Join us in real time!

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Sagittarius New Moon:  November 25, 2000
23:12 GMT	16:12 MST
18:12 EST	15:12 PST
17:12 CST	8:12 GST (11/26)

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Rituals lift us from mundane concerns and connect us to the greater flow of things.  Our MoonCircles CyberRitual is a monthly experiment in collective attunement -- to each other and the moon.  Across time zones, we collect our creative energies into a healing meditation, as a gift to ourselves and the world. At the New Moon we synchronize in real time "on the astral plane."  At the Full Moon, one by one, we greet Luna at moonrise from our respective spots on earth.  If you can't meet with us at these ritual times, feel free to harmonize at a time of your own convenience, so that our astral voices may continue throughout the moon's waxing and waning cycles, as in a round.

Sagittarius New Moon CyberRitual

You may plan to join us at the hour of the New Moon, but suddenly find
yourself surrounded by others, unable to light a candle or set aside a
special place.  At such moments, clearing sacred space can be as quiet as
breathing, and finding your center yet possible even when all is commotion
around you.  If you've familiarized yourself with the flow of imagery ahead
of time, you may still be able to add your spirit to our circle. Otherwise
it's perfectly fine to postpone your ceremony for another time.  (It will
still work!)

Preparation
Before the exact hour of the CyberRitual, find a quiet place where you can
protect yourself from intrusion. Then, as the Sufi teacher Pir Vilayat
Inayat Khan recommends, take steps to "surround yourself with a zone of
silence." Light candles and incense, or play a piece of contemplative music
to help shift attention from the periphery, to the quiet center within.
You may wish to recite a prayer or sacred phrase, repeat the New Moon
invocation to calm your spirit, or practice the Sagittarius New Moon
Meditations. Watching the breath - inhaling in, exhaling out - further
deepens the energy.

As you do any of these contemplative techniques, you may begin to feel
filled with a mood of sacred expectancy. Like a curtain parting, imagine
next that you are walking down a pathway through a forest. As you approach a clearing, you see a beautiful temple that, with its spacious interior and
graceful columns, is open to the sky and surrounding nature.  Outside this temple a group of mooncirclers has assembled and are about to embark upon a journey.  Some are robed, some are carrying knapsacks.  Some are carrying maps and old texts that tell of sacred places.

Raising the Energy
As you join this group of seekers and pilgrims, you feel filled with a sense
of anticipation and excitement. Slowly, the MoonCircle of seekers begin to fall into a loose line. They are directed by a guide who will lead the way forward. Like the image of the Hermit in the Tarot, this guide is robed, hooded, and carrying a lantern to illuminate the way. Today's New Moon meditation is about the holy pilgrimage of life - the sacred journey we each make during our incarnation on earth.

The group of pilgrims, wanderers, hermits, monks, and nuns move forward. It is dusk; the sun is setting, and the pale sliver of a moon appears over the horizon. Near the thin crescent shines a star. As the group journeys down the path, some begin to pray quietly, silently fingering their prayer beads, while others chant or sing softly.  You feel your awareness deepening.  Overhead, the star grows ever brighter and more luminous, illuminating a new path through the forest.

The Heart of the Ritual
As the pilgrimage proceeds, it passes through varied landscapes - you find yourself climbing hills, crossing deserts, fording streams, resting in flower-strewn meadows.  Traversing these different waystations, so, too, do you begin to pass through different stages of your life. You begin to reflect upon scenes or occasions that you have never really understood, or that appeared random and senseless. There is time for whatever needs to come up.  And now, from the wayfarer's vantage point, you see these scenes differently. Certain passages that had seemed meaningless now seem as if they had been initiations; the wisdom they impart is revealed by the light of the star overhead.

Like the cyclic phases of the moon herself, her waxing and waning movements through fullness and emptiness,  you gain a new awareness -- feeling this with both your body and mind -- that your life has been a movement through necessary phases of growth.  Pause to feel where you are along this wheel of growth at this time of your life.  Breathe it in. 

As you deepen your acceptance of this part of your journey, you also recognize, that though you have often felt confused and isolated, you have never really been lost or alone.  You have been continually guided -- by a wise and benevolent spirit working with the pole star of truth. You need only look in the sky above you, or within your heart, to feel that constant protection. The truth you have always sought has always been within.

Closing
As the pilgrimage continues down the path, you realize that the group is
arriving back at the place where it began, at the temple. Now it is dawn; the stars are beginning to fade into the horizon.  Everyone sheds their robe, knapsack, beads, and, turning to one another, hugs farewell. All bow to the center of the circle, then turn and bow to the person on either side. Turning completely around, the circle bows to the world beyond the circle, vowing to offer the promise of truth through freedom to humanity. Rising, give thanks for your participation in this ritual, then walk back down the path through the woods, come back to yourself in contemplation, and, finally, come back to your home and life.
 

© 2000 Pythia Peay and