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LUNAR FENG SHUI: ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE WITH THE CYCLES

Posted on by The Numinous

In keeping with the vibes of Virgo season, Meghan Wallace James’ guide to Lunar Feng Shui reveals how powerful intention setting starts at home …

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Photo: Jacob Dowis

The New Moon offers us the chance to use darkness to initiate insightful alignment in both our inner and outer worlds (especially true during Virgo Season, the zodiac’s queen of divine detail!)

Let’s start by bringing back the concept of boudoir—a French term that includes the master bedroom, closet, and bathroom, and designed for deep withdrawal and privacy. For this lunar cycle, we’ll start with the master bathroom. In its most romanticized context, a bathroom is a place to leisurely commune with Higher Self: a space to practice self care while contemplating the mysteries of The Universe …

Follow the steps below for each moon phase and sync your space with the cosmos! And if you want more time to prepare, you can plan to begin your Lunar Feng Shui experiment with the October 8 Libra New Moon …

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// NEW MOON// Embrace the mess & purge the past. 
1// During the New Moon phase, sit in quiet contemplation in the heart center of your boudoir. Feel into this space and internally inquire: How would an infusion of elegant minimalism and cleanliness bolster my energy? How would a streamlined bathroom positively influence my energetic imprint within my home and beyond?How does the lunar cycle provide an inherent rhythm to a beautifully powerful reset? Answers will come. Give gratitude. Then, in the name of Beauty, enter your bathroom…

2// Turn on the lights, and your ‘energy detective’ eyes. What do you see? Which metaphors are visible? Embrace the mess – yes, your mess. In divine right timing, dedicate the time to move out of your bathroom before moving back into your bathroom. Take an old sheet and lay it in the hallway to protect the floor. Empty everything out of the bathroom, placing all toiletries, cosmetics, towels, you name it, on the sheet. Allow the sheer bulk to resonate.  Your bathroom was holding all this energy for you. Energy that is likely somewhat damp, moldy, grungy, or expired.  “Thank you dear bathroom.”

3// Now it is time to deep clean. Even if you are blessed with a cleaning service, today this is your job. Play chants, or eclectic world music to lift the stagnation from every nook and cranny. Scrub: scrub the sink, scrub the shower, scrub the bath, scrub the toilet. Clean inside the medicine cabinet and any drawers. Get on your hands and knees and do not miss a spot. Here’s the kicker: you are not just cleaning your space, you are cleaning your subconscious as well. So, clean until it becomes a graceful moving meditation. When you are done, open the window(s) and apply smoke medicine: Smudge your bathroom. Smudge your body. Heck, smudge your whole home.

4// Next, head back to the sheet holding all of your items. Let go of what no longer serves you, no longer captivates you. If you would not use the product on or in your body, rinse and recycle the container.  If something carries a negative emotional trigger – no matter what you paid for it, or who gave it to you – donate it. Keep the toilet brush and plunger out of your bathroom; these are unsightly, unsanitary and should live with the other cleaning supplies in your home, for like items prefer to live together.

5// Wipe down your remaining products. Wash the towels in a hot water cycle, take the hair out of your hairbrush, wash the cup holding your toothbrush, rinse the trash can, rinse and fill the soap dispenser … you get the idea. Place what remains back into your bathroom, with thoughtful consideration of your self care routine. Perhaps a fresh placement makes more sense? Remember, like items do best together. Aim to cultivate some empty space, which is a place for fresh energy to land, particularly if you are calling in Love & Abundance.

6// Finish with a shower, and then ideally an Epsom salt soak. You will sleep well tonight and likely have vivid dreams. Keep a notepad and pen on your bedside table, to capture any downloaded jewels.

