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www.themoonschool.org © 2014 Katherine Bujalska

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Lunar Attunement Guide

www.themoonschool.org


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Lunar Attunement Guide

Welcome to this four-phase guide, specially designed to help you

attune your body, mind and spirit to the cycles of the Moon. My aim in giving you this guide is for you to start to feel more connected to life’s rhythms. To begin to form the shape of your life a little more closely to these ancient, undulating tones, so that you may gain a greater sense of understanding and empowerment that comes with these connections. For many centuries, we’ve been slipping away from the natural and deep-seated ebb and flow of our feelings, behaviors and creative efforts, towards the more staunchly persistent expectation that we must be, act and create with a consistent, unchanging pace. But now, many people are waking up to the fact living life with such speed and relentlessness is not healthy and does not bring happiness or fulfillment. Instead it brings disconnection. Synchronizing to lunar rhythms was the starting point for my journey of re-connection, with myself, with my life and with the Earth. Today, the cycles continue to provide the backdrop for the life I am living, and for my continuing spiral of growth. That is why I am offering this guide to you.

Women already contain this lunar connection in their own creative, life bringing, menstrual cycles (even if they have ceased, energetically they continue) so moving back into natural alignment is a process of remembering, not starting from scratch. So if you are a woman, I think that what you’ll discover here will intuitively fit with what your body and emotions are asking of you anyway. Whilst it is predominantly intended that women will be the receivers of much of what’s contained in this guide, if you are male and reading this, then I hope not to exclude you completely. Whilst you do not share in all of the biology, it is still my intention that this guide will help you to better utilize the powerful surges and retreats of lunar energy; and also that you may become more sensitive, supportive and encouraging of the lunar connections held by the women in your life. The role that you play is vital. The structure of this guide is as follows:

• A brief introduction into the astronomical movements of the Moon.

• Why the Moon affects us on an energetic level.

• A breakdown of each lunar phase, describing in detail the influence that each one has on our physical, mental and emotional selves. Each part contains suggestions for the types of practices best suited to that phase, so that you may gently shift the way you carry out your normal and essential activities, to align them with your lunar connection.


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A few words of guidance The New Moon is generally considered to be the start of the lunar cycle, so this is where we will begin. You may be looking at this guide during another phase, so feel free to begin there. The way to begin is with observance of the phases. Get to know them by sight, and by sense – by how you feel in your body, mind and emotions during each phase, and how this changes as the cycle moves on. Then begin to mirror, and be guided by the current phase in your daily life, and the changing phases will begin to manifest through you (the suggested activities and methods will help). Finally, you will start to become part of the rhythm, ebbing and flowing as the intrinsic part of the natural world that you are. The suggested practices and activities for each lunar phase are just that – suggestions. Don’t try and fulfill every one, every phase, but read through them all and if something calls you, have a go. If you feel very resistant to something, then this may also be an indicator that you should try it, or at least delve a little deeper, to work out the root of the discord you have with it.

Before we begin, I want to say that the single most important thing you can do when tuning into lunar rhythms is to go outside every day (or night) and spend time looking at the Moon. This ensures two things:

1. You will you begin to recognize the lunar phases by sight (and by the time of looking – she is not always visible at the same times on different days).

2. As the quantity and quality of light that your skin and eyes take in directly affects specific hormone producing glands, the connection your physical body makes to the Moon’s phases will be greatly enhanced. Now let us begin…


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Lunar Astronomy

Each calendar year contains thirteen Moon cycles, and each of these lasts 29.5 days. It only takes the Moon 27.3 days to orbit the Earth, but as we have moved along on our own orbit around the Sun, the Moon needs to travel for almost a couple more days to reach her relative New Moon position once again. During one lunar cycle, the Moon moves through four distinct phases, or quarters. These are made visible to us by the amount of light we can see reflected on her surface.

This diagram shows that wherever the Moon is in her orbit, one half of her surface is always illuminated by the Sun. How much of that half is visible to us depends on the Moon’s positioning relative to Earth, and to the Sun. Lunar calendars freely available on the internet, but the easiest, most sure-fire way of knowing which Moon phase we are currently in is to raise your eyes, and look up into the sky!


