Dark Moon Musings
Moving towards Samhain
I’m a couple of days late but wanted to post a brief new moon missive, having been very aware of the accelerating descent into darkness over these past couple of weeks, in oh so many ways, not all good … but let’s focus on the fruitful aspects of darkness in this particular space. The days are becoming noticeably shorter, and I’m quite enjoying the cosiness of dusk falling by candlelight, around the time when I finish work, and waking up just before dawn.
My highlight this week was spending half an hour in Carnsew Pools bird hide at dawn, on my way to work nearby that morning. I arrived to the most wondrous sound of 12 curlews on the lake, talking to each other. I had brought binoculars so could see them quite well, but sadly my phone camera was unable to do justice to their beauty and elegance. They eventually flew off just when a professional birdwatcher arrived with a huge camera and a telescope. He alerted me to the sound of a kingfisher, and moments later we saw two of them darting about and diving into the pool, tiny flashes of orange and electric blue in the rosy dawn light. One sat still on a branch for long enough to get a wonderful view of it through the telescope. When we emerged from our reverie, a spoonbill had arrived on the lake, contorting itself in comical fashion whilst cleaning its brilliant-white feathers. I felt entirely uplifted by the experience and will make this my Wednesday morning routine before work for the next few weeks. I recorded the curlew sounds but sadly don’t know how to share that recording on here - watch this space while I try to work it out (:
Not this coming Wednesday though, as I will be on a train to London then for my friend’s memorial the following day. The interval between her death and this celebration of her life has felt like a long bardo to me - a whole month. It will be a waxing half moon by then, lighting her way as she traverses fully into another dimension, where her energy can choose where to go next, which form to take in a future life. I miss her solid living presence very much still, but may her spirit fly free, liberated now from the burden of her painful body.
