January 3, 2024 • 49 mins
On this episode, I am joined by Julie Peters. She is my first repeat guest that I have on the show. Julia is a yoga and meditation teacher, writer, Tarot reader, and counselor living and working in Edmonton, Alberta.
We discuss her latest book: The Full Moon Yearbook. The Full Moon Yearbook combines lore and seasonal lunar wisdom from Indigenous, Celtic, and East Asian cultures in a colorful and beautifully illustrated celebration of the power of the full moon. Over thirteen chapters, we learn the stories, seasonal moods, rituals, Tarot cards, and yoga postures that match the energy of each full moon throughout the calendar year.
The Full Moon Yearbook — Julie Peters
Julie Peters Wellness - YEG Counselling & Tarot (@juliepeterswellness) • Instagram photos and videos
The book is absolutely stunning and illustrated by Lauren Spooner.
Lauren Spooner Designs – Graphic Design and Illustration
Filled Up Cup - Unconventional Self Care for Modern Women
Ashley (@filledupcup_) • Instagram photos and videos
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Filled Up Cuppodcast.
We are a different kind of selfcare resource, one that has
nothing to do with bubble bathsand face masks, and everything
to do with rediscoveringyourself.
We bring you real reviews,honest experiences, and
unfiltered opinions that willmake you laugh, cry, and most
(00:21):
importantly, leave you with afilled up cup.
Ashley (00:32):
I am so excited.
I have Julie Peters joining metoday.
Julie is an author, a counselor,a yoga teacher, and a tarot card
reader.
Her newest book is the Full MoonYearbook.
Thank you so much for joiningme, Julie.
Julie (00:45):
Thank you so much for having me back.
It's really great to see you andchat with you again.
Ashley (00:50):
Can you tell us a little bit about the full moon
yearbook?
Julie (00:53):
Yes, absolutely.
So this book goes through the 13moons of a year.
So the idea is that rather thancounting time by dates and by
month The ancient way ofcounting time was by moons, so
each of the moons had nicknames,depending on, you know, where
you look all over the world,there would be, you know, you
might have heard of harvest moonand strawberry moon and hunters
(01:15):
moon, things like that.
So I really just dove in to themeaning of each of those.
Moons, you know, some of theircommon nicknames.
There's a yoga pose for eachmoon.
There's mythology related tosome of the moons.
There's a tarot card for eachone.
And some sort of suggestions forseasonal wellness so that you
can follow.
your year in alignment with thecycles of the moon and the sun,
(01:40):
the seasons, as opposed to, youknow, it's January, whatever.
And we should be doing this onthis day.
Cause I think in our culture, wedon't live seasonally and it's
actually so good for our bodiesand our hearts and our minds to
really come back to that cyclicway of living.
I think it can just be reallyhelpful in something that we can
integrate into our everydaylives relatively too.
Ashley (02:01):
I love that because they think.
It is so true that we don't goby the seasons, and we don't let
that guide what our body...
needs in that sense, whether itis like you were talking about
the moon and the pull that ithas on us, or even the food that
we can get from those differentseasons that we were never meant
to be on a January to December,,24 hour cycle, like that just
(02:25):
really wasn't how time wasoriginally invented.
So it is really important forpeople, especially wanting to
focus on their health and theirwellness to.
Think about it in a differentway, and I really love that you
have the different names of themoon, that you talk about the
English Medieval, the Wiccan, Ilove the fact that it is not
(02:45):
from different points of view,but it has so many different
options for people.
Julie (02:50):
Yeah, and what I loved about learning that is,
depending on where you werelooking and which moon you were
looking at, some of the namesreally align well.
You know, the August moon ispretty related to either heat or
grain, it's just sort of what'sgoing on at that.
And I was only looking atNorthern Hemisphere.
Because there are lots of moonnames in the southern hemisphere
(03:11):
in the same way, too.
It's just, I was following thenorthern hemisphere rhythm of
things, so that's what I waslooking at.
But it is, interesting to knowthat, some of the names from
First Nations, you know, here inCanada and the US would still
have a relationship to some ofthe Old English or Celtic names,
from Europe that there would besort of a similarity there.
So it was kind of cool to seehow.
(03:32):
Even though we might be comingfrom such different places in
the world, we share this, weshare this cyclic experience of,
being human beings and living,in a natural world that we can
feel kind of divorced from.
Ashley (03:45):
I think so many times we focus on how divided we are, but
to really dig deep into it andto see that we really are so
connected, I think is sobeautiful and something
definitely need to focus ongoing forward.
Julie (03:59):
There are some amazing coincidences in terms of the
science of the moon that I findreally fascinating for that
reason.
And the one of them that youmight already know is just
because of the rhythms of howthe moon phases and how the same
we are.
(04:19):
On the planet.
So, you and your long distancelover across the world will be
looking at the same moon, maybeat different times in the day,
but you will be seeing the sameone.
I also learned a little morespecifically about something
called geosynchronous orbitwhich is and I didn't really
know this, maybe everybody knowsthis, but it's the idea that the
moon does rotate and so does theearth.
(04:41):
But the way the moon rotates, itdoes so in such a way that it's
always showing the same face tothe earth.
So that idea of the dark side ofthe moon, there's a side we
really never see.
And I feel like it's sort oflike a lover always turning her
face to us, you know, becauseshe is moving.
It's just that she's alwayslooking at us.
I find that really.
(05:02):
So poetic.
And there's a third one, whichis that just coincidentally, as
it happens the sun is 400 timesbigger than the moon, but it's
also 400 times farther away.
So when we have an eclipse, themoon appears to completely cover
the sun, even though it's somuch smaller because of that
(05:22):
coincidental distance.
And so we have these amazingsolar lunar phenomena, several
times a year, just becausethere's this strange coincidence
of how far away they are and howbig they are.
And we get this incrediblevisual change with the moon and
the sun quite frequently, justbecause of that odd coincidence.
It's just again, quite poeticand quite strange.
(05:44):
Like sort of the chances of thathappening, like it's not, you
know.
There's just not that slightdifference of how far away that
the moon and the sun are, forexample, that we couldn't have
eclipses.
We do have eclipses.
It's very cool.
Ashley (05:56):
It is really cool.
And it's also one of thosethings that you can look at it
from, like you said, that reallypoetic side.
So whether you're left brain orright brain thinking, there's
something for everybody withlike, it's just, The universe is
so cool.
Julie (06:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm definitely someone that'sinterested in both of those
sides, you know, looking at itfrom the more scientific
practical side, and also lookingat it from the sort of witchier,
more energetic spiritual aspectof things.
I just don't think theyconflict, as often as sometimes
people think they do.
Ashley (06:25):
I think it doesn't have to be an either or.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Is that what made you sort ofinspired to write this book, is
sort of thinking about yourinterest for both sides?
Julie (06:38):
It's one of them for sure.
I've been working with the moonfor a long, long time.
My first book was actually abouta set of tantric moon phase
goddesses.
And through that book and thatpractice, you can go through a
phase of the moon from the newmoon to the full moon.
And every single night has adifferent goddess and a
different meaning and adifferent lesson.
So that's a practice I would doover and over again with many
(07:01):
moon cycles where I'd be doing,you know, the meditations and
the practices every night for amoon cycle and really paying
attention to, the energy of thisparticular day of the moon, like
when the sort of lower energyfeeling of the new moon starts
to shift into the waxing moonand so on.
And I have a series it's calledthe spiritual meaning of X moon.
(07:21):
So like the harvest moon, or,you know, one of these moon
nicknames, the beaver moon wasNovember.
And my publisher, David andCharles got interested in that
series because I think I haveone for every month of the year.
And often they would includerituals and practices and, David
and Charles was just like, whatif we made a book of this?
I was like, well, that's anextremely good idea.
Let's absolutely do it.
I got really, really excited.
(07:41):
Thank you.
Because I got to, you know,research into some of the things
that I'm most excited about,which is, you know, mythology is
something I've always loved thesymbols and archetypes of tarot
is something that I've alwaysloved and always practiced, but
only in the last few yearsstarted to really take more
seriously and, do readings alittle more professionally and
so on.
So I think it's really acollection of.
(08:02):
A lot of things that I've beenexcited about over the last many
years, all linked togetherthrough the story of the cycle
of, the moon through a solarcycle, like the moon and the
sun.
Right.
Ashley (08:12):
I love when we can find things like that, that really do
sort of light our soul up andbecome our passion in a way that
we can share with other people.
I feel like it just feels somuch more authentic that way.
And it's just so To receivethings that come from people's
passion.
Julie (08:28):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you know, like I was tellingyou just before we started
recording my previous books werea little more niche, right?
So there's the Moon Goddessbook.
I mean, it's wonderful, but it'svery, it's about Tantra and a
set of goddesses.
Like not everybody's interestedin that.
My second book, which also Ilove is about recovering from
sexual assault, which is justnot a topic that everybody wants
to necessarily dive into.
(08:50):
It's been so nice for me toshare something that is so
accessible, not only for me frommy sort of, you know,
intellectual research basedwriting perspective, but also
the illustrations by LaurenSpooner are so beautiful.
I've just loved seeing, what shecomes up with in relationship
with the symbols and theenergies and the mood of.
(09:11):
Each of the month's moons likeit's really nice to have
something so visual too, becausethat's not my talent.
I don't really have any visualtalent, but it was a real joy to
kind of bring that to get thosetwo aspects together in working
with someone in that way.
I'm just very excited foreveryone to see the book, hold
it in their hands, you know, diginto the parts that they find
interesting and maybe skip overthe parts that they're not,
(09:33):
there's lots of different thingsthat you can kind of pull out
from each of the months here.
Ashley (09:39):
It is a very, very beautiful book.
It almost looks like it could bea coffee table book.
The information in it is sointeresting as well.
But just visually, if somebodywho hadn't seen it, it is almost
one that you would display outversus just on a bookshelf.
Julie (09:57):
I feel like it's a perfect coffee table book too,
in that you can pick it up andjust like flip through to
whatever month you're on andjust see what's going on, you
know, for seasonal wellness thatmonth.
You don't have to read it coverto cover.
And maybe people won't, youknow, maybe it's more of a
resource when people want toconnect in with, okay, where am
I in the cycle of the year?
You know, what do I need to keepin mind?
You know, you can pick it up andput it down sort of as you need
(10:20):
it.
So I think, you know, coffeetable book, waiting room, you
know, it would be a great onefor that.
Ashley (10:25):
And thinking about for the holiday season, it really is
a book for everybody.
Whether you have that person inyour office that you're.
Unsure of what to get them, orwhether it's the teen in your
life, or whether it's foryourself, that's the great thing
about the moon and lunar cycles,and just connecting with
ourselves, is that it isn't,like you said, it's not a taboo
(10:46):
topic, everybody can relate toit to some degree, there's so
much information in here thatit's educational, like there's
things that you won'tnecessarily know unless you are
somebody who actually studiesthis, so that it is kind of one
of those, Things to make sure tomaybe add it to your list this
holiday season.
Julie (11:02):
Yeah, thank you for saying that.
I appreciate that.
It's international, too.
You know, I really enjoyed thataspect of it.
in another life, I have a minorin world religions when I was in
school.
And that was sort of a passionthat I mean, I've used it in my
writing in lots of differentways, but it was really nice to
have an opportunity to sort ofdip my toe into, you know, the
(11:25):
Celtic traditions and whathappens in China around the
moon.
Just in all of the differentmythologies, different goddesses
from around the world, there's atiny little bit of Tantra in
there too, from my research fromthere.
But it's accessible in thatsense too, where it's not just
about one culture or one placein the world.
I mean, it's probably NorthernHemisphere specific, but that's
a pretty wide sloth.
Ashley (11:46):
You had talked about the research that you had kind of
done for the book.
Was there some of the folkloresurrounding the moon that you
discovered in your research thatwas like really eyeopening or
surprising to you?
Julie (11:57):
Oh, so much.
