"Dreamland" @marcelvanluit Quote @themoonjournal Sagittarius Art @mysticmamma
Sometimes you don't want love and light. Sometimes you want shadows and secrets. It isn't the sun you crave, but the moon. I will sit with you in the dark. @victoriaerickson Come and lay by my side, Love. I’ll color your empty spaces with moonlight, I’ll scatter kisses all over your fragile bones. There is space for you in my arms, and I will hold you, even when your own skin no longer feels like home.
@almazspilledink She loves moonlight and rainstorms and so many other things that have soul
@jmstormquotes Rise with the pride of a full moon. @daniellelaporte Once the moon,⠀ asked the sun ⠀ a hug, and the⠀ world named it⠀ an eclipse. @thepacifiedsoulpoetry She held the moon, the way she held her own heart, as if it was the only light that could guide her through the darkest nights. @chrissiepinney As if you were on fire from within, the moon lives in the lining of your skin @pablonerudaoficial Tonight I’m gonna sleep beside the moon beneath a blanket of stars and think of you. @jessweymouth
Hello my love, How are you feeling? We have come to find ourselves in the month of December. In the very last weeks of 2020. A year with many challenges and many emotions. A year of slowdown, turn in and reflection. A year of virtual connections and love. Practicing with many of you beautiful women, in class or in private sessions would have simply not been possible. For that I am so very grateful. I am inspired by all of you and have grown so very fond of you. You have been the light in my and each other's year. You brought a smile on my and each other's face. Have embraced your warm and healing arms around me and each other. Together we have lifted one another with love and such powerful healing and joyful energy. I thank you from the depths of my heart with such gratitude for journeying and navigating through this year with me and each other. I hope you will receive a little gift I would like to share with you. On the last Saturday of 2020, December 26th, I would like to offer you all a complimentary Female Sensual Qigong workshop. From 9-11ish. Please let me know if you wish to join. If you wish to gift a class or a Female Sensual Qigong experience class card, to a dear friend or family member, please let me know and I will design a personalized Qi-voucher for you to email or print out. It is in these last few weeks of the year I always like to reflect on what has been, what is and what I wish to dream into existence for the coming year. I like to reminisce in gratitude for all the moments of love, joy, friendship, growth and love. I find time and space to sit down and trust to a beautiful peace of paper all I have learned, how I have grown, what friendships have developed, whom I like to honor, what lessons I have learned. I like to sit in peace and wonder, dream, feel and manifest. Once I feel and know what I need and desire, I love to practice the Desire Bow and Arrow Sensual Qigong movement. It is such a beautiful movement to manifest dreams into reality connected to the energy of intuition and creativity from your womb, the energy of passion, desire and joy from your heart and the energy of vision, direction and unlimited possibilities from your mind. I love practicing this movement in our female sensual energy circles, weaving our dreams and desires together. But I also like to practice alone. I am excited to share below a video of this movement, so you can practice and meditate with this movement as well. Maybe you wish to practice it under The Full Moon Eclipse tonight. More below about today's Full Moon Eclipse, Sagittarius Season, a moving video of classical concert in a Spanish Opera house for plants and an article and images about an amazing Dutch artist - my dear friend Azerina brought to my attention- who overcame a very rare illness and turned his energy into magical, wonderfilled creativity. His work leaves me filled with wonder and awe. Also below you will find a beautiful manifestation mist for 2021 created by my my dear friend Lisa Kochanik. You may know her and have practiced with her in our Qi-circles. Each year I wait in anticipation for her sprays to come from her healing and loving hands and want to make sure you don’t miss out this beautiful gift for yourself or a dear one. I hope you love reading my newsletter as much as I have loved creating it for you. Love to see you soon,
Full Moon Eclipse
art and poetry below @cocorrina
Sun and Moon ~
In unison, we traversed the sky,
There was no day; there was no night
We basked in each other’s loving light
To tears we laughed; of joy, we cried
In bliss, we welcomed our first dear child
our heavenly bodies beaming with pride.
From then on three of us would by fate be tied.
Us and our daughter, the Earth, our hearts’ delight.
