Full Moon finale

Full Moon finale

by | March 31, 2018

I began on March 1st with wanting to deepen my understanding of what a blessing is and practice directing that blessing to me, too. In addition to the pure experience of intentional practice, I also turned to John O’ Donohue’s writing about retrieving the lost art of blessing in To Bless the Space Between Us (2008). Some ideas he shares there that resonated for me, and in retrospect seem to have showed up in my collage were:
• Our very presence in the world is itself the first gift, the primal blessing. (p 186)
• The original meaning of blessing was vitally connected to the life force. (p 199)
• Blessings imparted by laying one’s hands (on the head) of the one being blessed. (p208)

My body is the current carrier for my presence in the world. And remembering it as such, helps me to soften the learned harshness I’ve carried about it. So, to think of presence (in the body) as the primal blessing, strengthens the importance for me of why it might matter to make it a daily practice to bless the body. I noticed somewhere along the way, that all of the images that were coming to me each day carried a life force, there were no inanimate structures appearing – as if to catch and focus my attention on the miracle and mysteriousness of life as it comes into and out of diverse forms. I also noticed the prevalence of hands (and paws, hooves and claws) in my collage. Perhaps to remind me that hands themselves might be the carriers of blessings.

I offer my gratitude to the conception of this invitation and to all that it took to bring it forth; and to all of the ones who were willing to respond to my daily inquiry and who offered individual lessons and reflections and a collective visual story. In order of appearance:

1. Baby gorilla
2. Sheep in tree
3. Magdalene
4. Kelp
5. Frankincense
6. Bear
7. Turtles ashore
8. Hermit crab embryo
9. Two human hands
10. Man hunkering
11. Pe’a (tattooing)
12. Snake
13. Giant blossom
14. Cygnet
15. Sea urchin
16. Jaguar and caiman
17. Children under shelter
18. Girl and cow
19. Hawk
20. Trees
21. Passageway
22. Swan egg
23. Goat
24. Ferns
25. Omnivorous caterpillar
26. Desert snake eye
27. Elbow of protection
28. Owl
29. Potatoes, hands and rose
30. Moose
31. Moon

As I sit with all the images, I notice themes of connection and protection; predation and vulnerability; strength and tenderness; ferocity and gentleness; the predominance of green, brown and grey; the remarkable balance of beings (eg. 8 images with humans, 7 with plants, 9 with animals, 9 with birds and reptiles, 7 predators, 6 non-hunting beings) as if to demonstrate that balance is maintained by remembering the aspect of the many in each one.

I arose today to be with the moon in its fullness in the pre-dawn hours, and it is possible there was a reciprocation of blessings between us. To offer out my humble gratitude and to receive the light of the moon across my body seemed a perfect way to conclude this ceremonial time.

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