Ezzie Spencer: Lunar Abundance and Intuition

The following is an excerpt from an episode of the Find Your True North podcast with Dr. Ezzie Spencer. Ezzie teaches students from around the world how to work with the moon phases for a more harmonious, productive, and in-flow life. Below, she talks about how she uses the moon phases in her day to day working life. It’s particularly useful for writers. 😉 

To listen to the episode, visit iTunes or Soundcloud. 

Sara: And that’s the challenge for anyone living in Western culture in particular, because our culture so much reveres the intellect and the logical and analytical. So, how do you marry the intellect and the intuition?

Ezzie: Well, I have a practice which really helps me to do that in my own life and work on a daily and weekly basis. For me, it’s very much about working with the two parts of self, the yang and the yin, as modes of operating. I would put intellect more into that yang category, the thinking, the rational, the logic, the action, the moving forward, the initiation, the giving. And then I put the intuitive side of things more into the yin category. And by that I mean yin is more like the being, the resting, the reflecting, the restoring, allowing yourself to go with the flow, and open up to receive creative inspiration. Yin is about not needing to go 100 miles an hour all the time. It’s about being more present and in the moment.

So the way that I work with that in my life is that out of the eight moon phases in the moon cycle, I classify four of those moon phases as yang, and four of those moon phases as yin. I work with the moon as a natural time-keeper. I don’t suggest that the moon makes us do anything, but in working with the moon phases in this way, I’ve set up a natural reminder or permission slip which is constantly popping up for me, depending on what phase is happening in the sky.

The moon cycle starts at the new moon, and that phase will last three or four days; that’s a yang phase because it starts the cycle. The new moon phase will be an opportunity for me to do all those yang activities, and to lean more into the intellect when I’m working on a book, for instance. When I’m working in those the yang phases, it might be where I’m structuring that particular project. I might really think logically about a chapter or think logically about the overall structure of a book.

As we said, the moon phases last for three or four days apiece. So the first phase, the yang phase, after three or four days will move into a yin phase because the yang and the yin phases of the moon come in pairs. And so the yin phase will be more of an intuitive time for me. Once I’ve set up that structure or that container of the Yang, the yin will be an opportunity to allow myself to flow, to really listen to my intuition, to not necessarily have a predestined outcome in my writing for that day. Maybe I’ve got three hours where I plan to sit down and write, using the book example again. I’m not needing to bang out a thousand words in chapter three on that day – that would be more of a yang way of looking at it. A more intuitive way is to sit down at my computer and see what flows from those three hours during a yin phase.

So many of us have had that example in our lives where we’ve been knotting over a problem, a really thorny issue, where our minds will be so active. But when I really allow myself to step back, and if no words are flowing to shut the laptop and go for a walk, be out in nature, and not beat myself up about that.

The yin phase is like taking a moment to receive whatever may come while the yang phase is the more active phase. So many of us will find that’s when the inspiration will really strike because we’re open and relaxed and receptive and allowing ourselves to receive the guidance from our natural environment or from the world around us.

Dr Ezzie Spencer is a published author, speaker and coach. She is the host of an iTunes podcast, and the author of a book on how to work with the moon cycles to cultivate joy, peace, and purpose. Ezzie trained as a lawyer and has experience in government, research, and nonprofit sectors. With a PhD on women’s wellbeing and justice after violence, Ezzie cares about and works to further women’s emotional wellbeing. Her concept, Lunar Abundance®, marries intellect with intuition and has reaped results for many women, through one-to-one coaching sessions and the support of a flourishing online community at lunarabundance.com and @lunarabundance on Instagram.