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Lunar Energy

Emotional Weather

The variable and very fluid nature of the light and energy that Luna imparts, means that she has virtually always been associated with the feminine. (This is opposed to her twin, the immutable Sun being associated with the masculine). It was recognized very, very long ago that when we are exposed to the Moon’s energetic field (which we are, constantly, as it orbits our planet), it largely activates the feminine aspects within each of us: our emotions, our intuition, our creativity and our capacity to nurture, to receive and form relationships, to mention a few examples. These aspects are activated differently, at different lunar phases. To a larger or lesser degree, this is the case for everybody, so the Moon’s phases (and her transit through the signs) create what some refer to as the ‘emotional weather’. Some feel these changes significantly, and can tell that the Moon is nearing its dark phase, for example, whilst others remain largely unaffected. I have found that the greater my mental awareness, the more I tend to notice and feel the corresponding moods and behavior of myself, and those around me. Some of the ways that this happens may appear self-explanatory, and some may not, but it is important to remember that people have been studying and documenting the effects of the Moon on life on Earth for millennia. And where there seems to be little scientific evidence or explanation for some lunar lore, remember the need for this type of proof seeking is a relatively recent development! For our ancient ancestors, who were far more tuned into natural rhythms than our modern selves, if patterns or correlations of behavior were noticed – their existence was evidence enough of their truth!

Manifestation

The other dominant, influencing factor I want to talk about is the significance that lunar phases have when it comes to manifestation practices. Generally speaking, the waxing phases (when lunar light and energy is rising) are the times when processes of creating and bringing things into being are supported and encouraged; and the waning phases (when lunar light and


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energy is diminishing) are the times when processes of releasing, destroying and bringing things to a close are supported and encouraged. The explanation for this is, again, down to the essentially feminine vibrational codes of lunar energy. Feminine, yin or Shakti energy involves magnetism and attraction. Its greatest strengths are in its capacity to receive, to yield, be alluring, responsive, cooperative and graceful. The opposing force to this is masculine, yang or Shiva (and solar) energy. The strength in this power is initiating, active, controlling and competitive. (It is important to clarify that both men and women contain masculine and feminine energies – this is not something based on gender). Conscious (and unconscious) manifestation utilizes the Law of Attraction. Its principles don’t require us to work in a controlling, dominant, assertive manner, chasing our dreams, for this would only lead to more of the same. What they do require of us is to open up to the interconnected flow of life, to nurture and nudge it in the direction of our desires, by knowing what we want, loving it, delighting in it and being a magnet to it, then being there, open hearted to fully receive what it offers to us. So the Law of Attraction operates on what are essentially feminine qualities. As lunar energy also contains these qualities, so it follows that when we attune to the rising, creative energies, and falling, clearing energies intrinsic to the Moon’s phases, we are aligning more closely to the naturally occurring rhythms already inherent in this universal Law, increasing its potential to work. So grow when the Moon grows, and retreat when she retreats. Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can

be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics. - Albert Einstein


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New Moon – Waxing Crescent

The Sun, Moon and Earth are all forming a straight line, in that order: there are zero degrees of difference. From our perspective, the Moon and Sun rise and set in tandem, and because the Sun’s rays are falling on the half of the Moon that we can’t see, she is invisible to us. The Moon continues to move eastwards by about 12 degrees each day, which means she rises about 50 minutes later every morning. At first she appears again in the evening, after the sun has set, as a crescent illuminated from the right.

Energy

New Moon is the time when our emotional strength is at its lowest ebb. This is not to say we are weak, rather we are the seed containing our potential for the cycle, before it bursts forth. As the first crescent of light appears, and Luna moves toward her waxing crescent phase, imagine that seed, buried in the darkness of the fertile soil, sinking down it’s first root, and sprouting up its first delicate shoot. These few days of emergence, on and just after the New Moon are a powerful window for intention setting, honing desires, and conjuring the courage and belief to begin the monthly cycle of creation.

Body

You may feel very tired, inactive and have a low appetite. As the first crescent appears, expect your energy levels to begin to rise.

• Let yourself sleep longer (or go to bed earlier) and rest frequently. • Meditate • Do gentle exercise, like walking or yin yoga. • On the day of the new Moon, consider a juice cleanse or fast day.