Yes.
The folklore was really fun tolearn about.
I think one of the things that Ifound really interesting that
I'll share is how often we don'trealize we are celebrating
Thanksgiving.
Thank you.
The pagan holidays from ancienttraditions that we don't
necessarily know the names for.
So, in bulk is the earlyFebruary celebration.
(12:19):
It's sort of a part of thewitches wheel of the year, like
ancient.
Pagan traditions and that'sGroundhog Day and it's St.
Patrick's Day and yeah,Groundhog Day, it's funny
because we don't think of thatas having any, religious or
spiritual aspect necessarily,but it's actually based in a
tradition of weather divination,like in bulk would be the day
that we would be doing theweather divination for the year.
(12:39):
And so that's kind of howGroundhog Day is related to
that.
And I think for pretty muchevery one of the Wheel of the
Year celebrations, which forthose that are unfamiliar with
it.
They're marking time in thesolar year, usually, so it'll be
the two solstices and the crossquarter days between the
solstices.
So there will be harvestcelebrations, whatever it is.
(13:00):
Lunasa is another one that Ifind really interesting.
I think it's August 1st.
But those traditions were havesort of evolved to become the
summer county fair.
So it's like Lunassa was likethe day that you would have
games and you would have sportscompetitions and you would
gather together and you'd eatyour grains and stuff like that.
So when we do.
You know, in Vancouver, I usedto go to the PNE, you have your
(13:20):
mini donuts and you have yourcorn on the cob and you have
your roller coasters, likethat's actually all based in or
came from or was inspired by theLunasa tradition.
So, you know, we don't evenrealize that we're celebrating
these things even as we gothrough the year.
So it's kind of nice to see howwe already have a relationship
with these seasonal holidays,even if we're not thinking about
it that way.
I'll also just share a funnystory.
(13:43):
It's just very weird.
From Norse mythology.
So July is the mead moon.
And this is based on the ideathat June was traditionally the
month to get married.
And then July was traditionallythe honeymoon month.
So honeymoon meant you would goaway for about a month with your
new partner and you would drinkmead and get to know each other.
(14:05):
And one of the pieces offolklore is that the family or
whoever would give the newcouple mead.
And if a baby boy was born ninemonths later, they would
compliment the mead maker on thequality of his product.
So that was one piece.
And then there's just a storyfrom Norse mythology which is
about who was this man createdby the gods to hold all of the
(14:25):
knowledge in the universe.
So he was someone that would, hejust knew everything.
So he'd go around answeringeverybody's questions, sort of
like an on call Google sort ofguy.
And there were These two peoplewho really wanted that power.
So they tricked him into comingover and answering their
questions and they killed himand they mixed his blood with
honey and this that to createthis kind of elixir of
(14:46):
knowledge.
So anyone who would take a sipof this mead would immediately
become a scholar.
So Odin, the Allfather, foundout about this.
Odin is the sort of the king ofthe gods in the Norse mythology,
and he's someone who reallywants knowledge.
That's his big thing.
He wants to know everything.
So he found out about this mead.
By this point, it was held byGunnlod, this woman, and I'm
(15:09):
probably mispronouncing thesenames but the three vats were
held by this woman at thispoint, and so he made a deal
with her that he would sleepwith her.
Every night for three nights andfor each of those three nights,
he was entitled to one sip ofeach of the vats of mead..
So she agreed to this.
He did his three nights.
He went to take his three sips,and sure enough, he's a God.
Each sip was the entire barrelof mead.
(15:30):
So he swallowed down all thismead in one go and then started
racing for the door'cause heknew he wasn't supposed to do
this.
Immediately turned into aneagle, flew back off home, and
as he was flying with his bellyfull of mead, drops of mead fell
out of the eagles.
mouth or sometimes other places,depending on where you get the
story from.
And these sort of soiled dropsof mead fell to earth and they
(15:54):
are responsible for all the badpoets and musicians in the
world.
And the good poets and musicianswere, directly gifted the mead
by Odin himself.
So I think that's just a veryweird sort of classically Norse
kind of disgusting story aboutmead and it's magic because
people still think of mead.
is having magical properties andpeople do still drink it in this
(16:15):
ritualistic way today.
So who knows what magic it canbring and hopefully we'll drink
it and end up being the goodpoets and musicians and not the
bad ones.
Ashley (16:24):
Hopefully.
I love that.
I love thinking about the rootof things because I think with
technology as accessible as theknowledge has become, a lot of
the times, like, Say, forexample, even if you're looking
for a word, my daughter doesthis to me all the time and
it'll drive me nuts.
She'll be like, how do you spellsomething?
I'll spell it, but she'll alsoGoogle it at the same time.
(16:45):
She'll get four letters andshe'll be like I don't need any
more.
And then just kind of goes withit, but we're not really
learning or we're not reallyfinding the root of things.
It's like our knowledge hasbecome so surface based, but it
is so interesting to reallythink about that.
There's no reason really that weshould be following just a
specific like Christian orCatholic calendar where it tells
(17:08):
us about just different holidaysand things like that.
I think for too long, we're justkind of like, okay, it's New
Year's.
Okay, it's this, but we neverreally think of like.
And how does my body feel?
How does this actually work forme?
Or things like daylight savingstime and how we change things
all the time.
We never really think of how itaffects us, why we do it, and
(17:29):
really question it.
So I love the fact that there isso much history with whether
it's the folklore, whether it'sactually scientific fact, that
we can figure out those thingsand really investigate.
Julie (17:43):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think for me, starting tolearn about this seasonal wisdom
in this way has really helped mywork in a lot of ways.
And I mean, my work isrelatively flexible.
Unlike I know some people's, butyou know, There's a parallel
between, for example, the newmoon phase and the winter
solstice and the menstrual phaseof a menstrual cycle.
(18:07):
This is a time for darkness, forquiet, for self reflection.
This is the Yule or Christmastime, you know, it's December.
And so why are we trying so hardto get so much done when it's
the darkest, coldest part of theyear?
I think a lot of the time, itsort of depends on how you are
about it, like the holidays.
cAn be joyful.
I think for some people they'revery stressful.
(18:29):
And one of the things that Irecommend in my December
chapter, which is Long Night'sMoon, is to do some grief work
in December.
We think of that as the end ofthe calendar year.
It's a very natural time to bethinking about grief, to be
looking at, what happened overthe last year?
What did I lose?
What did I gain?
What do I want to be differentin the new year?
(18:51):
And holidays can be verytriggering if we're dealing with
literal grief.
Like if we've lost someonealways around the holidays,
that's going to be triggered.
There's just, it's for prettymuch everybody.
So what if we actually give thatthe space it needs?
For me, if I do a grief ceremonyof some kind on the solstice
itself, it gives me so much morespace to enjoy the holiday
celebrations that I have withpeople.
(19:12):
So, you know, December is whatit is.
But then I think January in alot of ways is harder for people
because all of that distractionis gone.
And now we're just, we're inbleak, we're in cold, we're in
dark.
We've just spent all our money,we're getting all this pressure
to like go on a diet for newsresolutions and stuff like that.
There's a lot of like body imagestuff that can come into it.
We need even more tenderness, Ithink during the wolf moon,
(19:35):
which in the book I talk aboutis like, it's another word for
it is the hungry moon, you know,is traditionally this time
where, okay, some of the foodstores are running low, that you
can hear the wolves howling, outin the night it's not time yet
for example, the SAP to startcoming in, which is in March.
And so it's a hungry time.
And I think metaphoricallyJanuary is very hungry.
It's a time when we're reallyfeeling like emotionally hungry.
(19:57):
It's a time when we really needtenderness and affection and
care.
And this is ironically the timeof year that we're on all these
diets and trying to go to thegym every day.
That's just not what our bodiesare built for.
We should be eating soups andlike cuddling and blankets and
sleeping more in January.
We can get to the gym in may,you know, when it's like the,
energy is a lot more conduciveto that type of thing.
(20:17):
So I just found, learning thatkind of stuff and giving myself
the grace to know that, theseare quieter times that actually
serves the brighter times whenthere is more energy from the
sun, for me to pull on, thoseare my more creative seasons, I
can get more done during thosetimes.
Because we still live in thisvery, like, hyperproductive
(20:37):
society, of course, I still haveto remind myself, especially in
November, slow down in November,I get sick often in November,
you know, it's when the suddencold turns, and it's really the
time when we should be wrappingup and slowing down, not amping
up and doing more, and I have toremind myself of that because,
of course, I'm a product of myculture as we all are but I
think working with the moon hasreally helped me to shift that
(20:59):
in myself and just take Bettercare of myself, give myself more
permission to be where I'm at.
Ashley (21:03):
That's such a good point, like the permission of it
all.
I feel like the more people talkabout it or the more that they
can read about it, they realize,Hey, it's not just me that's
struggling with this hustle orthat I can't get all these
things done or that I want tojam all of this stuff into
December to create this memoryor this magic or whatever.
(21:24):
Women traditionally are the onesthat end up taking on so much of
that mental load.
And then Yeah, by Christmas it'slike it doesn't necessarily even
feel the same enjoyment becauseit's like I need a mom to do all
these things for me instead ofme creating all the magic.
So I think it's really importantto, if you know that you feel
(21:44):
that way, to let yourself offthe hook, that it isn't just
you, and that a lot of us dofeel that burnout, that it's
like, it's so cold in themorning, like even getting out
of bed, like
Julie (21:54):
it's just, when it's pitch dark, yeah, yeah,
Ashley (21:58):
or the seasonal depression, It kind of leads
into that hustle culture of itall, whereas if we do take that
time to be slow and to beintentional about things and not
feel like we have to, or thatwe're like shoulding ourselves
like should not shit.
It's important to know that.
These are quieter months andit's okay to hibernate just like
(22:19):
we were always taught thatanimals did.
Julie (22:21):
Yeah.
One other sort of interestingfacts that I found out.
So the calendar month names thatwe use are from ancient Rome.
But when the calendar was firstcreated, January and February
didn't have any names.
So March was the first month ofthe year, because that was like,
okay, it's time for the God ofWar, March, Mars you know, war
starts again in March.
Let's do our thing.
(22:42):
And then the months are actuallynumbered up until December 10th
month.
And then it's just this nothingspace.
Like there was no name for itfor a while because.
Nobody's doing anything inJanuary, February, you know,
February people would do thissort of cleansing, clearing
practice called Februalia.
There was like a celebrationaround cleansing, clearing,
atoning, you know, preparing forthe new year.
(23:03):
And that became the nameFebruary, but originally it was
nothing.
It was just a nothing time.
So like, if you kind of rememberthat if you're in, you know,
January, February, maybe let itbe a nothing time, let the work
start later.
Ashley (23:14):
I feel like.
The spring almost would be abetter new year.
It really does feel likeeverything's changing.
It feels like more of a rebirth.
It feels like we're, I don'tknow, in a different cycle.
So I do think that calling itJanuary 1st, while we're still
in pitch black and in debt and Idon't want to say that.
Julie (23:33):
In a dead zone.
Yeah.
It's an interesting time tochoose for a new year.
There are different new yearsfrom different perspectives from
all over the world and wintersolstice is.
There's an argument for that tobe a new year because it is the
darkest moment, but it also isthe moment when I forget which
it is, but it's like the HollyKing wins over the, oh, I'm
(23:55):
forgetting the, folklore of itfrom a Wiccan perspective, but
it's basically we can think ofit as sort of a dark king is
raining, from the summersolstice to the winter solstice.
It's turning things are turningdark, right?
But then after the wintersolstice, the light king starts
taking over and sun startsincreasing until the summer
solstice and then the cycleflips again.
(24:16):
But, you know, Chinese New Yearis in February, usually later
February related to the moon.
I think it's the second new moonafter the.
winter solstice makes so muchmore sense to start your new
year then.
The witch's new year is samhainand halloween we just had.
I love that concept too becauseit's the idea there is that the
new year begins when it sort ofstarts becoming dark.
