Full Harvest moon and Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

Today is the start of Chung Ch’iu, the 3-day Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. It's a happy and beautiful Asian family celebration that comes each year at the time of the full moon in September or October. The full Harvest Moon rises this evening-- obliquely, close to the horizon-- and remains big and bright for a long time, giving extra light to harvesters. In China it's celebrated as a harvest festival and also the moon’s birthday.

Agenda for today:
1. Update my altar

Photo by Alan Gillespie

2. Journal queries
3. Practice Balance
4. Fall cleaning
5. Make moon cakes
6. Make floating lanterns
7. Have a moon-viewing party

1. Update my altar:
It's time to discern what to put on my altar for this next month. (For my thoughts on altars see About Altars). I generally keep it simple and choose only things that speak to me and feed me, and reveal what I believe in. I ask, what quality of the Spirit do I want to invoke?

Today I cleared my altar and, then added-

• a golden candle- for balance in the center
• a mandala- for unity and harmony
• my straw doll- for abundance, luck and protection
• a God's eye- to watch over us
• dried corn- for the harvest

2. Journal Queries:
The bright harvest moon is a good time to see things that are normally hidden. Today I will review the intentions I set 2 weeks ago, at the new moon.

Do these aims all still seem vital?
What would I most like to do in life that I’m still not getting to?
How might I find a better balance?

3. Practice Balance:

My theme this month is balance- the balance of yin and yang, concentration and mindfulness, action and study, social and alone time, yearning and resistance.

September is when I need to finish all my summer tasks and wind things up. Especially now, at the full moon, I'm drawn to be more creative, stay up late, exercise harder, and see friends. The bright harvest moon creates the right conditions to act on the work I need to do as this year spirals towards winter.

At the same time, now that autumn has arrived, I begin to draw inward again. I long to retreat- to be still, write in my notebook, read a good book, and think about the good times we had this summer. 

I need to find a happy balance of active and contemplative. Balance is about knowing what I really want out of life, making a commitment, and sticking to it. It’s an ongoing dynamic process, a balancing act! 

My action intentions for the next two weeks:

• Leave a generous amount of morning time for writing and inspiration.
• Work daily on painting my new series.
• Work each day in the garden, harvesting and cleaning up.
• Clear out my studio and repair the ceiling.

4. Fall cleaning:
Fall cleaning has an entirely different feel and focus than spring cleaning. In the fall we finish up, pack away, and "batten the hatches"-- we put away all the outdoor stuff, air out the sweaters, and prepare for winter. 

This week I will continue in the living room and front of the house. I plan to:

• Pare down some of my knickknacks.
• Clean the front porch and door, and decorate for fall.
• Repair, caulk, and repaint the front window for the winter.
• Repair a tear in the sofa.

5. Make moon cakes:

Normally on this blog I would give you an authentic Chinese recipe, but this simplified recipe has sentimental tradition in our family.

When my children were young, the city library hosted a Moon Festival event every fall, with telescopes, Asian writing and crafts, hot tea, and all the moon cakes you could eat. We went every year. The bakery that made the moon cakes gave us this recipe, an Americanized version, and that's the recipe my family has made and loved for 25 years.

For a similar but more complex and traditional recipe see Food52.

Ingredients:

• sweet red bean paste
• 1 c. flour
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/4 c. sour cream
• egg yolk
• red food color (optional)

Makes 8 cakes-
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. 


Make 8 large marbles of bean paste, and put them in the freezer to chill. (You might need flour on your hands.)

2. Mix together the flour and butter until crumbly. Mix in the sour cream; stir until dough forms into a ball.

3. Knead the dough a few times then divide into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball then pat to flatten into thick 5-inch circles.

4. Put a marble of sweet red bean paste in the center of each circle, fold the edges up over the filling, and seal. Shape each into a fat round moon. If you have a mold, you can press it in now, but it's not necessary.

5. Place moon cakes on an un-greased pan. Whisk an egg yolk with a little water until smooth and spoon a little over each moon cake. Dot the center with a chopstick dipped in red food coloring (for good luck). Bake for 15 minutes at 350ºF.

6. Remove the moon cakes from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes.

6. Make floating lanterns:

Lanterns are another key part of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Some families make handmade lanterns, including small lanterns to float, like these waterlily lanterns.

Supplies:

• small white paper plates
• green foam sheet
• pencil
• scissors
• aqua crayons or paint
• black permanent pen
• hot glue gun
• tea light

1- Draw and cut 2 small paper plates into flowers, leaving a circle in the center just big enough for a votive candle.

2- Color or paint the edges of the flowers, on the front and back side of the plate. We used aqua crayons to reduce the mess, and blended them with a damp brush.








3- Curl the petals.

4- Cut a leaf out of foam, and draw lines with a permanent marker. 

5-Hot glue the layers together, with a tea light in the center. 

7. Have a Moon Viewing Party:
In China, the big event is a picnic outside to admire the moon, with tea, moon cakes and round fruits (a symbol of family unity).

The festival continues for three days with games and fun. During this time it is believed that flowers fall from the moon and anyone sharp-eyed enough to see them will have very good fortune.

After moon viewing, we sometimes write poetry to show our appreciation of the moon.