Long Nights Moon approaching…
The next new moon will occur this coming Tuesday 12th December. It’s in the sign of Sagittarius which apparently heralds a sense of hope and new opportunities - may it be so, in these dark and troubling times! This moon will ripen into the first full moon after the winter solstice on Wednesday 27th December. Its traditional names are Long Nights Moon, Cold Moon or Elder Moon in the Celtic calendar, ie associated with the Elder Tree which has healing properties.
So with this moon our descent - begun last month - into fullest and deepest winter darkness continues; the mood is one of slowing down outer activities and looking inwards, reflecting, resting, restoring energy by clearing our minds and cleansing our bodies in preparation for the next cycle of emerging into the light again. There is a beautiful old Greek myth associated with the 14 days around the winter solstice / Yule / the longest night of the year on the 22nd December: Aeolus, the god of the winds calmed the waves during those days so that his daughter Alcyone, transformed into a kingfisher, could come and nest by the shore in peace. So these ‘halcyon days’ signal a pause, a contemplative space in which to be creative, to incubate something new to take into the future.
Moon Mandala by Paul Heussenstamm (www.mandalas.com)
Over these last few years I’ve honoured this age-old tradition by going on solitary retreat over the 12 days of xmas - quite close to the halcyon days. This year I’m going to stay in a simple hut on the nearby Lizard peninsula - the annexe of an ancient flour-mill above a tidal stream in the middle of nowhere. I wonder what dreams might emerge in that space? If you take out some time for reflection or venture out to find the moon on the 27th December, do feel free to share your musings in the comments at the bottom of this post, or (if in image form) in the new chat thread I will create. I will be offline, so do make a note of the full long nights moon date right now, as you will not hear from me until our next new moon in January 2024.
Go well through the fruitful darkness my friends!