Walking into Asheville Salt Cave’s new moon meditation led by Jason Bennefield, I knew what to expect

thanks to his thorough blog post on the meaning and significance of the event (which I highly recommend reading here).  Harnessing the feminine energy of the new moon, it is a time for seed planting (both literally and figuratively) in order to release what is not serving us and focus on what manifestations we need to bring about in our lives.  During the meditation, I chose to let go of fear which holds me back from living a healthy and creative life.  

The candles that Jason lit in the cave gave off a magical glow that left me feeling inspired to light some candles that evening after the meditation.

I had placed them on my nightstand ages ago but never seemed to have *the occasion* to light them up.  Turns out, The Occasion is any time we want peace and serenity in our lives which turns out to be Always. It occured to me that my nightstand could serve as an altar. Instead of a shrine to makeup remover pads and things-found-in-my-sweatpants, perhaps I could use this little nook in my life to embody my hopes and dreams.  

Jason explained that altars should be in a place without high traffic so the energy isn’t interrupted. 

“There aren’t any limitations on what you can put on an altar”, he expounded, “anything that evokes good feelings about what you’re trying to manifest will be great.” 

For example, if you’re trying to manifest a new house, put pictures of houses you like on your altar.  

The next day, I could feel a cold coming on which had been chasing me all week.  Inspired by the alchemical seed planting of letting go of fear, it was the perfect opportunity to do something that I’m embarrassed to admit terrifies me: trying a neti pot.  I have long been convinced of the benefits of using a neti pot, however, the use of it confounds and scares me no matter how many youtube tutorials I watched.  Because, wait, how many degrees should I tilt my head exactly? Luckily, Asheville Salt Cave sells gorgeous ceramic neti pots to get me started.   

I harnessed the energy of the new moon and gave it a try and it went…um, alright. 

I think it’s going to take more experimentation but that new moon energy helped me begin a new practice that I needed in my life.  The awkward first try must have still done the trick because the next day I felt much better.  

Sunday, I completed one more project that the fear of failure had been blocking me from for almost four months.  Wanting to hop on the tie-dye train that I oddly missed in the 80s, I’ve been saving a white blazer for a masterful creation of perfectly placed pastel dyes.  But again, what if I don’t do it right? What if I ruin a perfectly good blazer and I curse the summer camps that never properly trained me for this moment? All those months of that poor blazer wasting away in my project pile were saved by the Virgo new moon. 

A bigger, more important project has also been waiting in the wings. 

I’ve been putting off working on a screenplay for similar reasons. What if I’m not good enough?  What if my writing isn’t good enough?

The idea of seed planting in the new moon helped me realize that nothing can grow if it hasn’t been planted.  So, I planted myself on the sofa and sowed my words onto a laptop. It was a small start, but it was a giant leap from no words at all.    

Jason Bennefield’s new moon meditation is an incredible experience that can heighten your goal setting and give you the opportunity to focus on what you want to manifest in your life.  You can’t plant seeds if you don’t reflect on what it is that you want to harvest.