Dark Moon/New Moon in Capricorn: Pt 12- Journaling Vision Board- An Honest Profession (Climbing to Success)

 

Ah, Capricorn. The climb to Success. Vocation. Hard Work and Dedication. The CEO, The Professional, Top of the Line Personal Reputation and Brand. Wealth and recognition.

A self-employed person working alone to offer a needed service, earn a good reputation as well as a decent living, needs both vision and courage. Climbing the mountain of success also requires steadfast dedication, a good dose of passion for one’s craft, and the sure-footedness of the mountain goat..the Capricorn totem… to reach the pinnacle of professionalism.

For my whole adult life I have been a teacher both in both the academic setting and in private practice. I teach piano and music, and also esoteric spirituality for living well in a variety of settings. I remember in the first of my 35 plus years of teaching piano I made a statement to myself that I wanted to be “the Nadia Boulanger of my little locale”. (Nadia Boulanger was a very famous music teacher who taught, coached and mentored a number of very famous pianists in their formative years). I set a high standard for myself..and it made my work fun and fruitful for many years.

                              ***     http://pianomistress.wordpress.com   ***

My teaching of music is still part of my life’s work, but it has been necessary over the years to diversify, offering other fruits of my talents and interests, and always I hope to give the best service that I can in all that I do and teach. Even with all my experience however, it still helps to have role models, especially when  courage flags a little or I momentarily start to lose the vision  or belief that my work matters,  is worthwhile,  and a GREAT offering!

For my Capricorn Dark Moon I chose three wonderful famous women who have publicly excelled in their fields, given generously using their special gifts and talents and inspired many others: Ellen DeGeneres…the vocation of humor and wit, Oprah Winfrey..the vocation of living life well and opening opportunities for others, and …signified and lettered on the red doors…Elizabeth Arden…the vocation of beauty products for women. All successes, all vibrant personalities who have vision. In my own life, there are also many inspirational friends and associates who have created interesting work as teachers, artists, healers and entrepreneurs in fields that they love and have succeeded at, doing their best.

Do we know who they are by their talents and gifts? If I do my best, teaching…and yes fully embracing my vocation as a writer, will it matter? Will you know who I am? Will I make a difference? I hope so!

I imagine once again..the Voice of these Ladies laughing and saying to me “We hear you!”.

From Christine, The Greening Spirit

                                                 

  Promoting my work! Capricorn inspiration! see also:

http://wordmagicandthelawofattraction.wordpress.com

http://pianomistress.wordpress.com

http://sensuoussoupsandsuppers.wordpress.com

http://lunchandlearnseminars.wordpress.com

Dark Moon/New Moon in Aquarius: Pt 11 Journaling- Free to be ME!

Ah! Aquarius! The Rebel, the Genius, the Unique Individual, Freedom of Expression, The “Outside-the Box” taster of life! Leader of the pack…Visionary.

This moon coming at a time in my life when it became so necessary to take the risks of a unique vision contrary to the mainstream idea of what is it is to be happy and successful and the cultural/commercialist/consumeristic path to “get there”.  Also at a time in my life when I finally stopped the attempts at “explaining” and justifying the validity of a path and use of “time” defined by other people’s expectations or jusdgements. THAT release of the need to explain is FREEDOM!

Happiness is elusive when pursued by way of the homogenized, televised or advertised images and words of the “outer” world. For me as I have matured, happiness is an “inside job”…happiness and a feeling of rightness in how I express myself, how I earn my living through the arts/spirituality which doesn’t always earn a fortune but expresses freedom of creativity that is a major facet of my personality. Freedom of expression in how I dress, how I write or talk, what I focus on that has meaning for me and gives meaning to my life, how I define “freedom” of intellectual thoughts, how and what I pursue as pleasures and delights to bring beauty into my life…

This dark moon mandala in Aquarius chooses the actions of stepping out of the box and how to spend a day, a month, a life in a unique and personal way. A bright pink open BAG (not a box) filled with flowers and gardens, an outrageous pink outfit and hat no matter what my age…a butterfly for freedom of spirit, the permission to “think differently” from the herd or commercial consensus…and the blessing of personal guides and the gods laughing:  “WE HEAR YOU!” Thank you!

