Tuesday’s Full Moon is Extra Bright, Chaotic, and Porous.

It’s a big full moon this week, literally! Being at perigee, the moon is hovering at her closest to Earth, looming bigger and brighter than the average full moon. Tuesday brings a “supermoon” (one of four in a row from August to November). You can expect a bright night, high ocean tides, and likely, more easily triggered emotions.  Don’t skip your morning meditation. for at the same time, the Earth is poised between the sun and the moon, revealing our planet’s shadow.

It’s a lunar eclipse: what’s hidden becomes visible (that’s the celestial message). Lunar eclipses suggest that something unexpected or chaotic will be revealed. Maybe it’s a part of yourself you don’t relate to—me, arrogant?  Me, needy?  Or even—me, powerful?  Me, creative?  Possibly the shadow material will erupt in someone around you. Either way, the gift is seeing it for what is: something hidden that requires your attention.  What you can see,you can do something about.

What’s the best way to spend the day? As the energy is buzzy and unpredictable, it’s wise to go gently. Here are my top 5 tips:

1. Rest. Breathe into your most fatigued spaces.
2. Find your feet; feel your bones; surrender to gravity; ground.
3. Stay hydrated.
4. At various times throughout the day, recite your gratitudes like a rosary. Notice the way these thoughts can shift your field.
5. Honor the unexpected. Especially be on the lookout for an appearance of your shadow. If you’re lucky you’ll see one of the demons in your subconscious that others often see but you forever miss.

While the partial lunar eclipse gets our attention, we shouldn’t forget that this is also a high holy day in the wheel of the year. It’s the harvest moon, the last full moon of summer, a revered treasure among farmers, providing three days of extra light after-sunset. In less than a week, the Sun will cross the equator, ushering in the equinox on September 22, when day and night are of equal length. The harvest moon is always that full moon closest to the Autumn equinox (here in the northern hemisphere). All around the globe, the forces of dark and light are momentarily balanced.

Equinox creates a temporal threshold—a power gate–a moment that’s especially charged. In the days building to equinox, gently quite yourself and place an otherworldly call to your own ancestors, in particular, the ones who knew how to honor this sacred time. Listen—you might hear the echo of their chants still reverberating in your soul. Or perhaps you can smell the harvest treats that are still baking in their kitchens. Or perhaps you can feel their tremendous love for you, wrapping around you like a beautiful hand-woven blanket.

Back in the present time, you can also build a harvest altar. On it place symbols of the first fruits of your own life harvest – a token representing a child, a flower from your garden, a leaf from the forest, a page from a book, an emblem from work. Highlight the colors of burnt orange, gold, and crimson. Give homage to the life force underlying the natural processes of birth and death, growth and decay, the dark and the light. Offer your blessings to the Earth. Of course, bow to the Great Mother of all beings in the moon.

By sign, this moon is in compassionate and dreamy Pisces, while the Sun is opposite in hard-working Virgo, home of the Great Grain Goddess. The Pisces full moon is also special, occurring just once a year. Being a water sign moon, it’s highly porous, which makes it’s such a useful moon, even though it’s so otherworldly. But don’t take my word for it.  Try one of these activities and see for yourself!  The practical moon loves to be tested and seen.

• If you’re a gardener, this is the moon for nourishing your plants with deep watering and/or organic fertilizers.  For those in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s a fine way to end the summer growing season, with one last gift for your plants.
• This is the best moon for beauty treatments like facials and mud baths.  You’ll double the benefit.
• It’s a great moon for any kind of deep cleansing–cupboards, carpets, floors and fabrics.  Difficult stains may be easier to lift at this time.
• This is also the best moon for applying color to hair or textiles.  Colors are more vivid and last longer.
• Healing treatments are more effective.  The cells of the body absorb the potions more readily.

So now you have much on which to meditate, celebrate, or take advantage of during the week of this especially beautiful and bountiful full moon!