(24:37):
That's the cross quarter betweenautumn equinox and winter
solstice.
So that's the moment when itstarts to become dark.
And then the idea is that all ofthe flowers and fruits of the
spring are sort of the result ofall of that underground stuff.
Right.
And if we think of that as thenew year, then, okay, great.
It's our new year.
It's time to go to bed and restand percolate and dream, you
(24:59):
know winter is a good time fordreaming, for learning for
reflecting.
And then by the time, like thelight starts to change in
February, March, we can start toput some of those dreams and
ideas into action, but it's justnot action time, you know,
between November and.
early February.
it's still really importantwork, but it's underground work.
It's quiet work.
(25:19):
It doesn't look like much on theoutside, but if we allow that
work to happen, all of our newcreative ideas can come through,
you know, when the seasonshifts.
Ashley (25:29):
I love thinking of it that way.
Like, who doesn't want to starttheir event?
Or they're like, new anything inbed, like I love sleeping.
So I love the idea of startingthe rest and then sort of going
up to the peak.
Versus starting at the peak andthen kind of ending on the rest.
It just seems more.
Hopeful start.
Julie (25:47):
Yeah, and I think and I think that concept to that.
A lot of work can be doneunderground.
You know, a lot of work can bedone.
That's not visible on theoutside.
You know, if you think of howmuch work a seed has to do
underground before you see anygreen there's a lot happening
there.
It's not just like nothing.
And then suddenly the greencomes, I think that's an
important thing for us toremember with a lot of things
that we're working on is thateven when it doesn't look like
(26:09):
anything is happening.
It is, you know, resting is themost important medicine we have,
and it's probably the one wetake advantage of least because
again, our culture is sort ofanti slowness, anti rest, anti
darkness.
It's, always go, go, go and do,do, do.
And there's a place for that,but it needs to be in balance
with the other things as well.
Ashley (26:28):
I definitely agree with that.
How did you connect with Laurenfor the illustrations in the
book?
Julie (26:35):
You know Lauren actually designed my logo for my
business.
Oh, awesome.
Yeah.
She was recommended to me bysomeone else that I was working
with in a business capacity.
She was just like, oh, I knowthis great designer, I
absolutely loved everything thatshe did.
She created my logo.
And then.
When the editor and I wereworking on ideas for the book, I
just said you know, they hadn'tpicked an illustrator yet.
(26:58):
And I was like, well, I'll sendyou Lauren's name.
Like if you like her, you know,check it out.
And of course they loved her.
I couldn't be more happy withwhat she did.
I think it's really wonderfulthat she brings a really unique
style that I think just matcheswell with me and what I do.
Ashley (27:12):
It's always kind of nice to be able to, almost like a
puzzle piece, to be able to findsomebody that clicks.
Julie (27:17):
Yeah, exactly.
Ashley (27:18):
When you were also doing your research for the full moon
and maybe with your like justregular practice, maybe this was
something that you kind of hadalready.
But do you have a favorite fullmoon?
Julie (27:29):
I think my favorite full moon is the one that we just had
the hunter's moon or the bloodmoon, usually in October.
The name is a little bitdependent on where the full moon
lands in accordance with theautumn equinox.
So the moon names are a littleshifty in terms of where they
land in the months because thereare 12 to 13 months each year.
(27:50):
So they don't exactly match withthe calendar months, but The
hunter's moon is probably one ofmy favorites, the blood moon,
because it is so dark.
beCause I do love samhain andHalloween.
I always have in differentcapacities.
Like as a kid, I loved the candyand the dressing up as a young
adult.
I loved the parties.
And now as an adult, I love thewitchiness of it.
(28:12):
I love the magic of it.
I love that.
I really do feel that the veilsstart thinning a little bit
around this time of year.
I feel like my intuitive powersare a little sharper.
The name Blood Moon, and aswe're having this conversation,
we just had a What was it like aweek or two ago, the full moon
and it was an eclipse, which isalso called a blood moon
sometimes.
(28:32):
And one of the nicknames forthis moon is blood moon.
And that's because SamhainHalloween Samhain is the ancient
pagan traditional name.
That's now Halloween.
This was the blood harvest.
This was the slaughter of theanimals in preparation for the
winter season.
Not that I'm pro slaughteringanimals, but I think it's more
so that, you know, Halloween isan engagement with play around
(28:57):
death.
it Also is located around Day ofthe Dead, All Souls Day, All
Saints Day, like there are otherdeath and ancestor related
holidays that sort of are packedin around this time.
So I think, you know, it reallyis a time when.
It's the witch's new year.
It's like a time when witchesare born, sort of, it's a time
when people might be pulling outtheir tarot cards and doing
(29:19):
their meditations and, thinkinga little bit more about this
darker side of things.
I used to really think I was asummer person, but with all of
the learning that I've donethrough the moon, I've come to
realize I am more of a fallwinter person.
And not entirely, but that'spartly because it's moon season.
I get to see the moon more, whenit's darker out, I get to just
(29:40):
visually see her.
I get to engage with thesewitchier aspects of myself,
which I think, you know, thegates really open to that around
the hunter's moon for me.
So, that's usually a time whenyou've got enough darkness that
you can see that moon reallywell.
It has all of this sort ofspookiness to it, you know, moon
mythology is pretty related to,Halloween time.
So I think if I were to pick afavorite, that would probably be
(30:02):
it.
And of course I love them all,but you know, in the summer
months or in sun season, we'renot thinking about the moon as
much, it's a little more relatedto outdoor magic, herbal magic,
you know that's the summer,which sort of place to be.
I'm more of an empath, being inthat sort of more reflective
time, winter is a great time forwriting, for reflecting, for
meditating.
And that's sort of where mypractices lean a little bit
(30:24):
more.
So, yeah, opening the gate tomoon season around October, I
think probably that's.
I don't know if favorite is theright word because I love them
all, but probably that would bemy favorite.
Ashley (30:36):
I think it's so beautiful.
I feel like people think ofHalloween as You know, spooky
season.
And when we think about ghostsor people that we've lost, it's
almost beautiful.
It's almost like reconnecting ina way where it's like you can
lean into your intuition.
If you are somebody who believesin like mediums and psychics,
maybe that's the time to go inand actually connect with people
(30:58):
that it's more of like yeah.
Feeling supportive by yourancestors or by your loved ones
that you've lost versus, I don'tknow, having a ghost in the
closet, being scared like in amovie or something.
Julie (31:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think, speaking to the waythat our culture is, very solar,
very young, very, Productivityand doing focused.
It's also our culture is verypro like happiness, pro
cheerfulness, pro positivity.
There isn't always a lot of roomfor grief.
Like I talked about around thesolstice.
(31:33):
It's a really important time tobe engaging with grief.
And I think that you can do thatin a little bit of a different
way around.
Halloween Samhain as well,because there is this invitation
to think about death and aboutancestors and to honor those
that you've lost.
I feel like if that was foldedin a little bit more to our
seasons, which it is in a lot oftraditional cultures, of course,
there's a day where you honoryour ancestors.
(31:54):
Like why wouldn't there be?
In my experience of Halloween,anyway, it's this sort of
strange day where we're playingwith it and we're dressing up as
skeletons and ghosts.
And we're sending our childrenout for candy, but we're not
actually engaging with.
this is a holiday about death.
This is what this means.
We've so westernified it whereit's just like, this is a really
fun holiday where you can buystuff and eat candy.
(32:14):
And it's like, that's great.
That can be fun too.
But the point of it was actuallyto think about.
You know, from my understandingof Samhain and the blood
harvest, it was like honoringthe animals that are giving
their lives so that we cansurvive through the winter.
We don't need to do thatanymore.
But there was a time when wedid, and so we would really be
honoring the spirits of thoseanimals.
We don't do that.
We don't honor the spirits ofthe animals we're eating.
(32:35):
If we eat animals like we don'thonor the spirits of the those
who've gone before.
And if we are grieving someonewho's died, we can feel so alone
and so isolated after theinitial.
Month or two when we get somesupport and there's a funeral,
and then it's just like, okay,we're all supposed to be over
it.
Nobody talks about it anymore.
We need anniversaries.
We need times to return, toremembering those people and
going back to those things.
(32:56):
I think Halloween can be that ifwe let it, right, but we have to
step out of the costume parties,for a minute to engage with it
in a bit of a different way.
Ashley (33:05):
That's the one thing that I really love about your
book is that it does take usback to the root of it.
So it is like giving ourselvespermission to grieve, giving
ourselves permission to not beover things.
And not have to just be surfacelevel, which again, the
Halloween side of it, awesome.
Do the trick or treating, dothe, you know, slutty Halloween
costumes, if you're in thatphase of it.
(33:27):
Like, it can still be thisreally fun, joyful thing.
But it's just, again, to kind ofmirror both sides of it, to let
it be both, to let yourself feelboth sides of the spectrum.
Julie (33:38):
Exactly.
Yeah.
Ashley (33:40):
For somebody who, say, doesn't know anything about the
moon or the cycle of things, arethere certain things that
people, like, we always sort ofnotice, or I, you know, Notice
like the energy shift aroundpeople, like people make the
jokes of ugh, you know, a fullmoon's coming because people are
being a certain way.
Are there things that people cando to prepare for these cycles a
(34:02):
little bit better?
Julie (34:05):
Yes, definitely.
So I think that knowing thebasics of the energies of a moon
cycle is really helpful.
It mirrors the solar cycle andit also mirrors the menstrual
cycle.
So if you're someone who has amenstrual cycle, you might be
able to relate it that way aswell.
So again, new moon.
(34:26):
Winter Solstice, MenstrualCycle, Dark, Quiet, Reflection,
etc.
Waxing Moon Cycle, Springtime,and Follicular Phase.
Of the Menstrual Cycle is whenyour energy starts coming back,
your creativity is present, it'stime to take action, it's time
to do things, it's time to gofor it you know, act on all the
(34:46):
dreaming that you were doingduring that darker phase.
Full Moon.
Ovulation, summer solstice.
You would think that this wouldbe sort of peak, like, excellent
energy.
It can be, but it's actually alittle bit different from that.
So as you may know, if you havea menstrual cycle and you've
(35:06):
been paying attention, ovulationalso can feel a little weird.
Sometimes there's some painthere.
Sometimes there's a littlehormonal surge.
It can be a little bit of anintense time.
Summer solstice is often sort oftoo hot to really do a lot.
It's like you've kind of gone tothat point where it's like,
okay, slow down.
Like we've hit that place.
We need to pause here.
And so full moon.
(35:29):
Is a time when we want to pause.
We want to think about hold on asecond.
Okay.
What have I been doing?
That's working for me.
What have I been doing?
That's not working for me.
I often find that the full moon,especially when there's an
eclipse, there's this feeling ofshining light into areas that
are normally dark.
So I think that's why a lot ofthe time people feel like.
(35:52):
Emotions that have been kind ofunderground start coming up
around the full moon.
You start to feel sort of angryor frustrated about things that
weren't bothering you that muchlast week.
And I think it's because itjust, it heightens our senses a
little bit.
It brings us into that place ofbeing able to sort of look into
the darkness.
Literally the moon is brighterat night during the full moon
(36:14):
and so it does affect our sleepsometimes.
It can change the way we dream,give us less sleep, things like
that.
So there is an energy but it'ssort of like you need to pause
there, actually don't keepgoing.
And then the waxing moon phase,autumn and the luteal phase of
the menstrual cycle have anenergy of integration.
So, you're kind of processingall the work that you were doing
(36:36):
in the waxing moon phase.
You are preparing for some rest.
You're wrapping some things up.
It's a really good time,especially towards the very end
for like cleaning up, organizingyour closet, throw things out.
Like that's kind of what thatphase is for.
And then you prepare for therest again and then you do the
cycle all over again.
So I think even just being awareof that, you can really make
that work for you.
(36:56):
Many people do menstruate withthe moon.
