The “Magickal” Moon
Updated: Jan 8, 2019
The ‘Dark Side’ of the moon is current news with a robotic probe, “Chang’e 4”, named after a Chinese Goddess of the moon. An ancient legend tells of a beautiful Chinese girl called Chang-O, who was banished to the moon 4,000 years ago, having stolen the pill of immortality from her husband. In 2007, China launched its first lunar probe, a robotic spacecraft named Chang'e 1 in the Goddess' honour.
The landing site of the probe is being referred to as the moon’s “Dark Side”, as although it spends half of its time in sunlight, it is rarely visible and therefore unknown territory. “Unknown territory” is something the majority of us struggle with and since ancient times we have looked to the heavens for answers.
Both the moon and stars helped sailors navigate through unknown waters and the moon’s cycle was used as a calendar and for telling the time. Farmers planted above ground crops as the moon waxed (growing in illumination) and root crops as the moon waned (reducing in illumination); a few days before the New Moon was the best time to harvest. Farmers are starting to return to this old tradition as part of the permaculture movement, “a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature”.
Science has confirmed that the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun makes the water in the oceans bulge, causing a continuous change between high and low tide. At New Moon and Full Moon the gravitational force of the Sun and the Moon act together and create spring tides. Just as the moon influences the rise and fall of the tides, it is believed that the moon pulls upon the subtle bodies of water, causing moisture to rise in the earth at the time of both a New and Full Moon, which encourages growth.
With our bodies comprising a high percentage of water, a natural assumption would therefore follow that the “pull” of the moon has an effect on our emotions and energies too. We tend to put our peaks and troughs down to “hormone imbalance”, but if you are finding yourself feeling emotional for no specific reason, make a note of it in your diary and if you are feeling particularly energised and motivated, put this in your diary too - you may be surprised at the link.
Once a connection is made between our emotions and the cycle of the moon, the forthcoming “Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse” on 21 January (Co-ordinated Universal Time), may seem a bit daunting. With such a powerful combination, how can we navigate through this “unknown territory”?
As noted above, the permaculture movement is “a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature”. If you work with the Full Moon’s energy, you can use it to your advantage and awakening to this concept is the first step. Over the next month, write a journal or simply be aware of your emotions and energies. In the next blog we will look at the many “magickal” tools that can be used to “calm troubled waters” and if you would like to share your Full moon experiences, we would love to hear from you.