Take a chance on love! Speak Your mind..and other daring moves!

From Christine, the Greening Spirit

Dark Moon/New Moon in CANCER: Pt 10 Journaling-Mothers and Daughters

Ah Cancer! Motherhood, Fanily, Nurturing, Food, cooking, the Tribe, gardens, memories and heritage, the home.

Once a Mother, always a mother…this is one strong experience I have learned over the many years I have shared with my daughters since they first popped out and into this world until..well, right now! They are mothers also in the ongoing process of learning how complex a job it is to usher and guide another human being through life and I have loved watching them unfold into this role. I have seen a documentary in which the Dalai Lama himself said that the most important job in the world is that of the Mother..and being an astrological Cancer-rising woman myself, I would have to agree.

My daughters have always been an exquisite delight as I was raising them and I have loved them dearly. There has been laughter, warmth and comfort and I have been blessed that they are fine, funny, responsible and gifted women, mothers, and wives.

But no family is without challenges and heartache and over the years we have had times when things worked exceedingly well between us and times when there was struggle or temporary distance and stresses, grasping for undertanding, grasping for appropriate words to challenge or address perceived slights or disappointments. Add to the mix of “life”, the divorce between myself and their father, my own struggles in single-parenting for many years and the re-arrangement of family loyalties and connections in the course of their own marriages, the balancing of me and their father and in-laws…well, sometimes heartache and frustration are an inevitable part of the  family mix until we learn to share needs and hurts diplomatically, truthfully and gently for the good of all, which surely does take practice! (Knowing when to remain silent and just let it go is a skill as well)

After one such time of challenge in relating in new ways, the dark moon/new moon in Cancer allowed me to look at where we were and re-evaluate and re-new what was important for us as a family and as mother and daughters.

Our family times together with me and the girls doesn’t happen as often as we’d like, living in three different states and they with full-time jobs and families. To bring us together at a time when life may have drifted us apart I called on the word “respect” to remember that in the time when they are now adult, responsible and meeting all kinds of demanding requirements of their own lives and relationships I must “respect” the changes of new family connections, time commitments and responsibilities that re-shape our own original connection.  Anyone who lives in a family knows that words are not always crafted well under duress and both  giving respct and claiming respect for oneself in interactions  is an important part of  “relationship-ing”.

In this mandala, the ocean for me represents the vast sea of emotion that is part and parcel of the connection between my daughters and myself. Compassion, tears, cleansing, moods and tides flow through our lives. Especially true when astrological Cancer is part of the emotional make-up or phase of the moon.

In this mandala, a tablesetting and delicious food…always a virtue of Cancer…has always been a part of our life… cooking and eating together when they were growing up was a priority of our family life and is always a highlight when we manage to get together all…”You (or I) are coming for a visit? What shall we plan for our meal!”. Communion around the dinner table is such a healing ritual….a ritual that is much compromised in this fast and over-scheduled culture.

In this mandala, books and knowledge…always part of our homes. Books, books for grownups, and for children!

And over our heads, the flower Echinacea as a protection and healing totem…Echinacea that stimulates the immune system to be strong, resisting toxins and illness that periodically weakens us or brings us down. Echinacea that stregthness our ties as Mothers and Daughters, with the children ..daughters and sons…the family connection….

This is one of my favorite mandalas…

**** Note: This series is being prepared for a book on the Dark Moon/New Moon, how to form a monthly gathering, the dark moon mandala art project  and journaling with the moon mandala.

From Christine, the Greening Spirit

Dark Moon/New Moon in Libra- Pt. 9 : Journaling- Partnership or Autonomy?

Ah! The Dark Moon/New Moon in Libra. Libra: one-on-one commited relationships ie business partners? Professional and client? MARRIAGE? (also ­art, harmony, beauty, balance/imbalance, dependency/co-dependency, negotiation vs autonomy, gracefulness, diplomacy, and nice-nice for the sake of peace at all costs).

Journaling:

I have spent a good part of my adult life in partnerships and a bigger part of it as a single. In each of those two states I have been fully “in” it as it unfolded.  And I have learned important things in each……relationship with other and relationship with self.