So many people will menstruateon the new moon and ovulate on
the full moon so that, it'sespecially easy to follow that
cycle if you do that.
There's a whole section in mybook about the spiritual meaning
of where your menstrual cyclelands.
So if you menstruate on the fullmoon, for example, that's
considered to be the witchcycle.
(37:17):
So you might be a little bitmore connected to that other
side of things if you'rebleeding around the full moon.
And depending on where you land,there are different meanings
with that.
But knowing your cycle and ifyou menstruate and also knowing
the energies of spring, fall andalso each moon phase, you can
work with that a little bit.
So if you think about it thatway, too, when you have a full
moon close to the summersolstice.
(37:40):
You're going to be like,probably pretty I'm imagining
like, electrocuted almost, it'slike way too much energy.
Like you need to lie down andhave like a long siesta in the
middle of the day.
Whereas if you have a new moonaround that time, the energy is
going to feel a little bit morebalanced because you've got a
lot of that solar energy and thelunar energy is a little
quieter.
So it feels more balanced.
So you can kind of start to, laythem against each other and sort
(38:02):
of see how these energies mightbe affecting each other as you
go through.
So I think just having thatknowledge can really help you to
think about what you should bedoing during that time.
I often, obviously I'm a writerand I have times when I have a
lot of creative surges and a lotof attention.
And then I have times where I'mjust like nothing is coming.
And then I look at those phasesand I'm like, you know what?
I'm just starting my period.
(38:23):
It's not the time.
I'm going to wait a few days, orlike it's new moon.
Let me just get some more sleep,the next couple of days.
And I'll come back to it in acouple of days.
And I find it does when I givemyself that rest, when it does
come back, it comes back niceand strong.
And I'm not sort of strugglingagainst myself because I'm not
as burnt out when I do that.
Right.
Ashley (38:40):
Just a great reminder to listen to what your body is
telling you and to really notfeel like you have to force
yourself all the time toquestion, you know, where am I
in this?
And doing that like full oncheck in or looking up where we
are in the cycle and being like,okay, I'm going to let myself
off the hook.
It doesn't have to be.
(39:00):
Forcing against it or be thislike awful push where you feel
like you're fighting yourselfall the time.
Julie (39:07):
Exactly.
It makes it so much easierbecause we are cyclic beings.
That's just the way our mindswork.
There's a cycle in a day aswell.
We're encountering cycles allthe time.
We resist that we struggleagainst it.
When we start to lean into justthe truth of that, that we are
cyclic beings.
And as you said, you know, ourbodies give us so much
information about that.
(39:27):
You don't necessarily need mybook to have your own
relationship with the moon andto see how it affects you,
right?
Like just paying attention is somuch of it.
And many of the practices that Ioffer in this book, they're
intended to facilitate thatconnection that already exists,
right?
It's not giving you somethingyou don't have, though.
There's information in there andthere's.
Like suggestions and stuff, butit's not that, there's some one
specific correct ritual that youhave to do every new moon or
(39:50):
else you're failing at it.
It's more like, okay, here arethe general energies of that.
Here's some suggestions for howyou might want to lean into that
energy.
And if you have your own way ofdoing that, do it your own way.
You know, like that's totallyfine too.
Because the point of it is, isthat it's to feel more connected
to your body and the cycles of.
Your body and how your body isalready in connection with the
natural world around you andyour communities and, the sun
(40:12):
and the moon and all of thesethings.
It's just a question ofnoticing.
Ashley (40:16):
I love the fact that the moon kind of joins us all like
everybody, no matter where youare in the world can look up and
we've all seen the sun.
We've seen the moon.
Whether it's being taughtnursery rhymes about the moon,
or whether it's thatromanticizing of like, Oh, I
wonder if I'm looking up at themoon as my soulmate is looking
up at the moon and, the romanceof it all that I just really
(40:38):
love that it's something thateverybody has some sort of
relationship with.
Julie (40:43):
Definitely.
I think, one of the most basicrelationships that we have with
the moon is, you know, I thinkwe've all had that moment with a
full moon where, you're lookingat the full moon out a car
window, for example, and itfeels like the moon is looking
at you.
It feels like it's following youas you go, whatever you look,
there it is.
Right.
I've had so many moments whenthe full moon has come through
(41:04):
like, the skylight in a tentthat I was sleeping in or like.
Not too long ago, it just camein through, the sliver between
the curtain and the window andit was so bright that it kind of
woke me up in that moment.
It's like it's a friend, it'slike someone that's there really
reaching out to me to let meknow that it's there.
And that is how it feels.
I think for a lot of us,regardless of whether we know
(41:26):
any of this mythology oranything, we've had those
moments of looking at the moonand just saying, wow,
Ashley (41:31):
coming from your experience with yoga.
Is that why it was sort ofimportant for you To include the
yoga poses with each moon.
Because I think that's sort ofunique that I don't know that
I've seen that before in otherbooks about
Julie (41:46):
with the yoga.
Yes, I would love to talk aboutthat.
So I've been practicing yoga, aslong as I've been practicing
some of these other things.
One of the things I've reallybeen learning about yoga.
The longer I do it is that.
The poses have an energeticsignature and Those energetic
signatures can help us to tapinto, either an energy that we
(42:09):
feel we need or an energy that'salready happening, right?
So the energy of, you know, alunge, for example, it's like
your arms are up and your chestis open.
That's a very springtime,follicular phase, waxing moon
kind of energy, right?
And then a forward fold or achild's pose, for example, is a
very, Curled in softening,that's more of like in that
(42:33):
menstrual phase, new moon phase,it has that quieter closer to
the earth energy.
And so, you know, I do teachyoga as well, not as often as I
used to, but I teach itseasonally, what I'm teaching
depends on where we're at in thesolar year.
The practices that we're goingto be doing on a new moon in
December are going to be reallydifferent from the practices
that we're doing in a full moonin March.
Right.
(42:53):
I have a library of yoga classeson my website and they're
organized by season.
So it's like, okay, here we arein late autumn or whatever it
is.
And these are the kinds ofpractices that are going to work
for that.
And so as I was going throughthe moons, I started to think
about, just the energeticsignature of that.
Month and how it relates to thedifferent shapes that you could
(43:14):
make.
So I chose different ones that Ithought sort of matched that and
I put them together.
So at the end of the book,there's a wheel of the year yoga
sequence.
So you can actually link themtogether.
It has this cyclic.
Circular feel to it where youstart really low to the ground,
you start making your way up,you're standing at a certain
point at the summer solstice,and then you start coming back
(43:34):
down to the ground and end up inShavasana.
There's also the moonsalutation, which is a specific
sequence that originated in yinyoga.
I think it's a little bit moreof an active sequence, but it
has that shape to it as well,where you kind of like you
rising up and then you're makingyour way down to the ground and
you're rising up again.
And it has that energeticsignature of a cycle.
So I think it's just workingwith yoga in a little bit of a
(43:54):
different way where I think alot of us think of it as, Oh,
you know, my doctor told me Ishould go to yoga for my lower
back pain.
This pose is good forstrengthening the core or
whatever.
And that's all valid.
Like you can absolutely use yogathat way for sure, but you can
also use it a little bit moreenergetically, a little bit more
emotionally, you know, I thinkpeople who practice yoga know,
hip openers, there's emotionsthat come up sometimes.
(44:15):
I think I have pigeon aroundthat around the blood moon that
we were talking about.
It's sort of like, that's whenyou want to get into your hips
and like, let that stuff startto come out.
It's really looking at the yogaposes, not so much in that
clinical way, but more as, theseare the shapes that have that
energetic signature for thistime of year.
You may be able to feel in yourbody that Particular moon a
(44:37):
little differently when youexplore, you know what that
shape feels like in your bodyduring that time
Ashley (44:42):
when I think that with yoga, we don't necessarily think
of all of the benefits, whetherit's teaching us how to breathe
properly.
We just sort of assume that wecan do it.
I think that yoga just ingeneral is a practice that so
many people would benefit frombut without really realizing the
spectrum of things that theycould get from it.
Julie (45:03):
It's interesting that you mentioned breath.
I have breathing in standinglike in Tadasana as the pose for
the summer solstice for June.
I was really stuck on that for awhile because I was like, what
is the pose for the summersolstice, you know, sort of the
peak of that energy, like wewere just talking about with the
full moon.
You know, ovulation, like it'snot exactly.
(45:23):
I didn't want it to be sort oflike, Okay, here's your
handstand.
Here's your, you know, reallysuper intense pose because
that's actually not what thatenergy is about.
It's about pausing and mywonderful yoga student, Laurel,
who's so wonderful.
And if she hears this, thankyou, Laurel.
You're amazing.
And she was just like, whatabout breathing?
And I was like, Oh, yes, that'sexactly what we need to be doing
(45:44):
is pausing and checking in withour breath.
It's going back into the body.
It's almost, taking that pauseand.
Making sure we're turning thatgaze back inwards as we reach
that peak of the moment.
Right.
So I love this.
She suggested that she wasabsolutely right.
June is standing and breathingthe yoga pose for that month.
Ashley (46:01):
It's sort of sad in a sense that we've gotten so far
removed that we do have toalmost have that reminder of
like, it's not just what youthink it is.
It's really taking that deepbreath.
Somewhere along the line, I feellike we forgot to be
intentional, or we're taught notto be intentional, and now we
just.
struggle with remembering toactually go back and do it.
(46:22):
I know that your book wasreleased last year at the end of
November.
Where is the best place thatpeople can purchase a book now?
Julie (46:30):
You can get it anywhere books are sold.
You can get it on Amazon if youdo Amazon.
You can get it at independentbooksellers.
A lot of the time they willorder a book for you that you
want.
It's a target.
I have copies that I'll beselling myself.
If you happen to be in Edmonton,I'll be selling them out of the
wellness clinic where I seeclients.
You can order them from meonline if you're in Edmonton.
I'm also going to be givingcopies to folks who sign up for
(46:53):
a course that I'm offeringthat's related to the content of
the book in the new year.
It's called A Year in Full Moonsand it has a lot of this
information.
There are video yoga classes andguided meditations that you can
do as well in alignment with allof these lessons.
So for folks who sign up forthat online course, you can do
that from anywhere.
If you're in the US or Canada,I'll also ship you a book.
So you'll get a book as a gift,for signing up for that course
(47:14):
too.
And if you want to learn moreabout that course you can see it
on my website, juliepeters.
ca.
We start officially in January,but you can join anytime and you
can kind of go through, butthere will just be reminder
emails going out every month,starting in January, 2024 with
all of the links to all of theinformation so that you can go
through and kind of explore themoon in a little bit more of an
interactive way.
Ashley (47:34):
Oh, I love that.
I love having the option ofgetting the support as you're
working through the book.
Julie (47:39):
There aren't any live events for that.
At the moment though, I supposeI could add some, you will kind
of be doing it in community,like with other people who are
also following along in thatsame way.
It can be a really nice.
Way to stay on track with it andkind of remind yourself, this is
where you're at.
Even just having that reminderof like, this is what this full
moon is called.
This is the energy of this fullmoon.
It can help to keep us connectedto something that, is bigger
(48:02):
than us, something that connectsus all as you were saying that
can kind of get us out, I thinka little bit of our small
stresses that we're often in, inour day to day lives.
Ashley (48:11):
And it's just always kind of nice to know that people
are feeling the same way, orpeople have the same interest
that I feel like, a long timeago when a lot of this folklore
was happening, it's like we werein villages, and we were all
connected, and everybody kneweach other, and there was that
community feel, and wedefinitely are not in the same
realm of things where ourcommunity just keeps getting
(48:33):
smaller and smaller, so I loveanything that gives people the
opportunity to have thatconnection.
Julie (48:39):
In real time.
Yeah, absolutely.
Ashley (48:42):
Well, thank you so much for having this conversation
with me.
I think by the time we releasethis, you will be my first
repeat guest, which I'm soexcited about.
