzy on Pexels.com

Oh yes, I’d love to haunt some woods right about now, with the stars above and the full moon to guide a late night hike…

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.
George Gordon Byron

(George Gordon was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the greatest of English poets. Wiki)

Be The Wild One

Be the wild one, my friends.

And, she
Be the wild one
That wanders the woods
Wanting for silence
But for, the song of the birds

Photo credit to Enchanted Seashells
A little poem by Athey Thompson
Taken from A Little Pocket Book of Poems by Athey Thompson

Enjambment | Measure: Robert Hass

A few years ago UC Berkeley hosted an Eco-Poetics Conference. My son was invited to participate and while there he was honored to meet the poet, Robert Hass.

Hass served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He won the 2007 National Book Award and shared the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for the collection Time and Materials: Poems 1997-2005. In 2014 he was awarded the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets.

I love the way his mind works, it’s as simple as that.

From Hass: “This poem is called measure – I think it belongs to my learning as a young writer as to where I felt poems were coming from.”

Measure 

Recurrences.
Coppery light hesitates
again in the small-leaved

Japanese plum. Summer
and sunset, the peace
of the writing desk

and the habitual peace
of writing, these things
form an order I only

belong to in the idleness
of attention. Last light
rims the blue mountain

and I almost glimpse
what I was born to,
not so much in the sunlight

or the plum tree
as in the pulse
that forms these lines.

FYI: Enjambment…From the French meaning “a striding over,” a poetic term for the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next. An enjambed line typically lacks punctuation at its line break, so the reader is carried smoothly and swiftly—without interruption—to the next line of the poem.

Inner Child ⭐ Love

“It doesn’t matter how old you are, there is a little child within who needs love and acceptance.”- Louise Hay

Do you still wish upon a star? I do, because my own inner child is blissfully naive and unsophisticated.

Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have this wish I wish tonight.⭐

I wrote a letter
To my inner child
And, I told her
How loved she was by me
And, if no one else
Ever told her so
She knew
How loved she was, by me

And when
We grow up
We must never forget
That hidden, down deep
Within us
Is our forever inner child
Resting, silently within us
Forever waiting
Forever hoping
That one day
We shall
Remember it

And, if a star shall fall
Down upon the ground
Why, I shall pick her up
For she longed to be found
I shall hold her forever
Forever in my heart
Knowing that we shall never
Ever again, be apart

By Athey Thompson from A little Pocket Book of Poems

Summer Solstice 2023

Happy first day of summer and the longest day of the year!

Until recently, I hadn’t known about the practice of celebrating Litha during Midsummer. Litha is a pagan holiday, a time of light, purification, and healing; to reflect on the light and dark within us and the world.

It’s time to appreciate everything we have in our lives and to be grateful for nature and all that she provides.

Pick some flowers to honor the season or build a fire or light a candle. A fire lit on Litha is said to be very powerful and magical.

“Write down your hopes and dreams and burn them in the fire, to do this on Litha night will bring you your desire.”

The Sun

Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful

than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone–
and how it slides again

out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower

streaming upward on its heavenly oils,
say, on a morning in early summer,
at its perfect imperial distance–
and have you ever felt for anything
such wild love–
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure

that fills you,
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you

as you stand there,
empty-handed–
or have you too
turned from this world–

or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?
– Mary Oliver

Strawberry Full Moon’s Penumbral Thoughts

| Penumbra: a shadowy, indefinite, or marginal area |

I sent you a present last night you know
Though it didn’t address you by name
It was all of those meteors showering, dancing
And falling to earth like the rain

I wrote you a letter last week you know
But it won’t have arrived in the post
I wrote on the bright coloured curves of a rainbow
The reasons I missed you the most

I sent you a message just yesterday
But it wasn’t a message in words
For I spoke to the wind and I taught her our song
And I asked her to make sure you heard

I drew you a picture last Tuesday
But you may not have noticed it there
For I drew round the clouds with the rays of the sun
So they glowed as they hung in the air

No, you may not get gifts like you used to
Or get messages stored on your phone
But I’ll make sure I’m sending something each day
So you know that you’re never alone

And tomorrow I’ll paint something wonderful
I don’t know quite yet what it will be
But I promise you’ll know when you see it
That it’s sent just to you

Love from me
Xxx

From When I Am Gone – Becky Hemsley

How I Go To The Woods

This intense cosmic energy is not only messing with my sleep, but I was having strange battery issues with my laptop computer so I went back to the Apple store where I had once met Al Gore (yes, VICE PRESIDENT Al Gore) and asked the Genius Bar tech to perform a diagnostic check. The tech didn’t do much but it’s all better, so who really knew what caused the problem, whether it was a hardware glitch or a solar flare, or other planetary influences. The good thing is that it’s back to working perfectly.

There were lots of traffic accidents and horrible drivers everywhere yesterday. The freeway was completely shut down for hours because of an insane situation with a woman who allegedly vandalized a vehicle and carjacked a Lyft. She led the police on a short chase but finally, peacefully, surrendered to police after a prolonged standoff on Interstate 5. It looked like WW3 with all of the military-like Special Weapons and Tactics Team surrounding the vehicle. The woman was taken into custody on suspicion of felony vandalism, brandishing a weapon in a threatening manner, assault with a deadly weapon, carjacking, resisting arrest, and felony evasion of police.

That’s way too much negative energy for ME to deal with and I’m so glad I wasn’t stuck for hours on the freeway. I felt lucky that I had made a spontaneous last minute decision to take an alternate route home. I heard all the sirens though, but had assumed it was simply another accident.

Time to take a deep breath, stay home, work in the garden, listen to the birds, and read a poem or two while cultivating some zen as well as my veggies.

How I Go To The Woods by Mary Oliver

Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single
friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore
unsuitable.

I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds
or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of
praying, as you no doubt have yours.

Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit
on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost
unhearable sound of the roses singing.

If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love
you very much.