The experience of being single and “in charge of myself and decision-making” without having to negotiate with another has afforded me the deep silence and extended times of chosen solitude necessary for the creative expressive part of my life’s calling. This freedom is an intense personal need that has only gotten stronger as I have gotten older.

The single life allows me the quiet and mental space in which to hear the inner promptings of inspiration and creativity. Just like the woman in the mandala alone in the greenhoouse planting beautiful flowers or the the woman taking time out to sit back and just be, without guilt or having to follow another’s schedule, I have  treasured the autonomy of being “single” and have somewhat chosen this in spirit if not in reality. I think. Because..

I also know that the warmth and sharing of devoted partnership or one-on-one intimacy is equally precious …when it is working at its best….in shared commitment and loyalty,  hugs, family time, conversations, brain-storming, task-sharing in the household, private games and shared jokes and humour, the history of trials and steadfastness…gifts, all.

Perhaps it is possible to have both, but I have yet to solve the challenge of that and though I am grateful to have experienced both, I am not sure exactly what it is the path that is truly the right one for me as I get older… now.

In this Dark Moon/New Moon in LIBRA mandala, my feelings gravitate towards the two images of the solo moments. Perhaps it is that as I have gotten older, have been partnered/married I am not now willing to give up large portions of my soul just for the sake of “peace” within relationship that threatens that. The partnership images are enticing…but it would definitely have to be the right person who would allow me to take periodic sanctuary into my own private personal soul-space.

Maybe it is a lifetime exercise in all relationships to work with the balancing of “self and other”.

From Christine, the Greening Spirit

Dark Moon/New Moon Magic-Pt 8: Affirmations / Journaling with your Dark Moon Mandala

It is powerful to write in journal form and powerful to set our intentions for manifestation in writing also. It has been said that when things ae written down and read regularly that the words have a magnetism that calls our desires in more quickly than if those things merely float aimlessly about in our heads.

This is true but it is also true that in writing and speaking our “affirmations” and intentions there is often another voice that competes with those words of hope or desire…that voice says things like “yeah, right! Not going to happen until……”…or worse “who do you think you are? You’re too old, poor, inexperienced, silly, unrealistic,” etc.

One thing about IMAGES and pictures is that in selecting (or being selected by them) and glancing at them on a regular basis, we experience the positive feelings of pleasure and anticipation which is such a magnet for bringing in those new experiences in some manifested form. The images, colors and selected words and phrases can bypass the negative and self-defeating mind chatter, going deeper into the Unconsious. Also the quantuum wisdom “Today I am looking for what I am wanting to see!” brings into our awareness and experience those very things in some form in the outside wor;d of our lives. Just try the exercise “Today I am looking for the color orange!” or “today I am looking for acts of kindness in my travels”. Prepare to be VERY surprised and delighted!

Journaling with your dark moon/new moon manifestation mandala (collage) is another level of self-processing and personal storytelling that is exquisitely healing. This does involve a mix of images and words and helps us to focus on the storyline of our life and experiences that are unfolding for us on a daily or month-to-month basis. In this we are made aware of things we treasure, things that we need to change and release and where we are in the process.

The next several chapters will share with you a few of my own Dark Moon/New Moon Manifestation Mandalas and the life journey stories that go with them.

It is my intention that you, the readers, may find yourselves in some of these themes and be encouraged to experiment with the Dark Moon/New Mandalas yourselves for manifesting healing and experiences that are life-giving.

From Christine, the Greening Spirit

Dark Moon/New Moon Mandala Magic-Pt 6: Astrological Themes

When holding a Dark Moon/New Moon Mandala gathering, it is not necessary to incorporate a deep study of astrological signs although that adds a richer level of awareness. In our gatherings, we however did include that into our evening.

Every month the moon moves through the skies and through the cycle of constellations in the heavens. Therefore every month, the dark moon/new moon falls into a new constellation which correlates to its astrological sign. Each sign highlights particular issues and themes indigenous to that myth. Much like your birthday and identification as a Gemini or Capricorn, you recognize the various themes and experiences in your life that are particular to each sign on the date of the dark moon as well.