Julie (48:52):
I love that.
Well, thank you for having meback.
It was such a pleasure to talkto you again and just have an
opportunity to share a littlebit about this book and these
practices and all of that.
I just really appreciate yourattention and your interest and
just being here with me.
Yeah.
Ashley (49:05):
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday for this episode of the
filled up cup podcast.
Don't forget to hit subscribeand leave a review.
If you like what you hear, youcan also connect with us at
filledupcup.Com.
Thanks again for tuning in andwe'll catch you in the next
(49:27):
episode.
Welcome to the Filled Up Cuppodcast.
We are a different kind of selfcare resource, one that has
nothing to do with bubble bathsand face masks, and everything
to do with rediscoveringyourself.
We bring you real reviews,honest experiences, and
unfiltered opinions that willmake you laugh, cry, and most
(00:21):
importantly, leave you with afilled up cup.
Ashley (00:32):
I am so excited.
I have Julie Peters joining metoday.
Julie is an author, a counselor,a yoga teacher, and a tarot card
reader.
Her newest book is the Full MoonYearbook.
Thank you so much for joiningme, Julie.
Julie (00:45):
Thank you so much for having me back.
It's really great to see you andchat with you again.
Ashley (00:50):
Can you tell us a little bit about the full moon
yearbook?
Julie (00:53):
Yes, absolutely.
So this book goes through the 13moons of a year.
So the idea is that rather thancounting time by dates and by
month The ancient way ofcounting time was by moons, so
each of the moons had nicknames,depending on, you know, where
you look all over the world,there would be, you know, you
might have heard of harvest moonand strawberry moon and hunters
(01:15):
moon, things like that.
So I really just dove in to themeaning of each of those.
Moons, you know, some of theircommon nicknames.
There's a yoga pose for eachmoon.
There's mythology related tosome of the moons.
There's a tarot card for eachone.
And some sort of suggestions forseasonal wellness so that you
can follow.
your year in alignment with thecycles of the moon and the sun,
(01:40):
the seasons, as opposed to, youknow, it's January, whatever.
And we should be doing this onthis day.
Cause I think in our culture, wedon't live seasonally and it's
actually so good for our bodiesand our hearts and our minds to
really come back to that cyclicway of living.
I think it can just be reallyhelpful in something that we can
integrate into our everydaylives relatively too.
Ashley (02:01):
I love that because they think.
It is so true that we don't goby the seasons, and we don't let
that guide what our body...
needs in that sense, whether itis like you were talking about
the moon and the pull that ithas on us, or even the food that
we can get from those differentseasons that we were never meant
to be on a January to December,,24 hour cycle, like that just
(02:25):
really wasn't how time wasoriginally invented.
So it is really important forpeople, especially wanting to
focus on their health and theirwellness to.
Think about it in a differentway, and I really love that you
have the different names of themoon, that you talk about the
English Medieval, the Wiccan, Ilove the fact that it is not
(02:45):
from different points of view,but it has so many different
options for people.
Julie (02:50):
Yeah, and what I loved about learning that is,
depending on where you werelooking and which moon you were
looking at, some of the namesreally align well.
You know, the August moon ispretty related to either heat or
grain, it's just sort of what'sgoing on at that.
And I was only looking atNorthern Hemisphere.
Because there are lots of moonnames in the southern hemisphere
(03:11):
in the same way, too.
It's just, I was following thenorthern hemisphere rhythm of
things, so that's what I waslooking at.
But it is, interesting to knowthat, some of the names from
First Nations, you know, here inCanada and the US would still
have a relationship to some ofthe Old English or Celtic names,
from Europe that there would besort of a similarity there.
So it was kind of cool to seehow.
(03:32):
Even though we might be comingfrom such different places in
the world, we share this, weshare this cyclic experience of,
being human beings and living,in a natural world that we can
feel kind of divorced from.
Ashley (03:45):
I think so many times we focus on how divided we are, but
to really dig deep into it andto see that we really are so
connected, I think is sobeautiful and something
definitely need to focus ongoing forward.
Julie (03:59):
There are some amazing coincidences in terms of the
science of the moon that I findreally fascinating for that
reason.
And the one of them that youmight already know is just
because of the rhythms of howthe moon phases and how the same
we are.
(04:19):
On the planet.
So, you and your long distancelover across the world will be
looking at the same moon, maybeat different times in the day,
but you will be seeing the sameone.
I also learned a little morespecifically about something
called geosynchronous orbitwhich is and I didn't really
know this, maybe everybody knowsthis, but it's the idea that the
moon does rotate and so does theearth.
(04:41):
But the way the moon rotates, itdoes so in such a way that it's
always showing the same face tothe earth.
So that idea of the dark side ofthe moon, there's a side we
really never see.
And I feel like it's sort oflike a lover always turning her
face to us, you know, becauseshe is moving.
It's just that she's alwayslooking at us.
I find that really.
(05:02):
So poetic.
And there's a third one, whichis that just coincidentally, as
it happens the sun is 400 timesbigger than the moon, but it's
also 400 times farther away.
So when we have an eclipse, themoon appears to completely cover
the sun, even though it's somuch smaller because of that
(05:22):
coincidental distance.
And so we have these amazingsolar lunar phenomena, several
times a year, just becausethere's this strange coincidence
of how far away they are and howbig they are.
And we get this incrediblevisual change with the moon and
the sun quite frequently, justbecause of that odd coincidence.
It's just again, quite poeticand quite strange.
(05:44):
Like sort of the chances of thathappening, like it's not, you
know.
There's just not that slightdifference of how far away that
the moon and the sun are, forexample, that we couldn't have
eclipses.
We do have eclipses.
It's very cool.
Ashley (05:56):
It is really cool.
And it's also one of thosethings that you can look at it
from, like you said, that reallypoetic side.
So whether you're left brain orright brain thinking, there's
something for everybody withlike, it's just, The universe is
so cool.
Julie (06:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm definitely someone that'sinterested in both of those
sides, you know, looking at itfrom the more scientific
practical side, and also lookingat it from the sort of witchier,
more energetic spiritual aspectof things.
I just don't think theyconflict, as often as sometimes
people think they do.
Ashley (06:25):
I think it doesn't have to be an either or.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Is that what made you sort ofinspired to write this book, is
sort of thinking about yourinterest for both sides?
Julie (06:38):
It's one of them for sure.
I've been working with the moonfor a long, long time.
My first book was actually abouta set of tantric moon phase
goddesses.
And through that book and thatpractice, you can go through a
phase of the moon from the newmoon to the full moon.
And every single night has adifferent goddess and a
different meaning and adifferent lesson.
So that's a practice I would doover and over again with many
(07:01):
moon cycles where I'd be doing,you know, the meditations and
the practices every night for amoon cycle and really paying
attention to, the energy of thisparticular day of the moon, like
when the sort of lower energyfeeling of the new moon starts
to shift into the waxing moonand so on.
And I have a series it's calledthe spiritual meaning of X moon.
(07:21):
So like the harvest moon, or,you know, one of these moon
nicknames, the beaver moon wasNovember.
And my publisher, David andCharles got interested in that
series because I think I haveone for every month of the year.
And often they would includerituals and practices and, David
and Charles was just like, whatif we made a book of this?
I was like, well, that's anextremely good idea.
Let's absolutely do it.
I got really, really excited.
(07:41):
Thank you.
Because I got to, you know,research into some of the things
that I'm most excited about,which is, you know, mythology is
something I've always loved thesymbols and archetypes of tarot
is something that I've alwaysloved and always practiced, but
only in the last few yearsstarted to really take more
seriously and, do readings alittle more professionally and
so on.
So I think it's really acollection of.
(08:02):
A lot of things that I've beenexcited about over the last many
years, all linked togetherthrough the story of the cycle
of, the moon through a solarcycle, like the moon and the
sun.
Right.
Ashley (08:12):
I love when we can find things like that, that really do
sort of light our soul up andbecome our passion in a way that
we can share with other people.
I feel like it just feels somuch more authentic that way.
And it's just so To receivethings that come from people's
passion.
Julie (08:28):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you know, like I was tellingyou just before we started
recording my previous books werea little more niche, right?
So there's the Moon Goddessbook.
I mean, it's wonderful, but it'svery, it's about Tantra and a
set of goddesses.
Like not everybody's interestedin that.
My second book, which also Ilove is about recovering from
sexual assault, which is justnot a topic that everybody wants
to necessarily dive into.
(08:50):
It's been so nice for me toshare something that is so
accessible, not only for me frommy sort of, you know,
intellectual research basedwriting perspective, but also
the illustrations by LaurenSpooner are so beautiful.
I've just loved seeing, what shecomes up with in relationship
with the symbols and theenergies and the mood of.
(09:11):
Each of the month's moons likeit's really nice to have
something so visual too, becausethat's not my talent.
I don't really have any visualtalent, but it was a real joy to
kind of bring that to get thosetwo aspects together in working
with someone in that way.
I'm just very excited foreveryone to see the book, hold
it in their hands, you know, diginto the parts that they find
interesting and maybe skip overthe parts that they're not,
(09:33):
there's lots of different thingsthat you can kind of pull out
from each of the months here.
Ashley (09:39):
It is a very, very beautiful book.
It almost looks like it could bea coffee table book.
The information in it is sointeresting as well.
But just visually, if somebodywho hadn't seen it, it is almost
one that you would display outversus just on a bookshelf.
Julie (09:57):
I feel like it's a perfect coffee table book too,
in that you can pick it up andjust like flip through to
whatever month you're on andjust see what's going on, you
know, for seasonal wellness thatmonth.
You don't have to read it coverto cover.
And maybe people won't, youknow, maybe it's more of a
resource when people want toconnect in with, okay, where am
I in the cycle of the year?
You know, what do I need to keepin mind?
You know, you can pick it up andput it down sort of as you need
(10:20):
it.
So I think, you know, coffeetable book, waiting room, you
know, it would be a great onefor that.
Ashley (10:25):
And thinking about for the holiday season, it really is
a book for everybody.
Whether you have that person inyour office that you're.
Unsure of what to get them, orwhether it's the teen in your
life, or whether it's foryourself, that's the great thing
about the moon and lunar cycles,and just connecting with
ourselves, is that it isn't,like you said, it's not a taboo
(10:46):
topic, everybody can relate toit to some degree, there's so
much information in here thatit's educational, like there's
things that you won'tnecessarily know unless you are
somebody who actually studiesthis, so that it is kind of one
of those, Things to make sure tomaybe add it to your list this
holiday season.
Julie (11:02):
Yeah, thank you for saying that.
I appreciate that.
It's international, too.
You know, I really enjoyed thataspect of it.
in another life, I have a minorin world religions when I was in
school.
And that was sort of a passionthat I mean, I've used it in my
writing in lots of differentways, but it was really nice to
have an opportunity to sort ofdip my toe into, you know, the
(11:25):
Celtic traditions and whathappens in China around the
moon.
Just in all of the differentmythologies, different goddesses
from around the world, there's atiny little bit of Tantra in
there too, from my research fromthere.
But it's accessible in thatsense too, where it's not just
about one culture or one placein the world.
I mean, it's probably NorthernHemisphere specific, but that's
a pretty wide sloth.
Ashley (11:46):
You had talked about the research that you had kind of
done for the book.
Was there some of the folkloresurrounding the moon that you
discovered in your research thatwas like really eyeopening or
surprising to you?
Julie (11:57):
Oh, so much.
Yes.
The folklore was really fun tolearn about.
I think one of the things that Ifound really interesting that
I'll share is how often we don'trealize we are celebrating
Thanksgiving.
Thank you.
The pagan holidays from ancienttraditions that we don't
necessarily know the names for.
So, in bulk is the earlyFebruary celebration.
(12:19):
It's sort of a part of thewitches wheel of the year, like
ancient.
Pagan traditions and that'sGroundhog Day and it's St.