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// WAXING MOON// Get ready for an upgrade 
Whew, with your bathroom purged, cleaned and realigned, what special touches could you now add? What ‘daily gems’ could be upgraded? ‘Daily gems’ are the household items we interact with on an everyday basis – the pretty hand towels and dry brushes of the world. They should inspire and uplift us, subliminally reinforcing: “I have a beautiful home; ease and grace surround me.” Easy, affordable upgrades in your bathroom can make a huge impact on your mood, such as a new shower curtain, a vibrant bathmat, or a bud vase with a single clipping from your yard.

Please do not overlook your cosmetics kit. Consider fewer products, all natural and high quality. Consider a signature scent for the upcoming crispness of Fall. Consider a new candle, to add a fire element to a very watery part of your home.

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Photo: Grace Madeline

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// FULL MOON// Celebrate the spatial shift 
This is the easy part: revel in the Oasis you have created. Reflect on your morning and evening beauty routines … do they feel more luxurious? Has anything shifted in your life since revamping your bathroom? Do you feel lighter and brighter perhaps? Hopefully you find yourself lounging in your tub even longer, dropping in some essential oils, lighting your new candle and using this time for decadent insight.  Marvelous ideas are birthed when we are inspired by what we see and sense.

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// WANING MOON// Revise & refine
You are sensing the correlation between visual metaphor and lived experience. With that in mind, is there another layer of purging that could happen? Do you truly need seventeen face creams? Do you really require that storage unit, adding bulk and taking up precious floor space? Make one final pass of your bathroom before moving onto a new spatial aspect of your Boudoir, or your home at large, with the next New Moon. Just wait and see… This work is addictive and effective. Your home will soon be completely activated and in tune with Luna!

**BONUS: Where does your boudoir fall on The Bagua? Use the chart below to discover! A Bagua is a Westernized Feng Shui energy map of a space, using the front door as a point of orientation, dividing the area into nine equal sized zones – or ‘guas’. Each gua has a name and energetic correlation, material element, color family, as well as a variety of other associations. … 

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Graphic: Meghan Wallace James & Sam Haskins

Meghan Wallace Jamesis a mother, manufacturing engineer, Parsons-trained fashion designer, stylist, and healer – bringing it all together with her bicoastal Modern Feng Shui Consultancy. Meghan is honored to offer The Numinous readers a 10% discount with code NUMINOUS, for this lunar cycle ending October 7, 2018. Ready to Begin Again? Connect with her at meghanwallacejames.com and follow her on Instagram.

DEAR DIARY: A CONVERSATION WITH THE DIVINE

Posted on by The Numinous

As Neptune goes direct and the Sun moves into Sagittarius, it’s the perfect time to instigate a conversation with the divine. And your journal is the place to start, says Katie Simpson.

Almost 18 years ago, I bought my first journal. It was a small back hardbound book covered in pictures of Mickey Mouse designs. I’ve since journaled for self-care, self-expression, and so much more.

In the past year, my journal has provided a surprising new benefit: it’s become the space where I have dialogues with the Divine. This began on more intense days, such as in the build up to a New or Full Moon ritual. But now I can have these conversations during lunch breaks, late nights, or days when I am sick.

To be clear, these conversations don’t require any mind-altering substances. The most I have in my system may be a cigarette or a glass or two of wine. And my most profound conversations with the divine occur when I’m completely sober.

Journaling and talking to God both happen in my journal but look very different. When I’m journaling, I write my thoughts down as they come. With the Divine, it’s a written conversation. It sounds and looks like two different people having a discussion. I will write something, and then She responds. The best way to explain it is like the old written notes we used to pass in class. Only I am both one of the writers and the messenger.

These dialogues are a gift, but not one that’s unique to me. I believe that with a little time and effort, you can have these kinds of conversations as well. Here are a few practices that have helped me commune with the Divine through the written word.

:: The faces of God ::
As a religious studies major in college, I learned a lot about the different faces of God. For example, in Hinduism, you could see Kali, Goddess of destruction, and Sarasvati, Goddess of wisdom, as two separate entities. Or they could represent two different aspects of the same Divine Feminine.