This is the lunar time when our bodies are in peak elimination mode, so by limiting what we eat on this day, we reduce the pressure on our digestive


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system. This creates time and opportunity for the rest of the biological functioning of our bodies to rest, repair and release any potentially harmful or toxic deposits.

Mind It’s likely you will feel contemplative, intuitive and dreamy. As Luna continues to wax, our thinking becomes clearer, and plans and strategies naturally start to form.

• Set your intentions for the lunar cycle, and beyond. Write a list and aim big – visualize your ideals. Go with what your heart desires and try not to be limited to only what your mind thinks you are able to afford or achieve.

• Consider holding a New Moon ritual, to call in energetic support from the newly waxing Moon. (Details at www.themoonschool.org)

• Allow your intuition to guide you. This may spark sudden insights and provide previously unseen connections, as during this phase, the right and left hemispheres of the brain are communicating powerfully together.

• Allow ideas and strategies to formulate, and flow together, rather than trying to be in control of them. As the cycle progresses, begin to make connections and lay down tentative plans.

• Take time out to read, watch and/or listen to inspiring and uplifting literature and videos.

Emotion During this phase, we can feel particularly sensitive, introspective and withdrawn. Right at the beginning of the cycle, you may struggle being around others, preferring time alone. As the Moon waxes towards her crescent, whilst still feeling delicate, you may feel a sense of emergence.

• Spend time during this phase tuning into your feelings. We are constantly emitting the vibrational frequency of whatever we are feeling, out into our electromagnetic field. This is what ultimately attracts everything in your reality to you (so much more so than your thoughts do). So this is the phase to become fully aware and conscious of how you are feeling, moment to moment, so you can be in control of what is being created as the cycle progresses.


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First Quarter – Waxing Gibbous

As the cycle moves beyond the crescent, the Moon forms a right angle, or square with the Sun, and as more of this light is visible on her surface, she can be seen as a half circle in the evening sky. Luna continues to orbit eastwards and as our view of the illuminated portion of her face increases, she enters the waxing gibbous phase.

Energy

During the first quarter phase, our energy is rising and this is felt in more openness, both with others and with the possibilities surrounding us. It’s when we are becoming more capable of really magnetizing things to our lives, so it’s vital to remain alert, feel and embody our increasing strength. It’s the right time to implement changes and put plans into action. The first quarter Moon often marks a time of tension or friction in some part of our lives, as the new and the old are vying for position. So it may be that to progress, we are required to take a brave step into the unknown! As the Moon reaches her waxing gibbous phase, our energy becomes more dynamic, exuberant and intense.

Body The body is active and feels stronger and more able. Your appetite will be rising as your body is taking on and storing sustenance.

• Get outdoors and connect with nature. It is important to tune in with the vibration of the Earth, in order to develop and/or maintain receptivity to the intentions you set at the new Moon.

• Try something new: an evening class, a daytrip somewhere you’ve never been, even a different route to work! By physically shifting out of our routines and comfort zones, we create little gaps and cracks, for opportunities for change and newness to enter our lives.

• Do some strenuous, challenging exercise.


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• Eat right. This is an active time of gradual acceleration for our physical bodies, so eat the right food to sustain it. So lots of fresh veggies and pulses, with enough grains (rye, oats, quinoa) to keep you going.

Mind This is the time when you’re most likely to feel inspired, creative and able to launch and develop your plans.

• Begin to act on your plans for the cycle (or if you are making up schedules in advance, be aware that this is the phase that most supports actively getting going on your projects).

• Become super aware of what you are reading, watching, and listening to, especially through the media. Just as our physical bodies are storing up nourishment in this waxing phase, so too are our mental and emotional bodies. This often happens unconsciously. So choose whether to watch the news, read the paper, listen to music on the radio, don’t simply be a vessel. Ingest only what will raise your vibration and influence you in ways you fully intend.

• Make plans to meet friends and collaborators, and also schedule work appointments for this phase.

• Actively reach out to someone who can support you and/or whom you can support. The waxing gibbous phase is when we are at our most generous, and receptive, so collaborations can be really successful.

• This is the most rational thinking time for most women so ideal for forming longer-term plans. Summon the boldness to make a commitment to something in the future!

