New Moon at Sun up | by Mariella

I’m a little tired today. It could be because I went to bed at 12:00 last night or it could be because I got up at 5:30 this morning. Either way, I am not holding a full deck of cards today and it’s probably great that I am not obliged to operate any heavy motor vehicles or power tools today! And why, oh, why would I do this seemingly incongruous thing to myself? I can wholeheartedly blame the moon.

I am part of a woman’s circle, we meet on Dark moon, as the tribal women before us would have done, to share and hold a space of sacredness in our otherwise disconnected lives. Under usual circumstances, we meet on the evening of Dark Moon, open with a warm up exercise, share the delicious dishes that we've all brought, and then share our thoughts, delving as deep as we must because we know, of all the quiet places to take your secrets to, this place is safe, will lock your cautious whispered words deep down into a place where no one will ever find them, you are safe here and your agonies, fears, conundrums, disasters, laughter, sighs, singing voices will settled down here and go no further than the hearts of the women sitting before you. But because of many things happening simultaneously, we chose the morning, and because we are mostly moms with jobs to go off to, and because the sun rises so early now, we chose to meet at the lagoon at 5:30 am! Goodness, it seemed a very good idea at the time, I slur over the keys as I write this, it’s been a long day!  

But it was worth it! The sun at my back and the hazy sleepiness of a morning meditation washing over me like the ripples of the water in the lagoon, what a blessing! But beach frontage aside, it’s a lovely practice to start: Once a month, on Dark Moon, to come together with your girlfriends and enjoy a little bit of organized something, be it tai chi, yoga, breathing exercise and then talk and eat and then eat dessert!  

I recently spoke with a girlfriend of mine (not this morning) who told me about recent studies on mental health indicating that women need a 10 minute heart to heart with another woman everyday. So go ahead, call someone up, now, for a good gossip, it’s good for your health!