Sarah Faith Gottesdiener - The Moon Book

Because shes the worlds celestial anchor. Her gravity stabilizes earth on its axis. Shes both predictable and wild. Because shes got a rhythm all her own that mirrors the seasons. We find our own rhythms when we look to her as a guide. Because we can feel her inside of us. Coaxing us to connect, forcing us to remember. The earliest people obeyed her orbit, and that lineage is still within us. It mirrors our own rhythms and cycles, our energy and our emotions. These observations remind us of our humanity and our true nature.

Because she represents our interior: the unseen, our receptivity, our psychic abilities. The power of our water. The vitality of our love. The entirety of our complexities that cant be packaged and sold. Because La Luna lights up the night, illuminates the darkness of the subconscious, where the deep mind lives. In astrology, psychology, and some magical traditions, the moon represents the subconscious. The subconscious is a source of our yearning and fear; it is where the stories and motivations behind our conscious behavior reveal themselves. When we decide to program our subconscious, we change our beliefs. When we change our beliefs, our behavior changes. When our behavior changes, our life changes.

Because moon work helps us tap into our deepest patterns and aids us in reflection and release around them. She is a tool to help us discover our unique truths and our specific needs. She helps us connect to and unleash all unique wisdom we possess.

Once upon a time, this planet lived by the moon. Our calendars were lunar. We planted by the moon, made decisions in harmony with the seasons and the constellations. Over time, through war, violence, and colonization, the shadow solar lifeproductive, binary, externally focused, competitivecame to dominate. Industrialization removed many humans from nature. Lunar life receded. Instead of placing value in our intuition, in the unknown, in cycles and mysteries, we deemed them scary and thus nonexistent. What one could not explain, one could not control. What could not be controlled was demonized, exploited, extracted, locked up, killed. Indigenous people. Black people. Queer people. Trans people. The feminine. The wild woman. The witch.

But shes back. That bitch, that witch, shes back. The season of the witch ascends again, and the moon has always been our emblem: since Hathors crown, since Sapphos lyrics, since the first stone temples were built to worship Hecates sorcery. Witch on broom, flying across a full moon. Cauldron in a clearing, night shadows dancing, potion charged for healing. Because she is here to remind us that everything sacred returns. (Thats because it never left.)

Because we are here now to dismantle white supremacist patriarchyand we must do so together. With our mindset, our conversations, our actions, and our collaborations, a new wave of soft power, change, and magic is being brought forth. For all people who know and long for a different way, forged of compassionanyone who has felt othered, punished, policed, or anyone who has been abused or marginalized for simply being who they are.

The moon is a love letter to our wildness. Its a reminder of our resilience in the face of subjugation. Its a promise to recognize the power inherent in the collective feminine. Our soft power: power with, power within, not power over. Developing and defining our own magic is feminist art. Tapping into our personal power and channeling it for the betterment of all is feminist art. Helping others work with their own gifts, supporting one another, reflecting anothers beauty back to them is feminist art. The moon reflects and transforms sunlight. We reflect ourselves back to one another and behold collective transformation.

Since the beginning of time, artists have tried to translate her particular light into an understandable language. Yet she somehow still summons us to the page, the instrument, the easel. The moon inspires, perhaps because her cycle acts as a blueprint for the creative process. There are dreams, visions, inspiration; we are in a new moon phase. A spark becomes a flame; we roll up our sleeves, seduce material out of thin air; we gain momentum, we build; we embrace the energy of the waxing moon. After practice and repeated effort comes culmination and embodiment. We celebrate, we share, we shine brightly. Others witness our glow. We are under the possession of the full moon phase.

Because magic is real. Moon magic is potent. When we follow along with her cycles, it aids our goals and dreams. Our power is channeled effectively when we mirror the processes of nature. Cycles of rest next to cycles of harvest lead to moments of embodiment, which turn into time spent clearing and reflecting. When we experiment with our own definitions of success, when we respect our own flow, we find ourselves pleasantly surprised by what transpires.

Because time is not linear and neither are our lives. Following the light of the moon goes against the binary of either/or. Beyond duality. It encapsulates the spiral; it acknowledges the death that precedes rebirth. When we are attuned to this natural process and can navigate our own processes accordingly, we are able to deal with change masterfully.

Moon work results in the exploration of different paradigms, endlessly generative options, and greater integration and understanding of the levels and layers of our conscious states. This book will provide you with a framework on how to utilize the entire lunar cycle holistically. You will be invited to explore the main phases of the moon, and will be offered various suggestions on how to work with each one. We will also introduce ways to develop a relationship with your own cyclesenergetic, personal, and emotionalthrough the lens of the moons phases. I encourage you to do this work for a while, just for you, without a lot of other outside input or influences. Give yourself the time and space to tune in to your own flow and energy patterns. Create your own personal relationship with the moon.

This book is written from my perspective, which is a feminist, queer one. I cannot separate my politics from my spiritual beliefs. What I share here stems from my life experiences over the past twenty years as a magical practitioner, a teacher, a student, a professional psychic and tarot reader, and an artist. My perspective reflects my background as a white cis woman, and all the conscious and unconscious privilege that identity holds. I do not write thinking that readers will resonate with every thought or sentence presented. Part of the most important work we can do is to think critically for ourselves and explore what resonates and works for us. Take what you like and leave the rest.