A PREVIEW: Why Count on the Moon?

Morning has come to the forest here on the island.  Already the stars that lit the sky earlier mute against the sun's early morning strength.  Pete is still asleep, an unusual thing for him.  'Ole Pau is just passed and I have weeded through my personal garden:  my attitudes, my feelings, and the projects already in process.  I feel the doubt rise up ... an old attitude of fear, I notice the shift in my emotions-feelings from confidence to uncertainty again.  Patience shows up and surrounds me.  I quiet again and sit with it.  Why do this, Yvonne Mokihana?  Why go back there and try to translate something that might not interest any other?  Today is a new rest of my life ... the 'Ole is over(pau).  What good comes from it?

I think and image the sticks, the o'o of the makua (the maturing adult on her way to wisdom) and lay them out ...

And I pray ...

 What are the basic life tools of Makua O`o?

1. Keep a keen sense of observation … NOTICE  My purpose for doing this venture came as a thought not borne from me.  I remember the conversation.  "Akua, you want me to do what?  Again." 
2. Listen … with your whole body … LISTEN RESPECTFULLY I listened to the idea of creating a new translation of traditional practices and felt my body reminding me how regular restful times allowed me to feel in the vicinity of ease during the 'Ole Moons.  Doing nothing, all was done. 
3. Do your best in all things … BELIEVE YOUR BEST IS ENOUGH When I allow myself the rest it needs, I allow me and myself to be in the same place at the same time.  For awhile, doing nothing new is exactly what is called for.  Like the ocean when fisher folk refrain from harvesting it, like the ground allowed to rest I am in sync.  Whatever I do, I know I'll do my best, and that will be enough.  I feel that wobble, but choose another feeling ... a slightly better feeling.  Okay
4. Know that wisdom is found in many places … SOFTEN THE GROUND OF YOUR BEING The prayers done on this day, this moon are particularly sweet to the akua Kanaloa and Kaloa they are the gods who tend to the nourishment of foods planted on the 'aina (the earth).  My time with the chanting softens my grip on DOING, I simplify and rest, soften my hold on outcomes and what is essential is.
5. Question for clarity when making decisions … ASK "E Ho Mai" is a chant of asking.  I ask for the wisdom from the Source, breathe with the chant and wait.
6. Practice patience and endurance … TIMING IS DIVINE I think ... it is what the mind does.  I feel the space between fear and friskiness widen and patience fills in again.  I was born to create and have become better and better at writing.  Akua is in charge of timing and outcomes are not my province. 
7. Engage in good health practices … CARE Taking care of myself is my job.  Resting and observing the 'Ole times is one way I stop the pace of doing and fix my gear, weed my personal garden.  I do it for me, and the effects ripple out.  It's not my job to convince others to do-nothing or do nothing new, on the 'Ole times.  This is one possibility.  It might work for those who are attracted to this tradition.  Why not believe that.
8. Feel the heartbeat of the culture … SENSE YOUR PLACE  When I rest even for a few seconds it's easier to sense my place.  Quieted for a moment, or a few minutes, the regularity of the moon which moves through the sky, through the points of energy we call the constellations or the signs of the zodiac ... the moon changes signs every two and a half Earth days.  I'm a changeable being too.  Still, I am allowed to change.  Change is
9. Believe in Ke Akua, for this higher power makes all life possible … WE ARE NEVER ALONE This is the comfort that I felt, the comfort Pete and I began to truly feel during the months and years that have led to this moment.  While on the way here to this place in the forest, on THIS island, not that island where the traditions of Kaulana Mahina were assembled and practiced we felt and learned the connectedness of all possibility.  We were WITHOUT home, health, possessions, previously-held beliefs of comfort.  But, we were never alone during those 'Ole times.  And this is what fuels me to create this workshop.  This is why I do it. 'Ole passes and then there is more.

Count On The Moon is an experiment in bridge-building and criss-crossing oceans of culture.  Begun on a New Moon, a moon of new beginnings, in the sign of Aries all here on the Planet will feel the culture change.  Kaulana Mahina has been a long-sustaining, proven worthy over time practice.  We share our experiences with it and offer this as a worthy vessel for criss-crossing culture.

If this preview feels good to you, jump in.

Aloha,
Mokihana and Pete

Count On The Moon On-line Workshop starts next Sunday, April at 3rd at 11:00 AM Pacific Time.  To register for this 'invitation only' blog-workshop email us at ssvardoATgmailDOTcom.

• The blog-workshop is accesible and open throughout the month of April.  Comments and dialogue can be made at anytime during the month. 
• New content and sessions/posts will be published at intervals during the month -- some will be based on the conversations and questions; other posts will be scheduled and attuned to the Anahulu (week of the month) giving participants to ponder or be inspired.
• Cost:  $20 for the month-long workshop

This PREVIEW is open to all for reading until Saturday, April 2 and then this blog will be a private one.  Please leave a comment or question on this post if you wish, we welcome you.