This new moon, our collective cards is the
Ace of Swords
Sagittarius is an adventurer, energized, ready to take on the challenge of a new year with curiosity and eagerness. But this new/dark moon time is a reminder that even the Energizer Bunny of the Zodiac needs to refill sometimes.
Photo by Matt Houghton
This card invites us to consider the feeling just before a thought forms, just before we give it language, and long before we communicate it, manifest it, or bring it to fruition. As we take a look at our empty suitcase, empty rucksack, empty pockets, this card asks,
Can we open to inspiration without reaching for it?
Not always easy. So often, the cyclical nature of ideas gets lost in capitalist myths of productivity. It puts me in mind of a parenting strategy I recently encountered of allowing your kids to be bored, remembering that boredom can give rise to immense creativity. The same goes for us. What if you give staring out the window, steamy mug in hand, the same weight as putting pen to paper?
On a somewhat related note, parting as abruptly as it arrived, this is the last episode of the Ecstatic Rabbit Podcast for both 2021 as well as the foreseeable future. Call it a hiatus, call it a winter break. Comeback TBD.
I wish you a sweet, easy end of the Gregorian year. See you next time.
If you want to hear more...
Episode Transcript:
Hello and welcome to the Ecstatic Rabbit Podcast, a space for esoteric exploration, heartfelt insight, and expansive curiosity. I'm your host and the founder of Ecstatic Rabbit Tarot and Coaching, Sarah Corbyn Woolf. Hi. Here we are. December of 2021. I kind of can't believe it. What a year. I started this podcast very impulsively about 11 months ago, almost to the day. And however many episodes later, this is where we find ourselves. So. A little about this month's new moon.
I, for one, am really grateful that this new moon is falling when it is because it's sort of-- it's in the middle. It's in sort of a lull for me between the birthday-Thanksgiving-- American Thanksgiving-- American so-called "Thanksgiving" rush, and then the-- well, not so much this year because Hanukkah is so early. But the, like, holi-- like, winter holidays, like Yule-Solstice-Christmas-usually Hanukkah-New Year's rush. So I think that there's something in this new moon that, if you observe any or all of those, can give us kind of a minute to go, "Whew. Okay." Take a little darkness, take a little like alone time. Let that inner introvert refill a little bit on their their gasoline.
And this new moon is in Sagittarius, which is a super adventurous sign. Very curious, and seeking out the untouched, the undiscovered. And so I think that there's something really neat about considering like, okay, what does the energy of Sagittarius need in order to, like, fully, sustainably commit to that sense of adventure, to that curiosity, to that exploration? And I think that this tracks when we consider beginning a new Gregorian year. Some of us may be considering our resolutions. Some of us may be making a kind of a bucket or year's to-do list, setting intentions.
Every new day is an adventure on one level or another, right? Every new day can ask for our exploration or invite our curiosity. So what does Sagittarius need to get ready for that trip? What are they packing in their suitcase or their rucksack or just putting in their pockets to help them move through that curiosity with health, fortitude, energy? And so with this new moon, this sort of internal, reflective, almost preparatory time, what can we put in our own pockets, suitcase, rucksack as we prepare to close this chapter and start a new one?
Now, you know, time is, as my friend Michael McDonald says, not a complete mystery. And I want to say a little about the Gregorian New Year. Something I love about being a Jewish witch or a Jewitch or a practitioner or whatever I'm called, part of what I love about that is the fact that I have a bunch of options for new years. And it may be that the Gregorian New Year doesn't really vibe with you. Perhaps it seems as arbitrary as it is, but I do also believe in the power of the collective on our consciousness. And so I think that even if you're trying to divest yourself of the societal blah blah blah, I do believe that that influence is going to stick to you somewhere, right? Odds are, if you're listening to this podcast, that you engage with society enough that the collective observation of the Gregorian New Year is worth taking some time to consider. So with that in mind, send you off to an ad break and then we'll come back to pull a card.
Ooh! The Ace of Swords. The Ace of Swords. And does anyone else want to come out and play? I feel like someone else might wanna come out and play. Let's see what we find. Wah! A card with a giant question mark just popped up. So I'm gonna go ahead and say that it's just the Ace of Swords for today. I think the simplicity is deceptive. Because I'm like, really? That's it? But like, "That's it." As if. Okay. So the question being sort of, you know, how can we prepare for an adventure? Or how can we get ready to have sustainable curiosity and energy for exploration?
And we get the Ace of Swords, which is such a moment of, like-- it's like the moment before the idea has words. It's like-- it's like the feeling of an idea. It's the inception of a thought. And I think that so often, you know, in order to like, allow an idea to come to fruition in our world and our society, we need to put that idea and thought into language, right? In order to communicate it with others. In order to give it legs. In order to give it a chance at moving from the Ace through all the way to the 10, perhaps.
But what is it to have an idea, like, before you can articulate it and explain it and brainstorm it? The Aces are not the first step on the journey, right? I often think of the Aces as the lifting of the foot. The two is the first step, but the Ace is just that [inhale] of lifting the leg and getting ready to walk. Or run. Or dance. So this Ace of Swords, I feel like it's giving us space to feel the nascence of inspiration and clarity without needing to make it into anything. Like, it will make itself.
So a question you might ask yourself is, if this is a time, this new moon, of opening up to receive restorative, replenishing juice/vibes/gasoline in order to prepare for the adventure of this next chapter, this next year, or maybe just getting through the holidays with family or not with family, whatever it might be, whatever it might be: I wonder if the way to open up to that is by opening up to inspiration. By saying, Okay, I'm not going to seek out. I'm gonna let it come to me.
There can be also at the end of a year a lot of the reflection on what we didn't accomplish. On what we weren't inspired to do. On what we haven't managed yet. The resolutions that we failed at. And I think that this card is also a reminder of, like, always having a chance for a fresh start in every possible new year, every possible first beginning, whether that's, you know, considering the new year of astrology with Aries season, the new year of the witches' year with Samhain, the new year of the Jewish New Year with Rosh Hashanah, or even just every new moon. Constantly we have new chances to reset, recalibrate, check back in with ourselves, notice if our priorities have shifted.So don't lose that in the in the deep, deep capitalist gym and diet industry vibes of New Year's resolutions. It's a chance to check in with yourself. Skip it if you want. But. There's no need to pass it up if you think you'll have to shift those resolutions a little in, like, a month or a week or a couple of days into 2022.
On a similar note, I think I'm going to take a break from this podcast. I say that now. I reserve the right to change my mind. It's been a solid year of episodes with frequency and cycle and rhythm and pattern shifting a bit here and there. Thank you to everyone who has listened all year long. I think I need to remove the pressure from myself for a little bit and see what that's like. So let's call it a winter break. It might be that I pop up when I feel like the collective wants or needs it. It might be that I'd give it a couple of months and then come back to this rhythm here. There are still interviews I want to bring to you. There's people that I want to chat with. But I think it's time for a little pause, a little inhale to allow inspiration to come to me rather than me chasing it down. So with that-- oh, I'm getting a little choked up. With that, I thank you again. My inbox is open. Reach out any time. I hope that this season treats you with gentleness, tenderness, generosity, inspiration. And I hope that the turnover of your Gregorian calendar takes place with ease. Okay. Lots of love. I'll see you when I see you. Until then.