Shake and Bake 60 – The “Triple L” Edition

Slipping in on snowy feet, with icicles and raven wings, this moon will bring me into Silence and out again.  A moon for rebirth.  Holding the Winter Solstice and Yule.  Time spent alone and time spent with family and friends.

This month I plan to journey deep into silence as I set off
to attend my first 10 day silent retreat at the Ontario Vipassana Centre.  I will emerge from the silence into … the solstice… and Yule… the returning of the light.  And I shall return to my family and friends to celebrate the holidays and the turning of the wheel into a new year… another new year…. how wonderful.

December’s moon is known as:  the Full Long Nights Moon, Cold Moon, Oak Moon, Winter Moon, Peach Moon and Wolf Moon.

I shall call this year’s moon – Listening Moon – as that is my deepest intention for the month.  To find my way to silence and listen to what rises there, and to listen deeply to those I love.  To fully hear and taste and see the beauty around me.

But before I get carried away with the waxing poetical…

Let’s get on with the Shaking and Baking…

The Quick Chicken (The Doings that help me with the Being):

• Scribble:7/7
• Walk: 4/7
• Yoga:0/7
• Meditation:  3/7
  

…and…

• Writing Shifts: 4/7
  

…no comment…

THE GNARBLE:

• Discombobulation – shifting residences.
• A feeling of… wanting very much to please a certain person and make their way a little lighter and brighter and… feeling that nothing much works. Aches.
• Missing the Shakey Shack much.
• MoneyFrets
• Failing to finish a story “on time” for a certain submission…. sacrificed to a larger cause… oof.

THE SWEET N TASTY:

• Breaking through the serious Fear and Doubt around a piece of writing I’m working on and… moving forward… with the help of a wee Elf Helper in the shape of a Bear. Much thanks, kind Sir.
• Tiredness was… lighter this week and I am grateful for that.
• I actually managed to keep my “intention” conscious for most of the week.  It so helped.  I re-inforced it every morning in my paper chickens and VOILA!  Wheee
• I loved walking through the light snowfall to take in Melanie Doane and Crystal Shawanda at the Holiday Train and to hear that they have already raised over 8 Million for Food Banks across Canada.  It was a fantastic show.  I wept… I seem to do that a lot lately.  In a good way.
• Being here, in this lovely lovely house…and sharing our days with a beautiful four legged furry ball of energy and love.  We are so blessed.

The Thing That Needs Baking In MOST (What WORKED):

This is the first time this has happened but… WHAT WORKED was… last week’s playful intention…. IT’s a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!!

My intention was to…

~EMBRACE the CHAOS~

And I did.  We came into town DAYS earlier than planned.  Things went… awry all week… and… it was all FINE in the end.  And I managed to hold an intention for more than 5 seconds after I made it.  OUTSTANDING.

There were times when I was headed into… change change change of plans and I kept smiling thinking… you so saw this coming… remember… embrace… go with it… see what happens.

It was a blast.

That said – I’m glad to see the back of November.  It was another hard month for me in many ways.

I have most excellent HOPES for December.

I don’t know anything at all about astrology…other than that I am a Taurus and a Wood Snake… But as I begin to pay more attention to the Moon and her cycles, I also come across teachings that involve aspects of astrology – like the fact that this particular New Moon comes to us in Sagittarius and, according to Simone Butler over at Mooncircles.com – this means that the big theme of this new moon is LIBERATION!
I like the sounds of that.

So here’s to

Liberation and Listening… and Libations

drunk in honour of friendship, love and gratitude.

~~o~~

My Elemental New Moon Intentions:

Earth ~ to embrace those I love in the here and now and to send love stretching out to those I cannot touch in the flesh.

Air ~ to breathe deeply the smells of the season – snow and pine and cinnamon and all things warm and wonderful.

Fire ~ to embrace the silence and to listen close to what arises from within.  And to listen close in the external world as well.  To listen to the hearts of others with my own heart.  To hear true.

Water ~ to enjoy the bounty of the season and savour the flavour of life as it passes through me.

THE FIFTH – to open to that which comes clear in the dark.  To see.  To believe.  To hasten the visions forward into the light – to be shared with others.

And the overarching intention – is to continue to EMBRACE the CHAOS as I head out on this wild winter adventure.

~~o~~

I will be offline most of this moonth.  So I won’t be doing my regular Chicken Check Ins on the 9th or the 17th.

But I hope to be back with … something to share with you all about the retreat.

For those of you having fun with the moon, here are the upcoming phases…

New Moon: December 2, 7:22 P.M.
First Quarter: December 9, 10:12 A.M.
Full Moon: December 17, 4:28 A.M.
Last Quarter: December 25, 8:48 A.M.

Dark Moon: Dec 30, 31

~

I wish you all a month of Joy.  May you make snow angels with one you love, and sip heartwarming bevarages by an open fire.  May you laugh til your stomach hurts and weep a little too.
May music follow you everywhere.

May we listen and hear the truth.
May we feel well loved and love well.

And to bring home this moon’s theme of Liberation…and to remember what AWE feels like… Let’s head over to Chimp Haven for tonights heartwarming weepface video…

Imagine…. seeing the sky for the first time…or the first time in years.

A true miracle.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/watch-liberated-research-chimps-see-the-sky-for-the-first-time.html#ixzz2mMKkhNSp

Thanks for stopping by.

Go easy ~p