A wonder; those letters

This is more of a “coffee chat” blog post. Although I have not tried to write in that style per se. There’s a blog share that I often read with the topic of the “coffee chat” but I’ve never tracked back to who hosts it. Well, it’s not the time to do that now because I’m just flowing…

Tonight it occurred to me that I have a pile of letters that I wrote to my grandmother while I was growing up. In 2020 when she passed away at the age of 99, and maybe a year later, I received the letters back.

I put them inside of a drawer without a deeper thought than, “woah” as I bumped up against versions of my former self I wasn’t quite ready to visit, yet.

When the time is right, I’ll know. But it’s been at least over a year since I actually put the letters away in a drawer. Those juicy memories might all come flooding back. There might be uncomfortable memories…too…

And, then, there’s gonna be just a lot of emotions. So I am on ‘pause’ with it.

Has this ever happened to any of you? It feels like a treat, or a special pastry I’ll be able to enjoy at some point in my future once I get over whatever fears of triggered memories might be inside—or maybe just missing her and the past, and getting those strange glimpses into the past through a time capsule I hadn’t planned on stowing away for later opening? Sigh. When the time is right.

Ka Malana Photography 2024
Dive right in! Ka Malana Photography 2024
“Retro” Ka Malana Photography 2024

Astrological pairing:

Universal: Mercury (planet of communication) stationing Direct

Personal: Mercury is Stationing Direct in my 1st house (4 house from my 10th house —father’s mother), conjoining my natal Neptune, which is currently still transiting my 1st house (which relates back to paternal grandmother). The fact that it’s in Pisces ♓️ shares a little bit about dreams and ideals, and maybe I just convinced myself to get to reading those letters sooner than later. Or start with one a week or something, so I don’t get overwhelmed (Pisces). Natal Neptune is in Sagittarius, so it’s likely I will be inspired by the letters and the topic will probably be about traveling the most of all.

Collaboration

One of the most fun aspects of parenting is sharing the joys of color and movement with new/emerging artists. Art is so inherent to all of us.

I doodled a drawing ✍️ and my daughter saw it and got really excited because she wanted to color it in. So she did.

Today is New Year’s Eve and freshly cut flowers are on the table that I wanted her to pick out. We are on our way to our church and appreciating the foggy 🌫️ and rainy day which is a unique occurrence in our sunny home city. 🌆. New beginnings are so exciting. Especially because we also begin ‘again’ at the Lunar New Year 🧧 where we will be welcoming the Fire 🔥 Dragon 🐉. I’ll be running a class at that time, called “Reluctant Shaman.” It’s meant to be a small group, so the spots are full for this iteration. If you are interested in joining, use the contact form and I will add you to a wait list which is approximately 7-8 weeks from now.

Let me use this moment to ask you about your small, perhaps unnoticed collaborations. You might be working with roommates, family members, or even pets. If there are none of these friends to buddy-up with around, then maybe you can invite in a spiritual guide.

Wouldn’t you like to collaborate more in the New Year? Here are some thoughts for your consideration.

1). Name one of your favorite flowers.

2). Go to the internet (this one should be easy) and look up as many different images of your favorite flower.

3). Either go clip your flower from outside after asking it permission. Or, go to the grocery store to purchase your favorite flower. If neither of these options are available, then just look at the image of your favorite flower and IMAGINE the smell.

4). After you have done this, write a little note to the person who you would like to collaborate with. Tell them they are a great friend, sibling, roommate, and list one quality you love about them. Then if it’s not a real, in-flesh person, put the note next to your nightstand, and sleep with it near you for 31 days.

Happy NYE!!

P.S. Even if you did none of the above things, still check back later to see if your seed planted and it might even take root simply with your focused desire while reading. ☺️

Full Moon in Cancer

It has been such a magical full to moon to have in the family-oriented sign of Cancer. How can we appreciate our families even more?

Ka Malana Photography
Ka Malana Photography
Ka Malana Photography
Full ‘Cold’ Moon in Cancer 2023 🌕 Ka Malana Photography
  • Think of your home and bless it.
  • Remember your first memory and nurture it by writing it down.
  • Close your eyes and put your hand on your heart and say “This is my home. I am here, now.”

even angels cannot weep

Flames 🔥 Finding Flight, Ka Art
Solstice tree Ka Malana Photography
Is that thread a tear? Ka Malana Photography

melted dark chocolate

hand-drizzled on a candy cane

positioned on a graham cracker stick

for dream walking

hats off to the warm gingerbread baking in the oven

while we lick the frosting freshly made

messed about on our fingers, spreading icing

with song‘s flav

hearth lit 🔥 and cocoa steaming in the kettle.

hanging with that marshmallow snow outside

is the song 🎵 of the seasons lingering in the air from the records revolutions

adding to the momentum like floating clouds

the smell of pine needles and the early setting sun glowing up on the rafters

I will see the stars tonight, on this long night of 14 hrs.

butterscotch nightcap and the old Sprites

yen for more blackberry honey mead

one more toast to the night in radiant jubilation

for the

the gift of the sight,

its rising nature

the way the sun, love, air, heat, & ascension

are always lifting up.

chimes of the clock mark my optimism

for even at midnight both arms point high.

