Working the soil...
Preparing for the new moon gathering I facilitate every month at Moksha Yoga Square One, I look at the chart of the new moon to get an idea of how what's happening in the skies mirror our moods and preempt our actions.
I reflect on the energy, how I have been feeling in the days leading up to the new moon and what's going on in the world in order to interpret the messages I'm being sent and asked to share. By whom? By Source. Of course.
I look at what other people around me are going through and how their experiences may carry a thread of familiarity. Sometimes it's the whole cloth of resonance that I see in others and in myself.
This processing and analyzing - an innate part of my nature (might be my Virgo moon! Read: critical analyzer of the integration of science and soul) - is KEY at the time of the new moon.
This practice is now ingrained and every month, I go within. Sometimes untintentionally. Down deep. In the quiet. With intensity, to find out "what's under there"?

With Jupiter arriving in Scorpio, we've had a taste of the depth and the dark... (Umm, the #metoo movement coming alive to take down white patriarchy once and for all this year?!) and we are all witnessing how deep the cords of conditioning ravel within the psyche of every individual. Every person today (and this year) is urged to take an searingly honest look at the paradigms that they live within and act from everyday to see whether the beliefs they have amplify their most joyous and authentic self. As we know, when people can live from that space, the surrounding world benefits as well.
With the new moon in Scorpio this weekend, this is the official launch of the Year of Deep Excavation. And with any excavation comes questions:
What is hidden beneath the surface of your psyche?
What do you hide that you don't know what to do with or how to manage?
What continues to hold you in a space of smallness?
What binds you to your old self and old life?
Are you going to stay there, trapped?
With these questions and on this new moon, I invite you to tend your soil. Work the ground of your consciousness. Turn the earth. Put your hands in the dirt. Break up the hard, compacted bits of manure. "Ewww you think, I don't want to touch that." But it's YOURS - your compost pile of experiences, of life, of forgotten dreams and renewed goals. Own it. Work the soil. Pull out the old, dying roots. Make space but don't rush to fill it.
Let the ground rest for a moment. Thank the Universe for your ability and willingness to work the ground.
Then when you feel you have let the soil settle (or the dough rise, if you're a baker!) to your satisfaction, PICK OUT YOUR BULBS!
Yes, NOW! Yes, I know it's only late fall. But now is the time to work the soil so you can plant your bulbs (those "eureka" ideas!) at the next new moon which happens to be in Sagittarius. Sagittarius speaks to our dreams, ideals, visions and life purpose.
So don't be afraid of the dark. Take some private time to yourself and go deep. See what you find in the soil. Decide whether to pull up the roots or cover them over with dirt for protection.
Work your soil.
Image Source: https://www.denbow.com/products/soil/