The Soli-Lunar Path A Soli-Lunar Creative Ritual Calendar
Creative and sacred practices to activate and awaken your dharmic path- honoring the cycles and rhythms of Nature.
Nature, your body, and all of life, is comprised of solar and lunar influences. Every body is a combination of the solar (divine masculine/father) as well as the lunar (divine feminine/mother) qualities. Nature expresses the dynamism and rest of both solar and lunar energies every day and night. Each Moon cycle is also a direct expression of activity (waxing) and silence (waning) through its ebbs and flows, as well as light (full) and darkness (new).
The waxing cycle supports action steps, activation and empowerment. Use this part of the Moon cycle to be visible, share your desires, plant seeds, and take intentional steps for your dharmic path and purpose. This is the part of the lunar month where Nature is supporting action, dynamism, focus, and material gains. Show up and take intentional action steps, express yourself, be visible, shine brightly!
During the waning cycle, allow your body to release, rest, and restore. This is a vital part of your lunar cycle and must not be ignored. Use the dark time of the month for receiving, rejuvenation treatments and extra self care. Notice the wisdom in your pause and presence. Simplify life and be extra gentle with your body. Get quiet and listen carefully to what your body and soul are asking for. Pause, rest, restore, be still and get quiet- so you can hear the depth of your inner wisdom!
Each waxing and waning cycle is exactly 15 tithis (lunar day), which means 30 days in total completes each Moon cycle. Half way between each cycle is an important junction point, called Astami, or the 8th tithi. This is a transition point where energy shifts. The 8th tithi is ruled by Vasu, supporting wealth, resources and assistance on the material plane. Pay attention to your shift in focus, direction and transitions occurring midway through each waxing and waning cycle.
Attending to these natural cycles and rhythms of Nature in body and life will support more balance and harmony in all areas of your spiritual and material existence. When we stop resisting Nature and the way she operates, we find more ease and gentleness with ourselves and our bodies. Life gets easier when we surrender to what Nature is doing. When we are no longer fighting against Nature, we are no longer fighting against our own body.
The intention for this calendar is to support more insight, awareness and clarity with Nature’s wisdom, your dharmic path and your body wisdom. Use this calendar to journal, create, and activate your inner knowing. Awaken your desires and put them into action. Track, integrate, digest, and harmonize with Nature and notice how she is supporting your unfolding path.
In the Waxing Cycle of the month, pay attention to the solar qualities that naturally increase within you and around you.
Key Intentions: activate, express, give, create
Solar- external, action steps, activation, empowerment, focus, decisions, ingesting, sharing, giving, doing, expressive, ego, dharma, visibility, goals, day time, contained, material, waxing cycle, masculine, right side of body, inhale, sense of self, life giving, father, soul, leadership, spring and summer, leading up to ovulation, adolescence and midlife, fire element, color is red, king qualities, rules pitta dosha, ruby and gold represent Sun, fire and air signs.
In the Waning Cycle, notice the lunar qualities that are naturally being supported within you and around you.
Lunar- internal, rest, receive, trust, sensitivity, digesting, surrender, nurturing, vulnerability, ease, gentleness, being, quiet, inward, dreams, sleep, night time, reflection, home, heart, release, invisibility, uncontained, spiritual, waning cycle, feminine, left side of body, mother, fertility, emotions, exhale, fall and winter, post ovulation, early childhood and elder years, water element, color is white, queen qualities, rules vata and kapha dosha, Pearl and silver represent Moon, water and earth signs
Waning Cycle
Water Ritual for the Waning Cycle:
As the Moon begins to empty, fill a bowl with water and sprinkle some sea salt in it. This symbolizes your inner waters, tears, and emotions. Keep this bowl of water on your altar as the Moon gets darker. Whisper your desires, hopes, dreams, and grief into the water throughout the waning cycle. Let the water hold your emotions and feelings.
