A Moon by Any Other Name

Have you ever named a Full moon?  If you haven’t, isn’t it an interesting concept; to name your own Full moons?

It is not unusual to find names for the full Moons from other eras or cultures. With a little research you can find full Moon names from Colonial America, Native Americans, the Celts, the Norse, Medieval Europe, and the English. Oh yes, and then there are the ‘standard’ full moon names that are found in just about any 101 book on Wicca. As a refresher these are:

January – Wolf Moon
February – Storm Moon
March – Hare Moon
April – Seed Moon
May – Drayad Moon
June – Mead Moon
July – Herb Moon
August – Barley Moon
September – Harvest Moon
October – Blood/Hunters Moon
November – Snow Moon
December – Oak Moon

Perhaps you work with the Celtic names of the full moon to connect with your Celtic ancestry. Any and all names for the full moons, no matter what era or culture, are valid. If you wish to work with standardized names for the full moons and that is what works for you, great! Read no further, stop right here!

However, if you would like to know more, feel free to continue.

Maybe deep down you don’t resonate with the names/energies of the full moons. Have you ever once thought about the culture or geographic region in which you live? Would the January Wolf Moon hold the same energy in downtown Manhattan as in Colorado Springs? What about the November Snow Moon, do you even get snow?

As a child, I grew up in a rural area where hunting helped supplement putting food on the table for some of my family (please don’t judge). The opening of deer season marked the Stag moon and energies were worked for a good hunt.

When I lived in the Sierra Nevada foothills, our snow generally came in January and might last until April or longer. Often we had to wait until late April or May to plant seeds which would also change our harvest season. I now live in an urban area of the San Francisco Bay Area where we can sometimes plant seeds as early as February. So with the fluctuation of weather conditions and climate you may wish to rethink the naming of the moons. Also the names of the moons you choose may change from year to year.

I remember one December where we had fog all month long, so that December was the Fog Moon. Fog makes things hidden, so if you want to be invisible or want to hide something, or make something disappear, Fog Moon is worth working with. It also creates a veil, a barrier, if you want to do works of protection.

This year at the beginning of April, all I saw were cranes. Everywhere I went, there were cranes. So for me, this year, April became the Crane Moon (patience, secret knowledge) this year.

Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Weather: rain, fog, snow, calm, thunder & lightning…

Flowers: roses, daffodils, crocus, sunflowers, narcissus…

Trees: Blooming (hawthorn, magnolia, ornamental); trees bearing fruit or nuts (apple, apricot, walnuts, almonds…), Mistletoe or moss; or are they dormant?

Fruit bearing bushes like: blackberries, raspberries, blueberries or boysenberries

Animals/birds: seasonal/migrating animals & birds; when do they return, when do they leave?

Insects/arachnids: the first ladybug, mosquito, dragonfly, butterfly, moth, cricket; spider, scorpion…

Slithering things: snakes, lizards…

Creatures of the night like: bat, owl…

Lastly, remember that when you have named something yourself you have a deeper connection to the energies.

 

 

The Witch Label

The other day I was searching out a forum at Goddess Circle to see if I wanted to participate. The forum was titled Witchy Goddesses. After reading the first couple of posts, I realized this wasn’t something I wished to contribute too. However, I continued to read on for about another 30 posts. I found that the majority of these women were dabblers; they liked the idea of being a witch but not really working at it. Others were following the teachings in a particular book that they seemed happy with. I’m not going to mention the book or the author because she is local and I am not familiar with her or her work. What struck me the most was that the majority of these women liked the idea of being a witch, but didn’t want to be labeled a witch because it was limiting? So I saw women who wrote things like: “I’m a label free witch” or they “Didn’t want to be labeled and therefore limited.”

REALLY? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THE WORD WITCH, LIMMITING?

The word Witch is one of the most all encompassing words that I know. Being a witch is total freedom. We hold the power to not only change our lives and the lives around us, but the world. The only limits are the ones you impose on yourself.

