This is my last week of full-time hours at work. It’s a little surreal. I’m excited for what’s coming next, though! It’ll be so nice to focus on a passion I’ve had since I was young: creating. I’ve spent this last month setting everything up and investing in supplies. I’m basically ready, now, but I’ve been debating on whether I should open an Etsy shop, too. It may be worth trying, anyway.
Now that I have a proper planner, I’ve been trying to work in time to practice my drawing skills: both my technical skills and intuitive skills. It’s been a long time since I’ve drawn on a regular basis, so overcoming the discomfort and dissatisfaction has been a bit of a challenge. I’m trying to focus more on how much I enjoy the process, the feel of pen on paper (or pen on tablet), instead of thinking, “This isn’t good enough.” I know I have a habit of holding myself to extraordinary standards, but I also have to remind myself that I haven’t been working regularly at this skill. Of course I’m not where I want to be! I’ll only get there in time, and with practice.
Last night, I decided to dedicate myself to a low-stress drawing session with Morpheus. A little while back, I asked him through tarot/oracle how I could connect with him, and creativity was one of the answers. He’s helped me with my first few spirit art pieces, I think, but I haven’t yet invited him to draw with me purely for the sake of creating something. I wanted to change that, and perhaps make a habit of it.
These little sketches (I’ve decided to call them “Dream Doodles”) are far from anatomically correct, but that wasn’t the intention. All I wanted was to pick up a pen and see what came through — see how I could convey energy without worrying over how well I’m drawing. In a world dominated by social media artists, it’s too easy to feel overshadowed by artists who are vastly more skilled than I am. I know I can reach that level of skill with enough practice and dedication, so I might as well focus on the joy of creating.
For a while, I debated posting this piece online because it didn’t feel finished or refined enough. I realize, however, that there is no reason for shame here. It doesn’t matter if a personal piece is a little rough around the edges so long as it conveys what it needs to convey, and I think I’ve done that well enough.
As I promised myself in last night’s post, I sat down with Morpheus and called upon my friends in spirit, asking to paint my primary guide. I haven’t worked with my spirit companions in at least a few years, and it’s been difficult for me to discern whether the roster has changed, so to speak. In some ways, I was a little afraid of what I’d find out, because I spent my early spiritual years connecting deeply with my primary guide, and I always feared that he would move on, as I understand some guides do. This entity had a major influence on my ability to intuit information, and to actually trust that information. I would’ve hated to see him go.
But when I sat down to paint last night, the imagery came effortlessly. Almost too effortlessly. Those self-doubting thoughts crept back up: I’m just painting what I want to see. But the interesting thing was, I barely received any impressions while painting. Usually, when I’m painting, I intuit things that have to be included, or changed, or emphasized. With this piece, I received basically nothing — most likely because I’m already familiar with this energy.
My primary guide, from years past.
On one hand, I should have known, but on the other, there’s been so little connection between us for the last few years that I could never tell whether he ‘moved on’ or if I was so deeply entrenched in physical life that I was blind to everything he tried to communicate. Maybe I simply needed time to live, to figure out how to be a young adult in the crazy, modern world. Maybe I needed to explore myself and learn my lessons through travels and challenges and new people. Maybe I needed space.
I would therefore consider this painting an offering of renewal. I’m a much different person now. I’ve had my space and my time, and now I must continue the work I came here to complete. Perhaps it’s time to reconnect with my beloved companion in spirit, alongside Morpheus.
This is an entity I know as Spike. No, I didn’t come up with that name. Yes, I plan to reflect on that story.
For now, I must wind down for the night. Morpheus beckons.
The other day, I got a pretty big schooling from the universe through a tarot reading. The short version? I need to sit down and make the time for my creative projects, preferably by planning out my activities for each day. The coincidental thing about this reading is that several days prior to receiving it, I had ordered myself the planner you see above. I knew that, going forward, I would have so many minor projects going that finding time for everything would become a hassle if I didn’t keep track of it all.
I’ve been naughty, and the universe is calling me out on it. With so much creativity flowing through me — so many ideas and plans and goals — it’s much easier to sink my time into leisure activities, where I don’t have to worry about putting aside the time to work toward those plans and goals. I’ve been overwhelmed trying to figure out the best way to balance my projects. What should I focus on? Can I really achieve all of these things? What am I best suited for?
I have two weeks remaining of my full-time work, and I’ve spent this month trying my best to set myself up for success once July hits. In all honesty, though, I don’t feel like I’ve achieved much. Pursuing spiritual work as supplemental income was a last-minute decision that I didn’t feel prepared for. I haven’t made much progress with my writing, and though I’ve invested in art and craft supplies, I’ve barely touched those in the last few weeks.
According to my shiny new planner, I’m supposed to be working on my fiction right now. I had everything set in front of me for about twenty minutes, and then I closed it all down and opened this tab to write this post. Presently, I feel more interested in developing my spiritual tools than writing. I’ve always been the sort to go with the flow; whatever my gut or heart feels like doing, I do it. However, this leaves me with quite the predicament: what’s the point of planning out the time if I don’t stick to that time?
Creativity is a fickle thing. It’s not like a chore. You can’t just get up, expend the energy, and be done. And I think that’s where the root of my problem lies. If you’re not feeling a project, it’s much more difficult to sit down and actually work on it. Everyone’s got their tricks on how to power through, but sometimes, those tricks still don’t get the job done. Your fingers itch for that other project. The words or visions just don’t come. Perhaps your work day was simply so draining that you have no juice left for creativity.
