She glides across clear night skies, growing larger and brighter and fuller as I watch Her from my home on Earth.
While humans drop bombs, destroy forests, and pollute Earth’s water, She witnesses our destruction from afar.
I watch Her rise and set, somehow reassured by Her rhythmic dance with change.
Still, I ask, “How long will She watch over us and protect us from ourselves?
How long?”
***
Do you have a good view of the night sky or the rising and setting moon? What feelings does it bring as you watch Her changing size and orbit? Do you imagine Her watching the Earth from another perspective? For other thoughts about the Moon, see Lessons from Artemis, Goddess of the Wild. Or you might enjoy In the Cradle of the Crone: Hecate and the Waning Moon.
Dear Elaine,
Thank you for sharing this beautiful post, I love all your photos! Beautiful and shimmering Grandmother Moon speaks deeply to me, moreso in recent years. A world without Her, Father Sun or starlight, is inconceivable because we would live in a world without light, psychologically it would be akin to living with deep depression which makes me realise how vital light is. We’re most fortunate that our house has ancient woodland behind its fence, so we often witness Her rising and setting amongst branches. On a clear night, I love how She holds centre court in those starry skies!
I look for Her if I know moonrise is taking place before I sleep. I find it poignant that the month I chose to watch Grandmother Moon for a poem, was the same month my father died and how by continuing to follow Her to fullness, I felt held and loved in the midst of my grief. I’ve always loved LeAnn Rimes ‘Moonlight’ song, the chorus goes like this, “You can try to resist/Try to hide from my kiss/But you know, but you know that you/Can’t fight the moonlight/Deep in the dark, you’ll surrender your heart/But you know, but you know that you/Can’t fight the moonlight, no/You can’t fight it/It’s gonna get to your heart” …
Love and moonlight, Deborah
Dear Deborah,
I watch Her rise over the forest on the other side of a hill to the east of my house. Then I have an open view of Her sailing across the southern sky and setting in the west. I love watching Her dance with the constellations and planets. In astrology, each degree has a symbol. In the symbol system by Marc Edmund Jones, learned from my first teacher, my Venus degree is “The night heavens are seen in their wonder as on the desert when the moon is dark; the constellations are at play.” That image feels made for me.
I love how the moon accompanied you the month your father died. We’re fortunate to have these lunar views since no matter how crazy humans are, the Moon stays Her course and we can rely on Her. I didn’t know the song by LeAnn Rimes. Thanks for sharing it with me and tne poignant experience of your father’s death. Sending you so much love and a clear night’s sky.
Elaine, your moon shots are lovely. I sometimes feel comforted by the moon because it sheds a subtle light when the world around me feels hushed, less noisy. Unfortunately, I experience light pollution because we live in the suburbs of a large city. I remember night skies populated with millions of stars, though, living in the country as a child.
Thank you, Marian. I needed this quiet feeling without many words in a violent world at war. It’s been cloudy the last few nights, but I love that hushed feeling of a moonlit night, especially if it’s warm enough to be outside–and you must have many warm nights in Florida even if there is light from the city. I imagine my rural night skies are much like the skies you saw as a child. May there be peace in our world.
Oh, my dear Elaine. You have an excellent view of this beautiful nature; we have mostly covered the sky since November! And yes, she will watch us until we damage everything and vanish ourselves. She can do nothing, I’m afraid!
Thank you for this beautiful and heartbreaking post.
There were many clear nights a few weeks ago when I could photograph the moon. This week, I saw an occasional glimpse of the moon and imagined Her watching us from afar as we attack each other. How sad and foolish we humans are. I like the Moon’s calm detached view and don’t imagine She can save us. It seems up to humans to destroy or save this world. The Divine may have given up on us when we won’t save the Earth that sustains us or even the children. I continue praying for peace in this crazed world.
Elaina, thanks for grandmother moon in all her progressions. Thanks for holding on to the moon as we face the lunacy of the planet.
The sky was cloudy all day and this evening, so I couldn’t see the Moon. Still, I know She’s there. Thank you for commenting, dear friend. It’s reassuring to know we’re watching the lunacy together.
I somehow missed this Elaine – your images of Gramdmother Moon are wonderful! I love watching her in all her phases and can get quite lost in myself, mesmerised by the beauty of a full moon where her face can be seen in all her glory or a fingernail moon on a clear crisp night where I can almost see the dark side…or just feeling her presence in her darkest phase. I’m a Cancerian ruled by her energy and my goodness don’t I know it when she is approaching fullness!! 🙂
Lin, I love that whispered reflection of the full circle of the moon when the new moon appears on a clear night. I saw that last night and the night before. As a Cancerian, you must feel all of this in a way I don’t understand. My only planet in Cancer is Saturn and that planet and sign don’t always get along well. Saturn doesn’t love all that watery dissolving, but I love the Cancerian symbol in my chart which is “A woman waiting for a sailboat.” There’s a longer description of the image which I illustrated with oil pastels and had framed. It hangs in my bedroom, so I see it when I awaken each morning. The art work is in this blog: https://elainemansfield.com/2016/woman-dreams/
May you have a Blessed Solstice and may there be peace in our world.