May is the month to hear truth. This new moon came in true to the color of her cycle - black and in the dead of night. Her arrivial marked the beginning of my household's 6th week of sheltering at home. We had been doing well as a family of three adults manueving ourselves around in our 'cozy' 7 room house. But, upon entering another week with our lives still in limbo, as Illinois' numbers continued to climb--I felt left in the dark--the dark of black moon, black night and black mood.
May Moon invites us to listen, and listen, and then listen ever deeper. I like to think that the color black, the imagery of a 'black' moon, inviting us to hear intently during these weeks of the waxing moon to what is deep within our own hearts and psyches. This kind of hearing is the kind of listening that happens in times of blackness (like this current experience of being in the dark about the path of the pandemic). If we we are patient enough to learn to listen in this way, we will be amazed and guided by what we hear.
This is the truth John of the Cross listened for and finally heard during his Dark Night of the Soul. Jacob wrestling with the angel in a night so black he could not see his foe, listened and heard his true name. This is the transformation toward truth that happens on Vision Quest, sitting in prayerful silence in dark nights of solitude.
If we can practice hearing the truth within our own being during these days of the waxing moon, we will be better prepared to hear what is truth in the cacophony of words in media, politics, and promoters.