Patrick's Day and yeah,Groundhog Day, it's funny
because we don't think of thatas having any, religious or
spiritual aspect necessarily,but it's actually based in a
tradition of weather divination,like in bulk would be the day
that we would be doing theweather divination for the year.
(12:39):
And so that's kind of howGroundhog Day is related to
that.
And I think for pretty muchevery one of the Wheel of the
Year celebrations, which forthose that are unfamiliar with
it.
They're marking time in thesolar year, usually, so it'll be
the two solstices and the crossquarter days between the
solstices.
So there will be harvestcelebrations, whatever it is.
(13:00):
Lunasa is another one that Ifind really interesting.
I think it's August 1st.
But those traditions were havesort of evolved to become the
summer county fair.
So it's like Lunassa was likethe day that you would have
games and you would have sportscompetitions and you would
gather together and you'd eatyour grains and stuff like that.
So when we do.
You know, in Vancouver, I usedto go to the PNE, you have your
(13:20):
mini donuts and you have yourcorn on the cob and you have
your roller coasters, likethat's actually all based in or
came from or was inspired by theLunasa tradition.
So, you know, we don't evenrealize that we're celebrating
these things even as we gothrough the year.
So it's kind of nice to see howwe already have a relationship
with these seasonal holidays,even if we're not thinking about
it that way.
I'll also just share a funnystory.
(13:43):
It's just very weird.
From Norse mythology.
So July is the mead moon.
And this is based on the ideathat June was traditionally the
month to get married.
And then July was traditionallythe honeymoon month.
So honeymoon meant you would goaway for about a month with your
new partner and you would drinkmead and get to know each other.
(14:05):
And one of the pieces offolklore is that the family or
whoever would give the newcouple mead.
And if a baby boy was born ninemonths later, they would
compliment the mead maker on thequality of his product.
So that was one piece.
And then there's just a storyfrom Norse mythology which is
about who was this man createdby the gods to hold all of the
(14:25):
knowledge in the universe.
So he was someone that would, hejust knew everything.
So he'd go around answeringeverybody's questions, sort of
like an on call Google sort ofguy.
And there were These two peoplewho really wanted that power.
So they tricked him into comingover and answering their
questions and they killed himand they mixed his blood with
honey and this that to createthis kind of elixir of
(14:46):
knowledge.
So anyone who would take a sipof this mead would immediately
become a scholar.
So Odin, the Allfather, foundout about this.
Odin is the sort of the king ofthe gods in the Norse mythology,
and he's someone who reallywants knowledge.
That's his big thing.
He wants to know everything.
So he found out about this mead.
By this point, it was held byGunnlod, this woman, and I'm
(15:09):
probably mispronouncing thesenames but the three vats were
held by this woman at thispoint, and so he made a deal
with her that he would sleepwith her.
Every night for three nights andfor each of those three nights,
he was entitled to one sip ofeach of the vats of mead..
So she agreed to this.
He did his three nights.
He went to take his three sips,and sure enough, he's a God.
Each sip was the entire barrelof mead.
(15:30):
So he swallowed down all thismead in one go and then started
racing for the door'cause heknew he wasn't supposed to do
this.
Immediately turned into aneagle, flew back off home, and
as he was flying with his bellyfull of mead, drops of mead fell
out of the eagles.
mouth or sometimes other places,depending on where you get the
story from.
And these sort of soiled dropsof mead fell to earth and they
(15:54):
are responsible for all the badpoets and musicians in the
world.
And the good poets and musicianswere, directly gifted the mead
by Odin himself.
So I think that's just a veryweird sort of classically Norse
kind of disgusting story aboutmead and it's magic because
people still think of mead.
is having magical properties andpeople do still drink it in this
(16:15):
ritualistic way today.
So who knows what magic it canbring and hopefully we'll drink
it and end up being the goodpoets and musicians and not the
bad ones.
Ashley (16:24):
Hopefully.
I love that.
I love thinking about the rootof things because I think with
technology as accessible as theknowledge has become, a lot of
the times, like, Say, forexample, even if you're looking
for a word, my daughter doesthis to me all the time and
it'll drive me nuts.
She'll be like, how do you spellsomething?
I'll spell it, but she'll alsoGoogle it at the same time.
(16:45):
She'll get four letters andshe'll be like I don't need any
more.
And then just kind of goes withit, but we're not really
learning or we're not reallyfinding the root of things.
It's like our knowledge hasbecome so surface based, but it
is so interesting to reallythink about that.
There's no reason really that weshould be following just a
specific like Christian orCatholic calendar where it tells
(17:08):
us about just different holidaysand things like that.
I think for too long, we're justkind of like, okay, it's New
Year's.
Okay, it's this, but we neverreally think of like.
And how does my body feel?
How does this actually work forme?
Or things like daylight savingstime and how we change things
all the time.
We never really think of how itaffects us, why we do it, and
(17:29):
really question it.
So I love the fact that there isso much history with whether
it's the folklore, whether it'sactually scientific fact, that
we can figure out those thingsand really investigate.
Julie (17:43):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think for me, starting tolearn about this seasonal wisdom
in this way has really helped mywork in a lot of ways.
And I mean, my work isrelatively flexible.
Unlike I know some people's, butyou know, There's a parallel
between, for example, the newmoon phase and the winter
solstice and the menstrual phaseof a menstrual cycle.
(18:07):
This is a time for darkness, forquiet, for self reflection.
This is the Yule or Christmastime, you know, it's December.
And so why are we trying so hardto get so much done when it's
the darkest, coldest part of theyear?
I think a lot of the time, itsort of depends on how you are
about it, like the holidays.
cAn be joyful.
I think for some people they'revery stressful.
(18:29):
And one of the things that Irecommend in my December
chapter, which is Long Night'sMoon, is to do some grief work
in December.
We think of that as the end ofthe calendar year.
It's a very natural time to bethinking about grief, to be
looking at, what happened overthe last year?
What did I lose?
What did I gain?
What do I want to be differentin the new year?
(18:51):
And holidays can be verytriggering if we're dealing with
literal grief.
Like if we've lost someonealways around the holidays,
that's going to be triggered.
There's just, it's for prettymuch everybody.
So what if we actually give thatthe space it needs?
For me, if I do a grief ceremonyof some kind on the solstice
itself, it gives me so much morespace to enjoy the holiday
celebrations that I have withpeople.
(19:12):
So, you know, December is whatit is.
But then I think January in alot of ways is harder for people
because all of that distractionis gone.
And now we're just, we're inbleak, we're in cold, we're in
dark.
We've just spent all our money,we're getting all this pressure
to like go on a diet for newsresolutions and stuff like that.
There's a lot of like body imagestuff that can come into it.
We need even more tenderness, Ithink during the wolf moon,
(19:35):
which in the book I talk aboutis like, it's another word for
it is the hungry moon, you know,is traditionally this time
where, okay, some of the foodstores are running low, that you
can hear the wolves howling, outin the night it's not time yet
for example, the SAP to startcoming in, which is in March.
And so it's a hungry time.
And I think metaphoricallyJanuary is very hungry.
It's a time when we're reallyfeeling like emotionally hungry.
(19:57):
It's a time when we really needtenderness and affection and
care.
And this is ironically the timeof year that we're on all these
diets and trying to go to thegym every day.
That's just not what our bodiesare built for.
We should be eating soups andlike cuddling and blankets and
sleeping more in January.
We can get to the gym in may,you know, when it's like the,
energy is a lot more conduciveto that type of thing.
(20:17):
So I just found, learning thatkind of stuff and giving myself
the grace to know that, theseare quieter times that actually
serves the brighter times whenthere is more energy from the
sun, for me to pull on, thoseare my more creative seasons, I
can get more done during thosetimes.
Because we still live in thisvery, like, hyperproductive
(20:37):
society, of course, I still haveto remind myself, especially in
November, slow down in November,I get sick often in November,
you know, it's when the suddencold turns, and it's really the
time when we should be wrappingup and slowing down, not amping
up and doing more, and I have toremind myself of that because,
of course, I'm a product of myculture as we all are but I
think working with the moon hasreally helped me to shift that
(20:59):
in myself and just take Bettercare of myself, give myself more
permission to be where I'm at.
Ashley (21:03):
That's such a good point, like the permission of it
all.
I feel like the more people talkabout it or the more that they
can read about it, they realize,Hey, it's not just me that's
struggling with this hustle orthat I can't get all these
things done or that I want tojam all of this stuff into
December to create this memoryor this magic or whatever.
(21:24):
Women traditionally are the onesthat end up taking on so much of
that mental load.
And then Yeah, by Christmas it'slike it doesn't necessarily even
feel the same enjoyment becauseit's like I need a mom to do all
these things for me instead ofme creating all the magic.
So I think it's really importantto, if you know that you feel
(21:44):
that way, to let yourself offthe hook, that it isn't just
you, and that a lot of us dofeel that burnout, that it's
like, it's so cold in themorning, like even getting out
of bed, like
Julie (21:54):
it's just, when it's pitch dark, yeah, yeah,
Ashley (21:58):
or the seasonal depression, It kind of leads
into that hustle culture of itall, whereas if we do take that
time to be slow and to beintentional about things and not
feel like we have to, or thatwe're like shoulding ourselves
like should not shit.
It's important to know that.
These are quieter months andit's okay to hibernate just like
(22:19):
we were always taught thatanimals did.
Julie (22:21):
Yeah.
One other sort of interestingfacts that I found out.
So the calendar month names thatwe use are from ancient Rome.
But when the calendar was firstcreated, January and February
didn't have any names.
So March was the first month ofthe year, because that was like,
okay, it's time for the God ofWar, March, Mars you know, war
starts again in March.
Let's do our thing.
(22:42):
And then the months are actuallynumbered up until December 10th
month.
And then it's just this nothingspace.
Like there was no name for itfor a while because.
Nobody's doing anything inJanuary, February, you know,
February people would do thissort of cleansing, clearing
practice called Februalia.
There was like a celebrationaround cleansing, clearing,
atoning, you know, preparing forthe new year.
(23:03):
And that became the nameFebruary, but originally it was
nothing.
It was just a nothing time.
So like, if you kind of rememberthat if you're in, you know,
January, February, maybe let itbe a nothing time, let the work
start later.
Ashley (23:14):
I feel like.
The spring almost would be abetter new year.
It really does feel likeeverything's changing.
It feels like more of a rebirth.
It feels like we're, I don'tknow, in a different cycle.
So I do think that calling itJanuary 1st, while we're still
in pitch black and in debt and Idon't want to say that.
Julie (23:33):
In a dead zone.
Yeah.
It's an interesting time tochoose for a new year.
There are different new yearsfrom different perspectives from
all over the world and wintersolstice is.
There's an argument for that tobe a new year because it is the
darkest moment, but it also isthe moment when I forget which
it is, but it's like the HollyKing wins over the, oh, I'm
(23:55):
forgetting the, folklore of itfrom a Wiccan perspective, but
it's basically we can think ofit as sort of a dark king is
raining, from the summersolstice to the winter solstice.
It's turning things are turningdark, right?
But then after the wintersolstice, the light king starts
taking over and sun startsincreasing until the summer
solstice and then the cycleflips again.
(24:16):
But, you know, Chinese New Yearis in February, usually later
February related to the moon.
I think it's the second new moonafter the.
winter solstice makes so muchmore sense to start your new
year then.
The witch's new year is samhainand halloween we just had.
I love that concept too becauseit's the idea there is that the
new year begins when it sort ofstarts becoming dark.
(24:37):
That's the cross quarter betweenautumn equinox and winter
solstice.
So that's the moment when itstarts to become dark.
And then the idea is that all ofthe flowers and fruits of the
spring are sort of the result ofall of that underground stuff.
Right.
And if we think of that as thenew year, then, okay, great.
It's our new year.
It's time to go to bed and restand percolate and dream, you
(24:59):
know winter is a good time fordreaming, for learning for
reflecting.
