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Scorpio New Moon:
October 27, 20008:59 GMT 1:59 MDT 3:59 EDT 12:59 PDT 2:59 CDT 17:59 GST (10/28)
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.Scorpio 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 Scorpio 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 yourself deepening your awareness of another realm. Use this sensation as a kind of "rabbit hole" or shamanic entrance to a heightened Scorpio space. Imagine yourself walking down a winding stairway into a spacious underground cave, lit with lanterns to guide you forward. You approach a wide cavern; immersed in silent medition, a circle of figures sits around an altar decorated in honor of the moon. You notice that, incredibly, the ceiling of this cavern holds what appears to be a living image of the night sky, with winking stars and all.
Raising the Energy
As you join the meditation, you feel linked by the love encircling the group. At the altar sits a teacher who holds what looks like a hologram -- a brilliant bird hovering above this wise being's hands. "The Scorpio New Moon draws us into the practice of transformation, reenacted through the death and rebirth of the great mythic bird, the Phoenix." Beside the teacher is an open hearth fire that is already beginning to crackle and blaze, shooting sparks into the air.As the embodiment of the universal spirit of guidance, the teacher appears before each person in the guise of their own spirit guide. Everyone in the circle is asked by their guiding spirit to reflect on the part of themselves that is in need of purification and regeneration. As you go deeper into yourself, plumbing the layers of your psyche, the atmosphere of the circle deepens. The feeling quality pervading the circle is one of depth and truth, as each person engages in an authentic soul-evaluation.
The Heart of the Ritual
Now, your spirit guide appeals to you to sacrifice the "dead wood" of an outworn part of yourself on the altar fire. He, or she, asks you to rise and symbolically cast that onto the funeral pyre -- along with a prayer of thanks for how this offering has helped you in the past. As each person rises and does this, the fire begins to burn brighter and higher. Even within yourself you begin to feel as if all the dross of useless behaviors and traits are being burned away, as well as the sorrows and losses of life, leaving only what is most essential.Suddenly, in the center of the circle, the mythic Phoenix appears through the flames of the funeral pyre. Resplendent with glory, a bright star glowing on its chest, the Phoenix is that part of each person in the circle who has emerged wholly reformed after the journey through the fires of transformation. Joined together in this spiritual act of resurrection, each person becomes like a feather on the plumed Phoenix, rising into the air like a bright, winged creature circling the earth with its message of hope reborn.
Closing
As the fires burn low, and the mythic Phoenix soars off on his mission, carrying with him a part of each participant. Your spirit guide signals that the circle should rise. Everyone bows to the center of the circle, then turns and bows to the person on either side. Turning completely around, the circle bows to the world beyond the circle, vowing to offer the promise of hope through transformation to humanity. Rising, give thanks for your participation in this ritual, then walk back through the lantern-lit path to the shamanic entrance of the cave. Come back to yourself in contemplation, and, finally, come back to your home and life.