The Full Moon nearest the Winter Solstice is the Oak Moon, the Moon of the newborn year, the Divine Child. Like the Divine Child who is born to die and dies to be reborn anew, the ancient Oak has its trunk and branches in the material world of the living, while its roots, the branches in reverse, reach deep into the Underworld, symbolic land of the Spirit. As the roots probe downward into the grave-like darkness of the Earth, its branches grow ever upward toward the light, to be crowned by sacred Mistletoe.
My last few weeks have been filled with happiness and distress. Joy at a young man found and reunited with his family after years of drifting across America; distress after another young girl found in altogether different circumstances who will, sadly, never see her family again. This is the rhythm of life however, part yin, part yang, and the changing phases of the moon remind us that this is the natural fabric of things, for the most part mysterious and beyond our control, but ever present and ever changing. Our lot in life is not to question why but to accept the rhythms and try to live in harmony with their weft and weave.
The Mysterious Oak Moon
The Full Moon is with us again from November 2nd. Last night I sat and gazed for a long time at the magical orb that cast its silvery light over the sea cliffs where I live. The Hunters Moon is the full moon that follows the Harvest Moon usually the biggest and brightest of the year, and nearest Samhain. So called since the fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more easily see the fox, also other animals, which have come out to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest. This moon is simply magical, take time to look, gaze and drink in the ethereal power of this brightest of full moons. The psychic energy simply radiates from its core. Look at it while you can and concentrate hard, let yourself be in it’s thrall; then tell me psychic phenomena doesn’t exist!