June: May Your Voice Be Heard
Your voice is unique. You communicate your unique spark through how you speak, but also how you laugh, sing, and dress—the impression you make, the creative imprint of your presence. Communication can be bold or subtle, joyous or frustrated, intentional or unintentional. How we communicate is central to our survival, as we are highly social beings. As children, we absorb all kinds of information about how and when to open our mouths—what to say, what not to say, and how to present ourselves. Our external environment conditions how we use our voices, but the voice itself always grows from the inside. Inevitably, there come times of conflict between these inner and outer worlds—a time when the truths inside us challenge the rules we’ve internalized. It takes courage to raise your voice and speak what is true for you—especially when what you have to say is not what people want to hear. This month’s focus is on the potent medicine we receive when our courage to speak is met by the dignifying power of being heard.
About the spell:
This month, consider that cultivating one’s voice is a cyclical process that requires cultivating one’s ear, as well. Before we can speak our truth, we must first listen for it. In an ideal world, our family, community, and the larger network of life would provide meaningful opportunities in which to refine our relationship with our voice. In turn, this development would refine our relationships with each other, with important resources, and with the environments that hold us. This month, we encourage you to consider two things simultaneously: what are the important truths you carry that remain unspoken, or unheard? And, what messages surround you that you are not taking notice of? Just as everyone has their own style of speech and expression, we each carry a unique way of listening, too. Just as our voice wants to fill us and pour out of us, our ear’s long to listen completely and thoroughly to what is.
A meditation for listening for your voice:
For this month’s meditation, you can be anywhere, in any position, any circumstance, and any state of mind. Wherever and whenever you are, simply begin to ask yourself open-ended questions about yourself. For instance, when you speak, can you say for sure where you are speaking from? From which part of your body does your voice arise? For that matter, where do your ideas come from—what about your passion, your longing, your knowing? Allow curiosity to guide you into a listening state. Questions can sometimes pull us into a need to answer. This month, stay with the questions, listen for the information you are made of to open up into communication.
At some point, you may grow full of this information and be overcome by the desire to release it. This is your own body’s invitation to you to use your voice—whether through conversation, a drawing, a song, a sculpture, an outfit, or a commitment—know that there is nothing to be ashamed of in this process. Perhaps, you can even keep listening to yourself as you express yourself.
About the painting:
Corina:
I really admire how my sister paints animals. Her style is quicker and rougher than the careful line drawings I’m used to making, and when we first began to collaborate on animal paintings I’d get irritated when she painted over my precise little crosshatchings, and she’d get irritated when I asked her to make her brushstrokes smaller and more delicate. Over time we learned how to work better together, and now I have the distinct pleasure of knowing that if I draw a few loose but specific shapes she’ll know exactly how to translate them in paint. In this calendar, we alternate between showing a little linework and having the paint be fully opaque—this image is one of the best examples of how our styles (voices, if you will) have harmonized.
Jocelyn: I really enjoyed making this painting—and the delight remains when I look at it. The colors and textures of the little Wolfie’s chest, the darkness of its snout, and its little biscuit feet—it’s all about as satisfying as puppies tend to be. I am forever grateful to Corina’s eye, as she helped me work out the proportions of the wolf’s body. I’m also glad that this got to be the June image, as it is my birthday month and I am in the midst of wonderful and terrifying growth around using my voice and bringing my voice into places where it will be heard.
This month's offerings:
Get a print of May Your Voice Be Heard for 15% off this month with the coupon code: VOICE
Only on our shared Etsy shop.
This month Corina is asking her astrology clients, students, and horoscope readers to help her refine her focus for future projects. If you’re curious, answer her survey here and you’ll be entered to win a free reading (winner chosen on August 1st)!
Jocelyn has just finished another glorious semester of graduate school and is pleased to be offering limited, one-on-one yoga sessions. Using movement, stillness, music, conversation, and anatomy books, we can help you remember how to access the rivers of vitality that flow through the fibers and systems of your body. Contact her to schedule, and check out her site for more info.