Monday, March 17, 2014

March's Full Moon of Awakening

By rights, March's full moon should be rising when  there is no snow, and one does not have to don a parka to view it.  We (Spencer and I) shivered as we waited for Lady Moon to put in an appearance last night, but there She was over our heads a little after nine o'clock, lustrous and golden and a harbinger of seasons still to come. 

The Vernal Equinox (Ostara) is only a few days away, light and darkness hovering in perfect balance and the earth beginning to awaken slowly from long winter sleep.  This month's moon is often called the Moon of Awakening by northern indigenous cultures because it usually rises when the maple syrup season is in full swing, when the woods are filled with of owl songs, our migratory birds are returning, and trees everywhere are budding out. I say usually, because this year there is deep snow everywhere, and temperatures are in the deep minuses.  It will be weeks before the maple syrup season starts, before loons call across the lake, I watch herons along the shore at sunset or hear geese flying over the little blue house in the village.

As cold it was last evening, I couldn't help thinking that springtime is making its way northward, however slowly it is journeying, and I was contented with things just as they were. In my eldering years, I am (perhaps) learning a little patience and can wait for warmer nights and other full moons.  Every night and every moon is a gift.

We also know this moon as the: Alder Moon, Big Famine Moon, Big Winds Moon, Blossoming Out Moon, Bud Moon, Buffalo Dropping Their Calves Moon, Catching Fish Moon, Chaste Moon, Cherry Blossom Moon, Cold’s End Moon, Crow Moon, Crust Moon, Daffodil Moon, Death Moon, Deer Moon, Eagle Moon, Goose Moon, Green Moon, Growth Begins Moon, Hard Crust on the Snow Moon, Hertha's Moon, Hyacinth Moon, Lenten Moon, Little Frog Moon, Little Sand Storm Moon, Little Spring Moon, Lizard Moon, Long Days Moon, Maple Sweetness Moon, Middle Finger Moon, Moon of Earth Awakening, Moon of Opening Hands, Moon of the Crane, Moon of the Snowblind, Moon of the Whispering Wind, Moon of Winds, Moon When Buffalo Cows Drop Their Calves, Moon When Eyes Are Sore from Bright Snow, Moon When the Leaves Break Forth, Moon When the Geese Return, Moose Hunter Moon, Much Lateness Moon, Ogroni Moon, Plow Moon, Rebirth Moon, Renewal Moon, Sap Moon, Seed Moon, Sleepy Moon, Snow Blind Moon, Snow Crust Moon, Snowshoe Breaking Moon, Storm Moon, Strawberry Moon, Sucker Fishing Moon, Sugar Making Moon, Trail Sitting Moon, Tree Peony Moon, Violet Moon, Water Stands in the Ponds Moon, Wind Strong Moon, Windy Moon and Worm Moon.

I am rather fond of Moon of Earth Awakening, Maple Sweetness Moon and Rebirth Moon, but this will always be Melanie's Moon.

2 comments:

Shelley said...

Tonight marks a full year of my attempting every day to write a haiku I can stand to hold up for others to see.

You are certainly a part of my inspiration, Cate; thank you.

PS: who is Melanie?

thewiildmagnola said...

one of the best full moon shots, ever....Crow Moon for me.