New Moon — Spiritual Wayfinding
- May 18
- 6 min read
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Welcome to the Wild Wisdom Monthly Practice.
Each New Moon, you are invited into a monthly practice designed to support your spiritual life in a grounded, lived way. These practices draw on the rhythms of the Earth and the cycles of the Moon, offering reflection and simple ritual you can return to throughout the lunar month. They are created to help you stay steady and in relationship with your inner wisdom as life unfolds.
Our practice this month is:
Spiritual Wayfinding
Moving with the Language of the World
Our prayer is:
May the strength of the heavens guide me
May the wild Earth instruct me
May the knowledge of my ancestors direct me
May the wonder of beauty show me
May the circle of life inspire me
May my own wisdom steer me
Be there always a guiding light before me
This day and every day
Michelle MacEwan
We have always expressed the language of the world through story, symbol, prayer, silence, dreams, creativity, and relationship — ways of accessing and expressing deeper wisdom.
Wisdom codes have been carried across generations, carrying the resonance of spoken word, celebration, sorrow, and devotion.
Others arise through our own direct experience of life — through the stories we live, the beauty we witness, the thresholds we cross, the mysteries we move with, and the meanings we create and share along the way.
Through these forms of expression, human beings have found creative ways to remember our place within the great web of life, carry wisdom across generations, navigate uncertainty, and nourish the spiritual ecology.
The language of the world moves through us in many forms — through dreams, synchronicity, intuition, relationship, and the living world itself.
Sometimes this guidance arrives through a story that captures our imagination, a dream that lingers, a symbol that keeps appearing, a sudden knowing, a line in a book, a moment of beauty, or a synchronicity that catches our attention.
Some forms of wisdom are recognised rather than explained.
Paying attention to what speaks deeply to us, and moving in relationship with it, is a sacred act. Through this practice, we access deeper wisdom and strengthen our capacity to navigate the journey of life. Over time, we gather a living reservoir of wisdom — one we can return to, embody, and share with others along the way.
We are story gatherers and song makers because life is reciprocal.
Over the years, I have learned to trust the ways the language of the world moves through my own life.
My dreams have always guided me and after the death of my first husband they became vivid and clear.
I had returned to teaching in secondary school for some stability and security for myself and my daughters. It all felt wrong.
One morning, exhausted, I went home.
I got into bed, fell asleep and dreamt.
I was in the school carpark and before me was a caravan.
I opened the door and stepped inside. Opposite me was another door.
This one was open and beyond it I could see the rise and swell of the southern ocean.
I stepped through the door and found myself with my daughters on the clifftops
looking down at the most beautiful beach I had ever seen.
The girls ran down ahead of me and played in the rock pools.
I followed and a deep peace that I had never known dropped into me
and my heart flew open.
I woke, got dressed, packed the car and picked up the girls from school.
We travelled down the Great Ocean Road all the way to Apollo Bay.
At the market we met people who befriended us and offered to take us to a hidden place beyond the Bay, a wild, remote beach.
The moment I stepped onto that beach I knew this was it. This was home.
We returned many times, drawn back again and again to that wild stretch of coast.
It was the anniversary of Gary’s death. I stood looking at the photo board and decided it was time to take the old photographs down, including the ones of Gary — leaving only the images of this wild beach. The moment I removed the final photo, the phone rang. A woman’s voice said,
‘is that Michelle? I’ve got a house for you.’
Where is it?’ I asked.
‘Castle Cove,’ she replied.
‘It’s mine,’ I said.
Over the last lunar cycle, we have been exploring the understanding that everything in the world is medicine.
That healing, guidance, belonging, protection, creativity, relationship, story, and even the challenges we encounter along the way can become part of what strengthens and transforms us.
This New Moon Practice continues that journey, exploring how wisdom and guidance are transmitted through words, sound, story, prayer, blessing, mantra, and symbols.
Some forms of wisdom ask not only for our attention, but for our participation. To follow the synchronicities. To speak the prayer. To tell the story. To trust the knowing. To cross the threshold.
This too is part of spiritual wayfinding.
THE PRACTICE
Spoken word on breath is creation.
Words spoken with intention can become powerful companions during times of change, helping us move from one space, or place, to another.
Every ancient culture has always had words and phrases that they turn to in times of need. They have been used for protection, for loss, for grief, and for celebration.
The words we use shape both the inner and outer landscapes through which we move — influencing how we see ourselves, how we relate to the world, and what we believe is possible.
This moment in time is, I feel, calling on us to turn within and access our deeper wisdom.
This month we are going to focus on strengthening our inner reserves and adding to our treasure chest of wisdom as we navigate our journey through life.
Through prayer, poetry, story, and sacred sound, we cultivate ways of orienting that help us move through uncertainty with greater steadiness and trust.
Catch yourself when you are saying harsh things to yourself and speak with greater compassion.
Sitting quietly, or taking a walk and speaking or chanting a word, a string of words, a poem, song, prayer, or one of our mantras — something that resonates with you at the time — is a perfect way to activate and build your inner resources.
A way of listening more deeply to yourself and allowing new pathways of expression to emerge.
Let’s begin by recognising the words, prayers, and stories that guide us.
Take care this month to use words that draw from your well of wisdom.
Begin each day with our prayer and take it with you through your day. Speak it out loud whenever you are called to. Notice what thoughts, feelings and other words arise. You might like to collect these — write them down or record them on your phone.
Consider your desires for the month ahead, and then contemplate your bigger dream. What language arises in you around your life and deeper direction?
What speaks to your bigger picture?
When you are ready, spontaneously create your own prayer or mantra. Allow yourself to speak from your heart.
Speaking your words out loud is creating that energy in the world.
We must navigate whatever is before us with as much steadiness, presence, and wisdom as we can.
Our words evoke our own unique wisdom and give shape to the way we move through the world.
Reflect on last month’s work of everything in the world is medicine. This month it is time to put these skills to work.
What words resonate with you that you can chant, sing, incant? Trust what you receive in the moment.
Follow what continues to call to you.
The language of the world moves through us in many forms — through dreams and story, beauty and silence, synchronicity, prayer, relationship, and the living world itself.
Our practice is not only to receive these moments, but to participate with them — to speak the prayer, tell the story, follow the knowing, cross the threshold, and live in relationship with what calls to us.
With love