The Dark Moon/New Moon is like the spiritual psychological new birthday for each month and so when we meet, we study that particular sign and discuss the themes that we may be alert to during that passage that kicks off the predominant energy of the month. (The moon WILL continue to pass through other signs during the month, but we treat the actual date of the event as the month’s birthday theme).

The Dark Moon is the seemingly empty void for three nights when there is no light to discern our path through daytime’s bright light and logical clarity. The Dark Moon however is filled with possibililities and during the dark void nights, we can tap into Dreams, intution, and the desires of the heart, listening to the true wishes of the soul. But still, since it is the NEW moon, although unseen, we still have the wondrous power to CHOOSE from the posssibilities in the void of all possibilities! That is why, in taking quiet time to browse through images and let THEM call to us…CHOOSE us….we bypass the head and and listen to the heart.

If one knows your personal astrological natal/birth chart, checking exactly where in your chart the dark moon/new moon falls each month, the issues and themes highlighed by both the sign of the moon, and the house it falls into will fine-tune your possible experiences and choices.

For those who might wish to review the astrological themes of the zodiac, this chart will aid you in understanding the theme of each dark moon in the signs:

1. Dark Moon in Aries- initiating a project, focusing on self, making love, or making “war”, impatience or anger, passion, high Fire energy. Ruled by Mars.
2. Dark Moon in Taurus- sensuality, beauty, the arts, gardening, nature and the earth, ease, luxury, peace and grounding Earth energy. Ruled by Venus.
3. Dark Moon in Gemini- unbridled curiosity, multi-tasking, books and words, learning and teaching flirtatious, youthful, nervous Air energy. Ruled by Mercury.
4. Dark Moon in Cancer- home and home crafts, food, gardening,, mothering, nurturing, enterprising, deeply intuitive/psychic, Water energy. Ruled by the Moon.

5. Dark Moon in Leo- benevolent leaderrship, creative, self-involved , personal ego expression, theater/ drama/melodrama. Powerful Fire energy. Ruled by the Sun.

6. Dark Moon in Virgo- the dedicated servant/worker, health, order/disorder, on the contiuum of savior-victim relationships, cleanliness and purification. Earth energy. Ruled by Mercury

7. Dark Moon in Libra- partnership, co-dependency/interdependency, diplomacy, marriage, the arts, harmony and beauty in speech and interactions. Strong Air energy. Ruled by Venus

8. Dark Moon in Scorpio- “power over” vs “power within”, psychological transformation, self-renewal, forgiveness vs “getting even, healing and recuperation, the Sorcerer/Healer, psychic. Powerful Water Energy. Ruled by Pluto and Mars

9. Dark Moon in Sagittarius- The “Seeker”, the Traveler/Gypsy, higher education, codified religion and law, dance-away lover, truth-teller, humor. “More” is always better than “less”. Powerful Fire energy. Ruled by Jupiter.

10. Dark Moon in Capricorn-The Professional, the workaholic, the Sage/Wise elder, status, the Father/CEO, the Loner. Powerful Earth energy. Ruled by Saturn.

11. Dark Moon in Aquarius- The Visionary, the Eccentric, the Leader of the Pack, the detached lover, the Genius, the Revolutionary, the lover of freedom and fairness. Strong Air energy. Ruled by Uranus.

12. Dark Moon in Pisces- Mysticism, Poetry, isolation/retreat/behind the scenes,psychic, spirituality, savior-victim continuum, compassion, healer. Water energy. Ruled by Neptune.

    *** a note about this Dark Moon/Series. These are chapters for a forthcoming book-in-progress on Dark Moon Gatherings, and personal journaling stories accompanying the mandalas.

    From Christine, the Greening Spirit

 

Dark Moon/New Moon Mandala Magic Pt 5: Cut and Paste Meditation-Trusting Heart and Hands

Do we fully realize that we have the power to create better experiences in our lives no matter what our situation? Knowing WHAT we want is often more confusing than knowing what we DON’T want which  is, btw, usually the way we habitually think and talk and complain!). Until we realize that what we expect and look for is what we experience, we cannot enter the magic of co-creation and shift to visualizing what we deeply desire to bring into in our lives.

