June's New Moon Divination: Happy Birthday!

Note: New Moon Divination is migrating to the blog this year. Subscribers will still get first view via email for each new moon; everyone else will have access a few days later (probably about a week). I'm not making edits to the messaging with the time differences, though, so buckle in for what might feel like time travel...grammatically, anyway.  

Hello! Since tomorrow is my birthday, I indulged in doing a different layout for this new moon. If you’re a fellow Cancerian, I hope it will speak to you, but I think the insights are pretty universal. 

Remember: this is for a whole year. I use these insights to write affirmations and will likely relate a lot of my daily omens and goals to these. 

My four-position layout is loosely based on modern Druidic worldview and Indo-European influences – the Fire, the Well, and the Tree – and the gifts they offer. Imagine the Well at your core, the Flower at your heart, the Fire at your Crown, and the Tree connecting it all in a current that flows up and down your spine. You are suspended in perfect balance. 

• Well: corresponding to the Sea, emotion, intuition, and gut-level kenning. The Well is also our gateway to communication with our Ancestors or others from the past.

• Flower: blossoming on the Land and in our hearts, Flower represents community and relationships. It connects us with Kindred Spirits and the environments around us.. 

• Fire: lights up our minds to creativity, inspiration, and the vision of possible futures. As a symbol for the sky, Fire also serves as an open channel to the Shining Ones or Gods.

• Tree: connecting it all is the World Tree, which builds bridges between our worlds across time and all other possible realms. 

Here’s what I received, with apologies for my photography. I'll work on getting this diagrammed more aesthetically. :)

Well: Pine and Honeysuckle

Pine is for the big picture, a good start since I’m looking at a whole year. Yes, there is a goal in the distance. Sometimes it seems like it is always further away than the last time we looked, but now turn your mind’s eye to look behind you. We are on a very very very long road and it’s important to acknowledge our place in history. Take the steps you can but understand this shift is bigger than us as individuals. 

Honeysuckle reminds us to gather sweetness as we go. Joy is revolutionary, right? More clinically, pursuit of pleasure is a much stronger motivator than avoidance of pain. Any organism can move away from pain. All this work, on societal and personal levels, serves to increase our capacity for shared joy. 

Flower: Hawthorn

Hawthorn teaches us about pacing. I need to accept the little rest stops life gives me and not fling myself upon those thorns in my impatience. Lots of little metaphors in my head about Hawthorn’s mixture of flowers and thorns, and the risk of opening up our hearts. The words and music of “I Know This Rose Will Open” have been ringing in my head for hours now.*

I know this rose will open.

I know my fear will burn away.

I know my soul will unfurl its wings.

I know this rose will open.

Fire: Broom

I really love that the very ordinary work of Broom is here, in the position of highest aspiration. Big work is accessible when we break it down into smaller steps and use the tools available to us.

When things seem too big and complicated, just sweep. Just chop wood. Just carry water. Just take care of the foundational stuff. There is sanctity in the everyday care we offer each other. 

Tree: Oak and Holly

Connecting it all, Oak is your assurance of a strong foundation. Slow-growing, deep-rooted, long-lived, crowning the forest. (The Ogham Tuesday series has some great stuff about Oak!) It’s also my reminder that I can lean on the expertise of people who already know what they’re doing; I don’t have to reinvent the wheel myself, you know? 

And Holly, another tool. This one is about balance and precision and justice. Holly demands conscious choices. This, not that. Here, not there. Now, not later. It doesn’t necessarily tell me which is the RIGHT choice, but it reminds me the choices have to be made. 

*** 

I hope you found some tools to carry you forward through this year as well. Remember: if you’re a subscriber, a birthday reading is something you can reach out for anytime. (I can do this while we’re still small.) You’re also welcome to use this layout on your own with whichever divination method you prefer. I’m curious to hear about your results!

Blessings,

Nicole

*Excerpted from my bootleg copy of Singing the Living Tradition. Words and music by Mary E. Grigolia, copyright 1989.

~ Nicole (Nikki, sometimes Saffron Hare) is founder and general manager at Nine Fires Press. Her Druidic practice has included solitary, small-group, and congregational worship, with a focus on liturgy and seership. She is rehabbing an underground home in the Midwestern US and has a habit of falling in love with bad ideas.