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Accessing
Lunar Cycles
by
William Bloom
As
a child, lying in the back seat of my family's
car as we drove by night, I would watch the
illusion of the Moon flying along behind the
telegraph poles, the wires, and the trees.
Because of my perspective, it seemed as if the
Moon was the fastest flying object that I had
ever seen in my life. The image was so
powerful, and I had spent so long looking at
it from inside the car, that lying in bed, my
eyes closed, I could still see it speeding
across the sky. Even now, decades later, I am
surprised as I look at the night sky that the
Moon is so still.
Yet
she is still, and her stillness is strangely
haunting. Here in the black sky is this
strange creature, sometimes invisible, then
coyly revealing herself, a sliver of silver
light growing to become a full translucent
orb. And then she retreats again, withdrawing
her gentle revelation.
The
Moon evokes poetry and my attempt above at a
few lines of poetic prose demonstrates that I
too am seduced, by its mystery. The light
which the Moon shines, reflecting the Sun, has
a strange silver quality that clothes any
object on which it falls with an unusual and
suggestive silver-gray veil.
The
night is black without the light of the Moon
-- but even with that light, there are
silence, shadows, and a silver translucence.
It is no wonder that mythology veils the Moon
in female shrouds. This shimmering, watery
appearance hints at other influences. And
these influences are very real.
The
magnetism of the Moon draws and controls the
tides of the Earth's oceans. This magnetism,
in fact, has an effect on all water wherever
it is found. The magnetic pull can be felt by
all living beings because their bodies all
contain water. Whether the pulling sensation
is recognized or not depends upon the species.
Certainly there are many animals and small
creatures who time their growth and migrations
according to the lunar influence. This
influence is also substantial upon the plant
world. Gardeners through the ages have
realized that planting, pruning, and
cultivating can be enhanced by recognizing the
effect of the lunar rhythm.
There
is also the definite influence which the lunar
cycle has upon the human psyche. Scientific
psychological studies have demonstrated the
powerful effect of this cycle upon human
behavior -- the full Moon coinciding with more
extreme anxiety, tension, sensitivity, and
other pathological conditions. Stories of
werewolves are symbolic of the fact that at
the time of the full Moon it is more difficult
for people to keep their shadow aspects
disciplined, repressed, or sublimated.
The
hidden reason for its heightened psychic
activity has always been known to students of
esoteric philosophy. In the same way, the Moon
magnetically influences water, so it also
affects the more subtle or etheric body of the
human being. The full Moon increases the
vibratory rate of the etheric body. This is
experienced by many people as a direct
physical sensation that makes them, on the
positive side, more physically speedy and
energized, and on the negative side, more
anxious and nervy.
This
increase in the vibratory rate of the etheric
body is extremely important because the
etheric body connects the dense physical body
with all the more subtle planes of existence.
And it not only connects the physical body
with the inner planes, it also acts as a
protector and filter. This is especially
important in relation to the human brain and
nervous and glandular systems.
The
human brain, the nervous system, and the
glands which feed the endocrine system are all
interwoven and protected by etheric webs.
These webs, which are similar to spiders'
webs, act as protective filters, blocking or
toning down energy from the more subtle,
higher-vibrational inner planes. This means
that no inner plane energy or information can
anchor down into the human body, particularly
into the brain, nervous and glandular systems,
without passing through the etheric webs. More
than that, the different regions of the
physical brain itself, each with its own
specific function, are divided from each other
by etheric webs. These internal webs prevent
information from spilling over from one region
of the brain into another. This is vital to
mental health, particularly in the areas of
the brain which are concerned with unconscious
and subconscious dynamic.
To
maintain psychological stability, it is
crucial that the different types of
information in the various regions of the
brain do not bleed into one another. The whole
brain itself is protected by an etheric web.
When the etheric webs of the brain vibrate
faster, they become more elastic and allow
more information to pass through them. This is
precisely what happens at the time of the full
Moon: the etheric webs are influenced by the
Moon, vibrate faster, become more elastic and
allow more inner energy and information to
flow through into the human brain and nervous
system.
