Snow Moon

Last night a few of us friends got together and held a slightly belated full moon circle. This full moon, even with it's eclipse, was the last moon of winter so we wanted to make note of it as our hearts, minds and bodies yearn toward spring and warming weather. The projects of maintenance over the winter are just about done and spring chores have already begun for us as well.

We started in a circle that was dark and cold. The joyous one hosting had turned off the heat & lights hours and thrown open the doors for a time. When DH & I arrived, I'd asked if her electricity had been cut off somehow. "No," she said, then lit a candle while I put our potluck dish in the kitchen. DH who catches the chill easily due to his lack of body fat then asked if she was going to close the doors. It was raining out. She said, "Soon." Our other participant, Tree, arrived shortly after I'd settled down to a bit of knitting while the joyous one and DH chatted. Finally the door was closed.

After the other potluck food was put in the kitchen as well, the candle was put out and we made our circle, just four of us around a tiny altar, in the now darkened room lit only by lights from the street filtering through the windows. "Tonight," the joyous one intoned softly, "is the Snow Moon, the last moon of winter. Some have called it the Hungry Moon, when winter stores of food have been eaten through and little is left to feed and nourish the people, where the cut pads of peat and chopped logs are almost gone so what's left is carefully tended and used only when needed. So, in this era where we have so much, I've put out the lights and turned off the heat for a time so we can be reminded of what our ancestors knew every year."

We invoked blessings on sprouts of garlic another friend had planted and started in her green house -- garlic with it's history of protecting people's health through it's antiseptic properties and ritual properties of protecting against evil. It's an organic connection really, as in the past disease was often connected to evil spirits and such. We will plant them in our own gardens soon and nourish them through the summer. We finished by sharing from a small loaf of lovely handmade wheat bread and a cup of warming coffee and unmade our circle.

How easy it was then to light a small fire, turn on the lights, turn up the heat and follow with dining on our potluck dishes fueling our bodies and warming our spirits.