Sunday, October 4, 2009

The Harvest Moon


A full moon will occur early on Sunday, October 4. It is given the special name of Harvest Moon since it is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox. In years past, farmers depended on the light of the Harvest Moon to gather ripening crops late into the night. Most Harvest Moon's occur in September, but sometimes (like this year) it will occur in October. The next time a Harvest Moon will occur in October is 2017.

October Moon/ Leaves Falling Moon:

Our Ojibiwa Heritage

October's great path of the moon is respect. For us, the new year begins now and not in January. This is a time of sleeping seeds and birds flying south for the winter. Leaves begin to fall; the sun turns pale in the sky. It is the Moon of Putting Away and the Moon of Remembering Old Names. Preparation begins for the coming winter.

We look for signs of whether it will be a hard winter: Do the clouds have long tails? Does the chipmunk work harder, storing food for winter? Does ice have an early voice? What does the raven say? Does the coyote change his song? Do our hearts stir with warning?
Now is the time to learn respect for all living things--even for those who are not your friends. Is there a voice from your past that you didn't pay attention to? Take time to mend broken connections. Find out why someone does not like you; respect that person even so.
Respect starts on the simplest level.

Walk to the mountains where the first snow has already fallen. Notice that the stream has a collar of ice along the edges. Dry leaves move on the wind, sighing. Inside you, something calms down. Turn your face to the sun: For everything in the past, thank you. To the future, yes.
Respect is a matter of equality, even in the worst of times.

Taken from "Dancing Moons" by Nancy Wood

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a beautiful post Anet. Thank you for sharing Nancy Wood's writings. I'm going to see if our library has Dancing Moons.

Laura said...

What a moving post, so lovely and thought provoking. Thank you for sharing.
blessings
~*~

jaz@octoberfarm said...

i love your blog!!!

Olde Dame Penniwig said...

That part about "do our hearts stir with warning?" really gets me -- because sometimes we do get flashes of instinct!!! Something older and deeper than we can verbalize and too old to even remember comes forth! Wish we could be more in touch with our instincts and nurture them along rather than live ignoring them and not celebrating them!

Wendy said...

That is a very interesting post about the October moon! I like the "Moon of Putting Away" sentiment and looking for signs regarding the upcoming winter.

Thank you for posting this!

Ruth said...

I'm super happy I got to see the harvest moon, up at the cottage. I forgot it was the "Harvest Moon" though, even though I've read the Ojibwe names many times, and that is one of my favorite things.

Oh, and Don did a big harvest while I was gone. :)

sandy said...

I enjoyed my visit here, and lots to look at on your blog, it kept me busy.

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