your birth phase: The Balsamic Moon

 

Here’s one thing I’ve observed about your Moon tribe: You rarely understand just how creative and intuitive you are. You think that your way of being and processing is normal, that everyone is wired this way. But you’re special. Your intuitive gifts are stronger than most. You often have a sense of future trends—which at times has driven you out of step with your peers. That’s why you may not feel particularly gifted. It’s easy to mistake your default setting as “different” instead of “divine.”

Yours is the last phase in the Moon’s cycle. The night is dark, which is why this is also called the Dark Moon. This is a period designed for rest, release, and opening up to new visions. It’s closer to the next cycle than it is to the beginning of the one that it ends. You could say you walk with one foot in the future and the other in the past. At least that’s the dual nature of your work: releasing the past as you invite the new that wants to come in. One of my Dark Moon friends often found herself working in companies that were downsizing and/or eventually dying. She got very good at stripping things down to its essentials and then starting anew.

People say you’re an old soul and this is a particularly karmic lifetime. I don’t know whether that is true. But I always remember what I heard Demetra George once say in a lecture—that people born in your phase have a particularly interesting social pattern. You tend to have many brief, intense, and possibly confusing relationships with people who, unbeknownst to you, are on your karmic list. That is, you keep connecting with the various souls with whom your soul has unfinished business (some say, from the previous seven lifetimes). When I’ve run this idea by my Balsamic clients, most of them know exactly what I’m talking about.

Trust that there are things you can’t see and don’t know about these relationships. Some are good and some are painful. But the universal balm to apply in all cases is quite simple: if you can release that other person while feeling honest love in your heart, you’ve probably washed the karma clean.

Your Moon phase is a naturally healing and restorative time for everyone—but these days and nights are especially so for you. The quality of this period is like an energetic nectar whose formula—encoded by the Sun and Moon in your birth chart—is specifically designed to renew your spirit. You can absorb a little of its blessings through the atmosphere, but you can increase your nourishment if you pay attention.

Spend time with this Moon. Learn when and where it appears. Pick a quiet moment each month to sit and breathe with it. Let your breath slow, lengthen, and deepen, as your energetic field gently grows bigger and more diffuse. This is how your receptivity unfurls and your spirit begins to drink in the Balsamic Moon. The less you think about it, the more this rejuvenating nectar soaks in.

The play of light and dark on the face of the Moon is a “secret” teaching—meaning, most people don’t bother to notice or ponder it. But the next time you sit with your birth phase, observe how much of the Moon is lit and how much is dark. The light symbolizes awareness—conscious intelligence (or the “masculine” mind). The dark symbolizes instinct and unconsciousness (or the intuitive “feminine” mind).

Now that you know which is who, you can see how the play of reflected sunlight on your birth Moon might hint at the ideal flow between your own conscious and subconscious minds. It’s a picture of the sacred contract between your left and right brains. That your Moon is mostly dark hints at how important it is for you to let your instincts lead. You may sense things in your body first, before your conscious mind—represented by the thin sliver of light at the coming New Moon—gets the vision.

During the years I was working a full time job, I used to spend time with your Moon. Before work I’d do a walking meditation around the quiet pool in my backyard.  I treasured the Balsamic days. I’d observe the thinning moon, progressively lower on the horizon, until she eventually disappeared in the light of the sun, transforming herself for the coming New Moon. The morning I could no longer see her was a special one—it signaled a day to practice trust in the process of disappearance and renewal.

 

The monthly dates for your birth Moon phase each are available in my Moon Workshop and Moonprints report—where you can also learn about your “progressed” Moon phase. Many astrologers believe your progressed phase is one of the most important factors for assessing your current potentials. I agree!

Copyright 2021 Dana Gerhardt