Remixed rainbow

rainbow colors are

mixed differently

half drawn

into a sketch

stretched onto a surface of

fitting in, trying, that is

room for everything

tangled by

the light in the center

with strings

horizons multiply

and the thick scent of vapor

freshens the tablet

we all have eyes

seeing out, seeing in

everywhere is news ,

events

then there is just sitting

and smiling

sitting in the center of a mess

satisfied by

by the sketch in progress

never done

not worrying about how to

tie it in a bow,

story-coat it.

Self Promises

Movement

In November I promised myself I would get back to making art in the form of something more like free-flow drawing and allowing. I had a big ambition which was to do one drawing a day. I set out with these inspiring supplies of water color pencil which were magically on sale for 50% off. This has been a favorite medium of mine throughout the years. I think my first love was actually oil pastel, but it shifted. No sooner did we get to this spot in the month did I realize that I did make my mark on the paper but I would have to revisit the same image, because it just wasn’t going to be completed in the short amount of time that I allotted. I didn’t meet my challenge but the point of a challenge is to put forth a sufficient FOCUSED effort sometimes, not to necessarily always reach the intended goal.

When I was younger and I made art, it would be for fun, for exploration, but also I was working out things. Sometimes I made art that was ‘ugly.’ Yet I have always held this dream to one day make art again that (other) people like.

I remember to well the early admirers of my art. They really did make me feel “seen” as a child and teenager who made art.

So, I’m posting over the years my “starts and stops” my spurts and my blurts. I’m not sure if I will ever turn my art into a steady meditation (or if I even want to) because I’m exploring and explorers look for some kind of “gold.” So maybe I’m a wandering one, and I get off the visible path and trek in the unseen for periods.

So there’s its own process “the art” and “the unfolding;” and, it simply needs my respect and my love.

Dimensions
Quality of light as a living organism

When I was younger I always noticed the passion in others. It became easier to fan their flame than to dedicate myself to my own creations. Maybe my art can become an extension of my self inquiry. 🧐 I always picture myself doing installation art “commentaries” once again. I only ever did one once and I thought it was gonna be the start of my art career. It was not.

Manifesting Reality?

Inspiration from a meme

This upcoming New Moon in Sagittarius ♐️ looks kind of nice on paper with 20Deg at Sun/Moon conjunction. It’s in trine aspect, which is generally considered an easy aspect, to the transiting North Node. However it is squaring Neptune in its domicile of Pisces. A square is an angle of challenge, with a more potent flavor.

Mercury is in its retrograde shadow and will be turning retrograde right after this New Moon on the 12th. So there’s a Neptune-y feel to this new moon and Mercury. There’s a chance to reconsider the habitual nature of mind and adapt with reflection and then re-charting course.

Higher and highest ideals mashed and mixed with reality possibly a sandblast with clarity or being spun again into a tornado of confusion. The latter is less likely but possible. The title relates, for me, back to my natal Neptune in Sagittarius which does square my natal Saturn in Virgo and trine my natal Sun in Leo. Neptune is in my 10th house of public/career. It is no wonder that I was called to be and serve spiritually in a capacity that is often free-flowing and idealistic and visionary.

For us all:

It’s a good time to make extra progress shedding addictions and illusions in consciousness. There may be grace and insights on the wing.

The wisdom and insight of spiritual teacher Helen Hamilton points to ways of self-inquiry that speaks directly to the ways she fully awoke. She helps the satsang listener to understand experientially how to practice and embrace the Self through awakening and deepening the habitual attention to the space from where all phenomena comes and goes. Here’s a link to her core teachings: https://youtu.be/DyzwcIiEQqw?si=iUrRn4xDEvfRIso4

I’ve been waiting for a long time to be found by what needs to find me: people, energies, Spirits. How about you? Did you find your calling right away? Each time I meet someone new I can help or connect with spiritually, my calling becomes known to me. My lifetime has been one of patience and dedication, growing and realizing faith through walking through the thick fires of consciousness transformation. The Spirit is willing.

