Nature’s 8 points of celebration through the year were re-dated according to the Roman calendar, which ignores the fine tuning of Sun, Moon and Earth in synchronisation with each other.
The constantly shifting phases of the moon do not easily fit into a 12-month Gregorian calendar and a 12-month solar year. The 13-month Lunar year is still practised in many cultures around the world for good reason – it synchronises the bio-rhythms of our planet and all the creatures that live instinctively with it.
The loss of this essential wisdom has had a detrimental effect on the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health of our human family but we can easily reclaim it just by observing it. When our minds are aware of these cycles, the body rhythms follow automatically.
As an example, in 2015 the winter solstice was traditionally on the 21st of December, with 3 days when the sun ‘stands still’. With the sun at its lowest point on the shortest days we can look to the full moon to light the darkness. A rare full moon in Cancer on 25th December, Christmas Day, was a welcome Light, and so this would be the Lunar Solstice.
8-Point Lunar Year 2016
Imbolc is the real start of Spring, so the new moon in Aquarius starts the lunar light on 8th February
Vernal Equinox, equal half day and half night, equates with the waxing half-moon in Gemini on 15th March
Beltane fires look best on a dark night. The dark earth is where the seed sleeps until germination, and the dark womb is where conception takes place, so no-moon keeps things in the dark in Taurus on 6th May
Summer solstice This year, both the Full Moon and Sun take centre stage at the pinnacle of the year
Lammas sees late summer fruits swelling with goodness, and healthful days for the pregnant mother, with the waxing half-moon in Virgo on 10th August
Autumn equinox equal half days and half nights again as summer falls away, but has provided a full harvest, a full womb, and a waning half-moon on 23rd September
Samhain, All-Haloed-Souls’ Eve with prayers for the incoming and outgoing souls, a mass of candles to light their way and a no-moon in Scorpio on 30th October
Winter solstice is the end of the road as the sun dips down to its lowest point, 3days of darkness as it stands still. We give gratitude for the year and our expectations give birth to the new sun, the new-born, the new life to come, with the new moon in Capricorn on 29th Dec
In the esoteric philosophies, every aspect of the physical world, down to the smallest nano-particle, and out to the farthest reaches of the Universe, has another, more far-reaching meaning. This is sometimes called Hermetic Knowledge, or ‘As above, So below’.
THE MOON
The Moon orbits the Earth, does not rotate, and moves with us in our orbit around the Sun.
The Moon has a fluctuating character and because of its closeness to us, it influences the water on our planet and causes rising and falling tides, both in the oceans and in every living thing.
As it moves around us, its gravitaional influence pulls water with it. It ascends in the east and descends in the west, in its path across the sky and appears to change in size and shape, as the shadow of Earth and the light of the Sun move across its surface. We call it waxing and waning.
When the Moon is full, the half of the moon facing us is lit by the Sun. When the old Moon disappears, the shadow of the Earth covers it.
The reflected light radiating from the Moon affects our light, growth rate, sleep and dreams. The movement of the Moon affects our internal organs, brain function, thought and emotional responses, creativity and physical energy levels, and the height of the Moon in its trajectory, affects the length of time it influences us.
For example:
When the Moon is full, and is on its highest ascent path across the sky, more living things, for a longer time, will be affected.
When the old moon crescent disappears on its lowest descent path across the sky, fewer living things will feel its influence.
A full Moon, at the lowest descent mark, will shine its light almost horizontally across the Earth’s surface. It will be ‘in your face’.
A full Moon at the highest ascent mark will shine its light vertically down from above, and will be closer to you.
The Islamic flag has an ‘old Moon’ crescent because it is more apparent in the East in the early evening, with the evening star, Venus. (It appears in the early morning in the West)
Old Moon
All these different combinations have differing effects on us mere mortals.
Some of us are born in a season of increasing daylight hours, others in decreasing daylight hours.
Some of us are born around an equinox, or a solstice.
Some of us are born at night and some during the daytime. Some with the setting Sun, or Moon, and some with the rising Sun, or Moon.
And then there are all the other planets to take into consideration!
