Moon is waning, Venus has just moved to its own sign, Libra, yet the tenacity of Mars and Rahu in Virgo continues. The Saturn, Sun and Mercury conjunction continues to play out until Saturday when Mercury shifts to Sagittarius. Movement, fluidity, creativity and relationships invite in change and transformation.

Monday begins with themes of balance and harmony as Moon moves through Pushya nakshatra. Venus is weak and vulnerable in degrees so tend to the relationship with self and others cautiously. After noon, Moon shifts to Ashlesha nakshatra and inner illusions amplify. Use resources and tools to work directly with the mental and emotional bodies. Consciously work with shadows and the critical mind. Drop into your heart and notice where you are stuck in judgement and critical thought. Deepen compassion for self and others.

Tuesday begins with Moon still moving through its own sign, Cancer, while in Ashlesha nakshatra. Sarpa continues to manipulate the mental body and calls for increased awareness with matters of the mind. Mid afternoon, Moon leaps into Leo and lands in Magha nakshatra. Power, ego and force increase as well as ancestral matters. Ask for guidance and support. Venus begins to strengthen in Libra which helps to soften judgement, rigidity and self-righteousness. Notice where mental tenacity is over powering you. How can you release the mind and land in your body? Meditate and find time to be in nature.

Moon continues through Magha on Wednesday. Let spiritual resources provide extra support and ask the ancestors to help you with your needs and desires. Land back in your power and notice resources that help you bolster your sense of self and well being. Early evening, Moon shifts to the Phalguni constellation, landing in Purvaphalguni. Increased potency, life force energy and creative forces begin to flow. What relationships are nourishing you? What relationships need to be released? How can your creative life force energy help you increase resiliency and inner strength?

Thursday continues with Moon moving through Purvaphalguni nakshatra. Resource yourself with joy, connection, relationships, sensuality and artistry. Let this be the balm that heals your heart and helps you land in your power and purpose. Seek nourishment and stability, balance and integration. Where does the critic keep you from getting your needs met? How do rigidity and resistance keep you stuck, constricted and in constant conflict with yourself and others?

Moon shifts to the latter half of the Phalguni constellation later in the evening. As Moon arrives in Uttarphalguni, it conjuncts Jupiter exactly. Swells and increases are to be expected on the emotional and spiritual body levels. Watch the critic actively and gather resources from its precision. Where does it support you? Where does it keep you from your power?

Just as Friday morning begins, the Moon shifts to Virgo, joining Rahu and Mars here. Shadows and illusions intensify today, helping us to identify inner challenges. Look for resources within the rubble. The critic continues to be a central focus, inviting us to look at parts of ourselves that we may not like or have pushed away unconsciously. Do you lash out at others? Play the victim? Keep giving your power away? Use anger and resentment to vindicate others? Notice where you need more light and life. Where are you hurting yourself with rigidity and righteousness?

Just before midnight, Moon shifts to Hasta nakshatra. Let the light in and make room for the dawn to arrive. Where are you shining your light?

Saturday Moon continues through Hasta nakshatra. Savitr brings increased light and awareness but it may come through challenges, obstacles, pains and suffering instead. These are the places you need to be cracked open, places within that need more light. The pain forces us to put our attention here and notice what isn't working. From here, gather resources, support, guidance and wisdom to transform and heal.

Mercury moves to Sagittarius on December 5th at 22:16 PST, leaving the conjunction of Saturn and Sun in Scorpio behind. This eases the mental body pressures on multiple levels and gets the mind out of the dark depths of our subconscious. Mercury in Sagittarius offers spiritual support and transformation for our mental body blockages. This may feel like a welcomed relief after the many months of intensity and identifying deep, dark inner challenges and blockages.

Certain challenges will continue for the mind in this cycle to come if you resist surrender and awakening to your deeper purpose and meaning. If you force outcomes or objectives, there will be intensification. When ego gets in the way of your awakening process, there will be frustrations, obstacles and excess inner heat. Notice when the fire is scorching you. Where can you let go and let spirit guide you?