Many people have a difficult time with the visualization practice as well…scattered thoughts, inner voices shutting the process down with phrases like “yeah, right. It’s never going to happen” or “this is so silly!”. For this reason, an art process, like making a manifestation collage (which is what the dark moon mandala actually is ) helps us to focus on images and words that captivate us, sometimes without even knowing exactly why and centers our attention on possibilities. The cut and paste collage process ushers us into a timeless, dream-like experience of imagination and “choosing” and in so doing, conjures up, retrieves and reawakens powerful stories within us.

Sure, we are “just cut-and-pasting” but first we are “choosing” and that choosing is a creative visualization experience and a powerful process of identifying and co-creating new possibilities in our lives. Yes, indeed, this is a Law of Attraction exercise.

The intentional setting of the time apart to do this, the gathering of the circle, the astrological themes, journaling and sharing of insight,  the altar, the art supplies, the interplay of silence and quiet music and the intention to “dream” in this way together, the honoring of what can happen during the three night phase of the moon which is dark and full of mysterious as yet unknown possibilities, is true sacred ritual as well as sacred play.

The intentional time out to engage with the power of the dark moon time, away from mainstream secular activity is a time to search and find some of the desires of our own hearts and  to hand-craft a little personal masterpiece of dream-art that we can look at throughout the month..knowing that it is about a vital change of consciousness…a visual meditation,,, that can help us to know  what we are “looking” for. And what we look for and expect, is the magic that brings new experiences that are meaningful for us personally without the programming of the dominant outside culture telling us what it thinks we should want for fulfillment.

We can craft the quality of our life’s experiences by what we LOOK for. It starts in the silence, stillness and the great dark void of possibilities to hear personal truth and values. In our dark moon/new moon evenings, with paper, scissors, glue and the eyes of the heart, we enter a  powerful  creative realm of magic, energy and Possibilities.

From Christine, the Greening Spirit

 

http://pianomistress.wordpress.com

http://sensuoussoupsandsuppers.wordpress.com

http://wordmagicandthelawofattraction.wordpress.com

 

Dark Moon/New Moon Mandala Magic – Part 3: The Altar, Art and an Altered Focus

Creating an altar is important for any gathering during which we are intending to change focus from the mundane to the sacred.  A visual meditation… in both its creation and its viewing… centers us, releases the wildness of the imagination, and serves as a “doorway” to the soul. An altar brings us home into sacred space both inner and outer with a theme that hopefully alters our perception and steers us directly into magical, mystical, metaphorical and ritual territory which is a parallel universe holding answers and guidance that we sometimes cannot access in our day to day lives.

We have created many altars on this piano bench (!) for many gatherings, seasons and celebrations. For me, creating this particular Dark Moon/New Moon altar honors the blackness of the night without light (the poster board dark moons) yet never forgetting the interplay with the full moon. The darkness is the realm of sleep and DREAMS of what can be,  the full moon the celebratory manifesting of intention set in the hidden three nights of a sky without light.  This interplay of the dark and light phases of the moon, each with its own gifts, is repeatedly symbolized by the two flat round beach stones…a white full moon, and a black dark moon, a theme continued throughout the evening of our gathering.  The black candles in the white holders remind us  that there is a tight intimacy between the seen and the unseen of the moon’s moods and magic and that there is a never-ending cycle of endings and beginnings.. The blue- green globe in the center front symbolizes the planet earth, our home, which we can never forget is our grounding as we gaze up into the heavens at night. The picture with a sliver of moon over the wildly splashing seas and the two blue goblets on either side honored the oceanic waters and tides that rise and fall during the phases of the moon each month and each day.

Many of us instinctively create altars in our houses on any and all available flat surfaces ie side tables, dresser tops, tables, empty corners or alcoves. I am convinced that these altars often are a spilling out of the powerful creative and artistic inspirations that flows through the whole Universe…through YOU!  Through ME! Through all of us who wish to open up and let it flow! Whether displaying photographs, stones, feathers, plants, letters and notes, candles, and any array of personal treasures, an altar is a container of holy presence. An altar is an opportunity to honor what has become sacred and precious to us and invites us to use our imaginations to enhance and arrange the setting with color, texture, and a bit of “theater”.

An altar can be a container and it can also be a “teaching center” offering messages and wisdom to those who sit with is and ponder its meaning for them in a unique and personal way.

