Let’s welcome our Capricorn New Moon magical ally, Garlic. Garlic is also called the stinking rose. In this way, s/he bridges the power of Eros with Thanatos - Life, Love and Death - blooming  and rotting - activating and transmuting. S/he is a potent ally to be enjoyed daily during the winter season (especially raw).

Humans have a preference for patterns, rhythms and cycles. And here we are in the first week of a New Year with a New Moon - new cycles to invite intentions, transformations, and awakenings.

As the midwinter moon reached fullness last week, I heard reverberating through my mind: “consequences, consequences, consequences...”

Before the Roman calendar there was the Wheel of the Year - cycles guided by Sun and Moon. There are 8 primary points or gateways on the wheel. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice marks the northern gate, ushering us into the realm of magic governed by the element of earth. Earth is the power of manifestation and the wisdom of the ancestors. Earth is the enduring memory in bones, trees, ice and stones. Earth is the coziness and love shared in physical connection with one another. 

“When we feel certain that the human soul is no longer at work in the world, it’s time to make sure that ours is visible to someone, somewhere.” - Parker J. Palmer⁣

“...learn to hold the tension between the reality of the moment and the possibility that something better might emerge.”

A new order is in the early stages of labor, causing ripples of contraction throughout the world. An old order is in its death throws, and there are personal and collective repercussions. We would do well to contemplate our inner and outer lives, to look to our patterns and behaviors, to loosen our grip and open our hands and hearts...

When we go into the dark time of the year, our consciousness shifts and we have the opportunity to explore and heal our hidden wounds and shadows -  all the times that “make or break” us. Or is it break and make us?