Being a Witch is having a connection to nature; understanding the rhythms and cycles of the earth and the moon. It’s communing with the land spirits of rock and tree and plant. It’s about listening to what nature has to teach and show us.

Being a Witch is magic. It’s the tingle of power dancing across your skin during a lightning storm that is channeled in to a work of retribution. It’s the deep vibration felt within from waves crashing against the cliffs that is used in healing work. It’s standing in the wind as it blows through you, cleansing you. And it’s the heat of the hearth fire that shines in our eyes and burns in our hearts with passion and strength.

Being a Witch is being there to help your family, friends and community when called upon. It’s being mentors/guides, healers, teachers, spiritual counselors, magic workers, psychics and diviners. We administer to the living and to the departing.

Being a Witch is Fearlessness. Its power tempered with wisdom. And it is about knowing who you are and what you are capable of. Witch should be a respected title just like Mage, Priest and Priestess.

I was raised as a Witch and that is who I am, not just what I am and I am proud to call myself Witch.  

Moon Bathing as a Child

I look back to when I was a very young child growing up in the country. The old ranch house faced east and on a full moon night, grandma new I’d be down by the well waiting for the moon to show herself.

I was never alone in the dark; a witch is never truly alone. The night was filled with the songs of crickets and frogs. The guardian of our land, the nature spirits and the spirits of the Native Americans that lived here long ago, surround me, crowd me. I would find myself pushing at them to give me a little space.


westcobitch.wordpress.com

Then everything becomes quiet, as though Nature herself was holding her breath. There is a faint change in the night; a soft pale glow began to outline the hills. The light steadily growing; stars’ fading in the growing light as the moon makes her assent. My anticipation growing, waiting for that first crest of bright light over the hills. Then it happens, a light so bright it makes me blink my eyes a few times to adjust to it. Slowly she rises until she hovers over the hills. There is almost an audible sigh from the spirits witnessing a simple yet powerful act. The night sounds of crickets, frogs and other creatures return.

A tall woman with pale skin, long dark hair, and dressed in shifting colors of light appears. She looks serious and stern and then she smiles and I can feel her light filling my heart with joy. We always meet like this on the full moon nights. Whispering, telling stories and giggling in the dark. Then she would have to leave, to meet with others who were watching and waiting for her and she would dissolve into moonlight.

Our land guardian ushers the other spirits back into the night as I make my way back to the house where grandma is waiting to tuck me in bed. Oh to have the wonder and the innocence of a being a kid again.

Mid-Winter

It is Mid-Winter’s night, a time when the dark holds sway over the bright. It is the Conception of the Returning Light in the womb-tomb of the Goddess.

We sit in the cold darkness, wondering what it must have been like for our ancestors. Were they huddled against one another in the cold darkness? Was the wind howling around their cottage? Would the light return? Would the earth warm once more? Did they sow their seeds of hope in the dark?

The great wheel turns and renews. Someone lights a candle, a bright spark of warmth and encouragement. Then another candle is lit and another. The circle of light, warmth and cheer growing with each candle lit. The huge oak log in the hearth is lit, blazing into life, chasing away the shadows of winter.

Though there are still long nights ahead, the light grows in strength a little more each day and the earth begins to warm little by little. The circle of life renews and continues.  What seeds will you plant in the dark to germinate while waiting for the light? Will they be seeds of Hope? Healing? Creativity? Abundance? Peace? Love? New Beginnings? What will you tend in the dark to birth into the light?

A Blessed Mid-Winter to All!

I have been so absent lately from my blog, but there has been so much going on in my life. My day job just drains me, but it pays the bill and I certainly cannot afford not to have a job. When I come home I put in a few hours of work on classes and projects. As it is I don't think I'll be able to catch up with the Pagan Blog Project right now.

Brighid has set my feet on a more healthy path (no I'm not going vegetarian). I am eating better and doing cardio (this from the coach potato).