Emotion

You will probably be feeling balanced, easy-going and becoming more generous and gregarious as lunar energy continues to rise.

• Express your creativity. This may mean getting out your paintbrushes, but it could easily mean turning up the stereo and having a good dance in your living room, re-organizing your desk, even just doing your hair differently!

• Make a concerted effort to banish negative, self-limiting thoughts from your mind, to prevent feelings of powerlessness appearing. This is the phase of action, and for your actions to have the affects you desire, they need to come from a place of strength and certainty.

• Watch your knee-jerk reactions to people and situations. If you are trying to create newness in some aspect your life, don’t react to it as you always react. Try receiving it differently, and trust that the new, unfamiliar outcome caused will help to generate the change you want.


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Full Moon – Waning Gibbous

At the Full Moon, all three celestial bodies are again in a line, but with Sun and Moon opposing – 180 degrees away from each other so that Luna rises as the Sun sets. We see this as the full face of the Moon illuminated throughout the night, until she finally sets at dawn. As her continuing orbit begins to limit the light we see reflected, she retreats into the waning gibbous phase.

Energy The full Moon phase is a time of illumination and clarity. We can often feel bright, sociable, self-assured, loving and connected with others. This may sometimes tip into over-emotional, “silly” or even manic behavior. Our manifested desires often show up at this phase, as it is the culmination of the creative part of the cycle. As Luna heads into her waning gibbous phase, the mood turns to one of consolidation and of deepening awareness of ourselves and others.

Body During this phase, the body is at its strongest and most energized. We can often feel alert in the evenings and can stay up a little later than normal, without suffering too much the following day, as our bodies and minds are quicker to wake up and get going again.

• Be spontaneous! Say yes to an opportunity - don’t worry about breaking routine.

• This is the best lunar time to take part in high-impact / competitive sports. • Express your sensual side. This is often the phase when women ovulate so are

at their most fertile, and are subconsciously looking to attract a mate. Dress up, beautify yourself, and feel gorgeous! For men, this is a time to appreciate and enjoy women in the fullness of their strength.

Mind


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This is the lunar phase when we can often feel most self assured, and therefore eager to share and teach what we know. At the waning gibbous phase, our attention to detail and capacity for analysis and making critiques is at its highest.

• Consider holding a Full Moon ritual, to express your gratitude for Luna’s

energetic influence and support this cycle. Ask her to take with her waning energy, any aspects of yourself you wish to release.

• Talk and discuss ideas with others, be daring and explorative, give a little more in conversations.

• Complete tasks. Especially if you are the sort of person who has a hundred projects going on at once: Finish one of them! By enabling closure, we are releasing our attention, and will encourage the flow of new energy through our lives.

• Take a good look at what manifested for you during the cycle, and what didn’t. Be careful not to judge yourself or your behaviors, but do try and take an objective view of any parts you played.

• Save numerical or editorial projects (where a keen eye for detail is required) for this phase.

Emotion

This is the lunar phase when we feel most loving and giving, and particularly during the waning gibbous phase, we can feel nurturing, tender and in need of intimacy.

• This is the ideal time to schedule social engagements, or throw a party. The mood is open and playful and most people will have the stamina to keep going, so make the most of it! It is worth noting that often, if we remain too closed off during this phase and don’t indulge our social animal, then we may feel restless and resentful later on in the cycle when the focus shifts inwards again. So it really is good for us to go out and have a good time!

• Find things to feel proud about! This is the lunar phase when we are encouraged to pause, and clearly see our achievements and successes both from the current cycle and beyond. Generate gratitude, for universal energies and for yourself and the role you are playing.

• As the cycle progresses, spend more quality, nourishing time with your partner, and/or closest friends and family.

• Nurture your empathic abilities by creating and holding space for others to be their authentic selves with you. This means releasing any judgment, or urges to second guess, or control others. By allowing and supporting others to be their best possible selves, in whatever form that needs to take, you help them become it!


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Third/Last Quarter – Waning Crescent & Dark Moon

During the last phase of the lunar cycle, the Moon wanes from the third quarter to invisibility again, and the dark, or New Moon. At 270 degrees east of the Sun, she rises in the middle of the night and sets at midday. At this phase, she is visible high in the sky at dawn, as a half circle, then later as a waning crescent illuminated from the left.