Moon ~
When there was no difference between dark and light,
We often crossed paths with the Morning Star.
Evening Star some call her, and she, dressed in white,
Floats with graceful charm, a maiden of the Sky!
Like a star, always center stage she takes
She looks like a swan in the heavenly lake
Sun ~
Ah, get on with our story, or my heart will break.
It pains me to remember how this affected the Earth.
Moon ~
Indeed, the Star seduced me with her graceful charm
Or I attracted her by hovering around?
I saw no other light, heard no different sound,
I felt the Star, and I forever was bound.
Sun ~
And when Perkunas, God of Thunder and of our realm.
Learned of this transgression, learned of your affair,
He punished us both; as if we both would err.
Earth by day I could watch, and you when the night fell.
Sun and Moon ~
Eclipses are the only brief moments of bliss
When we enchant each other and even steal a kiss,
When we watch the Earth through the veil of mist
Then clouds part; apart, slaves of our myth, we drift.
LUNAR INSPIRATION
Gemini Full Moon Lunar Eclipse November 2020
"November 30, 2020, brings a Partial Lunar Eclipse in the sign of Gemini.
Lunar Eclipses are like extra potent Full Moons. They illuminate areas of our lives that need to be cleared and swept away. They shine a light on all that no longer needs to be present with us.
They reveal to us where we are holding on too tightly, and where we have to surrender and let go.
Lunar Eclipses are potent for they require us to shed. This shedding can leave us feeling vulnerable, afraid, or uncertain of what is to come. But this Lunar Eclipse holds the promise of a brighter season coming.
It reminds us that whatever space is created by its presence will soon become fertile ground, ready to be adorned with new seeds when the timing comes.
Under this Lunar Eclipse if something falls away from your life. If something comes to pass, try and hold a feeling of trust in your heart.
Eclipses are said to bring fated or destined events our way that are aligned with our highest growth in mind.
On a Lunar Eclipse, if something exits your life, trust that it was meant to be. Trust that there is a Divine purpose to what is now no longer.
Of course, endings can always be painful and even sad. So give yourself space to grieve, give yourself permission to feel all that floats up from the depths of your own underbelly.
Under the influence of this Eclipse, we are also being guided to step into our divine feminine. The energy of the divine feminine is not about gender. It is an expression of energy that rules over the hidden, shadow side.
It represents the knowingness in the unknown and the creative qualities that arise when we are in the void.
This strong feminine energy comes from the Goddess influences of Vesta, Eris, Black Moon Lilith, and Ceres.
These cosmic bodies, all named after powerful Goddesses, are active under the power of this Full Moon Eclipse, and they each have an important message to share.
The asteroid Vesta is the Goddess of hearth and fire.
She calls for us to tend to our own inner fire and to nurture our own inner spark. She reminds us that when we tend to our inner flame, we are able to connect with our creativity, our inner strength, and our passion.
Eris is a dwarf planet that is located beyond Pluto.
She is known as the Goddess of discord and strife, but she only walks this path when she knows we can rise up to the occasion. When things are not in balance, it is her chaos that helps us correct our ways. When it is time to move on, it is her chaos that pushes us to grow.
Black Moon Lilith is a cosmic marking between the Moon and the Earth.
It is a highly charged point in our cosmic skies that indicates freedom and liberation. The Goddess Black Moon Lilith allows repressed emotions to float to the surface so we can release, heal, and let them go.
Finally, Ceres is the Goddess asteroid of fertility and renewal.
Her presence reminds us to nurture and nourish ourselves. She calls for us to spend time in nature, to practice self-care, and to tend very gently to our mother wound. Her presence also indicates the arrival of a harvest point.
Take the offerings that these Goddesses bring. Allow their wisdom to float into being and touch the areas of your spirit that they need to.
Tend to your own inner fire. Allow any chaos to shift and move you in the direction of growth. Let those repressed emotions out. Be sure to nurture and nourish yourself as you honor any harvest points of your life.
Tenderly love yourself through whatever the Lunar Eclipse brings your way. Allow yourself to feel completely nourished by the powers of the divine feminine.
As this Full Moon Eclipse falls in Gemini, the sign of the twins, we can use their symbolism to guide us through the lunar energies.