My classes are going great and that's doing what I love to do. Teaching is my passion. I have the best students. Looking forward to when I can eventually retire and devote my (non-family) time to teaching.

My God Family has also given me a project to work on, that totally gets me out of my comfort zone. The project is exciting and I'm looking forward to sharing it with everyone within the next 9 months.

My Celtic Spirit year course will be coming to a close in February 2013. What a wonderful time we've all had. The students will be continuing on with me in an informal manner.

Panthea Con is coming up President's weekend in February 2013. Can't wait! My daughter is going to be here for PCon. All of my witchy friends and students are going. We all want to get together while we are there, so as soon at the classes are listed on Ancient Ways website www.ancientways.com we are planning out when we will all have time to hang out. I am also looking forward to meeting some of the people I've only been corresponding with via FB and emails.

I've gotten around to updating my Class tab. There is less than a week left to sign up for my Traditional Witchcraft Year Study.

So, I guess that's about all the update for now.

Blessings of Hearth & Home

Thank you A Witch With A Stick for nominating my blog-site. Looking forward to living up to the honor. The rules to accept this nomination are:

Thank the blogger who gave it to you and share the link back to the awarding blog.

·         Name five (5) fabulous moments in your life.

·         Name five (5) things that you love.

·         Name five (5) things that you hate.

·         Pass the award onto five (5) deserving blogs/bloggers.

Fabulous moments: 1. Giving birth to my two wonderful children. 2. My Handfasting to my husband. 3. Growing up as a hereditary witch. 4. The day the Celtic gods claimed me. 5. Hearing my mom was free of cancer.

What I love: 1. My family and extended family. 2. Teaching. 3. The creativity & inspiration that flows through my life daily. 4. The ocean. 5. The mountains.

Hate is a strong word, I detest the following: 1. Liars.  2. Social injustice.  3. People who use a cell phone while driving. 4. Discrimination of personal freedoms guaranteed by the constitution.                 5. Anyone who mentally, emotionally and/or physically abuses another person or an animal.

I nominate:

The Antlered Road www.antleredroad.blogspot.com

Kitchen Witch School of Natural Witchery www.kitchenwitchuk.blogspot.com

Way of the Rabbit www.way-of-the-rabbit.blogspot.com

The Life and Adventures of an Eclectic Witch www.thelifeandadventuresofaneclecticwitch.blogspot.com

Stepping Stones www.rhiannonsbirds.wordpress.com

Music, Rhythm & Song ~ PBP wk 25

www.danceincity.com

Music is a universal language. It can be lively and quick or slow and melodic. Even if you don’t understand the words of a song, the music can still tell a story. We can learn much about a culture by listing to their music. The Irish ballads speak of the earthiness of its people with a deep since of pride in their country. It also reveals the magic still in the land. Their songs tell stories of peaceful times and war, of deep undying love and great loss. Their pub house songs will make you laugh and weep all at the same time.



www.easternartarcade.com

We can be transported to faraway places with and without by music and song. There we can ride an emotional tide, everything from sorrow, pain and despair to love, compassion and desire, with everything in between. Music can calm and relax us. Adding the power of movement can lead us to an ecstatic experience.

Music can remind us of ritual attended or a journey taken. The steady thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump, of the drum, that takes us deep into meditation and on otherworldly journeys. Rattles and shakers, take us to the place of our ancestors. Tribal music connects us to the earth and the cosmos.

We sing and chant to our Gods & Goddesses; to Spirit and the elements. We raise our voices in song as we dance the spiral of life. We can be many voices joined in raising energy or a solo voice, in the dark of night, chanting a spell of love.

So pick up your drum, shaker or pipes and make some music!

Shameless plug:
Please check out my friend Mari Dreamwalker’s CD Light & Roses. You can hear some of the songs at the site below. Mari is a wonderful singer and song writer and a beautiful soul.

http://www.reverbnation.com/mari%20dreamwalker#!/maridreamwalker