Supermoon | Yin Fire Sheep
The supermoon of July known as the ‘Buck Moon’ is the largest supermoon of the year! It rises Tuesday evening on July 12th and reaches its peak on Wednesday July 13th at 2:37pm EDT. It is in the astrological house of Capricorn in the month of the Yin Fire Sheep. This lunar phase is associated with the Metal element and the Dui position in the bagua map dedicated to Children and Creativity. So what does this all mean?!
A full moon lunar phase symbolizes harvest and represents the rising of Yang Qi reaching its most abundant peak. A supermoon is that multiplied by 100. This is why we may experience intense or charged emotions especially if we’re already depleted. And let’s be real, aren’t we all exhausted? But the Yang Qi of a supermoon is also an excellent time to re-organize, settle disputes, re-evaluate relationships, and let go of everything that longer serves you. The Yang Qi reveals areas in our life that we have been ignoring in hopes that we’ll get to it one day or just continue ignoring until it comes crashing down on us like an overstuffed closet. Either way, the supermoon with its amplified Yang Qi high beams these issues, and offers us a chance to work through them.
Each lunar phase has a specific element, season, position, and animal spirit guides associated with it. The full moon phase is associated with the Metal element, Autumn season, West (Dui position related to the Children and Creativity), and the Monkey, Rooster, and Dog animal spirit guides — all within the Fire summer season in the Yin Fire Sheep month.
All this information may sound hard to follow but it’s pretty easy once you connect the dots. To make the most out of this lunar phase, we can connect the various Qi of the macrocosmic universe to create a blueprint of how to make the most out of this phase.
Metal and Autumn
The Metal (Autumn) season is associated with the emotion of Grief. The Metal and Fire (Summer) have a beautiful relationship. In Chinese medicine, we say Fire melts Metal. This is evident in metal work where you need fire to bend and shape metal. When Fire melts Metal, the Metal is able to soften its rigidity, refine its purpose, and transform into a different shape. The Metal is also associated with our voice and the ability to speak our Truth with clarity. Whereas, the Fire is associated with our ability to to connect with others and create meaningful relationships. The relationship between a Fire elemental archetype and Metal elemental archetype is a powerful combination because of this alchemical relationship.
During this lunar phase, we are being asked to explore the emotion of Grief from the Metal element to cultivate compassion within ourselves but also with others. The past month, I have been personally grieving over the lost of a loved one who passed away nearly a decade ago. All of a sudden, this grief hit me like a brick wall, and I spent pretty much every day crying. During one of my ugly crying sessions in bed listening to that one sad Vance Joy song over and over again, I allowed the Grief to break my heart open. I had never felt so heartbroken, and yet, simultaneously I felt so deeply connected to humanity. This was the most beautiful thing I had ever experienced, and I realized — This is what it means to be human. This is the human experience. To love deeply even after all these years, and to have my heart break into a million pieces to start a new chapter.
Grief is a result of a loss. Sometimes, it’s the loss of a loved one. Other times, it’s the loss of who we once were or the loss of a life we once knew. Every one of us has experienced a loss in some form of another since the pandemic. This is a new world, and we’re forced to navigate it. But how many of us have spent time grieving over the old world we once knew?
Dui and Yin Fire Sheep
The Dui position in the bagua map used in Feng Shui is associated with the direction of the West and indicates the area known as ‘Children and Creativity’. In Daoist face reading, “children and creativity” correlates with the philtrium. The shape, depth, size, and color of the philtrium indicates the fertility of an individual. This concept of fertility can be associated with being fertile to have children but there are many other ways to be fertile in life. One way is through activating our creative energy.
‘Creativity’ is a word that charges some people. I often see clients who get activated at the idea of being creative — Oh no, I’m NOT a creative person! We associate ‘creativity’ with artistic ability. We have been conditioned to believe that only artists are creative. But the truth is, we’re ALL creative. Being human is a creative experience. Creativity for me is being curious, tapping into our imagination, allowing ourselves to daydream, wish, hope, and most importantly, play. When we expand our concept of creativity, we are able to see that every moment is a beautiful creative expression.
The Children and Creativity position is asking us to find creative ways to reconnect with our younger self. We can do this through the guidance of the Yin Fire Sheep as we navigate our Grief in order to connect with people more intimately.
In the July Collective Qi Reading, I go in depth about the Sheep as the most divine Yin animal spirit of the Chinese zodiac. The Sheep also correlates with the Mother (or Maternal) Archetype and is known to be gentle and kind. During this lunar phase, as you reflect back on your childhood think about the role your Mother played. Your Mother is anyone who took on the maternal role which means your "Mother” could have been your father, grandmother, auntie, cousin, or maybe even a teacher. This person was meant to be your caregiver and nurturer but sometimes, they may not have been able to provide the tender love and care that you needed. These are the issues that are being highlighted during this lunar phase.
Qi Sparks
In the 2022 lunisolar calendar, there is a section in each month called “Qi Spark” where you are encouraged to tap into your innate creative energy with a specific prompt based on the Qi of the month. Qi Spark is an invitation to spark to shen — the five spirits of the elements — to help us remember and make sense of our spirit. Here are a few guiding Qi Sparks to help you navigate this powerful supermoon phase by using the wisdom of the Metal-Fire elements, Grief-Joy, Dui-Yin Fire Sheep. You can use these as journal prompts or you can simply read each prompt, close your eyes, and reflect for a minute or two.
What kind of kid (under the age of 5) were you? What did you like to play with? What did you like to eat? Who were your friends?
Who was your Mother (Maternal) figure, and which emotions arise when you think about them?
What are challenges in your current life that stem from your childhood that you want to let go as you begin this next chapter?
How can you mother yourself with kindness, tenderness, and gentleness as you grieve?
I would highly encourage you to express whatever comes up for you in a creative way. You can write, dance, stretch, cook, put on makeup — remember, every moment is a creative expression. You can’t mess this up. Just do something! For the next few days, remain open, pay attention to signs, and most importantly, receive them. Try not to brush these signs as ordinary coincidences.
