Moons and Druids part deux

Image of the cresent moon taken from this astronomy site

Did you see the moon last night? That very thin slither of the cresent? That shiney silver blade high in the sky? It was just stunning! I had to go out and do a bit of ritual and celebrate the Bent One, with a Silver Birch and and milk based beverages. It was very illuminating and a very nourishing and empowering experience :D I feel I've connected to that wildness of Heather (see previous post about why Im waffling about Heather), of community, and there was a message for me as well! Those bees are interesting critters huh!

So, Im back to having a loopy lunar moment, and dug out all my 'druid something' cards - the Druid Animal Oracle (DAO) my DPO and the Druidcraft Tarot (DCT) looking for moons in all their glory.

Now, I do have a confession to make. I really never got on with the DAO. Sure its pretty and sure it's nice, but I just saw pretty pictures. I never felt the animal energy spring from the deck, when I know others prefer the DAO to work with than ANY tarot deck out there (yes its SLIGHTLY sacreligious, but I like them and so I forgive them lol). But doing this has made me connect to something in those animal cards so maybe I'll play with them more with the DPO.

So... waxing moons (apologises to those in the southern hemisphere but I gotta call it like I see it here from the UK).
DPO - Mistletoe
DAO - Hare
DCT - Moon (i know its got the whole moon, but the only shiney bit is the first cresent), High Priestess, Prince of Cups

Full Moon
DPO - Mugwort, Ivy, The Banes
DAO - Owl, Crane
DCT - Queen of Cups

Waning Moon
DPO - None.
DAO - Blackbird
DCT - Seven of Swords, Star, Ace of Cups, Hermit

Dark Moon
OK this is a bit speculative because obvious these are just night scenes without a moon, which I think would be good dark moony cards
DPO - None
DAO - Bear
DCT - Ace of Pentacles, Death and possibly the Queen of Pentacles.

Now what does that mean? I dont know LOL. But its really interesting. Why is there no waning moon or dark moon in the DPO? And So many Cresents in the DCT and only one true full moon in the whole deck?

And one random thing Ive noticed is how similiar Yarrow and the Adder cards are so similiar! And ya know - I never liked those elemental dragon cards.

So, loopy lunar stuff continues. But that Bee in the Heather card really got me wondering about bees so thats why I picked up my DAO again.

Its tempting to get bogged down in the thinkery of it all. Why do I seem to go lunar loopy, what does it mean etc But I remember the reading I did previously here and I just need to be brave and go with it and see where the journey takes me.

Inspiration firing, Brilliant!

But I did have a look in Herbcraft (Franklin and Lavender) and saw a list of herbs to the phases of the moon - which I think would be interesting to note here,although again, knowledge that as yet is not yet fully digested.
Waxing herbs white rose, camphor, lily, cinquefoil, mugwort, aloe, ox-eye daisy and poppy
Full moon herbs cinquefoil, red rose, mugwort, dandelion, frankincense, marshmellow and poppy
Waning herbs garlic, myrrh
Dark moon herbs garlic, parsley, willow and forget-me-not

Now I dont completely agree with that list, but its an interesting place to start from eh?!

the Druid Plant Calendar - an idea

OK so after all that waffle about moons and calendars I thought about it some more.

I like the idea of the Druid Tree Calendar - but we all know its a bit made up and fake. Well, more than a bit... quite a lot LOL

So I thought about creating a druid plant calendar. But rather than sitting and logically doing it I want to see what the cards pick and then see how it connects to what occurred. Im not referring just to me in that period between moons, but in general - nature, the earth, the general kinda vibe.

But I do think that it needs to be done between the dark moon and first cresent of the moon. No idea why, just a feeling and Im going with my feelings.

So I am going to cheat by asking the deck which plant generally reflects the current lunar cycle. Its a sort of backdated cheque sort of reading, but it should work, for plants know more than most that Linear Time is an Oxymoron :D

I got Madder..