Thus,
at the full Moon, an individual may find
her/himself prey to a flow of subconscious
thoughts and information that may be quite
overwhelming. The individual also finds it
easier to anchor down, in full
self-consciousness, more information and
impulses than usual from the inner spiritual
world. All this means that the full Moon is a
time of increased sensitivity and psychic
activity. At the time of the full Moon, the
veil between the two worlds thins and opens.
One
can see from all this how the effect of the
lunar rhythm is essentially inner and
subjective. There is a natural inner cycle of
reflective or passive contemplation when the
Moon is dark, leading up to a peak of active
inner and meditative work when the Moon is
full.
For
many thousands of years, mystic workers have
intensified their spiritual work at the time
of the full Moon. This ongoing work over such
a long period means that a rhythm and pattern
have been created in the inner planes, so that
when we choose to work at these times, we slip
into their pattern. Slipping into their
patterns, our work is made much easier. Like
geese flying into the slip stream of the
V-shaped flock, we find that our path is made
smoother, and in this case deeper, by those
who have gone before us.
Like
most of us, I was a sensitive and imaginative
child, and lived naturally in a
multidimensional world. This world was filled
with other beings and consciousnesses, and I
was aware that different levels of being
existed simultaneously with the one that I
could see with my eyes and touch with my
hands.
As
I grew older, I gained an increasing concern
for social and natural justice and I became a
political animal looking for action to redress
the injustices and ills of the planet -- and
for a while I forgot about the inner world I
had known as a child. Then, in my midtwenties,
that other world began to resurface in my
consciousness, and in order to explore it
fully, I began to turn within. It was a
natural instinct that led me into meditative
silence and into contemplation of the
invisible cosmos.
The
political activist became a mystic. Yet I
retained my sensitivity to the problems of the
real world. Retaining this political
awareness, I was acutely conscious of
accusation that I was self-obsessed, studying
my navel, and of no use to man or beast. This
has always been the accusation of the worldly
activist against the mystic: You do nothing!
In
my experience of contemplative silence,
however, I knew that the accusation was
unfounded. Here, in the invisible silence, was
the true world of causes. My dawning
understanding of this reality was empowered by
my reading of esoteric and spiritual
philosophy where it is taught that it is the
inner, invisible, multi-dimensional world
which is the real "real" world. What
we see and touch and hear and smell and taste
-- this three-dimensional world -- is but the
appearance of the inner dynamic realities.
This
inner world is one of energy that anchors down
into the form and actions which we see around
us. What students of esoteric philosophy have
always known is that through inner work, it is
possible to influence the outer visible world.
An individual's feelings, attitudes, thoughts
and inspirations affect the world just as much
as her physical actions. All matter is
electromagnetic energy and it can be directly
influenced by what we feel or think. The
energy of our feelings and thought continues;
it does not simply evaporate. Furthermore
using our active imagination and
concentration, we can direct feelings and
thoughts. In the words of the famous adage:
Energy follows thought.
All
of this is crucial for the mystic or inner
worker who is concerned with the world around
him, for it means that he can work, in
silence, to affect that world. Sitting
quietly, good energy, "good
vibrations," can be radiated and directed
to situations that require it. Even more
effectively, the inner work can attune to
sources of pure healing and love and then
invoke love and healing to channel and radiate
it.
Many
people with a regular meditation practice
include in their meditation a period which is
devoted to radiating a healing and blessing.
Of course, in many ways meditating itself is a
blessing for it imparts a vibration of
calmness and peace into the surrounding
environment.
At
the full Moon, inner and meditative work is
much easier for us. It is, therefore, the
perfect time for an increased focus on
spiritual service -- the service of working
with pure sources of energy to heal and
facilitate the growth of all life on Earth.
The dark Moon, on the other hand, is a time
for deep meditative study and contemplation.
It is a time for musing and for careful
introspection. It is a time of investigation
and reflection.
The
sight or sense of the first thin crescent of
the new Moon triggers us into gear for a more
active phase. Our focus becomes more outgoing
and expansive. Then, as the full Moon
approaches and our sensitivity begins to
increase its vibration, we are called fully to
the work of dynamic service.
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