In ancient mythology, the twins were said to represent both the seen, tangible world and the unseen, intangible world. One twin was from this Earth, and the other was not.
These twins are signifiers of both the human and the being that make us human beings. They remind us that we are not just a physical body but a soul as well.
Whatever unfolds on this Eclipse is likely to stir both our physical bodies and our spiritual bodies.
We may find that we are dealing with both of these elements in some way. We may find both our seen and unseen worlds affected or intersecting in a way that we didn’t notice before.
We may even start to become more consciously aware of how our inner state influences our outer state and the way we choose to see things.
Gemini is an air sign, which is rules our mind. Our mind has the power to paint the picture we choose to see. Our mind has the power to take events and attach stories to them.
It is these stories that can trip us up more than the events themselves. It is the stories we tell ourselves that create a lot of stress and anguish in our lives.
Under the power of this Gemini Lunar Eclipse, see if you can calm your mind by releasing any stories that are no longer serving you. See if you can step out of overthinking and into a state of just being.
The twins teach us that we are both human and being, so see if you can find this balance.
See if you can shift away from the ego of your human side, which we very often get wrapped up in, and take time to just honor the still beingness that you are.
Lunar Eclipses always put us where we are meant to be, so no matter what is stirred for you, trust that the pieces will land where they need to.
Use the magical energies of this Lunar Eclipse to connect with your divine feminine, and the totality of all that you are.
You are an incredible being of the cosmos and as the Moon loses its light due to the shadow of the Earth, it is imprinted with a kiss from our collective consciousness, and with this kiss, the Moon offers back its magic, strengthening us for harvest or for release."
ARTIST HIGHLIGHT Dreaming With Eyes Wide Open: An Inspired World With Artist Marcel van Luit "I transform my dreams in to pieces of art. My biggest inspiration is my own imagination and my children. I love to mix illusion with reality to create completely new worlds. Worlds where I love my two boys to be in. Worlds where I want to escape to myself when life gets too busy. When you use your imagination, anything is possible. I love to play with darkness and light. I believe they go hand in hand. Just like in real life, the good and the bad can go hand in hand and from darkness can come light. My work is about hope. They are life lessons to my sons. Messages of love and trust. Anything is possible, you just have to believe in it."
"A successful, transcendent, and in-demand career in fine art is most often the result of meticulous studies, innumerable studio hours, popular exhibitions, lucrative commissions, and—perhaps—even a little bit of kismet. It is not the side-effect of a debilitating and rare nerve disorder that causes paralysis and requires intense physical therapy—that is, not unless your name is Marcel van Luit.
Following a teaching and social work career, Netherlands-born van Luit was diagnosed with Guillan-Barré syndrome. After experiencing complete paralysis, van Luit was transferred to a rehabilitation facility where he took up photography and editing as a form of physiotherapy and mental escapism. His first subject, his baby son, offered him the perfect inspiration to create pieces that captured the spirit of adventure and highlighted the beauty of tonal juxtaposition. Marcel’s work quickly garnered a following on social media and ignited the European art scene, and after several exhibitions in France, Belgium, the U.S.A., Brazil, and the Netherlands, van Luit solidified his spot as one of the most captivating modern photographic artists of our time. His pieces provocatively combine all aspects of the natural world including, plants, animals, humans, and the elements, and are infused with van Luit’s signature style of light and dark interplay.
Familiar subjects presented in unfamiliar and intriguing ways spark the embers of imagination while also serving as inspiration to find such beauty and adventure for ourselves in this breathtaking world of ours. Marcel lives, breathes, and is fuel for an inspired life. And so, Face the Current was thrilled and honored to share in discussion with van Luit; someone whose life’s work is the living embodiment of catalytic inspiration and contagious positive change. We delved into the ideas behind art as a balm for troubled times, what it means to be a dreamer, understanding and appreciating our interconnectedness, and the influential and timeless beauty of nature. Marcel van Luit’s work is both a feast for the eyes and nourishment for the imagination. When we use our ability to dream and imagine, we focus on positive thinking and discovering new possibilities. There is always beauty in life and beauty can be easily found in connections between people, nature, and animals. I want to show that through my work because I think it’s comforting to know that, even when everything falls apart, there will always be love, hope, and trust as long you have your ability to dream and imagine.