This I will need to ponder further on with less waffle (well, try to have less waffle) later lol

Edited to add after the moon period of Madder has happened

Now Im in the void, the no-moon between this plant and the next (which is Chamomile!) I thought I'd put some thoughts on Madder.
And this period has got madder and madder, or more weirder and weirder LOL. Looking at the ragging on the Elder tree and I did infact do some form of ragging over this period. Interesting huh?
The darkness of this time of year is ruled by Elder, and so by Madder, the weird dark unknown stuff that happens, the darkness of the year, the darkness of the womb, the darkness of the Cauldren of Annwn.
During this time we've had lots of snow, and I cant help be think of the Blood on the Snow, the sacrifices that we offer to improve our lives from one solar year to the next in the form of resolutions. We might even ask for advice from our Elders to pick the right ones, the tweaks other people can see we need to make - a bit of objectivity, as the darkness can fill us with paranoia and insecurity. OR,it could reflect how we often want to sacrifice our Elders as they drive us mad after spending all that time with them over the festive period. LOL.
Resiliance and strength is needed through the cold, the dark, the up and down of family life.... and all the reasons to get pissed with yule and christmas and new year and going back to work again lol.

The Moth i think is such an intrigueing animal with this plant. It is the guardian of the darkness, it will lead us to the light, lead us through the other side and seems always secure that the light will be there - even when we fear we'll never see it again.

Moons and Calendars (Happy New Year!)

So new years eve is not only new years eve, but it falls on a new moon... that is also a blue moon (second full moon in a calender month) and it is a partial lunar eclipse.

OMG! or really? I mean. Its a full moon yes, but its only a blue moon according to the calendar that we use, which is just a fluke really, and its a lunar eclipse that isnt visible to the UK.

However, I have been a bit moon-crazy (or loopy-lunar!) for a while. I had this random thought in the night a few weeks back about moons and druids.

What would a phase of the moon mean to an ancient druid? What does a phase on the moon mean to a present-day druid, that isnt just a diffusion of knowledge spread from Wicca to Druidry in recent times. I mean, why do we see the Moon as Female? Is that something druids have picked up from the Wiccans and just not questioned it? Many cultures at male moon deities - and would the druids really have associated Gender to the luminaries?! I mean stars dont have gender assigned to them.

So the only bit I could link between ancient druids and moons were as a method of counting time, in a calendar. However, I dont like the Graves Celtic Moon calendar idea (which he later admitted was complete forgery!).

So perhaps part of my DPO project is to pick a card for the lunar month as a guide? Or just to be aware of the plant happenings as we move throughout the solar year?

But would that start at a full moon? Or would it be at the new moon, the point of void, the death/rebirth moment. Hmmph stuff to ponder indeed!

To go through these thoughts I've drawn 3 cards, Comfrey from the top of the pack, Woad from the middle of the pack and Ivy at the bottom of the pack
Well, two very day time cards and the Ivy with the full moon lol. Maybe thats suggesting how the moon and sun are linked, that there is no real seperation, as the the moon is only the light of the sun reflecting from a rock floating around the earth? lol

Comfrey is about union, it is BoneWort and knits together skin and bone, spirit and body.Woad is about being brave and defending what is yours to defend - ie my idea that the druids didnt do moons lol, well at least not in the way that modern druid types do - and the moon/gender thing really doesnt feel appropriate to me at the moment. So I'm not going to be going ga-ga over how She is beautiful, no She, just the Moon. The Ivy though is reflecting that whatever we THINK the druids might or might not have done, we cant escape that deep pull we have as human beings, as beings of water, of just primal instinct that the moon is sacred.

Perhaps the idea here is for me to link sun and moon together? Working with the solar and lunar festivals? My friends Sue and Jake spoke to me of their awareness of how the solar festival is boosted by the power of the moon. For example, May day might be on 1st, but the hawthorn, the big indicator for the celebration of Beltane to most folks, may not be in bloom till May 15th which happened to be around the time of that full moon. So, it could be something to be aware of and see how it unfolds.

I do feel though that once again the DPO is asking me to not just think and analyse the cards, my spirituality etc but just to have the stillness to feel and experience why I am lunar loopy, by being with the Moon at its times and seeing what unfolds within me (theres that Ivy ya see).I think its also asking me to just sit and FEEL what is flowing. To not THINK about what might have happened, but what I feel is right to happen and seek to be receptive to the ideas that come to me at the moon.

Ivy again in so many days... ooooh.

SO... that is why I havent done a big New Year Full Moon/Blue Moon reading. Too much in my head and what feels right for me now is that years and months, the 'calendar' is based on moon cycles. You cant have blue moons when you have a calender based on months of the moon cycles! Plus I already had a reading done on my birthday for my year ahead and it seems daft to do it twice. Birthday years seems to click better with me than the calendar turning a number type of year.

But I do keep having this connection to the Moon. I'll have to ponder and see where it is taking me :)