Creativity is at an all time high, with maximum flow and fluidity moving through the hands. Intentionally channel this creative life force energy through the arts, music, writing and co-creation. Courageously step into community, relationship and support systems that nourish and increase a sense of safety and support within. Seek balance with inner and outer and express your needs clearly.

Self care and deep inner nourishment are essential at this time. Be mindful of what you put into your body and what comes out of it- through words, actions, expression, etc. What relationships and environments feel nourishing? Which ones do not? Get clear on what works for your mind, body, heart and spirit. Remove and let go of all that is draining you, making you feel heavy. Find healthy boundaries within your life. Simplify the heart and home. Clear away old karmic patterns. Where is the ego resisting and holding you back? How is the mental body ruling your life and choices?

Orient yourself towards feelings and sensations. Let this honest wisdom determine your choices and actions. This is a time of creating radical inner and outer balance. Be courageous with your intentions. Gather support, guidance, knowledge and wisdom to assist your efforts. Above all, land in your gut and let your core values determine what you need. Ask your ancestors, father, gurus and guides for extra support. Let spirit into your life in new ways. Spread your wings, extend your reach and find new flight patterns.

Moon moves to the final nakshatra of Virgo, Chitra, just as Sunday morning begins. This nakshatra provides momentum, action steps and the ability to build. Use your light and awareness to visualize your dreams, goals and desires. Then take an action step that supports these visions materializing. Moon shifts to Libra late afternoon, joining Venus here. There is sensitivity, as well as grace, fluidity and artistry enlivened in the coming days. Channel this effectively through the arts. Let the pelvis be a stabilizing force for you- a way to help you land and ground.

Midmorning Monday, Moon moves to Swati nakshatra and joins Venus in exact conjunction. Inner and outer winds intensify. What direction are you moving? Can you stay grounded even in the midst of these strong winds? Creative flow is increasing. Catch the wave with intention and harness the creative powers within.

Here's what many people don't understand about art and creativity.

We need it. We need it like breath. Like water. Like sleep. It gives us life.

Art is a life saving tool that can provide us with the ability to move forward with our lives in a more conscious, life affirming way; a life that has more possibilities and more awareness.

Before you disregard these grandiose ideas about art, I invite you to meet Expressive Art Therapy, particularly the type of Art Therapy that I work with, which is a body-centered approach. These tools have been life saving for me; above and beyond my meditation and yoga and healthy eating, the arts have allowed me to move with my darkness and misery, and this work has helped me create something different for my Self. Again and again and again. Life changing and life saving, indeed.

Art therapists understand the power of art and our innate creative abilities as humans. It's also understood in the Art Therapy realms that art has the potential to heal, to re-create us, to allow ourselves to be open to re-creating ourselves. We understand innately that art helps us work with the unseen, hidden parts of ourselves, and to develop a different relationship with our personal mythologies.

Let me take these realities a few steps further.

We, as humans, are in a body. This is a tool. A tool of perception, of felt sense, of growth and awareness- if used as such. I say, let's use it! We as humans, are each unique, vast and complex, just as the cosmos are. We are each essentially a microcosmic imprint of the macroscopic universe. The planets and their movements effect us, influence our experiences, and can provide us with a map for our lives. Incredibly useful and very helpful for our journey! This is why I use Jyotish, or Vedic Astrology in conjunction with the arts; these are both fabulous tools of guidance and can provoke self-inquiry and personal growth.

This powerful trio of art, body and astrology is a unique combination I've been working with and growing with personally and using with my clients. All three growth tools together, art, the body, and Vedic Astrology (Jyotish) offer an exciting experience of body-centered Expressive Art Therapy or Jyoti Art Therapy as I am calling it. It offers a unique blend of awareness enhancing tools that provide profound results.

But here's the catch.