Sasha Frate: You describe your work as being about hope, dreams, imagination, and the dichotomy of darkness and light. As life always ebbs and flows through joy and sorrow, light and darkness, hope and despair, confidence and fear, etc., how do you see our ability to use dreams and imagination to inspire a greater sense of hope, love, and trust? Marcel van Luit: When we use our ability to dream and imagine, we focus on positive thinking and discovering new possibilities. When life gets rough, it’s especially important to find ways to take your mind off the negative. Your mindset is a very strong tool! There is always beauty in life and beauty can be easily found in connections between people, nature, and animals. I want to show that through my work because I think it’s comforting to know that, even when everything falls apart, there will always be love, hope, and trust as long you have your ability to dream and imagine. I don’t want people to just look at a beautiful artwork, I want them to really feel something when they look at it. I want to warm their hearts when they need it, to calm them down, to give them hope, and inspire them to see the beauty in nature.
In fact, I see my art pieces as life lessons to my sons; something they can look back on when they are older and hopefully help them navigate through life. I always try to leave enough room for people’s own interpretation. Art can be really valuable if you can relate to it and have the freedom to make it part of your own journey in life. There’s this saying that’s also on the cover of my art catalog: “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” That’s exactly what I’m trying to do with my art. SF: What are some techniques/practices that you use to look at life through the eyes of a child, as you view things with wonder and an unlimited amount of fantasy?
MVL: I go out to nature with my two boys a lot. We go fishing, hiking, and searching for all kinds of treasures in the forest, and we also build tree houses. It helps me to really see all that’s around me when I’m with my children.
Sometimes we’re so locked up in our routines and our digital worlds that we lose the ability to see all that’s already around us to enjoy. There is so much to wonder about, but you have to open up to it to notice it.
SF: Who are the dreamers?
MVL: For me, the dreamers are the ones who have the ability to see the beauty in everything. They are the ones who need an escape from the rush of their lives now and then, and to stand still and see what really matters in life.
Dreamers are the ones who want to be inspired, to think outside the box, and are those who are longing for connection with our planet and with other people.
SF: What has been one of your most surprising, unusual, and/or exciting commissioned pieces?
MVL: Every commissioned piece has a story of its own. It’s always very exciting if people want you to create something that is so personal and important to them.
I love to create pieces where all of the important elements of someone’s life come together in one artwork. For example, a combination of different countries, landscapes, symbols, and colors that melt into one art piece and explain a person.
I also did a commissioned piece for a woman who always looked at one bird when she was having chemotherapy. The bird really calmed her down as it was always there when she was in the hospital. She wanted me to create something beautiful with this specific bird in it and it turned out to be one of the best art pieces I’ve created so far. SF: Nature is one of the primary constants appearing in your art. Why do you love to work with elements of nature? MVL: Nature is an inexhaustible source of inspiration and it’s not subject to any trends; it has timeless beauty. The moments in my life where I was impressed by the beauty of nature are uncountable. The elements of nature have so much meaning that you can immediately set the mood with it. I also want to show people the beauty of nature to inspire them to look after our planet. The important things in life are universal: we feel the same emotions, we are all longing for love, and we share the same planet with the same animals. We should appreciate every human being as we are all in this together. SF: You do photography, but do you source all of your imagery from your own images? If not, what is your criteria or process like for selecting who or what type of images to use in your art? MVL: I use a mix of my own images and photos of befriended colleagues as well as occasional stock images. When I search for an image to use in my art, light is always the number-one criterion.
