Know what is happening in the sky
today? Nothing. That's what. Nada that I can see. The Moon in
Sagittarius made her last aspect (trine to current ruler, Jupiter) at
about 11:30 PM last night. She was busy all day yesterday. Today she
is taking the day off.
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| Picture of the Moon taken 9/28/14 while she was hanging out in Sagittarius |
If you started something yesterday and
didn't have a chance to finish it, then today is a good day to wrap
it up.
With a Void Moon all day, it isn't
really advisable that you begin anything new. But, you can certainly
experiment. I've made it a hobby to play with them.
We've not had a long Void Moon for a
few days. But, I started a project under an active moon just to have
something to continually work on during days like this. It seems to
be going rather well.
Since there is nothing really
noteworthy in the sky and I spent 15 minutes reviewing the news last
night and have no intention to speak of current events, I'll tell you
a little about it.
This is a cabinet that I inherited from
my grandmother when she died in 2007. My grandmother collected salt
and pepper shakers. My entire life, I grew up admiring them. Of
course, I wasn't allowed to touch them. But, I could look at them and
ask questions.
The shakers came from all over the
world. Whenever my grandparents would travel, they would buy a set of
shakers from every town they stopped in or visited. These became
travel mementos each of them bearing their own set of memories.
Some of the shakers came as gifts from
my grandmothers friends or relatives on their journeys. These friends
would go on vacation or what have you. While they were there, knowing
my grandmother had this collection, they would pick up a set of
shakers and bring them home to her. As a Libra, I always thought that
was nice. People were thinking of my grandmother fondly while they
were traveling. And, their kindness was shown to her in a way that
she appreciated. You know?
At any rate, I grew up looking into
this cabinet and hearing stories of where the shakers came from and
of where my grandparents had been.
I've also knew several years before my
grandmother died that I would inherit this cabinet. She would tell me
I'd have it one day and I would tell her I never wanted it. Not
because I didn't actually want the cabinet or the shakers but because
I never wanted the circumstances to arrive for me to have it. I
didn't even collect the cabinet when my grandmother passed away.
Something about having it still in her house after she was gone made
me feel like a part of her was still there. Yet, when my grandfather
died in 2012, the entire house had to be dismantled and everything
was dispersed among family members. So, I brought the cabinet and all
its contents home.
The cabinet sat in my living room and
for a long time; I was averse to even touching it. I wanted to leave
it exactly as she had left it. Each time I looked at it, though, I
thought about my grandparents and the idea of inheritance. I wanted
to keep this cabinet and pass it on to my grandchildren; but, I
wanted to give it a little bit of “me” for them to look back on.
So, I decided to refinish it. As I
said, I started this project under an active moon and, now, I only
work to finish it on Void Moon days. I've packed the salt and pepper
shakers up so my own grandchildren (2 young boys aged 5 and 2)
wouldn't think they were toys and accidentally break them. I took off
the glass doors and removed the shelves and stripped off the old
stain which was that 1960's light maple or pine.
Then, I painted the interior of the
cabinet flat black. It took me about a week to pick out the right
stain (Because I'm Libra like that). Finally, I chose a nice reddish
mahogany and I'm really satisfied with how it turned out.
On the inside of the cabinet, I've
affixed pictures of all the family members (on both sides of my and
my husbands family) that have passed on. Now, the cabinet holds not
just where my grandparents had been but where we all came from. On
the largest part of the cabinet, I affixed letters that my
grandfather wrote to my grandmother while he was stationed in the Air
Force (where he was when they met). They are dated from 1940-42 and
speak of nothing but how much he loved her and missed her. At the
very top of the one I placed in the middle he wrote “True Love”
in big letters and underlined it three times. Who does that anymore?
Well, saps like me do that. And, I put it in the cabinet just so my
future generations could see THIS is how our family does it...we love
each other and we let that be known. This is where we came from.
The paragraph in the above picture
reads (under True Love) “I do believe the Lord above created you for me to love. He
picked you out from all the rest because he knew I loved you best.” That's my grandmother on your left and my grandfather on your right.
I still have many pictures to add. The
shelf that goes in the middle is the last piece to be refinished. The
trick? The cabinet will never be finished completely. There will
always be more family members to add. Take that Void Moon.
What I didn't expect during this
refinishing project is how many memories of my grandfather the
activity would bring back. He is the one who put the cabinet together
originally. He is the one who put on the original stain and replaced
the shelf when it was broken. As I sanded away the old finish, it
released the smell of his workshop. The smell was so strong and
familiar, I felt as if I was working on the cabinet in my
grandfather's workshop and he was there with me.
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| My husband's family (and mine, too) intermingle on the top shelf |
Tinkering with wood was my
grandfather's hobby. He would spend hours in this workshop after he
retired and every Christmas, it would be revealed to us just exactly
what kind of projects he had been working on. One year, he made
everyone standing bird houses that we each took home and decorated.
One year, he made quilt racks which were used to hang the handmade
quilts that my grandmother had made for us. My favorite, though, was
the keepsake boxes he made out of old post office box doors. The
combination dials still worked so it was like having a little safe.
I talked to my grandfather the entire
time I was working on this cabinet. And, we have had some really nice
visits. When I finally had it completely stripped down and put the
first brushes of stain on it, I could feel his pleasure with my
choice of color. It was just like we had worked on the entire project
together. And, maybe we did.
The point? Well, obviously, even Void
Moons can be useful. You've just got to get a little creative.
Thankfully, we're working under a creative sky right now. How can you
trick (work with instead of against) the Void Moon?
Our Moon enters Capricorn at midnight
tonight.
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