Art for arts sake doesn't inherently heal us. It's intention that guarantees a shift; a possible transformation. Art is a by-product of our innate creativity (as humans the creation process is literally how we came into being, why we are here, and how we continue to exist). Artists have "open channels" that allow them to tap into this flow of creativity that courses within each one of us. And the channels that are open for each artist are unique and vary. But these channels aren't just a part of an Artist's existence, we all have creative channels. Most people have closed channels, dry channels, small channels, rigid and brittle channels of creativity. Cultural, familial and personal paradigms keep the creative channels from opening, flowing and thriving. These creative channels are like rivers and provide us with the life giving nourishment that flowing water gives us. Water brings forth life, wealth, purification, abundance and joy. Art and water are very much the same. Not surprisingly, the planet Venus is linked to both these life giving tools; art and water.

We need more flow in our lives.

We need the channels of our creativity to stay open and fluid. Art (in all its forms) helps us do that, but in order to reap the vast rewards that art has to offer us, we must harvest the richness, the fruits of our labor. We must listen to the hidden messages that our art is offering us. The medium we use will have a direct effect on the benefits we receive, the parts of ourselves that are effected, and the healing properties that can be attained (for this reason an intermodal art process is recommended).

When we create a piece of art, a harvesting process can bring a sense of meaning and purpose to our work and help us go beyond the surface, excavate the deeper meanings of our work, the "why" behind it. Art is a messenger from our depths, from the most hidden parts of ourselves. It never ceases to astonish me, fill me with awe, and renew my trust in the magic of creativity.

Here's a simple "harvesting" process to use with your next art creation, using the Tamalpa Life Art Process (TLAP) Baseline Statements. These simple questions can help you uncover the hidden messages wrapped up in your artwork. Explore and unravel.

Step 1. Move your body, open the channels, get the breath involved, and pay attention to the body's subtle messages. Get embodied.

Step 2. Paint, draw, use craypas or pencil. Move and explore, open your senses through an artistic medium. Surrender to the creative process. Don't hold back.

Step 3. Answer these Baseline Statements after finishing your art piece:

I am___
I want___
I need___
I feel___

Return to this process regularly. Commit to it. Let it help you create more fluidity and listening in your life. Look for themes and symbols, messages and stories that continue to arrive. These patterns are vital messengers.

Sometimes, the support and outer influence of a trained witness is necessary and can be profound for your process. When you get to that point, when you feel stuck or at a crossroads, confused or uncertain, it is time to ask for support.

I am happy to support you or give you further references for your journey.

Contact me for a session.

Get creative resources and jyotish insights in my weekly newsletter.

{When the colors merge within the chaos} A mandala exploration with craypas.

In lieu of this week's New Moon in Sravana nakshatra and Vishnu's "three steps", we will play with pattern and rhythm this week during our dance- while using legs and feet as our entry point.

Legs and feet are grounding, support and bring movement- both forward and backward momentum as well as side to side, up and down. There are metaphors with this connection to direction but legs/feet also symbolize the planetary movement and momentum as well. This week, Venus goes from retrograde (backward) motion to direct (forward) motion. This movement can inform our creativity, our dance, our own actions.

Begin with slow, calculated steps walking in a circle. Find a rhythm, a beat, as your feet connect with the floor. Keep moving. Find your momentum and find your dance. Notice a movement that is returning. Are you swinging your arms and legs in a certain way more than once? Are you bending and lifting your leg a certain way over and over? Are you rolling and lifting off the floor continuously? Be a witness to your movements and notice your movement cycles.

Then hit the pause button and stop. Recycle the movement. Step once again. Then pause. Repeat this cycle several more times. What do you notice? How does it feel to repeat this movement and what body parts are being used? Go back to your fluid dance and then try it again. Notice your movement patterns. Then pause and stop. Recycle the movement. Step once again. Then pause.

Take some time to harvest your findings.

What body parts were used in your movement sequence?
What feelings came to you? Colors? Textures? Emotions? Sensations?
What was your connection/relationship to the floor or other surfaces?
What was your connection to space (the third) in this sequence?

As I step forward in my life, I need____.
As I move forward in my life, I want_____.
What is the missing piece(s) in my life dance____?