Tag: full moon

  • Wolf Moon 2025!

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    The Wolf Moon, the first full moon of the year, is a profound spiritual event that invites us to reflect, renew, and embrace our inner strength. Named by Native American tribes for the howling of wolves during the cold, barren winters, this moon symbolizes resilience, community, and the primal instincts that guide us. As it illuminates the night sky, it offers a powerful opportunity for introspection and growth.

    At its core, the Wolf Moon carries themes of survival, intuition, and connection. Wolves are creatures that thrive in packs, relying on their bonds for safety and strength. This moon encourages us to examine our own relationships and the communities we belong to. Are we leaning on those who support us? Are we offering our strength to others in return?

    This full moon also represents a time to tune into our instincts. Wolves are guided by their keen senses and unwavering intuition, and the energy of the Wolf Moon urges us to trust our gut feelings. It is a time to reflect on the path we’re walking and consider if it aligns with our inner truths. If not, this lunar event provides the perfect moment to recalibrate and set intentions for the journey ahead.

    The Wolf Moon’s spiritual energy is deeply connected to release and renewal. January is a month of fresh starts, and the full moon amplifies this energy. Use this time to let go of what no longer serves you, whether it’s self-doubt, unhealthy habits, or relationships that drain your spirit.

    Take a moment to write down what you wish to release on a piece of paper and burn it under the light of the moon. As the smoke rises, visualize your burdens lifting, creating space for new opportunities and growth. This ritual aligns with the moon’s natural cycle of shedding and renewing, reminding us that endings are necessary for beginnings.

    To fully embrace the spiritual potential of the Wolf Moon, consider engaging in the following practices:

    1. Meditation: Sit quietly under the moonlight or near a window where the moon is visible. Breathe deeply, allowing its energy to fill you. Reflect on your goals, dreams, and the steps needed to achieve them.

    2. Journaling: Write about your intentions for the year, focusing on areas where you want to grow or strengthen your life. Let the wolf’s symbolism inspire you to find courage and clarity in your words.

    3. Connection: Spend time with those who uplift and support you. Share your aspirations and offer mutual encouragement. This is a time to strengthen your pack.

    4. Cleansing: Perform a spiritual cleansing of your space. Use tools like sage, palo santo, or a cleansing spray to remove stagnant energy and invite in fresh, positive vibrations.

    5. Ritual: Create a small altar dedicated to the Wolf Moon. Include symbols of wolves, a candle to represent the moon, and any crystals like moonstone or clear quartz that resonate with lunar energy.

    The Wolf Moon reminds us of the power within. Just as wolves are both fierce and nurturing, this moon encourages us to balance strength with compassion—for ourselves and others. Embrace the lessons of resilience and trust in your inner voice to guide you through the challenges of the coming year.

    As you step into this lunar phase, remember the howling wolf—a call of unity, courage, and the unyielding spirit. Use the Wolf Moon’s energy to connect with your authentic self, align with your purpose, and walk boldly into the year ahead.

    Love, 

    Mambo Sam

  • Harvest Moon ~~~ 9-15-08

    One of the more well known or commonly known full moons is the Harvest Moon. It has been the subject of much folk lore, poems, and there is even a famous song! The full harvest moon is the full Moon that occurs closest to the
    autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in
    September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of
    harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this
    Moon.  Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice, the chief Indian
    staples, are now ready for gathering.

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    Often, the Harvest Moon seems to be bigger or brighter or more colorful
    than other moons. These effects have to do with the seasonal tilt of
    the earth. The warm color of the moon shortly after it rises is an
    optical illusion, based on the fact that when the moon is low in the
    sky, you are looking at it through a greater amount of atmospheric
    particles than when the moon is overhead. The atmosphere scatters the
    bluish component of moonlight (which is really reflected white light
    from the sun), but allows the reddish component of the light to travel
    a straighter path to your eyes. Hence all moons (and stars and planets)
    look reddish when they are low in the sky.

    According to NASA: The Harvest Moon is no ordinary full moon; it behaves in a special way.
            Throughout the year the Moon rises, on average, about 50 minutes later each day. But near the autumnal equinox, which comes this year on Sept. 22nd, the day-to-day difference in the local time of moonrise is only 30 minutes. The Moon will rise around sunset tonight–and not long after sunset for the next few evenings. That comes in handy for northern farmers who are working long days to harvest their crops before autumn. The extra dose of lighting afforded by the full Moon closest to the equinox is what gives the Harvest Moon its name.

    There are many interesting stories and mythologies around this moon.

    The Harvest Moon is also known as the Wine Moon, as this is a time after the grapes have been harvested and wine is made. 

    The Chinese Traditional name for this moon is the Chrysanthemum Moon.

    Please check out Mambo Sam’s Blog about the Chinese Harvest Moon Festival  ! It was great fun with Moon Cakes last year!
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    The Cherokee call this Nut Moon (because of harvesting some species of nuts from trees….not for the other reason you might be thinking 😉  )

    The Choctaw call this the Mulberry Moon.

    The Celts call this the Singing Moon as after the seasonal harvests are complete comes a time for acceptance,
    mellowing, and rest after labor.
    It has been so named in reference to the festive attitude known to
    every laborer who has toiled to complete work necessary to the survival
    of the community and now celebrates the completion of those labors.

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    Under the Harvest Moon
    by Carl Sandburg


    Under the harvest moon,
    When the soft silver

    Drips shimmering
    Over the garden nights,
    Death, the gray mocker,
    Comes and whispers to you
    As a beautiful friend
    Who remembers.

         Under the summer roses
    When the flagrant crimson
    Lurks in the dusk
    Of the wild red leaves,
    Love, with little hands,
    Comes and touches you
    With a thousand memories,
    And asks you
    Beautiful, unanswerable questions.


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    The Harvest Moon by Longfellow

    It is the Harvest Moon!  On gilded vanes
      And roofs of villages, on woodland crests
      And their aerial neighborhoods of nests
      Deserted, on the curtained window-panes
    Of rooms where children sleep, on country lanes
      And harvest-fields, its mystic splendor rests!
      Gone are the birds that were our summer guests,
      With the last sheaves return the laboring wains!
    All things are symbols: the external shows
      Of Nature have their image in the mind,
      As flowers and fruits and falling of the leaves;
    The song-birds leave us at the summer’s close,
      Only the empty nests are left behind,
      And pipings of the quail among the sheaves.

    However you choose to celebrate this moon, even if its just with a cup of tea and a few quiet moments in the grass appreciating it’s beauty, Happy Autumn Everyone!

    Much Light and Love,

    Sister Bridget

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