On the new Moon, go outside and ask a tree if it will receive your water. Pour the water on a tree as you speak your intentions and feelings. This will support the release of your emotional body and inner waters. Notice how it feels in your body to release your feelings and have the earth and the tree receive you.
Repeat this process consistently to keep your emotions flowing and releasing.
Creative Ritual for the Waning Cycle:
This Creative Ritual will help you honor your emotional body and support transformation.
Step 1) Movement exploration: Name the biggest emotion are you feeling in this waning cycle. Is it anger, depression, frustration, chaos, uncertainty?
Start dancing this emotion. What does it feel like in your body? (Do the "dance of anger" for example). What emerges as you do your emotional body dance? Remember to let sounds out! Move and develop your dance for at least 5-10 minutes.
When you feel a sense of closure, ask your body these questions:
I sense, I feel, I imagine.
Step 2) Create an image of your emotion: What does it feel like? Put it on paper using colors, textures and shapes. Create an image that expresses your feeling of this emotion and whatever emerged in your dance. Spend at least 5 to 20 minutes creating this image. I suggest using paints or craypas and a large piece of paper.
Title your image. In your journal or on the back of the drawing answer this question:
If your image could speak what would it say?
Step 3) Harvesting: Answer these baseline statements and questions in your journal once you have completed the previous steps.
I am___ I want___ I need___
What am I opening to? What am I closing to?
Recycle this process whenever strong emotions emerge, or regularly as maintenance. Remember emotions arrive to give you important messages. Listen carefully and honor them with deeper listening. What is the emotion telling you? What do you need for deeper nourishment in your life?
Waning Cycle Journaling Questions: Name your dreams, intentions, and desires for receiving in this cycle.
What are you releasing and letting go of? What are you watering and nurturing right now?
What are you moving towards? What are you moving away from?
If you could give your intention for the cycle ahead a title, what would it be? What is the theme for your cycle ahead?
As the Moon begins to fill, write your intentions, desires, goals, celebrations and hopes on a piece of paper. Honor the disappointments of the previous cycles as well and name what grief is lingering. What are you moving towards? What is exciting you and filling you with hope? What are you creating for your one precious life? Write it down!
Near the full Moon, begin to gather items from Nature for your ritual. Be sure to ask these parts of Nature if they are willing to be a part of your ritual process. Each item that you gather represents a hope, desire, focus, or intention. If there is grief that needs to be honored, gather items to honor your grief as well. Include one item for your ancestors, and one item for what you have forgotten to name or acknowledge.
On the full Moon, create your transformation ritual. Choose an element from Nature to support you. Bury your items in the earth, burn these items in fire, release them into flowing water, or let the wind scatter them. Be sure to speak what each item represents as you return it to Nature.
Repeat this process for each waxing cycle to support release and transformation.
Creative Ritual for the Waxing Cycle:
Transforming Inner Challenge and Conflict
1) Identify a challenge you are experiencing- physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. It may be a challenge you've identified as a strong emotion or something you're experiencing more directly in your life. Create an image of your challenge. Spend at least 10- 20 minutes on this image. Use color, shape and texture to create your image. Title it.
If it could speak what would it say?
2) Move the image.
Move your challenge image. Your image is the entry point for your movement exploration. Spend 10- 20 minutes moving your image. Let your body move in response to the image, as though you're having a dialogue with it. Stay connected to your physical body sensations as you move. Let the body sound and release. In your final moments, identify a closing statement.
Repeat this aloud 3X.
3) Harvesting
In your journal, respond to these questions:
I am, I want, I need I sense, I feel, Imagine, I Express
What does this challenge need?
Waxing Cycle Journal Questions:
Name your dreams, intentions, and desires for receiving in this cycle.
What are you creating and activating in this cycle? What seeds and desires are you planting right now?
What are you moving towards? What are you moving away from?
If you could give your intention for the cycle ahead a title, what would it be? What is the theme for your cycle ahead?