The Tangled Hedge

A hedge-hopping awenydd follows the Mother of Life's trackways and brings back what is needed, connecting the village with the numinous wilds.

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December's Cold Moon

( My moon face, in honor of December’s Full Cold Moon in Gemini - energies of Gemini’s intellectual stimulation (bookcase!) and self-expression (photo) hehe. Not to mention this blog post. )

 

I have the honor of facilitating the moon circle this month, for my Women’s Sacred Circle. We’re meeting tonight, at the full moon. I thought I would share what I have prepared, here, since it is mine to share, and I would be curious about what a moon circle would be like, if I wasn’t participating in one. The format was sent to me by the women who planned this year’s circle endeavor, but they said it was a loose guideline. If you want to set up a moon circle, do it however you like! This is how mine is going to go, and it’s similar to the ones that went before, in my particular circle.

 

OPENING SPACE
=============

Poetry reading:

Moon Song

I raise my arms in greeting
As She slips up through the night,
The rounded Moon of Mystery,
A glowing silver disk of light.

My spirit answers to Her call
And longs for wings to fly,
That I might seek Her secret place
Whose symbol is the sky.

A place of hidden secrets,
Of sacred Mysteries old,
A place I knew in other times,
In temple wisdom no more told.

I struggle to remember
All the things I learned before,
The forgotten Mysteries of the Moon,
The Goddess and Her lore.

Although my arms reach skyward,
I turn inward toward Her voice.
I tread the inner labyrinth,
Trusting in my choice.

"Seek not without, but deep within."
The words are soft and clear.
"Keep faith with Me for thirteen months,
The Mother's Sacred Year."

I watch Her through Her cycles,
As I did in lives before,
And follow down Her moonbeam path
To the secret, inner door.

[D. J. Conway - “Moon Magick”]

(Call the Quarters or do a hand-to-hand opening ritual.)

MEDITATION
==========

Have you ever realized, while gazing at the moon, that the orb you are looking at is the very same moon your ancestors gazed upon? That it is a landscape that every ancestor, everywhere on Earth, has been familiar with? It connect us all. It connects us across time and over all the Earth's lands and waters. It connects all peoples. Moonlight, and feeling the presence of the moon above, is a universal human experience. The people whose lives created your life have spoken with Her, just as you are doing. She is Grandmother Moon to the earth family. Perhaps she has messages the ancestors whispered to her, hoping to send to us. I know I have blown Her kisses and told distant loved ones to go outside and receive them from Her, and felt connected knowing we were simultaneously looking at the same beacon, high above. Certainly she could tell of the things she has seen.

TEACHING
========

The Cold Moon (or Long Nights Moon) in December was named in this hemisphere by the Native Americans for the oncoming cold winter and the long nights that stretch out around the winter solstice. It is a time for going inward, settling in to do inner work during the cold winter that packs us away to hibernate. It's a time to clear out the old and prepare for the new. Time to cut away all that is unnecessary or extraneous in your life, just as dead branches are cut from a tree, or plants are pruned to help them grow new shoots.

Since this Full Cold Moon happens in Gemini, an air sign, and the sign of the mind, we'll probably be intellectually stimulated, so it's a good time to go over the schemas in our heads and check their integrity and veracity.

You cannot progress with excess baggage in the way of outmoded thoughts and ideas, so during this lunation, unpack your mind and heart. Is there anything old, crusty and stale in there that could be tossed out, or a belief that should be investigated for its truth?

“I have to be perfect at everything.”

“If I get angry, I’m a terrible person."

"Failing at something means everything is ruined, forever!"

"I'm so old."

"Poor people are just lazy."

"It's responsible and right to state, as fact, my opinion in public forums based only on hearsay and my limited understanding of a subject, and to tell others they're ignorant if they don't agree with me."

Question your mind and beliefs, sweep up and dust off and check for cracks. If only everyone would periodically check the soundness of their ideas, right? Well we can remember to do ours when the Cold Moon comes to remind us.

Especially as the Cold Moon wanes in the coming week, the process of letting go should get a boost of support from lunar energy.

No one else is privy to our process of this inner work, so go ahead and shine the light on those beliefs, and spread them out in front of yourself and poke 'em good. :)

We can let the inner cleaning leave the place bare for awhile, before the solstice and new year bring the energy of new beginnings. Sitting with the bare simplicity for awhile can help us appreciate basics and see the shape of the space. Then as the New Moon comes, we can design what we want to fill that space, and how it will fit.

CRAFT ACTIVITY
==============

Moon Cords

Charge the cord in the moonlight for a few minutes, or however long you’d like, seeing the moonlight infuse the cord, then tie off the ends to contain the energy of the Cold Moon for later use. When you want to use this energy, just untie one or both of the knots to release it and let it pour back out. You can make several knots if you want to portion it out. The cord can be recharged under any moon you'd like to take with you. :) You could wear it on your wrist, around your neck, or in your hair if you want to carry the moon’s power. You could make many with different yarns or ropes or threads. Perhaps a set for different aspects (new, waxing, full, waning) and a set for the named moons.

b2ap3_thumbnail_15961331022_8e1ca70679_z.jpg
( The fun yarn, in moon colors, with tiny opalescent sequins, that I'm taking to the circle for making moon cords. Any kind of yarn, thread, ribbon, or rope would do. )



SHARING/DISCUSSION
==================

Can be done before, during, or after the craft activity.

PREPARATION FOR NEXT MEETING
============================

January's Wolf Moon, date of next circle, facilitator, etc.

CLOSE SPACE
===========

Read the poem again.

Last modified on
Lia is an awenydd, writer, journal editor (A Beautiful Resistance), copyeditor (Druid Magazine), hedge witch, mother, musician, OBOD Bard, and anthropology major, living in the wild, enchantingly beautiful mountain west (USA). Her spiritual influences tend toward the ancient and indigenous, with a future-focused hope that humanity will return to a spiritually-rich and thriving sustainability.

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