And then by the time, like thelight starts to change in
February, March, we can start toput some of those dreams and
ideas into action, but it's justnot action time, you know,
between November and.
early February.
it's still really importantwork, but it's underground work.
It's quiet work.
(25:19):
It doesn't look like much on theoutside, but if we allow that
work to happen, all of our newcreative ideas can come through,
you know, when the seasonshifts.
Ashley (25:29):
I love thinking of it that way.
Like, who doesn't want to starttheir event?
Or they're like, new anything inbed, like I love sleeping.
So I love the idea of startingthe rest and then sort of going
up to the peak.
Versus starting at the peak andthen kind of ending on the rest.
It just seems more.
Hopeful start.
Julie (25:47):
Yeah, and I think and I think that concept to that.
A lot of work can be doneunderground.
You know, a lot of work can bedone.
That's not visible on theoutside.
You know, if you think of howmuch work a seed has to do
underground before you see anygreen there's a lot happening
there.
It's not just like nothing.
And then suddenly the greencomes, I think that's an
important thing for us toremember with a lot of things
that we're working on is thateven when it doesn't look like
(26:09):
anything is happening.
It is, you know, resting is themost important medicine we have,
and it's probably the one wetake advantage of least because
again, our culture is sort ofanti slowness, anti rest, anti
darkness.
It's, always go, go, go and do,do, do.
And there's a place for that,but it needs to be in balance
with the other things as well.
Ashley (26:28):
I definitely agree with that.
How did you connect with Laurenfor the illustrations in the
book?
Julie (26:35):
You know Lauren actually designed my logo for my
business.
Oh, awesome.
Yeah.
She was recommended to me bysomeone else that I was working
with in a business capacity.
She was just like, oh, I knowthis great designer, I
absolutely loved everything thatshe did.
She created my logo.
And then.
When the editor and I wereworking on ideas for the book, I
just said you know, they hadn'tpicked an illustrator yet.
(26:58):
And I was like, well, I'll sendyou Lauren's name.
Like if you like her, you know,check it out.
And of course they loved her.
I couldn't be more happy withwhat she did.
I think it's really wonderfulthat she brings a really unique
style that I think just matcheswell with me and what I do.
Ashley (27:12):
It's always kind of nice to be able to, almost like a
puzzle piece, to be able to findsomebody that clicks.
Julie (27:17):
Yeah, exactly.
Ashley (27:18):
When you were also doing your research for the full moon
and maybe with your like justregular practice, maybe this was
something that you kind of hadalready.
But do you have a favorite fullmoon?
Julie (27:29):
I think my favorite full moon is the one that we just had
the hunter's moon or the bloodmoon, usually in October.
The name is a little bitdependent on where the full moon
lands in accordance with theautumn equinox.
So the moon names are a littleshifty in terms of where they
land in the months because thereare 12 to 13 months each year.
(27:50):
So they don't exactly match withthe calendar months, but The
hunter's moon is probably one ofmy favorites, the blood moon,
because it is so dark.
beCause I do love samhain andHalloween.
I always have in differentcapacities.
Like as a kid, I loved the candyand the dressing up as a young
adult.
I loved the parties.
And now as an adult, I love thewitchiness of it.
(28:12):
I love the magic of it.
I love that.
I really do feel that the veilsstart thinning a little bit
around this time of year.
I feel like my intuitive powersare a little sharper.
The name Blood Moon, and aswe're having this conversation,
we just had a What was it like aweek or two ago, the full moon
and it was an eclipse, which isalso called a blood moon
sometimes.
(28:32):
And one of the nicknames forthis moon is blood moon.
And that's because SamhainHalloween Samhain is the ancient
pagan traditional name.
That's now Halloween.
This was the blood harvest.
This was the slaughter of theanimals in preparation for the
winter season.
Not that I'm pro slaughteringanimals, but I think it's more
so that, you know, Halloween isan engagement with play around
(28:57):
death.
it Also is located around Day ofthe Dead, All Souls Day, All
Saints Day, like there are otherdeath and ancestor related
holidays that sort of are packedin around this time.
So I think, you know, it reallyis a time when.
It's the witch's new year.
It's like a time when witchesare born, sort of, it's a time
when people might be pulling outtheir tarot cards and doing
(29:19):
their meditations and, thinkinga little bit more about this
darker side of things.
I used to really think I was asummer person, but with all of
the learning that I've donethrough the moon, I've come to
realize I am more of a fallwinter person.
And not entirely, but that'spartly because it's moon season.
I get to see the moon more, whenit's darker out, I get to just
(29:40):
visually see her.
I get to engage with thesewitchier aspects of myself,
which I think, you know, thegates really open to that around
the hunter's moon for me.
So, that's usually a time whenyou've got enough darkness that
you can see that moon reallywell.
It has all of this sort ofspookiness to it, you know, moon
mythology is pretty related to,Halloween time.
So I think if I were to pick afavorite, that would probably be
(30:02):
it.
And of course I love them all,but you know, in the summer
months or in sun season, we'renot thinking about the moon as
much, it's a little more relatedto outdoor magic, herbal magic,
you know that's the summer,which sort of place to be.
I'm more of an empath, being inthat sort of more reflective
time, winter is a great time forwriting, for reflecting, for
meditating.
And that's sort of where mypractices lean a little bit
(30:24):
more.
So, yeah, opening the gate tomoon season around October, I
think probably that's.
I don't know if favorite is theright word because I love them
all, but probably that would bemy favorite.
Ashley (30:36):
I think it's so beautiful.
I feel like people think ofHalloween as You know, spooky
season.
And when we think about ghostsor people that we've lost, it's
almost beautiful.
It's almost like reconnecting ina way where it's like you can
lean into your intuition.
If you are somebody who believesin like mediums and psychics,
maybe that's the time to go inand actually connect with people
(30:58):
that it's more of like yeah.
Feeling supportive by yourancestors or by your loved ones
that you've lost versus, I don'tknow, having a ghost in the
closet, being scared like in amovie or something.
Julie (31:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think, speaking to the waythat our culture is, very solar,
very young, very, Productivityand doing focused.
It's also our culture is verypro like happiness, pro
cheerfulness, pro positivity.
There isn't always a lot of roomfor grief.
Like I talked about around thesolstice.
(31:33):
It's a really important time tobe engaging with grief.
And I think that you can do thatin a little bit of a different
way around.
Halloween Samhain as well,because there is this invitation
to think about death and aboutancestors and to honor those
that you've lost.
I feel like if that was foldedin a little bit more to our
seasons, which it is in a lot oftraditional cultures, of course,
there's a day where you honoryour ancestors.
(31:54):
Like why wouldn't there be?
In my experience of Halloween,anyway, it's this sort of
strange day where we're playingwith it and we're dressing up as
skeletons and ghosts.
And we're sending our childrenout for candy, but we're not
actually engaging with.
this is a holiday about death.
This is what this means.
We've so westernified it whereit's just like, this is a really
fun holiday where you can buystuff and eat candy.
(32:14):
And it's like, that's great.
That can be fun too.
But the point of it was actuallyto think about.
You know, from my understandingof Samhain and the blood
harvest, it was like honoringthe animals that are giving
their lives so that we cansurvive through the winter.
We don't need to do thatanymore.
But there was a time when wedid, and so we would really be
honoring the spirits of thoseanimals.
We don't do that.
We don't honor the spirits ofthe animals we're eating.
(32:35):
If we eat animals like we don'thonor the spirits of the those
who've gone before.
And if we are grieving someonewho's died, we can feel so alone
and so isolated after theinitial.
Month or two when we get somesupport and there's a funeral,
and then it's just like, okay,we're all supposed to be over
it.
Nobody talks about it anymore.
We need anniversaries.
We need times to return, toremembering those people and
going back to those things.
(32:56):
I think Halloween can be that ifwe let it, right, but we have to
step out of the costume parties,for a minute to engage with it
in a bit of a different way.
Ashley (33:05):
That's the one thing that I really love about your
book is that it does take usback to the root of it.
So it is like giving ourselvespermission to grieve, giving
ourselves permission to not beover things.
And not have to just be surfacelevel, which again, the
Halloween side of it, awesome.
Do the trick or treating, dothe, you know, slutty Halloween
costumes, if you're in thatphase of it.
(33:27):
Like, it can still be thisreally fun, joyful thing.
But it's just, again, to kind ofmirror both sides of it, to let
it be both, to let yourself feelboth sides of the spectrum.
Julie (33:38):
Exactly.
Yeah.
Ashley (33:40):
For somebody who, say, doesn't know anything about the
moon or the cycle of things, arethere certain things that
people, like, we always sort ofnotice, or I, you know, Notice
like the energy shift aroundpeople, like people make the
jokes of ugh, you know, a fullmoon's coming because people are
being a certain way.
Are there things that people cando to prepare for these cycles a
(34:02):
little bit better?
Julie (34:05):
Yes, definitely.
So I think that knowing thebasics of the energies of a moon
cycle is really helpful.
It mirrors the solar cycle andit also mirrors the menstrual
cycle.
So if you're someone who has amenstrual cycle, you might be
able to relate it that way aswell.
So again, new moon.
(34:26):
Winter Solstice, MenstrualCycle, Dark, Quiet, Reflection,
etc.
Waxing Moon Cycle, Springtime,and Follicular Phase.
Of the Menstrual Cycle is whenyour energy starts coming back,
your creativity is present, it'stime to take action, it's time
to do things, it's time to gofor it you know, act on all the
(34:46):
dreaming that you were doingduring that darker phase.
Full Moon.
Ovulation, summer solstice.
You would think that this wouldbe sort of peak, like, excellent
energy.
It can be, but it's actually alittle bit different from that.
So as you may know, if you havea menstrual cycle and you've
(35:06):
been paying attention, ovulationalso can feel a little weird.
Sometimes there's some painthere.
Sometimes there's a littlehormonal surge.
It can be a little bit of anintense time.
Summer solstice is often sort oftoo hot to really do a lot.
It's like you've kind of gone tothat point where it's like,
okay, slow down.
Like we've hit that place.
We need to pause here.
And so full moon.
(35:29):
Is a time when we want to pause.
We want to think about hold on asecond.
Okay.
What have I been doing?
That's working for me.
What have I been doing?
That's not working for me.
I often find that the full moon,especially when there's an
eclipse, there's this feeling ofshining light into areas that
are normally dark.
So I think that's why a lot ofthe time people feel like.
(35:52):
Emotions that have been kind ofunderground start coming up
around the full moon.
You start to feel sort of angryor frustrated about things that
weren't bothering you that muchlast week.
And I think it's because itjust, it heightens our senses a
little bit.
It brings us into that place ofbeing able to sort of look into
the darkness.
Literally the moon is brighterat night during the full moon
(36:14):
and so it does affect our sleepsometimes.
It can change the way we dream,give us less sleep, things like
that.
So there is an energy but it'ssort of like you need to pause
there, actually don't keepgoing.
And then the waxing moon phase,autumn and the luteal phase of
the menstrual cycle have anenergy of integration.
So, you're kind of processingall the work that you were doing
(36:36):
in the waxing moon phase.
You are preparing for some rest.
You're wrapping some things up.
It's a really good time,especially towards the very end
for like cleaning up, organizingyour closet, throw things out.
Like that's kind of what thatphase is for.
And then you prepare for therest again and then you do the
cycle all over again.
So I think even just being awareof that, you can really make
that work for you.
(36:56):
Many people do menstruate withthe moon.
So many people will menstruateon the new moon and ovulate on
the full moon so that, it'sespecially easy to follow that
cycle if you do that.
There's a whole section in mybook about the spiritual meaning
of where your menstrual cyclelands.
So if you menstruate on the fullmoon, for example, that's
considered to be the witchcycle.
(37:17):
So you might be a little bitmore connected to that other
side of things if you'rebleeding around the full moon.
And depending on where you land,there are different meanings
with that.
But knowing your cycle and ifyou menstruate and also knowing
the energies of spring, fall andalso each moon phase, you can
work with that a little bit.