How do you move through consciousness? Are your days deliberately planned, whimsical? Did you feel the fires burning from a young age for a particular skill or gift? Are you on the planet with a mission, or is it time to renew one, or even create one?

Whatever you’re calling, let us know in the comments!

things (all of them together).

This post is the finale post. Included here is the whole passage, number 48, with links from the Tao Te Ching passage (citation below). Also included is the rest of the passage, because there were more words than I had title space for (more than 30). Ah, the spirit of a challenge. It’s like a brisk walk through the days, an autumn season delight. A way to hold the light gently. There’s the gathering, and the spirits, and the gathering of the spirits. So much to appreciate and be thankful for. The cuppeth overruneth.

Ka Malana Photography
Ka Malana Photography

In the pursuit of knowledge,

every day something is added.

In the practice of the Tao,

every day something is dropped.

Less and less do you need to force things,*

until finally you arrive at non-action.

When nothing is done,

nothing is left undone.

True mastery can be gained

by letting things go their own way.

It can’t be gained by interfering.

Ka Malana Photography
Ka Malana Photography
Ka Malana Photography

Each year, this Nano Poblano is a *certain* challenge. We all face different circumstances and event-filled lives for many of us. For others, it might be lonely. Nevertheless, my WP blog (and yours) is one of my most special homes. You all who gather here and interact really touch my heart and make my season. I get excited to do NanoPoblano, it puts me in a festive mood and sets the tone for “unofficially official” in a way that really appeals to me: a ‘no pressure’ challenge. What could be more than a gift but a gentle push and nudge that is mostly self-governed, with group support and group consciousness? Thank you, Rara, Bill Friday, Matt, Dinah, and all of you. You all have last names, but Bill’s is Friday, so I had to list that. Seeing you year after year, in whatever capacity, is part of my festivities. You may not realize how much you impact me with your presence, just living your own lives, writing through it all–or flustering through it. It doesn’t matter how we get to the other end; we are together.

To all of you who have been with me almost every day: Eddie, Mark, Sue, Tania, my dear Yassy, Joanna, Karen, Debra, Dani, and so many others… I cannot thank you enough for your presence and helping me to get through this challenge. I hope it has fulfilled you to be a part of it as much as it has fulfilled me to have you be a part of this month-long blog challenge, and just blogging together, in general ❤ You are all loved. There are countless others who I did not name but you know who you are. Thank you for being here. Your comments have helped me in my own transformation and levity.

As for my more reflective space and self-discussion: The Tao Te Ching has been with me since I was a pre-teen. It was my answer to what didn’t make sense in religion, and has been with me in some capacity ever since. I highly regard the Tao Te Ching, which is why I am a doctor of acupuncture, East Asian medicine and practice holistic, integrative, and functional medicine. Yes, those are a lot of words for I educate myself a lot and I’m always busy learning. My blog has mostly been the space where I share my astrological insights (since my astrology tutelage began as a pre-teen as well). I also share my art in writing, drawing, whimsy, shamanic practicing, meditation, photography, poetry, and whatever is new and transformative for me to bring out of myself and into the world.

Kauai is a most wonderful place in the world, who is the heart of the mother who speaks to me. Almost all of my photographs displayed here are of this beautiful island.

For those of you who just met me: Welcome. Get cozy. Please take something from your time here with me. Please make your time meaningful, delightful, and/or full of wonder. Please leave with a renewed sense of purpose. Open your mind to questions with ease and grace. Please be as you are, and come and go with your own joy, tenderness, vulnerability, grief, openness, perception, wisdom, and embrace. However you are.

Happy Holidays! From my heart to yours!

Source:

Laozi., & Mitchell, S. (2009). Tao te ching. London, Frances Lincoln Limited.

need

Ka Malana Photography
Ka Malana Photography

This Full Moon, today, in Gemini is interesting because its got the Sun very close to Mars. So there could be more urgency, a sense of motivation, or even a “loose canon” experience. So moderation and temperance is extra advised. One additional reason this experience is “pressurized” is because the Sun and Moon (in opposition as with a full moon) are in a T-square with the planet Saturn at 0 degree of Pisces. Spiritual experiences may intermingle with your sense of reality in a new way that reveals that ‘reality’ is either more ‘fluid’ and inconsistent than originally thought–or, conversely one can experience a solidification of what was otherwise seen as only etheric or of the “mind” (Gemini). Please feel free to share how you are feeling in the 3 days around the Full Moon. We are all so curious for your feedback.

Just a few more days of the Nano Poblano challenge! Happy Blogging during the Holiday season. Get your cozy on!