So we can see that the time we are born, and the unique set of circumstances in which we find ourselves arriving, can produce a very unique response to the world in each and every one of us. In Astrology, our Moon sign is as important to understand as our Sun sign. ( Click Here to get your Moon sign and Click Here to see how your moon will reveal aspects about you.) Those circumstances will go on affecting us in some way, in a repeating pattern, for the whole of our lives.
Apart from that, on any one day, the circumstances of that time and place will effect us all, collectively.
If the Moon is influencing us in a particularly strong way, most of us will feel it, either positively or negatively.
Some people Moon-gaze, are fascinated by it, and others never give it a second thought.
1. Blue Moon is the thirteenth Moon. (Magic)
Usually there is one full Moon in one calendar month. There are different opinions on this, but once in a while there is a ‘Blue Moon’. This can either be two full Moons in one month, the second one being ‘Blue’, or four Moons in a season, instead of three.
In one calendar year, there are thirteen Moons, so a Blue Moon occurs about once a year. “Once in a Blue Moon” is a saying in our language for a very rare occasion, when something fortuitous happens ‘out of the blue’. But your particular ‘Blue Moon’, may be a unique configuration, that means something specific for you.
If, your Blue Moon occurs, you may find that your emotions start to increase, decrease, or mis-behave. If you are prone to moods, depression, tearfulness, highs and lows, manic behaviour, excitability, euphoria, grief, melancholy, bliss, or just plain old happiness, it may arrive more intensely and unexpectedly.
2. Red Moon is seen as an omen of war. It is red at a Lunar Eclipse. (Blood)
3. Yellow Moon, (or gold), is the Harvest or Hunter’s Moon. (Abundance)
Ice Moon
4. White Moon, or Ice Moon, is the Moon high in the meridian, near the Winter Solstice. (Death)
5. Green Moon is the Mid-summer Moon. (Life)
6. Black Moon is when it disappears, or the ‘Dark Side of the Moon’. (Fear)
7. Pink Moon is when its light filters through the atmospheric dust. (Love)
Earth Medicine – the Moon is Feminine applies to Water, and water applies to Emotions.
Nature lovers, gardeners and farmers know that certain Moon phases are good for planting, sowing, and harvesting.
World Mythology has images and stories of Moon goddesses, especially Diana the Huntress, Artemis and Hecate. Also ‘lunacy’, (or Moon Madness), mystery and imagination, beliefs according to the feminine principle, dreaming, seership, psychicness, intuition and magic.
Old Rituals were conducted by the light of the Moon, especially a full Moon, and associations with witches and magic persist. People and animals of course will respond to the rising energy of a full Moon, as it brings on ovulation; mating orgies and pagan weddings were conducted according to this strong influence.
Astrology – The Zodiac sign of Cancer, (The Crab, June 21-July 22) has Moon as its ruling planet and represents Mother and Home.
Tarot – If the Moon appears for you, it may represent a time when the Unconscious Mind is very active and can cause uncertainty, and fluctuating emotions; but the Feminine Principle is at work and through dreams and images, a realisation will arrive, bringing insights and hope. It can auger a time when a woman enters your life, or when you are being asked to release the feminine in you to be receptive and intuitive, for the magic of the Moon is elusive.
Quarter Moon
Numerology of the Moon is 7. The 360 degrees of a circle is represented by the Sun, and is divisible by all the numbers one to nine , except seven, which relates to the quarter phases of the Moon cycle. (Also the four 7-year cycles within the 28-year cycles of Saturn.)
Honeymoon – Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him. He shall be exempt for one year for the sake of his family, to bring joy to the wife he has married.”
The Moon is elusive, changeable, of the night, mysterious, yet closely linked to us. It appears to be dead, physically, yet it is constantly metamorphasising, on the move, and has this strong influence over us – one in which we seem to be inextricably linked. There is growing evidence of life on the Moon: not only have the remains of a very ancient, highly-advanced technological and possible extra-terrestrial (and lunar) race been found, the secret military activity of the U.S. is now thought to be present on the Moon.
When considering that all things have Consciousness, inviting Moon consciously into your life will enrich it beyond words. It is the Source of reflected light, our inner secrets and of our indirect enlightenment, that is, through the Unconscious Mind.
Nature’s 8 points of celebration through the year were re-dated according to the Roman calendar, which ignores the fine tuning of Sun, Moon and Earth in synchronisation with each other.
AVIA..............................................wendy salter 