So if you think about it thatway, too, when you have a full
moon close to the summersolstice.
(37:40):
You're going to be like,probably pretty I'm imagining
like, electrocuted almost, it'slike way too much energy.
Like you need to lie down andhave like a long siesta in the
middle of the day.
Whereas if you have a new moonaround that time, the energy is
going to feel a little bit morebalanced because you've got a
lot of that solar energy and thelunar energy is a little
quieter.
So it feels more balanced.
So you can kind of start to, laythem against each other and sort
(38:02):
of see how these energies mightbe affecting each other as you
go through.
So I think just having thatknowledge can really help you to
think about what you should bedoing during that time.
I often, obviously I'm a writerand I have times when I have a
lot of creative surges and a lotof attention.
And then I have times where I'mjust like nothing is coming.
And then I look at those phasesand I'm like, you know what?
I'm just starting my period.
(38:23):
It's not the time.
I'm going to wait a few days, orlike it's new moon.
Let me just get some more sleep,the next couple of days.
And I'll come back to it in acouple of days.
And I find it does when I givemyself that rest, when it does
come back, it comes back niceand strong.
And I'm not sort of strugglingagainst myself because I'm not
as burnt out when I do that.
Right.
Ashley (38:40):
Just a great reminder to listen to what your body is
telling you and to really notfeel like you have to force
yourself all the time toquestion, you know, where am I
in this?
And doing that like full oncheck in or looking up where we
are in the cycle and being like,okay, I'm going to let myself
off the hook.
It doesn't have to be.
(39:00):
Forcing against it or be thislike awful push where you feel
like you're fighting yourselfall the time.
Julie (39:07):
Exactly.
It makes it so much easierbecause we are cyclic beings.
That's just the way our mindswork.
There's a cycle in a day aswell.
We're encountering cycles allthe time.
We resist that we struggleagainst it.
When we start to lean into justthe truth of that, that we are
cyclic beings.
And as you said, you know, ourbodies give us so much
information about that.
(39:27):
You don't necessarily need mybook to have your own
relationship with the moon andto see how it affects you,
right?
Like just paying attention is somuch of it.
And many of the practices that Ioffer in this book, they're
intended to facilitate thatconnection that already exists,
right?
It's not giving you somethingyou don't have, though.
There's information in there andthere's.
Like suggestions and stuff, butit's not that, there's some one
specific correct ritual that youhave to do every new moon or
(39:50):
else you're failing at it.
It's more like, okay, here arethe general energies of that.
Here's some suggestions for howyou might want to lean into that
energy.
And if you have your own way ofdoing that, do it your own way.
You know, like that's totallyfine too.
Because the point of it is, isthat it's to feel more connected
to your body and the cycles of.
Your body and how your body isalready in connection with the
natural world around you andyour communities and, the sun
(40:12):
and the moon and all of thesethings.
It's just a question ofnoticing.
Ashley (40:16):
I love the fact that the moon kind of joins us all like
everybody, no matter where youare in the world can look up and
we've all seen the sun.
We've seen the moon.
Whether it's being taughtnursery rhymes about the moon,
or whether it's thatromanticizing of like, Oh, I
wonder if I'm looking up at themoon as my soulmate is looking
up at the moon and, the romanceof it all that I just really
(40:38):
love that it's something thateverybody has some sort of
relationship with.
Julie (40:43):
Definitely.
I think, one of the most basicrelationships that we have with
the moon is, you know, I thinkwe've all had that moment with a
full moon where, you're lookingat the full moon out a car
window, for example, and itfeels like the moon is looking
at you.
It feels like it's following youas you go, whatever you look,
there it is.
Right.
I've had so many moments whenthe full moon has come through
(41:04):
like, the skylight in a tentthat I was sleeping in or like.
Not too long ago, it just camein through, the sliver between
the curtain and the window andit was so bright that it kind of
woke me up in that moment.
It's like it's a friend, it'slike someone that's there really
reaching out to me to let meknow that it's there.
And that is how it feels.
I think for a lot of us,regardless of whether we know
(41:26):
any of this mythology oranything, we've had those
moments of looking at the moonand just saying, wow,
Ashley (41:31):
coming from your experience with yoga.
Is that why it was sort ofimportant for you To include the
yoga poses with each moon.
Because I think that's sort ofunique that I don't know that
I've seen that before in otherbooks about
Julie (41:46):
with the yoga.
Yes, I would love to talk aboutthat.
So I've been practicing yoga, aslong as I've been practicing
some of these other things.
One of the things I've reallybeen learning about yoga.
The longer I do it is that.
The poses have an energeticsignature and Those energetic
signatures can help us to tapinto, either an energy that we
(42:09):
feel we need or an energy that'salready happening, right?
So the energy of, you know, alunge, for example, it's like
your arms are up and your chestis open.
That's a very springtime,follicular phase, waxing moon
kind of energy, right?
And then a forward fold or achild's pose, for example, is a
very, Curled in softening,that's more of like in that
(42:33):
menstrual phase, new moon phase,it has that quieter closer to
the earth energy.
And so, you know, I do teachyoga as well, not as often as I
used to, but I teach itseasonally, what I'm teaching
depends on where we're at in thesolar year.
The practices that we're goingto be doing on a new moon in
December are going to be reallydifferent from the practices
that we're doing in a full moonin March.
Right.
(42:53):
I have a library of yoga classeson my website and they're
organized by season.
So it's like, okay, here we arein late autumn or whatever it
is.
And these are the kinds ofpractices that are going to work
for that.
And so as I was going throughthe moons, I started to think
about, just the energeticsignature of that.
Month and how it relates to thedifferent shapes that you could
(43:14):
make.
So I chose different ones that Ithought sort of matched that and
I put them together.
So at the end of the book,there's a wheel of the year yoga
sequence.
So you can actually link themtogether.
It has this cyclic.
Circular feel to it where youstart really low to the ground,
you start making your way up,you're standing at a certain
point at the summer solstice,and then you start coming back
(43:34):
down to the ground and end up inShavasana.
There's also the moonsalutation, which is a specific
sequence that originated in yinyoga.
I think it's a little bit moreof an active sequence, but it
has that shape to it as well,where you kind of like you
rising up and then you're makingyour way down to the ground and
you're rising up again.
And it has that energeticsignature of a cycle.
So I think it's just workingwith yoga in a little bit of a
(43:54):
different way where I think alot of us think of it as, Oh,
you know, my doctor told me Ishould go to yoga for my lower
back pain.
This pose is good forstrengthening the core or
whatever.
And that's all valid.
Like you can absolutely use yogathat way for sure, but you can
also use it a little bit moreenergetically, a little bit more
emotionally, you know, I thinkpeople who practice yoga know,
hip openers, there's emotionsthat come up sometimes.
(44:15):
I think I have pigeon aroundthat around the blood moon that
we were talking about.
It's sort of like, that's whenyou want to get into your hips
and like, let that stuff startto come out.
It's really looking at the yogaposes, not so much in that
clinical way, but more as, theseare the shapes that have that
energetic signature for thistime of year.
You may be able to feel in yourbody that Particular moon a
(44:37):
little differently when youexplore, you know what that
shape feels like in your bodyduring that time
Ashley (44:42):
when I think that with yoga, we don't necessarily think
of all of the benefits, whetherit's teaching us how to breathe
properly.
We just sort of assume that wecan do it.
I think that yoga just ingeneral is a practice that so
many people would benefit frombut without really realizing the
spectrum of things that theycould get from it.
Julie (45:03):
It's interesting that you mentioned breath.
I have breathing in standinglike in Tadasana as the pose for
the summer solstice for June.
I was really stuck on that for awhile because I was like, what
is the pose for the summersolstice, you know, sort of the
peak of that energy, like wewere just talking about with the
full moon.
You know, ovulation, like it'snot exactly.
(45:23):
I didn't want it to be sort oflike, Okay, here's your
handstand.
Here's your, you know, reallysuper intense pose because
that's actually not what thatenergy is about.
It's about pausing and mywonderful yoga student, Laurel,
who's so wonderful.
And if she hears this, thankyou, Laurel.
You're amazing.
And she was just like, whatabout breathing?
And I was like, Oh, yes, that'sexactly what we need to be doing
(45:44):
is pausing and checking in withour breath.
It's going back into the body.
It's almost, taking that pauseand.
Making sure we're turning thatgaze back inwards as we reach
that peak of the moment.
Right.
So I love this.
She suggested that she wasabsolutely right.
June is standing and breathingthe yoga pose for that month.
Ashley (46:01):
It's sort of sad in a sense that we've gotten so far
removed that we do have toalmost have that reminder of
like, it's not just what youthink it is.
It's really taking that deepbreath.
Somewhere along the line, I feellike we forgot to be
intentional, or we're taught notto be intentional, and now we
just.
struggle with remembering toactually go back and do it.
(46:22):
I know that your book wasreleased last year at the end of
November.
Where is the best place thatpeople can purchase a book now?
Julie (46:30):
You can get it anywhere books are sold.
You can get it on Amazon if youdo Amazon.
You can get it at independentbooksellers.
A lot of the time they willorder a book for you that you
want.
It's a target.
I have copies that I'll beselling myself.
If you happen to be in Edmonton,I'll be selling them out of the
wellness clinic where I seeclients.
You can order them from meonline if you're in Edmonton.
I'm also going to be givingcopies to folks who sign up for
(46:53):
a course that I'm offeringthat's related to the content of
the book in the new year.
It's called A Year in Full Moonsand it has a lot of this
information.
There are video yoga classes andguided meditations that you can
do as well in alignment with allof these lessons.
So for folks who sign up forthat online course, you can do
that from anywhere.
If you're in the US or Canada,I'll also ship you a book.
So you'll get a book as a gift,for signing up for that course
(47:14):
too.
And if you want to learn moreabout that course you can see it
on my website, juliepeters.
ca.
We start officially in January,but you can join anytime and you
can kind of go through, butthere will just be reminder
emails going out every month,starting in January, 2024 with
all of the links to all of theinformation so that you can go
through and kind of explore themoon in a little bit more of an
interactive way.
Ashley (47:34):
Oh, I love that.
I love having the option ofgetting the support as you're
working through the book.
Julie (47:39):
There aren't any live events for that.
At the moment though, I supposeI could add some, you will kind
of be doing it in community,like with other people who are
also following along in thatsame way.
It can be a really nice.
Way to stay on track with it andkind of remind yourself, this is
where you're at.
Even just having that reminderof like, this is what this full
moon is called.
This is the energy of this fullmoon.
It can help to keep us connectedto something that, is bigger
(48:02):
than us, something that connectsus all as you were saying that
can kind of get us out, I thinka little bit of our small
stresses that we're often in, inour day to day lives.
Ashley (48:11):
And it's just always kind of nice to know that people
are feeling the same way, orpeople have the same interest
that I feel like, a long timeago when a lot of this folklore
was happening, it's like we werein villages, and we were all
connected, and everybody kneweach other, and there was that
community feel, and wedefinitely are not in the same
realm of things where ourcommunity just keeps getting
(48:33):
smaller and smaller, so I loveanything that gives people the
opportunity to have thatconnection.
Julie (48:39):
In real time.
Yeah, absolutely.
Ashley (48:42):
Well, thank you so much for having this conversation
with me.
I think by the time we releasethis, you will be my first
repeat guest, which I'm soexcited about.
Julie (48:52):
I love that.
Well, thank you for having meback.
It was such a pleasure to talkto you again and just have an
opportunity to share a littlebit about this book and these
practices and all of that.
I just really appreciate yourattention and your interest and
just being here with me.
Yeah.
Ashley (49:05):
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday for this episode of the
filled up cup podcast.
Don't forget to hit subscribeand leave a review.
If you like what you hear, youcan also connect with us at
filledupcup.Com.
Thanks again for tuning in andwe'll catch you in the next
(49:27):
episode.
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