The lighting has to be perfect within the whole artwork. SF: Adventure is another theme in your work and it was something that fueled your passion in the very beginning to create the types of adventures you wanted to be in with your son. Much like the notion that we should embrace change and venture “outside the box” or “off the beaten path” to really experience life and our place in it, you’ve said, “We must take adventures in order to know where we truly belong.” What do you mean by “adventures”—is it something that requires people to go on safari, can it simply be dreaming and imagining, or is it both? And why is it so important? MVL: With adventures, I mean to not blindly follow where everyone else goes. There is not one path you have to follow in life to become happy and successful. Dare to dream and to really follow your dreams. When I was younger, I tried to follow the path everyone around me was taking. It was all about not deviating too much and making study and job choices that give you a certain level of security in life. When I got diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, I quickly learned that life doesn’t always go according to plan; not at all. Sometimes you have to take risks to follow your dreams to go where you belong. When you go off the beaten path and really connect to your inner self, the most beautiful things can happen. SF: Your work has quickly led you to travel the world and meet many extraordinary people, including other talented artists and even His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican City. What was this special gathering for (with Pope Francis), and what have been your biggest takeaways reflecting on the unique experiences that have come with your work? MVL: I had the great opportunity to meet His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican City with a small group of amazing artists. I was asked to donate an art piece for auction to raise money for the non-religious foundation of the Pope. These pieces were auctioned in Miami and the artists and buyers were invited to the Vatican City to have a personal meeting with Pope Francis. This was really an extraordinary experience. I’m very grateful for all these unique experiences that come with my work and it’s very cool to realize that following my passion has brought me all of this. It also made me realize even more that experiences are so much more important to me than any material matters. I’m truly grateful to be able to make so many great memories while traveling together with my wife and kids. SF: You share many beautiful and inspirational sayings along with your art on social media, such as: “You can’t calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.” “It’s the Circle of Life and it moves us all, through despair and hope, through faith and love.” What is the saying or greatest inspiration that you’ve personally been sitting with or focusing on lately? What is the one that keeps you uplifted and flowing with hope, love, and trust? MVL: There’s this Rumi quote that stuck with me the last couple of weeks: “The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are.” Especially in times like this, as we have to stay home due to the pandemic, this is something to think about. I can’t travel anymore at this moment; a lot of my shows are cancelled. But, I’m still happy and grateful because all that I want, I already am." Written @Sasha Frate May 12, 2020 www.marcelvanluit.com Instagram: @marcel_van_luit
MUSIC INSPIRATION
Suites, shoots and leaves: Spanish opera house reopens with concert for plants
String quartet will play Puccini for potted audience at grand venue in Barcelona
Photo by Jordi Vidal/Getty Images
How the plants looked in Barcelona’s Liceu opera house during Concert for the Biocene.
Sam Jones in Madrid Wed 17 Jun 2020
"Attendees of the first post-lockdown concert at Barcelona’s Liceu opera house next week will not need masks or gloves, nor will they be required to observe physical distancing.
But they might like to take along a nice comfy pot and a little water to prevent their roots from drying out as a string quartet serenades them, fittingly, with Puccini’s Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums).
Well aware of the need to return with a spectacle as grabby as a venus flytrap, the Catalan venue has announced a concert for 2,292 plants when it reopens next Monday. Non-vegetable music fans will also be able to enjoy the performance as it will be livestreamed.
According to the Liceu’s artistic director, Víctor García de Gomar, the Concert for the Biocene is intended to help us ponder the current state of the human condition and how, in lockdown, we have become “an audience deprived of the possibility of being an audience”.
When the twin violins, viola and cello of the Uceli quartet strike up “for the vegetable kingdom” at 5pm next Monday, “humans will become the spectators of their own social chronicle”, García de Gomas said .
Eugenio Ampudia, the conceptual artist behind the concert, said it aimed to reflect what has happened across Spain and around the world as the Covid-19 pandemic has forced people to retreat from shared public areas.
“At a time when an important part of humankind has shut itself up in enclosed spaces and been obliged to relinquish movement, nature has crept forward to occupy the spaces we have ceded,” said Ampudia.
“And it has done so at its own rhythm, according to its patient biological cycle. Can we broaden our empathy and bring it to bear on other species? Let’s start by using art and music and inviting nature into a great concert hall.”
When the strings fall silent and palms have been duly pressed together in appreciation, the plants will be donated to 2,292 health workers as thanks for their efforts over recent months."