In the end, I know I need to be both gentle and firm with myself. This is a time of change for me, and I can’t be so harsh on myself, but at the same time, I need to make progress. I need to plant those seeds and nurture them. I need to make those plans, sort out those priorities, and push through. I’m a dreamer with countless dreams — but dreams are pointless if we don’t make the effort to pursue them.
I may not be working on my fiction tonight, but I will sit down and draw with Morpheus. That seems like a fair trade-off, since I’m in need of the practice (and the portfolio).
I should preface this by saying deity worship was never something that grabbed my interest. In my 26 years of living, Shiva was the only deity to which I felt a pull, and even then, I didn’t quite worship him the way an ordinary person might. I had no idea how to worship him beyond meditation and art.
That was several years ago, and now, I find myself in exactly the same situation. I’m going through some major life changes (career-wise, specifically), and in the midst of sorting through old spiritual blogs, I stumbled upon a reference post on Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. For whatever reason, as I read through this post, I had the deepest desire to connect with Morpheus, to work with him throughout my day-to-day life. I’ve been a longtime fan of dreams and stories in all varieties, and while I’ve admired the concept of Morpheus over the course of the last decade, I only felt the need to begin working with him in the last few weeks.
Now, smack-dab in the middle of June, I feel lighter, more hopeful, more excited about what’s to come. My dream recall has improved drastically: I’ve remembered four dreams in the last two weeks alone. Before that, I’ve woken remembering nothing (or extremely little) over the course of the last three months. I’ve returned to building up my intuition and I’m learning how to work through old insecurities.
It’s difficult for me to say whether I can attribute any of this to Morpheus. I don’t claim to know any hard facts about deities and the spirit/dream world. The universe is a big mystery to me, but in all honesty, I don’t think any of that matters. What does matter is that I’m on a path of self-improvement, and for whatever reason, working with an ancient god of dreams is helping me along that path.
Out of curiosity, I’ve been asking Morpheus each night to join me in my dreams, because I’ve wanted to meet him face-to-face. It’s rare that I have big, world-shaking, spiritual dreams. It’s also rare that I dream of spiritual beings, so I think in the back of my mind, I’m testing the universe. Mostly, I’m curious to see how a god of dreams would present himself. Here’s the thing, though: the four dreams I’ve remembered this month have all stood out in different ways (tornado dream, college dream, work dream, travel dream), but were also full of faces, both familiar and unfamiliar. Hell, I even dreamed about a female teacher in the college dream, only to wake up the next day to a picture sent by my sister-in-law of the same woman… who’s a kindergarten teacher.
Plot twist: I’ve never seen that woman before in my life. I couldn’t explain that one.
These experiences led me to wonder whether Morpheus is intentionally keeping his ‘true’ form away from me. Maybe he doesn’t think I’m ready to see it. Maybe he doesn’t have a ‘true’ form because he’s the Formshaper. He can be whatever he needs to be — whatever I need him to be — at any given moment.
Still, I wanted to see what he came up with, so I have a tool for connection. My strengths lie in visuals and gut feelings, so one day, I asked him to join me for a bit of spirit art. The painting you see above was the result of that session, and it was fascinating to see how the depiction transformed as I worked. I’m sure I’ll be making more art of him in the future.
Finally, my offerings to Morpheus have been slim (I live in a small apartment with a roommate, so I don’t have much room to work with and I’m trying to be discreet), but the great thing about working with a god of dreams is that my offerings can be discreet things like candles and dream journals and tarot cards. One day, when I have a place to call my own, I can spread out and dedicate more than a tiny nightstand to him.
All in all, my experiences with Morpheus have been subtle and intriguing. I think my issue with trusting spirit is that, with my highs and lows, I’ve never reached a point in my spiritual development where gut feelings or psychic impressions were so obvious or transparent that there was no room for doubt. I honestly don’t know if others ever reach that point, or if that’s simply how spirit works. It’s trust and faith.
I’d be interested to hear from anyone who does work with Morpheus! What have your experiences been like, or how do you intuit his energy?
I figured I could start with an official introduction…
First of all, greetings, and welcome to my little cozy corner of the internet. I’m honored that you’ve chosen to stop by and see what I’m up to! My intention for this blog is to document my spiritual journey, reflect on daily happenings and interesting experiences, and offer my services as an intuitive artist and tarot reader. I’m definitely more experienced with the art than with the tarot, but I feel that tarot goes hand-in-hand with my art. Consider it an additional layer of meaning to whatever I end up drawing or painting.
I go by Moon or Em. “Midnight Moon” was a name that came to me almost instantaneously when I was trying to think of a good name to reflect my work and business. I hold a deep love for the moon and stars, and midnight seems to be the hour when I receive many of my creative ideas. It seemed fitting.
My spiritual path has had its ups and downs over the years. I would credit spirituality, however, with my gradual self-improvement. It’s helped me to see the bigger picture and explore facets of myself that I never knew existed. It’s guided me to wisdom I use on a daily basis, and it’s also inspired countless creative projects. If I had one word to describe my path, it would be gravitation. I gravitate toward whatever draws my interest or resonates with me at any given time, whether it’s a philosophy or a symbol or a spiritual being. I can’t say for certain whether it’s my own intuition or the higher workings of the universe leading me to these items of interest. Maybe it doesn’t matter, because it’s all connected. Either way, it’s served me well over the years.
This site will be my home base, but I’ll gradually branch out to other platforms. I’m currently using my tumblr as a way to further share my work and gather resources and information for my own path. Feel free to follow me there, and I’ll be glad to check out your own cozy corner!
Midnight Moon: Tarot and Intuitive Art 