Should you decide to bring a Dark Moon/New Moon Circle together … let your imagination and a sense of prayer and PLAY set the stage for deeper insight and sharing. Altar/Altering our perception is one of the first steps to transformation for a richer experience of our lives both in the night and the day.

 

From Christine, the Greening Spirit

 

 

 

Dark Moon/New Moon Mandala Magic-Part 2: It’s Dark Out There (in here)

 

The Dark Moon is a great mystery of things beginning.  It is the metaphorical time when the seed is planted deep in the ground nesting where there is no light, its hidden spark of light igniting the life force that we cannot see. Altho it seems like it might be a contradiction, the Dark Moon is actually all about “the new”, full of potential, dreams and determined manifestation. So the dark moon/new moon is really a magical time during which we can step back from the world, and begin the work of conscious planning/planting of intentions, attitudes and experiences which we desire to focus on and bring into our lives.

In our Dark Moon/New Moon together times with the circle of “Lunas” , I am always excited to see our filled-in mandalas full of images, color and glitter at the end of our evening…but I am also thrilled to hand out the dark moon that is the bare, empty and black canvas ..the ultimate, empty Void holding but hiding infinite possibilities that I CAN CHOOSE to dream upon.

There is another element at play as well in the Dark Moon/New Moon experience. As well as being the “Creatrix” of my own visions, it is wise to also pause and allow in meditation or prayer the input/influx/inspiration of the greater powers of the Universe who may be able to see what I cannot, and who has a timing that is perfection for where I think I am going. …an experience of CO-Creation.

In my own life at this time, I am in a period of great change..a rather intense time of letting go of the familiar…letting go of my home of over 20 years under less-than apparent ideal circumstances, my possessions in storage, and working on “plan B” in a culture that is not necessary kind to older, single women who have to make challenging decisions considering personal economics that may be somewhat limited. It is a Dark Moon time..extended throughout many days and months and it is important to remember that Dark Moon simultaneously is “NEW Moon” and altho I know the secrets of magic and manifestation and of imagination, intent and focus…there IS another power I must not forget to address.

Although my way through the world is somewhat a-cultural and “magical”, I also have ties to a centering prayer circle connected to an earlier path of spiritual connection. This upcoming week, I am facilitating a topic in our prayer group from a practice of the Benedictine Monk community: Lectio Divina, in which one focuses on and lives with a sacred passage or special poem for a week, letting it unfold deeply in our lives and opening a connection to dialogue between oneself and God, or the Higher Power as you name it.

Knowing I was going to write this post on the Dark Moon/New Moon I had been thinking of my magical, astrological wisdom circles and our practices, but also at the same time  preparing for the Centering Prayer Circle this week in a more traditional spiritual setting (Catholic). I had to laugh with delight when the book I was using as a resource for that experience suggested the following passage from religious scripture for the practice of Lectio Divina:

“Now I am revealing new things to you. Things hidden and unknown to you, created JUST NOW, this very moment. Of these things you have heard nothing until now, so that you cannot say ‘Oh yes, I knew this’. ~Isaiah 48: 6-7

I really did laugh out loud when this was presented to me while I was preparing for this essay and for the centering prayer circle at the same time. It so synchronistically dovetailed with the theme of a “Dark Moon/New Moon.”

I AM in a rather lengthy Dark Moon/New Moon time at present and I am doing the  manifestation work of the magical will, focus and dream, choosing my images of home, creative living, beauty and comfort..yes, COMFORT.  But I have also just been reminded that there is divine, or cosmic help that sees more than I can when the future looks cloudy, misted over or dark. And I …and you…can call on that as well for support and in trust that in foggy unsure times, there are seeds that have been planted that we cannot see immediately..that the dark moon actually is the NEW moon and what is hidden will in time be revealed if we stay present to the Mysteries.

***Getting Started FOR YOUR OWN DARK MOON MANDALA: purchase a large sheet of black poster board ( cost: .50-.89 ). Using a large pot cover, lay it on the posterboard and trace around it to make a perfect circle. Cut..and you have your own round “Dark Moon”  upon which to cut and paste chosen images. Have a basket of gluesticks, glitter and a silver permanent marker with a thin point for writing. Collect a bag of magazines for finding images and words.

