Last night my coven and I decided to not hold our usual Dark Moon ritual, but I held one for myself (greatly modified from the original, which is loosely based on Timothy Roderick’s Dark Moon Mysteries).

The ritual contains at its core the concept of working with the dark moon to accept, as opposed to the full moon’s power to dare.

Though it is easy to conjure images of how we wish our lives to BE
or spend our time remembering how it WAS,
These are only illusions
and we cannot change until we know what it is that needs changing.
The power of the West the starting point in our Dark Moon journeys,
is the power to ACCEPT
a transformation of the Full Moon’s power to dare.
The power to dare is courage and the ability to go beyond limitations and boundaries.
In order to do this, we must first discover where those boundaries are
we must know our own limitations and advantages.
When you accept
you root yourself in the clear reality of the here and now.
As you become rooted in this firm ground, your boundaries become clear and
you can create a new set of boundaries.

This morning I was walking Ms. S. before 6am. It was full dark and only a bit cloudy, so I was admiring the stars and planets (Venus was particularly bright in the eastern sky).

Then a huge white owl flew over my head, circled ’round and then went off into the west, literally disappearing (rationally, an optical illusion as the owl blended in perfectly with a cloud).

Owls are sacred to Athena and are associated with wisdom and magic.They can see through deception and illusion.

The last time I was gifted with such a visitation was about a decade ago when a barn owl flew across my path as I was bicycling to work. I still recall how quiet it was, and how sturdy it looked.

So, thank you Universe and thank you Snowy Owl for the extra boost to my working to accept my limitations and redefine the boundaries of my life.