So often in the Judaea-Christian West, we focus on God as a judge, ruler, or father figure. But for many women, it’s difficult to connect with this. Personally, I connect best with Jewish idea of the Shechina. She is the feminine, the maternal presence, that I see when I reach out to God. And as such, she is the one who communicates with me on the page.

To begin a dialogue with anybody, you need to feel a connection with them. It’s the same with the Divine. Perhaps you need God to be a fierce warrior. Or perhaps you prefer the idea of God as Sophia, or wisdom.
There’s no wrong answer. So think back to which icons, saints or experiences really made the divine manifest for you. Is there a pattern? What images and ideas do you gravitate towards now? Exploring this is a great start to feeling a connection with the Divine.

conversation with the divine

:: The inner God block ::
For me, God has never just picked up the pen on her own and started writing: she writes through me. Which means that before the Divine can show up on the page, I have to make space for her – space beyond the doubt, the criticism and the disbelief around God, that so many of us have developed.

To give her space, a free-writing practice is critical. Each morning, I sit down and write three pages, either typed on my computer, or in a hardbound journal. No editing, no second guessing, just writing. Have I perfected this practice? No, but showing up helps me be honest on the page. This way, when the Divine does decide it’s time for a chat, I don’t fight it. I just keep writing.

This practice does take time: I’ve been doing it for over two years now. A couple glasses of wine could be a faster way to muting the inner critic. However, drugs are only a quick fix. Taking the time to show up and write will prepare you to have a dialogue with God, whether it’s 8am or 8pm.

:: Just ask ::
My dialogues with the Divine don’t start off in a complicated way. In fact, they usually begin with a vulnerable honesty.

“I’m so scared of telling him, what will happen?”

“I’m feeling so tired today, I just want to rest in your arms.”

I don’t believe there’s one right way to start chatting with God. For me, it’s about being simple and direct. My dialogues began by me being honest about where I was and what I needed – while the maternal Shechinah simply listened, and held me.

It’s very rare that God reaches out to me or begins the dialogue. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have had any dialogues with God if I hadn’t started the conversations. Why? I wouldn’t have even known I was hearing the Divine.

And what YOU need when chatting with God could look and sound completely different. However, it is up to you to show up. It’s up to you to say you want the conversation, and in fact it’s critical that you ASK for it. The Divine is all around us, waiting. It’s up to us to show we’re ready for a deeper connection.

:: Say Thanks ::
I’ve seen it time and again in human relationships. Want to mess something up? Take a person for granted. Believe that your employee will simply continue producing great work and never leave – and just watch that relationship ferment into a bitter and moldy fruit.

The Divine doesn’t need gratitude. However, simply assuming that you can continue to have dialogues with God won’t do, since becoming proud and assuming of this connection is a surefire way to destroy the dialogue.

Being in the presence of the Divine should always feel like a gift. As such, showing good manners and saying even a quick thank you after the fact can help. There are other ways to show your appreciation: donate money to your favorite charity; give a loved one a call and tell them you love them; pick up some trash from your park.

Divine dialogue has become a gift that helps me be the best version of myself, for others and for myself. Whether you find God on the blank page or in the woods, know that it is your birth right to have time and space directly with her. But taking time to discover what aspects of the Divine resonate with you, and then actually asking for that relationship, are fundamental to creating and sustaining this connection for the long haul.

LULU & CO A/W 2013: “ANOTHER GIRL, ANOTHER PLANET”

Posted on by Ruby Warrington

Lulu & Co AW13 Lookbook

SATURN calling! For her aw13 Lulu & Co collection, fashion fairy godmother Lulu Kennedy has collaborated with menswear designer Bobby Abley (one of her Fashion East babies, specialism: teddy bears in outerspace) to create a cosmic trip back to the future. There are planets, there are unicorns, there is even a fabric called “Saturn brocade.”
Continue reading “LULU & CO A/W 2013: “ANOTHER GIRL, ANOTHER PLANET””

@NUMINOUS_BOOKS