We are Cultural Workers Who are Tired AF

Registration is open for the ArtPlace America Virtual Summit, a celebration and culmination of a decade of work as part of an extraordinary community of artists, community developers, culture bearers, designers, government officials, philanthropists, and researchers coming together from rural, suburban, Tribal, and urban communities across the United States. This blog post is part of a series from our BIPOC affinity group leaders. These are peer led, community organized sessions that meet a couple of times before, during, and/or after the summit. 

The virtual summit is free and open to the public. For more information and to register visit ArtPlaceSummit.org

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We (Carol Zou and Mallory Rukhsana Nezam) will be hosting an affinity group for BIPOC Cultural and Community Workers Who Are Tired AF during the ArtPlace Annual Summit. Inspired by the work of Audre Lorde and The Nap Ministry, we will hold space for people who are burnt out by the rhythms of white supremacist imperialist capitalist patriarchy. To mark the close of the ArtPlace Annual Summit, we offer this Full Moon in Taurus Ritual in the hopes that you can find some time for self-reflection and rest. 

Full Moon in Taurus ritual

Are you tired AF of white supremacist imperialist patriarchal capitalism?

Well, you’re in luck. The Full Moon in Taurus occurs this year on October 31, 2020 and Taurus is the sign of abundance. Taurus is slow and steady—sometimes to the point of stubbornness. Taurus loves its plant medicine. Nothing is too extra for Taurus. Taurus invites us to nourish our bodies and to abandon scarcity thinking.

The Moon represents our interior emotional life. European colonialism has forced the privileging of the rational and the intellectual at the expense of embodied knowledge. The Moon invites us to make space for emotion, intuition, and dreams. How are you making space for self reflection? How are you working with your intuition?

This year’s Full Moon in Taurus falls right on Halloween, and right before Dia de los Muertos. This moment of transition is a moment to invoke the power of your ancestors. How are you embodying their wildest dreams? How would they have wanted you to take care of yourself?

Ritual:

Materials needed

• Nighttime 
• Paper
• Writing utensil
• Matches or lighter

1. Sit somewhere where the light of the moon touches you.
2. Journal on a piece of a paper using the following prompts:
   1. How are you taking care of yourself this month?
   2. What does your body need?
   3. Where can you find abundance and joy in your life?
   4. How are you connecting to nature?
   5. What is one piece of white supremacist imperialist patriarchal capitalism that you can let go of this month?
3. Make an intention related to rest, nourishment, and abundance.
4. Say your intention as you fold this piece of paper.
5. Hold your intention as you burn this piece of paper.
6. Go outside. Bathe in the moonlight. Scatter the ashes at the base of a plant.