 

From Christine, The Greening Spirit

also: http://wordmagicandthelawofattraction.wordpress.com

http://http://pianomistress.wordpress.com

http://lunchandlearnseminars.wordpress.com

http://sensuoussoupsandsuppers.wordpress.com

 

 

 

Curious Kitty Creatures

                                                           BUDDY

 

I am a “dog” person although I have not had a pet for many years. Now, living with friends for a interim time between my old life and my future life, I am sharing space with a very curious species as well… three kitties. Certainly an amusing learning curve.

I am aware that some people have a beloved “familiar” and some people have a whole COLLECTION of them, intrigued by the variety of colors, patterns and personalities that cats display. Having now had the experience of house-sitting the three of the ones who live here when my friends traveled for a month, I have come to appreciate how fascinating these little beings are.

I am the earliest to rise in the morning, leaving my bedroom for a face-splash in the bathroom and upon opening my door, there are three faces waiting outside hoping for breakfast. Little meows from the oldest, Bubba, gives the request (orders) for food. He in advanced years lives to eat even with no more teeth. Given the persistence of a still ravenous appetite, he will live to be 100 I think.

People who have “familiars” already know this, but I am intrigued by the observation that cats are such “ritualistic” beings.

Staring out the window each morning, greeting the day with tales twitching for Life, when the sliding glass is opened, each one skitters outside, stands still for a moment and then sets out, each, in the same direction as before…Sky to the left, Buddy to the right, and Bubba, old fellow, carefully straight ahead on a nice day, or seated close and tight to the door if the weather seems unsettled.

Boy, do they LOVE the woodstove, and immediately gather from all parts of the house as soon as they hear the stove door opening in preparations for the fire.

Sometimes Buddy and I have to fight for the chair in front of the stove as it is his favorite place to sleep (and mine to sit)  Sky sometimes likes to sleep on the warm tile behind the stove, Bubba, old Philosopher, often stares into the flames from a safe-enough distance, though his eyes are dimming ( but he can sure find he leftovers in the other kitties’ spread-out food dishes if they leave before finishing).

 

 

BUBBA

 

 

 

Buddy is gorgeous. Buddy is a Beauty. Buddy is sometimes a Brat. When weather or possible woodland predators have kept him inside for a day, his mood slips and he is ready for a scuffle with Sky, swatting crankily after that stand-off display face to face with twitching “you’re going to GET IT” tail. Buddy KNOWS the rooms he is not allowed to enter, but let there be the skinniest crack in the door as you exit quickly he is somehow there to see if he can slip in in a flash. He’s usually blocked and practically runs backwards and away. He KNOWS…but cannot resist tempting fate.

Then there is SKY, a lithe gray tabby with a soft pink nose and huge eyes. When I first came here, I was told that SKY was very timid and would hide whenever anyone new came into the house. Which he did, skittering down into the basement or upstairs letting the guests think that the house was ruled only by two cats.

                                                                               SKY

However, in not too short a time, SKY warily began to hang around me, and the deal of bonding was sealed around day 4 of my feeding the cats breakfast when my friends were away for a month. Eventually we kind of fell in love, and now he routinely hops on the couch when we watch tv in the evening, does a whiskery “nose to nose with me, and even licks my fingers sometimes with a sharp-toothed nibble. My friends laugh and tell me this is most unusual for SKY  and I think it may be because once when seeing him sitting straight upon the arm of the couch backlit by the light outside the window, I noted that his silhouette reminded me of an ancient noble Egyptian temple cat. And his apple-green eyes, a magical charm. I think he heard that.

Sky has worked his way into my heart..my favorite, often following me and staring up from the floor into my eyes for no particular reason except he is connecting, and we are having a conversation without words. I think he has become…my “Familiar”.

 

 

From Christine, The Greening Spirit, Novice Cat Lady

http://wordmagicandthelawofattraction.wordpress.com

http://lunchandlearnseminiars.wordpress.com

http://pianomistress.wordpress.com

http://sensuoussoupsandsuppers.wordpress.com

 

**** BTW: Cougars like hanging around the woodstove Fire too   (wink)