Energy At the third and last lunar quarter, we can begin again to feel emotionally sensitive. As our focus turns from the external, created reality to our inner worlds, we need opportunities to consciously withdraw and spend time alone. As lunar energy is diminishing, our bodies, minds and emotions are also ebbing in strength and stamina.

Body The body slows down and begins to enter into a mode of elimination and detoxification. Peak energy happens earlier in the day as our demand for sleep increases, as does the need for REM sleep.

• Schedule in more rest time. • Up your intake of water and try to have meals consisting of raw and juiced fruit

and vegetables to support your body’s natural processes of elimination. • Spend time on self-care rituals. Get a massage, have a sauna, try dry body

brushing and oil pulling. As well as aiding the body to release any build up of toxins, the practice and enjoyment of these kinds of self-honoring activities is a vital restorative practice for the body and soul.

• As the dark Moon approaches, allow yourself to wind down earlier in the evening.

• In winter especially, turn down the electric lights (or better still, turn them off) and relax by candlelight, and if you must use screens, turn the brightness right down. By lowering light levels inside, you will help to mimic the natural absence of moonlight out of doors.


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Mind This is a powerful time of self-evaluation. As our attention is inward-focused, we can better see where internal changes are required.

• Spend time reflecting on the cycle’s activities, and the roots of your choices and actions.

• Think about any aspects of yourself that showed up, that no longer serve you, and that you wish to release. Doing this in the waning part of the cycle will enable you to start afresh when the New Moon arrives again, without being held back by any of the limitations that surfaced this time around.

• Experiment with dream work. Before you fall asleep, ask to be shown the answer to a question and on waking try to remember if you saw any meaningful information in your dreams. There are many books to guide you through this type of work.

• Try divination, for example card readings, tealeaves or even just asking for signs and messages in everyday life, and being open to any responses you get.

Emotion

We can feel little like being around others at this phase. Our mood may turn irritable in a subconscious effort to drive away others, if we are unable to find enough personal space. We may be nostalgic, even weepy.

• Schedule in time alone • Explain to your family and friends that you need some space during this phase

and ask that they respect this. • If you have a young family, make a request for help, be it babysitting or for

someone to collect the children from school, for example, so that you can have some time alone that you wouldn’t normally get. If your family are less directly dependent on you, try going on a ‘mini-retreat’, by taking yourself away from routine and work or domesticity for even just half a day.

• Do shadow work, especially emotional healing techniques such as soul retrieval. If strong emotions do flare up during this phase, don’t ignore them. Give yourself the time to enter into them fully and really feel them in your body, to gain a better understanding of what they mean.

• Write in a journal, with no expectations on yourself - just see what comes.


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The Cycle

It is a really good idea to begin writing in a journal when starting to align with the Moon’s phases. Try to notice and record the changes in how you feel physically, mentally and emotionally through the course of a cycle. Try and notice also how you are with others – how open, gracious, and how irritated and impatient you get! Then at that point in the following cycle, you may be able to predict, address and utilize or divert any repeating patterns of behavior. And of course, to really notice the patterns as they emerge, you will need to keep it up for a good few months, to take in more than just a couple of cycles. So be patient. It can take many lunar months to attune to these rhythms, and even after that long, it is easy to slip in and out of awareness. That’s okay! Someone once told me that if we are to truly align with the Moon’s ways, then our presence and attention will ebb and flow as she does. Consistency is not what we are seeking, authentic connection to the rhythm of our own life is. So if you loose your way and forget the connection for a while, don’t worry, it may be that you are actually more aligned than you realize!

One last thing. Following and re-aligning your own rhythms to those of the Moon (and of other natural cycles, too) is a personal journey. But also one shared with hundreds of thousands (probably millions) of people, past, present and future. So when you look up to the sky and connect with la Luna, know that there are many who are sharing your gaze. For any further information, or if you have your own stories to share, please get in touch: [email protected] I would really love to hear from you. Kat ♡

Lunar Attunement Guide - The Moon Schoolthemoonschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/lunar-attunement-guide... · Lunar Attunement Guide Welcome to this four-phase guide, specially

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