Moon of Liberation by Kate Brunner

“I stand firmly between the worlds of who I am and who I shall become, celebrating my wholeness. I celebrate my Sovereignty and I do not fear my Shadow, for together they hold the seeds of wisdom:
as they grow, I earn my freedom.”

~Affirmation for the Moon of Liberation from The Avalonian Oracle by Jhenah Telyndru & Emily Brunner~

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“What gives us courage in the face of potential loss?
What makes the changes worth it?
Is the pattern we are weaving one that pictures liberation?”

~from T. Thorn Coyle’s Crafting A Daily Practice~

***

The Red Clover beside my house is blooming just in time for tonight’s Moon of Liberation. This is the full moon where my fellow Sisters of Avalon and I hope experience the liberation of celebrating the renewed wholeness that comes with the early days of Resolution in the Avalonian Cycle of Healing. Red Cover is the herb we honor at this time.

At this particular point in our Cycle, I seek to celebrate just that much more manifestation of my true essence, continuing to break free from old patterns, bring about further change in my life, be it immense or infinitesimal. This is the celebration that comes before the hard look forward to the next quest in Cycle to come.

And yet, in working with the Principle of Polarity and living in opposite hemispheres of the globe, I’ve gained some personal experience in coming to understand that the All always contains the extremes of a polarity and everything in between. So while I exist in the Liberation of Resolution as the Light Half waxes, others still exist in the Dark. In my practice, I strive to remember that the opposite aspects of Cycle are always co-existent on this earth. The whole of the planet is always in two places, operating from polarize perspectives, at the same time. And still we keep spinning. For now.

This seems particularly relevant as I look around at my country and my culture, as well as, at my world. As the manifestations of Sovereignty & Shadow ripen all around us, the challenge becomes finding ways to acknowledge that harvesting the seeds of wisdom from both Light & Dark is probably necessary for true liberation. Perhaps this is why walkers between worlds make for such powerful peaceweavers — if they manage not to be rendered complete madwomen.   

The protective energies of Red Clover make for a powerful ally as the call to Liberation waxes within our Avalonian Tradition and as I seek to answer that call from a place of humble power versus frenetic madness. To hold a clover blossom in one’s hand is an invitation to see between worlds, its trifoliate leaves reflecting the wisdom of the teaching triads of ancient Britain & Ireland. And yet, its ability to fix nutrients within the soil and increase the biodiversity of any area it chooses to grow within points to an equally powerful grounding quality. In any given patch of Red Clover, several stems arise from one root. Red Clover asks me to clearly define that which grounds me, and yet, also insists I remain open to myriad insights and possibilities that may lead me to my own full blossoming.

We are still a few lunar cycles off from Gwyl Awst, the “Feast of August” and the last of the Fire Festivals celebrated as Holy Days within the Avalonian Cycle of Healing. Then, at the apex of the Light Half of the Year, my Sisters and I will take time to celebrate all we have harvested and carried with us up from the nadir of the Dark Half this year.

We will use the power of Resolution in two separate but connected ways. We will bring resolution to the personal healing we have quested for throughout the Cycle which is closing. But we will also resolve to begin again in the Cycle which is to come. Gwyl Awst, in our tradition, honors both the Resolution and the resolve to keep questing for deeper, truer liberation.

As the first of the harvest festivals in Britain, Gwyl Awst or Lughnasadh, also brought that two-fold celebration to the agricultural cycle. Towns celebrated the resolution of the planting and growing seasons, by stepping back to appreciate what they had grown in partnership with the land over the previous year. They also resolved themselves to undertake the heavy labor of the harvest season in order to prepare for the coming Dark.

Resolution continues to teach me a great deal about how to celebrate the harvest of my work in the moment and to truly see the beauty and power of my Sovereignty as it exists in the present. Honoring my growth, the full illumination of my actualized Sovereignty in the now is the culmination, not just of this Cycle, but also of work Goddess sets and will most likely continue to set before me for years past and all those to come. She demands I push past any fears about my own healing or failure and honor who I am right now, the power of this woman at this point in time.

She demands I step into my own liberation.

Tonight, under the shining light of a ripe full moon, in sacred space, I will once again attempt to meet that Divine mandate. As I do, I will continue to hold in my heart the polarity of Light & Dark, the wisdom of both Sovereignty & Shadow. When I step between worlds, I will do my best to honor how far I — and we —  have come in the process of liberation. Even so, in the same breath, I will pray into the work that is required, given how far we all still have to go. This season will wax and as it does, I will celebrate the resolution of the year’s quest.

I will also commit, with resolve, to quest again.  

Kate M. Brunner is a writer, healer, ritualist, & member of The Sisterhood of Avalon. She is also a current resident of Heartwood Cohousing in Colorado & a homeschooling mother of three. Kate hosts seasonal women’s gatherings, priestesses labyrinth rituals, and facilitates workshops on an assortment of women’s spirituality topics. During 2017, she will present at the SOA’s annual online conference, AvaCon, & at the second annual Ninefold Festival this autumn. Kate is a contributing writer at One World Herbal Community and is also published in Flower Face: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Blodeuwedd and The Goddess in America: The Divine Feminine in Cultural Context.

Author: Kate M. Brunner

Kate M. Brunner is a writer, healer, ritualist, & member of The Sisterhood of Avalon. She is a resident of Heartwood Cohousing & a homeschooling mother of three. She holds a BA from Tulane University, where she studied Economics, International Relations, & Religious Traditions. Kate hosts seasonal women’s gatherings, priestesses labyrinth rituals, and facilitates workshops on an assortment of women’s spirituality topics. During 2017, she will present at the SOA’s annual online conference, AvaCon, & at the second annual Ninefold Festival in Colorado. She is also published in Flower Face: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Blodeuwedd and The Goddess in America: The Divine Feminine in Cultural Context. View all posts by Kate M. Brunner