ASTROLOGY INSPIRATION
Sagittarius season
art @bribuckley
"We have began Sagittarius Season, a time of optimism and positivity. While this season may look different than years before, it still brings joy, hope, and new adventures.
We are coming to the end of a long road, which is 2020.
Sagittarius inspires us to find meaning in it all and know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Astrologically, we are moving onto new horizons, and the more challenging aspects are behind us.
Except Uranus, all planets are moving direct, giving us some motivation to carve new paths for ourselves. Additionally, Saturn and Jupiter leave Capricorn mid-December and head for the sign of Aquarius, shifting the energy around us.
Things are looking up in the stars, and Sagittarius is the perfect season to feel some positivity spreading your way.
Known as the archer of the zodiac, Sagittarius encourages us to feel our inner fire and use it to take leaps into the unknown. There is a trust that comes with this season and an inner knowing that everything is unfolding as it is meant to be, even the more challenging times.
Sagittarius asks us to open our minds and focus on the good in our lives, to see signs everywhere, and to believe in the journey that is us.
Sagittarius reminds us that life is an adventure full of ups and downs, but they are all meant to teach, expand, and evolve us.
As we journey through this season, look for messages from the Universe pointing you in new directions.
Focus on the good, and when you feel your energy begin to spiral downward, align with the fires of Sagittarius to shift it upward.
Feel your ability to attract your life and take a leap of faith. Dare to dream bigger than ever before. Believe it’s all possible because it is. "
FEMALE SENSUAL QIGONG MOVEMENT
Desire bow and arrow
Music: “Found Letters” by Fabrizio Paterlini
This movement supports the lungs and opens the heart to help you connect to what you desire to manifest into your life. It inspires you to aim for a goal with a soul. A desire supported by vision and inspiration of an open mind and creativity, connecting to all your senses and intuition from your womb.
Energy from the heavens and mind (Yang) and energy from the earth and womb (Yin) are united in the heart and then aimed towards what we dream of or long for. A beautiful YinYang moving meditation and manifestation.
Activate thumb and pointy finger through which the meridians of the lungs and large intestine run. If you want to mirror me in the video move your right hand from your heart forward while looking through your manifestation window of thumb and pointy finger. Move your hand to your right side and keep following your hand.
With your left hand create a fist. Put into your fist, all you want, desire, wish for and need adding energy of joy, passion and love from your heart.
Breathe in. Connect. Focus. Aim and release.
Release your breath, release your fist hand and release what you want into the universe. Manifest, communicate but do not be attached to the outcome. Often the universe presents you with something better or something you may not have dared to dream off.
It is in the contraction of your hand into a fist, in the in breath, in the aim, that you are connecting to your yang energy. The energy of doing, direction, vision, thinking.
It is in the release of breath, hand and arrow, you are connecting to your female energy. The energy of being, feeling, connecting, creating, flow, play and curiosity.
Bring your left hand forward and to the left side. Each time your arm opens up, your lungs and heart open up. Letting the energy of positivism, uplift, courage, openness and love supporting you in moving forward.
Look through your manifestation window of your left hand and move the right hand to the earth, scooping up supportive, grounding, nourishing and nurturing energy. Move your hand over your womb as you scoop up female energy, connecting you to your intuiting, feeling, sensuality, curiosity, playfulness and sense of adventure and flow. Bring this energy to your chest. Create a fist in front of your heart in which you put your desires, dreams and wishes.
Breathe in and pull. Keep your elbow up so your arms fall into a even line with each other. Aim, breathe in and then let go breathing out. Bring your right hand forward and then to the right side.
Repeat movement but this time let your left arm move over your head scooping up inspirational light from above with Yang energy of doing, vision, thinking, structure, direction. Let your hand pass your head to open up your mind, open up vision, to limitless possibilities. Pass your throat to open up your communication center to be able to speak of what you love and what you don’t. To ask for support, verbalize how you receive love and to share what you wish for.
Bring your hand to your chest to gather of love, passion and joy. Aim, focus, manifest while you breathe in and then let go releasing your hand, breath and your energy arrow of what you need and want through your other hand’s window of desire. Continue to repeat playing with and alternating your scooping hand either from below or above.